82 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
the upper end fasten an earthenware jar of suitable capacity. The ordinary speed 
for the polisher is 40 to 60 revolutions per minute. The jar being tipped at an 
angle of 45°, the shells are tumbled over one another instead of resting on the 
bottom of the jar and moving with it, thereby allowing the acid to remain on the 
shells and cause pitting. A most convenient acid dropper is made by cutting a very 
narrow groove in the side of a cork and inserting it firmly in the tube of a glass funnel. 
With a little practice the number of drops to the minute can be regulated by the size of 
the groove in the cork. The next operation is to place the shells in the polishing machine 
and pour in a measured quantity of water just sufficient to cover them completely. A 
quantity of sulphuric acid equivalent to 20 minims for each 8 ounces of water in the jar 
is then placed in the dropper, which should be suspended over the polisher and so ad- 
justed that the acid will fall into the jar at the rate of 10 to 15 drops per minute. A very 
good plan is to take some of the water out of the jar and add it to the acid in the glass 
funnel, thus diluting the acid, and diminishing the danger of pitting the shells by allow- 
ing the pure acid to drop on them. It generally takes from 45 to 60 minutes for the 
polishing, if the acid has been gauged correctly. Just before the shells are polished the 
water becomes milky. Do not allow the shells to stay in the water long after the milki- 
ness appears, as the shells soon become coated with a white substance which is very hard 
to remove. After the desired polish is obtained dump the shells out and wash thor- 
oughly with clean, cold water; then wash the polisher, place the shells back into it, cov- 
ering them again with clean water, and revolve as before, applying steam to the water 
with a hose untilit boils. Just as the water comes to a boil pour in an amount of com- 
mercial muriatic acid equal to that of sulphuric acid used in the first operation and allow 
the shells to tumble a couple of minutes after the acid has been poured in. Remove the 
shells and wash as before. After washing the shells allow them to dry for 48 hours; then 
place them in a box tumbler and allow them to tumble in good, clean sawdust for a couple 
of hours. In this way the shells are buffed and receive the finishing polish. 
ECONOMY AND WASTE. 
THE PROBLEM OF CUTTING. 
In the early period of the button business, owing to the entire want of skill of the 
cutters and the apparent abundance of the shells, a most wasteful use of shell prevailed. 
Two or three blanks were cut from shells which should have yielded two or three times as 
many (Pl. XLIII). Factories could not now exist with such sacrifice of raw materials as 
then occurred. As a matter of fact, when new factories were continually forming in the 
early days, each eager to obtain cutters from other factories, it was impossible to main- 
tain system in the cutting department, and a confessedly unfortunate condition pre- 
vailed. 
With a condition of greater stringency bringing a necessity for better economy, the 
difficulties in the administration of the cutting department were augmented to the point 
of becoming a serious menace. Naturally, the need for betterment was first appre- 
ciated by the manufacturer; but the ways and means of bringing system and economy 
out of a condition of disorder.and waste were at first baffling. 
The process of cutting is at first glance a very simple one, and until rather recently 
the work of cutting was not generally understood to be skilled labor, nor was it really 
practiced as such. Nevertheless, in no part of the factory is the opportunity greater for 
A 
