A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts and Interesting Experiments Part 1

A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts and Interesting Experiments.

by Various Unknown.

CURIOUS ARTS.

1. WATER-PROOF GILDING AND SILVERING.--This kind of gilding, usually termed oil gilding, being the cheapest and most durable, is in general use for gilding or silvering letters on signs, labels, &c. and may be performed as follows:--Grind one ounce of white lead and two ounces of litharge, very fine, in a gill of old linseed oil, and if convenient, add nearly one-fourth of a gill of old copal varnish, and half an ounce of stone yellow; but neither of these last, are very essential ingredients. Expose this composition to the rays of the sun for a week or more in a broad open vessel, observing, however, to keep it free from dust. Then pour off the finest part, and dilute it with as much spirits of turpentine as will make it work freely with a brush or camel-hair pencil. (Oil that will answer exceedingly well for this purpose, may sometimes be collected from the top of oil paints that have been long standing, and may be used directly, without being exposed to the sun as directed above.) Whatever letters or figures you would gild, must be first drawn or painted with this sizing, the ground having been previously painted and varnished; and when the sizing is so dry as to be hard, but yet remains slightly adhesive, or sticky, lay on gold or silver leaves smoothly over the whole, pressing them down gently with a soft ball of cotton. The most convenient manner of performing this, is to lay the leaves of gold or silver, first on a piece of deer-skin or glove-leather, and cut them into pieces of a convenient size, by drawing a smooth (not sharp) edged knife over them. Then take a small block of wood, of a triangular form, about half an inch thick, and two inches in diameter, and bind a strip of fine flannel round the edges;--breathe on this, and press it gently on a piece of the leaf, which by this may be taken from the leather, and carried to any part of the sizing where it will best fit, and to which it will readily adhere: thus the sizing may be readily covered with the leaf, very little of which will be wasted. Afterward the whole may be brushed over lightly with cotton, or a soft brush, and the superfluous gold or silver will be brushed off, leaving the letters or figures entire. When the work has thus remained two or three days, it may be rubbed with a piece of silk, which will increase its metallic l.u.s.tre. _Note._--It is very essential that the varnish of the ground should be thoroughly dry, that it may not be adhesive in the least degree, otherwise the leaf will stick where it should not, and materially injure the work. When plain gilding is required for vanes, b.a.l.l.s, &c. the leaves of gold or silver may be applied to the work directly from the book, without cutting or dividing them.

2. THE ART OF BURNISH GILDING.--Make a sizing by boiling the skins of beaver and musk rats, (which may be readily procured at a hat manufactory,) in water, till it is of sufficient strength that by cooling it will become a stiff jelly; strain the liquor while warm, and give your work one coat of it with a brush; when this is dry, add a little fine whiting to the sizing, and give the work one coat of this.

Then add as much whiting as will work freely under the brush, and lay on five or six coats of this, allowing each a sufficient time to dry.

Smooth the work by wetting it, and rubbing it with a piece of pumice stone, which should be previously cut and fitted to the moulding or other work that is to be gilt; afterward, when the work is dry, rub it with some fine sand paper. Then take some burnish-gold-size (which is composed of pipe-clay, plumbago, beef tallow and castile soap, but may be easily procured ready made,) and dilute it with water till it is of the consistence of very soft putty, and afterward with the above mentioned sizing till it will flow freely from a brush, and give the work three successive coats of this; when the last is dry, dip a camel-hair pencil in a mixture of equal quant.i.ties of rum and water, and with it wet a small part of the work, and immediately, while it is flowing, lay on a leaf of gold, brushing it down with a very soft, flat camel-hair brush, with which also, the leaf is usually conveyed from the book to the sizing; proceed thus till the whole is gilt, and let it dry. When the work is sufficiently dry to take a fair polish by burnishing, (which can be only ascertained by applying the burnisher to different parts of the work occasionally while it is drying,) rub over the whole carefully with a flint burnisher, or with the tooth of a wolf or dog, being fixed in a convenient handle, till the whole acquires a brilliant polish, except such parts as are required to remain in a rough-gilt state, which parts are usually flatted by a coat of thin sizing. Such are the princ.i.p.al rules of the art of burnish gilding; but as this business requires some variation of management, according to the state of the weather and other circ.u.mstances, it may not be expected that any person should become very expert in the art, without the advantage of some experience and practice.

