SCIENTIFIC TAXIDERMY FOR MUSEUMS. .'U7 



must he explained that the groups of British birds exhibited are absolutely true to 

 nature, the birds being in every case the actual ones which built the nest in the 

 identical situation reproduced iu the ease. 



So wonderfully interesting is Sharpe's article that the writer would 

 fain republish here every word of it, but we must hastes on to the 

 expression of opinions of others. 



When commenting upon the "Common Faults in the Mounting of 

 Quadrupeds," our veteran taxidermist, Mr. William T. Hornaday, has 

 said: 



The task of the taxidermist, if properly appreciated, is a grave and serious one. 

 It is not to depict the mere outline of an animal on paper or canvas and represent 

 its covering of hair, feathers, or scales; nor is it to build up a figure of yielding clay 

 and cnst it in plaster. It is to impart to a shapeless skin the exact size, the form, 

 the attitude, the look of life. It is to recreate the animal, or at least so much of it 

 as appeals to the eye; to give it all that nature gave it except the vital spark. It 

 should be an exact copy, as if it were a cast of the animal as fashioned by nature's 

 cunning hand. It must stand the crucial test of being viewed from all points — from 

 the side, the front, from behind, above, and below. 



.More than all this, the animal must be prepared to stand the test of time. It must 

 not swerve from its poise; it must not shrink nor change its form: it must retain its 

 smoothness and resist the ravages of destroying insects.* 



Mr. Hornaday, it will be remembered, was at one time in charge of 

 the taxidermical department of the U. S. National Museum, and many 

 of his most successful accomplishments, grand groups of our larger 

 mammals, preserved in the most masterly style, are in the cases of that 

 institution — silent attests to the durability and thoroughness of his 

 work. A number of these will be noticed further on in the present 

 paper. 



There was much in Mr. Hornaday's studio tit the National Museum 

 that reminded me of the workshop of that giant among American 

 taxidermists of his time, the late John G. Bell, of New York. There 

 I met him over a quarter of a century ago. His place was some- 

 where down upon Broadway, and his room upon the second or third 

 story of the building. At the entrance door downstairs was a small 

 case containing a mounted scarlet ibis and a tew other birds, to 

 invite attention to those in search of his rooms above. At that time, 

 about 1868, 1 Mas a student of one of Mr. Bell's best graduates, Mr. 

 .lames YV. Jenkins, now of Madison, 111., and very well do I remember 

 my hist introduction to that Broadway establishment. I had been 

 engaged by Prof. Albert S. Bickmore to accompany, as naturalist, 

 one of the Polar expeditions, then organizing, to make collections for 

 the American Museum of Natural History, and had been sent with 

 specimens of my bird-skins to Mr. Bell to have him pronounce upon 

 them and my work generally, with the view of having his opinion 

 on my fitness for the position. As I entered the room I observed 

 an old red fox chained to a bolt in the wall, but lying down with 



Third Ann. Rep. of the Soc. Amer. Taxidermists, p. 67. l882-'83. 



