MOUNTING REPTILES. 207 



dripped clear oil for three months, and actually yielded sev- 

 eral gallons. 



Fig. 19 shows the under-side of a turtle, and the dotted 

 line indicates where the cut has been made in the skin near the 

 posterior edge of the plastron, where the shell bridge that 

 unites the upper with the under shell has been sawn through 

 with a small saw. The process of skinning such a subject has 

 been already described, and the process of mounting is to be 

 carried out on precisely the same general principles as described 

 and illustrated in the mounting of mammals with long hair, 

 with but slight variations. 



After the legs and neck have been made with tow, the tow 

 wrapping should be covered with a quarter of an inch of soft 

 clay, so the skin can afterward be modeled down upon it, either 

 smoothly or wrinkled, as in life. The body should be stuffed 

 with straw to keep the shell from collapsing while drying. The 

 divided portions of the shell must then be joined and wired 

 together firmly with soft brass wires passed through small 

 holes, as shown in the figure. Of course, the cuts in the skin 

 must be sewn up neatly but firmly. 



"When the specimen has been placed on its pedestal, it then 

 remains to shape the legs, neck, and feet, which the soft clay 

 underneath renders quite easy. Folds and wrinkles in the skin 

 must be exaggerated, to provide for what is sure to disappear 

 by shrinkage in drying. 



