BOTTLES (Fr., Bouteilles, Flacons ; Ger., Flaschen) Narrow-mouthed bottles A are best for liquids, and wide-mouthed ones, B and C, for solids. Those with flat-topped stoppers are preferable, it being then less easy for dust to collect in the space between the neck and the stopper. A useful and neat type of bottle has a space for a label ground on its side, on which the name of the substance may be written in pencil, or with waterproof Indian ink. Corrosive and volatile substances and solutions, and deliquescent or moisture-absorbing chemicals require to be kept in bottles provided with well-ground stoppers. The stoppers of acid bottles should be rubbed round with vaseline, which renders them per fectly air-tight and prevents them from sticking ; the same may be done to the stoppers of bottles containing caustic alkalis or carbonates, which have a slightly corrosive action on glass. Hydro fluoric acid, which attacks glass, must be kept in a guttapercha or lead bottle. Dark or orange neck. A convenient way of doing this is to hold a lighted candle above the cork, allowing the melted wax to run all over and around it. (For
special bottles of various kinds, as collodion bottles, dropping bottles, etc., see under separate headings.) BOX, (Fr., Boite aux epreuves pour projections ; Ger., Latern bilderhasten, Diapositivkasten) A long wooden or metal box with a hinged lid, grooved for the storage of lantern slides. The ordinary pattern resembles a grooved negative box, but some workers prefer plain boxes without grooves, and for storage purposes only these are sometimes of greater convenience, since a number of slides can more readily be inserted or removed at once ; however, tor reference or indexing requirements the grooved type is preferable. Travelling lantern - slide boxes are designed with a view to the prevention of breakage ; the example shown is fitted with a rubber butler at top and bottom to stop any movement of the slides, and has strong brass end fasteners and leather straps. The lid is furnished with pegs fitting closely into holes in the top edges of the box.