AN ARTIFICIAL WOOD FIRE. 
One of the most striking household novelties of the 
day is an artificial wood fire ingeniously devised to take 
the place of the comparatively cheerless stove, or still 
more dreary furnace-register. The apparatus consists 
of a pile of artificial logs, with perforations for the escape 
of gas, which, being lit, burns around shreds of asbestos 
fastened about on the logs. The asbestos cannot be 
consumed, but being heated, it glows with a ruddy 
color, while the multitude of flames unite, thus form¬ 
ing a beautiful, cheery fire. The idea is a delightful 
one. 
CASE FOR CALLING CARDS. 
Take two plates of perforated paper, the size being 
made according to the cards it is intended to hold ; de¬ 
corate with colored silk and small Venetian shells. 
The silk lining of the plates, and the straps to hold 
the ends of the cover, put on in the usual manner, 
must match the lining. 
To take impressions of plants, leaves, etc., take 
half a sheet of fine wove paper, and oil it well with 
sweet oil. After it has stood two minutes, to let it 
soak through, rub off all the superfluous oil with a 
piece of paper, and let it hang in the air to dry. After 
the oil is pretty well dried in, take a lighted candle 
and move the paper over it, in a horizontal direc¬ 
tion, so as to touch the flame, till it is perfectly 
black. When you wish to take off impressions of 
plants, lay your plant carefully on the oiled paper, 
lay a piece of clean paper over it, and rub it with 
your fingers equally in all parts for half a minute; 
then take up your plant, and be careful not to dis¬ 
turb the order of the leaves, and place it on the 
paper on which you wish to have the impression; 
then cover it with a piece of blotting-paper, and 
rub it with your finger for a short time, and you will 
have an impression superior to the finest engraving. 
The same piece of black paper, should you wish to be 
economical, will serve to take off a number of impres¬ 
sions. The principal excellence of this method is, that 
the paper receives the impression of the most minute 
veins and hairs, so that you obtain the general char¬ 
acter of most flowers. The impressions may after¬ 
wards be colored. 
used for colored linens, then put the chintz in, and use 
the rice instead of soap; wash it in this till the dirt is 
out; then boil a second quantity as above, but strain 
the rice from the water, and mix it in warm water; 
AN ARTIFICIAL WOOD FIRE. 
To wash. Chintz, take two pounds of rice and boil it 
in eight quarts of water till soft. When done, pour the 
whole into a tub; let it stand till about the warmth 
CROSS FOR TABLE DECORATION. 
wash in this till clean ; afterwards rinse it in the water 
the rice has been boiled in, and this will answer the 
end of starch, and no dew will affect it, as it will be 
stiff so long as you wear it. If a gown, it should be 
taken to pieces; and when dried, be careful to hang it 
CASE FOR CALLING CARDS. 
as smooth as possible. After it is dry, rub it with a 
sleek stone, but use no iron. 
Feather Flowers_I never use paints or dyes, ex¬ 
cept for green leaves, and have made handsome wreaths 
and bouquets without a single feather except the natural 
colors. For white, use goose feathers. 
For yellow, the feathers from the 
breast of the meadow lark. 
For scarlet, peel off the red 
from the blackbird’s wing 
and press it out flat until it 
tlries and you will have a fine 
double flower, . which only 
needs a wire stem. Prairie 
chicken and Guinea fowl fea¬ 
thers make nice mottled flow¬ 
ers. Pea fowl, feathers ans¬ 
wer nicely for green, and some 
of the feathers on his body 
make beautiful velvety 
flowers. 
Use two sizes of wire ; the 
coarser for stems and the finer 
to wind the stem of each petal 
of such flowers as roses, be¬ 
fore they are formed into 
flowers. Get the natural 
flowers you wish to imitate and pick them to pieces 
for patterns. Wind the stems with green tissue 
paper and form into wreaths or bouquets. 
Wheat Ears. — A little city girl writing to the 
Young Folks’ News, says that last Summer she visited 
in the country. “ We picked some ears of wheat, tied 
them in a small bundle, and laid them by till six weeks 
before Christmas. We then placed them in a deep 
basin of water, and let them steep for twelve hours. 
We filled a large hyacinth-glass with water, put the 
stalks of the wheat in it, and put it in a dark cupboard 
till the green began to spring up. 
“ We then put the glass in papa’s conservatory, and 
it has sprouted up into a very pretty thing, and has 
been very much admired all Winter.” Perhaps some 
other little ones would like to try the experiment next 
season. We think they would be pleased with the re¬ 
result. 
Skeleton Leaves. —Many of our readers who have 
admired the exquisite tracery of leaf structure dis¬ 
played in the denuded skeletons of plants may be glad 
to know how to make such preparations for themselves. 
The following method has been communicated to the 
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, by Dr. G. Dickson : 
u A solution of caustic soda is made by dissolving three 
ounces of washing soda in two pints of boiling water, 
and adding one and a half ounces of quicklime, pre¬ 
viously slaked; boil for ten minutes, decant the clear 
solution and bring it to the boil. During the ebullition 
add the leaves and boil briskly for some time, say an 
hour, occasionally adding hot water to supply the 
place of that lost by evaporation. Take out a leaf, 
put it into a vessel of water, and rub it between the 
fingers under the water. If the epidermis and 
paranchyma separate easily, the rest of the leaf 
may be removed from the solution and treated in the 
same way; but if not, then the boiling must be 
continued for some time longer. To bleach the 
skeletons, mix about a drachm of chloride of lime 
With a pint of water, adding sufficient acetic acid 
to liberate the chlorine. Steep the leaves in this 
until they are whitened (about ten minutes), taking 
care not to let the leaves stay in too long, otherwise 
they are apt to become brittle. Put them in clean 
water, and float them out on pieces of paper. 
Lastly, remove- them from the paper before they are 
quite dry, and place them in a book or botanical press. 
Afterwards arrange in bouquets, with a background 
of black, or under a glass for protection. They form 
beautiful ornaments for a mantel or table. 
To make silk which has been wrinkled appear like 
PARLOR FERNERY. 
new, sponge on the surface with a weak solution of 
gum arabic on white glue,, and iron on the wrong- 
side. 
