48 



NATURALISTS' ASSISTANT. 



Clibanarius sclopetarius Stimpson ; while the latter would be 

 Clibanarius sclopetarius (Herbst) Stimpson. The second 

 and third methods are most commonly adopted, the third 

 expressing more than the others. The best authorities omit 

 any comma between the scientific name and the authority. 



Should the specimen be a type, an abnormal form or im- 

 mature stage, or possess any important features, that fact 

 should be noticed on the label. The original labels coming 

 with a specimen should be scrupulously preserved in con- 

 nection with it, as they give 

 avalueand authenticity 

 which the specimen could 

 not otherwise have. 



Various methods have 

 been devised for affixing 

 labels to specimens. When 

 the object is fastened to 



TIG. 18. 



a tablet, it is best to affix 



the label with paste or mucilage, or with short pins, one 

 at each end of the label. A mucilage made of equal 

 parts of gum tragacanth and gum arabic in water, to which 

 a few drops of glycerine and carbolic acid have been added, 

 is possibly as good as any for fastening paper to wood, glass, 

 stone or metal. In all other cases the label holder devised 

 by the late Caleb Cooke is very advantageous. It is readily 

 made by folding a strip of thin tin one-eighth of an inch in 

 width in the manner shown in fig. 18. The label is placed in 

 the folds shown above and below (a and 6) which are then 

 closed with a pair of pincers. The label and holder are then 



