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Directions for Collecting Animal Parasites 
Dr. C. H. D. Clarke, formerly of the National Parks Service, Ottawa, 
and now chief of section of Wildlife Management, Fish and Wildlife 
Division, Department of Lands and Forests, Toronto, Ontario, collected 
during three field seasons for the National Museum of Canada and has 
kindly prepared the following directions. 
Quite satisfactory collections of parasites can be made from specimens 
taken under most field conditions. The types of specimens are as follows: 
(1) Ectoparasites. The first requisite is that the host specimens must 
be separated so that no mixing will take place. Paper funnels accomplish 
this quite well, but small paper bags are in my experience the most con- 
venient and the most reliable. The ectoparasites can then be picked 
off at leisure. There is no substitute for actually picking over the fur or 
feathers. For example, I have always found the small biting lice of 
Peromyscus attached to the host, or in the fur. Human lice have been 
collected from mummies. The parasites when collected are transferred 
on the moistened end of a probe, match, forceps, etc., to a vial of 70 per 
cent alcohol. Some collectors prefer a small brush. Personally, I detach 
them with the forceps and pick them up by moistening the forceps. In 
collecting a tick firmly attached to the host it is best to take a piece 
of skin along with the tick, in order to avoid damage to the mouth-parts. 
(2) Endoparasit.es. Occasionally large tapeworms or round worms 
protrude from the gut, or filaroid worms may be seen in tendons, subcutane- 
ous tissue or peritoneal cavity. Smaller parasites are obtained by wash- 
ing the contents of the various parts of the gut in water and allowing them 
to settle, pouring off the supernatant. Two or three washings will remove 
most of the food material and reveal the parasites. An eye-dropper is 
convenient for transferring them to vials, if they are too delicate for forceps. 
Parasitic worms are all satisfactory for study if preserved in 5 per cent 
formalin. 
For the above two types of parasites a stock of small vials with corks, 
95 per cent alcohol and full strength formalin for diluting, comprise the 
equipment. Data for endoparasites should include the locus of the parasite 
within the host. Labels with full data for all parasites should go in 
the vials. 
(3) Blood Parasites. A third type of parasites are those found in the 
blood. In my own collecting I always make a smear of the blood of each 
specimen on a glass slide as soon as possible after collecting. This film 
should be dried in the air and fixed within an hour or two by covering it 
with absolute alcohol (methyl or ethyl hydrate) for 5 minutes. It may 
then be stored in a slide box or wrapped in paper, to be stained at leisure. 
A supply of glass slides and boxes (1 inch by 3 inch slides) is needed, 
as is also a supply of absolute alcohol, about 200 cc. for 100 specimens. 
Blood from a small mammal is best taken from the heart. 
(4) Abnormal growths, diseased organs, tapeworm cysts, and organs 
with parasites in situ may be preserved in 5 per cent formalin in bottles. 
A supply of small bottles and corks is necessary. 
Parasites collected and preserved as described above would yield 
valuable records and data of much use, particularly if the data accompany- 
ing the specimens are complete. 
