330 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



ing camphor, condenses again, and 

 settles on the wings, antennae, &c., of j 

 the insects. No doubt this is so to a 

 trifling extent, but we cannot say that 

 we ejver saw an insect that appeared j 

 to be injured by it. In the bottles in a 

 chemist's shop where large quantities of 

 camphor are always kept, the con- I 

 densation in the glass is very per- 

 ceptible, but the cases are not parallel, 

 and we doubt if the harm that may 

 possibly result from keeping an abun- 

 dant supply in the drawer is at all 

 equal to the benefits. When an insect j 

 becomes infested with mites it must be ! 

 at once removed from the drawer. 

 More than one means of killing mites j 

 m the drawer have been suggested. A I 

 few drops of Essential Oil of Cajeput 

 are said to be effectual, but we hold j 

 that the safest plan is to remove the 

 specimen. If it is a common thing j 

 that can easily be replaced, throw it into 

 the fire at once, and have done with it, 

 but if it is rare and valuable you can 

 destroy the mites without injuring the i 

 specimen. Many insects may be 

 saturated with Benzine without being 

 spoiled ; but others, and especially 

 green ones, lose their color if so treated. 

 We always place a specimen that we j 

 believe to be mity in the cyanide jar, ! 

 for what will kill the insect will also 

 kill the mite. We do not know, how T - I 

 I ever, that this will destroy the vitality I 

 of any ova there may be, and- it will be 

 safer to keep such a specimen out of 

 the cabinet till you are sure it is all 

 right. You can never err by being ' 

 too careful. Be on the watch, how- j 



ever, whenever you see an accumula- ] 

 tion of brown dust under an insect,! 

 you may be sure the destroyer is at! 

 work. We once had the pain to see 

 a valuable collection, that had not 

 been looked at for some years, com- 1 

 pletely destroyed by mites. There was! 

 not a single insect left uninjured, and 

 but very few of which even the species 

 could be made out. We have seen 

 other collections where mites were 

 rambling about almost as big as fleas, 

 and quite as ugly ; but care and atten- ' 

 tion will always prevent anything so 

 bad as this, though they may not be 

 able to save you from an occasional 

 mite in your drawers. Do not let ( 

 loose legs or antennae lie about your 

 insect drawers. At the close of the 

 season, bake all your setting boards in 

 the oven, and never consider anything 

 a trouble that will help you to keep 

 clear of this pest. The only preventa- 

 tive we know of against their attacking 

 dried plants, is to wash the specimens 

 over with corrosive sublimate. It is 

 impossible to keep a herbarium so 

 closely guarded against the air, as 

 insects are kept. It will have been 

 noticed by botanists that many plants i 

 are never touched by them, and it 

 would be worth while making a list of 

 those orders or genera that enjoy this j 

 immunity. Without going into further i 

 details now, we must conclude by urg^ I 

 ing our readers, never mind what they 

 collect, to watch carefully for the 

 appearance of mites, while they take 

 every possible precaution to prevent ' 

 it. 



