THE METHODS EMPLOYED AT THE NAPLES ZOOLOGI- 

 CAL STATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MARINE 

 ANIMALS. 



By Dr. Salvatore Lo Bianco. 

 [Translated from the original Itailiau by Edmund Otis Hovey.l 



UTENSILS. 



The laboratory of the station is provided with large tanks containing- 

 running and stationary sea water, a table covered with sheet lead and 

 furnished with a drain, a great variety of glass and earthenware dishes, 

 and tools of different kinds and materials. 



Cylindrical glass jars, with glass stoppers ground to fit, are used for 

 exhibition purposes aud for storage. Those with necks are employed 

 for the most part, but those without necks and with a flat top are pre- 

 ferred for elegant installatiou. Cylindrical jars are the most economical 

 of fluid and are the cheapest to get.^ Since glass jars are expensive, 

 earthenware jars and basins are used for many laboratory manipula- 

 tions. The small, globular vessels which have the bottom formed by a 

 glass stopper, concave within, are recommended for small spherical 

 animals. Eound-bottomed glass tubes are very useful, but care must 

 be exercised to see that the walls are not too thin. The edge of the 

 orifice should be smoothed in the Bunsen flame. When the tubes are 

 more than 30 min. (1.2 inches) in diameter, the lip should be flared out 

 so that a ijiece of bladder can be readily tied over the opening. 



Corks should be selected from the best stock, should be as compact 

 as possible, and should be without cracks or other defects. In form 

 they should be cylindrical, so as to make a good joint with the sides of 

 the tube. The ends must be flat, with clean cut edges, so that no frag- 

 ments can get into the alcohol. With large tubes it is desirable to put 

 a plug of cotton inside the tube next to the cork, since the alcohol 

 extracts the tannic acid from the cork and is stained brown thereby. 



' For convenience in suspending objects in the liquid, tliose having a glass hook 

 in the under side of the stopper should be obtained. E. O. H. 



[7] 



