Ji:iA- 18!U.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



107 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST^^^OOLOGIST 



A Monthly Maj^azine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ISSl'ECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE .STUDY OF 



THEIR NESTS AND EttCS, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS 



Under the Editorial Manairenient of 



FRANK I!. WEliSTER, 

 J. I'AKIvIiR NORRIS, 

 FRANK A. HATES, 



Hyde Park, Mass. 



I'hiladelplita. Fa. 



lioston, iMass. 



PUBLISHED AT THE 



MUSEUM AND NATURALISTS' SUPPLY DEPOT 



FRANK HLAKE WEUsTER CO.MPANY, 



ISCOKl'Ull.\TKD, 



HyDE Park, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid suli- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it, notify us. 



Editorial. 



Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting, by 

 Wm. T. Hornaday. 



We liavo rco('ivc<l a (-Mipy of tliis work just 

 liiihlislicil liy .Scribiioi- .Sons. To .say that tlif 

 work is valuable to any taxidevmi.st would be 

 (|uit,e superlluou.s. No one who knows of the 

 labors of the author, or who is in the sliohtest 

 dcsi'-t^ ac(iu:iiuted with American taxidermy 

 and its accomplishments, would rccjuire noti- 

 fication that this Prince of Taxidermists had 

 published anythiu'.; on the subject to incite 

 their curiosity or impel them to procure a 

 copy. Ou!' space at present will not jiermit 

 the extended notice of the work we would like 

 to give it an<l we leserve that for future refer- 

 ence, but we can but assure our readers that 

 in this work they will find a more perfect 

 vadf. mecnm than in anytliing it has ever 

 been our fortune to see. From title pa<;e and 

 frontispiece of the tiger's head (which we 

 have often remarked was worthy of a trip on 

 foot to Washington to see and study) to the 

 finis, the volume is replete with all that is 

 necessary to make a flnuoufjli workman. 

 Written in the pleasant and readable style 

 which always marks Ml-. Ilornaday's writings, 

 it is free from "padding" and of obsolete 



and antiquated notions, receipts, etc. The 

 subjects are treated by a master workman in a 

 workmanlike manner, no (lights of pyrotech- 

 nical rhetoric in strained efforts to appear 

 sentimental, and above all no bare-faced egot- 

 ism; on the contrary the means and metliods 

 to be followed are given in terse, clear lan- 

 guage and plentifully interspersed with illus- 

 trations to exemplify. We fear, however, for 

 the author's peace of mind when he attacks 

 the Museums of the day in the methods of 

 mounting their specimens; it may lead up to 

 their demanding that valuable specimens be 

 mounted so that they will at least resemble 

 something which at some time or another had 

 life. It has been but for the past few years 

 and only, since the advent of the author, 

 Lucas, Ciitchley, and some others, that any of 

 these supposed-to-be public educators in 

 nature, have been other than a musty and 

 dusty collection of monstrosities, a sort of 

 catacombs generally presided over by a stuffy 

 old crank, who in his sleepy indolence thinks 

 of but little else than how he should appear 

 before the world in his egotistical resplen- 

 dence. The public are under more obliga- 

 tions than they know of to the author and his 

 associates in Washington for dragging our 

 national museum out of the dust and decay it 

 had long slumbered in, by doing magnificent 

 work, and to their energy, industry and ability 

 the marked advance made in the governmental 

 collections is largely due, and particularly in 

 the direction of popularizing the study of 

 natural history. Mr. Hornaday supplements 

 his labors very finely, by giving to the public 

 the instruction how to do likewise in so com- 

 plete a manner in this book, and it is to be 

 regretted that he should deem it necessary to 

 now say adieu. He is too young a man, too 

 well equipped by education and observation, 

 too well welcomed by the public to adhere to 

 a resolution made we hope without sufficient 

 reflection. 



The subject is by no means worn out, the 

 end is not yet reached. While the progress in 

 the last few years has been marvellous there 

 is much yet to be accomplished, and this book 

 shows very clearly that the tendency of scien- 

 tific collections is towards better work in 

 mounting and grouping, and furthermore, 

 many who have been making a collection of 

 skins are finding that nicely mounted speci- 

 mens are as easily studied and much more 

 enjoyable to look upon. 



Every branch of tlie work of a naturalist in 

 collecting an<l iireparing mamm.als, birds. 



