MODELLING OP ANIMALS, ETC. 159 



Although, we have cast the head whilst attached to the body 

 in order to get our difficulties increased, yet we will now imagine 

 the stag's head, with a long piece of neck-skin attached, severed 

 from the body, in the manner in which heads usually ariive from 

 Scotland to be mounted as trophies of the chase. The model 

 being ready, the dead head is now skinned, the skin being taken 

 entirely off the head, as described on page 141, and being " double- 

 skinned" as described on page 133, washed and cured, is now 

 ready for mounting. First, however, the horns must be sawn 

 from the skull by cutting away a triangular piece of the bone 

 to which they are attached; drill this bone for two long screws, 

 by means of an American " twist-drill," fitted into an ordinary 

 brace. Next, the prepared model requires blocking ; this may be 

 done as shown at Fig. 26. A slot to receive the board should 

 have been previously cut in the plaster under-jaw of the 

 model, or, in a more simple and efficient manner (see Fig. 

 31), by procuring a piece of " quartering," 3in. x 2in., about 

 2ft. in length, cutting a channel in the under-jaw and the 

 back of the head to fit it, wedging up, and pouring in wet 

 plaster to make all secure. The head of the model should 

 be cut to receive the horns, leaving about half-an-inch or 

 more of plaster before coming to the wood. The quarter- 

 ing protruding below the neck must now be fixed in a vice, and 

 the horns screwed in their seats, the screws coming through the 

 plaster and into the wood, which they should " bite " for an inch 

 or so of their length ; wet plaster is then poured on the top, 

 and the back of the head made up by the addition of more. 

 When dry the quarteidng should support the model with horns 

 attached, and all parts should be immovably rigid. Nothing 

 remains now but to thin the skin all over the inside in a careful 

 manner, remembering that the thinner the skin the better the 

 points of the model will show up. When finished, simply draw 

 the skin over the model like a glove upon the hand, put a little clay 

 in the " bags " of the eyelids, perhaps a little about the nostrils, 

 and fix the various parts in the under-cuttings made to receive 

 them, being sure that the lips go in naturally, not leaving a 

 thick edge outside. The ears now require blocking ; to do this 

 many taxidermists run a wire all around each ear from the 

 inside, or put cardboard inside, sewing another piece outside by 



