SKELETONS OF BIRDS. 547 



With all my heart. But remember, that can be taught to 

 advantage only by some practice. However, I may now state 

 the process. First then, how to make a skeleton. Take a 

 bird, skin it, remove the greater part of the flesh with a scal- 

 pel or penknife, take out the thoracic and abdominal viscera, 

 and put it into a jar of water. The water will remove the 

 blood from the bones, should there be any in them. Next day 

 begin at the head, and remove by cutting with a scalpel the 

 flesh and periosteum, commencing at the base of the bill, and 

 ending at the neck. This must be done neatly and carefully, 

 so as not to scrape the bones, nor leave upon them the least 

 mark of the knife. I have seen skeletons prepared by an ex- 

 cellent anatomist, of which most of the bones were scraped, 

 then smoothed with sandpaper, and ultimately polished ; but, 

 although they looked pretty, they had lost their natural cha- 

 racter. Well, when you have worked an hour or two, put the 

 skeleton again into clean water. Next day, clear the neck ; and 

 so on, going over the spine, the anterior, and the posterior ex- 

 tremities, and lastly the ribs. By this time, or sooner, the horny 

 covering of the jaws or mandibles, and the claws, will readily 

 come off" on being pulled. All the ligaments by which one 

 bone is connected with another having been left, the bones 

 still remain attached to each other. You now cut across the 

 ligament by which the occiput is connected with the cervical 

 vertebrfB ; take a small slender-pointed syringe, and squirt 

 water into the cavity of the skull, through the foramen mag- 

 num, until the brain and its membranes are removed. Then 

 bore a small hole in each end of the long bones, and inject a so- 

 lution of soda in water into their cavity, so as to clear away the 

 blood and grease. After this, put the skeleton into clean water, 

 in which a little muriate of soda has been dissolved, and let it 

 remain there for a night, or a week, until it is quite clear of 

 blood. In order to whiten it, you may put a very little solu- 

 tion of chloride of lime into v»'atcr, and leave the skeleton in 

 it for a night ; then remove it into clean water, and let it re- 

 main there for twenty-four hours. Now, lay it out to dry for 

 some hours, fasten its feet upon a board or perch by means of 

 pins, or small wires, or thread, place it in the attitude you judge 



