CHAPTER XIII. 



EXCHANGING. 



ONE of the pleasantest features of the A. A. is the 

 exchange of specimens between members. Some 

 hints may be helpful. When you have duplicates 

 which you wish to exchange, decide as nearly as 

 possible what you wish in return. Send your request, 

 tersely written to the President. It will appear in 

 The Swiss Cross in either one or two months. The 

 magazine is printed some time before it is issued, so 

 that you should send any notice at least a month 

 before you wish to see it in print. In preparing 

 packages for the mail, be sure that you enclose the 

 specimens in a box sufficiently strong to withstand 

 the frequent concussions of the way, and so securely 

 wrapped and tied that it shall not become undone. 

 About one-third of the packages received here are 

 broken on the way. Minerals should be separately 

 wrapped in paper or cloth before being put into the 

 box. Eggs may safely be sent in auger-holes bored 

 in little blocks of wood. Flowers and ferns should 

 be carefully inclosed between strong sides of paste- 

 board. Insects should be pinned with the utmost 

 possible strength and care into boxes thoroughly 

 lined with cork, very strong, light, and doubly wrapped. 

 Beetles and bugs may be sent in cotton, like eggs. 

 Always prepay postage in full. Inclose no writing in 

 the package (except the labels of the specimens, which 

 are allowed), but never neglect to accompany the 

 package with a postal-card or letter, describing con- 

 tents, stating from whom it comes, and rehearsing 

 "what you expect to receive in exchange. It is often 



