HINTS TO EXPLORERS ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING
OBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY.
By the courtesy of Mr. H. W. Bates, F.R.C.S. and Asst. Sec. R.G.S.,
we are enabled to furnish our readers with the following valuable and
practical information regarding the gathering together and preserving
such objects of natural history as he may be fortunate enough to
discover:--
Travellers (says Mr. Bates) who intend devoting themselves especially
to natural history will generally possess all the requisite information
beforehand. It is to those whose objects or duties are of another
nature, or who, whilst on a purely geographical land expedition, wish
to know the readiest means of collecting, preserving, and safely
transmitting specimens they collect, that the following hints are
addressed.
{Outfit.}
Double barrel guns with spare nipples, and a few common guns to lend
to native hunters, especially if going to the interior of tropical
America. Fine powder in canisters, and fine shot (Nos. 8 and 11), must
be taken from England; coarse powder and shot can be had in any part;
a good supply of the best caps. Arsenical soap, a few pounds in tin
cases; brushes of different sizes; two or three scalpels; scissors
(including a pair of short bladed ones); forceps of different sizes for
inserting cotton into the necks of birds' skins; needles and thread. A
few small traps with which to capture small (mostly nocturnal) animals;
strong landing net for water mollusks, &c.; two stout insect sweeping
nets; cylindrical tin box, with shoulder strap, for collecting plants;
a few dozen of small and strong broad-mouthed bottles, and a couple of
corked pocket boxes; insect pins, a few ounces each of Nos. 5, 14, and
11; stone jars, for reptiles and fishes in spirit, to fit four in a
box, with wooden partitions. If animals in spirit are to be collected
largely, a supply of sheet tin, or zinc, with a pair of soldering
irons, and a supply of soft solder, must be taken instead of stone
jars: cylindrical cases can be then made of any size required. By
means of the soldering apparatus also empty powder canisters or other
tin vessels can be easily converted into receptacles for specimens; a
ream or two of botanical drying paper, with boards of same size as the
sheet, and leather straps; a few gross of chip pill boxes in nests;
a dozen corked store boxes (about 14in. by 11in. and 2-1/2in. deep)
fitted perpendicularly in a tin chest; a few yards of indiarubber
waterproof sheeting, as temporary covering to collections in wet
weather, or in crossing rivers; a set of carpenter's tools.
An outfit may be much lightened by having all the provisions and other
consumable articles packed in square tin cases, and in boxes and jars
of such forms as may render them available for containing specimens. If
the traveller is going to the humid regions of the Indian Archipelago,
South-Eastern Asia, or tropical America, where excessive moisture,
mildew, and ants are great enemies to the naturalist, he should add to
his outfit two drying cages, for everything that is not put at once
into spirits is liable to be destroyed before it is dry enough to be
stowed away in boxes. They may be made of light wood, so arranged as
to take to pieces and put together again readily; one for birds should
be about 2ft. 6in. long by 1ft. 6in. high, and 1ft. broad; the other
for insects and other small specimens may be about one-third less.
They should have folding doors in front, having panels of perforated
zinc, and the backs wholly of the latter material; the sides fitted
with racks to hold six or eight plain shelves, which in the smaller
cage should be covered with cork or any soft wood that may be obtained
in tropical countries. A strong fixed ring, fastened in the top of
the cage, with a cord having a hook attached to the end, by which to
hang it in an airy place; it will keep the contained specimens out of
harm's way until they are quite dry, when they may be stowed away in
close fitting boxes. If this plan be not adopted, it will be almost
impossible to preserve specimens in these countries.
The countries which are now the least known with regard to their
natural history are New Guinea and the large islands to the east of
it, Northern Australia, the island of Borneo, Tibet, and other parts
of Central Asia, Equatorial Africa, and the eastern side of the Andes,
from the east of Bogota to the south of Bolivia.
{Collecting.}
In most of the better-known countries botany has been better
investigated than zoology; and in most countries there still remains
much to be done in ascertaining the exact station and the range both
vertical and horizontal of known species. This leads us to one point
which cannot be too strongly insisted on, namely, that some means
should be adopted by the traveller to record the exact locality of the
specimens he collects. In the larger-dried animals this may be done by
written tickets attached to the specimens; in pinned insects a letter
or number may be fixed on the pins of all specimens taken at one place
and time, the mark to refer to a note book. The initial letter, or
first two or three letters of the locality, is perhaps the readiest
plan; and when all the specimens taken at one place can be put into a
separate box, one memorandum upon the box itself will be sufficient.
Reptiles and fishes can have small parchment tickets attached to them
before placing them in spirits. A traveller may be puzzled in the midst
of the profusion of animal and vegetable forms which he sees around
him, to know what to secure and what to leave. Books can be of very
little service to him on a journey, and he had better at once abandon
all ideas of encumbering himself with them. A few days' study at the
principal museums before he starts on his voyage may teach him a great
deal, and the cultivation of a habit of close observation and minute
comparison of the specimens he obtains will teach him a great deal
more. As a general rule, all species which he may meet with for the
first time far in the interior should be preferred to those common near
the civilised parts. He should strive to obtain as much variety as
possible, and not fill his boxes and jars with quantities of specimens
of one or a few species. But as some of the rarest and most interesting
species have great resemblance to others which may be more common, he
should avail himself of every opportunity of comparing the objects
side by side. In most tropical countries the species found in open and
semi-cultivated places are much less interesting than those inhabiting
the interior of the forests; and it generally happens that the few
handsome kinds which attract the attention of the natives are species
well known in European museums.
In botany, a traveller, if obliged to restrict his collecting, might
confine himself to those plants which are remarkable for their
economical uses, always taking care to identify the flowers of the tree
or shrub whose root, bark, leaves, wood, &c., are used by the natives,
and preserving a few specimens of them. But, if he is the first to
ascend any high mountain, he should make as general a collection of the
flowering plants as possible at the higher elevations. The same may
be said of insects found on mountains, where they occur in very great
diversity; on the shady and cold sides rather than on the sunny slopes;
under stones and about the roots of herbage, especially near springs;
on shrubs and low trees, and so forth; for upon a knowledge of the
plants and insects of mountain ranges depend many curious questions in
the geographical distribution of forms over the earth.
