hours to hasten the process of drying. This is of doubtful expediency unless 

 one is compelled to turn out a large amount of material in a short space of time. 

 The oven should never have a temperature exceeding 1 20 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Any great heat will surely ruin the specimens. If the boards are placed in a 

 cool, dry place for two or three weeks the largest butterflies and moths will 

 become thoroughly dry. The principal reason why wings relax and droop after 

 being spread is that they were taken from the spreading-board too soon. If 

 butterflies and moths are not fresh they must be relaxed before spreading and 

 will dry on the boards much sooner than freshly caught specimens, say in two or 

 three days, but freshly caught lepidoptera should never be taken from the boards 

 in less than one week. 



PATIENCE IS A FIRST REQUISITE. 



If you relax specimens be sure they are quite soft and pliable before you 

 attempt to spread them. Always relax them when they have dried so as to be- 

 come the least bit hard or obdurate. The wings should yield at the slightest 

 touch in order to give best results. Do not be in a hurry until you have had 

 much practice at spreading. Begin by taking imperfect specimens. You will 

 spoil many an insect before you have learned to do the work well. Moths are 

 more troublesome to handle on the spreading-board than butterflies and small in- 

 sects than larger. The white cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae Linn., is a type of 

 those which are easiest to spread and which the beginner should try first. Be 

 patient, keep trying. Hundreds of thousands of people have learned to spread 

 butterflies, hence you surely can. Just keep trying. If you work every day for 

 a week and spoil the wings of a hundred butterflies before you get one spread 

 in a satisfactory manner, you will do as well as some beginners whom I have 

 seen and who afterwards became expert. 



MOUNTING LEPIDOPTERA. 



Mounting an insect includes pinning, spreading, labeling and all other 

 steps taken up to the time it is pinned in a box or cabinet, just as mounting a 

 bird or animal in taxidermy means all processes from the removal of the skin 

 to the finished exhibit. All the earlier works on entomology devoted pages to 

 describing how to make cabinets. This custom has fallen into disuse because 

 home-made cabinets cost about as much, if made properly, as Schmitt boxes 

 and cabinets which are sold by the supply houses. If cabinets are not carefully 

 and perfectly made, if the drawers do not work smoothly, or there are cracks 

 or faulty joints which admit dust or insects, they cause endless annoyance and 

 often the utter loss of the collection placed therein. Every collector should 

 start a collection and should take the best possible care of his specimens, but I 

 recommend plain, cork-lined cigar boxes until such time as you can afford the 

 best boxes and cabinets. You will put your cigar boxes in a tight chest or 

 box, with plenty of naphthalene or moth balls, while if you have an inferior 

 cabinet or case of drawers you will trust it to protect your specimens, and ants 

 Oi beetles will eat them up. 



PRESENT METHODS UNSATISFACTORY. 



The present system of mounting lepidoptera on pins and sticking them in 

 cork-lined drawers is not altogether satisfactory. The cabinets are so expensive 

 that people of moderate means can hardly afford a good collection. Specimens 

 should be arranged in order, and when a drawer is full the introduction of a 



