How to Stuff Birds and Animals

ID

ent this, the body should be pricked with the triangular awl and the contents pressed out; it should then be stuffed with very fine carded cotton or down, which can be pushed in by a pricker, blunted a little at the point. When properly distended, the sma

e solution of corrosive sublimate, and in an hour after with a thin coating of a very weak white-spirit varnish; for this purpose, take a tea-spoonful of the ordinary white-spirit or elastic varnish, and add to it two tea-spoonfuls of spirit of

"The best preserved specimens that I have seen are those where the contents of the abdomen have been tak

lowing observations on th

e; those with gibbous bodies soon after discharged a very considerable quantity of viscid matter, and therewith all their bea

in the chip-box wherein it was confined, and was, therefore, thrown aside as useless; a month or more after that time I observed that such parts of the skin as had dried against the inside of the box retained the original b

by means of a blow-pipe, you may preserve them tolerably well; you must clean them on the inside no more than is sufficient to

er being sent home in spirits, which rivaled any which have been preserved in a recent state. The animals of this class are particularly liable to the attacks of insects, particularly in warm countries, on which account the mode of transp

s class, see the directio

SE

sting class of beings, whose forms are infinitely diversified, and w

pparatus must be provided, not only to enable us to secu

out the sixth of an inch in thickness, which should be fixed down with very strong paste, made according to our recipe; and also some wire nails, to prevent it from springing. Over the cork should be pasted white paper. The box should be anointed inside with oil of petrol

nt sizes, corresponding with the size of the insect. The pins used

in diameter, must also be procured, and these must be three-fo

tion, of tin. It must be of an oblong-oval shape, rounded at the ends, for the convenience of the pocket. It should be from eight to ten inches long, four to five inches wide, and two and a half to three inches d

r catching Moths. The net-rods should be made of hickory, beech, hazel, or holly; they ought to be five feet in length, quite round, smooth, and tapering to an obtuse point; the oblique cross-piece at the point should be of cane, and fitted into the angular ferule; the rod must b

so as to form a kind of hinge; this must be bound round the welting, and divided in the middle, so as to prevent the cross pieces from slipping over each other; it shows about four inches of the gauze

the smallest insect cannot escape. It may be also applied in catching Coleopterous Insects, which are never on the wing, as well as Caterpillars. When used for this purpose the Entomologist must hol

k. An umbrella reversed has frequently been used for the same purpose. Bose, the celebrated naturalist

also be successfully used in sweeping amongst grass and low herbage, for Coleopterous Insects, and others which are generally to be found in such situations. The socket for the h

a cork exactly fitted to it, in the center of which must be inserted a small quill, to afford air, and inserted about an inch beyond the cork, to prevent the i

used for collecting the pupae of Lepidopterous Insects, at the roots and in the clefts of the bark of trees; and also for pulling off the bark,

dle. A straight needle is used for extending the parts of insects; at one end of the handle is the needle, and at the other a camel's hair pencil, which is used for removing any dirt or d

o prevent them from warping. They are covered with cork, which must be perfectly smooth on the surface, with white paper pasted over it. Several boards will be

hinges, and their centers covered with fine gauze, for the free passage of air; the sides should have small pieces of wood projecting from them, for the boards to rest on; which

ached to the butterfly and other insects. They are pinned down on the inse

GS OF

of preserving them when they appeared to be giving way. He made a perforation within them with a fine needle, pressed out

, OR CATE

ersion in spirit of wine. They may be retained for a lo

out the contents of the abdomen, and then filled the skin with fine dry sand, and brought the animal to its natural circumference. It is then exposed to the air to dry, and

ator must blow through this pipe while he keeps turning the skin slowly round over a charcoal fire; the skin soon becomes hardened, and, after being

hem with colored wax

PU

therefore ready for a cabinet, without any preparation whatever. But if the animal has not quitted its envelope, it will be necessary either to drop the P

BREEDING

breadth, four deep, and one foot in height. It is not proper to place within a cage more than one species of Caterpillar, as many of them prey upon each other. Indeed, animals of the same species

ce, because many insects change into the Pupa condition under the earth; so that it would require to be somewhat moist, to prevent the destruction of the animal. The shell or case of the Pupa also becomes hard, if the earth is no

ccupy much time in changing the food, and paying due attention to them. To obviate this, some persons having large breeding cages, with a variety of food in them, which m

y with tin, and a number of very minute holes be bored through the sides and bottom. Put into this box a quantity of earth, replete with such vegetables as the Caterpillars subsist on, and sink it into a

and at the same time admits of having another of the same size, being placed above the top of it, as the collection increases, without injuring the uniformity, and thus the drawers may be augmented to any extent.

uld be pasted on its surface. The black surface of the cork should be rasped down to a smooth surface. After having reduced the slips to about three quarters of an inch in thickness, the darkest, or worst side of the slip should be glued down to a sheet of brown, or cartridge paper; this should be laid on a deal board, about three feet in length, and the width required for a drawer or box; a few fine nails, or brads, must be driven through each piece of cork to keep it firm and in its place until the glue be dried; by this means, sheets of cork may be formed the si

e insect is not perfectly dry before it is placed in the cabinet. Should an insect be covered with mold, it can be washed off with a camel's-hair

they are infested. In which case they must be immediately taken out and rubbed clean with a fine camel's-hair pencil, and well imbued with the solution of corrosive sublimate, and then placed near a fire, taking care,