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HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



drop them into a bottle of carbolic acid and soak for 

 a time : twenty-four hours will render any polyzoa 

 transparent, without rendering them brittle. I have 

 many times mounted specimens perfectly clear and 

 transparent in ten minutes from the time they were 

 amusing me alive in the zoophyte trough, treating 

 them as I have recommended for palates. For 

 gizzards and parts of insects, nothing comes near 

 carbolic acid. One great advantage it has over 

 turpentine, it never renders specimens brittle. You 

 can pull them about as readily as when fresh, any 

 object to be desired, particularly with polyzoa. 

 Should there ever be any clouding, it arises from 

 the moisture of the object, not from the carbolic 

 acid, but from want of it. A friend has used carbolic 

 acid to remove the covers of bought slides of diatoms 

 with a view to remount them with great success. I 

 feel I cannot speak too much in praise of carbolic 

 acid, as it is comparatively inexpensive, far less 

 unpleasant in smell, and not so sticky and dirty in 

 use as turpentine. Again, with the use of carbolic 

 acid, it is not necessary to let your object dry, which 

 invariably alters the shape more or less ; still, should 

 it be dry it is not any time becoming transparent 

 compared with the old process of soaking in turpen- 

 tine. We all know how difficult it is to render 

 foraminifera transparent and free from air ready for 

 mounting in balsam. One trial of carbolic acid will 

 convince the most sceptical of the advantages it has 

 over turpentine, benzine, &c. The only drawback 

 to its use that I know is that it renders some vegetable 

 tissues too transparent, but this is not very often the 

 case. — F. Barnard, Kezv, Victoria. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Preserving Crustacea. — As a collector of 

 crustacea I have read with much interest Mr. Lovett's 

 article on the preservation of this most interesting 

 form of marine life. Not knowing anyone able to 

 give me any help in the matter, I have been obliged, 

 by experiment, to discover the best means of preserv- 

 ing my captures. Though my own experience has 

 led me to adopt pretty much the same method which 

 Mr. Lovett recommends, perhaps a few further hints 

 on the subject will be acceptable. With regard to 

 the larger specimens, I have sometimes met with con- 

 siderable difficulty in removing the flesh from the 

 claws and legs. I find this process greatly facilitated 

 by leaving the specimen in water for two or three 

 days, when the flesh becomes softened. Care must 

 be taken not to leave it in water too long, or the 

 colour will fade. By this method there is no necessity 

 for disarticulating the limbs or their separate seg- 

 ments. After the flesh has been softened, as above 

 described, the whole contents of the claws and legs 

 can be extracted through a slit in the under side of 



the joints by a wire hook. By so doing the tiresome 

 operation of joining on legs and segments of legs is 

 avoided, and the specimen may be straightway set 

 up in position and left to dry. If, however, an 

 artificial joint is necessary, I would advise cement as 

 being much stronger than gum tragacanth. With 

 regard to setting out specimens I would remind 

 beginners that some kinds, as Galathea, Lithodes, 

 and Porcellana, have a pair of rudimentary legs which 

 they usually stow away under the carapace. These 

 should be carefully drawn out before the specimen is 

 left to dry. Some collectors set out their specimens 

 on cotton wool, which has the disadvantage of ad- 

 hering most pertinaciously to the pubescence common 

 to many species. I have found cementing the speci- 

 mens down on a glass slab to be the neatest method 

 for a cabinet collection. In conclusion, I would urge 

 that the locality, and if possible, the depth of water 

 of all captures be recorded on their label. — Lionel E. 

 Adams, Victoria Park, Manchester. 



Protective Mimicry in Larva of Emperor- 

 Moth. — The larva of the emperor-moth [Saturnia 

 carpini) affords a very interesting case of protective 

 mimicry. Not only does its green colour resemble that 

 of the heather upon which it feeds, but the small 

 pinkish-purple dots with which it is studded closely 

 imitate the flower buds of this plant, and its habit of 

 twining itself around the stem when alarmed, makes 

 it almost impossible at a little distance to distinguish 

 it from the heather.— G. C. Goody. 



The Weather of 1879. — We have received a 

 copy of an interesting pamphlet bearing on the 

 "Weather of 1879" as observed in the neighbour- 

 hood of London, and compared in all respects with 

 that of an average year, and with the tables of daily 

 observations and a diagram, by Edward Mawly, 

 F.M.S. It is published by Bemrcse & Sons, 10 

 Paternoster Buildings, and Irongate, Derby. 



The Cotton Worm.— Bulletin No. 3 of the 

 United States Entomological Commission is devoted 

 to the above subject, giving a valuable summary of 

 the natural history of the cotton worm (Aletia 

 argillacea), with an account of its enemies, and the 

 best means of controlling it, by Professor Charles V. 

 Riley. This pamphlet of 144 pages may be regarded 

 as a thorough monography of the subject. It is 

 beautifully illustrated by a coloured plate of the'eotton 

 plant and the various stages in the development of 

 the moth, and in addition there is an abundance of 

 woodcuts diffused through the text. 



Goldfish Breeding. — To breed goldfish in a 

 pond, the pond should not be less than eight or nine 

 feet wide, and two and a half feet deep, with a 

 smaller tank a foot or more deep in the centre, for 

 the fish to go in when the pond is cleaned out. The 

 following plants should be placed in the pond : three 

 of Vallisneria spiralis, two or three of the water- 



