MODELLING OF ANIMALS, ETC. 171 



system which requires a slight knowledge of wood carving, and 

 would be practised in the case of having the skeleton of the 

 large animal to model from, or in cases where, having both 

 skeleton and flesh, it is desirable to retain the former as an 

 osteological preparation, and to treat the skin as a taxidermic 

 object. Supposing, then, we have a lion in the flesh, our first 

 care must be to determine upon the position and attitude it is to 

 ultimately assume, 'Not to perplex the student too much, we 

 determine that it shall take the attitude of our last example 

 (Plate lY), or else that shown in Plate III. Accordingly, we 

 arrange it on a platform just raised from the floor of the studio, 

 when by propping and judicious management we make it, al- 

 though lying on its side, assume the position we require. We 

 carefully measure and take a rough tracing of the whole. The 

 muscles are now worked up into position, and moulds taken 

 from them, or from such parts of the limbs as we require. 

 By careful arrangement of clay, wooden walls, and other packing, 

 it is quite possible to take a complete cast of the whole 

 carcase. Piece-casting, however (described in Chapter XII), 

 assists us here. From these moulds we cast reproductions of 

 parts of the lion, which will be patterns for, and greatly assist 

 us when, ultimately modelling up. The animal is now skinned, 

 and the skin prepared in the usual manner, i.e., stripped en- 

 tirely from the body, cured, and thinned down. The bowels 

 are taken out, the flesh is cut off the bones, and the parts 

 jff, I, J, K, and M, N, 0, P (see Plate III.), are copied by carving 

 in lime-tree or beech wood.* These models are then sawn longi- 

 tudinally in halves, and each half hollowed out to receive, and to 

 be either tied, or wired on to, the rods — 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Plate TV. 

 By this it will be seen that the model is made up precisely 

 as in that, the only addition being the substitution of carved 

 limb-bones in place of tow previously used to bind over the 

 rods. Clay or other substances is worked over these " wooden 

 bones," and the finishing processes are the same as the last. 



The skeleton must be carefully mounted and articulated, 

 as described in Chapter XII. Be careful to get the ultimate 

 phalanges of each limb out of the skin, and by careful 



' Bones can be cast in plaster quite as easily as anything else, and often take the place of 

 carved wood. 



