20 



For larger specimens any kind of wide-mouthed bottles 

 with sound corks or stoppers will do, but perhaps the best 

 are those with screwed-on metal lids and rubber rings. 



Tms, closed by soldering, may be used for specimens in spirit. 

 They should under no circumstances be employed for 

 specimens in formalin, which corrodes the metal. 



Glass lyipettcs. — Fitted with rubber caps, are useful for 

 picking up and transferring small specimens. " Dipping 

 tubes," or straight pieces of glass tubing, w^ith their cut 

 edges rounded by placing for a few seconds in a flame, are 

 useful for similar purposes, especially for capturing small 

 creatures contained in deep vessels of water. (The method 

 of using a dipping tube is as follows : close one end with a 

 finger, and bring the other end down into the water until 

 close to the specimen. Then remove the finger, when 

 water will rush up the tube, carrying the specimen with it. 

 Eeplace the finger over the upper end of the tube, and 

 withdraw the tube from the vessel.) 



Test-tubes. — A few of these will be useful in cleaning speci- 

 mens, as described below. 



Dishes. — Shallow glass or porcelain dishes may be used for 

 containing the fluids in which specimens are to be killed or 

 washed, but an ordinary saucer, plate, or other such vessel 

 will serve most purposes equally well. Enamelled iron 

 vessels are particularly useful when travelling — e.g. for 

 heating the alcohol with which Nematodes are to be 

 preserved. For this purpose they need only be wide 

 enough to allow the specimens to be straightened out, 

 and should not be too shallow, in order to lessen the 

 possibility of the spirit being set on fire. 



SPECIAL METHODS FOR THE TREATMENT 

 OF SPECIMENS. 



Cleaning. Having collected the specimens, the first thing to 

 do is to clean them from foreign matter, which may be difficult to 

 remove after they have been killed. 



All parasitic worms may be washed by shaking in the 1 per 

 cent, salt solution. Nematodes and Trematodes can be shaken up 

 vigorously in a test-tube without damage, but care must be taken 

 wdth Tapeworms, which are very fragile. In some cases, such as 

 Chifitopods, a soft camel's hair brush may be used to remove 

 particles of sand, etc., which cling to their bodies, especially if they 



