and Laboratory Methods. 



1841 



two wire posts, one in front and one behind. These are made by sawing a slit 

 in the end of a piece of wire and then opening it to form a fork, which is securely 

 bent around the vertebral column. The lower ends of these posts are then set 

 into a temporary pine base and let down a sufficient distance to bring the front 

 and hind limbs into a correct position. The limbs are then adjusted and securely 

 held by means of pins. The skull is not put on till later. The whole is then 

 set aside in a clean place to dry, after which it can be transferred to a perma- 

 nent stand of black-walnut or such other wood as may be preferred. In case of 

 a larger mammal such as a dog or sheep, an iron rod of specified dimensions 

 should be made at a blacksmith's ; the necessary bends can be put in it when 

 you are ready to mount, unless it should be too large an animal. 



Fig. :). 



Where the legs have been disarticulated in a mammal or a bird the body can 

 be dried on a frame which can be cheaply made as indicated in Fig. 3 by cut- 

 ting off the tongue and groove of a piece of matched board and using them to 

 adjust the distance apart of two uprights fixed to them which swing the axial 

 skeleton and ribs as in the diagram. The parts are pressed into position and 

 held there if necessary with wires until they dry in the final shape, after which 

 the legs are attached. A post is placed under the keel of the sternum, as in 

 Fig. 2. 



Heads are soaked and washed and bleached like the rest. If the lower jaw 

 does not adhere it may be wired to the rest. The head is fitted over a piece of 

 cork attached to the end of the " spinal wire"; lighter heads are sufficiently 

 supported by this mode, but heavier ones may need a wire to run from the occip- 

 ital bone backward to one of the cervical neural spines, as in Fig. 1. 



H. L. OSBORN. 

 Biological Laboratory, Hamline University. C. C. TvRRELL. 



