i82 NATURE-STUDY 



wings should be spread out and pinned or fastened in this 

 position while drying. A drying board may be made, accord- 

 ing to the figure, and the insect placed in the groove with its 

 wings held down upon the side boards by means of strips of 

 paper pinned down. Or they may be simply laid upon their 



backs on a board, and the wings 

 spread out and fastened down. 

 Very small insects, eggs, larvae, 

 etc., should be glued on the end 

 of a strip of paper, and this 

 pinned in the box. Do not crowd 

 Fig. 43. Spreading Board. the spccimeus. Arrange them ac- 

 cording to their natural relationships. Place the locusts, 

 grasshoppers, and crickets together, the beetles by them- 

 selves, etc. If there is not sufficient room to write the 

 names of the insects on the bottom of the box, simply num- 

 ber them, and write a corresponding fist of names upon a 

 slip of paper pasted on the inside of the cover. 



It is better not to encourage primary and lower interme- 

 diate children to make collections, but leave this to older 

 pupils, more interested in structure and classification. 

 This collection should be made not merely for its own 

 sake, but in order to learn something of the form, relation- 

 ships, and habits of the insects. A mere collection that 

 does not represent a study of these points amounts to very 

 little. The habits of the insects should be observed, as far 

 as possible, before they are caught and killed. 



It is a good plan to collect insects of certain kinds in bulk, 

 when they are especially abundant, and to preserve them in 

 alcohol or formalin for future study. Thus, in a time of 

 great abundance of locusts, or a pest of boxelder-bugs, or 



