Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting Part 24

Cloth is poor stuff to use in making rockwork. It draws in straight lines, and in smooth, plain surfaces. It generally shows up the wooden framework to perfection. Use manila paper instead, by all means, and take great pains in shaping your wooden foundation. Always avoid straight lines and plain surfaces.

CHAPTER XXIX.

GROUPS AND GROUPING.

The rapidity with which the art of taxidermy has won its way to public favor in the United States during the last two decades is certainly very gratifying. Less than twenty years ago a great naturalist declared that a skin stuffed is a skin spoiled. Even ten years ago the only specimens permitted in museums were those that were mounted singly, in stereotyped att.i.tudes, on polished pedestals of hard wood.

Between the years 1860 and 1876 a few of the more ambitious taxidermists of Europe produced various groups of mammals, large and small. Of these, one of the most noteworthy was the "Lion and Tiger Struggle," by Edwin Ward, of London, and another was Jules Verreaux's "Arab Courier attacked by Lions."

The most of these groups represented animals in theatrical att.i.tudes, usually fighting. While they were of much interest for certain purposes, they were of but little value to persons desiring to study typical forms of the species which were represented. It would have been quite as appropriate to place the "Dying Gladiator" or "The Laoc.o.o.n" in an ethnological museum, as it would have been to place such groups as the "Lion and Tiger Struggle"

of Edwin Ward, or Rowland Ward's "Combat of Red Deer," in a collection of mounted mammals in a scientific museum. Up to the year 1879 no large groups of mammals had been prepared in this country which were considered appropriate for scientific display collections. Furthermore, the production of groups of mammals or birds suitable for scientific museums was generally considered an impossibility.

In 1879 the writer returned from a collecting trip to the East Indies, having in mind numerous designs for groups of mammals, both large and small. It was believed then that many of these would not only be suitable for scientific museums, but would also be far more attractive and instructive than ordinary specimens. A design for a group of orang utans was prepared and submitted to Professor Henry A. Ward, with whom the writer was then a.s.sociated, at his Natural History Establishment, with a proposition to prepare such a group as was there represented. After considerable hesitation Professor Ward finally decided to let the experiment be tried, and the group was prepared according to the design.

I do not deny the soft impeachment that in one respect this design was highly suggestive of the methods adopted by my European rivals to secure attention to their work, or, in other words, it was a trifle sensational.

The group in question represented a pair of immense and hideously ugly male orang utans fighting furiously while they hung suspended in the tree-tops.

The father of an interesting family was evidently being a.s.sailed by a rival for the affection of the female orang utan, who, with a small infant clinging to her breast, had hastily quitted her nest of green branches, and was seeking taller timber. The nest which she had just quitted was an accurate representation of the nest constructed by this great ape.

In the middle of the group, and at the highest point, was another nest in the top of a sapling, on the edge of which another interesting young orang utan--a production evidently of the previous year, was gazing down with wide-eyed wonder at the fracas going on below. The accessories to this were so designed and arranged as to represent an actual section of the top of a Bornean forest, at a height of about thirty feet from the ground, representing the natural trees, with leaves, orchids, pepper-vines, moss, and vegetation galore. For such a subject an unusual amount of care was bestowed on the accessories. Although the design of this group included the theatrical feature of a combat between animals, there was method in this madness. This feature was introduced for the specific purpose of attracting attention to the group and inviting discussion.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XVII. Reproduced from "Two Years in the Jungle."

A FIGHT IN THE TREE-TOPS.

(PART OF THE GROUP IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, MOUNTED BY THE AUTHOR.)]

The remainder of the group was of such a character that it seemed no scientific observer could find fault with its naturalness. All the various members of the group were represented in natural att.i.tudes (the result of elaborate life-studies in the Bornean jungles), and each one told its own story of the orang utan's life and habits (Plate XVII.)

It is not too much to say that the group caught the popular fancy. It was completed in September, 1879, just in time to be sent to Saratoga, for exhibition before the meeting of the American a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Science, ostensibly for the purpose of ill.u.s.trating a paper by the author on "The Species of Bornean Orangs." Naturally it attracted considerable attention, and it seemed to meet the approval of the members of the a.s.sociation, particularly the museum directors and superintendents, who were especially interested in such work.

