THE NATURALISTS^ COMPANION. 
93 
TAXIDERMY, 
A serial on preparing and preserving animals, birds, 
reptiles, insects, etc , e'tc. 
VALPE oi STKA.M ix TAXIDERMY 
FKO.M HANDOAI NOTES. 
Steam is generaiiy used to soEen the 
wings of birds so tliey can lie spread, 
or the feet that they may be opened or 
elosed. The positions of various i)or- 
tions of dried skins or mounted speci¬ 
mens, may, to a limited extent, be 
changed by its use. Eor all of the 
above uses it is valuable, insoniucli as 
it saves time. The steam does its work 
(liiickl}', l)ut a few seconds’ exposure 
lieing necessajy ; while the slower 
metliod of wet cotton, cloths, or sand, 
recpiires several hours, according to 
the nature of the specimens. Another 
advantage in favor of the former is, 
that while Die later keeps the specimens 
soft for a considerable time, steam 
dries away almost immediately. 
It is also very valuable for restoring 
crumpled or bent feathers (not broken) 
to their original shape, though it will 
not interlace the webs if parted. IMany 
taxidermists have doubtless tried 
steaming skins they intended to mount, 
but such as we have heard from were 
not pleased with the result. 
Tlie fact that steam will shrink skin 
may not be new, but we think its prac¬ 
tical! use in taxidermy has but recent¬ 
ly been discovered, and that Mr. G. M. 
(tray, in our enpiloy, has that honor. 
It was a pureh' accidental discovery, 
but, like many others, will come under 
—“necessity is the mother of invention” 
The facts of the case are as follows; 
We had mounted a small black and 
tan dog, the skin of which stretched so 
badly that we stutted it a tritle to full, 
to dis[)ose of the wrinkles. The owner 
was not satished, and wanted it made 
smaller. We agreed to do what we 
couhl to I'cmc'dy theti'oublc, and tiii’ii- 
(‘d the Job ovei' to Mi'. Gray. He tried 
every conccuvabh' way to make it small¬ 
er, but all to no purpose. The tea¬ 
kettle was steaming meri'ily. and as a 
last resort, he thrust the dog into th(‘ 
volume of steam pouring from the noscN 
then rulibed it down with his hand. 
After doing this a few times, to his 
surprise and [ileasure, he saw the de- 
si I'ed object was being attained, and a 
few moments later had the satisfaction 
of seeing the dog reduced all over to 
the recpiired size. The ownei' also, 
was pleased. 
AYe next experimented on a Roseate 
Spoonbill which had been mounted for 
live years, and of which the naked 
throat was badly wrinkled. This also 
was a success. 
Still another trial was made, this 
time on a rattle-snake, that had the 
skin so badly distended in places that 
some ])arts had to be filled much too 
full. These jiarts were worked down 
to lie uniform with the rest. The 
snake wnis next coiled and all of the 
kinks steamed out. 
Since then we have made use of 
steam constantly, and keep the kettle 
ready to boil at nearly all times. M^e 
should be ])leased to hear the results 
of experiments by others. 
The remains of a mammoth wei’e re¬ 
cently discovered near Geneva, N. Y. 
The meteor wdiich recently fell near 
Owmtonna, IMinn., has been blasted 
Avith dynamite, and the fragments are 
being sent to various parts of the 
country.— (Aiicago J ouiixal. 
A curious incident occurred in the 
Paraite (diiirch, Shorncliffe, England, 
on a recent Sunday. It wnis found that 
the (dinrch wnis besieged b}" various 
kinds of iiirds, principally SAvallow\s. 
Every effort wms made to dislodge them, 
but wdthout effect, and at last some 
soldiers w^ere obliged to hre a A'olley of 
blank cartridges, wbiich comi)letely 
I'outed them. 
