Chapter I: II III IV V (2)

Many are familiar with the properties of liqueurs but believe them to be very complex and even mysterious compounds. This is, of course, due to the fact that the formulas are of foreign origin and many of them have been kept more or less secret for some time. Owing to the peculiar combination of the bouquet oils and flavors, it is impossible to make accurate analyses of them. But by the use of formulas now given, these products seem to be very nearly duplicated.

It is necessary to use the best sugar and oils obtainable in the preparation of the liqueurs. As there are so many grades of essential oils on the market, it is difficult to obtain the best indirectly. The value of the cordials is enhanced by the richness and odor and flavor of the oils, so only the best qualities should be used.

For filtering, flannel or felt is valuable. Flannel is cheaper and more easily washed. It is necessary to return filtrate several times with any of the filtering media.

As a clarifying agent talcum allowed to stand several days acts well. These rules are common to all. {769}

The operations are all simple:

First: Heat all mixtures. Second: Keep the product in the dark. Third: Keep in warm place.

The liqueurs are heated to ripen the bouquet flavor, it having effect similar to age. To protect the ethereal oils, air and light are excluded; hence it is recommended that the bottles be filled to the stopper. The liqueurs taste best at a temperature not exceeding 55° F. They are all improved with age, especially many of the bouquet oils.

«Bénédictine.»—

I.—Bitter almonds 40 grams
Powdered nutmeg 4.500 grams
Extract vanilla 120 grams
Powdered cloves 2 grams
Lemons, sliced 2 grams
True saffron .600 grams
Sugar 2,000 grams
Boiling milk 1,000 c.c.
Alcohol, 95 per cent 2,000 c.c.
Distilled water 2,500 c.c.

Mix. Let stand 9 days with occasional agitation. Filter sufficiently.

II.—Essence Bénédictine 75 c.c
Alcohol, 95 per cent 1,700 c.c.

Mix.

Sugar 1,750 grams Water, distilled 1,600 c.c.

Mix together, when clear solution of sugar is obtained. Color with caramel. Filter sufficiently.

NOTE.—This liqueur should be at least 1 year old before used.

Essence Bénédictine for Bénédictine No. II.—

I.—Myrrh 1 part
Decorticated cardamom 1 part
Mace 1 part
Ginger 10 parts
Galanga root 10 parts
Orange peel (cut) 10 parts
Extract aloe 4 parts
Alcohol 160 parts
Water 80 parts

Mix, macerate 10 days and filter.

II.—Extract licorice 20 parts
Sweet spirits niter 200 parts
Acetic ether 30 parts
Spirits ammonia 1 part
Coumarin .12 parts
Vanillin 1 part

III.—Oil lemon 3 drops
Oil orange peel 3 drops
Oil wormwood 2.5 drops
Oil galanga 2 drops
Oil ginger 1 drop
Oil anise 15 drops
Oil cascarilla 15 drops
Oil bitter almond 12 drops
Oil milfoil 10 drops
Oil sassafras 7 drops
Oil angelica 6 drops
Oil hyssop 4 drops
Oil cardamom 2 drops
Oil hops 2 drops
Oil juniper 1 drop
Oil rosemary 1 drop

Mix A, B, and C.

NOTE.—This essence should stand 2 years before being used for liqueurs.

«Chartreuse.»—I.—Elixir végétal de la Grande Chartreuse.

Fresh balm mint herbs 64 parts Fresh hyssop herbs 64 parts Angelica herbs and root, fresh, together 32 parts Cinnamon 16 parts Saffron 4 parts Mace 4 parts

Subject the above ingredients to maceration for a week with alcohol (96 per cent), 1,000 parts, then squeeze off and distill the liquid obtained over a certain quantity of fresh herbs of balm and hyssop. After 125 parts of sugar have been added to the resultant liqueur, filter.

The genuine Chartreuse comes in three different colors, viz., green, white, and yellow. The coloration, however, is not artificial, but is determined by the addition of varying quantities of fresh herbs in the distillation. But since it would require long and tedious trials to produce the right color in a small manufacture, the yellow shade is best imparted by a little tincture of saffron, and the green one by the addition of a few drops of indigo solution.

II.—Eau des Carmes 3 1/2 ounces
Alcohol 1 quart
Distilled water 1 quart
Sugar 1 1/2 pounds
Tincture of saffron 1 ounce

Mix. Dissolve sugar in warm water, cool, strain, add remainder of ingredients, and filter. This is known as yellow Chartreuse. {770}

«Curaçao Liqueur.»—

A.—Oil lemon, q. s. 10 drops
Oil bitter almond, q. s. 5 drops
Oil curaçoa orange 15 parts
Oil sweet orange 1 part
Oil bitter orange 1 part
Cochineal 1 part
French brandy 50 parts

B.—Alcohol 4,500 parts

C.—Sugar 3,500 parts
Water (distilled) 4,000 parts

Mix A, B, and C. Filter. Color with caramel.

«May Bowl or May Wine.»—The principal ingredient of May bowl, or that which gives it its flavor and bouquet, is fresh _Waldmeisterkraut_ (_Asperula odorata_), the “woodruff” or “sweet grass,” “star grass,” and a dozen other aliases, of a plant growing wild all over Europe, both continental and insular, and cultivated by some gardeners in this country. It is accredited with being a diuretic, deobstruent and hepatic stimulant, of no mean order, though it has long been banished from the pharmacopœia.

