APPENDIX. 



HINTS ON SKINNING. 



Dime con quien andas, decirte he quirn eres : " Tell me thy friends, and I will tell thee thy character," 

 says the old Spanish proverh. Show me your skins, an ornithologist would say, and I will do likewise. 

 And, indeed, though almost anyone can, in some way or other, manage to despoil a hird of its plumage, it 

 requires no common combination of qualities to perform that operation with absolute success. Neatness, 

 manual dexterity, adaptability to circumstances, and, above all, patience, are all essential in becoming a 

 good taxidermist. In comfortable quarters, perhaps, the difficulties are but few, but the naturalist is by no 

 means always certain of obtaining them ; and those alone who have fought against the heat and insect-pests 

 of the tropics, or attacked their subject with fur-gloves on, in a tent with the thermometer far below 

 freezing-point, can have any idea of the indomitable perseverance that is often necessary in the practice 

 of their art. 



In these lines, however, it is not intended to discuss the moral qualities of the taxidermist, but rather 

 to supply him with a few hints which he may advantageously combine with them, and enable him to cope 

 with some of the difficulties to which allusion has just been made. And, first, it is essential to be provided 

 with proper tools. The cases usually sold for skinning purposes are of little use. A student's dissecting- 

 case is the best foundation, and it may be obtained at any surgical-instrument maker's. It should contain 

 half a dozen scalpels of varying sizes and i/ond steel, a pair of forceps, a set of chain-hooks, and a pair of 

 stout scissors. To these should be added two or three common skewers, from six inches to a foot in length, 

 a pair of small tinman's shears, a large and tolerably strong scalpel for rough work, a second pair of 

 forceps, a pair of stout nail-scissors, and various brushes for dressing the skins with arsenical soap. For 

 birds of medium size none are so good as the brushes usually sold with the sixpenny bottles of gum at 

 stationers' shops. Larger specimens, such as Albatrosses, will require house-painters' brushes of small 

 size, while, for the smaller species, camel's-hair brushes should be used. The skinner should provide 

 himself with two or three of each size. Needles of various sizes (some of them may with advantage be the 

 ordinary curved surgical needles), tailors'-thread, tow, wadding, a tin of arsenical soap, and one of plaster 

 of Paris, will complete his outfit; but, in places where he will be unable to obtain the loan of a fine 

 meat-saw, a small surgical saw (such as is used in the amputation of fingers) should also be taken, if it is 

 desired to avoid considerable trouble in the division of the wing-bones of large birds. 



The above will be the necessaries required by the skinner, if his work lies within the limits of 

 civilisation, and bulk is a matter of no consideration. Without the proper appliances he will never be able 

 to produce good work. But in the case of travel in unexplored countries, where every ounce of baggage has 

 to be carefully considered, it is another matter, and experience will be his chief guide. A great deal may 



