SCIENCE 
IS 
KNOWLEDGE. 
KNOWLEDGE 
IS 
POWER. 
A PRACTICAL JOURNAL OF 
. HOME ARTS 
Vol. V. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1882. 
No. 12. 
Some Notes on Bird Stuffing. 
UR younger readers 
are advised not to 
attempt bird stuff- 
ing unless some per- 
son is near them 
who has had some 
experience in the 
matter. Care must 
be taken, while 
using the knife, to 
avoid being cut. Be 
very careful while 
using the corrosive sublimate, and when 
the work is completed, wash your hands 
well with castile soap and soft water. 
This method of stuffing will be found to 
give good satisfaction if strictly followed : 
Note 1st. — In dissecting, three things 
only are necessary to ensure success ; viz., 
a penknife, a hand not coarse and clumsy, 
and practice. In stuffing you require 
cotton, a needle and thread, a little stick, 
glass eyes, a solution of corrosive subli- 
mate, and any kind of temporary box to 
hold the specimens. Wire is worse than 
useless, as it gives a stiff appearance to 
the object stuffed. 
Note 2nd.— A very small proportion of 
the skull bone, say from the fore part of 
the eye to the bill, is to be left in, part of 
the wing bones, the jaw bones, and half 
of the thigh bones remain. Everything 
else, flesh, fat, eyes, bones, brain and ten- 
dons, are all to be taken away. 
Note 3rd.— In taking off the skin from 
the body it will be well to keep in mind 
that you must try to shove in lieu of pull- 
ing it, lest you stretch it. Throughout 
the whole operation, as fast as you detach 
the skin from the body, you must put 
cotton immediately betwixt the body and 
it; this will prevent tlie plumage getting 
dirty. 
Note 4th. — Let us now ]U*oceed to dis- 
sect a bird. Have close by you a little 
bottle of corrosive sublimate, also a little 
stick and a handful or two of cotton. 
Now fill the mouth and nostrils with cot- 
ton, and place it on your knee on its 
back, with its head pointed to your left 
shoulder. Take hold of the knife with 
your two first fingers and thumb, the 
edge upward; you must not keep the 
point of the knife perpendicular to the 
