Day of month  1    10    20    30
January      +3    +7    +11   +13
February     +14   +14   +14
March        +13   +11   +8    +5
April        +4    +2    -1    -3
May          -3    -4    -4    -3
June         -3    +1    +1    +3
July         +3    +5    +6    +6
August       +6    +5    +3    +1
September    +0    -3    -5    -10
October      -10   -13   -15   -16
November     -16   -16   -14   -11
December     -11   -7    -3    +2

** Imitation Arms and Armor-Part IV [263]

The ancient arms of defense as shown in the accompanying illustrations make good ornaments for the den if they are cut from wood and finished in imitation of the real weapon.  The designs shown represent original arms of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  As they are the genuine reproductions, each article can be labelled with the name, adding to each piece interest and value, says the English Mechanic, London.

Each weapon is cut from wood.  The blades of the axes and the cutting edges of the swords are dressed down and finished with sandpaper and the steel parts represented by covering the wood with tinfoil.  When putting on the tinfoil, brush a thin coat of glue on the part to be covered and quickly lay on the foil.  If a cutting edge is to be covered the tinfoil on one side of the blade must overlap the edge which is pasted on the opposite side.  The other side is then covered with the tinfoil of a size that will not quite cover to the cutting edge.  After laying the foil and allowing time for the glue to dry, wipe the surface with light strokes up and down several times using a soft piece of cloth.

[Illustration:  Partisan, Fork and Halberd]

A French partisan of the sixteenth century is shown in Fig. 1.  The weapon is 6-1/2 ft. long with a round handle having the same circumference for the entire length which is covered with crimson cloth or velvet and studded all over with round-headed

[Illustration:  Spontoon.  Glaive and Voulge]

brass nails.  The spear head is of steel about 15 in. long from the point where it is attached to the handle.  The widest part of the blade from spear to spear is about 8 in.  The length of the tassel or fringe is about 4 in.

Figure 2 shows a German military fork of the sixteenth century, the length of which is about 5 ft. with a handle of wood bound with heavy cord in a spiral form and the whole painted a dark color.  The entire length of the fork from the handle to the points is about 10 in., and is coveted with tinfoil in imitation of steel.

A Swiss halberd of the sixteenth century is shown in Fig. 3.  This combination of an axe and spear is about 7 ft. long from the point of the spear to the end of the handle, which is square.  The spear and axe is of steel with a handle of plain dark wood.  The holes in the axe can be bored or burned out with red-hot iron rods, the holes being about 1/4 in. in diameter.

Figure 4 shows an Austrian officers’ spontoon, used about the seventeenth century.  It is about 6 ft. long with a round wooden handle.  The spear head from its point to where fixed on the handle is about 9 in. long.  The edges are sharp.  The cross bar which runs through the lower end of the spear can