During the busy collecting season, rough skeletons may be made by removing skin, viscera, and as much muscle as possible, covering the body with the arsenic-alum powder, and allowing it to dry, when the specimen may be wrapped in paper and laid away for future use. To prepare skeletons for the cabinet, remove as much of the fleshy parts as possible, and boil the bones until the remaining flesh is softened and can be easily removed. Then boil in water in which a piece of lime as large as a hen's egg has been dissolved. Remove, dry, and if necessary wire.
Another way recommended is to remove all the soft parts, and scald the hard parts in boiling water containing a few drops of hydrochloric acid. Leave the bones in this solution for ten minutes, wash, and boil in plain water until all the muscle, etc., is softened. Clean this away with a brush or by a stream of water. Boil in a strong solution of soda, wash with soap and water, and when perfectly clean, dehydrate with boiling alcohol (Junker). Skeletons should be mounted on wires fixed in a wooden standard painted black.