75 comprises at least 50 percent perforated area however desirably perforations in vented closures 75 are dimensioned small enough to prevent the stem of a swab 70 in a cell 62 a u2032 62 b u2032 from sticking therethrough as best seen in fig1 in the preferred embodiment front wall 20 is coded such that areas 40 a 40 b 40 c and 40 d are each coded differently e g a different color to correspond to individual storage cells 62 a 62 b 62 c and 62 d similarly areas 42 a 42 b 42 c and 42 d are coded to correspond to the same coding scheme as 40 a 40 b 40 c and 40 d accordingly coded specimen swabs 70 such as that illustrated in fig1 can be matched to their respective coded storage cells the dimensions of the composite cartridge 34 are desirably slightly smaller than the overall dimensions of storage and shipping case 12 such that documentation relating to the specimens may be inserted between cartridge 34 and the inner surface of either front wall 20 or rear wall 22 of storage and shipping case 12 referring to fig6 as an alternative to the separate case 12 and cartridge 34 storage and shipping apparatus 110 may be formed such that dividers 112 are an integrally formed part of the storage and shipping apparatus 110 in this embodiment storage and shipping apparatus.