1805. J of Objects of Natural History. 463 



} oXXV. | oXL. | referring to a hook, in which all the peculiarities of age, 

 sex, color of the eyes, form of the iris, if round or oval, height, length, size 

 in general, locality, &c. should he carefully noted ; close the vessel carefully 

 with moistened bladder over the cork, or bung, and cement it all over with 

 a composition of bees' wax, rosin, ruddle, and turpentine; or common bazar 

 sealing-wax may be used in default of any thing better, melted with 

 enough very finely powdered brick-dust, to make it set hard. 



Bones. The skeletons or parts of skeletons of mammalia, birds, and 

 reptiles require but little knowledge or trouble to prepare them. The 

 animal, or such part of it, the hones of which it is intended to preserve, 

 should be skinned, and as much of the flesh as can he readily cut off, should 

 be removed. The bones are then to be placed in a convenient vessel, such as 

 a barrel, for large specimens, and a jar, or even a bottle, for small ones ; 

 and water enough poured into it, to cover them well up from the air. 

 Close the vessel, and leave it for a longer or shorter time, as may be neces- 

 sary, for the complete maceration of the bones; till the remaining flesh 

 and ligaments will strip off with such ease, that the pouring a stream of 

 water from a height of four or five feet upon them, will be sufficient to 

 remove them. When freed from flesh and ligaments, the bones should be 

 put in the sunshine to dry ; and when well dried, they may be at once ar- 

 ticulated, or packed in cotton or saw-dust, to prevent their rubbing against 

 one another and being injured by carriage; and in this case the sooner 

 they are sent to their destination the better. 



In macerating bones, it is necessary to take care that the water always 

 covers them, otherwise they will become indelibly black. The flesh must 

 never be scraped off, or the specimen may be injured. 



In washing bones after maceration, care must be taken that those parts 

 which have become loose are nut lost. This is likely to happen with the 

 incisor, or front teeth ; and witli those bones, which, in young animals es- 

 pecially, are united to the other parts by ligament and by cartilage or gris- 

 tle. All such detached parts should he taken off, cleaned, and put bye in a 

 small box or bottle, and labelled with the name of the animal of which they 

 formed a part. 



As this method is attended with some trouble, and cannot be followed by 

 persons not stationary, and as it separates the bones too much from one ano- 

 ther to allow of their being sent to a distance without risk of losing some of 

 them, it may be as well to mention another : which, indeed, has been print- 

 ed and circulated in a separate form, along with a few more hints of the 

 same kind. In this process, skin the animal, and cut off all the flesh from 

 the bones as clean as can be done, without scraping them. Separate the fore 

 legs, with the shoulder blades, from the body, and the hind legs, by taking 

 the thigh bone out ot the socket at the hip. Cut off the head close, between 

 it and the first joint of the neck ; and allow it to remain in water for a few 

 days, when the brain may be washed out by di-ecting a stream of water from 

 a bliisty'smussacli, or earthen pot, into the foramen magnum, or hole of the 

 spine. When cleared of flesh, hang up the skeleton to dry in an airy place, 

 but do not separate the bones from one another more than is mentioned 

 above. And when dry, pack it up in cotton, tow, or saw_dust, in a strong 

 box, for transmission. 



Skins of Mammalia may be preserved by attending to the following direc- 

 tions. After the death of the animal, let it remain an hour or two in a 

 cool airy place, to allow the blood to congeal. Then lay it upon its back, 

 and make an incision in the skin from between the fore legs, alon"- the 

 alnlomen, to half way between the navel and the vent. The hind legs 

 are then pulled out gently, bending them at the knee or stifle joint, and 

 cutting them out of the socket at the hip. Cut off the tail close to the 

 rump, and draw out the body through the opening in the skin, as far as 

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