It surely is superfluous to say that every skeleton must be carefully and fully labeled, and in a substantial way.
Fishes.—This subject has been treated in Chapter IX. (Collecting Fishes).
Skeletonizing Cetaceans.—The rough skeleton of a cetacean—porpoise, blackfish, whale, and the like—is the bloodiest, greasiest, nastiest specimen the collector ever has to prepare. Nevertheless, they are necessary evils, and fortunately their structure is so simple that their roughing out is not a difficult matter. The vertebral column terminates in a point, there being no bones in the flukes of the tail, or the dorsal fin. The best way to operate is to split the body open along the middle of the back all the way from head to tail, and carve the flesh away until you reach the vertebral column, and after that the ribs.
The vertebral column must be cut in two in two or more places, according to its size. Midway between the last pair of ribs and the tail, and underneath the vertebral column, lie two very useless and absurd little ossifications known as the pelvic bones. They are called pelvic bones because that happens to be a handy name. They bear about as much resemblance to a genuine pelvis as a cigarette does to a locomotive. They are so small that it takes an expert with a search-warrant to find them, and, for my part, I always consider their loss a real gain to the cause of science. Of course the scapula and flipper, the ribs and the sternum, must each in turn be cut away, cleaned as well as possible, and bundled up to go with the head and the three sections of the vertebral column.
Packing Skeletons.—All rough skeletons, skulls, etc. (as well as all skins) must be thoroughly dry when packed, or they will sweat, soften up, smell offensively, and spoil any dry skins, or other perishable objects that may be packed with them. Skeletons should always be packed in tight boxes, so that rats and mice cannot get into them and gnaw the small bones. Tie some soft material over the teeth of separate skulls to save them from getting broken. Put the largest skeletons and skulls at the bottom, and use hay, straw, or excelsior for filling. Of course the small and fragile specimens will be put in the protected corners and crevices between the larger objects, and, as before remarked, dry skeletons that have been made up into compact bundles will stand a very considerable amount of pressure without breaking.
Collecting Fossil Skeletons.—The vertebrate zoologist glories in the skeleton of almost any living species of vertebrate, but a fossil skeleton he fairly worships. The more of previous theories it upsets, the dearer it is. If it is a reptile with feathers on its tail, a bird with teeth, or a scientific what-is-it, as was the gigantic megatherium, it is simply canonized. Beware, then, red-handed hunter of living species, how you recklessly pass by a bit of bone protruding from a "cut bank" beside some stream, for you know not the day and the hour when you may touch elbows with His Mysterious Highness, the Missing Link.
The tertiary deposits of the United States contain the fossil remains of many magnificent vertebrates, impossible even to mention here. Very often huge bones and tusks of the mastodon are unearthed in well or ditch digging, and before they receive proper attention are exposed to the air and allowed to crumble into dust in a few hours. If a fossil bone is very soft when dug up, it will crumble in a short time unless properly cared for. If this is likely to be its fate, cover it up again without delay, to keep the air from it until you are ready to preserve it. To accomplish this, prepare a kettle of glue water (simply hot water with a little glue dissolved in it) and wrap the bone tightly from end to end with an abundance of twine. Then with a ladle or large spoon pour the glue water over the bone or tusk, gradually, but continuously, so that it will soak in, and when dry, it will bind together the weak material and form a hard shell of some thickness and protect the form of the bone intact. This will often save a fossil which would otherwise fall into countless tiny fragments in a few hours.
If a skeleton or portion thereof is embedded in a matrix of hard rock, do not attempt to work it out fully in the field. That is work for the laboratory—and a very good one at that, sometimes requiring costly tools, much skill, and plenty of time to chip away the surrounding rock.
Oftentimes the fossil remains of a fish, small reptile, or mammal are uncovered bodily by the removal of the slab of rock which has covered it for ages, like a blanket. In such cases do not attempt to pick the bones, one by one, out of their resting-place, but procure the necessary tools, cut out the entire slab of rock which contains the skeleton, and keep it in one piece forever. Such specimens have a good market value in cash, which will well repay the care and labor bestowed upon them; but at the same time a novice should not make the very common mistake of supposing that a fossil which is new to him must necessarily be worth its weight in gold. If you wish to sell any good fossils, you will get a fair valuation by offering them to Professor Henry A. Ward, Rochester, N.Y.