SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT. 43 



friend's cabinet, or by making therefrom a good work- 

 ing drawing (in section. &c.). 



The glasses which cover in the drawers should always 

 nave separate frames for the more perfect exclusion of 

 dust and mites. 



Well seasoned mahogany or deal may be the material 

 for the drawers, but on no account let them be of cedar, 

 a material often used by ignorant or unprincipled makers, 

 to the great detriment of the collection, and mortifica- 

 tion of the collector, as resinous matter after a short 

 time exudes from the pores of this wood, dropping 

 down on to the glasses below in a gummy shower, and 

 the effluvium seems to condense upon the contained 

 insects, whose wings are gradually discoloured and dis- 

 figured by greasy looking blotches. The drawers are 

 lined at bottom with cork, covered with pure white 

 paper, which should be attached with thin paste. 



The butterflies are then to be arranged in the drawers 

 in perpendicular columns, and in accordance with some 

 system of classification. If there be room it is well to 

 have a considerable number of specimens of each species, 

 especially when it is one liable to much variation. At 

 least one of each sex should always be given, and also 

 one of each sex showing the under surface. When the 

 chrysalis can be procured, that also should be pinned 

 down with its fellow-butterfly, and a good coloured 

 drawing of each caterpillar would be a valuable addition 

 to the series. Between the columns, lines should be 

 ruled varying in distance according to the breadth of 

 the butterflies, and small labels should be pinned down 

 at the foot of each species giving its specific name ; the 

 name of the genus being placed at the head of the^rs^ 

 species of the genus. The names of the families and 

 sub-families under which the genera are classed are also 

 generally given in their respective places. 



I have in this little work followed the system of 

 classification used in the public collection of British 

 butterflies at the British Museum, which seemed to me 

 more intelligible and natural when applied to our very 



