CHAPTER XI. 

 COLLECTING AND PRESERVING MATERIAL, 



WITH SUGGESTIONS UPON ITS MANAGEMENT IN 



THE CLASS. 



The following chapter is designed to aid teachers 

 and pupils in collecting and preserving material for 

 class use. It is given as the. result of ten years' expe- 

 rience with large classes, during which many devices 

 have been tried and many failures recorded. Every 

 device suggested here has been successfully employed. 



Grasshoppers. — About five grasshoppers will be 

 needed for each pupil in the class. These are best 

 collected in the early fall. The large Melanoplus dif- 

 ferentialis is easily collected in some places. An in- 

 sect net will usually be needed to collect them. The 

 grasshoppers should be killed by dropping them im- 

 mediately into a bottle of alcohol. They should after- 

 wards be transferred to such jars as Mason fruit jars 

 and kept in strong, clear alcohol. 



Crickets. — One for each pupil in the class will be 

 sufficient. They should be searched for by turning 

 over boards, stones, logs, and bunches of grass. They 

 can be captured by hand or by a net. They should be 

 preserved in alcohol, in the same manner as grass- 

 hoppers. 



Katydids. — Sometimes they can be obtained around 

 electric lights. Usually they can be captured on low 

 bushes, such as willows, or in the meadow grass. In 

 general, all insects are most satisfactorily preserved iu 

 strong alcohol. 



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