EQUIPMENT, ARMS, AND SPECIMENS 745 



rare, however, to find a sportsman who devotes the proper 

 attention and time to this feature of his expedition. Few 

 indeed have the cardinal principles of skin preservation in 

 mind, however good their intentions may be toward the col- 

 lecting of the skins of the animals killed. The great ma- 

 jority of sportsmen leave the work to ignorant and indolent 

 native assistants, whose work is only of value when under 

 the constant supervision of a responsible person. 



Specimens destined for scientific use in collections or 

 museums should be carefully measured in the flesh. The 

 four measurements universally required are: (i) the total 

 length from the tip of the snout to the terminal end of the 

 tail vertebrae, taken along the contour of the dorsal profile 

 with the head stretched out in line with the body [sometimes 

 this measurement is taken in a straight line between up- 

 rights; Colonel Roosevelt took many in this fashion]; (2) 

 length of tail vertebrae, taken by holding the tail at right 

 angles to the body and measuring from the base of the angle 

 to the terminal tip of the flesh, but not including the hair; 

 (3) length of the hind foot, taken from the tip of the hoof or 

 longest claw to the back of the heel or hock; (4) length of 

 ear, taken from the inner notch as near the auditory meatus 

 as possible to the extreme tip. The height is often taken, 

 as it is a favorite measurement of sportsmen. Little reliance 

 can be placed on its accuracy, however, on account of the 

 very diverse conditions under which it is necessarily taken. 

 In the live, standing animal the measurement of the height 

 at the withers is of value when it can be obtained. The 

 same measurement taken in dead animals is not, however, 

 strictly comparable with this, owing partly to the fact that 

 the shoulder-blade in the hoofed mammals is set free in the 



