ens, the
nucleus of the future great collection, can be kept here well enough, till
a real cabinet can be compassed.

A cabinet, however, need not be bought all at once; it may be arranged to
grow with the collection--and, it may be, with the collector too--by having
one or two drawers made at a time; till, in course of time, a sufficient
number is obtained, when the whole may be fitted into a case at a small
additional expense, and then there is a first-rate cabinet complete; for,
to make this plan really advantageous, the drawers should be well made and
of good material. Of course, all the drawers must be made to the same
"gauge," to insure perfect fitting when the cabinet is made up.

These drawers may be made by any clever joiner, but as their construction
is peculiar, and not easily described, it is necessary, either that the
maker should be accustomed to this speciality, or that he be furnished with
a pattern, either by buying a single drawer at a dealer's, {57} where that
can be done, by borrowing one out of a friend's cabinet, or by making
therefrom a good working drawing (in section, &c.).

The glasses which cover in the drawers should always have separate frames
for the more perfect exclusion of dust and mites.

Well seasoned mahogany or deal may be the material for the drawers, but on
no account let them be of cedar, a material often used by ignorant or
unprincipled makers, to the great detriment of the collection, and
mortification of the collector, as resinous matter after a short time
exudes from the pores of this wood, dropping down on to the glasses below
in a gummy shower, and the effluvium seems to condense upon the contained
insects, whose wings are gradually discoloured and disfigured by greasy
looking blotches. The drawers are lined at bottom with cork, covered with
_pure white_ paper, which should be attached with _thin_ paste.

The butterflies are then to be arranged in the drawers in perpendicular
columns, and in accordance with some system of classification. If there be
room it is well to have a considerable number of specimens of each species,
especially when it is one liable to much variation. At least one of each
sex should always be given, and also one of each sex showing the _under_
surface. When the chrysalis can be procured, that also should be pinned
down with its fellow-butterfly, and a good coloured drawing of each
caterpillar would be a valuable addition to the series. Between the