ON PRESERVINCx BIRDS. 
305 
Furs of animals, immersed in this solution, will Preserving 
retain their pristine brightness and durability in- 
any climate. 
Take the finest curled feather from a lady’s head, 
dip it in the solution, and shake it gently till it be 
dry; you will find that the spirit will fly off in a 
few minutes, not a curl in the feather will be injured, 
and the sublimate will preserve it from the depreda¬ 
tion of the insect. 
Perhaps it may be satisfactory to add here, that, 
some years ago, I did a bird upon this plan in 
Demerara. It remained there two years. It was 
then conveyed to England, where it staid five 
months, and returned to Demerara. After being 
four years more there, it was conveyed back again 
through the West Indies to England, where it has 
now been near five years, unfaded and unchanged. 
On reflecting that this bird has been twice in the 
temperate and torrid zone, and remained some years 
in the hot and humid climate of Demerara, only six 
degrees from the line, and where almost every thing 
becomes a prey to the insect, and that it is still as 
sound and bright as when it was first done, it will 
not be thought extravagant to surmise, that this 
specimen will retain its pristine form and colours 
for years after the hand that stuffed it has mouldered 
into dust. 
I have shown this art to the naturalists in Brazil, 
Cayenne, Demerara, Oroonoque, and Rome, and 
to the royal cabinets of Turin and Florence. A 
severe accident prevented me from communicating 
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