JULY  22 
MOORE’S  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
®|c  Itatitralist. 
THE  BEIGHTON  AQUAEIUM. 
A  ooBRESPOOTEjrr  of  the  Forest  and  Stream, 
gives  a  very  entertaining  description  of  some  of 
the  curiosities  to  be  seen  in  the  Brighton  Aqua¬ 
rium: 
Just  now  the  eggs  of  the  octopus,  or  devil  fish, 
may  bo  seen  in  the  various  stages  of  incubation. 
And  I  may  say  here  that  the  octopus  is  now  one 
of  the  loading  attractions,  or  star  performers  ” 
of  the  aquai-ium.  The  specimens  hero  were 
taken  off  the  coast  of  Jersey,  and,  therefore, 
may  bo  supposed  to  be  the  little  brothers  of  that 
giant  devil  fish  which  figures  so  largely  in  Victor 
Hugo's  “ToUors  of  tlie  Sea.”  In  fact,  Victor 
Hugo  made  the  fortune  of  the  octopus.  But  for 
him  this  marine  curiosity  might  have  dwelt  in 
obscurity  until  now.  The  keeper  kindly  fed 
some  of  them  for  my  benefit.  Small  cralis  were 
dropped  into  the  tank,  and  the  little  victims 
came  tripping  down  tlu'ongh  the  water  in  their 
sidelong  fashion,  dancing  to  their  horrid  doom. 
As  soon  as  tho  devil  fish  espied  the  crab  he  un¬ 
folded  and  Btrefehod  out  his  horrible  arms,  di-ew 
it  imder  his  body  and  sucked  out  its  life.  It 
was  a  sickening  sight.  T'ho  specinu'im  here  are 
not  very  largo,  tiieir  bodies  being  about  tho  size 
of  a  man’s  fist,  and  thoir  arms  wonld  stretch  per¬ 
haps  two  feet  across.  Oue  of  these  devil  fish, 
placed  in  one  of  the  octagonal  vases  for  better 
inspection,  sometimes  escapes  at  night  tlmough 
the  meshes  of  the  wire  netting  over  the  top,  a 
space  only  two  inches  wide.  This  would  scorn  to 
be  impossible,  but  tho  fact  that  these  fish  have 
only  one  bone  in  thoii’  bodies — it  is  in  the  head _ 
and  tliat  one  about  tho  size  of  a  nickle,  explains 
how  it  may  happen.  Tho  uight  watchman  in 
hia  midnight  rnund.s  stumbles  over  something  on 
the  floor,  stoops  and  picks  up — a  devil  fiali ! 
Tho  sea  water  Is  pumped  by  a  sloam  engine 
direcUy  from  tho  sea  into  reservoirs  constructed 
under  the  floor  of  the  building,  and  thence  con¬ 
veyed  to  the  tanks  throngli  jwttery  pipes  by  the 
same  means.  Those  reservoirs  are  capable  of 
holding  fi00,000  gallons  of  water,  which  quantity 
can  be  piunpod  from  the  sea  in  about  ton  hours. 
Tho  water  in  the  tanks  is  constantly  aerated  and 
kept  in  motion  by  a  stream  of  compressed  air, 
supplied  to  the  bottom  of  tanka  through  glass  or 
rubber  tubes.  The  circulation  thus  afforded  is 
found  to  be  preferable  to  the  more  costly  system 
of  pumping  adopted  by  other  aquaria,  as  it  al¬ 
lows  each  tank  to  bo  heated  indejtetidently  of 
its  neighbors.  The  whole  of  the  tanka,  forty-one 
in  number,  are  numberwl  consecutively,  and  at 
the  side  is  given  the  popular  names  of  the  fish 
plants  and  zoophytes  which  each  contains. 