In Baden and in Bavaria in preparing _Maitrank_ the practice was formerly to first make an essence—_Maitrankessenz_, for the preparation of which every housewife had a formula of her own. The following was that generally used in the south of Germany:

I.—Fresh, budding woodruff, cut fine 500 parts
Alcohol, commercial (90 per cent) 1,000 parts

Digest together for 14 days, then filter and press off. Many add to this some flavoring oil. As coumarin has been found to be the principle to which the Waldmeister owes its odor, many add to the above Tonka bean, chopped fine, 1 part to the thousand. From about 12 to 15 drachms of this essence is added to make a gallon of the wine, which has about the following formula:

French brandy, say 4 drachms Oil of unripe oranges 80 drops Sugar 4 to 8 ounces Essence 12 drachms Wine to make 1 gallon

II.—Take enough good woodruff (_Waldmeister_) of fine aroma and flavor. Remove all parts that will not add to the excellence of the product, such as wilted, dead, or imperfect leaves, stems, etc., and wash the residue thoroughly in cold water, and with as little pressure as possible. Now choose a flask with a neck sufficiently wide to receive the stems without pressing or bruising them, and let the pieces fall into it. Pour in sufficient strong alcohol (96 per cent) to cover the herbs completely. In from 30 to 40 minutes the entire aroma is taken up by the alcohol, which takes on a beautiful green color, which, unfortunately, does not last, disappearing in a few days, but without affecting the aroma in the least. The alcohol should now be poured off, for if left to macerate longer, while it would gain in aroma, it will also take up a certain bitter principle that detracts from the delicacy of flavor and aroma. The extract is now poured on a fresh quantity of the herb, and continue proceeding in this manner until a sufficiently concentrated extract is obtained to give aroma to 100 times its weight of wine or cider.

III.—Fresh woodruff, in bloom or flower, is freed from the lower part of its stem and leaves, and also of all foreign or inert matter. The herb is then lightly stuck into a wide-mouth bottle, and covered with strong alcohol. After 30 minutes pour off the liquor on fresh woodruff. In another half hour the essence is ready, though it should not be used immediately. It should be kept at cellar heat (about 60° F.) for a few days, or until the green color vanishes. Any addition to the essence of aromatics, such as orange peel, lemons, spices, etc., is to be avoided. To prepare the Maitrank, add the essence to any good white wine, tasting and testing, until the flavor suits.

The following are other formulas for the drink:

IV.—Good white wine or cider 65 parts
Alcohol, dilute 20 parts
Sugar 10 parts
Maitrankessenz 1 part

Mix.

«Maraschino Liqueur.»—

Oil bitter almonds 15 minims Essence vanilla 1 drachm Jasmine extract 2 drops Raspberry essence 10 drops Oil neroli 10 drops Oil lemon 15 minims Spirits nitrous ether 2 drachms Alcohol 6 pints Sugar 8 pounds Rose water 10 ounces Water sufficient to make 2 gallons

Make a liquor in the usual manner.

«To Clarify Liqueurs.»—For the clarification of turbid liqueurs, burnt {771} powdered alum is frequently employed. Make a trial with 200 parts of the dim liqueur, to which 1.5 parts of burnt powdered alum is added; shake well and let stand until the liquid is clear. Then decant and filter the last portion. If the trial is successful, the whole stock may be clarified in this manner.

«MEDICINAL WINES:»

«Beef and Iron.»—The following formula is recommended by the American Pharmaceutical Association:

I.—Extract of beef 35 grams
Tincture of citro-chloride of iron 35 c.c.
Compound spirit of orange 1 c.c.
Hot water 60 c.c.
Alcohol 125 c.c.
Syrup 125 c.c.
Sherry wine sufficient to make 1,000 c.c.

Rub the extract of beef with the hot water, and add, while stirring, the alcohol. Allow to stand 3 days or more, then filter and distill off the alcohol. Add to the residue 750 cubic centimeters of the wine, to which the compound spirit of orange has been previously added. Finally add the tincture of citro-chloride of iron, syrup, and enough wine to make 1,000 cubic centimeters. Filter if necessary.

II.—For Poultry and Stock.—A good formula for wine of beef and iron is as follows:

Beef extract 256 grains Tincture of iron citro-chloride 256 minims Hot water 1 fluidounce Sherry wine enough to make 1 pint

Pour the hot water in the beef extract and triturate until a smooth mixture is made. To this add, gradually and under constant stirring, 12 ounces of the wine. Add now, under same conditions, the iron, stir in well, and finally add the remainder of the wine.

«Cinchona.»—I.—Macerate 100 parts of cinchona succirubra in coarse powder for 30 minutes in 100 parts of boiling water. Strain off the liquor and set aside. Macerate the residuum in 1,000 parts of California Malaga for 24 hours, strain off the liquid and set aside. Finally macerate the magma in 500 parts of alcohol, of 50 per cent, for 1 hour, strain off and set aside. Wash the residue with a little water to recover all the alcoholic tincture; then unite all the liquids, let stand for 24 hours, and filter. To the filtrate add 800 parts loaf sugar and dissolve by the aid of gentle heat and again filter. The product is all that could be asked of a wine of cinchona. To make a ferrated wine of this, dissolve 1 part of citro-ammoniacal pyrophosphate of iron to every 1,000 parts of wine.

II.—Yvon recommends the following formula:

Red cinchona, coarse powder 5 parts Alcohol, 60 per cent 10 parts Diluted hydrochloric acid 1 part Bordeaux wine 100 parts

Macerate the bark with the acid and alcohol for 6 days, shaking from time to time, add the wine, macerate for 24 hours, agitating frequently, then filter.

