Practical Taxidermy Part 7

No. 5.--Waterton's Solution of Corrosive Sublimate.

To a wine-bottleful of spirits of wine add a large teaspoonful of corrosive sublimate; in twelve hours draw it off into a clean bottle, dip a black feather into the solution, and if, on drying, a whiteness is left on the feather, add a little more alcohol.

Care must be taken not to handle the bird more than absolutely necessary after this operation, for reasons which I will give below when speaking of the following recipe, which I have extracted from a little book professedly written by a well-known taxidermist, though I believe he knew nothing at all about it until it was published.

The preparation referred to, which should be labelled "Dangerous! Not to be used!" is as follows:

No. 6.--Gardner's Preservative.

a.r.s.enic, 6 oz.

Camphor, 1 oz.

Corrosive sublimate, 3 oz.

Spirits of wine, 0.5 pint.

Yellow soap, 2 oz.

"Put all these ingredients in a pipkin, which place over a slow fire, stirring the mixture briskly till the several parts are dissolved and form one h.o.m.ogeneous ma.s.s. This may then be poured into a wide-mouthed bottle and allowed to stand till quite cold, when it will be ready for use. Of course, these quant.i.ties may be increased or decreased according to the size of the animal to be operated on; but the proportions here given must be preserved."

Did it ever occur to the gifted author of this that stirring camphor and spirits of wine briskly over a slow fire would be as quick a way as could be invented of summoning the fire brigade; also, that nine ounces of poison to eleven ounces of other ingredients, well worked into the hands at different times, as it must be, when handling, or returning skins painted with it, would not tend to lengthen the life of the learner? Corrosive sublimate being a mercurial preparation--i.e, bichloride of mercury--I ask any chemist amongst my readers what effect three ounces of that dangerous preparation, six ounces of a.r.s.enic, yellow soap, and spirits of wine would have upon the const.i.tution? Would it not be readily absorbed through the hands into the system? and next comes salivation, and then--the last scene of all!

Yet another little treat for the amateur desirous of committing suicide under the transparent pretence of studying taxidermy. This, which I have culled from the pages of "Maunders' Treasury of Natural History," is, by a fine irony, ent.i.tled Bullock's "Preservative"

Powder:

No. 7.--Bullock's Preservative Powder.

a.r.s.enic, 1 lb.

Camphor, 0.5 lb.

Burnt alum, 1 lb.

Tincture of musk, 12 oz.

Tanners' bark 2 lb.

"Mix the whole thoroughly, and after reducing it to a powder pa.s.s it through a sieve. Keep in close tin canisters. This powder is more particularly adapted to fill up incisions made in the naked parts of quadrupeds and the skulls of large birds. It has been strongly recommended to us, but, being perfectly satisfied with our own, we have never tried it."

With regard to the foregoing composition I have a few words to say, which are these, that the reason I have copied it is that I have met with it in more books than one, and I wish therefore to call special attention to it, that it may be labelled "Dangerous," and that anyone using it will do so at his peril. Fancy shaking a.r.s.enic up in a sieve, and afterwards dusting it in con amore! Really, if people will use poisons, and others put themselves to considerable pains to invent the most deadly compounds for them, is it not criminal carelessness that such things should be published without a word of warning as to their character or effects?

Powders, as a rule, being made of astringents, dry the skin too quickly (especially if a bird is being operated on) to perfectly shape the specimen. As they are useful, however, to fill up and quickly dry cavities in the wings, and such like, of large birds, etc, and in some cases even to prepare a skin for future stuffing, I will give a powder of my own composition, the chief point of merit of which consists in its being harmless to the user, and also that it has been tried on a large bird's skin, which it so effectually preserved and toughened that, eighteen months afterwards, it was relaxed and stuffed up better than the usual run of made skins:

No. 8.--Browne's Preservative Powder.

Pure tannin, 1 oz.

Red pepper, 1 oz.

Camphor, 1 oz.

Burnt alum, 8 oz.

Pound and thoroughly mix, and keep in stoppered bottles or canisters.

