In place of the rectangular vessels of glass for harden- 

 ing animals of elongated form, the station uses some made of 

 zinc with a layer of wax in the bottom. The wax bottom is for 

 the purpose of holding the wooden pins used in straightening 

 out worms while they are hardening. Pins of orange or other 

 hard wood are preferable to those of metal, because the fix- 

 ing fluid attack metals. A convenient size for such a tray 

 is 60 by 6 by 6 cm. (24 by 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches) with about 

 1 cm. (one-half inch) of wax in the bottom. 



For the transfer of objects from one receptacle to 

 another spatulas are largely used. These are made preferably 

 of horn, because that material is not attacked by the reagents 

 in use. They range in size from 6 mm. (one-fourth inch) to 

 10 cm. (4 inches) in width, and are of a convenient length, 

 say 17.5 to 20 cm. (7 or 8 inches). 



A pair of soft iron forceps 30 cm. (12 inches) long 

 is very convenient for taking objects out of deep receptacles. 

 Iron is both cheaper and just as good as brass for that purpose. 

 Small forceps, wire cutters, syringes, and so on are used at 

 times. 



The apparatus for narcotizing certain Actinians is 

 constructed as follows: The nose of a pair of bellows is 

 provided with a metallic bowl which fits over the metal bowl 

 of a tobacco pipe. The latter is provided with a peg which 

 fits into a slot in the bowl on the bellows and fastens the 

 two together. The tube of the tobacco pipe is continued with 

 a piece of flexible rubber tubing which terminates in a U- 

 shaped piece of glass tubing, the distal end of which has 

 been drawn out to a point. With this apparatus one can easily 

 force smoke into a receptacle. 



Reagents 



Alcohol . — Without doubt the most indispensable liquid 

 is alcohol. For the preparation and preservation of delicate, 

 transparent animals it is necessary to use purified spirit 

 which has been filtered and diluted with distilled water. For 

 coarser animals ordinary alcohol may be used, if desired, even 

 that which has been obtained by redistilling what has once 

 been used being available, care being exercised to see that 

 acids and alkalies have been neutralized. The station always 

 has on hand a quantity of alcohol of 70 per cent strength, 

 which is what is ordinarily used for preserving animals, that 

 of 90 per cent being used only in special cases. By mixing 

 the alcohol and water somewhat in advance of actual need one 

 avoids the innumerable bubbles of air which form on the surface 

 of an animal when immersed in freshly diluted alcohol. Soft 

 or gelatinous animals must be allowed to remain from two to 



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