Put in small bottles; 25 cents each.

"HANDY" WATER PENS.--Take best quality violet a.n.a.line, reduce to a thick paste with water; then add Mucilage and mix thoroughly. Apply the paste thus made to the pen, and let it dry twelve hours Any steel pen may be prepared in this way. We always keep in stock the best violet a.n.a.line, also a large stock of pens.

_Directions for Using._--Start action by dipping into water up to filling. If pen should be greasy, wet point with the tongue. To make the ink flow thick, dip to the filling; if wanted thin or pale, dip only to the eye of the pen after starting. After using throw the water off, but don't wipe it, for it will dry in a minute.

ARTIFICIAL OYSTERS.--Grate green corn in a dish; to one pint of this add one egg well beaten, small teacup of flour, half a cup of b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper; mix well together and fry them brown.

PASTE THAT WILL NOT SOUR.--Dissolve one-half of an ounce of Alum in a pint of boiling water, add an equal weight of Flour, made smooth in a little cold water, and a few drops of Oil of Cloves, and let the whole come to a boil. Put it into gla.s.s or ointment jars. It will keep for months.

ESSENCES are made with one ounce of any given oil added to one pint of Alcohol. Peppermint is colored with Tincture Turmeric, Cinnamon with Tincture Red Saunders, Wintergreen with Tincture Kino.

TINCTURES are made with one ounce of Gum, Root, or Bark, etc., dried, to each pint of proof spirits and let it stand one week and filter.

OLEOMARGARINE MANUFACTURE.--The process by which suet is converted into the substance called oleamargarine is as follows: The crude suet after first being washed in cold water is "rendered," melted, and then drawn off into movable tanks. The hard substance is subjected to a hydraulic pressure of 350 tons, and the oil extracted. The b.u.t.ter is made from the oil thus obtained, while the hard substance remaining is disposed of as stearine. The oil, being carried off into churns, is mixed with milk and from three to five per cent of dairy b.u.t.ter. It is then drawn off in a consistent form, and cooled with broken ice. The latter is soon removed, and the b.u.t.ter worked up with a small portion of salt.

When this is done the article is ready for packing and consumption.

SILVER PLATING FLUID.--Take one ounce Precipitate Silver to one-half ounce Cyanite of Potash and one-fourth ounce of Hyposulphate of Soda.

Put all in a quart of water, add a little Whiting, and shake before using. Apply with a soft rag. Put up in ounce bottles, and retail for 25 cents. The secret is worth $100 to an agent to sell to families.

MUCILAGE FOR LABELS.--Dextrine two ounces, Glycerine one drachm, Alcohol one ounce, water six ounces.

FIG CANDY.--Take one pound of Sugar and one pint of Water, set over a slow fire. When done add a few drops of Vinegar and a lump of b.u.t.ter, and pour into a pan in which Figs are laid.

RAISIN CANDY.--Can be made in the same manner, subst.i.tuting stoned raisins for the Figs. Common Mola.s.ses Candy is very nice with any kind of nuts added.

PEPPERMINT, ROSE, or h.o.a.rHOUND CANDY.--These may be made as Lemon Candy. Flavor with Essence of Rose, or Peppermint, or finely powdered h.o.a.rhound. Pour it out in a b.u.t.tered paper, placed in a square tin pan.

COLOGNE.--Take one gallon 95 per cent Alcohol or Cologne Spirits, two ounces Oil of Bergamot, one-half ounce Orange, one-half ounce Oil of Cedar, one-half drachm Oil of Nevio, one-half drachm Oil Rosemary. Mix well and it is fit for use. A nice article.

BAY RUM, EQUAL TO THE BEST IMPORTED.--Oil of Bay, fine, one and one-half drachms, Oil of Neroli (bigard) ten drops, Ether Acetic two drachms, Alcohol deod. (strong) three pints, Water, two and one-fourth pints, Caromel sufficient to tinge. Let it stand two weeks and filter.

COPYING PAD.--White Gelatine four ounces, Water eight ounces, Glycerine eight ounces, Gum Dextrine two ounces. Always use these same proportions for any amount. Melt the Gelatine in the water at a gentle heat, add to it the Glycerine, in which the Gum Dextrine has been thoroughly incorporated. Now stir all together until thoroughly mixed and then pour into pans of the desired size, to the depth of one-half inch.

