TO REMOVE BLACK SPOTS FROM PLATE.—Boil the articles in three pints of water with an ounce of calcined hartshorn; drain, dry by the fire, and polish with soft linen rags which have been boiled in the same liquid and afterwards dried; using purified whiting as the plate powder.—H. METHOD OF CLEANING BRASS ORNAMENTS.—Brass ornaments, that have not been gilt or lacquered, may be cleaned, and a very brilliant colour given to them, by washing them with alum boiled in strong lye, in the proportion of an ounce to a pint, and afterwards rubbing them with strong tripoli.—J. J. TO PRESERVE STEEL GOODS.—Caoutchouc, one part; turpentine, sixteen parts. Dissolve with a gentle heat, then add boiled oil, eight parts. Mix by bringing them to the heat of boiling water; apply it to the steel with a brush, in the way of varnish. It may be removed, when dry, with turpentine. The oil may be wholly omitted.—M. TO REMOVE INK STAINS FROM SILVER.—The tops and other portions of silver inkstands frequently become deeply discoloured with ink, which is difficult to remove by ordinary means. It may, however, be completely eradicated by making a little chloride of lime into a paste with water, and rubbing it upon the stains. Chloride of lime has been misnamed “the general bleacher,” but it is a foul enemy to all metallic surfaces. TO CLEAN GERMAN SILVER.—After using, it should be placed immediately in hot water, washed well, and wiped dry with a soft cloth. Once a week, let it be washed in soap-suds, and then cleaned with fine whiting, or prepared chalk, mixed with whisky or spirits of wine, so as to make a paste, which should afterwards be brushed off. Should this metal become discoloured, or spotted by vinegar or other acids, wash it first, and then clean it with sweet oil and powdered rotten-stone. TO PRESERVE BRASS ORNAMENTS.—Brass ornaments, when not gilt or lacquered, may be cleaned in the same way, and a fine colour may be given to them by two simple processes. The first is to beat sal-ammoniac into a fine powder, then to moisten it with soft water, rubbing it on the ornaments, which must be heated over charcoal, and rubbed dry with bran and whiting. The second is to wash the brass-work with roche-alum boiled in strong lye, in the proportion of an ounce to a pint; when dry, it must be rubbed with fine tripoli. Either of these processes will give to brass the brilliancy of gold.—J. R. CLEANING KETTLES AND SAUCEPANS.—The following is a useful receipt for cleaning the inside of kettles or saucepans of the hard stony substance, resulting from continually boiling hard water, which may not be generally known:—In a kettle of boiling water, put about the sixteenth part of an ounce of sal-ammoniac, or two-pennyworth, which can be obtained from any chemist. Let it boil one hour, and then the petrified substance will be dissolved, and is readily disengaged from the metal. A great saving of time and trouble will be effected in heating the water.—W. M.