BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [14] 



purpose, each of which accommodates only one skull, and to place 

 these in a large, strong case. If skulls are to be sent a long distance, 

 the original boxes or crates should always be packed into large ones. 

 Other bones of the skeleton need a less careful attention. 



If the skulls and bones are fragile, their packing and safe trans- 

 portation is often difficult. In such instances finely cut straw, or 

 short hay, or very dry sawdust, are the most valuable packing, and 

 each skull or small bundle of bones should be boxed separately or well 

 separated from others. Every delicate skull should be tied in a piece 

 of cloth which insures the keeping together of the fragments if the 

 specimen be broken. 



With each skull or skeleton should be a piece of paper containing 

 the collector's number, the localit}^, and the identification of the 

 specimen. 



The shipping of osteological material from foreign countries is 

 fraught with few difficulties. Even where there are laws prohibiting 

 the exportation of antiquities, as for instance in Mexico, human bones 

 may be sent out. It is necessary in such instances not to include in 

 the boxes with the bones an}^ other specimens, and to plainly mark the 

 contents as well as their destination on the box. In exceptional cases 

 aid in exporting material can be obtained through the local or consular 

 authorities. 



There is no danger of transmitting contagion with bones; but some 

 care must be exercised with the packing material. 



If bones not yet fully devoid of smell are to be sent, they should be 

 placed in very dry grass or sawdust, or into a mixture of these with 

 salt; and it may be necessary to put the smaller boxes containing the 

 specimens into a large case and surround them with charcoal. Steep- 

 ing for a brief time in a stronger solution of formalin would obviate 

 all smell, but would also render the bones, if they still had some soft 

 parts adhering, very difficult of preparation. 



BRAINS. 



There is no other organ in the human body that differs more from 

 a similar organ in the animal than the brain. The differentiation of 

 the brain not only separates man widely from all other animals, but 

 tends to place in different grades individuals and smaller or larger 

 groups within the human species itself, all of which points to the 

 interest in and necessity for a thorough investigation of this organ. 



Within the last century a large amount of research has been made 

 on the brain of the whites. With all that, there are many parts of 

 the organ of which no one knows the function; there are many obscure 

 points concerning the development and decline of the brain; the 

 gyration of the surface requires further attention; the relation of 

 convolutions and brain weight to age, sex, weight, and size of the 



