Furniture Polish

For French polishing cabinet-makers use: Pale shellac, 1 pound; mastic, l2/5 ounces; alcohol of 90 per cent standard, 1 to \\ pints. Dissolve cold, with frequent stirring.

Cement For Rubber Boots

A good cement for rubber boots is made by dissolving crude rubber in bisulphuret of carbon, making the solution rather thin. Put the cement upon the patch and the boot, heat both, and put them together.

Piano Polish

Take equal proportions of turpentine, linseed oil and vinegar. Mix; rub in well with a piece of flannel cloth. Then polish with a piece of chamois skin. This treatment will entirely remove the dingy appearance that age gives to fine woods How To Expel Rats. - Get a piece of lead pipe and use it as a funnel to introduce about 11/2 ounces of sulphide of potassium into any outside holes tenanted by rats; not to be used in dwellings. To get rid of mice use tartar emetic mingled with any favorite food; they will eat, sicken and take their leave.

Hand Grenades

Take chloride of calcium, crude, 20 parts; common salt, 5 parts; and water, 75 parts. Mix and put in thin bottles. In case of fire, a bottle so thrown that it will break in or very near the fire will put it out. This mixture is better and cheaper than many of the high-priced grenades sold for the purpose of fire-protection.

To Test Water

The purity of water can be ascertained as follows: Fill a large bottle made of colorless glass with water; look through the water at some black object. Pour out some of the water and leave the bottle half full; cork the bottle and place it for a few hours in a warm place; shake up the water, remove the cork, and critically smell the air contained in the bottle. If it has any smell, particularly if the odor is repulsive, the water should not be used for domestic purposes. By heating the water an odor is evolved that would not otherwise appear. Water fresh from the well is usually tasteless, even if it contains a large amount of putrescible organic matter. All water for domestic purposes should be perfectly tasteless, and remain so even after it has been warmed, since warming often develops a taste in water which is tasteless when cold.

Fireproof Wood

Soak 27.5 parts by weight of sulphate of zinc, 11 of potash, 22 of alum, and 11 of manganic oxide in luke warm water in an iron boiler, and gradually add 11 parts by weight of 60 per cent sulphuric acid. The wood to be prepared is placed upon an iron grating in an apparatus of suitable size, the separate pieces being placed at least an inch apart. The liquid is then poured into the apparatus, and the wood allowed to remain completely covered for three hours, and is then air-dried.

Protecting Lead Water Pipes

To protect lead waterpipes from the action of water, which often affects them chemically, partially dissolving them, and injuring the pipes, as well as poisoning the water, fill the pipes with a warm and concentrated solution of sulphide of potassium or sodium; leave the solution in contact with the lead for about fifteen minutes and then blow it out. This coats the inside of the pipes with sulphite of lead, which is absolutely insoluble, and cannot be acted upon by water at all.