ture at rest. The varnish is of a white lemoncolor. The largest quantity of copal united to ether may be a fourth, and the least a fifth. The use of copal varnish made with ether seems, by the expense attending it, to be confined to repairing those accidents which frequently happen to the enamel of toys, as it will supply the place of glass to the colored varnishes employed for mending fractures, or to restoring the smooth surface of paintings which have been cracked and shattered. The great volatility of ether, and in particular its high price, do not allow the application of this varnish to be recommended, but for the purposes here indicated. It has been applied to wood with complete success, and the glazing it produced unites lustre to solidity. In consequence of the too speedy evaporation of the liquid, it often boils under the brush. Its evaporation, however, may be retarded, by spreading over the wood a light stratum of essential oil of rosemary or lavender, or even of turpentine, which may afterwards be removed by a piece of linen rag; what remains is sufficient to retard the evaporation of the ether. Fat Amber or Copal Varnish. Take of amber or copal of one fusion, 4 oz.; essence of turpentine, drying linseed oil, of each, 10 oz. Put the whole into a pretty large matrass, and expose it to the heat of a brineum mariæ, or move it over the surface of an uncovered chafing dish, but without flame, and at the distance from it of 2 or 3 inches. When the solution is completed, add still a little copal or amber to saturate the liquid; then pour the whole on a filter prepared with cotton, and leave it to clarify by rest. If the varnish is too thick, add a little warm essence to prevent the separation of any of the amber. This varnish is colored, but far less so than those composed by the usual methods. When spread over white wood, without any preparation, it forms a solid glazing, and communicates a slight tint to the wood. If it is required to charge this varnish with more copal, or prepared amber, the liquor must be composed of two parts of essence for one of oil. To Apply Copal Varnish to the Reparation of Opake Enamels. The properties manifested by these varnishes, and which render them proper for supplying the vitreous and transparent coating of enamel, by a covering equally brilliant, but more solid, and which adheres to vitreous compositions, and to metallic surfaces, admit of their being applied to other purposes besides those here enumerated. By slight modifications they may be used also for the reparation of opake enamel which has been fractured. These kinds of enamel admit the use of cements colored throughout, or only superficially, by copal varnish charged with coloring parts. On this account they must be attended with less difficulty in the reparation than transparent enamel, because they do not require the same reflection of the light. Compositions of paste, therefore, the different grounds of which may al ways harmonize with the coloring ground of the pieces to be repaired, and which may be still strengthened by the same tint introduced into the solid varnish, with which the articles are glazed, will answer the views of the artist in a wonderful manner. The base of the cement ought to be pure clay without color, and exceedingly dry. If solidity be required, ceruse is the only substance that can be substituted in its place. Drying oil of pinks will form an excellent excipient, and the consist ence of the cement ought to be such that it can be easily extended by a knife or spatula, possessed of a moderate degree of flexibility. This sort of paste soon dries. It has the advantage also of presenting to the colors, applied to it with a brush, a kind of ground which contributes to their solidity. The compound mastic being exceedingly drying, the application of it will be proper in cases where speedy reparation of the damaged articles is required. In more urgent cases, the paste may be composed with ceruse, and the turpentine copal varnishes, which dry more speedily than oil of pinks; and the colors may then be glazed with the ethereal copal varnish. The application of the paste will be necessary only in cases when the accident, which has happened to the enamel, leaves too great a vacuity to be filled up by several strata, of colored varnish. But in all cases the varnish ought to be well dried, that it may acquire its full lustre by polishing. To make White Copal Varnish. White oxide of lead, ceruse, Spanish white, white clay. Such of these substances as are preferred ought to be carefully dried. Ceruse and clay obstinately retain a great deal of humidity, which would oppose their adhesion