=Dyed Polishes.=--The methods of dyeing polish or
varnish are as follows: for a red, put a little alkanet-root or camwood
dust into a bottle containing polish or varnish; for a bright yellow, a
small piece of aloes; for a yellow, ground turmeric or gamboge; for a
brown, carbonate of soda and a very small quantity of dragon's blood;
and for a black, a few logwood chips, gall-nuts, and copperas, or by the
addition of gas-black.

The aniline dyes (black excepted) are very valuable for dyeing polishes,
the most useful being Turkey-red, sultan red, purple, and brown. A small
portion is put into the polish, which soon dissolves it, and no
straining is required. The cheapest way to purchase these dyes is by the
ounce or half-ounce. The penny packets sold by chemists are too
expensive, although a little goes a long way.




CHAPTER II.

_STAINS AND IMITATIONS._


In consequence of the high price demanded for furniture made of the
costly woods, the art of the chemist has been called into requisition to
produce upon the inferior woods an analogous effect at a trifling
expense. The materials employed in the artificial colouring of wood are
both mineral and vegetable; the mineral is the most permanent, and when
caused by chemical decomposition within the pores it acts as a