520 The American Naturalist. [/une. 
treatment. Methods which will give good results with the 
Zoantbids, for instance, will yield failure quite as often as suc- 
cess with more contractile forms. For a collector who cannot 
give the time required for the proper carrying on of the nar- 
cotizing methods, my experience has led me to advise the fol- 
lowing method of procedure. After the general characteristics 
^he coloration, presence or absence of tubercles, the dimen- 
sions, and such easily observable features — have been carefully 
notedwith as much detail as possible, the animal is placed in 
a jar just wide enough to allow its complete expansion, and 
with just enough water to cover it when fully expanded. When 
this condition is reached, a glass syringe is filled with Perenyi's 
fluid, and this is suddenly and rapidly injected into the in- 
terior of the animal, the nozzle of the syringe having been 
quickly inserted into its mouth. At the same time, if possible, 
a quantity of the same fluid is poured over the animal, so that 
It IS bathed without and within with a tolerably strong mix- 
ture of Perenyi's fluid. It is left to the action of the fluid for 
about half an hour, and is then to be treated successively with 
50, 70 and 90 per cent, alcohol, care being taken to inject a 
considerable quantity of the spirits into the interior at each 
change. 
Although considerable contraction usually results from this 
process, and although the color is, as a rule, almost destroyed, 
yet I think the distortion is less than that resulting from most 
other methods, and there is the great advantage that the 
parts are preserved in a satisfactory manner for future histo- 
logical study. Dissection is possible, owing to the absence of 
the excessive brittleness which results from the use of chromic 
acid, encrusting or attached calcareous particles are dissolved, 
and sectioning of entire small forms may be practiced without 
the danger of ruining the knife, and lastly, there is no un- 
pleasant precipitation of crystals as occurs from the use of 
corrosive sublimate when the subsequent washing has not been 
sufficiently prolonged. 
The Preparation of Bone and Teeth with Their 
Soft Parts.'— Dr. L. A. Weil takes only fresh, or nearly 
fresh teeth, and in order to allow reagents and stains to pen- 
etrate into the pulp cavity, divides the tooth immediately after 
extraction with a fret-saw, below the neck, into two or three 
