330 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



invisible particles of the sublimate, and flies off. 

 The sublimate will not injure the skin, and noth- 

 ing can detach it from the parts where the alcohol 

 has left it.* 



Furs of animals, immersed in this solution, will 

 retain their pristine brightness and durability in 

 any climate. 



Take the finest curled feather from a lady's 

 head, dip it in the solution, and shake it gently 

 till it be dry; you will find that the spirit will 

 fly oif in a few minutes, not a curl in the feather 

 will be injured, and the sublimate will preserve 

 it from the depredation of the insect. 



Perhaps it may be satisfactory to add here, 

 that, some years ago, I did a bird upon this plan 

 in Demerara. It remained there two years. It 

 was then conveyed to England, where it stayed 

 five months, and returned to Demerara. After 

 being four years more there, it was conveyed back 

 again through the West Indies to England, where 

 it has now been near five years, unfaded and un- 

 changed. 



On reflecting that this bird has been twice in the 

 temperate and torrid zone, and remained some 

 years in the hot and humid climate of Demerara, 

 only six degrees from the line, and where almost 

 everything becomes a prey to the insect, and that 

 it is still as sound and bright as when it was first 

 done, it will not be thought extravagant to surmise 



* All the feathers require to be touched with the solution, in order 

 that they may be preserved from the depredation of the moth. 

 The surest way of proceeding is, to immerse the bird in the solu- 

 tion of corrosive sublimate, and then dry it before you begin to 

 dissect it. 



