OF THE UNITED STATES 449 



merit is through the north doorway, then the guard-room vesti- 

 bule, north hallway, aud under the sixth arch, counting on the 

 right-hand side of the picture from east to west. The south door- 

 way of the building is but rarely used, and not by the public 

 within the writer's recollection. 



One of the chief charms about this old Smithsonian hall, to 

 me, is to reflect upon its history; to think of the many distin- 

 guished ornithologists and scientists who from time to time have 

 trod upon its floors; to dwell upon the probable history of the 

 many specimens of the birds in the cases (who collected them. 

 and where, and under what circumstances); and finally, to ponder 

 upon what its future fate may be. It is over twenty years ago 

 since I first put foot in this old time-honored hall, and for twenty 

 years, off and on, I have passed through it pretty constantly. A 

 few dozen of the mounted birds in the cases are of my own col- 

 lecting, and I know of other bits of history pertaining to its 

 somber alcoves that would make very interesting reading, but 

 we will defer that to some other time, and likely, too, to some 

 other place. 



I shall conclude the present chapter with a few general re- 

 marks upon the taxidermy of certain mammals, birds, and fish. 

 A few years ago the United States National Museum published 

 for me, with nearly one hundred full-page plates, my work upon 

 " Scientific Taxidermy for Museums," and in that memoir the 

 systems of taxidermy employed in this country were quite fully 

 discussed, so in the present place, as a means of comparison, I 

 will direct my attention to the work in Eurox>e, exemplifying the 

 better class of it by what has recently been accomplished in the 

 Leyden Museum, of Leyden, Holland. I am the better prepared 

 to do this inasmuch as Mr. H. H. ter Meer, Jr., the taxidermist 

 of that institution, has kindly sent me many photographs of the 

 pieces he has mounted, as well as some of those done by his 

 father, Mr. H. H. ter Meer, Sr., who shares his labors with him. 

 Several of these photographs will be reproduced here, with brief 

 criticism upon them, and also a little of the natural history of the 

 animals themselves, which is quite entertaining. After the skin 

 has been removed and prepared, Mr. ter Meer makes a model of 

 the external form of the larger specimens out of a composition 

 known fully only to himself. Peat enters very largely into this 

 material, and it is of such a consistency that all the muscles and 

 external parts can be exactly copied, while at the same time a 



