474 A few Instructions for Insect Collectors. [No. 126. 



and keeping them in a dry place; attacks of the latter are prevented 

 by the application of arsenical soap, and having a quantity of camphor 

 constantly in the cases ; but this last is an expensive article as it readily 

 evaporates, and some cheap and efficient substitute is a desideratum. 

 The articles a collector must be supplied with are, pins, arsenical 

 soap, a pair of fine pointed scissors, a lot of bristles from a large paint- 

 ing brush, a solution of lac in spirits of wine, a hand net, a collect- 

 ing box, a drying box, and glazed preserving cases. 



The pins are made expressly for the purpose in England, France, and 

 Germany, and are, there, very cheap ; their sizes are various, from one 

 inch and a half to three inches long, and of corresponding thicknesses ; 

 they are absolutely necessary, for the common pins are too short even 

 for middling sized insects, and too coarse for smaller ones ; another 

 great advantage in the proper pins is, their allowing the insects to 

 be kept at a distance from the bottom of the box, by which they are 

 removed somewhat from damp, and placed out of reach of any insects 

 which may breed in the lining. 



Arsenical soap is easily made according to the recipe given in 

 Dr. Pearson's paper. [Vide p. 478,] I have made it with native soap, 

 which if of good quality, loses its offensive smell when mixed with the 

 other ingredients. 



The bristles are very useful for strengthening such insects as from 

 slenderness would be liable to break, and for joining broken legs 

 or antennae ; for the latter purpose a bristle dipped in the lac solution 

 is inserted lengthwise into one of the pieces, leaving enough to go 

 similarly into the other piece, the rest is cut off, and then the two 

 joined together. For large insects a slip of bamboo peel is better, 

 as being stronger, and in some cases cotton must be wrapped round it 

 to give the size and shape of the body. I would generally advise 

 the use of one or the other. 



The lac solution is made by pouring on the pounded lac a quantity of 

 strong spirits of wine, and placing it in the sun (close corked) till 

 dissolved ; it should be thick, and is useful in joining broken insects, 

 and fastening on limbs. 



The net is of gauze, eighteen inches long, and sewn on a wire or 

 rattan ring one foot diameter, the handle of any convenient length. 



The collecting box which I use is thirteen inches by eleven, and three 



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