DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0221
188 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
in salt or honey. The ancients must consequently have possessed methods of preserving
animal substances in the dry state; but they appear to have been ill-adapted to the
purpose, for the head of the celebrated Caledonian boar, which Pausanius saw in one
of the temples of Greece, had evidently suffered by time or the ravages of insects, and
had lost the greater part of its bristles.
The art of preserving animals appears to have been but little, if at all, practised during
the middle ages; for we rarely meet with a notice of natural objects being kept as curi-
osities in the treasuries of emperors, kings, and princes. It is only in the records of the
period when the study of natural science was resuscitated, that passages are to be met
with indicative of a knowledge of taxidermy, though sportsmen had undoubtedly prac-
tised it much earlier, in a rough manner,* for the purpose of making effigies of callbirds,
in the absence of the living bird, while they imitated the note of the bird with their own
voice, or some artificial contrivance.
The first records of collections of objects of natural history relate to the second half of
the sixteenth century; and it appears from them that such museums existed chiefly in
Italy, in relation to which the name of Francesco Calceolari deserves especial mention
(Verona, 1584). These collections, which were commenced by private individuals, from
purely scientific motives, increased in number and importance in the seventeenth century.
This period gave birth to the collection of the Tradescants (father and son), which was
purchased in 1659, by Elias Ashmole, who presented it, in 1683, to the university of
Oxford, and thus founded the Ashmolean museum; and also to the collection of James
Petiver, which was much enriched by Sir Hans Sloane, and, on the death of this dis-
tinguished naturalist, became the nucleus of the British Museum. It is from this epoch,
in which the majority of continental collections took their origin, that the art of pre-
serving skins must be dated; and, from the moment it became subservient to science,
it kept pace with the growth and requirements of these institutions.
It was a point of extreme interest, to compare the admirable productions in taxidermy
contributed to the Great Exhibition with the old specimens of the art of animal stuffing
to be met with here and there in the museums of natural history. Nothing more dis-
similar can be imagined; for while the successful productions of modern times present
nature to our eyes, and show that the artist has closely studied her hidden secrets, the
animals of the old stuffers resemble anything but that which they are intended to
represent. It would appear that the study of nature was not deemed to be essential,
and that imagination took its place and was allowed great latitude in the putting up of
the stuffed effigies; so much so, that the living prototype would have recoiled in
horror from the contemplation of its defunct representative. The older taxidermists
had evidently to direct their entire attention to overcoming the difficulties presented by
the material, the preservation of which was the main point. At first they contented
themselves with removing the intestines and the brain, especially in birds; they then
attempted to prevent the putrefaction of the remaining parts, by exposing the bodies to
a gradually increasing temperature, for the purpose of expelling all the water. But,
however carefully the drying was attended to, it is evident that these productions were of
* Although the foregoing sketch suffices to show that the art of taxidermy can only have been very
gradually developed, still it will not be inappropriate to introduce in this place the often-told, but im-
probable, anecdote of a rich gentleman of London, named Lever, who is said to have possessed a valu-
able collection of living birds. These all died in one night, owing to the stove used in the aviary
having cracked, and the vapours suffocating them. The intensity of Mr. Lever's grief at the loss of his
favourites, induced him to make an effort at preserving their dead bodies, and he is said to have succeeded
in this by the aid of a physician, who invented animal stuffing for the occasion. These birds are reported
to have given rise to the Leverian Museum, specimens from which may yet be met with in the British
Museum.
in salt or honey. The ancients must consequently have possessed methods of preserving
animal substances in the dry state; but they appear to have been ill-adapted to the
purpose, for the head of the celebrated Caledonian boar, which Pausanius saw in one
of the temples of Greece, had evidently suffered by time or the ravages of insects, and
had lost the greater part of its bristles.
The art of preserving animals appears to have been but little, if at all, practised during
the middle ages; for we rarely meet with a notice of natural objects being kept as curi-
osities in the treasuries of emperors, kings, and princes. It is only in the records of the
period when the study of natural science was resuscitated, that passages are to be met
with indicative of a knowledge of taxidermy, though sportsmen had undoubtedly prac-
tised it much earlier, in a rough manner,* for the purpose of making effigies of callbirds,
in the absence of the living bird, while they imitated the note of the bird with their own
voice, or some artificial contrivance.
The first records of collections of objects of natural history relate to the second half of
the sixteenth century; and it appears from them that such museums existed chiefly in
Italy, in relation to which the name of Francesco Calceolari deserves especial mention
(Verona, 1584). These collections, which were commenced by private individuals, from
purely scientific motives, increased in number and importance in the seventeenth century.
This period gave birth to the collection of the Tradescants (father and son), which was
purchased in 1659, by Elias Ashmole, who presented it, in 1683, to the university of
Oxford, and thus founded the Ashmolean museum; and also to the collection of James
Petiver, which was much enriched by Sir Hans Sloane, and, on the death of this dis-
tinguished naturalist, became the nucleus of the British Museum. It is from this epoch,
in which the majority of continental collections took their origin, that the art of pre-
serving skins must be dated; and, from the moment it became subservient to science,
it kept pace with the growth and requirements of these institutions.
It was a point of extreme interest, to compare the admirable productions in taxidermy
contributed to the Great Exhibition with the old specimens of the art of animal stuffing
to be met with here and there in the museums of natural history. Nothing more dis-
similar can be imagined; for while the successful productions of modern times present
nature to our eyes, and show that the artist has closely studied her hidden secrets, the
animals of the old stuffers resemble anything but that which they are intended to
represent. It would appear that the study of nature was not deemed to be essential,
and that imagination took its place and was allowed great latitude in the putting up of
the stuffed effigies; so much so, that the living prototype would have recoiled in
horror from the contemplation of its defunct representative. The older taxidermists
had evidently to direct their entire attention to overcoming the difficulties presented by
the material, the preservation of which was the main point. At first they contented
themselves with removing the intestines and the brain, especially in birds; they then
attempted to prevent the putrefaction of the remaining parts, by exposing the bodies to
a gradually increasing temperature, for the purpose of expelling all the water. But,
however carefully the drying was attended to, it is evident that these productions were of
* Although the foregoing sketch suffices to show that the art of taxidermy can only have been very
gradually developed, still it will not be inappropriate to introduce in this place the often-told, but im-
probable, anecdote of a rich gentleman of London, named Lever, who is said to have possessed a valu-
able collection of living birds. These all died in one night, owing to the stove used in the aviary
having cracked, and the vapours suffocating them. The intensity of Mr. Lever's grief at the loss of his
favourites, induced him to make an effort at preserving their dead bodies, and he is said to have succeeded
in this by the aid of a physician, who invented animal stuffing for the occasion. These birds are reported
to have given rise to the Leverian Museum, specimens from which may yet be met with in the British
Museum.