Butterflies and Moths (British)Furneaux, William S.
Science
Butterflies and Moths (British)
Furneaux, William S.
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
Of course the reader may be able to think of various other ways in which
the laurel box may be made. Any arrangement will do providing the vapour
can come to the insects without allowing the leaves to touch their
wings; and any ingenious youth could manufacture a more satisfactory
article than the one I have mentioned. My desire is, as far as possible,
to give instructions that may easily be carried out by anyone, even if
he has not the slightest mechanical skill, leaving the clever youth,
sometimes, the opportunity of displaying his own inventive power. But in
this case I will give a few suggestions concerning other ways in which a
laurel killer may be constructed. A firm and _fixed_ false bottom is a
decided advantage. This is easily managed by fixing a circular piece of
perforated zinc or 'tin' by means of a little solder; or even a wood
partition may be used, fixed with a few brads, driven into it from the
outside. With the fixed partition, however, you must have a lid at each
end of the box. This is easily managed if you get two tins of the same
size, knock out the bottom of one, and fit the lid of the other in its
place.
I have heard of laurel boxes without any partition save a piece of rag
in which the bruised leaves are wrapped. The whole is _pressed_ into the
box so firmly that it is not likely to be displaced while you are on the
chase. I do not recommend this, for in addition to the chance of its
slipping there is a danger of the sap of the leaves exuding through the
rag and spoiling the insects' wings. But if the reader should prefer to
try this on account of its simplicity, it will probably occur to him
that a bottle may be used instead of a tin box.
A well-made laurel box, with a fixed metal partition, is a piece of
apparatus strongly to be recommended to all young entomologists who
desire to test the relative value of the various poisons that are used
by the different experts; for with it any one of these substances can be
used. In the poison compartment you can place pieces of 'cyanide'
wrapped in blotting paper, or any kind of porous substance moistened
with liquid ammonia, chloroform, benzole, or any other volatile liquid
insecticide. All the above-named substances are declared to be 'the
best,' so they must all be worth the trial.
'Cyanide' is valued on account of its lasting powers. A cyanide bottle
well charged will retain its efficiency throughout a whole season. I
always recharge two in the spring, one for active service in the field
and the other as a reserve force; and these kept in a cool place do good
execution throughout the year. If they should exhibit a slight failing,
a few minutes' warming before a fire will improve them; but for field
work it is better to recharge. At the same time see that the corks are
in good condition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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