ON STUFFING BIRDS. 37 
have already said, will be easily comprehended by a reference 
to plate III., fig. 3, where we have given a figure of his mode. 
After the skin is taken off and prepared, different sized, nealed, 
iron-wires are procured according to the size of the bird they are 
to support. The skin is laid on its back without stretching it ; 
cut two pieces of wire, the one rather longer than the bird, and 
the other shorter, so as not to reach to the head of the bird ; 
twist them together, sharpen the ends of the longer by means 
of a file, and pass one end through the rump, and the other 
through the crown of the head, near the base of the bill. 
Care must be taken not to extend the neck beyond its ordinary 
length,—a very commen fault in most preservers. Lay a little 
tow along the back of the skin for the wire to rest on, then 
take two other pieces of strong wire and file them to a point 
at one end; these are passed through the soles of the feet and 
up the centre of the leg-bone, or tarsus. When within the 
body, they are to be fastened to the first wires by twisting 
them together, which, when accomplished, may be supposed 
to represent the back bone. The wire should be left two or 
three inches out of the soles of the feet, to fasten them in a 
standing position, as before directed. Two smaller wires are 
then passed through the wings, as in the legs, and afterwards 
fastened to the back-wires a little higher up than the leg- 
wires, taking care that no part of the skin is extended beyond 
its natural position. 
MR BECCGEUR’S METHOD OF STUFFING BIRDS. 
Becceur, the best apothecary in Metz of his day, the in- 
ventor of that truly useful preservative the Arsenical soap, had 
a method of mounting birds peculiar to himself, which he 
successfully practised. He stuffed recent specimens in very 
high perfection. And in support of the fact that they were 
well preserved, many specimens preserved by his own hand, 
still enrich the cabinets ef France, and these were set up 
sixty-five years ago. 
A little attention and practice will enable any one to follow 
his method. He skinned his bird in the ordinary manner. He 
extracted the body by this opening, without cutting any of the 
extremities. The muscular parts were then extracted by a scal- 
