Translations:Benutzer:Arian/Klett-Mini-Test/1464/en

The Preparation of the Oak Bark

In September we procure the bark of an oak grown, if at all possible, within the farm precincts, and a skull — preferably of an animal kept on the farm (Figure 29). In the case of older oaks with deeply fissured bark, it is advisable to scrape away the outermost, often lightly mossed layer with a drawknife and use only the younger bark layers lying beneath. The mass, already somewhat crumbling as it is stripped, is then chopped altogether into a friable, crumbly structure. From the domestic animal skull, after slaughter, the brain is removed through the foramen magnum, along with any remaining traces of flesh and skin still adhering to the outside. One then uses the upper part of the skull and fills the cranial cavity — through this very opening of the occipital bone through which the nerve cord of the spinal column passes into the cerebellum — with the bark mass. The opening is closed with a splinter of skull bone and sealed with clay.