"Let's repair this swordfish specimen first." Sonia said, she decided to start with this fish first. Relatively speaking, the repair of this swordfish is the easiest, which not only saves time, but also can be used to teach apprentices
Practice your hands.
The apprentices gathered around - as future remote exploration team and natural history museum staff, learning how to make and repair specimens is considered basic business learning.
The main problem with swordfish specimens is cracked skin. This is actually caused by excessive drying of the leather. So the first thing to do is to restore the elasticity of the skin.
Sonia first used a duster to dust away the dust on the specimen, and then asked two apprentices to carefully brush away the dust and dirt on the surface with fine-bristled brushes.
"You can ignore the dirt that cannot be removed by brushing," Sonia said. "We can use water to remove it later when we do the surface softening treatment."
After removing the dust, Sonia asked the apprentices to bring clean cloth strips, soak them in water and wrap the entire specimen. This step is to allow the specimen's skin to absorb water, soften it and restore some of the tension of the skin.
How long this step takes does not entirely depend on the personal experience of the specimen restorer. Sonia has some experience in repairing fish skinned specimens. She set a time for the alarm clock in the herbarium.
"It still takes a certain amount of time for the skin to absorb moisture. Let's take advantage of this time to complete part of the process of a new specimen." She then motioned to Da Wen: "Bring specimen No. 171."
The specimen she is preparing to make is the bird specimen collected during the recent expedition to Taiwan: the Taiwan blue magpie.
Sonia first displayed a museum painting of Taiwanese blue magpie on the easel:
"This was collected in the mountains of the Taitung Longitudinal Valley. It is a unique bird of Taiwan Island. Its Latin literary name is Urocissa caerulea. It belongs to the subclass Ornithidae, the family Corvidae, the genus Blue Magpie, and the species Taiwan Blue Magpie. You can get closer.
Look – the picture is smaller.”
Everyone gathered around. Sonia continued:
"In this museum painting, you can clearly see: the Taiwan blue magpie's head, face, neck, throat, and chest are all black, with yellow eyes surrounding black pupils, bright red beak, feet, and body
The visible upper part and the lower part of the abdomen are bright blue, with twelve tail feathers. The longest two feathers are blue-rooted and white, and the third one is black-rooted and white, symmetrical. The lower abdomen and lower tail coverts are grayish white.
. Its tail feathers are extremely long, accounting for two-thirds of its total length."
"Like all corvids, the Taiwan blue magpie has a noisy personality, with a loud and noisy call. When flying, it usually moves in a straight line, often in pairs or small groups. It is widely distributed on Taiwan Island, with many
Its specimens have been collected from all locations. It usually lives in lower mountain jungles and is rarely seen in plain areas."
Sonia talked eloquently and seemed to be an experienced university professor. In fact, she had never taught anyone in the past, but she had taught one apprentice, informally - after all, she was too young, and openly taking on an apprentice would inevitably expose her colleagues in the guild.
They had the impression of being "arrogant". After arriving at Lingao, influenced and encouraged by Lin Hanlong, she slowly began to teach professional knowledge to others. Especially after she could master Chinese better, she spent most of her free time by herself.
I took classes or taught classes to others. I also gained experience in teaching.
"This blue magpie is so beautiful!" A girl interjected.
"Yes, the blue magpie is indeed beautiful in appearance. Like corvids, it is quite intelligent. It can be domesticated as an ornamental bird, but its cry is too unpleasant."
"Then why don't our museum tame a few live animals? They are more vivid than looking at specimens or pictures."
"There is no need to fix the specimen yet..."
Most of the apprentices were women, and they started chattering non-stop.
"Raising live animals is a zoo's business, we are not a zoo." Sonia said, "Maybe we will open a zoo in Lingao in the future." She brought the topic back, "According to observations during several inspections: its personality is fierce.
, like to gather in groups. They often move in small groups. They fly in a row and flock together all year round. They are very territorial and will drive away other invading birds."
Just as he was talking, Dawen had already brought the collected specimens over.
This Taiwanese blue magpie was placed in a large shallow enamel basin with a lid. Sonia put on gloves and carefully moved the collection from the plate to the tiled specimen preparation table.
"You can first observe the appearance characteristics of the Taiwan blue magpie, and then compare it with other birds of the genus Blue Magpie. Xiaowen..."
Xiao Wen immediately displayed the museum paintings of the other five species of blue magpies - which Sonia had prepared in advance for today's specimen class.
"Before making the specimen, we first measure its size. The length measurement standard for each part of the bird is as follows:
Body length is measured from the end of the mouth to the end of the tail; peak length of the bill: the straight line distance from the basal feathers of the bill to the tip of the upper bill; wing length: the distance from the wing angle to the longest flight feather to the tip; tail length: the feathers from the tail
The straight line distance from the base to the longest tail feather to the tip; tarsal toe length: from the midpoint behind the tibia and tarsal toe joint to the lower edge of the entire scale in front of the tarsal toe and middle joint.
