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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the skin is ol'tcii rcinoNcd, (illcd with clay, :iii(i iiiodclcd into correct I'oriii, wlicii it is posed ready for plaster mold and wax cast. In the case of turtles many mnst l)e cast entire, the cafapace hein^- too soft to make a permanent monnt. in other cases the "shell" is used and wax easts of tlie soft-skinned liead and leji's are fastened in position, while still others more thick- skinned ar(> nioinited as are the thick-skinned lizai'ds. The advantage of makinj^ the casts in wax lies not only in a great susceptibility of this nieditiin to take and retain fine detail, not only in a transparency which adds greatly tf) the lifelike effect in many anip)iil)ia, Imt also in a surface of such character that it takes oil color with an effect of life texture. Soft skin texture cannot be gained with a hard plaster surface. When a form is too large to cast in wax, like the giant salamander of Ja))an, and nuist be cast in plaster, the plaster surface is afterward sprayed with a coating of wax. An exhibit of any group of animals to interest other than technical students must be shown from the life standpoint and in relation to man, especially a group repellant because of mystery and mytli man has inherited from a time of less knowledge. Amphibia and reptiles should liold a con- siderable place in the exhibition of a musetun for many reasons. They are of great antiquity. The amphibian race bridged the gap in descent between water life and land life, and reptiles, developed from tliese early amphii)ians, gave rise tlirough some primiti\e group to inanunals. Thus both are in the <lireet line of vertel)rate evolution. In the light of this dominant ))osition of the past and the ancestral relation to man, the amphibia and reptiles of to-day take on peculiar interest. Descended fiom forms of considerai)le or great size, modern amj)hibia and re))tiles present a race of i)ygmies, reminiscent of the giants Portion of wax cast of water moccasin (Ancis- tTodon piscirorim). Moccasin closely related to the copperhead and one of the most poisonous snake.s of tlie South. The cast is desif^ned for a small Cypress Swamp (iroup not yet completed. The moccasin unlike a rattlesnake opens tlie mouth when tlireatening to strike

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