220 COARSE FISH. 



proper shape, and must be coaxed and pressed into the 

 form you wish it to assume at this stage of preservation. 

 Fish intended to rest partly on stones, or to rest on 

 others, must be moulded into shape. If a fish has to 

 remain bent, it must be raised or depressed accordingly, 

 by means of supports, because when once dry its shape is 

 settled for good. 



" In moulding the shape, great care must be taken to 

 prevent distension, as I have spoilt several fish through 

 neglecting this precaution. The skin must be packed to 

 just its right fulness, or it will wrinkle or sink in. If the 

 fish is to be in a swimming position, the fins must 

 be more or less extended, and paper gummed on either 

 side, overlapping the edges. This finishes the fish for the 

 present ; it must be left to dry gradually for a period of 

 at least three weeks, more time being allowed if the 

 weather is damp. Frequent examination must be made 

 to prevent damage through the skin getting fly-blown, 

 and mice or rats will spoil everything in a very short 

 while if they get the chance of nibbling at your work, as 

 up to this time no preservative has been applied. 



" The tedious operations being over, the process of 

 completion begins. If by any chance the skin should 

 get fly-blown, which will be chiefly about the head, a few 

 drops of turpentine poured into the eye-sockets will 

 prevent much harm. When the skin is quite dry and 

 hard, it is time to take out the sand and apply the 

 preservative, for which I have used a compound of 

 arsenic, corrosive sublimate, camphor, soft soap, and 

 spirits of wine, — a deadly poison, in using which great 

 care must be taken. 



" Unstitch the fish to remove the sand, pull out the 

 cardboard, and shake out the contents. Apply a thin 

 layer of the preservative to the inside of the skin, paint- 

 ing the head carefully. Fill the fish lighdy with tow, 

 and sew it up again, inserting a strip of wood along the 

 fish to hold wire supports when they are required. 

 Insert the glass eye with a little cement, damp the paper 

 off the fins, and refix them with gold-beater's skin ; as 

 they will most likely be split and ragged, trim the edges 

 with sharp scissors. Now take the gummed paper off 

 the fish by slightly damping it. Before the scales are 

 perfectly dry, I apply some of the best copal varnish very 



