Taxidermy(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：Pray, Leon L.

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Taxidermy试读：

The art of taxidermy, with its many methods of application, has furnished subject-matter for numerous books, most of these treating the subject in exhaustive style, being written primarily for students who desire to take up the work as a profession. It is the present author's purpose to set forth herein a series of practical methods suited to the needs of the sportsman-amateur who desires personally to preserve trophies and specimens taken on days spent afield with gun or rod.

The lover of field and gun may spend many fascinating hours at his bench, preparing, setting up, and finishing specimens of his own taking. Besides, the pursuit of this art will afford an amount of remuneration to the amateur who takes it up in a commercial way, doing work for others who have neither the time nor inclination for preparing their own specimens.

The chief requisites for the beginner in taxidermy are joy in working out detail and a moderate amount of patience.

As suitable tools are the primary consideration in contemplating any work in taxidermy, a simple list follows. In this list no heavier work than the mounting of a Virginia deer head is dealt with. This outfit will be found practical for general light use:

A pocket-knife, one or two small scalpels, a kitchen paring-knife, an oil stone and can of oil, a hand drill, a fine fur-comb, one bone scraper, one small skin-scraper, one pair tinners' shears, one pair five and one-half inch diagonal wire cutters, one pair (same length) Bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, one pair small scissors, two or three assorted flat files, one hollow handle tool holder with tools and little saw, one good hand-saw, one hack-saw, one upholsterer's regulator, one pair fine tweezers (such as jewelers use), one claw hammer, an assortment of round and furriers' needles, one or two darning needles, a sack needle, and an assortment of artists' small bristle and sable brushes (both round and flat).

Make your own stuffing rods, out of any size iron wire, by hammering flat one end of a suitable length, filing teeth into the flat face thus made, and then bending a loop handle on the other end. This type of rod is easily curved or straightened to suit every need.

Those not wishing to buy at once the complete outfit named above will find that they can do good small work to start on with the aid of a pocket-knife, a pair of scissors, a pair of Bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, needles and thread, cord, a pair of tweezers, a hammer and saw, and small drill set.

Suitable materials follow the tools in order.

Arsenic is needed for the preservation of all specimens against moths. This is most effective when used in solution, which is made as follows: First dampen the arsenic powder with alcohol to saturate it quickly, when water is added. Place the arsenic in a large metal pail and to one-half pound of the powder add two gallons of water. Boil hard and steady over a good fire until the arsenic is completely dissolved. Place the solution thus made in an earthenware jar with closed cover, plainly marked "Poison," and keep out of reach of children. Allow solution to cool before applying to skins. Do not use the pail that the solution was made in for anything else.

When using arsenic-water grease your hands with a little tallow, rubbing well under and around finger-nails and wiping the hands partially dry so that none of the grease will soil fur or feathers. This precaution will keep the arsenic from entering your skin.

Wash the hands with soap powder and a nail brush after work.

Apply arsenic-water with a brush, or a cotton-and-wire swab, to all inner surfaces of specimen skins.

Carbolic acid (best to procure U. S. P. pure crystals if possible) is needed for use in dilute form for relaxing dried skins. This prevents decay and does not injure the specimen skin. A few drops of the dissolved crystal to a quart of water is sufficient. Keep carefully labeled and in a safe place.

Following is a list of the materials needed for general light work:

A quantity of fine excelsior, fine tow and cotton batting, a quantity of various sizes of galvanized soft steel wire, an assortment of colored, enameled artificial eyes (procure a taxidermist's supply-house catalog and from this order your special tools and sizes and colors of eyes needed), a jar of liquid cement, dry glue (for melting up for papier-mache), dry paper pulp, plaster of paris, Venetian turpentine, boiled linseed oil, boracic acid, some refined beeswax, a little balsam-fir, white varnish, turpentine, alcohol, benzine and a student's palette of tube oil colors (such as vermilion, rose madder, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow middle, zinc white, cobalt blue, French ultramarine Blue, and Viridian).

Plastic compositions of papier-mache are essential, especially in mammal and game-head work, for properly finishing the details of ears, face, and feet of specimens after the body has been filled. These are applied partly as a last detail before mounting and partly after the figure is set up.

