INSTEUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING INSECTS. 1G3 



animal when moving, and the legs should therefore be in a somewhat 

 depending position. 



Cabinets. -The specimens should be preserved, either in drawers with 

 tight covers in which are fitted panes of glas^, or in boxes with very 

 carefully fitting covers which lift off; boxes in the form of books are 

 also used, but the cover being affixed to the box is in the way of the 

 student. I have found that the best size for boxes required for con- 

 stant study is 12 inches by 8|- or 9 inches, (inside measurement ;) the 

 depth is to be proportioned to pins used, but one inch and a half clear 

 of the cork, with which the bottom is lined, will be fouKd ample. The 

 boxes should be made of thin, well seasoned board, so that they will 

 not become warped, lined with sheets of cork, such as used for boot 

 soles, then neatly papered, and kept horizontally in a piece of furni- 

 ture made for the purpose, the doors of which fit very closely by means 

 of a tongue and groove running all around. Camphor should be kept 

 always in abundance in the boxes or in the cabinet alongside of the 

 boxes, and during the warm season every box should be looked at at 

 least once in each month. The presence of infection is seen by the 

 dust at tlie bottom of the pin bearing the infected specimen ; this 

 should at once be removed and dipped in alcohol or boiling water. 

 Where it can be procured, henzine is the best material to use ; it is to 

 bo applied with a pencil over the whole surface, and then the speci- 

 men is to be brushed with a clean pencil. Such preparation is con- 

 sidered in Paris to protect the specimen ever afterwards from infection. 



I have tried various poisonous solutions, such as tinctures of strych- 

 nine, picrotoxine, piperine, &c., without avail. Arseniate of potassa. 

 will protect the specimens but injure the appearance very much. 



When a specimen is badly gummed or pinned, it is to be thrown in 

 boiling water for a short time, varying from half a minute to five 

 minutes, depending on the size of the specimen, and the pin or card 

 can then be removed, and the specimen repinned or reset on a clean 

 card. 



For the purpose of distinguishing specimens from different regions,, 

 little disks of variously colored paper may be used ; they are easily 

 made by a small punch, and should be kept in wooden pill boxes ready 

 for use ; at the same time a key to the colors, showing the regions 

 embraced by each, should be made on the fly leaf of the catalogue of 

 the collection, or in the Melsheimer catalogue, so as to be ever at hand 

 for persons consulting the collection. 



The specimens should all be pinned at the same height; the ease 

 of recognizing species allied in characters is greatly increased by hav- 

 ing them on the same level, and a general appearance of neatness is 

 given which cannot otherwise be obtained. 



It is better, even where numbers with reference to a catalogue are 

 employed, that the name of each species should be written on a label 

 attached to the first specimen. Thus the eye is familiarized with the 

 association of the species and its name, memory is aided, and a greater 

 power given of identifying species when the cabinet is not at hand. 



No manual applicable to the Coleojjtera of the United States has 

 yet been prepared ; such a work is much needed, as the student is now 

 obliged either to seek in a large number of works the information he 



