CHAPTEK V 

 THE PRESERVATION OF MARINE OBJECTS 



THE sea-side naturalist, in the course of his ramblings and search- 

 ings on the coast, will certainly come across many objects, dead 

 or alive, that he will desire to set aside for future study or 

 identification in his leisure moments at home. Some of these 

 will be required for temporary purposes only, while, most probably, 

 a large proportion will be retained permanently for the establish- 

 ment of a private museum, that shall serve not only as a pleasant 

 reminder of the many enjoyable hours spent on the shore, but 

 also as a means of reference for the study of the classification of 

 natural objects and of their distribution and habitats. 



We will first deal with those specimens that are required for 

 temporary purposes only those of which the collector desires to 

 study the general characters, as well as, perhaps, something of the 

 internal structure ; but before doing so we cannot refrain from 

 impressing on the reader the advisability of learning as much as 

 possible of the external features and mode of growth of the 

 different living creatures while still alive, for it must be remembered 

 that it is impossible to preserve many of them without more or 

 less destruction of their natural colouring and distortion of their 

 characteristic forms. 



In those cases where it is possible to keep the creatures alive 

 for a short time only, it is a good plan to make notes of their 

 movements and all observed changes in form, and their methods 

 of feeding, and also to illustrate these notes by sketches drawn 

 from life. This may seem quite an unnecessary procedure to 

 many beginners in the study of natural objects, and may even, as 

 far as the sketches are concerned, present difficulties that at first 

 appear to be insurmountable ; but the power to sketch from nature 

 will surely be acquired to a greater or less degree by constant 



