1877.] Scientific News. 443 
them in a small space, and at the same time so that each bottle can be 
quickly found when wanted, and finally had a case of drawers made 
which has served the purpose so well that he has thought it worth while 
to describe it for the benefit of those having charge of similar collections. 
One of the drawers is shown 
in the cut. (Figure 83.) The 
front, back, bottom, and one 
side are made of wood one 
quarter of an inch thick, while 
the other side consists of a sin- 
gle wire which keeps the bot- 
tles in place while allowing 
their contents to be easily seen. 
The drawers are a foot long 
and an inch wide outside, giving a space three quarters of an inch wide 
for the bottles, which may be from a dram to half an ounce in size. The 
bottles stand loosely in a single row, and if the drawer is not full, a 
wedge of wood or cork placed between the wire and the opposite side 
keeps the end bottles from falling over. The backs and sides of the 
drawers are made lower than the bottles so that the latter can be more 
easily taken out and put in. The fronts are made as high as the high- 
est bottles likely to be used, so that when the drawers are placed side by 
side on a shelf they may close entirely the space between it and the shelf 
above, and cover the bottles from dust and light. If the width of the 
shelves is slightly less than the length of the drawers no knobs or han- 
dies are needed, and the fronts can be used for labels. The drawers 
being all of the same size can be changed from one part of the case to 
another, and the whole collection be rearranged and new specimens intro- 
duced in their proper places without changing the bottles from drawer 
to drawer. Drawers on the same plan might be arranged for bottles of 
any size not too heavy, and specimens in alcohol be stored in them much 
more compactly than in the ordinary closets and trays, and at the same 
time be more easily examined and more quickly found when needed. — 
J. H. EMERTON. 
— AÀ new publication designed to elucidate the natural history of Illi- 
nois is the Bulletin of the Illinois Museum of Natural History. No. I. 
contains the following papers: List of Illinois Crustacea, by’S. A. Forbes, 
with a Key; The Tree in Winter, by F. Brendel; Sodic Pinate asa 
Test for Lime, by J. A. Sewall; Partial Catalogue of the Fishes of Illi- 
nois, by E. W. Nelson ; Upon Parasitic Fungi, by T. J. Burrill; A List. 
of the Orthoptera of Illinois, by Cyrus Thomas. 
— Packard’s Half Hours with Insects, which was originally issued in 
twelve numbers, has lately been published in book form. We desire 
correct some typographical and other errors of importance. Page 
187, in explanation of Fig. 187, for Bucculating read Bucculatrix. Page 
1 Boston : Estes and Lauriat. 1877. 12mo, pp. 384. Illustrated. $2.50. 
(Fie. 88.) VIAL HOLDER. 
