RUTIEONY | Os AIST) ADIN IBC WON, WO) 133 
at which a rib was required to be placed. These ribs were of 
seven-eighth inch material and 4 inches wide. 
While the greater part of the work had now been accomplished 
it now remained to reassemble the beast and then cover with 
“hair.” Sisal was chosen as the material which most nearly 
resembled mastodon hair and after dying it a black and several 
shades of brown it made a surprisingly close imitation of such 
hair by mixing and combing through a hetchel. 
The process of attaching the hair was accomplished by the 
following method. Strips of cardboard were cut about 2 feet 
long and 2 inches wide and on one of these strips a layer of sisal 
was laid at right angles evenly along the length with a couple 
of inches of it extending over the upper edge and the remainder 
hanging free over the lower edge of the cardboard. On top of 
the first strip was fastened another strip by means of wire clips 
and this held the sisal in place to be easily handled and attached 
to the beast. With a great many of these made up in this way 
it was necessary to start at the bottom and work up as one does 
in shingling a roof. A row was tacked on and where the sisal 
came in contact with the body, a little of the same Akeley mix- 
ture was rubbed through it until it was evident that it would be 
perfectly secure when dry. Each row above was lapped over the 
preceding one, carefully blended and combed together, leaving 
no trace of striation after the cardboards were removed. In 
places where the skin was almost naked great pains were neces- 
sarily exercised to fade the hair out evenly and it practically 
meant, in such cases, punching a hole with one hand while the other 
inserted a hair. 
All exposed skin areas were modeled in detail with the same 
mixture over the shell of the body. The tusks, trunk, ears and 
feet were made separately in this way and then fastened to the 
main body. 
