a little varnish. Fit up
with ferns, grasses, and mosses. This is a reddish-yellow rock,
suitable for anything not having red or yellow fur or feathers.

The predominating colour may be mixed with the whiting, etc, to paint
over the artificial rock; but there is a certain loss of brilliancy in
the colours which follow, unless a white ground has been previously
laid on.

For certain objects a great advantage is obtained by making up the
rockwork on a false bottom and slipping it, ready finished, into the
case.

There are hundreds of other varieties, but they must be worked out by
each person according to his proclivities. It might as well be
expected that a picture could be painted from printed directions as to
imagine that one person could make a rockwork precisely similar to
another without seeing it done, or without working it out by his own
experience.

Trees for large groups may be carved out of successive layers of peat,
or modelled up with brown paper and virgin cork; better still by
arranging brown paper over rods or a wire framework, covered
previously by tow, and afterwards coloured to nature. The leaves of
some trees dry and colour up well, and can be introduced on the
natural or artificial twigs.

TWIGS.--Artificial twigs can be made by twisting tow round wire,
glueing, and throwing on sawdust, peat-dust, etc, and afterwards
colouring. The most natural way, however, is to rub up the gold and
grey lichens, and throw them on the glued tow, filling up afterwards
with larger pieces to break the lines. Natural and artificial twigs
mix well together; the latter, from their flexibility, allowing of any
treatment.

FERNS, GRASSES, ETC, FOR "FITTING up."--Time was when our ancestors
were content to stick their preserved specimens in boxes with nothing
to break the blank of white paper which backed them up. Nowadays we
have arrived at such a pitch of decorative art in taxidermy, as in all
things, that this stiffness of outline does not suffice; accordingly,
we break our background by flowing lines of beauty, produced by the
graceful aids of dried ferns and grasses, twigs of trees, etc.

Many ferns are not suitable for decoration; for instance, the male
fern (Filix-mas) is of too tender a texture to stand upright when
weighted with colour. The very best fern is the common brake (Pteris
aquilina), as also the common polypody (Polypodium vulgare). The
fronds of the brake should be gathered in August or Septembe