THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
Ill 
antics without let or hindrance. And yet we 
put up with it, and put the handle on again, and 
lay it where it won't get lost, and do up our 
mutilated and smarting lingers, and yet if the 
outrageous thing should happen to get lost, 
we kick up a regular huUabooloo until it is 
found again. Talk about the tyrannizing influ- 
ence of a bad habit ! It is not to be compared 
to the family hammer. 
Eleaching- Piano Keys.— A writer in the Eng- 
lish Mechanic says that the reason why piano 
keys turn yellow is because they absorb tlie 
grease from the fingers ; it is therefore necessary 
to neutralize this. If a paste made from whiting 
and a solution of potash is laid on and allowed 
to remain for twenty-four hours, the ivories will 
be restored very nearly, if not quite, to their 
original color without removing them from the 
keys. 
Bronzing Liquid.— Dissolve 10 parts of fuch- 
sine and 5 parts of aniline-purple in 100 parts of 
95 per cent alcohol on a water bath ; after solution 
has taken place, add 5 parts of benzoic acid, and 
keep the whole boiling for 5 or 10 minutes, until 
the green color of the mixture has given place to 
a fine light bronze-brown. This liquid may be 
applied to all metals, as well as many other sub- 
stances, yields a very brilliant coating, and dries 
qaickly. It is applied with a brush, 
Imitation Inlaying.— Suppose I want an oak 
panel with a design inlaid with walnut. I grain 
the panel wholly in oil. This is not a bad ground 
for walnut. When the oak is dry, I grain the 
whole of the panel in distemper. I have a paper 
with the design drawn thereon, the back of which 
I rub with whiting, place it on the panel, and 
with a pointed stick trace the design. I then 
with a brush and quick varnish trace the whole 
of the design. When the varnish is dry, with a 
sponge and water I remove the distemper, where 
the varnish has not touched. This, if well exe- 
cuted, presents a most beautiful imitation of in- 
laid wood. Marbles are executed in a similar 
manner. 
Deceptive Vision.— There is a tendency in 
the eye to enlarge the upper portion of any object 
on which it looks— a fact which we find admirably 
illustrated by a row of ordinary capital letters 
and figures: 
SSSSSSSSSSSSXXXXXX33333333888888888888 
They are such as are made up of two parts of 
equal shapes. Look carefully at these, and you 
will perceive that the upper halves of the charac- 
ters are a little smaller than the lower halves— so 
little that an ordinary eye will perhaps declare 
them to be of equal size. Now turn the page up- 
side down, and, without any careful looking, you 
will see that this difference in size is very much 
exaggerated ; that the real top part of the letter is 
very much smaller than the bottom. 
Oleographs.— The beautiful cohesion figures 
formed by oil when dropped on water, are easily 
rendered permanent, and form very pretty orna- 
ments, or if made in large numbers and kept in a 
l^ortfolio, they are exceedingly interesting from 
their beauty and variety. Any one may produce 
them, figures and impressions, too, by the follow- 
ing simple means. Take a soup plate of water, 
let it stand till all the ripples have subsided, and 
then let fall in the centre one small drop of any 
oil that is at hand— salad oil, sperm oil, lard oil, 
or any other. The height ol the fall should be 
about four inches. In an instant the drop 
spreads into a filmy disk, some four or five 
inches in diameter, and during the following two 
or three minutes a strange commotion is set up, 
the film breaking into circular holes sometimes 
of uniform size, at others in varying dimensions, 
according to the nature of the oil, and these are 
continually changing their configuration. At 
some points the whole will appear as a graceful 
pattern— it may be like a piece of ladies' crochet, 
or tatting work, or a simple reticulation, or a net 
work of beaded threads. To fix the pattern— to 
make the oleograph— it is only necessary to lay a 
sheet of glazed paper carefully upon the Avater's 
surface for an instant, and then float it upon a 
plate of common ink, or colored fluid of any 
kind. The paper will take ink where there is no 
oil, and leave the greasy markings intact. There 
you have your picture. 
How to Keep Canary Birds.— Many persons 
have difficulty in keeping their canary birds in 
good health. One who is experienced in their 
care says : Place the cage so that no strong draft 
of air can strike the bird, and avoid also all ex- 
posure to the direct rays of the sun. Remember 
also that thin white cloth gives but little protec- 
tion in summer from the sun's light and heat. 
Give nothing to the healthy birds but canary and 
rape seed, mixed with water, cuttlefish bone, and 
gravel on the floor of the cage ; also, occasion- 
ally, a little water for bathing ; the room should 
not be overheated; when moulting (shedding 
feathers) avoid drafts of air, give plenty of rape 
seed slightly moistened ; a little hard-boiled egg 
and cracker grated fine is excellent, By observing 
these simple directions, birds may be kept in fine 
condition for years. Bad seeds kill most birds 
that die ; to which it might be added, that canary 
birds are not only fond of but benefited by having 
often a leaf of cabbage, piece of apple, or other 
green food, which serves to keep down the ten- 
dency to fever and prevents constipation. Our 
birds usually bathe each day as regularly as any 
one who washes the face, and with apparent ben- 
efit, too. When birds are sick, and inclined not 
to eat well, remove all the food for a day, and then 
only give soaked bread, from which most of the 
moisture had been squeezed. 
