_General Directions._--The boxes or cases which are used to keep insects
in permanently may be made of any dimensions to suit the fancy, 12 by 16
inches inside being a convenient size and allowing economic use of cork.
They must, however, be perfectly tight and should not be more than 21/2
inches deep on the inside. The bottoms should be lined with something
which will hold the pins, and the whole inside covered with white paper,
which, if delicately cross ruled, will facilitate the regular pinning of
specimens. While the size and style of the box and cabinet may be left
to individual taste, some choice must be had of material. _Red cedar
should never be used._ I have learned, to my sorrow, the baneful effects
of this wood, notwithstanding it is recommended--evidently by those who
are guiltless of having used it--as having the advantage over other wood
of keeping off museum pests. It seems impossible to get this wood so
seasoned but that a certain amount of resin will continually exude from
it; and insects in boxes of this material are very apt to soften and
become greasy. Paper boxes are also bad, as they attract moisture and
cause the specimens to mold. Well-seasoned pine and whitewood are the
most satisfactory; and, in such boxes as have glass covers and are
intended to form part of a neat cabinet for parlor ornament, the fronts
may be of walnut or cherry.
The character of the boxes and cabinets used for storing insects will
depend largely on the nature and extent of the collection and the object
of the collector. For temporary use, nothing is more convenient and
economical than a cigar box lined with cork or pith. Such boxes,
however, should be employed only for the temporary storage of fresh
specimens, as they afford free access to museum pests, and insects kept
in them for any length of time are apt to be destroyed or rendered
useless.
_The Folding-box._--The use of folding-boxes for the working collector
is to be especially recommended in the case of those orders comprising
small insects like Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, etc. These boxes have the
great advantage of being readily rearranged on the shelves and of being
very easily used in study. The boxes of this type now manufactured by
John Schmidt, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and John Burr, of Camden, N. J., based
on the experience which I have had, have proved so serviceable and
satisfactory in this respect that I have employed them for the bulk of
the collection in the National Museum. These boxes (Fig. 117) are
constructed as follows:
[Illustration: FIG. 117.--The Schmidt folding insect box, opened and
showing arrangement of insects (original).]
They are of white pine, shellacked and varnished, the bottom and top
double and crossgrained, to prevent warping, and projecting slightly at
all sides except the hinged back. They are 13 by 81/4 inches outside
measurement. The inside measurement is 113/4 by 7. The sides, back, and
front are five-sixteenths of an inch thick, with a machine joint, which
is neat and very secure. The boxes are 2 5/8 inches in outside depth,
unequally divided, the lower portion 11/2 inches outside depth, lined
inside with a thin whitewood strip, projecting three-fourths of an inch
above the rim of the outside box. Over this projecting lining the lid
closes as tightly as practicable and is kept from springing by hooks and
eyes. The bottom is cork-lined and covered with a fine, white, glazed
paper.
Similar folding boxes with both sides of equal depth and both lined with
cork, when properly covered, may be made to look like books and be set
on end in an ordinary bookcase, but the single lining is preferable, as
there is less danger of the breakage of specimens and the boxes may
either be laid flat one on the other on shelves, or, what is more
convenient, placed side by side resting on the front edge, so that the
label is attached to one of the narrow ends. The rows of insects are
then pinned crosswise, not lengthwise, of the box, with the abdomens
turned toward the front which rests on the shelf.
All the boxes are furnished with neat brass label-holders, in which a
card containing a list of the contents can readily be placed and removed
at pleasure. The chief demerit of this box which I have endeavored to
overcome by the above details is the tendency to warp and crack in the
trying steam heat of our Government buildings.
_The Cabinet._--For larger insects, such as Lepidoptera, Neuroptera,
etc., a larger box is desirable, and for these orders I have adopted for
use in the National Museum a cabinet which resulted from a careful study
in person of the different forms and patterns used for entomological
collections both in this country and Europe, whether by private
individuals or public institutions. The drawer and cabinet are
essentially after the pattern of those used in the British (South
Kensington) Museum, but adapted in size to our own requirements. In the
use of the National Museum these cabinets have proved eminently well
adapted to their object.
[Illustration: FIG. 118.--Construction of insect cabinet drawer of the
National Museum. A, cross-section _f_ front; B, same _f_ side; C, view
of front end of side, 2/3 natural size (original).]