3. ORNAMENTAL BRONZE GILDING.--This is performed by means of gold or silver, reduced to an impalpable powder, called bronze. One method of preparing it, is to levigate any quant.i.ty of gold or silver leaves on a stone, with some clarified honey; dilute the honey with clear water, that the bronze may settle; pour off the water and honey, and add fresh water to the bronze, which, after being thus thoroughly washed, may be dried on paper, and is ready for use. Another method of preparing the gold bronze, is to precipitate the gold from its solution in nitro-muriatic acid, (see 5,) by adding sulphate of iron to the solution;--then washing it, as directed above. But in general it will be found much cheaper to buy the bronze ready prepared. The ground for this work must be varnished with a mixture of copal varnish, with an equal quant.i.ty of old linseed oil; and whatever figures are to be formed in bronzing, must be represented by holes cut through pieces of paper. Lay these patterns on the work, when the varnish is so dry as to be but slightly adhesive, but not press them down any more than is requisite to keep the paper in its place. Then take a piece of soft glove-leather, moisten it a little by breathing on it, and dip it in some dry bronze, and apply it to the figures, beginning at the edges;--tap the figure gently with the leather, and the bronze will stick to the varnish according to the pattern. Thus any figure may be produced in a variety of shades, by applying the bronze more freely to some parts of the work than to others. If some internal parts of the figures require to be more distinct than others, they may be wrought by their peculiar patterns, or may be edged with dark coloured paint. In some work it may be well to extend the varnish no farther than the intended figures, in which case, any projecting or branching parts of the figures, may be drawn with a camel-hair pencil, and the patterns may in some measure be dispensed with. In either case, the work must afterwards have one or more coats of copal or sh.e.l.lac varnish.

4. TO ENAMEL PICTURE GLa.s.sES WITH GOLD.--The gla.s.s must first be washed perfectly clean and dried; then damp it by breathing on it, or wet it with the tongue, and immediately lay on a leaf of gold, and brush it down smooth. When this is dry, draw any letters or flowers on the gold with Brunswick blacking, (see 51) and when dry, the superfluous gold may be brushed off with cotton, leaving the figures entire. Afterward the whole may be covered with blacking, or painted in any colour, while the gold figures will appear to advantage on the opposite side of the gla.s.s. This work may be elegantly shaded by scratching through the gold with a small steel instrument, (in the end of which many sharp points are formed,) previous to laying on the blacking. Oil paints of any kind may be subst.i.tuted in the place of the blacking, but will not dry so quick.

5. TO WASH IRON OR STEEL WITH GOLD.--Mix together in a phial, one part of nitric acid, with two parts of muriatic acid, and add as much fine gold as the acid will dissolve. For this purpose gold leaf is the most convenient, as it will be the most readily dissolved. (This solution is called the nitro-muriate of gold.) Pour over this solution, cautiously, about half as much sulphuric ether;--shake the mixture, and then allow it to settle. The ether will take the gold from the acid, and will separate itself from it also, and form an upper stratum in the phial. Carefully pour off this auriferous ether into another phial, and cork it close. Wash any piece of steel or iron with this ether, and immediately plunge it in cold water, and it will have acquired a coat of pure gold. With this also, any flowers or letters may be drawn or written, even with a pen, and will appear perfectly gilt. The steel or iron should afterward be heated as much as it will bear without changing colour, and if the steel be previously polished, the beauty of the gilding may be much increased by burnishing with a cornelian or blood stone.

6. TO WASH BRa.s.s OR COPPER WITH SILVER.--To half an ounce of nitric acid in a phial, add one ounce of water, and one fourth of an ounce of good silver. It will soon be dissolved, and if the acid and metal are both pure, the solution, (which is called nitrate of silver) will be transparent and colourless. Add to this a solution of nearly two drachms of muriate of soda, in any quant.i.ty of water; this will precipitate the silver in a white opaque ma.s.s. Pour off the water with the acid, and add to the silver an equal quant.i.ty of super-tartrate of pota.s.s, thus forming a soft paste;--dip a piece of soft leather in his paste, and rub it on the metal to be silvered; continue rubbing it till it is nearly dry; then wash it with water, and polish by rubbing it hard with a piece of dry leather. Another method is, to add sub-carbonate of pota.s.s to the nitrate of silver, as long as ebulition ensues; then the acid is poured off, and the precipitate, (which is white at first, but becomes green when dry,) is mixed with double its quant.i.ty of muriate of soda, and super-tartrate of pota.s.s. With this composition, being moistened, the metal is rubbed over, &c.

