DEEP-SEA EXPLURATION. 
415 
The division of small mammals includes everything up to the size of the fox. 1 )eer 
and bear skins are salted and air-dried. Thick-skinned animals, such as seals, are 
kept in damp salt or brine. All skins rerpiire jirompt treatment in the tropics and 
should be examined occasionally in all climates. 
PREPARATION OF ROUGH SKELETONS. 
In the preparation of rough skeletons of mammals it is important to know the 
correct name of every animal and whenever it is unknown its skin should be taken 
off and kept as a means of identification. If an animal is shot, some of its bones are 
liable to be broken and such may be allowed to pass, but when it has been beaten to 
death, fracturing skull and limb bones generally, the animal had better be thrown 
away at once. If the skull alone is broken, select if possible another of the same size 
and send both with the body, and Avhen convenient send with a broken leg another of 
the same size, but on no account throw away the fractured limb. 
If an animal is rare, the skin should be carefully taken off and preserved; other- 
wise remove it roughly and disembowel the specimen, taking care not to cut into the 
breast bone, especially the disk-shaped piece of cartilage in which it ends. Animals 
destined for skeletons should on no account be split up the breast as though they were 
being dressed for market. 
Detach the legs from the body and remove the flesh, taking care in so doing not 
to remove the collar bone or kueepan with the meat. In the cat family the collar-bone 
is very small, and lies loose in the flesh, between the shoulder blade and front end of 
the breast bone. The collar-bone of weasels is very minute and difilicult to And, but 
climbing and burrowing animals usually have this bone well developed, uniting the 
shoulder-blade with the breast bone. Deer, antelope, and seals have no collar-bone. 
In small quadrupeds it will usually be unnecessary to detach the legs, but if con- 
v^enieuce in roughing out or packing renders this desirable, cut the collar-bone loose 
from the breast bone and leave it fastened to the shoulder-blade. 
The legs being finished, disjoint and clean the skull. Be careful in removing the 
eyes not to thrust the point of the knife through the thin portion of the skull back of 
them, and in deer, antelope, or other ruminants take care not to break through the thin 
bone back of the upiier teeth; also be careful not to cut off any projections of bone. 
In cleaning the ribs, avoid cutting the cartilages joining them to the breast bone, 
and, when the tail is reached, look out for a few little bones projecting downwards 
from the first few vertebra^. Fold the legs snugly along the body, or, if they have 
been detached, tie them together with the skull on the under side, as much as possible 
within the chest cavity; also turn down the tail and tie it upon itself. If there are 
any loose bones or splinters from a broken bone tie them up in a rag and fasten them 
to one of the long bones. Hang the skeleton up to dry, avoiding the hot sun or the 
heat of a fire if possible. 
In the case of small skeletons that are likely to be some time in transit, it is 
desirable to give a thin coat of arsenical soap or other insect poison to preserve them 
from attack. The breast bones of large animals should also be poisoned. 
Embracing the upper part of the Avindpipe and connecting it with the base of the 
skull is a series of bones known as the hyoid apparatus, which should be carefully 
saved. There are usually small bones, termed sesamoids, imbedded in the tendons, 
where they play over the under sides of the toes, and on this account the tendons 
should never be cut off close to the bone. 
