the markings on leaves or other
figures made by a graver, if not already made by saw cuts, and they and
the lines between the male and female forms are filled with shellac or
wood-dust and glue.

In Germany the veneers used are one to two millimetres thick, _i.e._,
one-twenty-fifth or two-twenty-fifths of an inch. The principal woods
used are walnut, pear, ash, bird maple, holly, olive, amboyna, rose
wood, violet wood, thuya, and palisander, which name is also used on the
Continent for rose wood and violet, though it is really a sort of cedar.
Tortoiseshell, ivory, and metal plates are also used, principally of
pewter, brass, and zinc. Seeman's Kunstgewerbliche Handbuecher advise
thus:--"When ivory or hard precious metals are used it is better to
divide the design into smaller parts. To avoid damage to the effect by
time and change of colour in the woods such combinations as the
following are to be preferred:--Mahogany and black walnut, pear and
black walnut, Hungarian ash and black thuya, pear and palisander, brass
and black, etc. For fine, small ornament smooth, even-textured woods
should be used such as pear, mahogany, maple, or holly; for broad
patches and backgrounds, which are not required to be dark, you should
use patterned or streaked woods, like bird maple, amboyna, thuya, or
olive. Ivory, mother-of-pearl, and metals in large pieces look hard and
loud, so it is better to use them in quite small pieces. If engraved,
larger pieces may be employed and used for inscription tablets, coats of
arms, and cartouches, or for bits of figures, birds, and butterflies.
Shading may be done in various ways. Lines may be engraved and filled up
with a glue cement, or hatchings may be drawn with a scorching solution,
or the wood may be burnt with hot sand. The sand is made hot in an iron
pot, and the piece to be darkened inserted. Or it may be scorched with a
hot iron or spirit or gas flame. The simplest way is with the poker used
in poker work." In England the sand is heaped upon a metal plate which
is heated underneath. The veneer is held with tweezers and pushed into
the sand, the gradation of heat giving gradation of tone. The hot sand
shrinks the wood, and allowance must be made for this.

Veneers are both saw and knife cut; the saw wastes about as much as the
thickness cut in sawdust. They range from 8 to 15 to the inch. The
French saw-cut their veneers thinner than the English do.

The woods in every-day use at the pre