24 
INSTRUCTIONS IN LEPIDOPTERA. 
strong pin (I obtain of Mr. Gale a No. 12 pin, which answers 
this purpose), and when about to set out an insect—say a 
Vanessa Urticce or an Arctia Caja —place two of the longest 
braces about an inch apart, with their points converging, and 
let the broad end of the brace be kept well up from the board 
being some height up the pin, the narrow end being in con¬ 
tact or nearly so with the setting board; these are the under- 
braces, and the insect is then to be placed midway between 
them, and its wings expanded over these braces and kept in 
their place by the use of several smaller braces. The insect 
may thus be made to assume a rounded form, that is to say, 
the edges of all the wings arc deflected so as just to toucli 
the setting board; it gives the insect a graceful pleasing ap* 
pearance, but surely not a natural one. On the Continent 
insects are always set on flat setting boards, with a groove to 
adjust the body, so that by applying flat braces over the wings 
they are easily kept perfectly flat and horizontal. The santf 
plan is adopted here by many collectors of Micro-Lepidof- 
tera , and in many genera is absolutely essential, or the col¬ 
lector must despair of having his specimens named, as the 
characters frequently lie in the very tip of the cilia. Insects 
should be left on the setting board from one to four days 
according to the size of the species and the dryness of the 
weather. 
In summer care must be taken to exclude mites from the 
setting boards, or they will infallibly destroy all the best 
species; keeping a good supply of camphor will not always 
be found sufficient on the setting boards, which are of ne¬ 
cessity exposed to the air, but a mixture of equal parts of oil 
of thyme, oil of anise and spirits of wine, spread over the 
setting board, and laid on the grooves more especially, will be 
found of greater effect than camphor. 
