_Papering Specimens._--When time and opportunities do not suffice for the proper preparation of butterflies for display in the permanent collection, the collector may, in the case of the larger species, conveniently place them in envelopes, with their wings folded (Fig. 51), and they may then be stored in a box until such time as he is able to relax the specimens and properly mount them. Thousands of insects are thus annually collected. The small drug envelopes, or the larger pay-roll envelopes, which may be bought in boxes by the thousand of any stationer for a comparatively small sum, are preferable because of their convenience. Many collectors, however, paper their specimens in envelopes which they make of oblong bits of paper adapted to the size of the insect. The process of making the envelope and of papering the insect is accurately depicted in the accompanying cut (Fig. 52). The writer finds it good in the case of small butterflies to place them in boxes between layers of cheap plush or velvet. A small box, a few inches long, may be provided, and at its bottom a layer of velvet is placed; upon this a number of small butterflies are laid. Over them is placed a layer of velvet, with its soft pile facing the same side of the velvet at the bottom. On top of this another piece of velvet is laid, with its pile upward, and other specimens are again deposited, and over this another piece of velvet is laid, and so on. If the box is not filled full at once, it is well to have enough pieces of velvet cut to fill it, or else place cotton on top, so as to keep the layers of velvet from moving or shaking about. A yard or two of plush or velvet will suffice for the packing of a thousand specimens of small butterflies.
[Illustration FIG. 51.--Butterfly in envelope.]
[Illustration FIG. 52.--Method of folding paper for envelopes: first fold on line _AB_; then on _AD_ and _CB_; then on _BF_ and _EA_.]
_Mounting Butterflies._--When the collector has time enough at his disposal he should at once mount his specimens as they are intended to be displayed in the collection. We shall now proceed to explain the manner in which this is most advantageously accomplished. The insect should first of all be pinned. The pin should be thrust perpendicularly through the thorax, midway between the wings, and at a considerable elevation upon the pin. It should then be placed upon the setting-board or setting-block. Setting-boards or setting-blocks are pieces of wood having a groove on the upper surface of sufficient depth to accommodate the body of the insect and to permit the wings to be brought to the level of the upper surface of the board (Fig. 53). They should also be provided either with a cleft or a hole which will permit the pin to be thrust down below the body of the insect for a considerable distance. As a rule, the wings of all specimens should be mounted at a uniform elevation of about seven eighths of an inch above the point of the pin. This is known as the "continental method" of mounting, and is infinitely preferable to the old-fashioned "English method," in which the insect was pinned low down upon the pin, so that its wings touched the surface of the box.