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Chemical Receipts (By using about th of potatoes)

By using about 1-50th of potatoes to the weight of water in a boiler, scale will be prevented, but not removed. Their action is mechanical; they coat the calcareous particles in the water, and prevent them from adhering to the metal.

Extract of Oak Bark.

A mixture has been used of 12 parts of chloride of sodium, 2½ parts of caustic soda, & extract of oak bark, of potash, for the boilers of stationary and locomotive engines. The principal agent in this case appears to be the tannin or the extract of oak bark. Pieces of Oak Wood, Suspended in the boiler and renewed monthly, prevent all deposit; even from water containing a large quantity of lime. The action depends principally upon the tannic acid.

Sawdust.

Mahogany and oak sawdust has been used to prevent and remove scale; but care must be exercised not to allow it to choke up pipes leading to and from the boiler. Catechu contains tannic acid, and has also been used satisfactorily for boilers. A very small quantity of free tannic acid will attack the iron; therefore, a very limited quantity of these substances should be employed.

Slippery-Elm Bark.

This article has also been used with some suc- Bess in preventing and removing incrustations.

Soda.

The carbonate of soda has the sanction of Professors Kuhlman and Fresenius, of Germany, Grace Calvert, of England, and others. It is satisfactorily employed for the purpose. Tin Salt.

The chloride of tin is equal to the muriate of ammonia, and is similar in its action in preventing scale. Extract of Tobacco, and Spent Tanner's Bark Have been employed with some degree of satisfaction. The sulphate, not the carbonate, of lime, is the chief agent in forming incrustations.

By frequent blowing off, incrustations from carbonate of lime in water will be greatly prevented. Ammonia.

The muriate of ammonia softens old incrustations. Its action is chemical; it decomposes the scale. About 2 oz. placed in a boiler, twice per week, have kept it clean, without attacking the metal.

Fatty Oils.

It is stated that oils and tallow in a boiler prevent incrustations. A mixture, composed of 3 parts of black-lead, and 18 parts of tallow, applied hot, in coating the interior of a boiler, has been found to prevent scale. It should be applied every few weeks.

Molasses.

About 13 lbs. of molasses, fed occasionally into a boiler of 8-horse power, has prevented incrustations for 6 months. Curious Mode of Silvering Ivory.

Immerse a small slip of ivory in a weak solution of nitrate of silver, and let it remain till the solution has given it a deep yellow color; then take it out and immerse it in a tumbler of clear water, and expose it in the water to the rays of the sun.

In about 3 hours the ivory acquires a black color; but the black surface on being rubbed, soon becomes changed to a brilliant silver. Soluble Silica.

Add to soluble glass (water-glass) an excess of muriatic acid; put it into a box, the bottom of which is made of parchment-paper, afloat on the surface of water (dialysis); after a few days silica, combined with water, will be found in the box. It may be used for the preservation of building-stone, or to render wood fire and water proof.

Stoppers of Bottles for Chemical Re-agents.

Paraffine is the best material for lubricating the stoppers of bottles containing caustic alkali, as it is not acted upon by chemical agents under ordinary circumstances, and lubricates perfectly. To Loosen Tight Stoppers. 1. Tap the stopper gently, upwards and sidewise, with a bit of wood. 2. Fasten the upper part of the stopper in the crack of a door or a drawer, and work the bottle gently from side to side. 3. Fasten a string firmly around the stopper (see KNOTS), attach it to a fixed body, and jerk the bottle suddenly downward. 4. When the stopper adheres on account of the solidification of matters dissolved in the liquid in the bottle, a little of the same liquid poured around the base of the stopper, and allowed to remain awhile will often dissolve the hardened matter, and free the stopper. 5. The most effectual way, but one requiring care, is to heat the neck of the bottle evenly and rapidly over an alcohol or gas-flame. The neck expands sooner than the stopper, and it is very rarely that any difficulty is found in the removal of the latter. If the bottle contain inflammable liquids, it is safer to wrap a cloth dipped in boiling water around the neck, instead of exposing it to the naked flame.

To Remove Ink from Paper.

Wash alternately, with a camel's-hair brush, dipped in a solution of oxalic acid and cyanide of potassium.

Artificial Tourmalines.

Dissolve 50 grains of disulphate of quinine in 2 fl. oz. of acetic acid, and 2 oz. of proof-spirit, warmed to 130° Fahr., in a very wide-mouthed flask or glass beaker; then slowly add 50 drops of a mixture of 40 grs. of iodine in 1 oz. of recti fied spirits; agitate the mixture, and then set it carefully aside for 6 hours, in an apartment maintained at a temperature of about 50° Fahr. The utmost care must be taken to avoid any motion of the vessel; indeed, all accidental vibrations should be guarded against by suspending the vessel by a string, or by allowing it to rest on a mass of cotton and wool. If, in 6 hours, the large laminæ of the salt have not formed, warm the fluid with a spirit-lamp, and when it has become clear, add a few drops of the solution of iodine in spirit. The large laminæ form on the top of the fluid, and should be removed carefully by gliding under one of them a circular piece of thin glass. The specimen should be drained by resting the edge of the glass on a piece of bibulous paper, but it must not be touched on account of its extreme fragility; if any small crystals adhere to its surface, they must be washed off by pouring over it a few drops of watery solution of iodine. When dry the specimen should be placed for a few minutes under a bell-glass by the side of a watch-glass, containing a few drops of tincture of iodine; and, lastly, a very little fluid Canada balsam should be dropped on it, and a thin glass cover applied without heat.

Specimens may thus be obtained of extreme thinness, and an inch in diameter, or even larger, possessing scarcely the slightest color, and yet completely polarizing transmitted light.

New Materials for Buttons.

Excellent buttons, and even handsome cameos,