92 Queries and Answers. 



the atmosphere of spirit of turpentine will allow neither 

 Icarus nor any insect to live in it ; and, moreover, that it does 

 not injure the colour of preserved birds, and furs and insects, 

 provided they do not come in contact with the spirit of tur- 

 pentine. I beg to inform the Rev. Mr. Bree, that I have 

 used corrosive sublimate in paste for years; that I have 

 applied the solution to my hat, and to the long Indian arrows 

 (which are very subject to be eaten by the worm), with com- 

 plete success ; and that here, in Europe, with equal success, 

 I have applied it to ladies' ostrich feathers, to camel-hair 

 brushes, and to the lining of my carriage. The solution has 

 been the remote cause of my discovering an entirely new 

 method of preserving specimens in natural history ; and 

 which method at once shows upon what erroneous principles 

 the old method has been, and is still, conducted. To con- 

 clude, the solution rfas proved my best support : without it, I 

 could have done nothing. " Hoc solamen erat, sylvis hoc 

 victor abibam." — Charles Waterton. Walton Hall, Nov. 20. 

 1832. 



Preserving the Colour of the Legs and Bills of stuffed Birds. 

 — Will Mr. Waterton inform me what is the best method for 

 effecting this object ? I generally use mastic or copal var- 

 nish ; and, if put on soon enough, it answers the purpose, as 

 regards colour, sufficiently well: but it gives a gloss which, 

 to the legs of many birds, is quite unnatural. — T. K., Killaloe, 

 Sept. 21. 1832. 



How can the Spirit in which Animal Substances are preserved 

 be best kept from evaporating I — I find that the spirit prevents 

 putty from hardening ; and, consequently, from confining it, 

 and even from keeping the glass tolerably tight. — Francis 

 Orpen Morris. Char mouth, Dorset, Sej)t. 1832. 



In a collection to which we have access, two or three modes 

 of stopping the phials, and other glass vessels which contain 

 the preparations, are practised. For all those objects which 

 are frequently, or even occasionally, wanted for practical 

 examination, cork or ground glass stoppers are preferred : it 

 being deemed less expensive and less troublesome to add 

 spirit, as it may evaporate, than to renew the more permanent 

 covering. Should permanent stopping be required, two modes 

 of effecting it are practised. First mode. Tie down, over the 

 bottle's mouth, a piece of softened bladder ; upon that place 

 a circular piece of sheet-lead or sheet-tin, of the size of the 

 top of the bottle : then tie over a second piece of wet bladder, 

 and cover both bladder and tying with two or three coats of 

 black varnish. Second mode. Fit into the mouth of the 

 bottle a piece of good cork, and cut it oif even with the edge 



