344] WOO half a dram of aloe, in half a pint of retftified spirit of wine. Previ- ously to Using this tin<5lure, the wood ought to be moi,->tfned with aqua-fortis ; when two or three coats of the former, each being al- lowed to dry before tiie next is Applied, will be sufficient to pro- duce the desired effeft. In March, 1778, a patent was granted to Mr. Humphkey Jack- son, for his method of beautifying, and preserving the colour of every Jcind of wood, by means of a stain, varnish, and powder. He directs the substance first to be polished with the following composition :— Take pumice-stoneandburnt alum, of each equal parts j lapis calami- naris, and green-vitriol calcined to redness, of each half a part ; let the whole be reduced to a fine powder, and nibbed with a woollen cloth on the wood, till it acquire a £ne polish : the stain must now be prepared as follows: — Let Gibs, of stick-lac be boiled in three gallons of water, till the colour be extra6ted, when the liquor ought to be strained : half a pound of madder- root is also to be boiled in , three quarts of water : next, half a pound of cochineal, a similar quantity of kermes, and 4 oz. of clean scarlet- rags, are to be digested in a glass vessel, containing one gallon of spirit of wine, and a so- lution of 2 oz, of pearl-ash in half 41 pint of water, till all the tinging matter be combined with the li- quor. After straining it, the de- codion of stick-lac must "be added, and a sufficient quantity of aqua- fortis be mixed with the whole, to impart a proper red colour ; wht n the compound may be laid on with a brush. — In order to prepare the varnish, the patentee direds one pound of clear white amber, half WOO a pound of copal, a similar quan- tity of spirit of turpentine, as well as of the cmIs of rosemary, and lavender ; and six pounds of nut- oil, to be digested in a sand-heat, till the oils acquire the consist- ence of syrup : the liquor is now to be strained for use ; and, when the varnish becomes clear, it must be applied to the stained wood with a painter's brush ; after which it should be suffered to dry. A patent was likewise granted, in November, 1791, to Samuel Bentham, Esq. for his invention of a method of planing wood.— Our limits will not admit of an analysis of his diffuse specification : we shall therefore only state that, by bis contrivance, the operation of planing is simplified to such a de- gree that animals, steam, water, machinery, and other brute or in- animate agents, may be advan- tageously employed.— A minute account of his patent is inserted in the 5th vol. p{ the " Repertory of Arts" &c. Various other methods of stain- ing wood Hue, green, purple, red and yelloiv, are pradised by arti- ficers. Of these, we shall com- municate only the most expeditious, and least expensive. Blue: — Take 2 drams of the best indigo reduced to a tine pow- der 3 put it in a glass with 2 oz. of oil of vitriol, and agitate them with a new clay-pipe. — After stand- ing 10 or 12 hours, at llie farthest, in a temperate place, pour it into a large glass vessel, or china bowl, and add such a portion of pure water as may be expedieiit to give it the tint required. — Those, to whom the saving of time is an ob- jeft, may purchase this staining liquor ready prepared, from the dyer. Another mode of tinging woo<t
