Some amateurs content themselves in passing over the internal surface of the skin they wish to preserve, a good layer of melted suet mixed with a small quantity of corrosive sublimate; it appears that they have obtained some advantageous results, which authorises further experiments; it has been remarked, that suet is never attacked by insects; perhaps, if it were combined with some mineral matter less dangerous than the sublimate, results as satisfactory as those from the arsenical soap of Bècoeur might be obtained.
Such are the preservatives which have been employed in France, but which do not possess, to any extent, the efficacy of the arsenical soap of Bècoeur. It appears that the Germans employ others to which they attribute the same qualities, which appears to us very doubtful in all cases: they may be mentioned here.
Naumann, in the first place, gives a method which appears to us vicious, although he invokes in its favour his own experience. After having said that the best method of preserving is to close hermetically, stuffed animals in boxes, he adds: “I do no more for skins which are to travel in boxes, than powder them with the following composition:
“Of lime decomposed in the air, and finely sifted, two parts; of saxony tobacco, also sifted, one part.”
Hoffman approves of, and recommends the following powder:
| ℞. | Sal ammoniac, | 1 ℥. |
| Calcined alum, | 1/2 ℥. | |
| Saxony tobacco, | 3 ℥. | |
| Aloes, | 1 ʒ. |
The librarian of Jena, M. Theodore Thon, proposes the following powder, as better for preserving animals in the open air.
| Cobalt, | 1 ℥. | |
| Alum, | 2 ℥. |
To be powdered and mixed. Before employing this powder, give a layer of essence of pine, (turpentine,) in order that it may adhere better to the interior of the skin. If the latter be very greasy, add an ounce and a half of lime decomposed in the air and sifted.