112 TAXIDEKMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



PROPORTIONS. On this point a single observation will be suffi- 

 cient. The taxidermist often receives, from the zoological gar- 

 dens and menageries, specimens that are very thin in flesh. In 

 mounting an animal, do not let your knowledge of anatomy run 

 away with your judgment, art, and even nature itself, by pro- 

 ducing a tiger, panther, zebra, or buffalo with all its ribs show- 

 ing, and its scapulae, pelvis, and vertebral column all standing 

 out in bold relief. Unless the individuals of a given species are 

 always scrawny, I pray you, for the sake of truth and justice, do 

 not make your solitary representative of that species look like a 

 candidate for special honors at a bone-yard. 



Let me assure you, on the honor of a hunter, that animals in 

 a state of nature are nearly always well fed and plump-looking, 

 and show very few bones. It is easy to make ribs on a clay- 

 covered manikin, but do not do it on a wild animal, unless you 

 deliberately intend to produce a starveling. According to its 

 nature, make every animal look well-fed and in good condition, 

 but not fat. It seldom happens that a wild animal in a state of 

 nature grows really fat, but it is still more seldom that one 

 looks under-fed and poor. If fatness is a special characteristic 

 of a species, then fat let it be, but scrawny never. 



Above all things, avoid in your birds and quadrupeds the half- 

 filled body which makes the subject look as if it had been evis- 

 cerated. The abdomen is always convex, not concave. 



THE USES OF CLAY AS A FILLING MATERIAL. The value of clay 

 in the mounting of mammals, reptiles, and fishes can hardly be 

 overestimated. Previous to 1880 its use among the taxider- 

 mists of my acquaintance was unknown, and when its value was 

 discovered and put to general use by the writer, in the year 

 mentioned, many of my rivals predicted all manner of evil from 

 it. They declared it would destroy skins, go to dust within 

 them, become soft mud in damp weather, crack, etc. I per- 

 sisted in its use, disproving all evil prognostications, and now 

 its general use really marks a new era in American taxidermy. 

 By means of this common and cheap material it is not only 

 possible but easy to mount a horse, a seal, a hairless dog, a 

 turtle, snake, fish, or any other animal, with absolute accuracy 

 in every detail of form and size. Not only is this true, but, so 

 far as I can discover, there is no other material than clay with 



