The Life-History and Anatomy of Butterflies 



efficient in the case of many of the small species when they are 

 still fresh ; in the case of the larger species the scales may be re- 

 moved by means of a camel's-hair pencil such as is used by paint- 

 ers. The chemical method of bleaching wings is simple and inex- 

 pensive. For this purpose the wing should be dipped in alcohol 

 and then placed in a vessel containing a bleaching solution of some 

 sort. The best agent is a solution of chloride of lime. After the 

 color has been removed from the wing by the action of the 

 chloride it should be washed in a weak solution of hydrochloric 

 acid. It may then be cleansed in pure water and mounted upon 

 a piece of glass, as microscopic slides are mounted, and thus pre- 

 served. When thus bleached the wing is capable of being mi- 

 nutely studied, and all points of its anatomy are brought clearly 

 into view. 



The veins in both the fore and hind wings of butterflies 



may be divided into simple and 

 compound veins. In the fore 

 wing the simple veins are the 

 costal, the radial, and the subme- 

 dian; in the hind wing, the cos- 

 tal, the subcostal, the upper and 

 lower radial, the submedian, and 

 the internal are simple. The 



Fig. 38.— Outline of wing, giv- 

 ing names of parts. 



Fig. 39.— Arrangement of scales 

 on wing of butterfly. 



costal vein in the hind wing is, however, generally provided near 

 the base with a short ascending branch which is known as the 

 precostal vein. In addition to these simple veins there are in the 

 fore wing two branching veins, one immediately following the 



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