I  cannot  attempt  to  enumerate  hero  all  tho 
variouH  fish  and  marine  plants  that  this  great 
aquarium  contains.  Some  large  tanks  are  given 
up  to  the  zoophytes,  anemones,  jelly  fish,  corals, 
sponges  and  tho  like,  of  which  there  are  moat 
beautiful  specimens.  1  saw  a  lovely  tree  coral 
from  the  Red  Sea,  and  some  of  the  bed.H  of 
anemones  look  like  a  rich  pasture  of  flowers. 
The  most  attractive  and  popular  feature  of 
the  aquarium  just  now  is  the  sea  lions  from 
California.  They  arc  two  young  ones,  and  were 
received  a  month  ago,  two  others  having  died  on 
the  journey.  They  are  about  half-grown  ani¬ 
mals,  and  now  seem  to  be  very  healthy.  Excur¬ 
sion  trains  nm  down  from  London,  bringing  ' 
large  crowd.s  to  see  them.  They  are  quite  docile,  ' 
even  affectionate,  towards  tJieir  keeper  when  he 
eaters  their  cage,  uttering  a  sort  of  dog’s  bark  of  ' 
delight  whenever  he  approaches  them.  They  ' 
are  fed  upon  herring  several  times  each  day.  ' 
The  department  of  crustacw,  lobsters,  prawn,  ' 
shrimp,  barnacles  is  very  well  represented,  and  ' 
the  gentle  ascidian,  which,  according  to  the  evo-  ' 
lutionista,  was  oiu-  early  ancestor,  is  here  to  be  ^ 
seen  struggling  up— or  down— into  a  member  of  I 
Congress.  The  present  curator  of  the  aquarium,  ‘ 
Mr.  John  Parnaby,  formerly  of  the  Tientdale  i 
fisheries  in  Cumberland  County,  is  quite  well  ' 
known  among  our  own  fish  cultuidats,  having  ' 
visited  our  comitiy  several  years  ago.  I  avail  * 
myself  of  this  occasion  to  acknowledge  bis  ^ 
courtesy  to  me  on  my  visit  to  the  aquarium. 
He  accompanied  me  throughout,  showing  me  . 
all  its  varied  mechanism,  and  allowed  some  of  l 
the  fish  to  be  fed  for  my  amusement.  3Ir.  Par-  i 
uaby  is  one  of  tho  best  practical  fish  cultimistsin  i 
England.  Oue  of  tho  most  important  facts  con-  ! 
nected  with  this  enterprise  is,  that,  as  an  invest-  ' 
meut  of  capital,  it  has  proved  a  **  good  thmg."  i 
Mark  this,  ye  men  of  Wall  Sti'eet,  it  pays  splen-  i 
didly.  The  Brighton  .Aquarium  was  chartered  ' 
by  a  special  act  of  Parliament  in  1868,  and, 
therefore,  does  not  require  the  inevitable  word 
limited  ”  to  be  tacked  to  its  title — with  a  capi¬ 
tal  of  half  a  million  dollars.  It  has  paid  ten  per 
cent,  to  its  stockholders,  and  the  stock  now  i 
riands  at  fifty  per  cent.  })remium  in  tho  market.  . 
The  sueewsB  of  this  oue— the  first  in  this  country  i 
has  been  so  great  that  others  are  springing  up,  i 
notably  the  Westminstor  Aquarium  in  Loudon,  i 
near  the  .Abbey  of  that  name,  which  is  to  be  on  1 
a  very  magnifleeat  scale. 
