CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 177 



reduce it with water to the consistency of cream, then*add half its 

 bulk of spirits of wine, having- a very small quantity of corrosive 

 sublimate, and a few drops of oil of thyme dissolved in it. This is a 

 very useful varnish, applicable to bones, shells, &c., and does not 

 suffer much from damp or heat. Several coats of this will be required 

 at intervals for the fish. The advantages of the foregoing plan are, 

 that it requires very little skill in the operation, the natural form of 

 the fish is retained in the utmost possible perfection, and the scales 

 are kept in their places. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe, that 

 only one side of the specimen is preserved by this process. 



An insect net frame, very portable, exceedingly cheap, and appli- 

 cable to any common walking-stick, may be made of two semicircular 

 wires looped together, having pieces of slit tube soldered to the other 

 ends, and bent in the direction of the diameter of the entire circle, a 

 gimlet being looped both through holes in the pieces of tube and the 

 stick ; a piece of strong twine tied near the gimlet will make all fast. 



Dublin, March 23, 1833. 



CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



ON REARING OAK PLANTS IN HYACINTH GLASSES. The fol- 



lowing experiment on the germination and growth of plants, may be 

 new to many of the readers of the " Field Naturalist's Magazine," as it 

 was to several friends to whom I showed it, though they were by no 

 means inattentive to natural phenomena. 



Let a common hyacinth glass, or other glass if more convenient, be 

 filled about a half or a third part full of water ; and a piece of card be 

 prepared as a cover for the opening of the glass, so as to fit close and 

 exclude the air. Fasten a strong thread, or a piece of brass wire, 

 round an acorn ; not iron wire, for it will rust and corrode the acorn, 

 and frustrate the experiment. Suspend the thread or brass wire 



VOL. i. NO. iv. 1833. N 



