and the Application of it to stained Wood. 107 
have a fine grain, and are sufficiently hard. Furniture 
made of these kinds of wood, after it has been well polish- 
ed, may be stained of different colours, and then done 
over with linseed oil and amber varnish. 
As my principal view, however, was to try in what 
manner different kinds of wood could be stained so as to 
retain their colour longest, and in what manner mahoga- 
ny could be best imitated, I applied such a composition 
as I thought would best answer the purpose on the twelve 
following kinds of wood ; namely, elm, oak, red and 
white beech, maple, pear-tree, wild hawthorn, white 
beam-tree, ash, alder, birch,' and pine. Of these the ma- 
ple, birch, alder, and white beech, when stained with a 
solution of iron, had the greatest resemblance to mahoga- 
ny. The appearance of the other kinds was various, ac- 
cording to the diversity of their colour and veins, and ac- 
cording as they were more or less porous, and imbibed a 
greater or less quantity of the stain. 
The amber varnish prepared in different places is not 
always of equal goodness. This is owing to two causes : 
1st, The careless manner in which the amber is melted s 
Snd, Because the linseed oil, being too much or too little 
boiled, acquires, in a greater or less degree, a drying pro- 
perty. A proof of amber varnish being good, is, if, 
when applied on any article in an apartment of the com- 
mon temperature, it becomes dry within from twelve to 
twenty-four hours. 
By the experiments which I made, I have found that 
the following process for preparing it is the best :— Put 
pounded and sifted amber into a pan of cast iron with a 
flat bottom, and let the amber be spread out at most to the 
thickness of an inch. Place the pan in an upright posi- 
tion over an uniform coal fire, and let it remain till the 
amber fuses and becomes liquid ; then pour it out on a 
cold plate of copper or iron. When the amber has cool- 
