MAMMALS 17 



beneath the center of the artificial body to give support to the 

 tail when the skin is sewed up (fig. 12). Uneven places in the 

 stuffed skin should be filled in with pieces of cotton before the 

 skin is sewed up. Insert forceps between lips and push the cotton 

 body filling forward into the nose, molding it with the fingers to 

 proper form. Sew as indicated in the illustration (fig. 12), pulling 

 the thread tight finally to bring the edges of the opening together. 

 Make a loose knot in the thread and, with the point of the 

 needle, slip it down tight against the skin. Then cut the thread. 

 When cotton batting or tow is not available, paper folded to 

 the proper size may be used to advantage. The folded paper 

 will separate the opposite raw surfaces while the skin is drying. 

 Flat skins filled with folded paper should not exceed % inch 

 in thickness. 



The skull is an important part of the specimen, and hence 

 care should be taken not to damage the back of it when it is 

 severed from the neck. Under ordinary conditions do not attempt 

 to remove the eyes, tongue, or large muscles from the skull of 

 any mammal smaller than a rat. Remove the brain by squirting 

 water from a soft-rubber bulb syringe or a piston syringe into 

 the opening for the spinal cord on the back of the skull, or 

 carefully scoop the brain out with a wire loop of a size that 

 will enter the opening and bent slightly at one end to form 

 a hook. One end of the thread attached to the skull label can 

 be forced with forceps through the flesh at the fork of the 

 lower jaws and out of the side of the mouth and the two ends 

 then securely tied. The skulls as they accumulate may be strung 

 on a cord or wire passed through the loops of thread on the 

 labels. Hang out of reach of prowling animals such as cats, 



