68 PEACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



poison theory to the winds: The real secret o£ success is to 

 case your specimens up as soon as practicable, or to keep 

 them always in full light, not poking them away in obscure 

 corners, which the Tineidoe and other pests love — ^hating light 

 as the Father of Evil is said to hate holy water. 

 My Preservative formula is as follows : 



No. 4. — Browne's {Non-poisonous) Preservative Soap, 



Whiting or chalk, 2|lb. I Chloride of lime, 2oz. 



Soft soap, lib. j Tincture of musk, loz. 



Boil together the whiting and the soap with about a pint of 

 water; then stir in the chloride of lime (previously finely 

 l^ounded) while the mixture is hot; if this point is not attended 

 to, the mixture will not work smoothly ; when nearly cool, stir 

 in the tincture of musk. This will about fill a 61b. Australian 

 meat tin. Caution : It is not necessary to hold the mouth over 

 the mixture while hot, as chlorine is then rapidly evolved. This 

 mixture has stood the test of work and time, and I therefore 

 confidently bring it to the notice of the public as completely 

 superseding the arsenical paste or soap for small mammals, 

 and all birds ; indeed, numbers of persons, totally unknown to- 

 me, have written to me about its advantages. 



One says : " I have followed the bird-stuffing now for several 

 years in connection with another trade, but I have never seen 

 anything to touch it before. I have quite given up arsenic, and 

 can get on fine without it, and only wish that I had known the- 

 grand secret before." 



Another : " Your recipe for preservative unction (non- 

 poisonous) is simply invaluable to taxidermists. I have been 

 trying for a long time to make a non-poisonous unction, but. 

 never fairly succeeded ; always had a doubt as to their efficacy,, 

 prejudice had something to do with it." 



A third says : " I have tried your recipe, and am well 

 satisfied of its qualities for preserving skins, having tried 

 Swainson's, and Becoeur's, and yours, and after a twelvemonth 

 have relaxed the skins, and give my favour to yours as a. 

 toughener of the skin." 



None of the above correspondents are known to me, and their 

 opinion was sent unasked. Those people I do know who are 



