frequently break an antennae or find a split or slightly torn wing during the process 

 of spreading or in handling an insect and this can generally be repaired. Gum 

 tragacanth mixed with water until it is of the consistency of jelly is about the best 

 thing that can be used. Be very wary of glue, patent preparations and gum 

 arabic. I am well aware that each scientist has a particular favorite glue which 

 he uses to mend specimens, but, until you are sure that you have found something 

 better, use gum tragacanth. Apply with a soft camel-hair brush along the parts 

 to be joined. Experts take portions of wings from a badly damaged insect and 

 with them mend holes in the wings of one they wish to preserve. It will be 

 some time before the beginner can do this, but he should always try to repair 

 slight injuries. Each pupil is advised to practice the art of repairing specimens. 



GOOD PASTE A NECESSITY. 



The pasting of sheet cork or cork-linoleum in cigar boxes, the lining of 

 boxes with some neat paper, the fastening of labels on bottles, jars and test tubes, 

 on boxes, barrels and breeding cages requires the frequent use of a good paste. 

 Common flour paste will answer, especially if it contains a little alum to keep it 

 from spoiling. The white of an egg forms an excellent paste in an emergency. 

 There has recently come into general use among paperhangers a dry, powdered 

 paste, which can be mixed with either hot or cold water and is ready for instant 

 use. The Standard Wall Paper Co., 719 Mission Street, San Francisco, Cali- 

 fornia, sells this powder under the name of "Standard Sticko Paste." It sells 

 for a few cents per pound (I buy ten pounds for eighty cents) and is such a fine 

 paste and so easily prepared that I cordially recommend it. The best library paste 

 is not superior. It has the sticking qualities of glue and can be prepared in a 

 moment in any desired quantity. You can probably get it of any paperhanger 

 or wall paper company. 



PRONOUNCING THE NAMES. 



I wish I were gifted with the power to help you surmount the bugbear of 

 the awful names assigned to plants and insects. Every one shrinks from the at- 

 tempt to pronounce a foreign word with which he is unacquainted. Many a 

 pupil gives a gasp of horror at the sight of the food plant charts and flees in terror 

 from the further study of entomology. If it is any consolation to you, I can pos- 

 itively assure you that you can come as near pronouncing these names correctly 

 as do the majority of so-called scientists. The wisest of them differ. Half of 

 the learned professors call the beautiful underwing moth "Ca-toc'-a-la" and the 

 other half "Cat-a-co'-la." I like the first name best, just as Prof. Comstock does, 

 but I am not shocked when my friends differ from me. A simple rule for the 

 pronunciation of Latin names is to give each vowel a separate syllable. The 

 accent falls on the syllable before the last (the pe'-nult) unless that syllable is 

 short, in which case it falls on the second syllable before the last (the an-te- 

 pe'-nult). If the next to the last syllable in Catocala is "a" the word should 

 be "Ca-toc'-a-la"; if it is "co" then "Cat-a-co'-la" is proper. As many of the 

 names bestowed on moths and butterflies are almost meaningless, one has frequently 

 to guess at the pronunciation. 



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