e glass.
[Footnote: There is a black-necked swan (Cygnus nigricollis), from
Chili, treated in this manner, in the Leicester Museum.] Holes may be
drilled in the glass to allow water plants to come through, or to
allow long-legged birds, such as herons, to stand mid-leg in water.

Waves are moderately well imitated by thin paper creased, varnished
and coloured, on which white wool "foam" is arranged.

MODELLING FRUIT, etc, IN PLASTER.--You may, perhaps, wish to model an
apple, peach, or plum, to place in the hands of some mounted object,
such as a monkey. To do this, you take a natural fruit, which oil, and
push it half way (on its longest axis) into a bed of damped and
hard-pressed sand banked up all round. At some little distance from
the edges of the fruit stick two or three small pegs of wood (points
downwards) about half-an-inch long, leaving a quarter-of-an-inch out
of the sand. Over all this pour some plaster of Paris mixed with water
to the thickness of a paste; when set, lift it up carefully--the
plaster now appears with the fruit half set in it, and the two or
three little pegs of wood sticking up, their other half firmly fixed
in the plaster--oil their points, the face of the plaster, and also
the fruit, and laying the half-cast fruit uppermost, pour over it some
more plaster.

When set, trim the edges, the complete mould will then part in halves,
and the fruit will shake out. Oil the mould inside, and when dry procure
some wax--beeswax from the oilman's will do for this purpose--and after
heating it carefully, for fear of fire, pour it while hot into the mould
through a hole cut for that purpose. When about a quarter full, put
your thumb or finger over the hole, and rotate the mould rapidly.
Allow it to cool, and on opening the mould the artificial fruit will
drop out, and may then be coloured by powder or varnish colours to
the tints required.

My friend, Wright Wilson, F.L.S, etc, surgeon to the Birmingham Ear and
Throat Hospital, has very kindly written me a short description of the
plan he adopts, which, it will be seen, is a complete reversal of the
foregoing:

"With regard to plaster casts of fruit, etc, a much neater and readier
method of making the mould is to mix a sufficient quantity of beeswax
with resin in a pipkin over a slow fire. It must be used whilst just
lukewarm by either dipping the fruit--say, an apple--until sufficient
adheres to form a good strong coating. When cold (dipping in co