Dec. 28, 1876] 



NATURE 



185 



The perfection of a skeleton, an object always to be aimed at, 

 will greatly depend upon the attention paid to all the small 

 precautions just named, and others which will suggest them- 

 selves xw the course of the process. 



In skeletons, as ordinarily articulated, the principal object 

 seems to be to preserve the general appearance of the framework 

 of the animal and to make the whole firm and strong, at the 

 same time showing as little as possible of the supports neces- 

 sary to hold it together. Every bone, even to the skull and 

 lower jaw, is immovably fixed, and strong wires, or irons, ac- 

 cording to its size, are made to traverse the interior of the limb 

 bones, fixed into the stand below, and connected with the main 

 support, which runs along the centre of the bodies of the 

 vertebrDC from head to tail. 



Such skeletons are little better for the detailed study of 

 osteology than are natural skeletons, and they are inferior, inas- 

 much as there is no guarantee against errors on the part of the 

 articulator, unless he be of known knowledge and experience. 



The improvements in articulating skeletons that I am about to 

 bring before your notice were commenced about twelve years 

 ago, and are mainly due to the ingenuity and skill of the veteran 

 articulator to the Museum of the Royal College 01 Surgeons, my 

 namesake, Mr. James Flower, who has successfully put into 

 practice various ideas and suggestions W'hich have occurred to 

 me during the time of ray conservatorship. 



The object aimed at is to mount a skeleton which will give a 

 perfect idea of the form and proportions of the animal and show 

 the bones in their relative position, and at the same time allow 

 every part of each bone to be separately examined. Any portion 

 which is required for examination must be made capable of being 

 removed without disturbing the rest of the skeleton. The skull, 

 the lower jaw, the different vertebra;, the pelvis, the limb bones 

 must be all separable. 



Such a skeleton of course cannot be supported on its own 

 limbs, like one of the old kind, as the bones of all the extremi- 

 ties may be removed one by one if necessary, leaving the trunk 

 in situ. It will also be somewhat less firm and stable, and must 

 be treated with care, as in fact a delicate and somewhat compli- 

 cated instrument would be. 



The details by which this principle is carried out vary greatly, 

 and must be adapted to every different animal, and may probably 

 be yet still further modified and improved. The illustration sent 

 to the Exhibition is a very fair example. It is a skeleton of a 

 scaly anteater or pangolin (No. 3,812). The two principal 

 mechanical arrangements adopted are simple enough. 



They are, first, the use of brass tubes, into which wires of cor- 

 responding size are made to slide. This is the best method of con- 

 necting two parts, which have to be separated at pleasure. When 

 necessary the tubes and wires may be flattened to prevent them 

 turning. The principal supports are made of tubes fixed into 

 the wooden stand below, and into the upper end of which a short 

 wire fixed in the bone to be supported slides. These tubes can 

 readily be riveted to each other so as to make a branched support 

 when required. 



The second mechanical contrivance consists in the use of 

 twisted or plaited wires as a means of movable connection 

 between bones which need not be completely separated, but only 

 bent upon each other as by a hinge. For instance, the principal 

 bones of the limbs are connected by a strand of wires, twisted 

 together like a rope, passing on one side of the joint. Each end 

 is inserted in a hole drilled in the bone, and fixed by means of 

 small wedges of wood or metal. These joints are so stiff as to 

 remain in any position in which they are placed, and yet are 

 perfectly flexible and durable. The vertebrte are connected, by 

 being fixed by wires, on to a plaited band, passed along the 

 inferior surface of their bodies, where nothing of importance is 

 concealed by it. Since this skeleton was mounted it has, how- 

 ever, been found better in many cases to run the plaited wire 

 through the canal, so that it is perfectly out of sight. Though 

 neatness in the mountings of a skeleton is certainly a desideratum, 

 it is better to have any number of external supports to the bones, 

 than either to fix immovably or to mutilate them, as was often 

 done in the old -plan, in order to allow of the introduction of the 

 concealed supports. 



The ribs, sternum, and sternal ribs are usually mounted in 

 one solid piece, separable from the vertebral column, so that the 

 articular ends of all the ribs can be easily examined. In some 

 cases it is found better to string the vertebra; upon a stiff rod, 

 or several pieces of rods, connected by sliding joints, from which 

 they can be removed in succession. In fact, as before said, the 

 modifications of these processes are numerous, but they can best 



be appreciated by examining a few mounted specimens, and may 

 be further developed by the suggestions of experience. 