In reptiles, the smaller Batrachia (frogs, salamanders, &c.) should
not be neglected, especially the extremely numerous family of tree
frogs. Lizards may be caught generally with the insect-sweeping net;
the arboreal species, seen out of reach, may be brought down with a
charge of dust shot. Snakes should be taken without injuring the head,
which is the most important part of the body. A cleft stick may be
used in securing them by the neck, and on reaching camp they may be
dropped into the jars of spirits. As large a collection as possible
should be made of the smaller fishes of inland lakes and unexplored
rivers. Dr. Günther, of the British Museum, has authorised me to say
that a traveller cannot fail to make a large number of interesting
discoveries if he collects a few specimens of the species he meets
with in the lakes and rivers of the interior of any country. It can
scarcely be expected that specimens of the larger animals can be
brought away by a geographical expedition, although some species are
still desiderata in the large museums of Europe. Additional specimens
of all genera, of which there are numerous closely-allied species
(_e.g._, rhinoceros, antelopes, equus, &c.), would be very welcome
for the better discrimination of the species. If only portions can
be obtained, skulls are to be preferred. In humid tropical regions,
entire skins cannot be dried in time to prevent decay, and it is
necessary to place them, rolled up in a small compass, in spirits. The
smaller mammals, of which there remain many to reward the explorer in
almost all extra-European countries, may be skinned, dried, and packed
in boxes in the same manner as birds. The smaller birds shot on an
excursion should be carried to camp in the game bag, folded in paper,
the wounds, mouth, and anus being first plugged with cotton. Powdered
calcined gypsum will here be found very useful in absorbing blood from
feathers, on account of the facility with which it can be afterwards
cleared from the specimens. All plants, when gathered, are placed in
the tin box which the traveller carries with him. Land and fresh water
shells may be carried home in a bag. All hard-bodied insects, such as
beetles, ants, and so forth should be placed, in collecting, in small
bottles, each bottle having a piece of slightly-moistened rag placed
within it, to prevent the insects from crowding and injuring each
other. The hint previously given, with regard to numbers of specimens,
must be repeated here. Take as great a variety of species as possible,
the sweeping-net should be freely used (except in very wet weather) in
sweeping and beating the herbage and lower trees. In collecting ants,
it is necessary to open nests and secure the winged individuals of each
species, which must be afterwards kept together with the wingless ones
to secure the identification of the species. Bees and wasps may be
caught in the net and then placed, by means of small forceps, in the
collecting bottle, and afterwards killed in the same way as beetles and
other hard-bodied insects. All soft-bodied insects should be killed
on capture (by a slight pressure of the chest underneath the wings by
thumb and finger), and then pinned in the pocket collecting box. If the
traveller has leisure and inclination for the pursuit, he may readily
make a large and varied collection of these, and will do good service
to science if he notes carefully the exact localities of his captures,
altitude above the sea, nature of country, the sexes of the species,
if detected, and information on habits. The delicate species should be
handled very carefully and put away into the drying cage immediately
on return from an excursion. Spiders may be collected in bottles,
and afterwards killed and pinned in the same way as other insects.
Crustacea (shrimps, crawfish, &c.) in rivers and pools may be collected
with the landing net, and afterwards well dried and pinned like
hard-bodied insects, except when they are large in size, when their
bodies must be opened, and emptied of their contents.
{Preserving and packing.}
Previous to skinning a small mammal or bird make a note of the colour
of its eyes and soft parts, and, if time admits, of the dimensions of
its trunk and limbs. It facilitates skinning of birds to break, before
commencing, the first bone of the wings a short distance above the
joint, which causes the members to lie open when the specimen is laid
on its back on the skinning board. The animal should be laid with its
tail towards the right hand of the operator, and the incision made from
the breast bone nearly to the anus. A blunt wooden style is useful in
commencing the operation of separating the skin from the flesh. When
the leg is reached, cut through the knee joint, and then clear the
flesh from the shank as far as can be done, afterwards washing the bone
slightly with arsenical soap, winding a thin slip of cotton round it,
and returning it to the skin. Repeat the process with the other leg,
and then sever with the broad-bladed scissors the spine above the root
of the tail. By carefully cutting into the flesh from above the spine
is finally severed without injuring the skin of the back, and it is
then easy to continue the skinning up to the wings, when the bones are
cut through at the place where they had previously been broken, and the
body finished as far as the commencement of the skull. A small piece
of the skull is now cut away, together with the neck and body, and
the brains and eyes are scooped out, the inside washed with soap, and
clean cotton filled in, the eyes especially being made plump. In large
headed parrots, woodpeckers, and some other birds, the head cannot thus
be cleansed; an incision has therefore to be made either on one side
or on the back of the neck, through which the back of the skull can be
thrust a little way and then cleansed, the incision being afterwards
closed by two or three stitches. The bones then remaining in each wing
must be cleansed, but so as not to loosen the quill feathers. It is
much better to take out the flesh by making an incision on the outside
of the skin along the flesh on the inner side of the wing. The inside
of the skin must now be washed with the soap, and a neck of cotton (not
too thick) inserted by means of long narrow forceps, taking care to
fix the end well inside the skull, and withdrawing the empty forceps
without stretching the skin of the neck and thus distorting the shape
of the bird. Skins need not be filled up with cotton or any other
material, but laid with the feathers smoothed down on the boards of the
drying cage until they are ready to be packed in boxes. In very humid
climates like that of Tropical America, oxide of arsenic in powder is
preferable to arsenical soap, on account of the skins drying quicker,
but it cannot be recommended to the general traveller, owing to the
danger attending its use.
