MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
175 
allow it to remain twenty-four to thirty hours. Then take it out, rub 
the inside and the leg - bones thoroughly with strong arsenical soap [or 
rub dry with a cloth and apply powdered arsenic], after which apply 
[salt and] powdered alum liberally over the inner surface, so that 
not a single spot is missed, then hang the skin up by the head (no 
danger of stretching in this case) , and allow it to dry in the wind and 
the shade. When almost hard and stiff, take it down and fold it as 
carefully as if it were a Sunday coat, so that it can be packed in a 
box of ordinary dimensions.” (Fig. 4.) The specimen should be label- 
ed, the sex recorded and the stomach preserved in formalin under the 
same number as the skin. 
The larger turtles may also be skinned and in the following way. 
With a small bone saw, saw through the bridge which unites the shell 
of the back (carapace) with that of the under surface (plastron) ; then 
divide the skin around the plastron, as shown by the dotted line in the 
figure (5), leaving enough attached to the plastron to permit the 
cut to be sewed up after the body has been removed. Then, with a 
knife, detach the plastron from the flesh of the body, leaving the skin 
attached to the front of the plastron. Turn the plastron up and over 
the head to completely expose the interior, and remove the flesh and 
viscera. Unless the skeleton is to be preserved, the neck, shoulder 
girdle and pelvis may be cut out with the flesh and thrown away, the 
head being disjointed at the first vertebra, and the limbs at the girdles. 
The animal’s legs and tail are skinned precisely as those of a small 
mammal, each of these members being detached from the body and 
pulled inward, thus turning the skin wrong side out ; the bones of the 
legs are left attached at the toes, the tail vertebrae are removed. In the 
case of a sea-turtle, which has the front limbs developed as 1 broad, flat 
flippers, the opening cut must extend on up the leg, quite out to the ex- 
tremity of the flipper, but in the case of other species the feet may be 
skinned from the inside. Having removed all flesh from the entire sub- 
ject (including the eyes), wash it clean, and if it is not to be preserved in 
formalin apply a liberal amount of dry arsenic to the inside surface, also 
putting some on the outside. By wrapping a galvanized iron wire with 
tow or cotton held in place by cotton cord, make a neck and insert one 
end into the posterior skull opening and draw into place by turning 
the neck skin right side out. Wires should also be placed along the leg 
bones and wrapped with them with tow or cotton. If the proper amount 
has not been wrapped on the wires at all points, stuff some cotton or 
tow into the hollows with the long forceps. Then fasten the free ends 
of the wires into the vertebrae, pack the interior of the shell with tow, 
place the plastron in position and sew up the opening cut with strong 
linen thread. If the climate is hot and humid, soak the head in 75% 
alcohol for a few hours after the skin has been made up. Label the 
skin, determine and record the sex and save the stomachs as in the 
case of croeodilians. When several specimens of one species have been 
preserved in formalin or as skins, others may be preserved as shells. 
In this case remove the plastron entirely by the opening cut, then re- 
move all of the flesh and skin, wash the shells thoroughly, tie the 
plastron and carapace together and hang in the shade lo dry. 
