THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
115 
Our New Catalogue of Books. 
TTTE have just issued a new catalogue 
VV containing a description of our most 
recent publications. A copy will be sent 
free to any one who requests it. 
Cheap and Useful. 
WE find that we have on hand a few 
copies of the first edition of the 
"Amateur's Handbook of Practical Infor- 
mation for the Laboratory and the Work- 
shop." It contains quite a large number 
of useful recipes and directions for 
mechanical processes. In order to close 
out the remainder of this edition, we will 
send a copy to any address, on receipt of 
seven oents in postage stamps. 
BOOK NOTICES. 
Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes. 
By the Kev. T. W. Webb, M.A., F.K.A.iS. 
Fourth Edition, Kevised and Greatly Enlarged. 
New York: The Industrial Publication Com- 
pany. 1881. 
This work is too well known to require a length- 
ened notice at our hands. It has been out of 
print for some time, and the eagerness with 
which stray copies of the third edition have been 
picked up, shows the value of the book to all 
amateur astronomers. The edition before us is 
in reality the English edition, merely bearing the 
imprint of the Industrial Publication Company. 
It forms a substantial volume of 493 pages, with 
the well-known Map of the Moon, and very highly 
executed illustrations of many specially interest- 
ing points. No person that takes enough interest 
in astronomy to point even a common opera- 
glass at the heavens can afford to be without it. 
Lowey's First Steps in Chemistry: A Series 
of one hundred and fifty select and amusing 
Chemical Experiments, Free from Danger. 
Frederick Lowey, Brooklyn, N. Y, 
This is a little hand-book designed to accom- 
pany the chemical cabinets put up by Mr. Lowey. 
It describes a great many pleasing experiments 
which are easily performed. Some of the experi- 
ments (98, for example) will hardly succeed when 
carried out precisely in the manner indicated, 
but the majority of the directions are reliable. 
It would have been well, however, if the old 
methods, which are given in some cases for de- 
termining quantities, had been replaced by some- 
thing more definite and easily understood. A 
" penny worth " is a very indefinite quantity, and 
besides that, we have no coin which can be ac- 
curately called a "penny." So in the case of 
" spirits of wine." A country druggist will prob- 
ably say he has none ; he knows it as alcohol of 
about 90 per cent. And it is useless to tell the 
reader to use pyro-acetic spirit as a cheap substi- 
tute, because it is not usually found in our drug- 
stores, although a common article in England. 
But notwithstanding these defects the book will 
afford a great deal of instructive amusement to 
those who attempt to follow its directions. 
Ink for the Hectog-raph.— Anilin color, 5*0; 
alcohol, 5'0; mucilage of acacia, 5'0; water, 35'0. 
Dissolve by means of heat, and strain through, 
flannel or cotton. 
Cement for Bisulphide Prisms.— A good 
cement to fasten the sides of bisulphide of carbon 
prisms is made of a mixture of good glue and 
concentrated glycerine, the composition used for 
making rollers in printing presses. 
Labels.— Paper labels, attached in the usual 
manner, and, when dry, varnished over with two 
or three coats of good copal varnish, will be found 
to resist almost all chemicals except liquor po- 
tassae and liquor sodse. 
To Make Tents and Awnings Waterproof. 
Tents made of very light canvas will become per- 
fectly waterproof, as well as proof against mildew, 
if first soaked in a strong solution of soap, and 
afterwards passed through a liquid made by dis- 
solving equal parts of alum and sulphate of cop- 
per in five times their united weight of water. 
Stains of Tar.— It is Isaid that tar maybe in- 
stantaneously removed from hand and Angers 
by rubbing with the outside of fresh orange or 
lemon peel, and wiping dry immediately. It is 
astonishing what a small piece will clean. The 
volatile oils in the skins dissolve the tar, so that 
it can be wiped off. 
Fair of the American Institute.— The semi- 
centennial fair of the American Institute is held 
this year in the Rink, on Third Avenue, near 
Sixty-third Street. These fairs are amongst the 
most important educational agents we have. 
They present to the young a continuous series 
of object lessons of the most instructive kind, and 
should command the attention of all parents and 
teachers. 
Coppering and Bronzing Zinc— The follow- 
ing recipes for coppering and bronzing zinc are 
said to produce quite beautiful results : Prepare 
a solution of fifteen parts of blue vitriol and one 
of nineteen parts of cyanide of potassium, then 
mix both solutions together. Incorporate this 
liquid well with one hundred and sixty parts of 
pipe-clay, and rub the semi-fluid mass obtained 
by means of a linen rag, on the previously 
cleaned object. For bronzing, take fifteen parts 
of verdigris, nineteen of cream of tartar, and 
thirty parts of crystallized soda, reduce them to 
powder, and dissolve them in the necessary 
amount of water. Mix this liquid together with 
