Stránka:roll 1931.djvu/268

252 Woodcraft Birch Bark Roll Taxidermy IHH7 IIDD:r By Ernest THOMPSON SETON There are two ways of preserving a bird: (a) By making a skin. (b) By mounting the bird. Mounting is such a difficult and special operation that it is better not to offer directions in the brief space of this Manual. Making a skin is removing and preserving the skin in such a way that it may always serve to show what the bird’s plu- mage is like. Most naturalists prefer to keep their speci- mens as skins, not only because it is easier and cheaper to do so, but because they take up less room, and the skin may be properly mounted at any later time. These are the tools and materials used in making a skin: A sharp knife, a pair of stout, short scissors, and a pair of small forceps. For materials, you will need cotton wool, needle and thread, arsenical soap (some naturalists prefer dry white arsenic), and cornmeal (or fine hardwood sawdust). Some plaster of paris and benzine will also be required if the specimen is soiled with grease. Arsenical soap can be bought of a taxidermist, or made by the following recipe: White soap ................-. 1 |b. Arsenic ........ ee eee ee ee eee I ¢ Salts of tartar..... eee eee 8 oz. Spirits of camphor............ 4 “ Powdered chalk .............. 2 * Shred the soap into a tin can, and add as little water as will dissolve it, stirring gently over a slow fire. When well dissolved, add the chalk and salts of tartar, and mix thor- oughly. Take it off the fire and add the arsenic slowly, stir- ring meanwhile. Last, add the spirits of camphor, and mix the whole. Remember, the mixture thus made is a DEADLY Porson. In using, the soap should be worked up into a good lather, and applied to the skin with a brush. The hardest birds to begin on are the very large ones; and the next hardest, perhaps, are the very small ones. The