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



to the preserving cases. I do not advise sun-drying, as it often causes 

 a shrivelled appearance, particularly with soft-bodied or delicate insects. 



In the cabinet, they are to be kept as far from the lining as possible, 

 and the feet should on no account be allowed to touch it. 



Insects are sometimes preserved in spirits, but I have always found 

 them liable to become mouldy when subsequently set up in boxes, which 

 however may have been from the weakness of the spirits used ; when 

 the plan is adopted, I would advise their being cleaned out as elsewhere 

 mentioned. Large insects with strong mandibles should not be put 

 alive with others, as they will probably destroy their legs or antennae. 



Practice will suggest many minutiae which I omit. The directions 

 given will, I am certain, be found useful to those who wish to commence 

 a collection, but do not know how ; it is rather tedious work at first, but 

 facility is soon acquired, and as the number of specimens increases, 

 the labour is forgotten. A few boxes full have such a satisfactory ap- 

 pearance, that the pursuit will certainly be carried on with redoubled 

 activity, and perhaps a taste for Natural History in general created, 

 employing pleasantly time, which may otherwise pass but heavily. 



Books on Entomology are expensive. I would recommend " Westwood's 

 Text Book," as a cheap and useful work for a novice, and Boitard's 

 " Manuel D'Entomologie," which is an excellent aid, as it gives a descrip- 

 tion of some thousand species, and contains an analytical table, by means 

 of which the species to which any insect belongs, can be soon found. 



Recipe for preparation of arsenical Soap. — As. S. Journ. Vol. iv. p. 462. 



Take of Arsenic in powder, 2 lbs. White soap, 2 lbs. Salts of Tartar, 

 12 oz. Lime in powder, 4 oz. Camphor, 5 oz. 



Cut the soap into thin slices, and melt it in a little water or spirit of 

 wine over the fire ; then add the salts of tartar and the lime. Take 

 the mixture off the fire, and add the arsenic, taking care to mix it well 

 by trituration in a mortar, or other convenient vessel ; and when nearly 

 cold, mix in the camphor, previously reduced to powder by the help 

 of spirit of wine. When thus made, keep the arsenical soap in a glazed 

 earthen pot, or a wide-mouthed bottle, and when used, dilute it with 

 water to the consistence of cream. 



The principal materials for both the above preparations may be pro- 

 cured in every bazar in India. 



