HINTS ON OUTFIT AND EXPENSES. 379 



2. Open the skin by cutting down the belly from the breast- 

 bone to the anus ; first push one and then the other knee 

 through the opening, and cut through the legs at the knee 

 joints; clear off the chief muscles of the leg-bones and separate 

 away the skin from the body all round the tail ; then holding 

 the skin at the base of the tail firmly between the finger and 

 thumb nails, or in the fork of a cleft stick, pull out the 

 vertebrae from inside with the forceps ; then gradually turn- 

 ing the skin inside out, skin it up over the body, shoulders, 

 and head, separating the fore limbs at the elbow joint, and 

 taking great care not to cut it in passing over the eyes ; skin it 

 entirely off over the mouth, cutting carefully round the lips. 

 Throughout the operation plenty of fine sawdust will be found 

 of great assistance in keeping the hands, and consequently the 

 fur, dry and un soiled. 



3. Clean the inside of the skin from blood, fat, &c, and then 

 brush it all over with arsenical soap,* being especially careful 

 that the insides of the limbs get some put on them. 



4. Turn the skin back right side out and fill the cavity of the 

 body with cotton-wool, putting it in as far as possible in one 

 piece (in tropical climates a few drops of carbolic acid or other 

 disinfectant should be put on the wool to keep off insects). 

 Take care just to fill out the skin without overstretching it, 

 and try to get all your skins filled out to about the same 

 degree. Take a piece of straight wire long enough to extend 

 from the front end of the belly opening to the tip of the tail ; 

 shapen, if necessary, one end of it, and wind round it enough 

 cotton -wool to fill out the skin of the tail ; then brush it with 

 arsenical soap and push the pointed end down to the extreme 

 tip of the tail-skin, and fit the near end into the belly, packing 

 it round with the wool of the body. Put a small piece of wool 

 into the empty skin of the arms and legs. Then stitch or pin 

 up the opening down the belly. 



5. If at all oily or greasy, the fur may be cleaned by being 

 wiped with a rag dipped in benzine, and then having fine saw- 



* In damp climates powdered oxide of arsenic should be 

 used, as it helps to dry the skin, but caution should be exer- 

 cised that it is not inhaled during the operation, or allowed to 

 get under the nails. 



