HINTS FOR PREPARING 



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LIGAMENTAL SKELETONS OF THE VERTEBRATES. 



First remove all the muscle that can be conveniently taken off 

 with knife and scissors, but leave the ligaments around the joints. 

 The specimen should next be macerated (soaked) in soft water, with 

 the addition of a little soda or potash, changing the water daily for a 

 week, and then leaving it till the remaining muscle can be scraped 

 off with the finger-nail or a tooth-brush, and the rotted brain be rinsed 

 out with water. At this stage, while the skeleton is held beneath the 

 surface of clean water, all fibres may be snipped off with scissors 

 without injuring the ligaments, and the bones thoroughly cleaned 

 without scraping them with any hard instrument. Next run a wire 

 down the spinal cavity and bend the backbone into any desired posi- 

 tion. Finally, hang up the skeleton by threads till dry. 



Any animal larger than a fox should be cleaned, in the manner 

 already described, of everything, even to the ligaments, and the bones 

 wired together. Small skeletons of the size of a rat can be made 

 ready for maceration and then put into a perforated box and placed 

 in an ant-hill. These insects will quickly remove all the flesh, and the 

 skeleton should be taken away as soon as they begin to attack the 

 ligaments. Following these general directions, a little experience and 

 $, great deal of patience and perseverance will ensure success. 



