452 ANNUAL RECOKD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTKY. 



that half an ounce of quicksilver sublimate for every ten or 

 fifteen pounds of wool to be dyed be first added to the solu- 

 tion of tin, and the whole well stirred up and then allowed 

 to stand until the kettle becomes of a silvery-white color, aft- 

 er which the wool is to be introduced and the dyeing prose- 

 cuted in the usual manner. During the process the mercu- 

 rial coating gradually becomes removed, and is subsequent- 

 ly to be renewed. The work is thus carried on in what is 

 equivalent to a quicksilver kettle, since the brass is com- 

 pletely coated with a layer of this metal. 6 C\ vl, 56. 



BRONZING OBJECTS OF WOOD, ETC. 



Objects of wood, stone-ware, and porcelain, picture-frames, 

 etc., may, it is stated, be made to receive a beautiful bronze 

 by applying, by means of a brush, a thin layer of a water- 

 glass solution, and then dusting this over with fine bronze 

 powder. The excess of the powder is to be removed by gen- 

 tle tapping, and the article, if of porcelain or stone-ware, 

 slightly heated. The bronzing may be polished by means 

 of an agate stone, and thereby made to assume a beautiful 

 effect. 5 (7, xxvi., 216. 



EMBOSSING W T OOD. 



In the increasing taste for ornamenting furniture and other 

 articles with carvings of w T ood, many devices have been 

 adopted for facilitating the work, and reproducing readily 

 and with absolute accuracy many copies of certain patterns. 

 The finest work is, of course, that executed by the hands of 

 the accomplished artist, since proper play is allowed to his 

 taste in modifying and varying the design, but the expense 

 of such work is consequently very great. To attain a simi- 

 lar end in a cheaper manner, various mechanical devices have 

 been employed, with more or less success ; among others, the 

 practice of heating iron or copper moulds, and branding the 

 wood so as to obtain the general pattern, and afterward 

 cleaning off the rough surface, has been used to a considera- 

 ble extent. A German author calls attention to a hitherto 

 but little used method of preparing carvings by means of 

 pressure combined with heat and moisture, and is of the 

 opinion that in time this is destined to replace almost all other 

 modes. He gives three different variations in which this re- 



