Proceedings of the United States National Museum

272 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Synopsisof^thedistributionofAlaskanfishes

—

Continued.

90.

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

96.

97.

98.

99.

100.

101.

102.

103.

104.

105.

106.

107.

108.

109.

110.

111.

112.

113.

114.

115.

116.

52 95

GoregonusMercHivar Coregonuschipeiformise GoregonusKennicottii Goregonvsquadrilateralis Thymallussignifer Saivelinusmalma Salmopurpuratus SalmoGairdneri Salmoirideus Oncorhynchus chouicha Oncorhynchuskcta Oncorhynchus nerka Oncorhynchuskisutch Oncorhynchus gorbuscha AIcpidosaurusfcrox Alepidosaurusborealis Olupeamirdbilis Spratelloidesbryoporus Catostomtis longirostris PlilichthysGoodei Acipensermedirostris ChimceraGolliei JRaiabinoculata Baiaparmifera SaiabatisPallas Squalusacanthias Ammottesaureus (App.). Icelushamatus (App.).Somniosus microcephalus

.

+

IMETMODS OF

IHAKIIVC}AIVD

PRESERVSNG PLrASTER

CASTS.

By ANTHONY PIRZ.

Long Island

City,N.Y., October28, 1881.

Dear

Sir^: In using the

method

ofpreservingplaster castswith baryta water

and

soapas given

some

time ago,it happens that larger pieces remain

damp

a long time(years)

and

yellowiron spotsreadilyappearon theplaster. V.Decheud,inBonn,

recommends

^{brushingthe casts}with ahot saturated solution of borax twice,

and

larger pieces five to six times.

Then

apply twice a saturated

and

hot solutionof chloride of baryta,

and

finallyahot solutionofsoap^; the superfluous soap^solution

isto be

washed

off with hot water,

and

lastly with cold water.

The

wholetreatment occupies but afewhours.

W.

Eeisig, inDarmstad,

recommends

covering the plaster castswith asolutionof Indiarubber in benzole, orpetroleum ether, orbisulphide of carbon.

The

casts so treated can be washed.

R. Jacobsen's plan to

make

plaster casts stand the washing is:

to saturate the casts hot with asolution ofa mostneutralsoap from sodalye

and

stearic acid in10 parts ofboiling water.

I.

W.

Platonoff, in

Moscow,

prepares a mass for casts as follows:

tate 50 parts glue,35 parts wax,

and

15 partsglycerine, with 30 per

PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 273

cent, zinc oxide. Itbecomes as hard as horn.

A

softer

mass

consists of 50 partsglue, 25 partswax, and 25 parts glycerine.

To

prepare the mass, dissolve the gluein

warm

^glycerine,then

add

thewax,

and

lastly themetal oxide.

R. Martin, in Sonneberg, mixes 20 to 100 parts zinc oxidewith 5 to 10 parts tartaric acid or calcined

alum and

100 parts starch (finely powdered),

and

the required quantity of water to form the casts. If these articlesare at a temperature below 15^ Celsius

and

are poured in

warm

molds, the castbecomes brittle, butis at once

made

plastic

by

being placedin a water-bath of ^50°.

Then

give the casts a surface which permits washing

by

collodion, which ^is mixed with a solution of

wax

^{in ether.}

My ^method

^{of preparing caustic baryta is:}

^Take

^{carbonate baryta,}

pulverize

and mix

with charcoal, _inxtin a crucible well? luted

and

ex- posein a white^lire.

Then

leach with boiled water

and

letcrystallize.

As

the caustic baryta so greedily absorbs the carbonic acid from the

air, I givethis simi)lecheap method,^sothatyour departmentcan often

make

the caustic baryta new,

when

the old has turnedintocarbonate baryta.

I havewritten these variousmethods

and

you canselect

what

pleases you.

Ishallbe under greatobligations toyou,ifyou ^will send

me

the sur-

vey

and

publication

when

ready.

Iremain, dear sir, yours very truly,

ANTHONY PIRZ.

Hon.

Spencer

F. Bated,

Secretary Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

JLIST

OF

FIJ^HEJ^ COI.I^ECTEI>

BV

I.IEUT.

HENRV

E.

NICHOLS,

U.

8. N., I!V

THE

Gri.F

OF CALIFORNIA AND

OIV

THE WEST COAST OF LOUVER CALIFORNIA. WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF FOLR NEW^

SPECIES.

By DAVID

^S.

JORDAi\ and CHARLES H. OILBERT.

The

specimens of fishes collected

by

^Lieut.

Henry

E. Nichols, com-

mandant

ofthe United StatesCoast

and

Geodetic SurveySteamer Has-

sler, inhisvoyagealong the coastof Mexico

and

CentralAmerica,have been already noticed

by

us on page 225 of the present

volume

of the Proceedings of the United States National

Museum. On

thenorth-

ward

voyageofthe Hassler (January-March, 1881),Lieutenant Nichols

made

another collection,alsoof

much

importance.

A

^listof thespecies obtained, withtheir

numbers

asrecordedinthe register ofthe

museum,

is given below.

It will benoticedthat all the species obtainedfrom the west coastof

Lower

^California belong to the Californian fauna, while nearly ^all of those obtainedwithin the Gulfare

members

^ofthetropical faunaofthe west coast of Mexico. It is afactworthy of note thatvery fewof the

Proc. Nat. Mus. ⁸¹ 18

Jan. 20,

¹

882.