»8 PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



Perhaps tlie tyro may remark, " But in a preserved and stuffed 

 skin there ought to be no fat to ooze out." Quite true, there 

 ought not to be, but as skins are usually dressed with arsenical 

 soap, the fat, instead of being dried up, is beautifully conserved, 

 ready to run out at the slightest provocation, or be drawn out 

 by the capillary attraction of the threads used in sewing up — 

 another hard knock for arsenical pastes ! 



Writing about pastes reminds me that no taxidermist should 

 be without a pot of flour paste, which is far better and more 

 cleanly than gum or glue for sticking in loose feathers, &c. 

 For a small quantity, sufficient to fill a jam-pot, take — 



No. SI.— Flour Paste. 



Good wheat flour, 2oz. | Essence of cloves, ^ a teaspoonful. 



Water, | pint. 



Mix the flour with part of the water in a basin, being careful 

 to crush out all the lumps, and work it up smoothly to the con- 

 sistence of thick cream ; add the remainder of the water, and 

 boil for a few minutes in a saucepan. Turn out into a jam-pot, 

 and when nearly cold stir in the essence of cloves ; this latter 

 gives an agreeable odour to the paste, is not poisonous, and pre- 

 serves the paste indefinitely from turning mouldy. A few drops 

 of carbolic acid may be used instead of the cloves ; but in this 

 case the pot must be labelled " Poison." 



Strong gum water may be made from gum, arabic, into which 

 a little powdered white sugar is stirred. Essence of cloves 

 prevents mould in this also, unless there be an excess of water. 



A fine paste, useful for paper or photographic work, is made 

 from rice-flour. 



" Dextrine," in powder, is cheap and strong, easily soluble in 

 cold water, but as a paste shows up on feathers, &c., much more 

 than wheat-flour paste. 



Cement, for imiting broken bones or fossils, or to fix shells, 

 &.C., on tablets, is, says the late Frank Buckland, made thus : 



No. S2.— White Cement. 



Beeswax, 1 part. I Powdered plaster of Paris 



Eesin, 4 parts. | (best fine), 5 parts. 



Warm the edges (when possible) and use the cement warm. 

 I would advise the plaster being stirred into the other two 



