Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Foreign Butterflies.djvu/76

74 wood, of a convenient portable size, are provided with partitions or moveable shelves, each consisting of a simple board; these are fitted at the distance of two inches one from another, in grooves in the sides of the box, in which they are made to slide with accuracy and facility, and are therefore removable at pleasure. These boards or shelves have necessarily the exact dimensions of the ends of the chest, and are placed in a vertical position; a small vacancy is preserved between this lower extremity and the floor, and any object detached by accident falls to the bottom without causing further injury. Each board or shelf, lined with cork or soft wood, supplies, in some measure, the place of a cabinet drawer. When taken out of the box and placed on a table, it rests securely, and affords a plain surface, upon which insects may be fixed and examined with perfect ease and security: it is returned into the box in an instant, which, if carefully made, when closed secures most effectually the contents. A small quantity of camphor, at the bottom, spreads its influence over the whole. One large box may conveniently contain fourteen boards, answering the purpose of as many drawers; and, being eighteen inches long, they have a manageable size. This plan I resolved to adopt. In the early period of my pursuits, the boxes which I provided were made of light wood, and to their use I must ascribe, in a great measure, the preservation of my collection. I found that they afforded a complete protection against the ants and other destructive insects which