In mammals the tail offers some difficulty to a beginner. To skin
it, the root (after severing it from the spine) should be secured by
a piece of strong twine, which should then be attached to a nail or
beam. With two pieces of flat wood (one placed on each side of the
naked root) held firmly by the hand and pulled downwards, the skin
is made rapidly to give way generally to the tip. The tails of some
animals, however, can be skinned only by incisions made down the middle
from the outside. The larger mammal skins may be inverted, and, after
washing with soap, dried in the sun; and, as before remarked, it is
often necessary to roll them up and preserve in spirits. The skins of
small mammals and birds, after they are _quite_ dry, may be packed
in boxes, which must be previously well washed inside with arsenical
soap, lined with paper, and again covered with a coating of the soap,
and well dried in the sun. This is the very best means of securing
the specimens from the attacks of noxious insects, which so often, to
the great disgust of the traveller, destroy what he has taken so much
pains to secure. Where wood is scarce, as in the interior of Africa,
boxes may be made of the skins of antelopes, or other large animals,
by stretching them when newly stripped from the animal over a square
framework of sticks, and sewing up the edges after being dried in the
sun; they make excellent packing-cases. With regard to reptiles and
fishes, I cannot do better than quote the following remarks sent to me
by Mr. Osbert Salvin, who collected these animals most successfully
in Guatemala:--"Almost any spirit will answer for this purpose, its
fitness consisting in the amount of alcohol contained in it. In all
cases it is best to procure the strongest, being less bulky, and the
water can always be obtained to reduce the strength to the requisite
amount. When the spirit sold retail by natives is not sufficiently
strong, by visiting the distillery the traveller can often obtain the
first runnings (the strongest) of the still, which will be stronger
than he requires undiluted. The spirit used should be reduced to
about proof, and the traveller should always be provided with an
alcoholometer. If this is not at hand, a little practice will enable
him to ascertain the strength of the spirit from the rapidity with
which the bubbles break when rising to the surface of a small quantity
shaken in a bottle. When the spirit has been used, this test is of no
value. When animals or fish are first immersed, it will be found that
the spirit becomes rapidly weaker. Large specimens absorb the alcohol
very speedily. The rapidity with which this absorption takes place
should be carefully watched, and in warm climates the liquid tested at
least every twelve hours, and fresh spirit added to restore it to its
original strength. In colder climates it is not requisite to watch so
closely, but practice will show what attention is necessary. It will
be found that absorption of alcohol will be about proportionate to the
rate of decomposition. Spirit should not be used too strong, as its
effect is to contract the outer surface, and thus closing the pores
prevent the alcohol from penetrating through to the inner parts of the
specimen. The principal point, then, is to watch that the strength of
the spirit does not get below a certain point while the specimen is
absorbing alcohol when first put in. It will be found that after two
or three days the spirit retains its strength; when this is the case,
the specimen will be perfectly preserved. Spirit should not be thrown
away, no matter how often used, so long as the traveller has a reserve
sufficient to bring it back to its requisite strength. In selecting
specimens for immersion, regard must be had to the means at the
traveller's disposal. Fish up to 9in. long may be placed in spirit with
simply a slit cut to allow the spirit to enter to the entrails. With
larger specimens it is better to pass a long knife outside the ribs, so
as to separate the muscles on each side of the vertebra. It is also as
well to remove as much food from the entrails as possible, taking care
to leave all these in. The larger specimens can be skinned, leaving,
however, the intestines in, and simply removing the flesh; very
large specimens preserved in this way absorb very little spirit. All
half-digested food should be removed from snakes and animals. In spite
of these precautions specimens will often appear to be decomposing, but
by more constant attention to re-strengthening the spirit they will in
most cases be preserved. A case (copper is best) with a top that can be
unscrewed and refixed easily, should always be carried as a receptacle;
the opening should be large enough to allow the hand to be inserted.
This is to hold freshly caught specimens. When they have become
preserved they can all be removed and soldered up in tin or zinc boxes;
zinc is best, as it does not corrode so easily. The traveller will find
it very convenient to take lessons in soldering, and so make his own
boxes. (For directions for soldering, see p. 210 of this work.) If he
takes them ready made they had best be arranged so as to fit one into
another before they are filled. When moving about, all specimens should
be wrapped in calico, linen, or other rags, to prevent their rubbing
one against the other. This should also be done to the specimens in
the copper case when a move is necessary, as well as to those finally
packed for transportation to Europe. These last should have all their
interstices between the specimens filled in with cotton wool or rags.
If a leak should occur in a case, specimens thus packed will still be
maintained moist, and will keep some time without much injury. Proof
spirit should be used when the specimens are finally packed, but it is
not necessary that it should be fresh. Land and fresh-water shells, on
reaching camp, should be placed in a basin of cold water to entice the
animals out, and then, after draining off, killed by pouring boiling
water over them. They may be cleansed of flesh by means of a strong pin
or penknife. The operculum or mouthpiece of all shells which possess it
should be preserved and placed inside the empty shell. Each shell when
dry should be wrapped in a piece of paper and the collection packed in
a box well padded with cotton or other dry and elastic material.
"The insects collected on an excursion should be attended to
immediately on arrival in camp. When leisure and space are limited all
the hard-bodied ones may be put in bottles of spirit, and each bottle
when nearly full should be filled up to the cork with a piece of rag,
to prevent injury from shaking. Many species, however, become stained
by spirit, and it is far better in dry countries, such as Africa,
Australia, and Central Asia, to preserve all the hard bodied ones in
a dry state in pill boxes. They are killed whilst in the collecting
bottles by plunging for a few minutes the bottom half of the bottles
in hot water. An hour afterwards the contents are shaken out over
blotting paper and put into pill boxes, the bottoms of the boxes being
padded with cotton, over which is placed a circular piece of blotting
paper. The open pill boxes should then be placed in the drying cage
for a day or two, and then filled up with more cotton, the layer of
insects being first covered with a circular piece of paper.[C] The soft
bodied specimens which are brought home pinned, should be stuck in the
drying cage until they are dry, and then pinned very close together
in the store boxes. The store boxes both bottom and sides should each
have inside a coating of arsenical soap before they are corked, and as
they become filled one by one should be washed outside with the soap
and pasted all over with paper. Camphor and other preservatives are
of little or no use in tropical climates. In some countries where the
traveller may wish to make a collection of the butterfly fauna, the
best way is to preserve all the specimens in little paper envelopes.
He should be careful not to press the insects too flat, simply killing
them by pressure underneath the breast, folding their wings carefully
backwards and slipping them each into its envelope. In very humid
tropical countries, such as the river valleys of tropical America
and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, the plan of stowing away
even hard-bodied insects in pill boxes does not answer on account
of the mould with which they soon become covered. There are, then,
only two methods that can be adopted; one, preserving them at once
in spirits, the other, pinning all those over a quarter of an inch
long (running the pin through the right wing case, so as to come out
beneath between the second and third pair of legs), and gumming those
of smaller size on small sheets of card, cut of uniform size, so as
to fit perpendicularly in racked boxes like those used to contain
microscopical slides but larger. The cards may be a few inches square,
and each may hold several scores of specimens very lightly gummed down
a short distance apart. After the cards are filled they should be well
dried, and the box containing them washed outside with arsenical soap,
and pasted over with paper. All the pinned specimens should be placed
to dry for a few days in the drying cage, and afterwards pinned very
close together in the cork store boxes.
