146 LEAVES 



The leaf, coated with the preparation, is laid upon the 

 paper upon which the impression is to be made and placed 

 between two folds of cardboard. Run this through a 

 clothes wringer, and the impression will be complete. 



A little practice will enable one to produce beautiful im- 

 pressions which surpass half-tones in delicacy and accuracy. 



Note. How to make the impression ink. Mix thoroughly 

 together a tablespoonful of vaseline with a teaspoonful of lamp- 

 black. Melt the mixture and stir it until it is uniformly black. 



How to use it. Place a small portion of the preparation on the 

 middle of a plate of glass. What can be taken on the point of a 

 knife blade is plenty. 



Spread this ink evenly over the glass by dabbing it with the dabber 

 mentioned in. the preceding exercise, and use the plate as long as 

 any ink remains upon its surface. 



In this way there will be no unevenness in the blackness of the 

 impressions. 



If carefully made, the finest details of veining, outline, and sur- 

 face features will be distinctly shown. 



Skeleton Leaves 



The framework of many leaves may be studied from their 

 skeletons. Skeleton leaves are very beautiful, are easily 

 made, and are useful for study. As permanent mounts under 

 glass they are an attractive addition to the school museum. 



Skeleton leaves are made as follows : 



(a) Select leaves having a more or less firm framework, 

 such as oak, elm, apple, holly, and beech. The Judas tree 

 (cercis) is the easiest leaf to skeletonize. 



(6) Place the leaves in a saucepan with enough water to 

 cover them and add a heaping tablespoonful of cleaning 

 powder. Set it over the fire and let the solution boil for 

 fifteen minutes. This cooks the pulp. 



