Part 3

Take a large moth fly or miller full of eggs. Make an incision on the under side of body and take out all the eggs and entrails. Now put in some of the preserving fluid and fill the cavity with cotton and sew it up. Then run a pin down through the body and pin it to a board. Arrange its feet, moisten its body with the preserving fluid and the job is complete. Butterflies and small bugs need only the preparation over the body. Heavy bugs can be placed in a cup and the preparation poured over them. Let them lie in it a few hours and pin on board as directed in moth flies. When dry place in a glass case.

ARTICLE II. OF SKINNING ANIMALS.

As soon as an animal is killed, take cotton and stuff in the wounds, nostrils and mouth, as directed in Article I. for birds; then let it cool before commencing to skin. In skinning a specimen be very careful about cutting holes in the skin, and also not to stretch it by pulling on it while skinning. All being ready, lay the specimen on its back, make an incision from the breast-bone back to the center between the hind legs, being careful not to cut too deep over the abdomen. Divide the skin right and left, putting cotton or paper on the body as the skin is removed, or sprinkle with corn meal, as directed for birds in Article I, to prevent the fatty matter from soiling the hair. When you come to the hind legs, pull the skin down over the thigh joint, and unjoint it, cut the leg off and skin down to the knee joint and unjoint there, taking out all the flesh down to the foot, then treat the other hind leg the same way. Now skin down over the rump and back to the tail. The tail is hard to skin. Take a forked stick, and after pressing the skin as far down on the tail-bone as possible, holding the bone as tight in the fork as you can, pull downward and the bone will slip out. If the animal is not too large it should be swung up with a rope or cord tied around the body just in front of the hind legs, or by attaching a hook to the rope which fastens into the flesh. Remove the skin down to the forelegs, and unjoint them at the body, and skin out in the same manner as directed for the hind legs, unjointing at the knees. Now skin the neck and head, and when you come to the ears cut them close to the skull; fine specimens are often spoiled by cutting them too far out from the skull. We next come to the eyes. Be careful not to cut the eyelids. It is better to cut close to the skull and trim afterwards than to risk spoiling them. Remove the skin. Unjoint the neck close to the skull, enlarge the opening at the base of brain and remove all the brains. Take out the eyes and tongue and remove all flesh from the skull.

This completes the skinning, except when the animal has horns. In that case, proceed as above until you come to the neck. Skin as far forward as you can and unjoint the neck at skull. Then cut across from one horn to the other and loosen the skin around the horns. Then make another cut from between the horns backwards along the neck far enough to make the opening large enough to take the skull out; skin out the skull and the skinning is completed. The flesh must now be cleaned from the skull by boiling until tender, then scraping it, or simply by cutting and scraping it.

Take out the brains, eyes, etc., we are now ready to anoint the whole inside of skin, skull, etc., with the preserving powder. Put in the frame and stuff the body if ready; if not, the ears, nose, feet and lips must be well wet with the preserving fluid and laid away in a cool, dry place.

STUFFING AND MOUNTING ANIMALS.

After the skin is prepared, we will begin by preparing the skull. After cleaning as directed anoint it with the preserving powder, then put in suitable eyes, as directed in birds. Now if the legs are large enough to take in the leg wires, drill holes through the ends large enough to receive said wires. Next divide the skin of ears out to the points and place a piece of tin in them the shape of ear. Now turn the skin of head inside out and sew up the mouth, draw the under lip up under the upper lip and sew it there so as when turned back the stitches will not show. Next stretch the hide on the bench and measure it. In order to make the wire frame as shown and described in wire frames, Nos. 4 and 6, make the frame of suitable malleable wire, and place it in as shown, except the neck wire should be passed out at nostril. First put the skull in place and pass the neck wire through the nose. Then pass the leg wires out through the leg bones, or on the inside of skin where the bone is not large enough to receive it. Now cut the tail wire long enough to reach to end of tail and put it in place.

