Pall Mall Gazette
''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...
and later published in the 1895 short story collection ''
The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents
''The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents'' is a collection of fifteen fantasy and science fiction short stories written by the English author H. G. Wells between 1893 and 1895. It was first published by Methuen & Co. in 1895 and was Wells's fir ...
''.
Plot summary
Bellows visits a friend, the
taxidermist
Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...
of the title, in the latter’s home. Like much of Wells’ fiction, the Taxidermist remains unnamed and the story is a concealed assault on the English culture of the time of its writing. The Taxidermist proudly tells the younger man of his accomplishments both grotesque and fraudulent.
The Taxidermist once stuffed a black man stating "I made him with all his fingers out, and used him as a hat rack..." Unfortunately, a man named Hornesby "got up in a quarrel with him...and spoilt him." The Taxidermist dismissively stated that if it was not so hard to get skins he would have made another. He defends this practice by proclaiming that taxidermy is a third option to burial and cremation.
The Taxidermist claims that about half of the stuffed great auks are fakes and admits to having faked one himself. He proceeds to briefly explain how it is done using the feathers of other birds.
The Taxidermist reports that he has even forged a specimen of an extinct species of bird. He justifies this as giving his own push to the advancement of science.
The Taxidermist claims to have created a nonexistent species of New Zealand bird. The species was described in an old German pamphlet and appears to be a confused combination of an existent species and one long extinct. A local collector, Javvers, swore he would have a specimen. The Taxidermist fashioned the creature and sold it to Javvers.
Continuity
The Taxidermist of the title also appears in a second story,
A Deal in Ostriches
"A Deal in Ostriches" is a short story by the British writer H. G. Wells. It is a cautionary tale about simple human greed. The taxidermist of Wells’ story " Triumphs of a Taxidermist" (1894) makes a return appearance as the narrator of the s ...