Natural History 365 



It is so difficult that I do not advise any boy to try 

 it unless he has the time and patience to go into it seriously. 

 To do this he should get some standard treatise on 

 Taxidermy, such as: 



"Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting," by W. T. 

 Hornaday. (Scribners. $2.50) or 



"The Art of Taxidermy," by John T. Rowley. (Mac- 

 millan's. $1.75.) 



Nevertheless all may learn to preserve the skins of 

 small animals for cabinet collections, or for mounting 

 at some later time. 



The best instructions for this are those issued by the 

 Biological Survey of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. I reproduce them. 



PRESERVING SMALL MAMMAL SKINS 



By Dr. C. Hart Merriam 

 Directions for Measurement 



The tools necessary for measuring mammals are a pair 

 of compasses or dividers, a steel rule graduated in milli- 

 meters, and two large pins. Dividers with round points 

 are better than those with triangular points. 



All measurements should give the distance in a straight 

 line between the points indicated. They should be taken 

 by means of dividers, or by driving pins into a board 

 to mark the points between which the measurement is 

 desired. They should never be made with a tape-line 

 over the convexities or inequalities of the surface. 



The three most important measurements, and those 

 which should always be taken in the flesh are: (i) total 

 length; (2) length uf tail; (3) length of hind foot. 