The foregoing preparation, though perfectly efficient for small mammals (say up to squirrel size) and for birds, is not sufficiently strong to penetrate the skin and thoroughly fix the hair of the larger mammals. For this purpose the older taxidermists used a wash or powder, composed of equal parts of alum and nitre (saltpetre). This had the double disadvantage of rendering the specimen cured by its aid almost dripping with humidity in damp weather, and efflorescing with the double salts around the eyes and mouth in dry weather. Alum alone was frequently used by those unaware of its peculiar property of deliquescing in heat as well as in humidity.

I have, I believe, at last succeeded in arranging the proper proportions, and in subst.i.tuting, for the worse than useless crude alum, the alum ustum or burnt alum, which is not affected by moisture (at least to any appreciable extent). The proportions are:

No. 9.--Browne's Preservative Powder for Skins of Mammals.

Burnt alum, 1 lb.

Saltpetre, 0.25 lb.

Pound and thoroughly mix.

This, well rubbed into the skin and fleshy parts of mammals, is a certain and thoroughly trustworthy cure, and will penetrate through skin a quarter of an inch or more thick, fixing the hair or fur in a most admirable manner, and has the double advantage of being harmless to the person using it, and beneficial even if it gets on the outside of the skin of the specimen; indeed, it should be rubbed in on the fur side if the specimen is at all "high" when brought in. In all cases it is a good plan to thoroughly rub the outside of the ears, eyelids, nose, and lips, with this composition before skinning. I consider this the greatest boon to the animal preserver ever invented, and those to whom I have imparted the formula are loud in its praise, as witness the dozens of letters I have received from all parts during the last seven years.

If the proportions given are adhered to, no crystallisation of salts will take place around the eyes and mouth. Should this, however, happen from any cause, a stiff brush dipped in olive oil may be used to remove it and prevent its reappearance.

After the mammal is stuffed and mounted, it may be washed over with Waterton's Solution (previously given) or the following, which ought to preserve the specimen from the attacks of insects:

No. 10.--Preservative Wash.

Corrosive sublimate, 1 oz.

Tincture of camphor (or musk), 1 oz.

Methylated spirits, 1 quart. 1 oz.

This solution must be kept in a bottle, carefully labelled "Poison,"

and when used is not to be touched with the hands, but laid on with a brush.

It constantly happens that parts of the bodies of animals--notably their fore and hind limbs, and their heads even--are required to be preserved for some considerable time for purposes of modelling their contour or muscles; it then becomes necessary to find some preparation which will keep large pieces of flesh sufficiently sweet and firm to model from. For the first edition, I had written to a scientific friend as to the preparations now in use at the various hospitals for the preservation of subjects, etc, to which he answered:

"As far as I can glean from various sources, the medical profession has only within the last few years attempted to preserve whole bodies.

Parts have, of course, been preserved in alcohol of some kind until they have literally crumbled away. At St. George's Hospital they use a preservative fluid, invented by the hospital porter (dissecting-room porter). The subjects are kept in a slate tank filled with the fluid.

To show the efficiency of this fluid, I might mention that the first subject arrived much decomposed some months since, but is now quite fresh and sweet. The muscles inevitably lose a little of their colour in the preparation, which is all the change as yet observed. At Guy's is used a preparation of glycerine and a.r.s.enic, but at the present moment I do not recollect the exact proportions. At King's College, the method invented by Sterling, of Edinburgh, is used. All other hospitals have the old methods in vogue, such as preparations of a.r.s.enic."

Since then, I have had occasion to go more deeply into the subject and have used some of the formulae which follow, viz, rectified spirits, Moeller's Solution, and various preparations of lime.

Messrs. Medlock and Bailey's bisulphite of lime (calcium) is most highly recommended by a.n.a.lytical experts for preserving large joints of meat and fish; and, indeed, the experiments conducted under scientific and Government supervision have abundantly proved its value. Its price is not great. For large joints the following is the formula:

No. 11.--Messrs. Medlock and Bailey's Formula.

Bisulphite of lime, 1 gall.