47 
tion. We have certainly found it much more satisfactory to transplant 
food plants to the benches of the insectary, and better yet, where pos- 
sible, to grow these plants in such situations, as the food supply for 
the insects is thus in a more natural condition than can be made pos- 
sible if the food is simply gathered and placed in the old-style breeding 
cage with an immovable bottom. Where possible to do so, I make it 
a point to grow food plants in the insectary, and thereby prevent the 
accidental introduction of forms into our breeding cages which very 
often are exceedingly annoying, and nearly or quite vitiate results that 
have cost much trme and attention. 
When material is brought into the insectary, it is seldom given an 
‘accessions catalogue” number at first, but is placed in jelly cups and a 
slip is attached to the cup, giving date of reception and. locality from 
which it came. In case nothing develops worth recording, then we have 
saved loading down our accessions catalogue with unnecessary num- 
bers. But as soon as any developments are noted, as for instance the 
appearance of parasites, or the further transformation of any of the 
insects included, we then enter the material in the accessions cata- 
logue, number it, and attach this number to the cup or breeding cage, 
as the case may be. The only drawback to this method is that, where 
we have a miscellaneous lot of material, as for instance a number of 
parasites coming from the same host, as soon as the different species 
are determined, we have to take these out from the original number 
and make a special number for them, referring back on the accessions 
catalogue to the number from which they were taken, or under which 
the material was originally placed. Up to the present time I have 
seen no way of avoiding this, although it is possible that some other 
more practical method may be devised in the future. As soon as 
material is taken from the cages or from the jelly cups it is pinned, 
and a label placed upon each pin, giving date of appearance and acces- 
sions catalogue number. If the material has come from elsewhere 
besides the experiment station, or immediate vicinity, the exact loca- 
lity, as nearly as we can obtain it, is indicated on the pin, on the 
second label. That is, we would have on one label ‘“ Insectary, 6-5-99,” 
which signifies that the specimen appeared June 5, 1899. [Hither below 
or above this label would be another, which might read ‘Toledo, O., 
1-4~99,” which would indicate that the material from which the speci- 
men developed was obtained at Toledo, on the 4th of January, 1899. 
This prevents the confusion between the date of collection, and the 
date of appearance of fully developed specimen. If, as is sometimes 
the case, material is placed out.of doors and there reared in breeding 
cages, we then give the original locality and date of collection on one 
slip and on another the locality and date where it was reared, so that 
there will be no confusion between the two. In regard to pinning, 
we follow the methods generally in use among American entomologists, 
and I might add that we are, in common with nearly everyone else, wrest- 
ling with the problem of how best to arrange alcoholic material. At the 
