44 
®iie ivies’ Sfiaroi fimfiifiet mnxl 3P“iciorral Home 
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jmnian. 
SKELETON LEAVES. 
The art of skeletonizing leaves is among the many 
items of household elegancies which deserve to take 
high rank. The history of the art is a curious one, 
worth relating. 
the skeleton on it should he dipped in the solution and 
the skeleton allowed to float off. The time for bleaching 
varies; a strong solution bleaches quicker than a weak 
one. Some skeletons take longer to bleach than 
others; a delicate leaf, such as the ivy, will often be 
beautifully white in a couple of hours, while an ob¬ 
stinate sallow leaf has been in the solution until it has 
fallen to pieces of a whitey-brown color. When the 
leaves are sufficiently bleached they must be lifted out 
The figure of a skeleton leaf was pub 
lished at Naples, Italy, by an anatomist, as tar back as again on the card, and immersed several times in clear 
1645, and created great curiosity at the time. Many water, and then finally left for, say, half an hour, in a 
attempts were made to discover the secret, but it does fresh basin of clear water. After that again float 
not appear to have become known, and for a time them on to a clean card, nicely arrange them on the 
the method was lost. About 
seventy-six years afterwards, a 
D ut eh anatomist turned his at¬ 
tention to the subject. Having- 
been in the habit of procuring 
skeletons of animals by allow¬ 
ing insects to eat away the 
flesh until the skeleton was 
clean, he tried his method on 
leaves, and failed. Not to be 
beaten, he persevered, trying- 
other methods, until rewarded 
by success. The beautiful 
specimens he produced caused 
so many others to attempt 
the discovery of the means he 
used, that after some years, 
finding he could no longer 
keep his secret, in 1727 he 
published it. This method 
is, with very little difference, 
the same that is now used, 
and the art has grown into 
one beautiful, extremely 
simple, inexpensive, and has 
found hosts of admirers. 
1st. Lay the leaves in 
water until they partially de¬ 
cay, allowing the skin and 
fleshy matter to become de¬ 
composed, but stop the pro¬ 
cess before it attacks the 
fibres. Perfect leaves must 
be gathered, for a very slight 
scratch < >r blotch in the leaf will 
make the skeleton imperfect. 
2d. Gather the leaves in 
June or July; choose large 
ones, well matured, and not 
the young ones at tops of 
branches; gather a good num¬ 
ber, soak them two weeks in 
rain-water in some tub, ex¬ 
posed to the sun. Examine 
twice a week, or oftener if the 
weather is warm, and any 
leaves found soft or pulpy, re¬ 
move to a basin of clean water. 
3d. The pulpy matter must not be removed with j eard, lift out and let them drain; then dry them off as 
the finger, but with a fine brush or coarse comb, quickly as possible, to prevent dust settling on them. 
Slip a card in the water under each leaf you try, brush They may be dried in front of a fire or may be put in 
one side with the brush, then return to the water and a warm oven for a short time, only see that they do 
reverse the leaf on the same card, and brush the other not get baked brown. They are now sufficiently 
side. The cleansed skeleton must be again put in j strong to bear handling with ordinary care, 
another basin of clean water until time for bleaching; 5th. Time for decaying.—No rule can be given; 
the sooner this is done the better. j older leaves take longer time than young ones. A 
4th. Bleaching.—Get some chloride of lime, mix 1 properly matured ivy or aspen leaf will generally be 
well with the water in proportion of two table-spoon- ready to clean in a fortnight of warm summer weather, 
fuls of chloride to a pint of water. Allow it to settle, while an old magnolia leaf has often lain eighteen 
and pour off the clear liquid for use. The card with months and then wholly decayed without in any de¬ 
gree separating from the skeleton. Leaves containing 
tan cannot be done by this process, for tan resists de¬ 
composition. Poplar leaves are easy. Silver poplar 
is especially easy and beautiful; so is the aspen. The 
apple and pear of the orchard, the crab-apple of the 
woods, and the various ivies are also easy. The wil¬ 
low requires some care, as it is very delicate; gathered 
early it decays quickly. The maple, another beautiful 
leaf, must be gathered young and cleaned with the hair¬ 
brush and a tapping motion. The wild poppy, canter¬ 
bury bell and columbine, tulip-tree are all easy subjects. 
Oak leaves cannot be used, also none of the firs, or the 
walnut, hazel, chestnut, elm, in fact no leav«s which 
contain tannin. Once started 
in the process, the learner 
has an unlimited field to 
experiment in; the fields, 
woods, farm, garden, green¬ 
house, all have treasures for 
him to choose from. 
7th. A r r an g i n g. — After 
bleaching, mount in various 
ways according to taste. If 
well bleached they are beauti¬ 
fully white, and their appear¬ 
ance is much improved by a 
dark background. If ar¬ 
ranged as a bouquet under a 
shade, the bottom should be 
covered with black velvet, 
and some delicate leaves dis¬ 
played about it. If forming 
a group to hang against the 
wall, the back should be 
covered with black velvet. 
The process of macerating 
theleavescan be accomplished 
in a few hours by boiling 
them in a preparation of lime 
and soda, but common sense 
prefers the other more natural 
but slower way. Soft water 
will help the process faster 
than hard. 
Group of Skeleton Leaves for a Glass Shade. 
Flower-Box. —T a k e a 
strawberry box, left of the 
summer, and cover it with 
the fine green moss that you 
can find in the woods, nest¬ 
ling close to the roots of the 
trees. To fasten the moss 
on, you must take brown cot¬ 
ton, and wind it round and 
round and round. The thread 
will sink into the fibres of the 
moss, and will not be seen. 
Now if you have holly berries 
or tiny shells, arrange them, 
here and there, upon the 
moss. Stick the coral berries 
in, stick the shells on, with mucilage. Inside your 
box set a low tumbler, fill it With water, and in it 
place plentiful sprigs of the basket-plant Trades- 
cantia, commonly known as the “ Wandering Jew,” 
or “Creeping Jacob.” It grows rapidly when potted; 
and even in water, which must be changed once 
a week or so, it will put forth shoots, and make 
a most refreshing greenness. Such an arrange¬ 
ment as this, the moss-covered box and the 
trailing vine, set on a bracket, will make one 
, corner of your sitting-room a source of interest and 
delight. 
