THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
But there is another way of doing the 
trick, which is not generally known, and 
appears quite incomprehensible. 
Begin the trick in the old way, by hav- 
ing some arrangement with one of the 
parties present, who is, we will suppose, 
to cough, or give some o;her sign the 
moment you arrive at the cards you want. 
Make as much flourish as possible, in 
showing the trick, and the probability is, 
that before you have been at it many 
moments, the company will begin to un- 
derstand the means you employ. Then 
will follow laughter, probably a sneer. 
Notice none of these, but suggest that 
*'some of you may have seen this trick 
before, but my manner of doing it is en- 
tirely new." 
"Very new," some ill-natured fellow 
will say, "why, that is the identical 
method practiced by Noah for sorting the 
cards before placing them in the Ark. Do 
you suppose that we are all so dumb that 
we can't understand that most painful 
cough of our friend Makeshift ? ' ' 
The company will of course smile at 
this ; if rude, they may laugh, and some 
will advise you to learn some newer trick. 
Their triumph, however, is but short 
lived, for turning toward them with a half 
reproachful air, and draping yourself 
majestically in the folds of your coat, you 
thus address them : — 
" Gentlemen, I am sorry to find that 
you think so meanly of my magical ac- 
quirements as to suppose I would impose 
upon you by such a miserable trick. As 
the best means, however, of controverting 
, your opinion and proving to you how you 
i have wronged me, I will mount a chair in 
the middle of the room. First of all, ex- 
amine the pack and shuffle it well." 
And then to their great astonishment, 
, you place the pack behind your back, and 
j in a ^ few moments sort out all the court 
cards. 
I In order to do this, the cards must have 
been previously prepared as follows : Tak- 
' ing the court cards, you run the poin!: of a 
knife along the edge of the card, first at 
I one end and then at the other — mind, not 
j on the face, nor the back, but the edge. 
i This will make a furrow, which can be 
easily felt by the fingers. When you take 
hold of the cards, you pretend to feel the 
centre with the thumb and fore-finger, but 
allow the tip of the little finger to come to 
the edge, and you will have no difficulty 
in discovering the cards. The furrow is 
so trifling that even when closely exam- 
ined, it will not be noticed, especially if 
the pack be an old one. While doing the 
trick, hand the pack every little while to 
be shuffled, as that tends to lull suspicion. 
Coloring and Finishing Brass-Work. 
To x^revent the every-day rusting of 
brass goods, the trade has long re- 
sorted to means for protecting the sur- 
face from the action of the atmosphere, 
the first plan of which is to force a change 
to take place. Thus, if brass is left in 
damp sand, it acquires a beautiful brown 
color, which, when polished with a dry 
brush, remains permanent and requires 
no cleaning. It is also possible to imiiart 
a green and light coating of verdigris on 
the surface of the brass by means of dilute 
acids, allowed to dry spontaneously. The 
antique ai^pearance thus given is very 
pleasing, and more or less permanent. 
But it is not always possible to wait for 
goods so long as such processes require, 
and hence more speedy methods became 
necessary, many of which had to be 
further protected by a coat of varnish. 
Before bronzing, however, all the requis- 
ite fitting is finished and the brass an- 
nealed, pickled in old or dilute nitric 
acid, till the scales can be removed from 
the surface, scoured with sand and water, 
and dried. Bronzing is then performed 
according to the color desired; for al- 
though the word means a brown color, 
being taken from the Italian " brcnzmo,^' 
signifying burnt brown, yet in commer- 
cial language it includes all colors. 
Browns of all shades are obtained by 
immersion in solutions of nitrate or the 
perchloride of iron ; the strength of the 
solutions determining the depth of the 
color. Violets are produced by dipping 
in a solution of chloride of antimony. 
Chocolate is obtained by burning on the 
surface of the brass moist red oxide of 
iron, and polished with a very small quan- 
tity of black lead. 
