596 APPENDIX. 



Hall, and he accepted the invitation. On questioning him as to 

 what had brought him to his present state, he said he had been for 

 weeks preparing skins of lions, &c., and that he had been working 

 up to the elbows in arsenical soap. He returned to Liverpool and 

 died. Now, there is no danger whatever in using the dilution of 

 corrosive sublimate in alcohol, because, being liquid, no dust, or 

 small particles, can be taken into your system through the medium 

 of breathing. Moreover, although corrosive sublimate be the most 

 deadly poison known to insects, it is not so deadly to other animals ; 

 and I can assure you that, although I have used it most copiously 

 for above forty years, I have never experienced the smallest incon- 

 venience from it. I once read of a Turk who was in the habit of 

 taking sixty grains of corrosive sublimate per diem. But do not 

 misunderstand me. I never use the sublimate in paste, or powder. 

 With this preliminary I will now proceed to business ; first recom- 

 mending you to read attentively what I have written on this head in 

 the " Wanderings " and " Essays." 



Every feather and every part of the bird's skin is the natural food 

 of the insect. The insect also feeds on furs, &c. Now, to secure 

 these articles from the depredations of the moth, they must be either 

 enclosed in an aromatic atmosphere, or they must be steeped in a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate. The first is troublesome at times, 

 and will fail for want of due attention. Thus, when I was leaving 

 Rome for Naples, I had two large trunks of specimens, and I wished 

 them to stay in Rome till my return. This was during summer ; a 

 period when the appetite of the moth is most keen. Into each of 

 these boxes I put the wing of a bird, which had been skinned, but 

 not steeped in the solution. On my return, the feathers of these 

 wings were entirely consumed, whilst the feathers of the prepared 

 birds were untouched. Corrosive sublimate is easily carried with 

 you when on your travels. Perhaps the best mode of conveying it 

 in powder is in a flask surrounded by leather, such a one as shooters 

 carry to hold brandy. Alcohol is cheap and plentiful abroad. The 

 corrosive sublimate must be very finely pounded. Highly-rectified 

 spirit of wine may be diluted with water equal in quantity. Thus, 

 to one quart bottle of alcohol, I would add one quart bottle of 

 water. Into this, I would put a table-spoonful of corrosive sub- 



