HEADS AND HORNS 



197 



article of furniture appropriate for the hall, while 

 avoiding the hazard of a cracked scalp with its 

 disfiguring blemish. 



A new era in American taxidermy will dawn 

 with the completion of the African Hall" lately 

 planned by Carl E. Akeley for the American 

 Museum of Natural History in New York,'^ 

 This hall will offer a valuable object lesson in 

 artistic taxidermy. Meanwhile the studio at the 

 museum, in which the specimens are being prepared, 

 is serving as a school for training workmen in the 

 new methods which have been developed to 

 insure permanence and lifelike effect. Mr. Akeley 

 brings to his work the skill of the sculptor, the 

 naturalist, and the sportsman, as well as that of the 

 practical taxidermist, and he brings enthusiasm 

 at the same time. He has no secret processes, 

 but welcomes all who are seeking information with 

 a view to promoting the advancement of the art. 



Mr. Akeley believes in bark tanning. A moose 

 scalp thus cured, scraped down to uniform thick- 

 ness, and free from acid and salt, will be soft and 

 pliable, and sufficiently tough. "Akeley's stand- 

 ard manikin" is constructed of wire cloth, and a 

 composition made of paper, glue, whiting, and 

 linseed oil. These are the component parts of 



" See the American Museum Journal, May, 19 14. 



