Recipes for the Laboratory
From Thomas Taylor
1865The following are some interesting examples of laboratory nostrums and general roundabout handiperson knowledge taken from Thomas Taylor's Natural Philosophy (London, 1865).
SILVERING LOOKING-GLASSES WITH QUICKSILVER
Take a piece of marble or some other substance very smooth, true, and level, lay on this the glass you wish to silver, then make a ridge of putty on the marble against the edge of the glass all round it, so that you can pour quicksilver on the glass until it is all covered over, and will be prevented from running off by the ridge of putty; an inch or two, or three outside this ridge make another of putty; then cover the quicksilver on the glass all over with tin-foil, and press it firmly but cautiously against the glass until you have squeezed out all the quicksilver you can. while you press this you may remove part of the first ridge of putty to give the quicksilver a chance of escape. When it is well pressed against the glass there will be an amalgam formed of the tin-foil and the quicksilver that is left, which will firmly adhere to the glass. By this means you have a very beautiful and cheap looking-glass; the quicksilver that escapes, being saved by the second ridge of putty, may be used again.FIRE AND WATER-PROOF CEMENT
To half a pint of milk add half a pint of vinegar to curdle it; then separate the curd from the whey, and mix the whey with 4 or 5 eggs; beating the whole well together; when it is well mixed, add a little quick-lime through a sieve, until it has acquired the consistence of a thick paste. This is a prime article for cementing marble, in or out of the weather. It is excellent for broken vessels, &c.INDELIBLE INK
BLACK INK WITHOUT SEDIMENT This ink is not injured by frost - is a beautiful article, and only costs 5 cents. per gallon, and is sold for from $1 to $3.Take 1 lb. logwood, 1 gallon soft water, simmer in an iron vessel for one hour, then dissolve in a little hot water 24 grains bychromate of potash, and 12 grains prussiate of potash, and stir into the liquid while over the fire, then take it off and strain it through fine cloth. This ink is a jet black flows freely from the pen and will stand the test of oexylic acid.
1 inch of the stick of the nitrate of silver dissolved in a little water, and stirred into each gallon of the above, makes first rate indelible ink for cloth. Judge what indelible ink costs.INDELIBLE INK
Nitrate of silver 1 1/2 oz., dissolved in liquor ammonia fortisine 5 1/2 oz., orchil for colouring 3/4 oz., gum mucilage 12 oz., mix the two latter, then mix them with the two former, and it is ready to use.WRITING FLUID OR BLACK COPYING INK
Take two gallons of rain water and put into it gum arabic 1/4 lb., brown sugar 1/4 lb., clean copperas 1/4 lb., powdered nut galls 3/4 lb., mix and shake occasionally for ten days and strain. If needed sooner, let it stand in an iron kettle until the strength is obtained. This ink can be depended on for deeds or records, which you may want someone to read hundreds of years to come. Oexylic acid 1/4 oz., was formerly put in, but as it destroys the steel pens, and does just as well without it - it is now never usedwrite with this using a clean quill pen on letter paper, and when dry you can see no mark at all, then hold it to a strong heat and the writing becomes as black as jet. If you want to write to a young lady or gentleman, as the case may be, and fearing that the letter might be opened before she or he gets it, write with common black ink something of no importance, then between the lines write what you want to say with the secret ink. The person to whom you are writing must understand the scheme so that she or he may hold it to the heat and thereby make the writing visible.
SECRET INK FOR YOUNG LADIES AND GENTS Take a drachm of clean rain water, put into it, in a clean vial, 10 or 12 drops of pure, clean sulphuric acid, and it is ready for use;CHANGING VARNISHES
in manufacturing imitations of gold and silver. Put four ounces of the best gum gamboge into 32 ozs. of spirits of turpentine, 4 ozs. of dragon's blood into the same quantity of spirits of turpentine as the gamboge, and 1 oz. of anatto into 8 ozs. of the same spirits. The three mixtures being made in different vessels, they should then be kept for about a fortnight in a warm place, and as much exposed to the sun a possible; at the end of that time they will be fit for use; and you can procure any tints you wish by making a composition from them, with such proportions of each liquor as practice and the nature of the colour you are desirous of obtaining will point out. Changing varnishes may likewise be employed, with very good effect, for furniture, such as picture frames, &c.
