THE METHODS EMPLOYED AT THE NAPLES ZOOLOGICAL STATION 

 FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MARINE ANIMALS 



By Dr. Salvatore Lo Bianco 



(Translated from the original Italian by Edmund Otis Hovey) 



Utensils 



The laboratory of the station is provided with large 

 tanks containing running and stationary sea water, a table 

 covered with sheet lead and furnished with a drain, a great 

 variety of glass and earthenware dishes, and tools of differ- 

 ent kinds and materials. 



Cylindrical glass jars, with glass stoppers ground to 

 fit, are used for exhibition purposes and for storage. Those 

 with necks are employed for the most part, but those without 

 necks and with a flat top are preferred for elegant installa- 

 tion. Cylindrical jars are the most economical of fluid and 

 are the cheapest to get. 1 Since glass jars are expensive, 

 earthenware jars and basins are used for many laboratory mani- 

 pulations. The small, globular vessels which have the bottom 

 formed by a glass stopper, concave within, are recommended for 

 small spherical animals. Round-bottomed glass tubes are very 

 useful, but care must be exercised to see that the walls are too 

 thin. The edge of the orifice should be smoothed in the Bunsen 

 flame. When the tubes are more than 30 mm. (1.2 inches) in dia- 

 meter, the lip should be flared out so that a piece of bladder 

 can be readily tied over the opening. 



Corks should be selected from the best stock, should be 

 as compact as possible, and should be without cracks or other 

 defects. In form they should be cylindrical, so as to make 

 a good joint with the sides of the tube. The ends must be 

 flat, with clean cut edges, so that no fragments can get into 

 the alcohol. With large tubes it is desirable to put a plug 

 of cotton inside the tube next to the cork, since the alcohol 

 extracts the tannic acid from the cork and is stained brown 

 thereby. 



To preserve small, delicate animals, such as eggs and 

 larvae, it is well to place the small tube containing the objects 

 in alcohol, closed with a cotton plug, inside a larger vessel, 



For convenience in suspending objects in the liquid, those 

 having a glass hook in the under side of the stopper should 

 be obtained. 



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