PEEPAEATIOIT OP MICEOSCOPIC OBJECTS. 227 



and throwii away, or returned to tlie bottle. Great care must be 

 taken, however, tbat the mixture shall not pass the bulb and be 

 drawn up into the mouth, as it is, of course, a deadly poison ; 

 the egg, being placed (hole downwards) on blotting paper, is to be 

 left until dry. Those who object to poison may rinse their eggs 

 out with water to which has been added a few drops of strong 

 essence of cloves. This is agreeable to use, and appears to 

 cleanse away all impurities. A little label may finally be 

 gummed over the orifice, and the specimen is then ready for the 

 cabinet; or, as labels will in time fall off, however well they 

 may have been previously gummed, it is better to write a 

 distinguishing number, and as much of the history of its collec- 

 tion as is possible on the egg itself, the full history, of course, 

 being posted up in the note book. Labels may, however, be 

 nsed with great advantage on the divisions of the cabinet 

 drawer which separate one species of egg from the other. 

 Loose labels are not to be used on any account, as they often get 

 reversed and create confusion, and a collection thus treated is 

 brought into grave discredit. Eggs, when being sent any 

 distance, should be separately wrapped in cotton wool, and 

 packed in a strong box, any interstices being lightly filled with 

 wool also. Sawdust or bran should never be nsed as a packing 

 medium, as the eggs shake together and break each other in 

 travelling. 



For those who require coloured figures of eggs I must refer 

 them to Hewitson's "Eggs of British Birds," or Atkinson's 

 " British Birds' Eggs and N'ests," a much cheaper, but very 

 good little work ; also to a new work by Mr. H. Seebohm (the 

 celebrated traveller in Siberia, &c.), entitled, "A History of 

 British Birds," with coloured illustrations of their eggs. 



Peepaeation of Miceoscopic Objects. — The same remark 

 applies to this as to aquaria (see Chapter XIII.). The treatment is 

 so varied, the objects so numerous, that books upon books have 

 been written on it. Every naturalist and curator, however, 

 has to work sometimes with the microscope; but taking into 

 consideration the vastness of the subject, I must refer them to 

 text-books, such as Beale's " How to Work with the Microscope ; " 

 Lankester's " Half -hours with the Microscope ;" Hon. Mrs. "Ward's 

 " The Microscope ; " Davies " On the Preparation and Mounting 