«Removal of Musty Taste and Smell from Wine.»—For the removal of this unpleasant quality, Kulisch recommends the use of a piece of charcoal of about the size of a hazel nut—5 to 10 parts per 1,000 parts of wine. After this has remained in the cask for 6 to 8 weeks, and during this time has been treated once a week with a chain or with a stirring rod, the wine can be racked off. Obstinate turbidness, as well as stalk taste and pot flavor, can also be obviated by the use of the remedy.

«WINTERGREEN, TO DISTINGUISH METHYL SALICYLATE FROM OIL OF.»

A quantity of the sample is mixed in a test tube with an equal volume of pure concentrated sulphuric acid. Under these conditions the artificial compound shows no rise in temperature and acquires only a slight yellowish tint, while with the natural oil there is a marked rise in temperature and the mixture assumes a rose-red color, gradually passing into darker shades.

«WIRE ROPE.»

See also Steel.

A valuable anti-friction and preservative compound for mine cables is as follows: Seven parts soft tallow and 3 parts plumbago, mixed thoroughly; make a long, hollow box or trough, gouge out a 4 by 6 piece of scantling about 2 feet long, sawing it down lengthwise and hollowing out the box or trough enough to hold several pounds of the compound, making also a hole lengthwise of the {772} trough for the cable to run through; then affix to rope and clamp securely, having the box or trough so fixed that it cannot play, and letting the cable pass through it while going up or down, so that it will get a thorough coating. This, it is found, will preserve a round cable very well, and can be used at least once a week. For a flat steel cable raw linseed oil can be used instead of the tallow, in about the proportion of 6 parts oil and 3 plumbago. If tar is used, linseed oil is to be added to keep the tar from adhering, both ingredients to be mixed while warm.

To preserve wire rope laid under ground, or under water, coat it with a mixture of mineral tar and fresh slaked lime in the proportion of 1 bushel of lime to 1 barrel of tar. The mixture is to be boiled, and the rope saturated with it while hot; sawdust is sometimes added to give the mixture body. Wire rope exposed to the weather is coated with raw linseed oil, or with a paint composed of equal parts of Spanish brown or lampblack with linseed oil.

WIRE HARDENING: See Steel.

WITCH-HAZEL JELLY: See Cosmetics.

«Wood»

«DECORATIVE WOOD-FINISH.»

Paint or stencil wood with white-lime paint. When it has dried slowly in the shade, brush it off and a handsome dark-brown tone will be imparted to the oakwood. Some portions which may be desired darker and redder are stained again with lime, whereby these places become deeper. It is essential that the lime be applied in even thickness and dried slowly, for only then the staining will be red and uniform.

After the staining saturate the wood with a mixture of varnish, 2 parts; oil of turpentine, 1 part; turpentine, 1/2 part. When the oil ground is dry apply 2 coatings of pale amber varnish.

Colored decorations on pinewood can be produced as follows:

The most difficult part of the work is to remove the rosin accumulations without causing a spot to appear. Burn out the places carefully with a red-hot iron. Great care is necessary to prevent the iron from setting the rosin on fire, thus causing black smoke clouds.

The resulting holes are filled up with plaster to which a little light ocher is added to imitate the shade of the wood as perfectly as possible. Plaster up no more than is necessary.

Rub the wood down with very fine sandpaper, taking especial care to rub only with the grain of the wood, since all cross scratches will remain permanently visible.

After this preliminary work cover the wood with a solution of white shellac, in order not to injure the handsome golden portions of the wood and to preserve the pure light tone of the wood in general.

On this shellac ground paint and stencil with glazing colors, ground with isinglass solution. The smaller, more delicate portions, such as flowers and figures, are simply worked out in wash style with water colors, using the tone of the wood to remain as high lights, surrounding the whole with a black contour.

After this treatment the panels and decorated parts are twice varnished with dammar varnish. The friezes and pilaster strips are glazed darker and set off with stripes; to varnish them use amber varnish.

The style just mentioned does not exclude any other. Thus, for instance, a very good effect is produced by decorating the panels only with a black covering color or with black and transparent red (burnt sienna and a little carmine) after the fashion of boule work in rich ornaments, in such a way that the natural wood forms the main part and yet quite a considerable portion of the ornament.

Intarsia imitation is likewise well adapted, since the use of variegated covering colors is in perfect keeping with the decoration of natural wood. How it should be applied, and how much of it, depends upon one’s taste, as well as the purpose and kind of the object.

It is a well-known fact that the large pores of oak always look rather smeary, according to whether the workshop is more or less dusty. If this is to be avoided, which is essential for neat work, take good wheat starch, pound it fine with a hammer and stir by means of a wooden spatula good strong polish with the wheat starch to a paste and work the paste into the pores by passing it cross-wise over the wood. After about 1/2 hour, rub down the wood thus treated in such a manner that the pores are filled. In case any open pores remain, repeat the process as before. After that, rub down, polish or deaden. If this operation is not performed, the pores will always look somewhat dirty, despite all {773} care. Every cabinetmaker will readily perceive that this filling of the pores will save both time and polish in the subsequent finishing.

«WOOD FILLERS.»

