INSTRUCTIONS FOE, COLLECTING ARACHNLDA, ETC. 93 
in the centre of the web, will usually drop at a touch into a wide- 
necked jar held beneath. If the web is apparently unoccupied, 
search for the owner should be made beneath the leaves of an 
adjoining bush, the hiding-place being often betrayed by a silk 
thread running from the web to the place of concealment. 
Rolled leaves frequently contain Spiders and their cocoons. Leaf, 
Spider, and cocoon should all be preserved if possible. Sketches of 
webs, or notes as to their structure, are always interesting and 
useful. 
Both Spiders and Centipedes may be sought for beneath stones on 
the seashore, or even in the tidal pools. 
Millipedes are perfectly harmless, and may be handled with 
impunity. Scorpions, Centipedes, and large Spiders, on the contrary, 
are poisonous, and should be treated with caution. They can be 
safely picked up with forceps. Scorpions, too, may without much 
risk be seized by the end of the tail, the sting being firmly grasped 
between the finger and thumb; and even the largest Spiders, being 
unable to strike upwards, may be safely seized from above with a 
handkerchief. 
Preservation and Packing, — Scorpions, Spiders, Centipedes, Milli- 
pedes, and their allies should, if possible, be preserved in alcohol. If 
alcohol be unobtainable, they may be packed in sawdust saturated 
with carbolic or naphthaline, or pinned in cork- lined boxes or wrapped 
in folded paper ; but none of these methods yield such satisfactory 
results as immersion in alcohol in the form of methylated or any 
other kind of spirit that may be available. 
Experiments with formalin as a preservative fluid for these 
animals have hitherto met with failure. 
Specimens may be killed by plunging them direct into alcohol or 
hot water. Drowning in cold water is an admirable but tedious 
method. If alcohol be used for this purpose, it should be well diluted 
with water. If undiluted, it is liable to stiffen and harden the 
muscles and to shrink the softer tissues, so that the limbs cannot 
subsequently be straightened, and the form of other organs may be 
destroyed. After lying for twenty-four hours or thereabouts in 
weak spirit, specimens may be transferred with safety to stronger 
alcohol. 
