236 PRACTICAL TAXIDEEMT. 



The groove, however, shoiild be so arranged that the excess in 

 width should fail outside the glass. The centre of the stand 

 inside the groove "being tinted for a sky, as desired, the objects, 

 whether small birds or butterflies, are introduced in the usual 

 manner, and the glass is then cemented, in the groove, over them. 



"Waste cylinders of glass may be economised for making 

 mounts. It will then, however, be necessary to have a circular 

 plate for the top cut by a glazier's turn-table. These aro 

 really better for showing up anything than the round-topped 

 mounts, as they cast no reflection; but the top plates are 

 harder to put on and to keep on when finished. Strongly 

 pasted black tape will do to fix the very small ones, but for 

 larger the tops should be cemented with thick white-lead, left to 

 dry, and then further cemented with narrow tape smeared with 

 white-lead, or any of the cements given on p. 89. If it be desired 

 to give a rounded edge to this taping, plaster or whiting mixed 

 with glue and lamp-black may be laid on thickly, rubbed down 

 with fine sand-paper, and polished, or if the black is left out, the 

 cement may be gilded, after the manner of picture frames. 



The stand itself may be " dished " out in the centre, in concave 

 form, and thus more room allowed for the enclosed specimens ; 

 but in this case the stand must be of some thickness. 



At one time the glasses were put in the stands with glue 

 and cork, or glue and paper, until it was found, in nine cases 

 out of ten, that glue, under atmospheric changes, sooner or 

 later broke the glass, or else entirely released it. Putty was 

 then used, but that failed to hold with the tenacity required, 

 as there was a constant tendency of the shade to fall out 

 by its natural weight when hanging up. I have accordingly 

 mixed white-lead with putty with better results, in the pro- 

 portion of two parts putty ; one ditto white-lead (thick, 

 such as gasfitters use) ; one-eighth ditto gold size — or I 

 have used red-lead, mixed with common putty and boiled 

 oil; and, again, simply plaster of Paris mixed with water. 

 These last two are the best holdfasts of glass within my 

 experience. 



Supposing the stand to be ebonized, or of mahogany or any 

 other fancy wood, the putty or plaster can be coloured to any 

 required tint, or if the stand is gilt the cement can be gilded 



