470 Hints for the Preservation [Aug, 



wine. But those which have any particular marks of delicate colours, and 

 those whose colours depend upon a powder strewn over them, must not he 

 placed in spirit, but alive into boxes; and it is best to put but one insect 

 into each box. Butter-flies must be taken between the thumb and finger, 

 and pressed at the sides of the thorax, just under the wings, when they al- 

 most immediately die. Dragon-flies may be killed in the same manner. 



When the insects are brought home, those kept in the spirit should be 

 taken out, and if of sombre colours, placed in a solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate for an hour or two, when they may be put upon pins, and made 

 ready for preserving them. Those insects that cannot be placed in spirit, 

 on account of their delicate colours, &c, should be taken out of the boxes, 

 and put into a glass, or a wide-mouthed bottle, and the glass or bottle with 

 the mouth closed may have a bit of camphor or a drop of eether, or a bit 

 of carbonate of ammonia put into it, placed in a basin of hot-water, when 

 they soon die. Prussic acid has been used for the same purpose, and its 

 effects are said to be instantaneous : but its employment may be dangerous 

 to the operator, if great care be not taken. 



When an insect is dead, it should be smeared over the under surface with 

 arsenical soap, or Latreille's preservative, the preparation of which has 

 been given before ; a pin, proportioned to its size, must be run, if a beetle, 

 through the right elytrum or wing-case, and brought through the under 

 side, between the second and third leg ; and then it must be placed in a box 

 or drawer. Other insects of all kinds should have the pin run through 

 the thorax, or piece of the back, just in front of the elytra, and brought 

 out between the legs below. 



Asa mere collector's cabinet, one convenient enough for the purpose 

 maybe made of any box; a French claret box, for instance, answers quite 

 well enough, if provided with a close lid, to prevent ants and cockroaches 

 from entering it, and fitted up with trays to run in grooves about 2^ inches 

 apart. The bottom of each tray must have a flat piece of solah well press- 

 ed ; or a layer of cork, about ^ of an inch thick, covered with paper, fas- 

 tened on to it, will be better still, in which the pins, with the insects upon 

 them, are to be stuck : or the top, bottom and sides of the box may be 

 lined with solah or cork, so as to do without trays or drawers at all. Every 

 fine day this box should be placed in the sun, to dry the specimens ; taking 

 care to keep the lid shut, that the light may not enter: for light destroys 

 the more delicate colours of insects. With these precautions, insects may 

 be kept for any length of time : for when once well prepared, the only 

 thing requisite is to keep them dry. 



Some very small insects cannot be run though with a pin. These should 

 be placed upon a triangular piece of quill, cut into this form \^- , the 

 sharpest angle being introduced into the insect at its underside, between 

 two of the rings of the abdomen. A pin is then run through the broad 

 end, and the whole stuck in to the box thus i^jf-. This is an improve- 

 ment upon the plan hitherto recommended, of pasting the insect upon a 

 triangular piece of card, inasmuch as it not only looks better, but it al- 

 lows the under part of the insect to be seen, instead of hiding the charac- 

 ters of that part, which in some genera are very important. 



Spiders are difficult to preserve, without their losing their plumpness 

 and beautiful colours. Spirit of wine has been recommended, and when it 

 is used, a good many may be put into a bottle together. If it is wished to 

 preserve them dry, they may have the inside of the abdomen squeezed 

 out, through a hole made in their under surface, and the cavity filled with 

 very finely chopped cotton, or with sand; and then they may be pinned 

 into the boxes. Latreille recommends that the abdomen be cut off from 

 the thorax, stuck upon a stick, and introduced into a bottle, fastening 

 the stick into the cork, so as not to touch the sides, and holding the 

 bottle over a lamp or fire, till the specimen becomes dry, which is then 

 stuck on the thorax again. Any of these plans will do with some of the 



