12 
WARD’S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
TAXIDERMY. 
Ten Commandments for the Hunter- 
Naturalist. 
1. Don’t shoot a specimen too much. 
2. Don’t cut off portions of the skin and 
throw them away, as some heathens do. 
3. Don’t haggle the eyelids, nostrils nor lips. 
4. Don’t leave the legs or feet of a mammal, 
nor the head of a bird unskinned. 
5. Don’t be so mean and stingy as to cut off 
the leg bones at the foot and throw them away, 
thus necessitating the making of wooden bones 
to replace them in mounting, but always cut the 
flesh from the leg-bones and leave them attached 
to the skin. Ditto for the skull. 
6. Don’t attempt to cure skins with nothing. 
Use arsenic or arsenical soap with dry alum or 
salt; or else put the skins in strong alcohol or 
brine. 
7. Don’t dry a skin which has any blood upon 
it ; either clean it or throw it away. 
8. Don’t ram a skin full of rubbish, and 
stretch it to twice its natural size; neither hang 
it up bj r the nose; nor unduly stretch it in any 
outlandish way, lest the taxidermist who cometh 
after thee shall call down curses upon thy head. 
9. Don’t dry any skin in a hot sun, nor roast 
it in any other manner for that matter, but put it 
in a shady place where the wind will blow upon 
it and hungry dogs cannot climb the tree and 
drag it down. 
10. Don’t be too modest to label your skins, 
but tie to each one a card giving its name, and 
P. O. address, and also your own name and ad- 
dress, so the man who mounts your skins will 
know where to find you. w. t. h. 
To Preserve Small Birds Entire. — Take 
strong alcohol and dissolve in it about 1 drachm 
of corrosive sublimate to every quart of the 
spirits. Test with a black feather to see that it 
is not too strong of the sublimate. Soak small 
birds in this preparation three or four days; then 
take them out and allow to dry. For a bird the 
size of a pigeon remove the entrails, wash it 
clean, and let it remain ten to fifteen days. 
Glue for Feathers and Hair. 
Gum arabic, 4 ounces. 
White sugar, - - - - 1 ounce. 
Arsenical soap, - - - - i “ 
Starch, ‘ 4 ounces. 
Water, - - - - 8 or 10 “ 
Melt the gum arabic in water, after which boil 
all the ingredients well together. 
Arsenical Soap. 
INGREDIENTS. 
White soap, 
2 pounds. 
Powdered arsenic, 
- 2 “ 
Camphor, 
5 ounces. 
Sub. carbonate of potash, - 
- 6 “ 
Lime, - 
2 “ 
Alcohol, - - - - 
- 8 “ 
Directions. — Slice the soap 
and melt it in 
small quantity of water over a slow tire, stirring 
it sufficiently to prevent its burning. When 
melted, add the potash and lime, and boil until 
it becomes quite thick. Now stir in the pow- 
dered arsenic, after which add the camphor, 
previously dissolved in the alcohol. When the 
mass has been boiled down to the consistency of 
thick molasses, pour it into an earthen jar to 
cool and harden. Stir it frequently while cool- 
ing to prevent the arsenic settling to the bottom. 
When cold it should be like lard or butter. For 
use, mix a small quantity with water until it 
resembles buttermilk, and apply with a common 
paint brush. 
CUSTOM WORK IN TAXIDERMY. 
PRICES FOR 
MOUNTING SKINS. 
AMERICAN MAMMALS. 
FOREIGN MAMMALS. 
Moose— male, 
$125 
Rhinoceros, 
$250 
Ditto— female, 
100 
Bactrian Camel, 150 to 175 
Bison; “ Buffalo,” 
125 
Dromedary, 
- 125 to 150 
Elk — male, 
100 
Giraffe — 15or 16ft. high, 175 
Ditto— female, 
80 
Ditto— 9 or 10 ft. high, 125 
Black-tailed Deer— male, 70 
Eland, 
90 
Ditto — female, 
60 
Koodoo, 
- 80 
Caribou, 
75 
Nylghau, 
- - 75 
Virginia Deer — male, 
60 
Bubale, 
- 75 
Ditto— female 
50 
Lion, 
70 to 90 
Mountain sheep, 
75 
Tiger, - 
- 70 to 90 
Ditto— female, 
60 
Leopard, - 
30 to 50 
Pronghorn Antelope, 
55 
Ocelot, 
- 15 
Grizzly Bear 
80 
W alrus, - 
- 100 to 150 
Black Bear, 
50 
Sea Lion, 
75 to 100 
Panther, - 
60 
Seal, 
20 to 45 
Lynx; Wildcat, 
18 
Otter, 
- 12 
Wolf, - 
30 
Great Ant Eater, - 35 
Coyote; Prairie Wolf, 
20 
Small “ 
‘ - 13 
Pox, - 
15 
Sloth, 
8 to 15 
Otter, - 
15 
Armadillo, - 
- 8 to 15 
Raccoon, - 
14 
Great Kangaroo, 30 to 50 
Badger, - 
13 
Derby’s “ 
- 18 
Beaver, - 
16 
Koala, 
16 
Jack Rabbit, 
8 
Wombat, 
- - 14 
Grey Rabbit, 
6 
Phalanger, 
12 
Woodchuck, 
6 
Baboon, 
- 20 
Skunk, - 
8 
Howling Monkey, 15 
Sable, - 
7 
Green “ 
- 12 
Opossum, - 
7 
Marmozet “ 
6 
Fisher, - 
8 
Lemur, 
- 8 to 14 
Mink, - 
6 
Capybara, 
20 to 35 
Muskrat, - 
5 
Paca, - 
- 10 
Prairie Dog, 
5 
Rousette Bat, 
6 
Weasel, - 
3 
Porpoise, - 
- 15 to 30 
Grey Squirrel, - 
3 
PRICES FOR 
MOUNTING HEADS. 
