122 



THE OSPREY. 



those procured by the Prussian naturalists on 

 the coast." 



Satisfied with his sojourn at Bahia, in April 

 Swainsou "embarked for Rio de Janeiro, more 

 for the sake of comparini:;- the southern with the 

 equinoctial regions of Brazil, than of increas- 

 ing- mj' collections," he says, "in a part already 

 well explored." He "found the summer nearly 

 terminated, but the heat far above that of Per- 

 nambuco, though Rio de Janeiro is in latitude 

 22° 54', and Pernambuco in 8°". In Rio de 

 Janeiro were found travellers and men of science 

 from the Austrian, French, Russian and Tuscan 

 courts." 



He "met with Dr. Langsdorff [the Russian 

 Consul-General in Brazil], the late Dr. Raddi 

 of Florence, and some of the German naturalists 

 sent by the court of Austria." One of those 

 "German naturalists" was destined to become 

 celebrated as an explorer of the avifauna of 

 Brazil — Dr. Johann Natterer. Although Swain- 

 son does not mention meeting him in either of 

 his accounts of travel, he incidentally notes 

 elsewhere in 1836 (Birds, i, 260), that he recently 

 "had the pleasure of a personal visit from Dr. 

 Natterer, whom [he] left in Brazil in 1817." 

 (Natterer in 1836 had "only just returned to 

 Europe.") Swainson does not seem to have affil- 

 iated with the German naturalists. But "with 

 Langsdorft" he "made several excursions." 

 Also with "Professor Raddi, director of the 

 Museum at Florence, who was indefatigable in 

 forming a fine collection of the fruit and seeds 

 of the country," he "made an excursion to the 

 immense range of mountains, called the Organ 

 Mountains, which for leagues are covered with 

 almost impenetrable forests, abounding in 

 ferns, melastomas, and insects quite peculiar 

 to them." 



His success in collecting in the province was 

 perfectly satisfactorj^ to himself; "in four 

 months" he "so enriched [his] collections, that 

 [he] became almost satiated." He felt he 

 "had more than enough to study and arrange 

 for years to come." He "therefore broke up" 

 his party and in August 1818, "embarked for 

 England and once more," sa^-s he, — "like a bee 

 loaded with honej' — returned to my father's 

 house." 



He had been absent from England nearly a 

 5'ear and ten mouths and had spent a year and 

 eight months in Brazil. About six months were 

 taken tip in Pernambuco, and nearly two 

 months in the journey to the Rio Sao Francisco, 

 about eight in Bahia and excursions from that 

 cit}', and, as he saj^s, about "four months" in 

 and near Rio de Janeiro. 



The manner in which a collector of the first 

 quarter of the century proceeded may entertain 

 those of the end. It is to be remembered that 

 Swainson was almost equally interested in orni- 

 thology, entomolog-y and conchology, and col- 



lected in all branches. We must confine our- 

 selves, however, to his work on birds. 



In his Taxidermy (p. 4) he has given his ideas 

 of the outfit for a collector and we ma)' assume 

 that he had furnished himself with such during 

 his Brazilian tours. He thinks "a collector of 

 birds should be provided with one or two light 

 fowling pieces, and duplicate parts of all their 

 usual apparatus; a supplj' of the best powder 

 contained in tin canisters, and of shot in bags; 

 he may take with him a small quantity of swan 

 and duck shot, but he will find Nos. 6 and 8 the 

 most useful; while small birds not larger than 

 a sparrow are killed with the least injury to 

 their plumage by what is called dust shot. For 

 preserving, he must have a good supply of 

 arsenical soap, penknives, sharp and blunt 

 pointed scissors, etc." Cotton and tar must 

 also be available. 



Swainson tried various preservatives and 

 among them a preparation originated bj' another 

 noted traveller in South America, Charles 

 Waterton, much vaunted bj' the discoverer and 

 some others. He found it very untrustworthy. 

 He made an "experiment with Mr. Waterton 's 

 composition when in Brazil," and he gave the 

 results in a note in his Natural History and 

 Classification of Birds (i, 265). f 



The "arsenic soap" which he finally adopted, 

 or "arseniated soap", as he also calls it, was com- 

 posed of "arsenic, 1 ounce; white soap, 1 ounce; 

 carbonate of potash, 1 drachm; distilled water, 

 6 drachms; camphor, 2 drachms." It could be 

 made into cakes like ordinarj' soap, and "one 

 piece, no larger than an ordinary cake of Windsor 

 soap, is sufficient to preserve 500 small birds." 

 It was used by moistening "a camel's hair 

 pencil with any kind of spirituous liquor", 

 making a lather, and applj'ing it to "the inner 

 surface of all parts of the skin," etc. Due pre- 

 caution is recommended against letting it get 

 imder the nails, and the necessity of washing 

 the hands immediately after use is enforced. 

 Although in great favor for a long time, the use 

 of arsenical soaps of any kind was abandoned 

 long ago, and the mode of preparation and use 

 is interesting only as history and not for present 

 use. 



He found that "birds in tropical countries are 

 in general, so tame that they can be approached 

 very near; there is therefore, little occasion to 

 be very particular about the excellency of the 

 gun or the quality of the powder, "but the first, 

 for convenience, should be light, and the last 

 good. Humming birds are advantageously shot 

 when hovering over the flowers on the nectar 

 of which thej^ feed; but the charge should be 

 very small, and dust shot alone used. Birds of 

 the size of a Hawk or Thrush may be killed with 

 shot No. 8. In some parts of America, the 

 natives shoot the Creepers and Humming birds 

 with a blow pipe. An expert marksman of this 



tThe ants, which swarmed in a room which I inhabited at Pernambuco, had committed great devastation among the pre- 

 pared insects and birds. While preserving one of the latter, I cut off a piece of the flesh, and, after saturating it with the com- 

 position, laid it in the path which led to one of their holes. The little creatures seemed at first to be somewhat suspicious of its 

 wholesomeness; but. after walking about and upon it, and examining it with their antenna-, they seemed to pronounce a favora- 

 ble verdict, for one and all began dragging it away to the entrance of their nest, where it soon disappeared beneath the earthen 

 floor. The expermient was repeated three times, and the same result followed. The mixture had been brought from England, 

 and I had no reason to believe it was defective in the preparation. After this trial I determined on using the arsenic soap; 

 naturally concluding that if ants would devour the soaked flesh of a bird, they would not scruple to attack its skin, which could 

 oniy be washed with the liquor on the inner side. 



