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.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SPORTSMEN'S TROPHIES.
As our game becomes scarcer I believe there will be more demand for the preservation of the sportsman's trophies than in the days of abundance now past. Then only a phenomenally rare or large or freakish example seemed to warrant the trouble and expense of putting in the taxidermist's hands. Now the souvenir of a good day's sport or a memorable outing is deemed well worth keeping.
Heads, horns, skins for floor or hangings and fish and game panels for the dining room walls have always been in high favor with sportsmen. So also are unique articles of use and decoration for the home. The naturalist sportsman whose trips are, from force of circumstances, only local can in a short time make a splendid showing by preserving such good types of game as he may procure.
In mounting birds as hanging dead game it is well to hang the specimen before skinning, in the position wished and if possible sketch it so, at least impress its appearance well on the memory. The main points of the process are the same as for ordinary mounting. There are, however, a few exceptions which I will mention.