42 CENTRAL AFRICAN GAME AND ITS SPOOR. 



horn, when it may be attacked by insects or break off, and the water very often 

 causes the horn to warp. 



Once off the core they can be cleaned separately and castor oil poured down 

 them, and the rest of the head can then be buried to allow the ants to clean it, but 

 care must be taken that the teeth are not lost. 



A tube of Seccotine will be found useful for sticking in teeth that have dropped 

 out, especially in the case of lion or leopard. Before the horns are replaced the 

 cores may be sawn off, leaving only enough to replace the horns on. 



This, when the horns are packed separately, allows the head to be packed in a 

 smaller compass, gives less opportunity to insects, and enables them to be drawn off 

 and replaced with greater ease. 



Horns, headskins, and skulls should have labels attached with reference numbers 

 to avoid confusion, otherwise on arrival home they might be fixed on the wrong 

 skulls. 



The greatest care must be used to prevent a certain borer from getting into the 

 horns, causing a growth of fungoid appearance, which, when removed, will show them 

 to be riddled with holes, and, when once started, difficult to stop. 



Castor oil is the best thing to use, with the additional advantage, as mentioned 

 before, of it being locally obtainable. 



The horns should be rubbed both inside and out with it about once a month, and 

 those which do not come off the core should be reversed, and the oil poured down 

 between horn and core and emptied out again after having been given an opportunity 

 to soak. 



Turpentine is effectual in keeping out the borer if used frequently, but dries 

 quickly, and is apt to make the horn crack. 



Paraffin also is too volatile, and an application does not last half the time that the 

 castor oil does. 



In packing horns off the core, grass or straw covers of bottles may be shoved 

 down, and, partly projecting, will save the thin ends from getting chipped. 



While on trek and the heads are done up in bundles for porterage, any good or 

 delicate horn may have a wisp of grass tied round it. At the base of a reedbuck's 

 horns there are knobs of a soft half-horn, half-hardened skin, which are particularly 

 subject to the attacks of insects, and should be carefully preserved from being nibbled 

 off by rats, as this may make as much difference as an inch in their length. 



They should not be put in water to soften, and the horns should always be drawn 

 off very carefully, even after the head is dried and cleaned. 



With regard to elephant and hippo tusks particular care should be exercised 



