After mentioning that, in sending mounted beetles by post to correspondents, it is far more practical to use a _strong_ box, not too deep, to fasten the pins securely, with a layer of manufactured wool in the lid (glazed side towards the beetles, so as not to catch limbs), and to put more wool outside, and write the address and affix the stamp on a label attached, than it is to pack carelessly, write "With care" outside,[F] and then grumble at the post-office because the insects are broken,--I think I cannot, with use, say anything more upon beetles in their preserved condition; and I will therefore now give some hints as to their haunts when alive. [F] It is, however, always as well to write "Insects," signifying contents that are "caviare to the million," and therefore not likely to be appropriated en route. To exhaust the accidental-capture system above alluded to, mention must first be made of sand-pit collecting, a most profitable employment, especially in spring and early summer. A clean, straight-sided silver-sand pit is the best, and if in or near a wood its attractions will be at their highest. Beetles, flying of an evening and by night, dash against the pit sides and fall to the bottom; others merely crawl in for shelter, or tumble over the sides, and many seem attracted by the mere damp at the bottom or in the corners. Old collectors used to recommend a sheet spread out to attract insects; and there is no doubt that a certain number can be found by such means, just as they can be picked up floating on horse-troughs or on ponds. Artificial traps exist in the corridors of the Crystal Palace, some half-inclosed country railway stations, and such places; crawling up the windows of which many specimens are to be found. But these can only be considered as indications of what species occur in the district, as they are mere stragglers. Deliberately laying traps in sand pits, on commons, &c., will be found most productive. Small dead animals, fir branches, dead leaves, &c., can be examined time after time with profit in such situations. Burying a stout branch with the bark on, leaving the top above the soil, and periodically examining it when damp and nearly rotten, has been found effective; many insects collecting beneath the loose wet bark. After heavy floods, as during severe droughts, beetles may be found in great profusion; in the former case, by sifting the refuse left by the water; in the latter, by diligently examining the damp residuum of former ponds, and if no damp be found, by even searching below the surface where it last occurred.