[Illustration: WATER-COLOR DRAWING OF A "YOUNG RACOON OF THIS YEAR, SEPTEMBER 10, 1841." Published by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.] Audubon began in the usual way, by representing his birds in profile, and often on a simple perch, but gradually introduced accessories which eventually became such an important part of his plan that, after 1822, his plates took on more the character of balanced pictures, literally teeming with the characteristic fruits and flowers of America, as well as with insects and animals of every sort, suggestive of the food and surroundings of his subjects, not to speak of American landscapes drawn from many parts of the country. Dissatisfied with the older methods of drawing birds in the stereotyped attitudes of most stuffed specimens, Audubon made many experiments at "Mill Grove" before hitting upon what he called his "method" of using wires to pierce and hold the body of the bird in any attitude which he desired to represent. His device, which was simple only for one who possessed the requisite knowledge and skill, was publicly exhibited at a meeting of the Wernerian Society at Edinburgh on December 16, 1826. A recently killed bird was fixed in the position desired by means of wires, and placed against a background ruled with division lines in squares to correspond with similar lines on Audubon's paper. The parts, measured if necessary with compasses, were then drawn in, and every part was rendered in due proportion. As to the difficulty of thus securing natural attitudes, aside from any question of draughtsmanship, we have only to recall the bungling work of most taxidermists; there are careful students of animal life who are able to reanimate their subjects, even when reduced to dried and mounted skins, but such ability is not easy to acquire or impart. Method is always subordinate to power, and Audubon at his best, when not hampered by lack of time, was able to represent the living, moving bird in a hundred attitudes never attempted before, which surprised the world of his day by the remarkable skill, freshness and fidelity they displayed.