DESCKII'TIVE CATALOGUE OF RECENT F0KA:^IINIFEHA. 257 



with a i>ood acroinatic leus magiiityiug about 10 diauieteis, is most 

 convenient. A small (jninitity ottlie nuiterial in a shallow wateli f^lass 

 blaekened on the under siile, being placed under the lens, is carefully 

 inspected, and when a specimen is found which it is desired to i^re- 

 serve it may be readily removed by means of a very line camel's hair 

 pencil slightly moistened between the lips. Transfer of si)ecimens 

 should l)e attemitted with the moistened pencil only, as the use of forceps 

 is certain to crush the delicate shells. 



For preservation of the identified specimens in numbers for study 

 nothing is better than wooden slides of regulation size — 1 by ."> inches. 

 The.>e may have either a concavity drilled in one side nearly through 

 the wood and painted black, or a hole bored entirely through the slide 

 and one side covered with heavy blackened paper. A rem(»val)le cover 

 to this little cavity nuiy be cut Ironi a thin sheet of mica and held in 

 place either by a spring clamp or by slipping it under the thin ]»aper 

 front of the slide, which is left unglued about the center for that 

 pnrj)ose. 



To make a section the si)ecimen should be attacrhed in the desired 

 attitude to the face and near the end of a glass slip by means of the 

 minutest drop of liquid glue. The attitude of the specimen must be 

 carefully i)ieserved until the glue has set. The shell is then covered 

 with chloroform or xylol balsam, which may be made to penetrate the 

 chambers of the shell and be rapidly hardened by the application of 

 direct heat up to the boiling tem})eratnre. Superfluous balsam being- 

 cut away, the shell supported by the balsam is rubbed lightly upon a 

 hone, kept thoroughly wet with water, until the desired section is 

 exposed. The balsam is then dissolved away by chloioform, and the 

 glue by water, and the specimen mounte<l. 



The manner in which specimens shall be mounted will depend upon 

 the preferences or ingenuity of the preparator, and the arrangements he 

 may make for the storage of his collection. If a cover-glass is used it 

 should not be .sealed on, as the underside of the glass is almost certain 

 to "sweat" sooner or later, and obscure the specimen. It may be w(n-th 

 while to say that for the attachment of the shells to any surfa(;e the 

 author has not found anything better than microscopists' gold size. 

 The best instrument for transferring the minute droj) of adhesive 

 material of whatever kind to the point where the shell is to be attached 

 is the finest obtaiiuible sewing needle, the eye end inserted in a slender 

 handle and the point broken off at the thickest part of the needle. 



The literature of the subject is very large, though most of it is to be 

 found in journals of natural history and transactions of societies. With 

 Carpenter's "Introduction to the Study of the Foraminifera,'' Brady's 

 ''lieport on the Forannnifera collected by H. M. S. Challeuf/er,''^ and 

 Sherborn's ''Index to theClenera and Si)ecies of the Foraminifera," the 

 student will be able to begin work in an intelligent manner and to find 

 references to all that has been published on this subject up to the most 

 recent date. 



NAT 31US 97 17 



