[Illustration FIG. 73.--Butterflies pinned into a box overlapping one another, or "shingled."]
_Packing and Forwarding Specimens._--It often becomes necessary to forward specimens from one place to another. If it is intended to ship specimens which have been mounted upon pins they should be securely pinned in a box lined with cork. A great many expanded specimens may be pinned in a box by resorting to the method known as "shingling," which is illustrated in Fig. 73. By causing the wings of specimens to overlap, as is shown in the figure, a great many can be accommodated in a small space. When the specimens have been packed the box should be securely closed, its edges shut with paper, after some drops of chloroform have been poured into the box, and then this box should be placed in an outer box containing excelsior, hay, cotton, or loose shavings in sufficient abundance to prevent the jarring of the inner box and consequent breakage. Where specimens are forwarded in envelopes, having been collected in the field, and are not pinned, the precaution of surrounding them with packing such as has been described is not necessary, but the box in which they are shipped should always be strong enough to resist breakage. Things forwarded by mail or by express always receive rough treatment, and the writer has lost many fine specimens which have been forwarded to him because the shipper was careless in packing.
_Pins._--In the preceding pages frequent reference has been made to insect-pins. These are pins which are made longer and thinner than is the case with ordinary pins, and are therefore adaptable to the special use to which they are put. There are a number of makers whose pins have come into vogue. What are known as Karlsbader and Kläger pins, made in Germany, are the most widely used. They are made of ordinary pin-metal in various sizes. The Karlsbader pins have very fine points, but, owing to the fineness of the points and the softness of the metal, they are very apt to buckle, or turn up at the points. The Kläger pins are not exposed to the same objection, as the points are not quite so fine. The best pins, however, which are now made are those which have recently been introduced by Messrs. Kirby, Beard, & Co. of England. They are made of soft steel, lacquered, possessing very great strength and considerable flexibility. The finest-sized pin of this make has as much strength as the largest pin of the other makes that have been mentioned, and the writer has never known them to buckle at the tip, even when pinned through the hardest insect tissues. While these pins are a little more expensive than others, the writer does not fail to give them an unqualified preference.