FINISHING MOUNTED MAMMALS. 155 



PAINTING ON PAPIEK-MACHE. Of course this material dries 

 white, and must be painted. If paint is put directly upon it, 

 the oil and color is absorbed at once, and it takes many coats to 

 properly fill it up. To save time and give the best results, first 

 give your papier-mache work two coats of shellac, which dries 

 in a few minutes and fills up all the pores, so that your paint will 

 stay as you put it on. Use oil colors, but put them on with 

 turpentine to avoid the unnatural gloss that oil will give. In 

 another chapter (XXVI.) will be found detailed hints in regard 

 to painting mounted specimens. 



GLUING HAIR UPON MAMMALS. It is very seldom that a dry 

 skin is mounted without there being upon it some spot or spots 

 destitute of hair, which must be repaired. Sometimes it is 

 only a small spot, sometimes it is nearly the entire head, or an 

 entire leg from which the epidermis has come loose, carrying 

 the hair with it, and leaving an unsightly bare spot. It re- 

 quires a good deal of ingenuity, much skill, and tireless pa- 

 tience to glue hair upon an animal so that it will so closely 

 resemble the natural growth that no one will notice the differ- 

 ence. But in every case, except some of the seals and sea-lions, 

 this can be accomplished, if it be necessary, although very often 

 it requires good judgment and the hand of an artist to do it. 



Each mammal has its own peculiarities in regard to the 

 quality, thickness, length, and general set of its hair, all of 

 which must be carefully studied. When the hair grows long 

 and thickly, the task is much easier than if it be thin or short. 



1st. Procure a pair of very small curve-pointed forceps, so 

 fine they will hold a single hair if necessary. (Price, 75 cents.) 



2d. Procure a pair of small and sharp scissors, with sharp 

 points. 



3d. Procure a bottle of common fish-glue, or royal glue. 



4th. If possible, procure a piece of useless skin, from which 

 to cut the hair necessary to use in making the repairs. 



Very often it is impossible to procure any pieces of skin 

 with hair suitable for the purpose, and then the only way is to 

 cut hair from the specimen which is to be repaired, picking out 

 with the forceps a tiny bunch here and there in such a way that 

 the bunches cut out will not show. This can nearly always be 

 done in making slight repairs upon thick-haired animals, such 



