sublimate in alcohol; also a stick like a common knitting-needle and a
handful or two of cotton. Now fill the mouth and nostrils of the bird
with cotton, and place it upon your knee on its back, with its head
pointing to your left shoulder. Take hold of the knife with your two
first fingers and thumb, the edge upwards. You must not keep the point
of the knife perpendicular to the body of the bird, because, were you
to hold it so, you would cut the inner skin of the belly, and thus let
the bowels out. To avoid this let your knife be parallel to the body,
and then, you will divide the outer skin with great ease.
Begin on the belly below the breastbone, and cut down the middle, quite
to the vent. This done, put the bird in any convenient position, and
separate the skin from the body till you get at the middle joint of the
thigh. Cut it through, and do nothing more there at present, except
introducing cotton all the way on that side, from the vent to the
breastbone. Do exactly the same on the opposite side.
Now place the bird perpendicular, its breast resting on your knee, with
its back towards you. Separate the skin from the body on each side at
the vent, and never mind at present the part from the vent to the root
of the tail. Bend the tail gently down to the back, and while your
finger and thumb are keeping down the detached parts of the skin on
each side of the vent, cut quite across and deep, till you see the
backbone, near the oil-gland at the root of the tail. Sever the
backbone at the joint, and then you have all the root of the tail,
together with the oil-gland, dissected from the body. Apply plenty of
cotton.
After this seize the end of the backbone with your finger and thumb:
and now you can hold up the bird clear of your knee and turn it round
and round as occasion requires. While you are holding it thus,
contrive, with the help of your other hand and knife, by cutting and
shoving, to get the skin pushed up till you come to where the wing
joins on to the body. Forget not to apply cotton; cut this joint
through; do the same at the other wing, add cotton, and gently push the
skin over the head; cut out the roots of the ears, which lie very deep
in the head, and continue skinning till you reach the middle of the
eye; cut the nictitating membrane quite through, otherwise you would
tear the orbit of the eye; and after this nothing difficult intervenes
to prevent your arriving at the root of the bill.
When this is effected cut away the body, leaving a little bit of skull,
just as much as will reach to the fore-part of the eye; clean well the
jaw-bones, fasten a little cotton at the end of your stick, dip it into
the solution, and touch the skull and corresponding part of the skin,
as you cannot well get to these places afterwards. From the time of
pushing the skin over the head you are supposed to have had the bird
resting upon your knee; keep it there still, and with great caution and
tenderness return the head through the inverted skin, and when you see
the beak appearing pull it very gently till the head comes out
unruffled and unstained.
You may now take the cotton out of the mouth; cut away all the
remaining flesh at the palate, and whatever may have remained at the
under-jaw.
Here is now before you the skin without loss of any feathers, and all
the flesh, fat and uncleaned bones out of it, except the middle joint
of the wings, one bone of the thighs, and the fleshy root of the tail.
The extreme point of the wing is very small, and has no flesh on it,
comparatively speaking, so that it requires no attention except
touching it with the solution from the outside. Take all in the flesh
from the remaining joint of the wing, and tie a thread about four
inches long to the end of it; touch all with the solution, and put the
wing-bone back into its place. In baring this bone you must by no means
pull the skin; you would tear it to pieces beyond all doubt, for the
ends of the long feathers are attached to the bone itself; you must
push off the skin with your thumb-nail and forefinger. Now skin the
thigh quite to the knee; cut away all flesh and tendons, and leave the
bone; form an artificial thigh round it with cotton; apply the solution
and draw back the skin over the artificial thigh: the same to the other
thigh.
Lastly, proceed to the tail: take out the inside of the oil-gland,
remove all the remaining flesh from the root till you see the ends of
the tail-feathers; give it the solution and replace it. Now take out
all the cotton which you have been putting into the body from time to
time to preserve the feathers from grease and stains. Place the bird
upon your knee on its back; tie together the two threads which you had
fastened to the end of the wing-joints, leaving exactly the same space
betwixt them as your knowledge in anatomy informs you existed there
when the bird was entire; hold the skin open with your finger and
thumb, and apply the solution to every part of the inside. Neglect the
head and neck at present; they are to receive it afterwards.
