OF WASHINGTON. 51 



he favored using red ink on the labels to distinguish the num 

 bers referring to biological notes. He considered sex labels 

 important even in the case of large specimens. He would pin 

 the name of the species to one of the specimens rather than 

 place it above or below the series. 



Mr. Schwarz said that his paper dealt chiefly with the label 

 ing of the private collections of specialists, and that it was not 

 his intention to speak of large public museums, where various 

 other points had to be taken into consideration. 



Dr. Marx stated that he used onion-shell paper in labeling 

 spiders, writing with water-proof ink such as Higgins' Draw 

 ing Ink and placed the label in the vial with the specimens. 

 There was in this method some danger of the specimens being 

 injured by the settling of the labels against them, but this 

 could generally be avoided. He used a cork stopper in 

 preference to rubber stoppers. The following preserving fluid 

 is used by him : Glycerine and Wickersheimer fluid, i ^ 

 ounces each, well mixed with three ounces of distilled water, 

 and then 30 ounces of alcohol (95%) added. Alcohol 

 previously used for preserving spiders, and in which, there 

 fore, some of the fatty matter of the specimens is dissolved, is 

 preferable to pure alcohol, but in this case a smaller quantity 

 of distilled water should be added. This liquid keeps the 

 specimens flexible, preserves their color, and never evaporates 

 entirely. 



Prof. Riley preferred the rubber stopper, as cork stoppers 

 allowed evaporation, and would write the label in pencil, 

 which was practically permanent. Concerning water-proof 

 inks, he stated that the oak-gall ink was the best. 



Mr. Mann explained a convenient abbreviation for month 

 labels, Ja, F, Mr, Ap, My, Je, Jl, Ag, S, O, N, D, and said 

 that in numbering specimens to be determined he would use 

 the same numbers but once. 



