I04 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



or removing them by caustic potash from "hard-set" eggs, 

 dissolving dried-up contents by bicarbonate of soda, etc. etc., the 

 reader is referred to works which deal specially with this subject. 



The collecting of reptiles and amphibians is an easy matter 

 in Britain, which harbours so few, that all are known and 

 collected by the veriest schoolboy. In other countries, however, 

 there are many better known than liked, and various books of 

 travel and some scientific works describe their collection. Some 

 very simple methods are described, and the present writer has 

 " collected " many venomous species abroad by the aids of a 

 long supple stick and a boot ; and often fair-sized lizards by the 

 simple device of teasing them, in their holes under rocks or 

 within walls, with a stout straw or small switch, to which they 

 clung by their teeth and would be jerked out. Noosing lizards 

 is a well-known device lately re-described by Mr. Stejneger,^ 

 who recommends fine annealed iron wire for such a purpose 

 instead of the fine brass or copper wire usually employed. 

 Such large reptiles as alligators and crocodiles object to be 

 noosed, and are usually shot. 



Fishes are collected in a variety of ways, which, however, 

 may be resolved into collection by hook and by net, the latter, 

 as in fowling, bringing the most to bag. No definite instruc- 

 tions can be given for getting fishes with' certainty other than 

 by the net, — the " fyshing with an angle " being an occult art 

 known only to certain people. 



The collection of animals lower even than fishes is a more 

 difficult business until winged insects are reached. The higher 

 invertebrates. Cephalopoda, marine crustaceans, etc., are obtained 

 in various ways, and although some few may be collected by 

 the amateur, yet the greater part are obtained by " those who 

 go down to the sea in ships," and the dredge plays an important 



^ Directions for Collecting Reptiles and Bairachians, Leonhard Stejneger, Bulletin 

 39, U.S. National Museum, 1891. 



