286 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



RELAXING A DRY SKELETON. As intimated above, this is ac- 

 complished simply by soaking 1 the specimen in clear water 

 until its joints are pliable, and the flesh upon the bones is soft 

 enough to scrape off. In order that the specimen should not 

 become offensive and disagreeable to work upon, it must not 

 soak long enough for decomposition to set in, for that is the 

 first stage of maceration. Therefore, scraping should begin 

 just as -soon as the flesh is soft enough to be readily removed. 



SCRAPING A LIGAMENTARY SKELETON. The removal of the flesh 

 and other animal matter from a small skeleton is accomplished 

 by scraping the bones with various chisel-edged scrapers 

 specially designed for this work, and by clipping and trim- 



FIG. 68. Steel Bone-scrapers. 



ming on the joints with either curve-pointed or straight scis- 

 sors. The principles to be learned in skeleton-scraping are 

 comparatively few and simple. In the first place, a sufficient 

 quantity of the connecting ligament at each joint must be left 

 to hold the two bones together in proper shape when the 

 specimen dries. This must not be left in a thick, unsightly 

 mass, but requires to be scraped and trimmed down so that it 

 is reduced to as small a quantity as will serve the purpose. In 

 scraping the flesh off the main stem of a bone, such as the 

 humerus, for example, always begin at the end and scrape 

 toward the middle. The skeletons of turtles, lizards, and the 

 like are an exception to this rule by reason of their structure, 

 and should be scraped from the middle toward each end. If 



