MATERIALS FOR PREPARING BIRBSKINS. 27 



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

 salt, or saltpetre, or charcoal strewn plentifully ; strong solution of con-osive sublimate, brushed 

 over the skiu inside ; creosote ; impure carboUc acid ; these last two are quite efficacious, but 

 they smell horribly for an indefiuite peiiod. A bird threatening to decompose before you can 

 get at it to skin, may be saved for a wiiile 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. Gijpsum is an almost indispensable material for cleansing 

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

 to is " plaster of Paris " or gypsum heated up to 2G0° 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 fonn a compai-tment of a larger 

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

 poisoning yourself, as to keep ii'om not poisoning a bh'dskin. 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 

 owTi 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 cough) ; bicarbonate of magnesia; powdered chalk ("prepared chalk," c?-efa 

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

 however powdery when dry, that contains a glutinous piinciple, 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 jjurposes. 



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

 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 w'hich your wife may 

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

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

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

 I use no special receptacle for ofFal, 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 replaces the foot-rule and tape-hne, 

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

 .to rig some sort of a derrick arrangement, which you can readily devise, on one end of the 



