DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 
413 
Birds having a white plumage very compact on the lower ])arts Jiiay be skinned 
through an incision along tlie side Just under the wing, or on the back. 
To poison the skin turn it wrongside out, lay it in the box coutaiidng the poison, 
and ap])ly arsenic freely with brush, or other convenient nuthod, taking care that it 
readies every part of the head, particnlarly the base of the bill, about the wing, and 
leg bones and the base of the tail. After the poisoning is completed shake the skin 
over the box to detach loose powder. 
The essential points in cleaning a bird skin are to never let the blood dry on 
the feathers; always use the absorbent immediately after washing, freeing it from the 
feathers before it dries. 
To stuff a bird skin, fill the holes from which the eyeballs were removed with well 
rounded and elastic wads of cotton immediately after the skin is poisoned and while 
it is reversed ; then form a roll of cotton around a knitting needle or other slender 
steel wire and insert it into the neck until the end can be grasped through the bill; 
withdraw the wire and push the end of the roll back from the mouth, so that when it 
is closed the cotton will not be exposed. If jireferred, the end of the roll may lie 
pushed into the skull cavity instead of the throat and the latter fllled through the 
mouth; the latter method is preferable when the natural i^ose of the head is at a 
considerable angle with the neck. Kext make up a soft oval wad or roll of cotton 
the size of the natural body, insert one end beneath the neck roll, which is raised and 
held up for the purpose, then work the wad into place by carefully pulling the skin 
over, taking a stitch or two to close the incision. The leg bones of large and medium- 
sized birds should be wraiiped with cotton in order to fill out the thighs to their 
proper shape. 
Birds with long necks or tender skins should have the stuffing wrap])ed around 
wires or sticks to strengthen them; if sticks are used the blunt anterior ends may be 
forced into the cavity of the skull; if wire is used it should be sharpened at both 
ends, one being forced through the anterior part of the head, the other through the 
root of the tail. 
To shape or make up a specimen, lay it on its back on a thin sheet of raw cotton 
sufficiently large to inclose the skin when wrapped around it; tlufi up the feathers 
under the wings, place the thumb and finger beneath them and gently press the sides 
together, as one wonild sipieeze a wounded bird to kill it. When the body has thus 
been brought to its natural shape, bring the wings up against the sides in their normal 
liosition, allowing the side feathers to lay over them, and adjust the wing tips beneath 
the tail; lay the feet in a natural position, adjust the tail feathers and plumage 
wherever required, then roll carefully in the cotton in such a manner as to assist 
in reiaining the contour previously giveu to the specimen. See that the bill is 
properly closed, either by a turn of a seizing, a stitch thi’ough the nostrils and 
around the lower mandible, or by twisting the cotton envelope around it. It is good 
practice to close the bill as soon as the neck has been stuffed. 
The sex of a specimen should be determined by dissection, and when the generative 
organs have been destroyed by shot, or otherwise, omit the sex mark and substitute 
a query. If the organs are uninjured the sex may be readily ascertained, after the 
specimen is skinned, by making an incision iii the side near the vertebrae and exposing 
the inner surface of the small of the back, where they will be found attached nearly 
on a line with the last ribs. The testicles of the male will be recognized as two 