Although it may be the reverse of modest in me to say so, I cannot help believing that the production of that group marked the beginning of an era in the progress of museum taxidermy in the United States. The price placed upon this group ($2,000) prevented its immediate sale; but in a short time another group of orang utans, similar in composition but of a very different design, was ordered by Mr. Robert Colgate, of New York, for the American Museum of Natural History, and prepared by the writer at Professor Ward's establishment. This group represented the orang at home--a perfectly peaceful scene in the top of a Bornean forest. It included five orang utans, of various sizes and ages, feeding on durions, sleeping in a nest, climbing, sitting, and swinging. This group was also very well received by the public. As in the case of the first production, the accessories were all carefully worked out. The price paid for this group was $1,500.

In the year 1880, when the Society of American Taxidermists was organized in Rochester, N.Y., for the development of the art of taxidermy, the museum-group idea was much discussed by its founders at Ward's Natural Science Establishment. Mr. Frederic S. Webster determined to make a further test of public sentiment by the production of a large group of birds, designed especially for a place in some scientific museum. With most praiseworthy enterprise he accordingly prepared, at his own expense, and with great care and skill, a group of three flamingoes of the largest size.

Two of the birds were represented as standing at the edge of a shallow lagoon, and the third was sitting on its nest of mud. The water of the lagoon was successfully represented, as also were certain aquatic plants by artificial productions of the finest kinds. At the first exhibition of the Society, which was held in Rochester, in 1880, this group, and also the first group of orang utans, "A Battle in the Tree-tops," was exhibited. To the group of orang utans was awarded the specialty medal, offered "for the best piece in the entire exhibition;" but to the surprise of everyone, save the judges themselves, and to the consternation and chagrin of the founders of the Society, the group of flamingoes was entirely ignored, and the medal offered for the second best piece in the entire exhibition was awarded to a solitary wood-duck, mounted by Mr. Webster, and figured herewith (Fig.

58).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 58.--Mr. Webster's Prize Wood-Duck.]

The failure of the flamingo group to receive any recognition caused deep disappointment to all those who had watched its production with so much interest and hopeful antic.i.p.ation. It had been fondly hoped that it might prove to be the predecessor of a long series of bird groups of the most varied and interesting character.

The judges of this exhibition were men of high scientific attainments, and their honesty of purpose in making their awards could not be questioned for a moment. On being mildly taken to task for their failure to appreciate the group of flamingoes, the judges maintained that such groups were not suitable for scientific museums, as was the evident intention in its preparation. Arguments to the contrary were of no avail, and the believers in such groups were obliged for the time being to hang their harps on the willows. It is a pleasure to record the fact that, although the time had not then arrived, subsequent events have proved that the idea of the group-makers was a good one; and, although the production of groups did not come to pa.s.s precisely as was then antic.i.p.ated, time has wrought its perfect work, and groups are now the order of the day.

In 1882 the writer was appointed chief taxidermist of the National Museum.

In the year following, the first group of orang utans, "The Fight in the Tree-tops," was purchased of Professor Ward by that inst.i.tution, and after being partly reconstructed was placed on exhibition in the Hall of Mammals, where it now is. Since it left his establishment, Professor Ward has been pleased to call it "the king of groups."

The group idea was frequently advanced by the writer to the directors of the National Museum, but the time for its practical adoption on a liberal scale did not arrive until 1886. It is true that in 1884 Professor Goode had six groups of ducks prepared by Mr. Webster, and six bird groups of the same size prepared by Mr. Marshall at the Museum; but with the completion of these the mounting of bird groups there came to an end. The condition of the regular exhibition series of mounted mammals demanded several years'

uninterrupted work before any attention could be devoted to such exceptional work as the preparation of groups either large or small.

Finally, in the year 1886, the auspicious moment arrived. The collecting by the writer of a very large series of specimens of the American bison resulted in his receiving permission to prepare a large mounted group after his own design. To his intense gratification he was given _carte blanche_ as to time and expense, and no limit was placed on the size of the group, the character or extent of the accessories, or the cost of the case to contain all. The experiment was to be regarded as a crucial test of the group idea as adapted to the purposes of scientific museums.

