746 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



muscles of the shoulder, being without any direct bone con- 

 nection with the trunk skeleton, and partly to the fact that 

 an animal lying on its side has the weight of the body re- 

 lieved from the forelegs which are then capable of being 

 stretched out to varying lengths to accommodate the meas- 

 urer's ideas of correct position. The measurement when 

 taken should be the distance between uprights from the 

 worn surface of the hoof or sole of the foot in carnivorous 

 mammals, to the top of the withers with the foreleg held 

 straightened but not stretched. If the specimens are in- 

 tended for mounting, innumerable measurements of value 

 may be taken of the circumference and thickness of the 

 body and limbs at various points. The skeleton is, how- 

 ever, of more value to the taxidermist than any number 

 of careful measurements and should be preserved if facilities 

 are available. If it is not possible to preserve the whole 

 skeleton, the limb bones and pelvis should be collected, for 

 they alone are of great assistance to the taxidermist in mod- 

 eling the manikin. The sportsman should at least, in all 

 cases, preserve the complete skull, for it serves a double pur- 

 pose. After it has served as a model for the manikin of the 

 taxidermist, it is of permanent value to the zoologist for 

 study, and is often absolutely necessary for the determina- 

 tion of the species. Photographs should also be taken of 

 the specimen in the flesh as an aid to the taxidermist. 



At the present time skulls of several of the large African 

 mammals are much needed for the determination of the 

 racial characters of the described subspecies. This is par- 

 ticularly true of elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and 

 giraffe. Of all skulls that of the elephant is the rarest in 

 collections and the most valuable. What is particularly 



