MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 631 



This equipment will of course require to be modi- 

 fied, reduced, or augmented according to circum- 

 stances and the locality fixed upon for exploration. 



Before entering into the details of the methods 

 to be pursued in the preservation of the different 

 groups, it may not be amiss to allude to sketching, 

 the utility of which is undoubted, when, as often 

 happens, some rare or new object met with is, from 

 a variety of causes, not preservable. A Zoologi- 

 cal sketch to be of service to the Naturalist, must 

 be something more than the mere contour of the 

 specimen ; it must contain the essential charac- 

 teristics of the object ; or, in other words, those 

 points which Zoologists make use of in defining an 

 order or a species. Thus, in Mammals, the form and 

 number of the teeth, and of the claws, toes, or hoofs, 

 should be represented ; the form of the bill, position 

 of the nostrils, length, size, and appearance of the 

 feet and claws, form of the wings, &c, in Birds; and 

 the parts of the mouth, form and size of the antennge, 

 and of the legs of Insects. These will serve as ex- 

 amples ; for with different classes, different characters 

 must of course be selected, and to those already 

 mentioned others might be added ; but with prac- 

 tise the eye will learn to fix upon, and a little con- 

 sideration will suggest, the important points to be 

 attended to. 