[C] The only preservative needed is a diluted wash of arsenical soap
inside the pill boxes, which, as in all other cases when soap is
used, must be well dried afterwards before the boxes are filled.
"Plants are dried by pressure, by means of the boards and straps,
between sheets of botanical drying paper, the paper requiring to be
changed three or four times. When dry the specimens may be placed
between sheets of old newspapers, together with notes the traveller may
have made upon them, each placed upon the object to which it refers.
Bundles of papers containing plants are not of difficult carriage, but
they require to be guarded against wet, especially in fording rivers
and in rainy weather, and should be wrapped in skins or India rubber
sheeting until they can be safely packed in wooden boxes and despatched
to Europe.
"Seeds may be collected when quite ripe, and preserved in small packets
of botanical paper with numbers written on them, referring to preserved
specimens of the flowers.
"Dry fruits and capsules should be collected when in countries not
previously explored by botanists, if the traveller has means of
identifying the species to which they belong.
"The collection of fossils and minerals, except in the case of
the discovery of new localities for valuable metals, is not to be
recommended to the traveller if he is not a geologist. Fossils from an
unexplored country are of little use unless the nature and order of
superposition of the strata in which they are found can be at the same
time investigated. In the cases, however, of recent alluvial strata on
the supposed beds of ancient lakes, or deposits in caves, or raised sea
beaches containing shells or bones of vertebrate animals, the traveller
will do well to bring away specimens if a good opportunity offers. If
the plan of the expedition includes the collection of fossil remains,
the traveller will of course provide himself with a proper geological
outfit and obtain the necessary instructions before leaving Europe."
Whilst engaged in collecting the beautifully formed and delicate
shells found adhering to the minute asperities formed by the process
of disintegration on the roofs of the crypts formed by the ancient
Tauro-Scythian tribes, we proceeded as follows: After the discovery
of an almost crystalline specimen we prepared a soft bed for its
reception by arranging in nest form a very soft silk handkerchief in
our well worn forage cap, the gold band of which served as a sort of
hoop of support. Thus arranged, the nest was held exactly under the
fossil shell, which was in most cases freed from its attachments by a
single sharp and well directed blow from our pick head on the heel of
a sharp well-tempered steel chisel (old files make the best). As the
specimens were one by one taken from the cap-nest they were arranged
carefully layer after layer in old preserved meat tins, bran being
liberally sprinkled in over each distinct layer of shells. On the tin
being nearly filled, more bran was added until the packing was firm
and complete, the round tin cover was then forced in until about a
quarter of an inch from the upper rim of the tin. A few cuts here and
there in the tin with a pair of cutting nippers admitted of the turning
in of a number of clip pieces by bending the cut tin in elbow form
over the cover. These tins when duly numbered and noted were packed
in a sixty-gallon barrel with fine soft hay made from steppe grass.
The collections thus packed reached England in a perfect state of
preservation.
In situations where old preserved meat tins cannot be obtained, large
joints of bamboo, or the thin earthen pots used by natives, might be
made available for depositing very fragile specimens in. Fine sawdust
will answer nearly as well as bran for packing powder; rotten wood
from an old decaying log may be rubbed between the hands into fine
dust, and made use of for the same purpose. "All collections made in
tropical countries should be sent to Europe with the least possible
delay, as they soon become deteriorated or spoilt, unless great care
is bestowed on them. Dry skins of animals and birds may be packed
in wooden cases, simply with sheets of paper to separate the skins.
Shells and skulls should be provided with abundance of elastic padding,
such as cotton. The boxes containing insects and crustacea should be
placed in the middle of large boxes, surrounded by an ample bed of
hay, or other light, dry, elastic material; if this last point be not
carefully attended to, it will be doubtful whether such collections
will sustain a voyage without much injury. Travellers have excellent
opportunities of observing the habits of animals in a state of nature,
and these hints would be very deficient were not a few words said upon
this subject. To know what to observe in the economy of animals is in
itself an accomplishment, which it would be unreasonable to expect
the general traveller to possess, and without this he may bring home
only insignificant details, contributing but little to our stock of
knowledge. One general rule, however, may be kept always present to
the mind, and this is that anything concerning animals which bears
upon the relations of species to their conditions of life is well
worth obtaining and recording. Thus, it is important to note the
various enemies which each species has to contend with, not only at
one epoch in its life, but at every stage from birth to death, and
at different seasons and in different localities; the way in which
the existence of enemies limits the range of a species should be also
noticed. The inorganic influences which inimically affect species,
especially intermittently (such as the occurrence of disastrous
seasons), and which are likely to operate in limiting their ranges,
are also important subjects of inquiry. The migrations of animals, and
especially any parts where the irruption of species into districts
previously uninhabited by them, are well worth recording. The food
of each species should be noticed; and if any change of customary
food is observed, owing to the failure of the supply, it should
be carefully recorded. The use in nature of any peculiar physical
conformation of animals, the object of ornamentation, and so forth,
should be also investigated wherever opportunity occurs. Any facts
relating to the interbreeding in a state of nature of allied varieties
or the converse--that is, the antipathy to intermingling of allied
varieties--would be extremely interesting. In short, the traveller
should bear in mind that facts having a philosophical bearing are
much more important than mere anecdotes about animals. To observe
the actions of the larger animals a telescope or opera-glass will be
necessary, and the traveller should bear in mind, if a microscope is
needed in his journey, that, by reversing the tubes of the telescope,
in which all the small glasses are contained, a compound microscope of
considerable power is produced."
{Skins, and their treatment.}
The hunter of the fur-clad denizens of the forest and the field,
who, for the love of sport and the obtainment of trophies of the
chase, penetrates to little-known regions; and the hardy and keen
trapper--who, with pack, traps, kit, and rifle, steers his own course
to the most remote and untrodden solitudes--each require a somewhat
different mode by which to fit their spoils when gathered for transport
to either the cities of Europe or the trading port of the professional
peltry dealers. It would be a hopeless task to attempt giving all
the processes had recourse to by both classes of hunters, as many of
them are kept scrupulously secret by their discoverers. Indians, too,
profess to know more of skin-dressing than they care to divulge. We
will, therefore, content ourselves by communicating to the reader such
modes of skin-dressing as we have either practised ourselves, picked up
from experienced and travelled comrades, or gleaned from the reports
and experiences of practical explorers and slayers of large and small
game in wild countries.
