648 INSECTS AT HOME. 



clieaply is out of the question. A guinea per drawer is the 

 invariable price of a cabinet, and it is impossible to buy one 

 for less than that sum. Now, as the British Beetles alone will 

 occupy from twenty-five to thirty drawers, and the British 

 Moths at least the same number, it is evident that if the col- 

 lector desires to put up all his insects in cabinets, he will not 

 see much change out of a hundred pounds. 



It is useless even to look out for second-hand cabinets, for 

 they cost quite as much as if they were new ; and, indeed, any 

 practical entomologist would much rather bay an old cabinet 

 than a new one, because he would be sure that no part of it 

 would warp. There are very few joiners who know how to 

 make an entomological cabinet, and of these few it is almost 

 impossible to find one who will not use unseasoned wood in 

 those jslaees where he thinks it will not be seen. 



I strongly recommend the young entomologist not to trouble 

 himself about cabinets, but to purchase some ordinary entomo- 

 logic boxes, the cost of which is comparatively trifling, and 

 which are just as efficacious as cabinets in the preservation of 

 insects. It is as w^ell to label them on the back, so that a 

 glance will tell the owner which box he will need, wheii 

 he comes to put another insect in it. The two first boxes in 

 my own collection are thus labelled : — 



COLEOPTERA COLEOrTEEA 



1. 2. 



CICINDELA . . . AMAEA. AMARA . . . HYGROTUS. 



The best mode of arranging the insects in the drawers or 

 boxes appears to a novice to be a waste of time and space, and 

 to be considerably disheartening to boot. Complete lists, whicli 

 can be purchased at the professional naturalists, should be 

 obtained, cut up, and pinned or otherwise fastened to the fioca- 

 of the boxes in regular rows, a space being left between thr 

 names for the insertion of the insects when they are obtained. 

 Of course, the spaces needed will depend very much on tlu.' 

 size of the insect, and the best plan is to leave room for foiu- 

 rows of insects, two or three abreast, according to their size. 

 At first, the number of blanks is quite appalling, but after a 

 while the eye becomes familiarised to them, and then each. 



