PEEFACE. 



Good books on Taxidermy are not so common that I 

 need hesitate to venture into print with a few directions 

 of my own, written from practice and experience ; and in 

 so doing I may remark that, with careful observance of 

 instructions given, the student can make the art both a 

 profitable and a delightful recreation. 



The mere skinning and stuffing of a specimen is but a 

 small portion of the Taxidermist's real work or pleasure. 

 The hand must be turned to the making of cases, and the 

 eye trained to the blending of colors. Taste must be 

 cultivated and exhibited in modelling and molding, and 

 Nature's beauties should be imitated as closely as pos- 

 sible. Artificial rocks can be made to look as natural as 

 the moss-grown specimens in the woods, and trees can be 

 formed as graceful as those in their native forests. 



With the growing fondness for Taxidermy, many la- 

 dies are endeavoring to master the art, and in the variety 

 of work necessary to perfect it, feminine taste and skill 

 can be brought effectively into play. The collector can 

 learn to mount his own specimens, the schoolboy his 

 game, and in the general household, a buck's head in the 

 dining-room, or a bright oriole in the parlor, presents a 

 pleasing contrast to other ornaments. J. H. B. 



xn 