The character of the climate in which the hunter may be pursuing his
vocation will determine the necessity for the immediate removal of the
skins of the animals killed from the carcases, or the postponement
of the operation until camp is reached and every assistance at hand.
In dealing with the larger carnivora of tropical climates, too much
expedition cannot be used in the performance of skinning operations.
On no account, when by any possibility it can be avoided, should a
dead and unskinned animal be exposed to the action of either wet or
the sun's rays. Immediately on being found to be perfectly dead the
animal should be conveyed to a cool shady situation, and the hide at
once removed. The purpose for which the skin is ultimately intended
will influence the method to be observed in removing it from the body.
If to be preserved for stuffing, much greater care is required than
is usually bestowed on hides merely intended for camp use, or sale to
purchasers of roughly dried skins.
Great alertness and firmness are also required on the part of the
European hunter who is engaged in tiger shooting in India to prevent
the native hunters and camp followers from burning off the whiskers
of the slain beast, and stealing the claws. The whisker singeing
ceremony arises from superstition, and the greatest anxiety exists to
possess tiger claws in order that they may be made use of as amulets.
Keep, therefore, a very close watch on your tiger skins. When about
to commence skinning a tiger, lion, leopard, or other of the large
_Felidæ_, choose a level spot of ground, lay the animal on the flat
of its back, with all four legs in the air. Prepare four stout sharp
pointed stakes and drive them into the ground at about six feet from
the animal, placing a stake opposite each leg in a parallelogram. Now,
with some pieces of spare rope, grass cord, raw hide thongs, or twisted
creepers, fasten each paw to the head of a stake, and stretch the legs
well out. With your skinning knife--which should be short in the blade,
half round-pointed, and very long handled--commence your cut between
the two centre lower teeth and carry it directly backwards along the
centre of the belly to the vent, taking great care not to penetrate
the abdominal cavity. A line down each leg from the paw joint to the
centre line should now be cut; the hind legs should be first skinned
by peeling off the hide completely round beneath the paw joints, which
should be divided and the stumps thus formed fastened to the stake
ropes; the skin can now be stripped and turned down over the thighs; a
cut along the under side of the tail will enable the operator to skin
that cleanly out, when it can be cut off at the root; the two fore legs
may now be treated in the same manner as the hind, making the bare
stumps fast and skinning down to the shoulder joints, and up the front
of the neck and throat. The animal may now be turned on its belly and
each leg stump hauled tightly out to the bottom of each stake; the
skin is now turned up over the back, and stripped up as far as the
attachment of the ears; great care must now be exercised in separating
their roots from the head without cutting the skin; divide carefully
round the eyes, lips, and corners of the mouth, and the skin will be
free.
There are two ways of stretching out skins for the purpose of first
freeing them from every particle of fat and adhering matter. One is
to lay them on the ground fur side downward, and then secure them by
driving a number of sharp wooden pegs round the margins; the other is
to cut one or two straight tough poles, lash their ends together, and
make a hoop large enough to take in the skin, and allow of sufficient
space to admit of its being tightly stretched out by being attached
to the interior of the hoop by a rough system of lacing, as shown in
the annexed illustration. [Illustration] A skin well secured in this
way becomes as tense as a tambourine. The hoop can be set on its edge
or inclined to facilitate the operation of fat trimming, which must
be most strictly carried out, without cutting through the skin. A
pair of strong broad pointed forceps much facilitate the operation.
The point and edge of the skinning knife should be constantly touched
up and renewed on a butcher's steel or bit of Norway stone. On no
account allow your native followers to attempt the treatment of your
stretched skins, as they will most certainly ruin them by the caustic
nature of the ingredients they employ. Many mixtures of substances
suitable for skin preservation are recommended, and we possess a
considerable number of them. The following, communicated to the _Field_
by a correspondent signing himself "I. F.," is a thoroughly good one,
and easy of preparation in any part of India. After trimming off all
fatty matter, &c., apply the following mixture: powdered alum, one
part; powdered turmeric (the _huldee_ of the natives), four parts;
powdered _kadukai_ nuts, eight parts; to be well mixed, and diluted
with water until just fluid. The _kadukai_ nuts are the fruit of a tree
(_Terminalia chebula_) common all over India. Its vernacular names
are, in Hindostanee "hurra;" in Tamil, "kadukai marum;" in Teloogoo,
"karkai." The dried nuts are commonly sold in the native bazaars. When
no preparation for skin dressing is at hand, firewood ashes may with
advantage be sprinkled over the skins. The American trappers make use
of no preparation whatever, but merely expose the perfectly cleaned and
trimmed skin to the action of the air. Traps, when set for animals,
should be visited frequently, in order that the game taken may be
perfectly fresh; tainted skins lose their hair, and become valueless
for fur purposes. The smaller fur-bearing animals taken by the
professional fur hunters of America, such as the fisher fox, raccoon,
&c., are not skinned by being opened from end to end, but are treated
in the following manner: incisions are made close to the hind paws;
these are carried down to the borders of the vent; this is circled or
cut round, and the tail opened and skinned out. An orifice will now
exist large enough to admit of the skin being stripped from the animal,
by turning it inside out, as the operation of skinning proceeds. Three
modes are adopted for stretching skins so prepared: one is by what
is called a board stretcher; this consists of three pieces of light
tough wood, of the shape shown in the centre figure of the annexed
illustration. [Illustration] The two flat side pieces are first placed
in the pouch or pocket, formed by reversing the surfaces of the skin;
the centre stick is then passed down between the two sides, which are
nicely rounded off at the edges and point by scraping with glass or a
sharp knife. When properly fitted to the stretcher like a glove on a
wooden cleaning hand, a tack or two or a few cuts in the edges of the
board will serve to hold the skin fast until dry enough to pack away.
A strong flexible rod may be made use of as a skin stretcher, as shown
in the annexed cut. [Illustration] The skins should be turned inside
out before the bent twig is inserted; its own spring keeps the skin
distended until dry, when it is removed and the skin packed; or a long
lancet-shaped board, with a hole in it, may be used for stretching the
skins of marmots, musk rats, &c. One of these is represented in the
illustration representing stretching boards, and has a hole in it to be
used for suspending the skins whilst drying. Stretching boards must be
made of sizes proportioned to the skins they are intended for. Never dry
skins either by the fire or in the sun.
