52 
SOO. OF AM. TAXIDERMISTS, ANXCTAL REPORT. 
really is. As painting and sculpture owe their origin to man’s 
desire to copy and preserve the forms of familiar objects, so taxi- 
dermy undoubtedly originated in some one’s attempt to preserve 
the animals themselves. Just where or when the first attempt 
was made is unknown, but it was most probably in Europe, and 
at all events not long ago. While all taxidermy is thus compa- 
ratively modern, artistic taxidermy is still more recent, so much 
so that there be some who, like Polonius, swear we use no art at 
all. But if he who transfers to canvas an animal’s form, or 
carves it in the enduring stone, is an artist, I think that he who 
evolves from a shapeless skin a creature having the semblance of 
life is entitled to be called an artist also. And that taxidermy is 
artistic which preserves not merely the form, but catches the 
spirit also, or, in the case of birds, reveals their beauties to the 
best advantage. At first art was limited to a mere copying of 
objects, but as it progressed it ceased to be merely registrative 
in character, and the artist strove to embody his thoughts and 
feelings in his work, and to make the canvas or marble expres- 
sive of his ideas. Now this is something taxidermy cannot do, 
for although in some of its branches it is capable of caricaturing 
to a certain extent, it is spicily speaking the art preservative. 
The taxidermist cannot group his animals into pictures placed 
under ideal conditions of light and shade, but must depend for 
his success on the skilful rendering of the animals themselves. 
What he ean do is to show them in their varying moods, to teach 
us how they look when trtnquil and pleased, how when alarmed 
or angry, and to do this properly is a task not far removed from 
that of the sculptor. If, then, the aim of the taxidermist is to 
hold the mirror up to nature, and faithfully reproduce the forms 
and expressions of animals, his art should not be treated as an 
easy one, or one of but little value. As the artist makes it pos- 
sible for us to see the beauties and grandeur of a landscape that 
we can never hope to behold for ourselves, so it is on the craft of 
the taxidermist that we must rely for our ideas of most animals, 
and on the amount of his skill depends the correctness of our 
impressions. Man is a great destroyer, and our wild animals, 
and especially the larger ones, are being rapidly civilized from 
the face of the earth. Sooner or later the time will come for 
