ON RELAXING AND EXPANDING SPECIMENS. 21 



on a table in a room where there is not much dust likely to be stirred up ; 

 if the specimens get dusty they can be gently brushed off with a very soft 

 long-haired camels-hair pencil, but be careful you don't brush the antennae 

 and little pieces out of the edges of the wings along with it. 



REPAIRING SPECIMENS. 



Sometimes in transposition, or from other causes valuable specimens be- 

 come more or less broken, and in too unsightly a condition to be fit for the 

 cabinet, but, with care and patience, this can be in a great measured remedied. 



The best adhesive to be used is gum tragacanth mixed with water until 

 it is of the consistency of jelly ; this adheres to the wings, dries quickly, and is 

 by far the best thing for the purpose that can be used ; don't mix gum 

 arabic with it ; and if it does smell a little bad after standing a week or two 

 that don't hurt it, it will stick just as well as before nature perfumed it. 



If the wings of your specimen be split or pieces torn out, you can, with a 

 small soft hair-pencil or brush, put a little of the dissolved gum tragacanth 

 along the parts to be joined, and they will close together; if the piece be en- 

 tirely torn out, it is then necessary to back it up by pasting against the 

 under surlace a piece of wing taken from a worthless specimen of the same 

 species, or in default of that something that will come very close to it; it 

 takes practice to do this neatlv, and the exigencies of the case will at times 

 tax your ingenuity to its utmost. 



Of course the less repairing that is done to specimens the better, but where 

 the preservation from further injury depends in its being fixed, we had better 

 take our choice of two evils, and select the least. 



Never use glue; or gum arabic, but always gum tragacanth, which is the 

 best; starch or even common flour paste is immeasurably to be preferred to 

 glue, to use this latter is simply barbarous. 



MUSEUM PESTS. 



When Anthrenus or Dermestcs (the small beetles that infest collections of 

 Natural History) are in a specimen, their presence may be detected by a fine 

 dust on the bottom of the box around the pin on which the infected insect is; 

 as soon as this is discovered take out the specimen with the forceps, and 

 whilst holding the pin tight strike the forceps a couple of smart raps on 

 the table; this will dislodge the robber, and you then put an end to 

 his baneful existence in any way that your ingenuity or the magnitude of the 

 oftenee may suggest. A constant surveillance should be kept over a collection, 

 anointing the drawers with creosote, &c., &c. On getting new examples 

 from other parties, it is well first to put them in another box, that is strongly 

 poisoned with creosote ; let them remain there tightly closed a week or so before 

 placing them finally in your collection. 



