A breastplate and tassets of the sixteenth century are shown in Fig. 4.  The tassets are separate and attached to the front plate with straps and buckles, as shown in the sketch.  There is a belt around the waist which helps to hold the back plate on.  Attached to the back of the plate would be two short straps at the shoulder.  These are passed through the buckles shown at the top right and left-hand corners of the front plate.  For decorative purposes the back plate need not be made, and therefore it is not described.  The method of making armor is the same as of making helmets, but as larger pieces are formed it is well to use less clay owing to the bulk and weight.

An arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 to reduce the amount of clay used.  This triangular-shaped support, which can be made in any size, is placed on the modeling board or bench and covered with clay.  This will make the model light and easy to move around, and will require less clay.  It is not necessary to have smooth boards; the rougher the better, as the surface will hold the clay.  The clay forms modeled up ready to receive the patches of brown paper on the surface are shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

A German fluted armor used at the beginning of the sixteenth century is shown in Fig. 8.  The breastplate and tassets of this armor are supposed to be in one piece, but for convenience in making it will be found best to make them separately and then glue them together after they are taken from the model.  A narrow leather belt placed around the armor will cover the joint.  Fluted armor takes its name from a series of corrugated grooves, 1/2 in. in depth, running down the plate.  A piece of board, cut into the shape shown in Fig. 9, will be very useful for marking out the fluted lines.

** Home-Made Hand Vise [280]

A vise for holding small articles while filing can be made as shown in the illustration.  The vise consists of three pieces of wood, two for the jaws and one a wedge.  The hinge for connecting the two jaws is made of four small screw eyes, two in each jaw.  When locating the place for the screw eyes, place the two in one jaw so they will fit between the two of the other jaw.  Put a nail through the eyes when the jaws are matched together and they are ready for the wedge in clamping the article to be filed.  —­Contributed by John G. Buxton, Redondo Beach, Calif.

[Illustration:  Hand Vise]

** Detector for Slight Electrical Charges [281]

A thin glass bottle is thoroughly cleaned and fitted with a rubber stopper.  A hole is made through the center of the stopper large enough to admit a small brass rod.  The length of this rod will be governed by the shape of the bottle, but 3-1/2 in. will be about right.  The bottom of the rod is bent and two pieces of aluminum foil, each about 1/4 in. wide and 1/2 in. long, are glued to it.  The two pieces of foil, fastened to the rod, are better shown in Fig. 2.  Fasten a polished brass ball to, the top of the rod, and the instrument is ready for use.  Place the article which you wish to test near the ball, and if it holds a