114? TAXIDERMY. 



wish to make the eye, turning it between our fin- 

 gers until it begins to melt; we then fasten the 

 quantity necessary for the size of the eye we wish to 

 make, to the end of the iron wire ; it forms a little 

 globe by turning it in the flame, and when it is well 

 rounded, we place in the centre a little speck of 

 black enamel, which is to form the pupil. We 

 again expose it to the fire, that this pupil may be 

 incorporated with the mass ; and when it is well 

 incrusted we put some glass upon it, which at least 

 ought to extend over three quarters of the hemi- 

 sphere ; it is this glass which, by representing the 

 vitreous humour of the eye, gives it all its brilliancy. 

 We continue to expose the eye to the fire, until the 

 glass has equally extended over that part of it which 

 it to form the iris; and this being the case we let it 

 cool slowly. We may make this sort of eye by 

 joining several pieces of iron wire together ; it is 

 then easier to make them all the same size, because 

 the first being always close to our eyes, guides us 

 in making the rest. 



The following is another method : we prepare 

 some pieces of iron wire, well burned, and three or 

 four inches long, the strength of which must be 

 proportioned to the size of the eye we are going to 

 make. We curve these in the middle over a tube 

 of glass enamel, or any other cylindrical and po- 

 lished body ; we unite the extremities of each wire 

 by twisting one over the other, so that they exactly 



