ORNAMENTAL TAXIDERMY. 237 



frog through its mouth, without breaking the skin, turned it 

 wrong side out, wired it, made its legs of cotton, turned it back, 

 tilled its body with cotton, set it up in position, varnished it 

 all over, and fitted it out with miniature furniture to suit the 

 subject. 



Mr. Bailly used to cut similar taxidermic capers with squir- 

 rels, and Messrs. Critchley, Lucas, and others have produced 

 some very amusing grotesque pieces with cats and kittens. In 

 Plate XVI., Fig. 15, is shown (indistinctly) one of Mr. Bailly's 

 frog groups, entitled " Sold Again." A fisherman is in the act 

 of pulling out a big fish, which the attending small boy reaches 

 out to take in with a dip-net, when the fish turns out to be only 

 an old shoe. 



FUR RUGS WITH MOUNTED HEADS. Before a raw pelt or skin 

 can be made up as a rug, it must be sent to a first-class tanner, 

 and thoroughly tanned and dressed. This process should 

 make the skin clean, soft, and pliable. If the head is to be 

 mounted, that part should iiot be tanned, nor put through any 

 process. After the skin has been properly tanned, relax the 

 head, and mount it in such a manner that the head will lie as 

 flat as possible upon the floor. When the skull is present, it is 

 customary to mount- tiger, leopard, and bear rugs with the 

 mouth open, snarling. Some prefer to have a head mounted 

 with the lower jaw entirely off, and only the upper half of the 

 head filled out. This makes of the head what is known as a 

 " mask." Every rug requires to have an inner lining of buck- 

 ram to give it body and stiffness sufficient to keep it spread out 

 Hat. "Underneath that must come the lining proper, of quilted 

 felt of suitable color, which is generally left projecting an inch 

 or two beyond the skin all around. This projecting edge is 

 pinked with a pinking iron, to make it more ornamental. 



The finest work on rugs, particularly the finer kinds, such as 

 lion, tiger, leopard, and bear, is done by Mr. F. S. Webster, of 

 Washington, who has developed this lino of work most hand- 

 somely and systematically, and who does an immense amount 

 of it. Elsewhere in this book appears full directions for tho 

 preservation of skins for sale as pelts for furriers' use. 



How TO MAKE IMITATION ROCKS. In making a rock work 

 pedestal, the first thing is to build your foundation, of wood if 



