148 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



visible. Now it will be found practicable to release one of these 

 by judicious undercutting and excavating as before, aided by a 

 pull with the fingers of the left hand ; and, when one is thus 

 released, the other will follow as a matter of course. 



The remaining operation, down to the tip of the nose, is 

 simple, consisting in merely skinning away the flesh from the 

 bones of the nose and underneath the jaw, until stopped by a 

 bag of blue skin which shows just underneath the proximal 

 angle of the sinus. This is the angle of the mouth, and must 

 be cut away very delicately around the bone, still preserving 

 its bag-like character. This skin returns on the teeth, and 

 extends a little farther backward on the lower jaw, coming, 

 indeed, as far back as the commencement of the orbit, and 

 should be skinned off literally from the teeth ; this forms a 

 large bag of skin, to be left for subsequent operations. Now 

 continue skinning on both sides of the lower jaw, keeping close 

 to the bone meanwhile. 



At this stage, the insertion of a small block of wood, between 

 the upper and lower jaws, assists the operator to see all round 

 the lower jaw, and by skinning carefully the front teeth are 

 reached, and by skinning on these the whole skin is released 

 leaving, as before, the mucous membrane as a bag. The 

 block may now be removed, but let the head be kept in the 

 same position — lower jaw uppermost, — and release the skin of 

 the upper jaw, by cutting all the way around close to the bone. 

 This, when done, admits the knife into the cavity of the 

 nostril ; cut well within this, in the same manner as directed 

 for the eye, and the whole of the nostril, including its inner 

 mucous membrane, will be released. The other side being 

 managed in precisely the same way, the entire skin will be 

 removed from the skull. 



The mask of the deer — now turned inside out — exhibits, 

 around the lips, a thick double skin extending backwards as a 



