INSECTS. 65 



Butterflies are soon killed by passing a pin through the thorax. 

 The pin passed through the thorax of small Moths generally proves 

 almost instantly fatal to them. 



The best manner of preserving the minute species of Moths is 

 by pill-boxes, as above stated, each moth being kept in a separate 

 box. We have found the following the best mode of destroying 

 them : 



A piece of flat hard-wood is taken, and a circular groove cut in 

 it, sufficiently deep to admit the mouth of a tumbler being placed 

 within it. In the centre of the wood, pierce a hole about a third 

 of an inch in diameter in its centre : place the pill box under this 

 tumbler, with the lid off, and the insect will soon creep out : but 

 whether it does so or not, a match well primed with sulphur is 

 lighted and placed into the hole under the centre of the tumbler, 

 which will suffocate the insect in a few seconds. I have also 

 found this an effectual method of killing the larger species of But- 

 terflies, and Moths. In piercing them, the pin should be quite 

 perpendicular, that no part of their minute frame should be hidden 

 by its oblique position. 



The larger insects of this order are set by braces chiefly. A sin- 

 gle one should in the first place be introduced under the wing, 

 near the thorax,, as shown in fig. 36, and a longer brace extending 

 over the wings. These should not bear upon the wings, but be 

 ready to rest gently on them, w r hen required. The wings are now 

 elevated to their proper position by the setting needle, and other 

 braces are used as necessity dictates. The feet and antenna? are 

 extended and kept in their places by means of pins; in which 

 operation small braces are also occasionally used. 



The French Entomologists set Butterflies, Moths, and Sphinges, 

 on a piece of soft-wood, in which they have excavated a groove 

 for the reception of the body, as deep as the insertion of the wings. 

 They are otherwise preserved as above directed. 



In the larger Butterflies, Moths, and Sphinges, the abdomen 

 should be perforated, its contents extracted, and then stuffed with 

 fine cotton, after having been washed internally with the solution 

 of corrosive sublimate. Indeed, the cotton should also be rubbed 

 with arsenical soap before being introduced, as these insects are 

 particularly liable to the attack of smaller insects, such as the 

 Mire. 



