JF Ptak Science Books   Post 2053

Recipes for the Laboratory
by Thomas Taylor, 1865

The following are some interesting examples of laboratory nostrums and general roundabout handiperson knowledge taken from Thomas Taylor’s Natural Philosophy (London, 1865).

SILVERING LOOKING-GLASSES WITH
QUICKSILVER

Take a piece of marble or some other substance very smooth, true, and level,
lay on this the glass you wish to silver, then make a ridge of putty on the
marble against the edge of the glass all round it, so that you can pour
quicksilver on the glass until it is all covered over, and will be prevented
from running off by the ridge of putty; an inch or two, or three outside this
ridge make another of putty; then cover the quicksilver on the glass all over
with tin-foil, and press it firmly but cautiously against the glass until you
have squeezed out all the quicksilver you can. while you press this you may
remove part of the first ridge of putty to give the quicksilver a chance of
escape. When it is well pressed against the glass there will be an amalgam
formed of the tin-foil and the quicksilver that is left, which will firmly
adhere to the glass. By this means you have a very beautiful and cheap
looking-glass; the quicksilver that escapes, being saved by the second ridge of
putty, may be used again.