641 
SOME HINTS TO BEGINNERS ON COLLECTING AND 
PRESERVING NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS. 
By E, Comper. 
Part IIT. 
(Continued from page 280 of this Volume.) 
Note—In the last part of these papers, owing to a printer’s error, at 
page 278 of this volume, the paragraph commencing at line 36, “ I will only 
CXC lar ee improvements afterwards,” is out of its proper place. It should 
follow line 3 of the same page, and refers to ‘ carbolized’ specimens, 
Reptiles and Amphibians. 
Having completed with the birds, the warm-blooded animals, we 
now come to two classes of air-breathing Vertebrates, viz., the Reptiles 
and the Amphibians, which were formerly all grouped together, and 
for our purposes can still best be treated in one paper. The first named 
are divided into three widely different orders, which include, respective- 
ly, (a) the Crocodiles, (6) the Tortoises and Turtles, and (c) the 
Lizards, Chameleons and Snakes, while the Amphibians, or Batra- 
chians, as they are sometimes styled, comprise the Frogs and Toads, 
Newts and Ceecilians or Blind-worms. 
Naturally a group containing such a variety of forms, differing so 
greatly in size and habits, requires considerably different treatment 
in the hands of the collector, so I think it will be best to deal with 
each order separately and in turn, 
Firstly, then, the giants of the class, pigmies though they be compar- 
ed with the monsters that in bygone ages stalked about this earth, 
claim our attention; hut, interesting as Crocodiles are as museum 
specimens, there is not much in the way of original work amongst 
them for the hands of the ordinary naturalist, for the reason that the 
number of species is limited—in India there are but three—and these, 
being conspicuous by reason of their size, and familiar from earliest 
childhood by the halo of horrible romance that surrounds them, have 
always received their full share of the attention of naturalists, both from 
the point of view of specimens and in the record of their life-history, 
So long as they and ‘Shikar’ exist in the country- there will be no 
lack of specimens obtained annually, for every one is glad of a chance 
for a shot at a‘mugger’ as he lies sunning himself on the bank 
by the river or tank. One thing in connection with shooting 
