544 THE RABBIT CHAP. 



physis ; then dissect away the skin from the underlying 

 muscles over the whole ventral surface, being careful not to 

 injure any of the larger blood-vessels (e.g.', the jugular veins 

 in the neck). Note : 



1. The thin cutaneous muscle, part of which you have very 

 likely removed together with the skin ; and in the adult 

 female, the mammary glands (p. 506) trace the main ducts 

 of some of these to their apertures on the teats. 



2. In the neck : a, the trachea and larynx (p. 506), to see 

 which and the following structures clearly the cervical 

 portion of the cutaneous muscle should be dissected away 

 and the underlying parts carefully separated with a seeker ; 

 b, the hyoid bone, situated in a mass of muscle just anterior 

 to the larynx ; c, the submaxillary glands (p. 512) ; and d, 

 the large external jugular veins (p. 525). 



3. In the thorax: a, the sternum and xiphisternum ; 

 b, the small clavicles (p. 501) ; c, the pectoral muscles ; d, the 

 vertebral and sternal portions of the ribs and the external 

 intercostal muscles ; and e, the blood-vessels and nerves 

 going to the fore-limbs. 



4. In the abdomen : a, the muscles of the abdominal 

 wall, separated in the middle ventral line by a whitish 

 fibrous band ; b, Poupart's ligament (p. 506) ; c, the blood- 

 vessels and nerves passing beneath Poupart's ligament to 

 the hind -limbs. 



II. On the same day on which the animal is killed, remove 

 .the skin from the dorsal surface of the head and anterior part 

 of the neck, and also the muscles covering the anterior 

 cervical vertebrae. A membrane between the skull and first 

 vertebra will then be exposed : cut through this, and part of 

 the spinal cord will be seen. With the bone-forceps cut 

 away the arches of the first three or four vertebrae (noting 

 the roots of the spinal nerves) and the roof of the skull 

 taking particular care in the auditory region so as to 

 expose the brain : note the olfactory lobes, cerebral hemi- 

 spheres, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata, and also the 

 diira mater and pia mater. Then cut through the spinal 

 cord about a quarter of an inch beyond its junction with 

 the brain, lever up the latter with the handle of a scalpel, 

 and carefully cut through all the nerves arising from it and 

 separate it from the cranial walls, working from behind 

 forwards. Dissect away the olfactory lobes from their 

 attachments, remove the entire brain, and place it in 3 per 

 cent, formaline or in strong spirit. 



The animal may be preserved from day to day by wrap- 



