166 THE ATTRACTIONS OF ENTOMOLOGY 



vow not to waste any more time on such things in the 

 future. In Museums, too, many valuable specimens are 

 ruined by ants, beetles, moths, or moulds, notwithstanding 

 all precautions in the shape of tightly fitting cases, applica- 

 tion of preservatives, etc. ; moreover the extreme fragility of 

 pinned out insects makes it undesirable to handle them freely 

 and this interferes with their educational value. Such speci- 

 mens are indeed very awkward to examine satisfactorily even 

 with a simple lens, and are altogether unsuitable for adjust- 

 ment on a microscope stage. All these drawbacks can be 

 avoided by the following very simple method, which consists 

 merely in enclosing each insect in a separate flat transparent 

 little chamber, hermetically sealed so that destructive agents 

 of all kinds are completely excluded from gaining entrance, 

 and the specimen itself cannot give off its natural moisture 

 and so become dry and shrivelled up. This is very easily 

 effected by laying the insect in a suitable position on the 

 centre of a slip of clear glass; — a convenient size is 2 in. by 

 1^ in., — surrounding it with a somewhat thicker ring of the 

 modelling putty called "plasticene," covering it with another 

 glass slide of the same size, and pressing this down until it 

 first flattens out the plasticene ring evenly all round, and 

 then, with a little further pressure, comes to bear very lightly 

 on the enclosed insect, thus keeping it in position. The 

 opposite ends of the two> superposed slides are next securely 

 bound together by passing half inch wide strips of gummed 

 paper round each in turn, taking care while doing so that 

 sufficient pressure is maintained to keep the slides in close 

 contact with the flattened plasticene ring without pressing 

 unduly on the enclosed insect. Finally full details concern- 

 ing the specimen should be written on the ample surface 

 provided by the paper binding. 



In the case of very small insects ordinary microscope 

 slides, 3 in. by 1 in., should be used and a thin round cover 

 glass be placed directly on the plasticene ring and pressed 

 down on it by a second glass slide which is then removed 

 leaving the cover slip in position; any excess plasticene 

 which may have been pressed out beyond the end of the 

 cover slip should be trimmed off and the specimen completed 

 by affixing a paper label with the details on the end of the 

 slide; the cover slips being very thin, of course allow these 

 minute objects to be examined with high powers of the 

 microscope. 



In order to afford protection against injurious agents of 

 various kinds, it is advisable to incorporate a preservative, 

 such as napthalene, with the plasticene; for this purpose 

 about | an ounce of the former substance, finely powdered, 



