hould be discovered. From that time polishing became a
separate branch of the cabinet business.

The following original recipe as first invented has been extracted from
a French work, the _Dictionnaire Technologique_, not, however, for its
usefulness (it having gone into disuse many years ago), but as a matter
of curiosity:--

"_French Polish._"

Gum sandarach 14 ounces 2 drachms
Gum mastic in drops 7 " 2 "
Shellac (the yellower the better) 14 " 2 "
Alcohol of 0.8295 specific gravity 3 quarts and 1 pint.

"Pound the resinous gums, and effect their solution by continued
agitation, without the aid of heat; if the woods are porous, add seven
ounces one drachm of Venice turpentine. If an equal weight of ground
glass be added, the solution is more quickly made, and is also otherwise
benefited by it. Before using, the wood should be made to imbibe a
little linseed-oil, the excess of which should be removed by an old
flannel."

Notwithstanding the improvement made upon the old processes by this new
method, it was by no means considered to be perfect, for the polish was
found to impart its brown tinge to the light-coloured woods, especially
in marqueterie work, and to deteriorate their appearance. It will be
readily seen that it was a great desideratum among polishers to render
shellac colourless, as, with the exception of its dark-brown hue, it
possesses all the properties essential to a good polish or spirit
varnish in a higher degree than any of the other resins.

In 1827 the Society of Arts came forward with its valuable aid and
offered a premium of a gold medal, or thirty guineas, "for a polish or
varnish made from shell or seed-lac, equally hard, and as fit for use in
the arts as that at present prepared from the above substance, but
deprived of its colouring matter." After numerous experiments, this
long-felt want was perfectly attained by Dr. Hare, who was awarded the
premium. His method was as follows: "Dissolve in an iron kettle one part
of pearlash in about eight parts of water; add one part of shell or
seed-lac, and heat the whole to ebullition. When the lac is dissolved,
cool the solution, and impregnate it with chlorine till the lac is all
precipitated. The precipitate is white, but its colour deepens by
washing and consolidation; dissolved in alcohol, lac, bleached by the
process above mentioned, yields a polish or varnish which is as