SKINNING AND PRESERVING MAMMALS. 129 



manner "between skin and flesla. The fox being witli its head 

 from you and directly to your front, the side which you naturally 

 begin on first would be the one on your left ; turn the fox now so 

 that its head comes to your left hand instead of directly to your 

 front, and skin in the same manner on the other side, which is 

 now from you. The skin of a fox being very thin about this 

 part, as indeed, nearly all over its body, you must be careful 

 wliile making your cuts to release the skin, not to push the point 

 of your knife through. As you get along the side of the fox, use 

 your knife, point downward, cutting edge toward you, on the 

 inner side, and from you on the outer, with a scraping motion to 

 separate the skin from the body at the sides. No doubt, by this, 

 time you will be somewhat troubled with a discharge of blood ; 

 if so, use sawdust or silver sand, either of which will not dirty 

 the skin, but yet affords a good grip. (Plaster is very commonly 

 used instead of either, but, though a capital absorbent of 

 blood and grease, I object to it, except in the instances of white 

 or very light coloured furs.) Silver sand is, I think, the best of 

 all, as sawdust is apt to get into some furs, and it requires a 

 great deal of pains to get it out again. By a little management 

 of the point of the knife, and by undercutting slightly, you ex- 

 pose the thighs of the hind limbs. The fox lies still in front of 

 you with its head to your left. Changing your position, go to- 

 the tail, and, seizing the foot nearest to you with your right 

 hand, and the skin with your left, push and pull at one and the 

 same time until you expose the knee-joint, or rather — to speak 

 more correctly — the articulation of the " femur " or thigh bone 

 {i, Plate III.) with the two smaller bones ("fibula " and "tibia") 

 which form the shank {K and /). Let go with your right 

 hand, and by an arrangement of the fingers of the left — 

 difficult to describe — retain your hold of both the skin and flesh 

 of the leg, and re- commence skinning with the knife on each side 

 of the leg until you arrive at the hollow which lies behind, just 

 above the shank ; this exposes daylight between skin and flesh, 

 and thus you may get your fingers between the two skins, and^ 

 finding the articulation, or joint of the thigh (just mentioned),, 

 you push the point of your knife in, and sever the liga- 

 ments, and then return the loose shank to its skin. Holding 

 the fingers of your left hand underneath the skin — thumb and 



