INTRODUCTION— ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 17 



unqualified praise to such very unnatural and unskilled 

 work as that shown on Plates XXXIX., XLVI., L., LVI., 

 LVII., LVIIL, LXL, LXII., LXV, LXXIII., XC. (Figs, i 

 and 2), and many others — all of which, excepting XLV., 

 LXIV., LXVIII., LXXVIII., and LXXIX., fall very far 

 short of even an average standard,— there seems but little 

 hope of improvement in birds at least. Some of their larger 

 mammals, however, are better, and some, such as those shown 

 on Plates LIV., LV., LXXX., LXXXIL, LXXXIIL, and 

 LXXXV., approach perfection. Their most regrettable failure 

 may be due to the fact that, as amongst ourselves, there are 

 but few really artistic and learned men who have taken up 

 taxidermy, and that the great institutions, owing to their 

 policy, do not avail themselves of the best and latest knowledge, 

 but rely in many cases upon unskilled workmen. 



On the other hand, in models of fishes and reptiles, and of 

 invertebrates especially, the Americans appear to have achieved 

 great success, and in this and in their modelled foliage — the 

 latter executed by English artists, however — they can easily 

 surpass the British Museum. 



Probably the future and hope of taxidermy will be the 

 welding of the educated artist, designer, modeller, sculptor, 

 biologist, and naturalist ; and the two last are by no means 

 synonymous terms, as some might suppose. When this 

 happens — and there is no reason why all these attributes 

 should not be combined in one individual — taxidermy will 

 become an exact science relieved, as painting is at present, by 

 poetic inspirations. 



At one time there was a hope that, by a fusion of interests 

 amongst professional taxidermists, better methods of work might 

 be evolved, which would benefit not only themselves but also 

 the public at large. Accordingly, some of the leading men of 

 America formed a national society at Rochester, N.Y., on 12th 



