43 



that you have the head in its original shape, and 

 the whole tail can be obtained. The narrow uncut 

 portion of the tail will dry up if there is not too 

 much fat on it, in which case drying may be 

 facilitated by opening the subcaudals down to the 

 tip. 



The Rat-snake is somewhat difftcult to skin, 

 owing to the close welding of the epidermis to the 

 flesh. 



The water-snakes, Helicops Schistosus and 

 Tropidonotus Quincunciatus, are difficult to skin 

 for the same reason, and the skin has to be sepa- 

 rated from each vertebra with scissors. The least 

 pulling on the skin of the above two snakes will 

 cause it to break. When dry the skin is stronger. 



The skull of a snake cannot be taken com- 

 plete, like that of an animal, as it is formed of 

 many small bones, that fall apart after the soft 

 tissues have been removed. 



" Stretching" is best done as follows : — 



After the skin has been taken, stretch a string stretching. 

 down the centre of a board, and fasten it to a nail 

 at each end. Next proceed to nail the nose and 

 tail of your snake to the plank, stretching the skin 

 as much as possible, and being careful to see that 

 both nose and tail are beneath the string. Stretch 

 the skin laterally, and fix it with tacks, or old 

 gramaphone needles (preferably the latter), placed 

 at intervals along each side. The intervals between 

 the tacks should be approximately ^^nd of the entire 

 length of the skin. The head should be fixed with 

 tacks and pins in such a manner as to make it dry 

 in its original shape ; and, in the case of poisonous 

 snakes, the fangs should be kept in an upright 

 position, by means of tacks placed on each side of 

 the head (near the fangs), and a pin placed across 

 them and resting against the fangs. Preserving 



