HINTS ON TAXIDERMY. 
Equipment for the travelling collector. — The travelling collector should 
equip himself with a double-barrelled gun (and a rifle when large animals 
are sought for), ammunition, including shot for small birds and mammals 
(numbers 2, 6, 8 and 10, — the latter should never be omitted) ; dissecting 
instruments, scissors, needles and thread, preservative drugs and prepa¬ 
rations, and alcohol about 80 per cent, in strength; tin cans of various 
sizes for containing alcoholic specimens, since glass bottles and jars are 
liable to be broken during transportation ; cotton and tow for stuffing the 
skins of birds and mammals; fishing lines and hooks, casting net, a seine 
for catching fishes in small streams, the two ends of which should be 
secured to long wooden handles, which are held in the hands of two 
persons upon opposite banks; in this position it can be drawn both up 
and down the stream. He should also carry with him a geological ham¬ 
mer and steel chisels for collecting fossils and rock specimens, and small 
pocket vials and cork-lined boxes for insects. 
Preservatives. — Common powdered arsenic should be employed for skins 
to be mounted at once, instead of arsenical soap, as it has a tendency to 
dry them quickly. It may be applied dry, or mixed with alcohol until it 
is of the consistency of syrup; in the former case it should be dusted 
upon the skin by means of a small sieve; in the latter it is necessary to 
apply it with a brush. Arsenical soap should be used only upon skins 
which are intended to be kept for a long time before being mounted. It 
is composed of the following ipgredients : powdered arsenic ^ lb., camphor 
li lbs., salts of tartar 3 oz., powdered lime 1 oz., bar soap £ lb. 
The soap should be cut into very fine slices, put into a tin dish with 
warm water, and stirred over a moderate fire until thoroughly dissolved? 
the powdered lime and salts" 1 of tartar should then be added and mixed 
with the soap. The preparation should next be removed from the fire, 
the powdered arsenic, and lastly the camphor (powdered and dissolved in 
a little alcohol) added, stirring the mixture all the while. The whole 
should have the consistency of flour paste; if it be too thick add a little 
water, taking care not to hold it over the fire after the camphor has been 
added, as heat will cause the latter to evaporate speedily. After cooling 
it place it in a jar with the brush passing through the stopper, and label 
the jar “poison.” In extreme cases when the above preparations cannot 
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