MOUNTING FISHES. 



213 



the skin may either be mounted over a manikin, made of excel- 

 sior tied down upon a central beam, or it may be stuffed with 



soft straw, which, considering 

 the great thickness of the skin 

 and scales, is quite satisfac- 

 tory. 



MOUNTING FISH MEDAL- 

 LIONS. A fish with but. one 

 side mounted and exhibited 

 may be called a fish medal- 

 lion. It may lie flat in a table- 

 case, or be screwed to the 

 back of an upright case, or it 

 may even be set up on stan- 

 dards fastened to it at the 

 back. As a specimen, either 



PIG. 50. Cross-Section. 



to prepare or exhibit, it has 

 its advantages, and I will 

 briefly describe my process. 



AVe will suppose that our 

 fish is a fresh subject, or an 

 entire specimen from alcohol. 

 The first thing 1 is to procure a 

 pine board of proper thick- 

 ness, lay the fish flat upon it, 

 and with a pencil mark out 

 its outline. Although only 

 one side of the fish is to sh<>\\\ 

 it is desirable to mount a lit- 

 tle more than precisely one- 

 half of it. Therefore, select 



FIG. 55. Medallion of Yellow Pike. , -, ^ ITT i i 



the side to be displayed, an I 



remove the skin from the other to within a short distance of 

 the median line of the back and abdomen. This extra margin 



