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THE . I MERIt '. 1 N X. I TUB. I LIST [ Vol. XL1I 



the individual vertebrae in or out of the column without 

 moving the adjacent vertebrae and pins. After the limbs 

 have been temporarily set up and the flat or half round 

 steel fitted flush to the bones, holes may be bored in the 

 supports and in the bones at the proper places and brass 

 tubes inserted and fastened in the bones with a mixture 

 of shellac and whitening, which holds them very firm. 

 Before the tubes are inserted a thread should be cut 

 inside the tube to which the supports can be screwed very 

 securely. This makes the bones easily detachable. This 

 method is desirable for all skeletons with soft bones, small 

 or large, and especially large skeletons, such as the Mam- 

 moth or Mastodon, can be mounted with comparatively 

 few rods or uprights. I can not recommend any style of 

 iron or steel for all purposes as that largely is a matter 

 of individual taste. I myself prefer half round, soft 

 iron for all large skeletons to be fitted along the bones. 

 For very small skeletons, small flat steel is preferable. 

 The so-called channel iron makes good rib supports for 

 all larger skeletons, as there is in the channel a suitable 

 place for the nuts of the screws. 



A very practical tool to use in mounting skeletons, es- 

 pecially larger ones, is the * ' electric drill." It can be 

 attached to any electric light block, and is a great labor- 

 saving tool, which I can recommend very highly. We have 

 one in use in our laboratory which weighs eight pounds ; 

 it cuts a }-inch hole, can be handled very easily, and can 

 be used to drill holes in any bone or iron without taking 

 them out of place. 



Another new feature of importance is the over-head rail 

 or trolley system. As installed in our laboratory, a com- 

 paratively heavy rail is fastened to the ceiling, on which 

 trolleys with hoisting blocks attached can be rolled very 

 freely to and fro. Skeletons suspended by these blocks 

 can easily be raised or lowered, or moved from one end 

 of the room to the other. This system is of great im- 

 portance for economy in mounting very large skeletons. 

 To suspend small skeletons while in operation we use 



