Arachnida. 5069 



The proportions and manner in which I mix the ingredients are — 

 sulphate of magnesia three ounces, hot water six ounces ; strain this 

 when cold until it becomes perfectly clear, and then add three-quarters 

 of an ounce of rectified spirits of wine : the mixture may be kept in 

 a stoppered bottle. The specimens look better put up in tubes which 

 are not much wider than the bodies of the spiders ; they can then be 

 examined (unless when a minute investigation is required) through 

 the walls of the tubes, without removal from the liquid : this remark 

 will not apply, of course, to very minute species. 



In arranging a collection of spiders in drawers, I before recom- 

 mended that the tubes should be placed in an upright position, by 

 means of small holes perforated in a sheet of card, forming a false 

 bottom to the drawer; but I now think that they show better laid 

 down in rows: a label bearing the name can then be gummed on the 

 upper side, and the tubes may be prevented from shifting their posi- 

 tion by means of a number of small strips of vulcanized India rubber 

 stretched across the drawer. 



As 1 stated upon a former occasion, if a simple and good plan for 

 the preservation of spiders and other allied animals (possessing soft 

 bodies, which shrivel up in drying) can be discovered, one consi- 

 derable impediment to the study of Arachnology will be removed, for 

 hitherto there has been a great difficulty in forming and keeping any 

 collection of these interesting objects, and it is almost necessary to 

 have the beings themselves before us, for comparison and re-examina- 

 tion, to make any proficiency in the science. About 250 British spi- 

 ders have already been recorded, and the number would very soon be 

 greatly raised if a few more labourers could be induced to enter the 

 field. 



Spiders maybe found in almost every locality ; some inhabit houses 

 and outhouses ; others woods, fields and gardens ; and with a little 

 practice they may easily be captured in the fingers, without injury to 

 their delicate structures. The collector should carry a small phial or 

 two, filled with spirits of wine, and into these he may plunge most of 

 his captures at once : they are thus quickly killed, and they can easily 

 be taken out and the surface dried by evaporation, when required for 

 examination. 



I will close these observations with a few words on the chief places 

 in which to look for spiders. Many will be found beneath stones and 

 pieces of rock ; some excavate hollows in the ground, and bring up 

 their young, as, for example, several species of Drassus ; some may 

 be met with under the loose bark of trees, or in the leaves of plants, 



