The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-06-22
TAXIDERMY.

OF coiors than the plumage certain birds
afford, and it has from time immemorial
been the delight of lovers Of the beautiful to
preserve these gorgeous dyed exterioors,
either in whole or in part, for the orna-
mentatiOn OF apartments and the bedeck
ing of especial objects of regard. In this
way the business of the taxidermist has
grown from small beginnings and rude
methods to a trade which supports thou
sands Of families and to what may be re-
garded as perfection, for the skilful oper-
ator can so cunningly counterfeit the
living object that one cannot look upon a
master piece without momentarily expect
ing to see it move. Few people have any
just notion of the extent to which this
calling is followed, especially in large cities.
In Boston, for instance, there are three
large establishments devoted entirely to
the stufing and mounting of birds and
animals, and there are as many more
which do large business in this line.
Besides these, who may be ranked as pro-
fessionals, there are numbers of amateurs
who, to turn handy penny, or from love
of the art, give most Of their spare time
to the preparation of specimens. Many
of them show as much skill and taste as
those who look to this calling for a liveli-
hood. The desire for preservation of pets
and the taste for collection of birds and
animals is such now that the business of
catering to these wants is by no means an
improbable one.
One of the first queries to arise in the
minds Of those unfamiliar with the matter
is where are SO many beautiful skins OBJ
tanned ? They come from every quarter
Of the globe. If a Malay darting among
the Spice Islands in his flying proa, sees a
bird Of brilliant feather he knows that to
capture it unmutilated will be profitable,
and his blunt arrow is pretty sure, sooner
or later, to plump the life from the SHIN
mering body of the trogan, or bird of par
adise, as the case may be, which then
finds its way to the hands of the European
collector. So, too, Brazil, with its wealth
of dazzlingly beautiful humming birds and
all the variegated loveliness Of its feather
ed forestcrs, contributes largely to the
delectation of northern ideality, and wher-
ever anything charming or unique is to be
found there the agent of the fancier is to
be seen. But it is not alone with birds
of resplendent plumage that the taxider-
mist has to do. The sprightly denizens
of northern forests, and the plain but
beautiful bird forms which every temper
ate locality affords, give ample scope for
the exercise of his best endeavors. In
deed, to give to the more common varie-
ties the pose of naturalness, and that in
describable something which Stimulates life,
is greater tax upon his powers than to
settle the bill of trogan or smooth the
fan of golden pheasant.
To many the manner of preserving a
bird will be interesting information. An
experienced operator gives the following
directions:
Lay the bird upon its back with the tail
towards you and with the left hand part
the feathers on the breast bones to the
right and you will find space destitute
of feathers. Proceed with your knife to
cut the outer skin from the middle of the
breast bone down to the vent. Push the
skin to the right and left down towards
the back until the thighs appear, which
you must detach from the body with your
scalpel or knife. Proceed to push the
skin towards the back and cut the back
bone and flesh where the tail joins to the
body. Take hold of the rump with the
left hand and, holding the bird up, push
the skin gently down towards the wings
and detash them close to the body; then
proceed until you come to the ears and
eyes, which you separate from the skull
easily with your knife and thumb nail
You can separate the body by cutting off
close to the skull and taking the eyes out,
also the brains-the latter from a small
hole made in the bottom of the skull.
After cleaning the skull, skin the wings
and legs of the bird by pulling them inside,
and take off the flesh, leaving the bone in
As you now have the birds skin wrong
side out you can shake it around few
times in your box of dry arsenic and
enough will adhere to the moist skin to
effectually preserve it. 1t is necessary to
put two small balls of cotton in the eye
holes in the skull. The birds skin should
now be turned back by gently pulling the
skin over the skull until the bill appears
through the neck on the feather side
Take hold Of the bill with your foreceps and
pull gently until the skin is back over the
skull, and this will leave the skin in the
condition in which it is to be mounted
Make body of excelsior the size and
shape of the one taken out by winding the
excelsior with cotton thread Sharpen
four wires about one-third the size of the
leg; one wire is run through the manufac-
tured body and clinched in the body at the
rump end. A little cotton should be
wound around the wire protruding on the
Other end, so as to make it the size of the
neck ON the original body. Pct this wire
up through the neck of the bird and stick
it through the skull out of the top of the
the head. Lay the bird upon its back, and
taking the foot with one hand insert an
other sharp wire through the sole of the
foot inside of the skin until it appears
from the inside; then join it to the body
about the same place as the natural leg,
when they can be closed up and the skin
sewed up. After setting the bird on a
stand by fastening by the wires protruding