A variety of methods are had recourse to for preparing the skins of
animals useful to the traveller and explorer, by whom they can be
employed either in a raw state, simply dried, or as leather. Raw hide,
as it is called, is one of the most valuable and useful materials at
the command of the traveller or hunter. It is to him a substitute for
metal, rope, and twine, and with it breakages of the most extensive and
apparently hopeless character can be effectually repaired. Lashings of
raw hide for immediate use can be cut from the skin of an animal just
killed. This, when tightly and evenly adjusted over a fractured object,
contracts as it dries, and binds all firmly together. The hair may be
removed from hides by soaking them in lime-water or placing them in the
earth for a few days. Many of the African tribes prepare hides for use
as garments, &c., by first pegging them out on the ground, trimming
them clean, allowing them to dry slowly, and then braying their
surfaces with a soft sand brick. Skins thus prepared wear well, so long
as no water is allowed to reach them.
Skins may be "tawed," as it is called, by placing them to steep in
a strong solution of alum and common salt. Hides collected in large
numbers for transmission to the home market are usually salted or
pickled. Settlers and colonists may find this mode of preserving
skins of value, so we give Mr. Danna's account of the process, which
will be found thoroughly practical, and can be relied on. Speaking
of the treatment of hides brought to the sea side for shipment, he
says: "The first thing is to put the hides to soak. This is done by
carrying them down at low tide, and making them fast in small piles
by ropes, and letting the tide come up and cover them. Every day we
put twenty-five in soak for each man, which, with us, makes 150. There
they lie forty-eight hours, when they are taken out and rolled up in
wheelbarrows, and thrown into vats. These vats contain brine, made very
strong, being sea-water with great quantities of salt thrown in. This
pickles the hides, and in this they lie forty-eight hours; the use of
the sea-water into which they are first put being merely to soften
and clean them. From these vats they are taken to lie on a platform
twenty-four hours, and are then spread upon the ground and carefully
stretched and staked out, so that they may dry smooth. After they were
staked, and while yet wet and soft, we used to go upon them with our
knives and carefully cut off all the bad parts, the pieces of meat and
fat which would otherwise corrupt and affect the whole if stowed away
in a vessel for months, the large flippers, the ears, and all other
parts that prevent close stowage. This was the most difficult part of
our duty, as it required much skill to take off everything necessary,
and not to cut nor injure the hides. It was also a long process, as
six of us had to clean 150, most of which required a great deal to be
done to them, as the Spaniards are very careless in skinning their
cattle; then, too, as we cleaned them while they were staked out, we
were obliged to kneel down upon them, which always gives beginners
the back ache. The first day I was so slow and awkward that I only
cleaned eight; at the end of a few days I doubled my number, and in a
fortnight or three weeks could keep up with the others, and clean my
proportion--twenty-five." Skins of animals may be fitted for transport
from the hunting grounds to a camp or depôt situated at a distance of
several days' journey, by pegging them tightly out; and then, when
thoroughly freed from adhering fat, giving them a thorough sprinkling
with wood ashes. Small quantities of leather may be made by sinking
large native jars in the earth, partly filling them with tan, which is
yielded by an almost endless number of trees and shrubs. Water, when
added, extracts the tanning principle, and allows of its soaking freely
into the pores of the skin under treatment. It is a good plan to make
use of several jars arranged in a row; these should all contain strong
bark or tan water, and as the skin becomes partly tanned in jar No. 1
it should, after being well squeezed and pressed, be passed to No. 2,
and so on through the set.
Thus writes Sir Samuel Baker on the subject of skin dressing: "My
antelope skins are just completed, and are thoroughly tanned, each skin
required a double handful of the '_garra_' or fruit of the _Acacia
arabica_. The process is simple. The skin being thoroughly wetted, the
garra is pounded into a paste; this is rubbed into the hide with a
rough piece of sandstone until it becomes perfectly clean and free from
impurities; it is then wrapped up with a quantity of the paste, and
is deposited in a trough, and kept in the shade twenty-four hours--it
should undergo a similar rubbing daily, and be kept in the trough to
soak in the garra for four or five days. After this process it should
be well rubbed with fat, if required to keep soft and pliable when
wetted. If soaked with milk after tanning, the leather will become
waterproof. The large tanned ox hides used by the Arabs as coverlets
are perfectly waterproof, and are simply prepared with milk. These are
made in Abyssinia, and can be purchased from ten piastres to a dollar
each. The Arabs thoroughly appreciate the value of leather, as they
are entirely dependant upon such material for coverlets, water sacks,
travelling bags, &c. The _sac de voyage_ is a simple skin of either
goat or sheep, drawn off the animal as a stocking is drawn from the
leg. This is very neatly ornamented and arranged with loops which close
the mouth, which is secured by a padlock. Very large sacks, capable of
containing three hundred pounds of corn, are made in the same manner by
drawing entire the skins of the larger antelopes; that of the _tetel_
is considered the most valuable for this purpose. The hide of the wild
ass is the finest of all leather, and is so close in the grain, that,
before tanning, when dry and hardened in the sun, it resembles horn in
transparency. I have made excellent mocassins with this skin, which are
admirable if kept wetted." Most of the water sacks we used in Central
India were prepared by withdrawing all the body of the animal--antelope
or goat--piecemeal through the orifice left by cutting off the head.
The legs were then removed to the hoof joint, and the tubes so formed
so fitted with thongs, that they could be tied fast or left open at
the will of the owner; burying the skin in the earth for a day or two
caused the hair to become loose enough to rub off in water. A charge
of pounded pomegranate rind mixed with water was then introduced to
the interior of the skin sack, and well shaken about several times
during the day. This process was continued until the substance of the
skin became converted into leather, and was perfectly free from the
slightest tendency to taint. The neck orifice was then either sewn up
with a thong, or left with a string round it, to be closed or left open
as might be most convenient. Skins thus prepared we have found useful
for an almost endless number of purposes.
The following directions for the manufacture of gazelle skin _girbas_,
or water sacks, as practised by the Arabs, given by Sir Samuel Baker,
will not fail to prove of interest and value to the reader: "The
flaying process for this purpose is a delicate operation, as the knife
must be so dexterously used that no false cut should injure the hide.
