138 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



to set well, on account of the tendency the segments of the 

 abdomen have of gradually contracting as the insect dries. The 

 following is the Eev. J. G. Wood's method of preventing this: — 

 " Fix the last segment of the body to the card with a little 

 coaguline or diamond cement, which soon sets. Then, when it 

 is sufficiently hardened, take the front part of the body in the 

 forceps, and draw it gently forward until the segments of the 

 abdomen have been pulled out to their proper extent. Then put 

 a small drop of coaguline under the thorax, press it down with a 

 card brace, and keep it down till dry." The length of the pin 

 used for carding varies, of course, according to the collector's 

 taste, and it does not much signify what the length may be, 

 provided that every pin is of the same length. 



The card should be pushed close up to the pin-head. In the 

 cabinet all the cards must be pushed to precisely the same height 

 in every drawer ; if they are all at different heights, even though 

 very slightly, it gives a very slovenly and untidy appearance. 



We now come to the last, but nevertheless very important, 

 consideration of how and where to store our captures. A cabinet 

 is the receptacle most generally used for this purpose, and if a 

 really good one is procured no better place could be found. A 

 really good cabinet should be made throughout of old, well- 

 seasoned, oak or mahogany, and will cost from fifteen shillings 

 to a guinea per drawer. The British beetles will occupy about 

 twenty-eight or thirty drawers. The only way of being certain of 

 getting a genuine article is to go to a respectable maker and pay 

 a fair price, but very good cabinets may often be picked up more 

 cheaply second-hand at Stevens' Rooms in Covent Garden. The 

 size of the drawer generally used is eighteen inches square, and 

 each drawer must have " cells" round the sides to contain pieces 

 of naphthaline. Clear of the cells the drawer should measure 

 16|- by 14f in. ; the depth, exclusive of the cork, 1^ in. It is 

 imperative to have these cells always well stocked with preserva- 

 tives, or else mites and numerous other horrors will enter, and 

 damage in a few weeks the labour of years. 



To the front of every drawer should be glued a small slip of 

 card with the names of the families contained therein printed on, 

 thus — I. CiciNDELA to Pterostichus ; so that one can determine 

 at once and without any trouble which drawer contains the insect 

 required. It is better to place the cabinet a few inches away 



