jan. — mar. 1858.] Notes on various Subjects. 251 



it into the case until it stands about £th of an inch thick. "When 

 the mixture is on the point of hardening, cover it with a piece of 

 white or colored paper previously cut to the required dimensions. 



No. 2. Entomology. On an artificial method of preserving a 

 collection of duplicates of Lepidoptera in a portable form. 



Those who devote their spare hours to the study of the various 

 branches of natural history in India, whether t'Aey prefer entomo- 

 logy, ornithology conchology or botany, cannot but have found, 

 that the constant movements to which we are most of us subject, 

 are a great impediment to these pursuits. 



Collections of specimens in either of these branches are general- 

 ly bulky, and the care, anxiety and expense involved in their trans- 

 mission from place to place, do much to counterbalance the plea- 

 sure which these pursuits are calculated to afford. Any plail 

 which tends to decrease the bulk of these collections, will, I am 

 sure, be acceptable to collectors, and with this end in view, I pro- 

 ceed to recommend the adoption of a simple plan examples of 

 which as a pastime many of us have no doubt seen, but of the 

 extended application of which in the manner now proposed, I have 

 never witnessed an example. We have our books of fern3, mosses 

 and sea-weeds, and why should we not have a book of butterflies, 

 which, independent of its portability and beauty, would be one of 

 the most lasting ways of securing examples of these delicate insects. 



I must premise however that the plan which is to a certain ex- 

 tent artificial, is intended to be applied simply and solely to the pre- 

 servation of duplicates, and can never supersede or replace a collec- 

 tion of the perfect insects. 



The mode of procedure is as follows. Chose a well bound blank 

 book of convenient size, and having ready at hand a phial of isin- 

 glass size, (made by dissolving isinglass in alcohol) a pair of fine 

 pointed scissors, and a camel's hair pencil, select the duplicate spe- 

 cimens which are not required in your cabinet, and cut off care- 

 fully the four wings close to the point of insertion. Lay then on 

 a page of your book in the most natural attitude, and if you have 

 two specimens of the same butterfly, show both the upper and 



