BUTTERFLIES, SPHINGES, AND MOTHS. 2038 
THE INSECT CABINET. 
The drawers of the cabinet should be about fif- 
teen inches in length, eighteen in breadth, and two 
inches deep. There should be a layer of cork of about 
the sixth of an inch in thickness gluedon the bottoms, 
and a piece of paper pasted on the top. The cork 
ought to be of the best quality, and free from cracks 
and knots. Each drawer should have a lid of glass, 
which must rest upon a rabbet. This excludes the 
air, and prevents dust. 
“The simplest method of corking drawers is, to 
purchase the cork of a corkeutter, ready prepared ; 
but it will be much cheaper for the entomologist to 
prepare it himself. In this case it should be cut 
into stripes, of about three inches wide, with a cork- 
cutter’s knife, to smooth the surface, and to divide 
it. The stripes should he fixed in a vice, and cut 
to the thickness required 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 bot- 
tom of the drawer, but will also grease the paper 
which should be pasted on its surface. The black 
face of the cork should be rasped down to a smooth 
surface. After having reduced the slips to about 
three quarters of an inch in thickness, the darkest 
or worst side of each 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, 
