July, 1886.] 


AND OOLOGIST. 

PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 
BY FRANK B. WEBSTER. 

CHAPTER XIT.—DECORATIONS. 

{In publishing these articles on Taxidermy all rights are 
reserved for future publication in book form.] 

The art of furnishing the stands or mountings 
for preserved specimens is apt to be too much 
ignored by taxidermists, and is perhaps in part 
owing to the entirely wrong custom of charging 
for stuffing the subject only, and throwing in the 
stand, on the chromo inducement plan.  Fre- 
quently more time is actually devoted to making 
the branch than in stuffing the bird, and in the 
valuation it should be duly considered. The ma- 
terial required is as follows: Moss, rock-lichens, 
the flat greenish-gray growth, seen on old stone 
walls, form »#n important item. It should be 
gathered on a damp day, when it can be easily 
removed. When thoroughly dried break it up 
fine and mix enough of the green French moss to 
brighten it. This is the moss used in making 
branches. The fine, light-celored moss found in 
fields, finely broken and mixed with the other 
gives a variety. The long fibre tree-moss found 
on trees in swamps and near the coast is useful 
in decorating the branches to give a finish, and 
also for stumps. The little red top and all other 
varieties should be collected. Mica sand and 
various others, obtained by pounding up rocks 
and fancy smalts, are used in rock work. Papier 
maché—which is paper in the pulp, dried—is 
used for covering, and is prepared as follows: 
Let it soak till soft, (it is superior to paper as it 
has no grain,) when soft add a thin solution of 
glue; place it on a fine seive and let it drain till 
quite free from water; mix flour with it until it is 
sticky. It is then ready for use. Some color by 
mixing dry umber, while others prefer to paint it 
when dry; and still others mix ashes with it. A 
good assortment of old roots, obtained from dead 
trees in swamps—the soft rotten brown ones and 
the bleached cedars should be sought after. In 
fact, the finest and most valuable stumps are some 
of these choice natural ones. These with a few 
principles to work upon, will produce a variation 
of results as great as the imagination. 
We will first consider the moss branch. The 
wire for the main br: aust be selected stiff 
enough to hold the bird; the others may be 
lighter. For a bird the size of a robin, the main 
wire should be about No. 16, and the next 18, the 
small ones 22. The wires should be cut one or 
two inches longer than the length of the branch 
required, so as to leave the end to fasten by. For 
our bird we cut the main wire 14 inches, the sec- 
ond 6 inches, and the three small ones 3 inches. 
Next take the medium stuffing tow, draw it out 
in pieces longer than the wires; for the largest 
let it be about as thick as the finger and, say 18 
inches long, and the others in proportion. The 
glue for this purpose should be about as thick as 
the contents of a hen’s egg. If too thin it will 
cause trouble by not holding the moss in place. 
Apply a coat of glue to the wire that is to be cov- 
ered, (leaving the fastening ends). Beginning at 
the end apply the tow by twirling the wire with 
the right hand and following the tow down with 
the left—the tow can be firmly twisted on it, the 
glue holding it in place—serving each wire in the 
same manner till all are completed. Two sets of 
rolling boards are required, which should be two 
pieces, one for table, say 8x15 inches, the hand 
piece 4x12. One set is for rolling in the glue, the 
other for rolling on the moss. Now take the 
covered wire, give the tow a coat of glue and 
then roll it once or twice, being careful to roll 
the right way so as not to untwist thetow. This 
will work it into the fibres and it will have a less 
tendency to come off. Next roll this tow-cov- 
ered glued wire in a tray of the fine moss and 
then roll it well between set number 2 of the roll- 
ing boards. It is well to let the branch stand a 
minute or two before giving this last rolling. 
We now have the straight moss branch ; it should 

taper. If the first winding of tow is not large 
enough a second one can be added by gluing and 
winding in the same manner as the first. 
Next take a piece of pine (not too smooth, say 
about 5 inches square, or a turned one of the 
same diameter ; taking one of the old roots, cut 
off a piece 2 inches long and fasten it to the 
center for a stump. Give the surface, or one- 
half of it, a coat of glue and cover this glued part 
with mica sand; press it 
with a block so as to force 
the larger grains of the sand 
into the glue. If thisis not 
done, only the finest will 
adhere. Next coat the oth- 
er part with glue and treat 
it in the same manner with 
moss. (At the present time, 
it is asad fact, nothing is 
offered as a better substi- 
tute for grass.) Our stand 
now represents both 
ground and grass, with a 

