(2) Finely turned and finished Brass Work. If it is intended to nickel-plate such work, and if it is desirable to obtain brightly polished nickel surfaces, the work must be perfectly polished to begin with. Full details as to polishing may be found in workshop books or treatises on watch-making. It will suffice here to say that the brass work is first smoothed by the application of successive grades of emery and oil, or by very fine "dead" smooth files covered with chalk. Polishing is carried out by means of rotten stone and oil applied on leather. In polishing turned work care must be taken to move the file, emery, or rotten stone to and fro over the work with great regularity, or the surface will end by looking scratchy and irregular. The first process of cleaning is, of course, to remove grease, and this is accomplished best by dipping in a bath of strong hot caustic soda solution, and less perfectly by heating the work and dipping it in the cold caustic soda bath. During this process a certain amount of chemical action often occurs leading to the brass surface exhibiting some discoloration. The best way of remedying this is to dip the brass into a hot bath of cyanide of potassium solution. If it is inconvenient to employ hot baths or to heat the brass work, good results may be obtained by rubbing the articles over with a large rough cork plentifully lubricated with a strong solution of an alkali. If the surfaces are very soiled or dirty, a paste of alkali and fine slaked lime may be applied on a cork rubber, and this in my experience has always been most effective and satisfactory in every way, except that it is difficult to get into crevices. If the alkali stains the work, a little cyanide of potassium may be rubbed over the surface in a similar manner. Brass work treated by either of these methods is to be washed in clean water till the alkali is entirely removed, and may then be nickel-plated without any preliminary scratch-brushing. The treatment in hot baths of alkali and cyanide is the method generally employed in American factories as a preliminary to the nickelling of small brass work for sewing machines, etc. (3) Copper either for use as the kathode in electrolysis calibration experiments or otherwise is most conveniently prepared by dipping in the acid bath, rinsing quickly in cold water, scratch-brushing under cold water, and transferring at once to the plating bath. In the case where the copper plates require to be weighed they are dipped into very hot distilled water after scratch-brushing, and then dried at once by means of a clean glass cloth. (4) Aluminium (which, however, does not readily lend itself to plating operations [Footnote: This difficulty has now been overcome. See note, section 138.] ) is best treated by alkali rubbed on with a cork, or by a hot alkaline carbonate where rubbing is inexpedient. The clean aluminium is scratch-brushed under water, and at once transferred to the plating bath.