The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-09-28
HOW ANIMALSARE STUFFED
FACTS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE
TAxIDERMISTS' ART.
To Origin. Progress, Uses aud Methods o
the Queer Industry-How 10 save an
Animal for stirling.

something more than blacksmith to
prepare the skin and give to the dead
animal natural appearance, his
muscles standing out, his limbs natural,
his body not lop-sided," said Mr.. John
w. shorten, the taxidermist.
"The art is declining, isn't it?'
mot bit of it; but it's not an art,
nor trade. Everybody cannot learn
it. 1t requires a knowledge of anato-
my, the habits, zoology and character
of animals that only can be acquired
by long experience, much practice, a
certain natural fitness and love for
the profession. AS to the decline of
the business: In the East in every town
of ten thousand you will find persons
following it, while here in the West l
am about the only one. There are
none in st. Louis. In Chicago man
who keeps a bird store does some
work.
"Who are your patrons?"
"Colleges, natural history societies,
students, high schools, and to some eX-
tent people who have lost pets. l am
now stutling pet for DIR. Peron and a
big favorite cat for PEBBLES. In In
dianapolis l have done a great deal of
work for Mr. II. G. G. Balls, banker, of
the Merchants National bank, who is
making a collection of all the fauna of
his State in pairs. A young hunter,
when he shoots choics piece of game,
always wants to have it stuffed as
trophy. | have done great deal of
work for Englishmen who come to
visit this country and are always anx-
ious to take back specimens of our
birds and animals. In the East and
England, France and Germany many
families make large collections of this
sort, and the custom will gradually
come into vogue in the West
"Can all animals be stuffed?"
"Pretty much rather there are
methods of preserving them all. Rep
tiles are the easiest. They are first
skinned, and the hides prepared by the
aid of chemicals, so that moths will not
attack them, and if animals, so the
hair and feathers will not fall off"
"People living at a distance from a
taXidermist frequently loose pet ami
NAL or shoot rare one. What should
they do to preserve it so that it could
be stuffed?"
"That's very valuable point, and
something every one should know. To
skin an animal make long straight
incision from the two fore legs to the
tail; carefully disarticulate the hind
| legs at the rump and the fore at the
scapula, so as to leave the 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, care must be tax n
not to scratch the skin. This can be
stuffed any time within two months
"What are the most perishable
pelts?"
'Rolents and certain parts Of the
skin of ruminants; vegetable matter in
the viscera ferments, causing de on
position in few hours. Carnivorous
animals remain in good condition the
longest, though all pelts keep best if
they are removed from animals when
warm. After large animal is killed,
measure and make notes of dimensions.
| Remove at once the contents of the
! thoraX and the body will cool and stiff
fen in few hours. Scrape the blood
from the hair with the hunters knife.
and any remaining wash it off. Don't
let any more water come in contact
with the flesh than you can help, as
that only hastens decomposition. If
you can, skin a large animal where it
falls, as, if they are packed off on the
back of horse or mule, they are liable
to many hard knocks crossing timber
and rocks, and the cbafing of the
tightly-drawn lariat does not contrib
ute any TO preservation.
GLOW long has taXidermy been
known?"
1T not two hundred years old yet.
About one hundred and twenty year
ago the celebrated Keanmur, who dis
covered the art of making porcelain,
artificial pearls and method of hatch
ing eggs by artificial heat, as well as
being the first man who reduced ther-
mOmeters to common standard pub
lished a memoir on the method of pre-
serving skins of birds to be sent to
distant countries. He put his animals
in spirits of wine, introduced two end
of an iron wire into the body behind
the thighs, fastened the wire to the
claws, the ends which passed below
serving to fix them to small board.
Sharks and crocodiles 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
century the Able Monesse discarded
the use of poisons, and used alkalis,
which are not dangerous, but these
views are exploded now"
cit is not speedy process, that of
mounting 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 Taxidermist
society, whose object is to improve the
art. They wish to place it alongside
of the plastic arts. The society is in
dorsed by such men as Spencer F.
| Rair1 of the Smithsonian Institution