278 THE REV. J. G. WOOD. 



Upon one point he was always extremely fond of 

 insisting, and that was the exceeding usefulness of oil. 

 Once a fortnight or so he always promenaded the house, 

 oil-bottle and feather in hand ; and never was there a 

 door-hinge that squeaked, or a lock that refused to turn, 

 while he was in the house. Every ball-cock was care- 

 fully lubricated; every screw was oiled before it was- 

 driven home. And thus, no doubt, he saved himself 

 and others a vast amount of subsequent trouble, on the 

 principle of the " stitch in time." 



Another compound of which he was remarkably 

 fond was "sealing-wax varnish." This he manu- 

 factured for himself, pounding up a stick or two of 

 scarlet wax into a fine powder, dissolving it in spirit of 

 wine, and so producing a brilliant scarlet paint, which 

 dried quickly, did not crack, and was not easily rubbed 

 off. Of this he made great use. All his travelling 

 trunks and bags had his name, or his characteristic 

 monogram, painted upon them in sealing-wax varnish. 

 The cases of his drawing-frames were encircled by 

 three broad rings of sealing-wax varnish. Even his 

 umbrella-handle was curiously marked with sealing-wax 

 varnish. And every six weeks or so he would give 

 up an hour to renovating these markings, performing 

 the operation with great care, and no little attention 

 to detail. 



He was really a first-rate amateur bookbinder, again, 

 and mostly had three or four volumes under restoration. 

 He even tried soldering at one time, but I do not think 

 that he was very successful at this, as we never heard 



