NOTES. 219 



fish with a thin solution of gum-arabic, placing fresh 

 paper over this, the original paper on the fish having 

 been carefully damped off. Let this dry thoroughly; 

 then place the fish on a soft cloth with its unprotected 

 side uppermost, cut the fish from the root of the tail 

 to the gill with a pair of sharp scissors, in most cases 

 keeping as correctly as possible to the lateral line ; cut 

 out the gills and extract the eyes, then separate the skin 

 from the flesh, commencing at the head, lifting the skin 

 up with the fingers and passing a knife along the first 

 cut, the skin should come off with ease, and, after practice, 

 the operation can be rapidly performed. Scissors must 

 be used when the fin-bones are reached ; these bones 

 must be cut sharply through, and the spine must also be 

 divided at its junction with the tail, the spine of a jack 

 or other large fish necessitating the use of pliers ; this, 

 to me, is a difficult operation, as it is easy to damage the 

 specimen. Having done both sides of the lateral cut, 

 taking care to see that all the bones are detached, then 

 proceed to drag the body from the skin. I believe 

 it possible to take everything out in one piece, though 

 I have not yet succeeded in doing so. The cheeks 

 must then be cut and scraped from the inside and the 

 flesh removed, the space left being filled up at once with 

 cotton wool or tow ; this precaution is important, as the 

 fish will otherwise assume a most cadaverous appearance 

 when left to dry. 



" The brain must also be removed, cutting the bones 

 with pliers in order to get at it. There is now nothing 

 left but a bare shell of skin and scales, with the fins 

 attached. See that all remaining pieces of flesh are 

 carefully scraped and wiped off 



" The ' setting up ' process now begins. I cannot say 

 whether my method is perfectly correct, but I have found 

 it answer fairly well. 



" Fill the skin with damp silver sand ; I sprinkle the 

 sand with spirits of turpentine, which has a cleansing 

 and preservative effect. When the skin is full, place a 

 strip of cardboard under the lateral sht, sew the skin up 

 from the tail end, and fill the head tightly with tow 

 or wool, to prevent the sand from falling out. Now turn 

 the fish over for the first time since commencing oper- 

 ations and place it on a board; it will not be in its 



