HOW TO MAKE A BIUDSKIN. 39 



it in the hollow stump of the bone ; if thei'e is no stump left, tile a piece of stout wire to a 

 p(_)iut and stick it into the heel j(jiut. If tlie forearm bone that yuu usually leave in a small 

 bird is broken, remove it and leave the other iu ; if both are broken, do not clean the win^s 

 so thoroughly that they become detached ; an extra pinch of arsenic will condone the ouiissinn. 

 In a large bird, if both bcjnes of the forearm are br(.iken, splint them \i'ith a bit of wood laid in 

 between, so that one end hitches at the elbow, tlie other at the wrist. A humerus may lie 

 replaced lilie a leg bone, but this is rarely required. If the skull be smashed, save the pieces, 

 and leave them if you can; if not, imitate the arch of the heail with a firm cotton-ball. A 

 broken tarsus is readUy splinted with a pin thrust up thrcjugh the sole of th(> foot : if too large 

 for this, use a pointed yjiece of wire. Tliere is no mending a bill when part of it is shot away ; 

 for I think the replacing of part by putty, stucco, etc., inadmissible; but if it be only fractured, 

 the pieces may usually be retained in place by winding with thread, or with a touch of glue (jr 

 mucilage. It is singular, by the way, what unsighthness results frcjui a very triHiug injury to 

 the bill; nnich, I sujipose, as a boil on a person's nose is peculiarly deplorable. I have already 

 hinted how artfidly various weak ]ilaces in a skin, due to mutilation or loss of plumage, may be 

 hidden. 



Decomposition It might seem unnecessary to speak of what may be smelled out so 



readily as animal putrescence; but there are some useful points to he learned in this connection, 

 besides the important sanitary precautions that are to be deduced. Immediately after death 

 the various fluids of the body begin to " settle" (sii to speak), and sh<jrtly after the muscular 

 system as a rule becomes fixed in what is technically called rigor -mortis. This stifiening 

 usually occurs as the animal heat dies away ; but its onset, and especially its duration, is very 

 variable, according to circumstances, such as cause of death ; although iu most cases of sudden 

 violent death of an animal in previous good health, it seeuis to depend chiefly upon tempera- 

 ture, being transient and imperfect, or altogether wanting, in hot weatlier. As it passes off, 

 the whtde system relaxes, and the body soon becomes as " limp " as at the UKJUient of death. 

 This is the period immediately preceding decomposition ; in fact, it may be considered as the 

 stage of incipient putridity ; it is very brief iu warm weather, and it should be seized as the 

 last opportunity of preparing a bird without iucouvenieuce and even danger. If not skinned 

 at once, putrescence becomes establiahed; it is indicated by the effluviinn (at the outset "sour," 

 but rapidly acquiring a variety of disgusting odors) ; by the distension of the abdomen with 

 gaseous products of decomposition ; by the loosening of the cuticle, and consequently of the 

 feathers ; and by other signs. If you part the feathers of a bad-smelling bird's belly to find 

 the skin swfdlen and livid or greenish, while the feathers come off at a touch, the bird is too 

 far gone to be recovered without trouble and risk that no ordinary sjiecimen warrants. It is 

 a singular fact that this early putrescence is more poisonous than utter rottenness; as physicians 

 are aware, a post-mortem examination at this stage, cjr even before it, involves more risk 

 than their ordinary dissecting-room experience. It seems that both natural and pathological 

 poisons lose their early virulence by resolution into other products of decay. The obvious 

 <leduction from all this is to skin your birds soon euough. Some say they are best skinned 

 perfectly fresh, but I see no reason for this ; when I have time to choose, I take the period of 

 rigidity as being preferable on tlie whcde ; for the fluids have then " settled," and the limbs are 

 readily relaxed by manipulation. If you have a large bag to dispose of, and are pressed for 

 time, set them in the coolest ]dace you can find, preferably on ice; a slight lowering of temper- 

 ature may make a decided difference. Disembowelling, which nuiy Vie accomplished in a 

 moment, will materially retard decomposili(ai. Injections of creosote or dilute carbolic acid 

 wUl arrest decay for a time, for au indefinitely kmg period If a large quantity of these anti- 

 septics be employed. When it becomes desirable (it can never be necessary) to skin a putres- 

 cent bird, great care must be exercised not only to accomplish the iiperation, but to avoid 