Now, if the skin has not been previously prepared with some of the preserving preparations, powder the whole inside with the arsenic and alum. However, the head and legs have to be prepared before putting in the frame. We are now ready for the filling. Stuff cotton in around the leg wires to make the legs proper shape, being careful not to get it in too tight. Take some sand and mix some arsenic with it; fill the tail with this, placing some cotton at base of tail to hold the sand in. Now stuff the neck and body with any suitable material, shaping and sewing up as you proceed. Examine the head, and where it needs filling out pass the cotton in through nose and ears, and shape it as in life, arranging the ears, nose and mouth. Now pose the specimen as you wish it to remain, and place it in a cool, dry place to dry. The leg wires should be bent so as to allow the foot to rest on board, and when dry the wires should be cut off at bottom of feet, and the projecting neck wire at end of nose should also be cut off. Anoint the feet, nose and ears with the preserving fluid once a day for a few days. The wood and wire frame is used in heavy animals, the wood simply taking the place of the wire along the back. By examining the cuts it is easy to see how they are to be used.

Wishing to stand animals, such as squirrels, groundhogs, etc., on the hind legs, they have to remain on a block or perch; so procure a suitable block or perch, and varnish it before putting the specimen on. Animals and birds can be stuffed with hay, or anything that you can get into them in good shape. I often mow fine bluegrass and dry it carefully, and find it makes splendid stuffing, especially for the bodies of animals and large birds. Excelsior also makes a good filling.

ON MOUNTING DEER HEADS.

In mounting a deer's head to look life-like (having horns on), proceed to skin, anoint with the preserving powder, build up the nose with plaster of paris, put in the eyes, sew up the mouth and neck, for which see directions in another article. Now take a 2×4-inch piece of pine for a neck support. Fit the end of it in the brain pit with plaster of paris. When the plaster has hardened sew up the mouth as directed in cat. Draw the skin up over the skull and sew the skin together, drawing it close around the horns. The skin being opened on back of neck, sew it up to within six inches of back end. Now make a board to fit in back end of neck skin, and fasten it to the neck support in such a way as to hold the head on wall as desired. Tack the skin around the board, being careful not to draw the hair down. Stuff the neck and finish sewing up. Cut the skin off at back of board. Arrange the whole head as directed in the cat and set away to dry. See that the ears and eyes are all right, and use plenty of the preserving fluid. When the head is completed make a suitable shield to place on back end of the neck; this should be of a neat pattern and nicely polished. Fasten this on to neck board with screws, then on the wall, also with screws, which should be passed through the shield, under edge of hair, to conceal the heads of screws.

ARTICLE III. A SIMPLE METHOD OF SKINNING, STUFFING AND PRESERVING FISH.

FISH DRESSING.

Take a scale fish, say one that weighs two pounds, more or less, and if a fish on which the scales are tight, you can skin and dress it without losing any of the scales; but if a loose scaled fish, it will be better to protect them as follows: Take some tissue paper and press it gently on one side of the fish, then turn it over and treat the other side in the same manner. The natural glutinous matter which covers the scales will be sufficient to make it adhere firmly. Without this precaution the skin could not be removed from some fish without losing the scales, which would ruin the specimen. When these papers dry, lay the fish on its back, take a pair of scissors and open the skin down the center of the belly, beginning close up the gills and running clear back to the end of the body.

The skin should now be taken off with great care, using a smooth-edged knife for skinning, and a pair of scissors to clip the fins and other fine bones with. After the body has been skinned, take out the gills, tongue and eyes.