When  it  can  bo  demonstrated  that  Aquariums 
pay  so  handsomely  as  a  financial  scheme  it  is 
.  probable  we  shall  soon  see  one  in  Central  Pai'k 
or  Boston  Common.  Tho  Brighton  Company 
is  enlarging  and  improving  its  property  in  many 
ways.  The  roof  of  the  aquarium  has  hitherto 
been  laid  out  into  a  beautiful  garden,  replete 
with  flowers  and  plants  of  every  description, 
admitted  to  be  the  most  delightful  marine 
promenade  on  tills  coast,  it  being  in  full  view  of 
tho  sea;  it  is  now  nndei’goiug  a  change.  A 
large  portion  la  to  be  converted  into  a  skating 
rink,  not  of  real  ice,  but  of  asphalt,  to  bo  used 
with  tho  parlor  skatos,  a  kind  of  amusemont 
that  is  very  fashionable  in  England  just  now.  A 
large  cafe  is  to  be  fitted  up  on  a  pwrlion  of  the 
roof  for  summer  use.  These  extensive  improve¬ 
ments  involve  a  large  outlay  and  new  stock  has 
been  issued  to  raise  tho  money.  This  has  boon 
tiilcen  by  the  old  stockholders,  so  that  tliorc  is  no 
que.stion  that  such  shows  pay  well  iu  this  coun¬ 
try.  The  admisaiou  fee  is  one  shilling.  Shall 
wo  not  soon  see  an  aquarium  lilte  this  in  Ameri¬ 
ca? 
• - .  » 
PROTECTING  BIRDS  IN  FRANCE. 
The  schoolmasters  of  France  have  had  a  new 
duty  assigned  them,  i.  ii,  to  toiich  the  cliildron  hi 
protect  tho  birds.  M.  Waddington,  the  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction.  Ims  just  addre.ssed  a  cir¬ 
cular  to  tho  Prefects  of  Departments  in  France, 
on  the  subject  of  tho  pro-servation  of  inseot-oat- 
ing  birds.  Ho  calls  attention  to  tho  alaimung 
increase  in  tho  ravages  committed  by  insects  of 
late  years,  and  to  tho  fact  that  this  may  be 
chiefly  ascribed  to  tho  wholesale  slaughter  of 
tho  birds  which  jirey  upon  thorn.  Tho  Minister 
requests  each  I’rofoct  to  call  tho  attontion  of 
every  schoolmaster  in  hi.s  Department  to  tho 
subject,  and  to  iiistxuct  them  to  teach  the  boys 
iitidor  thoir  care  how  to  disLiiigui.sh  between  in¬ 
sects  which  are  useful  in  agricultural  distiicts, 
and  to  encourage  them  to  destroy  the  one  class, 
and  carefully  protect  tho  other. 
Tho  evil  effect  of  the  destruction  of  birds, 
either  by  trapping  tlmrn,  or  by  Ulsmg  their  nests, 
is  to  bo  clearly  pointed  out  to  all  tho  chiklrcn, 
and  they  are  to  bo  reminded  that  under  an  exist¬ 
ing  law,  they,  or  tlicir  parents  are  liable  to  con- 
sidorablo  pecuniary  fines  if  detected  in  such 
offences.  JL  Waddington  also  suggests  that 
when  occasion  olfers,  the  parents  themselves 
might  be  reminded  of  tho  ulterior  loss  to  which 
they  are  subject  by  permitting  sucli  destruction, 
and  he  desires  the  encouragement  by  school- 
mastors  of  societies  for  the  protection  of  ozcful 
animals  among  their  pupils,  such  as  havo  akeady 
been  established  in  some  parts  of  France,  with 
the  Lest  possible  results.  By  this  oflicial  com¬ 
munication,  tho  claims  of  Email  birds  to  protec¬ 
tion  will  at  once  be  brought  home  to  each  indi¬ 
vidual  schoolchild  in  Franco ;  and  though  boy.s 
will  be  boys  ”  there,  as  elsewhere,  it  may  be 
hoped  that  such  an  appeal  to  their  good  sense, 
or  their  fears  of  punislmieut,  will  do  much  to 
terminate  a  o' stem  of  destruction  which  is  as 
often  duo  to  mere  ignorance  or  thoughtlessness, 
as  to  their  innate  love  of  mischief. 
HOW  THE  OYSTER  BUILDS  HIS  SHELL. 
