CHAPTER III 



COLLECTING AND PREPARING MATERIAL 



Recent Material may be collected in many localities along 

 beaches. On coasts with shallow waters which have many algae 

 or hydroids, the tests of foraminifera often come in on the beach 

 in enormous numbers. As these are very light, each wave carries 

 them up and deposits them at its highest point. When the wave 

 recedes, a whitish line often largely composed of foraminifera 

 will be found. This may be scraped up carefully, and later 

 prepared for study. Such deposits at Rimini on the Adriatic 

 furnished the earlier authors with many of their species, and 

 the deposits there today when the waves are breaking are very 

 rich. Where there are deposits of fossil foraminiferal material 

 along the shore the fossil species may be mingled with the recent 

 ones and make the study of such collections a difficult one. 



In deeper water of a few feet or fathoms it is often possible 

 to make good collections by means of a simple dredge. In 

 Jamaica with a bright new tin pail which could be seen in several 

 fathoms through a water glass I found it possible to get samples 

 of the bottom even among coral reefs in ten fathoms or more. 

 A much better means is by use of the "bull-dog" snapper which 

 is so devised that it shuts on contact with the bottom and brings 

 up a tea-cup full of the bottom material. By adding a weight to 

 this apparatus, samples can be obtained even in two or three 

 hundred fathoms. 



Preserving . For studying the animal itself, nothing can take 

 the place of living material. However, material collected in 

 alcohol is of some use but formaldehyde should not be used as it 

 frequently destroys the lime of the tests. 



If only the tests are to be studied, it is by far the best to wash 

 the material in fresh water and then dry it. It can be then 

 packed in bottles or boxes and await future opportunity for its 

 study without any deterioration. 



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