26 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. III. 



away. Great care was always observed and the reptiles kept in strict 

 control. 



After securing suitable color sketches and outlines of customary 

 poses, the specimens were removed one by one to the laboratory, 

 where they were placed in a glass aquarium jar and quietly chloro- 

 formed, as shown in figure 11. Plaster molds were then made. The 

 snake was posed on a marble slab or clay base, and plaster-of-Paris 

 poured over it. When the plaster had hardened, the snake was ex- 

 tracted and the mold filled with melted wax. Thus was made a wax 

 reproduction of any individual specimen, accurate as to size, propor- 

 tions and external features such as scalation. The wax cast was then 

 colored by hand according to the color sketches previously made from 

 the living animal. This colored cast was finally slightly heated and 

 bent into one of the characteristic poses in the sketches or photographs. 

 Thus were faithfully reproduced the various rattlesnakes for the future 

 group. 



In some instances, however, it was found desirable to use a certain 

 snake for more than one mold. This was accomplished by simply 

 anaesthetizing the serpent and defanging it for additional safety, as 

 shown in figure 12. After remaining in the mold until the plaster had 

 hardened, the snake was then carefully drawn out and replaced in the 

 cage or in an empty jar. The serpent would "come to" in a short time 

 and within the period of a day would apparently have recovered suf- 

 ficiently for the operation to be repeated. In this way, eighteen molds 

 were obtained from ten of the best specimens. 



All specimens were opened after death and the sex was accurately 

 determined. The skins were then removed and saved to be used later 

 in transferring the patterns to the wax casts. 



A sufficient quantity of quartzite rock for the reproduction of the 

 den itself, was shipped from the Baraboo Bluffs to the Museum by Mr. 

 Keitel. The principal plants found at Baxter's Hollow have been re- 

 produced in wax and celluloid. Such progress makes it reasonable to 

 hope that when the reader of this article next visits the Public Museum 

 of Milwaukee, he will have an opportunity to see a typical Wisconsin 

 rattlesnake den with its inhabitants in life-like poses amid their natural 

 surroundings. 



In another article entitled "Facts and Fallacies Concerning Rattle- 

 snakes," will be found a further discussion of our studies on these 

 snakes. 



