226 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



sistency of cream. The double-pointed carpet tacks are then taken, 

 an(J their points, having been bent as shown in the adjacent figure, are 

 hooked into the strip of skin, and the loop embedded in the plaster. 

 A small strip of wood (previously coated with shellac, to prevent undue 

 expansion from the moisture) is also embedded in the plaster, its upper 

 surface being even with that of the plaster. The two halves of the 

 board are separated when the plaster becomes dry, the skin, with its 

 plaster interior, is removed from its mould and washed, and the fins 

 placed in clips, so that they may dry flat. When thoroughly dry, the 

 specimen is mounted on a wooden tablet by screws passing into the 

 embedded block, and the whole is ready for exhibition. 



No means have yet been found of preserving the natural colours of 

 the fish ; and the only way of representing them on the specimens thus 

 mounted is by means of paints. 



This process, which has been thus briefly described, is the property 

 of Dr. H. E. Davidson of Boston, and to him all inquiries as to the 

 rights to use it should be addressed. 



Upon the foregoing it may be remarked, that it is hard to 

 see what useful purpose is served by a process which is, at best, 

 but a compromise between stuffing and casting, and also how 

 Dr. Davidson can reserve any rights to published methods of 

 work. 



Amphibians 



Some writers have advised the skinning- out of frogs, 

 toads, and amphibians through an incision made on the 

 median line of the stomach, filling with wadding or tow, and 

 finishing and wiring them in the manner in which birds are 

 wired by the old systems (see ante). This has been modi- 

 fied by skinning them out through the mouth, which requires 

 a delicate touch, and, when done, is just as useless, for no 

 batrachian can be successfully " stuffed," not even by the inter- 

 vention of a " mannikin " ; the only way in which such things 

 can be made as in nature is by casting, as explained in the 

 following pages. 