The novice in coach painting is quite as likely to get bewildered as to be aided by much of the information given about roughstuff, the more so as the methods differ so widely. One authority tells us to use a large proportion of lead ground in oil with the coarser pigment, while another says use dry lead and but a small percentage, and still another insists that lead must be tabooed altogether. There are withal a good many moss-grown superstitions associated with the subject. Not the least of these is the remarkably absorbent nature which the surface that has been roughstuffed and “scoured” is supposed to possess. By many this power of absorption is believed to be equal to swallowing up, not only all the color applied, but at least 3 coats of varnish, and none of these would think of applying a coat of color to a roughstuffed surface without first giving it a coat of liquid filler as a sort of sacrificial oblation in recognition of this absorbing propensity. Another authority on the subject has laid down the rule that in the process of scouring, the block of pumice stone must always be moved in one direction, presumably for the reason that some trace of the stone is likely to be visible after the surface is finished.

If the block of stone is scratching, perhaps the appearance of the finished panel may be less objectionable with the furrows in parallel lines than in what engravers call “cross-hatching,” but if the rubbing is properly done it is not easy to discover what difference it could make whether the stone is moved in a straight line or a circle. As to absorption, it cannot be distinguished in the finished panel between the surface that was coated with liquid filler and that to which the color was applied directly, except that cracking always occurs much sooner in the former, and this will be found to be the case with surfaces that have been coated with liquid filler and finished without roughstuff. Among the pigments that may be used for roughstuff, and there are half a dozen or more, any of which may be used with success, there is no doubt but that known as “English filler” is best, but it is not always to be had without delay and inconveniences.

Yellow ocher, Reno umber and Keystone filler are all suitable for roughstuff, the ocher having been used many years for the purpose, but, as already remarked, the English filler is best. This is the rule for mixing given by Nobles and Hoare: Four pounds filler, 1 pound ground white lead, 1 pint gold size, 1 pint varnish and 1 1/4 pints turpentine, or 3/4 pint good size and 1/2 pint boiled oil in lieu of the varnish. In regard to the use of white lead ground in oil, it makes the rubbing more laborious, increases the liability to scratching, and requires a much longer time to harden before the scouring can be done, without in any appreciable manner improving the quality of the surface when finished.

It may be remarked here that the addition of white lead, whether ground in oil or added dry to the coarser pigment, increases the labor of scouring just in proportion as it is used until sufficient may be used to render the scouring process impossible; hence, it follows that the mixing should be governed by the character of the job in hand. If the job is of a cheap class the use of very little or no lead at all is advisable, and the proportion of Japan and turpentine may also be increased, with the result that a fairly good surface may be obtained with much less labor than in the formula given.

The number of coats of filler required to effect the purpose in any given case must depend upon how well the builder has done his part of the work. If he has left the surface very uneven it follows, as a matter of course, that more coats will be required to make it level, and more of the roughstuff will remain after the leveling process than if the woodwork had been more perfectly done. While the merits of a system or method are not to be judged by its antiquity, there should be a good reason to justify the substitution of a new method for one that has given perfect satisfaction for generations and been used by the best coach painters who ever handled a brush.

A well-known writer on paints says that the effect of a varnish is usually attributed to the manner of its application and the quantity of thinners used for diluting the melted gums, with the prepared oils and the oxidizing agents used in its manufacture. While this has undoubtedly much to do with the successful application of varnish, there are other facts in this connection that should not be overlooked. For example, varnish is sometimes acted on by the breaking up, or the disintegration of the filling coats; which in turn is evidently acted on by the wood itself, according to its nature. {774}

With the aid of the microscope in examining the component parts of wood a cellular tissue is observed which varies in form according to the species and the parts which are inspected. This cellular tissue is made up of small cavities called pores or cells, which are filled with a widely diversified matter and are covered with a hard and usually brittle substance called _lignin_.

This diversified matter consists of mineral salts and various organic substances, gelatinous in their nature and held in solution by a viscous liquid and containing nitrogenous matter in different combinations, the whole being designated by the general name of albuminous substances. The older the wood the more viscous is the matter; while wood of recent growth (sapwood) contains less viscous matter holding these substances in solution. This albumen in wood acts on substances like filler and varnish in one way or the other, good or bad. The seasoning of wood does not dispose of these substances. The water evaporates, leaving them adhering to the sides of the cells. The drier these substances are the less action they exert on the filler or whatever substance is coated on the surface. If the filler disintegrates, it affects the varnish.

All albuminous substances, be they dry or in liquid form, are subject, more or less, according to the protein they contain—which seems, or rather is, the essential principle of all albuminous matter—to the influence of caustic potash and soda. Thus, the albumen of an egg is exactly like that contained in the composition of wood. As albumen in wood becomes solid by drying, it is easily dissolved again, and will then be acted on chemically by any extraneous substance with which it comes in contact.

Some of the shellacs, substitutes for shellacs, and some of the liquid fillers are manufactured from some of the following substances: Old linseed oil, old varnish, old and hard driers, turpentine, benzine, often gasoline, rosin, whiting, cornstarch flour, nulls, paint skins, silica, and so on. The list is long. To these must be added a large volume of potash, to bring it to and hold it in solution. There must be an excess of potash which is not combined into a chemical compound, which if it did, might mitigate its influence on the albumen of the wood. But as there is potash in its pure state remaining in the solution it necessarily attacks the albumen of the wood, causing disintegration, which releases it from the wood, causing white, grayish flakes, and the formation of a powder. This is not a conclusion drawn from an inference but an established scientific fact resulting from experiments with fillers the various compositions of which were known. All alkalies act on albumen. No one would knowingly varnish over a surface such as it would be were the white of an egg applied to it and then washed with an alkali solution; but that is just what is done when varnish is put over a wood surface filled with a filler which contains an alkali.