Ma.  Feank  Bucklasd,  who  conveys  instruc¬ 
tion  more  agreeably  than  any  natm-alist  of  the 
day,  thus  explains  the  manlier  in  which  the 
oyster  builds  his  shell.  The  body  of  an  oyster  is  a 
poor,  weak  thing,  apparently  incapable  of  doing 
anylliiug  at  all.  Yet  what  a  marvelons  house  an 
oyster  builds  aroimd  his  delicate  frame.  When 
an  oyster  is  first  born  ho  is  a  very  simple,  delicate 
dot,  as  it  were,  and  yet  ho  is  born  with  his  two 
shells  upon  him.  For  some  unknown  reasou  he 
always  fixes  himself  on  Lis  round  shell,  never  by 
his  fiat  shell,  and  being  oacc  fixed  he  Logins  to 
grow— but  he  only  grows  in  summer.  Inspect 
an  oyster  shell  closely  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it 
is  marked  with  distinct  hues.  As  the  rings  we 
observe  in  the  section  of  tho  trunk  of  a  tree  de¬ 
note  years  of  growth,  so  do  the  markings  of  an 
oyster  tell  us  how  many  years  he  has  passed  in 
his  -  ‘bed  "  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
Suppose  the  oyster  under  inspection  was  bom 
June  15,  1870,  ho  would  go  on  growing  up  to  the 
first  line  we  see  well  marked ;  be  would  then 
stop  for  the  winter.  In  summer,  1871,  he  would 
more  than  doable  his  size.  In  1872  he  would 
again  add  to  his  house.  In  1873  and  1874  he 
would  £^ain  go  on  building,  till  lie  was  dredged 
up  in  the  middle  of  bis  work  in  1876 ;  so  that  he 
is  plainly  five  and  a  half  years  old.  The  way  in 
which  an  oyster  grows  his  shell  is  a  pretty  sight. 
I  have  watched  it  frequeutlj*.  The  beard  of  an 
oyster  is  not  only  his  breathing  organ,  i.  e.  his 
lungs,  but  also  his  feeding  organ,  by  which  he 
conveys  his  food  to  his  complicated  mouth  with 
its  four  lips.  When  tho  warm,  oahn  days  of 
June  come,  .the  oyster  opens  his  shell,  and  by 
means  of  bis  beard  begins  building  an  additional 
fitoiy  to  his  house.  Tills  he  docs  by  depositing 
very  small  particles  of  carbonate  of  lime,  till  at 
last  they  form  a  substance  as  thin  as  silver 
paper,  and  exceedingly  fragile.  Then  he  adds 
more  and  more,  till  at  last  tho  now  shell  is  as 
good  as  tho  oUl  shell.  When  oysters  are  growing 
their  shells  they  must  bo  han<Ued  very  carofnUy 
as  the  now  growth  of  shell  will  cut  like  broken 
glass  and  a  wound  on  tiio  finger  from  an  oyster 
shell  is  very  often  poisonous. 
- - »■»■»  ■  - 
WAS  IT  INSTINCT  OR  REASON. 
The  New  England  Homestead,  tells  us  the 
following  story  and  asks  was  it  instinct  or 
reason  ?”  We  would  say  a  little  of  both  added 
to  what  is  seldom  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  low¬ 
er  animals  namely  experience.  But  hero  is  the 
story : 
Aa  a  farmer  in  a  neighboring  town  was  getting 
in  bis  hay,  he  noticed  an  unusn.'U  commotion 
among  the  Bwallows,  which  bad  built  a  long  row 
of  nests  under  tho  oaves  of  his  bam.  They  a.p- 
poared  greatly  excited  flying  rapidly  about  and 
filling  the  air  with  their  cries  of  distress.  Aa  tho 
load  of  hay  upon  which  ho  was  riding  passed  ui- 
to  the  barn,  be  saw  that  a  young  swaUuw  in  a 
neat  directly  over  tho  door  had  caught  its  neck 
in  a  crack  between  two  shingles  and  was  unable 
to  hberato  itself.  Ho  stopped  his  team  and  set 
the  young  bird  free  restoring  it  to  the  nest.  Up¬ 
on  his  return  to  tlie  bai-n  with  Ida  next  load  of 
hay  noticing  th.at  the  swallows  were  quiet,  be 
examined  tho  crack,  and  found  they  had  filled  it 
completely  with  mud,  so  that  no  matter  how 
enterp  i-ing  or  how  foolish  the  young  swallow 
might  00,  ho  could  not  again  endanger  hi.s  life  or 
the  peace  of  that  community  by  any  experiments 
npou  that  crack. 
aitii  Iscful. 
