IMPROVED CABINET. 79 



"Mr. Salvin's cabinets are so constructed that the 

 drawers, of different depths, are interchangeable. 

 This is effected by placing the runners, which carry 

 the drawers, at a fixed distance from each other, and 

 making the depth of each drawer a multiple of the 

 distance between the runners. For example : if 

 the runners are f of an inch off each other, then let 

 the drawers be 1£, 2J, 3, 3fr, 4£, etc., inches deep. 

 All these drawers will be perfectly interchangeable, 

 and a drawer deep enough to hold an ostrich's egg 

 can, in a few moments, be placed among those con- 

 taining warblers'. • • • Mr. Salvin's plan of 

 arranging the eggs is equally simple, and admits of 

 any amount of change with very little trouble. Each 

 drawer is divided longitudinally by thin slips of wood 

 into three or more parts, about 4 to 6 inches across, 

 as may be convenient. A number of sliding stages 

 are then constructed of card-board, by cutting the 

 card-board half through, at exactly the width of the 

 partition, and bending the sides down to raise the 

 stage to the required height. A number of oval 

 holes are then to be cut by hand, or with a wadding- 

 punch of suitable size (altered in shape by hammer- 

 ing) , and a thin layer of cotton-wool gummed on the 

 upper surface of the stage : the holes, of course, 

 should be suitable in size to the egg they are intended 

 to receive. Between these stages sliding partitions 



