containing some solution of isinglass. Immerse the articles for 12 hours in this fluid until saturated, then dry and press them. They are water-proof, but not impervious to air, and not attacked by moths.

WAX AND WAX PREPARATIONS.

Unadulterated beeswax is of a pure yellow color, has a honey-like smell, breaks easily into small pieces, does not dissolve in cold spirit of wine nor oil of turpentine, and melts at 143.6° F. To Bleach Beeswax. A wooden vat of about twice the volume of the wax should be lined with lead and have on its bottom a coil of perforated lead pipe. Faucets should be placed different heights. Thirty parts of water to every 50 parts of wax are first placed into the vat, and brought to the boiling point by introducing steam in the serpentine pipe. Then add to the water for every 50 parts of wax 6 to 71⁄2 parts of potassium bichromate, according to the light or dark color of the wax, and about 24 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid. Now melt the wax in water in another vessel by introducing steam, and pour it either directly into the bleaching liquor or allow it first to congeal and add it in a solid state. After the wax has been placed in the bleaching liquor introduce steam through the serpentine pipe, and let the whole boil vigorously for about 1 hour. Steam of about 5 pounds pressure to the square inch should be used; too hot steam, being injurious to the wax, must be avoided. Take occasionally a sample from the vat and examine it in a test-glass. The process is finished if the wax floats as a green layer upon a black fluid. Let the mass stand quietly for half an hour, then draw the wax off into another vat containing 7 parts of water and part of sulphuric acid, or, still better, oxalic acid. Heat the mixture to the boiling point by steam introduced through a pipe on the bottom of the vat, and continue boiling until the wax has lost its green color. The wax is finally washed with water and poured into moulds.

Green Wax. Melt 200 parts of yellow wax, 100 parts of white rosin, and 663 parts of ordinary turpentine; mix the

compound with 163 parts of pulverized verdigris, and pour the mass, while hot, into paper capsules.

Black Wax. 1. Melt in a copper boiler 550 parts of yellow wax, and add gradually and with constant stirring 50 parts of prepared silver litharge, and boil until the compound begins to assume a brown color; then add 164 parts of calcined lampblack rubbed very fine, mix thoroughly, and pour the mass into paper capsules.

II. Melt in a porcelain dish 333 parts of yellow wax and 83 parts of Venetian turpentine; then add gradually and with constant stirring 33 parts of black sulphide of mercury, and pour the mass into paper capsules.

Red Wax. Melt 20 parts of white wax and 12 of Venetian turpentine, add 1 part of fine cinnabar, and pour the mass into paper capsules.

Polishing Wax. Melt part of yellow wax and of rosin, and add ‡ part of oil of turpentine.

Polishing Wax for Furniture. Pour 3 parts of oil of turpentine over 4 parts of white wax in an earthen vessel, cover the vessel tightly with strong paper, and place it in warm water on the back part of a warm stove to melt the wax. When both substances are united let the mixture cool until it begins to be solid and assume a whitish color, then add and mix with it 2 parts of strong alcohol.

Another Polishing Wax for Furni ture is prepared by melting 8 parts of white wax, 2 of rosin, and of Venetian turpentine over a moderate fire, pouring the compound while warm into a suitable earthenware pot, and stirring into it 6 parts of rectified oil of turpentine. In 24 hours the polish will have acquired the consistency of soft butter, and is then ready for use. Now carefully cleanse the furniture with soapwater, and, when dry, apply the polish in a thin layer with a woollen rag, rubbing first gently and then more vigorously. Then let the furniture stand for to hour, and rub once more thoroughly with a woollen cloth.

Wax Soap. Melt part of crumbs of wax in 1 part of caustic soda-lye. Should the soap thus obtained be too caustic add some more wax and rainwater, and unite the whole by melting

To Prepare Waxed Paper. Place a level sheet of copper over a moderate coal fire, and cover it with a clean sheet of paper as a basis for the work; place the paper to be prepared upon this, smear it over with yellow or white wax, and distribute it uniformly over the whole sheet by means of a sponge until the paper is transparent. The success of the work depends principally on the condition of the fire; it must be neither too strong nor too moderate, as in the first case it blackens the paper, and in the latter makes the labor very difficult.

