INSTRUCTIONS EOB THE PRESERVATION 
OE BIRDS. 
General Remarks. 
A little patience and a little practice are all that is wanted to 
make a good skin of a bird. Also it should be remembered that no 
more time is wanted to make a good skin than a bad one. Thus it 
should be the aim of every naturalist to attain perfection in the art 
of preparing specimens ; and, after all, this is very easy. 
The skinning of a bird demands but few tools. Many collectors 
require a penknife only ; but the tyro should at least be provided 
with a sharp knife or scalpel, a pair of stout nail-scissors, as well 
as some arsenical soap, bleached wool, tow, and a sharp-pointed 
awl or darning-needle. 
The knife is needed for making the first incision, and it is useful 
for scraping off fat from the skin. The nail-scissors are wanted for 
cutting through the flesh, and severing the tendons and the bones at 
their joints. 
Arsenical soap is the best preservative for general use, as skins 
dressed with it retain much of their natural elasticity, and can at 
any time be mounted. Powdered arsenic is largely used, especially 
by American naturalists, and is useful in a damp climate, as it dries 
the skins quickly. The disadvantages of employing it are, firstly, 
the danger in carrying it about, and secondly, that specimens so 
preserved become shrunken and brittle, and are never so easy to 
mount. Alum and pepper do not keep off the attacks of moths 
and beetles, and for various reasons are not to be recommended. 
Carbolized specimens are all but worthless, as they fall to 
20 
