Z50 Art of mouldhig Carving hi IJood. 



until the whole are adjusted, always filling up the vacuities 

 with coarse paste. I suftor the wliole to dry in the mould, 

 and obtain a figure in rcliet'of solid wood executed with all 

 the delicacy of plaster figures. Care must be taken to re- 

 move with a sharp knife, or small tile, the prominences 

 formed by the joinings. If the figure be not suflered to dry 

 too much, these prominences may be easily removed with 

 the point of a sharp penknife. It will be necessary to learn 

 the art of determining the proper degree of desiccation ; for 

 if the figure be taken from the mould before it is properly 

 dried it will become warped, and if it be too dry it cannot 

 be corrected but with a lile, which is tedious and laborious, 

 whereas if the proper moment be seized the paste may be 

 cut like wax ; especially if the sawdust has been fine which 

 is necessary for the exterior strata. Tlie figures may then 

 be completely dried in a stove, by which means they will 

 acquire a decree of desiccation and soliditv hardly to be 

 conceived. Figures thus moulded may be bronzed or var- 

 nished : they will then be unalterable by the <;ftects of mois- 

 ture or dryness. 



I have already said that Flanders and not conmion glue 

 ought to be employed for the exterior strata, because this 

 glue is almost colourless*; whereas the other, being dark- 

 coloured, gives too obscure a tint even to walnut-tree wood. 

 Beinii' desirous to try whether my moulded figures would be 

 unaltlirable by the effects of moisture or dryness, I made the 

 following experiments : 



Experiment I. 

 T exposed in a large bell-glass filled with atmospheric air 

 two figures, one of which was varnished and the other not. 

 I placed under the bell Saussure's hygrometer and a capsule 

 filled with water, after having moistened the sides of the 

 bell. The air was soon saturated with water, and the hy- 

 grometer marked 100 degrees. 1 observed no alteration 

 whatever in the varnished figure, and the other exhibited 

 no other sensible alteration than a commencement of solu- 

 tion in the elue, so that on applyina; m\' finger to its sur- 

 face it was found to be somewhat viscid j m a wordj the 

 figure was not in the least warped. 



Experiment II. 



I then introduced my two figures and the hygrometer 

 into another very dry bell, under which 1 had placed a cap- 



• When this cannot be had, a glue fit for the purpose may be made 

 by boiling shreds of parchment in common water till dissolved. — Edit. 



sula 