Fill the body moderately with cotton, lest the feathers on the belly
should be injured whilst you are about the following operation. You
must recollect that half of the thigh, or in other words, one joint of
the thigh-bone, has been cut away. Now, as this bone never moved
perpendicular to the body, but, on the contrary, in an oblique
direction, of course, as soon as it is cut off, the remaining part of
the thigh and leg having nothing now to support them obliquely, must
naturally fall to their perpendicular. Hence the reason why the legs
appear considerably too long. To correct this, take your needle and
thread, fasten the end round the bone inside, and then push the needle
through the skin just opposite to it. Look on the outside, and after
finding the needle amongst the feathers, tack up the thigh under the
wing with several strong stitches. This will shorten the thigh and
render it quite capable of supporting the weight of the body without
the help of wire. This done, take out every bit of cotton except the
artificial thighs, and adjust the wing-bones (which are connected by
the thread) in the most even manner possible, so that one joint does
not appear to lie lower than the other; for unless they are quite
equal, the wings themselves will be unequal when you come to put them
in their proper attitude. Here, then, rests the shell of the poor hawk,
ready to receive from your skill and judgment the size, the shape, the
features and expression it had, ere death and your dissecting hand
brought it to its present still and formless state. The cold hand of
death stamps deep its mark upon the prostrate victim. When the heart
ceases to beat, and the blood no longer courses through the veins, the
features collapse, and the whole frame seems to shrink within itself.
If then you have formed your idea of the real appearance of the bird
from a dead specimen, you will be in error. With this in mind, and at
the same time forming your specimen a trifle larger than life, to make
up for what it will lose in drying, you will reproduce a bird that will
please you.
It is now time to introduce the cotton for an artificial body by means
of the little stick like a knitting-needle; and without any other aid
or substance than that of this little stick and cotton, your own genius
must produce those swellings and cavities, that just proportion, that
elegance and harmony of the whole, so much admired in animated nature,
so little attended to in preserved specimens. After you have introduced
the cotton, sew up the orifice you originally made in the belly,
beginning at the vent. And from time to time, till you arrive at the
last stitch, keep adding a little cotton in order that there may be no
deficiency there. Lastly, dip your stick into the solution, and put it
down the throat three or four times, in order that every part may
receive it.
When the head and neck are filled with cotton quite to your liking,
close the bill as in nature. A little bit of bees' wax at the point of
it will keep the mandibles in their proper place. A needle must be
stuck into the lower mandible perpendicularly. You will shortly see the
use of it. Bring also the feet together by a pin, and then run a thread
through the knees, by which you may draw them to each other as near as
you judge proper. Nothing now remains to be added but the eyes. With
your little stick make a hollow in the cotton within the orbit, and
introduce the glass eyes through the orbit. Adjust the orbit to them as
in nature, and that requires no other fastener.
Your close inspection of the eyes of animals will already have informed
you that the orbit is capable of receiving a much larger body than that
part of the eye which appears within it when in life. So that, were you
to proportion your eye to the size the orbit is capable of receiving,
it would be far too large. Inattention to this has caused the eyes of
every specimen in the best cabinets of natural history to be out of all
proportion. To prevent this, contract the orbit by means of a very
small delicate needle and thread at that part of it farthest from the
beak. This may be done with such nicety that the stitch cannot be
observed; and thus you have the artificial eye in true proportion.
After this touch the bill, orbits, feet and former oil-gland at the
root of the tail with the solution, and then you have given to the hawk
everything necessary, except attitude and a proper degree of
elasticity, two qualities very essential.
Procure any common ordinary box, fill one end of it about three-fourths
up to the top with cotton, forming a sloping plane. Make a moderate
hollow in it to receive the bird. Now take the hawk in your hands and,
after putting the wings in order, place it in the cotton with its legs
in a sitting posture. The head will fall down. Never mind. Get a cork
and run three pins into the end, just like a three-legged stool. Place
it under the bird's bill, and run the needle which you formerly fixed
there into the head of the cork. This will support the bird's head
admirably. If you wish to lengthen the neck, raise the cork by putting
more cotton under it. If the head is to be brought forward, bring the
cork nearer to the end of the box. If it requires to be set backwards
on the shoulders, move back the cork.
As in drying the back part of the neck will shrink more than the fore
part, and thus throw the beak higher than you wish it to be, putting
you in mind of a stargazing horse, prevent this fault by tying a thread
to the beak and fastening it to the end of the box with a pin or
needle. If you choose to elevate the wings, do so, and support them
with cotton; and should you wish to have them particularly high, apply
a little stick under each wing, and fasten the end of them to the side
of the box with a little bees' wax.
If you would have the tail expanded, reverse the order of the feathers,
beginning from the two middle ones. When dry, replace them in their
true order, and the tail will preserve for ever the expansion you have
given it. Is the crest to be erect? Move the feathers in a contrary
direction to that in which they lie for a day or two, and it will never
fall down after.
