ing, between the jaws of powerful screw presses and the edges
scraped to make them perfectly smooth. They are then colored with a
mixture of red chalk, or black lead, applied with a sponge, to give
the gold a dark color. A size made of the white of eggs is then
applied with a brush, the gold leaf floated on, and when dry burnished
with an agate or bloodstone. No machine has yet been invented that
will do this work.

Edge-marbling is another branch. A shallow trough is filled with a
solution of gum hog or gum tragacanth of the consistency of thick
cream. Each color, which must be ground very fine, is mixed in water
and ox-gall, and sprinkled separately over the surface of the gum with
brushes. The ox-gall prevents the colors from mixing together on the
solution, every drop being distinct. If three or more colors are used,
the first one containing a little gall, the second more than the
first, and the third more than the second, each color will make a
place for itself by crowding the others into a narrower space. The
books are held firmly in a clamp, and as the edges are dipped into the
solution they take up the colors as they lie on the surface.

There are other edges called for besides the gilt, the marbled, or the
plain smooth cut. The deckle edge is left uncut, just as it comes from
the paper-maker. The uncut or rough cut is made by taking off any
projecting edges of the leaves. There are machines for doing this, one
having a circular knife rigged like a circular saw, the book being run
lengthwise against it. There are also other methods of removing
overhanging leaves, one by using hand shears, another by filing.

In fine leather binding, while the preparation of the book for the
cover is essentially the same as in cloth work, the covering is all
hand-work, requiring experience and skill, and is a distinct branch of
the trade.

Finishing by hand is another, and requires long experience to become
an expert. Gold ornamentation requires heated tools, and in the hands
of a practised finisher beautiful designs can be worked out with quite
a limited assortment of rolls, straight and curved lines, and a few
sprigs, dots, and stars.

In olden times, when all work was done by hand, the product of a
good-sized cloth bindery was from 500 to 1000 books a day. Now, with
modern machinery, in a well-equipped bindery, the product is from 5000
to 10,000 copies of an ordinary 12mo book.

There are a number of other machines in u