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Recent Literature. [October 



the skill of tlie latter depend much of our progress in systematic zoology 

 and the very existence of creditable museums of natural history. 



Mr. Hornaday's work is evidently, as he says, 'an affair of the heart.' 

 Mr. Hornaday, as a taxidermist, has ever been an enthusiast of high 

 aims, a leader in the field of what may be termed the 'New Taxidermy.' 

 Evidences of his exceptional skill and talent have long graced our leading 

 museums, notably the National Museum at Washington, where for eight 

 years he was in charge of the Department of Taxidermy. In placing 

 before the public, in the form of a 'manual,' the results of his long expe- 

 rience, both in the field and in the work-shop, he has conferred a boon 

 not alone upon collectors and taxidermists, but upon zoological science 

 in general. No work, it is safe to say, in any sense comparable with this, 

 has ever been wiitten ; and the impulse it must give to intelligent field 

 work and scientific taxidermy is almost beyond estimate. It certainly 

 must fill, as few works ever do, the proverbial 'long-felt want' in this 

 particular field. The book is tersely and vigorously written, and here 

 and there the author displays much cleverness in his wav of 'putting 

 things.' 



The 'Manual' consists of six Parts as follows: 'Part I, Collecting and 

 Preserving.' This contains eleven chapters, treating of the following 

 subjects : (i) 'The Worker, and the Work to be Done'; (2) 'Outfits, and 

 Hints on Hunting'; (3) 'How to Select and Study Fresh Specimens'; (4) 

 'Treatment of the Skins of Small Mammals'; (5) 'Collecting and Pre- 

 serving the Skins of Large Mammals'; (6 and 7) 'Collecting Skins of 

 Birds'; (8) 'Collecting Reptiles'; (9) 'Collecting Fishes'; (10) 'Collect- 

 ing Marine Invertebrates'; (11) 'Collecting Birds' Eggs and Nests.' 



'Part II,' constituting the main body of the work (pp. 99-257), is de- 

 voted to 'Taxidermy,' and treats in detail the technique of the subject in 

 all its branches. 'Part IIP treats of 'Making Casts' of mammals, fishes 

 and reptiles. 'Part IV' is devoted to 'Osteology,' and gives detailed di- 

 rections for collecting, macerating, cleaning and mounting. 



'Part V (pp. 305-338), on 'The Collection and Preservation of Insects,' 

 is by Dr. W.J. Holland, the well-known lepidopterist. 'Part VI, Gen- 

 eral Information,' treats, among other things, of 'Insect Pests, and Poi- 

 soning,' with also a chapter on 'The Best Books of Reference.' 



The illustrations, numbering 23 plates and 104 cuts in the text, render 

 clear many of the obscurer details of the subject, from skinning mammals 

 and birds and making up the skins, to the preparation of a manakin for a 

 bison or tiger, the 'internal structure' of amounted bird, or the preserva- 

 tion of nests and eggs. 



The amount of detailed information here given — much of it never be- 

 fore consigned to print — is seemingly sufficient to help any bright col- 

 lector or amateur taxidermist over most of the many difficulties that lie in 

 his path. Not a little practical and healthful advice is given, /^'i.w'w, on 

 a variety of pertinent topics, from the "postage-stamp style of collecting 

 by boys who have no real love for natural history" (which is severely 

 condemned), to the important subject of labels, measurements of speci- 



