PERIODICALS

They are handsome and delightful all, and are as friends that one is glad to see. They please the eye; the artistic sense is gratified by them; they overflow with varied material for the reader. They educate and entertain. They are the well-known and well-liked literary and artistic chronicles of the time. They are a credit to their publishers and to the discernment of the public that approves them. May they continue to be as admirable as they have been and as they are. Better could hardly be wished for them.

FOR SALE EVERYWHERE.

Bringing up a Humming-bird by Hand.

Some time ago we found in an oleander-tree in our garden a humming-bird's nest. Our curiosity and interest were so great that we could not resist peeping into it. We found two tiny birds, only a few days old, and as there were several of us children examining it we shook the nest considerably, and as it seemed insecure we changed it. The mother bird did not return that day, and we feared that by our carelessness we had driven her off, but the next day she appeared.

One of the birds fell from the nest and was killed, so that only one remained for us to watch. It happened that the tree was infested with ants, who soon discovered the little bird and bit it terribly. To relieve it I ventured to try and bring it up in the house, and so made a little nest out of cotton for it, and kept it on a shelf of flowers in my room. I fed it many times a day, on diluted honey, through a medicine-dropper. We were delighted to see that the little thing survived on this treatment, and we soon had a well bird on our hands.

One day while in my room I heard a strange noise outside the window, and looking out, I saw the mother bird, who had caught sight of her little one inside on one of the flower-pots. The little one had learned to fly by this time, so I opened the window and the two flew away together. We felt that we had accomplished the "wellnigh impossible"—bringing up a humming-bird by hand.

Geraldine Scupham. Oakland, California.

In Distant Australia.

In the eastern part of Victoria, nestling among the mountains, lies Warburton, one of the prettiest countries in this colony. It is fifty miles from Melbourne and twenty-five from Lilydale, the nearest town from which the coach runs daily. The mountains are thickly covered with gum-trees, many of which reach the height of 300 feet, and sometimes 400 feet. In the evenings the mountains vary in color from deep pink to a very deep purple, reflected from the setting sun. The effect is grand.

In the valleys are beautiful gullies, full of ferns, varying in size from a foot to about sixty feet high. It is delightfully cool in the gullies, as they are pleasantly shaded by trees with closely matted tops that we often go and sit in, especially at a place where there are many comfortable swings and hammocks formed of bark which is shed from the gum-trees.

These gullies abound with most of our native animals, such as bears, wallabies, wombats, dingoes, opossums, etc. Warburton has numberless creeks, and a river called Yarra Yarra, which is a native name, meaning flowing. The river is very winding, and is flecked with rocks here and there, and shaded by trees which bend their branches over to the water. The river is full of rapids and little cataracts, and is not navigable except within about twelve or fifteen miles of its mouth. It is a beautiful place in which to enjoy peace and rest.

Daisy Damman, R.T.P.

The Music Rack.

Not long ago I read an explanation stating that to the public, not understanding music, classical music sounds like the tuning of instruments. Don't some of the Round Table Knights and Ladies think this an error? I think the strains of Tannhäuser and Wagner's Lohengrin, as also Träumerei, Bohemian Girl, Cavalleria Rusticana, Maritana, and ever so many other masterpieces which are certainly classed as classics please anybody. Of course they have not any similarity to "Liberty Bell," "Maggie Murphy's Home," and other compositions of this order, but they do please the masses. The Grand March from Tannhäuser always does catch popular fancy. Also the "Bridal March" from Lohengrin.

I have often heard Martha played and treated to deafening applause, and no music-studied audience were the people who applauded. Have players ever heard that when rosining the bow they should not draw the bow up and down rapidly? A great many know this, but many more do not. The reason is because the bow becomes warm and melts the rosin and spoils the hair, whereas if you go slowly the rosin comes off crisp and fine. Another thing, for orchestra playing tighten the bow, but for solo playing leave it slack, as the sound is finer.

I would be very glad to hear of some music Chapter, as I would like to join one.

C. Arnold Kruckman, R.T.K. 1235 North Thirteenth Street, St. Louis, Mo.

Why He Sawed Wood.

The Bishop of Pennsylvania was formerly a frontier or missionary bishop in Nevada. While in the West he had a loyal friend in a man noted for his big heart and his wonderful combination of profane words. He was the possessor of a good carriage and a pair of fast horses, and was always ready to stop swearing for half a day or long enough to take the Bishop, whom he greatly admired as a man, out on worthy errands.

One day the Bishop had accepted the use of the team to go in search of funds to build a small chapel. Passing a rough shanty at a smart pace they saw a man before it sawing wood. The day was hot and the man bareheaded.

