Fig. 20.
Brace and Band Modes of setting.
Fig. [21] shows a specimen set by a method that is in vogue in the north. Blocks of soft pine, grooved and bevelled as in the cork saddle, are easily made. Down the centre of the groove there is a saw cut for the point of the pin to enter, and nicks are cut along the bottom edge at each end. One end of a length of cotton is knotted and fixed in a nick, then a turn is taken over the wings on one side; these are placed in position and secured by other turns of the cotton. The other side is then treated in the same manner, and the end of the cotton fastened off in one of the nicks. This is a quick and, in skilled hands, a very neat method.
As specimens after being set will have to remain on the setting boards or saddles for at least a fortnight, it will be necessary to protect them not only from dust, but from possible attack by ants, cockroaches, mice, etc. This is best ensured by placing the sets into a receptacle called a setting or drying house. Dealers supply these, but the young collector may have a knowledge of carpentry and could make one for himself. The height and depth of such a construction would depend upon the number and the width of the boards or saddles that would be put therein. The width would be that of the length of the boards, which is usually 14 inches. About a quarter of an inch of cork is cut off each end of the saddles, and grooves are cut in the sides of the house for these to run in. The back and the door should have a square of fine perforated zinc inserted in them for ventilation. As an example of holding capacity it may be well to note that a house with a height of 12 inches, and a depth of 6 inches, inside measurement, would take eighteen 2-inch boards if the grooves were cut at 2 inches apart, or twenty-four boards of same width if 1-1/2 inch only were allowed between the grooves.
Fig. 21.
Cotton Method of setting.