taxidermy by leon l. pray _illustrated_ [illustration: outing handbooks] number 47 [illustration] new york outing publishing company mcmxvi * * * * * copyright, 1913, by outing publishing company all rights reserved * * * * * contents chapter page i. tools and materials 9 ii. preparing and mounting a bird 19 iii. skinning, preparing, and mounting a small mammal 45 iv. preparing and mounting game fishes and small reptiles 65 v. preparing and mounting a virginia deer head 87 vi. preparing and mounting a coyote 107 tools and materials taxidermy chapter i tools and materials the art of taxidermy, with its many methods of application, has furnished subject-matter for numerous books, most of these treating the subject in exhaustive style, being written primarily for students who desire to take up the work as a profession. it is the present author's purpose to set forth herein a series of practical methods suited to the needs of the sportsman-amateur who desires personally to preserve trophies and specimens taken on days spent afield with gun or rod. the lover of field and gun may spend many fascinating hours at his bench, preparing, setting up, and finishing specimens of his own taking. besides, the pursuit of this art will afford an amount of remuneration to the amateur who takes it up in a commercial way, doing work for others who have neither the time nor inclination for preparing their own specimens. the chief requisites for the beginner in taxidermy are joy in working out detail and a moderate amount of patience. as suitable tools are the primary consideration in contemplating any work in taxidermy, a simple list follows. in this list no heavier work than the mounting of a virginia deer head is dealt with. this outfit will be found practical for general light use: a pocket-knife, one or two small scalpels, a kitchen paring-knife, an oil stone and can of oil, a hand drill, a fine fur-comb, one bone scraper, one small skin-scraper, one pair tinners' shears, one pair five and one-half inch diagonal wire cutters, one pair (same length) bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, one pair small scissors, two or three assorted flat files, one hollow handle tool holder with tools and little saw, one good hand-saw, one hack-saw, one upholsterer's regulator, one pair fine tweezers (such as jewelers use), one claw hammer, an assortment of round and furriers' needles, one or two darning needles, a sack needle, and an assortment of artists' small bristle and sable brushes (both round and flat). make your own stuffing rods, out of any size iron wire, by hammering flat one end of a suitable length, filing teeth into the flat face thus made, and then bending a loop handle on the other end. this type of rod is easily curved or straightened to suit every need. those not wishing to buy at once the complete outfit named above will find that they can do good small work to start on with the aid of a pocket-knife, a pair of scissors, a pair of bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, needles and thread, cord, a pair of tweezers, a hammer and saw, and small drill set. suitable materials follow the tools in order. arsenic is needed for the preservation of all specimens against moths. this is most effective when used in solution, which is made as follows: first dampen the arsenic powder with alcohol to saturate it quickly, when water is added. place the arsenic in a large metal pail and to one-half pound of the powder add two gallons of water. boil hard and steady over a good fire until the arsenic is completely dissolved. place the solution thus made in an earthenware jar with closed cover, plainly marked "poison," and keep out of reach of children. allow solution to cool before applying to skins. do not use the pail that the solution was made in for anything else. when using arsenic-water grease your hands with a little tallow, rubbing well under and around finger-nails and wiping the hands partially dry so that none of the grease will soil fur or feathers. this precaution will keep the arsenic from entering your skin. wash the hands with soap powder and a nail brush after work. apply arsenic-water with a brush, or a cotton-and-wire swab, to all inner surfaces of specimen skins. carbolic acid (best to procure u. s. p. pure crystals if possible) is needed for use in dilute form for relaxing dried skins. this prevents decay and does not injure the specimen skin. a few drops of the dissolved crystal to a quart of water is sufficient. keep carefully labeled and in a safe place. following is a list of the materials needed for general light work: a quantity of fine excelsior, fine tow and cotton batting, a quantity of various sizes of galvanized soft steel wire, an assortment of colored, enameled artificial eyes (procure a taxidermist's supply-house catalog and from this order your special tools and sizes and colors of eyes needed), a jar of liquid cement, dry glue (for melting up for papier-mache), dry paper pulp, plaster of paris, venetian turpentine, boiled linseed oil, boracic acid, some refined beeswax, a little balsam-fir, white varnish, turpentine, alcohol, benzine and a student's palette of tube oil colors (such as vermilion, rose madder, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow middle, zinc white, cobalt blue, french ultramarine blue, and viridian). plastic compositions of papier-mache are essential, especially in mammal and game-head work, for properly finishing the details of ears, face, and feet of specimens after the body has been filled. these are applied partly as a last detail before mounting and partly after the figure is set up. compo. no. i is practical for all-around use. take one-third hot melted glue and two-thirds flour paste (thick and thoroughly cooked). to this add a little boracic acid, a little arsenic powder, a very little of venetian turpentine, a quantity of gray building-paper pulp (soak paper and squeeze and beat up even and then squeeze water out). to furnish a body to this mass, stir in dry white lead until middling thick. beat the whole well together. when carried so far this compo. is a powerful adhesive medium and may be employed to stick tanned deer scalps to mannikins, and ear skin of same to the lead cartilages. compo. no. ii is no. i with fine plaster of paris added until of the consistency of modeling clay or a trifle stiffer. this makes it ready for filling ear butts, eye sockets, noses, and feet for modeling into permanent shape. sets by drying. compo. no. iii is for monkey faces, vulture heads, lizards, turtles, etc. this composition dries very slowly and must be touched up now and then while drying, to preserve the details without warping. when dry it is like stone and holds the skin firmly. take gray paper-pulp, hot melted glue (quantity according to amount of compo. needed), a little boracic acid (to prevent decay of glue), boiled linseed oil (fifty per cent. less than glue), a little arsenic powder (to prevent dermestes from eating into work), and to this mass add whiting until desired stiffness for modeling under skin is obtained. beat and rub to an even smoothness and stop adding whiting at point where compo. is thick but still very sticky. rub some of the compo. into inner surface of skin to be finished with it or skin will not take hold of mannikin or compo. to stay. after modeling is finished under the skin apply linseed oil on outside and repeat this application several times during the period of drying. watch and remodel details if any distortion attends the drying process. fine fleshy wrinkles and skin details can be worked out with this compo. it will hold a thin raw skin where it is put, but is not practical under fur or feathers. compo. no. iv may be used with wire netting or rough board as a base for making earth bases, imitation rock stands, etc. take one-third hot melted glue, two-thirds flour paste, a quantity of paper pulp, a small amount of boiled linseed oil, a very little of venetian turpentine, boracic acid, and arsenic. thicken to modeling consistency with plaster of paris, coloring by adding some dry raw umber or lamp black and burnt umber. surface the bases made of this compo. by pressing sand, gravel, or forest mold into the face and when dry shake off the loose material. touch up with tube colors, as desired, and when this is dry apply a very thin varnish and turpentine finish to bring out a natural damp look. a foreword as to care of mountable specimens in the field may save a great amount of cleaning of mussed skins in the shop. all shot or bullet holes should be immediately plugged with cotton when specimens are taken. take a little cotton along in your hunting coat for this purpose. in birds plug also the mouth, nostrils, and vent to prevent escape of juices into plumage. a small sharpened twig will serve to place the plugs. slip the bird head first into a paper cone for carrying. mussed or blood-stained specimens should not necessarily be discarded. look them over first. many such specimens may be cleaned very easily and come out in the finish as nearly perfect as others that appeared much better at the start. [illustration] preparing and mounting a bird chapter ii preparing and mounting a bird with tools and materials assembled and table in readiness, we come to the real work and, in the order of things, will address the preparing and mounting of a fresh bird specimen. to many people of long experience in the art of taxidermy this task never ceases to be a delightful operation, one of the pleasantest of many interesting bits of work that may result from a day spent afield. figuratively, the specimen lies before us, upon the bench. make it any native bird your fancy desires. the following notes will be found to cover the ground: a pencil and a sheet of wrapping paper will first be brought into service. with these make outlines of the specimen, top and side views, laying the bird upon the paper and drawing the pencil around it while looking straight down upon it. after the skinning, outline the body, top, and side views, upon same sheet, with position of shoulder joint, hip joint, knee, and tail marked in black spots. this system of wrapping paper sketches will be found of great value in all work, from mounting a bird to setting up a deer head. [illustration: fig. 1.] to begin skinning, lay the bird upon a newspaper, head to left of you, on the bench. have cornmeal handy. part the belly and breast feathers up middle. with a scalpel make an incision (see fig. 1) from within one inch of front end of breast bone back to a quarter-inch forward of the vent in large birds, and to the vent in small ones. use care not to cut through abdominal wall, which is usually very thin and may easily be confused as a part of the skin, being closely bound to it. the two are easily separated, however. the primary incision made, lift an edge of the skin with finger and thumb nail and carefully tear skin free from body, using scalpel when necessary to help. when thigh of a leg is exposed, take hold of leg outside of skin and push knee forward so it is uncovered inside of skin. sever knee joint with scalpel or scissors, using care not to cut through skin on outside of joint. repeat on other leg. apply cornmeal or fine sawdust if blood or juice starts. next set bird on end, tail up. bend tail over backward and cut through vent lining, tail muscles, and vertebrae forward of the large quills. use care not to cut skin around tail, as at knee. with bird still held on end, start peeling skin down over back and sides. use scalpel if skin adheres tightly. when pelvis is uncovered, if a small bird, take rump between two forefingers and thumb of left hand; if a large bird, hang up on a wire hook and cord, and skin down to shoulders. press wings forward strongly to loosen joint muscles. cut through one shoulder joint and then other, going carefully as at knee and tail, so as not to cut skin on opposite side. plug with cotton or dry with meal wherever necessary to stop flowing blood. next peel the neck skin down over head to bill, pulling out ear linings when met with and using care to work close to skull when cutting eyelids free. when this is done, cut off base of skull. with this the skin is free from the body and inside out. if the specimen is of a species with neck skin too small to peel over the head, turn head and neck back right side out when neck is only partly skinned down. make an incision from middle of back of head down nearly half length of neck, alongside where nape is bare of feathers. through this incision turn and clean the head. with the skin removed, turn attention to details of cleaning away leg, wing, and tail muscles, removing eyes, brain, and jaw muscles from skull and scraping out whatever fat is in the skin. to clean leg bones, skin out the thick, meaty shins, using thumb nail and scalpel to aid where necessary, down to heel joint or upper end of tarsus. just above this joint sever the tendons, front and back, and peel leg muscles off. in owls skin on down the tarsus to as near foot, or toes, as possible and clean out tarsus muscles. in large birds, next split ball of foot, insert point of a steel spindle under base of tarsus tendons beside hind toe and draw these cords out. this will sometimes require a strong pull. always do this after the leg above has been cleaned. in small birds it is not necessary to split ball of foot nor to remove these tendons. next remove the wing muscles. peel skin down to elbow. cut tendons free just above elbow and strip muscles off. to clean forearm in a small bird, use the thumb nail to shove skin forward toward wrist, on front of wing, without breaking union of large, secondary flight feathers with wing bone. with scalpel cut and lift out elbow ends of forearm muscles, strip them out down to as near wrist as possible and cut off. in a large bird, split skin of forearm and hand along under side after carefully separating feathers over bare strips of skin. peel skin back both ways and remove flesh neatly. scrape out whatever flesh is in evidence on hand bones in same way. in a bird with no fat adhering to the skin, the skull and tail only remain to be cleaned in order to complete the skinning operation. to clean skull, remove eyes with a scalpel, scrape brains out through cut-off skull base, and trim away jaw muscles and a portion of roof of mouth. to clean tail, peel it out carefully and scrape and cut away fat and meat adhering to bone and base of quills. if you have a specimen with fat adhering to the skin in more or less loose patches, as in hawks and owls, simply scrape or peel the fat off with a knife and thumb and finger. if a fat duck skin is to be prepared the inside layer of skin over the fat tracts must be sheared off carefully with scissors and the fat then removed with a skin scraper or dull knife blade, care being exercised not to tear the outer skin or to pull through feathers with the grease. to clean and degrease a bird skin which requires such treatment to prepare for mounting, wash it first in lukewarm ammonia water with mild soap. squeeze from this washing and put through a bath of half-and-half alcohol and spirits of turpentine. squeeze from this thoroughly and run through benzine. compress and relax the skin repeatedly while immersed in both these baths. when squeezed from the benzine, dry the plumage by first burying the skin for some minutes in dry plaster of paris. when nearly all the moisture is drawn out dust skin in the plaster until natural fluffiness is restored. do this last out of doors, where the skin may be beaten well when thoroughly dry, to free it of plaster dust. lay skin, right side out, over the left hand and beat with the right, giving an occasional shaking, the better to loosen plaster dust. [illustration: fig. 2.] an a1 duster may be made from the brush of an ox tail. nail this on a short piece of broomstick and square ends of hair with scissors. this duster is used instead of beating the plumage with the hand and does the work much quicker and better. when the dusting is done turn the skin inside out again (see fig. 2) and brush arsenic-water into all inner surfaces, then turn skin right side out and brush a little of the solution upon the feet, under side of wings, and inside the bill. when poisoning the head, with skin inside out, one step in preparation for mounting is to be taken. after the arsenic-water is applied to skull and scalp, fill eye sockets with chopped tow or fine excelsior, put a light layer of cotton smoothly around the skull, forward edge close down to bill. turn skin carefully back over skull and finish poisoning skin. it is best, if possible to do without risk of decay, to fold the freshly prepared skin in a clean paper, wrap in damp cloth, and lay over one night in a cool place, before mounting. this allows arsenic-water to penetrate through into base of plumage, thus becoming more effective against moths than if skin were immediately filled with absorbent material which would tend to draw out the freshly applied solution. with the skin preparation completed, construction of an artificial body is the next step. in all bird work, upholstery excelsior or "wood wool" will be found most satisfactory for body making and neck, wing, and leg wrapping. this may be found at almost any upholstery shop, as is also tow, a fine grade of which is needed in making bird necks, as chopped, soft filling, etc. a good grade of long-fiber cotton is needed for wrapping skulls and wing and leg bones in small birds, etc. various sizes of strong thread, both black and white, and some small, strong, ball twine will be needed for wrapping and sewing. when making the artificial body, lay the outline sketches before you and copy nature's lines throughout the work of assembling the specimen. to make a firm core for the body, take a thick wisp of excelsior twice the length of the natural body and small or large according to specimen. hold this tightly in the left hand, wrapping it very hard with thread or cord. wrap the squeezed excelsior where it protrudes from between thumb and forefinger of left hand, drawing cord tight at each round, paying out the wisp until all is wrapped hard (see fig. 3). [illustration: fig. 3.] now double this "stick" of excelsior in the middle and bind it together tightly. this forms a solid core the length of the body. the body is finished around this base by firmly binding upon it wisps or handfuls of loose excelsior until the shape of the natural body is approximated. to be correct this form should appear oval from side view and pear-shaped from end view (see fig. 4). [illustration: fig. 4.] all body wrapping must be firm so that wires set in it will not be loose and cause the specimen to wobble. next cut the neck, wing, and leg wires. cut neck wire three times natural length, wing wires twice natural length, and leg wires three times natural length. in the neck use a size wire that will support the head firmly and still be easy to manipulate. if the wings are to be closed, use light wire in them. if to be spread, use strong wire to support with no wobbling. in the legs use as large wire as will go easily through the tarsus and not rip the skin open, to insure rigidity in the finished specimen. use galvanized soft steel wires if possible. if ordinary black iron wire is used it should be waxed before placing. for the tail cut one wire of a length to go half way through the body and leave enough protruding to allow of handily setting tail into position. cut six or eight medium wires, twice length of thickness of body, for wing pinning and feather wrapping, if either or both of these are found necessary. make cornered points on wires. sharpen neckand wing-wires at both ends, leg, tail, and pinning-wires at one end. [illustration: fig. 5.] to set neck-wire in body, thrust it in a little above center of larger end of body, run it diagonally through and out at middle back (see fig. 5). push two-thirds its length out of back, loop one-third back along its own length and push it back through body so that both ends protrude, shorter end beneath other in front. bend the short end squarely and force it into front of body to anchor neck-wire firmly in place. consult note sketch and wrap a soft neck of natural size upon the wire (see fig. 6). leave head end of neck a little bit long to set into brain cavity for solid anchorage. for neck material use cotton in small birds, tow in medium size, and fine excelsior in large birds. only excelsior will need tying down with thread or cord. [illustration: fig. 6.] to make cords in nape of neck, which support the mane, thread a large sewing needle with heavy thread for small birds, a darning needle with string for larger. double the cord and knot its end heavily. run the needle through ridge of body just back of shoulders, carry cord to a little below where skull will set to and run cord through neck from back to front so it will protrude between jaws when they are set (see fig. 7). [illustration: fig. 7.] let long end of cord hang free so that it may be passed through the mouth when skull is set on neck-wire. with this done, lay aside the body. [illustration: fig. 8.] the next step is wiring the wings and legs and substituting muscles of same. to place a wing-wire draw the wing inside out. take wing bone in left hand. place point of wire under small tendon that draws across back of elbow joint, push through and up to wrist. turn wing right side out and by parting feathers on under side of wrist, locate two points of bone at joint which have a cord or tendon drawn across between them. work the wire through under this. the simplest way to anchor tip of wing-wire is to push it outside skin just forward of wrist, turn a short right angle bend near its tip with pliers and carrying it forward, push the point through a hollow pan which will be found in the hand bones (see fig. 8). after a wing-wire is set, wrap cotton, tow, or excelsior about the upper arm-bone to approximate shape and size of flesh removed. wrap slightly with thread or cord and tie. in a small bird in which the forearm was skinned out from the inside, slip in a film of cotton or tow to replace flesh of same. in a large bird in which the wing was opened along forearm and hand, lay in a soft filling after skin is in place on artificial body and sewn up. sew wing incision carefully, beginning at body and keeping feathers out of stitch. to place the leg-wires, start sharpened end into ball of foot, push wire upward through back of leg to hock or heel joint. take leg in left hand, keeping heel straight, and push wire through at back of joint. a little turning of the wire will aid in passing through leg easily. now turn leg inside out and push wire to just beyond end of shin bone (see fig. 9). slip wire rapidly back and forth in leg to make it run easily. there should be no kinks in wires. [illustration: fig. 9.] hold wire down to back of bone and wrap on cotton, tow, or excelsior, according to size of bird, to replace flesh. tie this material loosely with a few turns of thread or cord. see that wing and leg wrapping is smooth and nicely tapering from elbow and heel. it now remains to place the body, set wings and legs and tail, sew up the breast incision, and, if a large bird, the wings. in preparing to place the body, take a turn of end of nape cord about tip of neck-wire and twist a wisp of cotton about them both to prevent wire catching in neck skin when passing through. hold up the bird-skin by the head, shake it out loose and rattle neck-wire up through the neck. run wire out of mouth, remove cotton and release free end of nape cord. draw wire back to base of skull, leaving nape cord hanging from mouth. now push wire through brain cavity, between eye sockets and forward out of roof of mouth inside until neck is seated in brain cavity. tip of wire may have to be curved to accomplish this, in curve-billed birds. when head is set take excelsior body in right hand, hold it with head up, and with left hand pull shoulder skin into place. now lay the bird down, take a wing-wire and start it through the body at side of back, one-half to one and one-half inches, according to size of bird, to rear of actual position of shoulder joint. pull wire through on opposite side of breast. when head of wing-bone is drawn down to same distance as above, from body, bend wire sharply forward to lay upon body, thus setting shoulder joint so that it is flexible. now turn over end of wire left protruding from side of breast and clinch it into body squarely. when wings are set shake skin down over body and set legs. having previously marked the hip joint with a spot of ink, run a leg-wire through at this point, quartering it out on opposite side where thigh will set. pull wire through to a considerable length without drawing other end up into the foot. loop sharp end squarely, with long enough point to go clear through body again, push it back through, clinching tip down on other side. now pull the knee to its proper distance from hip joint, thus leaving bare wire for thigh bone. bend thigh into place flat against side of body, with knee at side of breast. when legs are set shake and carefully pull skin of rump into place. take tail-wire and push it through center of tail, under the bone, using care that it does not disturb tail quills. push sharp end of wire into body above center and forward of end of body. consult notes for actual set of tail. see that wire supports tail without looseness. (for general details of wiring, see fig. 10.) fill butt of tail and thighs with a little chopped tow. [illustration: fig. 10.] now lay the bird upon its back. turn the legs out at the sides a little, leaving knees against body. draw edges of skin together along incision and sew up with medium stitches, neither short and labored or long and slouchy. begin at rump end of incision. in a bird in which the neck was opened to accommodate skinning the head, sew up this incision carefully, beginning at body end and sewing toward head. when a large bird, in which the wings were opened for cleaning, is to be mounted with closed wings, very little sewing need be done, but if the wings are to be raised or spread the incision should be neatly stitched its entire length. also in a large bird, in which the tendons were drawn through ball of foot, the fatty tissue of the ball should be replaced with chopped tow and the short incision sewn up. beeswax will keep thread from fraying. with the sewing all done, bend the legs into semi-position, fold the wings, if to be closed, and turn them sharply up over the back so that their under side is outward and elbows meet over center of back. shake out the plumage a little by grasping the feet. drill the perch and mount the bird upon it. position the legs, body, and head, and set the tail as per nature, to suit the position. adjust the plumage a little with tweezers. compress the wings loosely to the sides. if there is an unnatural hollowness between the shoulders, lift the mane and at one side of it where the skin is bare, make a short longitudinal incision. through this place a little soft filling over and between the shoulders to fill out hollowness. it is not necessary to sew up this incision in a long feathered specimen. now settle down to the fascinating task of adjusting the feather tracts, nicely manipulating the plumage, in places feather by feather, until characteristic markings of the species are brought out in their normal position as though the bird had just ruffled and then allowed the feathers to settle back softly. jewelers' tweezers are the finest thing to be had for this work. return to the head. pull the nape cord taut and tie it to neck-wire in roof of mouth. cut off the wire within the mouth so that the mandibles close naturally. tie the bill shut with cord or thread. it is necessary in many specimens to thread the cord through the nostrils to accomplish this. to set the eyes, wipe a drop of liquid glue into the cotton of the eye sockets and inside the lids, using a bit of wire for the purpose. set the eyes with regard to expression to suit the position, picking the lids over their edges with needle and tweezers. pin, or tie with thread, the toes to grasp the perch. cut two pieces of thin cardboard for the tail. curve them slightly. place one over and one under the long quills just clear of the coverts and pin them through in two or three places to hold the quills even until dry. in mounting a specimen with spread wings, card the flight feathers full length with curved strips, same as tail, then run a long sharpened wire into the body under each wing and lay a loose bunch of cotton over it, under the quills, to raise them and hold in proper position until dry. to wrap the body feathers for keeping place until dry, stick two or three long pins in back and breast, along center of both. these hold the light wrapping of thread from slipping out of place as it goes on. lay the thread around the specimen lightly. if the wings do not set right without other aid than the wire already in them, pin them with sharpened wires, one through the double bone just forward of the wrist and one through close forward of the elbow, running wires firmly into the body. (for general details see fig. 11.) [illustration: fig. 11.] to soak up a dried bird skin for preparation to mount, the simplest and quickest means is immersion in a weak solution of carbolic acid in water, leaving for a day or two until tissues are soft. when the skin is relaxed so that wings and legs may be manipulated without breaking, squeeze water from it and follow same method given for cleaning a fresh skin. with this treatment a good dry skin will come out as soft and workable as a fresh one. arsenic and grease burnt skins are hard to get much out of. to make up dry bird skins for keeping to mount at a future time, follow regular method of thorough skinning and cleaning. apply dry arsenic powder to inner surfaces. wrap skull, wing, and leg bones lightly with cotton or tow. turn skin right side out and push a neck and light body filling of fiber that will allow ventilation, into place. arrange the plumage and hang the skin up by a thread or cord sewn through neck at base of skull. to make a cabinet skin for study purposes, roll a neat body and neck of material to suit size of bird, place it inside the skin, stitch incision together, plug eye sockets with cotton, tie the elbows together on the body with a loop sewn through the back, tie bill shut, adjust feathers neatly and lay the specimen in a hollowed bed made of a piece of wire netting bent to size. see that wings cover back neatly. lay head of short necked bird out straight, neck somewhat shorter than natural, and of long necked specimen along right side, looped to body with cord sewn through neck and side. cross the feet and tie with a tag bearing complete data as to locality, date, sex, etc., with collector's name. to determine sex of a bird specimen, open the abdomen under thigh. testes of male will be found under fore end of pelvis and are white, in young bird, very small. now when the period of drying is past, return to the mounted bird for finishing touches. with scissors cut the thread feather wrappings. pull out pins in back and breast and cut off wing pinning-wires flush under the plumage. if the specimen was primarily mounted on a rough temporary perch, remove to the finished permanent stand and color legs and fleshy, exposed parts of face skin to natural hues with tube oil colors and a soft brush. thin the color for this purpose with a little turpentine and a very little touch of varnish. in all work in taxidermy, practice develops deftness and a personal system of handling the details that cannot be brought about except by sympathetic attention to the art. the work is not difficult when the details are addressed with quiet thought and very little main strength. [illustration] skinning, preparing, and mounting a small mammal chapter iii skinning, preparing, and mounting a small mammal we will choose a gray squirrel as our subject in this chapter, as this little rodent has a tough skin that is easily manipulated. a cottontail rabbit might be more easy to procure, but is not so satisfactory for the purpose of initiative steps in this work, as his skin is extremely delicate and requires especially careful handling in preparation and mounting. now, in beginning work upon the small mammal specimen, make outline studies of it in same way the bird specimen was handled, _i. e._, both before and after skinning. when the preliminary surface sketches are completed, replace the wrapping paper used for the purpose, with newspaper, cornmeal at hand, and proceed with the skinning. have scalpel or skinning-knife well sharpened. lay head of specimen toward right. part fur over center of breast bone, insert point of knife just under skin, forcing backward, and with as near one clean stroke as possible open the skin neatly along center of abdomen. do not cut the abdominal wall. carry belly incision to close to the vent. in male specimen run the incision to one side of the testes. next insert point of knife in fore center of pad or feet and paws and with a gentle push carry these incisions upon back of wrists and inside of ankles to where swell of large muscles is felt. in mammals the size of woodchuck or raccoon, split toes on under side. if a mammal skin is to be kept for some time, dried or in brine, split the tail full length along under side. if tail skin slips easily and the specimen is to be mounted at once, pull the tail out, splitting only the very tip to allow arsenic solution to be run through. in many species the tail must be split and peeled out with a knife because of tough binding. (for general diagram of incisions, see fig. 12.) [illustration: fig. 12.] the next step in handily skinning a mammal is to peel out the feet through their incisions, severing toes at base and leaving them complete in the skin. peel the leg skins back over ankles and wrists (see fig. 13). [illustration: fig. 13.] if tail was split, peel it down next, beginning at tip. now return to the abdominal incision and neatly peel the skin from the body, in many instances using only the thumb nail for loosening it. when the thighs are encountered, bend hind legs back and sever hip joints from pelvis (see fig. 13), cutting carefully through the large muscles so that the skin on opposite side of them may not be punctured. when the hind legs are cut free, peel around back of pelvis, loosening skin to base of tail. set the specimen upon its head end and, with thumb and finger nails of left hand, grasp skin about the base of tail while with right hand strip tail out with force. next peel the body down to shoulders. hang large specimen up by cord tied about loins, the more handily to finish the skinning. sever the forelegs at shoulder joint (see fig. 14), using care not to cut through skin. [illustration: fig. 14.] peel skin down over neck to ears. cut ears free from head, working with knife close to skull. peel to eyes. in cutting the eyelids free, work close to eyeballs so that lids are not injured. peel to mouth and cut close to jaw bones in severing lips and nose from skull (see fig. 15). with the skin removed from the body, next peel out the legs. split inside of lips free with sharp knife, very carefully, so as not to break edge of them. [illustration: fig. 15.] with scissors shear out all mouth and nose meat, being careful not to cut off the whisker pockets, which are usually very prominent when the side nose muscles are partly sheared off. skin out the backs of the ears clear to edges by pressing a finger tip inside the ear and peeling over this with finger nail or other dull instrument. with scissors shear off meat of butt of ear and whatever meat and fat adheres to rest of skin. in sketches of skinned body mark points of shoulder joint and hip joint and note width of pelvis at hip joints. remove the skull from the carcass and clean it by cutting and scraping away all meat, pulling out the eyeballs, and scooping out the brain. for the purpose of mounting, the base of the skull may be cut off to facilitate cleaning, but for study (cabinet) skins the skull must be kept intact and always accompany by number the skin it was removed from. trim all meat from the leg bones and poison these and the skull when finishing preparation of the skin. add a few drops of carbolic acid, well stirred in to the arsenic water used upon skins of small mammals for mounting. this aids in preventing decay and slipping of the epidermis. apply the poison solution thoroughly with a brush, to all inner surfaces of the skin and to the toes. if tail was split only at the tip, run a few drops of arsenic water through it. turn the poisoned skin right side out, lay it flat, side pressed to side, roll up, place in paper, and cover with a damp cloth. lay in this way over one night, giving the arsenic solution a chance to penetrate through to roots of hair before mounting. if a specimen is bloody or mussed the blood may be cleaned off before skinning by wetting the spots with alcohol and rubbing the blood and juices out with cornmeal. the first step in mounting is properly to wire the skull and leg bones. (for details of this see fig. 16.) [illustration: fig. 16.] for the body-wire select a size larger than for the legs, cutting it twice as long as head, neck, and body. for legs choose a size wire that will firmly support the specimen in position without wobbling. if the mammal is to sit erect, the hind leg-wires must be considerably larger than otherwise and foreleg-wires may be much lighter. (making the pelvis loop may be easily followed in diagram in fig. 17.) [illustration: fig. 17.] the first body-wire loop is bent to set into the brain cavity. then the foreleg loop is made some little distance back of actual shoulder point (in fox-squirrel about an inch and a half or two inches). get distance from skull to hip joint from body sketch and follow this sketch for dimensions in bending wire pelvis into shape. the tail loop is last to be made. as fig. 16 shows, the leg-wires are wrapped tightly upon the back of the bones with thread or light cord, leaving shorter end of wire passing from sole of foot. at shoulder joint turn wire back sharply and at hip ball turn wire in at right angles. in palms and soles of feet turn wire down at right angles. when the bone wiring is completed take up again the body sketches. bring out a quantity of fine excelsior for replacing the leg muscles and skull meat and for filling the body after assembling the wired parts within the skin. in wrapping on the artificial leg muscles begin at the feet. follow the outline sketches and with thread and small cord wrap small, properly proportioned masses, squeezed firm in the hand or finger tips, upon the bones, copying nature's outline and form accurately. wrap the foreleg to the shoulders. complete the hind leg to the knee and above this point wrap on only the muscles on top of the thigh bone, leaving back of thigh to be filled with loose material when the skin is adjusted. the tail may be made of cotton, wrapped tightly and smoothly upon the wire, wisp by wisp. begin at tip and work down, spinning the wire with right hand to produce uniformity of shape. if mammal is larger than a squirrel the tail may be made of tow, pulled smooth, laid lengthwise of the wire, and wrapped smoothly down with thread. for size, length, and shape of tail, refer to the sketches. the head muscles may be replaced in much the same manner as leg muscles. (see fig. 18 for wrapping complete.) the specimen is now ready to assemble. [illustration: fig. 18.] to accomplish this in systematic order, insert the head into place and next the forelegs. consult sketch and bend a right angle in foreleg-wire back of shoulder at such a point that shoulder will set in proper relation to head. one at a time, using the pliers, twist these foreleg-wire ends, after setting them through shoulder loop, tightly back along the body-wire. next insert the hind legs into the skin. slip their wires through hip loops, carry them forward, and tightly twist them around body-wire as in forelegs. if the tail skin was unopened except at tip the wrapped tail should be put in when the head is placed in the skin. if tail skin was opened full length, the artificial tail may be placed after all the legs are adjusted. run tail-wire base forward through its pelvis-wire loop and twist it around body-wire. (for general assembling of specimen see fig. 19.) [illustration: fig. 19.] before filling the body, sew up the tail, using short stitches and a round needle, if it is possible to push it through skin easily. begin sewing at tip and work toward body. finish all sewing with a simple knot drawn tight under tip of finger. next, with a stuffing rod of appropriate size, place the neck filling, stuffing against palm of left hand hollowed outside the skin at point of filling so that the forming may be felt accurately. then comes the filling for shoulder blades over forelegs and with it the chest filling. in handling the excelsior, pull out wisps of it from the mass and rub them between the palms so that the fiber is broken up and softened. fine excelsior ("wood wool") is the material par excellence for stuffing the bodies of small mammals from size of small chipmunks up. mice require a softer material, and short chopped, fine tow answers requirements in them. the leg bones of mice may be wrapped with long fiber cotton batting or fine tow. when the shoulders and chest have been filled firm full, but not to the point of looking stuffed, turn to the hind legs and pelvis. fill in the back thigh muscles neatly; then cover top of wire pelvis, pushing material well down to base of tail. fill rump sufficiently to overcome a pinched or too high set look. the position must be considered in properly filling the back, sides, and abdomen. if a bunched up position is to be worked out, bend the wire back bone into semipose and place the legs in approximately their final position. after this, fill the body to suit the position, always forming with the stuffing rod working against the left hand. see that all filling is firm but not packed in to the point of distorting the skin. consult sketches and aim to preserve the little animal's natural form. (for general filling details see fig. 20) [illustration: fig. 20.] when the filling is all placed, sew the abdominal incision neatly up, beginning at rear end always and going forward. wax the thread. in a hunched together position, middling long stitches may be used. in a straighter pose shorter stitches should be used. now, when the body is sewn up cover the specimen with paper and a damp cloth to prevent drying while a small batch of compo. no. ii is prepared for finishing feet and head. returning to the specimen with this, slightly moisten the wrapping on the bones of the feet and apply a bit of the compo. at front and in the sole of each foot. this cements the toes to the foot and fills the pads. after this is done sew each foot up neatly, beginning at toes and working toward body. if toes were large and required splitting and removing of toe cords, replace the cords with bits of small rope or soft twine and sew toes up neatly with short stitches. it is best to use a round needle and black thread, well waxed for this work. the specimen is now ready to place upon its base, perch, or stand. with the approximate position shaped, mark the perch for wire holes by holding specimen over it and indicating places where wires come, by scratch or pencil mark. when holes are drilled and the specimen wired into place, take a strong fur needle set into a handle and by working and compressing with the fingers and jab-lifting with the needle, finish shaping and positioning. hold in hollow of flanks by sewing through here with long needle and strong cord, heavily knotted for the first hold. finish this sewing with a knot drawn down into the fur under the thumb. arrange the fur over all stitches by picking it free with tweezers. with the body finished, take up filling and finishing the head with the compo. first work compo. into the ears and pinch them out thin and into their natural shape, then cover the entire face under the skin with compo. fill eye sockets and set eyes as second step. lastly fill the nose and lips and model them firmly upon the jaws. in all mammals cover the teeth well with the lips. even in a muskrat the teeth do not ordinarily show at all. also avoid getting the lips, nose, and whisker base too full. set the tail into easy normal position, pin toes to grasp the perch or set well upon the ground and inspect the body to see that no hollow or bumps remain in the filling where there should be perfect smoothness. remove such of these as persist with the handle-held fur needle and then set the specimen in a well ventilated place to dry. the principal point in preparing thin or stretchy small mammal skins for mounting is to leave the membrane of skin-muscles on the body skin. this holds a flabby skin in shape and lends strength to a frail one. in spite of this the legs of most wild rabbits must be handled very gingerly, as they have no lining membrane like the body. for finishing mouth, nose, and eyelids of mounted mammals, melt a little refined beeswax in a metal vessel. while the wax is hot (don't allow it to smoke), stir in a little tube oil color (black or brown for most mammals; color to nature for birds with highly tinted eyelids). mix the wax and color thoroughly with a flat bristle brush. afterward the brush may be easily cleaned of the wax by breaking it up with alcohol, when it has cooled. next draw some wisps of fine, long-fiber cotton through the melted wax and lay them quickly flat upon oiled paper to cool. for lips of mammals cut narrow strips of the wax. heat an upholstering spindle and with it repeatedly heated, melt the wax and cotton into crease of closed lips. melt thin, flat pieces of the wax into depth of nostrils and very narrow strips in eyelids. when all the wax is placed, model it into shape with a smooth, wedge-ended bit of pine wood. to clean out wax that ran into the hair by melting, apply alcohol with a bit of cloth, scratch the waxy hair loose with finger nail and rub the crumbled wax out with the bit of alcohol dampened cloth. this leaves lips, eyelids, and nostrils neatly finished. apply thin varnish to nose, edge of eyelids, and bare parts of lips that show. for mounting a mammal with open mouth, follow same note given in making a whole head for rug. to make a small mammal cabinet skin, remove the skin as for mounting except that legs are severed at elbow and knee and soles of feet are split only to allow of poisoning. poison with dry arsenic. wire tail same as in mounting. wrap leg bones with cotton, tow, or excelsior according to size of specimen. turn the skin back over a core of one of these materials, wrapped upon a splinter or stick, to size of natural body, but somewhat flatter. sew up abdominal incision neatly. catch the lips together with two or three stitches. lay specimen, belly down, upon a soft-wood board. pin fore paws alongside of the face and hind feet alongside of tail. when this is done press specimen until it is slightly flattened and set aside to dry. with each specimen preserve the perfect skull when possible, date on which taken, locality, any note of interest observed at the time (and add collector's name). in using dry arsenic, apply with a small brush, using no grease on the hands. preparing and mounting game fishes and small reptiles chapter iv preparing and mounting game fishes and small reptiles for the purpose of mounting, fishes and reptiles must be fresh, and the fresher the better. in beginning this chapter it may be well to state a simple way to keep fish for a short period before skinning and mounting, as sportsmen afield will not always be able immediately to prepare specimens taken. first, while the fish is perfectly fresh, remove the viscera. if the fish is to be mounted upon a panel for wall decoration, make the incision along middle of poorest looking side, full length from gill to tail fin. if the specimen is to stand upon a pedestal of polished wood, with supporting rods from the belly, make the incision along center of belly full length. to prevent decay, stir three or four drops of forty per cent solution of formalin into a quart of water. squeeze a cloth from this, leaving it pretty moist, and wrap the fish in it, giving the wet cloth close contact with the skin. do not apply formalin inside any skin to be used for mounting. never eat the flesh of a fish thus kept. before skinning the fish, make careful outlines over him, both side and top views. when skin is removed make outlines of skinned carcass. handle a fish very carefully when skinning and cleaning, moving the specimen about or bending as little as possible during the entire operation. lay the head to your left. open the skin with scissors and make one long clean cut. lift edges of the skin and peel from flesh with a sharp knife or scalpel. cut off base of fins, when encountered, with scissors or bone snips. trim out most of skull with knife and bone snips, removing eyes from inside. be sure to scrape all flesh from cheek inside of gill cover. remove flesh and fat from inside of skin with scraper, working from tail toward head. scrape out with point of small knife blade the flesh that runs out thin over tail-fin bones. this completes the skinning operation. the cleaned skin may be poisoned to advantage with either dry or solution arsenic, brushed in well. if the specimen is opened on the side for panel mounting and we wish to follow a very simple method in mounting, one that is quite as practical as it is simple, we must take a different step than outline sketches before skinning. this is to make a complete body and head cast of the best side in plaster of paris. this does not include the fins. to make the cast neatly, lay the fish, best side up, in a slight hollow in a box of clean, damp sand. pack the sand up under the fish body smoothly so that more than half of him rises in cameo style from the smooth surface. make up enough plaster to do the cast at once. to mix plaster properly, sprinkle it into the dish of water until a little will begin to stand out dry above the surface. then with a spoon sunk deep in it, gently stir to evenness. it is then ready to pour. before doing this, jar the pan upon the table a time or two to cause any possible bubbles to rise. pour evenly over the fish, or better still, dip it on with the spoon. the plaster should be thick enough to barely flow for making a proper cast. the pectoral fins are simply laid flat to the side in making the cast. allow the cast to set hard before lifting it and removing the fish. trim off the overlapping edge so that no undercut remains. the cleaned and poisoned skin should lay in damp cloth over one night and is then laid in accurate place back in the cast. pour it nearly full of medium thick plaster of paris, carefully mixed free of bubbles. settle a board, cut to approximate body outline but much smaller, into the unset plaster and press the flap edges of the skin back together over the board, molding edge of back and belly to round back away from trimmed edge of mold. this must be all done with accuracy before the plaster sets, but you will find it gives enough time. do not work in a strung-up, nervous way. when the plaster is set hard, remove fish from mold, hold it upon palm of left hand and tack edges of skin to back-board. (for general details of this method see fig. 21). [illustration: fig. 21.] screw the specimen to a piece of board and adjust fins, carding them over little blocks and holding the cards with sharp toilet pins until drying is completed. see that the jaws set right. they should have gone into the mold in proper relation to each other. dig out the plaster in eye socket on show side and set eye in a little fresh plaster. a simple method of making a modelled mannikin for fish follows: have the freshly skinned body or sketches of same at hand. cut a soft-wood board core, making it some smaller than outline of carcass. [illustration: fig. 22.] anchor into this two rigid supporting wires or rods as shown in fig. 22. upon this board core wrap strongly and smoothly with thread or small cord a quantity of manila fiber to same shape of body but one-half to three-quarters inch smaller than the body. over this apply plaster of paris and manila fiber (dipping the fiber and laying it on) to approximate size of natural body. when this is set hard, pare it smoothly into outlines of natural shape and gouge out slight grooves for fin bases to set into. (see fig. 23.). [illustration: fig. 23.] mannikins of this type should be dried out as quickly as possible and shellaced before applying the skin. apply the fish skin with a paste of compo. no. i. card the fins as in fig. 24. fill the face through mouth and eyes with plaster of paris with a little chopped manila fiber worked into it. use a slight amount of glue in the water to prevent rapid setting of the plaster. hold face in place until set, with light wrapping of soft cord, using care that it does not crease soft parts. [illustration: fig. 24.] special fish eyes may be procured at any dealers in taxidermists' supplies. as the last detail of mounting, set the eyes. in all kinds of specimens use a size of eyes that pass through the lids easily without the need of stretching to admit them. a panel-fish needs but one eye as a rule. when the specimen is dry apply a coat of thin shellac as a filler to the surface to paint upon. this filler should be very thin and leave only a suggestion of gloss. use oil colors and apply as little pigment as may be used for the effect. kerosene oil is an ideal thinning medium for tube oil colors. have very little paint upon the brush when applying the tints to a fish or reptile skin. a suggestion of natural hues and markings will be found more satisfactory than painting them on heavily. in a day or two when the paint is dry apply a very thin coat of alcohol-cut picture varnish. turps-cut varnish is liable to loosen the paint, thus necessitating entire re-finishing. fasten a panel fish to the setting that is to frame him, with two screws at least, countersinking their heads in the panel back. the fish piece may be hung as a picture, with screw eyes and cord or it may be hung with one or two sheet metal slots countersunk into the panel back. this will allow the piece to be applied flat to any wall that will hold screws. large fishes mounted with rods for pedestal setting should have rods threaded at both ends for nuts. upper ends that support core board should be bent as shown in fig. 25. this figure also shows complete method of setting both rod and wire supports in body core and permanent stand. [illustration: fig. 25.] preparing and mounting a small hard shelled turtle for the purpose of skinning a hard shelled turtle (soft shelled species are best unattempted) the belly plate is sawed open as shown in fig. 26. a piece of hacksaw blade may be shaped and set into a firm handle with cross pegs of metal, for this purpose, or the small saw found in a hollow handle tool kit may serve. four corner holes must be bored by which to start the sawing, which, for ease in accomplishing, may be thus done upon straight lines. [illustration: fig. 26.] through the sawed opening remove the viscera. with scissors and bone snips, free the legs at their joints with the back shell, cut the neck and tail vertebrae free and pull all these members inside out through the opened shell. skin the head to well down behind the eye sockets, uncovering most of the jaw muscles and stopping where the skin and skull are joined directly on the crown. cut the neck off. clean out jaw meat, tongue, and brain. turn head right side out and with a stiff wire hook pull out the eyeballs. skin legs clear to toes and remove flesh cleanly from bones. skin tail out carefully. in many species this has to be split on under side to remove bone. dry the shell out with a bit of rag. poison well with arsenic water and let stand over one night, covered with a damp cloth. a simple method of mounting turtles, that will be found satisfactory for decorative work, is clearly shown in figs. 27 and 28. [illustration: fig. 27.] a light tow neck is wrapped upon the neck-wire, which is cut about twice the length of the head and neck-skin, and has a small loop bent into it near its outer end, to set into the brain cavity and a loop by front and one by back end of belly opening to hold leg-wires. the front end is run out through the nose. legs are wired as in a mammal with wires bound firmly to bones with thread or cord. bones are then covered with a light wrapping of tow, placed lightly and smoothly. this serves only as a core to the filling. tail is wrapped upon wire to natural size. [illustration: fig. 28.] legs are now pushed back into place, wires of them and tail are passed through loops in body-wire and twisted around it once or twice, and then leg-wires are led to drilled holes in edge of shell and clinched in them as shown in fig. 27. now tie or pin the mouth shut. legs and head and neck are next filled with sawdust, tamped in with a blunt piece of rod or wire or piece of wood shaped for the purpose. fill in the front legs and head first and stuff some tow behind them to hold the sawdust in place when the specimen is reversed to fill hind legs. after these are filled, stuff the shell full of tow. position the turtle and wire upon a piece of board for a temporary base. finish shaping with a whittled modeling tool. stuff the skin in front of hind legs into proper concavity with wads of tow or cotton and leave these until the specimen is dried. stuff the eye sockets with chopped tow. wipe inside the eyelids a little liquid glue and carefully set the eyes, using care to preserve natural fullness of the ball under lids. in drying, the tip of the nose will shrink away. when the specimen is dry and the nose-wire is cut off, a wax tip may be modeled on, nostrils being punched into it with a bit of wire. to set the wax nose, with a sharp knife trim away the shrunken tip, place a bit of wax upon the socket, and melt it into firm contact with a heated wire. shape the artificial nose with a small wooden modeling tool. replace faded colors of turtles with thin tints of tube colors. an ideal method of mounting turtles is to finish head, neck, legs, and tail in compo. no. ii. use the leg bones and wrap them thinly with tow. wrap a small, hard, tow neck upon the wire and a thin tow core upon the tail-wire. cover these cores, to natural size of muscles, with papier mache. cover the skull where meat was scraped from jaws. push the neck, tail and legs into place and wire to shell as in fig. 27. stuff shell with tow to hold papier mache filling of limbs in place until dry. turtles mounted in this way should be positioned upon a board, modeled with a tool into anatomical lines of neck, legs, etc., and allowed to remain wired upon the board until the compo. begins to harden. when this is well under way, take the turtle from the board and finish drying, wrong side up in a well ventilated place. remove the tow from inside the shell to allow of quicker evaporation. turtles mounted with sawdust dry very quickly and usually very slowly when finished in papier mache. preparing and mounting a small lizard (apply the wrapped body principle, given herewith, to mounting small snakes, using a wire through center.) a horned toad is a good example for us to work out in this department. skin the specimen as you would a small mammal, except that body incision runs from jaw to tip of tail and skull is left attached to face-skin. keep the skinned carcass in alcohol for reference in making the hard wrapped excelsior body. mount as you would a bird specimen, except that all leg-wires are set solid same as the two legs of the bird are. the lizard's leg bones are wired exactly as in a bird and are wrapped with tow or cotton to replace muscles. wire neck and tail and put the specimen together as shown in fig. 29. [illustration: fig. 29.] position the specimen and wire upon a temporary base. set eyes same as in turtles. when dry finish in same manner as a turtle. in large lizards a light covering of compo. no. ii may be employed over a hard wrapped core, but is not so satisfactory as dry mounting as the skins of lizards are water-proof and consequently do not allow of moisture evaporating. with care in application the first mentioned method may be employed upon nearly all lizard specimens with most satisfactory results. alligators may be mounted with wrapped legs and tail and stuffed body, like the small mammal method with the exception of the head. be sure to remove all the jaw meat, tongue, and eye socket fat from the skulls of lizard specimens. replace tongue and other tissues with colored wax and cotton when mouth is opened. preparing and mounting a small crustacean a crawfish or "land crab" will serve as a typical medium for describing the method of preparing specimens of this nature. when possible, take notes of the living colors. crustaceans may be killed most handily with chloroform. place the specimen in a large mouthed bottle or other vessel that may be closed tightly. pour a little chloroform upon a wad of cotton and drop it into the vessel with the specimen and close up tightly. when beginning work, lay the specimen upon its back and with a sharp scalpel loosen the large thorax plate around its edge and remove it carefully with head and antennae left attached intact. separate tail entire from body meat. split it along fleshy under side and remove muscles from it with the scalpel. the legs will come apart and must be kept in natural order. if the claws are large and meaty, cut a round hole in under side of thick part and scrape meat out. apply arsenic-water to all inner surfaces. cut wires of suitable size for all the legs. have them enough longer than the legs so that a sharpened end will protrude to run through and clinch in the body core. push wires in full length of legs. (fig. 30. shows the details of making the body core of fine excelsior.) make the core of a size to fit a little loosely into shell of body and tail. [illustration: fig. 30.] set legs upon core as shown in fig. 31. when the legs are properly anchored, cover the core with enough of compo. no. i. so it will fit snugly into thorax and tail shells. place these upon the core now and press them accurately into position. [illustration: fig. 31.] whatever compo. squeezes out may be removed with a bit of damp cloth or sponge. position legs and tail approximately and wire upon the base. set the legs in their permanent position, spread or close the tail fan as desired, arrange the antennae, and set the specimen in a well ventilated spot to dry. tint with oil colors, thinned with kerosene as they are used, laying the tints on with soft brushes. sanded or graveled board bases may be made for birds, turtles, etc., by applying a coat of heavy shellac to top and sides of pieces, cut to required sizes and shapes, and before the shellac has a chance to dry, throwing sand or fine gravel on forcibly or laying the boards in the sand and piling sand over the moist tops, letting them lay a few moments before removing and shaking off the loose sand. allow such bases to dry thoroughly before using. preparing and mounting a virginia deer head chapter v preparing and mounting a virginia deer head well mounted trophies of the chase are a source of delight to the fortunate sportsman who possesses them. antlered game heads that are mounted true to life in form and expression may go far to beautify many dining rooms, dens, and hallways, enhancing the artistic tone of the rooms in which they are well placed. as in all taxidermy work, outline sketches direct from the fresh specimen, top and side views, both before and after skinning, are of great value in mounting deer heads. as in other specimens, deer scalps for mounting should be as fresh as possible. if a scalp is to be kept for some little time before mounting it should be well salted. roll the scalp up and lay over night to drain. next day scrape off the first salt and rub in another thorough salting. keep the skin rolled up to prevent drying hard until mounting or sent to the tanner. an ideal deer scalp includes the neck skin entire to swell of shoulders and brisket. the incisions to be made for removing a deer scalp are shown in fig. 32. a good sharp knife will be required for peeling the skin from the neck. [illustration: fig. 32.] cut very carefully up under rim of horn bases when removing skin from around them, using care not to haggle edge of skin. use same care in skinning out the face, splitting lips and eyelids and skinning out the ears as in small mammal specimen. remove the ear cartilages entire, after skinning their backs, beginning at the thick top edge and proceeding very carefully, looking out not to tear open the edges. scalps may be mounted raw or tanned. the ideal way is to use a tanned, thin pared scalp, mounting it with papier mache upon a modeled mannikin. the raw skin method is perhaps easiest of application, but in all ways is not as satisfactory as the tanned skin method. for mounting a deer scalp raw, if salted, soak out the salt by squeezing through two or three baths of cold, weak carbolic water. dry the scalp thoroughly in fine sawdust, rubbing it into the hair and repeatedly shaking until all moisture is removed. with a small, hardwood paring "beam," shown in fig. 33, clamped to edge of table, and a sharp paring knife, remove all flesh from inner surface of skin and peel out nose cartilage. leave nearly an inch of nostril lining around the openings. [illustration: fig. 33.] pare all flesh from lips, leaving a half or three-quarters inch of the lining all around them. split white eyelid lining free to edge and leave a quarter inch of it all around the openings. when skinning out the ears keep the cartilages for models. poison all inner surfaces of the cleaned skin with arsenic water brushed in well. fold face, wrong side out, back upon neck. fold neck skin flesh to flesh over face, roll the scalp up, hair side out, and lay aside in cool place over one night before mounting. the mannikin should be prepared in time so that the skin will not have to lay wet for more than a day before mounting. it is well to prepare mannikin before skin is poisoned so that skin may be used for fitting unless accurate outline studies are at hand. with these the fitting is not necessary. for raw-mounting the head, clean skull by boiling in a deep pail until meat comes off easily. a little washing soda in the water will help clean the bone. with a saw, cut through under side of brain cavity, lengthwise on each side of axis bone. cut the loosened piece out with a chisel and remove brain. set the skull upon neck-board of suitable length (refer to studies) mounted with screws upon a cut out neck base-board of inch thick wood, as shown in fig. 34. fasten skull to top of neck board with nails driven through holes drilled through the bone. if turned head is desired, make opening in under side of brain cavity wider and nail skull at any desired angle upon top of neck board. screw upon back of neck base-board a one by three inch piece with free end dropping a few inches below bottom of base-board so that head may be handily set in a vise. this will allow you to get all around it and the vise will hold it at any angle, making sewing, etc., easier. [illustration: fig. 34.] upon skull, for jaw muscles, and upon neck board wrap excelsior, packing it hard as you go along, to required natural size. a raw skin will settle better in drying if neck is slightly smaller than natural size. to aid in wrapping close and firm to edge of neck base-board, drive a row of small, broad headed nails half into the edge, two or three inches apart all around and loop the winding-cord over these as the wrapping proceeds. drive these nails down when wrapping is completed. (see fig. 35 for finished wrapped excelsior head, ready for the skin.) [illustration: fig. 35.] drop the dry ear cartilages into warm water. in this they will quickly regain their natural shape. using them as models make a pair of duplicates of them of thin sheet lead which may be procured from a plumber or hardware dealer. split into the base of the cartilage so it may be spread as nearly flat as possible and lay on the lead, drawing around its outline with a nail point. cut out the lead ears with a pair of metal-shears. hammer into natural concave shape with a bit of heavy wood rounded into a ball at one end for the purpose. (for details of ear making see fig. 36). [illustration: fig. 36.] with the skin and mannikin in readiness make up a batch of plaster of paris in thin glue water, only enough glue stirred in so that it can barely be felt when the fingers are rubbed together in the water. this should retard the plaster setting for from four to six hours and give ample time for finishing the deer's face. this compo. will set immediately if used in a skin that has been treated with formaldehyde, sulphuric acid, or alum, as the glue becomes tanned and impotent by them. make this compo. thick and stiff and mix into it some chopped manila fiber. for finishing one deer face and ear-butts about a quart and a half of the compo. should be made. this should cover the face thinly, fill the ear-butts, set the eyes, and fill nose and mouth details out. in beginning the setting of the scalp into place, cover the lead ears thinly with the compo. and slip them into the ear skins. the lead will have to be partly folded together to accomplish this and spread again when inside. if edges of ears have been torn open in skinning, sew them up neatly from the outside, using a small round needle and small thread before the lead is placed. with the cartilages set, fill the ear butts with compo., squeezing it out upon the lead a little way that it may brace the ears when set finally. set the mannikin in the vise for convenience. cover skull with a thin layer of compo. where bone is exposed and slip the face skin into place. hold the scalp up now by tying a heavy cord under the jaw and behind the horns. draw the neck skin into place and tie it up with a piece of cord about the neck near base. now, for better convenience in sewing, remove the head from the vise, set front of neck base on the floor and lean the antlers against a chair seat, back of neck up. draw corners of antler cuts together back of the horns. begin at one horn and sew to joint of the y cut. sew from the other horn and then continue down the neck to the base, using medium stitches and drawing tight. this method of sewing a game head is the only exception, in taxidermy, to sewing toward the head. for a raw scalp use a sail needle and waxed ends. for a tanned scalp, a large fur needle and strong linen. with the sewing completed, turn to nailing the scalp to the back-board. turn the free edge of skin down over back of board and nail firmly with short broad headed nails so that when the surplus is trimmed off a turned over edge of skin two or three inches wide will remain, held snugly by nails set two inches apart. count upon finishing a raw head all up at one go when using the plaster compo. this is the only compo. which can be recommended to hold raw, haired skins down, as the material must set before the skin begins to dry and pull. before turning to finishing the face, unscrew the holding piece from back of neck-board and nail up the part of skin's edge that it covered. replace the piece and set head in vise facing you. pinch and mold the ear skin tightly upon the compo. covered lead and model the ear-butts into shape firmly against the head. run a strong-threaded fur needle, with large knot at end of thread, through middle of upper edge of each lead ear. draw ears up to desired position and wrap thread around a convenient part of antlers to hold until compo. sets. next loop a cord under each ear at base of cartilage and tie over antlers to hold lower end of cartilage from sagging until set. when ears are finished, press face skin into compo. upon skull and massage it down to hold firmly. fill eyelids thinly inside flap of lining, place a little compo. in hollow of sockets, and set eyes. [illustration: fig. 37.] deer are usually quite fleshy just over the eyes. place this filling before eyes are set. also press a little compo. into the hollows of the suborbital glands and with the fingers work these fleshy eye details out roughly and finish with a modeling tool, pressing the slits of suborbital glands in deeply with a thick-edged instrument. see that the face skin is worked down firmly and smoothly clear to the nose. fill nose and upper lip and model them into natural shape. lastly, fill chin and lower lip. tuck lower lip up well under upper and model lips and chin into proper relation to each other. if any compo. has gotten into the hair wipe it out with a damp sponge. leave head in the vise until compo. is set and then hang in a well ventilated place to dry. do not hang near stove or radiator. when thoroughly dried out, brush dust out of hair and finish the eyelids, nostrils, etc., with wax and cotton, burned in, same as given for finishing a small mammal. if placing the head upon a shield, use at least four strong screws of a length to go nearly through the two boards. for mounting a deer scalp tanned, the preparation is very different. scalps may be had tanned at a number of reputable fur houses throughout the country at a small cost. to get best results, send scalps and rug-skins in to the tanner with ears skinned out and eyelids and lips split and nose cartilage pared out. tanned scalps, if kept from moths, may be preserved unmounted for a long time. when required for mounting, a tanned scalp need only be relaxed with water brushed or sponged into the flesh side and, when soft, poisoned with arsenic-water and folded together, flesh to flesh, over one night. the process of mounting a tanned scalp differs from the raw in that it is set up on a wire and plaster shell, more carefully shaped than the excelsior form. the entire scalp is stuck down to the shell with compo. no. i rubbed well into the skin and upon the shell. the face and ears are set and finished with compo. no. ii, which, as before stated, is no. i thickened to the consistency of modeling clay with plaster of paris. this method gives much finer and more permanent results. for details of plaster and wire mannikin, see fig. 37. this type of shell is made as follows: set the cleaned skull upon neck-board and back-board same as for wrapping excelsior neck. half-inch mesh chicken wire will do, if no free mesh wire can be procured, for building the frame. the wire neck is best placed in halves. the shaping will require considerable cutting and neat manipulation with pincers and hammer and tying with bits of wire. use staple tacks to fasten wire to edge of back-board. the wire shell should be smaller than natural neck to allow for coat of plaster and fiber. for this make up not more than half a wash basin at a time, mixing the plaster with plain water in the ordinary way. make the batches middling thick, enough so that it will not drizzle from the wire. pick a quantity of fiber into small handfuls. to apply, dip a film of the manila fiber into the plaster, drag it out over edge of dish to remove surplus plaster, and apply to wire shell. work fast enough to keep ahead of plaster setting. wipe each application out smooth as you go. apply a thin coat, very smooth, all over the skull and model on the jaw muscles with the plaster and fiber. when plaster is set, surface the shell and remove all inequalities by paring with an ordinary small butcher-knife. allow to thoroughly dry and apply a good coat of medium thin shellac. have this type of mannikin completed, dried, and shellaced before moistening and preparing the tanned skin. to prepare mammal skins in the field, for transportation and keeping, remove skins carefully, same as for immediate mounting. salt thoroughly, rubbing in well, and roll up to drain over night. next day shake out the first salt, which will be found saturated with juices, rub fresh salt in all over, and roll up over another night. in this condition small skins may be sealed in glass jars or friction top tins and kept damp thus for some time. to make a preserving "pickle" for keeping skins wet, boil salt in water until heaviest brine possible to make is produced. add a tablespoonful of carbolic acid to the gallon while hot. stir well. let the solution cool thoroughly before submerging skins in it. skins should always be put through the double dry salting before going into "pickle." keep in covered earthen jars. for making up into rugs, send animal skins to a good tanner, first skinning out the ears and paring out lips and nose. to make an open-mouthed rug head, use the natural skull when possible. set the jaws open solidly with plaster of paris and at the same time lay a plaster core between lower jaw for the artificial tongue. set the skull upon a cut-out base-board as shown in fig. 38. [illustration: fig. 38.] drive nails half in all around back and side edges of this base-board and wrap on filling of excelsior for jaws and flare of neck. drive the nails down tight after wrapping is completed. mount the head before stretching the skin. relax the head with water and poison same as deer scalp. use plaster and glue-water compo. as in raw deer scalp. if a snarling expression is desired, model the wrinkles on the muzzle with an edged wooden tool. tuck the lip lining well under the filling, so they will hold in place when the plaster is set. finish details of face same as in other mounting. finish the tongue and gums by melting colored wax and cotton upon core and bone with hot iron, modeling and carving to shape when cool. after the head is mounted and set, stretch the skin. moisten the flesh side to soften it up well. nail down the rear end upon floor to its widest spread, with hind legs pointing back on a slight slant. draw the skin forward and spread forelegs and front end to widest extent and nail down in accurate line with hind part. now work from side to side, nailing skin out to its widest extent and in symmetrical lines. always stretch a rug-skin hair side down. a slight wash of arsenic-water may be applied after the skin is stretched and while yet moist, care being used not to mess the hair with the solution. when dry, the skin is ready to line. lay the felt lining upon the floor and the skin upon it and cut around the skin, allowing three or four inches for pinked edge. with a pinking iron cut scalloped edge and enough of a narrow strip to gather fully all around just inside the outer edge. lay skin on lining and mark its edge with tailor's chalk. sew the gathered edge just inside this chalk mark so that the stitch will be covered by the skin. [illustration: fig. 39.] quilt skin upon the lining with a good layer of cotton wadding between. be sure and not draw down a bunch of hair under each loop. tie the knots neatly on under side. fig. 39 shows incisions to make in removing a pelt for a symmetrical rug. rug skins are best dried with no preservative whatever. in drying skins, stretch them symmetrically and dry in the shade. [illustration] preparing and mounting a coyote chapter vi preparing and mounting a coyote this method may be applied to specimens from the size of a red fox or a bobcat up to a timber wolf. remove the skin and prepare it in same way as that of a small mammal for mounting. when the carcass is bared in skinning, measure the girth of the neck at middle and at base; of the chest just behind the forelegs; the abdomen at its middle; the upper-arm at middle; the forearm just below elbow; the thigh at middle; the shank just below swell of thigh muscles back of knee, and the tail near its base. (see fig. 40 for measurements.) lay the carcass upon a large piece of wrapping paper and take an outline of it complete, both before and after skinning. use same incisions and remove skin identically as in small specimen. upon the outline sketch of peeled complete carcass set down the girth measurements in their proper places as taken with the tape. as in smaller specimens, these outline sketches will be found of great value as an aid to preserving natural lines in mounting. [illustration: fig. 40.] wire the leg bones same as in a small mammal, using soft iron rod of sufficient size to support the specimen firmly. in our coyote a quarter-inch rod will be required. in a bobcat a three-sixteenths-inch rod will be large enough to support sturdily. bend the leg rods to fit the joints in position desired. cut the rods of a length so that six or eight inches will protrude from the feet and eight or ten inches will remain free above to anchor to the body core. bind the rods to the leg-bones with strong, light cord, doing the firmest wrapping near the joints. working over the body outline, cut a one-inch-thick board core that will set well within the outline. (see fig. 41.) [illustration: fig. 41.] cut a neck-rod of same size as for legs, having it twice as long as neck and head. near one end of the neck-rod bend a jog to hold well when set with plaster of paris and chopped fiber into the brain cavity of the cleaned skull. wrap the leg muscles upon the bones same as in a small specimen, except pull the excelsior rather smooth for the purpose instead of rolling it in the palms. make the achilles tendon in same way and leave back of thigh off to be stuffed. when the plaster to hold neck-rod in head is set, anchor the skull by the rod to the core-board in proper relation to the body. to do this, run the rod through a hole drilled through the board, clinch rod down forward and back with a hammer on anvil or vise, and fasten with staples, or drill a small hole through core-board each side of rod and tie the rod down with a strong loop of wire twisted down with the pliers. wrap the skull muscles on with excelsior rolled in palms of hands. wrap a tail of pulled excelsior laid straight along a wire much smaller than is used in legs. [illustration: fig. 42.] drill the center-board for legs and tail as shown in fig. 42, which shows general assembling details. when the legs, head, and tail are finished, push the head and body-core into place in the skin, shove in the legs and tail, and wire the legs and tail fast in the center-board same as head was fastened. the remainder of the mounting is accomplished in exactly the same way as the filling and finishing of a small mammal specimen, _i. e._, by stuffing the neck, body, and back of thighs and finishing the face and feet with a batch of papier-mache compo. no. 2. if the mouth is to be open, follow directions given for finishing an entire rug-head. [illustration: fig. 43.] to hold in the hollow of the flanks, cut several short, strong pieces of wire, sharpen them to cutting points, push them through the skin along line of hollow in front of hip, drive them firmly into the core-board, and then, with cutting pliers clinch their ends down to hold the skin in and cut off surplus wire, picking the fur out well to cover them. (see fig. 43.) [illustration: fig. 44.] to support the compo.-filled ears until set and dry, drive a sharpened wire into the head, through hollow of ear. point the wire in direction ear is to lay or stand and between ear and wire lay a loose, flat wad of cotton or tow. with a furrier's needle and thread take a narrow loop through center of ear near tip and tie lightly around wire to hold until dry. when dry remove the thread with scissors and the wires by a slight twist with pliers. mammals of the sizes named may be mounted so skillfully by this method that they cannot be told from mannikin specimens. specimens of this size need not be entirely mounted at one sitting. prepare the skin, wire and wrap the legs and head, and make the center-board in one day, assemble the specimen and place the body filling the next day, and make the feet, mount the specimen, and finish the head the third day. a little carbolic acid in the arsenic-water will help keep the skin from slipping the hair. also keep unfinished parts wrapped in damp cloths wrung from carbolic acid water. [illustration: the end] * * * * * [transcriber's note: the following corrections have been made to the text. page 10: "uphosterer's" to "upholsterer's"--"one upholsterer's regulator". page 12: "speical" to "special"--"your special tools". page 21: "betwen" to "between"--"rump between two". page 32: "rightangle" to "right angle"--"short right angle bend". page 37: "eyesockets" to "eye sockets"--"cotton of the eye sockets". page 99: "transportaion" to "transportation"--"for transportation and". page 100: "thoroughy" to "thoroughly"--"cool thoroughly before".] outing publishing company--new york [illustration: outing handbooks] _the textbooks for outdoor work and play_ each book deals with a separate subject and deals with it thoroughly. if you want to know anything about airedales an outing handbook gives you all you want. if it's apple growing, another outing handbook meets your need. the fisherman, the camper, the poultry-raiser, the automobilist, the horseman, all varieties of out-door enthusiasts, will find separate volumes for their separate interests. there is no waste space. the series is based on the plan of one subject to a book and each book complete. the authors are experts. each book has been specially prepared for this series and all are published in uniform style, flexible cloth binding. two hundred titles are projected. the series covers all phases of outdoor life, from bee-keeping to big-game shooting. among the books now ready or in preparation are those described on the following pages. if you wish for any information on any outdoor subject not treated in one of the following books write outing publishing co., 141-145 west 36th st., new york. price seventy cents per vol. net, postage 5c. extra the numbers make ordering easy. 1. exercise and health, by dr. woods hutchinson. dr. hutchinson takes the common-sense view that the greatest problem in exercise for most of us is to get enough of the right kind. the greatest error in exercise is not to take enough, and the greatest danger in athletics is in giving them up. he writes in a direct matter-of-fact manner with an avoidance of medical terms, and a strong emphasis on the rational, all-around manner of living that is best calculated to bring a man to a ripe old age with little illness or consciousness of bodily weakness. 2. camp cookery, by horace kephart. "the less a man carries in his pack the more he must carry in his head," says mr. kephart. this book tells what a man should carry in both pack and head. every step is traced--the selection of provisions and utensils, with the kind and quantity of each, the preparation of game, the building of fires, the cooking of every conceivable kind of food that the camp outfit or woods, fields or streams may provide--even to the making of desserts. every recipe is the result of hard practice and long experience. 3. backwoods surgery and medicine, by charles s. moody, m. d. a handy book for the prudent lover of the woods who doesn't expect to be ill but believes in being on the safe side. common-sense methods for the treatment of the ordinary wounds and accidents are described--setting a broken limb, reducing a dislocation, caring for burns, cuts, etc. practical remedies for camp diseases are recommended, as well as the ordinary indications of the most probable ailments. includes a list of the necessary medical and surgical supplies. 4. apple growing, by m. c. burritt. the various problems confronting the apple grower, from the preparation of the soil and the planting of the trees to the marketing of the fruit, are discussed in detail by the author. 5. the airedale, by williams haynes. the book opens with a short chapter on the origin and development of the airedale, as a distinctive breed. the author then takes up the problems of type as bearing on the selection of the dog, breeding, training and use. the book is designed for the non-professional dog fancier, who wishes common sense advice which does not involve elaborate preparations or expenditure. chapters are included on the care of the dog in the kennel and simple remedies for ordinary diseases. 6. the automobile--its selection, care and use, by robert sloss. this is a plain, practical discussion of the things that every man needs to know if he is to buy the right car and get the most out of it. the various details of operation and care are given in simple, intelligent terms. from it the car owner can easily learn the mechanism of his motor and the art of locating motor trouble, as well as how to use his car for the greatest pleasure. 7. fishing kits and equipment, by samuel g. camp. a complete guide to the angler buying a new outfit. every detail of the fishing kit of the freshwater angler is described, from rodtip to creel, and clothing. special emphasis is laid on outfitting for fly fishing, but full instruction is also given to the man who wants to catch pickerel, pike, muskellunge, lake-trout, bass and other freshwater game fishes. the approved method of selecting and testing the various rods, lines, leaders, etc., is described. 8. the fine art of fishing, by samuel g. camp. combine the pleasure of catching fish with the gratification of following the sport in the most approved manner. the suggestions offered are helpful to beginner and expert anglers. the range of fish and fishing conditions covered is wide and includes such subjects as "casting fine and far off," "strip-casting for bass," "fishing for mountain trout" and "autumn fishing for lake trout." the book is pervaded with a spirit of love for the streamside and the out-doors generally which the genuine angler will appreciate. a companion book to "fishing kits and equipment." 9. the horse--its breeding, care and use, by david buffum. mr. buffum takes up the common, every-day problems of the ordinary horse-users, such as feeding, shoeing, simple home remedies, breaking and the cure for various equine vices. an important chapter is that tracing the influx of arabian blood into the english and american horses and its value and limitations. a distinctly sensible book for the sensible man who wishes to know how he can improve his horses and his horsemanship at the same time. 10. the motor boat--its selection, care and use, by h. w. slauson. the intending purchaser is advised as to the type of motor boat best suited to his particular needs and how to keep it in running condition after purchased. 11. outdoor signalling, by elbert wells. mr. wells has perfected a method of signalling by means of wigwag, light, smoke, or whistle which is as simple as it is effective. the fundamental principle can be learned in ten minutes and its application is far easier than that of any other code now in use. 12. tracks and tracking, by josef brunner. after twenty years of patient study and practical experience, mr. brunner can, from his intimate knowledge, speak with authority on this subject. "tracks and tracking" shows how to follow intelligently even the most intricate animal or bird tracks; how to interpret tracks of wild game and decipher the many tell-tale signs of the chase that would otherwise pass unnoticed; to tell from the footprints the name, sex, speed, direction, whether and how wounded, and many other things about wild animals and birds. 13. wing and trap-shooting, by charles askins. contains a full discussion of the various methods, such as snap-shooting, swing and half-swing, discusses the flight of birds with reference to the gunner's problem of lead and range and makes special application of the various points to the different birds commonly shot in this country. a chapter is included on trap shooting and the book closes with a forceful and common-sense presentation of the etiquette of the field. 14. profitable breeds of poultry, by arthur s. wheeler. mr. wheeler discusses from personal experience the best-known general purpose breeds. advice is given from the standpoint of the man who desires results in eggs and stock rather than in specimens for exhibition. in addition to a careful analysis of stock--good and bad--and some conclusions regarding housing and management, the author writes in detail regarding plymouth rocks, wyandottes, orpingtons, rhode island reds, etc. 15. rifles and rifle shooting, by charles askins. a practical manual describing various makes and mechanisms, in addition to discussing in detail the range and limitations in the use of the rifle. treats on the every style and make of rifle as well as their use. every type of rifle is discussed so that the book is complete in every detail. 16. sporting firearms, by horace kephart. this book is the result of painstaking tests and experiments. practically nothing is taken for granted. part i deals with the rifle, and part ii with the shotgun. the man seeking guidance in the selection and use of small firearms, as well as the advanced student of the subject, will receive an unusual amount of assistance from this work. 17. the yachtsman's handbook, by herbert l. stone. the author and compiler of this work is the editor of "yachting." he treats in simple language of the many problems confronting the amateur sailor and motor boatman. handling ground tackle, handling lines, taking soundings, the use of the lead line, care and use of sails, yachting etiquette, are all given careful attention. some light is thrown upon the operation of the gasoline motor, and suggestions are made for the avoidance of engine troubles. 18. scottish and irish terriers, by williams haynes. this is a companion book to "the airedale," and deals with the history and development of both breeds. for the owner of the dog, valuable information is given as to the use of the terriers, their treatment in health, their treatment when sick, the principles of dog breeding, and dog shows and rules. 19. navigation for the amateur, by capt. e. t. morton. a short treatise on the simpler methods of finding position at sea by the observation of the sun's altitude and the use of the sextant and chronometer. it is arranged especially for yachtsmen and amateurs who wish to know the simpler formulã¦ for the necessary navigation involved in taking a boat anywhere off shore. illustrated. 20. outdoor photography, by julian a. dimock. a solution of all the problems in camera work out-of-doors. the various subjects dealt with are: the camera--lens and plates--light and exposure--development--prints and printing, etc. 21. packing and portaging, by dillon wallace. mr. wallace has brought together in one volume all the valuable information on the different ways of making and carrying the different kinds of packs. the ground covered ranges from man-packing to horse-packing, from the use of the tump line to throwing the diamond hitch. 22. the bull terrier, by williams haynes. this is a companion book to "the airedale" and "scottish and irish terriers" by the same author. its greatest usefulness is as a guide to the dog owner who wishes to be his own kennel manager. a full account of the development of the breed is given with a description of best types and standards. recommendations for the care of the dog in health or sickness are included. 23. the fox terrier, by williams haynes. as in his other books on the terrier, mr. haynes takes up the origin and history of the breed, its types and standards, and the more exclusive representatives down to the present time. training the fox terrier--his care and kenneling in sickness and health--and the various uses to which he can be put--are among the phases handled. 24. suburban gardens, by grace tabor. illustrated with diagrams. the author regards the house and grounds as a complete unit and shows how the best results may be obtained by carrying the reader in detail through the various phases of designing the garden, with the levels and contours necessary, laying out the walks and paths, planning and placing the arbors, summer houses, seats, etc., and selecting and placing trees, shrubs, vines and flowers. ideal plans for plots of various sizes are appended, as well as suggestions for correcting mistakes that have been made through "starting wrong." 25. fishing with floating flies, by samuel g. camp. this is an art that is comparatively new in this country although english anglers have used the dry fly for generations. mr. camp has given the matter special study and is one of the few american anglers who really understands the matter from the selection of the outfit to the landing of the fish. 26. the gasoline motor, by harold whiting slauson. deals with the practical problems of motor operation. the standpoint is that of the man who wishes to know how and why gasoline generates power and something about the various types. describes in detail the different parts of motors and the faults to which they are liable. also gives full directions as to repair and upkeep. 27. ice boating, by h. l. stone. illustrated with diagrams. here have been brought together all the available information on the organization and history of ice-boating, the building of the various types of ice yachts, from the small 15 footer to the 600-foot racer, together with detailed plans and specifications. full information is also given to meet the needs of those who wish to be able to build and sail their own boats but are handicapped by the lack of proper knowledge as to just the points described in this volume. 28. modern golf, by harold h. hilton. mr. hilton is the only man who has ever held the amateur championship of great britain and the united states in the same year. this book gives the reader sound advice, not so much on the mere swinging of the clubs as in the actual playing of the game, with all the factors that enter into it. he discusses the use of wooden clubs, the choice of clubs, the art of approaching, and kindred subjects. 29. intensive farming, by l. c. corbett. a discussion of the meaning, method and value of intensive methods in agriculture. this book is designed for the convenience of practical farmers who find themselves under the necessity of making a living out of high-priced land. 30. practical dog breeding, by williams haynes. this is a companion volume to practical dog keeping, described below. it goes at length into the fundamental questions of breeding, such as selection of types on both sides, the perpetuation of desirable, and the elimination of undesirable qualities, the value of prepotency in building up a desired breed, etc. 31. practical dog keeping, by williams haynes. mr. haynes is well known to the readers of the outing handbooks as the author of books on the terriers. his new book is somewhat more ambitious in that it carries him into the general field of selection of breeds, the buying and selling of dogs, the care of dogs in kennels, handling in bench shows and field trials, and at considerable length into such subjects as food and feeding, exercise and grooming, disease, etc. 32. the vegetable garden, by r. l. watts. this book is designed for the small grower with a limited plot of ground. the reader is told what types of vegetables to select, the manner of planting and cultivation, and the returns that may be expected. 33. amateur rodmaking, by perry d. frazer. illustrated. a practical manual for all those who want to make their own rod and fittings. it contains a review of fishing rod history, a discussion of materials, a list of the tools needed, description of the method to be followed in making all kinds of rods, including fly-casting, bait-fishing, salmon, etc., with full instructions for winding, varnishing, etc. 34. pistol and revolver shooting, by a. l. a. himmelwright. a new and revised edition of a work that has already achieved prominence as an accepted authority on the use of the hand gun. full instructions are given in the use of both revolver and target pistol, including shooting position, grip, position of arm, etc. the book is thoroughly illustrated with diagrams and photographs and includes the rules of the united states revolver association and a list of the records made both here and abroad. 35. pigeon raising, by alice macleod. this is a book for both fancier and market breeder. full descriptions are given of the construction of houses, the care of the birds, preparation for market, and shipment, of the various breeds with their markings and characteristics. 36. fishing tackle, by perry d. frazer. illustrated. it tells all the fisherman needs to know about making and overhauling his tackle during the closed season and gives full instructions for tournament casting and fly-casting. 37. automobile operation, by a. l. brennan, jr. illustrated. tells the plain truth about the little things that every motorist wants to know about his own car. do you want to cure ignition troubles? overhaul and adjust your carbureter? keep your transmission in order? get the maximum wear out of your tires? do any other of the hundred and one things that are necessary for the greatest use and enjoyment of your car? then you will find this book useful. 38. the fox hound, by roger d. williams. author of "horse and hound." illustrated. the author is the foremost authority on fox hunting and foxhounds in america. for years he has kept the foxhound studbook, and is the final source of information on all disputed points relating to this breed. his book discusses types, methods of training, kenneling, diseases and all the other practical points relating to the use and care of the hound, etc. 39. salt water game fishing, by charles f. holder. mr. holder covers the whole field of his subject devoting a chapter each to such fish as the tuna, the tarpon, amberjack, the sail fish, the yellow-tail, the king fish, the barracuda, the sea bass and the small game fishes of florida, porto rico, the pacific coast, hawaii, and the philippines. the habits and habitats of the fish are described, together with the methods and tackle for taking them. illustrated. 40. winter camping, by warwick s. carpenter. a book that meets the increasing interest in outdoor life in the cold weather. mr. carpenter discusses such subjects as shelter equipment, clothing, food, snowshoeing, skiing, and winter hunting, wild life in winter woods, care of frost bite, etc. illustrated. 41. *woodcraft for women, by mrs. kathrene gedney pinkerton. the author has spent several years in the canadian woods and is thoroughly familiar with the subject from both the masculine and feminine point of view. she gives sound tips on clothing, camping outfit, food supplies, and methods, by which the woman may adjust herself to the outdoor environment. 42. *small boat building, by h. w. patterson. illustrated with diagrams and plans. a working manual for the man who wants to be his own designer and builder. detail descriptions and drawings are given showing the various stages in the building, and chapters are included on proper materials and details. 43. reading the weather, by t. morris longstreth. the author gives in detail the various recognized signs for different kinds of weather based primarily on the material worked out by the government weather bureau, gives rules by which the character and duration of storms may be estimated, and gives instructions for sensible use of the barometer. he also gives useful information as to various weather averages for different parts of the country, at different times of the year, and furnishes sound advice for the camper, sportsman, and others who wish to know what they may expect in the weather line. 44. boxing, by d. c. hutchison. practical instruction for men who wish to learn the first steps in the manly art. mr. hutchison writes from long personal experience as an amateur boxer and as a trainer of other amateurs. his instructions are accompanied with full diagrams showing the approved blows and guards. he also gives full directions for training for condition without danger of going stale from overtraining. it is essentially a book for the amateur. 45. tennis tactics, by raymond d. little. out of his store of experience as a successful tennis player, mr. little has written this practical guide for those who wish to know how real tennis is played. he tells the reader when and how to take the net, discusses the relative merits of the back-court and volleying game and how their proper balance may be achieved; analyzes and appraises the twist service, shows the fundamental necessities of successful doubles play. 46. how to play tennis, by james burns. this book gives simple, direct instruction from the professional standpoint on the fundamentals of the game. it tells the reader how to hold his racket, how to swing it for the various strokes, how to stand and how to cover the court. these points are illustrated with photographs and diagrams. the author also illustrates the course of the ball in the progress of play and points out the positions of greatest safety and greatest danger. 47. taxidermy, by leon l. pray. illustrated with diagrams. being a practical taxidermist, the author at once goes into the question of selection of tools and materials for the various stages of skinning, stuffing and mounting. the subjects whose handling is described are, for the most part, the every-day ones, such as ordinary birds, small mammals, etc., although adequate instructions are included for mounting big game specimens, as well as the preliminary care of skins in hot climates. full diagrams accompany the text. 48. the canoe--its selection, care and use, by robert e. pinkerton. illustrated with photographs. with proper use the canoe is one of the safest crafts that floats. mr. pinkerton tells how that state of safety may be obtained. he gives full instructions for the selection of the right canoe for each particular purpose or set of conditions. then he tells how it should be used in order to secure the maximum of safety, comfort and usefulness. his own lesson was learned among the indians of canada, where paddling is a high art, and the use of the canoe almost as much a matter of course as the wearing of moccasins. 49. horse packing, by charles j. post. illustrated with diagrams. this is a complete description of the hitches, knots, and apparatus used in making and carrying loads of various kinds on horseback. its basis is the methods followed in the west and in the american army. the diagrams are full and detailed, giving the various hitches and knots at each of the important stages so that even the novice can follow and use them. it is the only book ever published on this subject of which this could be said. full description is given of the ideal pack animal, as well as a catalogue of the diseases and injuries to which such animals are subject. 50. *learning to swim, by l. de b. handley. illustrated. constructed especially for the beginner who has no knowledge of the first steps. explains the formation of the strokes, how to acquire confidence in the water and gives full details as to the various methods, including those used by experts and racing swimmers. 51. *small boat navigation, by lieut. com. f. w. sterling, u. s. n. retired. illustrated with diagrams. a complete description of the instruments and methods necessary in navigating small boats in pilot waters, on soundings, and off shore. describes the taking of sights for position, the running of courses, taking soundings, using the chart, plotting compass courses, etc. several chapters are given over to the seamanship side of navigation, explaining the handling of small boats under various conditions. 52. *touring afoot, by dr. c. p. fordyce. illustrated. this book is designed to meet the growing interest in walking trips and covers the whole field of outfit and method for trips of varying length. various standard camping devices are described and outfits are prescribed for all conditions. it is based on the assumption that the reader will want to carry on his own back everything that he requires for the trip. 53. the marine motor, by lieut. com. f. w. sterling, u. s. n. (ret.). illustrated with diagrams. this book is the product of a wide experience on the engineering staff of the united states navy. it gives careful descriptions of the various parts of the marine motor, their relation to the whole and their method of operation; it also describes the commoner troubles and suggests remedies. the principal types of engines are described in detail with diagrams. the object is primarily to give the novice a good working knowledge of his engine, its operation and care. 54. *the beginner's bee book, by frank c. pellett. illustrated. this book is designed primarily for the small scale bee farmer. it discusses the different varieties of bees and their adaptability to different conditions, the construction of hives, care and feeding at various times of the year, handling of bees, and the types of locations and feed most suitable for bee culture. 55. *the pointer, by williams haynes. contains chapters on the history and development of the breed, selection of dog, breeding, kenneling, and training. also contains information on common sense remedies for ordinary diseases. 56. *the setter, by williams haynes. the author takes up the origin and history of the breed, its development, breeding, kenneling, and training. he also discusses the various diseases to which they are subject and treatment therefor. 57. *practical bait casting, by larry st. john. illustrated. this book deals with tackle and methods used in catching black bass. it is based upon a wide and varied experience in the middle west, where more bass fishing is done than in any other part of the country. all outdoors. a monthly magazine of the outdoors that is made for outdoor men and women. short, meaty, to-the-point articles tell the "how" of living and playing in the open--whether hunting, fishing, canoeing, camping, ice boating, skiing, swimming, shooting at the traps, or any other outdoor sport. the adventure stories and fiction are the kind that anyone with red blood likes to read. in addition to the great number of articles and stories in all outdoors is a feature that alone makes the magazine worth its price--pictures. the best of outdoor pictures are used to illustrate it. and each picture has a long caption of concise information. all outdoors is a magazine that not only radiates the spirit of the woods and fields, streams and rivers, but it tells you how to enjoy all these to the fullest. 15 cents a copy. $1.00 a year. yachting. an illustrated monthly magazine devoted to the interest of the man who loves the water--sailing and motor boating. it is written and edited by practical men who have done the things about which they write, if it be a cruise to labrador, sailing an ocean race or telling how to put a gasoline engine together. under and through all other features of yachting is the call of the water--the bracing, irresistible appeal that has drawn men off shore since the first cockle-shell was set afloat. once you have heard and answered it you will know why a sailor once is a sailor always--and you will know also why yachting should interest you. the most beautiful yachtsman's magazine. 15 cents a copy. $1.75 a year. outing. for more than thirty years the outing magazine has been the great outdoor publication of america. its contributors are national experts in their respective fields. its articles are recognized as the last word on the subject they treat. its range is comprehensive, covering the entire outdoor realm from gardening to aviation. in every subject that it touches, whether it be fishing, hunting, golfing, college sports, the country home, sailing, automobiling, dogs or horses, its aim is accuracy plus interest. every number combines the solid value of sober fact with the alluring thrill of mystery and adventure that still beckons us to the out-of-doors. $3.00 a year, 25c. a copy. manual of taxidermy a complete guide in collecting and preserving birds and mammals by c. j. maynard _illustrated_ boston s. e. cassino and company 1883 _copyright, by s. e. cassino & co. 1883._ electrotyped. boston stereotype foundry, no. 4 pearl street. introduction. twenty-five or thirty years ago amateur collectors of birds were rare; in fact, excepting in the immediate vicinity of large cities, individuals who spent their leisure time in gathering birds for the sole purpose of study, were so seldom met with that, when one did occur, his occupation was so unusual as to excite the comments of his neighbors, and he became famous for miles around as highly eccentric. such a man was regarded as harmless, but as just a little "cracked," and the lower classes gazed at him with open-mouthed wonder as he pursued his avocations; while the more educated of his fellows regarded him with a kind of placid contempt. i am speaking now of the days when the ornithology of america was, so to speak, in obscurity; for the brilliant meteor-light of the wilsonian and audubonian period had passed, and the great public quickly forgot that the birds and their ways had ever been first in the minds of any one. to be sure, men like cassin, lawrence, baird, and bryant were constantly writing of birds, but they did it in a quiet, scientific way, which did not reach the general public. possibly the political troubles in which our country was involved had something to do with the great ornithological depression which fell upon the popular mind. strange as it may appear, however, for a period of thirty years after the completion of audubon's great work, not a general popular work of any kind was written on birds in america. then appeared samuels' "birds of new england," published in 1867, a work which apparently did much toward turning the popular tide in favor of ornithological study, for from that time we can perceive a general awakening. not only did the newspapers and magazines teem with articles on birds, but in the five succeeding years we find three important works on american ornithology announced as about to appear: baird, brewer, and ridgeway's "history of american birds," of which three volumes have appeared, published in 1874; maynard's "birds of florida," issued in parts, but afterwards merged into the "birds of eastern north america," completed in 1882, and coues' "key," published in 1872. other works quickly followed, for now the popular ornithological tide was setting strongly towards the flood, and it has ever since been rushing on and gathering recruits as it goes, until the tidal wave of popular favor for ornithological pursuits has reached from shore to shore across our great continent; and where there were once only a few solitary devotees to this grand science, we can number thousands, and still they come; so that high-water mark is not yet reached, while to all appearances this tidal-wave will agitate the coming generation more strongly than it does the present. of all the vast numbers interested in the study of bird life, there are few who do not gather specimens. years ago, in the beginning of the study, when the solitary naturalist had no one to sympathize with him in his pursuits, birds' skins were usually made in what we would now consider a shocking manner. within the last fifteen years, however, since ornithologists have become more numerous, and the opportunities of comparison of workmanship in preserving specimens has been facilitated, great improvements are seen. slovenly prepared collections are now far from desirable; in fact, even rare specimens lose much of their value when poorly made up. when there are enough experienced collectors in one locality to compare notes as to the various improvements each has made in skin-making and mounting birds, one aids the other; but there is always a multitude of beginners who live in isolated localities and who do not number experienced collectors among their friends, and who consequently require the aid of written instructions. hence the need of books to teach them. this little work, then, is intended to meet the wants of amateur ornithological collectors, wherever it may find them, for it is written by one who has at least had the advantage of a very wide experience in collecting skins, making and mounting. he has also had the advantage of comparing his methods with those of many excellent amateurs and professional collectors throughout the country; and if he has not conferred any benefits on them, he has at least gained much useful information, and the results of all this are now laid before the reader. the art of taxidermy is very ancient, and doubtless had its origin among the very early races of man, who not only removed the skins of birds and mammals for clothing, but also for ornaments. birds and mammals were also frequently regarded as objects of worship, and consequently preserved after death, as among the ancient egyptians, who embalmed entire birds and mammals that were considered sacred. from the rude methods of preserving skins, doubtless, arose the idea of mounting, or placing the skins in lifelike attitudes. the first objects selected for this purpose were, of course, birds and mammals of singular forms or brilliant colors, as objects of curiosity. later specimens would have been preserved for ornamental purposes, but it is probable that it was not until the seventeenth century that either birds or mammals were collected with any idea of their scientific value. specimens either mounted or in skins must have been rudely preserved at first, but, like all other branches of art and science, when people began to understand the value of well-made specimens when compared with those poorly done, workmen who became skilled in their art appeared and turned out good work. the art of making good skins, however, never was understood in this country, at least until within the last fifteen or twenty years, and even now it is rare to find good workmen who can make skins well and rapidly. as is natural, many methods have been practiced to insure lifelike attitudes in birds and other objects of natural history. a good opportunity of studying the various schools of mounting may be seen among the specimens of a large museum, where material is gathered from various localities throughout the world. i have seen birds filled with many varieties of material, from cotton to plaster, and have even seen cases where the skin is drawn over a block of wood carved to imitate the body removed. as a rule, i prefer the soft body filling, where all the wires are fastened together in the centre of the inside of the skin, and cotton, or some similar elastic material, filled in around it. this method is, however, very difficult to learn, and, unless one has had a large experience in handling birds, will not give satisfactory results. i have therefore recommended the hard body method, as given in the text, as being the best, as it is more easily learned and always gives the best results in the hands of amateurs. in skin-making, although i have given two methods, making in the form and wrapping, i prefer the latter, as being by far the best, although it is not as easy to learn. mounting mammals and reptiles and making their skins also varies as given by different individuals, but i have given the method by which i have found, by experience, amateurs succeed the best. some may consider the information given in the following pages, too meagre for practical purposes, but i have purposely avoided giving lengthy instructions, considering a few well-worded sentences much better, as expressing much more clearly the ideas i wish to convey. in short, the reader has the condensed results of my extended experience, and if he will follow with care and patience the instructions herein given, i am sure that he will obtain satisfactory results from his labor. i have endeavored to inculcate the idea in the following pages that he who wishes to be a successful taxidermist cannot accomplish his end without the utmost care; he must exercise patience and perseverance to the extreme; difficulties will arise, but he must overcome them by severe application to the study of his art, and, as years pass by, experience will teach him much that he never knew before. i have been assured many times, by men who are now skilful workmen, that their first ideas of preserving specimens were divined from my "naturalist's guide." thus i trust the present little work may aid others who are entering the fairy land of science, to prepare lasting mementoes gathered by the way. c. j. maynard. boston, mass. table of contents. page explanation of plates introduction part i.--birds. chapter i.--collecting 1 section i. trapping, etc. section ii. shooting. section iii. procuring birds. section iv. care of specimens. chapter ii.--skinning birds 33 section i. ordinary method. section ii. exceptions to the usual method of skinning. section iii. ascertaining the sex of birds. section iv. preserving skins. section v. other methods of preserving skins. chapter iii.--making skins 49 section i. cleaning feathers. section ii. making skins of small birds. section iii. making skins of long-necked birds. section iv: making skins of herons, ibises, etc. section v. hawks, owls, eagles, vultures, etc. section vi. labelling specimens. section vii. care of skins, cabinets, etc. section viii. measuring specimens. section ix. making over old skins. chapter iv.--mounting birds 64 section i. instruments. section ii. mounting from fresh specimens. section iii. crested birds. section iv. mounting with wings spread. section v. mounting birds for screens, etc. section vi. mounting dried skins. section vii. prices for mounting birds. section viii. panel work.--game pieces, etc. chapter v.--making stands 81 section i. plain stands. section ii. ornamental stands. part ii.--mammals, reptiles, etc. chapter vi.--collecting mammals 84 chapter vii.--making skins of mammals 86 section i. skinning small mammals. section ii. skinning large mammals. section iii. making skins of mammals. section iv. measuring mammals. chapter viii.--mounting mammals 90 section i. small mammals. section ii. large mammals. section iii. mounting dried skins of mammals. section iv. mounting mammals without any bones. chapter ix.--mounting reptiles, batrachians, and fishes 97 section i. mounting lizards, alligators, etc. section ii. mounting turtles. section iii. mounting fishes. list and explanation of plates. fig. 1.--page 2. sieve trap: b, common coal sieve, set with one edge raised by stick a, to which is attached the string c, one end of which is held by the bird-catcher at a distance. when the bird, attracted by the bait, goes under the sieve, the stick is jerked out and the sieve falls. fig. 2.--page 3. ever-ready bird-trap: d, body of trap made of netting f and a, hoops supporting netting. a, ring to which are attached the wires c, which point backwards. the bait is placed within the body of the trap and scattered through the ring b. then the bird enters at the entrance a, goes through the ring b, so on past the wires c, which are arranged in a circle to prevent his egress. the bird is removed through an orifice in the back, drawn together with a string at f. fig. 3.--page 33. skinning-knife: the handle of this knife should be round, and the blade does not close. fig. 4.--page 37. skull of bird (side view): dotted line from a to b shows cut to be made in removing back of skull to give access to brain. fig. 5.--page 37. skull of bird, under side: dotted lines a, a, a, show cuts to be made in removing a triangular piece of bone and muscle, to which the whole or a portion of the brain will adhere. fig. 6.--page 42. dissection of a song sparrow, showing male organs of reproduction: 1 and 2, lungs; 3, 3, testicles. the four organs below these are the kidneys. fig. 7.--page 43. dissection of a song sparrow, showing female organs of reproduction: 4, lungs; 1, 1, small yellow glands, present in both sexes; 2, ovaries; 3, oviduct. these last four figures are merely diagrams, only sufficiently accurate in outline to convey an idea of the position of the parts indicated. fig. 8.--page 50. tweezers for making skins, mounting, etc.: several sizes are used, but as a rule the points should be longer than those given in the cut. fig. 9.--page 51. drying forms fastened to a board, d, skin in the form. i now use these forms detached. see text. also, see page 54 for a better method of making skins which i now practise. fig. 10.--page 54. form of a skin of an oriole: i now use the long label given on page 58. a skin should not be made too full; a dead bird laid on its back will convey an idea of the thickness of the body of a skin. fig. 11.--page 64. straight-nosed pliers: used for bending wires in mounting. fig. 12.--page 64. cutting-pliers: used for cutting wires in mounting. fig. 13.--page 66. body of a bird: e, neck-wire, which should be as long as the neck and tongue in order to reach into the upper mandible. this wire should be wrapped in cotton. b, wire before clinching; g, c, wire clinched; f, tail wire bent in the form of a t at h, a leg wire going through tarsus along dotted line to d. fig. 14.--page 67. roughly-drawn skeleton of a pinnated grouse, only sufficiently accurate to indicate the different bones: a, skull; b, b, b, vertebræ; furcula of neck and back, or wishing-bone; d, forearm; f, carpus, showing hollow in bone through which the wire is to be passed in wiring the wing; g, end of furcula; h, tip of keel; i, indentations in posterior border of stemma; j, femur; k, tarsus; l, heel; m, pelvis; n, cocyx; o, crest of keel; p, side of keel; x, wire used in mounting skeleton; a, b, ribs. fig. 15.--page 69. outline figure of grouse showing external parts: a, back; b, rump; c, upper tail coverts; d, under tail coverts; e, ventral region; f, tibra; g, tarsus; h, breast; i, side; j, throat; n, chin; l, abdomen; m, feet. fig. 16.--page 73. outline drawing of a mounted bird: a, a, dotted line to indicate the relative position of the head and body, with the perch on which the bird stands; b, b, winding cotton to keep the feathers in position; c, c, indicating proper position of wings; d, tail feathers "plated." i do not now recommend this method. e, e, tail bearing wire; f, upright of gland; h, horizontal bar of stand; i, feet of bird on stand; s, leg-wire wrapped around bar after emerging from foot. fig. 17.--page 92. lower portion of bolt used in mounting large mammals: a, movable nut on screw c; b, immovable flat washer. manual of taxidermy. part i.--birds. chapter i. collecting. [illustration: fig. 1.] section i.: trapping, etc.--several devices for securing birds for specimens may be successfully practised, one of the simplest of which is the box-trap, so familiar to every schoolboy. if this be baited with an ear of corn and placed in woods frequented by jays, when the ground is covered with snow, and a few kernels of corn scattered about, as an attraction, these usually wary birds will not fail to enter the trap. i have captured numbers in this way, in fact, the first bird which i ever skinned and mounted, was a blue jay, caught in a box-trap. i was only a small boy then, so i do not now remember what first suggested mounting the bird, but the inherent desire to preserve the specimen must have been fully as strong then as in later years, or i never could have brought myself to the point of killing a bird in cold blood. in fact, putting the bird to death is the worst of trapping; and with me, unless i do it at once, during the first excitement of finding the bird entrapped, the deed is likely never to be done at all. sparrows, snow-buntings, and in fact nearly all birds of this class may be caught in box-traps in winter. for these small birds, scatter chaff over the snow so thickly as to conceal it, then use a spindle upon which canary-seed has been glued, for bait, scattering some of the seed outside. other traps, however, may be used more successfully for fringilline birds. for example, the clap-net trap, where two wings, covered with a net, close over the birds, which are attracted by seeds strewn in chaff, scattered in the snow. this trap, which is similar to those used by wild-pigeon catchers, is sprung by means of a long cord, the end of which is in the hands of a person who is concealed in a neighboring thicket or artificial bower. a very simple trap, but excellent for catching sparrows, may be made by tilting a common coal sieve on one edge, keeping it up by means of a stick which has a cord attached to the middle (see fig. 1). the birds will readily go under the sieve, in search of food, when the trapper, who is concealed at a short distance, jerks out the stick by means of the cord; the sieve falls and the birds are captured. this trap requires constant watching, which, in cold days, is not very pleasant; thus a much better trap may be found in one of my own inventions, which is called the "ever-ready bird trap." it is made of strong netting stretched over wire, and is placed on the ground or on a board in a tree. a decoy bird, of the same species as those to be captured, is procured if possible, and placed in the back of the trap at fig. 2, and then the birds enter the front of the trap, b; pass through the way of wires, c, which pointing backward after the manner of the well-known rat-trap, prevent their egress. this trap is constantly set, and several birds are captured at one time. orioles, bobolinks, rose-breasted grosbeaks, goldfinches, snow-buntings, all other sparrows and finches, in fact, all birds which will come to a decoy or bait, may be taken in this trap. [illustration: fig. 2.] i have frequently taken jays in small snares similar to those used in capturing rabbits. quail and ruffed grouse were also taken in this manner before the present time, but it is now illegal to trap game-birds in nearly all the states. the steel trap of the smallest size is exceedingly useful in capturing hawks, owls, and even eagles, as well as many other large birds. one way is to set it in the nest of the bird, first taking care to remove the eggs, substituting for them those of a hen. almost all large birds may be taken in this manner, and it is an excellent way to identify the eggs in case of some rare hawks or herons. the topmost portion of some dead stub, which is a favorite roost of a hawk or eagle, is a good place to set a trap; and small hawks and owls may be captured by putting the trap on the top of a stake, some eight or ten feet high, in a meadow, especially if there are no fences near. hawks and owls haunt meadows in search of mice, and invariably light upon a solitary stake, if they can find one, in order to eat their prey or to rest, and thus are very apt to put their "foot into it," in a manner decidedly agreeable to the collector, if not so pleasing to themselves. steel-traps may also be set on boards nailed to trees, in the woods or on hill-tops, but they should in this case be baited with a small mammal or bird. i have succeeded in capturing marsh hawks by tying a living mouse to a steel-trap, and placing it in a meadow which was frequented by these birds. other hawks and also eagles may be captured by using decoys; the best thing for this purpose being, strangely enough, a live great horned owl. the owl is fastened to a stout stake in an open field or meadow during the migration of hawks, in the spring or fall, and surrounded by baited traps. the hawks passing over are attracted by the novel spectacle of an owl in such a peculiar position and come swooping down for a nearer view, when they perceive the bait, and in trying to eat it are caught. a hawk or eagle may be used in this way as a decoy, but the great horned owl is by far the best. in using steel traps, care should be taken to wrap the jaws with cloth, so as to prevent injury to the legs of the bird captured. vultures may be taken in steel traps by simply baiting them with any kind of flesh. many species of birds may be successfully captured by one or another of the methods given. in fact, we are in constant receipt of trapped birds during the proper seasons, and thus many hawks and owls which would have been difficult to procure are taken in numbers by our collectors. bird-lime, although scarcely advisable when the birds are intended to be preserved, may be used to advantage in capturing birds for the cage. a small quantity of it is spread on a twig or small stick, one end of which is lightly stuck in a notch on some upright branch or stem, in such a position that the bird must alight on it in order to reach the bait. the stick should be poised so lightly that the slightest touch of the bird's feet will cause it to drop, when the bird, giving a downward stroke with its wings to save itself from falling, will strike the outer quills against the stick, and thus both feet and wings become fastened to it by the adhering lime. in case of a rare specimen, the lime may be removed from the plumage by the aid of alcohol, or the bird will remove it in time, if permitted to live. good bird-lime is difficult to procure; that made from linseed-oil and tar, boiled down, is the best; but this process must be carried on in the open air, as the mixture is exceedingly inflammable. the sticky mass thus obtained must be worked with the hands under water, until it assumes the proper consistency. in spreading lime on the sticks, the fingers should be wet to prevent the lime sticking to them. another way in which i have taken such unsuspicious birds as pine grosbeaks, cross-bills and red-polls, is by placing a noose of fine wire on the end of a pole, and by approaching a tree cautiously, in which the birds were feeding, have managed to slip it over their heads, when they are drawn fluttering downward, and the noose removed, before any permanent injury is done. i have even taken pine grosbeaks in an open field in this manner, and have ascended a tree and captured them with only the noose attached to a stout piece of wire, in my hand. section ii.: shooting.--although, as shown, many valuable species may be secured by trapping, snaring, etc., yet the collector relies mainly on his gun. this much being decided, it at once occurs to the beginner, what kind of a weapon shall i get? of course, muzzle-loaders are now out of the question; and among the multitudes of breech-loaders in the market, one has only to consult his taste or the length of his purse. therefore it is simply useless for me to recommend any particular make of gun. good single-barrel breech-loaders can be bought for from nine dollars to twenty dollars, while double-barrels cost from fifteen dollars upward. for ordinary collecting, a twelve-gauge is perhaps better than any other, as such birds as ducks, hawks and crows can be readily killed with it. for warblers, wrens, and other small birds, however, a much smaller gauge gun is almost indispensable, as a large gun sends the shot with such force that it not only penetrates the body of the bird, but also goes out on the opposite side; thus each shot makes two holes, when one is all that is necessary to kill. this fact should then always be kept in mind, and as a rule load lightly, with just enough powder to cause the shot to penetrate well into the bird without going through it. in a twelve-gauge gun, two drachms of powder behind an ounce of shot is sufficient to kill a bird like a jay or golden-winged woodpecker, at a distance of thirty or forty yards; then if more penetration is necessary, more powder may be used with the same quantity of shot, but this will cause the shot to scatter more. a good collecting gun, one which will kill small birds with a very small amount of ammunition and little noise, has long been a desideratum. i have tried many kinds, but nothing has proved so satisfactory as a small repeating gun of my own invention, and which is manufactured by us. this gun consists of two brass tubes, a smaller one within a larger, with an air space between, thus greatly deadening the sound; and both are securely fastened to a finely nickel-plated five-shot revolver. we make two sizes, a twenty-two gauge, the report of which is very slight, and a thirty-two gauge, which makes a little louder noise. the former will kill warblers at fifteen yards, and the latter at twenty yards, while birds like jays, thrushes, and robins, may be brought down with the thirty-two gauge at a distance of ten yards. this gun served me well in florida last winter, and i killed at least two-thirds of the birds that i collected there with it. the light report of such a gun does not frighten the birds, while the fact that one nearly always has a second shot ready in the revolving cylinder, is a great help, in case of a wounded bird, or in the sudden appearance of a second specimen, as so often happens, after the first has fallen. the price of this gun varies from four dollars and fifty cents to five dollars and seventy-five cents, according to quality and size. blow-guns, air-guns, catapults, etc., are useful only in cases when a shot-gun cannot be used, as they cannot be depended upon. a collector, in order to procure birds with a certainty, requires a good shot-gun. the ammunition used in the small collecting gun is copper shells, primed, of three lengths for each size. for shot, i use dust numbers ten and eight, but for a larger gun, coarser shot is sometimes necessary; collectors, however,--especially beginners,--are apt to use too large shot. on the contrary, i do not like to shoot too fine shot at large birds; thus a hawk killed with a heavy charge of dust-shot at twenty yards would have the feathers cut up very badly, whereas a warbler shot at the same distance would be likely to make a good specimen, as it would only receive a few pellets of shot, whereas a large number would strike the hawk. as a rule, then, use dust-shot for birds up to the size of a cedar-bird, then number ten to the size of a jay, after which number eight will kill better and cleaner, and i should use this size as long as it will bring down the birds; and it is surprising to see how large species may be killed with it. i have taken brown pelicans, wild geese, and large hawks with number eight, and i once secured a frigate-bird with it, all at good distances. for very large birds like cranes, white pelicans, or eagles i have used a rifle very successfully. a thirty-two gauge allen is my favorite gun, and i have killed birds at all distances from twenty to three hundred and twenty-five yards with it. of course, nearly all successful rifle shots must be made at sitting birds, as i have met with but few who could bring them down when flying. another good method of securing large shy birds which go in flocks, is to load with buckshot, putting a stiff charge of powder, say three to five drachms, behind it, then fire into the flock from a distance, elevating the gun at an angle of some forty-five degrees above the birds. i have killed both species of pelicans at two hundred yards distant in this way. section iii.: procuring birds.--birds are to be found nearly everywhere, in fact, there is scarcely a square acre of land on the face of the earth which is not inhabited, at one season or another, by some species, and many are found on the beaches, and on the ocean itself. following are some of the localities in which our american species are to be found; and, presumably, foreign birds of the same families will occur in similar places. turdidæ: thrushes.--of these, the robin is the most common and is found everywhere. next among the true thrushes are the olive-backed, hermit, and allied species. these occur usually in woodlands, and are rather shy, keeping at a distance. the wood thrush inhabits deeply-wooded glens. the mocking thrushes prefer thickets in the neighborhood of dwellings,--for example, the cat-bird. the brown thrush also inhabits thickets, but are not, as a rule, fond of the society of man, while the smaller thrushes, of which the golden-crowned is an example, prefer the woodlands; and the two water thrushes are found in swampy localities. saxicolidæ: stone-chats.--the blue-birds are often sociable, building in orchards and farmyards, while the western species appear to prefer mountain cliffs as breeding-places. the rare stone-chat is, i think, found in open sections where it occurs at all. cinclidæ: ouzel.--the solitary species of ouzel found with us inhabits the mountain streams of the far west. sylvidæ: true warblers.--are pre-eminently birds of the woodlands, but occasionally the kinglets, notably the golden-crowned, will wander into orchards during mild days in winter. chamæidæ: wrentits.--the only species found in the united states inhabits the sage-brush in the far southwest. paridæ: titmice.--are also found in the woods or thickets, but some species wander into the orchards during winter. sittidæ: nuthatches.--are birds of the woodlands as a rule, but the white and red-bellied nuthatches wander considerably in autumn, while the brown-headed seldom if ever leave the piny woods of the south. troglodytidæ: wrens.--the creeper-wrens are found among the cacti of the far southwest, while the rock-wrens occur among thickets in a similar region. the true wrens are found in thickets, often in the neighborhood of dwellings, in which they frequently build, while the two marsh wrens occur on both salt and fresh water marshes throughout the country. alaudidæ: true larks.--these birds occur on the far prairies, on the coast of labrador, and in winter along the barren seashores of the northern and middle section. motacilidæ: wagtails.--are also birds of the open country, and the titlark is found in fields during the migrations, especially along the coast from maine to florida. sylvicolidæ: american warblers.--these gems of the woodland and of wayside thickets abound throughout the length and breadth of our country. during the migrations they are generally distributed, it not being uncommon, then, to find even the blackburnian warbler, which, during the nesting season, is pre-eminently a bird of the deep woods, feeding in the open fields, while i have taken the cape may warbler, which occurs in summer in the thick evergreens of the north, feeding among the oranges and bananas in the gardens of key west. warblers then should be looked after nearly everywhere, among willows by the brookside, on the barren hill-tops which scarcely support a scant growth of pine or cedars, and on the blooming trees of orchards. some species are exceedingly shy, so as to require a heavy charge of dust-shot to reach them, while others are so tame as to peer inquisitively into the very face of a collector as he makes his way through their chosen retreats. tanagridæ: tanagers.--these strikingly colored birds are usually found in the woods, occasionally however visiting the open sections. they are rather shy and retiring in habits, and their presence must be usually detected by their song. hirundinidæ: swallows.--are birds of the open country, and are more common in the vicinity of settlements than elsewhere. the violet-green swallow, however, occurs among the cliffs of the rocky mountains. ampelidæ: waxwings.--are, as a rule, found in the open country in the vicinity of settlements; and even the bohemian waxwings occur abundantly in some of the cities of utah in winter, feeding upon the fruit of the ornamental trees. vireonidæ: vireos.--these widely-distributed birds are usually fond of the woodlands, but the white-eye prefers thickets in swampy places, while the warbling is seldom found far from settlements; indeed, more often inhabits trees which grow in the streets of villages than other sections. laniidæ: shrikes.--are found in open sections, often in fields, and on the uninhabited indian hunting-grounds of florida. i found the loggerheads along the borders of the open prairies. fringillidæ: finches, sparrows, and grosbeaks.--these are, as a rule, found mainly in the more open country. the cross-bills, however, enter thick woods, especially evergreens. the grosbeaks, notably the rose-breast, prefer the woodlands. the blue sparrows, like the indigo bird, are found in open fields grown up to bushes. the snow-buntings occur in open fields and along barren sections of seaboard, while the sharp-tailed and sea-side finches inhabit the marshes. the grass sparrows, notably the yellow-winged, henslow's, and leconte's, prefer grassy plains. last winter i procured all three species of this genus (_coturniculus_) on a plantation in western florida, securing them all in three successive shots, a feat which has, i am certain, never before been accomplished. many of these grass-haunting birds have to be shot as they rise from the herbage to fly away, but i found, by persistingly following a specimen from point to point, that after a time it would settle in a bush, when i could secure it with my repeating collecting gun. icteridæ: orioles, blackbirds, etc.--orioles prefer, as a rule, orchards and ornamental trees about dwellings, but they sometimes occur in the more open woodlands. the marsh blackbirds, like the red-wings and yellow-headed, prefer wet meadows. the rusty and brewer's are found in swamps. the crow blackbirds and boat-tailed occur in fields and along the borders of streams. corvidæ: crows, jays, etc.--these usually occur in the woodlands or thickets. crows frequent the seashore in numbers in winter, and may be secured by exposing meat which is poisoned by strychnine, as they will frequently eat it during the inclement season. canada and blue jays occur in woods, while the florida and california jays inhabit thickets. tyrannidæ: flycatchers.--are widely distributed species. the king-birds are found in the more open sections, and the same is true of the crested flycatchers. the bridge pewee inhabits the vicinity of dwellings, while the wood pewee occurs in the woods. the least flycatcher prefers orchards, but the greater portions of the genus _empidonax_ are found in woodlands or thickets. caprimulgidæ: goatsuckers.--the whip-poor-wills and chuck-wills-widow occur in the thick wood, emerging occasionally at night, but seldom straying from their retreats. a good way to secure these birds is to note as accurately as possible the point where one begins to sing; then, on the following evening, conceal yourself near the spot, when the bird will be seen to emerge from its retreat and alight on some particular rock, post, or branch, on which it invariably perches, and utters its song. then if the bird be too far away to secure at the time, it may readily be taken another evening by the collector posting himself nearer. these birds may also be started from their concealment during daylight, and thus be shot. the night-hawks inhabit the more open sections, but perch on trees during the day. they may readily be secured while flying over the fields. cypselidæ: swifts.--the white-throated swift occurs among the clefts of the rocky mountains, and is exceedingly difficult to procure. the well-known chimney swift inhabits chimneys almost everywhere, but, as it never alights outside of these retreats, must be shot on the wing. trochilidæ: hummingbirds.--inhabit as a rule the open country. i have secured numbers of our ruby-throats on cherry-trees when they were in blossom, and later, on beds of flowers; and i presume the western species may be found in similar situations. i shoot them with light charges of dust-shot, fired from my collecting gun. alcidinidæ: kingfishers.--these noisy birds are found plentifully in the vicinity of streams. they are shy and require a heavy charge of number eight to bring them down. cuculidæ: cuckoos.--the roadrunner of california, texas, and intermediate locality, occurs in the sage bush, but our species of cuckoos, even the mangrove, inhabit thickets from which they occasionally emerge. they are usually betrayed by their notes. they are easily killed, their skin being very thin and tender. picidæ: woodpeckers.--occur, as a rule, in the woodlands, but the smaller species and the golden-winged inhabit orchards. they are all tough birds to kill. they are a generally distributed family, but some species are confined to certain localities, for example, the great ivory-billed is not found outside of florida, and even there, is confined to a limited area, and very rare. strickland's woodpecker has as yet only been found in the united states in a single range of mountains in arizona. psittacidæ: parrots.--our carolina paroquet is now exceedingly rare out of florida, and then occurs in the neighborhood of cypress swamps, but occasionally visits the plantations. strigidæ: owls.--the burrowing owl occurs in the western plains and in a limited area of florida. the snowy owl inhabits sand-hills of the coast in winter, and the short-eared occurs in the marshes, but all other species are birds of the deep woods, occasionally emerging, however, especially at night. the great horned and barred may be decoyed within shooting distance in the spring by imitating their cries, and the latter-named species will also eagerly fly toward the collector when he produces a squeaking sound similar to that made by a mouse. the small owls may be often found in holes of trees. falconidæ: hawks, eagles, etc.--marsh hawks occur in fields, meadows, and marshes. everglade kites are found on the widespread savannahs of florida, while the swallow-tailed mississippi and white-shouldered are found on the prairies of the south and west. the buzzard hawks usually occur in the woods, but during the migrations pass over the fields, flying high. the fish-hawk is abundant on the seacoast, but also visits the ponds and lakes of the interior. the duck-hawk is fond of clefts, and migrates along the seacoast. the sharp-shinned sparrow and pigeon are often found in solitary trees in fields, where they hunt for mice, but they also occur in open woods. the bald eagle occurs on the seashore or on large bodies of water, but the golden eagle prefers the mountainous regions. cathartidæ: vultures.--occur everywhere throughout the south. the great california vulture is now very rare. columbidæ: pigeons.--are usually found in fields, but the wild pigeon is often taken in the woods. the ground doves are found in fields which are bordered with thickets, to which they retreat when alarmed. two or three species are found on the florida keys, and about as many more in texas. meleagridæ: turkeys.--wild turkeys occur in the wilderness of the south and west. they inhabit open woods as a rule, often roosting at night in swamps. tetraonidæ: grouse, quail, etc.--the canada, ruffled, and allied species of grouse occur in the woodlands. the prairie sharp-tail and sage-hen are found on the plains of the west, while the ptarmigans inhabit the bleak regions of the north. the common quail is widely distributed throughout the more open country, from massachusetts to texas, and the plumed california and allied species occur in the southwest, frequenting the thickets of the prairies, or along the mountain-sides. charadridæ: plovers.--these are, as a rule, maritime birds, especially during the southward migrations, but many of the species breed in the interior, and the kildeer and mountain plovers are always more common on bodies of fresh water. none of the species are, however, found far from water, but they all alight in dry fields in search of food. hæmatopodidæ: oyster-catchers and turnstones.--all these birds inhabit the seacoast. they occur in oyster-beds or among rocks. recurvirostridæ: avocets and stilts.--both these species are birds of the interior, being found in the south and west in the vicinity of water. phalaropodidæ: phalaropes.--these singular birds are found off the coast, often far out at sea during winter, but, oddly enough, breed in the interior, nesting throughout the northwest and north. they are, however, occasionally found on the coast during the northward migration, especially during storms. scolopacidæ: snipes, woodcock, etc.--woodcock and snipes are usually found in freshwater swamps, especially in spring. the true sandpipers, like peep, grass-birds, etc., haunt the pools in marshes or accompany the sanderlings on the beaches. the godwits are found on the marshes, as are also red-breasted snipe, but the curlews inhabit hill-tops, especially during the autumnal migration. i have, however, found the long-billed curlew on the beaches of florida. willets and yellow-legs occur on the marshes or on the borders of streams. tantalidæ: ibises and spoonbills.--occur along the borders of streams and other bodies of fresh water, or on mud-flats in the far south. ardeidæ: herons.--these are widely distributed birds. the true herons occur along the margins of bodies of water, both on the coast and in the interior, while the bitterns generally haunt only the fresh water. gruidæ: cranes.--are found on the prairies of the west and south, frequenting the vicinity of water. aramidæ: courlan.--the well-known crying-bird is found only in florida, inhabiting swamps along the rivers and lakes of the interior. rallidæ: rails, gallinules, and coots.--the true rails inhabit very wet marshes, both salt and fresh, concealing themselves in the grass. gallinules and coots are found on the borders of fresh water. phoenicopteridæ: flamingoes.--the flamingo occurs only with us, on the extensive mud-flats in extreme southern florida, where they are exceedingly difficult to procure, being very shy. anatidæ: geese, ducks, etc.--these are all inhabitants of the water, being seldom found far from it. some species, like the teal, prefer secluded pools in the interior, while the wood-duck and others frequent woodland streams; and the eiders and marine ducks are abundant in the waters of the ocean. sulidæ: gannets.--excepting while breeding, these birds keep well out to sea, and are thus quite difficult to procure. all of the marine species are liable to be driven inland during severe storms, and the collector should not fail to take advantage of such circumstances. pelecanidæ: pelicans.--the brown pelican is a resident of the extreme southern coast, and may be found on sand-bars or perched on trees in the immediate vicinity of water. the white pelican is found in similar localities in winter, but migrates northward during the summer, breeding in the interior, from utah to the arctic regions. graculidæ: cormorants.--occur on sand-bars in the south, or on rocky cliffs in the north, and on the pacific coast. during migrations they keep well out to sea. they have the habit, in common with the gannets and pelicans, of alighting on barren sand-spits which rise out of the water. plotidæ: darters.--the snake-bird of the south occurs on bodies of fresh water, and may be seen perched on trees or flying high in air. they are exceedingly difficult to kill, being, as a rule, shy, and very tenacious of life. tachypetidæ: frigate birds.--the frigate bird is found with us only on the gulf of mexico and among the florida keys. they are usually seen upon wing, but i have observed thousands perched on the mangroves on the keys. they roost on the trees on lonely islets at night, at which time they appear so stupid that they may be approached quite readily. phætonidæ: tropic birds.--these fine birds occur only in tropical waters unless they are accidentally blown out of their latitude by storms. they breed on the rocky cliffs of the bahamas and bermudas. laridæ: gulls, terns, etc.--the skua gulls keep well out to sea, as a rule, but occasionally enter harbors and bays in pursuit of gulls and terns, which they rob of their prey. gulls and terns of the various species rest on sand-bars or fly along the shore. procellaridæ: petrels.--excepting while breeding, these birds keep well out to sea and are thus quite difficult to procure. they haunt the waters which are frequented by fishermen, however, and may be procured by visiting these localities on some fishing-smack. colymbidæ: loons.--are found in both fresh and salt waters, but are somewhat difficult to procure on account of their habit of diving. podicipidæ: grebes.--these birds have similar habits to those of the loons, but are found in smaller bodies of water, notably the pied-billed, one or more specimens of which occur in almost every little pool throughout the country, especially during the southward migration. alcidæ: auks, puffins, etc.--these birds are found off the coast during migration, but breed on the rocky shores of both coasts. although the foregoing list gives the locality in which a given species may be found, as a rule, it is always well to bear in mind that birds have wings, and by the use of them may stray into unaccustomed localities far distant from their usual habitance. for example, a burrowing owl was shot on the marshes of newburyport, and a petrel, which has hitherto been known to science through a single specimen which was taken many years ago in the southern hemisphere, was picked up, in an exhausted condition, in a ploughed field of the interior of new york. the young collector then should ever be on the alert, keeping well in mind the fact that the art which he is pursuing is not lightly learned. i have frequently heard the inexperienced remark that he could easily kill a hundred birds in a day; and although this might be true on certain occasions,--for i have seen over this number killed by one person in two discharges of a gun,--yet, as a rule, a good collector will seldom bring in over fifty birds during his best days. a man must not only be experienced, but will be obliged to work hard in order to average twenty-five birds in a day. although there are some "born" collectors who will procure birds, even if they be provided with no more formidable weapon than a boy's catapult, yet the peculiar attributes which make up a good collector are mainly to be acquired. a quick eye to detect a flutter of a wing or the flit of a tail among waving foliage; an ear ready to catch the slighest chirp heard amid the rustling leaves, and so skilled as to intrepret the simple gradations of sound which distinguish the different species; a constant wide-awake alertness, so that nothing escapes the observation, and which gives such nice control over the muscles that the gun comes to the shoulder with a promptitude that combines thought with action; and an unwearying patience and pluck which totally disregard minor obstacles, are some of the characteristics which must be possessed by the individual who wishes to bring together a good collection of birds by his own exertions. if one does not possess these traits, why, then study to acquire them; for securing birds is as fine an art as is preserving them after they are obtained. section iv.: care of specimens.--just as soon as a bird is shot, examine it carefully by blowing aside the feathers in order to find the shot-holes; if they bleed, remove the clotted blood with a small stick, or, better, the point of a penknife, then with a pointed stick, or the knife, plug the hole with a little cotton, and sprinkle plaster, or better, some of my preservative, on the spot. next plug the mouth with cotton, taking care to push the wad down far enough to allow the bill to close, for if the mandibles are left open the skin of the chin and upper throat will dry, causing the feathers to stand upright. smooth the specimen lightly and place it, head down, in a paper cone, which should be long enough to allow folding the top without bending the tail feathers. then the bird may be placed in a fish basket, which is the best receptacle for carrying birds, as it is not only light to carry, but also admits the air. never shut a bird up in a close box in warm weather, as it will spoil very quickly. care of a bird in the field will save much labor, and your cabinet specimens will look enough better to warrant it. blood left under the plumage gradually soaks through the feathers, thus causing them to become matted, when they are exceedingly difficult to clean. some specimens however, will bleed, and if they are to be preserved this blood must be removed. i have always found it best to wash the blood off in the first water i could find, and then let the bird dry, either by carrying in my hand, or, by suspending it to a limb of a tree, where i could return for it afterwards. care should be taken in such cases, however, to wash _all_ the blood off, and then plug the wound with cotton, as if any flows out when the plumage is wet it will spread on the feathers and stain them. in picking up birds that are only wounded never take them by the tail, wing, or any part of the plumage, but grasp them firmly in the hand in such a way as to imprison both wings, then kill them by a firm pressure of the thumb and forefinger, applied to the sides just back of the wings. this compresses the lungs, and the birds die of suffocation almost instantly. never strike a bird, no matter how large, with a stick, but in case of hawks, eagles, etc., the talons of which are dangerous, seize them first by the tip of one wing, then by the other, work the hands downward until the back is grasped, then apply the pressure to the lungs. there is no danger from the beak of even the most formidable species after the pressure is put upon the lungs, for i never knew a specimen to bite while being killed in this way; the only thing necessary is to keep out of the way of their talons. i have frequently been obliged to remove eagles from a box and kill them, and have done it with my hands alone. wounded doves and pigeons should be grasped very firmly, and not allowed to struggle in the least, as their feathers fall out very easily; and the same is true, though to a less extent, with cuckoos; in fact, it is always best to brush the plumage as little as possible, handling the specimen when dead by the feet or bill. in picking up white herons or other birds which have fallen in mud or other dirty water, take them up by the bill and shake them gently to remove the ooze. the feathers of all birds, especially aquatic species, are covered with a delicate oil, and all extraneous matter glides off the plumage if they are not soaked in water. in catching wounded herons, take them by the beak to avoid the danger of losing an eye from a lunge of the sharp point. when a bird is to be placed in a basket or on a bench, do not _throw_ it down, but lay it gently on its back, always bearing in mind that the smoother a bird is kept before it is skinned the better it will look when preserved. i have even noticed that the true ornithological enthusiast always keeps his birds in good condition, while others who merely shoot birds for the momentary pleasure of the thing, or for gain, are very apt to handle them roughly. in other words, the student of nature possesses an innate love of his pursuits, which causes him to respect even a dead bird. chapter ii. skinning birds. section i.: ordinary method.--the only instruments that i use in removing the skin of birds ordinarily is a simple knife of a peculiar form (see fig. 3); but i like to have a pair of dissecting scissors by me to be used in cases given further on. i also have plenty of cotton, and either indian meal or dermal preservative at hand to absorb blood and other juices. [illustration: fig. 3.] to remove the skin from the bird, first see that the mouth is plugged with cotton, and if it is, note if this be dry, if not remove it and substitute fresh. it is also well to note if the bird be flexible, for if rigid it is extremely difficult to skin, and it is always best to wait until this peculiar rigidity of the muscles, which follows death in all vertebrate animals, shall have passed. this occurs in warm weather in much less time than in cold, often in one or two hours, but in moderate temperature a bird had better lie for at least six hours after it has been killed. take then a specimen in the proper condition, lay it on its back on a bench, on which clean paper has been spread, with its head from you, but slightly inclined to the left. now part the feathers of the abdomen with the left hand, and, excepting in ducks and a few other species, a space, either naked or covered with down, will be seen extending from the lower or costal extremity of the sternum to the vent. insert the point of the knife, which is held in the left hand, with the back downward, under the skin near the sternum, and, by sliding it downward, make an incision quite to the vent, taking care not to cut through the walls of the abdomen. this can readily be avoided in fresh birds, but not in specimens that have been softened by lying too long. the fingers of the right hand should be employed during this operation in holding apart the feathers. now sprinkle meal or preservative in the incision, especially if blood or juices flow out, in order to absorb them and prevent them soiling the feathers. next, with the thumb and finger of the right hand, peel down the skin on the left side of the orifice, at the same time pressing the tibia on that side upward. this will disclose the second joint of the leg, or knee proper. pass the knife under this joint, and, by cutting against the thumb, cut it completely off, a matter easily accomplished in small birds; rub a little absorbent on either side of the severed joint; then grasping the end of the tibia firmly between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, draw it outward. at the same time, the skin of the leg should be pressed downward by the fingers of the right hand to prevent tearing. the leg is thus easily exposed, and should be, as a rule, skinned to the tarsal joint. with the thumb-nail, nip off the extreme tip of the tibial bone, and strip the flesh off the remainder of the bone by a downward pull; then give the whole a twist, and cut all the tendrils at once. of course the flesh may be removed from the bone by scraping, etc., but the above is the best method, and in case of large birds, break the end of the tibia with pliers. turn the bird end for end, and proceed the same with the other leg, but during both operations the bird should not be raised from the bench. now peel away the skin about the tail, place the forefinger under its base, and cut downward through the caudal vertebra and muscles of the back quite to the skin, the finger being a guide to prevent going through this. rub absorbent on the severed portion. grasp the end of the vertebra protruding from the body, thus raising the bird from the bench; peel down front and back by pushing downward with the hand, rather coaxing the skin off than forcing or pulling it. soon the wings will appear; sever these where the humerus joins the coracoid, cutting through the muscles from above downward in large specimens, thus more readily finding the joints. rub on absorbent, and it may be well to remark that this must be done whenever a fresh cut is made. then the body is laid on the bench, and the skin is held in one hand, or, in large specimens, allowed to rest on the lap or on the bench, but never to dangle. keep on peeling over the neck by using the tips of as many fingers as can be brought into service and soon, the skull will appear. the next obstruction will be the ears; these should be pulled or, better, pinched out with the thumb and forefinger nails. do not tear the ears, and special care should be exercised in this respect in owls. when the eyes are exposed, pass the knife between the lids and orbit, close to the former, taking care that the nyctatating membrane be removed from the skin, or it will be in the way when the eyelids are arranged in making the skin. peel well down to the base of the bill, so that every portion of the skin may be covered with preservative. push the point of the knife under the eyes, and remove them by a single motion, without breaking them. cut off the back of the skull at the point shown in the line a, fig. 4; turn the head over and make two cuts outward as seen at a. a., fig. 5, thus removing a triangular portion of the skull b, fig. 4, to which the brain will usually adhere, but when it does not, remove it with the point of the knife. this leaves the eye-cavities open from beneath. draw out the wings by grasping the end of the humerus in the left hand, and press the skin back with the right, to the forearm; then with the thumb-nail, or back of the knife, separate the secondary quills which adhere to the larger bone from it, thus turning out the wing to the last joint or phalanges. cover the skin well with preservative, especially the skull, wings, and base of tail; roll up balls of cotton of about the size of the entire eye removed, and place in the cavities in such a condition that the smooth side of the ball may come outward so that the eyelids may be arranged neatly over them. nothing now remains but to turn the skin back to its former position. turn the wings by gently pulling the primaries and the head, by forcing the skull upward until the bill can be grasped; then by pulling forward on this, and working the skin backward with one hand, the matter will be accomplished, when the feathers may be lightly smoothed and arranged. it must be borne in mind that the quicker and more lightly a skin is removed the better the specimen will look. by lightly, i mean that the skin should not be tightly grasped nor stretched by pulling. some workmen will remove a skin from a bird which is nearly spoiled without starting a feather, while others may skin a specimen as quickly, but the plumage will be crushed and broken through rough usage. the time for removing the skin from a small bird should not exceed six minutes, and i have seen it taken off in half this time. of course the beginner will be longer than this; and then the skin should be occasionally moistened, by using a damp sponge. [illustration: fig. 4.] [illustration: fig. 5.] section ii.: exceptions to the usual method of skinning.--in case of birds which are very soft on account of having been dead a long time, it may be advisable to open either beneath the wing, making a short incision along the side or above the wing, cutting along the feather tracks just above the scapularies; and some skin ducks through a hole in the back just above the rump. i do not, however, advise such practice, as a rule, as the skins are more difficult to make up, and the bird cannot be mounted quite as readily. woodpeckers with large heads and small necks, like the pileated and ivory-billed, and ducks having similar characteristics, as the wood, pintail, and a few other species; also flamingoes, sand-hill, and whooping cranes, cannot be skinned over the head in the usual manner, but the neck should be cut off after the skin has been removed as far as possible, and then a slit should be cut in the back of the head, and the head be skinned through this orifice, but an abundance of absorbent should be used to prevent the feathers from becoming soiled. care should be exercised in skinning cuckoos, doves, thrushes, and some species of sparrows, as the skin is not only thin, but the feathers start in the rump and back very readily. peel the skin off gently, and do not fold it abruptly backward in working on these parts, but hold it as nearly as possible in its original position. the skin of the wood duck, and sometimes that of the hooded merganser, adheres to the flesh of the breast, but it may be separated by working carefully with the back of the knife. in removing the skins of young birds in the down, like ducks and gallinaceous birds, do not attempt to skin the wings. if a specimen is to be mounted with the wings spread, the secondaries should not be detached, but the knife should be forced down back of the primaries in order to break up the muscles; then as much of the flesh as possible should be removed, and a quantity of preservative pushed in beneath the skin. in larger birds a slit should be made on the under side of the wing, and the muscles removed from the outside without detaching the secondaries; and also when a specimen is to be mounted, the eye cavities should be filled with clay well kneaded to the consistency of putty. section iii.: ascertaining the sex of birds.--although the sex of many birds can be ascertained with tolerable certainty by the plumage, yet this is never an infallible guide, and to make perfectly sure of every case the internal organs should be examined. i always advise dissecting such plainly-marked birds as scarlet tanagers or red-winged blackbirds, and by practising this habit i was once fortunate enough to discover a female painted bunting in full male livery. the sex of birds can be readily ascertained in the following manner: lay the bird's body on its left side, with the head from you; then with a knife or scissors, cut through the ribs and abdominal walls on the _right_ side; then raise the intestines, and the organs will appear. in males, two bodies, the testicles, more or less spherical, will be seen lying just below the lungs on the upper portion of the kidneys (fig. 6, 3, 3). these vary not only in color from white to black, but also in size, depending upon the season or age of the specimen. thus, in an adult song sparrow, during the beginning of the breeding season, the testicles will be nearly or quite a half inch in diameter, whereas in autumn they will not exceed a number eight shot in size; and in nestlings of the same species they are not larger than a small pellet of dust-shot. at this early age, the sex of birds which have become somewhat soft is quite difficult to determine, and the same is true at any season if the specimens be badly shot up. there are other organs, however, in the male. for example, the sperm ducts are always present, appearing like two white lines; and in the breeding season the plexus of nerves and arteries about the vent becomes swollen, forming two prominent tubercles on either side (fig. 6, 3, 3). [illustration: fig. 6.] in the female the ovaries lie on the right side (fig. 7, 2) in about the same position as is occupied by the testicles in the male. the ovaries vary in size from that of half the size of an egg to minute points, depending, as in the male, on the season of the year and age of the specimen. in very young birds the ovaries consist of a small white body which under a magnifying glass appears somewhat granular. in both male and female are two yellowish or whitish bodies, in the former sex lying above the testicles, but further forward, and consequently just in front of the kidneys; and in the female they occupy about the same position. in addition to the ovaries in the female, the oviduct is always present (fig. 7, 3), large, swollen, and convoluted during the breeding season, but smaller and nearly straight at other times. in young specimens it appears as a small white line. [illustration: fig. 7.] the denuded breast and abdomen seen in birds during the breeding season, cannot always be depended upon as a mark of sex, as this occasionally occurs in males as well as in females. section iv.: preserving skins.--taxidermists for many years have made use of arsenic in some form as a preservative; and in the first edition of my "naturalists' guide," i recommended the use of it dry, stating that i did not think it injurious if not actually eaten. i have, however, since had abundant cause to change my opinion in this respect, and now pronounce it a dangerous poison. not one person in fifty can handle the requisite quantity of arsenic necessary to preserve specimens, for any length of time, without feeling the effects of it. for a long time i was poisoned by it, but attributed it to the noxious gases arising from birds that had been kept too long. it is possible that the poison from arsenic with which my system was filled might have been affected by these gases, causing it to develop itself, but i do not think that the gas itself is especially injurious, as i have never been poisoned since i discontinued the use of arsenic. when i became convinced that arsenic was injuring my health, and that of others, i began to experiment upon other substances, and after trying a quantity of various things, have succeeded in manufacturing a nearly odorless compound which has the following advantages over arsenic: it thoroughly preserves the skins of birds, mammals, reptiles, and fishes from decay, and also prevents the attacks of dermestes or anthrenus, while the feathers of birds and hair of mammals are not as liable to be attacked by moths as when the skin is preserved with arsenic. this preservative when properly applied abstracts the oil from greasy skins, thus preventing them from becoming decayed through carbonization, as nearly always occurs in ducks' skins after a few years. it is a deodorizer, all disagreeable smells leaving the skin to which it is applied; and above all it is not a poison. i used this dermal preservative, as we have named it, as an absorbent while skinning birds, especially small ones, as then the plumage is dusted with it necessarily, which insures more or less protection to the feathers from the attacks of moths. to render my preservative, or indeed any other, effective, it must be thoroughly applied to the skin; all the portions, especially those to which any flesh adheres, must be well covered with it, and the fibre of the muscles should be broken up as much as possible. but a small portion, at best, of arsenic is soluble in either water or alcohol, and but a little in the juices of the skin, whereas in my dermal preservative at least three-fourths of that which comes in contact with a moist skin is absorbed, thus thoroughly preserving the specimen. in the case of a greasy skin, remove as much fat as possible by peeling it off or gently scraping until all the little cells which contain the oil are broken up and the skin appears; then coat the skin liberally with the preservative, when it will be found to absorb the oil. allow this layer to remain a few minutes, then scrape it all off and coat again with a fresh supply. continue to do this until all the oil that will flow out is absorbed, and then dust with a final coating. there are two chemical processes carried on in preserving oily skins, one of which converts the oil into soap, and this is in turn absorbed and dried. thus the preservative which has been scraped from the skin can be after a time used again, as it has lost but a small portion of its efficiency. it might be borne in mind, however, that all the fat cells possible must be broken up, as the skin which surrounds these is, in a measure, impervious to the preservative, which must, in order to absorb oil, come in contact with it. section v.: other methods of preserving skins.--skins may be temporarily preserved by simply using black pepper, but the effect is not lasting. the same is true of tannic acid, but either of these, alum, or even common salt, will do as a substitute for the preservative until the skins can be got into the hands of a taxidermist, or until the collector can procure the proper preservative. i will here mention that the dermal preservative costs only twenty-five cents per single pound, and this quantity will preserve at least three times as many skins as the same amount of arsenic. a good method by which large skins may be temporarily preserved is by salting them. simply coat the inside of the skin with fine salt, turn it, smooth the feathers and fold the wings neatly, then pack in paper. the salt prevents the skin from quite drying, and thus it can be moistened much more readily, and made into a skin or mounted. the advantage of packing large birds in so small a capacity is obvious to any one. two collectors whom we have had out the past season have sent in some thousand large skins in this condition; and these we shall endeavor to work up within six months' time, as salted skins become quite brittle if allowed to lie too long. they should be kept in a dry place, as salt absorbs moisture, which causes the skin to decay. they are also liable after the first year to be attacked by dermestes and anthrenus. birds which are in a bad condition through having been dead a long time may be sometimes skinned, in case of rare specimens, by using great care. sprinkle the inside of the skin well with preservative, as this tends to set the feathers, being a stringent, keeping the skin as straight as possible, as folding it is liable to loosen the feathers. the intestines of birds may be removed and the cavity salted when large birds are to be sent from a distance. chapter iii. making skins. section i.: cleaning feathers.--if a bird is bloody, the feathers may be washed either in turpentine or water. saturate a rag or piece of cotton, and clean off the blood, which if dry may require some soaking. try to keep the water from spreading as much as possible, but be sure that every particle of clotted blood is removed and the spot washed thoroughly. then dry by covering the spot well with either plaster or dermal preservative, the latter being preferable as it never bleaches the plumage. this should be worked well into the feathers with a soft brush, aided by the fingers, applying a fresh supply constantly until all the moisture is absorbed; then dust with a soft duster. in case of grease-spots, if fresh, use the dermal preservative alone, but if old and yellow use benzine to start the grease, and then dry with preservative, when it will generally be found that all stains will be removed; but in some cases two or three applications of benzine may be necessary. small spots of dried blood may often be removed from dark feathers by simply scraping with the thumb-nail, aided by a moderately stiff brush, much after the manner in which a living bird removes foreign substances from its plumage. do not leave clotted spots of blood in the plumage, as the feathers never lie well over them, and such places are liable to be attacked by insects, and even a spot of blood under the wing should, in my opinion, always be removed. before any attempt is made either to make a bird into a skin or mount it, it should be thoroughly cleansed. stains of dirt may be removed with alcohol, which dries more readily than water, but it will not start blood as well as turpentine or water. [illustration: fig. 8.] section ii.: making skins of small birds.--the instruments for skin-making are a flat brush, a duster for cleansing, three or four pairs of tweezers of varying sizes (see fig. 8), needles, curved or straight as preferred, silk thread for sewing, and soft cotton for winding, and metal forms made of rolled tin or zinc (fig. 9). lay the skin on its back, and push the single bones left on the forearm into the skin, then fasten them by taking a stitch through the skin near the base of the wing; then, passing the thread around the bone, tie it firmly. now with the same thread, uncut, sew the other bone in a similar manner, leaving the two connected by a piece of thread which is about as long as the natural width of the body of the bird, thus the wings are kept the same distance apart as they were formerly. now take a piece of cotton and form it into a rough body as near as possible in size to the one removed, but having a tapering neck of about the length of nature. now grasp this firmly in the tweezers, and place it, neck foremost, in the skin, taking care that the point of the tweezers enters the brain cavity of the skull, so that the cotton may fill it, and projecting downward, form the throat; now allow the tweezers to open, and slip them out. open the eyelids, arranging them neatly over the rounded cotton beneath. see that the bones of the wing lie along the sides, as they are liable to become pushed forward in putting in the cotton. this can be remedied by raising the cotton gently. if the cotton body has been placed in the proper position the neck will be full, but not over stuffed, and of just the right length to form a skin that has the appearance and size of a freshly-killed bird lying on its back with the head straight. the bill should be horizontal with the bench on which the bird lies, and from which the specimen should not be raised while at work on it. now roll the skin over and examine the back; see that the wing feathers, especially the scapularies, lie in regular rotation, and that they have not been pushed one above the other; and the same attention should be given to the tail. note if the feathers of the back lie neatly over the scapularies, and these in turn, should be over the wing-coverts; in short, all should blend neatly, forming a smoothly rounded back. now place the skin, back down, in the form, lifting, by placing the thumb and forefinger on either side of the shoulders, which is the proper way to handle a small skin, even when dry. in placing the skin in the form, care should be used that the cotton does not slip out of the skull, causing the head to fall down. see if the tip of the wings are of equal length; if not make them so by drawing one wing downward, and pushing the other up toward the head, but do not pull them out of place at the shoulders. be careful that the wings are placed high enough on the back. this is easily ascertained, if the closed tips of the primaries lie perfectly flat on the bottom of the form with their inner edges nearly downward. now smooth the feathers with a pair of tweezers, placing the feathers of the sides that come below the sparrow's wing inside the wing; above this they will lie outside. always bear in mind that although a skin can be made perfectly smooth by an expert in from eight to fifteen minutes, one who is not accustomed to the work will be obliged to occupy a much longer time, as a skin cannot be made too smooth. arrange all spots and lines on the feathers as they occur in life, especially about the head or on the back; in fact, too much attention cannot be given to these details, before and after a skin is placed in the form, if one wishes to turn out a first-class specimen. [illustration: fig. 9.] now bind the skin with soft cotton thread, used on bobbins in the mills, beginning at the lower portions of the wings, and winding the thread over the body and under the form, so that the threads lie about a quarter of an inch apart, ending with the throat. now arrange all the feathers which may have become disarranged under the threads, and place the skin away to dry where there is no draft, for a slight breeze will be sure to blow some of the feathers out of place. (for the form of a skin, see fig. 10.) [illustration: fig. 10.] another method of making skins which may be practised to advantage is as follows: after the skin is ready to place in the form, wrap it closely in a _very_ thin layer of nice cotton batting, taking care that the feathers lie perfectly smooth, although these may be partially arranged through the cotton, which must be thin enough for the feathers to be seen through it. the skin is then laid aside to dry without placing in the form. skins should not be exposed to too great artificial heat, neither should they be left to dry during damp weather in a room without a fire. small birds, like warblers, will set perfectly hard in forty-eight hours in a moderate temperature with dry air. never allow a skin to freeze. section iii.: making skins of long-necked birds.--sandpipers, thin-necked woodpeckers, or any birds, the necks of which are liable to become broken, should have a wire placed in the neck to support and strengthen it. proceed in sewing the wing-bones as directed in small skins; then make a body of cotton around the end of a wire that has about an inch of the end bent into the form of a hook, and then the body may be wrapped about the wire with some of the winding cotton. the neck-wire should project from the body for about the same length as the natural neck, or a little more. this neck-wire should also be wrapped with cotton to the size of the natural neck, but rather thicker where it joins the body. a small portion of this wire which has been sharpened, as hereafter to be directed, should project beyond the body. now place the body in position inside of the skin, forcing the point of the wire into the skull, up into the base of the upper mandible as far as it will go. the heads of long-billed birds may be turned on one side, but in this case the bill will be placed to a greater or less angle. sew up specimen as before; arrange and place in a long form and bind. the legs of such birds as yellow-legs may be stitched together at the tibial joint, then bent toward the sides, and the toes stitched to the skin. in making skins of all birds where the back of the head is opened, the orifice should not be sewed up until after the wire has been inserted in the upper mandible, as it may be necessary to add more cotton through here to make the throat or back of the head as full as in life. sew up this orifice by taking fine stitches in only the extreme edge of the skin, and the same caution must be exercised in sewing up accidental tears in the skin. very tender skins may have tears mended by pasting tissue-paper neatly over the holes from the inside. in fact it is best to sew up tears from the inside, always using silk thread for the purpose. section iv.: making skins of herons, ibises, etc.--proceed exactly as in long-necked birds, but to make a compact skin lay the bird breast down, and turn the head and neck on the back, and fasten the legs to the sides. i always wire the necks, and for additional security, to prevent them being straightened by careless or inexperienced persons, i stitch the bill to the skin of the back. in addition to sewing on the inside of the wing, stitch the wing firmly to the inside, by sewing over the outer primary into a pinch of skin on the side, thus the wing is fastened in two places. ducks' skins may be made in a similar manner, but the feathers of the side must be brought _over_ the wings, and the webs of the feet may be spread with a wire, which must be removed, however, when the feet are dry, or it will rust; and galvanized or brass wire is the best for making skins. section v.: hawks, owls, eagles, vultures, etc.--the skins of these large birds are made in forms, but the wings must be stitched to the sides, as in herons, etc. the necks must be wired. in making the skins of all large birds it is best to use bodies made of excelsior or grass, rather than cotton, which does not make a firm enough body. see remarks under mounting for instructions for making bodies; but they do not need to be quite as solid for skins as in mounting; in fact, keep them as light as possible. too much care cannot be taken in forming the eyelids of all birds, especially large ones. have the cavity occupied by the eye round, with the cotton lying smoothly inside, and not projecting in a ragged manner. section vi.: labelling specimens.--a skin is of little value unless labelled with date, locality, and sex. never lay a bird one side without a label is firmly attached to one foot or other part. the sex of birds is indicated by the astronomical signs of the planets; mars ([m]) and venus ([v]), the former being, as is obvious, the mark for males and the latter for females. to keep these in mind one has only to remember, that that of mars is a conventionalized spear and shield, indications of his warlike profession, while that of venus is supposed to represent a looking-glass, an article so indispensable to feminine taste. i use blank forms for labels, and the simpler the better; thus, below is one which i used during my last expedition to florida:- +-----------------------------------+ | explorations in florida, | | by c. j. maynard & co., | | 9 pemberton square, boston, mass. | | | |_rosewood, nov. 10, 1881._ [m]| +-----------------------------------+ the sex of either, male or female, is printed, but at least two-thirds as many males as females are needed; while any notes regarding the color of feet, bill, and iris of each specimen may be written on the back. the size given is the one used for specimens from the size of a humming-bird to that of a golden-winged woodpecker. the labels of ducks and herons may be attached to the beak by securing through the nostrils, as then they are more readily found. it is well to keep in mind that in order to have any value as a scientific specimen, a bird must be labelled as near as possible with date, locality, and sex, but never guess at either. if you have a skin in your possession that you are not absolutely certain about, either label it with an interrogation mark filling the part of which you are in doubt, or do not label it at all. thus if you are unable to determine the sex satisfactorily, say so by drawing a line through the sex mark and substituting a query (?). section vii.: care of skins, cabinets, etc.--when skins are removed from the forms they should be dusted with a light feather-duster, striking them gently from the head downward so as not to ruffle the plumage. although skins are well preserved from the attacks of demestes and anthrenus, which feed upon the skin, yet the feathers are always liable to be attacked by moths, while the skin on the feet or bills is also liable to be eaten. this may be prevented by washing the parts with a solution of bleached shelac dissolved in alcohol. by far the best way to insure absolute safety is to shut up the skins in insect-proof cabinets. various methods have been tried to prevent the ingress of moths, etc., in cabinets, but the best and simplest is to have a door fitted to the outside of the drawers of an otherwise perfectly jointed cabinet. this door is provided with a bead which surrounds the outside and fits in a groove on the margin of the woodwork outside the drawers, while the whole door fits in a groove which extends quite across the bottom. another method which we practise on our latest-made cabinets is to have each drawer moth-proof, by having a margin made all around it which fits into a groove, then all the drawers are covered by closing a flange on the sides. section viii.: measuring specimens.--specimens of all rare birds should be measured. with the beginner, it is best to measure every specimen. i measured some fifteen thousand birds before i made a single skin without so doing, and now i am careful to take the dimensions of all rare specimens. the dimensions of a bird are taken as follows, using dividers and a rule marked in hundredths of the inch: first measure the extreme length from the tip of bill to end of tail; then the extreme stretch of wing from tip to tip; then the length of one wing from the scapular joint to tip of longest quill; next, the length of tail from end of longest feather to its base at the insertion in the muscles; now the length of bill along culmen or chord of upper mandibles; and of tarsus from tarsal joint to base of toes. i have a blank sheet ruled, and fill it out as per sample (page 62). campephilus principalis. +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | no. | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | sex. | m | f | m | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | |gulf | | | | locality. |hummock,| " | " | | | fla.| | | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | date. |nov. 20,| | | | | 1882 | " | " | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | length. | 20.35 | 19.75 | 21.00 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | stretch. | 31.00 | 30.00 | 32.00 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | wing. | 9.30 | 9.00 | 9.60 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | tail. | 6.35 | 6.25 | 6.50 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | bill. | 2.75 | 2.65 | 2.80 | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ | tarsus. | 1.80 | 1.60 | 2.00 | +--------+-----+--------+-------+-------+ | |eye. | yellow | " | " | | +-----+--------+-------+-------+ |color of|bill.| ivory | " | " | | | | white | | | | +-----+--------+-------+-------+ | |feet.|greenish| " | " | +--------+-----+--------+-------+-------+ | remarks. |plumage,| " | " | | | new | | | +--------------+--------+-------+-------+ section ix.: making over old skins.--sometimes it is desirable in case of rare birds to make over into presentable skins specimens which have been improperly prepared. prepare a dampening box by placing a quantity of sand, dampened so as to just drip water, in any metal vessel having a tight-fitting cover. then wrap the specimen to be made over in paper, lay it on the sand, and cover with a damp cloth folded several times. place the cover on the vessel and set in a moderately warm place for about twenty-four hours if the specimen be small, longer if large. at the end of this time the skin will be quite pliable. then remove the cotton and examine the inside of the skin carefully, and if there are any hard places caused by the skin being too thick, scrape them down with a blunt knife or, better, use our skin-rasp, and thus thin them down until the feathers above are as flexible as in any other portion. if there be grease on the feathers or inside of the skin after scraping, wash with benzine, and dry with preservative as described. when every portion of the specimen is perfectly pliable, and all superfluous dried flesh has been removed, sew up the rents, and make up as in fresh birds, but such skins generally require more careful binding. it is also often necessary to wire the neck of even small birds, especially in badly shattered and decayed skins. chapter iv. mounting birds. section i.: instruments.--the instruments necessary for mounting are cutting pliers (fig. 12), or tin shears, straight-nosed pliers (fig. 11), wire of various sizes, tweezers, and other implements used in skin-making; leg awls, for dried skins, and awls for boring stands; also stands of various kinds. [illustration: fig. 11.] [illustration: fig. 12.] section ii.: mounting from fresh specimens.--be sure that a skin is perfectly clean in every way before attempting to mount, as it cannot be washed nearly as well afterwards. remove all the bodies of skinned specimens well out of the way, and spread a clean sheet of paper where the skinning has been done, that there may be no danger of soiling the plumage. make a body of fine grass, excelsior, or, better, the peculiar tough grass which grows in shady places, in sandy soil, is preferable, by winding with thread, moulding it so as to have it quite solid, shaping it in the hands until it assumes the exact length and breadth of the body removed, and as near its form as possible. thus see that the back is fuller than the under side, and that there is a well-defined breast. great care should be taken not to get this body larger than the natural one; if anything it should be smaller. with the pliers cut a piece of wire of the proper size, that is, of about half the diameter of the bird's tarsus, and about three times the length of the body. in cutting all wires which are to be sharpened, the cut should be made diagonally across it, thus forming a point. push this wire through the body so that it will emerge in the front much nearer the back than the breast, protruding so that it equals the length of the neck and tongue of body removed. bend over the end remaining at the back, turn down about half of it and force it into the body (fig. 13, c). this will hold firmly if the body has been made sufficiently solid. wrap the wire with cotton by taking a strip and winding it gradually so that it assumes a tapering form with a portion of the wire protruding. place this body in the skin and push the protruding wire into the upper mandible. cut two wires of about half the size of that already used, and twice the length of the outstretched wing. work these into the wings, beginning at the fleshy portion of the phalanges, so on into the body, taking care not to allow it to pierce through the skin anywhere. the wire should enter the body at the point where the end of the lower portion of the forearm touches it when the wing is folded naturally. pass the wire through the body diagonally until it emerges so that it can be grasped with the pliers somewhere near the orifice, and firmly clenched. next find the metacarpal bone, which has a hollow place in the centre (fig. 14, f), and force the upper end of the wire through it so that about a quarter of inch shall protrude on the upper side of the wing, and bend this down by applying one jaw of the flat pliers on the side of the wing opposite. this will fasten the wing firmly, and the spurious wing will cover the wire, while that on the lower side will be concealed by the feathers. the wing should be outstretched when this is done. [illustration: fig. 13.] [illustration: fig. 14.] cut wire for the legs of the same size as used for the neck, and about as long. pass them up through the tarsus, inserting in the middle of the sole of the foot. be sure the wire is perfectly straight before attempting this. a good way to straighten wire is to place a pine-board on the floor, stand on it, and then draw a long pull of wire under it by grasping the end with pliers; or a small piece of wire may be straightened by rolling it on the bench with a file. if the skin of the tarsus splits in boring, it shows that the wire used is either too large or crooked. after the wire is pushed up to the heel or tarsal joint (fig. 15, f), turn the tibial bone out until the point of the wire appears, when it should be grasped and drawn up so that the point protrudes slightly beyond the tibial joint. wrap the tibial bone, wire and all, with cotton or tow (in large specimens, the wire should be bound to the bone with fine wire or thread) so as to form a natural leg, then draw it back into the skin. next force the wire through the body at the point where the knee touches it, or about midway on the side. the wire will emerge on the opposite side. turn down the skin of the orifice, draw the wire out, leaving about enough projecting out of the sole of the foot to go through the perch of a stand and clench; then fasten the end firmly into the body. on large birds, like eagles, i draw the wire through the body twice before clenching, to make all secure. this work must be well done if the bird is to be mounted nicely, as it must stand firmly on its feet. as a rule, use wire large enough, at least, to support the weight of the body and skin without bending, but wire one-half the size of the tarsus is generally large enough to do this. cut a tail-wire which is at least as long as the entire bird. insert it under the tail, so that it enters the muscles in which the feathers are embodied, taking care that it does not spread them apart; push this up the centre of the body so that it will emerge at an angle just at the upper portion of the orifice, and clench it. bend the remaining end under the tail twice, so as to form a t, on which the tail may rest, and which should, however, have the top broad enough to spread the tail on to the required width. during wiring see that the plumage is ruffled as little as possible; also avoid soiling by keeping the specimen on clean paper. if by chance the feathers become greasy, they may be cleaned by sprinkling liberally with the dermal preservative, which is afterward brushed off. [illustration: fig. 15.] sew up the orifice neatly, taking care, as before described, only to take in the extreme outer edge of the skin; and, if the body be not too large, it will meet nicely. if the body has not been made quite large enough, especially on the breast, some cotton may be placed between the skin and body before sewing. this must be done neatly, with tweezers however, not so as to form a wad, but spread out so as to blend neatly with the curve of the body. now place the wires which protrude from the feet in holes bored in the perch of the stand, which should be about as far apart as the bird naturally stands while perching. see that the feet come well down on the perch with the toes arranged properly, remembering that cuckoos, woodpeckers, etc., have two toes in front and two behind, while with hawks, owls, etc., the outer toe generally stands at right angles with the others, and should therefore grasp the end of the stand. either twist the ends of the wire together or wind them around the stand very firmly. now comes the most difficult part of the task of mounting. hitherto all has been merely mechanical; certain rules had to be observed only. but now the instructor must pause for want of words wherewith to express his meaning, for who can tell an artist how to put in those bold and hasty strokes with which he maps out his picture? he knows just what he is about, however, for he has before his mental vision the complete picture, and strives to place on canvas that which appears before him. so must the artistic taxidermist have before him a vision of the bird he wishes to represent, with the combined mass of feathers now in hand. whether lightly poised for flight or calmly sitting at rest, before he puts his hand to the work before him let him fully decide what he wishes to produce. let him see it just as clearly as he sees the birds sporting in their natural element. the true artist does not copy what the imagination of others have produced, he invents for himself or takes nature as his guide. let us then who aspire to the highest in taxidermal art, take infallible nature as our guide. study carefully every poise of the birds, every uplifting of the wing, every turn of the head or motion of the eyelids. i have long made a practice of keeping birds in confinement in order to thoroughly impress on my mind the different attitudes which they assume. i have had nearly all species of our owls, hawks, and eagles, and have kept herons, gulls, terns, pelicans, auks, and almost countless numbers of smaller birds, and in this way i have become so familiar with them that i can tell at a glance whether a bird is mounted in an easy attitude. well, there must be no hesitation in mounting birds, or the specimens will dry; and i will merely state in what order i arrange the different members, then leave the attitudes to my pupils. i first see that the bird stands correctly, that the legs are bent so that the bird will balance well in the position in which i wish it to be placed. as a rule, a perpendicular line drawn through the back of the head of a perching bird will fall through its feet (see fig. 16, _a a_). now bring the bird into position, and fold the wings just as the bird does it. note if the scapularies, tertiaries, and secondaries lie in their proper places, the first highest and the others under them, which will give the bird a good rounded back. now place the bird in the proper attitude, with the neck properly bent, remembering that in nearly all birds this nearly assumes the form of the letter s, especially in long-necked species. i do not like to see a bird staring straight forward, but, as this is a mere matter of fancy, i will not presume to dictate regarding attitudes, only make the specimen look easy. be artistic, even if the specimen is going into a public museum, where birds too often stare at the visitors in grotesque attitudes. one can be interesting and easy even in writing on the driest scientific subject,--why not then give ease and grace to our museum specimens? no more room need be occupied; a slight turn of the head, a twist of the neck, or an advance of a foot, will do this just as a bird would do it if it were alive. now place the eyes in position, and these should be pushed well into the clay, and the lids arranged over them naturally with a needle. do not have the eyes too large, as it gives the bird a staring expression, nor too small, but as near as possible to the natural ones removed. it would be well in ordering eyes from a dealer to give the measurements of the required eye in hundredths of an inch. a good colored eye should not, in my opinion, have too much clear or flint glass in front of the pupil. this should be thinner and thus flatter, as seen in eyes of german manufacture. in point of perfect coloring, french eyes are the best and most expressive, but they do not have the requisite flatness and the thinness of flint which the german eyes possess. english eyes may be mentioned as third in the catalogue of quality, while america must unfortunately come last. the above remarks, however, are true only as regards colored eyes, as black eyes are almost always good, no matter where manufactured. [illustration: fig. 16.] after the bird is placed in the required attitude, smooth the feathers with the aid of small tweezers, noting that all lines and spots are in their proper places. the primary quills should be kept in position by clamping with fine wire; that is, a piece of wire should be bent on itself like a hairpin and slipped over the edge of the wing. spread the tail by laying it on the cross-piece of wire under it, and clamp it down with a piece of very fine wire, which is wound around each end of the cross-piece. if the tail is to be spread very widely then run a wire through the two outer quills, thus keeping them apart; though even then the clamp should be used. if a convex or concave tail is desired, bind the cross-piece in a corresponding manner. i do not, as a rule, recommend binding freshly-skinned birds, nor do i consider it necessary excepting in instances where feathers are rough. if a bird be properly mounted a few more clamps on the wings will keep it in form; then the feathers can be made to stand out as they do in nature, not lie down close to the body as if the birds were badly frightened. this is particularly noticeable with owls; a perfectly happy and contented owl, who is pursuing his vocations, has apparently a body nearly or quite twice the diameter of one that is frightened. section iii.: crested birds.--if a bird has a crest it should be raised by gently pulling forward the skin, where it will remain in position after it is neatly arranged; but in case of a dried skin, it may be necessary to prop the crest up with a piece of cotton, moulded on the head of a pin, the point of which is sunk into the head. section iv.: mounting with wings spread.--in skinning for spread wings, leave in the humerus as well as the forearm, and do not detach the quills, as already mentioned. wire the wing from the inside, and clench firmly in the body; wrap the humerus to the natural size with cotton, after fastening the supporting wire to the bone with fine wire or thread. push both wires into the shoulders of the artificial body at once, at the same time pushing the neck-wire and body into position. this can be learned by practice. proceed as before, but support the wings while setting on either side by long wire clamps. be sure, however, that the supporting wire is strong enough to hold the wing in position without these, and thus when the wings are dry they will be very strong. section v.: mounting birds for screens, etc.--proceed as in specimens with wings spread, but sometimes the wings should be cut off, sewed on on opposite sides, so that they may be reversed; that is, the back of the wing may be toward the breast in cases where it is desired that the back of the wings and breast should show. it is usual to stretch the wings up over the head, which emerges between them. the wings had better be kept in position with strips of pasteboard fastened together with wire. sometimes both sides of the specimen show; or, in other instances, the back is covered with paper, silk, velvet, or other material. section vi.: mounting dried skins.--soften as directed in making over dried skins, observing the caution given under that section, and have the skin very pliable. the cavities of the eyes may be filled from the mouth or from the inside of the skin. if the skin be too tender to turn, rasp it down by working through the orifice. mount as directed in fresh specimens, but dried skins almost always require to be bound with winding cotton in order to keep the feathers in place. they also require rather more harder filling with cotton. this should be wrapped around the bird in as continuous a string as possible until all the feathers lie smoothly. they may be arranged under the bindings with small tweezers. avoid binding too closely or too tight, and above all things bind evenly, that is, do not make depressions nor allow elevations to appear, for, as a rule, these will always remain after the bindings have been removed. small birds should be allowed to stand at least a week in a dry place before the bindings are removed. birds mounted from skins dry more quickly than from fresh specimens. large birds should stand from two weeks to a month, especially if the wings be spread. to remove the binding threads, cut down the back, thus taking it all off at once. section vii.: prices for mounting birds.--for the convenience of amateurs, who do not always know what price to put on good work, we give our price list for mounting specimens on ornamental stands. size from humming-bird to robin, one dollar and twenty five cents; robin to wild pigeon, one dollar and fifty cents; wild pigeon to grouse, two dollars; grouse, ducks, small owls, two dollars and fifty cents; large hawks and medium-sized owls, three dollars and fifty cents; loons and large owls, five dollars; eagles, seven dollars. for birds with spread wings, add thirty-three and one-third per cent. section viii.: panel work.--game pieces, etc.--panel work is made by using only half of a specimen, the back side being turned in or removed. the specimen is mounted as usual and fastened to the picture or other design used as a back ground, by wires emerging from the side and firmly clenched in the body. game pieces are made by simply mounting the specimen, then placing it in an attitude as if it were hanging dead. much skill and study is required for work of this nature, for if carelessly done, it has the effect of a poor painting, but if well completed both panel and game pieces produce a pleasing effect. all such work should be usually placed behind glass, as, in fact, is true with all mounted birds, especially light-plumaged birds, which are liable to become soiled through exposure to dust. mounted birds, not kept in moth-proof cases, should be carefully dusted at least twice a week to prevent the attacks of moths. chapter v. making stands. section i.: plain stands.--the best stands for the cabinet are simple wooden ones, either of pine or other woods, turned by machinery with a simple cross-piece for perching birds. as a rule, the shaft should be about as high as the cross-piece is long, but in cases of specimens with long tails, the shaft should be somewhat higher, while the base should a little exceed in diameter the length of the perch, and should be about as thick as the shortest diameter of the other parts. section ii.: ornamental stands.--papier-maché used for making ornamental stands is quite difficult to make, but following is the receipt: reduce paper to a perfect pulp by boiling and then rubbing through a sieve. to every quart of this pulp add a pint of fine wood-ashes and a half pint of plaster. heat this mass over the fire, and to every quart add a quarter of a pound of glue, which has been thoroughly dissolved in a glue-pot. mix well until it is of the consistency of putty, when it is ready for use. in making a twig for an ordinary perch, fasten a moderately stout wire in a wooden base; wind it with cotton, larger at the base, tapering toward the end; bend it in a position and cover with a layer of papier-maché, then with a comb indicate the ridges in the bark of a tree, and add knots and excrescences as desired, by moulding small pieces with the fingers. set aside to dry for a few days. if the papier-maché cracks it does not contain a sufficient quantity of glue, or if it shrinks too much, more ashes or plaster should be added. when dry paint with water-colors, made by adding dry paint to dissolved white glue, stirring until the mixture becomes of the consistency of cream. a quarter of a pound of glue will take up a pound of paint. cover the bottom of the stand with this paint, or with some other color, then sprinkle profusely with smalt or mica sand. when dry, add artificial leaves to the branches by winding the stems around them. trim the bottom of the stand with mosses and grass fastened on with glue. stands for cases are made in a similar manner, but it is an improvement to touch the ground-work here and there with dry paint of various colors. a piece of looking-glass may be used to imitate water; and ducks from which the lower portions have been cut away may be placed on this with a good effect. a very good stand may be made by simply winding a wire with cotton and painting the cotton. the cotton can be made into a species of papier-maché by soaking it in flour-paste. rock work is made of either papier-maché, cork, blocks of wood, or pieces of turf painted and sanded, or by pasting stout paper over pieces of wood, and the whole structure painted and sanded. if papier-maché be used the effect may be heightened by sticking in pieces of quartz or other rock. natural stumps, branches, etc., may be manufactured into stands or cases to advantage; in short, with the aid of papier-maché, glue, moss, grasses, smalt, etc., nature may be imitated in a variety of ways. part ii.--mammals, reptiles, etc. chapter vi. collecting mammals. mammals are, as a rule, much more difficult to procure than birds, especially the smaller species. mice occur in all localities. the white-footed mice are often found in the deserted nests of squirrels or of crows in the tree-tops. jumping-mice are found in the meadows, under haycocks or in nests deep in the earth during winter, at which time they are in a dormant condition. field-mice of several species occur in the meadows, where they have nests, while the house-mouse and several species of mice inhabit dwellings. all these little rodents may be trapped by using a variety of bait, and the same is true of squirrels, which are, however, quite easy to shoot. the gray, red, and flying-squirrels live in nests placed in bushes or trees or in holes in tree-trunks. shrews and moles burrow in the ground, and they may be snared by setting fine wire nooses in their holes. cats often bring in these little mammals and leave them lying around, as they rarely eat them. a pit dug in an open field or a barrel set down with the top on a level with the ground and half filled with water will be the means of capturing many rare, small mammals which fall into it accidentally. mink, weasel, otter, rabbits, skunks, etc., may be trapped or shot. a variety of bait may be used to decoy animals of this class, and the contents of the scent-bags of any of these species are good; as well as fish, birds, or small mammals. foxes, wolves, etc., which occur in the wilder sections, may be shot or trapped, and the same is true of wild-cats, pumas, and other large mammals, in procuring which the hunter must be guided by circumstances. chapter vii. making skins of mammals. section i.: skinning small mammals.--lay the animal on its back, make an incision about one-third of the length of the body on the under side of the body from the vent forward, peel down on either side until the knee-bones are exposed, then cut the joint and draw out the leg, at least as far as the heel. remove the flesh, cover well with preservative, and turn, then proceed thus with the opposite leg. pull down to the tail and draw out the bone by placing a stick on the under side of it and pressing backward. if the tail bone does not readily come out, as in musk-rats, wrap the tail in cloth and pound it with a wooden mallet, and it will then come out without further trouble. peel down on either side until the front legs appear, cut off at elbow joints, and draw these out; remove the flesh, cover with preservative, and turn. skin over the head, taking care to cut off the ear next the skull, so as not to cut through into the exterior surface; pull down the edges, cut between the lids and eye-sockets down to the lips, cut between these and the bone, but near the latter, thus removing the skin entirely from the skull; cover the skin well with preservative, after removing all fat and surplus bits of flesh. then turn the skin, detach the skull from the body, by carefully cutting between the atlas, the last vertebra joint, and the skull. the skull should be boiled to remove all the flesh and brain; or, if this cannot readily be done, and if the mammal be very small, roll it in preservative, and lay it one side; if the animal be large, cut off all the flesh possible, and work out the brain through the opening in the base of the skull. it is always, however, best to remove the flesh by boiling; after which care should be taken to tie the lower jaw firmly to the upper. section ii.: skinning large mammals.--large mammals should be skinned by making a cross incision down the entire length of the breast, between the fore-legs to the vent, then down the under side of each leg quite to the feet. remove the skin but leave in two bones and the joints in each leg. in removing the horns of a deer or other ruminant, make cross cuts between the horns, and then back down on the neck for a short distance. the lips of a large mammal should be split open carefully, and the ears turned out quite to the tip; this can be done with a little practice. cover with preservative, well rubbed in, and dry as quickly as possible without tearing. section iii.: making skins of mammals.--remove all blood and dirt, by either washing or by continuous brushing with a stiff brush. dry off with preservative: rub it well into the hair. draw out the bones of the leg, wrap them well with cotton to the original size of the leg; then fill out the head to the size and form of life, sewing up the neck, and fill up to the body to the size of nature with cotton or tow. sew up the orifice, then lay the skin, belly down, with the feet laid neatly; and if the tail is long, lay it over the back. mice and other small mammals should not have the bone of the tail removed, as the skin cannot be filled and turned over the back easily. large mammals may be also made up if they are to be used for cabinets or for skins. section iv.: measuring mammals.--it is quite as easy to measure mammals as birds. the dimensions to be taken may be seen by the accompanying filled blank, which is the form i always use. arctomys monax. +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | locality. |ipswich | " | " | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | age. | adult | " | " | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | sex. | m | f | f | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | date. | 1868. | | | | |aug. 22 | " 20 | " 13 | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | no. | 58 | 55 | 43 | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | eye. | 1.50 | 1.57 | 1.32 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | ear. | 2.95 | 2.80 | 2.94 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | nose to | occiput. | 2.30 | 3.45 | 3.45 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | root of tail. | 13.00 | 15.50 | 15.25 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | |outstretched hind leg.| 15.00 | 20.15 | 19.50 | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | end of vertebra. | 4.98 | 4.50 | 5.45 | | tail to +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | end of hair. | 6.00 | 6.75 | 7.60 | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | hind leg. | 3.10 | 2.80 | 2.95 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | hand | length. | 2.10 | 1.85 | 2.05 | | +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | width. | .78 | .92 | .70 | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | height of ear. | .85 | .75 | .65 | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | muzzle. | .20 | - | .15 | +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | girth. | - | 14.50 | 9.75 | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | length. | - | - | - | | skull.[*] +----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | | width. | - | - | - | +--------------+----------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ | remarks. | light | " |top of | | |colored.| " |head black.| +-------------------------------------+--------+-------+-----------+ * this measurement is taken after the animal is skinned; the width of skull is measured on the widest part, the length on the longest part. chapter viii. mounting mammals. section i.: small mammals.--skin as directed, but the skull should not, as a rule, be detached unless the animal be large enough to have the lips split. the eye cavities should also be filled with clay. cut a piece of wire of the suitable size to support the head; have it about twice as long as the head and body of the specimen in hand. wind up a turn or two with the pliers small enough to enter the cavity in the base of the skull, which will have to be enlarged to admit of the ready removal of the brains. place the wound portion of the wire in this cavity, and fill in around it with either plaster of paris, or tamp in excelsior, tow, or cotton firmly enough to hold the skull perfectly firm on the wire. wind up a body of excelsior or grass, as nearly the form and size of the one removed as possible, taking care that the neck be of proper shape, and that the surface be very smooth. this surface may be covered with a thin layer of clay or of papier-maché, if a very nice smooth surface is required, in case of short-haired mammals. cut four wires for the legs and one for the tail. run the wire up the front legs, and tie them firmly to the bone with fine wire, especially at the joints. now wind each leg with cotton, hemp, or tow to the size and form of the muscles removed. in order to get the legs very exact, one may be wound before the muscles of the other be removed, and measurements may thus be taken. the legs may be also covered with papier-maché or a thin layer of clay in short-haired mammals. now place the body in position, taking care that the wire of the head goes the entire length of the body, and is firmly clinched. the wires of the front legs should enter the body at the proper point on the shoulder. the wires of the hind legs should also enter the body at the point near the back, where they join the natural body. run a wire the entire length of the tail and fasten in the lower end of the body. see that all wires are firmly clinched, and sew up the orifice. bend the legs into as natural a position as possible, and insert the wires protruding from the soles of the feet into the holes in the stand or perch; bend the body in position, insert the eyes, arranging the lids carefully over them, taking care the eye has the proper form in the corners. arrange the eyelids and ears by occasionally moulding them into form as they dry. smooth the tail carefully and attend to all the little details, such as spreading the toes etc., etc., and carefully watch them from day to day, until the animal becomes perfectly dry. [illustration: fig. 17.] section ii.: large mammals.--in drawing the lines between mammals mounted as described above and the present method, it may be well to remark that the one now given is the best in all cases, but requires rather too much time to be used with very small specimens. have five large wires or bolts of a suitable size to support the mammal mounted, cut to the proper length, and cut a screw on either end for about two inches (fig. 17, _a_). screw a broad flat nut on (fig. 17, _b_), then have another nut ready to screw on above the first. prepare a strip of board a little shorter than the natural body of the mammal, and in this bore four holes, two at each end, with one extra between the two, but a little back of them on the front end. after bending the bolts so as to form the legs, place the ends in the holes and screw on the nuts, place the lower ends of the irons in the holes in the stand and screw on the nuts, thus the beginning of the structure will stand firm. fasten the end of the fifth iron firmly in the brain cavity by filling in with plaster, or wedging in pieces of wood, and screw the lower end in place. now wind excelsior on the legs to the proper size and form; cover it with a thin layer of cotton. then place on the body in sections of excelsior of exactly the form and size of life, and cover with clay. the neck is now to be formed in the same way; of course to get all the parts accurate, one must have the natural body, which has been removed, at hand, or should have the correct measurement of it. the skin, from which the leg bones have been removed quite to the toe-nails, may be fitted on occasionally to judge the effect. procure sheet lead, and, if too thick, beat it out; cut it in the form of the cartilage removed from the ear. fasten wire into these pieces of lead with the ends protruding downward; bore holes in the skull into which the ends are introduced, thus forming the support, and keeping the ears in proper position. supply the muscles of the skull with excelsior and clay or papier-maché, then adjust the skin firmly and sew up. fill the lips and nose with papier-maché or clay, and mould into shape. the above instructions, if followed, will give a mounted specimen, but i cannot convey the ideas which must teach the student the exact poise, the swell of the muscle, the exact shape of the eye which will give life and beauty to the subject in hand; all these must come from patience, study, and long practice, for skilful taxidermists do not spring at once into existence, but require experience and careful education. section iii.: mounting dried skins of mammals.--skins of mammals must be soaked in a strong solution of alum water, and when perfectly soft see that the parts above the lips, eyes, etc., are peeled down quite thin, and that every portion of the skin is perfectly pliable, then it should be moistened as described. section iv.: mounting mammals without any bones.--if the skull of a mammal be desired for a skeleton, a cast may be taken of the entire head before the flesh is removed, by placing the head in a box which will contain it and leave a space around it; pour in plaster of paris to the consistency of cream, until the head is about half covered--which should be placed on the bottom of the box, lower jaw down--let the plaster set; now cover the top surface of the plaster with paint, or oil, or paste paper over it. then fill up the box with fresh plaster: after this has set well remove the side of the box and open the mould where the joint was made with the paint or paper. take out the head, and then cut a hole in the mould at the base of the skull, in which the plaster for the head may be poured. paint or oil the inside of the mould everywhere, fit the pieces together, then tie firmly and pour in the plaster for the mould; then insert the bolt for the head in the hole, and let the plaster set around it. remove the mould by chipping off pieces with a chisel until the paint surface is exposed. if the head be large and heavy, a large ball of excelsior, in which the bolt is firmly fastened, may be placed in the centre, but this must be covered with a thin layer of clay to make it impervious to plaster. the lips and other naked spaces must be painted the color of life, with paint mixed with varnish, first filling out the imperfections with paraffine wax. casts may be taken of the larger in wax, making a mould in plaster. chapter ix. mounting reptiles, batrachians, and fishes. mounting reptiles, batrachians, and fishes as collected in this department is scarcely a part of taxidermy. i shall only give general instructions regarding mounting some species. snakes may be readily skinned by cutting a longitudinal insertion about a fourth of the distance down from the head on the lower side where the body begins to enlarge, near its greatest diameter; then the skin may be speedily taken off both ways. when the vent is reached the skin comes away harder, but in order to make a perfect piece of work it must be skinned quite to the end of the tail, even if it splits open; the eyes must be removed from the inside of the head. the skin on the top of the head cannot be removed in this class of animals, leaving the jaw and skull. cover well with preservative, and turn the skin. to mount, two ways are practised, one with plaster, in which the orifice on the inside and the vent are sewed up, and the plaster poured into the mouth until the snake is filled. it is well, however, to place a copper wire the entire length of the animal to strengthen it; then before the plaster is set, place the snake in the proper attitude. this kind of work requires practice, as you must be careful of the attitude in which you wish to place the animal, as the plaster begins to set quite quickly; to make it set more slowly, however, mix in a little salt. the mouth should be filled up with clay or plaster. care should be taken that water does not accumulate in any portion of the skin, and it should be perforated with an awl occasionally to allow the water to escape. the skin of a snake may be filled with papier-maché by working small pieces downward; then insert a wire and place into position. the skin requires some time to dry, and in both cases place the mounted reptile in a dry place, where it will rapidly dry, as the skin is liable to decay if kept in a damp place. section i.: mounting lizards, alligators, etc.--reptiles of this description should be skinned like mammals, through a longitudinal insertion made in the abdomen. the skin from the top of the head cannot be removed however. in mounting, proceed exactly as in mammals, but as there is no hair to hide defects, all cotton, excelsior, etc., wound on the bones must be very smooth. the attitudes of all this class of animals are apt to be stiff and ungainly even in life; but by putting a bend or two into the tail, turning the head, or slightly curving the body, too much rigidness may be avoided. section ii.: mounting turtles.--to remove the skin from a turtle, cut away a square portion of the under shell, using a small saw for this purpose. then remove the softer portion through this hole, and draw out the legs and head as in mammals; but the top of the head cannot be skinned over. in mounting proceed as nearly as possible as in mammals, only the legs may be filled with clay or plaster in small specimens. care should be taken not to fill the skin too full; but let the wrinkles show, as seen in life, and imitated as nearly as possible. the shell of the soft-shelled turtle, like the leather-back, is quite difficult to keep in good condition--is apt to become distorted in drying. the only method which has occurred to me is to cover the body, and exposed under portions, with layers of plaster, which will keep the shell in position until it is dry, when it may be removed. section iii.: mounting fishes.--fishes are quite difficult to skin, especially those with scales. in flat fishes i remove a portion of one side, skinning the other; then, in mounting, lay the animal on its side. mounting in this case means filling the fish to its natural life-size with cotton, tow, or other available material. plaster or clay will also answer. the fins may be pinned out flat against pasteboard, or put in place with fine wire. in skinning larger fishes, or those which have no scales, or scaled fishes which have cylindrical shaped bodies, open from beneath by cutting nearly the whole length of the body. the skin from some fishes comes off easily, while in others it is more difficult to remove. in mounting large fishes use a hard core to the body, made of either wire or wood. the fins should be wired from the inside; care should be taken that the skin lies smoothly over the surface beneath, as it shows considerably in drying, and all imperfections around it. in preserving the skins of all reptiles and fishes the dermal will be found excellent, especially in removing the oil from the skins, etc. cover well with the preservative, and nothing more will be necessary. skins of this class of animals may be kept for future mounting by simply coating with the preservative, and kept turned wrong side out without filling. when they are to be mounted throw them into water, in which a small quantity of dermal has been dissolved. when they are soft turn and mount as in fresh skins. index. a. alaudidæ, 14 alcidæ, 26 alcidinidæ, 15 alligators, 98 american warblers, 14 ammunition for repeating guns, 10 ampelidæ, 15 anatidæ, 24 aramidæ, 23 ardeidæ, 23 arsenic a dangerous poison, 49 ascertaining the sex of birds, 43 auks, 26 avocets, 22 b. batrachians, 97 basket for collecting birds, 29 bird lime, 6 birds, 1 box-trap, 1 blackbirds, 16 breech-loading guns, 8 burrowing owl, newburyport, mass, 27 c. cabinets, 59 caprimulgidæ, 17 care of skins, 59 care of specimens, 28 catching wounded birds, 31 cathartidæ, 21 charadridæ, 22 chamæidæ, 13 cinclidæ, 13 clap-net, 2 cypselidæ, 18 collecting birds, 1 collecting mammals, 84 collectors, 27 columbidæ, 21 colymbidæ, 26 coots, 24 cormorant, 25 corvidæ, 17 coturniculus, 16 courlans, 23 cranes, 23 crested birds--mounting, 76 crows, 17 cuckoos, 19 cuculidæ, 19 cuts of the skull, 37 cutting-pliers, 64 d. darters, 25 dermal preservative, 45 dried skins, mounting, 78 drying forms, 51 ducks, 24 ducks' skins, 57 dusting birds, 80 e. eagle as decoy, 6 eagles, 20 ever-ready bird-trap, 3 exceptions to the usual method of skinning, 39 f. falconidæ, 20 falcons, 20 finches, 16 fishes, 97 form for measurements of mammals, 89 flycatchers, 17 frigate birds, 25 fringillidæ, 16 g. gallinules, 24 gannets, 24 game pieces, 79 geese, 24 goatsuckers, 17 graculidæ, 75 grebes, 26 grosbeaks, 16 grouse, 21 gruidæ, 23 gulls, 26 h. hæmatopodidæ, 22 hawk as decoy, 5 hawks, 20 herons, 23 herons' skins, 24 hirundinidæ, 15 humming birds, 18 i. ibis, 23 ibis' skins, 56 icteridæ, 16 instruments for mounting, 64 j. jays, 17 k. killing wounded birds, 30 kingfishers, 19 l. labelling specimens, 58 label, sample, 58 laniidæ, 15 large birds, mounting, 76 large mammals, mounting, 92 large mammals' skins, 88 laridæ, 26 lizards, 98 loading shells, 8 loons, 26 m. making over old skins, 61 making skins, 49 making skins of long-necked birds, 55 making skins of mammals, 86 making skins of small birds, 50 making stands, 84 mammals, 84 maynard's dermal preservative, 49 measurements of birds recorded, 62 measuring birds, 58 measuring mammals, 88 meleagridæ, 21 motacilidæ, 14 mounting birds, 64 mounting dried skins, birds, 78 mounting dried skins, mammals, 94 mounting fishes, 99 mounting fresh specimens, birds, 64 mounting fresh specimens, mammals, 90 mounting lizards, alligators, etc., 98 mounting mammals, 88 mounting mammals without any bones, 95 mounting with wings spread, 76 mounting reptiles, batrachians, and fishes, 97 mounting screens, 76 mounting turtles, 99 n. naturalists' guide, 44 nuthatches, 13 o. old skins, making over, 61 other methods of preparing skins, 47 ordinary method of skinning birds, 43 orioles, 16 ouzels, 13 owl as decoy, 5 owls, 20 oyster-catchers, 22 p. panel work, 70 papier-maché, 82 paridæ, 13 parrots, 21 part i., 1 part ii., 84 pelecanidæ, 24 pelicans, 24 petrels, 26 phætonidæ, 25 phalaropodidæ, 22 phalarops, 22 phoenicopteridæ, 24 picidæ, 19 plain stands, 81 pliers, 64 pigeons, 22 plovers, 22 plotidæ, 25 plugging mouths of birds, 33 podicipidæ, 26 preservative, 45 preserving skins, 44 prices for mounting birds, 79 procellaridæ, 26 procuring birds, 11 psittacidæ, 19 puffins, 26 q. quail, 21 r. rails, 24 rallidæ, 24 recurvirostridæ, 22 repeating collecting gun, 9 s. sample label for birds, 58 saxicolidæ, 12 screens, 77 sex of birds, 43 shooting birds, 7 shot for birds, 11 sieve trap, 2 sittidæ, 13 skinning birds, 33 skinning-knife, 33 skinning large mammals, 87 skinning small mammals, 86 skins of birds, 54 skins of hawks, 57 skins of herons, ibises, etc., 56 skins of long-necked birds, 55 skins of owls, 57 skins of small birds, 52 skins of vultures, 57 small mammals, 88 snipe, 23 scolopacidæ, 23 sparrows, 16 spoonbills, 23 steel traps, 4 stilts, 23 stone-chats, 12 strigidæ, 22 sulidæ, 24 swallows, 15 swifts, 18 sylvidæ, 13 sylvicolidæ, 14 t. tachypetidæ, 25 tanagers, 15 tanagridæ, 15 tantalidæ, 23 terns, 26 tetraonidæ, 21 thrushes, 12 titmice, 13 trapping birds, 1 trochilidæ, 18 troglodytidæ, 13 tropic birds, 25 true larks, 14 true warblers, 13 turdidæ, 12 turnstones, 22 tweezers, 50 tyrannidæ, 17 v. vireonidæ, 15 vireos, 15 vultures, 21 w. wagtails, 14 warblers, american, 14 warblers, true, 13 waxwings, 15 wings spread, mounting, 76 woodpeckers, 18 wrens, 13 wrentits, 13 c. j. maynard & co., no. 9 pemberton square, boston, mass. dealers in naturalists' supplies birds' eggs, nests, skins, &c., &c. ------- we make a specialty of naturalists' and taxidermists' supplies, such as instruments for egg-blowing, skinning, mounting, etc. also, artificial, eyes, leaves, grasses, mosses, and in fact all supplies needed by the collector and taxidermist. ------- send for catalogue, addressing as above. a. l. ellis & co. importers of artificial glass eyes for taxidermists, jewellers and fancy work pawtugket, r.i. tools. anvils, egg drills, spring forceps, wire cutters, egg blowers, insect forceps, plyers, embryo hooks, curved needles, bitts, brain spoons, scalpels, mallets, pocket cases, stuffers. supplies. arsenical soap, artificial leaves, tow, shades, icicles, thread, moss, stands, glasses, glue, flowers, wire, clay, cops, grasses, smalt, cork, labels, clunelle, frosting, pins, tags. mica, books, glass eyes. we carry the most complete assortment that can be obtained. for hummers to eagles, mice to elephants, monkeys to men, send for detail catalogue. indian arrow heads. ------- the best, most perfect, smallest and nicest colored arrow points in the world. for sale in lots to suit. ------- a fine, perfect point, sent registered, on receipt of $1.00. ------- f. m. gilham, 241 battery street, san francisco, cal. new books for naturalists. in press. =handbook of entomology.= by prof. c. v. riley. this work will be an introduction to the study of entomology, and as such will find a place occupied by no american book. it will be thoroughly illustrated. 1 vol. 8vo. cloth, $3.00. =manual of the mosses of the united states.= with copper-plates illustrating the genera. by leo lesquereux and thomas p. james. it is particularly desired that botanists wishing copies should notify the publishers at an early day, that the edition may be decided on. the price has not yet been fixed, but probably will be $3.50. =botanical micro-chemistry.= an introduction to the study of vegetable histology. by prof. v. a. poulsen. translated by william trelease. 1 vol. 12mo. cloth, $1.00. s. e. cassino & co., publishers, boston, mass. new work on sea mosses. we shall issue in a few days an elegantly illustrated "manual of american sea mosses," prepared by rev. a. b. hervey. it is just such a work as has long been needed and much called for: a handy, convenient book for sea-side use. nothing of the kind has been published in this country; harvey's great work, completed 25 years ago, in three ponderous quartos, being too expensive and too cumbersome for general and popular use. it is a complete collector's guide, giving practical information as to the best times, places and methods of collecting the necessary apparatus, and the details of floating out, pressing, drying, preserving, and mounting these beautiful plants. full directions are also given of the best methods of studying and identifying these plants. full "keys" are given, at the head of each group, by which the most inexperienced may be easily guided to the genus to which the plant he is studying belongs. while in the description of species the method of treatment is popular, and especially adapted to the need of amateur botanists and sea-side collectors, all the statements are made with scientific accuracy and carefulness. all the common species belonging to the three great groups of green, olive colored and red algæ, are taken up in order, and so described in detail, that it is believed they may be easily identified whenever found. the book is thus made a complete guide to all the common and beautiful forms of our atlantic flora, north of the carolinas, including nearly all the characteristic forms of the pacific coast, for california, oregon and the north. the plates, twenty in number, are drawn and colored from nature, and represent twenty-four of the most interesting, beautiful and characteristic species, in not less than nineteen genera. the work is issued in elegant binding, 12 mo., over 300 pages, and is printed on fine, heavy paper, with 20 full-paged colored plates. price, postpaid, $2.00. _for sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price, by the publisher._ s. e. cassino & co., publishers, 41 arch street, boston, mass. important books for the naturalist. -------_handbook of invertebrate zoology._ for laboratories and seaside work. by prof. w. k. brooks, ph. d., director chesapeake zoological laboratory of the johns hopkins university. price, $3.00 this work is published in one large 8vo volume of 400 pages. illustrated with 200 entirely new cuts, from drawings by the author, or made under his direct supervision. _handbook of entomology._ by prof. charles v. riley, u. s. entomologist, chief of entomological commission, state entomologist of mo., etc., etc. in press. cloth. 8vo. price, $3.00 _international scientists' directory._ containing the names, special departments of science, etc., etc., of amateur and professional naturalists, chemists, physicists, astronomers, etc., etc., in america, europe, asia, africa, and oceanica. ready jan., 1883. 12mo. price, paper, $2.00; cloth, $2.50 _sea mosses._ by rev. a. b. hervey. new edition. 20 colored plates. 12mo. price, $2.00 _check list of coleoptera._ check list of coleoptera of america, north of mexico. by g. r. crotch, m. a. 8vo. new edition, with supplement. price, $1.25 _minot's birds of new england._ land birds and game birds of new england, with descriptions of birds, their nests and eggs, their habits and mates. by h. d. minot, illustrated by outline cuts. 456 pages. 8vo. cloth. price, $3.00 _ferns of north america._ text by prof. daniel c. eaton, of yale college. illustrations by messrs. j. h. emerton and charles e. faxon. complete in two volumes. large 4to. cloth, gilt top. price, $30.00 _life on the sea-shore_; or, animals of our coasts and bays. with illustrations and descriptions by james h. emerton. 12mo. cloth. price, $1.50 _primative industry_; or, illustrations of the handiwork in stone, bone and clay, of the native races of the northern atlantic sea-board. by charles c. abbott, m. d. 560 pages. 8vo. 429 cuts. price, $3.00 _how to mount birds and animals_; or, the taxidermist's guide. by c. j. maynard. 12mo. cloth. illustrated. price, $1.50 this is an entirely new work, just issued, and should be in the hands of all who are interested in our birds and animals. with its aid the tyro can soon prepare skins in as good shape as the most experienced taxidermist. -------any book mentioned sent by mail on receipt of price. books imported from all european centres at lowest rates. s. e. cassino & co., publishers, 41 arch street, boston, mass. handbook of invertebrate zoology, for laboratories and seaside study. by w. k. brooks, associate professor of zoology and comparative anatomy, and director of the marine laboratory of the johns hopkins university: formerly assistant in the boston society of natural history. the book contains directions for studying the general anatomy, the microscopic structure, and the development of selected types of animal life; and it also describes the method of collecting and preserving the forms which are described. the following are some of the subjects treated: the structure of vorticellæ, the reproduction of vorticellæ, the structure of a sponge, the structure and growth of a campanularian hydroid, the structure and development of a hydro-medusa, the general anatomy of a starfish, the microscopic anatomy of a starfish, the general anatomy of a sea urchin, the embryology and metamorphosis of the sea urchin and starfish, the general anatomy of the earthworm, the microscopic structure of the earthworm, the anatomy of the leech, the anatomy of a crab. the metamorphosis of a crab, the structure and development of cyclops, the anatomy of a grasshopper, the general anatomy of unio, the microscopic anatomy of unio, the embryology and metamorphosis of unio, the anatomy and embryology of the squid. illustrated by nearly two hundred cuts from the author's drawings, or from drawings made from nature under his direction. s. e. cassino & co., publishers, 41 arch street, boston, mass. naturalists' instruments. we keep constantly on hand an assortment of instruments used by naturalists, such as scalpels, bird-stuffing forceps, scissors (curved and straight) egg blowers, egg drills, insect pins, insect pin forceps, &c. scalpels, ebony handle $ .75 bird-stuffing forceps, .75, 1.25, 1.75, 2.00, 2.25, 2.75 according to length. scissors, straight .75, 1.00 scissors, curved 1.25, 1.37, 1.50 egg drills .25 to 1.50 syringes 4.00 to 25.00 egg blowers, nickeled .50 naturalists' cases. prof. marks' case instruments $6.00 prof. wilder's case instruments 10.00 s. e. cassino & co. _publishers of scientific works._ supplies furnished. 