44 INSTRUCTIONS VOR COLLECTiNO 



The traveller is iirafentlv recommended to collect the largest 

 specimens of a species which he can procure. If they are too large 

 for preservation in spirit, they must be prepared as skins. Scaly 

 fishes are skinned thus : — With a strong pair of scissors an incision is 

 made along the median line of the abdomen from the foremost part 

 of the throat, passing on one side of the base of the ventral and anal 

 fins, to the root of the caudal fin, the cut being continued upwards 

 to the back of the tail close to the base of the caudal. The skin of 

 one side of the fish is then severed with a scalpel from the under- 

 lying muscles to the median line of the back ; the bones which 

 support the dorsal and caudal fins are cut through, so that these 

 parts remain attached to the skin. The removal of the skin of the 

 opposite side is easy enough. More difficult is the preparation of the 

 head and scapulary region ; the two halves of the scapular arch, 

 which have been severed from each other by the first incision, are 

 pressed towards the right and left, and the spine is severed behind 

 the head, so that now only the head and shoulder-bones remain 

 attached to the skin. These parts have to be cleaned from the inside, 

 all soft parts, the branchial and hyoid apparatus, and all smaller 

 bo«es being cut away with the scissors or scraped off with the knife. 

 In many fishes which are provided with a characteristic dental 

 apparatus in the pharynx (Labroids, Cyprinoids), the pharyngeal 

 bones ought to be preserved and tied with a thread to the specimen. 

 The skin being now prepared so far, its entire inner surface, as well 

 as the inner side of the head, is rubbed with arsenical soap ; cotton- 

 wool or some other soft material is inserted into any cavities or 

 hollows ; and, finally, a thin layer of the same material is placed 

 between the two flaps of the skin. The specimen is then dried under 

 a slight weight to keep it from shrinking. 



The scales of some fishes — as, for instance, of many kinds of 

 Herrings — are so delicate and deciduous that the mere handling 

 causes them to rub off easily. Such fishes may be covered with thin 

 paper (tissue-paper is the best), which is allowed to dry on them 

 before skinning. There is no need for removing the paper before 

 the specimen has reached its destination. 



Large scaleless bony fishes, such as the Siluroids and also the 

 Sturgeons, are skinned in the same way ; but as their scaleless skin 



