8o 



HA RD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G O SSIF. 



NOTE ON MOUNTING SHARKS' TEETH. 



THERE are fashions in jewellery as in everything 

 else. At the present time it is " all the go " 

 to wear jewellery made of old watch-cocks, but a 

 new fad bids fair to beat it out of the field. I mean 

 that of mounting fossil sharks' teeth as brooches, tie- 

 pins, necklaces, &c. Considering that such teeth 

 are fairly common, and are easy to mount, and, more- 

 over, that they look very well when finished, they 

 ought to become very popular, especially amongst 

 geologists. 



As, most probably, verj' few of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip possess either a flatting mill or a 

 draw-plate they will find it best to get both their 

 silver wire and sheet at a silversmith's, as also the 



and solder the wire, previously sharpened at one end, 

 to it at the back, leaving a piece of the wire long 

 enough to turn over the tooth at the top. When you 

 have done this, the tooth will present the appearance 

 shown at Fig. 68. 



A brooch is made in much the same manner, as 

 will be seen by Fig. 69, only instead of a lamna we 

 prefer a good specimen of Oxyrhina hastata. Cut 

 narrow ribbons of silver sheet, and solder two short 

 pieces on to the longer piece, as in Fig. 69. Solder 

 the catches on at the joints ; turn the ends over on the 

 other side. This is a much easier job than it looks. 



Having succeeded in these, we will now tackle 

 a more difficult one, namely, that of mounting 

 teeth as pendents or necklaces. For this, we shall 

 want thin silver sheet, say about fives. Take the 



Fig. 68. 



Fig. 70. 



pins and catches for brooches. I have found the 

 following a good recipe for solder. Take of silver, 

 5 parts ; of brass, 6 parts, and of zinc, 2 parts. First, 

 melt the silver, then add the copper, and when the 

 two are mixed, add the zinc. This is to be done with 

 the blowpipe on charcoal. If you cannot manage 

 this, the next best recipe I know of, is to buy the 

 solder ready made at the jeweller's. 



As a tie-pin is the easiest to make, I shall 

 commence with that. The wire should be of the size 

 known to jewellers as seventeens, and the sheet silver 

 that known as sevens. The tooth most suited for the 

 purpose is Laitma pluata. A specimen should be 

 chosen with the two sides equal. Take the measure- 

 ment of that part of the tooth round which the band 

 goes (see Fig. 68) in pattern lead (the tinfoil off 

 tobacco will do). Cut the silver according to pattern, 



Fig. 69. 



Fig. 71. 



pattern in tinfoil, and then cut the silver to the 

 pattern with a stout pair of scissors. Solder the two 

 edges together. Then bend a piece of the sheet to 

 fit in the curve at the top, and after having soldered 

 it, cut off the edges. Then, if it is to be used as 

 a pendent, solder a ring on at the top ; if as part 

 of a necklace, one must be soldered at each side. 

 Fasten the tooth in with shellac. If you can, 

 engrave some scroll work on the silver cap with a 

 sharp scauper. (See Figs. 70, 71.) 



Many other patterns will doubtless suggest them- 

 selves to the ingenious reader. I hope I have 

 pointed out plainly enough, how these simple, yet 

 withal handsome articles may be easily made by any- 

 one with a slight idea of how to use the blowpipe. 

 At any rate, if the reader cannot make them himself, 

 a practical jeweller would do so for a trifle, on 



