_Preserving Mammals, etc., in Alcohol._—When Mammals cannot be prepared as skins with skulls, according to the British Museum directions, they may prove of service if preserved in spirits. Indeed, when a series of skins has been made, additional specimens may well be placed in spirits, while in the case of Bats half the individuals taken of any species should be skinned and half put in spirits. On the subject of the preservation of such spirit specimens, the late Dr. G. E. Dobson has published the following ‘Hints’:— [Illustration: GENERAL COLLECTING-CASE.] The general collecting case should be made of strong block tin, or, better still, of copper, rectangular in form, about 2 feet × 1 foot × 1 foot 8 inches in height, having in the top a circular aperture from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, closed by a well-fitting brass screw-cap, the flange of which is made air-tight by a well-greased leather collar. This should fit accurately into a similarly shaped box of inch boards, having a simple flat lid (not projecting beyond the sides), secured by eight long screws, and provided with a strong iron 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, separated by light wooden partitions, and having their mouths closed by well-fitting bungs tied down with bladder and string. On arrival at the collecting station one of the jars should be half filled with spirits from the tin case. Into this each specimen, as it is obtained, having been slit along 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 spirits (kept in reserve) should be poured in so as to fill up the 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 preserving 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 spirits for months. Other jars may be filled in like manner, and finally, the general collecting case. Incisions should invariably be made in the