THE COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS 53 



Biological Survey, and Entomology. These sources 

 alone are able to determine almost any reasonable 

 series of specimens, particularly if they are well 

 preserved. Arrangements for such determinations 

 can probably be made by addressing the proper 

 authorities. 



The museums of our larger cities, as the American 

 Museum of Natural History of New York, the Carne- 

 gie Museum at Pittsburgh, the Field Museum of 

 Chicago, and many smaller state and local museums 

 are able to give very efficient aid in this line. Other 

 local institutions are the State Universities and 

 Experiment Stations, and the local natural history 

 surveys, which often exist under the guise of a geo- 

 logical or agricultural organization. Frequently 

 they are qualified and willing to do this work. 



In very difficult cases it may be necessary to 

 have recourse to Cassell's Naturalist's Universal 

 Directory (Boston, 1905), in order to find the 

 address of some specialist in a foreign land, who 

 can help, but generally Americans are the best 

 informed upon their own fauna. 



Supplementary to, and in some cases a necessary 

 substitute for, a reference series of authentically 

 determined specimens, is one which the student is 

 able to name for himself, by the study of the litera- 

 ture. Without some special training this may 

 become dangerous ground to tread upon, but every 

 now and then some young student begins in this 

 way and develops such care in determining his 

 own collections, that the method cannot be wholly 



