Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo11amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Then the iiowt readies back (o imll tln^ skin oir the tail and swallow it aeeordiiig to the custom of his ancestors After niiicli cxpcriiiu'iital woik it has hccii found ;)(issililc to make wax rc))ro- (luctions with fidelity to the li\iii^ animal in form and color and also with lifelike j)ose and ('.\i)ression. The work has hccn done hy cer- tain artists wlio ha\c addi'd to the tcelilii((ne of clay, j)hister, wax and color, the power of accui-ate seeini;-. The two csix-cially connected with the com- pleted work arc I)wii,dit Franklin and Thomas lilcakncy. althon.iih resnlts conld not have hcen obtained without tlic many comi)lcx i)iecc molds made hy James Bell and williont the expert modcliiii;- of Frederick Blaschke. Several methods are in use. If the animal has a _^ thick and liorny skin as has the water monitor or a Uirge if^uana, the skin itself is moimted over a manikin modeled from life, followinu- the methods of the animal sculptor's work on mammals, or is filled with a soft prepara- tion which hardens later, after it has been niodeletl into cor- rect form through the skin. The modeling is from life; till work on both form and color is done from the living ani- mal, the New York Zoologi- cal Park and the Xew ^'ork Acpiarium ha\ing courteoiisly loaned inaiix' dui)licate living specimens for study. If the skin is thin and soft, which is true in most small lizards, many snakes and turtles and all amphibia, the animal is reproduced in wax, the wax used being pure bleaclied b'eeswax (which has a high melting point so that summer temperatures are not an enemy to the exhibits) with a small proportion of Canada balsam to make it less brittle and more easily worked. The dead animal may be posed from the living and a waste plaster mold or a piece mold made, from which a cast is taken m wax. This is the method by which the frogs of the Bullfrog (Jroup were made. There are 209
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European frog (Rana esculenta) showing external vocal sacs. When the frog is croaking, these sacs are inflated and collapsed with each emission of sound. Wax cast; eyes and vocal sacs of blown glass. Glass is used also for the vocal sacs of the spring peepers and American toads of the exhibit

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