COMMON FAULTS IN THE MOUNTING OF QUADRUPEDS. 69 
make a smooth, round body. ISTearly all large mammals that are 
filled with straw or excelsior have a bloated or swelled-out ap- 
pearance, often painful to contemplate and often ludicrous in 
the extreme. The tendency of every amateur is to fill a skin as 
full as possible and as fast as possible. Habits of this kind when 
once formed are not easily abandoned. To this vicious habit of 
stuffing full is due the fact tliat not one small stuffed animal out 
of every ten, and not more than one large one out of every fifty, 
have that graceful likeness of form so characteristic of the living 
creature. The bodies of most stuffed mammals are round, fat, 
or even bloated ; the flanks are filled out instead of being drawn 
in ; the legs are fat, thick, and round where they should be flat 
and thin ; the eyes bulge out of their distended lids, and the 
cheeks and lips are full and puffed out unnaturally. In short, 
from tip of nose to tip of tail mammals are stuffed too full. 
The body of a mammal is the most difficult part to shape. 
With large specimens, particularly those which have short hair 
or none at all, it is impossible to accomplish this part of the task 
successfully except by building a manikin of tiie proper size and 
form and putting the skin upon it. By covering a properly- 
shaped manikin with half an inch of clay, and modelling the skin 
down upon it, it is possible to secure the exact form and size 
of life. The African elephant — Mungo — now in the Exhibition 
is the result of this method, and the only tiling to be urged 
against the process is the weight of the clay. On the other hand, 
I may urge the great gain in durability. 
With small mammals it is possible to tan skins in a salt and 
alum bath, which contains an excess of alum, and to shrink and 
harden them up to a given point, so that in mounting them it will 
be possible to fill the bodies full and hard without stretching 
them beyond their natural size. The more alum used the less 
a skin will stretch. The proportions vary according to the size 
of the skin and its texture. Every taxidermist should experiment 
with the salt and alum bath until he knows precisely what 
strength is necessary in every case. It is impossible to fill a 
skin with soft filling and keep it down to the proper size unless 
it has been properly shrunken with alum when fresh. With 
