114 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
It is however by no means the certain remedy which it has been claimed 
to be. The boxes and cabinets in use in the Museum are as perfect, so far 
as safety is concerned, as it is possible to get them at present, yet withal 
constant care is required. Psocidice will find their way into the tightest 
boxes, and though they do little damage ordinarily, yet in a collection of 
Tinetdce, or minute Diptera, they can do quite considerable damage. For 
these pests I have found naphthaline a perfect remedy. A single case of 
the size made by Mr. Akhurst is a perfect protection, and lasts about three 
months ordinarily. 
Tineid larvae are rather rarely found in the collections as the larger 
moths and are not always easily discovered, since they make no dust as 
do the Anthreni. On one occasion, I found that one pair of wings of a 
C. regalis suddenly collapsed without apparent cause. Close examination 
showed a Tineid larva that had been feeding on the dense long vestiture, 
making galleries in all directions, in such a way, that when I took hold of 
one end of the gallery th vestiture of the underside came off in large 
sheets, leaving the wings almost clean, the veins broken here and there, 
which produced the collapse. They rarely burrow into the specimen 
never in my experience. Ptinidce are sometimes found, but are exceed- 
ingly rare in our collection. One box, lined with corn pith, was riddled 
with them, and a very few specimens were attacked. 
But by all odds the most dangerous enemies are the larvae of the Der- 
mestidce, which are pests, pure and simple. The principal enemy in our 
collection is Anthrenus varius, though Trogoderma is not uncommon. 
My experience with these is, that in the uniformly high temperature pre- 
served in the laboratory they breed all the year around, and have no defi- 
nite broods -a few larvae appear at all times, though during the summer, 
when the beetles come in from the grounds and other parts of the museum, 
exposed specimens are attacked at more regular intervals. The rule is to 
keep naphthaline in all boxes at all times, but like all rules it is not always 
possible to adhere strictly to it. The boxes not so protected are usually 
first attacked. In a cabinet not quite tight I coned a number of drawers 
and left the others unprotected. In the course of the summer the unpro- 
tected drawers nearly all became infested, while as a rule the others were 
free. The naphthaline seems to act as a repellant. I have found, however, 
that rt does not annoy the larvae to any very great extent, and Mr. Lugger has 
shown me a naphthaline cone in a hollow of which a larva had pupated ! 
I have reason to believe, however, that it does retard the development of 
young larva. A large number of boxes nearly a hundred were received 
from North Carolina, containing a collection, principally Coleoptera. They 
were overhauled and found to be pretty generally infested with Trogo- 
derma, this being the only species found. No Anthrenus larvze were no- 
ticed. Bisulphide of carbon was freely used, and naphthaline cones were 
placed in all the boxes. For a while the boxes were frequently examined 
and no larvae developed. Throughout the summer the boxes were exam- 
ined at intervals and remained free. With the approach of cold weather 
