CHAPTER V. 



INSTRUMENTS, MATERIALS AND FIXTURES FOR PREPARING 

 BIRDSKINS. 



§31. Instruments. The onl}^ indispensable instrument is a 

 pair of scissors or a knife ; altliough practically you want both 

 of these, a pair of spring forceps and a knitting-needle, or some 

 similar wooden or ivory object, yet I have made hundreds of 

 bii'dskins consecutively without touching another tool. Odi, 

 puer, Persicos apparatus! I always mistrust the emphasis of 

 a collector who makes a flourish of instruments. You might 

 be surprised to see what a meagre, shabby-looking kit our best 

 taxidermists work with. Stick to your scissors, knife, forceps 

 and needle. But you may as well buy, at the outset, a com- 

 mon dissecting case, just what medical students begin business 

 with ; it is very cheap, and if there are some unnecessar}^ things 

 in it, it makes a nice little box in which to keep your tools. 

 The case contains, among other things, several scalpels, just 

 the knives you want ; a " cartilage-knife," which is nothing 

 but a stout scalpel, suitable for large birds ; the best kind of 

 scissors for your purpose, with short blades and long handles 

 — if " kneed" at the hinge so much the better ; spring forceps, 

 the very thing ; a blow-pipe, useful in many ways and an- 

 swers well for a knitting-needle ; and some little steel-hooks, 

 chained together, which you may want to use. But you will 

 also require, for large birds, a very heavy pair of scissors, or 

 small shears, short-bladed and long-handled, and a stout pair of 

 bone-nippers. Have some pins and needles ; sui-gical needles, 

 which cut instead of punching, are the best. Get a hone or 

 strop, if you wish, and a feather duster. Use of scissors re- 

 quires no comment ; and I would urge their habitual employ 

 instead of the knife-blade ; I do nine-tenths of my cutting with 

 scissors and find it much the easiest. A double-lever is twice 

 as effective as a single one, and besides, you gain in cutting 

 soft, yielding substances by opposing two blades. Moreover, 

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