ing taken, Lassaigne constructed a factitious
body in linden wood. The reader would find the detail too long and too
minute if we were to describe the ingenious methods invented by
Lassaigne, either to cut the wood or to preserve the form he had given
to this great mass. But to avoid all prolixity, it will be sufficient
to observe that he composed this wooden elephant in such a manner that
all the parts could be separated. He opened a panel (it is immaterial
on which side of the body) and introduced himself into the interior by
means of this opening, either to diminish the thickness of the wood or
for any other purpose during its construction; the head, the trunk,
all was hollow; so that the body, alarming at first from its supposed
weight, might be easily transported from one place to another.

After taking the alum water from the tub where the skin was placed, we
heated it, and poured it, boiling, on the skin; we left it an hour and
a half in this state, after which we drew the skin out to place it,
quite warm, upon the shape. This was not an easy thing, but it was
rendered still more difficult by our finding the false body a little
too large--the skin would not entirely cover it. There was but one
thing which could be done; we could not diminish the wood without
destroying the proportions; besides, the iron pins, the screws which
fastened the work, would have lost their hold, and we should have run
the risk of overturning the edifice. We then took down the skin,
placed it on trestles, and diminished the thickness of it by the help
of large knives, cutting it away in thick and long shreds from the
whole of the inside. This work occupied five persons for four days. We
weighed these shreds and they amounted to 194 lb. During this
operation the skin had dried, and consequently lost its suppleness. We
put it back into a tub and covered it with soft cold water. The next
day we placed it afresh on the shape, and fixed it with wire nails and
large brads; those which fixed the edge of the skin were driven in
deeply, the others only half way, to accommodate the skin to all the
sinuosities of the model. We drew out a great many of them when the
skin was sufficiently dry.

This paring of the skin answered our purpose in two essential points:

first, by facilitating the means of enveloping the model entirely, the
form of which had not been altered; and, secondly, by ensuring its
speedy desiccation. This last had not been the le