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Cements (Floors for plain country)

floors for plain country habitations is as follows: the lime, and an intimate union formed by the take lime and coal-ashes well sifted, with a heat. small quantity of loam clay; mix the whole together and temper it well with water, making it up into a heap; let it lie a week or 10 days and then temper it over again. After this, heap it up for 3 or 4 days, and repeat the tempering very high till it becomes smooth, yielding, tough and gluey. The ground being then levelled, lay the floor therewith about 2 or 3 in. thick, making it smooth with a trowel. The hotter the season is, the better; and when it is thoroughly dried, it will make the best floor for houses, especially malt-houses.

Pew's Composition for Roofing Buildings.

Take the hardest and purest limestone (white marble is to be preferred), free from sand, clay or other matter; calcine it in a reverberatory furnace, pulverize and pass through a sieve. One part, by weight, is to be mixed with 2 parts of clay well baked and similarly pulverized, conducting the whole operation with great care. This forms the In mixing cement for cast-iron, put 1 oz. of sal ammoniac to each hundredweight of borings, and use it without allowing it to heat. Multiply the length of any joint in ft. by the breadth in in., by the thickness in eighths, and by 3; the product will be the weight of dry borings, in lbs. avoirdupois, required to make cement to fill that joint nearly.

Or, take of sal ammoniac, 2 oz.; flowers of sulphur, 1 oz.; clean cast-iron borings or filings, 16 oz.: mix them well in a mortar, and keep them dry. When required for use, take 1 part of this powder and 20 parts of clean iron borings or filings, mix thoroughly in a mortar, make the mixture into a stiff paste with a little water, and apply it between the joints, and screw them together.

A little fine grindstone sand added improves the cement.

A mixture of white paint with red lead, spread on canvas or woollen, and placed between the be often separated.

In 100 lbs. of iron borings mix 1 oz. of flowers of sulphur, and add 1 oz. of sal ammoniac, dissolved in hot water. To Preserve for Use. first powder. The second is to be made of 1 part joints, is best adapted for joints that require to of calcined and pulverized gypsum, to which added 2 parts of clay baked and pulverized. These two powders are to be combined and intimately incorporated, so as to form a perfect mixture.

When it is to be used, mix it with about part of its weight of water, added gradually, stirring the mass well the whole time, until it forms a thick paste, in which state it is to be spread like mortar upon the desired surface. It becomes in time as hard as stone, allows no moisture to penetrate, and is not cracked by heat. When well prepared it will last any length of time. When in its plastic or soft state, it may be colored of any desired tint. Zeiodelite.

Zeiodelite is made by mixing together 19 lbs. of sulphur and 42 lbs. of pulverized stoneware and glass. The mixture is exposed to a gentle heat, which melts the sulphur, and then the mass is stirred till it becomes thoroughly homogeneous, when it is run into suitable moulds and allowed to cool. This preparation is proof against acids in general, whatever their degree of concentration, and will last an indefinite time. It melts at about 248°, and may be re-employed without loss of any of its qualities, whenever it is desirable to change the form of an apparatus, by melting at a gentle heat and operating as with asphalte. At 230° it becomes as compact as stone, and therefore preserves its solidity in boiling water. Slabs of zeiodelite may be joined by introducing between them some of the paste heated to 392°, which will melt the edges of the slabs, and when the whole becomes cold it will present one uniform piece. Chambers lined with zeiodelite, in place of lead, the inventor says, will enable manufacturers to produce acids free from nitrate and sulphate of lead. The cost will be only one-fifth the price of lead. The compound is also said to be #uperior to hydraulic lime for uniting stone and resisting the action of water.

To make Cement for Canals.

Take 1 part of iron filings, reduced to sifted powder, 3 parts of silica, 4 parts of red clay, the same quantity of pulverized brick, and 2 parts of hot lime; the whole measured by weight and not by bulk.

Pack it close in an iron vessel, and cover with water.

For Mending Iron Retorts.

