16 COPEIA 



It will be found advantageous to carry specimens 

 in a bag with a little corn meal or dry sand. On reach- 

 ing camp they should be placed in water and left until 

 all blood and foreign matter have soaked loose, when 

 they should be washed and carefully spread out in a 

 pan containing a quantity of 50% alcohol with which 

 about one-twentieth of its bulk of formalin has been 

 mixed. During the first few hours the specimens may 

 be frequently turned over, and fresh fluid injected 

 through abdominal incisions previously made. One 

 incision is usually sufficient for a lizard, but several 

 are necessary for a snake, and one should invariably 

 be made in the tail just posterior to the anal opening. 

 In one or two days the material with the possible 

 exception of certain snakes is sufficiently cured to be 

 closely packed with fresh formalin (about 2%) in 

 glass fruit jars or small metal cases. Fine excelsior 

 placed between specimens will prevent rubbing, assist 

 in keeping them moist if the container should leak, 

 and moreover things packed thus will not arrive at 

 the museum distorted and broken as sometimes hap- 

 pens when they are wrapped with cloth. 



Formalin is recommended only as a temporary 

 preservative, and it should not touch specimens in- 

 tended for osteological study. In all cases they should 

 be removed from it as soon as possible. It is almost 

 indispensable, however, in field work when one must 



go lightly equipped. 



J. O. Snyder, 

 S ta nford University . 



Edited by J. T. Nichols, American Museum of Natural History 

 PRICE FIVE CENTS 