Most of the combinations of material used in the painting trade are mixtures; that is, each part remains the same—exerting the same chemical action on another substance, or any other substance coming in contact with a paint mixture will exert the same chemical action on any part, or on any ingredient it contains, the same as if that part was by itself.

We can now account for some of the numerous peculiarities of varnish. We know that any alkali when coming in contact with albumen forms a compound, which on drying is a white, brittle substance easily disintegrated. This is why potash, sal soda, and kindred substances will remove paint. The alkali attacks the albumen in the oil, softening it, causing easy removal, whereas if it were allowed to dry, the albumen in the oil would take on a grayish color quite brittle. Potash or other alkalies in filler not only attack the albumen in the wood, but also attack the albumen in the oil by forming a compound with it. Probably this compound is very slight, only forming a compound in part, enough, nevertheless, to start a destroying influence, which is demonstrated by the following results of experiments. The reader has, perhaps, some time in his career applied a rosin varnish over a potash filler and has been surprised by the good results, a more permanent effect being obtained than in other instances where the best of varnish was used. This is accounted for by the rosin of the potash. Again, the reader may have had occasion to remove varnish with potash and found that potash would not touch it. This is because of its being a rosin varnish. Potash in filler may be rendered somewhat inert, by reason of its compounding with other parts of the filler, but owing to the quantity used in some of the commercial fillers it is not possible that all the alkali is rendered inert. Hence it will attack the albumen wherever found, as all albumen is identical in its chemical composition.

Alkalies have but little effect on the {775} higher classes of gums, because of their effect on the albumen in the wood and oil. All alcohol varnishes or varnishes made by the aid of heat stand well over an alkali filler. Varnishes which contain little oil seem to stand well. This is accounted for by the fact that alcohol renders albumen insoluble. Alkalies of all kinds readily attack shellac and several other of the cheap gums, forming unstable compounds on which oil has but little effect.

Close-grained wood contains less albumen and more lignin than open-grained varieties, and consequently does not take so much filler, which accounts for the finish invariably lasting longer than the same kind used on an open-grained wood. Open-grained wood contains more sap than close grained; consequently there is more albumen to adhere to the sides of the cells. The more albumen, the more readily it is attacked by the potash, and the more readily decomposed, or rather destroyed.

Alcohol renders albumen insoluble immediately on application. It prevents it from compounding with any other substance, or any other substance compounding with it. Hence, we must conclude that an application of alcohol to wood before the filler is applied is valuable, which is proven to be a fact by experiment. Wash one half of a board with alcohol, then apply the potash filler over all. Again, wash the portion of the board on which is the filler and apply a heavy-bodied oil varnish. Expose to sunlight and air the same as a finished door or the like, and wait for the result. At the end of a few months a vast difference will be found in the two parts of the surface. The one on which there is no alcohol will show the ravages of time and the elements much sooner than the one on which it is.

Wood finishers demand a difference in the composition of fillers, paste and liquid, for open- and close-grained wood, respectively; but unfortunately they do not demand a difference between either kind in themselves, according to the kind of wood. Paste fillers are used indiscriminately for open-grained wood and liquid for close-grained wood.

To find the fillers best adapted for a certain wood, and to classify them in this respect will require a large amount of chemical work and practical experiments; but that it should be done is evidenced by the fact that both success and failure result from the use of the same filler on different varieties of wood. After once being classified (owing to the large number now on the market), they will not number nearly so many in the aggregate as might be supposed; as it will be found in many instances that two entirely different varieties of wood resemble each other more closely in their vascular formation and cell characteristics than do two other specimens of the same variety. It is a recognized fact that paste fillers whose base is starch or the like work better and give better results in certain instances, while those whose base is mineral matter seem to do better in other cases.

It is noticed that rosewood as a finishing veneer is obsolete. This is not because of its scarcity, but because it is so hard to finish without having been seasoned for a long time. In these days, manufacturers cannot wait. It takes longer for the sap of rosewood to become inactive, or in trade parlance to “die,” than any other wood. This is because it takes so long for the albumen in the sap to coagulate. Rosewood has always been a source of trouble to piano makers, on account of the action of the sap on the varnish. However, if this wood, previously to filling, was washed with a weak solution of phosphoric acid, and then with wood spirit, it might be more easily finished. The phosphoric acid would coagulate the albumen on the surface of the wood immediately, while alcohol would reduce it to an insoluble state. The idea here is to destroy the activity of the sap, on the same principle as sappy places and knot sap are destroyed by alcohol-shellac before being painted.

Oak is another wood which gives the painter trouble to finish. This may be accounted for as follows: Oak contains a sour acid principle called tannic acid. It is a very active property. Wood during the growing season contains more albumen; thus in the circulation of the sap a large quantity of soft matter is deposited on the lignin which lines the cells, which lignin, if it contains any acid matter, acts on the material of the filler. Tannic acid has a deleterious effect on some of the material of which a number of fillers are made. Starch and many gums are susceptible to its influence, making some of them quite soft. Oak, like most other timber cut at the season when the least sap is in circulation, is the more easily finished.

The vascular formation may, and no doubt has, something to do with wood finishing. Different species of wood differ materially in their vascular and cellular formation. Wood finishers recognize a difference in treatment of French burl walnut and the common American {776} variety. Circassian and Italian walnut, although of the same species, demand widely different treatment in finishing to get the best results.

