It is quite a task to skin a ten-foot saurian properly, and to preserve the skin so successfully that none of the scales will slip off when the time comes for the skin to be softened and stuffed. My method, which I have practised successfully with the skins of eleven species of crocodiles and alligators, is as follows: For the sake of science in general, and the taxidermist in particular, measure the crocodile carefully and record the dimensions. Divide the skin along the under side, following the median line from the throat to the tip of the tail, in one long, straight cut. Beginning at the end of each middle toe, divide the skin along the bottom of the foot and the under side of the leg, up to the point where the leg joins the body, but no farther. Then begin at the edges of the first cut, and skin as far down the sides of the body as possible. When the legs are reached, detach them from the body at hip and shoulder without cutting the skin, and continue on round the body until the backbone is reached and the skin entirely detached. Sever the head from the neck at the first cervical vertebra without cutting the skin. Skin out the tongue and remove the flesh from the palatal apertures and various cavities of the head. Skin each leg by turning the skin wrong side out until the toes are reached. Leave all the bones of each leg attached to each other and to the skin itself at the toes, but cut away the flesh carefully, the same as in skeletonizing. Remove from the skin as much as possible of the flesh which will be found adhering to it. When the skin is thoroughly clean, immerse it in a strong bath of salt and water, and allow it to remain twenty-four to thirty hours. Then take it out, rub the inside and the leg bones thoroughly with strong arsenical soap, after which apply powdered alum liberally over the inner surface, so that not a single spot is missed. Then hang the skin up by the head (no danger of stretching in this case), and allow it to dry in the wind and _shade_. When almost hard and stiff, take it down and fold it up as carefully as if it were a Sunday coat, so that it can be packed in a box of ordinary dimensions.
Of course small crocodiles, and the skins of larger ones not exceeding six feet in length, can best be preserved in alcohol, as already described for lizards. Full instructions for "roughing out" skeletons will be found in Chapter XXXVII. I will only add to this paragraph the suggestion that of all the objects that a collector can gather, nothing so well repays in every way the time and labor spent upon them as a few large, well-made, and sufficiently hideous skins of crocodilians. They are at once big, ugly, awe-inspiring, and marketable. The general public is very fond of horrible animals from far-distant countries, and I always gave it crocodiles galore.