182 PRACTICAL TAXIDEEMY. 



the length and breadth of the specimen, lay it upon the top of 

 the skin and tie it to the board on which the fish is resting; 

 by this means you will be enabled to reverse the fish without 

 cracking the skin or destroying the "set" of it. Untie your 

 boards and the object is before you right side uppermost. 

 It will now be seen if your modelling is trne or not ; in the 

 latter case, note where all imperfections occur, reverse the 

 fish once more, and ram more dry plaster in between the 

 stitches, or if the latter be sewn up too tightly, cut them 

 where needed, sewing up again when all is satisfactorily accom- 

 plished. The specimen being once again right side upper- 

 most, will appear somewhat flat along the centre, this arises 

 from the plaster accommodating itself to the flat surface of the 

 board. You must now, therefore, pass a wet cloth several times 

 over the surface of the skin, and proceed to pat it in a light and 

 dexterous manner into a more rounded shape with your hand, or 

 by the aid of a piece of board shaped in the manner of a small 

 flat bat. 



The head will require a great deal of attention ; it is now flat 

 and, perhaps, drops down upon the board, causing the upper gill 

 cover to open more widely than it should ; to obviate this, prop 

 the nose from the underneath by a piece of peat, or by a wedge- 

 shaped piece of wood ; the tail may be twisted or thrown up by 

 the same means if required. The mouth may be kept open as 

 much as desired by pointed wires, one driven through the 

 " nostrils " of the upper jaw, the other wire resting against the 

 teeth inside the lower jaw. The fins being kept damp during the 

 preceding operations, must now be *' braced out " by the process 

 heretofore described, and the fish washed, varnished, and dried 

 in the usual manner. Nothing, you will observe, has been said 

 as to the oval-shaped piece of board previously used inside the 

 pike mounted by the first process. This is wanted when 

 the fish is thoroughly set and dried ; when this takes place, cut 

 the stitches and carefully shake out the plaster. If a large fish, 

 replace this by tow, moderately packed; on this lay an irregulai-ly 

 oval-shaped piece of three-quarter inch board, edges rounded and 

 cut to the shape, and almost the length of the fish. No wires 

 are needed at the head and the tail (one end of the board 

 running into the head), but only those required to support the 