While the group of buffaloes was still in course of preparation, the writer prepared, as a "feeler," a very simple group, consisting of three coyotes, a large male and female and one young specimen. The att.i.tudes and grouping was simplicity itself, and the ground was nothing but gravelly sod, bearing a few stunted bunches of bad-lands gra.s.s. In order that familiarity might not breed contempt, this group was kept carefully secluded from the observation of the a.s.sistant Director until it was finished and in its case in the mammal hall of the museum. Its character was about as follows: A young specimen--a puppy about four weeks old--was playfully endeavoring to pull the jawbone of an antelope out of its mother's mouth. Standing a trifle behind these two stood the father of the family, a really n.o.ble specimen of the species, if by any stretch of the imagination a coyote--the king of sneaks--can be considered n.o.ble. His head was held high in the air, and he was undoubtedly looking afar off, as if watching for the coming of the man with a gun. (See Plate XVIII.)

This little group was heartily approved, and the question of groups in the National Museum was settled forever before the production of the buffalo group was fully accomplished. The idea as a whole was p.r.o.nounced not only satisfactory, but exceedingly desirable, and orders were given that groups of all the more important American mammals should be designed and produced as rapidly as practicable. Work was immediately commenced on several other groups, and by the time the group of buffaloes was completed and ready for exhibition, which occurred in March, 1888, three other groups were ready to be displayed at the same time, viz., of antelopes, prairie-dogs, and opossums.

The reception accorded the group of buffaloes settled all doubt that might have previously existed regarding the estimation in which such productions would be held by the public. At present the only trouble which the taxidermic department of the National Museum labors under is that it is unable to produce groups of mammals half fast enough. In March, 1890, a large group of moose, of the same dimensions as the group of buffaloes, was completed, and a group of musk oxen was completed a month later. Many other groups are in course of preparation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XVIII.

GROUP OF COYOTES. MOUNTED BY THE AUTHOR.]

By a curious coincidence, within three years from the time the Society of American Taxidermists found its first group of birds so frowned upon by museum officers, the British Museum undertook the preparation of a large series of mounted groups of birds, with accessories both natural and manufactured. Precisely in line with our idea, these groups were intended to show the birds in their haunts, and, as far as possible, to show their nesting habits. Naturally enough they were produced with the care which such subjects merit, and the results are truly admirable. When some of these groups were seen by the enterprising and far-sighted President of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, Mr. Morris K.

Jesup, he immediately determined to have a series of bird groups prepared for the great inst.i.tution he has for many years so ably directed. He engaged Mr. Jenness Richardson, then in the taxidermic department of the National Museum, and the work was begun in 1886. Mr. Richardson never saw any of the bird groups of the British Museum, and the work he has produced is as much his own as though the British Museum collection had never existed. Going as he did from the National Museum, the group idea was by no means new to him, and the seventy beautiful groups he has since produced stand as a lasting monument to his skill as a taxidermist, his artistic conception in designing, and his energy as a collector. No other feature in the entire Museum of Natural History at New York is so attractive and pleasing to the general public as are the groups of mounted birds.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF GROUP-MAKING.

There are several vital principles which apply to all kinds of groups, both large and small, and we must consider these before proceeding to discuss the different kinds of groups.

SPECIMENS.--The specimens selected to compose a group should by all means be the finest procurable. It is a mistake to go to the trouble and expense of mounting a number of specimens in a group unless each object is entirely satisfactory in quality. If the group is to represent a family, let the old male and female specimens be of the largest size, and with the finest possible pelage or plumage, as the case may be. Do not begin the mounting of a group until you have in hand a series of specimens that is entirely satisfactory. Let them be so fine that their quality will be remarked by all observers. It will then be a pleasure to lavish work upon them. Even if you should mount a specimen and afterward discover that it is inferior, discard it by all means in favor of a better one. A large group of either mammals or birds represents a very considerable outlay in money and time, and unless the quality of the specimens is above criticism, the group is by no means a success. I have found that it is a work of from one to two years' time to procure the specimens necessary for a complete group of large mammals of any kind.

The best of all ways to procure specimens for groups is to go into the field, find them in their haunts, study them alive, study their habitat and their habits; shoot, measure, and preserve them with your own hands. If you are unable to do this yourself, then it must be done for you by some competent person, under your direction. In procuring young animals, which are very necessary in nearly all groups for scientific purposes, the greatest vigilance is required to enable the collector to secure the specimens just when they reach the right age and size.

DESIGN.--When you have determined to prepare a group of a certain species, study the character and size of the subjects to compose it, and then begin by sketching, to the best of your ability, a design in which each specimen shall have its place and att.i.tude. In the preparation of large groups, I have always found the satisfactory arrangement of the specimens the most puzzling and perplexing feature of the work. But however difficult it may be to satisfy myself with a design, I never proceed with a group until the composition of my sketch group is satisfactory. The two largest and finest specimens in a group should const.i.tute its central and commanding figures.

