ally at some
height, you have constantly before your eyes the hideous spectacle of
a chain of stitches (which no art can successfully hide) running up
the throat and under the chin.

The buck's or goat's head, being, perhaps, the most easily obtained, I
will take one as an example. Make an incision exactly on the top of
the head, running from the back of the neck to just behind the horns;
then make two cross cuts up to their seats or "burrs," and, pushing
your knife down at the side of the nearest horn, cut the skin entirely
away, keeping as close to the horn as possible--in fact, shaving its
edge. When you arrive just above the eye, while doing this, you will
find the ear hold back the skin considerably. Skin it as much as
possible on the top, and, putting your finger underneath, cut it out
as usual. Now you can work all round the horn to join the cut at the
back. Do the same with the other horn and side, skinning away round
the neck to the under jaw and sides of the face until you find the
skin of each eyelid holds. Skin this completely off, not leaving it
attached anywhere, as also the skin on the forehead where it holds.
Continue and finish in the same manner as the fox's head.

The skins of the heads of bulls, large stags, tigers, etc, are best
taken completely off the bone, and the inside of the lips, nostrils,
eyelids, etc, afterwards skinned out and well cured; the skull-bone may
then be plunged in a copper full of water and boiled out; this saves
considerable labour, and also gets the skulls nicely cleaned and free
from grease.

The plan of taking the skin entirely off the head will be found of the
utmost advantage to explorers or collectors in foreign countries, as
the skulls may be numbered and a corresponding number scratched on a
tin, or written on a parchment label, which may be tied through the
eyehole of the skin. The skulls being left loose, their skins may be
packed in barrels, and if well rubbed in with my preservative (No. 9),
and looked at occasionally to prevent mildew, they will, after the
lapse of many years, only need relaxing to make perfect specimens. The
usual way of sending horned heads home from abroad is to leave the
skins attached to the skull, and the consequence is, that at the
various points of attachment the skin is improperly cured (often with
the--worse than--useless arsenic), and if they escape the inevitable
knocking about they receive in travelling, and get to England in fair