Glacial acetic acid, a few drops.
When used, moisten the gums with a little of the acetic acid diluted.
Gum mastic dissolved in alcohol, and white shellac dissolved in naphtha, are two other white cements.
Where, however, colour does not matter, take
No. 34 — Brown Cement.
Common shellac, 0.25 lb.
Spirits of naphtha, 0.5 pint.
Place them in a bottle in a warm situation on a closed stove, or in a vessel containing hot water. Be careful of fire. The edges of bones or undersides of fossils are smeared with this, tied with string, and left for a day or so to unite.
The reader has now a repertoire of poisonous and harmless preparations from which he may choose. As for myself, for the preservation of birds, I pin my faith to formula No. 4, viz., my Preservative Soap for the inside of the skin, and a wash of benzoline or turpentine liberally applied from time to time — say twice a year — to the outside of all uncased or exposed specimens. This, it will be seen, entirely does away with the use of any poison, and yet is proved to be of the highest efficacy.
For those who do not object to expense nor to the use of a poisonous preparation, a wash of Waterton's Solution (No. 5), or the sulphuric ether preparation (No. 18), can be substituted for benzoline or turpentine. I mention the expense, because only rectified spirits of wine, or pure sulphuric ether, will do for birds; the methylated spirit, though of service for washing over most subjects, is not so good when applied to the delicate feathers of birds, as it leaves on drying a certain impure residuum behind it.