In addition to the complete mounted skeleton, museums will 

 be expected to have separated portions of the bony structures 

 exhibited in a manner that the student can study them. The 

 skull especially must be treated in this way. For many years 

 skulls of various animals have been prepared at Paris " i la 

 Beauchcne" and there are some good examples in the Exhibition 

 contributed by Tramond, ncluding an entire human skeleton 

 (No. 3,913, also 3,915 and 3,918, skulls of man and turtle).^ 



All the bones are separated and fixed by brass bands and 

 wires, at short intervals from each other, so as to allow of their 

 complete form being examined. 



The sliding joints formed of brass tubing will be found a great 

 improvement in such specimens, as it allows the complete removal 

 of any portion required for more particular examination. An 

 example will be seen in the skull of a sheep (No. 3,819), con- 

 tributed by Mr. E. T. Newton, of the Museum of Practical 

 Geology. 



A single bone is best mounted by driving a sharpened wire 

 into its lower surface, which wire slides into a tube of corre- 

 sponding diameter fixed in the wooden stand ; in this way all the 

 series of separate bones in the Museum of the College of Sur- 

 geons are mounted. The stands are made of turned wood, 

 circular, polished, and black. All the brass work in them and the 

 mounted skeletons is coated with a layer of black japan varnish. 



I must not omit to mention a method of mounting skeletons 

 devised and recommended by l^rof. Huxley, the details of which 

 have been developed by Mr. Newton from processes initiated at 

 the College of Surgeons. There is an example in the Exhibition 

 in the skeleton of a dog, No. 3904<t. Each of the bones of the 

 skeleton is mounted separately with wire and tubing, as in the 

 single bone just spoken of, but they are arranged on a single flat 

 board in definite order, the vertebra; in succession along the 

 middle, and the limbs on each side, each bone being near its 

 actual position of the body. Skeletons so prepared can be 

 arranged one above the other in a cabinet, each board running 

 on ledges in the sides of the cabinet like drawers. They are very 

 convenient for study and demonstration, especially for advanced 

 students ; but they are not so suitable for public museums or for 

 elementary teaching, as they convey no idea of the general 

 appearance, form, and proportions of the animal from which 

 they are prepared. 



Certain portions of the skeleton, especially of the lower verte- 

 brates, are never ossified, but remain permanently in a cartila- 

 ginous condition, and when dried, shrivel and contract into small 

 shapeless masses. But it would be often desirable, in a dry skele- 

 ton, to keep them if possible, if only to preserve the positions 

 and relations of the surrounding bones. For instance, the axial 

 portions of the skeleton of many fishes' heads aie entirely carti- 

 laginous, and so are the carpal bones of the crocodile. Such parts 

 ought to be modelled either in soft wood or in the composition 

 of whiting, resin, and linseed oil used by the picture-frame- 

 makers, which is soft and plastic when recently made, but sets 

 to an almost stony hardness. Specimens of the application of 

 such modelling may be seen in the Museum of the College of 

 Surgeons. 



Besides the skin, and the skeleton, many other parts of the 

 body are frequently preserved in a dry state in museums. When 

 bottles and spirits were very dear this method was much more 

 attended to than at present, and it was extensively used for in- 

 jected preparations, showing the course of the blood-vessels, and 

 even dissections of muscles and nerves, as well as for the hollow 

 viscera, such as the stomach, ca;cum, &c., which were inflated, 

 dried, and then varnished. There are many objections to such 

 preparations. All soft and fleshy parts, when dried, contract so 

 much as to give little idea of their appearance in the recent state, 

 and in doing so disturb the relations of the parts in contact with 

 them. Inflated organs, which look very well for a time, are apt 

 to collapse, and they are all liable to decay and to perish from 

 the attacks of insects. To guard against this it is absolutely 

 necessary that the preparations should be thoroughly soaked in 

 alcoholic solution of corrosive sublimate, or some other such 

 poison, before the drying process commences. In Italy, especially 

 in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at Pisa, I have seen 

 beautiful and very instructive specimens of viscera preserved in a 



' I should also call attention to a beautiful human skeleton by thj same 

 exhibitor, for the purpose of practising dislocation (No. 3,914), in which 

 the principal bones are connect<-d by coiled spring wire. This method has 

 long been used on a partial scale, as for attaching the lower jaw to th« 

 skull, but is not so convenient a.'i the one described above, a> the elasticity 

 t of the spring is always an impedimeut to the free examination of the boaes. 



