200 THE SPIDERS OF EPFIXG FOREST. 



and partially filled with clean methylated spirit. In this the 

 specimen should be placed and examined whilst entirely sub- 

 merged. When working by artificial light the bulls-eye condenser 

 will be necessary to obtain satisfactory illumination. A prelim- 

 inary examination should be made with the lowest power, the 

 higher magnifications being only necessary for viewing such 

 points of structure as the palpal organs, epigynal plates, tarsal 

 claws, etc. Beginners would be well advised to attempt the 

 identification of none but adult specimens. 



Presevvation. Spiders are best preserved in methylated spirit 

 which should be slightly diluted by the addition of from five to 

 ten per cent, of distilled water. ]\Iuch of the spirit now supplied 

 will turn cloudy on the addition of a small percentage of water ; 

 but the clearness of the mixture may be restored by the addition 

 of more spirit. Other liquids have been tried wit' more or less 

 success, but to me they all appear vastly inferior to methylated 

 spirit. Rum, however, will l)e found a most useful preservative 

 for such specimens as are intended for dissection. Specimens 

 may be stored either in corked tubes or in stoppered bottles. The 

 former method has the disadvantage that in the event of being 

 left for some time unreplenished the spirit is liable to evaporate 

 and the specimens are thus irrecoverably destroyed. With stop- 

 pered bottles one of two methods may be adopted. If space and 

 purse permit, a separate bottle may be kept for each species ; 

 bvit, in the event of one or both of these items being somewhat 

 limited, resource may be had to another system. Glass tubes 

 are taken and arranged round the inside of a large stoppered 

 bottle and are kept in position by a central plug of cotton wool. 

 Sufficient spirit is then poured in to submerge and fill the tubes. 

 The specimens are placed in tiie tubes together with a label 

 written with lead pencil or Indian ink, and each tube is plugged 

 with a small pad of cotton wool. When a specimen is required 

 for examination, the containing tube may be removed by means 

 of a large pair of forceps, and the spider then emptied into the 

 china saucer before mentioned. 



Recording Observations. Careful notes should be made of all 

 habits observed, of local captures, of dates of appearance in adult 

 state, of snares formed and of other matters of importance or 

 interest. The greatest care however, should be exercised in 

 order to render such data of absolute accuracy, for an erroneous 

 statement, like a snowball on a hill, is not only more easily 



