26 



All the flesh, should, of course, be carefully removed, not 

 only from the skin but from the base of the fins and tail and 

 from the skull. All these parts should be well anointed with 

 arsenical soap, or whatever preservative is used instead of ic. 

 The skin may then be very slightly stuffed with light material, 

 lightly stitched up, and when thoroughly dry, wrapped in 

 paper before being packed away, in order to prevent damage 

 to the fins and scales, which are very easily injured. 



A less troublesome process than that of skinning the entire 

 fish is sometimes followed, namely, that of skinping very 

 little more than one side of the fish. Make an incision from 

 the top of the head along the back, keeping slightly on, say, 

 the right side of the dorsal fin, down to the ta/1 ; continue 

 this incision from the tail, along the belly, up to t^ie gills. Cut 

 away this smaller half of the skin and remove the flesh from 

 the other ; and if the head be large, cut away a portion of the 

 thickness of this also, but leave the mouth intact. Dress the 

 larger half of the skin with preservative, pin it on a soft 

 board, with all the fins, as well as the tail, fully displayed, 

 and give proper convexity to the skin by lightly inserting 

 cotton or other soft material between it and the board. When 

 dry, the pins may be taken out and the board and cotton 

 removed. When viewed from the side, the absence of the 

 other half is not noticeable, while all that is really serviceable 

 is preserved. 



Fish are very subject to parasites. These should be care- 

 fully sought for on the eyes, lips and gills, as well as in the 

 liver, intestines and stomach, in which also many other crea- 

 tures, preyed upon by the fish> as smaller animals of its own 

 class, Crustacea, mollusca, &c., may be found. All these 

 should be preserved in spirit and carefully labelled with the 

 name of the fish from which they were taken. 



As the colours of fish are always fleeting, and often ex- 

 tremely beautiful, notes should be taken while the specimens 