Put as little life as possible in the corners of a group, and by all means make the specimens show an interest in, and a relation to, each other. The design must be dominated by one central idea or purpose, which should never be lost sight of in the arrangement of the group. It is unnecessary to say that each group should form a perfect picture, compact, well rounded, and the relations.h.i.+p of the different specimens to each other should be so clearly defined as to leave no room for the suggestion that the specimens have been mounted independently, and simply placed together.

s.p.a.cE.--No matter how small or large a group may be, to be perfect in effect it must have abundant case-room. Let there be some room to spare in the corners and above the group. The top of the case should by all means be of gla.s.s. An airy, light, out-door effect can not be secured in a small, cramped cage, in which the specimens appear like caged circus animals. If you wish to have your specimens look alive, and as if they are really on their native heath, they must not be "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd."

ACCESSORIES.--Although poor accessories are better than none, you will, of course, have them all as nearly perfect as possible. Spare neither time, trouble, nor expense in procuring the finest collection of accessories that you can possibly gather. Do not think you must be satisfied with the first that comes to hand, but search far and wide until you have obtained precisely what you want. Do not be too lavish in the use of accessory material. Remember that enough is as good as a feast, and too much is good for nothing. There are two principles, either one of which can govern you in your selection of accessory material. One is to select a given spot of ground of precisely the same area as the section you propose to use as the groundwork of your group, and reproduce only such materials as are found on that particular square of mother earth. This is the idea which has been strictly followed in the preparation of the groups of birds in the American Museum of Natural History by Mr. Richardson. I hold to a different principle. I believe that it is best to select from a given locality such material as will best represent _an ideal section of the country to be represented as the habitat of the group_. Of course, it is necessary to exercise care not to bring together too great an a.s.sortment of materials.

By acting on this principle we secure a limited selection of the most common and familiar species of plants in a given locality, and at the same time have the advantage of arranging them for the best artistic effect on the ground which has been prepared to accommodate the group according to the design. With small groups, in which a nest or burrow is to be represented, it is an easy and simple matter to reproduce the exact situation in which the home of the animal was situated. In the preparation of large groups this is a practicable impossibility.

SPECIAL EXHIBITION GROUPS.--To this cla.s.s properly belongs such subjects as Verreaux's "Arab Courier attacked by Lions;" Edwin Ward's "Lion and Tiger Struggle;" and the two groups, "Lions Fighting" and "Horseman attacked by Tigers," prepared by John Wallace, of New York. Such groups are bold in design, theatrical in effect, and each one is supposed to represent a _tour de force_ on the part of the originator. They are valuable for great expositions, for show-windows, fairs, crystal palaces, and the like.

For such purposes the more startling they are, the better. Animals are usually chosen which will admit of a representation of vigorous action. The most favorite theme is large animals in combat. He who has the boldness to introduce the human form divine in such a composition will oftener than otherwise have occasion to wish he hadn't. The human figure is, at best, a difficult subject to handle, and in its introduction with mounted quadrupeds the designer often finds, to his sorrow, how very short is the step from the sublime to the ridiculous. In general I should say that the human figure is an excellent thing to leave out of a group of mounted quadrupeds, unless it happens to be an Esquimau completely enveloped in thick furs. In the preparation of groups of this cla.s.s, the ambitious taxidermist has before him almost as great a variety of subjects as has the sculptor, since his work is subject to precisely the same general rules.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

GROUPS OF MAMMALS.

GROUPING SMALL MAMMALS.--Since our small mammals can not migrate south in winter, as do the birds, each species must provide itself with a winter home, or perish. The nesting and burrowing habits of these builders of "homes without hands" afford a most interesting field for investigation and study, and one which is of great interest to everyone. Almost without exception, every mammalian species found in the United States below the size of the coyote, establishes for itself during a part, if not the whole, of the year, a fixed habitation. Some of the more enterprising species, notably the squirrels and rabbits, enjoy the luxury of a summer residence as well as a winter home. The groups of small mammals which the National Museum is now producing and placing upon exhibition have for one of their princ.i.p.al features the ill.u.s.tration of the homemaking habits of the species represented. A mention of one or two examples will serve to convey an idea of the type of each cla.s.s.