1 84 



THE MAMMALS OF SOMALILAND 



dried, little cleaning need be done ; in any case the tongue should 

 always be left in to protect the palate-bones. In a general way try 

 to do as little to the skull as the climate will admit of— but, of course, 

 it must not be allowed to become rotten. Drying naturally or artificially 

 is the best, and arsenic or other chemicals should not be put on it, 

 insects being kept ofif by the use of naphthaline or other disinfectant. 

 Fly-blown skulls should not be dropped into the same box with other 

 drying skulls, nor should fresh skulls be shut into tightly closed boxes. 

 A convenient way to dry the skulls is to place them immediately they are 

 taken out and labelled into a muslin bag with a little sawdust, and then 

 to hang the bag in the air, sun, or before the fire, so as to dry them 

 without exposing them to the attacks of blow-flies. 



8. — Pack the skins up carefully in small boxes when they are dry, 

 in layers, with enough wool between them to prevent their shaking about. 

 Do not roll them up separately in paper. 



It is a good plan to have with you an ordinary cork-lined insect-box, 

 in which the pieces of cork can be pinned for travelling. When the skins 

 are partly dry, they can be taken off the separate pieces of cork, and 

 pinned close together in the box, where they can safely travel and dry at 

 the same time. 



9. — Bats should be skinned like other animals, but the limbs are 

 separated at the shoulders and hip-joints instead of the elbows and knees. 



They are also pinned down in the usual way, the pins running through 

 the wrist-joint and the hind feet. The wings should not be spread out, but 

 should be folded up on each side of the body in such a way as not to hide 

 the fur of the belly. The thumbs should be made to point inwards or 



