154 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



a series of deal store-boxes, or even at first the insect 

 " cartons," as sold by the dealers, will serve perfectly well. 

 For the beginner a cork-lined cigar box ("50" size) with a 

 well-fitting lid forms an admirable temporary device. At the 

 outset all the specimens collected at the same time and place 

 may be housed in the same box, to await the time when the 

 work of identification is undertaken. Or they may undergo 

 a preliminary grouping into families or even into genera, 

 should the knowledge and experience of the collector enable 

 him to do this. When the opportunity presents itself 

 all the accumulated specimens of a genus may then be 

 worked out at the same time and placed in their permanent 

 position in the collection. A good series of the cheaper 

 temporary boxes, for unclassified or partially classified 

 material should be provided, and here the "cartons" will be 

 found extremely useful. The permanent collection should 

 be kept in the somewhat more expensive (but at the 

 same time dust-proof) double-sided corked deal store-boxes, 

 and the use of a series of these boxes affords much 

 advantage over the cabinet, since it is capable of easy 

 expansion at any desired portion by the simple intercalation 

 of an additional box, without the necessity of an extensive 

 rearrangement of specimens. The boxes (of a size to suit 

 the taste of the collector) should be ruled with pencil lines 

 into columns and spaced out to hold all our native species ; 

 or in lieu of this the species may follow one another in any 

 order, and an index be kept of their position in the boxes 

 until the collection becomes too large and unwieldy for this 

 method of arrangement. The columns may be of any 

 suitable width, but 3 inches may be suggested as con- 

 venient, the flies being placed in a row across the column 

 and as many rows of specimens kept as may be desired. 

 The columns should be ruled transversely to the lo7iger axis 

 of the box and the flies should be placed with their heads 

 towards the hinge in both halves of the box, so that when 

 the box is open the flies in the two sides are in a reversed 

 position to each other, z>, heads to heads. By this simple 

 device it is only necessary at most to stretch the arm over 

 the narrowest width of the box, whatever specimen it is 