Compo. No. I is practical for all-around use. Take one-third hot melted glue and two-thirds flour paste (thick and thoroughly cooked). To this add a little boracic acid, a little arsenic powder, a very little of Venetian turpentine, a quantity of gray building-paper pulp (soak paper and squeeze and beat up even and then squeeze water out). To furnish a body to this mass, stir in dry white lead until middling thick. Beat the whole well together.

When carried so far this compo. is a powerful adhesive medium and may be employed to stick tanned deer scalps to mannikins, and ear skin of same to the lead cartilages.

Compo. No. II is No. I with fine plaster of paris added until of the consistency of modeling clay or a trifle stiffer. This makes it ready for filling ear butts, eye sockets, noses, and feet for modeling into permanent shape. Sets by drying.

Compo. No. III is for monkey faces, vulture heads, lizards, turtles, etc. This composition dries very slowly and must be touched up now and then while drying, to preserve the details without warping. When dry it is like stone and holds the skin firmly. Take gray paper-pulp, hot melted glue (quantity according to amount of compo. needed), a little boracic acid (to prevent decay of glue), boiled linseed oil (fifty per cent. less than glue), a little arsenic powder (to prevent dermestes from eating into work), and to this mass add whiting until desired stiffness for modeling under skin is obtained. Beat and rub to an even smoothness and stop adding whiting at point where compo. is thick but still very sticky. Rub some of the compo. into inner surface of skin to be finished with it or skin will not take hold of mannikin or compo. to stay.

After modeling is finished under the skin apply linseed oil on outside and repeat this application several times during the period of drying. Watch and remodel details if any distortion attends the drying process.

Fine fleshy wrinkles and skin details can be worked out with this compo. It will hold a thin raw skin where it is put, but is not practical under fur or feathers.

Compo. No. IV may be used with wire netting or rough board as a base for making earth bases, imitation rock stands, etc. Take one-third hot melted glue, two-thirds flour paste, a quantity of paper pulp, a small amount of boiled linseed oil, a very little of Venetian turpentine, boracic acid, and arsenic. Thicken to modeling consistency with plaster of paris, coloring by adding some dry raw umber or lamp black and burnt umber.

Surface the bases made of this compo. by pressing sand, gravel, or forest mold into the face and when dry shake off the loose material. Touch up with tube colors, as desired, and when this is dry apply a very thin varnish and turpentine finish to bring out a natural damp look.

A foreword as to care of mountable specimens in the field may save a great amount of cleaning of mussed skins in the shop.

All shot or bullet holes should be immediately plugged with cotton when specimens are taken. Take a little cotton along in your hunting coat for this purpose.

In birds plug also the mouth, nostrils, and vent to prevent escape of juices into plumage. A small sharpened twig will serve to place the plugs. Slip the bird head first into a paper cone for carrying.

Mussed or blood-stained specimens should not necessarily be discarded. Look them over first. Many such specimens may be cleaned very easily and come out in the finish as nearly perfect as others that appeared much better at the start.PREPARING AND MOUNTING A BIRDCHAPTER IIPREPARING AND MOUNTING A BIRD

With tools and materials assembled and table in readiness, we come to the real work and, in the order of things, will address the preparing and mounting of a fresh bird specimen. To many people of long experience in the art of taxidermy this task never ceases to be a delightful operation, one of the pleasantest of many interesting bits of work that may result from a day spent afield.

Figuratively, the specimen lies before us, upon the bench. Make it any native bird your fancy desires. The following notes will be found to cover the ground:

A pencil and a sheet of wrapping paper will first be brought into service. With these make outlines of the specimen, top and side views, laying the bird upon the paper and drawing the pencil around it while looking straight down upon it.

After the skinning, outline the body, top, and side views, upon same sheet, with position of shoulder joint, hip joint, knee, and tail marked in black spots.

This system of wrapping paper sketches will be found of great value in all work, from mounting a bird to setting up a deer head.Fig. 1.

To begin skinning, lay the bird upon a newspaper, head to left of you, on the bench. Have cornmeal handy. Part the belly and breast feathers up middle. With a scalpel make an incision (see Fig. 1) from within one inch of front end of breast bone back to a quarter-inch forward of the vent in large birds, and to the vent in small ones. Use care not to cut through abdominal wall, which is usually very thin and may easily be confused as a part of the skin, being closely bound to it. The two are easily separated, however.

