■m jap 
reclified fpirifs may with great eafe, at any time, be freed 
from the phlegm, and rendered of the firft degree of 
iirength : “Take a pint of the common rectified fpirit of 
wine, and put it into a bottle, of which it will not fill 
above three parts. Add to it half an ounce of pearl-allies, 
fait of tartar, or any other alkaline fait, heated red-hot, 
and powdered, as well as it can be without much lofs of 
its heat. Shake the mixture frequently for the fpace of 
half an hour ; before which time, a great part of the 
phlegm will be feparated from the fpirit, and will appear, 
together with the undifl'olved part of the falts, in the 
bottom of the bottle. Let the fpirit then be poured off, 
or freed from the phlegm and falts, by means of a trito¬ 
ri urn, or feparating-funnel ; and let half an ounce of the 
pearl-allies, heated and powdered as before, be added to 
it, and the fame treatment repeated. This may be done 
a third time, if the quantity of phlegm feparated by the 
addition of the pearl-afhes appear confiderable. An ounce 
of alum reduced to powder and made hot, but not burnt, 
mlift then be put into the fpirit, and fullered to remain 
fome hours; the bottle being frequently lhaken ; after 
which, the fpirit, being poured off from it, will be lit 
for ule.” Tiie addition of the alum is necelfary, to neu¬ 
tralize the remains of the alkaline fait or pearl-allies ; 
which would otherwife greatly deprave the fpirit with re- 
fpect to varnilhes and lacker, where vegetable colours are 
concerned ; and mult confequently render another diftil- 
iation necelfary. 
The manner of tiling the feed-lac or white varnilhes is 
the fame, except with regard to the fubltance ufed in po- 
lilhing ; which, where a pure white or great clearnefs of 
other colours is in queftion, Ihould be itfelf white; whereas 
the browner forts of polifhing-duft, as being cheaper, and 
doing their bufmefs with greater difpatcli, may be ufed 
in other cafes. The pieces of work to- be varnifhed Ihould 
be placed near a fire, or in a room where there is a ftove, 
and made perfectly dry; and then the varnilh may be 
iubbe&i over them by the proper brulhes made for that 
purpofe, beginning in the middle, and palfing the brulh 
to one end; and then, with another broke from the mid¬ 
dle, palfing it to the other. But no part Ihould be crofted 
or, twice palfed over, in forjning one coat, where it can 
polfibly be avoided. When one coat is dry,another mult 
"lie laid over it; and this mult be continued at leaft five 
or fix times, or more, if on trial there be not fulficient 
thicknefsof varnilli to bear the polilh, without laying bare 
the painting or the ground-colour underneath. 
When a fulficient number of .coats is thus laid on, the 
work is fit to be polilhed ; which muft be done, in com¬ 
mon cafes, by rubbing it with a rag dipped in Tripoli or 
purnice-ftone, commonly called rottenJlone, finely powdered.; 
but towards the end of the rubbing, a little oil of any 
kind Ihould be ufed along with the powder; and, when 
the work, appears fufficiently bright and glofl’y, it Ihould 
be well rubbed with the oil alone, to clean it from the 
powder, and give it a ftill brighter luftre. In the cafe 
of white grounds, inffead of the Tripoli or pumice-bone, 
fine putty or whiting mult be ufed ; both which Ihould 
be walhed over to prevent the danger of damaging the 
work from any fand or other gritty matter that may hap¬ 
pen to be mixed with them.. 
It is a great improvement of all kinds of Japan-work, 
to harden the varnilh. by means of heat; which, in every 
degree that it -can be applied Ihort of what would burn 
or calcine the matter, tends to give it a. more firm and 
ft.rong texture. Where metals form the body, therefore, 
a very hot ftove may be ufed,and the pieces of work may 
be continued in it a confiderable time ; efpecially if the 
heat be. gradually increafed ; but, where wood is in quel- 
tion, heat mult be fparingly ufed, as it would otherwife 
vlarp or th ink the body,fo as to.inj.ure the general figure. 
"There is another kind of japanning, called bantam-work 
from Bantam, in the ifland of java, where it is practifed. 
