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NA y URE 



[December 28, 1899 



able interest, and we must hope that he will lose no time 

 in bringing before the world the important facts which 

 he must have collected, and the evidence which would 

 connect the phallic rites and worship of the Northern 

 Semites (which have been so carefully described by old 

 John Selden in his " De Diis Syris ") with ^the nature 

 worshippers on the east coast of Africa. 



FORMALIN AS A PRESERVATIVE. 

 A LTHOUGH as a preservative medium for perish- 

 ■^^ able zoological specimens, formalin has scarcely 

 realised all the expectations entertained on its intro- 

 duction, yet there can be little doubt that it has a great 

 future before it, and that for certain purposes it is likely 

 to prove invaluable. It has, however, many undoubted 

 disadvantages ; and in the minds of some museum 

 officials these disadvantages appear to outweigh its 

 manifest valuable properties, so that an unfavourable 

 opinion is entertained of it in general. On the other 

 hand, those who weigh more carefully the pros and cons, 

 realise that, under proper conditions and restrictions, its 

 value is really very great. ' 



As regards its disadvantages, it must be admitted that 

 it is unsuitable for the permanent preservation of speci- 

 mens that are likely to be mafiipulated, as not only are 

 its effects on the hands of the Worker most unpleasant, 

 but in many cases it renders the tissues of the specimens 

 themselves so hard that they are practically unworkable. 

 Then, again, it is quite unsuited for all specimens con- 

 taining calcareous matter, such as molluscs, echinoderms, 

 and crustaceans ; while unsatisfactory results appear to 

 have been obtained in the case of certain insects and 

 myriapods. Moreover, it does not seem to be well suited 

 for the preservation of reptiles ; and it is said to de- 

 teriorate the colours of bird-skins. 



Turning to its advantages as a permanent preserving 

 fluid, it is acknowledged to be unrivalled for specimens 

 of watery and "flabby" animals, such as jelly-fish, 

 rendering them more coherent and less likely to dis- 

 integrate than any other known medium. Apart from 

 this group, it does not, however, appear to be at present 

 used to any great extent in the exhibition series in the 

 British Museum ; although we have reason to believe that 

 its possibilities are occupying the serious attention of the 

 officials. In the series of worms, all the more valuable 

 specimens that were received in formalin have been 

 transferred to spirit, and only the commoner forms left 

 in the original medium. Of the six specimens of eggs, 

 embryos, and larvae of Lepidosiren paradoxa recently 

 added to the exhibition series from Mr. Graham Kerr's 

 Paraguay collection, three are in alcohol and three in 

 formalin ; the latter having been sent home in that fluid, 

 and it being thought not advisable that the medium 

 should be changed. If these six specimens are carefully 

 watched, they will afford a test-case of the comparative 

 value of the media. At present, we believe, none of the 

 exhibits in the " Index Museum " are in formalin. 



For sterilising freshly killed specimens of mammals 

 and birds, as well as eggs, that have to be sent some 

 distance to a museum in the flesh, there can be no doubt 

 that formalin is invaluable. .A.nd it is no less valuable to 

 the field-collector of mammals, not only on account of the 

 small bulk a sufficiency of the fluid occupies, but also 

 from the marvellous preservative power of the fluid itself 

 According to Mr. O. Thomas (who reports very favour- 

 ably of it for this purpose), commercial formalin, which 

 is itself 40 per cent, under proof, must be diluted with no 

 less than twenty-five times its own bulk of water before 

 use. Moreover, whereas when mammals are preserved 

 in spirit it is necessary to allow a very large amount of 

 fluid to each specimen, when formalin is employed the 

 vessel may be crammed as full as possible with specimens, 

 NO. 1574. VOL. 61] 



which are preserved without exhibiting the slightest 

 traces of putrefaction. When received at the British 

 Museum all such specimens are, however, immediately 

 transferred to alcohol, on account of their unsuitability 

 for handling when in the original medium. 



The foregoing instances suffice to show that for certain 

 specific purposes formalin has advantages as a pre- 

 servative medium not shared by alcohol. But, as marty 

 of our readers are aware, another application of formalin 

 has been recently proposed by Dr. G. de Rechter, of the 

 Brussels University, who, in the twelfth volume of the 

 Annates de rinstitut Pasteur (1898), has advocated the 

 use of currents of formalin vapour for the preservation of 

 animal specimens. The advantages claimed for this 

 method are that it preserves the specimens in practically 

 the same condition as they were left at death ; the tissues 

 not being hardened, while hair and feathers are uninjured 

 alike in texture and in colour. Experiments in this 

 method have been recently undertaken in Mauritius 

 by Mr. Camille Sumeire, of the Albion Dock Com- 

 pany, who has constructed an apparatus on the general 

 lines of one suggested by Dr. de Rechter, in which 

 specimens can be subjected to constant currents of 

 formalin vapour. And it appears from an illustrated 

 report published in the Buttetin de ta Societe Medicate de 

 rite Maurice for July 18, that the results of these ex- 

 periments have proved eminently satisfactory. 



A freshly killed guinea-pig placed in the apparatus 

 for a period of twenty days was found to be in a per- 

 fect state of preservation, and when exposed in the open 

 in the museum for a further period of eight days, was 

 likewise found to be intact. Moreover, a culture of 

 bacilli exposed in the apparatus at the same time as 

 the guinea-pig was found to have become completely 

 sterilised. 



As was well remarked by Dr. de Grandpre, superin- 

 tendent of the Port Louis Medical Museum, the potential 

 advantages of such a method of preservation are likely 

 to prove very important. And it is urged that the 

 process may be specially valuable in cases of suspected 

 poisoning, as bodies can be preserved for any length of 

 time in a state suitable for exammation. From a natural 

 history point of view the invention has likewise almost 

 unlimited possibilities ; and Mr. Sumeire hopes to be 

 able shortly to supply the museums of Europe with 

 examples of the animals of Mauritius as fresh as when 

 alive, instead of in the condition of ordinary spirit- 

 specimens. Indeed, negotiations are already opened 

 with the director of the Paris Museum for the trans- 

 mission of such formalined specimens to the institution 

 under his charge. We wish all success to the new 

 venture. R. L. 



A GREAT SALT LAKE PROBLEM. 



AN alluring possibility has for a long time attached 

 itself to the economic resources of Great Salt Lake, 

 in the Western United States, in the way of establishing 

 in its waters, as permanent residents, forms of marine life 

 of commercial importance. The United States Fish 

 Commission recently made an examination of the lake 

 with a view to determining the feasibility of such a plan. 

 The work was undertaken by Mr. H. F. Moore, of the 

 Commission, who finds in the peculiarly interesting con- 

 ditions which prevail in this unique body of water a 

 decisive answer. 



Crustacea, insect larvae, and the lower plant-life abound 

 in its fresher parts, but for the ordinary inhabitants of 

 the sea the salinity is much too great in the main body 

 of the lake. Great Salt Lake is a remnant of the pre- 

 historic Lake Bonneville, which was fresh, or nearly so, 

 until its dtuinage basin became isolated by climatic and 



