342 TAXIDERMY A1STD ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



white) deposit when the liquid has evaporated. In practice I 

 always mix the liquid, and then test it with a tuft of black or 

 brown hair. If the deposit left is quite apparent to the eye, a 

 little more alcohol and water must be added. The principle of 

 the process is simply this : The alcohol, being- at once very pene- 

 trating and very volatile, and also capable of combining 1 chemi- 

 cally with the corrosive sublimate, is used as a vehicle for the 

 distribution of the poison. The poison is carried to the roots 

 of the hair and left there as a deposit when the liquid evapo- 

 rates. In Chapter XVIII. the method of applying this solution 

 is described. Arsenic water, also described there, is equally good, 

 and any intelligent person can make up either solution and 

 apply it successfully without the slightest difficulty. 



Vv hen the specimen has dried, the hair must be dressed by 

 brushing and combing it. If the white poison shows on the 

 hair, take a sponge, and with either hot water or alcohol sponge 

 off the surface of the hair, leaving all the unseen poison undis- 

 turbed. If your solution contains the proper amount of poison, 

 and is thoroughly applied, I warrant that insects will never 

 again touch that specimen, even though it should exist a thou- 

 sand years. 



It often happens that moths get into cases of birds, or mam- 

 mals, or insects, which cannot be treated as above without 

 damaging the specimens. In such an event there are several 

 poisons of a volatile character which give off fumes so deadly 

 that no insect can live in them. The best for this purpose is 

 naphthaline crystals, exposed in the cases in little bags made of 

 musquito-netting, used in abundant quantity, and left in the 

 cases, which must of course be kept closed as tightly as possi- 

 ble. In insect collections each box should have a little cone 

 of crystals,* as a standing menace to all would-be marauders. 

 Liquid or crystal bisulphide of carbon, exposed in saucers on 

 the bottom of a tightly closed case will also kill whatever living 

 insects may be found therein ; but it does not destroy eggs, and 

 by the time it has evaporated another generation of destroyers 

 may have been born, hungrier than the first. 



A half-ounce bag of naphthaline crystals will last about throe 

 months. Mr. John B. Smith, who published in the " Proceed- 



* Made and sold by Blake & Co., Philadelphia. 



