Various horses of different colors, forms, positions, and with or without riders, may be made in a similar manner; and elephants or other animals may be substituted for the horses, and made to move around the track, as if subject to the master’s whip. After the glue is dry, the outside edges should be rounded and the roughnesses removed by the use of a rasp and sand-paper.
The ring-master should be so fastened, facing the horse, as to turn with each revolution of the axle.
The back of the box is fitted with a pasteboard or cloth screen, painted to represent stage scenery, and supported on either side by uprights, from the top of which float banners. For further decorations the twigs of evergreen trees are added, those of the larch or spruce, or perhaps best of all the small branches of the juniper or cedar tree, are best for the purpose. When these tiny stage trees become brown and faded, they can be easily exchanged for fresh ones, or may be painted with green paint, if a new supply is not readily obtainable.
The front of the box may be papered with fancy wall-paper, or otherwise decorated to suit the fancy of the maker; and the one who supplies the motive power, or, in other words, turns the crank, should be kept out of sight of the audience if possible. As the horses are not connected with any visible motive power, the cause of their revolution will be enveloped in a mystery which will add vastly to the entertainment of the little folks.
—————◀▶—————
TO PRODUCE RAISED FIGURES ON AN EGG.
Melt some tallow, and with it paint on the shell of an egg, making letters, numbers, profiles, or any outline which your fancy may suggest, or the fineness of the brush may permit. Then immerse the egg in strong vinegar. After the lapse of a few hours, whatever is covered with the lines of tallow will project slightly, the vinegar, which is mainly acetic acid, having dissolved away the unprotected surface. By painting with a fine brush an intricate scroll or vine pattern, carrying it all around the egg, the result is very pretty, giving somewhat the effect of carved ivory.
—————◀▶—————
AN ARITHMETICAL CURIOSITY.
Write the nine digits in their order, and multiply them by 9; the result will be composed of units, excepting the next to the last, thus: