54 
SOO. OF AM. TAXIDERMISTS, ANNUAL REPORT. 
Can we but live long enough we shall see our American museums 
leading those of the Old World in the quality of their material. 
And, gentlemen, I am proud to say that the men who are doing 
this good work are almost without exception members of this 
Society. 
As taxidermy is limited in its picturesque qualities, so it is re- 
stricted in its availability for decorative purposes. This is largely 
owing to the injury which mounted animals receive if they are 
handled, and the consequent difficulty of subjecting them to the 
. same treatment as other materials used for decoration. We must 
carefully distinguish between taxidermic work that is decorative 
in itself and that which is simply accessory in character. In the 
case of a finely mounted head attached to a rug the head is 
merely an adjunct to the rug, enhancing its beauty. A well 
mounted head on an appropriate shield is an example of taxi- 
dermy decorative in itself. Hot that I by any means object to 
the head being on the rug ; only it must be considered as a 
secondary, and not as the leading motive. If we make use of 
elaborate frames and mountings or finely painted backgrounds, 
the taxidermic portion is subordinated, and becomes merely a 
portion of a pleasing whole. 
A screen in which the taxidermist’s work is limited to a few 
small birds is a pleasing object; but remove the birds, and it is 
handsome still ; whereas if they formed the decorative part their 
absence would destroy the beauty of the piece. Backgrounds 
should be suggestive in their nature rather than imitative, and 
not of such character that we would care to preserve them for 
their own sake. Otherwise we are apt to overlook the animals 
for the sake of their surroundings. For decorative purposes we 
must for the most part rely on the graceful forms and glowing 
colors of birds, and the artistic treatment of these consists, like 
the skill of the portrait painter, in catching their very best ex- 
pression and most appropriate pose. Ninety-nine times out of a 
hundred an Eagle has nothing noble about him, and he who 
catches and renders aright the hundredth expression and makes 
the bird to live again, with flashing eyes and tense muscles, is 
worthy the name of artist. The main scope, then, of the taxi- • 
dermist’s art lies in faithfully reproducing the expressions of 
