Article VII. Amendments. 



Sec. 1. Constitutional Amendments. This constitution 

 may be amended upon a month's notice by two-thirds of the 

 voting members present. 



Sec. 2. Amendments to Bij-Laws. The By-Laws may 

 be amended by two-thirds of the voting members present 

 at any regular meeting. 



THEORY OF KILLING AND PRESERVING. 



Every collector of biological specimens should thor- 

 oughly understand the general theory of killing and pre- 

 serving. On this depends net only the intelligent and 

 successful use of the special methods that have been devised 

 for particular cases, but what is far more important, the 

 ability to devise methods adapted to any form. 



Kitlli/f/. No method of killing is satisfactory which dis- 

 torts or mutilates the specimen, at least in parts which are 

 intended for study. For this reason animals which are to be 

 dissected or stuffed should not be shot if they can be captur- 

 ed in any other way. Chloroforming is the most convenient 

 method of killing reptiles, birds, and mammals, though 

 drowning is an admirable method when there is no objection 

 to wetting the feathers or hair. The simplest way of killing 

 small animals is by dropping them into strong (70-95'/' ) alco- 

 hol, but many forms contract so strongly under this treat- 

 ment as to make it entirely unsatisfactory. In these cases 

 tv/o courses of procedure are open. Death may be inflicted 

 so suddenly that the animal actually has not time to con- 

 tract or anaesthesia may be used to induce complete relaxa- 

 tion and unconsciousness before the animal is killed. The 

 former method, sudden killing, may be accomplished by 

 pouring strong acid mixtures or corrosive sublimate, hot, if 

 necessary, over the specimens while they are relaxed. Hy- 



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