50 



THE SPORTSMAN'S VADE-MECUM 



The horns will get loose when dry, but may require separating 

 from the core at the base ; kerosine oil is the best thing to preserve 

 them from ravages by weevils, &c., but it blackens them too much 

 to be natural, and I prefer pouring in turpentine, or corrosive 

 sublimate dissolved in rain water. 



Clean the skull carefully, scraping off all flesh, and remove and 

 clean the lower jaw ; clear out the brain by the hole where the 

 spinal cord entered ; dry in the shade with some ashes sprinkled 

 over, and when dry replace the lower jaw and horns, tie all well 

 together in their places, attach a numbered label and a similar one 

 to the skin belonging to them ; you will be able to have them 

 mounted correctly by this means of identification, otherwise you 

 may be horrified to find a ihar head-skin on an ibex skull when 

 you visit the ancestral mansion where your trophies have accumu- 

 lated after passing through some stuffer's hand, to whom the 

 identity of the animals was unknown ! 



To skin an animal properly is not quite such a simple process as 



is generally thought ; you must attend to it, no matter whether 

 you intend to have it stuffed or simply tanned, for most natives 



