some other filling if possible.

CHAPTER III.

PRESERVATIVE PREPARATIONS, FORMULAS, ETC.

Probably arsenic in some form has been, and will continue to be the
leading taxidermic preservative, or rather, insect deterrent. Many
people are shy of handling this, but with reasonable care the use of
arsenic is perfectly safe. Always keep poisons well labeled and out of
the way of children. Nine children out of ten would never think of
sampling them, but the tenth might prove the fatal exception.

There is far less danger to the operator in handling the needful amount
of poisons than in endeavoring to save some rare but over-ripe subject.
In many years' use of arsenic, dry, in wet solution, and in soap, I have
received nothing more serious than an occasional sore finger.

The shape in which I have found it most satisfactory for poisoning hair
and feathers of mounted specimens and the interior of furred skins I
will give as

ARSENICAL SOLUTION.

Commercial arsenic 1 lb.
Bicarbonate of soda 1/2 lb.
Water 5 pts.

Boil until arsenic and soda have dissolved, stirring frequently. Use a
vessel at least twice as large as necessary to contain the quantity used
as it foams up while boiling. When cold put in a large bottle or jar
marked _Poison_, of course. For poisoning finished specimens,
mounted heads, etc., take one part of this solution to two parts water
and spray the entire surface with this in an atomizer or larger sprayer.
It should be tested before using by dipping a black feather in it and if
a gray or white deposit is left on drying, it should be diluted still
further until this is prevented.

To poison the inside of skins we make Arsenical Paste: Arsenical
Solution (full strength), whiting sufficient to produce the consistency
of cream. This should be mixed in a wide mouthed bottle or small pan and
applied with a common paint brush. Do not apply to a perfectly dry skin,
like tanned hide for a robe or rug, but dampen the inside first with
clear water, then paint over with the paste and it will strike through
to the fur side and be taken up around the fur roots by capillary
action. This tends to put a damper on the activities of the moth, whose
favorite grazing ground is at the hair roots just outside the skin.

The paste is equally good on skins of birds, except, perhaps the smaller
ones, when freshly skinned, and some of the smaller mammals. The mixture
of whiting