NATURAL HISTORY. 
85 
A supply of triangular paper envelopes for Lepidoptera, &c. Boxes 
of light wood of various sizes (about the size of cigar-boxes) for 
storing and packing specimens. Tin boxes may be used in very damp 
climates, provided the contents are well dried before storing; and the 
general outfit of an expedition may be much lightened by having all the 
provisions, and other consumable articles, packed in tin cases, and in 
boxes and jars of such forms as may render them available for containing 
specimens. 
As a preservative against the attacks of insect vermin, a supply of 
“ Papier Preservateur ” will be found most useful. Each box should be 
wrapped in a sheet of this paper. 
In humid tropical countries, where the ubiquitous ants are likely to 
destroy specimens before they are ready to be packed away, drying-cages, 
suspended from the roof of a hut or tent, are absolutely necessary. These 
can be readily made from old packing-cases, but a few square feet of wire 
gauze must be provided for the back and front of the cages, and the cord 
by which they are suspended must be threaded through a small calabash 
containing oil, to prevent ants from descending from the roof. The 
cages may be so arranged as to be taken to pieces and put together again 
readily; one, for birds, should be about 2 feet 6 inches long by 1 foot 
6 inches high and 1 foot broad; the other, for insects and other small 
specimens, may be about one-third less. They should have folding doors 
in front, with panels of wire gauze, and the backs wholly of the latter 
material; the sides fitted with racks to hold six or eight plain shelves, 
which in the smaller cage should be covered with cork, or any soft wood 
that may be obtained in tropical countries. A strong ring fixed in the 
top of the cage, with a cord having a hook attached at the end by which 
to hang it in an airy place, will keep the contained specimens out of 
harm’s way until they are quite dry, when they may be stowed away in 
their close-fitting boxes. 
A few yards of india-rubber waterproof sheeting, as temporary covering 
to collections in wet weather, or in crossing rivers. 
A set of carpenter’s tools for making boxes and packing-cases. 
Where and what to collect .-^The countries which are now the least 
known with regard to their natural history, are New Guinea and the 
large islands to the east of it, Northern Australia, the interior of Borneo, 
Tibet, Indo-Ohipa, and other parts of Central Asia, Equatorial Africa, 
