Part 10

To kill a snake without bruising or breaking the skin is a difficult undertaking, for, as a general thing, we are not looking for snakes, therefore we are not prepared to capture one.

When we do run across them, we generally kill them with the first thing we get hold of. If the snake is not too large, strike it across the back with a small stick. This disables him, and you now have time to prepare to finish him. Watch your chance and when the opportunity presents itself, tap it on the head a few times, and you can soon kill it without bruising. When it is dead, open its mouth and cut the tongue and fangs out, then unjoint the backbone from the skull and skin back on the body an inch or two, turning the skin inside out. Tie a cord to the skinned part of the body and pull on this with your right hand, while with your left hand you pull the skin off from the body, which is easily done if the snake is not too large in the center of the body; in that case it must be opened in the largest part of the body. Make the opening on under side of body, lengthwise of the snake, and long enough to allow you to remove the skin all around the body, then cut the body in two. Skin out both ends, unjointing the body close to the skull, turn the skin right side out and sew up the opening, taking short stitches. Now mix some plaster paris and water, leaving it thin enough to run; place a funnel in the mouth and pour the plaster in until the body is full. Lay the snake on a level board and coil it before the plaster gets dry, placing the head in the position in which you want it to remain. Take out the eyes and put in the glass ones; then wet the whole skin with the solution of corrosive sublimate. This should be repeated once a day for three or four days.

Another method is to skin and sew up as directed, then take a long wire and stuff the body with cotton or tow, being careful to get the stuffing in smooth, so that no lumps will show on the outside.

Another way is to fill the body with sand, and when the skin has thoroughly dried, make a hole in the under part of the body and let the sand run out.

In either of the above modes the snake should be coiled as soon as stuffed in the shape you want it to remain, and plenty of the solution of corrosive sublimate used over the skin.

Eels, frogs and toads are skinned and stuffed in the same manner as the snake, no frames being used.

ARTICLE X. DRESSING ALLIGATORS.

Take an alligator, say five feet long, make an incision the full length of the body, on the under side, and skin out all the flesh and bones, as recommended in skinning animals. Scrape off all the fat or flesh that may be left on the inside of the skin, and give it a thorough coat of the preserving powder. Now proceed to stuff it without using any frame. First stuff the legs with cotton or tow, pressing it in very tight—their skin being very tough, there is no danger of stretching it. Sew the neck up, down to the front legs, and stuff tight; now sew up the tail to hind legs and stuff it; then take a piece of pine board, say an inch thick, two inches wide, and twelve inches long, place this inside of the skin, draw the edges together over it, and tack both edges close together on the board, fill the body up to the end of this board, and put in another board in the same way, and again stuff; when the full length of the opening is closed up in this way, before putting in the last section, have the body thoroughly stuffed and put the section in afterward.

The advantage in putting in the board is this: It is almost impossible to sew the skin, and as it is to lay flat, it is much easier to use the boards; they could also be used in the neck and tail, if you wish to lay them straight with the body. Lay the specimen on a flat board, and place his feet and tail as you wish to have them. The eyes should now be removed, some of the solution of corrosive sublimate put in the sockets, then put the glass eyes in with putty or plaster paris. Close the mouth and set a block under the jaw to hold it up while drying. Give the body a thorough wetting with spirits of turpentine, repeating it once a day for three or four days. After the skin becomes well dried give it one or two coats of varnish and you have a fine specimen.

ARTICLE XI. DESCRIPTION OF FOOT-STOOL.

Letter (A) represents the covering, (B) the moss or hair filling, (C) the bolt which fastens the horn to the stool brace, (D) the tap of said bolt, (E) the wooden base of stool, (F) a small rod or nail set in the plaster paris, (G) a rivet through the horn, (H) head to bolt, (J) plaster paris in the horn.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE STOOL

Take three cow horns of good shape and size; rasp them and sand-paper down, as hereafter directed in Article XII; then, after deciding what height you want the legs, make a frame to saw them off on, as illustrated and directed in Article XII, cut No. 6. After sawing off, drill a hole through in the horn about three-quarters of an inch from the large end. This hole should be large enough to take in a ten-penny nail. Put the nail through and file it off even with the horn on both sides, and rivet it with a small riveting hammer. Now level up the ends of the horns where they were sawed off, by taking a coarse piece of sand-paper, and laying it on a level board, rub the ends of the horn round and round on it until it is perfectly level. Now take the bolt C, of size and length to suit the horn, put it down in the horn to see that it will suit; sometimes it has to be bent in the shape of the horn; after fitting it to the horn, leaving about 1¼ inches projecting out to go through the wooden base E and leaving room for the tap D. Now mix some plaster paris and water until about as thick as it will run; pour this in the horn until nearly full, put in the bolt, as shown, and while the plaster paris is yet soft, take an eight-penny wire nail and push it down head first in the plaster paris, leaving about half an inch sticking out; this nail and the bolt should both come straight up from the level of the end of the horn. When the plaster is partially dry, level up around the bolt and nail at the end. The horn should now be polished as directed in Article XII. The next is the wooden base E; have a board turned or cut round, say twelve inches across and one inch thick. This should be made of walnut, or some other hard wood, but when the hard wood can not be procured pine will do. If pine is used it should be painted, or stained and varnished on the under side, and if walnut it should be sand-papered, filled and varnished. Now strike a circle within about two inches of the outer edge and bore three holes at equal distances apart and set in the bolts; when you get them in the position you want them, press down on them to get the imprint of the nails F, then remove the horns and bore a hole the size of the nails F. Now put the bolts in again and screw the top on tight. The nail F is to keep the horns from turning around and getting out of place. See that the butt of horn fits tight to the wooden base E.