This work refembies that of Japan,, only that it is more 
JAP 
gaudy. There are two forts of bantam-work, as well a$_ 
of japanning. As, in the latter, fome are fiat, lying even 
with the black, and others high and embofied ; fo, in 
bantam-work, fome are flat, and others in-cut, or carved 
into the wood, as we find in many large Ikreens ; with 
this_difference, that the Japan artifts work chiefly in gold 
and other metals; and thofe of Bantam generally in co¬ 
lours, with a fmall fprinkling of gold. For the carved 
or in-cut kind, the method of performing it is thus : The- 
wood is to be primed with whiting and fize, till near a* 
quarter of an inch thick; then it is to be water-planed, i.e„ 
rubbed with a fine wet cloth, and, fome time after, rub¬ 
bed very finooth, the blacks laid on, varnifhed up with a 
good body, and polilhed well, though with a gentle hand. 
This done, the defign is to be traced out with vermilion 
and gum-water, exaftly in the manner wherein it is in¬ 
tended tobe.cut; the figures, trees, buildings, &c. in their 
due proportion ; then the graver k applied, with other 
tools, differing according to the workman’s fancy ; with 
'thefe he cuts deep or fhallow, as found convenient, but 
never deeper than the whiting lies, the wood being never 
to Teel the edge of the inftrument. Lines, or parts of the 
black, are frill to be left for the draperies, and for the 
diftinftion of one thing from another; the rule being to- 
cut where the white is, and leave the black untouched- 
The colours are then laid into the cut-work: after this, 
the gold is laid in thofe places where the defign requires; 
for which purpofe, a ftrong thick gum-arabic water is 
laid with a pencil on the work ; and, while this'remains 
wet, leaf-gold is cut with a fharp fmooth-edged knife, 
fliaped to the bignefs and figure of the places where they* 
are to be laid. Thefe, being taken up with a little cotton, 
are prefied clofe to the gum-water, which affords a rick 
luftre. The work thus finifhed, they clear up the black 
with oil, taking care not to touch the colours. The Eu¬ 
ropean workmen ufe brafs-dult inftead of gold, which is 
lefs bright and beautiful, 
JAPA'RA, a fea-port town of the ifland of Java, fitu- 
ated on a peninfula on the north coaft. The harbour is 
formed by a river of the fame name, and is capable of re¬ 
ceiving a great number of fnips. The inhabitants are 
Mahometants, and aeteft the Dutch : two hundred miles 
eaft of Batavia. 
JAFAR AN'DIBA, f. in botany. See Gustavia. 
JAPENE', a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Jagra.- 
JAP'ETUS, a fon of Coelus or Titan, by Terra, whey 
married Afia, or, according to others, Clymene, by whom 
Ire had Atlas, Mencetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus» 
The Greeks looked upon him as the father of all man¬ 
kind. His fons received the patronymic of Japeiionid.es . 
Ovid. 
JA'PHETH, the fon of Noah. His defeendants pof- 
fefied all Europe and the ifles in the Mediterranean, as. 
well thole which belong to Europe as others which de¬ 
pend on Alia. They had all Afia Minor, and the north¬ 
ern parts of Afia above the fourees of the Tigris and Eu¬ 
phrates. Noah, when he bleifed Japbeth, laid to him, 
tc God fiialj enlarge Japli ^h, and he fhall dwell in the tents 
of Shem; and Canaan fhall be his fervant.” This bleif- 
ing.of Noah was accompiifhed, whep the Greeks, and af¬ 
ter them the Romans, carried their conquefts into Afia and 
Africa, where were the dwelling and dominions of Shem 
and Canaan. The fons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog,. 
Madai, Javan, Tubal, Mefhech, and Tiras," The fcrip- 
ture fays, “-that they peopled the Ales of the Gentiles,, 
and fettled in different countries, each according to his 
language, family, and people.” It is fuppofed, that Co¬ 
mer was the father of the Cirabri or* Cimmerians ; Magog, 
of the Scythians; Madai of the Macedonians- or Medes 
Javan of the lonians and Greeks; Tubal of the Tibare- 
nians; Mefhech of the Mufcovites or Ruffians*; and 'Li¬ 
ras of the Thracians., By the ifles of the Gentiles, the- 
Hebrews underftand the ifles of the Mediterranean, and - 
all the countries, feparated by the fea from the continent 
e£ 