7. TO GIVE WOOD A GOLD, SILVER, OR COPPER l.u.s.tRE.--Grind about two ounces of white beach sand in a gill of water, in which half an ounce of gum-arabic has been dissolved, and brush over the work with it.

When this is dry, the work may be rubbed over with a piece of gold, silver or copper, and will in a measure, a.s.sume their respective colours and brilliancy. This work may be polished by a flint burnisher, but should not be varnished.

8. TO PRINT GOLD LETTERS ON MOROCCO.--First wet the morocco with the whites of eggs; when this is dry, rub the work over with a little olive oil, and lay on gold leaves. Then take some common printing types, and heat them to the temperature of boiling water, and impress the letters on the gold;--rub the whole with a piece of flannel, and the superfluous gold will come off, leaving the letters handsomely gilt. Another method is, to strew powdered rosin over the morocco previous to laying on the leaf; the heat of the types melts the rosin, which occasions the gold to adhere in the impressions, while the other may be brushed off.

9. TO DYE SILK A BRILLIANT GOLD COLOUR.--Take any quant.i.ty of nitro-muriate of gold, (see 5) and evaporate by exposing it to a gentle heat in a gla.s.s tumbler or phial; the gold will form itself in crystals on the bottom and sides of the vessel; collect these crystals and dissolve them in ten times their weight of pure water. Then put a gill of water into a common flask, and add one ounce of granulated zinc, and one-fourth of an ounce of sulphuric acid. Hydrogen gas will be evolved, and rise through the neck of the flask, which must not be stopped. Immerse a piece of white silk in the above mentioned aqueous solution of gold, and expose it, while wet, to the current of gas as it rises from the flask; the gold will soon be revived, and the silk will become beautifully and permanently gilt. Any letters or flowers may be drawn on the silk with a camel-hair pencil dipped in the solution, and on being exposed to the action of the gas, will be revived and shine with metallic brilliancy. _Note._--The silk must be kept moist with water till the gold is revived. Zinc may be prepared for the above purpose, by melting it, and stirring it continually with a stick or iron rod while it is cooling; or it may be pulverized with a hammer as soon as it becomes solid.

10. TO DYE SILK A BRILLIANT SILVER COLOUR.--Proceed as directed in the last experiment, only use the nitrate of silver, (see 6) instead of nitro-muriate of gold. The process of crystalizing, re-dissolving, &c.

is the same. But the crystals of silver differ in colour, being white, whereas those produced from gold are yellow. If a jar, or box be filled with hydrogen gas, and the silk suspended in it, the action of the gas, and consequently the revivification of the metals will be more uniform. For small figures, however, it may be as well to fix a stopper in the flask, having a small orifice through it, that the gas may be thrown with some force on the silk, and will have a more certain effect. A solution of muriate of tin may be managed in a similar manner, but none of these solutions can be thus revived on paper.

11. TO SILVER LOOKING GLa.s.sES.--Lay on a smooth board, a piece of soft deer-skin leather, rather larger than the gla.s.s that is to be silvered; and on the leather, having sprinkled a little fine whiting, spread a piece of tin foil of the same size. Pour on a few drops of mercury, and brush it over the tin with a smooth brush, till every part of the tin becomes bright. Then add as much mercury as will lay on the tin, and upon this lay the gla.s.s to be silvered: on the gla.s.s lay another piece of leather, of the same size, and on that another board.--Take up the boards with the gla.s.s, and pressing the boards together, turn them with the gla.s.s, the other side up; take off the upper board, and pa.s.s the gla.s.s with the tin and leather, between two rollers, similar to those of a rolling press, for copper-plate printing; thus to press out the mercury from between the tin and the gla.s.s. Then place the gla.s.s between the boards again as before, and place a heavy weight (which cannot be too heavy, unless it breaks the gla.s.s) on the upper board, which must remain two or three days. The gla.s.s may then be taken up. The practice of some is, to lay thin paper on the mercury previous to laying on the gla.s.s; this paper, being carefully drawn out, after the gla.s.s is laid on, serves to remove the superfluous mercury, that the tin may come more nearly in contact with the gla.s.s. In this case, no rollers are used. Concave or other fancy gla.s.ses may be silvered, by making an impression with the gla.s.s, in a kind of putty, made of fine sulphate of lime and water; and placing the gla.s.s in the impression again with the tin foil and mercury, when the plaster is dry, and subjecting it to pressure two or three days in that situation. The experiment of silvering gla.s.s may be performed by rubbing a drop of mercury on a small piece of tin foil, and pressing it upon a piece of gla.s.s with the finger, or a piece of soft leather.

