1 86 



METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



into the skin and observe how the leg fits in the skin. If your judg- 

 ment tells you that it is too flat or too rounded turn the skin back and 

 correct the error whatever it may be. When the form of the leg has 

 reached your ideal, give the tow leg a coating of thin clay, and coat 

 the leg skin with arsenical paste, and the artificial leg will slip easily 

 back into the skin. In forming the legs make them compact but not 

 too hard, winding the tow with thread or cord until the proper strength 

 and solidity is obtained. Make the fore legs in the same manner de- 

 scribed for the hind legs; when all has been done, and just before sew- 

 ing up the slits in the soles of the feet, replace the flesh which you 

 have cut away with clay (see uses of potter's clay, page 45). See that 

 each hind leg and fore leg match each other in size and shape. 



We shall now turn our attention to the skull and replace the 

 muscles with clay ; this is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, Plate XLIV. 

 The most careful work is necessary here for the muscles of the head 

 should be developed as perfectly, if possible, as they were when the 

 skin was taken from the head. If you have made a drawing or a cast 

 refer to either constantly. Replace the muscles with potter's clay 

 and glue-water mixed with fine chopped tow. Lay the head aside to 

 dry while we struggle with the center wire which supports the tail, and 

 is the entire backbone of the animal and takes the place of the center 

 board which we employ in mounting short-haired and large mammals. 



Take hold of the center wire which runs up through the middle 

 of the animal and out of its nose as seen in Plate XLV, and begin to 

 form the tail by winding fine tow on the small point of the wire, grad- 

 ually enlarging as you proceed until you have reached its natural thick- 

 ness all the way to its base. In order to have the wire pass on a straight 

 line through the left or right nasal cavity make a hole in the back of the 

 skull just below the occipital opening. Now put plenty of arsenical 

 paste on the skin and insert the skull in the skin of the head. Lay 

 the skin out and adjust the leg wires inside the skin so that they will 



1. Systems of Wiring Small Quadrupeds. — The system of wiring small mammals as seen in Plate XLVI has 

 advantages over that illustrated in Plate XLV not necessary to explain in detail. The center or body wire is 

 anchored into two pieces of cork, or, if cork is not near at hand roll up two balls of tow, bind them with strong 

 cord and make them hard. Into these the wires of the legs, tail and head can be anchored as seen in Plate 

 XLVI, Fig. 3. In this method all of the wires require to be sharp-pointed and the head wire is held in place in 

 the skull by filling the brain cavity with thin plaster of Paris, inserting the wire in the hole made in the back of 

 the skull and the plaster allowed to harden, which will hold the wire in place (Fig. 5, Plate XLVI). It is a good 

 idea to form a loop on the blunt end of the wire which goes into the sknll. The tail is made on a separate wire 

 as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, Plate XLVI, and anchored in the cork or ball of tow. In filling the skin of a quadruped 

 to be mounted upon this method a thick cushion of fine tow should be placed under each cork ; all around the 

 base of the tail and around the thighs and humerus, the neck and, lastly, the lower or abdominal region should 

 have your attehtion. In bending the legs together at a right angle the ends of the femur and humerus can rest 

 on the lower side of the corks or tow balls which will insure that these bones are the proper distance apart, as 

 they were when attached to the pelvis and the shoulder blade. 