CHEMISTRY  AND  AGRICULTURE. 
The  following  article,  by  D.  D.  Worthington 
in  tho  Maryiami  Farmer,  may  interest  oiir  read¬ 
ers  as  showing  the  dawn  of  scientific  agriculCuro. 
With  oliemistry  itself  but  little  over  one  liuudrod 
years  old,  and  with  its  application  to  agriculture 
lesi  than  forty-w  hen  we  consider  all  that  has  been 
accomplished  in  this  brief  period— surely  the 
fiitiu'e  is  full  of  bright  promises  for  him  who 
sliall  onlUvate  tho  soil  availing  liiinsolf  of  all  the 
lights  whicli  soieutific  progress  shall  work : 
"  Cliomistry  as  a  regular  branch  of  natural 
science,  is  of  oomparativoly  recent  origin,  and 
can  hardly  bo  said  to  date  from  an  earlier  period 
than  the  UiJ/.  r  third  of  the  past  century.  * 
From  tho  very  nature  of  chemistry  it  was  im¬ 
possible  that  it  should  take  a  traly  seiontilie 
forai  until  tho  balance  was  ap{>lied  to  It,”  which 
was  first  done  by  Lavoisier  a  Uttle  more  than  one 
hundred  years  ago. 
In  tho  opinion  of  many  of  our  ablest  wi-iters 
on  tho  subject,  there  cannot  be,  without  tho  ap¬ 
plication  of  chemistry,  scientific  agriculture; 
and  hence,  agricultural  chemistry  forms  a  prom¬ 
inent  part  of  tho  regular  course  of  instruction  in 
all  schools  in  Einope  and  America,  foundud  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  agricultural  knowl¬ 
edge. 
In  the  year  1810,  Liebig  first  began  to  investi¬ 
gate  the  secrets  of  vegetable  and  animal  life. 
He  had  at  that  time  attained  great  fame  as  a 
seieutifle  author  and  teacher,  and  was  excelled 
by  none  except  the  illustrous  Berzelius. 
The  chemical  laboratory  founded  by  him  at¬ 
tracted  to  it  btuduuts  from  every  part  of  the 
globe.  Ho  was  first  to  discover  the  iutiinsic 
connection  between  tho  plants  and  the  mineral 
ingredients  of  the  soil  and  to  work  ont  the  dis¬ 
covery  into  a  system. 
