and the Application of it to stained Wood » 41 S 
it must be applied several times, and each time they must 
be well dried. 
After the application of the varnish, if any inequalities 
or lumps appear, they may be removed, after the article is 
dry, by means of a carpenter’s rush, and a fresh coating 
of varnish applied to the place. For applying the var- 
nish, I have found it most convenient to use a sponge ; as 
by these means it can be laid on in a much more uniform 
manner than by a painter’s brush, which, for the most 
part, leaves stripes or loose hairs behind it. The sponge 
with which the varnish is laid on, must, between each ap- 
plication, be well shut up in a wide-mouthed bottle, 
that the varnish it has imbibed may not be dried 
by the air, which w ould render it hard, and unlit for 
use. 
The same process is to be followed with the stain Mo. 
% When applied to knotty birch wood or alder, the 
wood becomes undulated, because the liquor extends it- 
self crosswise. The case is the same with fat and knotty 
pine wood or fir : for the resinous spots do not so 
strongly attract the stain as the other parts. This, how- 
ever, makes the appearance of the wood not disagree- 
able. 
The amber varnish may be applied also over almost 
all oil colours except blue, which it would change to 
green. It is attended with this advantage, that it never 
cracks ; as is the case in general with lack varnishes, anil 
those prepared with spirit of wine. 
I have found, also, that this varnish is proper for being 
applied on real gilding, because it makes no perceptible 
alteration in the colour; especially when laid on thin, and 
in an uniform manner. This object also is obtained, that 
the gilding may be cleaned by means of spirit of wine, or 
of soap and water, without sustaining any injury. For 
