THE YOUNG NATUKALIST. 



with a spring in the back to prevent 

 the blade closing is perhaps more por- 

 table and convenient. If it is not too 

 much trouble to carry it, a square of 

 some waterproof material will be 

 worth procuring, ft serves to kneel on 

 among damp herbage or swampy places, 

 and will also be useful for shaking- 

 tufts of grass, moss, etc., upon. 



To bring home your captures, you 

 will need for larger species a few chip 

 boxes, but beetles have strong jaws, 

 and some species are quite capable of 

 eating their way out. For smaller 

 species glass bottles are generally used. 

 These should bewide mouthed, with a 

 quill inserted through the cork, so 

 that you can drop your captures in 

 without taking the cork out every time. 

 A bit of crumpled blotting paper, or 

 muslin, in a bottle of this sort is an | 

 advantage. Smaller bottles, or straight 

 glass tubes corked at eacli end for 

 specialities, should also be procured. \ 

 A corked quill is a good substitute. 

 As many Beetles arc carnivorous, and 

 would commence to devour their fellow 

 prisoners even in a glass bottle, it is j 

 well to have some means of ki ling, or , 

 stupifying them, as they are taken. 

 The ordinary cyanide bottle may be 

 used for this purpose, or bruised laurel 

 leaves may be substituted for the blot- 

 ting paper or muslin. ^Ve have seen 

 a very useful little collecting case, 

 which anyone could lit up for them- 

 selves. It contained three bottles, 

 the centre one for chloroform, and the 

 outer ones for captures. To the cork 

 of the chloroform bottle was attached 



a camel's hair pencil, and when a fed 

 Beetles had been placed in one of thl 

 outside bottles the corks were exi 

 changed, and the fumes from tin 

 chloroform on the pencil soon killed o: 

 stupefied the captures. Then tin 

 pencil, with a fresh dip of chloroform jj 

 is transferred to the other bottle 

 which by this time will have souk 

 " live stock " in it. 



We cannot spare space to-day to git] 

 instructions in using these implements- I 

 or on the general means employed ii 

 collecting Coleoptera. This must serv 

 for another article, and a third oi 

 setting, will complete the subject. 



NOTICES. 



Orders or other communications must be sell, 

 to John- E. Uobsox, BejLJerby Ten-race, Wcl 

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 may also be sent to the printers or publishers, 



A lithographed plate is presented every lnonl 

 which limy be had beautifully colored by hail 

 on payment of 2/- for the series of ] 2. 



Communications for insertion should reach \ 

 one week in o.dcci.iirc. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



. T. D., Edgbaston. — You have made 

 miscalculation about the monthly issue 

 the Young Naturalist. Even if we issu< 

 the jo pages of letterpress you would n 

 lose 120 pages in a volume, besides ! 

 space would be taken up by the Notioi 

 Scales of Charges, &c. , and we should 

 able to utilise the cover to our readers' al 

 vantage. You would get a colored pi; 

 each month, which would be worth h; 

 the subscription, or an extra plain one. a 

 four more pages of text. We know ma 

 of our readers would prefer to have 

 weekly, but it is a great labour on some 

 our agents, who have 30 or 40 papers 