Place the box anywhere in your room out of the influence of the sun,
wind and fire; for the specimen must dry very slowly if you wish to
reproduce every feature. On this account the solution of corrosive
sublimate is uncommonly serviceable; for at the same time that it
totally prevents putrefaction, it renders the skin moist and flexible
for many days. While the bird is drying, take it out, and replace it in
its position once every day. Then, if you see that any part begins to
shrink into disproportion, you can easily remedy it.
The small covert-feathers of the wings are apt to rise a little,
because the skin will come in contact with the bone which remains in
the wing. Pull gently the part that rises with your finger and thumb
for a day or two. Press the feathers down. The skin will adhere no more
to the bone, and they will cease to rise.
Every now and then touch and retouch all the different parts of the
features in order to render them distinct and visible, correcting at
the same time any harshness or unnatural risings or sinkings, flatness
or rotundity. This is putting the last finishing hand to it.
In three or four days the feet lose their natural elasticity, and the
knees begin to stiffen. When you observe this, it is time to give the
legs any angle you wish, and arrange the toes for a standing position,
or curve them to your finger. If you wish to set the bird on a branch,
bore a little hole under each foot a little way up the leg; and having
fixed two proportional spikes on the branch, you can, in a moment,
transfer the bird from your finger to it, and from it to your finger at
pleasure.
When the bird is quite dry, pull the thread out of the knees, take away
the needle, etc., from under the bill, and all is done. In lieu of
being stiff with wires, the cotton will have given a considerable
elasticity to every part of your bird; so that, when perching on your
finger, if you press it down with the other hand, it will rise again.
You need not fear that your hawk will alter, or its colours fade. The
alcohol has introduced the sublimate into every part and pore of the
skin, quite to the roots of the feathers. Its use is twofold: firstly,
it has totally prevented all tendency to putrefaction; and thus a sound
skin has attached itself to the roots of the feathers. You may take
hold of a single one, and from it suspend five times the weight of the
bird. You may jerk it; it will still adhere to the skin, and after
repeated trials often break short. Secondly, as no part of the skin has
escaped receiving particles of sublimate contained in the alcohol,
there is not a spot exposed to the depredation of insects: for they
will never venture to attack any substance which has received corrosive
sublimate.
You are aware that corrosive sublimate is the most fatal poison to
insects that is known. It is anti-putrescent; so is alcohol; and they
are both colourless, of course; they cannot leave a stain behind them.
The spirit penetrates the pores of the skin with wonderful velocity,
deposits invisible particles of the sublimate and flies off. The
sublimate will not injure the skin, and nothing can detach it from the
parts where the alcohol has left it. [Footnote: All the feathers
require to be touched with the solution, in order that they may be
preserved from the depredation of the moth. The surest way of
proceeding is to immerse the bird in the solution of corrosive
sublimate, and then dry it before you begin to dissect it.]
Furs of animals immersed in this solution will retain their pristine
brightness and durability in any climate.
Take the finest curled feather from a lady's head, dip it in the
solution, and shake it gently till it be dry; you will find that the
spirit will fly off in a few minutes, not a curl in the feather will be
injured, and the sublimate will preserve it from the depredation of the
insect.
Perhaps it may be satisfactory to add here that some years ago I did a
bird upon this plan in Demerara. It remained there two years. It was
then conveyed to England, where it stayed five months, and returned to
Demerara. After being four years more there it was conveyed back again
through the West Indies to England, where it has now been near five
years, unfaded and unchanged.
On reflecting that this bird has been twice in the Temperate and Torrid
Zone, and remained some years in the hot and humid climate of Demerara,
only six degrees from the line, and where almost everything becomes a
prey to the insect, and that it is still as sound and bright as when it
was first done, it will not be thought extravagant to surmise that this
specimen will retain its pristine form and colours for years after the
hand that stuffed it has mouldered into dust.
I have shown this art to the naturalists in Brazil, Cayenne, Demerara,
Oroonoque and Rome, and to the royal cabinets of Turin and Florence. A
severe accident prevented me from communicating it to the cabinet of
Paris, according to my promise. A word or two more, and then we will
conclude.
A little time and experience will enable you to produce a finished
specimen: "Mox similis volucri, mox vera volucris." If your early
performance should not correspond with your expectations, do not let
that cast you down. You cannot become an adept all at once. The poor
hawk itself, which you have just been dissecting, waited to be fledged
before it durst rise on expanded pinion, and had parental aid and
frequent practice ere it could soar with safety and ease beyond the
sight of man.
Little more remains to be added, except that what has been penned down
with regard to birds may be applied in some measure to serpents,
insects and four-footed animals.