Many  years  before  his  day,  however,  it  was  ob¬ 
served  that  sulphate  of  lime  and  other  minerals 
were  placed  on  fields  with  good  rosnlts,  but  no  one 
ever  imagined  the  nccessiti/  of  returning  iu  some 
form  the  mineral  ingredients  ciuriod  off  by 
crops.  Under  Liebig’s  tlirection  many  experi¬ 
ments  were  made,  and  the  result  proved  beyond 
doubt  the  close  connection  between  vegetable 
life  and  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  soiL 
The  following  is  an  abridged  account  of  his  ex¬ 
periments  made  near  Giessen: — “During  the 
years  1815  to  1849,  I  made  a  series  of  experi¬ 
ments  on  the  action  of  the  different  mineral 
manures,  on  a  piece  of  land  of  about  ten  Eng¬ 
lish  acres,  which  I  purchased  from  the  town  of 
Giessen.  Previous  experiments,  which  I  had 
made  in  my  garden  in  the  town,  had  yielded  no 
result.  Whatever  I  might  add  to  the  soil,  I  was 
unable  to  trace  any  perceptible  effect  from  any 
of  my  mixtures.  The  only  cause  that  I  could 
discover  for  this  apparent  want  of  efficacy  was 
the  composition  of  the  soil  of  my  garden,  which, 
by  previous  cultivation  and  manuring,  had  be¬ 
come  80  rich  in  mineral  constituents,  that  the 
addition  of  a  relatively  insignificant  quantity  of 
these  substanceB,  became,  when  compared  with 
amount  alrcadj^  present  in  the  soil,  quite  in¬ 
appreciable.  This  induced  me  to  purchase  tho 
laud  ttUuded  to.  a  sand  pit  to  the  east  of  the 
town,  which  I  found  to  surpass  all  others  iu  the 
whole  district  in  its  nearly  complete  barreness 
for  the  ordinary  crops.  I  do  not  believe  that  iu 
J  a  whole  year,  there  grew  naturally  on  whole  ten 
'  acres  as  much  grass  as  would  have  sufficed  for  a 
r  single  sheep.  1  filled  with  tho  natural  soil  a 
i  number  of  flower-pots,  in  which  I  sowed  wheat, 
•  barley  and  red  clover,  and  manured  each  with 
soma  siuglo  mineral  manure.  In  none  of  those 
did  the  plants  get  beyond  floworiug. 
“  Messr-s.  Schwarzenborg  A,  Co.  were  so 
obliging  as  to  prejmro  for  nio,  a  quantity  cf 
mineral  manure,  wliich  was  spread  uniformily 
on  tho  land.  With  tbo  exception  of  tho  stablo 
manure  used  for  two  lots,  no  anunonicol  manure, 
and  no  animal  substance  was  applied  to  any  part 
of  the  field. 
“  It  was  indisponsablo  that  some  years  should 
elapse,  before  tho  coustitutents  of  tho  manure 
could  be  reudiiiod  soluble,  and  thus  diffused 
throughout  tho  soil.  ♦  *  Tbo  fertility  of 
the  soil  slejvdily  increased,  so  that  in  the  fourth 
year,  the  lots  excited  the  adiuiratlou  and  wonder 
of  all  who  had  known  the  original  state  and 
quality  of  the  land.  *  k  j  consider  myself 
ns  perfectly  justified  in  concluding,  from  my  ex¬ 
periments,  that  on  ordinary  farms  provided  wo 
give  to  iho  soil  the  proper  ifiiysical  quality  and 
composition,  there  may  bo,  by  degrees,  such  an 
amomit  of  ammonia  coUectod,  or  oondousod,  as 
to  bo  more  than  sullicient,  with  tho  available 
iniucral  couatitutonts  present  in  tbo  soil,  to  ob¬ 
tain  the  maximum  of  produce  for  each  soil.” 
The  coat  of  tho  eipcrimont,  however,  was 
over  f3,000,  and  of  courso  was  regarded  with 
ridicuJo,  by  “  pracUcnl"  formers,  and  was  given 
OH  an  example  of  the  absurd  results  following 
scientific  exporimonls. 
Tho  object  was  not  iintuodinto  pecuniar}'  gain, 
but  knowledge;  knowledge,  which  at  some 
future  day,  would  be  profitable. 
Fifty  years  ago,  siUpburio  acid  was  handled 
by  tho  professional  cluuiilst  only,  and  even  by 
him  with  dread ;  now  it  is  u.sod  on  farms,  on  a 
largo  scale,  by  men  only  ouo  degree  above 
common  laborers.  Notwilhstanding  tho  vast 
strides  made  in  the  past  half  century,  our  real 
knowledge  of  chemistry  in  reference  to  agricul¬ 
ture  is  vwy  limited,  and  tbo  special  branch  of 
applied  science  offers  a  fine  field  for  further  in¬ 
vestigation. 
- ♦-»-* - - 
MAKING  WAX  FRUITS. 
