504 
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. 
a quantity of volatile or smelling' salts, and to cork up the bottle, 
when in a minute or two after being confined it will be completely 
deprived of life. Oxalic acid, dissolved in a little water, and used in 
the same way as prussic acid, Vol. 1, p. 142, will instantly kill them. 
This is not near so dear as prussic acid ; for about two pennyworth 
would kill sufficient for a whole cabinet. It must be strictly remem¬ 
bered that both these acids are strong poisons, and should, therefore, 
be very carefully labelled and preserved from children. The draw¬ 
ers of the cabinet should be made of well-seasoned mahogany or 
wainscot: for deal is liable to warp and split. Strips of velvet should 
be glued round the edges of the doors, to make them shut close, and 
keep out the dust. The drawers which contain the insects should be 
lined with cork at the bottom, and covered with fine wove paper, 
they must a 7 so be glazed to prevent the admission of dust or air. 
Small holes should be bored in the sides of the drawers, to emit the 
scent of the camphor. Cabinets should always be placed against a 
partition wall, in a dry room. Ingpen. Many moths of the tribe 
of Tinea are so extremely minute, that it is almost impossible to set 
them without defacing their characters : indeed, the trunk of some 
is so small as not to admit of being pierced by a pin. These, there¬ 
fore, it is advisable merely to gum upon card, expanding their wings 
(which the gum will easily retain in their proper situation) with a 
camels hair pencil. Camphor is the general remedy recommended 
to keep out the mites, &c. from preying on these dead insects * and 
turpentine also is found to be useful for the purpose, although some 
have thought it to be injurious to the specimens themselves. The 
safest mode appears to be that recommended page 143, Vol. 1, as it 
renders the dead insects for ever poisonous and unfit to eat. 
To preserve Birds’ Eggs. —To J. K. page 426. The chief 
reason of birds’ eggs losing their colour, after being kept a while, is 
the thin white membrane next the shell being left within, and a por¬ 
tion of the yolk or white adhering to it at the time the egg is blown; 
in a short time it corrupts and produces a disagreeable smell, as well 
as causes the colours to fade. This may be remedied by the follow¬ 
ing method, which we learnt from a correspondent to the Magazine 
of Natural History. Having made a small hole at each end of the 
egg with a pin, blow out the contents, and when this is done get a 
cupful of water, and, immersing the sharp end of the shell into it, 
apply your mouth to the blunt end, and suck up some of the water 
into the shell. Then put your finger and thumb upon the two holes. 
* Kirby and Spence. 
