HINTS ON THE PREPARATION OF SKELETONS 



OF VERTEBRATES. 



i;y J. A. i;ulli;kook. 



For the serious study of Comparative Anatom}' 

 there is nothing better than the preparation of 

 typical skeletons of the classes and orders of Verte- 

 brates. It is axiomatic that Morphology cannot lie 

 learned from te.xt-books alone. 



Moreover, though museum preparations are useful 

 complements to practical study, they cannot super- 

 sede it. Much can, and must, be learned from the 

 museum, because the material cannot be observed 

 elsewhere ; but such study is onl\' superstructure, the 

 foundation must be laid in the laborator\' or home. 



The fascination of preparing and mounting 

 skeletons of various animals, for study or exhibition, 

 does not seem to be appreciated h\ either the 

 student or the amateur naturalist. 



Yet, of all practical methods of obtaining correct 

 and precise information concerning animal structures, 

 this is certainly the best and probabh' the most 

 interesting — that is if it is carried out intelligently. 



It is possible to prepare a skeleton and yet have 

 learned very little, or nothing at all. about the real 

 nature of the animal or its anatom\-. 



The work should be done systematicalh' and in 

 definite order, and never without the aid of gotid 

 diagrams, or, failing these, a lucid and exact descrip- 

 tion. To be of any value, the skeleton must be 

 prepared for use and constant examination, not 

 merely as a specimen of neat and clever handicraft. 



Although this article is intended primarily f(_)r 

 students, I hope to make it appeal also to the 

 amateur naturalist, who has, jierhaps, hut little time 

 and limited means to bestow upon his hobbies. 



Now, just in these two particulars, this work is 

 valuable. It is true that the preparation of a 

 skeleton takes a great deal of time ; but on the other 

 hand, the work ma\- be done at odd moments. In 

 point of fact one is almost sure to spoil a specimen 

 by working at it too long at a time : the work 

 requires patience and plenty of it, and will not be 

 hurried. A long sitting, therefore, is not onl\- 

 unnecessary but really disadvantageous. As to 

 expense, all the necessarv instruments and reagents 

 may be purchased for a few shillings, and the 

 material, with few exceptions, may be collected by 

 the enterprising worker at the cost of a little energy 

 and toil. Indeed, this is one of the charms of the 

 work, that it entails a stud\- of natural histor\' in 



almost exer)' aspect. It is far better to go into the 

 countr_\- and gather the material hrst liand, so 

 learning something of the habits and the haunts of 

 animals, than to reh" on the li\e-stock dealer. 

 For the convenience of the reader, I have appended 

 to this article a list of the necessary apparatus and 

 reagents, with their apjiroximate cost, and a list of 

 animals which are easiK" obtained and are of most 

 value for dissection. 



Before, however, one can hope to make a satis- 

 factory preparation, one must spoil some material 

 and make several practice attempts, both at preparing 

 and mounting. For these practice attempts, many 

 advocate using frogs. I, m\'self, prefer the toad. 

 It is almost as easy to obtain and it has the advantage 

 that the bones are larger. I have illustrated this 

 article with the photographs of some skeletons, 

 including that of the toad ( Biifo vulgaris!. I will 

 describe first the preparation and mounting of the 

 latter skeleton, and this will apply to all vertebrate 

 animals (except fishes) up to the size of a mole or rat. 

 Larger animals should be mounted articulate or, better 

 still, put into boxes partitioned for the different skeletal 

 regions. Thev can be mounted on black boards l)y 

 using wire, but there is no advantage, and the 

 specimen then takes up a great deal of space. As 

 to the preparation of fishes' skeletons, the\' are 

 imsuitable to any but the advanced student, and will 

 not be described in this paper. 



Now, there are two things, one or both ot \\hich 

 the beginner is always tempted to do ; either to 

 burv or to boil the animal, hoping to pick out the 

 bones clean and just ready to dry and mount. I 

 never knew of a realh' good specimen being procured 

 by either of these methods. Moreover, by doing 

 either, nothing whatever is learned of the soft parts, 

 and all the meaning of the marks on the bones and 

 their var\-ing shapes is lost. 



The allium! should always be dissected first and 

 then uiaeerated. 



A good description and diagrams are essential. 

 There are in most places libraries which contain 

 some books on Comparative Anatomy. It is not 

 absolutely necessary to have a picture or description 

 of the animal or its skeleton as a whole, though it 

 saves trouble, and few text books have such des- 

 criptions of man\- animals. It is best, therefore, to 



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