GENERAL REMARKS. 85 



air. It took but a sliort time to dry, and, tliongli the feathers 

 were very slightly clotted after the operation, yet, by a little 

 manipulation, explained hereafter, they soon arrived at their 

 pristine freshness, and all the insects which previously infested 

 it were effectually killed. I afterwards found on another speci- 

 men — a short-eared owl — two or three larvae feeding on the 

 feathers. I poured a little benzoline over them m situ, and 

 they fell off, apparently dead. I kept them for a day, and 

 by that time they were shrivelled and undeniably dead. 



Here, then, we have the two elements of success — a perfect 

 destroyer of insects, and an agent not damaging, but positively 

 beneficial, to the feathers of birds when applied ; added to which, 

 is the remarkable cheapness of benzoline. Caution — do not use it 

 near a candle, lamp, nor fire, as it gives off a highly inflammable 

 vapour at a low temperature; it also fills a house with a 

 peculiarly disagreeable odour, finding its way upstairs, as all 

 volatile gases do ; so it had better always be used in the work- 

 shop or outhouse. 



I have just discovered — and feel very "small" that I did 

 not do so before — that benzoline perfectly preserves birds "in 

 the flesh" for a considerable time. I tried it on a razorbill {Alca 

 torda, L.), which I placed in a " preparation " jar, filled with 

 common benzoline at Is. per gallon. The bird was simply cut 

 under the wing to allow the benzoline to penetrate, and was left 

 for three weeks ; at the end of which time it was taken out, 

 cleaned in plaster (as desbribed in Chapter XI.), and made a most 

 excellent taxidermic object ! The advantages of this to the over- 

 worked professional are obvious. 



In very severe cases I have used turpentine (" turps ") with 

 excellent effect; in fact, as a destructive agent for insects, I 

 prefer it to benzoline, having now mastered the hitherto fatal 

 objections to its tise on birds' skins. For the skins of mammals 

 there is nothing to beat it. This will be enlarged on in the 

 chapter on " Relaxing and Cleaning Skins." 



In thiis speaking of benzoline and turpentine as agents in the 

 destruction of insect plagues, I mean, of course, that the speci- 

 mens should be plunged into, or have poured over them either 

 benzoline or turpentine. This seems to have been lost sight of 

 by some former correspondents of mine, one of whom writes — 



