56 ' PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNN0 1770. 



slender needle threaded with strong silk waxed over, and run it through the hole 

 in the upper part of the mouth, and out at one of the eyes, leaving three or four 

 inches of the silk, hanging out at the bill. This done, put one bead on the 

 thread, and run the needle out at the other eye; draw the bead into the orbit, 

 at the same time lifting up the eye-lid with a sharp needle, and place it over the 

 edge of the artificial eye in a natural position; then, with a pencil introduced 

 from the other side, varnish all the cavity with the liquid, and fill the space between 

 the eyes with cotton, so as to keep the bead, already placed, in its proper place. 

 Put on afterwards the other bead, and returning the needle through the orifice 

 in the upper part of the mouth, draw in the other eye, to its proper orbit, lifting 

 up the lid as before. If the eyes are not sufficiently protuberant, you may 

 introduce more cotton by the orifice, through which the threads lead; and when 

 you have by this means fixed the eyes properly, tie the ends of the silk, and cut 

 them off. There is another method of setting the eyes, which is by introducing 

 the beads by the orifice in the roof of the mouth, and when they are placed, 

 stuffing cotton through the same passage to keep them firmly in their places. 

 The stop of cotton must now be taken out of the throat, and some of the same 

 material thrust down very carefully by a little at a time, with a quill, to support 

 the neck in its plumpness when it becomes dry. 



We now come to the methods of placing and retaining the birds in the atti- 

 tudes we would have them; and first, we must provide tiie legs with wires 

 sufficient tosupportthe weight of the body; which is done in this manner: Take 

 a brass or iron wire of a proper thickness, and made sharp at the point; which 

 run through the foot, up the leg and thigh, through the cavity of the body, on 

 the inside of the wooden breast, and so up the neck, and out at the upper part 

 of the head, just above the bill. The point being then made very slender, and 

 turned back like a hook, take hold of the other end of the wire below the foot, 

 and draw it back till the hooked point has fixed in the head, and by it you may 

 adjust the length and position of the neck and head. The wire which is put 

 through the other foot and leg, &c. need not extend to the head, half way along 

 the body will be sufficient. Next prepare a piece of wire for supporting the tail ; 

 this must be about two-thirds the length of the whole body; sharpen it at one 

 end, and bend the other like a hook, run in the sharp end just below the rump, 

 and push it along under the back-bone till the hook is firmly fixed over the 

 rump, among the large feathers of the tail. The next thing is, to fix the bird on 

 the perch or branch, on which you would have it stand; in this you will make 

 two holes at the distance you propose the feet to be, and after having inserted the 

 wires which are run through the feet and legs, bend the legs and every other 

 part into the attitude you would have them. The wings must also have a wire 

 to themselves, in order to keep them in the designed position; this is done by 



