Taxidermy
Taxidermy ( Greek for skin design ) is the art of preserving animal bodies for study, teaching or decorative purposes. Taxidermy is carried out on vertebrates . It is therefore a branch of animal preparation .
development
In the 1770s, the pharmacist Jean-Baptiste Bocoeur developed a preservative containing arsenic which could also be used to preserve larger animal hides, but did not disclose his invention. In 1820, the means was brought to the market by the French zoologist and taxidermist Louis Dufresne (1752-1832). Since the middle of the 19th century, animal bodies were no longer stuffed like pillows in the preparation, but brought into position according to their anatomy and natural posture. The tanned skin with feathers / hair has been applied to a correctly made base body since then. In order to be able to produce this, extensive knowledge of anatomy, ethology and statics is required . In addition, good taxidermists are always artists who can work just as well in plastic. Quite a few taxidermists / dermoplastists have become famous for their art sculptures of animals ( Akeley , ter Meer ). The oldest preserved animal specimen in Europe is the Ingolstadt Swedish mold from 1632.
The majority of the specimens of birds and small mammals kept in scientific collections today are, however, used as bellows, i.e. H. as stuffed skin with feathers or hair. Such bellows have advantages over dermoplastics for scientific work: they are inexpensive, are or have already been largely completed (and labeled!) At the collection point, and they can be stored in dust-tight and light-tight drawers to save space. Storing them in drawers makes it easier to sort through larger series without having to move around in cupboards and display cases , as is the case with dermoplastics . The color of the fur or plumage can be assessed just as easily as with dermoplastics, and measurements are often easier to take. The base and posture of dermoplastics often make it difficult to access important parts of the body. Larger mammals are often collected as fur for scientific purposes, this also saves a lot of space. In addition, when the skin is prepared as a hide or fur, the dermoplastist does not interpret the “natural” posture, which would interfere with scientific neutrality.
Procedure
In connection with the preparation of vertebrates to showpieces is since Philip Leopold Martin of dermoplastics (spoken Greek derma = skin , plastein = form ). Among the first dermoplastists were Martin Friedrich Kerz (Stuttgart, Darmstadt, 1842-1915), Herman H. ter Meer (Leiden, Leipzig, 1871-1934), Carl E. Akeley (Chicago, New York, 1864-1926), Karl Küsthardt (Darmstadt, 1865–1949), Joseph Burger ( Wiesbaden , 1875–1956). The preservation of the animal hide is mostly done by tanning or by fixing .
In the Anglo-American world, the term is used instead of Taxidermist Taxidermist used, although there is not only vertebrates to be prepared. Basically, as in sculpture , the base body is built up by adding a material (e.g. clay ) or carved out of a block (e.g. PU block ). In a further step, this base body can then be cast again in a lighter material using a negative mold. In the course of time it has been found to be particularly important that this body should not be too hard. The applied skin is of organic origin and reacts to climatic changes by changing its size. If the base body is too hard (e.g. made of plaster of paris ), the tanned skin will tear if it is repeatedly expanded. Such damage is difficult to restore and therefore such dermoplastics should be housed in air-conditioned rooms. In particular, the dermoplastics of large mammals made by Friedrich Kerz have been preserved in a very good condition, as he made the main body mainly from sewn-on straw, which remains accordingly flexible.
Dermoplastics are also at risk for other reasons. In connection with the so-called acidic white tanning , alum is still used in conjunction with acids . If the acids are not adequately neutralized , the collagen in the leather can hydrolyze , similar to the acid corrosion in paper, which threatens libraries. Even skins are subject to this process after the alum treatment, which can cause the skin to break down after a few years. In addition, residues of biological fats can become rancid and lead to fat eating in the long term . The binding of moisture and sulfur dioxide can lead to red decay through the formation of sulphurous acid . In addition, the larvae of the clothes moth and various types of bacon beetles ( common fur beetle , brown fur beetle ) can cause damage. If stored too moist, various molds and bacteria can lead to decomposition .
In general, the whole body preparation is similar for each animal (for partial preparations, the following procedure is adapted to the corresponding body part). First, the skin on the underside of the animal is opened with an incision and pulled off; Limbs remain on the skin up to a certain point, which now needs to be tanned. After pulling it off, it should be noted that all fat and muscle residues must be removed from the inside of the skin, as they can later contaminate fur or plumage or become rancid. In addition to making an artificial body from a block, there is also the possibility of creating the body from a previously adapted wire frame, which is tightly wrapped with thread until it corresponds to the original dimensions of the animal to be prepared.
It is possible to give the specimen an adapted, commercially available artificial skull as well as to prepare the original skull as well and then insert it into the specimen. The bellows (the peeled off skin with hair or feathers) are then pulled onto the finished artificial body, the limbs or wings are fixed with a wire, glass or plastic eyes corresponding to the natural appearance of the animal are inserted into the skull with the help of clay or plasticine and the bellows then sewn.
