54 THE BRITISH WOODLICE. 



'palmer," and "cudworm." In the eastern counties the same 

 writer notes that they are known as " old-sows " or " St. 

 Anthony's hogs " while the Welsh call them " little grey-hogs," 

 "the little old women of the wood" or "grammar-sows," 

 grammar signifying a shrivelled up old dame. Oniscus asellus 

 was sometimes called " socchetre," "church louse," and 

 " chinch." 



Methods of Collection and Preservation. — Woodlice 

 should be collected straightway into tubes or bottles half filled 

 with 30 per cent, methylated spirit. 3 Woodlice dropped into 

 this weak spirit become gradually narcotised and die, and they 

 remain limp enough for purposes of examination or to allow, of 

 their legs and antennae being set out during the process of 

 mounting. Specimens to be kept permanently should be placed 

 in 70 per cent, alcohol. For storage purposes the specimens of 

 each species from a given locality should be put together into a 

 small flat bottomed tube such as are used for pillules by 

 apothecaries or specially made for natural history purposes. A 

 paper label on which the name, locality, date of capture and any 

 other necessary particulars have been written with dark lead 

 pencil, is not affected by the spirit. The tubes may be corked, 

 though if not frequently examined all the spirit may evaporate, 

 and cause the specimens to be spoilt. A safer method is to plug 

 the tubes with cotton w T ool and keep all those containing a given 

 species or specimens from a particular locality beneath the 

 surface of spirit in a large wide-mouthed bottle, into which first 

 of all some cotton wool has been put to prevent the tubes from 

 coming into sudden contact with the glass at the bottom. For 

 show purposes in museums, specimens taken direct from 30 

 per cent, spirit should be mounted on slips of opal glass by 

 means of gum-tragacanth which has been powdered and shaken 

 up in spirit before having water added to it. The slips can be 

 exhibited in glass tubes, six inches high by one across, or in 

 narrow stoppered museum jars. A variation of the method is to 

 mount the animals on clear glass and to place behind them 

 another strip of any colour that may be preferred. 



3 It should be pointed out that the methylated spirit now sold in the shops contains 

 mineral naptha and goes milky on the addition ot water. Permission can be obtained from 

 Somerset House to buy what is still called " ordinary methylated spirit," but at present five 

 gallons has to be purchased at one time. 



