METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. ,gj. 



and haiiiinered out the proper shape and inserted in the ear skin. 

 When tlie cartilage of the ear has been made the exact size and 

 shape with sheet copper or lead and carefully adjusted with clay it is 

 impossible for the ears to lose their shape or shrivel. This is by far 

 the best method of shaping the ears of all the large quadrupeds. 

 Ere this time the muscles on the skull have been replaced with 

 clay and chopped tow, and you may now insert the modeled 

 head in its proper place in the skin. On the top of one end of the 

 center board fasten with staples the neck rod, and pass it through the 

 opening in the back of the skull and through the nasal cavity as seen 

 in Plate XL\'. For the tail wire cut off a piece of wire sufficiently 

 long for its full length, and also long enough to fasten on the other end 

 of the center board in the same manner you have fastened the neck 

 rod. Before doing this the tail must be made on the wire by wrapping 

 tow around the wire to its proper thickness its full length. We will 

 now fasten the leg wires to the center board. If you have taken 

 measurements of the distance between the lower end of the shoulder 

 blade and the lower end of the pelvis bone, you will know exactly 

 where to drill the holes in the center board. For various reasons the 

 holes should be slanting on just about the same angle as the wires ap- 

 pear in Plate XLV. The ends should be bent close to and on oppo- 

 site sides of the board and clinched fast with staples. The next bend 

 we make in the leg wires is at a right angle in order to stand the 

 animal on its feet. In doing this be sure that the width between the 

 lower ends of the pelvis and shoulder blades (where the femur and 

 humerus join them) are the same as they were in the carcass. These 

 measurements are of great value and should be followed closely. 

 When this has been done we are ready to fill the body skin and shape 

 the animal for mounting on its pedestal. Before we begin this opera- 

 tion let us examine the center board to see if it is in the middle of the 

 skin, so that we can work freely all around it; and also that every 

 joint is firm. Give the entire skin a coat of arsenical paste and rub 

 on a mixture of two-thirds powdered alum and one-third arsenic. 

 Begin to fill the neck skin with tow or hackled straw ; place a cushion 

 of tow, along the back, on top of the center board ; fill around the 

 shoulders, around the thighs and at the base of the tail. Do not fill 

 one side before you begin on the other, but fill both sides alternately 

 and all other points as you proceed in a like manner ; you can by so 

 doing equalize the skin on all parts of the animal. In the larger spec- 

 imens use the stuffing rods as figured in Plata IV. When you have 

 filled the skin to its natural fullness from measurements previously 



