Practical Taxidermy Part 24

Tallow candle.

Melt the glue with water until it is moderately thin. Boil up the resin and oil together (be careful of fire). Mix up this with the glue by thorough stirring and boiling together, turn it all out into a bucket (unless you are boiling it in one), and add half a tallow candle. Stir in enough powdered whiting to make a thick putty. Pour some out on a plate, and let it get cold; you will then be able to determine whether the mixture requires more or less glue, whiting or oil. It should dry tough, but not too brittle, and should, when cut into strips and warmed by hot water or steam, be tough and yet pliable. Properly made, this cement is invaluable to the taxidermist, as it works well by the hand or by tools, drying slowly until it sets.

It can be worked over real or modelled bones to show sinews or muscles as previously mentioned. The tongues of mammals or fishes may be cast either in plaster, glue, or wax, and subsequently modelled in this cement, plaster, or wax, as required.

Wax is the last, and, as I have before pointed out, is, whether used melted or softened by warm water, of the highest service to the artist. Beeswax, when melted, will mix well with either plaster or whiting, or with both, and will make a useful modelling composition, its brittleness being determined by its containing more or less plaster. Wax will also mix with red ochre, and makes a modelling composition. Modelling wax is sold, however, ready prepared, and is useful to pack under the skin for delicate muscles or "flabby" folds of skin.

Paraffin wax melted, and modelled when half cold, is also sometimes of service; it has, however, so little affinity for "sticking" as to come away from almost anything smooth, on the slightest provocation.

White lead stiffened with whiting is sometimes useful in taking the place of putty, and is a trifle more durable.

Perhaps, at the end of this section, it may not be amiss to point out to the modeller that it is of the highest importance that all his tools should be freed from dirt and plaster at the conclusion of his day's work; scarcely anything rusts and spoils tools more quickly than damp plaster left on them.

TO IMITATE BLOOD.--Frequently blood is required to be shown, as in instances where some animal may be represented tearing its prey.

Usually this is done by thickly painting on vermilion and red lead mixed with varnish, or brus.h.i.+ng on red lead mixed with thick glue, as a base on which to subsequently lay the vermilion. I may point out, however, that blood differs in tint, and that the appearance of torn flesh, fresh blood, and coagulated blood is best got by painting the parts with wax, and tinting, with a little vermilion, some madder brown, or madder lake (a rather expensive colour), and light red, arranged and blended one with the other as in nature.

Should you be setting up a large group, such as a tiger tearing open a deer, or a vulture at a sheep, you may represent the liver and other organs in modelling clay or plaster, dried, waxed, and coloured, or by coloured wax alone if the part to be modelled is not large.

SNOW, FROST, AND ICE.--The appearances of snow and frost are imitated in a variety of ways. Pounded white sugar; alum powdered, or put on boiling, and suffered to crystallize; borax, two parts, alum, four parts, burnt in a shovel over the fire; and various other crystalline preparations. Nothing, however, is half so good as using best S.F.

plaster of Paris mixed with powdered "gla.s.s frosting"--bought from the gla.s.s-blower's or artificial eyemaker's--to imitate snow, the powdered gla.s.s frosting being thrown upon the foliage and rocks--the latter being gummed or varnished with paper varnish--to imitate ice. Blocks of ice require special treatment with gla.s.s and thin paper strained over a framework and varnished to get a good and natural effect.

Icicles are best modelled in gla.s.s.

WATER AND WAVES.--Water is best represented by "hammered gla.s.s"

coloured, and streaked and varnished, to the tint required. Birds may be represented swimming by being cut in halves, their upper and under surfaces fixed to the corresponding sides of the gla.s.s, or the gla.s.s may be cut to receive the body, which is the most satisfactory, although the most difficult to manage without smas.h.i.+ng the gla.s.s.

[Footnote: There is a black-necked swan (Cygnus nigricollis), from Chili, treated in this manner, in the Leicester Museum.] Holes may be drilled in the gla.s.s to allow water plants to come through, or to allow long-legged birds, such as herons, to stand mid-leg in water.

Waves are moderately well imitated by thin paper creased, varnished and coloured, on which white wool "foam" is arranged.

