200 HINTS ON TAXIDERMY. 
tude is when a bird is about to take flight. In this position 
the body should incline forward, and the wings be slightly 
raised ; this can be aecomplished by means of external wires 
placed beneath them, which are allowed to remain until the 
bird is dry. The moment of alarm is a striking position. 
To express this, the one foot must be stretched forward aud 
the other drawn up near the body, and considerably bent. 
The body must be thrown to one side, with the wing on that 
side much elevated and spread out, while the other is placed 
lower and less diffuse; the tail must be expanded, thrown 
down at the point, and much arched; the neck should be 
stretched upward, and the head inclined towards the foot, 
which is drawn up; the eyelid should also be well rounded. 
The eagle can be placed in the position of seizing its prey, 
with wings and tail expanded, head thrown backward and 
crest erect, gazing upward. The vulture should have droop- 
ing wings to portray its sluggish habits. Such descriptions 
are endless, and indeed needless to a student of nature in 
its various details. 
Remarks upon preparing, relaxing, and mounting dried 
skins. —The bird should be skinned in the ordinary manner, 
leaving all the bones of wings in their places, and the skin 
thoroughly anointed with arsenical soap. The neck should. 
then be stuffed with chopped tow or cotton to its natural 
dimensions. The upper points of the humeri should be 
tied together at a distance from each other equal to that of 
the same when fixed in their sockets, otherwise the distance 
between the shoulder joints. The skin should next be filled 
with cotton or tow, and the incision sewed up, the legs 
turned inwards, crossed, and tied in this position, with à — 
label attached containing descriptions. 1 
One of the most efficacious methods of relaxing dried 
_ skins, is that employed by the ingenious Mr. Bullock. A 


box is made of convenient size, the top of which is free to 
lift on and off, without hinges or fastenings. The sides, toP 
bottom within are lined with a coating of plaster of 