The primary incision made, lift an edge of the skin with finger and thumb nail and carefully tear skin free from body, using scalpel when necessary to help.

When thigh of a leg is exposed, take hold of leg outside of skin and push knee forward so it is uncovered inside of skin. Sever knee joint with scalpel or scissors, using care not to cut through skin on outside of joint. Repeat on other leg. Apply cornmeal or fine sawdust if blood or juice starts.

Next set bird on end, tail up. Bend tail over backward and cut through vent lining, tail muscles, and vertebrae forward of the large quills. Use care not to cut skin around tail, as at knee.

With bird still held on end, start peeling skin down over back and sides. Use scalpel if skin adheres tightly.

When pelvis is uncovered, if a small bird, take rump between two forefingers and thumb of left hand; if a large bird, hang up on a wire hook and cord, and skin down to shoulders.

Press wings forward strongly to loosen joint muscles. Cut through one shoulder joint and then other, going carefully as at knee and tail, so as not to cut skin on opposite side.

Plug with cotton or dry with meal wherever necessary to stop flowing blood.

Next peel the neck skin down over head to bill, pulling out ear linings when met with and using care to work close to skull when cutting eyelids free.

When this is done, cut off base of skull. With this the skin is free from the body and inside out.

If the specimen is of a species with neck skin too small to peel over the head, turn head and neck back right side out when neck is only partly skinned down. Make an incision from middle of back of head down nearly half length of neck, alongside where nape is bare of feathers. Through this incision turn and clean the head.

With the skin removed, turn attention to details of cleaning away leg, wing, and tail muscles, removing eyes, brain, and jaw muscles from skull and scraping out whatever fat is in the skin.

To clean leg bones, skin out the thick, meaty shins, using thumb nail and scalpel to aid where necessary, down to heel joint or upper end of tarsus. Just above this joint sever the tendons, front and back, and peel leg muscles off.

In owls skin on down the tarsus to as near foot, or toes, as possible and clean out tarsus muscles.

In large birds, next split ball of foot, insert point of a steel spindle under base of tarsus tendons beside hind toe and draw these cords out. This will sometimes require a strong pull.

Always do this after the leg above has been cleaned. In small birds it is not necessary to split ball of foot nor to remove these tendons.

Next remove the wing muscles. Peel skin down to elbow. Cut tendons free just above elbow and strip muscles off. To clean forearm in a small bird, use the thumb nail to shove skin forward toward wrist, on front of wing, without breaking union of large, secondary flight feathers with wing bone.

With scalpel cut and lift out elbow ends of forearm muscles, strip them out down to as near wrist as possible and cut off.

In a large bird, split skin of forearm and hand along under side after carefully separating feathers over bare strips of skin. Peel skin back both ways and remove flesh neatly. Scrape out whatever flesh is in evidence on hand bones in same way. In a bird with no fat adhering to the skin, the skull and tail only remain to be cleaned in order to complete the skinning operation.

To clean skull, remove eyes with a scalpel, scrape brains out through cut-off skull base, and trim away jaw muscles and a portion of roof of mouth.

To clean tail, peel it out carefully and scrape and cut away fat and meat adhering to bone and base of quills.

If you have a specimen with fat adhering to the skin in more or less loose patches, as in hawks and owls, simply scrape or peel the fat off with a knife and thumb and finger.

If a fat duck skin is to be prepared the inside layer of skin over the fat tracts must be sheared off carefully with scissors and the fat then removed with a skin scraper or dull knife blade, care being exercised not to tear the outer skin or to pull through feathers with the grease.

To clean and degrease a bird skin which requires such treatment to prepare for mounting, wash it first in lukewarm ammonia water with mild soap. Squeeze from this washing and put through a bath of half-and-half alcohol and spirits of turpentine. Squeeze from this thoroughly and run through benzine. Compress and relax the skin repeatedly while immersed in both these baths. When squeezed from the benzine, dry the plumage by first burying the skin for some minutes in dry plaster of paris.

When nearly all the moisture is drawn out dust skin in the plaster until natural fluffiness is restored. Do this last out of doors, where the skin may be beaten well when thoroughly dry, to free it of plaster dust. Lay skin, right side out, over the left hand and beat with the right, giving an occasional shaking, the better to loosen plaster dust.Fig. 2.