to drying oil or varnish. The cement then crumbles under the fingers, and does not assume a body. Another. On 16 oz. of melted copal, pour 4, 6, or 8 oz. of linseed-oil boiled, and quite free from grease. When well mixed by repeated stirrings, and after they are pretty cool, pour in 16 oz. of the essence of Venice turpentine. Pass the varnish through a cloth. Amber varnish is made the same way. To make Black Copal Varnish. Lampblack, made of burnt vine-twigs, or black of peach-stones. The lampblack must be carefully washed and afterwards dried. Washing carries off a great many of its impurities. To make Yellow Copal Varnish. Yellow oxide of lead, of Naples and Montpellier, both reduced to impalpable powder. These yellows are hurt by the contact of iron and steel; in mixing them up, therefore, a horn spatula with a glass mortar and pestle must be employed. cording to the nature and tone of the color to be Gum guttæ, yellow ochre, or Dutch pink, acimitated. To make Blue Copal Varnish. Indigo, prussiate of iron (Prussian blue), blue verditer, and ultramarine. All these substances must be very much divided. To make Green Copal Varnish. (a mixture of yellow and blue). The first two reVerdigris, crystallized verdigris, compound green quire a mixture of white in proper proportions, intended to be given. The white used for this from a fourth to two-thirds, according to the tint Spanish white, which is less solid, or white of purpose is ceruse, or the white oxide of lead, or Moudon. Chamois Color. Dragon's blood with a paste composed of flowers of zine, or, what is still better, a little red vermilion. Violet. Cinnabar, mixed with lampblack, washed very dry, or with the black of burnt vine-twigs; and to render it mellower, a proper mixture of red, blue, and white. Pearl Gray. White and black; white and blue; for example, ceruse and lampblack; ceruse and indigo. Flaxen Gray. Ceruse, which forms the ground of the paste, mixed with a small quantity of Cologne earth, as much English red, or carminated lake, which is not so durable, and a particle of Prussian blue. Brunswick Black Varnish. Melt 4 lbs. of common asphalt, and add 2 pts. of boiled linseed-oil, and 1 gall. of oil of turpentine or coal-tar naphtha. India-Rubber Varnish. Four ounces india-rubber in fine shavings are dissolved in a covered jar, by means of a sandbath, in 2 lbs. of crude benzole, and then mixed with 4 lbs. of hot linseed-oil varnish heated, and filtered. (See CEMENTS). To make Varnish for Silks, etc. To 1 qt. of cold linseed-oil poured off from the lees (produced on the addition of unslaked lime, on which the oil has stood 8 or 10 days at the least, in order to communicate a drying quality, or brown umber burnt and powdered, which will have the like effect,) add oz. of litharge; boil them for hour, then add oz. of the copal varnish. While the ingredients are on the fire, in a copper vessel, put in 1 oz. of chios turpentine or common resin, and a few drops of neat's-foot oil, and stir the whole with a knife; when cool it is ready for use. The neat's-foot oil prevents the var. nish from being sticky or adhesive, and may be put into the linseed-oil at the same time with the lime or burnt umber. Resin or chios turpentine may be added till the varnish has attained the desired thickness. The longer the raw linseed-oil remains on the unslaked lime or umber, the sooner will the oil dry after it is used; if some months, so much the beer. Such varnish will set, that is to say, not run, but keep its place on the silk in four hours; the silk may then be turned and varnished on the other side. Compound Mastic Varnish. Take of pure alcohol, 32 oz.; purified mastic, 6 oz.; gum sandarac, 3 oz.; very clear Venice turpentine, 3 oz.; glass, coarsely pounded, 4 oz. Reduce the mastic and sandarac to fine powder; mix this powder with white glass, from which the finest parts have been separated by means of a hair-sieve; put all the ingredients with alcohol into a short-necked matrass, and adapt to it a stick of white-wood, rounded at the end, and of a length proportioned to the height of the matrass, that it may be put in motion. Expose the matrass in a vessel filled with water, made at first a little warm, and which must afterwards be maintained in a state of ebullition for 1 or 2 hours. The matrass may be made fast to a ring of straw. When the solution seems to be sufficiently extended, add the turpentine, which must be kept separately in a phial or pot, and which must be melted by immersing it for a moment in a balneum mariæ. The matrass must be still left in the water for hour, at the end of which it is taken off, and the varnish is continually stirred