—ISO- 

 glazed paper and they close over a tongue forming a perfectly tight joint 

 all around. The rows of insects are transverse, and the boxes set on 

 shelves, a neat label in a brass holder indicating the contents. The shelv- 

 ings are closed by glass doors, excluding dust and pests, and }et allow- 

 ing the legends on the labels to be plainly seen, We have seen no reason 

 to find fault with this scheme thus far, it has worked perfectly anti given 

 complete satisfaction. 



The Museum Cabinet drawers are a modification by Prof Riley o' 

 the British Museum box. They were adopted as combining convenience, 

 durability and saiety in an unusual degree. They consi>t really of two 

 boxes, the inner about y^ inch from the outer and of '/« inch poplar, a 

 tongue from the cover fitting into the interval. Na})lhaline, or any 

 other repellant can be placed in the chamber between tiie inner and outer 

 box without soiling the paper or specimens. The bottoms are cork lined 

 and papered with a white glazed paper. 



The drawers run in grooves and are inter-changeable. They are m 

 cabinets containing 2 sections of lo drawers each, each section closed by 

 a door. The materials now used are cherry for cabinets and mahogany 

 for drawers, save the bottoms which are of 3-ply pine veneer. 



It is almost impossible for museum pests to get into these drawers 

 with reasonable care in excluding infested specimens, and Napthaline 

 constantly kept in the space between the boxes retards or controls devel- 

 opment to such an extent as to render damage practically impossible. 



The most important feature however is the collection itself and few 

 have any idea of the wealth of material awaiting arrangement. The ac- 

 cumulation of material, considering the time of existence, is wonderful. 



For many years Government expeditions had been collecting mate- 

 rial which wandered into individual collections, or was stored until de- 

 stroyed. The Smithsonian Institution allowed one collection at least to 

 go to ruin and others would have been lost had they not been distributed, 

 A few years ago Prof. Riley induced the authorities to establish a De- 

 partment of Insects. As a nucleus to a national collection, he first de- 

 posited, and afterwards, when provision was made for a salaried officer, 

 donated his entire collection. 



This collection forms the starting point of the Department of In- 

 sects, and most, if not all of the gentlemen present have seen a detailed 

 statement of its contents, published in most scientific journals at the time. 



In this collection was contained not only the material accumulated 

 by 25 years of collecting and labor, but also the Burgess collection of 

 Diptera purchased by Prof Riley, and the American collection of 

 Mr. Belfrage also purchased by that gentleman, altogether representing 

 15328 species in 1 15058 specimens besides nearly 3000 vials of alcoholic 

 material and about 3000 slides of microscopic insects. 