Should you find these instructions too tedious, let the wish to give
you every information plead in their defence. They might have been
shorter; but Horace says, by labouring to be brief you become obscure.
If by their means you should be enabled to procure specimens from
foreign parts in better preservation than usual, so that the naturalist
may have it in his power to give a more perfect description of them
than has hitherto been the case; should they cause any unknown species
to be brought into public view, and thus add a little more to the page
of natural history, it will please me much. But should they
unfortunately tend to cause a wanton expense of life; should they tempt
you to shoot the pretty songster warbling near your door, or destroy
the mother as she is sitting on the nest to warm her little ones, or
kill the father as he is bringing a mouthful of food for their
support--Oh, then! deep indeed will be the regret that I ever wrote
them.
Adieu,
CHARLES WATERTON.
FINIS
GLOSSARY
Acaiari, _the resinous gum of
the hiawa-tree_.
Acouri, _one of the agutis_;
a rodent about the size of a rabbit.
Acuero, _a species of palm_.
Æta, _a palm of great size_;
it may reach a hundred feet
before the leaves begin.
Ai, _the three-toed sloth_.
Albicore, _a fish closely related to
the tunny_.
Anhinga, _the darter or snake-bird_;
a cormorant-like bird.
Ant-bear, _now called the ant-eater_.
Ara, _a macaw_.
Ara, Scarlet, _the scarlet macaw_.
Bisa, _one of the Saki monkeys_.
Cabbage Mountain, _one of the most
beautiful of the palm-trees_.
Camoudi, _the anaconda._
Campanero, _the bell-bird._
Caprimulgus, _one of the goat-suckers._
Cassique, _a bird of the hang-nest
family._
Cayman, _an alligator, as here used._
Cotingas, _chatterers._
Couguar, _the puma._
Coulacanara, _the boa-constrictor._
Courada, _the white mangrove tree._
Crabier, _the boat-bill--a small heron._
Crickets, _cicadas._
Cuia, _one of the Trojans._
Curlew, Scarlet, _the scarlet ibis._
Dolphin, _a coryphene--a true fish--not
a cetacean._
Guana, _the iguana lizard._
Hannaquoi, _one of the curassows._
Houtou, _one of the motmots._
Humming-bird Ara or Karabimiti,
_the crimson topaz._
Jacamar, _Jacana_, as anglicized--_the
spur-winged waterhen._
Labba, _a rodent allied to the
cavies._
Naudapoa, _an ibis._
Patasa, _unidentified._
Phaeton, _the tropic bird._
Pi-pi-yo, _unidentified._
Porcupine, _the tree-porcupine._
Quake, _a basket of open-work, very
elastic and expansive._
Redstart, _quite distinct from the
English redstart._
Sacawinki, _one of the squirrel
monkeys._
Sangre-do-buey, _the scarlet tanager._
Tangara, _now called tanager. See
Sangre-do-buey._
Waracaba, _the trumpeter._
Whip-poor-will, _one of the goat-suckers._
Who-are-you? _one of the goat-suckers._
Willy-come-go, _one of the goat-suckers._
Work-away, _one of the goat-suckers._
Yawaraciri, _one of the blue
creepers._
ACAIARI
Ai, _see_ Sloths
Alligators
American cities,
classical names of
American ladies,
praise of;
their attire
American manners
Ant-bears
Ant-eating birds
Antigua
Ants;
an ingredient of wourali poison;
nests of
Apoura-poura, River
Ara (macaw)
Armadillo
Arrowroot,
wild
Arrows, Indian
Arthur, King
Asses,
effect of wourali poison on
Aura vulture
Banks, Sir Joseph
Barbadoes
Basseterre
Bête-rouge
Birds, Demeraran;
Brazilian,
Bitterns
Blow-pipe, Indian
Boa-constrictor
Boclora
Bois immortel
Bow, Indian
Broadway
Bucaniers
Buffalo
Bug,
encounter with a
Buonaparte, Prince Charles
Bush-master
Bush-rope
Camoudi snake
Campanero
Canadians characterised
Caprimulgus,
_see_ Goat-suckers
Caps,
a diatribe against
Cassava
Cassique
Castries
