132 HINTS TO INSECT COLLECTORS. 



be made, under the number 36-56: — "Captured several little bees laden 

 with pollen; they appear to resemble those belonging to the numerous 

 colony near Redbridge Turnpike;" and any other remarks on their habits. 

 In both sets of books, the left-hand page ought invariably to be left 

 blank, to give space for corrections of errors, and for adding additional infor- 

 mation: this rule ought to be observed by every one in preparing notes 

 for publication, both for his own and for the printer's convenience. If 

 any student or club will form a collection of insects, ticketed and registered 

 in this faithful and intelligent manner, there are few masters in the science 

 of Entomology who would not be delighted to inspect and label the same. 



Every workman's club should embrace members of various trades, so that 

 all may contribute their share of mental and manual labour towards its 

 organization and success. The tinsmith could make nice portable pocket 

 collecting boxes, eight inches by four and a half by two and a quarter, 

 opening in halves like a backgammon board; a blacksmith would advise 

 about cheap net rings; the plumber could melt in his iron spoon equal 

 parts of tallow, bees' wax, and resin, which, when poured into the store- 

 box to the depth of three sixteenths of an inch, and covered with foolscap 

 paper is a good and cheap substitute for cork; the carpenter can cut the 

 rough cork into sheets with a small handsaw or a sharp knife moistened with 

 water, or with the smallest quantity of oil; or at the veneering saw- mill 

 he can make sheets of cork for the store-boxes by glueing little pieces on 

 sheets of paper and nailing them down till dry, then polishing the sur- 

 face with wood files and pumice stone, and after glueing them into the box 

 it is loaded with weights till dry: then fill up any little holes in the 

 cork with the above-mentioned compound recommended as a substitute for 

 cork. He can make store-boxes of half-inch deal, secured with glue and 

 small screw nails; each box may be seventeen inches by fourteen by three 

 and a half, and then it may be sawn into halves, like a backgammon box, 

 adding two pairs of hinges, a hasp, and a thin fillet of hard wood or zinc 

 to exclude the dust: the cost of the box without the cork need not exceed 

 three shillings. And lastly the bookbinder can paper the box nicely, rule 

 it into columns at right angles to the hinges, with pencil lines at various 

 distances from two inches to half an inch, and he may perhaps be able 

 to furnish naturalists with cheaper store- boxes of pasteboard than can 

 now be purchased.* 



Patience and perseverance will, in this as in every other pursuit, receive 

 their reward in due season; and the writer can confidently assert, from 

 personal experience, that no true-hearted naturalist will ever refuse to 

 assist the anxious inquirer. 



Amongst useful books, Maunder's "Treasury of Natural History," at 

 * The srlazier's aid should' above all be called in. — F. 0. Morris. 



