The taxidermist's manual, or, The art of collecting, preparing and preserving objects of natural history. : For the use of travellers, conservators of museums, and private collectors. ... / By Captain Thomas Brown, F.L.S.

  • Brown, Thomas, 1785-1862.
Date:
MDCCCXXXIII. [1833]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The taxidermist's manual, or, The art of collecting, preparing and preserving objects of natural history. : For the use of travellers, conservators of museums, and private collectors. ... / By Captain Thomas Brown, F.L.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    50/174 (page 24)
    ORDER X.—CETACEA. THE DOLPHIN, PORPOISE, &C. The structure of these animals, as well as of the other spe- cies of the first family of this order, differs but little in gen- eral structure. In skinning- these, an incision is made under the chin, and continued to the extremity of the tail; the skin is then de- tached right and left with the scalpel, or a sharp knife. When the skin has been cut back as far as possible, disengage the vertebrae at the tail, and this will enable the operator to de- tach the skin from the back ; the vertebrae are now cut close to the head, and the whole carcase removed. All this tribe have a thick layer of fat under their skin. In the operation of skinning it requires considerable dexterity to leave this fat, or blubber, adhering to the carcase. Practice alone will obviate this. When this has not been properly managed in the skinning, the only thing to be done after- wards is to scrape it thoroughly with a knife. The oil which flows from it, during this operation, must be soaked up with bran, or plaster of Paris. There being no muscular projections in the skin of the Por- poise, there is no use for wires in mounting it. A narrow piece of wood the length of the body is quite sufficient to keep the skin stretched, and stuffed either with tow or hay. Some months are necessary to render it perfectly dry and stiff, from its greasy nature. The grease almost always leaves some dis- agreeable looking spots on the skin. To remove these, and prevent a recurrence of them, powdered pumice-stone steeped in olive oil, is rubbed thickly on the skin with a hand-brush. It is then gone over a second time with emery and oil. It is rubbed in this way till the skin has a glossy appearance, when it may be rubbed dry with a woollen cloth; and to complete the polish, a clean woollen cloth may be applied with some force to complete the gloss, which is natural to the skin in a living state. Where a very glossy appearance is wished, varnishes be- come necessary, but some difficulty has been experienced in