HOW TO PRESERVE REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Place live specimens in can with tight- fitting top and introduce small rag or cotton soaked in chloroform or other. Do not open can until about ten minutes after animals have become quiet. Allow all specimens to relax for one hour in open air before putting them in fluid. Tag each specimen separately, writing on tag the locality (county and nearest town), date, and collector's name. Examine specimens daily for three or four days after being put in solution and if any are soft or discolored (particularly about the stomach) or have skin slipping, put them in fresh solution and re-inject. Always use about three times as much solution as necessary to cover specimens. REPTILES Preservative.—Alcohol 70 to 80%: mix four parts of strong (95%) grain or denatured alcohol with one part water. Formalin 10% (Formaldehyde 4%): mix one part commercial solution with nine parts water. Lizards.—Tie tag on hind leg above heel or knee. Make slit ½ inch long with scissors on right side of belly and inject preserving fluid into body cavity (with aleohol use 95% strength for this). Also inject fluid into mouth. Lay specimen out straight or smoothly curved in bottle or can. Snakes.—Thread one string of tag on a needle and sew into skin at side of neck; then tie. Make cuts ½ inch long every 4 inches on belly and inject with fluid as for lizards;