_Recipe for Ink to Be Used._--Violet a.n.a.line forty grains, Gum Arabic twelve grains, Alcohol one-fourth ounce, Water one-half ounce. Dissolve the Gum in the Water and Alcohol, then add the a.n.a.line. Shake in a bottle from time to time until the a.n.a.line is dissolved.

_To work the Copying Pad._--Write with ink on any good paper, press the written surface on the pad and allow it to remain two minutes; then take off and the writing will remain, from which impressions may be taken by laying on plain paper, and smoothing with the hand. As soon as the last impression is taken be sure and wash off with a wet sponge.

TO BORE HOLES IN GLa.s.s.--Any hard steel tool will cut gla.s.s with great facility when kept freely wet with camphor dissolved in turpentine. A drill bow may be used, or even the hand alone. A hole bored may be readily enlarged by a round file. The ragged edges of gla.s.s vessels may also be thus easily smoothed by a flat file. Flat window gla.s.s can be readily sawed by a watch spring saw by aid of this solution. In short the most brittle gla.s.s can be wrought almost as easily as bra.s.s by the use of cutting tools kept constantly moist with Camphorized Oil of Turpentine.

TO ETCH UPON GLa.s.s.--Procure several thick, clear pieces of crown gla.s.s; and immerse them in Melted Wax, so that they may receive a complete coating, or pour over them a solution of Wax in Benzine. When perfectly cold draw on them with a fine steel point, flowers, trees, houses, portraits, etc. Whatever parts of the drawings are intended to be corroded with the acid should be perfectly free from the least particle of wax. When all these drawings are finished the pieces of gla.s.s must be immersed one by one in a square leaden box or receiver, where they are to be submitted to the action of Hydroflouric Acid Gas, made by acting on Powdered Flour-Spar by Concentrated Sulphuric Acid.

When the gla.s.ses are sufficiently corroded, they are to be taken out, and the wax is to be removed by first dipping them in warm and then in hot water, or by washing with turpentine or benzine. Various colors may be applied to the corroded parts of the gla.s.s, whereby a fine painting may be executed. In the same manner sentences and initials of names may be etched on wine-gla.s.ses, tumblers, etc.

RUBBER HAND STAMPS.--Set up the desired name and address in common type, oil the type, and place a guard about one-half inch high around the form. Now mix Plaster of Paris to the desired consistency, pour in and allow it to set. Have your Vulcanized Rubber all ready, as made in long strips three inches wide and one-eighth of an inch thick, cut off the size of the intended stamp. Remove the plaster cast from the type, and place both the cast and the rubber in a screw press, applying sufficient heat to thoroughly soften the rubber, then turn down the screw hard, and let it remain until the rubber receives the exact impression of the cast and becomes cold, when it is removed, neatly trimmed with a sharp knife, and cemented to the handle, ready for use.

COMMON TWIST CANDY.--Boil three pounds of common Sugar and one pint of water over a slow fire for half an hour without skimming. When boiled enough take it off, rub your hands over with b.u.t.ter; take that which is a little cooled and pull it as you would mola.s.ses candy, until it is white; then twist or braid it and cut it up in strips.

STICKY FLY PAPER.--Boiled Linseed Oil and Rosin; melt and add honey.

Soak the paper in a strong solution of Alum, then dry before applying the above.

KISS-ME-QUICK.--Spirits one gallon, Essence of Thyme one-fourth ounce, Essence of Orange Flowers two ounces, Essence of Neroli one-half ounce, Otto of Roses thirty drops, Essence of Jasmine one ounce, Essence of Balm Mint one-half ounce, Petals of Roses four ounces, Oil of Lemon twenty drops, Calorous Aromaticus one-half ounce, Essence Neroli one-fourth ounce. Mix and strain.

HOW TO TEST THE RICHNESS OF MILK.--Procure any long gla.s.s vessel--a cologne bottle or long phial. Take a narrow strip of paper, just the length from the neck to the bottom of the phial, and mark it off with 100 lines at equal distances, or into fifty lines, and count each as two, and paste upon the phial so as to divide its length into 100 equal parts. Fill it to the highest mark with milk fresh from the cow, and allow it to stand in a perpendicular position 24 hours. The number of s.p.a.ces occupied by the cream will give you its exact percentage in the milk without any guess work.

