TAXIDERMY AS A DECORATIVE ART. 
65 
panels ; combinations of furniture, which include hall-racks, stools, 
easels, wall-pockets, &c., &c.; also, rugs, mats, fans, dusters, and 
pillows, are some of the principal articles manufactured. 
In connection with the subject of care of articles of this kind, 
I wish to make a few statements, as it has a very important influ- 
ence on the success of such articles. 
There is a prevailing idea that feathers and hair are liable to 
the attacks of moths, dust, and other destroying agencies. I 
want to say for the beneflt of those who are prejudiced against 
the objects that taxidermists deal in, that this is not entirely 
true. This opinion is erroneous to a great extent. My personal 
experience has been very different. I have been actively engaged 
in the profession of taxidermy for about fifteen years, and during 
that time I have mounted and prepared several thousand speci- 
mens, principally birds, both dried and fresh skins. Most of 
them have been for the cabinet, and I believe that out of this 
large number I have lost by the direct ravages of insect vermin 
not more than a dozen specimens. 
What is the cause of this favorable result ? Simply this, that 
I properly preserved my specimens with curatives. And I as- 
sert that if a specimen — be it either mammal or bird — is carefully 
and properly preserved, the experience of every careful taxider- 
mist will present as good a result. Now, a word as to the ob- 
jections generally raised by the skeptical. They say the poisons 
used are pernicious. This is not altogether true. First, poisons 
that throw off pernicious gases are always avoided when neces- 
sary and other equally efficient agents employed. Some taxider- 
mists employ preservatives that would not hurt a mouse if a 
quantity was eaten. I do not intend to scoff at the honest opin- 
ions of honest people in relation to pernicious agencies being 
introduced into their homes. 
I am myself a zealous disciple of hygienic laws, and would 
cast every objectionable agent from any threshold sooner than 
jeopardize the health of a home or community. I would rather 
live with five hundred specimens of natural history in my sleeping 
apartment sooner than indulge in some of the vicious customs of 
many of the most painstaking people. The pernicious effect 
resulting from the introduction of specimens of natural history 
