THE SKINNING AND CASTING OF A TIGER 127 



Being well packed and tied around with hemp until it was 

 sufficiently firm and unyielding, strips of common muslin about 

 two to three inches wide were brought around from side to 

 side, and crossed from end to end, until the tow was com- 

 pletely covered and bound in as a fairly hard mass giving the 

 proper shape of the head. Half an hour being suffered to 

 elapse, some well-kneaded pipe -clay was plastered over the 

 nose of the model skull, along the sides of the jaws, and on 

 the face where wrinkles or muscles were to be depicted. 

 The " bags " of the eyelids, nostrils, and lips, and between the 

 outer and inner skins of the ears, were well filled with clay, 

 and then, by gentle means, the skin of the head was pulled 

 back again until the skull assumed its normal position inside 

 the skin. In getting it over, some of the clay became dis- 

 placed in parts, but was easily pushed back into position, or 

 more added or taken away through the apertures of the 

 nostrils, back of the lips, orbits, ear-holes, and at the back 

 of the head, the skin of the neck being sufficiently open to 

 admit the hand or a " crowding " tool. 



It is' as well to note here that wadding pushed in behind 

 clay gets it well into position, and should always be used where 

 practicable in order to lessen the weight — otherwise great 

 where much clay is used ; the aim of the modeller, therefore, 

 should be to use no more of the latter than absolutely 

 necessary. 



The clay model of the mouth and the coloured drawing of 

 the head now proved extremely useful in assisting the operator 

 to obtain the necessary distances, the relation of parts, the 

 wrinkles of muscles, and positions of the mouth and lips. Of 

 course, the orbits of the skull (left as a shallow depression in 

 clay) fixed the position of the eyes, and the teeth assisted the 

 formation and position of the lips. All being satisfactorily 

 arranged, stout " needle-points " were driven in various positions 



