TAXIDERMICAL METHODS IN THE LEYDEN MUSEUM. 1035 



young taxidermists at first, as it did Mr. H. H. ter Meer, but its advan- 

 tages are so great when once accomplisbed, that no abandoning there- 

 after is ever entertained by the expert. 



My correspondent has succeeded in inventing a material, after years 

 of experiment and practice, that possesses the molding properties of 

 clay, and that dries with great rapidity and never cracks after once 

 setting. I regret to say he has not given his formula for this material, 

 so much in demand the world over among taxidermic artists, and I 

 kuow of no better encouragement that Mr, H. H. ter Meer can extend 

 to his colleagues in the art than a full description of his materials and 

 methods, and thus break down the ancient barrier of secrecy, which in 

 times paijt has been one of the greatest drawbacks to the progress of 

 the art. 



This new material was first employed by him in October, 1894, at 

 which time, or shortly after, he modeled the buffalo {Bubalus mindoren- 

 sis) shown in Plate 4, figure 2. The material is worked in a thin layer 

 over the hollow wooden frame representing the animal's form, even to 

 include the head, and the figure shows the result, at the point where 

 it is to receive the skin over it. No skull was used, and the entire 

 skeleton of this specimen could thus be saved for the Leyden Museum, 

 where it is now upon exhibition. 



This being the first attempt with the new material, it naturally pre- 

 sents some faults, yet upon the whole the beauty of the model can be 

 easily appreciated from the figure, and it possesses the additional 

 advantage of being very light. Smaller mammals — the size of a 

 domestic cat, for example — are still mounted after the Kerr method, it 

 proving the most successful. This new material, and what can be accom- 

 plished by its use, has received the approval of Sir William Flower, 

 Doctor Bowdler Sharpe, and the distinguished artist, J. G. Keule- 

 mans, all of whom visited the museum at Leyden last year, to investi- 

 gate the process. Mr. H. H. ter Meer, sr., mounts many of the birds at 

 this institution, although the son also exerts his skill in this direction. 

 Some of these are beautiful examples of taxidermy, and from the series 

 sent me, I select a few, and these are given in my i)lates. Figure 2, of 

 Plate 2, is an excellent specimen of Buteo Im/opus, and equally good 

 ones are seen in i:»late G, figures 2 and 3 {Botaurus stellaris and Pandion 

 haliaetus). It is said that Mr. H. H. ter Meer, sr., makes the artificial 

 bodies for his birds in so perfect a manner, that after the skin has been 

 placed over it, in any case whatever, he finds it quite unnecessary to 

 use "in strapping" either thread or pieces of cardboard to hold the 

 feathers in place. This is not even done in either the tail or the wings. 

 To show these results, photographs have been sent me of Cyyims olor, 

 Oedicnemus crepitans, Buteo vulgaris, Larus ridibundus, and the others 

 shown in the plates. They are all fine pieces of work apparently, and 

 are especially to be admired for their peculiar lifelike fidelity to the 

 originals. 



