34 TAXIDERMY. 



obliged to support them with cotton, especially 

 when we wish the mouth to be open, and we remove 

 the cotton when these parts are dry. We must 

 not forget to thrust an iron peg into the nostrils, to 

 put into them a great deal of the preservative and 

 closely pressed cotton ; without this precaution the 

 nose, in drying, would have a very bad effect. 



To place the ears properly, if we would have 

 them upright, we pass a connecting thread through 

 their base, and tighten it until they are sufficiently 

 drawn together. If the animal has large ears like 

 the roebuck, the hare, &c. it is good to put a piece 

 of pasteboard within, having the form of the ear, 

 and we fasten it with small pins at the edges ; a thin 

 piece of cork, if we have it, is preferable to the 

 pasteboard. 



An animal thus finished must keep, if we have 

 sufficiently applied the preservative. But if this com- 

 position have not penetrated to the ears, the nose, the 

 lips, and, above all, to the paws, we must supply its 

 place by imbuing these parts with a brush dipped 

 in spirits of turpentine; and that this liquor may 

 not injure the hair, we wipe it afterwards with cot- 

 ton, and repeat this operation seven or eight times, 

 at intervals of some days. 



When we feel certain that the animal is dry, we 

 cut the wire which passes from beyond the head, 

 with pincers ; we procure a board or plateau pro- 



