THE CONSTRUCTION OF MANIKINS. 147 



the manikin now so secure that yon can sit upon it without 

 racking 1 it ? If not, it should be. To test the manikin for my 

 big- buffalo, shown in this chapter, I climbed upon it, and stood 

 with my full weight, first on the outer end of one iron square, 

 then on another, and to test the strength of the neck irons I 

 put a large anvil on the top of the skull without making the 

 slightest permanent impression on the irons. 



10. It is unnecessary to speak further of the irons for the 

 head and tail, and their attachment. See figures. 



11. Next comes the making of the legs. The lower joints, 

 where there is scarcely any flesh, had best be made of clean, 

 long-fibre tow. Where the thick muscles lie, bunch up some 

 tow, put it where the muscle was, and bind on with thread or 

 twine. Continue this process until this muscle has been built 

 up to its proper size, and wrapped at all points until it is 

 smooth, firm, and properly shaped. Higher up, where the mus- 

 cles are thicker and lie in larger masses, use excelsior in pre- 

 cisely the same way. Little by little, but with much exce^ior 

 and twine, the muscles are gradually built up. Leave the bones 

 bare at the points where nature does. The hind leg must have 

 its tendon of Achilles before it can be finished. To make this, 

 drill a hole through the end of the calcaneum, or heel bone ; pass 

 a long wire through for half its length, twist the two halves 

 tightly together until they will reach half-way up the thigh, then 

 wrap tow around the twisted w r ire from the heel bone up, making 

 the tendon larger as you proceed. Presently you are ready to 

 merge it into the flesh of the leg so that its upper end disappears. 



To give form to a leg, and bring out the prominent muscles, 

 take a very long needle and a very long piece of twine, and sew 

 through and through the leg on certain lines, putting on press- 

 ure to produce certain depressions that exist between the 

 larger muscles. To give detailed directions on this point 

 would oblige me to go into the subject of rnusculation at great 

 ;n id tiresome length, and since this is not a work on anatomy, I 

 will not attempt a dissertation on the form of each genera of 

 the mammalia. The illustrations of the tiger and bison mani- 

 kins show the form of the external muscles of Fclis tigrls and 

 Bison americanus, and what is possible in a manikin. 



MAKING THE BODY or A MANIKIN. The centre board of a large 



