NATUEAL HISTOEY. 
91 
handle. This case should be filled with the strongest methylated spirits 
procurable (in foreign countries over-proof rum, brandy, or arrack will 
suit equally well). If circumstances admit, two or more such cases 
should be taken, or four wide-mouthed earthenware jars placed in a 
square wooden case and separated by light wooden partitions, having 
their mouths closed by well-fitting bungs tied down with bladder and 
skin. On arrival at the collecting station one of the jars should be half 
filled with spirit from the tin case. Into this each specimen, as it is 
obtained, having a long slit made in the side of the abdomen, should be 
put, and allowed to remain 24 hours before being transferred to the 
general collecting case. When the latter can hold no more, the specimens 
should be removed one by one and packed in the moist state in the other 
wide-mouthed jars, one above the other, like herrings in a cask, each 
rolled in a piece of thin cotton cloth, in which a label, having the locality 
and date written in pencil, should be placed. When the jar has been thus 
filled to the mouth a glass or two of the strong spirit (kept in reserve) 
should be poured in so as to fill up interstices, but not to appear on the 
surface, which should be covered with a thick layer of cotton-wool. A 
few drops of carbolic acid, if the spirit be weak, will greatly aid its preserv¬ 
ing powers. The bung should then be replaced, secured round the margin 
outside with a mixture of tallow and wax, and tied down securely with 
bladder or skin, and the name of the collector and district written legibly 
outside. The jar is now ready for transmission to any distance, for 
specimens thus treated will keep good in the vapour alone of strong spirit 
for months. Other jars may be filled in like manner, and, finally, the 
general collecting case. Incisions should invariably be made in the sides 
(not in the centre line) of all animals, so as to allow the spirit to enter, 
and no part of the intestines should be removed. In the case of tortoises 
the opening may be made in the soft parts round the thighs; if this be 
not done the body soon becomes distended with gases. Frogs should 
always be first placed in weak spirit, and after being soaked for one or two 
days, be removed to strong alcohol. Crabs should be rolled up alive in 
thin cotton-cloths, secured by thread tied round; they are then readily 
killed by immersion in alcohol; if this be not done they lose many 
of their limbs in their dying struggles. 
Preparation of Skeletons of Animals .—In many cases it will be found 
impossible to preserve the whole animal, especially if of large size, but it 
