
CHAPTER V. 
INSTRUMENTS, MATERIALS AND FIXTURES FOR PREPARING 
BIRDSKINS. 
§31. Instruments. The only indispensable instrument is a _ 
pair of scissors or a knife; although practically you want both 
of these, a pair of spring forceps and a knitting-needle, or some <a 
similar wooden or ivory object, yet I have made hundreds of i “ 
birdskins consecutively without touching another tool. Odi, ing 
: puer, Persicos apparatus! I always mistrust the emphasis of. <4 
a collector*-who makes a flourish of instruments. You might a. 
be surprised to see what a meagre, shabby-looking kit our best 
taxidermists work with. Stick to your scissors, knife, forceps a 
and needle. But you may as well buy, at the outset, a com- mo 
. mon dissecting case, just what medical students begin business a ‘ 
with; it is very cheap, and if there are some unnecessary things ; 
in it, it makes a nice little box in which to keep your tools. eit 
The case contains, among other things, several scalpels, just — om 
b] 
the knives you want; a ‘‘ cartilage-knife,” which is nothing ’ 
but a stout scalpel, suitable for large birds; the best kind of 
scissors for your purpose, with short blades and long handles . 
— if “kneed” at the hinge so much the better; spring forceps, ; 
the very thing; a blow-pipe, useful in many ways and an- . 
swers well for a knitting-needle; and some little steel-hooks, 4 
chained together, which you may want to use. But you will 
also require, for large birds, a very heavy pair of scissors, or 
small shears, short-bladed and long-handled, and a stout pair of 
bone-nippers. Have some pins and needles; surgical needles, — 
which cut instead of punching, are the best. Get a hone or 
strop, if you wish, and a feather duster. Use of scissors re- 
quires no comment; and I would urge their habitual employ a 
instead of the knife-blade ; I do nine-tenths of my cutting with ¢} j 
scissors And find it much the easiest. -A double-lever is twice 
as effective as a single one, and besides, you gain in cutting 
+ soft, yielding substances by opposing two blades. Moreover, 
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