438 



PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 



When insects are very small, as piercing them with a pin 

 would destroy them, it is usual to gum them on a slip of 

 card or cut wafer, and to arrange this in the cabinet. 

 Minute beetles and flies may thus be preserved, as is shown 

 in the figures. 



The setting-board ought to be kept where there is a 

 free ventilation of air till the set insects are thoroughly dry ; 

 •but it is necessary that it be also out of the reach of spiders ; 

 for we have in several instances had our specimens, w^hile 

 drying, mutilated and destroyed by these prowlers. The 

 most convenient apparatus is an upright box, with grooves, 

 into which the setting-boards may slide, with the door and 

 the side of the box opposite to it covered with gauze. 



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Setting-board frame. 



No other preservative is wanted, after the insects are set 

 and dried, except to keep them from damp, to put a little 

 camphor in the cabinet drawers to prevent mites, and to 

 take care to prevent them from being destroyed by the 

 larva3 of some small moths and beetles, w^hich the camphor 

 will not do, nor anything elsfe with which we are acquainted. 

 We had once a whole drawer of insects destroyed by mice. 

 Glazing the drawers of a cabinet, and occasional careful 

 inspection, will be indispensable to keep a collection in 

 good condition. 



The cabinet may consist of more or fewer drawers, 

 according to the extent of a collection. The most con- 

 venient dimensions of the drawers are from a foot to 

 eighteen inches square, and two inches deep ; and the best 



