_General Directions._--It matters little how much care and pains have
been taken in the preparation and mounting of specimens, they will have
little value unless accompanied by proper labels giving information as
to locality and date of collection, name of collector, and a label or
number referring to notebooks, if any biological or other facts
concerning them have been ascertained. There should be pinned to the
specimen labels referring to, or giving all the information obtainable
or of interest concerning it. A somewhat different style of label will
be found necessary in the case of the two forms of collections described
in the foregoing pages, namely, the biological or economic collection,
and the systematic collection. For the former, numbers may be attached
to the specimens which will refer to the notes relating to the specimen
or species. For the latter, in most cases, all necessary information may
be recorded and made available by written or printed labels attached
directly to the specimens. In most cases, however, I find a combination
of these two systems convenient and desirable. The numbering system is
very simple, and is the one which I have followed in all the species for
which I have biological or other notes. It consists in giving each
species, as it comes under observation, a serial number which refers to
a record in a notebook. With this number may be combined, if convenient,
the date of rearing or collection of the specimen, and also the locality
and food-plant if known. The vast number of species represented in a
systematic collection renders the numbering system entirely out of place
and inadequate, and the labeling system alone is generally available. If
it becomes necessary in the systematic collection to refer to
food-plants or life-history or any other fact of interest, the numbering
system should be used, and I recommend that the numbers be written in
red ink on the labels, to distinguish at a glance the numbers referring
to biological notes from other numbers that will occur in the
collection.
_Labels for pinned Specimens._--The following labels should be employed
in the collection: (1) _Locality label_, which should be as explicit as
possible. (2) _Date of capture_, which is very useful and sometimes
quite important in various ways. It indicates at what time additional
specimens of some rare species may be secured, and greatly assists in
elaborating the life history of the species, and in other cases assists
in the correct determination of closely allied insects, which differ
chiefly in habit or date of appearance. (3) _A label to indicate the
sex_. This label has recently acquired greater importance than formerly,
on account of the value of the sexual differences in the distinction of
species. The well-known signs for male, female, and worker, printed in
convenient form, are well adapted for collections. (4) _The name of the
collector_. This label is of less value, but sometimes becomes important
in determining the history of the specimen or the exact place of
capture. The name of the species is not necessarily attached to all the
specimens in a collection, and ordinarily will be placed with the first
specimen in a series in the cabinet. This and other labeling of insects
in cabinet is discussed in another place. Other labels are useful to
indicate type specimens, namely, those of which descriptions have been
drawn up and published, and which should be designated by a special
label written by the author himself. Determinations by an authority in a
special group should be indicated, and the labels placed on specimens by
such an authority should not be removed.
It will not be found necessary to use a separate label for each of the
data indicated above, and a single label may be made to combine many of
them, as, except for the specific names of the insects themselves (which
should always be on the lowermost label), most other words will bear
abbreviation, especially localities and dates. "A combination label,
which has given general satisfaction to all to whom it has been
communicated, is a two-line label printed in diamond type, on heavy
writing paper. The upper line consists of the name of the locality, _e.
g._, 'Washngtn' (a name consisting of more than eight letters to be
abbreviated), and the lower line has at the right-hand corner 'DC'
(interpunctuation and spacing to be avoided so as to save space). This
leaves on the second line sufficient room for inserting the date, which
can be quickly and neatly written with ink if the labels are printed in
columns of ten or more repetitions. The label thus combines locality
with date of capture. Or the upper line reads 'Arizona' and the lower
line 'Morrison,' the label thus combining locality with the name of the
collector."[8]
[8] E. A. Schwarz, Proc. Ent. Soc., Wash., II, No. 1, 1891.
In general I indorse the system of labeling suggested in the above
condensation from Mr. Schwarz, but there is no particular disadvantage,
and in fact many advantages, in special cases, in a larger label or in
folded labels. Particularly in visiting large foreign collections I have
found it convenient to use large labels of thin paper which will contain
a good deal of information closely written in pencil and bear folding
several times, so as not to occupy more than the ordinary label space
when pinned to the specimens. This involves detaching the label when the
specimen or species comes to be studied, but this additional labor is
insignificant compared with the large amount of valuable information
which in time is thus brought together in condensed availability for the
student; for brief notes of opinions of experts, of comparison with
types, of special studies, of reference to descriptions, etc., may thus
be all brought together. Where there is not room to indicate the
authority for a determination on the upper side of a label, I also find
it convenient to do so on the lower side.
[Illustration: FIG. 116.--Cabinet for apparatus used in mounting and
labeling. (Original).]
_Labeling alcoholic Specimens._--Alcoholic specimens, including
alcoholic biologic material and collections of Arachnida and Myriapoda,
are well adapted to the labeling system, as the vials are always of
sufficient size to allow the insertion of one or more labels large
enough to contain a pretty full record of the specimen. The label may
consist of a number referring to notes, or of a number together with the
other data indicated for the systematic collection. The label in my
experience is preferably written in pencil, which, in alcohol, is
practically permanent. Waterproof inks are sometimes used, and of these
the oak-gall ink is undoubtedly the best. Dr. George Marx, in labeling
his Arachnida, uses onion-skin paper and waterproof ink, such as
Higgins's drawing ink. There is some danger, in placing a label in a
vial, of its settling against the specimen and injuring it. This,
however, can generally be avoided if a little care is used. The label
may be long and narrow and folded lengthwise so as to occupy one side
only of the vial, or short and inserted in such manner that it will pass
around the inside of the vial, where it will be held by the natural
adhesion to the glass in the upper portion of the vial, as shown at Fig.
114.
_Cabinet for Apparatus._--The work of preparation of insects for the
cabinet may be greatly facilitated if a convenient case is provided with
drawers and compartments for the keeping of pins of different sizes,
labels, braces, implements, tweezers, dissecting apparatus, and the
like, with microscopical supplies--slides, cover glasses, mounting
media, etc. I present a photograph of a cabinet of this sort used in my
earlier work and found very convenient and serviceable (Fig. 116).