278 



METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



of the horns and draw the skin close!}- around them and sew it firmly 

 together. At this point you can lift the skin of the head and fill in 

 around the base of the ears and any parts along the neck. In sewing 

 up the opening, use a surgeon's curved needle, and when you sew 

 through thick skins an awl must be used to make the holes for the 

 needle to pass through. When the seam has been completely sewn 

 up tack the base of the neck-skin around the neck-board as shown in 

 Fig. 4, Plate LXIX. 



After you have the skin on and the neck opening sewed up and 

 the skin tacked around the neck-board, you must frequently comb the 

 hair and rub it smooth. Keep this up until the head is finished. A 

 tack should be driven into the deep corners of each eye, which will 

 hold the eye-lids in place over the orbits. You are now ready to put 

 the finishing touches on the head. 



The mouth, cheeks and nose demand attention first. Turn the upper 

 lip back and fill in clay, mixed with chopped tow, around the nose 

 where the cartilage has been cut away, then fill in the same manner 

 the pocket you have made in the upper lip. The cheeks may be 

 reached through the mouth. By pressing the clay carefully from the 

 outside you can form the lips and face to their natural shape and full- 

 ness. The under lip must have a coating of clay and chopped tow and 

 then brought up and pressed into shape close to the upper. If you 

 desire to add strength to the clay and chopped tow, put in some strong 

 glue water. The best modeling clay which I have ever used is fur- 

 nished at one cent and a half per pound, by C. Hennecke Co., 162 and 

 164 West Water street, jMilwaukee, Wis. A stitch may be taken in the 

 middle of the upper and lower lips, which will hold them in place. The 

 clay when dry, however, will hold the lips forever in place, and if the skin 

 has been thinned down properly there will be little or no shrinking apart. 

 Now carve out of soft pine a block that will fit the ears, which is, for 

 a deer, exactly as we have it illustrated in Fig. 5, Plate LXIX. Drive 

 tacks in a row on the flat side of this block, in the middle ; place the 

 block in the ear and wind soft, light cord around it (Figs. 6 and 7, 

 Plate LXIX), using the tacks as anchors by which the thread can be 

 wound around. This is called " blocking the ears." While the lead 

 or copper inside will hold them in shape, the blocks and thread will 

 help to give additional smoothness and beauty. Now place some 

 clay, mixed with glue water, in the orbits and "set" the eyes. See 

 that they are set even in the head, and are looking at the same object. 

 Do not allow them to bulge out too far — staring — but give to them 

 the expression of mildness or gentleness. The head now is ready to 



