26 
FIELD OBNITHOLOGY. 
Materials. — (a.) For stuffing. " What do you stuflF 'em with ? " is usually the first 
question of idle curiosity about taxidermy, as if that were the great point; whereas, the stuffing 
is so small a matter that I generally reply, anything, except brickbats ! " But if stuffing 
birds were the final cause of Cotton, that admirable substance could not be more perfectly 
adapted than it is to the purpose. Ordinary raw cotton-batting or wadding is what you want. 
When I can get it I never think of using anything else for small birds. I would use it for all 
birds were expense no object. Here tow comes in ; there is a fine, clean, bleached article of 
tow prepared for surgical dressings ; this is the best, but any will do. Some say chop your 
tow fine ; this is harmless, but unnecessary. A crumpled newspaper, wrapped with tow, is 
first-rate for a large bird. Failing cotton or tow, any soft, light, dry, vegetable substance may 
be made to answer, — rags, paper, crumbled leaves, fine dried grass, soft fibrous inner bark, 
etc. ; the down of certain plants, as thistle and silkweed, makes an exquisite filling for small 
birds. But I will qualify my remark about brickbats by saying : never j^ut hair, ivool, feathers, 
or any other animal substance in a birdskin; far better leave it empty: for, as we shall see in 
the sequel, bugs come fast enough, without being invited into a snug nest, (b.) For j^reserv- 
ing. Arsenic, — not the pure metal properly so called, but arsenic of the shops, or arsenious 
acid, — is the great preservative. Use dry powdered arsenic, plenty of it, and nothing else. 
There is no substitute for arsenic worthy of the name, and no preparation of arsenic so good as 
the simple substance. Various kinds of arsenical soap" were and may still be in vogue; 
it is a nasty greasy substance, not fit to handle; and although efficacious enough, there is a 
very serious hygienic objection to its use.^ Arsenic, I need not say, is a violent irritant poison, 
and must therefore be duly guarded, but may be used with perfect impunity. It is a very 
heavy substance, not appreciably volatile at ordinary temperatures, and therefore not liable, 
as some suppose, to be breathed, to any perceptible, much less injurious, extent. It will not 
even at once enter the pores of healthy unbroken skin ; so it is no matter if it gets on the fingers. 
The exceedingly minute quantity that may be supposed to find its way into the system in the 
course of time is believed by many competent physicians to be rather beneficial as a tonic. I 
will not commit myself to this; for, though I have never felt better than when working daily 
with arsenic, I do not know how much my health was improved by the out-door exercise 
always taken at the same time. The shnple precautions are, not to let it lie too long in con- 
tact with the skin, nor get into an abrasion, nor under the nails. It will convert a scratch or 
cut into a festering sore of some little severity ; while if lodged under the nails it soon shows 
itself by soreness, increased by pressure ; a white speck appears, then a tiny abscess forms, dis- 
charges and gets well in a few days. Your precautions really respect other persons more than 
yourself; the receptacle should be conspicuously labelled POISON!" Arsenic is a good 
friend of ours : besides preserving our birds, it keeps busybodies and meddlesome folks away 
from the scene of operations, by raising a wholesome suspicion of the taxidermist's surround- 
ings. It may be kept in the tin pots in which it is usually sold; but some shallower, broader 
receptacle is more convenient. A little drawer say 6x6 inches, and an inch deep, to slip 
under the edge of the table, or a similar compartment in a large drawer, wDl be found handy. 
A salt-spoon, or little wooden shovel whittled like one, is nice to use it with, though in eff'ect, 
I always shovel it up with the handle of a scalpel. As stated, there is no substitute for arsenic; 
1 "Strange as it may appear to some, I would say avoid especially all the so-called arsenical soaps ; they 
are at best but filthy preparations ; besides, it is a fact to which I can bear painful testimony that they are, 
especially when applied to a greasy skin, poisonous in the extreme. I have been so badly poisoned, while working 
upon the skins of some fat water birds that had been prepared with arsenical soap, as to be made seriously ill, the 
poison having worked into the system through some small wounds or scratches on my hand. Had pure arsenic 
been used in preparing the skins, the effect would not have been as had, although grease and arsenic are generally 
a blood-poison in some degree; but when combined with 'soap ' the effect, at least as far as my experience goes, 
is much more injurious." (Maynard, Guide, p. 12.) In endorsing this, I would add that the combination is the 
more poisonous, in all probability, simply because the soap, being detersive, mechanically facilitates the entrance 
of the poison, without, however, chemically increasing its virulence. 
