THE MUSEUM. 



141 



Small skeletons should on no ac- 

 count be salted, nor should large ones 

 be boiled to remove the flesh. 



Echnarachnius parma, Lam. Sand Dollar, 



The common species ranging from Maryland 



to Labrador, corftmon in Maine, 



Massachusetts, etc. 



frequently seen valuable skeletons 

 ruined in a single night by the ravages 

 of one or two rats. 



Care should also be taken not to 

 leave boxes open over night while be- 

 ing packed, lest mice should make a 

 nest in the packing material and be 

 shut up with the specimens. 



Straw or hay is the best packing 

 material, but Spanish moss, shavings, 

 •'excelsior," or Cfjcoa fiber will do. 

 Usually but little is needed, the main 

 point being to prevent the skeletons 

 or loose bones from rattling about to 

 the inevitable damage of the weaker 

 portions. 



Beware of sea-weed. No matter 

 how dry it appears to be, it contains 

 so much salt as to become wet when 

 exposed to a moist atmosphere. 



Never put alum on a skeleton nor 

 soak any bones in a bath containing 

 alum. 



In hot, moist climates it is occasion- 

 ally allowable to sprinkle a little salt 

 on the bones of a large animal in or- 

 der to keep the flesh from putrefying 

 . instead of drying up. 



An Ancient Lake. 



To him who is intent upon making 

 a Mineralogical collection which shall 

 be conspicuous by the beauty of its 

 specimens, regardless of scientific val- 

 ue, Vermont, though by no means 

 barren, possesses no extraordinary in- 

 terest. But to him who is intent upon 

 investigating the mysteries of surface 

 geology, especially if he chance to be 

 studying the phenomenon known as 

 the vertical motion of the earth, no 

 locality, east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 will have a greater interest. Nowhere 

 in the United States can the results of 

 this phenomenon be more clearly trac- 

 ed, than among the Green Mountains. 



After the erection of the Green 

 Mountains, and the formation of that 

 part of the country now known as New 

 England, but before the Drift Period, 

 the whole country slowly settled be- 

 neath the surface of the ocean until 

 only the highest peaks of the White 

 Mountains were visible. The highest, 

 peaks of the Green Mountains, some 

 of which now have an elevation of 

 more than four thousand feet, and 

 which, before the depression began, 

 had an elevation, at least as high, and 

 possibly much higher, were covered by 

 more than a thousand feet of water. 

 Striae and wave- lines on the White 

 Mountains show the height to which 

 the water reached, and a comparison 

 of altitudes shows the depth of the 

 water over other localities. 



During this period of submersion, 

 oceanic life flourished in the heart of 

 New England. Hundreds of varieties 



