378 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



I think the easiest method is to carry all that is 

 required in tins such as those recommended for 

 foods. The amounts may be slightly reduced by 

 wrapping smaller animals in saturated blotting- 

 paper. 



For mammalia, traps are a necessity, and I 

 think thirty of different sizes could be profitably 

 set every night. This involves that one man 

 should be set apart to set and examine and 

 collect the traps, and by a system of rewards 

 and punishments a certain amount of assistance 

 can usually be obtained. Suahilis are quite use- 

 less at any work of this kind, and natives of the 

 country should be employed wherever possible. 



It is very important to take notes of sex, 

 locality, including altitude and date, for every 

 specimen on labels (in pencil) attached to the 

 specimens. 



The following hints, drawn out, I believe, by 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas, may be of use to those 

 who wish to collect mammals : — 



1. With the freshly-killed carcase before you, write the label. 

 This should be a number, locality, altitude above sea, sex, 

 date, and the following measurements in millimetres, taken in 

 the flesh: (1) Length of head and body; (2) of tail without 

 end hairs ; and (3) hind-foot without claws. In the case of 

 the first two measurements, the body should be straightened 

 out as much as possible, and the tail bent upwards at a sharp 

 angle ; and the measurements should then be taken from a 

 point in the angle. The label should also have on its back any 

 notes that may strike you about the place where the specimen 

 was caught . 



