quently lost sight of. The retaining a small to his scene; while, in addition, the perduty on foreign paper-hangings prevents the spective is frequently contradicted and viodwellings of the poor from being much im-lated by the actor moving about at the very proved, which they certainly would be by the back of the stage; when all those objects free importation of all kinds; and however we placed there, which, whilst the performer may excel in the sterner realities of life, it remained in front-where everything is in must be admitted that the temperament of unison with his natural size-appeared in due Southern Europe is much better adapted for proportion, lose their verisimilitude, and apthe production of genius in ornamental design pear insignificant and disproportioned. The than ours, the free scope of which would tend man becomes of the same height as the rock or much to elevate the tastes and sentiments of a tree, and the imagination of the spectator has considerable portion of our population. As insufficient power to preserve the illusion of national prejudices are fast yielding to the the scene.. The latter disadvantage, which increasing necessities of society, it is to be can scarcely be obviated, the artist would do hoped that all protective duties may be even- well, nevertheless, to keep constantly in retually abolished, and that tariffs founded on membrance, and to modify as much as possithe reciprocity of mutual benefits be sub- ble-and the actor, also, if he be desirous of stituted. The result of the above reflections rendering the representation a perfect one, will show that, although we may obtain paper-will remain as little as possible at the back of hangings at very low prices, we are still the scene. deprived of many advantages, that, under another system, we should enjoy. It will be unnecessary to enter into any detail of this department of the trade, further than to state that ornamental paper-hangings may be purchased from about one farthing per yard. On Scene-Painting. As the scene-painter is often required to decorate the places represented with statues, &c., it is necessary that he should be capable of drawing well the human figure; he should also possess a knowledge of, and a taste for, the chefs-d'œuvre of ancient art; and should be especially careful not to violate consistency by placing, for instance, in a Grecian temple, affected or mutilated statues. In addition to these qualifications, architectural and landscape painting should enter into his course of study, as their use, and, indeed, necessity, must be self-evident. To the scene-painter, the use of brilliant colours, of skilful chiaro-scuro, of striking management of masses of light and shade, is obvious. He addresses less the heart and understanding than the eye. With him effect is everything. His fame, as well as his works, is commonly of short duration; and there is, consequently, the greater reason that he should acquire that promptness and decision of style which would secure immediate approbation. THIS peculiar department of the art of painting, as contra-distinguished from all others, possesses its own laws, and its own practical and scientific rules in the same manner as perspective. The scene-painter, in the first place, should be thoroughly conversant with the laws of colours, as it is only by that means that he can judge accurately of the appearance the colours he paints by day will have when subjected to an intense artificial light at night. In the next place, it is indispensible that he be well versed in the rules of both linear and aërial perspective. He traces, by fixed geometrical operations, lines For a performance of this description to be bended or inclined, which the spectator, eminently successful, it is requisite that it placed at the proper point of view, imagines to should be not only well painted and striking be straight ones. He employs gradual diminu- in effect, but that it should be also appropriate tions of plans which present the appearance of—in good costume; it should conform, in style an extent and distance, existing merely in his and in taste, to the manners and usages of the own art; thus in a few fathoms to which he is people amongst whom the scene is placed. bounded, expressing an extent sometimes almost infinite. He uses chiefly water-colours, on account of their operating promptly, and presenting no glossy surface. There are two descriptions of light to be paid attention to in scene-painting. One the light which the painter supposes to illuminate the objects of his performance; the other that which actually does light up the canvas; and in this respect the scene-painter possesses a great advantage over every other, in multiplying, combining, and contrasting to his taste, and the number and force of the hidden lights with which he radiates his work. But, on the other hand, the scene-painter has to contend with difficulties peculiar to his confined walk of art. The necessity of giving a brilliant light to the audience part of the house is often destructive to the truth and delicacy of those tints which the artist applies LIFE ASSURANCE.-Life assurance is a subject in which everyone is interested, inasmuch as it affords the only certain means of providing for a family when its mainstay shall have been removed either by the ordinary course of nature or some unfortunate casualty. To those about assuring, we cannot too strongly recommend the Professional Life Assurance Company, 76, Cheapside, London, whose rates of premium offer immense advantages. SEALING WAX.