opposite principles from the light separator described above. One such device is called, after its inventor, the Berlese Funnel. As the name indicates, it is a fun- nel, very large. At the top is a wire mesh basket to contain the deris; at the bottom, a bottle of alcohol to receive the specimens. The insects, distressed by the light from above and the drying of the debris, try to bury themselves further. They fall through the wire mesh, and being unable to keep a foothold on the polished interior of the funnel, drop into the bottle and are automatically collected. This process is hastened by warming the funnel. Berlese used a water- bath heated by a Bunsen burner for this purpose, but a box full of lamps, or some other electrical contri- vance, would be just as effective, and easier to make. This separator is shown in fig. 8. It works as well for leaves and leaf mold, moss, lichens, bark and fungi as it does for flood debris or soil samples. When working in the vicinity of water, do not neglect to look inside culverts and on the undersides of bridges, as well as among leaves in shady places, for the adult forms of species whose larvae inhabit the adjoining streams and ponds. SIFTING The many insects and spiders living among fallen leaves, rotton wood, fungi, and other moist, rich, fragmentary matter are, on the whole, so small and inconspicuously colored as to escape attention in their natural surroundings. As described above, they can be efficiently extracted by use of the Berlese separator. Less comprehensive but more immediate is the process called "sifting," whereby the creatures are shaken out of their hiding places on the spot. The necessary tools are a deep large-mesh sieve and a cloth onto which the specimens may fall. If you have a beating cloth, that will do. If not, get a somewhat A F C B D E Fig. 8. Diagram of a separator for negatively phototropic insects and spiders. A. Tight box. B. Lamps to heat the separator. C. Funnel, made of thin polished metal. It is separate from the box and is lifted out when it is necessary to reach lamp bulbs. D. Section of rubber tubing. E. Glass shell vial full of alcohol. F. Mesh-bottomed container for debris. You will want several, with mesh of various sizes for debris different fineness. on the bottom edge. Both these nets are described and illustrated in Leaflet Number 2. In shallow run- ning water, hold the net in one hand, with the lower edge of the rim pressed against the bottom and the mouth of the bag facing upstream. Just above the net, stir the mud and agitate the stones with the other hand. The creatures so disturbed will be carried into the net by the current; the mud and smaller vegetable fragments will wash through the mesh. Derbis left on the shore by a recent flood, freshet, or spring tide, may be simply swarming with insects washed out of their inundated homes. So also may the flotsam caught in a whirlpool or eddy. If an inspection convinces you that such is the case, it will repay you to shovel the derbis into a burlap bag, drain it, and put it into a separator to extract the creatures, most of which, unlike those taken in sweeping, are likely to be negatively phototropic. That is, they will seek darkness, and crawl downward in the search. Ac- cordingly, the separator required must work on 10 A B Fig. 9. A collecting sieve. The shape and size are optional. A. The sieve showing handle. B. Bottom, showing wooden grip.