Colors for Wax- Work. Every waxworker should thoroughly understand the mixing of colors to give to the different articles fashioned of wax a pleasing and natural appearance. The colors given in the following must be rubbed up in oil of turpentine:

Rose Color. Rub a rose color with fine Vienna lake and Kremnitz white, paint a rose upon the wax candle or other article to be decorated, then add a little more white, making the color somewhat whiter, paint a few rosepetals upon the first red ground, and finally shade with some Vienna

lake.

Yellow Flowers, for instance daffodils, are entirely painted with chromeyellow, with the exception of the pistil, which is executed with Vienna lake, and the work is then shaded with dark ochre.

Blue Color. To paint larkspur, blue gilly flowers, etc., mix Parisian blue with white to a sky-blue, and paint the flower with this. Lighter shades are obtained by adding more white. Shade with Parisian blue.

Violet Colors. By mixing Parisian blue, white, and Vienna lake, a beautiful lilac is obtained. The flower is painted with this; then add some white and Vienna lake to make the color 4 shades lighter than the first; paint the petals with this, and shade with fine Vienna lake.

Leaves are painted alternately with verdigris and mineral green or with chrome-yellow and blue. To produce different tints these colors must be suitably mixed. After the wax ground

with a very light varnish, prepared as follows: Dissolve in 330 parts of spirit of wine 133 parts of sandarac, 33 parts of mastic in grains, and 16 parts of white pine rosin.

Gold Ground upon Wax. Take some copal lacquer, white lead, and red minium; paint the flowers and decorations with this; allow it to dry and then gild it.

Wax for Waxing Threads to be Woven. Mix 1 part of pulverized graphite with of pulverized soapstone and 14 parts of melted beeswax. The compound, when cold, is ready for use.

Wax Tapers. Two wooden drums having a diameter of 7 to 10 inches are required; further, a trestle (horse) with two clamps, between which is placed the draw-iron provided with holes of different dimensions. The drums, provided with cranks for turning, stand one on each side of the trestle. Upon one is wound the wick, which is passed through melted wax and then through the narrow hole of the draw-iron, and wound upon the other drum. It is again passed through melted wax and a wider hole of the draw-iron, again wound up, and this operation repeated until it has acquired the desired thickness. The room in which the work is done must be moderately warm, so that the wax is kept neither too hard nor too soft. As wax by itself is too brittle it is best to use the following composition: Yellow wax 8 parts, white rosin 4, tallow 2, and turpentine 2.

To White Wax add of its weight of tallow and of Venetian turpentine. For Coloring the Tapers, vegetable colors, as indigo, infusion of Brazil wood, annotto, etc., are used.

Wax Candles. Mix 1 part of white wax and of tallow. Insert the wick in the mould, which should stand accurately perpendicular, and, to prevent it from shifting, fasten it in a vessel standing under the mould. Then saturate the wick by pouring melted wax over it, and, when this coat has somewhat stiffened, continue the pouring until the desired thickness has been obtained. Cut off the candles while still warm, roll them smooth upon a moistened marble plate, and bleach in the sun. The candles must be moist

Floor Wax. Boil 5 parts of purified potash, 20 parts of water, and 25 parts of wax, stirring constantly, until a thickly-fluid and homogeneous compound has been formed, and no more watery fluid is separated. Then take the vessel from the fire carefully, add first a few drops of boiling water and then a larger quantity, so as to form a fat-like mass, in which no water can be detected. Then replace the vessel on the fire, heat the compound without allowing it to come to a boil, and add gradually and with constant stirring 400 to 450 parts of hot water.

Yellow Floor Wax is obtained by an addition of finely-pulverized gold ochre to the above composition;

Brown, by adding umber;

Red, by an addition of colcothar; Beautiful Golden Yellow, by adding 12 parts of golden ochre and 3 parts of

annotto.

New Compound for Waxing Floors. Linseed oil 200 parts, litharge 20, wax 150, tallow 15, molasses 190, lampblack 103, oil of turpentine 280, alcohol 35, shellac 5, aniline violet 2. Boil the linseed oil with the litharge for 1 hour, then melt the wax and tallow in the hot fluid, add the molasses, and keep the whole at a temperature of 230° to 248° F., until all the water is volatilized. Then add the lampblack or any other coloring matter, and, after cooling, the oil of turpentine, and finally the shellac dissolved in alcohol and the

aniline violet.

