take away these stains
cover them with blotting-paper and pass over them a warm flat-iron.
When the paper has soaked up the grease, change it and repeat the
operation until the stains have been sufficiently removed. After that,
touch both sides of the sheets where they have been stained with a
brush dipped in essence of turpentine heated to boiling-point. Then to
restore the whiteness of the paper, touch the places which were
stained with a piece of fine linen soaked in purified spirits of wine
warmed in the water-bath. This method may also be employed to get rid
of sealing-wax stains.

"_Oil Stains._--Make a mixture of 500 gr. of soap, 300 gr. of clay, 60
gr. of quicklime, and sufficient water to make it of the right
consistency, spread a thin layer of this on the stain, and leave it
there about a quarter of an hour. Then dip the sheet in a bath of hot
water; take it out, and let it dry slowly.

"You can also use the following method, generally employed for
finger-marks:--

"_Finger-marks._--These stains are sometimes very obstinate. Still
they can generally be mastered by the following method:--Spread over
them a layer of white soap jelly (_savon blanc en gelee_), and leave
it there for some hours. Then remove this with a fine sponge dipped in
hot water, and more often than not all the dirt disappears at the same
time. If this treatment is not sufficient, you might replace the soap
jelly by soft soap (_savon noir_), but you must be careful not to
leave it long on the printing, which might decompose and run, and that
would do more harm than good."

Sheets of very old books are best left with the stains of age upon
them, excepting, perhaps, such as can be removed with hot water or
size. Nearly all stains _can_ be removed, but in the process old paper
is apt to lose more in character than it gains in appearance.

MENDING

For mending torn sheets of an old book, some paper that matches as
nearly as possible must be found. For this purpose it is the custom
for bookbinders to collect quantities of old paper. If a piece of the
same tone cannot be found, paper of similar texture and substance may
be stained to match.

Supposing a corner to be missing, and a piece of paper to have been
found that matches it, the torn page is laid over the new paper in
such a way that the wire marks on both papers correspond. Then the
point of a folder should be drawn along the edge of the torn sheet,