The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-10-17
HOW ANIMALSARE STUFFED
FACTS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE
TAxIDERMrSTS' ART.

OF INTEREST ABOUT THE
TAx1DERM1sTs' ART.
The Origin, Progress. Uses and Methods OF
the Queer In!ustry-ilow to save I'M
Animal tor Stmling.
"Stuling animals is not the easiest
thing to do in the world. 1t takes
something more than a blacksmith to
prepare the skin and give to the dead
animal a natural appearance, his
muscles standing out, h.slimls natural,
his body not lop-sided,' said MI. John
w. shorten, the taXidermiSt.
"The art is declining, isn't it,
Not a bit Of it: but it's not an art,
nor Il trale. Everybody cannot learn
it. 1t requires a knowledge of anato-
my, the habits. zor logy and character
of animals that only can lie acquired
by IL long experience, much practice, a
certain natural fines anil love Tor
the profession. As to the decline o!
tie business: In the East in every town
of ten thousand you will iinl persons
following it, while here in the West |
am about the only one. There are
none in It. Louis. In Chicago Il MAI
who keeps a bird store does some
W, rk.
who are your patrons?"
"Collegcs. natural history societies,
students, high schools. an; to some eX-
tent people who have lost pets. | am
now stuning Il pet for DR.. Peron and a
big favorite cat for PEBBLES. In In
d~ianapoliS | have done a great deal OF
work for Mr. II. G. &. Bal>, Tanker, ol
the Merchants National bank, who is
making a collection of all the tauna of
his state in pairs. A young hunter,
when he shoots Il choices piece of game,
always want, to have it stuffed us Il
trophy. l have done a great deal OF
work for Englishmen who come to
visit this country and are always anN-
io"s to take back specimens of our
birds and animals. In the East and
Englani, France and Germany many
families make large collections OF this
sort, and the custom will gradually
come into vogue in the West
Can nil animals be stntfedT'
pretty much; rather there are
methods of preserving them all. Rep
tiles are the easiest. They are fist
skinned, and the hides prepared ny tn"
aid of chemicals, so that moths will not
attack them. and if animals, so the
hair and Fathers will not fall off,"
'People living at a distance from a
taxidermiSt frequently loo-e Il pet AMI.
mai or shoot Il rare one. What should
they 90 to preserve it 50 that it could
he stulfcd:" ,
"That's a very valuable point, and
something every M should know. Ia
skin an animal make a long straight
incision from the two fore legs to the
tail; carefully di%sarticulate the hind
legs at the rump and the fore at the
scapula, so as to leavethe bon s. Then
skin over the head, taking care not to
injure the lips or eyelilS; take out the
tail-bone, skin the legs to the hoof,
clean the skull and put in salt and
alum. OF course, are must be tax n
not to scratch the skin. This can be
stuffed any time within two months"
What are the most perishable
pclts"
"Rolents and certain parts of the
skin OF ruminants; vegetable matter in
the viscera fermrnts, causing lie on
position in a few hours. C%arnivorous
animals remain in a good condition the
longe,t, though all pelts keep best it
they are removed from animals when
warm. After a large animal is killed,
measure an make notes Of dimensions.
Remove ut on: the contents OF the
thorax and tie body will cool and stiff
fen in Il few hours. Scrape the blood
from the hair with the hunters knife,
and any remaining wash it off. Don't
1T any more water come in contact
with the flesh than YOU can help, as
that only hastens decomposition. II
YOU can, skin a large animal where it
falls, as, if they are packed off on the
back of a horse or mule, they are liliilc
to many hard knocks crossing timber
and rocks, and the chaiing Of the
tightly-drawn lariat does not contrib
ute any to preservation"
elbow long has ta\idermy been
knOwn?'
"It'$not two hundred years old yet.
Abou! one hundred and twenty years
ago the celebrated Keaamur, who dis.
covered the art of making porcelain,
artificial pearls. and a method Of hatch
ing eggs by arti;i' ial heat, a vel us
being the first maj who reduced thcr-
mometers to a M standard. pub
lishcd a memoir on the method Of pre-
serving skins Of bird' to be sent to
distant countries. lie put his animals
in sIirits of wine, intro ,uccd two ends
of an iron wire into the body brhinl
the thighs, fastened the wire TO the
claws, The ends which passed below
serving to fix them to a small board.
Sharks and crocoliles he padded with
straw. Hence come the term stuffed
animals, which was then correct, for
they were stuffed. Now we say
mounted. Toward the close of the last
injury the Able Mone:se discarded
the use of poisons, and use,l alka!i*,
which are not dangerous, but these
views are exploded now
at isnot a speedy process, that OF
,,o,,ptinr animals"
"By No means. a very Slow and
tedious one, requiring both patience
and skill to do it well. There Is in
New York the American TaSidermist
s0cietv, whose object is to lnpovc the
art. They wish to place it alongside
Of the Plastic arts. The so"icty is in.
dorsed by such men as Spencer +.
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution,
and Professor Comes. Take, 'or e.
ample, a fox TO mount it properly
takes tire" days. II thehide is tame
properly in p~oisons it will 10 k as well
in a hundred years as when it left thu
taXidcrmist's hands. 1t is tanned in Il
solution Of arsenic and %corro>iHe sub
Innate. The latter poison, you know,
is dangerous to use if you have cuts
upon your hands, asi it produces ulcers.
The process of mounting is som thing
us follows: All blood is cleaned off
the hide and the flesh all thinncd off
equally. 1t is then placed in an
astringcnt bath OF from one to six
weeks, so that the hair sets andto pre-.
vent it from falling ont. Then it is
put into fresh water for ten or twelve
hours, so as t. get out all the salt, Il,
in damp days this would soak through.
Then it i thrown into solutions of
corrosive sublimate and arsenic, and so
thoroughly poisoned f"r a couple of
hours that no insect will touch it.
Birds become moth-tate unless put in
glass cases" --CiM innCti InY"Ger.
A Master OF TW. nty-Tw0 Trades.