80 
through the body (Figure 25). Make an artificial body of soft filler, thrust 
the anterior end into the back of the head filler and spread the posterior 
part around the dorsal side of the connecting leg wires. Put in flat bunches 
of cotton where needed to fill out around shoulders, hips, and base of tail. 
Also place a layer of cotton along abdomen to cover the wires where exposed. 
The tail should be supported by a small wrapped wire. If wares of the 
proper size are not available, the fore and hind legs may be connected 
by slender strips of wood lashed to the leg bones, or the legs may be 
fastened to a stiff stick running the full length of the body. The essential 
point is that the legs must be fastened in place and the body connected 
rigidly fore-and-aft or the dried skin will become easily broken in handling. 
Arrange the body on a board for drying, pinning it down wdth heavy 
pins or slender ware nails. The cartilage should have been skinned out of 
the ears as far as possible, at least loosened from the skin on the outer 
side of the ear. The base of the ear may be stiffened with a curved piece 
of cardboard or stiff paper. After the body is pinned dowai the ears 
should be laid back on the head and neck, parallel with each other, and 
a firm, pointed roll of cotton thrust down into the external auricular open- 
ing of each to keep them in shape until the skin has dried. The cotton roll 
may be pulled out after the skin has dried. If the specimen has to be 
moved before it is thoroughly dry, it is w r ell to pin down each ear and to 
fasten the ears together by a stitch through their inner edges. 
“The California Style of rabbit skin Although the method described 
above makes a good exhibition specimen skin, the technique involves rather 
too much taxidermic skill, and in a large series the specimens take up too 
much room. The National Museum of Canada has lately adopted the 
“California style” as developed by Mr. Adrey A. Borell. Some of the 
advantages are: flatness, giving economy in storage space; firmness of the 
fore and hind limbs, thus preventing breakage in transportation and later 
handling; and simplicity of technique in the field, doing away with the 
necessity for pinning wdiile drying. As described by Dr. E. Raymond Hall, 
the “stuffing” of the body is prepared by cutting out a piece of corrugated 
cardboard outlining the body and attaching a stiff wooden stick to the 
cardboard by means of thread or wire at two places. The stick projects 
forward to the head and far enough posteriorly to allow of securing the 
hind feet to this central support. A thin layer of cotton is laid over this 
“paddle”, which is inserted in the skin or the skin turned back over it. 
The posterior square end of the cardboard is then cut to fit the skin, and 
wire or, preferably, slivers of wood or sticks are inserted, one in each leg. 
The skin is sewed up, and the hind legs are secured to the median stick 
by a stitch of strong thread or preferably a bit of thin wire passing 
