20180816 Get stuffed: preserving animals
A good texidermist (动物标本剥制师) needs the patience of a scientist, the eye of a sculptor and the stomach of a surgeon.
The faint-hearted need not apply.
From today at the Saffron Walden Museum, north-east of London, an exhibition will explore the history of humans preserving the bodies of animals--by gutting them, stuffing them and then rearranging their skin.
Gruesone as it may be, the pratice stretches back to ancient Egypt, where the pets of the Pharaohs were embalmed so they could be buried alongside their owners in their tombs.
Many famous animals have since experienced a similar fate.
In Saint Petersburg there's one of Pavlov's dogs (no drool remains).
In Melbourne Phar Lap, the champion reacehorse with the extraordinarily big heart, still stands tall.
And Athena, the beloved pet owl Florence Nightingale, has a permanent home in Lundon.
Taxidermy has a reputation for being creep, but it offers some fancinating slices of the past.