The animal is hung up by the hind legs, an incision is then made along
the inside of both thighs to the tail, and with some trouble the skin
is drawn off the body towards the head, precisely as a stocking might
be drawn from the leg; by this operation the skin forms a seamless bag,
open at both ends. To form a girba, the skin must be buried in the
earth for about twenty-four hours; it is then washed in water, and the
hair is easily detached. Thus rendered clean, it is tanned by soaking
for several days in a mixture of the bark of the mimosa and water,
from this it is daily withdrawn and stretched out with pegs, upon the
ground; it is then well scrubbed with a rough stone, and fresh mimosa
bark, well bruised, with water is rubbed in by friction. About four
days are sufficient to tan the skin of a gazelle, which is much valued
for its toughness and durability. The aperture at the hind quarters is
sewn together, and the opening of the neck is closed when required by
tying. A good water-skin should be porous, to allow the water to exude
sufficiently to moisten the exterior; thus the action of the air upon
the exposed surface causes evaporation and imparts to the water within
the skin a delicious coolness. The Arabs usually prepare their tanned
skins with an empyreumatical oil, made from a variety of substances,
the best of which is that from the sesame grain. This has a powerful
smell and renders the water so disagreeable that few Europeans could
drink it. This oil is black and much resembles tar in appearance, it
has the effect of preserving the leather and of rendering it perfectly
water tight. In desert travelling, each person should have his own
private water skin slung upon his dromedary; for this purpose none
is so good as a small sized gazelle skin that will contain about two
gallons."
Snake skins can be converted into very useful and highly ornamental
leather by tanning them. The Indians of North-west America add greatly
to the value and durability of their prepared skins by subjecting
them to the smoking process. This is conducted by forming a miniature
skin tent over a narrow deep hole dug in the earth; this, when filled
with damp slow burning fuel, gives forth, when lighted, dense volumes
of smoke, which, acting on the inner or flesh sides of the spread
skins, imparts to them considerable power to resist damp and other
deteriorating influences. Hides that are under the operation of
dressing should never be allowed to become dry, as it is very difficult
to restore perfect flexibility to them by the aid of water. Wet cow
dung is the best material we know for preserving the moisture of the
skins on which it is spread. Milk curds are made use of for the same
purpose by the Tartar tribes. We have also seen ground oil seeds,
converted into a paste with milk, used by some Indian hill tribes.
{Parchment and catgut.}
Parchment is a material which will be found useful for many purposes,
such as labelling the species collected, &c.; almost any moderate-sized
skin can be converted into this substance. The first step is to remove
the hair from its follicles. This may be done by burying the skin in
moist earth for two or three days; it should, when found seasoned, be
spread, hair side out, on a barrel or round log, and well scraped,
until quite clean. Four long tough peeled rods or wands should now be
passed through a train of small slits, like button-holes, in the edges
of the skin, all four borders of the trimmed skin being furnished with
its spreading wand. The ends of the wands are now to be cut off flush
with the border of the skin. A pole hoop like that figured at page 776
should now be prepared, and the stretched skin laced to its centre
by cords or thongs passed inside the wand until it is as tight as a
tambourine. Every particle of adhering membrane should be carefully
cut away, and the skin rubbed down to the required substance with
a flat-surfaced sandstone; pumice-stone, when it can be obtained,
is excellent for the purpose. When the parchment has undergone
preparation, and is removed from the pole hoop, it may be fitted for
writing on by first thoroughly rubbing its surface with a perfectly
smooth water-worn pebble, and then touching its surface lightly over
with ox-gall. Catgut can be made from the intestines of almost any
animal as follows: After carefully removing all impurities from the
surfaces of the gut, place it in a pot of water for twenty-four hours;
the outer sheath, or covering membrane, will more freely come away.
Now double back a few inches of the end border of your gut tube, just
as you would turn down the top border of a stocking, catching the bag
thus formed between the finger and thumb; dip water up with it until
the double fold is nearly full. The weight of this fluid will instantly
cause the gut to become inverted, and bring its inner surface to the
outside. This can now be easily freed from any adhering matter; and
if the gut is intended for twisting, set up two stiff stout stakes
in the earth, a little wider apart than the length of the gut under
treatment. Cut a saw cut in the head of each stake. Now firmly lash
each end of your gut to the notched ends of two narrow flat pieces of
wood, fashioned like stout knife blades, and thin enough to enter the
saw cuts in the stake heads. By alternately twisting these and fixing
them in the saw cuts, to prevent their running back, the gut may be
evenly and neatly twisted after the manner of a single strand cord.
The twisted material thus formed becomes, when dry and after it has
been rubbed smooth with a woollen rag and a little grease, excellent
catgut, fit for drill bows, bowstrings, lathe bands, thread for sewing
strong leather work, &c. Bladders should always be saved. They only
require inflation with air and drying to preserve them. [Illustration]
Holes in hides, water-bags, or bladders, may be repaired by gathering
up the lips of the orifice, pushing a sharp splinter or thorn through
both lips, and then tying a string tightly behind the cross piece thus
formed. The holes in large skins can be repaired by placing pebbles or
stones, just too large to pass through, inside them. A few turns with
a strip of raw hide behind the stone makes all secure and perfectly
water-tight. A spherical bullet may be made use of in this manner
to repair a thorn prick in a water-bag. A reference to the above
illustration will serve to show how these repairs are effected. The
horns of cattle can be made use of for a number of useful purposes.
Soaking in boiling water softens them sufficiently to enable the
ingenious operator to fashion them into almost any shape. Bones should
never be heedlessly cast away; sawn up they make excellent rings for
dog harness or the head-lines of fishing-nets; stilets for splicing
cord, meshes for netting, &c. Tendons of animals make excellent glue,
and can be easily split up into sewing thread. The swimming bladders
of fish, when dried, form excellent isinglas. Sole, shark, and dogfish
skins, dried and mounted on handles, make very efficient rasps and
files for woodwork. Eel-skins make most durable harness ties, and,
twisted or plaited together, form very serviceable whips. Hides or
skins can be cut into long strips for trail rope or lasso making by
cutting them spirally with a sharp knife, just as a cobbler cuts out
a leather boot-lace from a circular scrap of shoe leather. Hides
and objects composed of either prepared hide or leather should be
frequently treated with clean, well-softened grease, in order that they
may retain their flexibility and toughness of texture. Hides used in
covering the frames of "bull boats," as they are called by the traders
and trappers of the north-west, who often use them, require to be
frequently beached, dried in the sun, and then greased, to render them
sufficiently durable to encounter the deteriorating influences brought
to bear on them during a long river or lake voyage.
