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ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 



tides of sublimate contained in the alcohol, there is not 

 a spot exposed to the depredation of insects • for they 

 will never venture to attack any substance which has 

 received corrosive sublimate. 



You are aware that corrosive sublimate is the most 

 fatal poison to insects that is known. It is antipu- 

 trescent — so is alcohol ; and they are both colourless — 

 of course they cannot leave a stain behind them. The 

 spirit penetrates the pores of the skin with wonderful 

 velocity, deposits invisible particles of the sublimate, 

 and flies off. The sublimate will not injure the skin, 

 and nothing can detach it from the parts where the 

 alcohol has left it.* 



Furs of animals, immersed in this solution, will 

 retain their pristine brightness and durability in any 

 climate. 



Take the finest curled feather from a lady's head, 

 dip it in the solution, and shake it gently till it be 

 dry ; you will find that the spirit will fly off in a few 

 minutes, not a curl in the feather will be injured, and 

 the sublimate will preserve it from the depredation of 

 the insect. 



Perhaps it may be satisfactory to add here, that, 

 some years ago, I did a bird upon this plan in Deme- 

 rara. It remained there two years. It was then con- 

 veyed to England, where it stayed five months, and 

 returned to Demerara. After being four years more 

 there, it was conveyed back again through the West 

 Indies to England, where it has now been near five 

 years, unfaded and unchanged. 



* All the feathers require to "be touched with the solution, in order that 

 they may "be preserved from the depredation of the moth. The surest way 

 of proceeding is, to immerse the bird in the solution of corrosive sublimate, 

 and then dry it before you begin to dissect it. 



