Bow & Bridge Violin and bow makers, as the old books printed them

Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 35

Scan 35

The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904

10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.

1"which explains to us why these also have sometimes changed when new formulæ were produced."
3The formulæ quoted from the several authors are of little interest in relation to the contention which has been so confidently put forward by M. Mailand. Before endeavouring to trace a Cremonese varnish among these very crude prescriptions, some definite conception must, of necessity, be formed of the constitution of such a varnish. To avoid any difficulty on this point M. Mailand shall be met on his own ground; here is his prescription for a Cremonese varnish (156):—
5"Mastic in tears – – – – 10 grammes
6"Soft Dammar ('Dammar friable') 5 grammes
7"Essence, coloured according to one of the formulæ already given – 100 cub. cent."
9The coloured essence prescribed in this formula requires some explanation. Having fixed on his resins and determined that they must be dissolved in oil of turpentine (not in alcohol), M. Mailand then proceeds to the question of colouration. He found that the colouring matters which he desired to incorporate could not be dissolved in oil of turpentine (essence). On the other hand, they were freely soluble in alcohol. But on mixing such an alcoholic solution with oil of turpentine, the two solvents refused to combine. To get over this difficulty, M. Mailand exposed oil of turpentine to air and light for six or eight weeks; it became oxygenated and resinous, much more soluble in alcohol than the original, newly-distilled oil of turpentine; this he calls "fat essence" ("essence grasse"). In this fat turpentine or "essence

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