CHAPTER VIII. 
CARE OF A COLLECTION. 

§54. WELL PRESERVED SPECIMENS will last ‘“‘forever and a 
day,” so far as natural decay is concerned. I have handled 
birds in good state, shot back in the twenties, and have no 
doubt that some eighteenth century preparations are still ex- 
tant. The precautions against defilement, mutilation or other 
mechanical injury, are self-evident, and may be dismissed with 
the remark, that white plumages, especially if at all greasy, 
require the most care to guard against soiling. We have, 
however, to fight for our possessions against a host of ene-_ 
mies, individually despicable but collectively formidable, foes 
so determined that untiring vigilance is required to ward off 
their attacks even temporarily, whilst. in the end they prove 
invincible. It may be said that to be eaten up by insects is 
the natural end of all birdskins not sooner destroyed. The 
matter, therefore, demands particular attention. 
§55. Insecr pests with which we have to contend belong 
principally to the two families Tineide and Dermestide —the 
former are moths, the latter beetles. The moths are ‘of species 
identical with, and allied to, the common clothes moth, Tinea 
Jlavifrontetla, the carpet moth, 7. tapetzella, etc.,—small species 
observed flying about our apartments and museums, in May and 
during the summer. The beetles are several rather small thick- 
set species, principally of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. 
The larve (‘‘caterpillars” of the moths, and ‘‘grubs” of the 
beetles) appear to be the chief agents of the destruction. The 
presence of the mature insects is usually readily detected ; on 
disturbing an infested suite of specimens the moths flutter 
about, and the beetles crawl as fast as they can into shelter, or 
simulate death. The insidious larve, however, are not so easily 
observed, burrowing as they do among the feathers, or in the 
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