260 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



mould." It may have any number of pieces, of course, accord- 

 ing to the nature of the object. Perhaps the most remarkable 

 piece mould in existence is that used by Professor H. A. Ward 

 in making casts of the tail of the great fossil armadillo called 

 the glyptodon. The tail is a mass of big conical tubercles, and 

 the mould contains, as nearly as I can remember, about one 

 hundred and twenty -five pieces, all fitting into a big " jacket " 

 of plaster which holds them all in place while a cast is being 

 made. In the case of a piece mould the cast is not taken out of 

 the mould, but the latter is dissected and taken off the cast, 

 piece by piece. 



The principles involved in making moulds and casts are best 

 explained by brief descriptions of the processes, and if they are 

 learned by carefully following the directions here given, the 

 operator will be able to apply them, indefinitely, to all classes 

 of objects, large or small. 



How TO MAKE A PIECE MOULD. Let us take a good-sized 

 apple as our subject, and follow out the process, step by step. 

 1. In making a mould of any kind of fruit, first soak the fruit 



in water an hour 

 or two, to " plump 

 it up," so that it 

 will not swell in 

 the mould and 

 cause trouble. 



2. Wipe it dry, 

 and with a small 

 paint-brush give 

 it a thin coat of 

 lard oil, so that 

 the plaster will 

 not stick to it. 

 Some objects should be coated with clay water, or very thin 

 clay, instead of oil. 



3. Bed one end of the apple in damp sand, precisely as shown 

 in the illustration (Fig. 59). If you have no sand, use fine saw- 

 dust, or wet corn meal. Some objects require clay. Do not 

 have the sand wet and water soaked, for it will not yield so 

 readily to the palette knife. 



FIG. 59. Beginning to Make a Piece Mould. 



