GREASE. 
H 3 
sufficient, but it is always adviseable to give one more shorter 
bath to rinse off any remains of surface grease from the last bath. 
The exceptions to breaking off the bodies are: Sometimes where 
the hind wings and body are alone at fault it is adviseable to 
break them off together—Sometimes it is not desirable to detach 
a body of a larger species, as in the case of a specimen saturated 
all over the surface, but presenting a thorax the fur of which does 
not well overlap the abdomen ; here it is recommended to insert 
a small drill under the eleventh segment, beneath the specimen 
near the tail end, push it into the cavity, stir up the contents and 
withdraw it; by this means the fluid will be admitted to the 
interior and come into direct contact with the grease. 
The next modification of the process is when whole specimens 
from the smallest up to the size of a small noctua, and on rarer 
occasions larger species, have to be operated upon—here a 
different vessel is needed ; a perfectly fitting stoppered wide 
mouthed “squat” bottle is the best for the purpose, but the 
expense may be objected to—in which case a suitable bottle may 
be picked up at the grccers’ or the rag shop, and fitted with a bung, 
well covered with bladder in the manner already mentioned ; this 
vessel must now be furnished with a stage composed of a piece of 
sheet cork, which will easily enter the mouth and loosely lie on 
the bottom, it should be loaded with a strip or two of lead to 
sink it, and at one end there should be a little cork float, attached 
with a half inch tether of thread or water cord, by which to lower 
it into, and lift it out of the vessel; the insects are then pinned 
on to this stage in such a way as not to touch one another, the 
stage is then placed in the bottle, ether is poured in to cover it, 
the stopper replaced, and the whole put away for subsequent 
treatment as in the case of the detached bodies already referred 
to. 
Lastly, we have to consider the cleansing of the wings and 
thoraces of the larger species, from which the bodies have been 
removed. These, if distortion be absent or only slight, may be 
bedded on to magnesia, saturated with ether by dropping the 
fluid upon them, then quickly covered over with more magnesia, 
and set aside for twenty-four hours. Three or four such applica¬ 
tions will generally suffice, since in such cases the grease is 
merely superficial. Butterflies are quickly restored to their natural 
tints in this manner. When we are satisfied with the result, it 
will of course be necessary to shake and blow off the powder, and 
give a gentle brush up with a camel’s hair pencil. 
With regard to the time at which the above operations should 
be conducted, no attempt should be made till after the insects 
are thoroughly set and dry—then, if they show signs of grease, the 
sooner they are attended to the better—but while some specimens 
show signs of disfigurement even a few days after they have been 
killed, others have been known to go twenty years before exhibit- 
