WORKING TABLE. Nf} 
ceptacle for offal, for this only makes another article to be 
cleaned ; lay down a piece of paper for the refuse, and throw 
the whole away. A perfectly smooth surface is desirable. I 
generally have a large pane of window glass on the table be- 
fore me. It will really be found advantageous to have a scale 
of inches scratched on the edge of the table; only a small part 
of it need be fractionally subdivided ; this replaces the foot- 
rule and tape-line, just as the tacks of a dry goods counter 
answer for the yardstick. You will find it worth while to rig 
some sort of a derrick arrangement, which you can readily 
devise, on’one end of the table, to hitch your hook to, if you 
hang your birds up to skin them; they should swing clear of 
everything. The table should have a large general drawer, 
with the little drawer for gypsum and arsenic already men- 
tioned, unless these be kept elsewhere. Stuffing may be kept 
in a box under the table, and make a nice footstool; or ina 
bag slung to the table leg. 
§35. Query: Have you cleansed the bird’s plumage? Have 
you plugged the mouth, nostrils and vent? Have you meas- 
ured the specimen and noted the color of the eyes, bill and 
feet, and prepared the labels, and made the entry in the regis- 
ter? Have you got all your apparatus within arm’s length? 
Then we are ready to proceed. 
