METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



269 



the nest in the hollow. The male hangs from a branch overhead by 

 his prehensile tail, and the female sqnats below with her tail thrown 

 up over her back. A number of young are hanging to the mother, 

 with their tails wrapped around hers, in the manner peculiar to this 

 species. More of the young are shown in various places in the foliage 

 at the base of the butternut stub. A very striking and interesting 

 group is that of the woodchuck, which shows the construction of the 

 burrow and situation of the nest. The old and young are in various 

 attitudes on the sward above, which is covered with daisies and red 

 and white clover. A beautiful and costly group is that of the musk- 

 rats, which represents the construction of the burrow in the bank, with 

 nest and young, and the house or winter quarters built out in a pond 

 filled with water lilies and rushes. A portion of the house at one cor- 

 ner has been cut away, revealing the interior of their dwelling. The 

 ourang-outang group in this museum was prepared by Mr. Hornaday 

 while employed at Ward's Natural Science Establishment, and is one 

 of the finest of its kind represented in the museums of this country. 

 It contains five specimens, all admirably mounted. The group repre- 

 sents a quiet scene in a Borneon forest. Another superb group of 

 ourang-outangs prepared by ]\Ir. Hornaday, entitled, "A Fight in the 

 Tree-Tops," is to be seen in the National Museum. The largest 

 and perhaps the best piece of work ever done by Mr, Richard- 

 son is the bison group. It contains an old bull, represented as 

 "shying" at a rattlesnake partially concealed under a soap-weed 

 bush ; three cows standing, one three-year-old cow feeding, one two- 

 year-old cow lying down, and a two-weeks'-old calf standing beside 

 its mother on the edge of a buffalo "wallow." The ground-work is 

 very carefully represented from studies made in northern Texas, and 

 the actual prairie sod and other accessories were brought from the 

 field and introduced into the scene. Such vegetation as could not be 

 satisfactorily preserved was made up artificially in wax ; as, for instance, 

 the beds of cactus. The vegetation was prepared entirely by Mr. 

 Richardson, and too much cannot 'be said in praise of the superior 

 workmanship and artistic skill shown in every detail of this group. 

 It is a masterpiece. In the National Museum is a group of bison 

 prepared by Mr. Hornaday, similar to that by Mr. Richardson. It 

 is likewise most skillfully executed. The skins of the animals, the 

 ground and accessories, were obtained in Montana. This group is 

 matched, only in size, however, by the monarch moose group ; and this, 

 with a number of other mammal groups in the same institution, attest 

 the profound genius of their author. 



