34 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



skins to dry ivrong side out, a most lazy and vicious habit, the 

 results of which are in most cases totally worthless. 



Having- wrapped the leg bones enough 

 fairly to replace the flesh, turn back the skin 

 of the leg until it comes right side out again, 

 adjust the skin neatly, and make the member 

 as shapely and natural as you please. 



The Skull. There are two ways of dispos- 

 ing of the skull. The universal custom has 

 been to replace it in the head, with a little fill- 

 ing in the cheeks and orbits, the lips neatly 

 adjusted on the teeth, and the eyelids also in 

 their place, half open. This makes the best- 

 looking skin, and unless you wish to study 

 the skull, is the best method to follow. For 

 skins that are specially designed for study, 

 the plan lately adopted by the curator of 

 mammals of the National Museum is an excel- 

 lent one. It is to remove the skull entirely 

 from the head, and in case of all mammals 

 smaller than a coyote, put it in the centre of 

 the body, with the filling, in the line of the 

 seam along the belly, so that by cutting a few 

 stitches in the dry specimen it may be read- 

 ily taken out at any time. The advantages of 

 this arrangement are obvious. 



The Tail. The tail must be disposed of ac- 

 cording to its character. If it is long and 

 slender, take a small wire, wrap it with tow or 

 cotton cloth, so that the skin cannot touch the 

 iron at any point, insert it in the tail and sew 

 it up with a few long stitches. If you have 

 not the means wherewith to do this, whittle a 

 slender stick to a point, and insert it in the 

 tail from within two inches of the body out to 

 the tip. If the tail is large, and has been split 

 open for its entire length, it can be left flat. 

 Filling. Begin at the head and fill out the head, neck, and 

 body to about the natural size of the animal when alive, but no 



PIG. 4. A Model Mam- 

 mal Skill. 



