92 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Museum carpenter, on which enlarged photographic prints were stretched as pre- 

 liminary backgrounds to enable harmonizing the foreground construction with the 

 natural perspective. The animal life in the group is represented by an assemblage of 

 models except in the case of hard structures such as shells. The mussels on the piles 

 are the actual specimens which were preserved in alcohol and afterward taken apart, 

 the soft portions cleaned out and the shells reassembled with wax and cotton. The 

 worm tubes are the natural dried specimens recolored. The starfish was also dried 

 and prepared with a wax foundation, the tube feet being modeled in glass and in- 

 serted. The tubularian hydroids were all separately blown in glass and welded 

 together in colonies, the sketches made in the field and the original alcoholic speci- 

 mens being used as patterns. The color was sprayed on with the air brush, the 

 finishing touches being made by hand in the usual manner. Some of the ascidians 

 (for example, Ciona tenella) were blown in glass and their internal organs were 

 modeled in the same material and inserted separately. Hundreds of tentacles for 

 the sea anemones, cirri for the serpulid Hydroides dianthus; and even some of the 

 seaweed are also the work of the glass-blower, but perhaps the best work in this line 

 is the modeling of the jellyfish and the squid. The former is entirely of glass and is a 

 masterpiece of the glciss-blower's art, while the peculiar translucency of the squid's 

 body could be attained by no other medium. The coloring of these two models by 

 the Japanese artist is also a triumph of skill. 



Much of the animal life however was modeled in such materials as wax and 

 celluloid. The ascidian, Molgula, the colonies of the red beard sponge and the 

 greater part of the sea anemones are of wax, while the delicate hydroid, Bougainvillia, 

 and the green network colonies of Perophora are made of a combination of wax and 

 German silver wire handled in most delicate fashion. One of the most creditable 

 pieces of work, the accurate modeling and coloring of the wharf piles themselves, is 

 the work of Mr. I. Matausch, who is also responsible for the technical skill in as- 

 sembling and anchoring the hundreds of separate models and specimens in their 

 final positions. 



The coloring of the transparencies proved a problem peculiar to itself, involving 

 the application of transparent oil colors, selected for their permanency under strong 

 sunlight, to the surface of glass covered with a delicate photographic film (in the 

 case of the transparencies represented as above the water line), and to the smooth 

 surface of plate glass for the submarine background. This latter background is 

 made up of five successive sheets of glass, each colored in such a manner that the 

 daylight passing through the entire series gives the effect seen when looking hori- 

 zontally through the waters of the ocean. The color effect for this part of the group 

 is based on actual observation in the sea itself made with the help of a water glass 

 and submerged mirror. Fishes, squid and a distant pile were painted on the suc- 

 cessive plates of glass, thus giving them the lifelike effect of appearing suddenly from 

 the gloom of the green sea depths. Since the whole group was placed in front of a 

 window, the illumination is entirely that of the natural daylight, as transmitted 

 through the various backgrounds. The cloud and sunshine and various outdoor light 

 conditions in general thus produce their natural effects as they filter through the 

 translucent backgrounds of the group. 



