198 



APPENDIX. 



Keviewers may pronounce it eminently scientific ; but 

 then they must only expect an assent to their decision 

 from the mouths of the marines ; for, "shiver my timbers," 

 says Jack, " if the sailors will believe them." 



I will now pass cursorily on to your " Process of Pre- 

 servation." 



I remember well the day on which your father (whom 

 I much respected) invited me to spend an evening at his 

 house in Wavertree, near Liverpool. "I have a son," 

 said he to me, "who seems to have a great turn for 

 natural history, and I should feel much indebted to you 

 if you would come and spend the evening with us." 

 " Most willingly, Sir," said I ; and so I went to Waver- 

 tree. 



On that evening, when I saw you for the first time, I 

 imparted to you whatever I thought would be of service, 

 as though you had been a valued and an old acquaintance. 

 It was then that I strongly recommended to you, for 

 your zoological preparations, the constant use of cor* 

 rosive sublimate dissolved in alcohol. \ 



When we met again, after a considerable period, you 

 showed me a quantity of bird-skins which you had col- 

 lected in Brazil. They were exceedingly bad ; and on 

 looking at them, I said to myself, — Ah! I see that I must 

 have been beating on cold iron when I was imparting 

 my instructions to Mr. William. 



When you found, during your stay in Pernambuco, 

 that the solution which you had carried out with you 

 from England was of no avail against the thrice-repeated 

 attacks of the ants, did you not suspect that you might 

 possibly have got it made too weak ? Had you stepped 

 for a minute into the nearest chemist's shop, and pro- 

 cured a little more corrosive sublimate, your solution 

 would then have done its duty in the most satisfactory 