41 arch street, boston. transcriber's note minor typographical errors have been corrected. the astronomical symbols for mars and venus on page 58 are represented in this text version by [m] and [v] respectively. courtesy of the digital library@villanova university (http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible. some changes have been made. they are listed at the end of the text. italic text has been marked with _underscores_. bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. how to stuff birds and animals how to stuff birds and animals a valuable book. giving instruction in collecting, preparing, mounting, and preserving birds, animals and insects new york frank tousey, publisher 24 union square entered according to act of congress, in the year 1902, by frank tousey, in the office of the librarian of congress at washington, d. c. how to stuff birds and animals. chapter i. skinning, preparing, and mounting the mammalia, or quadrupeds. skinning. when a quadruped is killed, and its skin intended for stuffing, the preparatory steps are to lay the animal on its back, and plug up its nostrils, mouth, and any wounds it may have received, with cotton or tow, to prevent the blood from disfiguring the skin. the fox will serve admirably our purpose as an example. therefore, reynard being procured, we need not say how, lay him on his back in the same position as before recommended; and, having first stuffed the mouth with cotton and tied it up, and measured his neck and body with rule and calipers, and noted them, proceed. make an incision from the last rib nearly to the vent, but not quite up to it. having done so, proceed to raise the skin all round the incision as far as the thighs, first skinning one side and then the other, using the flat end of the knife in preference to the blade to raise the skin. having reached the hind legs, separate the latter at the femur or thigh-bone, close to the backbone, leaving the legs attached to the skin. now skin the head-quarters close up to the tail, and separate from the body at the last vertebræ, taking care not to injure the skin. pull the skin over the heads of the hip-joints, and now the carcass may be suspended by the hind-quarters, while the skin is stripped by pulling it gently and cutting towards the fore-quarters. the fore legs are separated from the body, as the hind ones had been, close to the shoulder-bone, and the skin pulled fairly over the head and close to the nose, when the head is separated from the body by cutting through the last vertebræ of the neck. reynard is now skinned, the head, legs and tail being all attached to the skin, from which the carcass is separated. the flesh is now cut entirely away from the cheek-bones, the eyes removed, the brains taken out by enlarging the occipital opening behind the cranium, the whole cleaned and supplied with a coating of arsenical paste, and stuffed with tow or wool, to the natural size. the legs are now successively skinned by pushing out the bones and inverting the skin over them until the foot-joint is visible; every portion of flesh and tendons must be cut away, and the bone cleaned thoroughly, and a coating of arsenical soap laid over it as well as the skin. wrap tow, or cotton, or any other suitable material, round the bone, bringing it to its natural shape, and draw the skin over it again. do this to each leg in succession, and the body itself is ready for stuffing and mounting. the utmost care will not prevent accidents; the fur and plumage will get sullied, and before stuffing it is well to examine the skin, for stains and spots are calculated to deteriorate its appearance. grease or blood-spots may be removed by brushing over with oil of turpentine, which is afterwards absorbed by dusting plaster of paris over. macgillivray recommends that all skins, whether they are to be put away in a cabinet or stuffed, should receive a washing of spirits of turpentine sprinkled on, and gently brushed in the direction of the feathers or fur. not to trust too much to memory, it is desirable to measure and note the proportions of the animal before skinning, first taking the muzzle to the tail. afterwards, from the junction of the tail to the tip. secondly, from the middle of the shoulder-blade, or scapula, to the articulation of the femur, or thigh-bone. thirdly, the animal being placed on its side, measure from the upper part of the scapula to the middle of the sternum--that is, to the spot where the two sides meet above, and finally from the socket of the scapula to the socket of the articulation of the femur, or thigh-bone. in addition to these, note, by measurement with caliper compasses, the size of the head, the neck, the tail, and other points which affect the shape of the animal. these measurements will serve as a guide in stuffing, and for the size of the case and length of the mounting wires. in the process of skinning, it is important to avoid penetrating to the intestines, or separating any of the abdominal muscles which lead to the intestines; any such accident would be very disagreeable, as well as injurious to the skin. stuffing quadrupeds, etc. let us suppose the animal which we intend to stuff, to be a cat. wire of such a thickness is chosen as will support the animal by being introduced under the soles of the feet, and running it through each of the four legs. a piece of smaller dimensions is then taken, measuring about two feet, for the purpose of forming what is termed by stuffers a tail-bearer. this piece of wire is bent at nearly a third of its length, into an oval of about six inches in length; the two ends are twisted together, so as to leave one of them somewhat longer than the other; the tail is then correctly measured, and the wire is cut to the length of it, besides the oval. the wire is then wrapped round with flax in a spiral form, which must be increased in thickness as it approaches the oval, so as to be nearly equal to the dimensions of the largest vertebræ, or root of the tail. when finished, it should be rubbed thinly over with flour-paste, to preserve its smooth form, which must be allowed to dry thoroughly, and then the surface should receive a coating of the preservative. the sheath of the tail must now be rubbed inside with the preservative. this is applied with a small quantity of lint, attached to the end of a wire, long enough to reach the point of the tail-sheath. the tail-bearer is then inserted into the sheath, and the oval part of the wire placed within the skin of the belly, and attached to the longitudinal wire, which is substituted for the vertebræ or backbone. four pieces of wire, about the thickness of a crow-quill, are then taken, which must be the length of the legs, and another piece a foot or fifteen inches longer than the body. one end of each of these is sharpened with a file, in a triangular shape, so that it may the more easily penetrate the parts. at the blunt end of the longest piece a ring is formed, large enough to admit of the point of a finger entering it; this is done by bending the wire back on itself a turn and a half, by the assistance of the round pincers. on the same wire another ring is formed in a similar manner, consisting of one entire turn, and so situated as to reach just between the animal's shoulders. the remaining part of this wire should be perfectly straight, and triangularly pointed at the extremity. all the wires being adjusted, the operation of stuffing is next proceeded with. the skin of the cat is now extended on a table; and the end of the noose seized with the left hand, and pushed again into the skin, till it reaches the neck, when we receive the bones of the head into the right hand. the skull is now well rubbed over with the arsenical soap, and all the cavities which the muscles before occupied are filled with chopped tow, flax, or cotton well mixed with preserving powder. the long piece of wire is now passed into the middle of the skull, and after it is well rubbed over with the preservative, it is returned into the skin. the inner surface of the neck-skin is now anointed, and stuffed with chopped flax, taking care not to distend it too much. nothing like pressure should be applied, as the fresh skin is susceptible of much expansion. observe that it is always the inner surface which is anointed with the arsenical soap. [illustration: _fig. 1._ _manner of inserting the wires in mounting a cat._] take care that the first ring of the wire, which passes into the head, is in the direction of the shoulders, and the second corresponding with the pelvis, or somewhat towards the posterior part. one of the fore-leg wires is then inserted along the back of the bone, and the point passed out under the highest ball of the paw. when this is accomplished, the bones of the leg are drawn up within the skin of the body, and the wire fastened to the bones of the arm and fore-arm with strong thread, or small twine. brass wire, used for piano-forte strings, makes it more secure, and is not liable to rot. these are well anointed, and flax or tow _slivers_ wrapped round them, so as to supply the place of the muscles which have been removed. to give the natural rise to the larger muscles, a piece of silver should be cut off the length of the protuberance required, and placed in the part, and the silver wrapped over it. this gives it a very natural appearance. the mode of fixing the legs is by passing one of their pieces of wire into the small ring of the horizontal or middle supporting wire. pursue the same plan with the other leg, and then twist the two ends firmly together, by the aid of a pair of flat pincers. for an animal of the size of a cat the pieces left for twisting must be from five to six inches in length. after being twisted, they are bound on the under side of the body-wire with strong thread; the two legs are then replaced and put in the form in which we intend to fix them. the skin of the belly and top of the shoulders are then anointed, and a thick layer of flax placed under the middle wire. the shape is now given to the scapulæ on both sides, and all the muscles of the shoulders imitated. these will be elevated or depressed, according to the action intended to be expressed. the anterior part of the opening is now sewed up, to retain the stuffing and to enable us to complete the formation of the shoulders and the junction of the neck. this part of the animal is of great importance as regards the perfection of its form; and much of its beauty will depend upon this being well executed. if the animal has been recently skinned, the best plan possible is to imitate, as nearly as possible, the muscles of the carcass; by which many parts will be noticed which might otherwise have been neglected. as a rule, copy nature whenever you have it in your power. it must be observed, as a general rule, that the wires for the hind legs of quadrupeds should always be longer than those of the fore legs. the next thing is to form the hind legs and thighs, which must be done, as above described for the fore legs; but with this difference, that they must be wound round with thread, drawn through the stuffing at intervals, to prevent it slipping up when returned into the skin of the leg. they are then fixed, by passing the leg wires into a second ring of the center body wire, which is situated at or near the pelvis; the two ends are then bent, twisting them to the right and left around the ring: and to make them still more secure, they should be wound round with small brass wire or pack-thread; the tail-bearer is then attached in the manner formerly described. having completed this part of the iron work, the skin of the thighs is coated inside with the preservative, and the stuffing completed with chopped flax or tow. the whole inner parts of the skin which can be reached are again anointed, and the body stuffing completed with chopped flax. care must be also paid not to stuff the belly too much, as the skin very easily dilates. the incision in the belly is now closed by bringing the skin together, and then sewing within and without, while attention is paid to divide the hairs, and not to take any of them in along with the thread; but should any of them be inadvertently fixed, they can be picked out easily with a point. when this is completed, the hair will resume its natural order and completely conceal the seam. the seam should now be well primed on both sides with the solution of corrosive sublimate, to prevent the entrance of moths. the articulations of the legs are then bent, and the animal placed on its feet, and pressure used at the natural flat places, so as to make the other parts rise where the muscles are visible. a board is now prepared, on which to place the cat. but before fixing it permanently, the animal should be set in the attitude in which it is intended to be preserved, and the operator, having satisfied himself, then pierces four holes for the admission of the feet wires, which must be drawn through with a pair of pincers till the paws rest firmly on the board. small grooves are then made for the reception of the pieces of wires which have been drawn through, so that they may be folded back and pressed down in them, and not be beyond the level of the back of the board; wire nails are now driven half in, and their heads bent down on the wires to prevent them from getting loose, or becoming movable. the stuffer next directs his attention to the position and final stuffing of the head and neck. the muscles of the face must be imitated as correctly as possible, by stuffing in cotton at the opening of the eyes, as also at the mouth, ears, and nostrils. to aid in this, also, the inner materials may be drawn forward by the assistance of instruments, and also small pieces of wood formed like small knitting meshes. our next care is the insertion of the eyes, which must be done while the eyelids are yet fresh. some dexterity and skill are required in this operation, and on it will depend most of the beauty and character of the head. the seats of the eyes are supplied with a little cement, the eyes put in their place, and the eyelids properly drawn over the eyeballs: but if rage or fear are to be expressed, a considerable portion of the eyeballs must be exposed. the lips are afterwards disposed in their natural state, and fastened with pins. if the mouth is intended to be open, it will be necessary to support the lips with cotton, which can be removed when they are dry. two small balls of cotton, firmly pressed together, and well tinctured with the arsenical soap, must be thrust into the nostrils so as to completely plug them up to prevent the air from penetrating, as also the intrusion of moths; and besides, it has the effect of preserving the natural shape of the nose after it has dried. the same precaution should be adopted with the ears, which, in the cat, require but little attention in setting. we must again recommend the stuffer to see that he has sufficiently applied the preservative soap; and the nose, lips, eyes, and paws, being very liable to decay, must be well imbued with spirits of turpentine. this is applied with a brush, and must be repeated six or eight times, at intervals of some days, until we are certain of the parts being well primed with it; and, after all, it will be advisable to give it a single coating of the solution of corrosive sublimate. the methods of stuffing, which we have pointed out in the preceding pages, are applicable to all animals, from a lion down to the smallest mouse. animals of a large description require a frame-work suited to their dimensions; these he will point out in their order. there are also some animals whose peculiarity of structure requires treatment differing a little from the ordinary course. apes and monkeys. one of the chief difficulties to contend with, in setting up monkeys and apes, is the preservation of their hands and hind hands, or what we commonly call their feet; because we must not attempt to deprive these limbs of their flesh, as we never could again supply its place anything like what is in nature. the hands must therefore be dried, and then well imbued with turpentine and the solution of corrosive sublimate, repeated eight or ten times at least, at intervals of four or five days. the other parts of the stuffing should be exactly similar to that recommended for quadrupeds generally. the paws of several will require to be colored with the different varnishes, and, when dry, slightly polished with fine sand-paper to remove the gloss. the callosities, on the hinder parts of many of them, will also require to be colored, and treated in the same way as the face. bats. the wing-membranes of this varied and numerous tribe do not require either wire or parchment to set them. they are very easily dried by distension. they are laid on a board of soft wood, the wings extended and pinned equally at the articulations, and, when dry, they are removed from the board. hedgehogs. when it is wished to preserve hedgehogs, rolled into a ball, which is a very common position with them in a state of nature, there should be less stuffing put into them than is usual with quadrupeds, so that they may the more easily bend. no wires are required in this case. the head and feet are drawn close together under the belly; then place the animal on its back in the middle of a large cloth, and tie the four ends firmly together; suspend it in the air till thoroughly dry, which finishes the operation. if hedgehogs are wished with the heads and limbs exposed, the usual method of mounting is adopted. the skins of mice, moles, etc., having a very offensive smell, it will be necessary to add a considerable portion of the tincture of musk to the solution of the corrosive sublimate with which the skins are imbued. the same applies to badgers, wolverenes, polecats and skunks, all of which are strong-smelling animals. bears. the structure of the wires requires to be different in these larger animals from any we have before described. procure a bar one inch thick, two inches broad, and as long as to reach horizontally from the shoulder to the connection of the thighs, or _os pubis_. a hole is bored four inches distant from one of its ends, from which a connecting groove must be formed, extending on both sides to the end of the plank next the hole; this groove must be cut out with a hollow chisel deep enough to receive the wire. the wire is then passed through it, one end of which is just long enough to be twisted with the other at the end of the plank. the wire on both sides is now pressed down into the grooves, and twisted firmly together by the aid of a pair of strong pincers. pierce some holes obliquely into the groove and insert some wire nails into them, which must be firmly driven home, and then bent over the wire to keep them firm. the longest end of the wire should be at least eighteen inches beyond the bar, so as to pass through the skull of the animal. the use of this bar, it will be observed, is a substitute for the central or supporting wires of the body. two other holes are now bored into it, the one two, and the other three inches from the end which we first pierced; these are for the reception of the wires of the forelegs; and two similar holes must be made at the other extremity of the bar for receiving the wires of the hind legs. bears always support themselves on the full expansion of their dilated paws, so that it is necessary to bring the leg-wires out of the claws. the leg-wires are bent at right angles for a length of five inches from the upper end. these are put through the holes in the bar, and when they have passed through they are curved again. two small gimlet-holes are then made for the reception of smaller wire, by which the leg-wires must be bound together close to the bar. the fore-leg wires are fixed in the same manner, which completes the frame-work. no other means are used for middle-sized animals, such as the lion, tiger, leopard, etc. the stuffing is completed as in other quadrupeds. the walrus, seals, and other amphibious animals of this order, are treated in the manner of quadrupeds generally, only that leg-wires are unnecessary, except in the fore-feet; the tail, which represents the hind feet, has merely to be dried and kept properly stretched in during this process, which precaution also applies to the fore-feet. they are the easiest stuffed of all animals, only the skins are very oily; they should be well rubbed with the arsenical soap, and also with the preserving powder. the stuffing of the walrus, and other large animals of this family, should consist of well-dried hay for the interior parts, and tow for the surface next the skin. beaver, etc. the beaver, musk rat, common rat, and other animals whose skins have a strong smell. these require to be plentifully supplied with the preservative. the tail of the beaver should be cut underneath, and all the flesh removed, then stuffed with tow or chopped flax, and afterwards thoroughly dried and well primed with the arsenical soap to prevent putrefaction, to which it is very liable. it should also have repeated washings with oil of turpentine. the back should be round and short. the porcupine. in stuffing this animal considerable and varied expression may be given, both from the attitude and disposition of the quills. great attention is therefore required in giving these a proper set during the process of drying. they will require to be looked at several times during the first and second day after they have been stuffed, and any of them that may have fallen out of the position required, to be adjusted. hares and rabbits. a very pretty attitude for the hare or rabbit, is to have it seated in its form in an upright position, as if alarmed at the noise of dogs, etc. an oval is formed of wire and attached to the interior frame-work, after having passed one end of it through the anus, which must be passed through a hole in the board on which the animal is to be fixed. the wires of the hind legs must be forced through the posterior part of them, and also fixed into holes formed for their reception in the board. deer, antelopes, goats, etc. these animals should be mounted on the same principles as recommended for the bears. a different mode must, however, be adopted in skinning the animals, which the horns render necessary. it is performed in the ordinary manner until the operator reaches the neck. after cutting as near the head as possible, another incision must be made, commencing under the chin, which is continued to the bottom of the neck, or from eight to ten inches in length. by this opening, the remainder of the neck is separated from the head; the tongue is cut out, and the occipital orifice enlarged, and the brain extracted thereby. the lips are now cut as near as possible to the jaw-bones, and the operator must continue progressively ascending towards the forehead, and in this manner all the skin will be separated from the head, except at the nose, or point of the muzzle. all the muscles are next removed by the scalpel, and the skull well anointed with arsenical soap. the muscles which have been cut out are then imitated with chopped flax or cotton, which may be attached to the bones with cement. when this is done, the head must be replaced within the skin. the orifice under the neck must now be sewed up with fine stitches, so that the hair may spread over them to conceal the seam. the whole other parts of the mounting is complete as directed for the bear. the dolphin, porpoise, etc. the structure of these animals, as well as the other species of the first family of this order, differs but little in general structure. in skinning these, an incision is made under the chin, and continued to the extremity of the tail; the skin is then detached right and left with the scalpel, or a sharp knife. when the skin has been cut back as far as possible, disengage the vertebræ at the tail, and this will enable the operator to detach the skin from the back; the vertebræ are now cut close to the head, and the whole carcass removed. all this tribe have a thick layer of fat under their skin. in the operation of skinning it requires considerable dexterity to leave this fat, or blubber, adhering to the carcass. practice alone will obviate this. when this has not been properly managed in the skinning, the only thing to be done afterwards is to scrape it thoroughly with a knife. the oil which flows from it, during this operation, must be soaked up with bran, or plaster of paris. there being no muscular projections in the skin of the porpoise, there is no use for wires in mounting it. a narrow piece of wood the length of the body is quite sufficient to keep the skin stretched, and stuffed either with tow or hay. some months are necessary to render it perfectly dry and stiff, from its greasy nature. the grease almost always leaves some disagreeable-looking spots on the skin. to remove these, and prevent a recurrence of them, powdered pumice-stone steeped in olive-oil, is rubbed thickly on the skin with a hand-brush. it is then gone over a second time with emery and oil. it is rubbed in this way till the skin has a glossy appearance, when it may be rubbed dry with a woolen cloth; and to complete the polish, a clean woolen cloth may be applied with some force to complete the gloss which is natural to the skin in a living state. where a very glossy appearance is wished, varnishes become necessary, but some difficulty has been experienced in getting these to remain attached to the skin in all weathers, because the humidity of rainy seasons melts gum-arabic when it is used as a varnish, and when white varnish is applied, both it and the gum-arabic fall off in pieces. to prevent the gum from falling off in this way, by its contracting, the solution should have about an eighth part of ox-gall mixed with it, and the surface of any body to be varnished should be washed with ox-gall and water before the varnish is applied, which will, almost to a certainty, present it from cracking and falling off. it must, however, be thoroughly dried before the varnish is applied. we may here state, that an animal the size of a fox or a cat, may be skinned, prepared, and finally set up, in the space of four or five hours, by a person who has had a little practice in the art of taxidermy, and that from ten to fifteen minutes are all that will be required to skin an animal of the size just mentioned. chapter ii. skinning, preserving, and mounting birds. skinning. immediately after a bird is killed, the throat and nostrils should be stuffed with tow, cotton, or fine rags, and a small quantity wound round the bill to prevent the blood from staining the plumage; but should any get on the feathers, notwithstanding this precaution, the sooner it is removed the better, which should be effected by a sponge which has been merely moistened in water. too much dispatch cannot be used in removing the skin, if the bird is shot in a warm climate; but, in temperate regions, the bird may be allowed to cool. [illustration: _fig. 2._ _manner of holding the hands in skinning a bird._] in proceeding to skin the bird, it should be laid on its back, and the feathers of the breast separated to the right and left, when a broad interval will be discovered, reaching from the top to the bottom of the breast-bone. (see fig. 2.) (see fig. 2 for the manner of separating the feathers and using the scalpel.) a sharp pen-knife, or scalpel, must be inserted at the point of the bone, and cut the outer skin from thence to the vent, taking care not to penetrate so deep as the flesh, or upon the inner skin which covers the intestines. the skin will then easily be separated from the flesh; in larger specimens, by the fingers, or, in smaller ones, by passing a small blunt instrument betwixt the skin and body, such as the end of the scalpel-handle; with this you may reach the back. the thighs should now be pressed inward, as in the common method of skinning a rabbit, and the skin turned back, so far as to enable you to separate the legs from the body, at the knee-joint. the skin is then pulled downwards, as low as the rump, which is cut close by the insertion of the tail, as shown in fig. 2, but in such a manner as not to injure its feathers. the skin is now drawn upwards the length of the wings, the bones of which must also be cut at the shoulder-joints; it is then pulled up, till all the back part of the skull is laid bare, when the vertebræ of the neck are separated from the head, and the whole body is now separated from the skin. you next proceed to remove the brain, through the opening of the skull, for which purpose it may be enlarged by a hollow chisel, or other iron instrument. the eyes must then be taken out, by breaking the slender bones which separate the orbits from the top of the mouth, in which you may be assisted by pressing the eyes gently inwards, so as not to break them. in skinning the neck great care must be taken not to enlarge the opening of the ears, and not to injure the eyelids. the whole of the flesh is next to be removed from the under mandible. [illustration: _fig. 3._ _bird suspended for skinning._] several species will not admit of the skin being thus pulled over their heads, from the smallness of their necks; some woodpeckers, ducks, etc., fall under this description; in which case a longitudinal incision is made under the throat, so as to admit of the head being turned out, which must be neatly sewed up before stuffing. the flesh from the head, wings, legs, and rump, must then be carefully removed with a knife, and the cavities of the skull filled with cotton or tow. the whole inside of the skin, head, etc., must be well rubbed with arsenical soap, or preserving powder, or spirit of turpentine, or the solution of corrosive sublimate. when it is wished to stuff the bird, it may now be immediately done, as it will easily dry, if in a warm climate; but in low, damp countries, it will require artificial heat to do it effectually. when the skins are merely wished preserved, the bones of the legs and wings should be wrapped round with cotton or tow, so as to supply the place of the flesh; the skin is then inverted and hung up to dry, after using the arsenical soap, as above directed; before doing which, in larger birds, a thread or small string may be drawn through the rump, and passed up to the inside of the neck, and drawn through the bill, to prevent the head from stretching too much by its own weight. in larger specimens, where cotton or tow is not easily to be met with, well-dried hay may be used. the incision for removing the skin is frequently made under the wings. this may be done with marine birds to advantage. the penguins and divers may be skinned by making the incision in the back. the tongue should either be kept in the mouth, or sent home separately with the birds. the greatest care must be taken to prevent the fat and oily matter, so common to sea-birds, from getting on the feathers; pounded chalk will be found an excellent absorbent for applying to these birds. in sending home specimens of birds, they should be each wrapped in paper, and closely packed in a box; and camphor, preserving powder, and strong aromatics, strewn amongst them, to prevent them from being attacked by insects; and they ought to be kept in a very dry part of the vessel. it is of the utmost consequence to know the color of the eyes and legs of birds, and these things should be carefully noted the moment they are killed; and it should also be mentioned whether they are male or female; such a memorandum ought to be attached to the birds by a ticket. the season of the year in which the bird is killed, must also be mentioned. it is also of much consequence to have good skeletons, and, for this purpose, the carcasses may be sent home in a barrel, either in spirits or a strong solution of salt and water. mr. salt, while in abyssinia, packed his bird-skins between sheets of paper, and in the same manner as a _hortus siccus_, or herbarium, and they reached england in perfect safety, and made excellent specimens when set up. in warm climates, the boxes should be well closed, and the seams filled with warm pitch on the outside, to prevent the intrusion of insects; and the inside should be supplied with camphor, musk, or tobacco-dust, which will prevent the attacks of the smaller insects. till practice has given facility to the operator, it will assist in keeping the feathers clean, if, as he opens the skin of the breast, he pins pieces of paper or linen cloth on the outside, but after a few trials this will be unnecessary. some of the marine fowls are so fat that there is much trouble in separating it from the skin, and in warm weather, great attention will be required to prevent it from running on the feathers. as much as possible should be scraped off, in the first place, with a blunt table-knife or palate-knife, and a quantity of powdered chalk applied, to absorb what remains, which, when saturated with the oily matter, should be scraped off and a fresh supply used, after which a much larger proportion of the preserving powder should be applied than in other birds which are not fat. when shooting on the sea-coast, if the ornithologist is not provided with these requisites for absorbing the oil, which flows quickly from any wounds of the skin, he will find dry sand a tolerable substitute. if, however, after every precaution, the oily matter should get on the feathers, the sooner it is removed the better, as, in birds where the plumage is white, if it is allowed to become hardened it will produce a very disagreeable appearance; and, besides, render that part particularly liable to the attack of insects. there are several effectual methods of removing the greasy stains; the first, safest, and best, is, by taking a quantity of diluted ox-gall--or, where it cannot be commanded, sheep's-gall, or that of any other animal--mix it with about double the quantity of water, and apply it with a sponge to the place which the fatty matter has touched, when it will immediately remove it. the next is by using a solution of salt of tartar, or potash, or soda. this must be made very weak, not exceeding half a tea-spoonful to a cup of water, which will have the same effect as the gall. whichever of these are used, the place must be immediately afterwards washed in pure water, so as to leave none of the gall or alkaline substance remaining. the gall has a gummy tendency, and will glue together the fibers of the feathers, and, besides, it has a great attraction for moisture, and, in humid weather, will become damp, and therefore produce mold; the other alkaline substances must also be used with much caution and quickness, because they have the power of changing the colors of the plumage, so that they are most useful in white plumage, and therefore should only be used on colored feathers, where gall cannot be procured. one general observation applies to the preservation of all animal skins, which is, they must be made perfectly dry, so that the sooner they are exposed to a free current of air the better; and unless they are speedily and thoroughly dried, the skin will become putrid and rotten, and the hair or feathers will consequently fall off. if a skin is properly dried, soon after it is killed, it will keep a considerable time without any preservative whatever, only it will be the more liable to be attacked by insects afterwards. the following excellent general directions for skinning are given by mr. waterton:--"while dissecting, it will be of use to keep in mind, that in taking off the skin from the body, by means of your fingers and little knife, you must try to shove it, in lieu of pulling it, lest you stretch it. "that you must press as lightly as possible on the bird, and every now and then take a view of it, to see that the feathers, etc., are all right. "that when you come to the head, you must take care that the body of the skin rest on your knee, for if you allow it to dangle from your hand, its own weight will stretch it too much. "that, throughout the whole operation, as fast as you detach the skin from the body, you must put cotton immediately betwixt the body and it, and this will effectually prevent any fat, blood, or moisture from coming in contact with the plumage. "as you can seldom get a bird without shooting it, a line or two on this head will be necessary. if the bird be still alive, press it hard, with your finger and thumb, just behind the wings, and it will soon expire. carry it by the legs, and then, the body being reversed, the blood cannot escape down the plumage and through the shot-holes. as blood will have often issued out, before you have laid hold of the bird, find out the shot-holes, by dividing the feathers with your fingers, and blowing on them; and then, with your pen-knife, or the leaf of a tree, carefully remove the clotted blood, and put a little cotton on the hole. if, after all, the plumage has not escaped the marks of blood, or if it has imbibed slime from the ground, wash the part in water, without soap, and keep gently agitating the feathers with your fingers, till they are quite dry. were you to wash them, and leave them to dry by themselves, they would have a very mean and shriveled appearance. "in the act of skinning a bird, you must either have it upon a table, or upon your knee; probably you will prefer your knee, because, when you cross one knee over the other, and have the bird upon the uppermost, you can raise it to your eye, or lower it at pleasure, by means of the foot on the ground; and then your knee will always move in unison with your body, by which much stooping will be avoided, and lassitude prevented." stuffing birds. the first thing to be done in stuffing is to replace the skull, after it has been well anointed with the arsenical soap, and washed with the solution of corrosive sublimate inside. the thread with which the beak is tied is taken hold of by the left hand, and the head is repassed into the neck with the forefinger of the right hand, while the thread is pulled on the opposite side; and we are careful that the feathers, at the margin of the opening, do not enter with the edges of the skin. the bird is now laid on the table with the head turned towards the left hand, and the legs and wings adjusted to their proper situation. a flat piece of lead, about a pound in weight, is laid on the tail, while the feathers of the margins of the opening are raised by the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, to prevent their being soiled. the inside of the neck is now coated with the arsenical soap; flax is stuffed into it, but not too tightly. the back and rump are anointed, and the body should then be stuffed with tow, to about a third of the thickness required, so that the wire may have a sort of cushion to rest on. four pieces of wire are then prepared, of the thickness proportionate to the size of the bird to be stuffed. the center-piece should be somewhat longer than the body of the bird. at about a fourth of its length a small ring is formed, by the assistance of the round pincers or pliers, and the other end is pointed with a file. this wire is oiled, and introduced across the skull, and passed into the neck through the center of the flax or tow with which it is stuffed--the ring being situated toward the anterior part of the skull, for the purpose of receiving the points of each of the wires that are passed through the feet and thighs. [illustration: _fig. 4 to 7._ _4, the oval and head-wires of a bird separated; 5, the tail-bearers separated; 6, a leg-wire separated; 7, the body-wire, the head-wire, the tail-bearer and legs connected._] the following is the mode in which this performance is effected: a hole is bored with a brass awl, the caliber of the wire which it is intended to use. the wire, which is to continue in the leg, is passed across the knee, and brought out interiorly, and, placing it into the ring above mentioned, the same operation is performed on the other side. the extremities of the wires of the legs, and the end of the central wire beyond the ring, are all twisted together with flat pincers, and then bent towards the tail. the tail-bearer is next formed, which consists of the fourth piece of wire, with which an oval is formed, by twisting the two ends two or three turns, so that they may form a kind of fork, with the oval nearly the length of the body of the bird; the two points of the fork must be sharpened with a file, and near enough to enable them to enter the rump, through which they must pass, and their points will be concealed by the rectrices, or large straight tail-feathers, while the oval is within the body of the bird. if the bird is large, the tail-bearer must be firmly attached to the interior wires, by twisting a small wire several times round both. but unless the bird be large, it may remain quite free. all the parts of the skin at which we can come must be thoroughly rubbed with preserving soap, the rump in particular, which should, besides, be soaked with the solution of corrosive sublimate. the stuffing is now proceeded with, by inserting chopped flax or tow, till it has attained its proper dimensions. the skin is brought together and sewed up, while we take the greatest care to separate the feathers at every stitch. the orbits of the eyes are next finished, by inserting, with small forceps and a short stuffing stick, a small quantity of chopped cotton, while attention is paid to round the eyelids properly. the glass eyes are now inserted, taking care to place them properly under the eyelids. but, before fixing the eye, a little calcareous cement must be used, to prevent them from coming out. if any part of the nictitating membrane is visible below, it must be pushed up with the steel point. the stuffing of the bird being now completed, the next thing is to place it either on a branch, or, if a bird which does not sit on trees, on a piece of plank; whichever of these it is, two holes are bored for the reception of the wires, which have been allowed to protrude from the soles of the feet, for fixing the bird (see fig 8.) these, of course, are pierced in such situations as are necessary for the attitude or position of the legs. the wires are put through these holes, and twisted so as to secure the bird in its position. the attitude of the bird will, of course, depend upon the fancy and taste of the operator, and ought to be in conformity with the manners of the birds in a living state. the wire frame-work, above described, is the most simple of any in its construction, and is better adapted for small than large birds. indeed, it will hardly suit those of the larger species. the following is another method of constructing the frame-work, which may be used either in large or small birds:-like the former, it is constructed of four pieces of wire. the center-piece should be double the length of the bird; it is bent at a third of its length of an oval form, and twisted two turns, the shortest end being passed into the oval, and then raised against the longer end, so as to produce a ring at the end, outside of the oval, large enough to admit the two wires which pass from the feet to the inside of the bird. it is now twisted a second time, and firmly united to the longer end, which ought to be straight, with a sharp point, effected by means of a file. as before directed, it is rubbed with oil, and forced through the stuffing of the neck. it ought to be so constructed, by measurement, that the oval part of the wire shall be in the center of the body inside. the wires of the feet and legs, as before directed, ought to be straight and pointed, and passed through the soles of the feet as before. when the point has penetrated, the other end of the wire may be bent, so that by means of it we may be able to assist in forcing up the remainder of the wire. the two internal ends of the foot-wires are twisted together, and curved within, so as to pass through the small circle or ring of the middle branch above the oval, to each side of which they are now attached with a piece of small string. the tail-bearer is constructed on the same principles, and attached in the same manner, as before described, and the latter apparatus is introduced after the neck and back are finished in the stuffing. this practice of introducing the neck-wire, after the neck is stuffed, was first adopted at the jardin des plantes at paris, and is now invariably adopted in that establishment in preference to introducing it before the neck is stuffed. the neck of a swan or other long-necked and large birds, are even done so. it is unquestionably the best plan which has hitherto been discovered, as it preserves the cylindrical shape of the neck. mr. bullock's method of stuffing birds. mr. bullock, of the london museum, egyptian hall, had another method of arranging the wires, which, after what we have already said, will be easily comprehended by a reference to figure 8, where we have given a figure of his mode. after the skin is taken off and prepared, different-sized, nealed, iron wires are procured, according to the size of the bird they are to support. the skin is laid on its back without stretching it; cut two pieces of wire, the one rather longer than the bird and the other shorter, so as not to reach to the head of the bird; twist them together, sharpen the ends of the longer by means of a file, and pass one end through the rump and the other through the crown of the head, near the base of the bill. care must be taken not to extend the neck beyond its ordinary length--a very common fault in most preservers. lay a little tow along the back of the skin for the wire to rest on, then take two other pieces of strong wire and file them to a point at one end; these are passed through the soles of the feet and up the center of the leg-bone, or tarsus. when within the body, they are to be fastened to the first wires by twisting them together, which, when accomplished, may be supposed to represent the backbone. the wire should be left two or three inches out of the soles of the feet, to fasten them in a standing position, as before directed. two smaller wires are then passed through the wings, as in the legs, and afterwards fastened to the back-wires a little higher up than the leg-wires, taking care that no part of the skin is to be extended beyond its natural position. [illustration: _fig. 8._ _mr. bullock's method of inserting the wires in setting up a bird._] a new and easier method of bird skinning and stuffing. a fair specimen being obtained, take common cotton wadding, and with an ordinary paint-brush stick plug the throat, nostrils, and, in large birds, the ears, with it, so that when the skin is turned no juices may flow and spoil the feathers; you must then provide yourself with the following articles: a knife of this kind is very common; a pair of cutting pliers, a pair of strong scissors, of a moderate size; a button-hook, a marrow-spoon, and a hand-vise. with these, a needle and thread and a sharpener of some kind, to give your knife an occasional touch, you are prepared, so far as implements go. then provide yourself with annealed iron wire of various sizes; some you may buy ready for use, some not; but you can anneal it yourself by making it red hot in the fire, and letting it cool in the air. common hemp is the next article, cotton wadding, pounded whitening, and pounded alum, or chloride of lime; as to the poisons which are used, they will be spoken of by and by. you should also have a common brad-awl or two, and some pieces of quarter-inch pine whereon to stand the specimens when preserved, if to be placed as walking on a plane; if not, some small pieces of twigs or small branches of trees should be kept ready for use, of various sizes, according to the size of the bird; something of the form of fig. 9. cedar, or common laurel cut in december, will be found to answer best, but this must be regulated by fancy and the requirements of the case; oak-boughs are sometimes of a good shape. [illustration: _fig. 9._ _branch for mounting a bird._] the best time for preserving specimens is in spring, because then the cock birds are in the best feather, and the weather is not too warm. in mild weather three days is a good time to keep a bird, as then the skin will part from the flesh easily. if a specimen has bled much over the feathers, so as to damage them, wash them carefully but thoroughly with warm water and a sponge, and immediately cover them with pounded whitening, which will adhere to them. dry it as it hangs upon them slowly before the fire, and then triturating the hardened lumps gently between the fingers, the feathers will come out almost as clean as ever. to test whether the specimen is too decomposed to skin, try the feathers about the auriculars, and just above the tail, and if they do not move you may safely proceed. lay the bird on his back, and, parting the feathers from the insertion of the neck to the tail, you will find in most birds a spare space. cut the skin the whole length of this, and, passing the finger under it on either side, by laying hold of one leg and bending it forward, you will be able to bring the bare knee through the opening you have made; and with your scissors cut it through at the joint; pull the shank still adhering to the leg till the skin is turned back as far as it will go: denude the bone of flesh and sinew, wrap a piece of hemp round it, steeped in a strong solution of the pounded alum, and then pull the leg by the claw, by which means the skin will be brought again to its place. [illustration: _fig. 10._] after having served both legs alike, skin carefully round the back, cutting off and leaving in the tail with that into which the feathers grow, that is, the "pope's nose." serve the wing-bones the same as the leg, cutting them off close to the body, and turn the skin inside out down to the head. the back of the skull will then appear, and you will now find it of advantage, as soon as you have got the legs and tail free, to tie a piece of string round the body, and hang it up as a butcher skins a sheep. make in the back of the skull a cut of the annexed form, with your knife, which you can turn back like a trap-door, and with the marrow-spoon entirely clear out the brains; a representing the neck, and b the skin turned back. having done this, wash the interior of the skull thoroughly with the alum, and fill it with cotton wadding. the next operation requires care and practice--namely, to get out the eyes. this is done by cutting cautiously until the lids appear, being careful not to cut the eye itself, and you can then, with a forceps, which you will likewise find useful, pull each from its socket; wipe the orifice carefully, wash it with the alum solution, and fill it with cotton wadding. cut off the neck close to the skull, wash the stump, and the whole of the interior of the skin with the alum, and the _skinning_ is done. [illustration: _fig. 11._ _wire bent for inserting._] now comes the stuffing. the ordinary mode used by bird-preservers is a simple one, and answers very well; there is a french method, however, which has its advantages, and will be adverted to hereafter. take a piece of the wire suitable to the size of the bird--that is, as large as the legs will carry--and bend it into the following form, _a_ representing the neck, _b_, the body, and _c_, the junction of the tail, allowing sufficient length of the neck for the wire to pass some distance beyond the head, and being sharpened at each end, which may be done by obliquely cutting it with the pliers. wind upon this wire hemp to the side of the bird's body, which you should have lying by you to judge from, and it will present something of this appearance. you can shape it with the hand, but be careful not to make it the least _too large_; and, after you have finished it to your satisfaction, you may singe it, as the poulterer would singe a fowl, which will make all neat; but be particular to wind the hemp very tight. then take the skin, lay it on the table on its back, and pass the wire at the head into the marrow where the neck is cut off, through above the roof of the mouth, and out at one nostril, and draw it up close to the skull; turn the skin back, and draw it down over the hemp body, and pass the wire spike, protruding at the lower end, through the flesh upon which the tail grows, about the center, and rather below than above. the skin may now be adjusted to the hemp body, and sewn up, beginning from the top of the breast, and being particularly careful always to take the stitch from _inside_, otherwise you will draw in the feathers at every pull. at first sew it very loose, and then, with the button-hook, draw it together by degrees. [illustration: _fig. 12._ _the hemp wound on the wire._] with the pliers cut two lengths of wire, long enough to pass up the legs and into the neck, and leave something over to fasten the bird by to the board or spray upon which it is to be placed. the next operation requires some address and great practice, namely, the passing the wire up the legs. this is done by forcing it into the center of the foot, and up the back of the legs, into the hemp body, through it obliquely, and into the neck, until it is pretty firm. [illustration: _fig. 13._] in doing this, you must remember the ordinary position of a bird when alive, and, therefore, instead of passing the wire the whole way _within_ the skin of the leg, when you get to the part where you have cut off the bone--that is, the knee-joint--pass it through the skin to the outside, where the knee would come naturally in the attitude of standing or perching--it makes little difference which. this is essential, because, if the wire be passed the whole way _inside_ the skin, it produces a wrong placing of the legs. fig 13 will illustrate this, _a_ representing the line in which the wire should run. the bird is now stuffed, and you may at once place it upon a spray or board, as the case may be. in placing a bird upon a spray, the first joint should be bent almost on a level with the foot; and in placing a bird on a board, one leg should be placed somewhat behind the other. if the wings are intended to be closed, as is usually the case, bring them into their place, which may be done by putting the fingers under them, and pressing them together over the back; you may then pass a needle, or large pin, of which you should have a good supply by you, through the thick part of the upper wing into the body, and so by the lower wing, and if you allow these to protrude, you may fasten to one of them a piece of thread, and wind it carefully and lightly round the body, which will keep the feathers in their places, and this thread should be kept on for a fortnight or three weeks, until the bird is dry. the tail should be kept in its place, also, for the same time, by a piece of thin wire bent over it, thus: [illustration: _fig. 14._] the only thing now to do is to put in the eyes. the color, of course, depends on the bird, and these you may buy at any fishing-tackle store. if you do not use eyes too large, you will find little difficulty; the juice of the lids will act as a sufficient cement. as to the mounting, i shall say nothing about that now, but shall only advert shortly to a french method of preserving which is more difficult, but has the advantage of superior firmness. it is this: measuring from the insertion of the neck to the tail, make a wire frame of this form, the measure taken being from a. to b. [illustration: _fig. 15._ _wire used in french method._] upon this end wind hemp for the neck only, and place in the skin in the same way as before directed, only that, instead of one wire being passed through that in which the tail grows, it is a fork that is passed through it. having formed this frame, fit on to it two legs, thus: and after the frame itself is in the skin, pass these from the _inside_ down each leg, instead of from the outside, and fasten them on to the frame with the pliers, by twisting the ends, b b, round the frame, c, in the first figure. [illustration: _fig. 16._ _the wire legs._] this will make all firm, and you can then fill the body with cut hemp and sew up. one word as to the other preparations used by bird preservers. these are either corrosive sublimate or regulus of arsenic, which is yellow and of a consistence like butter. as i have said before, in cold weather, when there are no flies about, alum will do perfectly well; in warm weather either of the two others may be used. i should prefer the former--corrosive sublimate--as the other is "messy," and the chief object is to dry up anything which can be attacked by flesh-seeking insects. when you have finished your bird you can lay the feathers with a large needle--it is as well to have one fixed in a handle and kept for this purpose--and, tying the two mandibles of the bill together with a piece of thread until the whole specimen has hardened and dried, the work is done. chapter iii. the art of mounting birds, dried skins, feathers, etc. mounting in general. we will suppose that a proficiency, from practice, has been attained in the art of bird-preserving, according to the instructions given. the proficiency in preserving may apply only to the preservation and the form, great and necessary things, no doubt, as preliminaries; but, like matter without manner, of little avail alone. for attitude, i would say, as has been said to many a young artist, go to nature, and there you will find an original in perfection. would you make a willow-wren look like a willow-wren, watch him as he there hangs upon the weeping birch, or stands on a bough peering in quest of food. each bird has its own manner, and if you cannot hit the manner, or make your stuffed skin so far amenable as to assume the attitude, it is either ill-stuffed, or you want the requisite knowledge of that which you should copy. bird pinned up. having fixed on the attitude, it now only remains to put the feathers into their natural order as smoothly and regularly as possible; and to keep them in this state they should be bound around with small fillets of muslin fastened with pins as represented in fig. 17. the bird should then be thoroughly dried, by placing it in an airy situation, if in summer; or if in winter, near the fire, but not so close as to affect the natural oil contained in the feathers. the want of proper attention in drying ruins many a fine specimen; if long kept damp putridity ensues despite all preservatives, when the skin will become rotten, and the feathers will soon fall off; besides, the mold and long-continued damp change the chemical properties of the preservatives used. [illustration: _fig. 17._] after the bird has been thoroughly dried, the fillets are removed; the wire which protruded from the head is cut off as close to the skull as possible, with the wire cutting pincers elsewhere shown. it must then be attached to a circular, or other shaped piece of wood, with the generic and specific name and sex, as well as its country and locality attached to it, on a small ticket, when it may be placed in a museum. young hands commonly suppose that a bird should stand bolt upright, with the legs almost perpendicular, or at right-angles to the perch. this is a great mistake, and never to be found in nature. do _we_ stand rigid, like a foot-soldier on drill? does not a bird, as well as ourselves, accommodate itself to the thing on which it rests? assuredly it does; for birds do not, as a young bird-stuffer endeavors to do, find always a perch to rest upon in the plane of the horizon. it therefore follows that, as he keeps himself upright, his legs must accommodate themselves to his perch. so in the ground-birds there is a gentle slope backwards from the hind toe, the balance being preserved in both cases by throwing the body forward in proportion. it is not uncommon to see birds preserved with wings and tail spread. now, ordinarily speaking, this is very objectionable, because very unnatural. [illustration: _fig. 18._ _fig. 19._ _fig. 20._ _proper positions of birds._] a bird preserved is supposed to represent a bird in a state of repose; that is, not in flight; the only modification allowable being with regard to those birds whose manner it may be to have the wings more or less open on occasions; thus the falcon tribe, supposing they are represented as devouring a quarry, or two birds toying with each other. it may be that a bird essentially aerial, like the swift, or perhaps some of the terns or the frigate bird, may be represented as actually on the wing. in this case, of course, the wings must be spread; and this is best done by passing a wire, not too thick, from the base of the quill-feathers on the under side alongside the bone into the body, where it should be carefully and coaxingly inserted towards the tail until you feel that you have a pretty good hold. you may then pass it carefully under the longest quill-feather, and through the back of the case, and fasten it by bringing it back again through and clinching it, concealing it so by the oblique position of the bird that it is not detectable. it is obvious that by passing the wire alongside the bone, you may bend the wings to any angle you please. with regard to the case, there are two methods; one a bell-glass, which, glass being now so reasonable, is certainly a very pretty and reasonable way of mounting, but inapplicable to birds which are to be placed on a wall, or to be represented flying; although this may be managed by attaching one wire from the point of the wing to a twig sufficiently firm, which it will scarcely appear to touch, if managed adroitly. it is likewise indispensable that a bird for a shade should be stuffed so well as to look nicely in all positions. one thing must always be remembered, _do not have your case a shade too large_, just clear the object so as not to stint it for room; and in flat cases this applies chiefly to depth, for it should have sufficient light, or it will not look well. wooden cases should be made as slight (in thickness) as is consistent with firmness; well-seasoned white deal is best; and the case should be formed of back, top and bottom, open at the front and sides, and at each corner of the front two slight deal supports, rabbited on their inner edges, and presenting on the whole this appearance. having the case prepared, it should be papered with ordinary demy paper on the top and back within, and, when the paste is dry, washed over carefully with size and whitening, tinted with a little stone-blue; some add some touches of white subsequently to represent clouds, the ground representing the air; some also paste a landscape on the back, but this must be good, or you had better have plain color. the bird to be placed in this case is either perching, standing or flying. for the latter, directions have been given. as to the two former, the perch must be firmly fixed in the small piece of flat wood upon which it previously stood, and put in upon it, the wood being fastened to the bottom of the case, either by screwing from below, from above, or gluing with stout glue, or by passing wire through two holes in the bottom of the case and the wood, and clinching above. in this case, or in screwing from below, let the wire or the screw into the wood, and putty over, and so if the bird is represented standing. the bird being fixed, the next thing is the decorating or "weeding," as it is technically called, and here we enter upon a subject so entirely of taste and fancy, that no fixed rules, as to the disposition, can in all cases be given. one rule applies equally to this as to landscape painting, viz., that there should always be a compensation of objects. that is, if you have a turf of grass on one side which rises towards the top of the case, there should be something in the lower opposite corner to strike the eye, but not to rise above midway at furthest, and the ground, or floor, should not be over-furnished with moss, etc. after the bird is fixed, the whole bottom should be carefully glued over with thin glue, taking care, where the bird's feet are at the bottom, not to touch the toes with the glue. some fine-sifted sand or gravel should then be sifted over it, and it will adhere wherever the glue has touched; for this purpose a small tin shovel is best, something in this form, and about two inches wide by four long, with a handle in proportion, which can be made to order at any tin-man's for a trifle. everything used in "weeding" should be baked in a slow oven, otherwise spiders' eggs and minute creatures, which are pretty sure to be contained in it, will make their appearance after the case is closed in the disagreeable form of destroying your specimen. moss, etc., by being slowly dried, will also keep its color better. yellow moss, found on the roofs of old barns, and dark gray of the same species, are very generally useful: and where yellow moss cannot be had, the white or gray may be colored with chrome, and looks as well. water-plants fade, being more or less succulent, and hence a little common water-color with gum will be used with advantage and look less artificial than oil paint, which is often used. fern looks very pretty as an adjunct for heath-birds, but it should be dried gradually and carefully, when _quite_ full grown, and a small touch of light green, permanent white forming a portion of it, will give it a freshness and more natural appearance. grass in seed (not in flower) of various kinds is also a very pretty addition; but bird preservers have a habit of using dyed grass, and yellow and red _xeranthymum_, or everlasting, which is certainly to be avoided, and indeed anything which is unnatural. if it is wished to introduce a lump of earth, or an apparent bank, a piece of thick brown paper, bent to the requisite shape, and glued over and covered with sifted sand or gravel, has a very good effect; but insects and butterflies, or artificial flowers, unless they are extremely natural, should certainly be avoided. regard should also be had to the season at which the bird is usually seen. for instance, summer birds are, of course, surrounded by green and living objects, but autumn or winter visitants by decaying or dead herbage. it has often been made an experiment to represent snow, but it is difficult to obtain anything white enough, and at the same time of a crystalline character, which, of course, it should be. potato farina nicely dried, mixed with epsom salts pounded very fine, does not make a bad substitute; but the real difficulty lies behind, namely, in fixing it, and, more than all, the least damp takes very much from its appearance, if it does not destroy the effect, and hence we must have recourse to mineral aid, and any very white mineral powder mingled with pounded glass is perhaps best. it is unnecessary to say that the herbage upon which it is meant to rest should be touched all over with paste, not glue, and the white mixture shaken over and left to dry. what will heighten the effect very much, if prettily executed, is a black landscape with a dark leaden sky and nearly black earth mingled with moss. to represent water, a small piece of looking-glass, surrounded with moss, etc., answers very well. the bills and legs of birds should be always varnished, and where the natural color fades after death it should be restored by a thin coat of oil-color of the required shade. the bird being fixed and the case garnished, nothing remains but to put in the glass; this is in three pieces, one for the front and a piece at each end. this can be pasted in with very strong paper round the edge, advancing sufficiently over the glass to hold it. in doing this it is not necessary to be very particular to avoid pasting the glass, as after it is dried it can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. the last operation is a very simple one, and done in a few minutes. you must procure some black spirit-varnish, which you can make yourself by dissolving the best black sealing-wax in spirits of wine, and should be kept corked; when this is good it acts as paint and varnish at the same time, and dries as fast as it is put on. one or two brass rings screwed on at the top of the back of the case will finish the bird, and if the case be nicely and closely made, there is no limit of time to which the preservation of the specimen may not extend. method of mounting dried skins. we must now say something respecting the setting up of skins which have been preserved by travelers, and sent home from distant parts. the general method is exactly the same as in stuffing recent specimens. there are, however, some preliminary steps which it is necessary to know. if the specimen sent home has been partially stuffed, our first business is to undo the stitches, if it has been sewed--which was an unnecessary process. we then remove the whole cotton or tow from the inside, by the assistance of forceps, and from the neck with a small piece of wire, twisted or hooked at the end. having finished this, small balls of wet cotton are placed in the orbits of the eyes, and the legs and feet are wrapped round with wet cotton or linen rags. a _damp_ cloth is then thrown over the bird, and it is allowed to remain in this state till next day. the neck and body are then filled with wet linen or cotton, and it will be ready for commencing setting up in four or five hours. the eyes are now put in, as directed in the recent subjects, and then stuffed in exactly the same manner. some difficulty will, however, be experienced with respect to the leg-wires, and it will require more time and care, from the dryness of the legs, to get the wire to penetrate. having proceeded so far as to get the bird generally formed, the wings are next adjusted; this also is frequently difficult, owing to the stiffness of the tendons and want of proper attention in skinning and drying them at first. indeed, with some of the south american birds, a proper adjustment of the wings is found impracticable, owing to the attempts of the native indians of guyana, who seldom dispose them properly. when these skins--frequently exceedingly valuable from their rarity--are undone, to be remounted, it is oftentimes found utterly impossible to get the wings to take a natural set, in which case there is no other remedy but cutting them off close to the body, and fixing them anew. the scapulars are separated, they are softened with damp cloths, and then wrapped up with bands of sheet lead, to give them a proper set. when we have got them in their natural shape, they must be fixed to the sides by cement and cotton, and a long pin through each, with the head concealed amongst the feathers. the scapulars, which we have cut off, must then be cemented on, and they will effectually cover the joining of the wings. the bird being now arranged, and all the feathers adjusted, it is wrapped round with small bands of fine linen or muslin, and set aside till thoroughly dry. should any feathers be disengaged during the mounting, they must be kept, and, when the bird is dry, we can replace them in their proper situations with a pair of forceps, after they have been touched on their shafts with the cement; the feathers around the place in which we intend to insert them must be held up with the probing-needle. if any of the feathers are deranged in mounting, and have got a wrong set, the only way to remedy the defect is to pull them out with forceps, and re-insert them with cement. of mounting birds, feather by feather. rare birds are frequently received from foreign countries, the skins of which are in such a state of decay, that it is impossible to mount them by the ordinary process above described. the only way in which they can be preserved, is to mount them feather by feather, which, however, is a very tedious method. it is as follows: procure a piece of soft pliable wire, such as is used by bell-hangers; or take some of the ordinary wire used, and make it red-hot in the fire, and allow it to cool gradually, when it will become quite pliable. take five pieces of this, of different lengths, and form them into the skeleton of a body; namely, two for the back, one on each side, and one to represent the breast-bone. imitate the shape of the bird's body as nearly as possible. the wires must be roughened with a file, at the place where all the wires meet, at the neck and rump; and first wrap the place next the neck round with strong thread or fine brass wire. two pieces intended for the back must bend gently downwards, and be gradually separated from each other towards the center, and brought together again at the place intended for the rump, whither they must intersect each other, and be twisted two or three times, to keep them in their place; they are then spread out as supports for the tail; the side-pieces are next formed, so as to represent the natural bulge of a bird's body, and attached to the rump; the piece representing the breast is then formed, joined at the rump, and afterwards continued as long as the other tail-pieces, to support the center of the tail; while at the front extremity a piece is left, for the purpose of forming a neck to which to attach the head. two leg-wires are attached to the side-wires, being rolled round them for several turns, making a frame-work the shape of the bird. after this body has been properly formed, it must be wrapped round with tow-sliver, and the neck thickened to its required dimensions. when this is accomplished, the head, legs, wings and tail are softened in the usual manner; the eyes are then fixed in with some cotton introduced into the orbits, with a little of the cement. the wings and tail are now placed on a table, with a flat leaden weight above each, to restore them to their natural shape. the leg-wires are then passed through the legs, commencing at the top, and bringing them out at the soles of the feet, and left with a piece extending beyond the claws. the tail is now fixed on, by first attaching to it a quantity of cotton with the cement, and, when dry, it is fixed to the part intended as the rump. the feet of the bird must be fixed into a piece of wood, as a perch, the ends of which must be left some inches beyond the body. the end next to the tail is fixed into a table-vise, with the belly upwards, and the head pointing toward the operator. the feathers are now put on, commencing under the tail, or crissum, with what are termed the under-tail coverts; a coating of cement must be previously laid on, to attach the feathers with. it is proceeded with upwards to the breast, and finally the length of the neck, taking care to put the proper feathers on their respective sides, as the side-feathers have all an inclination to one side. the bird is now turned with the back up, still keeping the head towards the stuffer; and the wings are fixed on with cement, and pins forced through the beards of the feathers to conceal the heads. when this is done put on the feathers of the rump, and proceed upwards, as has been done with the belly. after reaching the top of the neck, the head is then fixed on with some cotton immersed in the cement, and allowed to dry before attempting to put on the feathers. in this mode of mounting a bird there are several things which must be attentively adhered to; these are--first, not to put the feathers too thick, for there is a danger of running short; secondly, all the shafts of the feathers must have a small bit cut off the tip, so as to admit the cement and to give them a firmer hold; and thirdly, that the feathers should all occupy their respective parts; and fourthly, that they should be arranged as they are in nature on these parts, as the disposition of every part of the body is peculiar to itself. at first, this mode of setting up birds will be found a difficult task, but, by a little practice and experience, it will become familiar and comparatively easy, although it will always be found a tedious process. we have seen some specimens set up in this way, which we could hardly detect from those mounted in the ordinary manner. besides what we have already said concerning the stuffing and preparing of birds, there are many details connected with particular species which demand our attention, and which can only be described as regarding that species. it will, however, be impossible for us to enter into all these minutely, but only give a few examples as general guides. we shall take these in systematic succession. preservation of colors. in the preservation of the feathers of birds, little else is required to prevent the dissipation of their colors than to keep them as much as possible from air and light. these two agents, which were indispensable to their beauty and perfection in a living state, now exercise their influence as destroyers, and that influence will sooner or later work its ends according to the quality, texture, or color of the object with which it is contending. the feathers are now deprived of two agents, which in a living state contributed to their vigor and their beauty, namely, the internal circulating juices which they received from the body of the animal, and the external application of oil by the bill of the bird, supplied from a gland which is placed over the rump of all birds. the colors of the rapacious tribes are not so evanescent as those of many others, as they, for the most part are composed of intense browns and blacks, which are not so easily absorbed by light or air, so that they continue for a very long period without any sensible difference. there are, however, certain other points which are liable to almost immediate change of color after the death of the animals, and these are the cere and skin of the legs and feet, and the naked skin on the heads and necks of vultures and their congeners. we shall treat of these individually. now, as all these colors which we have described are liable to change, immediately after death, it is evident that considerable nicety will be required to give the preserved specimen the appearance of nature. these must, therefore, be supplied artificially with the varnish colors, which we have particularly described in their proper place, as also the combinations for the formation of compound colors. the reddish-brown color mentioned, of which the fold is composed, must be touched by a mixture of the scarlet varnish, with a little powdered burnt umber, and the blue streaks with which it is traversed, colored above with cobalt blue. all the varnish colors have a tendency to shine, which, it will be evident, is not the character of any part of the skin, or caruncle of the bird described. as soon, therefore, as it is thoroughly dry, which will be in about an hour, the whole surface must be gently rubbed with very fine sand-paper, which will completely remove the gloss and give the appearance of nature. some nicety will be required in painting betwixt the hairs, but it can be easily managed with a little caution. sometimes these hairs are liable to become brown, in which case they can be touched with the black varnish. as these birds are inhabitants of warm climates, some care is requisite, after killing them, to prevent decay; the tendons of the legs should be extracted to prevent their being attacked by moths, and their place supplied by some cotton and preservatives. the tendons are extracted by means of a longitudinal incision made behind the tarsus. the edges of this incision can easily be brought together when the bird is under the process of preparation. chapter iv. collecting and preserving birds' eggs and nests. few objects of natural history are more interesting than the nests of birds. to the reflecting naturalist, they open up a wide field for inquiry. speaking of the examination of birds, in the exercise of their mechanical arts of constructing nests, professor rennie says: "this work is the business of their lives--the duty which calls forth that wonderful ingenuity which no experience can teach, and which no human skill can rival. the infinite variety of modes in which the nests of birds are constructed, and the exquisite adaptation of the nest to the peculiar habits of the individual, offer a subject of almost exhaustless interest." the number and variety of the eggs of birds are curious subjects of contemplation, and should be carefully noted whenever opportunity offers. they are as essential to the personal history of the species as any other part of our inquiries. the eggs are emptied of their contents by making a very small hole at each end with a point. by blowing at one of the ends, the contents will escape by the other, unless the young has been already formed; in which case a larger hole must be made in the side of the egg, and the contents removed with a small hook. the hole should then be stopped up by pasting a little gold-beater's leaf over it. the eggs are then either returned to their nest, in which they ought to be cemented, or should be fixed down by one side to cards, with the name and locality attached. the best manner of conveying loose eggs to a distance is to put some cotton at the bottom of the nest, and then another layer above them. the nests should all be put up in separate boxes, if possible, and so packed that the pressure of the lid may not injure the eggs, or a box with several compartments should be used, taking care that each is carefully marked. it would also be of consequence to have the nests attached to the branches, with those species which build on trees, which will enable us to trace the ingenious means employed by those little animals in constructing their habitations. in sending home specimens from a foreign country, the seams of the box should be covered by pitched cloth, to protect them from the influence of moisture. to preserve the shells of eggs, first take care to clear them of their contents; get a small, fine-pointed common syringe, such as is sold in toy-shops, and inject the specimen with water until it comes out quite clean. when an egg has been partly hatched or addled, the removal of the contents generally includes that of the internal membrane or pellicle: this makes the shell weaker. when the specimens are quite clean internally, and have become dry (which will be in a day or two), take the syringe and inject them with a strong solution of isinglass (with a little sugar-candy added to prevent its cracking); blow this out again whilst warm. let the shell get dry, and then wash the outside with a soft wet cloth to remove saline particles, dirt from the nest, etc. this method varnishes the inside, and the first specimen on which it has been tried was the before-mentioned hedge-accentor's egg, which is to this day as bright in color as a fresh specimen. also in a pair of nightjar's eggs, of which species the delicate gray tint is particularly evanescent, one was injected in the manner described, and the other was not; in the first the gray is still perfectly defined, in the other it has entirely disappeared. eggs which have lost their internal pellicle become strengthened by this process, and those which have not lost their color greatly improved. chapter v. skinning, preserving, and setting up reptiles, fishes and molluscous animals, etc. tortoises and turtles. skinning.--the first operation is to separate the back and breast-shells with a strong short knife or chisel. if the force of the hand is inadequate, a mallet may be used, taking care not to strike so hard as to crack the shell. these two bony plates being covered by the skin, or by scales, the scapula, and all the muscles of the arm and neck, in place of being attached to the ribs and spine, are placed below, from which cause the tortoise has been termed a retroverted animal. the vertebral extremity of the scapula is articulated with the shield, and the opposite extremity of the clavicle with the breast-plate in such a manner that the shoulders form a ring for the passage of the windpipe and gullet. after the turtle is opened, all the flesh which adheres to the breast-plate, and also to the upper shell, is removed, while attention is paid to the parts as above described. the head, fore-feet, and tail are skinned as in quadrupeds; but none of these must be removed from the upper shell, but left attached. all the fleshy parts being removed, the shells are washed out with a sponge, and carefully dried. they are then slightly rubbed with the arsenical soap. stuffing.--wires are now passed through the middle of the legs, after the skin has been rubbed with the preservative. the skull is returned to its place, and the whole of the head, neck, and legs stuffed with chopped flax or tow. the parts of the skin which have been cut are then sewed together. the back and breast-plates are then united by four small holes, being bored at their edges, and united by strings or small wires. the junction of the bones may then be attached with the cement, colored so as to correspond with the shell. if the calipash is dirty, it may be cleaned with a slight solution of nitric acid and water; afterwards cleanly washed, oiled, and then rubbed with a woolen rag, to give it a polish. crocodiles and lizards in general. skinning.--all this tribe are skinned in the same manner as quadrupeds. care, however, is required in skinning the tails of the smaller species, as they are very liable to break. the skins being of a dry nature, require but little of the preservative. after they are thoroughly dried they will keep a very long time without decay. stuffing.--stuff them as directed for quadrupeds. they admit of but little variety of attitude. the small species are exceedingly apt to change color in drying; which must be imitated with the colored varnishes, and afterwards dimmed with sand-paper. to keep them in their natural colors, they should be preserved in spirits. the skins of such as are glossy should be varnished after they are perfectly dry. serpents in general. skinning.--in skinning serpents there is some nicety required, to cut them so as not to disfigure the scales; the opening should be made in the side, commencing at the termination of the scales; and they should on no account be divided, as upon their number the species is mostly determined. it is a very frequent practice to send home serpents without the head, which renders them quite unfit for any scientific purpose. this proceeds from the fear of receiving poison from the fangs. but there is not the slightest danger of being affected, as these can easily be cut out by means of pincers. the head should be cleaned and the brain removed, in the same manner as recommended for birds and quadrupeds, the skull anointed and then returned into the skin. when the skin is removed, it may be rolled up and packed in small space. the simplest way to preserve small species is to put them in spirits, which must not be too strong, as it will destroy the colors. mr. burchell, in his four years' journey through africa, glued the skins of the smaller serpents perfectly flat on paper, which preserved the size of the animal, and the skin retained all the beauty of life. stuffing.--the skin, if not recent, must be first softened in the manner recommended for birds. a piece of wire is taken, the length of the animal, which must be wrapped round with tow till it is of a proper thickness, and above the whole a spiral band of sliver should be carefully wrapped. it is then placed inside of the skin, and sewed up. the eyes are placed in as directed for quadrupeds and birds. when dry, give the serpent a coat of varnish, and then twist it into any attitude wished. a favorite and striking one is to have it wound round some animal, and in the act of killing it. frogs and toads. skinning.--the mouth is opened, and the first vertebræ of the neck is cut. the whole inside of the mouth is cut out with scissors. the two jaws are next raised up, and the skin is pushed back with the fingers of the right hand, while the body is drawn back in a contrary direction with the other hand, and the whole body is then drawn out at the mouth. the legs are then returned to their proper place. stuffing.--the simplest method of stuffing these animals is with sand. a small funnel is placed in the mouth, and pour in well-dried sand. when full, a small piece of cotton is pushed into the throat, with some of the cement, to keep the sand from escaping on moving the animal. the frog is then placed on a board, and in an attitude. when quite dry, give it a coat of varnish. when this has perfectly dried, very small perforations are made under the belly with the point of a needle, and the sand allowed to escape, leaving the body in its natural form. these animals are liable to change of color from drying, and should, therefore, be painted with the varnish to their natural hues. there is less difficulty with toads in this respect, as they are usually of a brown color, and not liable to much change. they may be perfectly preserved in spirits. fishes. the best method of securing the scales and colors of fish, is, as soon as they are caught, to apply cambric or tissue paper to them, which will soon dry and adhere firmly; the body may be then taken out and the skin dried. when the skin is to be stuffed, roll it in a moist cloth, which will not only render it pliable, but also soften the tissue paper, so as it can be removed, when the colors will be found to be much brighter than by any other method with which we are yet acquainted. lampreys, eels, and other fish of similar form. these species may be skinned in the same manner as frogs and toads, by drawing the body through the mouth. of skinning fish in general. the fish should be procured as fresh as possible, more particularly if it is one of those on which the scales are loosely attached. lay it on one side and cut the gills with a pair of scissors; then introduce a little tow or piece of sponge into the place to prevent the blood from flowing during the process of skinning; let the fins be raised and gently extended, and two pieces of paper, something the shape of each, be placed under them, only extending a little beyond them. coat the paper with a weak solution of gum-arabic, and put a piece of similar size on the top of the fin; by pressing these gently they will adhere and dry in a few minutes; these will keep the fins extended, and preserve them during the operation of stuffing. when these are dry, take a piece of tissue paper or thin silk, and press it gently on one side of the fish. the natural glutinous matter which covers the scales will be sufficient to make it adhere firmly; it will soon dry and form a strong protection to the scales during the skinning. without this precaution the skin could not be removed from mullet, sea beaver, etc., without the scales being much disfigured, and losing many of them. indeed, in such fishes, it is not amiss to put on an additional coating of paper with gum-water. this will not only secure the scales, but will also assist in keeping the proper form of the fish, by preventing distention. when these papers are thoroughly dry, turn the fish on a soft cloth, with the uncovered side upwards, and open it with sharp scissors from the bottom of the tail-fin to nearly the point of the snout, keeping as correctly on the lateral line as possible, which can be seen in most fishes. the cheek should be afterwards cut open, so that the flesh may be removed from it; cut also the flesh from the opposite cheek, and supply its place by cotton. the skin must now be detached from the flesh, which will require some care at first. it must be commenced at the head, and separating it downwards with the assistance of a knife, and the fin-bones must be cut through with scissors. the spine must now be cut through close to the head, and also at the tail, and the body removed. all the animal matter having been completely removed from the skin, the inside must be wiped dry, and the preservative applied in the same manner as directed for birds and quadrupeds. great care is necessary to prevent it from being too much distended. in sharks and large fishes, an incision is made below the head, and extended to the fin of the tail; the skin is then separated on each side with a scalpel, cutting back as far as possible, so that the vertebræ may be cut close to the head. the tail is then skinned. the head is pushed inwards, and the skin passed over it above, and all the cartilage cut carefully away. care must be taken not to enlarge the branchial openings too much, which would render it necessary to sew them up again, and it is not easy to hide a seam in a fish's skin. diadon, tetradon, and balistes, and their congeners, are opened by the belly. the ostracion is enveloped in a skin, which consists of a single piece, the tail of which only is free and flexible. the opening in the belly must not be large; the tail must be opened, the flesh cut away, and stuffed with cotton. stuffing. the skins, being properly anointed, are filled with tow or cotton. this must be so managed that there will be no prominences on the outside of the skin, which in fishes, is smooth and even for the most part. when properly filled, they must be sewed up, and set aside to dry in the air, but not exposed to the rays of the sun. in a few days, the papers with which the fins were extended are taken off, by damping them with a sponge. the glass eyes are now introduced, after filling the orbits with cotton and a little cement to secure them in their places. the skins may then be coated with turpentine varnish. sharks.--in stuffing these large fishes, it is necessary to use a stick for a center support. this must also enter the head, through the opening of the throat. if it is intended that the specimen shall be suspended from the ceiling, wire-hooks must be fastened into the wood. from these must be placed upright wires, so that they penetrate the skin, and pass through the back. let the whole internal surface of the skin be well rubbed with the preservative. the body is then stuffed to its full size, and afterwards sewed up. the stuffing of the head must be completed through the orbits of the eyes, and also by the mouth. this finished, the glass eyes are inserted, as in other animals, and fixed by means of cement. many species of fish have semi-transparent cartilages connected with the eyes. these must be imitated with gum-arabic and powdered starch, as well as the cornea of the eyes. the skins of all fish, which are similar to that of sharks, must be well supplied with spirits of turpentine, after they are mounted, more particularly the head and fins; but as they are not glossy, they do not require to be varnished. when the fins are strong, it is necessary to keep them extended by means of a wire introduced through them. in the diadons, the chief thing to be attended to, beyond what we have stated, is, to take care that the spines, with which their skins are beset, are not broken or depressed in any way. salmon, trout, tench, carp, pike, etc., are very easily preserved, as the scales are firmly attached to the skin; and although they become somewhat dim from drying, their colors and brilliancy are considerably restored by means of varnish, if applied before they are thoroughly dried. after a lapse of time, the varnish will rise into little scales; to remove these, nitric acid, diluted in water, must be applied to the whole external surface, which has the effect of completely taking off the varnish, or at least of raising it from the skin, which, when allowed to dry, can be wholly removed by rubbing it with a small brush. it may then be varnished again; when dry, it will ever afterwards continue quite solid. what is above recommended will apply to almost all fishes. lobsters, crabs, etc. in this class are included crabs, lobsters, and their congeners. these animals are all protected by a coriaceous covering, or shell, which is easily preserved, although there is considerable difficulty in preserving the colors of some species. the flesh must be extracted from the large claws of lobsters and crabs by breaking the smallest possible piece from their points and introducing a small, crooked wire; in the smaller claws the flesh must be allowed to dry, and to facilitate this extremely small perforations should be made in opposite sides of the shell by means of a sharp, triangular awl, so as to allow the air to pass through it. in lobsters the branchiæ and all the intestines must be cut away; the latter is effected by separating the body from the lower parts, and then extracting the internal parts with any sharp instrument; it should then be dried and cemented together, after being well anointed with the preservative. in crabs, the body, with all the limbs attached, is pulled separate from the back shell and the whole fleshy matter carefully picked out and preserving powder and the solution of corrosive sublimate applied to the different internal parts. in drying lobsters, crabs, etc., they should be exposed to a free current of air, but not to the sun's rays, as it reddens the shells of crustaceous animals. it need hardly be mentioned, that before applying the preservatives, the shells should be well washed with cold water. the hermit-crab always takes possession of the shell of some turbinated univalve as its domicile. these are easily preserved by pulling out the animal after it is dead. an incision is made in the soft tail of the animal, and the contents allowed to run off; it is then filled with cotton and imbued with the preservative; some cement is then put on the tail and the animal returned to its shell, which completes the operation of preserving. in sending home crustaceous animals, the larger species should be emptied of their fleshy matter, which, however, is not necessary with the smaller species; they should be packed in middling-sized cases, and each wrapped in separate papers, with a thick bed of cotton or flax between each. in lobsters, and the species which are allied to them, great care must be exercised in preserving the tentacula or feelers which emanate from their heads, as these become very brittle after they are dried. in proceeding to set up specimens which have been sent home, they should be immersed in _cold_ water for some time, to give pliability to the tentacula and other parts, without which it will be impossible to set them up in any way without their breaking. mr. bullock recommended that crabs and all other crustaceous animals should be immersed in corrosive sublimate and water for an hour previous to their being put into attitudes. when the joints become loose they are in general attached by glue, but the cement is much better. n. b.--on no account whatever use warm water in cleaning crustaceous animals, as it is certain to change their colors. chapter vi. preserving spiders, gally-worms, and insects. spiders. the general directions which we shall give respecting insects, hold good as to spiders, only we must mention there is considerable difficulty in preserving the bodies of spiders, which generally, in a very short time, shrink into a shapeless mass. to prevent this, the body should be pricked with the triangular awl and the contents pressed out; it should then be stuffed with very fine carded cotton or down, which can be pushed in by a pricker, blunted a little at the point. when properly distended, the small aperture should be filled up with a little cement, or a solution of gum-arabic. the legs of the larger species, such as the bird-catching mygale and the scorpions, are also liable to shrink, and should be stuffed in the same manner as that of the body. in those species of spiders which we have thus prepared, and whose colors are rich and likely to be affected by the action of the atmosphere, we must endeavor to arrest its progress by immediately imbuing the animal, after it is set up, with the solution of corrosive sublimate, and in an hour after with a thin coating of a very weak white-spirit varnish; for this purpose, take a tea-spoonful of the ordinary white-spirit or elastic varnish, and add to it two tea-spoonfuls of spirit of wine; apply this wash with a fine camel-hair brush, which will quickly dry, and have a strong tendency to preserve the color. the varnish, being thus reduced in strength, will not leave any gloss on the insect, nor will it be at all perceptible. mr. samouelle, author of "the entomologist's useful compendium," in speaking of preserving spiders, says: "the best preserved specimens that i have seen are those where the contents of the abdomen have been taken out and filled with fine sand. i have preserved several in this way, and find it answers the purpose." mr. donovan makes the following observations on the preservation of spiders: "to determine whether some species of spiders could be preserved with their natural colors, i put several into spirits of wine; those with gibbous bodies soon after discharged a very considerable quantity of viscid matter, and therewith all their beautiful colors; the smallest retained their form, and only appeared rather paler in the other colors than when they were living. "during the course of last summer, among other spiders, i met with a rare species; it was of a bright yellow color, elegantly marked with black, red, green, and purple; by some accident it was unfortunately crushed to pieces in the chip-box wherein it was confined, and was, therefore, thrown aside as useless; a month or more after that time i observed that such parts of the skin as had dried against the inside of the box retained the original brightness of color in a considerable degree. to further the experiment, i made a similar attempt, with some caution, on the body of another spider, and, though the colors were not perfectly preserved, they appeared distinct. "from further observations i find, that if you kill the spider, and immediately after extract the entrails, then inflate them by means of a blow-pipe, you may preserve them tolerably well; you must clean them on the inside no more than is sufficient to prevent moldiness, lest you injure the colors, which certainly, in many kinds, depend on substance that lies beneath the skin." scorpions, and all the spider tribe, may be sent home in spirits, which will preserve them perfectly, and when taken out and dried, they will be found to have suffered nothing from their immersion. we have seen some specimens sent up, after being sent home in spirits, which rivaled any which have been preserved in a recent state. the animals of this class are particularly liable to the attacks of insects, particularly in warm countries, on which account the mode of transporting them and keeping them in spirits is, perhaps, superior to all others. if, however, they are set up in a warm climate, they should be well soaked with the solution of corrosive sublimate, made according to the recipe of mr. waterton. for the setting up of this class, see the directions for preserving insects. insects. every country of the world is replete with this extensive and interesting class of beings, whose forms are infinitely diversified, and whose species are the most numerous of any class in the animal kingdom. before any attempt is made to collect insects, certain apparatus must be provided, not only to enable us to secure them, but also to preserve them after they are caught. first, then, we must be provided with a quantity of wooden boxes, from 18 to 20 inches long, 15 to 17 inches wide; and two inches deep. these should have well-filled lids, with hinges, and fastened by a wire catch, or small bolt. the bottom should have a layer of cork, about the sixth of an inch in thickness, which should be fixed down with very strong paste, made according to our recipe; and also some wire nails, to prevent it from springing. over the cork should be pasted white paper. the box should be anointed inside with oil of petroleum. if that cannot be procured, make an infusion of strong aromatic plants, such as cinnamon, aloes, thyme, laurel, sage, rosemary, or cloves, and wash the inside with it. a small packet of camphor should be wrapped in a piece of rag, and deposited in a corner of the box. we must also be provided with a quantity of _insect pins_, of different sizes, corresponding with the size of the insect. the pins used for setting should be longer than those which are taken to the field. bottles, with mouths from an inch and a quarter to two inches in diameter, must also be procured, and these must be three-fourths full of spirits, such as weak brandy, rum, gin or whisky. hunting-box.--we must besides have what is termed a hunting-box, for carrying in our pocket, when seeking after insects. this should be made of strong pasteboard or chip, for lightness, or, if this is no consideration, of tin. it must be of an oblong-oval shape, rounded at the ends, for the convenience of the pocket. it should be from eight to ten inches long, four to five inches wide, and two and a half to three inches deep. it must have a layer of cork both in the bottom and top of the lid, inside, for attaching insects to, when caught during the day. the larger insects are placed at the bottom, and the smaller ones on the lid. the entomological.--we next procure a net, constructed similar to a bat-fowling net. this is either made of fine gauze or coarse muslin; it may either be green or white--the latter is the best for observing small insects which may be caught; the green, however, is better adapted for catching moths. the net-rods should be made of hickory, beech, hazel, or holly; they ought to be five feet in length, quite round, smooth, and tapering to an obtuse point; the oblique cross-piece at the point should be of cane, and fitted into the angular ferule; the rod must be divided into three or four pieces, so that it may be taken asunder and carried in the pocket; the upper part of each joint must have a ferule affixed to it, for the purpose of articulating the other pieces. each joint should have a notch or check to prevent the rod from twisting. the net itself, must have a welting all around it, doubled so as to form a groove for the reception of the rods. in the center of the upper part or point it must have a small piece of chamois leather, so as to form a kind of hinge; this must be bound round the welting, and divided in the middle, so as to prevent the cross pieces from slipping over each other; it shows about four inches of the gauze turned up, so as to form a bag; there are strings for the purpose of passing through the staple, to which the net is firmly drawn on each side. when the net is used a handle is to be held in each hand. if it is intended to take insects on the wing, by means of this net, for which it is admirably adapted, it may be folded together in an instant. if the gauze is fine enough, and preserved whole, even the smallest insect cannot escape. it may be also applied in catching coleopterous insects, which are never on the wing, as well as caterpillars. when used for this purpose the entomologist must hold it expanded under trees, while another must beat the branches with a stick. great numbers of both insects and larva will fall in the gauze, and by this means many hundreds may be captured in a day. another method is to spread a large table-cloth under trees and bushes, and then beat them with a stick. an umbrella reversed has frequently been used for the same purpose. bose, the celebrated naturalist, used this last method--he held the umbrella in the left hand, while he beat the bushes with the other. the hoop or aquatic net.--this net is used for capturing aquatic insects, which are either lurking at the bottom, swimming through the liquid element, or adhering to plants. it may also be successfully used in sweeping amongst grass and low herbage, for coleopterous insects, and others which are generally to be found in such situations. the socket for the handle may be made of such dimensions as will answer the second joint of the entomological net-rod, which will save carrying another handle; or a walking-stick may be made to fit it. a vial.--this may either be made of tin or crystal, and used for collecting coleopterous and other creeping insects. the mouth should be nearly an inch wide, and a cork exactly fitted to it, in the center of which must be inserted a small quill, to afford air, and inserted about an inch beyond the cork, to prevent the insects from escaping. if the bottle is made of tin, and of a larger size, a tin tube must be introduced into its side, and terminating externally at the surface. a digger.--the instrument is either made of iron or steel, and is about six or seven inches in length, fixed into a turned wooden handle. it is used for collecting the pupae of lepidopterous insects, at the roots and in the clefts of the bark of trees; and also for pulling off the bark, particularly from decayed trees, under which many curious and rare insects are frequently found. it is most useful with an arrow-headed point. setting needles.--fitted into a small wooden handle, the needle itself should be about three inches long, and about the thickness of a small darning-needle slightly bent from about the middle. a straight needle is used for extending the parts of insects; at one end of the handle is the needle, and at the other a camel's hair pencil, which is used for removing any dirt or dust which may be on the insects. the pencil may be occasionally drawn through the lips, brought to a fine point, and used for disposing the antennæ and palpi of insects of the minute kinds. setting-boards.--these must be made of deal board, from a foot or fifteen inches long, and eight or ten inches broad, with a piece of wood run across the ends, to prevent them from warping. they are covered with cork, which must be perfectly smooth on the surface, with white paper pasted over it. several boards will be required, by persons who are making collections, as some of the insects take a considerable time to dry, so that they may be fit for introducing into a cabinet. the boards should be kept in a frame made for the purpose. it should consist of a top, bottom, and two sides; the back and front should have the frames of doors attached by small hinges, and their centers covered with fine gauze, for the free passage of air; the sides should have small pieces of wood projecting from them, for the boards to rest on; which should be at such a distance from each other that the pins may not be displaced in pushing the boards in or drawing them out. the frame should be placed in a dry, airy situation. braces.--these are merely small pieces of card, cut in different forms, attached to the butterfly and other insects. they are pinned down on the insects, to keep their wings, etc., in a proper state, till they acquire a set. the eggs of insects. the eggs of insects preserve their form and color in a cabinet, in general, without much trouble. swammerdam had a method of preserving them when they appeared to be giving way. he made a perforation within them with a fine needle, pressed out their contents, afterwards inflated them with a glass blow-pipe, and filled them with a mixture of resin and oil of spike. the larvæ, or caterpillars. the easiest way of destroying the caterpillar is by immersion in spirit of wine. they may be retained for a long time in this spirits without destroying their color. mr. william weatherhead had an ingenious mode of preserving larvæ. he killed the caterpillar, as above directed, and having made a small puncture in the tail, gently pressed out the contents of the abdomen, and then filled the skin with fine dry sand, and brought the animal to its natural circumference. it is then exposed to the air to dry, and it will have become quite hard in the course of a few hours, after which the sand may be shaken out at the small aperture and the caterpillar then gummed to a piece of card. another method is, after the entrails are squeezed out, to insert into the aperture a glass tube which has been drawn to a very fine point. the operator must blow through this pipe while he keeps turning the skin slowly round over a charcoal fire; the skin soon becomes hardened, and, after being anointed with oil of spike and resin, it may be placed in a cabinet when dry. a small straw or pipe of grass may be substituted for the glass pipe. some persons inject them with colored wax after they are dried. the pupa. when the insects have escaped from their pupa skin, the skin usually retains the shape and general appearance it did while it contained the insect. it is therefore ready for a cabinet, without any preparation whatever. but if the animal has not quitted its envelope, it will be necessary either to drop the pupa into warm water, or to heat it in a tin case before the fire; the former mode, however, is the best, and least liable to change the colors of the pupa. method of breeding insects. breeding cages.--these must be made of oak, or other hard wood, as pine is apt to kill the caterpillars, from its smell of turpentine. the most convenient size for a breeding cage is eight inches in breadth, four deep, and one foot in height. it is not proper to place within a cage more than one species of caterpillar, as many of them prey upon each other. indeed, animals of the same species will devour each other, if left without food. the caterpillars of insects, for the most part, will only eat one particular kind of food, so that it is better to have no more than one sort in a cage. there must be at the bottom of the cage earth to the depth of two inches; this should be mixed with some fine sand and vegetable earth, if possible, to prevent it from drying. the cages should be kept in a cool cellar or damp place, because many insects change into the pupa condition under the earth; so that it would require to be somewhat moist, to prevent the destruction of the animal. the shell or case of the pupa also becomes hard, if the earth is not kept moist; and, in that event, the animal will not have sufficient strength to break its case at the time it ought to emerge from its confinement, and must consequently die, which but too frequently happens from mismanagement. some seasons are more favorable than others for the production of caterpillars, and to keep each kind by themselves would require an immense number of cages, as well as occupy much time in changing the food, and paying due attention to them. to obviate this, some persons having large breeding cages, with a variety of food in them, which must be cleaned out every two days, and fresh leaves given to the caterpillars; as, on due attention to feeding, the beauty and vigor of the coming insects will much depend. the larvæ of insects, which feed beneath the surface of the earth, may be bred in the following manner: let any box that is about three or four feet square, and two or three feet deep, be lined internally with tin, and a number of very minute holes be bored through the sides and bottom. put into this box a quantity of earth, replete with such vegetables as the caterpillars subsist on, and sink it into a bed of earth, so that the surface may be exposed to the different changes of the weather. the lid should be covered with brass or iron net-work, to prevent their escape, and for the free admission of air. the young entomologist should obtain a cabinet of about thirty drawers, arranged in two tiers, and covered in with folding doors. there is a great convenience in this size, as the cabinet is rendered more portable, and at the same time admits of having another of the same size, being placed above the top of it, as the collection increases, without injuring the uniformity, and thus the drawers may be augmented to any extent. it is immaterial whether the cabinet is made of mahogany or oak; sometimes they are constructed of cedar, but seldom of pine, or any other soft wood. small cells must be made in the inside of the fronts for camphor. corking of drawers.--the simplest way to get the cork is to purchase it of a cork-cutter, ready prepared, but it will be much cheaper for the entomologist to prepare it himself. in this case, it should be cut into strips of about three inches wide, with a cork-cutter's knife, to smooth the surface and to divide it. the strips should be fixed in a vise, and cut to the thickness required with a fine saw; but grease must not be used in the operation, as it will not only prevent the cork from adhering to the bottom of the drawer, but will also grease the paper which should be pasted on its surface. the black surface of the cork should be rasped down to a smooth surface. after having reduced the slips to about three quarters of an inch in thickness, the darkest, or worst side of the slip should be glued down to a sheet of brown, or cartridge paper; this should be laid on a deal board, about three feet in length, and the width required for a drawer or box; a few fine nails, or brads, must be driven through each piece of cork to keep it firm and in its place until the glue be dried; by this means, sheets of cork may be formed the size of the drawer. all the irregularities are filed or rasped down quite to a level surface, and then polished smooth with pumice-stone. the sheet, thus formed and finished, is glued into the drawers. to prevent its warping, some weights must be equally distributed over the cork, that it may adhere firmly to the bottom of the drawer. when quite dry, the weights are removed, and the cork covered with fine white paper, but not very thick. the paper is allowed to be quite damp with the paste before it is placed on the cork, and, when dry, it will become perfectly tight. insect cabinets should be kept in a very dry situation, otherwise the antennæ, legs, etc., will become quite moldy. the same evil will ensue if the insect is not perfectly dry before it is placed in the cabinet. should an insect be covered with mold, it can be washed off with a camel's-hair pencil, dipped in camphorated spirits of wine; in which case the insect must be dried in a warm airy situation before being placed in the cabinet. there should always be plenty of camphor kept in the drawers, otherwise there is great danger to be apprehended from mites; where these exist, they are easily discovered by the dust which is under the insects by which they are infested. in which case they must be immediately taken out and rubbed clean with a fine camel's-hair pencil, and well imbued with the solution of corrosive sublimate, and then placed near a fire, taking care, however, that too great a heat is not applied, as it will utterly destroy the specimen. the butterfly, sphinx, and moth tribes are extremely liable to the attack of mites, and should, therefore, be frequently examined. chapter vii. receipts. for various articles used in the preservation and setting up of animals. solution of corrosive sublimate. _mr. waterton's method._ put a good large tea-spoonful of well-pounded corrosive sublimate into a wine bottle full of alcohol (spirits of wine). let it stand over night, and, the next morning, draw it off into a clean bottle. when the solution is applied to black substance, and little white particles are perceived on them, it will be necessary to make it weaker, by the addition of some alcohol. a black feather, dipped in the solution, and then dried, will be a good test of the state of the solution: if it be too strong, it will leave a whiteness upon the feather. arsenical soap. _invented by becoeur, apothecary, metz._ arsenic in powder, 2 pounds. camphor, 5 ounces. white soap, 2 pounds. salt of tartar, 12 ounces. powdered lime, 4 ounces. the soap must be cut in small and very thin slices, put into a crucible with a small quantity of water, held over a gentle fire, and frequently stirred with a wooden spatula, or a piece of wood of any kind. when it is properly melted, the powdered lime and salt of tartar must then be added, and thoroughly mixed. it must now be taken off the fire, the arsenic added gently, and stirred. the camphor must be reduced into a powder, by beating it in a mortar, with the addition of a little spirits of wine. the camphor must then be added, and the composition well mixed with a spatula, while off the fire. it may be again placed on the fire, to assist in making the ingredients incorporate properly, but not much heated, as the camphor will very rapidly escape. it may now be poured into glazed earthen pots, and allowed to cool, after which a piece of paper should be placed over the top, and afterwards some sheep leather, and then set aside for use. the composition is about the thickness of ordinary flour paste. when it is necessary to use the soap, put as much as will answer the purpose into a preserve pot, and add to it about an equal proportion of water. this is applied to the skin or feathers with a bristle brush. n. b. it should be kept as close as possible, and used with caution, as it is a deadly poison. the above is the receipt made use of at the jardin des plantes, paris. _mr. laurent's receipt._ a distinguished french naturalist, laurent, recommends the following composition, after ten years experience, for preserving the skins of stuffed animals. he observes, at the same time, that it penetrates them with greater readiness, and preserves them much better than any preparation which has hitherto been in use. arseniate of potash, 2 drachms. sulphate of alumine, 2 do. powdered camphor, 2 do. white soap, powdered, 1-2 oz. spirits of wine, 6 oz. essence of thyme, 3 drops. the arseniate of potash, sulphate of alumine, and soap, are to be placed in a vial, with a large mouth, and the spirits of wine to be poured on them, at a heat of _twenty five_ degrees, and they will be perfectly combined in twenty-four hours. the essence of thyme is then added, when the vial must be carefully corked. this composition is to be shaken together, before it is made use of, and it must be spread over the skin of the animal or bird with a brush. solution of pearl-ashes. two ounces of pearl-ash to one gallon of water. annealed iron wire. take common iron wire, make it red-hot, and suffer it to cool gradually; this renders it soft and pliable, so that it may be easily bent in any direction. cement. fine whitening, 2 oz. gum-arabic, 2 oz. finest flour, 1-2 oz. ox-gall, a tea-spoonful. the whole to be dissolved, and mixed well with water into thick paste. this is well adapted for attaching different objects, and especially for fixing shells to pasteboard, etc. gum paste. white sugar candy, 2 oz. common gum-arabic, 4 oz. let these be melted in a pot of hot water, and then strained through a linen or horse-hair sieve. when properly dissolved, add to it two table-spoonfuls of starch, or hair-powder, and mix the whole well together. this paste may be used for many purposes, and it never spoils. it may be dried, and by pouring a little warm water on it, it will soon be ready for use. if it is wished to be all melted, and hurriedly, the pot containing it should be placed in warm water or sand. flour paste. make flour paste in the ordinary way, and add to it a small portion of the solution of corrosive sublimate, or powdered corrosive sublimate. this will prevent the attack of mites, to which paste is very liable when dried. this paste may be dried into a cake, and moistened when required. solution of gum-arabic. the solution of gum-arabic is made by simply adding water to it. when used as a varnish, or for attaching objects, it is extremely apt to get too brittle in very warm weather, and to crack or split off in scales; to prevent this, a quarter of an ounce of white or brown sugar candy must be added to two ounces of gum-arabic. paper, paste, gummed. take a coffee-pot, filled with water, and add to it a quantity of paper, which has been slightly sized, like that used for printing engravings. let it boil for three hours, and when the water has evaporated, boil it again for a similar length of time. take out the paper, and squeeze it well in a colander, and then pound it in a mortar, until it is reduced to a very fine paste. it must then be dried. when it is required for use, add to it some of the solution of gum-arabic; and keep it in a pot for use. pollen powder. the paper made as above directed, when well dried, is pounded in a mortar till it becomes a very fine powder; it is then put into a tin pepper-box, and when any of the parts of parrots' bills, etc., are wished to have this powdered appearance, a little of the solution of gum-arabic is washed over the part with a camel's-hair pencil, and the powder dusted on it and allowed to dry. red varnish. take a stick of red sealing-wax, beat it down with a hammer, and then put it into a vial, with an ounce of strong spirit of wine, which will dissolve it within four or five hours. it may be applied to any part with a camel's-hair pencil, and it will dry in less than five minutes. black, yellow, and green, or indeed any color of varnish, may be made from sealing-wax of these various colors. to those unacquainted with the combination of colors we may mention that a mixture of blue and yellow produces green; pink and blue makes purple; red and yellow, orange; black, red, and yellow, brown; black and blue, gray. these may be varied, in an infinity of shades, by either color predominating, and by the addition of other colors. luting for rendering bottles air-tight. common resin. red ochre reduced into a fine powder. yellow wax. oil of turpentine. these must be melted over a fire in the following manner: and the vessel in which it is made should be capable of holding three times the quantity required, to allow room for boiling up. an earthenware pipkin with a handle is the best thing for the purpose, and a lid must be made of tin to fit it. the luting will be rendered more or less brittle, or elastic, as the red ochre prevails: the wax is first melted, and then the resin; the ochre is then added in small quantities, and stirred quickly with a spatula each time. when all the ochre has been added, it must be allowed to boil six or eight minutes; the turpentine is then added, and briskly stirred with the spatula, and continue to boil it. there is considerable risk of the mixture taking fire, and should it do so, the lid must immediately be put on the vessel to extinguish it. to ascertain the consistence of the luting, a little must be, from time to time, dropped on a cool plate, or flat piece of iron. if it is too soft, more of the ochre must be added to it; and if too hard, additional wax and turpentine. tow and flax slivers. these are fillets of prepared tow and flax, of from one to three inches in breadth. they are extremely uniform in their thickness, being made to weight, and can easily be procured from any flax-spinning mill, at a moderate price per pound weight. method of making enamel-eyes for animals. much of the character and expression of animals depends upon their eyes; it will, therefore, be evident that great attention is necessary in the artificial imitation of these. in this operation, a pipe of baked earth is used, or a tube of glass six or seven inches in length, at the end of which a little white enamel is placed. this is placed to the flame, so that it may be blown. this enamel forms a globe, whose dimensions depend upon the quantity of air introduced. when this globe is of the size wished, we place in the middle, and perpendicularly to the point of the pipe, the quantity of enamel necessary to form the enamel. the second enamel is then incorporated with the first by presenting it to the flame, while attention is paid to turn the pipe gradually round, so that the enamel may diffuse itself equally, and the iris be exactly circular. if it is required that this iris should be of various colors, like that of man for example, small filaments of enamel are distributed in diverging rays of the suitable color; the eye is then placed in the flame, until these have incorporated with the iris, after which the pupil is placed as before directed, and the glass applied as before directed. during this operation, the globe is almost certain of sinking down, partly from the air escaping, partly from the heat, and from the pressure which is used in applying the different substances; air must again be supplied from time to time to prevent it from losing its form. this becomes particularly necessary when glass is applied, and when it is extended over the whole surface of the iris. the eye having got its form and size, the pipe is taken away. to effect this, after the air has been introduced, the entrance of the pipe is stopped with the finger, and the back part of the eye exposed to the flame; when the air contained in the globe, and rarified by the pipe, comes through at the place where the flame has most action. this opening is prolonged by turning the point of the flat pincers, or an iron-wire, all round the pipe; one point only is left by which the eye remains fixed. it is then warmed equally all over, after which it is exposed to a gentle heat, and when it again cools, it is separated from the pipe. articles required for skinning and mounting quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and fishes. 1. a box containing scalpels of different shapes; a pair of scissors with pointed blades, and two or three pointed forceps of different sizes, the extremities of one of which ought to be indented. 2. two flat pincers, or pliers, large and small. 3. a round pincer for turning wire. 4. a cutting pincer for wire. 5. a hammer. 6. two files. 7. a triangular. 8. points for perforating holes. 9. a saddler's awl for drilling holes; also various shoemaker's awls, which will be found useful. 10. brushes of different sizes for putting the preservative on the animals' and birds' skins, and for smoothing and dusting the feathers. 11. an assortment of iron-wire of all sizes. 12. flax and tow, coarse cotton. when these cannot be had, untwisted ropes or cords. a quantity of tow and flax slivers for twisting round the leg-bones of small quadrupeds and birds. 13. some small hardwood meshes for assisting in stuffing. instructions to travelers. the best means of procuring living animals is by applying to the natives of the different countries, who are accustomed to their habits, and the situation in which they are likely to be found, and to take them in traps and snares. they are also more likely to be able to find their retreats, so that they may take these animals in a young state, and also birds in their nests. by thus securing animals while young, they are much more likely to reach home in a living state. every exertion should be used to render them familiar, when, being habituated to the appearance of man, they will be more able to resist the effects of a tedious sea-voyage than those which have been taken when wild, and are under a continued degree of excitement. every care should be taken to soothe and caress them; and there is no animal whose manners cannot be softened by gentle treatment. during fine weather, they should be allowed to take exercise on the deck, as nothing is so injurious to their health and growth as being long pent up in a small cage. while thus confined, it will be obvious that they require a much smaller portion of food then when they can have sufficient room to exercise themselves. many of these animals are lost from overfeeding. their diet should be given with great regularity, but always in such quantity as they can easily digest. next to food, cleanliness is of the utmost importance, and if this requires too much of the attention of those who are bringing them home, it will be easy to procure the assistance of some of the crew. and unless this is strictly attended to, there is little chance of preserving their health. when animals' skins are imported, it is also necessary to bring the head and feet. those of the mammalia, which can be put into a barrel or bottle, should be preserved entire in spirits. in the event of not being able to transport the carcass the next best thing is to bring the skeleton along with the skin. it will not be necessary to mount these. all that is required is to boil the bones, take off the flesh, and dry them. afterwards all the bones belonging to the same skeleton should be put in a bag by themselves, taking care to fill up the bag with dried moss, or any other substance which will prevent friction. the more effectually to secure this, the small and tender bones ought to be wrapped in paper. it is of the utmost consequence that not a bone should be lost. in shooting birds, it is of much importance not to use the shot too large; indeed, it ought to be proportioned, as nearly as possible, to the size of the bird to be shot at. when the bird is killed, the blood must be carefully wiped away, and a little cotton must be put into the bill to prevent the blood flowing from it to injure the feathers. the wound should also be stuffed with cotton. birds should be skinned as soon as possible, as the feathers are apt to fall off if kept too long. the os coccygis must be kept attached to the skin. if several individuals of the same species be killed, one should, if possible, be preserved entire in spirits, with the whole muscles of the body. if the bird has a fleshy crest, it ought to be preserved in spirits. it is of the utmost consequence to procure the male, female and young, and these at different ages, besides, as many species are subject to great variety, in their progress from the young to the adult state. this is more particularly the case with eagles and hawks, many of which have been described as different species in their immature state. the eggs and nest should also be procured. reptiles.--the chief thing to be attended to in skinning reptiles is not to injure the scales; and in the lizard kind care must be taken not to break the tail. but for all the smaller and middle-sized species the best mode is to preserve them in spirits; and of the larger kinds, which are skinned, the skeletons ought to be kept. the flesh should be taken away with knives and scalpels as well as possible, and the bones thoroughly dried and packed in a box with cotton or grass, and they can be articulated after they are brought home. when the skeletons are too large they may be separated into convenient parts for packing. [the end.] one of our best "the liberty boys of '76" it contains stories of the american revolution _by harry moore_ _32 pages_ _colored covers_ _price 5 cents_ dick slater, the hero of this series, is the daring young captain of a gallant band of boy patriots, who fight for american independence. read how they win fame and glory on the battlefield. a little love theme runs through each story and adds to their charm. read them every week choose from this list: no. 184 the liberty boys in district 96; or, surrounded by redcoats. 185 the liberty boys and the sentinel; or, the capture of fort washington. 186 the liberty boys on the hudson; or, working on the water. 187 the liberty boys at germantown; or, good work in a good cause. 188 the liberty boys' indian decoy; or, the fight on quaker hill. 189 the liberty boys afloat; or, sailing with paul jones. 190 the liberty boys in mohawk valley; or, fighting redcoats, tories, and indians. 191 the liberty boys left behind; or, alone in the enemy's country. 192 the liberty boys at augusta; 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also directions for building a model locomotive; together with a full description of everything an engineer should know. price 10 cents. for sale by all newsdealers, or we will send it to you, postage free, upon receipt of the price. address frank tousey, publisher, new york. how to become a naval cadet--complete instructions of how to gain admission to the annapolis naval academy. also containing the course of instructions, descriptions of grounds and buildings, historical sketch, and everything a boy should know to become an officer in the united states navy. compiled and written by lu senarens, author of "how to become a west point military cadet." price 10 cents. for sale by every newsdealer in the united states and canada, or will be sent to your address, post-paid, on receipt of the price. address frank tousey, publisher, new york. how to do chemical tricks--containing over one hundred highly amusing and instructive tricks with chemicals. by a. anderson. handsomely illustrated. price 10 cents. for sale by all newsdealers, or sent post-paid, upon receipt of price. address frank tousey, publisher, new york. how to make musical instruments--full directions how to make a banjo, violin, zither, æolian harp, xylophone and other musical instruments, together with a brief description of nearly every musical instrument used in ancient or modern times. profusely illustrated. by algernon s. fitzgerald, for 20 years bandmaster of the royal bengal marines. price 10 cents. for sale by all newsdealers, or we will send it to your address, postpaid, on receipt of the price. address frank tousey, publisher, new york. muldoon's jokes--this is one of the most original joke books ever published, and it is brimful of wit and humor. it contains a large collection of songs, jokes, conundrums, etc., of terrence muldoon, the great wit, humorist, and practical joker of the day. we offer this amusing book, together with the picture of "muldoon," for the small sum of 10 cents. every boy who can enjoy a good substantial joke should obtain a copy immediately. address frank tousey, publisher, new york. get a copy of "secret service" containing _exciting stories of old and young king brady, detectives_ by a new york detective price 5 cents issued weekly colored covers 32 pages read how these famous detectives work up dangerous cases and run the criminals down. every story is a rare treat and contains the most startling adventures, deep mysteries and interesting scenes. you will like these stories here are some of the best numbers: no. 286 the bradys in the saddle; or, chasing "broncho bill." 287 the bradys and the mock millionaire; or, the trail which led to tuxedo. 288 the bradys' wall street trail; or, the matter of x. y. z. 289 the bradys and the bandit's gold; or, secret work in the southwest. 290 the bradys and captain thunderbolt; or, daring work in death valley. 291 the bradys' trip to chinatown; or, trailing an opium fiend. 292 the bradys and diamond dan; or, the mystery of the john street jewels. 293 the bradys on badman's island; or, trapping the texas "terror." 294 the bradys and the hop hitters; or, among the opium fiends of 'frisco. 295 the bradys and "boston ben"; or, tracking a trickster to tennessee. 296 the bradys' latest "bad" man; or, the case of idaho ike. 297 the bradys and the wall street "wonder"; or, the keen detective's quick case. 298 the bradys' call to kansas; or, the matter of marshal mundy. 299 the bradys and old bill battle; or, after the colorado coiners. _for sale by all newsdealers or sent to any address on receipt of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps_ frank tousey, publisher, 24 union square, n. y. our ten cent hand books. useful, instructive and amusing. containing valuable information on almost every subject, such as =writing=, =speaking=, =dancing=, =cooking=; also =rules of etiquette=, =the art of ventriloquism=, =gymnastic exercises=, and =the science of self-defense=, =etc.=, =etc.= 1 napoleon's oraculum and dream book. 2 how to do tricks. 3 how to flirt. 4 how to dance. 5 how to make love. 6 how to become an athlete. 7 how to keep birds. 8 how to become a scientist. 9 how to become a ventriloquist. 10 how to box. 11 how to write love letters. 12 how to write letters to ladies. 13 how to do it; or, book of etiquette. 14 how to make candy. 15 how to become rich. 16 how to keep a window garden. 17 how to dress. 18 how to become beautiful. 19 frank tousey's u. s. distance tables, pocket companion and guide. 20 how to entertain an evening party. 21 how to hunt and fish. 22 how to do second sight. 23 how to explain dreams. 24 how to write letters to gentlemen. 25 how to become a gymnast. 26 how to row, sail and build a boat. 27 how to recite and book of recitations. 28 how to tell fortunes. 29 how to become an inventor. 30 how to cook. 31 how to become a speaker. 32 how to ride a bicycle. 33 how to behave. 34 how to fence. 35 how to play games. 36 how to solve conundrums. 37 how to keep house. 38 how to become your own doctor. 39 how to raise dogs, poultry, pigeons and rabbits. 40 how to make and set traps. 41 the boys of new york end men's joke book. 42 the boys of new york stump speaker. 43 how to become a magician. 44 how to write in an album. 45 the boys of new york minstrel guide and joke book. 46 how to make and use electricity. 47 how to break, ride and drive a horse. 48 how to build and sail canoes. 49 how to debate. 50 how to stuff birds and animals. 51 how to do tricks with cards. 52 how to play cards. 53 how to write letters. 54 how to keep and manage pets. 55 how to collect stamps and coins. 56 how to become an engineer. 57 how to make musical instruments. 58 how to become a detective. 59 how to make a magic lantern. 60 how to become a photographer. 61 how to become a bowler. 62 how to become a west point military cadet. 63 how to become a naval cadet. 64 how to make electrical machines. 65 muldoon's jokes. 66 how to do puzzles. 67 how to do electrical tricks. 68 how to do chemical tricks. 69 how to do sleight of hand. 70 how to make magic toys. 71 how to do mechanical tricks. 72 how to do sixty tricks with cards. 73 how to do tricks with numbers. 74 how to write letters correctly. 75 how to become a conjuror. 76 how to tell fortunes by the hand. 77 how to do forty tricks with cards. 78 how to do the black art. 79 how to become an actor. 80 gus williams' joke book. all the above books are for sale by newsdealers throughout the united states and canada, or they will be sent, post-paid, to your address, on receipt of 10c. each. _send your name and address for our latest illustrated catalogue._ frank tousey, publisher, 24 union square, new york. transcriber's notes: in the original, there are two chapter v's. the last two chapters have been renumbered to correct this. the following is a list of changes made to the original. the first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. the brains taken out by enlarging the occiptal opening the brains taken out by enlarging the occipital opening annointed, and the body stuffing completed with chopped flax. anointed, and the body stuffing completed with chopped flax. the fore-eg wires are fixed in the same manner, the fore-leg wires are fixed in the same manner, drawn through the rump, and and passed up to the inside of the neck, drawn through the rump, and passed up to the inside of the neck, and drawn through bill, to prevent the head from stretching and drawn through the bill, to prevent the head from stretching but after a few trials this will be unneccessary. but after a few trials this will be unnecessary. while the thread is pulled on the opposide side; while the thread is pulled on the opposite side; it may be that a bird essentially aerial, like the wift, it may be that a bird essentially aerial, like the swift, not the character of any part of the skin, or earuncle of the not the character of any part of the skin, or caruncle of the these must be imitated with gum arabic and powdered starch, these must be imitated with gum-arabic and powdered starch, a small packet of camphor should be rapped in a piece of rag, a small packet of camphor should be wrapped in a piece of rag, most convenient size for a breeding cage is eight inches in breath, most convenient size for a breeding cage is eight inches in breadth, a small straw or pipe of gras may be substituted for the glass pipe. a small straw or pipe of grass may be substituted for the glass pipe. this should be mixed with some find sand and vegetable earth, this should be mixed with some fine sand and vegetable earth, 8. point's for perforating holes. 8. points for perforating holes. also various shoemakers awls, which will be found useful. also various shoemaker's awls, which will be found useful. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see 23259-h.htm or 23259-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/3/2/5/23259/23259-h/23259-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/3/2/5/23259/23259-h.zip) transcriber's note: text in italics is indicated with underscores, e.g., _italic_. text in bold is indicated with pound signs, e.g., #bold#. home taxidermy for pleasure and profit a guide for those who wish to prepare and mount animals, birds, fish, reptiles, etc., for home, den, or office decoration by albert b. farnham, taxidermist [illustration: "whoo" said wise old owl.] published by a. r. harding, publisher columbus, ohio copyright, 1944 by a. r. harding pub. co. [illustration: albert b. farnham, author] contents chapter. page. introductory 13 i. history of the art 17 ii. outfit--tools and materials 21 iii. preservative preparations, formula, etc. 38 iv. panels, shields and natural and artificial mounts 48 v. field work, collecting 59 vi. skinning and preserving skins 64 vii. making scientific skins 77 viii. preparing dry and wet skins for mounting 84 ix. mounting small and medium birds 87 x. mounting large birds 98 xi. tanning, cleaning, and poisoning skins 102 xii. making animal fur rugs 110 xiii. fur robes and how to make them 123 xiv. mounting entire small animals 131 xv. mounting large animals 141 xvi. mounting heads of small animals, birds and fish 151 xvii. mounting heads of large game 155 xviii. mounting horns and antlers 165 xix. mounting feet and hoofs 173 xx. mounting fish 178 xxi. mounting fish--baumgartel method 185 xxii. mounting reptiles, frogs and toads 203 xxiii. skulls and skeletons 206 xxiv. sportsmen's trophies 211 xxv. odds and ends, taxidermy novelties 216 xxvi. groups and grouping 221 xxvii. animal anatomy 224 xxviii. casting and modelling 227 xxix. market trophy hunting 233 xxx. collecting and mounting for sale 238 xxxi. prices for work 241 list of illustrations page. "whoo? said wise old owl" frontispiece a specimen of the early day 18 work table, supplies, tools, etc. 22 home made tools 24 taxidermists tools 27 taxidermists tools--scalpels, scissors, stuffers 28 egg drill and other tools 29 glass eyes for animals, birds, fish 31 sizes of glass eyes 33 sizes of glass eyes (style 1) 34 shields--various kinds and sizes 49 shields, foot and hall rack 50 gun rack, fish and game panels, hall rack 51 some shields and panels 52 home made shield 54 small bird 55 marbles shot gun and rifle combined 60 the "stop thief" or choke trap 61 outline of muskrat 65 skinning small animal for mounting 66 skinning large animal for mounting 69 skinning bird--breast cut 70 hooded merganser 71 opening cut on bird 73 scientific skins, small animals and birds 80 foot skinned out 86 clinching leg wires in artificial bird body 88 wire loop for bird body 89 wiring leg of bird 90 bird wired 92 bird wound with thread 95 pose or position of certain birds 96 natural standing position of small bird 97 fluttering position of small birds 97 a bird of prey--limb position 98 spreading tail of large birds 99 eagle--wings braced up to dry 100 fleshing knife 102 bench beam 103 adjustable beam 103 paper head forms--fox 111 paper head form--dog closed mouth 112 foundation for tow and excelsior 113 sewing up bullet hole 114 pinked lining, briar stitched 118 sewing trimming on rug 118 coyote rug, open mouth 121 coon skin marked to cut for robe 125 strong hide (cattle) laprobe 126 eight skin coyote laprobe 127 patagonian robe of guanaco skins 129 muskrat legs wrapped ready to clay 132 wiring for small animals 133 opossum mounted in walking position 137 cat sitting and watching 139 frame for bear manikin 143 bolting leg rods to stand 145 fastening rods to back board 149 wild cat head mounted on shield 151 fox head on neck standard 152 leopard head, artificial 153 hawk head 153 sheep head 155 skinning horned heads 156 horned heads--antelope, deer 157 deer skull on standard 158 neck board 159 paper head and ear forms 161 finished head--author's work 162 elk and deer head paper forms 163 bolting shed antlers to block 168 shed elk antlers to be mounted 169 a good shield pattern 171 deer antlers, elk feet, bison horns 172 wooden crook for deer foot 173 skinned deer foot 174 deer foot ink well 174 deer foot thermometer 175 deer foot hat rack 176 moose foot jewel case 177 plaster mould of fish--upper half 179 medallion fish 182 grayling--results of first fish mounting 188 eye of lake trout 191 fish in mould 191 fish in mould--end view 192 fish in mould--side view 192 fish--incisions to be made 193 fish--inside board 196 fish--sewing up the skin 198 home made panel for fish 201 fish head mounted--side view 201 fish head mounted--front view 202 wiring system for frog 204 skulls--wolf, lynx, otter, mink 207 flying duck 212 timber wolf rug, full head 213 deer head hall rack 214 foot muff trimmed 218 monkey card receiver 219 squirrels--grey, red, flying, ground 222 water fowl head 226 three piece mould of head 229 making mould for half head 231 deer foot ink well and pen rack 233 mountain lion or puma hide 234 spring lamb? coon head 236 book case ornaments--crow, alligator, owl 239 introduction this volume of the pleasure and profit library is offered to the hunter, trapper, fisher, vacationist and out of doors people in general. in the study and practice of taxidermy for several years i have failed to find any work written primarily for these every day nature lovers, though they probably handle a greater number of interesting specimens of animal life than all other classes of people. in view of this fact the following directions and suggestions for preserving various animal forms as objects of use and ornament have been prepared. as a treatise for the scientist or museum preparator it is not intended, there are many books on the art expressly for them, but we hope it may fill a place of its own, acting as a not too dry and technical introduction to the art preservative for those who find life all too short for the many things which are to be done. thoroughness, patience, and some love for nature, are qualities highly desirable in this art. work prepared by one possessing these qualities need not be ashamed and practice will bring skill and perfection of technic. as a handicraft in which the workman has not been displaced or made secondary by a machine taxidermy is noticeable also, and for many reasons is worthy of its corner in the home work-shop. in this work also the ladies can take a very effective hand, and numbers have done so; for there is no doubt that a woman's taste and lightness of touch enables her in some branches of taxidermy to far exceed the average man. especially in the manipulation of frail skins and delicate feathers, in bird taxidermy, is this so. i have endeavored to give preference to short cuts and time-saving methods where possible in the following matter, and especially hints on saving interesting and valuable specimens temporarily until sufficient leisure is had to do justice to their further preservation. in this connection i have given prominence to the liquid preservative for entire specimens and the methods for preserving skins of birds and animals in a damp and relaxed state ready for mounting at the operator's pleasure. i would urge the beginner especially, to mount all his specimens as far as possible. dry scientific skins have their value, perhaps, to the museum or closet naturalist whose chief delight is in multiplying species, but a well mounted skin is a pleasure to all who may see it. making it a rule to utilize thus all specimens which come to hand would also deter much thoughtless killing in the ranks of the country's already depleted wild life. make this a rule and you will avoid friction and show yourself truly a conservationist with the best. in a number of states there are legal restrictions in the way of a license tax imposed on the professional taxidermist. detailed information of these are found in game, fur and fish laws of the various states and canadian provinces. fur and game animals and birds killed legally during open season may be preserved by the taker for private possession without hindrance anywhere, i think. more explicit details may be had on application to your state fish and game commissioner or warden. [signature: albert b. farnham.] home taxidermy for pleasure and profit chapter i. history. it is very evident that this art--taxidermy, preservation or care of skins--had its origin far back before the dawn of written history. there existed then as now the desire to preserve the trophy of the hunter's prowess and skill and the unusual in natural objects. as far back as five centuries b. c. in the record of the african explorations of hanno the carthaginian, an account is given of the discovery of what was evidently the gorilla and the subsequent preservation of their skins, which were, on the return of the voyagers, hung in the temple of astarte, where they remained until the taking of carthage in the year 146 b. c. this, of course, was not the art as we know it now, but shows the beginnings of what might be called the museum idea. the art of embalming as practiced by the ancient egyptians was, however, effective, not for the purpose of having the specimens look natural, or for exhibition, but to satisfy the superstition of the times, and though a preservative art, hardly to be classed with taxidermy. in the tombs of that period are found besides the mummies of human beings, countless others of dogs, cats, monkeys, birds, sheep and oxen. there have been a number of efforts made to substitute some form of embalming for present day taxidermy but without much success, for though the body of the specimen may be preserved from decay without removing it from the skin, the subsequent shrinkage and distortion spoil any effect which may have been achieved. [illustration: an early day specimen.] the first attempt at stuffing and mounting birds was said to have been made in amsterdam in the beginning of the 16th century. the oldest museum specimen in existence, as far as i know, is a rhinoceros in the royal museum of vertebrates in florence, italy, said to have been originally mounted in the 16th century. probably on account of the necessary knowledge of preservative chemicals, the art seems to have been in the hands of chemists and astrologers, chiefly, during the middle ages, and stuffed animals such as bats, crocodiles, frogs, snakes, lizards, owls, etc., figure in literary descriptions of their abodes. then as now also, the dining halls of the nobles and wealthy were decorated with heads and horns procured in the hunt. the first publications on the art seem to have been made in france, in which country and germany, many still used methods and formulas originated. though the first volume of instruction in taxidermy was published in the united states as late as 1865, it has been left for the study and ingenuity of american taxidermists to accomplish what is probably work of as high a standard as any in the world. the ward establishment at rochester has turned out many well trained taxidermists, the large museums of the united states are filled with some of the best work of the kind in existence, besides many persons who have engaged in it for commercial purposes or to gratify private tastes. many of these have made public their methods and modes in various publications. among these are the works of batty, hornaday, shofeldt, davie, rowley, maynard, reed and others, all of which are invaluable books of reference for the home taxidermist. it is to be regretted that the once flourishing society of american taxidermists has not been perpetuated, numbering, as it did, among its membership the best artists in their line in this country. there is no royal road to success in this, more than any other of the arts and sciences, though i believe the ambitious beginner will find the way smoother; better materials are to be had, more helpful publications to be consulted and the lessening supply of wild life tends to make a more appreciative public than ever before. chapter ii. outfit--tools and materials. the extent and variety of work undertaken will determine the necessary working space and the assortment of tools needful. other things being equal, the most complete assortment of tools and supplies makes possible the production of the best work in the minimum time. the equipment of the beginner need be but small and inexpensive, however, increasing the same as he discovers what is most necessary and desirable, in an increasing field of work. wonderful pieces of taxidermy have been done with a pocket knife, pliers, needle and thread, some wire, tow and arsenic. if no other room offers, much may be achieved (with the permission of the lady of the house) in a corner of a dining room or kitchen. a room or part of one well lighted, by north window or sky-light preferably, makes the best location for the work table. this table may be of the common unpainted kitchen variety for all small work. it is well to make the top double by hinging on two leaves, which when extended will make it twice its usual width. when so extended and supported by swinging brackets it is specially adapted to sewing on rugs and robes. such tables usually have one or two shallow drawers which are most useful to hold small tools. a shelf should be fitted between the legs, six or eight inches from the floor, forming a handy place for boxes of materials, books, etc. [illustration: work table-supplies on lower shelf, tools, etc. on wall.] if large work is in prospect a table should be built of the usual heighth, two or three feet wide, and six long. the legs of stout scantlings should be fitted with casters, making it easy to remove it to the center of the room where it can be approached on all sides, as will often be necessary. the double top, drawers, and shelf should be a part of the larger table also. usually the table is kept in front of the window with tool racks and shelves for small articles each side of the same where they can easily be reached. for preparing and mounting all small and medium size specimens i would advise the following list of tools. they will enable the worker to care for any of our native birds, quadrupeds up to the coyote, and any of our game heads, fur rugs, etc. 1 small skinning knife 1 medium skinning knife 1 larger skinning knife 1 pair scissors, fine points 1 pair shears, heavy, short 2 pairs flat nose pliers, large and small. 1 pair side or end cutters [illustration: home made tools. (1) skin scraper (made from screw driver) (2) (3) (4) modeling tools (wood and brass) (5) setting needle. (6) (7) stuffers (heavy wire.)] 1 pair fine forceps, 5 or 6 inch 2 flat files, large and small 1 adjustable tool handle, assorted tools, awls. 2 pinking irons, 3/4 and 1-1/2 inch needles, assortment of cloth and glovers oilstone if it is capable of taking and holding a good edge the small blade of a pocket knife is equal to a surgeon's scalpel and a sharp shoe or paring knife, ground to the proper shape, is a nice medium size for skinning or trimming skins. a hunting or butcher knife is sufficient for the largest size. a few carpenter's tools are necessary and a complete set does not come amiss if much large work is attempted. we must have: handsaw hatchet hammer bit brace assortment, drills and bits, 1/2 in. and less. drawshave screwdriver small grindstone or corundum wheel chisels, two or three sizes 1 wood rasp 1 cabinet rasp 1 chopping block, made of a section of hardwood log if large animals are to be mounted we will need in addition some iron working tools, such as set of taps and dies 1/4 to 1 in. monkey wrench hack saw tanner's knives, 1 or more a combination vise and anvil will be needed in any case as well as some miscellaneous tools: fur comb, coarse and fine combined paint, wax, and varnish brushes foot rule tape measure putty knife pointing trowel skin scraper and some stuffing and modelling tools which you can make yourself. the list of materials seems like a long one, but many are inexpensive and others are used only in some small amounts, so the aggregate cost is small. excelsior fine tow cotton bat or wadding plaster paris corn meal gasoline potter's or modelling clay set tube oil colors glass eyes, assorted soft wire, assorted pins cord spool cotton, coarse and fine, black and white wax, varnish, glue, paste papier mache, or paper for same an assortment of nails, tacks, brads, screws, screw eyes and staples [illustration: taxidermists tools. (1) gimlet (2) expansive bits (3) brush (4) bone cutter (5) (6) (7) (8) pliers (9) pinking irons (10) hand vise (11) (12) scalpels and knives.] [illustration: taxidermists tools. (13) scalpels (15) sewing palm (16) straight surgeons scissors (17) curved surgeon scissors (18) angular surgeons scissors (19) fine point scissors (20) scissor handled stuffers (21) stuffer.] [illustration: taxidermists tools. (22) stuffer and forcep, curved fine point (23) regular taxidermists stuffer and forcep (24) gauge (25) hack saw (26) egg drill] a packing box or two will furnish some lumber for temporary stands and interior frame work. the permanent mounts are treated of elsewhere. in ordering glass eyes it is often best to get them in the clear glass iris with black pupil so they may be given any color desired by painting the backs with tube colors, afterward protecting the paint with varnish. in this way a small stock will answer for many varieties. the plain black eye which is the least expensive can be used for many of the smaller birds and mammals, but should never be when the iris of the eye has any distinct tint. do not make the mistake of ordering an assortment of "off" sizes and colors, that is those which are seldom called for. aim to have those on hand for which you will have the most frequent use, the exceptions can be quickly had by parcel post. there is more demand for eyes of some shade of yellow or brown than any other colors, probably. all birds have the round pupil. elongated pupils are suitable for horned game and the cat tribe, irregular pupils fish, and the veined iris for dogs, wolves and foxes. suitable sizes for some species of birds are as follows: number 3 to 5 sparrows generally. number 5 to 7 robin, blue jay, flicker. number 7 to 9 the smaller hawks and herons, nearly all the ducks. number 10 to 12 the smaller owls, the wild goose. number 12 to 14 the larger hawks and herons. number 15 screech owl, eagles. number 17 barred owl. number 19 or 20 snowy owl and great horned owl. [illustration: glass eyes for animals, birds, fish.] size of eyes for quadrupeds: number 7 or 8 mink, skunk, red squirrel. number 10 to 12 gray and fox squirrel, wood chuck, raccoon and opossum. number 12 to 14 rabbit, small dogs, house cat. number 15 to 17 jack rabbit, fox, medium size dogs, wild cat, black bear. number 18 large dog, wolf, lynx, and grizzly bear. number 20 to 22 puma, jaguar, small deer. number 23 to 24 large deer, tiger. number 25 to 27 moose, elk, caribou, horse, cow, lion. [illustration: sizes of glass eyes.] [illustration: sizes of glass eyes (style 1)] of wire the following sizes are suitable for birds: number 6 pelican. number 7 wild turkey, swan. number 8 eagles. number 9 loon, goose, large herons. number 10 seagull, large ducks, hawks, owls, and fish hawk. number 11 or 12 medium size ducks, herons, and similar. number 13 or 14 small ducks and grouse. number 15 small herons, and medium owls. number 16 doves, small owls. number 17 or 18 bob white, jay, robin, snipe. number 19 blackbird, waxwing, oriole. number 20 bluebird, cardinal. number 21 to 24 warblers, wrens, titmouse, finches. number 26 north american humming bird. for quadrupeds: number 7 wild cat. number 8 foxes. number 10 raccoon, wood chuck. number 11 skunk, opossum. number 12 or 13 muskrat, rabbit. number 14 or 15 mink, large squirrels. number 17 or 18 weasel, bull frog, and small squirrels. these sizes are approximate, varying with size of the individual specimen and the required attitude wanted. for instance, a bird mounted with wings spread would be better for a large size wire than if in a resting position. an animal crouched does not require as heavy supports as one upright or in action. it is best to give the specimen the benefit of the doubt, as nothing is more disastrous than to have an otherwise well mounted subject sag down and spoil the entire effect from lack of sufficient mechanical support. the best wire for this purpose is annealed, galvanized iron. larger animals require norway iron rod in the following sizes: 1/4 in. coyote, setter dog. 5/16 in. wolf, puma. 3/8 in. medium deer. 1/2 in. caribou and large deer. 3/4 in. moose, elk. a large earthen jar or two will hold sufficient skin pickle for small animals. for large animals or great numbers of small ones a tank or barrel. keep such jars or barrels covered to prevent evaporation. with dry arsenic and alum, arsenical solution, formaldehyde for an emergency and plenty of salt, even a beginner should be able to save almost anything that falls into his clutches. there are numbers of reliable dealers in tools and supplies for the taxidermist and a perusal of their catalogs will be helpful, among the number being james p. babbitt, 192 hodges ave., taunton, mass. ready to use head forms, pinked rug and robe trimming, artificial tongues and ear forms, and even paper head and neck forms for the mounting of large game heads are some of the time and labor saving supplies they list. if you cannot attain to these, emergency supplies can be had of the dealer in hardware and dry goods, and one who cares for the art will rise superior to the material at his hand. what you "stuff 'em with" is of small consequence provided you use brains in the job. i have seen an elk head stuffed with old clothes with the bottoms of pop bottles for eyes, but would advise some other filling if possible. chapter iii. preservative preparations, formulas, etc. probably arsenic in some form has been, and will continue to be the leading taxidermic preservative, or rather, insect deterrent. many people are shy of handling this, but with reasonable care the use of arsenic is perfectly safe. always keep poisons well labeled and out of the way of children. nine children out of ten would never think of sampling them, but the tenth might prove the fatal exception. there is far less danger to the operator in handling the needful amount of poisons than in endeavoring to save some rare but over-ripe subject. in many years' use of arsenic, dry, in wet solution, and in soap, i have received nothing more serious than an occasional sore finger. the shape in which i have found it most satisfactory for poisoning hair and feathers of mounted specimens and the interior of furred skins i will give as arsenical solution. commercial arsenic 1 lb. bicarbonate of soda 1/2 lb. water 5 pts. boil until arsenic and soda have dissolved, stirring frequently. use a vessel at least twice as large as necessary to contain the quantity used as it foams up while boiling. when cold put in a large bottle or jar marked _poison_, of course. for poisoning finished specimens, mounted heads, etc., take one part of this solution to two parts water and spray the entire surface with this in an atomizer or larger sprayer. it should be tested before using by dipping a black feather in it and if a gray or white deposit is left on drying, it should be diluted still further until this is prevented. to poison the inside of skins we make arsenical paste: arsenical solution (full strength), whiting sufficient to produce the consistency of cream. this should be mixed in a wide mouthed bottle or small pan and applied with a common paint brush. do not apply to a perfectly dry skin, like tanned hide for a robe or rug, but dampen the inside first with clear water, then paint over with the paste and it will strike through to the fur side and be taken up around the fur roots by capillary action. this tends to put a damper on the activities of the moth, whose favorite grazing ground is at the hair roots just outside the skin. the paste is equally good on skins of birds, except, perhaps the smaller ones, when freshly skinned, and some of the smaller mammals. the mixture of whiting makes it easy to see when the surface has already been treated, unless the skin is dressed white, in which case dry ochre may be used in place of whiting. for poisoning the skins of the smaller furred animals and all but the larger birds: dry preservative. powdered white arsenic powdered alum mix equal parts by measure and apply to inside of the fresh skin with a soft brush or pad of cotton. if during the skinning and cleaning the skin has dried so the powder will not stick, moisten the inside of the skin with water before applying. some taxidermists prefer to use in place of the paste some form of arsenical soap. this may be purchased from the supply dealer or made at home at quite a reduction. personally i dislike the greasy, sticky feel of it; it is apt to cling around the finger nails and scratches, making them sore. however, the following is the best formula for a time honored preservative: hornaday's arsenical soap. white bar soap 1 lb. powdered arsenic 1 lb. camphor gum 2-1/2 oz. subcarbonate of potash 3 oz. alcohol (wood or grain) 4 oz. slice the soap and melt slowly with a little water. when melted stir in the potash and arsenic. boil to the consistency of molasses and pour into a jar to harden. add the camphor already dissolved in the alcohol and stir occasionally while cooling. mix with water and apply with a paint brush to flesh side of skins. in case one is timid about using any of the arsenical preparations i would advise them to try browne's non-poisonous preservative soap. whiting 24 oz. white soap 8 oz. chloride lime 1/2 oz. tincture camphor 1 oz. water 1 pt. shave the soap thin and boil it with the whiting and water till dissolved. then remove from the fire and stir in the chloride, adding the tincture camphor later when cold, as much of the strength of the latter would be lost were the mixture hot. keep in closed jars or bottles, and if too thick, thin down with water or alcohol. apply like arsenical soap or paste. this is highly recommended by english writers. for a non-poisonous powder i would advise equal parts of powdered alum and insect powder in place of the arsenic and alum. solution for the preservation of small specimens entire. formaldehyde (40% strength) 1 part water 9 parts mix thoroughly and put in glass or earthen jars or large mouthed bottles. while most of the heads and skins of big game are preserved until they can reach the taxidermist, many of the smaller specimens become a total loss. lack of time and knowledge are the chief causes of this loss of valuable souvenirs of days out of doors and interesting natural objects. probably the easiest and least expensive method of temporarily preserving entire the smaller animals, birds, fish and reptiles is by immersion in the above preparation. i would not advise its use on animals larger than a small fox or cat, and to insure an immediate penetration of the flesh the abdominal viscera should be removed from the larger specimens. the amount of solution used should be about ten times the volume of the subject, and it had best be replaced with fresh liquid after two or three days. i think this will work equally well on birds, reptiles and mammals. on removal from the solution they may be skinned and mounted as fresh specimens. on removing from the solution, rinse in water containing a little ammonia to neutralize the irritating odor of the formaldehyde. do not stand over the solution while mixing as the fumes of the formic acid affect the eyes. the condensed form in which this chemical can be carried and its cheapness (30c. per lb.), make it desirable as a temporary preservative. the saying, "it never rains but it pours," applies to the taxidermist and a sudden rush of subjects may often be saved by using the foregoing preparation. other work may be under way, or for other reasons it may be desirable to keep a specimen in the flesh a short time before mounting. alcoholic solution. alcohol (94% strength) equal parts water if alcohol is less than 94% use less water. use same as formaldehyde solution. this is said to be superior to the formaldehyde solution, though more expensive and harder to carry about on account of its greater bulk before mixing. specimens kept long in any liquid are apt to lose their colors. this fading will be reduced to a minimum if kept in the dark. in order to do any satisfactory work on quadrupeds the taxidermist makes use of a bath or pickle of some sort for keeping skins in a wet state. this pickle sets the hair and in a measure tans the skin, reducing its liability to shrinkage and rendering it less desirable pasturage for insects. all furred skins of any size should be immersed in this for a time before mounting, and may be kept in it for months or years without injury. if you have time to skin an animal properly the skin may be dropped in the pickle jar and in a day, week, or month be better fit for final mounting than at first. for the first few days it is necessary to move it about every day so all parts may be exposed to the action of the pickle. the form of pickle which i have found most helpful is: tanning liquor. water 1 gal. salt 1 qt. sulphuric acid (measure) 1 oz. bring to boiling point to dissolve the salt. allow to cool before stirring in the acid. when cold is ready for use. when keeping skins in a wet state a long time i would prefer to use: salt and alum pickle. water 1 gal. salt 1 qt. alum 1 pt. boil to dissolve salt and alum; use like preceding. if skins are to be kept some time they should, after a preliminary pickling, be put in new, fresh pickle and it should be occasionally tested with a salinometer and kept up to the original strength. dirty and greasy pickle should be thrown away, but if clean and of low strength it can be brought up by adding new pickle of extra strength. it will do no hurt if more salt, even a saturated solution, is made of either of the foregoing. while the salt and alum or acid pickle will keep our animal skins safely and in a relaxed condition ready for further preparation at any time, it will not answer for bird skins. for this we have a solution for keeping bird skins soft: glycerine 2 parts carbolic acid 1 part after skinning the bird and applying some arsenical solution to the inside, brush this solution liberally over the entire inside of the skin. pay special attention to the bones, wing and leg, skull and root of the tail. if necessary the skin may be packed flat for shipment. one treatment will keep all but the larger skins soft for several months. the feet, of course, will become hard and dry and must be relaxed as usual before mounting. every taxidermist needs to be more or less of a modeler, and one of the most useful materials is: papier mache. wet wood pulp 10 oz. glue (hot) or lepage's (measure) 3 oz. plaster paris, dry 20 oz. this formula may be varied at the convenience of the operator. work the glue into the pulp and knead the plaster into the mass. the more glue the slower it sets and a few drops of glycerine will keep it soft several days. made with little or no glue it hardens quickly. if the paper pulp is not at hand it may be made by tearing old newspapers or sheathing paper small and boiling and pounding till a pulp results. this composition is much in use in europe in the making of many familiar toys and similar objects. for modeling open mouths, finishing mounted specimens, making artificial rocks, stumps and boughs, it is very desirable. wax for open mouths. beeswax 1 part paraffin wax 1 part melt and color with tube oil colors. to color dip up a spoonful of melted wax, squeeze some tube color in and stir until stiff. place the spoon in the hot wax and stir till evenly mixed. do not try to put the color directly in the hot wax as it will not mix evenly so. wax should be melted in a water bath, like a glue pot, as excessive heat will darken it. cakes of wax of suitable colors may be had of the supply dealers and are most economical when no great amount of work is done. the same parties supply the paper pulp previously mentioned. chapter iv. panels, shields and natural and artificial mounts. the preparation of a suitable setting for almost any mounted specimen will add greatly to its attractiveness. if you know where it is to be placed it is not difficult to make it suit its surrounding. for instance, a head of big game for hanging in a dining or ball room is suitably mounted on a polished and carved hardwood shield. while this would hardly match its surroundings on the wall of a log camp, a rustic panel of natural wood with the bark on would perfectly suit the latter place. heads, horns, and antlers are usually mounted on what are called shields. fish and trophies of dead game birds and small game on panels. single specimens are placed on severely plain wooden bases (museum style) or on those simulating branches, rocks, stumps or earth. these are artificial, but those built up in part at least with natural objects are most pleasing. as we can not produce the best patterns of shields without special machines we must patronize either the supply dealers or the wood working mill for such. if convenient to a mill equipped with jigsaw and moulder they can be made up after your own patterns. [illustration: shields--various kinds and sizes. (a) suitable for moose, caribou, deer, fox by making or ordering according to size wanted; (b) moose, caribou, deer; (k) round shield; (e) bear shield; (q) combination--head and feet.] [illustration: shields, foot and hall rack. (c) and (d) deer shields (j) four feet rack (v) hall rack] [illustration: gun rack, fish and game panels, hall rack. (i) gun rack (f) fish panel (h) shield, combination head and feet (s) hall rack, small.] [illustration: some shields and panels. (m) shield with carving (g) panel for game, x, y, z, aa, bb deer foot thermometers (l) deer foot thermometer and small animal panel.] some of the sizes most used are approximately as follows for mounted heads: for moose, elk, caribou. 20ã�30 inches. for deer, goat or sheep. 12ã�18 or 16ã�21. for fox or lynx. 8ã�10 inches. for bear or wolf. 12ã�15 for birds, small fur-bearers and fish. 6ã�8 in. oval panels for mounting fish. 9ã�22 15ã�40 for dead game. 10ã�15 14ã�24 17ã�25 for mounting horns of elk and moose the size for deer heads will answer nicely, while deer antlers are suitable with a shield of the fox head size. in order to draw a symmetrical pattern for the woodworker, take a piece of stiff paper of the right length and width, fold it down the middle, draw one half to suit and cut out with shears. the style of moulding called ogee is to be preferred. a simple diamond, heart, or oval shape can be made at home with beveled or rounded edges, or if your tools include a turning saw (which is most useful for a variety of purposes) you may try a more pretentious shield. to achieve this, make your pattern as just described and after marking it on a piece of wood from 3/8 to 7/8 inch thick, cut out with the turning saw. it should be held in the vise for this operation. place this cut out shield (1) on a piece of board of similar thickness but somewhat larger and with a pair of compasses mark out another 1/2 in. or so larger all around. (2) also mark the same distance inside the edge. [illustration: home made shield.] with a wood worker's gauge or something similar make a mark around them both near the lower sides. now with draw shave and rasp work the edges off both nos. 1 and 2. no. 1 on a bevel, no. 2 rounded. there should be a number of holes drilled and countersunk in no. 2, from the back, and when the two parts of the shield are properly adjusted they should be drawn closely together with screws too short to penetrate the face of the shield. if the adjustment is perfect the screws are to be drawn and the surfaces which come in contact coated well with glue, then drawn closely together and laid aside until thoroughly dry, when it should be well sandpapered before varnishing. all shields and panels should be carefully sandpapered, filled and varnished, and polished if you wish. don't make the shield or panel so ornate that the specimen will seem but an incidental, thrown in for good measure, so to speak. rustic panels can be made by sawing the end from a log on a slant, and planing smooth the oval. if this is heavily varnished on the front and back and the bark left on it is a very suitable mount for small heads, fish and birds. artificial branches and trees for mounting birds should be avoided if possible; they are made by wrapping tow around wires, coating with glue and covering with moss or papier mache and painting. the result i consider unnatural and inartistic. [illustration: small bird.] i would advise to use natural branches as far as possible; sufficient labor will be required to make necessary joining and changes look as near like nature as you can. rock work is usually made of a wooden framework covered with cloth, wire or paper and finished with a coating of glue and crushed stone or sand. one of the most useful materials in this work is the rough cork bark so much used by florists. it is light, comes in desirable shapes, can be nailed, sawed or coated with glue or paint. for constructing stumps for mounted birds of prey and rustic stands for small and medium fur animals it has no equal. some taxidermists produce rock work of an obscure geological period by covering screen wire forms with a mixture of flour, baking powder and plaster of paris and water. this is put in an oven and baked hard, the weird result being painted to the artist's taste. water worn roots such as are found along the shore, twisted laurel branches, limbs of gum, oak and sassafras, all work up well in this and should be stored up to dry against a day of need. out door people have a good eye for such things, but they are hard to find when you look for them, so gather them on your rambles. papier mache is also a good modeling material for stumps, limbs and rock, being light, and readily taking coats of glue or paint. the expert can copy nature closely with it. some leaves and grasses can be pressed, dried and colored their natural shades with oil paints. the dealers supply a great variety of artificial foliage, some of which may be used to advantage, in case work especially. dried mosses and lichens of various sorts may be used in this. some of these powdered and glued on papier mache or cork bark stumps and limbs produce a very pleasing effect. snow scenes are frequently attempted but are not always a success. the peculiar fluffy and glittering appearance is rather difficult to reproduce. torn or ground up white blotting paper mixed with a little ground mica has been used for this purpose. glass icicles are listed by dealers and are quite natural in appearance, but the simulation of water is difficult and often disappointing. it is often desirable to mount small specimens, of birds especially, in cases of some kind which will protect them from dust, dirt and rough handling and at the same time display them to advantage. the oldest and at the same time the least suitable contrivance for this is the well known bell glass or globe. it is difficult to find a safe place for this in the average house and it is not at all adapted to many specimens. a plain wall case with glass front and a painted or decorated background will give the necessary protection with the least expense. for small bird groups, and singles and pairs of game birds, the oval convex glasses probably present the finest appearance. the backgrounds for these may be either plush or wood panels or hand painted, and any style of picture framing may be used. these are made in several sizes, listing at $2.00 to $8.00 each without backgrounds or frames. this cost has probably prevented their more common use. there is on the market a papier mache background also adapted to any picture frame, called the "concave dust proof case." this has the flat face glass of the old style wall case, but with the square corners and much of the weight eliminated. any of these styles of wall cases may be placed on shelves as well as hung on the wall like pictures, at once preventing breakage and becoming valuable decorations. special cases are often built (as in museums) for large and valuable mounted specimens. of these the top and at least three sides should be of glass. the preparing and placing of the accessories in some large museum cases have required an unbelievable amount of time and expense to attain the desired natural appearance of the mounting. chapter v. field work, collecting. while it is unlikely that many readers of this book will undertake the collection of natural history specimens in any great numbers or as a special business, a few words on the subject may not be amiss. it is well to bear in mind that the better the condition of the specimen when it first comes to hand, the greater will be our chances of success in properly preserving it. a small bird shot with a rifle is not worth bothering with unless excessively rare, and a fur bearer which the dogs have been allowed to maul and chew is very difficult to put in satisfactory condition. one rule of the collector in the field is to shoot each specimen with the smallest possible charge of shot and powder which will kill it. i speak of shooting, as probably three-fourths of the objects mounted by the average taxidermist have been killed with fire arms. of late years a number of collector's guns have been put out by the arms makers, though any good small bore shotgun will answer for collecting all of our small and medium sized american birds and mammals. some of these guns of about .44 cal. are exceedingly accurate and reliable performers. in one case this small bore shotgun has been combined with a rifle, and the light weight and portability of this little arm makes it about the last word in guns for collecting all small specimens. [illustration: marble's shot gun and rifle combined.] it as well as other single guns of the same bore, is built to use a round ball in the shot barrel, making them capable of stopping deer or bear at short ranges. however, choosing a gun is like choosing a wife, every one has their own tastes. i would advise the would-be collector to load his own shotgun shells, at least those for small birds and animals, as it is almost impossible to get factory loaded shells but what are charged too heavily. for the collection of animals for taxidermic purposes the use of traps will probably yield some of the best as well as the more rare and unusual varieties. such styles of traps as least injure the appearance of the finished specimen are preferred. the old-fashioned snare, dead-fall and box trap are as good as any in this respect. the wire spring or choke traps of stop thief style are ahead of the common steel trap in this respect, but like the homemade traps cannot be used in so many various situations. [illustration: the "stop thief" or choke trap.] water animals taken in steel traps may usually be quickly drowned. if set on land they should be tended often to prevent suffering and usually mutilation of the trapped game. full information on this subject will be found in science of trapping and other books on special animals by same publisher. the naturalist uses more small traps than large ones in most cases; many, many more specimens being taken in no. 1's than in bear traps. several styles of mouse and rat traps are useful in collecting the smaller mammals, such as mice, rats and ground squirrels of various species. fish are to be collected any way you can get 'em, (legally at least). many varieties of these are to be bought at the large markets and many rare and hideous specimens are discarded by market fishermen when culling their catches. a few years ago before much restriction was imposed on the sale of game it was possible to purchase many desirable things at the markets of washington, d. c. not only bear and deer, but elk, ptarmigan, arctic hares, sage and prairie grouse, fox squirrels, pileated woodpeckers and many other odds and ends were offered for sale as well as all the usual land and water game. however you take your specimens or how badly damaged they may be when they reach your hands it behooves you to see that no further damage befalls them. specimens when shot should have all possible blood and dirt brushed or washed from feathers or fur and all shot holes, as well as mouth and nostrils plugged with a wisp of cotton to prevent further soiling. an awl, or piece of wire will be useful for this. blood should be removed from white fur or feathers as soon as possible or it will be stained more or less. small birds should be dropped head first into a paper cone, and laid in a basket or box if possible, the common hunting coat pocket is apt to break delicate feathers, though if the bird is well wrapped it may do. fur bearers will stand more rough usage and may be tied together by heads or feet or packed in game bag or pocket. fish should be wrapped in paper to protect the scales. it goes without saying that specimens which it is planned to preserve should be kept cool if possible until work can be started on them. some varieties spoil more quickly than others; fish eating birds need quick attention; most birds of the hawk and owl family keep well, as do the pheasants, grouse, etc. frozen animals keep perfectly in that state but spoil quickly after thawing. keep away from blow flies. specimens are often sent to the taxidermists in apparent good order and when received are entirely ruined by fly maggots; the eggs being deposited before packing and shipping. chapter vi. skinning and preserving skins. with a suitable specimen at hand it is for us to decide if we shall mount it or preserve it as a skin temporarily or indefinitely. to illustrate we will presume that we have a muskrat just from the trap which is to be mounted at once. before skinning it is best to get some measurements to guide us in the later work. in this case where the skin is to be mounted immediately a simple outline is sufficient, as we will have the body in the flesh and all the leg bones, etc., to guide us in rebuilding the creature. to get such outline, lay the animal on its side on a piece of blank paper, put the feet and legs in some natural position, fasten them in place with a few pins and mark around the entire animal with a pencil. the eye, hip and shoulder joints, and base of skull may be indicated on this outline sheet. our muskrat is a trapped and drowned one so we will not have to replace the shot hole plugs with fresh ones, as would be best if it had been killed with the gun. also it has been dead long enough for the rigor mortis to prevent the free flow of blood and body juices which bother the operator if it has been killed but an hour or less. [illustration: outline of muskrat. hip and shoulder joints marked] laying the animal on its back, make the opening cut by pushing the knife point through the skin at the juncture of neck and chest. run the blade down between skin and flesh, separating the skin in a long clean cut to the root of the tail. open the tail also along the under side from the tip to within an inch or so of its base. slit open the sole of each foot from the middle toe to the heel and further if necessary so the leg skin may be turned down over the foot. beginning at this central cut, skin back each side until the shoulder and hip joints are encountered. bending the limb will show the exact joint where the muscles are cut apart and the legs severed from the body. cut off the tail near its base, leaving it in the skin for the present. loosen the skin from back and shoulders and turn it wrong side out over the head. skin down until the ears are reached, cutting them off close down to the head and continue on to the eyes. work carefully around these and cut close to the skull to avoid hacking the eyelids. cut through the nose cartilage, and when the lips are reached cut them away close to the gums, leaving both their inner and outer skin on the pelt. cutting them off at the edge of the hair is a frequent cause of trouble as they are full and fleshy and should be split, pared down on the inside and when mounted, filled out to their natural shape to perfect the anatomy. [illustration: skinning small animal for mounting. cut on dotted lines.] now the skin of each leg may be turned wrong side out down to the toes and all flesh and muscle cut away from the leg bones with knife and scissors. the tail also is to be removed from its skin and the ears turned wrong side out to their tips. in skinning no flesh of any consequence should be left adhering to the skin and it should never be pulled off by main strength, but rather separated by the knife or fingers, pushing the flesh away from the skin rather than the reverse. the skull should now be cleaned as the leg bones were and if a number of specimens are being prepared at the same time the heads may be put in a kettle and boiled a short time, when on trying with a fork or awl the flesh becomes tender and may be rapidly removed with a knife. the brain may be removed with a hooked wire, the skull well rinsed inside and out and given a good coat of arsenical paste or other preservative. the next step is determined by what you intend doing with the skin. if it is to be kept for purposes of study without mounting it should be made up as a scientific skin. if to be mounted at once or in the near future it should be put in the jar of salt and acid or alum. it can of course be mounted at once without this bath but i believe it is well worth any extra work it entails. some young furred animals and others with very delicate skins do not work up well from the bath and had best be mounted without it, being handled more as bird skins are. in skinning the larger quadrupeds we make two additional cuts, from the right to the central line and out to the left fore foot and a similar cut connecting the hind feet. these opening cuts are on the back and inside of the legs, you will understand. with most large subjects another cut from the shoulders up the back of the neck is necessary. on animals having horns or antlers this is terminated in a y or t shape, reaching the base of the antlers. after loosening the skin around the antlers the head is removed through this incision. as it is hardly possible to make an outline sketch of a large animal, as full a set of measurements as possible is useful in all cases. [illustration: skinning large animal for mounting. cut on dotted lines.] the bones of the legs will be in the way attached to the skin and the two upper bones of each leg may be detached and if lack of space or transportation make it necessary, thrown away, though if the bones of one hind leg and one front leg are preserved artificial duplicates may be carved. [illustration: skinning bird-breast cut.] in skinning birds, after fresh cotton plugs have been put in place the feathers are parted and the opening incision made through the skin only from the middle of the breast to the root of the tail. separate the skin and flesh on each side until the knee is reached, push this up until the knife or scissors can be passed under it and the leg severed at the joint. a little corn meal sprinkled on the exposed flesh and the operator's fingers will prevent the feathers adhering and becoming soiled as the work proceeds. cut off the flesh in which the tail quills are rooted leaving it on the skin with one or two of the last vertebrae. use care in this or you will cut the skin above the tail too. the body may now be hung up by a cord tied to the stump of one of the legs and both hands used in separating and turning the skin back until the wings are reached. the skin is loosened around these and they may be severed at the elbow joint unless the bird is to be mounted with wings spread, when it will be best to unjoint at the shoulder and preserve the entire wing bones. [illustration: hooded merganser.] with the wings detached we skin on to the base of the skull. in some of the ducks, and other water birds, woodpeckers and owls the neck is so slender and the skull so large that it is necessary to cut the neck off here and making a cut down the back of the head and neck continue the skinning of the head through it. do not cut or tear the membrane of the ears but pull it out with the forceps and work down over the eyes, cutting the membrane connecting the skin but not the lids or eyeball itself. the liquid contents of the eye are particularly sticky and difficult to remove from feathers. continue skinning to the base of the bill, scoop the eyes from their sockets and cut loose the forward part of the skull from the neck. this is usually accomplished with four snips of the scissors much easier to practice than to describe. make one cut on each side of the head, through the small bone connecting the base of the lower jaw with the skull, another through the roof of the mouth at the base of the upper mandible and between the jaws of the lower, and the last through the skull behind the eyes and parallel with the roof of the mouth. this will free the skull of the neck and most of its flesh and muscle. in most cases the head should be returned to the skin as soon as possible to avoid its drying out of shape and giving the feathers a wrong set. after cleaning and poisoning the skull and filling the eye sockets with cotton this reversing is undertaken. if working on a small bird the learner is apt to come to grief here, as only by careful and patient work without the application of some force is the returning process accomplished successfully. the wings and legs may now be skinned down to the first joint and all flesh and muscle removed from the bones. this is done expeditiously by snipping off the end of the leg bone and stripping it down with adhering flesh to the ankle joint where it (the flesh) is cut off. the wings are skinned to the first joint, stripping the wing primary feathers from their fastening on the bone with the thumb nail, clipping off the large bone near the end and detaching the small bone with all flesh and muscle adhering. if this is clipped off at the wrist joint the entire wing is cleaned. this method applies to all small and medium birds not wanted with spread wings. [illustration: opening cut on bird. opening and cleaning wing from underneath for spread wing mounting.] in case wing spread is wanted the primary feathers are not disturbed but that part of the wing is cleaned from a slit in the under side of the wing. all but the smallest birds should have the tip joint of the wing slit open on the under side and some form of preservative worked in the opening. specimens the size of a crow and larger should have a cut made in the bottom of the foot and the tendons of the lower leg drawn out with an awl, and in the case of very large birds it may be necessary to soak the unfeathered part of the legs and feet in a pan of strong pickle for 24 hours, to prevent decay and damage from insects. our bird is now entirely ready for the application of such preservatives as we may be using. the main principle in the preserving of skins may be stated thus: all skins must be removed and cleaned of flesh so the preservative may be applied to every part of the inner surface, where it will act directly on the roots of the hair or feathers. the preservative applied, we must decide on the next step, whether it is to be mounted at once, in a short time, or laid away indefinitely as a scientific skin. if we have to lay it away until tomorrow, put a little cotton inside to prevent the inner surface sticking together, wrap in a damp cloth and unless the weather is very hot it will be all right. if very hot or it is necessary to lay it aside for some days, the inner side should be well coated with the carbolic and glycerine mixture. as a scientific skin it should be made up at once, tagged with a full set of measurements taken before skinning and laid aside to dry. these measurements are not needed if we mount it at once, as the skinned body is at hand for comparison, but the sex, date, locality and collector's name should be attached to the completed specimen. alligators and the lizard family are skinned like the other four-footed species, as are snakes and fish, with the exception they have no limb bones to be cleaned and preserved. fish are better opened along one side than the central line of the body. reptile skins if not put in the pickle jar had better be packed in salt after poisoning as when entirely dry they are practically ruined. skins of fish are best kept in either a saturated solution of salt (water with salt added until no more will dissolve), alcohol or formaldehyde solution. whatever method is used the delicate colors will vanish and unless you can have a fresh specimen at hand when mounting it you should make the best color record you are able. this is true to some extent at least of all coverings of fur, feathers, or scales, and the stronger the light the more damage. i have seen a mounted mink placed in direct sunshine, bleached to a drab and the yellow feathers on a 'flicker faded almost white. in order to preserve turtles, after killing with chloroform preferably, it is necessary in the case of the box or land turtles to cut a square opening in the under shell through which the body may be removed and the legs and neck skinned. the water species can have the lower shell detached from the upper at the side and after cutting the skin around the rear two-thirds this shell is turned over to the front and the skinning and cleaning proceeded with. if not mounted at once make into a dry skin after poisoning or small turtles may be put in alcohol. chapter vii. making scientific skins. probably most bird skins which are not mounted at once are kept in the form of "scientific skins." in other words they are skinned, poisoned and without wiring, given the shape of the dead bird. their plumage, size, etc., may be examined, they are easily packed or shipped and, if properly made, may be mounted at any time but at the expenditure of considerably more work than a freshly taken skin requires. the instructions on skinning leaves us with the skin wrong side out with the exception of possibly the head. the leg and wing bone, cleaned of flesh, should be well poisoned as well as the skin and after wrapping with pieces of cotton bat to their approximate size, returned to their places. it is well when doing this to under rather than over fill. connect the bones of the wings with a bit of thread or cord. after filling out around the eyes and upper throat, wind a small stick or piece of wire with cotton to a size a little smaller than the natural neck and push it into the opening at the back of skull. the body can be filled out now with raw cotton, tow, or any similar substance not of animal origin. fine excelsior is about right for large birds. the edges of the opening cut may be drawn together by a few coarse stitches. after the feet have been tied together it is time to adjust all the feathers become well rumpled in handling. our fingers, forceps and a setting needle made of a large needle or part of a hat pin in a wooden handle will accomplish this. stained or dirty plumage should be cleaned before the skin is filled out, by first sponging with tepid water, then with gasoline or benzine and drying with plaster of paris or corn meal. never apply this without the gasoline first or you will have trouble indeed. now the skin is ready for its label, which should supply the following information: 1. length in inches from tip of tail to end of tail. 2. distance between the tips of outstretched wings. 3. length of wing from the first joint. 4. color of eyes, feet, bill, etc. 5. date, locality, collector. 6. the sex. the first three items are often combined, in the case of a bluebird for instance, 7-12-4, the order being understood. unless the plumage plainly indicates the sex this should be assured by examination of the skinned body. by making an opening in the side of this near the back bone the inside surface of the small of the back is exposed. in the case of the male there will be visible two rounded bodies, varying in size with the season and species, and in the female a flattened mass of spheres. after labeling and fastening the bill together with a pin or thread the skin should be slipped inside a paper tube to dry. water birds with long slender necks should have the head bent around beside the body and the long legs of waders are bent at the ankle and left resting on the body; this to prevent breakage. duck, geese and any fat birds need the inside of the skins well scraped, sponged with gasoline, partly filled with plaster paris and left for several hours so all grease may be absorbed. this grease should be removed prior to applying the preservative as it will prevent any effectual penetration by the latter. after cleaning either the inside or out of a skin with plaster it will be necessary to gently beat it with a whisk broom or something similar to dislodge the particles of plaster. a current of air (from a bicycle pump, for instance) will remove the dust from the feathers when dry. [illustration: scientific skins, small animals and birds.] fewest dry scientific skins are made up from the quadrupeds, but in case the matter of transportation prevents wet preservation or they are wanted dry the all around taxidermist must practice at making them up also. like the bird skin they should be thoroughly rid of flesh and fat after skinning but do not require such finical handling. rinsing in water with a little washing powder or soda added will remove blood stains and some grease but the benzine bath with the drying after, as recommended in the chapter on tanning, etc., will be needed in case of very fat specimens. all small animals are made up about the same as birds, wrapping the leg bones in tow, oakum or cotton and filling out the body with the same material. the skull cleaned and poisoned had best be put in the centre of the body with the filling, when it can be found at any time by ripping a few of the stitches. the skin of the head is filled out with the same material and the tail may either be bent up under the body or drawn together by a few stitches around a wrapped wire extending into the body half its length. of course the operator will see that the entire inner surface of the skin is treated liberally with some preservative, arsenical paste preferably, before the filling process. after stitching up the opening cut the skin is laid on a board, back up and the legs neatly disposed, the front feet beside the head and the hind ones drawn back beside the tail. the feet are fastened with a pin each and after smoothing down the fur with a small metal fur comb the skin is laid aside in an airy, shady place until fully dry. with each scientific skin a record should be made of the following details: 1. length, end of nose to root of tail. 2. length of tail from root to end of bone. 3. height at shoulders. 4. color of eyes, lips, feet, etc. 5. name of species, sex, locality, date, and collector's name. these may be noted down on a corner of the outline sheet, which is numbered and filed away; the skin tagged with a duplicate number is put in the pickle jar or made up as a dried skin, whichever is desired, or the full information may be put on a tag attached to the skin. many collectors simply number all specimens and preserve all information in their note books. the foregoing details are sufficient for animals less than bear and deer in size. the larger animals should have as many as possible of the following additional measurements: distance hip joint to shoulder joint. circumference of forearm. " " neck. " " body. back of leg. weight if possible. skins of large animals, a bear for instance, may have a slight wrapping of tow or excelsior on the leg bones to prevent their coming in contact with the skin and the whole skin laid to dry on a scaffold of poles or something similar. when nearly dry fold up with the legs inside in a square shaped package. this can be tied up with heavy cord or even sewed up in burlap to prevent damaging the skin in transit. fish and reptiles are not a success as dry skins. chapter viii. preparing dry and wet skins for mounting. let us assume that we have a dry skin each of a small bird and a furred animal which has been properly made up sometime in the past and which it is necessary to mount. taking the bird skin first, the usual way is to first wrap the unfeathered parts of legs in some strips of cotton cloth saturated with water containing a few drops of carbolic acid until they begin to relax or lose their stiffness somewhat. then the filling may be removed from the whole interior of the skin and be replaced with pieces of cotton, dampened as before, and the whole skin wrapped in a cloth or shut in a close box until with some scraping and manipulation it becomes as pliable as when first removed. any little lumps of dried muscle should be broken up and the edges of the opening cut, scraped and stretched out as they are very apt to wrinkle and curl up, thus reducing the size of the skin considerably. the eye sockets are to be filled with balls of wet cotton to render the lids and surrounding skin soft. the roots of quills and tufts of large feathers will need loosening as some flesh is necessarily left around them. the small animal skin may be treated the same way but the most thorough and expeditious method of relaxing skins of both animals and birds (except the smallest of the latter) is to plunge them into water, clear in cool weather, slightly carbolized in warm, until they are pretty well relaxed. then go after the inner side with scraper until any lumps of fat, muscle and the inner skin are well scratched up. soak in benzine or gasoline and clean with hot meal, sand, sawdust or plaster as directed for tanning. remember that bird skins must be handled carefully, so do not be too strenuous in beating and shaking them. of course if any skin has been laid away with quantities of fat adhering it will need very gingerly handling to save it, in fact unless _very_ rare such skins are not worth trying to save as they have little durability however treated. the largest polar bear skin i ever saw was ruined by lying "in the grease" too long before dressing. bird skins preserved with the glycerine carbolic preparation require relaxing the legs and a cleaning and dampening up of the inside of the skins. furred skins from the pickle need a good scraping on their inner surface, thorough rinsing in soda solution to neutralize the acid and remove all salt, then the benzine bath and cleaning. don't forget to rinse salted or pickled skins else beads of moisture will form on the specimen in damp weather and crystals of salt in dry. [illustration: foot skinned out.] occasionally an extra rare skin will drop to pieces through age or other infirmities when being prepared for mounting. the only hope for it then is to glue and pin it piecemeal on a manikin covered with some preparation which gives it a firm surface. while an expert will achieve fair results in such work the amateur could hardly expect success. chapter ix. mounting small and medium birds. a word of advice to the beginner as to the variety of specimen to use in first trials. don't begin on too small a bird until somewhat adept; unpracticed fingers bungle sadly over tiny feathered bodies. a first subject should be at least as large as a bob white to give room to work, and of some variety in which the feathers are firmly embedded. snow birds, cardinals, and some others have very thin delicate skins, the pigeons shed their feathers on little or no provocation. blackbirds and jays are very good to practice on but the very best would be a coot, sometimes called crow duck or mudhen. it is of fair size, closely covered with feathers which will fall in place readily after skinning and wiring even at the hands of a beginner. many, in fact most, birds have numerous bare patches which the adjacent feathered tracts cover perfectly while in the flesh, but which a too generous filling will exhibit in all their nakedness. i had not discovered this until some of my first attempts at mounting birds nonplussed me by showing numerous patches of bare skin in spite of the fact that but a few feathers had become loosened in the handling. we will assume that a suitable specimen is at hand, freshly killed and properly skinned as per the directions already given. all bones remaining with the skin, lower leg, wing, skull, etc., have been stripped of flesh and any shreds remaining poisoned, as has the entire inner surface of skin. with the skinned body at hand cut three wires of suitable size, one a little more than twice the length of the body and neck, for the body wire, the other two about twice the length of the legs may be a size larger as it is important that the leg wires furnish adequate support. [illustration: clinching leg wires in artificial body of bird] form the body wire into a loop which is the outline of the body laid on one side with the surplus end projecting along the line of the neck. this loop should not be quite as large as the body, however, to allow for a thin layer of filling material over it. wad up a handful of coarse tow, push it inside the body loop and wind with coarse thread, drawing in by pressure and winding and building out with flakes of tow to a rough shape of the skinned body. the neck also is built up the same way, making it fully as thick as the original but no longer ever. [illustration: wire loop for bird body.] if the wire projects more than a couple of inches from this artificial neck, cut it off at that length and with a flat file or emery wheel give it a sharp triangular point. the leg wires, too, should be pointed similarly. all wire should be smooth, straight, and free from kinks to work well. coming in coils it will require straightening, the larger sizes with mallet or hammer and no. 18 and smaller by fastening one end in the vise and giving the other a sharp tug with a pair of pliers. it will be felt to stretch slightly and become quite straight. next insert the pointed end of a leg wire in the bottom of the foot and pass it up along the back of the bone between it and the skin. a considerable knack is necessary to do this successfully and some force must be used. passing the heel joint is difficult but having done this and emerged inside the skin continue to pass it until it is a little longer than the leg bone beside it. [illustration: wiring leg of bird] turn the skin of leg inside out and wrapping tow around both bone and wire build up a duplicate of the leg from thigh to heel, wrapping snugly with thread. treat the other leg the same. with forceps fill the skull back of mouth with tow cut in short pieces. a quantity of this may be chopped on the block with the hatchet and kept on hand in a box. never fill any part of a mounted bird with cotton unless it may be the sockets as it is impossible to force a sharpened wire or pin through it. the parts of the wing bones remaining should be wrapped with tow as the legs are, only they hardly need any wiring inside unless the bird is to be with wings spread. fasten the ends of the wing bones together by a stout cord or thread so they are separated the distance between the shoulders, measuring across the back of body. now insert the neck wire in the back of skull forcing it out through the crown until the artificial neck is brought snugly against the opening at the base of the skull. bend the pointed end over to get it out of the way and adjust the skin of the neck. draw the skin of breast over the body keeping the bird on its back. if the body has been properly made it will fill the skin rather loosely. if too large it can be removed and made smaller before proceeding. the operator will note that in all small and medium birds the thigh and the upper wing, next the shoulder are not built up and wired with the rest of the limbs but are filled out later from inside the skin, as in all ordinary positions they show but little externally, the elbow and knee joints nestling close to the body among the feathers. so when fastening the legs to the body let the wires enter where the knee would lie and push the wire through obliquely, upward and forward, pushing and drawing them through the artificial and natural leg until the lower ends approach the feet. grasping the sharpened ends of the leg wires at the middle of the length projecting from the body, with round nose pliers bend them over in a hair pin shape. [illustration: bird wired.] work this loop back through the body pulling back through the leg and clinch the points over into the body again. if the body was firmly made as it should be, this fixes the legs permanently to it, yet they may be bent readily at the joints to suit various attitudes. adjust the skin now and fill out at shoulders, thighs, and base of tail with some chopped tow. the breast also may need some filling. sew up the skin beginning at the breast and finishing at the base of tail, lacing it together with the ball cover stitch. the pose of the finished specimen you have probably decided on before now so it only remains to put it in the desired attitude. this sounds easy, like sculpture, "just knock off what stone you don't need and there is the statue," but it may try your soul at length to obtain the desired effect. good pictures are a great help here, as of course a living duplicate would be if you had it. before setting it on its feet, coax the wings into place as you hold the bird in your hand and pin them to the body through the elbow and outer joint of the wing, using several pins 2 to 4 in. long or pieces of sharpened wire the same size. this will hold the wings out of the way and they may be changed and fitted perfectly later. mounted birds are usually put on temporary stands of rough boards or limbs and when fully dried out transferred to a permanent mount which can be prepared in the meantime of the exact size and variety wished for. on these temporary stands the leg wires are only twisted together so they can be easily removed. place the feet in natural positions of standing, walking or running and arrange the toes correctly. they had best have some pins driven in beside the toes to secure them till dry, as badly shaped feet will spoil the effect of an otherwise fine piece of work, indicating a careless workman. if on a bough or stump the feet should grasp it as if the bird really means to stay on it. two or three wires like those used on the wings hold the tail in place by being driven through the base of it into the body for half their length. fix the head looking down rather than up and to one side rather than straight ahead. if you have the proper glass eyes at hand they can be set now, if not, later will do but the lids are relaxed just now to receive them. fill the back of the sockets with tow or cotton and with a little spoon-shaped modeling tool give this and the inner surface of the lids a good coating of soft clay. the eyes, cut from the wire stem on which most of them come, are pressed into this and the skin worked into place with the point of a big needle or a small awl. now give the plumage a general going over, re-pin the wings if necessary, and wind down any obstreperous feathers with thread. a number of pins or wires thrust in the middle of back and breast will help this operation. starting at the head wind back to the tail, lacing the thread from pin to pin, not binding tightly with any one thread but producing a smooth surface by holding it down at a multiplicity of points. there are a number of so-called systems for winding birds but the same taxidermist seldom winds two alike as the needs of the case are sure to differ. to spread the tails of small birds, spread the feathers as desired and pin them between two strips of light cardboard. when dry they will retain their position. if all arranged properly set the bird away to dry; two weeks will be sufficient for this. [illustration: bird wound with thread.] any colors on bill or feet and legs should be renewed with oil colors as they fade almost entirely; if of a dark or neutral color originally, a coating of transparent varnish will do. there is a variety of beetle which delights in dining on such hard parts of mounted birds if not protected by paint or varnish. place the bird on its final mount and fasten the leg wires in grooves cut in the under side of same so they are flush with surface. the ends may be turned over and driven in again or held fast by small staples. if on the under side of a limb or branch a pinch of moss or lichen glued on will cover this fastening. cut away the binding threads and with cutting pliers cut off all projecting pins and wires, leaving what part of them is covered by the feathers. brush any clay from the eyes and if the lids have shrunken away from them as they do usually, coat a bit of black thread with glue and with a setting needle place between the lids and glass eyes. [illustration: the pose or position of certain birds] if the eyes were not on hand when first mounted the lids should have been relaxed and the eyes set as soon as procured. small birds may be mounted in fluttering attitudes by pinning the wings with a bunch of cotton beneath them, but if an attitude with wings fully spread is called for they must be treated in a manner similar to the legs, inserting the wire under the skin near the tip of the wing and running it along the under side of the wing bones to the body through which it is thrust and clinched as the leg wires were. [illustration: fluttering position of small birds.] birds mounted with spread wings cannot be so readily wound to smooth the plumage and require to be braced with strips of stiff paper and sometimes extra wires, which are removed when dry. [illustration: natural standing position of small bird on limb.] chapter x. mounting large birds. the same principles employed in the manipulation of smaller species apply to this class with but a few variations. on account of their size and weight the artificial bodies need to be especially firm in order to afford a secure anchorage for the wing and leg wires. also these supports should be fastened to the bones in several places with stout cord or small wire, as wrapping with the tow and thread used on small birds is hardly sufficient. what i would class as being large birds are the larger hawks, owls, herons, eagles, geese, etc. the several varieties of the ostrich are known as colossal birds and are skinned and preserved much as the large quadrupeds by mounting the prepared skin on a manikin, built in the pose of the finished specimen and supported by heavy iron rods. [illustration: bird of prey--limb position.] in mounting eagles or similar birds with wings spread, which seems to be a popular attitude, use the largest wires possible as anything less than that will, on account of their size and wide extent, tend to a drooping, back-boneless appearance entirely out of keeping. it goes without saying that large birds do not require the delicate handling of small ones, but by way of compensation considerable force is needed. [illustration: spreading tail of large birds. run a small sharp wire through the quills on under side of tail to spread it.] the combs and wattles of domestic and wild fowls cannot by any common process be prevented from shriveling and discoloring while drying, but when dry they may be restored by careful modeling in colored wax. this is applied warm with a brush and given its final finish with hot metal modeling tools. for museum work and other high grade work such heads are cast entire in wax in such a way that all feathers and hair are attached in their precise places. large water fowl are often mounted as flying, and suspended by a very fine wire. a sharpened wire with a ring turned in one end, thrust into the middle of the back and clinched in the body, forms a secure point of suspension. as it is not usually practicable to case many specimens of large birds, give them an extra thorough poisoning and when entirely finished spray with either corrosive sublimate or arsenical solution. in making bodies for large birds it is well to use excelsior for the main bulk of the body, merely covering the outside with a thin layer of tow. this is not only more economical but makes a lighter specimen than one filled with tow entirely. excelsior or wood wool is to be had in varying degrees of fineness of upholstery dealers. [illustration: spread eagle. wings braced up to dry.] in the case of a bird which has been wired and sewn up seeming to require further filling out, it can be accomplished in most cases by making an incision under each wing and introducing some flakes of tow with a wire stuffing tool. if the bird is mounted with closed wings this slit need not even be sewed up as the folded wing covers it completely. chapter xi. tanning, cleaning and poisoning skins. i have used the following method for some years successfully on skins up to and including the deer in size. most larger skins need thinning with a special tool, though an experienced hand can manage to thin a heavy hide with a common draw knife. an empty lard tub, a half barrel or a large earthenware jar to hold the tan liquor, a fleshing knife and a fleshing beam are necessary to begin with at least. any smith can make a knife of an old, large file or rasp by working both sides to a blunt edge and drawing the upper end out in a tang for another handle. a piece of old scythe blade with cloth wrapped around the ends will do, or a dull draw knife, either. one blade filed into fine teeth will be useful in removing the inner or muscular skin. [illustration: fleshing knife. (made from old rasp)] a slab or plank 6 or 7 feet long, with one end tapered and half rounded, on 2 or 4 legs of such length as to bring the end against the workman's chest, makes a beam. [illustration: bench beam.] a short piece of plank rounded off and bolted to the top of the table or work bench will do for small skins. [illustration: adjustable beam.] make up the quantity of tanning liquor you wish by the following formula, also given in chapter iii: water 1 gallon salt 1 quart bring to the boiling point to readily dissolve the salt, and add sulphuric acid 1 fluid ounce allow it to cool before putting in the skins. _handle the undiluted acid with care._ use common coarse salt and the commercial acid. skins not wanted at once may be left in this pickle for months without injury. about a gallon of pickle to a fox size skin is the correct amount, but it may be used several times before losing its strength. after the skin is removed from the carcass any blood and dirt is washed from the fur, the flesh side well salted, rolled up and left 12 to 48 hours. then thoroughly beam or scrape down the inside of the skin, removing all flesh, fat and muscles. skins already dry may be placed either in clear water or tan liquor until they soften up. it takes longer to soften in the tan, but if put in water it must be watched or the hair will start, especially in warm weather. a very hard, dry skin must be soaked and scraped alternately until thoroughly relaxed. when well softened, treat same as a fresh skin. if very fat or greasy, soak the skin in benzine an hour, wring out well, hang up till the benzine is about evaporated, then place in the tan. if not very fat the skin need not be put in the benzine first, but go in the tan at once after being scraped. i use common stove gasoline for benzine; it is as good for the purpose of cleaning and deodorizing, and cheaper. it must never be used in the vicinity of fire or a lighted lamp, as its evaporation produces a very explosive gas. for this reason i do the cleaning and beating of furs out of doors if practicable. gasoline wrung out of skins may be saved and, after allowing to settle, used again and again. it will not do for the final cleaning of white furs, but for removing grease before tanning, it is as good as any. stir the skins about in the tan frequently that all parts may come in contact with the solution. light skins like the fox will tan in 24 to 48 hours; heavier ones in proportional time. when on pulling or stretching the flesh side, it whitens, it is tanned. on taking from the tan, rinse the skin well in lukewarm water containing a handful of washing soda to the bucketful. wring out with the hands and soak again in benzine for half an hour. wring out of this and clean the fur at once as follows: fill a shallow box part full of clean sand or corn meal which has been heated in a pot or pan over the fire or in an oven. work the skin about in this until the fur is filled with the meal; then shake or beat it out. repeat the working in meal and beating until the fur is clean and bright. never put a damp skin into the meal without the gasoline bath first, or you will have the time of your life getting the meal out. regular fur dressers use very fine saw dust, but meal is to be had anywhere. plaster of paris will do, but it is most too fine. this treatment with gasoline or benzine removes the grease and animal odors so apt to cling to indian or home-dressed skins. after cleaning, allow the skin to partly dry in the air and shade; then soften it by stretching, pulling and rubbing in every part. there is no way to accomplish this without work. a pad made of old bags, pieces of blanket, etc., put on the beam, the skin placed on that and stretched in all directions with the blunt edge of the fleshing knife is as good as any way. keep up the stretching until the skin is quite dry. if any part should dry out too fast for the operator (that is, before it gets stretched) it can be dampened with water on the flesh side and then treated like the rest. if it is wanted extra soft the skin may be thinned down with sandpaper. if the dressed skin is wanted to lie flat as for a rug, it can be moistened on the flesh side; then stretched out and tacked fur side up on a board, the table top or the floor until dry. if this should cause it to harden or stiffen too much break it again without stretching too much. another very good tanning solution is the following: salt 1 quart oxalic acid (pulverized) 4 ounces water 2 gallons dissolve well and immerse the skins, treating them as already directed, rinsing in clear water only. it is also best to allow a little more time for tanning in this solution. while on the subject of dressing skins a few words in regard to cleaning furs will be in order. white furs especially that have become soiled and matted from use need cleaning frequently and are brought to the furrier or taxidermist for that purpose. a good washing in gasoline will usually remove the dirt, then dry out as in dressing furs. furriers often use powdered magnesia for this purpose but almost any finely divided white powder will do about as well. a long siege of beating, shaking and brushing will be necessary to get the drying powder all out of the fur so it will not sift out on the garments when wearing. if the piece to be cleaned is large (like a coat or cloak) the lining should be removed before cleaning. neck pieces and small furs are cleaned with linings, wadding, etc., intact. if the fur is so matted that beating does not fluff it out, it must be combed, using a metal fur comb to break up the tangles. charges for this work are based on the time used, though at least 75c. or $1.00 each is charged for the small pieces. as chemicals exposed to the changes of atmosphere are likely to lose strength in time, the owners of mounted heads generally take the precaution of having them poisoned against moth at varying intervals. personally i think once in three years is sufficient but some prefer to be on the safe side where valuable heads are concerned and have them treated yearly. large heads like buffalo, moose, and elk may be poisoned as they hang, thus obviating any subsequent handling which would be to the detriment of both specimen and operator. heads the size of deer and smaller are readily removed and replaced. first dust the head well and comb the hair or pelt to detect the presence of moth. if loose hairs reveal this the head should be removed to the open air, unscrewed from the shield and saturated with gasoline, which will kill both the moth and its eggs, after which poison against a repetition of the offense. pin an old cloth or newspapers about the neck to protect the shield and wall and spray the entire skin of the head with the diluted arsenical solution as recommended in chapter iii. seedsmen sell a sprayer for use on plants which is about the most convenient size, though the larger size used in the vegetable garden or even a toilet atomizer will distribute the solution. after it has dried wipe off the eyes and nose with a damp cloth and handle as little as possible. the common tariff on such work is for treating a single head not less than $1.00. two to four at one place, 75c. each, and over four, 50c. this for poisoning only. extra charges for killing moth. such work should be done in spring or early summer in the central states in order to be effective. chapter xii. making animal fur rugs. probably the first use (after clothing) made of skins was as rugs or coverings for the ground or couches, and in this shape they are still to be found in our most elegantly furnished homes. one of the few survivals of primitive tastes. the skins of some few animals such as polar and grizzly bears, tiger, jaguar, lion, puma, leopards and ocelots are used for little else, though some of the spotted cats are used for eccentric looking coats and fur sets. other smaller skins such as wolf, fox, 'coon, wild cat, etc. are much in favor as rugs as well as for garment furs. in skinning an animal for use as a rug it is as well to skin and stretch it open, cut under side of body from chin to the end of tail and from each foot down to the central line. a large animal like bear or leopard looks well with the paws preserved and they should be skinned down to the last joint, leaving the claws attached to the skin. smaller skins may have the paws preserved, though the effect is hardly worth the trouble and the smaller paws are easily crushed on the floor by a chance step. after skinning, using care to detach it from the head without mutilating the ears, eyes and lips, stretch flat on an inside wall, door, or table top. stretch evenly with tacks or small nails close together to avoid drawing out in points and of the approximate shape of the finished rug. that is, with the front feet well forward and hind feet pointing back, not spread as wide as possible. if you are intending to dress the skin it may be begun at once after skinning, as per the chapter on tanning, etc., or after fleshing it may be put in the pickle jar against a leisure day. otherwise stretch and dry for transportation or to send to the tanner. [illustration: half head. head with teeth. paper head forms--fox] as regards the mounting of heads for rugs, they may be done in three styles, called half or mask head, full head closed mouth, and full head open mouth. the first, as the name indicates, consists of the skin of the upper part of the head without that of the lower jaw mounted over an artificial form or "skull." the closed mouth (see dog) has the lower jaw mounted in addition, but without any teeth used, and the open mouth mounting requires a set of suitable teeth with the interior of the mouth, tongue and lips fully modeled and finished either with colored wax or by painting. these artificial head forms or skulls both with and without teeth and masks, are to be had in all varieties and several sizes each of dealers in taxidermists' supplies so cheaply that i would advise the novice to procure them if possible. in many cases it is necessary for the professional to make use of skulls with artificial teeth as the natural skulls are often thrown away by the collector. in the case of any large skin intended for a rug the roughly cleaned skull should accompany same. in ordering from dealers it is only necessary to give name of animal and the measure of skin from center of nose to inner corner of eye, and outer corner of eye to ear. [illustration: dog--closed mouth.] the beginner would do well to try mounting a rug with half head first and the more difficult open mouth later. a very fair mask form can be made by laying the skinned head down on a piece of thin board and marking around it with pencil, then cutting out to the outline. with a bunch of fine excelsior or coarse tow and a spool of thread a half-head form can be roughly blocked out by winding, using the board as a base. then with modelling clay and chopped tow the anatomy is perfected, pressing down here with the fingers, and building up elsewhere. with the skinned head to refer to as the form is modeled a good job can be done. however, if a number of skins of the same species are to be prepared it is best to make a mould in which unlimited paper forms may be cast. particulars in this work are given in chapter on casting and modelling. [illustration: foundation for tow and excelsior] the next step in rug making after drying the pelt is to prepare the head for mounting. it is as well to do little or no thinning down of the head skin during the tanning and even if it has been shaved down the vicinity of the eyes, ears, nose and lips will need thinning with a small sharp knife, and stretching out with a skin scraper. before beginning this process the head skin should be dampened on the pelt side with clear water (use pickle in warm weather). if the ears are not skinned before dressing they should be now, and turned inside out to the tips. a small screw driver with the edge blunted and rounded is a good tool for this work as it will not readily cut the thin skin of the ears. trim and scrape away any lumps of muscle, etc., and shave down the skin enough to be molded to the surface of the form when dampened. do not, however, cut away the bunch of muscles on each side of the cheeks in which the whisker roots are embedded, or these distinguished ornaments will drop out. by criss-crossing these with cuts they are made as flexible as the rest of the skin. after the shaving process get a suitable needle and stout thread and sew up any cuts or tears that have been made. if proper care has been used there will be little of this to do, always remembering that a cut is not irreparable but always makes extra work. bullet holes of large caliber destroy considerable skin and in order to close them it is best to cut them to a triangular shape and draw together by sewing up from the corners of the triangle, as per illustration. [illustration: sewing up bullet hole.] cut out from tough cardboard two ear forms a little longer at the base than the ear skin and small enough to slip inside them readily. before going further give the inside of the head and neck skin a coat of preservative. let this lay a few minutes to soak in and then after turning the ears right side out slip the cardboard ear forms into place. they should be coated first with liquid glue; work the skin over them with the fingers and fill around their bases with some cut tow and clay of about the consistency of soft putty. now place the head skin on the form, get the eyes and nose in place and drive in a few pins down the center of the face; they will hold it from slipping while working further on it. if the form is a little too short for this particular skin build it out with clay and tow, if too long it can have a trifle cut off. fill the sockets of the eyes with clay, build out the cheeks and the sides of nose with clay and tow and draw the skin of the lips down where they belong. the glass eyes are to be cut from their wires and set, drawing the lids around them with an awl. when they seem properly placed drive pins at both inner and outer corners. the ears are attacked next and when arranged to suit, three or four pins driven in at their bases to hold them. on a rug the ears should usually be laid back close to the head as by so doing the chance of their being broken off when finished and dry is lessened. also a mounted rug head is usually intended to register rage or anger. the upper surface of the face being attended to, turn it upside down on a folded bag or something in the nature of a cushion while we lace it across the form with a stout thread and needle. if a hollow paper form is used it should be filled with crumpled paper, excelsior, coarse tow or similar material. do not use fur scraps for this as i have seen done or it will be a moth nest. the whole inside of the skin may now be poisoned after slightly dampening, and then tacked out fur side up in the proper shape to dry. in order to make an animal skin lay flat to the floor it is necessary in most cases to cut out several v-shaped pieces. behind the fore legs almost always and often in front of them, also and frequently in front of the hind legs are the places where these gores are removed. consisting as they do of the thinly haired skin inside the legs their absence is not noticeable when neatly sewed up. take care in this final stretching of the rug skin to get it alike on both sides, or, as the artists say, bilaterally symmetrical. when tacked out, go back to the face and perfect it so it may dry just right. with a fine awl point draw the upper eyelids down a little, straighten the eye brows, lashes and whiskers, and mould the nostrils into shape, bracing them with damp clay; when dry it is easily removed. now set it aside until fully dry before proceeding with the trimming and lining. one and a half or two inch wire brads are good to use in stretching skins, but 3d wire lath nails will do; the longer brads are more easily handled. after removing the nails turn the skin on its back and draw a line from neck to tail with pencil or chalk. by measuring from points on this line we can trim off the legs and flanks of the rug evenly. if it is a small or medium size skin it will look best with an all felt lining. so by laying it flat on a piece of felt somewhat larger all round and marking around it at a distance of 3 inches we can cut out the lining. the edge of this is to be pinked. one end of our chopping block, usually of sycamore or oak, is kept for this function, and a few minutes work with pinking iron and hammer will border the lining with neat scallops. a sufficient length of felt strips about 2 inches wide, should be cut to reach around the outside of the skin, also pinked on one edge. allow generously for this as it will have to be gathered in rounding the feet and head. in the case of animals having a bushy tail or brush as the fox, wolf, etc., the tail is merely sewed up on the under side after poisoning and not lined or trimmed. pumas, tigers and others with short furred tails are trimmed and lined like the rest of the rug. in lining large rugs a double trimming of felt is often used and a lining of strong canvas is used throughout, as when on the floor it is not visible, protects the skin as well, and costs somewhat less. [illustration: pinked lining, briar stitched.] the trimming felt is sewed around the edge of the skin, passing the needle through from the back obliquely, resulting in a long stitch on the felt and a short one on the fur side. what few hairs are drawn down by this can be picked out later with a needle or awl. [illustration: sewing trimming on rug.] before sewing the lining on an interlining of cotton wadding should be cut out and basted in place with a few long stitches. now place the skin fur side up, on the lining and adjust it so an equal margin shows on all sides and pin it in several places to prevent its slipping while sewing it fast. to do this turn it felt uppermost and sew around just at the edge of the skin, in the trimming felt, reversing the stitch previously used. this hides the short stitch outside and if drawn up evenly will hardly be noticed if a color of thread has been selected corresponding somewhat to that of the felt. if an extra nice finish is desired the lining may be put on with a decorative briar or cat stitch with some bright colored silkatine. brushing away any clay from around the eyes and nose, giving the latter a touch of the proper color (black for the majority of animals). a coat of thin shellac to simulate the natural moist appearance and connecting the dried eyelids with the glass eyes with hot colored wax will about complete the rug. waxing around the eyes is done with a small round artist's brush and adds to the finished appearance of a job. in mounting a rug head with either full head, closed or open mouth, the beginner had best use a head form from the dealer for a few times at least. a little study of one of these will enable him to model an open mouth head, when a good set of teeth are supplied, and the ready made article not at hand. it requires considerable time and some natural ability to set the teeth and model the gums and tongue effectively. a tongue modeled with clay and tow, covered with several layers of papier mache and when dry, coated with flesh colored wax is good enough for any rug, though museum mounting might require that the tongue be skinned and the skin used to cover the model. plaster, putty, papier mache and various plastic cement materials are used for modeling mouths, of which papier mache is probably the best; plaster paris is often used in an emergency but is brittle and heavy. for modeling use finely ground paper pulp mixed with glue and plaster or whiting. only practice and experiment will determine just the precise mixture wanted. a paper half head form may be the basis and to this wire the jaw bones with their sets of teeth. clever work will reproduce the interior of the mouth, gums and tongue, and when perfectly dry they should be finished either with paint or colored wax. the tongue should have its base and lower side coated with glue and have a brad driven through it into the material between the lower jaw bones. if the head of this brad is well set in, a drop or two of wax will cover it. [illustration: coyote rug, open mouth (author's work.)] in preparing a skin for mounting an open mouth head the lips should be pared down and preserved as far as possible as they are to be filled out and attached to the form by pinning at their edges. common toilet pins are used for this, driving them in part way and when the work is dry cutting them off close down to the surface. after this is done the lips may be waxed thus joining them to the form completely. never fear to use plenty of pins in head mounting. in some places they may be driven to the head and left covered by the fur, in other places where there is little or no fur, cut them close and drive down flush. of course greater liberties may be taken with a rug skin than one mounted entire for exhibition, still a competent artist can put a great amount of expression in even a rug head. the close student of animal anatomy can produce an appalling snarl of anger on the heads of the larger carnivora or change the same to a sleepy yawn or grin in a few minutes' manipulation. the professional is often called in to repair damaged rugs and especially those with open mouths. here the operator must use his own judgment as no two seem to demand the same treatment. missing teeth may have to be supplied and carved from bone, celluloid or antlers. the tips of broken deer antlers make very good canine teeth and blocks of celluloid which are much easier to shape than bone, are sold by supply dealers. i have dwelt at some length on rug making as it is a branch of taxidermy which seems to be always in more or less demand with the public. also it forms an easy entrance to the more complicated mounting of complete animals and much of the work is identical with the process of preserving heads for wall decoration. chapter xiii. fur robes and how to make them. while not usually classed as taxidermy the making and repairing of robes will bring in many a dollar to the worker in the middle and northern states. a stitch in time (on a robe) often saves more than the proverbial nine, and the better the quality the more anxious the owner to have it put in good order. the late lamented bison furnished the robe par excellence, few of which pass through the hands of the taxidermist nowadays. their place has, in some degree, been taken by the galloway and other cattle hides, which also make a practically one piece robe of good weight leather. these are too heavy for economical dressing by hand, but the regular tanning concerns will dress them soft, pliable, and clean for a very reasonable price. the regular robe makers do much of their work with the heavy overstitch sewing machines, but it can be done as well or better by hand at the expense of more time. many of the smaller skins, as coyote, raccoon, fox, opossum, and wild cat make up as handsome carriage robes and sell at remunerative prices. skins of an inferior lustre or that are mutilated are often used. for instance, the skin of the head may be mounted separately and not interfere with using the balance in a robe. for use in a robe skins should be taken off open and stretched in a rectangular shape as near as possible. after tanning, sew up all cuts and holes in the skins, dampen the flesh side with clear water and tack out fur side down on the floor, table top, or better still on light boards cleated together which may be set on edge against the wall out of the way. in all sewing on rugs and robes be sure and use a substantial thread well drawn up, fine stitches are not essential but good material is, as such things come in for a deal of rough use unlike mounted specimens which are, or should be seldom handled. glovers triangular needles and gilling or carpet thread of suitable sizes are the necessary tools. skins of approximately the same size should be used in making up a robe or the effect will be bad. after stretching and drying, cut them to rectangular shape, taking care to get the darker line down the back in the center of each. a good way is to cut a piece of cardboard to the required size and mark around it. gaps in front of and behind the legs may be filled by sewing in small pieces rather than cut down the skins too much. the drawing shows coon skin marked to cut for robe. the skin is poorly stretched yet there are many even worse, altho trappers are learning to handle the skins in better shape. [illustration: coon marked to cut for robe] after the necessary number of skins are cut out they are sewed together in rows and the rows in turn sewed to each other like a patchwork quilt, taking care to have the fur all run the same way. the robe should now be dampened again and stretched and tacked to its full extent to remove any wrinkles and flatten the seams. this sewing is all done from the back of the robe using an even over-hand stitch. just before the final stretching it is well to apply arsenical solution to the damp skins. on drying it is ready for the trimming and lining. sometimes it is necessary to turn over the upper edge of the skins and baste it down or it may show the raw edge of the hides on account of the fur laying all one way. strips of felt 3 in. wide, pinked on one edge are used for trimming, and may be had from the dealers, ready to use, or we can buy the felt by the yard and easily pink it in the work room. any one doing much robe work would find a pinking machine (price about $5.00) a good investment, but the small hand iron does just as good work. [illustration: strong hide (cattle) lap robe.] a double border of contrasting colors may be used, the upper strip of which should be 3/4 inch narrower. the border is sewed on from the back with heavy thread, using the same stitch as that for the lining rugs. an interlining of cotton wadding is basted in place before the lining is sewed on. plush or beaver cloth is to be had in 54 and 60 inch widths and a variety of colors, of which the darker greens, browns, and blacks are to be preferred. fur robes are usually 48ã�60; 54ã�66; 60ã�70; or 60ã�84 inches in size, so linings of the above widths cut without waste. single cattle or horse hides may be left with the edges merely straightened or they may be cut and pieced to regular robe shape. the bushy tails of such animals as wolf or fox are sometimes used along one side or both ends as a fringe. the number of skins required to make a robe are as follows: raccoon 12 to 20 coyote, wolf or dog 6 to 10 wild cat 12 to 16 woodchuck or opossum 20 to 30 goat 4 to 8 baby carriage robes of angora or lamb skins are lined with quilted satin and trimmed with felt of some light shade. they usually have either an opening for the head and shoulders or a pocket for the feet. [illustration: coyote lap robe, 8 skins. note tails in center.] the natives of patagonia make up many robes of the guanaco and vicuna, dressing the skins and sewing them together with sinew. their dressing is faulty as the skins are apt to stiffen and crack and the sinew hardens with time until it becomes like wire, though the stitching is wonderfully even. they have, however, worked out a scheme of joining the skins in a way to eliminate waste, that is far ahead of civilized fur workers. a row of skins are joined head to tail and the next row headed the opposite way will fit in perfectly, the legs being left on the skins. the sketch with this will explain better than any description. the guanaco pelt being of a woolly nature makes it unnecessary to run it all the same way and the entire skins are utilized in spite of their ungainly shape, the flaps and tabs trimmed off filling the indentations around the outer edge of the robe. they make an excellent camp blanket as light and warm as the malodorous, hairy rabbit skin robe of hudsons bay, and no patagonian ranch house bed is complete without its guanaco coverlet. you will likely be called on to repair robes much oftener than to make them and such work is nearly all profit, as it generally consists in sewing up rips and tears in the skins. never attempt to do this from the front or fur side as it can only be done right from the back. to do this at least one side of the lining will have to be ripped and the robe turned, turning it back and resewing it on completion. linings are turned under at the edges all around. [illustration: patagonian robe of guanaco skins.] worn and soiled linings and trimming often need replacing with new material and it is sometimes necessary to purchase an unlined goat "plate" to repair robes of that common variety. worn robes can be cut down in size if no similar material is to be had for repairs. chapter xiv. mounting entire small fur animals. in chapters vi and viii directions are given for skinning and preparing this class of animals for mounting, so with the skin properly cleaned and poisoned before us the next thing is to cut the wires for a supporting frame. these are six in number usually, body wire, tail wire and one for each leg. the body wire is about one-half longer than from nose to base of tail; tail wire the length of the tail bone and half the body, and each leg wire twice the length of the leg. i have spoken of using a muskrat for an initial attempt as it is of a convenient size to handle and the length of its fur will hide small defects in the anatomy. most books of instruction select a squirrel for the beginner's victim. it is true it is not as difficult as a hairless mexican terrier but it is apt to discourage the learner. an opossum will do very well or any long haired animal of about that size. we will first reconstruct a hind leg and if it is a fresh specimen being mounted without a bath in the pickle we can have the opposite leg in the flesh to guide, as to proper proportions. the wire is passed through the cut in the bottom of the foot and along the back of the leg bones where it is secured in about three places by tying with small cord. the end is left projecting three inches beyond the end of the upper leg bone. [illustration: hind and front leg of muskrat wrapped ready to clay and return to skin.] the muscles and flesh are replaced by winding on tow with stout thread until the approximate size is reached, when the surface is given a thin coating of clay and the leg is drawn back into its skin. the fore legs are in the same manner built to the joint with the shoulder blade. after sharpening the tail wire to a point it is wound with fine tow and thread and coated with clay until it duplicates the bone and flesh removed. this is slipped into the tail sheath with the unwound end projecting into the body and the slit along the lower side of tail sewed up. after making a ring about the diameter of a .22 shell on one end of the body wire place it on your sketch where the hip joint was marked, letting the wire run lengthwise of the body. another ring similar is made at the shoulder. these form the points of attachment for the legs. [illustration: wiring for small animals, front leg wires twisted to back wire.] the skull, cleaned of flesh and poisoned, should have the muscles replaced with tow and the whole coated with clay. force a piece of cork into the opening at the back of the skull. sharpen the end of body wire and force it through the cork and out one of the nostrils. the skull is pushed back along the wire until it reaches the proper distance from the shoulder ring, when all but an inch or so of the projecting wire is cut off. insert the skull through the body opening and work it up the neck into its place in the head skin, letting the end of wire go through the nostril of skin also. this will hold the nose in place. adjust the eyes and ears also. now pass the ends of leg wire through the rings from their opposite sides. the tail wire is passed through the rear ring and twisted around the body wire a few times. the ends of leg wires projecting through the ring cross, so twist them together a turn or two with pliers, next bring them down and under the body wire, twisting them together, first one side of it and then the other. this treatment will fasten the legs and tail also firmly to the body wire. thus we have the skin with head, tail and legs filled out and the supporting wires fastened together. the remainder of filling, usually chopped tow, is placed with fingers, forceps, and stuffers. first a good layer next the skin all around, then part this and fill in the center a little at a time, first at one end, then the other. put a good cushion at the hips and shoulders between the wires and the skin and also at the back. fill out the neck well but do not stretch it unduly. begin sewing up at both ends of the opening cut, drawing a few stitches up and tying the thread while you fill a little more. model the animal into shape from time to time by pressure with your hands and when filled out and sewed up tie the threads together. our animal is now lying on its back with head, tail and limbs extended; bend them into some natural position and set it on its feet. it may be well to force a little chopped tow and clay into the bottoms of the feet and draw the cuts in them together with a few stitches around the leg wire projecting from them. a temporary stand of a piece of board supported on cleats at each end is prepared and a number of holes bored for the leg wires. a little experimenting will find the proper place for these when the surplus ends of wire are bent along the bottom of the board and fastened with staples. complete the head and face modeling now, filling out the cheeks and lips and pinning them in place. work the skin around the eyes and ears into proper place and fasten with pins. fill eye sockets with sufficient clay and set the eyes, drawing the lids down where they belong. any deficiencies at the back of the head can be filled through the ears. in the case of a muskrat the ears are so insignificant that they only need a little clay and tow forced into them to hold them in place. more prominent ears as those of fox, 'coon, or wild cat must be filled with a pasteboard form, cut the proper size and shape, coated with liquid glue and inserted from the inside before returning the skull to the skin. the ears of all animals should be pocketed when skinned, that is turned inside out to their tips to admit preservatives and later some filling material which will retain their shape when dry. do not skin out and throw away the ear cartilage but leave it adhering to the skin of the inner side of the ear. without it this skin is very frail and brittle and thorough pickling will prevent shrinkage and distortion of the ear. before leaving the head push it slightly towards the body on the wire and cut same close to end of nose. pull head back to place, the wire disappears up the nose about 1/4 inch, then you can shape the nostrils and fill so they will not shrivel up in drying and look as though their owner had been a mouth breather. [illustration: opossum mounted in walking position.] if the general pose and appearance seem correct finish up by placing the feet and toes correctly. nothing gives a mounted animal a more trampish, disreputable appearance than slouchy, run over feet with toes that don't seem to be on the job. lastly comb the fur out and fluff it up before setting away to dry. animals up to the coyote in size are usually mounted by similar methods to the preceding. sometimes a piece of board is substituted for the body wire, especially in the larger specimens, the wires to which are too heavy to clinch readily. the skull is on a separate neck wire and all wires are fastened to the back board by passing through holes and then stapling. of course it is possible to mount small specimens by the same methods most large ones are, by drawing the skin over a hard filling, in fact a statuette, which must be made to fit the skin. this method in the case of small animals requires so much time that it is impossible in ordinary commercial work. strive to put your mounted animals in easy natural poses unless you are making a grotesque, in which case go the length. clean the eyes and teeth with a brush when dry, and beat the fur to make it stand out. fasten securely on whatever form of mounting you have decided on, countersinking the wires on the under side. accessories, as a piece of food in the mouth or paws, are added now if they have been prepared for. [illustration: cat sitting and watching] a slip with record of the specimen written on it and pasted to the under side of stand will usually be appreciated. if the mouth is wanted open it should be braced in that position, the lips, etc., held in place by clay. when it is dry this can be dug out with awls and modelling tools and the tongue, gums, and inside the mouth modelled in mache or some plaster composition. the tongue may be modelled in connection with the lower part of the mouth or made separately and fastened in place with a brad and some glue. colored wax, pink for the inside and black for the lips, applied hot with a little brush in several coats finish the open mouth. a little black wax will join the eyelids to the glass eyes if they have shrunk away and the inside of the nostrils should be coated with a little pink. bare skin on the end of the nose should be varnished. chapter xv. mounting large animals entire. though at one time nearly all animals were mounted by the soft body or stuffing method as described in the previous chapter, very few of the larger ones are so treated now. an adequate frame is built in a body of the proper size and proportions, the surface of which reproduces those muscles lying next the skin. the skin, well pared down and poisoned, is sewed, pinned and glued to this surface. in the small specimen clay was used next the skin in places to perfect the modelling, but such amounts would be required for a large animal as to affect the durability of the skin. clay and plaster being in a dry state very absorbent, will eventually rob of all oily matter any skin in contact with them. such skins will crack, split and finally disintegrate as thoroughly as those having an excess of fat adhering to them. to prevent this a layer of some glue composition or paper is used just beneath the skin. as an example in this mode of mounting a black bear would answer nicely. if the leg bones are attached to the skin they may be unjointed at the toes and laid aside while the skin is well shaved down on its entire inner surface. a thoroughly flexible skin is entirely at the command of the taxidermist, one stiff or hard cannot be placed or kept in place at will. after beaming, splitting the lips and nose cartilage, pocketing the ears and sewing up cuts and tears, the skin is dropped in the pickle. an outline sketch is made with chalk on the shop floor and on this the bones of the legs are arranged. a stiff wire bent along the back of each set of leg bones will guide us in bending the iron rods used as supports. these should be from 5/16 to 1/2 inch in diameter, threaded and fitted with two nuts at the lower end and eighteen inches or so longer than the leg bones themselves. of this extra length, enough is allowed below the feet to fasten to the pedestal, the balance is bent in a right angle from the end of the upper leg bone. at the distance of the hip joint from the central line of the body it is bent again parallel with the back board; for a hind leg. the front leg rods are bent in the same way at the joining of the shoulder blade with the humerus or upper bone of the front leg. you will readily see the desirability of preserving at least one set each of the hind and front leg bones. in such case the missing bones can be roughly blocked out of wood to the proper dimensions, while if none are saved you will have to do the same depending on the skin for measurements. [illustration: frame for bear manikin.] the end of the rods lying along the back should be bent again in a v shape to prevent their turning when fastened to it. the location of the hip and shoulder joints are marked on one side of the back board, the rods for that side laid in place and fastened by drilling holes each side of them and passing loops of stout wire through and twisting them tightly on the other side with heavy pliers. the rods for the other side are fastened in the same manner, in fact they may be fastened with the same wires, but it will be stronger if the fastenings are separate. the leg bones are bound fast to the rods with wire or twine. holding the back board in the vise by the middle the leg rods with bone attached are adjusted to the position of the finished specimen. the threaded ends which project below the feet are bent straight down. a rough pedestal of boards on 2ã�4 cleats at each end, is made, the frame placed on it and marking where the rods will enter, bore suitable holes to receive them. one nut is turned up each rod a short distance and after inserting in the holes in the pedestal the others are screwed up tightly from below. our frame now stands alone and rigid and should be viewed from all sides to correct any errors. it should not be too high, front or rear, and also having the back-board perfectly vertical or plumb. insert two pieces of rod in the opening at the back of the skull and fasten them there by mixing enough plaster of paris and water to fill the cavity, to the consistency of molasses and pouring it in around them. the ends of the rods should be bent or roughened to prevent them slipping out after the plaster has set. a surplus of plaster can be placed around the articulation of the jaws, at the same time holding them in place. these neck rods are to run beside and be fastened to the back-board as the legs were. let one remain straight and fasten it loosely so it may be drawn in and out the loops until the proper length of neck is formed, then tighten them and fasten the other rod also. before fastening these try the skin over the frame, making sure it will cover in all directions. a tail wire stapled to the top of the back-board completes the frame. [illustration: bolting leg rods to stand.] if two good sized rectangular holes are cut in the back-board just in front of the hind legs and behind the shoulders they will be useful later in shaping the body by sewing back and forth with a mattress needle and cord. drive a row of lath