30 NATURALISTS’ ASSISTANT. 
in alcohol is then placed on the loop and the free ends 
are gently inserted into the body until the hinder extremity 
has passed half-way over the loop and the shellac has smeared 
the inside sufficiently to hold the specimen when 
dry. The folded end is then firmly wound around 
an insect pin and the whole, after labelling, is placed 
in a position where it can dry a couple of days be- 
fore removal to the collection. 
MOUNTING SPIDERS. 
Spiders are usually preserved as wet preparations, 
as when dried as insects usually are, the abdomen 
shrinks badly. ‘This, however, can be avoided as 
follows : 
Kill the spider by exposure to some poisonous 
vapor or gas (ether, chloroform or prussic acid) 
and then cut the body in two between the cepha- 
lothorax and abdomen. An insect pin is then 
Fic.10- taken, its head inserted into the abdomen and its 
_ point into a stick of wood, and then the abdomen is dried 
by placing in the oven mentioned above, or in a test tube 
heated over a spirit lamp. ‘The specimen should be kept 
turning so as to dry all sides evenly. When dry, the pin is 
cut off a short distance from the abdomen and the anterior 
portion of the spider is impaled on the extending part of the 
pin, and then asecond pin being passed through the thorax 
(to be used in mounting in the collection), the whole is 
returned to the oven until dry ; it is then labelled and placed 
in the cabinet. 
