Skeleton Leaves
Source:
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games And Pastimes
Category:
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS TO MAKE
Leaves which are to be skeletonized should be picked from the trees at
the end of June. They should be perfect ones of full growth. It is
best to have several of each kind, as some are sure to be failures.
Put the leaves in a big earthenware dish or pan, fill it with
rain-water, and stand it in a warm and sunny place--the purpose of
this being to soak off the green pulpy part. There is a great
difference in the time which this takes: some fine leaves will be
ready in a week, while others may need several months. Look at the
leaves every day, and when one seems to be ready slip a piece of
cardboard under it and shake it about gently in fresh cold water. If
any green stuff remains, dab it with a soft brush and then put it into
another basin of clean water. A fine needle can be used to take away
any small and obstinate pieces of green. It is now a skeleton and must
be bleached according to the following directions:--Pour into a large
earthenware jar a pint of water on half a pound of chloride of lime.
Mix thoroughly, breaking up any lumps with the hand. Add two and a
half quarts of water, cover over, and leave for twenty-four hours.
Then pour off the solution, leaving the sediment behind. Dissolve two
pounds of soda in one quart of boiling water, and pour it, while on
the boil, over the chloride solution. Cover it, and leave for
forty-eight hours; then decant into bottles, being careful to leave
all sediment behind.
Fill an earthenware dish with this solution, lay the leaves in it, and
cover tightly. The leaves will be bleached in six to twelve hours.
They should be taken out directly they are white, as the lime makes
them very brittle. After bleaching, rinse the leaves in cold water,
float them on to cards, and dry between blotting-paper, under a heavy
weight.
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