Guide to Taxidermy 1;'1 



CHAP. e-Mountina Fish 



In the days of the "old school" of taxidermy, fish 

 were regarded as the most difficult objects to 

 "stuff." In the present day, most of the difficulties 

 have been overcome, but still a fish represents one 

 of the "nicest" pieces of work that a taxidermist 

 can undertake. A bird has its feathers and an ani- 

 mal its hair to hide defects in the making of the 

 body, but the skin of a fish will only serve to magni- 

 fy them. Years ago, fish were "stuffed" with tow 

 and then sewed up ; after that they were sewed up 

 and filled with sand through the mouth (we have 

 seen some very fair fish mounted by this method 

 too) ; the next step was forming a body of two and 

 covering it with clay. This method is largely used 

 to-day, but the results obtained by most taxidermists 

 are only awkward caricatures of the original, and 

 far, far, from being satisfactory. In 188.^ we first 

 introduced the method of making a solid body of 

 wood, and we mount them the same way to-day, 

 without change. Other taxidermists are gradually 

 adopting this method, which is really the only one 

 that has ever been wholly satisfactory. 