nails into the top and bottom edges of the back-board about half their length at 2 inch intervals. they will enable you to build up first one side, then the other of the body by winding down excelsior with wrapping cord. these nails are driven fully in when the winding is finished. the limbs also are built up by using the same material. do not build up any part to a perfect fit yet, however, as we must leave room for a shell of paper 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. depressions in body and limbs are reproduced by sewing from side to side or drawing down with nails. the neck and skull are built up in much the same way and the skin fitting loosely, the manikin is surfaced up with a coat of soft modelling clay well rubbed in with a small trowel. the paper coating is to be applied while the clay is still damp so a large specimen must be partly covered with a damp cloth to prevent it drying out prematurely. the paper for this purpose should be of some soft easily pulped variety; common building paper is good and may be torn in pieces of various size, soaked in water 15 minutes, then squeezed out and coated on both sides with paste. this is applied to the surface of the figure, the edges overlapping slightly, until completely covered. use paper of a different color for each alternate coat to insure its completion. five or six coats will be sufficient when it may be left to dry, after which treat it to a good coat of shellac. the skin is withdrawn from the pickle, rinsed in soda solution, put through the benzine and meal drying and coated on the entire inner surface with preservative. glue coated ear forms are slipped into place and fastened by long stitches back and forth through the ears. the feet and bases of ears are filled with papier mache pulp and the surface of the manikin coated with liquid glue. now the skin is put on the form to stay, fastening down the central line of the back with wire brads and drawn together at the junction of legs and body with stout stitches. the legs are sewn up first and the opening cut of the body last. a surplus of skin may be worked out and distributed with the point of an awl, while it may be pulled and stretched to cover a shortage in another point without changing the animal's form in the least. the ears are pinned in place and their bases distended by tow pressed in with stuffers. pointed wires thrust through the openings of the ears into the skull will hold them in place until dry. the nose, lips and around the eyes are correctly placed, filling slightly between the skin and paper if necessary, use plenty of common pins to hold the skin in place. they are either drawn or cut off flush in short-haired skins when dry, but in one like the bear they may be driven to the head and left so. any places not inclined to stay put may be clamped down with strips of cardboard pinned on. the glass eyes should be placed now before setting away to dry, which will require some time. when dry any bare patches of skin will have a dead appearance and require painting with oil colors thinned with turpentine to reduce the gloss. the end of the nose and lips are touched with varnish to produce the natural moist appearance. if mounted with open mouth this is modelled in paper and wax coated as already described. the fur which should have been nicely combed after mounting will need another brushing and the animal is ready for removal to a permanent mount or pedestal. some little judgment can be displayed in this selection as a poor, rough mounting will detract from the appearance of the best work while a specimen far below the average will pass muster with tasteful and suitable surroundings. the same principles will apply with some exceptions in mounting about all large animals. some of the most ponderous have a hollow wooden frame made to reduce the bulk of filling required; this is covered with wooden strips or lath and this in turn with a layer of fibrous material. supporting rods more than 1/2 inch in diameter must have both ends threaded and be connected with the back-board by iron squares. these consist of a rectangular piece of iron, bent at right angles and drilled with a number of holes in both flanges. one set of these is for screwing to the back-board while the others are of a size to receive the upper end of the leg rod. by changing these from one hole to another it is possible to vary the distance somewhat between the front and hind legs without moving the iron squares on the back-board. [illustration: fastening rods to back with iron squares.] sometimes the hair will be found missing in one or more places on a finished animal and in such case "old dr. le page's liquid hair restorer" is the only remedy. the place to be covered is coated with glue and a small tuft of hair from the same or another skin grasped with a forceps, the base touched with glue and carefully placed. the hair is arranged with a setting needle before the glue hardens, and though a tedious operation it may be performed so well as to defy detection. another way where the hair or fur is of some length is to procure a patch of the right size with hair matching that surrounding, shaving the hide thin, coating the back with glue and pinning on the bare spot. chapter xvi. mounting heads of small animals, birds and fish. one of the most interesting collections which the average nature lover can make is of the heads of small game. the expense is smaller than where the entire subject is preserved, they occupy but little room, and are easily kept in good order. [illustration: wild cat head mounted on shield.] heads of small fur bearers are all mounted in about the same way. in skinning split down the back of neck from between the ears to base of neck, cut around neck in front of shoulders and turn the scalp wrong side out over the head, put it through the usual pickling, paring, cleaning and poisoning. if ears are pocketed and lips split before pickling it may prevent the loss of hair and epidermis, in warm weather especially. clean the skull if the head is to be mounted with open mouth. if the skull is not to be had, the teeth are broken, or you are in a great hurry, use an artificial form with the interior of the mouth already modelled. enlarge the opening at the back of skull and insert a piece of board not wider than the depth of neck from top to bottom. drill a hole in top of skull and drive a screw into the board into the board inside skull cavity, prop the lower jaw open the desired distance and fill around its articulations and the base of skull around neck board with freshly mixed plaster of paris. [illustration: fox head skinned and on neck standard.] when this hardens the skull with open jaws is firmly fixed on end of neck board. fasten neck board in vise and mark where to saw off, allowing for a piece of 1/2 inch board shaped like a cross section of the neck. if an artificial form is used, screw it to the neck board and treat the same otherwise. make the neck short rather than long with the nose lower than the eyes in most cases. build up neck and head by winding on tow. mount and finish the head as directed in rug work. [illustration: leopard head, artificial.] the skin may be fastened at the end of neck by pins or brads driven all around the neck. trim off any surplus with a knife, cutting from inside the skin to prevent cutting off ends of fur. if a skin has been ripped up the front to the chin careful sewing will make it presentable, though such seams are hard to conceal. [illustration: hawk head.] the heads of birds of prey and the larger game birds show up well mounted and need no special treatment from that generally given. the neck only is made up on a wire, one end of which is sharpened to thrust through the skull while the other is stapled or clinched to a bit of board round or oval shape. the skin of the base of neck is fastened to this by sewing back and forth across the back. heads of fish like bass and pike are prepared by cutting off just back of the gills and cleaning from the back all brains and flesh. after poisoning, fill them with tow or cotton, bracing the mouth open if wanted so and keep in the desired position until dry. then the fibrous filling is removed and they are filled permanently with plaster or paper pulp and a piece of board fastened in the back of head to furnish a hold for screws from the back of the shield or panel. the inside of the mouth will need remodelling with wax and the whole given a coat of white varnish. any bright colors which may have faded should be retouched with oil colors before varnishing. suitable mounts for small heads are in the regular shield and round and oval shapes, and rustic panels of natural wood. a number of small heads may be mounted on one long panel. chapter xvii. mounting heads of large game. mounting heads, of horned game especially, is a branch of taxidermy which suffers no diminution in popularity. such work is turned out at the present time in far better shape than it was years ago, but many fine heads still remain that were gathered in days of abundance of buffalo, elk and mountain sheep. [illustration: sheep head.] in skinning horned heads never open the skin up the front of the neck; not only are such seams difficult to hide but the skull with antlers cannot be entirely removed from the skin as it should be. to do this open the skin down the center of the back of the neck from just back of the horns to the shoulders or at least half that distance. a neck of medium length is preferable and many a fine head has been ruined by being cut off just back of the ears. connect the upper end of the opening cut with the base of each horn or antler by a short branch making the whole opening of a y or t shape. turn the neck skin inside out down over the head, which in case of a deer may rest on the antlers, until the ears are reached, cut these off not too close to the head and the horns are next met with. [illustration: skinning horned heads. cut on heavy lines.] work the skin from around the base of these with a dull knife or a small screwdriver blade. with the same tool pry the thick skin away from the frontal bone. when the eyes are reached have a care not to cut their lids, working closer to the bone than the skin. use the screwdriver again to scoop up the skin from the so-called tear pits in front of the eyes. let all the dark colored skin on the inside of the lips remain attached to them. the skin of the neck is the thickest on the whole animal and must be reduced by shaving. the skin of the whole head and neck should not only be freed from all flesh and muscle but shaved to about one-half its original thickness. for this purpose work on it with a sharp knife or draw shave on a half rounded beam. [illustration: horned heads--antelope, deer.] split the lips and remove their fleshy interior, split the nose cartilage and separate it from the outer skin. with some blunt tool pry the skin of the back of the ear from the cartilage and turn the ears wrong side out to their tips. give the scalp at least 24 hours' pickling or it will be liable to excessive shrinkage on drying. many a fine head mounted green, without thinning or pickling, has shrunk and continued to shrink for months, until all stitches gave way and it cracked and shriveled to an inglorious end. if a paper head form is to be used, the top of the skull at the base of the antlers is sawn off and the balance of the skull discarded, the more common method will require the cleaning of the skull with antlers remaining on it. a little boiling will expedite this and by chopping an opening (1-1/2 inches wide in case of a deer) into the lower part of the brain cavity the brain is removed. this opening will also receive the end of a wooden neck standard of plank three inches wide. [illustration: deer skull on standard.] a nail through the top of skull will hold it temporarily till the lower jaw bones are placed and the whole held solid by packing the base of skull and jaws in a mass of soft plaster which will harden in a few minutes. this neck standard should be at right angles to the greatest length of the head. measuring the neck skin where cut off gives the circumference of an egg-shaped board, representing a cross section of the neck at that point in a vertical line. the neck standard is sawed off at the proper place and angle and made fast to the board by nails and screws. with a very short neck it will be necessary to depress the nose considerably that the antlers may not come in contact with the wall. this should all be calculated before fixing the skull permanently on the neck standard. the standard can be held in the vise and a little measuring will indicate the point of attachment and angle needed to clear the wall. [illustration: neck board.] now wind excelsior on the neck standard and skull until the skinned head and neck are roughly reproduced. try the skin on occasionally to guide in this. do not put any excelsior on the upper part of the skull and face as no amount of flesh was removed there. give the cheeks a natural fullness and remember the neck was not round like a stove pipe. by sewing from side to side the shape of the gullet and wind pipe can be molded. when the skin is still not quite filled give the head and neck a coating of potter's (or modelling) clay and then several coats of well pasted paper as directed for covering manikins for large animals. when this has completely dried out remove skin from pickle, clean and poison it and after placing the ear forms it will be ready to cover the head and neck. i prefer good cardboard forms for the ears though some use only metal. lead is too clumsy and heavy, copper and wire cloth corrode, pure sheet tin works nicely but is expensive. the form should receive a couple coats of liquid glue before the skin is put on to stay. fasten the skin in front of the eyes with a brad and draw into place about the base of the antlers. use a heavy needle and waxed linen cord for this sewing. heavy gilling twine doubled will do. sew up from first one and then the other antler to the central cut down the back of the neck, tie the threads together and continue sewing down the neck. get the skin on face and around mouth placed, then draw the neck skin tight and nail to the edge of the board with finishing brads an inch or more long. any surplus remaining can be trimmed away. a square of rough board, screwed on the end of the neck, will enable it to stand on the bench with nose up while the final touches are put on the anatomy of the head and face. [illustration: paper head and ear forms.] the split lips filled with a little clay are placed and will usually stay without pinning if the lower lips are tucked under where they belong. fill the end of the nose and around the nostrils nicely, no live deer ever had a shriveled up nose. fill under the eyebrows as the skin there was quite thick before paring. set the eyes, after filling sockets with clay. a little work with a sharp awl will put the lids in place with lashes disposed aright. if the ears have not been permanently fixed, do so now filling out their bases with stuffers and thrusting stout wires into the head to keep them set until dry. a few stitches are taken to hold the skin of both sides of the ears together, when dry they are removed. brush the hair down and if it persists in rough spots, paste them and then smooth down. when dry the comb and brush will remove the scales of paste readily along with any dirt from the hair. when dry clean the antlers and oil them lightly, brush out the hair and clean all clay from eyes and nose. connect the eyes and lids with black wax, model the inside of nostrils with cream or pink wax and varnish the end of nose and any bare lip that may show. pins and brads that will show are drawn out and others cut off level with the skin. the head which has hung drying on the rough board may be removed to a finished shield as complete. [illustration: finished head. (author's work.)] the paper form method has numerous advantages but is not always convenient to procure. it will save the beginner much tedious work and greatly expedite matters for the professional. these forms as supplied by dealers are of the entire head and neck. by cutting off the neck at the proper point, nailing in the neck board and screwing the plate of bone at the base of the antlers to a block in the top of head it is ready to receive the skin. it will require but a short time for the skin to dry on this foundation so the finished head is often ready to return at the end of a week. [illustration: paper head forms for elk and deer heads.] for a number of years i have used a modification of this process. in this the form is cast in halves which are joined on a board cut to the outline of the head and neck. this will afford a secure attachment for the antlers and in addition the skin of the neck may be nailed securely each side of the opening cut, making any ripping or opening by shrinkage at that point forever impossible. these paper forms may be bought or made in various sizes, so by the addition of a small amount of some modelling material any skin is fitted. with a supply of them on hand work can be turned out rapidly during the busy season. these directions for mounting will apply equally in case of moose, elk or other large game heads, always providing supports adequate for the larger animals. a mounted head with insufficient and wabbly mechanical construction is not a joy forever. the head of a common sheep or ram is a good one for the beginner, as its coat of wool covers small defects. it is a convenient size to handle and if not entirely successful no great expense has been incurred. on the other hand a fairly mounted ram's head is quite ornamental and suitable, especially on the wall of a country house. chapter xviii. mounting horns and antlers. a neatly mounted set of antlers or horns are an ornament anywhere, in the home, office or public room, and in case any one of the out-o'-door fraternity wishes to try setting up a pair, i will give a few simple directions and hints which may be helpful. some bits of lumber, screws, plaster of paris, plush or leather, tacks, etc., are about all the materials needed; also a one-fourth inch drill bit to make the necessary holes in the frontal bone. by sawing off the top of the skull down to the eyes we separate the antlers and the frontal bone on which they grow, from the rest of the skull. care should be taken to leave the same amount of bone on each side, so the antlers will be the same distance from the wall. for antlers of small or medium size eastern deer, cut a heart-shaped block about 4ã�5 inches from a piece of soft 7/8-inch board. the edges of this should be slightly beveled toward one side. this may be cut out in its finished shape with a keyhole saw, or roughed out with a hand saw, and trimmed up with a draw knife or wood rasp. after drilling two or three holes in the plate of bone attached to the antlers, arrange them evenly on this block and screw fast, using screws which will not protrude from the back of the block. if the bone is uneven or the antlers do not hang right, small pieces of wood may be inserted at one side or the other until the desired effect is had. now put a half pint of water in some old dish and mix in plaster of paris until it is like very thin putty. with an old knife you can spread this over the bone and round it up nearly to the burr of the antlers. [illustration] if the first mixing is not enough, mix a little more, for if too much plaster is put on anywhere it can be easily scraped off before it gets dry. this needs to be put on quickly as the plaster soon "sets" or hardens and in fifteen or twenty minutes it can be scraped and trimmed to a smooth, rounding surface. for covering this wood and plaster base, plush, soft leather or pantasote is used. plush or velvet is the easiest to apply for a beginner. a piece about nine inches square will do for our set of small antlers. lay this on the plaster and turning it over the edge of the block, tack it on the back with carpet tacks, beginning in the center, at top and bottom. slit in each side to the antler and cut a hole large enough to be a snug fit for the antler below the burr. draw on and tack, getting the wrinkles out as you proceed, the lower, or front part, first. lap the upper or back over it neatly at each side, turning the edges under and fastening them with a few stitches. it is a good plan to drive the tacks only part way at first, then they can be easily drawn and re-arranged. now cut two strips of the material to go around below the burr of the antlers. turn the edges of these under, draw them tightly around and fasten the ends together back of the antlers with a few stitches. they are now ready for fastening on a shield or panel. cattle horns should have the piece of bone connecting them screwed to a long oval block, then treated similarly. horns of sheep, cattle and goats frequently come loose from the bony core. a little plaster mixed very thin and poured inside the horn just before replacing them will fasten them on again. do not try to polish, paint, gild or otherwise improve the natural appearance of deer antlers. wash and clean them well and rub in a little linseed oil. polishing brings out the beauty of horns of cattle and bison, if the operator is lavish of elbow grease. the process is this: fasten the horns firmly somewhere and attack first with rasp, then file, scrape with glass, fine sandpaper, finer sandpaper, powdered pumice stone, putty powder. finish with oiled rag. old bison horn, weathered on the prairies till they resemble old roots, can be made to look like polished ebony by the above formula. don't forget to add the elbow grease, though. [illustration: bolting "shed" antlers to 2 ã� 4 block.] shed antlers are a different and rather difficult proposition. it is a tedious job to drill them and insert heavy irons in their bases so firmly as to prevent turning. often they are cut off at a bevel, drilled and screwed directly to the shield with brass round headed screws. by drilling into the base of a shed antler, above the burr, in a diagonal direction it may be bolted to a short piece of 2ã�4 scantling. fasten both antlers on this in a natural position in relation to each other, then drill a second hole in each and bolt them fast, using machine bolts and countersinking the heads in the antlers by chiseling. [illustration: shed elk antlers to be mounted. from national zoological park washington, d. c.] the piece of scantling will need to be carved a little in order to get a good bearing for the butt of the antlers. this artificial forehead, as we might call it, is to be fastened to a heart-shaped block by nailing or screwing from the back and covered as directed before. if the countersunk bolt heads are carefully modelled over with putty or "mache" and colored like the antlers no one will know they are not attached to a 'bony' fide forehead. elk antlers will need 5/16 inch bolts, while 1/4 inch is sufficient for most deer antlers; indeed screws of that diameter will hold a small pair quite securely. sometimes the upper part of the skull is scraped, bleached and fastened entire to the shield with brass screws or bolts. the base block for large deer antlers should be thicker and larger in proportion. elk and moose antlers requiring to be fastened with heavy coach or lag-screws to a block cut from two-inch plank. africa has a profusion of horned game mostly of the antelope family and of late years many of these horns find their way to the walls in this country. they are mounted as directed for the deer with the exception that many of them are improved by polishing the tips or even nearly the entire length of the horns. as most of them are corrugated or twisted in great variety this calls for considerable preliminary work with half round and round rasps and files before sandpaper, glass and polishing powders give a finish. if the tips and the higher surfaces of the balance are completely polished, the rest smoothed down somewhat and the entire horns rubbed with a little oil the effect will be good. [illustration: a good shield pattern] [illustration: back of block] shields are made in various patterns, woods and sizes, the average pair of deer antlers requiring one 7/8 inch thick and about 8ã�10 or 10ã�12 inches. oak in a dull oil finish always looks well, though walnut, cherry, ash and birch are much used. if near a woodworking shop provided with a jigsaw and moulder they will turn them out in any pattern you may wish. the ogee moulded edge is to be preferred. if you have to make it yourself, a simple diamond, square or oval panel with rounded or beveled edge will be sufficiently difficult. arrange the antlers in place on the shield and mark lightly around the base, remove them and drill three holes for screws. countersink for the heads on the back of the shield and so fasten the antlers in place. for light horns a brass screw-eye at the top of shield is used to hang them, but heavy moose and elk antlers require an iron plate in back of shield, let in flush across the top of a perpendicular groove to catch a hook or head of a heavy nail in the wall. [illustration: deer antlers; elk feet; bison horns.] if the antlers are to be used as a rack for hats, guns or rods, two screw-eyes or plates will be necessary to prevent turning. there are other methods of mounting horns and antlers, but i have found the above to be the most substantial and neat, and not very difficult. chapter xix. mounting feet and hoofs. many sportsmen now preserve the feet of their large game to have them made up in various articles of use and ornament which they can distribute among their friends or use in their own homes. some of these articles are gun and rod racks, furniture legs and feet, ink wells, match, cigar and ash holders, thermometers, paper weights, umbrella and cane handles. [illustration: wooden crook for deer foot.] it goes without saying that for such things as racks, furniture legs, handles and thermometer mounts the leg skin attached to the hoof should be left six or more inches in length while for ink wells, etc., it may be shorter. [illustration: skinned deer foot.] [illustration: deer foot ink well.] in fairly cool weather the feet and lower legs of deer will keep for some days without skinning as they contain but a small amount of flesh. still it is safest and but the work of a few minutes to split them up the backs, skin down to the toe joints and cut them off there. dry them with or without salting and they are easily packed up to carry home or send to the taxidermist. if one foot and shank is received in the flesh it will aid in mounting them up as racks, furniture legs, etc., as for such purposes the skin is mounted over a piece of wood of the size and shape of the skinned leg. for preparing feet for racks and handles it is well to supply yourself with a number of natural crooks of about the size of a deer's leg and nearly of a right angle. sassafras, gum or some soft wood work up easiest. when skinned place in pickle or give foot coating of arsenic and alum--pickle is best. be sure and leave enough skin attached to hoof; a little experience will teach you this. now remove foot from bath, rinse well and sew up same as far as the claws; next bore a hole through the claws from inside of claws, where it will not show. get two wire nails and nail these claws to a board, as shown in a. now arrange the hoofs as shown in illustration and put a screw into each from underneath, to hold them down (b), or you can nail a cleat across them by nailing to the block on each side of hoof; the idea is to get these parts firmly placed in position. now finish sewing up the skin and stuff it full of chopped excelsior, shaping the foot as you proceed. now drive a long nail against back side of foot to keep it from sagging (c). allow the foot to thoroughly dry. [illustration: deer foot thermometer.] when dry remove excelsior and cut off surplus skin around top and the foot is ready for an ink well, match safe, ash tray or paper weight, as they all go on the same way. mix up some plaster of paris in water and run the foot full and place the ink well or other fitting in place and allow the plaster to "set" and the foot is finished. if you wish a pen rest you can now place it in position. in setting up thermometers remove bone to hoof and whittle out a stick shape of bones removed. coat inside of skin with arsenic and alum and place stick in position and sew up skin. put on metal cap at top and tack on thermometer. for hooks on racks, work up a stick with crook into the approximate size and shape of the deer's leg with the foot bent at right angles. it had best be a little small so it can have a coating of clay or other modelling material to make the skin fit it perfectly. sew up as for thermometer. when dry fasten to the rack by inserting in a square or oval hole and wedging at the back. for furniture legs the feet are turned out in natural position on wooden legs, and fastened by bolting or screwing to small tables, stools, or screens. as handles for canes and umbrellas, treat the same as for hooks and leave the wood long to form a dowel which is glued or inserted in cane or umbrella, a metal band covering the end of the skin. i have referred in this chapter to deer feet, but those of elk, caribou and moose are also used and suitable fittings in nickel and silver plate are supplied in various sizes by dealers. [illustration: deer foot hat rack.] if you wish the hoofs mottled (they look best that way) file same until you get to the "quick," which is light in color and gives the foot a very attractive appearance. smooth down with sandpaper or edge of glass. oil a rag and dip it in powdered pumice stone and rub hoof vigorously a few moments, and you will have a beautiful polish. the smaller articles are complete as they are or may be mounted, ink wells, etc., on round, and thermometers on long panels of variously finished woods. many nice articles may thus be made from what is usually considered worthless offal. [illustration: moose foot jewel case.] chapter xx. mounting fish. these with reptiles are most difficult to preserve with any success by the ordinary methods. there are some individuals which it is impossible for the taxidermist to prepare the skins of, so as to retain a natural appearance for any length of time. they can only be represented by casts painted to the best of the artist's ability. most of the varieties of medium and large game fishes can be mounted by the average taxidermist and it is with these we are mostly concerned. there are almost as many methods of mounting fish as there are operators, each having some pet kink of real or fancied superiority. as often as otherwise fish are mounted in the medallion style, with one side only showing. this is especially adapted to display on walls and panels. for filling material everything from sawdust to plaster has been employed but as good results as any are secured by a hard core of the approximate size of the skinned fish, coated with some plastic substances which is moulded into shape through the skin. in skinning some fish the scales must be protected by pasting thin paper over them but ordinarily it is sufficient to keep the skin wet and not allow it to dry out until it is complete. a piece of oil cloth is good to work on in skinning fish or birds either. some taxidermists have a large pane of glass set flush in a table top for this purpose. [illustration: fish bedded in sand with plaster mould of upper half.] with a freshly caught fish at hand which is to be made into a medallion the process is about as follows: before skinning lay it flat on one side on a piece of soft wood board of the proper thickness and mark out its outline. though only one side of the mounted fish shows, a little more than precisely one half is preserved in order to include the tail, the vertical and dorsal fins and also to give an appearance of rotundity. leaving this margin all around, the skin is cut away from the side which, on account of damage or other reason, is selected for the back. the head must be cut through with chisel or a fine saw. severing the bones at the base of the fins with the scissors the whole body is removed by cutting the spinal column at its junction with the skull. in skinning fish you will note a white layer, like tin foil, which gives the fish its silvery color. do not disturb this if possible. remove all surplus flesh, cut away the gills and interior of head and if at all greasy (what fish is not) treat to a bath in gasoline. use absorbent, sawdust or meal to remove oily gasoline, drop in alcohol or formaldehyde solution while the body is prepared. to do this cut out the board by the outline on it with a short bevel on the back and the other side the full shape of the fish. the whole form is slightly diminished, however, to allow for a coating of clay. this is applied after the skin has been removed from the solution and poisoned. when a good fit is secured the skin is fastened in place by sewing from top to bottom, across the back board, or if large, nailing the edges to the board. the fins which have been kept wet are to be spread; each clamped with two pieces of pasteboard. on very large fish spring clothes pins may be used to clamp the fins, for small ones pins forced through both thicknesses, _outside_ the fins. sponge the fish off carefully to remove all clay or other dirt and give it a coat of rather thin white varnish. this prevents the scales curling up and to some extent fixes or restores the colors of the fish. the eye is set after the fish is dry and if it does not fill the socket, model around it with wax or paper pulp. fish eyes vary so greatly that to strictly copy nature you had better use the uncolored fish eyes, painting the back with suitable oil colors with a coat or two of shellac over it to prevent the clay in which it is set from affecting the paint. the final painting of a mounted fish which is necessary to complete the best work is a task for an artist. if a specimen in the flesh (living if possible) is at hand this is made easier. all fish skins collected should be accompanied by color sketches if possible. all silvery fish should be coated with size and nickel leaf over their entire scaly surface. on this ground paint with thin oil colors. if the paint is not too thick the desired silvery sheen will show through. if the whole fish is dark no leaf is needed and in some cases the upper part of the body requires a gold ground with the nickel leaf on the silvery under parts. japanese gold paint or something similar will do for a golden ground. the finished medallion may lie flat in a case, be fastened on the face of a panel, or hung by a loop at the mouth or center of back. panels of natural wood are a favorite mount and framed panels covered with plush or the imitation pebbled upholstery leather. another method of mounting medallions is to take a plaster mold of the display half of the fish and from it make a plaster cast like the back board. this is sandpapered down to allow for the skin and gouged out at the bases of the fins and tail. the head too is not reproduced on the cast. [illustration: medallion fish, paper backing, board back, excelsior between.] when the skin is ready to apply, coat this plaster cast with some nonporous modelling material. a mixture of thin liquid glue and whiting is good for this. some paper pulp is put inside the head and at the junction of body and fins. shape from the outside with the fingers. a piece of wood should have been placed in the back of the plaster cast when making same, in order to fasten to a panel by screws from the back. paint the wood with melted paraffin before putting in the wet plaster or it may swell and subsequently shrink enough to crack the cast. by either of the preceding methods the entire fish can be mounted if desired. the opening cut should be made from head to tail along the lower edge of the body in most scale fish and will require some neat modelling to hide as both sides are to be on exhibition. entire fish are usually supported by metal standards rising from a wooden base. such standards are preferably of brass, threaded and fitted with nuts and rosettes at both ends. two nuts at the lower end clamp the base and with the upper end inserted in the back board, the upper nut will adjust the fish at the right heighth. the rosettes cover the nuts and add a finished appearance. especially adapted to tarpon and other ponderous fish are medallions mounted on paper. to do this a half mould is made as described, the skin removed, cleaned, poisoned and replaced in the mould. then it is backed up with numerous layers of soft paper, well pasted and pressed in with the hands. let these layers of paper overlap the mould at least as much as the margin of skin left on the back. when a sufficient thickness is attained fill the hollow form loosely with crumpled paper or excelsior and fit in place a back board of light wood. nail through the margin of skin and paper into the edges of this. if a number of large holes were made in the back board it will expedite the drying out. when partly dry, remove from the mould, painting and finishing as before when completely dry. by this means the contour of large fish is absolutely reproduced and the finished work is extremely light and durable. many of the smooth skinned fishes are impossible to mount satisfactorily, a cast is the best we can do for them. when using a living fish as a guide in painting, it may be confined in an aquarium and by sliding a wire screen partition, be kept just before the artist's eye. chapter xxi. mounting fish--baumgartel method. some years ago a practical method of fish mounting was advertised by mr. baumgartel in angling and sporting publications. entire satisfaction was given to those who studied and applied the lessons, through correspondence school methods. both the author and publisher of home taxidermy for pleasure and profit, are indeed glad to publish the entire course as used by mr. baumgartel, including diagrams, figures, etc., as same together with copyright was conveyed to a. r. harding. the same degree of excellence in mounting fish has not been so generally attained as in other branches of the taxidermy art, and this i believe is because an equal amount of study has not been given the subject. hundreds can mount birds well to one who can prepare fish in as skillful a manner, although the mounting of fish dates from as early a period in the art of taxidermy. it is a question of method and the right one. the usual methods of mounting fish have proven so unsatisfactory that they have been almost entirely abandoned, and, until the method to be described was devised, it was necessary to place specimens in alcohol or other preserving liquids or to make plaster casts of them. the objections to the former process are that it is expensive, requiring especially constructed jars to show the specimens without distortion. they usually lose all their natural colors, and in most cases shrink to such an extent as to give only an approximate idea of their original form. there are also serious objections to the latter method. plaster casts are easily broken and certain parts, such as the interior of the mouth, cannot readily be produced. further, it is not desirable in natural history collections to exhibit casts of the objects when the originals can be displayed. then, too, the sportsman does not care for a cast of his "big fish," but wants the real thing to verify history of the one that didn't get away. to me a plaster cast of an object that can itself be preserved is about as interesting as a nicely painted decoy duck compares with a well-mounted skin. as is the case with nearly every taxidermist, professional as well as amateur, i have always been an enthusiastic sportsman. the desire to preserve the specimens taken by me led me to devote myself to the study of taxidermy. perhaps the dilatoriness of the "artist" who mounted my first specimens had a stimulating effect. later, as a professional taxidermist, i for many years mounted fish by means of the various methods, but the results obtained were not satisfactory to me. in 1903 mrs. baumgartel and i made a trip to pine river, michigan, for trout. it was in june. the weather turned cold, and we took few fish. on the twelfth i made what was to be my last cast, had taken down my rod and was walking along the bank of the river on my way to camp, when at the edge of a pool i noticed a fish jumping. i could not resist the temptation to try one more cast, and making preparations i dropped a parmachene belle a few inches from the spot where the fish had just broken the water. there was a rise, a strike, and i was fast to a fish destined to be mine. after an exciting struggle, i landed a thirteen-inch grayling weighing one pound and two ounces. of course, this fish i had to preserve and wanted it to look as it did when taken from the net. we boarded the train for home that evening, and supplying my wife with reading matter, i was soon lost in meditation. the madam told me many times during the journey home that i was not at all companionable. be that as it may, the result of the earnest study given the matter, and the previous experience gained in experimenting with other processes, was that a practical method of mounting fish was devised, a method by means of which the angler can successfully mount his own specimens. "necessity is the mother of invention," you know. a picture of this grayling is given below. it still occupies a position in our dining room, together with others to remind us of pleasant days on lake and stream. it is mounted with the very fly and leader on which it was taken. [illustration: grayling--result of my first experience at fish mounting.] for the past four years i have successfully taught my method by correspondence. a few years ago activities in other directions compelled me to give up taxidermy work, and other interests now demanding more of my personal attention, the publisher of this book, always on the alert for something of practical value to interest his readers, will present to you in these pages the identical instructions i have so successfully used. i take the liberty of quoting verbatim from a letter just received by me from a friend of a prominent eastern professional man, one who, while "chained to business," still finds time to get "close to nature" for a season each year: "referring to the fish mounted on our newfoundland trip: i may say that it was our first experience and we were agreeably surprised at results. in all there were ten specimens of salmon, sea-trout and brook-trout mounted and we found no great difficulties. all the work was accomplished in an old barn after we got home evenings and early mornings before going out. the only obstacle we encountered was getting the fish back to the states in good shape. five of the specimens now occupy prominent place in the doctor's den and i am always pleased to point out to friends the results of our labors." you can do as well. instruments. knife. needle and thread. saw, fine toothed. scalpel. scissors, straight and curved. shears. skin scraper, not the toothed-edge. tweezers. one can get along with simply a jack-knife, pair of shears, and needle and thread; but to do first-class work easily, good tools are required. materials. alcohol. aluminum leaf. arsenic, powdered. clay, potters' or modelling. eyes, glass, clear except pupils. papier mache, prepared. pine board. pins. plaster, calcined. tube paints. varnish, clear white. brushes. preliminary instructions--try first a perch or other fish having scales firmly attached. see that the fins and tail are uninjured, and that no scales are missing from the side to be displayed. as every perfectly formed fish has both sides alike, and as ordinarily but one side can be seen at a time, only a little more than one half of the fish is to be mounted. note carefully the colors (including those of the eye and the interior of the mouth) of the freshly caught fish, making a sketch of the specimen, showing the extent of the different colors and markings, the spots, if any, and the eye. the pupil is not usually round. the eye of a lake trout appears like fig. 1. a carefully kept note book is a valuable aid. [illustration: fig. 1 eye of lake trout] while the tail is of course a fin (the caudal), in this work it will be called the "tail," to distinguish it from the other fins. see fig. 2 for key to the names of the fins. [illustration: fish in mould. (fig. 2.) names of fins: d--dorsal, a--adipose, c--caudal (tail), p--pectoral, v--ventral, an--anal.] the mold.--wash the fish in water to remove dirt and mucus. on a board somewhat longer and wider than the fish, place a sufficient amount of moist sand in which to imbed the specimen to one-half its depth when lying on its side in the desired position. level the sand and hollow it out for the larger part of the body. large fish should be displayed straight, with the mouth closed or only slightly open. smaller and more graceful ones may be shown in positions of activity; rising to fly, breaking away, etc. if the mouth is to be open, fill it with cotton or cloth in order to keep out the plaster. place the fish in the position you wish it to have when mounted, the side to be displayed uppermost. see that the dorsal and anal fins, and the tail, lie flat on the sand, and that one-half the body appears above the sand its entire length. there must be no uneven places. viewed from the end, it should appear like fig. 3; from the side, like fig. 4. [illustration: end view. (fig. 3)] [illustration: side view. (fig. 4)] heap up the sand all around, about an inch from the fish, to prevent the plaster flowing off the board. mix a sufficient amount of plaster to cover the fish to a depth of about half an inch, covering the fins and tail as well as the body. mix the plaster by stirring a little at a time into cold water until it has the consistency of cream. place the pectoral and ventral fins flat against the body. pour the plaster over the fish slowly and evenly (covering the head, tail and edges first), allowing it time to dry until quite hard, perhaps thirty to forty minutes. then turn the mold over (it will appear like fig. 2) and, by inserting the fingers in the gills, carefully remove the fish. lay the mold aside for a time. wash all sand and plaster from the fish. [illustration: incisions to be made. (fig. 5)] skinning the fish.--if the fish has scales easily dislodged, wrap it, with the exception of the fins and tail, in several thicknesses of tissue paper, which will readily adhere to the moist skin. lay the fish on your table, on the side which was covered by the plaster and place wet cloths on the fins and tail to prevent drying. commence at the gills and make two cuts with the scissors or scalpel lengthwise of the fish to the tail, cutting into the abdominal cavity below, joining these cuts (see fig. 5), removing the strip of skin, including the pectoral fin, with adhering flesh, and the contents of the cavity. with the fingers, or tweezers, grasp the cut edge of the skin of the back and with the scalpel carefully separate it from the flesh as far as the middle line of the back from the head to the tail. remove the exposed flesh to the backbone. with the knife, shears or fine tooth saw, split the head lengthwise a little to one side of the middle, leaving somewhat more than half. do not sever the skin of the body where it comes to a point between the gills, and use great care when removing the flesh from this portion. you now have a trifle more than one-half the fish to work on. with the scissors cut through the ribs and remove the backbone with some of the flesh. be careful when cutting through the backbone at the tail not to cut through the skin below. going back to the head, remove the remaining flesh, and with the curved scissors and scalpel cut away all the cartilage possible from the head; the more the better so long as the skin is not injured. if enough of the cartilage can be removed to expose the muscles of the cheek from the inside, cut them away, taking out the eye; otherwise it will be necessary to work from the outside of the skin through the eye opening, and this must be done very carefully or the skin of the cheek may be broken. with most fishes it is possible to remove all the cartilage from the head, and this should be done to prevent shrinkage. if the mouth is to be open, do not cut away its lining or much of the tongue behind. the tongue is to be split perpendicularly lengthwise and about one-third of it removed. when the head has been thoroughly cleaned, remove the remaining flesh from the body with the skin scraper or scalpel. the ventral fin which is uppermost as the fish lies on its side and is not to show, should be carefully cut off outside the skin. do not cut off the ventral fin on the side which is to be displayed. do not scrape away the silvery lining of the skin if this can be avoided. some of it will come off. cut away the bases of all the fins and the tail inside with the curved scissors and scrape away all flesh, working close to the fingers so as not to stretch the skin. tie the vent inside with thread. unless the fish is quite small, the skin of the lower jaw must be loosened with the knife or scalpel and the muscles cut away. the adipose, or small fleshy fin on the back near the tail of such fishes as the trout, must be carefully opened from the inside of the skin with a small-bladed knife and the contents removed, to be later replaced with clay. place the skin in water to loosen the paper--if any has been used--carefully washing the skin and wetting the fins and tail thoroughly. you may allow the skin to remain in the water until you are ready to put it back in the mold, but not longer than a few hours. filling.--brush the sand from the mold, and if the upper edge is uneven, smooth it with a knife so that it will be perfectly straight. should there be any rough places on the inside of the mold, carefully scrape them down with the skin scraper. [illustration: inside board. (fig. 6)] cut out roughly a piece of soft pine one-half to one inch thick the shape of the outline of the fish, but somewhat smaller, using the mold as a guide. one side will, of course, be flat, and that side should be uppermost when placed in the mold. work up with water a sufficient quantity of clay to about the consistency of fresh putty. place the mold on your bench or table, resting it on something soft (such as a piece of old carpet or burlap) to prevent its breaking. drain the water from the skin and put it back into the mold, adjusting it nicely. the median line will guide you. see that the head, fins and tail occupy the same places they did before. pour a little alcohol on the skin inside and let it run along the bases of the fins and tail, over the entire inner surface of the skin and into the head to preserve any bits of flesh that may possibly remain. drain off the surplus alcohol. fill the adipose fin (if the fish has one) with clay. sprinkle powdered arsenic over the entire inside of the skin and head. do not use more than will readily adhere. the chances are that you removed more or less of the silvery lining of the skin. whether you did or not, cover the entire inner surface of the skin of the cheek and body with two or three thicknesses of aluminum leaf. do not cover the entire surface at once. cover a small part at a time, and then put on top of the leaf enough clay to cover it, commencing at the head and continuing to the tail. replace the muscles and cartilage of the head with clay. be sure to keep the skin properly adjusted to the mold. see that the fins and the tail remain in their proper places and that they are kept covered with wet cloths. flatten out the clay (a small quantity at a time) with the fingers and cover the inside of the skin to the depth of about one-eighth of an inch, pressing it down firmly, especially at the bases of the fins and tail and into the cheek and head. fit in the piece of pine, cutting it down as may be necessary. its shape will be something like fig. 6. mix some more plaster, and before putting in the piece of board, pour in the plaster on the clay, filling the skin perhaps two-thirds full. quickly, before the plaster sets, put in the piece of wood, carefully pressing it down into the plaster until it is level with the upper edge of the mold, removing any surplus plaster quickly and neatly. sew up the skin from one edge to the other as shown in fig. 7. [illustration: sewing up the skin. (fig. 7)] removing specimen from mold and drying.--lay a piece of clean board of the proper size on top of the mold, turning both over. lift up the mold a trifle, gently shaking it. the fish may or may not come out. if not, turn the mold back, insert the point of a knife in the wood and try to start the fish. in extreme cases it may be necessary to break the mold carefully. however, there should be no undercuts to hold the fish. carefully wash the fish as it lays on the board to remove all clay and plaster which may be on the upper surface. with the fingers smooth out any wrinkles or uneven places. sometimes, when drying, small wrinkles or bubbles may appear in the skin of such fish as trout, but they will soon disappear. if you placed the fish in a natural position when making the mold and properly adjusted the cleaned skin to the mold, there should be no wrinkles. place thin pieces of wood the shape of the fins between the board and the dorsal and anal fins, which should stand out from the board a little way. cover the tail and the fins which lie flat with thin pieces of wood, pinning them to the board until dry. the fins which do not lie flat should be spread between thin pieces of wood held in place with pins or clips. when the surface of the fish is dry, which will be in from six to twelve hours, give it a coat of the very best white varnish (the ordinary yellow varnish will not do) and put the specimen in a well ventilated place out of the sun to dry. in three or four days when the fins are dry, remove the thin pieces of wood and apply another coat of varnish. caution.--arsenic is poison and should be kept out of the way of children and animals. keep the box covered when not in use. cuts in the hand can be protected by covering them with liquid court plaster. clean the finger nails carefully when through work, washing the hands in warm water containing a few drops of carbolic acid. finishing.--while the fish is drying secure uncolored glass eyes with the properly shaped black pupils and paint the iris from your sketch. when the specimen is thoroughly dry, in two or three weeks, dig a sufficient amount of clay out of the eye opening and put in the glass eye, setting it in papier mache. use the prepared mache, which only requires boiling with water for preparation. when the mache is dry, give the exposed portion of it one or two coats of paint of the proper color. now do such painting as may be necessary--for instance, the spots and fins of the brook trout, colors of which have doubtless vanished by this time. use tube paint, thinned with the white varnish. usually it is sufficient to place a small quantity of the paint of the proper color directly into the varnish. do not use much of the paint--just enough to secure the color and yet not obscure the scales. where the markings are prominent, put some of the paint directly on the fish and spread it with the varnish. brilliant spots, such as those of the trout, can be reproduced by the use of the paints without the varnish. while the specimen is drying prepare a panel for it. to show the fish to the best advantage, the panel should be of polished hardwood, although stained pine will answer. bore two holes about half way through the panel from the back, slanting upward, by which to hang it. (see fig. 8.) bore two holes entirely through the panel in the proper places and screw the fish to it, putting in the screws from the back of the panel and into the fish where the wood is thickest. countersink the screws. [illustration: home made panel. (fig. 8)] finally, apply a last coat of the varnish. do not varnish the glass eye. by keeping a piece of writing paper between the panel and your brush you can varnish the fish without getting any on the panel. it is best to put on the final coat after the specimen is mounted on the panel, because if the fish is handled before the varnish is hard finger marks will show. [illustration: side view. (fig. 9)] mounting heads.--with a sharp knife or saw cut the head off squarely just back of first (pectoral) fins, as shown in figs. 9 and 10, which show the head of a black bass. in this case the ventral fins are also left on. place the head on a board with the cut part down, spreading the fins as in fig. 10. if it is to be displayed with open mouth, fill the mouth with cotton or cloth to exclude the plaster. cover the whole head with plaster. [illustration: front view. (fig. 10)] after the plaster sets, with a saw and knife cut the mold into two parts lengthwise, being careful not to cut into the head. use the saw first and when the plaster is cut down close to the skin use the knife carefully. do not attempt to remove the head before cutting the mold in two. remove flesh and cartilage from the head, line with aluminum leaf, and proceed as previously instructed. of course none of the tongue is to be removed if the mouth is to be left open, in which case do not remove the bony parts of the gills. before placing the cleaned skin in the mold, tie the two parts of the mold together. cut a neck board to fit and set it in plaster. finish as previously advised. chapter xxii. mounting reptiles, frogs and toads. the largest reptile of the united states, the alligator, is mounted by methods applied to medium sized animals. leg, head and tail rods are stapled to a stout back board and after building up the legs from tow the larger part of the body is filled by stuffing with coarse tow or fine excelsior. let the skin rest back down while engaged in this, sewing up the skin as it proceeds, with stout twine and a sail needle. you may even need to use the awl to pierce the armor like skin. for any natural position the leg irons need not be heavy as this animal usually keeps its body and tail in contact with the ground. the leg rods are clinched or bolted beneath the pedestal as in other quadrupeds and in addition some long screws are turned into the back board from below and the tail held down by wire fastened to its central support and clinched beneath the pedestal. all but the smallest lizards are mounted in the same way as the small fur-bearers. there is apparently no known mode of "stuffing" a snake so as to resemble its natural state. the skin must be placed on a carefully modelled manikin with a plastic layer between. for small snakes tow is wound on a wire and shaped with thread, and excelsior is used in the same way for the large ones. the larger manikins are to be posed and paper coated in most cases before receiving the skin. frogs and toads are also very difficult to mount in natural positions, but are nicely represented in painted casts. frogs, however, possess the distinction of not having to be sewed up, when skinned as they usually are through the mouth. in doing this the entire body is dissected away through the mouth and the legs are detached and skinned the same way. after turning completely wrong side out and poisoning the legs are wired, wrapped with tow or cotton in the same manner as other small animals. one hind leg wire is cut long enough to reach through the body and head and to this the other leg wires are twisted. some claim that to leave the vertebral column attached to the skin of the back is an invaluable aid in giving that part its proper shape. [illustration: wiring system for frog.] the body filling is tow or cotton placed through the mouth in small pieces until the proper shape is acquired. dry sand has been used to fill the bodies of frogs, being poured in the mouth through a funnel and retained by a cotton plug until the skin was dry, when it was poured out. painting and varnishing are required to finish mounted frogs. the frog is a favorite with the caricaturist as it can be made to take almost any human posture with laughable results. turtles may be mounted by wrapping and wiring legs, tail and head like other small animals, after detaching the under shell on three sides, removing the body and skinning the limbs. the tow wrapped legs should have a covering of soft clay which can be shaped with the fingers after they are returned to the skin. twisting the wires together is all right for the small turtles, large ones need a block of wood to clinch the wires in. the under shell is replaced and fastened with small wires and as enough skin was left attached to it to sew to, all cuts are closed that way. heavy wires are seldom necessary in turtles. those having bright colored shells will need to be touched up with paint and all should be varnished thinly to give a fresh appearance. chapter xxiii. skulls and skeletons. while the preparation of skeletons for the cabinet is sometimes undertaken by the general taxidermist it is more often the work of a trained osteologist. collectors in the field are often asked to preserve rough skeletons of desirable varieties and the skulls at least should be preserved with the skin of each quadruped taken for mounting. a specimen with a damaged or imperfect skin may yield a good skeleton and in the case of something very rare both the skin and skeleton may be mounted separately. this process is one calling for a skilled operator as all claws, nails or hoofs should remain on the skin while their bony cores are part of the skeleton. in the preservation of rough skeletons, skinning by any method is the first step, next the removal of the viscera, etc., then the most of the flesh and muscle should be dissected off the bones, after which poison with dry arsenic and put where it will dry out quickly and be out of the reach of foraging animals. the legs of small animals should be unjointed as well as the skull and after trimming be put inside the body cavity and securely tied to prevent loss; birds are treated about the same and all large animals are pretty thoroughly taken apart in order to properly clean the bones. always remember that a skeleton with parts cut away or bones lost is about as good as none. leave any cartilage attachments and any parts of a bony nature for the osteologist, to be on the safe side. sometimes along salt water an uncleaned skeleton may be put in a wire netting cage and anchored in the water where various small marine animals will soon clear away the flesh. on land, too, a similar expedient may be practiced by putting small carcasses in a box with holes bored in it and burying it in some active ant hill. in both cases the openings need to be small, that the smaller bones may not be carried off and they should be removed before the ligaments are destroyed. [illustration: skulls--dog wolf, she wolf, bay lynx, otter, mink.] when they are not wanted for scientific purposes, skulls may be cleaned with the minimum labor by boiling. watch them closely, however, and remove as soon as the flesh gets tender as much cooking will cause the teeth to fall out and the skull to separate at the sutures. glue and plaster paris will put such disintegrated skulls in shape for commercial mounting but they are ruined forever for the scientist. a friend was once cleaning a quantity of skulls (for museum purposes) and to expedite matters put them on to boil; all went well as long as the pot was watched, but an accident, the collapse of a large building, called him away and prevented his return until a dozen or so skulls had turned to a mass of loose teeth and scraps of bone. i never knew just what transpired between him and the museum curator afterward, nothing of interest to the general public. small specimens which it is proposed to skeletonize are best preserved entire in alcoholic solution as loss and breakage are thus prevented. the solution of formaldehyde can be used for this purpose but is not as good as it toughens the flesh, making its future removal more difficult. the complete cleaning of a skeleton is a matter of much soaking and scraping, calling for much patience and a strong stomach. ligamentary skeletons of the smaller birds and animals are often prepared and mounted by the non-professional with fair success. the entire specimen is cleaned of all flesh without disconnecting any of the bones except the skull and the leg of all but the smallest species. the spinal cord is replaced with a brass or galvanized wire of suitable size and length; this should project enough to penetrate a piece of cork fitted to the cavity of the skull. if the leg bones were removed they should be fastened back in place by drilling small holes through them at the joints, inserting a piece of brass wire and clinching the ends over. the skeleton is hung by cords or threads in a frame of wooden strips, so the feet will rest on the base, and then arranged in some natural attitude, holding the parts in place until the ligaments are fully dry by means of pins, threads and strips of cardboard. the finished skeleton had best be supported on its pedestal by two metal rods with a u shaped fork at their upper ends which will clasp the vertebrae just in front of the hind legs and back of the head. these rods should be of brass or galvanized iron gilded and their lower ends are either threaded and provided with two nuts, or bent at right angles and stapled to the under side of the mount. bird skeletons are treated in a similar way, but the wing bones need a supporting wire fastened to the back bone and a single standard. the smaller birds and animals up to the size of a small squirrel may be skeletonized and mounted without metal supports. a ligament which gives way may be replaced by some fibres of raw cotton saturated with glue. while cleaning the bone for a ligamentary skeleton it should be kept damp until it is given the final attitude. water with a few drops of carbolic acid should be used for this. a bath with chloride of lime solution will help to whiten the bones, though very greasy ones call for an application of benzine. fish, reptiles, etc., demand about the same treatment. the large birds and quadrupeds are usually cleaned bone by bone, and each joint articulated in the laboratory, though their preservation in the field as rough skeletons require similar methods. the main rule in collecting skeletons is to never, never lose a bone or anything of a bony nature attached to the specimen. chapter xxiv. sportsmen's trophies. as our game becomes scarcer i believe there will be more demand for the preservation of the sportsman's trophies than in the days of abundance now past. then only a phenomenally rare or large or freakish example seemed to warrant the trouble and expense of putting in the taxidermist's hands. now the souvenir of a good day's sport or a memorable outing is deemed well worth keeping. heads, horns, skins for floor or hangings and fish and game panels for the dining room walls have always been in high favor with sportsmen. so also are unique articles of use and decoration for the home. the naturalist sportsman whose trips are, from force of circumstances, only local can in a short time make a splendid showing by preserving such good types of game as he may procure. in mounting birds as hanging dead game it is well to hang the specimen before skinning, in the position wished and if possible sketch it so, at least impress its appearance well on the memory. the main points of the process are the same as for ordinary mounting. there are, however, a few exceptions which i will mention. if one side of a bird is defective in any way it may be mounted with such side next the panel, so often, if the specimen is to have the breast or under side displayed, the opening cut is made down the back or on one side. if a pair of birds of the same kind are used on one panel pose them to display the back of one and breast of the other. it will usually be necessary to wire the wings of birds for game panels so as to adjust them properly, though they are sometimes fixed from the outside by embedding sharpened wires in the body. ducks of all kinds are especially suitable for panels in that their plumage being stiffer and more durable does not make casing in glass so necessary, though most of our game birds can, by proper treatment, dispense with such protection. one of the most effective duck trophies which i ever saw was a string of three or four small duck rising in flight apparently from one corner of a room, to the ceiling in the center of the side wall. [illustration: flying duck. (for wall.)] for this effect they are mounted with wings spread and raised, head and legs outstretched. they are hung on nails in the wall in a regularly ascending line, the point of suspension being a wire loop under the wing on the side next the wall. single birds look well in the same position. rabbits and squirrels are also mounted as hanging dead game either in combination with some of the small game birds or separately. in selecting panels for this class of work use those finished in a contrasting color to the general tone of the specimens, a dark bird on a lighter panel and the reverse. on all panels and shields smooth rounded, beveled or ogee edges are advisable. small headings and intricate moulding are dust catchers. wild cats, 'coons, foxes, coyotes, even bears and pumas gathered by night hunters and dog enthusiasts are usually best made up as more or less elaborate rugs. as wall and couch or chair hangings these have no trimming and often no lining except under the head. if for any reason the skins are unfit for this the heads can generally be used as wall mounts. [illustration: timber wolf rug, full head.] [illustration: deer head hall rack.] room may be found for a few of the smaller specimens mounted whole but in the average home they are the bugbear of the housekeeper, early exiled to the attic. a friend of mine has his collection of small game birds, occupying the plate rail of his dining room, well out of the way and admired by many. well mounted heads and antlers are suitable almost anywhere that they do not seem crowded. the famous east room of the white house has some handsome examples. to make them answer a useful purpose they are made into hall racks, alone and in combination with feet. the makers of mounts offer a number of very attractive designs in the well-finished hard woods, some provided with plate glass mirrors. fish make beautiful trophies which lend themselves particularly to wall decoration on panels or as framed medallions. how often the mounted trophy would save the fisherman's reputation for veracity. perhaps their rapidly perishable nature accounts for the rarity of fish trophies. in conclusion i would say if you are a sportsman try the preliminary or entire preservation of some of your trophies, at least get them to the taxidermist in as good order as you can. remember no matter how fine a specimen may have been, if allowed to be mutilated, become putrid or damaged, it can never be entirely repaired. the taxidermist must recall that exigencies of the field are responsible for neglect of many details and a nature loving sportsman is a friend worth having, who will share the contents of a seldom overfull purse with you in return for your best efforts. chapter xxv. odds and ends, taxidermic novelties. there is almost no end to the useful and interesting things an ingenious person can turn out in this line. there is quite a demand for the preservation of the plumage of game birds for millinery use since the killing of other birds for this purpose was forbidden. wings, tails, heads and breasts, principally, of grouse, pheasants and water fowl so used do not call up visions of starving nestlings. they need only to be skinned and poisoned as usual and pinned out to dry in the desired shape often loosely filling in and some cases wiring with rather small soft wire. when dry all raw edges or surfaces should be covered with pieces of cambric or lining canvas glued on. antlers and horns are sometimes worked up into armchairs and two pairs of small deer antlers turned upside down and screwed to a square of board make the foundation of a nice stool. hat, gun and rod racks of feet, antlers and heads in various combinations are mentioned elsewhere and occasionally some one attempts an electrolier of antlers, mounted either on the heads or separately. to do this grooves are chiseled out of the back of the antlers to receive insulated wire running to each point which is equipped with a light bulb. after placing the wires and bulbs and testing, the grooves are filled with "mache" or putty colored to match the other surface. peacock feather and fox tail dusters are fitted with buck horn handles or those made of fox or wild cat paws. riding whips will look well with the same style handles. screens from mounted birds are highly ornamental, especially those of framed plush or satin on which birds of contrasting plumage are mounted in medallion style. it would be hard to find a more beautiful object than a snow white heron medallion on a black velvet screen framed in gold. these medallions are mounted by flattening the subject considerably so it is in little more than half relief. a number of small birds may be mounted on a satin covered screen with embroidered branches and foliage. some of the smaller fur bearers have been used in this way with success. some artists have specialized in grotesque mounting of small specimens, singly and in groups. frogs, toads and squirrels are best suited to such caricature work. a foot muff can be made up from scraps of fur and will be appreciated in cold climates on long rides and indoors as well sometimes. to make this a covering of the size and shape of a foot stool is made of carpet or similar material. the bottom and sides are of this and the top of some short fur. a slit is made in this top and a bag of long fur or wool is sewed into the slit so when the muff or stool is loosely filled with tow and excelsior the feet may be thrust down into the fur lined pocket. the head of a fox or wildcat in half relief put on top, over the feet will give a finish to it. [illustration: foot muff, trimmed with head and tails.] a novelty in fur rugs is to mount the skin of some small animal in the center of a larger one of contrasting color. the so-called plates of black goat are often so used with a fox, coon, or lynx in the center. to do this mount the fox as for a half head rug, when dry and shaped cut out a paper pattern the exact size of it. apply this pattern to the back of the goat plate, mark around it and cut out, leaving the opening a little smaller than pattern. be sure pattern was right side up. sew the skin in from the back, wad and line it. a felt trimming is unnecessary on this rug. [illustration: monkey card receiver.] match safes, candle holders, and similar things are made from the heads of fish and ducks with metal containers fastened in their open mouths. monkeys, bear cubs and alligators mounted erect with card trays are quite striking while foxes or raccoons peering over the edge of umbrella jars or waste baskets are equally so. many animals are mounted in germany for advertising purposes, being either sold outright or rented by the month. some of these are really a form of slot machine with coin actuated mechanisms while others are motor driven, attracting attention as moving displays always do. bears and foxes on swings and seesaws and various small animals on merry-go-rounds are always attractive. chapter xxvi. groups and grouping. this subject is more of interest to the museum preparator than the home taxidermist, but a short consideration of it is not out of place here. many instructive and pleasing little groups of our smaller mammals and birds can be prepared for display in the home. such groups usually require casing for protection but are well worth the trouble and expense. always try to make a group mean something. let the subjects be feeding, fighting or occupied in any natural way. family groups showing the male and female, adults and young, in the home surroundings are always good. the seasonal groups of spring, autumn, summer and winter have been produced by most bird taxidermists at some time. appropriate varieties of small birds are the blue birds for spring; gold finches, autumn; yellow birds or tanagers, summer; snow birds, winter. framed with painted backgrounds and suitable accessories their shallow wall cases may be hung like pictures. never make the mistake of grouping animals that would never meet in natural circumstances or furnish them with incongruous surroundings. [illustration: squirrels--grey, red, flying, ground (chip munk)] the arrangement of groups for the exhibition cases of museums is very exacting as they are made open to the view on all sides. in order to judge of the affect such groups are modelled in miniature clay figures which are changed and re-arranged until satisfactory before the mounting is begun. such work is rather out of our province but an intelligent arrangement of two or more figures can be made to convey many more ideas than a single one would suggest. some of the most striking groups are those of the larger carnivora in combat, but they hardly possess the real value of painstaking life studies of some of our more familiar kindred of the wild. chapter xxvii. animal anatomy. a knowledge of this subject coupled with the necessary mechanical ability will enable their possessor to take place in the front ranks of taxidermists. even if we have but little opportunity to study the anatomy of some of the rarer varieties of animal forms we can inform ourselves of certain typical features possessed in common by other more common members of the same great family or species. press and camera supplies us with much reliable information on the subject. books on natural history, travels and sports were never so complete, interesting, and withal, so easy of access as they are nowadays. a great help to the naturalist is a collection of pictures such as appear from time to time in periodicals. back numbers of magazines on outdoor life and sports will contribute quantities of these, most of them reproduced from photographs and in a short time a large collection of such can be made. packing these in the pockets of a letter file will keep them together, and at the same time make it possible to withdraw any one or more for inspection when wanted. photos of dead animals are not particularly valuable but casts always are; make them whenever opportunity offers. not so much casts of the entire specimen as casts of various details. get a set of moulds of the noses of say deer, moose, domestic cattle and sheep and keep the resulting casts for reference. their value will be apparent when mounting heads. any sketches, however rough, will also be of use. the circus and zoo will furnish feast days for the student of animal anatomy and pencil and camera may be used freely at both with the assurance of the best of treatment from officials and keepers. a visit to the meat market will afford opportunity for study of the muscular system of the domestic animals. the sculptor builds up his clay model unhampered by fur, feathers or bones and chisels out his statuary on a scale determined by himself while the taxidermist must not only construct his figures or manikins in correct proportions, but make them fit a certain skin. hence it behooves him even more than the sculptor to be well grounded in at least the main principles of the anatomy of animals. birds in particular are a fruitful source of study, muffled as they are in feathers, when stripped presenting a very different appearance. to illustrate the value of a knowledge of avian anatomy i will mention an incident occurring many years ago at a large taxidermy establishment. [illustration: water fowl head.] two of the frugal minded workmen having skinned a large plump duck laid the body minus head, feet, and wings aside to furnish a dinner next day. the porter regarding same as his perquisite abstracted and hid it. the first owners discovering it substituted the body of a large horned owl then in the process of mounting and so made all concerned happy. the porter bragging loudly next day of the fine duck he had done them out of, they were able to convince him of the truth only by exhibiting the duck remains as a part of their lunch. chapter xxviii. casting and modelling. one of the leading authorities in this country has aptly said, "the ideal taxidermist must be a combination of modeller and anatomist, naturalist, carpenter, blacksmith and painter. he must have the eye of an artist and the back of a hod carrier." this should not dismay the beginner for such casting and modelling as will be indispensable are comparatively simple. in order to cast we must have molds and in our work these are chiefly of plaster. they are divided into two classes known as piece and waste molds. as the names indicate the latter is wasted or destroyed after making one copy while the piece variety can be used for a number of reproductions. the piece mold is divided into sections in such a way as will allow its removal without injury to either mold or cast. the waste mold is made from soft or fleshy objects which can be drawn from it in spite of projections known as undercuts. as an illustration let us procure a cast of a deer's nose for reference in mounting the head later. for our purpose we wish a cast of the nose and lips, so with the head in the flesh at hand, the hair as far back as the corner of the mouth is coated with clay water to prevent the liquid plaster from penetrating and adhering. this done the head is propped up on the table and a rough box arranged around it, which will reach nearly to the mouth as the head is placed with nose uppermost. pour sand in this box until only as much of the nose projects as is desired to cast. now mix in a bowl or basin a sufficient amount of water and plaster of paris to cover the surface of the deer's nose about 1/4 inch thick. this should be of the consistency of cream and enough bluing or lampblack should be added to give it a decided tint. if the skin of the lips and nose is disposed naturally the plaster may be ladled on with the spoon, endeavoring to get about an even coating. wash any remaining bits from the dish and mix say twice the amount of plaster without coloring. distribute this over the other and allow to harden, which they will do in about 20 minutes. a little careful work will withdraw this mold from the nose and it may either be laid aside or used at once in making the cast. to do this brush the inside with clay water and pour it full of plaster. shake well to prevent bubbles and when hardened chisel away the mold. in doing this lay it on the lap or a cushion and chip off the mold. when the first layer (the colored one) appears work with caution to avoid marring the cast. if a wire loop was inserted before the plaster hardened the cast may be hung on the wall for future reference. [illustration: three piece mould of head.] the preparation of a piece mold is somewhat different. a mold can be made in two pieces of a round object like a ball and if each piece is exactly one-half, it will draw, because there is no point under which the plaster will hold. any hollows or projections will form "under cuts" necessitating making the mold in a number of pieces that it may relieve or be lifted off the cast. molds of heads from which to cast paper forms are often wanted and are easily made. with the skinned head of a fox, let us say, on the table, the lower part is embedded in fine sand or clay about on a line with the mouth. cover half of the exposed upper part of the head also with clay. pour to the depth of at least 1/2 inch on the remainder. remove the clay from the other half of the face, and after countersinking two or three shallow holes in the edge of that part of mold already made and coating that edge with clay water, pour plaster for the second piece of mold. when this hardens pick up head from its bedding of sand or clay and turn over so the final piece of model can be made. always coat the edges with shellac or clay water to prevent adhesion and countersink a few holes for dowels to aid in holding the pieces in place. dry out thoroughly and shellac the whole interior and joining edges. if it is slightly oiled before using a great number of casts may be made from it. this will give us a complete cast of a fox head with closed mouth. a shorter method to obtain molds of the upper part of the head and face for making paper half-head forms, is to imbed in sand or clay as directed and stick a piece of stout thread or cord along the central lines of the head and face. a little clay will hold this in place and there should be a few inches surplus at each end. mix the plaster and cover the entire top and sides of the head with it. just as the plaster begins to harden draw the thread upward through the stiffening plaster cutting it in two parts which are easily removed when hard. when dry coat with shellac, tie together and they are ready for use. [illustration: making mould for half head.] to cast half head forms soak some paper and after coating one side with paste, press into the mold with the fingers. the first layer should be quite soft so as to crowd into all depressions. about six layers of building paper is thick enough for a fox head size. when dry cut the cords and detach the mold. molds for deer head forms are made in two pieces, one for each side of the head, and are necessarily not carried completely around the antlers. this gap is just filled in the head form by the plate of bone bearing the antlers, which is sawed from the skull. the entire neck may be molded in connection with the head if desired. gelatine and compositions of glue and wax are used for molds where fine definition is desirable, and wax as well as plaster and paper for making casts. the ground up paper pulp is used for many casts, pressing it into mold with fingers and spatulas. clay is the stand-by of the taxidermist modeller. that furnished by art dealers is best, but for common use potter's clay is all that is necessary. a little glue mixed in plaster delays its setting and makes it harder when dry. good papier mache is one of the best materials for much modelling and wax for very fine work. tools for this work may be purchased or home made of wood, bone or metal. many forms of fishes and reptiles are difficult or impossible to mount by ordinary methods. on these the caster and modeller may work his will, and if he also possesses a good eye for color the results may be of the best. as an indisputable record of anatomy even a poor cast is valuable. chapter xxix. market trophy hunting. in this country and day of conservation this would seem like a delicate subject to attack. the hunter for the trophy market a few years back was slaying elk, mountain sheep, moose, deer, or antelope indiscriminately. [illustration: deer foot ink well and pen rack.] while modern game laws have changed or at least modified this i can see no reason why a hunter who is entitled to a certain head of game per season should not utilize them fully by preparation and sale to others who have not similar opportunities. [illustration: mountain lion or puma hide.] what would often be left in the woods as useless, as indeed it would be for food purposes, is transformed into a beautiful and decorative article of considerable commercial value. often things being equal the trophy hunter will avoid killing young and female game animals on account of the worthlessness of their heads as trophy if not for any ethical reason. while the day of trophy hunting as a business in the united states is past probably, by preserving such heads, horns, feet and skins as come in his way the trapper, prospector and settler can often add considerably to his income. for instance, from one to five deer may be legally killed in different states. if two good heads are taken, worth say $15.00 and $20.00 each when prepared, that sum would go far towards paying the expenses of an enjoyable outing. the fur trapper will frequently take some animal the skin of which may for many reasons be of little value. the puma or mountain lion is such a one, worth but $2.00 or $3.00 usually, the mounted head is a striking wall ornament and the skin is suitable for couch or floor. though fur dealers will make some deduction from the regular prices on skins from which the heads are removed, it is vastly more profitable to retain them and preserve as trophies. horns and antlers and head skins or scalps of all our large game have a certain value either separately or together. mounted heads, damaged by moth create a demand for extra scalps and separate antlers are often called for. extra large heads or antlers of freakish formation seem to possess a special fascination for the public. [illustration: spring lamb? coon head.] commercial fishermen handling fish in large numbers would do well to preserve at least a few of the more notable specimens of their catch. in some localities there is every summer an opportunity to supply "rusticators" with rattlesnake skins which may be prepared for wall decorations or use as belts, hat bands, card-cases, and neck ties. they should be packed in salt until tanned as drying out while in the raw state is apt to spoil them. on account of the snake's habit of shedding its skin at varying intervals, dressing snake skins is rather of the nature of a lottery. the dressed skins should be made up with a backing of some other leather as it is apt to possess but little strength of itself. in localities where the tarpon, tuna, muscallonge, and other large fish are caught it is well to keep some good specimens on hand as such are often in demand to substantiate a fish story. in a word, gather and preserve some of the best objects of animated nature your locality affords, whether fur, fin or feather. chapter xxx. collecting and mounting for sale. commercial taxidermy is roughly divided in two branches, custom work, and collecting and mounting for sale. for the first you need some fixed place of business easy of access to the public and convenient to lines of transportation. the latter may be taken up anywhere if a demand has been noted and a market assured or in prospect. travelers in little known parts of the country often pay their expenses or even gain considerable profit by collecting desirable specimens of animal life. as a side line on pleasure trips it is sometimes remunerative. woodsmen and fishermen will often find it to pay better to preserve for mounting part of their game at least. the sales end of the proposition is the most difficult for the outdoor man. such work has not the fixed (?) value of furs and meat. there are a number of dealers in naturalists' material who aim to keep on hand a pretty complete stock of specimens for museum purposes. correspondence with these will procure their want lists. many more deal in unmounted trophies of heads, horns and rug skins. occasionally an order for small and common species may be secured from some school or college. such institutions will often place an order for desirable material with a prospective traveler. [illustration: bookcase ornaments--crow; alligator (fisherman from the everglades); owl.] finally it is well to mount a good specimen or two of almost any variety on general principles. it is astonishing how difficult it is to procure some very common species on the spur of the moment. if you accumulate a number of nicely done and attractive specimens it is possible to secure their sale on commission. as such things are apt to draw attention as a window or wall display some druggist, sporting goods dealer or other business man may be glad to aid in their disposal. in or near a game country the local hotels will help advertise you by giving wall space in dining room or office to suitable pieces accompanied by a business card. donations to libraries, schools and other public and semi-public institutions will keep you more or less in the public mind. endeavor to fill any orders you receive even if obliged to purchase at such rates that no profit remains. do not diminish the animal life of your locality by collecting everything you can lay your hands on. it would be time misspent and mostly unrewarded. chapter xxxi. prices for work. to those who hope to coin spare hours into dollars and cents, or others who must make a hobby pay its own expenses at least, an important question is, what is my work worth? and one will concede that a taxidermist should receive at least as much as a skilled mechanic and the experts both in commercial and museum work are sometimes (not always) highly paid. what seems the fairest method of compensation is by "piece work" and most custom taxidermy is handled on that basis. most professionals have a regular scale of prices which, while necessarily more or less elastic, will give the public an estimate of cost. the schedule which i give is, i think, about that in use in the eastern states. the outside prices are for extra large specimens or those mishandled or injured so as to require an extra expenditure of time to give satisfaction. prices for mounting specimens. birds. small wrens, canary, $ 1.00 to $ 1.50 robins, jays, and similar, 2.00 to 2.50 medium quail, snipe, dove, woodcock, 2.50 to 3.00 large crow, grouse, duck, 3.00 to 4.00 larger horned owls, fish hawk, etc., 4.50 to 5.00 eagle, turkey, pea fowl, 10.00 to 15.00 birds with spread wings add 25 per cent. making bird skins. small up to size of sparrow, .20 robin, jay, etc., .25 pigeon, hawk, and similar, .35 screech owl, green heron, .50 crow, teal, .75 large hawks, ducks, $1.00 herring gull, eider duck, 1.25 great horned owl, fish hawk, 1.50 eagle, goose, swan, 2.50 whole animals. mouse, mole, chipmunk, $ 1.50 to $ 2.00 squirrels, weasels, 2.00 to 3.00 mink, muskrat, opossum, rabbit, 3.00 to 4.00 skunk, woodchuck, 4.00 to 5.00 coon, fox, wildcat, 6.00 to 10.00 dogs, 10.00 to 35.00 domestic sheep, 25.00 to 40.00 bear, mountain lion, 20.00 to 75.00 deer, antelope, 30.00 to 75.00 price on whole mounted specimens include rustic stands, stumps, or rock work. heads. elk, moose, steer, $20.00 to 40.00 caribou, mountain sheep, 15.00 to 25.00 deer (buck), antelope, 7.50 to 12.00 deer (small), common sheep, 5.00 to 10.00 bears, 7.50 to 15.00 wolf, 5.00 to 7.50 fox, wildcat, raccoon, etc., 4.00 to 6.00 hawks, owls, eagles, 2.00 to 3.00 fish, 2.00 to 5.00 suitable shields or panels are included. fish, reptiles, etc. small fish, $ 2.00 to 5.00 medium, bass, etc., 5.00 to 10.00 large, tarpon, salmon, 10.00 to 25.00 snakes, as to size, 5.00 to 25.00 alligators, 1.50 to 25.00 mounting horns, including shields. deer, $ 2.50 to 5.00 african horns, 2.50 to 10.00 cow, steer, 2.50 to 5.00 caribou, 3.50 to 7.00 moose, elk, 5.00 to 10.00 skins. first column shows cost of tanning only; second of tanning, mounting 1/2 head and lining as rug; third of complete rug with open mouth. black bear, $4.00 $10.00 $15.00 mountain lion, jaguar, 3.00 10.00 15.00 tiger, 5.00 15.00 20.00 wolf, 2.00 8.00 12.00 coyote, lynx, 1.50 7.50 10.00 fox, wild cat, coon, house cat 1.00 5.00 6.00 sheep, 1.50 .... .... goat, 1.50 8.00 .... deer, 2.50 10.00 .... opossum, muskrat, .50 .... .... mink, .75 .... .... snake, 1.00 and up alligator, 2.00 and up novelties. deer feet, each, $2.00 to 3.00 moose and elk feet, 3.00 to 4.00 including fittings. robes. according to size and variety of skins from $15.00 to $25.00 including tanning, sewing up and linings. the smaller skins of course require the most work. domesticated animals, dogs, cats, cage birds, etc., are mounted at the rates for similar sized wild specimens. inasmuch as they are of value only for associations most taxidermists require a small advance payment on pet animals before commencing work; other work is usually c. o. d. a discount of 10 to 20 per cent is often made for large quantity or to those in the fur trade who may be so induced to secure orders. it would pay for at least one person in every furriers shop to have a knowledge of taxidermy and a connection with some dealer in sportsmen's goods is often of advantage. much of this matter of prices must be left to your own judgment. often a fair profit can be made on work taken at a low figure during the "off season." perishable work demanding instant attention should receive the best pay and pieces which may be picked up in odd moments, thus using time otherwise valueless, may be figured near the foot of the scale. the public appreciates work thoroughly done and it is the very best advertisement. * * * * * fur-fish-game a practical monthly magazine for outdoorsmen devoted to #hunting, trapping, fishing, fur farming, etc.# fur-fish-game is _just_ the magazine you have been looking for. it is edited by none other than a. v. harding, whose name is a byword in the sporting field. each monthly issue contains 64 to 100 pages chock-full of interesting articles, illustrated with actual photos on fur farming, hunting, fishing, etc. each issue also has many departments--the gun rack; dogs; fur raising; roots and herbs; fish and tackle; fur markets; fur prices; trapline; travel; and question box. departments are edited by well-known men such as robert page lincoln, ben c. robinson, e. j. dailey and maurice h. decker. [illustration: covers actual photos reproduced in actual colors.] new reduced price $1.50 a year; 15c a copy buy a copy on the news stand or send today for our special get acquainted offer 3 recent copies and 3 current copies 50c or single copy 10c good only if you mention book in which you saw this offer. send name and address with proper remittance either cash, stamps or money order to-fur-fish-game (harding's magazine) #174 e. long street columbus, ohio# * * * * * home manufacture of furs and skins #a book of practical instructions telling how to tan, dress, color and manufacture or make into articles of ornament; use or wear.# the author, who has been in close touch with trappers, hunters and other outdoor people for more than twenty years as a practical tanner, furrier and taxidermist in the introduction says: "probably one of the oldest human industries is home dressing and manufacturing of furs and skins, as this method of clothing the body has persisted from the early days (even back to the stone age) to the present time. as a happy combination of dress and ornament furs will always continue to lead. at the present time the manufacture of furs has been highly developed, with the aid of machinery and specialized workmen it is conducted on a scale which compares favorably with any business activity. however, the principals remain the same, and good results can still be attained by hand labor. to the average outdoor man it is a positive pleasure to see the stiff, dirty, raw skin develop into the soft, clean, flexible material, and later to shape it into a protection from the cold and an ornament combined." [illustration: home manufacture of furs and skins] this new, practical and only book on the subject contains 285 pages, 91 illustrations, 34 chapters, and offers at a small cost a way for you to learn a pleasant and profitable business enabling you to tan, dye, dress and manufacture not only your own catch but to engage in the business if you wish. read the chapter headings, which will show you how complete the book is: i. some facts and general principles for fur and skin workers. ii. correct modes of skinning fur animals. iii. stretching and curing. iv. handling other skins and hides. v. storing and shipping raw furs. vi. indian skin dressing. vii. indian fur robes. viii. tools and appliances. ix. tanning materials and terms. x. tanning formulas and recipes. xi. preliminary work, soaking, fleshing, degreasing. xii. softening, cleaning skins. xiii. small or light furs. xiv. heavy furs. xv. deer skins, buckskin. xvi. sheep and goat skins. xvii. miscellaneous skins, gator, snake, birds. xviii. fur dyeing, uses and principles. xix. dyeing material and appliances. xx. colors and formulas. xxi. furriers' tools and supplies. xxii. making up furs and garments. xxiii. fur robes. xxiv. fur rugs, with and without mounted heads. xxv. trimmings and natural heads and tails. xxvi. collars, cuffs and odd pieces. xxvii. coats and capes. xxviii. caps, mittens, gloves. xxix. muffs and neckpieces. xxx. moccasins and pacs. xxxi. utilizing fur waste. xxxii. cleaning, repairing and storing. xxxiii. prices for tanning and other fur work. xxxiv. appendix. if you like to handle furs, skins and hides home manufacture of furs and skins will show you how to make more money out of your catch or buy by tanning, dyeing and manufacturing into articles for which there is usually a ready market at prices much higher than the raw skins will bring. this book like others on hunting, trapping, etc., that i publish is practical and written so that it is easily understood. price, postpaid, cloth bound, to any address, $1.50 #a. r. harding. pub., columbus, o.# practical taxidermy a manual of instruction to the amateur in collecting, preserving, and setting up natural history specimens of all kinds. to which is added a chapter upon the pictorial arrangement of museums. illustrated. by montagu browne, f.z.s, etc. curator, town museum, leicester. ==================== second edition, revised and considerably enlarged, with additional instructions in modelling and artistic taxidermy. ==================== london: 1. upcott gill, bazaar buildings, drury lane, w.c. (formerly of 170, strand). new york: charles scribner's sons, 153-157, fifth avenue. plate i peregrine falcon on flight showing method of binding etc. frontispiece--see chapter v london: 1. upcott gill, london and county printing works, bazaar buildings. w.c. practical taxidermy preface to second edition. the first edition of "practical taxidermy" having now run through the press--with, i venture to hope, some profit to students of the art, if i may judge from the many hundreds of letters i have from time to time received--the publishers have invited me to revise such parts of the work as may be expedient, and also to add many technical methods of modelling animals an artistic manner. i do this the more readily because of the narrow way in which most professional taxidermists bolster up their art in a secret and entirely unnecessary manner--unnecessary because amateur can, but by the severest application, possibly compete with the experience of the technical or professional worker. no pictorial artist ever pretends he has a special brush or colours with which he can paint landscapes or sea pieces at will; he knows that only thorough mastery of the technicalities of his art--supplemented by wide experience and close application--enables him to succeed as he does, and to delight people who, seeing his facility of handling, may imagine that picture painting is very easy and could be readily acquired--perhaps from books. so it is with the taxidermist. those, therefore, who procure this book, thinking to do all attempted to be explained therein without long study and without a knowledge of anatomy, form, arrangement, and colour, may put it on one side as useless. these pages are merely an introduction to a delightful art, which must be wooed with patient determination and loving pains until technical skill invests it with beauty. if i can be of any assistance to my readers, i invite them to write to me if at any time they are puzzled or temporarily disheartened; merely asking them to remember: (1)--that, not being in business, i cannot of course answer purely business communications; and (2)--not being a man of infinite leisure, it must also be remembered that a properly directed envelope for return to the inquirer is of consequence when minutes are precious. unlike the prime minister, i do not like post-cards, and never answer them if from unknown correspondents. i may here mention that this edition is not only considerably enlarged, but has several woodcuts and four plates added, three of which latter have been engraved from photographs specially taken for this work. i say now, in conclusion, work hard, study hard, and look to good modellers and painters--and not to bird-stuffers--for conceptions of form, arrangement, and colour, and in the end, believe me, you will achieve a better success than attends the labours of those who follow in the old paths of careless or inartistic taxidermy. montagu browne. leicester. practical taxidermy. chapter i. the rise and progress of taxidermy. taxidermy, which is derived from two greek words, a literal translation of which would signify the "arrangement of skins," appears to have been practised in a limited degree ages ago, for may we not say without doubt that the first taxidermists were the ancient egyptians, who, despite the fact that they seldom or never appear to have removed the skin as a whole, as in our modern methods, yet, taking into consideration the excellent manner in which they preserved their human or other bodies for thousands of years by the aid of injections, spices, essential oils, or what not, they may, i think, be fairly placed in the front rank as the first taxidermists the world has known. for an account, of the arts used in embalming see herodotus, who says: in egypt certain persons are appointed by law to exercise this art (embalming) as their peculiar business; and when a dead body is brought them they produce patterns of mummies in wood imitated in painting, the most elaborate of which are said to be of him (osiris) whose name i do not think it right to mention on this occasion. the second which they show is simpler and less costly; the third is the cheapest. having exhibited them all, they inquire of the persons who have applied to them which method they wish to be adopted, and this being settled, and the price agreed upon, the parties return, leaving the body with the embalmers. in preparing it according to the first method, they commence by extracting the brain from the nostrils with a curved iron probe, partly clearing the head by this means, and partly by pouring in certain drugs; then, making an incision in the side with a sharp ethiopian stone, they draw out the intestines through the aperture. having cleansed and washed them with palm wine they cover them with pounded aromatics, and afterwards filling the cavity with powder of pure, myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances, frankincense excepted, they sew it up again. this being done, they salt the body, keeping it in natron seventy days, to which period they are strictly confined. when the seventy days are over they wash the body and wrap it up entirely in bands of fine linen smeared on their inner side with gum, which the egyptians generally use instead of glue. the relatives then take away the body, and have a wooden ease made in the form of a man, in which they deposit it, and, when fastened up, they keep it in a room in their house, placing it upright against the wall. this is the most costly method of embalming. for those who choose the middle-kind, on account of the expense, they prepare the body as follows: they fill syringes with oil of cedar, and inject this into the abdomen, without making any incision or removing the bowels, and, taking care that the liquid shall not escape, they keep it in salt during the specified number of days. the cedar oil is then taken out, and such is its strength, that it brings with it the bowels and all the inside in a state of dissolution. the natron also dissolves the flesh, so that nothing remains but the skin and bones. this process being over, they restore the body without any further operation. the third kind of embalming is only adopted for the poor. in this they merely cleanse the body, by an injection of syrmoea, and salt it during seventy days, after which it is returned to the friends who brought it. the account given by diodorus is similar, if we except the cost and time of embalming. the most expensive way of embalming costs a talent of silver (about 250 pounds sterling); the second, twenty-two minae (60 pounds); and the third is extremely cheap. the persons who embalm the bodies are artists who have learnt this secret from their ancestors. they present to the friends of the deceased who apply to them an estimate of the funeral expenses, and ask them in what manner they wish it to be performed, which being agreed upon, they deliver the body to the proper persona appointed to that office. first, one who is denominated the scribe, marks upon the left side of the body, as it lies on the ground, the extent of the incision which is to be made; then another, who is called the dissector, cuts open as much of the flesh as the law permits with a sharp ethiopian stone, and immediately runs away, pursued by those who are present throwing stones at him, amidst bitter execrations, as if to cast upon him all the odium of this necessary act, for they look upon everyone who has offered violence to, or inflicted b wound or any other injury upon a human body to be hateful; but the embalmers, on the contrary, are held in the greatest consideration and respect, being the associates of the priests, and permitted free access to e temples as sacred persons. as soon as they have met together to embalm the body thus prepared them, one introduces his band through the aperture into the abdomen, and takes everything out except the kidneys and heart, another cleanses each of the viscera with palm wine and aromatic substances; lastly, having applied oil of cedar and other things to the whole body for wards of thirty days, they add myrrh, cinnamon, and those drugs which have not only the power of preserving the body for a length of time, but of imparting to it a fragrant odour. it is then restored to the friends of the deceased; and so perfectly are all the members preserved even the hair of the eyelids and eyebrows remains undisturbed, and the whole appearance of the person is so unaltered that every feature may be recognised. sir j. gardener wilkinson ("manners and customs of the ancient egyptians") from whom i have quoted, says that: "the extraction of the brain by the nostrils is proved by the appearance of the mummies found in the tombs; and some of the crooked instruments (always of bronze) supposed to have been used for this purpose have been discovered at thebes." the preservatives appear to have been of two classes, bituminous and saline, consisting, in the first class, of gums, resins, asphaltum, and pure bitumen, with, doubtless, some astringent barks powders, etc. rubbed in. mummies prepared in this is way are known by their dry, yet flexible skins, retracted and adherent to the bones; features, and hair, well preserved and life-like. those mummies filled with bitumen, have black skins, hard and shining as if varnished, but with the features perfect, having been prepared with great care, and even after ages have elapsed, are but little susceptible to exposure. of the mummies of the second class (also filled with resins and asphaltum), we must assume that their skins and flesh have been subjected to sodaic or saline products; for boitard, in a work published at paris in 1825, says that an injection is made with oil of cedar and common salt, also, that they wash the corpse with nitre and leave it to steep for seventy days, at the end of which time they remove the intestines, which the injection has corroded, and replace their loss by filling the cavity of the abdomen with nitre. this is also borne out by wilkinson, who says: "on exposure to air they (the mummies) become covered with efflorescence of sulphate of soda, and also readily absorb moisture from the atmosphere." it appears, also, that after the period of preparation (thirty, forty, or seventy days, as fixed by various authors), the corpse was relieved, in the first-class ones, of all the old saline, nitrous, or resinous products, and re-filled with costly resins, aromatic spices, and bitumen; which, says monsieur rouyer: "having styptic, absorbent, and balsamic qualities, would produce a kind of tanning operation on the body, which would also, no doubt, be heightened by the washing with palm wine." he here broaches the ingenious and highly probable theory, that the corpse, during its mummification, was placed in stoves of a certain temperature, where the heat gradually and closely united the various preservative agents before mentioned. they were then swathed in linen bandages of great length, and enclosed in beautifully painted and gilded cartonages; the faces were heavily gilded and the eyes imitated in enamel; they were then inclosed in three or four cases, also richly gilded and painted, and finally "mounted" in a sarcophagus. common people appear in some cases to have been merely salted and plunged in liquid pitch, others were simply salted and dried. mummies prepared by these methods freely attract moisture--are ill preserved, and, therefore, as a matter of course, fall to pieces easily on contact with external air. in summing up the process of embalming, as described by the authors just quoted, we find a few problems of more or less difficulty, and which none of them appear inclined to solve; and i do not wonder at this, as the attempt, in my own case, in one or two instances, has involved days of study and references to dozens of medical and other works with but a meagre result. however, to take them seriatim, we can assume, i think, with some show of evidence, that the ethiopian stone, mentioned as being used to make the first incision in the corpse, might have been a piece of obsidian or basalt, but most probably was merely an ordinary sharp flint of a dark colour. the first chemical used in embalming is the hardest nut of all to crack, and on which i have most exercised my intellectual teeth--and that is natron. now, what is natron? [footnote: natrium is the old latin term for the metal or base we now call sodium. the old names for some of its salts were: natron carbonicum--or bicarbonate of soda; natron vitriolatum--or sulphate of soda; discovered or re-discovered about 1670. nitrum =carbonate of soda.] ordinary dictionaries and authors tell us, as a matter of course--carbonate of soda. in support of this theory m. rouyer writes: "the natron would be used just as it was got from many of the lakes of egypt, where it is found abundantly in the form of carbonate of soda." pereira, in "materia medica," though intimating that natron is not to be confounded with nitre, says, in speaking of carbonate of soda: "this salt was probably known to the ancients under the term of nitron." now, as nitron is more likely, from its etymology, to be translated "nitre," we are landed into another difficulty, if by nitre we mean saltpetre, for that will, as we all know, preserve animal tissue for a certain time; however, i do not think we can translate natron as being nitre (saltpetre), for in former days many salts were included under the general term nitre; for instance, our common soda and potash, the chemical composition of which was unknown until davy, in 1807, extracted the metals sodium and potassium from those salts. boitard expressly states: "il parait que ce natrum était un alkali fixe, et pas du tout du nitre comme quelques auteurs l'ont pensé; ce qui semblerait appuyer cette opinion, c'est que lea femmes egyptiennes se servaient de natrum pour faire leur lessive, comme on as sert aujourd'hui de la soude." in peru the soil may be said to be impregnated with nitre, but that is nitrate of soda, and not really saltpetre (nitrate of potassium), as many people imagine who hear it called simply nitre. mr. thos. w. baker, who has most obligingly unearthed several old works for me, says: "now i think of it, natron is perfectly familiar to me as apparently a mixture of broken soda crystals and a brown earth which is sold in the bazaars of india, under the name of 'sootjee moogee,' for domestic purposes; and i know, from experience, that unless it is washed off paint work directly it is passed over it with a cloth all the paint comes off bare, sometimes to the wood." again, he says: "in bayley's dictionary, circa 1730, i find the following: 'natron; or, a natron, from gr. natron (?), a kind of black greyish salt, taken out of a lake of stagnant water in the territory of terrana, in egypt." also see "penny cyclopaedia," vol. xvi, p. 105, "natron, native sesquicarbonate of soda (see 'sodium'):" "the natron lakes, which are six in number, are situated in a valley bordering upon lower egypt, and are remarkable for the great quantity of salt which they produce. the crystallisations are both of muriate of soda (or common salt) and of carbonate of soda. ... the 'natron' is collected once a year, and is used both in egypt and syria, as also in europe, for manufacturing glass and soap, and for bleaching linen." turning to "sodium" for the sesquicarbonate, which is found native in hungary, and also near fezzan, in africa: 'by the natives it is called "trona." it is found in hard striated crystalline masses, and is not altered by exposure to the air, but is readily soluble in water. this salt appears to be formed when a solution of the carbonate of soda is heated with carbonate of ammonia, and probably also when a solution of the bicarbonate is heated. its taste is less alkaline than that of the carbonate, into which it is converted when strongly heated by losing one-third of its carbonic acid.' that it was one of the products of soda cannot reasonably be doubted. biborate of soda (with which i have been experimenting lately) has certainly wonderfully preservative powers, especially in conjunction with common salt, or saltpetre; but then it has not the caustic properties of natron. may not natron have been a fixed alkali, or has the native carbonate of soda more caustic and antiseptic properties than the usual carbonate of soda of commerce, which plainly cannot be intended? we have here a most interesting subject to solve as to the component parts of the ancient natron; my suspicion is that natron, as used by the egyptians, was a mixture of biborate of soda, caustic soda, and muriate of soda. [footnote: the following report appeared in the california alta, 24th june. 1874: "an interesting discovery.--several weeks ago we mentioned the departure of mr. arthur robottom, birmingham, england, on a search for borax in the southern part of california. he has now returned, bringing news of an interesting and valuable discovery. beyond the sierra nevada, in the enclosed basin of north america, about 140 miles in a north-eastward direction from bakersfield, there is the bed of a dry lake filled over an area of fifteen miles long by six wide with saline crystals to a depth of about six or eight feet. the appearance of the surrounding country clearly indicates that water once stood sixty feet deep here over a large area, the ancient beach being distinctly traceable. the most remarkable fact about this-saline deposit is that in its middle there is a tract, five miles long and two wide, of common salt, while on the outside there is a deposit of borate of soda, three feet thick, and under this a lower stratum composed of sulphate of soda and tincal mixed together, from one to three feet thick. these minerals are all in crystals, the sulphate of soda and tincal forming a solid mass, almost like stone in its hardness. the borate of soda is of a dirty hue, but the salt, which lies above the level of the entire deposit, in some places to a depth of seven feet, is white as snow. the report of natural deposits thus situated will appear very improbable to scientific men, for there is nothing to account for the separation of the salt from the borates, or for the accumulation of salt above the level of other crystalline deposits. we have mr. robottom for authority, and the country is open for those who wish to examine for themselves. the place can easily be found. it is known as the borax fields in the slate range, and will be examined carefully by many competent men, since the tincal--a crude borate of soda--is a valuable mineral, and can be separated, at little expense, from the sulphate of soda."] the next chemical agent we have to notice (which should, however, have appeared prior to natron), is palm wine, used in the first process of cleansing the intestines; this would doubtless act as an astringent, and would, of course, tend to coagulate the liquid albumen contained in the body (in a similar manner to our ordinary spirits of wine), which, if followed by a caustic alkali (such as natron may have been), to dissolve the solid albumen, fibrin and gelatine, ought certainly to have exercised a decidedly tanning influence. following this is oil of cedar. the present oil of cedar (ol cedrat of commerce) cannot be intended, as that is made from the citron, and being merely an essential oil can have little of the antiseptic or corrosive qualities imputed to the ancient oil of cedars. may it not have been a product distilled from the actual cedar tree (one of the coniferae) similar to our oil or spirit of turpentine? i have, however, been unable to discover any writings in certain support of this theory; "encyclopaedia britannica" merely mentions it as "a certain oily liquor extracted from the cedar;" while boitard boldly says, "... sans doute l'essence de terebenthine." [footnote: the detroit review of medicine and pharmacy for july, 1876. gives a report of a case of poisoning through an overdose of oil of red cedar (oleum juniper virginianae) which supports my theory as to there being extracted an oil from the lebanon (or other) cedars partaking of the nature of turpentine and totally distinct from ol cedrat.] whatever may have been the composition of--and manner of applying--the foregoing agents, it is certain that they had the effect intended, for diodorus writes fully within bounds when mentioning the life-like appearance of the features in mummies, as we know by later discoveries, for there are some well-known specimens still in existence of which the eyelids, lashes, eyebrows, and hair are still in their natural state, and this after an interval of thousands of years. in some mummies, for instance, the contour of the features is plainly discernible, and surely this is scientific "preparation of specimens" not to be excelled in the present day. the egyptian mode of embalming was imitated occasionally by the jews, greeks, romans, and other nations, and has sometimes been adopted in modern times, but never to the same extent or perfection as they attained. the only other method which is known to have been adopted as a national custom was that practised by the guanches, the ancient inhabitants of the canary isles. their mummies are particularly described by m. bortj de st. vincent, in his 'essai sur les isles fortunées.' numerous and vast catacombs are filled with them in each of the thirteen islands, but the best known is one in teneriffe, which contained upwards of a thousand bodies. the mummies are sewn up in goat or sheep skins, and five or six are commonly found together, the skin over the head of one being stitched to that over the feet of another; but those of the great are contained in cases hollowed out of a piece of savin wood. the bodies are not bandaged, and are dry, light tan-coloured, and slightly aromatic. several of them are completely preserved with distinct, though distorted, features. the method of embalming adopted by the guanches consisted in removing the viscera in either of the same ways as the egyptians practised, then filling the cavities with aromatic powders, frequently washing and anointing the surface, and, lastly, drying the body very carefully for fifteen or sixteen days in the sun or by a stove. [footnote: my friend, the late thos. baker, wrote me, some time before his sad death by shipwreck: "in an old work which i have, 'a general collection of voyages,' i find the following relating to the 'guanches' in vol. i, book ii, chap. i, page 184, 'the voyage of juan rejon to the canary islands, ad. 1491': 'when any person died, they preserved the body in this manner: first, they carried it to a cave and stretched it on a fiat stone, where they opened it and took out the bowels; then, twice a day, they washed the porous parts of the body, viz, the arm-pits, behind the ears, the groin, between the fingers, and the neck, with cold water. after washing it sufficiently they anointed those parts with sheep's butter (?), and sprinkled them with a powder made of the dust of decayed pine trees, and a sort of brushwood which the spaniards call brefsos, together with the powder of pumice stone. then they let the body remain till it was perfectly dry, when the relatives of the deceased came and swaddled it in sheep or goat skins dressed. girding all tight with long leather thongs, they put it in the cave which had been set apart by the deceased for his burying place, without any covering. there were particular persons set apart for this office of embalming, each sex performing it for those of their own. during the process they watched the bodies very carefully to prevent the ravens from devouring them, the relations of the deceased bringing them victuals and waiting on them during the time of their watching.'"] so complete is the desiccation of these mummies, that a whole body, which blumenbach possessed, weighed only 7.5 lb, though the dried skeleton of a body of the same size, as usually prepared, weighs at least 9 lb. in some situations the conditions of the soil and atmosphere, by the rapidity with which they permit the drying of the animal tissues to be effected, are alone sufficient for the preservation of the body in the form of a mummy; this is the case in some parts of peru, especially at arica, where considerable numbers of bodies have been found quite dry in pits dug in a saline dry soil. there is an excellent specimen of a mummy of this kind in the museum of the college of surgeons, which was brought from caxamarca by general paroissien--like most of them, it is in a sitting posture, with the knees almost touching the chin, and the hands by the sides of the face. it is quite dry and hard; the features are distorted, but nearly perfect, and the hair has fallen off. the peruvian mummies do not appear to have been subjected to any particular preparation, the dry and absorbent earth in which they are placed being sufficient to prevent them from putrefying. m. humboldt found the bodies of many spaniards and peruvians lying on former fields of battle dried and preserved in the open air. in the deserts of africa the preservation of the body is secured by burying it in the hot sand; and even in europe soils are sometimes met with in which the bodies undergo a slow process of drying, and then remain almost unalterable even on exposure to the air and moisture. there is a vault at toulouse in which a vast number of bodies that have been buried were found, after many years, dry and without a trace of the effects of putrefaction; and in the vaults of st. michael's church, dublin, the bodies are similarly preserved. in both cases putrefaction is prevented by the constant absorption of the moisture from the atmosphere, and through its medium from the body by the calcareous soil in which the vaults are dug.--penny cyclopaedia, vol. xv, p. 477." having now given a brief sketch of the best-known methods of preserving nature's greatest handiwork--man--i may mention that the egyptians also devoted their energies to the preservation of those things more intimately connected with our theme, namely, mammals, birds, etc. a people who knew how to preserve and arrest from decay the carcase of so immense an animal as the hippopotamus (a mummy of which was discovered at thebes), or the various bulls, cows, dogs, cats, mice, ichneumons, hawks, ibises, fishes, serpents, crocodiles, and other sacred animals (mummies of which have been and are constantly found), must have had some glimmerings of taxidermy; many of the subjects are preserved in so beautiful a manner that mummied ibises, hawks, etc, are occasionally discovered even in a good state of preservation, and cuvier actually found in the intestines of a mummied ibis (ibis religiosa, a species still found, though rarely, in egypt) the partly-digested skin and scales of a snake! from this period of the world's history i can discover but few links to the chain of practical taxidermy. true it is that the greeks, romans, and the tribes which inhabited ancient britain must have had some knowledge of preserving skins of animals slaughtered by them in the chase, for we everywhere read of the skins of lions, tigers, wolves, etc, being used for purposes of necessity, as in the case of those barbarians who clothed themselves with skins as a protection from the inclemency of the weather, and also in the case of the luxurious greeks and romans, who used skins in the adornment of their persons or homes. in fact, the conversion of skins into leather must be of the highest antiquity, for, in the leeds mummy described in 1828, there was found on the bandages of the head and face a thong composed of three straps of leather, and many of the egyptian divinities are represented with a lion or leopard skin as a covering for the throne, etc.; and do we not read in many places in holy writ of leather and of tanners?--a notable instance, to wit, in simon, the tanner--in fact, the ancient history of all nations teems with the records of leather and of furs; but of the actual setting up of animals as specimens i can find no trace. i doubt, however, if we can carry taxidermy proper farther back than to about 150 years ago, at which date naturalists appear to have had some idea of the proper preservation and mounting of natural history specimens; but réaumur, more than a century and a quarter ago, published a treatise on the preservation of skins of birds; however, as his plan was simply setting up with wires birds which had previously been steeped in spirits of wine, his method did not find much favour. it appears that, just after that time, the system was tried of skinning birds in their fresh state, and also of cutting the skins longitudinally in two halves, and filling the one half with plaster; then the skin was fixed to a backboard, an eye was inserted, and the beak and legs were imitated by painting: and this was then fixed in a sort of framework of glass. this system is still followed to a certain extent; for, fifteen years ago, when i was in one of the greek islands, a german came round the town selling birds mounted in the same way, and also mounted feather by feather. to quote now from the translation of a french work, published by longman, rees, and co, in london, in 1820, we find that "a work appeared at lyons in 1758, entitled 'instructions on the manner of collecting and preparing the different curiosities of natural history.'" [footnote: the sixth edition, twenty-three years later, has this title, "taxidermy, or the art of preparing and mounting objects of natural history for the use of museums and travellers, by mrs. r. lee, formerly mrs. j. edward bowdich. sixth edition, 1843. longman, brown, green, and longman."] the author was the first who submitted some useful principles for taxidermy. he ornamented his book with many plates, more than half of which are in all respects foreign to his subject, as they simply represent shells, and other marine productions, with their descriptions. in 1786, the abbé manesse published a volume under the title of "treatise on the manner of stuffing and preserving animals and skins." he presented his work to the academy, who made a favourable report of it. mauduyt has given a memoir on the manner of preparing dead birds for forming collections. (see la 5ème "livraison de l'encyclopédie, méthodique, histoire naturelle des oiseaux," t. i, deuxième partie, p. 435.) by studying his method we may, with perseverance, be able to mount birds well, although he had never prepared them himself, for he has composed his memoir from the notes which lerot furnished him, who mounted them very well, and who merited the confidence which mauduyt had accorded him in all the preparations which his fine collection required. an old sculptor, living at lahaye, devoted himself to the practice of taxidermy, and in a short time surpassed all those who had employed themselves in mounting animals, especially large mammalia. it seems that neither the english nor the dutch have published any work which treats of the method of mounting animals according to system. in 1801 we were not more advanced than they were. what we possessed of this kind appeared insufficient to amateurs. notwithstanding, many derived advantage from the memoir of mauduyt, but being inserted in the "encyclopédie méthodique," it was not always easy to procure it. there was, besides, only the work of abbé manesse, and the tediousness of the means which he pointed out frightened all those who desired to learn taxidermy. the professors of natural history to the central schools of the departments felt more than ever the want of a work which furnished the method of preserving and augmenting their zoological collections. in 1802 their wishes were nearly accomplished, for there appeared almost at the same time two works on taxidermy, the one by m. nicholas, a chemist, the other by m. henon. m. nicholas makes an analysis of all that had been said before on the preparation of animals. this view comprehends nearly half the volume. bécoeur, of metz, was the best apothecary in that city. he mounted fresh birds in the greatest perfection, and by a little practice one is sure to succeed with his method. he opened his birds in the usual manner, that is to say, by the middle of the belly. he easily took out the body by this opening without cutting any of the extremities; he then removed the flesh by the aid of a scalpel, taking the precaution to preserve all the ligaments; he anointed the skin, and put the skeleton in its place, carefully dispersing the feathers on each side. he ran the head through with an iron wire, in which he had formed a little ring at nearly the third of its length; the smallest side passed into the rump in such a manner that 'the ring of the iron wire was under the sternum. he then passed a wire into each claw, so that the extremities of the wire united to pass into the little ring; he bent these extremities within, and fixed them with a string to the iron in the middle of the vertebral column. he replaced the flesh by flax, or chopped cotton, sewed up the bird, placed it on a foot or support of wood, and gave it a suitable attitude, of which he was always sure--for a bird thus mounted could only bend in its natural posture (?). he prepared quadrupeds in the same manner. it remains for us to speak of a little work published by henon and mouton fontenelle. they had at first no other object than to read their manuscript to the athenaeum at lyons, of which they were members. they were earnestly solicited to print it, and published it in 1802. the authors speak of birds only. they describe an infinity of methods practised by others, and compare them to their own, which, without doubt, are preferable, but too slow to satisfy the impatience of ornithologists. the book from which i have just quoted seems to have been the only reliable text book known at that period, and with the exception of certain modern improvements in modelling and mounting, contains a mass of--for that day--valuable elementary information. in fact, the french and german taxidermists were then far in advance of us, a stigma which we did not succeed in wiping off until after the great exhibition of 1851. although, as i have just said, the french and germans excelled us in the setting up of specimens, yet their collections did not, in all cases, exceed ours in point of interest or magnitude, for the old taxidermists had been at work prior to 1725, at which date it is recorded that the museum of sir hans sloane (the nucleus of our british museum collection) contained the following number of specimens: mammals, 1194; birds, 753; reptiles, 345; fishes, 1007. a gradual increase appeared by 1753, when the figures stood: mammals, 1886; birds, 1172; reptiles, 521; fishes, 1555. a great proportion of these were, however, not stuffed specimens, but simply bones and preparations of fleshy parts in spirits. nothing shows the gradual rise and progress of taxidermy better than the history of the british museum, which, under the then name of montagu house, was opened to the public by special ticket on jan. 15, 1759. soon after its opening the natural history collections appear to have claimed more interest from the public, for in 1765 we had a very good collection of butterflies, and in 1769 the trustees acquired, by purchase, a considerable collection of stuffed birds from holland. the restrictions on visitors were, however, vexatious, people of all classes being hurried through the rooms at a tremendous speed--vide hutton, the birmingham historian, who visited it in 1784, and relates how he would fain have spent hours looking at things for which only minutes were allowed. from this period up to 1816 (at which date the valuable ornithological collection of col. montagu was purchased for the nation at a cost of £11,000) the additions to the natural history galleries were not many, probably owing to the troublous times; however, when we had succeeded in breaking the power of napoleon and restored peace to europe, naturalists and taxidermists found that the public had then time and inclination to devote themselves to their collections or works. accordingly, during the next twenty years many works (including those before noted) were written on taxidermy, the most notable being by swainson, brown, and that eccentric genius waterton, whom we may call the pioneer of our present system of mounting, and who, in his usual caustic style, pointed out the very inferior way in which specimens were then mounted. at the end of his "wanderings in south america" appeared a treatise on taxidermy, but, as he decried the use of arsenical preparations, and mounted his birds without wires in a fashion peculiar to himself, his system did not find favour in the eyes of the school of rigid stuffing, who had not then worked out the present happy compromise between his style and theirs. his patience must have been inexhaustible; indeed, the rev. j. g. wood, who knew him well, has told me of many instances in which he spent days in scraping out the hands and feet of the larger apes until he got them as thin as paper, and also of his delight when he invented the kid-glove substitute for a peacock's face much to the astonishment of the reverend gentleman. of course; all these works on the preservation of natural history objects and the labours of collectors directed the public mind to the contemplation of natural history. the british museum at this time also--relieved of a few of the restrictions on admission--became more popular, and in 1836 we find the natural history collections were as follow: mammals, species 405; birds, species 2400; constituting altogether in specimens the sum total of 4659. of reptiles we could boast--species 600, specimens 1300; fish 1000 specimens. these figures did not contrast favourably with the paris museum as in the days of old for now paris stood: mammals, species 500; birds, species 2300; grand total of specimens 6000. of fish the french had four times as many as we (and beat us, proportionately, in other sections), while we were far in advance in this class of the vienna and berlin museums. in shells (not fossils), london and paris were equal and much superior to berlin and leyden. in 1848 an extraordinary increase (marking the great interest taken in taxidermical science) had taken place; we now had added to the british museum since 1836, 29,595 specimens, comprising 5797 mammals, 13,414 birds, 4112 reptiles, 6272 fish. in mammals and birds we held the proud position of having the finest and most extensive collection in the world, while in reptiles and fish we were again beaten by paris. in proof of the growing interest taken in natural history, we find that in 1860 the number of visitors to the natural history department was greatly in excess of all the other departments; and at the present time the attendance has greatly increased, as also the objects exhibited, a fact patent to all who will take the trouble to visit the british museum, or to inspect the official catalogues published from time to time, a synopsis of which cannot at present be given owing to their extent and variety; but we can assume, i think, that we have as complete a natural history collection as is to be found in any of the museums of the world. [footnote: some idea of the extent of the national natural history collections may be gathered from the pages of the recently-published british museum "catalogues" 1874-82, where, in many instances, the number of specimens of a certain order of birds contained in the museum falls very little short of the ascertained number of species for the whole of the world.] though taxidermy flourished, as we see, for some years previous to the great exhibition of 1851, yet that decidedly gave a considerable impetus to the more correct and artistic delineation of animals, especially in what may be called the grotesque school instituted by the germans, which, though it may perhaps be decried on the score of misrepresenting nature in the most natural way possible, yet teaches a special lesson by the increased care necessary to more perfectly render the fine points required in giving animals that serio-comic and half-human expression which was so intensely ridiculous and yet admirable in the studies of the groups illustrating the fable of "reinecke the fox," which were in the wurtemburgh court, class xxx. and were executed by h. ploucquet, of stuttgart. these groups, or similar ones, are now to be seen in the crystal palace at sydenham. in nearly all of these groups the modelling and the varied expressions of hope, fear, love, and rage, were an immense step in advance of the old wooden school of taxidermy; specimens of which are still to be found in museums--stiff, gaunt, erect, and angular. copies of those early outrages on nature may still be seen in the dreary plates of the anything but "animated" work of "poor goldie," who, as boswell said, "loved to shine" in what was least understood. 16 practical taxidermy. from this era the english artists, having had their eyes opened by the teachings of the foreign exhibits of 1851, steadily gained ground, and the wards having the sense to employ, in the first instance, foreign artistic workmen, rapidly pushed to the front, until the finest animal study of ancient or modern times was achieved by one of them--the "lion and tiger struggle," exhibited at paris, and afterwards at the sydenham crystal palace. this, and one or two analogous works, carried the english to the foremost ranks of zoological artists; and now that we embellish our taxidermic studies with natural grasses, ferns, etc. and with representations of scenery and rockwork, in the endeavour to carry the eye and mind to the actual localities in which the various species of animals are found--an advance in art not dreamed of fifty years ago--and also correctly model the heads and limbs of animals, we still hold our own, and are as far advanced in taxidermy as any other nation. chapter ii. decoying and trapping animals. the decoying and trapping of birds, etc, is a somewhat delicate subject to handle, lest we degenerate into giving instruction in amateur poaching; but the application of my direction i must leave to the reader's own sense of fitness of time and scene, and object to be snared. and now, before launching into my subject, one word in season. observe as a golden rule--never to be broken--this: do not snare, shoot, nor kill any more birds or animals than you absolutely want--in fine, do not kill for killing's sake, or snare in wantonness. let all you do have reference to some object to be attained, either to procure specimens wanted for a collection, or, in cases of necessity, for food. bear this in mind, for, without sympathy with creatures fashioned in as complex and beautiful a manner as ourselves, we can never hope to be true naturalists, or to feel a thrill of exquisite pleasure run through us when a new specimen falls to our prowess. how can we admire its beauty when alive, or feel a mournful satisfaction at its death, if we are constantly killing the same species of bird for sport alone? another thing: kill a wounded bird as quickly and humanely as possible, which you may always do by pressing its breast just under the wings with your finger and thumb, bearing the whole weight of the palm of the hand on the sternum or breast-bone, and gradually increasing the pressure until life is extinct. this plan suffices for even the larger birds, provided you can find a means of holding them firmly while you employ both hands in the manner previously indicated. again: if collecting eggs, be content with half the sitting of a nest, and if you know of a very rare nest of eggs, do not take them all in your acquisitive greed. if you see a rare bird, on common land, you may as well secure him as let "jack smith" make him up in a sparrow pie; but if the bird is on preserved land, or in a retired spot where no one is likely to harry it, do think a minute before pulling trigger, and ask yourself three questions: 1. will this bird be likely to stay if unmolested? 2. is it likely to have a mate? 3. will it nest here? if you can answer any of these questions in the affirmative, why, "don't shoot, colonel;" for think of the aid to science, and your own satisfaction, if you can discover anything new in its habits, or verify any doubtful point. many rare birds would nest here if undisturbed, and come again with additions. the hoopoe, or golden oriole, for instance, and many other rare birds, would nest, and, indeed, do nest here when allowed. an interesting account of the appearance of the great bustard in norfolk, and the pains taken through the kindness of lord lilford to provide it with a mate, appeared in the field of april 8, 1876. but alas! everyone is not so considerate, and we have but a select few of such self-sacrificing people. i presume no notice is required how to set the first trap on our list --i mean our boyhood's old favourite, the brick trap, or the sieve and string, both very well in their way in hard weather; but a notice may be required as to the uses to which the next simplest trap, or springe (the horsehair noose), may be applied. for the very few people who do not know how to set it, i will, in the manner of col. hawker, who did everything at the time which he wished to explain in writing, proceed to make one. fig. 1--loop in wire. here, then, i have a black horsehair about two feet long; i double it, holding it between the right-hand finger and thumb, leaving a little loose loop of about half an inch long; from this point i proceed by an overhand motion of the thumb to twist it up; on reaching the bottom i make a small knot to prevent its unrolling; then, pushing the knotted end through the eye of the loop, i thus form a loose noose. i then attach a piece of wire to the free end by a twisted loop (see fig. 1). with about half a dozen of these springes coiled in an oval tin box i am ready to snare any small bird whose haunt i may discover. birds which are nesting can easily be caught by placing one noose in the nest and others round the edge or mouth, making fast the end wires to any contiguous branch or twigs. moorhens or water-rails, which swim or run through the constantly frequented tracks which they have made in dense undergrowth or rushes in bogs, may be captured by attaching these nooses to a string stretched across--indeed, a writer in the field, of july 8, 1876, says, speaking of turkestan: "ducks are caught by rather a clever arrangement with horsehair nooses attached to a string, which is stretched over the ditches and canals used for irrigation, and so close to the water that the ducks are compelled when swimming under the string to stretch out their necks, when they are easily caught in the hanging nooses." also a useful plan for catching plovers or snipes, which haunt the edges of streams having a narrow margin between the bank and the water, is described by him as used for catching quails: "one method is simplicity itself: a hair noose is fastened to a lump of clay well worked together; a number of these appliances are scattered about the lucerne fields, which the quails are fond of frequenting; the bird caught in the noose is prevented from flying away owing to the weight of the lump of clay and its getting easily entangled in the grass." wheatears and ortolans are caught by suspending a hair noose between two turves placed on end and touching each other in the form of the roof of a house; to this shelter the birds constantly run on the approach of danger, or even, apparently, through timidity, on the gathering of storm clouds. with this springe, also, thrushes and similar birds are described as being snared by mr. gould (in his "birds of great britain"), who, giving mr. box as his authority, says: the thrush is a great source of amusement to the middle, and of profit to the lower, classes during its autumnal migration. many families of liege, luxemburg, luneburg, namur, parts of hainault, and brabant choose this season for their period of relaxation from business, and devote themselves to the taking of this bird with horsehair springes. the shopkeeper of liege and verviers, whose house in the town is the model of comfort and cleanliness, resorts with his wife and children to one or two rooms in a miserable country village to enjoy the sport he has been preparing with their help during the long evenings of the preceding winter, in the course of which he has made as many as from 5000 to 10,000 horsehair springes and prepared as many pieces of flexible wood, rather thicker than a swan-quill, in and on which to hang the birds. he hires what he calls his 'tenderie,' being from four to five acres of underwood about three to five years old, pays some thirty shillings for permission to place his springes, and his greatest ambition is to retain for several years the same tenderie and the same lodgings, which he improves in comfort from year to year. the springes being made and the season of migration near, he goes for a day to his intended place of sojourn, and cuts as many twigs, about 18 in. in length, as he intends hanging springes. there are two methods of hanging them--in one the twig is bent into the form of the figure six, the tail end running through a slit out in the upper part of the twig. the other method is to sharpen a twig at both ends, and insert the points into a grower or stem of underwood, thus forming a bow, of which the stem forms the string below the springe; and hanging from the lower part of the bow is placed a small branch, with three or four berries of the mountain ash (there called "sorbier "); this is fixed to the bow by inserting the stalk into a slit in the wood. the hirer of a new tenderie three or four acres in extent is obliged to make zigzag footpaths through it, to out away the boughs which obstruct them, and even to hoe and keep them clean. having thus prepared himself, he purchases one or two bushels of mountain ash berries, with the stalks to which they grow, picked for the purpose after they are red, but before they are ripe, to prevent falling off: these he lays out on a table in the loft or attic. the collection of these berries is a regular trade, and the demand for them is so great that, although planted expressly by the side of the roads in the ardennes, they have been sold as high as 2 pounds the bushel; but the general price is 5 francs. we will now suppose our thrush-catcher arrived at his lodgings in the country--that he has had his footpath cleared by the aid of a labourer, and that he is off for his first day's sport. he is provided with a basket, one compartment of which holds his twigs bent or straight, another his berries; his springes being already attached to the twigs, he very rapidly drives his knife into a lateral branch, and fixes them, taking care that the springe hangs neatly in the middle of the bow, and that the lower part of the springe is about three fingers' breadth from the bottom. by this arrangement the bird alighting on the lower side of the bow, and bending his neck to reach the berries below, places his head in the noose. finding himself obstructed in his movements, he attempts to fly away; but the treacherous noose tightens round his throat, and he is found by the sportsman hanging by the neck, a victim of misplaced confidence. the workman, who at this season earns a second harvest by this pursuit, carries on his industry in wilder districts, or he frequently obtains permission from his employer to set springes in his master's woods. in this case he supplies the family with birds, which are highly appreciated as a delicacy, especially when almost covered with butter, with a few juniper berries, and some bacon cut into small dice and baked in a pan. the rest of his take he sells at from 5d. to 10d. per dozen. no person who has not lived in the country can imagine the excitement among all classes when the "grives" arrive. if the morning be foggy, it is a good day for "grives"; if bright, bad "tenderie"! the reason is obvious. when the birds arrive in a fog they settle at once in the woods; if bright, they fly about, seeking the most propitious place for food. it appears that redwings and fieldfares are caught by this method also, as well as a few ring-ousels and blackbirds. "stonehenge" says that the springe just described was used for snaring woodcocks, in the following mariner: "it used to be the constant practice on all the hill downs in these parts to place out underwood or furze, about a foot in height, to a very great extent along the ground, in the shape of a letter v, at the apex of which an opening would be left, where a hair noose or springe would be set, which seldom failed to yield the pot-hunter a nightly supply, as the cock would run along the side of the brushwood feeding, not taking the trouble to top over it, until he was led into the snare; but this plan is now, owing to the scarcity of cocks, when compared with former years, very seldom practised." ptarmigan are said by daniels, in his "rural sports," to be led up to springes in nearly the same manner, stones being substituted for furze. another mode of making a springe, which is a capital plan for catching almost any bird, whether it be a percher or a runner, is this: procure an elastic wand (hazel or osier makes the best) of about 3 ft. 6 in. long, to the top of which tie a piece of twisted horsehair about 3 in. in length; to the free end attach a little piece of wood of 2 in. in length, by the middle, cutting one end to an obtuse point, flattened on the top and underneath. just underneath this little crosspiece attach two horsehair springes, at right angles; next cut a little fork, or rather angle piece, from a tree, one end of which is to be quite 4 in. long (to drive in the ground), the other end about 0.5 in, measuring from underneath. to set this trap, push the long wand into the ground until about 3 ft. of it is out; then, at a distance of 2 ft, drive in the fork piece, until only 0.5 in. clears the ground; next bend the wand down in the form of a bow, and bring the pointed end of the crosspiece under the peg, or fork, planted in the ground at the other end. the free end is now a little elevated, while the middle is held very lightly on the point of the catch, and its opposite end rests lightly on the ground. on the "ticklish" setting of this everything depends. next place some blades of grass or light moss so as to hide the fork piece at the back and sides, taking care that no small sticks interfere with the proper working of the trap; strew some suitable seed or bait on the grass or moss, and then carefully place one horsehair noose in such a manner as to trap a bird should it merely hop on the crosspiece, and the other noose arrange so as to catch it by the neck should it attempt to seize the bait or to pass. in either case it dislodges the crosspiece, which instantly flies up, suspending the bird by the neck or legs in one or both of the nooses. the appearance of the set trap before the grass or moss is arranged is as represented in fig. 2, which i have drawn from a trap set for that purpose. sometimes this trap (or properly springe) is set with another fork placed at right angles to the other, and sufficiently distant from it to just catch the opposite end of the crosspiece, and though, perhaps, this plan allows it to be set a little finer, it has many disadvantages. fig. 2--"springe," or snare for birds. yet another modification of the same springe. the wand or spring-stick, crosspiece, and nooses as before, but instead of the simple catch, use a complete bow, with both ends stuck in the ground. at some little distance from this drive in a straight piece of stick; next procure a piece of stick with a complete fork or crutch at one end. to set it, draw down the spring-stick and pull the crosspiece under the bow by the top side farthest from the spring-stick. now hold it firmly with one hand while you place the forked stick with its crutch pressing against the opposite upright stick, and bring its free end against the lower end of the crosspiece, and adjust both as finely as you can. finally, arrange the nooses in such a manner that if either of them or the crutched stick is touched the latter falls, and releasing the crosspiece, the spring-stick flies up, and the bird with it. to see the setting of this at a glance, vide fig. 3 (showing only one noose, however), which i have "cribbed" from a tail piece of bewick's, putting it a little out of drawing to show it up. fig. 3--"springe" for snipe. the next simple trap to be considered is evidently the pit-fall, used only, however, for large and fierce animals, and varying in construction in different countries. for descriptions of methods of baiting for and catching such animals as lions, leopards, tigers, elephants, etc, consult almost any book on african or indian field sports. of poisons or intoxicants for capturing birds or animals, i do not intend to treat, as they are better left to gamekeepers and poachers. dead-falls, such as the "figure of 4 trap," are easy to make, and useful for killing small animals. the materials required are simply three ordinary pieces of wood, a small piece of string, or, better still, wire, and a large, heavy, flat paving stone, or slate. having procured three pieces of wood of half an inch square by one foot long, we call one the "upright," which is simply brought to a point at one end, somewhat like a chisel. the second is the "slanting stick," which should be cut to about 8 in. long, having a nick in it about half an inch from one end, about half way through its depth; the other end is brought to a chisel point on its upper surface; the third, which is the "foot" or "bait stick," has a square notch, the thickness of the upright, cut in it, about three inches from one end; the inner end of this notch is relieved a little, so as not to bind on the upright too much. within half an inch of the other end another notch is cut, but at right angles to the last, that is to say, this last notch is cut on the top, while the other is cut at the side; the outer or top notch also slopes inward. at the inner or side notch end drill a little hole, through which place a piece of pointed wire to receive the bait. the appearance of the three sticks when set is best explained by fig 4; a. is the upright, b the slanting stick, and c bait or bottom stick. to set it, take the upright in the left hand, chisel point up, pick up b with the right hand, place it with its notch fitting on the top of a, and keeping the slanting stick pressed down firmly, you hold the two in proper position. this has relieved the left hand entirely, which now is used to pick up c; place the side notch of this on the upright a, slide it up until its end nick is caught by the point of b; a sufficient leverage, as it were, being attained on this, we can hold the whole of the trap now with the right hand. by grasping b with the fingers of the hand in opposition to the palm, while the thumb presses it down on the top, the left hand, being at liberty, is used to drag the stone and to raise one end to fall on the top of b; the weight of the stone now sets the three parts in opposition to each other. an animal touching the bait in the slightest manner is sufficient to destroy the nice balance of the whole affair, and down it comes with a run. the sizes given--from a trap i have just set--are, of course, for small animals only, but it may be enlarged or decreased to any extent, at the pleasure of the operator. fig. 4--"figure of 4" trap. as "stonehenge" and "high elms" have introduced some improvements, i may as well quote the former: the figure of 4 trap is composed of a large square piece of stone or slate propped up in a peculiar manner with three pieces of wood, which are arranged in the shape of a 4. in examining this figure it will be seen to consist of a perpendicular limb or upright, of a horizontal one or stretcher, and of a short slanting stick, as the third is called. the upright is usually cut about half an inch wide, shaved to a thin edge at top, but "high elms" recommends it to have a forked foot to keep it from twisting, and a notch in it to prevent the stretcher slipping down. the slanting stick has a notch cut in it half an inch from its upper end to receive the top of the upright, while its lower end is shaved off to fit in a notch in the upper surface of the front of the stretcher. lastly, the stretcher has this notch in front, and another notch cut in its side by which it is caught by the upright and held in its place. a bait being tied to the external end of the stretcher, and a stone placed so that it will lie flat on the ground, the whole is ready for setting, which is effected as follows: raise the stone, and support it by the notched end of the slanting stick held in the left hand, the notch itself looking downwards, then place the upright with one end on the ground and the other in this notch, and let it carry the weight of the stone, which will have a tendency to tilt up the slanting stick still held down by the left hand; finally, hitch the middle notch of the stretcher in the upright, with its front notch facing upwards, then bring the lower end of the slanting stick down to this front notch, drop it in, and the trap is set. of course, it requires that each part shall be carefully adapted to the others, but when the trap is seen set it will be readily understood, practice being, however, required to set it properly. i quite agree with "high elms" that the footed upright is an improvement; but i am inclined to doubt the advantage of the double notch between the upright and the stretcher. i have tried both, and i cannot find that there is any great superiority in his plan; but, perhaps, though i have exactly followed his directions as given in the field, i may have omitted some point of practical importance. in setting the figure of 4 trap, the height of the upright and the size and weight of the stone will be proportioned to the animal for which it is set. i do not like the trap myself, as it cannot be concealed so well as the steel trap, and, indeed, has no advantage except in cheapness. dozens of them may be set in the woods, and if stolen little harm is done, as the cost is barely a penny apiece if made in large numbers. i have also known pheasants caught by the head and killed in them, the flesh with which they are baited being often attractive to tame-bred birds, which usually are fed with more or less of it in their rearing. mr. g. s. purden has informed me that he has succeeded in capturing birds alive with this trap by hollowing out the ground where the stone falls. another "deadfall" for taking capercailzie in norway is described by mr. yarnell in his "british birds": "where the trees grow thickly on either side of a footpath, two long pieces of wood are placed across it; one end of these rests on the ground, the other being raised a foot and a half, or somewhat more, from the surface, and supported by a piece communicating with a triangular twig, placed in the centre of the path, and so contrived that on being slightly touched the whole fabric falls; a few stones are usually placed upon the long pieces of wood to increase the rapidity of the drop by the additional weight. birds running along the footpath attempt to pass beneath the barrier, strike the twig, and are killed by the fall of the trap." taking birds by means of bird-lime is my next consideration. bird-lime is made either from boiled oil or from holly-bark, but the making of it is not "worth the candle," it being so easily bought from any professional bird-catcher. to those who wish to make their own, i commend the following: take half a pint of linseed oil and put it into an old pot, or any vessel that will stand the fire without breaking. the vessel should not be more than one-third full. place it over a slow fire and stir it until it thickens as much as required. this can be ascertained by cooling the stick in water and trying if it will stick to the fingers. when sufficiently boiled, pour into cold water, and it will be found ready for use. i have submitted the foregoing to a practical birdcatcher and maker of bird-lime, and he has "passed" it as correct, only adding that the oil takes somewhere about four hours to slowly boil before it becomes sufficiently tenacious for use. holly-bark he does not believe in, as he says it takes too long to make; but that is no reason why we should pass over bird-lime made from this substance. the "encyclopaedia britannica" says: "it is usually prepared by boiling holly-bark ten or twelve hours, and when-the green coat is separated from the other it is covered up for a fortnight in a moist place; then pounded into a rough paste, and washed in a running stream till no motes appear. it is next put up to ferment for four or five days, and repeatedly skimmed. to prepare it for use, a third part of nut oil or thin grease must be incorporated with it over the fire." bird-lime can also be made from many other plants, but the best quality is made by either of the two methods mentioned above. the "edinburgh encyclopaedia" says further that: when bird-lime is about to be applied to use, it should be made hot, and the rods or twigs should be warmed a little before they be dipped in it. where straws and cords are to be limed it should be very hot, and after they are prepared they should be kept in a leather bag till used. in order to prevent bird-lime from being congealed by cold, it should be mixed with a little oil of petroleum; and, indeed, before the common kind can be used at all, it must be melted over the fire with a third part of nut oil or any thin grease, if that has not been added in the preparation. the smaller kinds of birds are frequently taken with bird-lime, which is one of the most eligible modes in frost or snow, when all sorts of small birds assemble in flocks, and which may be used in various ways. put the bird-lime into an earthen dish, with the addition of one ounce of fresh lard to every quarter-pound of bird-lime, and melt the whole gently over the fire. take a quantity of wheat ears, with a foot of the straw attached to thorn, and, having warmed the lime, that it may spread the thinner, lime about six inches of the straw from the bottom of the ears. scatter a little chaff and thrashed ears over a compass of twenty yards; stick the limed straws into the ground, with the ears inclining downwards, or even touching the surface; traverse the adjoining places in order to disturb the birds, and make them fly towards the snare, and, by pecking at the ears of corn, they will become so entangled with the limed straw as to be easily taken by the hand. the lime may also be applied to cords, rods, and twigs, especially when it is intended to entangle the larger birds, such as snipes and fieldfares, and for this purpose the following mode may be adopted: take the main branch of any bushy tree, with long, straight, and smooth twigs, such as the willow or birch, clear the twigs from every notch and prickle, lime the branches to within four fingers of the bottom, leaving the main bough from which the others rise untouched by the composition, and then place the bush where the birds resort. for small birds two to three hundred single twigs, about the thickness of a rush and three inches in length, may be stuck in sheaves of flag and corn. in hot and dry weather the twigs may be placed around the rivulets, ditches, and pools to which the birds come for drink, covering the waters at the same time with brushwood, so that they can have no access to quench their thirst, except at the spot where the twigs are fixed. for this purpose the rods or twigs should be about a foot in length, limed to within two inches of the thickest end, which is stuck into the bank in such a manner that they may lie within two fingers' breadth of the ground, and as the birds do not alight at once upon the place where they are to drink, but gradually descend from the higher trees to the lower, thence to the bushes, and lastly to the bank, it is useful to fix a few branches about a fathom from the water in a sloping direction, with a few lime twigs fastened upon them on which the birds will as frequently be caught as on those which are placed nearer to the water. the best time for this sport is from ten to eleven in the forenoon, from two to three in the afternoon, and about an hour before sunset, when the birds come to the watering places in flocks before they retire to roost. the application of bird-lime is of ancient origin, and is practised in many countries. pennant gives an account of how to take small birds by liming twigs around a stuffed or tethered live owl. i have heard of this plan being adopted, but have not tried it myself. from the curious manner in which small birds usually mob an owl, i should fancy it would succeed. according to folkard's "wildfowler:" "there was also a method much in vogue previously to the invention and discovery of decoys, of taking wild fowl with lime strings made of packthread or string, knotted in various ways and besmeared with birdlime; these were set in rows about fens, moors, and other feeding haunts of the birds, an hour or two before morning or evening twilight. this plan was to procure a number of small stakes, about 2 ft. in length, sharpened to a point at the nether end, and forked at the upper. these were pricked out in rows about a yard or two apart, some being placed in a slanting direction, and each stake siding one with another, within convenient distances of 4 yds. or 5 yds, so as to bear up the strings, which were laid upon the crutches, and placed loosely about 18 in. above the ground. the lime strings were thus drawn from stake to stake in various directions, and lightly placed between the forks at the top of the stakes, some rows being higher than others; and in this manner the whole space occupied by the stakes was covered with lime strings, as if carefully laid in wave-like coils, or placed in different directions, the ends being secured to the stakes with slip-knots, so that upon a light strain the whole of any string which might be touched by the bird became instantly loose, and, sticking to the feathers, the more it struggled to free itself, so much the more the string twisted about it, and thus the bird was quickly entangled, and became an easy prey. in this manner numbers of wild fowl of the largest species were taken at night at the moment of sweeping over the ground at very slow flight, just before alighting; and it would appear that this method of fowling was particularly successful in taking plovers, which generally alight on the ground thickly congregated together. a similar method was employed for taking wild fowl with lime strings placed over the surface of rivers and ponds frequented by those birds, and apparently with remarkable success. for this purpose it was necessary to procure a waterproof bird-lime wherewith to dress the strings, which were knotted in a similar manner to those employed for taking birds on land. the strings so prepared were in serpentine coils from stake to stake, the stakes being forked at the top, and of similar form to those last described, but of sufficient length to reach the bottom of the water and obtain a firm fixing in the mud. some of the stakes were placed on the banks of the water or in any manner so that the lime strings could be drawn across and about the surface in different directions, resting here and there on some or other of the stakes or any boughs or overhanging trees, in such a way that the birds, when in the act of alighting on the water at night, might strike against the lime strings and become therein entangled. the principal secret of success in this and the preceding device was that of placing the lime strings in shaded places over the most assured haunts of the birds; and it was only obtainable on dark nights, or in good shade, for whenever there was sufficient light for the birds to see the least sign of the snare spread for them the fowler had no chance of making any captives. (and be sure to take this caution not to use these strings in moonshine nights, for the shadow of the line will create a jealousy in the fowl, and so frustrate your sport.) and as wildfowl in their descent, just before alighting on the water, diverge from their accustomed angular figure, and spread themselves more in a broad front line, a whole flight sometimes comes swooping into the fowler's snare all at once." a method of trapping, with the assistance of bird-lime, might, i think, be tried with some chance of success. it is to insert a piece of fish in a cone of paper well smeared with bird-lime, and to throw down a few of these prepared cones in places accessible to gulls, herons, and such birds, who, in attempting to seize the fish, would be effectually hoodwinked, and thus easily secured. hawking, by which birds are captured by trained falcons, is of the highest antiquity. pennant mentions that the saxon king ethelbert (who died in 760) sent to germany for a cast of falcons to fly at cranes (herons?). as this sport has now fallen into disuse, i must refer my readers for particulars to blaine, daniel, freeman, harting, captain dugmore, and to occasional articles by one or two modern falconers in the columns of the field. the infinite variety of nets used in the capture of various birds requires almost a chapter by itself; but it will suffice for the present one if we mention those most generally used, or the most striking varieties. first, then, comes the ordinary "clap-net" of the london and provincial bird-catchers. the "edinburgh encyclopaedia" says, with regard to clap-nets: "birds are also taken with nets during the day, and especially in those seasons of the year when they change their situation; in the month of october, for instance, when the wild birds begin to fly, and in march, when the smaller kinds assemble for pairing. they are chiefly on the wing from daybreak to noon, and always fly against the wind. the birdcatchers, therefore, lay their nets towards that point to which the wind blows. the nets employed in this way are generally 12.5 yds. long and 2.5 yds. wide, and are spread on the ground parallel to each other, in such a manner as to meet when turned over. they are provided with lines, fastened in such a way that, by a sudden pull, the birdcatcher is able to draw them over the birds that may have alighted in the space between those parallel sides. in order to entice the wild birds to alight amongst the nets, call birds are employed, of which there must be one or two of each of the different kinds which are expected to be caught, such as linnets, goldfinches, greenfinches, etc. besides the call birds there are others denominated flur birds, which are placed upon a moveable perch within the net, called a flur, and which can be raised or depressed at pleasure, and these are secured to the flur by means of a brace or bandage of slender silk strongly fastened round the body of the bird. the call birds are deposited in cages at a little distance from the nets, and as soon as they see or hear the approach of the wild birds, which they perceive long before it can be observed by the birdcatcher, they announce the intelligence from cage to cage with the greatest appearance of joy, and they proceed to invite them to alight by a succession of notes or short jerks, as they are termed by the birdcatcher, which may often be heard at a considerable distance. the moment that the call is heard by the wild birds they stop their flight and descend towards the net, and so great is the ascendancy and fascination of the call birds that they can induce the others to return repeatedly to the nets till every bird in the flock be caught." being somewhat afraid that this description would not meet all the practical requirements of the case, and knowing myself but little or nothing of this mode of birdcatching, i thought it advisable to interview a practical man. having at last succeeded in capturing a specimen of the genus homo, species birdcatcher, i prevailed upon him (through the medium of a tip) to impart his stock of birdcatching lore, and to cut me patterns of play-sticks and pegs, and also to correct my rough sketches when necessary. the sum and substance of my interview is as follows: the nets, which are of two pieces, are each about twelve yards long by two-and-a-half yards wide, and are made with a three-quarter mesh of what is technically called two-thread. the staves at each end, to which the nets are permanently attached, are made of red deal, ferruled and jointed at the middle, in the manner of a fishing rod, for the convenience of carriage. the length of each when put together is about five feet six inches, being thus shorter than the width of the net. this, it will be readily observed, allows for the bagging of the net--an important particular, as, if the nets were strained tight with no allowance made for bagging, the birds would flutter along the ground until they got out at one end or the other. as it is, they roll themselves up in the meshes, and effectually entangle themselves while attempting to escape. a strong line, called the top line, made of clock line, passes the whole length of each net, and is protracted some feet past the staves at either end. a similar line runs along the bottom made of three-thread or whip thread. this is called the bottom line. there are then two unattached cords of some strength, called the pull line and the forked line, which latter is attached, when required for use, to the two staves nearest the birdcatcher, at the intersection of the top line. eight pegs are used, made of hard wood, generally ash, four of which are called the "chief pegs." the whole of the pegs are notched, for the convenience of attaching a line. the method of laying the clap-net is best described with the aid of a drawing (vide fig. 5). the first thing to be done is to lay down the right-hand net, and to drive in the two chief pegs where shown, namely, at the bottom of the staves, to which they are attached by a loop of strong cord, acting as a hinge. the two end pegs are then driven in the ground at some little distance from and in an exact line to the chief pegs. the bottom line is then made fast at each end, as also the continuation of the top line. the two pegs, lines, and staff thus forma triangle at each end. the other net is then laid in such a manner that when both are pulled over, one net shall overlap the other to the extent of six inches. it is then turned back and pegged down in the same way as the right-hand net. the next operation is to tie the forked line to each top end of the staves, a nick being cut in each for this purpose. exactly in the centre of the forked line the pull line is knotted, at the other end of which the birdcatcher stands at varying distances, according to the bird he wishes to catch; for instance, for linnets or goldfinches, thirty to forty yards; for starlings a greater distance is required; or to capture these wary birds a better plan is to place the nets in one field while you retire into another, bringing the pull line through an intervening hedge. cages containing birds are dispersed about on the outer edges of the nets, the best, or call birds, being placed farther away; in fact, my informant thinks that if all the cages were placed a moderate distance away from the nets it would be better, as he has found that the usual red or green cages have been the means of "bashing "--i.e. frightening--the wild birds away from the nets. fig. 5--plan and method of setting clap-net. "when doctors differ, who shall decide?" on mentioning the above to another birdcatcher he gave a huge snort of dissatisfaction, and roundly swore that my man knew "nought about it," for he always set his cages as near the nets as possible; "for don't it stand to reason," quoth he, "that if you set your cages fur away, your 'call birds' will 'tice the wild 'uns down round 'em? an' they won't come near your nets." an important actor in the performance is the "play-bird," which is a bird braced by a peculiar knot or "brace," as shown in fig. 6, on an arrangement called the play-stick. the "play-stick" is resolvable into three parts, fig. 7 being the ground peg, formed of a piece of hard wood about six inches long, having a round hole bored through close to the top, through which the "play-line" passes. immediately underneath is a square slot for the reception of a piece of brass tube beaten flat at one end (fig. 8), while the other end is left open for the reception of the "play-stick" (c, fig. 9), simply a rough twig or piece of hard wood, upon which the bird is tied by the "brace" (fig. 6)--which is constructed, as shown in drawing, by doubling a piece of string, tying a knot in the centre and then joining the ends. the head and body of the bird is thrust through, so that a loop catches it on each side and in front of the wings, the legs and tail being thrust through the other, one loop coming on each side of the body behind the wings. a swivel is attached at one of the knots, and, by another piece of string, is made fast to the play-stick near its end. the bird is thus perfectly free so far as the wings and legs are concerned. fig. 6, 7 & 8--"play-stick" parts the "play-stick," as a whole, is represented in fig. 9, which shows the bird in repose, with the end of the stick (c) resting on the ground, the play-line passing through a hole in the ground peg (a), while the part marked b works in the slot in the same. a little food and water are put down by the play-bird's side, to which it addresses itself in its intervals of rest. directly birds appear, the play-line is smartly pulled, which has the effect of jerking the play-bird upwards, while at the same time it flutters its wings to regain its perch. this motion is mistaken by the wild birds as a natural proceeding; they accordingly alight around the play-bird, to assist it in feeding. the pull-line of the net is then smartly jerked, which causes the forked-line to fly inwards, and, acting on the hinged pegs and top and bottom lines as by a lever, the staves rise from the outside, become perpendicular, and finally fall over, inclosing all within the open space in the nets. fig. 9--"flur" or "play-stick." the "play-bird" is always placed on the left hand of the birdcatcher, about two yards into the net. sometimes more than one play-stick and bird are used; all are, however, played by the same string. the best birds are, however, contrary to my expectations, not used, as the constant pulling up and down, to say nothing of the worry of the falling nets, very soon kills the poor little "play-bird." from michaelmas to christmas would appear to be the best times for catching. many rare birds not calculated on by the operator, are procured in this way. i allude to hawks, which constantly dash at the call, or play-birds, of the netsman. i remember seeing, taken in a lark net on the racecourse of corfu--one of the ionian isles--a most beautiful male specimen of the hen harrier (circus cyaneus, macg.); and here in england i have received, within the last few years, one great grey shrike (lanus excubitor, 1.), four or five hobby hawks (falco subbuteo, 1.), a dozen or more merlins (falco oesalon, tunstall), and a great number of sparrowhawks, and kestrels, all captured by this method. draw-nets are those used by fen-men and others at night for taking lark, snipe, plover, etc, by dragging a long net of a certain construction over the fields and swamps. the actual originator of this method of capture as applied to snipe and such birds, appears to have been mr. daniel himself (vide "rural sports," vol. 3, p. 179). glade nets, which are nets stretched in narrow glades or ridings in woods from tree to tree, are used chiefly for taking night-flying birds, such as woodcocks, or wild ducks. folkard thus describes their use: "the proceedings connected with the use of glade nets appear to be very simple. these nets are of lengths and breadths proportioned to the places in which they are suspended. they are simply pieces of fine thread netting, edged with cords adapted to the extent of the lint. the glade net so formed is suspended between two trees, directly in the track of the woodcock's flight. both the upper and lower corners have each a rope attached to them which, as regards the upper part of the net, is rove through sheaves, iron rings, or thimbles fastened to the trees on either side at the top of the glade at a moderate height, varying from ten to twelve or fifteen feet. the falls of the two upper ropes are joined or so adjusted that they form a bridge, to the central part of which a rope is attached of several yards in length, which the fowler holds in his hand in a place of concealment, and thus commands full power over the net, being able to drop it down suddenly and intercept the flight of any birds which may attempt to escape through the glade; or he can draw it up as suddenly from the ground to a perpendicular position. a stone, of about 5 lb. weight, is attached to each of the lower cords of the net, so that when the fowler lets go his controlling rope the weight of the stones forces the lower part of the net down in an instant with a strong fall, and, at the same time, they draw up the upper part of the net. the fowler having stationed himself in such a position as to command a full view of the glade in which his net is placed, beaters are employed to flush the cocks from their retreats; immediately on one or more flying in the direction of the fowler a signal is given, and just as the bird approaches the net it is suddenly let down or drawn up, when the woodcock, flying forcibly against it, is immediately ensnared. the instant the birds have struck the net the fowler lets go another rope, which is generally looped to a stake within reach of his arm, and the whole net, with the birds entangled, then drops to the ground. in forcing themselves forward in their endeavour to escape they form the net into a sort of bag, which makes their capture more certain." nets are in some parts of the world set under water to procure wild fowl. i remember, when in norfolk, a gannet being brought in by one of the fishing boats; the bird had become accidentally entangled in one of the nets whilst attempting to rob-it of some fish. small nets of a few yards long, made of fine black silk, with a small mesh, are used in some parts of the country for taking kingfishers. these nets are stretched across a small watercourse or the arch of a bridge in such a manner that, a little "slack" being allowed, the bird is taken to a certainty in attempting to pass. so fatal is this net when skilfully set, that i know one man who adds several pounds to his income in the course of a year by taking kingfishers in this manner. for the netting of hawks by a contrivance called the bow net, which was formerly used in england, see blaine's "encyclopaedia of rural sports." many birds (notably sea and rock birds) are to be procured by descending the rocks attached to a stout line. but this highly dangerous work had better not be attempted by the tyro. for an ancient but interesting account of rock fowling in the orkneys, see pennant's "arctic zoology," page 29. the same system is still adopted on many parts of the coast. in fact, i recollect (when some years ago i visited the isle of wight on a collecting expedition) seeing two men with ropes and an iron bar going to the top of the "bench" (a famous place for sea fowl), and while one man was let down over the edge of the cliff his fellow remained at the top to answer the pull of the "bird-line" and look after the safety of the "man-rope" and iron bar. so fascinating did this appear to me that, having been "between heaven and earth" once or twice before, i volunteered to "go below;" but i found that the fowlers did not care for the risk, or the loss of time, and booty, involved in letting an amateur down. it was, indeed, a wonderful sight. i crept as closely as i dared, and lying on my breast looked over the cliff. hundreds of feet down, the sea, lashed into breakers by the breeze, crept up the steep black rock walls, or tumbled over the half-hidden crags; and yet, though you could see the white war of waters, but the faintest murmur of this battle between land and sea could be heard--below and halfway up, the puffins and guillemots were sitting in rows, or flying off in droves as little black specks on the white foam. here i learned that they often baited fish-hooks with offal or pieces of fish, for the purpose of catching the gulls, and this brought to my mind the quantities of robins, thrushes, and such birds i had seen caught by fish-hooks baited with worms and pegged down in the olive groves of the ionian sea. i notice that pennant mentions that the lapwing is decoyed into nets by the twirling of looking glass. i have seen exactly the same thing myself on the continent applied to the taking of larks. a cylinder of wood, inlaid with pieces of looking-glass, is fixed 'between two uprights, and made to revolve by means of a small crank and wheel, to which a line is attached. the netsman, retiring to some little distance, keeps the cylinder in constant motion by pulling the line, at the same time keeping up a soft whistling noise with his mouth. the larks flutter over the twirler, and seemingly dazzled, descend on the ground between the nets which are then pulled over in the usual manner. steel traps are of many shapes and sizes, and are best procured ready made from a good firm, though i have known a few country blacksmiths who could turn them out decently. as everyone knows this, the ordinary "gin," or tooth trap, used for capturing rats or other animals and birds, no description is, i think necessary, further than to say that the springs should be highly tempered, and that the teeth should not be too long. these traps can be set in various places with or without baits--in the water, on the ground, up a tree, or on a post; but post-traps proper, which are chiefly useful, when set unbaited, for catching hawks, are made with an arm and spring at right angles to the plate, so that they may be fastened to the post which supports them. in setting these traps great care and skill are necessary; and in giving directions how to do this properly, i cannot do better than quote "stonehenge," who says: "first lay the trap on the ground, then mark the outline of it, allowing half an inch clear all round; out away the turf to this pattern, and in the centre dig a hole deep enough to receive a strong peg and the chain which fastens the trap to it, which will thus be entirely concealed; drive in the peg, arrange the chain neatly upon this and in the channel for the spring, and then set the trap in its place, temporarily propping up the plate by a piece of twig, which can finally be withdrawn by a string; take care so to out away the turf that the jaws are only just below the level of the ground. having done this, cut a very thin slice of the turf which was removed to make way for the trap, leaving little more than the grass itself with a ragged edge, and lay this gently on the plate, and withdraw the prop. then cover the spring in the same way; and, lastly, put some more shreds of grass or leaves over the jaws themselves, but in such a way that the former will not be caught between the teeth when the trap is sprung. when the keeper can do all this so neatly that the trap cannot be discovered by the eye at two or three yards distance, and yet will be sprung by half an ounce weight being placed upon the plate over and above what it has already, and without leaving anything between the jaws, he may be considered a master of his craft. all this should be done with strong leather gloves on the hands, and with as little breathing over the trap as possible. the object of these precautions is to avoid leaving any scent behind, which might alarm the vermin, who are always suspicions of any place where they have reason to believe man has been at work." daniel, in his "rural sports," says: otters are taken in an unbaited trap, for they reject every kind of bait, this trap must be placed near his landing place, which will be found by carefully examining the edges of rivers or ponds, either by his spraints, his seal, or the remains of fish (for in whatever place he eats his plunder he always leaves the tail or hinder parts of the fish undevoured). the trap must be set in and covered with mud to prevent his seeing it; the instant the trap "strikes," the otter plunges into the water with it, when its weight, preventing his rising to the surface, soon destroys him. the trap will seldom be drawn more than twenty yards from the spot, and with a grappling iron is soon recovered. if the place where he comes out of the water cannot be discovered, upon the ground where the remains of fish are left, out a hole near the edge of the water, and place a trap or two upon a level with the ground and cover it over carefully with moss. this aqueous method of trapping, is also recommended for taking all birds of the crow tribe. the bait in this case is an egg, so secured that on the bird walking along a prepared pathway to seize the delicacy he springs a concealed trap, and fluttering into deep water drowns by the weight of the attachment. another method of setting the trap on land for the taking of some animals, which, says daniel, speaking of the marten (now a rare animal in most parts of england), is a sure way of catching this destructive little animal in a park or covert which is railed in, is to cut a groove in some of the posts or gate posts, in which set an unbaited steel trap, and as they constantly run along the posts and pales early in the morning to dry themselves, in leaping up from the ground upon the place where the trap is set, they are sure to be captured. fish is recommended as bait for weasels, polecats, etc, although i think the best way of trapping such animals is to form an enclosure of brushwood, etc, in which peg down some live bird, leading two narrow pathways from it from each end and exactly opposite each other, in each of which place an ordinary steel trap, unbaited, concealed in as skilful a manner as possible. the animal running along one of these pathways, to seize his prey, is inevitably trapped. be sure and have two openings, or this plan will not succeed. cats may be trapped in this manner. st. john, in his "highland sports," mentions that if a wild cat, or fox, can be killed, and the body placed in the usual haunts of its kind, well surrounded with traps, curiosity or some such feeling will impel them to visit the "dear departed," and in walking round they often succeed in springing the traps, and remaining as mourners in a fashion they did not intend. hawks may be trapped by first capturing their young, and pegging one or more to the ground, and surrounding it or them by concealed traps. this cruel but highly effective way succeeds by reason of the old birds seeing or hearing their young, and attempting to release them. if part of a bird or animal killed by a hawk can be found, a good plan is to allow it to remain, surrounding it also with concealed traps, as they usually return to finish their meal, and that sometimes after the lapse of days. the "box trap" is used for catching many animals for which the ordinary gin is used; but the advantage which it possesses over the latter is that it captures all animals alive, which, in the case of a hare or a rabbit accidentally getting in, is of consequence, as it may be released unhurt, whereas the ordinary steel trap, if accidentally sprung by them, would have killed or maimed them to a certainty. these box traps can be bought ready-made at many places; but, for those who wish to make one themselves, i must refer them for plans and description to col. hawker, or "stonehenge." almost anything does to bait a gin or box trap with--bits of flesh, fish, offal, half-cooked red herrings, etc.--and it is a generally understood thing that if half-putrid flesh or entrails of any animal are rubbed over traps or the thorns or bushes placed as entrances to traps, hares and the like will seldom go near. of course, a very small trap must be used for small birds, and baited either with seeds, bread, worms, or a small piece of fat meat, which latter is a most tempting bait for the birds of the genus parus (titmice). there are several other made traps, such as the trap cage; the best of which has a bird as a decoy partitioned off from the actual trap. this is a useful little trap in some seasons, and is well known, being easily procurable at any of the bird fanciers'. mr. james hiam, well known in worcestershire for his "notes on natural history," sends me the following description of his method of trapping bullfinches: "i find the best way to trap bullfinches is to procure a caged bird, also what is known as a trap-cage, putting the tame bird in the lower part, placing a bunch of blackberries or privet berries in the top part; and hanging the cage against a wall or tree out of the reach of cats. i have reserved a stook of bunches of blackberries by inserting their stems in water, grape-fashion, for a succession of food for bait. i have also caught scores, if not hundreds, on bird-lime, but this injures their plumage and is somewhat troublesome, especially to anyone not accustomed to handle it. i have also caught them in a bat fowling net at night out of thick hedges. i find a trap cage or cages best, for bullfinches generally go in small parties, and i have taken two out at once from two separate cages, while others waited round and were caught afterwards. the well-known and easily imitated call of the bullfinch at this season of the year (autumn) appears to have a greater attraction--for what reason i cannot say--than at any other period; there is also a great difference in individual call birds. the best should be selected. when fresh caught, bullfinches are best placed in a low kind of box cage about six inches deep, with wires only on one side. such cage may be easily made out of a soap box from the grocer's, giving them a good supply of canary and hemp seed and water. if they refuse to eat the seed, which sometimes happens, give a few blackberries or such other food as they feed on at the time; the seed of the dock is always a favourite dish in the winter, and the probability is in a day or two they will take to the seed, which should be strewed over the bottom of the cage." the nightingale trap (perhaps not quite so well known) is a compromise between the bow net and the spring trap; it is useful for taking most insectivorous birds, is easily made by anyone possessing a little mechanical ability, and is to be bought cheaply at most of the bird shops. as i have been asked, however, by many correspondents in the country, where such things are to be procured, they are informed that in the classic retreat of the seven dials--that is to say, in the street running through from charing cross to bloomsbury--are to be found many bird fanciers' shops where the nightingale trap can be procured for something under a couple of shillings. in setting all of these traps be sure to touch them with the hands as little as possible, especially if setting a baited trap. gloves are recommended to be worn, scented with musk when baiting for stoats, weasels, etc, and with vervain or valerian if baiting for cats. i will proceed now to the consideration of decoys. decoys are of two classes, fixed and mechanical, or those easily removable and natural. of the former the most important is what is called a decoy for wild fowl, viz, a large tract of land and water specially fitted up with nets of the sorts most suitable for taking ducks and similar birds, and near which it is unlawful to fire a gun. for a thoroughly exhaustive and interesting article on decoy ponds, see folkard's "wild fowler," pp. 44-94. some singular and highly original methods of catching birds are described by ancient and modern authors. pennant, in his "arctic zoology," vol. ii, page 550, describes a quaint but doubtful method of decoying wild geese in siberia; he also, at page 311, records how immense numbers of willow grouse are taken by a curious mode of netting. folkard also mentions an ingenious way of capturing wild fowl in their own element by the aid of calabashes. this, however, i think, "must be seen to be believed," though i am bound to confess that it is partly corroborated by other writers. of the lasso or the "bolas," used in south america for capturing certain animals and birds, no description need be given, as this method of trapping is only to be performed by a person trained from childhood to ride and throw the lasso. the same remark applies to the use of the blowpipe (see bates's "amazons"), and the australian "boomerang" and "throwstick." regarding the use of the blowpipe, i see that an american author on taxidermy, who has written a very good book on the subject--albeit he has, perhaps unwittingly, cribbed my title of "practical taxidermy"--appears to have attained remarkable proficiency in the use of this weapon, and describes also his method of making it, thus: "the blowpipe is of great service for collecting warblers and other small birds. it should be made by encasing a long glass tube in wood, to prevent breaking. the ordinary glass tubes used by glass-blowers make good blowpipes, which should have a diameter of 0.5 in. and be not less than 6 ft. long. to encase a pipe with wood, take two strips of straight-grained pine, and plane or "gouge" out a half-round groove the full length of each, glue them together, and wire firmly over the glass pipe. when the glue is dry, remove the wires, and plane the wood round until it has a diameter of 1.5 in.; if smaller it will sag, and not do good shooting. putty balls should be used, and blown with a quick puff, which is easily acquired by practice. the putty is thickened with whiting until the pellets will roll hard, but they should not be dry enough to crumble. with this novel gun i have killed as many as fifty-six warblers in less than a day, and spoiled but few specimens in killing." rowland ward, also, in his "sportsman's handbook," appears to favour the use of the blowpipe, and very correctly says at page 9: "the implement is so simple and so easily constructed that the price of it is inappreciable. about 3 ft. length of any straight metal or wooden tubing, 0.75 in. diameter, through which a pellet the size of a marble may be thrown, will serve well, but an even longer tube may be chosen. the pellet should be of clay or any putty, rolled in the hand to easily pass through the barrel without too much windage. it should not touch the mouth, but be lightly placed just in the orifice, by stopping which with the thumb the tube can be conveniently carried loaded, muzzle up, ready for the most rapid use. to propel the pellet the puff must be sudden and powerful. there is a proper way of effecting this. when a practitioner first begins to use the blow-pipe, it is a common error to eject the breath only direct from the lungs; he should acquire the habit of inflating his cheeks, so as to make a storage of wind, as it were, for each shot; that, added to the breath from the lungs, gives a force which will sometimes astonish him. the hand follows the eye in aim, and practice will often develop unthought-of proficiency." the catapult is also a first-rate weapon in a skilful hand for procuring small birds. i must confess i cannot use it as well as some young friends of mine, who knock over nearly every sitting bird they aim at, and even now and then are successful with such difficult shots as at swallows on the wing; a novice, on the contrary, nearly always succeeds in stinging his fingers and missing the object aimed at. i remember also, when a boy, using a very effective weapon, which i should describe as a catapult gun. it was, if i recollect aright, fashioned similarly to a cross bow, the bolt, however, from which was ejected from a little wash-leather bag by means of very powerful india-rubber springs, which being released by a trigger delivered a bullet or small shot from a tube with amazing force and precision. i do not know if such guns are made now, but i should imagine that anyone with a little ingenuity could construct one for himself. all these appliances, with the well-known air-gun, are chiefly of use for collecting the smaller birds with a minimum of noise. there are several small collecting guns made which do the work required in a much more thorough manner. messrs. bland, gun-makers, of birmingham, some time since showed me an elegant little double-barrelled central fire gun, which seems to be just the thing for the purpose. messrs. clarke, of leicester, also make a small single-barrelled central fire .410-bore collector's gun, but as before observed, they are only fit for small birds at short ranges. i have lately procured a small walking-stick gun .410-bore, central fire, with a removeable stock, which i have found of great service in collecting small birds--bringing down swifts and swallows flying, at moderate ranges. many birds, especially males, in the breeding season, are taken by decoying them into nets or snares by tame or wild birds of the opposite sex; in fact, advantage was wont to be taken of the pugnacity or devotion of the ruffes when "hilling," by previously setting springes or nets on their battle-ground, into which said snares they danced, when courting or fighting (see daniel, vol. u, p. 212). poachers also sometimes take cock pheasants by bringing an armed gamecock into the woods and hiding themselves, while the domesticated bird challenges and gives battle to the unarmed wild one. the boldness of cock pheasants during their breeding time is wonderful; many instances having come under my notice of wild pheasants coming from the woods to do battle with aviary ones, and also with farm-yard "roosters." a highly interesting account of the ludicrous actions and insensibility to fear of the capercailzie, and blackgame, when courting (and through which they are easily shot), is given by a writer on norway in the field of march 27, 1875; and this brings us to the greatest of all aids for the procuring of specimens--i mean the shot-gun and rifle. so much of success depends upon being a clever marksman, and also upon having a good general knowledge of woodcraft, that although for instructions in guns and shooting i refer the reader to col. hawker, daniel, blaine, "stonehenge," folkard, greener, "wildfowler," and many others, yet a few words on some peculiar, and in some cases well-known, methods of decoying birds within gunshot, may not be out of place. the stalking-horse was, no doubt, the earliest decoy or shield under which the ancient fowler got near his birds with the crossbow or gun. it was sometimes a mere framework of wood, covered with painted canvas to represent a horse or cow, or was a real animal trained to feed and move in a natural manner in the midst of the fowl. in the first instance, the fowler carried the framework in front of him, and made his shot through an opening; in the second case he gently urged the animal on, hiding behind, and making his shot under the belly, or over the back. for ancient methods of stalking, see gervase markham; for a modern method, see "bustard shooting in spain," in the country of jan. 21, 1875, and current pages of the field. decoying birds by imitating their notes or cries is an art which the collector must acquire. many mechanical calls for wood pigeons, curfews, and other birds are made. one call, which i do not think is made or used in england, is a greek idea for decoying thrashes. it is a whistle formed from two discs of thin silver or silvered copper, each the size of, or a little smaller than, a "graceless" florin, or say an inch across; those discs are--one fully concave, and the other slightly convex, both have a hole in the centre and are soldered together by their edges in the manner shown in fig. 10. [footnote: since writing this i find there are now sold to boys, for the large sum of one-halfpenny, whistles formed in tin, of almost similar construction to those described. i never yet found anyone to make them "speak" properly; boys not knowing how to modulate or inspire the breath. i have now tried one of them against my silver whistle, and i cannot say which has the better tone.] fig. 10--decoy whistle for thrushes, etc. the concave part is placed in the mouth, pressing against the teeth, and by inspiring the breath and modulating the tones with the closed or open hands, as the case may be, a very perfect imitation of the song-thrush's note is the result. this, the arriving or newly-arrived birds hear, and, imagining it proceeds from the throat of one of their species, who, entirely at his ease, is letting the ornithological world know how excessively overjoyed he is at his safe arrival, alight in the trees which surround and conceal the treacherous imitator, and quickly fall a prey to the ready gun. so infatuated are they, that enormous quantities are killed by this method early in the season; in fact, i knew one person who shot one hundred and four, besides other birds, to his own gun in one day. quails may be called from a distance if the sportsman hides himself and imitates with his mouth their peculiar cry, "more wet, more wet." there are many other birds which come to call in addition to quail. woodpigeons and doves will sometimes be attracted to an ambush by making a soft cooing noise with the mouth and the hollows of both hands, but the most successful way of procuring both of these birds is to build a hut with boughs in the hedge of a field to which they resort, in which hut the shooter hides himself, keeping perfectly quiet, and not attempting to shoot until the birds have begun feeding, as woodpigeons, or doves, when they first alight "have their eyes all about them," the slight rustle even of the gun being brought to the present, is enough to scare them, and a snap shot at a flying dove is rarely successful when you are penned and cramped up in a little bough hut. pea, tare, and barley fields, when they are first sown in the spring, and pea and corn fields, after getting in the crops in the autumn, are their especial haunts, though they do not despise turnip leaves and acorns. salt marshes are also especially favoured by all the pigeon family in quest of salt, of which they seem to be inordinately fond. fresh water rivers in hot weather are also sure spots to find them; and a stuffed pigeon is a good decoy in some seasons, if placed in front of a place of concealment. perhaps it may be as well to mention that often, while lying in wait for wild pigeons, you will observe the advent of one or two tame ones, or even a flock from some neighbouring farmyard, and, as some of these pigeons are almost certain to closely resemble the wild stock dove (columba oenas, 1.), some little discrimination is required to distinguish the two species. the gannet or solon goose (sula bassana, hewitson) is said to be taken by the strange device of floating a plank out at sea, to which a fish is attached, in such a manner that, on the bird dashing down on the half-submerged plank, it strikes itself with such violence as not unfrequently to break its neck or breastbone. on mentioning this to mr. frederick ryland, he assured me that he has in some instances observed the marks of the bird's bill, which had indented the plank--a pretty conclusive evidence of the extraordinary force of its descent. many other birds besides pigeons are attracted by "stales," which was the ancient name for a representation of the living bird by stuffed specimens or wooden images; knots and godwits, says daniel (vol. iii. p. 214), were attracted into nets by this mode. gulls and terns i have often found attracted by a stuffed bird, or, when one can be shot, should it be left to lie on the water, or propped up on land, as if alive, the others almost always hover around it. sheep's lights thrown on the water is another good decoy for gulls. ducks are sometimes attracted by dummies of indiarubber sold at some of the shops for that purpose, but the best modification of this is the french "hut system," described at length, in his usual amusing style, by the once-renowned col. hawker. a more singular way still, of decoying these birds to the gun is by the american fashion of "toling," a lucid description of which i append, culled from the pages of folkard's "wildfowler:" "there is one system of fowling practised in america which is as curious in performance as it is interesting. it is probably one of the most remarkable methods ever invented, and approaches the nearest to the system of decoy as practised in england of any of the arts employed by the people of a foreign country for the capture of wildfowl. the method alluded to is termed "toling." i am unable to trace the origin of the term, unless it simply implies a death knell, for such it assuredly assumes to those birds which approach within range of the secreted sportsman. this singular proceeding is said to have been first introduced upwards of fifty years ago near havre-de-grace, in maryland; and, according to traditional testimony, the art was accidentally discovered by a sportsman whilst patiently lying in ambush watching a paddling of wild ducks, which were a little beyond the range of his gun. whilst in a state of doubt and anxiety as to whether they would approach near enough to be shot, he suddenly observed them raise their heads and swim towards the shore apart from his ambuscade; and, whilst wondering at the cause of so strange a proceeding, his attention was directed to a fox which was skipping about on the shore, and evidently enticing the ducks to approach. this accidental discovery of so weak a point in the nature of the feathered tribe led the sportsman to turn it to advantage, and thence arose the curious art of "toling." to practise it successfully the sportsman requires simply the services of a dog, which he uses in a similar way to that of a "piper," employed at an english decoy. [footnote: the word "toling" may be explained as a corruption of "tolling," i.e. enticing.] for the purpose of "toling," the american sportsman erects blinds or screens on the margin of some lake, the resort of wildfowl; when any birds are in sight upon the water, he, with his dog, takes up a position behind the screens, and by throwing small bits of wood or pebbles up and down the shore, he keeps the dog in active motion so as to attract the attention of the birds, and induce them to swim towards the shore within a few yards of the screens, when, if they do, the sportsman immediately discharges his fowling piece at them, and sometimes kills large numbers at a shot. the principal things to be observed are, a strict silence, and to keep the dog constantly in motion, and all the time in sight of the ducks. the little animal should be encouraged to skip and bound over the rocks and stones in front of the screens, and to flourish his tail about with playful vivacity. he must never bark, for that would alarm the fowl and cause them to fly away immediately. red or chestnut coloured dogs with long bushy tails are best for the purpose of "toling"; the nearer they approach a fox in colour and appearance the better." tubs may be sunk on the seashore into which the shooter gets at the approach of night (or even a "skip" or basket may be used to sit on) to wait till flight time to procure specimens; but having myself sat in a marsh at night between a river and the sea in norfolk more than once for several hours during a very severe winter, i cannot recommend this as a torrid amusement--indeed, the melancholy "sough" of the sea, and the pale glitter of the stars in the half-frozen pools, whose dead and dry sedges rustle in unison to the icy blasts rushing from the dead white north, make even the most hardy long for the old armchair by the cozy fireside. a writer in the zoologist some years ago appeared to think that iodine was a species of enchanter's wand in rendering your presence unknown to wildfowl. i have never tried it, having but little faith in cunning nostrums concocted for the taking of either birds or fish; but as he is a gentleman of standing and great experience, i will quote his words from which i drew my inference: "a cormorant once perched himself on my back as i lay concealed on a rock enveloped in a drab driving coat, which so closely resembled the rock in colour that even he was deceived, and, taking my back as the highest pinnacle, accommodated himself accordingly; neither did he discover his error till my hand grasped him by the legs. i have frequently had cormorants and shags perched around me within a few feet; but their suspicions seemed generally to be aroused by human smell, unless i had rubbed iodine on some part of my clothes." the landrail or corncrake, whose peculiar rasping cry we hear in the grass or young corn in the spring of the year, is easily called to the gun by rubbing one notched bone over another, or, better still, using that peculiar instrument of torture worked at fairs, and called a "scratchback"--the same which, in the palmy days of greenwich or charlton fairs, was retailed to the cry of "all the fun of the fair for one penny". in bringing this chapter to a close, let me not omit to mention that all shot birds should immediately have the mouth, palatal slit, and nostrils, stopped with tow or cotton wool, to prevent the blood from running out and soiling the feathers; then, if possible, always wrap each specimen separately in paper, smoothing the feathers in their proper places before doing so. also, never carry a shot bird by its neck, as the weight of the bird's body depending from the neck must stretch the latter beyond its fair proportions. i have here briefly glanced at a few of the many ways of taking birds and beasts; to have described them all would have required a special volume double the size of the present one. i think, however, i have said enough for all practical needs; but in case any reader should require fuller information, i must refer him to such articles as he will find week by week in the field, land and water, or the american publication, forest and stream. good text books, also, on trapping, etc, are w. b. lord's "shifts and expedients of camp life," captain darwin's ("high elms") "game preservers' manual," jefferries' "amateur poacher," "gamekeeper at home," etc. for details as to the hunting and scientific shooting of foreign large game, with directions as to the vulnerable spots to be aimed at, i must again refer the reader to articles from the pen of such men as sir samuel baker, g. p. sanderson, "smoothbore," "the old shekarry," gordon cumming, jules gerard, c. j. andersson, emil holub, f. c. selous, etc, all of whom have either written books on sporting, or whose articles are still to be met with in late numbers of the field. chapter iii. necessary tools. a bad workman, it is said, always quarrels with his tools. if this be so, it is equally certain that a good workman, though he may make shift with indifferent implements of his craft, yet always prefers the best and most labour-saving tools he can procure. the chief point of difference, however, between the skilled and unskilled workman is, that the former may and often does get the best results with the fewest possible tools, while the other must surround himself with dozens of unnecessary things before he can "do a stroke." this being so, i propose to point out to my readers in a few words, and by means of drawings, how very few tools are required to skin and set up a bird or small animal. my remarks will, therefore, be addressed as much to the amateur as to the tyro desirous of becoming a professional; in fact, i wish it to be understood that i write as much to educate the one as the other. the first and almost indispensable tool is the knife (i say almost, because i have known a person begin and finish a small bird with a pair of scissors); nearly any small knife will do to make the first incision, but experience has shown the most useful shape to be as in fig. 11, which is the skinning knife; the blade, it will be observed, is long and narrow, 3 in. to 4 in. along the cutting edge, and half an inch across; the handle, which should be of box, lignum vitae, or any hard wood susceptible, of a high polish, is 3.5 in. in length, exclusive of a half-inch brass ferrule; the shape shown is the most comfortable and handiest to work with. fig. 12 shows a broader and stronger knife, five-eighths of an inch across, having a somewhat differently shaped hard wood handle, as the knife is intended for heavier work. fig. 13 shows a broad strong blade, one inch across, and of an entirely different character; this, which is useful for the rough, large work, to be hereafter mentioned, has a perforated tang, to which two half rounded pieces of hard wood should be bolted. length of blade and handle, 4 in. each. my reason for having all of these handles of polished hard wood is, that blood and dirt will the more easily wash off. all of these knives are best procured at the leather sellers', for the reasons that, first, the shapes drawn are always in stock; secondly, they are manufactured of the finest and toughest steel; and thirdly, their expense is trifling. the handles, however, are usually of softwood, unpolished, and had better be replaced at the turner's. the knives when first purchased are about 4 in. long in the blade; for skinning i think them pleasantest to use when ground or worn down to 3 in. or 3.5 in.; this, however, is a matter of individual taste. i have, since the above was written, found that some dealers in leather and shoemakers' "grindery" sell knives of varied and serviceable patterns--other than those described--all of which have hard wood handles. dissecting knives and scalpels, to be procured at any surgical instrument maker's, are also very useful for fine work. "transfixion" knives are of service when engaged upon very large animals, and here also come in the post-mortem hooks. fig. 11, 12, 13--skinning knives. the next most important tool is the scissors, two pairs of which should be procured, one pair long and fine, 5.5 in. or 6 in. long (see fig. 14), for use in small and delicate work connected with birds; the other about 4 in. long, of a different shape and much stouter and stronger (see fig. 15). these are used for general work upon larger birds or small mammals. fig. 14--scissors, no 1. pattern. fig. 15--scissors, no 2. pattern. for still heavier work connected with mammals, and especially with fish, i prefer a pair of small spring shears, 6 in, to 7 in. long, similar to those used by gardeners for grape-pruning. fig. 16.--bell-hangers' pliers. fig. 16 brings us to a really indispensable adjunct to the taxidermist's kit--the compound or bell-hangers' pliers; these pliers are as the ordinary holding ones at the top, but have a cutting plane fixed lower down (those with flat, not raised, cutters, are to be preferred); the figure gives a good idea, but the grip should not be quite so broad as they are usually made; from 8 in. to 10 in. is the most useful size. the 10 in. is rather large, but is, perhaps, the best for professional needs. [footnote: these pliers are sometimes made with a nick at the intersection of the joint to form a cutting plane for thick wires.] fig. 17 shows the ordinary cutting nippers, 4 in. to 5 in. long, useful for cutting fine wires or pins, in situations where the use of the other pliers is impracticable. remarks as to grip as before. fig. 17--cutting nippers. both of these articles should be of the best workmanship and materials. buck, of london, and stubbs, of warrington, may be recommended as good makers. i lately procured a very handy little pair of cutting nippers of elegant workmanship, used chiefly by watchmakers, and made in paris. these are excellent for delicate work or for cutting very fine wire or entomological pins (see fig. 18). fig. 18--french cutting nippers i now figure a most necessary little pair of pliers for dressing the feathers of birds. these are also used by watchmakers, are of neat construction and differ from most pliers in having an obtusely rounded point (see fig. 19, a and b). these, which i call "feather pliers," are in conjunction with a small, thick, round, camel-hair brush (used by artists for "washing in"), indispensable for "feathering up" birds, a process to be described later on. fig. 20 is the next, and i fancy i hear some reader exclaim, "what on earth has a goffering-iron to do with taxidermy?" i reply: this shaped tool is wanted for artfully conveying small morsels of tow, etc, into the necks and hollow places of birds' skins. it may be easily made in this wise: procure as small and fine a pair of goffering-irons as you possibly can, and have them drawn out and brought to a fine yet obtuse point by some smith, and you thus get a finished tool for about half what it would cost to make outright. length, when finished, should be somewhere about 10 in. fig. 19--feather pliers a large and a fine crooked awl with handles, a file, and a rough stone from the leatherseller's, are other things to procure, and these, with the ten tools previously particularised, some tow, wool, wire, eyes, and a needle and thread, a pot of preservative paste, and a piece of wood or a wire for a stuffing iron, are all that the amateur or the professional requires to skin and stuff a small or medium-sized bird or mammal. cost of the stone and tools (which, with ordinary care, will last for years) should be within the reach of all. fig. 20--tow forceps the "stuffing iron" mentioned above is best made, if wanted for small birds, from the broken steel of a wool comber's "devil," about nine inches long, fixed in a bradawl handle of about four inches, or, if for large birds or mammals, the iron may be made from a broken fencing foil, to any size between twelve and thirty inches, with suitable handle. in either case the smallest end is driven into the handle, and the top is filed across with a smooth nick, to push in, but not to retain the tow. see fig. 21. fig. 21--stuffing iron this, i would point out to the non-professional reader, is a much more satisfactory way of getting thoroughly efficient tools than going to the expense of ordering a box of "bird-stuffing implements," at a cost of many pounds and finding one half of them unnecessary, and the other half worthless. chapter iv. preservative soaps, powders, etc. having skinned a zoological specimen, we require, as a matter of course, to anoint the inside of the skin with some preservative, for the purpose of arresting decomposition and general decay, and also defending it from the ravages of insects for an indefinite period. many things will partially cure a skin; for instance, rubbing it with dry earth and exposing it to the sun, as i have done with some success when hunting abroad; chalk also will do, if nothing else can be procured. i have at the present moment a raven's head cut off by a rifle ball, cured only with chalk, and which is now, after a lapse of twenty years, in as good a state of preservation as need be. still we require other aids than sun and chalk to properly preserve our specimens, especially in our usually cold, damp climate; and if we ask what is the sine qua non, a chorus of professional and amateur taxidermists shout out, "arsenic, of course." i propose to show the fallacy of this, being quite of the way of thinking of waterton, who says, "it (arsenic) is dangerous to the operator and inefficient as a preservative." i will, however, give everyone a chance of doing exactly as he pleases by jotting down three different recipes for arsenical soaps. the inventor of the first of these appears to have been one bécoeur, of the now world-renowned metz. bécoeur appears to have flourished about the year 1770, and his formula is still commonly used. it is compounded as follows: no. 1.--bécoeur's arsenical soap. camphor, 5 oz. salt of tartar, 12 oz. powdered arsenic, 2 lb. lime in powder (or powdered chalk), 4 oz. white soap, 2 lb. cut the soap into small slices as thin as possible, put them into a pot over a gentle fire with very little water, stirring it often with a wooden spoon; when dissolved, add the salts of tartar and powdered chalk; take it off the fire, add the arsenic, and stir the whole gently; lastly, put in the camphor, which must first be pounded in a mortar with a little spirits of wine. when the whole is properly mixed together it will have the consistence of paste. it may be preserved in tin or earthenware pots, well closed and cautiously labelled. when wanted for use it must be diluted with a little cold water to the consistence of clear broth; the pot may be covered with a lid of pasteboard, having a hole for the passage of the brush, by which the liquor is applied. (there appears in this formula to be an error in giving 12 oz. of salts of tartar, which should, i think, be reduced to 2 oz.; also the proportion, of arsenic and soap is clearly excessive with regard to the quantity of the lime or chalk.) swainson appears to have used a composition somewhat different from the preceding. he describes it as follows: no. 2.--swainson's arsenical soap. arsenic, 1 oz. distilled water, 6 drms. white soap, 1 oz camphor, 2 drms. carbonate of potash, 1 drm. this mixture should be kept in small tin boxes; when it is to be used moisten a camel-hair pencil with any kind of spirituous liquor, and with it make a lather from the soap, which is to be applied to the inner surface of all parts of the skin, and also to such bones as may not be removed. the next formula is of my own arrangement; i have used it, and have found it quite equal to any of the other arsenical preparations, which is not saying much for any of them. no. 3.--browne's arsenical soap. arsenic, 1 lb distilled water 6 drms soft soap, 2 lb. whiting (or powdered chalk), 3 lb. camphor or tincture of musk, 2 oz. place the arsenic in an old saucepan (which is not to be used for any other purpose whatever); put the whiting over it, next pour sufficient water over it to make it into a thick paste, then add the soft soap, stir the whole well together, add a little water, and place on the fire to boil, adding from time to time water sufficient to render the whole mass of the consistence of gruel. when it boils up it is sufficiently well done; take it off the fire, and place outside in the open air to cool, as the fumes, if given off in a close room, are highly prejudicial to health. when nearly cold, stir in the camphor, previously pounded to a fine powder by the addition of a few drops of any spirit--spirits of wine, gin, rum, turpentine, etc. if musk is used it is sufficient to stir it in the mass, or 1 oz. of pure carbolic acid (previously melted) may be substituted for either the camphor or musk. the reason for stirring in the camphor, musk, or carbolic acid, when the arsenical paste is nearly cold, is twofold--first, to prevent the inhaling of the metallic fumes, which readily attack the lungs; and secondly, to prevent the said fumes or heated air carrying off with it the volatile essences of those drugs. the quantities given are sufficient to fill two six-pound australian meat tins, which form capital receptacles for arsenical paste, and should be soldered up, only to be opened as required for use. as this quantity is, however, perhaps too much for the amateur, the proportions may be decreased, and what is not in actual use had better be soldered up in the tins just referred to, and which may be found very useful, besides, for such purposes as paint pots, etc. carefully label this preparation "poison," and place it out of the reach of children. i have given the foregoing formulae, not because i have the slightest faith in any of them, but simply for the benefit, or otherwise, of those persons who elect to use arsenical preparations in defiance of the teachings of common sense, and in deference to the prevailing notion that arsenic is the only poison extant which has extraordinary preservative powers. this i flatly deny, after an experience of more than five and twenty years. let us dissect the evidence as to the claim of arsenic to be considered as the antiseptic and preservative agent par excellence. its advocates claim for it--first, that it dries and preserves all flesh from decay better than anything else known; secondly, that if the skin is well painted with arsenical soap no moth or maggot will be found to touch it. this, then, is all is wanted--immunity from decay and protection from insects. now i maintain that arsenical mixtures are not only most dangerous, but quite useless also for the purpose. arsenic is simply a drier of animal tissue to a certain extent, but so are hundreds of other agents not so dangerous. it is also perfectly useless as a scarecrow or poison to those bêtes noire of the taxidermist, the larvae of the various clothes and fur eating moths of the genus tinea, or the larvae of dermestes lardarius, murinus, and other museum beetles. they simply laugh arsenic to scorn; indeed, i believe, like the styrian arsenic eaters, they fatten on it. i could give many instances. of course, when you point out to a brother taxidermist--rival, i mean; there are no brothers in art--the fact that somehow this arsenical paste does not work the wonders claimed for it, he replies, "oh! ah! yes! that specimen, i now recollect, was done by a very careless man i employed; he never half painted the skin." all nonsense! men, as well as masters, lay the "preservative" on as thickly as they can. verbum sap.! a great outcry is being made at the present day as to arsenical wall papers and ladies' dresses--very properly so; but did it never strike any taxidermist--they must read the papers some times, even if not scientific men--that if it was dangerous to live in a room, the paper of which contains a barely appreciable quantity of arsenic, it was also dangerous to work all day in a shop amid hundreds of specimens actually reeking with arsenic, and giving it off when dry, and when handled, in the form of dust? painted on the skin while wet is bad enough; but what shall we say to those--well, we will not use harsh terms--who calmly tell you that they always use dry arsenic. incredible as the statement may appear to the scientist, yet it is true that i have seen a man plunge his hand in the most matter-of-fact way into a box containing dry arsenic, and coolly proceed to dust it on a skin. what is the consequence of this to the user of wet or dry arsenical preparations? coughs, colds, chronic bronchitis, soreness of the lips and nose, ugly ulcers, brittleness of nails, and partial or complete paralysis. i knew a man who formerly used dry arsenic, whose constitution was thoroughly broken up by it. again, an amateur of long standing called on me some time since, paralyzed in one hand--the doctors could make nothing of him. i said at once, "you have been using quantities of arsenic, and probably dry?" much astonished, he said "yes;" and he had never mentioned this fact to his numerous doctors, who worked, of course, in the dark, when, by a course of antidotes taken at first, he might have been saved. used alone, arsenical paste is worse than useless for animals, causing them to "sweat" at once in certain places, and preventing your pulling them about, as you must do if modelling; again, if used for fur, you seldom or never can relax by that crucial test of a good preservative, i.e,--plunging in water. yet one question to the advocates of arsenic. if it possesses the chief advantage claimed for it, why use camphor in museums under the idea that it drives away moths? perhaps it will be as well to point out secundum artem the pros and cons for the use of arsenic. arsenical paste. advantages claimed. disadvantages. a perfect dryer of will often "sweat" skins, especially animal tissue. those of mammals, for which it is useless. keeps all things free is not of the slightest use for from attack of insects. this purpose. easier to make and use denied. than any other preparation. gives off poisonous fumes when hot. deposits metallic arsenic when drying. gives off poisonous dust when thoroughly dry. causes colds, coughs, etc, which turn to bronchitis, paralysis, etc. having now summed up in the case of common sense versus arsenic, i challenge contradiction to any of my statements, and ask, why use a dangerous and inefficient preservative agent, when a harmless preservative, and that quite as good worker and dryer as arsenic, will suffice? i have invented a soap for which i claim those advantages, and as to its deterrent principle re insects, i am convinced that it is quite as good as the other, for is there any one thing known--compatible with clean-looking work--that will prevent the ravages of the maggots in birds' skins? i answer, no!--if we except one thing, too dangerous to handle--bichloride of mercury, of which anon. let me whisper a little fact, and blow the poison theory to the winds: the real secret of success is to case your specimens up as soon as practicable, or to keep them always in full light, not poking them away in obscure corners, which the tineidae and other pests love--hating light as the father of evil is said to hate holy water. my preservative formula is as follows: no. 4.--brown's (non poisonous) preservative soap. whiting or chalk, 2.5 lb. chloride of lime, 2 oz. soft soap, 1 lb. tincture of musk, 1 oz. boil together the whiting and the soap with about a pint of water; then stir in the chloride of lime (previously finely pounded) while the mixture is hot; if this point is not attended to, the mixture will not work smoothly; when nearly cool, stir in the tincture of musk. this will about fill a 6 lb. australian meat tin. caution: it is not necessary to hold the mouth over the mixture while hot, as chlorine is then rapidly evolved. this mixture has stood the test of work and time, and i therefore confidently bring it to the notice of the public as completely superseding the arsenical paste or soap for small mammals and all birds; indeed, numbers of persons, totally unknown to me, have written to me about its advantages. one says: "i have followed the bird-stuffing now for several years in connection with another trade, but i have never seen anything to touch it before. i have quite given up arsenic, and can get on fine without it, and only wish that i had known the grand secret before." another: "your recipe for preservative unction (non-poisonous) is simply invaluable to taxidermists. i have been trying for a long time to make a non-poisonous unction, but never fairly succeeded; always had a doubt as to their efficacy, prejudice had something to do with it." a third says: "i have tried your recipe, and am well satisfied of its qualities for preserving skins, having tried swainson's, and bécoeur's, and yours, and after a twelvemonth have relaxed the skins, and give my favour to yours as a toughener of the skin." none of the above correspondents are known tome, and their opinion was sent unasked. those people i do know who are using it are perfectly satisfied, as i myself am after a constant use of it for the past seven years. i find that skins dressed by it are not "burned," as some people may think, but relax most perfectly after a lapse of years by any method, even by the water process spoken of hereafter. i do not think it any better or worse than the arsenical preparations for preventing the attacks of insects, but the addition of tincture of musk (a lasting perfume) has seemed to me to be a great gain. one person wrote to me stating his opinion that the lime unduly corroded the wires used in setting up. i believe this might happen in cases where the mixture was used in a more fluid state than directed, namely, as a paste of a creamy consistence. i know of no evil effects produced. of course the mixture, if kept exposed, dries up in time, and is then best wetted with a little warm water, into which a few drops of tincture of musk have been stirred. where there is more fat or flesh than usual, say, on the inside of the wings, or on the leg bones, or inside the mouth, a small quantity of carbolic acid wash (formula no. 16) will be found useful to dilute the preservative paste. carbolic acid, however weak, must not be used on the thin parts of the skin of small mammals or birds, as it dries and shrivels them up so quickly as to seriously interfere with subsequent modelling. though many insects eat the skin itself, yet how is it possible to guard against insects which attack the feathers only of birds (as the most minute species of the little pests do) by an agent which professedly cures the skin only? i remember once seeing the most comical sight possible, a stuffed cock and hen entirely denuded of feathers by thousands of a minute tines, their dry skins only left; they were as parchment effigies of their former selves. difficult as the matter is, i yet hope to show both amateurs and professionals how to considerably increase the chances of preservation. it is this: after using the soap, and having the mammal arranged or bird stuffed ready for "cottoning," brush over the whole of the feathers, legs, toes, and beak, with the following preparation: no. 5.--waterton's solution of corrosive sublimate. to a wine-bottleful of spirits of wine add a large teaspoonful of corrosive sublimate; in twelve hours draw it off into a clean bottle, dip a black feather into the solution, and if, on drying, a whiteness is left on the feather, add a little more alcohol. care must be taken not to handle the bird more than absolutely necessary after this operation, for reasons which i will give below when speaking of the following recipe, which i have extracted from a little book professedly written by a well-known taxidermist, though i believe he knew nothing at all about it until it was published. the preparation referred to, which should be labelled "dangerous! not to be used!" is as follows: no. 6.--gardner's preservative. arsenic, 6 oz. camphor, 1 oz. corrosive sublimate, 3 oz. spirits of wine, 0.5 pint. yellow soap, 2 oz. "put all these ingredients in a pipkin, which place over a slow fire, stirring the mixture briskly till the several parts are dissolved and form one homogeneous mass. this may then be poured into a wide-mouthed bottle and allowed to stand till quite cold, when it will be ready for use. of course, these quantities may be increased or decreased according to the size of the animal to be operated on; but the proportions here given must be preserved." did it ever occur to the gifted author of this that stirring camphor and spirits of wine briskly over a slow fire would be as quick a way as could be invented of summoning the fire brigade; also, that nine ounces of poison to eleven ounces of other ingredients, well worked into the hands at different times, as it must be, when handling, or returning skins painted with it, would not tend to lengthen the life of the learner? corrosive sublimate being a mercurial preparation--i.e, bichloride of mercury--i ask any chemist amongst my readers what effect three ounces of that dangerous preparation, six ounces of arsenic, yellow soap, and spirits of wine would have upon the constitution? would it not be readily absorbed through the hands into the system? and next comes salivation, and then--the last scene of all! yet another little treat for the amateur desirous of committing suicide under the transparent pretence of studying taxidermy. this, which i have culled from the pages of "maunders' treasury of natural history," is, by a fine irony, entitled bullock's "preservative" powder: no. 7.--bullock's preservative powder. arsenic, 1 lb. camphor, 0.5 lb. burnt alum, 1 lb. tincture of musk, 12 oz. tanners' bark 2 lb. "mix the whole thoroughly, and after reducing it to a powder pass it through a sieve. keep in close tin canisters. this powder is more particularly adapted to fill up incisions made in the naked parts of quadrupeds and the skulls of large birds. it has been strongly recommended to us, but, being perfectly satisfied with our own, we have never tried it." with regard to the foregoing composition i have a few words to say, which are these, that the reason i have copied it is that i have met with it in more books than one, and i wish therefore to call special attention to it, that it may be labelled "dangerous," and that anyone using it will do so at his peril. fancy shaking arsenic up in a sieve, and afterwards dusting it in con amore! really, if people will use poisons, and others put themselves to considerable pains to invent the most deadly compounds for them, is it not criminal carelessness that such things should be published without a word of warning as to their character or effects? powders, as a rule, being made of astringents, dry the skin too quickly (especially if a bird is being operated on) to perfectly shape the specimen. as they are useful, however, to fill up and quickly dry cavities in the wings, and such like, of large birds, etc, and in some cases even to prepare a skin for future stuffing, i will give a powder of my own composition, the chief point of merit of which consists in its being harmless to the user, and also that it has been tried on a large bird's skin, which it so effectually preserved and toughened that, eighteen months afterwards, it was relaxed and stuffed up better than the usual run of made skins: no. 8.--browne's preservative powder. pure tannin, 1 oz. red pepper, 1 oz. camphor, 1 oz. burnt alum, 8 oz. pound and thoroughly mix, and keep in stoppered bottles or canisters. the foregoing preparation, though perfectly efficient for small mammals (say up to squirrel size) and for birds, is not sufficiently strong to penetrate the skin and thoroughly fix the hair of the larger mammals. for this purpose the older taxidermists used a wash or powder, composed of equal parts of alum and nitre (saltpetre). this had the double disadvantage of rendering the specimen cured by its aid almost dripping with humidity in damp weather, and efflorescing with the double salts around the eyes and mouth in dry weather. alum alone was frequently used by those unaware of its peculiar property of deliquescing in heat as well as in humidity. i have, i believe, at last succeeded in arranging the proper proportions, and in substituting, for the worse than useless crude alum, the alum ustum or burnt alum, which is not affected by moisture (at least to any appreciable extent). the proportions are: no. 9.--browne's preservative powder for skins of mammals. burnt alum, 1 lb. saltpetre, 0.25 lb. pound and thoroughly mix. this, well rubbed into the skin and fleshy parts of mammals, is a certain and thoroughly trustworthy cure, and will penetrate through skin a quarter of an inch or more thick, fixing the hair or fur in a most admirable manner, and has the double advantage of being harmless to the person using it, and beneficial even if it gets on the outside of the skin of the specimen; indeed, it should be rubbed in on the fur side if the specimen is at all "high" when brought in. in all cases it is a good plan to thoroughly rub the outside of the ears, eyelids, nose, and lips, with this composition before skinning. i consider this the greatest boon to the animal preserver ever invented, and those to whom i have imparted the formula are loud in its praise, as witness the dozens of letters i have received from all parts during the last seven years. if the proportions given are adhered to, no crystallisation of salts will take place around the eyes and mouth. should this, however, happen from any cause, a stiff brush dipped in olive oil may be used to remove it and prevent its reappearance. after the mammal is stuffed and mounted, it may be washed over with waterton's solution (previously given) or the following, which ought to preserve the specimen from the attacks of insects: no. 10.--preservative wash. corrosive sublimate, 1 oz. tincture of camphor (or musk), 1 oz. methylated spirits, 1 quart. 1 oz. this solution must be kept in a bottle, carefully labelled "poison," and when used is not to be touched with the hands, but laid on with a brush. it constantly happens that parts of the bodies of animals--notably their fore and hind limbs, and their heads even--are required to be preserved for some considerable time for purposes of modelling their contour or muscles; it then becomes necessary to find some preparation which will keep large pieces of flesh sufficiently sweet and firm to model from. for the first edition, i had written to a scientific friend as to the preparations now in use at the various hospitals for the preservation of subjects, etc, to which he answered: "as far as i can glean from various sources, the medical profession has only within the last few years attempted to preserve whole bodies. parts have, of course, been preserved in alcohol of some kind until they have literally crumbled away. at st. george's hospital they use a preservative fluid, invented by the hospital porter (dissecting-room porter). the subjects are kept in a slate tank filled with the fluid. to show the efficiency of this fluid, i might mention that the first subject arrived much decomposed some months since, but is now quite fresh and sweet. the muscles inevitably lose a little of their colour in the preparation, which is all the change as yet observed. at guy's is used a preparation of glycerine and arsenic, but at the present moment i do not recollect the exact proportions. at king's college, the method invented by sterling, of edinburgh, is used. all other hospitals have the old methods in vogue, such as preparations of arsenic." since then, i have had occasion to go more deeply into the subject and have used some of the formulae which follow, viz, rectified spirits, moeller's solution, and various preparations of lime. messrs. medlock and bailey's bisulphite of lime (calcium) is most highly recommended by analytical experts for preserving large joints of meat and fish; and, indeed, the experiments conducted under scientific and government supervision have abundantly proved its value. its price is not great. for large joints the following is the formula: no. 11.--messrs. medlock and bailey's formula. bisulphite of lime, 1 gall. common salt, 0.25 pint. water, 2 to 4 galls. the following, taken from the "year book of pharmacy for 1880," appears to be a very efficient formula; like all the rest of such formulae, it contains a certain percentage of arsenious acid: a new preserving fluid.--the prussian secretary of state for education has caused the publication of the following compound and method of its application, discovered by wickersheimer, the preparator of the anatomical museum of the university of berlin, who had at first patented the compound, but was induced to renounce his patent claims. no. 12.--wickersheimer's preserving liquid, no. 1. in 3000 parts of boiling water dissolve 100 of alum, 25 of sodium chloride, 12 of potassium nitrate, 60 of potassa, and 10 of arsenious acid, let cool and filter. to every 10 litres of the filtrate add 4 litres of glycerine and 1 litre of methylic alcohol. [footnote: a gram = 15.444 grains troy; a litre = a little more than 11 pints.] its application differs with the special objects to be preserved. in general, the objects must be impregnated with it. if the objects are to be preserved dry, they are soaked in the liquid from six to twelve days, and afterwards dried in the air. ligaments, muscles, and other animal objects remain perfectly soft and movable. hollow organs, as lungs and intestines, should be filled with the liquid previous to immersion in it; after being taken out, and before drying, it is advisable to inflate them with air. injecting the liquid into a corpse will preserve the latter completely, and the muscular tissue will always retain the natural colour of fresh corpses. to preserve the outward appearance of the latter, they should be well impregnated externally and enclosed in air-tight oases; this is only necessary to preserve the exact original appearance; if it is not done, the body will keep equally well if thoroughly injected, but the exterior will gradually become somewhat dry and dark coloured. plants may likewise be preserved by this liquid. [footnote: so expensive a preparation is, i think, sufficiently well replaced by salt, corrosive sublimate, and distilled water (see formula no. 27). m. decandolle exhibited, some years since, a branch of a coffee tree which had been perfectly preserved for fifty years. it was then pointed out that the efficacy of such solutions (saline) depended on their being boiled and applied to the plants hot (not boiling).] the following is a modification of the above, useful for comparison as to relative strengths for injection and immersion: no. 13.--wickersheimer's preserving liquids, nos. 2 and 3. for injecting. for immersing. arsenious acid 16 grams 12 grams. sodium chloride 80 grams 60 grams. potassium sulphate 200 grams 150 grams. potassium nitrate 25 grams 18 grams. potassium carbonate 20 grams 15 grams. water 10 litres 10 litres. glycerine 4 litres 4 litres. wood naphtha 0.75 litres 0.75 litres. my friend, dr. priestley smith, surgeon to the birmingham eye hospital, has kindly given me his formula for a process which most admirably preserves delicate parts of animals. having been enabled to give him some eyes of rare animals and fishes (whales and sharks), he showed me the process which is now fully explained in the following extract from the british medical journal of jan. 10th, 1880: preservation of ophthalmic specimens. several friends and correspondents have asked me to refer them to a description of the method which i employ for the preservation of ophthalmic specimens, examples of which were exhibited in the annual museum of the association in cork last summer. i published an account of it in the birmingham medical review for july, 1878; but, as several improvements have been effected since that time, i shall be greatly obliged by being allowed space in this journal for a brief description of my present method. no. 14.--priestley smith's formula. the following are the solutions, etc, employed: 1. mueller's fluid--viz. bichromate of potash 1 part, sulphate of soda 1 part, water 100 parts; 2. hydrate of chloral and water, 1 in 20; 3. glycerine and water, 1 in 4, 4. glycerine and water, 1 in 2--i.e, equal parts; 5. glycerine-jelly--viz. best french gelatine 1 part, glycerine 6 parts, water 6 parts, soak the gelatine in the water until swollen, then heat and add the glycerine, add a few drops of a saturated solution of carbolic acid, and filter hot through white blotting-paper; 6. a thick white varnish made by mixing oxide of zinc with copal varnish in a mortar. the eyeball is placed, immediately after excision, unopened, in mueller's fluid for about three weeks, light being carefully excluded. it is then frozen solid by immersion for a few minutes in a mixture of finely powdered ice and salt, and immediately divided into lateral halves by means of a sharp-edged table-knife. the portion to be mounted is then placed in chloral solution for some weeks, in order to remove the yellow colour; light being still excluded, and the fluid being changed until it is no longer discoloured by the bichromate. the specimen next lies for twenty-four hours or longer in the weaker glycerine solution, and is then transferred for a similar period to the stronger glycerine solution, after which it may be mounted in the jelly without danger of shrinking. a specimen-jar being two-thirds filled with melted jelly, the half-eye is placed in it, the concavity upwards. when every interstice is filled, it is turned over (care being taken to avoid the inclusion of an air-bubble), and held in a central position in contact with the bottom of the jar. when cold and firmly coagulated, the jelly is coated over with white varnish. a few days later, when the surface of the varnish is firm, this again is thinly coated with a film of jelly, and thereby preserved from the ultimate danger of cracking. the jar is fixed with glue into a suitable wooden stand. the gelatine which yields the strongest and most colourless jelly is that manufactured by coignet and co, of paris, obtainable in packets, and known as the "gold-label" variety. the specimen-jars, admirable both as to material and workmanship, have been made expressly for me by messrs. f. and c. osler, of broad street, birmingham, from whom they may be obtained in any number.