till it is some. what cool. Next day it is to be drawn off and filtered through cotton. By these means it will become exceedingly limpid. The addition of glass may appear extraordinary; but this substance divides the parts of the mixture which have been made with the dry ingredients; and it retains the same quality when placed over the fire. It therefore obviates with success two inconveniences which are exceedingly troublesome to those who compose varnishes. In the first place, by dividing the matters, it facilitates the action of the alcohol; and in the second, its weight, which surpasses that of resins, prevents these resins from adhering to the bottom of the matrass, and also the coloration acquired by the varnish when a sand-bath is employed, as is commonly the case. The application of this varnish is suited to articles belonging to the toilet, such as dressingboxes, cut-paper works, etc. The following possess the same brilliancy and lustre, but they have more solidity, and are exceedingly drying. Camphorated Mastic Varnish for Paintings. Take of mastic, cleaned and washed, 12 oz.; glass pounded, 5 oz.; essence of turpentine, 36 oz. pure turpentine, 14 oz.; camphor, oz.; white Make the varnish according to the method indicated for Compound Mastic Varnish. The camphor is employed in pieces, and the turpentine is added when the solution of the resin is completed. But if the varnish is to be applied to old paintings, or paintings which have been already varnished. the turpentine may be suppressed; as this ingredient is here recommended only in cases of a first application to new paintings, and just freed from white-of-egg varnish. The question by able masters respecting the kind of varnish proper to be employed for paintings, has never yet been determined. Some artists who have paid particular attention to this subject, make a mystery of, the means they employ to obtain the desired effect. The real end may be accomplished by giving to the varnish destined for painting, pliability and softness, without being too solicitous in regard to what may add to its consistence or its solidity. The latter quality is particularly requisite in varnishes which are to be applied to articles much exposed to friction; such as boxes, furniture, etc. Shaw's Mastic Varnish for Paintings. Bruise the mastic with a muller on a painter's stone, which will detect the soft parts, or tears, which are to be taken out, and the remainder put into a clean bottle with good spirits of turpentine (twice distilled if you can get it); and dissolve the gum by shaking it in your hand for hour, without heat. When dissolved, strain it through corked, so that the light of the sun can strike it, a piece of calico and place it in a bottle well for 2 or 3 weeks; which will cause a mucilaginous precipitate, leaving the remainder as transparent as water. It may then be carefully decanted into another bottle and put by for use. The proportions of gum and alcohol are: mastic, 6 oz.; turpentine, 14 oz. thin it with turpentine. If found on trial to be too thick, To make Painter's Cream. Painters who have long intervals between their periods of labor, are accustomed to cover the parts they have painted with a preparation which preserves the freshness of the colors, and which they can remove when they resume their work. This preparation is as follows: Take of very clear nut-oil, 3 oz; mastic in tears, pulverized, oz.; sal saturni, in powder (acetate | varnish, which render application to the varnisher of lead), oz. Dissolve the mastic in oil over a necessary, and occasion trouble and expense. gentle fire, and pour the mixture into a marble Waxing stands shocks, but it does not possess mortar, over the pounded salt of lead; stir it with in the same degree as varnish the property of a wooden pestle, and add water in small quanti-giving lustre to the bodies on which it is applied, ties till the matter assume the appearance and consistence of cream, and refuse to admit more water. Sandarac Varnish. Take of gum sandarac, 8 oz.; pounded mastic, 2 oz.; clear turpentine, 24 oz. ; pounded glass, 4 oz.; pure alcohol, 32 oz. Mix and dissolve as before. Compound Sandarac Varnish. Take of pounded copal, of an amber color, once liquefied, 3 oz.; gum sandarac, 6 oz.; mastic, cleaned, 3 oz.; clear turpentine, 34 oz.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; pure alcohol, 32 oz. Mix these ingredients, and pursue the same method as above. This varnish is destined for articles subject to friction; such as furniture, chairs, fan-sticks, mouldings, etc., and even metals; to which it may be applied with success. The sandarac gives it great durability. Camphorated Sandarac Varnish for Cut-Paper Works, Dressing-Boxes, etc. Take of gum sandarac, 6 oz.; gum elemi, 4 oz.; gum animi, 1 oz.; camphor, oz.