THE YOUNG 
Mounting Board for Entomologists. 
The season has now opened for entomolo- 
gists, and as there are, no doubt, among your 
subscribers, a large number of collectors of 
insects, I send you a drawing of a mounting 
board for butterflies and moths, which I have 
■devised for my own use. 
The advantages of using a mounting board 
for Lepidoptera are two-lold. The insects may 
be arranged in any desired position, and left 
until rigid, and they will stand at a uniform 
height on the pins in the cabinet. 
The accompanying sketch is an end section, 
one-half full size, and it is very easily made, as 
follows: For the bottom, A, use a piece of hard 
wood, that the pins may only be pushed 
MOUNTING BOARD FOR INSECTS. 
against and not into it. The parts, B, C and 
D are made of pine or whitewood (not cedar), 
•each piece being just twice the size represented 
in the engraving, and about 18 inches long. 
The top pieces are cut thin on the inside 
-edges to give the wings of the insect a slight 
angle when set. For small insects and beetles 
the top pieces are left off, as they are of use 
only in setting the wings. 
It is well to have several boards with the 
space for the bodies of different widths, as 
many of the moths have very stout bodies. 
Between the pieces B, O and D, are laid thick 
paper or cardboard, through which, when in use, 
the pins are passed, and the whole screwed to- 
gether with slim screws, three or four on a side. 
When necessary new paper may be put in. 
As the pin can not enter the hard wood, the 
insects are sure to be set at a uniform height. 
Any information concerning the killing or 
preserving of insects will be cheerfully fur- 
nished. F. G. Smith. 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
SCIENTIST. 83 
Aquaria. 
A writer in Science Gossip relates his experi- 
ence with aquaria as follows: have kept a 
great number of aquaria, both salt and fresh 
water ones. I have often watched the stickle- 
backs, both salt and fresh water, and both 
sorts are very fond of attacking other fish, par- 
ticularly the fresh water species. The latter 
attacked goldfish, roach, dace, minnows, and 
other kinds of fish, as well as newts and tritons. 
They nibble the tails and fins off the fish, par- 
ticularly the goldfish, and the fish get dis- 
eased through it, and pine away and die. I 
have lost a great many goldfish by their depre- 
dations. They nibble or bite the toes and 
tail off the newts: I have seen their tails bitten 
so frequently by them that there has been very 
little left of them. I should never advise any 
one to place them in a nice-stocked aquarium, 
and they should be kept out of small orna- 
mental ponds where there are goldfish. If you 
wish to see how destructive they -are, place 
some of those fish or animals that I have men- 
tioned in an aquarium by themselves; you will 
then see that the sticklebacks will not let them 
rest a minute; they will worry the poor fish to 
death." 
A House Fired by a Milk Can. 
One of our exchanges quotes the following: 
"At Aurora, Illinois, a few days ago, a milk- 
man left a milk can turned bottom upwards on 
a table near his house in such a way that it re- 
flected the rays of the sun on a window after 
the manner of a burning glass. The blind 
caught fire from the heat, and, but for the 
timely discovery of the flames, the house 
would have been consumed." 
And then asks, "Can this be?" Certainly; 
nothing more simple. The bottom of the can 
was probably made concave, so as to be strong, 
and the dairy maid was probably very neat and 
cleanly, and made it shine as brightly as newly 
planished metal. Under such circumstances 
the concave bottom would act like a burnin'' 
mirror, and if at exactly the right distancb 
from the blinds, would readily set them on fire 
when the sun shone bright. 
liichen Ornaments. 
A lady in Mississippi, writing to the "House- 
hold," says: "I have a cross, a wreath and a small 
basket for the mantel, made of them. Cut the 
pasteboard the desired shape, and tack the lichens 
