TAXIDERMY, 79 



During this time we soften the head, wings, tail, 

 and claws, by the usual methods. This done we 

 fix the eyes, and put some leaden plates on the 

 wings and tail to restore them to their natural 

 form; we pass the wires through the legs, and 

 leave them in the body with long ends. When all 

 the members have taken their form, we fit them on 

 the false body, paying attention to the length of 

 the wings in comparison with the tail, in order to 

 preserve exactly the same length in the factitious 

 object. If, after having tried all these parts, the 

 body appears too large in certain places, we dimi- 

 nish it with a very sharp instrument; if, on the 

 contrary, it appears too small, we increase it with 

 gummed cotton; we then enter the wire, which 

 proceeds from the thighs, through the false body ; 

 well placed in their right position, we unite them, 

 by twisting the two ends together which pass over 

 the back, and we cut off what is too long; we fix 

 the claws on a cross-bar of wood, this cross-bar 

 must be pierced with a hole hi the middle, to fix in 

 the upright of the temporary foot- The bird thus 

 placed, we form a hole at the end of the rump, and 

 introduce the tail, furnished ah 1 round with gummed 

 cotton to keep it fast. 



When we are obliged to paste on the feathers one 



after the other, the cross-bar, on which the feet are 



fixed, should be separated from the upright, and 



$tuck into that of a machine which is difficult to 



E 4 



