[Illustration FIG. 67.--Detail drawing of box, in which the tongue, _z_, is made of strips of zinc let into a groove and fastened as at _n_; _g_, groove to catch tongue; _s_, _s_, top and bottom; _c_, cork.]
[Illustration FIG. 68.--Insect-box for preservation of collections.]
_Cabinets and Drawers._--Large collections which are intended to be frequently consulted are best preserved in cabinets fitted with glass-covered drawers. A great deal of variety exists in the plans which are adopted for the display of specimens in cabinets. Much depends upon the taste and the financial ability of the collector. Large sums of money may be expended upon cabinets, but the main thing is to secure the specimens from dust, mould, and insect pests. The point to be observed most carefully is so to arrange the drawers that they are, like the boxes, practically air-tight. The writer employs as the standard size for the drawers in his own collection and in the Carnegie Museum a drawer which is twenty-two inches long, sixteen inches wide, and two inches deep (inside measurement). The outside dimensions are: length, twenty-three inches exclusive of face; breadth, seventeen inches; height, two and three eighths inches. The covers are glazed with double-strength glass. They are held upon the bottoms by a rabbet placed inside of the bottom and nearly reaching the lower surface of the glass on the cover when closed. The drawers are lined upon the bottom with cork five sixteenths of an inch thick, and are papered on the bottom and sides with good linen paper, which does not easily become discolored. Each drawer is faced with cherry and has a knob. These drawers are arranged in cabinets built in sections for convenience in handling. The two lower sections each contain thirty drawers, the upper section nine. The drawers are arranged in three perpendicular series and are made interchangeable, so that any drawer will fit into any place in any one of the cabinets. This is very necessary, as it admits of the easy rearrangement of collections. On the sides of each drawer a pocket is cut on the inner surface, which communicates through an opening in the rabbet with the interior. The paper lining the inside is perforated over this opening with a number of small holes. The pocket is kept filled with naphthaline crystals, the fumes of which pass into the interior and tend to keep away pests. The accompanying figure gives the details of construction (Fig. 69). Such drawers can be made at a cost of about $3.50 apiece, and the cost of a cabinet finished and supplied with them is about $325, made of cherry, finished in imitation of mahogany.