44 TAXIDERMY. 



in this state, after which we drew the skin out to 

 place it quite warm upon the shape. This was not 

 an easy thing, but it was rendered still more diffi- 

 cult by our finding the false body a little too large ; 

 the skin would not entirely cover it, there was but 

 one thing which could be done ; we could not di- 

 mmish the wood without destroying the propor- 

 tions, besides, the iron pins, the screws which fas- 

 tened the work, would have lost their hold* and 

 we should have run the risk of overturning the edi- 

 fice. We then took down the skin, had it placed 

 on tressles, and diminished the thickness of it by 

 the help of large knives, cutting it away in thick 

 and long shreds from the whole of the inside. 

 This work occupied five persons for four days. 

 We weighed these shreds, and they amounted to 

 194 pounds. During this operation, the skin had 

 dried, and consequently lost its suppleness. We 

 put it back into a tub, and covered it with soft cold 

 water; the next day we placed it afresh on the 

 shape, and fixed it with wire nails and large brads ; 

 those which fixed the edge of the skin were driven 

 in deeply, the others only halfway, to accommodate 

 the skin to all the sinuosities of the model. We 

 drew out a great many of them when the skin was 

 sufficiently dry. 



This paring of the skin answered our purpose ii) 

 two essential points, first, by facilitating the means 

 of enveloping the model entirely, the form of which 