It is now ready for the preserving powder, which should be spread or dusted over the inside of the skin, being careful to reach all parts around the gills, in the mouth, eye sockets, etc. We now insert the frame E (see cut No. 1), which is simply a wire bent as shown in the cut, and sew up, beginning at the tail and ending at the gills, leaving the ends EE of frame projecting, as represented in cut No. 1. We now proceed to fill the body with plaster paris. Mix up a sufficient quantity, take a funnel, open the gills or mouth and insert the tube of the funnel therein, and pour in enough plaster paris to fill the body. Handle the body carefully, and shape it properly, while the plaster is setting, being careful to keep the frame EE straight with the body. When the plaster has set (or hardened), bore two holes in a rough board to set the frame rods EE in, which will hold the body up off the board. (See cut.) Now proceed to stuff the head with cotton, being careful not to press the gills out of shape, then draw the mouth together with a thread and tie it. Fill the eye socket with plaster paris or putty, and set the eye in the proper position.

We are now ready for the fins and tail; if they have become dry, wet them with water and spread them out; then take a needle and thread and draw them up, as shown in cut No. 1.

To make the frame, take a rough board, say one inch longer than the fish you intend to dress. For a fish a foot long, the board should be one inch thick and about three inches wide, and for larger fish in the same proportion, or large enough to support the fish. To one end of the board nail a piece of lath a foot long (see D in cut); on the other end nail a block (C in cut), to which nail an upright piece (B in cut). Tack the tail to the upright (B) with tacks (P). Raise the upper fins by drawing a thread through them and tying to upright piece, as shown in cut. Drive two nails in board (A), as shown (GH), to which fasten threads attached to lower fins as shown in cut. Set away to dry and when thoroughly dry wash the whole body, take off the tissue paper. When the fish gets dry, dampen all the outer surface with corrosive sublimate and set away. Take off the threads and place it on a nice, smooth board and give a light coat of varnish. The specimen is then ready for the cabinet.

Should you prefer to stuff the body with cotton instead of using plaster paris, proceed as follows: After skinning as directed, make a frame, EE, and take a straight piece of wire long enough to reach from the point of the nose to the other end of the body, fasten this to the frame, EE, at the upper end, by wrapping them together with a small wire or cord, leaving the frame EE as near the center as possible. Take cotton or tow and wrap the wire that is to run lengthwise of the body, say one-fourth as big as the body, then insert it in the skin and proceed to stuff with cotton, being very careful to get the natural shape. When this is completed, proceed to sew up and mount as directed when dressed with plaster paris. The Gar fish makes a fine specimen, by simply filling the skin with dry sand while drying, and let it out when dry.

ARTICLE IV. HUNTING SPECIMENS AND CARE OF SAME.

In hunting specimens, birds or animals, it is best to take a double-barreled shot-gun, have your cartridges loaded some with fine shot, and some with coarse; keep one barrel loaded with one number and the other barrel with the other number, then you are ready for either small or large game. Have some cotton and old newspaper with you, and as soon as you kill a specimen, stop up the shot holes with the cotton, and it is sometimes best to stuff some in the nostrils and mouth. If any blood has run out on the hair, or feathers, as the case may be, wipe it off carefully, then wrap the body in paper and pack it in the game sack, using all care not to bend, break or soil the feathers, for if once soiled it is hard to make the work look well again.

On removing the birds from the game sack, if there is any blood on the feathers, wash it out with clear water, and wipe until nearly dry; then sprinkle with plaster of paris and shake until dry. In this way the feathers will look smooth and natural; but if, after washing, you let them dry without stirring, they will present a bad appearance. Where the blood has remained on the feathers they must be well washed and treated as directed in a test case as given at close of Article I.

ARTICLE V. WOOD AND WIRE FRAMES.

The above cuts represent my wood and wire frames for animals and birds.

