344 The Art of Electro-plating and Gilding. 



costing but a few snillings, a inan of moderate means may sur- 

 round himself with articles of elegance and beauty, or supply 

 for the use of his family articles of a more serviceable nature. 

 Spoons, forks, fruit-knives, candlesticks, medallions, casts, sal- 

 vers, anything, in fact, which may be purchased in brass or 

 white metal, and of the form desired, may be coated with silver 

 or gold at a small additional expense, while its value, whether 

 for use or ornament, would be immensely enhanced. 



There is another way in which this process serves a most 

 useful purpose, and, in pointing it out, I am enabled to answer 

 a question frequently put to me : " Is it possible to plate a por- 

 tion only of a spoon, or fork, or other article, without plating 

 the whole?" Now, nothing can be easier. Suppose — as the 

 case was put to me a few days ago — suppose it is desired to 

 plate the bowl of a spoon which has been abraded and worn, 

 while the handle has been left unimpaired, a case often occur- 

 ring to those who use electro-plated goods. Take the apparatus 

 (fig. 1), and fix the handle of the spoon in the binding-screw 

 (h) ; then adjust the wire so as to depress the spoon till the 

 bowl is covered by the solution, and leave it as long as may be 

 deemed necessary. Of course it is essential to the success of 

 the experiment that the bowl be thoroughly cleaned and po- 

 lished before placing it in the solution. 



It is probable that it is this last application of the art that 

 will recommend it most strongly to amateurs. Electro-plated 

 goods are accessible to persons of narrow incomes ; but they 

 are commonly avoided, because it is known that they cannot be 

 used long without being disfigured by abrasions in parts ex- 

 posed to the wear and tear of daily use. When it is generally 

 known, and practically demonstrated, that these parts may be 

 easily and cheaply renovated, the chief objection to this kind of 

 ware will be removed, and another step will have been gained 

 towards the diffusion of works of beauty among the masses, 

 who have hitherto been excluded from the enjoyment of them. 



Thus far we have spoken of the deposition of gold and silver 

 upon metallic surfaces alone ; and the extreme simplicity of the 

 process, together with the facility with which it maybe performed, 

 will recommend it to those who have had but little experience in 

 the art. It happens very frequently, however, that the experi- 

 menter wishes to cover other surfaces besides these with a coat- 

 ing of the precious metals, and then some new difficulties present 

 themselves which must next be pointed out and overcome. 



Of the various substances used in the formation of models 

 and casts, the most common are plaster of Paris, wax, gutta- 

 percha, and sulphur. Now, none of these are conductors of 

 electricity, and there is, perhaps, no operation conducted by the 

 electrotypist which taxes his skill and patience more than that 



