OF NATUKAL SKELETONS. 95 



which is done by scraping off the flesh, ligaments, and perios- 

 teum. When this is effected, the bones should be again laid 

 in clean water for a few days and well washed ; they ought 

 then to be placed in lime water, or a solution of pearl ash,* 

 for a week, when they may be taken out to dry, after having 

 soaked them five or six hours in pure water, to remove the so- 

 lution of pearl-ash, which would act upon their surface when 

 exposed to the atmosphere. 



In drying bones they should not be exposed to the rays of 

 the sun, or to a fire, as too great a degree of heat brings the 

 remaining medullary oil into the compact substance of the 

 bones, and gives them a disagreeable oily transparency. This 

 is the great objection to the process of boiling bones, for the 

 purpose of making skeletons, as the heat applied in that way 

 has the same effect, unless they are boiled in a solution of 

 pearl-ash, which some are of opinion is one of the most effec- 

 tual methods of whitening them by its effectually destroying 

 the oil. But there can be but little doubt that bleaching is, of 

 all methods, the most effectual where it can be done to its 

 greatest advantage, namely, in a pure air, and more especially 

 on a sea shore. 



It is much more difficult to clean the bones of animals that 

 have died in good condition than those that are lean and re- 

 duced by disease. 



OF NATURAL SKELETONS. 



Natural skeletons are made without separating the bones 

 from each other, in which case all the animal ligaments 

 are allowed to remain entire. This plan is generally adopted, 

 with young and small animals, because the ligaments when 

 dry, being divested of their natural flexibility, occasion an in- 

 convenience, as the different extents and varieties of motion 

 cannot be shown in the different articulations. 



In making these, we are first to remove from the bones the 

 skin, muscles, tendons, and viscera, and, in short, every thing 

 except the connecting ligaments and cartilages, which ought to 

 be carefully preserved. This is done without any regular or- 



*See Receipts. 



