ping of animals in general. These various substances will
presently be considered under their proper heading.

Many detailed and specific directions on the subject of trapping
will be found in the long chapter following; and, in closing our
preliminary remarks, we would add just one more word of general
caution, which the young trapper should always bear in mind.

In all cases avoid handling the trap with the bare hand. Many an
amateur has set and _reset_ his traps in vain, and retired from the
field of trapping in disgust, from the mere want of observing this
rule. Animals of keen scent are quick in detecting the slightest
odors, and that left by the touch of a human hand often suffices to
drive the creature away from a trap which, under other circumstances,
would have been its certain destruction. To be sure the various
scent baits already alluded to, will in a measure overcome human
traces, but not always effectually, and in order to insure success no
precautions so simple should be neglected. A pair of clean buckskin
gloves are valuable requisites to the trapper, and should always
be "on hand" when setting or transporting traps.

"MEDICINES," OR SCENT BAITS.

These form one of the most important requisites of the trapper's
art. A trap baited simply with the food of the
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required animal, may and often will be successful, but with the
addition of the trapper's "medicine" judicially applied, success
is almost a certainty. These scent baits are of various kinds,
some being almost universal in their usefulness, while others are
attractive only to some particular species of animal. We give a
few of the recipes of the most valued preparations used by trappers
throughout the land. The application and use of each is fully described
in its proper place hereafter.

CASTOREUM.

This substance, commonly known as "_Barkstone_," by trappers and
fur dealers, is obtained from the beaver, and is a remarkable aid in
the capture of that animal. It is an acrid secretion of a powerful
musky odor, found in two glands beneath the root of the tail of
the beaver. These glands are about two inches in length. They are
cut out and the contents are squeezed into a small bottle. When
fresh the substance is of a yellowish-red color, changing to a
light-brown when dried. Both male and female animals yield the
castoreum, but that of the male is generally considered the best.
Castoreum is a commercial drug, and in many beaver c