PREPARING SKINS OF MAMMALS. 15 
SECTION B. — SMALL MAMMALS. 
1 . With the freshly killed carcase before you, write the label. This 
should bear on the front the date, sex, locality, altitude above sea 
(in metres or feet), and your signature ; on the back your initials, 
with a current number, and the following measurements in milli- 
metres, taken in the flesh : (1) length of head and body; (2) of tail 
without end hairs ; (3) hind foot without claws ; and (4) ear, from 
notch at base to tip. In the case of the first two measurements, the 
body should be straightened out as much as possible, and the tail bent 
upwards at a sharp angle, and the measurements should then be 
taken from a point in the angle (see illustrations on page 17). The 
label should also have on its back any notes that may strike you 
about the habits of the animal, its native name, or the character of 
the locality. 
It is important that the positions of the different items, the method 
of writing dates, and the direction of the writing (away from the 
thread) should be exactly as in the example, so that skins from 
different sources may all be similarly labelled. 
2. — Open the skin by cutting up the belly from the anus to the 
hinder end of the breast-bone ; first push one and then the other 
knee through the opening, and cut through the legs at the knee- 
joints ; clear off the chief muscles of the leg-bones, and separate 
the skin from the body all round the tail ; then, holding the skin 
at the base of the tail firmly between the finger- and the thumb- 
nails, or in the fork of a cleft stick, pull out the vertebrae from inside 
with the forceps ; then, gradually turning the skin inside-out, skin it 
up over the body, shoulders, and head, separating the fore limbs at 
the elbow-joint, and taking great care not to cut it in passing 
Example of Label. 
FRONT. 
BACK. 
