lO E. B. WlLUAMSON 



be different at the corners, and is less readily opened and closed. Nothing 

 is more annoying in its way than to examine large series of specimens in 

 papers folded some one way and some the other. 



Envelopes may be obtained at any newspaper office. Have light news- 

 paper stock cut in rectangles 2x3^ inches and 2^ x 4^/^ inches, and have 

 heavier newspaper stock cut in rectangles 39^ x 6 inches, 4J4 x 6^/2 inches, 

 5 X 754 inches, and so on to larger sizes if desired. The last named will 

 paper a dragonfly nearly 5 inches long. Fold your envelopes before the 

 collecting season or before a collecting trip. Cut strawboard corners the 

 size of the folded envelopes, and bunch the envelopes in fifties, with a straw- 

 board corner on either side, all held together by a small rubber band. Put these 

 bundles under a weight or in a letter press for a few days. Nothing is 

 more wasteful of time and energy than to make slipshod envelopes from 

 day to day when the collecting should receive all one's energy, using for 

 material old magazines, newspapers, discarded correspondence, etc., etc. 

 The method here suggested provides uniform envelopes, well folded, of 

 clean paper, unmarred by writing or printing, on which intelligible data can 

 be written or stamped, leaving space for brief field notes or references to 

 other fuller notes in a suitable note book. And they represent less loss of 

 time and energy than the heterogeneous collection of half-folded waste 

 paper in which too many collectors entomb objects of once animate nature 

 for which they might well show more respect. 



With the envelopes prepared nothing will save more time and energy than 

 a collection of suitable rubber stamps or a small stamp in which the desired 

 type can be set, and a small line dater. The data should include the place, 

 the collector's name, and the date, to which may be added in writing any 

 field observations. The ink used for the stamp should be one that will not 

 fade or "run" if the envelope is moistened. 



In papering material the first consideration is to prevent distortion of the 

 specimen due to pressure by the envelope. The abdomen and especially the 

 appendages are most likely to suffer. For specimens with dilated abdomens 

 or wide spreading appendages, nothing is better than a bit of cord of suit- 

 able diameter fastened with a drop of glue on the inside of the envelope 

 along its folded edge near one corner, the head of the insect resting at the 

 other corner. Since dragonfly thoraces are usually larger than the abdomen 

 and are relatively firm it is often well to paper two specimens of the same 

 species in one paper, the heads at the corners and the abdomen of one above 

 the other, not crossed, if the abdomens are long. So papered the thoraces 

 will bear the pressure of the envelope and the specimens will have the abdo- 

 mens and their appendages preserved without any distortion. Keep the abdo- 

 mens straight and wings properly folded back together. In the case of 

 libellulines especially see to it that the legs do not cover and conceal the 

 accessory genitalia. When the specimen is in the envelope and the envelope 

 has been carefully closed, fasten the corners down with a bit of gummed 

 paper H6-%2 of an inch wide and about ^ inch long fastened to the 

 flap, at each acute corner of the envelope and around to the opposite side of 

 the envelope. Avoid any pressure on the specimen in attaching these gummed 



