INTRODUCTION— ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 9 



to the habits of all animals in nature; the geographical ranges of faunse; 

 breeding habits ; the peculiar habits indulged in by various kinds of 

 animals ; their natural resorts during times of feeding, amusement, or 

 conducting their young. Plants of all kinds should with scrupulous 

 care be studied from the taxidermist's standpoint, as well as the localities 

 where they grow, nature of surfaces of the ground, and all else presented 

 on the part of field, ocean, stream, and forest. Nothing should escape 

 his constant study of such matters, and, above all else, he should 

 cultivate the faculty of patience. An impatient man, it may be safely 

 said, can never attain to the highest position the art has in its power of 

 giving him. 



In comparative morphology, as I have said, he should devote a 

 great deal of time to the skeleton and to topographical anatomy. The 

 study of the skeleton is of the very highest importance, as without a 

 knowledge of it there is no hope at all of a man being a perfect 

 taxidermist in all its varied departments. Normal movements of the 

 articulations and the ligaments that control them should reteive most 

 careful consideration, and no opportunity lost to study such matters 

 scientifically upon all kinds of animal cadavers. Special drawings made 

 by the taxidermist should record special points observed and worked 

 out — the possibilities in normal movements and postures as exhibited 

 by the osseous system. In its entirety, however, this cannot be fully 

 appreciated without a full knowledge of the muscular system, for there 

 are possible movements that the skeleton, wfien cleaned and dried, is 

 capable of making, which, in life, become impossible from the operation 

 of muscles and tendons. So myology must be systematically studied 

 pari passu with the subject of skeletology, and with the aim constantly 

 in view of acquiring a clear insight into the normal postures of animals. 



This leads to the consideration of the question of correct form, and 

 to acquire that requires prolonged research and study upon the entire 

 subject of topographical anatomy. Muscles extended; muscles con- 

 tracted ; muscles at rest ; contours formed by the normal deposit of 

 adipose tissue, contours formed by parts of the skeleton that are merely 

 subcutaneous ; contours formed by the presence of glands of all kinds, 

 of sesamoidal bones, cartilages, and every other structure that may in 

 any way affect the normal contour of an animal. To this must be 

 added the careful study of all external characters proper, as the hair 



