INTRODUCTION— ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 7 



animals never will attain that degree of perfection which its importance 

 demands. On the other hand, if this art is pursued in the manner 

 here recommended, artists may be produced who will fulfil the objects 

 of their profession with honour to themselves and advantage to their 

 country. Would any person expect to arrive at eminence as a sculptor 

 if he were unacquainted with the established preliminaries of his art, 

 namely, drawing and anatomy? The thing is so self-evident, that I 

 am only surprised it has not long ago been acted upon. Upwards of 

 twelve years have elapsed since I pointed out these facts to the 

 Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, but 

 things continue as they were before that time. 



In the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (vol. 

 xxiii. pp. 89, 90), the present writer briefly sketched the future 

 of taxidermy thus : — 



A new school of taxidermy, with new methods, whose aim is to 

 combine knowledge of anatomy and modelling with taxidermic 

 technique, is now coming to the front, and the next generation will 

 discard all processes of " stuffing " in favour of modelling. . . . This 

 . . . indicates the future of the art, the hope of which lies in the 

 better education of taxidermists as designers, artists, and modellers. 



Commenting on this. Dr. Shufeldt says : '^— 



Not only should they be better instructed in designing, in art, and 

 in modelling, but, what is quite as important, they should be trained 

 especially in the power of correct observation in animal morphology, 

 and in other matters which will be enumerated further along. 



At pages 380-382 the following valuable remarks occur : — 



To be a scientific taxidermist requires, or should require, in the 

 first instance, a very thorough education, quite equal to that given by 

 our best colleges. He should have a complete training in biology, with 

 especial emphasis having been placed upon his studies in comparative 

 morphology, so as to be familiar, as far as possible, with the vertebrate 

 skeleton and topographical anatomy, to include more particularly the 

 study of the superficial muscles of vertebrates. He should have such 



^ Rep. Smithsonian Institution for 1892, pp. 375, 376. 



