40 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY PART i 



liable, as some suppose, to be breathed, to any perceptible, mucli 

 less injurious, extent. It will not at once enter the pores of healthy- 

 unbroken skin ; so it is no matter if it gets on the fingers. The 

 exceedingly minute quantity that may be supposed to find its way 

 into the system in the course of time is believed by many competent 

 physicians to be rather beneficial as a tonic. I will not commit 

 myself to this ; for, though I have never felt better than when 

 working daily with arsenic, I do not know how much my health 

 was improved by the outdoor exercise always taken at the same 

 time. The simple precautions are, not to let it lie too long in con- 

 tact with the skin, nor get into an abrasion, nor under the nails. 

 It will convert a scratch or cut into a festering sore of some little 

 severity ; while if lodged under the nails it soon shows itself by 

 soreness, increased by pressure ; a white speck appears, then a tiny 

 abscess forms, discharges, and gets well in a few days. Your pre- 

 cautions really respect other persons more than yourself; the 

 receptacle should be conspicuously labelled " POISON ! " Arsenic 

 is a good friend ; besides preserving our birds, it keeps busybodies 

 and meddlesome folks away from the scene of operations, by raising 

 a wholesome suspicion of the taxidermist's surroundings. It may 

 be kept in the tin pots in which it is usually sold ; but some shallower, 

 broader receptacle is more convenient. A little drawer say 6x6 

 inches, and an inch deep, to slip under the edge of the table, or a 

 similar compartment in a large drawer, will be found handy. A 

 salt-spoon, or little wooden shovel whittled like one, is nice to use it 

 with, though it is in fact generally taken up with the handle of the 

 scalpel. As stated, there is no substitute for arsenic ; but at a pinch 

 you can make temporary shift with the following, among other 

 articles : table salt, or saltpetre, or charcoal strewn plentifully ; 

 strong solution of corrosive sublimate, brushed over the skin inside ; 

 creosote ; impure carbolic acid — these last two are quite efficacious, 

 but they smell horribly for an indefinite period. A bird threatening 

 to decompose before you are ready to skin it, may be saved for a 

 while by injecting weak carbolic acid or creosote down the throat 

 and up the fundament ; or by disembowelling, and fiUing the cavity 

 with powdered charcoal, (c) For cleansing. Gypmm is an almost 

 indispensable material for cleansing soiled plumage. Gypsum is 

 properly native hydrated sulphate of lime ; the article referred to 

 is "plaster of Paris "or gypsum heated up to 260° F. (by which the 

 water of crystallisation is driven off) and then finely pulverised. 



the effect would not have been as bad, although grease and arsenic are generally a 

 Wood-poisoa in some degree ; but when combined with ' soap ' the effect, at least as 

 far as my experience goes, is much more injurious" (Maynahd, Guide, p. 12). In 

 indorsing this, I would add that the combination is the more poisonous, in all prob- 

 ability, simply because the soap, being detersive, mechanically facilitates the entrance 

 of the poison, without, ho*ever, chemically increasing its virulence. 