Heads of mammals are mounted in the highest 
style of the art at the prices given below, with- 
out shields: 
Bison; “Buffalo,” 
- 
$25 to 30 
Moose, 
- 
- 
25 to 30 
Elk, 
20 to 25 
Caribou, 
- 
- 
16 to 20 
Mountain Sheep, 
- 
14 
Deer. 
- 
- 
12 
Antelope, 
- 
12 
A massive Black Walnut Shield with moulded 
edge will be furnished for Bison and~Moose for 
$5; for Elk, Caribou and Mountain Sheep, $4; 
for Deer and Antelope, $2.50. 
The prices noted above are for dry skins of 
average preservation, with the skulls. If a skin 
is badly cut or torn, lacks patches of hair (which 
must be replaced), or is without a skull, the 
price will necessarily be more than that given. 
If, on the other hand, it be afresh skin it will be 
less than these rates. 
Parties sending skins to be mounted are earnestly 
requested to first examine the same carefully , in 
order to be themselves aware of the exact state of the 
specimen as to tears , bare spots, loose hair, etc. It 
sometimes happens that a skin is supposed by 
the owner to be a good one, when close inspec- 
tion would show him that it is really poor. 
i 
For all further information on this subject, 
nrlrl rp c a 
PROF. HENRY A. WARD, 
2 College Avenue, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
The Second General Meeting and Exhibition 
of the S. A. T. will be held in Boston, at a date 
to be fixed hereafter by the executive committee, 
probably the last week in November. For any 
information concerning it, address the Secretary. 
If the Society of Taxidermists is ever financi- 
ally able, it will offer a gold medal and a prize of 
one hundred dollars for the best original treatise 
in any language, offered by any person, on the 
Preservation of Skins in all Climates. To those 
interested the importance of this subject cannot 
be -overestimated. 
The largest stuffed animal in America has just 
been completed at this establishment. It is a 
noble old tusker elephant, 9 feet 5 inches high, 
who less than four years ago roamed through the 
graud hill-forests of Southern India. The next 
number of the Bulletin will contain a short 
account of how he was shot, skinned and 
mounted. 
The Society of Taxidermists has now forty- 
five active members, representing seven dif- 
ferent states, and one corresponding member 
in India. Twenty-six members took part in the 
late exhibition. Eleven classes of work in taxi- 
dermy were represented by 232 entries, beside 
which there were seven entries under the head 
of adjuncts to taxidermy. 
In his last letter the Baron Yon Koppenfels 
announced his intention of making an expedition 
some distance to the interior of Africa, and we 
have just forwarded to him full directions for 
skinning a full grown elephant in the jungle, and 
preserving and transporting the skin. He intends 
to secure for us an African elephant, which has 
been ordered by Prof. Agassiz for whom our 
large Indian elephant has just been mounted. 
We have just mounted for the Smithsonian 
Institution the skin of a female Mountain Sheep 
from Siberia, which may be cited as an example 
of the difficulties our taxidermists are sometimes 
obliged to surmount. The lower half of the 
neck down to the breast was wanting, and no 
portion of the head remained save one eye and 
ear, and a narrow strip down the forehead. 
“ The rats did it.” The skin was mounted, how- 
ever, the neck and head restored in papier mache 
which was afterward covered with suitable hair, 
and thus a rare specimen was saved from being 
a total loss to science. But it took time. We 
claim that it is possible to mount the skin of any 
mammal or bird so that it will make a passable 
museum specimen, provided some one is willing 
to meet the expense. 
At no period in the history of the Establish- 
ment have we had in course of mounting at one 
time such a number of rare, valuable anl gigan- 
tic pieces as have occupied our taxidermists and 
osteologists during the last three months. With- 
out attempting to number the host of small 
specimens, we may note among the skeletons a 
fine male gorilla and two chimpanzees; the skel- 
eton of the famous race-liorse Henry Clay; 
eight Moa skeletons from New Zealand, being 
remounted for the Central Park Museum; and a 
male elephant skeleton eight and one-half feet in 
height. Among the stuffed animals the most note- 
worthy are two chimpanzees of the largest size; 
two white Mountain sheep, supposed to have 
come from Siberia; an Indian gavial, or Gangetic 
crocodile; a salt water crocodile from Borneo; a 
noble old male Indian bison, or gaur, measuring 
5 feet 10 inches in height; and lastly a magni- 
ficent tusker elephant (Indian species) looming 
high above all the rest, measuring 9 feet 5 
inches in vertical height. 
We might also mention that we have in pro- 
cess of maceration three whales: one 23 feet long 
for the United States National Museum, another 
for the Museum of Compaaative Zoology, 58 feet 
long, and a third 65 feet in length, for the New 
York State Cabinet. 
A word about Localities. — Always mark 
the locality of a specimen on the label attached 
to it. A specimen can sometimes be identified 
by that alone, and it is always of the greatest ser- 
vice. Some collectors would rather have a local- 
ity without a specimen than a specimen without 
a locality. 
