324 ANIMAL COMMUNITIES 



the place at various times of day and night and at various times of the 

 year, to overturn and open all loose objects. It is necessary therefore to 

 collect animals which have been observed in nature in such a manner 

 that the correct names can be applied later. It is customary to assign 

 numbers to the animals. The method commonly used is as follows: 



Loose sheets of ruled paper are filled in with the locality, date, 

 weather, etc., carbon copies usually being made as a matter of safety and 

 convenience. Next, an animal, say a spider, is observed as fully as time 

 permits, the observations are recorded, and the specimen, if small, is 

 placed in a 4-drachm homeopathic vial containing alcohol. The notes 

 are written in abbreviated form on a slip, and the same number assigned 

 to the notes and to the slip which is put in the bottle. Animals too large 

 to put into bottles are prepared in the same way by tying a tag to them. 

 In due time the bottle is sent to a specialist who assigns the name, which 

 is recorded in a blank space on the note sheet. A new sheet is filled 

 out for each different habitat, and later all the sheets relating to one 

 kind of a situation can be brought together. 



Nearly all animals can be sufficiently well preserved to permit 

 identification by specialists, in the following manner: 



a) Vertebrates, in 10 per cent formalin, the abdomen opened to permit the fluid 



to enter. 



b) Crustaceans, most insects, spiders, worms, and lower forms by dropping into 



80 per cent alcohol. 



c) Insect larvae and pupae must be subjected to high temperature, 80 C., or 



they will turn black. Vials or bottles containing them with corks removed 

 should be set in a pan of hot water for 20 minutes immediately after 

 returning from the field. 



d) Flies must be killed by poison fumes, pinned in the field, and the pins set in 



suitable boxes. 



e) Moths and butterflies must be killed by fumes and pinned; the partial 



spreading of one pair of wings will suffice and save much time. 