"Stop a moment," said the Bishop. The team was halted. "My good man," said the Bishop, addressing the wood-sawyer, "put on your hat. The sun will bake your brain."

The man looked up in surprise, and then a look of disgust came over his face.

"D'you s'pose," said he, "that 'f I had any brains I'd be sawing wood in this land of silver?"

Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

SEPARATING GOLD FROM ALLOY.

Gold coins and gold jewelry always contain alloy. Gold being too soft a metal to use alone is mixed with some harder metal, so that the article will wear longer. Pure gold is 24 carats fine. Before the metric system was adopted, a mark—a gold coin—was used as the unit of standard weight, and a carat is 1/24 of the weight of a mark. A carat is used to express the proportion of gold in the alloy. If a coin is 22 carats fine, it means that it contains 22 parts of pure gold. An article that is 18 carats fine contains 18 parts of pure gold and 6 parts of alloy. Gold coins contain so little alloy that it is not necessary to separate the gold from the alloy; but if one is preparing chloride of gold from old jewelry, in which are found perhaps only nine parts of pure gold, it is best in using it for special work to separate the two metals. This can be done with very little trouble.

Dissolve the gold in "aqua-regia," according to the directions given in the last number of the Round Table. When it is dissolved and the acid evaporated, dilute the chloride with clear water, and add a small quantity of ferrous sulphate. This will cause the gold to be precipitated, and it will settle to the bottom of the vessel in the form of a brown powder, while the alloy will remain in solution. It will take some time for the gold to settle, and when it is all deposited or precipitated turn off the water carefully, wash the gold in distilled water, and then redissolve it in fresh aqua-regia, following the directions in our last paper on preparing chloride of gold. Ferrous sulphate, the substance which precipitates the gold, is also called sulphate of iron. It is a chemical compound, and the chemical formula is FeSO₄+7H₂O, meaning that one atom of iron, one of sulphur, and four of oxygen are added (+) to 7 molecules of water (7H₂O).

In the directions for preparing printing-paper for violet prints the directions for the coloring-bath read as follows:

SEL D'OR (DOUBLE SALTS OF GOLD).

Sel d'or7½grs.

Distilled water15oz.

Hydrochloric acid1drachm.

A member of the Camera Club, wishing to try the formula, wrote to the editor that he went to a druggist for the "sel d'or," but was unable to obtain it, nor could the druggist tell him what it was. An explanation was sent by mail, but we repeat it for the benefit of the club. "Sel d'or" is a double salt of hyposulphite of soda and gold chloride. It is formed by adding chloride of gold to a hyposulphite solution, and mixing with alcohol. Take three parts of concentrated solution of chloride of gold and one part of concentrated solution of hyposulphite of soda. Mix thoroughly, and add alcohol till it is well covered. Shake well, and then set it aside. The alcohol will cause the chloride of gold and sodium sulphite to be precipitated in the form of delicate needlelike crystals, almost transparent, and readily dissolved in water.

If one cannot, obtain "sel d'or" ready prepared, it is not much work to prepare it. This double salts of gold is the form in which gold was used for toning daguerreotypes in the early days of photography. The silvered plate on which was the picture was coated with a solution of "sel d'or," and then heated. The gold was melted or decomposed by the heat and deposited on the picture, giving it not only a beautiful tone, but also preserving it. That this preparation made the picture durable is shown from the fine daguerreotypes which, though taken so many years ago, still retain almost their first freshness.

Sir Knight W. Baker asks if there is any difference between a sulphite and bisulphite. A sulphite is a salt formed by the union of sulphurous acid with a base. For instance, sulphite of soda is a salt formed by the union of sulphurous acid and sodium, the sodium being the base. A bisulphite is a sulphite in which the metal has replaced but half the hydrogen in the acid. "Bi," used chemically, means that the compound contains two equivalents of the substance named.

Sir Knight Lester R. Moss asks which camera to buy—a "B." daylight or a Kodak, both same price. Would advise a Kodak with glass plates for a beginner. A camera in which films are used is not so satisfactory as one for glass plates, and one can learn how to manage a camera much better if plates are used. Sir Knight Lester asks how he may become a member of the Round Table. Your name has been placed on the membership list. To become a member all that is required is that one should send name and address, and state that he wishes to become a member.

Sir Knight F. G. Clapp sends grateful acknowledgment for query answered in the Round Table for March 31.

Will Max Miner be kind enough to write to the editor and give the name of the camera which he used in making the picture, reproduced in the Round Table, called "Sweeping a Sliding-Place"? A member of the Camera Club is anxious to know. Will Sir Max also add the name of lens and plate used?