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Scan 317
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 303. See the scan on archive.org.
1sufficiently free from dust and débris after the first washing, do it a second time, letting them remain a little longer in the essence, and stirring them about. They should come out from this second washing as clear and brilliant as bits of crystal, if you have been careful not to select any but those which are very transparent.
3In an old treatise on varnish there is another substance mentioned which is very useful for modifying the coloured essences, and which I intended to include while dealing with that process. It is Bitumen of Judea, a mineral substance, found in quantities on the surface of the Dead Sea, whose waves throw it up on the shore. Its presence probably accounts, in part, for the peacefulness of the waters of that inland lake, and some sea captains are now adopting an analagous process for facilitating the progress of ships in storms and depriving the breakers in their immediate neighbourhood of much of their aggressive character. Bitumen of Judea is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, melts at 212° Fahr., takes light easily, and in burning emits a thick smoke. It is very soluble in the essential oils, especially that of turpentine, but if it has been exposed to the sun's rays, only those parts which may have been shaded are soluble in the oil of lavender, the portions subjected to the direct action of the sun remaining insoluble in that oil.
5The tint of the sandal wood and dragon's blood colours may be modified by adding bitumen of Judea to the gamboge with which you may have contemplated making the primary modification, taking the precautions, already indicated, to prevent the precipitation
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