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Sealing-Wax (Casts required)

casts required for the purposes of dentistry, the models of jewellers, and other articles requiring sharp and smooth edges and sides.

The collodion oil-liquid, when very thin, may also be employed as a varnish for pictures, prints, etc.

Artificial Wood.

In one of his last lectures at the "Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers," M. Payen called the attention of his hearers to the process of making a kind of ebony or artificial wood, very hard, very heavy, and capable of receiving a very high polish and a brilliant varnish. M. Ladry, the inventor of this process, takes very fine saw-dust, mixes it with blood from the slaughter-houses, and submits the resulting paste to a very heavy pressure obtained by the hydraulic press. If the paste has been enclosed in moulds it will take the form of the moulds, and resembles pieces of ebony carved by a skilful hand.

Another curious application of this paste consists in the formation of brushes; the bristles are arranged in the paste while yet soft; the paste is covered by a plate pierced with holes, through which the bristles pass; the pressure is then applied and brushes are obtained, made of a single piece cheaper and more lasting than the usual kind. This artificial wood of M. Ladry is much heavier than common woods.

Blood Cement for Coppersmiths.

A cement often used by coppersmiths to lay over the rivets and edges of the sheets of copper in large boilers, to serve as an additional security to the joinings, and to secure cocks, etc., from leaking, is made by mixing pounded quicklime with ox's blood. It must be applied fresh made, as it soon gets hard. If the properties of this cement were duly investigated, it would probably be found useful for many purposes to which it has never yet been applied. It is extremely cheap, and very durable.

Entomologist's Cement.

To a solution of gum ammoniac in proof spirit, add the best isinglass, and unite them with a gentle heat. The great value of this cement consists in the readiness with which it melts, and the little tendency it has to be affected by moisture. It is generally employed by entomologists in rejoining the dislocated parts of insects, for which it is very convenient.

Japanese Cement, or Rice Glue.

This elegant cement is made by mixing riceflour intimately with cold water, and then gently boiling it; it is beautifully white, and dries almost transparent. Papers pasted together by means of this cement will sooner separate in their own substance than at the joining, which makes it useful in the preparation of curious paper articles, as tea-trays, ladies' dressing boxes, and other objects that require layers of paper to be cemented together.