The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1895-04-03
ANNALS IN EFFIGY.
rAuous COLLECTION OWNED BY
IT. THE SMITHSONIAN.

and Hls'"'
c+rown along for distance of so
5,ir the rear of the Smithsonian in
',..+ion are blocks of plaster of paris of
' ory imaginable shape some of large
0 W. and others fitted together as if to
s s boxes. For the most part they look
~ H. tho refuse of a workshop. Here and
iIa.o one fragment Or another is seen to
.soroble a part of a fish or other AMI
vi rorhaps a tail, or a head with a
n L,j If fore fiippers. A big slab bears the
iRrnnression of snake, as if the creature
living buried itself in mud for the win
4". had walked from its torpid state and
a ' away. Other objects yet more
o.ronoe are faces and various parts or
imam bodies apparently fossilized.
These odd looking things are molds.
The Smithsonian institution has been
do1Iacting them for 80 years past, and
so,oo If them have cost great deal Of
Money, Quite number have been fetch
Cd ali the way from Alaska, represent
inc various animals peculiar to the re-
gions of the frozen north. If queer rep
Flo or fish is found anywhere, there is
no+hing better than to make cast OF 1t
in MASTER of paris. BY this means its
shane is copied to perfection, and that is
a great help for museum purposes,
When. a few years ago, whale was
strande ed on the New England coast, DIR.
palmer. taxidermist of the Smithsonian
institution. was sent to make copy OF
II in nanier mache. This he did-that
;sto saw he made mold of the cetacean
in master. of which he took several bar
rels full with him, and the papier
mache cast was produced afterward IN
Washington.
ONLY one-half of the whale was cast,
however, representing what might be
termed the port side of the animal.
This is now hung up in the National
museum. On one side it shows the out
side of the creature and from the other
side the inside. It was clergyman
who on certain occasion not long ago
was steering some members of his flock
through the building, and, pauslng IN
front of the whale, remarked, pointing
to the capacious interior of the great
marine mammal:
you see, my dear friends, that there
was plenty of room for .Jonah!'
In such ways the Smithsonian lnsti-
tuition has collected molds and made
casts of a great variety of animals, Of
ten sending long distances to get them.
OF reptiles alone it has secured several
hundreds, each representing a typical
species, while the fishes run up to 1000
and upward. From each plaster mold
about 80 casts may be made, II de-
sired This facility of multiplication
is utilized to a considerable extent ID
another branch of the work not re-
lating to animals at all. To schools and
to museums all over the world the
Smithsonian institution sends sets OF
typical aboriginal implements Of Amer
lea. These are valuable for purposes OF
study. A mold from an actual stone ak
will furnish so facsimiles, which only
have to be painted in order to look ex-
actly like the original If more are
wanted, another mold is easily made
While it would not be easy to ship a
whale or a walrus to the Smithsonian
institution, smaller animals are readily
transported. Nearly all of the creatures
Of which these molds are made are sent
to this city for that purpose When
practicable, two living specimens are
forwarded One serves for the mold.
The other is a model for the artist. Be-
fore going further it should be ex-
planned that the casts are intended TO
represent the animals themselves in the
museum, and they must be as llfellke
as possible They are painted by men
who are skilled in this branch of art
Before making mold from snake
the animal, if alive, receives a dose OF
ohloroform. 1t may or may not recover.
There have been instances where ser
penis have got over the effects of the
Ghloroform two or three times i'll success
sion, only to be subjected to further
doses and made to serve again ana
again. Perhaps an an8sthetlzed ophld-
ian will be ooiled gracefully about the
branch of a tree, and the mold Will De
taken from branch and snake together,
to be subsequently painted, of course:
Or, if it were a rattlesnake, it would
probably be coiled in spiral, as If ready
to strike In the west wing OF the
Smithsonian institution is beautiful
exhibit of the rattlesnakes of the United
States. They look as if alive, though
only casts, SO well are they painted
with surroundings of heritage, etc. TO
counterfeit nature.
It is the same way with reptiles OF
other kinds There are ever so many
queer species Of lizards in this country
particnl arlu in the rrastnrn deserts. Tho