Spirit Lacquer for Lacquering Wax Tapers. Place 25 parts of mastic and 250 parts of sandarac in a fine sieve, and suspend the latter in a tin vessel containing 600 parts of alcohol of 96 per cent., in such a manner that the resins are just covered with the alcohol. After 24 hours, when all the resins will be dissolved, filter the solution.

Excellent Modelling Wax. Melt carefully over a moderate coal fire 100 parts of yellow wax, and then add 13 parts of Venetian turpentine, 6 parts of lard, and 72 parts of elutriated bole. Mix thoroughly, pour the mixture gradually into a vessel containing water, and knead it several times with the hands. The wax must be melted at

WOOD-GILDING, POLISHING, STAINING, ETC.

Extraction and Impregnation of Sounding-board Wood. The object of the invention is to remove the soft rosin from the wood and replace it by a hard resinous substance. The extraction is accomplished by placing the boards for 4 hours in petroleum ether, and then drying_them in the shade in the open air. To replace the extracted natural rosin by a hard resinous substance the boards are placed for 2 days in a holder containing a spirit varnish composed of glassy copal, sandarac, pulverized glass, and aloes. The boards are then dried and are ready for use.

To Prepare Sounding-board Wood. The wood to be prepared is strongly heated for 12 hours in a hermeticallyclosed boiler, K (Fig. 53). The boiler is then opened for a few hours and the wood, slightly heated, exposed to the action of ozone. The oxygen is gener ated in the reservoir A, which, like the boiler K, is lined with chamotte* to protect it against the action of the oxygen, and ozonized in the boiler K by electrical sparks. By this process the resinous and fatty constituents of the wood are extracted.

To Make Wood Flexible and Fireproof. To accomplish this the rosins contained in the wood are saponified, and the acids neutralized with alkalies obtained from wood ash. Although all alkaline combinations possess the property of rendering vegetable substances more or less flexible and fireproof, the carbonates are preferable; they are used in the following manner: Dissolve carbonate of potassium or sodium in cold clear water, and add calcium hydrate to the solution. Then immerse the boards or timber in the alkaline solution until a coating

to

inch thick has been formed, which will require about 5 to 12 hours. A

* Chamotte is a mixture of unburnt fire-clay and dust of fire-bricks, glass pots, or seggars, w. T. B.

coating inch thick suffices to render building timber fire-proof, but in case great flexibility with absolute noninflammability is desired, a thicker coating or even an entire saturation of the timber will be necessary, which is accomplished by hydraulic pressure.

Thin veneers of any dense, veined wood treated in the above manner can be rendered sufficiently flexible to resemble tanned leather. To attain this result immerse the veneers in the alkaline solution for a sufficiently long time to acquire a transparent appearance, which will require from 15 to 40 minutes, according to their nature and thickness. They are then allowed to dry, and rolled and pressed between steel cylinders or plates. Veneers treated in this manner can be used for many purposes instead of leather, and are especially well adapted for chair bottoms, wainscoting, etc.

To Render Wood Incombustible and Impermeable. Folbacci uses a process by which wood is, so to say, petrified without losing its ordinary appearance. It will bear any degree of heat without the primary substance suffering any change, except the formation of an extraordinarily thin charred coating, which falls off on the lightest touch. The process is as follows: Heat in a

boiler 55 parts of water to 113° F., and then add 55 parts of sulphate of zinc, 22 of potash, 44 of alum, and 22 of manganic oxide. When all are dissolved, add gradually 22 parts of sulphuric acid of 60°, until the compound is thoroughly saturated. Then place the pieces of wood into the compound in such a manner that they lie about 2 inches apart, allowing them to remain for 3 hours, and then dried in the open air.

To Render Wood Fire-proof. Boil the wood first in a solution of potassium sulphate and, after drying, heat it together with a mixture of coal-tar and argillaceous admixtures, by which it acquires a durable coating of a mixture of asbestos and fire-clay. Heat the wood thus treated in a steam-vat between layers of clay, whereby the coating is firmly united with the wood. Timber prepared in this manner is fire and weather-proof, and well adapted for building purposes.

