Then the iiowt readies back {o imll tln^ skin oir 

 the tail and swallow it aeeordiiig to the custom of his 

 ancestors 



After niiicli cxpcriiiu'iital 

 woik it has hccii found 

 |)(issililc to make wax rc])ro- 

 (luctions with fidelity to tlie 

 li\iii^ animal in form and 

 color and also with lifelike 

 j)ose and ('.\i)ression. The 

 work has hccn done hy cer- 

 tain artists wlio ha\c addi'd 

 to the tcelilii((ne of clay, 

 j)hister, wax and color, tlie 

 power of accui-ate seeini;-. The two csix-cially connected with the com- 

 pleted work arc I)wii,dit Franklin and Thomas lilcakncy. althon.iih resnlts 

 conld not have hcen obtained without tlic many comi)lcx i)iecc molds made 

 hy James Bell and williont tlie expert modcliiii;- of Frederick Blaschke. 



Several methods are in 

 use. If the animal has a _^ 



thick and liorny skin as has 

 the water monitor or a Uirge 

 if^uana, the skin itself is 

 moimted over a manikin 

 modeled from life, followinu- 

 the methods of the animal 

 sculptor's work on mammals, 

 or is filled with a soft prepara- 

 tion which hardens later, after 

 it has been niodeletl into cor- 

 rect form through the skin. 

 The modeling is from life; till 

 work on both form and color 

 is done from the living ani- 

 mal, the New York Zoologi- 

 cal Park and the Xew ^'ork 

 Acpiarium ha\ing court eoiisly 

 loaned inaiix' dui)licate living specimens for study. 



If the skin is thin and soft, which is true in most small lizards, many 

 snakes and turtles and all amphibia, the animal is reproduced in wax, 

 the wax used being pure bleaclied b'eeswax (which has a high melting point 

 so that summer temperatures are not an enemy to the exhibits) with 

 a small proportion of Canada balsam to make it less brittle and more 

 easily worked. The dead animal may be posed from the living and a waste 

 plaster mold or a piece mold made, from which a cast is taken m wax. This 

 is the method by which the frogs of the Bullfrog (Jroup were made. There are 



209 



European frog {Rana esculenta) showing external 

 vocal sacs. When the frog is croaking, these sacs are 

 inflated and collapsed with each emission of sound. 

 Wax cast; eyes and vocal sacs of blown glass. Glass 

 is used also for the vocal sacs of the spring peepers and 

 American toads of tlie exhibit 