UPHOLSTERING FOOT-STOOL.

Go to a saddler and get either curled hair, deer hair, or moss sufficient for a heavy pad; lay it on the floor and beat all the dirt out of it, then pick it all apart to get all the matted lumps out, lay it on the stool top and pile it up about a foot high while loose, take a piece of muslin or drilling, lay it on top of the moss or hair and draw all the four corners down tight, tacking them about the center of the edge of the wooden base E, then draw it all down and tack in the same manner, drawing very tight, being careful to get it round and even and leaving no wrinkle. In case the moss is not evenly distributed, take a long awl and run it through the covering and carefully distribute it.

Next in order is the outside covering, which should be a fine piece of silk plush or velvet. Get a piece large enough to work some fine flower or motto in the center, then put it on in the same manner as the first, only tacking it down near the lower edge of the wooden base E; by being careful you can get it on without wrinkling it. The tacks should be small and very close together. Put a piece of braid around the edge and tack it on with upholstering tacks and the stool is completed.

SAWING OFF HORNS.

Cut No. 6 is to illustrate a frame on which to cut horns to be used for footstool legs. Without a frame of this kind it is almost impossible to cut them to set level with stool and floor. In fact, it is more difficult than it would be for a carpenter to cut molding to fit corners, etc., without a mitre box. It is very simple and is made as follows: For a frame large enough to cut four horns, take a fencing board and cut off a piece from it two feet long. The board is supposed to be about six inches wide and one inch thick. Saw off another piece the same length and nail it to the edge, as shown in cut. This we will call the back of frame and the other the bottom. The back then is five inches high, measuring from bottom board up. This completes the frame as shown. The horns are now placed on the frame and nails driven around them into the frame to hold them firmly in place. Place the horns close together in setting on the frame and pour plaster paris over the points of all, as shown in cut horn A. After the plaster paris has thoroughly hardened, saw off another piece of the same board and nail it to front edge of bottom board, and proceed to saw off the horns level with the upper edge of back and front boards, as in horn A. Should you want the legs longer or shorter, take wider or narrower boards for back and front of frame. After taking the horns from the frame, proceed to put in the wire through the butt of horn and rivet it; then put in the bolt and nail F (as directed in a former article) and fill the horn with plaster paris, as shown in the above cut (C). The horn is now ready, after polishing, to be placed on the stool. It can also be placed on a board and used for a hat hook, or for holding back window curtains, etc.

ARTICLE XII. DIRECTIONS FOR POLISHING HORNS, HOOFS, ETC.

Go to a hardware store and buy two good wood rasps, flat on one side and round on the other; then get three grades of emery or sand-paper, say No. 1, No. 0, No. 00; then go to a drug store and buy ten cents' worth of sweet oil and ten cents' worth of rotten stone. Get an old felt hat and an old case knife and you are ready for business.

Take of either horns or hoofs, several at a time, and put them in an old pot or kettle of boiling water, let it boil until they become soft, which usually takes about half an hour; take out one at a time and rasp it until it begins to cool and harden, put it back and take out another, and keep this up until all are rasped down to the shape you want them. Now take one at a time in the same manner and scrape them until they are scraped smooth of all rasp marks, using the case knife for the scraper, the edge of which has been ground square off like that of a shear blade. Now take the No. 1 sand-paper and sand-paper down, then use the No. 0, and finally finish up with the No. 00, rubbing-lengthwise of the horn. We are now ready for the finishing touch. Take a piece of felt sufficiently large to rub with, pour some of the sweet oil on it, then dust with the rotten stone, and give the horn a thorough rubbing, putting more of the rotten stone on occasionally, and keep up the rubbing until you get a high polish. Such a polish will remain on for years.

Another way to polish horns: Fasten them firmly on a bench or to the wall. Take a strip of ticking or felt about three inches wide and three feet long. Wet it in water and sprinkle powdered emery over both sides. Take hold of both ends, place it around the horn and draw backwards and forwards, around and around, until the horn presents a smooth surface; then take another strip of the same description and use in the same manner, except using rotten stone instead of the emery. There are different grades of the emery, and only the finest is to be used in polishing; a coarser grade can be used in the same manner in the place of sand-paper, and is very good.

COLORING HORNS.

If you wish to give a horn a flesh color, secure a very light colored horn, rasp and scrape it down very thin, and polish so that the horn is transparent. Get some red paint (with plenty of dryer in it) give the inside of the horn a coat of the paint, and set it away to dry. Before applying the paint, wash the horn out well with soap and warm water and dry well. The above gives a beautiful flesh color, which will last for years, especially when filled with plaster paris.

TO REMOTE PLASTER PARIS FROM A HORN AND TO MAKE THE HORN ROUND.

After the plaster paris has become thoroughly dry it is very hard; therefore to cut it out with a chisel is very tedious; but it often has to be done. If the inside of the horn is smooth and a little tapering, it is very easy to remove by boiling it until the horn expands or becomes soft; then tap the horn with a smooth stick or hammer, and the plaster will drop out in a whole piece. If you have put a rivet through the horn before putting in the plaster paris it is more difficult to remove, as the rivet holds the plaster firmly in the horn. In such a case take a chisel and dig out the plaster paris down to the rivet, then either cut the rivet with the chisel or file it in two and take it out; then proceed as above directed.

To make the butt of a horn round, put the horn in boiling water; let it remain about ten minutes; have a round wooden plug ready, which should be wedge shaped; drive this in the horn while hot, and let it cool; afterwards remove the plug, and the horn will remain round. This makes quite a difference in the appearance of the horn where you wish to use it for a hat rack, footstool, etc.

TO DRESS DEER HORNS.