An introduction to the study of fishes / by Albert C.L.G. Günther.

  • Günther, Albert C. L. G. (Albert Carl Ludwig Gotthilf), 1830-1914.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the study of fishes / by Albert C.L.G. Günther. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    723/746 (page 701)
    is left either at the top or on the sides. When the case is full, the lid is soldered on, with a round hole about half an inch in diameter near one of the corners. This hole is left in order to pour the spirit through it into the case. Care is taken to drive out the air which may remain between the specimens, and to surround them completely with spirits, until the case is quite full. Finally, the hole is closed by a small square lid of tin being soldered over it. In order to see whether the case keeps in the spirit perfectly, it is turned upside down and left over night. When all is found to be securely fastened, the zinc case is placed into the wooden box and ready for transport. Now and then it happens in tropical climates that collectors are unable to keep fishes from decomposition even in the strongest spirits without being able to detect the cause. In such cases a remedy will be found in mixing a small quantity of arsenic or sublimate with the spirits ; but the collector ought to inform his correspondent, or the recipient of the collection, of this admix¬ ture having been made. In former times fishes of every kind, even those of small size, were preserved dry as flat skins or stuffed. Specimens thus pre¬ pared admit of a very superficial examination only, and therefore this method of conservation has been abandoned in all larger museums, and should be employed exceptionally only, for in¬ stance on long voyages overland, during which, owing to the difficulty of transport, neither spirits nor vessels can be carried. To make up as much as possible for the imperfection of such specimens, the collector ought to sketch the fish before it is skinned, and to colour the sketch if the species is ornamented with colours likely to disappear in the dry example. Collectors who have the requisite time and skill, ought to accompany their collections with drawings coloured from the living fishes ; but at the same time it must be remembered that, valuable as such drawings are if accompanied by the originals from which they were made, they can never replace the latter, and possess a sub¬ ordinate scientific value only. Very large fishes can be preserved as skins only ; and col¬ lectors are strongly recommended to prepare in this manner the largest examples obtainable, although it will entail some trouble