FINE PEPPERMINT LOZENGES.--Best powdered White Sugar seven pounds, pure Starch one pound, Oil of Peppermint to flavor. Mix with Mucilage.

HOW TO FASTEN RUBBER TO WOOD AND METAL.--As rubber plates and rings are nowadays used almost exclusively for making connections between steam and other pipes and apparatus, much annoyance is often experienced by the impossibility or imperfection of an air-tight connection. This is obviated entirely by employing a cement which fastens alike well to the rubber and to the metal or wood. Such cement is prepared by a solution of Sh.e.l.lac in Ammonia. This is best made by soaking pulverized Gum Sh.e.l.lac in ten times its weight of strong Ammonia, when a slimy ma.s.s is obtained, which in three or four weeks will become liquid without the use of hot water. This softens the rubber and becomes, after volatilization of the Ammonia, hard and impermeable to gases and fluids.

TO TRANSFER PRINTED MATTER AND PRINT FROM IT AGAIN.--Take your picture or print and soak it for a short time in a weak solution of Caustic Potash, then remove it carefully, and let it dry on a sheet of clean paper. Then take a piece of copper, zinc, or steel, which has previously been well cleaned, and dip it into hot white wax. Let the first coat set, then dip again. Having got the plate thoroughly coated and set, lay the matter to be transferred on the plate, and rub it gently all over on the back; now raise it up, and it will be transferred on to the wax on the plate. Now take needles of a different thickness, and scrawl all over the wax, following the lines of the engraving. Having got the picture all traced out, pour upon it some weak acid if you use zinc, which is too soft to print many from, therefore it is better to use copper or steel. If you use copper, make the following solution to pour over it: Verdigris four parts, Salt four parts, Sal Ammoniac four parts, Alum one part, Water sixteen parts, Sour Vinegar twelve parts. Dissolve by heat. For steel, use Pyroligneous Acid five parts, Alcohol one part, Nitric Acid one part.

Mix the first two, then add the Nitric Acid. Pouring the preparations over the plates where the traces of the pictures are, it will eat into the metal plate without affecting the wax. Let it stand till it has eaten a sufficient depth, then wash the plate with cold water, dry it and place it near the fire till all the wax is melted off. You can now print as many as you please from the plate by rubbing on it printer's ink, so as to fill all the fine s.p.a.ces; which, when done, wipe it over smoothly with clean cloths to remove the superfluous ink which is on the face of the plate. Now take damp paper or cardboard, and press it on the plate, either with a copying press or the hand, and you get a fine impression, or as many as you want by repeating the inking process. I would recommend beginners to try their skill with valueless prints before attempting to make transfers of fine engravings, as the picture to be transferred is destroyed by the process.

I.X.L. BAKING POWDER.--Take one pound Tartaric Acid in Crystals, one and one-half pounds Bi-Carbonate of Soda, and one and one-half pounds of Potash Starch. Each must be powdered separately, well dried by a slow heat, well mixed through a sieve. Pack hard in tinfoil, tin or paper glazed on the outside. The Tartaric Acid and Bi-Carbonate of Soda can of course be bought cheaper of wholesale druggists than you can make them, unless you are doing things on a large scale, but Potato Starch any one can make. It is only necessary to peel the potatoes and to grate them up fine into vessels of water, to let them settle, pour off the water, and make the settlings into b.a.l.l.s, and dry them. With these directions anyone can make as good baking-powder as is sold anywhere. If he wants to make it very cheap, he can take Cream of Tartar and common Washing (Carbonate) Soda, instead of the articles named in the recipe, but this would be advisable only where customers insist on excessively low prices in preference to quality of goods.

EVERLASTING FENCE POSTS.--I discovered many years ago that wood could be made to last longer than iron in the ground, but thought the process so simple and inexpensive that it was not worth while to make any stir about it. I would as soon have poplar, ba.s.swood, or quaking ash as any other kind of timber for fence posts. I have taken out ba.s.swood posts after having been set seven years, which were as sound when taken out as when they were first put in the ground. Time and weather seem to have no effect on them. The posts can be prepared for less than two cents apiece. This is the recipe: Take boiled Linseed Oil and stir it in pulverized Charcoal to the consistency of paint. Put a coat of this over the timber, and there is not a man that will live to see it rot.

