SKINNING BIRDS. 
45 
injuring my health, and that of others, I began to 
experiment upon other substances, and after trying 
a quantity of various things, have succeeded in 
manufacturing a nearly odorless compound which 
has the following advantages over arsenic : It 
thoroughly preserves the skins of birds, mammals, 
reptiles, and fishes from decay, and also prevents 
the attacks of dermestes or anthrenus, while the 
feathers of birds and hair of mammals are not as 
liable to be attacked by moths as when the skin is 
preserved with arsenic. This preservative when 
properly applied abstracts the oil from greasy skins, 
thus preventing them from becoming decayed 
through carbonization, as nearly always occurs in 
ducks’ skins after a few years. It is a deodorizer, 
all disagreeable smells leaving the skin to which it 
is applied ; and above all it is not a poison. I used 
this dermal preservative, as we have named it, as 
an absorbent while skinning birds, especially small 
ones, as then the plumage is dusted with it neces- 
sarily, which insures more or less protection to the 
feathers from the attacks of moths. 
To render my preservative, or indeed any other, 
effective, it must be thoroughly applied to the 
skin ; all the portions, especially those to which 
any flesh adheres, must be well covered with it, 
