PRESERVINQ TNBEi VB 



when it is closed. A similar box with a wooden rabbet is 

 used ai bhe Museum of Com parativt /. al Cambridge; 



but it cannot possibly be so tight, and requires books on 

 the Bides to keep the cover down; it bas the advantage 

 greater cheapness, as il can be made of soft wood, bul is al 

 thr same time clumsier. .My own drawers are made of 

 cherry sides, and have also a false froni attached to them, 

 furnished with mouldings and bandies so as to present a not 

 inelegant appearance; and, exclusive of the cork wit li wnich 

 they are lined, cosl $2.65 each; they measure inside L8| 

 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 1; inches deep, not includ- 

 ing the cork Lining. " 



In the drawers in use by the 0". s. Entomologist at the 

 Department of Agriculture there are on the sides within, 

 deep grooves kept constantly filled with naphthaline. 



For constant use, boxes made of thin, well-seasoned wood,* 

 with tight-fitting covers, are indispensable. For Coleop- 

 tera, Dr. LeConte recommends that they be twelve by nine 

 inches (inside measurement). For tin- larger Lepidoptera 

 a little larger box is preferable. Others prefer boxes made 

 in the form of books, which in;i\ be put away like books on 

 the shelves of the cabinet, though the cover of the box is 

 apt 1 1 > be in the way. 



The boxes and drawers should be lined with cork cut 

 into thin dips tor soles; such slips come from the cork- 

 cutter about twelve by four inches square and an eighth of 

 an inch thick. 



Other substitutes arc the pith of various plants, especially 

 of corn; "pita" and palm wood; and " inodorous felt" is 

 used, being cut to tit the bottom of the box. 



LeConte recommends that, " for the purpose of distinguish- 

 ing specimens from different regions, little disks of \ 

 colored [taper lie used; they arc easily made by a .-mall 



* B:is- wood, or thai of the poplar, tulip-tree, or even mahogany, i< 

 better than pine, as the resin in the latter send- off i xhalationa which 

 eventually combine with the fat of the sp< > im< as the bos 



and render them greasy {Psyche, i. G4). 



