262 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. vi. 



together in one jar, or they will very shortly become 

 discoloured ; and the jars ought to be looked to care- 

 fully and the spirit tested, and if necessary renewed 

 after they have been set aside for a day or two, as 

 sea animals contain a large quantity of water. In 

 hot weather, and if the specimens be bulky, it is 

 often better to use strong spirit. The ordinary 

 methylated spirit of commerce answers sufficiently 

 well for ordinary purposes, though if a specimen be 

 reserved for minute dissection, I prefer using pure, 

 or even absolute alcohol. 



Eor very delicate transparent objects, such as 

 salpae, siphonophora, polycystina, &c., Goadby's 

 solution seems to be preferable : but do what we 

 may, a preserved specimen of one of these lovely 

 objects is a mere caput mortuum, a melancholy sug- 

 gestion of its former beauty ; good only for the 

 demonstration of anatomical structure. 



In preserving marine animals dry, as much of 

 the soft parts should be removed as possible, and 

 replaced by tow or cotton, and the object to be 

 dried should be steeped in several changes of fresh 

 water to get rid of the whole of the salt, and then 

 dried very thoroughly and not too quickly. Every 

 specimen, whether dry or in spirit, should be labelled 

 at once, with the number under which this particular 

 dredging is entered in the dredger's note-book. It 

 is wonderful how soon things get into confusion 

 if this be not rigorously attended to. The small 

 paper tickets with a fancy margin and gummed on 

 the back, which haberdashers use for ticketing 

 their goods, are to be had of all wholesale 

 stationers at nominal prices, and they are very con- 



