
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~152r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Molding a rat

The hairs of its whiskers would be difficult to come out of the
cast, you can therefore shave them with fire, like d
the tyrant of Syracuse,
& after you can replace them with d’argsilver nature-like ones. The tail is beautiful molded because it
is made of scaly circles, nearly like the one of a lizard,
& in order that the hair does not hinder good molding, burn it in
the fire of a little candle. The rest of the body should be
smeared with wheat oil, which will keep the hair rigid
& couched, so that the sand will not raise it by getting entangled
in it, to prevent coming out neatly. The wheat oil being
dry, which will be quick, you will be able to pass a very thin
comb to divide it, in order that it appears in the cast. On a
small mouse, you can even put some common oil to lower
the hair. And before molding these animals (except snakes &
lizards), let them rest remain dead one or two
days, to have them more handleable. For they stay rigid
after their death, & cannot be well fitted to their true shape until
they are a little softened. However, if you mold it quickly after it is
dead, or give it its shape before it stiffens, you will do well.
Au And because the eyes die, you there
some if you do not mold it promptly, you will be able to
substitute, in the eyes, the halves of well-rounded
peas, stripped of their skin & shell. Some make the
ratshed, others smear it with olive
oil, which is amiable, for wheat oil is thick &
has too much body. This is why one scarcely uses it, only to give some
feature to a fly foot or under a wing to keep them rigid.
Others couch the hair with an egg yolk, which is
quickly dry & amiable. Shape it, before oiling it, on the
clay slab, and raise its head with an iron
point & secure also the feet with points & the tail. Rub it
with eau-de-vie, once dry from the oil. Then cast your
sand, next uncover it like other animals, & make the second cast.
One ought not to open the mold until it is reheated & the
rat burned.

+

The rat, because it is thick, comes out better being hollow, if
it is a big rat. A mouse molds better, because it has
shorter hair. It is not possible to mold well an animal that has
biggish bones, like a bird or rat, without
opening the mold to clean it well, for bones do not
calcine at all.

All feathers & all hair is awkward
to mold in accordance with its nature.

Butter for smearing hairy animals
is better e than wheat oil, because
it is more amiable.

If the rat is big, it is good
to remove its entrails, or having molded it, to dry it in the
oven, because the large amount of moisture that it has comes to
boil in the mold, & spoils it & makes lumps.

Do not put your moldin
the cold until it has slowly cooled dry. Otherwise it imbibes the
humidity, which makes it break.

