ntil this
"gold mine" had been exhausted.

In the morning our traps were full of mammals and sixty-two were laid out
on the table ready for skinning. The length, tail, hind foot, and ear of
each specimen was first carefully measured in millimeters and recorded in
the field catalogue and upon a printed label bearing our serial number;
then an incision was made in the belly, the skin stripped off, poisoned
with arsenic, stuffed with cotton, and sewed up. The animal was then pinned
in position by the feet, nose, and tail in a shallow wooden tray which
fitted in the collecting trunk.

The specimens were put in the sun on every bright day until they were
thoroughly dry and could be wrapped in cotton and packed in water-tight
trunks or boxes. We have found that the regulation U.S. Army officer's
fiber trunk makes an ideal collecting case. It measures thirty inches long
by thirteen deep and sixteen inches wide and will remain quite dry in an
ordinary rain but, of course, must not be allowed to stand in water. The
skulls of all specimens, and the skeletons of some, are numbered like the
skin, strung upon a wire, and dried in the sun. Also individuals of every
species are injected and preserved in formalin for future anatomical study.

Larger specimens are always salted and dried. As soon as the skin has been
removed and cleaned of flesh and fat, salt is rubbed into every part of it
and the hide rolled up. In the morning it is unwrapped, the water which has
been extracted by the salt poured off, and the skin hung over a rope or a
tree branch to dry. If it is not too hot and the air is dry, the skin may
be kept in the shade to good advantage, but under ordinary field conditions
it should be placed in the sun. Before it becomes too hard, the hide is
rolled or folded into a convenient package hair side in, tied into shape
and allowed to become "bone dry." In this condition it will keep
indefinitely but requires constant watching, for the salt absorbs moisture
from the air and alternate wetting and drying is fatal.

We soon trained two of our Chinese boys to skin both large and small
animals and they became quite expert. They required constant watching,
however, and after each hide had been salted either Mr. Heller or I
examined it to make sure that it was properly treated.

On our first day in camp we sent for natives to the village of Mu-cheng ten
_li_ distant. The men assured us that there were sambur, serow, and muntjac
in t