--priestley smith, birmingham. glycerine retards fermentation and decomposition to a remarkable degree. it combines readily with alcohol or water. boracic acid in small quantities mixed with a solution of saltpetre, i.e, 1 to 50, is stated to be of service in the preservation of flesh. previously salted meat cannot be preserved this way; salting evidently removes the phosphates. action of boracic acid would, no doubt, set up acid phosphates, which are the prime causes of the preservation. a preparation of borax has been brought out by mr. robottom, of birmingham, who claims for it that it preserves all animal and vegetable tissue, as well as being useful for tanning skins. i shall refer to this preparation further on. carbolic acid (pure) will be found a valuable ally of the taxidermist. calvert was the chief if not the only maker of the pure preparation, which is sold in 0.5 lb. or 1 lb. bottles in a solid crystalline state, as if it were frozen. the bottle, with the stopper temporarily removed, must be plunged in boiling water to melt out as much as is required, to which must be added many times its weight or quantity of water. this diluted preparation will be found of infinite service in the hot summer months for pouring in the "gentle" infested throats or wounds of mammals and birds preparatory to skinning. diluted and poured on a little burnt alum or pure tannin, and the mixture well shaken together, it forms an exceedingly strong preparation, as well as a valuable one, for painting the noses or pickling the tongues of animals before or after skinning. two strengths of this will be found very useful. thus: no. 15--carbolic wash, no. 1 (for mammals). glacial carbolic acid, 2 oz. burnt alum or pure tannin, 1 oz. water, 1 pint. keep in stoppered bottle labelled "poison," and shake up before using. no. 16.--carbolic wash, no. 2 (for birds). glacial carbolic acid, 1 oz. water, 1 pint. keep in stoppered bottle labelled "poison," and shake before using. carbolic acid is a caustic poison, and therefore must be handled carefully. it sometimes happens that the taxidermist, if in a large way of business, is called upon to destroy the insects infesting, it may be, the entire collection of heads or skins hanging in some gentleman's hall. no better or more effective way of doing this is to be found than plunging them entirely in a bath composed of: no. 17.--carbolic acid wash, no. 3 ("poison"). carbolic acid, 1 lb. sal ammoniac, 0.5 oz. corrosive sublimate, 3 oz. pure tannin, 4 oz. hot water, 4 galls. mix this up in some out-house, or in the open air away from the house, if a fine day; and when the mixture is cold plunge the heads or skins in, holding the former by the horns, and stirring the latter about with a stick; in fact, allowing the mixture to touch the hands as little as possible. it is, i believe, more efficacious if laid on hot than cold, but the danger to health is greater. i venture to say that if there is anything which will preserve objects for an indefinite period it is corrosive sublimate. deadly though it be, and dangerous to work with, it has the advantage of being used as a finishing preparation, and therefore need not, except in extreme cases, be handled. instead of rectified spirits of wine, i have used with much success as an exterior wash for valuable bird skins, the following: no. 18.--preservative wash. pure sulphuric ether, 1 pint. corrosive sublimate, 6 grs. keep in a stoppered bottle, labelled "poison," and when used apply with a brush. this is more rapid in its evaporation than spirits of wine, but is very expensive. of course, the more rapidly any spirit evaporates, and deposits poison previously held in solution, the better chance you have of not spoiling your specimens. preservative fluids for fishes and reptiles. i have lately given a great deal of attention to the preservation of fishes--and especially large ones--in some fluid which should have four advantages: 1. perfect preservation of the specimen--and which also, if a foreign one, is consequently a long time in transit. 2. its freedom from causing great shrinking or shrivelling of the integument. 3. the points 1 and 2 being so well balanced that the specimen is in a fit state--after many months--either to be treated as a specimen shown in fluid, or to be mounted by the process of taxidermy. 4. the comparative cheapness and facility of carriage of the preservative medium. in trying to obtain all these advantages there seem almost insuperable difficulties in the reconcilement of these diverse conditions. dr. a. guenther, f.r.s, the eminent, ichthyologist and chief of the british museum, recommends, in his new book, that pure or rectified spirits of wine (56 per cent. over-proof) be the only thing used for fishes, for permanent preservation in glass jars or tanks, and this even for ordinary fishes 3 ft. to 4 ft. in length, or even up to 6 ft. in length, if eel-like. "proof" spirit (containing only 49 per cent. by weight of pure alcohol as against 84 per cent. contained in rectified spirit) is, says dr. guenther, the lowest strength which can be used. these will then stand as no. 19.--rectified spirits of wine (56 per cent. over-proof), and no. 20.--proof spirits of wine. if a spirituous solution is absolutely required, i would substitute for pure spirits of wine methylated spirit (alcohol containing a certain percentage of impure gum or undrinkable wood spirit) as being cheap and sufficiently good for some purposes. it will not, however, bear any diluting with water; it must stand, therefore, as no. 21.--methylated spirit (undiluted), or as no. 22.--alcoholic solution, no. 1. methylated spirit, 1.5 pints. burnt alum (pounded), 2 oz. distilled water, 0.5 pint. saltpetre, 4 oz. this, which is to be well shaken together, becomes milky at first, but will soon fine down, and may then be decanted. no. 23.--alcoholic solution, no. 2. methylated spirit, 3 parts. glycerine, 1 part. distilled water, 1 part. although turpentine will not preserve reptiles or fishes, yet, struck with the perfect manner with which i was enabled to preserve soft-bodied beetles for nearly a year in benzol or benzoline, i lately tried if this cheap and colourless liquid would be of service for other subjects, with the result that i have now some frogs (six or seven) in a glass jar containing benzoline which have been immersed for over three months, and have apparently undergone less change than if in spirits for the same length of time. whether they are likely to be permanently preserved by this method i cannot, of course, yet determine, but if so, it would be a great gain, owing to the brilliancy of the liquid, its cheapness, and its advantages over all alcoholic spirit in its less powerful action on the sealing wax or coating used over the corks or stoppers of the glass preparation jars. there is no doubt that pure spirits of wine will preserve objects for a great length of time, but the cost is very serious to most persons, or even to institutions of less importance than the british museum--added to which the strong spirit unquestionably shrivels and distorts such objects as fishes and reptiles, whilst, diluted to any appreciable extent, spirit will not preserve anything for any great period. to obviate these inconveniences chemists have invented more or less perfect preservative fluids, the oldest perhaps of which is no. 24.--goadby's solution, no. 1. bay salt, 4 oz. corrosive sublimate, 4 grs. alum, 2 oz. boiling water, 2 quarts. keep in stoppered bottle labelled "poison." [footnote: "bay salt" is salt formed by evaporation of sea-water in shallow lagoons or "salt-pans" exposed to the rays of the sun.] no. 25.--goadby's solution, no. 2. bay salt, 0.5 lb. corrosive sublimate, 2 grs. arsenious acid, 20 grs. boiling rain water, 1 quart. keep in stoppered bottle labelled "poison." note that, corrosive sublimate being a remarkably difficult thing to dissolve, even in pure spirits of wine, it may not be generally known that the addition of a saturated solution of sal ammoniac, in weight about half an ounce, is sufficient to dissolve many ounces of corrosive sublimate. thus a solution useful for some purposes is easily made as follows: no. 26.--browne's preservative solution. saltpetre, 4 oz. corrosive sublimate, 0.25 oz. alum, 2 oz. sal ammoniac, 0.125 oz. boiling water, half gallon. keep in stoppered bottle labelled "poison." this, it will be seen, is a modification of goadby's solution. in the three preceding formulae the corrosive sublimate must be dissolved in a small quantity of spirits of some kind, or, as explained above, by the addition of a strong solution of sal ammoniac. no. 27.--saline solution for bottling fish and reptiles. bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate), 1 grain. chloride of sodium (common salt), 90 grains. distilled water, 1 pint. intimately mix, set aside, let settle, and when clear, decant and preserve in stoppered bottles. the following might also be tried: no. 28.--camphorated fluid for preserving fishes, etc. to distilled water, sixteen parts, add one part of rectified spirits of wine and a few drops of creosote, sufficient to saturate it; stir in a small quantity of best prepared chalk, and then filter. with this fluid mix an equal quantity of camphor water (water saturated with camphor), and before using, strain off through very fine muslin. the bisulphite of lime (see formula no. 11, ante) would also, no doubt, be excellent as a preservative for fishes if not quite so much diluted. chloride of zinc, much diluted, is recommended as a good preservative. dr. priestley smith's formula (see no. 14, ante) would do exceedingly well for small specimens to be subsequently arranged in glass-topped tanks, as at the british museum. another formula, sometimes used in the medical schools for preserving parts of subjects, and useful as a pickle for fish and reptiles, is a preparation called moeller's solution: no. 29--moeller's solution. bichromate of potash, 2 oz. sulphate of soda, 1 oz. distilled water, 3 pints. a saturated solution of chromic acid is also used for the same purposes. the chief disadvantage which both this and moeller's solution possess in common is their colour--a rich golden one--which, of course, stains everything with which they come in contact. this, however, is easily removable by the hydrate of chloral formula (see priestley smith's formula, no. 14, section 2, ante). this last (moeller's solution) i have kept purposely until the end, as it is the formula which, in my opinion, fulfils all the four requirements stated in the opening paragraph, as desirable in the preservation of the lower vertebrates. on my appointment to the curatorship of the leicester museum i had occasion to overhaul the "pickles" and prepare some fresh specimens, and was very loth to use expensive spirits, or even methylated, for large fish, and therefore tried many things with varying results. at last i was driven back on moeller's solution, and by its aid saved some specimens which were slowly rotting in other fluids, and successfully "pickled" such flabby things as sharks' eggs, sea anemones, and large-sized "lump fish." it was then tried on common "dog-fish," one of which came out limp, yet perfectly tough, and was skinned as an experiment after a month's immersion. one day two large "topers" (a small species of shark), about six feet long, were sent from scarboro'. my taxidermist being very busy at the time, i decided to give moeller a severe test and pickle them. accordingly--their viscera only being removed--they were tumbled into a large tub containing 2 lb. of bichromate of potassa to 20 galls. of spring water. this was on 13th sept, 1882; i looked at them on 17th july, 1883, and they were perfectly fresh, quite limp, unshrivelled, and yet so tough as to be capable of any treatment, even to being cast as models, or "set up" by the taxidermic art; and this after the lapse of ten calendar months--a time more than sufficient for even a sailing vessel to come from any part of the world. i changed the solution once, the total cost from first to last being one shilling and fourpence. had pure spirit been used, the expense would have been many pounds, to say nothing of the great shrivelling which would have taken place by now. i must therefore think that moeller's solution is, for the purpose, one of the best things ever invented. preservative fluids for mollusca. generally speaking, pure alcohol is the best for this purpose. chloride of zinc would doubtless be of considerable service, and i notice that woodward, in his "manual of the molluscs," says that chloride of calcium, made by dissolving chalk, or the purer carbonate --white marble,--in hydro-chloric acid until effervescence ceases and a saturated solution is obtained, is most useful as a preservative, as it "keeps the specimen previously steeped in it permanently moist without injuring its colour or texture; while its antiseptic properties will aid in the preservation of matters liable to decay." possibly some of the beautiful preparations in the fisheries exhibition of 1883 were prepared in this manner, and such objects as the sea-anemones, with tentacles expanded as in life, may have been instantaneously killed by osmic acid. luting for stoppers. no doubt, every one notices how the ordinary wax, which is used as a protective coating for bottles or "preparation" jars, is attacked by the contained spirit in such a manner as to be useless as a preventive of evaporation. ordinary sealing wax, "bottle wax," beeswax, or paraffin wax, being useless, we are driven back on a very old recipe of the french naturalist m. peron, who claimed for it advantages which it certainly possesses. no. 30.--"lithocolle" for sealing bottles. common resin. yellow beeswax (or paraffin wax). red ochre (in powder). oil of turpentine (turps). the proportions of this luting are determined by putting more or less resin and red ochre, or turpentine and wax, as the "lithocolle" is to be more or less brittle or elastic. melt the wax in the resin, then add the ochre in small quantities, and at each addition of this stir the whole briskly round. when the mixture has boiled seven or eight minutes, pour in the turpentine, stir it round, and set it near the fire to keep it warm some little time. to ascertain the quality, and if it requires more or less wax, put a little out on a cold plate, and note its degree of tenacity. it is rather dangerous to prepare, and is best managed over a gas jet or stove, so arranged that the flame does not rise above the edge of the iron pot containing the composition; if this is attended to, not much danger can arise, especially if, in case of the composition firing, the lid of the pot be immediately clapped on. apply with an old brush, or by repeatedly plunging the neck of the bottle in the luting before the latter becomes cold. i have used an application of glue with great success on corks over spirits, by procuring the best glue, making it rather thin, and applying it whilst hot in successive coats. it will not do, however, for non-alcoholic solutions, nor for glass stoppers, from which it scales off when cold. general remarks. in all cases when "pickling" animals it must be remembered that the first pickle, whether alcoholic or not, is essentially deteriorated by the bloody mucus and water which exudes from the specimens, especially if large and "flabby;" this, of course, reduces the strength of the preservative medium. it is well, therefore, to have from three to four different vessels, in which the objects shall be successively immersed for several days, or even weeks, until, coming to the final preparation jar, they shall not stain the liquid in which they are ultimately to rest. by using the various strengths of each preservative fluid one under the other, in which to steep the specimens, proper results will be obtained, by the exercise of a little forethought and judgment. filtration through blotting paper or charcoal is necessary from time to time, and expensive spirits may be re-distilled when becoming too weak by constant use. large fishes must have small cuts made in the walls of the abdomen to allow the fluid to properly penetrate. in cases where the specimen is not required for dissection, the removal of the viscera facilitates the ultimate preservation. if at 'any time it is necessary to throw away a quantity of inexpensive spent liquor which may smell offensively, a small quantity of the crystals of permanganate of potassa will instantly deodorise a large quantity of fluid, and this without adding to it any offensive scent of its own, as in the case of chloride of lime or carbolic acid. the vessel must be afterwards well rinsed out in clean water, as 'the potassa temporarily stains everything in contact a rich purplish red. some experiments which i conducted with benzoline incontestably proved to me its valuable properties. i experimented on a cornish chough--an old specimen, infested with maggots or larvae of the "clothes" moth. i immediately plunged it in benzoline, took it out, drained the superfluous spirit off, and rapidly dried it by suspending it in a strong current of air. it took but a short time to dry, and, though the feathers were very slightly clotted after the operation, yet, by a little manipulation, explained hereafter, they soon arrived at their pristine freshness, and all the insects which previously infested it were effectually killed. i afterwards found on another specimen--a short-eared owl--two or three larvae feeding on the feathers. i poured a little benzoline over them in situ, and they fell off, apparently dead. i kept them for a day, and by that time they were shrivelled and undeniably dead. here, then, we have the two elements of success--a perfect destroyer of insects, and an agent not damaging, but positively beneficial, to the feathers of birds when applied; added to which, is the remarkable cheapness of benzoline. caution--do not use it near a candle, lamp, nor fire, as it gives off a highly inflammable vapour at a low temperature; it also fills a house with a peculiarly disagreeable odour, finding its way upstairs, as all volatile gases do; so it had better always be used in the workshop or outhouse. i have just discovered--and feel very "small" that i did not do so before--that benzoline perfectly preserves birds "in the flesh" for a considerable time. i tried it on a razorbill (alta torda, 1.), which i placed in a "preparation" jar, filled with common benzoline at 1 s. per gallon. the bird was simply cut under the wing to allow the benzoline to penetrate, and was left for three weeks; at the end of which time it and taken out, cleaned in plaster (as described in chapter xi.), and made a most excellent taxidermic object! the advantages of this to the overworked professional are obvious. in very severe cases i have used turpentine ("turps") with excellent effect; in fact, as a destructive agent for insects, i prefer it to benzoline, having now mastered the hitherto fatal objections to its use on birds' skins. for the skins of mammals there is nothing to beat it. this will be enlarged on in the chapter on "relaxing and cleaning skins." in thus speaking of benzoline and turpentine as agents in the destruction of insect plagues, i mean, of course, that the specimens should be plunged into, or have poured over them either benzoline or turpentine. this seems to have been lost sight of by some former correspondents of mine, one of whom writes--"in your toxicological section, i do not find any opinion on atmospheric poisoning of acari, etc. "if not giving you too much trouble, i should be glad to know whether you think spirits of turpentine would be efficacious if allowed to evaporate in a case of birds in which moths have lately shown themselves. "i am unwilling to have them taken out, in fact they have not been cased twelve months, and i thought of boring a hole in an obscure corner with bit and brace, and inserting a saturated sponge, and then closing it again. "waterton says--'the atmosphere of spirit of turpentine will allow neither acarus nor any insect to live in it: do you believe this?" my answer to him, and to all such correspondents, was that i had repeatedly proved that all such little vermin did not care a bit for the fumes of benzoline, nor of any spirits whatever, as i had caused gallons of turpentine, etc, to be poured into large cases containing specimens without producing the smallest effect, unless it absolutely touched them, but that i had partly succeeded by introducing cyanide of potassium (deadly poison) into small cases containing birds, through a hole bored for the purpose; but it was objectionable: (i) on the score of its danger to health, should the poisonous vapour escape; and (2) because it deliquesced rapidly in any but the driest atmosphere, by its affinity for damp, and, consequently, often caused mildew in cases of birds, etc, into which it had been introduced. the fumes of sulphur during combustion are, on the contrary, really of service in destroying insect life, as evidenced in the fumigation of hospital wards, etc, but i cannot tell how anyone may burn sulphur in specimen cases without half choking himself, and probably setting on fire the fittings and spoiling the work altogether. it is also objectionable because it readily discharges certain colours from fabrics, flowers, and birds' feathers. my advice is, therefore, to pull to pieces any case infested with insects, to burn all fittings not absolutely valuable, and to drench with turpentine all specimens, together with all the rockwork and fittings desired to be retained. [footnote: i would indeed advise the destruction by burning of the birds themselves even, should they be common specimens, or easily replaced.] crude creosote, in little pots or saucers, is a great deterrent to the visits of insect plagues; it cannot, however, be exposed openly, as its scent is overpowering and decidedly unhealthy for use in private houses. in museums it does very well if cased up. with regard to camphor in museums, although it is so constantly used, i consider it of no use as a deterrent. a small piece of tallow candle is equally efficacious, and of late i have had much more faith in insect powders, the best of which is, i believe, compounded of the petals of the russian tansy (pyrethrum roseum). this has certainly some principle contained in it not obvious to our senses. it is perfectly harmless to man, and to domestic animals, but on insects its action is entirely different. i cannot as yet discover whether insects eat it, or if its smell overcomes them, whether it repels, or attracts them to their doom. a series of experiments has left me just as much in the dark as ever. certain it is that i have never found insects among skins over which it has been strewn. there is, however, one slight objection to its use, which is that it stains light-coloured skins, if at all greasy, with its fine, brownish-yellow dust. this is, however, but a trifle, easily avoided, in face of its unquestionable value. i have used it now for many years, and have never had cause to alter my opinion as to its efficacy. the best only must be procured, from some well-known wholesale house, price about 3s. per lb. that sold made up in small quantities is generally adulterated and useless. no curator should ever be without it, and a small quantity should always be placed inside a newly-made skin. it can also be worked up in many of the preservative pastes, or macerated in spirit as a wash, for the inside of skins. baking or stowing maggot-infected specimens is recommended by some authors, but i strongly object to it in the case of old or valuable skins, firstly, because the heat can seldom be properly regulated, unless in an apparatus specially constructed; secondly, because heat sufficient to kill the larvae is also sufficient to crimp or twist some part of the plumage or render the skin, if an old specimen, too crisp or tender for ultimate handling; thirdly, because even a moderate degree of heat is sufficient to set free the fat contained in the skin, and thus spoil the feathers. perhaps the tyro may remark, "but in a preserved and stuffed skin there ought to be no fat to ooze out." quite true, there ought not to be, but as skins are usually dressed with arsenical soap, the fat, instead of being dried up, is beautifully conserved, ready to run out at the slightest provocation, or be drawn out by the capillary attraction of the threads used in sewing up--another hard knock for arsenical pastes! writing about pastes reminds me that no taxidermist should be without a pot of flour paste, which is far better and more cleanly than gum or glue for sticking in loose feathers, etc. for a small quantity, sufficient to fill a jam-pot, take no. 31.--flour paste. good wheat flour, 2 oz. essence of cloves, 0.5 a teaspoonful. water, 0.5 pint. mix the flour with part of the water in a basin, being careful to crush out all the lumps, and work it up smoothly to the consistence of thick cream; add the remainder of the water, and boil for a few minutes in a saucepan. turn out into a jam-pot, and when nearly cold stir in the essence of cloves; this latter gives an agreeable odour to the paste, is not poisonous, and preserves the paste indefinitely from turning mouldy. a few drops of carbolic acid may be used instead of the cloves; but in this case the pot must be labelled "poison." strong gum water may be made from gum arabic, into which a little powdered white sugar is stirred. essence of cloves prevents mould in this also, unless there be an excess of water. a fine paste, useful for paper or photographic work, is made from rice-flour. "dextrine," in powder, is cheap and strong, easily soluble in cold water, but as a paste shows up on feathers, etc, much more than wheat-flour paste. cement, for uniting broken bones or fossils, or to fix shells, etc, on tablets, is, says the late frank buckland, made thus no. 32.--white cement. beeswax, 1 part. powdered plaster of paris (best fine), 5 parts. resin, 4 parts. warm the edges (when possible) and use the cement warm. i would advise the plaster being stirred into the other two ingredients as wanted. the great objection to this and to all the "coagulines" is that the edges of the specimen require warming, which cannot always be done. another good colourless cement is no. 33.--white cement, no. 2. gum tragacanth in powder, 1 part. gum arabic (acacia) in powder, 1 part. glacial acetic acid, a few drops. when used, moisten the gums with a little of the acetic acid diluted. gum mastic dissolved in alcohol, and white shellac dissolved in naphtha, are two other white cements. where, however, colour does not matter, take no. 34--brown cement. common shellac, 0.25 lb. spirits of naphtha, 0.5 pint. place them in a bottle in a warm situation on a closed stove, or in a vessel containing hot water. be careful of fire. the edges of bones or undersides of fossils are smeared with this, tied with string, and left for a day or so to unite. the reader has now a repertoire of poisonous and harmless preparations from which he may choose. as for myself, for the preservation of birds, i pin my faith to formula no. 4, viz, my preservative soap for the inside of the skin, and a wash of benzoline or turpentine liberally applied from time to time--say twice a year--to the outside of all uncased or exposed specimens. this, it will be seen, entirely does away with the use of any poison, and yet is proved to be of the highest efficacy. for those who do not object to expense nor to the use of a poisonous preparation, a wash of waterton's solution (no. 5), or the sulphuric ether preparation (no. 18), can be substituted for benzoline or turpentine. i mention the expense, because only rectified spirits of wine, or pure sulphuric ether, will do for birds; the methylated spirit, though of service for washing over most subjects, is not so good when applied to the delicate feathers of birds, as it leaves on drying a certain impure residuum behind it. for mammals i recommend my formula of burnt alum and saltpetre (no. 9), followed by a wash of benzoline or turpentine twice a year, or by any one of the mercurial preparations given. on a retrospect of this chapter it will, i think, be admitted that, if i am adverse to the use of any poisonous preparations in taxidermy, i at least point out the why and wherefore, as also an alternative course, showing at the same time the benefits and defects of both systems. i now, therefore, leave the amateur to choose for himself--bearing in mind the time-honoured aphorism, chacun à son goût. plate ii skeleton of peregrine falcon showing the proper position of the various boxes. explanation: follows: skeleton of peregrine falcon (above.) showing the proper position of the various boxes. explanation: a, skull; b, upper mandible; c, lower mandible; d, cervical vertebrae (9); e, humeri (sing. humerus); f, radius; g, ulna; h, carpus, or wrist i and j, metacarpal bones (8); i, "knuckle" joint; k, pollex (first digit, or "'thumb"); k2 and k3 second or "index" digit, and next or third digit; 1, pelvis or "ossa innominata" ilium, ischium, and pubes anchylosed; m, femur; n, tibia; o o, fibula; p, metatarse, or "tarso-metarsus" (3, sometimes 4 bones); p, actual "knee" joint; q, "heel," or tibiotarsal joint; q, hallux (first or "big" toe), called in ornithology the "hind" toe r, fourth (or outermost) toe; s s sternum, or breast bone. chapter v. skinning and preserving birds. in order that this shall be a thoroughly practical chapter, i will, in my method of working, copy the admirable plan of my old sporting favourite, col. hawker, who, when wishing to note down some difficult point, was in the habit of doing with his own hands all things pertaining to the matter at issue, because, as he said, he might not make mistakes when subsequently writing upon knotty subjects intended for his readers' consideration. i have, therefore, specially procured a starling, as i consider this bird the very best for the amateur's purpose, not only on account of the toughness of the skin, but also because, being a medium-sized bird, it presents no difficult points in skinning, and with this bird before me i shall minutely instruct my pupil, pointing out each step that has to be taken and each difficulty that is likely to arise. as i shall have occasion constantly to refer to the various parts of the skeleton, i now give an engraving of that of the peregrine falcon, in order to help my explanations in the future (see plate ii.). having placed ready for use the skinning knife (see fig. 11), the scissors (fig. 14), and the cobbler's crooked awl in handle, a pot of preservative mixture, some cotton wool or wadding, some tow, and a needle and thread; lay the starling on its back on a piece of clean paper, the head of the bird pointing from the operator; then seize the bird by the sides of the head with the first two fingers and thumb of the left hand in opposition, the awl held in the palm of the right hand, and a piece of wool between the right-hand finger and thumb; then insert the point of the awl between the upper and lower mandibles, and, having opened them, keep them open with the first finger of the right hand, removing the piece of wool which should have been previously placed there by the sportsman (see instructions re shot birds, at end of chapter ii.). replacing it with the fresh piece of wool held in readiness, plug the nostrils in the same manner. as even this simple operation will have somewhat disarranged the feathers of the head and neck, smooth them down with the fingers, taking care, however, not to stretch the neck in doing so. the next operation is to hold the left-hand wing with the left hand, and with the fingers of the right hand break or disjoint the bone of the wing as close to the body as possible, i.e, across the "humerus" (e) (in the case of large birds, or for some special purpose, this bone is often left intact, but the amateur will be puzzled how to subsequently arrange it in the skin if unbroken). repeat this on the other wing. for those whose fingers are not strong enough to do this effectually, i recommend a small pair of flat-nosed pliers, some sizes larger than the "feather pliers" (fig. 19). large birds may have their wings broken at the humeri (e) by striking them with a stick or hammer in such a manner as not to break nor seriously disarrange the feathers; the largest-sized pliers (fig. 16) may also be used for this purpose, but in that case a piece of clean rag should be folded in the jaws of the pliers so as to envelope the upper and under surface of the wing, in order to protect the feathers from injury. practice will, however, point out the best method of doing this. next take hold of the legs with the fingers and gently twist them out of joint at the junction of the tibia and femur. now, keeping the head of the bird toward you, part the feathers away from each side of the sternum or breast-bone; then with the knife held short in the hand, the point placed exactly in the centre of the bird (calculating from the bill to the tip of the tail), make the first incision just on the right side of the breast bone down to the vent, taking care not to cut so deeply as to expose the intestines. now turn the bill towards your right, and gently lay hold of the cut edge of the skin, which you see shining whitely in front of you; then with the point of the knife--the cutting edge kept on the flesh--gently loosen the skin above, below, and downwards. completely reverse the bird, and repeat this for the other side. at this stage the body may be held down, with the knife pressed on the side of the breast bone, and thus the two first fingers of the left hand may be advantageously employed--but in a very gentle manner--to loosen the skin around the upper part of the breast-bone from the inside, while the thumb regulates the pull from the outside. all must be done with the feathers kept as much away from the flesh as possible. fig. 22--starling--showing position of first incision and the commencement of the removal of the skin. fig. 22 shows the appearance which the specimen should now present. the skin being, as it were, nicely "persuaded" from the flesh (more being done by pushing than by pulling), the legs begin to appear. take hold of the one nearest to you with the right hand, at the same time inserting the fingers of the left inside the skin; then, by gently pushing up with the right hand, free the legs sufficiently to show the second joint, where it has been previously twisted or broken. laying down the knife, and picking up the scissors, force their point underneath the joint, marked p in plate ii, and cut it completely off; it should then be clear of the flesh, showing the skin on either side as if it were a stocking turned inside out. pull it gently by the claw back into its proper position, and there leave it, and do the same by the other leg, turning the bird again for that, purpose. both the legs should now be entirely free, not holding to the body at any point. taking up the knife again, carefully work with it down toward the tail, and as far round the back as you can get with safety. now let the bird rest on its head, as it were, with the beak from you, and, placing the fingers with the thumb on the back (which is now underneath), the middle finger on the root of the tail inside, flanked by the first and third fingers keeping down the skin on either side, cautiously insert the knife through the skin of the vent, and cut that free, cutting upward in a slanting direction; having done this, carefully cut away on the root of the tail, at the same time freeing it wherever it sticks; then, when nothing but one bone, that is to say, the last caudal vertebra, holds it, slip the knife underneath and cut with a drawing motion upward. the tail is now entirely separated from the body. now advance the fingers of the left hand and seize the bottom part of the loosened body with the right hand, and by pushing with the finger-nails, and occasionally using the knife where the tendons hold the skin, gradually work up the back, turning it round and round, and working very carefully until the place where the wings have been previously broken is arrived at. again lay down the knife, and taking up the scissors, cut the wing nearest to you away from the skin; do the same with the other side; and now the only thing which holds skin and body together is the neck. taking the whole of the body in the hand, proceed with the fingers of the other (using no knife) to gradually cause the skin to leave its attachment at the neck. with care work over the head by the same means, and here progress is stopped by the skin being held on either side of the face by a little membrane; this is the inner skin of the ears. regaining the knife, slip the point underneath, and gradually lift them out, cutting towards the flesh and not towards the skin. this done, the skin will appear darker, immediately above this point. these are the eyes; carefully cut on top of them with a very gentle motion, until they are skinned to where only a very thin membrane hides them from view; arrived at this, the knife-point must be pushed gently underneath, and an upward cut made, which, if carefully done, entirely severs the eyelids from the retaining membrane. the exact point shown in fig. 23 is now reached. fig. 23--skin of bird turned ready for severance from body after this sever the skull from the neck at the point where the dotted lines a--b are shown in the drawing. this exposes the brain without cutting off too much at the base of the cranium, the shape of which is wanted for subsequent operations. after the body is completely severed, proceed to pull the tongue out (unless wanted for show) by placing the knife on the other aside of it in opposition to the thumb, give a smart pull, keeping an even pressure on, and the tongue will come out with little or no difficulty. next enlarge the orifice at the back of the head by cutting a triangular piece out towards the palate or roof of the mouth, scooping the brains out with the point of the knife, having a small piece of paper in readiness to receive them. during this operation hold the beak of the bird through the skin of the neck by the two first fingers, and thumb, the latter being uppermost, the other fingers being employed in keeping the remainder of the skin with the feathers out of harm's way. inserting the point of the knife at the back of the eye, place the thumb on the eyeball and gently pull it out, taking care not to let the point of the knife cut upward so as to burst the eye, or the effect will be to liberate the dark-coloured pigment or the vitreous humour, and thus wet or stain the feathers. having done all this, there will still remain some little flesh at the back of the eye and the junction of the mandibles, and this must be carefully cut away so as not to dis-articulate the latter. the preservative paste now comes into requisition, and with this the skull and orbits are well painted inside and out. a little tow, previously chopped by the medium of a sharp pair of scissors, is now pushed into the empty skull, with the "stuffing iron," which is a small piece of thick wire (see fig. 21). for large birds the tow forceps (see fig. 20) may be conveniently used. having neatly filled the head with the tow, proceed to put a small piece of cotton wadding in each orbit. (note, be careful that tow only is pushed into the head, as if never so small a piece of wadding gets into the cavity of the head it will effectually prevent any subsequent mounting of the specimen, as, singular though it may appear, a small piece of wadding is more than a match for a pointed wire.) during all this time the neck must be kept as short and as little stretched as possible. in some birds a line of fat will be observed extending from the neck to the back or even to the breast, which must be as carefully as possible scraped off the skin by using the edge of the knife, guided by the thumb. having done this, paint the neck only with the preservative, and lay the skin on the paper, back upward and tail from you; the under part of the head in this position points upward. place the thumbs of both hands, their nails touching each other, at the back of the head with the first two fingers of each hand placed in this wise: forefingers along the side of the face, second fingers underneath on the top of the skin of the head; then, by gently pushing with the thumbs and pulling or scratching, as it were, with the other fingers, gradually force the head through until the mandibles appear, as also the eyelids. let go with the right hand, still keeping the thumb of the left pressing against the head; and, by gently working with the two first fingers of the left hand outside the feathers, and by pulling the beak upward and toward you with the right, the bird is returned to the position shown in fig. 22. as the bird now lies, it is optional whether the flesh is cleaned away from the root of the tail first or from the legs and wings. i will, however, in this case take the wing on my right. place the right hand underneath, lift the wing as far up into the skin as possible, and by holding it tightly in that position with the finger and thumb of the left hand, a ridge of skin becomes visible, running down each side, and framing in, as it were, a little oval-shaped piece of flesh, i.e. that lying between the "radius" and "ulna" the broken bone and flesh of the wing is now toward you. clean the flesh away from this and then devote the attention to the before-named oval-shaped piece of flesh. putting the point of the knife down on the right, lift and scoop away (using the greatest care meanwhile) some small pieces of flesh. this by degrees reveals the top of another little bone, from under which all the flesh to be seen must be scraped away; anoint this freely with the preservative, and return it to its normal position after tying a small piece of strong thread through the loop of the bone (in large birds a little tow should be placed in the cavity). if this process is too tedious, or not quite comprehended by the amateur--i.e. the clearing out of the flesh between the radius and ulna--the smaller bone of the two--the radius (f, plate ii) may be twisted or cut out entirely, leaving only the larger bone of the two to clear of flesh. sometimes--but this with large birds only--the wing may be advantageously cut from the outside along its entire length underneath, the flesh removed, skin dressed, and the cut carefully sewn up. do the same by the other wing, and then push the leg on the same side up through the skin, pushing the skin down with the fingers and thumb of the left hand, and pulling with the right, until you have stripped the skin nearly down to the so-called "knee," q (not the proper knee, however, that being situated higher up--plate ii), or tibio-tarsal joint. at this joint a bundle of little "leaders," or muscles, assemble; cut them away from around the bone (without interfering with the joint, however), and they will roll up with the flesh to the head of the bone previously cut off at the proper knee joint, and can there be easily pulled off. (in practice, it will be found that retaining the full length of this bone--the tibia--is not desirable for subsequent operations; it may therefore be advantageously shortened by one-half.) anoint with the preservative and neatly wrap a piece of tow around the leg-bone (or tibia) to the supposed shape of the flesh previously removed. return the leg to its natural position; and repeat the same on the other side. the tail is now the only thing left which requires to be freed from flesh. keeping the beak still from you, push the tail, with the left hand, as far up into the body as possible, then clear it of every particle of flesh by scraping and cutting, taking care to cut away the oil ducts or glands--usually full of a thick fat--and being careful also not to cut away the attachment of the roots of the feathers to the skin; anoint with the preservative, and return. several little streaks of fat in various parts of the skin may now be seen, which must be carefully scraped away. the wing bones must now be tied nearly together by the pieces of thread previously attached; the distance between them varies with the size of the bird's body previously removed (this knowledge is, of course, gained by experience, but amateurs are recommended to take careful measurements of this and other analogous points). the whole of the skin of the back, body, and throat is to be well anointed. now take the forceps (see fig. 20), and form a little neck of tow on it, introduce it into the skin, leaving the end of the tow resting against the back of the head. then insert some larger pieces of tow with the fingers or tongs into the body, and when you have shaped it as nearly as possible to the original body of the bird--taking care to nicely observe the adjustment of the several parts--neatly sew up the skin with a fine needle and thread by an under stitch on the edges of the skin, drawing it tight after two or three stitches; and thus proceed until the bottom is reached, avoiding the common fault of sewing the feathers in with the stitches. some few ends of tow will possibly be protruding from the lower part, which must be cut off before the final stitch. the bird's legs are tied one across the other, and the wings pressed close to the body in the proper position; the neck is also shortened, and a little narrow band of paper is cut, and placed underneath the bird, brought round the butts of the wings or shoulders, and pinned together on the top of the breast; a needle and thread are inserted through the nostrils, the thread is brought round underneath the bird's lower mandible, and is tied in a knot to keep the beak closed. in the course of a week or so, when sufficiently dry, the bandage is removed, and thus we have what is technically called a "skin." this is the loose body method of making skins; perhaps a better plan is making a body--see farther on--on wire, which should not come through the top of the head, or on a piece of stick (a lucifer match with the top broken off will do for small skins) coming into the base of the skull; this gives a great support to the neck, and prevents the common fault of the skin breaking away just above the shoulders. if great nicety is desired--and neatness in making a skin is everything--remember particularly not to overstuff it; it will really require just about half as much packing as you would at first imagine sufficient to fill it. be careful as to the set of the wings, at the shoulders especially; and after having coaxed every feather with loving care into its proper position, wrap the whole skin in a sheet of wadding, leaving the ends open, and put away in a secure place to dry. another method of shaping skins whilst drying is described by mr. batty, the well-known american taxidermist, who makes a drying board for small skins in the following manner (see fig. 24): procure a piece of board of the length and width you require, on which nail on edge 0.75-inch slips of wood two inches high at intervals required; between these supports stretch stout cardboard in the form of "gutters." in these, padded in wadding, the skins rest until dry. fig. 24--"set" or drying board for birds' skins. often blood and other substances clog and spoil the feathers of a bird; how to remove these will be found explained in the chapter on cleaning birds' skins. fig. 25--starling properly made into a skin with label attached. in noting the sex of a bird an important matter, only managed in most cases by the aid of a little dissection--it will be necessary to cut the body, after it is out of the skin, through the ribs along the side close to the back, open it, and look upon the kidneys (dark coloured masses apparently let into the hollow of the back-bone at the narrowest part of the body) for the sexual organs. if a male, there will appear just upon the upper end of the kidneys, one on each side of the back bone, two little oval-shaped bodies, usually of a dull white or light yellow tint (do not mistake the supra-renal capsules--quite yellow, small, and a little higher up--for these). if a female, these two small oval bodies will be replaced a little lower clown by a string or bundle of eggs, very minute in some seasons, but strongly marked and large in the breeding season. it is sometimes difficult to tell the sex--in young birds especially; but a good plan is to get a bird, known by its plumage to be a male--say a cock sparrow--and a female bird, and dissect out these organs, putting them in spirits in separate bottles, the organs of each sex attached to its part of the bone and kidneys, and keep them for reference until experience teaches the way to readily decide sexes. a label is attached to the legs, giving scientific and common name of bird, sex, locality, and date, and name or initials of collector. thus: no. 1. sturnus vulgaris, 1. (starling). sex.--male juv. colour of irides--dark brown. colour of beak--dark slate. colour of legs & toes--reddish-brown. leicester, 21/9/83. collector, mb. in the cases of such birds as the hawks, which have bare spaces around the eyes (sub, and super-ciliary patches) and around the base of the beak (cere), note down the colours of these parts also. in the cases of rare birds the measurements of the extreme length from tip of beak to tail--again from inner edge of gape to vent, the bill and tail being measured separately from those points--should be carefully taken, as also the length of culmen, carpus, and tarsus, and set down in inches and tenths, on the label, or in the note book, when the matter becomes too voluminous. the reference number and name, in the latter case, will be sufficient for the label, thus keeping it very small. in ordinary cases, all information, excepting name, date, and collector's name, may be written on the back. part of the label may be printed ready for filling in. another plan of skinning a bird is to work upward instead of downward, and by raising the skin on top of the breast and throat to approach the neck, which is then cut off by slipping the point of the scissors underneath. this gives room for one wing to be loosened, and ultimately cut off, the other one then easily follows as a matter of course, and by alternately skinning away the back and the breast, the legs and the tail are arrived at, which are treated as before described. this method is useful in cases where the lower extremities are badly shot or "high," but is otherwise objectionable, as, in any other but the most careful hands, it is apt to stretch or split any delicate skin, in the attempt to get the shoulders out, but for which i should have nothing to say against it. curiously enough, however, it is more practised by amateurs than by professionals. one of the most important, however, of all methods of skinning ever invented, is that known as skinning from under the wing; it is perhaps more difficult to a beginner than the other way of skinning, but its advantages are enormous. supposing you have a bird very badly shot, or one with its wing half torn off or ripped underneath, as sometimes happens, you then, instead of complicating matters by making an incision in another place, take advantage of the ripped side and cut it open there. the birds, however, for which this system is invaluable are sea birds, or all birds having white or very light coloured breasts. to cut such birds on the breast practically ruins them, for however well a sea bird's skin may be cleaned, there still remains some little greasiness between the roots of the feathers; and in spite of the most careful sewing, the capillary action of the thread used in stitching up (aided, of course, by the position of the mounted bird--breast downward) is sufficient to draw to the surface whatever oily fat or grease remains in the skin; and though it may not show for a few months, yet, sooner or later, a rust coloured line of grease appears, and in spite of all cleaning will reappear, and gradually spread over the breast, destroying the beauty of perhaps a unique specimen. to skin a bird from under the wing, select the worst side, or that injured the most by shot, etc, and laying the bird with that side uppermost, make an incision from just above the leg to just under the wing. push the leg-bone up, and cut it off with a pair of scissors; then work the skin away a little from the back, and as much as possible from the breast, gradually working your way until you see the wing-bone, which cut off. careful skinning brings you to the neck and windpipe, which also cut off. the whole of one side of the bird is now skinned out with the exception of the tail; come downward on the opposite side to your incision, and across the breast until you can cut off the remaining wing; having done this, keep skinning downward until the leg is arrived at, and cut off. nothing now holds the skin to the body but the tail-bone, which separate. clean and finish the bird in the ordinary way. i shall now suppose that, instead of making a skin (as previously described), you desire to stuff the specimen with the ultimate idea of its forming part of a collection mounted in the same manner as the birds are mounted in the british museum--namely, on turned stands as perches; or, as is usual now, to form a unit of a characteristic group mounted in a more artistic manner in a shade or a case. for the purpose of this lesson i have "relaxed" the original starling we before made into a skin, and shall now mount it, keeping to one bird, so as not to confuse the learner. in "setting up" a bird we require to use wires. the sizes of wires are determined by gauges. thus the smallest sized wire made is that known as gauge 28. this and the two following numbers, 26 and 27, are only required for the humming birds; 28 is, however, a good size for the least. 24 will be found a good size for the smaller kinds of warblers and finches up to canaries. 21 is a useful general size for a great number of small birds, and will do for such a bird as the hawfinch. 19 is a good size for thrushes and starlings, and will also do very well for squirrels. 16 is a good useful size for many things--will do for such birds as the landrail or pigeons. 13 is a good size for such birds as parrots, and that or the next largest size will do for owls. 12 will do for the larger hawks, such as the peregrine falcon, etc. and for small dogs. 9 is more suitable for foxes and larger dogs. 7 will do for eagles. 5, 3, and 1 approach so nearly to bars as to be fit only for the larger animals. as a rule, however, practice enables a person to use smaller sized wires than appears possible to him at first. i would here also recommend that "galvanised" be used instead of the common "annealed" wire (never use "hard" wire) for all purposes, excepting for large animals. its advantages are very great, as i can personally testify. if you decide on mounting your bird on a turned stand, you will, if not possessing a lathe yourself, have to call in the assistance of a turner, who will, for a small sum, turn the requisite stands, which may be either in mahogany, boxwood, ebony, or ivory, according to your taste and the length of your pocket. if, on the contrary, you decide to ultimately mount your specimen in a case or a shade, you had better provide yourself with some wire of a suitable strength, and some tow, which latter you will proceed to wrap round the wire to within a couple of inches of one end--forming, in fact, an artificial twig, which you may bend to any shape, riveting the unbound end through a piece of wood of sufficient weight to balance the bird when set up. having, then, before you, as the first indispensable adjunct, the turned stand or artificial twig (a natural one does in some cases), the stuffing irons, file, crooked awl, pliers, scissors, wire, tow, needle and thread, pins, and some fine darning cotton, which is called "wrapping cotton," you proceed to business thus: the bird being skinned, all the flesh cleaned out, and well dressed with the preservative up to the point previously described--leg bones being wrapped and wings being tied--lay the bird down on a clean piece of paper. having selected the wire of two sizes, of a suitable thickness, the thinner for the body wire and the other for the leg wires, cut the three, with the aid of the pliers, a little longer than the body and legs respectively, pointing each wire at one end with a file--not rounding the points, but leaving them with cutting edges. taking up the thicker or body wire in the right hand and some tow in the left, commence at about an inch from the point to tightly and neatly bind on the tow in the shape of the neck, and of nearly the same length that the neck was before being cut off--that is to say, making the artificial neck somewhat longer than the neck of the skin (if properly taken off and not abnormally lengthened) appears to be. the reason for this is that the natural neck, being carried between the clavicles forming the furculum or "merry-thought," is bent downward and forward between them when perching (see fig. 22); hence the artificial neck must imitate nature so far as that, when inserted in the skin, it may be also bent forward and downward, and afterwards thrown back on the body in a natural position. of course, if a bird's neck is to be represented very short, as it will be in certain attitudes, the artificial neck must be almost, if not quite, done away with; indeed, the shortening of the neck of the mounted specimen depends almost entirely on the absence of stuffing above the shoulders. be sure, also, not to stuff the skin too wide about the shoulders; if so, the "butts" of the wings will never come into place, nor allow the feathers of the breast to be brought over them in a natural manner. it is exceedingly difficult to instruct in these niceties of detail; close observation--note a canary or any song bird at rest--added to experience, will alone teach the amateur these points. to excel in mounting animals the arts of drawing and modelling from living examples must be cultivated; the amateur taxidermist thus gains the requisite knowledge to help him in his art. [footnote: it may perhaps, be necessary to warn the non-scientific that whenever i speak of animals i include fishes, reptiles, and birds with the mammals.] having shaped the neck to your own satisfaction, proceed thence to form the body, by continuously wrapping the tow round and round the wire, keeping the shape, however, somewhat flat on the sides, full on the breast and back, and narrowest at the lower extremity of the body, where it comes in between the legs to the tail. about an inch of the wire should now be left unbound, which turn up on the back of the false body to prevent the tow slipping off; next take some cotton, which wind all over the false body to keep the tow in its place, adding, as you go on, small pieces of tow, and binding them on where depressions or faults appear. this being finished secundum artem, insert the pointed end of the wire or false neck up the neck of the specimen, pushing the point of the wire right through the skull until it comes out at the crown of the head. now gradually, by persuasive means, pull the skin over the false body; and lift the starling up and observe what faults are apparent--possibly a little difficulty exists at the shoulders, if so, press them in with the thumbs, and then note if there are any apparently hollow places; if so, fill them out with a little more tow. see that the back is nicely sloped, that the breast is full enough, and especially if it be even and narrow between the legs. having observed all these points with great exactness, proceed to nicely sew up the skin with the stitch previously mentioned. then select two other pieces of wire of the right size, and point them each at one end. (note.--the wires are generally a size or so stronger for the legs than for the body.) taking a wire in the right hand, open the claws of the bird with the other, so as to expose the sole of the foot, into which push the point of the wire, forcing it up the leg on its under side between the skin and the bone--be careful how you pass under the so-called "knee" joint. pulling the leg now downward and upward, that is to say, toward the breast, push the wire right through the false body to the other side, until it comes out under the wing on the side farthest from the leg. with a small pair of pliers turn the point downward, pull the wire at the foot, and it is thus clenched and firmly fixed; do the same with the other leg. remember that if the leg wires are not firmly clenched in the made body, and are not perfectly stiff and tight, all your labour goes for nothing. now bring together the skin at the lower part with your fingers, and push a small wire through the root of the tail up into the made body. picking the bird up with one hand, bend the legs into their proper position, bend the neck a little downward and backward on the front, then forward and downward from the back of the head. place the leg wires through two holes bored in the crosspiece of the stand, or through the natural twig, or wind them round on the false twig and make them secure. run a fine pin (entomological pin, no. 2) through the shafts of the feathers of the tail to cause them to dry in proper shape, then neatly insert the eyes (putting a small piece of putty in the orbit previously), bringing the eyelids over with a fine needle, being exceedingly careful not to rip them, and not to have them too staring, a very common fault with the amateur. see that the wings are fixed in their right places with one or more pins or wires. place one pin in the centre of the breast and in the middle of the back (all of these pins must be left half-way out), proceed to nicely arrange the feathers in their proper places by the aid of the crooked awl and feather pliers (see fig. 19). having done this till it appears as nearly like the living bird as possible (which constant practice and close attention alone will enable you to do), take the "wrapping cotton," and, having made a loop on one end, fix it to the pin on the back. bring it across to the pin on one of the wings, and across in a zig-zag manner to the other pins in the wings, binding down the back first. then attend to the breast and under tail coverts, taking care to bind down more securely than the others those feathers which will start up (usually the upper wing coverts). a careful binder working properly will shape his bird by binding. tie the mandibles if they are wanted closed, and cut the wire off the head, as it permanently raffles the feathers if left until the specimen is dry. this is binding for a closed-winged bird; but for one whose wings are to be thrown up, say a hawk on flight, the modus operandi is slightly different; wire stays and card braces now supplement "wrapping" cotton. the bird being opened on its worst side is stuffed in the usual manner as far as getting the neck up into the skull, the attached body is now bolted through near the top of the cut by the wing, by a long wire sufficiently strong to keep the bird suspended; this wire, being firmly clenched on the opposite side of the body to the cut, has its free end, of course, depending from the incision under the wing. the next thing to do is to support the wings in the position necessary to represent flight. for this purpose, point four wires sufficiently long to extend the wings, and to come through the body to be clenched. two of these wires should be of a size thinner than the other two. select the wing on the side of the body farthest from the cut, and enter the point of one of the thickest wires in the wing at the end of the part called the "metacarpus" (i, plate ii); push it gently along between the bone and the skin--meanwhile holding the wing with the left-hand fingers--along the side of or between the "radius and ulna," finally pushing it into the body at the shoulder, and clenching it when it comes through, which it should do under the opposite wing at the cut. it is often very difficult or impossible to get the wire to go through the "carpus;" it will suffice, therefore, if, after coming along the metacarpus, it just misses the carpus and enters the skin again at the junction of the radius and ulna. if properly managed, the wire will be snugly hidden in the skin of the wing by the feathers of the parts along which it has travelled. do likewise with the other wing, but this wire often cannot be carried right through to the opposite side, and must therefore be firmly secured in the body on its own side; next fix the legs in the manner before detailed, or, as the bird is to be represented on flight, the wires need only be entered at the tibia-tarsal joint (q, plate ii). push a wire in the tail, and sew up the incision under the wing. the bird has now its wings, legs, and tail fixed, and the free end of the supporting wire is sticking out from under the wing. fix this wire firmly through the top of a narrow strip of board at such a distance as to miss the outspread wing; let this board also be long enough to allow of one end being fixed in a vice or screwed to the edge of a table, whilst the hawk or other bird clears its surface. the bird being now "shaped up" a little, take the two thinnest wires and enter the point of one in each wing at the end of the fleshy part of the wing (really the bird's middle finger), or through the base of the first quill, an inch or so from the other wire. this last wire travels along the outside of the feathers under the wing, and is consequently not hidden at all when pushed into the body: its use is to curve the wing upon it into a graceful shape, and when the bird is sufficiently dry it is pulled out, the first wire at the shoulder being quite sufficient to bear up the wing when set. as, however, the wing feathers start up here and there, and do not readily conform to all the curves of the wires, the wiring and binding must be supplemented by "braces," which are narrow strips of cardboard pinned in pairs at intervals below and above the wing, and held in position by pins running through both braces from the under to the upper surface. for explanation of this see plate i (frontispiece), a hawk properly "set up" and "bound" to represent it swooping on its prey. putty sometimes greases light-coloured skins around the eyes; it will be well, therefore, to insert in its stead a little "pipe" or modelling clay worked up stiff. (clay will be treated of in a subsequent chapter. it will be found useful for the faces of some sea-birds and hawks, and indeed for the greater part of the body and legs of large birds. the cassowary in the leicester museum has been worked up largely in this manner.) steel pins with black bead heads are first-rate helps to binding. they are sold in various lengths, and being long, sharp, and fine, quite supersede ordinary pins. audi alteram partem! let us now take the evidence of waterton: "you will observe how beautifully the feathers of a bird are arranged; one falling over the other in nicest order, and that, where this charming harmony is interrupted, the defeat, though not noticed by an ordinary spectator, will appear immediately to the eye of a naturalist. thus, a bird not wounded, and in perfect feather, must be procured, if possible, for the loss of feathers can seldom be made good; and where the deficiency is great all the skill of the artist will avail him little in his attempt to conceal the defect; because, in order to hide it, he must contract the skin, bring down the upper feathers and shove in the lower ones, which would throw all the surrounding parts into contortion. you will also observe that the whole of the skin does not produce feathers, and that it is very tender where the feathers do not grow. the bare parts are admirably formed for expansion about the throat and stomach, and they fit into the different cavities of the body at the wings, shoulder, rump, and thighs, with wonderful exactness, so that in stuffing the bird, if you make an even rotund surface of the skin, where the cavities existed, in lieu of re-forming them, all symmetry, order, and proportion are lost for ever. you must lay it down as an absolute rule that the bird is to be entirely skinned, otherwise you can never succeed in forming a true and pleasing specimen. you will allow this to be just, after reflecting a moment on the nature of the fleshy parts and tendons, which are often left in. first, they require to be well seasoned with aromatic spices; secondly, they must be put into the oven to dry; thirdly, the heat of the fire, and the natural tendency all cured flesh has to shrink and become hard, render the specimen withered, distorted, and too small; fourthly, the inside then becomes like a ham or any other dried meat. ere long the insects claim it as their own, the feathers begin to drop off, and you have the hideous spectacle of death in ragged plumage. wire is of no manner of use, but, on the contrary, a great nuisance, for, when it is introduced, a disagreeable stiffness and disarrangement of symmetry follow. the head and neck can be placed in any attitude; the body supported, the wings closed, extended, or elevated; the tail depressed, raised, or expanded; the thighs set horizontal, or oblique, without any aid from wire. cotton will effect all this. a very small proportion of the skull bone--say from the fore part of the eyes to the bill--is to be left in, though even this is not absolutely necessary. part of the wing bones, the jaw bones, and half the thigh bones remain. everything else--flesh, fat, eyes, bones, brain and tendons--are all to be taken away. while dissecting, it will be of use to keep in mind that, in taking off the skin from the body, by means of your fingers and a little knife, you must try to shove it, in lieu of pulling it, lest you stretch it. that you must press as lightly as possible on the bird, and every now and then take a view of it, to see that the feathers are all right. that, when you come to the head, you must take care that the body of the skin rests on your knee; for, if you allow it to dangle from your hand, its own weight will stretch it too much. that throughout the whole operation, as fast as you detach the skin from the body you must put cotton immediately between the body and it, and this will effectually prevent any fat, blood, or moisture from coming in contact with the plumage. here it may be observed that on the belly you find an inner skin which keeps the bowels in their place. by a nice operation with the knife you can cut through the outer skin, and leave the inner skin whole. attention to this will render your work very clean, so that, with a little care in other parts, you may skin a bird without even soiling your finger ends. as you can seldom get a bird without shooting it, a line or two on this head will be necessary. if the bird be still alive, press it hard with your finger and thumb just behind the wings, and it will soon expire. carry it by the legs, and then, the body being reversed, blood cannot escape down the plumage through the shot holes. as blood will often have issued out before you have laid hold of the bird, find out the shot holes by dividing the feathers with your fingers and blowing on them, and then, with your penknife or the leaf of a tree, carefully remove the clotted blood, and put a little cotton in the hole. if, after all, the plumage has not escaped the marks of blood, or if it has imbibed slime from the ground, wash the part in water without soap, and keep gently agitating the feathers with your fingers till they are quite dry. were you to wash them and leave them to dry by themselves they would have a very mean and shrivelled appearance. in the act of skinning a bird you must either have it upon a table or upon your knee. probably you will prefer your knee, because, when you cross one knee over the other, and have the bird upon the uppermost, you can raise it to your eye, or lower it at pleasure, by means of the foot on the ground, and then your knee will always move in unison with your body, by which much stooping will be avoided and lassitude prevented. with these precautionary hints in mind, we will now proceed to dissect a bird. supposing we take a hawk. the little birds will thank us with a song for his death, for he has oppressed them sorely; and in size he is just the thing. his skin is also pretty tough and the feathers adhere to it. we will put close by us a little bottle of the solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, also a stick like a common knitting needle, and a handful or two of cotton. now fill the mouth and nostrils of the bird with cotton, and place it upon your knee on its back with its head pointing to your left shoulder. take hold of the knife with your two first fingers and thumb, the edge upwards. you must not keep the point of the knife perpendicular to the body of the bird, because, were you to hold it so, you would cut the inner skin of the belly and thus let the bowels out. to avoid this, let your knife be parallel to the body, and then you will divide the outer skin with great ease. begin on the belly below the breastbone, and cut down the middle quite to the vent. this done, put the bird in any convenient position, and separate the skin from the body till you get at the middle joint of the thigh. cut it through, and do no more there at present, except introducing cotton all the way on that side from the vent to the breastbone. do exactly the same on the opposite side. now place the bird perpendicular, the breast resting on your knee, with its back towards you. separate the skin from the body on each side at the vent, and never mind at present the part from the vent to the root of the tail. bend the tail gently down to the back, and while your fingers and thumb are keeping down the detached parts of the skin on each side of the vent, cut quite across and deep till you see the backbone near the oil gland at the root of the tail. sever the backbone at the joint, and then all the root of the tail together, with the oil gland dissected from the body. apply plenty of cotton. after this seize the end of the backbone with the finger and thumb, and now you can hold up the bird clear of your knee and turn it round and round as occasion requires. while you are holding it thus, contrive, with the help of your other hand and knife, by cutting and shoving, to get the skin pushed up till you come to where the wings join on the body. forget not to apply cotton; cut these joints through, add cotton, and gently push the skin over the head, cut out the roots of the ears, which lie very deep in the head, and continue skinning till you reach the middle of the eye; cut the nictating membrane quite through, otherwise you would tear the orbit of the eye; and after this nothing difficult intervenes to prevent your arriving at the root of the bill. when this is effected cut away the body, leaving a little bit of skull, just as much as will reach to the fore-part of the eye, clean well the jaw bones, fasten a little cotton at the end of your stick, dip it into the solution, and touch the skull and corresponding parts of the skin, as you cannot well get at these places afterwards. from the time of pushing the skin over the head you are supposed to have had the bird resting upon your knee. keep it there still, and with great caution and tenderness return the head through the inverted skin, and when you see the beak appearing pull it very gently till the head comes out unruffled and unstained. you may now take the cotton out of the mouth. cut away all the remaining flesh from the palate, and whatever may have remained at the under jaw. here is now before you the skin without loss of any feathers, and all the flesh, fat, and unclean bones out of it, except the middle joint of the wings, one bone of the thighs, and the fleshy root of the tail. the extreme point of the wing is very small, and has no flesh on it, comparatively speaking, so that it requires no attention except touching it with the solution from the outside. take all the flesh from the remaining joint of the wing, and tie a thread about four inches long to the end of it, touch all with the solution, and put the wing bone back into its place. in baring this bone you must by no means pull the skin. you would have it to pieces beyond all doubt, for the ends of the long feathers are attached to the bone itself. you must push off the skin with your thumb and forefinger. now skin the thigh, quite to the bone, cut away all flesh and tendons, and bare the bone, form an artificial thigh round it with cotton, apply the solution, and draw back the skin over the artificial thigh; the same to the other thigh. lastly, proceed to the tail, take out the inside of the oil gland, remove all the remaining flesh from the root till you see the ends of the tail feathers, give it the solution and replace it. now take out all the cotton which you have been putting into the body from time to time to preserve the feathers from grease and stain. place the bird upon your knee, on its back, tie together the two threads which you had fastened to the ends of the wing joints, leaving exactly the same space betwixt them as your knowledge of anatomy informs you existed there when the bird was entire, hold the skin open with your finger and thumb, and apply the solution to every part of the inside. neglect the head and neck at present; they are to receive it afterwards. fill the body moderately with cotton lest the feathers on the belly should be injured. whilst you are about the following operation you must recollect that half of the thigh--or, in other words, one joint of the thigh bone--has been out away. now, as this bone never moved perpendicular to the body, but, on the contrary, in an oblique direction, of course, as soon as it is cut off, the remaining part of the thigh and leg, having nothing to support them obliquely, must naturally fall to their perpendicular; hence the reason why the legs appear too long. to correct this, take your needle and thread, fasten the end round the bone inside, and then push the needle through the skin just opposite to it; look on the outside, and after finding the needle amongst the feathers, tack up the thigh under the wing with several strong stitches. this will shorten the thigh and render it quite capable of supporting the weight of the body without the help of wire. this done take out every bit of cotton except the artificial thighs, and adjust the wing bones (which are connected by the thread) in the most even manner possible, so that one joint does not appear to be lower than the other, for unless they are quite equal the wings themselves will be unequal when you come to put them in their proper attitude. here, then, rests the shell of the poor hawk ready to receive from your skill and judgment, the size, the shape, the features, and expression it bad ere death and your dissecting hand brought it to its present still and formless state. the cold hand of death stamps deep its mark upon the prostrate victim. when the heart ceases to beat and the blood no longer courses through the veins, the features collapse, and the whole frame seems to shrink within itself. if, then, you have formed your idea of the real appearance of the bird from a dead specimen you will be in error. with this in mind, and at the same time forming your specimen a trifle larger than life to make up for what it will lose in drying, you will reproduce a bird that will please you. it is now time to introduce the cotton for an artificial body by means of the little stick like a knitting needle; and without any other aid or substance than that of this little stick and cotton your own genius must produce those swellings and cavities, that just proportion, that elegance and harmony of the whole, so much admired in animated nature, so little attended to in preserved specimens. after you have introduced the cotton, sew up the orifice you originally made in the belly, beginning at the vent. and from time to time, till you arrive at the last stitch, keep adding a little cotton in order that there may be no deficiency there. lastly, dip your stick into the solution and put it down the throat three or four times in order that every part may receive it. when the head and neck are filled with cotton quite to your liking, close the bill as in nature. a little bit of beeswax at the end of it will keep the mandibles in their proper place. a needle must be stuck into the lower mandible perpendicularly. you will shortly see the use of it. bring also the feet together by a pin, and then run a thread through the knees, by which you may draw them to each other as near as you judge proper. nothing now remains to be added but the eyes. with your little stick make a hollow in the cotton within the orbit, and introduce the glass eyes through the orbit; adjust the orbit to them as in nature, and that requires no other fastener. your close inspection of the eyes of animals will already have informed you that the orbit is capable of receiving a much larger body than that part of the eye which appears within it when in life, so that were you to proportion your eye to the size the orbit is capable of receiving it would be far too large. inattention to this has caused the eyes of every specimen in the best cabinets of natural history to be out of all proportion. to prevent this, contract the orbit, by means of a very small delicate needle and thread, at that part of it farthest from the beak. this may be done with such nicety that the stitch cannot be observed, and thus you have the artificial eye in true proportion. after this touch the bill, orbits, feet, and former oil-gland at the root of the tail with the solution, and then you have given to the hawk everything necessary, except attitude and a proper degree of elasticity--two qualities very essential. procure any common ordinary box, fill one end of it about three-fourths up to the top with cotton, forming a sloping plane. make a moderate hollow in it to receive the bird. now take the hawk in your hands, and after putting the wings in order, place it in the cotton with its legs in a sitting posture. the head will fall down; never mind. get a cork and run three pins into the end, just like a three-legged stool. place it under the bird's bill, and run the needle, which you formerly fixed there, into the head of the cork. this will support the bird's head admirably. if you wish to lengthen the neck, raise the cork by putting more cotton under it. if the head is to be brought forward, bring the cork nearer to the end of the box. if it requires to be set backwards on the shoulders, move back the cork. as in drying the back part of the neck will shrink more than the fore part, and thus throw the beak higher than you wish it to be--putting you in mind of a star-gazing horse--prevent this fault by tying a thread to the beak and fastening it to the end of the box with a pin or needle. if you choose to elevate the wings, do so, and support them with cotton; and should you wish to have them particularly high, apply a little stick under each wing, and fasten the ends of them to the side of the box with a little beeswax. if you would have the tail expanded, reverse the order of the feathers, beginning from the two middle ones. when dry, replace them in their true order, and the tail will preserve for ever the expansion you have given it. is the crest to be erect? move the feathers in a contrary direction to that in which they lie for a day or two, and it will never fall down after. place the box anywhere in your room out of the influence of the sun, wind, and fire, for the specimen must dry very slowly if you wish to reproduce every feature. on this account the solution of corrosive sublimate is uncommonly serviceable, for, at the same time that it totally prevents putrefaction, it renders the skin moist and flexible for many days. while the bird is drying, take it out and replace it in its position once every day. then, if you see that any part begins to shrink into disproportion, you can easily remedy ft. the small covert feathers of the wings are apt to rise a little, because the skin will come in contact with the bone which remains in the wing. pull gently the part that rises with your finger and thumb for a day or two; press the feathers down; the skin will adhere no more to the bone, and they will cease to rise. every now and then, touch and re-touch all the different parts of the feathers, in order to render them distinct and visible, correcting at the same time any harshness or unnatural risings or sinkings, flatness, or rotundity. this is putting the last finishing touch to it. in three or four days the feet lose their natural elasticity, and the knees begin to stiffen. when you observe this, it is time to give the legs any angle you wish, and arrange the toes for a standing position, or curve them to your finger. if you wish to set the bird on a branch, bore a little hole under each foot a little way up the leg, and, having fixed two proportional spikes on the branch, you can in a moment transfer the bird from your finger to it, and from it to your finger, at pleasure. when the bird is quite dry, pull the thread out of the knees, take away the needle, etc, from under the bill, and all is done. in lieu of being stiff with wires, the cotton will have given a considerable elasticity to every part of your bird, so that when perching on your finger, if you press it down with the other hand, it will rise again. you need not fear that your hawk will alter, or its colours fade. the alcohol has introduced the sublimate into every part and pore of the skin, quite to the roots of the feathers. its use is twofold: first, it, has totally prevented all tendency to putrefaction, and thus a sound skin has attached itself to the roots of the feathers. you may take hold of a single one, and from it suspend five times the weight of the bird; you may jerk it, it will still adhere to the akin, and, after repeated trials, often break short. secondly, as no part of the skin has escaped receiving particles of sublimate contained in the alcohol, there is not a spot exposed to the depredation of insects; for they will never venture to attack any substance which has received corrosive sublimate. you are aware that corrosive sublimate is the most fatal poison to insects that is known. it is anti-putrescent, so is alcohol, and they are both colourless. of course, they cannot leave a stain behind them. the spirit penetrates the pores of the skin with wonderful velocity, deposits invisible parts of the sublimate, and flies off. the sublimate will not injure the skin, and nothing can detach it from the part where the alcohol has left it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * all the feathers require to be touched with the solution in order that they may be preserved from the depredation of the moth. the surest way of proceeding is to immerse the bird in the solution of corrosive sublimate, and then dry it before you begin to dissect it." (waterton's "wanderings in south america.") on reference to the instructions given previously, and those last quoted, it will be seen that the two systems are diametrically opposed to each other. i will, therefore, now point out the objections to a general use of waterton's plan. first, let me premise that i entirely agree with him in his opening paragraph as to selecting, when practicable, a bird as little damaged as possible; but i need not remind professionals, or amateurs of some practice, how seldom these conditions exist, especially in the instance of birds sent to them for mounting, by people totally ignorant of the first principles of taxidermy. where a great number of feathers are missing, the loss must be repaired by the insertion of similar feathers placed one by one in position by the aid of strong paste, in which a little of the corrosive sublimate preparation (see chapter on preservatives, ante) or carbolic acid has previously been stirred. he is also quite right when he insists upon the specimen not being stuffed as a round ball of feathers, as some tyros are in the habit of doing, and also when he says that the bird must be well skinned. with the next paragraph, as to the uselessness of wire, i totally disagree, and for this reason, that, although i have myself proved it possible--having many years ago followed waterton's instructions--to mount a bird entirely without wire, still it is at the best but an amateur's "dodge;" and i can fearlessly assert that it will not stand the test of work and expediency. it is, in fact, impossible to dispense with wire, if taxidermy is to be followed as a profession. as to putting cotton wool between the flesh and the skin, practice will enable one to do without this. to me it would be a great nuisance, unless in the case of much grease, of persistent bleeding, or clots of extravasated blood occurring. all the rest of the instructions on skinning are sound and practical, except where he advises the knee to be used instead of a table. a little reflection, or, better still, a trial, will convince anyone that nothing can compare in practice with a table or bench for comfortable working. i do not hold, either, with the total removal of the skull. for instance, how are you to exhibit the superciliary ridge which gives so distinctive a character to the very bird waterton selects--the hawk--if you cut it away? i have tried both plans, and i unhesitatingly say that you cannot give character to the heads of the larger birds if you remove the skull (unless, of course, you choose to model it up in clay, etc, as in the heads of mammals), though i agree that you must free the skin from all its surroundings. i have at the present moment several birds (set up by a man in the west of england), in which the skulls have been removed; the skin has shrunk in at the back of the head and at the mandibles; and in one instance--an osprey--the bird has entirely lost its nobility and eagle-like appearance by the removal of the ridge above the eye. i cannot urge the advisability of making the body larger to allow for shrinking, inasmuch as in the case of certain birds--notably gulls--which should present an even' surface on the breast, the opposite effect will be produced if the false body is unduly large, as then, in place of the evenness so desirable, a division will appear in the centre of the body, which entirely mars the beautiful symmetry of the sea-bird's breast. no perceptible shrinkage can, however, occur if the body is properly made and packed; and here is shown the vast superiority of the made body of well-wrapped tow over that made of loose cotton inserted in the skin, bit by bit. the eyes i prefer to insert in the larger birds after the specimen is dry, as then any little fault in the shape of the head is easily rectified through the orbit, the eyelid, of course, being previously relaxed (with cotton wool dipped in warm water) to do this and to receive the artificial eye. waterton's method of setting up birds may be dismissed in a few words; it is impracticable for anyone but an amateur who has unlimited time at his disposal, and who does not object to spend about a couple of days over one specimen, and who has also ample room for the large collection of different-sized boxes he must accumulate. in using the corrosive sublimate the student will do well to carefully read the chapter on preservatives, and then make up his mind. i may here mention, however, that i should not advise anyone to work on a bird previously saturated with a solution of corrosive sublimate. it has been said, de mortuis nil nisi bonum; but, while fully acknowledging the force of the remark, as also the great scientific attainments and love for natural history which distinguished the illustrious traveller, i cannot allow anyone who reads his entertaining works to be misled into wasting time in an unprofitable manner. another way of setting up a bird may be described as follows: provide yourself with four wires--two of which are for the legs, a long one for the body, and a shorter one for the wings; let us suppose we have another starling in front of us. for this bird take a suitable piece of wire about three inches long (pointed at both ends), and bend it down at each end for the distance of an inch, which of course leaves one inch in the middle at a right angle to each end; this is called the wing-bearer. then place a little piece of tow inside the skin to fit along the back, and on to the top of this lay the wing-bearer, pushing the pointed ends down and into the hollows of the wing-bones (which must be left nearly their full length to admit of this). next take the body wire, also sharpened at both ends, and a little longer than you require, and at a sufficient distance from one end form with the pliers a loop similar to fig. 1, so that it comes about the centre of the projected body; one end will thus be much longer from the loop than the other. run one end (the longest) right up the body to come out at the crown of the head (the head itself being previously stuffed), push it through a sufficient distance, so that the looped end falls within the incision of the skin; so soon as it is passed inside pull the looped end down, and push its point through the root of the tail; the loop should now, if accurately calculated, come just in the centre of the body incision. pack underneath the wire at all points with little pieces of finely cut tow, not forgetting the neck. the wire should now be protected from touching the bird on its underside. now take the leg wires, point them and pass them up the legs as before described; when they appear within the skin by the side of the legs, push the ends of each one through the little loop on the body wire, and by the aid of the small pliers and your finger and thumb twist them tightly up or down the main wire. if properly done, the bird should be capable of being lifted by one leg wire and should feel perfectly stiff and firm. proceed by the addition of cut tow to gradually form the body, which, when arranged to your liking, sew up. this, in contradistinction to the other method, is called the soft body, and is not a plan which i at all recommend. sometimes a cork is pushed on at the main or body wire to act in the place of the loop; the leg wires are then pushed through and clenched on the other side, and the skin is filled with cut tow as before. another system of forming an artificial body for a bird is by means of "peat." [footnote: "peat" is compressed vegetable fibre cut from old bogs, and is sold by the dealers, in dried cakes about 1 foot long by 6 inches by 2 inches.] having provided yourself with one of these bricks of peat, you cut it with a sharp knife to as near the shape required as possible, having the natural body before you as a guide, finally inserting it in the bird. my objection to the use of peat for this purpose is, first, the dust and dirt caused by the waste pieces; and, secondly, the fact that birds mounted on this system have a tendency to look "wooden," as, unlike a body formed of tow, that made of peat is stiff and unyielding, and, therefore, after it is once in the skin, it cannot be pressed into shape where defects appear, and is of course not so easily altered. after a long and patient trial of the peat body, i have become convinced of its many disadvantages, and have of late years returned to my first plan--the body made of well wrapped tow--nor do i think anything will compare with it, for the reasons above stated. peat in the case of very large birds (ostriches, etc.) and mammals is useful, but for the ordinary run of birds i decidedly veto its application. birds with larger heads than necks, such as ducks, etc, must be treated in one of three ways. first, after skinning out the body, and cutting off the neck from the inside, cut with the strong scissors a triangular piece away from the base of the skull, from which extract the brain, and then compress the sides of the face (mandibles) between your finger and thumb from the outside, at the same time endeavouring to "slip" the head (now somewhat elastic by the removal of the base of the skull) through the neck. do this whenever possible; but for those birds whose mandibles resist any amount of moderate pressure, of which the larger ducks, woodpeckers, etc, are examples, the second plan must be adopted, which is to cut (after the removal of the body) on the crest of the head of a specimen--if a crested bird--or along the sides of the face if failing in this particular; the head may then be carefully skinned, leaving it attached as much as before directed, brains cleared out, eyes extracted, etc, then painted with the preservative, head nicely stuffed with chopped tow, and returned in the skin, and finally very neatly sewn up. if this latter operation be well performed, and especially if the stitches are drawn tight, the seam ought not to show. a more tedious method is to extract the brain and eyes through the roof of the mouth, or from the back of the head (after the neck has been cut off), but neither of these plans will bear comparison with "slipping," or with cutting on the crest, or by the side of the head, as by these latter methods you do not miss any flesh by the sides of the face in skinning out. let me give an instance. in the eider duck, the flesh of the face is protracted along the sides of the bill; if, therefore, you fail to open on the crown, or by the side of the face, you must of necessity miss these, or have ten times more trouble in feeling your way to it. if the processes by the side of the face are entirely missed, the consequences are an unsightly and inartistic shrivelling; it is as well, therefore, to make a note of all birds having such a peculiarity. amongst the birds which may be instanced as having heads too large to pass the neck in the usual manner, we may place the whole of the ducks, geese, and swans, though the heads of the herons and divers, which appear to be as large and yet have as small necks as the former birds, pass easily. again, the head of the great or crested grebe passes, while that of the little grebe sticks. of the three woodpeckers found in britain, the heads of the great-spotted and lesser-spotted will not pass the neck, but the head of the other, the green woodpecker, the largest looking of the three, will pass if care be taken. these things being noted and borne in mind will save the tyro a considerable amount of trouble. in concluding this chapter, let it be noted as an unalterable doctrine, that no white-breasted birds, sea birds especially, are, under any pretence whatever, to be cut on their breasts. how many birds pass through the hands of the professional, spoiled by a neglect or ignorance of this rule, it would be impossible to say, nor are amateurs the only offenders in this particular. grebes, etc, which have wings hardly sufficient to hide the cut beneath, can be cut on the back, between the wings, and skinned out that way; and if the breast is, as it should be, fronted for the "showpiece," the effect, if skilfully done, is very fine. i have lately given a great deal of attention to this method of skinning from the back, having found it necessary in mounting young birds which otherwise showed an unsightly cut on their naked breasts. i found that the modelling was much truer and more effective by this method, and therefore extended it to mature specimens with the result that i now think no birds, excepting the very largest, perhaps, should ever be opened on the breast. i am quite convinced that if a person of any experience makes up his mind never to skin a bird by any other way than by the side or back, he will have no reason to ever regret his decision. should a bird be required for flight, undoubtedly the proper place to cut it is under the side; the suspending wire then comes along the off side and is hidden by the wing. if the wings are to be raised and the breast or side shown, cut it on the back; if closed wings, the same; in either case the cut is perfectly hidden, and is where it should be, out of the way of grease. perhaps it may be as well to state here that--contrary to my usual custom of working from the lowest to the highest animal form--i have written upon birds out of their proper natural order; the reason being that birds are always selected because of easiness of treatment for the student's first lessons in taxidermy, before his teacher allows him to "try his 'prentice hand" on the more difficult branches of the art. chapter vi. skinning and preserving mammals. plate iii skeleton of otter explanation: a, skull; b, lower maxillary (or jaw) at point of articulation with upper; c, cervical vertebrae (7); d, dorsal vertebrae; e, lumbar vertebrae; f, sacral vertebrae; g, caudal vertebrae; h pelvic girdle, or "ossa innominata" (ilium, ischium, and pubes anchylosed); i, femur; i, patella, or "knee pan"; j, tibia; k, fibula; 1, tarsal, and meta-tarsal bones, and phalanges of digits, of pes or hind foot; m, scapula; n, humerus; o, radius; p, ulna; q, carpal and meta-carpal bones, and phalanges, of digits, of manes or fore-foot; r, dorsal and sternal ribs. ========================= the art of setting up quadrupeds in a natural and life-like manner is of so recent a date that few, if any, of the manuals on taxidermy do more than glance at it. true, they nearly all give directions, in an off-hand way, as to the skinning of mammals; but their instructions are so vague and meagre that, though confessing that the subject is no easy one to write upon, i yet feel that we may, perhaps, improve, in point of detail, on what has gone before. in accordance with my usual custom, i have procured an animal--a fox--to illustrate my instructions, and, the learner having got out the whole of the knives (previously figured) and the whetstone, may proceed to work in the following manner: measure the fox, as a preliminary, taking note of his length, breadth, and fineness of limb; length and thickness of muzzle and side of face; and, having aided the recollection by the use of the callipers, and made all necessary notes, lay him on the skinning table, back downwards, and, separating the fur on the stomach at about two inches from the root of the tail, gently insert the point of the skinning knife (keeping the handle well down) under the skin, and continue the cut to within about ten inches of the chest, between the fore limbs--that is to say, up to the first rib, which may be felt with the finger and thumb. if an ordinary-sized fox, this will allow the cut to be of about the same length, viz, ten inches. be very careful, in making this incision, to cut the top skin only, and not that which retains the bowels. having done this, commence to clear away the skin from the flesh on one side by using the point of the knife in a slanting manner between skin and flesh. the fox being with its head from you and directly to your front, the side which you naturally begin on first would be the one on your left; turn the fox now so that its head comes to your left hand instead of directly to your front, and skin in the same manner on the other side, which is now from you. the skin of a fox being very thin about this part, as indeed, nearly all over its body, you must be careful while making your cuts to release the skin, not to push the point of your knife through. as you get along the side of the fox, use your knife, point downward, cutting edge toward you, on the inner side, and from you on the outer, with a scraping motion to separate the skin from the body at the sides. no doubt, by this time you will be somewhat troubled with a discharge of blood; if so, use sawdust or silver sand, either of which will not dirty the skin, but yet affords a good grip. (plaster is very commonly used instead of either, but, though a capital absorbent of blood and grease, i object to it, except in the instances of white or very light coloured furs.) silver sand is, i think, the best of all, as sawdust is apt to get into some furs, and it requires a great deal of pains to get it out again. by a little management of the point of the knife, and by undercutting slightly, you expose the thighs of the hind limbs. the fox lies still in front of you with its head to your left. changing your position, go to the tail, and, seizing the foot nearest to you with your right hand, and the skin with your left, push and pull at one and the same time until you expose the knee-joint, or rather--to speak more correctly--the articulation of the "femur" or thigh bone (i, plate iii.) with the two smaller bones ("fibula" and "tibia") which form the shank (k and j). let go with your right hand, and by an arrangement of the fingers of the left--difficult to describe--retain your hold of both the skin and flesh of the leg, and re-commence skinning with the knife on each side of the leg until you arrive at the hollow which lies behind, just above the shank; this exposes daylight between skin and flesh, and thus you may get your fingers between the two skins, and, finding the articulation, or joint of the thigh (just mentioned), you push the point of your knife in, and sever the ligaments, and then return the loose shank to its skin. holding the fingers of your left hand underneath the skin--thumb and bottom of the palm of the hand opposing--skin out the rest of the thigh, which brings you just on top of the root of the tail. turn the fox in an exactly opposite direction, and repeat the process; you will before doing this find yourself, perhaps, restrained by the skin of the ventral orifice, which carefully cut out; this frees the limb considerably. (i may mention that the animal skinner must not be afraid of handling his subject; it is not so pleasant nor so delicate an operation as skinning a bird, and, consequently, does not require so fine a touch.) you will now have exposed the tail at its back and front. now double up the fox, supporting it with your left hand, and get the whole of the tail free at the root. letting it rest on the table again, you skin as far up the tail as you can go. the two thighs and part of the back are entirely freed from the skin, but the tail still holds at about three inches up. now get a pair of common pincers, such as are used for pulling nails out, and place them so that the tail comes between their hollows; push this against the part still unskinned; hold this firmly down on the table with the left hand, and pull from the root of the tail with the right. very often the tail will not move past this point; in that case there is nothing left but to cut it off at the root, and place the latter firmly in a vice (after the animal is skinned out), and taking both hands to the skin, cross the thumbs and two first fingers, so as to obtain a good grip and yet prevent the skin of the tail from turning inside out, and pull with all your might (jerking it at the same time) until it slides. now free the skin from the back, working round to the front. during this operation the fox must be frequently turned to get round the sides and back. the knife being held short in the hand and guided near the tip by the fore-finger considerably facilitates this. endeavour as much as possible to keep all the flesh and fat (if any) on the body, and not on the skin. coming up now to the fore limbs you will find the skin hold considerably between them at the chest. this is the place where an amateur generally runs his knife through, which, i need hardly say, is one of the worst places in which this accident could happen. having released the chest, skin all away from the back and shoulder; the fore-arm now appears, showing the articulation of the humerus with the radius and ulna. skin all round it until you come to the return of the fore-arm in precisely the same manner as you have done with the hind limbs. this point is not so easy to find as is that of the hind legs, but if you will twist the leg you will at once see the point of junction, where slip the knife in and cut off as before. turn the fox, and treat the other leg in the same manner. arrived at the neck, skin all round until you arrive at the base of the skull; you will then become aware of two cartilaginous bodies standing up one on each side--these are the ears. having skinned a little on top of these, with your finger and thumb raise them slightly and cut them away from their attachment at their bases. having freed both ears carefully, skin on the top of the head and the side of the face, until, at about two and a half inches from the ear, and in a line with it, you find the eye, which holds by a thin membrane at this point; carefully skin on the top until the eyeball shows through, and very carefully free it from its attachment all round, except at its lower angle, i.e, that nearest the nose; do the same with the other. now skin a little more by the side of the jaw until you find it firmly held by a return angle of skin; there leave it attached. turning the under jaw exactly uppermost, skin along the bone toward the lip as far as you can get, not, however, entirely relieving it from the jawbone at the side, but only until a thin blue membrane appears, which take care not to cut through; this is inside of the skin which comes between the lower lip and the teeth. the fox's skin is now held to the body at five points, viz, the lower corners of each eye, two; at each return of the jaw just underneath, two more; and at the point of the junction of the two lower jawbones close to the under lip. procure a saw and saw the head off, so as to expose the brain. on reaching the flesh under the jaw, slip the knife up between on each side of the jaw, which will have the effect of pulling out the tongue attached to the body; preserve the tongue for further operations. with a small chopper, or a mallet and chisel, cut away part of the bone by the palate, between which and the skull bones the brains are included. this considerably assists the removal of the brain. a large quantity of flesh still remains at the top of the head, which must be cleanly removed, and the eyeballs taken out. you will then find just underneath the eye a bony ridge, running backward to the base of the skull. surrounding this is a pad of flesh, which hides the attachment of the lower jaw with the upper. by digging underneath with the point of the knife you remove all this flesh, taking care, however, not to cut the attachments of the skin close by, which you previously left, nor the ligaments which hold the upper to the lower jaw. both sides being served in the same manner, the skull presents a tolerably clean appearance. the ears are now nearest to the operator. (you will recollect they have been cut off inside). all you can see of them, however, are two shapeless masses of gristle surrounding a small hole. on the sides of each--farthest from the head--you must begin cautiously skinning, and by pushing your left hand through the aperture of the skin of the body, assist this with your finger and thumb, pushed into the ear from the outside, until by skilfully working with the knife and left-hand fingers you turn the inside skin of each ear to its very edge and tip, until, in fact, each stands up inside the skin, completely reversed. the next thing which engages your attention is the near fore leg, which you skin as far as you can go, in this instance to the next joint, the one above the carpus or wrist joint. repeat this with all the limbs, in each case removing all the flesh from the two bones (the radius and ulna of the fore limbs and the tibia and fibula of the hind), which together form those parts of the bones you leave in. if not done previously, now is the time to remove the tail bone. finally, rub every part of the skin on its inside, as also all the bones left in, with the preservative recommended for mammals (no. 9), not forgetting to push some up the hollow of the brush where the tail bone has been. turn your fox's skin completely inside out, skull, leg bones and all, until it comes to its normal position. commence now from the pad of each foot, and make an incision from near the toes to the point where you left off. skin round carefully and as much underneath as possible, so as to expose all the flesh and sinews, which clear from off the bone. be sure to push your knife well round on the top of the bones, which you may do by feeling with the knife and keeping the pad uppermost. this is for the purpose of freeing the attachment of skin around, to prevent ultimate shrivelling. you may get nearly to the points of the toes in this manner, the only places it should hold to the bone being the top of the last joint and at the tips of the toes; the actual pad, which you will find loaded with a thick fat, must be trimmed as well as possible. whilst doing all this take notice of the points of attachment and shapes of sinews, etc, which you remove, especially those of the hind legs. it will be recollected that although we have returned the head, nothing has been done to the upper lip or nose from the outside. accordingly the knife must be slipped the whole way round, beginning at the nose and keeping as close to the teeth as possible, in fact, on the very edges of the gums. this is important. skin away now from the bone of the upper jaw on each side; having bared this, come back to the nose, the cartilage of which skin until you arrive at the extreme tip; in point of fact, skin it entirely out, which is best done by cutting a portion off inside, and then carefully skinning the little bit which is left until the extreme tip of the nostrils is arrived at. this requires great care, as the black skin on the top of the nose is extremely thin. this is the very worst place in which a cut could be made; and, although the cutting out of the nose could be done in five minutes, the tyro will do well if he completes it in half an hour. this being satisfactorily ended, free the flesh from the bone, except at the attachment previously left at the corner of the eye. there is now a smooth and shiny skin between the upper lip and the cut you made to free it from the gums; this is the inner skin of the lips; the knife must, therefore, be slipped between this skin and the outer skin, and it must then be carefully separated the whole of the way round, to the extreme edge of the upper lip; this requires nice manipulation and great care. this inner skin now hangs down from the inner lip, and forms a bag, the uses of which will be seen hereafter. there still remains the inside of the bone of the nose to be cleaned out with a pointed knife. the lower lip is now attached only at the extreme tip; this must be cut away from the gum at that place and the knife pushed underneath, by the side of the canine teeth, to still further free the skin. the skin is now ready for stuffing, when you have thoroughly rubbed the preservative into the cut of the pads, and around the eyelids, outside the ears, mouth, nose, and vent, or any damaged parts. if the skin is allowed to remain for a night as it is, it will be all the better, as it allows time for the preservative to penetrate. throw the tongue into a pickle of tannin and carbolic acid (see chapter iv, no. 15), and there leave it until wanted. it will no doubt have been observed that i have used several tools not previously mentioned as necessaries; my reason is that i assume no one who aspires to become an amateur workman fails to provide himself with such everyday implements as saw, chisel, chopper, hammer, pincers, rule, etc, the only tool not in ordinary use being the "callipers," which are made of various patterns, and are used to take measurements of breadths and depths in situations where the foot rule is useless, such as spherical and cylindrical bodies. the price of a pair of callipers need not exceed 1s. when the skin is sufficiently penetrated with the preservative, lay it on its back ready for stuffing. first take hold of the bone of the nose and push the skull into the skin, so that it comes through the orifice of the skin of the body. the back of the skull being now toward you, proceed to push tow into the cavity whence the brains were removed, also in the cavity of each orbit, between the articulations of the jaws at the sides of the face, and the lower jaw--in fact, everywhere where the flesh has been removed, forming it as well as you possibly can to the shape which existed previously. when you have modelled this as well as the nature of the tow will allow, return the head through the skin to its first position. next cut four strong wires of suitable size, one a little stronger than the others and somewhat longer than the whole of your skin, including brush. point this wire at one end and make two loops in it (each similar to that in fig. 1); one loop to occur about 4 in. from the tail, and the other up in the chest, near the junction of the fore limbs. spread a sufficient quantity of tow inside the skin to run all the way along the back and up the neck to join the head. enter the point of the wire through the orifice of the skin, push it up the lower jaw into the hollow part of the skull, and holding the head in the left hand, calculate so that the wire may come through the skin at about the centre of the head, about 1.5 in. from, and above each eye. bear in mind that the skull being somewhat thick, it is the more necessary for your wire to have cutting edges, as before explained. having pushed the wire through three or four inches, cut off the point with your large pliers (fig. 16) to prevent injuring yourself, turning down the remainder to prevent the wire pulling through again. push the other end of the wire right up the brush, to do which you must bend it back on itself about halfway up, straightening up as you proceed. next take four wires, somewhat longer than the legs, and pointed at each end. push one of these right up the foot in at the pad, along the back of the leg, and up into the body, pushing it through its proper loop on the body wire, and twisting it round and round the same with your pliers until it is firmly attached. fill the cut pad with chopped tow, and nicely sew it up to its normal shape. do the same with the three remaining limbs. you should be able now to lift the fox by any one of the leg wires, and find it support the remainder. having by this time determined the shape which the fox shall assume--that is to say, if standing, running, or springing on its prey--commence by gradually filling up the neck with suitable pieces of tow, bending the head and neck as you wish; in point of fact, shaping as you go on. next work down the chest, and then fill up the skin of the limbs with smaller pieces of tow, endeavouring to keep to the characteristic shapes of the thin and thick parts (various stuffing irons of different degrees of thickness will have to be used during the process). having filled up the fore limbs, bend them to their required position and go to the hind, disregarding the body for the present. the hind limbs have more character in them than the fore, and are, in consequence, harder to model; be the more careful, therefore, to pay particular attention to the proper development of these limbs, bending them into shape during work, and keeping the thighs nice and thin, and distinct from the body. all the limbs being shaped, model up the various parts of the body, not getting it like a sack, as is too frequently the case, but producing those fine flowing lines which are so necessary to ensure the perfect model of a zoological specimen. lift your work up from time to time, noting where inequalities appear. the fox being now fairly well shaped, sew it up with a three-cornered skin (or glover's) needle and string. a board is now to be procured, of the necessary length and thickness, in which holes are to be bored to receive the leg wires, which are then clenched underneath. this operation, no doubt, will knock the specimen somewhat out of shape, which, of course, is easily remedied, and having brought up the limbs to their proper position, you will now address yourself to the formation of the head and face. this latter will possess but little expression, owing to the nose, etc, being cut out. to remedy this procure a cork, which push into the cavity whence the cartilage of the nose has been removed, roughly shaping it, and covering it over with a pad of putty, pushing some also into the skin of the nostrils at the same time. the inner skin of the lips is still hanging down as a bag. fill this up with sufficient putty to allow for shrinking, sewing it to the outer skin. the lips may now be adjusted in position by sewing the upper to the under, if the fox is to be shown with a closed mouth, or by driving in "needle points" in various positions, if the mouth is to be open, until these parts set. fill in the orbits with putty, attending to the eyebrows, reproducing the various muscles underneath, and insert the artificial eyes. all that now remains to be done is to push two pointed wires down the back of the ears, and run them along each edge, finally pushing them in the skin of the head, where required; the two loose ends being twisted together at the top keep the ears in position. the tongue, if intended to be shown, must be removed from the pickle, cut on its under side, and skinned completely out to the tips and to each edge. all the included flesh must then be cut away, and replaced with putty, the cut sewn up, and it is then ready to be inserted in the mouth in the required position, when modelled into shape. the animal being stuffed and mounted to your satisfaction, you must bear in mind, that although you have perfectly cured the skin--turning it, in fact, into a species of leather--you have not rendered it proof against the attacks of insects; it must, therefore, be washed over with one of the preparations given in chapter iv. the preceding method of skinning and stuffing an animal is given, not because it is the most scientific, but because it is the most satisfactory to the learner, and is, indeed, the method which obtains with the majority of taxidermists. though perfectly efficient as far as it goes, it yet possesses the disadvantage of allowing a certain percentage of shrinkage, and that caused solely by the yielding nature of the tow used to fill out the places where the muscles formerly rested. to an educated eye this defect is at once recognised by the uneven contour of the cheeks, superciliary muscles, and various parts of the limbs, and also by the generally "wooden" appearance of the specimen. the system on which i will now give a lesson is far more tedious in its application, but certain in its effects, being, in fact, substituting hard for loose stuffing, and differing from the foregoing in one essential particular, viz, the modelling of the head and limbs with a medium of an unyielding nature. to illustrate this, we will take another fox or similar animal. after skinning it, as in the foregoing lesson, you will, instead of leaving the leg bones in the skin, cut them completely out down to the claws, which may best be done by skinning down as far as you can, cutting the bones off at the last joint, then making an incision above the pads, and slipping the bones completely out; this allows you to work right down to the last joint of the phalanges or toes, at which point you cut the bones free. the head is now to be considered. when it has been cut off as before, skin down to the eyelids, and instead of leaving them attached at the lower angles, cut them completely away. now take the skin off all round the skull, until the return of the skin of the side of the mouth is arrived at. skin well under the jaw to the very tip, and now begin under-cutting at the sides, coming up to the return angle--keeping, however, well to the side of the skin. by cautious working you can skin in between the inner and outer skins until you can touch the tips of the lower teeth at the point of the jaw with your fingers. coming along from here by the side of the lower jaw, you skin by undercutting almost to the inside of the mouth, taking care not to cut the thin membrane which holds at the extreme edge. still working along the lower jaw, come right up until you can cut out, just under the eye, the top end of the return. leaving it attached by a thin membrane 'to the upper jaw, skin downward toward the nose, and, by undercutting and using great care, completely skin up to the nostril, which sever. do precisely the same with the other side. the nostrils being completely skinned out, the skin holds just below them. place the head on the table, standing on the base of its skull, the ears toward you. take the nostrils with the finger and thumb of the left hand, and with the knife (the broad knife will be found most useful here) very carefully work all round until you arrive at the extreme tip of the inner skin of the upper jaw, which is now turned inside out, and actually rests below the under jaw. your cuts must be made a hair's breadth at a time to get to the extreme edge. by this time the severed nostrils will have fallen some little distance underneath the under jaw. see, now, that the lips, both upper and lower, as well as the inner angles of the mouth, are skinned inside to the extreme edge at every point, or all your labour will be thrown away. this operation is one of the most nice and difficult in the whole range of skinning operations, and is equally difficult to describe. cut out the cartilage of the nose, slip out the tongue, and generally trim the head in the usual manner, and well rub in the preservative. if you should find too much of the inner angle left far up in the mouth it may be cut off. if the head were returned now it would be seen that the lower edges of the inside skin of the mouth were the only points of attachment, and even there only to the edge of the teeth all around them. the skull bone being now only attached to the subject, literally by the "skin of its teeth," you have the whole bone exposed to work on. fill up the orbits and hollow bone of the nose with any loose pieces of peat, to give solidity to the next operation, which is, to cut pieces of peat in an artistic manner to represent the flesh of the cheeks, the chin, the top of the head, and the cartilage of the nose. when the whole of these pieces are shaped to their required measurements, attach them by string or wire to their neighbouring bones in the manner which occurs to you as being the best. having well secured them, go over the whole with plaster of paris, mixed with water to the consistence of a stiff paste, merely smoothing it as it sets, up to the required shape with a broad knife. the plaster will soon set, and may be further rasped or trimmed into shape. plaster alone may be used, but my reason for making a substratum of peat is, that if the former only is used it renders the head unpleasantly heavy. the great advantage which this system has over the former is that, by the unyielding nature of the medium, nothing can possibly shrink or shift, and though this plan is, perhaps, more tedious, and certainly requires more skill in its execution, yet it is, as a matter of course, far preferable than trusting to tow alone for the formation of the head. finally, place some putty or clay in the ears, nose, and around the skin of the lips, and pull the mask over the model. pad the body, and put in the central body wire as before, also the leg wires, but in this system you add another, but thinner, wire to come up the back of each of the fore legs and the front of the hind, not attaching these wires, however, to any point, but letting them come up into the body, and merely wrapping them with tow to the large leg wires in the necessary manner. this second wire partly supplies the place of the small bone and muscles of each leg, and its natural appearance is considerably enhanced by the application of putty or clay to pad parts of the animal's legs and feet. being of a yielding nature, until dry, putty or clay may be squeezed and moulded into proper shape to give character to the various parts. in the return of the sinews of the legs, make their peculiar, hollow appearance by stitching through from side to side. wrinkles of the neck, etc, may be treated in the same manner. finish as before directed. no shrinking can possibly take place in the most important parts; hence the manifest advantages of this system; but as in practice it requires some knowledge and experience, i have not ventured to insist upon it previously, as it is too much to expect a tyro to take it up until he is thoroughly grounded in the first system. an amateur, however, who can skin and stuff fairly may try this, and i am positive that he will succeed, and never again return to the "good old style" of loose stuffing. in cases where the animal (especially if small) is merely to be lying down, three wires will sometimes be found sufficient, namely, one long and strong body wire (with no loops) and two wires for the legs, one of which will be run in at the right fore leg and cross the body, and be pushed down the left hind leg and come out at the sole of the foot, the other wire then crosses it reversely. the body wire (having no loops) can be pushed in at the head through a hole previously made with a bradawl. ears may be filled in with brown paper, cut to shape, instead of putty. pieces of wood, peat, or clips of tin may be cut to the form of the ears, and used to block them to shape, from the outside. a third system is for the smaller horned heads, such as deer, goats, etc, which are begun somewhat differently, but are afterwards treated in a similar manner. the usual way in which horned heads are skinned is to cut them under the throat right up to the jaw, turning the skin back, and then to skin upward to the horns. this, though perpetrated by people who ought to know better, is based on entirely false principles, for a head when finished being hung usually at some height, you have constantly before your eyes the hideous spectacle of a chain of stitches (which no art can successfully hide) running up the throat and under the chin. the buck's or goat's head, being, perhaps, the most easily obtained, i will take one as an example. make an incision exactly on the top of the head, running from the back of the neck to just behind the horns; then make two cross cuts up to their seats or "burrs," and, pushing your knife down at the side of the nearest horn, cut the skin entirely away, keeping as close to the horn as possible--in fact, shaving its edge. when you arrive just above the eye, while doing this, you will find the ear hold back the skin considerably. skin it as much as possible on the top, and, putting your finger underneath, cut it out as usual. now you can work all round the horn to join the cut at the back. do the same with the other horn and side, skinning away round the neck to the under jaw and sides of the face until you find the skin of each eyelid holds. skin this completely off, not leaving it attached anywhere, as also the skin on the forehead where it holds. continue and finish in the same manner as the fox's head. the skins of the heads of bulls, large stags, tigers, etc, are best taken completely off the bone, and the inside of the lips, nostrils, eyelids, etc, afterwards skinned out and well cured; the skull-bone may then be plunged in a copper full of water and boiled out; this saves considerable labour, and also gets the skulls nicely cleaned and free from grease. the plan of taking the skin entirely off the head will be found of the utmost advantage to explorers or collectors in foreign countries, as the skulls may be numbered and a corresponding number scratched on a tin, or written on a parchment label, which may be tied through the eyehole of the skin. the skulls being left loose, their skins may be packed in barrels, and if well rubbed in with my preservative (no. 9), and looked at occasionally to prevent mildew, they will, after the lapse of many years, only need relaxing to make perfect specimens. the usual way of sending horned heads home from abroad is to leave the skins attached to the skull, and the consequence is, that at the various points of attachment the skin is improperly cured (often with the--worse than--useless arsenic), and if they escape the inevitable knocking about they receive in travelling, and get to england in fair condition, the hair, when the skin is relaxed, sweats off, particularly at the very places it should not, around the eyes, lips, nose, and ears, and the labour of, perhaps, years of anxious collecting and dangerous hunting is nullified. fig. 26--skull of horned head, blocked ready for mounting. i will now take a bull's head as our subject, to illustrate the method of mounting such heads. i will assume that a fair piece of neck is attached to the head, and having skinned the head completely off the skull and preserved it, proceed as follows: when the bone is sufficiently trimmed, should the meat have been cut off, or dry, if the head has been previously boiled, tie together the upper and the lower jaws at their points of articulation behind the eye, by the aid of wire or string; tie also the tip of the lower jaw to the nose in any manner that allows the teeth to come in their proper position as in nature. attention to this point will give you a guide as to the length of the model. the jaws being now rigidly fixed, lay the head down for a while, and getting a piece of inch deal of suitable length, saw it to the shape shown in fig. 26, which also shows the method of attachment. insert the part marked a inside the head up to the return b; this being inserted exactly in the middle of the skull, bore two or more holes through the latter at the forehead, and make fast the bone to the wood by strong screws. block on each side of this board and inside the jaws with pieces of peat nailed on with "french nails" (points-de-paris) or pieces of pointed wire. at the place marked b (a to b being now hidden) make up with wet plaster of paris, which, while filling up, serves also to steady the prop. fill up the orbits with any pieces of loose peat, paper, etc. now carve a large piece of peat for each side, cut to the shape of the cheeks, and attach them to the jaw bones in their proper positions with wires driven right through into the board, fill also the bone of the nose with peat roughly cut to shape. cut another piece of peat for the swelling of the under jaw, and entirely model up with peat the front and sides of the neck. next mix some plaster of paris, and go over the whole of the peat with it, bringing it up level to the bones, nicely smoothing it over with a knife, and, as it sets, adding more where required, or shaving it off if in excess--in short, replacing the flesh, where it has been removed, with peat and plaster. the front view should now present a somewhat even appearance; the nice swelling of the cheeks being well rounded off, as also under the jaws and on the top of the nose, etc. now draw the skin nicely over the model, taking care especially to get the eye holes in their proper places around the orbits. this being a guide for the truth of that part of the head, drive two wires through the skin, into the bone above the orbits, to keep it in its place. sew the hair in position round the horns. being now qualified to judge as to the size of the neck-block, you will cut an oval, or rather egg-shaped, piece of wood, out of inch stuff, to the required size; this determines the breadth and length of the neck at the back. the head-block of fig 26 being cut off along the dotted line d, it of course stands to reason that if the neck-board (fig. 27) is screwed on to it along its centre, the head, if the board is placed against a wall, will now look downwards at the angle determined by the cutting of d. having firmly screwed the oval neck-block to the prop, or head-block, in such a manner that the top of the oval does not come above nor interfere with the modelling of the back of the head, fill the inside of the ears with putty, and also make up the back of the head and neck, with peat and plaster of paris between the wood and the skull. having previously cut the board somewhere near the dotted line e, the throat and neck will now claim your attention, and will require the nicest skill to show the various wrinkles, depressions, etc, where they should occur. putty or clay as a finish will be found of great service at this stage. fig. 27--neck-board for skin of head. constantly turn the head to the light, to see how you are going on. if a horned head and heavy, many plans will occur to you for easily supporting it, such as ropes attached to the horns, and to a beam, etc. when all the head and back of the neck is adjusted to your measurements, bring the skin over and around the edge of the oval to its back, attaching it firmly there with strong tacks. nothing has as yet been done to the eyes, lips, or nose. turn, therefore, the bags of the skin of the eyelids inside out, and, filling them with putty or clay, shape them and return. fill up the orbits also with putty or clay to receive the eyes, packing up above and below them to show the various depressions and ridges. turning the nose up, fill the nostrils and bag of the lips with putty or clay, being careful to show up all the wrinkles (the division in the chin, if one exists), and, in fine, generally modelling and filling out with putty or clay, of which you will use several pounds if you are working on a large head. sew up the lips, or perhaps a better plan is to enter a skin needle, charged with strong string, in at the lower lip, and bring the string around wires driven in at the front and sides of the nose inside, pulling your string over from side to side, and making a final stitch in the most convenient situation. nicely insert the eyes, bringing the upper lids over, so as not to give too staring an appearance to the animal, and hang the head up to dry by firmly attaching a very strong hook of wire to the oval block, or by a small rope tied round the horns at their base. note that the horns of goats, antelopes, etc, and bulls and cows are set on a bony core, and must come off to prevent an offensive effluvium. placing the skull in a hot bed has been recommended, boiling will sometimes fetch the horns off, but it very often happens that nothing but time will loosen them. when this occurs wash the cores and horns with carbolic wash (no. 15). the student may, if he likes, fill in the eyelids, bags of the upper and lower lips, and nostrils with putty or clay before drawing the skin on the head; but in this case he will have to sew the inner to the upper skins, in addition to which he will find many things occur in drawing on and shaping the skin to render most of his labour useless if these parts are modelled first instead of last. the following system, the fourth, differs from all the preceding in there being erected a sort of framework on which to mount the skin, and hence is in use only for large animals. as an illustration let us take the bear (which was the last large animal i caused to be set up by this method). skin as before, subsequently removing the leg bones and head, and modelling as in the second system, or working by the first method, according to your degree of proficiency. to do such an animal as a bear, however, you should remove all the bones of the legs, and skin to the toes, as directed in the second system, also removing the skull, and treating it and the skin of the head as before. procure now a piece of deal 2 in. square, and of the length which you wish your animal to assume when finished, calculating from the centre of the chest to the tail. in this wood fix a strong iron rod, or wire, at one end, by boring two holes through it at some distance apart, and pushing the end of the wire in at one hole, then beating it down and clenching it through the other. the bar of wood now represents the backbone, and the wire the neck of the animal. point the wire and push it up into the skull, which model up as before, binding tow round the wire underneath to roughly form a neck somewhat smaller than you intend it to be when finished. pull the skin over this, and adjust it so that you may see the places on the wooden backbone where the fore and hind limbs will come. having marked the position of these, pull back the skin up to the neck, and bore holes through the wood, at right angles to the other holes made for the neck wire. taking now four rods or wires for the legs, point each at one end, and screw the other with "nuts" to fit the screws, bend each rod for 7 in. or more, at a sharp angle, at its screwed end, and push the pointed end down the fore legs from the inside, so that the points come through the ball of each foot, and having stuffed and bent the fore-legs into shape, push the screwed part into, and through, the corresponding holes in the artificial backbone; screwing on the "nuts" on the opposite aides, which will of course prevent the rods from pulling through again. finish the stuffing of the neck and chest, and coming along the body repeat the same process with the hind limbs as with the fore. greater steadiness can be attained if required, by using two "nuts" instead of one to each rod, that is to say, one on each side of the wood, no. 1 being screwed on first, the arm of the rod then pushed through the hole, and "nut" no. 2 screwed up to its bearing. for a nearly tail-less animal, such as the bear, it will be sufficient to drive a strong wire through the stump of the tail from the outside, to hold in the end of the "backbone," but a long-tailed animal will require to have the tail-bearer inserted in the wood, in the same manner as the neck wire, and the artificial tail run up the skin before the legs are attached. the extreme stability of the foregoing system is obvious, as the "backbone" completely supports the weight of the skin and head, while the leg rods support this in their turn. wood of suitable thickness must be used to mount the animal on while drying, and the leg rods, if too strong to clench through on the under side, may be screwed and "nuts" attached. for the very largest animals, such as the elephant, a somewhat different system would be adopted; a model in parts would be made, fitted together, and the skin stretched over. a very interesting account of the method adopted many years ago in the french capital is here appended: "the corpse of the elephant having been extended upon the ground facilitated our taking and writing all its dimensions; the thickness was taken by a sort of rule, which m. lassaigne, cabinet maker of the museum of paris, invented at the time. this instrument is the rule used by shoemakers on a large scale. the curves of the back, the belly, etc, were taken by bars of lead, 0.75 in. thick. this metal, not having any elasticity, accommodated or bent itself to the curves we wished to measure and preserved the measurements until wanted. m. desmoulins drew the animal on one of the sides of the wall according to all these measurements, in the workshop where the model was to be constructed, in its natural size. this done, we proceeded to the skinning of the elephant, which we were only able to place upon its back by four corded pulleys fastened to the platform. in this position we made an incision in the form of a double cross; the middle line went from the mouth to the anus, the two others were directed from each left foot to the opposite right foot; the tail and trunk were opened underneath longitudinally. we scooped out the soles of the feet within an inch of their edge, that the nails might remain in the skin; to effect this we were obliged to employ the chisel and mallet. this operation was very difficult. after four days' labour of several persons we separated the skin from the body; it then weighed 576 lb. we extended it on the ground to take away the cutaneous muscles which adhered to its interior--particularly to the head. in this state the skin was placed in a large tub; we spread a considerable quantity of pounded alum in all its folds. we then boiled some water with such quantities of alum that some pieces still remained at the bottom of the boiler--that is, more than saturated the water. this water was poured upon the skin, and we continued to do so until the skin was covered with it 6 in. deep. to render the dimensions of the model or shape which was to receive the skin more exact, we modelled one-half of the skinned head in plaster, as well as one of the hind and one of the fore legs. all these measures being taken, lassaigne constructed a factitious body in linden wood. the reader would find the detail too long and too minute if we were to describe the ingenious methods invented by lassaigne, either to cut the wood or to preserve the form he had given to this great mass. but to avoid all prolixity, it will be sufficient to observe that he composed this wooden elephant in such a manner that all the parts could be separated. he opened a panel (it is immaterial on which side of the body) and introduced himself into the interior by means of this opening, either to diminish the thickness of the wood or for any other purpose during its construction; the head, the trunk, all was hollow; so that the body, alarming at first from its supposed weight, might be easily transported from one place to another. after taking the alum water from the tub where the skin was placed, we heated it, and poured it, boiling, on the skin; we left it an hour and a half in this state, after which we drew the skin out to place it, quite warm, upon the shape. this was not an easy thing, but it was rendered still more difficult by our finding the false body a little too large--the skin would not entirely cover it. there was but one thing which could be done; we could not diminish the wood without destroying the proportions; besides, the iron pins, the screws which fastened the work, would have lost their hold, and we should have run the risk of overturning the edifice. we then took down the skin, placed it on trestles, and diminished the thickness of it by the help of large knives, cutting it away in thick and long shreds from the whole of the inside. this work occupied five persons for four days. we weighed these shreds and they amounted to 194 lb. during this operation the skin had dried, and consequently lost its suppleness. we put it back into a tub and covered it with soft cold water. the next day we placed it afresh on the shape, and fixed it with wire nails and large brads; those which fixed the edge of the skin were driven in deeply, the others only half way, to accommodate the skin to all the sinuosities of the model. we drew out a great many of them when the skin was sufficiently dry. this paring of the skin answered our purpose in two essential points: first, by facilitating the means of enveloping the model entirely, the form of which had not been altered; and, secondly, by ensuring its speedy desiccation. this last had not been the least alarming, for we feared that the humidity secreted in the skin might concentrate in such a manner (notwithstanding we had taken the precaution to give the wooden model a coat of oil paint) as to occasion mouldiness in the parts exposed to the air. the alum with which it was saturated soon crystallised on the interior, which at first gave it a very ugly grey colour; but we entirely got rid of it by rubbing the surface of the skin, first with spirits of turpentine, and then with oil of olives." some little hints which occurred to me as being useful to the animal mounter i will now jot down: i have been frequently asked, "supposing i get a fat dog, or animal of any kind, to set up, how can i manage such a subject satisfactorily? if i leave the fat on the skin i am doing wrong in every way, and if i trim it cleanly off, as it should be done, i stretch the skin to such an extent that my dog is completely out of shape, and though formerly a 'pug' he speedily becomes a 'greyhound.' in fact, i am in a quandary, and do not know what to do." my reply is: try what a hot knife will do passed over the skin, with sand or sawdust thrown on to absorb the fat as it melts off. candidly speaking, however, it is purely a matter of experience to trim fat off a skin without stretching it to any alarming degree, and in very fine-skinned animals, if we find them stretch in spite of all care, we take advantage of wrinkles to sew up here and tuck in there, resorting even, in extreme cases, to cutting away portions of the skin, notably in those parts underneath, hidden by the subsequent operation of mounting. the skin of the soles of the feet of some animals requires paring down. the bear is an instance of this. the hands of monkeys also must be carefully skinned out to the extreme tips of the fingers. these latter animals are best skinned out from the back, as a great many of our "relatives" have but little hair on the abdomen to hide the stitches, added to which their usually upright position tends still more to show up any defect in sewing. peat and straw may sometimes be used with advantage in the bodies of large animals. moles may be very well mounted by being cut across from one hind limb to the other, just under the tail, skinned out, preserved, and the skin then filled with sand or dry plaster. hedgehogs, if required to be curled up, may be also filled with sand, then tied up in a cloth, and hung up to dry. bats are skinned out from the back or front according to the position it is required to show them in. a thin piece of wire is doubled; each end is then pulled out at right angles for a certain distance up its length, and pushed into the hollows of the bones of the "wings." the animal is then stuffed with chopped tow, sand, or sawdust, sewn up, leaving the doubled wire outside; a hole is then made in a board (of the length and breadth suited to the specimen), through which the wire passes, and the "wings" are kept in place, until dry, by fine needle-points, or entomological pins passed through the joints, or by braces of cardboard. the ears, if long, are best blocked with cork cut to fit the inside, and then bound round with "wrapping cotton." the shrivelled ears of these and much larger animals may be got into proper shape by careful ironing. mice, small leverets, or rabbits, will be found very useful, if roughly stuffed, to place in the mouth or under the feet of birds or small beasts of prey. these animals, if very young, had better be placed for an hour or so in benzoline or in one of the hardening solutions (nos. 15 or 16). this remark applies with especial force to animals as yet unborn, which the naturalist will sometimes find during work, and will wish to preserve. these foetal specimens, however, let it be remembered, are of the greatest consequence in the study of embryology, and should always be preserved intact in a fluid medium of some kind. sometimes the operator comes across a foetus of some rarity, which, if not large, can be preserved in a small "preparation" jar, filled with best rectified spirits of wine, as being not too expensive for such subjects. chapter vii. modelling of animals by substitution of clay, composition, plaster casts, or wax for loose stuffing. the subject to be now treated of is of so varied a nature, requiring so great a knowledge of anatomy, and so much experience and aptitude, that i have deemed it advisable to reserve for a separate chapter the explanations of the processes to be learned, to avoid, at the outset, confusing the learner by asking him to attempt too much. this chapter may therefore be considered a finishing one, and, perhaps, it will be best to be candid, and say at once, that no one should attempt the mounting of animals by this method until he has fully mastered the principles laid down in the foregoing chapter, and has learned the characteristic attitudes and expression of some hundreds of animal forms. it is quite true that this art--which has for its end and aim the better delineation of character as exhibited by the lower animals--is not teachable unless the pupil is well grounded in anatomy, and is also a clever draughtsman and modeller--in fine, an artist!--with all an artist's perception of beauty of line and of form. i will here indicate what i take to be the basis upon which a competent taxidermist must proceed to become a zoological artist. first, then, let him take lessons in drawing, pinning himself steadily to copying pictures by the best masters of zoological subjects; as he advances, let him draw from the casts of animals, when procurable. let him beware, however, of the conventional lion, and lion's head, which are about as much like the real things as the donkey is like the horse--just a family resemblance, nothing more. having done all this, let him copy animals from nature; and if he lives in or near london, so much the better, there is the "zoo" for him to study in. indeed, it is a marvel to me that, with the museums and the zoological gardens surrounding them, so few london taxidermists attain even a respectable proficiency in the correct delineation of animal forms. the pupil being well grounded in drawing, will have observed many points in animal anatomy not hitherto suspected by him, and will naturally wish to know the why and wherefore of the swellings and depressions occurring in his subjects. to this end he must study a little simple anatomy of bones and muscles--their objects and meanings in different animals. the last stage is the reproduction, by modelling in clay, etc, of the various parts of animals, the head, of course, in the instance of large mammals, being looked upon as the chief motif in composition. to do all this requires time and considerable perseverance, but, with the facilities for study now offered by the various schools of art, he should not despair of success in a few years' time after mastering the first principles of his art. i will now proceed to demonstrate how the learner may work himself up to a respectable proficiency in modelling animals, should he possess the necessary aptitude. let us divide our theme into three parts--first, mounting the skin of the specimen, by using the skeleton as a foundation. secondly, mounting by means of a rough framework of wood and iron, more completely than as instanced in the example of the bear mentioned in the last chapter. thirdly, mounting on a model skeleton of carved wood and iron, to represent, and to take the place of, the bones; somewhat in the manner described for the elephant. in each of these systems there is one point of resemblance, namely, that the bones, or their semblances, are to be covered with hard composition, of some kind or another, to replace the flesh and muscles, and that the heads of mammals being often of great beauty, and possessing certain characters of their own, are to be copied first of all by one of two methods. either they must be (1) cast as a "mould" from the dead head, and the "return," or model, again cast from that; or (2) modelled from the dead head in clay, by the eye and by measurements, and a mould taken from that, to be again cast into for the model. this latter, though entailing three processes, is the more correct, and gives the best result when the modeller is experienced; but as the former is the easier, and leads up to better things, i must describe it first. we will take as an example the most difficult head to cast--a horned head--considering that, if we do this correctly, all others will be easy enough. here, then, is a stag's head, some modelling or pipe-clay, some soft-soap, a hundredweight or so of common plaster of paris at about 4s. per cwt, two pails, or rather zinc or galvanised iron buckets, one of them containing water. [footnote: pipe-clay quite good enough for this purpose is sold by the pipe makers in dry blocks or pieces, at about 6s. or 7s. per cwt. the clay must be soaked as wanted in a bucket of water and beaten up with a stick or "bat" until it is smooth, free from lumps, and of the consistence of very stiff putty. it should then be formed into a square mass, and kept damp by wet cloths.] the first operation, after beating up the clay, is getting the head into position; this will be easy enough should it be cut off from the body, otherwise the head must be propped up on the table, whilst the greater part of the body rests on boxes, or trestles, somewhat lower than the table. a very little "gumption" will enable the learner to cope with these small difficulties, always remembering, however, that both body and head must be immovably fixed during the process of casting. let us assume, therefore, the body arranged so that the head--face uppermost--and part of the neck, rests on the table, firmly fixed; supports, or stays of wood, fastened at one end to the horns by wires or cords, and at the other end by nails to the table, will effect this. the chin should be propped up a little from the surface of the table, by means of a pad of clay which has been previously prepared; next cut more slices of clay from the mass, and build in the front and sides of the face in a straight line, to just under the nostrils, but above the line of the mouth; smooth the clay--which should extend outwards some two or three inches from the head--with water and a broad knife. the lower half of the head is now hidden, mouth and all, up to just above the upper lip. next fill in the nostrils and the lachrymal sinuses (the orifices below the eyes) with clay, but in a careful manner, so that, although they shall be filled up sufficiently to prevent the plaster from running in to make "undercuts," they shall still preserve a certain shallow imprint of their original form. now mix your soft soap with a brush until it becomes a stiff lather, and paint it all over the face and hair of the head; build up a wall of thin board around the clay--in the manner described in chapter viii. on fish casting--and when practicable tie a thin board just in front of the horns, so that the model may end there. if, however, the back of the head down to the neck is required--which it seldom is, for reasons explained hereafter--it must be managed by "piece-casting." (see chapter xii.) the head being nicely soaped, lay a thin piece of string or strong hemp along the top of the face and head, exactly in the centre, and extending from the clay under the nostrils up to the back of the head in a straight line. be sure that the string is perfectly straight, and that it presses closely to the nose before coming on to the clay. next mix the plaster, not in the usual manner, by adding water to it, but by half filling a vessel with water, to which the plaster is added, a little at a time, until enough is mixed to serve the purpose, i.e, in sufficient quantity to cover the head with a layer some inches thick. after it is well worked up and moderately thick, carefully pour it over the specimen, taking it up as it runs down, and piling it up a little thicker in the centre, to give stability to the mass. just as the plaster is setting--which a very little experience will teach--lift the ends of the string upward through the plaster, which has the effect of cutting it in two, but these halves will not fall off of their own accord if care be taken. the mould being allowed to set for about half an hour or an hour, according to the quality of the plaster, is then ready for the next operation, which is the turning of the carcase, so that the head may also be turned upside down. previously to this, should the mould show the least sign of coming off, it will be as well to tie it on. supposing, however, that the wall of boards being removed, the head is successfully turned until it rests with its centre on the table, it may happen that the horns, being in the way, may require to hang over the edge of the table to effect this properly, and that the head, being rounded by the superior thickness of the mould, may require propping. to describe the means for overcoming such self-evident little difficulties as these, would only insult my reader's judgment. the head, then, being now securely fixed face downwards, the clay which hides the lower half must be picked off. this exposes the inner edge of the mould, together with the lower jaw. scrape the plaster to a level surface, and cut two moderately large v-shaped nicks, one on each edge of the mould, build up around as before with wood, and fill in all interstices leading to the table below with clay. see that the mouth is properly shut, introducing a little clay if needed. brush over with soft soap, not forgetting the top of the plaster mould, and mix some more plaster and pour over the lower jaw, on to the edges of the plaster mould, until stopped by the wall; build up thicker in the centre, as before, and suffer all to dry for about an hour. after this, pull away the walls, and all retaining clay, and the mould will easily come away from the head in three pieces, i.e, two for the upper surface, and one for the under. the chief thing to guard against is not to get the plaster behind the horns, so that it locks the front up. as, however, you may require to cast more, in length, of the under surface than of the upper, you may easily do this by lengthening the upper surface, when turned over, with clay, and casting on to that. it is this system which gives the diagonally-cut appearance to the model (see fig. 28). you have now three pieces, forming, when trimmed and put together, a concavity representing the place whence the stag's head has been extracted; bake these pieces in an oven for a day or so until sufficiently dried, then examine them for flaws or air-bubble holes, which fill up with clay, brush over inside with linseed oil or soft soap, tie together, and fix the mould, nose downward, in a bucket or pail, pack with wedges, and run in sand outside the mould to make all secure. prepare some plaster and pour into the mould at the opening and before it is quite set, scoop out some to make it hollow at the neck; allow it to remain undisturbed for from two to four hours, then take it out, undo the string, and gently tap the mould in every part with a small mallet, rolling it every now and then upon the table; in a short time you will hear something rattle, and perhaps a little loosening of one edge or piece will take place; tap now very cautiously, lest you should break anything; soon one piece will come off, which will materially assist your labour; take time and have patience, and you will be rewarded by seeing a perfect model of the stag's head come out of the mould in due course. [footnote: baking, when practicable, will often assist the parting of the mould from the model.] i have said perfect, but i mean perfect so far as this system allows of perfection. if you hold the model up to the light, or look down upon it from above, you will see, if your eye is sufficiently educated, that, although it correctly represents the hair even, and all prominent features, yet that the weight of the plaster has perhaps caused one eye to drop lower than the other, or twisted the mouth aside, and given a different expression altogether to that needed. what is to be done then? nothing but altering the model, by cutting and scraping it, until both sides are even, casting again from the corrected model when necessary, that is to say, when it is desired to get or to keep a very good one for reference. remember that the model is a little larger than you require it, so that the hair marks, etc. must be trimmed away to lessen it. shaving the hair all away from the head, leaving only the naked skin, has been recommended as a preliminary to casting; but this, of course, destroys one specimen entirely, that others of the same size may be mounted from the model made from the shaved head. skinning the head first, and casting from the flesh, does not help the amateur, as so many muscles and other characteristic parts are cut away, that a model taken in this manner is often worse than useless. what, then, is our way out of this difficulty? nothing but educating the hand and eye to the point of being able to take a dead head, and, by knowledge of its living anatomy, to model it in clay so truthfully as to far surpass any other process whatever. i can, unfortunately, give no directions for doing this. i can merely say, in the words of many unpractical "guide books" to art: "take a board, some tools, a well-kneaded lump of clay; place the head before you in strong light, and turn out a lifelike representation of it; wrinkles, muscles, and all--in clay." to me, this is now far the easiest thing to do, but i do not forget the time when i used perhaps a ton of plaster in experiments, and wasted lots more, and learned many little arts before i could model correctly. let this be a grain of comfort to the learner, that, although he must waste a deal of good plaster ere he sees the "points," and before he can model straight away, yet that he has an advantage which i, as a self-taught man, did not possess--the advantage of some little practical advice, such as is given in the pages of this work. now, "returning to our muttons," it must not be supposed that our omega is gained when the tyro has modelled by eye, and by measurements, his first head in clay; this has to be cast from, as if from the dead head, and the resultant model touched up, where incorrect, by cutting and scraping when too large, or by addition of clay when too small. sometimes it will be necessary to cast from this again and again, but in all cases the mould and model should be managed as before described. fig. 28--stag's head in plaster from clay model. assuming that the student has managed a cast to his satisfaction, he will see, by looking at the accompanying cut, fig. 28, that the orbits of the eyes are shallow, that only the upper line of the sinus shows, that the lips and nostrils are also shallow depressions; all of these parts must be hollowed out or undercut. to do this we require a knife such as that figured no. 12 in chapter iii, and three other tools, one a large crooked awl (sharpened at one edge), in handle, and steel "undercutting" and "relieving tools" (see figs. 29 and 30). [footnote: messrs. lechertier, barbs, et cie, of 60, regent-street, london, have many patterns of these for plaster work, at a low figure.] fig. 29--steel "undercutting" tool. fig. 30--steel "relieving" tool. with these the eyes, nostrils, lips, etc, of the model, are relieved and undercut, in order to take in the folds of the inner surfaces of the skin of those parts. be sure to hollow out the mouth upward toward the nostrils, keeping it fine, however, at the lips, and not opening it outward too much; the same with the nostrils, looking to the dead head to note the beautiful curves which can be treated so as to express, at will, rest, alarm, or defiance, according as the under-cutting is managed; the eyes of the model must be hollowed out and deeply undercut to receive the hollow glass globes (see chapter xii), and the eye pits (lachrymal sinuses) relieved. although we have cast the head whilst attached to the body in order to get our difficulties increased, yet we will now imagine the stag's head, with a long piece of neck-skin attached, severed from the body, in the manner in which heads usually arrive from scotland to be mounted as trophies of the chase. the model being ready, the dead head is now skinned, the skin being taken entirely off the head, and being "double-skinned" as described, washed and cured, is now ready for mounting. first, however, the horns must be sawn from the skull by cutting away a triangular piece of the bone to which they are attached; drill this bone for two long screws, by means of an american "twist-drill," fitted into an ordinary brace. next, the prepared model requires blocking; this may be done as shown at fig. 26. a slot to receive the board should have been previously cut in the plaster under-jaw of the model, or, in a more simple and efficient manner (see fig. 31), by procuring a piece of "quartering," 3 in. x 2 in, about 2 ft. in length, cutting a channel in the under-jaw and the back of the head to fit it, wedging up, and pouring in wet plaster to make all secure. the head of the model should be cut to receive the horns, leaving about half-an-inch or more of plaster before coming to the wood. the quartering protruding below the neck must now be fixed in a vice, and the horns screwed in. seats, the screws coming through the plaster and into the wood, which they should "bite" for an inch or so of their length; wet plaster is then poured on the top, and the back of the head made up by the addition of more. when dry the quartering should support the model with horns attached, and all parts should be immovably rigid. nothing remains now but to thin the skin all over the inside in a careful manner, remembering, the thinner the skin the better the points of the model will show up. when finished, simply draw the skin over the model like a glove upon the hand, put a little clay in the "bags" of the eyelids, perhaps a little about the nostrils, and fix the various parts in the under-cuttings made to receive them, being sure that the lips go in naturally, not leaving a thick edge outside. the ears now require blocking; to do this many taxidermists run a wire all around each ear from the inside, or put cardboard inside, sewing another piece outside by the edges to give shape. neither of these plans is, i am sure, equal to my method of cutting a zinc plate to the full size of the ear--when flattened out--and inserting it between the skin, pushing it well up to the tip; afterwards it may be elevated or depressed, and moulded to any shape, or to any degree of convexity; a little clay placed at the base of each ear improves its shape, and assists to fix it in position. the last thing to be done is to cut the "quartering" to the length and angle required, to determine upon the shape and size of the neck, and to fix the neck block (see fig. 27) to the "quartering" by screws. fig. 31--back view of model with neck block inserted. a a, the horns attached to piece of skull; b b, the model; c, quartering on which the model is mounted. try the skin of the neck for length and shape, and then fill up each side of the block with peat nailed on, over which pour wet plaster, making up the back of the head as you go on, keeping the neck in front narrow, and of an elegant shape, using clay afterwards over all to do this. during all this time you will no doubt have had the skin off and on several times to get the shape to suit, and you will have taken precautions not to break away the thinly carved parts around the mouth, nose and eyes. the very last operation is sewing up; this is done with a "skin" needle (glover's needle) and strong hemp, double and waxed; commence your stitches at the skin in front of one of the horns, bring it around to the back, and enter your needle in the edge of the skin at the side, lace across and across, including the other horn, in the manner most convenient, being careful, however, to make every stitch "tell," otherwise, as the skin dries, the horns will be left bare around the "burrs," and ugly gaps appear. the neck being sewn up, is to be nailed around its circumference to the neckblock by strong tacks. the skin of the face is, perhaps, a little out of position; it must be properly arranged on the model, and wire points of suitable size, filed up from galvanized wire, must be driven into the eye-pits, inside the corners of the mouth, the nostrils and ears, and also on various parts of the face and the head, to prevent the skin rising whilst drying. the eyes should now be inserted, and the skin of the eyelids filled slightly, and drawn naturally around them. hang the head up as high as possible out of the way, and also because the room is always warmest near the ceiling; two centre-bit holes of different sizes, forming a kind of keyhole, may be drilled in the centre of the neck-block, or strong wire bolted in the form of a loop near the top to hang it up by. be sure all is sound and firm, as also the nail on which the specimen hangs, otherwise your own, or your stag's, head may come to grief. plaster heads being very heavy at first, before drying, it is as well to get them dried, if possible, in advance of the mounting, to obviate great weight, and also a tendency to cause mildew inside the skin. it is really astounding, however, to observe how very light plaster becomes when thoroughly dry; clay of the same sized model is, on the contrary, exceedingly heavy--more than twice the weight of plaster. sometimes it may be necessary, if wanting a frill of hair, or what not, to be conspicuous, to keep it in position until dry, by brushing on paste, or thick clay water, to stiffen the hair in the desired manner. this can afterwards be brushed off, when the head is ultimately cleansed, before screwing it on its shield. foxes' and other similar heads may be blocked best by the process sketched out as relating to figs. 26 and 27: and finally attached to suitable shields (see chapter xiii.) looking at the skeleton of the otter, plate iii, we at once observe that it is placed in the position it assumed when the animal was alive and walking with a stealthy, cat-like, movement. this skeleton is not very unlike that of the fox, nor, if we except its smaller size, that of the lion. hence we shall be enabled to refer to it, from time to time, as being sufficiently our guide to the mounting of these animals. we will not be too ambitious to begin with, and will, therefore, take our old friend the fox for our first lesson. this is the animal sure to be selected by all learners, and the reason is not far to seek--it being of a manageable size, not too large nor too small; an animal, moreover, of a picturesque habit of body, and about whose death more or less of mystery hangs--this mystery so dear to the imagination of the youthful amateur! in some places the death of the vulpine robber of hen roosts is hailed with delight, and people are to be found even --oh, horror!--willing to grasp in friendship the hand of the slayer. in such a county as leicestershire, foxes are not "accidentally" killed, but when so, what bewailings over the "late lamented!" what anathemas upon the villain's head who is suspected of "vulpicide"! if it were not so serious a matter, one would be inclined to laugh over anthony trollope's description, in the "american senator," of the old hunting farmer who moved himself and his dinner to the other side of the table, in speechless indignation, lest he should be contaminated by the presence of a sympathiser with a man who wantonly killed a far too sacred fox, which gobbled up the aforesaid man's ducks and fowls. let this sad relation be a warning to all who look with acquisitive eyes on the scented jacket of our "reynard." moral, procure your specimens from the highlands, where they are not worshipped, nor protected, with a view to being hunted to death afterwards. having procured our specimen, we lay it in state on the modelling table, and, having decided to mount it by the first process mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, viz, by using the skeleton as a foundation, we have further to decide if the animal is to be open-mouthed or not. in the first case, we shall require the skull, in order to show the teeth and palate; in the latter case, we may discard the skull if we choose, making a model of the head in a similar manner to that of the stag, but with the difference that now, our specimen not being horned, will make a mould and model much more easily. we decide, then, to keep the skull as part of the skeletal foundation. skin out the animal in the usual manner, as described in the last chapter, with these differences, that the skin must be split on the underneath, from the vent to above the shoulder (in some cases, and for some attitudes, this cut must extend up the throat); cross cuts from this must extend all the way down the limbs, on their inside surfaces. by these five cuts the body is released entirely from the skin, the head being cut off at the nose, and the feet at the claws; nothing, therefore, of the skeleton remains in the skin but the cores supporting the claws. measure the body now carefully for size, etc, and treat the skin in the manner indicated, and turning to the body, disjoint the hind limbs at the junction of the femur with the pelvic girdle, and the fore limbs at the junction of the humerus with the scapular arch (see plate iii). cut off the head (a, b), and trim it. if you cannot make a rough representation in wood of the pelvic girdle (h) and scapular arch (m), you had better cut these bones out and trim them, as they, or their representatives, give a natural set to the limbs. throw away the remainder of the body. you now possess the complete skin, and also the bones i, j, k, 1, and n, o, p, q, together with the skull and the four other bones, or their semblances. having properly cured all these parts, we will for this lesson take the skeleton of the otter and its attitude as our guide. our first care, then, is to provide a block of wood, similar to that in the illustration, for the animal to stand on; the length and width of this are, of course, determined by the measurements which should have been previously taken--its thickness should not be less than one inch. the next thing to be done is to cut a piece of 0.5 in. or 0.75 in. deal to represent the body--now thrown away--figured in the plate as d, e, f, and r; the shape as shown in fig. 32 will be found the most convenient. to this attach, by bolting, a thick wire, to represent the neck (c), and of sufficient strength to carry the weight of the head, also another thinner one to take the place of the tail (g). at the point m nail two small blocks of wood on each side of the body-board, in order to slightly raise from its surface, and also attach thereto, the scapulars; do the same at h, remembering that the thickness of the blocks with bones attached determines the width of the chest, etc. bore holes along d, through which thrust stout wires to represent the ribs, bending them into position, and bringing them over the edge of r, and bolting each end into one or the other of the holes along its lower surface. the wires must, of course, be cut of sufficient length to go right through the holes at d, to form both sides of the ribs, ere being finally bolted in the holes at r. fig. 32--false body of wood, with neck and tail wires attached. we now have a cage, as it were, of wood and wire, terminating in two long wires, in which state we leave it for the present. the next process is to drill the leg bones (i and j, and n and p) with an american twist-drill and brace, in order to push up a wire rod of sufficient stoutness to carry the weight of the body; leave plenty of length of wire above and below. [footnote: in cases where drilling is impracticable, it will be sufficient to firmly lash the bones to the rod in the position which they should occupy during the subsequent modelling.] next drill the bottom board to receive the wires under the feet, where shown at 1 and q; when firmly bolted underneath bend the rod with attached bones into the positions shown on plate iii. bend the upper portion of the rods now at right angles, in order to go through the scapulars and pelvis. next take the cage (fig. 32) representing the body, with pelvic girdle and scapular arch attached, and ready drilled, lift between the limbs, pushing the top wires--now at right angles--through the holes drilled to receive them, bending these down on each side. we have now a rough but fairly correct image of the skeleton without a head. taking now the natural skull (a b), we open the jaws as much as desired, and filling in the cavities with paper and tow, perfect the shape by modelling with clay to replace the flesh. fixing this on the wire, c, we make up the neck with tow and clay, binding the former on very tightly, and adding clay to give character, especially where it approaches the chest. the cage must now be tightly packed with old newspapers, brown paper, or clean straw, but with neither hay nor "flocks." [footnote: "flocks" and sacking are the harbouring places of tinea tapetzella, 1, a destructive little moth, the ravages of whose larvae once cost me all the "soft" parts of a sofa, besides filling the house before discovery with the perfect insect--eager to perpetuate its race at my expense.] before this is done, however, it will be as well to interlace the wires with tow, laid on as a thin sheet, and glued; be sure of the shape now--if ever; let the cage be widest in the middle, tapering off above and below and toward each end, being careful to make it a little smaller, if anything, than the actual body; make up with straw and tow at e, keeping this part narrow underneath; bind the tail, g, thinly with tow, gradually thickening it as it approaches f; cover all these parts with clay where required. the fore and hind limbs, especially the latter, require very careful modelling. to do this properly measurements and tracings of the shapes should have been taken. bind tow around all, to roughly represent the form, and then artistically adjust clay to represent the muscles and flesh. the appearance presented now should be as a clay model--without hair--of the specimen taken in hand. nothing now remains but to take the skin, properly thinned down and prepared, and try it over the model, altering the latter where it is too large or too small. perhaps it may be necessary to pull it over--commencing at the head--several times before getting it quite right. when fairly satisfied with your progress, commence stitching the skin up from the neck, adding clay where wanted, noticing that, in the position you are now working to, the neck will hang low, and rather fine in front, between the fore limbs, and that the flanks will be tucked up. go on sewing up until you are at the point behind the shoulders, including the fore limbs in this; pad the skin at the toes with clay, to replace the flesh previously cut away. leave this now, and go to the tail end; bend the wire down, and insert it in the hollow of the skin of the tail, and work on the hind limbs, finishing as you go on, and sewing up to the point between f and e. this leaves you the remainder of the body to finish, and also gives you a chance to dispose of any loose skin about that part. the clay and wire, being both amenable to any alteration, can be beaten into shape where required. finally, sew up, and if your modelling is correct all the remainder must of necessity be correct also. to keep the skin in position on the model, tack it down with galvanised wire points, or by stitching it through in places, such as occur in the neck and various parts of the limbs. these wires can, of course, be removed, and all stitches cut and drawn away when the specimen is dry, at which time the eyes can be inserted, if not previously done. in all cases, however, the specimen must be thoroughly dried before it can be finished off by modelling the inside of the lips and palate with wax or cement (described in chapter xii), or before the model tongue is inserted. the foregoing thus describes the method which may be adopted to educate the tyro to a correct idea of the osteology of his subject, and, by analogy, to the osteology and relation of parts of many others. it is practicable only in the case of mammals done from the flesh, and whose skeleton is not valuable. in this system, as in all the following, the model head of any animal, cast as described for the stag, may be substituted for the natural skull, unless the teeth, etc. are required to be shown. model teeth carved from bone, or from wood, subsequently coloured, are sometimes inserted in model heads, but this is not recommended. the next part of our theme deals with mounting skins from the "flat," when no body or skeleton is forthcoming, and is practised by masters of the art, who know by experience the various positions assumed by their subjects when in a state of nature. by this means large animals, such as tigers, lions, bears, etc, may be mounted from skins sent home from abroad. the skin having been relaxed and thinned (see chapter x.), is put over the model in exactly the same manner as described for the otter. the model is, however, now determined by the size of the skin, which, when perfectly soft, is folded together, legs and all, and shaped on the floor of the studio, in somewhat the position required; from this a rough tracing is made with red chalk on boards kept for that purpose, or on sheets of brown paper. these are afterwards corrected by eye, or by the aid of smaller drawings or good prints. inside this large finished tracing trace an irregularly-shaped long oval, quite two inches smaller all the way round than the tracing of the skin itself. cut this out in stiff paper, and from it shape up one or two boards of 1 in. to 1.5 in. deal, jointed together on edge; to this "body-board" bolt by staples the four strong rods representing the fore and hind limb bones. let each have a right-angled crook where they first spring from the board, to represent the scapular and pelvic arches, then bend each one (more or less) at each joint (see plates iii. and iv.) according to the attitude desired. insert these rods at the feet through a strong base made of 1 in. or 1.5 in. boards, remembering that, if the projected attitude of your model demands the fore-feet raised, you must nail "quartering" on end, to which attach a platform of board of the requisite height. fix two medium sized or one very strong rod for the neck, and one moderately strong for the tail. in a large animal--and i am assuming that we are now engaged on a lion--the wire ribs may be replaced by sections of 0.5 in. board, cut as in fig. 33, and nailed vertically on each side of the body-board. on the half-rounded surfaces of these, laths are tacked, and afterwards covered with straw, or plastered over, just as a plasterer would finish a partition; let this be kept somewhat smaller than you wish it, in order to allow for its subsequent covering with clay. from this proceed to model the limbs as before, using plaster over the tow, and clay over all; next arrange the tail, and, lastly, fix on the skull, if you possess it, or the plaster head, which has been modelled and cast in the same manner as the stag's head. the skin is then fitted on as before, with the difference that the head part, which, perhaps, is split right through the chin, and the tail, split up its whole length, will come on more easily, but will of course require more sewing up. when finished, adjust the claws, the mane, the ears (blocked with zinc as in the stag), and the mouth. should it be wished to open the mouth to express rage or what not, the edges of the skin of the mouth, being no doubt destitute (in a "flat" skin) of their inner lining (the mucous membrane), must have this replaced by wash leather sewn all around to form the "bags" of each side of the lips, previously mentioned. these "bags" are then filled with clay or modeling wax, and when the skin is put on over the skull, are pinched into proper shape and attached by their inner edges to where the gums should be, or around convenient teeth by stitches, or by strong wire points driven into the bone, in the manner which will best commend itself to the learner. suffer it to dry, looking at it from time to time, and when perfectly dried model the palate, etc. (should the animal be represented open-mouthed), in the manner described in chapter xii. so great a mass of damp clay used on these large animals is apt to crack; paper may advantageously be pasted over the whole surface before the skin is put on, which will stick well and not interfere with the modelling. fig. 33--section of half-inch board to represent ribs plate iv. lion mounted from the "flat". plate iv. represents a lion mounted by this method: a, b, the skull; c, the neck rod (sometimes two); d, e, and f, the body-board; g, the tail rod; and 1, 2, 3, and 4, the rods representing the parts h, i, j, k, 1, and m, n, o, p, q, in plate iii. the last process of all is mounting, by means of a model skeleton of carved wood, supplemented by iron rods. this is a system which requires a slight knowledge of wood carving, and would be practised in the case of having the skeleton of the large animal to model from, or in cases where, having both skeleton and flesh, it is desirable to retain the former as an osteological preparation, and to treat the skin as a taxidermic object. supposing, then, we have a lion in the flesh, our first care must be to determine upon the position and attitude it is to ultimately assume. not to perplex the student too much, we determine that it shall take the attitude of our last example (plate iv), or else that shown in plate iii. accordingly, we arrange it on a platform just raised from the floor of the studio, when by propping and judicious management we make it, although lying on its side, assume the position we require. we carefully measure and take a rough tracing of the whole. the muscles are now worked up into position, and moulds taken from them, or from such parts of the limbs as we require. by careful arrangement of clay, wooden walls, and other packing, it is quite possible to take a complete cast of the whole carcase. piece-casting, however (described in chapter xii), assists us here. from these moulds we cast reproductions of parts of the lion, which will be patterns for, and greatly assist us when, ultimately modelling up. the animal is now skinned, and the skin prepared in the usual manner, i.e, stripped entirely from the body, cured, and thinned down. the bowels are taken out, the flesh is cut off the bones, and the parts h, i, j, k, and m, n, o, p (see plate iii.), are copied by carving in lime-tree or beech wood. [footnote: bones can be cast in plaster quite as easily as anything else, and often take the place of carved wood.] these models are then sawn longitudinally in halves, and each half hollowed out to receive, and to be either tied, or wired on to, the rods-1, 2, 3 and 4 of plate iv. by this it will be seen that the model is made up precisely as in that, the only addition being the substitution of carved limb-bones in place of tow previously used to bind over the rods. clay or other substances is worked over these "wooden bones," and the finishing processes are the same as the last. the skeleton must be carefully mounted and articulated, as described in chapter xii. be careful to get the ultimate phalanges of each limb out of the skin, and by careful management we shall also be enabled to get the bony core from the claw, and thus reap the advantage of having two specimens instead of one only. large fishes--such as sharks; or reptiles, such as very large alligators and crocodiles--may be mounted by slight modifications of any of the foregoing processes. often hardened wax, linseed oil and plaster, plaster composition, modelling wax, cobbler's wax, shellac, or what not, is used to represent the muscles and "flabby" parts. wax is also used to paint over the mucous membrane, where shown or exposed. all this will be found fully explained in chapter xii, thus exploding all the rubbish talked, and written, about "secret" or "patent" compositions, which, when put on soft, will ultimately dry as hard as marble. these wonderful "secrets" may be summed up under three heads--clay, plaster, and wax! chapter viii. skinning, preserving, and mounting fish, and casting fishes in plaster, etc. fish being, perhaps, the most difficult things in the range of taxidermical science to set up in a satisfactory manner, i would impress upon the amateur to take particular note of their peculiarities of shape and colour, and to practise upon any easily-obtained and tough-skinned fish, such as the perch, which is, indeed, one of the best of all subjects for the purpose. however, as i have now before me a pike of over 11 lb, i will take it to illustrate this lesson. provide yourself first with skinning knives (see figs. 11-13) and a tool previously figured, which i call the undercutting knife or scraper (see fig. 29). it is best made by an artisan, but may be roughly fashioned by beating out a square piece of steel (a worn-out, narrow, flat or square file will furnish this), while hot, to a flat surface at one end, turning it at right angles for about an inch, and filing each side of this return, as also the point (the latter previously rounded) to a cutting edge, and afterwards giving it the requisite hardness by "tempering" it in oil. many tools used by the gun stockers are to be bought ready made, which will fulfil all the requirements of this tool, but it is so easily made that i consider anyone with the least mechanical ability should be able to make one. the object of this tool is to run in under bones and to cut and drag out pieces of flesh through small openings. measurements being taken and a board provided on which to trace the outline, select the best side of the fish--by which i mean the side most free from bruises or "gaff" marks. cover this with thin paper (cap paper) or muslin, which readily adheres by the natural mucus peculiar to fish. this process, it will be seen, keeps the scales fast in their seats during the operation of skinning, and gives also a "set," as it were, to the skin. the fins and tail must not, however, be allowed to dry until the fish is finished. to avoid this and the consequent splitting of these members, keep them constantly damped by wet cloths or tow wrapped around them. lay the worst side uppermost, and then cut the skin from head to tail in a straight line. a mark called the subdorsal or lateral line is an excellent guide for this. with a strong pair of scissors,--or rather shears, cut through the scapular arch (the large bone beneath the gills--see fig. 34, a). slip the knife under the edges of the cut skin, and lift the skin the whole of the way up at about an inch in on both sides of the cut. having carefully separated this from the flesh, take the broad knife in your hand, and, holding the skin lightly in the middle, with a scraping motion of the knife on the skin free it from the flesh. if the knife is held in a proper manner, slanting inward towards you, this will be done very easily. take care, however, when approaching the fins not to cut outward too much, or you will rip them out of the skin. fig. 34 shows the point where we have arrived, b being the loosened skin and c the flesh denuded of that skin. fig. 34--diagram of pike, showing skin removed on one side from lower half of body. skin out the remaining part up to the back, holding the knife in the same manner; the fish is now half way skinned, and holding only by the fins. slip the scissors carefully underneath the bones of each fin and cut them away from the inside. do not be afraid of leaving a little flesh attached, as this can be easily cut away from the inter-spinous bones afterwards, it being better to have too much flesh attached to them than to find you have cut the skin through on the other side. it is a matter of little importance as to which fin you cut away first; but let me assume that you begin at the under anal fin, and, having cut this away carefully, you now find that it is still held at a little distance above it by. the orifice of the vent. a great deal of care is required here to cut the attachment away so as not to pierce through to the outside; a piece of wool comes in very handily to push in, to stop the flow of blood, etc. now turn your attention to the only fin on a pike's back, the second or lower dorsal one, which cut away in the same careful manner as before. working down toward the tail, get the broad knife as much underneath as you can, and then push the fingers underneath until they meet, and thus gradually free the flesh from the skin almost up to the extreme end of the caudal fin (or tail). insert the point of the large shears underneath, and cut the bone and flesh completely through at a distance of about 1 in. from the last joint of the vertebrae at the tail; this leaves a little flesh attached to be subsequently cleared out. leaving this, go now to the head of the fish, and, holding down the skin of the back, which is now flat on the table, run the fingers of the right hand, especially the thumb, right down the whole length of the fish to the tail, in order to loosen all from the underneath to the front of the fish, when the whole will be free up to the two ventral fins, which you may cut away, as it were, with your finger nails, leaving the attached flesh to be trimmed away afterwards. the only part which now holds to the skin is that near the head, as also the under one of the pectoral fins; this latter must be carefully cut away, as the skin is very thin about here, and is rather awkward to get at. now let the fingers of both hands come into requisition, and let them meet under the head. regaining the large knife, with it sever the bone of the head cutting toward you. if this is properly performed, the cutting edge of the knife will touch the gills; be careful in this, that your knife does not slip and go too far into the underneath skin. various internal organs will now appear, holding fast to the skin; these must be cut through with the knife, and the effect should be that the whole of the body comes out in a piece. [footnote: the beginner may, however, for greater facility of handling, cut the body of a large fish into sections, and remove them piece by piece as he progresses.] for larger fish, say one of 20 lb. or more, i recommend splitting the flesh longitudinally or vertically, and getting out each section separately. the skin now being free from the body, scrape away all the small pieces of flesh that are still adhering inside the skin, down the centre, and around the fins and tail. those fin-bones (inter-spinous bones) which protrude inside may be cut fairly short with the scissors, and the flesh nicely scraped off from each side. what flesh is left on the tail must be carefully cut away with the aid of the knife, scissors, and shears, care being taken also to free the bone to the very end, and yet not to disturb the scales underneath. a considerable amount of scraping, coaxing, and undercutting will have to be done here. having well freed the fins of flesh, turn your attention to the head: make a cut along the side of the under jaw, then cut away the gills at their top and bottom attachments and pull them out, if you do not wish them ultimately to show. when this is done you will become aware that there is still remaining a piece of the vertebra leading up into the head; take the large knife and chop it to the underneath; it will then lift up, exposing what little brain the fish has. cut this piece off before it enters the palate; and then, by clearing away a little flesh, you come to the eye, which take hold of with your finger and pull out. you will now see several small cavities filled with flesh running up to the sides of the face, cheeks, etc. the scraper or undercutting knife will now come into use, and small pieces of flesh must be laboriously cleared out. after this tool has well loosened and partly cut away the intervening flesh, the fingers may be advantageously used to work with, by being pushed in at the orbits of the eyes, to pull out the loose pieces of flesh. (note that, in doing this, it is as well to be careful not to cut your fingers with the edges of the small bones of the head, nor with the palatal or lingual teeth.) the operator must not forget during work to keep the fins well damped, otherwise they rapidly dry and split, as i have before observed. running between and from the pectoral fins a thick, fleshy process continues right up underneath the jaw. as the included flesh is contained in a remarkably thin silvery skin, extraordinary care is necessary in freeing this from the flesh, so the knife, the scraper, and the fingers will all have to come into play. it is held at the extreme end under the jaw by a thin bone, which, though skinned to its under part, must not be cut away, but left slightly attached. a little sand at this stage is useful to rub the fingers in, to prevent them slipping, when pulling out small pieces of flesh. the pectoral fins are, of all, the most awkwardly situated to skin out, coming, as they do, at the bottom of the pectoral process, and they must be left with their bones attached, and the flesh be scraped away from between the two fins, and underneath each one, until nothing remains. carefully attend to the latter part of these instructions, or the final result will be anything but creditable. some flesh now lies between two skins along the sides of the fish's gums, between the tongue and the teeth; a hole must be cut inside at the back part of the head below the eye, the crooked scraper inserted, and all the flesh dragged out bit by bit. remember, this is merely a thin membrane, and the slightest awkwardness ruptures it; in large fish, however, the finger may be introduced with advantage, to pull out pieces of flesh. many taxidermists cut the whole of this away, and replace it with plaster; but if the fish's mouth is to be left open it never looks so well as if done by this method. cut under the tongue from the outside, and scrape out the flesh, fill up with putty, and sew up neatly. to stuff the fish, procure a thick piece of wire somewhat longer than the body, bending one end, to form a large oval-shaped loop, to be afterwards pushed up as a bearer into the head. at some little distance from this (which will be determined by the size of the fish), form a smaller loop, to which, by twisting, attach a short piece of wire a size smaller than the main bearer. at some distance from this--near the tail--form another small loop, to which attach in the same manner another piece of wire. cut off the end of the main wire, so that when pointed and pushed through it will fall just outside the bone of the tail. it will no doubt be obvious to the reader that this forms an artificial backbone. the large oval or pear-shaped loop at the one end is intended to be pushed in to support the head, and, in the present method, also to help the formation of the model. the loops and attached wires are to support the body, and also to bolt it to the back of the case when finished. the pointed end is to push into and support the tail. i should have previously mentioned that this wire backbone should be made before the fish is skinned, as you then have a correct guide to position of bearing wire, and, more important still, a guide to the extreme length of the fish. round this wire, wrap paper, glued, or tied with string, until it is a little less than the body of the fish previously taken out; when this is done, cover over with tow well tied on with hemp, until it has arrived at almost the shape and size of the body--being, in fact, the shape of the fish without head or tail--lay this down and thoroughly anoint all parts of the fish. stuff out the now hollow sides of the face, gums, and the underneath of the throat with putty, of which push some thick pads underneath the root of the tail and all about the fins; next lay a thin skin of putty over the whole of the skin on the inside. wet plaster is commonly used for this, but i prefer putty, as not being quite so heavy, and as affording also a more agreeable agent to work with. another objection to plaster, used in quantities, is that the heat it evolves in drying has a tendency to make the scales rise. the next thing to be done is to insert the body. pushing the sharpened end of the tail wire through the bone of the tail, bring it up on the inside. now drill a little hole with a straight awl through the bone of the scapular arch, and with a strong needle and thread join that part together. the next hole should be drilled through the uppermost gill-cover, through which pass the needle; then commence, travelling downward, to sew the skin together, taking care to go inward a sufficient distance from the cut edges with the needle and thread, and yet not allowing the edges of the skin to overlap. this requires patience, and a little coaxing together of the edges of the skin. as you go on, see where your fish appears out of shape on the upper side, which is a pretty good guide but not always so--for the under, or show side. if the defect is serious, insert a little more putty, followed by a judicious application of tow, which will push the putty to the under side where you most require it. it is sometimes expedient, after having sewn half-way down, to begin to sew up from the tail end, so as to meet the other stitches. a fine "skin" needle must be used. after it is entirely stitched up there will still be little places which will require deepening and filling up. a little tow, pushed in any interstices which maybe left between the stitches, will soon rectify this, and also help to shorten the fish, which, in a first attempt, is almost sure to be made too long. this is important, as a well-fed pike should be of some considerable depth, and not a lanky monster like a snake. a little gentle tapping with the handle of the stuffer on the upper surface is sometimes advisable. get the back almost straight, and, having brought it nearly to your measurements, you may lift the fish by the two wires, but in a very careful manner, to examine the show side, and there note any little defect. of course, you must constantly alter your position. carefully lift the fish off the board, still keeping the sewn side uppermost, and measure the distance between the two upright wires, and make corresponding holes in the board, which push down on the top of the fish, bringing the wires through, and bending their ends down upon the board, so that the specimen may be temporarily rivetted thereto. place your hand carefully underneath the head of the fish, and turn the board over. you have now the fish right side uppermost. about the head some little extra stuffing will doubtless be required, and, as the putty will have got a little out of place in the process, it must be replaced, and the head and neck made up nice and square; also look to the tail, and put that in proper shape. gently press the skin all over with the hands, deftly patting it with a small piece of smooth flat board to reduce any lumps, and to get the putty to work evenly over the surface. get some short wires and set the head, with the mouth open as much as you require. one wire may be pushed through the nostril, another may go under the tongue, and a third parallel to it beneath the under-jaw. arrange the teeth, some of which you will find loose, and, with "needle points," fix into position the gill-covers, which tie over with a little wrapping cotton to keep them from springing up out of place. next look to the fins, under which put some pieces of peat, covered by stiff card-board, and nicely display them, pinning them down and binding the wrapping cotton over them. as a last operation, go over the whole of the outside skin with the carbolic formula, no. 15. when this dries, which it will do in the course of an hour or so, varnish the whole upper surface with best clear "paper" varnish, which will have the effect of keeping the skin and scales in position. let the fish be now put by in a moderately warm situation to thoroughly dry, which will, in the case of a large specimen, take about a month. the skin is then like leather, with no colour in it at all, and must, of course, be subsequently coloured up according to nature, the eyes put in, and mounted in a case with appropriate water-weed; notes on all of which will be found in chapters xii, xiii, and xiv. sawdust or bran may be used for stuffing the fish, which, with the addition of putty and tow to certain parts, will shape it up very fairly. some taxidermists use tow alone, but this i do not think advisable. small fish, up to 2 lb, may, after skinning, have a bent wire inserted as before, and be filled entirely with plaster of paris, which must be mixed in readiness, and poured in the skin to fill out every part. the cut edges of the skin are now brought together, and the whole fish turned over to show its proper side and rapidly patted into shape, before the plaster has time to set. beautiful models of the thicker-skinned fishes maybe made by this method, but rapidity of execution is a sine quâ non. as the student progresses he will find that it will not be necessary in all cases to cut through the scapular arch of the under side to clear out the head. as a proof, i may mention that i have just finished an 18 lb. fish, the head of which was skinned out by this process. small pieces of cabinet cork (about one-eighth inch thick) will be found very useful for spreading the fins of small fishes. [footnote: notes on repairing fins will be found in chapter xii.] in the event of the scales rising from the use of wet plaster or any other cause, "wrapping" cotton, i.e, "darning" cotton, or shoemakers' hemp, must be bound over them to keep them in place. since the foregoing was written i have considerably modified and improved on my former method. having tried wet "pipe" or modelling clay, with which to stuff the skin, i found that although at first the working and general shape were excellent, yet that, after a few days, the skin shrank and puckered in so abominable a fashion as to render all the labour bestowed upon it of no avail. this was most unfortunately tried upon a twenty pound pike, and so utterly misshapen did it become as to necessitate the relaxing of the specimen--the removal of the clay--and the ultimate shaping up again, by the dry plaster process. [footnote: several correspondents have written as to the relaxing of fish skins. this is a very easy process, nothing more being done to the skin than plunging it in water until sufficiently softened.] this substitution of dry plaster of paris (price about 4s. per cwt.) for sand is one of the very best things ever tried. having skinned your fish in the manner before directed, crowd the head with peat and the face, and parts of the skin inside, and around the fins and tail, with putty. lay the fish-skin, cut uppermost as before, and ladle in dry plaster, beginning at the tail end; as this fills in, sew up, being careful to shorten the skin, making it deep, and not long and narrow at that part; being particular also to well ram in with a short stick the plaster to fill all out, and to remove ugly creases or depressions. when about a third of the fish is done, fasten your stitches and go on filling in at the head; as you work toward the middle, lift head or tail very gently to peep underneath at the progress you are making. as the stuffing progresses, deepen the body toward the middle, being careful at the same time to well ram in the plaster. finally sew up. now take another board, a little more than the length and breadth of the specimen, lay it upon the top of the skin and tie it to the board on which the fish is resting; by this means you will be enabled to reverse the fish without cracking the skin or destroying the "set" of it. untie your boards and the object is before you right side uppermost. it will now be seen if your modelling is true or not; in the latter case, note where all imperfections occur, reverse the fish once more, and ram more dry plaster in between the stitches, or if the latter be sewn up too tightly, cut them where needed, sewing up again when all is satisfactorily accomplished. the specimen being once again right side uppermost, will appear somewhat flat along the centre, this arises from the plaster accommodating itself to the flat surface of the board. you must now, therefore, pass a wet cloth several times over the surface of the skin, and proceed to pat it in a light and dexterous manner into a more rounded shape with your hand, or by the aid of a piece of board shaped in the manner of a small flat bat. the head will require a great deal of attention; it is now flat and, perhaps, drops down upon the board, causing the upper gill cover to open more widely than it should; to obviate this, prop the nose from the underneath by a piece of peat, or by a wedge-shaped piece of wood; the tail may be twisted or thrown up by the same means if required. the mouth may be kept open as much as desired by pointed wires, one driven through the "nostrils" of the upper jaw, the other wire resting against the teeth inside the lower jaw. the fins being kept damp during the preceding operations, must now be "braced out" by the process heretofore described, and the fish washed, varnished, and dried in the usual manner. nothing, you will observe, has been said as to the oval-shaped piece of board previously used inside the pike mounted by the first process. this is wanted when the fish is thoroughly set and dried; when this takes place, cut the stitches and carefully shake out the plaster. if a large fish, replace this by tow, moderately packed; on this lay an irregularly oval-shaped piece of three-quarter inch board, edges rounded and cut to the shape, and almost the length of the fish. no wires are needed at the head and the tail (one end of the board running into the head), but only those required to support the specimen in its case. when this board is properly in position inside the fish, nail the edges of the skin on it with tacks of a suitable length. nothing is now needed to complete the fish but the fixing of the eyes and the colouring of the skin. the eyes are hollow, and fixed by wax (see chapter xii). in cases where it is undesirable or inconvenient to mount a fish as a whole, the head only may be treated as a taxidermic object. in this case cut off the head behind the scapular arch, leaving sufficient of the skin of the "neck" for nailing on the block. the head being skinned and preserved, as above directed, is then nailed by the skin of the neck on to a similar block to that shown in fig. 27. the mouth is set open when required, and the gullet and underneath the tongue filled up and modelled with either clay, cement, or wax, the tongue remodelled or substituted by a copy in wax or cement, the composition and application of which is fully explained in chapter xii. notes of the colour of the various parts of your specimen should have been taken previously; in some cases, it is a good plan to make a water-colour drawing of the whole or certain parts of your subject when fresh. fish casting .--casting fishes by the plaster of paris method deserves description, as by this means you are enabled to get correct copies of the shapes and peculiarities of any specimen, from the smallest to the largest. procure some plaster of paris of a finer quality--known as "s.f."--than that you have been using previously in modelling mammals, or to fill out the skins of fishes; also some tempered clay--described in chapter vii.--and some strips of board calculated to the depth, width, and length of the fish you wish to "cast." the specimen having had all the mucus washed from its most perfect side, is laid upon one or two sheets of brown paper or common card-board ("straw-board") covering the work-table. [footnote: i see that rowland ward advises the fish being washed with dilute vitriol (sulphuric acid and water) to remove this mucus.] decide now as to the attitude you wish it to finally assume, and taking some of the tempered clay, cut it into thin slices, build it on, as it were, until only the upper half of the fish is exposed, build under the fins--including the caudal one--and spread them out as you wish; the clay will usually stick to their under surfaces, and hold them in position. should they "run back," stick fine pins in them here and there, being sure, however, to cut of the heads of the latter close to the upper surface of the fins. it is often advisable to lay thin card-board or strong paper under the fins, if the clay is so soft as to come up over the edges. having now nicely built in the fish--the upper surface of the clay being carefully smoothed over with a knife-blade and a stiff brush ("artist's hog-hair, no. 8") dipped in water, surround the clay with pieces of board, set up on edge, so as to form a wooden wall around all; the height of this wall should exceed the greatest depth or thickness of the fish by some inches. tie these four walls--planed on their inside surface--around with strong string, finally nailing outside all with long "french" nails, driven into the table as a support against pressure from within. look all over carefully, and if any open spaces appear between the clay tablet and the boards, fill in with more clay. the fish being now ready for casting, take a bowl, which half fill with clean water, into this "dust in" the fine plaster of paris, in small quantities at a time, stirring each portion until all is ultimately mixed smoothly and without lumps; when enough is mixed--and the knowledge of quantity only comes with experience--pour it quickly, yet gently, over the whole surface of the fish; jarring the table with your fist causes the plaster to settle down more evenly, without leaving "blowholes." the plaster should now be an inch or more in thickness over the highest portion of the fish, in order to give sufficient strength for the "return" cast. should this not be so, mix some more plaster and strengthen the cast, endeavouring to get a flat surface on the top. after ten minutes, take away the nails and boards, thus allowing more air to get to the mass of plaster. in half an hour--should the plaster be of good quality--the mould may be raised, turned over, and the fish will tumble out, or may be pulled carefully out without the least trouble. remove the clay, and on looking into the mould it will, if properly made, show every scale and every line, be free from "blow-holes" or blemishes of casting, besides having a fairly even and square surface surrounding the cavity from whence the fish has been extracted. this first mould can be cast into again by plaster of paris, and will, in the case of most fishes, turn out a satisfactory reproduction of the original. some fishes there are, however, so curiously shaped as to make the first or "female" mould so "undercut" as to render it impossible to get a return cast. in this case, nothing avails but the destruction of the first to release the copy. there are several ways of doing this; one of the most simple is sawing with many cuts the edges of the first, or, as it now becomes, the "waste" mould as near to the cavity as you dare, before casting into it; having done which, and allowed several hours, or a day even, to elapse, you proceed to break it away, piece by piece, by gentle blows with a hammer, leaving the enclosed fish to make its appearance little by little. when this plan is adopted, the last cast or copy must be run double the thickness to that you wish to destroy, otherwise you may break the copy instead of the "waste" mould. another way is to make the first mould very thin, or to put thin successive coats of plaster over the fish, with brown paper between each coat, and subsequently breaking them away, layer by layer, after the fish is extracted and the mould is filled in by plaster. in casting into the first mould for the "copy" or perfect cast, it will, of course, be necessary to lay it concavity uppermost, and to surround it with a wall of board like the last, brushing over the concavity, and indeed the whole of the tablet surrounding it, with soft soap and water, or oil, or thin pipe-clay and water; or, if the mould has been baked dry, soaking it in water alone will be sufficient to prevent the copy sticking. recollect that the flatter the tablet--surrounding the cavity left by the fish--is made, the better will be that of the model. supposing that your cast, or model fish, has been turned out in good condition, you will see that there are still certain inequalities of the tablet, and certain roughnesses around the fins, mouth, etc.; these latter must be "relieved" and undercut by the aid of the "undercutting" and "relieving" tools (see figs. 29 and 30), the tablet must be pared flat by a long broad flat chisel called a "firmer," and the edges also nicely squared. your fish is now in high relief on a flat background, but, though having correct form, it still lacks colour. how to colour plaster satisfactorily is a puzzle which has perplexed more persons than taxidermists. speaking for myself, i say that, having coloured the cast, when wet and when dry, with water-colours, used paper varnish when dry, with water-colours and varnished and painted, and painted and varnished the cast in oils, having used "mediums," tempera painting, "secco"--yet i am not satisfied; there appears a want of softness and brilliancy; probably the electro-type or wax process i am now trying may give the desired effect. so disgusted was i at the seeming impossibility of getting "tone" on plaster, that i determined to try paper for the last cast or model; to this end i took lessons at a theatre in the art of "making (paper) faces," with the result that i now employ paper whenever practicable, and find it answer, from a 2 lb. perch to a 2 cwt. skate. two or three most valuable results accrue from the substitution of paper for plaster. first, extreme lightness combined with strength; and secondly, of course, excellence of detail and facility of colouring in either water or oil. for remarks upon the artistic mounting of fishes, see chapters xii, xiii, and xiv. there are, i find, two excellent articles on fish-casting in "science gossip for 1878," to which i must refer my readers for further details. they agree to differ, however, in one important particular. one writer says that plaster-work is as "cleanly as any cooking operation, and there is no reason why ladies should not engage in it"! the other writer speaks of it as "filthy," and, really, i feel inclined to back his opinion; for having now used some tons of plaster, ranging in quantities from a few pounds to 3 cwt. at a time, i must say that, of all the diabolical messes for getting into the hair or on the boots, and about a house or workshop, plaster is the worst. "matter in the wrong place," ma foi! you can't keep it in the right. i see that mr. taylor, amongst other suggestions, advises the use of half glue and treacle (see chapter xii.) to cast the first mould for groups of small fishes. if these glue-moulds were backed with plaster "piece-moulds," they might be useful for larger "undercut" specimens. plaster moulds and casts, it must be remembered, are, when dried, about a quarter of their weight when wet, and the same bulk of dried (not dry) plaster is not half the weight of dried clay. a very scientific way of getting the correct shape of a fish for mounting by taxidermy is to take a cast of the specimen and to then adjust the skin, stuffed by the dry-plaster process, into the cavity of the mould, suffering all to dry therein. fishes are now and then mounted in halves, should one side be very badly mangled; the effect is not very good, however, and should not be resorted to but in extreme cases. large fishes, such as sharks, rays, and sturgeons of great size and weight, must be cast by the "piece-mould" process--described in chapter xii. the mounting of such as these, by processes of taxidermy, differs from all previously described in this chapter. when of excessive size and weight, they may be "set up" with wood and iron (see chapter vii.), or if smaller--say, up to 5 cwt.--may be managed by being cut underneath along the stomach, from head to tail, and mounted by two short iron rods being screwed into a beam of wood, or bar of iron fitted into the body, now filled out with hay, straw, or, better still, clean shavings, supplemented by tow here and there. when all is sewn up, and the mouth--if open--modelled by any of the methods described in chapter xii, the short iron rods protruding from each end of the fish must be let into metal sockets (iron gas pipes will often do) screwed into iron feet, supporting all clear from the floor of the museum or room they are to be exhibited in. ============================================ chapter ix. skinning, preserving, and mounting reptiles. the chief requirement in preserving reptiles is a fine and delicate hand, in order to deal successfully with these mostly thin-skinned objects. i will now take one of the easiest reptiles as our first study, viz, the common snake. formerly, by the old method of skinning, the bodies of all snakes were removed through an incision made along the skin of the stomach. this was a mistake, for the smaller snakes may be skinned through the mouth, in this wise: open the jaws of the snake to their fullest extent, taking care, if a venomous one, not to scratch the fingers with the fangs, which, in the adder or viper, lie folded backward along the roof of the mouth. if the fangs are not required to be shown, the safest plan will be to cut them away with a pointed pair of scissors. holding the snake by the back of the neck with the left hand, push the pointed knife or scissors into the mouth towards the back of the head, feeling at the same time with the point of the knife for the first joint of the cervical vertebrae, having found which proceed to dislocate it with the point of the knife, gently feeling your way, and cutting downward toward the right hand, the thumb of which presses against the snake's head at the under jaw. feel round with the point of the knife or scissors up toward the outer skin, gradually working the flesh away. cut away the under jaw, inside the skin, from its attachment to the flesh, pushing the point of your scissors or knife at the same time as far as you can get it down inside the skin. this all requires time and patience, lest you push the point of the knife or scissors through the skin, and also as you will not at the first trial succeed in detaching the head from the body. the knife or scissors must then be run a little way down the back, to detach the skin. the neck being now entirely free, lay the knife down, and endeavour to push the broken or cut part of the neck up through the mouth; seize the end with your right-hand fingers and gradually slide the skin down with your left hand, turning it inside out until the vent is reached, which carefully cut away; beyond this the skin, instead of coming off easily, holds most tenaciously to the flesh, and the knife again comes into play to free it all around. near the extreme tip of the tail it will be almost impossible to get the flesh out, you must therefore skin as far as you can, and then make a small incision underneath, lay back the skin on each side, and cut the flesh away. this operation will bring the outside of that part inside. return, it, and neatly sew up the cut from the inside, trim away all flesh from the skull bone, take out the eyes, put a stitch in the vent, and anoint the whole of the skin with the preservative. to return the skin, push a small round stick down and pull the skin back on it; when nearing the tail, the stick may be removed and the fingers used to gradually work this end through, or tie a small piece of wool to form a knot on the end of a piece of doubled thread, and push it through by a long fine needle from the inside to the out, at the same time allowing the needle to come through, by doubling up the skin. you may reach the needle with your fingers, or by long pliers, or even shake it down by its own weight, then by pulling gently you return the skin effectually. to stuff the snake insert a funnel in the mouth, and fill the skin through this with fine dry sand, or dry plaster of paris, taking great care to shake the sand well down, and fill in every part in a regular and natural manner. on nearing the head, push a piece of wool in the mouth to prevent the sand from running back, and then adjust the snake to the position you require, leaving the head to be modelled last with clay, putty, or plaster, then remove the wool and make up the throat and inside of the mouth. the natural tongue should be left in, and displayed with fine entomological pins pushed in the hollow underneath, and, if shown open-mouthed, the fangs must be dropped, and the head raised, as in the attitude of striking. large snakes, such as rock snakes or boas, must be cut on the old system, viz, under the belly and skinned out, working up and down, as the muscles have so firm an attachment that the slipping-out process cannot be resorted to, but each inch will have to be laboriously cut away from the skin. sawdust, mixed with a little sand, will be found very useful for stuffing the larger snakes, as the weight of so large a quantity of sand, or plaster, is too great to successfully manipulate. a few hints as to snakes and snake bites may not be out of place here. to distinguish the only venomous snake found in the british isles is an easy matter, if you have the opportunity of examination. in the first place, the viper appears to have a more spade-like and flatter head than the common snake, and has a black cross from near the neck running up to the centre of the head, where it terminates in a black, oval-shaped spot. but the greatest distinction, perhaps, is that a decided pattern runs down the centre of the back, appearing as a chain of obtusely-shaped diamond markings, joined together, and somewhat confused in places. again, it has in the upper jaw two fangs or poison teeth, which in rest lie folded back; on pulling them down with a needle, or by the crooked awl, they appear as fleshy lobes, out of the apex of which is thrust a little glittering point like a small fish bone. this small bone or fang is hollow, and through it the poison is ejected by a process too complex to describe in the pages of this work. the slow-worm, common snake, and the one other rarer species found in britain, have merely the ordinary holding teeth, and are all perfectly harmless. should anyone be so unfortunate as to be bitten or scratched by a viper's fang, a speedy application of liquor ammoniae fort (strong ammonia) to the wound, with the further application of a ligature above the bitten part will be found of benefit, and perhaps avert serious consequences until surgical aid is obtained. ipecacuanha has been recommended, powdered and applied as a poultice, with an internal administration at the time also, of the same drug, but that requires medical knowledge as to the extent and frequency of the doses. to skin frogs, they must be plunged for an hour or so into the hardening solution, no. 15, and then skinned out from the mouth. this requires a finer hand and greater patience even than skinning a snake, as they must be carefully cut all around the mouth, and the body drawn out to the tips of the toes. they may then be filled with sand or plaster. various comic scenes may be made by skilfully grouping frogs, but if required to stand on their hind legs, etc, they will have to be wired, by pushing fine wires or stout "needle points" through a small piece of board into the sole of the foot, to run a little distance up the legs. a drop or two of strong glue, or shellac, may then be placed under each foot, which should be tied down until the glue sets hard. tortoises and turtles may be skinned out, by having the skin of the legs, tail, and head, cut away all round from their attachments to the under shell or plastron. the joints of the limbs should then be cut away from the inside, and the tortoise or turtle laid on its back, in which position the separated limbs hang down, remaining only attached by their top skin (now underneath), to the upper part of the shell or carapace. this exposes the whole of the remaining skin and flesh, which must be cut and scraped out with knives, or with the under-cutting tool. the limbs are then skinned out, preserved and stuffed, and their proper bottom edges, when in position, pushed back and attached by needle points to the plastron. lizards, "horned toads," and chameleons may be cut underneath and filled out with sand or plaster. in all cases where sand is used it may, after the animal is thoroughly dry, be shaken out if desired; but if the reptile is not very large, it is better to leave it in. dry plaster will, in nearly all cases, be found the best medium for filling out the skins of reptiles; with this i have succeeded in giving characteristic and life-like attitudes to moderately-sized alligators, etc. very large saurians may be mounted by either of the methods referred to in the closing sentences of the last two chapters. chapter x. dressing and softening skins or furs as leather. the art of tanning is, as i before observed (vide chapter i.), of the highest antiquity, as systems which are now in vogue must have been known--if even in a modified form--to the ancients. we may roughly divide the operation of tanning into two distinct classes: one which deals with skins without the preservation of the fur, and which turns the skin so operated upon into the material known as leather; and the other in which we seek to preserve the fur or hair in its normal position, at the same time dressing or rendering soft the actual skin itself. [footnote: some time during 1874, mr. joseph tussaud read a paper before the society of arts, in which he described an ingenious method of removing the fur of any animal to an artificial "backing" of india-rubber or flannel, whilst the original skin was utilised as leather.] the first process--the making of leather--does not lie within the scope of this work; suffice it to say, that the hair or fur is first removed by lime, etc, and that after the skin is scraped it is treated variously with oak bark, valonia, sumach, divi-divi, etc.; it is a long and tedious process, and certainly does not lie within the province of a taxidermist to attempt; and though it is possible for a tanner to preserve the fur with the skin, yet the attempt is undesirable, by reason of the false or unnatural colour it permanently gives the fur--totally destroying the character of a light one, and heightening or lowering, as the case may be, the tint of a dark fur. [footnote: technical works on tanning are "tanning, currying, and leather-dressing," by f. dussance: "the arts of tanning, currying, and leather-dressing," from the french of j. de fontenelle and f. malepeyre.] to obviate all these difficulties and disagreeable effects, a totally distinct method of dressing skins has been devised, which is called "white leather dressing." before i describe this, however, it may be as well to say that no liquid, powder, or combination of liquids or powders, is known into which a skin can be plunged, and--without the aid of manual labour--come out as leather. i mention this to correct a popular error, many people supposing that labour has no part in the preparation of "white leather." to those who are not prepared to work hard, and very hard indeed, i say, do not waste your time in reading this chapter. the usual and time-honoured method of dressing skins, say a rabbit's skin, is--directly it is removed from the animal--to nail it on a board, and rub it in with alum four parts, and common salt one part, or plunge it in a warm solution of the same for a day or so, taking it out, nailing it on a board, letting it dry, rubbing it down with pumice stone, and plunging it again and again, and repeating the drying and pumice-stoning process until the skin becomes pliable. this is rather an uncertain process, for if well steeped the hair or fur is constantly damp, or dripping even, in humid weather, and if alum alone is used, though killing much of the dampness, it renders a fine thin skin of a parchment-like texture. however, as anything is better than a damp skin, i have used a mixture of four parts of burnt alum to one part of saltpetre (see formula no. 9) for small skins, finally rubbing down and dressing the skin with lard, into which a little essence of musk has been stirred, and kneading the skin with the hands in bran to remove the superflous grease. this, and all other such processes where alum is used, must, however, give way to the following, which i have used for certain skins for years, and for which i was originally indebted to a correspondent in the english mechanic; his formula was: "mix bran and soft water sufficient to cover the skins, let this stand four hours covered, before being used, then immerse the skins, keeping them well covered for twenty-four hours (less in india), then take out, wash clean, and carefully scrape off all the flesh. to one gallon of water (hot) add one pound of alum and a quarter of a pound of salt. when dissolved and the mixture is cool enough to bear the hand, immerse the skins for twenty-four hours, take out and dry in the shade, and well rub with the hand. stir the liquor, and again immerse for twenty-four hours; dry, and hand-rub as before, and then put the skins for twenty-four hours into warm oatmeal and water, stirring occasionally. dry in the shade, and when the skin is nearly dry, hand-rub till quite dry." the only thing i have found necessary to guard against in this is, that the skins must be perfectly fresh before being put in the bran and water, otherwise it will be necessary to rub them in with the salt and alum first. another improvement is, to tear up the fibre with a little instrument i have invented, or rather adapted (see fig. 35), which is simply a "hog scraper," ground up sharp all round, and then filed up into short rounded teeth where shown; this will be found of incalculable service in tearing off the hard upper skin or dried flesh and blood, which locks up as it were the true skin, and which must be got at before the pelt will become at all flexible. fig. 35--scraper with which to dress skins. often a thorough wetting of the skin will considerably facilitate this operation. constant scraping and hard hand-rubbing, similar to a washerwoman's "rubbing" of clothes, is necessary. in the cases of some skins which are obstinate, thick, or have been simply sun-dried, as are many tigers' and leopards' skins sent from india, it will be found necessary to fix them over a sloping board or on the edge of a table, and to use a spokeshave, or currier's thinning knife, to thin them down--perhaps an eighth of an inch all over--then tear the fibre up with the scraper, grease them with lard, to which has been added essence of musk, and punch them for several hours or several days with a "dolly" in a tub half full of bran or hard-wood sawdust; finally covering them with plaster of paris, or powdered whiting, to absorb the grease; scraping off the old plaster or whiting, and adding fresh from time to time, until the skin is freed of fat and perfectly pliant. [footnote: professional workmen often knead the lard into skins by the medium of their feet and hands--not too clean an operation!] to afterwards clean the fur, dress it down with a "scratch-card" (to be procured of any ironmonger)--steel wire woven on cloth in such a manner that short ends protrude like a wire brush. very fat skins, such as dogs' skins, may, if perfectly fresh, be nailed out and gone over with a saturated solution of borax, or a solution of one part borax to one-eighth part saltpetre, and left to dry in the shade for three months, after which they may be scraped, and their natural fat will, after all superfluity has been removed with plaster, etc, be found to have sufficiently imbued the under or proper skin to render the final greasing unnecessary. the two foregoing processes seem to have been modified with some success by mr. r. backhouse, of stockton-on-tees, whose process is spoken of in the field of june 3rd, 1882, as follows: "the skin, which should be removed from the animal as soon as possible after it has been killed, is stretched and tacked on to a board, the flesh side being outwards. this is at once covered with lard carefully spread over the entire surface, no portion being allowed to escape. as the moisture dries out of the skin, the lard enters the pores and supplies its place, and in about a week's time (the lard being carefully renewed when requisite) the skin will have altered its character, in consequence of being penetrated by the grease. it is then removed and washed thoroughly in warm water and soap until the external grease is removed. during the drying it is necessary to pull and stretch the skin in all directions, so that its texture opens, and it becomes white, owing to the admission of air into the pores; this stretching is accompanied, or rather preceded, by careful scraping or currying with a sharp knife or razor, to remove the fleshy matters and render the skin thinner. with the larger number of skins the process is successful; but some few go bad, apparently from not absorbing the lard with sufficient rapidity.".. possibly the species of mammals treated may have something to do with this, the skins of carnivorous animals bearing exposure better than those of the rodentia--hares, rabbits, squirrels, etc, and insectivora--bats, shrew-mice, and moles--indeed, the latter animals must be skinned almost as soon as they are dead, or the skin turns "green" and goes bad in a very short time. no doubt the vegetable and insect food consumed by these cause fermentation after death, with the resultant putrefaction of the bowels and the thin coverings of the latter. i would here point out, however, that small skins--cats', rabbits', etc.--will be perfectly preserved if stretched out whilst fresh, cured with the chloride of lime preservative (no. 4), and then finally treated with lard and essence of musk, and finished off by either of the preceding methods to render them clean and supple. a correspondent who had treated some cats' skins by this method writes to say he has "succeeded in curing some cats' skins in an admirable manner" by following these instructions. a very convenient mixture of borax and another natural salt has been brought out by mr. robottom, of birmingham (see chapter i). i have given his preparation a long and patient investigation, and can recommend it for small skins, while its convenient form, cleanliness, and low price, place it within the reach of all amateurs. equal parts of salt, alum, and glauber's salts, mixed with half a part of saltpetre, the whole rubbed in several times a day, has been recommended, but i have not tried it. a mixture of sulphur and arsenic with soft soap is sometimes used to dress skins with, and if left on for about a year certainly renders them very pliant, after the removal of the grease. the north american indians, i believe, smoke their deer skins, etc. and after working them, use brains to dress them with. the skins of mammals in the flesh may, if bloody, be washed, should the blood be new, or combed with the scratch card (see ante) if it has dried on the hair or fur. in old skins washing is effective when the animal is relaxed. freshly skinned deer and bulls' heads should always be washed and combed, and wrung out before having the preservative applied. mammals' fur is also considerably improved in tone by being well brushed with stiff horse or carriage brushes, and afterwards wiped down with turpentine, followed by benzoline. when a skin is properly cleaned and finished, it may be lined with red or black cloth, or baize, and a "pounced" border of cloth attached. the tools for "pouncing" are to be bought at most saddlers' or ironmongers'. i have been asked many times what to do, if camping out abroad, supposing you shot a tiger or a bear, and wished to preserve the skin as a "flat." simply lay it on the ground and slit the skin underneath, in a straight line through the under lip to the tip of the tail, then make four cross cuts from the median line along the inside of the limbs down to the toes, and skin out the body by stripping it in a careful manner, not allowing any pieces to be cut away, in case you might change your mind and wish it mounted as a specimen. take out the skull, clean and preserve it, and though skinning out the toes completely, be careful to retain the claws in their seats. when the body is removed, "flesh" the skin, which means scraping and cutting away all superfluous flesh and fat, then lay it out flat and rub it well in with the burnt alum and saltpetre (formula no. 9). in dressing thick skins, it will be advisable to make a paste of the alum and saltpetre by mixing it with a little water, and repeatedly rub this mixture into those parts where the skin is thickest, such as around the lips, eyes, ears, etc, taking care that not a wrinkle in any part escapes a thorough dressing, otherwise it will assuredly "sweat," and the hair come off in such places. the skin may now be rolled or folded together for travelling, but the next day, when settled in camp, it must be dressed again--twice will be quite sufficient for any but the thickest or most greasy skins; after that it must be exposed day by day to the sun and air, taking care meanwhile to guard it against all possible enemies. treated in this manner, it has no "nature" in it, but is "as stiff as a board;" before this happens, however, it will be advisable to roll it, unless you have plenty of space at disposal on the floor of a travelling waggon, etc, in which case it may be folded to fit. a folded skin is, however, worse to treat, subsequently, than a rolled one. valuable skins should be, when practicable, sprinkled with insect powder, turpentine, or pepper, and sewn up in sacking until they can be tanned, or made into soft leather, by any one of the processes previously described. if time is no object the skin may, after the first rubbing-in of the preservative, be stretched by the old-fashioned method of "pegging out," or by the more efficient professional "frame," made of four bars of wood, to which the specimen is "laced," or sometimes made of bars of wood and stout sacking, adjustable by means of wood screws, which open the bars and stretch the attached skin in a proper manner to the required size. when alum, etc, cannot be obtained, recourse must be had to common salt, which is generally procurable in any part of the world; a strong --almost a saturated--solution with water must be made of this in a tub, and the skin placed in it. if possible, change the liquor after a few days and add fresh; head the tub up tightly and the skin will keep many years. i received the skin of a polar bear, sent from the arctic regions to leicester for the town museum, simply flayed and pickled in this manner, and after a lapse of two years it was examined, and found to be perfectly sweet and firm--quite fit for mounting when opportunity served. of course, these salted subjects are terrible nuisances either to mount or to treat as flat skins, having to go through many processes to rid them of the salt which pervades them. the first process is thorough washing and steeping in water, constantly changed; after that experience alone determines the treatment to be pursued. if alum were mixed with rough salt in the proportion of two parts of the former to one of the latter, the solution would become more astringent in its operation. a pickle made of oatmeal, saltpetre, and boiling vinegar has been recommended, but i have not yet tried it. i think i have now put the would-be tanner and currier in a fair way to do some of the dirtiest work imaginable, and if after a fair trial he does not cry, "hold, enough!" and hand all future leather-dressing over to the professionals, i shall indeed think him "hard to kill." in conclusion, i can only reiterate to those who wish to do skins well by any of the foregoing methods, that nothing can be done without hard work. chapter xi relaxing and cleaning skins--"making-up" from pieces. relaxing skins.--in many instances, especially when collecting abroad, it may be found incompatible with the time and storage space at the disposal of the collector to set up birds and animals in their natural positions. to obviate these difficulties we make a skin as previously described, and by this means pack many in the space which would otherwise be occupied by one. the time comes, however, when we wish to "set up" the skins procured by ourselves, or by others, and for this purpose we "relax" them. "relaxing" is performed in various ways, but probably the oldest plan is that of simply unstuffing the skin, laying it down on a board, wrapping the feet and legs round with wet cloths or tow, and applying the same to the insides of the butts of the wings, allowing the skin to remain from one to four or five days in this position, according to its size; then, when the legs, feet, and wings are sufficiently damped, warm water is poured into the orifices of the skin, and suffered to run out at the eyes and beak. it is then ready for stuffing in the ordinary way. another "rough and ready" method is simply pouring hot water through the bird's skin; this relaxes just sufficiently to bend the head, which many workmen of slovenly habits consider quite sufficient! the next most ancient method is relaxing by the plaster box, which is a rough box, with a lid made to fit over all tightly, and having the whole of its inside lined with a coating of plaster of paris mixed with water, and laid on two or three inches thick. 'when a bird is to be "relaxed," the inside of the box is saturated with water, which the plaster readily absorbs up to a certain point. then the surplus water is poured off, the skin or skins are placed within the box, the lid is fastened down, and the whole placed in the cellar for so long a time as is required to thoroughly soften the included skins. this plan, though fairly efficient for the smaller skins, must give place to that which i have ever adopted, and which is almost as effective for a large as for a small skin. it is this: procure a box of suitable size, which, for greater efficiency, may be lined with zinc. into this put several quarts of clean silver sand well damped with water, but not up to the point of actual wetness. wrap each skin separately in a clean rag or in a piece of unprinted paper ("cap paper" will do for the smaller birds), pull back the sand to one end of the box, leaving a thin layer, however, all over the remaining part of the bottom, on which place the skins, covering them up as you go on with the sand from the other end. when covered with the proper depth of sand, lay a damp cloth over the top, and put the box away in the cellar or in the shade. in from three days to a week, according to the size of the skins, they will be found more thoroughly relaxed by this than by any other method, and will be kept--by their covering paper or linen rag--from having their feathers soiled or disturbed by the sand. in the first edition, i decried the practice of plunging birds' skins into water in the manner pursued by waterton and his followers, but i had not at that time found anyone to please me in the subsequent manipulation of skins after being taken out of water. i have now, however, changed my views on the subject, and will proceed to describe a plan, which, though entailing some little trouble, is yet so simple, and so complete in its effects, as almost to supersede the previous methods, when the operator has attained any degree of proficiency in this. the skin to be operated upon is, if small, simply placed in a pan or bucket partly filled with water, and weighted own in such a manner that it shall always be beneath the surface. if the taxidermist is in a fair way of business, he will find a wooden tank, about 36 in. by 24 in. by 12 in. deep (inside measurement), sufficiently large for his needs. this tank should be "tongued" and dressed with red lead, or lined with zinc, to render it waterproof. of course, the professional will not find it large enough for anything but medium-sized skins; for the larger ones, and for mammals, he will require other and larger tanks. a petroleum cask (procurable from any oilman for a few shillings), cut unequally in two parts, will be found of service when one large skin only is soaked at a time. when the skin is in the water, a board may be placed upon it, weighted so as not to flatten against the bottom of the vessel, or it may be kept in position under the water by pressing thin slips of wood over from side to side. the skin being well saturated--which, according to the size of the bird, will take place in from twelve to twenty-four hours--must have the stuffing removed from it, and then be allowed to soak for so long a time as experience will dictate. [footnote: this should not be attempted before the skin is properly soaked, otherwise the cotton wool, or whatever it maybe stuffed with, will "stick" and frequently pull the head, etc. off with it.] as a rule, however, when the wings and tail will spread out with gentle handling, the bird is fit to mount. sometimes the legs, if thick, and even the wings and tail, if large, will require a longer time to soak than is conducive to the well-being of the remainder of the skin; in this case, nothing remains but to skilfully pull off the wings, legs, and tail, and let them soak a few hours longer. [footnote: this would seem to an amateur very rough treatment, but often it is the only method to pursue especially if the skin be "tender," although in them latter case vinegar is recommended to be added to the water in which it is steeped.] supposing, however, that the skin is properly relaxed without recourse to this, it must then be hung up by a wire secured through the nostrils, in order to drain the water out of it. after hanging a few hours (or many, if large) it is, when all the water has drained away from it, but while yet damp, carefully wiped down in every part with benzoline, applied liberally, but from head to tail, the way of the feathers; this is important. the skin may now be placed in a long shallow box, called the dry plaster box, and all the feathers well covered above and below with common dry plaster of paris, and the skin allowed to be buried in it for three or four hours, then the damp caked plaster may be shaken off and fresh dry plaster added, allowing it to remain for several more hours. this should be repeated until the feathers are fairly dry--which, if the bird be large, will take from twelve to twenty-four hours. the feathers of the skin must now be beaten with a bundle of stiff feathers, or the wing of a goose, or other large bird, until nearly dry, then dry plaster added from time to time, and the skin twirled about in the open air if possible. very soon the feathers will cease to remain clogged with plaster, and will come out ready for mounting, nicely dried, fresh, and so beautifully clean as to surprise any person ignorant of the process. carefully managed, this is one of the most valuable aids to artistic taxidermy, as by its means birds' skins are rendered as limp and supple, and much tougher, than if just removed from the body. in proof of my assertion, i may mention that i have caused skins from ten to fifteen years old, and ranging in size from a cassowary to a humming bird, to be prepared by this method, all of which subsequently mounted up in a first-rate manner. [footnote: a humming bird, after relaxing by water, is, when drained sufficiently, best treated by plunging in benzoline and then carefully dried in plaster. a night in water, and half-an-hour's treatment with benzoline and plaster, is sufficient for these small creatures.] the points to observe are--first, perfect relaxing; secondly, wiping down thoroughly with benzoline; thirdly, drying the feathers of the skin well, by dusting in plaster and beating and agitating them in a current of air. should the skin be greasy, covered with fat, or imperfectly freed of flesh (as many of the foreign birds' skins are), it will be necessary to scrape and trim when the specimen comes out of the plaster, before it is finally cleaned. in any case, it is always advisable to turn the skin of the head inside out, stretch the face, scrape the neck, and stuff the head in the ordinary manner before returning the skin. the great advantage in the water process is, that a "past master" in the method can mount a skin in as artistic and natural a manner as if done from the flesh. usually, specimens done from the "skin" are at once recognisable by their uneasy and "wooden" appearance, but i defy anyone to pick out the skins in the leicester museum--unless by their neater appearance--from those anciently mounted from the flesh. skins of mammals, if cured by the formula (no. 9) given in chapter iv, need only to be plunged in water for a night or so to relax them, wrung out, thinned down where required, and mounted straight away; a wet skin being an advantage when modelling mammals, wet cloths even being necessary to cover over certain parts, should the mounting occupy more than a day or so. this, if the skin is properly cured, does not injure the fur or any part in the slightest degree, while, at the same time, it thoroughly relaxes. as newly relaxed skins (especially those of birds) dry rapidly it will be advisable to have everything ready, and shape them up as quickly as possible. the colours of the bills and feet of most birds recover their pristine hues whilst being relaxed--a matter of great importance as assisting the naturalist to the subsequent natural rendering of those parts. cleaning birds' skins, etc.