
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
soap or paste cannot be obtained in sufficient abundance. A 
solution of the finest table-salt im water is even recommended 
by some as a substitute for alcohol; but it is doubtful if this 
has been yet sufficiently tested. Corrosive sublimate has been 
proscribed by Péron, the French naturalist, who enumerates 
its defects; but, carefully employed, and taking proper pre- 
cautions to avoid its poisonous effects, it is highly effective 
in a variety of cases. The sublimate salt operates as a rapid, 
enduring, and energetic desiccating medium, reacting power- 
fully upon all animal matter, modifying its character in a 
peculiar manner, and rendering the matter subjected to it 
unalterable when it has been sufficiently saturated. Exposed 
in the open air, it facilitates drying and prevents the slightest 
movement towards decomposition in the skins. The sublimate 
seems to combine entirely with the air; the liquor, which 
contains only a weak proportion of this very insoluble salt, is 
soon exhausted unless the precaution is taken to add fresh 
sublimate from time to time, as the process of saturation goes 
on. Finally, when the skins will no longer absorb the liquor, the 
preservative process is complete; they are then laid out to dry. 
But the medium for preserving on which we may rely most 
securely is alcoholic liquors, especially brandy or spirit dis- 
tilled from the vine. Arrack, rum, and spirits distilled from 
grain, while they serve the purpose, are less adapted for 
zoological preparations than the spirits obtaimed from the 
vine; and where it is necessary to employ the alcohol of the 
country, the most highly rectified spirit will be found best 
adapted to the purpose. Nevertheless, alcohol has the dis- 
advantage of deteriorating the tissues as well as disfiguring 
them, and the strength of the liquor should be reduced in order 
to avoid this. 'The more perfect the transparency of the liquor 
the better is it adapted for the purpose. Pure alcohol destroys 
the colour of animals immersed in it; much concentrated, it 
destroys the animal tissues. Alcohol united with acids has 
been very successful, when diluted with water. For larger 
animals, however, the strongest alcohol may be used. In the 
absence of pure alcohol or spirits of wine, add to the spirits 
of the country some dissolved camphor, which, without adding 
to the strength of the liquor, is found to be sufficient for the 
preservation of most animals; while the camphor protects the 
colours from change. A mixture in the proportion of two parts 
distilled water and one part alcohol, adding two ounces of 
sulphate of aluminum to every quart of the liquid, is recom- 
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