372 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



strips and two pieces of wood with saw-cuts as detailed at 

 p. 341, must be laid upon a piece of well-wetted glass or slate, 

 and plaster, mixed in the ordinary manner, poured in to half 

 its depth, and into this — as with fruits — gently drop and press 

 the pyramidal fungus, with stalk attached, until one half lies 

 embedded. Let the plaster set, and on each side of, and at 

 some little distance from the fungus, scoop out a small concavity 

 with the point of a knife ; oil all over, and then mix and pour 

 plaster over the uncovered half of the fungus ; let it set suffi- 

 ciently, and take away the walls of the casting-box, and, when 

 a little drier, tap along the edges with a wooden mallet 

 (not a hammer), and rock it about on the table, which should 

 be solid, and the halves will part along the joint, and 

 the fungus will often come out so perfect as to admit of 

 another mould being taken if needful. The use of the con- 

 cavities or scooped-out holes in the lower half is now evident, 

 for in the upper half there are two pegs, as it were, of plaster, 

 which serve to keep the halves exactly in line, in case a hollow 

 wax model, like fruit models, should be required. 



The ordinary mushroom, however large, is the next easiest 

 to cast to the close pyramidal form, but first the stalk, which 

 usually enters an inner ring on the under surface, must be 

 removed by carefully cutting it away just at its apparent 

 insertion within the ring. Now lay the mushroom underside 

 uppermost on a wetted glass or board, and, if the upper 

 surface is much twisted, spaces will be seen here and there 

 where the edge does not touch the board ; these must, of course, 

 be filled in, otherwise the plaster, which must, as usual, be thin, 

 will run underneath, with the risk of spoiling the specimen. 

 Putty is, perhaps, as good as anything for packing with, but 

 if putty cannot be readily obtained, clay will do, or, failing this, 

 a piece of ordinary flour dough will be found to answer 

 very well, and may be patted into position with the fingers. 



