Part 9

We are now ready for the fins and tail; if they have become dry, wet them with water and spread them out; then take a needle and thread and draw them up, as shown in cut No. 1.

To make the frame, take a rough board, say one inch longer than the fish you intend to dress. For a fish a foot long, the board should be one inch thick and about three inches wide, and for larger fish in the same proportion, or large enough to support the fish. To one end of the board nail a piece of lath a foot long (see D in cut); on the other end nail a block (C in cut), to which nail an upright piece (B in cut). Tack the tail to the upright (B) with tacks (P). Raise the upper fins by drawing a thread through them and tying to upright piece, as shown in cut. Drive two nails in board (A), as shown (GH), to which fasten threads attached to lower fins as shown in cut. Set away to dry and when thoroughly dry wash the whole body, take off the tissue paper. When the fish gets dry, dampen all the outer surface with corrosive sublimate and set away. Take off the threads and place it on a nice, smooth board and give a light coat of varnish. The specimen is then ready for the cabinet.

Should you prefer to stuff the body with cotton instead of using plaster paris, proceed as follows: After skinning as directed, make a frame, EE, and take a straight piece of wire long enough to reach from the point of the nose to the other end of the body, fasten this to the frame, EE, at the upper end, by wrapping them together with a small wire or cord, leaving the frame EE as near the center as possible. Take cotton or tow and wrap the wire that is to run lengthwise of the body, say one-fourth as big as the body, then insert it in the skin and proceed to stuff with cotton, being very careful to get the natural shape. When this is completed, proceed to sew up and mount as directed when dressed with plaster paris. The Gar fish makes a fine specimen, by simply filling the skin with dry sand while drying, and let it out when dry.

ARTICLE IV. HUNTING SPECIMENS AND CARE OF SAME.

In hunting specimens, birds or animals, it is best to take a double-barreled shot-gun, have your cartridges loaded some with fine shot, and some with coarse; keep one barrel loaded with one number and the other barrel with the other number, then you are ready for either small or large game. Have some cotton and old newspaper with you, and as soon as you kill a specimen, stop up the shot holes with the cotton, and it is sometimes best to stuff some in the nostrils and mouth. If any blood has run out on the hair, or feathers, as the case may be, wipe it off carefully, then wrap the body in paper and pack it in the game sack, using all care not to bend, break or soil the feathers, for if once soiled it is hard to make the work look well again.

On removing the birds from the game sack, if there is any blood on the feathers, wash it out with clear water, and wipe until nearly dry; then sprinkle with plaster of paris and shake until dry. In this way the feathers will look smooth and natural; but if, after washing, you let them dry without stirring, they will present a bad appearance. Where the blood has remained on the feathers they must be well washed and treated as directed in a test case as given at close of Article I.

ARTICLE V. WOOD AND WIRE FRAMES.

The above cuts represent my wood and wire frames for animals and birds.

Fig. 7 is Fig. 8 reversed; Fig. 8, showing the way the neck and tail supports EE are fastened to the body board with blind staples. Fig. 7 shows the way the leg wires AA are fastened in the same manner. In making the frame, measure the animal from shoulder to hip, and cut the board a little longer than the measure taken; round the corners as shown in cuts, and round the upper edges to keep them from cutting the skin should it come in contact with it. Now take a wire or rod long enough to reach from the end of the tail to the end of the nose, bend the wire as shown in Fig. 8, and fasten it to the body board with blind staples, unless the specimen be a large one, then it will be necessary to put them on with strong wire staples. Next bend the wires for legs as shown in Fig. 12, which should not be fastened to the board until after being placed in the legs of the animal being dressed. They are then bent up as shown in Fig. 13 and fastened to the body board with staples to suit.

The frame for birds is made in the same way, excepting the forelegs, which is used on bird frames only when wanting to spread the wings. Fig. 11 is a single wire frame, to be bent in the manner shown, and to be used in dressing small birds. (See small bird page 5).

ARTICLE VI. FOR BIRDS AND ANIMALS.

WIRE FRAMES.

The above frames are made as follows: Take a straight wire and turn a loop in the center as shown at B, Fig. 1. Take another wire about the same length and bend it as shown in Fig. 2. Now run Fig. 2 wire through the loop B in Fig. 1 down to bend E, fasten them in a vice at the loop B in Fig. 1, and plait the three together as shown in Fig. 3. To form the Fig. 4 frame, make another loop two or three inches or further up the neck wire E, bend another wire as Fig. 2, put this through the loop, and plait together as in Fig. 3. This forms the frame for animals, as shown in Fig. 4.

For Figs. 5 and 6, lay three wires together as shown in Fig. 5, put them in a vise and twist or plait together as shown in Fig. 6. This forms three wire frames—Figs. 3, 4 and 6.

The advantage Fig. 4 frame has over Fig. 6, is that it is easier bent in the center, there only being one wire.

