TAXIDERMY. 509 



goes "Diabolus ambitiosus," with outspread wings. "Dia- 

 bolus illudens " is guiding him on his path, and " Diabolus 

 caeruleus," with its open mouth and sharp teeth, is bringing 

 up the rear. 



The museum was full of these taxidermal jokes, and not 

 long before his death I procured for him a quantity of the 

 exuviae of the serpents in the Zoological Gardens, so that he 

 might work them into new combinations. Whether he did 

 so I do not know. 



Not least of the excellences of his system was the porta- 

 bility of the objects prepared by it. We know how heavy is 



even a stuffed dog of ordinary size, with all its internal para- 

 phernalia of iron bars, wood, tow, &c. But Waterton's 

 specimens are absolutely empty, the skin depending wholly on 

 itself for support, and being as light and elastic as thin 

 horn. 



Moreover, his plan of cutting the prepared skins to pieces 

 which could be packed within a small compass, reduced their 

 volume as well as weight. They could be taken to pieces 

 and put together again in a few minutes, without showing 

 the least sign of a junction. Such, for example, is the speci- 

 men here given. No one would ever suspect that it was not 

 an unbroken skin, so admirably has it been prepared, and so 

 perfectly are the junctions concealed by the fur. 



Marvellous, however, as were Waterton's achievements in 

 taxidermy, there was one problem which he never succeeded 

 in solving, namely, how to prevent bare skin from turning 