MODELLING FRUIT, etc, IN PLASTER.--You may, perhaps, wish to model an apple, peach, or plum, to place in the hands of some mounted object, such as a monkey. To do this, you take a natural fruit, which oil, and push it half way (on its longest axis) into a bed of damped and hard-pressed sand banked up all round. At some little distance from the edges of the fruit stick two or three small pegs of wood (points downwards) about half-an-inch long, leaving a quarter-of-an-inch out of the sand. Over all this pour some plaster of Paris mixed with water to the thickness of a paste; when set, lift it up carefully--the plaster now appears with the fruit half set in it, and the two or three little pegs of wood sticking up, their other half firmly fixed in the plaster--oil their points, the face of the plaster, and also the fruit, and laying the half-cast fruit uppermost, pour over it some more plaster.

When set, trim the edges, the complete mould will then part in halves, and the fruit will shake out. Oil the mould inside, and when dry procure some wax--beeswax from the oilman's will do for this purpose--and after heating it carefully, for fear of fire, pour it while hot into the mould through a hole cut for that purpose. When about a quarter full, put your thumb or finger over the hole, and rotate the mould rapidly.

Allow it to cool, and on opening the 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, etc, surgeon to the Birmingham 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, etc, a much neater and readier method of making the mould is to mix a sufficient quant.i.ty 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 subst.i.tuted 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, etc.--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 crustaceans 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 within, upon a very delicate membrane, which adheres very loosely to both, but more firmly to the contents within; so that when the viscera or contents are rudely removed, and without much tearing, the whole ma.s.s will be found more or less coloured, while the outer skin will be left entirely transparent. To preserve, therefore, the beauty of spiders, this must be untouched."

He further says: "Make an incision along the ventral aspect of the abdomen, nearly its whole length, or as long as will enable the pulpy contents to be easily removed; then pinch up the pulpy ma.s.s with a small forceps, carefully avoiding any dragging; then, with sharp-pointed scissors, cut away the contents bit by bit until the whole is nearly removed, or until you can see the brilliant colour s.h.i.+ning through what remains in the cavity--better leave a little too much than be too nice in clearing all away; then, with a blowpipe, distend the empty abdomen; it will very soon become firm, and retain its original form, but until it is so the blowing must be frequently repeated."

A correspondent to Science Gossip, page 21, 1868, says: "I found the best way to preserve spiders was to suspend them by a loop round their waist in a solution of glycerine 2/3, water 1/3. The solution may want changing once or twice at first, after that it will keep unchanged for years."

Fig. 36--Blow-pipe for inflating larvae

PRESERVING CATERPILLARS.--The larvae of moths and b.u.t.terflies may be preserved by pressing out the contents of their bodies, and by working from the head to the tail in a gentle manner, and a.s.sisting the removal of the ma.s.s by a careful dragging with a crochet needle. When empty, a little corrosive sublimate solution may be injected with a metal or gla.s.s blow-pipe, and the empty skin then distended by blowing into it through a very fine blowpipe, made by drawing out in a clear flame a small gla.s.s tube until it is attenuated to a fine point. This being inserted in the orifice at the last segment of the caterpillar, is kept in place by being tied round with a piece of darning cotton, or, better still, by a contrivance shown in Fig. 36 (the invention of Mr. Auld, in Science Gossip for 1872). A A are pieces of watch spring tied on the thick part of the blowpipe, and holding the caterpillar by pressure on the last segments when the point B is inserted.

Mr. Auld, I see by his article, used a spirit lamp under a gla.s.s jar to form a drying chamber while blowing; but I have myself found a "box iron" a most convenient arrangement. The inner iron, being heated in the fire, is placed in the chamber or "box," which it thoroughly heats; then removed, and the larvae introduced and blown out in the hot air, but not so full as to unnaturally distend the segments.

A certain loss of colour inevitably takes place in preserved larvae, which in the larger ones may be restored by colouring inside them with powder colours mixed in turps. Coloured wax is sometimes injected, and makes the skin very firm, but it is a delicate operation, requiring great skill in application. When finished, they may be "mounted" on green silk-covered wire, or, more naturally, on nicely modelled leaves of their various food-plants, by gum attached to their claspers.

It is often necessary to plunge the more delicate larvae into a weak solution of carbolic acid, or alum and water, to harden them before preservation.

SKELETONS OF ANIMALS.--Many people being under the impression that it is only necessary to remove the flesh of any mammal or bird in order to get a perfect skeleton, it may be as well to point out that as the flesh rots, so do the ligaments which hold the bones, and consequently the skeleton falls to pieces. When, therefore, you have made your skeleton by the means recommended by various authors, such as exposing it in an ant-hill, a wasp's nest, or to the attacks of the "blow-flies" or "mealworm" (the larvae of a beetle), to "tadpoles," or --as is the usual way with the bone preservers--by maceration in water for a lengthened period (after removal of a great deal of the flesh, the skin, and entrails), you will, after the careful removal of the flesh still remaining, and subsequent drying of the bones in the sun and air, find that nearly every bone will have to be attached to its fellow by fine bra.s.s wire, and in the case of the bones of large animals, each bone will have to be neatly drilled and coupled with bra.s.s wire of greater strength.