--formerly, it appears, the orthodox method of cleaning birds' skins was by the application of water and plaster of paris. when it was wished to remove blood, or other stains, from a white or a light-coloured bird, this was effected by means of a soft piece of wadding saturated with warm water, and then rapidly and lightly applied to the stained part, followed by plaster of paris dusted on the way of the "grain," and allowed to remain on the specimen until perfectly dry, when it easily came off in cake-like pieces, leaving the feathers thoroughly cleansed of all impurities. if the wadding became overcharged with blood, it was, of course, changed from time to time before the plaster was thrown on. though this method does very well for blood stains of a recent date, it will not remove grease or the stains from old skins. this was always a weak point with the taxidermists of yore, who used, with very meagre results, turpentine and plaster of paris to clean their skins. this went on for many years, and, though an unsatisfactory state of things, had to be endured, as nothing better was known. some few years ago "benzine collas" was introduced, and the taxidermists were not long in finding out its valuable properties for feather cleaning. "benzoline" (benzol, or benzine c6h6), then came into more general use, and was, of course, found to have all the properties of the so-called "benzine collas." this discovery, we may say, completely revolutionised the art of feather cleaning. it served equally as well as the other preparation, and its superior cheapness placed it within the reach of everybody. the cleansing property of benzoline is still somewhat a secret out of the profession, and is really worth, as a matter of business, all the money which is sometimes asked for divulging it to an amateur. when, therefore, you have a bird which is greased, or stained with greasy dirt, etc, wipe it down the way of the feathers with a piece of wool saturated with common (or french) benzoline, using from time to time fresh wool as the other becomes soiled. when the feathers are well damped, cover the newly-cleaned part with dry plaster of paris, allowing the bird to remain from one to two or three hours, at the expiration of which time take it out, dusting the waste plaster off with a soft bundle of feathers, do not be alarmed if the bird looks somewhat miserable at the outset, but be sure that, if the plaster is dusted on the way of the feathers, all will come out right. blood, whether fresh or old, is best removed by warm water as just described, and the feathers then carefully wiped down with benzoline, before putting, on the plaster; this obviates the roughness often observable in water-cleaned birds. [footnote: the american publication, "science," points out that the addition of salt to the water cleanses blood from feathers, by preventing the solution of the blood-globules, and diffusion to the colouring matter, or red haemoglobin. i have found this "wrinkle" of great benefit in cleansing white-plumaged birds.] sometimes, in very old skins, successive applications of water, turpentine, benzoline, and plaster, carefully managed, will work wonders. i have mentioned the fact that birds may be plunged into turpentine to rid them of insects. after this process they do not readily dry in, proper form, remaining greasy and streaked with, dirt--in fact, in a generally deplorable condition (as i know to my cost, teste, the leicester museum collection, ignorantly treated in this manner before my advent). birds treated with turpentine must be well washed down afterwards with benzoline and then dried in plaster of paris, as before described. in cleansing old specimens, do not forget to dust them, or to beat them thoroughly with feathers, before applying the benzoline, etc. in a fresh specimen it would be a person's own fault if he should fail to clean a bird, even were it dipped in blood and grease. patience and several cleanings are all that are necessary. dark plumaged birds--which may have light or white parts--will require care in cleaning, in order that their darker feathers may not be dulled by contact with the white plaster. should this happen, however, in spite of all pains, it will be found that beating with feathers, and a light touching over with wadding, on which a very little benzoline has been poured, will brighten them up wonderfully. ostrich and other feathers may be effectually cleaned by any of the foregoing methods, and, by management, re-curled with a blunt knife and the fingers. "making up" from pieces.--i have before mentioned that birds are sometimes made up feather by feather, and also when pulled to pieces for "relaxing." the first is simply pretty pastime, which any person possessed of patience, some little ability, and a stock of feathers, paste, and paper, may indulge in as a recreation. the latter, however, is a different matter, and is practised in cases where a bird's skin is accidentally torn in several parts, or drops to pieces when "relaxed" through imperfect curing, or by old age. when this happens, the amateur need not feel as if the world would be the next thing to tumble to pieces, but simply get to work thus: make a body of tow, with neck attached, as described; next, pull the legs off (if they have not previously fallen off), wire them, and attach them firmly to the body by clenching their free ends; bend these legs into the position you wish the specimen ultimately to assume and attach the wires at the feet to a block or perch. a t, formed of two pieces of wood, the bottom end attached to a block, is, perhaps, the best support, as you can get all round to adjust everything, even to the tail. your progress up to this point is simply a headless neck attached to a tow body, supported by natural legs fixed to a perch. i assume that your fragments are sufficiently relaxed, and the feathers cleaned and nearly dried. all the fat must, of course, have been scraped off the inside of each piece of skin. arrange these pieces in the order they should come upon the model, to get the "fit," as a dressmaker would arrange the patterns of a dress upon a lady. notice where your model is too small or misshapen, and bind on pieces of tow; or paste and bind on wadding, excepting near the wings, where wires would fail to pierce wool or wadding. when properly-shaped, give the whole of the model a good dressing with flour paste (see no. 31), into which a little carbolic acid has been stirred. paste the inside of each piece of skin with this, and commence to finally rearrange them. as a rule, the under and breast pieces are fixed first, then the wings are wired and firmly clenched on the body; adjust the wings into proper position, bringing the breast feathers over at the shoulders; next, put on the wing coverts, the back, the tail (firmly wired), and the upper and under tail coverts; lastly, the head and neck pieces, shaping the made neck into position, etc, as you proceed. [footnote: note that even in close-winged birds, which a pieced specimen such as this one described must be of necessity, it is always advisable to wire the wings as for flight, running them on these wires close to the body, and giving them by this means the necessary curvature; entirely different, and much more natural, than if simply bolted on by straight wires running through the shoulders into the body.] sometimes it is necessary to slip a piece of wadding underneath to swell out a certain set of feathers; in this case, lift up the surrounding parts with a crooked awl or with the feather-pliers, and carefully insert the wadding in such a manner that the paste shall not clog the other feathers in juxtaposition. when finished to your satisfaction, lightly sponge off any excess of paste with warm water; wipe down with benzoline, and dust plaster thickly over all the specimen; this assists the drying and cleans it. in an hour or so dust off the plaster with a bunch of feathers, and bind the skin with "wrapping cotton" in the usual manner. set it in a warm place, or in a current of air, for a week or so, to dry, and, lastly, put in the eyes and finish off. the foregoing, though apparently a caesarian operation, is not difficult to a practised hand. i may, perhaps, here mention, in order to encourage my readers, that i myself once successfully mounted a large snowy owl from thirteen pieces of skin, and that had there been twenty-three it would have come out just as well. in "relaxing" it is often better, especially in such specimens as birds of paradise, to pull off the legs and wings; by this means the skin is more easily stretched, and always, in the hands of a master, makes up more satisfactorily than by any other means. chapter xii colouring bills and feet of birds, bare skin of mammals, fishes, etc.--restoring shrunken parts by a wax process--drying and colouring ferns grasses, seaweeds, etc.--"piece moulds," and modelling fruit in plaster--preserving spiders--making skeletons of animals, skeleton leaves etc.--polishing horns, shells, etc.--egg collecting and preserving--additional formulae, etc. colouring bills and feet of birds.--birds which, when alive, have either legs, bills, or faces of various bright colours, lose these tints when dead, and after lapse of time, the colouring matter in some cases totally disappears, and nothing can restore the loss of pigment but artificial treatment of the faded parts. to do this satisfactorily is not one of the easiest matters in the world, inasmuch as two things are to be strictly guarded against. one--thick painting, which hides all the characteristics of the scutellae, or plates of the legs and toes, or fills up the minute papillae of the face; the other--imparting a too shining or varnished appearance to the parts coloured. so little colour is required for this purpose that i have found the oil-colour tubes used by artists to be the handiest and cheapest. the colour, when squeezed out, is to be thinned with turpentine only, until it readily flows off the brush on to the beak or legs of the specimen; if properly done it is very transparent, and of just sufficient quality to give the necessary brightness without undesirable shininess. the colours that are most useful are chrome yellow, yellow ochre, prussian blue, permanent blue, light red, burnt umber, flake white, and vermilion. with these every shade of grey, blue, green, red, or pink can be obtained; they are all cheap, but if a quantity of vermilion is desired, it is cheapest bought as a powder at the oilman's, and mixed as required. when colour tubes are not procurable, the same colours are to be obtained at the oilman's in powder, or ready mixed, which latter must be thinned with one part transparent paper varnish to two parts turpentine (turps), the varnish being added or decreased as dry or mixed colours are used. "brunswick black," a cheap and durable brown, if laid on thinly, i.e. thinned with turps, is sometimes used for colouring the noses of mammals. it must be recollected, however, that greys predominate in some noses over browns, and that the surface is seldom of one tint, hence "brunswick black" is seldom used by artists, who prefer to make tints from some of the colours mentioned. faces of parrots must be whitened with dry "flake white" applied with a piece of cotton wool. the bills of toucans, and similar birds, require some nice colouring to blend the various tints one within the other. if the reader requires a more scientific method of doing this, i must refer him to "waterton's wanderings in south america," in which work he will find an account of the manner in which that eccentric naturalist cut out the insides of his toucans' bills, paring them down to the outer layer, through which the subsequent artificially-introduced colour was revealed. it would, no doubt, be possible to introduce colour into combs and wattles, and also into the bills of some species of birds by subcutaneous injections of various dyes when the specimen was fresh, but as all taxidermists are not skilled anatomists, and have not too much time to spare in doing what is--at best--but an unsatisfactory and unpractical method, i may relieve their anxiety by saying at once that the difficulty attendant on shrinkage of the integument may be avoided by using wax, with which to thinly paint the large bills of some birds, and the legs of all, restoring also the fleshy appearance of wattles, etc. let us take one or two representative birds--first, an eagle, to work upon, premising that your bird is finished and dry, and that you have previously accurately copied into your note-book the colours of the soft parts, you will begin by brushing over the parts to be coloured with a very little turpentine. next, heat in a pipkin, or "patty-pan," some beeswax, into which a little common resin has been powdered, just sufficient to harden the wax under the point of brittleness; apply this with camel-hair brushes of different sizes to the eyelids (the eye being in and fixed), the superciliary ridge, the cere, the gape, and all over the bill, and legs, and feet, regulating the thickness of the wax thus--very thin over the bill and eyelids, a little thicker upon the cere, ridge, and gape, and quite thick upon the legs and feet; so much so, indeed, in places on the latter, as to necessitate carving up with tools to reproduce the underlying shrunken scutes, etc. this, of course, is a delicate operation, involving practice and artistic perception of form. remove all superfluous wax by paring with curved awls of various sizes, and rubbing down with rag wetted in turpentine. some parts of the legs may be treated with hot irons (large wires, old awls, knives, etc.). when the wax is sufficiently cold, which it will be in a quarter of an hour after finishing, commence colouring, by using the colours direct from the tubes, with as little admixture of "turps" as possible. [footnote: winsor and newton, rowney, or roberson, are some of the best makers of these.] note the different tints--quite three shades of yellow upon the cere, four or five upon the bill itself, and perhaps half-a-dozen upon the legs and feet, and carefully put them on. properly finished, your eagle will--if correctly shaped--be quite life-like; all the soft parts now look full and fleshy, having lost that hard appearance inseparable from direct painting on the shrivelled integument without the intervention of wax. the wattles and combs of gallinaceous birds, after being washed with preservative (formula no. 15), or, when practicable, skinned out and filled, together with analogous processes on the vultures, and also the pouches of pelicans, etc, may be treated in like manner, the wax being thinly or thickly painted as required. the inside of the mouths of mammals, their tongues, eyelids, and noses, should be treated in a similar manner. the skin of fishes also, which, when dry, shrinks away above the eye and around the mouth and lips, should have these parts replaced by wax before colouring, in the manner practised on the new specimens in the leicester museum. so little, however, is the want of this understood, that, of the thousands of stuffed fishes exhibited in the fisheries exhibition, i looked in vain for one with unshrivelled lips or orbital ridges. for the credit of artistic taxidermy, let us hope i overlooked some, finished as they should be. the fins of fishes may be repaired with thin tissue paper, or, if finless by accident--"ware cat!"--may be replaced by wax. white wax may be coloured in some instances before using. paraffin wax does in some situations, but is not a very tractable medium. dry colours may sometimes be rubbed into the wax with advantage. the colouring of a fish's skin, which, when set up and dried, is colourless, as noted, is a nice operation involving some artistic ability; the same remarks apply as those upon the colouring of the bills and feet of birds (see ante), but with this difference, that although the colour should be thinly applied as directed, yet in this instance the appearance of wetness has to be represented. in ordinary taxidermic work this is managed by adding clear "paper" varnish, or "roberson's medium," to the colours, thinned by turpentine, floating the tints on the skin of the specimen, and nicely blending them, in order to obviate unnatural streaks or bands of colour. speaking of the duck-billed platypus, the rev. j. g. wood, in "homes without hands," has some pertinent remarks upon the manner in which nearly all taxidermists allow the cuticle to dry and shrivel, to the ultimate distortion of the surrounding parts: "the wonderful duck-like mandibles into which the head is prolonged are sadly misrepresented in the stuffed specimens which we generally see, and are black, flat, stiff, and shrivelled, as if cut from shoe leather. the dark colour is unavoidable, at all events in the present state of taxidermy. bare skin invariably becomes blackish-brown by lapse of time, no matter what the previous colour may have been, so that the delicate tints of an english maiden's cheek and the sable hue of the blackest negro would in a few years assume the same dingy colour, and become quite undistinguishable from each other. but there is no excuse now-a-days for allowing the bare skin to become shrivelled. the colours we cannot preserve, the form we can and ought to reproduce. no one would conceive, after inspecting a dried specimen, how round, full, and pouting were once those black and wrinkled mandibles, and how delicately they had been coloured while the animal retained life. their natural hue is rather curious, the outer surface of the upper mandible being very dark grey, spotted profusely with black, and its lower surface pale flesh-colour. in the lower mandible the inner surface is flesh-coloured, and the outer surface pinky white, sometimes nearly pure white." all this could easily be avoided by the taxidermist first skinning the beak and lips to their farthest extent, and then filling them with clay or composition, and afterwards waxing and colouring the parts in question. small birds having black feet or bills, which permanently retain their colour, need only to have them slightly brushed with oil, before casing up, to give them proper freshness. hollow eyes.--i have for a great number of years discarded the conventional glass eyes--glass buttons i have heard them irreverently termed!--for all fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals, excepting the smallest, using, in their stead, hollow half-globes rather more oval than round; these are hand-painted on the inside with either water or oil-colours, and when dry are varnished, filled in with wadding and putty, or modelling-wax, not clay, and fixed in the orbits with wax, see ante. these, properly coloured, and, in the instance of fishes, gilded inside, are wonderful representations of the natural eye, and when properly inserted, the cornea in mammals reproduced by wax, and the eyelids properly managed, give a most life-like and natural appearance to any specimen. [footnote: glass eyes have of late been much improved in shape and colour by the germans, and also by some english eyemakers, who have had the sense to listen to the suggestions of artistic taxidermists. i have by me now a really beautiful pair of glass lynx eyes, veined and streaked, and "cornered" in porcelain, in almost as perfect a manner as could be managed by hand-painting.] "piece moulds" and modelling tongues, muscles, etc, in composition. as i stated at the end of chapter vii, "composition" has for its base one of three things--clay, plaster, or wax. the uses of the first i have fully explained--glue-water and plaster will stiffen or toughen it. there is also "terra-cotta" clay, which, if moulded into shape, can be "fired," and is lighter, and retains its shape without cracking. its service to the taxidermist is limited to the reproduction of certain bones and some few natural objects, such as fungi, etc. plaster casts of almost anything may be made by "piece-casting," which is casting arranged to take moulds from anything "undercut" or complicated; such, let us say, as a lion's head with open jaws, or the human face, surrounded by a wreath of leaves and flowers, as in the antique sculptures. assuming you had such a model as this to cast from, you would commence by oiling or soaping the whole in the ordinary manner. the plaster being prepared, is poured on the neck or chin, being prevented from spreading to other parts by clay placed across as a barrier. the first section, being cast, is trimmed, and its edges cut diagonally toward the chin, in such a manner that the next piece ultimately unlocks from it, without being wedged by undercasting. so you may proceed, trimming each piece, cutting its edges to prevent locking, and casting bit by bit until you reach the hair and forehead, with wreath. here the pieces will be numerous, and your ingenuity will be exercised to keep out of trouble from getting some piece or another to lock the others. the face will often mould into three or four pieces; but it is on the forehead, chin, and throat--and, if a lion's head, in the open mouth--where the multiplicity of parts may perplex. these small pieces are, when taken from off the model, very difficult to put together again without a core; hence, when the mould is complete, each little piece must have a shallow hole cut on its top, be replaced on the model, and a "jacket-mould" cut into two or more pieces by string (as described at chapter vii) made over the whole. this jacket keeps all together for the ultimate casting by the pegs in its surface made by the holes of the pieces underneath. the ultimate cast is made by plaster being poured into a hole left at one end of the mould for that purpose. should this ultimate casting be wanted hollow, it will be necessary to shake the plaster, when poured in, around the mould in the manner described for making wax fruit. small undercut articles may be cast from, by making a mould of best glue--"gelatine glue"--which readily stretches enough to "clear" undercuts and come off the model. to get a model from this glue mould, cover the original model you wish to cast from with as thick a covering of clay as you wish your gelatine mould to be when run; upon this pour plaster to form a "jacket," letting its top and bottom rest on the top and bottom of the original model. when the clay is removed, and the "jacket" fitted on again, it will, of course, only touch at top and bottom, leaving an interspace all over the remainder of the model. a hole being now cut in the "jacket," the glue [footnote: made by steeping for a night, and allowing it to absorb all the water it will, throwing away the surplus, and boiling the remainder in the usual manner in a glue-kettle. pour on when hot, not boiling.] is poured in over the original oiled model, and fills up the interspace left by the removal of the clay. when cold, it, of course, forms a mould into which plaster can be run, in the usual manner, to form the ultimate model. piece-casting of large subjects, where the various parts are cast and then fitted together afterwards, is best understood by learning a little from some italian modeller, or looking over the seams (representing the "piece-casting" joints) in some one or other of brucciani's reproductions, which may be seen in almost any art gallery or museum. one great advantage of this system is, that by its means large models, if built up in ordinary field clay, or by any other means, may be cast from in plaster or in metal by the intervention of piece moulds, failing which it would be impossible to do so. the resultant model, if in plaster, is not cast solid, but is hollowed out in the casting--to prevent weight--by "cores" being inserted in the moulds. "casting sand" is, however, necessary when casting in metal, together with all sorts of technical appliances and knowledge beyond the scope of the taxidermist, and although i have found it necessary to cast in metal for some purposes, it is so seldom needed that i do not purpose describing what any friendly brass founder will tell the amateur in a few minutes. the casting by amateurs at an ordinary fire is limited to three metals--lead, tin, and zinc--or a mixture of two. how large models in clay, etc, can be made is described by mr. waterhouse hawkins, f.g.s, etc, in his paper on the reproductions he made of the extinct animals exhibited at the crystal palace, sydenham: "by careful study of their works i qualified myself to make preliminary drawings, with careful measurements of the fossil bones in our museum of the college of surgeons, british museum and geological society. thus prepared, i made my sketch-models to scale, either a sixth or twelfth of the natural size, designing such attitudes as my long acquaintance with the recent and living forms of the animal kingdom enabled me to adapt to the extinct species i was endeavouring to restore. "i caused the clay model to be built of the natural size by measurements from the sketch model, and when it approximated to the form, i, with my own hand in all instances, secured the anatomical details and the characteristics of its nature. "some of these models contained thirty tons of clay, which had to be supported on four legs, as their natural history characteristics would not allow of my having recourse to any of the expedients for support allowed to sculptors in an ordinary case. i could have no trees, nor rocks, nor foliage to support these great bodies, which, to be natural, must be built fairly on their four legs. in the instance of the iguanodon, it is not less than building a house upon four columns, as the quantities of material of which the standing iguanodon is composed, consist of 4 iron columns, 9 ft. long by 7 in. diameter, 600 bricks, 650 5 in. half-round drain-tiles, 900 plain tiles, 38 casks of cement, 90 casks of broken stone; making a total of 640 bushels of artificial stone. these, with 100 ft. of iron hooping and 20 ft. of cube inch bar constitute the bones, sinews, and muscles of this large model, the largest of which there is any record of a casting being made." other uses of plaster are also described in chapters vi. and vii. one of the uses of plaster in modelling is, however, to reproduce flesh, etc. for this purpose mix plaster of paris (best s.f.) with boiled oil until it forms a smooth, thick putty, which, though at first capable of much finger-and-thumb manipulation, dries as hard as stone, and is fairly light and impervious to damp. plaster will also make a putty if mixed with glue-water. the composition used by the picture-frame makers is also a first-rate medium, being susceptible to the softening influences of hot water when newly made, but ultimately dries as hard as the preceding. it is made variously, but perhaps the best is made thus: cement for modelling. three parts best glue. one part linseed oil. one part powdered resin. whiting. tallow candle. melt the glue with water until it is moderately thin. boil up the resin and oil together (be careful of fire). mix up this with the glue by thorough stirring and boiling together, turn it all out into a bucket (unless you are boiling it in one), and add half a tallow candle. stir in enough powdered whiting to make a thick putty. pour some out on a plate, and let it get cold; you will then be able to determine whether the mixture requires more or less glue, whiting or oil. it should dry tough, but not too brittle, and should, when cut into strips and warmed by hot water or steam, be tough and yet pliable. properly made, this cement is invaluable to the taxidermist, as it works well by the hand or by tools, drying slowly until it sets. it can be worked over real or modelled bones to show sinews or muscles as previously mentioned. the tongues of mammals or fishes may be cast either in plaster, glue, or wax, and subsequently modelled in this cement, plaster, or wax, as required. wax is the last, and, as i have before pointed out, is, whether used melted or softened by warm water, of the highest service to the artist. beeswax, when melted, will mix well with either plaster or whiting, or with both, and will make a useful modelling composition, its brittleness being determined by its containing more or less plaster. wax will also mix with red ochre, and makes a modelling composition. modelling wax is sold, however, ready prepared, and is useful to pack under the skin for delicate muscles or "flabby" folds of skin. paraffin wax melted, and modelled when half cold, is also sometimes of service; it has, however, so little affinity for "sticking" as to come away from almost anything smooth, on the slightest provocation. white lead stiffened with whiting is sometimes useful in taking the place of putty, and is a trifle more durable. perhaps, at the end of this section, it may not be amiss to point out to the modeller that it is of the highest importance that all his tools should be freed from dirt and plaster at the conclusion of his day's work; scarcely anything rusts and spoils tools more quickly than damp plaster left on them. to imitate blood.--frequently blood is required to be shown, as in instances where some animal may be represented tearing its prey. usually this is done by thickly painting on vermilion and red lead mixed with varnish, or brushing on red lead mixed with thick glue, as a base on which to subsequently lay the vermilion. i may point out, however, that blood differs in tint, and that the appearance of torn flesh, fresh blood, and coagulated blood is best got by painting the parts with wax, and tinting, with a little vermilion, some madder brown, or madder lake (a rather expensive colour), and light red, arranged and blended one with the other as in nature. should you be setting up a large group, such as a tiger tearing open a deer, or a vulture at a sheep, you may represent the liver and other organs in modelling clay or plaster, dried, waxed, and coloured, or by coloured wax alone if the part to be modelled is not large. snow, frost, and ice.--the appearances of snow and frost are imitated in a variety of ways. pounded white sugar; alum powdered, or put on boiling, and suffered to crystallize; borax, two parts, alum, four parts, burnt in a shovel over the fire; and various other crystalline preparations. nothing, however, is half so good as using best s.f. plaster of paris mixed with powdered "glass frosting"--bought from the glass-blower's or artificial eyemaker's--to imitate snow, the powdered glass frosting being thrown upon the foliage and rocks--the latter being gummed or varnished with paper varnish--to imitate ice. blocks of ice require special treatment with glass and thin paper strained over a framework and varnished to get a good and natural effect. icicles are best modelled in glass. water and waves.--water is best represented by "hammered glass" coloured, and streaked and varnished, to the tint required. birds may be represented swimming by being cut in halves, their upper and under surfaces fixed to the corresponding sides of the glass, or the glass may be cut to receive the body, which is the most satisfactory, although the most difficult to manage without smashing the glass. [footnote: there is a black-necked swan (cygnus nigricollis), from chili, treated in this manner, in the leicester museum.] holes may be drilled in the glass to allow water plants to come through, or to allow long-legged birds, such as herons, to stand mid-leg in water. waves are moderately well imitated by thin paper creased, varnished and coloured, on which white wool "foam" is arranged. modelling fruit, etc, in plaster.--you may, perhaps, wish to model an apple, peach, or plum, to place in the hands of some mounted object, such as a monkey. to do this, you take a natural fruit, which oil, and push it half way (on its longest axis) into a bed of damped and hard-pressed sand banked up all round. at some little distance from the edges of the fruit stick two or three small pegs of wood (points downwards) about half-an-inch long, leaving a quarter-of-an-inch out of the sand. over all this pour some plaster of paris mixed with water to the thickness of a paste; when set, lift it up carefully--the plaster now appears with the fruit half set in it, and the two or three little pegs of wood sticking up, their other half firmly fixed in the plaster--oil their points, the face of the plaster, and also the fruit, and laying the half-cast fruit uppermost, pour over it some more plaster. when set, trim the edges, the complete mould will then part in halves, and the fruit will shake out. oil the mould inside, and when dry procure some wax--beeswax from the oilman's will do for this purpose--and after heating it carefully, for fear of fire, pour it while hot into the mould through a hole cut for that purpose. when about a quarter full, put your thumb or finger over the hole, and rotate the mould rapidly. allow it to cool, and on opening the mould the artificial fruit will drop out, and may then be coloured by powder or varnish colours to the tints required. my friend, wright wilson, f.l.s, etc, surgeon to the birmingham ear and throat hospital, has very kindly written me a short description of the plan he adopts, which, it will be seen, is a complete reversal of the foregoing: "with regard to plaster casts of fruit, etc, a much neater and readier method of making the mould is to mix a sufficient quantity of beeswax with resin in a pipkin over a slow fire. it must be used whilst just lukewarm by either dipping the fruit--say, an apple--until sufficient adheres to form a good strong coating. when cold (dipping in cold water will readily make it so), the whole can be cut through with a sharp knife, the halves of the fruit come out easily, and a perfect mould in two halves is thus obtained. fasten the halves of the mould together with string, and smear a little of the warm material over the joint to hold it together, and cast your model (into this, through a small hole made for the purpose) in the usual way with plaster of paris made rather thin with water. when set, place in a little warm water, when the mould easily strips off, leaving a model of the most perfect kind and at a small expense, for the mould can be melted up and used over and over again." glue may sometimes be substituted for the wax. the advantage of being able to fall back on this system is obvious, especially if the modelled fruit is to be placed in a position exposed to considerable heat. of course, the plaster model must be coloured to nature, and, as i have before pointed out, this is not one of the easiest things to do. i would suggest dipping the model (when dry) in melted wax to give a surface for colouring, or modelling it in paper. preserving spiders, etc.--spiders, which from their rarity or the beauty of their markings it may be desirable to preserve, require the contents of the abdomen to be pressed out, or their bodies to be cut underneath. a first-rate article on preserving these crustaceans appeared in science gossip for january, 1868, in which the author points out what is just as well to bear in mind, which is "that the colouring matter or pigment is placed between the outer or abdominal covering and the pulpy contents within, upon a very delicate membrane, which adheres very loosely to both, but more firmly to the contents within; so that when the viscera or contents are rudely removed, and without much tearing, the whole mass will be found more or less coloured, while the outer skin will be left entirely transparent. to preserve, therefore, the beauty of spiders, this must be untouched." he further says: "make an incision along the ventral aspect of the abdomen, nearly its whole length, or as long as will enable the pulpy contents to be easily removed; then pinch up the pulpy mass with a small forceps, carefully avoiding any dragging; then, with sharp-pointed scissors, cut away the contents bit by bit until the whole is nearly removed, or until you can see the brilliant colour shining through what remains in the cavity--better leave a little too much than be too nice in clearing all away; then, with a blowpipe, distend the empty abdomen; it will very soon become firm, and retain its original form, but until it is so the blowing must be frequently repeated." a correspondent to science gossip, page 21, 1868, says: "i found the best way to preserve spiders was to suspend them by a loop round their waist in a solution of glycerine 2/3, water 1/3. the solution may want changing once or twice at first, after that it will keep unchanged for years." fig. 36--blow-pipe for inflating larvae preserving caterpillars.--the larvae of moths and butterflies may be preserved by pressing out the contents of their bodies, and by working from the head to the tail in a gentle manner, and assisting the removal of the mass by a careful dragging with a crochet needle. when empty, a little corrosive sublimate solution may be injected with a metal or glass blow-pipe, and the empty skin then distended by blowing into it through a very fine blowpipe, made by drawing out in a clear flame a small glass tube until it is attenuated to a fine point. this being inserted in the orifice at the last segment of the caterpillar, is kept in place by being tied round with a piece of darning cotton, or, better still, by a contrivance shown in fig. 36 (the invention of mr. auld, in science gossip for 1872). a a are pieces of watch spring tied on the thick part of the blowpipe, and holding the caterpillar by pressure on the last segments when the point b is inserted. mr. auld, i see by his article, used a spirit lamp under a glass jar to form a drying chamber while blowing; but i have myself found a "box iron" a most convenient arrangement. the inner iron, being heated in the fire, is placed in the chamber or "box," which it thoroughly heats; then removed, and the larvae introduced and blown out in the hot air, but not so full as to unnaturally distend the segments. a certain loss of colour inevitably takes place in preserved larvae, which in the larger ones may be restored by colouring inside them with powder colours mixed in turps. coloured wax is sometimes injected, and makes the skin very firm, but it is a delicate operation, requiring great skill in application. when finished, they may be "mounted" on green silk-covered wire, or, more naturally, on nicely modelled leaves of their various food-plants, by gum attached to their claspers. it is often necessary to plunge the more delicate larvae into a weak solution of carbolic acid, or alum and water, to harden them before preservation. skeletons of animals.--many people being under the impression that it is only necessary to remove the flesh of any mammal or bird in order to get a perfect skeleton, it may be as well to point out that as the flesh rots, so do the ligaments which hold the bones, and consequently the skeleton falls to pieces. when, therefore, you have made your skeleton by the means recommended by various authors, such as exposing it in an ant-hill, a wasp's nest, or to the attacks of the "blow-flies" or "mealworm" (the larvae of a beetle), to "tadpoles," or --as is the usual way with the bone preservers--by maceration in water for a lengthened period (after removal of a great deal of the flesh, the skin, and entrails), you will, after the careful removal of the flesh still remaining, and subsequent drying of the bones in the sun and air, find that nearly every bone will have to be attached to its fellow by fine brass wire, and in the case of the bones of large animals, each bone will have to be neatly drilled and coupled with brass wire of greater strength. skeleton-making by maceration in cold water is, perhaps, one of the most sickening operations. i have been somewhat successful by trimming off all the flesh possible, wiring some parts together, tying others in cloths and boiling them gently for several hours in water changed from time to time, afterwards taking them out and picking off, with fingers and blunt tools, all the flesh remaining--whilst hot--then drilling and wiring all together with galvanised or copper fastenings in a proper manner, boiling again in plenty of water, and then allowing the bones to remain in cold water--constantly changed--for a week or so; finally laying out in the sun and air to bleach. by this system i have lately "skeletonized" part of a horse, and the bones are free from grease and fairly white. experience, however, in this as in everything else, will tell you what to do and how to piece one system into another to best advantage. washing the bones with hudson's "dry" soap, or soda and water, will often remove a great deal of the grease. chloride of lime and water will assist the bleaching, but must be managed cautiously, or in careless hands it is likely to do more harm than good. the making of good and nicely bleached osteological preparations really depends on carefulness and neatness, supplemented by water, air, and sun; by the three latter aids, i have repeatedly improved in a wonderful manner "old bones" which were greasy and discoloured. should the sea be close at hand, the skeleton, shut in a box with holes, may be sunk, and exposed to the attacks of various "small deer," especially "bees" (aega tridens), which swarm in some shallow waters to such an extent as to clear the flesh from a large animal in a few hours. skeleton leaves.--very beautiful objects may be made by placing the leaves of trees and shrubs, or such as are of a strong or woody texture, in a pan, pouring boiling soft or rain water over them, then exposing them to the atmosphere for a time varying from one to three or four months. they are then gently lifted out and held on a board, or on a plate, under running water, and the pulpy part, or epidermis, removed by gentle brushing with a camel-hair pencil or fine needle, to split the skin away from the mid-rib. when nothing but the ligneous skeleton or woody fibre remains, it may be placed in a weak solution of chloride of lime, and exposed to the sun under glass to dry and bleach. to prevent them sticking to the paper on which you may wish to dry them, use either blotting-paper or oiled paper, after well washing the leaves. if skeletonizing in summer time, trust to sun alone, as chloride of lime has a tendency to make the leaves go brittle. the seed vessels of various plants, such as the poppies, thorn apples (daturae), and campions, as also the leaves of laurel, holly, ivy, lime, sycamore, poplar, and a host of others, may be treated in this manner. when finished, they may be mounted on wires whipped with white silk, and placed on black velvet under a shade. some writers have advised the boiling of the leaves in a solution of caustic soda, or steeping them in a strong mixture of chloride of lime and water, but i have hitherto considered these plans not so practical as the foregoing, though, perhaps, quicker; as, however, i find two writers, in science gossip for 1867, very positive on the subject, i will give the following extracts: "a solution of caustic soda is made by dissolving 3 oz. of washing soda in two pints of boiling water, and adding 1.5 oz. of quicklime, previously slacked; boil for ten minutes, decant the clear solution, and bring it to the boil. during ebullition add the leaves; boil briskly for some time--say, an hour--occasionally adding hot water to supply the place of that lost by evaporation. take out a leaf and put into a vessel of water, rub it between the fingers under the water. if the epidermis and parenchyma separate easily, the rest of the leaves may be removed from the solution, and treated in the same way; but if not, then the boiling must be continued for some time longer. to bleach the skeletons, mix about a drachm of chloride of lime with a pint of water, adding sufficient acetic acid to liberate the chlorine. steep the leaves in this till they are whitened (about ten minutes), taking care not to let them stay in too long, otherwise they are apt to become brittle. put them into clean water, and float them out on pieces of paper. lastly, remove them from the paper before they are quite dry, and place them in a book or botanical press."--dr. g. dickson, science gossip, january, 1867. "i once saw another way of managing skeleton leaves that interested me greatly. the leaves were boiled for two minutes, and then transferred to a strong solution of permanganate of potash and gently heated. in an hour or two the laxer tissues were easily removed by means of a brush. sulphurous acid was used for bleaching them, and this liquid was also employed with much facility for the removing of the stains on the fingers caused by the permanganate of potash."--george newlyn, science gossip, november, 1867. the last-named gentleman appears to bleach his leaves by fastening them across a hat-box by means of strings, inserting a pan or tin cup containing sulphur, setting it on fire, and shutting down the lid (of course, out of doors). the whole article is very interesting, but too long for insertion here. crustaceans.--lobsters, crawfish, and crabs must have the cephalo-thorax (the upper part) disjointed from the body or "tail" part, the limbs taken off at their attachment to the body, and the whole of the flesh removed by means of the "undercutting tool" (see fig. 29), and crooked wires; afterwards wash the inside with carbolic wash (no. 15), and fill the limbs and body with dry plaster and wadding, neatly fixing on the legs where disjointed, and putting the remainder of the body together with any of the cements mentioned in chapter iv. polishing horns.--as a commencement it will be requisite to remove all the rough shell-like layers of horn which stand up as knots and gnarls, and mar the symmetry of the horns. in some horns, old ones especially, you will find their inner sides covered with several thicknesses of this waste or dead stuff. do not be afraid, but boldly pare this down level with the surrounding horn, for which purpose nothing is so good as a spokeshave. blood stains usually lie in the soft upper layers; shave these down carefully until they end, which will be underneath where the horn becomes white and of a more ivory-like texture. when nearing this it will be as well to give up the use of the spokeshave, and use some instrument in a scraping manner; the side of a chisel (not the cutting edge) or a knife is best for this purpose. the handle being held in the right hand and the point in the left, scrape the horn until you get to the white part, which will be somewhat harder than the remainder. in colourless horns you must get down to this white part, or your polish will not be high; besides this, blood stains will show up, and the surface will look of a soapy, greasy nature, instead of the ivory-like texture it should assume. be careful when working to the largest part, or base of the horn, not to run your tool through, as it is much thinner there than at the tips. whilst thinning rough places in certain horns you will find a half round and flat fine rasp of great assistance. when you have obtained a nice even surface all over, use glass paper of different degrees of fineness, and pumice-stone. collect the dust which falls off, with a rag dipped in linseed oil and well rub the horn with this. next get some "putty powder" (oxide of tin), which rub violently on all parts of the horn with a rag and linseed oil, finally finishing off with brown paper, a soft rag, and the palm of the hand, using plenty of "elbow grease." remember, horn polishing is all hard work, unless managed by "bobbing" on a lathe, so let no one attempt it who is not prepared to work very hard, as plenty of quick and violent friction is indispensable in the latter stages to give the high polish requisite. horn may be softened, and ultimately dissolved in caustic soda. polishing tortoise-shell, etc.--to polish tortoise-shell (which is in many cases turtle-shell) it is necessary to scrape the shell very carefully with a broad knife, taking care not to cut through to the under shell or "bone." when properly smoothed rub it over with pumice-stone and water, then with bath-brick and water, finally polishing off, when you have a nice fine surface, with putty-powder and oil, or rotten-stone and oil, with plenty of hard work and hand-polishing towards the last. a little tallow rubbed in with the hand, as the very last finishing touch, will be found of benefit. a paste made of sal volatile and rouge has been recommended to be applied to the shell after scraping, then suffered to remain until dry, and finally polished off. bad places in the shell, where it has peeled or been broken off, should be made up with coloured shellac, or hardened wax, put in with a warmed knife after polishing, and finished off separately. tortoise-shell may be welded by heat. sea shells may be polished by being plunged for a little time in dilute nitric acid, then rubbed down with sand paper or fine emery and oil, finished with "water-ayr" or "snake-stone," and finally polished with putty-powder and oil. a mussel-shell treated in this manner makes a most beautiful object, coming out purple, with streaks of lighter blue and pearl. stones, such as agates, which are found on the sea beach, or any stone which is required to be polished, is to be first ground down to a rough surface, then polished by successive rubbings of first, second, and third grit-stones of different degrees of fineness, lastly "water-ayr" or "snake-stone," and finished with "putty powder" applied with oil. all of the stones or grits mentioned are to be procured at the marble mason's at a low rate. serpentine treated in this manner makes a very beautiful object. eggs, collecting and preserving.--eggs of various birds may be sought for in their seasons in the localities best suited to the several species. but so much depends upon special training or aptitude in the collecting of birds' eggs, that a detailed description of localities where to seek and how to find, eggs, is hardly necessary, in the pages of this work, further than to remark that a pair of "climbing irons" are requisite for those individuals who do not possess the agility of a cat or of a schoolboy. climbing irons (see fig. 37), to fit the foot and leg, are best made of wrought iron with a welding of finely-tempered steel from c to de, to form the claw used when climbing. to affix them to the leg, the foot is placed as in a stirrup from c to b, the claw ed pointing inward. a strap should now be passed through a slot or square hole punched in the metal between c and d (not shown in the figure), and laced under and across the foot to and through the loop shown between b and a at a, thus keeping the foot itself tightly fixed. another strap passes through the loop at the top where marked a, and is strapped round the calf of the leg, keeping all below the knee rigid and secure. when climbing, the hands clasp the tree in the usual manner, and the side of the foot is struck smartly against the trunk, to cause the claw to penetrate. the climber now rests on this, and strikes the claw of the other iron in, on the other side, higher up, and so on alternately. fig. 37--climbing iron eggs, when procured, must have their contents removed. to do this they must first be drilled with little steel instruments called egg-drills, which are made of various degrees of fineness according to the size of the egg to be operated upon. drills are to be procured from the various dealers, but can be made from steel wire softened in the fire and filed to a sharp three-cornered point--afterwards tempered to hardness--for the smaller eggs, or filed up for the larger eggs to the pattern of a "countersink" used for wood; indeed, the smallest-sized "countersink" made--to be procured at any ironmonger's--will do very well for eggs the size of a hen's. capital egg-drills are to be made from "pinion wire" used by watchmakers. simply file to a point, and "relieve" with a small "three-square" file the channels of the wire, giving them a cutting edge up to their point. with such a drill as this--cost, about 2d.--i have blown, without any breakage, eggs varying in size, from swallows' to hens'. a drill costing 2s. 6d, which was the price i paid for my first--purchased from a surgical-instrument maker in london, since deceased--could not do the work better. to use these drills, rotate the point by "twiddling" the drill between the finger and thumb, making only one hole, and that in the centre of the egg. when a nicely-rounded hole is cut, the egg must be emptied by means of an "egg-blower," or blowpipe; the point being introduced into the hole, the contents are blown out or sucked up into the bulb, which, when full, is emptied out at the other end. it sometimes happens that the egg is "hard set." the embryo must, in that case, be cut out with small curved scissors specially made. if hard set, putrid, or stale, an egg often bursts when touched. to obviate this, drill and blow it under water. young birds can often be extracted, with a little care, uninjured from their egg-shells, and yet--as happened to me lately in the instance of a hawk--the shell may make a presentable museum object, after such extraction. in all cases eggs should be thoroughly rinsed out with a solution of six grains of corrosive sublimate to an ounce of rectified spirits of wine. this may be sucked up into the bulb of the "egg-blower," and thence ejected into the egg, which is to be rotated, and what solution is left may then be sucked back and thrown away, or returned to the bottle. great care must be taken, however, that the mixture shall not pass the bulb and be drawn up into the mouth, as it is, of course, a deadly poison; the egg, being placed (hole downwards) on blotting paper, is to be left until dry. those who object to poison may rinse their eggs out with water to which has been added a few drops of strong essence of cloves. this is agreeable to use, and appears to cleanse away all impurities. a little label may finally be gummed over the orifice, and the specimen is then ready for the cabinet; or, as labels will in time fall off, however well they may have been previously gummed, it is better to write a distinguishing number, and as much of the history of its collection as is possible on the egg itself, the full history, of course, being posted up in the note book. labels may, however, be used with great advantage on the divisions of the cabinet drawer which separate one species of egg from the other. loose labels are not to be used on any account, as they often get reversed and create confusion, and a collection thus treated is brought into grave discredit. eggs, when being sent any distance, should be separately wrapped in cotton wool, and packed in a strong box, any interstices being lightly filled with wool also. sawdust or bran should never be used as a packing medium, as the eggs shake together and break each other in travelling. for those who require coloured figures of eggs i must refer them to hewitson's "eggs of british birds," or atkinson's "british birds' eggs and nests," a much cheaper, but very good little work; also to a new work by mr. h. seebohm (the celebrated traveller in siberia, etc.), entitled, "a history of british birds," with coloured illustrations of their eggs. preparation of microscopic objects.--the same remark applies to this as to aquaria (see chapter xiii.). the treatment is so varied, the objects so numerous, that books upon books have been written on it. every naturalist and curator, however, has to work sometimes with the microscope; but taking into consideration the vastness of the subject, i must refer them to text-books, such as beale's "how to work with the microscope;" lankester's "half-hours with the microscope;" hon. mrs. ward's "the microscope;" davies "on the preparation and mounting of microscopic objects;" g. e. davis' "practical microscopy;" gosse's "half-hours with the microscope;" wood's "common objects of the microscope;" any of quekett's works, and to late numbers of the monthly microscopical journal, nature, science gossip (the latter teeming with practical hints on all matters connected with natural history), and hosts of other works. this chapter, dealing as it does with details and hints upon many subjects, may fittingly be closed with scraps forgotten in the body of this work, but which now occur to me as being useful knowledge. starch as paste: (see chapter iv).--procure some common starch (that which is white looking is perhaps the best), mix it up with a little cold water, just sufficient to dissolve it, stirring it thoroughly to prevent lumps. pour upon this sufficient boiling water to make it into a stiff paste. this will be found most useful for clean paper or photographic work, as it enables paper to be pasted on cardboard, etc. without creasing. the paper should be first wetted on the face side, the back pasted with the starch-paste, fixed on the cardboard, and the whole dried off by blotting paper. for common taxidermic work, paste containing resin (sold at leather merchants') is strong and cheap. best glue, made in the ordinary manner, but rather thicker than usual, then poured into a bottle containing enough methylated spirit to thin it, is recommended as being a strong medium to stick paper on wood or cardboard, with the advantage claimed for it that it does not cause the thin wood or cardboard to "cast" or "buckle." marine glue dissolved in diluted acetic acid makes a strong cement for certain things, such as mending shells. this, as also the preparation of formula no. 33, should be kept in bottles, or small stoppered jars, and melted for use by surrounding with hot water. leather is (so says a bookbinder) to be pasted, after it is damped on the outside. cloth is to be glued. this is useful to know if making up cloth-covered boxes with leather backs, to imitate books (see chapter xv, on entomology). anti-insect nostrums (see chapter iv).--russian tallow in saucers, oil of birch, flowers of sulphur, hellebore, pepper, tobacco, are said to be "bogies," the last especially, to the dermestes beetles and their cousin, anthrenus museorum. try them, but don't rely too much upon them, is my advice; nor, indeed, upon anything--not excepting even corrosive sublimate. trust only to exposure to light and constant supervision, zinc or wire drying cases, and to "casing up" as soon as possible. if sending specimens long distances, it is well to pepper the shot parts, enclosing also in the parcel some pieces of charcoal wrapped in paper. of course, if the specimens are not for the table, dilute glacial carbolic acid, poured on the wounds and down the throat, is the best thing to do, but it should always be noted in an accompanying letter, for fear of accidents. smearing the hands and face with paraffin is said to keep forest flies and midges from biting. preservation of animal tissue (see chapter iv). chloride of zinc, 1 part. water, 20 parts. this formula appears to be one of the non-alcoholic preservatives most suited for fishes in preparation jars. i have so lately tried it that i cannot at present state if it is the very best. picric acid, formed by a certain chemical fusion of carbolic acid with nitric acid, is recommended (when diluted) for the preservation of soft-bodied animals, such as zoophytes, etc. bichromate of potash (see chapter iv), though so useful for pickling fishes, mollusca, worms, and even "jelly fish" and sea-anemones, is, i have found, liable to be attacked by mildew; to prevent this add a few drops of phenic (carbolic acid). [footnote: phenol, phenic acid, phenic alcohol, hydrate of phenyl (c6h5ho)=carbolic add.] this salt is also used in microscopy to assist in fixing glass covers on glass slides. the cement in question appears so admirably adapted to many purposes, that i think it worth quoting (see science gossip, 1879, p. 136): cox's gelatine, 2 oz. acetic acid, fluid, 1 drachm. gum ammoniac, 10 grains. "dissolve in a water bath, and filter through cotton while warm. this cement remains fluid when cold, and dries quickly. after the ring has become set, or stiff, the whole slide is immersed for a minute or so in a 10-grain solution of bichromate of potash, and is then allowed to dry, exposed to the light, which makes the bichromated gelatine perfectly insoluble, even in boiling water, and thoroughly prevents the escape of any glycerine." permanganate of potash (see chapter iv) is recommended at p. 49, science gossip, 1879, by a french scientist, for "preserving delicate organisms." "it is especially good in histological researches, as it acts like osmic acid, burning up the protoplasm, bringing out the minutiae, and showing the nuclei, outlines of cells, etc. it is used as a saturated solution in distilled or very pure spring water; sea-water also dissolves it. the concentrated solution, of a lovely violet colour, kills small organisms at once, and then burns them. they are left in it from thirty minutes to an hour, then withdrawn, and placed in alcohol, after which they can be made transparent with essence of terebinth and mounted in canada balsam. beautiful results are thus obtained with echinoderms, zoophytes, worms and marine arthropoda. for delicate researches, especially in the ciliated infusoria, it is better than osmic acid, without its great cost, and is everywhere easily obtained."--g. du plessis. glycerine (see chapter iv).--glycerine will be found useful for rubbing on the eyes or noses of animals to keep them moist and prevent their drying up when modelling, as well as for many other purposes, which will readily occur to the practical worker. corals, etc, may be cleaned by first soaking in warm water, to remove surface dust, etc, then allowing the tap to run on them for some hours, and afterwards soaking them in a weak solution of chloride of lime for a short time, until fairly bleached. birds may be roughly preserved from immediate decay by pouring down their throats, or into their bodies by an incision under the wing, crude creosote or carbolic acid. i remember once having a collection of birds from india prepared in this way, which after a lapse of years were successfully skinned and made up--"as well as could be expected." sometimes i have been written to by correspondents to say that they had cured some mammals' skins by formula no. 9, and that there was an efflorescence about the mouth, or that mildew had appeared. my answer has ever been: firstly, that possibly the specimen had been cased up too soon. at least two months should elapse after stuffing before mammals should be mounted in a case. secondly, that common alum had been used instead of burnt alum. thirdly, that an undue proportion of saltpetre had been mixed with the alum. should mildew make its appearance, it would point to improper mounting --i.e, not trimming off enough flesh or fat, or to the specimen being mounted in a case before it was sufficiently dry. if it be mildew, the specimen must come out of the case and be properly dried. if it be merely crystallisation of impure alum, the crystals must be washed off with warm water from time to time as they form, until no more appear. it must be remembered, however, that a damp house, or juxtaposition to a wet wall, will ruin the most carefully mounted specimens. correspondents may be quite sure that neither the method nor the formula are to blame in the matter. the great point is to wipe off the mildew or crystals as fast as they appear until no more form, which will determine when the specimen is thoroughly dry. how to solder, either by the blowpipe or by the "bit," is now and then useful knowledge. any mechanic will impart this for a consideration. chapter xiii. cases, mounts, shields, egg cabinets, rockwork, ferns, grasses, sea-weeds, etc, for "fitting up." cases can be made in all styles. the oldest is the "box," which needs no description. next in age is the "canted-corner case," a most odious abomination beloved of the amateur; the shape of the ground plan being as fig. 38. a to a the front, b to b the back, c c c is glass, the points a a are wooden or metal uprights, pinning together top and bottom; b b b b is wood; hence it follows that all the space outside the dotted lines is useless, or if used at all, the uprights (a a) cross perhaps the most important part of the work, so that this shaped case resolves itself into the following difficulty: either the case is too large for the object, or two lines cross it. fig. 38--plan of "canted-corner" case. the usual glass-ended square case is easily made by any amateur joiner in this wise: take two pieces of wood for top and bottom to size required, plane and square them up together to ensure their being exactly alike; then, with a "plough" plane, set to 0.375 in, "plough out" all around the front and sides of each to half its thickness. take the back and nail it to the top and bottom with brads; having done which, next take two pieces of wood for the uprights of sufficient thickness to suit the case--too great thickness being guarded against. fig. 39--section of "uprights" or pillars of square case. let us, however, assume that each of these pieces is 0.75 in. square, the height immaterial, "plough" these out on two sides, the "plough" still set at 0.375 in. for depth. for the front, "plough" out 0.375 in. from the edge, and 0.375 in. deep, this still leaves 0.375 in. out of the 0.75 in. untouched; turn the upright now on its side and repeat the "ploughing," allowing for just missing the point of intersection. fig. 39 shows a section; the dark part is the wood left, the dotted squares show where the wood has been removed; the corner a, outside the dotted line, is afterwards rounded off. each upright is "ploughed" alike; they are then glued and nailed to the top and bottom by brads running through; the rounded edges falling outside. the case is now finished, as will be seen, for the reception of glass at its front and sides. first, however, it will have to be blacked or ebonised. mix, therefore, some "lamp" or "drop" black in powder with thin glue-water, boil, and lay the mixture on with a stiff brush over the case whilst warm. when quite dry, rub it down with fine sand paper. the subjects being mounted in the case, paper the glass in with brown paper and strong paste, and then go over the previously blackened case with a very thin coat of brunswick black. when this is dry put a slip of 0.5 in. or 0.75 in. gilt moulding (procured at the picture frame maker's) all around the front of the case on top of the prepared glass, and just within the edges of the wood "ploughed" out to receive it, nicely mitring the comers with a mitre and shooting block. the foundation of this latter is a sound 1 in. board, 2 ft. 6 in. long by 18 in. wide, or of any other convenient dimensions. upon this is screwed another piece an inch or more thick (fig. 40), so as to make a step (c c). both pieces must be dry, so as not to be liable to warp; upon the higher part are screwed two strips of hard wood (b b) about 1.5 in. or 2 in. wide, forming a right angle where they meet. the whole must be very accurately made, and although deal will answer the purpose, hard wood of some kind will be more satisfactory. beech or oak will do very well. fig. 40--mitre block. suppose a piece of moulding to require mitring; it has only to be laid as shown against the guide bar (b), and sawn off on the line (cc), or laid on the other side against the second guide bar, and similarly cut off. it will be necessary to use both sides in this way, because, although the piece cut off has also an angle of 45 deg, it would need to be turned over and applied to the other, which could not be done without reversing the moulding. in a plain unmoulded strip this, of course, would not signify. gilt moulding may be put at each end or not, according to the fancy and pocket of the workman. the case is now finished, and shows the front and two sides of glass framed in by gilt, outside of which is the narrow black line of the wood. if it be desired to get up the wood of the case in a superior manner, it must first be blacked with the glue and lamp-black, sand-papered down, blacked and sand-papered again, and finally french polished. the most substantial and effective case is the "stop-chamfered" one, made either in deal ebonized, or fancy woods polished. in this the glass is put in from the back with putty, or papered in, and finally held in place by "beads" of wood, the top is lined with linen and coloured in oil, and after the work is put in (from the back) the back-board (previously lined and coloured) is screwed up, and thus you have a case perfectly impervious to dust or to the changes of the atmosphere. unless the amateur is a good workman, it will be better for him to get such a case turned out by a professional joiner, to ensure clean-cut work. these are very handsome and neat cases, especially if the back be "ploughed" out deeply to receive a canvas on a stretcher, on which a characteristic scene is painted. in this event the included work must be good, and the fitting-up as plain as possible. cases for fishes are best glazed by "sprung" or semi-convex glass for the fronts, which often does away with the necessity for glass ends, and gives also a more artistic and finished appearance. glass shades, especially those of an oval shape, suit many birds well, but for large work are more expensive than cases. stands in black or gilt are usually supplied with them; but those in mahogany, oak, and other fancy woods must be ordered, unless the amateur possesses a lathe, and the requisite knowledge to use it. in fitting up these with rockwork, etc, it is best to arrange the work on a "false bottom," or at least to cover up with paper the polished stand, lest it be spoiled. mounts.--"mounts," which are simply tops of round or oval shades fitted into corresponding stands or frames of wood, or are open cylinders of glass with a flat piece cemented on one end, were, i believe, first invented by mr. george ashmead, of bishopsgate-street, london. they are very effective, and also occupy but little space, as they hang up on the wall in positions where shades or cases will not go. the method of making up a "mount" is as follows: procure from a glass merchant the top of a shade, let us say 12 in. in diameter by 7 in. high. to this have a stand or rim turned out of thoroughly dry wood of sufficient size to overlap the shade 1 in. all round--14 in. in diameter, therefore, for a 12 in. shade. a groove should be turned in them stand of sufficient width to allow the glass to play freely. the groove, however, should be so arranged that the excess in width should fall outside the glass. the centre of the stand inside the groove being tinted for a sky, as desired, the objects, whether small birds or butterflies, are introduced in the usual manner, and the glass is then cemented, in the groove, over them. waste cylinders of glass may be economised for making mounts. it will then, however, be necessary to have a circular plate for the top cut by a glazier's turn-table. these are really better for showing up anything than the round-topped mounts, as they cast no reflection; but the top plates are harder to put on and to keep on when finished. strongly pasted black tape will do to fix the very small ones, but for larger the tops should be cemented with thick white-lead, left to dry, and then further cemented with narrow tape smeared with white-lead, or any of the cements given in chapter iv. if it be desired to give a rounded edge to this taping, plaster or whiting mixed with glue and lamp-black may be laid on thickly, rubbed down with fine sand-paper, and polished, or if the black is left out, the cement may be gilded, after the manner of picture frames. the stand itself may be "dished" out in the centre, in concave form, and thus more room allowed for the enclosed specimens; but in this case the stand must be of some thickness. at one time the glasses were put in the stands with glue and cork, or glue and paper, until it was found, in nine cases out of ten, that glue, under atmospheric changes, sooner or later broke the glass, or else entirely released it. putty was then used, but that failed to hold with the tenacity required, as there was a constant tendency of the shade to fall out by its natural weight when hanging up. i have accordingly mixed white-lead with putty with better results, in the proportion of two parts putty; one ditto white-lead (thick, such as gasfitters use); one-eighth ditto gold size--or i have used red-lead, mixed with common putty and boiled oil; and, again, simply plaster of paris mixed with water. these last two are the best holdfasts of glass within my experience. supposing the stand to be ebonized, or of mahogany or any other fancy wood, the putty or plaster can be coloured to any required tint, or if the stand is gilt the cement can be gilded over. failing to make a very neat job, it will be necessary to wind a piece of chenille around the shade in order to hide the junction. as it is very difficult to prevent a small percentage of the cement from working inside, and thus spoiling the neatness of the sky effect, i have devised the following plan, which i do not think is generally known: instead of using a solid stand with groove for the back of the mount, i turn a rim of wood to form a ring, in such a manner that it shall just pass over the shade without allowing the latter to fall through at its bottom edge. underneath this rim, or ring, i turn it out to within a quarter of an inch of its edge to receive the back, turned out of a piece of thinner wood. the rim of wood is best turned by being nearly cut through on its upper or pattern side, the wood then reversed on the lathe, turned out to receive the back, then altered again, and the rim cut entirely through. to fix this, the rim is fitted on over the glass, and kept in place with cement. the work is made up on the back, which is then screwed, or pasted, or glued, in the hollow turned out at the back of the rim. by this method there is no cement showing inside on the sky-line of the work when finished, nor can the glass possibly tumble out, being, of course, held by the rim, which is of necessity smaller than the bottom of the glass. such rims may, of course, be ebonized, of fancy woods, or gilded, according to the taste of the workman. a small screw-plate with ring should be attached to hang it up by. a modification of the "mount" is made by securing five pieces of glass together in the usual manner, by tape pasted on each edge to make a square glass cover, making up the work on a piece of board of the required size, rebated or grooved all around, or by nailing on strips of wood to receive the glass cover, which is then pasted or cemented to the edges of the board, and finally finished off by dropping over all picture-frame moulding, cut and joined to size, to which the back is screwed. this style does either for fishes or dead game to stand upon a hall table, or easily becomes a "mount" by the simple process of screwing on "plate-rings," and hanging it up on a wall. the colouring of the backs of cases and mounts is of two kinds--distemper and oil; that is to say, supposing paper, calico or sheeting is used for the back of the cases or mounts. colour the paper or other material--if you wish to show a toned sky--with whiting in which a little glue-water or paste is dissolved, or with common flake-white and size (note that there must be a good body of white to give a luminous appearance), tinting at the same time with blue, shading off into pink, etc. the colours most useful are ultramarine, vermilion, and chrome yellow in powder. this colouring will not do if putty is used to put the glass in with, as the oil flies over the tinted sky. for oil painting place a thin calico or canvas on the backs, and colour with the tints you desire, mixed in oil and turps. putty can be used in any part with this colouring. one coat of colour is sufficient, as if another is added an unpleasant glaze is the result. shields.--heads of mammals, etc, when set up and finished, should be mounted on "shields" of fancy wood; oak or mahogany being the best, unless ebonized and gilded pine is preferred. the shapes are usually a modification of the conventional "heart," such as will be found in a pack of cards. this being purely a matter of individual taste, the taxidermist may easily make as many patterns as he chooses by doubling a piece of brown or stiff paper and cutting his shapes out therefrom. one of these paper patterns may be traced around upon a piece of planed wood of the suitable size, and cut out by a "bow "-saw, the edges trimmed and bevelled, and the surface finally polished. a key-hole (protected by metal screwed across in the instances of large or weighty heads), is bored or cut, by which to hang it up, and the neck-block of the specimen is screwed thereto by three screws of sufficient length placed in the form of a triangle. horns alone are attached to shields by screws running through the frontal bone, or, if without this, are attached--to a model of the frontal bone in wood, by nuts and screws. cabinets for eggs and skins.--i have lately seen many cabinets for eggs, skins, etc, constructed on a capital system, the invention, i believe, of mr. salvin, the eminent ornithologist. the drawers are made of varying depths, from 1 in. to 6 in, and the bottoms are fitted with tongues overlapping each side, which fit into grooves cut in the carcase of the cabinet, and so arranged by a little calculation that a shallow drawer can immediately be inserted in the place previously occupied by a deep one, or vice versa--i.e, a deep 6 in. drawer, which may be no. 30, at the bottom, can be pushed upwards at any intermediate point between that and no. 1. the modus operandi is as follows: whatever the depth decided on of the drawers, the carcase is grooved all the way down to half the depth of the shallowest drawer, if in even inches, or to a multiple of each drawer if otherwise. example: take a foot rule and mark off 10 in on a piece of paper, dividing it into alternate half inches making, of course, twenty half inches; this represents the carcase. then take some strips of paper or cardboard, which cut to 1 in, 1.5 in, 2 in. 2.5 in. and 3 in. respectively, total 10 in. these represent the drawers; putting them in their order, they will, of course, fit in the 10 in. now change them about, top to bottom, or bottom in the middle, or in any way that you like, and you will find that they will always fall in a groove, leaving room for the others, when pushed down, without any open space between. the same method is adopted in the cabinets under the invertebrate show cases in the liverpool museum, which i recently visited under the able guidance of the clever and genial curator, mr. moore, so well known, together with his family, in connection with many unique and beautiful osteological preparations. casing up with rockwork, etc.--brown paper was formerly the pièce de rèsistance of those who aspired to imitate rocks on which to place or to surround their animals. it was used by being first soaked in water and drawn over pieces of wood, boxes, or large cinders even, to give shape. it was then glued, and small stones and sand thrown on. usually uncoloured, it revealed itself in its naked ugliness, and looked what it was--paper. later, it was more artistically arranged, and when divested of folds by the application of more paper, plenty of glue, and well coloured, it certainly looked decent. then came peat, a glorious innovation for quick, if not artistic, work. this dried earth, dug from bogs, admits of being carved and shaped to almost any form. sandstone and some other rocks may be represented by it, as also trunks of trees. well glued and sanded, it takes colour readily, or it may be gone over with a mixture of whiting and plaster of paris with glue-water, and finally coloured; or dry plaster may be mixed with thick oil paint as a "priming" medium. "virgin" cork is the latest rockwork model. its shape being irregular, it is well suited to imitate craggy rocks, added to which it takes thick colour or whiting well, glued or unglued. nothing, however, beats a mixture of all methods--paper, peat, and cork, their lines broken up or blended with wadding. the whole of this, well glued, sanded, and properly coloured, will defy the most critical unprofessional judgment to declare it anything but what it seems--hard rock. i am speaking, of course, of small cases; large work requires consideration. peat will not do for anything but the illustration of small subjects. it is too heavy, and does not readily adapt itself to imitate large masses of overhanging rock; added to which, its expense in large quantities is very great. it is also dirty to work with, and is often a harbour for larvae of various moths--inimical to the taxidermist. i so recognised all these facts in the treatment of the rockwork in the leicester museum, that i determined to use paper only, treating it by an old method, artistically elaborated. this method was, after making a rough drawing and calculation as to the positions the specimens would occupy in the case, to nail strips of "quartering" across the backs of the cases, to which again were nailed strips of 0.75 in. wood, crossing in all directions, but especially where the drawings indicated a mass of rock. on these, and to these, small shelves of wood were nailed in the positions to be subsequently occupied by the specimens. to these shelves cardboard was tacked, and bent upward and downward to the pointed or square shapes assumed by the rocks modelled from. [footnote: it is quite necessary in artistic modelling not only to have coloured drawings of the rocks you are imitating, but to have an actual piece by you as a little guide to form and colour.] where the edges were too sharp they were beaten in by a mallet, or altered by glueing on wadding. the mass of rock being joined here and there to break up the appearance of shelves, and to give a certain homogeneity, was then treated by having brown paper well glued on both sides, stuck all over the edges, joins, or accidental fissures; this, suffered to dry, was then well painted with a mixture of whiting and glue-water, again allowed to dry, and again painted. when this last was dry it was gone over with a thin wash of glue-water, and sharp "silver" sand thrown on; when dry, coloured by staining it with various oil colours (not tube), and some few powder colours--blue-black, yellow ochre, vandyke brown, celestial blue (cheap), burnt sienna, etc, thinned with turps, afterwards touched up, when dry, with touches of tube colours, smartly and cleanly put on. this would be the treatment and colouring for greyish-brown or yellowish-grey smooth, dry-looking rocks, sandstones, etc.; and by a little alteration of tint and treatment in places, would imitate the various slates. for chalk and limestone, mix plaster and sand with the whiting and lay it on thickly, not throwing on sand, as a final operation. colours, of course, are different here, more bright and light green predominating; but the colouring of the rockwork, etc, to imitate the various kinds of rocks required, is only to be learned by experience; in point of fact, to colour rocks in an effective manner is really the work of an artist, for it is requisite to know the properties of colours, and to "scumble" and "stipple" or "glaze" one colour over another to get "depth." a few hints may, however, help out the tyro. for rough sea rocks, after sanding and glueing, go over the rockwork with a mixture of chrome yellow and prussian blue, mixed with oil and turps, the blue predominating; touch up the points with white, and allow it to dry. the next day deepen the shadows with brunswick black, "stippling" lightly the remainder of the rock with the same. arrange sea-shells and sea-weed, here and there, where the mounted subject allows of this treatment. this is a shining dark bluish-green and brown rock, suitable for sea-gulls, divers, etc. for rough grey land rock, paint over all with lamp-black in powder, mixed with plaster of paris, and touch up the points with oil white. when the work is quite dry, go over all with a glaze of prussian blue mixed with brunswick black. fit up with ferns, grass, and golden lichens on the points, or in the hollows. this makes a greyish rock with no gloss, and is suitable for owls and similar birds. for rough sandstone rock, paint over with chrome yellow and a very little blue mixed with oil white, the latter predominating; dust over on the points with red sand, touch up the hollows with brunswick black, suffer to dry, and then go over all with a very little rose pink or vermilion, worked up in turps with a little varnish. fit up with ferns, grasses, and mosses. this is a reddish-yellow rock, suitable for anything not having red or yellow fur or feathers. the predominating colour may be mixed with the whiting, etc, to paint over the artificial rock; but there is a certain loss of brilliancy in the colours which follow, unless a white ground has been previously laid on. for certain objects a great advantage is obtained by making up the rockwork on a false bottom and slipping it, ready finished, into the case. there are hundreds of other varieties, but they must be worked out by each person according to his proclivities. it might as well be expected that a picture could be painted from printed directions as to imagine that one person could make a rockwork precisely similar to another without seeing it done, or without working it out by his own experience. trees for large groups may be carved out of successive layers of peat, or modelled up with brown paper and virgin cork; better still by arranging brown paper over rods or a wire framework, covered previously by tow, and afterwards coloured to nature. the leaves of some trees dry and colour up well, and can be introduced on the natural or artificial twigs. twigs.--artificial twigs can be made by twisting tow round wire, glueing, and throwing on sawdust, peat-dust, etc, and afterwards colouring. the most natural way, however, is to rub up the gold and grey lichens, and throw them on the glued tow, filling up afterwards with larger pieces to break the lines. natural and artificial twigs mix well together; the latter, from their flexibility, allowing of any treatment. ferns, grasses, etc, for "fitting up."--time was when our ancestors were content to stick their preserved specimens in boxes with nothing to break the blank of white paper which backed them up. nowadays we have arrived at such a pitch of decorative art in taxidermy, as in all things, that this stiffness of outline does not suffice; accordingly, we break our background by flowing lines of beauty, produced by the graceful aids of dried ferns and grasses, twigs of trees, etc. many ferns are not suitable for decoration; for instance, the male fern (filix-mas) is of too tender a texture to stand upright when weighted with colour. the very best fern is the common brake (pteris aquilina), as also the common polypody (polypodium vulgare). the fronds of the brake should be gathered in august or september, when they are fully matured and hard, and also when the weather, is hot and dry. if gathered in continuous wet weather, hardly any amount of drying will prevent the fronds from ultimately becoming mouldy, when no amount of after-drying prevents them going brittle and dropping to pieces. ferns which have lost their green colouring matter, and are going red and yellow, dry well, and retain their colours nicely if quickly dried. foreign ferns, such as the various adiantums, the "gold" and "silver" ferns, and many others, dry well, and retain their colour if care be used; nothing suits foreign birds better as a background than the ferns and grasses of the various countries they inhabit. paper used in the drying of botanical specimens is sold, but being too expensive for this particular purpose, a supply of large sheets of common grey paper used by ironmongers or grocers, or even brown paper, will suffice--the ferns should, directly they are gathered, be laid out straight on a board, or on a floor, and covered with paper, then more ferns, again a layer of paper, and so on--a board weighted with bricks should be placed over all, and suffered to remain for a few days; the ferns are then to be turned, the paper dried, and the process repeated. when thoroughly dry, the ferns may be coloured with oil paint thinned with turps and varnish, sufficient to give lustre without shininess. here and there break the green colour with white, red, blue, and yellow, in a manner which will occur to anyone having artistic ability. ferns treated in this manner soon dry, and retain their colour for an indefinite period, the only thing to be said against them being their rather unnatural flatness--due to pressure; this, however, may be counteracted by a little judgment during the drying, one plan being the regulation of pressure at certain points, aided also by clean dry sand. several hard-leaved plants (mostly foreign) found in our conservatories are also excellent driers, many taking colour readily. many grasses (not the flowers, but the leaves or blades) dry well. amongst the best of these is the "wiregrass," found in woods, growing especially over runnels in those localities. the flower also of this plant is most eligible as a decorative agent. the wood melick is another elegant and suitable plant. the sedges (carex) dry and colour well, as also several of the water-rushes, reeds, and flags. the "toad-rush" (juncus bufonius), and its allies, found in damp places, by roads, by canals, and in pasture or corn-fields, dry and colour excellently. sphagnum, or bog moss, especially when having pink tips, is a most beautiful object; the only thing to be said against it is the difficulty of getting it free from water, and the length of time it takes afterwards to dry. mosses of various sorts growing in woods on trees--lichens, gold and grey, mosses or lichen-covered twigs, sprigs of heather, furze, sea-lavender--all dry well, and come in usefully. many persons like their moss and grasses dyed: this is perhaps allowable in some cases for common work; but if a bird or a mammal is nicely mounted, the plainer the fitting, and nearer nature, the better. to those, however, who desire to dye their grasses, i recommend judson's powder dyes as the readiest medium, the directions for manipulating which are given with them. any rough grass in flower does for dyeing, and a visit to the fields just before haymaking will supply the amateur with all he wants for this. teazles, thistles, and the umbels (seed-heads) of various plants, chiefly compositae, will be found of service; but everything must be thoroughly dried before being coloured, or before being introduced into shades or cases. nothing must be coloured with water colours or gums, as some writers contend, or mould will inevitably follow. a few drops of creosote, or the black carbolic acid of commerce, poured into the case or shade just before closing up, is a very good thing to prevent mildew, though if everything is thoroughly dried, and only oil colours are used, no danger from this cause need be apprehended. sea-weeds, shells, etc.--sea-weeds, which are constantly used in fitting up cases of sea birds, need no description as to their collection, further than to say that all sea-weeds, whether sea-weeds proper, corallines, and zoophytes, must be well washed in spring water, many times changed, to thoroughly remove the salt, and must be well dried before being introduced into cases or shades. those who require full descriptions of british sea-weeds, their collection and preservation, i must refer to "british marine algae," by w. h. grattan, published at the office of the bazaar, 170, strand, london. few sea-weeds proper are applicable to the purpose of the taxidermist, though some of the oar-weeds can be used, and many of the red sea-weeds (rhodosperms) can be floated out in water and carelessly arranged on paper, if wanted for fitting-up purposes, or more carefully arranged if for a collection. after washing, these small plants adhere by their natural mucilage to the paper on which they may be floated out. of all the sea-weeds proper the carrageen mosses (chondrus crispus and mamillosus) are the most eligible, and if dried and arranged in cases are very elegant. the common coralline (corallina officinalis)--a sea-weed which so rapidly attracts carbonate of lime as to be almost of a stony or coral-like texture--is another invaluable plant for fitting up. when wet it is usually purple or pink, but on exposure to the sun becomes white. amongst the zoophytes which, though looking like the sea-weeds, are not of vegetable origin, there are many which are most useful, not to say indispensable to the taxidermist. leaving out the foreign corals, sea-fans, sponges, etc, we shall certainly find the most useful english species to be first: the broad leaved horn-wrack (flustra foliacia), that mass of thin hand-like leaves, of the colour of brown paper, which is cast up on some shores, often in great quantities. other useful sorts are those like little trees, such as the common sea fir (sertularia, abietina and operculata); these last are found especially attached to stones, shells and sea-weeds. the lobster's horn coralline (antennularia antennina) and the various sponges are also most useful things, the branched sponge (halichondria oculata) and others being amongst the best for use. several of the bladder-wracks or "sea-grapes" will dry nicely, as also will the egg cases of the whelk and the "sea purses" and "skate barrows," really the egg bags of the dogfish and skate. the starfish, or "five fingers," will, after washing, dry well, or can be plunged in any one of the hardening solutions mentioned in chapter iv. the various sea urchins (echinii), if emptied of their contents, make pretty objects, either with or without their spines. the beautiful sea anemones are, however, impossible to preserve as dried objects, but must be modelled in glass or wax, as imitations. various shells come in handily also; amongst those may be mentioned the common razor shells (solen ensis and siliqua), several of the venus shells, the common limpets, the chitons, several of the trochi, and last, but not least, the shells of the speckled scallop (pecten varius). many freshwater, as also land shells, come in for decorating cases of littoral birds. amongst those of the first we may instance limnoea stagnalis, palustris, peregra, etc, dreissena polymorpha, planorbis corneus, etc.; the various unios, anodons, and many others. amongst the land shells very many of the helices, such as the gaily-coloured nemoralis, or its variety hortensis, caperata, arbustorum, cantiana, etc, as well as many other specimens. the preservation of most freshwater and land shells is exceedingly easy, the greater number of specimens requiring only to be plunged into boiling water, and the contents removed--an easy operation in the case of the bivalves, and the contents of univalves or snail-like shells being also easily wormed out with a pin or crooked awl. [footnote: mr. r. b. woodward, f.g.s, etc. in one of the very best and most practical of those wonderful little penny "handbooks" for young collectors, advises a large spoonful of salt being added to the boiling water, for two reasons, one, because it puts them out of pain at once, and also makes their subsequent extraction more easy. "it is a good plan (says he) to soak the smaller shells in cold water (without salt), before killing them, as they swell out with the water, and do not when dead retreat so far into their shells."] for works on shells see "manual of the mollusca," by dr. s. p. woodward, j. gywn-jeffreys' "british conchology," lovell reeve's "british land and freshwater mollusks," and several clever articles in science gossip and the conchological journal, by mr. g. sherriff tye and others. glue is sufficient to fix all these objects in their places on rockwork, in cases; resins, such as mastic or shellac, or any of the cements mentioned in chapter iv, are, however, the best mediums to fix such objects upon tablets for scientific purposes. for fixing shells on labelled cards, mr. woodward recommends gum arabic, with one-sixth of its bulk of pure glycerine added to it, which makes a semi-elastic cement, with the advantage also of allowing the shells to be taken from their tablets, at any time, by the intervention of hot water. drying and storage of specimens.--it is always a vexed question how to keep newly-mounted specimens free from moths, and flies, and dust, whilst drying. the difficulty is, that you cannot put them away at once in boxes, cases, or shades, for if you do they do not dry at all, but "sweat" and slowly rot, or else become mildewed. if you expose them fully without any covering, they are soon covered with dust, and liable at any moment to--first, the attacks of meat flies, and next of moths and beetles. good insect powder is, as i have before pointed out, a deterrent; still, to make assurance doubly sure, i would always, in the case of valuable specimens, enclose them in square cages, made one side of glass, and the three other sides and top of fine meshed muslin, wirework, or perforated zinc, the latter sufficiently fine not to allow small moths and flies to creep in. these can be made of various sizes, can be varied by having a top and back of wood, can have the front to open like a meat safe with shelves, or be simply cases to lift over the specimens like shades; in any case, however, the front glass allows you to see how all is going on, and the wire sides permit a free current of air to pass through to dry the specimens. in this manner i have been enabled to laugh at the little wretches of insects buzzing around, and flattening their noses against the zinc, in vain endeavours to interview some charming specimens of young birds, whose "fluffy" plumage they delight in. like the cats, they are "so fond of noticing those dear little birds!" skins not in constant use for reference should, when dried, be wrapped in soft paper amidst insect powder, and put away in closely fitting drawers. "paper fasteners" are very useful to clip the ends of the paper--folded over--which encloses them. aquaria.--this being a subject a little outside my province, i do not purpose dwelling on it, further than to say that all information will be found in "the aquarium, its history, structure, and management," by dr. j. e. taylor, f.l.s, etc.; gosse's "handbook of the marine aquarium," and many others. two recipes, culled from the scientific american, 1879, may be of service, however: "cheap tanks can be made of wood and glass, the frame and bottom being of wood, and sides of glass. in order to make the joints watertight, care must be taken to get a proper aquarium putty or cement. the following is a good recipe: put an egg-cupful of oil and 4 oz. tar to 1 lb. resin, melt over a gentle fire, test it to see if it has the proper consistency when cooled; if it has not, heat longer, or add more resin or tar. pour the cement into the angles in a heated state, but not boiling hot, as it would crack the glass. the cement will be firm in a few minutes. then tip the aquarium in a different position, and treat a second angle likewise, and so on. the cement does not poison the water." "to mend the broken glass of an aquarium, fasten a strip of glass over the crack, inside the aquarium, using for a cement white shellac dissolved in one-eighth its weight of venice turpentine." chapter xiv. general remarks on artistic "mounting," modelled foliage, screens, lamps, natural history jewellery, etc. artistic mounting.--general remarks.--by the time the student has slowly worked his way to this chapter, he will no doubt--should he be apt, and have an artistic mind--have achieved things beyond the mere drudgery of the profession. i take it that, being interested in his work, he will not have rested content with mounting--even in a perfect manner--his animals at rest, but will have "had a shy" at animals in action, or engaged in some characteristic occupation. the days of birds on "hat-pegs," stiff-legged, long-necked and staring, round-eyed, at nothing--of mammals, whose length and stiffness are their greatest merit--has passed away for ever; and only in dreary museums, far behind the age, where funereal silence obtains, and where the dust of mummied animals arises to awe and half poison the adventurous explorer, are these "specimens" to be found. public museums are, unfortunately, in nine cases out of ten, not good schools for delineating the natural attitudes or characteristics of animals. this arises partly from the fact that all, save the more modern ones, retain their original specimens mounted in the old style. the newer work of the museums of london, paris, madrid, etc, is, however generally of quite a different stamp. [footnote: since this was written, the new south kensington natural history museum has been built and i lately had the pleasure of a private view--through the courtesy of mr. r. bowdler sharpe f.l.s.--of the new style of mounting of the future, i.e. pairs of birds their nests and young, surrounded with carefully-modelled foliage and accessories. i there saw a bunch of "willow-herb" magnificently modelled. i was pleased, however, from an artist's point of view, to discover that we in leicester could give them a "roland for an oliver" in our white-throats, together with their nest and young, surrounded by a modelled bramble-bush in blossom; and with our swallows in section of a cow-house--neither of which groups have yet been attempted for the national collection. i am trembling with apprehension, however, that ere long mr. sharpe and his "merry men"--one of them, a german, the cleverest bird-mounter i ever saw--will leave us in the lurch. nevertheless, healthy emulation of the best features of our national collection will do us no harm. ] this struck me most forcibly with regard to that of madrid, which i visited some years ago. the vertebrate specimens were old and wretchedly mounted, the lepidoptera nowhere; but the recently acquired animals were splendidly rendered. the youthful and painstaking amateur will, no doubt, however, do as i did when a boy--viz, pitch upon some professional taxidermist, to whose window he will repair at all available opportunities to learn his style, now and then venturing on some small purchase (usually a pair of eyes), to gain admittance to the glories within, and have speech with the great man himself. exploring in this manner, i have had occasion to thank many of the leading london taxidermists for little "tips" ungrudgingly given. a few hints may suffice to help the reader. the most important canon is: do not mix your orders of birds; that is to say, abstain from surrounding a hawk tearing its prey, with various birds in all attitudes, placidly ignoring the existence of their enemy. a scene of this kind irresistibly reminds me of the stage "aside," when the villain of the piece audibly proclaims vengeance against the unconscious hero but two yards away on his right or left. birds not of the same kind, and from different parts of the world, are often cased together, but this is open to criticism, unless you avowedly wish to illustrate the whole order for purposes of reference, as in the instance of, say, the columbae (pigeons). pairs of birds are the most effective, if the idea of the surroundings is nicely carried out. i have seen one or two very funny effects in the "black country." in one example, a scarlet ibis, mounted in a case on a broken piece of highly gorgeous china gaselier; in another, two puppies facing each other on velvet, a piece of rock salt in the middle, on which stood a lapwing, surrounded by foreign birds in all attitudes. need i warn the reader against such flights of fancy and works of art? it is, i would remark, quite impossible to give directions as to attitudes, but on one point i might advise, in order to save the many inquiries addressed to me, from time to time, upon the subject of the straightness or otherwise of gulls' legs. the fact is--gulls, when standing, tuck the tibia quite close to the abdomen, apparently under the wing, and reveal only a very little portion of the tibio-tarsal joint, keeping the metatarse perfectly straight, or, as someone wrote to me once, "like two arrows or sticks." (for explanation of these parts named, see plate ii, (n, q, p.) ) although most works on taxidermy profess to give descriptions of the attitudes of animals, i cannot do so for the simple reason that i consider the acquirement a speciality and purely a matter of experience. nature must be closely studied; failing this, reference must be made to illustrated works on natural history. all of gould's works are grand guides to attitudes of specimens and accessories, as also that beautiful work of my friend h. e. dresser, f.l.s, etc, on the "birds of europe;" but as the price of these magnificent works places them beyond the reach of any but rich people, the amateur may fall back on morris's "british birds" and bree's "birds of europe" for coloured plates, and routledge's "wood's natural history" for uncoloured plates of many mammals, birds, and fishes; those signed by coleman being especially artistic and natural. add to these cassell's new "natural history," edited by dr. duncan, f.r.s.--really the best book on popular natural history we have. other works, perhaps not so easily accessible, are the "proceedings of the zoological society," and the "ibis," for coloured illustrations of animals--often in characteristic attitudes, and which, with the above-named works, fitly replace the more ancient "pictures" of animals, arranged on the "fore and aft" system, and from which instead of nature, our taxidermists took their original ideas; indeed, the english school, with true british insularity, would, i presume, have continued the mounting of animals by this "fore and aft" method, had not the germans and french broken rudely in on our slumbering taxidermists at the great exhibition of 1851. [footnote: is it not singular that even now anything stiff, inartistic, "solidly" (i.e. clumsily) made, or behind the age, is cherished with the utmost veneration, as being a proof of the solidity of our "old english methods" (and skulls)!] i propose now to give a few hints on groups, etc, not describing their management, but merely giving a list of subjects. first, let me say that in order of merit, in all arts connected with the preservation of natural history objects, i must, after many years study, give the palm to the germans, not only in all matters connected with artistic taxidermy, but in their elegant and truthful setting of beetles, their sensible setting of lepidoptera, and their really beautiful method of making skins of birds etc. next come the french, then the english, and lastly, the americans. the americans are the worst simply because they adopt the crudest english methods of taxidermy, with other bad habits of ours. i may say that i never saw an artistic piece of work, nor a well made skin, coming from america, unless done by a german or a frenchman. i believe, however, the european element is working wonders amongst them, and reading mr. batty's book (if he be a true american), i was very favourably impressed with the signs of progress contained therein, and i should not at all wonder if soon our american friends "go ahead" and quickly leave us behind. professor henry a. ward, of rochester, new york, u.s.a, in a well-written article in one of his "bulletins" sent to me, has, since i wrote the above, confessed the great superiority of european over american taxidermists, but says that within the last few (very few) years, their native taxidermists have greatly improved, owing to the importation of clever foreign artists, who are gradually educating the american workmen. just before this there was an entertaining article in the "century" magazine, and illustrations were given showing the best work of the american taxidermic artists. i must say, however, that, unless the draughtsman failed to copy what an educated eye looks for, none of this work struck me as being of a high order--one or two "pieces," indeed, being decidedly capable of improvement. possibly this improvement has taken place by now; anyway, i heartily wish brother jonathan good luck in his taxidermic studies. at present, however, i say to all rising taxidermists, follow the lead of the germans--they are true artists; and with the italian modelling and french neatness of workmanship to fall back on, success is certain. looking back to '51, let us see what one of these foreigners (mentioned in chapter i) could teach us. among over fifty groups of animals shown in the great exhibition were: a stag caught by five hounds (price 180 pounds). a wild boar set on by three hounds. a couple of old and young foxes in front of their "earth" (60 pounds). trophy of 25 heads of animals of the chase. nest of a horned owl. two old birds and five young defending themselves against two polecats (30 pounds). goshawk attacking an eagle owl. these were followed by comic groups, six of which illustrated goethe's fable of "reinecke the fox," and were skilfully managed as well as amusing. some others were: a duel between two dormice, with moles as gravediggers. "a declaration of love." two weasels. "a nursery maid." one old and four young weasels. "shaving a luxury." one frog shaving another. apropos of the above, frogs lend themselves better to comic scenes than almost any other animal, from their ridiculous likeness, when erect on their hind legs, to mighty man. hence advantage is often taken of this; and amongst mirth-provoking caricatures i have seen "a steeplechase," frogs mounted on puppies as horses, some tumbling at the water-jump, others riding to win, some unhorsed, scrambling after their steeds, and so on; "the battle of the nile," frogs on rafts of leaves of water plants, attacking one another with small bulrushes; duel scenes; "courtship" and "matrimony"; "fortiter in re," a young frog soundly smacked (in the most approved fashion) by the irate paternal frog; the companion picture, "suaviter in modo," a young frog soothed by maternal affection. monkeys are the next best for comic scenes, but are more awkward to handle, and not half so funny, unless very carefully modelled to caricature the manners and customs of the human subject. pourtrayed as shoemakers, acrobats, as "you dirty boy!" or, as in the fisheries exhibition of 1883, as "the enthusiast" (a gouty monkey fishing in a tub placed in his sick chamber), they are, perhaps, the most successful. the addition of miniature furniture to assist the delusion is permissible; but, after all, these caricatures are not artistic taxidermy, and they are only allowable now and then as a relaxation. perhaps that which most exercises the skill and judgment of the taxidermic artist is reproducing large groups of some of landseer's pictures, such as, "the combat" (two stags fighting); the "stag at bay," and others in connection with hunting. lion and tiger fighting over prey; two tigers fighting for possession of a deer; head and paws of lion or tiger peeping over a rock; tiger crouching for a spring on some feeding animal; lion and zebra; panther or jaguar crouching on an overhanging tree-trunk; leopard killed by a gemsbok antelope; polar bear killing seal on ice; lynx creeping over snow upon grouse; wolf leaping with fore-legs in air on receiving his death-shot; fox in "full cry;" fox just missing a pheasant or duck by only securing the tail feathers; two foxes fighting; fox and playing cubs; fox and trapped rabbit (after ansdell); "heads and tails," fox coming over bank as rabbit disappears; dogs and puppies; cats and kittens (see landseer's, ansdell's, couldery's, and frank paton's pictures for treatment of these); otters and young; otters with fish (see landseer's and rolfe's pictures for these); otters diving after fish, both seen in mid-water, are some of the studies which have been, or can be, executed. among birds, eagles and falcons at rest or in action are the most capable of artistic treatment, such as "the eagle's throne" (after wolf); laemmergeyer carrying off lamb; hawks fighting over a small bird, allowing the latter to escape; peregrine falcon striking a bittern; eagle and wild cat; sea-eagle and gulls; osprey and fish. in connection with the last, one of the very best things i ever saw done with these specimens was in the fisheries exhibition, 1883, a piece of work--a study it might be called--executed by a german residing in london. it represented an osprey tugging a fish from some sea rocks. both fish and bird were excellently rendered; the latter, with wings expanded, had gripped the fish with both feet, and had raised it in the air some distance off the rocks; the fish was, however, entangled by a line and hook it had swallowed; and the action of the fish-hawk in attempting to tear the fish away was wonderfully fine, the feathers were raised about the head, the eye was fierce, and the sidelong waft of the wings was most natural. the study was all the more interesting from the fact that both bird and fish were poised in air without any visible means of support, the case enclosing them being of glass all around. how it was managed was easy for the professional eye to discover, but i do not think i should be doing justice to the inventor to describe the method. amongst the water birds, which are the next best, perhaps, for artistic treatment, come the swans, in the attitude of swimming (see chapter xii.), ducks swimming, diving, and flying. "the widowed duck" --after the celebrated picture--was one of the things very nicely rendered in the "fisheries exhibition;" the painting of an artistic scene at the back of this case helped the effect wonderfully, as it usually does in good work. "hooded crows tracking a widgeon," and "wounded tern," fallen by its eggs, were two other clever groups--said to be "copyright," though how on earth such things can be copyright i do not know, especially as not one of the things exhibited could be called original; indeed, everything i saw at the "fisheries," with the exception of the osprey mentioned above, had been done over and over again by german, french, and english artists. the work of these "copyright" groups--excepting the foliage, which was rather "stiff"--was, however, very clean and nice, and favourably compared with work by other taxidermists, many of whose "pieces"--as the americans say--should have been refused on the score of pretentious incompetence. there was one detestable exhibit, all the more grievous as being professional. no wonder that people, seeing this sort of thing, should laugh at fish and bird "stuffing." as i looked and wondered, i felt that a first-class assortment of injurious epithets applied to such "work" would have relieved my perturbed spirit. this digression puts me in mind of another, and that is to warn the amateur not to "know too much," and think he has nothing to learn directly he can set up a bird or mammal, or anything else, in a fairly respectable manner. the people who know everything, and imagine they cannot be taught, are just the people who know very little and who will never learn more. "duffers" they are, and "duffers" they will be, to the end of their days. every sensible man, even should he rival methusaleh--which heaven forfend!--must be learning art (even should he teach) all his life. make haste to learn, therefore, from anyone who can give you a hint, and don't set yourself up (or down) in some obscure country town and fancy you are great. come out into the world, measure yourself against the best, criticise your own work as if it were a stranger's. be honest, and say, "that man's work knocks mine into a cocked hat," and then go home miserable, but determined to beat that man's work or perish in the attempt. never sneak! if you see first-class work by anyone, go boldly and say, "sir, i am an amateur," or, "i am a young professional," as the case may be. "your work interests and delights me. may i look around?" doubtless, the person addressed will be flattered by your appreciation, and, unless narrow-minded, will exchange views with you to your benefit. let us return to our theme. amongst the water birds, then, we may instance herons with young as making a nice group, moorhens leading out their young on water under a mossy bank and so on; and this brings us to the question of mounting pairs of birds, with their nests and eggs, or nests and young. groups of birds and young, with modelled foliage--nothing in taxidermy requires more correct mounting and taste, and nothing is more charming, if properly done, than illustrating the life-history of, say, a pair of birds with their nest and young. take any birds you like--sparrows or robins--and, if you know anything, you may "invest with artistic merit" even such common specimens as these. there is a certain fascination in young things which, i suppose, calls up all the kindly feelings of our nature, and so it is that young birds tended by their parents are groups which appeal the most to the finer senses, besides being really educative if worked out properly. i remember, quite twenty years ago, when a boy, seeing a collection of nearly all the "british" birds, their nests and eggs, for sale, so that the idea is not a new one, nor is that of surrounding such groups, with proper accessories and modelled leaves and flowers, as will shortly be exhibited to the public in the new "british" natural history room at south kensington, and as is now exhibited in the leicester museum. i remember getting foliage done for me many years ago for such groups, and i believe mr. shaw, of shrewsbury, did it long before i copied his lead. who was the original inventor of this system i know not, but i shrewdly suspect we have to thank french artists for this. let it be thoroughly understood that i do not intend to disparage the beautiful work done for south kensington by the various gentlemen and artists interested, but i merely point the adage, "nothing new under the sun." of course, when i say "modelled foliage" i do not allude to stamped leaves in various materials, sold at so much (or so little) a gross, and used to "decorate" "boxes of birds" in the "black country" quite fifty or sixty years ago, but that which has arisen on its ashes in response to the cry for "more art," and because of the impossibility of getting any other natural flowers than "everlasting," or any other leaves than those of grasses and ferns (mentioned in the last chapter), to dry for decorative, or, as we say, "fitting up" purposes. to describe the processes involved in copying leaves and flowers of any plant from nature, so that all will appear perfectly life-like and yet be durable, and stand exposure to moderate heat and cold, would take up too much space, added to which, my personal knowledge of all is required in this is of such recent acquirement, that, although i have fairly succeeded in teaching myself modelling of this kind, and have executed a few groups, yet i would like a little more time to elapse ere i pose as a teacher; but, no doubt, when the time comes, someone--perhaps the publisher of "practical taxidermy"--may be induced to give the results of my labours to the class most interested. i may instance some groups: robin's nest, in bank covered with ivy, and primroses in flower, the old female bird feeding the young, the male searching for more food, or singing on branch near nest; long-tailed titmice, in furze-bush (south kensington); chiff-chaff, in long grass, surrounded by willow-herb; chaffinches in blossoming hawthorn; white-throat's nest, with young, surrounded by leaves and flowers of the bramble (leicester museum); blue-tits, in apple-tree with modelled foliage and flowers; moorhens swimming, with young just leaving nest, surrounded with water-lilies, flowering rush, and other plants; grouse and young; swallows, in section of cow-house, with plants, etc, growing on roof (leicester museum); grebes and nest, amid marsh plants and marsh marigold in flower, etc. (south kensington). to give a tenth of the phases of the studies which can be worked out would fill pages of this book; suffice it to say that nature, being the guide in this, must be rigidly adhered to. there is, of course, no need to copy any accidental awkwardness; but don't invent too much, as the greatest charm of all is taking nature as your guide. at the back of these groups may be placed the eggs, and birds of the same species in change of plumage or winter dress, thus making the life history complete. for museums, and similar educational institutions, the food and the skeleton should be exhibited, with explanatory label attached. reptiles and fishes are most unsatisfactory things to treat artistically. when set up and dried they shrivel, and are seldom modelled nicely. (to counteract such shrivelling, see chapter xii.) i have almost made up my mind that, taking into consideration the stiffness of outline usually present in mounting by the ordinary methods, all fish should be cast in plaster or paper, although even then stiffness may be present unless the fish is posed properly. fish lying in a mass on a bank, or in a dish, as were some at the "fisheries," look the most natural and easy. one plan, new to me, however, was adopted in such subjects as large pike, etc, which were cast, coloured, and placed in a long basket upon straw, the whole covered with glass. this method is especially nice for the hall table as a souvenir of piscatorial success. i was rather disappointed in the colouring of these casts. many of the artists had entirely missed the subtle colours of the pike, trout, and other fish --one salmon only, and one dishful of grayling, magnificently managed, excepted. [footnote: one of the very best books i know to help teach the colouring of fish is "british freshwater fishes," by the rev. w. houghton, m.a. two vols, quarto, each fish beautifully drawn and coloured.] perhaps, the best treatment of fish, when modelled in plaster, was exhibited in the indian section; here the tints of the fish were beautifully managed, the skins appeared wet, but not varnished, and all the colours were nicely blended in. as for the stuffed fish, their name was legion, and they were there in all degrees of merit. one thing, however, struck me with painful surprise; among the thousands of freshwater fish i saw mounted by taxidermy, not one was without those ridiculous little spears (cut from large rushes, or from paper) growing from the bottom of the case, each one, or each bunch of them, erect as possible, and almost always arranged at equal distances apart, with maddening precision. some of the sea-fish admitted of more elastic treatment, and i saw one very good exhibit of these. the artist had, however, rather detracted from their undeniably good treatment by modelling small stones. these were so natural as to require a label explaining this; but i would remind all workers in taxidermy that there is no useful end gained by modelling small stones; a great amount of labour is wasted, and the intention of modelling--which is to replace the great weight of large stones by extraordinary lightness--is completely overlooked. "screens."--the ordinary screen intended for use is made of two sheets of thick plate-glass, between which are pressed ferns, butterflies, etc, the whole set in an oak or other wood frame, with castors. those intended for ornament are more lightly made. thus: a square frame, about 30 in. by 24 in. by 4.5 in. deep, is made in thin fancy wood, or in pine veneered; no front nor back is fitted, merely a groove ploughed all around, with "beads," to receive and to retain the glass, on each face. this frame is then fixed by screws, with buttons fitting over the screw holes, between two turned and carved uprights (like small bedstead posts), supported by carved feet on castors; a handle of carved wood is fixed on top of the box, which completes the joiner's work. the inside of the frame is papered and coloured; the birds--usually brightly-coloured foreign birds, or humming birds and butterflies--are inserted, properly mounted on light twigs, etc, and the glass beaded in, to complete all. one very nice "screen" was exhibited at the "fisheries," almost a reproduction of the woodcut illustrating the outside of science gossip, with the addition of a hawk striking the kingfisher. there were also two large and capital trophies, called "the rod". and "the gun," remarkably cheap, mounted as screens in framed bamboo. the first represented a string of large fresh-water fish depending from a branch of a tree, a creel, a rod, a landing-net, and other angling gear. "the gun" showed a fine bittern and heron, and, i think, some other birds, also depending from a branch, with a gun and some old-fashioned tools (powder-flask, etc.) included. "screens" filled with corals and sponges (euplectellae, etc.) would be very handsome and useful. i am not sure whether i have seen any managed in this manner. very handsome "screens" for the mantelpiece may be made up from owls, hawks, seagulls, and a variety of other birds. the birds being skinned out through an opening in the back, the wings and tail are cut off and spread out on a board, with fine needle points driven through their webs until the pair of wings--the butts or shoulders placed inward--assume the shape of a long oval; the tail is fully spread by the same means, and wings and tail are "wrapped" with cotton and left to dry. the head and breast are stuffed independently of these and sewn up. when all is ready, a handle of about 8 in. to 10 in. long by 0.5 in. square must be turned out of ivory, ebony, or any wood desired. one end of this should be turned the full thickness of the wood for about 1.25 in. from the top, then drilled with two holes through its diameter, and a slot cut of 0.25 in. in width longitudinally for the full length of the 1.25 in. to receive a thin piece of oval shaped deal about 4 in. long by 2.5 in. broad by 0.25 in. thick, which should have a silken loop attached, and a piece of blue or other coloured silk stretched over it, and the edges of the silk tucked under the wood and attached by paste; this latter is then fixed to the handle by rivets running through the two holes previously drilled. the wings and tail are now glued and pinned to the uncovered part of the thin wood, the shoulders of the wing inward, the tail radiating from the bottom. on top of these comes the body (also wired and glued) fitting in the small space left between the wings. the silk during the fixing of the wings, tail, and head, should be protected by paper pasted over all, and which can be removed when the screen is finished. screens are also made of single large birds, such as the peacock, or swan and heron; these are stuffed in the same manner as above, but instead of being attached to handles should be fixed on a shield of some fancy wood, the back of which must be polished, and made to slide up and down on an upright standard, springing from carved legs. still more handsome screens are those intended to flank the fireplace. these are, however, ovals of glass, set in carved or gilded frames, which are made to slide up or down on a standard or upright, supported by a carved tripod. humming birds or insects are included between the glasses of the carved oval. these screens are made of all sizes, the standard of some standing 5 ft. to 6 ft. high, the ovals being often 3 ft. by 2 ft.; but smaller ones are constantly made. jewellery.--following the example of the ladies who indirectly send expeditions to "frosty caucasus or glowing ind" to take tithe of animals for the sake of their skins, of birds for their plumes, and of insects for their silk, to be used in adornment, society demands that objects of natural history should not be all relegated to the forgotten shelves of dusty museums, but live as "things of beauty and joys forever." hence the new alliance between the goldsmith and the taxidermist, resulting in a thousand ingenious combinations of nature and art--a list of a few of which may not be unacceptable as hints. for earrings, two leopard's claws are mounted as miniature robin hood bugles, the mouth and bell of each being of gold, attached to which is a chain depending by its centre from the ear-wire. two tiger's claws placed base to base, their hooks pointing inwards, are strung and clasped with gold, thus forming the lyre of the tragic muse, as a brooch or ornament for the breast. beetles, usually of the genus chrysochroa, also, are set as earrings. humming birds' heads, their throats surrounded with a fillet of gold, form also handsome brooches. the feet of the various species of grouse and owls are capped with silver or gold (in which is set a cairngorm), the toes tipped, or the tarsus banded with silver or gold, to form clasps or brooches. pins for the sterner sex are mounted up from the teeth of foxes or dogs, or more curiously of their noses even. hares' ears are also mounted for both sexes, especially for the scotch markets. to turn from the adornment of the person to that of the house, we find horses' hoofs mounted in silver or electro for snuff boxes, inkstands, paper weights, etc.; rams' or buffaloes' horns as scotch "mulls" or as flower stands. sometimes the whole head of a ram or buffalo is mounted, the horns polished, sawn in two, hinged and mounted in silver, and set with scotch stones. deers' heads are mounted as gas chandeliers; foxes' heads as gas brackets or as supports for duplex lamps; monkeys, bears, ibises, owls, eagles, etc, as "dumb-waiters" or lamp bearers. these are a few of the uses to which mammals and birds can be put. emu's eggs form also handsome goblets when sawn through and mounted in silver, or when mounted as vases for the chimney-piece, or formed into an inkstand group. foxes' pads mount up as whip handles, bell pulls, and paper knives, as also do the feet of the various deer. the only satisfactory way, however, to prepare these is to slit them carefully up the back, and pull the skin away from the bone all around, leaving the skin attached to the lowest point you can skin to. clean out all the flesh and sinews, and dress the skin with the no. 9, and the bone with no. 15, preservatives. stuff with a little chopped tow where needed, and sew up neatly, sewing also the skin at top over the end of the bone; if done neatly, the stitches will never show. use waxed hemp, and pull each stitch tight. game birds stuffed as "dead game" and hung in oval medallions form suitable ornaments for the billiard-room or hall if treated in an aesthetic manner. not, however, in the manner i lately saw perpetrated by a leading london taxidermist--a game bird hanging in a prominent position, as if dead, from a nail, enclosed in an elaborate mount, the bird so beautifully sleek and smooth that, although it was hanging head downwards, not a feather was out of place! all was plastered down, and gravity and nature were utterly set at defiance. a little consideration, and a visit to the nearest poulterer's shop, would have prevented such a palpable error. kittens or puppies of a few days old, if nicely marked, can be stuffed and mounted on a piece of marble for paper weights, or on red cloth for penwipers. the shells of small tortoises make tobacco pouches if lined with silk, as do also the skins of the feet of albatrosses (the long bones of the wings of these birds make pipe-stems) or squirrels mounted as a whole. the shells of large tortoises make fancy baskets if the lower shell or plastron is sawn away, with the exception of the centre piece, which is left to form a handle. the shell may be lined with metal or with any other material or fabric desired. lobster claws make up as punchinellos, or as old men and women, or--as exhibited at the fisheries--handles of fish-knives and forks, tops of inkstands, paper weights, etc. the uses of ivory, either in the rough, or sawn and polished, are too manifold to notice here. feather flowers.--i have seen some splendid specimens of flowers (made from waste feathers of birds) brought from china, the island of ascension, and brazil, but can give no directions for making them, further than to say that i should suppose anyone skilled in the making of such artificial flowers as are sold by the best milliners, or makers of wax flowers, would have but little difficulty in making up these beautiful objects. this is, of course, but a précis of the various uses to which objects of natural history can be applied as means of ornament; and, indeed, so many branches are represented by this department of art that it would require a book double the size of the present, and written by experts of the various professions and trades concerned, to give a full history of the practical working of what is known as "ornamental taxidermy." ======================================= chapter xv. collecting and preserving insects. the taxidermist will, in the course of his avocation, require to know something of various insects, their methods of capture, and how to preserve and utilise them in his profession. of the various orders of insects, hemiptera (earwigs, field-bugs, etc.), orthoptera (cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, etc.), diptera (flies, etc.), neuroptera (dragon flies, may flies, ac.), lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), coleoptera (beetles), and hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ichneumon-flies, etc.), the lepidoptera and coleoptera will find most favour in his eyes, owing to their brilliancy of colouring, variety of shape and size, and easiness of manipulation. it must be remembered, however, that insects should be collected with a definite purpose by the taxidermist, and not merely for pastime, or he will degenerate into that most odious of all created beings--a collector for the sake of collecting, or what used to be called an "exterminator." indeed, i have known of a case in which over 1600 of the males of a certain species were caught in one day, "assembled" by the attractions of seven or eight females. these figures seem incredible, but for the fact that i myself saw part of the spoil displayed on a 12 ft. board. need i say that such slaughter as this is far beyond the bounds of fair collecting, and that such courses, persevered in, give the odious title of "exterminators" to all those who practise it. in this particular instance the moths were made up into "pictures," which, though ornamental perhaps for a workman's home, hardly justify the slaughter of any but the very commonest or harmful species. the tortoiseshell, peacock, and admiral butterflies are often bred in hundreds for the purpose of making a "picture" of a snake strangling a tiger, or a crown, or the wings are cut by punches to form the petals of flowers, to be afterwards grouped under shades. all these things, though very curious, and really striking if well done, are steps in the wrong direction, and on a par with the use of humming and other birds for ladies' hats--all of which adaptations of natural history objects to commerce inexpressibly "worry" anyone with the slightest taste or feeling. if a really beautiful object is wanted, in order to show a group of exotic or other insects as specimens, out of a cabinet, you may mount them in as natural a manner as possible on grasses or fine twigs, made as directed, setting them off with a few foreign ferns, and inclosing the whole in a "mount," to hang up, or in a narrow oval shade with carved oak or other stand; or they may be scientifically and artistically mounted, to show the life-history of any one species, by arranging the larvae feeding on a properly modelled representation of its natural food-plant, the imagines, male and female, with some few striking varieties, shown at rest or flying, as also the eggs and the pupa-case, with a description of their economy affixed. a few specimens of families or genera of insects shown thus is, to my mind, of far greater importance, especially to museums, than mere "collectors" are aware of. many works have been written on the collecting and preserving of these orders, and especially of the lepidoptera, vide dr. guard knagg's work on "collecting lepidoptera," rev. joseph greene's "insect hunter's companion," and many others, including a little work on "collecting butterflies and moths" by myself. cruelty has been advanced as a crime specially to be laid to the charge of the student in entomology; but some of the greatest workers in that science have been ladies and clergymen, as also laymen of the most humane and advanced scientific principles. a vast amount of ignorant ideas, carefully nursed, are used as weapons against the entomologist--the pet one of which is, that impalement of a living insect through the head constitutes the sole aim and end of the collector. the fact is curiously inverse of this, for not only are insects captured for purposes of study, but they are never impaled alive but by a very ignorant or careless person. the lepidoptera (butterflies especially) are very easy to kill, the simplest plan being to press the thorax underneath the wing with the finger and thumb, which instantly causes death. this is now superseded by the cyanide bottle, of which anon. it is singular how many people there are, even in the middle class, who fail to recognise the fact that the egg (ovum) produces the caterpillar or "grub" (larva), which, after a due season of preparation, produces the chrysalis (pupa), which latter, lying quiescent for a variable period, either in the ground or in other situations favourable for its development, changes the last time to the perfect insect (imago). this latter, if a butterfly or moth, does not, as some people imagine, grow, but after it has unfolded its wings on emergence to their full extent, it never becomes either larger or smaller. an insect, especially a butterfly, when seen by a youngster, is usually chased in the most reckless fashion--jacket and cap, and even sticks and stones, are pressed into the service, and the unfortunate insect is usually a wreck before its fortunate (?) captor falls on top of it. i shall endeavour in the following pages to show the proper way in which to collect and preserve insects, especially the lepidoptera and coleoptera. nets.--the first thing to be considered is, how to catch your game. this is managed by a "net," not of the construction of those mentioned in chapter ii, but made of a lighter material. they are of various shapes, the professional, or old english pattern, being something of the construction of a "bat-folding" net. it is, in my opinion, a most unsportsmanlike weapon, rapidly going out of date--if not deceased already--and is fitly replaced by the continental, or "ring"-net, which is now generally used. however, it may, perhaps, be necessary to describe how to make this machine or clap-net--fit only for dealers or exterminators. procure two pieces of ash (or beech, as being the lighter wood), each of about 5 ft. in length. with a plane or spokeshave round these up until they taper from 1 in. diameter at bottom to little less than 0.5 in. at top. now saw each rod into four pieces of 15 in. long, or, for greater strength, but less portability, into three 20 in. pieces. ferrule these in the manner of fishing-rods, so that each rod joins up to its normal length of 5 ft. at the top of each rod fix a specially-made ferrule, bent or brazed to about the angle of 45 deg. next get two pieces of cane, each 15 in. in length, and of sufficient diameter to fit tightly into the bent angle of the top piece; bore the top ends of these canes and tie them loosely together. if the rods with canes attached are now laid down, with the ends of the canes pointing inwards, it will be seen that they assume somewhat the shape of the gable-end of a house, which would fold in on itself by means of the cord acting as a hinge. now get some stout black holland, which sew all round the rods to within 6 in. of the ends of the bottom joints, so as to fit loosely to allow them to be inserted or withdrawn at pleasure. when the cane ends are tied together, cut a hole on the top of the holland, so that you may be enabled to untie them when required. this hole, for greater neatness and strength, should be "button-holed" around. to this framework of holland attach at the bottom some strong black tape, which pass through the holes previously bored in the last joints of the rods within 6 in. of their ends. this prevents the net slipping either up or off when in use. the material of the net itself is the next consideration. this is of "leno," a cheap kind of strong gauze. procure as many yards of this as will make a loose bag when sewn on and around the framework of holland, when the net-rods are folded together; bagging especially at the bottom part, so as to fall down some inches when the net is held up. you have now a portable bag, or "clap-net," of over 5 ft. high by 2 ft. 6 in. or more wide. to use this machine, you simply stretch it to its full extent and run out in front of any insect you wish to stop, clapping it smartly together and securing your captive in the bag formed when the net is shut. some little practice is needed to do this neatly, especially with such dashing, fast-flying moths as the "emperor," or "bee hawks." laying down the net, and confining the insect to one part, is the best way to get it out uninjured. to take this net to pieces, the tapes at the bottom and the cords at the top require only to be loosened, when the rods can be drawn out, unjointed, and slipped into a bag or a pocket specially sewn in the breast of the coat to receive them. when portability is not a desideratum, the rods may be easily made of green hazel (or nut tree) wands, bent and secured into shape and dried in the sun, or up a chimney, or otherwise a strong cane may be steamed (or boiled) and dried in like manner; few people, i opine, however, care to carry out from a town two long roughly-shaped rods of 5 ft. or 6 ft. long in this clumsy fashion. i did not wish to describe this net at all, as it is, in my opinion, a most unsportsmanlike or un-entomological weapon, as nothing can escape it. indeed, a friend of mine not inaptly describes it as the "gobbler;" and it does really "gobble" up any insect it is used against. the continental or ring net is now generally used. for one variety a tin or brass y is made, into the bottom arm of which a stick fits. the spreading arms serve to hold a cane, which is bent round, and each end thrust in. a net of gauze or leno, is attached. my objection to this net is that the cane often slips out of the arms of the y, which latter also breaks at the junction; added to which it takes up a great deal of room, not being very easily doubled without the risk of breaking. the points which a net should possess in perfection are--first, strength; secondly, portability; and, thirdly, adaptability to more than one use. i shall endeavour to show by the next two figures my ideas of a perfect net. fig. 41--plan of "ring" net. fig. 41 shows a strong and easily made net. to make this, procure some brass wire, gauge no. 8 or 9. cut from the ring of wire sufficient to form a net a foot in diameter, allowing enough in addition for two short arms. cut off about 3 ft. 8 in, which will allow for joints; divide this so that one half is about an inch and a half longer than the other; make one end of the longest piece into a small loop, cranking it at the bottom, as shown at c; one end of the other piece is then thrust through the loop at a, turned round, and beaten down, forming as it were two links of a chain; this acts as a hinge, and allows the net to be doubled. the other end is then cranked, as shown at b, but shorter than the arm c. next procure sufficient of the material known as black "holland," which sew all round the ring of the net in such a manner that it does not interfere with the working of the hinge. for this purpose a strip of about 2 in. wide will be enough, which, doubled over and hemmed at the bottom, allows sufficient for the net--a bag made of the material called "leno"--to be subsequently affixed. about a yard of "leno" suffices for the bag, and the pieces which come off the bottom during the operation of rounding it, form "gussets" to fill the net in up to the point where the arms b and c first spring. to fit this net ready for use, get an ordinary walking-stick, a portion of which is shown at a (fig. 42), in which bore two holes, one on each side, to receive the little returns shown at b and c (fig. 41), and at such a distance from the top of the stick as is determined by the length of the arms. with a 0.125 in. gouge or chisel, groove out the wood from these holes to the end of the stick, until the arms of the net just, "bed" up level with the surface. the arms being nicely adjusted, remove the net temporarily from the stick. next procure a piece of brass tube from 2 in. to 2.5 in. long, and of sufficient diameter to slip from the point of the stick until it passes the last hole (a 0.625 or 0.75 in. diameter will be found a generally suitable size). on the extreme point of the stick affix an ordinary walking-stick ferrule of such a size and thickness as not to allow the tube to slip off. to fix the net, slip the tube up the stick past the last hole, and placing the little cranks, b and q in their proper holes, the remainder of the arms properly "bedded" in the grooves, slide the tube d (fig. 41) up to the point of the stick, as shown in fig. 42, and the net is thus effectually locked and ready for use. fig. 42--"ring"-net complete. i claim for this net the following advantages: that it is the most easily made, the strongest, and the most easily taken down of any net known; added to which its joint a, which does not in the least weaken the frame, allows it to be folded in half the space taken up by the "ring net" or the ordinary "landing net" arrangement. (note for fishermen: landing nets, formed as fig. 41, i have found very useful, as they take up less room in the fishing basket, and are quite as quickly put together as by the screw and socket arrangement.) larger nets than are generally used in this country will of course be necessary when collecting such insects as form the genus ornithoptera or morpho. for collecting abroad no net will be found more serviceable than a large and strong one, made as fig. 41; and really when you have five large papilios in your net at one time, as i once had, you require one a little out of the common. a short handle to the net will be found more useful than a long one for collecting some insects, but a brass telescopic handle can be easily made by any gasfitter, and used either long or short as expediency directs. the next figure shows apparently a more elaborate looking net. the only other one known to me which folds in four, folds by means of the rule joint, and is somewhat objectionable, inasmuch as it must either be made of unnecessarily thick and cumbersome wire, to stand the strain, or if made, as it should be, of the proper sized wire and of light construction, it is sure to break out at one or the other of the joints. experience having proved this, i devised the net shown in fig. 43, which, in compliment to a gentleman who gave me a hint with regard to the slide, i have called the "hill sliding net." this slide allows the net to be folded to just half the size of the preceding one, making it, therefore, highly convenient to carry. fig. 43--the "hill sliding net," open. fig. 44--the "hill sliding net," closed. this net frame is, i fear, beyond the power of the amateur to make for himself, being really a brazier's job. a a a a are four pieces of wire of the same thickness as used for the preceding net. the two top pieces are flattened out at the top and each one drilled with a hole, b b. at e e e e are little brass tubes, brazed to the arms, which allow each arm to slide down on the other. when these are brazed and fitted to slide they are fixed to the tube d by smaller tubes, one on each side, in this manner. at f the arm is brought across the tube and permanently fixed in the smaller tube. at g the other arm is brought across in the same manner, but allowed to revolve in the small tube brazed to the side of d; the end of this am (on the right of fig. 43) coming through the tube is coiled round and brazed to a screw, h, fixed in such a manner that, though screwing freely through a burr fixed on d, it cannot come out. there are then no loose pieces to this net, which, from the nature of the slides, is remarkably strong, and is easily opened and shut. (fig. 44 shows the net folded, and with the arms slid down one on the other.) to finish, tie a piece of whipcord in the holes from b to b, and sew the holland all around the net as before, leaving plenty of room for the playing of the slides; the "leno" is then sewn to this in the usual manner, and thus becomes a fixture, as in the preceding net. to open and fix the net from the position shown in fig. 44 (which for the sake of clearness is shown without the "leno "), pull the whipcord c (now hidden, of course, by the holland) and ease up the slides; bend over the revolving arm until the screw h comes over the hole in the burr on d. push the walking stick a (fig. 45) into the tube d, and screw up h, the point of which enters the stick, and firmly fixes and locks the net. fig. 45 shows the net ready for use. the arrangement of the whipcord at c is to enable the net to be used as a "sugaring" net in addition to its ordinary use for catching; c being pressed against a tree, the corner of a wall, a fence, or a gas lamp, etc, readily accommodates itself to any angle required. a useful net for sugaring purposes, if fig. 45 is not used, is one recommended by dr. guard knaggs. it is of triangular shape, the frame of it being formed by socketing two pieces of paragon wire into a metal y piece, and connecting their diverging extremities by means of catgut, which, when pressed against a tree or other object, will adapt itself to the outline of it, as shown below by the dotted line (fig. 46). killing insects.--having caught your butterfly, you will wish to kill it in the most painless and least troublesome manner. for this purpose you will require a "cyanide bottle." purchase, therefore, at the druggist's a wide-mouthed bottle (a 4 oz. bottle is a handy size for the pocket, but you will require larger sizes for certain uses). into this bottle put from an ounce to an ounce and a half of pure cyanide of potassium, in lumps, not pounded (a deadly poison), which you will completely cover with a layer of plaster of paris, mixed to the consistence of paste. the bottle may be corked, have a screw top, or glass stopper, according to your fancy. a glass stopper is, of course, the safest to confine the deadly vapour given off, but in point of convenience, and especially for outdoor work, nothing can surpass a well-fitting cork--rising sufficiently high above the mouth of the bottle to afford a good grip. as the plaster is setting it should be well shaken down to insure an even surface, and afterwards a piece of wool or blotting-paper should be put into the bottle to absorb any superfluous moisture. in the course of a day, the plaster will be dry and ready for use. [footnote: a piece or pieces of blotting-paper cut to fit will be found very handy to introduce into the bottle from time to time to absorb all moisture, and to keep the specimens themselves mean and dry.] fig. 45--the "hill sliding net" ready for use. fig. 46--"sugaring" net. the insect being captured, you twist your net rapidly over to get it as near to the bottom as possible--a very necessary precaution in the case of a swift-flying or excitable insect. holding the net now in the left hand, take the bottle, previously uncorked, in your right hand and slip it into the net and over the insect. in case of refractory insects, blowing from the outside will sometimes make them go to the bottom of the bottle. when this happens, you can slip your hand from the outside over the mouth of the bottle, and hold it there until the insect is corked up. in less than a minute it is stupefied and motionless. if taken out, however, it will revive; it must be left in, therefore, from ten to fifteen minutes. in the case of female insects which have not yet deposited their eggs, and are consequently exceedingly tenacious of life, a longer time will be found necessary. bruised laurel leaves, chloroform, benzol, etc, are recommended by some authors. the first is, i think, uncertain in its effects, and has, perhaps, a tendency to make the insects go ultimately mouldy. the second stiffens the wing rays of some insects to such an extent as to render them difficult to set. it has been recommended in the case of large insects, such as the hawk moths, to pierce them underneath the thorax at the insertion of the first and second pairs of wings with a steel pen dipped in a saturated solution of oxalic acid. i have frequently done this myself with good results in the days when cyanide bottles were unknown, but for the largest hawk moths--"death's heads" even--i find nothing to beat a large bottle (a glass jar, such as the french bottle plums in, does admirably), in which is placed about 0.25 lb. of cyanide. with a killing jar of this kind, which i call the "home" bottle, i have frequently instantaneously killed mice and even rats. in fact, the volume of poisonous vapour evolved from one of these bottles is such, that i advise my readers not to take "sniffs" therefrom, lest severe headaches, or worse results, should follow. as it is nearly all but impossible to pin an insect so correctly as you would wish during the hurry and excitement of butterfly hunting, i recommend that all insects captured when the collector is from home be laid on their sides, and the pin passed through the body whilst in that position. this saves the unnecessary marking of the thorax by more than one pin hole, as the pin can be removed without detriment to the formation of the body, and the insect pinned in its proper position when the collector reaches home. setting.--having brought the entomologist to this point, i may discuss what to do to preserve the trophies of the day's chase. first, then, the insects must be "set." to do this properly is the vexata quaestio of the day. as a nation we anciently practised the "setting" of lepidoptera with four or eight braces, two or one underneath and two or one on top of the wings. the wings were then not so fully extended as now, but the body was pressed as close to the setting board as it was possible to get it. the next step was the cork setting board, cut to show in section nearly a half oval, the bodies were a little raised from the set, and the rounded points of the fore and hind wings invariably touched the paper of the cabinet when placed therein, curling up wherever they touched. fig. 47--section of "setting board" fig. 47 shows a section of a "setting board" designed to remedy this evil. the block a is formed of a piece of 0.75 in. deal, 12 in. to 14 in. long, and of varying widths according to the insects required to be set. exactly in the centre a groove is "ploughed" to the depth of 0.5 in.; from the outer edges of this groove b the board should be "pitched" or "bevelled" 0.125 in. on each side to its outer edge. on top of each half, a piece of 0.125 in. cabinet cork c c is glued, and also in the groove b, where shown at c. presuming that you have a "red admiral" to set with 1.125 in. or a no. 13 pin, you will find, if allowing 0.125 in. for the body, that after setting an insect in a board of this kind the matter will be pretty evenly adjusted--that is to say, about 0.5 in. of pin above and below the butterfly. this allows the insect when placed in the cabinet to be well clear of the paper, and is the mode now generally adopted by those entomologists who effect a compromise between the ridiculous english low setting and the continental "high-set." what the real objections are to this latter setting it has always puzzled me to discover, unless it is the true british objection to anything foreign or "french." in a foreign camberwell beauty (vanessa antiopa) which i have just measured, the relative proportions are as follow: the whole length of the pin is 1.5 in, it comes through the body on the underside 0.875 in, whilst above the body it shows but a little more than 0.25 in. its advantages are manifest. first, it brings the insects much nearer the eye when placed in the cabinet. secondly, by its position the body is prevented from greasing the paper of the cabinet (a not unimportant item when the reader is told that the white velvet of a newly-lined cabinet drawer has been utterly ruined by the grease from the bodies of low-set insects). thirdly, the almost total immunity from "mites" which high-set insects enjoy. this last consideration ought to induce our entomologists to adopt the continental set nem. con. for what entomologist dare tell me that he has no mites in his cabinet? is it the user of camphor, of creosote, of phenic acid, or of corrosive sublimate? why, then, this foolish prejudice against the high-set? i have tried both plans, low setting for fifteen, and high setting for ten years. i have, as an experiment, mixed high-set insects in with low-set "exchanges." the brown dust underneath the latter tells their tale too well. in a box of foreign high-set insects which i have had by themselves for four or five years little or no trace of the destroyer is to be seen. reform your "setting boards," then, say i; plough your grooves deeper, and if you object to the flat appearance of the foreign set insects, there is no earthly reason why you should not "pitch" your boards to the angle i show in fig. 47, or to any other angle you desire. the objection to this "high-set" lies in a nutshell: it looks "odd" to one accustomed to the english method, and that is really all to be advanced against its general use. let me, therefore, ask my brother entomologists to give the "high-set" a fair trial, and not to be deterred by the sneers of any novice. it may strengthen my pleading and terminate the hesitation of the young entomologist if i mention here that the officer in charge of the collection of lepidoptera in the british museum--the well-known authority, a. g. butler, f.l.s, etc.--is not only setting all newly-received butterflies and moths in precisely the fashion advocated above, but is actually re-setting all the old "low-set" insects in the same manner! whilst on the subject of foreign insects i should like to impress upon the young beginner not too greedily to rush after "real british" specimens of rarities, or he may find that he has purchased, at the expense of some pounds, perhaps, a reset continental type worth as many pence. i fancy i see our would-be entomologist shaking his head and very sagely saying, "oh no! i intend to collect all my insects myself." my young friend, let me tell you that you will have to collect far beyond the prescribed threescore years and ten if you would yourself collect all the british lepidoptera. work, therefore, in collecting as hard as you can, and when you want a rarity to fill up a void in your cabinet, go at once to some respectable dealer and ask for a continental type of the insect you want, place it in your cabinet, label it "foreign," and when you can replace it with an undoubted "britisher" think yourself lucky. fig. 48--butterfly "braced" on board. to make my meaning plain, we will take the bath white butterfly (pieris daplidice) as an example. an undoubted british specimen of this, caught, say, at dover, is certainly worth a sovereign--the price of a continental one precisely similar, but captured on the other side of the "silver streak," 5d. difference in cost for a mere fancy, 19s. 7d.! again, what would be the price of an english captured oleander hawk (choerocampa nerii)--shall we say from 12 to 20 pounds, according to the conscience of the vendor and the pocket of the purchaser? a fine foreign specimen, beautifully set and precisely similar, can be bought for about 5s. to set your butterflies, see fig. 48, which shows a common white butterfly braced on the setting board. to do this your insect must be truly pinned as before directed, and placed in the centre of the groove a b (which is also shown in section at b, fig. 47); four pieces of thin cardboard, each about 1 in. long, are cut to the shape shown at c c c c. an ordinary pin is pushed a little way through them at their bases. with a fine needle now lift up from underneath the left hand upper wing of the insect to about the angle shown in fig. 48; picking up a brace with the left hand, push the pin in the cork in such a manner that the brace lightly holds down the wing. do the same with the underwing. repeat with the other side. [footnote: the braces shown in fig. 48 should be a little nearer the tips of the fore wings, or supplemented by stiff papa pinned across, otherwise the tips are likely to curl up when drying.] i have been assuming that the wings of the insect previously lay flat. if they are folded up above the back they had better be pushed down with the braces instead of with the needle, and pinned to any position they will readily fall to, and from that gradually worked up by means of another brace to the angle required. the fore pair of legs should be braced to the front, and hind pair of legs, especially of moths, are to be braced out to fall neatly between the body and the wings. sometimes very fine cambric needles are thrust through, just underneath one of the wing rays, to lift up and keep it in position, -until the braces can be brought to bear. this ought not to be resorted to except in extreme cases, or for other than cabinet specimens. a correspondent (mr. g. h. bryan) writing in science gossip for december, 1883, says:--"the grooved cork, instead of being glued to one wooden board, is fastened on to the two boards, the groove between them corresponding exactly with the groove in the cork. these in turn are held together by three slips of wood, to which they are firmly nailed. in setting insects, the pin should not be run into the groove just above the slips. if run into the cork anywhere else, the pin can be pushed through to any depth required, and, as a rule, the slips are so high that, when the board is laid down on a table, none of the pins touch the table." i some time ago saw, at the house of a well-known naturalist and traveller, residing near cirencester, an ingenious arrangement applied to setting-boards, by which the groove of each board could be altered so as to take in the body of the smallest or the largest butterfly or moth at will. it was managed by one half of the board being movable from its fellow, and capable of being adjusted to any size, by simply turning a screw working in a slot in a brass plate at top and bottom. another method of setting insects is by means of "blocks," sections of varying widths cut from the uncorked setting-board, the grooves only being corked. the insect being pinned in the groove is extended with the setting needle, and the wings lightly wrapped, when in position, with silk coming over and over, from side to side. to do this nicely requires practice, to avoid marking the wings with the silk. the "block" system of setting is more used by collectors in the midlands and the north than about london or in the south. insects should be left on the setting-boards or blocks from two or three days to a week, or even more, according to their size; and during this time should be kept out of the dust, but allowed air to dry them thoroughly. the german system of setting by means of pieces of glass dropped over the wings when in position is a clean neat method of "flat" setting, allowing the insect to be clearly seen if it be truly "set" or not. when insects are from any cause too stiff to set without first relaxing them--placing them in the cyanide bottle for a day or night will often do this effectually, or placing them in a wet corked zinc box, or in a box with damp sand, or in a small "plaster box" will do equally as well. this is made by lining the whole of the inside of a wooden box with plaster of paris mixed with water, and laid on from one to two inches thick. the plaster is, of course, thoroughly damped, and the insects enclosed in the box. the same pins with which they are pinned whilst relaxing should not be permanently left in, if it be possible to remove them without injuring the aspect of the thorax. pins so left in, being more corroded than usual, frequently break after being in use a short time. old insects, which it may be dangerous to relax, or large foreign unset lepidoptera, may sometimes be set by a skilful hand by having their wings carefully pinched off by forceps, and replaced in the required position by using a strong paste or cement (see formula no. 33): repairs may be "executed with promptness and despatch" by cementing on parts of other wings to replace torn or missing pieces, or tissue paper may be used, providing the repairer is a skilful artist. i once saw a very poor specimen of urania rhipheus--a splendid moth from madagascar--so cleverly pieced by tissue paper and coloured, that it would deceive any but an expert. beetles (in science--coleoptera) may be sought for everywhere--in woods, fields, ponds, rivers, underneath stones and exuviae of cattle; in decaying leaves, trees, and fungi; in and underneath dead animals; in cellars, outhouses, and even in what would be supposed the most unlikely place to find them--ant hills, bees' and wasps' nests--and in the rubbish collected at the sides of streams, especially if after a flood. they may be taken by sweeping, beating, sugaring, or by carefully prospecting tufts of grass, moss, leaves, and flowers. bags of moss or ant-hills may be brought home and looked over at leisure for minute beetles--throwing rubbish into water, or sifting it over white paper, being the handiest way to reveal them. for those which inhabit water, a net made of any strong material, which allows water, but nothing else, to run through quickly (a net fashioned as in fig. 41 or 46 will do for this), should be used as well as for collecting other water insects. beetles may be brought home in small test tubes, corked at the open end, or in quills stopped at one end with sealing wax, and at the other with wadding, or a quill may be inserted in the cork of a larger bottle, into and through which they may be dropped, or they may be killed at once in the cyanide bottle, or otherwise thrown into a bottle containing alcohol, in which corrosive sublimate (in the proportion of 6 gr. to the ounce of spirit) has been previously placed, which effectually kills and ultimately tends to preserve them. on reaching home, the contents of this bottle may be turned out into any shallow dish kept specially for that purpose (a photographer's "print" pan) and fished for with small pieces of paper or cardboard, and the spirit afterwards returned to the bottle. the larger beetles are to be pinned through the right wing case, and never in the centre, their legs being nicely arranged in the proper positions, and in some cases the wings may be displayed. the more minute beetles may be gummed on a small slip of card through which the pin passes, their legs arranged by the aid of fine patience, a crooked pin, a camel-hair pencil, and a pair of small forceps, the latter being also very handy for picking up any other small objects. in setting the larger beetles, as well as the various thick-bodied insects, belonging to the orders orthoptera, neuroptera, diptera, and hymenoptera, double braces instead of "setting"-boards may be used in the following manner: the insect being pinned high on a board or piece of cork, with legs extended, two large pieces of card, one for each side, are brought up underneath the wings and close to the body by pins stuck through the corners. this forms a rest for the wings when extended, which are then braced on top of the cards by smaller braces in the usual manner, the pins, however, of the braces falling outside the supporting cards and fixing in the wood or flat cork underneath. many exotic insects--butterflies and moths--are set in this manner, which is really "flat setting." if the braces are at any time too limp and do not seem to clip the wings properly, a little piece of cork just sufficient for the pin to slip through may be added on top of the brace. the larger beetles and other insects, such as the dragon-flies, cicadas, grasshoppers, and "walking leaf" insects, should always have the contents of the abdomen removed either by pressure, or by being cut underneath, and, when empty, injected with a little of the corrosive sublimate preparation, and afterwards filled out with wool or blown out with a small blowpipe until the abdomen is again distended and dry. some insects which are narrow at the "waist" may be advantageously snipped through at that part to remove the contents therefrom, the body being afterwards fixed with gum or cement to its normal position. in the setting of beetles--as in other things--the ubiquitous germans and the frenchmen beat us. compare the beautifully foreign set coleoptera, with our wretchedly lame and uneven-sided attempts. it is impossible to mistake the ordinary english for foreign setting, and of this i was curiously convinced on my arrival at leicester, in the museum of which town i found some exquisitely-set specimens of coleoptera. i said at once, "these are german-set." "no, indeed," i was told, "they are set by a local man." i could not believe it; and after great difficulty, the man himself even persisting in this assertion, i discovered that they were all procured from germany or were set by a german friend. this gentleman having subsequently shown me his method, i now give it for the benefit of coleopterists: the beetles, after being killed, are plunged into benzoline (benzol) for two or three days, to cleanse them from grease and impurities. indeed, it considerably simplifies matters to carry a bottle of benzol, as i do when collecting beetles, to plunge them into when first taken. it instantly kills, and the cleansing operation goes on at once. on reaching home the beetles are, after a day or two, pinned, or gummed unset on to any pieces of card in any manner most suitable at the time to economise space; the cards can then be pinned into a store-box. during the winter months, or at any time when required, the beetles may be set, thus: first, plunge them into water for a day or so until quite limp, then take them out and place them one by one on separate pieces of card, well gummed in the centre to retain them firmly by the abdomen whilst being set. a very little time will suffice to do this should the gum be strong. after twenty or so are fixed, the first one gummed down can be finished off. the card is smeared with gum where the legs, or rather "tarsi," will come into place, and arranged with a setting needle. now carefully place the limbs into a natural and even position, their feet resting on the gummed surface; adjust the antennae, etc, and leave the insect to dry by pinning the card in any suitable receptacle. when perfectly set and dry, the final operations are once more plunging the beetle into benzoline, then wetting its abdomen and feet to release it from the dirty card, and lastly slightly re-gumming the underneath and tips of the feet with cement (see formula 33) and finally adjusting it on a clean card, which may be labelled or numbered, and secured by a small pin at each end in the cabinet or store-box. collecting and other boxes.--the collecting box is a small box made to fit the pocket, corked top and bottom, opening in the middle, and made of sufficient depth to allow the heads of the pins on one side to well clear the insects, which may be pinned on the other. collecting boxes may be made of various woods and of various sizes to suit the pleasure and pocket of the collector. they should be made light but strong, and a little fillet of thin wood should be inserted along one side on the front edge, to ensure the close fitting of the box. another sort of collecting box is that corked at the bottom, having a flat lid, on which a piece of cork is glued, and cut to fit the box tightly when closed, thus forming the top lid. this style is also used for postal boxes. in very hot weather, or if the collector roves far afield, he will find that many of his butterflies, if placed in the ordinary wooden collecting box, will have become stiff before he can reach home to set them. the remedy for this is a zinc box lined with cork, which latter is soaked in water before commencing the day's collecting. these boxes are made in various shapes and sizes. a handy one for the pocket is a 7 in. by 4 in, 2.5 in. deep, made of an oval shape if desired, corked on top and bottom, the cork held by clips of zinc soldered to top and bottom. for more extended operations a larger box will be required, say, 13 in. by 9 in, 2.5 in. deep, with loops soldered to the back, through which a strap passes to suspend it from the shoulders. these boxes are lighter if made in tin, and the water does not corrode them so rapidly if they are japanned inside as well as out. "postal boxes," by which entomologists transmit their captures to one another, should be made of strong white pine, the tops and bottoms nailed on, on the cross. they may open in the middle or at top, as before mentioned, and further have a strengthening piece of thick cork glued all over them outside and rasped down to the shape of a rough oval. inside, the cork should be glued down on top and bottom; on this a few small strips of the same cork running across with interstices left between them. on top of this another sheet of cork, thus forming three thicknesses, in which the pin is pushed as far as it will go. in the case of large-bodied moths, or any valuable insects, it is as well to support the abdomen with a layer of wool, cross-pinning the body on either side to prevent it jarring or shifting. the box may then, for greater security, be wrapped in a sheet of wool and tied up. the address should not be written on the box, or the stamps affixed thereto, but on a direction label, otherwise some vigorous post-office sorter, or stamper, will convince you to your sorrow that he scorns such paltry protection as is afforded by the triple alliance of wood, cork, and wool. the germans cover the bottoms of a great many of their entomological boxes with peat, and this certainly holds the long pins firmly in transit; and it is also much less expensive than cork. foreign insects, when space is limited, may be sent home unpinned and unset, their wings folded over their backs, and each specimen wrapped in silver or tissue paper. it is astonishing what a number of them will pack in this manner in the compass of an ordinary cigar box. "drying houses" are sold by most of the dealers, but are expensive and cumbersome, and are really only of service when travelling, or collecting away from home. for this reason i suggest the following--which is a store box and receptacle for setting boards combined. make of 0.5 in. deal a box 20 in. long and 15 in. wide by 0.5 in. deep (all inside measurements), glue up all but the front piece (4 in. wide by 20 in. long), which merely tie in its place whilst glueing up the others. cut the box when dry through the 4 in. back piece to exactly halve it. hinge each half with strong hinges. it now resembles an open backgammon board box, without its two fronts. take now a strip of 1 in. deal, 15 in. long, and form it with a plough plane to the shape shown in fig. 49. the part marked a will be 0.375 in. thick, the parts marked b b overhang 0.25 in, and rise from a to b b to the height which the thickness of your setting boards determine. divide this down the whole length with a cutting gauge where shown by the dotted lines; glue one of these halves to the side of one of the bottoms of the box, and from here measure off 5 in, which will be the size of your largest setting board for hawk moths. at this point glue down a whole strip, as shown in fig. 49, which (supposing you have commenced from your left) clips the right-hand side of the first or 5 in. setting board, and the left-hand side of the second. proceed in this manner until the bottom of the box is covered with setting boards, which will now slide in and out between the 0.375 in. divisions. turn the box round and do precisely the same with the other half. as many more insects under, than above, 4 in. in expanse of wing will be captured, the most useful sizes for setting boards, as also the proper proportions of boards and divisions to fill up the bottom of each half of the box, are as follow: first half.--0.25 in. strip, 5 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 4 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 3.5 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 3 in board; 0.375 in. strip, 2.5 in. board; 0.25 in. strip = 20 in. total. second half.--0.25 in. strip, 3.5 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 3 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 2.5 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 2.5 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 2.25 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 2 in. board; 0.375 in. strip, 1.5 in. board; 0.25 in. strip = 20 in. total. fig. 49--section of division strips. there are thus twelve setting boards 15 in. long, of the most useful sizes, contained in this box. the front is still as it was, open. the loose piece of wood, 20 in. by 4 in, must now be cut down the length, and each half must (making 20 in. by 2 in.) be hinged to the top and bottom of the box; a lock can then be fixed to bolt together the two halves, hooks also being fixed at each end of the box to further secure the front flaps. fig. 50 shows the arrangement of the box at this stage--shut, but with the front flaps lifted up and down, showing the "sliding" setting boards snugly fixed within. insects may by this method be left on the boards whilst travelling without the slightest risk, as nothing can come loose, and the pins of one side miss those of the other when the box is shut and locked. fig. 50--front of setting-board box, with flaps open. a more simple plan, serving equally as well perhaps, and having the advantage of dispensing with the intervening slips, therefore giving more space for setting boards, is simply fixing a slip of wood at each inner end of the box, and another on each flap, so arranged as to hold all the setting boards down when shut. this is managed by allowing the wood of each setting board to protrude beyond its cork to the thickness of the slip--say half an inch. [footnote: this box should be made in oak or mahogany; put together with brass screws, if for "foreign service."] insects, after removal from their "sets," require to be stored in glazed cases or cabinets for greater security and protection against evils previously glanced at. some collectors content themselves with using for this purpose the ordinary store-box, made in the same manner as the collecting box, but of greater capacity. one 15 in. by 10 in. by 4 in. deep will be found a useful size; this--opening in the same manner as a backgammon board--is corked with cabinet cork, each sheet of which is usually 11 in. by 3.5 in. or (double size) 12 in. by 7.5 in. the cork being glued evenly over each half of the box, is rubbed down with pumice-stone, and afterwards with sand-paper, to get an even surface and reconcile the joints one with the other. it is then papered with white blotting-paper, toned, or black paper, pasted down over the cork with paste, in which has been previously stirred a little carbolic acid or corrosive sublimate (both poisons). it has also been recommended to previously steep the cork, especially if for "foreign service," in a solution of: corrosive sublimate, 0.5 oz. camphor, 1 oz. spirits of wine, 1 pint. some little care is, of course, required in the handling of poisoned cork, etc, but i do not write expecting that infants will be allowed to handle the various lethal agents with which these chapters necessarily abound. another sort of store box is the book box, hinged at the back and opening along the front, representing two distinct volumes of a book. this is either covered in cloth, labelled with gilt letters, or is made in mahogany, the bands let in in ebony, or white wood, and strips of lettered leather pasted in between them. [footnote: see remarks on leather in chapter xii.] all around the box inside runs a little ledge of wood for the reception of glass, which, as each half is filled with insects, is pasted in with ornamental paper. for those who delight in camphor, a piece of perforated cardboard or cork should be placed in the corners, forming angle pieces, and enclosing within the triangle thus formed, the (un)necessary morsels of the drug. when filled, it should be pasted over on the top, and the glass then fits close on top of it. book boxes have one or two advantages: they look well in a library and take up but little room, and are easily handled when showing them to friends. as exhibition boxes they are nearly perfect. cabinets.--the entomological cabinet is a much more serious matter; there is no limit to its size, from the modest one of six drawers to the "working" one of thirty. the size of the drawers varies with individual taste. a nice size, however, is 18.5 in. long by 16.5 in. by 2.5 in, or the 20 in. by 18 in. by 2.5 in, or deeper if for large insects. no amateur, unless he is a past master at joinery, can hope to construct a thoroughly well-made cabinet; indeed, few cabinet makers know how to turn out one to suit a veteran entomologist. briefly: the drawers of a first class cabinet should be made of the best spanish mahogany, or oak, in every part; no "baywood," "cedar," or any such spurious stuff should enter into its composition (good white pine being preferable to such). cedar is totally unfit for store boxes or cabinets, owing to its tendency to throw out in time a gummy exudation, which settles on the wings of the insects and utterly ruins them. this remark applies also to cabinets for eggs. the frames which hold the covering glass should preferably fit by a tongue resting in a groove, ploughed with a "filister" in the substance of the drawer itself. a fillet should rest inside, fitting against the inner edge of the frame, which should also be lined with velvet, to further exclude the dust. drawer and frame should be made so true that the latter should fit back to front, if required, equally with its normal position. the carcase, or part into which the drawers fit, either by runners or in grooves by tongues attached to the drawers, should be made so truly that no. 1 drawer should fit in the place of nos. 15 or 30, and vice versa, and all should "suck" back when pulled out half way. the drawers should be looked by "pilasters," or have glazed and framed doors. there are but few makers of such cabinets as i have just described, and prices are proportionately high, a sovereign a drawer being about the figure. fair cabinets in mahogany or walnut, quite good enough. ordinary purposes, can be made, however, for half this sum, and deal ones a little less. the corking of these best cabinets is generally done before the bottoms are fixed, as thus an open surface is obtained for rubbing down, by leaving out the bottom until corked. white or black velvet, instead of paper, is often used to cover the cork. some little skill is requisite to do this without soiling the delicate material; the best way is, perhaps, to glue the cork on cardboard, cut to the size of the drawer, less the thickness of the velvet all round; on this glue the cork, rub it down as before directed, and strain the velvet over it, bringing its edges underneath the cardboard; glue the bottom of the cabinet drawer, and drop the prepared velvet-covered cork and cardboard into it, place clean paper over the velvet, and weight it down for a day or two. this plan ensures the cleanliness of your covering medium--a highly necessary precaution if using white velvet. there are many other ways of fitting glass to drawers than that recommended. for instance, a hinged frame may be used, dropping in a "rabbet," ploughed around the front, back, and sides of the drawers; or the top frame may have a tongue fitting inside the whole substance of the drawer, or the glass may be a fixture, beaded or puttied in on top, the whole of the bottom unscrewing from the drawer frame. this latter is very well for a collection when fully made up and complete, but if required for an incomplete collection, the risk and annoyance of unscrewing and screwing up, to constantly remove or insert a specimen, are great. in view of the almost impossibility of keeping dust out of even the best-made cabinet drawers, if made on the top-lifting system, and also to do away with the screws, i have devised what i call the "dust-proof cabinet drawer." the glass is "beaded" and puttied in as a fixture on the top of the drawer, either from the inside or out. at the usual distance from the glass, to clear the pins, a strip is fixed all around the frame of the drawer. below this, at a depth settled by the thickness of the bottom, a groove runs all around, except at the back, which is cut out up to the bottom edge of the groove. the bottom, when corked and papered, fits inside the frame, "butting" up to the strip which clips it all around to about the width of 0.25 in. a false bottom now slides in the groove below, and fastens with a catch, making all perfectly secure and altogether dust proof. if well made, this drawer is easy to open, as, directly the false bottom is removed the inner one slips down and is found on the table when the upper part is lifted off. the only thing to be said against this drawer is that the fronts show a little deeper than usual to allow for the extra bottom. a modification of this is a closely glazed cabinet drawer, with a false corked bottom, loosely held down by a slip affixed to each side of the drawer, and sliding out from the back; managed by hinging the back piece or fixing it by brass eyes and hooks. note, that all loose flaps to drawers or door-frames, in best cabinet-work, should be worked and fitted by "dust-joint" planes. this reduces risk and dust to a minimum. pins.--the pins used are those called entomological, and are made in various sizes to suit various insects. an insect should be pinned with one of these exactly in the centre of the back, running through truly to the underneath, slanting, however, a little downward toward the body, thus throwing the pin's head a little forward, but exactly in a line with the longest axis of the body. these are specially made by one or two firms only. messrs. d. f. tayler and co, of birmingham, issue a sample card, the most useful sizes of which are no. 11 (at 6d. per oz.) for the hawk moths, no. 13 (at 6d. per oz.) for smaller moths and butterflies, and no. 7 (at 2s. 6d. per oz.) for small moths, and such butterflies as the "blues." i have, of late, almost confined myself to no. 2 (at 2s. per oz.), a long fine pin, useful for many purposes (see chapter v). there are many other sizes, but these will be found quite sufficient for the beginner. these pins are also gilt, under the impression that gilding tends to prevent the corrosion of verdigris which the juices from the bodies of some moths, the hepialidae especially, induce. this is not so; the continental black varnished pins are better safeguards, but prejudice forbids their use. messrs. tayler now make all their sizes in "enamelled black" to order, at the same prices as their gilded ones. varnishing the common entomological pins with a hard and nearly colourless varnish has been tried with good effect, though it is a trial of patience to do this to pins one by one. really the only thing to stop grease appearing in the bodies of moths, to the subsequent breaking of your pins and soiling of your cabinet paper or velvet, is to open all the insects underneath, take out all their internal organs, carefully paint the inside with a little of the corrosive sublimate preparation (see chapter iv), and fill up the void with cotton wool. unfortunately the evil of greasy exudations from the bodies of unstuffed or low-set insects does not stop at the corrosion of the pins or greasing of the paper, but in many cases extends to the underlying cork, which is sometimes so badly greased as to necessitate the cutting out of the damaged patch to prevent the grease reappearing when the drawer is newly papered. grease and mites.--"grease" and "mites" are in fact the bêtes noires of the entomological collector. when you have an insect, therefore, old and greasy, but yet "too fondly dear" to throw in the fire, place the offender on a piece of cork weighted at the bottom with lead and sink it bodily in a wide-mouthed bottle, partly full of benzoline; leave it there from a day to a week, according to its state. when it comes out it will look even worse than before, but after being covered up with a layer of powdered chalk, magnesia, or plaster of paris, it will often come out as good as new. i say often, for cases occur now and then in which no amount of pains restores the insect to its pristine freshness; but these exceptions are few and far between. "mitey" insects are cured in a similar manner; in fact, i would advise that all exchanges be submitted to the benzoline test. i have also used waterton's solution (see chapter iv) to plunge them in, though 6 gr. of corrosive sublimate to the ounce of alcohol are about the proportions of the bath for most insects; but the spirit may be increased, if, on trial with a common insect or black feather, it should be found that the mercury is deposited as a white stain on the evaporation of the spirit. rectified aether (pure) is a better medium than alcohol for rapidity of drying (especially in a draught), but is more expensive. nothing, i believe, prevents mites (psocidae) appearing now and then even in poisoned insects. constant care, stuffed bodies, and soaking in benzoline, are the deterrent agents; camphor is a pleasant fiction, so is wool soaked in creosote, phenic acid, cajeput oil, crystals of napthelin, etc.--in fact, it may be laid down as an indisputable doctrine that no atmospheric poison is of the slightest avail against mites. [footnote: see remarks on this in chapter iv.] get them to eat poison, or drown them and shrivel them up in spirit and you may settle them, but not otherwise. i have heard of cabinet drawers suffered to remain upside down to prevent mites getting to the insects; but i very much fear that such a plan as this, is on all fours with that of a man whom i knew, who, being abroad in a "norfolk-howard" infested country, turned the head of his bed every other night to puzzle the enemy! the late mr. doubleday, the father of english entomology, never admitted camphor in his cabinet (thinking, as i do, that it conduces to grease), but used the corrosive sublimate preparation instead, to touch the underneath of the bodies of doubtful strangers. loose quicksilver or insect powder is by some strewn amongst their insects; but the danger of the first to the pins, and the untidy appearance of the second, militate against their general use. [footnote: it is quite true that, although camphor evaporates rapidly, and settles on anything, so as to be perceptible even to the naked eye, yet that it re-evaporates and ultimately disappears. this, to my mind, is the most fatal objection to its use: its ready evaporation leaving the insects etc, ultimately without any protection.] haunts.--having given a brief outline of the capture, setting and storing of an ordinary insect, i will, in as few words as possible, give a short history of any peculiarities attending the capture of extraordinary insects. some butterflies and moths (the autumnal appearing species) live through all the winter hid up in hollow trees, outhouses, etc. appearing at the first rays of the spring sun to lay their eggs and die. others pass through the frost and snow as pupae, bursting their cerements in the sunshine, to live their brief life and perpetuate their race; others eke out a half dormant existence as minute larvae, others pass the winter in the egg state. in fact, each species has its idiosyncrasy. [footnote: here, perhaps, i may explode that myth and "enormous gooseberry" of the mild winter or early spring, headed in the newspaper every year as "extraordinary mildness of the season": "we are credibly informed that, owing to the mildness of the past week, mr. william smith, of dulltown, blankshire, captured a splendid specimen of a butterfly, which a scientific gentleman to whom it was sent pronounced to be the small tortoiseshell vanessa, etc." now the fact is, that urticae merely came out for an airing, awakened from its winter sleep by the extraordinary warmth of the day, and it might just as likely have been "shook up" on the preceding guy faux or christmas-day; all the vanessidae, and many others, being hybernators. far different, however, is it when any of the "whites"--pieridae--are seen or caught. they indeed do herald the coming spring, as, lying in the chrysalis state throughout the autumn and following winter, some degree of continuous warmth must take place 'ere they can emerge.] the swallow-tail butterfly, first on some british lists, must be sought for in the fens of norfolk, and cambridgeshire, and northamptonshire. it is a strong flyer, and requires running down, unless when settled on the head of one of the various umbelliferous plants it delights in. the clouded yellow is usually a lover of the sea-coast during the months of august and september--though in that year of strange climatic changes (1877) it appeared in considerable numbers from the beginning of june, whether hybernated, or an early brood evolved from pupae lying dormant throughout the last summer, is an open question. the purple emperor, now one of our rarest insects (i have not seen it alive since the time when i was a boy, and saw it around the oaks of darenth wood), was formerly captured by the aid of a net fixed to a pole 30 ft. or 40 ft. long. but accident or science discovered, however, that this wearer of imperial purple possessed a very degraded taste, descending, in fact, from the tops of the highest oaks to sip the juices from any decaying or excremental matter. now, therefore, the recognised bait is a dead dog or cat in a severe state of "highness." the "gamekeeper's museum" in the few places where iris now resorts may be searched with advantage, yielding also a plentiful supply of beetles of various sorts. the "holly blue" i have noticed to have a similar degraded taste. mud holes also in hot weather attract many butterflies, as do the sweet exudations from various trees, or from fallen or over-ripe fruit. occasionally a high-flying insect may be induced to follow to the ground a stone or piece of turf thrown up in front of it. the persistent manner in which some species will return again and again to the very same spot is something wonderful. the same flower head, the same muddy puddle or patch of road, is selected. the collector, if foiled in his first attempt, will do well, therefore, to wait for the probable return of his prize. certain species frequent the chalk district only, others woods and sandy lanes; some are found only high up in the mountains of the north, others but in the low-lying valleys of the south. the sea coast has its specialities, some insects even flying well out to seaward, in crossing from land to land. i remember a "crimson-speckled footman" moth, deiopeia pulchella, flying on board a steamship whilst we were fully a hundred miles from the nearest land. no place, in fact, should be disregarded in which to search for insects, for some are so exceedingly local that a district of perhaps twenty miles in extent may be searched in vain for a desired species, until the collector suddenly comes upon one or two fields swarming with them. nor is this all, for in the case of two or three extremely local species, but one or two spots in the british isles are their favoured haunts. bean fields in flower, clover and lucerne fields in sunshine, are first-class hunting grounds, whilst on cloudy or very windy days many butterflies, such as the blues, may be found resting on grasses or on tree trunks in woods; or, as in the case of the hairstreaks, higher up under the leaves. beating the boughs with a long stick will often force insects to fly, when their presence is unknown to us. i have hitherto spoken of the collecting of insects by day only, but as there are many insects--moths--which appear but at night, we must follow them to their haunts, prepared with lantern and net. in the dusk of the evening, just as the sun sets and twilight comes on, we must take our stand near the flowers frequented by certain moths. in spring the blue bell, cherry, and apple blossom may be watched. later on, the blossoms of lime trees, flowers of the honeysuckle, bramble, petunias, scabious, and a host of others. nettle beds also are great hunting localities at this time of the evening for many moths. dark and sheltered hedgerows of lanes, fields of mowing grass, willows near water, heather, the seashore, all add their quota to the persevering entomologist. the sallow blooms (commonly called "palm"), both male and female, must be searched early in spring time for the whole of the genus taeniocampa and many other newly-emerged or hybernated species. as they usually drop at the first contact of the light from the lantern, the net must be held under them, or a sheet may be spread under the bush, and those which do not fall at first may be shaken off the blooms with a smart stroke or two of a stick. if the bushes are not high, "hand-picking" with the net held in readiness is really the best. ivy blooms in the autumn are also sure finds, several species--many of great rarity--being taken off this plant at night. owing to the usual localities in which ivy is found, the spread sheet and subsequent "beating" come in more often than the safer method of "netting" and "bottling." light is also a great attraction to many moths, some of our greatest rarities being captured frequently, inside or outside street lamps, and the spectacle is by no means rare to see a "grave and reverend signor" climbing up the lamp-posts at a most unseemly hour of the night in search of specimens. lighthouses have also yielded important captures, and there are worse things than being on friendly terms with the cleaner of street lamps, or the keeper of a lighthouse. true, you will get some awful rubbish, but the day will come when alniaria or celerio (which latter i once received alive), or some other rarity, will reward your faith. light surfaces, such as white cloths or sheets left out all night, sometimes attract moths. sugaring.--the great nostrum for capturing moths is--"sugar!" a legend tells that many years ago someone discovered (or imagined) that moths came to an empty sugar cask, situate somewhere in a now-unknown land; and acting as the chinaman is said to have done, in re the roast pork--thought perhaps that the virtue resided in the barrel, and accordingly carted it off into the woods, and was rewarded by rarities previously unknown. a sage subsequently conceived the grand idea that the virtue resided in the sugar and not in the cask, and afterwards came the idea of an improved "sugar," made as follows: coarse brown sugar (foots), 1 lb. porter (or ale), 1 gill. treacle (common), 0.25 lb. rum, a wineglassful or 0.5 quartern. mix together the sugar, treacle, and beer in a saucepan, and bring the mixture to the boiling point, stirring it meanwhile. put it in corked bottles, and just before you wish to use it add the rum. aniseed is sometimes used as the flavouring medium. honey is also substituted for sugar, and sometimes the whole is mixed unboiled; but if the collector will try the foregoing recipe, the result of many years' experience, he will, i am sure, be thoroughly satisfied. the entomologist having provided himself with a bottle of the foregoing mixture, a tin pot to pour it into, and a brush to lay it on with, the net figured at fig. 46, the cyanide bottle, a collecting box, and a lantern, is equipped for sugaring. a special sugaring can may be made from a tin canister, to the rim of which a sort of funnel has been soldered in such a manner as to prevent any spilling of the contents, and to the lid of which a brush has been affixed. the wood-cut (fig. 51), will explain. this is, however, but a "fad," intended to do what it never does--viz, keep your fingers from sticking, and "your tongue from evil speaking" about the "messiness" of the sugar. fig. 51--sugaring can. all seasons of the year (except when too great an abundance of a favourite flower abounds) yield a certain percentage of moths attracted by sugar. mild nights in the depth of winter, or in very early spring, sometimes afford rarities, and certainly many hybernated common species. warm, cloudy nights, with a little wind stirring, are generally the most favourable; but one of the best nights i ever had amongst the "peach blossoms" and "buff arches" (thyatira batis and derasa) was in a wood in warwickshire, when the rain fell in torrents, accompanied with fierce lightning and thunder, from about 11 p.m. until 6 the next morning. on this night everything swarmed, a hundred or more common things on one patch of sugar being of frequent occurrence. moonlight nights are, as a rule, blank ones for the "sugarer"--(do the moths fly high to the light?)--but i once had a grand capture of many specimens of the "sword-grass" (c. exoleta) on a bright moonlight and very windy night in february; and dr. knaggs says that on one occasion he met with night-flying moths literally swarming on a sugared fence in a field once in his possession, whither, in the small hours, he had taken a stroll with a friend on the brightest moonlight morning it was ever his lot to behold. many nights which appear the most favourable will, on the contrary, be unaccountably disappointing; not a single moth will make its appearance. the presence of ground-fog, "honeydew," more attractive flowers, or a coming change of wind or temperature (nothing caring to stir in an east, north, or northeast wind) will sometimes account for this. "showers, rain, thunderstorms, provided they are accompanied by warmth, are," says dr. knaggs, "very favourable, and the catch during these conditions of the atmosphere will generally repay the inconvenience of a wet jacket. on one terrible night, when the lightning was perfectly terrific, almost blinding even, though my companion's eyes and mine were kept upon our work, an incredible profusion of moths of various kinds were hustling one another for a seat at the festive board, and continued thus to employ themselves until a deluge of rain swept both sweets and moths away from their positions. on another stormy night, i well remember having counted no less than a hundred and fifty moths of several sorts and sizes struggling for the possession of two small patches of sugar. perhaps the best condition of the air may be described as cloudy overhead, but clear and free from ground-fog near the earth; and when this state of things has been preceded by sultry weather, and a steady west, south, or south-west wind is blowing at the time, the collector need not fear the result, for he can hardly fail to be successful." july is usually one of the very best months for sugaring, and, if warm, what can be more charming than to select a fine night at this season of the year and to spend it in the woods? just before dusk get your sugar painted on the trees, at about the height of your chest, in long narrow strips, taking care not to let any fall at the foot of the tree or amongst the adjacent bushes (though i have sometimes done very well by sugaring low down near the foot of the tree). just as the nightjars and bats begin to fly you will have finished the last tree of your round, and rapidly retracing your steps to the first you will perhaps see a small moth, with wings raised, rapidly flitting up and down your patch of sugar. this is most probably the "buff arches," usually first to come; in fact, during the summer months, it is perhaps as well to get the sugar on at eight o'clock, as i have known this species, the "peach blossom" and the "crimson underwings" (catocala promissa and sponsa), to come on the sugar in bright light while yet the last rays of the sun were lighting the westward side of the tree-trunk, when all the rest lay in shadow. fig. 52--impaler. if you are not facile princeps at "bottling," do not attempt it with the three or four species named above, but strike them with the net o at nce, for they are the most skittish of noctuae, especially in the early part of the evening. striking down such insects with a parchment-covered battledore, which dr. guard knaggs considers inflicts the least injury, or impaling them with a triangle of needles stuck in cork, in the manner shown in fig. 52, or even with a single darning needle, has been recommended, but after a trial i have come to the conclusion that such plans are clumsy in the extreme. a little practice will enable the beginner to dispense even with the net, which tends to "rub" such dashing or unquiet insects, and to rapidly cover them with a large cyanide bottle, or, failing this, with the instrument shown in fig. 53, which is a combination of the "drum" and cyanide bottle, and will be found very useful for skittish insects. a, represents a cyanide bottle with no neck--a wine or ginger-beer bottle cut down, by filing it around, and then tapping it smartly, does very well on an emergency. fig. 53--diaphragm bottle. on this is fixed a tin cylinder, b, having a slot cut in at d, in which a diaphragm, c, works, and is prevented from falling out by a stud fixed to its inside, and from falling inside by the stud above c. to use this, the bottom must be stopped with a cork, through which a piece of stout wire is bolted, the wire to come up to, but just underneath, the slot d, allowing the diaphragm to close. in action this machine is worked thus: supposing an insect is seen resting on a flat surface, such as palings, a wall, or the trunk of a tree, you having previously removed the cork and pulled the diaphragm out of the slot to its full extent, take aim, as it were, at the insect with the open mouth of b, and rapidly cover him with it. the moth, or what not, as a matter of course, flies toward the light which is at the bottom of the bottle, a; directly it has done so you push in the diaphragm, which of course effectually bottles him up. now enter the cork in the mouth, b, and pull out the diaphragm again to allow the cork to pass to its place in the mouth of the cyanide bottle, which stopping is of course fatal to the insect. fig. 54--sugaring drum. the "sugaring drum" referred to is thus described and figured by dr. -knaggs; and it will be seen that in its main principle it is similar to my diaphragm bottle, sans cyanide: "this is a hollow metal tube of two or three inches diameter, over one end of which a piece of gauze has been strained, while at the other end a valve, to open and shut the mouth, works in a transverse slit (shown in fig. 54). to use it we open the valve and deftly place the mouth of the drum over the insect which, in nineteen cases out of twenty, flies towards the gauze. we then seize the opportunity to close the valve, and pushing the corked piston represented at the right side of the figure against it, once more open the valve, and force the capture up to the gauze, through which it may be pinned, and the piston should then be withdrawn with the insect stuck upon it." after all, i like nothing so well as working two or three large cyanide bottles in this manner: get some 6 oz. or 8 oz. bottles, with as large mouths as possible--a confectioner's small and strong glass jar is about as good a thing as you can get. to this have a cork, cut as tightly as possible, sloping outwards above the bottle some little distance, to afford a good grip. fill with cyanide as before directed, putting in enough to make the bottles work quickly. when you see one of the restless hovering kind of insects at your sugar, aim at him stealthily, as it were, with the mouth of your bottle, and when near enough rapidly close the mouth over him--ten to one he flies to the light, and with a little management you can contrive to get the bottle recorked. let him remain in the bottle until stupefied, meanwhile using another bottle. when this is tenanted and the insect drops, gently shake him into the first bottle, using the last to capture the next insect, and so on. by using three bottles you can always have one disengaged, and the bottled insects can thus be allowed to remain a sufficient time to go dead before pinning. many insects sit very quietly at the sugar, but some few have a nasty trick of "dropping" at the least alarm; to prevent this, the whipcord of the net (fig. 43 or fig. 46), should be always pressed close to the tree to receive them. the cyanide bottle should be held with the left hand, and the insect gently "flicked" in with a disengaged finger, the cork held in the right hand to close the bottle as quickly as possible. my readers will say, how is the necessary lantern held all this time? between the teeth by a piece of wood, or leather, fixed round the top or swinging handle; or by being strapped on the chest at the height of the sugar patch. this is, of course, on the assumption that you work solus--not too pleasant if in a lonely wood for three or four days and nights. unless you are greedy, therefore, and wish to make a regular trade of your loneliness, you will find that a friend, holding the lantern or net while you "bottle," is not by any means prohibitory to enjoyable collecting. two working together can get over more ground than one, and what one friend misses, the other stops. from dusk to eleven on a favourable night in the summer months the fun is fast and furious; thousands of moths of the common sorts come and go; now and then a "good thing" to sweeten the toil. the "peach blossoms" and "buff arches" slacken at about half-past nine, and do not reappear until exactly the same light reappears in the morning, going on well into the daylight. in fact, i have taken them still coming to the sugar as late as a quarter past three, when the first rays of the sun were just appearing. this is one of the most curious things about sugaring. the swarming of one species at a certain hour of the night, their almost total disappearance, and their replacement by moths of quite a different genus, giving way again to others; then comes a lull--remarked by everyone--between half-past eleven and one or half-past, then a rush again up to daylight, when they all disappear, save one or two, who remain until they tumble dead drunk off the tree--a shocking example to the wood fairies, who are popularly supposed to draw the line at rum! another curious thing is that you may sugar in a wood for years and will always find certain trees unprofitable. i remember one tree in a favourite wood, which tree i sugared for years without taking a single moth from it. you can assign no reason for this, as the unproductive tree may be precisely similar to others on which insects swarm. as a rule, however, rough-barked trees are the best; and smooth, or dead or rotten ones, the worst. still there is no hard-and-fast line in this. failing trees on which to put your sugar, paint palings, walls, bushes, leaves of plants, and even flower heads: or, if working on the seashore, on which several rare and local species are found, "sugar" flat stones, rocks, or even make bundles of the mat weed, as you will have to do on the "denes" of norfolk or similar places, and sugar them. if you are entirely at a loss for bushes or grasses, soak some pieces of cloth or calico, before leaving home, in the sugar, and peg them down on the ground, or stick them in the crevices of the rocks, if the latter are, from any cause, too wet to hold the sugar. it often happens that moths will come to sugar, even when not freshly painted on the trees. i remember once taking several crimson underwings (c. promissa), and several other things, on sugar which was painted on the trees by a collector four nights before i arrived at the spot. butterflies and several other things are often attracted by sugared trees, whether old or fresh; and dr. knaggs says that by day several butterflies, chiefly vanessidae, a group comprising the "peacock," the "tortoiseshell," the "red admiral," the "painted lady," and the "camberwell beauty," have a penchant for the sugar, and may, by this means, be enticed within our reach; and the "purple emperor" has thus been frequently entrapped. sugaring constantly in the same tract of woodland is certain ultimately to yield something out of the common, for moths have been proved to fly many miles in search of natural or artificial sweets, and even a barren locality may be made exceedingly productive by perseveringly sugaring it. some very curious things come to sugar now and then. such insects as beetles, woodlice, slugs, etc, are expected as a matter of course, but toads, dormice, and bats--all attracted, however, i suspect, as much by the insects as the sugar--you do not expect, nor the sundry caterpillars which you occasionally can catch sipping at the sweet juice. the hawk moths and bombyces are popularly supposed not to come, but i have a distinct recollection of catching, near woolwich, many years ago, a "goat moth" certainly "inspecting" the sugar, and analogous but isolated instances now and then occur. in the grey of the morning, when sugaring is finished, it will be as well to keep your eye on the hedgerows or heaths you may pass, as occasionally certain insects swarm at an early hour, and now and then important captures may be made. before dismissing the subject of sugaring, it may be as well to say a few words on lanterns and chip boxes. with regard to the first, bull's eyes are generally recommended. possibly, i may be prejudiced against them when i say that i think they concentrate the glare of light too suddenly and in too narrow a focus, causing thereby many insects to drop, which the broader stream of light from an ordinary lantern does not appear to do to such an extent. i recommend, therefore, a medium-sized ordinary lantern, about 7 in. high by 4.5 in. by 3.5 in back to front, fitted with a double-wicked reservoir, holding sufficient oil to burn seven or eight hours. a screw cap should be fitted over the burners to prevent the oil running out and spoiling everything with which the lantern may be packed when travelling. the usual plate glass door should be made to open from the front, the glass sides, however, being replaced with bright metal, converging the rays from a strong reflector at the back; a swing handle should be fixed at the top and two at the back, all folding close to the lantern when not in use. plenty of ventilation, without allowing actual wind to penetrate, should be provided, and only the best colza oil be used. if made to order, a great advantage will be found in having the right-hand side to open outwards (from the back) instead of opening on the front, as the lantern can then be more easily trimmed when strapped on the body without the necessity of its removal for that purpose. the chip boxes, which some entomologists use instead of the cyanide bottle to take the moths off the trees, are simply the various sized ointment boxes of the druggist, strengthened by papering, or by pieces of glued linen crossing them. many use them, chiefly those of the old school, in preference to anything else--de gustibus, etc. the objections to a general use of these boxes are many. first, you must provide yourself with a large bagful or pocketful of these boxes on starting out, as one moth only goes in each box, leaving one pocket empty on the reverse side of your coat to receive the boxes when filled, in order not to mix the empty with the full ones. second, you are not quite sure at night as to "rubbed" or "chipped" specimens, and may find in the morning your boxes filled with worthless things, which a brief introduction to the cyanide bottle would long before have revealed. third, the most important fact, that though there are many insects which rest quietly when boxed, there is a large percentage which pass the time of their captivity in madly dashing themselves against the walls of their prison, and a boxed insect of this turn of mind presents a sorry sight in the morning, many stages, in fact, on the wrong side of "shabby-genteel." then when, after a night's severe work, you are limping home in the morning, thinking how cold it is--until roused to action by the appearance of some unexpected insect--then, indeed, how much more cold and hollow seems the world, when, suddenly catching your tired foot in a stump or tangle of grass, you roll over on the full pocket side and hear (and feel) the boxes burst up on the unhappy moths within. i have gone through it all, and i don't like it! assembling--i had almost forgotten to mention another extraordinary way of catching moths (chiefly bombyces), by what is called "assembling," which is exposing in a gauze-covered box a virgin female, who, by some mysterious power "calls" the males of the same species around her in so infatuated a manner that they will even creep into the collector's pocket in their quest of the hidden charmer. in a highly interesting paper in the "country," of 2nd oct, 1873, dr. guard knaggs gave a very full account of the theory and practice of "assembling," so interesting, indeed, that i venture to reproduce it in extenso. he says: "the generally accepted theory is that each female should, at one or other period of her existence, captivate at least one of the opposite sex, though it will be found by experience that some species possess a far more potent influence for this purpose than others. "it may be set down as a rule that females which are captured at rest during the time of day or night at which they should naturally be upon the wing are unimpregnated, and may be used for attracting with fair chances of success. there may be exceptions to this rule; my opinion inclines to the belief that the butterflies take wing before impregnation; but of this i am certain, namely, that the females of butterflies--at any rate of certain species--have considerable influence over the males. doubtless, too, there are many skittish geometrae or slender-bodied moths, and pyrales, or pearls, which are easily frightened, the females of which will rush from their places of concealment even before they are prepared to start on the mission of ovipositing. the converse of this rule, that female insects captured on the wing are almost invariably impregnated, may be taken as an axiom, at least so far as the moth tribe is concerned. of course females which have made their appearance in our breeding cages are the most eligible for the purpose of attraction; but whenever we breed these with the intention of using them for attracting, we must bear well in mind that the rearing process, whether from the chrysalis, the caterpillar, or the egg, must be conducted under surrounding conditions of temperature, etc, as nearly as possible resembling those to which they would be subjected in their natural state. otherwise, if we retard their appearance by keeping our breeding-cages in too cool a situation, we shall be too late for our sport, or at best capture only worn specimens; while, if we force them by an unnatural state of warmth, the males will not have made their appearance at large by the time we are ready to arrive upon the hunting-ground. having furnished ourselves with a bred female, the next procedure will be to construct a cage for her reception in such a manner that the males will be compelled to keep within a respectful distance, and formed of such material as will permit the air to readily permeate the sides of the prison. fig. 55--assembling cage. the cage (fig. 55) adapted to our requirements is a very simple affair; it is formed by bending our three strips of cane of about equal lengths each into the form of a circle, and fixing them in that form by means of twine; these three circular pieces are then placed in such a manner that they cross one another at right angles (fig. 55), thereby forming the rudimentary outline of a hollow sphere, over which it is an easy matter to stretch and tie a piece of leno. when required for use the female may be put in, either loose or clinging to a twig of the length of the diameter of the globe, and the leno tied afterwards. "the theory of the peculiar action of the female upon the senses of the males is usually considered to be due to a subtle scent which emanates from her, and is wafted on the breeze to distant parts; and it is believed that by means of this scented track the males are enabled to discover the whereabouts of the object of their search. and that this would appear to be the true solution, no one who has witnessed the grand spectacle of the 'kentish glories' or the 'emperor' moths coming up against the wind can, i should say, for a moment doubt. "to be attractive the female must be in that condition which is known by the fraternity as 'calling,' that is, she should be slightly convulsed with tremor, and the last segment of the body should be denuded of fur. then, if the weather be propitious--bright for such males as fly in the sunshine, warm at dusk for those whose hour of flight commences with the shades of evening--and if also the wind be blowing steadily from a favourable quarter, such as west, south, or a gentle south-west, we may reasonably hope for success. "but the young collector must remember that it does not by any means follow that because he captures a female, say an 'oak eggar,' on the wing in the evening, he has detected the time of flight of the males. in fact, it very frequently happens that the males fly in the daytime and the females in the evening. "in the case of species which inhabit open parts of the country, such as moors, mosses, commons, chases, fens, and fields, we should take care that no obstacle is in the way to prevent the current of air from carrying the scent freely over the locality. on the other hand, if it be the inmates of a wood or copse which we are desirous of attracting, we must either select a ride down which the wind finds its way, or else we shall have to allow the breeze to convey the scent from some part of the surrounding country to the outskirts of the wood. "as a rule, it is quite sufficient for our ends to lay the baited cage upon the ground, and then to lie down at a little distance off and keep watch. but in some cases it is advisable to tie the cage to the trunk or branch of a tree, or to fix it in a bush. i have found the latter very effective with the red-belted apple clearwing (sesia myopiformis), and no doubt it would also prove so with other species of the class. "any londoner who would like to judge for himself can easily manage it. he has only, in the first place, to hunt about in his own or some one else's garden for a handsome little caterpillar, of a blackish colour, spotted with pink, with four rows of thick tufts of yellowish hairs resembling brushes upon its back, with two long tufts of blackish hairs pointing forwards in front, almost like horns, and a similar one behind pointing backwards, something like a tail. it eats almost anything, and is easily reared. when full fed it spins a web, in which it changes to a chrysalis; and, in time, from some of the cocoons thus formed, spider-like creatures will emerge and attach themselves to the outer part of the web. these should at once be removed (web and all), and placed securely in the cage already mentioned, when, if there be any males about, i will warrant it will not be long before the proprietor has a very tolerable idea of what is meant by attracting by the bred female." collecting and rearing larvae.--very many insects are more easily collected in the larval or caterpillar stage than in the perfect one. every tree, bush, or plant, the grass, and even the lichens growing on trees or walls, produce some larvae feeding on it. it would, i feel, be a work of supererogation to attempt to give detailed descriptions of food-plants and the insects feeding on them, when we have a book so good and cheap to fall back on as "merrin's lepidopterist's calendar," which gives the times of appearance of butterflies and moths in all their stages, with localities and the food-plants of the larvae, and this for every month of the year. for bringing caterpillars home, a larvae box is necessary; this should, if possible, be made of a cylinder of wire gauze or perforated zinc (see fig. 56), capped top and bottom with zinc, the bottom a fixture, the top to lift off, dished inward towards an orifice with a tube soldered in it, which is kept corked until it is wanted to drop larvae down it. the tube coming well through into the cylinder, and narrowing inside to half its diameter at the top, prevents anything escaping, even if the cork should be left out, and also prevents the swarming out of the enclosed larvae, which would take place if the top were lifted off bodily. wooden canisters, such as tobacco is often stored in, make very good substitutes if small holes are bored in the side. tin canisters, or, indeed, anything made entirely of metal, unless plenty of ventilation is afforded, as in fig. 56, have a tendency to cause the enclosed larvae to sweat. some few hints as to collecting larvae may not be unacceptable. in the spring, just as the buds of various low plants and bushes break forth, they should be searched by night, by the aid of a lantern, for the larvae of various noctuae and geometrae then feeding. the best plants to search will be the mountain ash, bilberry, honeysuckle, and bramble, given in their order of merit. many other plants may be advantageously searched, in fact, all low plants and bushes ought to be well looked over by the persevering collector. later on, sweeping, i.e, pushing a strong ring net through the grass, may be resorted to. the net for this should be made of strong wire in the shape of the net at fig. 46, or 43, if without the joints, a bag of strong dowlas and a stick are attached, and the front square-ended part is pushed by the collector through the grass, in order to trap any low feeding or invisible insects. when the leaves are fully out on the trees, beating will shake many larvae, pupae, certain moths, beetles, etc, into the net or sheet spread to receive them, both sweeping and beating may be practised by night as by day. the situations in which larvae are found are many, some rolling themselves in nettle, oak, or other leaves; others boring into the substance of the wood itself, and some feeding in the stems of various bushes, plants, reeds, etc. for life histories of such consult the pages of the entomologist's monthly magazine, or entomologist, both published every month at 6d. each; or newman's "british butterflies" and "british moths," published as complete volumes at. 7s. 6d. and 20s. respectively. these latter are the finest works at the price in any language whatever, giving figures--perfect specimens of the wood engraver's art--of the whole of the macro-lepidoptera, backed up by exhaustive descriptions. fig. 56--cage for collecting larvae. "digging" in the dead months of the year, when the weather is mild, for pupae, is another method of getting insects. corners where roots meet or spring from the trunks of trees, are good "harbours of refuge" for pupae; so are inner angles of walls, underneath sheltered hedgerows, or under isolated trees in parks or meadows, and a host of other spots. the best places for "digging" are not always, as you would suppose, in the thickest parts of woods or shrubberies, but under skirting trees or in avenues. the best times for pupae are from october to january. many people attain great proficiency in finding--the rev. joseph greene, to wit. for my own part i must confess that i have never "earned my salt" at it, but that is possibly due to want of skill or perseverance. the tools required are simply a trowel, a curved piece of steel fitted in a handle, or a three-cornered instrument similar to, but smaller than, the scraper used by shipwrights; anything, in fact, handy to carry, and efficacious in scratching up the sod at the roots of trees, or tearing off the pseudo-knots of bark which veil the pupae of various moths. when larvae or pupae are brought home, it will be necessary to place them in something which, though retaining them in captivity, yet allows them as natural conditions of living as is possible in a circumscribed space. pupae, may be kept in a flower pot covered with earth, or in moss damped from time to time with water of not too cold a temperature. over the flower pot may be strained two pieces of wire or cane, crossing each other in the form of arches, the whole covered with muslin; or a handier plan to get to the insects quickly when emerged, or to damp the pupae, is to procure from the glass merchant the waste cylinders of glass cut from shades, pasting over one end with "leno" or muslin, and placing the other in the flower pot on top of the earth or moss. this also makes a cheap substitute for the breeding cage for larvae, if a little earth only is put in the flower pot in which a bottle of water is placed containing the food plant. wire gauze cylinders are handy as affording plenty of air to delicate larvae. bandboxes with a square piece cut out from the top lid, the hole thus made covered with muslin, will do very well for breeding a quantity of a hardy common sort. fig. 57--insect breeding cage the usual wooden breeding cage is shown at fig. 57. this requires hardly any explanation: a is a glass door, b b b are sides and top of perforated zinc, c is a tray fitting inside, where dotted lines are shown, to hold the earth in which the bottle of water holding food is placed, or where the larvae bury themselves to change to pupae. properly, the inner tray of box c should be constructed of zinc perforated with a few holes at the bottom, in order that it may be lifted out to allow the pupae to be well damped when "forcing." [footnote: for those larvae of butterflies and moths which do not require earth, it will be sufficient to have a zinc pan, with covered top perforated with holes, in which the stalks of the food plants be inserted in the water which fills the pan, whose covering prevents the insects from drowning themselves therein.] "forcing" is a method adopted to cause any moth to emerge at the collector's will, and several months before its proper time, it having been proved that certain moths more than others die in the chrysalis or pupa state if left to go their full time, notably the "death's head," the "spurge," and other hawks. the best time for forcing is about christmas, and the conditions are simply heat and moisture, the pupae being placed over a spirit lamp, in a hothouse, on the kitchen mantelpiece, or by the fire grate even, kept for a week or so at a temperature of 85 deg. or thereabout, and constantly damped with moss wrung out in warm water. bear in mind that heat without moisture will not do by any means. the breeding cage itself need not be used, but only the tray, provided that gauze is stretched over in such a manner as to allow room for the moth to dry its wings on emergence. but if the whole of the breeding cage were made of framed zinc (such as aquaria are made of), and the glass and perforated zinc fixed in, the cost, though greater at first, would be more than counterbalanced by its greater strength, with lightness and capability of resisting wear and tear, added to which is the advantage of being used as a whole during the operation of "forcing," wood not standing, of course, the heat and moisture necessary. breeding cages should not be painted. fresh food, and plenty of it, should, if possible, be supplied to the larvae. dry food is, as a rule, the best, though the larvae of one or two of the foreign saturnidae require their food to be sprinkled with water, and sometimes even with the addition of salt, to make them thrive. moths on emergence should not be killed at once, as they are then too flaccid, and have not sufficiently purged themselves. yet they should not be left too long or over night, as they often fly at that time, and knock themselves about in the cage, to the detriment of their beauty; destroying, in fact, the whole aim and end of breeding, which is of course, instituted to procure specimens for the cabinet as fine as it is possible to get them. in collecting insects it is always as well to bear in mind that a "worn" female, though not of the slightest use to the entomologist, unless she can be induced to lay in confinement, may become the progenitor of many, and may thus afford you during the next season great pleasure in collecting. this being so, i should like to impress upon my readers (the young especially) the propriety of giving all insects, not actually noxious, heir liberty, if on examination they prove to be useless as specimens. these remarks apply also to the case of hybernated females. many female insects, though unwilling to lay in confinement, may be watched at large, and the flowers and plants on which they have from time to time rested, searched for their eggs. in concluding this chapter, i feel that i might have said much more upon nearly every section--have explained many new "dodges," and so forth, were it not that the limit of space has been reached. one thing, however, may be noted as an omission, and that is the recommendation as to what books should be procured by the young entomologist. this is so difficult a matter--depending entirely upon the aim of the individual--that i prefer to leave it an open question, merely making the general statement that nearly all our advanced systems are founded upon the labours of german and french entomologists. [footnote: mr. wm. wesley. essex street strand, london, publishes monthly a "natural history book circular," which he will send to naturalists if asked.] chapter xvi. on natural history museums, with special reference to a new system of pictorial arrangement of vertebrates. i must confess that, at one time, the consideration of the best method of dealing to advantage with the limited space usually existing in the older provincial museums would have dismayed me. even at that time, however, i had glimmerings of the brighter light which has since illumined the way, and i was, perhaps, aided by the persistent manner in which i haunted museums both abroad and at home, until at last i never went on a journey without managing to break it, or to make it end at the then summum bonum of my happiness--a museum. like diogenes, i went about with my lamp to find, not an honest man, but an honest museum--a museum with some originality, and with some definite idea as to its sphere of work. leaving out, of course, such complete and technical institutions as the museum of geology, the museum of the college of surgeons, and such institutions which really have a motive in view--steadfastly adhered to--i saw, then as now, that every provincial museum was nothing if left to its own devices, and, if "inspired," was, at the best, but a sorry and servile imitator of the worst points of our national museum. everyone must have observed, no doubt, in any provincial museum which dates back thirty or forty years, that the great curse of the collection, so to speak, is sketchy versatility. in walking through the usually "dry-as-dust" collections you find numbers of very atrociously-rendered mammals, a greater sprinkling of funereal and highly-disreputable birds, some extremely-protracted fishes, some chipped insects, and a lot of shells, chiefly marine, which suggest association with the word "stores." i allude to those odds and ends which people do not want themselves, and which are, therefore, so kindly brought as an offering--would i might say a "burnt" one--to any institution so reckless of consequences as to admit them. nearly all museums of early days were imitators of the british museum, whilst those of later days affect the newer treatment of south kensington. hence, in walking through any museum, a technical observer can easily detect the sources of inspiration and the lines of demarcation between the old and the new. really it amounts to this, that hardly any institution in england thinks for itself. museum authorities, like sheep, follow the lead of the most ancient bell-wether; and the reason of this is not far to seek. curators, as a rule, are men with one hobby--"one-horse" men, as the americans so aptly put it--"sometimes wise, sometimes otherwise," but in many cases totally devoid of that technical education so much needed in reconciling the divergent atoms of the institutions they represent; in fact, head and hand seldom work together. often, owing to the want of technical advice, money is wasted in more than one department, cases are too highly paid for, and have not been thought out sufficiently as to their fitness for their future contents, or the position in which they are to be placed, or the more fatal error has been perpetrated of considering them as merely units of a certain department instead of parts of a whole. i contend that if it be necessary for a civil engineer or other professional man to have mastered the various technicalities of his profession, it is also incumbent on curators to have done or to do likewise, in order that they may grasp the treatment of their museum as a whole, and not fall into the grave fault of working up one department whilst ignoring the others. nothing is more distasteful to my mind than that a man in the position of a curator should impertinently ride one single hobby to death, to the utter exclusion and detriment of all other branches of knowledge entrusted to his care. what is the sum total of this? in looking around any museum of old standing we see twenty different styles and colours of cases, which may be briefly summarized as representing the eocene, miocene, and pliocene formation of cases; space has been wasted, or not utilized as it might be, and the result is a confused jumble of odds and ends, consequent on some persons considering that the end and aim of a museum should be the preservation of "bullets" collected by "handy-andy" from the field of "arrah-na-pogue," "my grandfather's clock," and so on. this is certainly not the mission of any museum, nor should it lay itself out with avidity to collect disjointed scraps of savage life, such as portraits of the "ladies" who ate cold savage and who--horresco referens!--"drank his blood." [footnote: a fact!] such a museum object as this, awfully, yet ludicrously, reminds me of that showman who enticed his audience in with--"here you'll see the duke of vellington at the battle of vauterloo, with the blood all a-runnen down his fut,"' or of poor little "totty" (in "helen's babies"), who loved to hear about "b'liaff" and his headlessness, and the sword that was all "bluggy." this is, i think, one of the mistakes which most museums fall into. they collect a vast quantity of rubbish utterly useless to anyone but a schoolboy or a showman, and in consequence they find valuable space wasted to make way for tops of teapots, bits of leather, kaffirs' or zulus' knives made in sheffield, native ornaments, in beads and brass, made in birmingham, and such-like members of the great family of "curios." all such as these should be firmly and respectfully declined without thanks. [footnote: when i first came to the leicester museum i was requested to present to the museum and enclose in a suitable receptacle--no. 1, a piece of thick leather, which the donor thought "just the right thickness for the heel of a boot;" and no. 2 a teapot lid with no particular history, only that--as the dame who brought it phrased it--"maybe it's summat old."] i have spoken, in somewhat sacrilegious terms, of imitation of the worst points of the old british museum and of south kensington (i don't mean the new natural history galleries, but artistic south kensington); but perhaps i may be forgiven when i state that i consider, and always considered, the weakest part of our old natural history galleries at bloomsbury was the arrangement of all the mammals, birds, etc, in that provokingly "fore-and-aft" manner (spoken of before), on uninteresting stands or perches (hat-pegs) such as the skeletons in plates ii. and iii. are represented on. this, which was, perhaps, inevitable in a national collection professedly showing to the public every species of bird and mammal in the least possible space, is unpardonable in a provincial museum, which has not the task imposed upon it of attempting to vie with the national collection in point of numbers. provincial museums, then, if electing to show only animals collected in their immediate vicinity or county (which some authorities--of whom anon--say is the only raison d'être of a provincial museum), or, if electing to supplement these by showing a few foreign forms of striking appearance, fall into grievous error by mounting the necessarily few specimens they can get together on "hat-pegs," simply because the national collection, with which they are not on "all fours," sets them the bad example in this. now for south kensington: the imitation i decry is that of black, or black-and-gold cases, suitable the exhibition of art treasures, but objectionable for natural history objects, which, usually dreary enough in their abject condition on pegs, are rendered more funereal by their black, or black-and-gold surroundings; yet, with these obvious disadvantages, what do we see in some provincial museums?--a servile adoption of south kensington "ebonized" cases, without any reference to fitness. it is positively painful to see elaborately carved and gilded cases, costing, perhaps, a hundred guineas a-piece, entombing a few wretchedly-mounted specimens worth, perhaps, less than £5 the lot. i have technical objections to "ebonized" cases, which i am sure have been lost sight of by all but the makers of such articles. these are--first, that if deal, or pine, or common cedar is used to make the cases with, they will shrink, lose colour, or be easily chipped or dinted, becoming in a short time useless and shabby; and, on the other hand, if made by first-class makers out of good mahogany, afterwards blacked or "ebonized," their price is enormous, and out of all proportion to their appearance, added to which they get worn on their edges in a short time and show the mahogany underneath in reddish, rust-coloured streaks on their most prominent parts. how ridiculous, then, does it seem to cover up serviceable and handsome (and expensive) mahogany with a coat of black simply for the sake of getting an effect which is, to say the least, depressing! well, you will say, you have fallen foul of the fundamental principles of nearly all museums--black cases, and animals on "hat-pegs." what do you propose? i propose, in the first place, mahogany, walnut, or oak cases; and, in the second place, the pictorial mounting of all specimens, and not only do i propose it, but i claim in the leicester museum to have done on a large scale what has hitherto been applied to small matters only. first, as to the wood; i delight in oak, and, although i know how much more liable it is to "twist" than first-class mahogany, yet if of good picked quality, dry and sound, and properly tongued and framed, there is not much to fear, and its light and elegant appearance is a great gain in a large room, added to this it improves by age and is practically indestructible. now for the pictorial mounting of specimens; and here let me say that, for any person to lay down a hard-and-fast line as to what natural history specimens should be, or should not be, collected by provincial natural history museums as a whole, is about as sensible a plan as saying that a nation as a whole must drink nothing but beer or nothing but water. it is apparently forgotten that general principles cannot apply to museums ranging in size from 20 ft. by 12 ft. to that of liverpool with its several large rooms, each one larger than the entire "museum" of small towns. i think it may be laid down as a common-sense proceeding that, if a provincial museum consists of only one or two rooms of the size above given, the managers should strictly confine themselves to collecting only the fossils, animals, and plants of their own district. if, however, like leicester, they possess a zoological room 80 ft. in length by 40 ft. in width, and of great height, together with smaller rooms, then the proposition to strictly confine themselves to local forms is unwise in the extreme. how would it be possible to fill so much cubic space with the few specimens--even if extended unwarrantably, and elaborately mounted--which many years of arduous collecting might obtain? taking the list of vertebrates of any midland county, how many of them do we find could be collected if we left out of count the "accidentals?" here is a list: fishes, 26; reptiles, 10; birds, 110; mammals, 26 (the fox being the largest of these). [footnote: about 80 only, of the 110, breed in any given midland district.] it would be impossible to fill the wall-cases, if properly proportioned, with these few, even given all the favourable conditions of procuring the "accidentals" and varieties, under ten years. it is quite true, also, that the contemplation of purely local fauna, though giving interest to, and holding undue importance in the eyes of a few men, who narrow their views to their own county (which, perhaps, they believe in to such an extent as to seldom pass its boundaries), is misleading and even possibly damaging to the student of biology, who must be shown, in the clearest possible manner, the affinities--say, of such a well-known bird as the heron, which a local collection will tell him, by means of a huge and unblushing label, is a "blankshire bird," shot somewhere in the vicinity; not a word is said as to its being also a "british" bird and also a "foreign" bird, the heron ranging throughout every county in britain, throughout europe, the greater part of africa and asia, and even penetrating into australia. the remedy for this is a typical "general" collection--running around the room, let us say--and a "local" collection entirely distinct and separate. first, in the structural necessities of a museum, i place well-lighted rooms--preferably from the top. of course, side windows, though giving an increase of light, yet by that very increase become objectionable by making cross lights, which the sheets of glass enclosing the various objects tend to multiply; next, the colour of the walls--this is very important. some museums have blue or pompeian-red walls, under the impression that it suits certain objects; in the instances of pictures or statuary, etc, it may be right, but, for natural history objects, nothing suits them and shows them up better than a light neutral tint--one of the tertiaries--lightened considerably, until it arrives at a light stone, very light sage, or pale slate colour. [footnote: the leicester museum, when i first came to it, had the walls of its chief room, the then "curiosity shop," painted dull dark red, cut up by twenty-four pilasters of ad deep green in imitation of marble; the ceiling bad not been whitened for twenty years, and the birds and animals on "hat-pegs," in cases with small panes of glass, etc, were frightfully contrasted by a backing of crude, deep ultramarine-blue! three primary colours. could human perversity and bad taste go much further?] the pilasters, if any, must be ignored, and blended into the walls by being painted of the same colour as the remainder; otherwise, the first things which strike the observer on entering are the walls and pilasters, and not the objects; whereas the impression to be secured on the mind should be exactly the reverse of this, for be sure that, if the colour of the walls be noticed at all by the casual visitor, something is radically wrong. this is one of the reasons why i prefer light oak wall-cases to anything else, by their being so unobtrusive, and not dividing the room so sharply into squares as the black and gold. i venture to say that the first thing noticeable on entering the zoological-room at leicester is the form and colour of the objects, and this is as it should be. having now got light in the rooms from the top and, possibly, from the north, supplemented by, and radiating from, the light walls and ceiling, we, having our oak cases in position, must glaze them with as large sheets of plate glass as are manageable or as we can afford; a very handy size is-say, 8 ft. in height by 5 ft. 4 in. in breadth, this prevents cutting up the enclosed specimens by many bars, enclosing small panes, so prevalent in the older museums, also, of course, adding greatly to the general effect. the backs of the wall cases should be, if the specimens are mounted on pegs, of some light tint slightly contrasting with that of the walls, or, if the specimens are to be pictorially treated, with softly graduated skies applicable to each group. perhaps a sketch of the treatment of the zoological-room of leicester museum would help the reader to grasp the facts of the case better. in the first place, the walls were cut for more windows, at a height of 12 ft. above the floor, the top light not being sufficient nor properly available, nor end lights obtainable, owing to the structural defects of the existing building; the ceiling was then whitewashed, and walls painted of a nice warm stone colour, quite unobtrusive in itself; the artificial light was provided for by twelve gas pendants of twenty-four lights each, i.e, eight arms, each holding three burners. the heating--a most important matter, not only for the comfort of visitors, but for the proper preservation of the specimens--was managed by hot-water coils running around the walls under the cases. [footnote: i am not at all sure if the artificial lighting of wall cases is not best managed by gas arms shaded from the eye of the spectator, and throwing their light into the cases by a hi similar arrangement to that adopted for lighting jewellers' and other shops from the outside.] the cases themselves were framed in oak, rising 10 ft. from the floor, thus--1 ft. 3.5 in. of plinth and frames, enclosing panelled gratings to allow the hot air to escape; on this the wooden bottoms of the range was built; then 3.5 in. and 3 in. frame at bottom and top, enclosing 7 ft. 6 in. space for glass, and 8 in. frieze moulding; the divisions of each were arranged to suit the space at disposal to represent all orders of vertebrates. the doors or sashes were round-headed and glazed with plate glass, three plates of which were 7 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 4.5 in.; eight, 7 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in.; eleven, 7 ft. 6 in. by 5 ft. 1 in.; eleven, 7 ft. 6 in. by 5 ft. 2.5 in.; one, 7 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 7.5 in.; and three, 7 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 1 in.; thirty-seven plates in all. all but twelve of the cases were 2 ft. 6 in. from back to front, these twelve being 3 ft. from back to front, all glazed at the top, to admit light, by glass fixed in iron t-pieces at intervals of 2 ft. 6 in, making two divisions. to these, two cases were subsequently added; one, 7 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in.; the other, 7 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. the division frames, being rebated and lined with "moleskin," had the sashes, previously glazed from the inside, lifted in and screwed to them, the screw heads being hidden by turned "buttons" of oak. i objected to these doors or sashes being hung in the ordinary manner, it being so difficult to hinge large and weighty frames without danger of "twisting" or of straining the surrounding parts, to say nothing of the almost impossibility of keeping dust from getting in through hinged doors; accordingly it was felt that, although there might be a little inconvenience in unscrewing the eight or ten screws which held them in their places, yet that the trouble of their removal, not being an every-day occurrence, in any instance, would be more than compensated by the increased strength, and air and dust-proof advantages. (that these predictions were justified is proved by the fact that the cases, being filled, were opened at the end of 1883 to allow of their contents being photographed-without the intervention of glass-and the air which then issued from them was strongly charged with turpentine and other agents used about the birds, and the rockwork, nearly two years before, whilst not a particle of dust was observable anywhere.) these cases were, as regards workmanship, strongly and well made by a local man, working under my direction, and although, of course, lacking the minute finish of such champions of case-making as sage, yet, taking into consideration that quite 300 pounds was saved in the construction, we may be fairly proud of our success. regarding the classification of the vertebrates, it was admitted on all hands that we might take huxley as our standpoint; but i felt that, in this age of specialists, we ought to be guided by those who, taking the labours of the leading physiologists and men of science for their groundwork, compiled, so to speak, from these results, and being anatomists and men of great learning themselves, were generally accepted throughout the world as the leading exponents of the branch of biology they represented. accordingly the plan was sketched out, and, selecting professor w. h. flower, f.r.s, the president of the college of surgeons, for the mammals; dr. p. 1. sclater, f.r.s, secretary of the zoological society, for the birds; and dr. a. c. guenther, f.r.s, chief of the british museum, for the reptiles and fishes, i submitted my plans to each gentleman, who did me the honour to return them corrected where necessary. since then i have slightly modified where the latest views of these great men have undergone some slight change; and now the scheme of our zoological room is as in the accompanying plan (see plate). of course, for purposes of convenience and reference, a linear arrangement has been adopted, but it will not be necessary to point out that no actual linear arrangement can exist in nature, the chain being broken, not only in links, but by large portions being twisted off. rather may we liken biology to a tree whose branches ramify in many directions from the main trunk of life. the classification--superseding the old, unscientific vigorsian and other systems, founded on external characteristics--being decided on, the style of mounting of the specimens had to be settled. the "peg" system was to be discarded; but here occurred the most serious hitch of all. in accordance with the plan now being pursued in many provincial museums, it was wished by one party to elevate the local exhibits into undue importance, at the expense of general zoology, by taking up much more of the room at disposal than was practicable or necessary. plate v. arrangements of vertebrates in zoological room. the suggestion was to furnish cases of a certain size, one or more of which was to be devoted to each order of animals. taking birds (for convenience) as the standpoint, we were to place on the ground line "local" birds, male and female, with nest and young, and eggs, mounted with appropriate accessories, in the most complete and artistic manner. this division taking up 3 ft. 6 in. in height out of a possible 8 ft, leaving 4 ft. 6 in. to be disposed of thus--another division for "british" birds which have never been found in the locality. these "british" were to be in pairs, but not very well mounted, and without nests and young. above these, again, another line, exhibiting a few of the most striking typical foreign birds. these "foreign" birds were not to be well mounted, but plain "stuffed." it was claimed for this that "each order would be distinct, and that there would be the best opportunity of comparing the local birds with those of britain generally and of the whole world, while a real notion of the life of birds would be conveyed by the full portraiture of those forms with which the local visitors would be most familiar, making them distinct items of knowledge in a manner scarcely ever attempted, and, in fact, almost impossible with the usual methods of arrangement. it is an elastic system, admitting of many variations, while retaining the fundamental principle; and of all really effective systems it is the least expensive, because it depends mainly upon objects procurable in the locality. the leicestershire species should occupy the ground line, and come up to the front. the british species should be set back 8 in. to 12 in, and the foreign 15 in. to 18 in.; but these limits might be occasionally infringed where it seems necessary." to give the reader an idea of how disproportionate these divisions would be when comparing "local" with "foreign," see the diagram (fig. 58), representing one division or "bay" marked on plan. fig. 58--projected arrangement of a biological collection by "scheme a." again, it was urged that "the three sections should be divided horizontally, but the lines of division need not be straight. they may be broken so as to preserve the pictorial effect, but not to destroy the division." regarding this part of the contention, it is only necessary to point out that no "pictorial effects" were possible under such a system, which is really a lucus a non lucendo. by this scheme, we have "local" birds at bottom (very well arranged), "british" next (not so well arranged), and "foreign" at top (not well arranged at all), and these arbitrary and totally unnatural divisions were supposed to "drive home the truths of natural history into the minds of casual visitors," to be "applicable to all the departments of a museum, so that, if it were adopted, a uniform plan might be carried through the collections from end to end, giving a systematic completeness which is rarely found in museums at the present time. it utilises the breaks and blank spaces in every series." never was there a more impracticable theory broached. the whole arrangement was based on an utter disregard of the requirements of science, leaving out art altogether, and, worse still, upon an utter ignorance of first principles of zoology. may i ask if anyone can define a "local" bird from a "british" bird, or a "british" bird from a "foreign" bird? lastly, every one should know that every bird found in leicestershire is a "british" bird, and that every "british" bird is a "foreign" one; and that each of these imaginary divisions is being constantly recruited from the division immediately above it. [footnote: there are but two birds belonging to the paridae (titmice), which are claimed as being peculiar to britain; and these merely on the ground of being climatic varieties--hardly sufficient to warrant the founding of new "species."] for instance, the golden eagle is not a "local" bird, but it may be so to-morrow, should one stray from north britain, as they sometimes do, and be shot by some person within the boundary of the county. it then becomes "local"! this bird, which is as distinctly "foreign"--being found in europe, north africa, america, etc.