In this case, the gla.s.s will have acquired the reflective property of a mirror; and if a similar pressure be continued a few hours, the tin will adhere permanently.

12. TO WRITE ON PAPER WITH GOLD OR SILVER.--Make a sizing as strong as will flow freely from the pen, by dissolving equal quant.i.ties of gum-arabic and loaf sugar in water; write with this on paper and let it dry; then moisten the paper by breathing on it, or by holding it over hot water, and immediately lay pieces of gold or silver leaf on the lines of the writing, pressing them down gently with a dry hair pencil. Otherwise, brush gold or silver bronze lightly over the writing; but this will not have so brilliant an appearance. Allow the sizing to dry again, and then brush off the redundant gold or silver with cotton. This writing, (if performed with leaf gold or silver) may be burnished with a flint burnisher or a cornelian or blood-stone.

Gold letters may also be written or drawn with a hair pencil by means of gold bronze, mixed with weak gum-water, to which may be added a little solution of soap, which will make it run more freely. But no preparation of solution of gold has yet been discovered, which may be easily revived on paper.

13. TO MAKE GOOD SHINING BLACK INK.--Take two ounces of nut-galls in coa.r.s.e powder; one ounce of logwood in thin chips; one ounce of sulphate of iron; three-fourths of an ounce of gum-arabic; one-fourth of an ounce of sulphate of copper; and one-fourth of an ounce of loaf sugar. Boil the galls and logwood together in three pints of water, till the quant.i.ty is reduced to one half. Then the liquor must be strained through a flannel into a proper vessel, and the remainder of the ingredients be added to it. The mixture is then to be frequently stirred till the whole is dissolved; after which it must be left at rest for twenty-four hours. The ink may then be decanted from the gross sediment, and must be preserved in a gla.s.s bottle well corked.

14. BLUE INK.--Dissolve one ounce of gum-arabic in a pint of water. In a part of this gum-water, grind a small quantify of best prussian blue; you may thus bring it to any depth of colour you choose. Indigo will answer this purpose very well, but is not so fine a colour, nor will it remain suspended so uniformly in the water.

15. RED INK.--In the above mentioned gum-water, grind very fine, three parts of vermillion with one of lake or carmine. This is a very perfect colour, but may require to be shaken up occasionally. To make the common red ink, such as is used by book binders for ruling, &c.

infuse half a pound of rasped brazil-wood, for two or three days in a pint of vinegar; then filter or strain it, and add one ounce of gum-arabic, and one ounce of alum. It may afterward be diluted occasionally with water.

16. YELLOW INK.--Steep one ounce of turmeric, in powder, in half a gill of alcohol; let it rest twenty-four hours, and then add an equal quant.i.ty of water;--throw the whole on a cloth, and express the coloured liquor, which mix with gum-water. Rum or other spirits may be subst.i.tuted in the place of alcohol. A solution of gamboge in water, writes a full yellow, but comes far short of turmeric in brightness.

17. GREEN INK.--To the tincture of turmeric, prepared as above, add a little prussian blue. A variety of tints may be formed, by varying the proportions of these two ingredients, and no artificial colour can excel it in beauty.

18. PURPLE INK.--To the blue ink, described at 14, add some finely ground lake; or instead of this, the expressed juice of the deepest coloured beets may be subst.i.tuted, but is more liable to fade. With either of these a variety of tints may be formed, by varying the proportions.

