# Australian enquiry book of household and general information/Skin Curing

SKIN CURING, &c.
TO CURE OPOSSUM SKINS.
CLEAN the skins of all particles of fat and flesh, and sprinkle with alum and salt in equal parts, folding them loosely for three or four days; then wash with clean water and afterwards with soap and water. While drying, pull the skins continually. The handle of a door key is a good thing to use for pulling them through.
TO CURE OPOSSUM SKINS, 2.
Tack the skin on to a board, fur side down, and wash over with strong brine. Then with a solution of alum and milk, sponge it all over three or four times for a week. Let it dry, and then take off the board, and rolling first one way, then the other, pull and pass through the ring till quite soft and pliable.
TO CURE KANGAROO SKINS.
Spread out the skins with the hair side down. Pound together two parts of common salt, and two parts of saltpetre and alum combined. Sprinkle this evenly and thickly over the skin, and roll it up for a few days until the powder has become dissolved. Then stretch the skin firmly across a board and scrape it until quite free from flesh or membrane. Then, still stretched, put it out in the sun for a couple of days well rubbed with neat's-foot oil.
Heat some whiting in the oven (very hot), and having scraped off the oil, dust this on, and rub in with a flannel. Then when dried again and well brushed, the skins if done in this way are fit for making up into anything.
TO TAN BEAR OR PLATYPUS SKINS, &c.
Gather some wattle or mangrove bark, and bruise each piece with a hammer before putting into a tub or cask of water. Leave it for several days, when it should be a good dark colour.
​Now pour off the liquid into a bucket or some vessel that will hold it, and into the cask or tub pack the skins, putting a layer of bark between each layer of skins. Be sure that the latter are laid quite straight. When all are in, pour in the liquor again and leave them ten days or a fortnight; if not properly done then repeat the process. The tan can be boiled, but it is not really necessary.
TO CURE SKINS FOR RUGS.
Get off all, or as much as possible, of the flesh and fat, then make a solution of alum, salt and water—four parts of salt to one of alum, as much as the water will contain. Dissolve the alum and salt in hot water, and when cold immerse the skins, and in about 48 hours the skins will be cured. Wash in a weak solution of washing soda and water to cleanse from any particles of fat. Sheep or goat skins will require to be left longer in the solution.
TO TAN AND COLOUR SHEEP SKINS.
Use 1½ lbs. alum to 2 gallons water. Wash the wool clean in the first instance with plenty of plain soap and water, then cure in the ordinary way in the alum and water, either by brushing over or lying skin side down in the liquid. To colour, use aniline of any shade desired, or diamond dye, but see that the skins lie flat. When they are the right shade take out of the dye and rinse well in fresh cold water, then dry in the shade.
TO TAN SHEEP SKINS.
Collect some wattle bark, or if you live by the sea, some mangrove bark, and make a strong decoction by boiling—a kerosene tin makes a good pot. Break the bark up and pour cold water over it, and set on to boil. When it has boiled an hour take out as much of the bark as you conveniently can and put in fresh, fill up with cold water again and let it boil, repeat this until the tan is strong enough. Before putting in the skins be sure all fat and flesh is scraped off. The tan must be put into a cask or wooden tub and then put the skins in, letting them lie as flat as possible. Look at them once a week and change the liquor. The same liquor will do several times, if it is reboiled and well skimmed. The skins will take a month to tan properly. I think mangrove bark is quite as good as wattle, save that it does not give such a deep colour, though there is actually very little difference. I have used the mangrove bark very much for tanning fishing nets and the sails of the boats, and have always found it answered well.
TO BLEACH SHEEP SKINS WHITE.
When the skins have been tanned and the fleeces well washed ​and dried, tack them up in an air tight room—or in doing one skin a packing case will do—place a pan of powdered sulphur under and light it, letting the fumes have free access to the wool. If there are not too many skins to do, the box or case is the most convenient, doing one skin at a time. If in a room, it must be made air tight, or the fumes will escape. Straw hats can be done in the same way.
TO KEEP WEEVILS OUT OF SKINS.
Mix with 1 gallon of boiling water 2 ozs. of carbolic acid, 1 lb. of salt, 2 ozs. of arsenic, and apply with a brush. Any chemist will prepare it for you if you cannot yourself.
TO SCOUR WOOL.
Those farmers and selectors who keep but a small flock of sheep are often in a difficulty as to how to cleanse their wool so as to keep it till they have sufficient to make a bale, worth sending away. The following process was told to me by one who used it regularly :—
First save all the urine from the house for a fortnight or so, putting it each day into a cask or wooden tub; an old harness cask is a good receptacle. Put 1 bucketful of the stale urine to 3 buckets of water, plunge the wool into this and work it about with a stick for ten minutes, then lift it out on to a sieve or perforated board to drain. When well drained, throw it into a tub with a perforated false bottom, which can be raised at will. Here the wool should be well washed and worked about in cold water, the strainer being raised as it is done, and the dirty water run off. It takes a great quantity of water for this method. For very long wools, soft soap and hot water is used, and sometimes soda ash is mixed with the stale urine. A "dolly" used with the washing machine to wash clothes is a very good thing to beat the wool.
