To prepare sealing-wax, melt together at a moderate heat 30 oz. of Venice turpentine and 45 oz. of shellac; stir well with a wooden stick and introduce, a little at a time, a mixture of 6oz. of genuine Bologna chalk, 6 oz. of magnesia, and 23 oz. of vermilion, all in fine powder. When the mass is thoroughly mixed, pour in 7 oz. of turpentine, 3 oz. of a solution of mastic in turpentine, and 3oz. of Peruvian balsam; heat the mixture again, stir well, and the sealing-wax is ready for pouring into suitable moulds. The above sealing-wax is red; for blue wax. substitute ultramarine for the vermilion; for yellow, use finely prepared and perfectly anhydrous chrome yellow; and for black sealing-wax, use finely powdered ivory black. S aling-wax sticks having wicks through their centres are made with the same composition. The wick consists of from six to ten cotton threads saturated with wax or stearin; the wick is stretched tightly in a specially made mould, which is provided with a funnel through which the molten sealing-wax is poured.

But little ingenuity is required to construct a suitable mould.