660 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1886. 



men obtained, be it young or old, good or indifferent, for fear another 

 of the same species may not be obtained. 



NOTES AND MEASUREMENTS. 



The value of a specimen is greatly enhanced by a record of the fol- 

 lowing : (1) Length of head and body; (2) length of tail; (3) length 

 of hind foot (with claw); (4) height of car (from behind) ; (5) height at 

 shoulders (if the animal be a large one) and girth; (G) color of eyes; 

 and (7) color of other soft parts of the head, feet, and body which are in 

 any way worthy of notice. Sketches and photographs of animals in the 

 flesh, either dead or alive, are always highly prized by zoologists and 

 taxidermists, to whom they are of the utmost importance and value. 



KNIVES AND MATERIALS. 



For skinning small quadrupeds, a sharp pocket-knife is sufficient, 

 except for persons who make a business of collecting; and for larger 

 animals small butcher or hunting knives are amply sufficient. Alcohol 

 in copper cans with large screw-tops is supplied by the Institution by 

 special arrangement, but salt and alum, with which to make a good 

 preservative, solution, can be procured anywhere within the pale of civ- 

 ilization, and also kegs or barrels to put them in. Any one who really 

 wishes to preserve the skin of an animal need never be thwarted by an 

 apparent lack of implements and preservatives. 



SKINNING SMALL QUADRUPEDS (VARYING IN SIZE FROM A MOUSE 



TO A MASTIFF). 



Lay the animal flat upon its back, and, beginning at the throat, make 

 a straight, clean cut in the skin along the middle of the neck, breast, 

 and abdomen, quite to the base of the tail. Except in very small ani- 

 mals, the tail also must be slit open along the under side from about 

 one inch above the root quite to the tip. In the case of small mammals, 

 the skins of which are to be preserved dry, the bone of the tail may be 

 extracted by wrapping the latter with cloth and pounding lightly upon 

 it with a mallet. 



The bottom of the foot must be slit open lengthwise from the base of 

 the middle toe to the heel. All the opening cuts are now made. Begin 

 at the middle of the abdomen and cut the skin neatly from the body, 

 leaving no flesh, or at least very little, adhering to it. We come very 

 soon to where the fore-leg joins the body at the shoulder and the hind 

 leg at the hip. Out through the muscles at those points, disjoint the 

 legs and detach them entirely from the body. 



Skin each leg by turning the skin wrong side out over the foot, quite 

 down to the toes. When this has been done cut the flesh away from 

 the bones of the leg and foot, but be careful to leave the bones attached 

 to each other by their ligaments, and to the skin itself at the toes. 

 Never throw away the ley bones of an animal if the shin is to be mounted, 



