Taxidermy is the preserving of an animal's body via mounting or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state; the word taxidermy describes the process of preserving the animal, but the word is used to describe the end product, which are called taxidermy mounts or referred to as "taxidermy". The word taxidermy is derived from derma. Taxis means "arrangement", derma means "skin"; the word taxidermy translates to "arrangement of skin". Taxidermy is practiced on vertebrates but can be done to larger insects and arachnids under some circumstances. Taxidermy takes on a number of forms and purposes including hunting trophies and natural history museum displays. Museums use taxidermy as a method to record species, including those that are extinct and threatened, in the form of study skins and life-size mounts. Taxidermy is sometimes used as a means to memorialize pets. A person who practices taxidermy is called a taxidermist, they may practice professionally, catering as amateurs.

A taxidermist is aided by familiarity with anatomy, sculpture and tanning. Preserving animal skins has been practiced for a long time. Embalmed animals have been found with Egyptian mummies. Although embalming incorporates the use of lifelike poses, it is not considered taxidermy. In the Middle Ages, crude examples of taxidermy were displayed by apothecaries; the earliest methods of preservation of birds for natural history cabinets were published in 1748 by Reaumur in France. Techniques for mounting were described in 1752 by M. B. Stollas. There were several pioneers of taxidermy in France, Germany and England around this time. For a while, clay was used to shape some of the soft parts. By the 19th century every town had a tannery business. In the 19th century, hunters began bringing their trophies to upholstery shops, where the upholsterers would sew up the animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton; the term "stuffing" or a "stuffed animal" evolved from this crude form of taxidermy. Professional taxidermists prefer the term "mounting" to "stuffing".

More sophisticated cotton-wrapped wire bodies supporting sewn-on cured skins soon followed. In France, Louis Dufresne, taxidermist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle from 1793, popularized arsenical soap in an article in Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle; this technique enabled the museum to build the greatest collection of birds in the world. Dufresne's methods spread to England in the early 19th century, where updated and non-toxic methods of preservation were developed by some of the leading naturalists of the day, including Rowland Ward and Montague Brown. Ward established one of Rowland Ward Ltd. of Piccadilly. However, the art of taxidermy remained undeveloped, the specimens that were created remained stiff and unconvincing; the golden age of taxidermy was during the Victorian era, when mounted animals became a popular part of interior design and decor. English ornithologist John Hancock is considered to be the father of modern taxidermy. An avid collector of birds, which he would shoot himself, he began modelling them with clay and casting in plaster.

For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, he mounted a series of stuffed birds as an exhibit. They generated much interest among the public and scientists alike who considered them as superior to earlier models and were regarded as the first lifelike and artistic specimens on display. A judge remarked that Hancock's exhibit "... will go far towards raising the art of taxidermy to a level with other arts which have hitherto held higher pretensions". Hancock's display sparked great national interest in taxidermy, amateur and professional collections for public view proliferated rapidly. Displays of birds were common in middle-class Victorian homes – Queen Victoria amassed an impressive bird collection. Taxidermists were increasingly used by the bereaved owners of dead pets to'resurrect' them. In the late 19th century a style known as anthropomorphic taxidermy became popular. A'Victorian whimsy', mounted animals were dressed as people or displayed as if engaged in human activities. An early example of this genre was displayed by Herman Ploucquet, from Stuttgart, Germany, at the Great Exhibition in London.

The best-known practitioner in this genre was the English taxidermist Walter Potter, whose most famous work was The Death and Burial of Cock Robin. Among his other scenes were "a rat's den being raided by the local police rats... village school... featuring 48 little rabbits busy writing on tiny slates, while the Kittens' Tea Party displayed feline etiquette and a game of croquet." Apart from the simulations of human situations, he had added examples of bizarrely deformed animals such as two-headed lambs and four-legged chickens. Potter's museum was so popular that an extension was built to the platform at Bramber railway station. Other Victorian taxidermists known for their iconic anthropomorphic taxidermy work are William Hart and his son Edward Hart, they gained recognition with their famous series of dioramas featuring boxing squirrels. Both William and Edward created multiple sets of these dioramas. One 4-piece set of boxing squirrel dioramas sold at auction in 2013 for record prices; the four dioramas were created as a set, the set was broken up and each was sold separately at the same auction.

The set was one of a n

Étienne Parent was a Canadian journalist and government official. He was editor of the newspaper Le Canadien and, as such, supported French Canadian journalism and writing, he was a close supporter of Lord Gosford. For his eventual attacks on the government, he was imprisoned though he did not join the Rebellion of 1837. After the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada in 1841, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Saguenay, he resigned his seat a year on appointment as Clerk of the Executive Council. Sebastien Tessier. "Parent, Étienne", in Les Patriotes de 1837@1838, May 19, 2001 Réginald Hamel, John Hare and Paul Wyczynski. "Parent, Étienne", in Dictionnaire des auteurs de langue française en Amérique du Nord, Éditions Fides, 1989 Étienne Parent, Textes choisis et présentés par Paul-Eugène Gosselin digitized by Marcelle Bergeron for Les Classiques des sciences sociales Historica’s Heritage Minute video docudrama about “Étienne Parent.”

Giovanni Battista Canaveri was an Italian nobleman, Bishop of Biella and Vercelli, first Aumônier of Madame Letizia. He was appointed as Baron of the French Empire in February 1808. Canaveri was born September 25, 1753 in Borgomaro, his family was from Piedmont and Alpes-Maritimes, his father had exercised the first Magistracy, in the city of Borgomaro. He began his studies at Giaveno and finished at the University of Turin where he received a doctorate at the age of 18 years, he studied at the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, was ordained a priest on September 21, 1776 by the Archdiocese of Turin. In 1797 he was appointed Bishop of Biella, was consecrated in Rome, but by the request of Pius VII he resigned his position, he was consecrated bishop of Vercelli on February 4, 1805. Confessor of the Princess María Felicita of Savoy, Giovanni Canaveri had founded the "Convitto Principessa Maria Felicita di Savoia," a home created for Noble ladies; the institution was led by the same Canaveri. Because of their aversion to the Jacobins, Canaveri not had difficulty in accepting the government of the First Consul, in these pastoral letters of 29 September 1801 and 4 Vendemiaire of 1802, he threatened with divine suspension, of the anti-French priests who were against the annexation of the Piedmont to the territory of France.

His pro-French attitude, aroused the disapproval of his clergy. On June 1, 1803 was suppressed the diocese of Biella, Canaveri moved to Paris, where he became a member of the Council of the Great Emperor, was appointed first Chaplain of Letizia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon. After the appointment as Bishop of Vercelli, Canaveri made frequent trips to Paris: from May to October 1806, December 1807 to March 1808, from the summer until October 28, 1808 again in June 1810. In February of that 1808 was appointed Baron of the Empire, he adopted the Frenchified name of Jean-Baptiste Canavery. His pastoral letters were a political content and decidedly anti-Jacobin, was the author of Panegyrics, including san Giuseppe and sant'Eusebio, he wrote some Pastoral Letters in Latin and Italian among them. Giovanni Battista Canaveri died in the Diocese of Vercelli on January 13, 1811. Www.socistara.it forum.alexanderpalace.org