60 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



parts with a solution of bleached shelac dissolved 

 in alcohol. By far the best way to insure absolute 

 safety is to shut up the skins in insect-proof 

 cabinets. Various methods have been tried to 

 prevent the ingress of moths, etc., in cabinets, 

 but the best and simplest is to have a door 

 fitted to the outside of the drawers of an other- 

 wise perfectly jointed cabinet. This door is 

 provided with a bead which surrounds the out- 

 side and fits in a groove on the margin of the 

 woodwork outside the draws, while the whole door 

 fits in a groove which extends quite across the 

 bottom. Another method which we practise on 

 our latest-made cabinets is to have each drawer 

 moth-proof, by having a margin made all around it 

 which fits into a groove, then all the drawers are 

 covered by closing a flange on the sides. 



Section VIII. : Measuring Specimens. — Speci- 

 mens of all rare birds should be measured. With 

 the beginner, it is best to measure every specimen. 

 I measured some fifteen thousand birds before I 

 made a single skin without so doing, and now I am 

 careful to take the dimensions of all rare speci- 

 mens. The dimensions of a bird are taken as 

 follows, using dividers and a rule marked in hun- 

 dredths of the inch : First measure the extreme 



