COLLECTING SKELETONS. 27S 



the language of the Old Testament, " his bones are there to this 

 day!" 



SKELETONS OF MAMMALS : SMALL OBJECTS. The smallest quad- 

 rupeds such as bats, small rodents, shrews, and the like 

 should be eviscerated, and preserved in alcohol, without being 

 skinned ; but each specimen should be fulty labeled. As a 

 general thing it is best, for various reasons, not to dry such 

 small carcasses. 



For all mammals below the size of the Virginia deer, pro- 

 ceed as follows: 



1. Remove the skin as expeditiously as possible, in order to 

 have a fair show at the skeleton. 



2. If the skeleton is smaller than a fox, leave the legs attached 

 to the body, for convenience, until you have cut the flesh away 

 from them with your scalpel or pocket-knife, without any dis- 

 jointing. When all the legs have been thus roughly denuded 

 of flesh, cut them loose from the body and lay aside for the mo- 

 ment. 



3. If the specimen is larger than a fox, cut off the legs from 

 the body, lay each one flat upon the ground, inside uppermost, 

 divide the flesh all the way along it directly over the bones, and 

 literally dissect the bones out of the mass of flesh, instead of 

 cutting the flesh away piece by piece. This is the quickest and 

 neatest way. The scapula must come off with the fore leg, and 

 be left attached to the humerus. Be sure you cut off all the 

 masses of flesh, but don't cut off the knee-pan, as you may easily 

 do if you are not watchful. 



4. Now for the carcass. Hold it on its back, begin at the 

 breastbone, flake off the flesh from the sides of the body close 

 down to the ribs, until the backbone is reached. Cut off as 

 much flesh as you can (hurriedly) from along the backbone. 



5. Next attack the abdomen. Beginning at the lower point of 

 the breastbone, detach the walls of the abdomen from the ends 

 of the short ribs, down to the lumbar vertebrae, and so on around 

 the iliac margin of the pelvis. Cut through the diaphragm 

 close up to where it is attached to the ribs, and remove at one 

 effort the entrails and vital organs. 



G. Cut away the flesh from the pelvis, both inside and out, and 



the flesh of the tenderloin from underneath the lumbar vertebra. 



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