CHARACTERS OF ANIMALS. 121 



gaiis are found in such a state of contraction, that it is dif- 

 ficult to determine either their form or structure ; the feel- 

 ers are withdrawn ; the entrance to the pulmonary cavity 

 is closed, and the whole body distorted. These evils may 

 be in some measure removed, by suffering the animal to die 

 slowly in water ; by dropping it, when in an expanded state, 

 into boiling water, or by removing the shell. In many cases, 

 where immediate dissection is impracticable, the animal is 

 immersed and preserved in spirits of wine. In this state, 

 however, every part becomes corrugated, and the dissection, 

 at a subsequent period, requires the cautious maceration of 

 the parts in water, and furnishes results Avhich are not al- 

 ways to be depended upon. Previous to the dissection of 

 animals, with soft external parts, variable in the forms, it 

 is of great importance to observe their characters in a living 

 state, the forms Avhich they assume, and the motions they 

 are capable of performing. The errors which have result- 

 ed from the absence of this previous knowledge, are, we 

 fear, numerous. 



In the course of dissection, it is necessary to keep the 

 subject under examination in a steady position. In the 

 larger animals, the methods of accomplishing this end are 

 obvious. In the smaller kinds, which are soft, it is conve- 

 nient to place them on a board, covered with cork or soft 

 wax, to which they can be fixed by long pins ; when hard, 

 it is usual to employ a vice or forceps. 



In examining the character of the soft parts of animals, 

 in air, it is frequently impracticable to prevent the differ- 

 ent portions from pressing upon one another, and interrupt- 

 ing the progress of dissection. This evil is easily obviat- 

 ed, by performing the operation in water. Tlie surround- 

 ing fluid suspends the different parts, and keeps them in a 

 natural position, and enables the eye more readily to dis- 

 cover their structure and connection. In tracing tlic visce- 



