MATERIALS FOB PREPARING BIRDSKINS. 27 



but at a pinch you can make temporary shift with the following, among other articles: — table 

 salt, or saltpetre, or charcoal strewn plentifully ; strong solution of corrosive sublimate, brushed 

 over the skin inside ; creosote ; impure carbolic acid ; these last two are quite efficacious, but 

 they smell horribly for an indefinite period. A bird threatening to decompose before you can 

 get at it to skin, may be saved for a wliile by squirting weak carbolic acid or creosote down the 

 throat and up the fundament ; or by disembowelling, and filling the cavity with powdered 

 charcoal, (c.) For cleansing. Gypsum is an almost indispensable material for cleansing 

 soiled plumage. " Gypsum " is properly native hydrated sulphate of lime ; the article referred 

 to is " plaster of Paris" or gypsum heated up to 260° F. (by which the water of crystalliza- 

 tion is driven ofi") and then finely pulverized. When mixed with water it soon solidifies, the 

 original hydrate being again formed. The mode of using it is indicated beyond. It is most 

 conveniently kept in a shallow tray, say a foot square, and an inch or two deep, which had 

 better, furthermore, slide under the table as a drawer ; or form a compartment of a larger 

 drawer. Keep gypsum and arsenic in different-looking receptacles, not so much to keep from 

 poisoning yourself, as to keep from not poisoning a birdskin. They look much alike, and 

 skinning becomes such a mechanical process that you may get hold of the wrong article when 

 your thoughts are wandering in the woods. Gypsum, like arsenic, has no worthy rival in its 

 own field ; some substitutes, in the order of their applicability, are : — corn-meal, probably the 

 best thing after gypsum; calcined magnesia (very good, but too light — it floats in the air, 

 and makes you cougli) ; bicarbonate of magnesia; powdered chalk ("prepared chalk," cj-eta 

 praparata of the drug shops, is the best kind) ; fine wood-ashes ; clean dry loam. No article, 

 however powdery when dry, that contains a glutinous principle, as for instance gum-arabic or 

 flour, is admissible, {d.) For wrapping, you want a thin, pliable, strong paper ; water-closet 

 paper is the very best; newspaper is pretty good. For making the cones or cylinders in 

 which birdskins may be set to dry, a stiffer article is required ; writing paper answers perfectly. 



Naturalists habitually carry a Pocket Lens, much as other people do a watch. You 

 will find a magnifying glass very convenient in your search for the sexual organs of small 

 birds when obscure, as they frequently are, out of the breeding season ; in picking lice from 

 plumage, to send to your entomological friend, who will very likely pronounce them to be of a 

 " new species ; " and for other purposes. 



Fixtures. When travelling, your fixtures must ordinarily be limited to a coUecting- 

 chest ; you will have to skin birds on the top of this, on the tail-board of a wagon, or on your 

 lap, as the case may be. The chest should be very substantial — iron-bound is best ; strong 

 as to hinges and lock — and have handles. A good size is 30 x 18 x 18 inches. Let it be 

 fitted with a set of trays; the bottom one say four inches deep; the rest shallower; the top 

 one very shallow, and divided into compartments for your tools and materials, unless you fix 

 these on the under side of the lid. Start out with all the trays full of cotton or tow. At 

 home, have a room to yourself, if possible ; taxidermy makes a mess to which your wife may 

 object, and arsenic must not come in the way of children. At any rate have your own table. 

 I prefer plain deal that may be scrubbed when required ; great cleanliness is indispensable, 

 especially when dcnng much work in hot weather, for the place soon smells sour if neglected. 

 I use no special receptacle for oftal, for this only makes another article to be cleaned ; lay 

 down a piece of paper 'for the refuse, and throw the whole away. A perfectly smooth surface 

 is desirable. I generally have a large pane of window-glass on the table before me. It will 

 really be found advantageous to have a scale of inches scratched on the edge of the table ; only 

 a small part of it need be fractionally subdivided ; this n>places the foot-rule and tape-line, 

 just as the tacks of a dry-goods counter answer for tlie yardstick. You will find it worth while 

 to rig some sijrt of a derrick arranginnent, which you cim readily devise, on mie end of the 



