

PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. 
consistence of putty. With this the form of the animal’s lips 
are moulded, or modeller’s wax may be used for the same pur- 
pose, so as to fill up the more delicate fleshy parts, which have 
no hairy covering; the cheeks being stuffed with fine cotton- 
wool, retained in its place sometimes by a piece of fine calico, 
which surrounds the head, the whole being covered with soap. 
The skin is now drawn over the whole as far as the cartilages 
of the ears, which are sewed on and fixed in their place. 
The sixth wire or framework is now fixed in the middle of 
the body, from the neck to the tail, penetrating the bones of 
the head between the eyes, as represented in the engraving, the 
wires for the four feet and tail — attacked in the following 
manner, having previously surrounded the wire with tow 
approximating to the thickness of the neck of the animal: 
At the junction of the anterior members with the body, a loop 
is made in the body wire to which those forming the limbs are 
firmly attached; a cork is sometimes placed at the end of the 
body wire, to which the tail is attached, as in the case of 
‘birds, but in general the wire 
which forms the tail is only 
twisted round the central wire 
in such a manner as to form a 
sufficient fulcrum for carrying 
the tail. All the wires bemg 
aitached, and the members 
placed in the position they are 
to retain when the animal is 
mounted, the stuffing may pro- 
ceed. We have now to do with 
the neck, which was roughly 
stuffed to receive the body wire. 
It now requires more careful 
stuffing with fine material to 
bring out the contour and mus- 
cular swellings. This should be 
stuffed with great care, first 
giving it a coating of soap; 
no void must be left near the 
head, nor must it be thicker 
than in nature. As the opera- 
tor approaches the body, as 
much natural form should be 
given as possible. In sewing up, also, the suture of the two 