--as it is "british"! put this in, or leave it out of the "local" division, and what does it teach? arguing per contra, the osprey has been killed in our own county more than once; it is thus "local;" it is also "british," nesting in north britain; it is also distinctly "foreign," being found positively in every quarter of the globe--in australia even--sharing with the common barn owl the distinction of being actually cosmopolitan. in which division are we to place this? it is "local," and yet cannot be mounted in that division, with its nest and young, because it has never bred in the midlands; but it has bred in north britain, and might be shown in the "british" division fully displayed; but, says this contention, which i have called "scheme a," no "british" specimens shall be mounted with nest and young! being "foreign," it should also come in the "foreign" division. what, then, can this teach? either the bird must be repeated in all three divisions, or it must, according to the foregoing, appear only in the "local" division, thus acting an ornithological lie, and leading the unlearned to believe that it is a very rare bird, peculiar only to leicestershire. these examples might be repeated ad nauseam. the sparrow, the swallow, the kingfisher, the heron, the wild duck, the wood-pigeon, the pheasant, the coot, the woodcock, the terns, the gulls, etc, are some common forms which occur to me. again, there are five orders of birds not represented in leicestershire, nor in england even. these contain nearly five hundred species. are these to be entirely eliminated from the collection? or does it teach anything to put cards in the "local" or "british" divisions of the parrot cases to say that no parrots occur (out of cages) in either leicestershire or britain? again, what can this teach? well, we will take a representative group--say, the order gallinae, or game-birds, and, taking our own county of leicestershire as an example, we shall find that, although there are nearly four hundred species of this order known, but eleven at the very outside are claimed as having occurred in britain, whilst but three of these are commonly found in the county. i give their names and values under each heading: local. british. foreign. ptarmigan no. yes. yes. red grouse has occurred. yes. yes.[footnote: formerly indigenous to britain, but now found in sweden, etc.] capercaillie no. yes. yes. black grouse has occurred. yes. yes. pheasant yes. yes. yes. red-legged partridge yes. yes. yes. barbary partridge said to have once occurred doubtful. yes. partridge yes. yes. yes. virginian colin no. doubtful. yes. quail has occurred. yes. yes. andalusian hemipode no. doubtful. yes. or, putting it into a tabular form, as if supposing that the whole four hundred known species could be shown, we should have it presented thus: order--gallinae. (400 species.) 389 . . . . . . . .400 foreign. 8 . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . british. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . local. that is to say, that, although it was wished to claim the 3 ft. 6 in. division in height, of indefinite length (really ten feet when worked out) for the three "local" birds, yet it will be seen by the foregoing tables that those three "locals" would do equally as well if placed in the "british" division, and the sum total of the "local" and "british" might be placed correctly with all the rest in the "foreign." why, then, should valuable space be wasted for three birds, simply to perpetuate an error in working out a crotchet? the question again arose, what could such a "model" system as this teach? this was effectually answered by a specimen case, representing the above, being fitted up, when the glaring errors of the proposed system were at once evident, there being fully a space of 10 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft. 6 in. = 87.5 ft. cube, devoted to five birds only--three of which were not now found in the county. these represented the "locals." in the "british" division, of 10 ft. in length x 2 ft. 6 in. in height x 1 ft. 6 in. back to front, viz, a cube of 37.5 ft. there appeared but six others--three of which were doubtful. furthermore, as if to point to the crowning absurdity of the whole scheme, but 10 ft. x 2 ft. x 1 ft. = 20 ft. cube, was provided for the great remainder of the "foreign" specimens, nearly thirty-seven times as numerous as both "local" and "british" combined. now for the cheapness of the system advocated. in the first place, local specimens of rare birds are not cheap. for instance, anyone can get a foreign specimen of--say, the honey buzzard--for about 8s. but a locally-killed specimen would be very likely to cost several pounds. as for the "elasticity" of such a system, if it is meant that it will stretch any way but the right, i agree, but if meant to be applied to any department of natural history it is distinctly wrong. let us take the case of the invertebrates, nearly all of which, as the birds, have a wide range. many instances occur to me, but one will be sufficient, vanessa antiopa, the "camberwell beauty" butterfly. now this insect has been taken three times (perhaps more?) in the county, and i suppose it has occurred in nearly every county in england, but as it is found also commonly throughout the greater part of europe, parts of africa, asia, and america, we are confronted by the unpleasant reminder, "what shall we do with it" under the system proposed? it is, according to that theory, "local," "british," and "foreign;" it is rarest as "local," being, of course, of accidental occurrence; yet it is proposed to show it only in that division, to the extent of ignoring the two other divisions which have manifestly a greater claim on it. if this, then, were adhered to, the student would at once have presented to him an incorrect view of the distribution of species. one other way only is there out of the difficulty, which is to show a specimen of the same insect in all three divisions; but this would, though more correct, be as embarrassing to understand, to say nothing of the loss of space involved, because the same thing would have to be repeated with nearly every invertebrate possessed by a museum arranged on these lines. the proper way, i contend, to give real information is to shake off all insular prejudice and not call things by their wrong names, i.e. claim as "british," things which are not essentially so. to this end i have labelled the butterfly in question: vanessa. antiopa, 1. (camberwell beauty.) range: asia, africa, america, europe generally, including britain (rarely), and has occurred in leicestershire three times. this, i am quite sure, is the proper method to educate the public, who cannot understand, or are misled by, such crudities as placing specimens in arbitrary divisions such as "local," "british," and "foreign." the same rule applies to the plants; and i remember a case occurring, but a short time since when a young botanist, wishing to name a few plants collected abroad (in europe), came to our herbarium, modelled on these misleading lines, and at once turned to the "foreign" division to find specimens by which to compare his own. an hour was wasted in trying to puzzle some of them out, and he then came to me saying, "you hav'n't got them." at once i saw he had things of world-wide distribution, and turning, much to his amazement, to the "local" division, found them for him. all this comparison, and waste of time and temper, might have been saved had the plants been arranged in their proper orders and families, irrespective of imaginary divisions, with a label attached stating their range and if occurring locally. leaving biology now, we shall see how this "elastic system" can "be carried through the collections from end to end." take the rocks as an example. is it real science--or what is it--which would label syenite a "leicestershire" rock? such queries and replies could be multiplied ad infinitum, for it will be observed that i have said nothing about the mammals, where the loss of space and want of cohesion in such a group as the carnivora--best represented of all in "local"--are patent. the fishes--fancy a "local" salmon! yet they occasionally run up the rivers. but i need not enlarge on this, further than to say that under this "elastic" system it was gravely proposed to pictorially mount the "local" freshwater fishes under the sea fishes, not because it was a direct violation of the physics of salt and fresh water, but because the "local" division must come in its place at the bottom of the range of cases! i had almost forgotten to say that these precious divisions were to be made self-evident to the bucolic intellect even, by means of colour--thus, "local" was to be brownish-red rock; "british," green; and "foreign," blue; and these colours were, without reference to any artistic considerations such as the laws of contrast in colour, or light and shade, to be rigidly adhered to, and to be carried in distinct, if "wavy" bands, all around the room. fortunately, it was pointed out that shelves of wood would carry out that idea more effectually than playing with science and art in such a manner, therefore these absurd propositions were promptly discarded. and now, having described what i take to be the evils to be guarded against in plain or "pictorial" mounting, if founded on such lines as those in the scheme i have called "a," i will briefly sketch out what i take to be the lines of the museum of the future. i must confess i had thought a great deal of arranging the vertebrata in zoo-geographical order, in a manner founded on a. r. wallace's great and concise work on the "geographical distribution of animals." it seemed to me a fairly comprehensive and scientific, certainly a novel, method of treatment, and i had gone so far as to sketch out several of my groups, when i was confronted by difficulties, and saw that it was not a system which was thoroughly coherent throughout the whole of the collections, and i finally abandoned it, on the advice of dr. sclater, the originator, i believe, of the "zoo-geographical divisions." i wanted a system which might be carried out throughout the whole biological collections, and this end was best gained by arranging them in zoological order, so far as is possible in these days, when the microscope tells us that a plant may be an animal, or vice versa, or that an organism may be a plant now and something very like an animal a short time after (see saville kent on the "myxomycetes"). with the plants and invertebrates this was comparatively easy, for though, as i have before pointed out, no linear arrangement is correct, yet in a small museum the "table cases" for invertebrates must run on in lines, and the mounting, owing to their enormous numbers and usually small size, must be tabular, and not pictorial (except, of course, in rare instances). i was aware that several naturalists had "laid down the law" as to the position to be taken by local museums, and that notably mr. john hopkinson, of the watford natural history society, had written his views upon the subject; but these views are, i think, probably somewhat narrowed by the small size of the museum he had in mind whilst writing. though agreeing with him in the main, i considered that very few provincial museums, excepting liverpool, could boast of having anything like so large a space for the exhibition of specimens as we possessed in our zoological room. it may be taken, therefore, for granted, that what was written specially to suit the requirements of watford is not of the slightest use when sought to be applied to larger museums. when, however, mr. hopkinson quotes the opinions of such well-known scientists as professors flower, rudler, dr. sclater, and other practical workers, his compilation becomes of some value. professor rudler, it will be seen, points out that, however full and perfect a local collection may be, it would teach nothing if narrowed down to purely local limits, and that, therefore, it must be broadened for the sake of comparison; and he very properly says: "whilst we should patriotically aspire to render the local collection as perfect as possible, i would not by any means have the usefulness of museums stop here. comparing any local collection with a general collection, it will, of course, be found that many important groups of 'animals, vegetables, and minerals, are but imperfectly represented, whilst others are altogether blank. there is, consequently, great danger of very limited and inadequate notions of the great system of nature being formed by the student who confines his attention to local natural history. to counteract such a tendency, it is eminently desirable to form, under proper conditions, a general collection, which will give the visitor some notion of, at any rate, the larger groups in which natural bodies are classified. there should, consequently, be two departments to our central museum---one local and the other general--each with distinct aims, and each appealing to a distinct class of visitors." these being exactly my views, but with the radical change of wishing to mount both collections pictorially, i considered that, although the newly-erected wall-cases in oak, with single sheets of plate-glass, 7 ft. 6 in. by 5 ft, were, when filled as i projected, admirably suited to interest the general public, who comprise, perhaps, nine-tenths of museum visitors, yet that the claims of the respectable minority of students, artists, and quasi-scientific people should not be neglected, and for these the local fauna, etc, should be perseveringly collected and mounted with all the appliances which science and art can suggest. to do this properly, and to preserve groups for an indefinite time, it is necessary, and indeed indispensable, that each group of male, female, nest and eggs, or young, should be mounted in a separate case, or in separate divisions of a row of cases quite distinct from the general collection. although i had assumed, and, indeed, had the courage of my opinions, that the pictorial method of displaying natural history specimens was a great improvement upon the old peg system, i recognised the difficulties attendant upon this and also that many excellent authorities were adverse to any pictorial arrangement whatever. and, indeed, if we come to the consideration of "true science," i unhesitatingly assert that end is best served by a collection of properly authenticated birds' skins scientifically arranged in cabinets, and not mounted in any way whatever; but although this method might satisfy a few workers, i very much fear that the general bulk of the ratepayers would be hardly satisfied with a museum arranged on so severely scientific principles. it must be considered that a public museum differs from a private one in a very material point. in the former there is a diversity of tastes to please, and it is often difficult to know the exact point where the line should be drawn; in a private museum, on the contrary, there is but one person to please, and that the owner, consequently he may indulge his crotchets without fear of doing damage to anyone but himself. i considered that public museums must always be affected by matters of expediency and local feeling, and that the will of the majority must always be studied, when it has common sense for its basis. to this end i worked, and not wishing to be so much in love with my own system as to be blind to advice, i wrote to ten of the most eminent men of science--men of european reputation, and whose dictum on museum matters cannot be questioned--setting forth, under the heading "scheme a" and "scheme b," the pros and cons of both, not favouring one or the other in the slightest, giving no clue whatever to my leaning to either, and resolving to be guided entirely by the opinion of the majority, or, should it be a close tie, to refer it to an umpire. of these ten, eight returned unqualified approval of having a general collection for leicester, and also of that plan which kept the "general" and "local" collections entirely distinct; one gave no opinion, and one eminent man suggested an alternative scheme of a typical collection somewhat like professor owen's "index museum" at south kensington, and which could be carried out afterwards without reference to the question at issue. as regards the pictorial mounting of the specimens in zoological order --the thing i was most doubtful about--both for the "general" and the "local" collections, five out of the ten unhesitatingly favoured pictorial mounting--if well done--of both collections, and four more said nothing for or against it. nearly every one of these gentlemen wrote me a lengthy letter, giving most valuable advice--advice which has in all cases been acted on where practicable. dr. a. c. guenther, f.r.s, etc, at one time the keeper of zoology, british museum, has kindly allowed me to quote his views embodied in a letter to me. he says: "i should recommend you to adopt the following plan: arranging the general and british collections together, strictly systematically, receiving, of the foreign animals, typical forms only, but making the british series as complete as possible, and choosing in preference leicestershire animals when practicable. excluding from the general series specially mounted objects, such as groups of birds showing nidification, change of plumage, or illustrating the habits of animals--such groups to be mounted on separate stands in the middle of the room. i believe this plan would best meet the requirements in your museum." having now something to work upon, the museum committee rejected "scheme a." whose weak points have been detailed at length, and sanctioned "scheme b" being carried out, which not only separated "local" from "general," but provided for the pictorial mounting of both. taking, therefore, any of the orders marked on the plan (see plate) as an example, the best known, and therefore "local" or "british" species of the first family (or genera) of that order is selected, then the least known or most striking "foreign" species of the same family (or genera) to compare with it, and so on throughout. space being limited, however, species closely allied are not always represented, but are collected as skins to fill up the unavoidable blanks. in all cases, however, typical specimens of the families and genera of animals are attempted to be shown, and as many species as possible are collected as skins. the highest form of each order is placed at the top, the next underneath, until the bottom of the case is arrived at, then ascends again, forming a serpentine line, which, taking the first order, passeres, as an example, begins at the top of the first case, and takes the song thrush--one of the "locals"--as being of the first genera of the first family; this is contrasted by a "foreign" form of the same family (and genus), the "american robin," and thus runs on throughout the whole of the wall-cases on that side of the room devoted to birds (see plan), until it ends at the ostrich, as being the last. it win be seen by this that, although the so-called "local" birds are often, nay nearly always, represented, they have no fictitious value given to them, but simply take their place in the great scheme of nature in a proper manner, being often close to so-called "foreign" forms, with which they are easily compared. the whole arrangement of accessories is "pictorial," birds being represented on trees or on "rockwork," many of them swimming, or flying, or eating, surrounded by mosses and the few dried plants available for such purposes--in fact, represented in as natural a manner as is possible under the circumstances. exception may be taken to the close contiguity of an american or indian form with an european, sometimes "british" form, which, though scientifically correct, is artistically and topographically wrong; and this certainly was a crux of mine until i reflected that, under the old peg system, the same state of affairs existed. i have endeavoured to isolate as much as possible such incongruities one from the other, often by partially surrounding them with ferns, etc, of their native habitat, and by leaving little blanks here and there. apart from this, the general opinion of both scientific [footnote: in this category i may place sir philip cunliffe owen, c.b, etc.; mr. r. bowdler sharpe, f.l.s, etc.; mr. smith woodward, all of south kensington; sir j. a. picton, f.s.a, etc of liverpool; professor st. george mivart, f.r.s. etc.; professor 1. o. miall; professor wm. knight; professor a. schuster, etc.; mr. jas. orrock, member of the royal institute of water-colour painters; and several other gentlemen who have done me the honour to speak in most flattering terms of the new arrangement.] and unscientific people is that the scheme is a success, and that such trifling and inevitable irreconcilements are amply condoned and compensated for by the increased beauty of the groups, and by the pleasure it affords, not only to artistic people, but to the general public; indeed, if vox populi be vox dei, there is no doubt upon the subject whatever. other defects there are; for instance, repetitions of grasses in "fitting-up," which proves how little can be done with dried things, and how much better it would be to replace them by modelled foliage (mentioned in chapter xiv). [footnote: one would-be critic wrote to the papers condemning the whole arrangement, because, in one of the cases, one plant was about a foot nearer the water or a yard nearer to another plant than it should be! the same wiseacre, or his friend, wrote quite an article upon some supposed "fir twigs" which, much to his confusion, were nothing of the sort, but a plant quite proper to its place in the case.] i would now wish to point out why i object so much to carefully-managed groups of so-called "local" birds, their nests and eggs, being introduced in a general collection, especially if the latter be arranged in a pictorial manner. first, because small groups, such as of necessity the greater number of pairs of local birds would cut up into, would be lost amidst their larger surroundings, and be really as if an artist were to paint a small, highly finished picture in the corner of some large, "broad" subject; secondly, the great difficulty there is in protecting such choice groups from moth if exposed in, say, a cubic space of 100 ft. filled with other specimens, some of them old and doubtful as regards freedom from insects. a general collection, even should great care be taken, requires constant watching to seize upon any specimen showing signs of damage; but why a choice group of young birds in their nest, with parents--birds in change of plumage, surrounded by accessories which perhaps have cost hundreds of hours to execute--should be exposed to all the evils imaginable when isolation is so much more practicable and practical, passes comprehension. no; i am convinced that the only way to manage, in a museum of sufficient size to have a general collection, is to arrange it as i have sketched out, and to make a separate collection close at hand, if need be, for comparison of the animals collected in the district. now for labelling. it was proposed originally in scheme a in this form: "it will be essential to have labels in the cases. these maybe made simple, however, with references to a descriptive catalogue. the labels should bear the english name, with 'resident,' summer visitant,' or 'winter visitant' on all british species. nothing more. "the three sections should have labels of distinct colours--say, yellow for local, pink for british, white for foreign. the labels will probably be best glued on to some part of the stand or setting. they should be as small as possible, so as to be legible, "local species maybe distinguished as 'native' and 'casual, or accidental. "the latter might have a dark line above, and below the name on the label--thus, stork, or be marked 'casual--spring,' or 'casual--autumn.'" to this i objected that if the arrangement was to be "pictorial," the "spotty" appearance of labels, especially if of light tints, was destructive to the effect sought to be gained; that yellow is not distinct from white by gaslight; and that pink often fades to yellow; also that to colour-blind people these labels would have no significance whatever. in addition, i submitted that there are educated people as well as people of the other class, and that the system of labels written with common names inside the cases is not only unscientific but ugly in the extreme, for these reasons--that there are many birds whose "english" names are just as puzzling as their scientific to the uneducated; whereas, for those who care to learn, the scientific name is a factor of knowledge. regarding their inexpedience and ugliness, such a word as the "lesser-spotted-woodpecker" with the marking underneath it of "resident," would fill up a large label if it were to be read at any height or distance. taking it as a whole, the proposition was behind the age, and was commonplace also. to dispense altogether with the necessity for labels, i proposed that a chart might be made for every group--a picture, in fact, of the contents of each case, every bird numbered, and a list prepared, whose corresponding number would give the whole history of each specimen; but, in any case, the adoption of a mass of printed matter clumsily introduced amidst pictorial effects must be condemned. that all this was practicable is now proved by the present state of the leicester museum, provisionally finished in its general zoological collections so far as the birds and fishes are concerned. [footnote: that is to say, that many of the ill-mounted and old specimens will ultimately be replaced by better ones of the same species, and that some modelled foliage will take the place of many of the dried grasses, rushes, etc, which are not quite truthfully arranged.] the reference to species in the general collection is now managed as i proposed. (see list, on p. 337, of part of the order anseres, printed on sage-green cards.) this is, i contend, a great advance on the old system of labelling, which has this defect, that the labels, even if small, are "spotty" and obtrusive near the eye, and if placed 10 ft. from the floor, as they must be in many instances, it is impossible to read them unless both label and type be very large, which is an absurdity in a pictorially-mounted collection. [footnote: when i first came to leicester the birds, mounted on stands and perches 9 ft. from the floor, were labelled by slips of yellow paper pasted on the stands, the type being that known as pica and bourgeois!] fancy ramiphomicron microrhynchum, boiss. (one of the humming-birds), peeping over a label long enough to take his name--say, 3 in. x 1 in.! multiply this by fifty, and fancy a typical collection of pictorially-mounted humming-birds labelled in this manner! a well-known naturalist and scientific zoologist, personally unknown to me, to whom i wrote, advised, as usual, the labels to be of different colours as distinguishing marks. i sent him one of my lists and charts, and he wrote: "i return the printed description which seems to me admirably calculated to convey instruction in a becoming and sightly way. it is undoubtedly an advance upon labelling." again, a scientific gentleman of local celebrity wrote an article on the museum, and did me the honour to especially note the substitute for labels. he says: "affixed to the front of each group case, and on a level with the eye, is a neatly-printed explanatory tablet, suitably framed, comprising a list of the specimens (numbered), class, sub-class, order, family, etc, with their scientific terms. the literal interpretation of these several terms is then given. then follow the scientific names, with sex (where determined); and, lastly, the known range of each species--a matter of acknowledged importance. this is supplemented by an artistically-coloured chart, representing each example (also numbered), in the corresponding position which it occupies in any given group case. thus is conveyed, in a concise and intelligible form, all the information which can fairly be embodied in the limited space at command. another redeeming feature, consequent upon this instructive and unique method, is the dispensing with the formidable array of labels mounted on unsightly coils of wire dotted about, reminding one of the labels displayed in the shop window of a hatter or haberdasher--'the latest novelty,' 'new this season,' etc. they are not only obtrusive to the eye, but have a decided tendency to mar the neat effect and appropriate mounting of the general collection, and materially interfere with the surroundings, outline, and beauty of the objects to which they are appended, and their multiplied form only enhances this confusion. beside which, these labels are of necessity frequently placed at such a height that, in order to decipher them, the head of the observer needs to be perched on a neck somewhat like the giraffe. so forcibly impressed am i with the soundness and value of this newly-devised plan, that i am led to predict that its adoption will sooner or later find favour among other kindred institutions even of a larger growth." list of the specimens contained in this group. (arranged from the most highly specialized to lowest form.) for reference see coloured chart below. order--anseres. from the latin anser--a goose, including geese, swans, tree-ducks, ducks, mergansers, etc total number of species of this order known to inhabit the world 185 of this number there are as visitants to, and residents in britain, but 44, 19 only of which remain to breed. of these 44 for britain, there are as visitants to, and residents in leicestershire 13 3 only of which breed in the county. family--anatidae. from the latin anas--a duck. (ducks, geese, etc.) no.--egyptian goose chenalopex aegyptiaca (1). range--africa. domesticated in many parts of europe, including britain and leicestershire. shot at withcote hall, near oakham (probably escaped from confinement), and presented by f. palmer, esq. no.--black-necked swan. cygnus nigricollis (gm.). range--antarctic america. from river plate, s. america. presented (in the skin) by c. j. musson, esq, 1876. no.--black swan. cygnus atratus (lath.) (immature) range--australia from sydney, new south wales. presented by w. m. squires, esq, 1875. no--sheldrake. tadorna cornuta (gm.). range--n. africa, asia, as far east as japan, europe including britain, and has occurred as a rare straggler in leicestershire. from scotland, by purchase, 1881. no.--wild duck or mallard. anas boscas (1.). range--north africa, asia from the far north to china and japan, n. america to mexico, europe generally, including britain, and commonly occurring in leicestershire. from barston, warwickshire. presented by the curator (m.b.), 1882. the animals collected in the district are now being placed in the middle of the room in oak cases, with plate-glass all around, on the tops of table-cases holding at present the invertebrates, and will show the male and female, young in nest, the eggs, birds in change of plumage, all surrounded as in nature by carefully-modelled plants and other accessories, the food, and the skeleton. the labelling of these latter groups requiring a mass of information, as being of local interest, is in this wise (on light sage-green coloured cards): town museum, leicester. studies illustrating the habits, etc, of animals collected in the county. class--aves order--passeres family--turdidae group no. .--illustrative of the life-history of the whitethroat (sylvia cinerea, bechst), a bird of passage, or spring migrant to britain (winters in africa). no. c1a--male whitethroat no c1b--female whitethroat no c1--nest of whitethroat nos. c1.50 to c1.53--four young of whitethroat the whole collected by the curator at aylestone, august, 1883. the male and female are the actual builders of the nest, and parents of the young birds here shown. no. a male, and no. female, in spring plumage. to be procured range.--n. africa, western asia, europe generally, common in britain (except in the north), and also in leicestershire. food.--caterpillars, various small insects, and occasionally small fruits. eggs.--four or five. builds its nest amongst nettles or brambles, in low bushes near to the ground. (n.b.--eggs shown at back of group.) duplicate skin and skeleton. plant exhibited. bramble (rubus fruticosus, 1.). var.: discolor range.--whole of europe except extreme north, russian and central asia and northern africa (not high alpine). common in leicestershire. flowers and leaves modelled from nature by the curator now for the invertebrates. not having a special room at present for these, they are best displayed in the centre of the vertebrate-room, if possible, in table-cases, which are--for convenience, though, incorrectly in science--arranged in linear order, beginning at the protozoa and running on to the cephalopoda. as i before pointed out, a tabular arrangement is inevitable except in some rare cases, where a group might be taken to be pictorially displayed to give an idea of the creature's mode of life. by far the best arrangement of invertebrates i have ever seen is that adopted at the liverpool museum under the auspices of the rev. h. h. higgins, m.a, whose views on the invertebrates are very clearly defined in his introduction to a "synopsis of an arrangement of invertebrate animals" contained in the liverpool museum. he says therein: "the series had to be conformed to a linear arrangement. in some respects this was a serious disadvantage. the classes of invertebrate animals cannot well be represented in a single ascending or descending series. probably it would not be possible on any symmetrical plan to assign to them their proper positions relatively to each other; but some palpable incongruities might be avoided by the use of table-cases on a ground plan resembling a genealogical tree, one proposed form of which is represented by a diagram in a work published by professor rolleston. "the importance of a suitable ground plan for cases in museums seems to be much underrated. when a class of students visit a museum frequently, the localities of cases containing special groups become indelibly impressed upon the memory. this might be turned to good account. "in preparing the first scheme of the collection, it seemed essential that plain and moderately-simple printed descriptions of the life-history of the animals should accompany the specimens; therefore, as it was clearly impossible to describe every genus, it became necessary to fix on some mode of associating in groups a number of examples to which the descriptions might apply. such divisions as 'classes' and 'orders' were manifestly too large, whilst 'families' varied from a single genus, including a solitary species, to an army of more than a thousand genera--e.g, the linnaean families cerambycidae and curculionidae in the coleoptera. it was with some regret that the idea of attaching a readable sketch to each division of a given rank in recent systems of classification was relinquished; but it was found to be impracticable, and the life-history sketch thus became the foundation of the arrangement eventually adopted. "whether it might be a few species, or a genus, or a family, or an order, that seemed to afford suitable scope for a page of readable and instructive matter, it was decided that, throughout the entire collection, such a group should be segregated, so as to form the unit of the series. eventually, in order that the sketches, which it was proposed to print for that purpose on tablets, might all be in positions where they could conveniently be read, it was found to be expedient that each group or unit should occupy an equal space; and as the blocks on which the table-cases rested were to be fitted up with trays or drawers, twelve of which would occupy the table-case without loss of room, these trays or drawers were adopted as the receptacles and boundaries of the groups. "the entire plan of the table-cases, and the limits of many of the groups, were committed to writing before any considerable advance had been made in procuring specimens. in one respect this circumstance was found to be very advantageous--our desiderata were at once well defined. it was an object that each of the groups should be illustrated by carefully-selected specimens, and, until this could be attained, other acquisitions need not be sought for. in making purchases, such an object, steadily kept in view, exercises a powerful influence against the seductive attractions of 'great bargains,' which often turn out to be great misfortunes to a museum. moreover, in accepting donations, it is sometimes convenient to be able to refer to a fixed plan. where room is scanty, as in most museums, nothing is more subversive of order, or more fatal to an instructive arrangement, than the gift of a collection, coupled with a stipulation that it must be displayed in some special way. [footnote: we possess in the leicester museum a very fine collection of the whole of the "british" birds (totally devoid, however of a history of the specimens) called the "bickley collection"--bequeathed to the town under these conditions--which, could we have used it to embellish our present arrangement, would have saved money, and, what is still more important, the entire wall space of a small room now devoted to them.] it is far better to forego the possession even of a valuable series of specimens than to sacrifice order for their sake . . . . the following is the plan of arrangement adopted in connection with each group: wherever circumstances permit, the plan for each group includes (1) a printed schedule, (2) exotic species, (3) british representatives, (4) the printed tablet, (5) earliest fossils, (6) diagrams and other illustrations, (7) species and varieties on a more extended scale." the schedule, of which an example follows, is printed in large type, and is attached conspicuously to the drawer: group 222. sub-kingdom province class sub-class order sub-order family annulosa arthropoda insecta metabola lepidoptera rhopalocera papilionidae skeleton external, ringed. limbs jointed. legs, six. transformations complete. wings with scales. horns clubbed at the apex. middle nerve of fore-wing 4-branched. the whole "synopsis," published at a shilling, by the authorities of the liverpool museum, is well worth reading. it contains a store of information, not the least interesting being the greek and latin derivations of the scientific names. i am especially glad to see that the greek characters are not barbarously replaced by english "equivalents," which nearly always fail to give the key to the roots. [footnote: i noticed "ocnai gunaike" written in a scientific work lately, and i thought i never saw a sentence so ugly and so unlike what it would be if written in greek characters or properly pronounced.] the cases themselves are excellently adapted to show the specimens, and the plan--if we except the division labelled "british," which might be advantageously altered, i think, to "animals belonging to the above group (etc.), found also in britain"--is admirable. not only are objects dried, mounted, or shown in spirits, but first-class coloured drawings of such creatures as medusae, etc, are provided. this is, i am sure, a step in the right direction, and i so recognise the importance of this, that i am preparing charts of parts, etc, of animals as keys to their structure, and also enlarging minute forms under the microscope, to be placed in position in the invertebrate cases for the leicester museum. another very fine feature of the liverpool museum, and worthy of imitation, is the manner in which the osteological preparations are managed. not only are complete skeletons of mammals shown, but parts for comparison--that is to say, there is a large series of skulls of various mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, and, again, leg and arm bones, and their parts, arranged side by side; hence you may compare the fore-limb of the human subject with that of a monkey, a lion, a whale, a marsupial, a bird, a reptile, or a fish. [footnote: of course, all this may be seen in the museum of the college of surgeons, or at oxford or cambridge, etc, but these are special institutions, and i am merely taking provincial general museums as my standpoint.] it is needless to say--taking into consideration the fact that these are prepared under the direction of the curator, mr. moore, and his accomplished family--that all are beautifully arranged and classified. in short, liverpool is to be congratulated on its collections of bones and invertebrates. turning, however, to the vertebrates, we see that, although the management begins to recognise the importance of "pictorial" mounting, it is done in a half-hearted manner--isolated groups here and there, on square boards, placed in the general collection amongst the birds, on pegs, serving only to render the latter more conspicuous in their shortcomings. this system of liverpool is being copied at nottingham, derby, and other places, and was being copied also at leicester, but not being, to my mind, half thorough enough, has been discarded for the more ambitious--certainly more effective--and quite as scientific method of arranging the vertebrates pictorially, and in their proper sequence in orders and families, endeavour being made to represent specimens of each genus also, where practicable, in this manner. as will be seen, in making a brief résumé of what has gone before, i am in favour of large, top-lighted rooms, painted in a light neutral tint, well warmed; cases built in oak, with single sheets of plate-glass not less than 7 ft. 6 in. by 5 ft. or 8 ft. by 5 ft. 4 in, artificially lighted by pendants shaded from the eye; the vertebrates to be pictorially mounted both in the "general" and "local" collections, but, of course, zoological sequence and science not to suffer in consequence; i think that the "local" and "general" typical collections should be entirely distinct though close to each other in the same room for comparison; that extreme care should be taken in the collection and mounting of the animals inhabiting the district, and that no opportunity be lost of making this latter as complete as possible; that anything for which the locality is famed, be it fossils or antiquities, be the chief motif of any provincial museum; that, failing this, some groups or forms be collected to establish a monograph, such as norwich is doing with its accipitres; that, where practicable, bones and complete skeletons of animals should be collected, as being, of the greatest service to all students, be they medical or biological. also that explanatory charts and lists take the place of labels for the vertebrates, and that all information as to range and distribution of species be given. further, that anatomical diagrams and figures explanatory of the structure and form of animals be provided, together with all facilities for the study of biology from a scientific stand-point. i have also laid down the axiom that a very small museum must and should confine itself to objects collected in its immediate vicinity, but that a fairly large museum would ever be in a disjointed and unfurnished state if it relied solely on such specimens. it must, therefore, have a general collection; and care should be taken in the selection of specimens so that they may fill up the blanks occurring in the "local." another thing i am quite assured of; it is that the management should exercise a wise discretion in refusing unsuitable objects (chiefly of ethnology) or duplicates of common forms, and never receive a collection if fettered with the condition that "it must be kept separate." order, method, neatness, and careful cataloguing i say nothing about, for i assume that all principals must practise these virtues to do any good whatever with the collections entrusted to their care. ============================ scanner's remarks. this book seems to have been printed about 1885. i got my copy when i was still a teenager (nth-hand; i am not really as old as all that!) and have greatly enjoyed the enlightened, yet practical and down-to-earth attitude of the writer. it seems to me a fine example of late victorian instructional material of the unpretentious persuasion. some of browne's views were ahead of his time in terms of compassion and conservation, so i urge modern readers not to sneer at what they see as his out-of-date interest in "stuffed animals". nor should they take too patronising an attitude to browne's long paragraphs and occasionally strained concordances; he was not a professional writer and he produced a fine, readable, and useful work. both to the biologist and historian of science, the book remains useful to this day, and, as books of that period disappear for good, i hope, in scanning it, to prevent a sorry loss to our generation and to those who follow us. though i nowhere edited his wording or punctuation in any other way, no matter how much self-control this occasionally demanded, i did split a lot of paragraphs, especially when they spanned pages and thereby confused lines of thought. in transcribing this book i have generally kept as truly to the original as i could, including when browne's (or possibly his editors') conventions for the use of quotes and parentheses set my teeth on edge. however, for lack of convenient font characters and sophistication of scanning software, i have converted most of the vulgar fractions to decimals. the others i have represented with slashes, so that say, a value of one third might appear as 1/3. similarly, i have split ligatured characters such as the ligatured "ae" and "oe" frequent in late latin in particular. also, following a practical and common convention, i have replaced the umlaut with a following letter "e". thus "möller" becomes "moeller". browne frequently cross-referred readers to pages in the book. as pages got changed in scanning and editing, i have changed such page references mainly to chapters or similar references. there were several places where changes (generally advances, i hope!) in technical biology, or possibly slips that browne made in matters outside his speciality, led to errors. i have not corrected these in the text of course, nor do i discuss many of them. after all, most readers who can recognise the errors in modern terms do not need my assistance in correcting them, and to the other readers they would hardly matter. here however are comments on a few arbitrarily chosen points, in no particular sequence: * browne seems to have worked before hydrogen peroxide became generally available, or possibly before its bleachng powers were recognised. for bleaching most biological specimens, especially bones and the like, hydrogen peroxide is in every way better, less offensive, less corrosive, and less damaging to tissues, than hypochlorite. soaking even badly yellowed teeth in say, a "five volumes" concentration (about 1% to 2%) of peroxide for a few days or weeks, whitens them beautifully without damage or rotting of tissues. you might find that other peroxide compounds, such as perborates, work better still, but i have not yet had occasion to use them. other methods of bleaching only are worth trying when the specimens happen to contain a particular pigment that does not respond well to peroxide bleaching. some such pigments are better bleached with other chemicals, such as sulphites or hypochlorites. * it takes some trawling through the book to discover that by "mites" in insect collections, browne probably means "booklice", i.e. psocoptera. * earwigs (dermaptera) are not hemiptera, as browne classed them. dermaptera and hemiptera are not even closely related. the error is an interesting one however. it presumably arose from a nineteenth-century confusion of the hemelytra of the hemiptera, with the short tegmina, the covering fore-wings of the dermaptera, that protect their hind wings when they are not in flight. hemelytra of hemiptera are not really half-wings anyway, but protective fore-wings armoured for only about half their length. the two orders do not even resemble each other in appearance, anatomy, habits or ecological significance. * browne uses a few terms not easily to be found in every dictionary nowadays. dowlas is (was) a coarse kind of linen, but probably browne referred to a strong calico in imitation of such linen. for "filister" read "fillister"; according to more or less contemporary dictionaries, it is a misspelling. it turns out to be a type of rabbet plane used in making window frames and similar structures. * for setting insects on a setting board, i was slightly surprised at browne's use of "braces" and the like. nowadays everyone i know uses strips of smooth, non-sticky, translucent paper or similar material for the purpose, and i had not realised that any other methods had been used in the past. the use of such strips is easy, fast and effective. it permits one to set large numbers of insects almost in an assembly line fashion, working from the far end of the board towards oneself, laying the tape over the wings, blowing or gently dragging the wings into position, pinning down the tape, and proceeding to the next insect. * if you get a small fish alive, then there is absolutely no way to set it more perfectly than by dropping it alive into rather strong acetic acid. this is not generally practical for say, a large salmon, but for anything of manageable size, it leaves the gills, jaws, and fins fully and stiffly extended. strong formaldehyde has a similar effect, but not as good. immediately the specimen is stiff and dead (a few seconds at most) remove it from the acid and rinse it gently with clean, cold water, then transfer it to a solution of ammonium carbonate, lime water, or similarly gentle alkaline material, to neutralise the acid before proceeding with whatever means of preparation you intended. see also the means i describe for preventing acid damage. * if you happen to use hypochlorite or any other compound that releases chlorine, and you then wish to remove the residues, first rinse your specimens clean as well as is convenient, then soak them in very weak peroxide for a while. hypochlorite and peroxide react with each other to produce free oxygen (harmless) and chloride (also harmless in any plausible concentrations). the effect is to neutralise any harmful or irritating residues or smell of chlorine. * in at least one place i was surprised to see that browne speaks of pinning insects exactly through the middle. nowadays this is not widely done because one risks damaging structures on the median line of the specimen. instead the common convention is to pin specimens somewhat to the right of the median, so that anything damaged on the right can generally be seen undamaged on the left. when setting beetles or the like, this usually means pinning them through the right elytron. commonly one then may set the specimen with the left elytron and wing spread. not all beetles will permit this of course, as many flightless species have their elytra fastened down, and some, such as many scarabaeidae, flip their flying wings out pen-knife-like without noticeably raising the elytra. * no doubt the non-toxic soaps and so on that browne describes do work as advertised, but for keeping pests of dried material at bay, for protecting hides, preserved insects and so on, do not copy the recipes from this book. though many of browne's observations are in every way practical and intelligent, our current knowledge of safe, persistent, effective insecticides would not emerge for some fifty or sixty years after his death. and, please, please! though browne was realistic in his assessment of the dangers of the chemicals he describes, bear in mind that even his precautions were insufficient for modern purposes. above all, be very wary of the mercurial recipes he mentions!!! it is true that mercuric chloride is very effective, but i cannot think of a single modern reason to use it. today we have much safer, more appropriate, materials at our disposal, including some very effective fumigants that browne would have coveted. * note that among the substances that browne fails to warn us against, are those that certainly are of low acute toxicity, but present serious risks of chronic medical conditions or cancer, unrecognised in his day. his much beloved "benzoline" seems to have been largely benzene, which nowadays is regarded as a carcinogen, and for many purposes too dangerous to handle. before this became generally known i personally handled benzene in totally unacceptable ways, but so far i seem to have been lucky, and i seem to have given up tempting fate before i incurred dangerous symptoms. * browne seems to me a bit too cheerful about high-pinned insects being protected from some museum pests. high pinning might help a little, but it most certainly is nowhere near adequate. i have seen entire cases reduced to labelled pins standing among dermestid beetle frass. use modern insecticides and carefully sealed drawers or cases. i like the new pyrethroids, but keep in touch with museums to be sure you know the best current means of protection. grease from pinned insects has caused me less of a problem than browne describes, but possibly that is because i always have used the high-pinning techniques, never having known any other. * when it comes to setting insects browne was no doubt very artistic and very competent at producing a presentable specimen no matter what, but some of his procedures for cheerfully snipping insects and re-assembling them should be avoided. such expedients could ruin specimens intended for the use of professional entomologists. for the requirements of biological studies, it is far more important to have a fully genuine specimen, no matter how badly disfigured, than a hopefully reconstructed mosaic, no matter how artistic. for some purposes one could use more radical "relaxing" procedures instead. browne seems to have used only cool water vapour or sometimes liquid water. careful application of hot steam can relax most specimens that otherwise could not be re-set. one good trick (beware of the risks of cuts and scalding if your apparatus should burst!) is to boil water in a closed vessel, leading the steam out into a tube, preferably of silicone rubber, tipped with a drawn glass tube or the blunted needle of a syringe. direct steam at the parts that need relaxing. with practice you often can relax legs or wings one at a time, stopping as soon as they reach the desired position. * note too, that browne is cheerful about mounting some insects by gumming their feet (tarsi) to card. for entomological purposes this has severe disadvantages. nowadays professionals hardly ever use any means of setting that prevent one from examining a specimen from all sides. even mounting them on a transparent material tends to interfere with proper examination. for most purposes pin the insects using what browne called "flat" setting, high on the pin, with the label beneath. where this is not practical, such as for tiny specimens, there are other methods, which you may see described in manuals or used in museums. * note: browne wrote in pre-decimal days, using largely the so-called imperial units. this might raise difficulties in understanding his quantities. e.g. his dram or drachm (drm) probably was 0.125 ounce (roughly 3.5 grams). his pound would be sixteen ounces (oz.) of 28.35 grams, but his pint would be twenty fluid ounces (not 16 as in american pints!) correspondingly his gallon would be ten pounds, not eight. a grain would be about 65 mg. of other units and utensils apparently common in browne's day, such as "six-pound australian meat tins", or "goffering-irons", make what sense you may. a "wine-bottleful" was probably about 700 cc. * note: i have had little use for hexavalent chrome compounds but one thing i did notice in experimenting with a few of browne's recommendations ("bichromates", "chromic acid" etc), is that the merest few drops of such compounds (typically as a solution of potassium dichromate or chromate) added to water containing soft creatures such as molluscs, generally will kill them gently by paralysis and leave them relaxed. usually almost anything else one uses, short of illegal or expensive drugs, causes such specimens to distort or contract into useless lumps. once the chromate has thoroughly killed and relaxed them, say after an hour or two, the specimens can be fixed, preserved, or manipulated as required. you may wish to compare this method with the method that i describe for killing molluscs with boiled water. * one effective way of killing molluscs, particularly gastropods, snails and the like, whether terrestrial, freshwater or marine, in fully extended form, is to put them into cool or barely lukewarm, freshly-boiled water that has been kept closely covered in airtight containers for cooling without permitting a lot of oxygen to re-dissolve in the water. first rinse the live specimens in fresh water to clean away superficial dirt and slime, then submerge them in the de-oxygenated water. place some sort of grid or other barrier to ensure that they cannot get near the surface, and re-seal the container to keep air out. leave them for at least twenty-four hours before transferring them to a preservative fluid or otherwise proceeding to deal with them. this method leaves them fully extended and firm, ready for dissection or for preservation for display. if you remove them too soon, they at first seem dead, but contract say, when a scalpel stimulates a still-living nerve. * the cyanide bottle for killing insects certainly could be very useful, though i am not certain how widely such a dangerous substance would be available nowadays. many forms of killing bottle have been used in the last century or so, and several are described in many handbooks. an old favourite handbook of mine is the british museum instructions to collectors (insects). most killing bottles depend on some volatile liquid soaked into plaster, rubber or cotton wool. my own favourite was ethyl acetate, which is safe, inoffensive, and has several advantages, as long as the bottle and fluid are kept free from moisture. for some reason the presence of water seems to reduce its effectiveness at quickly immobilising specimens. dry ethyl acetate paralyses most insects very quickly, even if it takes longer to kill them. for example, unlike many popular components of killing bottles, ethyl acetate leaves dead specimens relaxed. * when you have treated wet specimens with anything acid, do remember to neutralise the acid residues as soon as possible. the same applies if you have preserved them with anything that gradually produces acid; for example, formaldehyde gradually reacts with oxygen to produce formic acid. in due course it destroys shells, and even fine bones and teeth. as a buffer, ammonia is cheap, effective and safe in reasonable circumstances. however, it is too volatile to be a reliable buffer against long term acidity. specimens preserved in formaldehyde can be protected in the long term by adding hexamethylenetetramine (otherwise known as hexamine, the product of ammonia and formaldehyde) to the liquid. a practical proportion is to add 100 grams of hexamine to a litre of concentrated formaldehyde solution (formalin). dilute this solution before use, according the requirements of your particular application. if you cannot get hexamine, you can use strong ammonia (about 36%) solution, about 150 ml to 1 litre of formalin. in preparing to use such formalin, allow for the fact that in adding the ammonia you diluted the formalin by about one sixth. alternatively, though usually less effectively, you could add some ammonium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate to the container. sometimes a little oyster-shell grit or chalk will do for long-term buffering; it can be used together with the hexamine and can go on working after the hexamine is exhausted if the collection is poorly maintained. use your good sense in adapting your measures to your needs. [illustration: head of royal bengal tiger. mounted by the author.] taxidermy and zoological collecting _a complete handbook for the amateur taxidermist, collector, osteologist, museum-builder, sportsman, and traveller_ by william. t. hornaday _for eight years chief taxidermist of the u.s. national museum; for seven years zoological collector and taxidermist for ward's natural science establishment; late superintendent of the national zoological park; author of "two years in the jungle," etc._ with chapters on collecting and preserving insects by w.j. holland, ph.d., d.d. _chancellor western university of pennsylvania; president of the academy of science and art of pittsburg, and the iron city microscopical society; life member of the ent. soc. of france; fellow of the ent. soc. of london, etc._ illustrated by charles bradford hudson and other artists 24 plates and 85 text illustrations _fourth edition_ new york charles scribner's sons 1894 copyright, 1891 by charles scribner's sons trow directory printing and bookbinding company new york to g. brown goode, ll d. whose liberal policy has done so much for the advancement of american taxidermy this book is inscribed as an expression of appreciation of his valuable public services in the organization, direction, and development of the united states national museum and also of sincere personal regard preface. in these heydays of popular zoology, when eager young naturalists are coming to the front in crowds, and fine new scientific museums are starting up on every hand, there is small need to apologize for the appearance of a work designed expressly for the naturalist and museum-builder. had justice been done, some one would have written this book ten years ago. the rapid and alarming destruction of all forms of wild animal life which is now going on furiously throughout the entire world, renders it imperatively necessary for those who would build up great zoological collections to be up and doing before any more of the leading species are exterminated. it is already too late to collect wild specimens of the american bison, californian elephant seal, west indian seal, great auk, and labrador duck. very soon it will also be too late to collect walrus, manatee, fur seal, prong-horn antelope, elk, moose, mountain sheep, and mountain goat. all along the atlantic coast and in florida the ducks are being exterminated for the metropolitan markets, and the gulls, terns, herons, egrets, ibises, and spoonbills are being slaughtered wholesale for the equally bloodthirsty goddess of fashion. if the naturalist would gather representatives of all these forms for perpetual preservation, and future study, he must set about it at once. this work is offered as my contribution to the science of zoology and the work of the museum-builder. it is entirely "an affair of the heart," and my only desire in regard to it is that it may be the means of materially increasing the world's store of well-selected and well-preserved examples of the beautiful and interesting animal forms that now inhabit the earth and its waters. the sight of a particularly fine animal, either alive or dead, excites within me feelings of admiration that often amount to genuine affection; and the study and preservation of such forms has for sixteen years been my chief delight. in these pages i have sought to give, in clear language, the detailed information which i have found deplorably lacking in all "manuals" on this subject that i have ever seen, save one, in french, published many years ago, and which, while very tiresome to write out, are precisely what the practical worker wants. i hold a permanent grudge against those who have written before me on the subjects here treated of, because of what they did _not_ write. the average book on taxidermy contains four times too much "padding," and not one quarter enough practical information. "if this be treason, make the most of it." the students of entomology are indebted to dr. holland for his admirable chapters on insects, and i leave them to make their own acknowledgments. my own very sincere thanks are hereby tendered him for his valuable contribution to this work, thereby making it complete. i am also under obligations to mr. charles bradford hudson, the accomplished artist, whose skill has done so much to explain and embellish the text. the spirit and interest with which he entered into his share of the work very materially lightened and encouraged my own tardy labors. my thanks are also due to my valued friend, mr. frederic a. lucas, of the department of comparative anatomy, national museum, and one of the founders of the society of american taxidermists, for advice and assistance in the preparation of the illustrations relating to work on skeletons. mr. w. harvey brown, naturalist of the u.s. eclipse expedition to africa, kindly wrote for me nearly all of the chapter on "mounting disarticulated skeletons;" messrs. william palmer and john w. hendley, of the national museum, also rendered me valuable services; for all of which i gladly record here an expression of my thanks and appreciation. having already retired from taxidermy forever, this is positively my "last appearance" in this field. w.t.h. buffalo, n.y. contents. part 1. collecting and preserving. chapter i. page the worker, and the work to be done, 1-7 chapter ii. outfits, and hints on hunting, 8-19 chapter iii. how to select and study fresh specimens, 20-23 chapter iv. treatment of the skins of small mammals, 24-36 chapter v. collecting and preserving the skins of large mammals, 37-45 chapter vi. collecting skins of small birds, 46-57 chapter vii. collecting skins of large birds, 58-63 chapter viii. collecting reptiles, 66-70 chapter ix. collecting fishes, 71-79 chapter x. collecting marine invertebrates, 80-89 chapter xi. collecting birds' eggs and nests, 90-97 part 2. taxidermy. chapter xii. the laboratory and its appointments, 99-101 chapter xiii. preliminary work in mounting mammals, 102-107 chapter xiv. principles of universal application in mounting the higher vertebrates, 108-114 chapter xv. mounting small mammals, 115-128 chapter xvi. mounting large mammals: ordinary methods, 129-139 chapter xvii. mounting large mammals: the construction of manikins, 140-149 chapter xviii. finishing mounted mammals, 150-157 chapter xix. mounting mammal heads as trophies and ornaments, 158-170 chapter xx. facial expression and mouth modeling, 171-178 chapter xxi. relaxing dry skins of birds, 179-182 chapter xxii. mounting small birds, 183-190 chapter xxiii. mounting large birds, 191-197 chapter xxiv. cleaning the plumage of birds, 198-201 chapter xxv. mounting reptiles, 202-207 chapter xxvi. mounting fishes, 208-216 chapter xxvii. mounting lobsters and crabs, 217-219 chapter xxviii. ornamental taxidermy, 219-228 chapter xxix. groups and grouping, 229-235 chapter xxx. general principles of group-making, 236-239 chapter xxxi. groups of mammals, 240-247 chapter xxxii. groups of birds and reptiles, 248-250 chapter xxxiii. hints on painting museum specimens, 251-257 part 3. making casts. chapter xxxiv. principles of universal application in making moulds and casts, 259-267 chapter xxxv. casts of mammals, fishes, and reptiles, 268-270 part 4. osteology. chapter xxxvi. collecting skeletons, 271-281 chapter xxxvii. cleaning large skeletons by macerating, 282-284 chapter xxxviii. cleaning and mounting small skeletons, 285-295 chapter xxxix. mounting a large disarticulated skeleton, 296-304 part 5. the collection and preservation of insects. chapter xl. the classification of insects, 305-308 chapter xli. eggs and larvæ: breeding and rearing, 309-319 chapter xlii. collecting imagoes, 320-327 chapter xliii. preparation, care, and display of insects, 328-338 part 6. general information. chapter xliv. insect pests, and poisoning, 339-345 chapter xlv. useful information, 346-350 chapter xlvi. the best books of reference, 351-355 list of illustrations. full-page plates. facing i. head of royal bengal tiger. (_frontispiece._) page ii. two pages from an old field note-book (double plate), 22 iii. measurements of a large mammal, 38 iv. how to cut open and mount a fish, 76 v. paring down a large mammal skin, 104 vi. interior mechanism of a half-mounted wolf, 132 vii. manikin for bengal tiger: first stage, 142 viii. manikin for bengal tiger: completed, 148 ix. manikin for male american bison: half finished, 152 x. manikin for american bison: completed, 156 xi. head of prong-horn antelope, 168 xii. workshop of a bird taxidermist, 182 xiii. mounted bird, with interior structure exposed, 192 xiv. mounting an alligator: last stage, 206 xv. american lobster, 217 xvi. specimens of ornamental taxidermy (double plate), 222 xvii. a fight in the tree-tops, 231 xviii. group of coyotes, 235 xix. group of american bison (double plate), 246 xx. a ligamentary skeleton, mounted and drying, 288 xxi. skeleton of an american bison, 298 { fig. 1.--beating the bush, 320 xxii. { fig. 2.--a successful stroke, 320 { fig. 1.--bottling a skipper, 326 xxiii. { fig. 2.--japanese porter with collecting boxes, 326 text illustrations. part i. collecting and preserving. fig. page 1. the best knives for a collector or taxidermist, 15 2. squirrel partly skinned 27 3. skinning a squirrel's head, 28 4. a model mammal skin, 34 5. another form of mammal skin, 35 6. opening cuts on a large mammal, 40 7. opening cuts at back of prong-horn antelope's head, 41 8. a well-made dry deer-skin, 43 9. foot of an orang-utan, 44 10. names of the external parts of a bird, 47 11. first steps in skinning a bird, 50 12. bird skin, wrong side out, 51 13. the bird skin in position, 53 14. the skin half wrapped, 54 15. spreading the tail, 55 16. the skin fully wrapped, 55 17. a perfect bird skin, 56 18. how to shape a heron skin, 60 19. how to open a turtle, 69 20. agassiz tank, for alcoholics, 73 21. bird nest, _in situ_, 92 22. wire standard for nests, 93 23. nest on wire standard, with labels, 94 part ii. taxidermy. 24. skin scrapers, about one-fourth actual size, 103 25. leg making and wiring, 117 26 wiring together, 119 26a. the legs wired together, 121 27. the finished specimen, 124 28. author's method of mounting bats on glass, 128 29. artificial skeleton for hand of an orang-utan, 131 30. fillers of various kinds, 133 31. an iron square, 136 32. leg irons of an american bison, 144 33. skinning a deer's ear, 161 34. the ear half-skinned, 161 35. skinning down the inside, 162 36. the cartilage out, 162 37. internal mechanism of a deer's head, 164 38. complete manikin for a deer's head, 165 39. modeling tools of wood, 173 40. modeling tools of wood, 173 41. modeling tools of wood, 173 42. steel modeling tool, 174 43. steel modeling tool, 174 44. steel modeling tool, 174 45. side view of tiger's tongue, 175 46. end view of tiger's tongue, 175 47. top view of tiger's tongue, 175 48. wiring a bird's leg, 184 49. cross-section of artificial body, 185 50. the finished body and neck, 185 51. how the leg wires are inserted and clinched, 186 52. the winding of the bird, 189 53. cast of the neck and windpipe of a heron, 195 54. method of mounting alcoholic reptiles, 203 55. medallion of yellow pike, 213 56. cross section, 213 57. wall case of birds, 223 58. wood duck, 232 part iii. making casts. 59. beginning to make a piece mould, 260 60. second step in making a piece mould, 261 61. last step in making a piece mould, 262 62. the finished mould, 262 63. the beginning of a waste mould, 263 64. second step in making a waste mould, 264 65. chiseling off the waste mould, 265 part iv. osteology. 66. rough skeleton of a small animal, 274 67. rough skeleton of a bird, 277 68. steel bone-scrapers, 286 69. skeleton of a bat, as exhibited, 291 70. skeleton of a bird, mounted and drying, 292 71. wiring a skeleton wing, 293 72. skeleton of a turtle, 294 73. the sacrum and spinal rod, 298 74. attachment of ribs to a vertebra, 298 75. middle joint of the hind leg: side view, 300 76. middle joint of hind leg: rear view, 301 77. bones of the foot: side view, 301 78. bones of the foot: rear view, 301 79. the knee-joint, 302 80. front view of knee-joint, 302 81. front view of elbow-joint, 302 part v. the collection and preservation of insects. 82. apparatus for inflating larvæ, 314 83. drying oven, 315 84. drying oven for larva skin (after riley), 315 85. wire bent into shape for mounting larva (after riley), 316 86. breeding cage (after riley), 317 87. breeding cage, 318 88. net-frame (after riley), 320 89. net-head, for removable frame (after riley), 321 90. folding net (after riley), 321 91. collecting jar, 322 92. perforated paper disc for jar, 322 93. method of pinching a butterfly, 325 94. manner of folding paper envelope, 328 95. butterfly in envelope, 328 96. double mount, 330 97. frame for mounting beetles, 330 98. setting-board, 331 99. setting-board (after riley), 331 100. setting-block, 331 101. setting-block, with butterfly, 331 102. setting-needle, 332 103. box for receiving setting-boards, 333 104. shingling specimens, 334 taxidermy and zoological collecting. part i.--collecting and preserving. _eternal vigilance is the price of a collection._ chapter i. the worker and the work to be done. the need of thoroughly skilled collectors is increasing every hour; and right here let me say to the young naturalist athirst for travel and adventure, there is no other way in which you can so easily find a way to gratify your heart's desire as by becoming a skilful collector. the most important vertebrate forms are being rapidly swept off the face of the earth by firearms, traps, and other engines of destruction. in five years' time--perhaps in three--there will not be a wild buffalo left in this country outside of protected limits. there are less than one hundred even now--and yet how very few of our museums have good specimens of this most interesting and conspicuous native species. the rhytina, the californian elephant seal, the great auk, and the labrador duck have already been exterminated. for many years the west indian seal was regarded as wholly extinct, but a small colony has lately been discovered by mr. henry l. ward on a remote islet in the gulf of mexico. the walrus, the manatee, the moose, mountain goat, antelope, mountain sheep, the sea otter, the beaver, elk, and mule deer are all going fast, and by the time the museum-builders of the world awake to the necessity of securing good specimens of all these it may be too late to find them. even in south africa, where big game once existed in countless thousands, nothing remains of the larger species save a few insignificant springboks, and no game worth mentioning can be found nearer than the limpopo valley, eight hundred miles north of the cape! _now_ is the time to collect. a little later it will cost a great deal more, and the collector will get a great deal less. sportsmen, pot-hunters, and breech-loading firearms are increasing in all parts of the world much faster than the game to be shot, and it is my firm belief that the time will come when the majority of the vertebrate species now inhabiting the earth in a wild state will be either totally exterminated, or exist only under protection. but do not launch out as a collector until you know how to collect. the observance of this principle would have saved the useless slaughter of tens of thousands of living creatures, and prevented the accumulation of tons upon tons of useless rubbish in the zoological museums of the world. it costs just as much to collect and care for scientific rubbish as it would to do the same by an equal number of scientific treasures. between fool collectors on one hand, and inartistic taxidermists on the other, the great majority of the world's zoological museums have been filled with objects that are anything but attractive; and for this state of affairs the collectors are more to blame than the taxidermists. bad work in collecting is, in nine cases out of ten, due to one of two causes--ignorance or laziness. by some curious process of reasoning, many really intelligent men conclude that they can go into the field and collect successfully without having learned a single thing about methods, or asked a word of advice from a competent instructor. many seem to think that the only thing required is main strength, and that even that may be exerted by proxy. even now, men who have travelled and written books go to south america and dry all their skins in the sun--after having carefully removed all the leg bones--and their small skeletons they _boil_! some of the worst mammal skins i ever saw were made by a professor of natural history, who actually managed to do nearly everything as it should _not_ have been done. and yet, collecting all kinds of animal specimens, in all climates, is perfectly simple to any one who has enough enterprise to inform himself of the most reliable methods, and put them in practice. i will confess i feel very deeply on this point, for i have toiled, needlessly, unnumbered hours, and days too, in overcoming, as far as possible, the inexcusable blunders of collectors. i have seen thousands of dollars wasted in this way that could have been saved by good work in the field. it is easier to mount two good skins within five per cent of perfection than to mount one poor one not nearly so well. let me advise the directors of all scientific museums, institutions of learning, and patrons of natural history generally, when appealed to by an enthusiastic collector for funds with which to go abroad and collect an untold amount of priceless specimens, in every case withhold your aid until the would-be collector demonstrates conclusively that he has _learned how to collect_. if he has not wit enough and grit enough to acquire ability, and then prove property, he is not fit to send anywhere, save back to the bosom of his family. these are the qualities which are required to make a first-class collector: he must have a fair general knowledge of zoology, especially the vertebrates. he must be a good shot, a successful hunter, and capable of great physical endurance. then he must be a neat and skilful operator with the knife, and conscientious in the _details_ of his work, down to the smallest particulars, for without this quality his specimens will always be faulty and disappointing. in addition to all these requirements he must be a man of tireless energy, incapable of going to bed so long as there are birds to be skinned, and who, whenever a doubt arises in his mind in regard to the necessity of more work on a specimen will _always give the specimen the benefit of the doubt_. i strongly advise every one who becomes a collector to learn to sketch from nature. no matter whether you have any artistic ability or not, if you are determined about it, you can learn to make pencil sketches of rare specimens in the field, and of native houses, costumes, weapons, etc., and remarkable natural objects of all kinds, which, even though crude and inartistic in finish, may be of permanent value to the scientific world. the camera and dry plate are of great value, but commend me to the pencil and sketch-book that "sticketh closer than a brother," and that never fail you on account of weather, weight, or accidents. therefore i say, sketch; sketch poorly if you cannot sketch well, but above all, _sketch_. the moment you make up your mind to go on a collecting trip, even if be only into the next county, read everything you can get hold of which will tell you aught about the natural history of the country you are to visit. ask what has been written, search library catalogues for titles of books, then get all you can, and read all you get. only the churl will refuse to lend you a book you cannot afford to buy. read all about the physical geography, geology, climate, inhabitants, fauna and flora, for all these will have a direct bearing on your work. if you are going to unexplored territory, about which nothing has been written, then "read up" on the adjacent countries, for even that will be very useful information. guides and companions.--no matter where you go, you will be obliged to have one or more companions, who know the country, to act as guides and general assistants. it may be that you can find a single person combining the necessary qualities of a guide and interpreter with those of a boatman, a teamster, or porter. the expense of such assistants must be counted upon from the very first. it may be stated as a general rule that in the tropics the services of natives can be had cheaply; while those of europeans are generally dear in comparison with what they do. clothing and food.--these subjects i propose to leave entirely alone. they make excellent "padding" for a work of this kind when there is a lack of really useful information with which to fill up; but every man feeds and clothes himself according to the dictates of his temperament, his purse, or his own sweet will. whether his way is the best or the worst, he will still have food and clothes more or less suitable to his needs, and time spent in advising him what to wear and to eat is time wasted. these questions are generally controlled by the locality and circumstances. preservation of health.--there are certain hygienic principles which apply all the world over, and since their observance becomes in the tropics a question of life and death, i will record them. their observance has preserved my health intact in unwholesome jungles in a way that i consider nothing short of wonderful. never sleep on the ground in the wet portions of the tropics when possible to avoid it, but keep above the poisonous miasmatic vapors that lie close to the earth. boil water before drinking it, if it is thought to be bad, and avoid stagnant water at all times. drink no spirits whatever except when really sick or debilitated, nor wine, nor other alcoholic beverages. avoid brandy, whiskey, and rum as you would the plague. eat no unripe fruit, and with moderation of even ripe fruits, excepting bananas, which are harmless and most excellent food. avoid eating large quantities of meat, but give the preference to rice, and farinaceous foods generally. wear light flannel shirts, and at all hazards keep the head and nape of the neck well shielded from the sun. pith helmets are best. after getting wet, do not sit down in the hot sun with your wet clothes on, but if you must remain in the sun, keep moving. by means of rubber clothing, or "ponchos," keep from getting wet whenever you can. on coming into camp with wet garments, do not sit down in them to rest, but _change immediately_ to dry clothing and footgear. the strict observance of this rule will save many an attack of fever. medicines.--every traveller or collector who goes beyond the ready reach of doctors (and for that matter also every family living in the country) should have a small box filled with certain medicines and simple appliances as a resort in all cases of emergency. very often a deal of mischief can be prevented by having the proper remedy at hand and ready for immediate application. who has not seen great suffering endured for the lack of a simple remedy costing only a few cents? no matter where i go in the field, or how much luggage i am impeded with, i always carry with me a small, square, japanned tin box (10 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 4 inches deep) which contains the following: 1 roll silk court-plaster (about 1 yard). |1 bottle collis |browne's chlorodyne. 6 curved surgeon's needles and silk thread. |1/2 ounce quinine. 4 ounces spirits of turpentine. |1 package epsom salts. 4 ounces tincture of arnica. |1 package senna |leaves. 2 ounces syrup of ipecac. |1 package carbonate |of soda. 1 ounce paregoric. |2-ounce bottle of |squibb's diarrhoea |mixture. 1 ounce ammonia. |1 box beecham's pills. 2 ounces castor oil. |1 small measuring |glass. 1 pint lime-water and linseed oil. |1 piece of small |rubber tube, a |foot long. 1 pint best brandy. |12 doses of tartar |emetic. the above makes a formidable showing, but the whole stock costs only about three dollars and fifty cents, and the box, with lock and key, about one dollar more. i have lately added to this outfit a most valuable and helpful little book, entitled "till the doctor comes," by george h. hope (g.p. putnam's sons, new york), which to any traveller or country dweller is worth twice its weight in gold. fortunately, however, it costs only fifty cents, and no one need be without it. while a traveller or hunter should never drink brandy or whiskey _as a beverage_, it is a most excellent thing to have in many cases of sickness or accident, when a powerful stimulant is necessary. above all things, however, which go farthest toward preserving the life of the traveller against diseases and death by accident, and which every naturalist especially should take with him wherever he goes, are _habits of strict temperance_. in the tropics nothing is so deadly as the drinking habit, for it speedily paves the way to various kinds of disease which are always charged to the account of "the accursed climate." if a temperate man falls ill or meets with an accident, his system responds so readily to remedies and moderate stimulants that his chances for recovery are a hundred per cent better than those of the man whose constitution has been undermined by strong drink. there are plenty of men who will say that in the tropics a little liquor is necessary, "a good thing," etc.; but let me tell you it is no such thing, and if necessary i could pile up a mountain of evidence to prove it. the records show most conclusively that it is the men who totally abstain from the use of spirits as a beverage who last longest, have the least sickness, and do the most and best work. as a general rule, an energetic brandy-drinker in the jungle is not worth his salt, and as a companion in a serious undertaking, is not even to be regarded as a possible candidate. chapter ii. outfits, and hints on hunting. in making up an outfit with which to work on specimens in the field, away from civilization perhaps, you must first decide definitely upon the line of work you intend to do, for upon this the extent and character of your outfit must depend. the requirements to be met are economy of space, weight, and labor, with no necessary article lacking. the mere item of keeping one's tools in order, and always accessible, is much more important than it would at first seem to be. there must be no confusion, and not a single article must get lost. _good tools_, and _plenty of them_, in _good working order_, go a great way toward the production of faultless specimens, having the highest possible value. i think i may say without boasting that on my third collecting trip abroad (to the east indies) my outfit came as near perfection in size and arrangement as can ever be reached without far greater expense than that entailed. i was obliged to pack and unpack the whole of it at least fifty times, but its arrangement was so systematic and compact that the complete packing up never required more than fifteen minutes, and i could go to it in the dark and find any article desired, even to a needle and thread. the whole arrangement was very simple. to start with, the entire outfit of firearms, ammunition, tools, hunting-gear, and a good stock of preservatives was contained in an iron-bound black walnut chest about the size of a carpenter's tool-chest. to keep my loading implements and ammunition in order, i had an ammunition-box of walnut, 14-1/2 inches long, 12-1/2 wide, and 4-1/2 deep, outside measurements, divided inside into five compartments, which held and kept in order all the appendages belonging to my three guns, and enough ammunition to last a month for ordinary shooting. another small box, made of ash, one-quarter of an inch thick, and divided into four compartments, contained an assortment of knives, labels, and small tools (see list below), and was in every way _multum in parvo_. both these boxes had their places in the chest, and my guns, each in its own box-case, were provided for in the same receptacle. i have had made for collectors going out from the national museum nearly a dozen tool-boxes in exact duplication of the original mentioned above, and i can confidently recommend both it and the ammunition-box as serving their purposes most satisfactorily. since my outfit for the east indies proved very satisfactory, and with one or two additions is precisely what i should take were i to go again on a similar expedition, i give below a full list of its contents. the additions i should make would be a winchester 7-shot repeating rifle, calibre 45-75, with the necessary ammunition, a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, no. 12, and possibly a wooden tank 2 feet × 2 feet × 2 feet, with a screw top, for the preservation of mammal skins in a salt and alum bath. this last addition is rendered necessary by the fact that i have adopted a different method of preserving skins from that i had followed up to that time. instead of drying all skins as i did then, i now preserve the majority of them in a wet state, and keep them so, except such as are desired as skins for study, and not for mounting. the apparatus necessary for collecting insects will be described in the section devoted to work of that class. outfit for general collecting, _vertebrates and invertebrates, both large and small, dry and in spirits, and on a large scale._ 1 agassiz tank (copper), in wooden box, for alcoholics. 1 chest of black walnut, iron-bound, to contain all the articles enumerated below: 1 maynard rifle, two barrels, calibre 40, |40 pounds shot, assorted |sizes. and 45-85. |10 pounds maynard |bullets. 1 double-barrelled breech-loading smooth-bore |1,000 berdan primers. gun, no. 10, in case ($30). |12 pounds orange ducking |powder. 1 maynard shot-gun, no. 16. |30 pounds arsenical |soap. 1 smith & wesson revolver, cal. 32. |15 pounds dry arsenic. 1 cartridge-belt and cartridge-bag. |1 dozen large skinning |knives. 1 dozen small skinning-knives. |2 pairs scissors. 6 scalpels. |1 brain hook. 2 claw hatchets. |1 pair long forceps. 1 saw. |1 pair short forceps. 1 large skin scraper. |1 pair cutting-pliers. 1 geological hammer. |1 pair flat pliers. 1 bull's-eye lantern. |2 sets skeleton scrapers. 1 a no. 1 field-glass. |1 small skin scraper. 1 compass. |1 flat file. 2 brushes for arsenical soap. |2 three cornered files. 1 blow-pipe and set of egg-drills. |1 cold chisel. 1 hydrometer and test-glass. |2 awls. 1 thermometer. |1 4-inch saw (for turtles). 2 pairs hunting-shoes. |1 tape measure. 2 rubber blankets. |1 2-foot rule. 1 double woollen blanket. |1 ivory thimble. 1 ashanti hammock. |1 oil stone. 3,000 labels, three sizes. |1 spool thread. 1 tool-box, size 7 × 13 × 3 inches, to contain the following: |2 dozen labels. 4 skinning-knives. |3 papers glover's needles. with this outfit i collected, in two years, more than $15,000 worth of salable skins, rough skeletons and skulls of mammals, many of which were very large; birds, reptiles, and fishes, especially the large and important species; also fishes and fish skins in alcohol and brine; crustaceans, shells, star-fishes, corals, and a few insects. in not a single case did i ever fail to collect a desired specimen through lack of implements and preservatives with which to care for it, and only three or four specimens spoiled on my hands in course of preservation. one of these was an orang skin, the last one i took, which spoiled because i had to pack it up and travel with it without giving it even one day's drying; and the others were skins which spoiled while i was on my back with jungle fever. the outfit listed above is of such a nature that for a trip across africa, south america, or even a much shorter distance on foot or horseback, away from rivers and wagon-roads, it would be difficult to take the whole of it. but then, on some expeditions, for example, such as are made through darkest africa, the travellers are generally glad to get through with their lives, to say nothing of more cumbersome luggage, and very little collecting is done. in nine cases out of ten, however, it is advisable to take along a good outfit, even though there are three or four boxes of it, for, except in such journeys as those mentioned above, there will always be a way to get it along. it will cost a few dollars for freight, and some trouble in management; but if you are a good collector, and mean business, you will not mind that in the least. where there's a will there's locomotion; and to collect well, or even at all, one must have something to collect with. it is an expensive and exceedingly laborious business at best, so don't go expecting to have your "baggage checked through to destination, free of charge." but there are a great many of my readers who, while they may never want to go off into a howling wilderness, might greatly enjoy collecting on such trips as they do take. then, again, there are sportsmen and travellers who will willingly carry into good game districts a book of instructions, and enough tools to enable them successfully to remove and preserve the skins of valuable trophies of the chase, and other specimens which should be kept on account of their scientific value or their beauty. to meet the requirements of both the amateur and the sportsman i recommend: the traveller's handy outfit, _for a collector of mammals, heads, trophies, etc., and also birds._ firearms, as you please. a tool-box of 1/4 inch ash, size 7 × 13 × 3 inches, containing the following: 2 large skinning-knives (see fig. 1). |1 tape measure. 2 cartilage knives (see fig. 1). |1 brain hook. 1 pair scissors. |1 pair 9-inch forceps. 1 small oil-stone. |1 pair short forceps. 1 spool thread. |and if eggs are to be collected, then must 1 package needles. |be added: 1 package labels. |1 blow-pipe. 1 2-foot rule. |1 set of egg drills. with the addition of 10 large skinning knives, this was the identical outfit i took with me on two collecting trips to montana, during which we skinned and skeletonized 24 buffaloes, about 20 antelope, 10 deer, 9 coyotes, and a goodly number of birds and small mammals. the points in favor of this outfit are its cheapness, compactness, portability, and great general utility. it can be carried in a knapsack behind a saddle on an overland journey, and to an explorer it is useful in a hundred ways besides those for which it is specially intended. firearms.--the gun question is a good deal like the wife question--every man prefers to choose for himself, and advice is chiefly superfluous. nevertheless, to those who have as yet no preferences, i will briefly state mine, and the reasons for them. if i could have but one weapon, i should choose the maynard rifle, calibre 40, with extra long cartridge, and a no. 12 shot-barrel fitting to the same stock, and interchangeable in less than fifteen seconds of time. the rifle is light and handy; it hits hard, and is as true as steel ever gets to be. it will hit every time precisely where you hold it. its construction is so simple it seldom breaks or gets out of order, the brass shells never wear out, and when loaded are about as impervious to water as marine torpedoes. should you go under water--rifle, cartridges, and all--you have only to "bob up serenely," and go on firing as if nothing had happened. by the addition of a shot-barrel, at a very slight expense, you have, in reality, two good breech-loading weapons that will serve you well for general purposes. for ordinary large game i also prefer the maynard rifle, but of a heavier calibre than the above. calibre 45 is the best size, taking the u.m.c. co.'s bullard cartridges loaded with 85 grains of powder and 295 grains of lead. these with the maynard make a beautiful combination. it carries point-blank up to 170 yards, if not even 200; the ball has great accuracy and penetration, with a very low trajectory, and very little recoil. a heavier bullet means a hearty kick and loss of accuracy, and one of 500 grains of lead means occasional blood at your end of the gun, and a black and blue shoulder. for such great beasts as the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, the choice must lie between a double 8-bore rifle, and the no. 8 smooth-bore. for my part, i would rather hunt my elephants with such a gun as i used on them in india, a no. 8 smooth-bore, double-barrelled, which, though weighing less than 10 pounds, never kicked seriously, even with enough powder (6 drachms) to send a zinc bullet through an elephant's skull and brain, and out on the other side. with such a weapon there will be no need to run after an animal, nor run away from it either, after you get one fair shot at it.[1] for hunting large birds and small mammals a no. 10 shot-gun is the best; but if you are specially interested in birds and care little for mammals, a no. 12 breech-loader with top-snap action will be preferable. for my purposes, however, my no. 10 double werner and no. 16 maynard always worked beautifully together, and i think these two sizes afford the best combination a collector can find. being very strongly built, i often loaded my no. 10 with a single ball, and bagged many a fine indian bison in that way. i always used heavy brass shells with all my shot-guns, for the following reason: i could not spare room to carry paper shells, the rains i encountered would have spoiled too many of them, and away from home they were too expensive a luxury for me to afford. the brass shells are expensive to start with, but they last forever, or until they are lost. hints on hunting.--the duty of a naturalist to his specimen begins when he levels his gun at it in the field. do not shoot a specimen to pieces, or mutilate it beyond recognition by its own mother. study the moral principles of your guns, find out exactly what they will do with what you put into them, and then don't shoot your specimens too much. what is a tiger worth with the top of his head blown off, or a deer with a great hole torn in his side by an explosive bullet? three vital principles to be observed in hunting specimens are the following: see everything ahead, and allow nothing to see you. shoot to kill, but shoot so as to get your specimen with the least possible mutilation. a squirrel shot with a rifle is usually unfit for a specimen, and a bird with its legs shot to pieces, mandibles shot off, and half its tail feathers torn to pieces is about the same as no bird at all, unless it happens to be a rare one. in using a rifle, get as close to your game as you can (unless it be a tiger or bear!), so as to be sure of getting it. with the shot-gun, get as far away as you dare, so as to get no more shot into your bird than is necessary to kill it. it is a disgrace for a collector to shoot a bird to pieces and be obliged to throw it away. i append a showing of what i use in collecting, according to circumstances. it is hardly likely that any two collectors in the world agree on these points, therefore i do not expect that these tables will suit the old hands. i put them forth as mere suggestions to beginners. recommendations in regard to hunting with the rifle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- animals to kill. |weapon to use.|charge of| weight of| best | | powder. | bullet. |dist. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- elephant |smooth-bore, | 6 drs. |spherical,|30 yds. |no. 8. | |pure zinc.| tiger, bear, elk, deer, sheep, | | | | seals, large crocodiles | maynard, 45. | 85 grs. | 295 grs. | 75 " apes, monkeys, small ruminants,| | | | and small carnivora | maynard, 40. | 60 " | 200 " | 50 " -------------------------------------------------------------------------- recommendations in regard to hunting with the shot-gun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- animals to kill. | weapon to use. | charge of | charge of shot. | | powder. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- deer | no. 10. | 6 drs. | 20, no. 8 buckshot. fox | " 10. | 5 " | 1-1/2 oz., no. 00. woodchuck | " 10. | 3 " | 1-1/4 " " 2. squirrel | " 12. | 3 " | 1-1/2 " " 6. chipmunk | " 16. | 2 " | 1 " " 10. | |_eagle duck| | |powder._ | eagle, crane, vulture | " 10 or 12. | 5 drs. | 1-1/2 " double 00. turkey buzzard | " 10 or 12. | 4 " | 1-1/4 " no. 4. crow | " 12. | 3 " | 1-1/4 " " 6. quail | " 12. | 3 " | 1-1/2 " " 8. robin | " 12. | 2-1/2 drs. | 1 " " 10. warbler | " 16. | 2-1/2 " | 1 " " 12. humming-bird | " 16, or | 2 " | 1 oz. dust shot. |auxiliary, 22.[2]| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------of course it would be easy to recommend a large assortment of different weapons for different purposes, but when it comes to providing an outfit of firearms, i must say i never cared to take care of more than three or four weapons, and i doubt if the average amateur will feel disposed to maintain a small arsenal. in preparing the above tables i have limited the weapons to those i have actually used. for my use, the following constitutes a model collector's outfit of firearms for all purposes in all countries. it is cheap, but first class, not cumbersome, easily cared for in all climates, and equal to every occasion that can arise: 1 no. 8 double breech-loading smooth-bore, and 1 auxiliary barrel, no. 22, for very small birds (price, $12). 1 calibre 45-85 maynard rifle, 1 calibre 40-60 rifle-barrel, and 1 no. 16 shot-barrel, all to fit interchangeably on the _same stock_. a smaller rifle-barrel might also be added, but it is not really necessary. 1 calibre 45-75 7-shot winchester. 1 no. 12 breech-loading shot-gun. the winchester is useful for rapid firing at short range, but the maynard is the weapon to depend upon for perfect accuracy at all ranges. knives.--for general use the best knife for the collector or taxidermist is a steel-handled cartilage-knife, as shown in fig. 1, _b_. it costs seventy-five cents. there are two kinds of cartilage-knives, but the one shown has the best-shaped blade. [illustration: fig. 1.--the best knives for a collector or taxidermist (about two-thirds actual size). _a_, russell's "killing-knife;" _b_, cartilage-knife.] for heavier work the best knife i have ever used or seen is the so-called "killing-knife," no. 01512, as shown in fig. 1, _a_, made by john russell, green river works, turner's falls, mass., the retail price of which is only seventy-five cents. had i designed it myself, especially for collectors' use, i could not have done better. the shape of the blade, the thickness of it, and the shape of the handle are all perfect. if you cannot procure one of these knives, then buy a good butcher-knife, and grind the blade down to this shape. a knife with a straight edge is not fit to use, for many reasons. always keep a good coarse (water) whetstone for large knives, and a wichita oil-stone and oil for your finer knives, and the final touches to your large ones. seasons for collecting.--_mammals._--in the temperate zone never take fur-bearing or game animals before september 1st, or later than february 1st, if possible to avoid it. on most of these mammals the pelage is the finest during november and december. it is then at its maximum length, very clean and well dressed, and also at its brightest color. the ruminants begin to shed in may (the american bison as early as march), and by july the new hair upon them is only about half an inch long, but very fine and sleek. at that time it does not have its natural color. in our country, september, october, and november are the months _par excellence_ for the taking of mammals, especially the large species, for after december 1st the storms and snows of winter render their haunts untenable for the hunter, unless he builds a cabin in the woods and makes a winter of it. the haunts of the mountain sheep and goat must be abandoned by december 1st, at the latest, on account of the snow. the best time to take families of young mammals is from may to august. if taken earlier they are too young, and later they have passed their most interesting age. the smaller the species are, the quicker the young mature, and in collecting all such, the naturalist must be on the keen lookout to take them at the precise time they reach the most interesting size and age. _birds._--in the temperate zone the best months for bird collecting are march, april, may, june, september, october, and november; but since the study of migration depends upon collections and observations made all the year round, there is really no time to begin collecting, and no time to cease. at the same time the amateur will soon discover that, aside from the birds that are found only in their particular season, the greatest number of species to be obtained in the northern united states come in the months mentioned; and, of course, in the cold half of the year they are most plentiful in the south, whither they go to escape the cold weather. in the northern regions bird-collecting naturally begins with the spring migration from the south, and is most active from that time up to the end of june. during july and august the old birds are moulting, and the young ones have immature plumage and stub tails. a rule which can be safely applied, to all tropical climates is that the dry season is best for either collecting, sport, or travel. never collect in the rainy season if you can help it. animal life is doubly hard to find, specimens are desperately difficult to preserve, and field work is very trying on the patience and the constitution. in the arctic regions, hunting and collecting must be done in midsummer, or not at all. while it is true that in the torrid and temperate zones there is a certain amount of work to be done all the year round, there is always a particular season which may be regarded as the harvest-time. collecting by amateurs.--there is one kind of collecting which should be discouraged in every possible way, and that is the postage-stamp style of collecting by boys who have no real love for natural history. boys in their teens often make collections of bird-skins, eggs, and nests in precisely the same spirit that prompts them to gather coins, postage stamps, and autographs--"to see who can get the most kinds." this vicious propensity is apt to involve a very good boy in a useless and inexcusable warfare against the feathered tribes. many a time i have been saddened by the sight of drawer upon drawer, full to overflowing, of poorly made skins of our most beautiful songbirds,--hundreds of them in a single collection, perhaps not worth ten cents apiece in any market,--each skin merely recording the important fact that it was shot on a certain day in a certain place. there is a way to prove whether a juvenile collector has really a love for the study of birds. let the one who furnishes the sinews of war--parent, guardian, or elder brother--demand that he shall _mount every good specimen he kills_, and be able to tell all about its habits, food, economic value, etc. this will in any event result in great good. if the collector is not really absorbed in the study of bird-life, the labor such a course involves will soon deter him from indiscriminate slaughter; and even if he is destined to become a distinguished member of the a.o.u., it will be all the better for him to be taught to place a high value on every bird, living or dead. shooting birds as a pastime.--i cannot, without being profane, find language strong enough to adequately express my abhorrence of the damnable practice some parents have of providing thoughtless boys with shot-guns and ammunition for the slaughter of birds and small mammals, just for the fun (!) of the thing, or to become proficient in the use of the gun. for the killing of birds for food, or to mount for the cabinet, or to study intelligently, there is some excuse; but for the slaughter of birds as a boyish pastime there is no excuse whatever, and either boys or parents who have such a disregard for life as to make it possible should be fined as heavily as can be done under the law. firearms and their users are multiplying at such a frightful rate that it seems highly probable the time will come when there will be no more wild birds or quadrupeds left upon the face of the earth. it is a good thing for a boy to be taught to shoot, and skill in the use of a rifle may fairly be regarded as an accomplishment; but the taking of life is not in the least necessary to its acquirement. if a boy wants to shoot for the sake of becoming an expert with the gun, give him a rifle and a target, or a shot-gun and clay pigeons, that he may start in the right direction. do this, and the chances are ten to one that he gets ten times the sport and twenty times the benefit out of rivalry at the target that he would out of roaming over the country and killing every bird he can discover. even in the immediate vicinity of washington a song-bird can hardly raise a note without attracting a boy with a gun. poisoning and trapping mammals.--inasmuch as there are in print a number of good books that treat this subject exclusively, i may be spared the labor of taking it up here. the reader must be assured, however, that traps and strychnine are very valuable allies in collecting, and he who ignores them will lose much. above all things, carry with you plenty of strychnine, use it industriously, and it will bring you many a fine carnivore you would not get otherwise. poison a skinned carcass by cutting gashes an inch deep in the rump and other fleshy portions, and putting strychnine in them. also cut up chunks of meat in little cubes, put poison in the centre of each, and scatter them around for the benefit of the wily wolf and fox, the fat and festive badger, the wary golden eagle and raven, and other meat-eaters in general. on our hunt for buffaloes in montana, mr. w. harvey brown was our borgia, and his industry and strychnine laid low some of the finest small specimens we obtained, including specimens of all the species mentioned above. after putting out poison, search the vicinity thoroughly for two or three days, and the chances are your efforts will not be in vain. dr. c. hart merriam and his collectors have reduced the trapping of the very small mammalia to an exact science, the like of which i venture to say has never been seen before. they use three kinds of traps--the lamb steel-trap, no. 0; the cyclone, and the climax. these are all small, all may be used with bait, or quickly modified to serve as runway traps, for arvicolas and the like. boiled oatmeal mixed with corn meal is the standard bait used for small rodents. for shrews, small carnivora, and omnivorous rodents, meat baits are used, such as birds' heads, intestines, pieces of skin, and meat--in fact anything fleshy. footnotes: [1] for further particulars, see two years in the jungle. new york: charles scribner's sons. [2] for no. 22 use wood powder and a gun-cane. it makes no noise, does not frighten the little birds and mammals, and, if you are wicked enough, you can use it on sunday. chapter iii. how to select and study fresh specimens. selection of specimens.--this is the golden rule in collecting: _preserve the first specimen you collect of every species you encounter, lest you never get another._ when you have obtained too many of a kind, it is an easy matter to throw some away. at all hazards, try to obtain one really fine adult male and female of each species, to serve as standards of comparison in your subsequent studies. remember that immature, undersized specimens are not typical representatives of a species, nor do they add glory to a collection. at the same time, quite young specimens, say one-fifth to one-tenth adult size, are always very interesting, and should be collected and preserved whenever possible. collect your mammals and birds during the season when their pelage and plumage are at their finest. especially should every specimen that you propose to mount be strictly first-class. life is short and species many, and when you do go through with the task of mounting a specimen, it should be so fine in every way that you will never need to replace it for the reason that it is too poor to keep. of rare species, the rule is to preserve every specimen taken, and, i may add, make as many different kinds of preparations of a rare species as you know how to prepare. for example, of the guacharo bird, or cave-bird of trinidad (_steatornis caripensis_), my friend jackson and i prepared skins, skeletons, and alcoholic specimens, and took a full assortment of nests and eggs. measurements.--it is of great importance to acquire a fixed habit of carefully measuring every specimen you prepare, unless you are already in possession of an abundance of measured specimens of the same kind. after getting into the habit of measuring, it takes only a very few minutes to do the work, and the value of the information thus obtained is sure to be equal to ten times its cost. record the measurements on the label bearing the name of the object, and by all means adopt for each class of objects a certain system of measurements, which should always be followed. under their respective headings, in the following chapters on collecting, i will give directions for measuring small mammals, large mammals, and birds, according to the system i think most useful. casts.--the great value of casts as working models and records cannot be overestimated nor ignored without loss of accuracy. they are especially valuable in preserving records of the forms of mammals; and the methods of making them--all very simple and easy--will be found fully described and illustrated in the chapters devoted to "making casts" (part iii.). photographs.--to the taxidermist and collector, photographs of dead animals are of very little value unless it be a large picture of the head of a large specimen, such as a moose. photographs of live animals taken "broadside on," as the sailors say, are extremely valuable aids in mounting; but these you get only in the zoological gardens. i never took a camera into the field with me, and have always been glad of it, for it would not have repaid the trouble it would have involved. no man who has his hands full of shooting, preserving, and packing specimens can afford to waste time on a camera with which to take dead animals, because it is apt to fail to emphasize the very points you most wish to have recorded. i have had enough dead animals photographed to feel sure on this point. on the other hand, the taxidermist who permits himself to be wholly unable to make simple sketches, with a fair degree of accuracy, from animals in the flesh, is seriously handicapped. it is only the heaven-born genius--as yet unborn, i believe--who can study animals and remember everything he sees. written descriptions help out a great deal, especially when particular emphasis is called for, and in the absence of sketches, photographs are the next best thing. it is an excellent thing to be able to photograph animals, both living and dead; but the trouble is, one cannot always get the game and the camera together. a note-book and a pencil one can always carry, and even when you have the camera, the former often proves the better ally of the two. outlines.--for years it has been my constant practice to make outlines of dead animals, on large sheets of paper, before skinning them. my plan is to lay the specimen on its side on a sheet of heavy manila paper, place the legs and feet in an easy walking attitude, pin or nail them fast in place, then mark entirely around the animal with a long lead pencil. to get an exact diagram of a rather large mammal, i invented a wooden square, carrying a pencil point at its outer angle, with which it was easy to get the exact outline of a large animal, or large skull. in mounting a specimen, such an outline is of great value as a check on errors in proportion that might easily be made in putting it together. field notes.--there are hundreds of specimens on which you will not need to take notes, unless you have the time to study their habits, find out what they eat, how they live, etc. but of rare and interesting objects you will want to record all the information you can gather regarding their life history. to determine what they feed upon, examine the contents of their stomachs. if there is no time to do that in the field, then preserve the stomachs in alcohol, carefully labelled, and examine the contents at your leisure. learn how to observe, and then put down in black and white, between substantial leather covers, all that you do observe, and all that is told to you by the natives about species with which they are familiar. do not forget to ascertain and record the native names of your specimens, for after you get home you will be certain to wish to know them. one thing is certain; when you come to write about your collection, you will wish you had taken more notes in the field. while a specimen is fresh, take careful notes as to the color of all the soft parts that will lose their color when the skin is dry. learn to describe colors accurately, and, if possible (though this seems like asking a great deal!), try to describe colors so that afterward, when your notes get cold, you yourself will know what they mean! [illustration: plate ii.--two pages from an old field note-book.--a taxidermist's notes.] [illustration: plate ii.] in describing the colors of soft parts, i would advise you to purchase the following windsor & newton tube colors (oil) and use them as standards for reference: ivory black, vandyke brown, burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, naples yellow, indian yellow, chrome yellow, indian red, vermilion, purple lake, cobalt blue, and indigo. labelling.--for scientific purposes, a specimen without a label is not quite so good as no specimen. it takes up room, and is useless. the most important record to make on a label is the name of the locality in which it was taken. next in importance is the date of its capture. you may leave off everything else if you really must, for as to its name the specimen can speak for itself. but it is by all means desirable that the label should give the name, locality, date, sex, and some measurements. i need not mention "name of the collector," for the collector can always be trusted to look out for that without advice from anybody, even under the most discouraging circumstances. chapter iv. treatment of the skins of small mammals. many hundred beautiful and curious quadrupeds are shot every year and allowed to perish utterly for lack of the little knowledge and skill which would enable the hunter to remove and preserve their skins. the operation is simple and easy, the requirement in tools and materials quite insignificant, and the operator has only to exercise a little patient industry to achieve good results. there are few circumstances under which a determined individual finds himself thwarted in his desire to remove and preserve the skin of a dead animal. in nineteen cases out of twenty the result hinges on his own disposition. if he is lazy, a thousand things can hinder his purpose; if he is determined, nothing can. a sharp pocket-knife, a little powdered alum and arsenic in equal parts, or failing that, common salt alone, will do the business in lieu of a better outfit, for any small mammal that ever lived. i begin with small mammals, because it is squirrels, rabbits, cats, woodchucks, weasels, opossums, raccoons, and foxes that the beginner will fall in with long before he is called upon to wrestle with such subjects as deer, bear, elk, or buffalo. these general directions apply to the skinning of all terrestrial quadrupeds up to the size of a setter dog, and the preservation of their skins in a mountable condition. measurements.--the following are the most valuable measurements to take of a small mammal. 1. _length, from end of nose to root of tail._ this is to be taken with the head stretched out straight as far as it will go. measure from the tip end of the nose to the point where the tail joins the body. in my judgment it is always best in determining this latter point to take the angle made by the tail (underneath) and the rump when the tail hangs or is bent down at an angle of forty-five degrees to the spinal column. this point is always fixed and constant, and can be quickly and accurately determined by bending the tail down and sticking a pin or awl at the angle. to measure an animal like a monkey on the top of the tail is to attempt the location of a point which can rarely be determined twice alike. for this reason i have always taken this measurement in both large and small mammals underneath the tail. 2. _length of tail, from root to end of vertebræ._ 3. _length of hind foot._ bend the heel at a right angle, and measure from the outer extremity of the angle to the tip end of the longest toe, including the nail. 4. _height at shoulders_, if the animal be not too small. to take this, lay the animal on its right side, then, as nearly as you can, place the right leg and foot in the position they would assume if the animal were standing erect (the sole of the foot must be parallel to the axis of the body), and measure in a straight line from the bottom of the heel to the top of the shoulders. record, also, 5. _the color of the eyes, and the other soft parts._ 6. _weight, in certain cases._ do not forget what has been said in chapter iii. about outlines and sketches. on one corner of the outline-sheet we record the name of the specimen, locality, date, sex, measurements, color of eyes, lips, feet, etc. it takes but a few moments' time, and the result is a complete and accurate record of what the animal was in the flesh. these sheets are numbered and filed away, the skin is numbered and put in the bath, and even though it be not until five years later that we are ready to mount it, we can tell as accurately what the animal was like as if it had been received only the previous day. if the specimen is a baboon, for example, with several colors on its face, it was for years my practice to make a rough sketch of the face and put upon it the various colors that belong there, in oil-colors, usually, though sometimes with water-colors. it was also my custom to spend half an hour or so in taking a mould, and making a quick cast in plaster paris of the face of every monkey or baboon which came to me, unless i already had one which would answer as a model to copy in finishing the face. skinning small quadrupeds.--lay the animal flat upon its back, head to your right. hold your knife with the edge up, and push the point through the skin of the throat, precisely in the middle of the neck. now push the point of the knife forward under the skin, between it and the flesh, and divide the skin in a straight, clean cut along the middle of the neck, breast, and body, quite to the base of the tail. if the animal has a large, fleshy tail, like a dog or raccoon, it must be slit open along the under side (without cutting the hair) for its entire length, except an inch or two at the base. if the tail is small, slender, or bony, like that of a squirrel or a rat, it can usually be slipped out of the skin by pulling the bony part between two sticks held close together against the skin of the tail. the sole of each foot must be slit open, lengthwise, from the base of the middle toe straight back to the heel, and in case the foot is large and fleshy, like that of a dog, the cut must be continued on up the leg, perhaps one-third of the way to the knee, to enable the skin of the leg to be turned wrong side out over the foot. having made all the opening cuts, begin at the abdomen, catch one edge of the skin between thumb and finger, and with the knife cut it neatly and cleanly from the body, leaving as little flesh as possible adhering to the skin. in using the knife do not go at it in a daintily finical way, as if you were picking birdshot out of the leg of a dear friend; for, if you do, it will take you forever to skin your first specimen, and there will be no time left for another. learn to work briskly but carefully, and by and by you will be able to take off a skin with a degree of neatness and rapidity that will astonish the natives. it is not a dissecting touch that is called for in taking off a skin, but a firm, sweeping, _shaving_ stroke instead, applied to the inside of the skin, and not to the carcass. this applies to all skinning operations on all vertebrates except birds. after starting at the abdomen, we come very soon to where the foreleg joins the body at the shoulder, and the hind leg at the hip. disjoint each there, and cut through the muscles until each leg is severed from the body. skin each leg by turning the skin wrong side out over the foot quite down to the toes. that done, cut the flesh away from the bones of the leg and foot, neatly and thoroughly. _never leave the foot of an animal unskinned_, unless it happens to be a very small one, like a chipmunk, or smaller, and the proper way is to skin the flesh out, even then. [illustration: fig. 2.--a squirrel partly skinned, showing process.] be careful to leave all the bones of each leg attached to each other by their ligaments at the joints (see left hind leg in fig. 2), and to the skin itself at the toes. _never throw away the leg bones_, unless the skin you are preserving is to be kept as a pelt or a rug. detach the skin from the back, shoulders, and neck, and when you come to the ears, cut them off close down to the head. turn the skin wrong side out over the head, until you come to the eyes. now be careful or you will do mischief. work slowly with the knife, keeping close to the edge of the bony orbit, until you see, through a thin membrane under your knife edge, the dark portion of the eyeball--iris and pupil. you may now cut fearlessly through this membrane and expose the eye. if your work has been properly done, you have not cut the eyelids anywhere. if you are ever in doubt when operating on the eye, thrust the tip of one finger fairly into the eye and against the ball, from without, and cut against it. this is always an excellent plan in skinning large mammals. skin down to the end of the nose, cut through the cartilage close to the bone, and cut on down to where the upper lip joins the gum. cut both lips away from the skull, close to the bone, all the way around the mouth. the lips are thick and fleshy, and must be split open from the inside and flattened out so that the flesh in them can be pared off. do not mutilate the lips by cutting them away at the edge of the hair, but leave the inside skin, so that in mounting you can fold it in (with a little clay replacing the flesh) and thus make a mouth anatomically correct. do not shave off the roots of the whiskers, or they will fall out. gash the flesh between them (they are set in rows), but leave the follicles themselves untouched. pare away the membrane which adheres to the inside of the eyelids, and turn the ear wrong side out at the base, in order to cut away the flesh around it. if the ears have hair upon them, they must be skinned up from the inside and turned wrong side out quite to the tip, in order to separate the outside skin, which holds the hair, from the cartilage which supports the ear. [illustration: fig. 3.--skinning a squirrel's head.] for a full description of ear skinning, see another chapter. the great principle which is the foundation of all valuable field work on mammal skins is this: _a skin must be so taken off, cleaned of flesh, and preserved that the preservative powder or fluid can act directly upon the roots of the hair from the inner side of the skin, and over every portion of its surface._ neither alum, nor salt, nor alcohol (unless it be of great strength) can strike through a thick layer of flesh and penetrate through the skin to the epidermis quickly enough to save it from decomposition. the epidermis of most animals is of such a close and oily nature that preservatives cannot strike through it from without, and therefore when a skin is removed it must be cleaned of flesh and fat, so that the preservative liquid or dry powder can come immediately in contact with the cutis. the skin is now off. if the lips have been opened out, the ears skinned to the tip (if they be haired), and the feet well skinned down, we are ready to go on. but first we must clean the skull. cut the flesh all off, or the most of it at least, for it is not possible to get it all away at the base; cut out the eyes and tongue, and with your brain-hook, or a piece of wire hammered flat at the end and bent up at a right angle, patiently draw out the brain through the occipital opening at the base of the skull. by this time, perhaps, the skin will be bloody in places, or possibly it was dirty to start with. now is the time to wash it thoroughly in clear water. remember that a skin which has been dried with blood upon it is damaged forever. it stains the hair, and very often forms a hard, gummy mass which nothing will dissolve. preservation of the skin.--the next step depends upon what you propose to do with the skin, or it may depend upon the conditions under which you are collecting. 1. if you are in your laboratory preparing skins to mount, preserve them all (except quite young specimens and certain others) in a soft, or wet state, in a salt-and-alum bath. 2. if you are in the field (especially the tropics), making a large collection of mammal skins for mounting, by all means do the same if possible. 3. if the skins are for purposes of study _as skins_, during which frequent handling and examination is absolutely necessary, make them up as dry skins. 4. if you lack facilities for preserving them wet, then make dry skins of them. 5. if the necessities of travel and transportation make it necessary to reduce the weight to the lowest possible limit, and to divide it up for carriage overland, make up all skins dry, both little and big. 6. if you have only one or two skins to preserve, it will be less trouble to you to make them up dry at once. here are the two methods: _a._ the salt-and-alum bath.--this is the finest solution ever discovered for the preservation of the skins of quadrupeds that are destined to be mounted. it is inexpensive, simple, and easy to make; its action is perfect; its strength can be regulated to suit any kind of a skin; it never gets stale; and if properly handled will preserve a skin for a hundred years in the same pliable and elastic condition as when it leaves the animal's back. in only two or three instances have i ever known it to change the color of the hair in the least. every taxidermist knows that it is far easier to mount a fresh specimen in fine style than an old, dry skin which has lost all its elasticity. the work on a soft skin (_i.e._, one which has never been dried) can be done more easily, more quickly, and vastly better. with a dry skin you can make only what it will let you; but with a wet skin you can make just as fine a mount as your skill is capable of producing. and with the latter it makes no difference whether the skin came off the animal last week or ten years ago, except in the case of very young animals. of these the bath softens the leg bones. for years it has been my custom to preserve all skins that i expect to mount (except the young of the smaller species) in this salt-and-alum bath, and it is almost superfluous to add that i strongly advise all others to do the same. in many ways it is a _great economy_ to do so. _directions for making it._--for every gallon of water put in three-quarters of a pound of alum (one pint) and a pound and three-quarters of salt (about one quart), and heat the liquid to the boiling-point, stirring occasionally, so that the salt and alum will dissolve. then pour it into a wooden, earthen, or glass vessel, or a tank lined with _lead_ (for zinc or galvanized iron will not answer), and when it is cool, or even milk warm, it is ready for use. test it with your salometer (which you can procure for fifty cents of bahmann & hoehn, 21 park place, new york), and see that it stands at 15°. this is the normal strength. if stronger than that, _e.g._, 16° or 17°, the skin will be hardened too much. it can go as low as 13° with safety, but that is the limit. at 12° skins are liable to lose their hair. _directions for use._--if the hair is tight on the skin everywhere, simply immerse it in the bath, leg bones and all, giving it plenty of room at first. move it up and down, and leave it as much spread out and free from folds as possible. remember that the fluid must act upon _the inside_ of the skin, for the epidermis is often almost impervious to it. if you allow the skin to lie upon itself in thick folds, stuck together on the inside, those spots are liable to lose their hair in a most unaccountable and aggravating way. if the skin is small and thin, the bath soon does its work; but if it is a large skin, move it up and down, and all about, every day for the first two or three days. by the end of that time its preservation will be complete. _half-spoiled specimens._--very often a subject will be brought to you in the flesh, several days old, green on the abdomen, and the hair starting to slip off between the hind legs. if the hair pulls out readily on various parts of the body and limbs, it is a gone case; but if it starts only a little on the lower part of the abdomen, and is firm everywhere else, put some bath, with a little extra alum in it, on the fire to get warm, snatch that skin off in a hurry, and without stopping for any fancy touches whisk it into the warm bath. the bath should not be so hot that you cannot bear your hand in it. it will act like magic. then you can gradually finish your work on the skin, so as to keep it safe from harm. very often quick work, and a warm bath with plenty of alum in it, will save a skin in fine, mountable shape, when nothing else will. the alum acts as a powerful astringent, drawing together the fibres of the epidermis around the root of each individual hair, and likewise binding together the cutis and epidermis. _cleanliness._--you will observe that as fresh skins are put into a bath it gradually loses its strength, and it is also liable to become, in time, so dirty with blood and grease that it must be thrown away. keep skins that are greasy (bear, seal, etc.) carefully by themselves, and never put the skin of a deer, cat, or any animal with a fine coat in a greasy or dirty bath. if a bath is clean, but of too low strength, make some extra strong bath, say 20°, and add to it and bring it up to 15°. keep all your bath receptacles tightly closed, or the liquid will evaporate very rapidly. _testing the bath._--if you have no salometer, and are not overparticular, you can test your bath by tasting it; but unless the bath is new and untouched, i prefer the little salometer. by tasting the bath when first made in the proportions given above, and remembering the degree of its astringency upon the tongue, you can make that a standard for comparison--if it suits your taste! _skulls and leg bones._--the leg bones of all small and medium sized mammals, even up to the deer, can just as well go into the bath, after they have been _thoroughly cleaned of all flesh and tendons_. the skulls, however, had better not go into the solution. clean them carefully, anoint them all over with thin arsenical soap, put a tag on each to show to what skin it belongs, and let it dry. don't lay it aside without poisoning, or it will be swarming with dermestes before you know it. as before stated, a skin must have room while it is curing, but when that has been thoroughly accomplished, which with the largest skins never takes more than four or five days, they can be packed together like sardines so long as the bath is strong enough. _b._ making dry skins.--_poisoning and preserving._--when the skin has been removed and cleaned, the next step is to sew up from the inside any holes that may have been made in the skin by bullets or knives. then make up a mixture of two-thirds powdered alum and one-third arsenic, and rub as much of it upon the inside of the skin as will stick there. the alum is to preserve the skin, the arsenic to poison it against the attacks of insects. apply this mixture thoroughly, especially in the feet, ears, head, and tail, for these are the points the dermestes attack first. _another method_, and one which i almost invariably follow when i am compelled to make dry skins, is to anoint the skin with strong arsenical soap,[3]--the finest poison for skins yet discovered,--then rub on the skin, as soon as the soap has been fully absorbed, a mixture of fine salt and powdered alum, in equal proportions. though the arsenical soap may be thought "mussy" at first, it should not be used thin and watery, but as a thin paste, like thick cream. the advantages of this method are--(1), that the skin is more thoroughly poisoned, especially externally, on the hairless portions; (2), the skin dries without becoming so hard and brittle and inelastic; and (3), it can be softened and mounted much more easily and successfully than skins prepared by the first method. for skins which are to be mounted, the advantages of this method are very obvious. _the simplest method_.--if you have neither arsenic nor arsenical soap, and yet wish to save a skin so it can be sent to a taxidermist in good condition, prepare it with fine salt alone. use the salt liberally, and if the weather is warm, leave the skin turned wrong side out and roll it up in a quantity of it. if you use it sparingly, the skin will absorb it all in a day or two, literally "cry for more," and failing to get it will sweat and spoil. it is simply a question of enough salt. even when collecting in the field, i nearly always cure small skins with salt only, so that they will stay quite soft and fresh until they get to the laboratory, and then go into the bath without ever having been dried. _rats._--skins preserved with salt only must be carefully guarded from the attacks of mice, rats, cats, dogs, and other vermin that go about seeking what they may devour. making up a dry skin.--_the legs._--having applied the preservatives, if you propose to make up your specimen as a dry skin, wrap a little tow, oakum, cotton, or cotton cloth around the bones of each leg, to partly replace the flesh, and keep the skin away from the bone, so that both can dry quickly. if you have no other material, paper will do. in the east indies, where transportation was difficult, i used to carry with me bundles of coarse brown paper such as the grocers use, and used it for wrapping the leg bones of monkeys, foxes, and the like. but for the small rodents, one must have either tow, oakum, cotton, or cloth, the preference being in the order named. on no account should the skin be left to dry down upon the bone. the proper filling out of the legs is desirable in order that they may have a neat, shapely, and natural appearance, so that the hair will lie naturally, and can be studied to advantage. if this part of the process is neglected, the skin of the leg shrivels up, dries down upon the bone, and looks like a mummy. in the tropics the moisture in a leg bone is sufficient to cause the decay of the skin which surrounds it unless they are separated by some kind of wrapping. to avoid this, some tropical, collectors allow their skins to dry _wrong side out_, a most lazy and vicious habit, the results of which are in most cases totally worthless. [illustration: fig. 4.--a model mammal skin.] having wrapped the leg bones enough fairly to replace the flesh, turn back the skin of the leg until it comes right side out again, adjust the skin neatly, and make the member as shapely and natural as you please. _the skull._--there are two ways of disposing of the skull. the universal custom has been to replace it in the head, with a little filling in the cheeks and orbits, the lips neatly adjusted on the teeth, and the eyelids also in their place, half open. this makes the best looking skin, and unless you wish to study the skull, is the best method to follow. for skins that are specially designed for study, the plan lately adopted by the curator of mammals of the national museum is an excellent one. it is to remove the skull entirely from the head, and in case of all mammals smaller than a coyote, put it in the centre of the body, with the filling, in the line of the seam along the belly, so that by cutting a few stitches in the dry specimen it may be readily taken out at any time. the advantages of this arrangement are obvious. _the tail._--the tail must be disposed of according to its character. if it is long and slender, take a small wire, wrap it with tow or cotton cloth, so that the skin cannot touch the iron at any point, insert it in the tail and sew it up with a few long stitches. if you have not the means wherewith to do this, whittle a slender stick to a point, and insert it in the tail from within two inches of the body out to the tip. if the tail is large, and has been split open for its entire length, it can be left flat. _filling._--begin at the head and fill out the head, neck, and body to about the natural size of the animal when alive, _but no larger. better leave it too small than fill it too full_, and stretch the skin out of proportion. with needle and thread sew up the skin to give it a neat appearance, beginning at the throat. comb and brush the hair so that it will lie naturally, and show its texture and colors to the best advantage. take a stitch also in the centre of the lips to hold them together. [illustration: fig. 5.--another form of mammal skin.] _shaping._--the ends to be sought in laying out a skin to dry are, to have it take up a limited amount of space in a drawer, to have all breakable points protected, and at the same time to have all parts of the specimen accessible for examination. the shape of a dry skin, therefore, must depend upon its character. the handsomest collection of small mammal skins that i have ever seen is that of dr. c. hart merriam, chief of the bureau of economic ornithology and mammalogy, department of agriculture. although it is purely a private collection, it contains at this date 5,750 skins. dr. merriam's method of shaping a skin is certainly, so far as looks are concerned, the best yet devised. fig. 4, on the opposite page, shows it perfectly. the tail is wired, and extends straight out behind, lying between the hind legs, which also extend directly backward. the forelegs are drawn forward just far enough apart to allow the head to lie between them. the skin is well shaped, and lies flat upon the belly, with all the members resting down upon the bottom of the drawer. with specimens having long tails this arrangement is open to one objection. in the rough-and-tumble experiences that collections made in the field almost inevitably go through before they reach safe anchorage in the museum, a long tail sticking straight out for its full length is very liable to suffer damage in various ways, especially at the tip. for this reason i always bend the tail down and lay it along on the belly, with a stitch or two to hold it there, safe from harm (fig. 5). and with such animals as monkeys, sloths, cats, etc., having long and slender forelegs, i always place those members close alongside the body, instead of extending them their full length toward the front. steel combs.--for dressing the hair of an animal it pays to have a furrier's fine steel comb, and a coarser comb of german silver, such as can be obtained at seventy-five and fifty cents each, respectively, of j. ruszits, no. 73 mercer street, new york. the same furrier also furnishes a very large steel robe-comb (like an infant garden rake), which is very useful on large mammals having long, matted hair, such as buffaloes, camels, llamas, and the like. footnote: [3] see recipe in chapter xlv. chapter v. collecting and preserving the skins of large mammals. the fundamental principles to be observed in skinning a large mammal are, in general, precisely the same as those which govern the same process in small mammals, and which have been recorded in detail in the preceding chapter. having done my best to afford the student a clear and full understanding of those principles, it is almost unnecessary to say anything about large mammals. a keen-witted worker could skin any mammal and preserve the skin by the light of the directions already given, with such variations as common-sense would dictate. but, in order to aid the student to the fullest extent, we will endeavor to state the exceptions and variations of method which are necessary in disposing of large subjects. measurements.--up to this hour there has been a total lack of system and uniformity among naturalists and hunters in taking measurements of large quadrupeds. i have in several important cases found it utterly impossible to interpret the meaning of measurements taken by other collectors--and it is very likely they have experienced the same difficulty in understanding mine. in the hope of securing uniformity hereafter in observations of this kind, i venture to propose the following system, which will apply to all terrestrial mammals larger than the fox, except the large quadrumana. if the method here proposed is rigidly adhered to, it will produce a uniformity in results that will certainly increase the value of specimens collected hereafter. the measurements are listed in the order of their importance, and are fully indicated in the accompanying illustration (plate iii.). straight lines indicate straight measurements between two points, not following curves; and curved lines indicate circumference measurements. record all measurements _in feet and inches, and fractions of an inch_. if you would have your records understood by the few rather than by the many, then bow to the dictates of the french and german naturalists, who, as a rule, care not a brass farthing for american science or zoological nomenclature, and employ the metric system. the chances are as twenty to one that no one outside of the english language will ever care a continental about your measurements, and for this reason united states measurements ought to be good enough for us. there is no more reason why 120,000,000 english-speaking people should adopt the metric system for a few europeans who might care for their measurements, than that we should write all our zoological books and papers in french or german. if you wish to make your records available _to the people who will care for them_, make them in the united states language. 1. _length of head and body to root of tail_ (plate iii., a-a).--in taking this measurement, lay the animal upon its side, stretch the head straight forward as far as it will go, and hold a stick perpendicular against the tip of the nose. erect another perpendicular rod under the tail, close to where it joins the body, at the angle formed by the lines _a_ and _h_, then measure between these two perpendiculars. 2. _height at the shoulders_ (b-b).--this is a difficult measurement to take, because it is subject to the management of the operator. plant a perpendicular rod close against the shoulders at the highest point. then hold the foreleg perfectly straight, at a right angle to the axis of the body, and bend up the foot into the position it would assume if the animal were standing upon it. in short, place the foreleg and foot exactly as they would be were the animal alive and standing, _with its weight resting upon it_, and measure from the bottom of the heel in a straight line to the perpendicular at the shoulders. 3. _girth behind foreleg._--in taking this, always measure at the point where the girth of a saddle touches the horse, and draw the tape-line taut upon the skin. if the hair is thick and long, part it. 4. _circumference of the neck._ [illustration: plate iii. measurements of a large mammal. (polar bear on ice-floe. mounted by the author.)] 5. _depth of flank_ (e-e).--to a taxidermist, this is often a very important guide in the construction of a manikin. there is always a thin fold of skin at the point where the skin of the hind leg passes to the side of a large animal, as indicated by the dotted line in the figure, at the lower end of the line _e-e_. erect a perpendicular at the upper end of the line _e_, and measure between the two points. 6. _circumference of forearm_ (f-f).--to be taken at the point where the forearm has the greatest circumference. 7. _from head of humerus to head of femur._--this is always of extreme value in building a manikin. as the animal lies upon its side, hold the foreleg the same as when you measured the height at the shoulders. then feel for the two high points _g-g_, where the skin rests on the outer extremity of the arm and thigh bones (_not_ the pelvis), at shoulder and hip, and measure between the two points. 8. _length of tail_ (h-h).--hold the tail down at an angle of forty-five degrees with the axis of the body, or the line _a-a_, and measure from the angle a-h _to the end of the vertebræ of the tail_. if you measure to the end of the hair, let this be a supplementary measurement. these are the measurements which should always be taken on a large animal. of course, of certain subjects, there are many other measurements that you will want, but your own needs will tell you what they are. weight.--it is very desirable to ascertain the weight of an animal whenever possible. a thousand times, at least, have i been asked the weight of my big tiger (495 pounds), and that number of times have i been glad that in spite of jungle fever, i persevered with my 50-pound scales, and weighed the animal piecemeal, after he had been skinned and cut up. with a particularly fine animal it is well worth the trouble it costs. skinning a large mammal.--rip the skin open by a clean, straight cut from the throat along the neck, breast, middle of the belly, and on to the root of the tail. we are now obliged to slit the legs open along their entire length, so that the cuts will be as much out of sight as possible when the animal is mounted. in making these opening cuts, always insert the point of the knife under the skin, _edge uppermost_, to avoid cutting the hair. to rip open a leg, seize the foot in your left hand, bring the leg against your own knee to hold it tense and firm, then insert the point of your knife into the middle of the foot at the back, and cut straight up the back of the leg until you come to the "knee" on the foreleg, and hock-joint on the other. at these points gradually change the direction of the cut and run it on up the inside so that it will finally come to the body-cut at a point exactly between the legs, and as much as possible out of sight. the lines in the accompanying figure (6) show how the cuts in the legs should be made. in skinning the head of an animal having antlers or horns, it is necessary to make an opening at the back of the neck shaped like a y. make the cuts as shown in fig. 7, on opposite page; cut completely around each horn at its base, and skin the head by working downward over the forehead and cheeks. the skull is then taken out through this y.[4] [illustration: fig. 6.--opening cuts on a large mammal.] _thoroughness._--the principles to be observed in skinning the body are precisely the same as those given for small mammals. remember that it is easier to take the skin off clean and free from flesh as you cut it from the animal, and can stretch it tight with your left hand in order to shave the flesh off clean, than it will be to clean the skin after it is off. an excess of flesh left on the skin means unnecessary weight, a waste of preservatives, and longer time in curing the skin. a clean, thin skin is more easily and quickly cured and carried than one badly taken off. my habit is to clean a skin so thoroughly in taking it off that no paring down is necessary before curing it--unless, indeed, it be the skin of an elephant or other pachyderm. when i once preserved the skin of a large, old elephant in an indian jungle, i kept ten native chucklers at work upon it for three days, thinning it down to a portable degree. [illustration: fig. 7.--opening cuts at back of prong-horn antelope's head.] _the legs._--if the specimen is of medium size, _e.g._, not larger than a deer, disjoint the legs at shoulder and hip, and leave all the leg bones attached to the skin, just as with small mammals; but, of course, cutting off the flesh and tendons carefully. if the animal is larger than a deer, the skin would be too heavy and cumbersome to handle if all the leg bones were left attached to it. therefore, with your elk, moose, buffalo, etc., cut off the foreleg at the "knee" (so called), and the hind leg at the hock-joint, leaving the calcaneum, or heel-bone, attached to the canon bone, and thus remaining with the skin. the bones from the two upper joints of the legs are to be cleaned of flesh, tied in a bundle, and sent with the skin--unless the collector happens to be travelling by pack train in mountainous country, far afield. in such a case we can forgive him for throwing away the large bones of the legs if he will only bring in the skin, skull, and lower leg bones all right. the point is, in mounting a skin we _must_ have leg bones--if not the real ones, then they must be counterfeits carved out of wood, to give shape to the legs, particularly at the joints. and he who tries it once will find it is a two or three days' job to carve a large set of leg bones, even with patterns by which to work, to say nothing of having to evolve models from one's inner consciousness. therefore, i say, _save the leg bones_. _beware of blood._--by all means keep the hair from getting bloody, but if you cannot possibly keep it clean, keep it as clean as you can. remember that blood must be washed out on the spot, no matter how scarce water is, nor whether the mercury stand at 110° above zero, or 10° below. if a wound bleeds profusely, throw plenty of dry dirt or sand on the hair that has become bloody, to absorb the blood. the dirt can be knocked out with a stick, and it will take the blood with it. if the white hair of the prong-horn antelope once gets soaked with blood, it is impossible to remove all traces of it. the soft, tubular hairs get filled with blood wherever there is a break, and enough of it will always remain to mark the catastrophe. in the bad lands of montana i once washed three long and bitterly cold hours on a fine antelope skin that had lain twenty-four hours with blood upon it, but had to give up beaten, at last, and throw the skin away. _shaping._--since these directions will be used chiefly in preparing the skins of deer, antelope, and kindred ruminants, the accompanying illustration (fig. 8) is given to show how such skins should be made up when they are to be preserved dry, either for study or for mounting. it is best to defer folding up a skin until it is partially dry and has begun to stiffen a little. [illustration: fig. 8.--a well-made dry deer skin.] special and exceptional directions.--_apes and monkeys._--if you are in the jungle, the chances are that you will have no plaster paris with which to make casts, in which case you must make the sketching-pencil and tape-measure do double duty. with such a wonderful and characteristic form as a gorilla, chimpanzee, or orang-utan, you cannot study it too much, unless you study it until the skin spoils. above all things, study every feature of the face, and also its expression, so that you can make a copy of it two years afterward which shall be both mathematically and artistically correct. if you have plaster paris, fail not to take a mould of the face, and also of one hand and foot, so that later you can make casts. the same advice applies to the great baboons with their fearful and wonderful faces and ischial callosities, some of them gotten up with all the colors of the rainbow, and far more brilliancy. remember that when the skin dries all those colors _totally disappear_, and the skin turns to the color of parchment. therefore, out with your box of colors at once, and make a color-sketch of the face. if you have skill but no colors, or colors with no skill, then out with your "ridgway's nomenclature of colors," make a large diagram or sketch of the head, and mark the names of the respective colors upon it. whenever the skin of any animal has any noticeable color, record the fact in as definite terms as possible. all the great anthropoid apes should have the opening-cut for the body made along the middle of the back, up to the back of the head, instead of along the abdomen and breast, which are generally but thinly haired, and on the throat are quite naked. by doing this, the sewed-up seam comes at the back of the mounted specimen, in the hair, and out of sight. with adult specimens of the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orang the skeleton is quite as valuable as the skin, therefore every bone must come forth and be carefully preserved. skinning the fingers is a tedious task, and one which requires some skill, especially when it comes to working the end off so that the nail is left in its place in the skin, and without mutilation. but when the value of a skin and skeleton runs up into hundreds of dollars, you can well afford to spend a whole hour in skinning a hand, if you cannot do it in less time. the opening cuts for the hand and foot of any ape or monkey are to be made as shown by the dotted lines in the accompanying sketch of the foot of an orang-utan (fig. 9). this is necessary even in skinning small quadrumanes which are to retain their leg bones, because the skin of each finger must be separated from the bone so that the preservative powder or liquid can get at the inside of it. [illustration: fig. 9.--foot of orang-utan, showing opening cuts.] _the eyes and nose._--be exceedingly careful in skinning the face. the eyes are deeply sunken in their sockets, and if you are not very careful your knife will make an ugly gash at the corner of the eye before you know it. a finger held in between the lids against the eyeball will be a safe guide. of course, you will cut the lips away at the gum, and split them open afterward from the inside to remove the flesh. and, of course, the proboscis of the baboon and the long-nosed monkey of borneo must be skinned out quite to the tip while the specimen is fresh, or it will dry up horribly. _the ear._--the ear of a quadrumane, especially that of a chimpanzee, because of its great size, is a very miserable part to preserve, unless you have a salt-and-alum bath at hand. if the cartilage is entirely skinned out--itself a difficult thing to do--it will afterward be almost a practical impossibility to give the ear its proper shape. therefore the cartilage must remain. the skin can be loosened from the cartilage at the back of the ear, however, which is a great gain. do this, and insert a good quantity of powdered alum. then paint the whole ear over on both sides with arsenical soap, and put on all the powdered alum that will stick--unless the skin is to go in the bath. in that case treat each ear to a little strong alum water for an hour or so. footnote: [4] for detailed instructions in skinning large heads, see chapter xix. chapter vi. collecting skins of small birds. the lives of hundreds of thousands of wild birds have been sacrificed to no purpose by persons claiming to be ornithological collectors, and yet who had not the knowledge, skill, or industry to make up good bird skins. there are now in this country numerous large collections of bird skins that are a sight to behold. the ability to make up fine, clean, shapely, well-preserved skins, and make them rapidly also, is a prime requisite in anyone who aspires to be sent off to interesting "foreign parts" to shoot, collect, and see the world--at the expense of someone else. an aspiring young friend of the writer, whose soul yearned to travel and "collect," missed a fine opportunity to make a very interesting voyage on the _albatross_, for the sole reason that with all his yearning he could not make good bird skins,--and it served him right for his lack of enterprise. let me tell you that, while twenty years ago any sort of a bird skin was acceptable to a museum, now such specimens must be first class in order to be well received. fine skins are _the rule_ now with curators and professional ornithologists, and poor ones the exception. although the work itself is simple enough, it is no child's play to perform it successfully. it is best for the beginner to learn first how to skin small birds, and make up their skins, and when he has mastered these details he is prepared to undertake the preparation of large specimens, and learn how to overcome the exceptional difficulties they present. to this end the present chapter will be devoted to setting forth the leading principles involved, which are most easily learned from small specimens. we will first undertake the work of skinning a small bird--a robin, thrush, or blackbird, whichever you happen to have. if in skinning, skin-making, and mounting you master the robin, for example, which is the highest type of a bird, you will be well prepared for the great majority of the other members of the feathered tribe. shoot your specimen with as fine shot as possible, and not too much even of that, in order to avoid shooting its mandibles, feet, legs, and feathers to pieces. as soon as it is dead, plug the throat, nostrils, and _all wounds that bleed_, with bits of cotton, to keep the blood and other liquids from oozing out upon the feathers, and putting you to more serious trouble. carry the specimen home in any careful way you choose, so as to avoid rumpling or soiling the plumage. by all means let your first practice be upon clean birds. [illustration: fig. 10.--names of the external parts of a bird.[5] 1, crown; 2, forehead; 3, nostrils (or cere); 4, upper mandible; 5, lower mandible; 6, throat; 7, neck; 8, spurious quills; 9, occiput; 10, ear; 11, nape; 12, breast; 13, middle coverts; 14, large coverts; 15, belly; 16, tibia; 17, tarsus; 18, inner toe; 19, middle toe; 20, outer toe; 21, thumb; 22, under-tail coverts; 23, tail; 24, primaries; 25, secondaries; 26, tertiaries.] a bird should lie an hour or two after being shot, in order that the blood may coagulate. warm specimens bleed very badly in skinning. we are now in our workroom, with the gun standing quietly in its corner, and a robin lying on the table before us. look at it. study its form and structure, and remember what you see. notice how smoothly the feathers lie--how nicely they fall over the angle of the wing at the shoulder--how completely the thigh is buried in the feathers of the breast and side, and also where the legs emerge from the body feathers. notice how short the neck is, how the eye does _not_ bulge out of the head, and note the fact that the breast and belly look full, round, and comfortable, instead of presenting that ghastly, drawn-up, eviscerated appearance so often seen in the amateur's mounted specimens. note the color of the eye, the bill, the cere, tarsi, claws, and all other parts that will require painting when the specimen is mounted, if it ever should be. now take the following: measurements.--it would be high treason for me to recommend any other system of bird measurement than that directed by dr. coues in his incomparable "key to north american birds," and it is hereby set forth: 1. _length._--distance between the tip of the bill and the end of the longest feather of the tail. 2. _extent of wings._--this means the distance between the tips of the outstretched wings as the bird lies flat upon its back. 3. _length of wing._--distance from the angle formed at the (carpus) bend of the wing to the end of the largest primary. in birds with a convex wing, do not lay the tape-line over the curve, but under the wing, in a straight line. 4. _length of the tail._--distance from the roots of the tail feathers to the end of the longest one. feel for the "pope's nose;" in either a fresh or dried specimen there is more or less of a palpable lump into which the tail feathers stick. guess as near as you can to the middle of this lump; place the end of the ruler opposite the point, and see where the tip of the longest tail feather comes. 5. _length of bill._--dr. coues takes "the chord of the culmen," which is determined thus: "place one foot of the dividers on the culmen just where the feathers end; no matter whether the culmen runs up on the forehead, or the frontal feathers run out on the culmen, and no matter whether the culmen is straight or curved. with me the length of the bill is the shortest distance from the point indicated to the tip of the upper mandible." 6. _length of tarsus._--distance between the joint of the tarsus with the leg above, and that with the first phalanx of the middle toe below. measure it always with the dividers, and _in front_ of the leg. 7. _length of toes._--distance in a straight line along the upper surface of a toe is from the point last indicated to the root of the claw on top. length of toe is to be taken _without_ the claw, unless otherwise specified. 8. _length of the claws._--distance in a straight line from the point last indicated to the tip of the claw. 9. _length of head._--set one foot of the dividers over the base of the culmen, and allow the other to slip just snugly down over the arch of the occiput. for skinning a small bird, the only instrument imperatively necessary is a good-sized scalpel or a sharp penknife. you can use a pair of small scissors now and then, if you have them, to very good advantage, in severing legs and wings and clipping off tendons. have ready a dish of corn meal to absorb any blood that is likely to soil the feathers. now push a wad of cotton up the vent, and we are ready to remove the skin. no, there is one thing more. the wings lie close to the body, and will be continually in our way unless we break them so that they will fall back and leave us a clear field. it is the humerus that must be snapped in two, as close to the body as possible. those of small birds are easily broken with the thumb and finger, but in a large bird they must be treated to a sharp blow with a heavy stick, or a hammer. lay the bird upon its back, with its head toward your left hand; part the feathers in a straight line, and divide the skin from the _centre of the breast_ straight down to the end of the breastbone, and on until the vent is reached. cut through the skin only, for if you go too deep and cut through the wall of the abdomen you will have the intestines and various other troubles upon your hands. skin down each side of the bird until you come to the knee-joint, which lies close to the body, and well within the skin. sever each leg completely at the knee, leaving the thigh attached to the body, turn the skin of the leg wrong side out over the fleshy part, quite down to the joint, and then cut away every particle of flesh from the bone of the leg. sever the tail from the body close to the ends of the tail feathers, without cutting through the skin. now take the body between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, holding it at the hips, and with the other hand separate the skin from the back. from this point we proceed to turn the skin wrong side out over the shoulders and head. when the wings are reached, cut them off where they are broken, and turn the skin down over the neck. avoid cutting through the crop. if blood flows at any time, absorb it all with the corn meal or plaster paris. [illustration: fig. 11.--first steps in skinning a bird.] almost before you know it you have skinned your bird down to the head, for it hangs head downward during the latter part of the operation, suspended on a small wire hook thrust through the pelvis, so that you can work with both hands. it is a trifle more difficult to turn the skin over the head. push it up from the back of the head with the thumb-nail, working it patiently, at all points, and stretching the skin gradually until it will pass over the widest part of the skull. presently the crisis is past, the skin slips down without trouble, and we see by the way it is held at a certain point on each side of the head that we have come to the ears. cut through the skin close up to the head, and a little farther on we reach the eyes. now be careful. cut very slowly at the eye, and close to the head, until you can see through the thin membrane and define the exact position of the eyeball. now cut through the membrane, but do not cut the eyelid on any account. a little farther and we come to the base of the bill, where the skin and our skinning stops. cut through the back of the skull so as to sever the head completely from the neck, and lay bare the base of the brain. remove the brain from the skull; cut the eyes out of their sockets; cut out the tongue and remove all flesh from the skull. skin each wing down to the first joint, or the elbow, and stop the "wrong-side-out" process there. the ends of the secondaries must not be separated from the bone of the forearm, or the ulna. it is possible to clean out the flesh from the forearm and also from the arm bone (humerus) without detaching the ends of the secondaries, as you will readily see. cut away any flesh which has been left at the root of the tail, but do not cut the ends of the tail feathers. [illustration: fig. 12.--the skin wrong side out, and ready to be poisoned.] the next thing is to poison the skin. do this with a mixture of powdered arsenic and alum, in equal parts. some of our most extensive collectors use no alum, simply pure arsenic in liberal quantity; but i consider that the use of alum also is always desirable, and under certain conditions it is extremely so. some collectors use arsenical soap exclusively, even on small birds, and on large birds i, too, have used it quite extensively, supplemented by an immediate sprinkling of powdered alum, to do the curing of the skin. for genuine thoroughness in poisoning and preserving, i will back arsenical soap and alum against all other substances the world can produce; but in treating _small birds that are to be made up as dry skins_, i prefer and recommend powdered arsenic and alum, as stated above. whatever poison you decide to use, apply it thoroughly to every part of the skin, the skull, wings, legs, and tail. now put a ball of cotton in each eye-socket to fill up the cavity, and you are ready to reverse the skin and bring it right side out once more. it is usually some trouble to get the skin back over the skull, and that i accomplish in this wise: let the skin rest on the edge of the table, place both of your thumbs on the back of the skull, and with all your fingers and finger-nails, reach forward and begin to crowd the skin of the head back where it belongs. at the same time, you must push on the skull with your thumbs, as if trying to push it into the neck, and in a very short time, by a combination of coaxing and crowding, the skin made passes the critical point on the skull, and, presto! the whole skin is right side out once more. now take it by the bill and give it a gentle shaking to stir up the feathers so that they will fall back naturally. pluck outward the cotton in the orbit into the opening of the eye, to imitate the round fulness of the eyeball. the wing bones of very small birds need not be wrapped with cotton, but the leg bones should be, always. now take a bunch of cotton batting of the right size, and roll it between the palms until it attains the proper size to fill the neck, and is a trifle longer than the entire body and neck. fold over one end of this, take it between the points of your forceps, insert it through the neck, and into the cavity of the skull. tuck up the other end at the tail, and give the cotton body its right length. then in the middle of the skin, pull the cotton roll apart sidewise, spread it out and lay on it a ball of cotton to form the body. next, take hold of the broken humerus with the forceps, and pull it inward until the joint of the wing appears, and the two humeri lie parallel and close to each other. this draws the wings into place. be sure to put enough cotton in the body of a skin; for a little plumpness and rotundity is desirable in a small skin. avoid making cylindrical bird skins; avoid the east indian native habit of crowding the breast of a bird clear up into its neck, and also avoid stretching a skin. we have now to finish the head by inserting a little bunch of cotton in the throat, until that part is properly filled, and plucking out or cutting off the surplus. the mandibles must be held together by a thread or a pin until they have dried in position. next adjust the wings, legs, and tail. the tail should be slightly spread, and there are two ways of doing this. one is to reverse the natural overlapping of the tail feathers, which is the quickest way, and quite satisfactory. the other is to lay the skin on a board, put a pin through each corner of the "pope's nose," spread the tail, and thrust the pins into the board until the skin is dry. finally, tie on your label, which should be as small as possible to contain the necessary data--locality, date, sex, number, collector's name, measurements, and remarks. some collectors label only with numbers, corresponding with recorded data in a note-book; but it is a bad plan. note-books often get lost, and then such specimens lose half their value. [illustration: fig. 13.--the bird skin in position.] wrapping up a skin.--there are various ways of "laying out" bird skins. the best is to wrap each skin in a very thin sheet of cotton batting or wadding, which draws with the softness of down, and yet, when pinched or twisted at the ends, it holds every feather in place. the bird skins prepared by mr. william palmer, one of the national museum taxidermists, are fine examples of how skins should be made. mr. palmer's method of shaping and wrapping up a small skin is as follows, and the accompanying figures are from specimens prepared by him: take the skin up between the left thumb and forefinger, at the shoulders, and pinch it together, while with the small forceps you adjust the scapulars over the point of the wings. cross the feet, lay the skin breast downward on a thin sheet of cotton batting of the proper dimensions, and arrange the feathers of the back, the wings, etc. (fig. 13). then lift the outer edge of the sheet of cotton, bring it forward over the skin toward the operator, so that it will cover the back (fig. 14). next, lift the inner edge of the cotton sheet, draw it with gentle pressure to make the skin of the right size, and lap it well over the other. the two edges of the cotton sheet will stick together very well by simply overlapping them. [illustration: fig. 14.--the skin half wrapped.] the head can be adjusted by pulling on the cotton at that end, and pinching the end together beyond the head. the bill must be set at the proper angle, and held by catching the point in the cotton. do not let the bill point straight out, for it will stretch the skin of the throat too much; neither should it point up at a right angle to the body, for the tip will be catching in everything that comes near it. the best way with most short-billed birds is to let the bill point at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the axis of the body. beaks that are very long require special arrangement, as shown in figs. 17 and 18. now lift the wrapped-up skin, lay it with the tail toward you, breast uppermost, and with both hands tear the cotton open in a straight line up to the base of the tail (fig. 15). you can now spread the tail by overlapping the feathers, or leave it closed if you prefer. see that your label is on, adjust the toes and legs carefully, then fold over the edges of the cotton and overlap them, and the skin is done (fig. 16). always spread the toes of all swimming-birds. another plan is to dispose of each skin in a little cylinder of paper, made to fit, of course. this is the best plan when you are far from the conveniences of home, and in a hurry. the effect of this, however, is to produce a cylindrical skin, which is not a prize shape. still another way is to make a small cornucopia of stiff paper, and slip the skin into it, head first, after which the large end is closed by bending in the edges. the old-fashioned, corrugated drying-board is an excellent resource when you are in a great hurry with a number of specimens. [illustration: fig. 15.--spreading the tail.] [illustration: fig. 16.--the skin fully wrapped.] the illustration on p. 56 (fig. 17), from one of mr. palmer's specimens, shows the shape a small skin should have to be considered perfect. freshly made bird skins should never be subjected to crowding or pressure, nor should old skins either, for that matter. if you go far afield, and expect to collect hundreds of skins, you should go provided with a light and strong chest, either made to open at one side and contain a series of shallow drawers to receive skins, or else, which is the next best thing, and very easily made, a box containing a series of shallow tills of varying depth, standing one upon another from bottom to top. each drawer or till should be made just deep enough to hold skins of a certain size, but no more, or else in travelling the skins will tumble about. remember it is useless to try to make large collections of good skins in the field unless you can take care of your finished specimens. this is for specimens freshly prepared and _not yet dry_. after skins become thoroughly dry, they can be packed "in bulk," in a chest or trunk, by putting the largest at the bottom, and filling the cavities with the small skins which cannot stand so much pressure. bird skins should always be packed in cotton when they are to be shipped, giving to each a soft, comfortable resting-place, and the box must be filled full, so that there will be no tossing about. [illustration: fig. 17.--a perfect bird skin.] determination of sex in birds.--to a collector who is working under difficulties this often seems like the very "last straw upon a camel's back;" but it must be attended to in every case wherein the sex of the bird is not clearly and unmistakably indicated by the plumage. if you can, get an experienced ornithologist to show you how to determine the sex in difficult subjects (_e.g._, young birds, or birds midway between two breeding seasons). but there are ways in which we can help ourselves. if you begin with birds during or near the breeding season, you will have plain sailing long enough to become familiar with the subject. in birds the organs of generation lie close up to the lumbar vertebræ, near the kidneys, in the region called "the small of the back." the best way to reach this region for examination is to make a cut clear across the wall of the abdomen, break the back over at the last pair of ribs, and the intestines will at once fall down, exposing the lumbar region. you will then see the kidneys--two large, dark-brown masses situated in the concavity of the sacrum--and on their surface, at the upper end, lie the reproductive organs. the testicles of the male are two dull, whitish, ellipsoidal, or nearly round bodies, of the same size, lying close together. the sign for this sex is the astronomical sign for the planet mars [male]. the ovary of the female is, except during the breeding season, the most difficult to distinguish. look first for a little bunch of minute round globules, of varying sizes and grayish white color. in the breeding season the eggs are easily found. failing in that, you must look for the ovary itself, which, when found, will be recognized as a little, irregular, flattish bunch of a light gray color. if you search with a magnifying-glass, you may be able to detect it by its peculiar granulated appearance. the sign for the female is the sign for the planet venus [female]. footnote: [5] from steele's popular zoology, by permission of the american book company. chapter vii. collecting skins of large birds. general principles involved in skinning large birds.--in skinning a large bird you must have room according to your strength and the size of your subject. you will need the usual materials in quantity, plenty of table space, and a stout hook depending from the ceiling at the end of a stout cord, to hang your half-skinned victim upon at a certain stage of the proceedings. with but few exceptions, the process in skinning a large bird is, from start to finish, precisely similar in principle to that for a small one, which has already been described. when you get the body about half skinned, and are well started up the back, thrust your hanging hook into the top of the pelvis, and suspend the bird in mid-air, so that you can work with both hands. be careful, however, throughout the whole operation that you do not allow the weight of the body of the skin to stretch the skin of the neck. if the head is small enough that the skin of the neck will pass over it, skin right over it to the base of the beak itself, and proceed in every respect as with small birds. if, however, the skin of the neck will not go over the head, then skin the neck as far toward the head as you possibly can (usually in such cases you can go no farther than the lower end of the axis or second cervical vertebra), and then cut it off. the next step is to skin the head. turn the skin right side out, make a clean, straight cut from the top of the head straight down the back of the neck for a sufficient distance to allow the remaining cervical vertebræ to be drawn up through the opening. it is now a very simple matter to skin the head and clean the skull. the wing of a large bird contains, between the elbow and the so-called "shoulder-joint" (carpus), quite a quantity of flesh lying underneath and between the radius and ulna. whatever you do with the wing, _never cut the ends of the secondaries loose from the ulna_. in spacing and adjusting those secondaries nature has done something which, to save your life, you cannot do as well, and if you meddle with her work some one will be sorry. slit open the skin all along the under side of this long joint of the wing, cut out all the flesh from around the radius and ulna, and poison the interior thoroughly. put in a little filling of tow or cotton, and sew up the opening. even in small birds, except the smallest ones, it is an excellent plan to slit open the wing on the under side and put some dry poison on the flesh, without stopping to sew up the cut. clean out the flesh and the oil sac from the root of the tail, and poison that part so thoroughly that any insect who ever dares to think once of harboring there will instantly drop dead. a bird like a large heron, with long legs, or an eagle with very thick legs, should always have the tendons removed from the legs in order to facilitate curing, and for the mutual benefit of both specimen and taxidermist when, a little later, the two meet in the laboratory and engage in a hand-to-hand struggle for supremacy. to accomplish this, cut a slit lengthwise in the ball of the foot where its rests upon the ground. cut off the tendons where they branch and attach to the toes, seize the end of each large tendon with your pliers and pull it forcibly out of the leg. you can do this with a fresh bird in about five minutes, whereas in a dry skin that has been relaxed it will take you much longer. this removes a fine subject for decomposition, and also leaves the space necessary for the leg wire when the specimen is mounted. after having removed the tendon i always give the legs a coat of rather thin arsenical soap, both to cure them and protect them from insects. another excellent plan is to lay all such long legs in a pan of salt-and-alum bath solution for a few hours to thoroughly cure them. if there is a layer of fat adhering to the skin, it must be scraped off and absorbed with corn meal, and scraped again until it is all off. a layer of fat spoils a skin more quickly and more effectually than any novice can be expected to believe until he sees for himself, in some of his finest ducks and brants, just how it is done. if a skin is worth saving at all, it is worth preserving properly. grease left on a skin "burns" it. in making up a skin having a long, slender neck like that of swan, goose, heron, or crane, it is an excellent plan (when possible) to take a stout wire, as long as the entire neck and body, wrap a little tow or cotton rags around it to partly form a false neck, and insert it in the skin. this will often save a neck from being completely broken in two. fill the body of the skin with excelsior, tow, cotton, or _crumpled paper_, which, in distant jungles, far from civilization, is an excellent thing. in case of need, you may fill with dry leaves, dead grass, in fact almost anything except wool, hair, or other animal products. do not fill the body out to more than two-thirds its natural size, unless you have abundant storage-room, and transportation facilities. if filled out full size, large bird skins fill up boxes and drawers wonderfully fast, and generally it is best to flatten such skins a little. [illustration: fig. 18.--how to shape a heron skin.] large bird skins should always be sewn up. the head must be properly filled out, and if cut open at the back, that also should have a few stitches, but not too many, for obvious reasons. in laying out a large skin, if the neck be long, bend it around to one side as the specimen lies before you on its back, and lay it on the side of the body along the edge of the wing. if the legs are long, they, too, must be bent up so that the feet lie upon the body. the accompanying figure, from a specimen prepared by mr. william palmer, shows just how a great blue heron should be done. the wings must be carefully placed, the plumage dressed and nicely adjusted, and the finished skin pinned up in a wide strip of thin cotton-cloth, or anything else you please, to keep it in perfect shape until it dries. of course, a large skin requires plenty of air while it is drying, and several days' time besides. if such specimens are packed and shipped before they are dry, mould and destruction will be their portion, and the collector will do well to flee from the wrath to come. in shipping bird skins in the east indies and similar climates, it is customary to solder them up, air tight, in tin-lined boxes. dr. w.j. holland advises me, however, that dry wooden boxes are good enough if they are tight, and are first painted over on the inside with melted crystals of carbolic acid. special and exceptional cases.--having fully considered the various principles involved in making ordinary bird skins, it is now necessary to note the exceptional cases, and state how each is to be disposed of. it is my desire to equip the beginner, as far as possible, against every emergency that is likely to arise in ornithological collecting. for convenience we will take a few of the avian orders, in their natural sequence, beginning with the lowest. the struthiones: _ostriches, emus, and cassowaries_.--these great birds are prime favorites with the showmen, and many a fine specimen often falls most unexpectedly into the hands of an astonished "local taxidermist," to the ultimate enrichment of some museum. happy is he to whom falls a beautiful, glossy, brown-black cassowary, with head and neck of rich purple, and red and yellow, and what-not--truly a wonderful bird, and not too large. a full grown african ostrich is an avian colossus, and his enormous size makes him quite a serious matter. with these great birds it is best to open the skin of each leg from the lower end of the tibia all the way down to the foot, in order to entirely remove the tendons. detach the skin from the bone all the way round, and cure it with arsenical soap and a _little_ alum. the leg should be cut open on the inside, well back, where the seam will be most out of sight. after having removed a skin, you will need to keep it soft, sometimes for several days, perhaps until you can make a suitable manikin, if it is a large ostrich. cure the skin with arsenical soap and salt (protecting the feathers carefully meanwhile), and keep it wrapped up and away from the air until you are ready to put it on the manikin for the last time; then treat it with dry alum to make it dry and harden properly. order sphenisci: _the penguins_.--the penguin of the antarctic seas is the king of fat birds, but such magnificent monsters as those brought home by the challenger, and now in the british museum, are worth a long trip to secure. mr. frederick pearcy, who collected and preserved the specimens, assured me that it required two men to carry one, and that the removal of the grease from the skins was a dreadful task. of the largest specimens, the huge legs and feet were cut off at the lower end of the tibiæ, and preserved in alcohol until they could be skinned and cleaned. since it is probable that only a very few of my readers will ever visit the rainy, foggy, storm-beaten and god-forsaken land of the penguin, i will leave the question of grease removal to the paragraph relating to the lamellirostres. longipennes: _the gulls, albatrosses, etc._--the gulls, terns, and petrels are so beautiful in flight that they are often mounted with the wings fully spread, in flying attitudes. when a bird is to be mounted thus, the large wing-bones must not be broken, but simply disjointed and cut loose from the body at the shoulders. when it is possible to do so, an albatross should be mounted with wings, outspread, to reveal to the student their enormous length, and the disproportionate shortness of the primaries and secondaries. if all the albatrosses in a museum collection are mounted with closed wings, as they nearly always are, the average observer gains not the faintest conception of the form and size of the bird in motion--_its normal condition_. steganopodes: _the pelicans_.--the great white pelican is one of the most satisfactory and even agreeable birds to mount that could possibly fall into the hands of an able-bodied taxidermist. if i ever adopt a shield and an assortment of devices with which to cover it, one of the latter shall be a figure of a huge white pelican rampant; for it was a bird of that species that gave me a start in taxidermy. it happened in this wise: the year before i penetrated the walls of my alma mater, its venerable president sought to find among the students an (alleged) taxidermist, or at least the promise of one. he publicly offered the princely sum of $10 to anyone who could come forward and mount a bird decently. the gauntlet thus recklessly thrown down no one could pick up that year, and by the year following, when i appeared upon the scene, it had grown cold. like another lochinvar, i "came late" for that offer. i had seen one bird skinned and mounted, and i knew i could do one like it. that was an old, rusty, second-hand crow. i petitioned to have a chance to "stuff birds," but it fell on deaf ears. i even went so far as to mount a squirrel, to show what i could do, and although it was a very fair specimen for that benighted period, it failed to win. but one day some good genius sent a dead bird to the president, for the museum, and with it heaven sent my opportunity. professor bessey sent for me and said, "now, young man, we are going to see how much you know about stuffing birds. we've got a specimen for you to try your hand on, and if you succeed in mounting it decently, you may possibly get an opportunity to work in the museum." i replied, "show me the victim." he took me to his room, and there, spread out upon the carpet, lay an enormous white pelican. his body was like a great downy pillow, his bill was as long as a fence-rail, with a great horny knot atop of it, and his huge yellow pouch would have held a whole school of mackerel, teachers and all. and what wings! they were full-grown angel's size, and as white and spotless as gabriel's own. it seemed like sacrilege to touch them. and such feet! enough of them would have covered the college campus. i had never before seen such a bird, even in my dreams. he really was larger than the maximum measurements given by audubon for that species. professor bessey informed me that his name was _pelicanus erythrorhynchos_. it was not quite so long as his bill, nor so rough, but it was pretty nearly. with a pocket-knife, an old misfit pair of pliers, and a smooth, flat piece of steel that had once been a file, i skinned and mounted that bird, "in the highest style of the art," as the taxidermic business card always hath it. i have also faint recollections of a great wad of oakum made into a body, a thimbleful of arsenic, and a pair of eyes--merely this and nothing more. as i hope to live, i believe i could feed a live pelican as much arsenic as i put upon that great skin without even giving him the stomach-ache; but the bugs seemed to know that was my first effort, and they have never touched him. i mounted him as the irishman played the fiddle at donnybrook fair, neither by note nor by ear, but, "be jabers, by main strength," and posed and shaped him by audubon's superb plate. he was pronounced an unqualified success. i shaped his future, and he shaped mine at the same time. when i saw him again, seven years later, he was every bit as good as new, and i was astonished to find how really good he was. he was the first bird i ever skinned or mounted, and a lucky bird he was for me. had he been a dirty, greasy, old swan, think what a scrape i should have been in! lamellirostres: _the ducks, geese, swans (and flamingoes)_.--there are but two points to be spoken of under this head. the first is that all the birds of this order must have their heads skinned through a slit at the back of the head. the other is in regard to cleaning. all ducks, geese, and swans are very fat, even when they are poorest. were they otherwise, they could not live on the water as they do. nearly the whole body is enveloped in a firm, tenacious layer of fat, into which the ends of the body feathers run and take root, and bind the skin itself down so firmly that it really becomes a part of the fatty layer. to remove the skin, you must have a keen knife, and by hard labor slice through the fat as you go. as a general thing, it is slow and tedious work. when you begin, and all the way as you proceed, use plenty of plaster paris or cornmeal to absorb the free oil, and keep it off the feathers. after the skin is off the body, and before you turn it right side out, scrape the inside to get the oil off, absorb it with your absorbent material, and scrape it again and again until the grease is practically all off, and you have only the skin remaining. this takes work. there is no royal road to making good duck skins. if you think you can get along all right by overwhelming the grease on the skin with arsenic and alum, and venture to leave it half cleaned, you will pay the penalty later, and it will serve you right. you cannot cure grease with preservatives. you may fill a fat duck skin half full of arsenic, and yet the oil will ooze out through the skin on the other side, turning the feathers a dirty yellow color. the dermestes can eat _every feather_, and also the skin itself, from the outside, without getting a morsel of the arsenic. the fat simply acts as an impervious wall between the poison and the skin. clean a duck skin thoroughly or else throw it away. it used to be a common thing to see duck skins with the breast feathers a solid mass of nasty yellow grease from the oil that had run out from the opening cut, but such specimens are becoming rare now. if the feathers get soiled with grease, blood and dirt, wash the plumage with clean turpentine and a soft tooth-brush, apply an abundance of plaster paris, rub it into the feathers, and immediately beat it out with a supple switch, or piece of stiff wire of proper size. if you have not these materials, wash the feathers with warm water and a little soap, and dry as best you can, according to what you have. manipulate the feathers while they are drying and they will come out soft and fluffy as in life; but if left to dry without this, they will remain in a bedraggled, soaked, and stringy condition. this subject will be fully considered in a separate chapter (xxv.). in making up the skin of a duck or goose, a piece of wire must be put into the neck, with the tow or other filling wrapped around it, or failing that, the neck filling must be wrapped around a small stick, the upper end of which is to be thrust forcibly into the skull. the head is large and heavy, and the neck is very small, so small that the skin will break in two if there is not a wire or stick run through the body and neck into the head to support the latter when the skin is being handled. the feet of all web-footed birds should be spread while drying. alectorides: _the cranes and herodiones_.--there is but little to add in regard to birds of either of these orders. the cranes require a slit in the skin at the back of the head, but the herons do not. the necks of the latter are very often filled too full in making up a skin, and the neck filling is often made round, whereas it should always be _flat_, like the actual neck of the heron or bittern. it is not necessary to remove the tendons from the legs of the small herons, ibises, etc., but the legs should always be bent up and the feet disposed of on the body. the feet and legs of all the above must be treated to a coat of thin arsenical soap, for the benefit of insect pests. chapter viii. collecting reptiles. ophidiæ: _serpents_.--all the small and medium-sized serpents should be preserved entire in good, clean, ninety-five per cent alcohol, diluted with one-half its own bulk of water. if the spirits is not as strong as ninety-five per cent., then dilute with one-third water instead of one-half. there should be from two to four incisions made along the median line of the belly, each one a few inches in length, to make openings through which the spirits can reach the abdominal region. give the specimen plenty of room until it is thoroughly penetrated with the alcohol. large serpents must be measured carefully, slit open underneath in a straight line from the vent up to within six or eight inches of the head, and completely skinned. a dry snake skin is about as good as none at all for mounting. i have seen many, but never yet knew of one being mounted well. by all means preserve all snake skins in spirits, as described above, or in the salt-and-alum bath. by making a head of cork it is quite easy to take both the complete skin and skeleton of a large serpent. if the head is to be mounted with the mouth open, an extra skull must be procured. lacertilia: _the lizards_.--as with serpents, the small ones should be opened underneath and preserved entire in spirits, while the large ones, if alcohol is scarce, may be skinned in the field, and the skins only put into the spirit-tank for preservation. in putting up specimens entire, the abdominal opening must be large enough fully to insure the entrance of the liquid into the abdominal cavity, or otherwise the decay of the intestines may cause the epidermis to slip from the outside. crocodilia: _the crocodiles and alligators_.--a word in regard to shooting saurians. go prepared to hunt and kill whatever specimens you require, for the chances are you will not get any save what are brought to bag with your own trusty (or rusty) rifle. to kill a crocodile, proceed as follows: find where he is in the habit of coming out on the bank for his daily sun-bath; then, at precisely the right time, "come where my love lies dreaming." sneak up as close to him as you can, get a position so that you can attack him broadside on, and post a couple of natives close by, primed beforehand with instructions to rush forward and grab the scaly monster by the tail as soon as you fire. estimate the distance carefully, wipe the perspiration out of your eyes, aim at the neck-bone, or the vertebral column anywhere in front of the shoulders, and let drive. if the reptile's body lies still and his jaws fly wide open, run for him like a quarter horse, for you have hit his spine, and he is your meat if you only get to him in time to lay hold of his tail. take your rifle along, for you _might_ need it again, particularly if the crocodile is more than ten feet long. if he requires a _coup de grâce_, give him another bullet in one of his cervical vertebrae, and the subsequent proceedings will interest him no more. 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. 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. [illustration: fig. 19.--how to open a turtle.] 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. chapter ix. collecting fishes. as to the methods of procuring your fish, i have very little to say. in all my collecting i have never yet seen the time when it did not pay far better to buy fish specimens of professional fishermen than to turn fisherman myself. with an enterprising set of fishermen, much may be done by offering to purchase the strange and curious species that are often unfit for food, and are usually thrown away. be first in the fish-market when the day's catch is being landed; be on hand persistently, in season and out of season, and by so doing you will have the first chance to buy the handsome sharks, rays, rhinobati, etc., before they are ruthlessly cut up and sold piecemeal. mask your enthusiasm; learn to dissemble, and then you will not need to pay more than the ruling market prices, even for the specimens which are of the highest scientific value. in ceylon i once bought a remarkable shark-ray for three shillings, which i sold again, almost immediately, for $75; but it almost cost me a fit of apoplexy to control my feelings while the bargain was being made. i wanted to give three cheers for _rhamphobatis ancylostomus_! field notes on fishes.--_colors._--in collecting and preserving fishes, happy is he who can sketch with a pencil, and thrice happy is he to whom the gods have given the ability to paint in water-colors. if you are blessed with this ability, the correct and _imperative_ thing to do in collecting is to make a good outline sketch of each species, and color it carefully from a perfectly fresh specimen. then, when the glorious colors of the living fish vanish like magic in the alcohol, or in the air, as the case may be, there is your permanent and indisputable record, a thing of great value to science until a better one is produced. at the national museum it has for years been the policy of dr. goode to have an accurate water-color drawing made by mr. schindler of every species of fish, cetacean, and reptile received. the result is a series of exhibition casts in which every detail of color is reproduced with admirable accuracy and life likeness. in preserving your fresh specimens remember that, no matter what you may do, _the colors will fade_, and the more delicate tints will disappear entirely. _labels._--for alcoholics the best thing to use is a small bit of pure sheet tin, or else sheet lead, with a number stamped upon it. the next best thing is a parchment tag having the necessary data written upon it with a lead pencil, which is much more permanent in alcohol than any ink. _scientific facts._--of the many facts the novice should try to ascertain regarding each species, the following are the most important: all the local names; degree of abundance; time when most abundant; whether it is a permanent resident or is migratory; if migratory, the facts relating thereto; its habits; the depth and character of bottom preferred; food; what fishes prey upon them; value as food or for other purposes. _methods of preservation._--in the field, fishes may be collected and preserved in four different ways, according to circumstances, as follows: 1. preserved entire in spirits. 2. as skins, preserved in spirits. 3. as skins preserved in brine. 4. as rough skeletons, either preserved dry or in spirits. for the purposes of scientific study and close investigation, the most valuable fish specimens are those which have been preserved entire in alcohol, or some equally efficient preservative solution. good alcoholic specimens rank next in scientific value to fishes fresh from their native element. ordinarily, however, the collector's resources are limited, and it is necessary for him to preserve only the skins of the large and bulky specimens. _tanks for alcoholics._--for years past the national museum and united states fish commission have used square, box-like tanks, made of copper and lined with tin, each tank having a large round hole in its top, as large as the width of the top will allow, and which is closed tightly by means of a screw cover. these are known as "agassiz tanks," for the reason that the design originated with professor louis agassiz. they are light, not very costly, easily managed, and are about as nearly perfect for their purpose as anything can be in this world. they are made of three sizes, to hold four, eight, or sixteen gallons. to protect them during shipment a strong pine chest is used, which is provided with wrought-iron handles, hinged cover, hasp, and padlock. the chests are made to contain one sixteen-gallon tank, two of eight gallons, and either three or four four-gallon tanks. the tanks used by the national museum are made by w.s. barker, seventh and d streets, s.w., washington, at the following prices, exclusive of the chests; sixteen-gallon tank, $16.50; eight-gallon, $10; four-gallon, $4.25; pine chests, complete, $3 each. [illustration: fig. 20.--agassiz tank, for alcoholics.] if agassiz tanks are not obtainable, the next best and the cheapest course is to have some large round cans made of galvanized iron, with tops that can be soldered on when the time comes to ship specimens. wooden kegs are not of much use in collecting, but both kegs and barrels are good enough to use in transporting collections. many a time i have helped myself out of a difficulty afield by falling back upon the immortal american kerosene can, holding five square gallons, and which goes to the uttermost parts of the earth. _glass jars._--in the field i have never found any other sort of a glass jar half as useful and safe as a common mason fruit jar, varying in size from pint to half-gallon. they are infinitely superior to glass-stoppered jars, and far less liable to be broken. preserving fishes entire in spirits.--having taken all the notes on a fresh specimen that you desire, the next thing is to wash it thoroughly. but "before washing the fish," says dr. t. h. bean, "look it over for external parasites; examine the gills and the inside of the mouth carefully, as these are favorite situations. these parasites often furnish a clue to the migration of the fish; remove them if they can be taken off entire; if not, let them remain, and call attention to their presence in your shipping notes. preserve the parasites in vials or bottles, and provide them with labels, stating from what fish they came, and in what situation they were found." many fishes when taken from the water have the entire body and gills covered with a coat of persistent mucus that can be removed only by determined effort. if you have any alum at hand, you can in a moment make up a pint or quart of alum water, which will cut the mucus instantly, and clear it off. use a stiff brush--a large tooth-brush is the best thing--in cleaning off this mucus, and do not forget to cleanse the gills thoroughly. open the abdominal region of every fish by making a generous cut from the vent straight forward toward the ventral fins. usually the length of the opening should be equal to about one-fifth of the entire length of the fish. if the fish be a large one, it has always been my practice to open the fleshy interior still farther by working through this cut, and detaching the skin from the flesh as far up each side as possible. this gives the spirits immediate access to the entire mass of flesh, and the result is very speedy and perfect preservation without any change whatever in the form or weight of the specimen. dr. bean always directs that the viscera be preserved, to assist in identification, even though it becomes necessary to remove them from large fishes and preserve them in separate jars. when there is no particular reason for their preservation, it is a great advantage to remove them and throw them away. they are--unless of scientific value--an abominable nuisance, and do more to spoil good alcohol than all the rest of the fish. fishes that have begun to decompose, and have become offensive, yet are too valuable to throw away, may be disinfected by washing them inside and out with a moderately weak solution of pure carbolic acid and water, or with a solution made by dissolving a tablespoonful of chloride of soda in a pint of water. for years a very common formula for preservative alcohol has been ninety-five per cent alcohol diluted with one-third of its bulk of water, or, in other words, three parts of alcohol and one of water. if there is any fault to be found with this solution, it is that it is stronger than is really necessary. i have preserved barrels of alcoholic specimens in a solution composed of two parts of proof spirits and one part water, and have never lost a specimen except through leakage. this solution is strong enough to stand considerable deterioration without the loss of its contents. i have never attempted to collect quantities of alcoholics without an alcoholometer in constant use. this little instrument costs but a trifle, and affords the only reliable means for testing the strength of alcohol. its use enables the collector to exercise economy in the use of his spirits, and get the maximum benefit from it. therefore i say, buy an alcoholometer at all hazards, and carry it and a suitable test-glass with your outfit. test the spirits on your specimens frequently, and you will then run no risks of loss. keep a receptacle to use as a receiving and curing tank, into which all fresh specimens are placed, with abundant room for each to undergo the curing process. every animal contains in its body a heavy percentage of water, which must be, in great measure, replaced by the spirits before the flesh can be preserved from decay. into the first bath a great quantity of blood and abdominal fluids will be soaked out from the specimen, and it is bound to lose strength rapidly, and also become foul. as long as it remains clean enough to use, keep up its strength by the addition of pure spirits, and in it immerse all specimens until they are thoroughly cured. give them plenty of room at first, and keep them from settling down to the bottom by putting there a bunch of excelsior, tow, or cloth. while the spirits in a can may be strong enough on top to preserve a specimen, at the bottom, where the animal impurities settle, it may be so weak that anything lying in it would soon spoil. often the tail of a fish which hangs upright in a jar will spoil while the remainder will be preserved. after specimens have remained in the receiving-tank for from two to four days, according to size, put them in another receptacle in clean, fresh spirits, still allowing them plenty of room. finally, when ready to pack up and make a shipment home, wrap each fish separately in a piece of thin, white cotton cloth, just large enough to cover it well, dip it in clean spirits, and without any tying or pinning of the cloths, lay the fishes in your barrel like sardines in a box, as closely as they will lie without being squeezed. fill the receptacle full of fishes, head it up, and then pour into it all the clean spirits it will hold. in order to proceed with the second and third methods of preserving fish specimens, it now becomes necessary to describe a process. how to skin a fish.--of course, no one aspiring to become a collector of fishes will remain in ignorance of the names of the different fins. and, more than that, before he can prepare even the rough skeleton of a fish he must know what its bony structure is like. on the whole, there is a good deal to be learned about methods in collecting fishes, and as a beginning we must learn how to skin a scale fish. the methods with cartilaginous fishes will be considered later. the principles with all scale fishes are precisely the same, the only difference being in the greater amount of cold steel and energy required for such great, hulking brutes as the jewfish, and the magnificent tarpon. for convenience we will take a specimen about a foot in length; for example, a striped bass, a pike, or a red snapper. as is the case with quadrupeds, the left side of a mounted fish is always expected to be "the show side." lay the specimen upon its left side, start at the vent with a stout pair of sharp-pointed scissors, and divide the skin in a perfectly straight line along the median line of the belly toward the head, stopping the cut when you approach close to the narrow, tongue-like point which terminates between the lower angles of the gill openings. now reverse the fish, begin again at the vent, and divide the skin with a clean cut through the scales, in a line parallel with the base of the anal fin, and about half an inch from where the scales meet the fin rays. this is really a cut along the side of the fish, as low down as possible, made necessary by reason of the anal fin. continue this cut straight back to the tail, as shown in the dotted line _g-h_ in plate iv. [illustration: plate iv. how to cut open and mount a fish.] you will find that the ventral fins are joined together in the flesh by a strong bony arch, called the pubis, and this must be divided through the middle so as to entirely separate the fins. the anal fin-rays must now be cut loose from the interior rays (called interhæmal spines), which are really their bony foundation. the ventral fins must also be cut loose from the pubic bones at the point where they are articulated. now take the cut edge of the fish skin between the left thumb and forefinger, and with the cartilage-knife carefully cut the skin free from the flesh. be careful not to disturb the white layer of color pigment which is spread like a silver lining of feeble tin-foil over the inside of the skin. this is what gives the fish its silvery color, and if skinned off or scraped away the skin will look like colorless parchment. _whatever you do, do not disturb that color lining._ proceed with the skinning until the skin has been detached from the entire upper side of the fish. this brings you to where the dorsal and caudal fins are inserted.[6] now turn the fish over, and proceed as before, as far as you can go. you presently reach the caudal fin, which must be cut loose from the end of the vertebral column as far back in the skin as possible. when this has been done, the skin and the fleshy body still hang together by the attachment of the rays of the dorsal fin to the interhæmal spines. cut these apart with the scissors, from back to front, close up to the skin, which brings you to where the vertebral column joins the skull. you will make very short work of that, which frees the fleshy body from the skull. now scrape away the surplus flesh from the inside of the skin, wash it thoroughly, remove the gills (if they are not to be studied), and lay the skin flat upon its side in your tank of alcohol. by thus preserving the skins of fishes, instead of whole specimens, a great number of really large specimens can be preserved in a small quantity of alcohol, for at the last they can be packed together, heads and tails, precisely like sardines. skinning cartilaginous fishes.--_sharks, rays, etc._--the skinning of a shark or saw-fish calls for no special instructions in addition to the foregoing, except that the long, narrow, pointed tail requires to be slit open along the right side of its upper lobe for a considerable distance. remember the principle that wherever there is flesh, a way must be made so that it can be removed, or at least reached from the inside by the preservative. of the skull, nothing is to be left attached to the skin except the jaws. the skeleton is wholly of cartilage instead of bone, and is easily cut through. the extremely flat, circular-bodied ray, also with a cartilaginous skeleton, must be opened on the underside by two cross cuts at right angles to each other, one extending from mouth to tail, and the other from side to side. the fin rays are very long stems of cartilage, set so closely together as to form a solid sheet of cartilage extending from the thoracic skeleton out to the extremities of the fins, which taper out to nothing. the thoracic skeleton gives shape to the body of the ray, particularly the back, and it must be left in place, with the skin of the back attached to it. cut through the fin rays where they join the body, and this will enable you to skin down each side of the fish until you get so near the outer edge there is no longer any flesh. stop at that point, cut the flesh away from the fin rays, and cut away as much of the fin rays themselves as you please. clear out all the flesh and preserve the skin in a very strong solution of salt and water (what is known to chemists as a "saturated solution"), or in alcohol if you have it to spare. preparing rough skeletons.--in about seven cases out of ten, it is a far easier and more simple matter to rough out, clean, and mount the complete skeleton of a fish than the uninitiated would naturally suppose. a few fishes, such as the shad, have more bones than the law allows, and the preparation of a complete skeleton thus becomes a practical impossibility. fortunately, however, most fishes are more reasonable in the matter of bones, and to these we direct our efforts. first and foremost, study the bony structure of a typical scale fish, learn what its principal parts are, and how they are articulated. learn how the ribs lie, and how a row of slender, riblike bones called appendices, or epipleural spines, are attached to the true ribs, and at their outer extremities _touch the inside of the skin_ along the lateral line of the fish. if you will take a good-sized perch as your first subject, you will not be troubled with any osteological extras, and the process will be as follows: lay the perch upon its side, and with a sharp scalpel cut away the skin from the whole of the exposed side. remove all the viscera. by careful examination, ascertain the exact location of the ribs, and particularly the row of epipleural spines attached at the upper ends of the former. with a broad, flat bone-scraper, or your knife-blade if you have nothing better, begin at the lateral line of the fish, and work toward the top of the back, taking the flesh away in chunks as you go. in a very short time the vertebræ and the interhæmal spines are exposed, and with a narrower bone-scraper the flesh is easily removed from them. now turn the fish around, and with great care cut and scrape the flesh away from the ribs and the epipleural spines. do not on any account detach the latter from the former, but at this stage leave them attached to each other by a thin strip of flesh for their better protection. do not separate the ventral fins by cutting through the pubic arch, but with your small, curve-ended bone-scraper remove the flesh from the angular recesses of these bones, and leave the anterior end of the pubic arch attached to the coracoid. next, pick out the flesh from around the base of the pectoral fin, remove the eye from its socket, and whatever flesh the skull contains. thus does the bony structure of one entire side stand revealed. the gills are of course to remain in place, as the skeleton would not be complete without them. there is but one thing more to add. in treating the other side of the fish in a precisely similar manner, care must be taken to not disturb the attachment of the interneural and interhæmal spines which join the dorsal and anal fin rays to the processes of the vertebral column. having thus denuded the fish of its flesh, lay the skeleton in a pan of water, and with a moderately soft tooth-brush, or nailbrush, brush it carefully to wash away all blood and mucus. if the bones are full of blood (which is very rarely the case), the skeleton must be soaked in clear water for an hour or two, or longer if necessary, to soak out the blood, so that it will not dry in the bones and permanently disfigure them. rough skeletons of fishes may be preserved in alcohol, but for many reasons it is much the best to dry them. poison them with dry arsenic; _do not put upon them either salt, arsenical soap, or alum_, hang each one up by the head, and see that it dries in good shape. the pectoral fins should lie well down upon the ribs for mutual protection. footnote: [6] some operators open a fish in a straight line along the _middle_ of one side, but i have never been able to see any reason for this preference. chapter x. collecting marine invertebrates. sponges.--a live sponge is simply a vast colony of protozoan animals, each member of which lives an independent existence, but all are at the same time mutually dependent upon each other. the sponge of commerce, and the "cleaned" sponge of the museum collection is, like a branch of coral, merely the skeleton of the living aggregation. a live sponge is a dark colored, heavy, tough gelatinous mass, cold and clammy to handle, quickly offensive if left in the open air, and utterly useless until "cleaned," or rid of its mass of animal matter. the skeleton of a sponge may be _horny_, like that of the useful sponges of commerce; _silicious_, like the marvellously beautiful framework of the famous glass sponge of the philippine islands (_euplectella_); or _calcareous_, like the curious little _grantia_, which looks like a miniature bouquet-holder, with a frill of spines around its open end. owing to the extreme scarcity of sponge collections, very few persons know how great a variety of forms, and what really remarkable forms, exist no farther from home than the waters that wash the coast of our own beloved florida. i once had the pleasure of collecting no fewer than sixteen distinct species on the beach between biscayne bay and new river inlet, some of them of remarkable form, and all of them nicely cleaned for me by old ocean. of course, i _searched_ for sponges, and found many a fine specimen buried almost out of sight in the sand,--but what glorious fun it was, to be sure! there i obtained the large, coarse "basket sponge" (_hirvina campana_), a hollow, inverted cone, often capable of holding a pailful of water; the remarkable finger sponge (_tuba vaginalis_), which forms clusters of upright, hollow cylinders; a large cylindrical sponge of a rich brown color, and beautiful wiry texture, called _verongia fistularis_; and sponges that were like trees, like interlocked deer antlers, and what not. professor h.a. ward's last catalogue of invertebrates enumerated forty-three species of sponges that were on hand when the list went to press. of these, the largest specimen was a huge neptune's cup (_paterion neptuni_), four feet in height, and shaped like a gigantic goblet, which came from the neighborhood of singapore. therefore, i say, when on the seashore, be on the lookout for sponges. if you can find them on the beach ready cleaned and dried for you, so much the better; but if you get them alive, the soft animal matter must be macerated and washed away, just as you would macerate the flesh from a large skeleton. soak them in fresh water for a short time to macerate the soft matter, then wash it out in salt water, and keep this up until the sponge is at last clean. corals.--the bleached white coral cluster of the cabinet is, like the sponge, only the skeleton of its former self. when it was forcibly torn from its foothold at the bottom of the sea it was covered with living coral polyps, which gave it the color which is peculiarly its own. some species, notably _madrepores_, when first taken from the water look like colored glass. the main branches are of a yellowish-brown tint, shading toward the tips to the most delicate and beautiful bluish purple. there is no way to preserve these colors, because they are due entirely to the presence of the living polyps. when those delicate organisms die, as die they must, the color vanishes, and if not cleaned and bleached, the coral assumes a dead, smoky brown appearance, suggestive of dust and dirt. therefore it is best to clean and bleach your corals at once. this requires a little time, but the process is "so simple a child can use it." small specimens can be cleaned quickly by washing them in dilute muriatic acid, and afterward in clear water to keep the acid from going too far, and then placing them out in the sun to bleach. large specimens cannot always be treated in this way, and the best plan for wholesale operations is to place the coral on the ground, in a sunny situation, and dash water upon it daily until the soft animal matter has been washed away, and the wind and sun combined have bleached the specimens to snowy whiteness. as a general thing, the natives who live within reach of coral groves are in the habit of gathering it in quantity, cleaning it very successfully, and offering it for sale at prices that defy competition on the part of any scientific collector whose time is worth more than fifty cents a day. the best thing the collector can do is to get acquainted with the native fishermen and boatmen, treat them well and pay fairly, and then, if there is anything in the sea that his collectorship wants, it will soon be forthcoming. thus, instead of the growth of the collection depending upon one or two men, there will be from ten to twenty local experts directly interested in it. i once came to a complete deadlock with my interpreter and three boatmen on the translation of the word "coral." they were singhalese and tamils, and coral was worse than sanskrit to them. finally, as a last despairing effort, i took a pencil and began to make a sketch of a madrepore. the crowd watched its progress in breathless silence until very soon one appreciative auditor shouted triumphantly, _"koki kalli!"_ the crowd joyfully echoed it, the mystery was solved, and in five minutes more we were afloat and on our way to seek "the treasures of the sea, in the mystic groves of coral where her spirit wanders free." the packing and shipping of branching corals is a serious matter. i have tried every way i could think of, and have seen others do the same, and am firmly convinced that no matter how the large _branching_ clusters are packed, they are _bound to get somewhat broken anyway_! of course, if you care to travel with them and see to their handling at every transfer, that is another thing, but who can do that? the trouble is that the individual branches are so very heavy for the diameter of the stems next the base, a sudden jar causes them to snap in two by their own weight. but then corals are very beautiful, very interesting, and no matter though they are troublesome, we must have them. in packing brain coral, and other compact forms without branches, the principal thing is to wrap them in sufficient soft materials that their surfaces cannot get rubbed, for that would ruin them. do not pack a large chunk of brain coral without putting a partition across the box to hold it firmly in its own place, no matter how the box is turned. in ceylon i once took the trouble to divide a large box into twelve separate compartments for the reception of that number of coral specimens. in packing branching coral, a good quantity of soft, elastic, fibrous material like coir, cotton, tow, oakum, or something similar, is necessary. from first to last, take whatever precautions are necessary to keep your corals from getting filled with dirt and litter. each cluster must lie on a thick pad of your fibrous material. in order to get downward pressure upon it, to hold it in place without breaking the branches, take some soft paper or cotton cloth, roll up a long, cylindrical pad of cotton or something else, and thrust it far down into the largest opening between the branches, with one end projecting above the top of the cluster to receive and transmit pressure from above. this principle, if properly carried out, will enable the collector to so firmly fix even the most fragile cluster that it is fitted to withstand pretty rough treatment in transit without serious damage. star-fishes.--when star-fishes are first taken from the water their arms are pliant, but after a bath in alcohol they become perfectly rigid. if left to themselves when first put into spirits, the smaller and more spider-like species will almost tie their arms into double bow-knots, and insist on keeping them so forever after. since the way to cure a star-fish is to soak it in alcohol for from six to twenty-four hours, according to size, and then dry it flat and in good shape, it becomes necessary to pin the small ones firmly in shape upon thin boards before immersing them, and then they will "stay put." see to it that while in the spirits all your star-fishes, large and small, cure in proper shape, flat, and with each arm flat and extended in the right direction. after removal from the spirits, pin out all those not already fastened upon boards, and then let them dry. i have never found it necessary to poison the spirits, for the reason that dermestes and other insects seem to respect a dried star-fish for his own sake. echini.--in all tropic seas the collector is liable to find echinoderms, "sea-urchins," "sea-eggs," or "sea-porcupines." these creatures are usually spherical in shape, with the mouth underneath, and the internal structure of the animal is covered with a stout, calcareous shell of uniform thickness, which is set all over on the outside with a mass of protecting spines, usually fine and very sharp-pointed, but sometimes thick and blunt. in life the spines are movable, and by means of them the creature walks, or clings to its native rocks most tenaciously. the best time to seek echini is at low tide, and the best places are those where the shore line is composed of rough rocks, scooped out here and there into shallow pools. take with you a large basket, a large screw-driver, if you have one, or failing that, a knife with a long, stout blade. wear old clothes, unless you can afford to spoil new ones. when the tide is low you can wade around in the now peaceful pools, and find the echini in the sheltered crevices, clinging to the bottom, or the perpendicular sides of the rocks, but always under water. to dislodge them, the knife-point or the edge of the screw-driver must be neatly and skilfully worked under the victim far enough to enable you, with the exertion of some force and a steady pull, to pry him loose from the rock, whereupon he becomes your lawful prey. next comes the cleaning process. with a small knife, detach the skin of the mouth parts from the edge of the round hole underneath, in the middle of which the mouth is situated, and remove all fluid and fleshy matter from the interior of the shell. that done, wash it out thoroughly. the bony jaws, or "aristotle's lantern," may also be drawn out through the hole and thrown away--_unless_ you happen to be collecting for someone who is studying the anatomy of echini, in which case he must speak for himself. having cleaned your sea-urchin, put it in clean alcohol (same strength as for fishes) and let it soak for about twenty-four hours. this will prevent the spines from gently dropping off, like leaves in autumn, when you proceed to dry the specimen. after soaking in spirits, put the specimens out in a shady place to dry. it is a curious fact that all the echini of ceylon and malayana lose their spines unless soaked in spirits before drying, whereas those of the red sea, the mediterranean, and the west indies can be dried without soaking, and the spines will not fall off. shells. _"living" and "dead" specimens._--the first thing that the amateur needs to learn about a shell is that it may be living or dead. as a general thing, what is technically called a "dead" shell is worthless in a cabinet. a live shell is one which has been collected with a living mollusc in it, and then duly cleaned, preserving all its beautiful colors. a dead shell is one in which the occupant died a natural death, has lain and bleached in the sunshine until its colors are entirely gone, and its form also ruined by the weather. therefore i say, leave dead shells alone, unless it be that you are making an exhaustive collection of the species in a given locality, when a dead shell which is identifiable is as good a record as a living one. where a shell is actually devoid of color, a dead shell is as good as a living one, provided it is collected before its edges or its angles have been rounded by exposure to the sun and rain. many a living shell has an epidermis, the same as an animal, while a dead shell has none. when shells are obtainable, who can resist the impulse to gather them? the man, woman, or child who is proof against the seductive powers of the beautiful and many-colored shells of the seashore "is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils." next to the pleasure of collecting shells one's self is that of witnessing the keen delight of children and ladies in gathering these beautiful treasures of the sea. if you have never yet had an opportunity to stroll along the smooth sands of an ocean beach at low tide, and gather your basketful of beautiful shells, curious sponges, bits of coral and coralline, while your soul is soothed by the rhythmic music of the surf, then i pity you. you have indeed yet something left to live for. hooker has divided the shell-bearing mollusca into three great groups--land, fresh-water, and marine--and the shell collector will do well to study each one separately. _land shells._--these are most abundant in the tropics, less so in the subtropical regions, and are rare elsewhere. they are seldom found where moisture is not abundant. in the tropics they are to be collected all the year round, but in the temperate zone it is best to collect them in the autumn, when they are fully grown. it is impossible, without devoting too much space to this subject, to give more than a general idea of the situations in which land shells are found. some species are to be looked for on trees and bushes; others on rocks and stone walls; others again on the ground, and others again on the blades or in the roots of grass. in the tropics it is particularly desirable to watch for the beautiful land snails, which are almost strictly arboreal in their habits. they are to be found on the trunks and leaves of palms, the banana, myrtle, orange, and scores of other trees and shrubs. _fresh-water shells_ which inhabit clear and shallow water are easily gathered with a stout hand-net. where the water is murky, or so deep that the bottom cannot be seen, it is necessary to have an instrument like an iron-toothed rake, with the teeth set closely together, to be used as a sort of clam-dredge, raking the bottom and gathering up the mussels. in our own country the amateur collector will doubtless be surprised at the number of species of _unio_ which will repay the labors of a diligent collector. _marine shells._--if you would have one of the jolliest picnics in the world, don a suit of old clothes, equip yourself with a stout basket, a screw-driver with a long handle, and a case-knife with a thin blade, "hang up thy lute and hie thee to the sea." go before the tide is at its lowest ebb, and search in the vicinity of the largest bowlders, under ledges of rock, under loose stones, in shallow pools, in bunches of sea-weed, in fact everywhere along the shore. in these various places you will find cowries, ormers (_haliotis_), chitons, limpets, and more others than i could name in an hour. when wading in shallow water it is well to look out for the pestiferous sting-ray, and not step on one unawares, lest you find its caudal spine driven through your foot like a poisoned arrow. but, fortunately, they seldom trouble the collector. with the limpets, chitons, and other small shell-fish, you must work the point of your case-knife under them, and with it gradually detach them from the rock. where such prey is plentiful, the collecting of it is grand fun, i assure you. there are many bivalves which burrow or bury in the mud or sand, which must be dug out with a stick or trowel, while other species, still more enterprising, bore into wooden piles, and even into rocks! these, of course, can be collected only with the aid of a hatchet, or chisel, or stone-hammer, as the case may be. if you are on the florida coast you will do well to search over the coral reefs and the mud flats at low tide. on the latter you will find conch-shells, pinnas, and numerous other species. i once made a very successful search for pinnas by wading around barefooted on a sandy flat on which the receding tide had left the water but little over a foot in depth. these shells were always found standing up in the sand, at bay, with their sharp edge up. by going barefooted as i did, you find the shells by stepping on them and cutting your feet, which is to be accomplished, however, without hurting the thin edge of the shell. a cut foot will heal up, but a broken shell never will. cleaning shells.[7]--in gathering shells, particularly the marine species, many of them will be found covered with a thick, leathery, and persistent epidermis, and many others will be so buried under rough, limy accretions that their own fathers would scarcely recognize them. however beautiful such shells may be when cleaned, it is no child's play to clean them and get them ready for the cabinet. to anyone willing to learn, the processes are really very simple; and what manual labor under the sun could be more interesting to a lover of natural history? _removing the animal._--with a large shell, such as a conch, the first step is to remove the living animal. in some cases i have accomplished this by hooking a fish-hook into the head of the animal and hanging it up so that the weight of the shell constantly pulling down on the animal would cause it to gradually relax and draw out. an excellent plan is to place the shell for a few days in fresh water and macerate the animal sufficiently that it may be drawn out. fortunately the great majority of molluscs are very small, and it is possible to prepare them for the cabinet without the necessity of removing the animal. mr. greegor's plan is to soak the shell in alcohol for a few days, to completely preserve the animal, and then dry it thoroughly to expel all the water from it. when that is done, the final step is to pour into the shell, through a rubber tube, a little thick varnish, or hot beeswax mixed with a little vaseline to make it flow readily, and thus cover the dried-up remains of the animal with an impervious coating which does away with all odors which might otherwise arise from it. this part of the process, be it understood, is to be attended to _after_ the cleaning and polishing has been done. _removing the epidermis._--the epidermis is so tough and horny, and sticks so tightly to the shell that tools cannot remove it successfully and it must be done chemically. make a strong solution of chloride of lime and water, by putting into a jar one-fourth its bulk of chloride of lime, two-fourths water, and leaving the remaining fourth part of the space for the froth that will rise. soak shells in this pasty solution for a short time, and it will eat the epidermis off. _removing limy accretions._--the bulk of all these thick, irregular coatings must be removed with steel tools--file, scraper, knife, sand-paper, or hammer--to suit each individual case. the tool that mr. greegor most relies upon is a small and very light hammer, made especially for him, which is shaped somewhat like a square-headed tack-hammer, with the pointed end drawn out to a blunt cutting edge, like the edge of a cold chisel. with this cutting edge a skilful hand can peck the lime or coral incrustations off a shell very neatly, and without injury to the surface of the specimen. acid will not remove the thick, limy deposits, and they must be cleaned off by mechanical means. after the bulk of the limy deposits have been removed by means of tools, the shell usually has a dull, lustreless appearance, and appears to require something that will remove the remaining particles of lime, impart to it a permanent gloss, and bring out its beautiful colors. fortunately there is a way to do this to perfection, which consists in dipping the shell in a weak solution of muriatic acid and water, boiling hot. the strength of this solution must vary according to the nature of the specimen. for thick and strong shells, which by their solid character you are assured cannot be damaged by a maximum of acid, put 3 parts of muriatic acid in 10 parts water. for thin and delicate specimens, use 1 part acid to 10 of water, varying the amount of acid from 1 part to 3, as your experience will soon teach you is most desirable. put this solution in a porcelain kettle, bring it to a boil, and then with a pair of wooden tongs or forceps dip each shell into it and hold it there for a second or more, as may be necessary. on removing it, wash it in clear water and dry it, and if its appearance is not satisfactory dip it again. for very delicate shells, having a thin surface color, such as the _cypreas_ and _olivias_, or such shells as have very delicate sculpture, the weaker solution is best. when it is desired to cut more on one part of a shell than another, the acid may be applied with a brush, finishing with a quick dip. never allow any of the acid solution to remain on the shell, or it will eat into it and dull the lustre. for fine work, dry each specimen with a towel. shells which have on their exterior a great deal of horny or organic matter, such as _haliotis_, _ostrea_, _lingula_, and a few others, work badly in acid, and require to be brushed constantly while cutting, to remove the organic matter, for the reason that the acid acts only on the lime of the shell. chloride of lime and muriatic acid are both very volatile, and when not in use should be kept in tightly closed vessels. footnote: [7] for the best part of the information given under this heading i am indebted to mr. i. greegor, the well-known dealer in sea-shells and florida "curios," at 61 laura street, jacksonville, fla., who is an acknowledged expert in the treatment of shells, not only in cleaning, but in cutting sections, polishing, etc. i obtained the facts from him while he occupied a very high position in the smithsonian institution--in the north tower, at least fifty feet from the ground. chapter xi. collecting birds' eggs and nests. identification.--positive and unmistakable identification of the builder and occupant of a nest is quite as imperative on the collector as the gathering of the nest and eggs themselves. there must be no guess-work on this point, for eggs without a pedigree are often valueless. if an oological expert is within reach--one who can tell to a certainty the species of doubtful eggs, or if the eggs themselves are so characteristic and unique in their shape, size, and markings as to render their certain identification an easy matter, then is it safe to take home a "find" without finding the owner. it is only the fledgling oologist who needs to be told that in all cases of doubt regarding the identity (_i.e._, the exact species) of a nest-builder, the only proper course is to collect the bird as well as the nest and eggs. this may often involve long watching, but it relieves the result from all uncertainty. no collector should think of going afield in quest of nests and eggs without taking his gun along. in south america, the only way in which i could get possession of the wonderful pensile nest of the crested cacique was by cutting off the limb to which it hung, with a rifle bullet. in all timbered regions the collector must have a pair of good climbing-irons, such as telegraph linemen use, to enable him to climb with ease the nest-bearing trees that would otherwise defy him. it was before the days of climbing-irons that aspiring sir walter raleigh wrote for the fair eyes of queen elizabeth, "fain would i climb, but that i fear to fall," to which his august mistress promptly responded with a piece of wisdom which every young oologist will do well to paste in his hat: "if thy mind fail thee, do not climb at all!" very good and serviceable climbing-irons can be obtained of mr. frank b. webster, 409 washington street, boston, for $3.50 per pair. mr. webster also keeps, at his very complete naturalist's supply depot, nearly every requisite that an oologist or taxidermist requires, except one thing that is indispensable in hunting and lofty tree-climbing,--nerve. every collector or taxidermist should send mr. webster ten cents for a copy of his illustrated catalogue, which of itself is probably the finest of its kind ever issued, and in which all naturalist's and oologist's supplies are pictured, described, and priced. the following are the principal articles needed to make up a proper outfit for an egg collector, and mr. webster's prices thereon: collecting-box, 75 cents. |pasteboard trays, for eggs, egg drills, six sizes, 15 cents to $1.50. | per dozen, 12 cents. calipers, for use in measuring, 60 cents. |pocket-case (leather), | complete, with drills, embryo hooks, 25 cents. | blower, hooks, scissors, | and forceps, embryo scissors, 25 cents to $1.50. | $5.00. egg measures, 75 cents to $1.00. |climbing-irons, per pair, | $3.50. collecting nests.--our boys pay too much attention to collecting eggs, and not half enough to nests. to the average observer who takes an interest in perusing the pages of nature's story-book, a fine collection of bird's nests is a joy forever. it is ever ready to unfold chapter after chapter of bird lore, tales of wonderful intelligence and divine ingenuity in adapting means to ends, and stories galore of difficulties surmounted by the cunningest little architects in the world. notice, if you please, the bewildering variety of materials employed in the construction of these bird-dwellings, great and small. why, even the human architects of our own time are completely surpassed by the baltimore oriole, the marsh wren, and the humming-bird. there is food for thought and cause for admiration in a really good collection of bird's nests. to me there is much more of interest in any nest than in the eggs it contains. the latter is a plain and simple product of nature, to which the bird is merely an interested party to circumstances beyond its own control. the former is an exhibit of the instinct, intelligence, reasoning powers, industry, and mechanical and artistic skill of a living creature of a high order. the nest is what the bird makes it, and it often tells quite a story. boys, let us give eggs and skins a rest, and make a fine collection of nests, _in situ_, as the rockologists say. we can do this after the nestlings have flown, if you like, without stealing any eggs or shedding any innocent blood. after the young have tumbled out, the nest is a back number, and becomes your lawful prey. take it, and enjoy it, without remorse over blood that you haven't shed. [illustration: fig. 21.--bird nest, _in situ_.] the most interesting and valuable nests are those that are collected _in situ_, or, in other words, in the particular crotch, or bunch of grass, or bush in which the bird placed it. anything that will show just where a nest was placed by its builder adds immensely to its interest, and increases its scientific value. the accompanying illustration of such a nest in captain bendire's collection (fig. 21), may be taken as an example of how nests of a certain class can be collected and displayed. the section of the sapling was sawn squarely off a few inches below the nest, and screwed (from below) upon a highly polished ebonized pedestal. in drawing this specimen the label was removed in order that no portion of the principal object should be concealed, but captain bendire's system of labelling is fully shown in another figure. the possibilities in collecting and displaying nests _in situ_ are almost endless. indeed, so far as i have observed, this is a new and very attractive field for the collector, for although i have visited a great many large museums, and in both the new and the old world have seen many ornithological collections, i have never yet seen a collection of birds' nests which represented a tithe of the possibilities in that direction. every oologist should have in his library a copy of rev. j.g. wood's charming book, "homes without hands," which portrays many of the wonders of bird architecture. in collecting nests one must go prepared to saw off branches, to cut sections of grassy earth, to gather up big tufts of grass, and transport all these to some safe destination. very often it will be necessary to protect a nest by filling its cavity with some soft material, and then with fine thread or wire to wrap it securely to the limb on which it is placed. or again, it may be necessary to remove a nest temporarily from its resting place, wrap it thoroughly, and transport it separately to the museum, to be put in its place later on. [illustration: fig. 22.--wire standard for nests.] most naked nests, _i.e._, those that have been plucked from their resting-place, require to be wrapped to keep them from gradually falling to pieces. this may be done with fine thread of the same color as the outside materials of the nest, or, what captain bendire uses and recommends as being better, the finest kind of wire which, in large cities, can be bought, neatly made up on spools, at five to ten cents a spool. the wire or thread is wound on quite as one would wind thread on a ball, except that the wire must never be allowed to cross the cavity of the nest, which would at once make it conspicuous. put on only enough winding to hold the nest well together, and distribute it so that the wire will not be noticed when the nest is placed on exhibition. for the display of naked nests, captain bendire uses a very simple but ingenious little standard made of four wires twisted together so as to form an upright stem, a horizontal platform of the right size, with four perpendicular standards to receive and hold the nest. these standards are easily bent to conform to the shape of the nest, and if the upper ends project above the nest they are snipped off with a pair of cutting pliers. the illustration on page 93 (fig. 22) shows the exact character of the wire standard, and fig. 23 shows it in use, supporting a naked nest. captain bendire's method of labelling his nests is also shown in full. it is to be noted that the locality of the specimen exhibited, and the name of the collector, appears in full upon the label--two features which should never be omitted on a specimen that is of sufficient value to occupy a place in a museum. nevertheless, by less careful curators both these statements are frequently omitted from labels. [illustration: fig. 23.--nest on wire standard, with labels.] collecting eggs.--in connection with a collection of nests, each nest holding its own lawful and original contents, a good collection of birds' eggs possesses much interest and beauty. in collecting and preserving eggs, the most difficult feature of all is to remove the embryos successfully. in the days when i diligently collected eggs in many lands, it seemed to me that out of every dozen eggs i gathered, about thirteen contained from one to two embryos each! but there are ways in which this difficulty can be successfully overcome. the full set of eggs laid by a bird for one brood is called a "clutch," and in collecting it is of scientific importance that whole sets should be collected and always kept separate, and the number of eggs in each set taken should be recorded. eggs are always blown through a small, round hole in the middle of one side, preferably in each instance on the poorest side of the egg, if it has one. of course, the smaller the egg, the smaller the drill must be, and the greater the care in handling. it is often a good plan to pierce the shell with a needle in order to furnish the drill a point of attack. if an egg is cracked, or happens to be of such value that it must be saved at all hazards, reinforce it by pasting narrow strips of goldbeater's skin or court-plaster across the line of fracture. having drilled the hole, insert the end of a small wire, having a small portion of the end bent at a right angle, and if the embryo has not begun to develop, or happens to be quite small and soft, twirl the wire rapidly between your thumb and finger, to thoroughly break up the contents of the egg. having accomplished this, insert the tip of your blow-pipe (the best in the world consists of a tube of glass bent at a right angle and terminating in a fine point, with the large end set in the end of a rubber bulb, which saves the mouth and lungs all trouble) and with gentle and gradual pressure blow in air. hold the egg with the hole downward, of course, so that the contents will run out freely. go slowly and carefully, even coaxingly, for too great pressure will burst any ordinary egg in two parts very neatly. if the embryo is small and disposed to be accommodating, help it out by inserting the point of your smallest scissors, snipping it to pieces, and then drawing out the parts, one by one, with your smallest forceps. having emptied the egg of its contents, introduce some clear water by way of the blow-pipe, wash out the inside thoroughly, and in case the egg is in a clean, healthy condition, it can now be laid away on cotton or cornmeal, with the hole downward, to drain and get dry. observe this point, however. the thin, membranous lining of an egg, which the point of the drill pierces but cannot cut away, often closes together inside the hole so closely as to retain, for some time, whatever water might chance to remain. for this reason it was my custom to cut away this membrane around the edges of the hole. captain bendire remarks that "eggs that have been thoroughly cleaned will retain their original color much better, and insects or mice are not so apt to trouble them." removing large embryos.--it often happens that eggs are taken quite near the hatching point, containing embryos so lusty in size, and so "very fillin'" that their successful ejectment seems impossible. _nil desperandum._ the way out of the difficulty is through a very small hole. on this point i appealed to the highest authority, captain bendire, and he kindly gave me, in general substance, the following directions: in the first place, make up your mind to go slow, and take plenty of time. if the egg is valuable and the embryo is large, reinforce the egg all over with strips of goldbeater's skin or court-plaster. having drilled a fairly large hole, then insert the head of a needle in a small stick for a handle, and with the point pierce the embryo in twenty or thirty places. the egg sac, which is always present, should be taken out, if possible with the forceps, to give room for water. having cleared out the egg as far as possible, fill it up with water to assist in the decomposition of the embryo. cover the bottom of a box with a layer of cornmeal or sawdust; lay the egg on this, with the hole upward (still full of water), cover the box, and place it under a stove or in any other place warm enough to hasten the process of decomposition. work at the egg a little about every alternate day, but without hurrying matters, and keep this process in operation until the embryo softens, falls to pieces, and is ready to be drawn out piecemeal. in removing a large embryo, try to get hold of the tip of the mandible with the small forceps, so that it can be drawn out, point foremost, without splitting the shell. eggs that emit an offensive odor after they have been blown need to be rinsed out with carbolic acid and water, or some equally good disinfectant. it is, of course, to be understood that eggs must be clean on the outside before they are fit for the cabinet. usually soap and warm water is sufficient to remove dirt and stains, but occasionally a particularly hard case calls for the addition of a little washing soda in the water. the last washing, however, should always be in clear water. inasmuch as a label cannot be attached to an egg, the data necessary to give the egg a respectable position in the oological world must be written on the under side of the egg itself, either in lead pencil or india ink, which is capable of being erased, at will. the following are the data that should be recorded on every egg collected and kept: 1. name of species, or number in a.o.u. check list, if north american. 2. collector's number, which belongs to _every egg_ of a given set, and refers to his catalogue and field notes. 3. number of eggs in the set, or "clutch." 4. date in full. in packing eggs for shipment, a great many small boxes of wood or tin are absolutely essential, and in these the eggs must be carefully packed in cotton, each one separated from the rest of the world by a layer of cotton. it is an excellent plan to wrap every large egg separately in cotton, as oranges are wrapped in papers. captain bendire recommends the making of divisions, one for each egg, with strips of pasteboard, like the crates in which egg producers pack eggs for shipment to market. this gives each egg a compartment by itself, with a bit of soft cotton cloth at top and bottom. if produce dealers can afford to take such care of eggs worth only thirty cents per dozen, surely oologists can do the same when they are within the pale of civilization, and can get the materials. at the national museum the duplicate eggs are stored in small, rectangular, shallow pasteboard trays, or half boxes, each of which has its bottom covered very neatly and exactly with a section of cotton wadding, which gives a soft, springy cushion for the eggs to lie on without the undesirable fluffy looseness of ordinary cotton batting. part ii.--taxidermy. _keeping everlastingly at it brings success._ chapter xii. the laboratory and its appointments. it would be impossible for me to dwell too strongly upon the importance, nay, even the vital necessity to the taxidermist, of a commodious and suitable workroom, and a good supply of proper tools and materials. anyone setting up a store of any kind meets the expenditures for fixtures and furniture as a matter of course; but the average taxidermist would consider it a killing thing to invest from $100 to $200 in good tools and materials. first-class tools, and a good assortment of them, are indispensable allies in the production of the finest kind of work in the shortest possible time. in taxidermy let us have no making of bricks without straw. as well might an artist attempt to paint a grand picture with a sash tool as a taxidermist attempt to mount fine specimens with a dull knife, an old file, and a pair of rusty pliers. let us suppose we are fitting up a taxidermic laboratory in which to mount all kinds of vertebrate animals, great and small. to begin with, we must have a good room, if possible 15 x 25 feet, or even larger, with _good light_, a high ceiling, and an abundant supply of water. there must be somewhere a storeroom for bulky materials, and a drying-room for freshly mounted specimens. there must be provided somewhere, for the wet mammal skins, a big, box-like tank lined with sheet lead, for very large objects, and some alcohol barrels for smaller ones. these must be provided with tight covers, or the salt-and-alum bath will evaporate with great rapidity. after the above, our laboratory will require the following furniture and fixtures.