Varnishes of this description are call changing because, when applied to metals such as copper, brass, or tin or silver foil, they give them a more agreeable colour; indeed, the common metals, when coated with them acquired a lustre approaching to that of the precious metals, and hence these varnishes are much employedGOLD LACKER OR VARNISH
In using the changing varnish or any of these lackers, for picture frames for instance, lay them over with tin or silver foil, by means of plaster of Paris glue, or cement of some kind, that the foil may be perfectly adherent to the wood, then apply your varnish; apply as many coats as may suit your taste, and if it be the gold lacker you use it has the appearance of being laid with gold leaf, and if the pale brass lacker, of being laid with brass, &c., and if you use the changing varnish you may make it just what colour you wish, by mixing the three materials in different proportions. For making gold lacker, put into a clean 4 gallon tin 1 lb. ground turmeric, 1 1/2 oz. powdered gamboge, 3 1/2 lbs. powdered gum sandrack, 3/4 lb. shellac, and 2 galls. spirits of wine; after being dissolved and strained add 1 pint of turpentine varnish, receipt No.112, well mixed, and it is ready for use.RED SPIRIT LACKER
Take 2 galls. spirits of wine, 1 lb. dragon's blood, 3 lbs. Spanish annatto, 3 1/2 lbs. gum sandrack, 2 pints turpentine. Made exactly as the gold lacker.PALE BRASS LACKER
Take 2 galls. spirits of wine, 3 ozs. cape aloes, cut small, 1 lb. fine pale shellac, 1 oz. gamboge, cut small, no turpentine. Varnish made exactly as before, but observe, that those who make lackers frequently want some paler and some darker and sometimes inclining more to the particular tint of certain of the component ingredients; therefore if a 4 oz. vial of a strong solution of each ingredient be prepared, a lacker of any tint can be prepared at any time as by changing varnish.DEMAR VARNISH
This is a fine clear varnish, being harder and less coloured than mastic, while it is as soluble, and may be had at one-tenth the price. Put 6 oz. of gum demar in a bottle with 10 ozs. of spirits of turpentine, and put into another bottle 6 ozs. of gum demar, with 16 ozs.alcohol, when they are dissolved put them together, and you have an excellent cheap varnish which dries quickly and is very clear.COPAL VARNISH
Take 1 oz. of copal, and 1/2 oz. of shellac, powder them well and put them into a bottle or jar containing 1 quart of spirits of wine; place the mixture in a warm place and shake it occasionally, till you see that the gums are completely dissolved, and when strained the varnish is fit for use.WHITE HARD VARNISH
Take 1 lb. of mastic, 4 oz. of gum anima; and 5 lbs. of gum sandrack, put them all together to dissolve, into a vessel containing 2 oz. of rectified spirits of wine, which should be kept in a warm place and frequently shaken till all the gums are quite dissolved; then strain the mixture through a lawn sieve, and it will be fit for use.CRYSTAL VARNISH
Procure a bottle of Canada balsam, which can be had at any druggist's; draw out he cork and set the bottle of balsam at a little distance from the fire, turning it round several times, until the heat has thinned it; then have something that will hold as much as double the quantity of balsam; carry the balsam from the fire, and, while fluid mix it with the same quantity of good turpentine, and shake them together until they are well incorporated. In a few days the varnish is fit for use, particularly if it is poured into a half gallon glass or stone bottle, and kept in a gentle warmth. This varnish is used for maps, prints, charts, drawings, paper, ornaments, &c.BLACK VARNISH FOR OLD STRAW OR CHIP HATS
Take a 1/2 oz. of the best black sealing wax, pound it well, and put it into a 4 oz. vial, containing 2 ozs. of rectified spirits of wine; place it in a sand-bath or near a moderate fire till the wax is dissolved, then lay it on warm, with a fine soft hairbrush, before a fire or in the sun. It gives a good stiffness to old straw hats, and a beautiful gloss equal to new. It likewise resists wet.
