MECHANICAL. 



BLADDERS, to Prepare. — Soak them 

 for twenty-four hours in water, to which 

 .a little chloride of lime or potash has been 

 .added, then remove the extraneous mem- 

 branes, wash them well in clean water and 

 dry them. 



BRICK OVENS, How to Make. — A 

 brick oven built in the old style, out of 

 doors, entirely separated from the dwell- 

 ing-house, is more desirable and more 

 safe, so far as danger from fire was con- 

 cerned, than if built by the side of the 

 fireplace in the house. A good brick 

 oven for baking bread, pies and cakes is 

 worth all the ranges and cook-stoves that 

 •one could store in his kitchen. In such 

 an oven everything will be baked just 

 right, above and below, through and 

 through. After a foundation has been 

 prepared, let two courses of hard bricks 

 be laid for the bottom of the oven. Then 

 build the mouth and part of the sides, 

 until it is desirable to begin to draw the 

 sides inward, when sand or mellow earth 

 may be placed on the foundation, and the 

 surface smoothed off and pressed down to 

 the desired form of the oven. Now let 

 the brick work be built over this form of 

 sand. Let two courses of hard bricks be 

 laid over the form with the best mortar. 

 After the last bricks have been laid the 

 sand may be removed. The bricks should 

 be soaked for several hours previous to 

 being laid, so that they will not absorb 

 the moisture of the mortar until it has set. 

 Such an oven will cost but a few dollars. 

 Many people can collect a sufficient num- 

 ber of loose bricks and pieces around 

 their dwellings to build a brick oven. Be- 

 sides this, any intelligent man, though 

 only half a mechanic, can build such an 

 oven about as well as a mason. 



CEMENT, for China, Glass, Crockery, 

 Metals and "Wood. — i. An excellent ce- 

 ment for mending china may be made as 

 follows : Take the white of an egg and a 

 Hittle flour, which make into a light paste ; 



clear the parts to be joined from all dust 

 and dirt; spread some of the paste on 

 each piece and press them together ; while 

 wet, wipe off the exuding portions, both 

 inside and out; then let it remain until 

 quite dry. 2. The following recipe we 

 know from experience to be a good one, 

 and, being nearly colorless, it possesses 

 advantages which liquid glue and other 

 cements do not : Dissolve y 2 an ounce of 

 gum acacia in a wine-glass of boiling 

 water; add plaster of Paris sufficient to 

 form a thick paste, and apply it with a 

 brush to the parts to be cemented to- 

 gether. For Mending Broken China, 

 Glass, etc. — 3. Take 1 pound white 

 shellac, pulverized; 2 oz. clean gum mas- 

 tic ; put these into a bottle, and then add 

 half a pound pure sulphuric ether. Let 

 it stand for half an hour, and then add 

 half a gallon 90 per cent, alcohol. Shake 

 occasionally till it is dissolved. Heat the 

 edges of the article to be mended, and 

 apply the cement with a pencil brush ; 

 hold the article together until the cement 

 cools. This makes a transparent cement. 

 4. An Indian Cement for Glass and 

 Metals. — Dissolve 5 or 6 pieces of gum 

 mastic, each about the size of a large pea, 

 in just as much spirit as will render it 

 liquid. Soften some isinglass by steeping 

 it in water ; having dried it, dissolve as 

 much of it in good brandy as will fill a 

 two-ounce phial ; add 2 small bits of gum 

 ammoniacum, previously rubbing them 

 until they are dissolved. Mix the two 

 solutions ; keep in a close phial, and when 

 it is to be used set the phial in boiling 

 water. 5. Take a thick mucilage of gum 

 arabic and stir into it plaster of Paris — 

 the broken images are best — made very 

 fine, to form a thick paste, and apply to 

 the edges with a brush, and press firmly 

 together and confine there two or three 

 days. I have pulled over 30 pounds with 

 a wine-glass, the stem of which had been 

 broken and mended with the cement. 



(4°9) 



