INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING MAMMAL SKINS. 243 



of the back outward?, so tliat iiecad aiul buttocks come together. Monkeys 

 should always be wired, and so cannot be folded up, but tlie larger 

 civets, jackals, barking-deer, serows, etc., make very satisfactory speci- 

 mens treated in this manner. 



In animals largt^r than a common sipiirrel, a filling of wood-wool or 

 ciiir is pivfr-rable to cotton and it will not he possible to insert more 

 than the ln^ad and neck in one piece. Do not make the latter too long ; 

 if it has stretched longitudinally in skinning it can be shortened to some 

 extent by stretching it laterally afterwards. 



The wrists and ankles of moidceys are so slender that it is very 

 difficult to get at the extremities from inside the limb-skin. Palms 

 and sole-!, therefore, should be slit open from the base of the 

 digits, and the cuts continued for two or three inches along the 

 inner side of the wrists and round the heels up the back of the 

 ankles. Clean the extremities of Hesh and fat, open up the skin as 

 much as possible and force a i)ointed wire, etc., up the fingers to give 

 the preservatives, which should be freely applied, an opportunity to 

 penetrate to the tips. 



The collector will have to be guided by circumstances as to 

 whether he leaves the limb-boiies of monkeys in the skin ( leg and 

 thigh, arms and forearm ) or removes them all ; the latter is the less 

 i(le>al, through decidedly the quicker method, in spite of the fact that 

 stuffing material will have to be put into the limbs piece-meal by 

 means of a ram-rod. In either case wires slioidd be used as directed 

 for smaller maunnals. .\fter the specimen is flattened out, the tail 

 should be bent at the root to lie along the under-surface ; if it extends 

 lieyond th^" head it should be recurved at the end ; the bends in the 

 tail-wire should be curves, not sharp angles ; the fore-limbs should be 

 bent at the arm-pits until they press against the belly with the hands 

 touching ; and the legs turned up at the groin until they lie along the 

 sides of the body. 



Specimens thus shaped are not jiinned out. Bind the limbs in 

 position until dry : it is sufficient to close the mouth by tying the lips 

 together with single stitches in two or three places. Flatten the 

 muzzle and don't try to model the face at all. 



Animals like cats, civets and giant-squirrels should also have 

 the tails bent round to lie against the luuler surface of the body : this 

 position does not interfere with i)inning out on trays, and is the safest 

 place for the tails of all mediuui-si/eil animals. 



The jialms and soles of cats, dogs and civets should be opened 

 up by longitudinal cuts for purposes of cleaning, applying preserva- 

 tive and hastening drying. Whenever the cut is a long one the edges 

 shoulil always be brought together with a few coarse stitches. 



In getting out the tails of monkeys, cats, etc., some force will 

 have to be used. Skin as much as jjossiblc round the rump and root 

 first, then grasp the vertebrae liglitly between the Hat sides ot a coujjle 

 of sticks held rather loosely together ; place a foot on the base of tail, 



vol.. II, MiV iyi7. 



