operator
as all claws, nails or hoofs should remain on the skin while their bony
cores are part of the skeleton.

In the preservation of rough skeletons, skinning by any method is the
first step, next the removal of the viscera, etc., then the most of the
flesh and muscle should be dissected off the bones, after which poison
with dry arsenic and put where it will dry out quickly and be out of the
reach of foraging animals.

The legs of small animals should be unjointed as well as the skull and
after trimming be put inside the body cavity and securely tied to
prevent loss; birds are treated about the same and all large animals are
pretty thoroughly taken apart in order to properly clean the bones.

Always remember that a skeleton with parts cut away or bones lost is
about as good as none. Leave any cartilage attachments and any parts of
a bony nature for the osteologist, to be on the safe side. Sometimes
along salt water an uncleaned skeleton may be put in a wire netting cage
and anchored in the water where various small marine animals will soon
clear away the flesh. On land, too, a similar expedient may be practiced
by putting small carcasses in a box with holes bored in it and burying
it in some active ant hill. In both cases the openings need to be small,
that the smaller bones may not be carried off and they should be removed
before the ligaments are destroyed.

[Illustration: SKULLS--DOG WOLF, SHE WOLF, BAY LYNX, OTTER, MINK.]

When they are not wanted for scientific purposes, skulls may be cleaned
with the minimum labor by boiling. Watch them closely, however, and
remove as soon as the flesh gets tender as much cooking will cause the
teeth to fall out and the skull to separate at the sutures. Glue and
plaster paris will put such disintegrated skulls in shape for commercial
mounting but they are ruined forever for the scientist.

A friend was once cleaning a quantity of skulls (for museum purposes)
and to expedite matters put them on to boil; all went well as long as
the pot was watched, but an accident, the collapse of a large building,
called him away and prevented his return until a dozen or so skulls had
turned to a mass of loose teeth and scraps of bone. I never knew just
what transpired between him and the museum curator afterward, nothing of
interest to the general public.

Small specimens which it is proposed to skeletonize are best preserved
entire in alcoholic solution as loss and breakage are thus