Scan 104
The violin & its story : or the history & construction of the violin, 1905
10 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 88. See the scan on archive.org.
1The pieces of macerated or fermented entrails are then drawn over a board, under the pressure of the rounded edge of a kind of knife, which takes off all the outer skin in long strips, clears away all mucus, and turns the gut into a transparent membrane. All these operations up to now have, however, only been preliminaries to the special preparation of the material for strings.
3This special preparation consists of a corrosive mixture, called "aqua fortis" in the Italian manufacture. This mixture varies, and is bound to vary, in different countries. In Italy the lees of wine, diluted with water, are used.
5The preparation of the gut in this corrosive mixture goes on during eight days, the weakest "lye" being used at first, and the strength increased up to the strongest. The secret of the Italian string manufacture lies precisely in the use of this "lye," and in the different strengths to be applied as the process goes on. According to one author, De la Lande, the weakest mixture consists of four parts of lees to two hundred parts of water, and the strongest of twenty parts of lees to two hundred parts of water.
7Ten pieces only of the gut are laid in the weakest mixture, which has to be renewed four times daily, while the pieces are taken out of the vessel, briskly shaken about, and hung up for an hour in the open air. As above stated, the strength of the mixture is augmented daily, until the highest strength is reached on the eighth day. While these operations are going on, the pieces of gut gradually become clearer and purer, rise more and more in the liquid, until at last they float in water. This is the point at which the pieces must be stretched without delay, after which they are soaked in fresh water to free them from all traces of the "lye."
9English, French, and German string makers, instead of wine lees, use a mixture of potash and water, which is clarified with alum when necessary. As often as this lye is changed, the gut is continuously drawn between the finger and a tailor's thimble, and so cleansed. The
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