-Red wax is made by carefully fusing together forty-eight parts of shelllac, nineteen of Venice turpentine, one of Peru balsam, and thirty-two of fine cinnabar. Black wax is coloured with lamp-black; yellow, with a chromate of lead; blue, with smalt; green, with carbonate of copper.Brande's Manual of Chemistry. Upon the given line AB describe the equilateral triangle A B C, according to one of the preceding Problems. From c as a centre, and with CA or CB as a radius, describe a circle. Set off the line A B round the circumference, from в to D, from D to E, &c., and join the points by lines, which will form the hexagon required. PROBLEM XXV. B A the point will be the centre of the nonagon very nearly. (To be continued.) TO REMOVE INK, OIL, AND GREASE STAINS FROM BOOKS, &c.—Oxymuriatic acid removes, perfectly, stains of ink; and, should the paper require bleaching, the operation will answer both ends at the same time. Nearly all the acids remove spots of ink from paper; but it is important to employ such as do not attack its texture. times the quantity of water, may be applied Spirits of salt, diluted in five or six with success upon the spot, and, after a minute or two, washing it off with clean water. A solution of oxalic acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid is attended with the least risk, and may To describe a regular octagon on a given be applied upon the paper and plates without line. fear of damage. These acids taking out writing ink, and not touching the printing, I can be used for restoring books where the margins have been written upon, without attacking the text.-[Perhaps a hint may be taken from this as to removing "offsets" in books.-ED. DECORATOR'S ASSISTANT.] DAMP WALLS.-When damp walls proceed from deliquescence in the case of muriate of soda, &c., in intimate combination with the sand used for the mortar, it is merely necessary to wash the wall with a strong solution of alum. This converts the deliquescent salt into an efflorescent one, and the cure is complete; or alum may be added to the plaster in the first instance.-Dr. Murray. Stains may be taken out of mahogany by spirits of salt (muriatic acid). TO REMOVE STAINS FROM MAHOGANY. KNIVES.-Knives are said to have been first made in England, in 1568, by one Mathew, on Fleet-bridge, London. TO BREAK GLASS IN ANY REQUIRED DIRECTION.-Dip a piece of worsted thread into spirits of turpentine; wrap it round the glass in the direction you require it to be broken; wire, a quarter of an inch thick, round the then set fire to the thread, or apply a red-hot glass, and if it does not immediately crack, throw cold water upon it while the wire remains hot. Schools of Design. Notices to Correspondents. (Concluded from page 102.) As an instance of the gross errors committed by designers, we will mention one, amongst many, be it remembered, which will strikingly exhibit the truthfulness of our previous remarks: we have now before us a jug of rather chaste form, being perfectly classical in that respect; well, on this jug we find painted a Grecian temple in ruins, around the crumbling pillars of which daisies are climbing, and hang in bunches over the abaci; a little in the foreground we find two cows, as steady looking as philosophers, eagerly devouring into their mental mouth an inscription on one of the bases of the pillars. On looking a little farther, we discover an English cottage, with smoke issuing from the chimney, a rustic bridge, and, as if the designer fully intended to go the whole length of absurdity, the monastery of Mount St. Bernard planted on the tops of two trees in the extreme distance. What can such a piece of work as this be the result of? No other reply can be given than "ignorance." It is plain, in the first place, that the designer knew nothing of botany, or else he would not have committed such an error with regard to the daisy; and, as to geography, he was worse still-the idea of bringing a Grecian temple, an English cottage, and the monastery of Mount St. Bernard within sight of each other, surpasses even caricature itself! Such productions as the above will always be the inevitable result of a defective general education-a mere dabbling should be avoided as noxious, while as great a degree of proficiency as possible should be courted. In conclusion, we would wish to say a few words on an object very often sought after and very rarely attained, and even then only by great geniuses-for she flies from ignorancethis is BEAUTY. Now, the only method of arriving at Beauty is to make friends with her mother, Nature, for unless this be done, she can only be imperfectly seen in the distance. To do it the student must feel and admire what he perceives, he must mingle a little heartfelt enthusiasm in his research, and then, but not till then, "While he sees he'll learn." Beauty is so closely allied to Art that her absence creates a void which destroys effect, and very often causes disgust; and, therefore, great attention should always be paid to her production ; "As if th' unwary stroke would kill," every precaution must be used as the work proceeds, every point studied according to the rules of geometry, every contrast provided for by the rules of light and shade, and every prominence effected only according to the laws of perspective. SCOTIA (Glasgow).-Gun-barrels are browned by rubbing them, after they are finished, with aquafortis, or spirit of salt, diluted with water, and then letting them lay by until a complete coat is formed, when a little oil is applied, the surface rubbed dry, and polished with a hard brush and a little bees'-wax. HENRY LAWFORD (Dunstable).-Gold breaks easily after having been plunged in mercury. s. R. (Liverpool).