REPTILES, BATRACHIANS, AND FISHES. 45 



can be rolled up, they can he packed in spirit, which saves the 

 traveller the trouble of cleaning the head. 



Skehtoyis of large bony fishes are quite as valuable as the skins. 

 In order to prepare a skeleton, it is only necessary to remove the 

 soft parts of the body-cavity and the larger mas-es of muscle, leaving 

 the bones in their natural continuity. The rest of the flesh is left to 

 dry on the bones, as it can be removed afterwards by maceration at 

 home. As the bones which support the ventral fins are not attached 

 to the skeleton, but lie between the muscles, care must be taken that 

 they are not lost or damaged. All the fins are preserved as in the 

 preparation of a skin ; and, in the cases of scaly fishes, so much of 

 the skin should be preserved as is required to identify the species, as 

 without this it is generally impossible to do more than determine the 

 genus. For morphological investigations a skeleton which is thus 

 simply dried is not sufiicient. For this purpose the skeleton, or at 

 least the head, must be preserved in strong spirit after removal of 

 the large masses of muscle. 



Some Sharks attain a length of 30 feet, and some Rays a width 

 of 20 feet ; and, according to very reliable reports, they may even 

 exceed these limits. It is extremely desirable to obtain such 

 gigantic specimens for museums. Sharks are skinned in nearly the 

 same manner as bony fishes. In Kays it is not sufficient to make 

 only one longitudinal incision from the tip of the snout to the end 

 of the fleshy part of the tail, but a second transverse cut has to be 

 made across the bi'oadest part of the lower surface of the body. 

 Besides this, other incisions which are necessary for removing the 

 soft parts can be made on the under surface of the fish, and 

 the collector need not be over-particular in this respect. After the 

 removal of the soft parts, the skin is put into a barrel filled with 

 concentrated brine, to which some alum has been added. The head, 

 to which still many soft parts are attached, should be kept at the 

 upper end of the barrel, so that it can be kept constantly under 

 observation. When the liquid is perceptibly diluted by the extrac- 

 tion of water and blood, it must be renewed m toto. Finally, the 

 skin is removed from the barrel, spread out, and the fluid allowed to 

 drain off ; its whole inner surface is covered with a thin layer of dry 

 salt ; it is rolled up (this time with the head inside), and packed 



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