[NHCOLL-L:495] Elephant taxidermy

[Rachael Perkins]

I have two queries that arose from a simple treatment that I recently
carried out on an Asian elephant mounted on display in our Halls.  The
elephant was prepared and mounted for the museum by Louis Jonas in 1926 he
published a small manual on the process which was basically a slightly
modified version of Carl Akeley's mounting method for large taxidermy
specimens.  

His treatment account mentions a product called Zaponoid - a sizing used in
the final finishing steps of the process.  Does anyone have any information
on what this product is and any specifics on why it would have been used? 
 
Additionally, the skins are now suffering from red rot.  I was also
wondering if anyone has looked into treatment methods for red-rotted
taxidermy specimens?

Thank you,
Rachael Arenstein



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Rachael Perkins Arenstein
Assistant Conservator
Department of Anthropology
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY  10024

tel: 212 769 5447
fax: 212 769 5334
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