968 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



Small label-holders, made of thin sheet brass, may be attached to 

 the front of the box to hold card labels to indicate the contents of each 

 box. If these labels are rubbed over with paraffin wax, after being 

 written on, they are less liable to be eaten by fish-insects. 



Storage. For a collection of any size, some definite system of 

 storage is required. At Pusa and most of the Agriciiltm-al Colleges, 

 teak-wood boxes, lined with paraffin-wax and naphthaline, have been 

 stored in open wooden racks, the boxes sliding on horizontal wooden 

 or iron slats. This method has been given a thorough trial at Pusa 

 during the last thirteen years and has proved thoroughly defective, 

 as : — 



(1) every box is exposed to dust and atmospheric conditions, the 



result being that the tops of the boxes frequently split in ■# 

 the hot, dry months of March-May so that there is free 

 access to light, insect pests and spores of mould, the last 

 especially proving very troublesome during the Rains (June- 

 September) when the satiu-ated air penetrates into the 

 boxes through such cracks ; 



(2) it is impossible to keep the boxes in an atmosphere impreg- 



nated with naphthaline vapour, so that when all the avail- 

 able naphthaline added \vith the paraffin wax has 

 evaporated there is no fm-ther protection by this means 

 against insect pests and mould ; 



(3) the system of storage in open racks gives very poor economy 



in space, as not more than about twenty boxes can con- 

 veniently be kept in one rack. 

 Almirahs are preferable to open racks as the store-boxes are kept 

 free from dust and it is possible to surround them with an atmosphere 

 impregnated with naphthaline vapour, so that, if a box should crack 

 or be left improperly shut or spring open (as sometimes happens), its 

 contents incur far less risk of damage by insect pests, mould, or light. 

 ■ If store-boxes four inches in depth are used, they will stand upright 

 on shelves quite securely ; but if boxes only three inches in depth are 

 used they are unsteady if kept upright and will require thin battens 

 to keep them in place. For heavy insects there is some risk of displace- 

 ment if the boxes are kept vertical and this is one objection to storage 

 in almirahs, but, on the other hand, if the boxes are placed horizontally 

 there is a gi'eat deal of waste of space as each box requires to be provided 

 with a separate pigeon-hole Boxes of four inches in depth placed 

 upright on shelves in almirahs are much preferable to boxes three inches 

 in depth kept either vertically or horizontally as far as economy of 

 space is concerned. 



