e design with variations in ground and
pattern. When there are only two slices of material the technical term
for them is Boulle and Counter. When the various parts have been
arranged in their places, face downwards, paper is glued over them to
keep the whole in place, and filings of the material rubbed in to fill
up any interstices. The whole is then toothed over and laid down in the
same manner as ordinary veneer, the ground being first rubbed over with
garlic, or some acid, to remove any traces of grease. Marquetry of wood
is made in the same way, but more thicknesses of wood are put together
to be sawn through, as many as four not being an unusual number, while
for common work even eight may be sawn at one time, and the various
sheets are pinned together only with a stiff backing of common veneer of
good thickness to steady the work. Dye woods are used as far as
possible, and holly stained to the required colour serves for greens and
blues and a few other tints. Pearl is always cut in one thickness, and
is glued down on a backing of wood at least 1/8-inch thick.

Another mode of cutting the design approximates more nearly to the
ancient practice. The whole design is drawn on paper attached to the
ground, or counter, and cut out entirely. The various portions of inlay
are then cut from different veneers of the desired colour and fitted
into their places. Another method is to paste the paper with the whole
design on the ground, and on it to paste the various ornaments cut from
suitable veneers, then to cut through the ground, the saw grazing the
edges of the ornamental forms. The parts so cut out are then pushed
through the ornaments, separated from the paper, and laid down in the
vacant places. A variation on this method is to cut out the forms to be
inlaid in different veneers, and glue them in their proper positions on
a sheet of paper. A sheet of white paper is pasted on the veneer, which
is to serve as the ground. A sheet of blackened paper is laid over it,
and over this the sheet with the forms to be inlaid, which are then
struck with a light mallet, so as to print an impression of their edges
upon the paper. The printed shapes are then cut out one at a time, care
being taken to make the saw exactly follow the outline. The object of
all these processes is, of course, to ensure the ground and the inlaid
forms exactly fitting. After cleaning the surface from paper and glue it
is smoothed with plane and scraper, and