Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1895-06-26
MISTAKES IN sruFrINa ANIMALS.
Tigers and Other Beasts and RIrds Ina
 Don't Get Justice After Death.

oeA OtN 1attACo AAAeE Death.
 "A walk along Broadway will show some curious sights to a natu- ralist, said a taxidermist Tigers may be seen with wide open mouths in the act of snarling viciously, the ears erect the tongue between tho lower incisors and the eyes wide open. There is singular lack of fe- rocity in their appearance which a Copious daubing of red paint inside the mouth is altogether inadequate to supply The true attitude of n tiger when snarling is very different
 In the first place, tho ears are in- variably laid close to the head, while the tongue is drawn back into the mouth as far as possible. The eyes arc half closed, and the outer cor ners of the upper eyelids droop con- siderably. In nature there is very
 little of the vivid blood red so often used for tho interior of the mouth.
 The most common error in stuff cd heads of largo deer is the position of the ears. They will often be found from six to ten inches back of the horns In nature the ears of a large deer are never moro than two or three inches behind the horns, while in tho smaller deer they are close up against them. The eyes of a deer have a most peaceful, mild expres- sion which is not represented by the distended, glaring eyeballs too often seen. Most of the heads are too largo, owing to the desire of the taxidermist to make them as impos- ing as possible. Upto within very few years ago artificial eyes could be obtained only with round pupils. Now the eyes of all the ruminants have oblong pupils. The pupil of a deer's eye is twice as long as it is broad, and an eye with a round pu- pil cannot possibly give the mild ex- preSSion characteristioo of all the deer tribe About the most curious arti- ficial eyes that l have ever come across were in the head of a stuffed deer which l bought from an Indian. When l took the head apart found the eyes to consist of the broken ends of two green glass bottles. Strange to say, the effect was sur prisingly good, though they would not bear close scrutiny on account of the absence of any pupil
 Most large animals when stuffed are placed in position which they never occupy when alive. A tiger,
 lion or bear when standing keeps its legs close together and when walk ing places all his feet successively in almost identical positions. Hence the spoor of a lion or tiger consists of a series of tracks all ill the same straight line When stuffed, how ever, these animals usually assume position in which the limbs are wide apart and seem to project from the body like the legs of a table. Birds are often perohed upon bough with total disregard of the laws of gravity. The center of gravity in most birds lies midway in the body, at which place the legs should be placed. Among swimming and div ing birds the legs are placed behind the center of gravity, which ham pers their movements on land, but aids them considerably when in the water. Tho wings are generally too far back and too much on the side of the body, especially among the birds of prey. As rule though, birds do not present so many contra dictions of nature as may be found among the beasts
 Fishes used to be cast in plaster and then colored, but a year or two ago gelatin was used from a plaster mold, and the result has been very satisfactory. The love for establish ing records has caused many tricks to be practiced by some taxidermists The latest trick is to obtain a great breadth of the antlers on a deer's l head by saving the skull in half and l turning the horns half around. By 1 doing this the space between the l antler tips is often increased foot | or more. Unless the head is taken apart this trick is rather difficult to | as the horns of dee4 often vary in position even though they | be of the same species. New York Sun.