108 METHODS OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING 
and sew the net on to the cotton. Four equal lengths of strong fine 
cord are fastened at equidistant points round the ring, and tied 
together about 3 feet in front of the ring. The single cord is 
attached to the knot, and its length is adjusted so that the upper 
edge of the ring is above the water. A zinc can is fixed at the 
bottom of the net. If it is required to collect from a depth of one or 
more fathoms, a weight is attached to the line near the knot at the 
junction of the four cords. 
When tl e net is taken on board, the can is emptied, and the net 
turned inside-out into a fish-globe or other vessel full of sea-water. 
Some specimens may be removed with a pipette for special treatment 
(see below, Medusa?). For the rest, osmic acid is added to the sea¬ 
water ; the animals will die and sink to the bottom ; the sea-water 
is drawn off, and the residue washed in fresh-water and graded 
into alcohol. 
PACKING. 
1. Too many specimens should not be placed in one bottle. 
2. The spirit should be quite clean at the time of forwarding. 
3. Perhaps the best packing-material is horse-hair. Wood shav¬ 
ings, sawdust, soft paper scrunched up into loose balls, are fairly good. 
4. Many Crustaceans and Ophiuroids are well sent after being 
sewn on to stiff cardboard. 
Corals .—Dry specimens of stony corals should be carefully wrapped 
in several thicknesses of soft paper—as much paper, indeed, as will 
prevent the angles and points from puncturing it—and should then 
be laid in sawdust, the coarser the better, and all packed down tight 
to prevent jostling together. The object of covering the specimens 
with plenty of paper is to prevent the filling-material (sawdust and 
suchlike) from getting in and choking their calicles and finer 
sculpturings. 
Delicately branching or foliate specimens should be treated in the 
same way, but in addition should be protected from the weight of 
the others by being placed in separate boxes, or by partitions nailed 
into the case. 
N.B.—Sawdust or cotton-wool should never come in direct contact 
with the specimens, which must be quite dry before packing. 
