| the bones and connecting ligaments; they may be afterwards 
| macerated in clean water for a day or two to extract the bloody 
96 OF NATURAL SKELETONS. 
der of dissection ; neither in this part of the process need any 
attention be paid to making the bones clean. The brain may 
be removed through an opening in the large fontanel, if the 
subject is very young, if not, a perforation may be made with the 
trephine for that purpose. Some separate the head from the 
spine, so that the brain may be the more easily removed by the 
occipital hole. The skeleton is put in water and allowed to re- 
main for several days, it is then taken out and more thoroughly 
cleaned by a knife, forceps, and scissors, and replaced in fresh 
water. This is repeated from day to day, constantly changing 
the water, the object being to preserve the ligaments fresh and 
transparent. It is of great consequence to work hard by 
daily scraping and scrubbing until the bones are deprived of 
their blood and oleaginous matter and become white and clean, 
then remove them into clean lime water, or solution of pearl-ash, 
for two or three days to take off any greasiness, and give a 
more beautiful white. When they have lain long enough, wash 
them with clean water; they are then placed in a position, by 
the assistance of a frame or piece of wood and wire, exposing 
them to a current of air. When perfectly dry, they may re- 
ceive a coating of copal or mastic varnish. 
It must be kept in view, that if the preparation is allowed 
to remain too long in the state of maceration, the ligaments 
themselves will be ¢estroyed by puirefaction, and the intention 
of procuring a natural skeleton defeated. ' 
An excellent and simple way of procuring natural skeletons 
of Mice, small birds, and fish, is to put them into a box of the 
proper size, in which holes are bored on all sides, and then 
buried in an Ant hill. The Ants will enter numerously at 
these holes and eat away all the fleshy parts, leaving only 
colour, and to cleanse them from any dirt they may have ac- 
quired, then whitened by lime and alum water, and dried in 
frames or otherwise, as may be most convenient. In country 
situations Wasps may be employed in this service ; these are 
most voracious animals, and if a skeleton is placed near one 
of their nests, or in an empty sugar cask, where they resort in 
plenty, they will perform the dissection with much greater ex- 
pedition, and equally well as the Anis. Wasps have been 
" is 
