HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-G OSSIP. 



39 



Another word, to conclude the subject of cock- 

 chafers. M. le Marchant, a pharmacieu at Caen, 

 has made many experiments on the tenacity of life 

 in the Cockchafer when apparently drowned, and 

 he has found that after complete immersion for a 

 considerable period, till decomposition has begun, 

 if taken out of the water and exposed to light and 

 air, they have still shown signs of life. 



T. Ogin Wakd, M.D., Oxon. 



CLEANING SKELETONS. 



HAVING read Mr. A. C. Haddon's receipt 

 for cleaning skeletons in Science-Gossip, 

 p. 23, I write to state why I consider it a metliod 

 which no true osteologist would ever think of 

 using. Lime ruins bones for scientific purposes. 

 It tones down all the sharp edges, modifies the pro- 

 tuberances, and makes undefined tliose peculiarities 

 v/hich, though minute, are nevertheless of the 

 utmost importance in comparing one skeleton with 

 another. Though Mr. Haddon is so far right in 

 saying that lime will bleach the bones, I am also 

 convinced that when they are bleached in the sun, 

 they not only remain uninjured, but also gain a far 

 richer acd purer colour. I have dug up bones that 

 have lain for some time buried in the ground, when 

 they have been at first of an unsightly brown or 

 even deep black hue ; but by exposing them for a 

 time in the air, on a stone terrace facing the south, 

 most of them have been brought to a pitch of almost 

 ivory whiteness. Mr. Haddon also remarks that 

 lime preserves the ligaments. I am not clear how 

 far this is an advantage. Eor purposes of study, 

 the bones should not be all connected, as it precludes 

 the proper examination of the articulations. I have 

 generally found it preferable to have the skull and 

 all the limbs disconnected from the trunk, and the 

 component bones of the limbs of one side all 

 separated from each other. If it should be desired 

 to preserve the whole skeleton intact, it is almost 

 as easy, with a little care and attention, to do so with 

 great perfection, either by letting the flesh quietly 

 rot off, or by the maceration in water and blood ; for 

 the flesh will of course decay before the harder and 

 tough ligaments. Maceration is best if expedition 

 is required, since it will prepare an ordiuaiy-sized 

 specimen in about a fortnight, if most of the flesh 

 is first removed. When time is no object, the 

 process of simple decomposition is the least trouble. 

 A small pit should be excavated, provided with 

 rough shelves, roofed in, with steps leading down 

 to it, and protected from the intrusion of animals. 

 On these shelves the specimens may quietly be left 

 to rot, if they are looked at from time to time. 

 What odour there is, rises but little above the 

 surface of the ground, and is rapidly blown away. 

 In the summer the maggots increase to such an 



extent, that a specimen is sucked clean with im- 

 mense rapidity, and at all seasons the work is much 

 assisted by divers predacious insects. I liave many 

 bones prepared in this way,, in as beautiful a con- 

 dition as 0!ie could wish to see, and with this 

 additional satisfaction, that every groove and every 

 prominence is as clear and sharp as it ever was in 

 the living animal. I am well aware how freely 

 dealers use lime in preparing their bones for sale, 

 and I have often had [cause to lament that bones 

 which I have purchased should have had their real 

 beauty .taken away and much of their value de- 

 stroyed, through the ignorance of the person who 

 prepared them. A very weak solution of lime is 

 sometimes necessary to dry those bones in which 

 there is an unusual quantity of oil. This is the 

 only case in which it can be recommended. Sup- 

 posing all the bones of a small specimen should 

 chance to be entirely separated, as you clean each, 

 bone lay it aside in its proper relative position. 

 They then can all be fastened on to a slab of wood, 

 by pins stuck on each side of them and wedging 

 them tight. The vertebrae should be threaded on a 

 fine stick. This method takes care and time, but 

 the result is very satisfactory. Whatever bone 

 chances to be required, can be set free in an instant 

 by the removal of two or three pins, and it can be 

 as readily replaced. 



Edwakd Eentoue Elvitin. 

 . Booton, Norwich. 



LAW TO PROTECT CURIOUS ANIMALS. 



WILL you pennit me to say that if in my 

 earnestness to protect some of our useful, 

 curious, or ornamental little creatures from being 

 exterminated, I may have hurt the feelings of any 

 of your correspondents, I much regret it ? I like 

 also.to set myself right on another point. As these 

 creatures are mostly designated " vermin " by pre- 

 servers of game, I may be suspected of being un- 

 friendly to protective laws ; on the contrary, I be- 

 lieve if the Legislature, yielding to a pressure from 

 those who have no game to preserve, were to lessen 

 that protection, it would be a mistake ; I would 

 rather see it extended to those occasionel visitors 

 who every now and then endeavour to re-establish 

 themselves in these islands'; viz.. Bustards, Sand- 

 Grouse, Hoopoes, Waxen Chatterers, and such-like, 

 which are instantly shot down by so-called natu- 

 ralists, either for the sale of their stuffed skins or 

 to gratify a morbid ambition. 



Many of our creatures are nearly gone, — the 

 Chough, the Badger, the Dabchick, the Hooting or 

 brown Owl. The destructiveness, if any, of tliis 

 latter creature is much overrated. I have had them 

 perfectly tame, going where they would to seek their 

 food, and returning to my shelter, and I do not 



