Beyond these requirements nothing is wanted save a good stock of pins, thin card or ordinary writing paper, and a 'setting needle.' The last-named item is simply a needle mounted in a handle, and a good one may be made by thrusting the head of a darning needle into a piece of twig. The pins used for setting--that is, for fixing the pieces of paper or card to keep the parts in position--may be of the ordinary kind; but entomological pins are far preferable, even for this purpose; for, being much thinner, they do not damage and disfigure the setting boards so much. Now as to the setting. First see that the pin with which you are to fix your dead insect passes centrally through the thorax. Then fix it firmly on the setting board, its body lying neatly in the groove of the cork. Cut out some little pointed strips of card or paper, and, after bringing the wings into position with the setting needle, fix each one by a pinned strip. In spreading out the wings, care must be taken not to pierce them at all, but simply to push them into their place by pressing the needle at their bases, or by putting the needle beneath and _lifting_ them out. Instead of pointed pieces of card, uniform strips of paper may be used, as shown in fig. 63, each strip passing over both wings. After the four wings have been properly arranged, a few extra pins may be used to keep other parts in position. Thus, the antennae may be placed at equal angles, the proboscis may be extended, and a couple of pins may be used to support the abdomen if it is inclined to bend downward. [Illustration: FIG. 63.--ANOTHER METHOD OF SETTING BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.] As before mentioned, insects should be set soon after they are dead, while the parts are still soft and supple. But where this cannot be done, and the specimens have become stiff, brittle, and rigid, they must be 'relaxed' before any attempt is made at setting them out. This process of relaxing consists in placing the specimens in a very moist atmosphere for a few days. There are several simple ways of doing this, many of which will readily suggest themselves to the reader. Your collecting box, if a zinc one, may also be used as a relaxer. Pin your stiff insects in it, after well moistening the cork, and simply shut them up for a day or two. Any metal box will serve the same purpose providing you put into it a piece of sheet cork on which to fix the insects, and this cork may rest on a bed of moist sand. Another plan is to float the pinned specimens on corks in a shallow vessel of water, and cover them over with a bell glass. Insects that are being relaxed should be examined from time to time, and the degree of flexibility acquired tested by a gentle pressure of the setting needle or by blowing on them. If not sufficiently supple, give another day in the damp cell, but never allow them to be forgotten till they are covered with mildew.