146 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
of an old book, allowing them to remain until 
perfectly dry. Then rub a little boiled oil over 
the surfaces of the leaves, and place them to dry 
■where the dust will not settle on them. Boiled 
oil is preferable to wax because it renders the 
leaves tough and flexible instead of brittle, while 
it gives them the same beautiful glossy appear- 
ance. Mine that were prepared in this manner 
last autumn are still on the walls, mementos of 
the dear mother that placed them there, who 
has since been summoned to that land where all 
that is beautiful is unfading." 
The other gives her experience as follows : "I 
press them two weeks perhaps, or until thor- 
oughly dry ; then varnish tliem on the right side 
only, and lay on a board in a dark room to dry. 
I never have them curl or break when thus pre- 
pared. Ferns, when pressed, become] beautiful 
ornaments in a few days, (do not press them too 
long or they become brittle,) and then paint 
them with a mixture of paris green and varnish ; 
I wish you could see my wreath of autumn leaves 
and ferns." 
Those who use Paris green for this purpose 
must be cautioned that it is a deadly poison. 
Never work with this substance in powder as 
the fine dust, when inhaled, may give rise to 
serious trouble. If mixed with oil or varnish so 
as to be moist there is less danger. 
Puncliing> Holes in Straps. 
Boys who have occasion to punch holes in 
their skate straps, or straps for carrying books, 
etc., will find the following hints valuable : 
The punching of holes through the various 
straps of harness, for buckle tongues, and for 
attaching the buckles, is a matter of consider- 
able importance, and does not, as a rule, receive 
the attention that it should. The old method, 
of punching them from the upper or grain side 
of the leather, has been generaly abandoned by 
the manufacturers of fine work, it being deemed 
injurious to the wear of the leather. The prin- 
cipal objection arises from the liability of the 
grain of the latter to crack from the strain of 
the buckle-tongue, and to be the cause, eventu- 
ally, of the leather tearing, as it causes such a 
crease where the tongue catches, that it injures 
the texture of the leather, and makes it tear the 
liole more or less In addition to this, if the 
leather is very strong, the tongue of the buckle 
is sure to bend out of shape. All these objec- 
tions can be obviated by punching from the un- 
der or flesh side of the strap, and by using a 
punch, the long sides being parallel with the 
length of the strap ; the punch should be set at 
an angle of about twenty degrees, cutting the 
hole at such an angle that the buckle-tongue 
will rest in it without throwing any strain on 
the inside of the leather. Some object to punch- 
ing the hole from the under side on account of 
its forcing the grain out, and thus disfiguring 
the outside edges of the hole. This can be cor- 
rected, howevei-, by driving the punch through 
the hole from the outside, which will cut away 
the slightly turned edge of the grain, and set it 
down smooth and clean. It is not necessary, 
however, to re-punch any holes except those 
that will be exposed when the harness is com- 
plete. Punches should be as thin as possible, as 
the extra thickness of the metal strains the 
lesither— Harness Journal. 
Call for Telephone. 
A correspondent of the Scientific American 
gives the following method of making a call for 
a string telephone. Suspend the telephones at 
each end, so that the line string (the string con- 
necting the diaphragms) may be kept tightened, 
and free to transmit vibrations from either end, 
Now rub some resin on the line string at each 
end ; and when you wish to signal the other, rub 
along the resined part of the string, and quite a 
loud noise will be heard in the telephones at 
each end, sufficient to be heard anywhere in the 
room. It is on the principle of the boy's 
" rooster," consisting of a resined string passed 
through one end of a tin can. Petroleum may 
be used instead of resin with equally good re- 
sults. This kind of call does away with electric 
bells and other contrivances for acoustic lines. 
If ferrotype plate and fine wire take the place of 
the parchment diaphragm and strings, the same 
call may be used by fixing to the wire a piece of 
resined string, the call being effected as before 
by rubbing on the string. 
To Imitate Japan-Work Boxes, etc. 
A very effective style of ornamenting cabinets, 
window boxes, tables, etc., is that by which the 
figures of the design are made to stand out in 
relief upon a black or coral ground, afterward 
highly polished like Japanese lacquer-work. 
A preparation is first made by dissolving the 
best white beeswax in spirits of turpentine un- 
til it is of the thickness of copal varnish. This 
may be kept in a bottle until you are ready to 
begin the work, when you may pour out a small 
quantity and mix into it a little flake-white suf- 
ficient to give it a body. Now, with a fine sable 
pencil, trace accurately the design on the white 
wood, which has been first made very smooth 
and clean, and go over every part of the pattern, 
leaving only the ground-work untouched. When 
this is well dried, mix ivory-black with parch- 
ment size, thus forming a very black kind of 
paint. Go over the entire surface with this 
paint, or, if it is intended to give it a coral-col- 
