leaving an indented line on the new paper. The new paper should then
be cut off about an eighth of an inch beyond the indented line, and
the edge carefully pared up to the line. The edge of the old paper
must be similarly pared, so that the two edges when laid together will
not exceed the thickness of the rest of the page. It is well to leave
a little greater overlap at the edges of the page. Both cut edges must
then be well pasted with white paste and rubbed down between
blotting-paper. To ensure a perfectly clean joint the pasted edge
should not be touched with the hand, and pasting-paper, brushes, and
paste must be perfectly clean.

In the case of a tear across the page, if there are any overlapping
edges, they may merely be pasted together and the end of the tear at
the edge of the paper strengthened by a small piece of pared paper. If
the tear crosses print, and there are no overlapping edges, either
tiny pieces of pared paper may be cut and laid across the tear between
the lines of print, or else a piece of the thinnest Japanese paper,
which is nearly transparent, may be pasted right along the tear over
the print; in either case the mend should be strengthened at the edge
of the page by an additional thickness of paper. In cases where the
backs of the sections have been much damaged, it will be necessary to
put a guard the entire length, or in the case of small holes, to fill
them in with pieces of torn paper. The edges of any mend may, with
great care, be scraped with a sharp knife having a slight burr on the
under side, and then rubbed lightly with a piece of worn fine
sand-paper, or a fragment of cuttle-fish bone. Care must be taken not
to pare away too much, and especially not to weaken the mend at the
edges of the sheet. As a general rule, the new mending paper should go
on the back of a sheet.

Sometimes it is thought necessary to fill up worm-holes in the paper.
This may be done by boiling down some paper in size until it is of a
pulpy consistency, and a little of this filled into the worm-holes
will re-make the paper in those places. It is a very tedious
operation, and seldom worth doing.

Mending vellum is done in much the same way as mending paper,
excepting that a little greater overlap must be left. It is well to
put a stitch of silk at each end of a vellum patch, as you cannot
depend on paste alone holding vellum securely. The overlapping edges
must be well roughed up with a knife to make sure th