278 TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



posing' the occipital opening 1 at the back of the skull, through 

 which the brain may be drawn out. 



After the skeleton has been roughed out, it should always be 

 cleaned by washing- it in a basin of water and brushing it 

 meanwhile with a soft tooth-brush. If blood is left on the 

 skeleton, the bones will absorb it, and become permanently dis- 

 colored thereby. The cleansing done, make the skeleton up into 

 a compact bundle by folding the wings naturally against the 

 body, bending- the neck down in some way so that it can be tied 

 upon the body, and either cutting off the legs and putting- them 

 into the thorax and pelvis, or leaving- them on and folding them 

 up as compactly as possible. Then tie the bundle up thoroughly 

 by passing- a light string many times around it, so that it can 

 never lose its compactness. Sprinkle it with dry arsenic, or wash 

 over with thin arsenical soap, and hang it up in the shade to dry. 



SKELETONS OF BEPTILES. After all the foregoing directions, it 

 surely is unnecessary to describe, in detail, the skeletonizing of 

 reptiles. The principles are precisely the same as already set 

 forth for birds and mammals. Wherever special bones or car- 

 tilages are found, as in the abdominal cartilaginous ribs of 

 crocodilians and certain lizards, they must be carefully saved 

 whole and in situ. With large skeletons, take whatever means 

 are necessary to get them, while fresh, into compact shape for 

 drying and packing. With large crocodiles and alligators, the 

 neck, legs, head, and tail all go nicely inside the body, as I 

 have proved scores of times. The skeleton of a large serpent is 

 easily done up in a close coil, by which it not only takes com- 

 pact shape, but the ribs are well protected. With serpents, do 

 not attempt to cut the flesh from between the ribs, for it is de- 

 sirable that it should remain. 



On each rib of a crocodilian there is a strange, flat piece of 

 cartilage attached to the posterior edge at the middle of the rib, 

 and projecting backward, quite overlapping the next rib, assure 

 as the world the reptilian development of what in the full- 

 fledged bird becomes a bony imcinate process. You will soon 

 discover this in skeletonizing your first crocodilian, and be sure 

 to respect its anatomy. 



It surely is superfluous to say that every skeleton must be 

 carefully and fully labeled, and in a substantial way. 