Insecticides used for preservation
In the 19th and 20th centuries, taxidermy used many different insecticides to preserve animal preparations. Arsenic (compounds, arsenic ), paradichlorobenzene , carbon tetrachloride , lindane and cyanide ( potassium cyanide ) were used very often . Carbon disulfide , naphthalene , PCP , DDT , DDVP , mercury and chloride , ammonia , borax (sodium biboraciccum) and formaldehyde were also used for preservation. In most cases, very high concentrations of these poisons were applied to the animal preparations:
“Arsenic (arsenic trioxide) is the most common remedy against harmful insect damage (moth caterpillars, bacon, fur and museum beetles). It used to be common to dissolve 40 g of pure arsenic in 100 g of lukewarm water. This poison mixture was spread on the back of the fur or on the flesh side of the bird skin. "
There is evidence of the use of such poisons in many books by taxidermists from the period from 1868 to 1996. The substances used at that time, however, posed serious health hazards for the people who came into contact with them. However, this was only discovered decades later and is now a major problem for modern taxidermists, as they often come into contact with such contaminated specimens.
Representation in popular culture
- In the novel Beatrice and Virgil. (German: A shirt of the 20th century.) by Yann Martel , a taxidermist plays an important role. The preparation of animals is described in detail.
- The character Barry from the movie Dinner for Spinners is a trained taxidermist who prepares mice as a hobby.
- In the television series Bates Motel (television series), the main character Norman Bates learns how to groom from his girlfriend's father and then pursues the hobby intensively in his own basement.
- In Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much , the supporting role of the taxidermist Ambrose Chappell (played by Richard Wordsworth ) serves as Red Herring . The main character of the film Dr. Benjamin McKenna ( James Stewart ) thinks Chappell is a member of a terrorist network due to a misunderstanding, while the latter and his employees think McKenna is a madman. Hitchcock uses the scene in a deliberately humorous way when the taxidermists want to overwhelm McKenna on the one hand, and on the other hand hastily protect the groomed animals - a sawfish , a leopard and a lion - from damage during the fight . McKenna also gets his hand caught in a tiger's mouth before he can tear himself away. The real taxidermists Edward Gerrard & Sons served as the cinematic setting .
literature
- Christine Becker : Like a second life. The animal trainer Herman H. ter Meer. Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-932900-95-2 .
- Friedrich Kerz: Collecting, dissecting and setting up the vertebrates. A common guide . Strecker & Schröder, Stuttgart 1912.
- Gerhard Schröder: The collecting, conservation and setting up of vertebrates , Verlag P. Parey, 1936
- Susanne Köstering: Nature to look at. The Natural History Museum of the German Empire, 1871–1914 . Böhlau, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-412-04702-3 .
- Leopold Martin : The practice of natural history. a complete textbook on collecting living and dead natural bodies; their observation, maintenance and care in the free and imprisoned state; Conservation, preparation and placement in collections etc. Voigt, Weimar 1870ff.
- Taxidermy, or the doctrine of preserving, dissecting and collecting natural produce, stuffing and placing animals. 1869.
- Dermoplasty and museology, or the modeling of animals and the establishment and maintenance of collections of natural objects. 1870.
- Atlas on the "Practice of Natural History" . 1878 (2 vol.).
- Rudolf Piechocki : Macroscopic preparation technique. Guide to collecting, dissecting and preserving . Gustav Fischer Verlag , Jena 1984/86.
- Vertebrates . 4th edition 1986, ISBN 3-437-11030-6 .
- Invertebrates . 3rd edition 1984, ISBN 3-437-10803-4 .
- Hans Völkel: Hermann H. ter Meer. A life as a dermoplastic artist and artist. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-937209-50-6 .
- Troxler, Martin; Schneppat, Ulrich: skin preservation, manual for the zoological preparatory. ISBN 3-907088-17-4 .
See also
Web links
- Association of German Taxidermists eV
- Heike Worth: Who has the bird ... dissection of birds and mammals. WG Evolution and Systematics of Animals, University of Marburg
- Film about taxidermy Bochumschau, December 2011
Individual evidence
- ^ Glynis Ridley: Clara's Grand Tour. The spectacular journey with a rhinoceros through 18th century Europe . Hamburg: Konkret Literatur Verlag 2008; Pp. 199f., ISBN 978-3-89458-262-3 .
- ^ Felix Divo: The investigation of animal preparations for poisons . Jugend forscht work from 2011.
- ↑ a b Gerhard Schröder: The collecting, preserving and setting up of vertebrates, Verlag P. Parey, 1936
- ↑ Rudolf Piechocki, Joachim Handel: Microscopic Preparation Technique Part II . 4th edition, 1996
- ^ Bernhard Friedrich Voigt (edited by Philipp Leopold Martin): The Practice of Natural History Part I , 1869
- ↑ Rudolf Piechocki and Joachim Handel: Microscopic Preparation Technique Part II , 4th Edition, 1996
- ↑ Microscopic preparation technique part I by Rudolf Piechocki , 4th edition, 1986, p. 16, line 23
- ↑ Week 42: 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' - 1956. The Hitchcock Project , October 23, 2010, accessed April 17, 2016 .
- ↑ Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956) - (Movie Clip) Ambrose Chappell. Turner Classic Movies , accessed April 17, 2016 (video of the scene).
- ^ College Place, Camden, London. the.hitchcock.zone, accessed on April 17, 2016 (description of the film location).