74 WOEK AT HOME AND IN THE FIELD 



of course, deep enough for the double layer of specimens ; but the 

 wooden boxes are sometimes lined on the bottom only. After these 

 few remarks you will at once see the economy of expending the 

 extra shilling on the former. 



Although the prices of collecting boxes are low, yet there are 

 many who would prefer making their own, and there is much to be 

 said in favour of this. A great deal of pleasure is to be derived 

 from the construction of your own apparatus, especially when that 

 apparatus is afterwards to be used in the pursuit of a delightful 

 hobby. During the whole of the time thus engaged, you are look- 

 ing forward with the most pleasurable feelings to the glorious treat 

 before you, and every joint you make seems to bring you nearer to 

 the realisation of your joys. During the bleak winter months there 

 is no better employment for an entomologist who has a little spare 

 time than the preparation for the next outing. It is just one of 

 those artful schemes by which he seeks to get as much pleasure out 

 of life as it is capable of affording. How many there are who, 

 for the lack of a pleasant and instructive hobby, find their leisure 

 hours the most dismal of all, and who complain of the toil and 

 wearisomeness of their lot ! The mournful thought with them is, 

 ' Is life worth living ? ' but who ever heard such an expression from 

 the lips of an active entomologist ? 



But I must have done with moralising and proceed to business. 

 The question is How shall we set to work about the construction 

 of a collecting box ? If it is to be a wooden one, select or make a 

 box of such a size as to suit your pocket or satchel, and cover the 

 bottom, and lid too if the depth aUows of it, with sheet cork or 

 slices of good wine corks, about one-eighth of an inch thick, fixed 

 on with glue. 



The metal box is not quite so easy, but even here you may 

 save yourself much work by keeping your eyes open. Very neat 

 little collecting boxes can be made out of the flat metal boxes in 

 which .are sold certain favourite brands of tobacco. Some of these 

 are just the right depth, and also of a very convenient size for the 

 coat pocket. Beg one of these boxes from a smoking friend, and if 

 the lid is not held by a hinge (a great advantage, by the way), yoii 

 can easily solder on a brass one. 



All that remains now is the fixing of the cork. Buy a sheet 

 of cork at a naturalist's shop, this being a commodity always in 

 stock, and cut out two pieces just the size to cover the bottom 

 and the lid. 