She opened the tape measure and measured the length of the specimen: body length 64.5 cm, wingspan 20.3 cm, tail 39.7 cm...
According to the numbers she dictated, Xiaowen began to record the production diary.
"Before we start production, we must first make preparations, and first of all, we must do protective work." Sonia said, "All birds and animals carry parasites, bacteria and viruses, some of which are zoonotic.
. So we have to wear these white coats, gloves, masks and other protective equipment. Please check your protection status again."
There was a rustling sound in the house. Then it became quiet again.
"What we are making this time are bird specimens. Prior to this, the collected specimens have been refrigerated for 72 hours and soaked in insecticide for 24 hours to fully kill the bacteria and parasites attached to them.
.”
She said, spreading the blue magpie on the production table.
"Now, let's start the first step, the separation of skin and flesh. Please pay attention."
Sonia placed the sterilized and dewormed bird on its back on the workbench, divided the feathers from the chest to the abdomen to both sides, then raised a sharp scalpel and cut off the blue magpie's chest neatly, along the midline.
It opened into the abdomen, forming a superficial opening.
"Be careful when getting off the island. Don't cut too deep to prevent direct abdominal dissection - in this case, the abdominal contents will leak out and contaminate the skin and feathers. The depth is roughly the right distance for incision through the epidermis, and the length is about the distance from the anus.
Two centimeters away."
She used tweezers to uncover the epidermis, clamped the skin with tweezers, and tore apart the flesh and fur bit by bit.
"...Be gentle when peeling. Be especially careful when peeling a bird's skin. Its appearance is mainly characterized by its feathers, so be sure not to damage the feathers when peeling."
As the peeling progressed, the bird's blood began to flow out, and there was also excrement in the anus. Dawen wiped it with absorbent paper at any time.
"Pay special attention to keeping it clean to prevent contamination of the feathers and affecting the appearance."
Sonia's fingers are nimble and strong, and her movements are steady and fast, seemingly very easy. When she encounters tight joints or adhesions, she picks up a scalpel and peels them off.
She started peeling off the chest and abdomen toward the head and tail. When she reached the shoulders, she first peeled off the fur at the base of the wings, used scissors to cut off the muscles at the base of the wings, cut off the joints, and then continued peeling toward the ends of the wings until there was no muscle tissue.
Use scissors to cut off the bones and muscles together. When peeling off the legs, first peel off the fur at the base of the legs, use scissors to cut off the muscles and joints, and then continue to peel off toward the front of the legs until there is no muscle tissue. Use scissors to cut off the bones and muscles.
Cut together.
When she was close to the tail, she stopped temporarily and used absorbent paper to wipe off the blood and fat under the skin and between the muscles. Be careful here and don't peel it all the way to the bottom, otherwise it will easily damage the tail and cloacal hole, and avoid causing the tail feathers to fall off and be excreted.
substance, fat leakage.
So she only peeled it off near the base of the tail, leaving some muscle tissue. Then she started peeling off the upper skin. Peeling off the head skin was difficult, so she started more carefully until the entire head fur was peeled off, leaving only the skin on the head.
A little bit where the beak is connected. Then pick up the scissors and cut cleanly directly at the base of the beak.
In this way, a complete bird feather skin of the Taiwan blue magpie is completely peeled off and laid flat on the production table.
The apprentices looked at it very seriously and couldn't help but hold their breath every time they came to a critical point. At this time, the entire production room was silent. When the problem was successfully solved, everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief together.
Sonia picked up the scalpel, neatly cut off the skinned bird head, and placed it in a small porcelain basin aside.
"If possible, you can keep the skull. This way, when making specimens, the head will have a basic support and the restoration will be better. But it must be well preserved." As she said this, she used a scalpel to remove the stains on the bird's skull.
brain tissue, eyes, tongue and muscles.
"Take it and boil it in water to remove the bones." She informed Dawen. Then she picked up the fur and said, "After peeling off the fur, the second step is to clean it. For cleaning, just use soap powder mixed with water." The speaker soaked the fur.
Put it in an enamel basin and gently rub it.
"When cleaning, the inside and outside should be clean. Also check the cortex. If there is any remaining muscle tissue, continue to remove it. Be careful not to use too much force to prevent feathers from falling off."
After cleaning, Sonia hung the blue magpie's fur on a special rack and placed it in a cool place, letting it drip and dry naturally.
The peeled fur easily loses water and becomes hard, which affects later production, so it cannot be left for too long. Usually, the peeling is completed in the morning, and it is washed and left to dry until the afternoon before filling. It is already past four o'clock in the afternoon - today only