To Take Impressions from Coins.—Make a thick solution of isinglass in water, and lay it hot on the metal; let it remain for twelve hours, then remove it, breathe on it and apply gold or silver-leaf on the wrong side. Any color may be given to the isinglass instead of gold or silver, by simple mixture.
To Print Pictures from the Print Itself.—The page or print is soaked in a solution first of potass, and then of tartaric acid. This produces a perfect diffusion of crystals of bitartrate of potass through the texture of the unprinted part of the paper. As this salt resists oil, the ink roller may now be passed over the surface, without transferring any of its contents, except to the printed paper.
To Preserve Steel Knives from Rust.—Never wrap them in woolen cloths. When they are not to be used for some time, have them made bright and perfectly dry; then take a soft rag, and rub each blade with dry wood ashes.—Wrap them closely in thick brown paper, and lay them in a drawer or dry closet. A set of elegant knives, used only on great occasions, were kept in this way for over a hundred years without a spot of rust.
To Plate and Gild without a Battery.—A very useful solution of silver or gold for plating or gilding without the aid of a battery may be made as follows: Take say, 1 ounce of nitrate of silver, dissolved in one quart of distilled or rain water. When thoroughly dissolved, throw in a few crystals of hyposulphite of soda, which will at first form a brown precipitate, but which eventually becomes redissolved if sufficient hyposulphite has been employed. A slight excess of this salt must, however, be added. The solution thus formed may be used for coating small articles of steel, brass, or German silver, by simply dipping a sponge in the solution and rubbing it over the surface of the article to be coated. I have succeeded in coating steel very satisfactorily by this means, and have found the silver so firmly attached to the steel (when the solution has been carefully made) that it has been removed with considerable difficulty. A solution of gold may be made in the same way, and applied as described. A concentrated solution either of gold or silver thus made, may be used for coating parts of articles which have stripped or blistered, by applying it with a camel hair pencil to the part, and touching the spot at the same time with a thin clean strip of zinc.
To make a Clock for 25 Cents.—First you get a sheet of stout millboard, such as is used by bookbinders. This will cost you from six to ten cents. Get size twenty-seven by twenty-two inches. Draw two lines the longest way equally distant from the edge and each other. This divides it into three parts of the same size. Now from the top measure off ten inches for the face, and then with your knife partly cut the board through the rest of the lines below the face, and bend them back and glue together by putting a strip of cloth over the edges where they meet. Mark out the face of your clock, and make a hole for the hands. Go to your tinman, and he will make you a funnel-shaped spout, which you must glue on the bottom. Then make a spool like a cone—running to a point on one end—and eight inches across on the other. Wind a string on this cone, commencing at the large end, and winding down just as you would a top. Tie to the end a conical ink bottle filled with sand. Make some wooden hands, and put them on the face. Then fill your box, now made, with sand, and when it is hung up the sand will run out slowly at the bottom, and as the sand goes out the weights lower, and turn the wheel, which makes the hands go around. It will depend upon the size of the hole at the bottom as to how fast it runs. You can paint it, and make it quite an ornament and curiosity in your house.
TRICKS AND DIVERSIONS WITH CARDS.
By Professor HARTZ.
An entirely new work, and contains all the tricks and deceptions with Cards as practiced by this celebrated Prestidigitator. To lovers of the marvelous this book will be a perfect god-send. They will find popularly explained, simplified, and adapted for Home Amusements, all Tricks performed by Sleight of Hand, by Mental Calculation, by Memory, by Arrangements of the Cards, by the aid of confederates, and by Mechanical Contrivances. It explains fully, How to make the pass, giving a diagram showing the position of the fingers; How to force a card; How to smuggle a card; To slip a card; To carry away a card; and place a card. There are all the requirements necessary for a first class Prestidigitator. It also contains over one hundred marvelous and ingenious tricks as practiced by this wonderful Professor, and which justly entitled him to be called the "King of Cards." To make this valuable book even more complete, there has been added a complete Exposee of all the Card Tricks used by Professional Gamblers to cheat their unwary victims. It is also illustrated with many handsome engravings. Mailed for 30 cents.
THE AMERICAN VENTRILOQUIST.