The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-03-27
ANIMALS IN EFFIGY.
...s FAMOUS COLLECTION OWNED BY
THE SMITHSONIAN.

u.,d Jonah-Of Value to Students
and Historians
strewn along for a distance OF 90
=. IN the rear Of the Smithsonian in |
'.',~tion arc blocks of plaster OF paris of
So Imaginable shape, some of large
' ,,o and others fitted together as If to
form boxes. For the most part they look
.ho refuse of workshop. Here and
Inv M ON. fragment or another is seen to
'"o' mart OF fish or other ami
,oa perhaps tail, or a head with a
lD If fore flippers. a big slab bears the
p POI of snake, as if the creature,
, nnrino hurled itself in mud for the win
na' had walked from its torpid state and
a,rled away. Other objects yet more
o 0..once are faces and various parts or
Snuan bodies apparently fossilized.
These odd looking things are molds.
rbe smithsonian institution has been
collecting them for 30 years past and
So,ao If them have cost great deal OF
.~onov Quite number have been fetch
"a ali the way from Alaska, represent
mo various animals peculiar to the re-
ions Of the frozen north. If aqueer rep
tiIo or fish is found anywhere, there is
nothing better than to make cast OF IL
;n master of paris By this means its
shane is copied to perfection, and that Is
great help for museum purposes
When. a few years ago, whale was
stranded on the New England coast, DR.
palmer taxidermist of the Smithsonian
institution. was sent to make copy OF
a in napier mache. This he did-that
Il IN saw. he-- Namold of the cetacean
in plaster, ich he TOOK seVerai par
rels full i him, and the PAPER
mache cast was produced afterward III
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. 1t was a clergyman
who on a certain occasion not long ago
was steering some members OF his flock
through the building, and, pausing 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 .IonahP'
In such ways the Smithsonian insti'
tution has collected molds and made
| g tntu IF n m
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 !, 200
| aad upward. From each plaster mold
about so casts may be made, If de-
sired. This facility of multiplication
is utilized to considerable extent IN
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
,J,ical aboriginal implements of Amer
ica 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 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 model for the artist. BE-
fore going further it should be ex'
planned that the casts are intended &c
represent the animals themselves III the
museum, and they must be as lifelikt
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 dose o.
ohloroform. 1t may or may not recover
There have been instances where ser
penis have got over the effects OF TIT
chlmoform two or three times in success
sion, only to be subjected to further
doses and made to serve again ant
again. Perhaps an an@sthetized ophid
-" Will 10 COlIcu SIdCcluiiy "cO"e
branch of a tree, and the mold Will d
taken from branch and snake together
to be subsequently painted, of course
Or, II it were q rattlesnake, it woul'
probably be coiled in spiral, as If read.
to strike. In the west wing OF tn
Smithsonian institution is beautifu
exhibit of the rattlesnakes of the Unite'
States. They look as il alive, thoug
only casts, so well are they painted
with surroundings of heritage, etc.,
counterfeit nature.
1t is the same way with reptiles Q
other kinds. There are ever so man
queer species of lizards in this country
PARTICULARLY in the western deserts. In
prned toad is one of these, not being !
lity toad at all, though it look
zone. There are the edible lizard
Qeath valley and others which ar
a.. ITO outrun the fastest race horse
Such creatures as these are easily molo
ed, every scale in their armor being n
produced with wonderful accuracy
detail. With land mammals 1t is dife'
ent, for cast Of creature with q 10
coat can hardly he made to look l1k