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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Jan. 1, 1SG7. 



' Mimiy Pool' was several miles away from any high 

 road, I resolved on my arrival in London to consult 

 my old schoolfellow and attached friend, Dr. Yesalius 

 Pettigrew, on the subject of the little animal's 

 history and habits, as I well knew I could not refer 

 the matter to a more safe or competent naturalist 

 to determine all that I wished to know, respecting 

 the little fellow's birth, parentage, and education. 



" The result of my inquiry was that Dr. Pettigrew 

 pronounced the reptile a young crocodile, with a 

 mother and father, as he laughingly remarked, as 

 long as the hearthrug in his room, or even longer, 

 but how it had been found and killed in this country, 

 he could not venture an opinion upon. At his re- 

 quest I left the young reptile with him, to show to 

 his friend Mr. Frank Buckland, who afterwards not 

 only confirmed Dr. Pettigrew's views as to the 

 character of the reptile, but subsequently, in a 

 description of it in the Field newspaper, narrated 

 the circumstances attending its discovery, giving it 

 as his opinion that it had escaped from some tra- 

 velling show — a thing not uncommon, as he attested 

 by the instances of several such escapes that had 

 come under his notice with little animals of a similar 

 description, although he did not venture to say he 

 had ever heard of a young crocodile being found alive 

 some time after, in the country or town. This letter 

 I replied to at the time, and I then gave the account 

 of the discovery of the little creature in a similar 

 way to which I have done now. I forget the date 

 of these letters, but they will be found in the Field 

 newspaper for, I think, the years 1S61 or 1862. No 

 further correspondence appeared on the subject, nor 

 have I ever heard from my friend Mr. Phillips of 

 the finding another specimen in or about his farm, 

 although, in addition to his reward of one guinea, 

 I offered two, for another specimen, dead or 

 alive."* 



MOUNTING IN BALSAM AND 

 CHLOROFORM. 



fTHHE treatises on " Mounting " that have hitherto 

 -*- been published, contain but scant information 

 on this subject. Davies in his work, about the best 

 and most recent, mentions it, but does not go 

 sufficiently into the details to enable a beginner to 

 adopt it; and as "E. G. M." asks for an opinion 

 from one who has tried it, I am induced to give the 

 result of my experience with it, together with 

 some few instructions, which I trust will be of 

 service to the beginner.1 

 I may state for " E. G. M.'s" satisfaction, that I 



* The length of the little creature, as far as it is now possible 

 to get at it, the skin having shrunk and become very dry, 

 seems to be about 12 to 13 inches from the tip of the nose to 

 the end of the tail, from the tip of the nose to the crown of 

 the head about 2 inches, the front legs 1^ inches and the 

 hinder ones about 2 inches long. 



first used balsam dissolved in chloroform about five 

 years ago, and that my slides, put up at that time, 

 are as perfect now in every respect as they were 

 when first mounted, and quite as secure. I have 

 never used anything else since, except in mounting 

 diatoms, when I use the ordinary balsam ; my reason 

 for so doing I will explain further on. I will now 

 return to the balsam and chloroform. 



I first dry the balsam until it becomes quite hard, 

 and a ready [way of doing this is to pour it into a 

 large pomade pot, the larger the area the quicker 

 will be the process of hardening. I then place it in 

 the kitchen oven after the fire has gone out, care 

 being taken that the temperature is not too high, or 

 the balsam will be discoloured. This operation 

 must be repeated for five or six nights, when it will 

 (with a layer of about an eighth of an inch deep) 

 become quite hard, so that it may be chipped out 

 with a knife. The pot must be kept closely covered, 

 during the drying, to keep out all dust, but it would 

 be as well to raise the cover now and then to allow 

 the vapour to escape. 



When the drying has been completed, a sufficient 

 quantity must then be put into the chloroform, 

 until it becomes of the consistency of an ordinary 

 varnish, or if any thing rather more fluid. As a 

 matter of course it must be kept in a stoppered 

 bottle ; a two ounce bottle with a small neck being 

 a convenient size. The balsam being now prepared 

 we will proceed to its application. 



Every amateur must know that the objects after 

 dissection and soaking in liquor potassa (those that 

 require it), must be thoroughly dried before they are 

 placed in the turpentine bath ; unless this is care- 

 fully attended to the "milky" appearance, com- 

 plained of by "T. B. N." in the last number, will be 

 the result, which renders the objects worthless for 

 the cabinet. 



As some objects require but little or no arrange- 

 ment after taken out of the liquor potassce, they can 

 be thoroughly washed in warm water and placed on 

 the slides in the position they are intended per- 

 manently to occupy, and the cover tied on with a 

 piece of thread, and put away to dry in a warm 

 place well protected from dust. When they are 

 perfectly dry, the slides, with the object and cover 

 thus secured, can be placed in the turpentine bath 

 in a flat position; a sardine box answers admirably 

 for this purpose, and by packing them one above the 

 other, one box will hold about a dozen slides. 



It will be necessary to keep them in turpentine 

 for two or three days, according to the nature of the 

 object, and when taken out, place them on edge to 

 allow the turpentine to drain off; they should be 

 kept in this position for about an hour, when they 

 will be ready for fixing. Now take the bottle con- 

 taining the balsam, and drop on, close to the cover, 

 a small portion ; it will be observed to rush between 

 the cover and slide, permeate the object, and drive 



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