MUSEUMS. 329 



This will have a surprising effect in beautifying the 

 fur. 



As there are parts of a quadruped's skin which 

 are bound down, as it were, to the bone (at the 

 eyes, for example), it will be necessary to pass a 

 thread, with a sufficient knot at one end, through 

 these parts, and to let the end without a knot hang 

 loose after it has been drawn out at the opposite 

 quarter. Thus, there must be a thread in the ex- 

 tremities at the gape of the mouth, and one at the 

 corners of the eyes; and others in different parts 

 of the body, according to the operator's judgment. 

 By pulling these at the end which hangs out, he 

 will be enabled to depress the parts into their 

 natural shape. 



The artificial eyes must be put in on the first day 

 of the operation, and taken out and put back again 

 every time the head of the specimen is modelled. 



When all is completed, and the skin has become 

 perfectly dry, the artist takes out the chaff or saw- 

 dust ; and he finds that the specimen is quite firm 

 enough to stand without any support from wires. 

 He cuts three sides of a square hole under the feet, 

 to let out the chaff; and when this is done he re- 

 turns the skin to its place. 



A slit must be made in the crown of the head, or 

 under the jaws, to allow him to fix the artificial 

 eyes with a little putty or wax. The slit, if properly 

 done, will leave no mark on the fur. 



If the quadruped be stuffed in distant countries, 

 with an intention to be sent home, it may be cut 

 up, when finished, into three or four separate pieces, 