Fifteen lbs. fire-clay, 1 lb. saleratus, with water sufficient to make a thick paste. This mixture must be applied to the broken part of the retort when the retort is at a good working heat; after this has been done, cover it with fine coal dust, and charge the retort for working.

Cement for Rock-work and Reservoirs.

Where a great quantity of cement is wanted for coarser uses, the coal-ash mortar (or Welsh tarras) is the cheapest and best, and will hold extremely well, not only where it is constantly kept wet or dry, but even where it is sometimes dry and at others wet; but where it is liable to be exposed to wet and frost, this cement should, at its being laid on, be suffered to dry thoroughly before any moisture has access to it; and, in that case, it will likewise be a great improvement to temper it with the blood of any beast.

The mortar must be formed of 1 part lime and 2 parts of well-sifted coal-ashes, and they must be thoroughly mixed by being beaten together; for on the perfect commixture of the ingredients the goodness of the composition depends.

To make Mortar.

Mortar is composed of quicklime and sand, reduced to a paste with water. The lime ought to be pure, completely free from carbonic acid, and in the state of a very fine powder; the sand should be free from clay, partly in the state of fine sand, and partly in that of gravel; the water should be pure, and, if previously saturated with lime, so much the better. The best proportions are 3 parts of fine, and 4 parts of coarse sand, 1 part of quicklime, recently slaked, and as little water as possible. There should always be enough water added at first; if water is added after the slaking has begun, it will be chilled and the mortar lumpy.

The addition of burnt bones improves mortar by giving it tenacity and renders it less apt to crack in drying; but they ought never to exceed of the lime employed.

Put the mixture into a large wooden tub, in order that nothing foreign may be introduced into it. If sufficient water is poured out to extinguish the lime and give a degree of liquidness to the cement, and if all the component parts are briskly When a little manganese is added to mortar, it stirred, a great degree of heat will be emitted from | acquires the important property of hardening under water; so that it may be employed in constructing those edifices which are constantly exposed to the action of water. Limestone is often combined with manganese; in that case it becomes brown by calcination.

Tunisian Cement.

This is composed of 3 parts of lime, 1 of sand, and 2 of wood-ashes; these ingredients are mixed up with oil and water alternately, till they compose a paste of the desired consistency. Water-cement, or Stucco.

Take 56 lbs. of pure coarse sand, 42 lbs. of pure fine sand; mix them together, and moisten them thoroughly with lime-water; to the wetted sand add 14 lbs. of pure fresh-burnt lime, and while beating them up together add, in successive portions, 14 lbs. of bone-ash. The quicker and more perfectly these materials are beaten together, and the sooner they are used, the better will be the cement; for some kinds of work it will be better to use fine sand alone, and for others coarse sand, remembering the finer the sand is the greater quantity of lime is to be employed.

To make a Fire and Water-proof Cement.

To pt. of vinegar add the same quantity of milk; separate the curd, and mix the whey with the whites of 5 eggs; beat it well together, and sift into it a sufficient quantity of quicklime, to convert it to the consistency of a thick paste.

Broken vessels mended with this cement never afterwards separate, for it resists the action of both fire and water.

Turkish Cement for Joining Metals, Glass, etc.

Dissolve mastic in as much spirit of wine as will suffice to render it liquid; in another vessel dissolve as much isinglass (which has been previously soaked in water till it is swollen and soft) in brandy as will make 2 oz. by measure of strong glue, and add two small bits of gum-galbanum or ammoniacum, which must be rubbed or ground till they are dissolved; then mix the whole with a sufficient heat; keep it in a phial stopped, and when it is to be used set it in hot water.

Solution of India-rubber.

