20 



THE MUSEUM. 



for several different processes of bal- 

 sam mounting. A female should be 

 selected, as the ovipositor, which usu- 

 ally contains some eggs, affords a most 

 interesting and beautiful object. 



Vivisection not being favored by the 

 writer — first kill your fly in the most 

 humane manner possible (chloroform 

 recommended); — then proceed to clip 

 the wings off close to the body, which, 

 not needing any preparatinn, may at 

 once be placed in alcohol, in one of 

 the covered porcelain saucers. The 

 legs, being cut off, should be placed in 

 liquor potasstt, which should be con- 

 tained in the glsss pomatum jar with a 

 cover. By gently pressing the abdo 

 men, the ovipositor will protrude to 

 its full length, and should then be cut 

 off close to the body, and also placed 

 in the liquor potasste. The tongue 

 should be pressed out in like manner, 

 and when found (under the magnify- 

 ing glass) to protrude to the full ex- 

 tent, with all its parts, should in like 

 manner be cut off and follow the legs 

 and the ovipositer. Then the abdo- 

 men may be cut open with the scis- 

 sors, the viscera washed out with the 

 small sable brushes and water, and 

 the skin or epidermis containing the 

 spericles be placed in the liquor po- 

 tassa;. The trachea and eyes, requir- 

 ing different treatmen to that we are 

 now pursuing, will not be followed fur- 

 ther at present. 



The length of time necessary for the 

 various parts to remain in the liquor 

 potassit, varies materially. Thus an 

 hour or at the most, two, will suiTice 

 foj the tongue and ovipositor, whereas 

 the legs and epidermis will require an 

 immersion of not less than one or two 

 days. Great care should be taken to 

 remove them before too much color is 

 abstracted, as the beauty of a prepar- 

 ation is quite lost if it be pale and col- 

 orless. A good rule is to remove 

 these parts from the liquor as soon as 

 they assume a lightish brown appear- 

 ance; placing them in water and care- 

 fully washing and brushing them with 

 the sable brushes. One of the nest 



saucers will be found a most conven- 

 ient vessel for doing this in. They 

 should then be transferred to a glass 

 slip, taking care (with the tongue) so 

 to spread it out with the needles as to 

 show the lobes and false trachae, and 

 (with the feet), to show the hairy 

 pads. When properly spread out, 

 place another glass slip over them so 

 that they are preesed tiat between the 

 two and wrap tightly with a piece of 

 fine brass wi. e, which for this pur- 

 pose should be cut in lengths of lo to 

 12 inches. The wire is recommended 

 rather than thread of any kind, be- 

 cause there are no fibres to become 

 entangled with the specimen, and thus 

 mar its beauty"; and it may be used 

 many times over. The slips thus 

 wrapped should then be dropped into 

 a vessel of water, and left for some 

 hours. On being taken from the wa- 

 ter and the wire removed, the slips 

 should again be placed in a saucer or 

 small plate of water, and carefully 

 separated to avoid marring or injuring 

 the specimens. These should then be 

 gently, but thoroughly washed and 

 brushed, to remove every remnant of 

 the liquor potasste or dirt that may 

 have adhered to them, and dropped 

 for a few moments into alcohol; one 

 of the nest saucers again forming a 

 convenient vessel for this purpose. 

 The slips of glass having meanwhile 

 been wiped clean and dry, the 

 objects are again to be transferred to 

 one of them, covered with the other, 

 wrapped with the wire and dropped 

 into alcohol, which for this purpose 

 should be contained in the wide 

 mouthed bottle with glass stopper. 

 And here they may safely rest until 

 we ara ready for the final operation of 

 mounting; be it the next day, or year, 

 matters not, as the alcohol will not al- 

 ter or bleach them. 



The final work to be done upon our 

 specimens, preparatory to mounting, 

 is transferring from the alcohol to oil 

 of cloves, which is substancial repeti- 

 tion of the previous transfer from 

 water to alcohol. The slips of glass 



