MATERIALS FOB PBEFAEINa BIRDSKINS. 27 



but at a pinch you can make temporary shift with the following, among other articles : — table 

 salt, or saltpetre, or charcoal strewn plentifully; strong solution of corrosive sublimate, bruslied 

 liver the skin inside ; creosote; impure carbolic acid; these last two are ipiite efficacious, but 

 tliey smell horribly for an indefinite period. A bird threatening to decompose before you can 

 get at it to skin, may be saved for a wliilo by squirting weak carbolic acid or creoS(_ite down the 

 throat and up the fundament ; or by disembowelling, and filling the cavity with powdered 

 charcoal, (c.) For cleansing. Gijjisum is an almost indispensable material for cleansing 

 soiled plumage. " Gypsum " is properly native hydrated sulphate of lime ; the article referred 

 to is " plaster of Paris " or gypsum heated up to 200° F. (by which the water of crystalliza- 

 tion is driven ofi') and then finely pulverized. When mixed with water it soon solidifies, the 

 original hydrate being again formed. The mode of using it is indicated beyond. It is ni(jst 

 ccjnveuiently kept in a shallow tray, say a foot square, and an inch or two deep, which had 

 better, furthermore, slide under the table as a drawer ; or form a compartment of a larger 

 drawer. Keep gypsum and arsenic in different-looking receptacles, not so much to keep from 

 pcjisouiug yourself, as to keep from not poisoning a birdskin. They look much alike, and 

 skinning becomes such a meclianical process that you may get hold of the wrong article when 

 your thoughts are wandering in the woods. Gypsum, like arsenic, has no worthy rival in its 

 own field ; some substitutes, in the order of their applicability, are : — corn-meal, probably the 

 best thing after gypsum ; calcined magnesia (very good, but too light — it floats in the air, 

 and makes you cough) ; bicarbonate of magnesia; powdered chalk ("prepared chalk," creto 

 praparata of the drug shops, is tlie best kind) ; fine wood-ashes; clean dry loam. No article, 

 however powdery wlien dry, that contains a glutinous principle, as for instance gum-arabic or 

 flour, is admissible. (<?.) For lorcipping, you want a thin, pliable, strong paper ; water-closet 

 paper is the very best; newspaper is pretty good. For making the cones or cylinders in 

 which birdskins may be set to dry, a stilfer article is required ; writing paper answers perfectly. 



Naturalists habitually carry a Pocket Lens, much as other people do a watch. You 

 will find a magnifying glass very convenient in your search for the sexual organs of small 

 birds when obscure, as they frequently are, out of the breeding season; in picking lice from 

 plumage, to send to your entomological friend, who will very likely prcjnounce them to be of a 

 " new species ; " and for other purposes. 



Fixtures. When travelling, your fixtures must ordinarily be limited to a collecting- 

 chest ; you will have to skin birds on the top of this, on the tail-board of a wagon, or on y<iur 

 lap, as the case may be. The chest should bo very substantial — iron-bound is best ; strong 

 as to hinges and lock — and have handles. A good size is 30 x IS x IS inches. Let it be 

 fitted with a set of trays ; the bottom one say four inches deep ; the rest shallower ; the top 

 one very shallow, and divided into compartments for your tools and n)aterials, unless you fix 

 those on the under side of the lid. Start out with all the trays full of cotton or tow. At 

 home, have a mom to yourself, if possible ; taxidermy makes a mess to which your wife may 

 object, and arsenic must not come in the way of childien. At any rate have your own table. 

 I prefer plain deal that may be scrubbed when required ; great cleanliness is indispensable, 

 especially when doing much work in hot weather, for the place soon smells sour if neglected. 

 I use no special receptacle for offal, for this only makes another article t(.i be cleaned ; lay 

 down a piece of paper for the refuse, and throw the whole away. A perfectly smooth surface 

 is desirable. I generally have a large pane of window-glass on the table before me. It mil 

 really be found advantageous to have a scale of inches scratched on the edge of the tal)le ; only 

 a small part of it need be fractionally subdivided ; this replaces the foot-rule and tape-line, 

 just as the tacks of a dry-goods counter answer for the yardstick. You will find it worth while 

 to rig some sort of a derrick arrangement, which you can readily devise, on (jne end of the 



