ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 



323 



skin has attached itself to the roots of the feathers. You PRESERviNa 



BiRDSr 



may take hold of a smgle one, and from it suspend five ■ 



times the weight of the bird. You may jerk it ; it will 

 still adhere to the skin, and, after repeated trials, often 

 break short. 2dly. As no part of the skin has escaped 

 receiving particles 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 antiputrescent ; 

 so is alcohol ; and they are both colourless, of course 

 they cannot leave a stain behind them. The spirit pene- 

 trates 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 re- 

 tain 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 



* 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. 



2 T 2 



