ALCOHOLIC SPECIMENS. 97 
it; and a gentle heat is maintained over a stove. The vapor 
penetrates every part of the skin, and completely relaxes it, 
without actually wetting the feathers. The time required varies 
oreatly of course; observation is the best guide. The chief 
precaution is not to let the thing get too hot. Professor Baird 
has remarked that crumpled or bent feathers may have much of 
their original elasticity restored by dipping in hot water. Im- 
mersion for a few seconds suffices, when the feathers will be ob- 
served to straighten out. Shaking off superfluous water; they 
may be simply left to dry or they may be dried with plaster. 
The method is chiefly applicable to the large feathers of the 
wings and tail. Soiled plumage of dried skins may be treated 
exactly as in the case of fresh skins. 
§50. Mummrrication. As before mentioned, decay may be 
arrested by injections of carbolic acid and other antiseptics ; 
if the tissues be sufficiently permeated with these substances, 
the body will keep indefinitely ; it dries and hardens, becoming, 
in short, a ‘“‘mummy.” Injection should be done by the mouth 
and yent, be thorough, and be repeated several times as the 
fluid dries in. It is an improvement on this to disembowel, 
and fill the belly with saturated tow or cotton. Due care 
should be taken not to soil the feathers in any case, nor should 
the carbolic solution come in contact with the hands, for it is a 
powerful irritant poison. I mention the process chiefly to con- 
demn it as an atrocious one; I cannot imagine what circum- 
stances would recommend it, while only an extreme emergency 
could justify it. It is further objectionable because it appears 
to lend a dingy hue to some plumages, and to dull most of 
them perceptibly. Birds prepared—rather unprepared —in 
this way, may be relaxed by the method just described, and 
then skinned ; but the operation is rather difficult. 
§51. Wer preparations. By this term is technically under- 
stood an object immersed in some preservative fluid. It is 
highly desirable to obtain more information of birds than their 
stuffed skins can ever furnish, and their structure cannot be 
MANUAL, 7 
