lb. soda lye of 38 deg. to 40 deg. B., after which 3
lb. rouge, 3 lb. water, and 32 grammes ammonia are mixed in. Good
recipes for polishing pomades are as follows: (1) 5 lb. lard and
yellow vaseline is melted and mixed with 1 lb. fine rouge. (2) 2 lb.
palm oil and 2 lb. vaseline are melted together, and then 1 lb. rouge,
400 grains tripoli, and 20 grains oxalic acid are stirred in. (3) 4
lb. fatty petroleum and 1 lb. lard are heated and mixed with 1 lb. of
rouge. The polishing pomades are generally perfumed with essence of
myrbane. Polishing powders are prepared as follows: (1) 4 lb.
magnesium carbonate, 4 lb. chalk, and 7 lb. rouge are intimately
mixed. (2) 4 lb. magnesium carbonate are mixed with 150 grains fine
rouge. An excellent and harmless polishing water is prepared by
shaking together 250 grains floated chalk, 1 lb. alcohol, and 20
grains ammonia. Gilded articles are most readily cleansed with a
solution of 5 grains borax in 100 parts water, by means of a sponge or
soft brush. The articles are then washed in pure water, and dried with
a soft linen rag. Silverware is cleansed by rubbing with a solution of
sodium hyposulphite.

BLACK PAINTS.

Carbon, in one form or another, is the base of all black pigments. By
far the most common of these, as used in structural plants, is
graphite. Other black pigments are lamp-black (including carbon black)
and bone-black, the former being produced in many grades, varying in
price from twopence to half a crown per pound. Bone-black, which is
refuse from the sugar-house black, varies in the percentage of carbon
contained, which is usually about 10 or 12 per cent, the remainder
being the mineral matter originally present in the bone, and
containing 3 or 4 per cent of carbonate, whilst most of the remainder
is phosphate of lime. Lamp-black is an absolutely impalpable powder,
which having a small amount of greasy matter in it, greatly retards
the drying of the oil with which it may be mixed. For this reason it
is not used by itself, but is added in small quantity to other paints,
which it affects by changing their colour, and probably their
durability. For example, it is a common practice to add it to red
lead, in order to tone down its brilliant colour, and also to correct
the tendency it has to turn white, due to the conversion of the red
oxide of lead into the carbonate.

BLACK STAIN FOR IRON.

For colouring iron and steel a dead black of superior appearance and
perma