CHAPTER III. 



PREPAEATION OF BONES— PEKMANBNT PBBPAKATION OF SOFT PARTS— THE USB OF 

 ALCOHOL, ETC. — JABS, ETC.— FEOZBN SECTIONS AND DISSECTIONS— INFLATED 

 PKEPARATIONS— MEASUKEMBNT OF TOLUMB AND CAPACITY. 



PREPARATION" OP BONES. 



Special INSTB^mENTS and Material :— Arseniate of Soda^Beans or Peas— Benzine 

 —Bone Drill- Cement — Ether — Glycerin— Labels (§ 163) —Liquid Soap — Macerating 

 Dishes — Nail or Tooth Brushes — Salt Solution — Syringe — Turpentine Oil — Wicker- 

 sheimer's Liquid. 



§ 244. There are foxir principal methods of preparing hones for 

 scientific purposes : — 



(1) Cutting and scraping the soft parts from alcoholic specimens. 



(2) Allowing Ants or Dermestes to remove the soft parts of fresh 

 specimens. 



(3) Maceration (putrefactive) in water. 



(4) BoUing with liquid soap. 



General Directions. — A. If one can choose his specimen, a 

 young adult should be selected. In too young animals the epiphy- 

 ses are apt to separate easily from the diaphyses, and the symphy- 

 ses open too easily. On the other hand, old animals sometimes 

 have exostoses, or abnormal growths on their bones, and the sym- 

 physes and sutures are liable to be entirely obliterated. 



B. If possible, have at hand for reference a perfect skeleton of 

 the part to be prepared, so that the exact position of delicate bones 

 and processes may be seen, and hence not be lost or broken through 

 inadvertence. 



C. Whatever method is employed, it is better to divide the 

 animal into several parts by cutting some of the principal arthra, 

 as the humero-scapular, the femoro-innominate, the occipito-atlan- 

 tal, and the lumbo-thoracic. 



D. Labeling. — The whole animal should bear a label giving the 

 name, date, sex, and, if possible, the age. Each separated part 



