ii NATURAL SCIENCE. August, 



says Mr. Hornaday, " are the meanest of all subjects that vex the 

 soul of a taxidermist. Such abominable animated pancakes, with 

 razor edges that taper out to infinite nothingness, were never made 

 to be mounted by any process known to mortal man. To mount the 

 skin of a vile ray, and make it really perfect and lifelike, is to invite 

 infinite shrinkage, rips, tears, warps, defeat, and humiliation at the 

 hands of your envious rivals. . . . The best way to mount a ray 

 is to make a nice plaster cast of it, paint it, and then bury the 

 accursed ray in a compost heap." 



The Rattlesnake, Crotaliis adamanteus['P\. III.), is an example of the 

 beautiful plaster casts of reptiles, made by Mr. Joseph Palmer, which 

 are a striking feature at the National Museum at Washington. " With 

 tail elevated, and the reptile thrown into natural coils, partly within 

 the recess of the spreading roots of a large tree, we have," says Dr. 

 Shufeldt, "an accomplishment in plaster, the equal of which for that 

 particular snake I do not believe to be extant." 



Lizards, owing to the delicacy of their details, are far more 

 difficult things to cast. " Nevertheless the plaster casts of some of 

 the larger lizards leave us nothing to be desired in that art. A truly 

 magnificent thing is seen in the plaster cast of Tupinanihis. It would 

 seem to be perfect in every particular." (PI. IV.) 



The figures of the Great Auk both represent the same specimen, 

 which is owned by the Museum at Washington (PI. V.) We again 

 quote Dr. Shufeldt. " A figure of this as first mounted by some ancient 

 bungler is shown. No living auk in good health ever stood in that posi- 

 tion ; but, thanks to what art can sometimes accomplish in these days, 

 this outraged bird was not destined for all eternity to stand as a drum- 

 major at dress parade. It was determined to have it remounted ; an 

 operation, owing to the age of the specimen and the lack of knowledge 

 as to what condition the skin might be in, that required a full measure 

 of judgment. The work of remodelling was accomplished by Mr. 

 Wood." The result is that the extinct fowl " presents a far more 

 respectable appearance, and is certainly posed in a far more natural 

 attitude, though judging from Audubon's plate of it, I believe it still 

 to be not a posture this auk was wont to assume. Still it was most 

 assuredly the very best that could have been done under the 

 circumstances." 



The head of a Tiger (PL VI.) illustrates how well the great diffi- 

 culties encountered in representing the mask of a living animal can be 

 overcome. On this hear again the words of Dr. Shufeldt : " One who 

 has not seen the feat performed in one of our larger museums can 

 have but little conception of the skill required in handhng the facial 

 expression and all the structures that enter into the mouth parts. 

 The skinning of a tiger's tongue and preserving it so as to make that 

 organ resemble the original as it appeared in the living subject ; the 

 cleaning of the teeth ; the blending of the black part of the lips with 

 the delicate pink gums inside ; to make the animal grin and not smile, 



