water from the siphon through the pipe. It 

 will clean it out effectively. 



If you are smoking a meerschaum and desire 

 it to color well and evenly it is a good plan to 

 use a false upper bowl to fit inside the bowl of 

 your pipe. The rim of fire where the tobacco 

 is burning makes the pipe bowl too hot and does 

 not allow that part to color. The false bowl 

 will prevent this. Some smokers think that 

 covering a meerschaum bowl with chamois will 

 cause it to color well. The chamois will not 

 aid the coloring but it will protect the bowl 

 from being touched by the hand during the 

 process and thus avoiding a spotty effect, par- 

 ticularly if the hand should be moist or greasy. 

 During the progress of the coloring the pipe 

 should never be allowed to get too hot. The 

 time required to color a pipe depends on the 

 tobacco used. If it is a rich oily tobacco, the 

 time necessary is shorter than with a dry to- 

 bacco. 



Imitation meerschaum of the cheaper kind 

 are sometimes artificially colored by the makers. 

 This is done by boiling the pipe in an oily solu- 

 tion of nicotine, the formula for which as given 

 in the American Druggist, V. 58, is : 



Crude nicotine (oil of tobacco)= i. 



Olive oil=|j ii. 



Yellow wax=3 viii. 



169 



