46 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



and the fibre of the muscles should be broken up 

 as much as possible. But a small portion, at best, 

 of arsenic is soluble in either water or alochol, and 

 but a little in the juices of the skin, whereas in 

 my dermal preservative at least three-fourths of 

 that which comes in contact with a moist skin is 

 absorbed, thus thoroughly preserving the speci- 

 men. In the case of a greasy skin, remove as 

 much fat as possible by peeling it off or gently 

 scraping until all the little cells which contain the 

 oil are broken up and the skin appears ; then coat 

 the skin liberally with the preservative, when it 

 will be found to absorb the oil. Allow this layer 

 to remain a few minutes, then scrape it all off and 

 coat again with a fresh supply. Continue to do 

 this until all the oil that will flow out is absorbed, 

 and then dust with a final coating. 



There are two chemical processes carried on 

 in preserving oily skins, one of which converts the 

 oil into soap, and this is in turn absorbed and 

 dried. Thus the preservative which has been 

 scraped from the skin can be after a time used 

 again, as it has lost but a small portion of its effi- 

 ciency. It might be borne in mind, however, that 

 all the fat cells possible must be broken up, as 

 the skin which surrounds these is, in a measure, 



