THERE are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of butterfly collectors in this country, says the Boston Transcript. But it is doubtful if there are many who gain their livelihood in this way, as is done by the four Denton brothers of Wellesley, who have among them one of the finest, and certainly one of the most beautiful collections in the world, comprising specimens from India, China, South America, and many other distant countries.

Large and fine as their collection is, however, it contains only a small part of the butterflies that they have collected, as almost all of them are sold to museums, and collectors, or simply as house ornaments, for as they mount them, they are objects of great beauty and are preserved in such a way as to give every opportunity for the display of their fine points, while they will last for an indefinite number of years.

They began this work in the usual amateur manner, and simply for their own amusement, but instead of becoming tired of it and dropping it, as is the case with most amateur collectors, they became more and more interested, and their methods attracted so much attention and interest in outsiders that they finally found it advisable to adopt this as their life work. How extensive a business it is may be judged from the fact that they have found it profitable to make a journey of six months to South America for the purpose of increasing the size of their collection, and that they have in India, China, and several other parts of the world agents who collect for them and ship the butterflies to them here.

The work of preparing the butterflies for sale and exhibition is all done in a small building back of their house on Washington street at Wellesley, and keeps them busy nearly all the time that they are not collecting. When the butterflies are sent or brought in, each is in a small paper folder, which protects it from friction or breakage. The insects are laid with their wings together and pressed, being then put into the folder, and shipped in small boxes, enough being put into each box to prevent them from slipping about. In this way the insects arrive in very good condition, although they are, of course, very dry and brittle if they have come a long distance. In order to get rid of this dryness, which would make it impossible to work on them, they are put into a box with a lot of wet paper, and the dampness from this soon saturates them and makes them soft again and easily shaped. The next part of the work is in repairing what damage they have sustained, for, of course, in spite of the care of shipping, they are not as perfect as before they were caught, and there is a great deal of delicate work on them before they are ready for exhibition or sale.

Mounted, a drawer full of butterflies is more beautiful than a collection of precious gems, for, although many of our native butterflies are exceedingly beautiful, they are not to be compared with the average of those from India, China, and South America. In these dead, heavy black alternates with brilliant crimson, yellow, and gold, livid greens and blues, and deep, rich garnet and purple, sometimes in broad bands and blotches of glowing color, and in others in wonderfully delicate and intricate traceries and patterns. The texture of the wings is also infinitely more beautiful than anything we have here, some of them having a heavy rich gloss that exceeds that on the finest fabric that human skill can produce, while others have the deep changing lustre of gems or liquids.