WARD’S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
u 
[New York Commercial Advertiser of May 3rd.] 
REVOLUTION IN TAXIDERMY. 
Prizes Taken by Wm. T. Hornaday— Improvement in 
Museum Collections. 
^ illusion. Vas so perfect that one expect- 
ed to seh^dart forward and call out: 
Don’uSjagice me in .the wicious pride of your 
youth. Don’t hit me because I’m down. You’ve 
no idea how small you’d come out if I had the 
articulating of you.” 
The interest in the display made by the Society 
of American Taxidermists daily increases. The 
first glimpse at the show baits curiosity, but to 
approach the beasts and birds and perceive how 
wonderfully these are mounted arouses interest 
and admiration. 
The first prize is taken by the young elephant, 
mounted by Wm. T. Homaday, chief taxider- 
mist of the National Museum at Washington. 
This beast is a study. He looks like a plaster cast, 
so hard is his skin and so perfect are the wrinkles 
and flanks. A series of photographs show the 
process of mounting. Mr. Hornaday, who has 
hunted in the jungles of India, has killed three 
elephants and stuffed six, says the skin of the 
elephant is very much larger than the body, and 
hangs in folds. It is stuffed out plump and 
smooth by the ordinary taxidermist. But in this 
prize specimen, the flanks hang loosely, the bones 
in the back, pelvis and skull are plainly seen, 
exactly as in life. A cast of wood was carved at 
first, the skull alone taking three days to complete 
perfectly. The ribs are iron. The entire manikin 
was covered with potter’s clay, and then the skin 
was sewed on and the seams hidden. To lay the 
hand on the skin will discover its hairy growth, 
otherwise impreceptible. 
Mr. Hornaday finds appreciative recognition of 
his work. His whole heart is in the advancement 
of taxidermy. For three years he has devoted his 
spare time to the interest of the Society, which 
has given such impetus to the art. All natural 
historians must be interested in this Society. Four 
hundred invitations have been issued to the school 
teachers of this City to visit Lyric Hall. Mr. 
Hornaday is striving to bring about a complete 
revolution in Taxidermy and establish a school 
which will send out specimens that will surpass 
any work of this kind ever done. Verreaux, who 
was considered in his age the most skillful taxi- 
dermist, has already been eclipsed. Professor 
Ward, of Rochester, who is the largest patron of 
the art, has graduated our best taxidermists. Mr. 
Homaday is his pupil. “ The Better at a Point,” 
which is a prize piece, is a fine work, and attracts 
more attention than any exhibit. The landscape 
shows the rolling meadow land. In the foreground 
Autumn leaves and dried twigs are strewn, so that 
one almost hears them crackle as the dog steps by. 
Sheltered by a clump of foliage are quail, and the 
dog “ Fanny” comes to a point, her mellow eyes 
eagerly strained and the moisture starting on her 
nose. “Does your mother know you’re out?” is 
represented by the scai’let “ibis,” and a baby alli- 
gator that has just burst shell. The head of a 
white-tailed gnu, or horned horse; a cinamon bear, 
which weighed 150 pounds in life, and is a par- 
ticularly fine specimen in a scientific point of view, 
and the first one of its kind ever shot in Pennsyl- 
vania, attract great attention. 
Professor Ward’s exhibit occupies the entire 
west end of the main room. It contains speci- 
mens mounted by the several taxidermists in his 
employ. Mr. Webster’s platypus is here. How 
this amphibious animal sleeps, burrows, and 
swims is shown. The moose family, showing the 
bull, cow, and calf, are an imposing group. A 
huge “lyre turtle” weighing 600 pounds is a curi- 
osity. There is an extraordinary exhibit of mam- 
mal heads and museum specimens. The argus 
pheasant, great blue heron, and flamingo; the 
koala, or Australian bear, wdth young on its back, 
a group of Audubon’s birds and owls and puppies 
stuffed are in this extensive display. 