To Render Wood Impermeable to Water. Even the softest kind of wood, as that of the poplar and lime tree, can be made water-proof by the following process: Coat the article several times with hot linseed-oil varnish, and finally apply quite a thick layer of polish. Wooden gutters for holding water for

moistening the threads in throwing silk and thread were made water-proof in this manner.

How Oziers can be Peeled in Winter. Steam the oziers for 10 to 14 minutes in a closed cylinder, and then place them for 24 hours in water of about 100° F. Staining Wood for Fine Cabinet Work. Denninger, of Mayence, has made a series of experiments in staining maple wood. Of the coloring matters used he prefers decidedly the alcoholic extracts to aqueous decoctions, since, on account of the woods having to remain longer in the decoction, the pores are opened too widely and the coloring matter penetrates too deeply into the soft parts of the wood, while the hard parts remain almost untouched. For soft varieties of wood aqueous coloring extracts must therefore be entirely avoided. Denninger advises also against the use of strong acids, as aqua fortis, hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, since the slightest excess of these acids exerts later on an injurious and frequently destroying effect upon the polish. The alcoholic extracts are of course more expensive than the aqueous decoctions, but they furnish a more uniform and intense coloring and go a great deal further.

Denninger made use of the following coloring matters and other materials:

a. Gallic Acid. This is prepared by pouring ordinary spirit of wine over pulverized black or white gall-nuts, allowing the mixture to stand in a warm place for a few days, stirring frequently, and then straining it.

b. Sulphate of Iron. Roast it in an iron pan over a coal fire until it turns reddish; when cold pulverize it, and pour spirit of wine over it.

c. Logwood Shavings. d. Pulverized Sanderswood. e. Saffron and Annotto. Pour spirit of wine over them and treat the tincture as given under a.

d. Shavings of Brazil Wood, and g. of Fustic. h. Crushed Persian Berries. Pour water over them and use the infusion cold.

e. Pulverized Cochineal. Boil it with double its weight of spirit of ammonia and water in a water-bath until the spirit of ammonia is volatilized; then mix the fluid with spirit of wine, and filter.

f. Aqueous Decoction of Logwood is compounded with some solution of alum in water. The precipitate formed is collected upon a paper filter, dried and formed into a paste with a few drops of hydrochloric acid, and then dissolved in spirit of wine.

g. Pulverized Indigo. Dissolve indigo in four times its own weight of fuming sulphuric acid, allow the solution to stand in a warm place for a few days and then dilute it with water.

h. Solution of Tin. Dissolve 50 parts of granulated tin by boiling in 50 parts of hydrochloric acid; or, h', dissolve 33 parts of granulated tin by boiling it in 50 parts of hydrochloric acid. And also to ounce each of the following salts: i. Alum. j. Potassium bichromate. k. Potassium ferrocyanide, and l. Sulphate of copper. Dissolve the salts in so much water that a part of them remains undissolved on the bottom of the vessel.

In the following we give a number of colors and the materials used by Denninger in producing them:

Blue. Dilute a solution of indigo with a sufficient quantity of water.

Bluish-brown. Dilute a solution of logwood extract with spirit of wine, and add some solution of tin (h').

Bluish-gray. Dilute a solution of cochineal strongly with spirit of wine, and add solution of indigo.

Blue-black. Dilute a solution of extract of logwood with spirit of wine, and add solution of sulphate of iron.

Brown. Mix equal parts of solution of extract of logwood and solution of saffron, dilute with spirit of wine, and add some solution of tin (h.).

Brownish-red. Mix a decoction of Brazil wood with some solution of tin (h').

Crimson. Dilute a solution of cochi.. neal with spirit of wine.

Dark Gray. Use first extract of gall nuts, then solution of sulphate of iron, and finally indigo solution diluted with water.

Greenish. Extract of saffron with an addition of some indigo solution. Green. Same as above with an addition of more indigo.

Greenish-gray. Mix decoctions of gall nuts, sulphate of iron, and fustic with some solution of indigo.