280 



HARD JVI CKE 'S S CI EN CE - G OS SIP. 



size corresponding to the size of the animal. Let the 

 shank of this machine hang down outside the skin, 

 just as though it were a fifth leg in the centre of the 

 body, and let it pass through a hole in the table, and 

 then be fastened at sufficient height by a couple of 

 wedges. Now touch the nose, lips, and orbits of the 

 skin with a mixture of one part of salad oil and three 

 parts spirits of turpentine, and repeat this touching 

 every day till the finish. Then with a penknife cut 

 small holes on the top of the head, behind the root 

 of each ear, under the jaws, others on the back, and 

 one under each foot. Now working through these 

 holes with a piece of iron, from the size of a large darning 

 needle to that of a ramrod, and shaped at one end 

 like a carpenter's pricker, push out every part of the 

 skin which ought to be pushed out, and reduce with 

 the end of the finger any part that may be too pro- 

 minent consistently with the expression and form 

 which the animal exhibited during life. The lips 

 must be reformed by means of two irons, one held in 

 either hand, and working in opposite directions 

 outside and inside. In due course of time, as the 

 skin stiffens, the artist will see (as the sculptor does) 

 the features gradually appear ; and at last the skin 

 will retain the slightest impression communicated to 

 it by the touch of the working iron. A slit must be 

 made in the crown of the head, or under the jaws, 

 to allow of the artificial eyes to be fixed with a little 

 putty or wax. Two or three weeks' practice is required 

 in order to become an adept at this mode of pre- 

 serving animals ; but of course there must also exist 

 a considerable native talent and taste for sculpture. 

 The foregoing account is condensed (perhaps too 

 much so) from an article on Museums in the first 

 edition (1838) of Waterton's "Essays on Natural 

 History." It will be observed that this process is 

 simply one of modelling : the softened skins of 

 animals being operated upon instead of the clay of 

 the modeller or sculptor. Various other methods of 

 preserving animals (especially birds) have been 

 described in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 

 1770, in "The Naturalist's and Traveller's Com- 

 panion," in the "Natural History of Guiana," in the 

 Amiens Acad., vol. ii., in the "Boy's Own Maga- 

 zine" for 1859, in the " Boy's Journal " for March, 

 "The Art of Taxidermy," published by 



1863, 



F. Warne cS: Co.— P. Q. 



Keegan, 



LL.D. 



Bark Bread. — In a note to page 528 of the Flora 

 Vectensis is the following : " Panis hie albus est due/is 

 et gratissimus, prsesertim recens. Usus hujus fa nit 

 primarius et receptissimus apud," &c. , &c. Linnaeus 

 says the bread is sweet and grateful, but he does not 

 say that it is composed solely of the roots of the 

 Calla ; but he does say, " hasc farina miscetur cum 

 farina" (he does not tell us in what proportion) 

 " Cerealium vel Pini, et exinde conficitur panis secun- 

 dum artem." The above quotation must have been 

 printed incorrectly, it should be, "Panis hie est albus, 

 et dulcis, et gratissimus " (this bread is white, sweet, 

 and very palatable). " Usus hujus panis primaris, et 

 receptissimus apud," &c. (This is the bread chiefly 

 used by Norwegians and Swedes, and they like it very 

 much. ) But the flour from the roots of Calla is first 

 mixed with rye or barley meal, and often with 

 powdered pine bark ; and of these the bread is made 

 in the ordinary manner. We may add, the mixed 

 bark of the pine is, even now, thus used. — J. F. 

 Robinson. 



Wild Animals and Man. — An interesting lec- 

 ture was recently delivered at the Society of Arts, 

 by Sir J. Taylor, on the destruction of life by wild 

 animals in India. An extract or two may, perhaps, 



be of interest. In 1876, 18,273 persons were killed 

 by wild animals ; out of these, 15,946 lost their lives 

 by snakes, 917 by tigers, 887 by wolves ; the remain- 

 der being by leopards, bears, hyamas, &c. In the 

 same year 54,430 cattle were destroyed. The num- 

 ber of wild animals killed during that time were 

 234,830, out of which snakes were 212,371. There 

 are several ways of compassing the tiger's death. 

 They are snared in pitfalls and traps, shot by spring 

 guns, poisoned by strychnine, and killed by sports- 

 men. The natives of India, especially the Hindoos, 

 hold the tiger, as they do the cobra, in superstitious 

 reverence; many would not kill him even if they 

 could, for they fear that he would haunt or do them 

 mischief after death. In one instance in the Central 

 Provinces a single tigress caused the desertion of 

 thirteen villages, and 250 square miles of country were 

 thrown out of cultivation. In 1869 one tigress killed 

 127 people and stopped a public road for many weeks, 

 until finally killed. The shark is a fierce and bold 

 creature ; he dashes in amongst the crowds bathing at 

 the ghats, and though he seldom, if ever, under these 

 circumstances, succeeds in carrying off his prey, yet 

 he inflicts a dangerous, often a mortal, wound. These 

 accidents appear to have become more common of 

 late years, since the practice of throwing bodies into 

 the river has been discontinued. — H. Budge. 



"Sugaring." — In reply to your correspondent, 

 " W. W. Walter," I used to do a little in the gentle 

 art of sugaring, and as I was pretty successful, a few 

 hints of mine may be of use. The best mixture to 

 my knowledge is Jamaica foots sugar gently boiled 

 in stout or porter, care being taken not to bum it. 

 As most of the sugar known as "moist sugar" is 

 actually refined sugar, and not the raw material at all, 

 it is not good for the purpose. When made, a little 

 rum may be added just before using. Several sugges- 

 tions have been offered at times as to the advantage 

 of adding oil of anise seed, and other oils of a similar 

 nature, as powerful moth attractors, but I do not 

 think they are so potent as supposed, a great deal 

 depending on the weather chosen for a sugaring 

 expedition, which should be a moonless night with a 

 light south or south-west wind, a moonlight night or 

 east or north wind being quite enough to ensure an 

 empty bag. Although the autumn for numerous 

 reasons is the best time for sugaring, still, there are 

 other times of the year when lepidoptera are captured 

 at natural or artificial sugar. In the spring the 

 catkins of die willow or sallow are most killing traps 

 for the Tamiocampa?, and a sheet spread under a 

 willow in bloom will be almost sure to catch such 

 specimens as Stabilis, Munda, Cruda, Gothica, &c., 

 on the branches being shaken. Reverting again to 

 sugaring, the mixture should be laid on with a brush 

 on the lee-side of trees, about 5 feet from the ground, 

 and I have found that exposed trees are the best, I 

 presume from the fact of the wind carrying the scent 

 better ; where there are no trees I have succeeded 

 with pieces of rag or fragments of bark or board, 

 either fastened on a bush, or in want of that, a post, 

 gate, or rock. — Edward Lovett, Croydon. 



A Strange Place for Marsh Plants. — For 

 a considerable time operations have been in progress 

 for the construction of a new wet dock at Leith, and 

 for this purpose upwards of eighty acres of a low 

 sand-flat, known as Leith Sands, has been reclaimed 

 from the sea. The greater part of this being within 

 tidemark, was consequently covered and left dry 

 alternately with every tide, and no vegetation, ter- 

 restrial or marine, was apparent. But since the 

 reclamation wall was finished, and the salt water 