VARNISH FOR VIOLINS &c. Take 1 gallon of rectified spirits of wine, 12 ozs. of mastic, and 1 pint of turpentine varnish; put them altogether in a tin can, and keep it in a very warm place, shaking it occasionally till it is perfectly dissolved; then strain it, and it is fit for use. If you find it necessary, you may dilute it with turpentine varnish. This varnish is also very useful for furniture of plumtree, mahogany, or rosewood.TURPENTINE VARNISH
Take 5 lbs. of clear good resin, pound it well, and put it into 1 gallon of oil of turpentine; boil the mixture over a stove till the resin is perfectly dissolved, and when cool, it will be fit for use.IRON WORK BLACK OR BLACK VARNISH FOR IRON
Put 48 lbs. asphaltum into an iron pot, and boil for four hours; during the first two hours, introduce 7 lbs. litharge, 3 lbs. dried copperas, and 10 gallons boiled oil; add 1/8 lb. run of dark gum, with 2 gallons hot oil; after pouring the oil and gum, continue the boiling two hours, or until it will roll into hard pills like Japan; when cool, thin it off with three gallons of turpentine, or until it is of proper consistence. This varnish is intended principally for the iron work of coaches and other carriages.VARNISH FOR HARNESS
Take 1/2 lb. of india rubber, 1 gallon of spirits of turpentine; dissolve enough to make it into a jelly by keeping it almost new milk warm; then take equal quantities of good linseed oil, (in a hot state,) and the above mixture, incorporate them well on a slow fire, and it is fit for use.QUICK DRYING HARNESS BLACKING VARNISH
Break 1/2 cake (which is about 1 ounce) of white wax into an earthen pan, and just cover it with oil of turpentine; place a board over the pan to keep out the air; let it stand for 24 hours or until formed into a paste; then in another pan, mix 1 lb. of best ivory black with neatsfoot oil, until it assumes a thick consistency; then mix the contents of both pans together. It may be reduced with spirits of turpentine. Bottle, and it is fit for use.POLISH FOR OLD FURNITURE
Take 1 pint best spirits of wine, 1 pint raw linseed oil, 1 pint spirits of turpentine; mix all three together, and shake well before use. Apply with a rubber of cotton wool covered with a piece of clean old white cotton cloth. Apply slightly and you will be astonished at the effect. Old furniture that is scratched, soiled, or stained, if the wood is not torn up, being polished with this, has the appearance of new.GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR BRONZING
This art is nothing but a species of painting, but far from being of the most delicate kind. The principal ingredients made use of in it are the true gold powder, the German gold, the aurum mosaicum, and copper powder, (all above described.) The choice of these powders is, of course, to be determined by the degree of brilliancy you wish to obtain. The powder is mixed with strong gum water or isinglass, and laid on with a brush or pencil; and when not so dry as to have still a certain clamminess, a piece of soft leather wrapped round the finger, is dipped in the powder and rubbed over the work; when the work has been all covered with the bronze, it must be left to dry, and any loose powder then cleared away by a hair pencil.BRONZING IN WOOD
This may be effected by a process somewhat differing from the above, Prussian blue, patent yellow, raw amber, lamp-black, and pipe clay are ground separately with water on a stone, and as much of them as will make a good colour put into a small vessel three-fourths full of size. This mixture is found to succeed best on using about half as much more pipe clay as of any of the other ingredients. The wood being previously cleaned and smoothed, and coated with a mixture of clean size and lamp-black, receives a new coating with the above compound twice successively, having allowed the first to dry. Afterwards the bronze powder is to be laid on with a pencil, and the whole burnished or cleaned anew, observing to repair the parts which may be injured by this operation; next, the work must be coated over with a thin lather of castile soap, which will take off the glare of the burnishing, and afterwards be carefully rubbed with a woollen cloth. The superfluous powder may be rubbed off when dry.IN BRONZING IRON
The subject should be heated to a greater degree than the hand can bear; and German gold, mixed with a small quantity of spirit of wine varnish, spread over it with a pencil; should the iron be already polished, you must heat it well and moisten it with a linen rag dipped in vinegar.SHELL-LAC VARNISH
Dissolve in an iron kettle, one part of pearl-ash in about 8 parts of water; add one part of shell-lac, and heat the whole to ebullition. When the lac is dissolved, cool the solution, and impregnate it with chlorine, till the lac is all precipitated. The precipitate is white, but its colour deepens by washing and consolidation; dissolved in alcohol, lac bleached by the above process yields a varnish which is as free from colour as any copal varnish.CHLORINE FOR SHELL-LAC VARNISH
This may be formed by mixing intimately eight parts of common salt, and three parts of the black oxide of manganese in powder; put this mixture into a retort, then pour four parts of sulphuric acid, diluted with an equal weight of water, and afterwards allowed to cool upon the salt and manganese; the gas will then be immediately liberated, and the operation may be quickened by a moderate heat. A tube leading from the mouth of the retort must be passed into the resinous solution, where the gas will be absorbed, and the lac precipitated.SHELL-LAC VARNISHES OF VARIOUS COLOURS
These may be made by using ant colour in fine powder with the varnish, in the following manner: rub up the colour with a little alcohol or spirits of turpentine till it becomes perfectly smooth, then put it into the cup with the varnish. Shell-lac varnish is the best spirit varnish we have, and may be made any colour by the above process.
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