40 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
Still another bit of evidence comes from the Indian tribes of Southern Cali- 
fornia. An old chief of the Kammei tribe (called by the Spanish 'Diegenos’) 
told me that in the Cuyamaca Mountain region in San Diego County, the ‘Tiger,’ 
while rare, was well known to the old Indians, who call it the “Big-spotted 
Lion,” Hut’-te-kuV^^. 
— C. Hart Merriam. 
AN EASY METHOD OF CLEANING SKULLS 
One of the chief factors which deter ornithologists from taking up mammal- 
ogy is the lack of a standard method by which skulls may be cleaned quickly 
and in a satisfactory manner. All of the old published information in regard to 
maceration and boiling is of a very hazy character, and there are few of us who 
have not ruined valuable material while trying these methods. 
The writer has been especially interested in the preparation of skulls and 
skeletons, and has not only tried every method of which he could learn, but has 
experimented and tested many modes of procedure which held even slight pros- 
pect of success. My experience has made me very skeptical of employing chemi- 
cals, for one cannot be sure of their future effects on skulls. Although some of 
them apparently are satisfactory for the present, we have no means of being sure 
that they will not have destroyed the skulls within twenty or thirty years, and 
it would be nothing short of a calamity if the types of today are not preserved 
for far longer than that. Usually the skull is of more importance than the skin, 
and much care should be employed in its preparation. 
The cleaning of a skull really begins when the animal is skinned. As soon 
as the skin is turned right side out, the skull should be detached from the body, 
the tongue and flesh between the lower jaw and the muscles below the zygomata 
carefully cut away, a durable tag with waterproof ink attached, the brains 
removed with a syringe, and the skull dropped into a jar of denatured alcohol. 
The latter will replace the water in the skull and ‘‘dry” it at once, and the 
skulls can be removed in a couple of days, or left indefinitely. It is of the greatest 
importance to dry all skulls quickly (but not by artificial heat), for if decompo- 
sition once starts, the sutures are loosened, and this can never be remedied in the 
future. If one has no alcohol at hand, drop the skulls into a can of water for a 
couple of days, after which dry them as soon as possible. The water will soak 
out most of the blood, and the finished specimen will be much whiter. Needless 
to say, the alcohol does this also. If the skulls become infested with maggots, 
pour a little gasoline or alcohol over them, or soak for an hour in water, but 
never pour boiling water over them, for the sudden change in temperature will 
crack the canines of the carnivores, and render the molars of some rodents so 
brittle that they continually break off. 
At home I keep a large jar of naphtha into which I place all skulls which are 
dry. I am not sure that this is necessary after the alcohol bath, but it finishes 
the process of degreasing, and greaseless skulls will turn out several hundred 
per cent whiter than those which have not been so treated. I take them out of 
the naphtha several days before I intend finishing them, or long enough ahead 
for the liquid thoroughly to evaporate. 