The only way to find the best materials to use in certain cases is to study and experiment with that end in view. If, by aid of a microscope, a certain piece of wood shows the same cellular formation that another piece did which was successfully finished by a certain process, it may be regarded as safe to treat both alike. If observation on this line is indulged in, it will not take the finisher very long to learn just what treatment is best for the work in hand. How often it has been noticed in something of two parts, like a door, that the panels when finished will pit, run, or sag, while the sides will present a surface in every way desirable and _vice versa_. This is due to the difference in the cellular construction of the wood and to the cellulose, and cannot be otherwise for the parts have been seasoned the same time and treated exactly alike. The physiology of wood is imperfectly understood, but enough is known to warrant us in saying with a certainty that the chemicals in fillers do act upon the principles embodied in its formation.

* * * * *

Some tried formulas follow:

I.—Make a paste to fill the cracks as follows: Old furniture polish: Whiting, plaster of Paris, pumice stone, litharge, equal parts, Japan drier, boiled linseed oil, turpentine, coloring matter, of each a sufficient quantity.

Rub the solids intimately with a mixture of 1 part of the Japan, 2 parts of the linseed oil, and 3 parts of turpentine, coloring to suit with vandyke brown or sienna. Lay the filling on with a brush, let it set for about 20 minutes, and then rub off clean except where it is to remain. In 2 days it will be hard enough to polish. After the surface has been thus prepared, the application of a coat of first-class copal varnish is in order. It is recommended that the varnish be applied in a moderately warm room, as it is injured by becoming chilled in drying. To get the best results in varnishing, some skill and experience are required. The varnish must be kept in an evenly warm temperature, and put on neither too plentifully nor too gingerly. After a satisfactorily smooth and regular surface has been obtained, the polishing proper may be done. This may be accomplished by manual labor and dexterity, or by the application of a very thin, even coat of a very fine, transparent varnish.

If the hand-polishing method be preferred, it may be pursued by rubbing briskly and thoroughly with the following finishing polish:

Alcohol 8 ounces Shellac 2 drachms Gum benzoin 2 drachms Best poppy oil 2 drachms

Dissolve the shellac and gum in the alcohol in a warm place, with frequent agitation, and, when cold, add the poppy oil. This may be applied on the end of a cylindrical rubber made by tightly rolling a piece of flannel, which has been torn, not cut, into strips 4 to 6 inches wide. It should be borne in mind that the surface of the cabinet work of a piano is generally veneered, and this being so, necessitates the exercise of much skill and caution in polishing.

II.—Prepare a paste from fine starch flour and a thick solution of brown shellac, with the spatula upon a grinding stone, and rub the wooden object with this. After the drying, rub off with sandpaper and polish lightly with a rag moistened with a thin shellac solution and a few drops of oil. The ground thus prepared varnish once or twice and a fine luster will be obtained. This method is well adapted for any wood with large pores, such as oak.

«Removal of Heat Stains from Polished Wood.»—Fold a sheet of blotting paper a couple of times (making 4 thicknesses of the paper), cover the place with it, and put a hot smoothing iron thereon. Have ready at hand some bits of flannel, also folded and made quite hot. As soon as the iron has made the surface of the wood quite warm, remove the paper, etc., and go over the spot with a piece of paraffine, rubbing it hard enough to leave a coating of the substance. Now with one of the hot pieces of flannel rub the injured surface. Continue the rubbing, using freshly warmed cloths until the whiteness leaves the varnish or polish. The operation may have to be repeated.

«PRESERVATION OF WOOD.»

I.—An excellent way of preserving wood is to cut it between August and October. The branches are removed, leaving only the leaves at the top. The trunks, carefully cut or sawn (so that their pores remain open), are immediately placed upright, with the lower part immersed in tanks three-quarters filled with water, into which 3 or 4 kilograms of powdered cupric sulphate per hectoliter have been introduced. The mass of {777} leaves left at the extremity of each trunk is sufficient to cause the ascent of the liquid by means of the capillary force and a reserve of energy in the sap.

II.—Wood which can be well preserved may be obtained by making a circular incision in the bark of the trees a certain time before cutting them down. The woodcutters employed in the immense teak forests of Siam have adopted in an empirical way a similar process, which has been productive of good results. The tree is bled, making around the trunk, at the height of 4 feet above ground, a circular incision 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep, at the time when it is in bloom and the sap rising. Sometimes the tree is left standing for 3 years after this operation. Frequently, also, a deep incision reaching the heart is made on two opposite sides, and then it takes sometimes only 6 months to extract the sap.

It is probable that it is partly in consequence of this method that the teakwood acquires its exceptional resistance to various destructive agents.

III.—A good preservation of piles, stakes, and palisades is obtained by leaving the wood in a bath of cupric sulphate of 4° of the ordinary acidimeter for a time which may vary from 8 to 15 days, according to greater or less dryness of the wood and its size. After they are half dried they are immersed in a bath of lime water; this forms with the sulphate an insoluble compound, preventing the rain from dissolving the sulphate which has penetrated the wood. This process is particularly useful for vine props and the wood of white poplars.

A good way to prevent the decay of stakes would be to plant them upside down; that is, to bury the upper extremity of the branch in the ground. In this way, the capillary tubes do not so easily absorb the moisture which is the cause of decay. It frequently happens that for one or another reason, the impregnation of woods designed to be planted in the ground, such as masts, posts, and supports has been neglected. It would be impracticable, after they are placed, to take up these pieces in order to coat them with carbolineum or tar, especially if they are fixed in a wall, masonry, or other structure. Recourse must be had to other means. Near the point where the piece rises from the ground, a hole about one centimeter in width is made in a downward slanting direction, filled with carbolineum, and closed with a wooden plug.

