MOUNTING LAKGE MAMMALS. 135 



SECTION II. MOUNTING LONG-HAIRED MAMMALS OF LARGE SIZK, 

 FOR WHICH THE MANIKIN is UNNECESSARY. Examples : Musk 

 ox, bears (except large fwlars and grizzlies}, yak, Hadrian 

 camel in winter coat, llamas and their allies ; also old, dry 

 skins yenerally, which require forcible stretching. 



WHILE the manikin process is the one par excellence for the 

 great majority of largo quadrupeds, it is also, until you get per- 

 fectly familiar with it, the longest. There are various large 

 animals whose long, thick, and matted hair so completely hides 

 the surface of the wearer that a shorter method of mounting can 

 be followed with Tory satisfactory results. This is simply stuf- 

 fing with straw in the same manner as described in detail in the 

 previous section, with but one exception the manner of at- 

 taching the leg irons to the central beam of the body. 



The leg irons are cut and fitted to the leg bones precisely as 

 shown in Plate TIL But the legs are made with the skin at- 

 tached at the foot, the skin is drawn over, fitted and sewn up, 

 and each leg is completely finished while the skin lies in a 

 heap upon the table. For a large animal this takes some time, 

 and as fast as the legs are finished each must be carefully 

 wrapped up in ice blankets that have been wot in salt-and-alum 

 water, and kept soft until all are done. Oil the threads on the 

 rods, to keep them from rusting. 



The next step is to procure the centre board, which should be 

 about one-third as wide from top to bottom as the depth of the 

 animal's body. In the illustration showing the manikin of a 

 tiger (Plate TIL) the body board is wider than is desirable for 

 the same animal were the body to be filled with straw. If the 

 board is too wide, it is impossible to get around it with the 

 fillers, and work through tho specimen from one side to the 

 other. 



To put the members of the body together, lay the skin upon 

 the floor on its back, in the same general shape as shown in 

 Plate TI. Put the body board in place and mark the points 

 where the ends of tlu> leg irons strike it. Xow for the iron 

 squares. 



The old and antiquated way to fasten leg irons to a centre 



