Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-10-25
A TAxlDERMlST'S STUDIO.
beauties OF the Animal World, COZ
Iected from Jungle aRd Field.

Iected from Jungle aRd Field.
There is large collection of nam.
NAL skins, des. gned for rugs. says d
Washington Star reporter. describing
visit to tax dermist's studio.
Among these is the skin OF the giant
Himalayan tiger. IL feet inches in
length, hair / inches long and beau
tifully marked. The famous tree
tiger" is also here represented by his
skin. Probably this is the only specl.
neil of the kind in tho United States.
Its soft. long fur. with silver tips, Is
not rivalled b, any of the cat tribe.
Leopard skins, with their beautiful
spots, jaguar skins from South Ameri-
ca, ocelot skins from Texas. panther
aud bear skins OF every variety; in fact
skins of every animal OF note or value
are found here.
1T is an immensely instructive and
fascinating occupation" said the taxi
dermist IN reference to the report
or inquiry; "but it requires years Of
careful study to master It.
GLOW do you obtain your skins"
1--WE get them from collectors in all
parts of the world"
"H0w do the collectors preserve the
skins in such good condition." asked
the reporter.
The animal. if killed far from camp
must be skinned on the spot The first
step is to take important measure
ments, then the animal is turned over
on its back and the skinning process
commenced. An incision is made be-
ginning at tho tip of tho lower jaw and
running down to the base. and in some
| instances to the extreme end of the
tail. The skin is then parted right and
left with the assistance of the knife,
and skinned down to the hind legs
and the bones cut off close to the body.
Each leg is then skinned down to the
sole of the foot If tho an NAL be- very
large. cross cuts are made from the
central cut on the inside of the leg and
the sole of the foot. The flesh is then
rem oved from the leg bones, and the
front legs operated upon in the same
manner and the skin entirely removed
from the body. The skull is then re.
moved from the carcass and cleaned.
together with the log bones, to be
utilized ia mounting. All surplus fat
and flesh s then removed from the
skin b. scraping, and salt and alum
applied for the purpose OF preserving
II, after which it is spread out and
dried.
''In very moist hot countries" the
taxidermst went on. This process is
not ALWAYS effective, and tho new cas- k
picking process is resorted to. A
large cask, partly filled with strong
solution of alum and salt. is provided.
and the skins after being rem owed
from the body and thoroughly cleaned.
are put in and allowed to remain an
indefinite length of time. Repairing no
turther attention of any consequence
until ready for shipment, when an ex
animation and refilling of the bath is
tesorted to."
How long will skins keep in such a
bathP" asked the reporter.
Il have kent skins for period of
Blk years and mounted them at the
Ind of that time. making tirst-class
,pecimens. have large African
Eion." continued the naturalist IN
Shetland pony, half seal. blacktail
deer and number of monkeys that
have been in the bath for five or six
Fears"
docs The bath have any effect upon
the skins or hair?"
1T has no perceptibIe effect upon
the skins and does not alter the color
bf the hair. 1t has bad effect upon
bones, however, softening them until
they are almost like rubber. Bones
Arc nearly always removed before the
skin is placed in the bath"
Tho reporter was inv. ted to look al
The skins in pickle. and, perrin 9
through small hole in large cask,
The beautiful fur of Diana monkey
and the soft white skin of an Angora
goat were plainly discernible.
10 mount an animal, what is the
common process?'
The most recent and improved
method is the manikin method, prln-
eipally used in the mounting of large
mammals and birds. 1t is different
from the old methods in that, first. O
perfect model is made of the entire
animal, over which the skin is placed,
and with the assistance of small
quantity of clay. modelled and proper.
toned to its perfect form.
do you use this method?"
Eyes, l mounted Stonewall Jack
sons horse, Old Sorrel, that wav, and
am now engaged in mounting beauti.
full fawn for distinguished woman
I'm some of the specimens l have
seen mounted there are wires visible
What part do wires play in the mount
ing of them?"
"A most important one. Withou
the use of wires it would be almos
impossible to mount specimens None
of the wires should show in thor
oughly mounted specimen.