COMMON FAULTS IN THE MOUNTING OF QUADRUPEDS. 71 
buffalo, and moose lean very heavily to either one side or the 
other, and there is no remedy. Those specimens have been in 
that condition almost since the date of their mounting, and it 
may be several years before they can be replaced. They stand 
as a monument to the bad judgment of the taxidermists v^ho are 
responsible for them, and who they are I am glad to say I do 
not know,- neither do I wish to be informed. 
Every animal that is mounted should be so solidly put together 
in every way that it will stand the test of time. The supports 
should be too firm rather than too weak. The filling should be 
so firm that it cannot shrink away from the skin in a few years 
and leave the animal a series of ridges and hollows, as sometimes 
happens. If the specimen is stuffed hard and smoothly and is 
firmly supported it will stand a century, and still look well. 
The members of this Society have it in their power to develop 
an American school of taxidermy which shall in every point so 
completely surpass, the highest development of the art in Europe 
as to be beyond all comparison. We may safely challenge the 
taxidermists of Europe to competition even now. 
In painting and sculpture American art cannot as yet be com- 
pared with the European schools, but in taxidermy, the new art, 
we shall soon lead the world, if we cannot even now. If the 
museums of this country will give us the support we are striving 
to deserve at their hands, we will make their animal collections 
the most attractive in existence. 
• We alone cannot work a complete revolution in our art, how- 
ever hard we may study and work and experiment. If those 
who are, or who should be our patrons, are willing to second our 
efforts, the future of the art in America is assured. If we are 
not to receive the substantial support which our work recpiires 
in order to survive and continue successfully, it will be in order 
to consider the advisability of abandoning the profession entirely. 