The drawers (Fig. 118, A, B, C) are square, with an outside measurement
of 18 inches and an outside depth of 3 inches. The sides and back have a
thickness of three-eighths of an inch, while the front is five-eighths
of an inch thick. The pieces are firmly dovetailed together, the front
being clean and the dovetailing blind. The bottom, _a_, is of three-ply
crossgrained veneer, run into a groove at the sides, leaving a clear
inside depth of 2 1/16 inches to the frame of the cover. The bottoms are
lined in all but forty of the drawers with first quality cork, _b_,
one-fourth of an inch thick. At a distance of one-fourth of an inch from
the sides and back and three-eighths of an inch from the front there is
an inside box of one-eighth inch whitewood, _c_, closely fitted, and
held in place by blocks between it and the outer box. There is thus
between the inner and outer box a clear space, _d_, all round, in which
insecticides or disinfectants can be placed to keep out Museum pests,
making it impossible for such to get into the inner box containing the
specimens without first passing through this poison chamber. The entire
inside is lined with white paper, or, in the case of the uncorked boxes,
painted with zinc white. The front is furnished with a plain knob. The
cover is of glass, set into a frame, _f_, three-fourths of an inch wide,
three-eighths of an inch thick, with a one-fourth inch tongue fitting
closely into the space between the inner lining and outer box, which
here serves as a groove. This arrangement furnishes a perfectly tight
drawer of convenient size and not unwieldy for handling when studying
the collection.
The material of which these drawers are made is California red wood,
except the cover frame, which is mahogany. The cabinets containing these
drawers are 36 inches high, 40 inches wide, 21 inches deep (all outside
measurements), and are closed by two paneled doors. Each cabinet
contains twenty drawers in two rows of ten each, and the drawers slide
by means of a groove, _g_, on either side, on hard-wood tongues, and are
designed to be interchangeable.
_The Lintner display Box._--For beauty and security and the perfect
display of the larger _Lepidoptera_, I have seen nothing superior to a
box used by Mr. J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y. It is a frame made in
the form of a folio volume, with glass set in for sides and bound in an
ordinary book cover. The insects are pinned onto pieces of cork fastened
to the inside of one of the glass plates and the boxes may be stood on
ends, in library shape, like ordinary books. For the benefit of those
who wish to make small collections of showy insects, I give Mr.
Lintner's method, of which he has been kind enough to furnish me the
following description:
Figs. A, B, and C represent, in section, the framework of the volume,
_a_ showing the ends, _b_ the front, and _c_ the back. The material can
be prepared in long strips of some soft wood by a cabinet-maker (if the
collector has the necessary skill and leisure for framing it) at a cost
of 60 cents a frame, if a number sufficient for a dozen boxes be
ordered. Or, if it be preferred to order them made, the cost should not
exceed 80 cents each.
Before being placed in the hands of the binder the mitering should be
carefully examined and any defect in fitting remedied, so that the
glass, when placed in position, may have accurate bearings on all the
sides. The interior of the frame is covered with tin foil, made as
smooth as possible before application, to be applied with thoroughly
boiled flour paste (in which a small proportion of arsenic may be mixed)
and rubbed smoothly down till the removal of the blisters, which are apt
to appear. The tin foil can be purchased, by weight, at druggists', and
the sheets marked off and cut by a rule in strips of proper width,
allowing for a trifle of overlapping on the sides. Its cost per volume
is merely nominal.
First-quality single-thick glass for sides must be selected, wholly free
from rust, veins, air-bubbles, or any blemish. Such glass can be
purchased at 15 cents a pane. The lower glass, after thorough cleaning,
especially of its inner surface, with an alkaline wash, and a final
polishing with slightly wetted white printing paper, is to be firmly
secured in its place by a proper number of tin points; the upper glass
is but temporarily fastened. The binder must be directed to cover the
exposed sides of the frame with "combed" paper, bringing it over the
border of the permanent lower glass and beneath the removable upper
glass.
[Illustration: FIG. 119.--Construction of the Lintner box.]
The covers of the volume are of heavy binders' board (No. 18), neatly
lined within with glazed white paper. On one of the insides of the lids
may be attached, by its corners, a sheet with the numbers and names of
the species contained in the volume, or these may be placed on the pin
bearing the insect. If bound in best quality of imitation morocco, with
cloth covers, lettered and gilded on the back, the cost (for a dozen
volumes) need not exceed $1 each. If in turkey morocco, it will be
$1.50.
The lettering and ornamentation of the back will vary with the taste of
the individual. The family designations may be permanently lettered, or
they may be pasted on the back, on a slip of paper or gum label, as are
the generic names, thus permitting the change of the contents of a
volume at any time if desired.
The bits of cork to which the insects are to be pinned are cut in
quarter-inch squares from sheet-cork of one-fourth of an inch in
thickness. If the trouble be taken to trim off the corners, giving them
an octagonal form, their appearance will be materially improved and much
less care will be required in adjusting them on the glass.