A solution of caoutchouc, or India-rubber, for repairing india-rubber shoes, is prepared in the following manner: Cut 2 lbs. of caoutchouc into thin, small slices; put them in a vessel of tinned sheet-iron, and pour over 12 to 14 lbs. of sulphide of carbon. For the promotion of solution place the vessel in another containing water previously heated up to about 86° Fahr. The solution will take place promptly, but the fluid will thicken very soon, and thus render the application difficult, if not impossible. In order to prevent this thickening and difficulty, a solution of caoutchouc and rosin (colophony) in spirits of turpentine must be added to the solution of caoutchouc in sulphide of carbon, and in such quantity that the mixture obtains the consistency of a thin paste. The solution of caoutchouc and rosin in spirit of turpentine should be prepared as follows: Cut1 lb. of caoutchouc into thin, small slices; heat them in a suitable vessel over a moderate coal fire, until the caoutchouc becomes fluid; then add lb. of powdered rosin, and melt both materials at a moderate heat. When these materials are perfectly fluid, then gradually add 3 or 4 lbs. of spirit of turpentine in small portions, and stir well. By the addition of the last solution, the rapid thickening and hardening of the compound will be prevented, and a mixture obtained fully answering the purpose of gluing together rubber surfaces, etc. Marine Glue.

Cut 3 parts India-rubber into small pieces, and dissolve it by heat and agitation in 34 parts of cold naphtha, chloroform, or benzine; add to this 64 parts of powdered shellac, and heat the whole with constant stirring until the shellac is dissolved; then pour it while hot on metal plates, to form sheets. When used it must be heated to 248° Fahr., and applied with a brush.

Water-proof Glue.

Fine shreds of India-rubber dissolved in warm copal varnish, make a water-proof cement for wood and leather.

Another. Glue, 12 oz.; water, sufficient to dissolve it; add 3 oz. of rosin, melt them together, and add 4 parts of turpentine or benzine. This should be done in a carpenter's glue-pot, to avoid burning.

A New Cement.

M. Edmund Davy prepares a new cement, which is well spoken of, by melting in an iron vessel equal parts of common pitch and gutta-percha. It is kept either liquid under water, or solid to be melted when wanted. It is not attacked by water, and adheres firmly to wood, stone, glass, porcelain, ivory, leather, parchment-paper, feathers, wool, cotton, hemp, and linen fabrics, and even to varnish.

Aquaria Cement.

One part, by measure, of litharge; 1 part plaster of Paris; 1 part fine beach-sand; part fine powdered rosin; mix all together. This may be kept for years, while dry, in a well-corked bottle; when used, make in a putty with boiled linseedoil; a little patent dryer may be used; it will stand water at once, either salt or fresh.

New Gutta-percha Cements. fabrics: Gutta-percha, 40 lbs.; caoutchouc, 3 lbs.; For uniting sheet gutta-percha to silk or other shellac, 3 lbs.; Canada balsam, or Venice turpentine, 14 lbs.; liquid styrax, 35 lbs.; gum mastic, 4 lbs.; oxide of lead, 1 lb.

For uniting sheet gutta-percha to leather, as soles of shoes, etc.: Gutta-percha, 50 lbs.; Venice turpentine, 40 lbs.; shellac, 4 lbs.; caoutchouc, 1 lb.; liquid styrax, 5 lbs.

Metallic Cement.

A metallic cement, which answers for all purposes and becomes hard in the heat, may be obtained in the following way: One hundred parts of oxide of zinc, with the same quantity of sulphate of lead, are triturated with 30 parts of linseed-oil, and then a mixture consisting of 100 parts of black oxide of manganese and 100 parts of peroxide of iron added until the mass forms a stiff dough. This is beaten in a mortar for 12 hours, during which the remainder of the above mixture of iron and manganese is added by degrees. The goodness of the cement may be recognized by its not crumbling when rolled out between the fingers tween the fingers.

Cement for Stoneware, by M. Heller.

Gelatine is allowed to swell in cold water, the jelly warmed, and so much recently-slaked lime added as is requisite to render the mass sufficiently thick for the purpose. A thin coating of this cement is spread while warm over the gently-heated surfaces of fracture of the articles, and let dry under a strong pressure. What oozes out is removed directly with a moist rag. Yates' Water-proof Cement.

Take of the best glue 4 oz.; of isinglass, 2 oz., and dissolve them in mild ale over a slow fire, in glue, when 14 oz. of well boiled linseed-oil must a common glue-kettle, to the consistency of strong be gradually added, and the whole be well mixed by stirring. When cold and made into cakes it