{Fat, to treat.}
In cutting up and trimming the carcases of large animals, considerable
quantities of fat will be accumulated, provided that care is taken
to prevent native fellows from appropriating it. Fat is useful for
an immense number of purposes. Its value as fuel has already been
explained in that portion of our work devoted to a consideration of
lamps. The bones of nearly all large animals may be made to yield a
considerable quantity of fatty matter by crushing them to fragments
between two heavy stones; boiling the mass thus obtained in any
suitable vessel, and then skinning off the eyes of grease as they
appear on the surface with a large shell fastened to the end of a
stick, or an ox horn fashioned into a scoop. When fat is to be stored
up for use it should be first melted, and, after all fragments of
membrane, &c., have been separated by a rough system of straining,
poured into hide bags to cool. All blubber-bearing cetaceans yield
large quantities of oil, which is to be obtained by a process known
amongst whalers as "trying out." Convenient sized pieces of the
blubber are thrown into large cauldrons, which are mainly heated by
the waste chip or used-up material left as a residue when the oil
runs forth. The livers of sharks and other large fish also yield oil
freely by treatment in the kettle. Besides being useful for wheel
lubricating, leather-dressing, candle-making, and a variety of other
useful purposes, fat can, by proper treatment, be made available as the
principal ingredient in the manufacture of soap. {Soap, to prepare.}
Some care and management, however, are required to manufacture a
really good and useful article. Sir Samuel Baker thus writes of his
experiences in the matter: "Soap-boiling is not so easy as may be
imagined. It requires not only much attention, but the quality is
dependent upon the proper mixture of the alkalies. Sixty parts of
potash and forty of lime are, I believe, the proportions for common
soap. I had neither lime nor potash, but I shortly procured both. The
_Hegleck tree_ (_Balanites egyptiaca_) was extremely rich in potash;
therefore I burned a large quantity, and made a strong ley with the
ashes. This I concentrated by boiling. There was no limestone; but the
river produced a plentiful supply of large oyster-shells, that, if
burned, would yield excellent lime; accordingly, I constructed a kiln
with the assistance of the white ants. The country was infested by
these creatures, which erected their dwellings in all directions. There
were cones from six to ten feet high, formed of clay, so thoroughly
cemented by a glutinous preparation of the insects that it was harder
than sun-baked brick. I selected an egg-shaped hill, and cut off the
top exactly as we take off the slice from an egg. My Tookrooris then
worked hard, and with a hoe and their lances they hollowed it out to
the base, in spite of the attacks of the ants, which punished the
legs of the intruders considerably. I made a draught hole from the
outside base at right angles with the bottom of the hollow cone. My
kiln was perfect. I loaded it with wood, upon which I piled about six
bushels of oyster-shells, which I then covered with fuel, and kept
it burning for twenty-four hours. This produced excellent lime, and
I commenced my soap-boiling. We possessed an immense copper pot, of
Egyptian manufacture, in addition to a large and deep copper basin,
called a '_teshti_.' These would contain about ten gallons. The ley
having been boiled down to great strength, I added a quantity of lime
and the necessary fat. It required ten hours' boiling, combined with
careful management of the fire, as it would frequently ascend like
foam, and overflow the edge of the utensils; however, at length having
been constantly stirred, it turned to soap; before it became cold I
formed it into cakes and balls with my hands, and the result of this
manufacture was a weight of about forty pounds of most excellent soap
of a very sporting description. We thus washed with rhinoceros soap;
our lamp was trimmed with the oil of lions; our butter for cooking
purposes was the fat of hippopotami, while our pomade was made from
the marrow of buffaloes and antelopes, scented with the blossoms of
mimosas. We were entirely independent, as our whole party had subsisted
upon the produce of the rod and rifle."
{Sleeping-bags.}
If the traveller contemplates the prosecution of explorations in cold
and inhospitable regions, it will be well for him to preserve a number
of sheep or goats' skins, with the hair or wool on, which should be
prepared for conversion into coverlets, sleeping-bags, mats, overcoats,
&c. A variety of forms of sleeping-bags are in use in various parts of
the world; some, as in the case of those used by the frontier guard
between France and Spain, are so constructed as to be doubled up,
strapped together, and converted into a sort of knapsack. The down of
waterfowl, especially that of the eider duck, when stitched between
any suitable fabric and quilted, forms a most powerful non-conductor
of heat. A very useful and cheap form of sleeping-bag can be made by
pasting a number of old newspapers together, giving them a coat of
boiled linseed oil, and then stitching them between two sheets of any
tough durable fabric. The person about to be measured for a sleeping
bag should have the extreme breadth of the shoulders, width across
hips, and height taken, adding eighteen inches to the head of the bag
to form a flap. Cut out your two main bag pieces, or top and bottom, to
the shape of two large sleeve boards such as tailors use, now cut out
two long narrow slips, about twenty inches wide, and long enough to go
the whole length of both sides and round the tapered rounded bottom of
the bag, and up to the end-borders of the mouth, these strips are sewn
in exactly as the leather is attached to the upper and lower boards of
a pair of common bellows. Sleeping-bags should be made very strong, in
order that they may be used to carry a variety of odd articles in.
[Illustration]
{Ruck sacks.}
Whilst on the subject of bags, it will be well to mention a most
convenient description of sack used by the Tyrolese chamois hunters
for carrying food, dead game, ammunition, &c. It is best made of light
tanned canvas or flax cloth. A square bag of the required size is made
from either of these materials, the mouth of the bag is made to draw in
the usual way and tie, but to the loop of the neck string are attached
two leather shoulder straps, to the ends of which wooden toggles and
stout line loops have been sewn. Each lower corner of the bag should
have a wooden or cork ball the size of a billiard ball, securely
stitched into it. When the bag is placed on the back with its burden in
it, the shoulder straps are passed over the shoulders, under the arms,
and down to the ball-furnished corners, over which the slip-knots and
loops of the toggle strings are now secured. The above illustration
will serve to explain the nature of the arrangement, anything can be
conveniently carried in this contrivance, from a single partridge to a
full grown chamois or roebuck. A sack of this kind carefully fitted and
made, is very superior to an ordinary knapsack.