44 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
straight at other times. In young specimens it 
appears as a small white line. 
The denuded breast and abdomen seen in birds 
during the breeding season, cannot always be de- 
pended upon as a mark of sex, as this occasionally 
occurs in males as well as in females. 
Section IV. : Preserving Skins. — Taxidermists 
for many years have made use of arsenic in some 
form as a preservative ; and in the first edition of my 
“ Naturalists’ Guide,” I recommended the use of it 
V 
dry, stating that I did not think it injurious if not 
actually eaten. I have, however, since had abun- 
dant cause to change my opinion in this respect, and 
now pronounce it a dangerous poison. Not one 
person in fifty can handle the requisite quantity of 
arsenic necessary to preserve specimens, for any 
length of time, without feeling the effects of it. 
For a long time I was poisoned by it, but attributed 
it to the noxious gases arising from birds that had 
been kept too long. It is possible that the poison 
from arsenic with which my system was filled might 
have been affected by these gases, causing it to 
develop itself, but I do not think that the gas itself 
is especially injurious, as I have never been poisoned 
since I discontinued the use of arsenic. 
When I became convinced that arsenic was 