-Engraving or etching upon glass is performed by laying on a ground consisting of a thin coat of bees's-wax, and drawing the design therein with an etching-needle. It is then to be covered with sulphuric acid, sprinkled over with powdered fluor spar or fluoric acid. It must be taken off after four or five hours, and cleaned with oil of turpentine. AMATEUR. Consult Ure's Dictionary. EUCLID-You cannot well do without the knowledge you mention; as to the expense, you must excuse us for telling you that that is all nonsense; a crown, if judiciously laid out, would go a long way towards setting you up in books, when you have got which, you must do as some poor but afterwards celebrated men have done before you-study industriously. Intricacies soon disappear before an inquiring mind; but at any rate you must remember that, to find Knowledge she must be sought for, and to possess her she must be mastered. L. (Croydon) Requires information as to the best method of making a set of musical glasses, and, also, whether they should be with stems or flat-bottomed; how high the sounding-board should be above the bottom of the box; how the glasses are fastened, and whether the best flint glasses are better than any others. Can any of our readers supply him with the information? J. S. The polish in imitation of carved ivory, given to plaster casts, is performed by laying on white curd soap with a camel-hair pencil, and then well rubbing it over with a fine woollen or silk rag dipped in sweet oil. To GOLD AND SILVERSMITHS, &c.-Ornamental Designs made, and, if necessary, engraved, on the most reasonable terms, with punctuality and despatch. ticulars, &c., address (if by letter, post paid) to Mr. Wm. Gibbs, Ornamental Draughtsman and Engraver, at the DECORATOR'S ASSISTANT Office, 17, Holywell-street, Strand, London. For par A SUBSCRIBER AND PAINTER (Oxford).-Next week. London: Published at the Office of the SPORTSMAN'S MAGAZINE, 17, Holywell-street, Strand (where all commu nications to the Editor are to be addressed); and to be had of all Booksellers.-Saturday, August 28, 1847. Printed by W. CooLE, Lumley Court, Strand Architectural Records. Ir may not be too much to assert that by their architecture the various nations of the earth present a record of their former greatness or character, far more convincing, far effect. It is by their architectural remains more lasting, than either of its sister arts can that mighty empires, long since passed away, exhibit to the beholder the history of their power and greatness, stamped in characters so imposing and striking, that doubt vanishes on the instant, and wonder and admiration alone remain. The imperishable ruins of the mighty cities of Assyria, the gigantic pyramids of Egypt,the stupendous excavations of Elephanta and Ellora, the richly-decorated yet barbarous pagoda of the Hindoo and later mosque of the Mogul dynasty, the singular ruins of ancient Mexico, the classic portico and open temple of Greece, the foundations of the Saturnian cities of Latium and Etruria that flourished ere Rome existed,-the high-arched aqueduct, the columned forum, and vast amphitheatre of Rome herself, her vast remains throughout Italy, Spain, Africa, Asia Minor, Gaul, and with arched legs to take the diameter of con- Germany, the site of ancient Tyre,-the spot cave or convex bodies. CALYX (in architecture and sculpture), the cup of a flower, or the small green leaves on the top of the stalk in plants. Also sculptural representations of the same parts of the leaves of various ornamental foliage. CALOTTE, a cup-like concavity, lathed and plastered, used to diminish the height of a chapel, cabinet, alcove, &c., which, otherwise, would be too great in height for the breadth. CAMAROSIS, an arched or vaulted elevation. CAMBER, an arch on the top of an aperture, or on the top of a beam; hence, camberwindow. A camber-beam consists of a piece of timber cut with an obtuse angle on the upper edge, so as to form a declivity on both sides from the middle of their length. CAMERATED, arched. CAMPANA, the body of the Corinthian capital (see BELL and VASE). CAMPANILE (from the Italian), a bell-tower. CANAL, the flutings of a column pilaster. (To be continued.) where Carthage stood,-the Greek church of Alhambra, wondrous relic of the Spanish Byzantium, type of unnumbered styles,-the Moor,-the gilded cupola and clustered semidome of the Turk, the lofty minaret and burnished crescent of the Persian,-the Norman portal, ponderous but grand,-the pointed arch, the clustered column and matchless tracery of the Gothic style, the adopted of all countries, yet still preserving a character peculiar to each;-these, and many such as these, unnamed, are histories of ages past, written in characters legible to all who have learned to read them. There is an instance connected with British industry, where an article is raised in price by the manufacturer from one halfpenny to the amount of 35,000 guineas! This occurs in the making of watch-springs. A pound of crude steel, that steel into watch-springs, every one iron costs one halfpenny; it is converted into of which is sold for half-a-guinea, and weighs only one-tenth of a grain. After deducting for waste, there are in a pound-weight 7,000 grains; it therefore affords steel for 70,000 watch-springs, the value of which, at half-aguinea each, is 35,000 guineas! TO MAKE COMPO ORNAMENTS FOR PICTUREFRAMES, &c.-Boil seven pounds of the best glue in seven half-pints of water; melt three pounds of white resin in three pints of raw linseed oil. When the ingredients are well boiled, put them into a large vessel and simmer them for half-an-hour, stirring it, and taking care it does not boil over. When this is done, pour the mixture into a large quantity of whiting (previously rolled and sifted very fine), and mix it to the consistence of dough, and it is ready for use. |