JfaturalisV s Calendar. 
•2.};) 
Method of Puf.serving Binns — The iollowing directions nre iiiveii in accordance with tlic 
liroraise made in the August number, and it is lioped will be Ibund useful to such as may be 
desirous of preserving their own specimens. The implements and materials necessary arc a 
sbarp-pointtd penknife, a folding' -slick, (era fo!din;;'-knife, with a pen-blade in tlie end, will 
be more convenient,) a pair of small, and a pair of strimt; scissors, a tile, a pair of wire-nippers, 
a pair of pliers, iron wire of various thicknesses, which lias been previously softened in tlie lire, 
tow, cotton-wool, glass eyes of various colours, (wliicl\ may be procured at the toy.shops in 
most large towns,) and a quantity of the toUowins' compositions: — 
ANTISEPTIC POWDER. 
Burnt Alum, powdered, .3 07. 
■\Vhite Arsenic, I — 
Camphor, A — 
To be reduced to a line powder, and kept in a 
corked bottle. 
ANTISEPTIC PASTE. 
White Arsenic, 2 07,. 
Spanish Soap, I — 
Xoft Soap \ — 
( "amplior, s — 
Spirit of Wine, a few drops. 
To be beaten together into a pas'e and 
kept ill a covered pot or box. 
On procnriiig a bird which it is wishtd to preserve, it is necessary in tlie first place to note 
the colour of the eyes, bill and lei;s, and any bare skin which occurs on the heitds of some species, 
as tliese parts are liable to chanue after death. Some hours must be allowed before the bird be 
skinned, in order to give time Ibr the blood to coagulate, &c. 
If the bird be large it should be suspended by one leg during the operation of .skinning On 
gently removing the feathers on the breast, a bare space will be found, in this an opening must 
be made through the skin to the full length of the irreast bone. [2S] The skin must be 
loos. lied from the fle,sh in all directions by means of the 
liand'e of the folding knife, and gently slipped back as far «s 
tile first joint of the wing, which is to be separated. Tlie 
other wing will now be easily separated in the same manner. 
The skin must next be drawn from off the neck till the back 
of the skull appears, which must be parted from the neck at 
the first joint. Tiie bird should now bo suspended by the 
neck, and the skin drawn downwards to the thighs, which 
must be divided at the joint, leaving the thigh bones and legs 
attached to the skin. The skin must be drawn downward 
to tlie tail ; in separating this from the body, caic must be ta- 
ken not to loosen the feathers; it will be necessarj' therefore 
for this purpose, to leave a few joints of the back bono at- 
tached to the skin. TI.e eyes, brain, tongue. Sic must now 
be removed thTougli the o[)eiiing at the ba. k of the head, 
, and all fat and ilesh carefully cleared from the skin, wings, 
Uhighs and tail. In removing the ejes, the thumb and lin- 
ger must be pressed strongly on the outside, and a small wire 
hook being introduced at the back of tlie head tliey may be 
easily drawn out without bursting. 
A quantity of the Antiseptic Powder must be put into the bead, which must be stuflfed 
with cotton wool, and the wliole skin and every place where a particle of flesh remains, well 
rubbed with the powder. The skin being turned right side outwards, a piece of wire, of a 
thickness proportioned to the size of the bird, and reaching from the front of tlie head to the 
tail, must be cut off and sharpened at both ends, and a sliorler pifce twisted round the middle 
ufit; [29] the upper end must now be wrapped round with tow, to the thickness of the neck, 
and passed up the .skin 
projects thro' the skull ; 
the other end must be thrust through at the underside of the tail. Smaller wires of a proper 
length, and sbarpi n d at both ends, must now be passed along between the bone and skin of 
the wings ai d le^s, .iiid tlit inner ends la'-tened by twisting them into the main wire. [.30] The 
wires must lie lift piojecling beyond the ft.et, in 
order to tix the bird on a board or branch in the 
case. The body mu.st now be filled out in every 
part to its natural size and shape with tow ; the 
opening neatly sewed up with silk or strong thread, 
the legs, win^s, and neck placed in their natural 
position, and an easy attitude given to the bird. 
Thee>es must be inserted, the lids drawn a little 
over them, to give them a natural appearance, 
the projecting wires nipped of?', the bird fi.xed on 
a board, and in about a week it will be ready to fix 
ID a case. 
If the skin is not intended to be stnfJed imraedi- 
diatfh. the Aniiseptir Fasle must be used intitead 
nfflie"Pov.-dei. 
Quadruped5 are preserved in a similar manner. 
METEOROLOG\ . 
This Month is proverbially dull and gloomv. Dense fogs are common, rarticii.'ariy in the 
iVletropoli,s, where the immense mass of smoke and vapour being prevented from ascending, 
mixes with tb."* fog, and becomes so thick, as almost to exclude thp light of the sun at noon-day. 
Barometer.— Mean Height 29,776 Highest .30,270. Lowest^2<i,080 inche^. 
Trermo'Mkte i. — Mean Temperature 42.Q degr.'ps. Highest 62. Lowe?t 2.3 degrees. 
R*IN. — Mean quantity 2,400 inchp'i. 
E V .\ p o R \ r 1 n s .— M ean 0,7*0. 
DuJJield.linnk, Ocl. mn. O.J. 
