G46
ANCIENT PROCESSES FOR PRESERVING ANIMAL REMAINS.
[Class XXIX.
this view. And although it cannot be positively* asserted,from the notices in the Greek and Latin authors on thesubject under review, that methods resembling those nowused by the animal-stuffer were employed by the ancients;still the circumstance that animals were frequently sus-pended in the temples, shows that they were not invariablypreserved in salt or honey. The ancients must conse-quently have possessed methods of preserving animalsubstances in the dry state; but they appear to have beenill adapted to the purpose, for the head of the celebratedCalydonian boar, which Pausanias saw in one of thetemples of Greece , had evidently suffered by time, or theravages of insects, and had lost the greater part of itsbristles.
The art of preserving animals appears to have beenbut little, if at all, practised during the middle ages; forwe only now and then meet with a notice of naturalobjects being kept as curiosities in the treasuries ofemperors, kings, and princes. It is only in the recordsof the period when the study of natural science wasresuscitated that passages are to be met with indicativeof a knowledge of taxidermy'. Sportsmen had undoubt-edly practised it much earlier, in a rough manner,f forthe purpose of making effigies of call-birds, in the absenceof the living bird, while they imitated the note of thebird with their own voice, or some artificial contrivance.
The first records of collections of objects of naturalhistory relate to the second half of the sixteenth century,and it appeal's from them that such museums existedchiefly in Italy , in relation to which the name of Fran-cesco Calceolari deserves especial mention (Verona , 1584).These collections, which were commenced by privateindividuals from purely scientific motives, increased innumber and importance in the seventeenth century. Thisperiod gave birth to the collection of the Tradescants(father and son), which was purchased in 1659, by EliasAshmole, who presented it in 168-3 to the University ofOxford, and thus founded the Ashmolean Museum ; andalso to the collection of James Petiver , which was muchenriched by Sir Hans Sloane , and, on the death of thisdistinguished naturalist, became the nucleus of the BritishMuseum . It is from this epoch, in which the majorityof continental collections took their origin, that the art ofpreserving skins must be dated; and from the moment itbecame subservient to science, it kept pace with thegrowth and requirements of these institutions.
It is a point of extreme interest to compare the admir-able productions in taxidermy contributed to the GreatExhibition , with the old specimens of the art of animal-stuffing to be met with here and there in the museums ofnatural history. Nothing more dissimilar can be imagined;for while the successful productions of modem times pre-
* Tn one of the Epistles of Horace (Epist. lib. I., Epist.2,1. 65), addressed to Lollius, a passage is met with, whichhas been generally construed into a knowledge of Taxidermy among the ancients. The words are—
Yenaticus, ex quo
Tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aulaMilitat in silvis catulus.
Many interpret pellis cervina as a stuffed stag, placed inthe hall, and barked at by the dog. This explanation as-sumes that the ancients decorated their halls in such man-ner : like a modem hunting-box. The passage is, however,intelligible if we translate pellis ccrvina as the mere skinof the stag.
t Although the foregoing sketch suffices to show that theart of taxidermy can only have been very gradually de-veloped, still it will not be inappropriate to introduce inthis place the often told, but improbable, anecdote of arich gentleman of London named Lever, who is said to havepossessed a valuable collection of living birds. These alldied in one night, owing to the stove used in the aviaryhaving cracked, and the vapours suffocating them. Theintensity of Mr. Lever’s grief at the loss of his favouritesinduced him to make an effort at preserving their deadbodies, and he is said to have succeeded in this by the aidof his physician, who invented animal stuffing for the occa-sion. These birds are reported to have given rise to theLeverian Museum, specimens from which may yet be metwith in the British Museum .
sent Nature to our eyes, and show that the artist hasclosely studied her hidden secrets, the animals of the oldstuffers resemble anything but that which they are intendedto represent. It would appear that the study of naturewas not deemed to be essential, and that imagination tookits place, and was allowed great latitude iu the putting upof the stuffed effigies; so much so, that the living proto-type would have recoiled in horror from the contemplationof its defunct representative.
The older taxidermists had, evidently, to direct theirentire attention to overcoming the difficulties presentedby the material, the preservation of which was the mainpoint. At first they contented themselves with removingthe intestines and the brain, especially in birds; theyattempted to prevent the putrefaction in the remainingparts, by exposing the bodies to a gradually increasingtemperature for the purpose of expelling all the water.But however carefully the drying was attended to, it isevident that these productions were of an ephemeralcharacter, as they presented a tempting bait to manydescriptions of insects. An improvement was next effectedby removing the large fleshy muscles, the entire skeletonstill remaining. At present, the skin alone is employed;all parts that rapidly undergo putrefaction being carefullyremoved. By this means, and by the aid of modernchemistry, which has yielded a series of useful prepa-rations to the taxidermist, the putrefaction of the stuffedanimals was prevented. The operator was consequentlyenabled to direct his attention to other points of greatimportance; and from the moment lie was freed fromanxiety respecting the preservation of his subject, hestrove to perfect his mode of representing nature, andthus completely altered the range of his art. The skinof the animal has now become, in the hands of the taxi-dermist, a crude material to be endowed with form, andlife-like attributes, as the marble under the chisel andmallet of the sculptor; and unless, like him, he prepareshis mind by anatomical studies, and a close observationof nature, he will surely fail to realise a satisfactoryproduction. The Works of Art exhibited—for to many ofthe specimens the term'may be well applied—prove thatanimal-stuffing has been cultivated with unequivocal suc-cess in this direction.
The exhibitors are two in number, one of whom sendsa black-eyed squirrel, and the other a case of animals,birds, and fishes; but neither of these contributions callsfor especial notice.
The contribution, which comprises a case of stuffedbirds indigenous to Belgium , and also a case of stuffedforeign birds, requires no especial notice.
British Guiana. —Mr. A. F. Ridgway, British Guiana(160-61, p. 987), exhibits a case of stuffed birds, com-prising:—the toucan, blue parrot from Essequibo, andthe yellow-bellied Trojan. Nova Scotia . —Mr. A. Downs(p. 970) contributes some well-prepared specimens ofbirds from that colony. New Zealand (37, p. 1002) sendsspecimens of insects. South Africa . —Captain Faddy, R.A.(Western (for South) Africa , 19, p. 954), exhibits speci-mens of the hartebeest, the striped koodoo, and thewaterboc. from the Cape of Good Hope . The manner inwhich these have been preserved and set up camiot becommended; but it is alleged that the two last-namedanimals are the first of their kind that have reached thiscountry: and if so, they are of interest. Van Diemen'sLand. —Mr. F. Cox (280, p. 997) exhibits a case of Tas-manian insects; and Mr. Bonney (281, p. 997) one ofTasmanian birds, which are interesting specimens. Mr.W. H. Ince, of Chelsea (349, p. 1000), exhibits a case ofbirds formerly belonging to the late Captain J. M. I\\Ince, who died at IIong-Kong whilst commanding H.M.S.“ Pilot.” They formed part of the rare and interestingspecimens of Natural History collected by that officerwhen Lieutenant of H.M.S. “Fly,” during the survey ofthe Great Barrier Reef and Coasts of Australia. These