SKINNING AND PRESERVING REPTILES. 49 



To preserve the shells of eggs, first take care to clear them of 

 their contents ; get a small, fine-pointed common syringe, such as 

 is sold in toy-shops for a penny or twopence, and inject the speci- 

 men with water until it comes out quite clean. Yvlien an 

 egg has been partly hatched or addled, the removal of the contents 

 generally includes that of the internal membrane or pellicle ; this 

 makes the shell weaker. When the specimens arc quite clean in- 

 ternally, and have become dry (which will be in a day or two), 

 take the syringe and inject them with a strong solution of isin- 

 glass (with a little sugar-candy added to prevent its cracking) ; 

 blow this out again whilst warm. Let the shell get dry, and then 

 wash the outside with a soft wet cloth to remove saline particles, 

 dirt from the nest, &c. This method varnishes the inside, and the 

 first, specimen on which it has been tried was the before-mentioned 

 hedge-accentor's cgg f which is to this day as bright hi color as a 

 fresh specimen. 



Also in a pair of nightjar's eggs, of which species the delicate 

 grey tint is particularly evanescent, one was injected in the man- 

 ner described, and the other was not ; in the first the grey is still 

 perfectly defined, in the other it has entirely disappeared. Eggs 

 which have lost their internal pellicle become strengthened by this 

 process, and those which have not lost their color greatly improved. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SKINNING, PRESERVING, AND SETTING UP REPTILES, FISHES, AND 

 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, ETC. 



TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 



Skinning.— The first operation is to separate the *kack and 

 breast shells with a strong short knife, or chisel. If the force of 

 the hand is inadequate, a mallet may be used, taking care not to 

 strike so hard as to crack the shell. 



These two bony plates being covered by the skin, or by scales, 

 the scapula, and all the muscles of the arm and neck, in place of 

 being attached to the ribs and spine, are placed below, from which 

 cause the tortoise has been termed a retroverted animal. The 

 vertebral extremity of the scapula is articulated with the shield, 

 and the opposite extremity of the clavicle with the breast-plate in 



