Prof. Alexander Winchell is credited with the invention of a cement that will stick to anything. Take two ounces of clear gum arabic, one and one-half ounces of fine starch and one-half ounce of white sugar. Pulverize the gum arabic, dissolve it in as much water as the laundress would use for the quantity of starch and sugar in the gum solution. Then cook the mixture in a vessel suspended in boiling water until the starch becomes clear.

The cement should be as thick as tar, and kept so. It can be kept from spoiling by dropping in a lump of gum camphor or a little oil of cloves or sassafras.

This cement is very strong indeed, and will stick perfectly to glazed surfaces and is good to repair broken rocks, minerals or fossils. The addition of a small amount of sulphate of aluminum will increase the effectiveness of the paste, besides helping to prevent decomposition.