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; pure alcohol, 32 oz. Make the varnish according to the directions already given. The soft resins must be pounded with the dry bodies. The camphor is to be added in pieces. Another. Take of gallipot or white incense, 6 oz.; gum animi, gum elemi, each 2 oz.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; alcohol, 32 oz. Make the varnish with the precautions indicated for the compound mastic varnish. The two last varnishes are to be used for ceilings and wainscots, colored or not colored. They may even be employed as a covering to parts painted with strong colors. Spirituous Sandarac Varnish for Wainscoting small Articles of Furniture, Balustrades, Inside Rail. ings. Take gum sandarac, 6 oz.; shell-lac, 2 oz.; colophonium or resin, white glass pounded, clear turpentine, each 4 oz.; pure alcohol, 32 oz. Dissolve the varnish according to the directions given for compound mastic varnish. This varnish is sufficiently durable to be applied to articles destined to daily and continual use. Varnishes composed with copal, ought however, in these cases to be preferred. Another. There is another composition which, without forming part of the compound varnishes, is employed with success for giving a polish and lustre to furniture made of wood; wax forms the basis of it. Many cabinet-makers are contented with waxing common furniture, such as tables, chests of drawers, etc. This covering, by means of repeated friction, soon acquires a polish and transparency which resembles those of varnish. Waxing seems to possess qualities peculiar to itself, but, like varnish, it is attended with inconveniences as well as advantages. Varnish supplies better the part of glazing; it gives a lustre to the wood which it covers, and heightens the colors of that destined, in particular, for delicate articles. These real and valuable advantages are counterbalanced by its want of consistence; it yields too easily to the shrinking or swelling of the wood, and rises in scales or splits on being exposed to the slightest shock. These accidents can be repaired only by new strata of and of heightening their tints. The lustre it communicates is dull, but this inconvenience is compensated by the facility with which any aceident that may have altered its polish can be repaired by rubbing it with a piece of fine cork. There are some circumstances, therefore, under which the application of wax ought to be preferred to that of varnish. This seems to be the case in particular with tables of walnut-tree wood, exposed to daily use, chairs, mouldings and for all small articles subject to constant employment. But as it is of importance to make the stratum of wax as thin as possible in order that the veins of the wood may be more apparent, the following process will be acceptable to the reader : Melt over a moderate fire in a very clean vessel 2 oz. of white or yellow wax, and when liquefied add 4 oz. of good essence of turpentine; stir the whole until it is entirely cool, and the result will be a kind of pomade fit for waxing furniture, and which must be rubbed over them according to the usual method. The essence of turpentine is soon dissipated, but the wax, which by its mixture is reduced to a state of very great division, may be extended with more ease and in a more uniform manner. The essence soon penetrates the pores of the wood, calls forth the color of it, causes the wax to adhere better, and the lustre which thence results is equal to that of varnish, without having any of its inconveniences. Colored Varnish for Violins and other Stringed Instruments, also for Plum-tree, Mahogany and Rose-wood. Gum sandarac, 4 oz.; seed-lac, 2 oz.; mastic, Benjamin, in tears, each 1 oz.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; Venice turpentine, 2 oz. ; pure alcohol, 32 oz. The gum sandarac and lac render this varnish durable; it may be colored with a little saffron or dragon's blood. French Polish. cle to be polished being finished off as smoothly The varnish being prepared (shellac), the artias possible with glass-paper, and your rubber being prepared as directed below, proceed to the operation as follows: The varnish, in a narrowthe flat face of the rubber, by laying the rubber necked bottle, is to be applied to the middle of varnish once, as by this means the rubber will imon the mouth of the bottle and shaking up the bibe the proper quantity to varnish a considerable extent of surface. The rubber is then to be en closed in a soft linen cloth