Taxidermy was all the rage in the mid-1800s, when
naturalists developed better systems to preserve animals in ever more elaborate
displays. The Museum of Natural History in Paris built one of the greatest
collections of birds in the world thanks in part to a soap made of arsenic that
protected animal skins from deterioration. Standing on a container of earth, this
stuffed rooster may be a special breed of fighting cock, judging from the spurs
or long curled talons at his heels, which are typically trimmed for farm
roosters so as not to injure other animals.