LIQUID GLUE.--To one ounce of Borax in one pint of boiling water, add two ounces of Sh.e.l.lac, and boil until the Sh.e.l.lac is dissolved.

TO MEND TINWARE BY THE HEAT OF A CANDLE.--Take a phial about two-thirds full of Muriatic Acid and put into it little bits of Sheet Zinc as long as it dissolves them; then put in a crumb of Sal Ammoniac and fill up with water and it is ready to use. Then with the cork of the phial, wet the place to be mended with the preparation; then put a piece of Zinc over the hole and hold a lighted candle or spirit lamp under the place, which melts the solder on the tin, and causes the zinc to adhere without further trouble. Wet the zinc also with the solution; or a little solder may be put on instead of the zinc or with the zinc.

TO WHITEN AND SOFTEN THE HANDS.--Take one-half lb. Mutton Tallow, one ounce Camphor Gum, one ounce Glycerine; melt, and when thoroughly mixed, set away to cool. Rub the hands with this every night.

A BRANDING INK.--A waterproof branding ink, good for marking sheep: Sh.e.l.lac two ounces, Borax two ounces, Water twenty-four ounces, Gum Arabic two ounces, Lamp Black sufficient. Boil the Borax and Sh.e.l.lac in the water till they are dissolved, and withdraw them from the fire.

When the solution becomes cold, complete 25 ounces with water, and add Lamp Black enough to bring the preparation to a suitable consistency.

When it is to be used with a stencil it must be made thicker than when it is used with a brush. The above gives black ink. For red ink subst.i.tute Venetian Red for Lamp Black; for blue Ultramarine; and for green a mixture of Ultramarine and Chrome Yellow.

FRENCH POLISH, or DRESSING FOR LEATHER.--Mix two pints best Vinegar with one pint soft water. Stir into it one-fourth pound Glue, broken up, one-half pound Logwood chips, one-fourth ounce finely powdered Indigo, one-fourth ounce best soft Soap, and one-fourth Isingla.s.s. Put the mixture over the fire, and let it boil ten minutes or more; then strain, bottle and cork. When cold it is fit for use. Apply with a sponge.

NEW YORK BARBER'S STAR HAIR OIL.--Castor Oil six and one-half pints, Alcohol one and one-half pints, Citronella and Lavender Oil, each one-half ounce.

BARBER'S SHAMPOOING MIXTURE.--Soft Water one pint, Sal Soda one ounce, Cream Tartar one-fourth ounce. Apply thoroughly to the hair.

CRUCIBLES.--The best crucibles are made of a pure fire clay, mixed with finely ground cement of oil crucibles, and a portion of black lead or graphite; some pounded c.o.ke may be mixed with the plumbago. The clay should be prepared in a similar way as for making pottery ware. The vessels, after being formed, must be slowly dried, and then properly baked in a kiln.

_Black Lead Crucibles_ are made of two parts of Graphite and one of Fire Clay, mixed with Water into a paste, pressed in moulds, and well dried, but not baked hard in the kiln. This compound forms excellent small or portable furnaces.

WHAT TO INVENT, AND HOW TO PROTECT YOUR INVENTION.

WHAT TO INVENT.--Cheap, useful articles that will sell at sight.

Something that everyone needs, and the poorest can afford. Invent simple things for the benefit of the ma.s.ses, and your fortune is made.

Some years back a one-armed soldier ama.s.sed a fortune from a single toy--a wooden ball attached to a rubber string. They cost scarcely anything, yet millions were sold at a good price. A German became enormously rich by patenting a simple wooden plug for beer barrels.

"What man has done, man may do."

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR INVENTION.--Patent it. If you do not, others will reap the benefits that rightfully belong to you.

A PATENT IS A PROTECTION given to secure the inventor in the profits arising from the manufacture and sale of an article of his own creation.

TO WHOM LETTERS PATENT ARE GRANTED.--Section 4886 of the Revised Statutes of the United States provides that: "Any person who has invented or discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, not known or used by others in this country, and not patented or described in any printed publication in this or any foreign country, before his invention or discovery thereof, and not in public use, or on sale for more than two years prior to his application, unless the same is proved to have been abandoned, may, upon the payment of the fees required by law, and other due proceedings had, obtain a patent therefor."

And section 4888 of the same Statute enacts: