'DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING AND USING OUR COLORS.
'Take the color that comes nearest to the color of the card you want to use it on, put a few drops in an empty bottle, and dilute with Alcohol untill you get a Shade as near like the Card as possible. To avoid spilling, as sometimes happens in trying to pour or drop, the dye may be lifted out of the bottles with the brush, by repeatedly dipping the brush into them, and then wiping the brush on the mouth of the empty Bottle. It is better to put the Alcohol into the empty bottle first, then when you lift the dye out on the brush you can dip the brush right in the Alcohol, and tell better when you have the right shade. As you mix the colors, try them on a surface like that on which you may intend to use them, in this way any shade may be obtained. Always bear in mind that the Colors show deeper when moist, (as is the case when they are first put on), and become fainter as they dry, and when dry if they are too light, go over them again. Eveness is more apt to be obtained by using a little lighter shade of color after the first application.
'A little care and practice will enable any one to handle these colors satisfactorily.
'In marking you can pick out any number of figures from four to six, having them as near the upper left hand corner as conveneient, a Flower which has 5 leaves is best, or the right number of figures in a circle.
'Shade all the figures except No. 1, leaving it light or natural for the Ace, No. 2 light for King, No. 3 light for Queen, No. 4 for Jack, No. 5 for 10 spot, 1 & 2 light for 9 spot, 2 and 3 for 8, 3 and 4 for 7, 4 and 5 for 6, 5 and 1 for 5, 2 and 5 for 4, 2 and 4 for 3, and 3 and 5 for 2. In doing very nice work we shade the entire back of the card except the figure which denotes the size and suit.
'For suit pick out two figures near those you use for size, and have both dark for Clubs, and both light or natural for Diamonds, have one of them dark for Spades; and the other dark for Hearts. With six figures the combination runs similar to the five figures which we have ezplained, and a four figure runs the same down to the seven spot. After a little practice you will see many ways of marking your cards.
'The Dyes we use are the Diamond Package Dyes, and can be had of most any Druggist. Make the Dyes according to Directions on the package, using only one half the quantity of water directed, and strain through a cloth, if there is any sediment in the dye after adding the Alcohol strain it again as it is necessary to have it as clear as possible. Do not try to use the dyes without the Alcohol, or it will be a failure, as it is the Alcohol which causes the Dye to strike into the card. Always keep the bottles well corked when not using them. Brushes and bottles should be kept clean, and if the brushes are washed in water, they must be thoroughly dried before using, as water will blister smooth, calendered surfaces. Never let your brush get dry when using, but dip it occasionally, care being taken not to have too much on the brush, and use immediately, if the alcohol evaporates from the dye it makes a much eifferent colour.'
The foregoing price-lists, &c., as may be expected, are all printed. It is not always, however, that the dealer in 'advantages' goes to the expense of print in connection with the documents he issues; he sometimes uses the cyclostyle or mimeograph, particularly in the case of directions for use accompanying the various articles in which he deals. When, in this way, he has no longer the friendly aid of the compositor or the printer's reader, his vagaries of grammar and construction are revealed in all their primitive innocence. To commence one of his sentences is like embarking upon an unknown sea, or following a half-beaten track through a desert. Onward the course runs, apparently for ever, and no man can tell when the end is coming, or what it is likely to be. Pelion is piled upon Ossa, and Parnassus is over all.
A few days ago two or three of these documents were sent to be copied out in type, so as to be somewhat legible for the printer; and, as an evidence of their singularly explicit nature, it may be mentioned that the typist was under the impression that they were all parts of one document, and copied out the whole as one, without break from beginning to end. Such a thing, of course, was quite excusable under the circumstances, as the reader may judge from the following example of how not to do it. The entire manuscript consists of one sentence only, so far as punctuation is concerned, and is supposed to contain directions for the use of the prepared cards mentioned upon pp. 223-227. It runs to this effect:—