200
THE SPIDERS OF EPPING FOREST.
and partially filled with clean methylated spirit. In this the
specimen should be placed and examined whilst entirely sub-
merged. When working by artificial light the bulls-eye condenser
will be necessary to obtain satisfactory illumination. A prelim-
inary examination should be made with the lowest power, the
higher magnifications being only necessary for viewing such
points of structure as the palpal organs, epigynal plates, tarsal
claws, etc. Beginners would be well advised to attempt the
identification of none but adult specimens.
Preservation. Spiders are best preserved in methylated spirit
which should be slightly diluted by the addition of from five to
ten per cent. of distilled water. Much of the spirit now supplied
will turn cloudy on the addition of a small percentage of water ;
but the clearness of the mixture may be restored by the addition
of more spirit. Other liquids have been tried with more or less
success, but to me they all appear vastly inferior to methylated
spirit. Rum, however, will be found a most useful preservative
for such specimens as are intended for dissection. Specimens
may be stored either in corked tubes or in stoppered bottles. The
former method has the disadvantage that in the event of being
left for some time unreplenished the spirit is liable to evaporate
and the specimens are thus irrecoverably destroyed. With stop-
pered bottles one of two methods may be adopted. If space and
purse permit, a separate bottle may be kept for each species ;
but, in the event of one or both of these items being somewhat
limited, resource may be had to another system. Glass tubes
are taken and arranged round the inside of a large stoppered
bottle and are kept in position by a central plug of cotton wool.
Sufficient spirit is then poured in to submerge and fill the tubes.
The specimens are placed in the tubes together with a label
written with lead pencil or Indian ink, and each tube is plugged
with a small pad of cotton wool. When a specimen is required
for examination, the containing tube may be removed by means
of a large pair of forceps, and the spider then emptied into the
china saucer before mentioned.
Recording Observations. Careful notes should be made of all
habits observed, of local captures, of dates of appearance in adult
state, of snares formed and of other matters of importance or
interest. The greatest care however, should be exercised in
order to render such data of absolute accuracy, for an erroneous
statement, like a snowball on a hill, is not only more easily