It depends upon the consistency of the wood whether the liquid will be absorbed in 1 or 2 days. The hole is filled again for a week. The carbolineum replaces by degrees the water contained in the wood. When it is well impregnated, the hole is definitely closed with a plug of wood, which is sawn level with the opening. The wood will thus be preserved quite as well as if it had been previously coated with carbolineum.

IV.—Wooden objects remaining in the open air may be effectually protected against the inclemency of the weather by means of the following coating: Finely powdered zinc oxide is worked into a paste with water and serves for whitewashing walls, garden fences, benches, and other wooden objects. After drying, probably at the end of 2 or 3 hours, the objects must be whitewashed again with a very dilute solution of zinc chloride in glue or water. Zinc oxide and zinc chloride form a brilliant, solid compound, which resists the inclemency of the weather.

As a paint for boards, planks for covering greenhouses, garden-frames, etc., Inspector Lucas, of Reutlingen (Würtemberg), has recommended the following coating: Take fresh cement of the best quality, which has been kept in a cool place, work it up with milk on a stone until it is of the consistency of oil paint. The wood designed to receive it must not be smooth, but left rough after sawing. Two or 3 coats are also a protection from fire. Wood to be thus treated must be very dry.

V.—Wood treated with creosote resists the attacks of marine animals, such as the teredo. Elm, beech, and fir absorb creosote very readily, provided the wood is sound and dry. Beechwood absorbs it the best. In fir the penetration is complete, when the wood is of a species of rapid growth, and of rather compact grain. Besides, with the aid of pressure it is always possible to force the creosote into the wood. Pieces of wood treated with creosote have resisted for 10 or 11 years under conditions in which oak wood not treated in this way would have been completely destroyed.

The prepared wood must remain in store at least 6 months before use. The creosote becomes denser during this time and causes a greater cohesion in the fibers. In certain woods, as pitch pine, the injection is impossible, even under pressure, on account of the presence of rosin in the capillary vessels.

VI.—M. Zironi advises heating the wood {778} _in vacuo_. The sap is eliminated in this way. Then the receiver is filled with rosin in solution with a hydrocarbide. The saturation takes place in two hours, when the liquid is allowed to run off, and a jet of vapor is introduced, which carries off the solvent, whole the rosin remains in the pores of the wood, increasing its weight considerably.

VII.—Wood can be well preserved by impregnating it with a solution of tannate of ferric protoxide. This method is due to Hazfeld.

VIII.—The Hasselmann process (xylolized wood), which consists in immersing the wood in a saline solution kept boiling under moderate pressure, the liquid containing copper and iron sulphates (20 per cent of the first and 80 per cent of the second), as well as aluminum and kainit, a substance until recently used only as a fertilizer, is now much employed on the railways in Germany.

IX.—Recently the discovery has been made that wood may be preserved with dissolved betuline, a vegetable product of the consistency of paste, called also birchwood rosin. Betuline must first be dissolved. It is procurable in the crude state at a low price. The wood is immersed for about 12 hours in the solution, at a temperature of from 57° to 60° F.

After the first bath the wood is plunged into a second, formed of a solution of pectic acid of 40° to 45° Bé., and with a certain percentage of an alkaline carbonate—for instance, potassium carbonate of commerce—in the proportion of 1 part of carbonate to about 4 parts of the solution. The wood remains immersed in this composition for 12 hours; then it is taken out and drained from 8 to 15 hours, the time varying according to the nature of the wood and the temperature. In consequence of this second bath, the betulin which was introduced through the first immersion, is fixed in the interior of the mass. If it is desirable to make the wood more durable and to give it special qualities of density, hardness, and elasticity, it must be submitted to strong pressure. In thus supplementing the chemical with mechanical treatment, the best results are obtained.

X.—A receiver of any form or dimensions is filled with a fluid whose boiling point is above 212° F., such as heavy tar oil, saline solutions, etc. This is kept at an intermediate temperature varying between 212° F. and the boiling point; the latter will not be reached, but if into this liquid a piece of wood is plunged, an agitation analogous to boiling is manifested, produced by the water and sap contained in the pores of the wood. These, under the action of a temperature above 212° F., are dissolved into vapor and traverse the bath.

If the wood is left immersed and a constant temperature maintained until every trace of agitation has disappeared, the water in the pores of the wood will be expelled, with the exception of a slight quantity, which, being in the form of vapor, represents only the seventeen-hundredth part of the original weight of the water contained; the air which was present in the pores having been likewise expelled.

If the liquid is left to cool, this vapor is condensed, forming a vacuum, which is immediately filled under the action of the atmospheric pressure. In this way the wood is completely saturated by the contents of the bath, whatever may be its form, proportions or condensation.

To attain the desired effect it is not necessary to employ heavy oils. The latter have, however, the advantage of leaving on the surface of the prepared pieces a kind of varnish, which contributes to protect them against mold, worms, moisture, and dry rot. The same phenomenon of penetration is produced when, without letting the wood grow cold in the bath, it is taken out and plunged immediately into a cold bath of the same or of a different fluid. This point is important, because it is possible to employ as fluids to be absorbed matters having a boiling point below 212° F., and differing in this respect from the first bath, which must be composed of a liquid having a boiling point above 212° F.

