240 



THE MUSEUM. 



SCRAPEHS (f> 



8. Local names of fish should al- 

 ways accompany the specimens when 

 obtainable. 



9. It is desirable to know whether 

 or not the species is abundant; wheth- 

 er difierent sizes of the same fish are 

 found; whether they associate in 

 schools or not ;whether they are perma- 

 nent residents or migratoy; if migra- 

 tory, by what routes they come and 

 go; whether they form an important 

 article of food; what they feed upon 

 and what species prey upon them; the 

 depth and character of the bottom on 

 which they occur; the mode of captur- 

 ing them; the uses made of them and 

 the various products which they go to 

 form, in short, everything bearing up- 

 on the life history or the economic ap- 

 plications of the species should be not- 

 ed in detail. 



10. Before washing the fish look 

 them over for external parasites; ex- 

 amine the gills and the inside of the 

 mouth carefully, as these are favorite 

 situations. These parasites often fur- 

 nish a clue to the migrations of the 

 fish; remove them if they can betaken 

 off entire, if not, let them remain, and 

 call attention to their presence in your 

 shipping notes. Preserve the para- 

 sites in vials or bottles, and provide 

 them with labels stating from what 

 fish they came and in what situation 

 they were found. 



To preserve fish indefinitely in glass 

 jars, observe the following directions: 

 first, select a jar of the proper size to 

 accomodate the specimen amply, with- 

 out bending or distorting it in any 

 way; put in the fish with the tail down 

 in nearly all cases; the tail may often 

 rest upon the bottom of the jar, or the 

 fish may be suspended from the hook 

 which is now found in the stopple of 

 the modern museum jars; cover the 

 fish completely with the alcohol mix- 

 ture referred to in the closing sentence 

 of paragraph 4; discoloration of the 

 alcohol is a sign that its preservative 

 power is weakened and calls for a 

 renewal; fishes in alcohol will never 

 make a good show unless the liquid is 

 kept clear and clean. A label giving 

 the name of the fish, place of its cap- 

 ture, and of its captor, should be tied 

 on the neck of the jar by means of a 

 piece of narrow tape passed through 

 holes punched in the ends of the pa- 

 per. The jars must have accurately 

 ground glass stopples. It is the best 

 to use no kind of sealing wax to coat 

 the joint of the stopple; simply wipe 

 the glass perfectly dry, close the jar 

 properly, and there will be litde dan- 

 ger of evaporation. Do not let the 

 direct sunlight strike your jars, and 

 keep them well removed from stoves, 

 registers, and the like. — Proceedings 

 of the National Museum. 



