COLLECTING. 



21 



height of specimens on the pin, a handy graduated stage has 

 been devised by Dr. Scarancke (see Fig. 14). Each of the 

 little rests are hollowed to receive the body of the insect, so 

 suppose we wish a quarter of an inch of the pin to show below 

 the body of a specimen, the pin is pushed through a perforation 

 in the centre of the rest groove marked "^ ? ' until the point 

 touches the wooden base, and we have the required length. 



Beginners would, perhaps, find three sizes of pins quite 

 sufficient for almost every purpose— say, Nos. 10, 8, and 5 of one 

 maker ; or Nos. 9, 17, and 5 of the other. In each case the 

 first size pin would be suitable for small butterflies, the second 



Fig. 14. 

 Pinning* Stage. 



size for all other butterflies except quite the largest, for which 

 No. 5 would remain. English pins are sold by the ounce. 



Setting, as it is called, that is, spreading out and fixing the 

 wings so that all their parts are displayed, arranging the 

 horns, etc., is perhaps the most tedious work that the 

 collector will be called upon to perform. The various 

 methods will be referred to, and he must then decide as to which 

 he will adopt. Each style may possibly be found to have its 

 difficulties at first ; but time and patience will overcome these, 

 therefore he must be prepared for a good deal of troublesome 

 practice before he quite gets " the hang of the thing," and can 



Setting, 



