THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
5 
of the alphabet, and will prove a study for 
some of our young readers. 
The word cipher also means secret wri- 
ting—the proper name for which, however, 
is cryptogram. During the war, dispatches 
V7ere often sent in cipher, and politicians 
and lovers sometimes use cipher dis- 
patches when they wish to keep their 
messages secret. The following example 
of a cipher will interest our readers. It 
was composed by Prof. Whewell at the 
request of a lady : 
You 0 a 0, but 1 0 thee, 
O 0 no 0, but O 0 me, 
O let then thy 0 my 0 be. 
And give 0 0 1 0 thee. 
Which being figured out means : 
You sigh for a cipher, but I sigh for thee, 
O, sigh for no cipher, but Oh, sigh for me, 
0 let then thy sigh for my cipher be. 
And give sigh for sigh— for I sigh for thee. 
Scroll-Sawing— YL; 
BY F. T. HODGSON. 
THEEE is no branch of scroll-sawing 
that will give pleasanter results or 
afford more amusement than the cutting 
of silhouettes. Sheets of designs for this 
purpose can be obtained at almost any 
book store for a very small sum. Many 
excellent designs can be found in illus- 
trated papers and books for children, wall 
papers, and illustrated labels. A sil- 
houette is simply an outline of some 
figure, and when cut with a fret saw, as a 
rule, has no inside cutting; Fig. 26 will 
give you a good idea of what constitutes a 
silhouette. They should form material 
not more than one-sixteenth thick. Hard 
rubber, ebony, black walnut, and rose- 
wood on the one hand, and white holly, 
rock maple, and basswood on the other, 
are used for this work. Silhouettes may 
be employed for a thousand decorative 
purposes; and if you possess a good 
treadle machine you can find, if you de- 
sire, employment enough in this direction 
in making an infinite number of orna- 
ments for your own and your friends' 
homes. Cornices for windows, doors and 
rooms can be made by this process, that 
will be .highly ornamental if neatly and 
properly done, and taste and judgment 
employed in the selection of iiatterns. To 
form a cornice, say for a bedroom ceiling, 
paste a strip of dark colored paper all 
round the room close into the angle, and 
on the upright wall. The strip of paper 
should not be less than half an inch wide 
for every foot in height of the room ; thus, 
if a room is ten feet high, the strip should 
not be less than five inches in width. It 
will stand to be wider, but will not admit 
of being narrower than as above. This 
strip forms a background for the whole 
work, and it may have a different colored 
Fig. 26. 
strip, or a gold bead, half an inch wide, 
running on its lower edge all round the 
room, or may be cut serated or wavy on 
the edge, as the taste of the workman may 
suggest. When this is done, cut your 
silhouettes according to pattern chosen, 
of maple or white holly, four or five at a 
time ; when the number cut is sufficient to 
go round the room, they should be glued 
on to the strip of paper, being careful not 
to daub the latter all over with surplus 
glue. When this is finished satisfactorily, 
if desirable, a smaller pattern of walnut 
or ebony may be cut and glued on the 
white holly or maple, and this again 
