Embossed or undercut brass work may be easily cleaned by boiling the pieces in a strong solution of caustic soda or lye, and then immersing them in a mixture of hydrochloric acid, 6 parts ; water, 2 parts, and nitric acid, 1 part, until they become covered with a dark deposit. Take them from the solution and remove the black substance with a fine scratch brush. After cleaned in this manner, rinse in hot water and dry in hot sawdust.

A fine orange-yellow tinge may be given to the brass by substituting an equivalent weight of powdered alum for the nitric acid in the solution. - Contributed by Mrs. Richard F. Pohle, E. Lvnn. Mass.