Guide to Taxidermy 



225 



beveled base board; take an 18 in. piece of No. l6 

 wire and bend it back so one arm will be about 5 in. 

 and the other 1 3 ; insert this through the holes in 

 the base from the bottom and twist the wires to- 

 gether above the base for about 3 in., and bend as 

 in Fig. A, twisting a shorter piece of wire on to 

 make the other two branches. Fig. 2 shows the 

 method of winding the tree with strips of cloth and 

 the way to fasten the artificial leaves upon it; the 

 last turn of the cloth about the end of the limb 

 should enclose the wire stem of the leaf and the 

 cloth be firmly tied to the wire with thread. The 

 trunk of the tree may have to have several strips 

 wound on to make it of a proper size; on large 

 trees, the trunk is usually wound with tow, before 

 using the cloth. At this stage the tree may be 

 painted with glue and covered with ground litchens, 

 or, and this is the better way, you can cover the 

 trunk and larger limbs with papier-mache and 

 when dry, color this to resemble the tree it is in- 

 tended for. Entire collections should never be 

 placed upon these artificial trees as they are suit- 

 able only for commercial or decorative purposes. 



Artificial Leaves and Ferns. — You can buy these 

 already made of your dealer in naturalists' sup- 

 plies. They come put up in gross lots. If you have 



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