REPTILES, BATRACHIANS, AND PISHES. 45 
can be rolled up, they can be packed in spirit, which saves the 
traveller the trouble of cleaning the head. 
Skeletons of large bony fishes are quite as valuable as the skins. 
In order to prepare a skeleton, it is only necessary to remove the 
soft parts of the body-cavity and the larger mas-es of muscle, leaving 
the bones in their natural continuity. The rest of the flesh is left to 
dry on the bones, as it can be removed afterwards by maceration at 
home. As the bones which support the ventral fins are not attached 
to the skeleton, but lie between the muscles, care must be taken that 
they are not lost or damaged. All the fins are preserved as in the 
preparation of a skin ; and, in the cases of scaly fishes, so much of 
the skin should be preserved as is required to identify the species, as 
without this it is generally impossible to do more than determine the 
genus. For morphological investigations a skeleton which is thus 
simply dried is not sufficient. For this purpose the skeleton, or at 
least the head, must be preserved in strong spirit after removal of 
the large masses of muscle. 
Some Sharks attain a length of 30 feet, and some Rays a width 
of 20 feet; and, according to very reliable reports, they may even 
exceed these limits. It is extremely desirable to obtain such 
gigantic specimens for museums. Sharks are skinned in nearly the 
same manner as bony fishes. In Rays it is not sufficient to make 
only one longitudinal incision from the tip of the snout to the end 
of the fleshy part of the tail, but a second transverse cut has to be 
made across the broadest part of the lower surface of the body. 
Besides this, other incisions which are necessary for removing the 
soft parts can be made on the under surface of the fish, and 
the collector need not be over-particular in this respect. After the 
removal of the soft parts, the skin is put into a barrel filled with 
concentrated brine, to which some alum has been added. The head, 
to which still many soft parts are attached, should be kept at the 
upper end of the barrel, so that it can be kejit constantly under 
observation. When the liquid is perceptibly diluted by the extrac¬ 
tion of water and blood, it must be renewed in toto. Finally, the 
skin is removed from the barrel, spread out, and the fluid allowed to 
drain off; its whole inner surface is covered with a thin layer of dry 
salt; it is rolled up (this time with the head inside), and packed 
4 
