46 INSTRUCTIONS TOR COLLECTING 



tightly in a barrel with a layer of salt at the bottom, all the 

 interstices being filled up with salt. The barrel itself must be 

 water-tight. Specimens too large for being packed in barrels should 

 receive a thorough dressing of salt and alum, after removal of the 

 whole of the cranium with all the soft parts adhering to it ; they 

 can then be dried and folded into a package of manageable size. 



In the case of all specimens which are preserved dried or salted, 

 the various dimensions of the animal must be carefully noted, and a 

 sketch of the head should be made, to enable the taxidermist to 

 mount the specimen with its proper proportions. 



None of the marine fishes are more interesting than those which 

 live habitually in the open sea and only rarely approach the coasts 

 (pelagic Jishes), and those which are adapted to living at great depths 

 and never come to the surface (deep-sea Jishes). The latter can only 

 be obtained with the aid of a ship specially fitted out for exploring 

 the fauna of the deep sea. Collectors who are restricted to their 

 own and limited resources can hardly do more than dredge or trawl 

 in depths of from 100 to 200 fathoms. However, two other modes 

 of collecting deep-sea fishes may be recommended. One of them is 

 in actual use by the fishermen of the Portuguese coasts and of 

 Madeira, who employ a strong line (long-line, spiller, trot), some- 

 times as much as 800 fathoms long, with a weight at one end, 

 and supporting-hooks of various sizes on thinner short lines (snoods), 

 which are fastened to the main line at regular distances of 1 or 

 2 fathoms ; in fact, a long line such as is used in cod-fishing. The 

 second method would be to sink baskets constructed of withes or 

 galvanized zinc, like lobster-pots,* and to examine them after twelve 

 or twenty-four hours. 



The majority of deep-sea fishes are so fragile that their preservation 

 requires special care ; they should be wrapped in linen, and kept 

 singly, or only a few specimens together, in a separate jar. A long 

 cut should be made in the abdominal cavity, and strong spirits of 

 wine (from 20° to 30° above proof) should be used to ensure the 

 preservation of the internal organs. 



* These baskets are dome-shaped with flat bottoms, of from 2 to 3 feet in 

 diameter, and with an opening G inches in diameter sloping inwards from the 

 top. The bait is fixed opposite to, and somewhat sideways of, the opening. 