Partitioned off in the south room is the sanctum 
of a taxidermist. On entering one sniffs to dis- 
cover if it is “musty, leathery, feathery, cellary, 
gluey, gummy, or smells of an old pair of bel- 
lows,” as did the precincts of Mr. Wenus. There 
are the shelves, the saws, the cupboard and all but 
the “human warius.” The tea and muffins and 
the molars which dropped into the coffee pot are 
not visible. The taxidermist sits by the counter 
with the “stiff wire piercing a bird’s breast.” Bo 
life-like is the figure that a gentleman asked sev- 
eral questions of it yesterday regarding the pro- 
ANATOMICAL TECHNOLOGY 
As applied to the domestic cat : an introduction to 
human, veterinary and comparative anatomy. By 
Professors Burt 0. Wilder and Simon H. Gage. A. 
S. Barnes & Co. 
This book, as indicated by its title, deals chiefly 
with methods of anatomical work; and the sub- 
ject is treated thoroughly, clearly, and with unu- 
sual accuracy, — in many respects superior to any 
previous guide to vertebrate dissection. Much 
of the material had been prepared for use in the 
anatomical laboratory of Cornell University, and 
the best of several years service there has no 
doubt helped much in giving the work its prac- 
tical character. 
The work is designed as a guide for beginners, 
and supposes no previous anatomical knowledge 
on the part of the student. The introduction 
deals with methods of reference to publications, 
the decimal systems, zoological classification and 
the slip system of notes, but treats most fully of 
terminology, which is one of the marked features 
of the book. A number of old terms have been 
abbreviated and many new ones introduced, most 
of which are likely to prove serviceable. Two 
pages of aphorisms are given, and the authors’ 
reasons for selecting the cat. 
Of the eleven chapters constituting the body 
of the work, the first gives description of the 
instruments and materials required, wdth direc- 
tions for their use and care. The second describes 
in a general way the skeleton, and notes “ana- 
tomical landmarks,” being followed in the fifth 
by a detailed description. Chapters 3 and 4 are 
devoted to the preparation of bones, preservation 
of soft parts, injections, etc., and the directions 
given are by far the best and most practical 
which w 7 e have seen. The sixth chapter treats of 
myology and describes forty muscles of the neck, 
shoulder and fore leg. The remaining chapters 
take up in order the viscera, vascular system, 
nervous system, brain, cranial nerves and organs 
of sense. The subjects are carefully and thor- 
oughly treated, and the working directions are 
especially complete and explicit. Illustrations 
are liberally used ; most of them new and very 
accurate, though somewhat crude. The authors 
have adhered throughout to a purely technical 
terminology, the result of which is very notice- 
able in the brevity and accuracy of descriptions 
and clearness of working directions. 
There is an extensive and well arranged bibli- 
ography and a good index. The volume gives 
evidence throughout of painstaking care and a 
complete familiarity with the subject ; and the 
student who works through it thoroughly will 
have a solid foundation for independent anatomi- 
cal study. 
The authors announce two other volumes in 
preparation, one on “Microscopical” the other 
on “Physiological Technology,” and it is to be 
hoped their publication may not be long delayed. 
Large Lot of Australian Mammals. 
Professor Ward would call the attention of 
parties providing for museums, and all private 
parties wishing to secure a large number of de- 
siderata for special use, to the splendid lot of 
skins and skeletons of Australian Mammals. A 
large lot, of some twenty-six boxes, have just 
been unpacked; their contents exhibits a most 
magnificent assortment of animals from this as 
yet little known region, especially to Ameri- 
can museums. A complete list of the specimens 
received has not yet been made out, but among 
those already determined is that most character- 
istic animals of this region, the Kangaroo; the 
Maoropus or Hatmaturus as it is called; and of 
these the Professor has five or six species, while 
the variety of both young and old specimens will 
grade from the very smallest which have been 
preserved, in many cases in embryo, in spirits, 
to the largest of these animals, which will be 
furnished mounted to order. Some of these im- 
mense fellows will stand nearly five feet high, 
while they measure from the tip of the nose to 
the tip of the tail nearly seven feet. They are 
indeed immense fellows. The smaller fellows 
are called among the natives by the curious and 
not unmusical name of Wallaby, and some of 
them have most beautiful coats of soft, mouse- 
colored fur. Now is the time to secure both 
skin and skeleton, as there may not be another 
lot in this country for years to come. 
