INSECTS. 1 3 



with a cork-cutter's knife, to smooth the surface and to divide it. 

 The strips should be fixed in a vice, and cut to the thickness re- 

 quired with a fine saw ; but grease must not be used in the 

 operation, as it will not only prevent the cork from adhering 

 to the bottom of the drawer, but will also grease the paper 

 which should be pasted on its surface. The black surface of 

 the cork should be rasped down to a smooth surface. After hav- 

 ing reduced the slips to about three quarters of an inch in thick- 

 nssc, the darkest, or worst side of the slip should be glued down 

 to a sheet of brown, or cartridge paper ; this should be laid on 

 a deal board, about three feet in length, and the width required 

 for a drawer or box ; a few fine nails, or brads, must be driven 

 through each piece of cork to keep.it firm and in its place 

 until the glue be dried ; by this means, sheets of cork may be 

 formed the size of the drawer. All the irregularities are filed 

 or rasped down quite to a leval surface, and then polished 

 smooth with pumice-stone. The sheet, thus formed and finished, 

 is glued into the drawers. To prevent its warping, some weights 

 must be equally distributed over the cork, that it may adhere 

 firmly to the bottom of the drawer. When quite dry, the weights 

 are removed, and the cork covered with fine white paper, but 

 not very thick. The paper is allowed to be quite damp with 

 the paste before it is placed on the cork, and, when dry, it will 

 become perfectly tight. 



Insect cabinets should be kept in a veiy dry situation, other- 

 wise the antenna?, legs, &c, will became quite mouldy. The 

 same evil will ensue if the insect is not perfectly dry before it 

 is placed in the cabinet. Should an insect be covered with mould, 

 it can be washed off with a camel's hair pencil, dipped in cam- 

 phorated spirits of wine ; in which case, the insect must be dried 

 in a warm airy situation, before being placed in the cabinet. 



There should always be plenty of camphor kept in the drawers, 

 otherwise there is great danger to be apprehended from mites : 

 where these exist, they are easily discovered by the dust which is 

 under the insects by which they are infested. In which case, % 

 they must be immediately taken out, and rubbed clean with a fine 

 camel's hair pencil, and well imbued with the solution of corro- 

 sive sublimate, and then placed near a fire, taking care, how- 

 ever, that too great a heat is not applied, as it will utterly destroy 