The cement usually recommended for attaching the cork to the glass is
composed of equal parts of white wax and resin. My experience with this
has not been favorable, for, after the lapse of a few years, I have
invariably been subjected to the serious annoyance of being compelled to
renew the entire contents of the volume, clean the glass, and replace
the corks with new cement. From some cause, inexplicable to me, a
gradual separation takes place of the cork with its cement from the
glass, first appearing at the angles of the cork, and its progress
indicated by an increasing number of iridescent rings which form within
until the center is reached, when, if not previously detached, the
insect falls with the cork, usually to its injury and that of others
beneath it.
A number of years ago I happened to employ, in attaching a single piece
of cork in one of my cases, a cement originally made for other purposes,
consisting of six parts of resin, one of wax, and one of Venetian red.
Several years thereafter my attention was drawn to this piece by finding
it as firmly united as when at first applied, and at the present time
(after the lapse of twelve years) it is without the slightest indication
of separation. Acting upon this hint, I have, of late, used this cement
in the restoration of a number of my cases, and with the most
satisfactory results. It is important that the cement, when used, should
be heated (by a spirit lamp or gas flame) to as high a degree as it will
bear without burning. An amount sufficient to cover the bottom of the
small, flat metal vessel containing it to the depth of an eighth of an
inch will suffice and prevent the cork from taking up more than its
requisite quantity. It should be occasionally stirred to prevent the
precipitation of its heavier portions. The cork may be conveniently
dipped by the aid of a needle inserted in a handle, when, as quickly as
possible, it should be transferred to the glass, for the degree of
adhesion seems to depend upon the degree of fluidity of the cement. From
some experiments made by me, after the corks had been attached as above,
in heating the entire glass to such a degree as thoroughly to melt the
cement until it spreads outward from beneath the weight of the cork, and
then permitted to cool--the glass meanwhile held horizontally, that the
corks might not be displaced--the results appear to indicate that the
above cement, applied in this manner on glass properly cleaned, will
prove a permanent one. It is scarcely necessary to state that this
method is not available where the glass has been bound as above.
Preparatory to corking the glass for the specimens assigned to it, the
spaces required for them are to be ascertained by arranging them in
order on a cork surface or otherwise. On a sheet of paper of the size of
the glass, perpendicular lines, of the number of the rows and at their
proper distances, are to be drawn, and cross lines equal in number to
the insects contained in the rows. The distances of these lines will be
uniform, unless smaller specimens are to occupy some portion of the
case, when they may be graduated to the required proportion. With the
sheet ruled in this manner and placed beneath the glass, the points
where the corks are to be applied are indicated by the intersections of
the lines. The sheet, marked with the family of the insects for which it
was used and with the numbers designating its divisions, may be laid
aside for future use in the preparation of other cases for which it may
be suitable. In a series of unbound cases in my collection, in which the
glasses measure 11 by 141/2 inches, I have used for my Lepidoptera and
laid aside the following scales, the citation of which will also serve
to show the capacity of the cases: 3 by 8, Catocalas; 2 by 7 and 3 by 9,
Sphingidae; 4 by 11 to 4 by 14, Bombycidae; 5 by 13 to 6 by 16, Noctuidae;
8 by 16 and 8 by 20, Lycaenidae and Tortricidae.
The unbound cases above referred to are inexpensive frames, made by
myself, of quarter-inch white wood or pine, the corners mitered, glued,
and nailed with three-quarter inch brads, lined within with white paper
(better with tin foil), and covered without with stout manila paper. The
glasses are cut of the size of the frame, and when placed in position
thereon are appressed closely to it by laying upon them, near each
corner, a heavy weight, and strips of an enameled green paper, cut to
the width of 1 inch, are pasted over their edges, extending a little
beyond the thickness of the frame, and brought downward over the outside
of the frame. On its back two gum labels, indicating the insects
inclosed, are placed at uniform heights (7 and 12 inches), when, if all
has been neatly done, they present a tasteful appearance upon a shelf.
When there is reason to believe that the case will need to be opened
for the change or addition of specimens, it will be found convenient to
employ, for the fastening of the left-hand side of the upper glass,
paper lined with a thin muslin, to serve as a hinge when the other sides
have been cut.
Should it become desirable to bind these cases, outside frames may be
constructed after the plans above given, with the omission of the inside
quarter inch (the equivalent of these frames), in which these may be
placed and held in position by two or three screws inserted in their
sides.
