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ENTOMOLOGY. 99 
enough to prevent the pins from touching anything the stretcher 
may be laid on, and by attaching a ring or loop to one of them, the 
stretcher may be hung against a wall, out of the way. For ordin- 
ary-sized specimens I use boards 2 feet long, 3 inches wide and 4% 
inch thick, with three braces (one in the middle and one at each 
end) 134 inches deep at the ends, but narrowing from each end to 
1 1-6th inches at the middle. This slight rising from the middle 
is to counteract the tendency of the wings, however well dried, to 
drop a little after the insect is placed in the cabinet. The wings 
are held in position by means of strips of paper (Fig. 9) until dry. 
For stretching the wings, and for many other purposes, a handled 
needle will be found useful. Split off, with the grain, a piece of 
pine wood three or four inches long ; hold it in the right hand; 
take a medium-sized needle in the left hand; hold it upright with 
[Fig. ro.] the point touching a walnut table, or other hard-grained 
wood, and bring a steady pressure to bear on the pine. 
The head of the needle will sink to any required distance 
into the pine, which may then be whittled off, and you 
have just the thing you want (Fig. 10). To obtain uni- 
formity in the position of the wings, a good rule is to 
have the inner margins of the front wings as nearly as 
possible on a straight line (Fig. 9). When the speci- 
mens are thoroughly stiff and dry, they should be taken 
from the stretcher and kept for several weeks in the drying 
box before being permanently placed in the cabinet. The 
drying box is simply a box of any required dimensions, 
containing a series of shelves on which to pin the 
specimens, and without a solid back or front.. The back 
is covered on the inside with fine gauze and on the outside with 
coarser wire, and the door in front consists of a close-fitting frame 
of the same material—the object being to allow free passage of air, 
but at the same time to keep out dust and prevent the gnawings of 
mice and other animals. The shelves should be not less than two 
inches deep, and if made in the form of a quadrangular frame braced 
with two cross pieces on which to tack sheet cork, they will serve 
for the double purpose of drying spread specimens, and for the 
spreading of others; as there are many insects with long legs, 
which are more conveniently spread on such a board, by means of 
triangular pieces of stiff card-board or ‘‘saddles,’’ than on the 
stretcher already described. 
CaBINET AND Boxes.—The boxes or cases which are used to 
keep insects in permanently, may be made of any dimensions to 
suit the fancy—r1z2 x 16 inches being aconvenientsize. They must, 
however, be perfectly tight, and should not be more than 2% 
inches deep on the inside. The bottoms must be lined with some- 
thing which will hold the pins, and the whole inside covered with 
white paper. While the size and style of box and cabinet may be 
left to the individual taste, some choice must be had of material. 
Red cedar should never be used. I have learned, to my sorrow, the 
baneful effects of this wood, notwithstanding it is recommended— 
evidently by those who are guiltless of having used it—as having 
the advantage over other wood, of keeping off museum pests. It 
seems impossible to get this wood so seasoned but that a certain 
amount of resin will continually exude from it; and insects in 
boxes of this material, are very apt to soften and become greasy. 
Paper boxes are also bad, as they attract moisture and cause the 
specimens to mold. The French used to make very neat boxes of 
this material, and Dr. Frrcn, of New York, imported a number for 
his insects. He has been paid for his trouble by having almost all 
of his specimens ruined by mold. I use, myself, well seasoned pine 
and white wood ; and in such boxes as have glass covers and are 
intended to form part of a neat cabinet for parlor ornament, the 
fronts may be of walnut or cherry. 
A very convenient and secure box, made to look like a book, is 
manufactured (price $3.00) by Mr. J. S. Ripines, of Philadelphia. 
It is neat, may be stood edgewise on a book shelf, is easily handled, 
and is withal valuable to the working student, because new boxes 
may be added, in their proper places, as the collection increases ; 
and the insects always kept in proper systematic arrangement. Such 
boxes are also readily packed and moved from one place to another, 
and for this reason will commend themselves to the itinerant ento- 
mologist. ‘To hold the pins, various substances may be used, but 
nothing surpasses cork. It may be obtained in sheets, 12 x 3% x 
inches, made expressly. It is for sale by several parties in the 
East, and is advertised by the Naturalists’ Agency, Salem, Mass. 
The pith of Elder, Broom-corn, or Indian corn may be used by those 
who have time to properly cut it into uniform and square pieces ; 
but it should first be boiled to extract the saccharine matter it con- 
tains, and afterwards very thoroughly dried: otherwise it will 
corrode the pins. Boiler felt, properly split, has the advantage of 
cheapness and is valuable. Where none of these materials can be 
obtained, two sheets of stiff paper, stretched on each side of a frame 
1% of an inch deep, and supported on a ledge of the same depth, 
may be fastened into the bottom of the box; and even bog peat, 
or a couple of thicknesses of blanket will serve a good purpose. 
All specimens should be properly labeled before they are placed in 
the cabinet. The name, food-plant, date and place of capture and 
any other brief notes that may be of value for future reference can 
be inserted with the insect; but more extended notes, such as 
habits and descriptions of immature stages, should be made in a 
note book against numbers corresponding to others pinned with the 
specimens. A collection well mounted and cared for, will last 
indefinitely. It must be kept from the light, which fades the 
specimens, and by all means from dampness. The preserved 
insects if not constantly cared for and watched, will soon be 
devoured by mites, Psoct, Dermestes and other museum pests, 
against which there is nothing so effectual as vigilance. A little 
mi camphor kept in 
ing the collec- 
| tion from these 
’ enemies: but it should not be used too freely, 
as I incline to think it has something to do in 
causing the specimens to grease. For inserting 
the more delicate pins, and for numerous other 
necessary operations, different forceps, and espe- 
[Fig. r1.] cially those shown at Figures 11, 12, and 13, will 
be found invaluab] 
[Fig. 12.1 
