94 On painting Linen Cloth in Oil Colours . 
my method, to ninety-six pounds of English ochre ground 
in boiled oil, I add sixteen pounds of black paint, being 
one-sixth in proportion of the ochre ; this, when mixed, 
forms an indifferent black. The solution, made of one 
pound of soap and six pints of water, is to be added to 
this paint, and well united therewith ; and without the 
canvass being previously wet, this composition is to be 
laid upon the canvass as stiff as can conveniently be done 
with the brush, and this first coat will form a tolerably 
smooth surface. The second coat is to be formed of the 
sam$ proportion of English ochre and black, without any 
soap solution ; and the third or finishing coat, to be done 
with black paint as usual. I am, &c. 
William Anderson, 
Master Painter of H. M. Dock-Yard at Portsmouth. 
Port sea, October 31, 1806. 
Sir— Agreeably to the request in your letter, I have 
enclosed certificates relative to my new method of paint- 
ing canvass; and I take the liberty of informing you of a 
method of obtaining from painted canvass, unserviceable, 
the whole of the colour laid thereon, and to do it at a very 
small expense. This I discovered since I last wrote to 
you, and I believe it will be of considerable advantage to 
government, who, for want of such a thought, have buried 
and burnt immense quantities of ships’ hammock cloths, 
when found unserviceable, to prevent embezzlement from 
taking place. I suggested the idea to N. Iliddems, esq. 
builder of Portsmouth yard, who communicated it to the 
honourable George Grey, commissioner. I obtained leave 
to make an experiment, which I repeated thrice, and 
found that from one ton of painted canvass, unserviceable, 
I obtained, upon an average, four hundred weight of dry 
