44 
BRITISH BEETLES. 
an excursion. Those in the first-mentioned bottle can 
be turned into quite boiling water, taken out as soon 
as possible with a wide camel’s-hair brush, and laid 
to dry on blotting-paper. It is as well, also, to put 
the beetles out of the other bottle into the boiling 
water ; as some of the larger species, and many of the 
weevils, &o., are not always effectually killed by the 
laurel, especially if it be not fresh. The more delicate 
specimens, and especially those with long pubescence, 
should be mounted at once ; the remainder can be 
placed in little muslin bags or screws of paper, and 
placed in the laurel depot or relaxing-jar, with a note 
of the localities, &c., of capture. The effect of the 
laurel is to preserve them from decay, and in a good 
condition for mounting, for a long period ; but, if 
left too long, they get discoloured, half rotten, and too 
weak to handle with safety. It should be remarked 
that beetles hilled in laurel become very stiff, and 
impossible to mount, until they have been kept for three 
or four days in laurel, when the rigidity of their 
muscles relaxes. 
For mounting or setting out the specimens, the 
following apparatus is necessary : — 
A frame with canvas or perforated-zinc back and 
door for setting-boards, which are oblong pieces of 
wood covered with cork and fitting into grooves; in 
the bottom may be a drawer for pins, &c. 
A bottle of gum tragacanth (called also “gum 
dragon ”). The thin clear pieces are the best, and 
can be obtained at any chemist’s. Two or three bits, 
of the size of the thumb-nail, with a very few small 
pieces of clear gum-arabic to give consistency, if put 
into a wide-mouthed bottle and covered with cold 
