WARD'S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
13 
CATALOGUE OF SPECIMENS IN COMPAR- 
ATIVE OSTEOLOGY. 
September, 1880. Price, 25 cents. 
This Catalogue enumerates about SIX HUN- 
DRED SPECIES, representing very fully all 
classes of Vertebrates, and among Mammalia the 
greater part of the families. 
THE PRICES as given are based upon the 
perfection of the specimens. When a skeleton 
is ordered and the specimen on hand is not (as 
sometimes happens) of a first-class category, it 
will be announced at once in its real character, 
and a lower price fixed upon it. I take great 
pains, however, to exclude medium or under-sized 
specimens from my stock, so far as it is possible 
under the conditions which govern the first col- 
lecting of this class of objects. 
EACH SKELETON IS MOUNTED WITH 
BRASS. or (in the larger ones), bronzed standards 
on a BLACK WALNUT PEDESTAL. The 
skulls have the lower jaw movably articulated 
with spiral brass springs. Both the skull and 
the fore and hind legs of the larger specimens 
are so articulated that they may readily be re- 
moved from the body for closer examination or 
lecture-room illustration, and again replaced. 
DISARTICULATE SPECIMENS of the lar- 
ger skeletons, bleached, with bones separate, in 
box or bag, with vertebrae numbered and strung, 
and with each hand and foot by itself, furnished 
at one-half or three-fifths the prices noted for 
mounted specimens. 
The following short list, ^chosen from among 
the mammalia, will give a fair idea of the^ extent 
of our stock of skeletons and its wide range in 
price and variety: 
Gorilla ( Troglodytes Gorilla), $825 
Neilglierry Langur ( Semnopithecus cucul- 
latus),.. - — 28 
Lion ( Felis led), — 90 
Cat ( Felis domestica), - 12 
Hooded Seal ( Gystophora cristata), 55 
Hair Seal ( Gallocephalus vitulinus), 35 
Pilot Whale ( Globiocephalus svmeval), 175 
Porpoise ( Phocaena communis), 35 
Dugong ( Halicore australis), 165 
Tapir ( Tapirus indicus), 100 
Bactrian Camel ( Gamelus bactrianus), 150 
Gaur O x (Gavaeus gaurus), 120 
Cow (Bos taurus), 80 
Sheep (Ovis aries), 35 
Elephant .( Elephas indicus), 700 
Indian Fruit Bat ( Pteropus Edwardsii), 14 
Brown Bat (Vespertilio Garolmensis), 9 
Hedgehog ( Erinaceusleuropaeus ), 12 
Capybara Hydrochoerus Gapybara ), 45 
Woodchuck fArdomysfmonax), 12 
Aard Vark ( Orycteropus aethiopicus), 75 
Silky Anteater (Cyclotliurus dorsalis), 12 
Giant Kangaroo ( Macropus giganteus), 75 
Pademelon Wallaby (Halmaturus theiidis), . 25 
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anaiinus), 30 
Echidna (Echidna hystrix), 25 
Special attention is given to the selection of 
series of typical forms, adapted for the use of 
schools and colleges, and estimates of such series, 
ranging in price from $100 to $3,000, will be 
furnished when so desired. 
HUMAN SKELETONS. 
The skeletons offered in the following series 
are of first quality in every particular of bleach- 
ing, mounting, and other preparation. A small 
proportion are imported from Paris; the balance 
are prepared by Parisian workmen in my own 
establishment. 
Adult Human Skeleton, mounted with 
suspension ring, $40 to $50 
Ditto: Mounted with Bronzed Standard on 
Black W alnut pedestal, and with cam- 
bric tunic, $50 to $55 
Ditto: Mounted in handsome Ash base, 
with extensible bracket, and lock and 
key, - $70 
Ditto: Disarticulate. With bones of one 
hand and one foot united by artificial 
ligaments, c . $28 
HUMAN SKELETONS.] 
“ So far the Americans have not been able to 
compete with the exporters, although they are 
improving in the manner of preparing them. 
There is but one man in this city who thoroughly 
understands the business of preparing these skel- 
etons, and he is a Frenchman who has been in 
the business a number of years across the Atlan- 
tic. He knows, however, the value of his work, 
and by the time he has completed his work the 
skeleton costs almost as much as if it was import- 
ed direct, and a finer specimen might be obtained. 
It is conceded that the French anatomists are far 
superior to any others in preparing these skele- 
tons.” 
“What does it cost for a good skeleton or 
skull? ” 
“ Much depends on the size and color. You 
can buy skeletons for $45 apiece and a good one 
for $90 and $100. Three years ago you could 
have bought the same for $35 and $40 and the 
best of them for $60 and $65. As to the skulls? 
well, you can buy them now from $15 to $40, the 
price being regulated by the number of sections 
into which they are divided.” 
The above notes were taken from a lengthy 
article in “ Truth ” (New York), and we give the 
writer thereof a cordial invitation to visit Ward’s 
Natural Science Establishment and examine our 
stock of human skeletons, which range in price 
from $28 to $30, for a disarticulate specimen, up 
to $40 or $50 for one mounted. For special 
styles of mounting we frequently receive much 
more. For example, we recently supplied the 
the Philadelphia Art School with a fine specimen 
mounted with brass standard on ebonized pedestal. 
The skull was vertically and horizontally bisected 
— the various sections being removable — and rotat- 
ed on the vertebral column. The fingers and great 
toes were flexibly articulated so as to be adjusta- 
ble to any desired position. Such a skeleton we 
can furnish for $100. In preparing our skeletons 
we take pains to give them long and careful 
maceration in order to secure good white speci- 
mens without the use of acids or materials which 
destroy the texture of the bone. The mounting 
is done in the most careful manner so as to com- 
bine strength with neatness, the skull, hands, feet 
and other limb bones being removable for study. 
The amount of mechanical work on a skeleton 
is rarely appreciated by one who has never tried 
to “wire one together.” For instance in mount- 
ing a hand with flexible fingers there are 14 strips 
of brass to cut and smooth, twenty-eight saw cuts 
to make, forty-two small holes to drill, and as 
many small brass pins to cut, point and insert; 
and all this must be done neatly and accurately. 
Few people reflect that a skeleton on pedestal 
represents the work of from seven to ten men, 
yet such is the fact. The varying prices of 
skeletons arise from their various degrees of 
whiteness— since some cannot be completely 
bleached or freed from grease without injuring 
the bones — from perfection of dentition and from 
size, and amount of muscular development. 
Our readers will please note that this is the last number 
of the Bulletin which will be sent free ; and we would 
request that subscriptions be sent in promptly in order 
that we may prepare our lists for the next number. 
