KILLING AND SETTING BEETLES. 281 



ounce of spirit) lias been previously placed, whicli effectually 

 kills and ultimately tends to preserve them. On reaching 

 home, the contents of this bottle may be turned out into any 

 shallow dish kept specially for that purpose (a photographer's 

 '■print" pan) and fished for with small pieces of paper or 

 cardboard, and the spirit afterwards returned to the bottle. 

 The larger beetles are to be pinned through the right wing case, 

 and never in the centre, their legs being nicely arranged in 

 the proper positions, and in some cases the wings may be 

 displayed. The more minute beetles may be gummed on a 

 small slip of card through which the pin passes, their legs 

 arranged by the aid of patience, a fine crooked pin, a camel- 

 hair pencil, and a pair of small forceps, the latter being also 

 very handy for picking up any other small objects. 



In setting the larger beetles, as well as the various thick- 

 bodied insects, belonging to the orders Ortliojptera, Neuroptera, 

 Dijptera, and Hymenoptera, double braces instead of " setting "- 

 boards may be used in the following manner : The insect being 

 pinned high on a board or piece of cork, with legs extended, two 

 large pieces of card, one for each side, are brought up under- 

 neath the wings and close to the body by pins stuck through the 

 <3orners. This forms a rest for the wings when extended, which 

 are then braced on top of the cards by smaller braces in the 

 usual manner, the pins, however, of the braces falling outside 

 the supporting cards and fixing in the wood or flat cork under- 

 neath. Many exotic insects — butterflies and moths — are set 

 in this manner, which is really "flat setting." If the braces 

 are at any time too limp and do not seem to clip the wings 

 properly, a little piece of cork just sufiicient for the pin to slip 

 through may be added on top of the brace. 



The larger beetles and other insects, such as the dragon-flies, 

 ■cicadas, grasshoppers, and "walking leaf" insects, should 

 always have the contents of the abdomen removed either by 

 X)ressure, or by being cut underneath, and, when empty, injected 

 with a little of the corrosive sublimate preparation, and after- 

 wards filled out with wool or blown out with a small blowpipe 

 until the abdomen is again distended and dry. Some insects 

 which are narrow at the "waist" may be advantageously 

 snipped through at that part to remove the contents therefrom, 



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