Besides the Kangaroo, this lot of rare species 
contains the Hypsiprymnus or Kangaroo Rat, an 
animal also peculiar to this Australian fauna. 
Another animal is the (Koala), Native Australian 
Bear, called also Native Sloth, and is the Pluncs- 
larctus cinereus. Of this strange creature in its 
appearance, half Bear and half Sloth, the Pro- 
fessor has nearly as fine a lot, if not quite so, 
as of the Kangaroo. Besides a large number 
of other specimens, such as the Spotted Opos- 
sum or JDasyurus mverrinus; the Ring-tailed 
Opossum or Phalangista Gookii; the Bandicoot 
or Perameles ; the Phalanger or Flying Squirrel 
of Australia. Petaurista; and besides several 
varieties such as Iguauas and Lizards of various 
kinds, the three specimens which call for the 
next especial attention are the Duck billed Platy- 
pus or Ornithorynchus, of which both skin and 
skeletons are in the lot; the Spiny Anteater or 
Echidue, and the most choice specimens of them 
all, the Tasmanian Devil, as it has been very 
properly called, or Dasqurus ( Sarcophilus ) wism- 
us. This is one of the most savage and untama- 
ble, as it is one of the rarest of the mammals in 
the world. Probably before the last of these 
lines are put to press the last of these animals 
will have disappeared into the museums of our 
North American institutions. There are other 
things left, however, if all these are taken, so 
address inquiries at once to secure first and best 
choice of these Australian Mammals. A sim- 
ilar lot of Australian Birds will soon be offered 
for sale likewise. Address 
Prof. H. A. WARD, 
2 College avenue, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
S. E. CASSINO & CO. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
LETTERS OF INDIAN TRAVEL. 
By Prof. Ernest Haeckel. An interesting- account 
of the author’s visit to India and the Island of 
Ceylon in 1881. Revised by J. S. Kingsley. 1 vol. 
crown 8vo, cloth. Price, $3.50. (In press.) 
THE HISTORY AND USES OF LIMESTONES AND 
MARBLES. 
By S. M. Burnham. Illustrated with forty-eight 
chromo-lithographs of marbles, many of them an- 
tique, and not accessible to the general public. 
Cloth, 8vo. Price, $6.00. 
The book will be ready about April 15th, ele- 
gantly printed and bound. 
HAND BOOK OF ENTOMOLOGY. 
By Prof. Charles Y. Riley, U. S. Entomologist, Chief 
of Entomological Commission, State Entomologist 
of Mo., etc. Cloth, 8vo. Price, $3.00. (In press.) 
HAND-BOOK OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 
For Laboratories and Seaside Work. By W. K. 
Brooks, Ph. D. 
This work contains 400 pages, illustrated with 200 
entireiy new cuts, from drawings by the author, or 
made under his direct supervision. Price, $3.00. 
TABLES FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS AND BE- 
GINNERS IN VEGETABLE HISTOLOGY. 
By D. P. Penhallow. 1vol. 8vo, cloth. Price, $1.00. 
NATURALIST’S GUIDE. 
By C. J. Maynard. With 2 colored plates and 10 
wood-cuts. New edition. 1 vol. 12mo, cloth. Price, 
$ 2 . 00 . 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY FOR BEGINNERS. 
With a description of all new birds discovered since 
publication of the Smithsonian Chech: List. By C. J. 
Maynard, author of “The Naturalist’s Guide,” 
“Birds of Eastern North America,” etc. 1 vol. 
12mo, cloth. Price, $1.50. 
AMERICAN MONTHLY MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 
Edited by Romyn Hitchcock, F. R. M. S. Subscrip- 
tion, $1.00 per year. 
SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY GOSSIP. 
A monthly bulletin, edited by J. S. Kingsley. Price, 
50 cents a year. 
S. E. CASSINO & CO., Publishers, 
BOSTON, MASS. 
