m the tree and mostly with the
grain, will be disposed, under the influence of damp, to return to the
original form or condition in a more or less degree. Under good
management, that is to say, with a sufficient amount of damp and no
more, it almost seems to try to resume its old condition. This will
be borne out by watching the effect of much wet upon any wood that has
been previously bent into shape, or upon the separated ribs of a violin.
The efforts of the wood to return to its original conformation will
be apparent in the instance of the ribs, perhaps provoking, as the
re-bending without injuring the varnish, which may happen to be of the
most lustrous and delicate description, is often a matter of great
difficulty, and at times an impossibility."

It was for the purpose of avoiding the risk of such defacement that
the brushing away of the glue and grime by parts at a time was
recommended, although the time consumed by taking the parts in detail
may often be a drawback. If the ribs are quite saturated, as when left
to float in water, they will be sure to come out nearly straight, and
the varnish, if not of the kind that has been worked well into the wood,
irrecoverably spoilt. Even when quite so, the trouble does not end here,
for the wood having taken nearly its own form again, will have to be
bent, with all its attendant troubles, into shape. Complete saturation
of any part of the violin should therefore be avoided.

The "making" or arrangement of whatever may be needful for getting rid
of the warp or twist of the back plate will now have to be decided upon.
There is generally more than one way of getting over a mechanical
difficulty, and in the present instance there may be many, but the one
promising to be most successful and offering the least number of
obstacles to success will have attention. The repairer takes in hand
some of the softest wood obtainable, say American pine, or if any is
easily obtainable, poplar; that kind known as "black poplar" is perhaps
as free from hard thread as any, a couple or more of slabs about three
or four inches wide and two or three longer than the upper and lower
widths of the back, with about a quarter of an inch of thickness. An
opening is bored in each, one in which the upper or smaller part will
pass through, the other sufficiently large to admit the lower or larger
half. The opening must of course be enough for admission of the rise
or modelling and a little more. The ob