--a heavy work-table, 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet 6 inches high; top 1-1/2 inch thick. a tool case and chest of drawers. a stove, a chopping-block, a heavy bench vise. a grindstone, a blacksmith's anvil, and portable forge. a water-tight platform on castors, on which to stand large mammals that are wet and dripping. tools. 2 killing-knives. |1 machinist's hammer. 2 cartilage-knives. |1 hatchet, to lend. 1 pair shears, and 1 pair fine scissors. |1 sharp hatchet, to use. 1 draw-shave, adjustable handles. |1 cold chisel. 2 skin-scrapers, of sizes. |1 set stone-cutter's chisels. 3 gouges, of sizes. |1 punch. 3 chisels, of sizes. |1 tap wrench. 1 screw-driver. |1 pair calipers. 1 2-foot rule. |1 set of hack saws, for iron and | brass. 1 tape-measure, 12 feet. |1 set iron fillers, of sizes. 1 thread-cutter, for iron. |1 set wooden fillers, of sizes. 1 thread-cutter, for brass. |1 set modelling tools. 3 pair pliers, of sizes. |1 set of files. 3 pair cutting nippers. |1 set of paint brushes. 4 pair forceps, of sizes. |1 set of brushes for hair and | teeth. 1 hand vise. |1 gluepot. 1 hand drill. |1 set of awls. 2 monkey wrenches, of sizes. |1 set of glover's needles, 3 | sizes. 1 ratchet brace, with bits and drills. |best linen sewing twine, or 4 gimlet bits, of sizes. |"gilling thread," of two or three | sizes. 1 hand-saw. |1 iron thimble. 1 key-hole saw. |1 spirit-lamp, or gas-stove. 1 claw hammer. |pails, kettles, cups, bowls, etc. 1 tack hammer. |12 spools of barbour's linen | thread. materials.--excelsior; hemp tow of two qualities, coarse and fine, both of long fibre; flax tow, such as upholsterers use; cotton batting; oat straw; potter's clay; good glue; plaster paris; arsenical soap; spirits of turpentine; benzine; salt by the barrel; ground alum by the hundredweight; pine and hemlock lumber, one to two inches thick; 2×4 pine scantling; an assortment of annealed wire; rods of norway iron, from 3/16 inch to 1 inch; nails, tacks, wrought-iron staples, screws, nuts, bolts, wrapping twine; rosettes for iron standards; washers, all sizes; alcohol, shellac, white hard oil finish (varnish); muriatic acid, sheet wax, sperm oil; glass eyes, all sizes, kinds and colors; unlimited pluck, patience, and perseverance. if the worker intends to mount only birds and small mammals, he will need but a very small portion of the tools and materials enumerated above. but fie! where is the taxidermist worthy of the name who will admit that his resources are limited, or that he is not able and ready to "set up" any animal that may be brought to him, no matter how big or how bad it is. perish the thought that he is not able to cope with dog, deer, or even elephant. we now start on the supposition that you have acquired all the tools and materials you are likely to need, and that our subsequent work is not going to halt or hang fire on account of the lack of this or that article. chapter xiii. preliminary work in mounting mammals. relaxing dry skins.--nearly all mammal skins that go from one country to another are sent in a dry state, and it is a rare exception to obtain a foreign skin in any other condition. it therefore behooves the mammal taxidermist to become a thorough expert in softening dry skins of all kinds and sizes, and bringing them into mountable condition. to relax a dry skin, rip it open, remove the filling material, and immerse it in a weak but _clean_ salt-and-alum bath (see chapter iv.) until it becomes soft, be the time required three days or three weeks. if you are in a great hurry, soak the skin at first for a brief period in clear water, and if it is milk-warm, so much the better. sometimes a skin is so old and hard and refractory that the bath of salt and alum seems to make no impression upon it, in which case try clear water. in a few hours it will yield and collapse, and then it must be put into the bath, or the water will soon macerate it, and cause the hair to slip off. you can leave the skin in the salt-and-alum bath as long as you choose without endangering it in any way. the inside of every dry skin usually has over it a hard, inelastic coating which, when once gotten rid of by shaving or scraping, leaves the skin underneath measurably soft and elastic, according to its kind. if the skin is a small one, or no larger than that of a wolf, the best way to get it in working order is to lay it flat upon the table, and go at it vigorously with the skin-scraper (see fig. 24). in this there must be no half-way measures, no modesty, no shirking. bear on hard, dig away at the same spot with all your energy, first in one direction, then crosswise, then diagonally. scrape as if you were scraping on a wager, and presently the skin will become so thinned down it will become quite soft, and even elastic. this is hard work, it starts the perspiration and keeps it going, but it will conquer the hardest skin that ever was made. to make a skin sufficiently elastic to mount, it must be turned wrong-side out and scraped all over thoroughly with a skin-scraper, from nose to tip of tail, and phalanges. small skins yield far more readily and kindly than the larger ones. the skins that are hardest, horniest, and most refractory are those of the capybara, all of the _suidæ_ (hogs), and tropical deer. i have mounted skins of these that when first softened were precisely like horn,--and at best with such subjects the resulting specimens are only "passable." sometimes when the scraper can make no impression, it becomes necessary to laboriously pare down the inside of an entire skin with the knife before scraping it. this is tedious, but effective, for a sharp knife leaves no room for argument. [illustration: fig. 24.--skin-scrapers, about one-fourth actual size.] all skins larger than a gray wolf, whether they be fresh or dry, need to be stretched on a beam, and pared down with a sharp draw-shave that has adjustable handles. this useful instrument can be bought at any large hardware store for $1.25. keep it thoroughly sharp. the beam should be about seven feet in length, and six by three inches in size, and laid flat. one end of it is to be bolted firmly down to your bench by two movable iron bolts, and the half which projects beyond the edge of the table must have both of its upper edges rounded off so that it will represent half a cylinder with the convexity uppermost. the table itself must be fastened securely in place. throw the skin over the rounded end of this beam, drive a stout "scratch-awl" through it, just beyond the reach of your arms, stretch and flatten the skin upon the beam, and with the draw-shave carefully shave down the entire skin until it is thin enough. be very careful at first, until your hands acquire skill, or you will cut through the skin, which, in the case of an animal like a hair seal means an unsightly, permanent defect. do not be afraid of paring a skin too thin so long as you stop at the roots of the hair. of course you can not pare down the skin of the head and feet with the draw-shave, and these must be treated with the knife and scraper. the skin of the head of every mammal must be pared down and scraped particularly thin all over, especially the eyelids, lips, and nostrils, so that when these parts are backed up with clay you can model them into exquisitely fine form and expression. if you slight the skin of the head, good-by to all expression; you will merely be able to "stuff" it, and that is all. if its features look coarse, uncouth, and wooden, it will probably be because the thickness and inelasticity of the skin defies your art. of course the joints of the feet must be got into working order. the leg bones and skull require to be thoroughly scraped and cleaned, and the skin itself worked up as nearly as possible to the condition of a fresh subject. carving wooden skulls and leg bones.--it is absolutely essential that every mammal to be mounted should have a skull, and all save the smallest should have leg bones also. if the skull and leg bones that belong in a skin are missing, i invariably carve others of the same size out of soft pine to replace the lost members. these bones are imperatively necessary to give shape and length to the various joints and angles of the limbs, to shape the head, to give a foundation for the attachment of wires, and to build upon generally. very often the skull of an animal is of such value to science that it must be kept out of the skin at all hazards, and exhibited separately. then it must be duplicated in wood. every mammal taxidermist _must_ learn how to carve wooden bones, and the quicker he becomes expert at it, the better. very few tools are required, and these are as follows: a small hatchet, a pair of 8-inch calipers, a pair of 8-inch dividers, gouges of three sizes, 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 inch; chisels of about four sizes between 3/8 and 1 inch, a draw-shave, a spoke-shave, a good sharp pocket-knife, and the usual supply of boring tools. [illustration: plate v. paring down a large mammal skin.] to carve a wooden skull, proceed as follows: if you have not the genuine skull to use as a pattern, you must procure one from an animal of the same species, and ascertain its size in comparison with what the wooden skull must be, _e.g._, whether it be larger or smaller. then procure a piece of soft pine timber, free from knots, and thick enough to turn out a skull of the proper size. if this can not be found in one piece, glue together several pieces of pine until they form a block of the proper size. on the top of this block place your genuine skull, and trace its outline on the wood, making your outline larger or smaller, as it may need to be, and bilaterally symmetrical. now take your hatchet and hew the two sides of the block down exactly to this outline. this represents the "ground plan" of the skull. to get the side elevation, sketch out on the side of this block a side-view outline of the skull, and then hew down to that. with your dividers, locate exactly the inner edge of the orbits, and then mark out with a pencil the entire circle of each orbit. with a gouge carve out the hollows neatly, and then with your flat chisels attack the cranium, round off its angles, and so work over the entire skull. measure frequently with the calipers to see that the dimensions are correct. there is no need to go into any of the details of the back part, or basi-occipital portion of the skull, nor with any other details except those that lie on the surface. it is important to shape the orbits, zygomatic arch, the frontal bones, the muzzle and lower jaw, quite accurately, for these bones bear scarcely any flesh. in making skulls for apes and monkeys the greatest care is necessary to produce the facial angle, orbits, and muzzle, so sharply characteristic of the various families. when a wooden skull is used, the mouth should always be closed, unless it is very necessary to have it open. while it is possible to take moulds from a real skull, and cast a full set of teeth in plaster or lead, or to set real teeth, or painted wooden imitations, into a wooden skull, the result is generally unsatisfactory to a critical eye. when teeth are cast and painted, the paint always changes color with age, causing the teeth to look "made up." if you can not have a real skull with genuine teeth in it, for whatever mammal you are mounting, no one has any right to require that it be mounted with open mouth, unless the head is to go on a rug instead of a scientific specimen. observe the following precautions in making a skull: 1. be sure that it has the proper facial angle. 2. be sure that it is in no way too large. better have it too small than too large. 3. be sure that there are no sharp corners upon it anywhere, lest they come out next to the skin in mounting, and cause trouble. when a skull is finished, bore a hole (or two in some cases) through it from the occiput to the centre of the nose or mouth, for the passage of the neck irons or wires that are to support the head. the principles involved in carving skulls apply equally to carving leg bones, except in this work there is much to be done with the draw-shave and spoke-shave. of course they require to be wired together at the joints, with two wires at each joint, so that the space between them may be channelled out with a gouge to receive the leg iron. sewing up holes in skins.--after thoroughly cleaning a skin, take a glover's three-cornered needle of the proper size, and a waxed thread from a ball of strong linen thread, or "gilling twine," and sew up all the holes that are to be found in the skin. it requires some little ingenuity sometimes to know just how to trim the edges of a hole so that it can be sewed up without puckering the skin, but a little experimenting will soon reveal the way. if you have to sew up a cut which has no hair to cover it, sew tightly with a curve-pointed needle, starting the stitches on the inside well back from the edge, and sewing only three-quarters of the way through the skin. draw the edges tightly together. when the sewing is finished, place a flat bar of iron or wood underneath the seam, and hammer it with a hammer all the way along. this will flatten the ridge formed by the sewing, and will render the seam almost invisible. in order to do fine work, a taxidermist must be quite expert in the use of the needle and thread. in sewing up skins there are two points to be aimed at, viz.: 1. to sew strongly. 2. to sew so neatly that the seam will be as nearly invisible as possible. for general work one must also have common round needles, and no. 30 thread for very fine sewing, as, for instance, torn eye corners or lips, and holes in the face where the skin is very thin and there is little hair, or none at all; three-cornered glover's needles, nos. 00, 1, 2, 3; and three sizes of strong linen sewing twine. in the beginning of your work acquire the habit of being particular about the size of the needle and thread you use upon a skin, and never let them be larger than necessary. when special strength is needed, double the thread and wax it with beeswax to prevent its rotting. always sew with the ball stitch, _e.g._, from the inside of the skin to the outside, every stitch. it is often convenient to use a curved needle, and this can be made by heating a glover's needle to a red heat in the flame of a spirit lamp and curving it while hot. how to make long needles.--in making manikins, and also for other purposes, it is necessary to have a set of needles varying in length from six to eighteen inches, or even longer. you can buy needles up to ten inches in length from anyone who keeps upholsterers' supplies, but the longer ones you must make for yourself. to do this, take a piece of no. 12 or 13 steel wire and grind one end to a point. for the eye, heat the other end red hot, flatten it with the hammer, then heat it again, lay it on a bar of lead, and with a brad-awl and hammer punch an eye in it while hot. neck irons in mounting mammals.--never allow a neck iron to come through the top of the skull, through the forehead, or through the face anywhere. the neck iron, which must support the entire weight of the head and neck, should pass through the back of the skull and into the nasal cavity. let the iron extend some inches beyond the end of the nose until the neck is made, and the head placed in position, for not until then can you tell what length the neck iron should be. when the head is well-nigh finished, take a small hack-saw and saw off the neck iron close up to the nasal cavity, so far from the end of the nose that by no possible chance can the animal shrink so much in drying that the end of the iron will protrude through one of the nostrils and into view. chapter xiv. principles of universal application in mounting the higher vertebrates. general remarks.--we may assume that anyone who is ambitious to excel in taxidermic work desires to do so by the high character of his productions, and the recommendation they silently give him. i am well convinced that any one who takes the trouble to read this book will welcome the following principles that apply very generally in mounting the higher vertebrates, and are, at all events, intended to increase the average of general excellence and permanency in mounted specimens. a place in the front rank of taxidermists is not to be easily won. it can only be accomplished by the studious methods of the sculptor, the experience and observation of the field naturalist, and a combination of these with technical and mechanical skill in the laboratory. the painter paints but one side of his animal, and he is not hampered by bulk or measurements. the sculptor blithely builds up his clay model, with neither skin, bones, nor hair to vex his soul. the taxidermist must not only equal the form of the sculptor's clay model, but he must also make it to fit a certain skin with exactitude. the ideal taxidermist must be a combination of modeller and anatomist, naturalist, carpenter, blacksmith, and painter. he must have the eye of an artist, the back of a hod-carrier, the touch of a wood-chopper one day, and of an engraver the next. with increased skill on the part of the workers has come increased appreciation on the part of museum officials, and higher salaries. let me say to aspiring beginners, there is plenty of room at the top, and money and glory to spare for those who get there. but there is no royal road to fortune in this business. success means years of earnest work and study. with the understanding, therefore, that we are aiming at perfection, and that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," we will endeavor to call attention to a few principles which underlie all good work in taxidermy. at the same time i will try to point out a few of the most common faults generally observable in mounted specimens. permanency.--this is the foundation on which every specimen must be built in order to be first class. a preserved and mounted animal that has not enough solidity and stability to stand the test of time is unworthy of a place in any museum or private residence, for its existence is sure to terminate speedily in disappointment, disgust, and loss. during the last eight years the national museum and american museum of natural history have thrown away and otherwise gotten rid of enough stuffed specimens to stock a small museum, and all because of poor and unstable taxidermic work only twenty years ago. a taxidermist who knows his business can mount a specimen to last ten years or ten hundred, just as he chooses. if you, like a certain taxidermist i once knew, believe in "quantity not quality," then you, like him, can use small and weak supporting irons ("they work so much easier than heavy ones!"), half clean your skins and skulls, ram a skin full of excelsior, straw, paper, and rubbish from your dirt-box, sew it up with long stitches and cheap twine, cram its eyes and nostrils with nasty putty, and insert the cheapest eyes obtainable. then, while the specimen may look passably well during its first six months, by the end of two years its sides will be a succession of hills and hollows, its seams will be ripped and gaping wide open, its nose will be shrivelled up and shapeless, its ears will look like dry autumn leaves; it will lean over helplessly to one side, and will also have settled down upon its feet until they are shapeless deformities. this is no fancy picture, for it fairly represents the condition of many a buffalo, deer, and moose that i have been called upon to either dismount, remount, or destroy. a dishonest taxidermist may slight the interior work of a specimen and have it escape detection for six months, or even a year, but time soon tells the story. dishonest or careless work, like murder, will out. in a bird, it expresses itself in a look of roughness, and a general falling away from grace at all points. to secure perfect stability and permanence in a mounted specimen, observe conscientiously the following principles in its construction: 1. pare every skin down thin, so that its shrinking power will be reduced to a minimum. this will prevent its seams from opening. 2. poison with the utmost thoroughness, so that even though the specimen should chance to stand unprotected for years where insect pests are thickest, they can find nothing to feed upon in its hair or feathers. 3. use heavy supporting irons or wires, as heavy as the specimen will accommodate without sacrificing the form and position of legs and feet. the fault of using the lightest possible supports is entirely too common, and is so thoroughly reprehensible in a taxidermist that it becomes a vice. 4. make the mechanical structure of every specimen (_e.g._, the fastening together of the body, limbs, head, neck, and tail), so firm that the rigidity of all is complete. it is then, and only then, in your power to place any member of the body in a desirable attitude and have it remain fixed. 5. every portion of the skin should rest upon a _firm, smooth_ surface of clay, excelsior, straw, or tow, according to circumstances. if there are lumps under the skin, they will appear soon after it is dry, and destroy its smoothness. if there are hollows, the result will be the same. 6. the larger the specimen the thicker is the skin, and consequently the harder and more unyielding should be the material it rests upon. do not make a manikin with hoop iron and burlap, and a little loose filling between that and the skin, for specimens so mounted nearly always come to grief. if you stuff a skin with straw, excelsior, or tow, pack the filling in a solid mass, for with the lapse of time all such materials are bound to shrink, no matter how hard you make them at first. the shrinkage of straw is often remarkable and highly disastrous. attitude.--on this subject no fixed rules can be offered. to one fact, however, which should always be borne in mind by the preparator, i must call special attention, and that is as follows: animals of all kinds, even in a state of nature, and entirely of their own volition, often assume attitudes that are highly ungraceful, unpleasing to the eye, and anything but fairly representative of the creature's form and habits. this being the case, do not make the mistake of concluding that because you have seen a particular animal assume a particular attitude, it is "natural," and therefore you can do no better than to reproduce that attitude in the specimen you are mounting. no, a thousand times no. this mistake will lead to the reproduction of many an ugly attitude, even though like life itself. every animal is capable of assuming scores of different attitudes, and from all these you should _choose the one which is most strikingly characteristic of the subject_, most truly representative, and which does the animal the same sort of justice that you seek at the hands of the artist when you go to have your own picture taken. on such occasions you do not lounge ungracefully, nor "stand stoop-shouldered," nor look listless; you stand erect, at your full height, and look your very best. make your animal do the same. for your own picture you do not assume a violent and tragic attitude, nor anything strained. you stand or sit at ease, quietly but intently regarding something in particular; or your attitude may with equal propriety represent a moment of rest in the course of some quiet action. pose your mounted specimens according to the same principles, and the results will be most satisfactory to all. the choice of an attitude depends wholly upon your artistic instincts, "upon your eye," so to speak. choose that one which is most graceful or grand, and is at the same time truly characteristic of the subject. to my mind, the attitude taken by an animal when startled by visible or suspected danger, is the one _par excellence_ in which it appears at its best when mounted. under such conditions the animal always stands fully erect, head aloft, and with every sense keenly on the alert. the next best attitude is that which represents an animal quietly walking or climbing, according to its habits and modes of progression. the subject of groups and grouping will be considered in full later on in this work. proportions.--on this point a single observation will be sufficient. the taxidermist often receives, from the zoological gardens and menageries, specimens that are very thin in flesh. in mounting an animal, do not let your knowledge of anatomy run away with your judgment, art, and even nature itself, by producing a tiger, panther, zebra, or buffalo with all its ribs showing, and its scapula, pelvis, and vertebral column all standing out in bold relief. unless the individuals of a given species are always scrawny, i pray you, for the sake of truth and justice, do not make your solitary representative of that species look like a candidate for special honors at a bone-yard. let me assure you, on the honor of a hunter, that animals in a state of nature are nearly always well fed and plump-looking, and show very few bones. it is easy to make ribs on a clay-covered manikin, but do not do it on a wild animal, unless you deliberately intend to produce a starveling. according to its nature, make every animal look well-fed and in good condition, _but not fat_. it seldom happens that a wild animal in a state of nature grows really fat, but it is still more seldom that one looks under-fed and poor. if fatness is a special characteristic of a species, then fat let it be, but scrawny never. above all things, avoid in your birds and quadrupeds the half-filled body which makes the subject look as if it had been eviscerated. the abdomen is always convex, not concave. the uses of clay as a filling material.--the value of clay in the mounting of mammals, reptiles, and fishes can hardly be overestimated. previous to 1880 its use among the taxidermists of my acquaintance was unknown, and when its value was discovered and put to general use by the writer, in the year mentioned, many of my rivals predicted all manner of evil from it. they declared it would destroy skins, go to dust within them, become soft mud in damp weather, crack, etc. i persisted in its use, disproving all evil prognostications, and now its general use really marks a new era in american taxidermy. by means of this common and cheap material it is not only possible but easy to mount a horse, a seal, a hairless dog, a turtle, snake, fish, or any other animal, with absolute accuracy in every detail of form and size. not only is this true, but, so far as i can discover, there is no other material than clay with which these results can be accomplished. for covering manikins, coating the skulls of large animals, and for filling in the nose, mouth, eyes, and ears, it is everything that could be desired. with it a stretched skin, "a world too wide for his shrunk shank," can be worked together on the clay-covered manikin, and reduced in size until it fits without the slightest visible wrinkle, or any cutting out such as used to be necessary by the old methods. to prepare clay for use, take the clean, worked chunks of soft potter's clay (which costs about two cents per pound, and should be quite free from sand and grit), put the right quantity in a pail, and pour a little water upon it. with the hands knead it until the water is taken up, and it becomes as soft as dough. it will, of course, be quite sticky, and in this state is altogether too soft to use except to cover a large manikin, in which case it must be soft enough to spread easily with the hand. for ordinary use, however, chop up finely, with the hatchet, some clean hemp tow of long fibre, and mix it thoroughly with the clay, which can be done only with the hand. this makes the clay more stiff, about like soft putty, and of the proper consistency for filling into feet, cheeks, eyes, mouth, nose, etc. if the clay is too soft, you will have difficulty in making it retain the proper form under the skin. if it is too stiff, it balls up, and you can not work it along under the skin from one part to another. when you learn to make it of just the right consistency it works to perfection, no matter where you put it, and will forever retain the form your fingers give it by pressure from without. elsewhere will be given more detailed advice in regard to the various uses of clay. coloring.--the time was when american curators held it sacrilege to paint the soft parts of birds, and the hairless portions of certain mammals. for my part, i have always fought that idea unconditionally, in season and out of season, and i am glad to say that within the last eight years it has been utterly abandoned. clearly, it is better to reproduce the colors of soft parts as accurately as one can, rather than let them remain in a colorless, dry, and mummified condition, hideous to the eye and meaningless to the understanding. by all means let us color everything that has color in life, though the heavens fall. ascertain in some way what the color should be (this can often be done by reference to books with colored plates), then paint accordingly. paint with turpentine and oil, rather than with oil alone, which leaves an unnatural gloss. you can tone down any oil color, however, by stippling it with a stipple brush dipped in a pan of dry color, or plaster paris. the taxidermist who can paint the exposed parts of his specimens accurately and artistically has a very powerful advantage over all those who can not. this subject will also receive special attention elsewhere. general finish.--in all work on specimens, cultivate a delicate and artistic touch, and then leave its impress upon everything you do. do not leave a specimen looking as if a coal heaver had finished it. work at it, and keep on working at it until it is perfect; and then go back to it the next day, and work at it some more! there is no inferno too deep or too hot for a slovenly, slatternly taxidermist. the fault with such workers usually lies not so much in their lack of skill as in their lack of patience and the dogged stick-to-itiveness that conquers all difficulties, no matter whether they come singly, in platoons, or by divisions. delicacy is just as essential in the production of good work as originality and strength. chapter xv. mounting small mammals. in attempting to give the beginner a fair start in the general work of mounting small mammals of all sorts, from mice up to small foxes, i will describe in detail the entire process of mounting a typical specimen, which in this instance will be a squirrel. this will embody all the general principles involved, and after having laid this foundation we will proceed to consider exceptional cases, and describe the manner in which they must be met. the exceptional cases are bats, rabbits, young animals of the smaller species, and a few others. we will assume that the subject before us is either a "dry skin" which has been fully relaxed, scraped, and rendered perfectly pliable and elastic, or else "a fresh skin," _i.e._, one which has been preserved in our antiseptic solution (the salt-and-alum bath) or possibly in alcohol, and has therefore never been dried. for the sake of the beginner's courage, which should never be taken out of him at the very first onset by putting him on a dry skin of doubtful quality, we will take the skin of a fine, old, gray squirrel (_sciurus carolinensis_) which lies in the bath waiting to be immortalized--or something else. it may easily happen that for good and sufficient reasons the beginner has no salt-and-alum bath, and can not prepare one. in that event the skin can be mounted immediately after it is taken off the animal, only it is necessary to apply to it _after_ the arsenical soap, as directed hereafter, a copious quantity of powdered alum. if you have no arsenical soap, then as you proceed with the mounting moisten the inside of the skin with water, and rub on powdered alum and arsenic, mixed in equal parts, and be sure that the skin is everywhere coated with it eventually. this leaves the fur dry and clean, and will save you the trouble of drying and dressing it. on taking our squirrel skin from the bath to mount it we find its texture is firm, and it is somewhat shrunken in size, so that when it is filled out it will not stretch all out of proportion. if either in haste or carelessness you have left a layer of flesh upon the skin, pare it off until the inside of the skin is quite clean. if any holes have been cut by bullets or knives, sew then up from the inside with a strong linen thread and a no. 3 glover's needle--three-cornered. now for the wires. measure the leg bones from the sole of the foot to the end of the thigh-bone, add three inches for what the wire must project beyond the sole of the foot, five inches more at the other end, and cut a no. 15 annealed iron wire[8] of the length thus obtained, for each hind leg. the length of the wires for the forelegs is obtained in the same way. thus for our squirrel, the wires for the hind legs must be fourteen inches long, and for the forelegs twelve. cut another no. 15 wire twice the length from the back of the head to the root of the tail, and this will be the body wire eighteen inches long. the tail wire must be smaller, no. 17, long enough to reach from the tip of the tail to the centre of the body--seventeen inches. straighten all these wires carefully, lay them together on the table, and remember the purpose of each. if they are rusty, rub them with sand paper. file one end of the tail wire to a tapering point, for the tip of our squirrel's tail is very slender. we are now ready to make one of the legs, and will begin with one of the hind legs. take one of the two longest wires, pass one end of it through the slit in the skin at the bottom of the foot, let it project three inches beyond the sole of the foot, and up into the skin of the leg. now bend the wire until it fits closely along the under side of the leg bones as seen in the accompanying illustration. tie it firmly with linen thread to the bones of the foot, to the _tibia_ and the _femur_, as seen in the accompanying illustration. [illustration: fig. 25.--leg-making and wiring.] now take fine, clean tow, of good long fibre, and, beginning at the foot, proceed to wrap it around the leg bones, smoothly and evenly, to replace the muscles which have been cut away. the lower part of the leg is flat on the inside and round on the outside, almost bare of flesh at the ankle. remember always that the flesh on the "calf" of the leg, and the forearm, lies _behind_ the bones, swelling out toward the back and the inside of the limb, and in front the skin lies upon the bone itself. observe this, and build up the muscles accordingly. the thigh is broad and much flattened, rounded on the outside only, as you must have noticed when you skinned it and cut off the flesh, and the knee-pan is prominent. to make the leg this shape, first wind some tow around the thigh bone, then make up a little roll of tow a little larger than your forefinger, place it along the under side of the thigh and wind it fast there with tow. by a judicious continuation of this process, you can make the thigh of the proper width and flatness both above and below the bone. at no point is a squirrel's thigh more than three-fourths of an inch thick, and the calf, the arm, and the forearm are even less. by reference to the tracing made of the animal in the flesh, you will be able to tell the width of the legs at all points and correct your work all the way along. in all thin-haired animals the tendon of the heel must be made by drilling a hole through the end of the heel-bone, passing a small wire through for half its length, then twisting the wire together half-way up to the knee. wind a little fine tow around this wire, gradually increasing the quantity from the heel upward until the false tendon is complete, and the upper end is wound in with the tow which forms the lower part of the thigh. in small mammals which have long, thick hair, as our squirrel for example, it is not necessary to make the tendon, as it does not show. remember there is no flesh on the upper part of the foot-bones, but considerable underneath. it is not best to make the legs extremely hard, or they will be difficult to bend, but at the same time the tow must not be put on in a loose, slovenly manner. avoid making the legs too large; the opposite extreme is the lesser evil of the two. when the leg is finished, anoint the skin of that leg with arsenical soap, rub either a little wet clay or thick soap over the tow leg so that it will slip into the skin easily, then turn the skin up over it and adjust it from the foot up. if the leg does not fit, turn the skin back and alter its shape until it does fit perfectly. this done satisfactorily, insert a little clay or finely chopped tow in the bottom of the foot, bend the wire so that it leaves the foot _at a right angle_, sew up the cut, and you are ready to proceed in like manner with the three remaining legs. be sure to make both legs of each pair precisely alike if you wish to have a healthy-looking animal when finished. having made all the legs, the next thing is the tail. take some of your finest tow in your right hand, the tail wire in your left, begin at the pointed end, and by turning the wire constantly from left to right, let it wind up the tow which runs between your right thumb and finger. make the tail of a regular taper, perfectly smooth, and not too large. try it in the skin occasionally to insure accuracy. if the first one is a failure, discard it and make another. when at last you have what is required, anoint the inside of the tail skin with arsenical soap, slip the false tail into its place, and if the tail has been slit open, sew it up neatly all the way along, commencing at the tip. now punch a small hole in the back of the skull a little above the occipital opening, pass the end of the body wire through it, force the end through into the nasal cavity and on out at the end of the nose. let the end of the wire also pass through one of the nostrils of the skin for about two inches. now put some soft clay on the sides of the skull and jaw to replace the muscles which have been cut away, and fill the orbits with the same material. anoint the skin of the head and neck with the arsenical soap, turn it back over the skull, and when the skull is once more in its proper position in the skin, which can best be determined by noticing whether the eye opening comes over the centre of the orbit, drive a tack over each eye through the skin and into the bone. another tack at the top of the head will also do good service in holding the skull in its place while the grand struggle with the body is going on, for the head is the last thing finished. life is too short and space too valuable to allow me to explain fully why all these things must be done, but if you neglect any of these simple directions you will very soon find out why they were given. the legs and tail are wired and made, the skull is in its place, with one end of the body wire passing through it, and we are now ready to wire all the parts of the animal together. the skin lies on the clean table before us, right side out, with the legs in the same position as when we drew the outline. bend the inner ends of the foreleg wires back from the head of the humerus at an obtuse angle, and let them cross each other like the limbs of an x, as seen in the accompanying figure. at the point where they cross each other, turn a little ring in the body wire, six inches from the end, just large enough for the two wires to pass through easily. for this purpose you will find a pair of round-nosed pliers convenient. pass the end of each foreleg wire through the ring, and let them cross again, with the wire of the left leg underneath the other. [illustration: fig. 26.--wiring together.] now refer to your outline, measure the distance between the extremities of the toes, and it will tell you exactly how to adjust the leg wires so as to get the right distance between the two ends of the humeri, or, in other words, the shoulders. the wire between the head of the humerus and the ring represents the scapula, and, if rightly measured, will enable us later on to pose the forelegs with ease and success. now, with the round-nosed pliers in the left hand, grasp the three wires firmly at the ring, lay hold of the two leg wires with the flat-nosed pliers and give two complete turns to the right, twisting the wires together as tightly as possible. bend up the body wire to one of the leg wires, and, leaving out the other, give these two a couple of turns. take the other leg wire and body wire and give them a twist. if the legs are now _solidly_ together, it is enough, but if they are not, this twisting process must be continued until they are perfectly firm. no looseness, if you please. this done, straighten out the body wire once more, arrange the skin as before, according to your outlines, and you will soon see that the ring for the hind legs must be turned about five inches below the first one. the ends of the hind-leg wires are bent slightly forward (toward the head) from the ends of the femora, and also cross each other in the ring. after getting the hind legs the right distance apart, give the wires two turns as before, then bend the free end of the body wire straight up and over until it points toward the head. proceed with it precisely as with the other leg wires until the hind legs are immovably fixed on it. now give the free ends of the wires each a turn around the middle of the body wire and thus fasten all together, forming a backbone of twisted iron wire. the end of the tail wire must pass under the hind-leg wires (as the skin lies on its back), and after giving a turn or two around the wire backbone, tie it fast with strong twine. the tail must be as firmly fixed upon the body wire as though it was soldered there. this done, wrap a goodly quantity of tow tightly and smoothly around the wire backbone, so that the numerous ends of wire, and the irregularities in the mass of twisted wire, will not cause trouble when we come to fill the body. now that you no longer need to put your hands inside the skin, anoint it most thoroughly with the soap, from the back of the head to the base of the tail. while the skin is absorbing the soap, take a hatchet and chop up finely a quantity of coarse tow. with your longest forceps, cover the inside of the skin with a layer of cut tow, placing it between the wires and the skin. it is highly important to have a good thick cushion of it next to the skin at the shoulders, hips, and along the back. [illustration: fig. 26_a._--the legs wired together.] this is the time to give the animal the attitude it is to have when finished. all the members are now completely under control, and we can give the animal any pose we wish. bend up each leg at a right angle to its present position, making the bend abruptly at the head of each femur, and thus leave between them the same distance that separated them when they joined the pelvis in life. likewise bend up the foreleg, by making nearly a right angle in the leg wire at the head of each humerus, and leave the proper space between the shoulders. with the play that is given to the forelegs, by means of the distance left between the shoulder point and the ring, we are able to adjust the forelegs with the greatest freedom, to move each shoulder either up or down, and increase or lessen the distance between them at will. the most pert and characteristic attitude of a squirrel is sitting up on its haunches, either on the alert, eating something held in its paws, or, perhaps, washing its face with its paws. this attitude is rather difficult to get, but it is well worth trying for. bend each hind leg at the knee until the thigh touches the calf and rests upon it. bend the ankle-joint until the foot makes an acute angle with the calf. make a very decided curve in the backbone, so as to throw the body well forward between the knees, which must come nearly opposite the centre of the body. push the hind legs up into the body so that the squirrel can sit upon his tail. the elbows drop down until they almost touch the knees, which is partly accomplished by curving the back. just below the shoulders the backbone must be curved, to throw the head and shoulders up, and hold them well erect. give the head the pose you wish it to have, slightly turned to one side, let us say. the next step, a very important one, is filling the body. if you do not do it intelligently, your squirrel will need to find a grave in the ash barrel. the mechanical part of this filling process is exceedingly simple, and everything, or nearly everything, depends upon how much you know of the anatomy of the animal before you. this is a private matter between yourself and _nature_. your hand will nearly always be able to keep up with your eye if you give it a fair chance. with your long forceps, which work like a dextrous thumb and finger eight inches long, pick up the chopped tow, and little by little insert it in the skin where it is needed. first fill out above the backbone until you get the desired outline, in profile, of the back and shoulders from tail to head. then fill out the shoulders and form them properly. fill in the neck, first around the base of the skull, and sew up the neck skin from the end of the cut downward for about two inches, and without cutting off your thread insert more chopped tow in the neck and shoulders, packing it firmly, if you have the proportions right. do not allow the tow to roll up into wads and make the skin full of hills and hollows on the outside. the pressure of the tow on all points of the skin should be the same, and the filling must be packed firmly and evenly, so that the finished animal will keep its shape tenaciously in the struggle for existence, and not collapse at a firm touch. one secret of success in filling the body lies in gradually and equally filling out the _entire body_ to fair proportions before finishing any one part. give the animal its exact attitude, then proceed. if there is an apparent lack of skin at any particular point, attack that first, and fill it out. you will soon find how easy it is to draw skin from one part of the body to another by judicious filling. having finished the neck and shoulders, leave that part and go to the haunches. fill around the base of the tail, the hips, the upper part of the thighs, and the abdomen. be careful to make both sides alike. commence at the root of the tail and sew up the opening for about two inches, without catching the hair in your stitches, after which you may bore two small holes in a pine board, the proper distance apart, pass the two hind leg wires through, and set the little animal up. this is only a trial trip, and if you find the feet are not the proper distance apart (or the squirrel does not walk properly, if you have put him in a walking attitude), or does not sit properly, take him off the board and remedy the defects. when you have corrected his attitude, proceed with the filling, sewing up from both below and above, until the body is properly shaped, filled full of tow, and the opening entirely sewn up. now comb the tow out of the damp fur, and, if it is dirty, wash it with washing soda, soap and water until it is thoroughly clean. place the animal upon its board pedestal, and correct the attitude with the utmost care before you bend the wires up underneath the board and clinch them fast. if the specimen is even a moderate success thus far, we will go on with it. if the animal you are mounting is a tree-climber, and you wish to mount it upon a tree limb, select one for the purpose, and, according to your desire to have it nearly perpendicular, slanting, or horizontal, saw it off at the lower end, plant it firmly upon a rough board pedestal, and fasten it by putting two long, stout screws through the board and up into the base of the branch. put your specimen upon the branch as nearly in position as possible, mark the places where the holes should be bored, and bore them with a bit of the proper size. you can then run the ends of the leg wires through, draw the feet down closely, and clinch the wires on the opposite side. as soon as the little animal is firmly fixed on his temporary pedestal, or his branch, which must be permanent, we are ready to give the final touches to the body. we will, with thumb and finger, press in the shoulders if they are too high or wide, flatten the body by pressure if it is too round on the sides, and emphasize the undulating outline of the sides also by pressure. if there is a hollow spot where the surface should be smooth, thrust a sharp awl through the skin, catch some tow on the point of the awl, and, with a sharp lifting motion, pull the fibre up until it fills out the hollow. if there is a lump of tow under the skin, making an unsightly hump, thrust the point of the awl through into it, and spread it out underneath until the skin lies flat. it is often necessary to work all over the body of an animal with the awl in this way. we have now to finish the head. with the cutting pliers, cut off the end of the body wire close up to the skull, so that the end will be hidden. adjust the skin so that it fits naturally and easily on the skull and around the mouth, and see that the eyes come over the centre of the orbits. if the clay which was put upon the skull does not fill out the jaws and sides of the head quite naturally, push in a little chopped tow until the proper form is obtained. [illustration: fig. 27.--the finished specimen.] avoid getting one jaw fuller than the other; it is only boys and men who chew tobacco who have cheeks that are not bilaterally symmetrical. avoid getting one eye too far back, forward, up or down, but match the one that is correctly placed. fill in the end of the nose, the lips, and the chin with clay, fold the lips naturally and press them into place. if the skin around the mouth is not unnaturally drawn back, the lips will stay in place, and dry there without any fastening. if the skin is drawn too far back, the lips must be pinned in place until they dry. the advantage in using clay for filling out the head is that it enables you to press the skin down upon it and mould all the parts into their natural shape and size, without giving to the head that unnatural, puffed out, _stuffed_ appearance, which is almost unavoidable when tow only is used. introduce clay at the eye opening until the addition of the glass eye inside will make the organ sufficiently prominent. insert the glass eye edgewise through the opening, turn it in position and embed it in the clay. with a large needle, or your awl, adjust the eyelids upon the glass, and if the eye is not right, work it into its proper position. adjust both eyes alike, and, above all, see to it that they both look at the same point, be that point real or imaginary. the same amount of iris must show in each eye, and the position of the pupils must correspond exactly. do not make them unusually staring, as though about to burst from their sockets. it is the eye more than any other one feature that gives any animal, living or stuffed, its expression, and this is due entirely to the arrangement of the lid and brow. the eyeball has, in itself, no more power of varied expression than a glass marble; therefore the facial expression of a mounted animal is wholly under the control of the taxidermist, provided he takes the trouble to procure good glass eyes of the right size and quality. unless the ears of your specimen are very small and insignificant, it will be necessary to cut two pieces of thin card-board the shape of each ear, but larger, and after getting the ear in position, pin it between them, so that it will be held in a natural position and good shape until it dries. do not thrust the pins through the ear, but through the card-board around the edge. the last thing is to arrange the toes and feet naturally, and pin each toe in place until it dries. since our squirrel is to be holding a nut, we will cut off the foreleg wires, all but half an inch, and bring the paws close together at the proper elevation. we must now drill two small holes in opposite sides of a hickory nut, force the wires into them until the nut rests nicely in the paws, and there let it remain. if necessary, we will tie the toes in position around the nut until they are dry. it is a common fault with beginners in taxidermy to slight the toes of their specimens, both birds and mammals, and, as a result, all such specimens have a slovenly, tramp-like appearance. nature alone can tell you how to pose the tail to represent the state of the animal's feelings. try to look at your work with the eye of an artist, analyze it, and catalogue its faults, so that you will be sure to avoid them in the next specimen. if the hair needs no more washing, comb it out carefully at the last moment, and set your specimen on a shelf to dry, out of the dust if possible, and out of the sunshine, and watch it while it is drying to see that the head and feet dry in good shape. at the end of two weeks, or perhaps three, the little mammal will be dry and hard, and ready for the last touches. pull out all the pins which have been holding the toes, ears, lips, or eye corners in place, and if they leave any holes, fill them up with putty. i have not told you how to stuff a head with the mouth open, and model the soft parts in papier-maché and wax, because you will hardly want to try anything so difficult at present, and it involves processes which cannot be described within the limits of this chapter. when your mammal is quite dry, dress the fur with a fine comb and brush, and beat it with a small piece of whalebone or a little switch, to make it stand out from the skin, full and fluffy, as in life. this end must be accomplished, no matter how long it takes. procure some tube colors, oil and turpentine, equal parts, and a small sable brush, with which to tint the eyelids and the end of the nose their natural color. put a little varnish and turpentine, equal parts of each, on the toe-nails, and, in short, do everything you can that will give the specimen the look of a living animal. if it _looks stuffed_, put it in the darkest corner of your cabinet, and try another. the glass eyes must be cleaned with great care, and polished with a soft cotton rag until they glisten. at the last moment change the rough board pedestal for a permanent one, either of black walnut, polished, or ash, planed and sand-papered very smooth, and covered with two coats of shellac. if you have perched your squirrel on the top of a small stump, sawed off square at the bottom, or upon a large branch, with a section of the trunk serving as a base, of course no artificial base is necessary. artificial branches for mounted birds are bad enough, but for mammals they are altogether too bad, and should never be used. in conclusion, do not expect that your first mammal is going to be an overpowering success. do not take a cat for your first subject, for a cat is the most difficult of all small quadrupeds to mount successfully. a tough old squirrel is the best thing for you to wrestle with until you have learned the method thoroughly. exceptional cases.--there are certain classes of small mammals whose skins should not be put through the salt and alum bath, if possible to avoid it, for several reasons. these are the young of the smaller mammalia, especially such as rabbits, squirrels, and other familiar forms. it is by far the best plan to mount all such skins as soon as they are taken off, without wetting the hair, and using dry arsenic and alum, equal parts, to preserve and poison them. the bones of young animals become quite soft in the bath, and the hair is difficult to dress to look like life. the fur of a rabbit is the meanest fur in the world to comb out and dress to look fluffy and immaculate after it has once been wet with salt-and-alum water. mount them without wetting when you can, only _poison them well_ against moths. alcohol is far preferable to the bath for the skins of such species as the above, and, as our english cousins would say, is "not half bad." mounting bats.--having tried all known methods of mounting and displaying these pestiferous little subjects, i finally evolved an arrangement which i now conceitedly believe is the only satisfactory solution of the difficulties they present. my plan is to mount the bat without any wires, save in the legs of the larger species, and when finished lay it on its back on a smooth board, spread the wings, put pieces of pasteboard over the membrane until all is covered, and pin them down. of course the wings must be in perfect position. when the specimen is dry, apply some royal glue of the best quality to the back of each wing, and stick his batship permanently on a strip of thick plate glass, which has been prepared previously by being cut to the proper size, and ground on the edges. [illustration: fig. 28.--author's method of mounting bats on glass.] the accompanying cut (fig. 28) was drawn from a specimen as exhibited, omitting the label. the advantages of this arrangement are as follows: it shows the specimen perfectly on both sides; the wings do not warp and shrivel up; it is possible to repair breaks in the wing membrane, and the most delicate specimen is well protected. the strip of glass stands on edge in a deep groove which has been cut to fit it tightly in the top of a flat, narrow pedestal having the usual moulded edge. footnote: [8] if you can not procure annealed wire, take hard iron wire, heat it to redness, and as soon as it reaches that state remove it from the fire and allow it to cool slowly. chapter xvi. mounting large mammals.--ordinary methods. section 1. long-haired mammals of medium size.--_examples: wolves, certain dogs, large apes, baboons and monkeys; the smaller bears, hair seals, all long-haired quadrupeds from the size of the fox to the newfoundland dog; also, all old dry skins of mammals between the two sizes mentioned._ while it will be advised in section iii. of this subject to mount _short-haired_ skins of the above sizes upon clay-covered manikins, it is very often an impossibility to pursue this course with a dry skin, no matter what its pelage may be like. dry skins more than one year old are usually so shrunken, hard, and inelastic, that in circumference they are one or two sizes smaller than life, and it is very often impossible to stretch them sufficiently to make them fit over a manikin of the right size. the only way in which enough power can be brought to bear upon them to force them to stretch to their proper size in neck and body, is to fill them with straw, and ram it so hard that the skin is forced to stretch. even if you fill a shrunken body so full that it will stretch no more, if you keep it thoroughly moist, or even wet, in wet cloths, and return to the charge next day with more straw and muscle, you will find that the skin yields a good deal more, and perhaps reaches the right size without further protest. very often this is the only treatment that will save an old, dry skin from becoming a total loss. in all such cases _fill out the worst shrunken parts first_, to make sure of conquering them, and leave the less difficult portions to the last. the chief differences between the method described in the previous chapter for mounting small mammals, and that for the subjects included in this section are simply these: (1.) the larger animals require leg wires or irons that are too large to be bent at will and twisted together. (2.) where rods are used, a thread must be cut on the lower end of each to receive a nut under the pedestal, because leg rods can not be fastened in any other way. (3.) a stout wooden bar must be used in the body for the leg, head, and tail wires, or irons, to run through, and upon which all these can be stapled down firmly. (4.) for various reasons, it is best that all these animals should be filled with straw by the old process of stuffing. to mount a specimen belonging in this section, proceed precisely as directed in the previous chapter, with wiring and making each leg, _except_ where the specimen is so large that it requires rods for the legs instead of wires. it is only the larger and heavier animals of this section, viz., the wolves, large dogs, large kangaroos, anthropoid apes, and the like, that require rods instead of wires. for your foxes, baboons, and small kangaroos, you can use wires of the large sizes, of about the same proportionate length as for your squirrel. in getting out the rods for the legs of your large specimens, use norway iron, because it is toughest, and proceed as follows: decide upon the attitude of your specimen, then lay the bones of each leg in its intended position on the table, take a straight wire of large size (no. 9) and bend it to fit the back of the leg bones, precisely where you wish your rod to go. leave an end about two and one-half inches long, projecting _straight downward_ from the centre of the foot, to go through the pedestal and receive a nut underneath. cut a thread on this lower end, and fit a hexagonal nut. for the hind legs, let the upper end of each rod project beyond the upper end of the femur for a distance equal to about two-thirds the length of that bone. the irons to support the head should be two in number, and should be long enough to reach from the end of the nose to the centre of the body. the tail iron will be regulated by circumstances. the hand of an anthropoid ape.--it nearly always happens that every skin of a large gorilla, chimpanzee, or orang utan is totally destitute of bones. now the hand of such an animal is a very important feature. do not attempt to make it with wires and tow alone, for if you do, the fingers will be semicircles, resembling the half of an over-brown doughnut. each joint must show _an angle_, and each finger be _flat_ on the inside. the accompanying cut (fig. 29) shows how to make the hand of an anthropoid ape so that it shall be as natural as life. the wooden bones give the proper angles at the joints, and the tow-wrapped wire underneath gives the finger its proper breadth. when all is ready, cover each finger manikin with clay, _make the palm hollow and flat_, and let the end of the iron rod come out in the centre of the palm. this method gives a hand that is beyond criticism. for hand and foot studies of apes and monkeys, see "the standard natural history," vol. v., page 512. [illustration: fig. 29.--artificial skeleton for hand of an orang utan.] the following animals, when of adult size, require leg supports of the following sizes: large foxes, no. 8 wire; olive baboon, no. 5 or 6; small kangaroo, no. 4 to 6; wolverine, no. 6; coyote, 1/4 inch rod; setter dog, 1/4 inch; peccary, 1/4 inch; great ant-eater, 1/4 inch; gray wolf, 5/16 inch; giant kangaroo, 3/8 inch for hind legs; harp seal, 3/8 inch. having made the legs complete, lay the skin upon its back, with the legs spread out, make the irons or wires cross each other as shown in the accompanying figure (plate vi.), and then hew out a piece of tough wood of the general shape and proportion as that shown in the cut. let this be as small as practicable to avoid splitting when the irons are stapled down upon it. round off the corners and the ends, so that you can easily work all around this wooden backbone, when filling the animal. now lay this piece of wood in the skin, upon the crossed leg irons, mark the points at which the irons need to pass through it, and bore holes accordingly, _slanting_ each hole through the stick, for good reasons. the next step is to pass the irons through these holes (by bending them a little, and straightening them afterward) and when all are through, adjust the legs so that there is plenty of loose skin in the body, both in length and breadth. remember that the stick is to be in the centre of the body, not the top. when the adjustment is complete, bend the end of each iron sharply down upon the stick, and staple it down with the utmost firmness. next pass one of your neck irons through the skull from back to front, boring a hole at the back for the purpose, so as to make the end of the iron pass out at the nasal cavity. replace the missing flesh of the skull with tow or excelsior, bound down with thread, cover all with clay, poison the inside of the head and neck skin with arsenical soap, insert the skull in the head, and fasten the lower end of each neck iron firmly upon the centre stick. the tail must now be made, but it is wise to fasten the tail iron so that it can be made to slip out or in, until it is known precisely how long it shall be, and then the end may be fastened securely with staples. now bend up the legs into position, and give the animal its attitude. procure your pedestal, or limb of a tree, and place the animal in attitude upon it; mark where the iron supports are to pass through, bore the necessary holes, and see if the animal will stand just as you wish it to. if not, work at its legs, and bore new holes until it does; then take it off, poison the inside of the skin liberally with strong arsenical soap, and proceed to stuff it with straw, or chopped tow, or excelsior if you prefer that, but i never do. for my own use i prefer soft straw, chopped fine. fill the neck first, using your wooden filler, then the body. if the body threatens to be too small, fill that first. before going far, fill out the hind-quarters properly. work on the body _all over at the same time_, and do not finish one-half of the animal before you have touched the other half, for this course would get you into endless trouble. [illustration: plate vi. interior mechanism of a half-mounted wolf.] having filled the body full, and shaped it the best you can, and sewn it up at all points save two,--a hole between the forelegs and one under the tail,--now put it in final position on its pedestal, and fasten it there. having done this and surveyed the scene, you will observe that the form of the animal is very faulty, and the skin not nearly full enough. something more must be done. unless the specimen is a seal, or something else with short, close hair, part the hair carefully and make a long, perpendicular slit in the skin behind each foreleg and in each flank, as shown in plate iii., i-i, and k-k. through these openings you can introduce your metal filling tools, and also filling materials _ad libitum_, and give the interior a complete overhauling. you can easily push your iron filler through the straw, and raise the line of the back, shoulders, or hind-quarters, and lower the line of the breast and abdomen until both are right. then, fill with more straw, or tow, if you like now. through these holes you command the entire body of the animal at every point, and now you must work out your own salvation. when all is finished and the body is quite full and solid, sew up the openings carefully, and unite the hair over them so that they will be hidden. if you are careless in filling, and pull out a lot of hair around each of the openings, so much the worse for you. for full instructions in regard to work on heads, see a special chapter. [illustration] [illustration: fig. 30.--fillers of various kinds, one-sixth actual size. _a_, filler of hard wood, 3 ft. long (another should be 2 ft. long); _b_, filler of steel, 5/16 inch x 3 ft. for long reaches in large mammals; _c_, filler of iron, 3/8 inch x 2-1/2 ft., for heavy work (another should be 18 in. long); _d_, filler of brass, or galvanized iron wire, no. 5, for light work (another should be still smaller, for very fine work).] _cutting out pieces of skin._--it not infrequently happens that in mounting an old skin it will be found to have been unduly stretched in drying, and in spite of one's best efforts there will be too much skin in a flank, or behind a shoulder, or that the body itself will be entirely too large. in such cases, when the animal is clothed with hair which can be made to hide the seams, it is necessary and permissible to cut a long slit in the skin where the looseness occurs, and cut out a strip so that when the edges are brought together the wrinkle no longer exists. usually such cuts are made in the shape of a triangle running out to a very fine point, so that when the incision is sewn up the entire adjacent surface will be quite smooth. when a taxidermist has a fresh skin, or one which has been but recently prepared dry, it is very seldom that any skin-cutting is necessary. with a good elastic skin there are ways of working away from any part a superabundance of skin, or forcing the skin on parts adjacent to the wrinkles to contract sufficiently to cause their disappearance. on close-haired animals, wrinkles must be worked away, which can in a majority of cases be accomplished by hard, persevering work with the filler. with long-haired animals which have no stripes or spots, and on which the hair can be made to hide all seams, it is best to cut out triangular strips of skin. in the latter case it saves much time and hard labor. it certainly gives a better specimen, and if such tricks leave no visible trace upon the animal, where is the harm? i care not if a skin be slit in twenty places so long as the cuts are tightly sewn up, _and are invisible to the eye of the observer_. bird skins must never be cut in this way, for to the ornithologist who diligently studies every specimen, the presence of every feather and every bare spot naturally belonging to the bird is of importance. do not forget this caution, unless you wish to call down upon your head the just wrath of the ornithologist. neither is it possible to do any skin-cutting upon reptiles, for there is no natural covering to hide seams, and to cut out any scales is to mutilate a specimen. section ii. mounting long-haired mammals of large size, for which the manikin is unnecessary.--_examples: musk ox, bears (except large polars and grizzlies), yak, bactrian camel in winter coat, llamas and their allies; also old, dry shins generally, which require forcible stretching._ while the manikin process is the one _par excellence_ for the great majority of large quadrupeds, it is also, until you get perfectly familiar with it, the longest. there are various large animals whose long, thick, and matted hair so completely hides the surface of the wearer that a shorter method of mounting can be followed with very satisfactory results. this is simply stuffing with straw in the same manner as described in detail in the previous section, with but one exception--the manner of attaching the leg irons to the central beam of the body. the leg irons are cut and fitted to the leg bones precisely as shown in plate vii. but the legs are made with the skin attached at the foot, the skin is drawn over, fitted and sewn up, and each leg is completely finished while the skin lies in a heap upon the table. for a large animal this takes some time, and as fast as the legs are finished each must be carefully wrapped up in ice blankets that have been wet in salt-and-alum water, and kept soft until all are done. oil the threads on the rods, to keep them from rusting. the next step is to procure the centre board, which should be about one-third as wide, from top to bottom as the depth of the animal's body. in the illustration showing the manikin of a tiger (plate vii.) the body board is wider than is desirable for the same animal were the body to be filled with straw. if the board is too wide, it is impossible to get around it with the fillers, and work through the specimen from one side to the other. to put the members of the body together, lay the skin upon the floor on its back, in the same general shape as shown in plate vi. put the body board in place and mark the points where the ends of the leg irons strike it. now for the iron squares. the old and antiquated way to fasten leg irons to a centre board consisted in leaving a long end projecting, bending it like the letter u, and stapling it to the board. that was always a poor way, and in the light of a perfect arrangement it now seems poorer than ever. when mr. john martens came over from hamburg to work as a mammal taxidermist in professor h.a. ward's great natural science establishment, at rochester, n.y., the most valuable luggage he brought with him was the idea of the iron square for attaching leg irons to a centre board. for that particular purpose it would be hard to devise a more perfect arrangement, and i shall be at some pains to describe it. it requires four irons to fasten the legs to the centre board, one for each leg, and to make a set for an animal the size of a large mountain sheep ram, proceed as follows: procure four pieces of flat bar iron, 1/4 of an inch thick, 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 inch wide, and 9 inches long. at a point 3-1/2 inches from one end, bend each iron at a perfect right angle, which, of course, can only be done by heating it. now heat the short arm red hot, clamp the end of it in a vise, and make a twist of exactly a quarter of a turn in the short arm, as close up to the angle as you can. this will make the end of the short arm stand out in a horizontal plane against the side of the body board. at the end of the short arm, with its centre exactly 3 inches from the inner face of the long arm, drill or punch a hole of the right size to receive the threaded end of the leg iron, but no larger. (for our _ovis montana_ ram it should be half an inch in diameter.) file off the sharp corners of this end. [illustration: fig. 31.--an iron square.] at a point about 1-1/4 inch from the inner angle of the square, and in the long arm, drill a hole about 7/16 or 1/2 an inch in diameter, for a stout bolt to pass through. between that and the end of the long arm, drill (or punch) two screw-holes, and countersink them. that is all there is to the making of the square, and the accompanying cut (fig. 31) accurately represents it. each pair of squares is put on with a single square-headed bolt, the length of which varies according to the thickness of the body board. for our mountain ram, the bolts should be 3/8 of an inch in diameter, and about 2-1/2 inches long. it is useless and unnecessary for me to attempt to describe the different sizes of squares necessary for animals of various sizes, for circumstances must be the instructor in that. i will remark, however, that for a large bison or moose, where the finished specimen will weigh perhaps 600 or 700 pounds, and the strain on the irons is very considerable, i have found it necessary to make squares of flat iron 3/8 or 7/16 of an inch thick by 1-3/4 inch wide. _caution.--do not make, the short, or outer arm, too long._ if too long, and the hole once drilled, you will hardly be able to make it shorter; but if too short, it can easily be made longer by putting a piece of board between the long arm of the square and the body board. the length of the outer arm of the squares for the hind legs is gauged by the width of the pelvis. the measurement to be taken is the distance between the centres of the two femora when both are in their natural positions in the skeleton, and with this distance once ascertained it is easy to deduct the thickness of the centre board, and calculate how long each outer arm shall be. the distance between the heads of the two humeri is practically the same as the distance between the femora. in making the hind leg, the iron should be no longer at the upper end than the end of the femur, and once this is determined the upper end of the femur must be cut off with a saw, to give room for the squares and two nuts. the end of the iron for the front leg may project three inches or so above the head of the humerus, and be bent slightly backward; to point upward in the same direction as the scapula. remember that at first the squares of the two pairs are set on exactly opposite each other, by means of the single bolt for each pair. insert the upper end of each leg iron, screw the upper nut down firmly, then lift the half-made animal and stand it on its legs. being free to move, the legs are very shaky, and you proceed at once to put them in position. you now adjust the legs according to your original design, bore holes in the rough pedestal for the lower ends of the rods to pass through, and shift and change the different members, now here, now there, until you are satisfied that the leg's are in precisely the right attitudes. if the leg that is stepping out in front is too short, run up the two nuts at the square, and thus make the leg an inch or two longer. those that are too long are easily shortened by shifting their nuts lower down. you have such absolute control over the legs that you can shift and change them just as much as you please, and that very easily. if the whole animal is coupled too short or too long, it is but five minutes' work to take out a bolt, bore another hole, and shift the forelegs farther forward or back. when everything is perfectly to your liking, tighten up every nut to its very tightest, and insert screws through the screw-holes that have been provided in the long arm of each square. each leg is now a fixture. the great beauty of this method, which appears to its greatest perfection in the construction of a manikin, lies in the fact that you have, from first to last, the most perfect control over the different parts of the entire animal. when you discover as you proceed that something is wrong, it is an easy matter to change it, provided the skin has not been put on the manikin. in putting together an animal with the legs in the skin, you are necessarily troubled somewhat by the skin of the body, which hinders the turning of your wrench, etc.; but all such difficulties exist only to be overcome. put the neck irons through the skull, and fasten the inner end of each to the body board, as shown in the tiger manikin, or in any other solid way you prefer. as to the tail, ditto, and when the attitude is perfect, and all parts fastened together, then, and not until then, anoint the inside of the skin with arsenical soap, all that it will hold, and give it time to be absorbed. put the head in position by bending the neck irons, place the feet in position, and tighten the nuts under the pedestal. now turn the animal upside down, put a rope under each end of the pedestal, and hang the whole affair up to the ceiling, or to a beam, by means of the ropes, so that it will swing clear of the floor. next sew up the skin of the abdomen and breast, and proceed to fill the neck, shoulders, and hind-quarters with soft straw. oat straw is the best, if you can get it. if you can procure no soft straw, then have a boy take your wheat straw, bunch by bunch, and with a mallet pound it upon a block to crush it and make it soft. in filling the animal, the first thing to do is to fill it out at all points, loosely at first, to get the general proportions. the skin should not touch your iron squares or the body board at any point, for if it does, something is wrong. at first you will work with your large wooden fillers, but as the straw gets packed, and the wooden tool will not go through it, take your iron fillers. no matter how hard straw may be packed, with a burrowing, twisting motion you can force that wedge-pointed instrument through the straw so as to reach any point that needs more filling out. be careful about the line of the back, and keep it exactly in place, along the centre of the body, and always at the highest point. do not let the back line of a feline animal, especially a tiger or a leopard, get down upon one side, as will be sure to happen if you are not watchful. when the outline of the back is fixed, then fill out the breast and abdomen, and get the lower line of the body just as it should be. as you proceed with all this, keep sewing up the skin from time to time until only two holes remain, one at the breast and one between the hind legs well back. now take the animal down, stand it upon the floor, cut slits in the sides, as directed in the previous section, and through them finish the filling and shaping of the body. all this takes work, hard work, intelligent work, and a great deal of it. make the body hard and firm, and as smooth on the outside as nature does. to secure smoothness, and to lower the unnatural knobs that are sure to appear, beat the animal from time to time with a flat club. when all is done, fill in the last bit of straw at the various holes, sew them up strongly but neatly with stout linen twine, or "gilling thread," well waxed, and dress the fur. this will be treated elsewhere in a separate section, as also will the treatment of the head. chapter xvii. mounting large mammals: the construction of manikins. section iii. short-haired or hairless mammals, and others of great size.--_examples: lion, tiger, zebra, horse, giraffe, bison and buffalo, camel, all deer and antelopes; elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, tapir, etc._ of the numerous processes described in this work there are two which i must mention as being distinctively and particularly my own. one is the general use of clay as a filling material, and the other is the evolution and development of the clay-covered manikin, on the principles now to be described and illustrated. already this method of mounting quadrupeds has been quite generally adopted by the new school of american taxidermists, and i think it is destined to fill our museums with more perfect mounted mammals than the rest of the world can show. i have always willingly taught the advantages of the clay-covered manikin, and the various processes involved in its construction, to every enterprising taxidermist who desired to learn it, and it was my intention to have published a full description of it years ago. now it comes as a sort of "farewell performance," and "positively the last appearance." among taxidermists, the term _manikin_ is applied to the made up figure of an animal over which a skin is to be adjusted, and made to counterfeit the actual form and size of a living animal. while it is well adapted to the successful treatment of mammals, reptiles, and fishes in general, it is impossible to employ it in mounting bird skins unless they are very badly torn, and require to be put together a piece at a time, or else are of the very largest size. the worst torn and mutilated bird skin can be put together on a manikin with perfect success, provided the skin is all present. speaking from my own experience, i must say that my clay-covered manikin process seems to possess important and undisputed advantages over all other methods i have ever seen employed or described for the mounting of not only the most difficult mammalian subjects, but also reptiles of many kinds, and fishes. by it the most perfect results attainable by the taxidermic art are not only possible, but may be achieved without even a risk of failure save through lack of anatomical knowledge. nearly all the mechanical difficulties which beset the other methods are eliminated, and the result becomes chiefly a question of knowledge and artistic sense. by this method, i have successfully mounted such mammals as the following: elephant,[9] american bison, polar bear, zebra, tiger, puma, elephant seal, hairless mexican dog, etc. the last-named specimen was in competition against the elephant in a competitive exhibition, and i learned afterward from the judges that it came near wresting the grand prize from its lordly competitor. this fact is mentioned to show that the process was equally successful in the treatment of a thick-hided elephant and a small dog with a skin as thin as writing-paper, and utterly destitute of hair. a plaster cast of the unskinned body of the dog was exhibited with the mounted specimen, to enable the observer to judge of the success of the process. the unchallenged superiority of the clay-covered manikin process is due to the following reasons: 1. the absolute control the operator is able to exercise over the form of his subject from first to last, without prejudice to the safety of the skin to be mounted. 2. the possibility of working out anatomical details which it is useless to attempt by other methods. 3. the absolute permanency of the form produced. 4. the ability of the operator to place his subjects in attitudes so difficult that by ordinary methods they would be unattainable. 5. the most perfect preservation of the skin and its covering from damage by excessive handling, beating, and wetting. 6. the absolute perfection of form and attitude which is attainable by this method only. until you have fully learned the principles of manikin-making, do not attempt to mount by this process a skin that has come to you with no measurements nor leg bones. choose for your first attempt a good-sized dog or sheep, or some quadruped of similar size which you have _in the flesh_, and from which you can take a full series of outlines, measurements, casts, etc. i can probably teach you as well as any living man how to proceed when you have no measurements whatever, and will give you a few hints presently; but now i say, you _must_ have your first subject in the flesh. it is then within your power to secure to yourself all possible advantages in what you are about to do. it is desirable to take the usual measurements before the skin is removed, but by all means make another series of the skinned body and limbs. in skinning, disjoint the leg bones at the carpal joint,[10] which leaves only the bones of the foot attached to the skin. when the skin is put on for the last time, this joint must be re-articulated with two wires. when the skin is out of the way, you can take the length of the body from the back part of the thigh to the point of the shoulder; the distance between elbow and knee, from the elbow to the top of the shoulder; the circumference and diameter of the body, neck, and limbs, at various points; the depth of the body, etc. you can also measure from the highest point of the head of the femur to a similar point on the humerus, and when the hind legs have been cut off, you can easily determine the proper length for your iron squares by measuring between the two hip sockets (_os inominata_). observe, now, if you never did before, that the front edges of the tibia and the ulna have no flesh whatever upon them, nor has the angle of the elbow, the knee-cap, nor the front of the metacarpal bones. save the bones of each leg complete, and without any farther disjointing; but, of course, the flesh must be carefully trimmed and scraped away. save the skull, of course, and it will be a great help if you will hastily "rough out" the bones of the entire body and save them for reference until the manikin is complete. the pelvis and the thorax will help you greatly by and by. we will now assume that we are ready to proceed with the manikin, which we will follow out by successive steps. [illustration: plate vii. manikin for tiger.--first stage.] 1. the first thing to do is to cut a deep groove in the bones of the heel, close alongside the base of the calcaneum, also in the bones of the foot at the joints, and in the head of the humerus from the back, so that the iron can fit in snugly, and not create a great, awkward, rounded hump at each of those joints. in a hoofed animal, the centre of the hoof must be cut out so that the iron can pass through it quite out of sight where it enters the pedestal. the lower joints of the foreleg must be channelled out in the same way. study the shape of each joint and you will then see precisely what is needed. in cutting out these grooves, i use a saw for certain bones, and gouges and stone-mason's chisels for others, according to circumstances. remember that between the tendon of achilles and the lower end of the tibia there is always a deep _hollow_, where the skin of the two sides actually comes together. keep your leg iron out of that hollow at all hazards,--and this can be done only by sinking the iron into the tibia. 2. if you have an outline of the animal's body, lay it upon the floor, and draw a straight line to represent the top of your pedestal. if you have no sketches, then you must draw an outline in chalk upon the floor, choosing a certain crack as the line of the pedestal. now lay down the skeleton of each leg in its own place, in the position the leg is to have in the finished animal. measure the height of the missing bones of the foot, and leave a space accordingly above the top of your assumed pedestal. it is highly important these leg bones should each have the right attitude. 3. take four straight no. 6 wires, and with the first leg laid out carefully in position, bend the wire to fit the back of the leg bones very exactly, cut it off the right length, and so make an exact pattern for the leg rod. remember to allow for its going through a good thick pedestal, and having about two inches to spare underneath for a nut and washer. the rod for the foreleg may project above the upper end of the humerus one-third to one-half the length of that bone, but the rod for the hind leg must not be the least bit longer than the upper end of the femur. remember also to bury the iron well in the centre of the lowest joint of the leg and the foot, so that it will not be seen when the animal is finished. in order to show the bends that are necessary in the leg irons of a ruminant, i have taken the trouble to photograph and reproduce herewith (fig. 32) the identical leg irons which now support the huge bull buffalo in the national museum group, the manikin of which is also shown in this chapter. before bending, the irons for the forelegs were each 4 feet 1/2 inch in length, and those for the hind legs were 4 feet 6-1/2 inches; diameter, 5/8 inch. [illustration: fig. 32.--leg irons of an american bison.] 4. having made your four patterns exact in length and bend, cut four leg irons to match, from round rods of norway iron, or best american, if norway cannot be procured. i can give you no fixed rule by which to determine the size that leg irons should be, but i can at least mention the sizes i use in certain animals: adult moose, male or female, and giraffe, 3/4 inch. bull bison, cow bison, horse, 5/8 inch. male caribou, black-tail deer, and large mountain sheep, 1/2 inch. male virginia deer, antelope, tiger, 7/16 inch. all these sizes, except the two largest, can be bent cold in a strong vise. 5. having bent the irons to match the patterns, and to fit the bones also, cut a long thread on each end of each rod, and fit two large hexagonal nuts on each end so that they turn readily, but not loosely. 6. with soft but strong twine, or annealed wire, bind each leg iron firmly to the leg bones from top to bottom. you may now take a saw and cut off the upper third of the femur. 7. during the course of the foregoing work, you have had a blacksmith at work making your four iron squares (see previous chapter) according to a hoop-iron pattern furnished by you, and now they are ready to use in attaching the leg irons. 8. now comes the question of a centre board for the body. if the animal is a dog, a small deer or antelope, a tiger, or _anything so small that you can reach around its body with your arms_, make the body board as narrow as you please, or as wide as the entire depth of the animal's body, if you choose. i think it better to make it similar in proportions to that shown in the accompanying illustration (plate vii.) of the first stage of a tiger manikin, in order that with a long needle one can sew through the body from side to side. it is well, for the same reason, to cut a hole in the board, as shown, at a point opposite the iliac region. i mounted this tiger with a decided curve in the middle of his body, which obliged me to cut the centre board in two, and unite the two parts again at an angle by means of two bent pieces of iron screwed on either side. in most animals, however, this is unnecessary. the centre board need not be over 7/8 of an inch in thickness in any save very large animals, when it is best to have it 1-1/2 inch, or nearly that. it is best to use dry white pine, because it is light and works easily. 9. lay the body board on your chalk outline, lay the iron legs in position, put the squares down and mark the place where the bolt for each pair should pass through. bore the holes, bolt on the squares quite firmly (but leave the screws out as yet), then insert the leg rods, and tighten the nuts. set the legs on as nearly right as possible while the skeleton form lies on the floor, then stand it up, put it on a rough pedestal, and see how it looks. now comes the crucial test of your knowledge and artistic sense. a number of things are wrong, and the shaky skeleton of the manikin "don't look right." what is the matter? is one of the front legs bent forward at the carpal joint? then straighten it. is the animal coupled too short? then move one pair of legs a trifle on the centre board, to increase the length of the body. do not the legs walk naturally? then make them. are the forelegs, and hind legs also, too close together? then your squares are too short, and they must be lengthened by placing a bit of board under each one, as seen under the hind-leg square of the tiger manikin. you will probably need to shift the feet on the pedestal also, by boring new holes. you can make any leg longer or shorter, make the stride shorter or longer, and, in fact, make any change that your eye, or your picture or cast tells you is necessary. the vital necessity is that your eye must be so trained and educated that it detects a fault instantly, no matter how slight, and sees what is required to remedy it. the eye of a successful taxidermist must be educated just as thoroughly as the hand of a pianist. for a large animal, it is, for me, several hours' work to attach the legs to the body board, and make the changes necessary to bring everything into perfect position. the last thing is to take the cleaned skin out of the bath, throw it over the skeleton manikin, and see how it fits. if, when it is adjusted, the feet do not touch the pedestal, you know that the manikin is too high, and you must either cut down the top of the centre board with a draw-shave, or else lower it by attaching the squares nearer the top. in this trial the feet should stand loosely upon the floor. having got everything finally adjusted, put the screws in the squares, tighten up all nuts, and put a washer under each nut that strikes the pedestal, both above and below, and make all secure. there must be no looseness, or the manikin will lean over immediately. the centre board should stand exactly perpendicular. test it with a plumb-line, and see if it does so. is the manikin now so secure that you can sit upon it without racking it? if not, it should be. to test the manikin for my big buffalo, shown in this chapter, i climbed upon it, and stood with my full weight, first on the outer end of one iron square, then on another, and to test the strength of the neck irons i put a large anvil on the top of the skull without making the slightest permanent impression on the irons. 10. it is unnecessary to speak further of the irons for the head and tail, and their attachment. see figures. 11. next comes the making of the legs. the lower joints, where there is scarcely any flesh, had best be made of clean, long-fibre tow. where the thick muscles lie, bunch up some tow, put it where the muscle was, and bind on with thread or twine. continue this process until this muscle has been built up to its proper size, and wrapped at all points until it is smooth, firm, and properly shaped. higher up, where the muscles are thicker and lie in larger masses, use excelsior in precisely the same way. little by little, but with much excelsior and twine, the muscles are gradually built up. leave the bones bare at the points where nature does. the hind leg must have its tendon of achilles before it can be finished. to make this, drill a hole through the end of the calcaneum, or heel bone; pass a long wire through for half its length, twist the two halves tightly together until they will reach half-way up the thigh, then wrap tow around the twisted wire from the heel bone up, making the tendon larger as you proceed. presently you are ready to merge it into the flesh of the leg so that its upper end disappears. to give form to a leg, and bring out the prominent muscles, take a very long needle and a very long piece of twine, and sew through and through the leg on certain lines, putting on pressure to produce certain depressions that exist between the larger muscles. to give detailed directions on this point would oblige me to go into the subject of musculation at great and tiresome length, and since this is not a work on anatomy, i will not attempt a dissertation on the form of each genera of the mammalia. the illustrations of the tiger and bison manikins show the form of the external muscles of _felis tigris_ and _bison americanus_, and what is possible in a manikin. making the body of a manikin.--the centre board of a large mammal, like the bison, moose, and all such animals, should accurately represent a section through the centre of the body from top to bottom. in the absence of measurements and living models, the closest approximation to the desired form is obtained by laying the skin upon the floor, hair inside, and folding it loosely upon itself so as to get what looks like the general shape of the animal, and then taking the outline thus obtained. a very large manikin may be made hollow in the manner represented in the accompanying plate (plate ix.), which is self-explanatory. this is often desirable to avoid making the figure too heavy, as would be the case were the entire bulk to be made a solid mass of excelsior. for the smaller buffaloes, i made the bodies of excelsior alone. each side was built up separately by driving a row of nails along the top of the centre board, and another along the bottom to carry the twine over in binding on the layers of excelsior. at the last, these nails were driven home. during all this process the skin has been tried on the manikin from time to time, to make sure that the structure is of the right size in every respect. beginners nearly always make a manikin too large, especially in circumference. it is the commonest trick in the world for legs and necks to be made so large they have to be reduced. if a skin does not fit when it is tried on, the manikin is generally to blame, though sometimes the skin is badly shrunken, and requires to be further thinned down to make it more elastic. it is easy enough to make a manikin larger or higher, especially on the hind quarters, even while the skin is being put on for the last time; but woe to him whose manikin is _too large_ at the last moment. that means serious delay. when the manikin is finished at every point, shear it all over with a large pair of shears to clip off the ends of the wisps of excelsior, and then poison the skin thoroughly on the inside with arsenical soap, and on the outside with arsenic water, if the hair be long. while the poison is being absorbed, mix up enough clay to cover the entire animal with a coat an eighth or a quarter of an inch thick, and smear it on with the hand. have it soft and pasty, so that it will rub into the excelsior, and catch hold of it. if the clay is too stiff, it will neither spread nor stick. [illustration: plate viii. manikin for tiger.--completed.] when the manikin has been fully covered with clay from end of nose to tip of tail, not a single inch of surface having been missed, you then have a complete clay statue of the animal, except the feet. now put the skin over and adjust it carefully. leave no air-bubbles under it. catch it together between the fore legs, hind legs, under the belly, the throat and neck, and around the legs, and make it fit everywhere. then begin at the feet and sew it up with short, strong stitches in the manner already described, shaping and filling out wherever necessary, as you go. on a large mammal it is very desirable for two persons to work at the same time, to keep the skin from drying up prematurely. of course, the skin must be kept wrapped up in wet cloths until finished. finish all the legs first, and then the body. you can actually model the skin down upon the body, and it will not only take the exact form of the manikin--every depression and every elevation--but it will also _keep_ it. if there is too much skin on one side of the animal, work it together with your hand, and coax it to shrink until the superfluous skin is distributed over the animal, and finally disappears. once, when mounting the skin of a burchell's zebra in a peculiar attitude (at bay), i found that, owing to its elasticity, there was a superabundance of about ten inches of skin in front of the left hind leg, which was placed very far forward, under the body. but for the saving grace of a clay-covered manikin i should have been in a fix. as it was, i started in half-way up the neck, to work together and stow away the surplus skin from that point backward, and by the time i reached the seat of the difficulty (at the flank) the surplus skin was all taken up, and the side of the animal was as smooth and immaculate as if nothing had happened. there is supreme pleasure in crowning a well-made manikin with a handsome skin, and seeing a specimen take on perfect form and permanent beauty as if by magic. it is then that you begin to be proud of your work; and finally you revel in it. you say to yourself, "_this_ is art!"--and so it is,--but let your work speak for itself. the head is the last thing to be finished, and this feature of the work will be treated in detail in another chapter. footnotes: [9] this specimen received the silver specialty medal awarded "for the best piece in entire exhibition," at the new york exhibition of the society of american taxidermists, in 1883. [10] at the _hoof_ in the case of all hoofed animals. chapter xviii. finishing mounted mammals. drying and shrinking.--after the actual mounting of a mammal is finished, the specimen should be put aside in a separate room, away from the dust, and allowed to stand for from three or four weeks to three or four months, according to its size. it must have time to dry thoroughly, and shrink as much as it will. every specimen is bound to shrink in drying, and it is better for this to occur before it leaves the workroom, and before the finishing touches are put on, rather than after it goes on exhibition, and is practically beyond your reach. in shrinking, all the seams open, more or less; the eyelids draw away a trifle from the glass eye; usually the lips open somewhat; and in ruminants the inner skin of the ear often draws straight across the inside. cleaning up a specimen.--in finishing a specimen, the first thing is to dig the clay and tow out of all open seams, cracks, and small holes, preparatory to filling them with papier-maché. with the sharp point of a pointed bone-scraper, dig out the clay, or whatever filling material is in sight, very thoroughly, so as to give the papier-maché a chance to enter deeply and catch firmly underneath the edges of the skin. with a stiff brush, brush out the seams and openings, so that no clay-dust remains, for there is nothing so good as clay-dust to prevent papier-maché from sticking to a skin. it is often well to use a bellows in getting dirt out of holes and seams. beat the dust out of the hair, or blow it out with the hand bellows, or brush it out, or wash it out if necessary, any way to get it out. if the hair has been poisoned with arsenic water, do as little to it as possible in getting out the accumulated dust, for too vigorous treatment will bring out the arsenic with the dust, and send it into your lungs. if, however, the hair has not yet been poisoned, as soon as the cleaning is finished lay the animal upon its back, or on its side, and pour into the hair, so that it will run immediately down to the roots, a solution of alcohol, water, and corrosive sublimate made as follows: if you wish to make four gallons of the solution, take two gallons of ninety-five per cent alcohol, dissolve in it all the corrosive sublimate it will take up, making what chemists call a "saturated solution." in this there will always be a little of the sublimate left on the bottom of the jar. this is, of course, too strong to use thus, under any circumstances. carefully pour off the clear liquid so as to leave the sediment remaining in the jar, and then dilute the former with an equal quantity of water, which thus yields the desired four gallons. it is most effectually applied by pouring it from a small watering-pot, with the sprinkler off the spout, into the hair, so that it will fill it and cover the skin without being wasted. the corrosive sublimate is deposited at the roots of the hair, and also on the hair, in quantity sufficient to prevent the ravages of insects, but not to be injurious to the health of the taxidermist. strong arsenic water may be used for this purpose, instead of the other solution, if preferred. in case the solution used should leave a gray deposit on the hair, it should be sponged off with a little warm water. papier-maché.--_how to make and use it._--every taxidermist must know how to make good papier-maché before his education can be considered complete. this material is absolutely indispensable in taxidermic work, and its composition should be thoroughly understood. it is used in filling up holes, seams, and cracks, in modeling the mouth parts of specimens that have been mounted with the mouth open, in restoring missing parts of various specimens, in modeling bones to go in "restored" skeletons, etc. it is also of great value in modeling groundwork to be made in imitation of rock or wood. there is really no good substitute for this material. when properly made it sticks tightly to its place, is easily modeled, can be crowded into the smallest crack, dries quickly when exposed to the air, is hard and smooth when dry, takes paint readily, and yet when kept wrapped in a wet cloth under an inverted bowl can be kept soft for several days. there are several ways of making papier-maché, according to the use to which it is to be put. i have taken pains to prepare an exact formula for making the finest and best quality, and from that the worker will undoubtedly be able to work out variations in quality, according to his needs. the most important ingredient is the paper pulp. the finest pulp for papier-maché is that made by the ton in the bureau of engraving and printing in washington, from mutilated paper currency, but not from tobacco stamps, which is coarse and not fit for fine work. a hundred pounds of this pulp would cost, in washington, about $1.50, and could be made into sheets of small bulk, and dried for use as needed. it is a great advantage to have it in this form. when needed for use, take a dry sheet or ball of the right size, dissolve and beat it up into a thin mush in a bowl of water, until the particles are all well separated, then pour it on a sieve to run the water out without losing the pulp. the water is then squeezed out of it by gentle pressure with the hand, but it should not, by any means, be squeezed as dry as possible, for the water is an important factor. pulp prepared thus can be stirred up with glue into a perfectly homogeneous paste, free from all lumps, and so fine it can be pressed into the smallest crack. if you have no manufactured pulp, then you must make it yourself. procure a lot of old newspapers, of as soft paper as possible, tear them to bits, put the pieces in a kettle of boiling water and beat the mass in any way you please, boiling it meanwhile, until it becomes paper pulp. it should be free from lumps and small pieces of paper, or it will not work well. the following are the ingredients necessary to make a lump of papier-maché a little larger than an ordinary base-ball, and weighing 17 ounces. fine papier-maché. { dry paper, 1 ounce } wet paper pulp, { } 4 ounces (avoirdupois). { water, 3 ounces } dry plaster paris, 8 ounces " hot glue, 1/2 gill, or 4-1/2 tablespoonfuls. [illustration: plate ix. manikin for male american bison.--half completed.] while the paper pulp is being prepared, melt some best irish glue in the gluepot, and make it of the same thickness and general consistency as that used by cabinet-makers. measure the different ingredients to be used, until the result teaches you what good papier-maché is like, and after that you can be guided by your judgment as you proceed. on taking the paper pulp from the water, give it a gentle squeeze, but by no means squeeze it as dry as you can. now put it in a bowl, put over it about three tablespoonfuls of your hot glue, and stir the mass up into a soft and very sticky paste. next add your plaster paris, and mix it thoroughly. by the time you have used about three ounces of the plaster, the mass is so dry and thick you can hardly work it. now add the remainder of your glue, work it up again until it becomes sticky once more, then add the remainder of your plaster. squeeze it vigorously through your fingers to thoroughly mix the mass, and work it until it is free from lumps, is finely kneaded, and is sticky enough to stick fast to the surface of a planed board when you rub a bit on it by firm pressure of the finger. if it is too dry to stick fast, add a few drops of either glue or water, it makes little difference which, and work it up again. when the paper pulp is poor, and the maché is inclined to be lumpy, lay the mass upon a smooth board, take a hammer and pound it hard to grind it up fine. if the papier-maché is not sticky enough to stick fast to whatever a bit of it is rubbed upon, it is a failure, and requires more glue. in using it the mass should be kept in a lump, and used as soon as possible after it is made. keep the surface of the lump moist by means of a wet cloth laid over it, for if you do not, the surface will dry rapidly. if you wish to keep it overnight, or longer, wrap it up in several thicknesses of wet cotton cloth, and put it under an inverted bowl. if it should by accident or delay become a trifle too stiff to work well, add a few drops of water to the mass, pound it with the hammer, and work it over again. if you wish to keep a lump for a week, to use daily, add a few drops of glycerine when you make it, so that it will dry more slowly. the papier-maché made when the above formula was prepared had the following qualities: when tested by rubbing between the thumb and finger, it was sticky and covered the thumb with a thin coating. (had it left the thumb clean, it would have been because it contained too much water.) when rubbed upon a pane of glass, it stuck tightly and dried hard in three hours, without cracking, and could only be removed with a knife. when spread in a layer, as thin as writing-paper, it dried in half an hour. a mass actually used dried hard enough to coat with wax in eighteen hours, and, without cracking, became as hard as wood; yet a similar quantity wrapped in a wet cloth and placed under an inverted bowl kept soft and fit for use for an entire week. such are the qualities of first-class papier-maché, and the manner of producing them all. i have dwelt at great length on this material because it is such an important and indispensable factor in general taxidermic work. it will pay any taxidermist to become an expert in making it and using it, and a little later, when we get to modeling intricate mouth parts, and making all sorts of restorations and repairs, we shall see what a valuable servant is papier-maché. "machéing" mounted mammals.--surely it is unnecessary for me to devote much space to directing how to fill up with papier-maché the holes, seams, and cracks in a mounted mammal. of course all cavities opened by shrinkage or accident must be filled up. use a sharp-pointed knife, press the fine and soft maché deeply into every opening, make it catch _underneath_ the skin, so that when dry it cannot flake off, or be knocked off; and smooth it on the outside to the level of the skin. use the maché liberally, and it will be more certain always to remain as you leave it. fill up rough seams until they are smooth, so that the hair can be glued on if necessary. wherever dry clay shows, dig it out and replace with the other more durable material, which can be painted, whereas dry clay can not. putty.--in the days of my youth i was taught by my european teachers to use putty for all such work as that described above; but i very soon became disgusted with it, and years ago ceased to use it for any purpose whatever. it is greasy, inert, and yet purely temporary stuff. it never gets really hard unless used in a great mass, and when used in small quantities for fine work it is utterly worthless. do not use it unless you are so situated that you are positively unable to make papier-maché--and i cannot imagine any such situation as being possible within the pale of civilization. painting on papier-maché.--of course this material dries white, and must be painted. if paint is put directly upon it, the oil and color is absorbed at once, and it takes many coats to properly fill it up. to save time and give the best results, first give your papier-maché work two coats of shellac, which dries in a few minutes and fills up all the pores, so that your paint will stay as you put it on. use oil colors, but put them on with turpentine to avoid the unnatural gloss that oil will give. in another chapter (xxvi.) will be found detailed hints in regard to painting mounted specimens. gluing hair upon mammals.--it is very seldom that a dry skin is mounted without there being upon it some spot or spots destitute of hair, which must be repaired. sometimes it is only a small spot, sometimes it is nearly the entire head, or an entire leg from which the epidermis has come loose, carrying the hair with it, and leaving an unsightly bare spot. it requires a good deal of ingenuity, much skill, and tireless patience to glue hair upon an animal so that it will so closely resemble the natural growth that no one will notice the difference. but in every case, except some of the seals and sea-lions, this can be accomplished, if it be necessary, although very often it requires good judgment and the hand of an artist to do it. each mammal has its own peculiarities in regard to the quality, thickness, length, and general set of its hair, all of which must be carefully studied. when the hair grows long and thickly, the task is much easier than if it be thin or short. 1st. procure a pair of very small curve-pointed forceps, so fine they will hold a single hair if necessary. (price, 75 cents.) 2d. procure a pair of small and sharp scissors, with sharp points. 3d. procure a bottle of common fish-glue, or royal glue. 4th. if possible, procure a piece of useless skin, from which to cut the hair necessary to use in making the repairs. very often it is impossible to procure any pieces of skin with hair suitable for the purpose, and then the only way is to cut hair from the specimen which is to be repaired, picking out with the forceps a tiny bunch here and there in such a way that the bunches cut out will not show. this can nearly always be done in making slight repairs upon thick-haired animals, such as bears, wolves, monkeys, etc. but with such short-haired animals as the tiger, zebra, and giraffe, the hair must be procured elsewhere. use the hair of any animal to repair the coat of another, so long as it will answer perfectly, no matter what the genus or species may be. use tow, or jute, painted or dyed the proper color, if it is sufficiently like the hair which will surround it. in order to treat this subject intelligibly, we will undertake to separate all terrestrial mammals into three classes, as follows: 1st. _animals with very close, short hair; as the tiger, zebra, horse, and giraffe._ upon such animals as the above, the hair lies almost flat upon the skin, completely covering it with a very smooth, glossy coat. to repair hair upon such animals, procure pieces of skin having hair of the requisite quality, and soak them in clear water until decomposition sets in, and the hair easily comes out _by the roots_. the hair must not be cut off, or it will not answer. be sure that your fish-glue is good and strong, and about as thick as castor-oil. clean the bare surface of the skin by scraping it with a knife to remove all dirt, and give the glue a chance to take hold. with your small forceps, pull from the pieces of half-macerated skin a small bunch of hair of the proper tint, and with a small camel's-hair brush apply a drop of glue to the roots of the hair. begin at the side of the bare spot where the hair grows directly away from it, and lay down your little bunch of hairs so that their tips shall fairly cover the roots of those nearest the edge. then press down the bunch of hair thus placed in position, work the hairs slightly apart, and make them lie quite flat upon the skin. follow up this process with untiring patience, and the result will be entirely satisfactory. i have seen large patches of hair glued upon a tiger so successfully that when finished the sharpest eye could not detect the repaired spots. but it was very slow work, requiring an hour's steady work to cover a spot of not quite two square inches. 2d. _animals with thick, long hair; as most monkeys, bears, wolves, all the ruminants of cold climates, etc._ [illustration: plate x. manikin for american bison.--completed.] in repairing the coats of such as the above, the necessary hair may be cut off in bunches, either from the animal itself, or from old pieces of skin, so long as the hair is of the proper length. notice carefully the set of the hair, and imitate it very exactly. the glue may be applied quite plentifully to the roots of each bunch of hairs while you hold it in your forceps, and usually quite a large bunch may be set on at a time, and afterward spread out a little. in repairing the mountain sheep (_ovis montana_) and prong-horn antelope (_antilocapra americana_), the point of vital importance is to get every hair to set in precisely the right direction, so that the surface will be smooth. if the hair is put on carelessly, and without due observance of the above caution, upon the repaired spot it will stick stiffly out like the bristles of a shoe-brush, and the imperfection of the coat will be painfully apparent. 3d. _animals with long hair growing very thinly; as upon certain portions of orang utans, chimpanzees, and all members of the hog family._ upon the animals indicated above, it will be found that the hair grows in little bunches of three or four hairs in a bunch, but so thinly distributed that the skin shows through quite distinctly. furthermore, in such cases the hairs stand out from the skin, and their _roots_ are plainly visible. successfully to repair such a skin is very slow, tedious work, and cannot be done by a man whose time is very valuable. a boy working for small wages is the best means to employ, but he must be watched closely. procure the hair necessary for making the repairs. then with a sharp awl, or coarse needle, prick the skin full of holes to correspond in number and distribution with the arrangement of the tiny hair bunches upon the skin surrounding the spot. prick the little holes rather deeply and slanting in the right direction. then take a bunch of three or four hairs in your smallest forceps, dip the end in the fish-glue, and keeping the hairs well together, set the bunch into one of the little holes. see that the hairs stand out in the right direction, and proceed in this way until the bare spot is covered. chapter xix. mounting mammal heads as trophies and ornaments. sportsmen, if you really must kill all the large mammalia from off the face of the earth, do at least preserve the heads that are brought low by your skill and prowess. now that our elk, moose, deer, caribou, antelope, mountain sheep, and mountain goat are all disappearing so rapidly, and nearly all these species are doomed to speedy extermination, head collecting has become quite the fashion. there are in this country probably two score of taxidermists who live by heads alone; and many hunters who once lived by buffalo robes and beaver pelts now make a business of hunting for heads to sell. i know many such, and their scale of prices for heads, according to size and "points," shows that they have got the business "down fine." and why should not heads be collected and made much of, as well as pelts and meat? a naturally handsome mammal head which has been skilfully mounted is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. wearied with the survey of inane and meaningless pictures, stiff portraits, cheap statuettes, and tawdry fancy decorations, the eye rests gladly and gratefully upon a fine head on a handsome shield, hanging in a good light, and blesses the hand that placed it there. such an ornament calls forth endless admiration and query, even from those who know no other chase than that of the mighty dollar, and who, alas! have never found out by experience that "there is a pleasure in the pathless woods." and therefore i say, if you must go and kill things, save their heads and mount them as an atonement for your deeds of blood. they will give pleasure to you and your friends long after you have hung up your rifle forever. i have gathered numerous curiosities and works of art in foreign lands, but they do not excite one-half the admiration that is called forth by the series of really fine heads of buffalo, deer, mountain sheep, elk, antelope, and mountain goat of which i am the fortunate possessor. inasmuch as this chapter is intended chiefly for the benefit of sportsmen and amateur taxidermists, we must begin at the beginning, and treat the subject in somewhat full detail. we will consider that we have a deer as our subject. many a fine deer head is spoiled forever by being cut off too close behind the ears. with such animals as the lion, tiger, leopard, puma, and bear, a long neck is not desirable unless the head is to be mounted in a glass case, looking out of a thicket; and neither is it best for a buffalo head to have a long neck. it may be set down as a safe rule, however, that the heads of all deer, antelopes, sheep, goats, and the like, should have moderately long necks. having experimented fully with necks of all lengths, i find that the most satisfactory to competent critics, and therefore the handsomest, are those which strike a happy medium, such as the antelope head shown in plate xi. to secure this length, the head should be cut off well back toward the shoulders, so as to leave a little surplus to be trimmed off when the head is mounted. _to skin and preserve a deer head_, proceed as follows: 1. start at the back of the neck (on top) just in front of the shoulders, or "withers," keep the point of the knife under the skin, with the edge up, and divide the skin in a circle all the way around the neck, keeping down to the point where the neck sets on the shoulders. you need not cut through the flesh and bone of the neck at that point. 2. never slit the skin open along the under side of the throat. cut it open in a straight line along the back of the neck, all the way along, up to a point midway between the ears. from that point run two cuts like the arms of a y, one to the base of each antler or horn, as seen in fig. 7. run the point of the knife close around the base of each antler, and cut through the skin all the way. 3. begin at the back of the neck, and skin downward on each side until the entire neck is free. as you proceed you will presently come to the ear, which stands up like a tree-trunk covered with bark. cut the ear off close to the skull, leave it for the present just as it is, and go right on down toward the cheeks and throat, as far as you can go. 4. begin next at the angle of the =y=, on the top of the head, and skin down between the antlers and over the forehead until you reach the eye. now proceed carefully. in many ruminants there is a deep cavity in the bone directly in front of the anterior corner of the eye, called an "eye-pit." the skin lines this eye-pit quite down to the bottom. do not cut through the skin, but get down to the very bottom of the eye-pit, and detach the skin from the bone. 5. be careful not to cut the corners of the eye, or the edge of the eyelid. keep close to the bony orbit, and insert the end of one finger in the eye from the outside, to cut against when you sever the thin membrane that surrounds the eyeball. 6. the nostrils must be cut through so far back from the end of the nose that the cut will not be visible in the open nostril when viewed from in front. the cartilaginous septum that divides the nostrils like a partition wall must be split in two, edgewise, from inside, clear down to the very tip of the nose, so that all the flesh can be cut away. many a fine head is spoiled by having the flesh left in the end of the nose. it seems all right for a short time, but when it dries, it shrinks and shrivels up, and the nose not only loses all character and beauty, but becomes an eyesore. 7. the lips must be cut from the jaw close to the bone, and afterward slit open along the inside, laid out flat, and the flesh pared off carefully with a sharp knife. leave one-half to three-quarters of an inch of the inner skin of the lip all the way around, so that the form of the lip can be presently reproduced by replacing the flesh with clay. 8. a deer's ear consists of a big, leaf-shaped piece of cartilage, thick at the base and centre, very thin at the edges and the upper end, and rolled together on itself at the base to form a half cone, like a funnel with one side partly cut away. over this sheet of cartilage is stretched the skin, with no flesh whatever between the two. this cartilage can be completely skinned out and replaced with a leaden imitation. it must be skinned out; for if it is not done, the hair will probably all slip off the ear; but, even supposing that it does not, an equally bad thing happens. when the head is mounted and dry, the ears will begin to shrink and shrivel up like a pair of dry autumn leaves, and the beauty of the head is gone forever! in skinning out the ear cartilage, a sharp scalpel of large size, or a cartilage-knife, is the best instrument, and it should be held in the fingers precisely as one holds a pen in writing. a good, keen pocket-knife is plenty good enough for all emergencies. [illustration: fig. 33.--skinning a deer's ear.] begin at the fleshy base of the ear, detach the skin from the cartilage by cutting, and by pulling and pushing the two apart with the thumb and fingers (fig. 33). of course you must stop at the edge of the cartilage, and be very careful not to cut through the skin there. keep right on up the back of the ear, gradually turning the ear wrong side out, until you reach the tip (fig. 34). the ear is now wrong side out, and the skin is detached from the back of the cartilage, but still adheres on the inside. now begin at the tip, where the cartilage is thinnest (fig. 35), peel it up, and by the same process as before gradually work the inside skin loose without cutting _through_ the skin at any point, until it is free quite down to the base of the ear, so far within that when the skin is cut straight across and turned right side out again, the point of detachment cannot be seen (fig. 36). [illustration: fig. 34.--the ear half-skinned.] it is likely that the beginner will find this a difficult operation, for it really is so until one has done at least one pair of ears. after that, with a fresh specimen, the process is simple and easy. save the ear cartilage in your salt-and-alum bath, for you will need it presently as a model in making a leaden imitation to take its place. [illustration: fig. 35.--skinning down the inside.] [illustration: fig. 36.--the cartilage out.] 9. the skin is now off. to preserve it in the field, first pare away the flesh that may have been left adhering to it, especially at the lips and end of the nose, and wash it clean. if you have arsenical soap, anoint it thoroughly over the inside, then literally smother it in salt. you need not dry the skin if you have plenty of salt for it. if you have but a limited quantity, attend to the poisoning to keep off insects, then rub on as much salt as you have to spare, hang the skin up in a shady place over a pole, open it out widely so that the air will circulate freely upon all parts of it, and let it dry. in a dry climate a skin can be dried in this way and successfully preserved (_temporarily_) even when you have neither poison nor preservative of any kind to put on it; but it must be watched and guarded with jealous care until you get it safely home, or in the hands of a taxidermist, to prevent its being eaten up by insects, rats, or dogs. in moist climates, ground alum is to be used in lieu of salt, and all skins must be dried unless you have a salt-and-alum bath for them. in preserving heads, the sportsman will find that ten pounds of salt, or in the tropics ten pounds of alum, will go a long ways, if care is taken to keep a skin open until it is nearly dry. never, save as a last resort, dry a skin in the sun, and never hang one up by the nose. _the skull._--of course the skull must always be cleaned and saved, as directed elsewhere. _paring down the skin_, preparatory to mounting. see chapter xiii. the work of mounting.--we will suppose that the head skin has been fully cured or relaxed in the salt-and-alum bath, pared down quite thin with draw-shave and knife, the holes have been neatly sewn up, and the ear cartilages skinned out. we will also suppose that the skull has been cleaned with the knife in the first place, and afterward boiled and scraped to remove the last vestiges of animal matter. if the skin and skull have been thus attended to, the mounted head will be clean enough and free enough from all animal odors, when dry, to go into my lady's boudoir, or into the dining-room of the white house. there are almost as many different methods of mounting mammal heads as there are taxidermists, but i shall describe only my own. i have tried various other methods than that to be described, but without satisfactory results, and i offer this as being at once the simplest and easiest for the amateur, as well as the professional worker, and above all, the one by which the finest results are obtainable. the operator retains full control of the shape of the specimen almost up to the last moment, which i consider a _sine qua non_ in any method. the method should be your servant, not your master. judging from the extent to which this method has been adopted among the taxidermists of this country since i first described it in a paper read before the society of american taxidermists, in new york, in 1883, it may be considered to possess some merit. 1. we have before us the clean skull. procure about two pounds of plaster paris, and a piece of board an inch or an inch and a half thick, three or four inches wide, and about two feet long. this is to be the neck standard. with the hatchet round off the corners of one end. then, with a saw and cold chisel, cut a long, narrow hole in the base of the skull, so that the end of the neck standard can pass through it into the brain cavity, and strike against the top of the skull (fig. 37). the opening should be cut lengthwise with the skull, and only just large enough to receive the end of the board comfortably. in case it is desired to have the head turned to one side, looking to the right or left, the neck standard must be fitted into the skull accordingly. an iron rod may be used instead of a wooden standard, if the operator finds it more convenient. [illustration: fig. 37.--internal mechanism of a deer head.] 2. now place the skull upside down on the table, with the forehead on a level with the table-top, and proceed to set one end of the neck standard in the skull. this is done as follows: into about a quart of water, placed in a basin or large bowl, sprinkle the plaster paris, a handful at a time, until the water is filled with it and will take up no more. then stir it thoroughly with a spoon, and after placing the end of the neck standard in the skull cavity in a _perpendicular_ position, pour the plaster around the end of it, filling the brain cavity, and piling it up on the base of the skull in a copious mass, so that when it hardens the board will be immovably fixed. the plaster should also fill around the articulations of the lower jaw, to make that also a fixture in its place. the neck standard should be set _at a right angle_ with the axis of the skull. this may seem strange to you at first, but you will presently see that the angle is correct. while the plaster is hardening, which it will do in about twenty minutes, you must leave the head undisturbed and busy yourself with giving the final touches to the skin, or to the preparation of some clay and tow for future use. [illustration: fig. 38.--complete manikin for deer head, without clay covering.] 3. when the plaster has fully set, you are ready to decide upon the length of neck to be shown, and the general pose of the head. having decided upon the former, which is a matter of taste, you can have an assistant hold the side of the neck standard up against the side of a door-post in about the pose you wish it to have, while you stand off and survey it at a distance, and change the elevation until it suits you. then, mark where the neck standard is to be sawn off, and also the precise angle, and saw it off. having done this, have the head held up against the wall as it will be when mounted, and see that the elevation of the nose is right. if it is too high or too low, saw off the end of the neck standard at a different angle, and be sure that the attitude is right before proceeding farther. 4. the next step is to cut a board to fit into the lower end of the neck. its approximate circumference can be determined by measuring the width and depth of the neck the proper distance down. the shape of the board must be about like that shown in fig. 37--a broad oval, broadest at the top, or else an ellipse. bevel off the upper and lower ends on opposite sides to match the outline of the neck, and then screw it firmly to the lower end of the neck standard. it may be necessary to alter the shape of the neck-board a little later on, which is easily done. 5. now take some excelsior, or straw, or fine, soft hay, and build up a false neck of the proper shape and size to fit the skin by placing the material around the neck standard and winding it down with cotton twine (fig. 38). it is a very pleasing task to form a neck by this easy process, and impart to it the graceful curves, the taper, and flatness near the head so characteristic of the deer. you can show the windpipe and gullet by sewing through the neck from side to side, and forming a hollow from the corner of the jaw down the side of the neck, as shown in the figure. you now have the form of the neck wholly under your control, and your eye and hand will be held accountable for the result. be careful to make the neck _much smaller_ than it is to be when the skin is on. the thick coat of hair makes a vast difference in the size, and adds perhaps half an inch, or more, all around. if you are mounting an old skin that has for years been in a dry state and requires much powerful stretching to bring it out to its proper size, you will be compelled to stuff the neck with straw in the old way, so as to put great pressure upon it from within, and stretch the skin by sheer force. of course you will lose many of the fine points, but very often a skin is so hard and refractory that it can be mounted in no other way. in working by this method the neck is stuffed from the lower end, and the neck-board fitted and screwed into place afterward. 6. make the neck smooth by winding; make it symmetrical and true to nature, and try the skin on it occasionally to test the proportions of your manikin. there is to be no "stuffing" of the neck after the skin is once on, therefore the manikin must be made correctly. 7. when the neck is at last finished, work up about half a pailful of potters' clay until it forms a soft, sticky paste, and cover the neck with a coat of it about an eighth of an inch thick, to insure absolute smoothness. 8. put a proper quantity of clay on each side of the skull to form the animal's cheeks, and enough upon the back of the skull, forehead, and muzzle to replace the flesh and skin that has been cut away. on no account attempt to stuff a fresh head with tow, or any fibrous material, for it is a practical impossibility to keep it from becoming too large. instead of clay you might possibly use papier-maché, putty, or plaster paris, if you prefer either; but clay has many and great advantages over all other materials. plaster paris acts too quickly to be of much real use, putty is greasy and inert, and papier-maché dries too slowly when underneath a skin. 9. before putting the skin in place, sew up whatever rents there may be in it, and replace the cartilage of the ear with thin sheet lead, or sheet tin, cut the proper shape and trimmed down thin at the edges. rub a little clay on the metal to enable the skin to stick to it. sheet lead can be purchased at about 10 cents per pound at almost any large plumbing establishment. the finest material, however, and which i have used for years, is pure sheet tin, which the national museum procures of the john j. cooke co., mulberry street, new york, at 26 cents per pound. it is thin, easily cut and shaped, and just stiff enough to work perfectly in imitating the shape of an ear cartilage. good, firm, card-board can be used for the ears instead of lead, when you can not get either of the sheet metals. 10. anoint the skin copiously with arsenical soap, give it time to absorb the poison, then put it in place on the skull and neck, and adjust it carefully. fasten the lips together at the end of the muzzle by taking a stitch in each and tying the thread. see that the eyes come exactly over the orbits, and then put two or three tacks through the skin of the forehead, into the skull, to hold it in place. sew the skin tightly together around the base of the antlers, and sew up both arms of the =y=. 11. sometimes the skin of the neck is so much stretched that to fill it out would make the neck, when finished, entirely too large. in such cases, with a clay-covered manikin, it is possible to make a fresh skin contract mechanically by crowding it together in minute wrinkles in order to make an undue fulness disappear. 12. before sewing up the skin along the back of the neck, (which must be done with very strong _linen_ "gilling thread," well waxed to keep it from rotting) put enough clay at the base of each ear and on the back of the skull to properly form those parts. observe that in a live deer the base of the ear is quite close up to _the burr of the antler_, and it also has a peculiar shape, which should be studied and faithfully reproduced, but can hardly be described. 13. if the manikin is of the right size and shape, you are now ready to sew up the skin; nail it fast with small brads around the lower edge of the neck-board, and trim the surplus off neatly and evenly. screw the head upon a rough shield or piece of board, so that it will stand alone on your table while you are working at the face. 14. unless you have carefully studied a deer's head in the flesh, or have a cast to work by, you can not reasonably expect to be able to make the head precisely as it should be. fifteen minutes of close and studious examination and note-taking of a head in the flesh will do for you what my poor pen could not hope to accomplish with ten pages of written matter. 15. there yet remains that part of the work which requires the most artistic treatment. in finishing the face, the first thing is to shape the cheeks, which is quickly done provided they are filled with precisely the proper quantity of clay. by trial you will find whether more clay must be put in, or some taken out. after the cheeks, form the eyebrow, fill the orbit with clay, and with a small wire nail fasten the skin down in that deep pit which is found in front of the anterior corner of the eye. press the skin down upon the muzzle, fill in the lips with clay, and fold them as they were before skinning. before bringing the lips together, fill out the nose, the chin, and corners of the mouth--but _not too full_, however. that done satisfactorily, bring the lips together as they were in life. no wiring or sewing is necessary, nor even pinning. it is to be supposed that you have kept the skin of the lower jaw pulled well forward into place, and if so, the lips will go together easily and stay there for all time to come. in modeling the end of the nose and the nostrils, _give the latter good depth_. make the opening so deep that no one can ever see the bottom of it. no little fault disgusts me more than to see the nostrils of a deer, buffalo, or elk all plastered up with putty, as if the animal had never drawn a breath. make your animal look as if it were _breathing_, rather than standing up with rods in its legs, and its hide full of rubbish. [illustration: plate xi. head of prong-horn antelope. mounted by the author.] 16. the eyes come next. arrange the lids carefully over the clay, which nearly fills the orbit, then insert the glass eye, (which in every ruminant should have an elongated pupil and white corners), and work it into its exact position. do not have too much clay behind it, or it will have a bulging, overfed, or choked-to-death expression. do not let it protrude until it could be knocked off the head with a bean-pole, or lassoed with a grape-vine. keep the eye well down in the orbit, and the front corner well sunken. an animal's expression depends upon the eye more than any other one thing, and the expression of the eye is dependent upon the disposition of the eyelid and the line of sight. a good glass eye has just as much power of varied expression as has a living, naked eyeball--which is _no power whatever_--unless it be the eyeball of an angry cat. 17. see that both eyes look at the same point, in front, about eight feet distant; that precisely the same amount of iris shows in each, in short, that both are exactly alike in every respect. a deer should have a mild, but wide-awake--not staring--expression, and the attitude should not be unpleasantly strained, either in the curve of the neck or the carriage of the head. avoid the common error of making a deer's head too "proud." no goose-necks or goitre on your deer, if you please. having finished the eyes and fashioned the nostrils, cut some pieces of pasteboard, bend them to the right shape, and either sew or pin them upon the ears to hold them in precisely the right attitude until they dry. if the ears have lead in them they will support themselves. lastly, wash the head thoroughly to get all the dirt and clay out of the hair, and comb it until it lays naturally. now hang the head up in a dry room and leave it for a month, if possible, two weeks at all hazards. when quite dry and shrunken, brush it well, and rub around the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears with a tooth-brush to remove the last remaining suggestions of clay. (see chapter on "finishing mounted mammals."). paint the end of the nose and edges of the eyelids with vandyke brown and black, using oil colors. the hairless parts of the lips are entirely concealed, consequently there is no painting to be done around the mouth unless the shrinkage has slightly parted the lips. if this has occurred put some black paint in the crack. by all means mount a handsome head upon a rich and handsome shield. tastes differ widely, but for my part i dislike a thin, light shield, and one not nicely finished is also an eyesore. the wood should be of a color that will harmonize best with the color of the head upon it. the finest shields are made of cherry ebonized, or red-wood, black walnut, oak, mahogany, or maple, and highly polished. the best shape for a shield is such as that seen behind the caribou head in plate xvi. chapter xx. facial expression and mouth modeling. we have now reached one of the most interesting features of all taxidermic work. there is no royal road to success in this direction, nor aught else that leads thither save hard study, hard work, and an artistic sense of the eternal fitness of things. the large _felidæ_ (tiger, lion, leopard, etc.) are the finest subjects for the taxidermist that the whole animal kingdom can produce. they offer the finest opportunities for the development of muscular anatomy, and the expression of the various higher passions. the best that i can do with the space at my disposal for this subject is to offer the reader a few hints on how to produce certain expressions, illustrated by an accurate drawing from one of my mounted specimens. in the first place, _strive to catch the spirit of your subject_. it frequently happens that the attitude desired for a feline or other carnivorous animal is one expressive of anger, rage, or defiance. for a single specimen, the most striking attitude possible is that of a beast at bay. unless a carnivorous animal is to be represented in the act of seizing something, the mouth should not be opened very wide. it is a common fault with taxidermists to open the jaws of such an animal too widely, so that the effect striven for is lost, and the animal seems to be yawning prodigiously, instead of snarling. open the jaws a moderate distance, indicating a readiness to open wider without an instant's warning. the thick, fleshy part of the upper lip is lifted up to clear the teeth for action, and the mustached portion is bunched up until it shows two or three curving wrinkles, with the middle of the curve upward. this crowds the nostril opening together, and changes its shape very materially. in most carnivora, but most strikingly so in bears, the end of the lower lip falls away slightly from the lower incisors. in old lions and tigers the face wrinkles pretty much all over, especially across the nose and under the eyes. in all the _felidæ_ the opening of the eye changes most strikingly. when angry, the eye of a ruminant animal opens its widest, and shows portions of the eyeball that are never seen otherwise. in the carnivora, the reverse is the case. as if to protect the eye from being clawed or bitten, the upper eyelid is drawn well down over the ball, as seen in plate i. (frontispiece), and the eyebrows are bunched up and drawn near together until the scowl becomes frightful. the decks are further cleared for action in the disposition of the ears. instead of leaving them up ready to be bitten off, they are "unshipped," and laid back as far as possible, close down upon the neck, and out of harm's way. the tongue also pulls itself together, contracts in the middle, curves up at the edges, and makes ready to retire farther back between the jaws at the instant of seizure. all this time the body is not by any means standing idly and peacefully at ease. the attitude must match the expression of the face, or the tragedy becomes a farce. the body must stand firmly on its legs, alert, ready either to attack or defend, head turned, body slightly bent, or slightly crouching, and, unless the animal is _walking_, with the tail switching nervously from side to side. if the animal is walking forward, the tail should be held still and in the same vertical plane as the body. the finest attitude for a large carnivore is one which represents it at bay, and awaiting attack. a cat is an animal of a thousand attitudes. very many of them, if reproduced exactly in a mounted specimen, would look very uncouth and devoid of beauty; therefore, choose those which are at once characteristic and pleasing to the eye. modeling an open mouth.--in mounting a feline animal with mouth open and teeth showing, beware what you do, or you will make the animal laughing instead of snarling. this is often done! in fact, in my younger days i did it once myself--but without any extra charge. in modeling an open mouth, first fill the inside of the lips with clay, and also back them up underneath with clay until the lips, when fixed in position, have the expression desired. the inner edge of the hairless portion of the lower lip should fit up close against the jaw bone, and perhaps be tacked down upon it temporarily. very often it is necessary to hold the lips in position, while drying, by sewing through the edges and passing the thread across the jaws from side to side. the skin of the nose must be fully backed up with clay, so that no hollows are left into which the skin can shrink away in drying. it is often desirable to hold the end of the lower lip up to its place, while drying, by driving a small wire nail through it into the bone. do not fill the mouth full of clay, for it must be borne in mind that the final modeling of the soft parts of the mouth must be done in papier-maché. it is no small task to dig out of a mouth a quantity of clay and tow after it has become hard; therefore, leave a place for the tongue. [illustration: modeling tools of wood.] a head must be thoroughly dry and shrunken before the mouth can be finished and made permanent. in drying, the lips draw away from the gums somewhat, which is just as it should be. the first step is to clear away the dry clay from around the teeth and lips, and get everything clean and ready for the maché. then make some fine papier-maché, as described elsewhere, that is sticky enough to adhere firmly to smooth bone, and of such consistency that it works well in modeling. with this, and your modeling spatulas and other tools of steel, zinc, or hard wood (see figs. 39-44), cover the jaw bones to replace the fleshy gums, and fill up to the edges of the lips so that they seem to be attached to the gums as in life. coat the roof of the mouth, and model its surface into the same peculiar corrugations that you saw in the mouth immediately after death. this is slow work. it requires a good eye, a skilful, artistic touch, and unlimited patience. if you are an artist, prove it now by the fidelity with which you copy nature in this really difficult work. in modeling the surface of papier-maché, you must have a clean, well-polished modeling-tool, like fig. 42, and by wetting it now and then so that it will slip over the surface, your work can be made very smooth. next comes the tongue. the only perfect tongue for a feline animal is a _natural_ tongue, skinned, and stuffed with clay. the papillæ on the tongue of a lion, tiger, leopard, or puma simply defy imitation, and after many experiments with many different animals i found that with the real tongue, and with that only, one can reproduce nature itself and defy criticism. of course, this is possible only when you have the animal in the flesh, and can cut out the tongue and preserve it in alcohol until you are ready to mount it. [illustration: modeling tools of steel.] to prepare a tiger's tongue, for example, first preserve the whole tongue in alcohol, for safe keeping. when ready to proceed, slit it open lengthwise underneath, and skin it carefully. take a piece of sheet lead, cut it and hammer it into the right size and shape, and fit it in the mouth as nearly as possible in the shape the finished tongue is to have. by judicious hammering with the round end of a machinist's hammer you can give it any shape you desire. when it is just right, cover it with clay to replace the flesh of the tongue, treat the skin with arsenical soap, put it over, and sew it up. now fit the tongue into the mouth, and by pressure with the fingers change its shape wherever necessary in order to make it fit exactly as you wish to have it. when finished, lay it aside to dry. the accompanying figures were drawn from the finished tongue of the tiger represented in plate i., where it is seen in place. [illustration: fig. 45.--side view of tiger's tongue.] when the tongue is dry it must be painted with oil colors, using a little turpentine so that the surface shall not be too glossy, nor have a varnished look. vermilion and white are the best colors to use, and above all do not make the tongue or lips look like pink candy, or red flannel, or red sealing-wax. call up the household cat at an early stage of the proceedings, and use her mouth as a model, whether she will or no. a patient old tabby is an invaluable ally in the mounting of feline animals of all sorts, and towser will also help you out with your _canidæ_. when modeling the mouth or muscles of a gorilla or orang utan, catch the first amateur taxidermist you can lay your hands on--the wilder and greener the better--and use him as your model. study him, for he is fearfully and wonderfully made. the way some of my good-natured colleagues used to pose for me as (partly) nude models at ward's, when i once had a ten-months' siege with orangs, gorillas, and chimpanzees, was a constant source of wonder and delight to the ribald crew of osteologists who knew nothing of high art. [illustration: fig. 46.--end view.] [illustration: fig. 47.--tiger's tongue, top view.] fortunately the tongues of most large mammals are smooth, and are easily reproduced by using the same leaden core as described above, and covering it first with papier-maché, drying it, and coating with tinted wax, laid on hot with a small flat paint-brush called a "fitch." with small specimens it is not necessary to make the tongue as a separate piece, or put a leaden core in it. fill into the mouth a sufficient quantity of papier-maché, pack it down, and then proceed to model the surface of it into a tongue, shaped to suit the subject. such a tongue is, of course, a fixture in the mouth. _cleaning teeth._--before finishing a mouth with wax, the teeth must be washed clean with a stiff brush. if they will not come out white enough to suit you, wash them with a solution of two parts muriatic acid and one part water, applied with a tooth-brush if possible. let it stay on the teeth about a quarter of a minute, when it must be washed off with an abundance of clear water. if the acid stays on too long, it will destroy the entire outer surface (enamel) of the teeth. _waxing a mouth._--of course it will answer, and sometimes quite well enough, perhaps, when a mouth has been handsomely and smoothly modeled in fine papier-maché, to sand-paper it and paint it over when dry with two or three coats of oil color. you can hardly do otherwise, in fact, when you are not prepared to work with wax. but the really fine way, however, is to coat your dry papier-maché with tinted wax as follows: procure from the nearest dealer in artists' materials some cakes of white wax. you must also have a small oil or gas stove, or a spirit-lamp, and rig above it a wire frame on which you can set your wax cup. the wax cups should be small, and made of pressed tin, so that they contain no soldered joints. the wax is to be applied hot, or at least quite warm, for bear in mind that if you heat your wax too hot it changes its color quite perceptibly, and makes it dark and yellow. wax should _always_ be clear and transparent, and when the excess of heat turns it yellow, throw it away. regulate the heat carefully, so as to make it gentle. melt a small portion of a cake of wax in one of your clean tin cups, and if it is the tongue, roof of the mouth or gums, that you have to cover, color the wax a delicate flesh tint by putting into it a very little vermilion, or other suitable color, from your windsor & newton oil-color tube. oil colors mix very well with hot wax; but in using it, it is necessary to keep the wax well stirred with the brush, or the color will settle to the bottom. take a clean, dry bristle brush, of the right size (the flat brushes are always best for wax), with a good, compact point, dip it into the hot wax, stir from the bottom, and then, before the wax on your brush has even two seconds in which to get cool, apply it to the surface to be covered, with a quick, dextrous touch, sweeping it on broadly to keep it from piling up and making the surface rough. this wax business requires genuine skill, and, after beginning, one must not be discouraged because it does not "go right" at first, but try, try again. after your hand has acquired the trick, the beauty of the results will amply repay your labor. it is very difficult to change the surface of a coat of wax after it is once on; therefore try to get it right with the brush. of course, if the color or surface does not suit you, scrape it all off, and "to 't again." to treat the roof of the mouth, the specimen must be turned upside down. at the point where the black lip joins the pink gums, the two colors can be nicely blended by letting the last layers of pink wax lap over a trifle, upon the black, so that the latter will show through the former here and there, and give the line of demarcation a mottled appearance, with the two colors thus blended together. much can be done by taking advantage of the transparency of thin layers of wax when its color is light. after the wax has cooled, something can be done to smooth the surface, and give it a very shiny appearance, by carefully scraping the surface over smoothly with the edge of a knife, or a sharp bone-scraper. the latter tool will be found of great value in modeling a mouth in papier-maché, and also in trimming up the wax after it has been applied. _cleaning glass eyes._--always have the glass eyes of a finished specimen faultlessly clean and well-polished, to give the brilliancy of life. if paint gets on the glass, remove it with a drop of turpentine, and polish afterward with a bit of cotton cloth. some of the old-fashioned taxidermists have the habit of smearing a lot of nasty lamp-black in the eyes of every mounted mammal, for what purpose no one knows--but possibly in imitation of actresses, some of whom have the same unaccountable trick, and a hideous one it is in its results, in both cases. there is only one point in its favor--it is the easiest way in the world to give an animal a black eye. chapter xxi. relaxing dry skins of birds. as usual with most processes in taxidermy, there are several ways in which a dry bird skin may be softened, and made ready to mount or make over. i will first describe the one i consider the best in all respects. treatment of small skins.--open the skin and remove the filling from the body, neck, and head. tear some old cotton cloth into strips from one to two inches wide, wet them in warm water and wrap one around each leg and foot until it is completely covered with several thicknesses of the wet cloth. lift up the wing and put two or three thicknesses of wet cloth, or else thoroughly wet cotton batting, around the carpal joints, and also between the wing and the body. put some more wet cotton, or rags, inside the skin, in the body and neck, wrap the whole specimen completely in several thicknesses of wet cloth, so as to exclude the air, and lay it aside. if the skin is no larger than a robin, in about twelve to fourteen hours it will be soft enough to mount. the scraping and cleaning will be considered later. treatment of large skins.--under this heading it is necessary to place nearly all birds above the size of a robin, for the reason that the legs and feet, being large and thick in comparison with the skin of the body, require special treatment in advance. the legs and wings of some birds require several days' soaking, and were the thin skin of the body to be relaxed for the same length of time, it would macerate, and the feathers would fall off. the legs and wings of large birds must, therefore, be started first in the relaxing process. let us take, for example, the skin of a ruffed grouse (_bonasa umbellus_). if the skin is an old one, cover the toe-nails and beak with hot wax, or else by much soaking the horny sheaths will flake off. wrap the feet and legs with wet cloths, as described above, and let the skin lie without any other wrapping for one day. by the end of that time the joints can be bent somewhat, and they should be manipulated until they bend easily. when they will do this, put wet cloths around the joints of the wings, under the wings, inside of the body and the neck, and wrap the whole skin in a wet cloth of the proper size. by the end of the second day the entire skin will be soft and pliable, and smelling like an african shanty--damp and musty. of course the larger the skin the longer it will take to completely relax. sometimes the wings of very large birds require soaking half as long as the legs, but care must be exercised not to soak any feathered parts too long, or the feathers are liable to fall out and cause trouble. by this process skins may be softened and made ready to mount, according to their size, as follows: wren to robin, in twelve to fourteen hours; ruffed grouse, two days; great blue heron, three days; bald eagle, four days; condor, five days; ostrich, six to seven days. skins which are less than one year old soften in about half the time they would require if five years old, and if properly made in the first place, will make as handsome mounted specimens as would fresh skins. wet sand.--some taxidermists soften dry bird skins by burying them in wet sand after the legs and wings have been relaxed in the way already described. i have tried it occasionally with small skins, and found that the results were quite satisfactory. a good "sweat-box."--professor l.l. dyche, of the university of kansas, described to me a sweat-box which he has used, and which is certainly a good one for the creation of a damp atmosphere for the softening of skins, and also to keep half-finished birds in over night, to prevent them from drying up. what a deal of trouble the bird taxidermists of my acquaintance might have saved themselves during the last ten years had they known of, or devised, this simple but perfect contrivance. it is made by selecting a wooden box, of the right size to suit, providing a hinged cover, and coating the entire inside with plaster paris an inch or so in thickness. to make use of it, it is filled with water and allowed to stand until the plaster lining has soaked full, when the rest of the water is emptied out. if a layer of wet sand is spread over the bottom, the saturation of the air inside the box, when closed, will be still more complete. a heroic method of relaxation.--mr. william brewster thus describes "a new wrinkle in taxidermy," in messrs. southwick & jencks' "random notes," vol. ii., no. 1: "wishing to turn a mounted bird into a skin, and having but a limited time to devote to the task, i tried an experiment. taking a funnel, and inserting the pointed end in the stuffing between the edges of the skin on the abdomen, i poured in a quantity of hot water (nearly boiling hot) taking care to regulate the injection so that it should be rather slowly absorbed by the stuffing, and holding the bird at various angles, that every portion of the anterior might become soaked. the effect was magical; the skin quickly relaxed, and within fifteen minutes i could bend the neck and make other required changes without any risk of a break. "my first experiment was with a gull; afterward i tried other birds, both large and small, with equal success. i found also that the plan worked equally well with skins which had been overstuffed, or otherwise badly made. in a very few minutes they would become nearly as tractable as when freshly taken from the birds, and much more so than i have ever succeeded in making them by the use of a damping-box. the only difficulty experienced was that the water, especially if turned in too fast, would escape through shot-holes and other rents in the skin, thus wetting the plumage in places. of course, after the required improvements or changes have been made, the stuffing is so thoroughly saturated that the skin must be placed in a very warm place to dry. i dried mine most successfully by placing them on a furnace register, and leaving them exposed to the full blast of heat for several days." scraping and cleaning relaxed skins.--after a dry bird skin has been softened, it then remains to scrape it clean and manipulate it all over to get it into thoroughly elastic working order, as soft and pliable (if possible) as when first taken off. small skins should be scraped with the round end of a small bone-scraper, which has a sharp chisel edge, but the large ones must be scraped with a small-toothed skin-scraper such as is used on small mammals. of the many thousand species of recent birds, only the ostriches, penguins, and a few others have the feathers distributed evenly over the whole body. in all the _euornithes_ they are arranged in regular patches or groups, called _pterylæ_, between which lie the naked or downy spaces, called _apteria_. in thin-skinned birds it is the _pterylæ_ that need to be attacked with the scraper, and so scraped and stretched and pulled apart that the skin widens, and each feather is free, as in life, to move on its own root independently, and take whatever position it should have on the mounted bird. turn the skin completely wrong side out, scrape it all over, and get every part fully relaxed, and into thorough working order. large birds, or birds with thick, fat skins, require plenty of work to get out all the grease, and get the wings, legs, and head into a thorough state of collapse. in large, long-legged birds, the tendons must be removed from the leg, the same as if the specimen were a fresh one, for otherwise the wire may split the skin of the tarsus wide open, and make a very bad and unsightly turn at the heel besides. it is a difficult task to remove the tendon from the leg of an old, dry heron or crane, but it must be done. _damaged skins._--it not infrequently happens that in cleaning and scraping a rare and valuable old skin it proves to be "burnt" with grease, and goes to pieces like so much brown paper. "now is the winter of our discontent." if the skin is not torn too badly it may be lined with thin cotton or linen cloth, which must be cut and fitted within, and sewed fast to the skin all over. this plan, though rather tedious to work out, develops admirably when determinedly and carefully pursued. if the skin goes all to pieces, a manikin must be made, and the pieces glued upon it, one by one, beginning at the tail,--a process which is so simple it is unnecessary to describe it in detail. in fig. 50 is seen a manikin all ready to receive its feathers, wings, and head. [illustration: plate xii. workshop of a bird taxidermist.] chapter xxii. mounting small birds. we will suppose that the skin of a small bird--a robin, blackbird, or thrush--now lies on the table before us all ready for mounting. perhaps it is a dry skin which has been thoroughly relaxed, scraped, and worked into pliant shape; but, for the sake of the beginner, we will assume that it is a fresh skin which has just been taken off, poisoned, and turned right side out again, in accordance with the directions for skinning small birds which have been given in chapter vi. the body of the bird lies before you, and instead of making up the subject as a dry skin, we will mount it. in mounting small birds the following tools are absolutely necessary to the production of good results: a pair of flat-nosed pliers six inches long, for bending and clinching wires, price sixty cents; a pair of six-inch cutting pliers, for cutting wire, eighty-five cents; a pair of bird-stuffer's forceps, four to six inch, price twenty to seventy-five cents; a nine-inch flat file, twenty-two cents. make for yourself a stuffing-rod, by taking a piece of _stiff_ brass or iron wire, a little larger and longer than a knitting-needle, hammering one end flat, with a slight upward curve, and inserting the other in an awl-handle. of materials you will need some excelsior; some clean, fine tow; a little putty or potter's clay; a spool of cotton thread, no. 40, and some suitable glass eyes. with our tools and materials ready at hand, and the skin of our bird lying before us right side out, we are ready to begin a new operation,--mounting. for a bird the size of a robin or cat-bird, cut two pieces of no. 18 soft or "annealed" iron wire (hard wire heated red hot and allowed to cool slowly), each three times the length of the bird's legs, from foot to end of long leg-bone, or tarsus. file one end of each wire to a slender and very sharp point, and rub a little oil or grease on each so that it will easily slip when inside the leg. [illustration: fig. 48.--wiring a bird's leg.] now take one of the bird's legs between the thumb and finger of the left hand, holding it at the foot with the back part uppermost, and with the other hand enter the point of one of the sharpened wires at the centre of foot, push the wire up the _back_ of the leg and over the heel until the point reaches to where the leg has been skinned. be sure that you do not run the wire up the _side_ of the leg, either at foot or knee, for if you do it will show badly when the bird is dry. also be careful not to run the sharpened wire out through the skin just above the heel. to avoid this, grasp the leg at the heel between the thumb and middle finger of left hand, and by strong upward pressure of the first finger under the end of the leg-bone, and of the fourth finger under the foot, both joints of the leg can be held exactly in line until the wire passes the heel safely and enters the open skin above (fig. 48). then we turn back the skin of the leg till we see the point of the wire, after which we push the wire on up until the point passes the end of the leg bone. we now cut off the thick upper end of this bone, (the tibia), and wrap a little fine tow smoothly around the bone and the wire, to replace the flesh cut away. the other leg must, of course, be similarly treated. we are now ready to make the body. we have kept the body of our specimen for reference, and now we measure the length of both body and neck, cut another wire not quite twice their length and file it sharp at both ends. this will be the neck-wire. now take a handful of excelsior (tow or oakum will also serve), compress it into an egg-shaped ball--smaller and more pointed at one end than the other, and wrap a very little fine tow loosely around it, to make it smooth on the outside when finished. now wind stout linen thread around it, shaping it all the time by pressing it between your left thumb and forefinger, until at last you have a firm body, smoothly wound, of the same general shape and size as the natural one. when the body is half made you may run the neck-wire through it lengthwise, letting it come out above the centre of the larger end, because the neck is but a continuation of the backbone, which lies at the top of the body. when the wire is inserted, the upper side of the body--the back--must be pinched together and made more narrow than the breast, which is round and full. be sure that the body is not too large. better have it too small and too short than too large or long, for the former can be remedied later on by filling out. when the body is finished, bend up the end of the neck wire for an inch and a half at the lower end of the body, enter the point in the lower part of the body and force it down and backward until the end is firmly clinched and will forever remain so, no matter what is done with the other end. make the neck by wrapping fine, soft tow _smoothly and evenly_ around the neck wire from the body upward for the proper distance. make the false neck a trifle larger than the real one, but no longer. the body is now ready for insertion. [illustration: fig. 49.--cross section of body.] the next step is to take a thread and tie the elbows together, fastening to each humerus just above the elbow-joint. now take the false body in the right hand, open the skin, introduce the sharp end of the neck-wire into the neck skin, force the wire through the top of the skull in the centre, and push it through until the neck and body come nicely into place. now see whether the body is of the right size. it should not be so large as to fill the skin precisely, for if so it is too large. [illustration: fig. 50.--the finished body and neck, with legs in position.] we must now fasten the legs to the body, and will take the left one first. the leg is still perfectly straight. hold the lower part firmly between the thumb and finger, grasp the leg-wire, push it on through the leg and enter the sharp point at about the centre of the left side of the false body, and slanting a little forward. (see fig. 51.) now push the wire through the body until it projects more than twice the thickness of the body on the right side. bend the end of the wire until it forms a hook, with the point just touching the body. now pull the wire back until the point is again forced through and out on the left side for half an inch, which is then bent down and forced firmly into the excelsior, and securely clinched. wire both legs in this way, and the bird will be so firmly put together it would be almost impossible to pull it asunder. [illustration: fig. 51.--how the leg wires are inserted and clinched in the false body.] the legs move freely up and down the leg-wires. push them up toward the body until the heels are in precisely the same places they were before you skinned the bird--almost hidden in the feathers at a point about opposite the middle of the bird's wing. now bend the legs forward at a proper angle (see a living bird or a _good_ picture) and push some finely cut tow down on each side of the body to fill out the place of the thighs. insert a little more cut tow, evenly distributed, in the breast, where the crop would properly be, and some more at the base of the tail. be sure there are no lumps or wrongly placed masses of chopped tow anywhere in the skin, for if there are any you can not expect to get a smooth and well-shaped bird. now take a needle and thread, begin at the upper end of the opening in the bird--on the breast,--and with careful fingers sew the skin together without tearing it or catching the feathers fast. fill in a little tow, if necessary, as you proceed, but not enough to fill the skin hard and full, and when you reach the lower end of the cut draw the skin of the tail sharply forward for half an inch to take up what it has lengthened by stretching, and sew it fast by several long cross-stitches. at the last moment fill in a little more tow at the base of the tail, sew up the opening, and cut off the thread. the most difficult part of the whole operation is now before us. it now remains to put the specimen on a perch, pin the wings fast to the body, adjust the feathers and wind them down, stuff the head, pin the tail, and put in the eyes. with a piece of pine board four inches square, and two round pine sticks, each about three inches long, make a rough t perch, similar to the one standing vacant on the table in plate xii. the cross-piece should not be too large for the bird's feet to grasp comfortably. with a small gimlet, or awl, bore two holes in the cross-bar, on a slant, about an inch apart, run the leg-wires through them, perch the bird naturally, and twist the wires together once underneath, to hold it firmly. study a living bird or a good picture, and give your specimen a correct and natural attitude. cut a piece of wire five inches long, sharpen one end, bend it into a t shape, as in fig. 50, and run the sharp end through the base of the tail underneath, and on up into the body. the tail feathers are to rest on and be evenly supported by the cross part at the lower end, which may be either straight or curved, as occasion requires. with the small forceps, plume and dress the feathers all over the bird, catching them near the root, a bunch at a time, and pulling them into place where necessary. work them against the grain by lifting them up and letting them fall back into place. it will be a great help if you can at this stage procure a dead bird of the same kind to examine, and see precisely how the feathers lie. one such specimen will aid you more than pages of description. it often happens that the back, breast, or side of the bird is not quite full enough at some point, or, in other words, is too hollow. now is the time to remedy such defects. lift the wing and cut a slit lengthwise in the skin of the body underneath it, and through this opening insert fine clipped tow wherever needed. the forceps is the best instrument to use in doing this. the opening under the wing is _of great importance_, for it gives you command of one entire side of the bird's body. you can by means of this hole fill out the back, breast, or shoulders, if not full enough, and make other important changes in the bird's form. there is no need to sew up the opening when you have finished, for when the wing is pinned in place it will be entirely hidden. the wings must be fastened to the body before the feathers can be fully adjusted. cut six small wires, each two inches long, and sharpen at one end. let us wire the left wing first. hold it between the left thumb and forefinger, and with the right hand push the point of one of the small wires through the angle of the wing, commonly called the shoulder. when the point is well through, hold the wing in place against the body, adjust it with great care, and when you see that the feathers of the shoulder fall properly over the angle of the wing, push the wire through into the excelsior body until it holds firmly. push another wire through at the base of the large quills (primaries), and another through the upper part of the wing, just below where it leaves the body. these wires are well shown in fig. 52. the wing now fits closely against the body, and the feathers fall over it smoothly, so as to completely cover the upper part of it. wire the other wing in the same way, taking great care that one is not placed farther ahead than the other, nor farther up or down on the body. the tips of the wings should touch each other exactly at the point. look at your bird from all sides before finally securing the second wing. with the wings firmly wired and the feathers nicely adjusted, we next proceed to stuff the head. with the scissors cut up some fine tow or cotton, and by inserting it through the mouth with the forceps, a pinch at a time, fill out around the back and sides of the head, the upper part of the neck and the throat. do not fill the skin too full, and take care that both sides of the head are precisely the same shape and size. take plenty of time and do your work nicely. when the head has been properly filled out, fill in each eye-socket with a little soft clay or putty, insert the glass eyes, and embed them in it. study the eyes of your dead bird, and imitate their appearance and position with those of your mounted specimen. it is a good plan to put a drop of mucilage around the inside of each eyelid and thus gum it down upon the glass eye. be sure that the eyes are exactly opposite one another, and that one is not higher nor farther back than the other. fasten the mandibles together by thrusting a pin up through the lower mandible into the skull, or else by passing a pin through the upper mandible at the nostrils and tying around the bill behind it with a thread. it now remains to wind down the feathers with thread to give the bird the exact outline we desire, and to make the feathers lie smoothly. attend to this with the closest attention and care, for on the success of this process depends the smoothness of your specimen when finished. [illustration: fig. 52.--the winding of the bird.] the best method of winding ever known is that developed and practised by mr. f.s. webster, whose wonderful skill in the treatment of birds is already widely known. his birds are marvels of smoothness and symmetry, and i take great pleasure in describing his method of winding as the best known. first make six hook-wires by filing six pieces of wire, each two inches long, to a sharp point at one end, and bending the other with the pliers in the form of a double hook. (see fig. 52.) insert three of these in a line along the middle of the back, and two along the middle of the breast, as seen in the cut. the wing-wires are not to be cut off, but left sticking out for half an inch. the bird is now divided into equal halves, and there are three wing-wires on each side, so that it will not be very difficult to wind both sides alike. now take a spool of white thread, no. 40, fasten the end to the hook-wire on the top of the back; take the base of the pedestal in the left hand and proceed to wind down the feathers. by means of the hook-wires you can wind from point to point at will, so as to bind down the feathers where they lie too high, and skip them entirely where they lie low enough. get the general outline of the bird first, and apply the thread with a light and skilful touch, so that it will not make creases in the bird. a little practice will enable one to wind a bird with gratifying success. the next thing is to spread the feathers of the tail evenly, and pin them between two strips of thin card-board placed crosswise to hold the feathers in position until they dry. lastly, adjust the toes so that they grasp the perch properly, and set the specimen away to dry where it will not be touched. in about two or three weeks, when it is thoroughly dry, cut the threads off with a pair of scissors, pull out the hook-wires, cut off the projecting ends of the wing-wires close down to the wing, and cut off the wire at the top of the head close down into the feathers. mix a little varnish and turpentine together in equal parts, and with a paint-brush paint the feet and bill in case they happen to require it. clean the eyes and rub them until they shine. you can perch the specimen now permanently on the artificial twig, turned t perch, or natural twig, or whatever else you have had in mind. in doing this, clinch the leg-wires together underneath the perch, and cut off the ends so that no portion of the wire will show. be _neat in everything_, and study to make the bird look alive. do not be discouraged if your first bird is a dead failure, nor even if your first dozen birds are fit only for immediate destruction. if you get discouraged because your first attempt at anything is not a complete success, you are not fit to succeed. better never begin than stop short of success. if you have a love for taxidermy, and the patience and perseverance to back it up, you are bound to succeed. chapter xxiii. mounting large birds. after all that has been said in regard to mounting small birds, and relaxing and cleaning dry bird skins, there remains but little to add on the subject of bird-mounting, and that little relates to large birds. for all birds, up to the emu and ostrich, the principles remain about the same as those illustrated in the mounting of a robin. moreover, the mounting of birds is now so generally understood it is unnecessary to dwell at great length on this subject. professor l.l. dyche has called my attention to the great desirability of taking a series of measurements of every large bird before it is skinned, and another series of the skinned body, as a check on possible errors in making the false body and in mounting. the idea is a good one, and the following are the measurements that should be taken: before skinning.--total length; distance from angle of wing at the carpal joint to the eye; distance from the end of the closed wing to the tip of the tail; distance from the base of the middle toe to the carpal joint of the wing. measurements of the skinned carcass.--length of the body; length of the neck; circumference of the body around the breast; circumference around the abdomen. the notes should also state whether the body and the neck are respectively round or flat. the false body.--in starting out to make a body for a large bird, particularly one with a long neck, take a piece of wood about the size of a large ear of corn, and much the same shape, through one end of which pass one end of the neck-wire and firmly staple it down. the purpose of this is to give the firmest attachment possible for the neck. the false body is then made by firmly winding successive layers or bunches of excelsior or straw upon this wooden core, and binding each successive layer down with fine twine from start to finish, so that the finished body shall be firm enough. if the false body is not made hard enough, the leg-wires can not be firmly fastened, and the bird will "wabble." if you have the fleshy body before you, or even the measurements of it, it will be easy enough to reproduce its form and size. it is desirable to copy the form of the natural body as closely as possible, which in many cases necessitates the use of a long needle to sew through and through it, in reproducing certain hollows and corresponding elevations. professor dyche lays great stress upon this point, and always makes the false body of a bird with such care and attention to every detail of form that when the skin is put over it it fits perfectly, the feathers fall into position and lie properly, no extra filling being necessary anywhere save at the tail; and, what is more, he considers that it is unnecessary to wind down the plumage with thread. the most life-like snowy owl i have ever seen is one which professor dyche mounted for me as a practical demonstration of his method, the virtue of which was thus handsomely proven. the skin was the same as a fresh one, having been made less than a year, and the excelsior body was made to fit it without the aid of measurements. as the result of repeated ocular demonstration, i am convinced that professor dyche's method of making every body with extreme care, as to form and details, is well worthy of universal adoption. the necessity of removing the tendons from the legs of all large birds has already been mentioned. when this has been done, the wiring of the leg is an easy matter, for the wire will take the place of the tendon so perfectly that there will be no outward sign of its presence. use as large leg-wires as you can without disfiguring the leg of the bird. when any animal is mounted in a walking attitude, the foot which is represented in the act of leaving the ground must _always_ have its centre well elevated, and only the toes touching. this being the case, surely no intelligent taxidermist will ever be guilty of so unpardonable an offence against the eye as to run the supporting-iron straight down from the ball of the foot to the pedestal, with a ghastly section of it exposed to view. no matter how you manage it, the iron must follow the bones of the foot until it reaches the toes, and then it can be bent down to a perpendicular line and passed through the pedestal, _always out of sight_. [illustration: plate xiii. mounted bird, with interior structure exposed.] in all but the largest birds, the leg-wires are fastened in the body in precisely the same way as described and illustrated in the previous chapter, except that it requires stouter pliers and more strength to bend them and clinch them firmly in the body. in inserting the leg-wires in the artificial body, be sure to enter them about the _middle_ of the body, on each side, and not near the tail, as nearly all beginners are prone to do. this is by all odds the commonest and worst fault in mounted birds that fall short of perfection. it arises from the fact that the beginner makes the mistake of entering the leg-wires at the same point where the bird's humerus joins the pelvis, which is too far back by just one-third of the length of the entire body! the _humerus_ is not represented on your wire at all, and the wire should enter the body _precisely where the knee-joint comes in the living bird_. the flesh and bone of the thigh is made up (or should be, at least) on the artificial body, not on your leg-wire. lay out a dead bird in a walking attitude, or study a skeleton (see fig. 70), and see where the knee-joint comes; then you will never again be in danger of spoiling a bird by making its legs come out from under its tail. in mounting large birds, the sizes of the wires i have used were as follows: great horned owl, no. 8 or 9; bald eagle, no. 7 or 8; peacock, no. 7; great blue heron, no. 6; sandhill crane, no. 5. an ostrich or emu requires a manikin constructed on the same principles as that built for the tiger, except that each leg-rod should have two iron squares instead of one. the upper extremity of the leg-rod is clamped tightly to one square, with two nuts, as usual; but in addition to this there should be a second square with a hole in its short arm large enough for the smooth rod to slip through, and this should be screwed to the body-board as low down as the anatomy of the bird will allow. the object of this second iron is to prevent the bipedal specimen from swaying and leaning over, as it would otherwise be very apt to do. inasmuch as the legs of an ostrich or emu always require to be cut open and completely skinned, the manikin method is perfectly adapted to their wants. if the skin is so shrunken that it requires vigorous stretching, its body must be stuffed with straw after the neck and legs have been made and joined to a centre-board, precisely as directed for long-haired mammals above medium size. i may also remark in this connection that i have seen both the complete skin and skeleton of a large ostrich preserved and mounted to stand side by side, but i pitied the operator when he had to make a full set of bones for the legs and feet, and a wooden skull with the horny shell of the beak fastened upon it. at one stage of the proceedings the outlook for the skin seemed anything but promising, and on the whole i would not advise anyone save an expert to attempt a similar task. mounting birds with wings spread.--in the first place, each wing must have a wire large enough to adequately support it. this should be straight, bright, well-oiled, and filed sharp at both ends. one end is to be inserted inside the skin, passed along next to the wing-bones as far as the carpal joint, from thence it is forced on as far as possible between the skin and the under surface of the metacarpal bones until it emerges from the feathers not far from the end of the fleshy portion of the wing. the wing must be so straight that the wire can be slipped through it freely backward and forward. it must next be passed through the artificial body at the point where the upper end of the humerus is attached to the coracoid in the complete skeleton, and very firmly clinched in the same way as described for the leg-wires. then lay the bird upon its back, place the wing exactly in position, bend the wing-wires so they will fit snugly against the wing-bones, and tie them firmly down. after that, the middle joint of each wing is to be poisoned, stuffed with fine tow, and sewn up neatly. of course the wings can not be given their correct elevation and pose until the bird is placed firmly upon its temporary perch, unless it is to be represented as flying. now is the time to properly dispose of the feet. if the talons are to be grasping any kind of prey, the object must be placed at once, before the feet begin to dry. if the bird is to be in full flight, they must be drawn up, clinched, and almost concealed in the feathers. to keep the feathers of a spread wing in place while the specimen is drying, thrust a long, sharpened wire into the body under the wing, and another on top, bend both until they conform to the curve of the wing, twist their outer ends together, and then slip under each wire a long, narrow strip of pasteboard. such a specimen requires constant watching lest something get awry by accident, and dry so. the winding of a bird with its wings spread, to say nothing of laying the plumage, is a difficult and delicate matter, and the chances are that he who takes the greatest pains will produce the best bird. [illustration: fig. 53.--cast of the neck and windpipe of a heron.] making the neck of a heron.--ordinarily the anatomy of a bird is well concealed by its feathers, but to this rule the neck of a heron is a marked exception. in this remarkable member there is room for the most ambitious operator to show his skill. the neck is very long, very thin and flat, the joints of the vertebræ often show very plainly, and the windpipe has a way of shifting over the sides of the neck in a most free-and-easy way. (see fig. 53.) if you wish to mount a bird that will show your skill to the best advantage, by all means choose a heron, and mount him in a stooping posture, with his head thrown back, in the act of spearing a fish with his sharp beak. one of the artistic triumphs of the new york exhibition of the society of american taxidermists was mr. f.s. webster's "wounded heron," which was awarded a specialty medal as being one of the best pieces in the entire exhibition. it was presented by mr. webster to the national museum, for the society's exhibit, and is represented in plate xvi. ordinarily you can make a good neck for a heron by taking two wires of suitable length, winding fine tow very smoothly and evenly around each one until it has attained very nearly the required thickness of the neck, then putting the two together and winding a thin, even layer of fine, soft tow around both. this doubles the width of the neck, without materially increasing its thickness. the necks of some herons are so excessively wide and thin that it requires three tow-wrapped wires wound together thus to give the necessary width. all this winding should be done quite firmly, and when finished, if the neck is of the right size, it should be wrapped with spool cotton from end to end to make it keep its shape. one of the neck-wires should be thrust through the skull, but the end of the other should be bent down, and (if the beak is to be closed) passed out of the throat, into the mouth, one-third of the way to the tip of the beak. if, however, you wish to produce a prize bird and challenge criticism, then make a neck which will show the joints of the vertebræ, and show them plainly and strikingly. now there may be a dozen different ways in which that could be done, but the best is to make the neck over a hard skeleton that will show its joints _willy-nilly_. your best plan is to clean the neck vertebræ without disjointing them, tie your neck-wire firmly underneath them, wrap with fine tow to replace the flesh, bind down with thread, and cover all at the last moment with clay. the windpipe is easily reproduced by wrapping fine tow around a small annealed wire, and then sewing it in its place on the neck. if you have not the cervical vertebræ, the next best thing is to make them roughly and quickly out of wood, wire them together, and use as you would the real bones. the reason why this is necessary to success is that it is very difficult to make a wire bend in angles instead of curves after it has been wrapped with tow and inserted in the neck of the bird. setting the eyes.--on this point i have always been at war with most of my taxidermic friends. they insist that it is not best to insert the eyes in a bird as soon as it is finished otherwise, but leave the bird to dry without them. afterward, they insert wet cotton, soften the eyelids, and then insert the clay backing and the eyes. they claim that this is necessary to prevent the skin from being drawn away from the eye by shrinkage in the general drying. i hold that it is best to set the eyes at once, before the bird dries, in order to secure the greatest degree of elasticity in shaping the eyelids, and thereby have a more perfect mastery of the situation. but having seen my friends secure as good results by their method as i do by mine, i naturally conclude that it is only a matter of personal preference, and either way is good enough. chapter xxiv. cleaning the plumage of birds. i shall never forget how vainly i sought, when a lonesome and isolated amateur, to find somewhere in print some useful information about how to remove grease, dirt, and blood-stains from the plumage of birds. i remember well my disgust and anger at the makers of the so-called "complete" manuals of taxidermy that left me groping in egyptian darkness on that subject, and most others also; and i registered a solemn vow that should i ever write on taxidermy i would do my best to afford some practical information on cleaning the plumage of birds. as has been previously stated, the time to clean the plumage of a bird is while you are making up the fresh skin (chapter vi.), before the skin has been laid away to dry, before the blood dries and imparts a _permanent_ stain (to white feathers, at least), and before the oil has had a chance to ooze out into the feathers to gather dirt, and presently form a nasty, yellow oil-cake upon the skin. in cleaning the skin of a fat or oily bird, scrape all the grease from the inside of the skin, and absorb it with corn meal or plaster paris. scrape the skin until it looks as if the feathers are about to fall out, until no more oil is raised, and then you may call it clean. when you have done this, you need not fear that any oil will ever exude upon the feathers. fresh specimens.--if a freshly killed bird has blood upon its plumage, separate the bloody feathers from the others, lift them on your fingers, and with warm water and a sponge gently sponge them off. give the blood a little time to soften, and when the feathers are as clean as you can get them with water, wipe them as dry as you can, then sponge them over with clear spirits of turpentine or benzine, and absorb this with plaster paris. the manner of managing plaster paris will be described in detail in another paragraph. very often the plumage of a freshly killed swan, gull, or duck, becomes so covered with dirt, blood, and grease by the time it reaches the taxidermist that it is a sight to behold. never mind if it is, you can make it as good as new, in every respect, so far as cleanliness is concerned. the thing to do is to skin the bird, and clean the skin before either mounting it or making it up as a skin. the cleaning is often made easier, however, by hastily filling the loose skin with excelsior or tow, to give a firm foundation to work upon when cleaning the plumage. if you have no turpentine, as will probably happen to you many a time when you least expect it, take some warm water, as warm as you can bear your hand in, rub some castile soap in it, and with a sponge, or a soft cotton cloth, wash the soiled feathers. do not scrub them as you would a greasy floor, and utterly destroy the perfect set of the feathers, but sponge them with the grain, as far as possible, treating them as a compact layer. now, _if you have turpentine_, wipe the feathers as dry as you can, and give them a sponging with that, for they will come out better from the plaster paris than otherwise. when the plaster is put upon feathers that are wet with water, it acts too quickly in its drying, and the feathers are often dried before they have had time to become fluffy as in life. but if you have no turpentine, you must finish without it. whichever liquid you use, at the finish fill the feathers full of plaster paris, and almost immediately lift the bird and beat it gently to knock out the saturated plaster. that done, put on more plaster, filling the feathers full of it down to their very roots, and presently whip that out also. by the time you have made the third application, the feathers are almost dry, and the plaster falls out almost dry also. now is your time to whip the feathers with a supple switch, or a light filler of stiff wire, to make each bedraggled feather fluff up at the base of its shaft, and spread its web for all it is worth. this treatment is also vitally necessary to knock the plaster out of the plumage. work the feathers with your long forceps, lifting them up a bunch at a time and letting them fall back into place. by this time the plaster flies out in a cloud of white dust, and the whipping of the feathers must be kept up without intermission until the plaster is _all out_. if any plaster remains in the feathers, you may count with certainty that it will always be sifting out upon the pedestal, and, what is even worse, if the plumage is black, or dark-colored, it will impart to it a gray and dusty appearance. _caution._--remember that if you leave the first application of plaster, or even the second, too long in the feathers it will "set" or harden there, and make you wish you were dead before you get it out. dry skins.--the hardest subjects to deal with are old, dry skins. while fresh, fat is merely so much clean oil smeared on the feathers. an old, dry duck, goose, swan, penguin, auk, or albatross skin is liable to have the feathers of the breast and abdomen all caked together in a solid mass of rancid, yellow grease, to which time has added a quantity of museum dirt. in mounting one of the charming specimens of this too numerous class, it is not always safe to clean the feathers before inserting the body. there is danger that the skin will go to pieces. for this, and other reasons, the skin should be scraped clean inside, poisoned, furnished with a body, and sewn up before you attempt to clean the feathers. when feathers are badly caked with old, dry grease, it is an excellent plan to apply a jet of steam to the afflicted region, which quickly warms and moistens the grease, and allows the turpentine to cut it in less than half the time it would otherwise require. there is nothing that starts dry grease as quickly as a little well-directed steam; but steam is a powerful shrinking agency, and it must be used with judgment. usually an old skin is so dirty that it requires to be "plastered" all over. if you have no steam, attack the greasy portions first with warm water (but no soap), to warm up the grease and soften it. time and patience are both necessary. next, wipe off the water, and with a wad of cotton cloth, tow, or cotton batting, dip from your dish of turpentine, and apply it as a wash upon the feathers, always rubbing with the grain, of course. when, after repeated applications, you see that the turpentine has dissolved the grease to quite an extent, go rapidly over the remainder of the bird, then lay it down upon a sheet of heavy paper, upon its back, and cover it completely with plaster paris. it takes two or three quarts to do this usually, and for a swan it requires a pailful. as soon as the plaster has had time to absorb the greasy turpentine, which it does in about a minute, lift the bird from its burial-place, and holding it head upward hit it several sharp blows with a light stick to knock the plaster out of the feathers. devote from three to five minutes to this, then examine the feathers and see whether they are perfectly clean. most likely they are not, if it is a case of old grease, and a repetition of the dose is necessary. start again with your wash of turpentine and do precisely as before (_without_ the use of any water). if this does not bring the feathers out clean and white from roots to tips, then give it a third going over, with unabated vigor and thoroughness. the third time is usually "the charm," even with the worst cases. this time the plaster must be thoroughly beaten out of the feathers, even if takes you an hour to accomplish it. all this is rather disagreeable work. of course you will put on old clothes and get out doors to windward of your bird while beating it, so that the plaster will fly off upon some other fellow. soft feathers may be handled more carelessly than the stiffer sorts. of course great care must be taken to not separate the web of the tail and wing feathers, nor to break the shafts of even the small ones. beware getting any of the body feathers twisted during this operation, or they will not lie down where they belong. benzine can be used instead of turpentine in cleaning plumage, but it is too volatile, and evaporates too quickly to render the best service. it is practically useless to attempt to remove clotted blood from the feathers of old dry skins. even if by persistent effort the blood itself is removed, it leaves a lasting stain upon the feathers, and they are also permanently awry. the universal custom with taxidermists in such case is to obey the (paraphrased) scriptural injunction--if a feather offend thee, pluck it out. if this course leaves a vacancy in the plumage, steal a perfect feather from some suitable portion of the bird's body, and glue it fast in the place of the missing one. fortunately, however, collectors have about ceased to make up skins to dry with blood upon them, and there is not much trouble to apprehend hereafter from that source. chapter xxv. mounting reptiles. ophidia: _the serpents._--there are several methods of mounting snakes, but only one that i can recommend. such processes as ramming a rubber-like snake skin full of sawdust, or cotton, or tow, are to be mentioned only to be condemned. in my opinion, the only proper way to mount a serpent is to make a manikin of tow, carefully wound on a wire and afterward shaped with thread, and cover it with clay at the finish. it is necessary to attach small wires to the body-wire at given intervals, so that they can be passed down through the pedestal, and afford a means by which a finished specimen may be drawn down and made to lie naturally. a manikin for a large snake, like an anaconda or python, is best made of excelsior, and its exact form secured by sewing through it with a needle. in the field notes printed in chapter iii. something may be learned of the form of the python. if a snake is "stuffed," it stretches the scales apart most unnaturally, and never looks like life. for this reason, the clay-covered manikin is necessary, in order that any excess of skin may be modeled down upon it, and the scales be made to form an unbroken covering. lacertilia: _the lizards._--with the exception of the iguana, the gila monster, mastigure, and a few others, the lizards are so small and slender, and have tails so tapering out into thin air that they are altogether too small to be mounted by the ordinary methods of taxidermy. the finest method ever devised for the preservation and display of small reptiles and batrachians is that adopted by the museum of comparative zoology, cambridge, mass. each specimen is preserved in clear spirits in a jar by itself, and instead of being dropped in head first to sink or swim, and tie itself into a bow-knot if it can, the reptile is placed (in the flesh) on a thin, rectangular slab of plaster paris or cement, of the tint best suited to the display of the specimen. the object is placed in a life-like attitude and held in place by threads which pass through holes in the slab and tie the feet down securely. the accompanying illustration (fig. 54), drawn from a specimen, and the following description, both of which have been kindly furnished me by mr. samuel garman, curator of reptiles, museum of comparative zoology, will enable any intelligent preparator to adopt this admirable method: "it was in 1875 we began to mount the reptiles and batrachians of the museum of comparative zoology on tablets, in alcohol. before that date they had been stuffed and dried, a method which proved rather unsatisfactory, especially so in regard to color, and the shrivelling of digits and tails. however varied at first, the appearance soon became uniform and dusty. mounting in the alcohol does away with the most serious objections; we can give the specimens life-like attitudes, or arrange them in groups as if playing, courting, or fighting; and the liquid heightens their beauty, as the water does that of the pebble at the seashore, while ravages of insects are entirely out of the question. [illustration: fig. 54.--method of mounting alcoholic reptiles at the museum of comparative zoology.] "the tablets are made of plaster paris, or if a harder one with finer finish is desired, of cement mixed with water and spread on a glass plate to set. holes are bored through them wherever necessary to fasten the specimen, which is simply tied on. with the tints used in fresco painting they are colored to suit. experiments now under way convince me there is less fading on plates of certain colors than on the white ones. for black tablets, common slate is good. a mixture of plaster and cement makes a fine quality." the larger lizards are generally so round and plump-bodied they may very properly be mounted with tow and clay legs, and a body-filling of clean and soft chopped tow, the same as small mammals. if one is encountered which has a high, sharp, spinal crest, which cannot be reproduced with loose filling, then it is necessary to make the legs and tail, wire all together, and make an excelsior manikin in two halves, so that each side may be inserted in the body independently, and then the two may be sewed together and covered with clay as necessary. at professor ward's celebrated establishment i once saw mr. webster remove the entire skeleton from a _hatteria punctata_, a rare new zealand lizard about sixteen inches in length, replace the leg bones and skull with wooden counterfeits, and successfully mount the skin. this was quite a feat, and was the only instance of the kind that ever came to my knowledge. the chief difficulty lay in removing the skull from the skin, which grew tightly upon it, and in successfully replacing it with a wooden imitation. crocodilia: _the crocodiles and alligators._--these great saurians--thick-hided, case-hardened, and always fat--require no carefully made manikins, no clay save in the small ones, nor very gentle treatment of any kind, unless the specimens happen to be young and tender. small crocodilians should be mounted in the same way as the larger lizards, using clay next to the skin of the body and tail. i once achieved success with a tiny alligator, and delighted its bereaved owner, by filling it with clay on a core of excelsior, and modeling the form into perfect shape. large saurians should be mounted on the same general plan as wolves and small bears, viz., by cutting the leg-irons long, passing the inner ends through a rather small centre board, bending them down to the wood, and fastening with staples. of course the leg-irons must fasten underneath the pedestal by means of nuts. the legs are made of tow, and so is the tail, which must have in its centre a stout iron rod, cut about four inches shorter than the end of the tail to allow for shrinkage. at two or three points equidistant from the end of the tail, and from each other, fasten a stout wire to the tail rod, so that when the specimen is finished these wires can be passed down through holes bored in the pedestal, and used to draw the tail down tightly and hold it there. if this is forgotten the tail will spring up in spite of you, and show daylight underneath, which never happens with the tail of a living saurian. as to attitude, one or two hints will suffice. a live saurian, either crawling or at rest, nearly always carries his legs well up to his body. do not spread his legs far out, but bend them up rather close to the animal's body, as if he expected to use them to walk with. the body should always rest down upon the ground. give the tail two or three curves sidewise to relieve its stiffness. the head should be held well up, but the elevation should be given by the neck alone, with the head itself in a horizontal position, turned a trifle to the right or left to avoid extreme stiffness in the attitude. when your large alligator has been put together, suspend it from the ceiling, bottom upward, and stuff the thick part of the tail, the body, and the neck with straw. begin at the end of the tail, and fill and sew up until the head is reached. it is necessary to use stout and very sharp glover's needles of large size in sewing through the horny-hide of an old saurian, and the thread should be the best of linen twine, doubled and waxed until it is in the best possible condition for holding. sometimes a skin is so horny it is necessary to pierce holes for the needle with an awl. the shrinking power of a big saurian is something fearful to behold, therefore prepare your seams accordingly. the centre-board of the body should be placed low enough that two screw-bolts, six inches long, may be put through the pedestal from underneath, and screwed into the board to bring the body of the animal down upon the pedestal as closely as possible, and also to hold it more securely. of course, each leg-iron must pass downward through the foot, and fasten with a nut underneath the pedestal. the tongue of a saurian is not free, but the skin may be removed from its upper surface, the flesh replaced with clay, and the skin sewed down again. the color of the tongue and roof of the mouth of a saurian is pale yellow, a little lighter than naples yellow, but never pink. in young specimens the inside of the mouth is white. bear in mind this fact, that the eye of an alligator or crocodile is of a dark greenish color, and the pupil is vertical. the thin serrated scales, which form the crest of the tail, must be clamped firmly between thick pieces of card-board while they are drying, so that they will retain their proper shape and erectness, for otherwise they will curl up and become very unsightly. after a saurian has dried properly, and has been "machéd," it should be varnished all over with a coat of white varnish and turpentine, to bring out the colors. if the teeth of an alligator need to be cleaned and whitened, brush them with muriatic acid, washing it off again almost immediately with plenty of clear water. chelonia: _the turtles._--this group embraces the sea-turtles, having the fore limbs developed as long, flat, triangular flippers, with large head, small under shell, and with head and flippers non-retractile,--the terrapins, soft-shelled turtles, and tortoises. of the large, sea-going species, our ocean waters produce the huge leather-back or harp-turtle, the loggerhead, next in size, the green turtle and the hawksbill, which last yields the valuable tortoise-shell of commerce. to the taxidermist, a fresh hawksbill to be mounted is a thing of beauty and a joy forever; the smooth and succulent green turtle is also a welcome guest; the big loggerhead is a serious affair, and the huge, lumbering, greasy 800-pound leather-back is a first class calamity. shun him, unless there is plenty of money behind him. i once had the misfortune to be chief mourner over a leather-back which pulled down 940 pounds dead weight--mostly oil. "we conquered, but bozzaris fell," vowing that neither gold nor glory (neither of which is yielded by _sphargis coriacea_) should ever again tempt us to "strike oil" in that manner. the soft and gelatinous shell of that monster dripped clear oil for three months, and actually yielded several gallons. [illustration: plate xiv. mounting an alligator.--last stage.] fig. 19 shows the underside of a turtle, and the dotted line indicates where the cut has been made in the skin near the posterior edge of the plastron, where the shell bridge that unites the upper with the under shell has been sawn through with a small saw. the process of skinning such a subject has been already described, and the process of mounting is to be carried out on precisely the same general principles as described and illustrated in the mounting of mammals with long hair, with but slight variations. after the legs and neck have been made with tow, the tow wrapping should be covered with a quarter of an inch of soft clay, so the skin can afterward be modeled down upon it, either smoothly or wrinkled, as in life. the body should be stuffed with straw to keep the shell from collapsing while drying. the divided portions of the shell must then be joined and wired together firmly with soft brass wires passed through small holes, as shown in the figure. of course, the cuts in the skin must be sewn up neatly but firmly. when the specimen has been placed on its pedestal, it then remains to shape the legs, neck, and feet, which the soft clay underneath renders quite easy. folds and wrinkles in the skin must be exaggerated, to provide for what is sure to disappear by shrinkage in drying. chapter xxvi. mounting fishes. general observations.--judging from specimens generally, it would seem that taxidermists, the world over, either do not know how to mount fish specimens with the same degree of excellence as mammals and birds, or else they are universally slighted by intention. certain it is, that in nearly every large zoological museum the stuffed fishes are the least attractive, and the least like life of all the vertebrates. in many instances the reptiles are not far behind in unsightliness, although as a rule they are a little more life-like than the fishes. in only one natural history museum out of twenty-seven have i found a collection of stuffed fishes which surpassed in number and quality of specimens the collection of birds and mammals, and formed the most attractive feature of the entire museum. that fish collection is to be seen in the government museum at madras, india. the specimens were all mounted while fresh from the ocean, which, of course, has been a great advantage to the taxidermist. i was somewhat surprised to learn that the taxidermist in question was an indian native, named p. anthony pillay, because east indian natives are, almost without exception, very indifferent taxidermists. none of the specimens are mounted on standards, but either lie flat in table cases, or, if too large for that, hang against the wall. the common scaly fishes always lie upon one side, usually the right, with tail curved upward. mr. pillay assured me that the exquisite smoothness of his specimens was due to the use of silk cotton as a filling material, plucked from the pod and cleaned by hand. his scale fishes and sharks were very life-like, but his rays and ray-like _rhinobati_ were somewhat faulty. being filled with fibrous material, they lacked that extreme flatness so characteristic of fishes of this type. numerous methods for the preparation of fishes have been devised. in the collection in the national museum made by the society of american taxidermists there is a series of six specimens, representing five different methods, mostly bad. one is a fish carved in wood and painted; another is a flimsy paper cast of dutch extraction; a third is a painted plaster cast; the fourth is a half fish, or fish medallion, and the fifth is an entire stuffed fish. it is necessary to add, however, that the last-mentioned specimen falls far short of properly representing its class--the most common of all in museums. in disposing of this subject it is not my purpose to waste time in the discussion of obsolete and valueless methods, but to describe only those of practical utility. mounting small and medium-sized fishes with scales.--the process of skinning a fish has been described in a previous chapter, and on this subject but few other points remain to be noticed. these are the following: from some fishes the scales fall off so very easily while they are being skinned and mounted, it is necessary to wipe the specimen dry, and before starting to remove the skin, paste a piece of thin but tough writing-paper over the whole fish excepting the fins, and let it dry before proceeding further. with a pen, line out the course of the opening cut, and make a mark across it here and there to guide you in joining the edges again after mounting. this paper covering will fully protect the scales from displacement, and it is to remain on until the mounting is completed, when its removal is easily accomplished with water and a sponge. on the great majority of scaled fishes, however, the scales are sufficiently persistent that the above is unnecessary. but keep the fish wet while you are at work upon it, and handle it with care and delicacy. if you let the scales get dry, their edges begin at once to curl up, which must not be permitted. it is generally of great advantage to allow the skin of a fish to lie over night in spirits (two parts of ninety-five per cent alcohol to one of water) for the sake of curing and toughening the integument, and curing whatever particles of flesh may chance to remain in the skull. after having removed the skin, it must be cleaned most carefully. with a keen-bladed knife, pare and scrape off all the adherent flesh from the skin, cut out the gills, and remove the flesh from the interior of the skull, and the base of the fins. of course the eyes must come out also. with a stout pair of scissors trim off the projecting bases of the rays of the dorsal and anal fins, so that the fin itself may set squarely upon the top of the centre-board. i will now describe, step by step, the entire process of mounting a fish by what i consider the simplest, easiest, and most practical method known. be advised in the beginning, however, that you can not mount fishes on nice brass standards with nothing at all in the way of special materials and tools. you must have an assortment of hard brass wire, nos. 3 to 10, a hack-saw, some brass rosettes, a small die for cutting threads on brass wire, and taps of corresponding sizes for cutting threads in the brass nuts and rosettes. the outfit is by no means expensive, but it is indispensable if you wish to mount your specimens on standards, and thus have them show off to the finest advantage. 1. procure a piece of soft wood, pine preferred, and with the skinned body of the fish before you, whittle the wood down to the general shape of the body, but one-fourth smaller in actual size. in plate iv. the outline _a_, _b_, _c_ represents the wooden centre-board, which is really the foundation upon which the mounted specimen is to be constructed. 2. prepare two small brass standards (_e_, _e_), and screw the upper end of each firmly into a gimlet-hole bored into the centre-board at _d_, _d_. at the lower end of each standard the thread should be cut for a little more than an inch of its length, and a turned brass rosette screwed on, to rest on top of the pedestal, and hold the rod from slipping down through the hole. underneath the pedestal a square nut is screwed on tightly. these rods should be exactly perpendicular, and the axis of the fish (an imaginary line running lengthwise through the centre of the bulk), should be as nearly as possible horizontal. a fish mounted with its tail too high in the air seems to be taking a header, and when the reverse is the case, it suggests a ship sinking stern foremost. 3. having thoroughly cleaned the inside of the skin, anoint it liberally with arsenical soap, or if you have not that, with a plentiful sprinkling of powdered arsenic. 4. for the fourth step--filling--i shall describe two very different processes, advising the beginner to make a fair trial of both, and then adopt the one he succeeds best with. the filling which i infinitely prefer for a fish is clay and chopped tow, mixed together, and used as stiff as may be to work well. clay which is too soft when used shrinks as the excess of water dries out of it, and is liable to leave an uneven surface. with a flat modeling-tool, coat the centre-board evenly with the clay until you have reproduced the form and size of the fleshy body of the fish. then put the skin over this, press it down firmly to exclude all air-bubbles, working it from the back downward. when you find that the skin fits perfectly and without any drawing or straining, begin at the tail and sew the skin together, making, as you proceed, a perfect finish of the specimen. draw the edges closely together, and the more perfectly the scales can be made to hide the opening the better. the other filling process is to use fine, soft tow, chopped up finely. with a goodly quantity of tow before you, open the fish skin, and with your forceps insert a layer of tow all along the back, and also on the side which lies next to the table. then put the centre-board in its place, while the skin still lies before you, and with the forceps distribute an equal quantity of tow between the upper side of the board and the skin. thus a perfect and even cushion of tow is provided to lie between the skin and the board at all points save below. begin at the tail, and with your needle and thread sew up the skin for an inch or two; then with your small forceps or filler, stuff to the right size and shape the portion that has been sewn up. that done, sew up another section, and stuff as before, proceeding thus until the head is reached and the entire fish has been filled and shaped. notches must be cut in the skin at the points where the brass rods enter it. all this time the fish has been kept wet so that the fins are soft and elastic, and the scales are perfectly smooth. the fins must now be spread, and each one enclosed between two bits of pasteboard cut to the right shape, and held firmly together by sticking pins through them around the edge of the fin. do not on any account stick pins _through_ the fins, or you will afterward have the trouble of filling up the pin-holes. force the pins through the two thicknesses of pasteboard with your small pliers, and whatever may be the shape, or size, or position of a fin, you must so shape your pasteboard that the fin will be spread, and have the same position it would on a live fish. 6. the last thing at this stage is to mix together equal quantities of white varnish and turpentine, sponge off the fish carefully, removing every particle of clay, tow, or dirt, and varnish it all over. this prevents the scales from curling up when they dry, and it also goes far toward fixing the colors of the fish. the fins are to be varnished afterward when they get dry. 7. while the fish is drying, the eyes should be prepared. every one knows that the eyes of different genera of fishes vary in shape, size, and color, to as great a degree as do the eyes of quadrupeds. for mounted specimens, one of two things may be done; insert a conventional silver or golden glass eye, or else keep on hand a lot of uncolored fish eyes, and paint each pair from nature, in oil colors of course, to suit the particular specimen it is to adorn. when the paint has had time to dry and harden, cover it with two or three coats of shellac to protect the colors from any changes which might be effected by the material in which the eye is to be set. if the coating of paint is left unprotected, it is very apt to undergo chemical changes, and the eye may thereby be ruined. 8. the eye may be set in clay or putty _provided none of the setting material is to be exposed_. if the glass eye is smaller than the opening, which is very often the case, set it in fine papier-maché, which must be nicely modeled around the glass, and afterward coated with shellac, and painted. 10. the subject of painting fishes will be considered in a separate chapter. simple as it may appear, and really is, the above processes may be applied with slight modifications to even the largest scale fishes, and to the sharks and saw-fishes. such large subjects as the jewfish require strong iron rods for standards, and the skin may either be mounted over a manikin, made of excelsior tied down upon a central beam, or it may be stuffed with soft straw, which, considering the great thickness of the skin and scales, is quite satisfactory. mounting fish medallions.--a fish with but one side mounted and exhibited may be called a fish medallion. it may lie flat in a table-case, or be screwed to the back of an upright case, or it may even be set up on standards fastened to it at the back. as a specimen, either to prepare or exhibit, it has its advantages, and i will briefly describe my process. fig. 55.--medallion of yellow pike. fig. 56.--cross-section. we will suppose that our fish is a fresh subject, or an entire specimen from alcohol. the first thing is to procure a pine board of proper thickness, lay the fish flat upon it, and with a pencil mark out its outline. although only one side of the fish is to show, it is desirable to mount a little more than precisely one-half of it. therefore, select the side to be displayed, and remove the skin from the other to within a short distance of the median line of the back and abdomen. this extra margin of skin is to give the skin an appearance of entirety and rotundity, rather than flatness such as would be the case if an exact half were represented. the head of the fish must be sawn through with a fine saw, and, of course, the observance of the directions already given will leave the dorsal and anal fins on the portion to be exhibited. having carefully skinned, cleaned, and preserved the portion to be exhibited, the centre-board is cut out with a short bevel on the inside, and on the other the full shape of one side of the fish. when this fits the skin properly, the right quantity of clay is put upon it, the skin is then put on, and fastened at the back according to circumstances. with a small fish, the edges of the skin may be sewn together from top to bottom, across the exposed surface of the centre board, but with large specimens it is best to nail the edges to the board. mounting cartilaginous fishes: _sharks, rays, saw-fish, etc._--the only failures i have ever made during my thirteen years of taxidermic work have been with subjects of this class. i call them failures because, after taking infinite pains and mounting my specimens to the complete satisfaction of all concerned, the best ones, the very ones i had considered most perfect when finished, for two or three years afterward continued to shrink and shrink, until the skin burst open, and the tail and fins warped out of shape by the same process until it was maddening to look upon them. i once spent a week of diligent labor in mounting over a clay-covered excelsior manikin the skin of a ten-and-a-half foot gray shark (_hexanchus griseus_), which came to me in the flesh. it was a beautiful specimen, and i mounted it according to elaborate measurements, and a cast of the head. the result was all that could be desired. three years later that shark was a sight to behold. around the body, just back of the gill openings, the skin had burst open in a crack an inch wide. the tail had been ripped open by the terrible strain of shrinkage, so had the seam underneath the belly, and at first the damage seemed beyond repair. we did repair it, however, very fairly, but to me the specimen has ever since been an eyesore. by the bitterest of experiences i have learned that a shark, ray, or saw-fish is bound to keep shrinking and shrinking, in both length and circumference, from the day it is finished to the crack of doom. the fins and tail _will_ warp and twist out of shape, and i defy any man to prevent it. since finding it impossible to mount a fish of this class substantially, and have it retain its original size, i have adopted a plan which allows shrinkage. the rod which supports the tail is fastened to the centre-board by two staples so loosely that when the strain of shrinkage comes upon it, it will gradually slip through the staples and allow the specimen to shorten instead of bursting. it is best not to mount a shark too well. stuff it with soft straw instead of making a firm manikin, and do not fill the body any harder than is necessary to secure smoothness. as the specimen gets old, and its circumference grows smaller by degrees, and beautifully (?) less, the mass of straw will also shrink to accommodate the lawless tendencies of the skin. i have successively tried the effect of curing skins of sharks in brine, in alcohol, and in the salt-and-alum bath, but the result is always the same. it is easy enough to mount them to perfection, but to make them remain _as mounted_ for five years is beyond my powers. the rays are the meanest of all subjects that vex the soul of the taxidermist. shun them as you would the small-pox or the devil. such abominable animated pancakes, with razor edges that taper out to infinite nothingness, were never made to be mounted by any process known to mortal man. to mount the skin of a vile ray, and make it really perfect and life-like is to invite infinite shrinkage, rips, tears, warps, defeat, and humiliation at the hands of your envious rivals. if you must mount a ray, by all means get square with it at the start. stuff his miserable old skin with tow or straw, the more the better. ram him, cram him "full to the very jaws," like the famous rattlesnake skin that taxidermist miles standish stuffed "with powder and bullets." if you can burst him wide open from head to tail, by all means do so, and you may call me your slave for the rest of my life. make him nice and round, like a balloon, and then no matter what he does afterward to mortify and disgrace you, and to drag your fair standard in the dust, you will always have the satisfaction of knowing you are square with him. once when i was young and innocent, i encountered an enormous ray. he was not thrust upon me, for i achieved him--and my own ruin also, at one fell stroke. i mounted him willingly, nay, eagerly, as phæton mounted his chariot, to show the rest of the world how all rays should be done. i mounted his vast, expansive skin over a clay-covered manikin that had edges like a damascus razor, and i made him flat. he was flat enough to navigate the platte river at low water, which even a thick shingle can not do. he was life-like, and likewise was a great triumph. but almost the moment my back was turned upon him forever, he went back on me. i had put him up to stay put, so far as my part was concerned, so he just got mad and literally tore himself to tatters. he became almost a total wreck, and to make my defeat a more genuine and unmitigated crusher, professor ward sent word to me, all the way to washington, that he would sell me that large ray for $5. i never forgave him for that. the best way to mount a ray is to make a nice plaster cast of it, paint it, and then bury the accursed ray in a compost heap. as a class these fishes are remarkable, and highly interesting, and there is a far greater variety of them than anyone who is not an ichthyologist might suppose. to me there is no other group of fishes more interesting, and, i may add, there is no other group that is, as a general thing, so poorly represented in museum collections. they exhibit all possible intermediate forms between the ordinary shark and the perfectly round, flat ray. the intermediate forms, _rhynobatii_ and _rhamphobatis_, are naturally the most interesting. [illustration: plate xv. american lobster.--showing location of wires.] chapter xxvii. mounting lobsters and crabs. the following directions were written from the mounting of a large lobster, but apply equally to all crustaceans large enough to be stuffed. 1. remove the shell of the back (carapax) in one piece, by cutting under its lower edges, and with steel bone-scrapers clean out all the flesh from the body and tail. 2. take a long, stiff wire (about no. 10 for a lobster), flatten it out at one end, and bend up a quarter of an inch of it, to form a scraper with a sharp chisel edge. insert this in the legs (or "walking feet"), one by one, and clean out all the flesh they contain, quite to their tips. with a strong syringe inject water into each leg to thoroughly wash out the inside. 3. take off the "movable claw" from the "big pincer," also make a hole in the joint at a (plate xv.), and through these two openings remove all the flesh from the large claws, and syringe them out. 4. having thoroughly cleaned the specimen, either soak it in some liquid poison, such as arsenic water (the easiest to prepare--by dissolving arsenic in boiling water), or a corrosive sublimate solution, or else poison it by injecting diluted arsenical soap into the legs, claws, and body with a syringe. 5. insert in each leg and claw a soft wire of zinc, galvanized iron, or brass, and bend the end in the body at very nearly a right angle (b-b). in large specimens the wire should be wrapped smoothly with a little tow, so that the claws will not be loose upon it. 6. insert a wire in each feeler as far up as possible, and let the lower end extend well down into the body. to hold the specimen on its pedestal, take another wire, as long as the entire specimen from head to tail, pass one end of it down through the centre of the body, bend the wire down at a right angle, and in the same manner pass the other end down through the middle abdominal segment. the ends are to pass through the pedestal and be clinched below. 7. the claws need not be stuffed. 8. when all the various members have been wired, bend all the inner ends of the wires down in the body, and pour in a lot of plaster paris, which, as soon as it hardens will hold all the wires in place. 9. stuff the cavity of the abdominal segments with tow, put what filling is necessary into the thorax, then put the shell back in its place and glue it fast all around the edges. 10. replace the movable claws, and with glue and cotton fasten them firmly where they belong. 11. put a wire around the end of each claw to hold it down, or, what is better still, wire it down from the under side in such a way that the wire will not be visible. 12. when the specimen is dry and its colors have partly faded out, procure a fresh specimen of the same species, and with your oil colors paint the shell carefully and artistically from your model. learn to _blend_ the colors together as nature does in such objects, softening all the lines. when the paint is dry, if the specimen has a dead, opaque appearance, give its surface both lustre and transparency by applying a thin coat of white varnish and turpentine. chapter xxviii. ornamental taxidermy. until within a very few years, the taxidermist produced but little purely ornamental work, and the most of that little was rather crude and unattractive. now, however, decorative pieces are produced in bewildering variety, and many of them are justly regarded as works of art. the productions of the society of american taxidermists are now to be seen in thousands of the finest homes in the united states, and in art galleries, both public and private. in all the exhibitions of the society, the display of "articles for ornament or use" has always been the most attractive feature, and the one which has elicted from visitors the most surprise, admiration, and hard cash. the beautiful exhibits made by messrs. f.s. webster and f.a. lucas, of washington; thomas w. fraine and w.j. critchley, of rochester, n.y.; mr. and mrs. george h. hedley, of medina, n.y.; mr. john wallace, of new york; david bruce, of brockport, n.y.; and messrs. f.t. jencks, and aldrich & capen, of boston, will certainly never be forgotten by those who saw them. it is impossible to describe here the precise methods by which the various kinds of decorative objects may be produced, and surely in the light of all the methods and details that have already been given, it is unnecessary. it will be sufficient to describe by word and picture the character of the various classes of objects, and leave their production to be worked out according to the principles already laid down. the accompanying plate represents a carefully selected group of decorative objects which were displayed in the new york exhibition of the society of american taxidermists, and were afterward presented by their respective owners to the national museum at washington, where they are now displayed in the society's exhibit. wall cases.--the shallow box case with glass front, sheltering one specimen or a group, and garnished with certain accessories, is one of the most popular and pleasing of all pieces of decorative taxidermy. its evolution is due directly to the desire to protect from destruction the more cherished of the single specimens that first began to grace the homes of the lovers of animated nature. in american homes there are to-day thousands of pretty wall-cases of choice birds mounted with suitable accessories, either natural or artificial, many with painted backgrounds, and an equal number without. there are also hundreds of cases of small mammals mounted in the same way. _artificial leaves._--the accessories most available are grasses and ferns carefully pressed, dried, and painted green, and set in the foundation work. natural moss is used in the same way, and for bushes with foliage, artificial leaves are easily procured and wired on to the twigs of the branch that has been selected for use. these can be procured of any first-class dealer in taxidermists' supplies, or at large artificial flower establishments. if leaves of some special kind are desired, or leaves in great quantity, it will be best to procure them direct of c. pelletier, 135 wooster street, new york city, who has supplied me for eight years. the cost of leaves varies from 25 cents to $2.00 per gross; and for some kinds even more. _water and ice._--to represent water, use a sheet of clear glass, and build up underneath it a bottom of sand, or gravel, or weeds, as may be necessary. ice is easily counterfeited by coating a sheet of glass or wood with paraffin, which is quite white, and sufficiently transparent to give the proper effect. icicles are manufactured by demuth brothers, 89 walker street, new york, especially for taxidermists, at very moderate prices, and are infinitely better than anything the taxidermist can produce. they are fastened to the sides of snow-covered rocks, or wherever they belong, by setting them at the base in stiff papier-maché with sinew glue. _snow_ is made by flowing plaster paris over the surface to be covered, and dressing its surface at once; and then, before it becomes quite hard, sprinkling its surface with painter's frosting, which is exceedingly thin flakes of clear glass, and must be ground up in a mortar to get it fine enough to use. if ground too finely, it becomes a dull white powder, like marble dust, and is useless. in order to give a glistening appearance to the surface the particles must be large enough to reflect light. mica is of no use for this purpose. in making the snow that covers the ground underneath the group of musk ox in the national museum, mr. joseph palmer invented a compound composed of the pulp of white blotting-paper, starch, and plaster paris, which made a white, fluffy-looking mass that could be sprinkled over the ground by hand, and closely resembles a light fall of snow. for the preparation of boughs of evergreens for use in groups, so that the needles will not fall off the twigs, mr. jenness richardson, taxidermist to the american museum of natural history, in new york, has, by long and patient experimenting, evolved a solution in which he actually effects the complete preservation of coniferous foliage. when the branches to be used have been put through this liquid and dried, they are afterward painted, and are really as perfect as when living on the parent stem. mr. richardson has kindly put me in possession of the knowledge of his entire process, but i am not at liberty to publish it at present. _painted backgrounds._--the beauty of a wall-case, or indeed of any group in a flat case, is greatly enhanced by the addition of a painted background of the proper character to represent the home surroundings of the living creatures in front of it. of course the back must seem to be a harmonious continuation of the bottom, where the real objects are. the tints of the picture should be very quiet, and by no means gaudy or striking, and should not attract attention away from the zoological specimens. the objects to be gained in a painted background are distance, airiness, and, above all, a knowledge of the country inhabited by the bird or mammal. as an example of the value of a painted background in the production of a pleasing effect, the reader is respectfully referred to a group the writer produced nine years ago, entitled "coming to the point," and now in the national museum (see fig. 1, plate xvi.). it is not boasting to say that that simple group, composed of a white setter dog, six partridges, a bush full of autumn-tinted leaves, and a really handsome painted background (by mary e.w. jeffrey) has given more pleasure than anything else the writer ever produced. the case is only ten inches deep, but the apparent distance is about a mile, and the autumn scene is very acceptable to the public, sportsmen especially. as yet the museums will have no painted backgrounds. ten years ago they would have no groups, and no birds with painted legs and beaks. they have all come to the two latter, and they will all come to painted backgrounds also, in due time, and it will be a good thing for them when they do. if i am ever at the head of a museum, it shall have groups with painted backgrounds galore, and there will be imitators thereof in plenty. there is in this direction a vast field which has hardly been touched, and when it is once developed the world will be the gainer. museum managers the world over are too conservative by half. some of them will get out of the ruts they are in by following others; some will not get out until they are dragged out, and a few others will never get out at all. twenty-five years hence the zoological museums of this country will be as attractive and pleasing as the picture galleries, and they will teach ten times as many object-lessons as they do now. to-day the average museum is as lifeless as a dictionary; but the museum of the future will be life itself. in plate xvi. are shown three other examples of wall-cases, of different kinds. fig. 10 is a group of humming-birds, with choice accessories, under a hemispherical glass shade, surrounded by a black velvet mat, and set in a rich gold frame. this exceedingly artistic arrangement is designed either to stand on an easel or hang on the wall, and is the work of mr. and mrs. george h. hedley. no. 11 represents a group of gray squirrels in a rustic case made of papier-maché, with glass front, top, and sides, and natural accessories, the work of mr. joseph palmer, of the national museum. no. 12 represents a group of south southerly ducks at the edge of a marsh, in a square case with closed back, and painted background. this was prepared by mr. william palmer. in fig. 57 appears a representation of a very pretty wall-case, by mr. f.a. lucas. this was one of a series of four companion cases representing the four seasons, and it is only the very unscientific who need to be informed that the blue-birds building their nest are meant to represent "spring." explanation of plate xvi. contributions of ornamental taxidermy from the new york exhibition of the society of american taxidermists to the u.s. national museum. fig. 1. "coming to the point" by w.t. hornaday. special medal at third exhibition of s.a. t.; also medal at cincinnati exposition, 1884. 2. "an interrupted dinner" by frederic a. lucas. diploma of honor at first exhibition. 3. head of caribou by w.j. critchley. (presented by professor henry a. ward.) 4. peacock screen by thos. w. fraine. 5. "wounded heron" by f.s. webster. second specialty medal, third exhibition, s.a.t. 6. dead gull by edwin a. capen. 7. frightened owl by john wallace. special medal, third exhibition. 8. bald eagle by john wallace. 9. fox squirrel by p.w. aldrich. 10. humming-bird group by mr. and mrs. geo. h. hedley. 11. group of gray squirrels by joseph palmer. 12. group of ducks by william palmer. 13. grotesque group of frogs by j.f.d. bailly. 14. frogs skating by j.f.d. bailly. 15. snowy heron by thomas rowland. 16. portrait of jules verreaux by j.f.d. bailly. [illustration: plate xvi. ornamental] [illustration: taxidermy.] table groups.--very fine specimens are often furnished with cases having glass on all sides, including the top, permitting inspection from all points. of course every group of this kind requires a small table for its base. the most striking table group i have ever seen is one that was prepared by mr. f.a. lucas, entitled "an interrupted dinner," and represented by fig. 2, plate xvi. a red-tailed hawk has just killed a ruffed grouse, and has scarcely begun his meal when a goshawk swoops down upon him with outstretched talons to seize the quarry. the hawk has turned upon his back, shielding his prey with one wing, and with beak and talons "at full cock" is ready to receive his assailant, who hovers in mid-air immediately above him. the goshawk is supported on an invisible brass standard, which enters his body by way of the tail, and the illusion is perfect. [illustration: fig. 57.--wall-case of birds, by frederic a. lucas.] mr. frederic s. webster has in his washington studio a table-case single specimen which is in every sense a masterpiece. it is very nearly a replica, but with a heron of a larger species, of his prize piece, "the wounded heron," represented in plate xvi., fig. 5. a snowy heron lies on its back (on a black velvet panel), its breast pierced by a gilt arrow, which the wounded bird has seized with its right foot, and is endeavoring to withdraw. the subject is a difficult one, and its treatment in every detail is masterly. dead-game panels.--game birds of all kinds--particularly the handsomest ducks, geese, grouse, woodcock, and snipe--made to represent bunches of dead game, are very popular as dining-room ornaments, and during the last ten years the taxidermists of this country have produced thousands of them, many of great beauty. in regard to their proper make-up i will offer a few suggestions. while the bird is yet warm, or at least relaxed, hang it up by one leg, pose it carefully, and mark out its outline on paper. see that the bird hangs like a _dead_ bird, and not like a stuffed bird. in mounting the skin, make the body flat rather than round, and have the eyes _three-quarters closed_. the majority of "dead-game" birds are mounted with their eyes wide open. birds close their eyes when dying. the "dead gull," shown in plate xvi., fig. 5, which is the work of mr. e.a. capen, of boston, author of "oology of new england," may be taken as a perfect model of its kind. in every line it is a _dead_ bird, one that has been killed with small shot in a sportsman-like manner, and has fallen dead without a feather awry. fire-screens.--probably no handsomer fire-screens were ever produced by a taxidermist than those of mr. thomas w. fraine. the specimen presented by him to the national museum is represented in plate xvi., fig. 4. it is made of the mounted head and neck of a peacock, set against a background of the ocellated tail feathers, of which the magnificent metallic feather shield from the bird's back forms the centre. the framework is a very thin board of tough but light wood, the back of which is covered with satin or raw silk, and the whole is supported on an elegant gilt tripod standard. the effect of this arrangement as a whole is truly superb, and it is no wonder that mr. fraine's peacock screens have been very popular. the wings of the roseate spoonbill, the scarlet ibis, pelican, egret, great blue heron, and many other birds, are often made into fire-screens, either with or without the mounted head and neck. of these the two first mentioned are the most beautiful, especially the roseate spoonbill. there is one form of screen produced in the west against which i protest. an entire bird is mounted standing on a perch-standard, its wings are spread full stretch, and drawn upward, regardless of the laws of anatomy, until the front edges meet and touch on a perpendicular line above the bird's back. such an arrangement of wings for a bird that is otherwise _naturally_ mounted is painful to look upon, to say the least. the bird seems to be undergoing torture, and the general effect is not pretty. bird medallions.--in 1880 mr. f.s. webster's genius evolved one of the most beautiful designs in ornamental taxidermy ever produced, viz., the bird medallion. the idea of mounting one-half of a bird was not of itself a new one, but mr. webster's development of that suggestion was entirely new and novel. instead of mounting one side of a bird with the rotundity that an actual half of a fully mounted bird should possess, he studiously flattened the subject, carefully preserving all the while a perfect uniformity in proportions, and in each case produced the proportions of an ordinary medallion. of course both legs appeared on the specimen, and every specimen so mounted was the finest of its kind, and faultless in form and finish. the first specimen of this sort may be described as a type of all the rest. the subject chosen was a snowy heron (_ardea caudidissima_) of extra fine quality. in the centre of a massive and very deep gold and velvet frame, with a glass across its top, against a background of black velvet of the heaviest and finest quality stood the snow-white bird, in relief,--a genuine medallion. the exquisite plumes of the head, breast, and back lay against the rich black cloth like threads of spun glass. the head was raised, and the beak slightly elevated in a very life-like attitude; the body rested on one leg, which stood on a little gilt log, modeled in papier-maché, and the other foot was held up near the breast in an attitude characteristic of the herons. the effect as a whole was charming. there was nothing gaudy, nor cheap, nor hard in the arrangement, and the idea was a great success. the receiving-frame used by mr. webster was also his own design, called forth by the necessity of fully protecting the work. other birds that became popular subjects for treatment in this way were the wood duck, scarlet ibis, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, english pheasant, and resplendent trogon. of course the color and quality of the material used as a background was varied to suit the colors of each subject, but of all the materials tried, plush proved to be most acceptable. heads.--this subject has been fully discussed in another chapter. an additional example, showing a particularly fine head of a barren ground caribou, on a shield of a very artistic pattern, is to be seen in plate xvi., fig. 3, the original of which was mounted by mr. william j. critchley, and presented to the society, for its exhibit in the national museum, by professor henry a. ward. single specimens.--eagles, owls, hawks, ravens, crows, herons, ducks, grouse, and other game birds in general, mounted singly, on either plain or fancy pedestals, make very interesting and proper ornaments for the tops of book-cases, wall-brackets, easels, and the like. good examples of objects of this class are represented in plate xvi. as follows: fig. 8, bald eagle; fig. 7, "frightened owl," by mr. john wallace, of new york city; fig. 15, snowy egret, by mr. thomas rowland; and no. 9, gray squirrel, by mr. p.w. aldrich, of boston. grotesque groups.--no one who has ever visited one of the exhibitions of the s.a.t. is likely to forget the exceedingly droll and mirth-provoking groups of stuffed frogs, caricaturing poor humanity, produced by mr. j.f.d. bailly, now of montreal, canada. as a humorist and satirist our old friend bailly has few equals, and, in conjunction with his fine mechanical skill, his love of the ridiculous took permanent form in groups of frogs. the frog seems to have been created for the especial purpose of enabling monsieur bailly to caricature mankind. the results must be seen to be appreciated. we have had groups of frogs duelling, playing billiards, making love, getting drunk, smoking, dancing, fishing, gaming, electioneering, and what not. for frogs, however, there is only one taxidermist, for i have never seen anyone else, either french or american, who could even rival our old friend. he skinned every frog through its mouth, without breaking the skin, turned it wrong side out, wired it, made its legs of cotton, turned it back, filled its body with cotton, set it up in position, varnished it all over, and fitted it out with miniature furniture to suit the subject. mr. bailly used to cut similar taxidermic capers with squirrels, and messrs. critchley, lucas, and others have produced some very amusing grotesque pieces with cats and kittens. in plate xvi., fig. 15, is shown (indistinctly) one of mr. bailly's frog groups, entitled "sold again." a fisherman is in the act of pulling out a big fish, which the attending small boy reaches out to take in with a dip-net, when the fish turns out to be only an old shoe. fur rugs with mounted heads.--before a raw pelt or skin can be made up as a rug, it must be sent to a first-class tanner, and thoroughly tanned and dressed. this process should make the skin clean, soft, and pliable. if the head is to be mounted, that part should _not_ be tanned, nor put through any process. after the skin has been properly tanned, relax the head, and mount it in such a manner that the head will lie as flat as possible upon the floor. when the skull is present, it is customary to mount tiger, leopard, and bear rugs with the mouth open, snarling. some prefer to have a head mounted with the lower jaw entirely off, and only the upper half of the head filled out. this makes of the head what is known as a "mask." every rug requires to have an inner lining of buckram to give it body and stiffness sufficient to keep it spread out flat. underneath that must come the lining proper, of quilted felt of suitable color, which is generally left projecting an inch or two beyond the skin all around. this projecting edge is pinked with a pinking iron, to make it more ornamental. the finest work on rugs, particularly the finer kinds, such as lion, tiger, leopard, and bear, is done by mr. f.s. webster, of washington, who has developed this line of work most handsomely and systematically, and who does an immense amount of it. elsewhere in this book appears full directions for the preservation of skins for sale as pelts for furriers' use. how to make imitation rocks.