Guide to Taxidermy 



95 



to the vent. Skin each side of this cut until you dis- 

 close the hind legs. A small animal skins easily, 

 usually with the fingers and with very little cutting. 

 Push the leg up inside the skin and work your fin- 

 gers so as to skin entirely around it; you can then 

 sever it near the hip joint. Grasp each hind leg 

 in turn, and by pulling on it and pushing away the 

 skin you can readily turn the legs inside out down 

 to the ankle joint. Remove all the flesh from these 

 bones, with the scissors and scalpel, but do not dis- 

 joint the bones at the knee. 



Skin around the back of your subject, from both 

 sides until your fingers will meet. Cut across the 

 vent with your scalpel and you will come to the 

 junction of the tail with the body. 



The bony skeleton of the tail is now to be pulled 

 out of its covering, entire. Grasp the body with \^t?^oy^a 

 your right hand about the roots of the tail, and cVdcwMitX. 

 place the points of your scissors, one on either side 

 of the bony skeleton that is visible and then brace 

 the points against the back edge of your bench. Do 

 not cut with the scissors, or even pinch, but just 

 simply let them close against the tail bone so that 

 the skin cannot slip through when you pull with the 



