Taxidermy without a Teacher Comprising a Complete Manual of Instruction for Preparing and Preserving Birds, Animals and Fishes

is used to preserve the skins. But as everything of that description is dangerous for young and inexperienced persons to handle, I strongly recommend the following preparation, and guarantee it to preserve their first efforts until they become an eye-sore, and are finally thrown into the fire with much disgust.

I.

Pulverized Alum. Common Salt. Equal parts. Mix. Label: Salt and Alum.

The best and only safe preparation is:--

II.

Arsenic. Pulverized Alum. Equal parts. Mix. Label: POISON!!

The arsenic is to poison, and the alum to act as an astringent, especially in setting the feathers and fur of skins partially decayed. As arsenic is an irritant poison, great care should be taken while using. See that the hands are free from all scratches, cuts, hang-nails, and broken skin. These may be covered with court-plaster or collodium. Wash the hands immediately after using, and be careful to clean well under the nails. With these precautions there is little or no danger, and it may be used with the greatest impunity. Avoid all so-called "arsenical soaps," as they are both dangerous and disagreeable to handle. Use nothing but the above receipts, and you will succeed far better. Having all these materials and implements at hand, we are now prepared to go on with our work.

LABELLING.

Let us take this Blue Jay for your first attempt. The first thing to be done is to measure and label it--and, by the way, never neglect this, for a bird without its label in a collection, is like a ship at sea without its rudder. LENGTH.--Lay the bird on its back, and with a pair of dividers (for a large bird a tape line must be used) measure from the tip of the beak (the head lying flat on the table) to the tip of the tail. Place the points of the dividers on a rule that is divided into one-hundredths of an inch, and see how much they measure. EXTENT.--Place the bird across the ruler, and using reasonable force, stretch the wings out, and see how far they reach. LENGTH OF TAIL.--Place one point of the dividers at the end of the "pope's nose," and open them until the other is at the tip of the longest tail feather. THE TARSUS.--Place one point of the dividers at the middle of the sole of the foot, and measure as far as the first joint. THE BEAK.--Place one point of the dividers at the beginning of the cere, on the upper mandible, and open them until the other is at the tip of the beak. In addition to these I advise you to keep the weight of each specimen, especially in the case of game birds. Set all these measurements, etc., down on your label as you go along; also color of eye, contents of stomach (after skinning), and the number of the bird. This number must correspond to a number in your Ornithological Ledger--a book in which you should keep an account of each day's doings; the number of birds killed, the number used, attitudes, etc., and whatever else may be of interest to you regarding the day's shooting.

BLOOD STAINS.

These may be removed before skinning, by gently washing with a sponge and a little water, and afterwards dried by working into the feathers pulverized plaster of Paris, or potato starch, until the water is all absorbed, and the feathers become dry and clean; then shake all plaster or starch from the feathers. Now fill the beak, anus, and shot holes, if you have not previously done so,[A] with cotton, and we are ready to begin

[A] See Hunting and Hygiene.

SKINNING.

Lay the bird on its back, its head towards your right hand, and run the handle of your scalpel from the sternum, or breast bone, to the anus. In so doing you will see there is a little naked place, in many birds, all the way down. Stroke the feathers away right and left, leaving this bare, and inserting the point of the scissors at the end of the sternum, cut down to and into the anus (taking care not to cut through the thin belly walls; if this is done, fill the place with cotton, or disembowel); stopping here, as this makes a good strong termination that will not easily tear. Take the forceps in the right hand, and seize one edge of the skin. Holding this, press and push (never pull) the skin from the sides and belly walls. Care must be taken that the feathers do not get into the cut and thus become soiled. Keep stroking them away, right and left, and place a little fluff of cotton, tissue paper, or white pine sawdust, under them. After skinning away, you will come to a hard substance; this is the thigh. Skin carefully around this until you come to the under side, when you can easily insert your scissors and sever it from the body. Push the leg up out of the skin until you come to the tarsus; clear away all muscles and tendons, and bring the legs back into its skin again. Repeat this process on the other side without turning the bird around. Now skin carefully around the tail; place your forefinger across this, and pressing it back a little, insert the scissors and sever the stump. Great care must be taken, however, not to cut the thin and very tender skin over the tail.

Now turn the bird up, and with its belly pointing toward you, let the tail fall over the forefinger of your right hand, and with your thumb nail and fingers, continue to push and work the skin until you come to the wings; sever these at the shoulder.

Now holding the skin in the left hand, and letting the body fall over the other side of the fingers, skin down the neck--which will slip out as easily as a finger from a glove--until you come to the base of the skull. Skin carefully over this, taking great care to detach the thin membrane of the ear, with the thumb-nail or scalpel handle, and proceed until you come to the front part of the eye socket. Cut the thin membrane that covers the eye, taking care not to lacerate the ball; then scoop out the eyes. Stick one point of the scissors just inside one branch of the lower jaw, and make a cut parallel with the jaw, crushing through the skull just outside the angle of the jaw. Make a duplicate cut on the other side. Then at the end of these make a transverse cut through the roof of the mouth.

Connect the posterior ends of the side cuts by cutting across the skull near its base. You have now cut out a square-shaped piece of bone and muscle, and by pulling gently on the neck, this will come out, bringing with it a mass of brain. Remove all brain and muscles of the head. Skin down the wings as far as they will go, and run the thumb-nail along the ulna, detaching the quills to the metacarpal bones; remove all muscles and tendons. Now turn the skin and shovel in arsenic, so that all parts may be covered; afterwards shake the skin over your box to remove all loose arsenic.

Some difficulty may be experienced in getting the head back into the skin. Begin in any way you please until you see the point of the beak coming through the feathers; seize this with the fingers, and making a cylinder of your left hand, gently coax the skin backwards, with a motion very much like that of milking.

Now if you wish to make the skin neat, dress every feather with the thumb and knitting-needle, and see that they all lie in place. Insert the knitting-needle through the eye to the top of the skull (under the skin), adjust the scalp and see that every feather is smooth.

In birds with large heads--such as owls, some woodpeckers and ducks--over which the neck skin will not easily slip, a slit must be made along the top of the head and the skull worked through, and treated as given. When completed, sew up the skin and carefully arrange the feathers.

When birds are to be mounted with spread wings, as if flying, it is sometimes desirable to make the incision along the back instead of the belly, the ventral feathers thus presenting a smoother appearance.

MAKING A SKIN.

After a skin has been poisoned and dressed, it may be "made" by inserting into each eye-socket, through the neck, with the knitting-needle, a little ball of cotton. Then make a little roll of cotton and insert it into the neck; one end in the cavity of the skull, the other just appearing at the end of the neck. Some collectors at this point fasten the wings to the sides, by taking a stitch through them with needle and thread. Before doing this, be sure that the wings are in the right place. Take a piece of cotton about one-half the size of the bird's body, and by turning in the edges make it into an oblong ball, corresponding to the body just removed. Place this in the skin with the forceps, and before letting go with the thumb and forefinger press the wings together on the back, placing the fingers under the wings. Now draw the edges of the skin together, and making a cylinder of each hand, gently coax the skin through, until it is of the required shape. Then place it in a drying-rack, made by bending a piece of zinc or tin into a half cylinder. Leave it to dry for a few days. Many collectors never mount birds, but prefer "made skins." These may be relaxed at any time by wrapping in damp cotton for a few days, and then set up as directed.