Vlll PUEFACE. 



alive or dead, excites v/ithin me feeling's of admiration that 

 often amount to genuine affection ; and the study and preserva- 

 tion of such forms has for sixteen years been my chief delight. 



In these pages I have sought to give, in clear language, the 

 detailed information which I have found deplorably lacking in 

 all " manuals " on this subject that I have ever seen, save one, 

 in French, published many years ago, and which, while very 

 tiresome to write out, are precisely what the practical worker 

 wants. I hold a permanent grudge against those who have 

 written b afore me 011 the subjects here treated of, because of 

 what they did not write. The average book on taxidermy con- 

 tains four times too much " padding," and not one quarter 

 enough practical information. " If this be treason, make the 

 most of it." 



The students of entomology are indebted to Dr. Holland for 

 his admirable chapters on Insects, and I leave them to make 

 their own acknowledgments. My own very sincere thanks are 

 hereby tendered him for his valuable contribution to this work, 

 thereby making it complete. I am also under obligations to 

 Mr. Charles Bradford Hudson, the accomplished artist, whose 

 skill has done so much to explain and embellish the text. The 

 spirit and interest with which he entered into his share of the 

 work very materially lightened and encouraged my own tardy 

 labors. 



My thanks are also due to my valued friend, Mr. Frederic A. 

 Lucas, of the Department of Comparative Anatomy, National 

 Museum, and one of the founders of the Society of American 

 Taxidermists, for advice and assistance in the preparation of 

 the illustrations relating to work on skeletons. Mr. W. Harvey 

 Brown, Naturalist of the U. S. Eclipse Expedition to Africa, 

 kindly wrote for me nearly all of the chapter on " Mounting 

 Disarticulated Skeletons ; " Messrs. "William Palmer and John 

 W. Hendley, of the National Museum, also rendered me valu- 

 able services ; for all of which I gladly record here an expres- 

 sion of my thanks and appreciation. 



Having already retired from taxidermy forever, this is posi- 

 tively my " last appearance " in this field. 



W. T. H. 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