Fig. 7 is Fig. 8 reversed; Fig. 8, showing the way the neck and tail supports EE are fastened to the body board with blind staples. Fig. 7 shows the way the leg wires AA are fastened in the same manner. In making the frame, measure the animal from shoulder to hip, and cut the board a little longer than the measure taken; round the corners as shown in cuts, and round the upper edges to keep them from cutting the skin should it come in contact with it. Now take a wire or rod long enough to reach from the end of the tail to the end of the nose, bend the wire as shown in Fig. 8, and fasten it to the body board with blind staples, unless the specimen be a large one, then it will be necessary to put them on with strong wire staples. Next bend the wires for legs as shown in Fig. 12, which should not be fastened to the board until after being placed in the legs of the animal being dressed. They are then bent up as shown in Fig. 13 and fastened to the body board with staples to suit.

The frame for birds is made in the same way, excepting the forelegs, which is used on bird frames only when wanting to spread the wings. Fig. 11 is a single wire frame, to be bent in the manner shown, and to be used in dressing small birds. (See small bird page 5).

ARTICLE VI. FOR BIRDS AND ANIMALS.

WIRE FRAMES.

The above frames are made as follows: Take a straight wire and turn a loop in the center as shown at B, Fig. 1. Take another wire about the same length and bend it as shown in Fig. 2. Now run Fig. 2 wire through the loop B in Fig. 1 down to bend E, fasten them in a vice at the loop B in Fig. 1, and plait the three together as shown in Fig. 3. To form the Fig. 4 frame, make another loop two or three inches or further up the neck wire E, bend another wire as Fig. 2, put this through the loop, and plait together as in Fig. 3. This forms the frame for animals, as shown in Fig. 4.

For Figs. 5 and 6, lay three wires together as shown in Fig. 5, put them in a vise and twist or plait together as shown in Fig. 6. This forms three wire frames—Figs. 3, 4 and 6.

The advantage Fig. 4 frame has over Fig. 6, is that it is easier bent in the center, there only being one wire.

ARTICLE VII. MOLES.

It is not necessary to give more than one way to dress a mole. An expert can skin, stuff and sew up a mole in ten minutes in the following manner:

After killing a mole, let it cool; then make an incision along the abdomen, commencing at the tail and running forward two inches, or about to the center of the body. Skin out the hind legs, bone and flesh, down to the foot and unjoint. Press the skin back to the tail and unjoint it close to the body. Pull the skin off the body, taking care of front feet, not to pull them loose from the skin; unjoint them, or break the arm bone close to the foot; skin on down to mouth and cut the body loose, leaving only the jaw bones in the skin. Spread on the whole skin all the preserving powder that will stick to it, and turn the skin back inside out. Turn the hind legs and proceed to fill the body with cotton, using a wire to stuff the cotton in with, as in all other animals, being careful not to stretch the skin, and also not to get the cotton knotted up. After the body is filled sew it up and place on a board to dry. Place the feet in position, and wet them and the tail and nose with the solution of corrosive sublimate.

Other small animals, such as rats, mice, ground squirrels, gophers, etc., can be dressed in the same manner. After stuffing smooth the hair and shape the body before laying away.

ARTICLE VIII. MODE OF DRESSING AND PRESERVING TURTLES.

A good sized turtle may be thoroughly preserved without the tedious process of unjointing, skinning, digging out the flesh, sewing up, etc., by observing the following directions:

Take a snapping, or any other hard shell turtle, say one that measures ten inches across the back, or smaller, down to the smallest.

The first thing to be done is to kill it, which is the hardest part of the operation, as it clings to life tenaciously, and large ones are very strong and hard to manage. One way is to get it to open its mouth, and catch it by the under jaw with a pair of strong pliers, hold its mouth open and make it swallow a quantity of the solution of corrosive sublimate; this being a deadly poison, it will soon kill it.

Another way is to hold its head as far out as you can pull it, and stick it as close to the under shell as you can, running the blade well back into the body. It takes some time for it to die after being stuck.

And still another way is to open its mouth and stick a knife blade up through the roof of the mouth into the brain.

