Fig. 94.—Insect
mounted on
“elbow-pin.”
“Many English entomologists use short pins, very much like those of ordinary make, and my late friend Walsh never gave up the custom, and most vehemently opposed the use of what he ridiculed as ‘long German skewers.’ But the only advantage that can possibly be claimed for the short pins is that they are less apt to bend, consequently more easily stuck into the bottoms of boxes, and require less room; while, compared with the long pins, they have numerous disadvantages. Long pins admit of the very important advantage of attaching notes and labels to the specimen; render it more secure from injury when handled, and from museum pests in the cabinet; and on them several rows of carded duplicates may be fastened, one under the other, so as to economize room.”
I have seen few old collections in better condition than that of the late E. Mulsant, of Lyons, France; and he used iron wire, cut slantingly, of the requisite length—a common custom in France. These wires bend so easily and have such dull points that they require much more careful manipulation than the pins, and the claim made for them that they do not verdigris would, perhaps, be offset by their rusting in moist climates or near the sea. Silver wire or silver-plated wire is also used.
[Preparation of Specimens.]—Upon the return from an excursion the specimens should be prepared for the collection as soon as practicable. If they have been collected in the forenoon they should be mounted the same evening, and those collected during an afternoon or evening excursion should be mounted the following morning, or, at any rate, before they get dry and brittle. Even specimens collected in alcohol should be attended to as soon as possible.
Specimens are taken from the collecting bottle, spread out on a sheet of white blotting paper and cleaned from adhering impurities either with a soft dry brush, or, in the case of species with hard covering, by washing them with chloroform or ether or benzine where necessary. Theoretically the best way of mounting would be to pin all specimens, since the under side with its important characters then remains free for examination. Pins adapted for pinning even the smallest insects have been described above, but this pinning is such a delicate operation and requires so much time that considering the large number of small specimens that may be collected on a single short excursion it is next to impossible to carry out this method, and therefore only the larger specimens need be pinned and the smaller may be glued onto the paper points described later. If the work is done with proper care all insects can be prepared for the cabinet so that both the upper and under surface of the specimen may be examined without further manipulation.
Fig. 95.—Method of pinning and
labeling Coleoptera (original).