378 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



wrapped with tow and smeared with the same modelling- 

 composition, hot, should be inserted, and, if the pileus be large 

 and heavy, should extend within it for its support. Stalks 

 may also be made with paper, as before described, to support 

 a glue pileus. 



A curious thing about most of the glue compositions is, 

 that where the joining of the edges is not quite satisfactorily 

 hidden, or where any roughness is left by the hot tool, they may 

 be filed down and sandpapered with the most perfect results ; 

 neither the file nor sandpaper, however, must be too coarse. 



When the fungus is executed in any of the paper media, it 

 should be coloured in water-colours from a fresh specimen, 

 which will probably show the apex slightly brownish, and will 

 no doubt require delicate tints of brown umber, yellow ochre, 

 and blue to get it exact. The gills or lower half will show 

 probably a peach-like bloom, and this can be managed by tints 

 of light red, permanent mauve, Vandyke brown, yellow ochre, 

 and a little permanent blue ; this latter probably in the deepest 

 hollows and near the base. The stalk requires blue, Vandyke 

 brown, yellow ochre, and, at the base, brown umber, etc., but 

 the tones are so delicate and subtle that no exact rule of 

 colouring can be laid down, and the artist must be guided by 

 what he sees and knows in the interpretation of these hues. 

 Sometimes a little paper-varnish or slight stippling with 

 Roberson's medium here and there over the colours may help 

 the effect, but requires to be done with skill and judgment. 



In some species, however, the use of water-colours will not 

 give a sufficient " quality " to the surface of the fungus, and as 

 oil-colours, on the other hand, are too "heavy," some modi- 

 fication is necessary, such as using turpentine as a vehicle for 

 tube oil-colours, the colours to be floated on in the thinnest 

 possible coat with a full body of turpentine and some flake 

 white, which bears out the various tints, and often gives a satiny 



