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    Taxidermy
    Taxidermy
    Taxidermy
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Taxidermy

    By Leon Pray

    ()

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    About this ebook

    This early work on taxidermy is a fascinating read for the amateur or professional taxidermist and also contains much information that is still useful today. Extensively illustrated with full page diagrams and drawings. Contents Include: Tools and Materials; Preparing and Mounting a Deer Head; Preparing and Mounting a Fish; Preparing and Mounting a Bird; Preparing and Mounting a Wildcat; Preparing and Mounting a Small Mammal; Preparing and Mounting a Tortoise, A Horned Toad, and a Crayfish; Papier-Mâchés, Pasties, Mothproofing Solution, Etc. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateJul 31, 2015
    ISBN9781473376885
    Taxidermy

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      Book preview

      Taxidermy - Leon Pray

      TAXIDERMY

      BY

      LEON L. PRAY

      Illustrated

      Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

      This book is copyright and may not be

      reproduced or copied in any way without

      the express permission of the publisher in writing

      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      Contents

      TAXIDERMY

      Taxidermy

      CHAPTER I.

      TOOLS AND MATERIALS

      CHAPTER II

      PREPARING AND MOUNTING A BIRD

      CHAPTER III

      SKINNING, PREPARING, AND MOUNTING A SMALL MAMMAL

      CHAPTER IV

      PREPARING AND MOUNTING GAME FISHES AND SMALL REPTILES

      CHAPTER V

      PREPARING AND MOUNTING A VIRGINIA DEER HEAD

      CHAPTER VI

      PREPARING AND MOUNTING A COYOTE

      Illustrations

      Fig. 1. 13

      Fig. 2. 17

      Fig. 3. 19

      Fig. 4. 20

      Fig. 5. 21

      Fig. 6. 22

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      Fig. 8. 24

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      Fig. 10. 28

      Fig. 11. 31

      Fig. 12. 35

      Fig. 13. 36

      Fig. 14. 37

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      Fig. 21. 54

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      Fig. 44. 93

      Taxidermy

      Taxidermy (from the Greek for arrangement of skin) is the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals (especially vertebrates) for display (e.g. as hunting trophies) or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. A person who practices taxidermy is called a taxidermist. Taxidermists may practice professionally for museums or as businesses, catering to hunters and fishermen, or as amateurs, such as hobbyists, hunters, and fishermen. To practice taxidermy, one should be very familiar with anatomy, sculpture, and painting, as well as tanning.

      The preservation of animal skins has been practiced for a long time. Embalmed animals have even been found with Egyptian mummies. Although embalming incorporates the use of lifelike poses, it is not technically considered taxidermy though. The earliest methods of preservation of birds for natural history cabinets were published in 1748 by the French Academician Réaumur, and four years later, techniques for mounting were described by M. B. Stollas. By the eighteenth century, almost every town had a tannery business. In the nineteenth century, hunters began bringing their trophies to upholstery shops, where the upholsterers would actually sew up the animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton. The term ‘stuffing’ or a ‘stuffed animal’ evolved from this crude form of taxidermy. Professional taxidermists prefer the term ‘mounting’ to ‘stuffing’ however. More sophisticated cotton-wrapped wire bodies supporting sewn-on cured skins soon followed.

      In France, Louis Dufresne, taxidermist at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle from 1793, popularized arsenical soap (utilising the chemical Arsenic) in an article titled, Nouveau Dictionnaire D’Histoire Naturelle (1803–1804). This technique enabled the museum to build the greatest collection of birds in the world. Dufresne’s methods spread to England in the early nineteenth century, where updated and non-toxic methods of preservation were developed by some of the leading naturalists of the day, including Rowland Ward and Montague Brown. Ward established one of the earliest taxidermy firms, Rowland Ward Ltd. of Piccadilly. Nevertheless, the art of taxidermy remained relatively undeveloped, and the specimens that were created remained stiff and unconvincing.

      The golden age of taxidermy was during the Victorian era, when mounted animals became a popular part of interior design and decor. For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, John Hancock, widely considered the father of modern taxidermy, mounted a series of stuffed birds as an exhibit. They generated much interest among the public and scientists alike, who considered them superior to earlier models and were regarded as the first lifelike and artistic specimens on display. A judge remarked that Hancock’s exhibit ‘will go far towards raising the art of taxidermy to a level with other arts, which have hitherto held higher pretensions.’

      In the early twentieth century, taxidermy was taken forward under the leadership of artists such as Carl Akeley, James L. Clark, Coleman Jonas, Fredrick and William Kaempfer, and Leon Pray. These and other taxidermists developed anatomically accurate figures which incorporated every detail in artistically interesting poses, with mounts in realistic settings and poses. This was quite a change from the caricatures popularly offered as hunting trophies. The methods of taxidermy have substantially improved over the last century, heightening quality and lowering toxicity. The animal is first skinned in a process similar to removing the skin from a chicken prior to cooking. This can be accomplished without opening the body cavity, so the taxidermist usually does not see internal organs or blood. Depending on the type of skin, preserving chemicals are applied or the skin is tanned. It

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