22 



THE MUSEUM. 



this Star-fish is the principal 

 enemy of the oyster, and \'ast quanti- 

 ties of the latter have been gobbled uj) 

 in a single night b}' them. They us- 

 ually make their appearance immed- 

 iately after the common Atlantic Scal- 

 lop. We now come to the mammoth 

 I>ahama and Florida species, Orcastcr 

 reticularis. Ever}' one has seen this 

 mammoth species, as large across as a 

 half bushel measure, and full}' si.\ 

 inches thick. They are usually to be 

 found in the markets of most of our 

 large, cities, being sold, however, sim- 

 ply as a great curiosity. It occurs on 

 both sides of the Atlantic. The upper 

 surface is reticulated by the crossing of 

 the hard p)arts of the skeleton, and 

 beautiful ornaments are made b}' re- 

 moving all the softer parts and leaving 

 only the latticed skeleton. 



A few words with reference to col- 

 ecting these specimens of the might}- 

 deep, and preparing them for scientific 

 study, and I will close. I can do no 

 better than quote from W. T. Horna- 

 day's excellent ' 'Taxiderni}- and Zool- 

 ogical Collecting:" "Of course when 

 first taken from the water they are 

 limp and pliant, but after standing in 

 an alcohol bath for a short time the\' 

 become perfectly rigid. If left to them- 

 selves when thrown into spirits, the 

 smaller and more serpent like species 

 persist in tieing themselves \\\) into 

 double bow knots and insist on keej)- 

 ing themselves so forever. Since the 

 way to cure a Star-fish is to soak it in 

 alcohol f(jr from six. to twent}'-f(Hir 

 hours according to size, and then dr\- 

 't flat and in good shape, it becomes 

 necessary to pin the small ones firml\- 

 in shape upon thin boards befcM^e im- 

 mersing them, and then tlu-\- will sta\- 



where you put them. See to it that 

 while in spirits, all your Star-fishes 

 large and small, cure in proper shape, 

 fiat and with each arm flat and extend- 

 ed in the right direction. After re- 

 moval from the spirits, pin out those 

 not already fastened upon boards, and 

 let them dry. I have never found it 

 necessar}' to poison the spirits, for the 

 reason that dermestes and other insects 

 seem to respect a dried Star-fish for 

 his own sake. " 



It will be impossible to dwell further 

 on these interesting forms of Sea Life 

 as I have already occupied more space 

 than assigned to me. I trust that the 

 brief remarks given, to those who have 

 never studied these families, may be a 

 stimulus to greater effort along this 

 line. 



Notes From Interior of Mexico. 



Just before the last form of the Mu- 

 seum is to go to press, we have a line 

 from the well-known taxidermist and 

 collector, Mr. Frank B. Armstrong. 



The letter contains many very in-^ 

 teresting points relative to his present 

 field from a collector's standpoint and 

 shows up also quite vividly the class of 

 people one would have to associate 

 with and live among in a summer cam- 

 paign in Eastern Mexico. I can do 

 no better than quote Mr. Armstrong's 

 own words: 



"After eight years of diligent field 

 work on the lower Rio Grande in Tex- 

 as with good success, and having ex- 

 hausted most of the rare finds in that 

 section, and further after having 

 thoroughly mastered the Mexican lang- 

 uage I determined to change my field 

 of operation to a more virgin land. 

 After considerable travel throuirh Mex- 