ARTICLE VII. MOLES.

It is not necessary to give more than one way to dress a mole. An expert can skin, stuff and sew up a mole in ten minutes in the following manner:

After killing a mole, let it cool; then make an incision along the abdomen, commencing at the tail and running forward two inches, or about to the center of the body. Skin out the hind legs, bone and flesh, down to the foot and unjoint. Press the skin back to the tail and unjoint it close to the body. Pull the skin off the body, taking care of front feet, not to pull them loose from the skin; unjoint them, or break the arm bone close to the foot; skin on down to mouth and cut the body loose, leaving only the jaw bones in the skin. Spread on the whole skin all the preserving powder that will stick to it, and turn the skin back inside out. Turn the hind legs and proceed to fill the body with cotton, using a wire to stuff the cotton in with, as in all other animals, being careful not to stretch the skin, and also not to get the cotton knotted up. After the body is filled sew it up and place on a board to dry. Place the feet in position, and wet them and the tail and nose with the solution of corrosive sublimate.

Other small animals, such as rats, mice, ground squirrels, gophers, etc., can be dressed in the same manner. After stuffing smooth the hair and shape the body before laying away.

ARTICLE VIII. MODE OF DRESSING AND PRESERVING TURTLES.

A good sized turtle may be thoroughly preserved without the tedious process of unjointing, skinning, digging out the flesh, sewing up, etc., by observing the following directions:

Take a snapping, or any other hard shell turtle, say one that measures ten inches across the back, or smaller, down to the smallest.

The first thing to be done is to kill it, which is the hardest part of the operation, as it clings to life tenaciously, and large ones are very strong and hard to manage. One way is to get it to open its mouth, and catch it by the under jaw with a pair of strong pliers, hold its mouth open and make it swallow a quantity of the solution of corrosive sublimate; this being a deadly poison, it will soon kill it.

Another way is to hold its head as far out as you can pull it, and stick it as close to the under shell as you can, running the blade well back into the body. It takes some time for it to die after being stuck.

And still another way is to open its mouth and stick a knife blade up through the roof of the mouth into the brain.

I prefer the poisoning, as it seems to die easier and quicker, and it does not disfigure it. As soon as it dies, lay it on its back, and make an opening in the skin, under one of the back legs, large enough to take out all the entrails; now take a pair of pliers or a hook (made for the purpose); pull out all the entrails, liver, heart, etc. If the specimen is a large one, pour in some water and rinse out thoroughly, then put in a lot of the preserving powder, being careful to get it well distributed through the body. Then take some cotton and dust it well with the preserving powder, and fill up the inside, pressing the cotton in tight, filling the body full and sew up. Now open the mouth and pour some of the solution of corrosive sublimate down its throat, and press some cotton sprinkled with the powder down its throat, being careful not to stretch the neck out of proportion. Remove the eyes and insert the artificial eyes in their stead; fill the mouth with cotton and close it. Cut a hole in the bottom of each foot, and probe the legs with a knife or the blunt end of a wire; pour in some of the solution of corrosive sublimate, or work in enough of the powder to preserve the flesh; if the tail is a large one, it should be treated in the same way, and all sewed up. Now set it on a board and tack the feet to the board in as near the way it would hold them while walking as you can. Pull the neck out a very little, and put a little block or a small roll of cotton under it to hold it up in position while drying. Before putting it on the drying board, take a small paint brush, pour out some of the solution of corrosive sublimate in a dish and give the whole outer surface a thorough wetting. This should be repeated once a day for several days. This completes the dressing. After the specimen is dry, take it off the board and set in the cabinet.

Another way: After killing, as directed, lay the specimen on its back and unjoint the breast shell from back shell with a chisel or heavy knife blade; open the skin from the front part of the foreleg back and around to front of the other foreleg, cutting under the legs. Skin out all the flesh and bones of the legs and unjoint them at the foot, skin out the tail, then unjoint the neck bone from backbone, and skin it out and unjoint at the back of the skull. Take the flesh from back and breast shells, then anoint all parts with the preserving powder. Take a frame as Fig. 8, in article V, of the wire and wood frame, and put in legs, neck and tail, as directed in animals, letting the neck wire pass out through the mouth or nostril. Stuff the legs, neck and tail with cotton or tow, and sew up the sides, leaving an opening to stuff the body; fill the body, then finish sewing up. In stuffing the legs, neck and tail be careful to keep the wires in the center of each. Open the mouth and take out the eyes from inside and put in the glass eyes; put some cotton back of them to hold them in place while drying. Close the mouth, and wet the whole body with the solution of corrosive sublimate. This should be done once a day for several days. Place the specimen on a board to dry. For position, copy after nature as near as possible. After the skin is dry a coat of varnish adds much to its appearance.

ARTICLE IX. KILLING AND DRESSING SNAKES.