copperas, two ounces of
China blue, and one ounce of nut-gall. Put these into an iron pot, and
boil them over a slow fire till they are well dissolved. When cool, the
mixture is ready for use. Add a gill of iron filings steeped in vinegar.
The above makes a perfect jet black, equal to the best black ebony. A
very good black is obtained by a solution of sulphate of copper and
nitric acid; when dry, the work should have a coat of strong logwood
stain.

=Imitation Oak.=--To imitate old oak, the process known as "fumigating"
is the best. This is produced by two ounces of American potash and two
ounces of pearlash mixed together in a vessel containing one quart of
hot water.

Another method is by dissolving a lump of bichromate of potash in warm
water; the tint can be varied by adding more water. This is best done
out of doors in a good light. Very often in sending for bichromate of
potash a mistake is made, and chromate of potash is procured instead;
this is of a yellow colour, and will not answer the purpose. The
bichromate of potash is the most powerful, and is of a red colour. A
solution of asphaltum in spirits of turpentine is frequently used to
darken new oak which is intended for painter's varnish, or a coating
of boiled oil.

Another method of imitating new oak upon any of the inferior
light-coloured woods is to give the surface a coat of Stephens's
satin-wood stain, and to draw a soft graining-comb gently over it, and
when the streaky appearance is thus produced a camel-hair pencil should
be taken and the veins formed with white stain. This is made by
digesting three-quarters of an ounce of flake white (subnitrate of
bismuth), and about an ounce of isinglass in two gills of boiling water;
it can be made thinner by adding more water, or can be slightly tinted
if desired.

Proficients in staining and imitating can make American ash so like oak
that experienced judges are frequently deceived, the vein and shade of
the spurious wood looking nearly as natural as the genuine. After the
veining is done, it should be coated with white hard varnish, made
rather thin by adding more spirits, after which the ground can be
delicately darkened if required.

=Imitation Satin-wood.=--Take methylated spirits one quart, ground
turmeric three ounces, powdered gamboge one and a-half ounces. This
mixture should be steeped to its full strength, and then strained
through fine muslin, when it will be ready for use. Apply with a