APPENDIX. 



DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING FISH. 



First Method. Wipe the fish dry ; make a slit in the 

 belly about half as long as the head, so that the preserving- 

 fluid may reach the intestines, &c., and place it in a bottle 

 containing any of the following mixtures viz. common 

 spirits of wine; methylated spirits of wine (a cheaper 

 medium) ; carbolic acid (much cheaper than either), pre- 

 pared according to the directions given below*; or, fail- 

 ing these, in any strong spirit that may be at hand : the 

 bottle should be deep enough to hold the fish without 

 bending it. As wide-mouthed bottles are rather expen- 

 sive, pickle-bottles, or bottles used by pastry-cooks for 

 keeping sweetmeats &c. in, will do as well, if large enough 

 for the specimen. The bottle should be tightly corked, 

 and, when sealed up for permanent keeping, a piece of wet 

 bladder placed round the cork underneath, and another 

 piece over it the whole being covered with a layer of tin- 

 foil, and afterwards varnished. To fix the fish in the 

 bottle, suspend it from the cork, by a thread passed with 

 a needle through one or both of its lips. 



* Carbolic acid. This is a recent invention for preserving fish, and 

 will, I am assured by those who have tried it, be found to answer 

 well. Its great advantage is that enough acid can be carried in a 

 small bottle in the waistcoat-pocket to prepare 5 gallons of fluid. 

 The acid, which is not otherwise soluble, is to be mixed in boiling 

 water in the proportion of half an ounce (or two teaspoonsful) to a 

 gallon, and used when cool. Carbolic acid can be procured, I 

 believe, from most chemists ; but that shown to me was obtained from 

 Mr. Allgood, 14 Albany Street, London. 



