. gress by immediately imbuing the animal after it is set up with 
ARACHNIDES. 43 || 
and whose colours are rich and likely to be affected by the 
action of the atmosphere, we must endeavour to arrest its pro- 
the solution of corrosive sublimate, and in an hour after witha 
thin coating of a very weak white-spirit varnish ; for this pur- 
pose, take a tea-spoonful of the ordinary white-spirit or elastic 
varnish, and add to it two tea-spoonfuls of spirit of wine, ap- 
ply this with a fine camel hair brush, which will quickly dry, 
and have a strong tendency to preserve the colour. The var- 
nish being thus reduced in strength, will not leave any gloss 
on the insect, nor will it be at all perceptible. 
Mr Samouelle, author of “ The Entomologist’s Useful Com- 
pendium,” in speaking of preserving Spiders, says, “ The best | 
preserved specimens that I have seen are those where the con- | 
tents of the abdomen have been taken out and filled with fine 
sand. Ihave preserved several in this way, and find it an- 
swer the purpose.” 
Mr Donovan, author of “ The History of British Insects,” | 
_ and many other splendid and useful books on insects and na- | 
tural history, makes the following observations on the preser- 
vation of Spiders :— 
“To determine whether some species of Spiders could be | 
preserved with their natural colours, I put several into spirits | 
of wine ; those with gibbous bodies soon after discharged a | 
very considerable quantity of viscid matter, and therewith all | 
their beautiful colours ; the smallest retained their form, and | 
only appeared rather paler in the other colours than when 
they were living. 
“ During the course of last Summer, among other Spiders 
I met with a rare species, it was of a bright yellow colour, ele- 
gantly marked with black, red, green, and purple; by some 
accident it was unfortunately crushed to pieces in the chip-box 
wherein it was confined, and was therefore thrown aside as 
useless ; a month or more after that time I observed that such 
parts of the skin as had dried against the inside of the box, | 
retained the original brightness of colour in a considerable de- 
gree. To further the experiment, I made a similar attempt, | 
with some caution, on the body of another Spider (Aranea 
| 
Diadema), and though the colours were not perfectly preserv- 
ed, they appeared distinct. 
