ately, the storage boxes should, upon return from the field, be left open in a warm place until the insects have dried most thoroughly. In the moderately dry summer weather of the eastern United States, this may take only a day or two, but very large species may require from one to two weeks. In the humid tropics, forced drying is frequently necessary. When using an oven to dry insects in a hurry, keep the temperature low, about 100 to 120 degrees F. You do not want to cook your catch before it dries. When the insects are dry, put a teaspoonful of "Para" into each box before closing, to keep out mold and insect-eating beetles and ants. If the lid is not very snug, it will be safer to keep the small storage boxes in a large metal can or cabinet which is tight tenough to keep out entomophagous pests as well as mice. So stored, the specimens will keep indefinitely in the box. If you put a spoonful of paradichloro- benzene under the bottom layer at the beginning of your trip, its fumes will serve to dispatch any specimen which may not be quite dead when packed. Remember the label, which should be part of every layer, or at least of the top layer of every lot. An alternate method of packing, perferred by many experienced collectors, is to wrap the specimens in paper envelopes or tubes. The large-winged species requiring envelopes are commonly taken with a net, and their treatment will be described under "Aerial Collecting." Thick bodied and small-winged species, beetles, bugs, hoppers, bees, and many others, may be stored in cylinders made by wrapping a slip of paper about three inches square around a pencil, stick, or any convenient object, and crimping the ends shut, as shown in fig. 3. Before rolling the cylinder, write the data relative to its contents on what will be the outside edge, so that it can be read without unrolling. Fill each cylinder so tightly that the specimens cannot rattle, and keep the tubes themselves from banging around in the storage box by wedging them in with a wad of cotton or crushed tissue paper. When there are enough papered specimens to fill the box entirely, no other packing need be used. Unless the specimens are to be mounted immedi- Fig. 2. Diagrammatic vertical section of a field storage box, showing the insects packed between layers of cotton. Fig. 4. A pocket relaxing box. A. Detail of an easy method of securing the absorbent lining. and need only be relaxed to be mounted. This process is described in Leaflet Number 4. If the specimens are to be mounted on the day of capture, you can keep them soft and workable until wanted by the use of a pocket relaxing box. Make this of a thin metal box with a tight hinged lid, such as is used for packing ginger, nuts, and some kinds of cigarettes. Obtain a piece of balsa wood or cork about a quarter of an inch thick, and as large as the inside of the box. Fasten it into the bottom of the box by means of a few slender brads driven into the edges from outside, as shown in fig. 4. At the beginning of a collecting trip, moisten this lining, wipe off any excess water, and fill the box with layers of cotton or with papered specimens in the ordinary way. When 6 Fig. 3. Steps in making paper cylinders for wrapping large, hard-bodied insects.