EQUIPMENT, ARMS, AND SPECIMENS 745 
rare, however, to find a sportsman who devotes the proper 
attention and time to this feature of his expedition. Few 
indeed have the cardinal principles of skin preservation in 
mind, however good their intentions may be toward the col¬ 
lecting of the skins of the animals killed. The great ma¬ 
jority of sportsmen leave the work to ignorant and indolent 
native assistants, whose work is only of value when under 
the constant supervision of a responsible person. 
Specimens destined for scientific use in collections or 
museums should be carefully measured in the flesh. The 
four measurements universally required are: (i) the total 
length from the tip of the snout to the terminal end of the 
tail vertebrae, taken along the contour of the dorsal profile 
with the head stretched out in line with the body [sometimes 
this measurement is taken in a straight line between up¬ 
rights; Colonel Roosevelt took many in this 5 fashion]; (2) 
length of tail vertebrae, taken by holding the tail at right 
angles to the body and measuring from the base of the angle 
to the terminal tip of the flesh, but not including the hair; 
(3) length of the hind foot, taken from the tip of the hoof or 
longest claw to the back of the heel or hock; (4) length of 
ear, taken from the inner notch as near the auditory meatus 
as possible to the extreme tip. The height is often taken, 
as it is a favorite measurement of sportsmen. Little reliance 
can be placed on its accuracy, however, on account of the 
very diverse conditions under which it is necessarily taken. 
In the live, standing animal the measurement of the height 
at the withers is of value when it can be obtained. The 
same measurement taken in dead animals is not, however, 
strictly comparable with this, owing partly to the fact that 
the shoulder-blade in the hoofed mammals is set free in the 
