8 TAXIDERMY. 



facts, on the manners and incubation of birds. He 

 presented his manuscripts and drawings to the In- 

 stitute, in 1817, and all naturalists must await the 

 publication with impatience. 



Mauduyt has given a memoir on the manner of 

 preparing dead birds for forming collections. (See 

 la 5eme Livraison de 1' Encyclopedic Methodique, 

 Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, t. i. deuxieme 

 partie, p> 435.) By studying his method we may, 

 with perseverance, be able to mount birds well, al- 

 though he had never prepared them himself ; for 

 he has composed his memoir from the notes which 

 Lerot furnished him, who mounted them very well, 

 and who merited the confidence which Mauduyt 

 had accorded him, in all the preparations which 

 his fine collection required. 



Mauduyt, however, did not point out any means 

 of preservation. Sulphurous fumigations appeared 

 to him the ne plus ultra for killing destructive in- 

 sects. Sulphur does still more, it destroys the 

 skins themselves. Notwithstanding this havoc, 

 Mauduyt made Daubenton adopt the use of sul- 

 phur for the collection in the Museum of Natural 

 History. At my entrance into the establishment, 

 I, with great difficulty, obtained the suppression of 

 it, but it was too late. About 3500 birds orna- 

 ment the gallery of the Museum, and there are not 

 more than ten of this number from the old collection ; 

 their upper parts were burned; the sulphurous 



