The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-22


again and again been filed with wen,
der at the ingenuity with which Natur,
has equipped them"
Mr.. Thompson then described his
f method of casting and painting.
5 THE greatest part of my casting il
e done from dead snakes, which is a
2 comparatively simple operation, but in
many instances I find it necessary TIC
. use live ones, and, as can be imagined
: this is a task Of no small difficulty.
The occasional necessity of casting
! from live snakes proceeds from two
causes In the first place the char
acteristic colors and markings Of some
snakes are very delicate, and fade
, within a few hours after death. AS a
result, in painting the cast, it is almost
impossible to reproduce the colors as
they were in life. BY using a live
snake of course can study the living
model. The second reason is the fact
that I often receive orders for par
ticular kind of snake, and as we have
a great many varieties here. I do not
go TO the trouble of trying to buy one,
but simply use the proper precautions
and take a good live specimen from one
of the cases."
When asked if this hazardous opera
ton was not attended with some dam
ger, he laughed and said, Yes, to the
novice. but I am so familiar with them
that / incur comparatively little risk.
It is work requiring great care. how
ever, and misca1culation may mean a
dangerous bite, or possibly the death
of a valuable specimen.
THE first step is to secure the
snake. My assistant makes a slip
knot with a piece of strong Irvine, at
taches it to a long pole, and opening
the cage places it over the snakes
head. The struggling, squirming
snake, wild with fear and anger, is lift
| ed out, and when it happens to be of
| the venomous variety there are several
exciting moments before he is finally
I conquered. I then take him into my
private room and hold sponge, satu-
rated with chloroform, to his nostrilsi
In short time he is temporarily dead
to the world, and the cast is made
with all possible expedition. Quilts are
placed in the nose, so that his snake |
ship can breathe, and the mixed plaster |
of Paris is poured all over him. After |
the plaster has had time to harden the /!
snake, which was creased in advance, /
to facilitate its removal, is carefully /
viving, is returned to it's cage, usually /
none the worse for its novel expert
ence. The inside of the cast is now
flushed out with soapy water, the
grease of which fills up the pores and
prevents sticking. The plaster is then
poured in, and the cast remains undis-
turbed for twenty-four hours in order
to insure perfect hardening The next
step is the chipping away of the outer
shell. which has to be done with ex-
IRENE care, lest the delicate outline Of
the impressioned plaster snake be ir- !
retrievably ruined. Particularly is this
true of the head and eyes. which I al
ways leave till last. When all the shell ]
is Clipped away an exact reproduction q
of the snake, down to the finest details, /
has been secured, and all that remains ]
to be done is the painting in the origi-
nal colors. J
1T is this painting which is really
the crucial feature of the entire opera
ton, and the one which determines the $
success or failure Of the effort. For /
many years I found it impossible to
secure the exact shades / desired. My &
colors, though fairly good limitations, IL
always seemed to me too shiny. Oil '
eolors always showed too bright, and / c
did not seem able TO get the exact t
shades necessary to a perfect illusion. i
After six years of experimenting with c
various paints and chemicals at last I v
struck the desired combination, and I | 7
,an now produce with absolute accu- 6
-acy any shade of color known to Z
and with such fidelity to K
Nature as to deceive even the expert. D
The brilliant colors are comparatively s
asy, the most troublesome ones being n
he quiet shades, especially the delicate s
ouch Of color which appears at the s
dge of every scale, as a result of the G.
nder part of the scale being white s.
THE painting is very tedious, and I
sually spend fully month on each Ii
pecimen. / place a live snake in a
lass box beside me and carefully k
tudy its colors as l work. Each scale .,
eceives. separate treatment, and the cc
cad is usually a labor of several days. ST
o produce the CLASSY shade of the hs
yeban three colors are placed on top al
each other, and the result is usually
good approximation to the original II,
This, of course, is the only way to ar
eally preserve to future generations N
ny idea of the snakes Of today. AS
ated to the authorities of the Smith n
JAiAaiA l4kStALNt1uIi duIlUS d recent WISH fin
ere, snakes kept in alcohol soon lose tn
/ relation to the original and become wi
ere colorless, sha peless masses. I in
as shown several specimens Of the &c
lstitutfon, among them this small, ST.
own cast of a copperhead. It was tic
0rk by authorities at the Smithsonian DO
United by a well known artist, but, as tn
remarked to them. 1t looks no more IA
ze a cOpperhead than I 90. IT IS not TIL
e proper color. and no one ever saw col
copperhead with a sticky, shiny coat jul
,e this. I showed them some of my of
1rk, explained my theory of colors, for
a demonstrated to them where they An
lied, and as a result was given the Gu.
ntract of repainting this and several wa
her specimens, and also Of executing rny
me new casts for them. SIN
I always had a great love Of art. tho
d. even as child. used to paint and fell
aw the pictures from the magazines an'
was not, however, one OF those for ito
nate uortaIs who have only to ex- I r
9ss the wish in order to have It graft wa
q. I wished to study painting, but I cas-
4 no wealthy parents to educate me- h3N