LORQUINIA 
3 
DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING AND PRESERVING 
OPHIUROIDS OR BRITTLE STARS 
Ophiuroids or Brittle Stars have not received the attention of col- 
lectors on this coast as much as they should. This is probably due to 
the belief that they are hard to find and, when found, harder to pre- 
serve in a satisfactory condition. When properly collected and pre- 
served, how^ever, they may be kept in perfect condition either as wet or 
dry specimens, and will make fascinating subjects for observation under 
binocular or other microscopes. 
The collector should carry a little magnesium sulphate, Epsom's 
Salts, and mix it with sea water in the proportion of about two heaping 
teaspoonfuls to a quart. The brittle stars should be placed in this 
mixture as quickly as possible and kept in it for a couple of houis or 
until the laboratory is reached. Here they should be transferred to a 
pan of cold corrosive sublimate and their arms or rays, adjusted in the 
desired position. After two or three minutes in this fluid they may be 
placed in seventy per cent alcohol, if wet specimens are desired. If 
they are to be dried, however, they should go in to the following pre- 
servative and remain in it for one or two days, when they may be 
taken out and dried. 
95% alcohol 1000 cc. 
Glycerine 1000 cc. 
, 45% formaldehyde 35 cc. 
Two species of brittle stars are very common on the rocky beaches 
of this southern coast, the serpent star, Ophiodenna panamensis Lut- 
ken, and the worm star, O phionereis anniilata Le Conte. These ^re 
to be found under the rocks of the littoral zone. 
During storms quantities of kelps and seaweeds are torn loose from 
the ocean bottom and later are cast up on the beaches. The holdfasts 
of these plants are the homes of many species of brittle stars, as well 
as innumerable other animals. 
In handling brittle stars of all sorts it is better not to try to pick 
them up with the fingers. Let them crawl onto a kelp leaf or piece of 
seaweed and then drop into the fluid. 
This article has been written in the hope that these beautiful 
marine animals will find a larger place in the collections of naturalists 
who have access to our beaches. 
Pkrcy SpEnckr Barnhart, 
Curator, Scripps Institution for Biological Research. 
THE EXTINCT VOLCANO SOUTH OF POINT LOBOS 
M. J. Becker 
With a good companion and a very pleasant day, I had an interest- 
