on Medical Electricity. l6f 



ed, ii? made smooth in the usual way, and varnished. The 

 scorching produces a great variety of dark shades and 

 specks on the surface ; these have generally been consid- 

 ered to possess considerable beauty, and the wood, so pre- 

 pared, has come into pretty extensive use in the making of 

 particular sorts of cabinet furniture. When birds-eye ma- 

 ple is thus prepared, except the varnishing, if it is then 

 stained with the walnut dye, it receives much additional 

 beauty. In the common mode of preparing that v.'ood, the 

 colors are black, of various shades and degrees of intense- 

 ness ; and that kind of white, though somewhat tarnished, 

 which is natural to maple. These colors are destitute of 

 any other lustre than what the varnish merely gives them. 

 But the application of the walnut dye gives a lustre even to 

 the darkest shades ; while to the paler and fainter ones it 

 gives, in addition to this, a somewhat greenish hue; and to 

 the whiter parts, various tints of yellow. The whole, to- 

 gether, has a very pleasing effect on the eye, and is very 

 ornamental when used, with taste and judgment, in particu- 

 lar parts of some kinds of furniture. For pannel work, 

 the yellow stain alone, without the previous scorching, has 

 a very delicate and pleasing appearance. Both modes of 

 staining give the wood very much the appearance of figured 

 satin ; and, for particular purposes, are altogether superior, 

 in their effect, to mahogany. Such, at any rate, is my own 

 opinion ; and such, too, is that of all who liave received 

 specimens of work done in this manner. 



In staining cherry wood, cabinet-makers generally em- 

 ploy some kind of red paint, rubbed in small quantity into 

 the wood. This paint fills up the pores of the wood, and 

 by that means conceals the natural grain. This conceal- 

 ment of the grain, causes the surface to look as if painted, 

 and greatly detracts from the beauty of it. When this spe- 

 cies of wood is stained with the walnut liquor, and reddened 

 somewhat with a tincture of some red dye whose color is 

 not liable to fade, a handsome tinge is giv^en to it, which, 

 does not hide the grain ; and which becomes still more 

 handsome as the cherry itself grows darker by age. The 

 effect of the compound stain on apple tree wood, is the 

 same as that on cherry. 



Walnut bark makes the most permanent yellow for dying 

 cloth,. of anv of the res:etah]e substances used in this conn- 



