s, is taking the silver held in the solution, and laying it upon the
surfaces of those vessels, within and without; and at the same time it
is decomposing the plates of silver hanging along the sides of the
trough in such a way as to keep up the strength of the solution. We
cannot recover from the wonder into which the contemplation of this
process threw us. There are some things which the outside and occasional
observer can never be done marvelling at. For our part, we never hear
the click of a telegraphic apparatus without experiencing the same spasm
of astonishment as when we were first introduced to that mystery. The
beautiful manner, too, in which this silvering work is done! The most
delicate brush in the most sympathetic hand could not lay on the colors
of the palette so evenly, nor could a crucible melt the metals into a
completer oneness.

And here is the opportunity for fraud. In five minutes an article is
coated with silver in every part, inside and out; and that mere "blush"
of silver, as the platers term it, will receive as brilliant a polish,
and look as well (for a month) as if it were solid plate. Nay, it will
look rather better; since the silver deposited by this exquisite process
is perfectly pure, while the silver employed in solid ware is of the
coin standard,--one tenth alloy. The plater can deposit upon his work as
little silver as he chooses, either by weakening his solution, or by
leaving the articles in it for a very short time; and no man can detect
the cheat with certainty except by an expensive and troublesome process.
Nor will it suffice for the operator to attend to the strength of his
solutions, and keep his eye upon the clock. As in certain conditions of
the atmosphere we can scarcely get a spark from the electrical machine,
so there are times when the galvanic battery works feebly, and when the
silvering goes on much more slowly than usual. To guard against errors
from this cause, there is no sure resource but a system of careful
weighings. In such establishments as that of the Gorham Company of
Providence, Tiffany's or Haughwout's of New York, Bailey's of
Philadelphia, and Bigelow Brothers and Kennard's, or Palmer and
Batchelder's, of Boston, each article is weighed before it is immersed
in the solution, its weight is recorded, and it is allowed to remain in
the solution until it has taken on the whole of the precious metal it
was designed to receive.

There was a lawsuit the other day