6o 



'^ 



A 



^ 



•^ 



•s 



n^ 



more easily done. Any carpenter or cabinet 



-^-^'""' maker can make this box ; but great care must 

 be taken to use only thoroughly seasoned wood 

 in its construction. Otherwise the bottom will 

 be sure to warp and shrink and leave cracks 

 through which the museum pests will enter. 

 The cost of such a box will vary from $0.75 to 

 $1. Basswood should be used in the construc- 

 tion; pine is not at all suitable on account of the 

 resin in it. Screw eyes may be put into these 

 boxes and they may be hung on the walls of 

 schoolroom like pictures. 



Museum Pests. 



These are small beetles which find their way 



Bottom through the narrowest crevice into the insect 



Fig 6 A cross- ^'oxes and lay their eggs on the pinned insects. 



section of the side The larvae when they hatch work within the 



%^showi7i^7ne?h- specimens at first but after a time destroy the 



od of construction bodies entirely. The presence of these little ras- 



\rements. ^ ^^^ "^^X ^^ detected by dust on the bottom of the 



box just below the infested insect. As soon as 



this dust is observed, pour into one corner of the boxatablespoon- 



ful of carbon bisulphide, or benzine, and close the box quickly. 



The teacher or parent should put these substances into the boxes 



as the first is a poison and the latter is very inflammable. As 



a method of preventing the beetles from attacking the collection 



it is well to fasten a "moth ball" into one corner of the box. 



These may be obtained at a drug store. 



SPREADING BOARD.— FIG. 7. 



Butterflies and moths look much better in a collection when 

 their wings are extended at right angles to the length of the body. 

 To arrange them thus we have to use what is termed a spread- 

 ing-board. 



Materials needed for a medium sized spreading-board, 



I. Two strips of pine or other soft wood 18 inches long, i y^ 

 inches wide and J^ inch thick. 



