520 ENTOMOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, &c. 
Under this head I may mention a very ingenious net 
for taking Lepidoptera, particularly butterflies, invented 
by Dr. Maclean of Colchester, which I would call Mac- 
lean’s elastic net. It is constructed of two pieces of 
stout split cane, connected by a joint at each end and 
with a rod which lies between them, in which a pulley is 
fixed; through this a cord fastened to the canes passes: 
a long cane with a ferrule receives the lower end of the 
rod and forms a handle; and to the canes is fastened a 
net of green gauze. Taking the handle in your right 
hand, and the string in your left, when you pull the lat- 
ter the canes bend till they form a hoop, and the net 
appended to them is open; when your prey is in it, re- 
lax the cord, and the canes become straight and close the 
mouth of the net, keeping them close with your left hand, 
you may soon disable your prey with your right. Dr. 
Maclean has scarcely ever found this net fail. 
5. Another instrument which should be constantly in 
the hands’of the Entomologist is the forceps*. This is 
particularly useful for catching Diptera and Hymeno- 
ptera chiefly while at rest on the leaves and flowers of 
plants. Both these tribes are usually too agile to be 
taken by the hand alone, which besides without this 
contrivance would be exposed to the stings of many of 
the latter. The leaves of the forceps should be octagonal, 
five or six inches in diameter, and covered with green 
gauze, or rather very fine catgut, which will enable the 
head of a lace-pin to pass through it. You must direct 
your artisan to make the joint of the handle nearer the 
rings for the finger and thumb than to the leaves, or the 
instrument will not open well. An old pair of curling- 
‘ * PLrare XXIV. Fic. 5. 
