such as burnt umber, and paint or rub it into the wood. This
process is to be condemned as resulting in opaqueness and giving a
tinkered aspect to the wood and work.

There are doubtless many substances or liquids capable of imparting
a tint resembling that alone caused by age, but experience only will
enable the repairer to decide which is best. It may be as well to point
out that some tinting substances are more suitable for colouring wood
of a dense quality than for a more open grained or spongy one. Much
will depend on the judgment exercised and skill in matching tints. When
it becomes absolutely necessary to use fresh white wood, this will
require more colouring than an older piece, but a rather strange thing
in connection with this is that if some of the varnish has been removed
from the parts adjacent to the freshly inserted wood, the old material
will require colouring down as well as the new, but not so much. This
seems like some indication that varnish does get lowered in tint as
age progresses; it may be, however, that the top surface of the wood
gets darker than the under parts from the action of light.

The final touching up or finish of the newly inserted wood and its
varnishing will have to remain over for the present, and will be taken
up after the mechanical work is concluded.

Having thus far got to work upon a fractured or lost piece that may
have been knocked off a projecting part of the scroll, there are other
injuries likely to occur to this part of the instrument and caused in
a variety of ways, some occasionally seeming mysterious in their origin.
Thus from a weakness or flaw in the grain of the wood, or it may be
from a blow having first started a crack and successive ones gradually
increasing the fracture, the scroll itself will come away bodily,
separating at the weakest part just behind the second turn. This is
a delicate matter for manipulation. If the fracture is quite new, the
raw surfaces uninjured and some properly prepared rather strong glue
is handy, then an almost instant application of it to both surfaces
and pressing them together, exactly fitting, will result in an
effectual and lasting junction of the parts. But supposing the breakage
to have occurred some time back and the parts to be separate and soiled,
the difficulties are much increased, as in the majority of cases no
purchase can be obtained whereby a good pressure can be directly
applied. Cramps cannot be applied, theref