19. TO WRITE IN VARIOUS COLOURS WITH THE SAME PEN, INK AND PAPER.--Take a sheet of white paper, and wet some parts of it with a solution of sub-carbonate of pota.s.s, which must be diluted with water so as not to appear on the paper when dry. Wet some other parts with diluted muriatic acid, or with juice of lemons.--Some other parts may be wet with a dilute solution of alum; and others with an infusion of nut-galls (water in which bruised or pulverized nut-galls have been steeped.) None of these preparations must be so strong as to colour the paper any. When these are dry, take some finely powdered sulphate of iron, and rub it lightly on some parts of the paper, that have been wet with the sub-carbonate of pota.s.s, and infusion of galls. Then with the juice of violets, or of the leaves of red cabbage, write on the paper as usual with a pen. The ink is, of itself, a faint purple; where the paper was wet with acid, the writing will be bright red; on the sub-carbonate of pota.s.s, it will take a beautiful green; on the alum it will be brown; on the sub-carbonate of pota.s.s that was rubbed with powdered sulphate of iron, it will be deep yellow; and on the infusion of galls that was rubbed with the powder, it will be black.--The juice of violets will sometimes take a brilliant yellow on the alkali if it be very strong. The juice of violets or red cabbage may be kept a long time by means of the addition of a few drops of alcohol; or the leaves may be dryed by the fire, and thus may be kept ready for use; and it is only requisite to steep them in hot water, in order to prepare the ink at any time. _Note._--The yellow ink, described at 16, writes a full red where the paper has been wet with the solution of sub-carbonate of pota.s.s; while the solution of sulphate of iron, which has no colour of itself, writes a deep yellow on the alkali, and black on the infusion of galls.

20. SYMPATHETIC INKS FOR SECRET CORRESPONDENCE.--_Process 1._--Dissolve muriate of ammonia in water, and write;--the writing will be invisible. When you would make the writing appear, heat the paper by the fire, and the writing will become black.

21. _Process 2._--Write with a solution of sulphate of iron--the writing will be invisible. Dip a feather in an infusion of nut-galls, and with it wet the paper, and the writing will become black.

22. _Process 3._--Write with a dilute infusion of galls,--it will be invisible. Dip a feather in a solution of sulphate of iron, and moisten the paper with it and the writing will become black.

23. _Process 4._--Write with a solution of sub-carbonate of pota.s.s; wet this writing with a solution of sulphate of iron,--it will take a deep yellow colour.

24. _Process 5._--Write with a solution of sulphate of copper,--no writing will be visible. Wash the paper with a solution of prussiate of pota.s.s,--the writing will then get a reddish brown colour.

25. _Process 6._--Write with a solution of super-carbonate of soda;--moisten the paper with a solution of sulphate of copper, and the writing will become green.

26. _Process 7._--Write with diluted nitrate of silver, and let the writing dry in the dark--it will be invisible; but expose the paper to the rays of the sun, and the writing will become black.

27. LUMINOUS INK THAT WILL SHINE IN THE DARK.--To half an ounce of essential oil of cinnamon, in a phial, add half a drachm of phosphorus. Cork the phial slightly, and set it, or suspend it near a fire, where the heat may be nearly equal to boiling; continue the heat four or five hours, shaking the phial frequently, but cautiously lest any of the oil should escape, or come in contact with atmospheric air, in which case it would take fire. The cork should be set sufficiently tight to exclude atmospheric air, but not so as to prevent the escape of any vapour that might be produced by excess of heat. The phial may be afterward removed from the fire and suffered to cool. With this phosphorised oil, any letters may be written on paper, and if carried into a dark room, will appear very bright, resembling fire. The phial should be kept corked close, except when used.

28. TO MAKE A WRITING APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR AT PLEASURE.--Dissolve equal parts of sulphate of copper and muriate of ammonia in water, and write. When you would make the writing appear, warm the paper gently by the fire; the writing will appear in a yellow colour; but as soon as you take the paper into the cold air, the writing will vanish. This may be often repeated.

29. TO MAKE A WRITING VANISH AND ANOTHER APPEAR IN ITS PLACE.--Write on paper with a solution of sub-carbonate of pota.s.s,--the writing will be invisible. Mix together equal parts of solution of sulphate of iron, and infusion of galls; write with this mixture (which is black) on the same paper. Then add to the black liquor a little sulphuric acid, sufficient to deprive it of colour. Wet the paper with this compound; the acid will discharge the colour from the last writing, while the alkali of the first, will precipitate the gallate of iron, and the writing will become black.