CORKS AND STOPPERS. 351 



dipped in a cup containing the same wine, and are then com- 

 pressed violently by a m ichine worked by a handle, and which, 

 being practically a powerful pair of nut-crackers with a rounded 

 gripe, must suit the shape of the cork. It is then taken 

 out of the machine, and, before it has had time to expand, is 

 rapidly fitted to the neck of the bottle, and driven home with 

 a wooden mallet. Expansion then takes place, and the bottle 

 is rendered air-tight, so that no damage is done to the wine. 



If the whole of the wine were to be drunk when the cork was 

 removed, this plan would be amply sufficient. But there are 

 many cases where the bottle is opened, and only part of the 

 wine consumed. To re-cork the bottle would be too trouble- 

 some, and to leave it uncorked would spoil the wine. So the 

 Conical Stopper was invented, which fits the neck of any 

 ordinary wine-bottle, according to the depth to which it is intro- 

 duced, and, by a slight screwing movement, sufficient com- 

 pression is obtained to render the bottle air-tight. One of 

 these Conical Stoppers is shown in the illustration on page 352. 

 Sometimes they are made of cork, and sometimes of india- 

 rubber ; but the principle is the same in either case. 



Perhaps some of my readers may have seen the Self -fitting 

 Candles, which require no paper to make them fit the candle- 

 stick. These are enlarged at the base, which is made in a 

 conical form, and slightly grooved. The " Candle-fixers " that 

 are so much in use at the present day are made exactly on the 

 same principle, being hollow cones of paper, which take the 

 place of the solid cone. 



The Yent-peg of casks is another instance of the cone used 

 as a stopper. 



Another example is to be found in the Blow-guns and 

 Arrows of tropical America. In some districts the base of the 

 arrow is fitted with a conical appendage of light cotton, rather 

 larger than the tube, but capable of compression,- so that it 

 exactly fits the tube when pressed into it. In other districts 

 the cone is hollow, and made of some thin and elastic bark. 



Some years ago one of our most eminent gun-makers hit 

 upon the same idea while making improved missiles for the 

 game of " Puff and Dart," and very much surprised he was 

 when I showed him the South American arrow, not only 

 with the same hollow cone at the base, but having also spiral 



