TAXIDERMY. 499 



There are some eggs, notably those of the kingfisher, which 

 alter their colour when empty. The kingfisher's egg, when 

 fresh, is almost translucent, and a beautiful rosy white, but 

 when blown, it becomes as opaque and as dead white as the egg 

 of a fowl. I hit upon a plan of restoring the colour which 

 answered admirably, and is very easy. Mix carmine powder 

 with melted white wax, and make it much darker than the 

 required hue, as the shell absorbs much of the colour. 



Empty and poison the eggs as before, and get the wax to 

 boiling point. Heat the egg and glass tube as much as they 

 will bear, draw a few drops of the wax into the tubej blow it 

 into the egg, and keep turning the egg over and over in front ' 

 of a fire until every part of it is equally coloured. Remove it 

 from the fire and continue to turn it until it is cold, and the 

 colour will then be so perfectly restored that if it be placed 

 among a number of fresh eggs, the keenest eye will not be able 

 to distinguish it. If the egg be laid down before it is cold, 

 the wax will run downwards and make the colour streaky 

 instead of regular. 



Here is Waterton's account of the improvements which he 

 made in taxidermy after he published the Wanderings. 



" Those who preserve quadrupeds for cabinets of natural 

 history seem not to be aware that, after the skin of the 

 animal has been taken off, there is a necessity for some parts 

 of it to be pared down from within. These parts are chiefly 

 the nose, the lips, and the soles of the feet. Unless they be 

 rendered thin by the operation of the knife, there will be no 

 possibility of restoring to them that natural appearance which 

 they were seen to possess in life. The inner skin of the ears, 

 too, must be separated from the outer one, until you come 

 close to the extreme edge. Nothing short of this operation 

 can save the ear from becoming a deformity. 



"Every bone in the skin, to the last joint of the toe, next 

 the claw, must be taken out, in order to allow the operator 

 an opportunity of restoring the skin to its former just 

 proportion. ' 



K K 2 



