to well ram in with a short
stick the plaster to fill all out, and to remove ugly creases or
depressions. When about a third of the fish is done, fasten your
stitches and go on filling in at the head; as you work toward the
middle, lift head or tail very gently to peep underneath at the
progress you are making.

As the stuffing progresses, deepen the body toward the middle, being
careful at the same time to well ram in the plaster. Finally sew up.

Now take another board, a little more than the length and breadth of
the specimen, lay it upon the top of the skin and tie it to the board
on which the fish is resting; by this means you will be enabled to
reverse the fish without cracking the skin or destroying the "set" of
it. Untie your boards and the object is before you right side
uppermost. It will now be seen if your modelling is true or not; in
the latter case, note where all imperfections occur, reverse the fish
once more, and ram more dry plaster in between the stitches, or if the
latter be sewn up too tightly, cut them where needed, sewing up again
when all is satisfactorily accomplished.

The specimen being once again right side uppermost, will appear
somewhat flat along the centre, this arises from the plaster
accommodating itself to the flat surface of the board. You must now,
therefore, pass a wet cloth several times over the surface of the
skin, and proceed to pat it in a light and dexterous manner into a
more rounded shape with your hand, or by the aid of a piece of board
shaped in the manner of a small flat bat.

The head will require a great deal of attention; it is now flat and,
perhaps, drops down upon the board, causing the upper gill cover to
open more widely than it should; to obviate this, prop the nose from
the underneath by a piece of peat, or by a wedge-shaped piece of wood;
the tail may be twisted or thrown up by the same means if required.
The mouth may be kept open as much as desired by pointed wires, one
driven through the "nostrils" of the upper jaw, the other wire resting
against the teeth inside the lower jaw. The fins being kept damp
during the preceding operations, must now be "braced out" by the
process heretofore described, and the fish washed, varnished, and
dried in the usual manner.

Nothing, you will observe, has been said as to the oval-shaped piece
of board previously used inside the pike mounted by the first process.
This is wanted when the fish is thoroughly set and dried;