Shrieked we all in accents frantic,
"Oh, come back, you China boy!"
Vain: he soared o'er the Atlantic
In a straight course for Amoy.
And the soldiers of Gibraltar
Saw him whizzing through the sky,
Like a bomb-shell to the assault, or
A gigantic comet high.
And the tempest waged still windier
As he crossed the great canal,
Till, with but a glance at India,
He reached safe the China wall.
There, in a pagoda finer
Far than I can tell or write,
That small piecee boy from China
Now reposes with his kite.
Darlington Heights, Virginia.
My papa says there is no difficulty in painting magic-lantern slides with water-color paints, and the design can easily be made without using those dangerous chemicals. He used to make slides in this way when he was a boy: Take a slip of glass of the proper size, and cover one side with a coat of mastic varnish, and let it dry well. Then make your sketch on a piece of white paper, and lay your slide over it, and trace the outlines on the glass with a fine camel's-hair brush and India ink. Now mix your water-colors with thin gum water, and you will find you can paint quite well on the varnished surface. If there is any difficulty, a little ox-gall, which can be bought at any paint shop, will make it right. All the details must be carefully painted with a very fine brush, as the magic lantern magnifies all defects. Only transparent colors, like gamboge, Prussian blue, lakes, and madders, can be used. The slides should be finished by covering all the glass, except the figures, with black oil-paint, and adding another coat of varnish to the slide.
Harry J.
Stalybridge, Lancashire, England.