By thus securing animals while young, they are much more likely to reach home in a living state. Every exertion should be used to render them familiar, when, being habituated to the appearance of man, they will be more able to resist the effects of a tedious sea-voyage than those which have been taken when wild, and are under a continued degree of excitement. Every care should be taken to soothe and caress them; and there is no animal whose manners cannot be softened by gentle treatment. During fine weather, they should be allowed to take exercise on the deck, as nothing is so injurious to their health and growth as being long pent up in a small cage. While thus confined, it will be obvious that they require a much smaller portion of food then when they can have sufficient room to exercise themselves. Many of these animals are lost from overfeeding. Their diet should be given with great regularity, but always in such quantity as they can easily digest.
Next to food, cleanliness is of the utmost importance, and if this requires too much of the attention of those who are bringing them home, it will be easy to procure the assistance of some of the crew. And unless this is strictly attended to, there is little chance of preserving their health.
When animals’ skins are imported, it is also necessary to bring the head and feet. Those of the mammalia, which can be put into a barrel or bottle, should be preserved entire in spirits.
In the event of not being able to transport the carcass the next best thing is to bring the skeleton along with the skin. It will not be necessary to mount these. All that is required is to boil the bones, take off the flesh, and dry them. Afterwards all the bones belonging to the same skeleton should be put in a bag by themselves, taking care to fill up the bag with dried moss, or any other substance which will prevent friction. The more effectually to secure this, the small and tender bones ought to be wrapped in paper. It is of the utmost consequence that not a bone should be lost.
In shooting birds, it is of much importance not to use the shot too large; indeed, it ought to be proportioned, as nearly as possible, to the size of the bird to be shot at. When the bird is killed, the blood must be carefully wiped away, and a little cotton must be put into the bill to prevent the blood flowing from it to injure the feathers. The wound should also be stuffed with cotton.
Birds should be skinned as soon as possible, as the feathers are apt to fall off if kept too long. The os coccygis must be kept attached to the skin. If several individuals of the same species be killed, one should, if possible, be preserved entire in spirits, with the whole muscles of the body. If the bird has a fleshy crest, it ought to be preserved in spirits.
It is of the utmost consequence to procure the male, female and young, and these at different ages, besides, as many species are subject to great variety, in their progress from the young to the adult state. This is more particularly the case with Eagles and Hawks, many of which have been described as different species in their immature state. The eggs and nest should also be procured.
Reptiles.—The chief thing to be attended to in skinning reptiles is not to injure the scales; and in the lizard kind care must be taken not to break the tail. But for all the smaller and middle-sized species the best mode is to preserve them in spirits; and of the larger kinds, which are skinned, the skeletons ought to be kept. The flesh should be taken away with knives and scalpels as well as possible, and the bones thoroughly dried and packed in a box with cotton or grass, and they can be articulated after they are brought home. When the skeletons are too large they may be separated into convenient parts for packing.
[THE END.]