Practical taxidermy

THE taxidermist will, in the course of his avocation, require to know something of various insects, their methods of capture, and how to preserve and utilise them in his profess...

I MUST confess that, at one time, the consideration of the best method of dealing to advantage with the limited space usually existing in the older provincial museums would have...

THE decoying and trapping of birds, etc, is a somewhat delicate subject to handle, lest we degenerate into giving instruction in amateur poaching; but the application of my dire...

IN order that this shall be a thoroughly practical chapter, I will, in my method of working, copy the admirable plan of my old sporting favourite, Col. Hawker, who, when wishing...

THE art of setting up quadrupeds in a natural and life-like manner is of so recent a date that few, if any, of the manuals on taxidermy do more than glance at it. True, they nea...

HAVING skinned a zoological specimen, we require, as a matter of course, to anoint the inside of the skin with some preservative, for the purpose of arresting decomposition and...

THE subject to be now treated of is of so varied a nature, requiring so great a knowledge of anatomy, and so much experience and aptitude, that I have deemed it advisable to res...

TAXIDERMY, which is derived from two Greek words, a literal translation of which would signify the "arrangement of skins," appears to have been practised in a limited degree age...

Fishes, Etc.--Restoring Shrunken Parts By A Wax Process--Drying And Colouring Ferns Grasses, Seaweeds, Etc.--"Piece Moulds," And Modelling Fruit In Plaster--Preserving Spiders--...

CASES can be made in all styles. The oldest is the "box," which needs no description. Next in age is the "canted-corner case," a most odious abomination beloved of the amateur;...

FISH being, perhaps, the most difficult things in the range of taxidermical science to set up in a satisfactory manner, I would impress upon the amateur to take particular note...

--after the celebrated picture--was one of the things very nicely rendered in the "Fisheries Exhibition;" the painting of an artistic scene at the back of this case helped the e...

RELAXING SKINS.--In many instances, especially when collecting abroad, it may be found incompatible with the time and storage space at the disposal of the collector to set up bi...

POLISHING HORNS.--As a commencement it will be requisite to remove all the rough shell-like layers of horn which stand up as knots and gnarls, and mar the symmetry of the horns....

THE art of tanning is, as I before observed (vide Chapter I.), of the highest antiquity, as systems which are now in vogue must have been known--if even in a modified form--to t...

ARTISTIC MOUNTING.--GENERAL REMARKS.--By the time the student has slowly worked his way to this chapter, he will no doubt--should he be apt, and have an artistic mind--have achi...

In very severe cases I have used turpentine ("turps") with excellent effect; in fact, as a destructive agent for insects, I prefer it to benzoline, having now mastered the hithe...

THE chief requirement in preserving reptiles is a fine and delicate hand, in order to deal successfully with these mostly thin-skinned objects. I will now take one of the easies...

A BAD workman, it is said, always quarrels with his tools. If this be so, it is equally certain that a good workman, though he may make shift with indifferent implements of his...

differs from all previously described in this chapter. When of excessive size and weight, they may be "set up" with wood and iron (see Chapter VII.), or if smaller--say, up to 5...