510 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1748. 



all t'e empty spaces left in the barrel with some of" those soft stuffs, which we 

 have already pointed out for such uses. 



If, from the falling of the feathers, it appears that the insects have defeated 

 the precautions taken against them, there is still a remedy left ; you may stop 

 the progress of the evil by putting the bird again into the oven, not so hot as 

 to singe the feathers, but hot enough to kill the insects in less than half an hour. 



A collection of nests is a proper repository to be joined to that of birds ; it 

 shows such works as hardly could be imitated by men, admirable for their form, 

 their workmanship, and the materials employed in them : M. Reaumur made 

 such a repository. If one can have nests not too bulky for easy transportation, 

 you may be sure to see them with pleasure joined to the birds that have built 

 them. The colours and figures of the eggs make also part of the history of 

 birds ; collections made of them will give satisfaction to curious minds i those 

 which are to be sent would be in danger of being broken on the way, by the 

 very substance they contain, if it comes to ferment. Before sending them there- 

 fore, you must empty them : to this end you make a small hole in each end, 

 and shake them; and if this shaking will not be enough, you blow into one of 

 the holes to force out through the other what liquid matter remains in the egg. 



Quadrupeds that are not of too large a size, and particular to certain countries, 

 may be put into a state fit to be sent to the most remote parts, by one of the 

 four ways used to preserve birds. Fishes and reptiles, which, as well as quadru- 

 peds, are engaging objects for naturalists, are easier to be sent ; it is sufficient 

 to put them into barrels fiill of strong brandy. They may also be dried, either 

 by materials with which you may fill the cavities of their bodies, or by a gentle 

 and well-managed heat. Insects, which offer to us so many admirable varieties, 

 deserve the care of gathering them into collections, which cannot but be precious 

 to those who have made those little animals their study. All those which are 

 soft, as for instance worms and caterpillars, may be preserved in brandy. Their 

 tender colours will run less hazard of being altered, if you put into the brandy 

 such a quantity of sugar as it is able to dissolve. Beetles may also be put into 

 the same liquor ; but butterflies and flies would be spoiled in it : after having 

 killed them, you must range them in lays in boxes, and separate those lays with 

 beds of cotton. 



A Beautiful Naulilites, shown to the Royal Society, By the Rev. Charles Lyl- 

 tehdl^i' LL.D., F R.S., and Dean of Exeter. N° 487, p. 320. 



This curious fossil seems to be composed of a stony matter like marble, which 



• Dr. Charles Lyttelton wa» the 3d son of Sir Thomas, and brother to George, lord Lyttelton. 

 From Eton he went to University college, Oxford ; whence he entered of the Inner Temple, where 



