4 
(the wire should reach within two inches of the bottom of the bottle); 
this sponge should be kept wet with chloroform, which may be carried 
in a small stoppered phial in the pocket. Every insect caught, of what¬ 
ever order, should be at once popped into this bottle, which will 
cause its instant death. This will be found a capital plan, as violent 
struggling damages the fine colouring of a great many insects. Beetles 
can always be packed between layers of rags. 
Butterflies, pressed flat and packed in triangular pieces of paper tightly 
gummed up, travel admirably. 
Shells . 
In collecting univalve marine shells, the fish may be boiled out, but 
great care should always be taken to carefully preserve the operculum. 
After cleaning out the fish, the shell should be filled with dry cotton 
wool (animal wool should in all cases be carefully avoided), and the 
operculum stuck to the wool at the mouth of the shell. 
Small crabs may be easily preserved by soaking them well in cold fresh 
water for eight or ten hours; when thoroughly dried, wash them over 
with the solution of bi-chloride of mercury. 
Large specimens should be cleaned out, and then rearticulated* 
tlSl? OF SPECIMENS WANTED FEOM VARIOUS STATIONS FOE THE MUSEUM 
OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION, WOOLWICH. 
Gibraltar. 
Birds, butterflies, beetles, bees and wasps* 
reptiles, and what land shells are to be found. 
Malta. 
Birds, butterflies, beetles, dragon flies, 
Crickets, locusts, small specimens of fish in 
spirits, and land and marine shells. 
Bermuda. 
Shells, coral, and sponges. 
Mauritius. 
Birds, insects of all orders, crabs, crawfish, 
marine, fresh water, and land shells; also 
sponges, and small specimens of coral. 
Ceylon. 
Birds, butterflies, beetles, in particular; also 
marine, fresh water, and land shells. 
St. Helena. 
Same as above. 
Aden. 
Shells, small specimens of coral, sponges, 
crabs, crawfish, and also small specimens of 
fish in spirits ; likewise birds, butterflies, and 
beetles. The beetles travel well in bottles packed 
in sawdust, slightly moistened with weak car¬ 
bolic acid. 
East Indies. 
Birds, butterflies, beetles, bees, wasps, dragon 
flies, locusts, mantis, small fresh water fish 
from the mountain streams, in spirits; also land 
and fresh water shells. A complete collection of 
the game birds found at the different stations 
would be of great interest* 
Singapore, Hong KonG, Shanghai, 
and Penang. 
Birds, beetles, butterflies, wasp3, bees, 
locusts, mantis, dragon flies, ants, crabs, craw¬ 
fish, marine, fresh water, and land shells. 
South Africa. 
Birds, insects of all orders, the smaller 
species of reptiles in spirits, land, fresh water, 
and marine shells. 
Australia and New Zealand. 
Birds of all orders, from New Zealand in 
particular, the two owl parrots (strigops 
habroptilus and Greyii), and the three apteryx 
(apteryx australis, mantellii, and oweni); also 
butterflies, beetles, mantis, dragon flies, land, 
fresh water, and marine shells; also specimens 
of the smaller fresh water fish in spirits. 
Japan. 
Birds and insects of all orders, shells, corals, 
crabs, and sponges. 
North America and West Indies. 
Birds, butterflies, moths, beetles, small rep¬ 
tiles in spirits, land and fresh water shells, and 
the eggs of any of the water fowl that breed 
round the coast. 