An A1 duster may be made from the brush of an ox tail. Nail this on a short piece of broomstick and square ends of hair with scissors. This duster is used instead of beating the plumage with the hand and does the work much quicker and better. When the dusting is done turn the skin inside out again (see Fig. 2) and brush arsenic-water into all inner surfaces, then turn skin right side out and brush a little of the solution upon the feet, under side of wings, and inside the bill.

When poisoning the head, with skin inside out, one step in preparation for mounting is to be taken. After the arsenic-water is applied to skull and scalp, fill eye sockets with chopped tow or fine excelsior, put a light layer of cotton smoothly around the skull, forward edge close down to bill. Turn skin carefully back over skull and finish poisoning skin.

It is best, if possible to do without risk of decay, to fold the freshly prepared skin in a clean paper, wrap in damp cloth, and lay over one night in a cool place, before mounting. This allows arsenic-water to penetrate through into base of plumage, thus becoming more effective against moths than if skin were immediately filled with absorbent material which would tend to draw out the freshly applied solution.

With the skin preparation completed, construction of an artificial body is the next step. In all bird work, upholstery excelsior or "wood wool" will be found most satisfactory for body making and neck, wing, and leg wrapping. This may be found at almost any upholstery shop, as is also tow, a fine grade of which is needed in making bird necks, as chopped, soft filling, etc.

A good grade of long-fiber cotton is needed for wrapping skulls and wing and leg bones in small birds, etc.

Various sizes of strong thread, both black and white, and some small, strong, ball twine will be needed for wrapping and sewing.

When making the artificial body, lay the outline sketches before you and copy Nature's lines throughout the work of assembling the specimen.

To make a firm core for the body, take a thick wisp of excelsior twice the length of the natural body and small or large according to specimen. Hold this tightly in the left hand, wrapping it very hard with thread or cord. Wrap the squeezed excelsior where it protrudes from between thumb and forefinger of left hand, drawing cord tight at each round, paying out the wisp until all is wrapped hard (see Fig. 3).Fig. 3.

Now double this "stick" of excelsior in the middle and bind it together tightly. This forms a solid core the length of the body.

The body is finished around this base by firmly binding upon it wisps or handfuls of loose excelsior until the shape of the natural body is approximated. To be correct this form should appear oval from side view and pear-shaped from end view (see Fig. 4).Fig. 4.

All body wrapping must be firm so that wires set in it will not be loose and cause the specimen to wobble.

Next cut the neck, wing, and leg wires. Cut neck wire three times natural length, wing wires twice natural length, and leg wires three times natural length. In the neck use a size wire that will support the head firmly and still be easy to manipulate.

If the wings are to be closed, use light wire in them. If to be spread, use strong wire to support with no wobbling. In the legs use as large wire as will go easily through the tarsus and not rip the skin open, to insure rigidity in the finished specimen. Use galvanized soft steel wires if possible. If ordinary black iron wire is used it should be waxed before placing. For the tail cut one wire of a length to go half way through the body and leave enough protruding to allow of handily setting tail into position.

Cut six or eight medium wires, twice length of thickness of body, for wing pinning and feather wrapping, if either or both of these are found necessary. Make cornered points on wires. Sharpen neck- and wing-wires at both ends, leg, tail, and pinning-wires at one end.Fig. 5.

To set neck-wire in body, thrust it in a little above center of larger end of body, run it diagonally through and out at middle back (see Fig. 5). Push two-thirds its length out of back, loop one-third back along its own length and push it back through body so that both ends protrude, shorter end beneath other in front. Bend the short end squarely and force it into front of body to anchor neck-wire firmly in place. Consult note sketch and wrap a soft neck of natural size upon the wire (see Fig. 6). Leave head end of neck a little bit long to set into brain cavity for solid anchorage. For neck material use cotton in small birds, tow in medium size, and fine excelsior in large birds. Only excelsior will need tying down with thread or cord.Fig. 6.

To make cords in nape of neck, which support the mane, thread a large sewing needle with heavy thread for small birds, a darning needle with string for larger. Double the cord and knot its end heavily.

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