part
of the peg-box being much greater, the thickness ditto, there is seldom
a necessity for fitting a block of wood in the manner before mentioned,
unless as sometimes it is found, the part has been so worm-eaten as
to be too weak for its work of supporting the pegs and sustaining the
strain of the strings. In that case, excision of the "honey-combed"
part is obligatory and a slice of wood must be let in as before explained.
Sharp shaving with a minimum of force will be required. Should the
worm-eaten portion extend to the outsides or "cheeks" of the peg-box,
it would be well to insert here also another slice of fresh wood as
before, the length according to requirement, but in these instances,
the portion of the head piece under consideration being lower down and
broader, the grain of the inside slice may run continuously with the
original wood. It will also be inserted first, and not until the glue
is quite hard will the arrangements for the outer one be commenced.

Especial care will be required in the management of the cramps--one
or two may be necessary--as, if mere padding is placed between the iron
and the wood, the latter, being in a state equivalent to rottenness,
will be crushed together and the shape will be ruined. As a preservative
against accident a piece of soft wood, perhaps a quarter of an inch
in thickness, and cut in width and shape equal to that of the "cheek"
of the peg-box, and placed over the part with a piece of paper against
the varnished surface, will enable the rotten portion to keep its form,
the pressure being distributed; care must be exercised in carving the
block of wood that it reaches over and quite on to the sound parts.
When the glue has hardened perfectly and the cramps have been removed,
the careful shaving down and finishing of both the inner and outer
blocks or slices may be proceeded with. If the burrowings and tortuous
course of the obnoxious depredator give indication of its having been
of huge proportions for its species, for these creatures vary in size
from a small pin to nearly an eighth of an inch in diameter, and the
tunnellings are not very close together, then pieces of fresh wood
matched carefully and fitted in the manner before described, must be
inserted and glued in. This will, if the wood is much riddled, be much
like mosaic work, the fitting in of the pieces running here and there
over the surface. The contour, however, is preserved by this treatment,
it being dif