doubled, the rest of rubber to form a handle. Moisten the face of the the cloth being gathered up at the back of the linen with a little raw linseed-oil, applied with the finger to the middle of it. Placing your work opposite the light, pass your rubber quickly and lightly over its surface until the varnish becomes dry or nearly so; charge your rubber as before with varnish (omitting the oil), and repeat the rubbing until three coats are laid on, when a little oil may be applied to the rubber and two coats the varnish has acquired some thickness, wet the more given to it. Proceeding in this way until inside of the linen cloth, before applying the varnish, with alcohol, and rub quickly, lightly and uniformly the whole surface. Lastly, wet the linen cloth with a little oil and alcohol without varnish, and rub as before till dry. To make the Rubber. been torn off so as to form a soft, elastic edge. It should form a coil from 1 to 3 inches in diameter, according to the size of the work. Fat Varnish of a Gold-color. Dissolve which are thoroughly hard and dry, as it brings out the colors with the purest effect. This quality renders it a valuable varnish for all kinds of leather, as it does not yield to the warmth of the Dr. Hare's Colorless Varnish. Amber, 8 oz.; gum-lac, 2 oz.; drying linseed-hand and resists damp. oil, 8 oz.; essence of turpentine, 16 oz. separately the gum-lac, and then add the amber, prepared and pulverized, with the linseed-oil and essence very warm. When the whole has lost a part of its heat, mix in relative proportions tincture of anatto, of terra merita, gum guttæ and dragon's blood. This varnish, when applied to white metals, gives them a gold color. Fat Turpentine, or Golden Varnish, being a Mordant to Gold and Dark Colors. Boiled linseed oil, 16 oz.; Venice turpentine, 8 oz.; Naples yellow, 5 oz. Heat the oil with the turpentine, and mix the Naples yellow pulverized. Naples yellow is substituted here for resins, on account of its drying qualities, and in particular of its color, which resembles that of gold; great use is made of the varnish in applying gold leaf. The yellow, however, may be omitted when this species of varnish is to be solid and colored coverings. In this case an ounce of litharge to each pound of composition may be substituted in its stead, without this mixture doing any injury to the color which is to constitute the ground. To make Turners' Varnish for Boxwood. Seed-lac, 5 oz.; gum sandarac, 2 oz.; gum elemi, 14 oz.; Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; pounded glass, 5 oz.; pure alcohol, 24 oz. Another. Other turners employ the gum-lac united to a little elemi and turpentine digested some months in pure alcohol exposed to the sun. If this method be followed, it will be proper to substitute for the sandarac the same quantity of gum-lac reduced to powder, and not to add the turpentine to the alcohol, which ought to be exceedingly pure, till towards the end of the infusion. Solar infusion requires care and attention. Vessels of a sufficient size to allow the spirituous vapors to circulate freely ought to be employed, because it is necessary that the vessels should be closely shut. Without this precaution the spirits would become weakened and abandon the resin which they laid hold of during the first day's exposure. This perfect obituration will not admit of the vessels being too full. In general the varnishes applied to articles which may be put into the lathe acquire a great deal of brilliancy by polishing: a piece of woollen cloth is sufficient for the operation. If turpentine predominates too much in these compositions, the polish does not retain its lustre, because the heat of the hands is capable of softening the surface of the varnish, and in this state it readily tarnishes. Loning's Colorless Varnish. For this varnish a prize of 20 guineas was awarded by the Society of Arts, London. Dissolve 24 oz. of shellac in a pint of alcohol; boil for a few minutes with 5 oz. of well-burned and recently-heated animal charcoal. A small portion of the solution must then be filtered, and if not colorless more charcoal must be added. When all color is removed, press the liquid through a piece of silk, and afterwards filter through fine blottingpaper. This varnish should be used in a room of at least 60° Fahr., and free from dust. It dries in a few minutes, and is not liable afterwards to chill or bloom. It is particularly applicable to drawings and prints which have been sized, and may be advantageously used upon oil paintings, Dissolve in an iron kettle 1 part of pearlash in about 8 parts of water; add 1 part of seed or shellac, and heat to boiling. When