302 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



A. mesembryanthemum of Gosse, popularly known as 

 the Beadlet, and a very common form around our 

 shores. The specimens examined were all collected in 

 the neighbourhood of Port St. Mary, Isle of Man — the 

 major portion by myself during a short holiday spent 

 there in June of last year, and a second consignment was 

 obtained later from the Port Erin Biological Station, 

 collected by the Curator, Mr. H. C. Chadwick. This 

 species varies greatly in its external colouration, and, 

 although most of my specimens were of the bright-red or 

 crimson variety, I obtained a good many of the various 

 shades of green and liver-brown. 



The killing, fixing and preserving of Anemones is by 

 no means easy to do satisfactorily, for it is of great 

 importance in view of future work, especially of an 

 anatomical character, that not only should they be 

 thoroughly hardened and preserved, but also, that they 

 should be fixed in an expanded condition. The method 

 adopted in the present case, with a fair amount of 

 success, was as follows : — The animals were allowed to 

 expand in shallow dishes of fresh sea - water, when 

 magnesic sulphate was cautiously added in sufficiently 

 large quantity, so as to make a fairly strong solu- 

 tion. This is the stupefying method recommended by 

 Tullberg (1891). On the expiration of several hours, 

 the tentacles become totally irresponsive to stimuli, and 

 then, and not till then, concentrated formalin was added to 

 the sea- water in sufficient quantity to make about a two per 

 cent solution. This fixes the tissues, and the Anemones 

 were then arranged in a single layer, and a second solution 

 of formalin of 10 per cent strength poured over them. It 

 is of the greatest importance in preserving Anemones that 

 the preserving fluid should have free access to every part, 

 and for purposes of histological research it is advisable 



