364 Kansas Academy of Science. 



are covered with more or less blood and dirt, with feet and head 

 only partially skinned and spoiling. 



Whole animals are not unfrequently sent to the museum. In 

 cool weather this sometimes proves more successful in the hands of 

 the inexperienced than sending the skins in a mutilated condition 

 without measurements or any bones to take measurements from. 



The skins for museum purposes should be cured as soon as they 

 are removed from the bodies of the animals. In the field the writer 

 usually cures skins by rubbing plenty of salt on them. 



The feet of all animals with toes, such 'as bears, beavers and 

 foxes, should be skinned down to the very bases of the toe-nails, 

 and animals with hoofs, like the ox and the deer, should not only 

 have their feet skinned down to the very hoofs, but the hoofs 

 should be skinned loose from the toe bones that fit in them, and 

 then, to make sure that everything is right, remove the toe bones 

 from the feet as soon as the skins reach the museum. The ears 

 should be skinned to their very tips on the back side of the carti- 

 lage and turned inside out. Leave the cartilage adhering to the in- 

 side ear skin to protect it until the skin is ready to be mounted. 

 Then it should be skinned out. The mouth and nose should be 

 carefully skinned, saving one-half inch or more of the skin of the 

 inside lips; all fat and meat should be removed from the lips and 

 nose without cutting or injuring the skin. 



The writer has cured skins in different climates by the use of 

 salt alone. It should be rubbed onto every part of the skin, par- 

 ticularly the edges, around the mouth, ears and tail, until the skin 

 is saturated with salt brine. Skins should be dried and folded so far 

 as possible in the shade. While salt alone will do to cure skins 

 with temporarily, yet when I have it at hand I prefer to mix a 

 little alum with it, particularly in warm climates. The use of alum 

 tans and hardens the skin a little and makes it hold its hair better. 

 Some collectors use a little arsenic with the salt and alum while 

 collecting in the field. It does no harm, and is good to keep flies 

 away from skins in warm weather. The writer seldom uses arsenic 

 except on the skins of the smaller mammals. To immerse the skin of 

 a large mammal in a bath of salt and alum brine for two or three 

 days gives the most satisfactory results. While collecting in the 

 field a hole made in the ground the size and shape of an ordinary 

 bread-pan will do. Spread the skin ovur this hole. Press a part 

 of the body skin, flesh side up, down into the basin. Mix the brine 

 in it and fold the head and feet of the skin into this basin. Move 

 the head and feet around in the basin once or twice a day. Most 



