i897. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 297 



account, by C. F. Kolderup, of the labradorite rocks near Ekersund 

 and Soggendal, the first of a series on these rocks in western Norway. 

 All the memoirs mentioned in this note are well illustrated by 

 plates and text-figures, and they, like the zoological articles, reflect 

 the greatest credit on the staff of this museum. 



FoRMOL FOR Zoological Specimens. 



The following valuable remarks occur in the Report of the 

 Director of the Colombo Museum, Dr. Amyrald Haly, for 1896. They 

 are so likely to escape observation there, that we venture to reprint 

 them in extenso. 



" I reported last year that the use of formol amounted to a 

 revolution in Museum work ; twelve months' further experience has 

 given me no cause to change my opinion. I find one and a half to 

 two per cent, solution quite sufficient for invertebrates in general, and 

 three to three and a half per cent, for vertebrates. It is not, however, 

 its marvellous preservative power that is so striking, as the possibility 

 of keeping objects in it which can be kept in no other way, or only 

 with great difficulty. A striking instance of this is seen in jelly fish, 

 which can be at once placed in a one and a half solution of formol and 

 salt water, and retain all their transparency unimpaired. Earthworms 

 are also perfectly preserved in this medium." 



" Formol is an admirable preservative for spiders, and does not 

 seem to injure their colour to any great extent. If sheets of cork 

 painted white are inserted in flat-sided bottles, spiders can be pinned 

 and set in the same way as insects in insect boxes, and as the collec- 

 tion increases they can be classified and arranged in their family and 

 genera with perfect ease, and when space is provided will form a very 

 beautiful exhibit." 



" Our frog collection has been deteriorating greatly of late years. 

 The fact is these animals will not keep in spirit in this climate. If the 

 spirit is strong they wither up beyond identification, if weak they get 

 covered with a deep red fungus. I went through the collection 

 carefully, re-identified and re-numbered the specimens, and transferred 

 the whole to three per cent, formol." 



For a general account of formol, readers, who have not yet 

 utilised its wonderful properties, may be referred to Mr. James 

 Hornell's article *' The Use of Formalin as a Preservative Medium 

 for Marine Animals," Natural Science, vol. vii., pp. 416-420, 

 December, 1895. 



The Preservation of Fish and Reptiles. 



In the Report of the South African Museum under the head 

 " Fishes" it is stated : " Special attention has not been paid hitherto 

 to increasing the number of specimens for exhibition in this class, 



