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.

CHELONIA: _Turtles_.--Go where you will in the warm regions of the earth, you are almost certain to find representatives of this order. In the tropics the species are very numerous, highly interesting, and often of commercial value. Many a time your own hunger will be appeased by a tender steak of green turtle or loggerhead, or a terrapin stew, or a "soft-shell" fried in batter, or a peck of terrapin eggs dug out of the sand, fresh and otherwise. The rare and hideous mata-mata of South America will make you a good meal, and afterward bring you in $25 in hard cash. The hawksbill, with the valuable "tortoise shell" upon his back, is "a thing of beauty" and "a joy forever," price, $15. Wherever you go collecting in the tropics or sub-tropics, turtles are your lawful prey.

_How to Kill a Turtle._--Mr. Lucas says the best way is to do it with chloroform, by tying a saturated cloth over the victim's head, and keeping it there until death ensues. This is undoubtedly the most merciful way, but somehow I never had the chloroform to spare. My plan was to do the killing in a short, sharp, and decisive onslaught with the knife. With a small, sharp saw (a dissecting saw with an adjustable back, for the small specimens), saw through the bridge which unites the shell of the back (carapax) with that of the under surface (plastron) at B, B (Fig. 19); then, with the quickest of work, divide the skin around the plastron, as shown by the dotted line A, A, A, A; with half a dozen quick strokes of the knife detach the plastron from the flesh of the body, and lift it up until the interior of the body is exposed. Except for the sawing through the shell, the rest is but the work of a moment. Now pierce the heart instantly, and cut the neck in two, which ends all pain at once. The only merit of this method of killing is that the victim is disposed of and put beyond the power of pain in about three or four minutes. Very often it is better to make an incision on the dotted line shown immediately behind the foreleg, and through this pierce the heart and lungs.

The dotted lines in the figure show all the opening cuts that are necessary. The skin is left attached to the front of the plastron for apparent reasons, but the plastron is turned up and over the head to completely expose the interior. In the case of a sea-turtle, which has the front limbs developed as broad, flat flippers instead of feet, the opening cut must extend on up the leg, quite out to the extremity of the flipper.

The animal's legs, tail, and neck are now skinned precisely as those of a mammal would be, with the exception that each of these members is detached from the body and pulled inward in order to turn the skin wrong side out. Of course all flesh is to be removed from the animal, precisely as with a mammal, and unless the skeleton is to be preserved, the shoulder girdles and pelvis may be cut out with the flesh and thrown away.

Having removed all flesh from the entire subject, wash it clean, and if it is not to be preserved in alcohol apply arsenical soap and alum to the skin, putting some of the latter on the outside as well as inside, and make up the skin otherwise as directed for dry skins of ordinary mammals. The neck, legs, and tail should have the right quantity of filling to prevent their shrinking and shrivelling up to the point of unsightliness. Remember that the specimen may remain as you preserve it, and be studied for years as a dry skin.

The box turtles are so constructed that when they desire to retire from the world nothing whatever save the hard shell remains exposed. They cannot be opened up as described above. It is necessary to meet their wants by simply sawing a big rectangular section out of the plastron, leaving only a rim remaining, and through the hole thus made the animal can be skinned, and also stuffed when the time comes.