LES COLLECTIONS PROVANCHER 157 
that for the second collection is on white paper which has a 
double red line (the outer being the heavier) around the 
margin. 
The catalogues prepared by Provancher are in the Public 
Museum, and although they are little more than lists of num- 
bers followed by names, with an occasional mention of loca- 
lity, they are of some assistance in proving the way in which 
Provancher treated species reduced by him to synonymy. 
À hasty examination of all the insects in both collections 
showed that they were in remarkably fine condition, consi- 
dering that they are kept in wooden drawers unprotected by 
any repellant, and which are closed by glass tops which set 
down inside, without any overlapping flange. À careful ex- 
amination of the Hymenoptera proved that they were free 
from pests and in good condition. At the time of our visit the 
Hymenoptera of the 1877 collection were in museum case 35, 
and those of the second collection in the left hand column of 
case 46 and two drawers in the left hand column of case 490. 
That Provancher had no concrete idea of the value of 
types is shown by the fact that in no case (with possibly à 
few exceptions in later years) were his types labeled as such. 
Furthermore, it is apparent that when he discovered one of 
his species to be a synonym he often removed the name label 
from the type and pinned the specimen among others of the 
species to which he thought it belonged. In other instances, 
upon deciding that one of his species was synonymous with 
another not already represented in his collection he removed 
the original name label and replaced it with what he con- 
sidered to be the correct one. For example, there is no spe- 
cimen in his collections labeled Selandria flavicornis. After 
describing this species Provancher concluded that it was the 
same as Selandria halcyon, and an examination of the cata- 
logue shows under 60 the name Selandria flavicornis with 
