cases, both placed at the ends of sticks; some of a very large size are fastened into stocks in the same manner as brushes.

In choosing pencils, a very simple trial will prove whether they are fit for your purpose. You have only to put them into your mouth, and, after wetting them a little, draw them out between your tongue and upper lip; then, if they present a sharp point, and the hairs. come out full next to the case, and without separating. the pencils are good; if the hairs show ragged, or are thin at the opposite end to the point, they cannot be depended upon. The sharpness of the point is of particular consequence in small pencils. The same attention must be paid to the hairs being fast bound in the stocks or cases, as directed in the choice of brushes.

With regard to the stick, or stock, attached to the pencil, it ought never to be less than eight inches; and, indeed, the greater the length, provided the workman can handle it with freedom and certainty, the better; for it is as impossible for a painter to have a good command of his pencil, as a writer of his pen, if he hold it too near the point.

To steady the hand while using the pencil, painter use what they call a moll-stick. This is made of a straight piece of wood, generally mahogany, with a nob at one end of it, resembling a printer's puff, but smaller, composed of some soft substance enclosed in leather. This end must be rested lightly on the work, and the other end being held in the left hand, will render the stick a support to the right.

When you are engaged upon works which will require the use of pencils or small brushes for a long time together, it is customary, instead of having your colours in pots or pans, to dispose them in such quantities as they are likely to be wanted in, upon a palette. This is a small board, generally of an oval form, to be had at any colour-shop. It ought to be made of walnut or appletree wood, and, before being used, it should be well rubbed over with drying oil, till it refuses to take up any more. The same kind of palette will serve for the varnisher; but, for painting in distemper, it is necessary to have one made of tin-plate.

Spatulas, resembling in appearance the spreading slices used by apothecaries, are useful for preparing colours, and for many other purposes. They should be had of different materials, horn, bone, iron, steel, or ivory; but there should be, at least, one of each of the last two kinds, those made of steel being sometimes improper, for the reason mentioned in speaking of the palette-knife.

A glass mattrass is usually recommended for digesting varnishes, as its transparency admits of the progress of the solution being readily observed. But it is only the experienced manipulator who can safely employ a vessel of this kind; and for general use, one of tin is much better.

A rubber, for varnishing or polishing, is usually made by rolling up a strip of thick woollen cloth, which has been torn off so as to form a soft, elastic edge; thick, wide list will, however, answer equally well. The coil

may be from one to three inches in diameter, according to the size of the work.

There are other articles which it may be desirable, or even indispensable, for the painter, gilder, or varnisher to have among his apparatus, but which do not require any description of their nature or use, or any directions for their selection,-such as putty,* a putty-knife, dusting-cloths, and brushes, pots and pans of different sizes, made of tin or earthenware, to hold colours, (when of earthenware they should be glazed,) a large pestle and mortar, hair and silk sieves, square and rule, compasses, and black-lead pencils.

Putty is made of common whiting, pounded very fine, and mixed up with linseed oil till it becomes about the thickness of GUL

COLOURS.

ISHALL now proceed to mention the principal colouring substances, with their combinations, pointing out their comparative advantages and disadvantages. In a few instances, where the process is not tedious or difficult, or where there would be a risk of getting them in a very impure state at the shops, I shall state the method of preparing them for use. In most cases, particularly since the general erection of colour-mills, it will be found a saving both of time and expense to purchase them ready prepared.

WHITES.

White Lead, Ceruse, and Flake White.

The white colour most generally used in house-painting, and which forms the best priming for all other colours, is a subcarbonate of lead, consisting of 85 parts of pure lead and 25 of carbonic acid. The more cominon sorts are called white lead; the purer, ceruse; the very best, flake white. The following is a simple and expeditious method of preparing it.

Take some long narrow slips of lead, and make them up into rolls, leaving a small space between every fold, so that none of the surfaces may touch one another any.

where; place these rolls in earthen pots, upheld by a little bar in such a manner as not to sink down above halfway into the pots; and in each of these vessels put as much strong vinegar as nearly to touch the lead. When the vinegar and the lead are both in the pot, cover it up close, and leave it under the action of a moderate heat, till the plates of lead are reduced to a complete calx, which when dried will become very solid. If you find that the process has not been continued long enough, knock off the part of the surface of the lead which is calcined, and repeat the process with the remainder.

When cakes of white lead are purchased ready prepared, small particles of lead in the metallic state are not unfrequently found, owing to the preparation having been imperfectly executed; and in grinding the colour, this metallic part; becoming divided by the motion of the muller, gives a grayish tint to it. To avoid this inconvenience, if you do not prepare your white lead yourseif, be careful to ascertain as well as you can, in purchasing it, whether it is pure, and select the thinnest cakes. in grinding it, your slab and muller should be perfectly clean, because there is often a little acid moisture in white lead, which renders it very apt to attract any parts that remain of colours previously ground. To obtain white lead of a very fine quality, it is often neces sary to grind it several times.

Not unfrequently this colour is adulterated with common whiting, and its beauty by this means greatly impaired. To detect this fraud, rub a little of the suspected article between the fingers, and throw it on a piece of