COLLECTING AND PRESERVING MATERIAL. 177 



in the bottom serves very well for some purposes. 

 Spool cases, whicli can be obtained for a small amount 

 of money, are more convenient. These should be 

 prepared hj lining the bottoms of the drawers with 

 sheet cork and covering the surface of the cork with 

 white paper ruled into squares. The squares aid very 

 much in the arrangement of the different species. 

 The entire drawer should be covered with a pane of 

 glass supported by a small piece of wood at each cor- 

 ner. A lump of camphor kept in each drawer will 

 effectually protect its contents from destruction by 

 moths and dermestes. A better method, though more 

 expensive, is to buy Comstock boxes and use the block 

 system of keeping collections. 



The wings of butterflies should be spread on a set- 

 ting board. This is made by nailing two smooth pine 

 boards, | of an inch thick and two feet long, about 

 f of an inch apart. The space between them is 

 covered by sheets of cork. This forms a grooved 

 board with the bottom of the groove lined with cork. 

 The butterfly is pinned through the thorax with an 

 insect pin. This pin is stuck into the cork at the bot- 

 tom of the groove. The wings are drawn out at the 

 sides so that the hind edges of the fore wings form 

 a straight line across the board. Strips of paper are 

 then pinned to the board across the wings to fasten 

 them in position until they become dry. 



Individual specimens of spiders, myriapods, and 

 insect larvae may be kept in homeopathic vials, pre- 

 served in strong alcohol. 



Snail shells are best preserved in small boxes, or in 

 homeopathic vials if the shells are very small. 



Much advantage will be derived from a series of 

 mounted slides of parts of insects such as are figured 

 in this book. If one knows exactly what to look for, 

 a good deal of the structure can be made out with the 

 hand lens. Such slides are easily prepared. Put the 



