ne time thought it necessary to lift the ribs from one or the
other plate, and almost, of course, bungled over it. This will be seen
in the irregularity of the fitting of the ribs, which have been
ruthlessly cut or torn out of the groove, some portions being left in.
Taking them out was found to be unprofitable work, with a general result
of a wretched wreck remaining, instead of the whole original being
there but shifted a little, from the glue losing its hold while
perishing from the action of moisture.

CHAPTER IX.

THE GLUE USED BY THE EARLY ITALIAN MAKERS--INSERTION OF PIECES OF WOOD
FOR REPAIRING LOST PARTS--REPLACING LOST RIB AND REPAIRING INTERIOR
WITHOUT OPENING WHEN POSSIBLE--SECURING LOOSE LOWER RIB TO END
BLOCK--DIFFERENT METHODS--TREATMENT OF WORM-HOLES--FIXING ON GRAFT ON
NECK.

Here, before proceeding further, it may be as well to call attention
to the kind of damage done by the atmosphere. We speak of the glue
perishing. Under most circumstances this will not occur, but under
exceptional ones it will. If good in the first instance, it will be
perfectly sound and strong as ever at the end of three hundred years.
I have found this to be so in the work of Gasparo da Salo and his pupil,
Giovanni Paolo Maggini, besides other makers nearly contemporary. What
particular kind of glue they used I am unable to say, possibly they
did not know very much more themselves beyond what they believed was
the best obtainable in their day and city. When the perishing has
occurred there must have been very much moisture in the atmosphere of
the locality in which the violin rested for some time, as the best glue
will absorb the most moisture before losing its firmness, or power of
adherence. Prolonged exposure to damp allows chemical change to take
place and then all adhesive quality is lost; when dry air afterwards
attacks it, the parts of the instrument that should have been held
firmly together are released, with results that may be serious in
degree according to the position of the part affected.

To continue the consideration of the repair of a violin that has been
constructed with grooves for holding the ribs. A long and troublesome
piece of work would be the loosening and taking away of the fragments
of rib inserted in the groove and cut away by some repairer from the
rest or standing rib; it is therefore preferable in ordinary and neat
repairing to clear the parts that may be ragged or begrimed, firstly,