M ABB’S \ ATT It \ t, SCIENCE BULLETIN. il 
Prof. Ward with two of our taxidermists went 
on to St. Thomas, and there took careful measure- 
ments and drawings of Jumbo before skinning 
and skeletonizing the monster. Jumbo had been 
lying all this time at the side of the railroad 
track under a hot sun which was not at all con- 
ducive to preserving his epidermis intact. In 
fact, around the gashes made by the locomotive 
the epidermis had already begun to peel off and 
the skin to become blood burned and loose its 
pliability. 
The work of skinning and excavating the 
bones from the tons of meat was no light labor; 
but by impressing into the service a half 
dozen butchers from St. Thomas and neighboring 
towns, all went along expeditiously. The skin was 
removed in three pieces, the head and neck in one, 
the body in two; by cutting along the, middle of 
the back and belly until the cuts met that sever- 
ing the head and neck from the body. These 
pieces as soon as taken off were put into a wooden 
cistern in which was a warm bath of salt and 
alum; and in this they were shipped to. Rochester 
along with the skeleton in boxes, and the heart, 
eyes, medullary membranes of tusks and stom- 
ach mantle in a large keg of alcohol. These 
reliquim sacra filled half of a car and made quite 
a visual as well as odoriferous impression on the 
citizens of Rochester, as loaded upon carts they 
wended their way to this establishment. Here 
the skin was immediately transferred to a huge 
vat of warm salt and alum to become thorough- 
ly “cured;” and the osteologists immediately set 
to work removing the flesh, blood and grease 
from the bones. 
We were to deliver Jumbo on the 1st of March 
and it was near the close of September when he 
arrived; so our men had-to work night and day 
to hurry him through. A special building had 
to be constructed in which to mount both skin and 
skeleton, and a special tank and brick structure 
in which to do part of the cleaning of the bones, 
besides much devising of ways and means in 
which the work should be carried out. 
There were two great purposes to keep in mind, 
one, the life like appearance and scientific ac- 
curacy of the finished specimens, the other the 
strength and rigidity to withstand the constant 
rack and strain of travel. The former we were 
used to; but the latter was largely new to us, par- 
ticulary when coping with an animal of such 
tremendous size. To have mounted Jumbo even 
as a specimen to stand always in a museum hall, 
would have been a work of no small difficulty, but 
when added to this was the necessity of appre- 
hending and guarding against every lurch and 
jolt and thump that he is likely to get in his 
travels around the country, the complications of 
the task were greatly multiplied. 
As soon as the new building was roofed over 
and the floor laid, work on the stuffed specimen 
was begun. A heavy oak pedestal was built with 
8 x 10 inch cross pieces of oak to hold the leg irons 
which were of 2 inch round iron. These were 
secured in place, two to each leg, by heavy 
nuts and iron plates. Connecting the tops 
were heavy oak cross pieces upon which were 
fitted joists serving as a back bone for the mani- 
kin. Two-inch planks fitted between these were 
cut to the contour of the back, others gave the 
shape of the sides at distances of a foot apart, 
while still others were put around the leg- 
irons and the heavy beam in the trunk. All of 
this work was accurately done and firmly fasten- 
ed and braced and bolted so that there should be 
no shaking of the parts. Over this outline frame 
two series of strips of inch square steamed bass- 
wood were firmly nailed, bent and hewn so as to 
give the exact shape of the animal without any 
stuffing between the wood and skin. This we 
deemed necessary that the specimen might with- 
stand the exceptional usage which it is to under- 
go. The tusks were sawn off a little above the 
part protruding from the skin, bored and thread- 
ed and into each a heavy iron screwed which runs 
back into the framework of the neck where it is 
securely bolted. After this manikin was com- 
pleted and the skin had been dressed down to its 
proper thickness, less than half an inch, and 
thoroughly poisoned with arsenic, the work of 
of applying it to the manikin was commenced. 
Now it is a fact well known to our American 
readers that on the Fourth of July and circus days 
it always rains; so to guard against the effect of 
the dampness that Jumbo would have to endure, 
with the consequent stretching and shrinking of 
his hide, was the problem that presented itself. 
JUMBO’S MANIKIN. 
(Reduced from a photograph.) 
To hold the skin firmly in place it was nailed 
to the wooden manikin. For this purpose ',we 
used several thousand steel wire nails of various 
sizes; weighing in all about fifteen pounds. 
We believe that no other animal was ever 
stuffed in this manner, and in fact for any other 
purpose than railroad travel, or, even then, in 
mounting any smaller animal such a method 
would be unnecessary. When these thousands 
of nails had been countersunk so as to be en- 
tirely invisible, and all the seams firmly sewn 
up, the finishing touches were put on and Jum- 
bo stood complete and as lifelike as his photo- 
graph. 
All who have seen the mounted animal, 
including visitors and Mr. Barnum’s people, 
have remarked on the presence in the stuffed 
specimen of all the hundreds of creases, 
wrinkles and folds that characterize the elephant 
and were so prominent in this one. This was 
no easy matter to accomplish— a thing hardly 
even attempted in any other stuffed elephant— 
and it was only by very painstaking and tedious 
work coupled with a rigid adherence to the 
exact size of the animal that the result was so 
successfully attained. 