Cayenne
Cayman;
expedition in search of;
fishing for;
ridden by author
Chegoe
Clove-trees
Cock-of-the-rock
Constable rock
Coral snake
Cotingas
Couguar
Coulacanara snake,
capture of a
Counacouchi,
_see_ Bush-master
Coushie-ant
Cuia
Curlew, scarlet
Custom House difficulties
Demerara,
falls of the River
potentialities of the
colony
_Deserted Village_, Goldsmith's,
quoted
Dog,
effect of wourali poison on a;
probably not native to Guiana
Dolphin
Dominica
Eagle,
white-headed
Edmonstone, Charles
Edmonstone, Robert
Egret
Erie Canal;
Lake
Essequibo river;
falls of the;
scenery
Europe,
future American independence of
Fever,
treatment of
Fig-tree,
wild
Fire-fly
Fish, Demeraran
Fishing, Indian method of,
Flying-fish,
Forest-trees, Demeraran;
destruction of North American,
Fort St. Joachim,
Fowl,
effect of wourali poison on a,
Frigate pelican,
Goat-suckers;
superstitious fear of,
Grand gobe-mouche,
Gross-beak,
Guadalope,
Guiana,
future of;
bird's-eye view of,
Hannaquoi,
Hermit,
a white,
Hia-hia,
_History of Brazil_, Southey's,
Horned screamer,
Houtou,
Howling monkey,
_see_ Monkeys
Hudson,
journey up the,
Hugues, Victor,
Humming-birds,
Ibibirou,
Impostor,
an Indian,
Indians;
mode of life;
religion,
_See also_ Macoushi Indians
India-rubber,
Inn-album,
inscription in an,
Insects, Demeraran,
Irish emigrants,
Jabiru,
Jacamar,
Jaguar,
Jay, Guianan,
Jesuits,
expulsion of the,
Kearney, Dennis,
Kessi-kessi paroquet,
Kingfishers,
King of the vultures,
Labarri snake,
La Gabrielle,
national plantation at,
Land-tortoise,
Lizards,
Maam,
_see_ Tinamou
Macoushi Indians;
their methods of hunting;
trick played by one on the author,
Manikins,
Maroudis,
Martin, M.,
Martinico,
Metallic-cuckoo,
Mibiri Creek,
Mines in Guiana,
Monkeys;
red, or howling;
a specimen with Grecian features,
Monteiro,
Montreal,
Mora-tree,
Museum at Philadelphia,
New Amsterdam,
New York,
Niagara,
Falls of,
Nobrega, Father,
Olinda;
botanic garden at,
_Ornithology of the United States_,
Wilson's,
Otters,
Owl,
a crab-eating,
Ox,
effect of wourali poison on an,
Pacou,
Paramaribo,
Parasitic plants,
Parima, Lake,
Park, Mungo,
Parrots,
Partridge,
Peccari,
Pelican,
Percy, Earl,
Pernambuco;
environs,
Petrel,
stormy,
Philadelphia,
Phaeton,
Pi-pi-yo,
Pombal,
Preservation of colours of toucan's bill;
of quadrupeds;
of zoological specimens generally;
of birds,
Purple-heart,
Quadrupeds,
forest,
Quashi, Daddy,
Quebec,
Quiver, Indian,
Rattlesnake,
Red-headed finch,
Red monkey,
_see_ Monkeys
Redstart,
Rhinoceros-beetle,
Rice-bird,
Roseau,
Rubber-tree,
Saba,
St. John's,
St. Lucie,
St. Pierre,
Saintes, the,
Sangre-de-buey,
Saratoga,
Savanna, a Demerara,
Slavery in Demerara;
in West Indies,
Slaves,
encounter with runaway,
Sloths;
three-toed, or ai;
two-toed,
Smoking,
Snakes;
hunting,
Spice plantations,
Spikes, poisoned,
Stabroek,
Southey, Robert,
Sun-bird,
Superstition,
reflections on,
Surinam,
Tangaras,
Tapir,
Tarbet, misadventures of Mr.,
Tauronina,
Taxidermy,
_see_ Preservation
Ticks,
Ticonderoga,
Tiger,
_see_ Jaguar
Tiger-bird,
small,
Tinamou,
Toucans,
Travellers,
advice to,
Travellers' tales,
Troupiales,
Troy,
Trumpeters,
Turtle,
United States,
progress of the,
Utica,
Vampires,
Vanilla,
Vultures,
Wallaba-tree,
Wasps,
Water-hens,
Water-mamma,
Weapons, Indian,
Whip-poor-will,
_see_ Goat-suckers
Whipsnake,
Wild boars,
hunting,
Wild man of the woods, a,
Wilson, Alexander,
Woodpeckers,
Wound,
treatment of a,
Wourali poison;
its effects;
ingredients;
preparation;
method of using:
antidotes;
experiments in England,
Yabahou,
the evil spirit,
Yawaraciri,
End of Project Gutenberg's Wanderings in South America, by Charles Waterton