PREPARATION", CARE, AND DISPLAY OF INSECTS. 335 



impossible to thoroughly dry them, moulding may be prevented 

 to a greater or less extent by placing 1 between the paper enve- 

 lopes pieces of blotting-paper which have been saturated with 

 carbolic acid and permitted to dry. The sides of the boxes con- 

 taining the specimens may also be painted with carbolic acid. 

 Naphthaline in ciystals may be introduced among the enve- 

 lopes, and this appears in many cases to serve as a partial 

 preventive of mould. "When a specimen has been attacked 

 by mould, the mould may be largely removed by thorough dry- 

 ing in a cool oven and then dusting off the specimen with a 

 soft camel's-hair pencil that has been rubbed in carbolic acid 

 and dried. 



Specimens sometimes become greasy, and it is then desira- 

 ble, if possible, to remove the grease with which their bodies 

 and wings are saturated. The only method which can be em- 

 ployed advantageously is that of washing out the grease 

 by means of benzoline, or some of the allied volatile mineral 

 oils. 



By immersing a greasy specimen for a considerable time in 

 gasoline, it is possible to remove the grease. The specimen 

 having been thus exposed should be placed in a cool spot, free 

 from dust, and all the gasoline should be allowed te evaporate. 

 Care should be taken to conduct this process away from fiiv 

 and lights, in order to prevent an explosion. The writer has 

 found that the best method for removing grease is to allow tin- 

 gasoline to fall drop by drop upon the thorax of the specimen. 

 The specimen is therefore placed in a very large glass jar, say 

 six inches in diameter, and is fixed at the bottom upon a piece 

 of cork, tightly secured in place. The gasoline is placed above 

 and is allowed to filter down from the bottle in which it is con- 

 tained upon the specimen drop by drop. In this way the grease 

 is gradually \vashed out, and will be found after a while at tin- 

 bottom of the jar in the form of thick globules, the density of 

 which causes them to sink to the bottom. In the case of some 

 large bombycid moths the writer has washed out as much as a 

 teaspoon t'ul of animal fat from the body and wings of the speci- 

 men, in the manner that has been described. 



The receptacles into which entomologists place their collec- 

 tions vary somewhat according to the taste and the length of 



