FIELD NATURALISTS* CLUB. 281 



The economic side of natural history is not very interesting 

 and not often nice, but it has its compensating value in the al- 

 leviation of suffering and of bringing to light such subjects as I 

 have attempted to dead with. 



15th March, 1895. 



Note. — At the meeting at which the foregoing paper was read, Mr. E. 

 D. Ewen said that in order to throw more light on the matter, he would 

 mention that the plant Mr. Meaden referred to as " Redeye " was 

 Asclepias curassavica JL., the milky juice of which is used by the people of 

 Tobago to kill jiggers. The Schanocaulon officinale mentioned by 

 Mr. Meaden is the source of the well known insect killing powder called 

 Capuchin powder and the plant is common about Caracas. Crabwood 

 Oil made from the seed of Cvapa guianensis Aubl. is a valuable application 

 to wounds in cattle both to prevent the attack of insects and to kill 

 any larvae which may have established themselves therein. 



DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING SMALL MAMMAL 

 SKINS. 



1. With the freshly killed carcase before you, write the 

 label. This should bear a number, locality altitude above sea, 

 sex, date, and the following measurements in millimetres, taken 

 in the flesh ; (1), length, of head and body; (2), of tail without 

 end hairs; and (3), hind-foot without claws. In the case of the 

 first two measurements, the body should be straightened out as 

 much as possible, and the tail bent upwards at a sharp angle, and 

 the measurements should then be taken from a point in the 

 angle. The label should also have on its back any notes that 

 may strike you about the place where the specimen was caught 



Example of label : — 



FRONT BACK 



24, 2, 04 vSox.) 



(^pnee for scientific name.) 

 Cheadlo 

 20nft. Staffordshire E.BLAf.G. 



H. t B. 81 mm. Trapped in Wood. 



Tl 54 mm. 



nf 22 mm. Very common. 



The positions of the different items should be as far as 

 possible as in the example, so that skins from different sources 

 may all be similarly labelled. 



2. Open the skin by cutting down the belly from the breast- 

 bone to the anus ; first push one and then the other knee through 

 the opening, and cut through the legs at the knee joints ; clear 

 off the chief muscles of the leg-bones and separate away the skin 

 from the body all round the tail ; then holding the skin at the 

 base of the tail firmly between the finger and thumb nails, or in 



