Guide to Taxidermy 



171 



means of the wire which projects from the vent, 

 adjust the coils as you want them and see that the 

 whole body is entirely free from humps or hollows. 



The eyes for the specimen will have to have 

 vertical pupils. You can get the proper size of 

 clear glass and color them yourself. They can be 

 set in putty as soon as the specimen is mounted or ^^v^^^^V^a t\>.V 

 if you do not happen to have the eyes on hand you :^'^ . ^. ^ . 

 can put them in by softening the lids, at any time. We nnVoXc \c,v\a\V 



When the specimen is dry, the seam on the un- 

 derside should be waxed wherever it is visible 

 and the specimen, especially if it was a bright 

 colored one will have to be retouched with oil paint 

 for the color fades a great deal on all serpents. 



Another Method 



The snake can be skinned as before and filled 

 with either sand or fine sawdust. Commencing at 

 the tail, sew up a couple inches, then fill this sec- 

 tion with sand, pressing it firmly into a round 

 shape; then sew up a couple inches more and so on 

 until you have the entire specimen filled but not 

 "stuffed" beyond its original proportions. When 

 using this method it is best to bend the body in po- 



