HINTS ON TAXIDERMY, ETC 417 



antler, and be careful not to cut the coat unnecessarily during 

 the operation. Next turn the head over and begin at the other 

 end, severing the inner side of the lips from the gums as high 

 up as you can reach, and skinning the muzzle as far back as 

 you can. Then peel off the whole mask from the antlers down- 

 wards to the muzzle, being specially careful not to slit the skin, 

 either at the eyes or at the nostrils, which are the tenderest 

 portions of it. Be careful to preserve a sufficiently long neck, 

 and do not let your Indian or Tartar cut the beast's throat (as 

 he will do if you do not watch him), as nothing looks worse than 

 a taxidermist's stitches showing under the throat of a trophy. 



If you have followed these directions, you will have pre- 

 served so far the entire lips of the animal. Now take your 

 knife and slit the lips, separating the inner from the outer skin, 

 and dress the cut so made thoroughly well with powdered alum. 

 Having removed the skin from the skull, you may clean this 

 part of the trophy, either by boiling it if you have a pot with 

 you large enough for that operation, or if not, after whittling 

 out the eyes, brains, and any flesh you can readily detach, you 

 may hang it up in a tree out of reach of coyotes to dry, until fit 

 for packing. Before putting your skins and skulls apart to dry, 

 mark them carefully with corresponding numbers, to prevent 

 mistakes later on. 



Should you wish, however, to skin a beast whole for 

 mounting in some museum or elsewhere, you must proceed 

 as directed by my friend, Mr. John Fannin, curator of the 

 Museum of British Columbia, whose directions I have slightly 

 altered to suit my purpose, and inserted below. 



Turn the beast on to his back and make cut i, from the 

 point of the breastbone along the centre of the belly to the 

 root of the tail, taking care only to cut through the skin, and 

 not into the intestines. A few pieces of fine brush, laid on the 

 inside of the skin as you peel it off, serve to protect the skin 

 from any blood which may escape from the bullet wounds or 

 elsewhere during the operation of skinning. 



Next, make a cut from the hoof of each foreleg to the upper 



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