Many  of  our  lady  rea.der8  will  doubtless  wish 
to  try  their  hands  at  wax  fruit  making  this 
summer  and  tbo  following  on  the  subject  from 
the  Journal  of  Chemistry  may  be  of  assistance  : 
Closely  allitsi  to  wax  flower  raalung  is  that  of 
wnxfrait,  some  specimeua  of  w'liich  are  marvel¬ 
ous  for  the  faithful  imitauou  of  ualure.  Here 
molding  or  casting  is  of  more  importance  than  in 
flower  making,  seeing  that  accuracy  of  form  is 
the  chief  desideratum.  Most  kinds  of  imilativo 
fruit  aro  shaped  in  don  bio  molds,  one  for  each 
half,  and,  if  tho  fruit  Is  irregulai’  iu  its  curva¬ 
tures,  a  tripartite  mold  may  bo  needed.  Say 
that  an  orange  is  to  be  imiUtediu  wax,  a  smooth, 
damp  surface  of  sand  is  prepared,  into  which  ex¬ 
actly  one-half  of  a  good  orange  is  carefully 
pressed.  A  cordon  or  border  of  tin  or  stiff 
paper  is  built  up  around  it  about  half  au  Inch 
distance  from  tho  orange  on  all  sides ;  plaster  of 
Paris  in  a  cream-like  consistency  is  then  poured 
into  tho  cell  thus  made  so  as  to  fully  cover  the 
orange ;  when  quite  firm  enough  to  handle,  this 
plaster  half-mold  is  taken  up  and  tho  orange 
extracted ;  the  orange  Is  turned  over  in  tho  sand 
and  another  half-mold  is  made  iu  a  similar  w'ay. 
Whether  fruit  is  cast  solid  or  hollow,  depends 
mainly  on  the  size  ;  if  large  tho  mass  would  bo 
heavy  and  mncli  wax  wasted  by  solid  casting ; 
in  this  case  a  core  of  some  rough  material  is  fix¬ 
ed  in  tee  middle  of  tho  mold,  which  gives  a  cavity 
to  tho  middle  of  the  fruit. 
Soft  kinds  of  fruit,  such  as  plums,  cherries 
and  ripe  pears,  and  some  hard  and  unyielding 
fruits,  require  special  management  to  extricate 
them  from  the  half-mold  without  injury  to  the 
fruit  on  the  one  hand  or  to  tho  mold  on  the 
other.  Pomegranates,  medlars,  pine-applos,  etc. 
require  molds  in  more  than  two  p.arts.  Occasion¬ 
ally  elastic  molds  of  glue  aro  found  advan¬ 
tageous.  Generally  speaking,  the  color  of  the 
wax  employed  is  that  of  the  lightest  parts  of  the 
fruit,  the  deeper  tints  being  afterward  laid  on 
with  brush  and  penciL  The  chief  pigments  em¬ 
ployed  are  such  aa  burnt  and  raw  ui.iber  and 
sienna,  chrome  yellow,  red  lead,  Pru.ssian  bine, 
carmine,  lake,  eto.,  greens  being  produced  by 
various  mixtures  of  blue  and  yellow. 
Certain  small  varieties  of  fruit,  such  as  grapes 
and  currants,  are  made  of  glass  bulbs,  carefully 
blown  to  the  proper  thape ;  these  are  fixed  by 
wax  to  wke  inserted  into  holes,  and  are  then 
dipped  into  melted  wax  of  the  proper  color,  a 
very  thin  coating  of  which  gives  the  proper  kind 
of  semi-transparency  to  the  glass  and  at  tho  same 
time  a  smoothness  of  surface  not  inaptly  re¬ 
sembling  that  of  the  natural  fruit.  Tho  fasten¬ 
ing  of  the  various  fniits  to  imitative  stems, 
leaves,  leaflets,  etc.,  is  an  affair  of  wires,  silken 
thread,  strips  of  gi-cen  paper,  white  flock,  arrow¬ 
root-paste,  guni-ma«tic,  varnish,  with  other 
simple  materials  and  tools  u.scii  in  artificial 
flower-making. 
