890 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV 111- 
Personally I have given up setting out my specimens, as dragonflies lend 
themselves peculiarly to a paper collection. 
In store boxes it is best to set out three specimens of each insect, two males 
and a female. The former are placed side by side facing forwards, the 
latter between them facing in the opposite dkection — the three thus forming 
a compact group. I have also tried removing the wings of one side which de- 
tracts but little from the value of the insects and almost doubles the accommo- 
dation of a store box. The wings removed are kept in an album secured by 
a spot of cement at the base and thus form a very interesting eoUection illustrating 
the evolution of a dragonfly’s wing. 
A paper collection however will be found the most satisfactory for the worker 
in this comitry, not only on accoimt of its compactness but its readiness to 
access and reference. Dr. Ris, the greatest living authority on dragonflies, 
tells me that he has long ago given up setting out his specimens and now keeps 
them entirely in paper. 
Two cabinets of ten drawers each will accommodate about one thousand 
specimens and will take up only about two cubic feet each. 
The dragonflies with the wings folded flat are put into paper packets of the 
“ cocked-hat ” type described by Col. Evans in his paper on Indian Butterflies. 
I use clean foolscap for this purpose and as dragonflies vary enormously in size, 
make my packets after each shikar to suit the size of individual specimens. 
Each paper packet is now put into an envelope on the front of which 
is written (typing looks neater) the name, sex, place, altitude, date of 
capture and name of collector and lastly any brief notes that may be of 
interest. Envelopes of 5 X 3 inches are the most suitable to use. The 
drawers of the cabmets are made of a size to accommodate these and each 
should be long enough to hold about fifty envelopes. The drawers have labels 
on the front indicating the families to which the species belong. The cabinets 
should have a pair of folding doors in front to lock and enclose all the drawers. 
This will keep out damp and facilitate packing when moving about country. 
The dragonflies are arranged firstly accordmg to families and the families in 
alphabetical order so that a very eomplete index system is obtained enabling 
one to pick out any particular specimen at a glance. In addition I also keep a 
card index, corresponding to the arrangement of the eollection, which enables 
me to make any notes and thus keep a complete history of the collection. 
Dragonflies keep well and look extremely neat in a collection of this sort and 
as the majority have clear wings, nothing is hidden or lost to view by folding 
the latter. To examine the venation all that is necessary is to run a small slip 
of notepaper between the two pairs of wings and the vems will stand out clearly 
on the white background. In the case of species which have the wings coloured 
or opaque, one pair of the ■wings may be removed so that both sides of the remain- 
ing pair are brought into view. 
I find that a small printing outfit, to be purchased for a few rupees, saves a 
lot of time in labelhng the paper packets. After a day’s shikar which has been 
conducted m one locality, it is only necessary to prepare one stamp and impress 
the packets rapidly. If a large variety of species has been taken, it will be found 
quicker to write in the name of the species in lieu of assembling the type for 
each, but all other data such as the locality, date, etc., can be stamped on. 
(v) The last and perhaps the most serious drawback must now be dealt with. 
This is the scarcity of literature on the subject and the want of names to give 
our species, as well as the difficulty of identifying them. The absence of litera- 
ture forces the collector to fall back upon one of two expedients, either he must 
send his captures to an expert for identification or he must compare them witli 
those of a named collection. There are several of the latter in India and the most 
complete are those of the Indian Museum and Pusa collection. Smaller collections 
are to be found in the Forest Research College at Dehra Dun and in the 
Bombay Natural History Society’s Museum. My o^vn collection, which is nearly 
complete, is always at the service of collectors who may care to use it. 
