wires are attached to strings passing through notches in the lid, the nest may be slung at once in the box and may be removed, when required, with perfect safety both to its own structure and the fingers of the operator. If we wish to preserve the nest as a specimen, the best way is to cut round the top with a sharp knife or large pair of scissors, and extract the comb in a mass through the aperture. The old dry deserted comb at the top of the nest is to be retained in its place, and one or two of the lower stages should be preserved. The rest may be thrown away. When the specimen has been brought home, carefully pick out the grubs from the lowest stage of comb, and replace this in its proper position so as to show at the orifice of the nest; fill up the centre with cotton wool; replace the top, and fasten the cut edges neatly together. Then sprinkle the specimen well with some preservative solution to destroy earwigs or wood-lice, and, after a few days' quarantine and a cautious baking, it will be fit for the cabinet. It will need, henceforth, only protection from dust and damp, and an occasional sprinkling with a solution of phenic acid, mineral naphtha, or some such fluid. Hung from a string in its natural position, or turned upside down and mounted on a card with a comb by its side, it will last for years. Nests of only moderate size make the best cabinet specimens. So much for the preservation of the nests, now for the wasps themselves. And, by the way, as it is scarcely likely that these investigations can be carried on without an occasional sting, it may not be out of place here to speak of the treatment of this incidental trouble. Gerarde* mentions only rue and mint and mallow as the best applications to the part stung, and attributes to mallow leaves and oil preventive as well as curative virtues. Sennertus,† a very high medical authority in his day, mentions several remedies, either simply soothing poultices, or applications of aromatic herbs. He gives to a mixture of coriander and sugar the highest place. But, while these are being sought for, he advises the wound to be sucked, or a poultice made of the offending insects a hair of the dog that bit you—to be applied, to draw out the poison.‡ Fabricius Hildanus, whose surgical writings are quoted at the present day, harps on the same string, and sums up a narrative of several cases of serious injury from a wasp's sting with a grave argument in favour of oil of wasps as a remedy for the effects of their venom.§ These all have had their turn, and are gone out of fashion. Even tobacco and a watch-key have had their date and been forgotten, to be suggested again as new remedies. The popular remedy now-a-days, which has had a long run of public favour, is scarcely less absurd than a wasp-poultice. This is a mixture of indigo and Prussian-blue, known to washerwomen *Herball, by Johnson.' Folio, 1633. Table of Vertues. See also Paulus Ægineta, Commentary by Adams,' Book V, § 5. Syd. Soc. Vol. II, p. 169. + Sennerti Opera.' Folio, 1650. Tom. III, p. 658. So Celsus. Scorpio ipse sibi pulcherrimum medicamentum est.— 'De Medicinâ,' Lib. V, cap. 27. § 5. 8vo. Lugd. Bat. 1746. § 'Fabricii Hildani Opera Omnia.' Folio, Francofurti, 1682. Cent. Observ. VI, § 88. Ploucquet, 'Literatura Medica digesta,' under ICTUS, gives a long list of references, which the curious on this subject might consult with amusement, if not with advantage. 5 tom. 4to. Tubinge, 1808—14. as stone-blue, laid on thick with vinegar or water. Perhaps there may be some comfort from the local application in the same way as dredging with flour gives unquestionable comfort in erysipelas. But I must be allowed to express a doubt whether there is anything more than this, and whether red-ochre,* or whiting would not do nearly as well as indigo,t which, once famous in medicine, has, in its turn now dropped out of the Pharmacopoeia. Nearly as well: but there is a great charm in the colour; something must be allowed for that; and such an opportunity of making a mess, under authority too, is a great event in a little child's life. Hunter,‡ who had large personal experience of stings of bees and wasps, dismisses the subject in one line:-"I have heard of cures, but I never experienced one." Ammonia or soda will sometimes relieve the pain, and chloroform more certainly and speedily, should it be at hand. Ipecacuanha is a favourite Indian remedy. But the best way is gently to withdraw the sting, and suck the wound if we can get at it, and then to leave it alone. Some persons swell very much after a sting, and for these rest and a good dose of purgative medicine are the best treatment. But, above all, leave the wound alone. And so far as whiting or indigo conduce to this end by excluding the air from the swelled tender skin, by finding the poor little child something to do, or keeping the older patients *Mr. Lord,At Home in the Wilderness,' London, 1867, p. 281, says that the North American Indians of Columbia use vermilion for a similar purpose, and with equal success, medical and artistical. + Beckmann, History of Inventions,' ad rem. Hunter's 'Posthumous Works by Owen,' Vol. II, p. 457. from teasing and squeezing the part, they do good; and they may hold their place as potent remedies till the wheel of fashion brings up something else instead of them. A little practice will make any one far more proficient in setting wasps than any amount of written directions. But it can do no harm, and may save much time at first to be put in the right way. Newly hatched wasps are very likely to turn black after a little while; so that if we have only such specimens it is better to keep them alive for some days before doing anything with them. We may kill them readily by dropping them into a corked bottle with a little benzol, better known as benzine collas, or chloroform, at the bottom. The first of these is the best: it is less volatile, so that the poisoning bottle will not require to be replenished so often; and its effects are more permanent. After a few minutes the wasps may be removed from the bottle and spread out to dry; and if then no signs of life appear clean and set them at once. we may For this purpose, take the wasp between the left thumb and forefinger, and squeeze the abdomen gently, removing the viscera, as they protrude, with a pair of forceps and a bit of rag. Then wipe out the inside of the abdomen with a little cotton wool, and when it is quite dry insert a small tuft of this to prevent the abdomen from shrinking. With care all this may be done without cutting, or even without displacing any of the rings. Next draw the legs out gently, and particularly attend to the tibio-tarsal joints, straightening them, not by pulling, but by pressing, so that they may readily take any required position without fear of breaking. Now pass a fine but strong pin through the thorax, and set the insect on a cork-board. The legs will keep their position in drying, but the antennæ will need support, and perhaps the head also. The chief trouble is with the wings, on the neat adjustment of which so much of the beauty of the specimen depends. The best way to manage these is to fix a long pin obliquely into the cork-board on either side, parallel to the body of the insect, making an inclined plane on which the wings may rest when they are expanded. Now open the fore-wing very carefully, with one blade of the forceps, and draw it over the hind-wing, up this plane. After one or two trials the row of little hooks which are found along the front of the hindwing of the wasp will hook as they naturally do in flight, and the wings thus fastened will look much better and retain their position more securely than when they are adjusted by pins. They are to be held in this position by another long lighter pin lying over the stronger one and nipping the wings between them. This must be repeated on the other side, and the limbs must be re-arranged where they have been disturbed; and then the specimen only needs drying to be complete. Sometimes, by merely blowing them, the wings may be properly expanded, and if, luckily, the hooks can be made to catch at the same time a great deal of trouble will be saved thereby. When the specimen is very small, as will be the case if we extend our researches beyond the Vespæ, pins and forceps will be of no use in spreading the wings, but will only tear them. The best way then is to float out each wing, with a drop of water, on the |