242 NATURAL HISTORY. • 



it until you can place the scissors or knife underneath, and separate 

 the joint with the accompanying muscles. Place a little cotton be- 

 tween the skin and the body to prevent adhesion. Loosen the skin 

 about the base of the tail, and cut through the vertebras at the last 

 joint, taking care not to sever the bases of the quills. Suspend the 

 body by inserting the hook into the lower part of the back or rump, and 

 invert the skin, loosening it carefully from the body. On reaching the 

 wino-s, which had better be relaxed previously by stretching and pull- 

 ing, loosen the skin from around the first bone, and cut through the 

 middle of it, or, if the bird be small enough, separate it from the next 

 at the elbow. Continue the inversion of the skin by drawing it over 

 the neck, until the skull is exposed. Arrived at this point, detach 

 the delicate membrane of the ear from its cavity in the skull, if pos- 

 sible, without cutting or tearing it ; then, by means of the thumb- 

 nails, loosen the adhesion of the skin to the other parts of the head, 

 until you come to the very base of the mandibles, taking care to cut 

 through the white nictitating membrane of the eye, when exposed, 

 without lacerating the ball. Scoop out the eyes, and by making one 

 cut on each side of the head, through the small bone connecting the 

 base of the lower jaw with the skull, another through the roof of the 

 mouth at the base of the upper mandible, and between the jaws of the 

 lower, and a fourth through the skull behind the orbits, and parallel 

 to the roof of the mouth, you will have freed the skull from all the 

 accompanying brain and muscle. Should anything still adhere, it 

 may be removed separately. In making the first two cuts care must 

 be taken not to injure or h-evev the zygoma, a small bone extending 

 from the base of the upper mandible to the base of the lower jaw-bone. 

 Clean off every particle of muscle and fat from the head and neck, 

 and, applying the preservative abundantly to the skull, inside and 

 out, as well as to the skin, restore these parts to their natural posi- 

 tion. In all the preceding oj)erations the skin should be handled as 

 near the point of adhesion as possible, especial care being taken not 

 to stretch it. 



Finely powdered plaster of Paris, chalk, or whiting, may be used 

 to great advantage by sprinkling on the exposed surface of the car- 

 cass and inside of skin to absorb the grease and blood. 



The next operation is to connect the two wings inside of the skin 

 by means of a string, which should be passed between the lower ends 

 of the two bones forming the forearm, previously, however, cutting 

 off the stump of the arm, if still adhering at the elbow. Tie the two 

 ends of the strings so that the wings shall be kept at the same dis- 

 tance apart as when attached to the body. Skin the leg down to the 

 scaly part, or tarsus, and remove all the muscle. Apply the arsenic 

 to the bone and skin, and, wrapping cotton round the bone, pull it 

 back to its place. Remove all the muscle and fat which may adhere 

 to the base of the tail or the skin, and i)ut on plenty of the preserva- 

 tive wherever this can be done. Lilt up the wing, and remove the 

 mu?cle from the forearm by making an incision along it, or in many 

 cases the two joints may be exposed by carefully slipping down tiie 

 skin towards the wrist-joint, the adhesion of the quills to the bone 

 being loosened. 



