The specimens should always be set out in some natural attitude to dry, unless it is desired to spread out the various appendages in some manner that is more convenient for the study of their structure. A sheet of blotting-paper may be placed on cork or soft wood, the specimens placed on this, and the appendages kept in the desired positions when necessary by means of pins placed beside, but not thrust through them. When more than one specimen of the same species has been collected, one should be set in such a manner as to exhibit the under side; and, further, in instances where the male and female of the same crustacean differ in structure, as is commonly the case, two of each should be preserved, one displaying the upper, and the other the under surface.
When perfectly dry, all small crustaceans should be mounted on cards with the aid of a little gum, and the name and other particulars to be remembered then written on the card.
The question may well be asked: ‘Which is the best gum to use?’ In answer to this we may say that gum tragacanth is certainly as good as any. It holds well, and leaves no visible stain on a white card. A small quantity of the solid gum should be put into a bottle with water in which a grain or so of corrosive sublimate has been dissolved. It absorbs much water, becoming a very soft, jelly-like mass. Any excess of water may be poured off, and the gum is then ready for use.
The larger crabs and lobsters contain such an amount of soft tissue within that it becomes absolutely necessary to clear them in order to avoid the unpleasant and destructive effects of decomposition.
Fig. 43.—Small Crab mounted on a Card
In the case of lobsters the abdomen should be removed from the large cephalo-thorax by cutting through the connecting membrane with a sharp knife. The soft portions of both halves of the body are then raked out by means of a piece of wire flattened and bent at one end, and the interior cleaned with the aid of a rather stiff bottle-brush. The large claws are then removed by cutting through the membrane that unites them with the legs, and these are cleared in a similar manner. The different parts are next laid out to dry on blotting-paper, with the various appendages attached to the body arranged just as in life; and, finally, when all parts are quite dry, both within and without, the separated parts are reattached by means of some kind of cement. For this purpose a solution of gelatine in acetic acid is much better than gum tragacanth, as it has a far greater holding power, and this is necessary when we require to unite rather large structures with but small surfaces in contact.
Large crabs are to be dealt with much in the same manner, but, instead of removing the abdomen only, which, in the crab, is usually very small and doubled under the thorax, the whole carapace—the large shell that covers the entire upper surface of the body—should be lifted off, and replaced again after the specimen has been cleaned and dried.