BIRD SKINNING AND STUFFING.
THIS is a favourite amusement of many ladies in the bush, some even having their own guns and special shot for for shooting the specimens they wish to secure. A beginner will do well to experiment first on something big—say, a common fowl—so as to learn to skin first,and having gained a little knowledge, she can try her hand on a small bird. Before ​setting to work you must have your tools all by you, and not have to jump up now and again for them. Let your knife be very sharp, particularly just at the point, and the smaller the blade is the better for skinning small and medium sized birds; but for larger, use a larger and more evenly shaped blade. Next, a small pair of scissors (strong), and a pair of long blunt pointed forceps for inserting the stuffing into the head, neck, etc. I have always used a pair of old curling tongs which I ground down on a grind-stone for this purpose, they do very well, but they are a little large for small work, and the forceps, if to be got, will not cost much. Some cotton wool, a needle and thread, a camel hair brush, and a little preservative, either in powder or solution, if the former, equal parts of powdered alum, camphor, and bitter apple, with a small quantity of arsenic, makes a very good preservative. Have all these things close to your hand before beginning to skin the bird. Now lay the bird on its back on a piece of newspaper or white paper, the head pointing from you. Directly a specimen intended for stuffing is shot, the mouth and nostrils should at once be stuffed with cotton wool to prevent the blood running out and soiling the feathers. Also, directly it is shot, smooth the feathers down carefully, and place it in an envelope of paper. Do not on any account hold or carry a bird for stuffing by the head as that will stretch the neck.
The next operation is to break the wing joints as close to the body as possible; feel for the joint carefully, and then break or disjoint it with a sharp wrench—do this to both wings. Then twist the legs out of joint at the second joint from the body. Turn the head towards you now, and having parted the feathers evenly and carefully, insert the point of the knife in the middle of the body (calculate this as nearly as you can, so as to avoid a larger opening than is necessary), and open the body right down to the vent, and be sure you do not cut too deeply to penetrate the intestines. Now carefully raise the edges of the skin with the point of the knife, and keep on skinning back first from one side then the other. I would advise every one to hold the birds in the easiest position to themselves. Be careful to keep the feathers from touching the flesh. A very good plan is to work with a small plug of cotton wool, pressing the skin from the body with it, but bear in mind that a bird's skin is very thin and delicate, not like an opossum's, which you can pull right off the body without a break. Having skinned down to the legs, take first one then the other and insert your fingers inside the skin and push it back, thus showing the second joint where it has been previously broken or disjointed. Cut this, at the joint, with the scissors, which will leave that side with the leg free from the flesh ​altogther, the skin being pulled over the leg as if turned inside out. Having done both legs, you can now pull them right by catching hold of the claw or foot and drawing it down into position. The legs are perfectly free now, hanging loosely. Now take the knife again and skin away from the tail and back which is comparatively easy. Just at the tail you may have a little difficulty, but care and patience is all that is necessary. When the tail is freed from the body, take hold of the latter in the right hand, and, as it were, pull (very gently) it through or from the skin, pushing with the fingers to make the skin recede towards the head and wings. Work with the fingers,and occasionally the knife, towards the wings, till you reach the place where they have been disjointed, and then cut that with the scissors, as you did the legs; and when this is done, the only part holding the bird and skin together will be the neck and head. This is the most difficult of all, and it is best to work without the knife, just using the fingers and holding the body until you have the neck turned inside out, and are stopped by the skin being held on either side of the face by the inner skin of the bird's ears. Take the knife and slip the point under these attachments, gradually lifting them out, but cutting in towards the head not outwards to the skin. Then you will come to the eyes. Carefully cut on top of them, pushing with the fingers until they are skinned, and the skin drawn past them to the beak or mandibles. Now sever the skull right at the base, and enlarge the opening so as to get the brain out, while doing this, hold the bird by the beak under the skin of the neck, and be sure you do not get any of the feathers soiled. There is another way of doing this, which is to divide the head in the centre of the skull, leaving only the front half, and stuffing the other with cotton wool; but it is best to leave as much as possible for mounting purposes. Of course, care must be taken to preserve it well.