_The Martindale Box for Lepidoptera._--Mr. Isaac C. Martindale, in the
October, 1891, number of _Entomological News_, pp. 126, 127, describes a
new form of cabinet for butterflies, the drawers of which present some
new features. They are for the same end as the Lintner box described
above--namely, for the display of the upper and under surface of the
wings of Lepidoptera, and promise to be more useful. The drawer is
described as follows:
The especial feature is the drawer itself, which, instead of having a
cork bottom, as is usually the case, has both the top and bottom of
glass. The top part of the drawer frame fits tightly over a ledge one
inch in height, effectually preventing the intrusion of destructive
insects, the pest of the entomologist; but it is readily lifted when it
is desirable to add to the contents or change the location of the
specimens. For the inside arrangement I have taken a strip of common
tin, one inch wide, and turned up each side five-sixteenths of an inch,
thus leaving three-eighths of an inch for the bottom. The length of the
strip of tin, being about two inches longer than the width of the
drawer, admits of each end being turned up one inch. Into this tin
trough is tightly fitted a cork strip three-eighths of an inch square.
The whole being covered with white paper, such as is usually used for
lining drawers, conceals the inequalities of the cork and makes a fine
finish. They should be made to fit neatly in the drawer, and can be
readily moved about to suit large or small specimens. For _Lycaenas_,
_Pamphilas_, etc., as many as fifteen of these strips may be used in one
drawer, and as few as five for _Morphos_, _Caligos_, etc. The upturned
ends are fastened in place by using the ordinary thumb tacks that can be
procured at any stationer's. The frame work of the drawers should be of
white pine, well seasoned. Into this the thumb tacks are readily
inserted and as easily withdrawn when a change in the position of the
cork strips is needed.
_Horizontal vs. vertical Arrangement of Boxes._--I have elsewhere
discussed the availability of the upright vs. the horizontal arrangement
of insect boxes.[9] In the case of Lepidoptera and large-bodied insects
I have found the horizontal drawer or box to be preferable. If
large-bodied insects are placed in a vertical position they are very
liable to become loose on the pins, swing from side to side, and damage
themselves and other specimens; but for the smaller insects of all
orders, the vertical arrangement is quite safe and satisfactory. If the
pin is slightly flattened, as described on p. 69, the danger of large
specimens becoming loose is to a great extent avoided.
[9] _American Naturalist_, Vol. XV, p. 401, 1881.
_Lining for Insect Boxes._--The old lining of insect boxes was the
ordinary sheet cork of commerce, and if a good quality of cork is
procurable it will answer the purpose. A better substance, however, for
the lining of insect boxes is the prepared or ground cork, which is now
almost exclusively used. It is simply ground cork mixed with a small
amount of glue, compressed into sheets and covered with paper. This
gives a very homogenous composition, and is much better than the
ordinary cork, having a more uniform and neat appearance, and admitting
the insertion of the pins more freely. It may be purchased from H.
Herpers, 18 Crawford street, Newark, N. J.
A less expensive substitute is paper stretched upon a frame. Prof. E. S.
Morse has given in the "American Naturalist" (Vol. i, p. 156) a plan
which is very neat and useful for lining boxes in a large museum, which
are designed to be placed in horizontal show-cases (Fig. 120). "A box is
made of the required depth, and a light frame is fitted to its interior.
Upon the upper and under surfaces of this frame a sheet of white paper
(drawing or log paper answers the purpose) is securely glued. The paper,
having been previously damped, in drying contracts and tightens like a
drumhead. The frame is then secured about one-fourth of an inch from the
bottom of the box, and the pin is forced down through the thicknesses of
paper, and if the bottom of the box be of soft pine, the point of the
pin may be slightly forced into it. It is thus firmly held at two or
three different points, and all lateral movements are prevented. Other
advantages are secured by this arrangement besides firmness: when the
box needs cleaning or fumigation, the entire collection may be removed
by taking out the frame; or camphor, tobacco, or other material can be
placed on the bottom of the box, and concealed from sight. The annexed
figure represents a transverse section of a portion of the side and
bottom of the box with the frame. A A, box; B, frame; P P, upper and
under sheets of paper; C, space between lower sheets of paper and bottom
of box."
[Illustration: FIG. 120.--Paper lining for insect box. (After Morse.)]
Other substitutes are the pith of various plants, especially of corn.
Palm wood and "inodorous felt" are also used, being cut to fit the
bottom of the box.
Pita wood or the light porous wood of the Agave or Century plant when
cut into proper strips also makes a very light and satisfactory lining,
while good close bog-peat cut into proper thicknesses is not
infrequently used in France and Germany. Druce & Co., 68 Baker street,
London, W., England, have lately been manufacturing what is known as
cork carpet, which seems to be a combination of ground cork and rubber.
It comes in various colors and of the proper thickness, and makes a very
smooth and desirable lining, holding the pins very firmly. It cost 90
cents per square yard in England, and I have had one cabinet lined with
it as an experiment, as there is a probability that the pins may corrode
in contact with the rubber.