ance to any specimen. [Footnote: Glass eyes have of late been
much improved in shape and colour by the Germans, and also by some
English eyemakers, who have had the sense to listen to the suggestions
of artistic taxidermists. I have by me now a really beautiful pair of
glass lynx eyes, veined and streaked, and "cornered" in porcelain, in
almost as perfect a manner as could be managed by hand-painting.]

"PIECE MOULDS" AND MODELLING TONGUES, MUSCLES, etc, IN COMPOSITION. As
I stated at the end of Chapter VII, "composition" has for its base one
of three things--clay, plaster, or wax. The uses of the first I have
fully explained--glue-water and plaster will stiffen or toughen it.
There is also "terra-cotta" clay, which, if moulded into shape, can be
"fired," and is lighter, and retains its shape without cracking. Its
service to the taxidermist is limited to the reproduction of certain
bones and some few natural objects, such as fungi, etc.

Plaster casts of almost anything may be made by "piece-casting," which
is casting arranged to take moulds from anything "undercut" or
complicated; such, let us say, as a lion's head with open jaws, or the
human face, surrounded by a wreath of leaves and flowers, as in the
antique sculptures. Assuming you had such a model as this to cast
from, you would commence by oiling or soaping the whole in the
ordinary manner. The plaster being prepared, is poured on the neck or
chin, being prevented from spreading to other parts by clay placed
across as a barrier. The first section, being cast, is trimmed, and
its edges cut diagonally toward the chin, in such a manner that the
next piece ultimately unlocks from it, without being wedged by
undercasting.

So you may proceed, trimming each piece, cutting its edges to prevent
locking, and casting bit by bit until you reach the hair and forehead,
with wreath. Here the pieces will be numerous, and your ingenuity will
be exercised to keep out of trouble from getting some piece or another
to lock the others. The face will often mould into three or four
pieces; but it is on the forehead, chin, and throat--and, if a lion's
head, in the open mouth--where the multiplicity of parts may perplex.

These small pieces are, when taken from off the model, very difficult
to put together again without a core; hence, when the mould is
complete, each little piece must have a shallow hole cut on its top,
be replaced on the model, and a "jacket-mould" cut into two or m