MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
171 
The alcohol used should be ethyl alcohol. The stock strength of 96% 
should be purchased, and dilutions made from this. 
The arsenic, tow or cotton batting, salt, alum, linen thread, skinning 
knife and surgeon’s needles are used in the preparation of dry skins and 
may be omitted from the outfit when only specimens that may be pre- 
served in liquid are to be collected. 
A number of bottles and vials of various sizes and fitted with corks 
should be available, for delicate specimens should be placed in these for 
permanent storage or shipment. 
general instructions. 
The motto of the collector should be “h poor specimen is better than 
none,” and thus he should save the first specimen of each kind that 
comes to hand, but this should not be extended to mean that poor 
specimens are good enough. A well prepared specimen is immeasurably 
better than a poorly prepared one, and so little effort is needed to prop- 
erly preserve most reptiles and amphibians that there is little excuse 
for spoiling specimens by improper preservation. 
The first prerequisite of a good specimen is that it must be properly 
labeled. It is not too much to say that the value of a specimen is to a 
large extent in direct proportion to the amount of accurate data ac- 
companying it. Every specimen, therefore, should be numbered and full 
data in regard to it entered in the notebook. 
It is also desirable that series of specimens be secured. Owing to the 
variability of the different forms, a series gives a better knowledge of 
the characters of a species in a. particular region than does a single 
specimen. An effort should be made to obtain considerable numbers of 
specimens of each kind, and the number of each form obtained may 
conveniently be in proportion to the abundance. Some collectors give 
the rarer forms most attention, but the writer believes that the most 
valuable collection may be made by taking as many of the rare forms as 
possible but at the same time getting large series of those most abundant. 
The latter can usually be obtained without interfering with the general 
work and the large series will furnish most valuable data on variation, 
etc. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the smaller 
forms are generally the least known and hence more desirable than the 
large showy ones, so that, while the latter should not be neglected, they 
should not be allowed to monopolize the collecting. 
Another desirable attribute of a collection is exhaustiveness. Even 
a few specimens from any one region are of value, but it is much prefer- 
able to try to obtain specimens of all the species in a particular region. 
COLLECTING. 
Little needs to be said on the subject of collecting, for the method 
will vary with the facilities at hand and the position of the specimen. 
Most of the specimens may be grasped in the hand, but the larger and 
the more agile ones will usually have to be shot, and it will also be 
found that much time will be saved by using a gun if series are wanted. 
As stated above, crocodilians and aquatic turtles can be secured in no 
wav so easilv as with a trap net. These animals sink to the bottom 