We give a few measurements of the stuffed 
specimen that may be of interest. Greatest 
width of ear, 5 feet 5 inches. Length of trunk 
from base of tusk, 5 feet 11 inches. Circumfer- 
ence of tusk, 1 foot 6 inches. Circumference of 
front foot. 5 feet 3 inches. Greatest circumfer- 
ence of fore leg, 5 feet 7 inches. Smallest 
circumference of fore leg (14 inches above 
ground), 3 feet 4 inches. Circumference of head 
back of eyes, 10 feet 4 inches. Circumference 
of neck back of ears, 11 feet 6 inches. Greatest 
circumference of body, 18 feet. Measure from 
sole of forefoot to top of back between shoulders 
12 feet. 
While the skin was being mounted work on the 
skeleton was rapidly progressing. To mount this 
in such a manner as to withstand the strain of. 
travel was a still more difficult matter than was the 
case with the skin. A skeleton does not offer the 
facilities for internal bracings and boltings that 
the huge dimensions of the rotund body afforded. 
_ In the railway accident Jumbo’s skull was 
literally smashed to atoms, at least two large 
parts of. it were. All the fore part was broken in, 
and a great hole knocked in the back of it. To 
restore this was a matter of much skill and 
patience. First, a solid back-ground was formed 
by driving wooden spikes through the diplose, 
upon the ends of which the pieces of bone were 
firmly fastened by 'papier, mache and wire nails. 
In this manner in the course of several weeks 
the skull was so perfectly restored that one 
unacquainted with the exact locality of the 
broken parts could not locate them. The skull 
finished and drying, work upon the body was 
begun. 
The heaviest steam pipe that, when forged to 
the proper shape, would pass through the neural 
arches of his vertebrae was taken for a “back 
bone.” To the end of this was welded apiece 
of iron exactly fitting the neural arches of his 
sacral and first few caudal vertebrae. To the 
centra were then firmly nailed boufle expressly 
manufactured for the purpose, which took the 
place of the intervertebral cartilages. 
The steam pipe forming the neural rod having- 
been bent to the proper curve and bolted 
securely to the sacrum, two rods of Norway 
iron were fastened to the latter, and the ver- 
tebrae were strung upon this pipe and the two 
rods. Three points of support for each vertebra 
were thus obtained, which connected would form 
a large equilateral triangle. The vertebrae were 
one by one firmly pressed into place, and any 
spaces left between the pipe and neural 
arches were wedged with hard wood, so that a 
vertebra would be broken in two before it 
could be turned to any appreciable extent from its 
proper position. The pelvis was then bolted to 
the sacrum, after which the ribs were attached. 
Two brass bolts connected each rib to its ver- 
tebra, and to keep these from tearing through 
the bone, eliptical brass washers were used. 
The inner surface of the sternum was lined 
with strips of heavy sheet brass riveted together 
and bolted through the sternum and ribs. 
So solid was this commonly weak point ren- 
dered, that a ton’s weight applied to the inside of 
the sternum would cause no damage. 
Two bands of bronzed iron crossed the ribs 
and bolting to them prevented any lateral motion. 
So solid was the body in its construction that 
the osteologists in their work felt no hesitancy 
in climbing all over it. 
It had been decided that the skeleton should 
travel in six pieces. The body in one, the head 
by itself, and each leg separately. This was in 
order that the body might be lowered upon its 
standards so as to travel in a car of ordinary 
height. 
The legs and feet were next firmly bolted 
together with numerous brass bolts. The feet 
were bolted onto boards cut to fit into corres- 
ponding holes in the pedestal. Up the back of 
each leg ran a round iron, with its inner surface 
planed flat so as to give a solid bearing to the 
bone. These irons were bent to perfectly fit 
me contour of the legs and bolted in place, 
their lower ends projecting through the boards 
upon which the feet rested and formed to fit into 
sockets let into the timbers of the pedestal. In 
this manner great strength was gained with but 
little iron showing. 
Padded boxes were constructed into which the 
skull and legs exactly fitted when dismounted for 
travel. 
The skeleton when completed impressed one 
with the magnitude of Jumbo, even more than 
did the stuffed specimen. 
A special telescopic wagon had been built to 
carry the stuffed Jumbo from his car to the places 
of exhibition. Into the corners of his pedestal, 
to lessen the jolting from rough roads, had 
been put car springs with eye bolts to which 
the chains from the wagon attacbed. All being- 
ready on the 4th of March, Mr. Barnum’s agents 
came with their wagon and several large sleighs 
in which to remove the animal. 
Half the city turned out to see Jumbo rolled 
out of his building, loaded on his wagon and 
drawn to his special car. 
So great and arduous was the task of restoring 
Jumbo in his dual form, that we all felt greatly 
relieved if not heartily glad, at his departure. 
JUMBO’S HEART. 
We can now understand why Jumbo loved 
little children so well, and why he risked (and 
lost) his own life to save that of the little trick 
elephant: for his heart is such a mammoth affair 
that it requires a good big keg to hold it. Its 
actual weight is 4(1 lbs., although from its im- 
mense size one would suppose it nearer 100 lbs. 
in weight. Price $40. 
