ApPENDIx D. 533 
and feet, so that every portion of the skin is powerfully impregnated. Allow 
the skin to lie in this condition for an hour or so, then place it on a line 
or branch to dry. The operation should be carried on in the shade, if 
possible. 
If the specimen is not for stuffing it may be pegged out to dry on the 
ground, but in no one instance should a skin be unduly strained out of shape, 
which is often done in order to make it appear larger than it really is, a 
mistake which is very common. 
When this operation is completed, and the skin dry, it is ready for packing, 
and should be folded, with the fur or hair inside, and placed in a sound box 
or case well protected against the visits of ants, beetles, or moth. ? 
Where it is intended that the animal should be ultimately stuffed whole, it 
is necessary to preserve the leg bones. These should be separated from the 
trunk at the os humeri or shoulder-joint, and at the os femoris or thigh bones ; 
these bones cleanse from flesh. 
‘The skull in every instance should be preserved : remove the flesh and brain ; 
to do this place the skull in boiling water for five or ten minutes—in the case 
of small skulls for five minutes only, care being taken that the teeth are not 
lost. In packing skulls each one should be tied up in paper, marked with a 
corresponding number to the skin to which it belongs, and packed firmly, to 
prevent rolling about, the result of which is often broken teeth and dis- 
appointment. 
Another excellent method for the preservation of skins of mammalia, 
where convenience will permit, and which can be followed with confidence, is 
as follows: After the skin has been treated according to the directions given 
viz. thoroughly scraped and cleansed of all adherent particles of flesh, &c. 
—place it entirely in a tub or cask in which a solution or pickle has been 
previously prepared, as follows: to every gallon of cold water add 1 Ib. 
powdered alum, 3-o0z. saltpetre, 2 oz. common salt ; well mix. Allow the skin 
to remain about a couple of days, after which hang it up to dry and for 
packing. 