--in making a rockwork pedestal, the first thing is to build your foundation, of wood if it be very large, of wood covered with very stiff and strong paper, if it be small. in the latter case there must be a wooden skeleton to which the paper may be tacked. having tacked the paper on in large sheets, and duly crumpled it to get the proper form of the rocky mass, give the paper a coat of thick glue. when dry it will be quite stiff and strong. now apply papier-maché of a coarse quality, and model its surface to show the proper angles or lines of stratification. procure some granite or sandstone, or whatever rock you choose to imitate, pound it up as finely as necessary, and after giving the surface of the papier-maché a coat of thick glue, apply your rock material by throwing it against the surface to be covered, so that the particles indent the surface and stick fast. in this way the whole surface can be completely covered, and when it is done with the actual material, no painting is necessary. the possibilities and variations in this line are infinite, and so much depends upon circumstances it is unprofitable to go further into details. very pretty single pieces, or small masses of rock, may be made by using peat, or coke, or cork, either in large pieces or smaller pieces glued together, and covering the surface with fine sand mixed with various dry colors, and adding colored lichens in spots here and there. cloth is poor stuff to use in making rockwork. it draws in straight lines, and in smooth, plain surfaces. it generally shows up the wooden framework to perfection. use manila paper instead, by all means, and take great pains in shaping your wooden foundation. always avoid straight lines and plain surfaces. chapter xxix. groups and grouping. the rapidity with which the art of taxidermy has won its way to public favor in the united states during the last two decades is certainly very gratifying. less than twenty years ago a great naturalist declared that a skin stuffed is a skin spoiled. even ten years ago the only specimens permitted in museums were those that were mounted singly, in stereotyped attitudes, on polished pedestals of hard wood. between the years 1860 and 1876 a few of the more ambitious taxidermists of europe produced various groups of mammals, large and small. of these, one of the most noteworthy was the "lion and tiger struggle," by edwin ward, of london, and another was jules verreaux's "arab courier attacked by lions." the most of these groups represented animals in theatrical attitudes, usually fighting. while they were of much interest for certain purposes, they were of but little value to persons desiring to study typical forms of the species which were represented. it would have been quite as appropriate to place the "dying gladiator" or "the laocoon" in an ethnological museum, as it would have been to place such groups as the "lion and tiger struggle" of edwin ward, or rowland ward's "combat of red deer," in a collection of mounted mammals in a scientific museum. up to the year 1879 no large groups of mammals had been prepared in this country which were considered appropriate for scientific display collections. furthermore, the production of groups of mammals or birds suitable for scientific museums was generally considered an impossibility. in 1879 the writer returned from a collecting trip to the east indies, having in mind numerous designs for groups of mammals, both large and small. it was believed then that many of these would not only be suitable for scientific museums, but would also be far more attractive and instructive than ordinary specimens. a design for a group of orang utans was prepared and submitted to professor henry a. ward, with whom the writer was then associated, at his natural history establishment, with a proposition to prepare such a group as was there represented. after considerable hesitation professor ward finally decided to let the experiment be tried, and the group was prepared according to the design. i do not deny the soft impeachment that in one respect this design was highly suggestive of the methods adopted by my european rivals to secure attention to their work, or, in other words, it was a trifle sensational. the group in question represented a pair of immense and hideously ugly male orang utans fighting furiously while they hung suspended in the tree-tops. the father of an interesting family was evidently being assailed by a rival for the affection of the female orang utan, who, with a small infant clinging to her breast, had hastily quitted her nest of green branches, and was seeking taller timber. the nest which she had just quitted was an accurate representation of the nest constructed by this great ape. in the middle of the group, and at the highest point, was another nest in the top of a sapling, on the edge of which another interesting young orang utan--a production evidently of the previous year, was gazing down with wide-eyed wonder at the fracas going on below. the accessories to this were so designed and arranged as to represent an actual section of the top of a bornean forest, at a height of about thirty feet from the ground, representing the natural trees, with leaves, orchids, pepper-vines, moss, and vegetation galore. for such a subject an unusual amount of care was bestowed on the accessories. although the design of this group included the theatrical feature of a combat between animals, there was method in this madness. this feature was introduced for the specific purpose of attracting attention to the group and inviting discussion. [illustration: plate xvii. reproduced from "two years in the jungle." a fight in the tree-tops. (part of the group in the national museum, mounted by the author.)] the remainder of the group was of such a character that it seemed no scientific observer could find fault with its naturalness. all the various members of the group were represented in natural attitudes (the result of elaborate life-studies in the bornean jungles), and each one told its own story of the orang utan's life and habits (plate xvii.) it is not too much to say that the group caught the popular fancy. it was completed in september, 1879, just in time to be sent to saratoga, for exhibition before the meeting of the american association for the advancement of science, ostensibly for the purpose of illustrating a paper by the author on "the species of bornean orangs." naturally it attracted considerable attention, and it seemed to meet the approval of the members of the association, particularly the museum directors and superintendents, who were especially interested in such work. although it may be the reverse of modest in me to say so, i cannot help believing that the production of that group marked the beginning of an era in the progress of museum taxidermy in the united states. the price placed upon this group ($2,000) prevented its immediate sale; but in a short time another group of orang utans, similar in composition but of a very different design, was ordered by mr. robert colgate, of new york, for the american museum of natural history, and prepared by the writer at professor ward's establishment. this group represented the orang at home--a perfectly peaceful scene in the top of a bornean forest. it included five orang utans, of various sizes and ages, feeding on durions, sleeping in a nest, climbing, sitting, and swinging. this group was also very well received by the public. as in the case of the first production, the accessories were all carefully worked out. the price paid for this group was $1,500. in the year 1880, when the society of american taxidermists was organized in rochester, n.y., for the development of the art of taxidermy, the museum-group idea was much discussed by its founders at ward's natural science establishment. mr. frederic s. webster determined to make a further test of public sentiment by the production of a large group of birds, designed especially for a place in some scientific museum. with most praiseworthy enterprise he accordingly prepared, at his own expense, and with great care and skill, a group of three flamingoes of the largest size. two of the birds were represented as standing at the edge of a shallow lagoon, and the third was sitting on its nest of mud. the water of the lagoon was successfully represented, as also were certain aquatic plants by artificial productions of the finest kinds. at the first exhibition of the society, which was held in rochester, in 1880, this group, and also the first group of orang utans, "a battle in the tree-tops," was exhibited. to the group of orang utans was awarded the specialty medal, offered "for the best piece in the entire exhibition;" but to the surprise of everyone, save the judges themselves, and to the consternation and chagrin of the founders of the society, the group of flamingoes was entirely ignored, and the medal offered for the second best piece in the entire exhibition was awarded to a solitary wood-duck, mounted by mr. webster, and figured herewith (fig. 58). [illustration: fig. 58.--mr. webster's prize wood-duck.] the failure of the flamingo group to receive any recognition caused deep disappointment to all those who had watched its production with so much interest and hopeful anticipation. it had been fondly hoped that it might prove to be the predecessor of a long series of bird groups of the most varied and interesting character. the judges of this exhibition were men of high scientific attainments, and their honesty of purpose in making their awards could not be questioned for a moment. on being mildly taken to task for their failure to appreciate the group of flamingoes, the judges maintained that such groups were not suitable for scientific museums, as was the evident intention in its preparation. arguments to the contrary were of no avail, and the believers in such groups were obliged for the time being to hang their harps on the willows. it is a pleasure to record the fact that, although the time had not then arrived, subsequent events have proved that the idea of the group-makers was a good one; and, although the production of groups did not come to pass precisely as was then anticipated, time has wrought its perfect work, and groups are now the order of the day. in 1882 the writer was appointed chief taxidermist of the national museum. in the year following, the first group of orang utans, "the fight in the tree-tops," was purchased of professor ward by that institution, and after being partly reconstructed was placed on exhibition in the hall of mammals, where it now is. since it left his establishment, professor ward has been pleased to call it "the king of groups." the group idea was frequently advanced by the writer to the directors of the national museum, but the time for its practical adoption on a liberal scale did not arrive until 1886. it is true that in 1884 professor goode had six groups of ducks prepared by mr. webster, and six bird groups of the same size prepared by mr. marshall at the museum; but with the completion of these the mounting of bird groups there came to an end. the condition of the regular exhibition series of mounted mammals demanded several years' uninterrupted work before any attention could be devoted to such exceptional work as the preparation of groups either large or small. finally, in the year 1886, the auspicious moment arrived. the collecting by the writer of a very large series of specimens of the american bison resulted in his receiving permission to prepare a large mounted group after his own design. to his intense gratification he was given _carte blanche_ as to time and expense, and no limit was placed on the size of the group, the character or extent of the accessories, or the cost of the case to contain all. the experiment was to be regarded as a crucial test of the group idea as adapted to the purposes of scientific museums. while the group of buffaloes was still in course of preparation, the writer prepared, as a "feeler," a very simple group, consisting of three coyotes, a large male and female and one young specimen. the attitudes and grouping was simplicity itself, and the ground was nothing but gravelly sod, bearing a few stunted bunches of bad-lands grass. in order that familiarity might not breed contempt, this group was kept carefully secluded from the observation of the assistant director until it was finished and in its case in the mammal hall of the museum. its character was about as follows: a young specimen--a puppy about four weeks old--was playfully endeavoring to pull the jawbone of an antelope out of its mother's mouth. standing a trifle behind these two stood the father of the family, a really noble specimen of the species, if by any stretch of the imagination a coyote--the king of sneaks--can be considered noble. his head was held high in the air, and he was undoubtedly looking afar off, as if watching for the coming of the man with a gun. (see plate xviii.) this little group was heartily approved, and the question of groups in the national museum was settled forever before the production of the buffalo group was fully accomplished. the idea as a whole was pronounced not only satisfactory, but exceedingly desirable, and orders were given that groups of all the more important american mammals should be designed and produced as rapidly as practicable. work was immediately commenced on several other groups, and by the time the group of buffaloes was completed and ready for exhibition, which occurred in march, 1888, three other groups were ready to be displayed at the same time, viz., of antelopes, prairie-dogs, and opossums. the reception accorded the group of buffaloes settled all doubt that might have previously existed regarding the estimation in which such productions would be held by the public. at present the only trouble which the taxidermic department of the national museum labors under is that it is unable to produce groups of mammals half fast enough. in march, 1890, a large group of moose, of the same dimensions as the group of buffaloes, was completed, and a group of musk oxen was completed a month later. many other groups are in course of preparation. [illustration: plate xviii. group of coyotes. mounted by the author.] by a curious coincidence, within three years from the time the society of american taxidermists found its first group of birds so frowned upon by museum officers, the british museum undertook the preparation of a large series of mounted groups of birds, with accessories both natural and manufactured. precisely in line with our idea, these groups were intended to show the birds in their haunts, and, as far as possible, to show their nesting habits. naturally enough they were produced with the care which such subjects merit, and the results are truly admirable. when some of these groups were seen by the enterprising and far-sighted president of the board of trustees of the american museum of natural history, mr. morris k. jesup, he immediately determined to have a series of bird groups prepared for the great institution he has for many years so ably directed. he engaged mr. jenness richardson, then in the taxidermic department of the national museum, and the work was begun in 1886. mr. richardson never saw any of the bird groups of the british museum, and the work he has produced is as much his own as though the british museum collection had never existed. going as he did from the national museum, the group idea was by no means new to him, and the seventy beautiful groups he has since produced stand as a lasting monument to his skill as a taxidermist, his artistic conception in designing, and his energy as a collector. no other feature in the entire museum of natural history at new york is so attractive and pleasing to the general public as are the groups of mounted birds. chapter xxx. general principles of group-making. there are several vital principles which apply to all kinds of groups, both large and small, and we must consider these before proceeding to discuss the different kinds of groups. specimens.--the specimens selected to compose a group should by all means be the finest procurable. it is a mistake to go to the trouble and expense of mounting a number of specimens in a group unless each object is entirely satisfactory in quality. if the group is to represent a family, let the old male and female specimens be of the largest size, and with the finest possible pelage or plumage, as the case may be. do not begin the mounting of a group until you have in hand a series of specimens that is entirely satisfactory. let them be so fine that their quality will be remarked by all observers. it will then be a pleasure to lavish work upon them. even if you should mount a specimen and afterward discover that it is inferior, discard it by all means in favor of a better one. a large group of either mammals or birds represents a very considerable outlay in money and time, and unless the quality of the specimens is above criticism, the group is by no means a success. i have found that it is a work of from one to two years' time to procure the specimens necessary for a complete group of large mammals of any kind. the best of all ways to procure specimens for groups is to go into the field, find them in their haunts, study them alive, study their habitat and their habits; shoot, measure, and preserve them with your own hands. if you are unable to do this yourself, then it must be done for you by some competent person, under your direction. in procuring young animals, which are very necessary in nearly all groups for scientific purposes, the greatest vigilance is required to enable the collector to secure the specimens just when they reach the right age and size. design.--when you have determined to prepare a group of a certain species, study the character and size of the subjects to compose it, and then begin by sketching, to the best of your ability, a design in which each specimen shall have its place and attitude. in the preparation of large groups, i have always found the satisfactory arrangement of the specimens the most puzzling and perplexing feature of the work. but however difficult it may be to satisfy myself with a design, i never proceed with a group until the composition of my sketch group is satisfactory. the two largest and finest specimens in a group should constitute its central and commanding figures. put as little life as possible in the corners of a group, and by all means make the specimens show an interest in, and a relation to, each other. the design must be dominated by one central idea or purpose, which should never be lost sight of in the arrangement of the group. it is unnecessary to say that each group should form a perfect picture, compact, well rounded, and the relationship of the different specimens to each other should be so clearly defined as to leave no room for the suggestion that the specimens have been mounted independently, and simply placed together. space.--no matter how small or large a group may be, to be perfect in effect it must have abundant case-room. let there be some room to spare in the corners and above the group. the top of the case should by all means be of glass. an airy, light, out-door effect can not be secured in a small, cramped cage, in which the specimens appear like caged circus animals. if you wish to have your specimens look alive, and as if they are really on their native heath, they must not be "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd." accessories.--although poor accessories are better than none, you will, of course, have them all as nearly perfect as possible. spare neither time, trouble, nor expense in procuring the finest collection of accessories that you can possibly gather. do not think you must be satisfied with the first that comes to hand, but search far and wide until you have obtained precisely what you want. do not be too lavish in the use of accessory material. remember that enough is as good as a feast, and too much is good for nothing. there are two principles, either one of which can govern you in your selection of accessory material. one is to select a given spot of ground of precisely the same area as the section you propose to use as the groundwork of your group, and reproduce only such materials as are found on that particular square of mother earth. this is the idea which has been strictly followed in the preparation of the groups of birds in the american museum of natural history by mr. richardson. i hold to a different principle. i believe that it is best to select from a given locality such material as will best represent _an ideal section of the country to be represented as the habitat of the group_. of course, it is necessary to exercise care not to bring together too great an assortment of materials. by acting on this principle we secure a limited selection of the most common and familiar species of plants in a given locality, and at the same time have the advantage of arranging them for the best artistic effect on the ground which has been prepared to accommodate the group according to the design. with small groups, in which a nest or burrow is to be represented, it is an easy and simple matter to reproduce the exact situation in which the home of the animal was situated. in the preparation of large groups this is a practicable impossibility. special exhibition groups.--to this class properly belongs such subjects as verreaux's "arab courier attacked by lions;" edwin ward's "lion and tiger struggle;" and the two groups, "lions fighting" and "horseman attacked by tigers," prepared by john wallace, of new york. such groups are bold in design, theatrical in effect, and each one is supposed to represent a _tour de force_ on the part of the originator. they are valuable for great expositions, for show-windows, fairs, crystal palaces, and the like. for such purposes the more startling they are, the better. animals are usually chosen which will admit of a representation of vigorous action. the most favorite theme is large animals in combat. he who has the boldness to introduce the human form divine in such a composition will oftener than otherwise have occasion to wish he hadn't. the human figure is, at best, a difficult subject to handle, and in its introduction with mounted quadrupeds the designer often finds, to his sorrow, how very short is the step from the sublime to the ridiculous. in general i should say that the human figure is an excellent thing to leave out of a group of mounted quadrupeds, unless it happens to be an esquimau completely enveloped in thick furs. in the preparation of groups of this class, the ambitious taxidermist has before him almost as great a variety of subjects as has the sculptor, since his work is subject to precisely the same general rules. chapter xxxi. groups of mammals. grouping small mammals.--since our small mammals can not migrate south in winter, as do the birds, each species must provide itself with a winter home, or perish. the nesting and burrowing habits of these builders of "homes without hands" afford a most interesting field for investigation and study, and one which is of great interest to everyone. almost without exception, every mammalian species found in the united states below the size of the coyote, establishes for itself during a part, if not the whole, of the year, a fixed habitation. some of the more enterprising species, notably the squirrels and rabbits, enjoy the luxury of a summer residence as well as a winter home. the groups of small mammals which the national museum is now producing and placing upon exhibition have for one of their principal features the illustration of the homemaking habits of the species represented. a mention of one or two examples will serve to convey an idea of the type of each class. a group of american opossums may be taken as a good example. the case which encloses the entire group is 4 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high. the frame of the case is as light as possible, and all four sides and the top are of glass. on the side of a sloping bank stands the base of a small gum-tree, with the roots on the lower side exposed by the crumbling away of the bank. of course the trunk rises to the top of the case, where it is cut squarely off. at the bottom of the sloping bank, between two of the roots, is an opening, which is recognized at once as the doorway to the opossum's home. the burrow winds upward between the roots of the tree, and finally turns off to the left into the bank, where, after running through a passage-way of two or three feet in length, the nest itself is found. it is in a pocket-like excavation, and a circular section is cut out of the front of the bank so as to make an opening through which the nest can be seen. the nest is lined with dead leaves, in which lies an opossum curled up and sound asleep. at the back of the case a sectional view of the bank is represented, and by means of an opening cut here and there, the course of the burrow is plainly seen. in the foreground is an old mother opossum with several young ones riding on her back, clinging to her gray coat, while the head of another protrudes from her pouch. this represents the manner in which the opossum carries her young after they have reached a certain age. from a small branch hangs another opossum, suspended by its prehensile tail, sprawling in mid-air. this specimen is a female, and shows the size and location of the wonderful marsupial pouch. another individual is climbing up the trunk of the tree. a fourth specimen, which has been disturbed by another, is pausing to protest with widely opened mouth, while in the act of creeping into the mouth of the burrow. please notice the number of facts that are taught by this simple little group. it shows that the opossum is a marsupial, and the female carries her young in a pouch in her own body; that when the young reach a certain age, they ride upon the mother's back, clinging to her fur; that the animal is arboreal in habit, and has a prehensile tail, by which it is capable of suspending itself; that it burrows in banks in dry situations, and sleeps curled up like a ball in a bed of dry leaves. it also shows the full size of the adult, the young of the previous year, and the recent brood. but for an unfortunate accident, which has yet to be repaired, it would also show the number born at one birth. of course in this group the grass and moss is properly represented, and there are artificial leaves on the tree branches which enter the group. groups of this class can easily be made to show the ordinary nesting and breeding habits of the animals represented. now it happens that animals of some species make a variety of nests, according to circumstances or caprice. in 1889 we prepared a group in three sections, each of which shows one of the habits of the gray squirrel in nesting. each is composed of an actual nest, and in the identical tree in which it was built by bunny himself. one represents a nest in a hollow beech tree, in which a pair of gray squirrels bred for years. another is what might be called a summer nest, made of cedar bark, in the top of a cedar tree. it is a round ball, and in size and shape much resembles a hornet's nest. the third section represents an outside nest of green oak-leaves, placed on a branch of an oak tree. these three groups are exhibited in one case, but while each is separated from the others by a plate of heavy tinted glass, it is made apparent that they all illustrate the habits of the same animal. the specimens composing the three groups were all collected within a radius of ten miles of the city of washington. besides teaching what the nesting habits of the gray squirrel are, it also impresses upon the observer the very important fact that the habits of different individuals of a given species are capable of wide variation. they show how dangerous it is for a student or scientific investigator to generalize too freely from one or two facts, and that it is dangerous for anyone to say what an animal will _not_ do! in beginning the preparation of small mammal groups (for a museum) the following hints may be of service: it is not necessary that a small group should be designed and sketched out in advance. the first step, therefore, is the finding of a typical family of specimens, and a suitable burrow or nest. the character of the creature's home will largely determine the design of your group. by all means endeavor to secure a nest or burrow which can be fitly shown as a typical home of the creature represented. when the nest of an animal is situated in a tree, it is nearly always possible to cut out a section of the tree, and introduce it bodily into your case, with appropriate leaf settings. when an animal burrows in the ground, as do the fox and the woodchuck, the best that can be done is to dig out the spot carefully, taking measurements and diagrams as you proceed, to show the direction and size of the entrance and the exact shape and size of the nest. you can then manufacture a bank and reproduce a perfect fac-simile. of course all the nest materials--refuse bones, hair, and feathers--must be taken along bodily, and used in the manufactured nest. in displaying a portion of a tree-trunk which contains a nest, it has been our custom to saw out a rectangular section at one side of the hollow, and hang the piece on hinges at one side of the opening, like an open door, so that the entire interior and the situation of the nest can be seen. of course it is in order to place a number of the young specimens in the nest in characteristic attitudes. when you have collected a number of young specimens, mount them at once while the forms and attitudes are fresh in your mind and the skins are in good condition. if you are lucky enough to get the young alive, you can mount some of the skins while the others serve as living models. now comes an important point. it usually happens that at the time when the young are of the best age to display in a group, the fur of the adult specimen is at its poorest. worse than that, shedding is often in progress. no matter what hypercritics may say, do not hesitate to perpetrate an anachronism by taking _adult_ specimens later in the season, when their fur is at its best. it would be an injustice to the group, to the species, and to yourself, to include adult specimens in their poorest pelage. along with your groups of young animals, which necessarily represent conditions during spring or summer, do not forget to represent some of your species in their winter homes, with their stores of nuts, acorns, etc., for winter use. the field open to the conscientious and really artistic taxidermist in the preparation of groups is a wide and deeply interesting one. i know of no branch of taxidermy which ought to be more interesting than this. its possibilities are open to all. while it is impossible for everyone to prepare groups of large mammals, in the matter of small groups you can say, "the world's mine oyster." groups of large mammals.--in creating a high-class group of large mammals, it is, as has been stated before, extremely desirable to prepare the design first, and collect the specimens to suit it. there is no burrow or nest to reproduce, and this course is not only possible, but usually very necessary. there is one important fact which should never be lost sight of in the preparation of a design for a group of large quadrupeds. if the animals are purely terrestrial, as will be the case in nearly all large groups, the largest and finest adult male and female should each stand on a flat and horizontal surface, in easy and conventional attitudes. this is necessary in order that the form, height, and back outline of each of the typical adult specimens can be studied by the technical zoologist with as much certainty and accuracy as any ordinary case specimen standing on a flat pedestal of hard wood. to illustrate the point: if the huge bull bison in our large group had been put walking up hill, or walking down hill, it would now be practically impossible for anyone wishing to draw a picture of him to accurately determine the precise angle of his hump. furthermore, his height at the shoulders would be either exaggerated or diminished, almost unavoidably. as it is, he was with deliberate intention mounted on a flat and horizontal surface, as was the cow also, so that even though they are in a group they lose nothing whatever of their value to the technical zoologist, who demands that all specimens shall be mounted on flat surfaces, and in conventional attitudes for the sake of comparison. having done this much for pure science, we are at liberty to vary the attitudes of the remaining specimens of the group. in a museum group suppress all tendency to the development of violent action on the part of your specimens. in a well-regulated museum no fighting is allowed. represent every-day, peaceful, home scenes in the lives of your animals. seek not to startle and appal the beholder, but rather to interest and instruct him. surely there are enough quiet and peaceful attitudes to supply all your specimens without exhausting the stock. let them be feeding, walking, climbing up, lying down, standing on the alert, playing with each other, or sleepily ruminating--in fact, anything but fighting, leaping, and running. if you do not happen to know the habits of the animals which form the subject of your group, and it is impossible for you to learn them by observation, then must you throw aside all reserve, and appeal to some one who has seen and studied them in their haunts. it is no child's play to prepare a group of large mammals. it invariably costs several hundreds of dollars, perhaps even thousands, and the work is supposed to last a century or longer. judge, therefore, how important it is that every detail of the work should be absolutely above criticism. if you mount such a group in haste, you are certain to repent at leisure. having prepared your design, collected your specimens, and made all your studies for the entire group, the next step, of course, is mounting each individual specimen. it is an excellent plan, and one which we have found particularly satisfactory in grouping ruminants, to prepare all the manikins before putting any skin on permanently. we begin with the most important specimen. by mounting the manikins one by one, and grouping them, we are able to secure the precise artistic effect that was intended in our design. the grouping of the naked manikins from time to time enables you to eliminate errors, and make such changes in the attitudes as the eye may suggest. a few facts in relation to the work done in setting up the buffalo group will serve as a fair index to work of this kind. of course it is to be understood that every case is to have a wooden floor, and that one end can be opened bodily. each of our buffaloes stood on a strong, thick base by itself, a rough pedestal, in fact, of a very substantial character. with pine boards we built a miniature hill, on which stands the spike bull, placed him upon it, and fastened him there permanently. the final work of arrangement was not undertaken until a trial grouping in the case had been satisfactorily made, and the exact position of each specimen definitely settled. a hole was cut in the bottom of the case, to give depth to the pool of water. the bottom of this pool was carefully modeled in papier-maché, and painted. the specimens standing farthest from the end containing the doors were first put in place, and the groundwork built up around them. the face of the cut bank was made by nailing wire cloth to a skeleton framework of boards, and covering this with a coarse sort of papier-maché, made of sawdust, plaster paris, glue, and hair, and used in large quantities. as fast as a specimen was put in place and fastened, the rough groundwork of boards was covered with the papier-maché composition to make a perfectly smooth foundation to receive the prairie sod. from first to last, between three and four barrels of this coarse papier-maché was used. it was made to set quickly, and the modeling which was done on the surface of the cut bank, and in the bed of the stream, was done as soon as the soft material was put on. the surface of the pool was represented by a sheet of plate glass, a quarter of an inch thick. the entire groundwork of the case was covered with genuine prairie sod, each piece about one inch thick and a foot square, cut on the buffalo range in montana, and shipped in barrels to washington. when this sod became perfectly dry, it lost all color and had the appearance of cured hay. in order to give it the right tone, it was necessary to spray it with a thin mixture of green paint in turpentine, to impart to it a pale green tint. as soon as the papier-maché was dry, the sod was cut neatly, matched carefully, and laid upon it--the joints being skilfully closed. a number of clumps of sage brush and bunches of broom sedge, grubbed up in montana and carefully dried, were set here and there through the group. a bed of cactus was also introduced in the foreground. the sage brush required no preparation except to pack it carefully, and dry it after it reached washington, with the branches in position. the leaves were of the right color when dry, and remained attached to the stems. montana dirt was used in the bottom of the buffalo trail, and on the side of the cut bank. a few buffalo bones were stuck in the side of the bank to represent fossil bones as they are often seen protruding from the faces of cut banks in montana. while the papier-maché around the edge of the pool was yet soft, tracks were made in it with genuine buffalo hoofs of various sizes, and many more tracks were made in the dust in the bottom of the buffalo trail. of all the accessories in the buffalo case, everything in sight came from the montana buffalo range, except the sheet of glass forming the surface of the pool. the last six months of my connection with the national museum witnessed the completion of the great group of moose, which we began in 1889. in size and general make-up it is a companion piece to the group of buffaloes, and is a memorial worthy of the colossal species it represents. the setting represents a section of the moose woods of upper canada, in which the larger animals are browsing on the tender twigs of the white birch. the animals have come together at the edge of a bog, which is growing full of a gigantic species of grayish moss, peculiar to that locality. the time represented is the middle of autumn. the few leaves that remain on the maple saplings have been painted with october's most gorgeous tints of crimson and yellow, mixed with green, and the leaves of the white birch have turned pale yellow. the ground is plentifully strewn with leaves of bright tints, through which the green moss of moist banks shows in patches here and there. [illustration: plate xix. drawn by c.b. hudson. group of american bison in the national] [illustration: museum.--collected and mounted by the author.] of the animals, the three largest--and huge beasts they are, truly--are feeding upon the birch twigs. a yearling calf is licking the head of a tiny brown-coated younger brother, while a two-year-old bull is in the act of "riding down" a stout birch sapling in order to get at the branches of its top, which would otherwise be beyond his reach. three of these fine specimens were collected by colonel cecil clay, of washington, and by him presented to the museum for this group, together with the trees, moss, and other accessories, which he collected with infinite labor and care in the moose woods. he also furnished us with field notes and critical advice throughout, which had much to do in making the group what it is--a monument to colonel clay's skill and prowess as a sportsman, and to his deep interest in _alces malchis_. it is to be sincerely hoped that other sportsmen will follow the colonel's admirable example, and aid the museums in which they are most interested to secure some attractive groups. the moose group was followed immediately by the group of musk-oxen, and there are others of rocky mountain goat, mountain sheep, and sea-lions in course of preparation. chapter xxxii. groups of birds and reptiles. the principles which underlie the production of successful groups of birds are precisely the same as those which have already been set forth under the head of "groups of small mammals." in addition, however, there is another which should be kept constantly in mind, viz., to guard against the temptation to permit the accessories of a group to completely overshadow, and, i might say, overwhelm, the specimens themselves. be careful to make the birds conspicuous, and to avoid the appearance of an exhibit of artificial plants and flowers, instead of mounted birds. of course each species must be represented by itself in a case which shall contain its nest, displayed in the identical bough, or bunch of grass, or hole in the bank which it occupied when found by the collector. except when a nest is situated in a bank of earth, the collector should cut a square section out of nature, of the proper dimensions for casing, and convey bodily the nest and its situation to the museum. occasionally circumstances will prevent this, when it becomes necessary to collect the nest and the material surrounding it, so that with their aid the situation of the nest can be built up in the laboratory. the finest groups of birds to be found in this country are those in the american museum of natural history in new york, which are the work of mr. jenness richardson. at present (1891) the series consists of groups composed almost wholly of species found in the state of new york. each group, except in a few instances, occupies a light, iron-framed case by itself, and stands on an ebonized table-base, raised on legs about eighteen inches from the floor. the framework of the case, and the wood-work of the base is painted black. when the home of a ground-nesting bird is shown, a section has been cut from mother earth, placed on the base as the foundation, and all the perishable plants growing thereon have been carefully reproduced in wax by casting, and put back in place. where a nest was situated in a low bush, the bush and its foliage, and the ground beneath have all been included in its transfer. when a nest was placed on the end of a bough, the difficulty has been surmounted very satisfactorily by cutting off as much of the bough as could be put in the case, then reproducing, on the bottom of the case, the ground exactly as it was under the tree, and simply laying carelessly upon it the cut branch containing the nest and the birds. of course watery situations call for the introduction of the plate-glass imitation. the feature of these groups that is so pleasing is that each one appears to have been cut out of its place in field or forest, and brought to the museum within an hour. the life-like birds, the earth and water, the natural wood, and the beautiful foliage of spring combine to impart to each group the breezy freshness of the forest, the very soul of nature all unchanged. to see these charming productions, fresh from the hand of a true artist-naturalist, and lay aside the spirit of carping criticism which would find fault with even a heavenly harp, is the next thing to finding one's self in the actual haunts of our native birds, with their songs trilling in our ears. mr. richardson's groups lack but one thing--the song of the birds. they are so many pretty pages from nature's choicest book, and actually bring the life of the forest into the otherwise dead and silent museum hall. the time will yet come when our wealthy lovers of art and animated nature will find places in their houses for such groups as these, and the money to pay for them will be forthcoming. at present they are tired of the old-fashioned glass "shade," covering a stiff and utterly unnatural pyramid of small stuffed birds on an impossible "tree." the old-fashioned wall-case of birds also fails to satisfy the æsthete, for the simple reason that something better is wanted. we are all ready to step up to a higher plane. groups of reptiles.--i know of but one good group of reptiles, and that is a group of turtles which was prepared by mr. f.a. lucas, and displayed at the exhibition of the s.a.t., in new york, in 1883, where it received a medal, and afterward was presented by him to the national museum. this altogether unique and pretty group teaches one very important lesson, viz., that even the most commonplace animals are interesting when they are well mounted, and grouped with a setting which represents their natural haunts. some of the specimens in this group are represented above water, and some beneath it, while one enterprising individual is caught in the act of diving, with part of his body under water and the other half out. the situation represents the successful accomplishment of a very neat mechanical feat, and is of itself an illustration of the possibilities in such matters. after the quadrupeds of north america have been gathered and grouped until there remain in that direction no more worlds to conquer, it will be quite in order for our enterprising taxidermists then to proceed to the mounting of groups of reptiles. there are possibilities with such subjects as the crocodiles, iguanas, lizards of various kinds, serpents, and turtles that few dream of. already professor goode has under consideration the production of a series of reptilian groups for the national museum, and within a short time the work will be undertaken. chapter xxxiii. hints on painting museum specimens. in the preparation of museum specimens in general there is, from first to last, a great deal of painting to be done, and a knowledge of how to paint specimens properly is quite as necessary as a knowledge of how to mount them. materials necessary for general work. _brushes for fine work._ artists' round sable, no. 2, each 8 cts. " " " 4, " 12 cts. " " " 6, " 15 cts. " " " 7, " 18 cts. " " " 9, " 20 cts. " " " 11, " 27 cts. _brushes for ordinary work._ flat fitch (bristles), no. 1, each 7 cts. " " " 2, " 7 cts. " " " 3, " 8 cts. " " " 4, " 10 cts. " " " 5, " 10 cts. " " " 6, " 12 cts. _brushes for coarse work._ sash tool, no. 5, each 20 cts. " " 6, " 25 cts. sash tool, no. 7, each 30 cts. " " 8, " 35 cts. palette 25 cts. palette knife 25 cts. palette cups, each 10 cts. spirits of turpentine, per qt. 15 cts. boiled linseed oil, per qt. 20 cts. hard oil finish (white, for varnishing) per pt. 25 cts. _windsor & newton's tube colors, as follows_: ivory black, 8 cts.; vandyke brown, 8 cts.; burnt sienna, 8 cts.; raw sienna, 8 cts.; burnt umber, 8 cts.; raw umber, 8 cts.; naples yellow, 8 cts.; chrome yellow, 8 cts.; yellow ochre, 8 cts.; indigo, 8 cts.; indian red, 8 cts.; vermilion, 15 cts.; flake white, 8 cts.; sugar of lead, 8 cts. for coarse work, all these colors, except the finer ones, should be bought in one-pound cans, ground in oil. in addition to colors ground in oil, it is extremely desirable to have from one to two pounds of each of the following: dry colors, and cost per pound. zinc white 10 cts. vandyke brown 15 cts. chrome yellow 25 cts. lamp-black 35 cts. plumbago 10 cts. raw sienna 15 cts. burnt umber 15 cts. raw umber 15 cts. burnt sienna 15 cts. to the enterprising taxidermist a few dollars judiciously expended in such materials as the above are bread cast upon the waters, that will be sure to return to him before many days, buttered on both sides. no matter what it costs, have the right kind of brushes, and a good assortment of coloring materials. do not try to "get along" with whatever you happen to have, if it happens to be not the right thing. don't try to paint fish scales with a sash tool, or delicate fin-rays with a fitch. use for such purposes delicate, little sable pencils (flat), nos. 1 to 4. take good care of them after use, wash them out with soap and water, or benzine, and keep them in good working order by keeping them clean and soft. do not let the colors on your palette get in a nasty mess, fit to turn an artist's stomach inside out, but keep your palette clean and in good order. take from the tubes only as much color as you are likely to use. keep the centre of your palette free from masses of color, so that you can have that space for mixing. only those who have first been taught the slipshod ways of the slouch, and afterward learned the methods of the artist, can realize the advantages in favor of the latter as revealed in results. general principles.--the skins and fleshy parts of all mammals and birds become shrunken, mummified and colorless when dry, and if not covered with hair or feathers require to be painted with the colors which have disappeared. as to what the colors should be, the taxidermist must learn by observation from living specimens, or those freshly killed, or from good colored illustrations. surface.--whatever the subject to be painted, the first care is to see that the surface is properly prepared to receive the color. if it be skin, it must be perfectly clean, and free from dirt, dust, or loose scales. if a skin has any sort of powdery deposit upon it, it must be scraped clean with a knife. holes and seams must be filled up with papier-maché, long enough in advance that it will have time to dry. papier-maché which is to be painted should always be given two coats of white shellac, mixed rather thin, before putting on any paint. if this is not done, the maché will absorb two or three coats of paint, like a sponge, and the surface will dry perfectly dead. gloss.--the colors on terrestrial mammals and birds (except the mouth parts and noses of the former) are very seldom, if ever, what may be called glossy. the mouth parts of mammals, or at least such as are wet by the animal's saliva, are always glossy, as also are the edges of the eyelids, and the bare end of the nose in ruminants. _to give paint a perpetual gloss_, like varnish, use colors ground in oil, and mixed with boiled linseed oil only when applied. _to give paint a faint gloss_, use colors ground in oil, and mix with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine, equal parts. _to have paint dry without gloss_, mix with turpentine only when it is applied. _to have paint dry flat and dead_, use dry colors, and mix with turpentine. _to make paint dry quickly and be very hard_, mix with it a little sugar of lead (ground in oil) fresh from the tube. to paint the skin of an animal, and yet make it look as if the skin contained the color instead of bearing it upon its surface, use oil colors, mix with boiled linseed oil and turpentine, equal parts, and apply. when the paint is _beginning_ to dry, so that it is sticky, take some dry color of a corresponding tint, dip into it a clean, dry, square-ended bristle brush of good size, and twirl it about until it becomes filled with the dry powder, then, with light and delicate strokes, apply it directly upon the painted surface so that the dry color will fall upon the wet paint like a shower of colored dust. this is to be done with the motion that painters use in "stippling," and may very well be done with a stippling brush, if you have one. do not get on too much of the dry color, or the effect will be spoiled. your eye must teach you when to stop. in this process of stippling dry color into wet paint, plaster paris may very frequently be used to good advantage to deaden gloss, and soften effects. in coloring the hairless portions of the faces, hands, etc., of apes, baboons, and monkeys, and on many other subjects, this process is of very great value. blending colors.--if two colors are laid down, one against the other, each in a solid mass, up to the imaginary line that lies between them, the effect is hard and unpleasing, because unnatural. nature never joins two contrasting-colors without a blending together and softening of the two tones where they touch each other. if it be red and brown, the red merges a little way into the brown, imperceptibly, perhaps, and the line of demarcation between the two is thus softened, and naturalized, if you please. therefore, in your painting have no hard lines where your colors meet, but always blend adjoining colors together by passing a small brush over the line where they meet. strength of tones.--the colors that nature puts on an animal are not hard, crude, and staring, like bright red in the mouth of a mounted quadruped, but they are _always in harmony with the other parts of the object_. a bird may have yellow legs, but if it does, you may be sure they will not be a bright, glossy, chrome yellow, so gaudy as to instantly catch the eye. the chances are, they will be naples yellow, with only a tinge of chrome. learn to soften tints so they will not be staring, gaudy, and offensive to the eye. examine the tongue of a live tiger or lion, and you will notice its color is a pale pink. _in all painting, study the harmony of colors, the strength of tones, and the blending of tints. do not get your colors too gaudy, too sharply contrasted, nor laid on roughly; but paint evenly, and keep all your colors in perfect harmony._ painting the skin of thinly haired mammals.--it very often happens that the skin of a thin-haired mammal has a decided color of its own, which must be imparted to it by painting. this is particularly the case with our next of kin--the apes and monkeys. the orang utan has a chocolate-colored skin, except the old males, in which it is black; the mona monkey has a bluish skin, and the faces of nearly all primates require painting. to paint a skin through thin hair, use oil colors mixed with turpentine, and made so thin that the mixture runs over the skin as soon as it touches it, like water. by separating the hair, it is often possible to get the paint on the skin without saturating the hair save at its roots; but if the turpentine color does get on the hair it must be sponged off with benzine. do not mix your colors with oil, or you will get into serious trouble; but the oil in which the tube color has been ground will be just sufficient to give a natural tone to the skin. if the color when put on appears too strong and conspicuous, stipple the surface with a little plaster paris, to tone it down. painting legs and beaks of birds.--paint the legs and beaks of such birds as require it, with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine, equal parts of each, and have your paint thin enough on the legs that it will not obscure the scales. on the beak, a thicker coat is necessary, and, in fact, it is nearly always necessary to put on two coats. in coloring the beaks of toucans and hornbills, blend adjoining colors very deeply but evenly, and let there be no hard boundary lines anywhere. a little white wax softened and cut with turpentine and mixed with the paint on a bird's beak gives the color a depth and transparency quite similar to the appearance of the beak of a living bird. painting mounted fishes.--a fish must be perfectly dry before it is touched with a brush. time spent in painting a half-dry specimen is so much thrown away. the repairs with papier-maché must be complete and dry, and the specimen perfectly clean. nearly every fish possesses in its coloring pigment a quality which imparts to it a silvery, metallic lustre; therefore, to secure the finest result attainable in painting a fish, either an actual specimen or a plaster cast, all those that are silvery must first be coated over the entire scaly surface with nickel leaf, laid on sizing, similar to the treatment of gold leaf in gilding. with dark-colored fishes satisfactory work may be done without the use of nickel leaf, except on the under parts, which are nearly always silvery white. it is absolutely impossible to reproduce the brilliant lustre so characteristic of white scales by the use of white paint alone, or even silver bronze, or silver paint. without the nickel underneath the paint looks dead and artificial. if you are called upon to make a large collection with as little outlay as possible, it will be sufficient to omit the nickel leaf, for your paint will still faithfully record the colors. but if you wish to have your fish look as brilliantly beautiful as when taken struggling from the water, put on the leaf first, and paint on it, _thinly_, so that the silver will show through your colors and impart to them the desired lustre. if you paint too thickly, the leaf will be covered up, and its lustre obscured. do not attempt to use silver bronze, silver paint, or even silver leaf, for nickel leaf is the only substance which has sufficient lustre _and will not oxidize_, and turn yellow. if the whole body of a fish is dark, and without silvery tints, it is, of course, unnecessary to use leaf, for the lustre can be obtained by varnishing over the paint. in many fishes, such as the scaled carp, for example, marsching's gold paint or japanese gold can be used directly on the scales (_after_ the entire fish has had a thin coat of hendley's enamel varnish), and the silver paint can be used to good effect in edging the scales. on the belly, however, which is silvery white, nickel leaf must be used. the heads of most fishes are so dark as to render the use of leaf unnecessary upon them, and of course it need not be used on the fins. painting plaster casts of fishes, reptiles, etc.--when a cast is first taken from the mould, it will nearly always be found that its surface is pitted here and there with little round holes caused by air-bubbles. the process of wetting the inside of these holes, and carefully filling each one with mixed plaster paris is called "pointing up" a cast. after this has been carefully done, and the form and surface of the white cast is perfect, if the cast is thoroughly dry we are ready to begin to paint it, and proceed as described in the preceding section. in case you find it impossible to use nickel leaf on your fishes, you can do very good work without it, except that the silvery parts will not be really silvery, and the white paint put on will gradually turn yellow with age. after you have given the specimen a good coat of colors (using zinc white for the silvery parts, because it is more permanent than other whites), varnish the specimen all over with a kind of heavy white varnish called siccatif de harlem, or, lacking that, enamel varnish. this will dry in about twenty minutes, after which paint the object over again, this time with extreme care in the final touches. in painting fishes and reptiles, there is a vast amount of detail to be wrought out, and constant blending of colors. on many fishes each scale must be marked off and painted separately. in blending the edges of two adjoining colors, it must be done with a clean brush--a small one, of course--with either a quick, nervous motion along the line of contact, or else a steady sweep, according to circumstances. when the brush gets full of paint, wash it out in benzine (_not_ turpentine), because it quickly becomes clean, and dries perfectly in a moment. the eyes of fishes and reptiles are so peculiar, and vary so exceedingly, that it is a practical impossibility to provide glass eyes that will be exactly right for each species. for fishes, as good a way as any is to let the eye be cast _in situ_, and when you paint the fish, paint the eye also as it should be, and when dry, varnish it over with a thick coat of soluble glass or enamel varnish. part iii.--making casts. chapter xxxiv. principles of universal application in making moulds and casts. the processes employed in making plaster paris moulds and casts are very simple, and easily learned, even by one who has had no previous knowledge of the subject. to be sure, a certain degree of intelligence and skill is necessary in the operator; but we are not writing for the edification of duffers who do not know how to use their hands, or follow plain directions. the first thing to understand is the difference between a mould that will "draw," and one that will not. a mould may be made on one side of a base-ball, and it will draw off the object at once, because there is no point on the ball behind which, or under which, the plaster can catch, and hang fast until something breaks. a mould of one full side of an apple will not draw, because the apple has a hollow at each end, and when these are set full of plaster the mould and the apple are held firmly together. a hollow or a protuberance on an object which would prevent a mould from drawing away makes what is called an "undercut," and necessitates the making of a separate piece in the mould. to cast several copies of a human head and neck necessitates the making of a mould in several pieces, all fitting very nicely together, with countersink joints, to accommodate the undercuts behind the ears, under the chin, the hollows of the eyes, etc. a mould made in more than two pieces is called a "piece mould." it may have any number of pieces, of course, according to the nature of the object. perhaps the most remarkable piece mould in existence is that used by professor h.a. ward in making casts of the tail of the great fossil armadillo called the glyptodon. the tail is a mass of big conical tubercles, and the mould contains, as nearly as i can remember, about one hundred and twenty-five pieces, all fitting into a big "jacket" of plaster which holds them all in place while a cast is being made. in the case of a piece mould the cast is not taken out of the mould, but the latter is dissected and taken off the cast, piece by piece. the principles involved in making moulds and casts are best explained by brief descriptions of the processes, and if they are learned by carefully following the directions here given, the operator will be able to apply them, indefinitely, to all classes of objects, large or small. how to make a piece mould.--let us take a good-sized apple as our subject, and follow out the process, step by step. 1. in making a mould of any kind of fruit, first soak the fruit in water an hour or two, to "plump it up," so that it will not swell in the mould and cause trouble. 2. wipe it dry, and with a small paint-brush give it a thin coat of lard oil, so that the plaster will not stick to it. some objects should be coated with clay water, or very thin clay, instead of oil. [illustration: fig. 59.--beginning to make a piece mould.] 3. bed one end of the apple in damp sand, precisely as shown in the illustration (fig. 59). if you have no sand, use fine sawdust, or wet corn meal. some objects require clay. do not have the sand wet and water soaked, for it will not yield so readily to the palette knife. 4. dot a line on the sand all round, to show how far out to run the plaster, and avoid making the mould too thick. 5. take two-thirds of a teacup of water, and put in plaster paris until it becomes about as thick as new orleans molasses. stir thoroughly with a spoon, and let it stand two or three minutes. 6. dip the plaster out with a teaspoon, and cover the exposed part of the apple. it will run down all over the horizontal surface of the sand, but never mind that. make it cover the apple everywhere to a depth of a quarter of an inch. in some places it will be thicker. after about three or four minutes the plaster will be as stiff as modeling clay. while it is in this state take your palette knife and neatly smooth and shape the outer surface. finish smoothing with the finger, and let the plaster harden. this will take about seven minutes longer, or until the plaster has warmed and cooled again. the time varies according to the humidity of the atmosphere. 7. take the apple from the sand, with the half mould on it, wash off the sand, and neatly trim the edge of the mould with a knife. 8. with a blunt-pointed knife make three countersunk holes in the edge of the mould. 9. with a brush, anoint the edge of the mould with thin clay, clay-water, or soft soap, or lard oil, or even lard. [illustration: fig. 60.--second step in making a piece mould.] 10. turn the mould up on edge, and bed half of the exposed portion of the apple in the sand, as seen in fig. 60. fill in this space with plaster, precisely the same as when the first piece was made, which produces the second piece of the mould. 11. make the countersunk holes in the edge of the second piece as before; fill in with plaster all the remaining space between pieces 1 and 2, and we have the third piece, which completes the mould. as soon as this hardens, tap the mould lightly all over with a small mallet, to loosen it from the object, then take out piece no. 3, and the mould is easily separated and the apple taken out. take one part of gum sandarac (dissolved in ninety-five per cent alcohol) and three parts of white shellac, also dissolved, and mix them. they will form a solution a little thicker than water. have the mould perfectly dry, and apply this solution to the entire inner surface of it with a small paint-brush. the solution will be absorbed at first, and you must continue to apply it until the inner surface has an egg-shell gloss, which is sufficient. then oil the inside with lard oil. [illustration: fig. 61.--last step in making a piece mould.] [illustration: fig. 62.--the finished mould.] 12. put together pieces 1 and 2 of the mould, cut a groove around them to hold a stout string, and tie it tightly to hold them together. then mix some plaster, and fill each piece (1 and 2) about half full, walling it up the sides with the finger, a quarter of an inch thick, or as the plaster will make it. then wipe off the exposed edges of the mould so they will fit snugly together with no. 3. now mix up a little more plaster, about one-fourth the quantity first used, pour into the hollow, then put on the third piece; tie all tightly together, and turn the mould round and round slowly. this fills the third piece, and holds it in its place. keep turning the mould slowly, and tapping it with the left hand. leave a little of the plaster on the outside, on a piece of glass or paper, so that you can tell when it gets hard and flinty in the mould. do not take off the mould until the cast is perfectly hard. how to make a waste mould.--when a soft or fleshy object is to be cast, one which will yield, and draw out of the mould regardless of undercuts, a very quick and satisfactory process (provided a second copy of the cast will never be wanted) is to make what is called a waste mould. this, with a fleshy subject, is a short cut to a perfect cast, and often saves hours of valuable time. in obtaining casts of mammal heads, legs, or other parts, or casts of fishes and reptiles, it is the method _par excellence_. let us learn the principles of it by making a waste mould and cast of a human hand. 1. bed the hand in damp sand (_i.e._, one-half of it), as shown in the accompanying figure, no. 63. [illustration: fig. 63.--the beginning of a waste mould.] 2. give the exposed portion of the hand a good coat of lard oil. 3. take two-thirds of a gill of water in a teacup, put into it half a teaspoonful of dry indian red (to be bought for five cents at any paint store), and mix it up. this is to color some plaster with which to make a thin, colored lining for our mould, the purpose of which will be appreciated later on. 4. mix with this red water one and one-half gills of plaster paris, stir it up thoroughly to get it well mixed and free from air-bubbles, then with a teaspoon distribute it all over the hand until it is completely covered with a coat of the pink plaster about one-eighth of an inch thick. 5. after this thin coat has hardened, anoint the surface of it with lard oil or clay water, so that the plaster which is to be put upon it will not stick to it, but separate readily when the outer case of the mould is chiseled off. 6. take one and one-half gills of water, and three-quarters of a pint of plaster, mix for outer case of mould, and apply on top of the pink lining to a thickness of about half an inch. let this get perfectly hard. (fig. 64.) [illustration: fig. 64.--second step in making a waste mould.] 7. take the subject out of the sand. turn it over, anoint the edge of the mould with clay water or lard oil, and treat the other side in precisely the same manner. this is the course when the whole object is to be cast. if half the object is sufficient, as is the case in taking a record cast of one side of an animal's head and body, then take the subject from the mould, and 8. wash the inside of the mould thoroughly to get out the clay and sand. 9. anoint the inside of the mould with clay water, thin clay, or lard oil, and lay it in position to receive the plaster. 10. mix a proper quantity of plaster, pour it into the mould and let it harden. lay the mould (with the cast inside) on a cushion, or on your lap; take a half-inch chisel and a light mallet, and, beginning at the end nearest your left hand, chisel away the case of the mould, bit by bit, until you come down to the pink lining coat, which shows that you are close to the cast. great care is necessary to avoid breaking the cast, which of course is very easily cut or broken. in cutting off the pink lining be exceedingly careful not to go too deep (fig. 65). the purpose of this lining is to show you when you are close to the cast. if the case of the mould is quite thick, hold the chisel on a slant of about fifty degrees from a perpendicular, and pare off the upper surface gradually. [illustration: fig. 65.--chiseling off the waste mould.] making gelatine moulds.--there are many objects which can not be copied in plaster by either of the above methods without great difficulty. these are hard substances, the surfaces of which are extremely irregular and full of little hollows, such as meteorites, statuettes, sculptured rocks, or models such as those of the aztec calendar stone and sacrificial stone. when a number of copies are required, the making of a waste mould for each copy is out of the question, and the manufacture of a piece mould that will draw off is also a long task, to say nothing of making the casts themselves and cleaning them up. the solution of all such difficulties is the gelatine or "glue" mould, which is elastic, pliant, and yet keeps its shape perfectly. this is how to make it: let us suppose we are to make a gelatine mould of a flattened meteorite, eight inches in diameter and about three inches thick. take some potter's clay, or modeling clay, which has been nicely worked up in a square lump, and is not wet enough to be too sticky. with a small wire, cut it into slabs about three-quarters of an inch thick, and with these cover the entire object to the depth mentioned. put the clay on everywhere the same thickness, making it conform to the irregularities of the surface. this clay will presently be exactly replaced with gelatine. having coated the object as described, make a plaster paris mould of the whole of it, in two parts, which separate horizontally around the outermost edge. when you make a plaster mould of the upper half, erect a high cone of clay over the centre of the meteorite as it lies flat upon the table, so that it will make a funnel-shaped hole in the upper half of the mould, through which you can pour in the gelatine. of course the two pieces of this plaster mould must fit nicely together, with countersunk holes. this plaster mould of the clay-covered object is called the "jacket," and its use will soon be apparent. now for the gelatine. _recipe for gelatine moulds._--the gelatine compound is made by taking glue and glycerine in the following proportions, varying the quantity to suit the size of the object: of best irish glue, 3 pounds; glycerine, 1-1/4 pounds; and about 1-1/2 ounces of white-wax. dip the glue in water, and then roll it up overnight in several thicknesses of wet cloth, so as to soften it without soaking it in water, which is an element to be kept out. in the morning the glue will be soft. procure a large-sized gluepot, or improvise one by putting a small tin pail in a larger one, with water between, and in this put the glue and glycerine and cook it up. melt the wax separately, and pour it in after the other is well mixed and hot. a gelatine mould can be made of any degree of hardness by adding dry white zinc which has been carefully ground in a mortar, but ordinarily none is necessary. to make the gelatine mould the clay must all be taken off the object, and the latter washed clean. lay the lower half of the "jacket" upon the table, inside uppermost, and drive four small wire nails into it at different points, allowing each one to project just three-fourths of an inch, for the meteorite to rest upon, and give space for the gelatine to flow underneath and form that part of the mould. now put the meteorite carefully in place, resting on these nail-heads, and then put on the upper half of the "jacket." cord the jacket tightly together without disturbing the position of the object inside. if there are any cracks at the edges, fill them up with clay. now pour in the hot gelatine at the funnel-shaped hole in the upper half of the jacket, until the mould is quite full. let the mould stand two hours to cool and harden; then remove the upper half of the "jacket." to get the object out, take a sharp knife and slit the coating of gelatine fully half-way round, so that the two halves can be opened like an oyster, and the object lifted out. the inside of the gelatine mould must now have a coating to make it impervious to the water in the plaster paris. mix up the following: 1 teacupful of spirits of turpentine. about 4 level teaspoonfuls of white lead. about 1 teaspoonful of lightning dryer. mix this well, paint the inside of the mould with it, two coats, which makes the gelatine waterproof. to make a cast, oil the inside of the mould with lard oil, put the plaster jacket around it, so that it fits perfectly, and tie the two pieces of the jacket firmly together to prevent a disaster when the plaster begins to heat in the mould. mix your plaster with ice-water for the same reason, and you will have no trouble. for irregular objects, the working of a gelatine mould is perfection itself. it yields gracefully in coming out of the undercuts and around corners, takes every detail perfectly, and in the jacket its shape is always the same. a careful operator can make from twenty to fifty copies of a cast in a single mould before its loss of sharpness necessitates its abandonment. chapter xxxv. casts of mammals, fishes, and reptiles. casting parts of mammals in the flesh.--although it is usually impossible to carry more than ten or fifteen pounds of plaster into the field when you go off on a collecting trip, a quantity sufficient for a special purpose is often worth its weight in silver dollars. but many a fine subject comes entire to the laboratory, where the taxidermist can work his will upon it. if i have never done any other good thing in my life, i believe i have at least taught some of our best american taxidermists the usefulness and value of plaster casts taken from the flesh. it is only a few hours' work to make a mould and cast of the entire side of an animal as large as a large dog, or even a lion, and still less to take half the head, or the nose, a fore leg, or hind leg. once we had an opportunity to cast the entire head of an immense bull moose, and right greedily did we seize it. the resultant cast has been of priceless value to us as an exact record of the form of a wonderful head. if you wish to do a fine piece of work, and have the animal in the flesh, by all means make a cast of one whole side of it. it will repay its cost ten times over. no record of form is equal to a cast, even though it be a poor one. i once made a mould of one entire side of the head of a large leopard in twenty minutes. it is about an hour's work to make a good mould of the entire head of a monkey, or two legs of a tiger. the principles of this work have already been stated, and there is little more to be said. if the specimen is a large one, lay it upon the floor, build up around it with sand, or even wet sawdust, and arrange to take one side of the animal's head, or entire form, as the case may be. to take the two legs it will be necessary to first fill plaster under each one to make a separate piece. in order to keep the plaster from sticking to the hair, fill the hair full of thick clay-water, or thin clay, and plaster it down with the pasty mass so that the plaster paris will not run into it. coat the whiskers and eyelids with warm wax, or fill them full of clay. do this thoroughly, to save the hair and save trouble. a little hair will stick in the mould anyway, but when you take the mould off, work the animal slowly and carefully from the mould, perhaps pouring in a little water to facilitate matters. always make a waste mould in these cases, to save time. if your cast breaks in two while you are chiseling the mould off, go ahead more carefully, and when you are done, chip the broken edges at the back, wet them with water, and stick them together with plaster. small casts can be stuck together with shellac. if your mould breaks in pieces while you are taking it off, don't be discouraged, but simply put the pieces together, back them up with more plaster, and come up smiling for the next round. it is often necessary to cast skulls or teeth, to put in skins that are being mounted, though it is better to carve a skull out of soft wood. casting fishes.--fishes are easy and interesting subjects to cast. usually only one side is taken, and the cast is then mounted on a flat slab, or perhaps on two brass standards. the full method of procedure is as follows: wash off the mucus with alum-water. put some dry alum on the side to be cast, to harden the soft edges of the fins, and make every scale stand out distinctly. clean the fish carefully, close the mouth, adjust the eye and the gills. lay the fish on its side, with the side to be cast uppermost. take some modeling clay, beat it out, and roll it into a smooth, square cake with parallel sides. with a small wire cut a section of this cake, and place it under each fin, so that the fin will be held in position as in life. to make a piece mould, make it in three pieces, thus: put up a wall of clay around the head from the base of the dorsal fin to the base of the anal fin, keeping the clay wall a little distance away from the head and body. with plaster paris fill in the space thus left, up to the median line of the fish, but no higher. with a knife work the plaster under the edge of the fish, and let it harden; then put two countersinks in each side. for the main piece, mix some dry color in enough plaster to coat the fish one-eighth of an inch thick, make it thin, and pour over with a spoon. when covered thinly, blow hard upon it, all over, to make it take the scales sharply; then put on enough more to make the colored coat an eighth of an inch thick. let this harden, then put on the thick coat of white plaster, which is to be chiseled off, as this is supposed to be a waste mould. in making the cast, if it be possible make it before the mould gets dry, so that the latter will chisel off easily. pour the mould nearly full of plaster, then set a piece of wood in at the back to afford a means of screwing the cast to a panel, or inserting standards. after the cast is made it must, of course, be carefully painted, which is another matter, and is treated elsewhere. casting reptiles.--after all the detailed directions that have been already given on this subject it is not necessary to speak further of methods. mr. joseph palmer, of the national museum, has produced such pleasing and artistic representations of reptiles of all sorts, especially serpents and tortoises, it would seem that perfection in this line has been reached. his serpents are all on imitation rocks, trees, or earth, and in about all the attitudes they would assume in life. they are represented as crawling, sleeping, fighting, striking, and threatening. by the introduction of wires in the moulds while making the casts, they are made to act quite naturally. of course they have been carefully and artistically painted, and half the credit for their beauty is therefore due to the colorist. lizards of many species, large and small, and also tortoises and turtles of every american species, are thus represented with great success. this interesting collection is well worthy of study; but to the taxidermist who is not also a first-rate artist in oil colors, this method is beyond his powers. part iv.--osteology. chapter xxxvi. collecting skeletons. it is really strange that so few american collectors are taught the scientific value of skeletons, and the need to collect them, especially when in the haunts of rare animals. while hundreds of collectors gather bird skins by the cord, perhaps not one out of the whole lot saves a rough skeleton. any one who is wholly unaccustomed to the preparation of skeletons is apt to stand appalled at the thought of preparing one from the beginning; and, indeed, the _final_ work of cleaning and mounting is no child's play. but let me assure you that, so far as the field work is concerned, you can easily become a successful collector of skeletons of all kinds, even though you may never learn to clean and mount one. all you have to do in the field is to "rough out" skeletons from the flesh, and dry them in compact bundles for shipment. a rough skeleton of a mammal, bird, reptile, or fish, is simply the complete bony framework of the body, from which the most of the flesh has been cut away with a common knife, after which the skeleton and remaining flesh has been dried preparatory to its being, at some indefinite time in the future, taken in hand by a professional osteologist. the work of preparation on such specimens is very simple, and when once learned is easily performed. selection of specimens.--when a choice is possible, select large and perfect adult male specimens as subjects to be skeletonized. the skeletons of young animals are always imperfect in development, do not properly represent a species, and are seldom valuable except for comparison with other specimens of the same species. very often a fine adult specimen has its skin so badly torn by shot or bullets, or the skin covering is in such a bad state of shedding, moulting, and the like, that the skin is totally unfit for preservation. in such a case the preservation of a fine perfect skeleton becomes a clear gain of one specimen to the collector and to science. a perfect skeleton is one in which not a bone is missing, and in which no substitutions have been made. but it is by no means always possible to secure a wild animal without breaking some portion of its osteological anatomy. when a bone is broken, the best thing to do is to supply it with a corresponding bone from an animal of similar size and age. sometimes the closet naturalist, who generally thinks that rare wild animals are gathered like berries, will grumble because a broken bone has thus been replaced, and find fault with the size of the substitute, but that need not trouble the collector's conscience in the least. i once shot a fine prong-horn antelope buck, skeletonized it carefully, cut up the skeleton, and carried the whole of it for three days attached to my saddle, while i rode a very restive and dangerous horse, and also carried two blankets and a maynard rifle. that skeleton, thus earned, had some broken bones supplied from another specimen. it finally went to europe, and fell into the hands of a closet naturalist, who blithely found fault with the collector because of the supplied bones. again, when i once risked drowning in order to enter a cave on a dangerous sea-coast to collect guacharo birds, and got a goodly number, a german closet naturalist complained bitterly because a skin that was sent to him had two missing tail-feathers supplied by two other feathers that were a trifle smaller than the missing ones. but i did once perform a feat in south america which filled the souls of my friends at ward's with wonder, and even admiration. in collecting about half a dozen skeletons of capybara, each of which i took care should be absolutely perfect, by some brilliant manoeuvre i contrived to send home to the establishment one skeleton which was the happy possessor of two left forelegs and two left hind legs, but never a right one; and in the language of the old testament, "his bones are there to this day!" skeletons of mammals: small objects.--the smallest quadrupeds--such as bats, small rodents, shrews, and the like--should be eviscerated, and preserved in alcohol, without being skinned; but each specimen should be fully labeled. as a general thing it is best, for various reasons, not to dry such small carcasses. for all mammals below the size of the virginia deer, proceed as follows: 1. remove the skin as expeditiously as possible, in order to have a fair show at the skeleton. 2. if the skeleton is _smaller_ than a fox, leave the legs attached to the body, for convenience, until you have cut the flesh away from them with your scalpel or pocket-knife, without any disjointing. when all the legs have been thus roughly denuded of flesh, cut them loose from the body and lay aside for the moment. 3. if the specimen is larger than a fox, cut off the legs from the body, lay each one flat upon the ground, inside uppermost, divide the flesh all the way along it directly over the bones, and literally dissect the bones out of the mass of flesh, instead of cutting the flesh away piece by piece. this is the quickest and neatest way. the scapula must come off with the fore leg, and be left attached to the humerus. be sure you cut off all the masses of flesh, _but don't cut off the knee-pan_, as you may easily do if you are not watchful. 4. now for the carcass. hold it on its back, begin at the breastbone, flake off the flesh from the sides of the body close down to the ribs, until the backbone is reached. cut off as much flesh as you can (hurriedly) from along the backbone. 5. next attack the abdomen. beginning at the lower point of the breastbone, detach the walls of the abdomen from the ends of the short ribs, down to the lumbar vertebræ, and so on around the iliac margin of the pelvis. cut through the diaphragm close up to where it is attached to the ribs, and remove at one effort the entrails and vital organs. 6. cut away the flesh from the pelvis, both inside and out, and the flesh of the tenderloin from underneath the lumbar vertebræ. 7. cut the flesh from the thick portion of the tail. 8. cut off the head at the first cervical vertebra, and clean the skull as previously described elsewhere, but leave _the hyoid bone in its place_. 9. cut the flesh away from the neck vertebræ as well as you can. be careful not to cut the sternum (or breastbone), which is soft cartilage, and easily cut; nor the ends of any vertebral processes, nor any soft bones. 10. if the skeleton is a small one, it is apt to get quite bloody during the operation. wash it clean, and if necessary soak it in clear water for an hour or two. it will come all the whiter for it in the end. skeletons of ruminant animals are generally clean enough without that. 11. do not poison a rough skeleton with arsenical soap, nor put salt upon it; so says mr. lucas, the osteologist of the national museum. the former has a tendency to prevent skeletons from properly macerating and coming white. sprinkle dry arsenic upon a skeleton, if anything is necessary to protect it from _dermestes_ and other insects. never put alum on a skeleton. [illustration: fig. 66.--rough skeleton of a small animal. (after f.a. lucas.)] 12. the last thing is to make up the skeleton into a small, compact bundle, that will pack nicely and economically when dry, and withstand some pressure without breakage. put the skull in the chest cavity. fold up the upper joints of the legs, put the foot of each in the pelvis, and the other end in the cavity of the chest. now tie all the legs tightly to the spinal column. (see fig. 66.) bend the tail under the pelvis and tie it fast also. finally, hang the specimen up in the shade and wind, so that it will dry quickly. it will be observed that the above process leaves the body of the skeleton entire, and all the bones of each leg and foot united by their natural ligaments. a skeleton prepared thus may ultimately be mounted as a "ligamentary skeleton," or it may be disjointed throughout, macerated, and mounted as a "disarticulate skeleton." except for skeletons of bison, elk, and other animals which are entirely too large to admit of transporting their bodies whole, it is much the best to prepare all others in the field as described above, and disarticulate some of them afterward; for this reduces to a minimum the chance of losing some of the parts. skeletons of large mammals.--the process of roughing out the skeletons of large mammals, no matter how large they may be, is precisely the same as described above for small ones; but to make it possible to transport and box them, they must be cut to pieces, or, i had better say, _disjointed_, for fear some zealous partisan might interpret my words too literally, and go at a valuable skeleton with an axe. and right here let me publish a law which is as fixed and unalterable as the laws of the medes and persians, and admits of no exception: _in disarticulating a large skeleton, no matter how large, an axe or hatchet must never be used for any purpose whatever._ use nothing but the knife, and in a few cases a small saw to separate the sternum from the ends of the ribs. to come down to the details of cutting up a large skeleton in, the field, and making it up into a number of separate bundles, let us suppose that the skeleton lies before us, completely roughed out, in accordance with previous advice. the bones of each leg must be dislocated (at the "knees" in ruminant animals) either once or twice, so that the parts can be easily handled. in a full-grown elephant the leg bones are so large it is necessary to cut the ligaments at each joint, so that the scapula, humerus, radius and ulna, and foot may each be handled separately. of course, the head is to be cut off at the first cervical vertebra. then, by careful work, and much coaxing with the sharp point of the knife, dislocate the spinal column just where the neck joins the body. at first this will bother you, but have patience and you will soon learn how to do it easily and quickly. in dislocating the spinal column, take hold of the neck, move it backward and forward, and strain it a bit to see just where the articulating surfaces of the vertebral process are, so that you can cut them. when your intelligence has made some headway on the joint, then you may put forth a little main strength and tear the vertebræ apart, but do not attempt this too soon. the next thing is to cut off the ribs, and the first step toward this is to cut out the sternum, or breastbone. (see plate xx.) this so-called bone is really cartilage, soft enough in a fresh skeleton to cut on the outside, and in thin places, like cheese rind. it must be cut out in one piece, the same as may be seen in the figure of the mounted skeleton, and the dotted line _a b_ shows where the cartilaginous ribs of the sternum join the bony ribs that form the main arch of the thorax. at the points marked by the dotted line, cut the two apart. i have never found it necessary to use a saw for this work in a perfectly fresh skeleton, but in dry ones a saw is necessary. when you come to the short, or "floating ribs," as they are called, it will be found that their cartilages are only attached weakly to the cartilages of the previous ribs, or else are altogether free. these must be cut from the ribs and preserved with great care. after the ribs have been cut free from the sternum, separate them from the backbone, one by one, make them up into bundles, and tie them up. the pelvis is to be separated from the spinal column at the last lumbar vertebra; and if necessary the spinal column may be again dislocated about the middle. formerly it was my practice to poison all rough skeletons with a thin wash of arsenical soap, to make them dry without smelling badly, and to keep off the myriads of insects that the shreds of flesh would naturally attract. now, however, in obedience to the mandates of mr. lucas, i have eschewed the use of arsenical soap for this purpose, and recommend the use of dry arsenic instead, which does not retard the cleaning of the bones. rough skeletons of birds.--as in the case of a small mammal, first remove the skin from the body; but if the identity of the bird is in doubt, leave the large tail feathers and the primaries in place, for future reference. in fact, it is a good plan to always leave the primaries and spurious quills on the wing, for then there will be no danger that some of the small bones of the last joint will get lost or cut away by mistake. moreover, when you come to tie up the skeleton, the primaries will afford valuable protection to the ribs. [illustration: fig. 67.--rough skeleton of a bird. (after f.a. lucas.)] with a bird, the entire skeleton should be roughed out before any disjointing is done, and even then none is necessary, save to cut off the legs of large birds, especially those with long legs. study carefully the accompanying figure of a bird skeleton (fig. 67), and then it will be hardly necessary to say more than to roughly, but carefully, cut off the flesh with a cartilage knife or scalpel, and remove all the viscera. look out for those delicate little points on the neck vertebræ, and also be very careful not to cut off those curious little appendages (called uncinate processes) that project backward from the middle of each rib. leave the hyoid bone in its place, and also the bony ring surrounding the eyeball of the great blue heron, the owl, and other birds of prey. if any portion of the windpipe reveals any bony structure, the entire windpipe should be saved. whenever any tendons are found to be partly ossified, as they will certainly prove to be in the "drumstick" of your thanksgiving turkey, leave them in place for the osteologist to do with as he pleases. _when in doubt about any special part, give the osteologist the benefit of the doubt by saving the special part for him._ if the bird is a large one, cut off the head, and after cleaning it pack it away in the chest cavity. if the bird is small, you can leave it attached to the neck, and remove the brain by bending the head down and cutting it half off from above, thus exposing the occipital opening at the back of the skull, through which the brain may be drawn out. after the skeleton has been roughed out, it should always be cleaned by washing it in a basin of water and brushing it meanwhile with a soft tooth-brush. if blood is left on the skeleton, the bones will absorb it, and become permanently discolored thereby. the cleansing done, make the skeleton up into a compact bundle by folding the wings naturally against the body, bending the neck down in some way so that it can be tied upon the body, and either cutting off the legs and putting them into the thorax and pelvis, or leaving them on and folding them up as compactly as possible. then tie the bundle up thoroughly by passing a light string many times around it, so that it can never lose its compactness. sprinkle it with dry arsenic, or wash over with _thin_ arsenical soap, and hang it up in the shade to dry. skeletons of reptiles.--after all the foregoing directions, it surely is unnecessary to describe, in detail, the skeletonizing of reptiles. the principles are precisely the same as already set forth for birds and mammals. wherever special bones or cartilages are found, as in the abdominal-cartilaginous ribs of crocodilians and certain lizards, they must be carefully saved whole and _in situ_. with large skeletons, take whatever means are necessary to get them, while fresh, into compact shape for drying and packing. with large crocodiles and alligators, the neck, legs, head, and tail all go nicely inside the body, as i have proved scores of times. the skeleton of a large serpent is easily done up in a close coil, by which it not only takes compact shape, but the ribs are well protected. with serpents, do not attempt to cut the flesh from between the ribs, for it is desirable that it should remain. on each rib of a crocodilian there is a strange, flat piece of cartilage attached to the posterior edge at the middle of the rib, and projecting backward, quite overlapping the next rib, as sure as the world the reptilian development of what in the full-fledged bird becomes a bony uncinate process. you will soon discover this in skeletonizing your first crocodilian, and be sure to respect its anatomy. 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. chapter xxxvii. cleaning large skeletons by macerating. there are two ways to clean the skeletons of large mammals: (1) by boiling the bones, and (2) by maceration. the first is short, cleanly, and agreeable; but the skeleton produced by it is sure to be full of grease, and is anything but white and pleasing to look upon when mounted. the boiling process is also detrimental to the texture of the bone. the professional osteologist, to whom a greasy bone in a mounted skeleton is an unpardonable offence, never thinks of boiling a skeleton to get the flesh off, for the reason that the grease is boiled _into_ the bone instead of out of it. cleaning by boiling is permissible only under exceptional circumstances. if you wish a particular skeleton for a special purpose within a very short time, or if you are so situated that macerating a skeleton is impossible then boiling is excusable, but _steaming_ is far preferable. preparing a skeleton for maceration.--it is, of course, to be understood that it is only the skeletons that are too large to be scraped and mounted as "ligamentous skeletons" that are to be macerated, bleached, and afterward articulated with wire. the first thing to do is to cut out the sternum in one piece, as already shown in plate xxi., poison it in arsenic water, and hang it away to dry and be scraped afterward. a sternum must never be macerated, for it is so soft the cartilaginous framework would be entirely destroyed. the skeleton must now be cut completely to pieces, excepting that it is not necessary to separate all the vertebræ of the spinal column. the ribs must be cut off, and the joints of the legs cut asunder. the large bones of the legs contain marrow, and of these bones each one must have a large hole drilled in each end on the face of the articulating surface, so that when mounted the holes will not show. these holes are to afford the water access to the interior of the bone. macerating and cleaning.--the maceration of a skeleton is a question of time as compared with eternity. procure a wooden barrel or keg large enough to contain the entire skeleton, knock the head out and see that there are no nails, nor any other metal anywhere on the inside to stain and discolor the bones. pack the skeleton closely in the empty barrel, fill it up with water and let it stand. in a few days its offence, like othello's, "is rank, and smells to heaven." but that is no matter, provided your barrel has no neighbors. let it stand for four months, six months, a year, or two years if need be, until every particle of fleshy matter on the bones has disintegrated and become a pulp. keep the barrel covered, and when the water evaporates and the bones on top are about to be exposed, fill up with water and keep the bones always covered. if a skeleton is very bloody, it is well to soak it for a week in salt water to dissolve the blood-corpuscles. then it may be macerated as directed above. the odor will be horrible, but if you are going to study bones you must not mind that. when you find upon examining the bones that the flesh has totally disappeared from them, leaving them dark-colored or even black, but without any fleshy matter upon them, they are then to be taken out. pour off the water, place the entire contents of the barrel in a large sieve-bottomed tray, and wash the bones thoroughly. when that has been done, put them in a large tub of boiling water, and keep them in warm water while you scrape all the bones, one by one, with your bone-scraper, and scrub them with a stiff brush, going over the entire surface, and washing them meanwhile in the warm water. the interior of each of the large leg bones must be washed out with a strong syringe, and every cavity in the vertebræ must be carefully scraped out. bleaching.--having carefully scraped and washed the bones, the entire skeleton is now to be soaked for a short time, the length of time varying according to the size and age of the skeleton, in a solution of chloride of lime and water. to make this of the proper strength, dissolve about two or three ounces of chloride of lime in a barrel of water. bones of young or immature animals must not be left in this solution as long as those of old specimens. young bones are soft and porous, and the chloride of lime will soon destroy them if they remain in it too long. the following skeletons, adult in every case, require to be left in this solution a length of time as stated herewith: dog, 6 hours; sheep, 6 hours; deer, 8; buffalo, 12; elephant, 12. after removing the bones from this bath, wash them with clear water, lay them in slat-bottomed trays, with cheese-cloth above the slats, without piling one bone upon another, and expose them a number of days in the hot sun. after they have bleached on the upper side, turn them over. if it does not rain upon them occasionally, they should be sprinkled with water, late in the evening or early in the morning, to hasten the process. great care is necessary to keep the tiny carpal, tarsal, and phalangeal bones from getting lost. when the bones are white as chalk, or nearly so, tie the parts of each skeleton in a stout paper bag by itself, label it, and put it away until you are ready to mount it. the sternum is to be soaked in clear water, with a little washing soda to cut the grease, until it is soft, and then scraped the same as the bones of a ligamentary skeleton, which process will be described in the next chapter. chapter xxxviii. cleaning and mounting small skeletons. the skeletons of small vertebrates should never be macerated previous to mounting, for the reason that their complete rearticulation would be a practical impossibility. the bones must be left united at the joints by their natural ligaments, which when dry become quite hard, and with the aid of either one or two small brass standards will hold the entire skeleton erect and in proper shape. skeletons mounted thus, with the parts attached to each other by their own dried ligaments instead of wires, are called ligamentous, or ligamentary, skeletons. all mammals smaller than a large fox, all birds smaller than a small ostrich, all turtles, lizards, iguanas, serpents, crocodilians, and all fishes are mounted in this way. fortunately it is possible to clean to perfect whiteness the skeletons of almost all these subjects without putting them through the maceration process, which resolves everything into its component parts. drying before mounting.--in order to have a skeleton so that it will scrape to the best advantage and become as white as possible, every ligamentary skeleton must be dried before it is finally cleaned and mounted. in a perfectly fresh skeleton the epiphyses and ligaments are so soft the operator would find it hard to keep from destroying them with his keen-edged steel scrapers, and the smaller bones and cartilaginous members would also be in great danger of mutilation in the same way. when a skeleton dries, all these soft portions harden, and when afterward the skeleton is soaked in clear water for two or three days, or longer as may be necessary, the flesh quickly softens so that you can scrape it all away without encroaching on the framework, and the ligaments at the joints are just soft enough that a portion of it may be scraped or trimmed away, and yet leave sufficient to hold each joint together. relaxing a dry skeleton.--as intimated above, this is accomplished simply by soaking the specimen in clear water until its joints are pliable, and the flesh upon the bones is soft enough to scrape off. in order that the specimen should not become offensive and disagreeable to work upon, it must not soak long enough for decomposition to set in, for that is the first stage of maceration. therefore, scraping should begin just as soon as the flesh is soft enough to be readily removed. [illustration: fig. 68.--steel bone-scrapers.] scraping a ligamentary skeleton.--the removal of the flesh and other animal matter from a small skeleton is accomplished by scraping the bones with various chisel-edged scrapers specially designed for this work, and by clipping and trimming on the joints with either curve-pointed or straight scissors. the principles to be learned in skeleton-scraping are comparatively few and simple. in the first place, a sufficient quantity of the connecting ligament at each joint must be left to hold the two bones together in proper shape when the specimen dries. this must not be left in a thick, unsightly mass, but requires to be scraped and trimmed down so that it is reduced to as small a quantity as will serve the purpose. in scraping the flesh off the main stem of a bone, such as the humerus, for example, always begin at the end and scrape toward the middle. the skeletons of turtles, lizards, and the like are an exception to this rule by reason of their structure, and should be scraped from the middle toward each end. if you scrape from the middle of a mammalian or avian bone toward either end, before you are aware of it, you have loosened the attachment of the ligament, and have nothing left to hold the joint together. by beginning on the ligament itself, and working away from it, you can scrape it down so thin at the point of attachment that its identity is quite lost, and the point where it ends is hardly visible. this principle applies to the scraping of all ligamentary skeletons, except a few reptiles. in cleaning bird skeletons beware of injuring the little tack like points which project downward from each of the cervical vertebræ. have a care also for the soft bones of the coccyx, and the uncinate process which projects backward from the posterior edge of each rib. in fishes the greatest difficulty lies in leaving the ribs attached to the remainder of the skeleton, for if the operator is at all as the writer used to be in the days of his youth, he will be prone to scrape some of the ribs loose, and be obliged to glue them in place in the dry skeleton, with glue and cotton batting that has been clipped up finely with a sharp pair of scissors. while a small skeleton is undergoing the scraping process it must not be allowed to get dry until it is finally set up in position. when the skeleton is not being worked upon, it must be kept soaking in clean water; but remember that this cannot go on very long, or maceration will set in, the ligaments will give way, and the bones will all come apart. a little borax in the water serves to arrest decomposition, and will allow a skeleton to remain soaking for several days longer than could otherwise be allowed. after a skeleton has been well scraped, in order to get it as white as possible and free from grease, it must be treated with javelle water. 1/2 pound chloride of lime. 1 pound common washing soda. 1 gallon of boiling water. keep this on hand in a glass-stoppered jar, in the dark. in using it, draw off a small quantity in a broad, shallow, earthen dish. lay every small skeleton in it, and with a soft tooth-brush of the right size, brush all the bones thoroughly for about five minutes. at the end of that process wash the skeleton thoroughly with clear water, and perhaps it is then ready to mount. often the bones of a small skeleton contain an inordinate amount of grease. the easiest and simplest way to remove it is to soak the greasy bones for several days or weeks, as may be necessary, in a jar of pure naphtha. mounting a small skeleton.--the skeleton of every bird, mammal, and reptile requires to have the spinal cord replaced by a stout zinc wire, to give both strength and rigidity to the structure. zinc wire is necessary because iron wire will rust, and brass wire is too expensive to use when something cheaper and better is obtainable. if you cannot procure zinc wire, use good galvanized iron wire. for very large specimens you may use iron wire, but it must be covered with two coats of asphaltum, applied with a brush, like black paint. after inserting the wire the full length of the cavity of the spinal cord, leave enough of the end protruding beyond the first vertebra of the neck to afford a means for the attachment of the skull. the extra length to be allowed should always be nearly equal to the lateral depth of the brain cavity. attitude.--it is often somewhat difficult to decide upon the attitude the skeleton is to have when finished. the possibilities in this line are extensive, and the result depends entirely upon the character of the subject, and the knowledge and good taste of the operator. in the first place, the position of the skeleton must be a correct representation of some characteristic attitude of the species. for example, a sloth skeleton should hang underneath a branch; a monkey should be climbing, or walking on a stout bough; a hyena should sneak and crouch; a passerine bird should always perch, while the penguins and the auks must stand erect on flat pedestals. if the young osteologist can do so, it will pay him well to travel several hundred miles, if need be, to see the beautiful, and even elegant, collection of skeletons and other preparations in mr. f.a. lucas's department of comparative anatomy in the national museum, all of the specimens in which have been prepared, mounted and displayed by mr. lucas and his assistant, mr. joseph w. schollick. i know of no other osteological collection which in the beauty and scientific accuracy of mounting, and exhibition arrangement of its specimens, can be considered equal to this. the museum-builder may well consider it a model of its kind. every skeleton, from that of a tiny humming-bird to a whale forty-eight feet long, is as nearly perfect as human skill can make it, and the variety of the characteristic attitudes represented in the smaller species makes this collection a particularly attractive one. [illustration: plate xx. ligamentary skeleton (domestic cat).--mounted and drying.] process with mammals.--we will assume that the skeleton has been carefully scraped, and is now ready for mounting. the successive steps in this work from start to finish are about as follows: 1. in case the skeleton has been dried after scraping, as is often done, it must be soaked in clear water until the ligaments are relaxed. 2. cut a zinc or galvanized iron wire of the right length and size to replace the spinal marrow, and long enough that the upper end of it will project beyond the axis into the brain cavity of the skull. sharpen one end of this wire so that you can force it well down into the sacrum, and insert it in its place in the spinal column. 3. bend the vertebral column to its permanent shape. in doing this, draw the sternum well forward so that the ribs will spread out, and show a chest cavity of the right size for inflated lungs. if you are not careful in this regard, the chest cavity will be too narrow. 4. hang the body in a frame made of light strips of wood, as shown in the accompanying plate. let the body hang at just the right height from the pedestal to receive the legs (plate xx.). 5. space the ribs carefully by starting a thread from the neck, and taking a turn around each rib from the first to the last, finally making fast the remaining end of the thread to one of the lumbar vertebræ. 6. put on each hind leg by drilling a small hole straight through the head of the femur and the socket of the pelvis (innominate bone), through which a small brass wire is to be passed and clinched down closely at each end, to hold the head of the femur firmly in place. 7. place each leg in the attitude chosen for it, plant the foot according to its osteological character, and pin each toe in its proper place, as shown in the accompanying plate. the leg must be held in place by attaching threads to it, and making them fast to the various parts of the gallows. 8. in putting on the foreleg, the position of the scapula must be defined with accuracy, in order to avoid placing it too low or too high, and thus making an incorrect representation of the height of the animal. bear in mind that the scapula never lies prone upon the ribs, but is separated from them by a cushion of muscle. it is therefore necessary to leave a certain space between ribs and scapula. 9. next cut two stiff brass wires of the proper length for the two standards that must support the skeleton (see _a a_ and _b b_ in plate xx.). to make the u-shaped fork at the upper end of each standard, to clasp the vertebral column, heat one end of the rod red-hot, and plunge it into cold water, which softens the metal. now put it in a vise, and with a hack-saw split the rod down the middle as far from the end as necessary. finish neatly by rounding off the ends with a fine file, and bending them in shape with the pliers. the lower end must have a thread cut on it an inch or so in length, a neat brass "rosette" screwed upon it (_r_) to do duty on the top of the pedestal, and a small brass nut made to screw on underneath the pedestal, to hold the standard firmly upright. these standards need not be put in place under the skeleton until it is mounted finally on its handsomely polished, permanent exhibition pedestal. 10. mr. lucas has two methods for attaching a small skull to the skeleton. one is to cut a piece of cork to fit snugly in the occipital hole of the skull (foramen magnum), then pierce a hole through its centre, and fit it tightly on the projecting end of the vertebral wire, close up to the first cervical vertebra (the axis). the cork thus becomes stationary, and the skull may be put in place and removed at will. the other method is to place the skull exactly in position on the skeleton, fitting it closely to the axis. then drill a small hole through each side of the axis in such a manner that in its passage from top to bottom the drill will also pass through the occipital condyle of the skull. by fitting a wire through each of these holes the skull will be held fast in position _so long as the skeleton remains in its place_, right side up. if the skeleton is to be packed for shipment, the skull (unless it be very small and light) must be taken off, wrapped, and packed separately for safety in transit. [illustration: fig. 69.--skeleton of a bat, as exhibited by mr. lucas]. 11. if any bones have been broken, they must now be repaired, either by gluing them together, or by joining with a short wire fitted into the axis of each piece, and the missing particles of bone may be restored by a filling of best sinew glue mixed with plaster paris into a paste, and applied hot, so that it will adhere. as it cools it can be shaped properly, and when thoroughly dry and hard, its surface must be dressed down with a fine file and sand-paper until the form of the bone is once more perfect. this is work which very often calls for considerable skill in the operator, but the process itself is a very simple one. if ligaments are missing and a small bone is completely detached, it should be put on as follows: procure some fine cotton batting, cut it up very finely with the scissors, then apply some hot glue to the joint, lay a bit of clipped cotton upon it, and work it into the glue so that when dry it will form a false ligament and hold the bone firmly in its place without attracting any attention to the fact that the ligament has been made for the occasion. 12. finally, transfer each skeleton to its permanent pedestal, which we will assume has been prepared while the specimen has been drying. mr. lucas puts all his small skeletons on handsome ebonized pedestals, which are the thing _par excellence_. the limbs for his climbing animals, and the thin, black boards for his bat skeletons are also ebonized. the illustration on page 291 (fig. 69) shows one of his bat skeletons complete, as it stands in its case, bearing a label of black letters on an olive-gray card, with no ornamentation. in the final mounting the standards are put in place, and the upper end of each fitted fast to the backbone. each toe is fixed firmly in its place, and held down by the bent-over end of a headless pin, or by having a pin put through it, and cut off close down to the bone. [illustration: fig. 70.--skeleton of a bird mounted and drying.] cautions and exceptions.--it is only the tiny skeletons, such as mice, shrews, small squirrels, and the like, that can safely be mounted without standards. to be sure, a large cat skeleton _can_ be mounted on its own legs, without any standards, and so can a man drink a pint of bad whiskey; but in each case the falling from grace will be in about the same degree, if not the same in kind also. in long-continued moist weather, ligaments are apt to soften and let large unsupported skeletons come down, without neatness, but plenty of despatch. birds.--the foregoing principles, which have been described in detail for small mammals, apply so fully and with such complete general similarity to birds, that it is only necessary to add the two accompanying illustrations. [illustration: fig. 71.--wiring a skeleton wing.] reptiles.--_serpents._--the skeletons of serpents should always be scraped and mounted as ligamentary specimens, and _not macerated_. the skeleton should be supported on from three to five low brass standards clasping the vertebral column at proper intervals, the body curved naturally, and the ribs spread out and spaced evenly as in life, according to the curves of the body. the skeleton looks best when placed low down on the pedestal. the ribs must be spaced with threads where the ligaments are soft, but when dry require no wires. the skeleton may be mounted in any life-like attitude, either coiled or in motion. _lizards._--small species are to be treated the same as small mammals. _crocodiles and alligators._--it is best that all saurian skeletons, even the largest, should be scraped and mounted without maceration, on account of the elaborate cartilaginous sternum and false ribs. the head requires a special standard, and the tail requires a pair, while the tip of the latter is to be pinned down with a wire. of course the feet must rest down on the pedestal as in life. one thing which would greatly enhance the scientific value of every crocodile and alligator skeleton would be the preparation and display, in its proper place, of one side of the skin of the back with its wonderful shield of bony plates nicely articulated together. this remarkable covering of the vital organs seems to have been specially designed to ward off glancing bullets, and it has saved the lives of thousands of crocodilians. (of course this shield is not proof against a bullet fired squarely against it.) so far, all collectors and osteologists have ignored this remarkable feature of the saurians, but it should have the attention it deserves. [illustration: fig. 72.--skeleton of turtle, as exhibited.] _turtles and tortoises._--the skeleton of a tortoise, if mounted on its feet in a life-like attitude, has the best part of its anatomy concealed by its shell. this difficulty mr. lucas meets occasionally by sawing out and laying back one-half the carapace, to expose the interior. the commonest method, however, is that shown in the accompanying illustration (fig. 72), which is self-explanatory. the plastron is hinged at one side, furnished with a latch, and opens like a door. the skeleton is mounted on a single standard, which is split at the upper end like a y, the arms bent to fit the curvature of the shell, and riveted to the carapace. each leg is held in place by a small wire attached to the shell at its edge. fishes.--there is nothing in the mounting of fish skeletons that has not been fully described in the foregoing pages. of course fish skeletons are never macerated, but must be scraped and mounted with their natural ligaments in place. each skeleton requires two brass standards, one clasping the vertebral column close to the tail, the other near the head. a very long fish, or one with a large skull, requires three standards, one for the skull and one for the middle of the body. where only two are used for a large fish, the head requires to be supported by a wire running from the centre of the backbone. chapter xxxix. mounting a large disarticulated skeleton. it will be well for anyone who intends to mount a large skeleton, if he has not already a fair knowledge of osteology, to take some book which contains a description of the skeleton, for example, of the domestic cow, and familiarize himself with the names of the various bones and the different anatomical terms used in describing them. in fact it is next to impossible to describe the process of mounting a skeleton without making use of quite an array of technical terms. in order to make our description of this intricate process as clear as possible, we will choose as our typical subject the skeleton of an american bison, and go through with it in detail, aided by an abundant supply of illustrations. we of course assume that the macerating, cleaning, and bleaching has been done. in mounting a disarticulated skeleton, begin with the vertebral column as the key to the situation. it is, in point of fact, the keel upon which the whole structure is to be built. the vertebræ should be arranged, each in its place, and, then they should be numbered with pen and ink on the anterior articulating surface of the body of each one, beginning with the first vertebra in front of the sacrum. this vertebra (the last lumbar) should be marked no. 1, the next in front no. 2, and so on to the axis. the next step consists in boring two holes through the sacrum from its under surface (fig. 73, _a, a_) to its anterior articulating surface (_b, b_), and these holes should be continued on through the body of each of the succeeding vertebrae to the axis. they should come out underneath that vertebra (the axis), where the wires which pass through all these holes are afterward to be twisted together. the holes should be somewhat larger than the brass wires which are to pass through them. it is necessary to mark the place for starting the drill into the posterior surface of each vertebra by fitting two articulating surfaces together, and passing the drill through the holes already made. the points at which the drill should come out on the anterior surface of a vertebra should be marked with a lead pencil. the beginner will find some difficulty in making the drill come through at precisely the right spot. the greatest difficulty will be experienced in getting these holes through the cervical vertebrae. when the axis is reached, bore the holes so that they will come out underneath, about half way between each extremity of the vertebra, and about three-fourths of an inch apart. it is just as well to now bore the holes through which the wires which fasten the axis and atlas together are to pass, though these need not be actually united until the remainder of the spinal column has been, articulated. the wires uniting the atlas and axis are smaller than those passing through the spinal column. the holes for these wires are made by boring two of them through each of the two surfaces by which the axis articulates with the atlas. these holes should come out underneath the axis. then, placing the axis and atlas together, mark on the atlas the places through which the holes are to pass by running the drill through each of the holes already made. the next thing to be done is to cut pieces of artificial cartilage, called "buffle," to fit the posterior articulating surface of the body of each vertebra, and each piece should be fastened to the vertebra to which it belongs by a small wire nail through its centre. the holes in each vertebra should be continued straight on through the false cartilage. now cut a brass wire three times the length of the spinal column, double it, pull it straight, pass the two ends through the sacrum, and so on forward through all the vertebræ. when the vertebræ have all been strung on the two wires and tightened up, it will be seen that the spinal column assumes a curve approximating very nearly to the natural one. mark this curve with chalk on a table or a board. unstring the vertebræ from the wire. then take a square rod of iron, a foot or so longer than the spinal column, and over which each of the vertebra will fit easily. have the blacksmith flatten out one end into a sort of spear, so that it will fit snugly in the spinal canal of the sacrum (fig. 73, _c_). [illustration: fig. 73.--the sacrum and spinal rod.] drill a hole through the under surface of the sacrum, and on through the iron rod: into this a brass pin is to be fitted at _d_. bend the iron rod to correspond exactly with the curve previously marked with chalk on the board. paint the rod black, and when it has dried place it again in the sacrum, drive in the brass pin, leaving enough of the end exposed to be seized with a pair of pliers and pulled out if desired. now string the vertebræ over the rod and wires. if all fit properly they can then be unstrung preparatory to attaching the ribs to them. [illustration: fig. 74.--the attachment of the ribs to a vertebra.] each rib should have a hole bored through its lower end at the middle, to come out on the inner surface (fig. 74, _b, b_). through these holes wires are to pass, as seen in the accompanying figure, and to these wires the sternum is presently to be attached. having arranged the ribs so that you know the place of each, take the first pair, and the first dorsal vertebra to which this pair attaches. bore a hole with the drilling machine through the rib, beginning at the centre of the articular surface of the tubercle of the rib, directing the drill so that it will come out on the under side (fig. 74, _c, c_); then drill a hole through the head of the rib (_d, d_). now fit the rib to the vertebra, and with a small awl, a sharp-pointed wire, or drill, mark, through the holes already made, the points on the articular surface of the vertebra through which the holes should be drilled (_a, a_). bore similar holes through the rib of the opposite side, then through the vertebra at the points marked, and the wire will pass through as in the figure. [illustration: plate xxi. skeleton of an american bison.] continue this same process for the remaining ribs. it will be found, however, that the process of carrying a single wire through the heads of both ribs and the anterior portion of the body of the vertebra cannot be continued with all. in the last of the dorsal vertebrae the wires will have to be put through the head of the rib and the pedicles of the vertebrae into the neural canal. make a loop on the end of each wire, as at _a, a_, fig. 74, and put the ribs on each vertebra as they belong, having only one end of the wire--the one on which is made a double loop--pulled up snugly. the other end of the wire should be left a few inches in length, but bent slightly close to the rib, to hold the latter in place. the innominate bones should be attached to the sacrum either by two brass bolts, one passing through each side at about the middle of the articular surfaces between the sacrum and each ilium, or by passing a heavy double wire through each of these places. before tightening permanently, apply "plaster-glue" (the mixture of glue and plaster paris already described) to the articular surfaces between the sacrum and ilia, thus when dry making the pelvis firm. now that the ribs are attached to the vertebræ, and the innominate bones to the sacrum, proceed to string the vertebræ again on the wires and rod. the atlas can now be attached to the axis by passing wires through the holes previously made, after which the wires are to be twisted firmly together. when all the vertebræ with their ribs attached have been put in place, hang the backbone to a framework similar to that used for suspending the alligator (plate xiv.), or, what is much better, to the ceiling, by two small ropes attached at the neck and pelvis. with the pliers now twist tightly together the wires under the axis, then take a screw-driver and work between each pair of vertebrae from underneath, beginning with the last lumbar, and prying back toward the sacrum. by the time you have reached the axis a considerable space will have been gained. shorten the wires by twisting them, and continue this process until the vertebrae all fit snugly together, and are tight one against the other. [illustration: fig. 76.--middle joint of the hind leg.] the next step is to put on the sternum, which has been soaked in water containing a little washing soda, and thus made flexible. of course it has been previously cleaned by the scraping process. a hole should be bored through the end of each sternal rib, coming out on the inner surface. the sternum is suspended temporarily by strings attached to the vertebral column, and the single wires that have previously been placed through the end of each rib are now run, one by one, through the end of the sternal rib it is to support. now space the ribs temporarily with a string that will hold each one of them exactly in its place. having done this, two brass wires can now be used to hold the ribs permanently in place, running them on each side from the inferior process of the last cervical vertebræ to the transverse process of some one of the lumbar vertebra, or to the pelvis. what is much better for a large skeleton, because it is both firmer and more elegant, is a long, narrow strip of polished brass on the inside, bent carefully to fit the curve of the ribs, and fastened by a brass pin through each rib, the posterior end of the brass strip being attached to a transverse process of one of the lumbar vertebræ (see plate xxi.). after this has been done, each rib can then be permanently fastened at top and bottom by making the loop and cutting off the long end of each wire. the next step is to put on the tail. a hole should have been bored into the middle of the articular surface of the posterior end of the sacrum, and on each side a little hole coming out below (see fig. 73). the large middle wire (_e, e_) should be of stiff brass, and extend through the entire length of the tail, the tapering end being filed small so that the small vertebræ can fit over it. the small side wires of soft brass (_f, f_) should only extend through a few of the larger tail vertebræ, and are for making things firm. [illustration: fig. 76.--middle joint of hind leg: rear view.] [illustration: fig. 77.--bones of the foot: side view.] to articulate the bones of the hind leg, first arrange them so as to know the precise place of each. take first the tarsal and metatarsal bones. in articulating these it is necessary for one to use his judgment largely, and put wires through so as to make the joint firm. bore holes through the astragalus and os calcis (fig. 75, _a, a_) so as to put a double wire through these and hold them together firmly. next send two strong double wires through these and through the other tarsal bones, and bring them out on the posterior surface of the metatarsal or canon bone (_c_ and _d_). [illustration: fig. 78.--bones of the foot: rear view.] next articulate the bones of the feet. this is very simply done by passing a single heavy wire through the lower end of each half of the canon bone to each set of phalanges, making a loop at each end of the wire (see figs. 77 and 78). in large skeletons it will frequently be found necessary to further strengthen the articulations of the phalanges by means of brass pins, as shown in the figure at _a_. the sesamoids are fastened on by two stiff brass pins through each at _b_. the femur and tibia can be fastened together by a double brass wire passing through each condyle of the femur, and through each side of the head of the tibia, or, what is better, a strip of brass set into the middle of the joint, and fastened firmly by two stout brass pins driven transversely through from side to side, as indicated in fig. 79. [illustration: fig. 79.--the knee-joint.] the patella is fastened on by passing a wire through it and twisting it, or erecting it on a small strip of brass set into the tubercle of the tibia. the joint is further strengthened by putting a brass pin through the patella into the end of the femur. the tibia is articulated to the lower portion of the leg, or, more properly, the pes, by putting stiff wire pins into it. the femur is articulated to the pelvis by a brass bolt. the front foot is articulated on the same principles as the hind foot. [illustration: fig. 80.--front view of knee-joint.] in articulating the knee-joint, as it is called, send two heavy wires through, letting them come out on the posterior surface of the radius and metacarpal bone, and insert two wire pins diagonally through the joint, as shown in fig. 81. the scapula is fastened to the humerus by brass pins. the humerus, radius, and ulna are also fastened by brass pins, three in number. [illustration: fig. 81.--elbow joint: front view.] the scapula is attached to the body by two brass bolts attached to the ribs. sections of spiral spring wire or pieces of brass tube are placed on the bolts between the scapula and the ribs, to hold the former off the latter the same distance as when the flesh surrounding the scapula was all present. as to the position of the legs, the operator must use his own judgment. it is of course to be understood that the attitude of the legs has been decided upon before their articulation began, and that the work of wiring together has been carried out in accordance with this plan. it is hard to do more with a large skeleton than to place the legs in an easy walking attitude, of which the buffalo skeleton already figured may fairly be taken as a model. the rod extending through the spinal canal is cut off so that the head will hang on it properly. two brass pins are passed through the atlas, one into each occipital condyle. two iron rods, with lacquered brass shoulders, are used to support the skeleton, as shown in the figure. these rods should be painted black. the lower jaw is fastened to the skull by means of brass spiral spring wire, which permits it to be moved freely up and down by any one who is studying the animal's dentition. the method of mounting any large disarticulated skeleton of a quadruped is essentially the same as that described for the buffalo, the principle variation occurring in the feet. in articulating the feet of a wolf, for example, the method of wiring the tarsal bones, carpal bones, metatarsals, metacarpals, and the phalanges, is very similar to that described for the buffalo, but the workman must here also depend largely on his own ingenuity. a single wire passes through the phalanges of each digit, and two sesamoids are fastened on by a single wire. where the digits are more than two in number, a wire is passed transversely through the lower ends of the metacarpals and metatarsals, and on this are placed short pieces of fine coiled brass spring, to hold the digits at proper distances from one another. the tools used in mounting large skeletons are by no means so numerous or costly that any one need be deterred from trying his hand at practical osteology on the score of facilities or the lack of them. of course the complete outfit of a professional osteologist includes an extensive array of tools, some of which are rather costly. the most important item is a good drilling machine, chuck and lathe, to work by foot-power. this can be procured of goodnow & wightman, of boston, and in ordering it will be necessary to have a 1/4-inch hole drilled through the centre of the axle, to receive the long, steel drills of various sizes that are to drill the many holes required in the various bones. the amateur who can not afford an expensive plant and a first-class drilling machine, can get along very well with a millers' falls hand-drill and a good assortment of first-class steel drills to fit it. i once saw an old german anatomist mount a cow skeleton for a western college with hardly more tools than i could hold in one hand--but, of course, that skeleton was not mounted _à la lucas_, by a considerable difference. part v.--the collection and preservation of insects. by w.j. holland, ph.d. chapter xl. the classification of insects. it is estimated that four-fifths of the species comprised within the animal kingdom belong to the class of the insecta. fully one hundred and seventy-five thousand species of insects have already been named and described. nevertheless vast territories teeming with insect life have been as yet only very imperfectly explored. the life-history and habits of only a few thousands of species have as yet been accurately investigated. there remains, therefore, a broad field for discovery and research in this portion of the animal creation. many insects are polygoneutic, that is, the species is represented by two or more annual broods, or generations, and thousands of individuals may, by careful treatment, be reared from the eggs of a single female. in the case of the higher animals the development and multiplication of individuals takes place but slowly, and it is obvious, therefore, that there is in the domain of insect life a far more convenient field for the investigation of the great problems of variation in animal forms, than among the vertebrate animals. aberrant forms are not uncommon, especially among butterflies and moths, and are worthy of careful study. the various broods often present great and striking differences. the phenomena of seasonal and sexual dimorphism are nowhere more clearly developed than among the lepidoptera. hybridization also often takes place between allied species of insects, especially in the case of the bombycid moths, and it is possible for the skilful entomologist to conduct investigations in this interesting department of inquiry with almost as much freedom and success as have attended the labors of the botanist in the domain of plant life. the economic importance of the study of entomology can scarcely be overestimated. some of the best friends of the agriculturist, as well as multitudes of his worst enemies, are found among the insects. the silkworm, the cochineal insect, and the bee have aided in the accumulation of many fortunes, and their culture has provided employment for millions of human beings. on the other hand, property worth millions of dollars is annually destroyed by insect ravages. it has been asserted by competent authorities that the depredations of the codling moth (carpocapsa pomonella) have resulted, in a single year, within the limits of the state of pennsylvania alone, in the destruction of fruit worth over a million of dollars, and the terrible phylloxera at one time threatened the total overthrow of viticulture in southern europe. various schemes have been proposed for the classification of insects, and there is as yet only partial agreement among students upon this subject. insects belong to that great group of animals designated by zoologists as the arthropoda. as a means of assisting to a better understanding of the practical hints and suggestions which follow, a sketch of the classification of the arthropoda is here given. arthropoda. animals possessing an external skeleton composed of chitinous rings, or somites, and provided with articulated limbs. _ceratophora._ class i. peripatidea (genus peripatus). class ii. myriapoda. orders: 1. diplopoda (galley-worms, etc.). 2. pauropida (genus pauropus, etc.). 3. chilopoda (centipedes, etc.). class iii. hexapoda (insects proper). { orders: { 1. thysanura. { sub-orders: { collembola (podura, spring-tails). { symphyla (scolopendrella). { cinura (bristle-tails, etc.). { 2. dermatoptera (ear-wigs). { 3. pseudoneuroptera. { sub-orders: { mallophaga (bird-lice). { platyptera (stone-flies, termites, etc.) { odonata (dragon-flies, etc.). { ephemerina (may-flies, etc.). { 4. neuroptera (corydalis, ant-lion, { caddis-flies, etc.). heterometabola. for { 5. orthoptera (cockroach, mantis, the most part undergoing { mole-cricket, grasshopper, katydid, etc.). only a partial metamorphosis{ 6. hemiptera. in the development { sub-orders: from the egg to the { parasita (lice). imago. { sternorhyncha (aphids, mealy-bugs, etc.). { homoptera (cicada, tree-hoppers, etc.). { heteroptera (ranatra, belostoma, water { spiders, squash-bugs, bed-bugs, etc.). { 7. coleoptera. { sub-orders: { cryptotetramera (lady-birds, etc.). { cryptopentamera (leaf-beetles, { long-horns, weevils, etc.). { heteromera (blister-beetles, meal-bugs, { etc.). { pentamera (fire-flies, skip-jacks, { june-bugs, dung-beetles, stag-beetles, { rove-beetles, water-beetles, { tiger-beetles, etc.). { 8. aphaniptera (fleas). { 9. diptera. { sub-orders: { orthorhapha (hessian-fly, buffalo gnats, { mosquitoes, crane-flies, horse-flies). { cyclorhapha (syrphis, bot-flies, tsetze, metabola. undergoing { housefly, etc.). for the most part a { 10. lepidoptera. complete metamorphosis { sub-orders: from egg through larva { rhopalocera (butterflies). and pupa to imago. { heterocera (moths). { 11. hymenoptera. { sub-orders: { terebrantia (saw-flies, gall-wasps, { ichneumon-flies, etc.). { aculeata (ants, cuckoo-flies, { digger-wasps, true wasps, bees). _acerata._ class i. crustacea (barnacles, crabs, etc.). class ii. arachnida. orders: 1. acarina (mites). 2. araneina (spiders). 3. pedipalpi (whip-scorpions, etc.). 4. solpugæ (whip-scorpions). 5. pseudoscorpii (false scorpions). 6. scorpiodea (true scorpions). class iii. pantopoda (pyenogonida, sea-spiders). class iv. tardigrada (macrobiotus, etc.). class v. gigantostraca (horse-shoe crabs, trilobites, etc.). class vi. linguatulina (pentastoma, etc.). chapter xli. eggs and larvæ: breeding and rearing. the egg.--the arthropoda are developed from eggs. the eggs of these animals are often exceedingly curious in form and remarkable in color. the eggs of insects are generally deposited upon those substances upon which the animal feeds during its larval or rudimentary stage of existence. they are most frequently found attached to the leaves and twigs of plants and trees. some insects are carnivorous as larvæ, and deposit their eggs upon dead animal matter, or even, as the ichneumon-flies and other parasitic forms, upon the tissues of living animals. some lay their eggs upon decaying wood, or upon the ordure of animals. some deposit their eggs in water. the female of some of the myriapoda deposits her eggs in a mass under the bark of decaying trees, and, coiling up about them, apparently guards them with maternal instinct until they are hatched. the spawn of many of the crustacea is carried about by the female, attached in masses to the lower surface of the body. the eggs of some insects, as the cockroach and the mantis, are deposited in masses concealed within cases, and so united as to appear to form composite or multiple eggs. these are conspicuous objects. a similar arrangement is found in the case of the ova of hydrophilus and allied aquatic coleoptera. the eggs of the mosquito are deposited upon the surface of the water in small, boat-shaped masses, composed of from fifty to one hundred ova. the eggs of the lepidoptera, which are generally deposited upon the leaves and blossoms of trees and plants, are not difficult to find, and have been more carefully observed and described than those of other orders. by confining impregnated females of many species of butterflies and moths in nets of gauze drawn over the branches of the food-plant, it is often possible to obtain their eggs in considerable numbers. the insects thus confined should be supplied with food and drink. this may be done by sprinkling upon the leaves water sweetened with sugar, or preferably honey. the females of many of the bombycid moths and hawk-moths will lay freely, if enclosed in a dark box, without the presence of the food-plant. when eggs are found and their parentage is unknown, a few should be preserved as hereafter described, and the remainder should be retained and kept until they have been hatched and the perfect insect has been reared therefrom. insect eggs may often be obtained by dissecting the gravid female, but it is always preferable to obtain them, if possible, after oviposition has taken place, since in many cases the color of the egg in the oviduct is somewhat different from what it is after having been laid. the eggs of insects may be deprived of their vitality by immersion in alcohol or by exposure to heat. the albumen of ova coagulates at 160° f., and the temperature of the egg should not be raised above 175°. they are best killed by being placed in the stove used for drying the skins of larvæ, which is described on page 315. it is better to kill by means of a gentle heat than by immersion in alcohol, as by the latter process a change in color is sometimes produced. after they have been deprived of their vitality they may be preserved in small phials in dilute glycerine, or, if this cannot be had, in a solution of common salt. the phials should be kept tightly corked, and should be numbered by a label, written in lead pencil and placed within the bottle, to correspond with the note made in the collector's note-book giving an account of the place of discovery, the food-plant, the date when found, and the name of the insect which deposited them, if known. in the latter case it is best to put the name of the insect in the phial with the number. unless insect eggs are preserved in a fluid they are apt in many cases to shrivel with the lapse of time and become distorted, through the drying up of their contents, which, on account of their small size, it is impossible to void. the shell of some eggs is often very neatly voided by the escape of the larva, but there is generally a large orifice left, the color is frequently materially altered, and great vigilance in securing the shell must be exercised, as the young larvæ of many species have the curious habit of whetting their appetites for future meals by turning about, as soon as they have been hatched, and eating the shell which they have just left. the eggs of insects are best mounted in the form of microscopic slides in glycerine jelly contained in cells of appropriate depth and diameter. it is well to mount several upon the same slide, exhibiting the lateral as well as the terminal aspect of the eggs. at the upper end of all insect eggs there are one or more curious structures, known as micropyles (little doors), through which the spermatozoa of the male find ingress and they are fertilized. the peculiar, and often very beautiful, features of this part of the egg are, in a well-mounted specimen, exposed to view. in some cases it is advisable to slice off the end of the egg with the micropyle and mount it microscopically. the best display of this curious structure is thus often obtained. the slides should be kept in a cabinet arranged in shallow trays. they should be accurately named, and have references to a book into which, from time to time, should be carefully transcribed from the field-book the observations of the collector, or his assistants and correspondents. such a collection of insect ova is not only valuable but intensely interesting. the larva.--by reference to the table of the classification of the arthropoda, given in chapter xl., it will be observed that the insecta are broadly divisible into two groups, the heterometabola and the metabola. the animals classified in the first group do not undergo metamorphosis in the development from the egg to the perfect insect to the same extent and in the same manner as the metabola. in this respect the peripatidea, the myriapoda, and the various classes included under the acerata agree with them. the young myriapod and the young spider are found immediately after they have emerged from the egg to present most of the features of the mature insect, and so also the immature grasshopper and squash-bug resemble the perfect insect in nearly everything but size and the absence of fully developed wings. in preparing a suite of specimens of these insects, designed to illustrate their life-history, the directions which are given for the preparation of the imago apply equally well to the larva. it is simply necessary, for instance, in preparing a series of specimens of the rocky mountain locust, to make sure that a specimen representing the creature after each successive moult has been secured, and these are mounted upon pins, and treated exactly as specimens of the adult insect are treated. be careful not to pin, however, too soon after the moult. in the case of many of the coleoptera, and of all the metabola the work of the collector is rendered far more laborious, for these pass from the egg into vermiform larvæ, which undergo in some cases many moults, are then transformed into pupæ, which are either naked or contained in a protecting envelope known as the cocoon, and then finally, after a longer or shorter period in the pupal state, are transformed into the perfect insect. the student and collector, if intending to benefit science by their efforts, dare not neglect these rudimentary forms. the larvæ of most insects which undergo a complete metamorphosis are very small when first emerging from the egg, and before they make the first moult are, for the most part, best preserved as microscopic objects in cells filled with glycerine. in the case of the larvæ of the great bombycid moths, which at the time of hatching are dark in color, it is possible to make a fairly good specimen by piercing the anal extremity of the caterpillar, and spitting it upon the extremity of a thick, black bristle, or a fine copper wire wrapped with black silk. specimens so mounted will not shrivel greatly, and may be attached to pins and placed in the cabinet after the slide containing the egg, as the first in the series of slowly maturing forms. after each successive moult the larvæ increase rapidly in size. the method of preparing the larger forms which is now preferred by good collectors is that of inflation. in inflating larvæ the first step is to carefully remove the contents of the larval skin. this is best effected by making an incision with a stout pin or needle at the anus, and then, between the folds of a soft towel, gently pressing out the contents of the abdominal cavity. the pressure should be first applied near the point where the pellicle has been punctured, and then be carried forward until the region of the head is reached. great care must be exercised not to apply such a degree of pressure as will expel those tissues lying nearest to the epidermis, in which the pigments are located, and in the case of hairy larvæ not to rob them of their hair. practice can alone make perfect in this regard. the contents of the larva having been removed, the next step is to inflate and dry the empty skin. some persons, as preliminary to this step, recommend that the empty skin be soaked for a period of a few hours in pure alcohol. by this process undoubtedly a certain portion of the watery matter contained in the pellicle is removed, and the process of desiccation is facilitated, but it is objectionable in the case of all larvæ having light colors, because these are more or less effaced by the action of the alcohol. the simplest method of inflating the skins of larvæ after the contents have been withdrawn is to insert a straw or grass stem of appropriate thickness into the opening through which the contents have been removed, and then by the breath to inflate, while holding over the chimney of an argand lamp, the flame of which must be regulated so as not to scorch or singe the specimen. care must be taken in the act of inflating not to unduly extend the larval skin, thus producing a distortion, and also to dry it thoroughly. unless the latter precaution is observed a subsequent shrinking and disfigurement will take place. the process of inflating in the manner just described is somewhat laborious, and while some of the finest specimens, which the writer has ever seen, were prepared in this primitive manner, various expedients for lessening the labor involved have been devised, some of which are to be highly commended. [illustration: fig. 82.--apparatus for inflating larvæ. b, foot-bellows; k, rubber tube; c, flask; d, anhydrous sulphuric acid; e, overflow flask; f, rubber tube from flask; g, standard with cock to regulate flow of air; h, glass tube with larva upon it; i, copper drying-plate; j, spirit-lamp.] a comparatively inexpensive arrangement for inflating larvæ is a modification of that described in the "entomologische nachrichten," 1879, vol. v., p. 7, devised by mr. fritz a. wachtel. it consists of a foot-bellows such as is used by chemists in the laboratory, or, better still, of a small cylinder such as is used for holding gas in operating the oxy-hydrogen lamp of a sciopticon. in the latter case the compressed air should not have a pressure exceeding fifty pounds to the square inch, and the cock regulating the flow from the cylinder should be capable of very fine adjustment. by means of a rubber tube the air is conveyed from the cylinder to a couple of flasks, one of which contains concentrated sulphuric acid and the other is intended for the reception of any overflow of the hydrated sulphuric acid which may occur. the object of passing the air through sulphuric acid is to rob it, so far as possible, of its moisture. it is then conveyed into a flask, which is heated upon a sand-bath, and thence by a piece of flexible tubing to a tip mounted on a joint allowing vertical and horizontal motion and secured by a standard to the working-table. the flow of air through the tip is regulated by a cock. upon the tip is fastened a small rubber tube, into the free extremity of which is inserted a fine-pointed glass tube. this is provided with an armature consisting of two steel springs fastened upon opposite sides, and their ends bent at right angles in such a way as to hold the larval skin firmly to the extremity of the tube. the skin having been adjusted upon the fine point of the tube, the bellows is put into operation and the skin is inflated. a drying apparatus is provided in several ways. a copper plate mounted upon four legs, and heated by an alcohol lamp placed below, has been advocated by some. a better arrangement, used by the writer, consists of a small oven heated by the flame of an alcohol lamp, or by jets of natural gas, and provided with circular openings of various sizes, into which the larval skin is introduced. (see fig. 83.) a modification of the oven is given in fig. 84. [illustration: fig. 83.--drying oven. a, lamp; b, pin to hold door open; c, door open; d, glass cover.] [illustration: fig. 84.--oven for drying larva-skin, made of tin joined without solder and with top made of glass. (after riley.)] a less commendable method of preserving larvæ is to place them in alcohol. the larvæ should be tied up in sacks of light gauze netting, and a label of tough paper with the date and locality of capture, and the name, if known, written with a lead pencil, should be attached to each such little sack. do not use ink on labels to be immersed, but a hard lead pencil. alcoholic specimens are liable to become shrivelled and discolored, and are not nearly as valuable as well-inflated and dried skins. when the skins have been inflated they may be mounted readily by being placed upon wires wrapped with green silk, or upon annealed aluminium wire. the wires are bent and twisted together for a short distance and then made to diverge as in fig. 85. the diverging ends are pressed together, a little shellac is placed upon their tips, and they are then inserted into the opening at the anal extremity of the larval skin. upon the release of pressure they spread apart, and after the shellac has dried the skin is firmly held by them. they may then be attached to pins by simply twisting the free end of the wire about the pin, or they may be placed upon artificial imitations of the leaves and twigs of their appropriate food-plants. this method of preparation is applicable to the larvæ of coleoptera and diptera as well as to those of the lepidoptera. [illustration: fig. 85.--wire bent into shape for mounting larva. (after riley.)] an account of the manner of preserving larvæ would not be complete without an account of the manner of rearing them. in rearing the larvæ of coleoptera, diptera, and hymenoptera, the student must be left in a large degree to his own devices. a few large glass jars capable of being closed with a gauze top are necessary, though in the case of the hymenoptera reliance must be mainly placed upon finding the larvæ in their nests. bees and wasps construct various larval edifices, and these must be explored as found in nature for a knowledge of the immature insect. breeding them in captivity is attended by difficulties which are rarely overcome by the most expert, except in a few isolated cases. this is also true, but to a less extent of the larvæ of the coleoptera. the larvæ of many beetles which are carnivorous may be reared in glass jars, or boxes, covered with fine wire gauze, at the bottom of which earth or sand has been placed, and in which a supply of appropriate food can be put, such as the soft larvæ of beetles, maggots, and bits of meat. it is best to previously scald the earth and sand placed at the bottom of the breeding cages in order to destroy the eggs and small larvæ of other species which might be introduced. the cages should have a sufficient supply of moisture, and, so far as possible, the circumstances should be made to approximate those under which the larvæ were found. the larvæ of wood-boring beetles may be bred in portions of the wood which they frequent. a tight barrel with a cover made of wire gauze fitting closely over the top is a good device. in the fall of the year it may be filled with fallen twigs and pieces of branches from the forest, on which beetles have oviposited, and in the spring there will be generally found a large number of beautiful specimens of species, some of which are otherwise very difficult to secure. the barrels should be placed in a covered spot in the open air, and the twigs and wood occasionally lightly moistened with water. the larvæ of leaf-eating beetles may be bred as the larvæ of lepidoptera. the larvæ of neuropterous insects, such as myrmeleon, may be easily reared in boxes at the bottom of which sand to the depth of six inches has been placed. they may be fed with house-flies which have been deprived of their wings, and soft bodies of coleopterous larvæ, and the larvæ of ants. the larvæ of the odonata and aquatic beetles must be reared in aquaria in which there is a muddy bottom provided, and in which there are a few pieces of rotting wood, with loose bark upon it, so that they protrude some inches above the surface of the water, and in which aquatic plants are kept growing. many aquatic insects pupate under the bark of trees growing at the edge of the water. [illustration: fig. 86.--breeding cage. (after riley.) _a_, bottom board; _g g_, battens to prevent warping; _f f_, zinc pan four inches deep; _d_, zinc tube soldered to bottom of pan and intended to hold jar of water for food-plants; _e_, earth in pan; _b_, box with glass sides and hinged door; _c_, removable cap of box covered with wire gauze.] [illustration: fig. 87.--breeding cage. b, jar with food-plant; e, box with soil; g, gauze lid.] the breeding of the larvæ of lepidopterous insects has received far greater attention than that of other insects, and many modifications of devices for this purpose have been suggested. the simplest devices are often the best, and in the early stages of the smaller forms the best plan is to pot a specimen of the appropriate food-plant, when it is low and herbaceous and capable of being thus treated, and then put it under a cover of tarletan or under a bell glass. when the larva undergoes its transformations in the ground a bed of earth several inches in depth, upon which some dead leaves and litter are placed, should be provided. a convenient form of a breeding-cage is represented in fig. 86. mr. w.h. edwards, who has done more than any other person to elucidate the life-history of north american butterflies, often uses a breeding-cage made of a nail keg, the top of which has been knocked out, and over which gauze netting is tied. the writer has successfully employed, for breeding moths upon a large scale, common store boxes, with about eight inches in depth of good soil at the bottom, covered with a close-fitting frame lid over which mosquito-netting is tacked. branches of the food-plant are set into the box in jars of water, in which they remain fresh for several days (see fig. 87). if possible, and if operations are to be prosecuted upon a large scale, it is well to appropriate to breeding purposes a small room from which all the furniture and carpets have been removed. the windows should be closed with gauze netting tacked over them, and the doors should also be made tight so as to prevent the escape of the insects. when the caterpillars descend from the food-plants which are placed in the apartment in jars of water, or in pots, and thus indicate their readiness to undergo transformation, they should be secured and placed in smaller boxes fitted up as before described, and, in case the insect pupates in the soil, provided with a sufficient depth of earth. in case it is desired to go to still greater expense, a small house, arranged after the manner of a greenhouse, and with suitable cages and compartments, may be provided. such an insect-house exists at cornell university, and is under the care of that admirable investigator, professor comstock, who no doubt would be glad to furnish students with a knowledge of the details of its construction. the larvæ of many lepidopterous insects emerge from the egg in the fall of the year, and after feeding for a time and undergoing one or two moults, hibernate, and upon the return of the springtime begin feeding again, and finally pupate. it is best in the case of such to leave the larvæ in the fall in a cold place, as an icehouse, and to suffer them to remain there until an abundant supply of the proper food-plant can be obtained. in the breeding of larvæ experience must be the great instructor, and practice can alone make perfect. no department of entomological study is, however, quite so fascinating as this, even though its prosecution may be somewhat laborious. chapter xlii. collecting imagoes. [illustration: fig. 88.--net frame. (after riley.) _a_, wire ring with ends bent to insert in ferule _b_; _c_, point where plug and net-handle meet.] the name _imago_ is applied by naturalists to the perfect form of insects, which is revealed at the conclusion of the round of metamorphoses. in the collection and the preservation of these the most necessary implement at the outset is the _net_. a simple way of making a serviceable and strong net is to take a piece of brass or galvanized iron wire about three feet and six inches in length, and about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and having bent it into the form of a hoop, with the two ends forming shanks, to insert these into the end of a brass ferule such as is used on fishing-rods, and fix them there by pouring in melted lead or solder in such a way that the handle can be inserted into the other end of the ferule. this can be easily accomplished by plugging the handle end of the ferule with a piece of soft wood or with clay. the handle should be light, and not more than four or five feet in length for ordinary use. to the ring of the net a sack made of green tarletan, or less preferably mosquito-netting, about two and a half times as deep as the diameter of the ring, should be sewn. a piece of green muslin should be then stitched on as a binding over the ring. green is to be always preferred to any other color as less likely to alarm the insects. nets with folding rings and jointed bamboo handles are to be had of most dealers, and are to be highly recommended for convenience, if well made. in collecting about electric lights which hang high, and along the woodland walks of tropical forests, it is well to be able to add to the length of the handle by inserting more joints of bamboo. some butterflies are "highfliers." nets made of stout muslin are useful for sweeping the tops of grass and low herbage, and in this way multitudes of small insects of various orders may be taken. such nets should be larger than the ordinary net. nets made of stout lace cloth are used for capturing aquatic insects in pools and ditches. for this purpose a scoop made of wire gauze may also be advantageously employed. [illustration: plate xxii. fig. 1.--beating the bush. fig. 2.--a successful stroke.] in the capture of insects the umbrella plays, in the hands of a skilful collector, a very important part. it is used as a receptacle for insects which are beaten from the overhanging branches, under which it is held in an inverted position while the operation of beating is going on. as the insects fall they must be caught and placed in the collecting-jars. (see plate xxii., fig. 1.) [illustration: fig. 89.--net-head for removable frame. (after riley.) the frame is made of elastic brass ribbon, and may be put inside of the hat when not in use, and the handle used as a cane.] [illustration: fig. 90.--folding net. (after riley.) _a_, net-ring open; _b_, enlarged view of joint and check; _c_, ring folded and detached from ferule; _d_, nut sunk into end of ferule; _e_, screw to hold ring in place; _f_, illustrating manner of putting ring and rod together.] collecting-jars are of various sizes. for lepidoptera the one-pound jars used by schering for hydrate of chloral, which have nicely ground glass stoppers, are admirable. in preparing the jars the following directions should be closely attended to: place at the bottom of the jar some lumps of cyanide of potash, over these place a few pieces of paper loosely crumpled and rammed down so as to hold the lumps of the cyanide in position. pour in two or three drops of water. take a piece of stout and clean writing-paper and describe upon it a circle of the same size as the inside of the bottle, and around this another circle three-quarters of an inch greater in diameter. cut out a circular disc of paper, following with the scissors the line of the outer circle. at intervals of a quarter of an inch cut slits all around the disc of paper extending them inwardly only as far as the first circle drawn upon the paper. fold back the outer edge of the disc upon the side of the paper which is to come uppermost in the bottle. with a pin, or a small punch, pierce a number of holes through the middle of the paper. apply some gum to the edge of the disc which has been folded back, and fix it securely on the top of the mass of cyanide and paper at the bottom of the jar, by pressing the gummed edge against the sides of the bottle. this method is infinitely preferable to the old way of fixing the cyanide in the bottom of the jar by pouring in a cement of plaster of paris. instead of lumps of cyanide of potash, lumps of carbonate of ammonia may be used to charge the poisoning-jar, but a jar so charged must never be used to kill insects which are green in color, as the fumes of the ammonia often serve to bleach these and make them white or brown. [illustration: fig. 91.--collecting jar. cy., cyanide of potash wedged into place with soft paper; p, perforated paper disc.] [illustration: fig. 92.--perforated disc of paper for holding cyanide in place at bottom of jar.] in the case of large insects, or insects which struggle violently, a few drops of chloroform may be poured into the collecting-jar, to prevent them from injuring themselves. chloroform is not, however, to be commended as a killing agent, inasmuch as it induces thoracic spasms, which make the specimen difficult to set after death. in the case of the larger moths and beetles death may be instantaneously induced by injecting a solution of cyanide of potash with a hypodermic syringe. the use of oxalic acid in solution, administered by making an incision into the thorax of the insect with the point of a crow-quill pen dipped into the solution, is not to be highly commended, as the acid changes the color of the specimen, and, after it has been pinned, corrodes the pin. likewise when specimens have been kept too long in a jar charged with ammonia, and are pinned immediately after they have been taken out, the pins are liable to be corroded and eaten through. the collector having provided himself with nets and killing-jars, will not be thoroughly equipped for field work until he have added to his outfit the necessary conveniences for carrying his captures with him uninjured. the writer, after long experience as a collector in many lands, is inclined to think that the best appliance is a tin box lined with cork, and provided with a compartment in which a cyanide cake[11] may be placed before going to the field, and in which, after the return, when the cyanide cake has been withdrawn, a sponge may be put, which should be saturated with a weak solution of carbolic acid for the double purpose of keeping the specimens from drying out too rapidly and from moulding. the box should not be more than 10 × 8 × 3-1/2 inches inside measurement, and should be divided into two equal parts, hinged at the side which is carried uppermost, and hung over the shoulder by a strap. a pincushion filled with pins may be attached to the belt. a belt arranged like a cartridge-belt, with pockets to carry pillboxes about one and one-half inch square and three-quarters of an inch deep should also be provided. these boxes should have glass bottoms. they are to be used in "boxing" the smaller lepidoptera and other delicate insects which, if killed and pinned on the field, would be too dry upon return from the chase to make good cabinet specimens. boxed specimens may be kept for a day or two, and killed and mounted at leisure. a bag containing several small boxes may also be carried. these boxes should have in them a supply of paper envelopes, for papering specimens in the way hereafter to be described. a loose sack-coat, with an abundance of capacious pockets inside and out, is indispensable. a small poisoning-jar for beetles should be carried in the right-hand pocket of the pantaloons, a similar jar in the left-hand pocket for hymenoptera and diptera. in the right-hand pocket of the sack-coat should be carried the large jar for killing lepidoptera, and in the left-hand pocket a smaller jar for neuroptera and orthoptera. thus arrayed the collector is completely furnished for the chase. it will, however, be well for him, if he can, to secure the attendance of an assistant to carry some of his "traps" and assist him. we will now go out with him into the field and give him a few practical instructions as to the best mode of procedure. first of all, it is proper to observe that it is advisable not to be in a hurry and not to rush over the ground. the representations in comic newspapers of the entomologist, wildly tearing about the fields and in mad haste chasing a butterfly over hills and meadows, are not drawn from a study of the methods of experts. "all things come to him who waits." slyness, coolness, a keen eye, and adroit quickness in the use of the net are the qualities which yield the largest returns to the collector. in the use of the net the habits of insects must be noted. those which alight upon the ground or low herbage may be caught by clapping the net over them. most butterflies and moths have the habit, when caught, of flying upward in the net. therefore so soon as the insect, if a lepidopteron, is enclosed in the net, hold up the closed end of the sack, and, introducing the poison jar, from which the stopper has been removed, take the insect. a little practice will soon enable the collector to do this without allowing the fly to beat and injure its wings, and without touching them in the least with the fingers. (plate xxiii., fig. 1.) a convenient way of securing small insects in the net is by a rapid motion hither and thither, with the mouth open to the wind, to drive them back into the bottom of the sack, and then to place this in the bottle and leave it there a few seconds until the insects are stunned, when they may be shaken into the jar. when the insect alights within reach upon the ends of branches or the tops of flowering plants, it may be swept into the net by a dexterous movement and thus secured. a similar stroke will often, when well-aimed, secure specimens flying past the station of the collector. (plate xxiii., fig. 2.) beetles and insects of other orders than the lepidoptera may be placed in the jars appropriated to them and left there until the return from the fields. with the lepidoptera it is necessary to exercise greater care. the smaller specimens, such as the tortricidæ and phycitidæ and tineidæ should be "boxed" in the pillboxes provided for this purpose. the lycænidæ, hesperidæ, and most of the moths, should be caught in the large jar in the manner just described, and when stunned, pinned and placed in the cork-lined box, where the process of completely depriving them of life will be completed. the larger, and even some of the smaller, butterflies may be killed while in the net by gently pinching them through its folds, between the first finger and the thumb at the point where the wings are attached to the thorax (see fig. 93). the pressure should be applied when the wings are folded back to back, as the insect sits when in repose. if applied in any other way the specimen is likely to be seriously damaged, and moths should never be thus killed. in pinning specimens in the tin box used for transportation while upon the hunt, the storage power of the box will be increased by pinning a number of specimens upon one pin, thrusting the pin through the insect horizontally and not perpendicularly through the upper surface of the thorax. [illustration: fig. 93.--method of pinching a butterfly.] the labors of the collector should not be confined to the day. multitudes of the rarest and most desirable species are nocturnal in their habits. some of them are readily attracted to light, though, strangely enough, the individuals among the lepidoptera thus attracted are mainly of the male sex. by placing a lamp at an open window many moths may be secured. electric lights are good points for the collector, if they are within reach. the burnt and ragged refuse which the cleaner finds in the globes in the morning, half-buried in the dust of the disintegrated carbons, is of little or no value. various traps lighted with lanterns have been suggested, but so far few of them have equalled the simple device of a friend of mine, who, living in a tropical country, has set apart a small room for this purpose, and having cleared it of all furniture, and whitewashed the walls, keeps a powerful lamp burning in it every night opposite a large window facing the forest. his captures vary from a dozen to a hundred specimens of lepidoptera every night of the year, and multitudes of insects of other orders. in the temperate zones a favorite method of collecting lepidoptera is by "sugaring." for this a mixture of sugar and stale beer, or molasses and water, flavored with rum, and of about the consistency of thin maple syrup, should be used. it is best applied to the trunks of trees upon the edge of clearings, and on moonlight nights on the side of the wood toward the moon. apply the mixture to from forty to eighty trees, stumps, or stakes, with a whitewash brush, and then go over the "beat" with a dark lantern and capture the moths in the wide-mouthed cyanide jar. in this way the writer has taken as many as three or four hundred moths in a single evening. the same trees should be sugared and visited night after night, and the best results are often only obtained after a beat has been in operation for some time and the insects have learned to know it. the best catch is generally to be had in the two hours immediately following sunset. in tropical countries, aside from the erebidæ and allied moths, few species appear to be attracted to sugar, and in warm climates plenty of rum should be added to the mixture. to keep ants off from trees which have been sugared, the writer finds it good to tie a band of dark cloth which has been treated with a saturated solution of corrosive sublimate about the trunk near the ground. this only is to be done where a regular route has been selected for nightly visitation, and it has the disadvantage of keeping away from the baits many beetles which are attracted to sugar. trees which have been sugared and visited at night should be revisited in the daytime, and many day-flying species will be found feasting upon what has been left by the revellers who attended the banquet of the night before. [illustration: plate xxiii. fig. 1.--bottling a skipper. fig. 2.--japanese porter with collecting boxes.] some insects have quite revolting tastes, and may be captured by pandering to them. the ordure of wild animals has a charm for many, and by placing the dung of dogs, or civet-cats, or any of the felidæ, in the woodland paths of tropical forests many great rarities may be secured. carrion and dead fish in particular are attractive baits. it has been recently claimed by a writer that painted decoys representing butterflies, placed upon flowers, or kept in motion at the tip of a switch, may be effectively used in securing rare and wild species. the writer has no personal knowledge of the merit of the plan. it might be worth trying, however, in the case of monstrous rarities. footnote: [11] the cyanide cake is made by pouring plaster of paris into a mould of proper size and imbedding in it before setting a number of lumps of cyanide of potash. chapter xliii. preparation, care, and display of insects. [illustration: fig. 94.--manner of folding paper envelope. a-b, first fold; b-c, second fold; a-d, third fold; b-f, fourth fold; a-e, fifth fold.] [illustration: fig. 95.--butterfly in envelope.] the next step after the capture of the specimens is to prepare them either for transportation or for the cabinet. if collecting upon a journey, or where facilities for the preparation of specimens for the cabinet are lacking, the insects may be preserved in papers. common druggists' envelopes are a very convenient resource for the preservation of lepidoptera. they may be purchased by the thousand at about sixty-five cents. if these cannot be had, envelopes may easily be made from pieces of paper, preferably stiff newspaper or common writing-paper upon which ink has not been used. the manner of folding these is illustrated by figures 94 and 95. care should be taken to write upon the envelope, before the insect is placed in it, the date and the locality of capture. beetles, if black and devoid of hairy vestiture, may be preserved in alcohol, and the same course may be taken with many insects of other orders. it is preferable, however, to pack beetles and other hard-bodied insects in layers of cotton batting. a small box may be made to contain an immense number of insects in envelopes or in cotton, and they may thus be safely transported anywhere. in case alcohol is used as a preservative all the specimens of a species should be sorted out and tied together in a small sack made out of thin netting, and to this should be attached a label giving the date and place of capture and a reference to the note-book. in case cotton layers are employed all the specimens of a species, if numerous, should be placed in one layer, and a memorandum to the same purport as the label inserted. insects are prepared for the cabinet by being mounted upon pins and "expanded." there are various sorts and sizes of insect-pins, but those made by klaeger, of berlin, are generally preferred at the present time by the leading entomologists of the world. the french pins and the so-called "carlsbader pins" are too long and the points are too fine, and, therefore, too likely to be injured to make them desirable. the english pins are too short, and except in the case of very small insects, are not used by the best collectors. insects should be mounted high upon the pin, _i.e._, in such a way that not more than one-fifth or at the most one-fourth of the pin shall be exposed above the body of the specimen. dr. staudinger, the celebrated lepidopterist of germany, makes it his rule to mount all his specimens in such a way that the wings are elevated upon a plane one inch above the tip of the pin. the writer has had the greater part of his collection, of over fifty thousand specimens of lepidoptera, mounted at an average height of seven-eighths of an inch above the points of the pins. the "english method" of mounting low down, and only leaving enough of the pin exposed below to permit of fixing the specimens in the cork at the bottoms of the drawers of the cabinet, is rapidly passing out of vogue, even in england, and is giving place to the "continental method." insect pins are of various sizes; adapted to the size of the insect which they are to carry. the most serviceable sizes and which will be proportioned to the majority of the insects which the collector is likely to take, are klaeger's no. 3 and no. 5. for very large insects higher numbers may be employed, and for smaller insects lower numbers, though in the case of the latter it is perhaps better to use the short english pins and then to mount the specimens upon the bits of cork or pith which are themselves mounted upon the longer german pins. such mounts are known as "double mounts" (see fig. 96). the writer desires to utter a caution against the use of the common black insect-pins so often sold by dealers, and the sole stock in trade of one or two firms of opticians in this country. they are very liable to rust at the point and to bend, and are totally unsuited for use in humid, tropical, and semi-tropical climates, or for collections which are to be transported far over the seas. beetles should always be pinned through the right elytron. bugs should be pinned through the scutellum, as the small triangular piece between the elytra is called. all other insects should be pinned in the middle of the thorax, and care should always be taken to set the pins perpendicularly. [illustration: fig. 96.--double mount. c, long pin; p, pith; s, specimen mounted on short pin; l, label.] [illustration: fig. 97.--frame for mounting beetles. a, a, wooden frame; a, b, paper drumhead.] having pinned the specimen the next step is to expand it properly. in the case of beetles this is done by simply arranging the feet and the antennæ in such a way that they can easily be inspected. in doing this it is well to have a frame seven-eighths of an inch deep, or thereabouts, backed by a thin piece of soft pine, and covered on top by a sheet of paper, which has been first moistened and then pasted around the edges, and which when dry expands like a drumhead. (fig. 97.) upon this a number of beetles may be pinned, their feet drawn out, and there be left to dry. in the case of lepidopterous insects, and other insects having considerable expanse of wing, setting-boards are required. these are boards provided with a groove in the middle capable of receiving the body of the insect, and permitting of the expansion of their wings laterally. these boards should be of various widths, so as to be adapted to insects having various expanse of wings, and the grooves also should be of various depths, adapted to insects having bodies of various size. the best form of a setting-board, with which the writer is acquainted, is that given in fig. 98. the narrow slit below the groove, which is intended for the reception of the body of the insect, admits of passing the pin down to a proper depth, and the depth is regulated of course by the piece at the bottom of the setting-board. the two side pieces should always be from seven-eighths of an inch to an inch thick. the best material is soft, clean pine, or, better still, the wood of the kiri-no-ki (_paulownia regalis_). [illustration: fig. 98.--setting-board.] [illustration: fig. 99.--setting-board. (after riley.)] [illustration: fig. 100.--setting-block. a, groove for body of insect; b, nick for holding thread; c, cork to receive point of pin passing through holes in bottom of a.] [illustration: fig. 101.--butterfly expanded upon setting-block.] instead of setting-boards, setting-blocks (see figs. 100 and 101), may be advantageously employed in setting smaller specimens, especially of the hesperidæ and the noctuidæ, the wings of which are refractory, and refuse to be treated in the method that has just been described. instead of using strips of tracing muslin it is necessary, in the case of setting-blocks, to use threads or cords, which may be adjusted, as is shown in the figure. care should, however, be taken not to draw the thread or cord so tightly about the wings of the specimens as to cut into their vestiture and thus leave marks. [illustration: fig. 102.--setting-needle.] the insects having been adjusted upon the board, care being taken that the pin is set perpendicularly, the next step is to draw out the wings in the position which they are to maintain when the specimen is thoroughly dry. this is accomplished by means of what are known as "setting-needles" (see fig. 102). they can easily be made by inserting ordinary needles into handles, which may be made of some soft wood. the writer generally employs as handles for his setting-needles matches, from which the sulphur tip has been removed. in drawing the wings into position care should be taken to plant the setting-needle immediately behind the strong nervure of the costal margin of the wing. otherwise the wings are likely to be torn and disfigured. the rule in setting lepidoptera is to draw the anterior wings forward in such a way that their posterior margins form a right angle with the axis of the body, which rests in the groove in the middle of the setting-board. the posterior wings are then drawn forward in such a way as fully to expose their outline. the next step is to firmly fix the wings in position, as they have been placed. some writers recommend for this purpose using short strips of paper over the wings, others recommend placing upon the wings pieces of glass, of a size sufficient to cover the entire wing. a far better plan is to employ strips of tracing muslin, such as is used by draughtsmen and engineers. these strips may be secured at the ends of the setting-board by thumb-tacks, and may be drawn down over the wings of the specimen and securely held by pins in place. care should be always taken to nicely turn up the edge of the strips nearest to the body, so that a crease or depression may not be left upon the scales covering the wings of the insects when the specimen has been thoroughly dried. the wings having been arranged, the antennæ and the feet may be brought forward and displayed in a natural position. care should be always taken to lower the antennæ so that they do not stand erect above the head. in the latter position they are very apt to become broken. a number of such boards may be conveniently arranged in a box, as shown in fig. 103, and if strips of muslin are used, and are firmly held in place by pins, such a box may be transported from place to place, upon the backs of men or beasts, and the process of drying the insects may go on _en route_, while the naturalist is conducting his investigations. in this manner the writer carried four or five large boxes with him through the interior of japan (plate xxiii., fig. 2), and succeeded in bringing home with him nearly six thousand specimens, dried and ready to place in the cabinet. the length of time which is required for drying, varies of course a little with the temperature, and the amount of humidity in the atmosphere. in some climates it is almost impossible to absolutely dry the specimens, in others they dry very quickly. in the united states a week or ten days will generally suffice to secure that rigidity which is necessary in a cabinet specimen. [illustration: fig. 103.--box for receiving setting-boards. _a_, board partly withdrawn; _b_, =t=-shaped strip to hold board in place; _c_, sliding door of box; _d_, tongue on edge of door working in groove at front of sides.] the process of drying may be hastened advantageously by placing the setting-boards in a cool oven. the temperature, however, should not be above 130° f. some insects lose their color when dried, and it is impossible in certain cases to retain them. in some cases also the bodies of insects shrivel up very greatly and become distorted. it is very often advisable in such cases to make an incision into the abdomen and withdraw the viscera and stuff the body with cotton. spiders should always be treated in this way, and so also the larger mantidæ and locustidæ. when the insects have become thoroughly dry, and their wings are rigid, they may be removed from the setting-board, and are now ready for the cabinet. in case, however, it is desired to transport them, as is the case with specimens that have been collected upon a journey, they may be pinned in boxes lined with cork or pith, with their wings "shingled" as in fig. 104, and they may, if firmly secured to the bottom of the boxes, be in this shape transported for long distances; but it is always necessary to pack the box in which they are contained in an outer box, separating the inner box from the outer case by at least two inches of straw, excelsior, or some other light and elastic substance, to save the specimens from being jarred in transport. [illustration: fig. 104.--butterflies pinned with their wings shingled.] specimens that have been preserved in paper, as described on page 328, in order to fit them for the cabinet, should be relaxed and then expanded. in order to relax them, one of the best methods is to place the envelope which contains the specimen between layers of cloth that have been dampened in pure water, to which has been added a small quantity of carbolic acid, enough to prevent mould. be careful not to add too much carbolic acid. another method is to lay the specimens at the bottom of a jar, half-filled with sand, which has been moistened and well carbolized. the jar should be tightly closed, so as to retain the moisture. specimens that have been fastened with pins may be placed on pieces of board, and then set in a jar, prepared in the way that has been described. after exposure to the moist atmosphere of the jar, or to the moisture contained within the towelling, for a period varying from a few hours to a day, the specimens will be sufficiently relaxed to permit of them being treated as if they had been freshly taken, and mounted and expanded upon the setting-board as described on page 331. it is well to have the top of the jar, before the lid is placed upon it, covered with a layer of blotting-paper, or some other substance which will absorb the moisture which otherwise might drip from the lid upon the specimens below. this is a precaution which is especially necessary in the case of butterflies which are of a bright blue or a pale green color, and which are much disfigured by water stains. mould is one of the great enemies of the collector, and strenuous efforts should be made to prevent its appearance in the cabinet or among the specimens. in order to do this, it is well to secure a thorough desiccation of the specimens, but where it is impossible to thoroughly dry them, moulding may be prevented to a greater or less extent by placing between the paper envelopes pieces of blotting-paper which have been saturated with carbolic acid and permitted to dry. the sides of the boxes containing the specimens may also be painted with carbolic acid. naphthaline in crystals may be introduced among the envelopes, and this appears in many cases to serve as a partial preventive of mould. when a specimen has been attacked by mould, the mould may be largely removed by thorough drying in a cool oven and then dusting off the specimen with a soft camel's-hair pencil that has been rubbed in carbolic acid and dried. specimens sometimes become greasy, and it is then desirable, if possible, to remove the grease with which their bodies and wings are saturated. the only method which can be employed advantageously is that of washing out the grease by means of benzoline, or some of the allied volatile mineral oils. by immersing a greasy specimen for a considerable time in gasoline, it is possible to remove the grease. the specimen having been thus exposed should be placed in a cool spot, free from dust, and all the gasoline should be allowed to evaporate. care should be taken to conduct this process away from fire and lights, in order to prevent an explosion. the writer has found that the best method for removing grease is to allow the gasoline to fall drop by drop upon the thorax of the specimen. the specimen is therefore placed in a very large glass jar, say six inches in diameter, and is fixed at the bottom upon a piece of cork, tightly secured in place. the gasoline is placed above and is allowed to filter down from the bottle in which it is contained upon the specimen drop by drop. in this way the grease is gradually washed out, and will be found after a while at the bottom of the jar in the form of thick globules, the density of which causes them to sink to the bottom. in the case of some large bombycid moths the writer has washed out as much as a teaspoonful of animal fat from the body and wings of the specimen, in the manner that has been described. the receptacles into which entomologists place their collections vary somewhat according to the taste and the length of the purse of the collector. some large collections are contained in boxes, and most of the coleopterists of this country, so far as the writer knows, have adopted these as receptacles for their collections. the boxes should be about two inches deep in the clear, the bottom should be lined with the best quality of cork, about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, and the whole papered inside with white paper. the lid should be fastened upon the lower part of the box, either by a tongue and groove or by thin strips nailed around on the inside and projecting above the margin of the bottom portion at least half an inch. these boxes should also be hinged. the material should be well-seasoned. double boxes with cork on the top and on the bottom are sometimes used, and these may be prepared with backs resembling books, and may be placed upon their ends upon shelves. they should not be laid one upon the other, as the insects pinned upon the upper side are liable sometimes, through jarring, to become detached, and falling out to cause a breakage among the specimens. the writer employs in his own collection drawers twenty-two inches long, eighteen inches wide, and two inches deep, covered with glass, the glass cover being attached to the bottom by a tongue and groove. the specimens should be kept in the dark, as exposure to light bleaches them, sooner or later. great pains should be taken to keep out dust, mould, and insect pests, such as anthrenus and dermestes. naphthaline crystals destroy mites and they cannot exist where it is abundantly present. anthrenus and dermestes may be kept out of collections by naphthaline, but when they have been once introduced they will remain and propagate in spite of the presence of the drug. in order to exterminate them various agents are employed. the best is perhaps chloroform, and next to this carbon bisulphide. in buying the latter drug, care should be taken to purchase the washed and purified article, which is not as malodorous as the common varieties which used formerly to be sold by druggists. it is, however, highly explosive when mixed in quantity with the air, and care should be taken not to use it in proximity to a light. it has the advantage of destroying at once the imago, the larva, and, perhaps, the eggs of museum-pests. the writer makes it a point annually, in the early summer, to place sufficient chloroform or carbon bichloride in his cabinet drawers to exterminate anything that may be living there, and thus secures comparative immunity from insect attacks. * * * * * instructions as to the use of labels may be restricted to the simple advice to make them small enough to permit of their being placed upon the pins bearing the insects, and to have them written legibly. of course every label should bear, if it is possible for the student to determine them, the generic and the specific names of the insects, and that of the author of the specific name, together with the date and locality of capture. in writing labels a small crow-quill pen is to be preferred. a great many instruments of different sorts will suggest themselves to the collector in the process of his labors as being more or less useful, but none will prove more so than the forceps. it is impossible to do good work in the cabinet without a forceps, and those made by blake, of philadelphia, are the very best. _books to be consulted by the collector for further information as to methods of manipulating specimens._ packard: guide to the study of insects. 8vo. henry holt & co., new york. scudder: butterflies. 8vo. henry holt & co., new york. kirby and spence: introduction to entomology. various editions. mccook: american spiders. strecker: american moths and butterflies. a great deal of practical and valuable information is to be derived from the pages of the following journals: the canadian entomologist. the bulletin of the brooklyn entomological society. psyche. _names of dealers in entomological supplies who are to be recommended_. john akhurst, 78 ashland place, brooklyn, n.y.; pins, etc. john burr, north fifth street, camden, n.j.; boxes, cabinets, etc. armstrong, brother & co., pittsburgh, pa.; cork. the largest cork manufacturing firm in the united states. will cut cork of any size which may be ordered, within practical limits. blake & co., 55 north seventh street, philadelphia; forceps. part vi.--general information. chapter xliv. insect pests and poisoning. the pests.--if an island of bare rock should be born to-day in the middle of the pacific ocean, and an unpoisoned skin of bird or mammal laid down upon it to-morrow morning, i would wager that _dermestes lardarius_ would find that skin before sunset. if you were to prepare a skin without poison, and lock it up immediately in the bowels of a burglar-proof safe, not to be opened for six months, at the end of that time you would find it swarming with _dermestes_. if you ever omit to poison anything in the shape of a vertebrate specimen, be sure your sin and the beastly bugs will find you out. dermestes.--the greatest enemy of the zoological collector and conservator, and one which is world-wide in its distribution, is a small beetle, one-third of an inch in length, commonly called the "bacon beetle." its flight is rather feeble, but "it gets there just the same." the most common species, _dermestes lardarius_, is of a dark, dirty-brown color, with a broad, transverse band of dull gray encircling the middle of the body. the imago is not of much consequence as a destroyer, but the larva, a nasty, hairy, brown-backed, and white-bellied abomination half an inch long, and with an appetite like a hog, is the incarnation of all that is pestiferous. a skull that has been "roughed out" and put away without poisoning will soon be literally swarming with _dermestes_ larvæ, and half-buried with the brown, powdery excrementation they leave behind. if the curator ever sees a fine, brown dust falling in little heaps out of any part of a mounted specimen, he may know that _dermestes_ larvæ are at work. not long ago the national museum was visited by another species of the bacon beetle, _dermestes maculatus_, a gray-colored variety, beside which his congener seemed harmless and inoffensive. _maculatus_ was an unmitigated terror. he disdained to graze modestly on the outside of a specimen, as did _lardarius_, but simply began to eat wherever he "lit," and went straight in to a depth of an inch or so, as if shot out of a gun. an unhappy stuffed monkey that once crossed the track of this little fiend had half a dozen neat round holes eaten through the dry skin of his side, and straight on into the hard tow filling for quite an inch. a gimlet could not have done the work half so well. the most ridiculous thing was that this insatiable little monster attacked a plaster cast, and bored it full of holes also! fortunately for the national museum, the stay of this highly interesting stranger was of brief duration. he came in 1885, and vanished that same year--so far as my observations went. moths.--next in destructiveness are the tiny moths, of which four species are to be fought in the museum and the household. these are the clothes moth (_tinea flavifrontella_), the fur moth (_t. pelionella_), the carpet moth (_t. tapetzella_), and the grain moth (_t. granella_). the perfect moth is of course by preference a night-flying insect, and very seldom flies in the daytime except when disturbed. the imago is harmless, but the larva--a tiny, white worm no thicker than a pin, and about one-tenth of an inch in length--will soon shave the hair off an unpoisoned elk or deer head more smoothly than you could do it with the best razor ever made. of course moth larvæ are most active and destructive during the breeding season--the warm months from may to october--but in warm rooms they sometimes keep at work all through the winter. in one sense the moth is the zoologist's most dreaded foe, for the reason that its work is so subtle and unseen. often the first intimation the victim has of the presence of his enemy is when dusting a favorite head he suddenly knocks off a section of hair half a foot square, exposing underneath the smooth, bare skin covered with fine gray dust. the larvæ of the moth attack birds and quadrupeds in one way only, that is by eating the roots of the hair or feathers, and the epidermis. mounted heads of large ruminant animals are the particular prey of these abominable pests, because they cannot be protected by glass cases, and are seldom touched save with a feather duster. in ethnological collections all the garments of skin and leather, and all the textile fabrics are subject to the attacks of the tineids, as they also are to those of the species to be noticed next. anthrenus.--although i have seen this "buffalo bug" try hard to make an impression on mounted mammals, i have not yet seen it do harm except to furs and leather or woolen garments. the adult buffalo bug (_anthrenus lepidus_) is a tiny, round, brown beetle, with white spots on its elytra, and, as usual, it is the larvæ that do the mischief. symptoms of the presence of insect pests.--whenever little heaps of brown dust are seen accumulating here and there on a pedestal underneath a mounted specimen, know that dermestes are actively at work somewhere above. sometimes the larvæ will even show themselves on the hair, which means a bad case. if a perfect moth is seen flying in a case, or resting on a specimen, search at once for the larvæ. the best way to do this is to go over a specimen with a rough brush, or a comb, to see if the hair pulls out at any point. if a tuft of hair gives way at its roots, and you see a bare spot underneath, it means moth larvæ. poisoning.--let us take first the case of a mounted specimen which is known to be infested with the larvæ of either _dermestes_ or tineids. it must be treated thoroughly all over with a powerful poison, not only to kill the insects already there, but to poison any larvæ that may be hatched hereafter and seek to attack it. if possible, remove the specimen from its pedestal, and beat out of it whatever dust it may contain. procure a quantity of alcohol sufficient when diluted with fifty per cent of water to completely saturate the hair (or feathers) of the specimen, and dissolve in it some corrosive sublimate--about one ounce to every three pints of the liquid. the point to strive for in making up such a solution is to make it as strong with the corrosive sublimate as it can be without leaving on dark hair a gray (or white) deposit when the liquid has evaporated. in practice i always mix the liquid, and then test it with a tuft of black or brown hair. if the deposit left is quite apparent to the eye, a little more alcohol and water must be added. the principle of the process is simply this: the alcohol, being at once very penetrating and very volatile, and also capable of combining chemically with the corrosive sublimate, is used as a vehicle for the distribution of the poison. the poison is carried to the roots of the hair and left there as a deposit when the liquid evaporates. in chapter xviii. the method of applying this solution is described. arsenic water, also described there, is _equally good_, and any intelligent person can make up either solution and apply it successfully without the slightest difficulty. when the specimen has dried, the hair must be dressed by brushing and combing it. if the white poison shows on the hair, take a sponge, and with either hot water or alcohol sponge off the _surface_ of the hair, leaving all the unseen poison undisturbed. if your solution contains the proper amount of poison, and is thoroughly applied, i warrant that insects will never again touch that specimen, even though it should exist a thousand years. it often happens that moths get into cases of birds, or mammals, or insects, which cannot be treated as above without damaging the specimens. in such an event there are several poisons of a volatile character which give off fumes so deadly that no insect can live in them. the best for this purpose is naphthaline crystals, exposed in the cases in little bags made of musquito-netting, used in abundant quantity, and left in the cases, which must of course be kept closed as tightly as possible. in insect collections each box should have a little cone of crystals,[12] as a standing menace to all would-be marauders. liquid or crystal bisulphide of carbon, exposed in saucers on the bottom of a tightly closed case will also kill whatever living insects may be found therein; but it does not destroy eggs, and by the time it has evaporated another generation of destroyers may have been born, hungrier than the first. a half-ounce bag of naphthaline crystals will last about three months. mr. john b. smith, who published in the "proceedings of the entomological society of washington," vol. i., no. 2, p. 113, a very interesting paper on "museum pests," found in treating some boxes of coleoptera that were infested with _trogoderma_ that both bisulphide of carbon and naphthaline killed all larvæ and imagoes, and held all the eggs in a dormant condition, even through the summer months, until the poison had all evaporated, when the eggs began to hatch. at present naphthaline in the form of crystals has become the most popular of the various volatile poisons, and among ornithologists, mammalogists, and entomologists is very generally used. it prevents mould, destroys bacteria and schizomycetes; the salt is perfectly neutral, is not poisonous to man, and is cheap, costing only twenty-five cents per pound. poisoning textile fabrics and skin clothing.--objects of this class can not be put through any liquid poison, for the reason that some would be made hard and stiff, some would lose their colors, and all would come out in bad shape generally. to meet the exigencies of such cases one alternative is to poison the atmosphere of an air-tight case with some of the volatile poisons already mentioned, and the other is to treat each article with some powerful liquid poison, applied as a fine spray with an ordinary atomizer of gutta-percha, which can be purchased for from one to two dollars. the immense collections of the department of ethnology in the national museum have necessitated a great amount of poisoning in both these ways, especially the latter, which has the merit of being permanent. in the "smithsonian report for 1887," vol. ii., pp. 549-558, mr. walter hough has published a very complete, lucid, and valuable paper on "the preservation of museum specimens from insects, and the effects of dampness," which every zoological conservator should read and hold for ready reference. in spraying large objects mr. hough uses either a shaw & geary no. 2 air-compressor (cost, $15) or a four-nozzle gutta-percha atomizer ($2.50), and the spray is from the following solution: saturated solution of arsenic acid and alcohol 1 pint. strong carbolic acid 25 drops. strychnine 20 grains. alcohol (strong) 1 quart. naphtha, crude or refined 1 pint. for treating specimens of ordinary size with the concentrated fumes of bisulphide of carbon, the national museum uses a galvanized sheet-iron tank 3 × 2 × 2 feet, which has around its upper edge a deep groove filled with water, into which the rim of the cover fits when the tank is closed. the centre of the cover contains an air-hole, which is also capable of being hermetically closed in the same way. this tank should be used in the open air, if possible, so that the fumes will not injure the health of the operator. poisoning rugs.--it has long been a problem how to poison a fur rug to protect it from insects, and yet to keep out of it the dry mineral poisons which would be injurious to the health of the little ones, the dog, and the cat, who are "tenants in common" of the bear-skin on the floor. mr. f.s. webster has solved the difficulty by poisoning all his rugs on the inside with our old and valued friend, arsenical soap. it strikes into and through the skin, of course, and, contrary to previous expectations, it is by no means offensive, or even noticeable by odor in the finished rug. furs.--even in washington, the city of moths, mrs. hornaday carried the family rugs and furs, and all woolen clothing, through eight summers, unscathed, by the liberal use of camphor gum alone. if the crumbled gum is sprinkled liberally into the folds of anything when it is being folded or rolled up, its protection against moths is assured. insect powders.--for the benefit of the american housewife i will mention the fact that for the complete annihilation of ants, roaches, water-bugs, and the like, there is nothing that i know of that is so far-reaching and so deadly as a powder produced in california called buhac, costing sixty cents per pound. the price is high, but the powder is well worth it--and this is an absolutely free advertisement. the effect of poisons on the taxidermist.--arsenical soap is by all odds the safest poison that can possibly be used. it gives off no poisonous fumes whatsoever, its presence in the mouth, nose, or eyes is always detected instantly, and the worst that it ever does is to get into a cut or under the ends of the finger-nails of the careless taxidermist, and make a festering sore which is well in a few days--a purely local ill. dry arsenic is more injurious. it sometimes poisons the fingers of a careless operator, and if it is inhaled in the form of dust the effect may be serious. a few persons are very susceptible to the effects of dry arsenic, others are not. if the blood is in a healthy condition there is little to fear from it, except through gross carelessness. i have used, all told, probably more than a hundred and fifty pounds of arsenic in various forms, and never had an hour's illness in consequence, nor anything more serious than a sore finger. corrosive sublimate is much more powerful and more dangerous. it should never be used in the preparation of a skin before it is mounted; after mounting it may, with care, be used quite safely. strychnine is far too dangerous to be used by a taxidermist save in poisoning animals he wishes to secure as scientific specimens. footnote: [12] made and sold by blake & co., philadelphia. chapter xlv. useful information. _recipe for making arsenical soap._ white bar soap, soft rather than hard 2 pounds. powdered arsenic 2 " camphor 5 ounces. subcarbonate of potash 6 " alcohol 8 " directions: the soap should be the best quality of laundry soap, and of such composition that it can be reduced with water to any degree of thinness. soap which becomes like jelly when melted will not answer, and should never be used. slice the soap and melt it in a small quantity of water over a slow fire, stirring sufficiently to prevent its burning. when melted add the potash, and stir in the powdered arsenic. next add the camphor, which should be dissolved in the alcohol at the beginning of the operation. stir the mass thoroughly, boil it down to the consistency of thick molasses, and pour it into an earthen or wooden jar to cool and harden. stir it occasionally while cooling to prevent the arsenic from settling at the bottom. when cold it should be like lard or butter. for use, mix a small quantity with water until it resembles buttermilk, and apply with a common paint-brush. the prices charged for the manufactured article by chemists who make arsenical soap to sell are out of all proportion to the cost and labor involved, and every taxidermist who uses much of it should by all means manufacture his own supply. _hendley's enamel varnish._--take equal parts of ether and alcohol, mix them, and add one-third as much gun-cotton. to every gill of this mixture add six drops of olive-oil to give elasticity. it is a good plan to keep two bottles, one containing the varnish ready for use, and the other containing the proper mixture of ether, alcohol and olive oil, to use in thinning the varnish when it gets too thick. this is a very superior varnish being absolutely colorless, and of high gloss. _the wickersheimer solution for the preservation of fleshy objects entire._- alum 500 grains. salt 125 " saltpetre 60 " potash 300 " arsenic trioxide (white arsenic) 100 " dissolve in one quart of boiling water. cool and filter, and for every quart of solution add four quarts of glycerine and one quart of alcohol. immerse the objects to be preserved in this solution, and keep them in it. it is but little else than our old familiar friend, the salt-and-alum bath, with enough glycerine added to prevent the excess of alum from unduly hardening and shriveling the specimens. _composition for use in modeling tongues, mouths, and in general fancy-work._--"procure 3 pounds white glue, 1 pint raw linseed oil, and 1 pound of resin. heat the oil and resin, then add hot glue and stir thoroughly. thicken with paris white until the mixture has the proper consistency to mould when warm. this composition soon dries, becomes very hard, and can be colored or gilded. fancy decorations of any design can readily be made from moulds of plaster or wood, and be glued on to shields and cases, thereby saving the expense of carving. the above is my own composition, which i have successfully employed for many years."--(_j.h. batty._) _composition for snow scenes._--"crush burnt alum with a roller, and remove small lumps. add frosting, which has been pulverized in a mortar to the proper degree of fineness."--(_batty._) _varnish cutter_ (to remove old varnish from antlers, teeth, wood, or from the surface of an old oil-painting).--take a sufficient quantity of eighty or ninety per cent alcohol, and slowly pour into it clear spirits of turpentine until the mixture becomes of a milky color. then cork the bottle and shake the mixture thoroughly, and it is ready for use. apply it with a small sponge, rub the surface vigorously for a moment only, then dip a rag in boiled linseed-oil and apply it to the cleaned surface. the varnish cutter acts almost instantly, and if left on too long the surface of a painting might be injured. _to prevent mould in boxes of specimens._--take some carbolic acid crystals (forty cents per pound), melt them in the sun, and with the resulting liquid acid paint the entire inside of each box, and, if possible, pack contents with naphthaline crystals. this is efficacious in boxes of small skins of birds and mammals, of insects and the like, even in hot climates, but of course does not apply to boxes of large specimens which contain a great amount of moisture. _to polish hard wood._--1st. rub the surface thoroughly with raw linseed-oil, turpentine, and powdered pumice-stone. 2d. give the surface a smooth coat of shellac. 3d. when dry, take fine sand-paper and go over it rather lightly. 4th. give the surface a good coat of hard oil finish (a white varnish), and let it harden. 5th. when quite dry rub down with raw oil, turpentine, and pumice-stone, to soften the gloss of the varnish, and give a polish instead. for rubbing, use a piece of hair-cloth, or clean burlaps. _cement for gumming labels to minerals and shells._--"pulverized gum arabic, 4 ounces; pulverized white sugar, 2 ounces; starch, 4 drachms. dissolve all separately in as little water as convenient. dissolve starch in cold water, then stir it into sugar water, and then that mixture into the gum water. boil with great care, as burning will spoil the whole. it is well to use a tin vessel raised from the bottom of another vessel containing water. after the starch ceases to make the mixture look milky it is cooked, but at least an hour's time will be required. keep in large mouthed, tightly corked bottles, or when done pour into a tray covered with strong paper, spreading it evenly over the paper, and allow it to dry. when dry enough, moisten back of paper and remove it from the gum, dry again thoroughly, break into fragments and preserve for use in wide-mouth stoppered jar."--(_southwick & jenck's "random notes."_) _arsenic water_ (for poisoning mammal skins, etc.).--water, 4 quarts; arsenic, 4 ounces. mix, stir and boil until the arsenic is all taken up. the treatment of furs and peltries.--inasmuch as the readers of this book may sometime desire to preserve a few mammal skins as furs, or to be made up as rugs, i will quote entire, _verbatim et literatim_, a circular of instructions lately issued by one of the largest fur houses in this country, messrs. william macnaughtan's sons, of new york city. observe particularly, however, that skins prepared thus are _utterly worthless to the taxidermist and the scientific museum_. they are good _for furs only_: "_directions for fur collectors and trappers, to insure high prices, ready sales, and save from losses through ignorance._--'_cased:_' ermine, fisher, fox, lynx, martin, mink, opossum, otter, skunk, must be 'cased,' that is, not cut open. in skinning, cut at the rump, and turn the skin inside out (like a glove) over the body of the animal, leaving the pelt side out. then after scraping, cleaning, and drying, turn the skin back again while it is soft and easily managed, leaving the fur side out. then put a thin board inside the skin, cut the natural shape of it, stretching the skin to its fullest extent, but not so much as to make the fur thin. too much stretching spreads the fur over a large surface, and makes it thin and lacking in richness. a liberal supply of good boards should be kept on hand. never use bent sticks, bows, or anything irregular in shape or that yields. when the above are 'opened' they have a southern appearance that lessens the value greatly. "'_open:_' badger, bear, beaver, cats, raccoon, wolves, wolverine, must be 'open;' that is, cut open, up the belly from rump to head. after scraping, cleaning, and drying, stretch a uniformly oblong shape, to the fullest extent of the skin, but not so much as to make the fur thin. when thoroughly dry, trim off legs, shanks, flippers, and any little pieces that spoil the appearance of skin. "_exceptions:_ skunk, long stripe, such as come from the territories and sections of california, wisconsin, minnesota, and iowa, cut open and stretch oblong, as explained. skunk, with the white stripe (or any portion) shaved out, blackened, or tampered with, must be collected at half price. opossum from indian territory, cut open, and stretch oblong as explained. chop off the tails where the fur ends, as they make opossum look poorly and lessen their value. beaver are sometimes stretched almost round, but appear very much better stretched oblong. value by the skin, never by the pound. they rapidly lose heavily in weight. they bring most sold by the skin. muskrats must be 'cased,' but with fur side in. chop off the tails as explained. skin at the nose and make rumps square. round tails have less value and do not sell well. muskrats must not be injured by shooting or spearing. trap them. "skins that have dried without proper care can be treated same as fresh, green skins. otherwise they have no value. dissolve a handful of common salt in a pail of fresh water, and apply frequently with brush or rag (to pelt side only, as it spoils appearance to wet the fur) until the pelt becomes perfectly soft. then handle as explained. the same with 'open' skins. "_cautions:_ do not cure with alum or salt. it injures them for dressing and spoils their sale. do not dry skins at a fire, or in the sun, or in smoke. it often 'burns' them; when they then spoil, and ruin on being dressed. dry in the open air where shady. meaty skins often 'burn.' the meat and fat on them heats and 'burns' them, and they then go to pieces and rot on being dressed. too much warmth curls and spoils the top fur or hair. never stuff furs of any kind; dry and stretch as explained. do not stretch out the noses and make them pointed. it gives a southern appearance and lessens value. do not cut off heads, ears, or noses, or mutilate in any way. it lessens value and injures sales. remove as much of bone from tail as possible, otherwise the tail rots. "_trapping:_ fur-bearing animals must not be killed till they have at least a fair growth of fur. stop trapping as soon in early spring as the fur begins to shed or becomes thin, or a little faded. these too early or too late caught furs are a disgrace to fur trappers and collectors, and a wasteful, worthless slaughter." chapter xlvi. the best books of reference for the taxidermist and collector. it is manifestly impossible even to name under this head a tenth part of the excellent books which might well be given place. it is also inexpedient to include in a list, that must of necessity be brief, the names of special works relating to the fauna of other countries than north america. having been from first to last a diligent user of books in the course of my work, and ever on the alert for something new in printed word or picture that would be of practical use, i will give here the titles of the books that have proven of the greatest practical value to me. i must also in this connection strongly urge the young taxidermist and collector to supply himself with as many of these standard works as he can possibly procure. if diligently studied they are bound to save him from many an error, and richly repay their cost. general zoology and classification. "steele's popular zoology." by professor j.w.p. jenks. american book company, new york. $1.00. a model manual; of great value to the student because of its clearness, conciseness, and wealth of information. copiously and elegantly illustrated. "proceedings of the zoological society of london;" also "transactions." contains a great number of fine animal plates of much value to professional taxidermists. the series is extensive and very costly, and is therefore usually inaccessible except when it can be reached in some scientific library. on mammals. "illustrated natural history: mammals." rev. j.g. wood. routledge, london, 1861. price about $4.00. get the original edition if possible. this book has been of more help to me than any other i have ever found. "quadrupeds of north america." audubon and bachman. out of print and difficult to obtain, but very valuable. "the mammalia, in word and picture." by carl vogt and f. specht. translated from the german by geo. g. chisholm. d. appleton & co., 1-5 bond street, new york, 1890. super royal 4to. $12.00. this great work contains the finest illustrations of mammals, both singly and in groups, ever published in any country. the groups represented are wonderfully fine and life-like, and must be seen to be appreciated. no mammal taxidermist can afford to be without this work. on birds. "the american ornithologist's union code of nomenclature, and check-list of north american birds." l.s. foster, 35 pine street, new york city. $3.00. indispensable to the american collector, because it is the highest authority on the classification and nomenclature of north american birds. thanks to this work, it is no longer necessary to take a daily paper in order to keep posted on the latest changes in bird nomenclature. the names adopted by baird (1858), coues (1873), ridgway (1880), and coues (1882) are all given. no illustrations. "key to north american birds." by dr. elliott coues. estes & lauriat, boston. $7.50. this great work--indispensable to every ornithologist--consists of a masterly treatise on systematic ornithology and the anatomy of birds, a key by which even the tyro can learn to analyze any american bird and identify it, and also a valuable treatise on "field ornithology," or bird-collecting. "nomenclature of north american birds." robert ridgway. sold by f.b. webster, 409 washington street, boston. $7.50. especially designed for use in the determination of species. "illustrated natural history: birds." rev. j.g. wood. routledge, london, 1861. price about $4.00. get the original edition. to a bird taxidermist this is the most valuable book ever published in a single volume, because of its wealth of excellent illustrations. of special value in mounting strange foreign birds. beware of the later editions. "studer's birds of north america." illustrated by theodore jasper. large royal quarto. jacob h. studer, new york. $25.00. contains 119 plates, and a colored figure of every species of north american bird known at the date of its publication. a notable work. the illustrations are of great value to young taxidermists as models by which to mount birds. "birds of north america." j.j. audubon. this superb work is out of print; rare and costly. the octavo edition is to be found in most large libraries, however, and every bird taxidermist should at least know where the copy nearest to him is to be found, and how to gain access to it in time of need. "oology of new england." e.a. capen. sold by frank b. webster, 409 washington street, boston. $8.75. this is the finest illustrated work on birds' eggs ever published in this country. on reptiles. "illustrated natural history: reptiles." rev. j.g. wood. routledge, london, 1861. uniform with volumes on mammals and birds. on fishes. "american fishes." g. brown goode. standard book co., new york, 1888. $5.00. an elegant work, of convenient size. comprehensive and eminently useful. fully illustrated. no collector or student of american fishes can afford to be without it. "the fishery industries of the united states." section i. by g. brown goode and associates. 2 vols. complete and exhaustive, both in text and plates, and very valuable. government publication. sold at cost by the u.s. fish commission, washington. "introduction to the study of fishes." albert gunther. a. & c. black, edinburgh. on insects. see the end of chapter xliv. on invertebrates. "the ocean world." louis figuier. cassell & co., new york. $2.50. "recent and fossil shells." s.p. woodward, london. john weale, 1856. (apply to bernard quaritch, london.) a very handy and useful manual for the field. many illustrations. price about $1.50. "structural and systematic conchology." geo. w. tryon. philadelphia academy of natural sciences. $12.00. a great work; complete, exhaustive, and richly illustrated. for suggestions of groups of animals. "homes without hands." rev. j.g. wood. longmans, green & co., london. price about $3.00. "mammalia in word and picture." specht and vogt, already described. miscellaneous. "the sportsman's library," as advertised by the _forest and stream_ publishing company, 318 broadway, new york, contains an attractive and valuable selection of books on subjects of special interest to the sportsman, naturalist, and traveller. it includes books by specialists on such subjects as "camping and trapping," "hunting and shooting," "angling," "boating and yachting," "guide-books and maps," "horse," "kennel," "natural history," and miscellaneous works. the list, as a whole, is an excellent one to select from. of course no one with a spark of interest in hunting and the natural history of the higher vertebrates will be without _forest and stream_--a whole sportsman's and naturalist's library in itself,--or _the field_, or _sports afield_. no young ornithologist can get along without his best friend, the _ornithologist and oologist_, and it would indeed be rank heresy for the professional bird-man to ignore the stately and infallible _auk_. index. accessories, artificial, 338-339 natural, 247 africa, destruction of game in, 2 agassiz, professor louis, 72 "agassiz tank," for alcoholic specimens, 72-73 albatross, 62 _alces malchis_, 248 alcohol, preservation of specimens in, 66, 70, 71-75, 83, 127, 202-204 alcoholometer, 75 aldrich, p.w., 219 alectorides, treatment of, 65 alligators, collecting, 66-68 mounting, 204-206 skeletons of, 293-294 alum, use of, 32, 45, 51, 61, 68, 115, 162 american museum of natural history, 109, 236, 249 ammonia, use of, 322 anatomy, caution against detailed external, 112 antennæ, 332 _anthrenus_, 336, 341 apes, treatment of large, 43-45 apparatus for drying larvæ, 315 for inflating larvæ, 314 for mounting larvæ, 315 arsenic, use of, 32, 51, 64, 115, 148, 151, 344-345 arsenic water, 342, 348 arsenical soap, use of, 32, 45, 51, 61, 65, 68, 118, 132, 148, 162, 167 recipe for making, 346 artificial branches, 127 foliage in group, 238-239 attitudes of animals, 111, 121, 171-172, 192, 205 of skeletons, 288 backgrounds, painted, for cases and groups, 221-222 bailly, jules f.d., grotesque groups by, 227 bath, _see_ salt-and-alum bath batrachians, 202-203 bats, mounting, on glass, 127-128 mounting skeletons of, 291 battle in the tree-tops, 233, 234 beetles, collecting, in alcohol, 328 frame for mounting, 330 bird, names of external parts of, 47 birds, arrangement of feathers on, 182 collecting, best season for, 16 collecting skins of small, 46-57 determination of sex in, 56 groups of, 224, 232, 235, 249-250 mounting large, 191-197 mounting small, 183-190 mounting skeletons of, 287, 292-293 painting mounted, 256 relaxing dry skins of, 179-182 shooting, as a pastime, 18 skeletonizing, 276-278 skinning large, 58-65 wrapping skins of, 53-55 bison, american, extermination of the, 1 group of, by the author, 234-235, 245, 246 manikin for, 148 mounting the skeleton of, 296 specimens of, collected by author, 234 blood on specimens, 42, 47, 198, 201 body, artificial, for birds, 184, 191-192 bone-scrapers, 286 books of reference on birds, 352 on fishes, 354 on general zoology, 351 on groups of animals, 355 on insects, 337 on invertebrates, 354 on mammals, 352 in "sportsman's library," 355 miscellaneous, 355 boxes for collecting insects, 323, 324, 332 for exhibiting insects, 335-336 for relaxing skins, 180 for tools, 11 breeding-cages, 317, 318 breeding larvæ, 316-319 brushes for painting specimens, 252 buffalo, _see_ bison butterflies, breeding larvæ of, 317 collecting, 325, 332 cages for breeding larvæ, 317, 318 capybara, 103 carbon bisulphide, use of, 336, 342 carbolic acid, use of, 61, 323 crystals prevent mould, 348 carving wooden skulls and leg bones, 104-106 _carpocapsa_, 306 cases of ornamental taxidermy, 220-224 casts, 21, 25 making moulds and, 259-270 of mammals in the flesh, 268 of fishes and reptiles, 269-270 painting plaster, 257 cassowary, 61 cat a difficult subject, 127 chimpanzee, 43-44 chloroform, use of, 322, 336 chelonia, collecting, 68-70 mounting, 206-207 chloride of lime, 88, 89 clay, colonel cecil, moose collected and presented by, 248 clay as a filling material, 112-113, 119, 124, 167, 207, 211 preparation of, for use, 113, 148 cleaning feathers, 65 skins of mammals, 102-104 clothing and food, 4 collecting, best seasons for, 16 -boxes for insects, 323-324 by amateurs, 17 eggs of insects, 309-311 fishes, 71-79 insects, 320-327 jar for insects, 321 large mammal skins, 37-45 marine invertebrates, 80-89 nests and eggs, 90-97 reptiles, 66-70 small birds, 46-57 small mammal skins, 24-36 shells, 85-89 specimens for groups, 237, 243-244 collectors, character of ideal, 3, 46 firearms for, 9, 12 golden rule for, 20 need of skilful, 1-3 outfits for, 8-15 colors, how to handle, 253-255 kinds of, 252 list of, 23 necessity of recording, 22, 25, 43, 48, 71-72 coloring soft parts, 113-114, 253-255 combs, furrier's steel, 36 "coming to the point," 221-222 composition for use in modeling, 347 for snow scenes, 347 corals, collecting and cleaning, 81-83 corn meal as an absorbent, 59, 64, 198 cornell university insect-house, 318 corrosive sublimate solution, 151, 341, 345 cotton, use of, in making bird skins, 52-54 crabs, cleaning and mounting, 217-218 cranes, 65 crocodiles, collecting, 66-68 mounting, 204-206 skeletons of, 293-294 crustaceans, cleaning and mounting, 217-218 cyanide of potash, 321, 323 dead game panels, 224 _dermestes lardarius_, 64, 336, 339 _maculatus_, 340 designing groups, 237, 243, 244-245 ducks and their treatment, 64 ear, treatment of the, 45, 125, 160-162, 167 echini, collecting and preserving, 84 eggs, blowing, 95 collecting and preserving, 94-97 removing embryos from, 96 eggs of insects, 309-311 how deposited, 309-310 how devitalized, 310 how preserved, 310-311 elephant, prize won by, 141 elephants, firearms for hunting, 12 preserving skin of, 41 embryos, removal of, 95, 96 emu, 61 enamel varnish, hendley's, 346 entomological supplies, 337 entomology, economic, 306 envelopes for insects, 328 excelsior, use of, 147, 148 expression, 169, 171-172 extermination, animals threatened with, 1 eye, treatment of the, 44, 124, 160, 169, 172, 188, 196, 212 eyes, cleaning glass, 177 feathers, cleaning, 65, 198-201 distribution of, on bird's body, 182 felidæ as taxidermic subjects, 171 filling for dry skins, 33, 52, 60, 166 for necks, 166 skins of mammals, 129, 130, 132, 138 small mammals, 122-125 finishing a small mammal, 123-127 large mounted mammals, 150-155 firearms, 9, 12 fire-screens, feather, 225 fish medallions, 213 fishes, cartilaginous, treatment of, 77-78, 214-216 field notes on, 71 museum collections of, 208-209 mounting, 208-216 painting casts of, 257 painting mounted, 256 preserving entire, 73-75 skeletons of, 78, 294 skinning, 76-77 flamingoes, group of, 232-233 florida, collecting in, 80-87 foot, treatment of the, 44, 192, 194 fossil skeletons, 280 fraine, thomas w., 219 fire-screens by, 225 frogs, grotesque groups of, 227 furniture of taxidermic laboratory, 100 furs and peltries, treatment of, 349 game panels, 224 garman, samuel, quotation from, 203 gasoline, 335 geese, 64-65 gelatine moulds, 265 goode, dr. g. brown, 72, 234, 251 "american fishes," by, 354 "fishery industries of the united states," by, 354 gorilla, 43, 44, 130 government museum at madras, 208 grease, on skins, 59, 64, 65 removal of, from insects, 335 removal of, from birds, 191-201 grotesque groups, 227 group of antelope, 235 of buffaloes, 234-235, 246 of coyotes, 234 of flamingoes, 232-233 of moose, 235, 247 of musk oxen, 235 groups by european taxidermists, 230, 239 for special exhibition, 239 of birds, 232, 234 of orang-utans, 231, 232 group-making, general principles of, 237-240 with birds, 249-250 with large mammals, 244-248 with small mammals, 241-244 with reptiles, 250-251 guides in hunting and collecting, 4 gum for labels, 348 hair, treatment of, 126, 127, 150, 169 gluing on, 155-157 hand of anthropoid ape, 130 hares, _see_ rabbits _hatteria punctata_, 204 hawks, group of, by f.a. lucas, 224 head, finishing a small mammal's, 124 finishing a bird's, 188 heads, exhortation to sportsmen regarding, 158 how to cut off, 159 how to skin, preserve, and mount, 159-178 health, preservation of, 4 heron, neck of a, 195-196 prize won by f.s. webster with, 195-196 skins, 59, 60, 65 _hexanchus griseus_, 214 holland, dr. w.j., author of part v., 61, 305-338 advice from, to insect collectors, 324, 327 collecting-boxes devised by, 323 japanese insects collected by, 333 "homes without hands," 93 hornaday, william t., advocacy of painted backgrounds by, 221-223 use of clay by, 112 prizes won by, 141, 222, 233 new method of mounting bats by, 127 development of clay-covered manikin by, 140 method of head-mounting developed by, 163 hornaday, william t., new treatment of feline tongues by, 174 new method of making ape's hands by, 130-131 new method of mounting fishes by, 211, 213-214 museum groups advocated by, 231, 232, 234 groups of mammals mounted by, 231, 234-235 human figure in groups, 239-240 hunting, hints on, 13, 14 the alligator and crocodile, 67 hygiene, principles of, 5 ice, artificial, 220 inflation of larvæ, 312-316 insect labels, 329, 337 nets, 320 pests, 336, 339-341 pins, 329-330 insects, boxes for, 335-336 breeding-cages for, 317, 318 carrying-boxes for, 333 classification of, 305-308 collecting perfect, 320-327 collecting-boxes for, 323-324 drying, 333 eggs of, 309-311 effect of light on, 336 house for breeding, 318 killing, best methods of, 321-322 mounts for, 329 mounting, 329-332 mould in collections of, 334-335 pinning, 330-332 poisoning collections of, 336 ravages of, 306 relaxing dried, 334 removing grease from, 335 setting-boards for, 330-331 stuffing, 333 invertebrates, marine, 80-89 ward's catalogue of, 81 iron square, the, 136-137 irons for necks of mammals, 132 legs of mammals, 130, 131, 145 javelle water, for skeletons, 287 jenks, professor j.w.p., author of "steele's popular zoology," 351 jesup, morris k., bird groups ordered by, 235 "key to north american birds," 48, 352 "killing-knife," 15 -jar, for insects, 321 knives for a collector, 15, 49 labeling, 23, 72, 94, 97, 387, 348 laboratory, taxidermic, 99-101 _lacertilia_, 66, 202-203 _lamellirostres_, treatment of, 64 larvæ, breeding and rearing, 316-319 collecting, 311 larvæ, drying, 315 inflation of, 316 mounting, 315 preparation of, 312 transformation of, 312 leaves, artificial, 220 leg-bones, value of, 32, 33, 42 leg-irons, best attachment for, 136-137 how to prepare and attach, 143-147 leg-wires, attachment of, in birds, 193 legs, of large mammals, making, 130-147 of small bird, wiring, 184-186 of small mammals, making, 116-118 treatment of, in skinning, 33, 59, 60, 61 lepidoptera, 317-318 ligamentary skeletons, cleaning, 286 mounting, 288 lion, 171-172 liquors, hurtfulness of intoxicating, 6 lizards, 66, 202-204 lobster, how to clean and mount, 217-218 _longipennes_, treatment of, 62 lucas, frederic a., 69, 219, 223, 276 work in national museum by, 288 group of turtles by, 250 group of hawks by, 224 wall-cases of birds by, 224 macerating skeletons, 282-284 mammals, collecting, best seasons for, 16 gluing hair on mounted, 155-157 groups of large, 231, 234 groups of small, 234, 241, 244 mounting, general principles of, 109-114 mounting groups of, see groups mounting heads of, 163-178 mounting medium-sized, 129-134 mounting large, 135-149 mounting small, 115-128 mounting skeletons of, 289-293 painting mounted, 254-255 relaxing dry skins of, 102 skeletonizing, 273-279 trapping and poisoning small, 18 treatment of skins of small, 24-36 treatment of skins of large, 37-45 manikin, advantages of the, 141, 142 how to construct the best, 142-149 required for largest birds, 193 maynard rifle, recommendation of the, 12, 13, 15 medallions, bird, by f.s. webster, 225 fish, 213 measurements, of birds, 20, 48, 191 of large mammals, 37-39 of small mammals, 24 medicines, collector's outfit of, 5, 6 microscopic slides of insects' eggs, 311 modeling an open mouth, 172-177 -tools, 173 monkeys, treatment of, 43-44 moose, group of, in national museum, 247 montana, natural accessories from, 247 moth, destructiveness of the codling, 306 moths in museum collections, 340, 341 mould, in insect collections, 344, 345 precautions against, 61, 348 moulds, gelatine, 265 making "piece," 259-263 making waste, 263-265 mouth, expression of the, 171 modeling the, 172 muriatic acid, use of, 81, 88, 89 museum, american, 109, 236, 249 british, 235 comparative zoology, 202, 203 government, at madras, 208 united states national, 97, 109, 209, 221, 234, 235, 241, 251, 270, 343 naphthaline crystals, use of, 335, 342, 343 neck irons, 107, 130, 132, 138 treatment of the, 60, 65, 159, 165, 166, 169, 195 of a heron, 195 of a trophy head, 159, 165 needles, extra long, for sewing manikins, 107 nests, collecting, 91-93 displaying, 94 nets for insects, 320 nose, treatment of the, 44 nostrils, treatment of the, 169 notes, field, 22 oologist, outfit for an, 91 work of an, 90-97 "oology of new england," 225, 353 _ophidiæ_, 66, 202 opossums, group of, 241 orang utans, groups of, 231, 233 treatment of, 43, 130 "_ornithologist and oologist_," 355 ostrich, 61, 193 outfit for collecting insects, 320-324 for general collecting, 9 of medicines, 6 for an oologist, 91 for sportsmen and travellers, 11 outlines of dead animals, 22, 25 owl, snowy, 192 packing bird-skins, 56, 61 corals, 82 eggs, 97 insects, 332-333 skeletons, 291. painting finished specimens, 170, 218, 252-258 materials, 252 on papier-maché, 155 plaster casts, 257 papier-maché, how to make, 151-153 rustic case made of, 223 use of, 151, 154, 173, 246 parasites, 73 passions, expression of the higher, 171 pedestals, for skeletons, 292 pelican, 62 peltries and furs, treatment of, 349 penguin, 62 photographing animals, 21 pinning insects, 330-332 plaster paris as an absorbent, 50-64, 65, 198-201 casts, 21, 25 tablets for reptiles, 202-204 use of, 163-164, 198-201, 220 plumage, cleaning soiled, 198-201 poison, effects of, on taxidermist, 344 poisoning furs and rugs, 344 -jar for insects, 321 mounted specimens and collections, 341 skins and mammals, 32, 110, 148, 151 textiles and skin clothing, 343 wild animals, 18 polishing hardwood, 348 principles of bird-mounting, 188-190 of group-making, 237-240, 249-251 of mammal-mounting, 109-114 proportions of animals, 112 pulp, paper, 152 python, 202 rabbits, mounting, 127 rats, necessity of guarding against, 33 ray, author vanquished by a villainous, 215 rays, treatment of, 77-78, 214-216 relaxing skins of mammals, 102-104 reptiles, casts of, by joseph palmer, 270 collecting, 66-70 groups of, 250 mounting, 202-207 new method for alcoholic, 202-203 _rhinobati_, 216 ribs, attachment of, 298-299 richardson, jenness, groups of birds by, 236, 249, 250 preservation of evergreens by, 221 rocks, artificial, 228-229 rugs, 227 salometer, use of the, 30, 31 salt, use of, 30, 33, 162 salt-and-alum bath, 30, 31, 102, 115, 127 saurians, 66-68 saw-fish, 214-215 scapula, attachment of, 302 screens, feather fire-, 225 sea-eggs, 84 -porcupines and -urchins, 84 serpents, 66, 202, 293 setting-boards for insects, 330 setting-needle, 332 sewing skins, hints on, 106 sex in birds, determination of, 56 sharks, 77 difficulties in preserving, 214, 215 shells, cleaning, 87-89 fresh-water, 83 land, 85 "living" and "dead," 85 marine, 83 shooting, hints on, 13, 14 shot-gun, use of the, 14, 15 shields for trophy heads, 170 shrinkage in mounted specimens, 150, 214 skeletons, bleaching, 283 collecting, 271-279 cleaning by macerating, 282-288 fish, 78, 294, 295 field-work on small mammal, 273-275 fossil, 280 mounting large disarticulated, 296-303 mounting small, 288, 295 packing, 279 repairing damaged, 272 "rough," 271 selection of, 271 snake, 66 tools for mounting, 303 various methods of cleaning, 282, 285, 287 skeletonizing birds, 276-278 cetaceans, 279 fishes, 78 mammals, 273-279 reptiles, 278 sketching from nature, 3, 4, 21, 22, 71 skin, superfluous folds of, 134, 149, 167 skins, cleaning bird-, 181, 182 cloth lining for old, 182 making alcoholic fish, 76-78 making alligator and crocodile, 66-68 making dry mammal, 32-36 making large bird, 58-65 making small bird, 47-50 relaxing bird-, 179-181 shrinking power of, 214-215 skinning apes and monkeys, 43 crocodilians, 67 deer's ear, 161 fishes, 76 large birds, 58-65 large mammals, 39-42 and preserving mammal heads, 40, 159, 162 sharks, etc., 77 small birds, 47-50 small mammals, 26-29 reptiles, 66-70 turtles, 69 skulls, how to dispose of small, 34 value of, 32 snakes, 66 snow, artificial, 220 society of american taxidermists, 141, 163, 196, 222 space in groups, 238 specimens, half-spoiled, 31 selection of, 20 _sphargis coriacea_, author's struggle with, 206 _sphenisci_, treatment of, 62 spirits, use of, _see_ alcohol sponges, collecting and cleaning, 81-82 squirrels, groups of, 242, 243 star-fishes, collecting and preparing, 83 steam, use of, 200 "steele's popular zoology," 47, 351 _steganopodes_, 62 straw, use of, 129, 132, 133, 205, 207 struthiones, treatment of, 61 strychnine, 18, 345 "sugaring" to capture insects, 326 _suidæ_, 103 swan, 64, 65 sweat-box, for relaxing skins, 180 table groups, 224 tail, wiring the, 118, 132 attitude of, 126, 172 treatment of a bird's, 54, 190 taxidermy, ornamental, 219-229, 250 possibilities in, 149, 222, 224, 250 common faults in, 109 taxidermist, 53 materials necessary for, 100-101 requirements in successful, 104, 108, 154 tools necessary for, 100 taxidermists, society of american, 231 organization of, 232 exhibitions of, 227 gifts by, 219 prizes awarded by, 141, 195, 222, 223, 224 productions of, 219 teeth, how to clean, 176, 206 temperance, value of habits of, 6 thread, 168 tiger, facial expression of, 171-172 "till the doctor comes," 6 tin, sheet, in ears, 167 _tinea_, 340 tongue, treatment of the, 174-176, 206 tools, for bird taxidermist, 183 for general taxidermist, 100 tools, for oologist, 91 for professional collector, 9 for traveller and sportsman, 11 tow, use of, 147, 187, 207, 211 trappers, directions for, 344 trapping mammals, 19 turpentine, use of, in cleaning feathers, 65, 198-201 in painting, 114 turtles, collecting, 68-70 mounting, 206-207 skeletons of, 294 umbrella, use of, in catching insects, 321 varnish cutter, 347 hendley's enamel, 346 wall cases, 220-223 ward, professor henry a., 226, 234 first large mammal group ordered by, 232 ward, henry l., west indian seals collected by, 2 ward's natural science establishment, 136, 204, 231 water, artificial, 220 wax, use of, in mouth modeling, 176-177 webster, frederic s., 189, 204, 219, 228, 232, 233 bird medallions by, 225-226 prize won by, 195, 224 "wounded heron," by, 224 weight of animals, 39 wickersheimer solution, 347 winding a mounted bird, 189-190 wing, treatment of the, 59, 188 wings, spread, mounting birds with, 194 wire, how to anneal iron, 116 wire supports for mammals, 131 supports for birds, 183 wiring a bird, 184-186 a small mammal, 116-120 wood duck, by f.s. webster, 233 george h. sowdon. frederic s. webster. (formerly of washington.) sowdon & webster, 738 broadway, new york, experts in the preparation of zoological material. our new firm will now successfully compete with the best establishments of a similar kind in this country. we are ready to furnish and prepare =groups of mammals and birds,= for museums and the trade; also, =heads= of large game, =artistic articles= for household ornament and utility, such as =picture groups=, =panels=, =screens=, and many original novelties in fur and feather, unique in design, =all of which will be absolutely moth proof!= mr. webster's long professional experience and reputation as an expert taxidermist is well known and established. under his personal superintendence of the large trained force employed by us in this important branch of our business, the very best work obtainable is guaranteed. =we are also manufacturing furriers.= with mr. sowdon's 30 years experience in the trade, we offer a full line of =fur garments, animal rugs, robes and fine furs of every description.= we carry a full line of fur stock, raw and dressed. with competent designers, fitters and cutters, our patrons are assured of good fitting and well-made garments at reasonable prices. correspondence solicited. in mounting mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes, enterprising taxidermists will ··use good glass eyes·· that are true to nature in shape, color, and size. the best procurable are those made by demuth brothers, 89 walker street, new york. manufacturers of fine glass eyes of every description, from life studies of living animals. white cornered eyes for the larger animals a specialty, and eyes are made to order on short notice when colored sketches are furnished. the attention of american taxidermists is called to the fact that for eight years past our glass eyes have been used exclusively by mr. hornaday in all the animals mounted by him and under his direction in the u.s. national museum, and reference to him as to the quality and cost of our goods is hereby made, by permission. send for our price-list and diagram of sizes. we also manufacture glass shades of all shapes and sizes for the protection of mounted birds, flowers, wax fruit, etc. scientific glassware of every description. gauge tubing and cylinders, for distillers, brewers, etc. all kinds of glass work done to order. established 1862. the oldest and best firm on the continent in the manufacture of artificial eyes and glass shades. catalogue free upon application, and careful attention given to mail orders. glass factory on newtown creek, near penny bridge, brooklyn, e.d., new york. standard·specialties in museum hardware. the undersigned manufactures the patent brackets and racks for adjustable shelves (fig. 1), also patent monitor locks (fig. 2). these are arranged for all styles of museum and book cases, french windows, etc. adopted and recommended by the principal museums in the united states. special new and improved machinery for cutting and polishing minerals, petrified wood, etc., by steam or foot power, on hand or furnished to order (fig. 3). full information given on application to elisha t. jenks. middleborough, plymouth co., mass. _the best are the cheapest._ the · unrivalled · superiority of these _museum case locks_, _brackets and racks_, is fully attested by their adoption and general use in such institutions as the following: smithsonian institution, united states national museum, museum of comparative zoology, peabody museum, cambridge. boston society of natural history, college of new jersey, princeton. yale college, vassar college, brown university, peabody academy of science, college of charleston, s.c., and many others. [illustration: fig. 1.] [illustration: fig 2.] [illustration: fig 3.] [illustration] in making up your groups of mammals, birds and reptiles, order all your artificial leaves, plants and vines, of every description, from pelletier & co., successors to c. pelletier, manufacturers and importers, (established 1856,) 135 wooster street, new york. for the last eight years we have supplied the u.s. national museum with all the artificial leaves used by mr. hornaday in his animal groups, and refer to him by permission. the most of the leaves thus used were made to order, on short notice and at reasonable prices, from samples furnished us. fine leaves and tropical plants are our specialty. let us know your wants, and we will supply them promptly, and to your satisfaction. _of special interest to museum builders._ c. dorflinger & sons, glass manufacturers, white mills, wayne co., penn. new york office: 36 murray street. anatomical and specimen jars of every description a specialty. our jars are used largely by the smithsonian institution and united states national museum, and give such satisfaction as is found only in first-class productions. skins of mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. we have always on hand a large assortment of well prepared =skins for taxidermists=, also finely mounted specimens of native and foreign =mammals=, =birds=, =reptiles=, =fishes=, =etc.= _catalogue 150 pages._ _price 30 cents._ mounted heads, of deer, elk, moose, caribou, buffalo, elephant, african antelope, etc. also head skins and antlers. custom work done in taxidermy, and in preparing and mounting skeletons. ward's natural science establishment, rochester, n.y. minerals, rocks, fossils, casts of fossils, geological relief maps, models and diagrams, archæological specimens, and birds' eggs. skins and skeletons of animals, invertebrates, crustaceans, shells, corals, etc., anatomical models, human skeletons, skulls and skeletons of races, etc. write for circular. taxidermists: naturalists: before you can properly understand the practice of taxidermy, it will be necessary to engage in the work, and attain efficiency by actual practice. to accomplish the best results, it is of vital importance to have the proper tools and materials. poor tools and materials produce poor results. see to it then, that you are amply provided, and before you purchase, write us for our 24 page catalogue, devoted entirely to =supplies for the naturalist.= we can not only supply any and all of the materials named in the preceding pages, but we can also supply you with birds' eggs, birds' skins, mounted birds and mammals, and land and marine curiosities, of which we carry thousands of specimens in stock. we specially desire to call your attention to our line of supplies for the ornithologist, oologist, entomologist, botanist and taxidermist, such as =glass eyes= of fine grades, =leaves and grasses= for case decorations, =tools= of all kinds from a skinning knife to an engine lathe, =collecting paraphernalia=, and a large line of =books= treating on natural history. also publishers of the _ornithologist and oologist._ the only periodical in this country treating directly on matters of special interest to the field collector. price, $1.00 per year. frank blake webster company, museum and supply depot, hyde park, mass. office: 409 washington st., boston, mass. forest and stream rod and gun. you may go shooting and get no game, or fishing and catch no fish; but you cannot buy a copy of the _forest and stream_ (this week or next week or any week) without finding it brimful of capital sketches of shooting and fishing, and papers on natural history and sportsman's travel and experiences, and discussions of yachting and canoeing. a paper for men. _forest and stream_ believes in the recreation found in the haunts of deer and grouse, and trout and bass. it believes in the common sense that calls a halt in business drive and professional grind, for a holiday with gun, rod, and paddle--if only afterward to drive the faster and grind the harder. it is a journal for those who love the country and life out of doors. it reflects the spirit and records the experiences of the great army of outers. if you have any sympathy with these things, the _forest and stream_ is just the paper you would like to have come into your home every week. send for a specimen copy (free on mention of this book), or $4.00 for a year's subscription. sold by all newsdealers. _books for sportsmen and naturalists._ we make a specialty of books on natural history, angling, shooting, woodcraft, yachting, canoeing, the dog, and outdoor life, recreation, and study. send for our free illustrated _catalogue of forest and stream books_ forest and stream publishing company, no. 318 broadway, new york. two years in the jungle. the experiences of a hunter and naturalist in india, ceylon, the malay peninsula, and borneo. by william t. hornaday, chief taxidermist u.s. national museum. one vol., 8vo, pp. xxii. 512, two folding maps and 51 illustrations. price, $3.00. the expedition and its object. the author relates the experiences of a hunter and naturalist in india, ceylon, the malay peninsula, and borneo; and certainly no richer hunting-ground could be found anywhere else in the world. mr. hornaday is chief taxidermist in the united states national museum. he was formerly connected with professor ward's natural science museum of rochester, n.y., and his expedition to the east was in the interests of that establishment. while his book is in some respects like such works as those which du chaillu and sir samuel w. baker have written to delight and interest a multitude of readers, he has imparted a vast amount of information, a large part of which is new and of the greatest moment to the naturalist. mr. hornaday started from new york in 1876. from england he went finally south to india, arriving at bombay; he went across country to benares; from here he made an expedition to the north to cawnpore and agra. from benares he worked his way to calcutta, journeyed down the bay of bengal to madras; southward again, he made a complete circuit of ceylon, than to the malay peninsula, and finally to borneo, where his adventures with the oran-gutan were met, ending his two years of fruitful and entirely successful search. the illustrations are many, and most of them are taken from mr. hornaday's own sketches. though it may seem to be stating much, it certainly may be truly said that a more interesting book of travel and adventures was never published. "decidedly the most interesting and instructive book of travel and adventure in the east indies it has ever been our good fortune to read."--_baltimore news._ "an entertaining volume.... the author has proved his ability to write a good book of travel."--_morning post_ (london). "to the naturalist, mr. hornaday's book cannot but be as deeply interesting as to the sportsman and traveller.... it deserved to be distinguished from among the mass of books of sporting adventure."--_melbourne argus._ "one of the most entertaining and instructive books of its kind that has been published."--_san francisco post._ * * * * * transcriber's notes obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. in the table "recommendations in regard to hunting with the rifle." on page 14, column heading "best distance.", had to be changed to "best dist." for space requirements. in ambiguous cases, the text has been left as it appears in the original book. in particular, many mismatched quotation marks have not been changed. inconsistent hyphenation has been repaired. corn-meal changed to cornmeal some one changed to someone over night changed to overnight well polished changed to well-polished well aimed changed to well-aimed well seasoned changed to well-seasoned 