150 



THE TOUNG NATURALIST. 



slightest touch, in fact they become rotten and fall to pieces. The next step 

 is to get the insect mounted on the card, which must be the finest Bristol- 

 board of a thickness according to the size of the insect, it is a very convenient 

 plan to have it cut into strips of suitable widths for use. Having selected 

 the piece of card the first operation is to place a small dab of gum in the 

 centre, and then to get the beetle turned over on to the card, if possible 

 without displacing its wings, and then with the setting needle to place its 

 legs, antennae, and palpi accurately, for this operation a magnifiying glass is 

 often needed, and always so for the smaller ones ; for this purpose nothing 

 will be found so useful as a watchmaker's eye-glass set in a cork frame, not in 

 horn as they usually are, as cork is so much lighter and easier to hold in the 

 eye. A very little practice will enable any one to hold it in his eye, and the 

 comfort and advantage gained by using such, in preference to a hand-glass is 

 great, as both hands are free, one to hold the insect, whilst with the other you 

 are arranging its legs, &c. 



The setting needles are merely good strong sewing needles driven into a 

 stick or penholder for a handle. One of these needles should have the extreme 

 tip hooked, for drawing out a leg that is retracted, or for any similar purpose, 

 a hook is easily made by heating the tip of a needle in the gas or candle and 

 bending it with the pliers whilst hot. The rest of the process depends upon 

 practice, for it cannot be denied that some species of beetles are very difficult 

 to set, those with short legs, and those which are of a more or less globular 

 form are perhaps the worst. There is another method and I think a better 

 one than that just described, namely to set them at once with hot common 

 glue, immediately they are killed in boiling water, or if more convenient after 

 they have been in the laurel bottle. The glue should be kept warm in a child's 

 food warmer or other similar arrangement, the thickness of the glue is a 

 matter of experience, but it will be found that the larger ones will require it 

 thicker than the smaller ones. They may be set on any old or dirty card so 

 long as it is not thin, or it curls up as the glue dries. Having mounted, or 

 rather set them in this way, which with a little practice will be found very 

 easy, as the glue holds them firmly when once placed in position, so that it 

 is a far less difficult and delicate operation than with the gum,. they may 

 be dated and marked with locality, and put aside until a leisure time turns 

 up for examination and permanent remounting on Bristol-board. 



The plan I have just described was introduced by Dr. Ellis and Mr. Smed- 

 ley (of Liverpool), and I think all coleopterists owe them a debt of grati- 

 tude for publishing the method. It is an immense advantage when dealing 

 with the Rove and Cock-tail beetles (JBrackelyir&) f an& all soft-bodied species, 

 as if set with gum they twist and shrink up, owing to the contraction of the 



