f the Maggini and the bar are taken away by James,
who goes at once to work with the necessary preparation for placing
the bar in position correctly.

With a rather soft lead pencil he marks off the length from each end
of the table that the bar will occupy, that is, a little over at the
lower end than the upper, the exact distance from the joint or central
line, a trifle, perhaps eighth of an inch nearer at the upper part,
letting the middle or thickest part of the bar be at the spot where
the foot of the bridge will rest.

After this the bar, at present straight and about three-quarters of
an inch high all along its course, has marked upon the part that has
to remain uppermost some indication to the fancy of the operator that
will keep in mind which end is to be placed at the upper part.

This being done, he commences with a chisel to cut away portions at
each end, and tries on the surface of the part to be fitted to. After
two or three times the chiselling has to be more finely done until the
closest fit possible is obtained; it is then ready for fixing. The bar
is as yet quite straight along the upper part. With regard to the
levelling of the bar to the curve of the interior part of the upper
table, there used to be a custom in the repairing business of "putting
the bar in with a spring" as it was termed. The repairers always spoke
of it as "the regular thing to do," but on being asked questions as
to how much and under what circumstances the "spring" would be best
one way or the other, became somewhat reticent, possibly from fear of
being led into some scientific depths from which it might not be easy
to extricate themselves. James, however, has been taught differently
in the management of this portion of his work; he having found from
close examination that the rise of the curving on the outside on the
bar side was quite high enough, went on with the operation.

Had the bar side been in a sunken condition, his chief would have
required him to restore the elevation by the wetting process before
alluded to.

The accessories, glue and cramps being in readiness, two pieces of
thick hard brown paper are folded together to go over the varnished
surface of the upper table. This will be quite thick enough, as any
more will cause a liability to press the bar into the wood when under
the influence of the damp of the glue. This result is often seen in
violins that have been through the hands of inexperienced repairers,