231 
PRESERVING 
A quarantiue box is a necessity in every collection, and here all exchange specimens and all in¬ 
fected storeboxes or drawers should be treated. Some Avriters have discouraged the use of l)isulpliide of 
earbon ou aceouul of its supposed danger: it is certainly very inllaniinable and the continued inhalation 
of its disagreeable fumes are no doubt prejudicial. But the fumigation may be carried on out of doors 
ia the daylight where it is quite safe and harmless; and we know of no eli'ective substitute. 
The quarantine box or tin should be litted with a close lid and large enough to hold an opened 
«bux or a cabinet draw^er. Put the opened box or drawer of specimens in the quarantine box face 
ilowmvards. Pour about a teaspoonful of bisulphide on a wad of cottonwool in one corner of the outer 
box and close it tightly for about an hour. By that time all insect life Avill have been destroyed, and 
after a little airing to remove the clinging odour, the drawer or storebox may be restored to its place in 
ihe eoUedion. All the setting boards should he treated in the quarantine box every fexv mouths, or pest 
lanaemay find a lodgment in them from Avhich to attack newly set specimens. 
A haudy subsLilute for the quarantine box is a tiny porcelain cui», half inch high and half inch 
diameter, to the base of which an ordinary drawing pin is cemented. This can he partly lilled Avith the 
bisulphide aud lixed in the draAver or storebox and left till emiMied by evaporation. A dozen such 
caps will treat a dozen dniAvers at once and so much time may be saA’ed; care must be taken that the 
liquid does not splash over the cup or it Avill stain the paper: the hole made in the paper by the draAving 
pin cau be hidden under a name label. 
Mould. In a Avarm climate or season the damj) relaxing box is liable to produce a crop of mould or 
mildew which Avill soon attack and damage the specimens. Nothing but boiled Avater should be used 
for the relaxing box, but even Avith this precaution the continual use of the box is sure to eventually 
result in a crop of minute fimgi; mould spores floating* in the air cannot be entirely avoided. 
formalin is one of the best of mould destroyers, but unfortunately it hardens instead of softens 
the muscles and tissues of the si^eciiuens. A ten per cent, solution of carbolic acid is often recommen¬ 
ded but this requires great care; the slightest touch Avill stain the specimen and there is always a 
danger of the colours being alfected, reds changing to dull orange and orange almost to red-brown. 
.Immonia relaxes Avell hut affects the pink and red colours. 
When mould makes its .appearance on specimens in the collection, the draAver or storebox should be 
opened and cai’efully exposed before a Are till all the moisture has evaporated: the mould can then 
he dusted off Avilli a camel hair brush. In all such cases a drier and more airy 2:)osition should be 
sought for the collection. 
A fairly effective mould preventive has lately been discovered in Thymol. The smallest scraping of 
ifeintbe daui]) relaxing box will to a large extent 21 revent the groAvth of mould. With a relaxing box in 
Mant use the action of the moisture on the Thymol Avill deeonqjose it, and the released fumes are then 
BDpleasant: at such times the box should be scalded out and neAV thymol scra 2 >iugs then added. 
Grease. Those families of the moths Avhose larAuxe ai*e internal feeders, the He2>ialidae, the Cossidae and 
tbe Xyloryctidae, are ahvays sure to develo2) grease sooner or later. The fatty content of the abdomen 
liquities instead of hardening and in lime 2^Gi^Gtrates to the surface of the skin in dark S2^ots and 
paldies, and if unchecked Avill gradually S]xread to the Aving’s and render them most unsightly. 
FcirUmately the average buterlly is not nearly so liable to this trouble, but Liphyra hrassolis^ and 
tlie biillerliies of the genus Gatopsilia are exceq^tionsj and any butterfly loft too long in the relaxing 
l)ox may suffer. 
Tbe removal of the grease, Avhile fresh, is not A’ery diflicult. TJie abdomen must be slit from the 
onilerside and the contents removed: then either the scAcred abdomen or the AA'hole of the butterfly 
niust be immersed in some A'olatile spirit for half a minuto only. Benzine, chloroform or ether Avill do: 
the spii'it dissolves the grease, and Avhile still damp the S 2 )ecimen must be eom 23 letely buried hi 
powdered magnesia. Magnesia has the power of absorbing the grease, and in about half ^ an hour the 
butterfly may be lifted out and the magnesia blown from it, any adhering remainder being carefully 
^lusted off Avitli a soft brush. 
Specimens thus treated wdll regain much if not the Avhole of their first beauty, all ti aces of the dis- 
^guriiig grease disappearing. When the abdomen is small and the evidence of ^’ease only slight it may 
^ treated with benzine and magnesia AA’ithout removing the contents, but there is a danger of the grease 
t^sppeaiiug. This treatment sometimes fails Avilh S2Aecimens in Avhicli the grease has been present 101 
»aud dried hard upon the Aving-s: it is llien diflicult to dissolve Avith the benzine, and it has usually 
^^ed the ivings lieyond remedy. 
