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purely mechanical means, and salting in the field and subsequent degreas- 
ing in the laboratory or shop are now considered the only satisfactory 
means of handling them. Though the salting process is most suited for 
water birds, it may also be used for other large birds. 
Rub fairly fine table salt into the whole inside of the fresh skin, 
including head, legs, and inside of the wings, forcing as much salt as pos- 
sible into the skull and around the base of the bill, and fold the skin 
lengthwise with the flesh sides in contact. If the skin is large and rather 
damp, it is well to salt and leave it open to dry a bit before folding up. 
The salted skins should be kept by themselves, but may be packed like 
sardines and in cool climates will come through in good shape and may 
be cleaned and made up into good skins even several months later. It is 
advisable, in order to get the best results, to degrease and make up the 
salted skins as soon as practicable. This method has been used with 
success for several years by collectors for the National Museum of Canada, 
with some improvements in relaxing and making up skins suggested by 
Huber’s experiments (1930). 
Relaxing and Making up Salted Skins 
The salted skins are immersed in a bucket of water for a few hours 
to relax them thoroughly, then held under a faucet of running water to 
wash out all the salt from skin and feathers. It is important to wash out 
all the salt or the feathers will remain dull or encrusted. When the skin 
is soft enough to turn inside out, scrape off all the fat with knife or 
scraper, as described in preceding pages. When the skin is apparently 
free of fat immerse it in a solution made in the following proportions: 
Gasoline, 2 gallons. 
Alcohol, 1 pint. 
Spirits of turpentine, 4 ounces. 
Huber adds in letter (1931): 
“ The skins either when they come off the bird or mammal or come out of the 
soaking in water are practically impervious to gasoline, therefore, by using a small 
amount of alcohol, this mixes with the water in the skin and allows the gasoline to 
penetrate and removes the grease. The turpentine also assists the gasoline in removing 
grease, but the main use of the turpentine is to restore to the hair or feathers the 
iridescence often found in them, for I found, for instance, in wood ducks degreased 
without the turpentine that the feathers had rather a dead look, while those degreased 
with this small amount of turpentine had their full iridescent effect.” 
Immerse in this solution for 24 hours, then squeeze out carefully 
with the hands until as much of the grease as possible is removed. The 
first soaking will bring most of the grease to the surface and a second 
immersion and thorough rinsing in a fresh solution is necessary. These 
solutions can be used until they become laden with grease when they should 
be thrown away and a fresh solution employed. 
Huber’s (1930) method of drying the feathers is by shaking the skins 
in a tight box or revolving drum with a quantity of hardwood sawdust, 
preferably maple sawdust. Never use oak sawdust as it will stain the 
feathers. Take out the sawdust and put in fresh sawdust until the feathers 
are comparatively dry and fluffy, after which the sawdust is shaken and 
blown out. Our museum taxidermists have found difficulty in removing 
sawdust without disturbing the sheen of the feathers, and find it better 
to dry the skins in front of a strong electric fan. Huber suggests that a 
