INTRODUCTION. 
Vll 
as objects of worship, and consequently preserved 
after death, as among the ancient Egyptians, who 
embalmed entire birds and mammals that were 
considered sacred. 
From the rude methods of preserving skins, 
doubtless, arose the idea of mounting, or placing 
the skins in lifelike attitudes. The first objects 
selected for this purpose were, of course, birds and 
mammals of singular forms or brilliant colors, as 
objects of curiosity. Later specimens would have 
been preserved for ornamental purposes, but it is 
probable that it was not until the seventeenth cen- 
tury that either birds or mammals were collected 
with any idea of their scientific value. 
Specimens either mounted or in skins must 
have been rudely preserved at first, but, like all 
other branches of art and science, when people 
began to understand the value of well-made speci- 
mens when compared with, those poorly done, 
workmen who became skilled in their art appeared 
and turned out good work. The art of making 
good skins, however, never was understood in 
this country, at least until within the last fifteen 
or twenty years, and even now it is rare to find 
good workmen who can make skins well and 
rapidly. 