the lac is dissolved impregnate the whole with chlorine (made by gently heating 1 part black oxide of manganese with 4 of muriatic acid) until the lac is all precipitated. Wash, dry, and dissolve in alcohol. To Varnish Dressing-Boxes. The most of spirit of wine varnishes are destined for covering preliminary preparations, which have a certain degree of lustre. They consist of cement, colored or not colored, charged with landscapes and figures cut out in paper, which produces an effect under the transparent varnish. Most of the dressing-boxes, and other small artiticles of the same kind, are covered with this particular composition, which, in general, consists of three or four coatings of Spanish white pounded in water, and mixed up with parchment glue. The first coating is smoothed with pumice-stone, and then polished with a piece of new linen and water. The coating in this state is fit to receive the destined color, after it has been ground with water and mixed with parchment glue diluted with water. The cut figures with which it is to be embellished are then applied, and a coating of gum or fish-glue is spread over them, to prevent the varnish from penetrating to the preparation, and from spoiling the figures. The operation is finished by applying 3 or 4 coatings of varnish, which when dry are polished with tripoli and water, by means of a piece of cloth. A lustre is then given to the surface with starch and a bit of doe-skin, or very soft cloth. Gallipot Varnish. Take of gallipot, or white incense, 12 oz.; white glass, pounded, 5 oz.; Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; essence of turpentine, 32 oz. Make the varnish after the white incense has been pounded with the glass. Some authors recommend mastic or sandarac in the room of gallipot; but the varnish is neither more beautiful nor more durable. When the color is ground with the preceding varnish and mixed up with the latter, which, if too thick, is thinned with a little essence, and which is applied immediately, and without any sizing, to boxes and other articles, the coatings acquire sufficient strength to resist the blows of a mallet. But if the varnish be applied to a sized color it must be covered with a varnish of the first or second genus. Varnish for Electrical Purposes. Mastic Gallipot Varnish, for Grinding Colors The matters ground with this varnish dry more slowly; they are then mixed up with the following varnish, if it be for common painting, or with particular varnishes destined for colors and for grounds. Lacquer for Brass. Take of seed-lac, 6 oz.; amber or copal, ground or porphyry, 2 oz,; dragon's blood, 40 grs.; extract of red sandal-wood, obtained by water, 30 grs.; oriental saffron, 36 grs.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; very pure alcohol, 40 oz. To apply this varnish to articles or ornaments of brass, expose them to a gentle heat, and dip them into varnish. Two or three coatings may be applied in this manner, if necessary. The varnish is durable and has a beautiful color. Articles varnished in this manner may be cleaned with water and a bit of dry rag. Lacquer for Philosophical Instrumento. This lacquer or varnish is destined to change or to modify the color of those bodies to which it is applied. Take of gum gutta (gamboge), oz.; gum sandarac, gum elemi, each 2 oz.; dragon's blood, of the best quality, 1 oz. ; seed-lac, 1 oz ; terra merita, oz.; oriental saffron, 2 grs.; pounded glass, 3 oz. ; pure alcohol, 20 oz. The tincture of saffron and of terra merita is first obtained by infusing them in alcohol for 24 hours, or exposing them to the heat of the sun in summer. The tincture must be strained through a piece of clean linen cloth, and ought to be strongly squeezed. This tincture is poured over the dragon's blood, the gum elemi, the seed-lac, and the gum guttæ, all pounded and mixed with the glass. The varnish is then made according to the directions before given. It may be applied with great advantage to philosophical instruments. The use of it might be extended also to various cast or moulded articles with which furniture is ornamented. If the dragon's blood be of the first quality it may give too high a color; in this case the dose may be lessened at pleasure, as well as that of the other coloring matters. Gola solored Lacquer for Brass Watch-cases, Watch-keys. etc. Take of seed-lac, 6 oz.; amber, gum guttæ, each 2 oz.; extract of red sandal-wood in water, 24 grs.; dragon's blood, 60 grs.; oriental saffron, 36 grs.; pounded glass, 4 oz.; pure alcohol, 36 oz. Grind the amber, the seed-lac, gum guttæ, and dragon's blood on a piece of porphyry; then mix them with the pounded