262 PEACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



for srniff boxes, inkstands, paper weights, &c. ; rams' or 

 buffaloes' borns as Scotch " mulls " or as flower stands. Some- 

 times tbe wbole bead of a ram or buffalo is mounted, the boms 

 polisbed, sawn in two, binged and mounted in silver, and set 

 witb Scotch stones. Deers' heads are mounted as gas chandeliers ; 

 foxes' heads as gas brackets or as supports for Duplex lamps ; 

 monkeys, bears, ibises, owls, eagles, &c., as " dumb-waiters " or 

 lamp bearers. These are a few of tbe uses to which mammals 

 and birds can be put. 



Emu's eggs form also handsome goblets when sawn through 

 and mounted in silver, or when mounted as vases for the 

 chimney-piece, or formed into an inkstand group. 



Foxes' pads mount up as whip handles, bell pulls, and paper 

 knives, as also do the feet of the various deer. The only satis- 

 factory way, however, to prepare these is to slit them carefully 

 up the hade, and pull the skin away from the bone all around, 

 leaving the skin attached to the lowest point you can skin to. 

 Clean out all the flesh and sinews, and dress the skin with 

 the ISTo. 9, and the bone with No. 15, preservatives. Stuff witb 

 a little chopped tow where needed, and sew up neatly, sewing 

 also the skin at top over the end of the bone ; if done neatly, 

 the stitches will never show. Use waxed hemp, and pull each 

 stitch tight. 



Game birds stuffed as " dead game " and hung in oval medal- 

 lions form suitable ornaments for the billiard-room or hall if 

 treated in an sesthetic manner, Not, however, in the manner 

 I lately saw perpetrated by a leading London taxidermist — a 

 game bird banging in a prominent position, as if dead, from a. 

 nail, enclosed in an elaborate mount, the bird so beautifully 

 sleek and smooth that, although it was hanging head downwards,. 

 not a feather was out of place ! All was plastered down, and 

 gravity and nature were utterly set at defiance. A little con- 

 sideration, and a visit to the nearest poulterer's shop, would have 

 prevented such a palpable error. 



Kittens or puppies of a few days old, if nicely marked, can be 

 stuffed and mounted on a piece of marble for paper weights, or 

 on red cloth for penwipers. 



The shells of small tortoises make tobacco pouches if lined 

 with silk, as do also the skins of the feet of albatrosses (the 