To take out the eyes, insert the knife at the back, place the thumb on the eyeball, and gently pull it out, care being taken not to burst or cut into the eyeball. Now look well to see if any scraps of flesh are left—there will be some about the eyes and at the junction of the mandibles, take time to get all this away, and be sure you do not cut away the skin just at this point, or your bird will be useless. Now you have your bird skinned. I have found that all specimens done in the hot weather become more or less unpleasant after a few days, in spite of preservative powder; so to obviate this I always wash out the head. It can be done with great safety, and is almost a necessity in a hot climate, or if you stuff in the summer. I utilize a spray inhaler for the purpose, using carbolic acid with it, but any small syringe or even a squill will do. Make a solution of carbolic and water, and squirt it into ​the cavity of the head, holding the skin and feathers away out of danger. Having washed it, dry with cotton wool, piece after piece. Then paint the skull inside and out with the preservative paste, and then stuff the head with cotton wool, putting in small pieces one at a time. Tow is better than cotton wool for stuffing, but in the bush one may not have it handy. Use the forceps for stuffing, or a pair of goffering irons ground down will answer very well. Having filled the head, put a small piece of stuffing in each eye, then paint the skin of the neck with preservative paste, and proceed to draw it back over the skull. This is not at all a simple matter, and requires the greatest gentleness and care. The skin must be worked back, the feathers being kept as smooth as possible, and the beak held tightly with one hand. Once this is done you must proceed to skin the wings, or rather clean them. This is a delicate matter, and it is almost impossible to describe it in writing, there are so many little bones and pieces of flesh to be cleared away, and each one must be done, the bone cleaned and anointed as well as the skin. The leg must be done next, and this is more simple. Very gently turn down the skin and free the bones from all muscles, flesh, &c., paint them and wrap a very tiny portion of stuffing round them and turn up the skin again. Attend to the tail now, and cut away all oil ducts and glands, being careful not to cut the skin. Examine the skin well for any little streaks of fat, and cut them off carefully. Tie the wings into position with pieces of thread. Make a little roll or neck of wool, and with the forceps stuff the neck to the right size; and having well painted the skin of the back and every other part, shape a piece of wool as nearly as you can to the size of the body and insert it, stuffing the corners and the those parts where the wings and legs join the body, and when this is all nicely adjusted sew up the body with a fine needle and thread, being very gentle when drawing the thread tight. Now cross the bird's legs, tie them into position, press the wings into the body the proper position, and fasten a band of paper round the bird just across the breast, or you can place it in a larger band which will cover it entirely, and so keep the feathers clean. This is what bird stuffers call a skin, and is now ready to send to the mounters. Any lady in the bush can learn with a little practice to do all I have here described, and can get her own collection of birds mounted. There is no occasion to get them done at once, or even soon after skinning, as if properly cured they will last for years, and can be mounted at any time. She might try to mount them herself, but it is hardly worth while, as no one can do them as well as a professional. In making a collection of specimens you must label each bird with its name and sex, and for this purpose, unless the male and female are distinguished in any special way, you will have to open the ​body of each specimen to ascertain its sex. This is a very simple matter to distinguish. Having opened the body as you would a chicken for cleaning, take out the intestines and look for the kidneys, which will be dark coloured organs very much like two beans in shape. If a male, there will be two little oval-shaped bodies of a dull white or light yellow colour, one on each side of the backbone and at the upper end of the kidneys. If a female, these two little organs will not be there, but a little lower down there will be a string or bundle of eggs, very, very small in some seasons, but well developed in the breeding seasons. It is often very difficult to tell the sex in quite young birds.
TO PRESERVE BIRD SKINS, No. 1.
Make a moderately strong solution of alum, adding a small portion of saltpetre to it; in this steep your skins for a day or two. When taken out they many appear discoloured, but if you put them into a solution of alum alone the colour will return.
TO PRESERVE BIRD SKINS, No. 2.
Clean the skin from every particle of flesh, and rub with a mixture of camphor, 1 oz.; alum, 1/2 oz.; sulphur, 1 oz.; corrosive sublimate, 1 oz.; all finely powdered together.
CURING EMU SKINS.
Rub well with Fuller's earth to absorb any oil that may be left in the skins; then dress with arsenical soap and kerosene mixed with it, and let them dry slowly. If they are to be packed away for any time, a liberal supply of camphor or some other preservative will be necessary. There is an excellent paste much used in the bush instead of arsenical soap for preserving birds' skins, it is made as follows:—Take 1 lb. of soft soap, 1 1/2 lbs. whiting, and 3 ozs. chloride of lime pounded fine. Boil these together in about 1 pint of water. It is used in the same way as the soap, and has been found to answer quite as well, if not better.
TO PURIFY FEATHERS.
On many stations where game and water fowl are plentiful the feathers are burnt or thrown away, because no one knows how to purify them, yet, it is a very simple matter, and where feather pillows always bring a good price many pounds can be made every year by anyone willing to go to a little trouble. Have a large cask or barrel filled with water, and to each gallon of water allow a good 1/2 lb. lime, stir well, and let it stand till the lime has settled ​to the bottom. Whenever you have feathers to be purified use the clear water from this, taking care not to stir up the lime, or you can prepare the water as you need it. Put the feathers into a clean tub, pour the lime water over them, and stir them about well until all sink to the bottom—be sure you have enough water to cover them—let them remain in this three or four days, then take them out, drain on a sieve, and well wash or rinse in clean water; dry on a net—an old fishing net or old hammock—shake the net now and then, and when dry the feathers will gradually fall through, and can be gathered up and put into bags till you have enough for use. I have treated all kinds of feathers in this way, sea birds, parrots, hawks, &c., &c., and have found that the strongest scented lose all unpleasantness after being washed in this way.