THE SKINNING OF A HORNED HEAD 145 



and facility of handling, by using tow instead of sawdust. 

 2. Gluing paper over all. 3. Sewing the edges. 



It not being desired to show the teeth as in the carnivora, 

 the mouth was closed, which enabled a cast to be taken of the 

 head, and its subsequent reproduction in paper. The skeleton 

 of this animal, by that means, was kept in its entirety, even to 

 the ultimate phalanges or " coffin-bones " of the hoofs ; thus 

 two museum specimens were obtained. 



Note that the bases of the horn-cores were included in the 

 cast from the natural head, and formed supports for the horns. 



The Skinning and Setting-up of a Horned Head 



Whenever practicable, a head of any kind, especially a 

 horned head, which is most frequently hung upon a wall as a 

 trophy, should be cut off with a considerable portion of the 

 skin of the front of the neck attached — say quite six inches 

 measured in a line from the back of the eye. To take a 

 deer's head as an example, it will often be found that game- 

 keepers, and people who should know better, either leave a 

 great length at the back of the neck, where it is not wanted, 

 and leave none whatever in front, or otherwise slit up the front 

 of the neck, which is, of course, a useless proceeding, and is 

 directly opposed to all satisfactory modelling of one of the most 

 important parts, viz. the throat. 



At almost any time of the year, if the head has to be sent 

 from a distance or be kept for any length of time, it should be 

 plunged for half an hour into a; saturated solution of salt and 

 water, and, when taken out, should be covered with salt inside 

 and out before being sent away, or until it can be skinned. 



When ready to commence operations, remove the mass of 

 salt, and wash the head thoroughly in cold water, removing the 

 remainder of the salt, blood, etc., from the matted hair by 



