486 
Entomological Methods 
The ideal box would be (1) light, strong, and easily handled, (2) 
made of impermeable non-conducting and non-hygroscopic material, 
(3) unaffected by any degree of moisture or drought in conjunction 
with any temperature between 30° and 120° F., (4) ant-proof and 
reasonably air-tight, (5) not expensive. It should not be difficult to 
make such a box, if not of wood or impregnated wood, then perhaps 
of metal covered with some non-conducting substance, or of one of the 
many patent materials and “ substitutes ” now available. Single boxes 
are preferable to double ones. 
The lining of boxes is usually of cork, cork carpet, German peat, or 
pith. The three latter tend to attract moisture more than does cork, 
and in time corrode the pins, unless these are made of silver or nickel. 
The lining should be of a fair thickness; for sending specimens by 
post an inch thick layer of pith is excellent; if the pith is pi’ocured 
locally it should be very carefully dried. Carbolic acid cannot be used 
with cork carpet or German peat, as it causes them to swell up in 
billows and crush the specimens against the lid of the box. Dr Graham 
of West Africa recommends white beech creosote as a preventive against 
mould and insects : Lefroy finds that an improvement on this is effected 
by mixing the creo.sote with an equal quantity of a saturated solution 
of naplithalene in chloroform ; a little of the mixture is poured over the 
bottom of the box from time to time : it is very effective, and can be 
used with any lining. 
The necessity of poisoning boxes is to a great extent if not entirely 
obviated by the use of paraffin-wax, which has been tried at Pusa with 
very good results. A box is lined with cork carpet painted white, and 
over this is run about a quarter of an inch of wax with 5 “/o of naph¬ 
thalene melted in with it. The melting-point of the wax should be 
about 20° F. above the maximum shade-temperature. No “mites” 
seem able to live in these boxes. Both paraffin and the creosote 
mixture ai’e superior to naphthalene alone, apart from the risk of 
damage to specimens occasioned by using lumps of the latter in 
the box. 
It is possible to preserve diptera very carefully packed in layers of 
well-sifted sawdust, but this should never be done if it is possible to pin 
them. Nothing hut silver or nickel pins should ever he used, and the 
insects should not be pinned directly in the box, but to a support which 
in turn is pinned firmly on to the lining of the box. 
The round discs of paper so often used as supports for mosquitoes and 
other diptera have proved in our experience to be unsatisfactory, and 
