PREPARATION OF SPECIMENS FOR STUDY. 21 



§ 2. Preparation of Specimens for Study. 



In preparing specimens for scientific purposes, it is 

 not worth while to make a collection of mounted birds, 

 however desirable such may be for ornamental pur- 

 poses. In the first place, it takes too much time, which 

 may more profitably be devoted to field-work, and the 

 study of its results. Next, mounted birds take up too 

 much room, and require special contrivances, such as 

 glass cases, for their proper preservation and exhibi- 

 tion. Finally, and especially, mounted birds are not 

 so easily handled and examined as skins, and are 

 therefore less readily available for study. Mounting 

 birds, therefore, for other than ornamental purposes, 

 or to gratify an aesthetic taste, is not to be recommend- 

 ed, unless one wishes to establish a regular museum. 

 The ends of science are much more readily secured, 

 in all ordinary cases, by making a collection of skins, 

 to be preserved in the drawers of a cabinet. Such a 

 receptacle, somewhat resembling a bureau, proves very 

 convenient, both for the storage and the transportation 

 of specimens. The drawers should fit tightly, to ex- 

 clude dust and bugs ; and the case may also be pro- 

 vided with folding-doors, if desired, as an additional 

 safeguard. Camphor, insect-powder, or some other 

 approved insecticide, should be freely used. The di- 

 mensions of a convenient cabinet may be about four 

 feet in height, three feet in width, and two feet deep, 

 having drawers of graded depths, from the deepest at 

 the bottom to the shallowest at the top. The deeper 

 drawers may be fitted with movable trays. In filling 

 such a cabinet, specimens should be assorted somewhat 



