A CHEAP AND USEFUL ENTOMOLOGICAL CABINET. 281 



A CHEAP AND USEFUL ENTOMOLOGICAL CABINET. 



BY W. G. BLATCH. 



It is said that no oue knows where the shoe pinches so well as he 

 who wears it, so no one can enter into or even conceive of the troubles of 

 a would-be entomologist unless he has experienced thern. Their name 

 is certainly legion, but like other vexations incident to humanity are 

 best dealt with singly. One of the greatest, as I know full well, is that 

 of providing a safe and readily available receptacle for stowing away 

 and systematically preserving our insect treasures when they have been 

 obtained and duly " set." Of course good cabinets can readily be had by 

 those who have the means and are willing to pay for them, the cost being 

 from ten shillings to a guinea per drawer. But only the comparatively 

 wealthy can afford to indulge in such expensive luxuries. Generally 

 speaking, the most unsuitable receptacles are improvised for storing 

 insects, dust and mites and other enemies find easy admittance into them, 

 and soon produce such havoc that, losing all heart, the collector throws 

 the lot away in disgust, and forthwith abandons both an extremely 

 interesting study and a healthful pursuit. We are not all like Thomas 

 Edward, who, when he lost one collection, manfully set about forming 

 another, but we have most of us had experiences similar to his when he 

 lost his valuable collection of plants for want of a suitable receptacle for 

 storing them. Now it is curious but true that matters of the first 

 importance are left for consideration until last. The boy first catches his 

 bird before he thinks of a cage to put it in, and the entomological tyro 

 hunts for insects long before he seriously considers what he shall preserve 

 them in. No doubt this must always be the case to a considerable 

 extent, but yet it is beyond question a wise course to provide a suitable 

 stable when you are about to buy a horse. 



In Entomology, as in most other things, a good deal depends upon 

 the way you start, as to whether you will succeed or fail in the end. I 

 would have the young entomologist begin well, and he can only do this 

 by having something to store his insects in, in an orderly manner, before 

 he accumulates many specimens. It is of importance also that the 

 " something" should not be too large or too expensive, and that it should 

 be capable of growing with the collection. I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that a cabinet is the only thing to be used, and that it is possible to 

 provide a really serviceable article at a very small cost. With the help 

 of Mr. T. B. Taylor, who has kindly had the accompanying sketches 

 drawn on stone, I have worked out an idea for an inexpensive cabinet 

 that any schoolboy could make for himself (improving upon the suggestion 

 as he pleased) during his long Midsummer or Christmas holidays. 



Figure 1 on the accompanying plate (XL) shows the little cabinet 

 complete, as made with twelve drawers. The size of it is — height 20£ 

 inches, breadth 14J inches, depth 19J inches ; it is made of white pine, 

 | inch thick throughout (one inch would of course be better, but the 

 idea has been to keep down the cost.) The door has three horizontal 

 and two upright stays, the space between the latter being utilised as 



, EE 



