427 
Japan  or  Japan  drier  is  a brownish  liquid  having  somewhat  the 
nature  of  varnish,  called  a drier  on  account  of  its  property  in 
paints,  etc.,  is  made  by  cooking  gum  shellac  with  linseed  oil ; the 
mixture  is  cooked  down  to  a very  thick  fluid  and  then  thinned 
with  turpentine.  Shellac  is  the  shell  form  of  lac,  a resinous 
gum  produced  on  several  kinds  of  trees  by  a species  of  scale  in- 
sect in  the  East  Indies. 
Boiled  linseed  oil,  as  most  of  us  know,  is  a product  of  the  flax 
seed  obtained  by  placing  the  crushed  seeds  under  great  pressure, 
and  the  extracted  oil  then  boiled  with  litharge  (sugar  of  lead) 
which  leaves  a liquid  varying  from,  light  umber  to  dark  yellow  in 
color,  with  the  property  of  drying  quickly  when  spread  in  a thin 
layer.  The  turpentine,  of  course,  is  the  liquid  obtained  from 
the  rosin  of  several  species  of  pine  tree. 
Stain  brings  out  the  grain  of  the  northwest. 
Fillers  are  usually  applied  with  a brush,  sponge  or  piece  of 
cloth.  ' A few  minutes  after  the  application  the  work  should  be 
rubbed  vigorously  with  another  cloth,  a piece  of  canvas,  first 
crosswise  and  then  lengthwise.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  add  a 
little  chrome  yellow,  yellow  ochre,  Venetian  red  or  burnt  umber 
or  some  other  color  to  the  filler,  which  often  improves  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  wood.  In  finishing  carriages,  pianos  and  small 
articles,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  workman  to  use  polish,  rub- 
bing into  the  fresh  application  finely  powdered  pumice-stone,  just 
a little  at  a time.  The  object  of  this  is  twofold,  for  leveling 
down  and  giving  an  even  undersurface  and  to  work  a durable 
mineral  material  into  the  pores. 
