COLLECTING EQUIPMEKT. 39 



a surgical instrtiment maker. The wooden forceps can be easily 

 made at home by nailing two slender pieces of hard and elastic 

 wood to a small centre block. If the latter pair of forceps are 

 1ft. long, they may be used also for bringing up objects from the 

 bottom of the smaller aquaria. 



The camel's-hair brush is convenient for removing the more 

 delicate a.TiiTna.1g from tbe weeds or net, and placing them in 

 the bottles. 



The piece of macintosh is useful for three different purposes : 

 for the collector to kneel on while he is examining the weeds 

 or mud which he has taken from the water ; for receiving the 

 various a.nimalR which fall from those aquatic plants which 

 are shaken over it ; and for wrapping up the weeds which are 



Fig. 36. Wooden and Steel" Fokceps. 



intended to be carried away. It should not be much less 

 than 1yd. square. 



The magnifying- glass is often of great help in making a 

 close and careful examination of both plants and animals, and 

 in deciding what are to be left behind and wbat taken home. 



Of course, it goes without saying that a pair of strong boots 

 are almost a sine qua non during the expeditions in search of 

 aquarium specimens ; but those boots in which the collector 

 can wade in the water up to his knees, are not only a great 

 convenience, but are also often the means (by reason of 

 the greater range which they give) of making interesting 

 captures. 



A piece of string, some thin wire, and a pocket-knife, should 

 never be left behind, for one or other of them is almost sure to 

 be reqtdred for something during the day. 



