. The Taxidermist's guide : a complete instructor in the art of collecting, preparing, mounting and preserving all kinds of animals, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects . and thread, and asharpener of some kind, to give your knife an occasional touch,you are prepared, so far as implements go. Then provide your-self with annealed iron wire of various sizes; some you may buyready for use, some not ; but you can anneal it yourself by mak-ing it red hot in the fire, and letting it cool in the air. Commonhemp is the next article, cotton wadding, pounded whitening, andpounded alum, or chloride of li
. The Taxidermist's guide : a complete instructor in the art of collecting, preparing, mounting and preserving all kinds of animals, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects . and thread, and asharpener of some kind, to give your knife an occasional touch,you are prepared, so far as implements go. Then provide your-self with annealed iron wire of various sizes; some you may buyready for use, some not ; but you can anneal it yourself by mak-ing it red hot in the fire, and letting it cool in the air. Commonhemp is the next article, cotton wadding, pounded whitening, andpounded alum, or chloride of lime; as to the poisons which areused, they will be spoken of by and by. You should also have acommon bradawl or two, and some pieces of quarter-inch pinewhereon to stand the specimens when preserved, if to be placedas walking on a plane ; if not, some small pieces of twigs or smallbranches of trees should be kept ready for use, of various sizes 32 the taxidermists guide. according to the size of the bird; something of the form of Fig. , or common laurel cut in December, will be found toanswer best, but this must be regulated by fancy and the require- Fig. BRANCH FOR MOUNTING A BIRD. ments of the case ; oak boughs are sometimes of a good shape. The best time for preserving specimens is in Spring, becausethen the cock birds are in the best feather, and the weather is nottoo warm. In mild weather three days is a good time to keep abird, as then the skin will part from the flesh easily. If a speci-men has bled much over the feathers, so as to damage them,wash them carefully but thoroughly with warm water and asponge, and immediately cover them with pounded whitening,which will adhere to them. Dry it as it hangs upon them slowlybefore the tire, and then triturating the hardened lumps gentlybetween the fingers, the feathers will come out almost as clean asever. To test wiiether the specimen is too decomposed to skin,try the feathers about the auriculars, and just above the
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