SOME SCIENTIFIC. POINTS IN CABINET MAKING, 
of white ants, as our cypress pine. _ Spiders will not form cobwebs upon 
chestnut, as doubtless many of you have been shown in ancient churches, 
and for which reason it is said the timber was chosen. Borers attack 
many woods, but usually leave highly-scented timbers alone. 
One of my friends is director of a large match factory, and I sug- 
gested to him to try logs of candlenut trees, whose glorious foliage -is 
so observable in the dense forests of Queensland. The wood is straight, 
snowy white, easily obtained and easily handled. Exposed to wet it 
perishes first of all timbers, but it is durable if kept dry. It was to 
be peeled into veneers out of which both boxes and matches are made. 
All was lovely but for an unforeseen and fatal objection. The fibres 
are hollow, the whole substance of the tree being merely a bundle of 
exquisitely straight and minute tubes. When lighted each and every 
match exuded smoke at the opposite end. Quite harmless, but no one 
could be expected to buy them. 
The colours of many woods are fugitive, whilst others change sadly 
in the course of drying. Under no treatment except artificial staining 
is the full beauty of the wood preserved as when first sawn or sliced in 
its own sap. A superb yellow is displayed by the soverelgn-wood of 
the Queensland scrub, which is quite permanent, but the blue of Bombay 
rosewood, the rich brown of black bean and the lovely pink of Cardwell 
maple either disappear under the polishing process or become tame and 
dull. If any kind of stain or pigmentation is used the other beauties 
of light and shade are obscured or levelled out. It is best, therefore, to 
leave the natural ornaments in their reduced appearance, and indeed 
in that state they are often very handsome. The private office of a 
friend in Vancouver is lined with some fine specimens of figured Douglas 
fir. A newly-arrived London decorator, looking over them critically, - 
said, “ The grainer who did that work did not know his job.” The 
owner replied, “In this case the Almighty was the artist.” 
Whole volumes have been written upon this heading, but I shall 
give slight mention. In America the method of polishing with shellae 
dissolved in spirits is rarely used, and is regarded as uncommercial. 
A more laborious system of varnishing in several coats, cutting each 
down with pumice and water, is still in vogue. The last coat is polished 
by hand, demanding patience and skill. The system is costly, and not 
wholly reliable, consequently by general agreement amongst producers 
of cabinet work, a dull finish is now in vogue in all the States, which 
on the whole is best for the ultimate users of the goods. 
In Europe of late years a change has been made in shellac polishing 
by using both oil and spirit varnishes in the process. This, however, 
demands special knowledge and practice. The result is increased 
durability in the protective coats, and a more permanent surface and 
gloss. ‘To preserve the beauty of the figured ornament, and as far as 
possible the colour of the wood, many forms of treatment have been 
used. Tallow, petroleum, linseed, soya, and other oils have been applied 
to greater or less failures, usually greater. During the process of 
polishing, sulphuric acid in 10 per cent. solution, neutralized subsequently 
by precipitated chalk, has been applied as a regular practice. In general 
the effect has been to induce varying degrees of disgust. Germany can 
fairly claim these inventions, as also other polishing methods that were 
persisted in for years and decades, to be finally abandoned. Bat 
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