SOME HINTS ON NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS, 103 
of specimens is concerned, this division comes natural, as the forms contained 
in each require mostly the same treatment, with the medium-sized ones inter- 
mediate in treatment, 
On the subject of 
Large Mammals there is not very much that comes within the scope of 
the present paper ; for, in the first place, they have always attracted a large 
share of the attention of naturalists and sportsmen, with the result that our 
knowledge of them has reached a state that leaves comparatively little, so far 
as concerns those that are indigenous to this country, for the work of the 
ordinary field naturalist. In the pursuit of many of them for the purposes 
of sport, we shall always have opportunities, and no lack of workers, of adding 
to our knowledge of their life history and habits, while the study of their 
anatomy and their relationships to one another to be deduced therefrom, must 
always be the work of the specialist more than of the field naturalist, 
The second reason that prevents my going into details of any length in con- 
nection with the larger Mammals is the impossibility of attempting, within the 
limits of a paper, even the very roughest sketch of how to skin a large animal 
correctly, and in such a way that would enable the specimen to be properly 
mounted. No amount of written instructions can ever convey the knowledge 
necessary for the successful accomplishment of this, which can only be gained 
by actual experience and experiment under the tuition of a practical taxider- 
mist, I do not mean to say, of course, that it is impossible for. any one 
to acquire from the written advice of others, what will be sufficient to enable 
him to take the skin off a bear or a tiger in a way that will allow of its being 
dressed subsequently for the purpose of forming a beautiful rug in the proud 
sportsman’s bungalow which will be a joy to him for ever; but it is a task 
that I cannot attempt. In the first place this is not primarily addressed to 
the sportsman, but to the naturalist, and secondly, we are not in the habit of 
hunting alone in the jungles of India; and even if we may at times be called 
upon to tackle the skinning ourselves of some large animal, the way to go 
about the operation will be very much better learned by watching and assist- 
ing others performing it on previous occasions, A treatise on the subject of 
the proper preparation of skins for mounting purposes fills a book, and has 
already done so on many occasions, and to anyone who has a fancy for such 
_ works, I cannot do better than refer to such works, That there are men who 
take an interest in the artistic, mounting of larger mammals is instanced by 
several beautiful cases in the Society’s rooms, which were prepared entirely 
by one of our members—Mr. E, L, Barton—whose splendid work in this 
direction is too well known to most of us to require any expression of admira- 
tion from me, 
At the same time there are many ways in which Indian sportsmen can help 
the cause of Natural History and also add to their own pleasure in the chase 
by taking the trouble, something more than most of them possess, as a rule , of 
