The morning times., 1895-09-22

going through the Eden Musee, or the Cor
coran Art Gallery, or the Treasury vaults
is one thing and the National Museum quite
another. The immensity of the task before
these butterflies of travel who fly down for
an hour after breakfast can be realized by
them when they are told that there are
3,279 .531 objects, each of which addresses
itself interestingly to the eye and to mul-
tiplicity of associations.
The pendulum swings backward and for
ward. or the clock beats Sc, 400 times In
a day, and a very simple calculation will
show that IL each visitor spent only one
second before each object it would take
him or her exactly thirty days and thirty
nights 10 get even a glance at them all
IF THEY ONLY KNEW.
Some of the figures which make up these
3 3,279.531 objects would be appalling IL
the visitor only knew them beforehand
For instance. there are 423 900 cthno-
logical specimens, 153 .423 prehistoric an
thropolugical, 125 900 fishes, $40, 900 mol
lusks. 100000 insects, 100000 marine
invertebrates, I13 900 fossil plants, 253,-
Ill recent plants, and 29,99S coins and
medals
But even supposing that every visitor
had as many eyes as Argus and they could
be automatically moved at a rate suf-
ficient to cover the whole field in that
hour liter breakfast. there are some places
they can not see without a permit. Some
of these places are upstairs and some are
downstairs. while many of the mnst in
teresting of them are plain, uBpretentious
wooden buildings. They are not crypts or
catacombs or chambers Of horrors
There is nothing gruesome about them
at all. They are simply the great work
shops from which are turned cut the great
majority of the wonderful birds and beasts
and fishes that stare at you with CLASSY
eye as YOU pass them in their cages
The geologist, or rather Zoologist, who
discovers touth of some monster and then
writes book abput Il, with cut of the
animal restored IN a shape more potent as
a producer of nightmare than undigested
sausage, is a mere visionary. He is not
an artist in the sense in which we regard
the taxidermist, the creator and restorer of
beautiful and symmetrical forms from a
mere bird skin, nor the genius who keeps
fish in q bottle of whiskey, or who takes a
ragged leopard skin and restores its spnts
and gloss.
Job said that the leopard could not
change his spots, but he can lose them, and
that is where the modern ia axidernlist comes
in. and behold, the miracle of a perfect
leopard skin is accomplished.
AT THE BOTTOM FACTS
One is Just the least hit disillusioned
when he gets at the bottom facts as to sew
eraI thousand things in the museum but
his appreciation of art, here, there and
everywhere is always in the ascending
scale
A note from Mr. W. V. Cox, the chiefclerk
OF the Smithsonian Institution. unlocked for
The Times yesterday several of the secret
workshops of the magicians in this vast
domain of wonders.
The first place visited was that of the
taxidermist. Mr.. Joseph Palmer. Next
door TO his curiosity shop is room into
which you can peep and see strange things.
Al the, first glance it looks like man.
ufactory of modern mummies Men and
women in all stages of completion are visible
through the grating. With very few ex
ceptions they all have heads and this ap-
pears TO be popularity of the way modern
man makes ancient man. They begin at
the top and build them dovR to the bottom.
Some of the people in process of creation
make you think that they have here col
lected and preserved all the people whose
legs. hands, ears, heads, and toes have been
cut off in all the railroad accidents of this
country. The inconguIity of things is
slightly enhanced by the fact that a WARNS,
a rhinoceros, few bears, a nd other animals
are disposed rampant among their fellows
in this chamber.
In one place the'rhinoceros looks as il he
had taken off three-fourths of his skin to
keep cool He presents .he appearance of a
boy who has taken off his Jacket nd one
leg OF his pants, in the act of disrobing
to jump into a mill pond.
One of the bears has the skin of his legs
rolled up as il he were wading in the water
and squirrels head and shoulders. down
to the waist. are stripped as il she. had
just stepped in from a full dress ball.
These things are, how ever. nothing to
the taxidermist. He can make all these
things fit again so nicely that he beats the
original production in grace and symmetry.
DRESSING THE SKIN.
In the taxidermist's room there was
an ass istant busiIy engaged in giving
the coup de grace to Il ,aeer skin which
had recently been received from Bombay.
He had it stretched over a projection from
his work bench and was cutting off the
refuse tissue from the skin. Most peO-
ple believe that when the skin is SO
prepared they sew it-up again. leaving
hole in which to pour barrelful or two
of sawdust. That is. very elementary
idea. -.-l-.--
The taSidermist must have an eye for
the beautiful and the artisticaily correct
as to animal forms. Instead of stuffing
the animal, he builds what is called q
mannikin, or wooden tiger or lion, as
the case may be, and on this be fits the
prepared skin. Sometimes the hair has
been scratched off the skin in large or
Small spots.
The taxidermjst, with consummate skill,
restores these spots by sticking hairs
one by one on them until they are as per-
feet as the pencilnng of woman's eye
brow, only the dead lion has natural hair
10 boast of. OF course the skin will not
fit the mannihin precisely.
The taxidern,ist must fill In the spuces
with excelsior" stuffing, or tow or cotton
until the outline, the contsur and every
thing is as perfect, at least. as If the animal
were at repose in the jungle
This is an example of the ''stuffing" and
of sll mammals.
Mr.. Palmer showed The Times tremendous
chests from the East. which were full OF
skins in a solution OF alum, which preserved