How did Waterton's method of taxidermy differ from others?

Allow me to inform you that there are no stuffed animals in this house" Waterton declared to a visitor to his museum in 1856. He went on to demonstrate that his specimens were all hollow by pulling the head off a preserved polecat and revealing that there was nothing inside.

Waterton's method relied on the use of the chemical Mercuric Chloride which both prevented insect attack and set the skin hard. He began the process by scraping away much of the inside of the skin.

He then set up the animal roughly into the correct position. Progressively he returned to the specimen each day, making minor adjustments until he considered that it was sufficiently lifelike.

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