Preservation of Egg- shells . 515 



I am sometimes questioned by country gentlemen (who 

 have a keen eye for jugged hare and roasted partridges) on 

 the propriety of befriending, what they consider, feathered 

 vermin. I tell them that Professor Rennie has remarked, in 

 this Magazine (Vol. V. p. 102.), " that T have hitherto pub- 

 lished nothing, respecting the economy or faculties of animals, 

 of the least use to natural history." This being the case, I 

 am trying to make up my deficiency in pen and ink, by esta^ 

 blishing a sylvan enclosure, which any ornithologist is allowed 

 to enter; and where he will have an opportunity of cor- 

 recting, by actual observation, some of those errors which 

 appear in the second edition of Montagu, by James Ilennie, 

 A.M. A.L.S. Moreover, sometimes, in a jocose kind of a 

 way, I tell them I like to have all kinds of Ijirds around me ; 

 and that I cannot find in my heart to kill a poor jay for suck- 

 ing an egg, when I know 



" That I myself, carnivorous sinner, 

 Had pullets yesterday for dinner." 



Walton Hall, May 9. 1832. Charles Waterton. 



Art. IV. On the Preservation of Egg-shells for Cabinets of Na'- 

 tural History. By Charles Waterton, Esq. 



" Si sumas ovum, moUe sit, atque novum." Schola Salermtana. 



" If you take an egg, let it be soft and new." 



I HAVE been blundering at this work for some years; 

 " seeking for something I could not find," and always dissa- 

 tisfied with myself on account of the failure. The object of 

 my search was, to try to find out how I could properly dispose 

 of the thin white membrane next the shell of the egg. When 

 left in, it is apt to corrupt ; in which case, the colour of the 

 shell will sometimes fade, and an offensive smell is produced, 

 which a lapse of years will not subdue. Last spring, I thought 

 I had succeeded ; but it turned out to be a very partial success. 

 I, first, by blowing, discharged the contents of five swans' 

 eggs, and then immersed the shells in a tub of water for a 

 month. This enabled me to pull out the thin membrane, by 

 means of a piece of wire bent at the end. But I found that 

 the colour of the shell had faded considerably. Moreover, 

 the process required too much time; and I saw that there 

 would be great difficulty in doing small eggs. 



About three weeks ago, a bright thought (a rara avis with 

 me) struck me, just as I was in the act of climbing up to a 



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