971 



PHOCEUDINGS OF THE. THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



Pupse should be wrapped carefully in tissue-paper or cotton-wool 

 and packed carefully in cotton-wool. 



Finally, the great art of successful transmission of insect specimens 

 by post is to use plenty of good packing material. It is far better to 

 pay a little extra in postage and make sure that plenty of packing 

 material surrounds the insects sent than to skimp the packing and find 

 that the specimens have arrived broken to pieces on account of defec- 

 tive packing. 



May I say a few words as regards labelling insects ? I put down 

 details of each specimen on a card and on the label I have only a number 

 referring to this card. 



That means that your specimens are incomplete in themselves and ' 

 if you send them out it is very difficult to know what the data are. 



You could make out a list and send it with the specimens. 



That is not an easy matter when you have to send out thousands 

 of specimens as we do. 



A card index is certainly a valuable accessory. You really require 

 a clerk to deal with the writing work in the case of a large collection. 



Do you prefer cork for lining the boxes ? We use pith and it answers 

 very well with us. 



I think that cork is better to work with and more permanent. I 

 certainly prefer cork for cabine'ts. 



I use asbestos sheets, but these are too hard to take ordinary pins. 



71.— A METHOD OF PRESEEVING BUTTERFLIES AND OTHER 

 INSECTS. 



By Dr. E. H. Hankin, M.A., Sc.D., Chemical Examiner to Govern- 

 ment, Agra. 



The ordinary method of preserving butterflies is not without its 

 disadvantages from the point of view of the ordinary collector. In 

 a cork-Hned store-box about a quarter of an inch of vertical space is 

 occupied by the butterfly and nearly two inches of vertical space by 

 its pin. 



My attempts at an improvement on an ordinary store-box have led 

 to a method which may perhaps be of use in special cases. Each buttOT- 

 fly is mounted in an air-tight box having a glass top and bottom. The 

 sides of the box are made of a strip of bent tin electroplated. I submit 

 specimens of butterflies mounted in this way [exJdbited]. 



I have used three sizes of boxes. The largest takes ordinary quarter- 

 plates as used m photography. The next size is fitted with these plates 



