e attribute to the brittle, assertive
nature of the gums hardened by alcohol, is not in reality such, but
often aggressive noise, losing itself the more you retreat from it,
leaving real tone little to say for itself.

But coat the violin with oil; you certainly cannot complain of loud,
rasping responses to the call of the bow, whilst you _can_ make some
assertion as to quality. And, remember, as the soft nature of the
oil assumes a harder tendency day by day, so will increase the
sonority of the tones, whilst retaining the beauty of character with
which they began. Therefore, I shall draw your attention to the use
of oil varnish, utterly discarding that of spirit.

But to _what_ oil varnish is not my present purpose; why should I
seek to close the door on research and on experiment? It is for you,
students, to take home, each one of you, the lesson of the mighty
failure of thousands gone before you, in inability to bring to a
finish that upon which they have spent so many anxious hours, and do
something different and better. It is my intention to teach you,
step by step, how to lay on what you prepare for the brush: but
_not_ to say "get this or that oil," or "this or that colour,"
except in the abstract--red, orange, amber, yellow, etc., etc.,
being names only.

I say this at once so that there may be no mistake--so that none can
say _I_ use this or that: my own varnish and colouring _are_ my own
solely, and I reserve the secret for the benefit of my family,
should it prove of value after my career be ended.

Fashion a piece of wood so that it fits easily into the hole at the
end of the violin in which, later, the end pin is inserted. It must
have a rough sort of handle, because by it you will hold the
instrument when you have occasion otherwise than by the neck; for
you must on no account touch the wood before you varnish, nor
afterwards, with your hands, nor must you allow others to do so,
when, in your pardonable pride of heart, you show your creation to
your friends.

With a clean sponge, wrung out of tepid water, and a camel-hair
brush for parts where the sponge will not be of service, go all over
your violin, but do not wet it heavily--far from it; and when quite
dry, on the slightly roughened surface thus left, place a yellow or
amber coating of turpentine, thoroughly mixing with it a little of
the oil varnish selected by you along with your colouring matter as
you arrange, yellow or amber. To do this we