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Scan 290
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 276. See the scan on archive.org.
1dusting over erasures in manuscripts, where it prevents the ink from sinking into the paper, but as dammar has also this property, it is often mixed with sandarach, as is also the refuse of hard copal. This is an awkward fraud for the amateur violin-varnish maker, as these two copals are insoluble in alcohol, and, unless eliminated, would simply cause loss of time. True sandarach is got from the common juniper, but it is chiefly procured from the arar tree, and is in the form of longish tears covered with dust from their rubbing together. If chewed, it remains gritty between the teeth to the last. The tears are of a whitish yellow, and almost transparent under the dusty covering.
3I suppose it is now impossible to get the true "elemi" to which I have already referred. It is entirely soluble in alcohol, is semi-transparent, of a yellowish white mixed with greenish points. It is substituted by another kind from Manilla and China, which is soft, of a yellowish white, or mixed with black spots. It is not so soluble in alcohol, and leaves a white, light, spongy residue. What is now called true elemi comes from Brazil and Mexico, and answers to the description of the original substance, but the elemi of commerce has often a strong odour of common resin.
5The benzoin should be chosen as free from impurities as possible, shiny, of a reddish-grey colour, and containing those white pieces resembling bits of almonds, from which the name of benzoin in tears is derived. It is procured from the Styrax Benzoin of Sumatra and Borneo, a tree 70ft. or 80ft. high. Another kind comes from Siam.
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