The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1911-02-13
SKINS ARE STUFFED
ROOseveIts Trophies are Being
Prepared In Washington.
TaxidermIsts Are at Work With tho
Specimens and Carpenters are
Erecting the Mounts In the
National Museum.

National Museum.
Washington-In an obscure corner
of the national museum, on the mall
in Washington. half a dozen men ara
preparing the skins of the animals
killed by Theodore Roosevelt and his
party in Africa Carpenters are build
ing the framework on which the hides
OF the mammals win be mounted and
taxidermists are working with the
skins under the supervision OF govern
ment naturalists.
In the department given over to the
study Of comparative anatomy where
the skeletons OF the largest animals
are suspended from the ceiling. are
two glass Eases. In these are the
trophies Of the $250,000 Roosevelt
hunt. The collection consists Of the
skins Of lion. cheetah, reed buck,
mongoose, leopard, zebra, hyena,
horse-tailed monkey, rhinoceros,
Grants gazelle, Thompsons gazelle
and field mice. In another case are
the skulls Of a rhinoceros, giraffe, hip
popotamus, wart hog, African buffalo
and an antelope
Few of the hundreds of tourists that
visit the national museum each day
pay much attention to the Roosevelt
collection as It stands, the guards on
duty say, and seldom does a sightseer
ask where the Roosevelt collection
may be found
Its funny thing to me-" re
marked one Of the curators of the
museum, why those skins and skulls
don't make more Of hit with the
public The exhibit is labeled, as you
see, and the word Roosevelt in big
letters on that placard yonder ought
to be an attraction alone. But it is
not"
A number of the skins, those OF
hartbeests, elephants and hippos are
still packed in hogsheads in which
they were shipped from Africa. Brine
IS the principal preservative used and
the skins are IN such good condition,
taxidermists say, that they may be
kept indefinitely. AS rapidly as the
skin Of one animal is stuffed 1t Is set
aside, in the rough, and work is begun
on another 1ne finishing touches are
left to the naturalist and his work is
important
Perhaps you never thought much
about it, said an employe at the
museum, who is a student Of natural
history, "but animals have a wonder
full lot Of expression-f -fecia e;lyres-
sion, ! mean. They havs tneir moods
just as we do, and 1t is knack
coupled with a certain artistic sense.
to build up skeleton, elothe II with
a pelt and make 1t appear as 1t did
in life. Particularly is this true Of our
larger wild animals, the very kind we
are working with now in getting to
gether the Roosevelt collection.
Lower classes OF animal life are
not so difficult to handle, birds and
reptiles being comparatively easy to
stuff and mount. It is in posing the |
subjects that the real difficulty "a en-
countered. There are many details to |
be looked after. For example, it IS |
good days work to select and fit the |
right kind of glass eyes for just such |
specimens are we are now WORKING
with. It's not hard to pick out ele-
phant eyes from those of a lion or an |
antelope, but it is job to select the |
right shade and size and 1t is not al. |
together practicable to follow models
.oo closely. OF course, the general |
contour Of the specimen is the princi.
pal thing to pay attention to, bit
here are any number Of little details
@ be looked after that makes the
work tedious.
THE Asiatic elephant and the Afri.
an elephant. while they are first cou.
iins and in a general way look a good
Ieal alike. have distinguishing fea-
ures. Almost everyone knows that
heir ears vary in size and shape and
hat their eyes differ in shape and
,ften in color. 1t rests with the natur.
list to put the finishing touches to
pecimen after the taxidermist has
lone the rough work"
The larger animals that 60 to make
ID the Roosevelt collection win have
lbs Of wood. BY the first of the year
pecimens will be on display in the ma.
ional museum
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