If, instead of a cold bath of a homogeneous nature, two liquids of different density separated in two layers, are employed, the wood can, with necessary precautions, be immersed successively in them, so that it can be penetrated with given quantities of each. Such liquids are heavy tar oil and a solution of zinc chloride of 2° to 4° Bé. The first, which is denser, remains at the bottom of the vessel, and the second above. If the wood is first immersed in a saline solution, it penetrates deep into the pores, and when finally the heavy oil is absorbed, the latter forms a superficial layer, which prevents the washing out of the saline solution in the interior, as well as the penetration of moisture from the outside. {779}

XI.—Numerous experiments have been made with all kinds of wood, even with hard oak. In the preparation of oak railway ties it was discovered that pieces subjected to a temperature of 212° F. in a bath of heavy tar oil for 4 hours lost from 6 to 7 per cent of their weight, represented by water and albuminous substances, and that they absorbed in heavy oil and zinc chloride enough to represent an increase of from 2 to 3 per cent on their natural original weight. The oak wood in question had been cut for more than a year and was of a density of 1.04 to 1.07.

This system offers the advantage of allowing the absorption of antiseptic liquids without any deformation of the constituent elements of the wood, the more as the operation is performed altogether in open vessels. Another advantage is the greater resistance of the wood to warping and bending, and to the extraction of metallic pieces, such as nails, cramp irons, etc.

XII.—In the Kyanizing process seasoned timber is soaked in a solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) which coagulates the albumen. The solution is very poisonous and corrodes iron and steel, hence is unsuited for structural purposes in which metallic fastenings are used. The process is effective, but dangerous to the health of the workers employed.

XIII.—The Wellhouse process also uses zinc chloride, but adds a small percentage of glue. After the timber has been treated under pressure the zinc chloride solution is drawn off and one of tannin is substituted. The tannin combines with the glue and forms an insoluble substance that effectually seals the pores.

XIV.—The Allardyce process makes use of zinc chloride and dead oil of tar, the latter being applied last, and the manner of application being essentially the same for both as explained in the other processes.

XV.—The timber is boiled in a solution of copper, iron, and aluminum sulphate, to which a small quantity of kainit is added.

XVI.—In the creo-rosinate process the timber is first subjected to a steaming process at 200° F. to evaporate the moisture in the cells; the temperature is then gradually increased to 320° F. and a pressure of 80 pounds per square inch. The pressure is slowly reduced to 26 inches vacuum, and then a solution of dead oil of tar, melted rosin, and formaldehyde is injected. After this process the timber is placed in another cylinder where a solution of milk of lime is applied at a temperature of 150° F. and a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch.

XVII.—The vulcanizing process of treating timber consists essentially in subjecting it to a baking process in hot air which is heated to a temperature of about 500° F. by passing over steam coils. The heat coagulates the albumen, expels the water from the cells, kills the organisms therein, and seals the cells by transforming the sap into a preservative compound. This method is used with success by the elevated railway systems of several cities.

XVIII.—A durable coating for wood is obtained by extracting petroleum asphalt, with light petroleum, benzine, or gasoline. For this purpose the asphalt, coarsely powdered, is digested for 1 to 2 days with benzine in well-closed vessels, at a moderately warm spot. Petroleum asphalt results when the distillation of petroleum continued until a glossy, firm, pulverizable mass of conchoidal fracture and resembling colophony in consistency remains. The benzine dissolves from this asphalt only a yellowish-brown dyestuff, which deeply enters the wood and protects it from the action of the weather, worms, dry rot, etc. The paint is not opaque, hence the wood retains its natural fiber. It is very pleasant to look at, because the wood treated with it keeps its natural appearance. The wood can be washed off with soap, and is especially suited for country and summer houses.

XIX.—A liquid to preserve wood from mold and dry rot which destroys the albuminous matter of the wood and the organisms which feed on it, so there are neither germs nor food for them if there were any, is sold under the name of carbolineum. The specific gravity of a carbolineum should exceed 1.105, and should give the wood a fine brown color. It should, too, be perfectly waterproof. The three following recipes can be absolutely relied on: _a._ Heat together and mix thoroughly 95 pounds of coal-tar oil and 5 pounds of asphalt from coal tar. _b._ Amalgamate together 30 pounds of heavy coal-tar oil, 60 pounds of crude wood-tar oil, and 25 pounds of heavy rosin oil. _c._ Mix thoroughly 3 pounds of asphalt, 25 pounds of heavy coal-tar oil, and 40 pounds of heavy rosin oil.

XX.—Often the wooden portions of machines are so damaged by dampness prevailing in the shops that the {780} following compound will be found useful for their protection: Melt 375 parts of colophony in an iron vessel, and add 10,000 parts of tar, and 500 parts of sulphur. Color with brown ocher or any other coloring matter diluted with linseed oil. Make a first light application of this mixture while warm, and after drying apply a second coat.

XXI.—For enameling vats, etc., 1,000 parts of brown shellac and 125 parts of colophony are melted in a spacious kettle. After the mass has cooled somewhat, but is still thinly liquid, 6.1 parts of alcohol (90 per cent) is gradually added. In order to prevent the ignition of the spirit vapor, the admixture of spirit is made at a distance from the stove. By this addition the shellac swells up into a semi-liquid mass, and a larger amount of enamel is obtained than by dissolving it cold. The enamel may be used for wood or iron.