306 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [July, '09 



way leading to the third story room in which the collection was 

 contained, everything was carried to one of the windows and 

 lowered to the ground by means of a block and tackle. This 

 proved to be a safe and satisfactory way of handling the ma- 

 terial. Some idea of the amount of work necessary to ship 

 this collection can be had by stating that 15 bales of excelsior 

 were needed to pack the insects and that 139 shipping-cases 

 were required for the drawers, besides the boxes used for the 

 books and correspondence. The weight of the packed insects 

 was over 14,000 Ibs., the books, cabinets, etc., over 5000 Ibs. 

 Throughout all of the packing, lowering to the ground, loading 

 on the van and placing in the car, the fragile nature of the 

 material was constantly impressed upon the men who were 

 doing this part of the work. 



On placing the collection in the freight car no attempt was 

 made to protect the insects from the vibration and jarring to 

 which they would be subjected; the only precaution taken was 

 to arrange the boxes, right-side-up, in such a way that there 

 could be no lateral motion. To prevent them from shifting 

 backward and forward, heavy braces were fastened to the in- 

 terior of the car. Since insects, which are classified as stuffed 

 animals, are scheduled at three times the regular first class 

 rate, it is not surprising, perhaps, that the railroad officials 

 were inclined to display some interest in the shipment. As a 

 result of this interest, the fragile nature of the shipment was 

 indicated by means of signs, and special instructions were 

 given to the trainmen at both ends of the line, the car thereby 

 no doubt escaping much rough handling. Naturally the col- 

 lection was insured against loss by fire, collision or derailment 

 while on the car. 



During the work of transferring the collection from the 

 car to the Museum, the order of the day again was Care; 

 from the beginning to the end it was the watch-word. Per- 

 haps to it was due to a considerable extent the very satisfac- 

 tory condition of the material, when it was finally unpacked. 



How needless was the fear or doubt concerning the safe 

 arrival of the collection ! Not one of the 800 glass covers was 



