THE NATURALISTS’ COMPANION. 
45 
I taking care not to penetrate so 
deep as to cut the skin which covers 
the intestines. As the skinning is 
proceeded with flour should be dus- 
j ted on the flesh to keep the 
j feathers from sticking to it. The 
skin can now easily be separated 
from the sides by the use of the 
scalpel. Press the thighs inward 
and pull the skin down tar enough 
to enable you to separate the legs 
from the body at the knee joint. 
The skin is pulled down as far as 
the rump, and severed from it close 
to the roots of the tail, and in such a 
manner as not to injure the feathers. 
The skin is pulled up till the wings 
are reached, the bones ot which are 
severed at the shoulder joints; it is 
then drawn up until the back of 
the skull is laid bare (in some birds, 
such as woodpeckers, the skin can¬ 
not be drawn over the head on ac¬ 
count of the very small neck, in 
this case an incision is made in the 
back of the neck), when the verte¬ 
brae of the neck are separated from 
the head close to the skull; and the 
whole body is now free from the 
skin. You now proceed to remove 
the brains by making a hole in the 
back ot the skull. The eyes must 
then be carefully taken out, and all 
flushy matter removed from the 
head, especially under the lower 
mandible. In skinning the nebk 
and head, great care must be taken 
not to enlarge the opening of the 
ears, and not to mjure the eyelids. 
The flesh from the wings, legs and 
rump must then be carefully remov¬ 
ed with the scalpel (cutting knife), 
and the cavities of the skull filled 
with cotton or tow. The whole in¬ 
side of the skin, head, etc., must be 
thoroughly dusted with arsenic or 
arsenical soap. Now, reader, we 
have carried you nearly through 
the mysterious art of taxidermy; 
one more lesson and you will be 
competent for the regular course, 
and after that we will give you a 
thorough course in the different 
branches of the art, including in¬ 
structions in preparing insects, rep¬ 
tiles, eggs, etc. This serial will 
probably continue for a year or so. 
If any of our readers get mixed up 
in their work they should inform 
us, and we will cheerfully explain 
the way out ot their trouble. 
PICK- UPS, 
Advertisers, give us an ad.,you'll 
never regret it. 
We wish to exchange ads. with 
every paper published. 
Two good stamp papers^—Empire 
State Philatelist and Stamp World. 
The Agassiz Journal improves 
with every issue. 
The Hermes is A No, 1 .advertis¬ 
ing medium. 
Our readers must pardon us in 
the lateness of this month’s issue. 
We will try to catch up soon. 
The Hoosier Naturalist is before 
us in all its glory. No wonder it 
succeeds, with two such men as 
Jones and Trouslot at the wheel. 
Remember, readers, we will print 
you papers, price-lists, circulars, en¬ 
velopes, etc., cheaper than any other 
printer. Write us for an estimate 
on any work. ^Satisfaction guaran¬ 
teed. 
Prof. Nowry,in hunting the grebe, 
noticed a nesting bird pushing its 
floating nest from the shore, sitting 
upon its side and paddling the nurs¬ 
ery that contained its eggs —Agassiz 
Journal. 
