new specimen frequently necessitates the rearrangement of the contents of the 

 entire drawer. Only one side of an insect can be seen unless the pinned specimen 

 is lifted out, and this is troublesome and endangers the delicate, fragile butter- 

 fly. If one can afford the expense, it is better to have a male and female of each 

 species spread wrong side up, as well as a pair right side up, so that both sides 

 may be examined in the drawer. It is so much trouble to pull out drawers and 

 replace them, and the resultant jarring is so apt to injure the brittle specimens, that 

 visitors are seldom shown more than a few drawers of the largest collections. 

 Even the owner of a collection is apt to be ignorant of the beautiful colorings on 

 the under side of many of his specimens, because it is not a light task nor a per- 

 fectly safe one to pin and unpin and handle and examine and study and replace 

 each insect. 



"THE XIMENA McGLASHAN CARD MOUNT." 



During the last few years a number of improved methods of mounting lepi- 

 cloptera have been placed upon the market and have been gladly welcomed 

 by entomologists. There is a wide field for improvement and the person who 

 finally discovers a perfect method will do much to popularize this science. With 

 the assistance of my parents (and they have done the greater part of the work), 

 1 shall soon be able to furnish samples of my method of mounting lepidoptera. 

 It is intended to be a card method and a collection can be safely kept in the 

 same compact and convenient form as the usual card index filing systems in 

 general use among business men. I claim greater safety for the insects, a mini- 

 mum of expense in mounting and caring for the collection, a device which permits 

 the free handling of the card and the examination of both sides of«the butterfly 

 without danger of breaking it, and the specimens are not glued in place or other- 

 wise disfigured. The mount consists of two pieces of heavy cardboard having 

 corresponding openings large enough to hold the insect. Across the inner sur- 

 face of each of these cards is a network of threads of isinglass or silk, as nearly 

 transparent and invisible as possible. When the cards are placed together the 

 filaments on one card impinge upon those of the other card, and when a butter- 

 fly is laid between the two networks the pressure of the threads holds it firmly 

 in place. The cards are thick enough to shield the body and appendages which 

 project through the network. On the outside of each card is a sheet of isinglass, 

 or of thin glass, which is held in place by facing paper, which may be embossed 

 and appropriately embellished so as to present the general .appearance of a postal 

 card, an Easter card or ordinary photograph card. The two pieces of card- 

 board, the two sheets of transparent material and the facing card or board are 

 glued together and the edges bound with passepartout or binding tape. The 

 butterfly, suspended by the impact of the threads above and below its wines, 

 appears in an opening in the center of a rather thick card, both sides being visible. 

 The soft, yielding threads protect the insect from injury by accidental jarring 

 and a card may even be dropped on the floor without damage. 



N. B.— ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS DURING THE YEAR WILL 

 BEGIN WITH VOL. I, NO. 1. 



Address all letters: (MISS) XIMENA McGLASHAN, 



Truckee, California. 



148 



