218 PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



and on opening tlie mould the artificial fruit will drop out, 

 and may then be coloured by powder or varnish colours to the 

 tints required. 



My friend, Wright "Wilson, F.L.S., &c., surgeon to the Bir- 

 mingham Ear and Throat Hospital, has very kindly written me 

 a short description of the plan he adopts, which, it will be seen, 

 is a complete reversal of the foregoing : 



" With regard to plaster casts of fruit, &c., a much neater and 

 readier method of making the mould is to mix a sufficient 

 quantity of beeswax with resin in a pipkin over a slow fire. It 

 must be used whilst just lukewarm by either dipping the fruit 

 — say, an apple — until sufficient adheres to form a good strong 

 coating. When cold (dipping in cold water will readily make it 

 so), the whole can be cut through with a sharp knife, the halves 

 of the fruit come out easily, and a perfect mould in two halves is 

 thus obtained. Fasten the halves of the mould together with 

 string, and smear a little of the warm material over the joint to 

 hold it together, and cast your model (into this, through a small 

 hole made for the purpose) in the usual way with plaster of Paris 

 made rather thin with water. When set, place in a little warm 

 water, when the mould easily strips off, leaving a model of 

 the most perfect kind and at a small expense, for the mould 

 can be melted up and used over and over again." Glue may 

 sometimes be substituted for the wax. 



The advantage of being able to fall back on this system is 

 obvious, especially if the modelled fruit is to be placed in a. 

 position exposed to considerable heat. Of course, the plaster 

 model must be coloured to nature, and, as I have before pointed 

 out, this is not one of the easiest things to do. I would 

 suggest dipping the model (when dry) in melted wax to give a 

 surface for colouring, or modelling it in paper. 



Preserving Spiders, &c. — Spiders, which from their rarity 

 or the beauty of their markings it may be desirable to preserve, 

 require the contents of the abdomen to be pressed out, or their 

 bodies to be cut underneath. A first-rate article on preserving 

 these cinistaceans appeared in Science Gossip for January, 1868, 

 in which the author points out what is just as well to bear in 

 mind, which is " that the colouring matter or pigment is placed 

 between the outer or abdominal covering and the pulpy contents 



