The Art of Electro-plating and Gilding. 343 



remained as dull and chalky as ever. The deposit, in fact, is 

 what is technically called " dead/' as distinguished from " po- 

 lished." He will, however, be glad to learn that this dull 

 surface only requires the application of the plate-brush or a lock 

 of cotton wool with rouge, to make it perfectly bright, that is, 

 if the surface of the metal before putting it in the solution was 

 bright ; or if the form of the object admits of it, he may apply 

 the steel burnisher, or a piece of polished agate, to bring up the 

 surface to the requisite degree of brilliancy. 



It is not, however, a matter of necessity that the deposit 

 should be of this dead character. When the surface of the ob- 

 ject operated upon is smooth and bright, a few drops of bisul- 

 phide of carbon added to the plating solution will cause the 

 deposit also to be smooth and bright. Hence, it is worth while 

 to learn the art of using this liquid judiciously, as it saves a great 

 deal of subsequent labour, when polished surfaces are required 

 in every part. But in the case of jewellery and many ornaments, 

 a dead surface is preferred to a great extent, and only certain 

 portions are wanted to be " brought out." In these instances, 

 the " dead " deposit is obtained, and the burnisher does the rest. 



Thus far we have spoken only of the single-cell apparatus, 

 which is very certain in its operation, and easily constructed. 

 By using porous jars of different sizes and shapes, its use may 

 be greatly extended, and articles of various forms may be suc- 

 cessfully treated by its means. But when the experimenter 

 comes to deal with objects too large, or otherwise unsuitable to 

 this form of apparatus, he will have to adopt the combination 

 represented in fig. 3, which consists of a battery, b, and de- 

 positing trough a. The trough may be made of glass or porce- 

 lain, and should be furnished with two wires, c d and ef, long 

 enough to rest upon the edges of the trough. These two wires 

 are to be connected, one with the negative, the other with the 

 positive plate of the battery. The wire ef, on which the articles 

 to be plated must be suspended, is connected with the zinc (or 

 negative) plate ; the wire c d, with the copper (or positive) plate. 

 Small hooked wires descend from these ; those on cd being of 

 silver, to keep up the strength of the solution, by replacing the 

 metal deposited on the object ; those on ef may be of copper, 

 and are used simply to suspend the articles operated upon. 



For objects of medium, size, one cell of DanielFs or Smee's 

 battery will be sufficient, and for larger ones two. In gilding 

 a rather higher battery power will be requisite, and gold wire or 

 gold leaf should then be suspended on c d. 



On reviewing the operations above-described, and noting 

 then simplicity, one cannot help feeling what resources they 

 add to the means at the disposal of that numerous class of per- 

 sons who cultivate " Homes of Taste." By means of apparatus 



