SKULLS AND SKELETONS.
While the preparation of skeletons for the cabinet is sometimes
undertaken by the general taxidermist it is more often the work of a
trained osteologist. Collectors in the field are often asked to preserve
rough skeletons of desirable varieties and the skulls at least should be
preserved with the skin of each quadruped taken for mounting.
A specimen with a damaged or imperfect skin may yield a good skeleton
and in the case of something very rare both the skin and skeleton may be
mounted separately. This process is one calling for a skilled 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 prevented.
The solution of formaldehyde can be used for this purpose but is not as
good as it toughens the flesh, making its future removal more difficult.
The complete cleaning of a skeleton is a matter of much soaking and
scraping, calling for much patience and a strong stomach. Ligamentary
skeletons of the smaller birds and animals are often prepared and
mounted by the non-professional with fair success.
The entire specimen is cleaned of all flesh without disconnecting any of
the bones except the skull and the leg of all but the smallest species.
The spinal cord is replaced with a brass or galvanized wire of suitable
size and length; this should project enough to penetrate a piece of cork
fitted to the cavity of the skull. If the leg bones were removed they
should be fastened back in place by drilling small holes through them at
the joints, inserting a piece of brass wire and clinching the ends over.
The skeleton is hung by cords or threads in a frame of wooden strips, so
the feet will rest on the base, and then arranged in some natural
attitude, holding the parts in place until the ligaments are fully dry
by means of pins, threads and strips of cardboard.
The finished skeleton had best be supported on its pedestal by two metal
rods with a U shaped fork at their upper ends which will clasp the
vertebrae just in front of the hind legs and back of the head. These
rods should be of brass or galvanized iron gilded and their lower ends
are either threaded and provided with two nuts, or bent at right angles
and stapled to the under side of the mount. Bird skeletons are treated
in a similar way, but the wing bones need a supporting wire fastened to
the back bone and a single standard. The smaller birds and animals up to
the size of a small squirrel may be skeletonized and mounted without
metal supports.
A ligament which gives way may be replaced by some fibres of raw cotton
saturated with glue. While cleaning the bone for a ligamentary skeleton
it should be kept damp until it is given the final attitude. Water with
a few drops of carbolic acid should be used for this. A bath with
chloride of lime solution will help to whiten the bones, though very
greasy ones call for an application of benzine.
Fish, reptiles, etc., demand about the same treatment. The large birds
and quadrupeds are usually cleaned bone by bone, and each joint
articulated in the laboratory, though their preservation in the field as
rough skeletons require similar methods.
The main rule in collecting skeletons is to never, never lose a bone or
anything of a bony nature attached to the specimen.