
STUFFING AND MOUNTING FISH. 
edges of the skin should be neatly executed so as to be covered 
with the hair, commencing at the breast, which permits the 
tow used to be more easily supplied when it fails, the stuffing 
should be finished as the sewing proceeds; using a stufiing- | 
wire and fine tow or cotton-wool for the purpose. 
The animal is now fixed upon the board it is to occupy, four 
holes being pierced in it at proper distances, the lower extre- | 
mities of the wires, forming the limbs, are placed in them, and 
riveted beneath the board m such a manner asto render the | 
figure of the animal immoveable. And now the eye of the 
artist comes into play; the attitude which is most naturaltothe | 
animal when living is now to be imitated, and on the taste of the | 
operator will depend whether the imitation is successful or not. | 
The mouth is now to be arranged, and the lips moulded into 
form, the nostrils reduced to order and filled with cotton to 
hinder them from shrivelling. Fimally, the orbits of the eyes 
are put in proper condition to receive artificial eyes, which are 
held firmly in their place by an application of gum to the edge 
of the pupils, while the ears are held to their places by pieces 
of cardboard or linen, occupying the place of the cartilages. 
And now the animal is left to dry, durmg which it should be | 
looked at daily to see that the skin does not in drying get | 
puffed out in some place, or show differences in another—acci- | 
dents which should be remedied at once by means of the bodkin | 
already described. 
STUFFING AND MOUNTING FISH. 
In most fishes there is a line from head to tailm the middle | 
of the body. Place the fish on its side, and, with a sharp knife | 
or pair of scissors, clip the gills; then proceed to clip the skin 
from head to tail down that line; a paper-knife is the best | 
thing for dividing the skin from the body. Having separated | 
the skin from one side, cut the back-bone through at both ends, 
and proceed to skin the other in the same way. Remove the | 
eyes, and a little flesh under each eye, and rub the skm weliin 
the inside with preservative, and sew up the skin again, begin- | 
ning at the tail, and sew up by degrees, as it is fitted to its | 
proper shape, using wet bran, putting a flat piece of wood in | 
the middle of the body, with two pieces of wire fastened in it, | 
to support the fish. The wood must be the length of the fish. 
Be careful to mould the fish to its proper shape while it is 
damp; then let it dry. 

