THE WAY TO MOUNT MAMMALS. 51 



feet, head, and tail, sharpen them on one end as directed 

 in mounting birds ; now roll up grass until it is not quite 

 as large round as the body, and about one third as long. 

 Fill the fore part of the skin with bran or cut hemp as far 

 back as the shoulders, and place the ball of grass against 

 this filling, inside the skin. Now force the wires through 

 the soles of the feet and top of the head into this ball ; 

 clinch them firmly. After filling the skin of the tail with 

 bran, force the wire through the grass ball to the very end ; 

 then clinch the opposite end in the ball by cutting off the 

 part that protrudes and turning it in. 



Fill the remaining parts of the skin with bran to the 

 natural size, and sew up the orifice carefully ; place the 

 animal in the proper position by passing the protruding 

 wires of the feet through holes in a board, clinching them 

 firmly on the under side. The skin may now be moulded 

 into shape with the hands, the hair carefully smoothed, 

 the eyes set in the head with putty, the protruding wires 

 cut off, and the specimen set away to dry. There are 

 but few rules to be followed in placing animals in posi- 

 tion, because they are almost infinite in variety. The most 

 imperative rule applies to the positions of the legs, which 

 are almost always the same ; and it should be studied with 

 particular care, as a slight deviation from it will impair 

 the lifelike attitude of the specimen. The rule is : Never 

 place the bones of the first joint (Plate IX. No. 1) and 

 those of the second joint (2) of the hind legs in a straight 

 line, but always at an angle, more or less ; while the two 

 bones of the forelegs (3, 4) should almost always be placed 

 in a straight line, — always when the animal is standing 

 upon them. 



In imitating that peculiarly graceful attitude assumed 

 by the squirrels while sitting upon their hind legs feeding, 

 after imitating the curve of the back, — which not one in 

 a hundred can do naturally, — place the joints of the hind 



