THE PRESERVATION OF MARINE OBJECTS 85 



specimens should not be cleaned by means of a suitable brush, 

 with or without the use of dilute hydrochloric acid (spirits of salt), 

 or even polished, in some few cases, to show the beautiful colours 

 so often exhibited when the surface layer has been removed. This, 

 however, should be done somewhat sparingly, thus giving the 

 greater prominence to the exhibition of those appearances most 

 commonly displayed by the shells as we find them on the beach or 

 dredge them from the sea. 



Very small and delicate shells may be mounted on cards, as 

 suggested for other objects ; but, as a rule, the specimens are best 

 displayed by simply placing them on a layer of cotton wool in 

 shallow boxes of convenient size. 



The number of insects that may be described as truly marine is 

 so small that their preservation is not likely to form an important 

 part of the work of the sea-side naturalist ; and even though a 

 considerable number of species exhibit a decided partiality for the 

 coast, living either on the beach or the cliffs, the study of these is 

 more generally the work of the entomologist. For this reason, and 

 partly because we have already given full instructions for the 

 setting and mounting of insects in a former work of this series, we 

 consider a repetition inadmissible here. 



The subject of the preservation of fishes, also, will require but 

 few words. There is no satisfactory method of preserving these in 

 a dry state, though we often meet with certain thin-bodied species, 

 such as the pipe-fish, that have been preserved by simply drying 

 them in the sun. Fishes should be placed in dilute spirit, or in one 

 of the other liquids recommended, but a change of fluid will always 

 be necessary after a time, and also frequently the gentle applica- 

 tion of a brush to remove coagulated slime from the surface of the 

 scales. 



The great drawbacks in the way of preserving a collection of 

 fishes are the expense of the specimen jars, and the large amount 

 of space required for storing the specimens. Of course the former 

 difficulty can be overcome by substituting ordinary wide-mouthed 

 bottles in the place of the anatomical jars, while the latter can be 

 avoided to a considerable extent by limiting the collection to small 

 species, and to "small specimens of the larger species. If this is 

 done, it is surprising what a large number of fishes can be satis- 

 factorily stored in bottles of only a few ounces' capacity. 