I prefer the poisoning, as it seems to die easier and quicker, and it does not disfigure it. As soon as it dies, lay it on its back, and make an opening in the skin, under one of the back legs, large enough to take out all the entrails; now take a pair of pliers or a hook (made for the purpose); pull out all the entrails, liver, heart, etc. If the specimen is a large one, pour in some water and rinse out thoroughly, then put in a lot of the preserving powder, being careful to get it well distributed through the body. Then take some cotton and dust it well with the preserving powder, and fill up the inside, pressing the cotton in tight, filling the body full and sew up. Now open the mouth and pour some of the solution of corrosive sublimate down its throat, and press some cotton sprinkled with the powder down its throat, being careful not to stretch the neck out of proportion. Remove the eyes and insert the artificial eyes in their stead; fill the mouth with cotton and close it. Cut a hole in the bottom of each foot, and probe the legs with a knife or the blunt end of a wire; pour in some of the solution of corrosive sublimate, or work in enough of the powder to preserve the flesh; if the tail is a large one, it should be treated in the same way, and all sewed up. Now set it on a board and tack the feet to the board in as near the way it would hold them while walking as you can. Pull the neck out a very little, and put a little block or a small roll of cotton under it to hold it up in position while drying. Before putting it on the drying board, take a small paint brush, pour out some of the solution of corrosive sublimate in a dish and give the whole outer surface a thorough wetting. This should be repeated once a day for several days. This completes the dressing. After the specimen is dry, take it off the board and set in the cabinet.

Another way: After killing, as directed, lay the specimen on its back and unjoint the breast shell from back shell with a chisel or heavy knife blade; open the skin from the front part of the foreleg back and around to front of the other foreleg, cutting under the legs. Skin out all the flesh and bones of the legs and unjoint them at the foot, skin out the tail, then unjoint the neck bone from backbone, and skin it out and unjoint at the back of the skull. Take the flesh from back and breast shells, then anoint all parts with the preserving powder. Take a frame as Fig. 8, in article V, of the wire and wood frame, and put in legs, neck and tail, as directed in animals, letting the neck wire pass out through the mouth or nostril. Stuff the legs, neck and tail with cotton or tow, and sew up the sides, leaving an opening to stuff the body; fill the body, then finish sewing up. In stuffing the legs, neck and tail be careful to keep the wires in the center of each. Open the mouth and take out the eyes from inside and put in the glass eyes; put some cotton back of them to hold them in place while drying. Close the mouth, and wet the whole body with the solution of corrosive sublimate. This should be done once a day for several days. Place the specimen on a board to dry. For position, copy after nature as near as possible. After the skin is dry a coat of varnish adds much to its appearance.

ARTICLE IX. KILLING AND DRESSING SNAKES.

To kill a snake without bruising or breaking the skin is a difficult undertaking, for, as a general thing, we are not looking for snakes, therefore we are not prepared to capture one.

When we do run across them, we generally kill them with the first thing we get hold of. If the snake is not too large, strike it across the back with a small stick. This disables him, and you now have time to prepare to finish him. Watch your chance and when the opportunity presents itself, tap it on the head a few times, and you can soon kill it without bruising. When it is dead, open its mouth and cut the tongue and fangs out, then unjoint the backbone from the skull and skin back on the body an inch or two, turning the skin inside out. Tie a cord to the skinned part of the body and pull on this with your right hand, while with your left hand you pull the skin off from the body, which is easily done if the snake is not too large in the center of the body; in that case it must be opened in the largest part of the body. Make the opening on under side of body, lengthwise of the snake, and long enough to allow you to remove the skin all around the body, then cut the body in two. Skin out both ends, unjointing the body close to the skull, turn the skin right side out and sew up the opening, taking short stitches. Now mix some plaster paris and water, leaving it thin enough to run; place a funnel in the mouth and pour the plaster in until the body is full. Lay the snake on a level board and coil it before the plaster gets dry, placing the head in the position in which you want it to remain. Take out the eyes and put in the glass ones; then wet the whole skin with the solution of corrosive sublimate. This should be repeated once a day for three or four days.