FINISHING MOUNTED MAMMALS. 153 



ure the different ingredients to be used, until the result teaches 

 you what good papier-mache is like, and after that you can be 

 guided by your judgment as you proceed. On taking the 

 paper pulp from the water, give it a gentle squeeze, but by no 

 means squeeze it as dry as you can. Now put it in a bowl, put 

 over it about three tablespoonfuls of your hot glue, and stir the 

 mass up into a soft and very sticky paste. Next add your 

 plaster Paris, and mix it thoroughly. By the time you have 

 used about three ounces of the plaster, the mass is so dry and 

 thick you can hardly work it. Now add the remainder of your 

 glue, work it up again until it becomes sticky once more, then 

 add the remainder of your plaster. Squeeze it vigorously 

 through your fingers to thoroughly mix the mass, and work it 

 until it is free from lumps, is finely kneaded, and is sticky 

 enough to stick fast to the surface of a planed board when you 

 rub a bit on it by firm pressure of the finger. If it is too dry to 

 stick fast, add a few drops of either glue or water, it makes lit- 

 tle difference which, and work it up again. "When the paper 

 pulp is poor, and the mache is inclined to be lumpy, lay the 

 mass upon a smooth board, take a hammer and pound it hard 

 to grind it up fine. 



If the papier-mache is not sticky enough to stick fast to what- 

 ever a bit of it is rubbed upon, it is a failure, and requires 

 more glue. In using it the mass should be kept in a lump, and 

 used as soon as possible after it is made. Keep the surface of 

 the lump moist by means of a wet cloth laid over it, for if you 

 do not, the surface will dry rapidly. If you wish to keep it 

 over night, or longer, wrap it up in several thicknesses of wet 

 cotton cloth, and put it under an inverted bowl. If it should 

 by accident or delay become a trifle too stiff to work well, add a 

 few drops of water to the mass, pound it with the hammer, and 

 work it over again. If you wish to keep a lump for a week, to 

 use daily, add a few drops of glycerine when you make it, so 

 that it will dry more slowly. 



The papier-mache made when the above formula was prepared 

 had the following qualities : "When tested by rubbing between 

 the thumb and finger, it was sticky and covered the thuml > witli 

 a thin coating. (Had it left the thuml) clean, it would have 

 been because it contained too much water.) "NVhen rubbed upon 