glass, and add the alcohol, after forming with it an infusion of the saffron and an extract of the sandal-wood. The varnish must then be completed as before. The metal articles destined to be covered by this varnish are heated, and those which will admit of it are immersed in packets. The tint of the varnish may be varied by modifying the doses of the coloring substances. Lacquer of a Less Drying Quality. Take of seed-lac, 4 oz.; sandarac, or mastic, 4 oz.; dragon's blood, oz.; terra merita, gum guttæ, each 30 grs.; pounded glass, 5 oz.; clear turpentine, 8 oz.; essence of turpentine, 32 oz. Extract by infusion the tincture of the coloring substances, and then add the resinous bodies according to the directions for compound mastic varnish. per those shining colors observed in foils. This process of industry becomes a source of prosperity to the manufacturers of buttons and works formed with foil, which in the hands of the jeweller contributes with so much success to produce that reflection of the rays of light which doubles the lustre and sparkling quality of precious stones. It is to varnish of this kind that we are indebted for the manufactory of gilt leather, which, taking refuge in England, has given place to that of pspier-maché, which is employed for the deccration of palaces, theatres, etc. tint, obtained from the coloring part of saffron, In the last place, it is by the effect of a foreign that the scales of silver disseminated in confection d'hyacinthe reflect a beautiful gold color. The colors transmitted by different coloring subwhich they are destined. The artist bas it in his stances, require tones suited to the objects for own power to vary them at pleasure, by the addition of anatto to the mixture of dragon's blood, saffron, etc., or some changes in the doses of the mode intended to be made in colors. It is here impossible to give limited formula. To make Lacquers of Various Tints. There is one simple method by which artists may be enabled to obtain all the different tints they require. Infuse separately 4 oz. of gum guttæ in 32 oz. of essence of turpentine, and 4 oz. of dragon's blood, and 1 oz. of annatto also in separate doses of essence. These infusions may be easily made in the sun. After 15 days' exposure pour a certain quantity of these liquors into a flask, and by varying the doses different shades of color will be obtained. These infusions may be employed also for changing alcoholic varnishes; but in this case the use of saffron, as well as that of red sandal-wood, which does not succeed with essence, will soon give the tone necessary for imitating with other tinctures the color of gold. Mordant Varnish for Gilding. Take of mastic, 1 oz.; gum sandarach, 1 oz. ; gum guttæ, oz.; turpentine, oz.; essence of turpentine, 6 oz. Some artists, who make use of mordants, substitute for the turpentine 1 oz. of the essence of lavender, which renders this composition still less drying. In general, the composition of mordants admits of modifications, according to the kind of work for which they are destined. The application of them, however, is confined chiefly to gold. When it is required to fill up a design with gold-leaf on any ground whatever, the composition, which is to serve as the means of union between the metal and the ground, ought to be neither too thick nor too fluid; because both these circumstances are equally injurious to delicacy in the strokes; it not dry till the artist has completed his design will be requisite also that the composition should Other Mordants. Some prepare their mordants with Jew's pitch and drying oil diluted with essence of turpentine. They employ it for gilding pale gold, or for bronzing." Other artists imitate the Chinese, and mix with their mordants colors proper for assisting the tone which they are desirous of giving to the gold, such as yellow, red, etc. Lacquer or varnishes of this kind are called changing, because, when applied to metals, such as copper, brass, or hammered tin, or to wooden boxes and other furniture, they communicate to them a more agreeable color. Besides, by their contact with the common metals, they acquire a lustre which approaches that of the precious metals, and to which, in consequence of peculiar intrinsic qualities or certain laws of convention, a much greater value is attached. It is by means Others make use of thick glue, in which they of these changing varnishes that artists are able dissolve a little honey. This is what they call to communicate to their leaves of silver and cop-batture. When they are desirous of heightening Others employ merely fat varnish, to which they add a little red oxide of lead (minium). |