7. The claws need not be stuffed.
8. When all the various members have been wired, bend all the inner ends of the wires down in the body, and pour in a lot of plaster Paris, which, as soon as it hardens will hold all the wires in place.
9. Stuff the cavity of the abdominal segments with tow, put what filling is necessary into the thorax, then put the shell back in its place and glue it fast all around the edges.
10. Replace the movable claws, and with glue and cotton fasten them firmly where they belong.
11. Put a wire around the end of each claw to hold it down, or, what is better still, wire it down from the under side in such a way that the wire will not be visible.
12. When the specimen is dry and its colors have partly faded out, procure a fresh specimen of the same species, and with your oil colors paint the shell carefully and artistically from your model. Learn to blend the colors together as nature does in such objects, softening all the lines. When the paint is dry, if the specimen has a dead, opaque appearance, give its surface both lustre and transparency by applying a thin coat of white varnish and turpentine.
[CHAPTER XXVIII.]
ORNAMENTAL TAXIDERMY.
Until within a very few years, the taxidermist produced but little purely ornamental work, and the most of that little was rather crude and unattractive. Now, however, decorative pieces are produced in bewildering variety, and many of them are justly regarded as works of art. The productions of the Society of American Taxidermists are now to be seen in thousands of the finest homes in the United States, and in art galleries, both public and private. In all the exhibitions of the Society, the display of "Articles for Ornament or Use" has always been the most attractive feature, and the one which has elicted from visitors the most surprise, admiration, and hard cash. The beautiful exhibits made by Messrs. F.S. Webster and F.A. Lucas, of Washington; Thomas W. Fraine and W.J. Critchley, of Rochester, N.Y.; Mr. and Mrs. George H. Hedley, of Medina, N.Y.; Mr. John Wallace, of New York; David Bruce, of Brockport, N.Y.; and Messrs. F.T. Jencks, and Aldrich & Capen, of Boston, will certainly never be forgotten by those who saw them.