40 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING 



of the same individual. To prepare the skin, it must he cut through 

 along the middle of the under side from the chin to the end of the 

 tail. Care must be taken not to damage the skull, so that this 

 part at least may be saved, in case the ^kin should happen to be 

 spoiled. The inside of the skin should be brushed over several times 

 with a strong solution of alum, to which a few grains of corrosive 

 sublimate have been added. 



It is rather strange that perfect skeletons of large Crocodiles and 

 Alligators are somewhat uncommon in collections. The Gavials of 

 India and of the larger islands of the Eastern Archipelago (Sumatra 

 or Borneo, for example), and also the narrow-snouted Crocodiles of 

 Xorth Australia, are particularly valuable to palaeontologists and 

 zoologists. The collector should endeavour to procure skulls and 

 skeletons of these reptiles of different ages. In preparing such a 

 specimen for a skeleton, the bulk of the flesh is cut ofif the bones, and 

 the bones themselves are left in their natural connection. The body 

 is then divided into several portions of a convenient size for packing. 

 These reptiles possess "abdominal ribs," which are unconnected with 

 the rest of the skeleton and inserted in the muscles of the abdomen. 

 In oi'der to preserve them in their entirety, the skin of the abdomen, 

 with the muscular layer attached to it, is cut away in toto and dried, 

 to be macerated at home. 



In the case of the South American Alligators the collector should 

 endeavour to preserve the external dorsal and central plates of each 

 specimen in their natural connection, as the correct determination of 

 the species cannot be otherwise secured. 



3. Snakes of a greater length than 10 feet cannot be preserved in 

 spirit ; and Pythons and Boas, which have a comparatively large 

 girth, are unsuitable for this mode of preservation if they approach 

 the size mentioned. They must therefore be skinned, but not in the 

 manner frequently adopted, by making a short cut behind the head 

 and then skinning the animfal like an eel, as thus the scales are too 

 much injured. The animal should be split open along the whole 

 median line of the belly and tail with a pair of strong scissors, and 

 the skin be removed with a knife from the line of the cut towards 

 the back. A gkin thus prepared does not occupy much space, and, 



