244 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



paraffin being added, and it is so clear and liquid that the 

 underlying specimen can be seen, and any floating-up of parts — 

 which seldom happens, owing to its weight — can be instantly 

 rectified. The subject should be slightly damp {not wet), and 

 is not burned by the hot paraffin, but comes out easily, leaving 

 the sharpest of impressions, quite hard, without a sign of a 

 " blow " or joining. Into this mould, without any previous 

 oiling, plaster is poured, and results in an extremely sharp 

 model. In some cases, where the subject is not much undercut, 

 more than one copy can be taken, but as its greatest ser- 

 vice is for such objects and for complicated groups, it must be 

 , considered as a waste mould, and melted off the plaster model 

 resting within it, and the wax may be used over and over again ; 

 this, combined with its exceedingly low original cost, is a 

 further recommendation, in which particular it is only paralleled 

 by one or two other materials. Small meat-tins with sloping 

 sides are the best to melt it in, and, as it liquefies at a low 

 temperature, a water bath is not absolutely necessary, although 

 it is always safer and better ; failing this, however, it may be 

 placed upon the stove or in an oven to melt, care being taken 

 that it does not burn. Its disadvantage — of not uniting with 

 any other substance — is here a very great advantage, for any 

 dirt, dust, chips of plaster, or what not, sink at once to the 

 bottom of the melted wax, which may be strained off into 

 another tin, and will come out, when cold, as a solid block, 

 easily packed away until wanted. 



The exact methods of building up the walls for the moulds 

 and for the resultant models have not been given in all these 

 processes, as they are practically the same as those described 

 before ; the boards or glass on which the specimen rests must, 

 however, be wetted for paraffin. 



By this process such undercut objects as seven plaice, one 

 over another, and nine or ten small codfishes, also in a heap. 



