PRESERVATION OK SKINS. 115 



the head. But in all animals that have horns, like deer, 

 antelope, elk, moose and many others, you must follow the 

 dotted lines in Fig. 3. 



PRESERVATION OF SKINS. 



The best method to preserve a skin after it has been 

 taken from an animal, is as follows: For every gallon of 

 water take one pound and a half of salt and one pound of 

 alum, boil until the salt and alum have dissolved. Put it in 

 an earthen or wooden vessel, and when cool, the skin can 

 be placed in it. This is commonly called by taxidermists 

 "pickle." The liquid should cover the skin and it should 

 be moved and worked about for a while so that the solution 

 can penetrate every part of the skin. Large skins should 

 be moved about in the solution every day for at least five 

 days. Let me impress sportsmen with the fact that the 

 preservation of the skins of animals is of the highest im- 

 portance. 



The animal, when killed, should be skinned at once, 

 and the skin put into "pickle" immediately. In a warm 

 climate you can not be too cautious about this important fact. 