Skeleton-making by maceration in cold water is, perhaps, one of the most sickening operations. I have been somewhat successful by tr.i.m.m.i.n.g off all the flesh possible, wiring some parts together, tying others in cloths and boiling them gently for several hours in water changed from time to time, afterwards taking them out and picking off, with fingers and blunt tools, all the flesh remaining--whilst hot--then drilling and wiring all together with galvanised or copper fastenings in a proper manner, boiling again in plenty of water, and then allowing the bones to remain in cold water--constantly changed--for a week or so; finally laying out in the sun and air to bleach.

By this system I have lately "skeletonized" part of a horse, and the bones are free from grease and fairly white. Experience, however, in this as in everything else, will tell you what to do and how to piece one system into another to best advantage. Was.h.i.+ng the bones with Hudson's "dry" soap, or soda and water, will often remove a great deal of the grease. Chloride of lime and water will a.s.sist the bleaching, but must be managed cautiously, or in careless hands it is likely to do more harm than good. The making of good and nicely bleached osteological preparations really depends on carefulness and neatness, supplemented by water, air, and sun; by the three latter aids, I have repeatedly improved in a wonderful manner "old bones" which were greasy and discoloured.

Should the sea be close at hand, the skeleton, shut in a box with holes, may be sunk, and exposed to the attacks of various "small deer," especially "bees" (Aega tridens), which swarm in some shallow waters to such an extent as to clear the flesh from a large animal in a few hours.

SKELETON LEAVES.--Very beautiful objects may be made by placing the leaves of trees and shrubs, or such as are of a strong or woody texture, in a pan, pouring boiling soft or rain water over them, then exposing them to the atmosphere for a time varying from one to three or four months. They are then gently lifted out and held on a board, or on a plate, under running water, and the pulpy part, or epidermis, removed by gentle brus.h.i.+ng with a camel-hair pencil or fine needle, to split the skin away from the mid-rib.

When nothing but the ligneous skeleton or woody fibre remains, it may be placed in a weak solution of chloride of lime, and exposed to the sun under gla.s.s to dry and bleach. To prevent them sticking to the paper on which you may wish to dry them, use either blotting-paper or oiled paper, after well was.h.i.+ng the leaves. If skeletonizing in summer time, trust to sun alone, as chloride of lime has a tendency to make the leaves go brittle. The seed vessels of various plants, such as the poppies, thorn apples (Daturae), and campions, as also the leaves of laurel, holly, ivy, lime, sycamore, poplar, and a host of others, may be treated in this manner. When finished, they may be mounted on wires whipped with white silk, and placed on black velvet under a shade.

Some writers have advised the boiling of the leaves in a solution of caustic soda, or steeping them in a strong mixture of chloride of lime and water, but I have hitherto considered these plans not so practical as the foregoing, though, perhaps, quicker; as, however, I find two writers, in Science Gossip for 1867, very positive on the subject, I will give the following extracts:

"A solution of caustic soda is made by dissolving 3 oz. of was.h.i.+ng soda in two pints of boiling water, and adding 1.5 oz. of quicklime, previously slacked; boil for ten minutes, decant the clear solution, and bring it to the boil. During ebullition add the leaves; boil briskly for some time--say, an hour--occasionally adding hot water to supply the place of that lost by evaporation. Take out a leaf and put into a vessel of water, rub it between the fingers under the water. If the epidermis and parenchyma separate easily, the rest of the leaves may be removed from the solution, and treated in the same way; but if not, then the boiling must be continued for some time longer.

To bleach the skeletons, mix about a drachm of chloride of lime with a pint of water, adding sufficient acetic acid to liberate the chlorine.

Steep the leaves in this till they are whitened (about ten minutes), taking care not to let them stay in too long, otherwise they are apt to become brittle. Put them into clean water, and float them out on pieces of paper. Lastly, remove them from the paper before they are quite dry, and place them in a book or botanical press."--Dr. G.

d.i.c.kson, Science Gossip, January, 1867.

