TAXIDERMY* 31 



proportion ; for a fresh skin easily dilates, and we 

 should then find difficulty in giving the form and 

 attitude suitable to this part of the animal. 



The first ring of the wire which passes into the head 

 must be in the direction of the shoulders, the second 

 ought to correspond with the pelvis, or a little 

 towards the posterior part. We then pass one of 

 the irons for the paws along the front leg, behind 

 the bone ; the point which passes without ought to 

 be under the highest ball of the foot. This done, 

 we draw up the bones of the leg within the skin of 

 the body, to tie tne iron wire to the bone of the arm 

 and fore-arm with pack thread. We anoint these 

 parts, and twist chopped flax round them, observ- 

 ing to make it equal to the flesh we had removed. 



To fix the fore legs, we pass one of their pieces 

 of wire in the little ring of the middle or horizontal 

 wire, and do the same with the other side, and then 

 twist the two ends strongly together by the help of 

 flat pincers. We must observe that, for an animal 

 of the before-mentioned size, the pieces left to twist 

 must be from five to six inches. Being twisted, we 

 bind them on the under side against the wire of the 

 middle or body, and fasten them by tying them to- 

 gether with packthread ; we then replace the two 

 legs, bending them according to the attitude that we 

 wish to give them. We anoint the skin of the belly 

 and scapulae, which we stuff, taking care to put a 

 good layer of flax under the wire of the middle, 

 c * 



