idence of this name and its modifications with the Vernice
of the middle ages, might almost warrant the supposition that amber,
which by the best ancient authorities was considered a mineral, may, at
an early period, have been distinguished by the name of a constellation,
the constellation of Berenice's (golden) hair."--_Eastlake_, p. 230.

* * *

118. We are grieved to interrupt our reader's voyage among the
constellations; but the next page crystallizes us again like ants in
amber, or worse, in gum-sandarach. It appears, from conclusive and
abundant evidence, that the greater cheapness of sandarach, and its
easier solubility in oil rendered it the usual substitute for amber, and
that the word Vernice, when it occurs alone, is the common synonym for
dry sandarach resin. This, dissolved by heat in linseed oil, three parts
oil to one of resin, was the Vernice liquida of the Italians, sold in
Cennini's time ready prepared, and the customary varnish of tempera
pictures. Concrete turpentine ("oyle of fir-tree," "Pece Greca,"
"Pegola"), previously prepared over a slow fire until it ceased to
swell, was added to assist the liquefaction of the sandarach, first in
Venice, where the material could easily be procured, and afterwards in
Florence. The varnish so prepared, especially when it was long boiled to
render it more drying, was of a dark color, materially affecting the
tints over which it was passed.[15]

* * *

"It is not impossible that the lighter style of coloring introduced by
Giotto may have been intended by him to counteract the effects of this
varnish, the appearance of which in the Greek pictures he could not fail
to observe. Another peculiarity in the works of the painters of the time
referred to, particularly those of the Florentine and Sienese schools,
is the greenish tone of their coloring in the flesh; produced by the
mode in which they often prepared their works, viz. by a green
under-painting. The appearance was neutralized by the red sandarac
varnish, and pictures executed in the manner described must have looked
better before it was removed."--_Ib._ p. 252.

* * *

Farther on, this remark is thus followed out:--

* * *

"The paleness or freshness of the tempera may have been sometimes
calculated for this brown glazing (for such it was in effect), and when
this was the case, the picture was, strictly speaking, unfinished
w