"I once saw another way of managing skeleton leaves that interested me greatly. The leaves were boiled for two minutes, and then transferred to a strong solution of permanganate of potash and gently heated. In an hour or two the laxer tissues were easily removed by means of a brush. Sulphurous acid was used for bleaching them, and this liquid was also employed with much facility for the removing of the stains on the fingers caused by the permanganate of potash."--George Newlyn, Science Gossip, November, 1867.

The last-named gentleman appears to bleach his leaves by fastening them across a hat-box by means of strings, inserting a pan or tin cup containing sulphur, setting it on fire, and shutting down the lid (of course, out of doors). The whole article is very interesting, but too long for insertion here.

CRUSTACEANS.--Lobsters, crawfish, and crabs must have the cephalo-thorax (the upper part) disjointed from the body or "tail"

part, the limbs taken off at their attachment to the body, and the whole of the flesh removed by means of the "undercutting tool" (see Fig. 29), and crooked wires; afterwards wash the inside with carbolic wash (No. 15), and fill the limbs and body with dry plaster and wadding, neatly fixing on the legs where disjointed, and putting the remainder of the body together with any of the cements mentioned in Chapter IV.

POLIs.h.i.+NG HORNS.--As a commencement it will be requisite to remove all the rough sh.e.l.l-like layers of horn which stand up as knots and gnarls, and mar the symmetry of the horns. In some horns, old ones especially, you will find their inner sides covered with several thicknesses of this waste or dead stuff. Do not be afraid, but boldly pare this down level with the surrounding horn, for which purpose nothing is so good as a spokeshave. Blood stains usually lie in the soft upper layers; shave these down carefully until they end, which will be underneath where the horn becomes white and of a more ivory-like texture. When nearing this it will be as well to give up the use of the spokeshave, and use some instrument in a sc.r.a.ping manner; the side of a chisel (not the cutting edge) or a knife is best for this purpose. The handle being held in the right hand and the point in the left, sc.r.a.pe the horn until you get to the white part, which will be somewhat harder than the remainder.

In colourless horns you must get down to this white part, or your polish will not be high; besides this, blood stains will show up, and the surface will look of a soapy, greasy nature, instead of the ivory-like texture it should a.s.sume. Be careful when working to the largest part, or base of the horn, not to run your tool through, as it is much thinner there than at the tips.

Whilst thinning rough places in certain horns you will find a half round and flat fine rasp of great a.s.sistance. When you have obtained a nice even surface all over, use gla.s.s paper of different degrees of fineness, and pumice-stone. Collect the dust which falls off, with a rag dipped in linseed oil and well rub the horn with this. Next get some "putty powder" (oxide of tin), which rub violently on all parts of the horn with a rag and linseed oil, finally finis.h.i.+ng off with brown paper, a soft rag, and the palm of the hand, using plenty of "elbow grease."

Remember, horn polis.h.i.+ng is all hard work, unless managed by "bobbing"

on a lathe, so let no one attempt it who is not prepared to work very hard, as plenty of quick and violent friction is indispensable in the latter stages to give the high polish requisite. Horn may be softened, and ultimately dissolved in caustic soda.

POLIs.h.i.+NG TORTOISE-Sh.e.l.l, etc.--To polish tortoise-sh.e.l.l (which is in many cases turtle-sh.e.l.l) it is necessary to sc.r.a.pe the sh.e.l.l very carefully with a broad knife, taking care not to cut through to the under sh.e.l.l or "bone." When properly smoothed rub it over with pumice-stone and water, then with bath-brick and water, finally polis.h.i.+ng off, when you have a nice fine surface, with putty-powder and oil, or rotten-stone and oil, with plenty of hard work and hand-polis.h.i.+ng towards the last. A little tallow rubbed in with the hand, as the very last finis.h.i.+ng touch, will be found of benefit. A paste made of sal volatile and rouge has been recommended to be applied to the sh.e.l.l after sc.r.a.ping, then suffered to remain until dry, and finally polished off.

Bad places in the sh.e.l.l, where it has peeled or been broken off, should be made up with coloured sh.e.l.lac, or hardened wax, put in with a warmed knife after polis.h.i.+ng, and finished off separately.

Tortoise-sh.e.l.l may be welded by heat.

Sea sh.e.l.ls may be polished by being plunged for a little time in dilute nitric acid, then rubbed down with sand paper or fine emery and oil, finished with "Water-Ayr" or "Snake-stone," and finally polished with putty-powder and oil. A mussel-sh.e.l.l treated in this manner makes a most beautiful object, coming out purple, with streaks of lighter blue and pearl.