2 4 8 



Recent Literature. \jv\v 



It is onlv within recent rears that publishers have felt warranted in 

 giving the taxidermist an opportunity to adequately state his case, and 

 the present work is one ot" the largest and most expensive that has 

 appeared on this subject. The author has a respect for his art born of an 

 evident appreciation of its possibilities. Furthermore his gifts as a writer 

 enable him to present his methods clearly and we opened this sumptuous 

 volume with a hope that it would prove a source of both information and 

 inspiration to the taxidermic artist. But we were grievously disappointed. 

 Mr. Browne claims originality for his methods, and doubtless no one will 

 care to dispute him, but the conservatism which makes him so indepen- 

 dent has prevented him from availing himself of the latest advances in his 

 art. As a result his work is, in many respects, several years behind the 

 times. For instance, the aid rendered the taxidermist by photography 

 he considers "usually a great mistake"; for, he asks, with singular nar- 

 rowness, "Would any taxidermist attempt to reproduce 'Animals in rapid 

 motion' as shown by instantaneous photography?" Nevertheless as 

 specimens of his own work he gives plates of a group of fighting tigers, 

 and a Kestrel in the air, presumably about to strike its prey. 



Arsenic is considered "quite useless " as a preservative and as a substi- 

 tute we are given three formula', the first of which includes chalk, soap 

 chloride of lime and tincture of musk; the second, which is incidentally 

 recommended "as an efficient substitute for snuff," contains tannin, red 

 pepper, camphor, and burnt alum ; while the third consists of alum and 

 saltpetre. Finally, and fortunately, a thorough external dressing with 

 alcohol and bichloride of mercury is insisted upon. 



The chapter on collecting mammals and birds is doubtless addressed to 

 the sportsman for not one word do we find on the modern methods of 

 trapping which have practically revolutionized the study of mammals, 

 while instead of the convenient and effective auxilliary barrels now used 

 bv all our collectors, we are told to secure two rifles and two shot-guns 

 of different calibres. 



Pages 107-160 are devoted to the skinning, casting and mounting of 

 mammals, but the methods here recommended of mounting the skin on 

 a cast made from the dead body, the relaxed muscles of which give any- 

 thing but an accurate reproduction of the animal's form in life, is one that 

 no scientific taxidermist will endorse, while the manner of inserting 

 the tail-wire in the mannikin is, to say the least, primitive. Chapter VI 

 (pp. 166-211) treats of "the skinning and setting-up of birds by various 

 methods." According to our dogmatic author there is but one way of 

 skinning a bird and that is "from under the wing"; to make the opening 

 on the abdomen is denounced as the " practice of some primaeval butcher." 

 No absorbent is used while skinning, but plaster, a substance which should 

 never be put on skins designed for study, is employed as a drier after 

 washing. Collectors who, when in the field, are accustomed to shoot and 

 make up from twenty to thirty birds daily, will be interested in Mr. 

 Browne's method of making: ' skins.' Each 'skin' should have the skull 



