482 THE ANIMALS AND MAN 



more care in drying and ordinarily require a much longer 

 period. Soft hay may be substituted for tow; never use 

 feathers or hair. Roll a longish wad of cotton about the 

 size of body and insert with forceps, taking care to form 

 the head nearly as in life. Split the back end of the cotton 

 and stuff each hind leg with the two branches thus formed. 

 Roll a piece of cotton around end of forceps and stuff fore 

 legs. Place a stout straight piece of wire in the tail, wrapping 

 it slightly to give the tail the plump appearance of life. 

 (If the cotton cannot be reeled on to the wire evenly, leave 

 it off entirely.) Make the wire long enough to extend half 

 way up belly. Sew up slit in belly. Lay mammal on belly 

 and pin out on a board by legs, with the fore legs close beside 

 head, and hind legs parallel behind, soles downward. Be 

 sure the label is tied securely on right hind leg. 



For directions for preparing and mounting skeletons of 

 birds, mammals, and other vertebrates, see the books of 

 Davie and Homaday already referred to. 



Fishes, batrachians, reptiles, and other animals. — The 

 most convenient and usual way of preserving the other 

 vertebrates (not birds or mammals) is to put the whole 

 body into 85 per cent alcohol or 4 per cent formalin. Batra- 

 chians should be kept in alcohol not exceeding 60 per cent 

 strength. Several incisions should always be made in the 

 body, at least one of which should penetrate the abdominal 

 cavity. Anatomical preparations are similarly preserved. 

 By keeping the specimens in glass jars they may be examined 

 without removal. Fishes should not be kept in formalin 

 more than a few months, as they absorb water, swell, and 

 grow fragile. 



Of the invertebrates all, except the insects, are preserved 

 in alcohol or formalin. The shells of molluscs can be pre- 

 served dry, of course, in drawers or boxes divided into 

 small compartments. 



END 



