COLLECTING MARINE INVERTEBRATES. 83 



branches, the principal thing is to wrap them in sufficient soft 

 materials that their surfaces cannot get rubbed, for that would 

 ruin them. X>o not -pack a large chunk of brain coral without 

 putting a partition across the box to hold it firmly in its own 

 place, no matter how the box is turned. In Ceylon I once took 

 the trouble to divide a large box into twelve separate compart- 

 ments for the reception of that number of coral specimens. 



In packing branching coral, a good quantity of soft, elastic, 

 fibrous material like coir, cotton, tow, oakum, or something 

 similar, is necessary. From first to last, take whatever precau- 

 tions are necessary to keep your corals from getting filled with, 

 dirt and litter. Each cluster must lie on a thick pad of your 

 fibrous material. In order to get downward pressure upon it, 

 to hold it in place without breaking the branches, take some 

 soft paper or cotton cloth, roll up a long, cylindrical pad of 

 cotton or something else, and thrust it far down into the larg- 

 est opening between the branches, with one end projecting 

 above the top of the cluster to receive and transmit pressure 

 from above. This principle, if properly carried out, will enable 

 the collector to so firmly fix even the most fragile cluster that 

 it is fitted to withstand pretty rough treatment in transit with- 

 out serious damage. 



STAE-FISHES. When star-fishes are first taken from the water 

 their arms are pliant, but after a bath in alcohol they become 

 perfectly rigid. If left to themselves when first put into spir- 

 its, the smaller and more spider-like species will almost tie 

 their arms into double bow-knots, and insist on keeping them 

 so forever after. Since the way to cure a star-fish is to soak it 

 in alcohol for from six to twenty-four hours, according to size, 

 and then dry it flat and in good shape, it becomes necessary to 

 pin the small ones firmly in shape upon thin boards before im- 

 mersing them, and then they will " stn.v put." See to it that 

 while in the spirits all your star-fishes, large and small, cure in 

 proper shape, flat, and with each arm flat and extended in the 

 right direction. After removal from the spirits, pin out all 

 those not already fastened upon boards, and then let them dry. 

 I have never found it necessary to poison the spirits, for the 

 reason that dermestes and other insects seem to respect a dried 

 star-fish for his own sake. 



