NATUKAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



19 



ly be very interesting, for he lived 

 among the savages in the wildest 

 forest, and travelled at times, as 

 he incidently mentioned, on streams 

 so overhung with vegetation that 

 it was necessary to cut a path for 

 the canoe through obstructing 

 vines and tree tops. 



Saying but little of himself he 

 delighted to tell of the birds he 

 saw, of the Toucan, overburdened 

 with its enormous bill, the gaudy 

 little Hummingbirds, the Parrots 

 of variegated hues, and of the 

 Whip-poor-wills and other birds of 

 the goatsucker family that are re- 

 garded with superstitious awe by 

 the Indians and also by the negroes 

 who regard them as sacred to Jum- 

 bo, that god of African pagans 

 after whom Mr. Barnum's big ele- 

 phant was named. He said that 

 the birds were so numerous that 

 those he described were ••only as 

 a handful from a well stored gran- I 

 ary." 



After making four voyages to 

 America Mr. Waterton travelled 

 occasionally on the European con- 

 tinent, but lived most of the time 

 at Walton Hall, his family seat. 



Walton Hall was an ideal home 

 for a naturalist. It was built on 

 an island in a lake of about twenty- 

 five acres extent, surrounded by 

 groves of fine old trees where birds 

 sang and nested, undisturbed by 

 prowling sportsmen. Here the 

 naturalist lived and studied, the 

 benefactor of his poorer neighbors, 

 and the gentle protecting friend of 

 birds and beasts. He died at the 

 age of 83 surrounded by his chil- 

 dren and grandchildren, and was 

 buried beneath his favorite trees, 

 where, as he had predicted, "cock 

 robin and the magpies mourned 

 his loss. " 



Angus Gaines, 

 Yincennes, Indiana. 



Alcoholic and Other Fluid Pre- 

 servation. 



A great man}' people suppose 

 that to preserve any small animal 

 or piece of tissue, it is only necess- 

 ary to "chuck" it into a small 

 quantity of alcohol of uncertain 

 strength and to "cork" up the con- 

 taining receptacle. A small ani- 

 mal thus treated would be preserv- 

 ed in that it would not undergo 

 thorough decay. From any other 

 standpoint it would be nearly a fail- 

 ure. 



Most material which is preserved 

 in fluid is to be used, partially at 

 least, for microscopic examination. 

 In this article I shall attempt to 



give a few of the leading methods 

 of handling and preserving mater- 

 al which may at some time, be used 

 for microscopical work. 



All objects should, as soon as 

 possible, be treated with what is 

 known as a "fixing" or "killing 

 agent." Worms and other small 

 organisms are, while living placed 

 in the fixing re-agent. Large ani- 

 mals as soon as possible after 

 death. For most purposes some 

 of the following three formulae 

 will be. a successful reagent. 



1st. A saturated solution of 

 corrosive sublimate in 70 per cent, 

 alcohol — dilute with an equal part 

 of pure water and add a trace of 

 some acid. 



2d. Picro-sulphuric acid — i. e. 

 a saturated solution of Picric acid 

 in a 2 per cent, aqueous solution of 

 Sulphuric acid. 



3rd. Mullers fluid — 2*4 parts 

 Bichromate of Potash, 1 part of 

 Sodium Sulphate. 100 parts of dis- 

 tilled water. \ 



Filtered rain water may be sub- 

 stituted for distilled water. 



All large objects should be placed 

 in 8 or ten times their volume of 

 Mullers fluid, which should be 

 changed in 12 to 24 hours and re- 

 placed by an equal bulk of fresh. 

 After staying in this for 2 weeks to 

 a year, tne object after thorough 

 washing in water should be put in- 

 to 50 per cent, alcohol for a few 

 hours and then placed in 70 per 

 cent, where it may be kept. If the 

 alcohol becomes discolored it 

 should be filtered and may then be 

 used again. 



It the object is for museum pur- 

 poses it maj' be taken fresh and 

 placed in 35 per cent, alcohol for 4 

 or 5 hours, then into 50 per cent, 

 for some length of time and finally 

 kept in 70 to 80 per cent, alcohol, 

 using plenty of alcohol. The addi- 

 tion of 5 per cent. Hydrochloric 

 acid to the first alcohol improves 

 the condition of most specimens 

 but bleaches many colors and in- 

 jures calcareous structures. 



Objects under an inch in thick- 

 ness may be placed in Picro sul- 

 phuric acid for 20 minutes to 24 

 hours. Objects under J _> inch in 

 thickness may be placed in Corros- 

 ive Sublimate solution for 5 to 30 

 minutes or in Picro sulphuric acid. 

 After fixing in either of these the 

 object should be rinsed with 35 per 

 cent, alcohol and then placed in 50 

 per cent alcohol for 1 to 24 hours, 

 then preserved in 70 per cent, al- 

 cohol. For "Picro" objects the 

 alcohol should be changed occas- 

 sionally until the alcohol ceases to 

 be discolored. 



Picro sulphuric acid and Corros- 

 ive Sublimate solution may be ben- 

 eficially heated to a blood heat for 

 many objects. 



All parasitic worms should be 

 "killed" with either warm Picro 

 sulphuric acid or Cor. Subl. solu- 

 tion. 



The various Hydroidsand "Jelly- 

 fish" in warm Cor. Subl. solution, 

 plus 17 per cent. Acetic acid. 



Crustacea and Insecta should be 

 treated with Cor. Subl., Picro-sul- 

 phuric, or the various grades of 

 alcohol. Or, they may be placed 

 in a 10 per cent, solution of gly- 

 cerine containing 1 per cent, car- 

 bolic acid or other antiseptic, and 

 pure glycerine added at intervals 

 until within a day or so the solution 

 contains 30 to 50 per cent, glycer- 

 ine. 



Lignified plant tissue may be kept 

 in 15 to 50 per cent, alcohol. All 

 plant tissues and'all algae may be 

 placed in a 5 per cent, solution of 

 carbolized glycerine which is then 

 exposed to the air until evaporated 

 to a 20 to 30 per cent, glycerine 

 solution; or they may be placed in 

 a similar solution of Potassium ace- 

 tate being similarly handled. 



Special cases may require spec- 

 ial treatment for which one must 

 refer to some of the recent books 

 on the subject, i. e. Lee's "Microto- 

 mists Vade Mecum" for animal tis- 

 sues and Zimmerman's "Botanical 

 Technique" for plant tissues. 



Both of these contain valuable 

 chapters on the Art as a whole, and 

 treatment of special cases. 



Last, but not least, always place 

 in the bottle with the specimen — ■ 

 brief but complete data written on 

 stiff paper with lead pencil. The 

 data should include locality and all 

 such particulars as date, etc., and 

 method of "killing", or ••fixing" 

 and the length of time in each of 

 the various reagents. 



Will C. Hall. 



Socks of Asbestos. 



A long, lank, slow-voiced En- 

 glishman left his native land a 

 score of years ago and settled in 

 Quebec, where he hired out as a 

 laborer in a lumber yard. His 

 great bodily strength, supplement- 

 ed by his energy and activity, soon 

 won him an excellent position. 

 After he had been at work a num- 

 ber of months he returned one cold 

 winter evening to the capacious, 

 shed-like building in which they 

 all lived. Seating himself comfort- 

 ably before the pot-bellied cast- 

 iron stove, the open mouth of which 



