Take of bees-wax and pounded resin equal parts, dissolve them in a pipkin, gently letting them incorporate, and stir them with a stick till intimately mixed and dissolved; then for wainscot add chalk, yellow ochre, and umber in powder, till the colour is to your mind; for mahogany, add instead of the umber a little red ochre, and not so much chalk, or a little burnt umber will sometimes make it nearer the colour you wish.

Another Cement Much Better

Take of fine saw-dust of the same wood you desire the cement to imitate, let it macerate or soak in water for two or three days, then pour some of the water off, and place it in a pipkin on the fire covered over, and let it boil till it becomes quite a pulp, strain it through a cloth, and press as much of the water from it as possible, and keep it for use, and when wanted, mix it with hot glue to a proper consistence, and fill the cracks in your work, which if properly applied and left to get quite hard, will scarcely be distinguished from the wood itself.

A Superior Glue For The Above

Melt your glue as usual, and to every pint add of finely-powdered rosin and finely-powdered brick-dust two spoonful each; incorporate the whole well together, and it will hold the metal much faster than plain glue.

To Polish Brass Ornaments Inlaid In Wood

If your brass work be very dull, file it with a small smooth file; then polish it with a rubber of hat dipped in Tripoli powder mixed with linseed oil, in the same manner as you would polish varnish, until it has the desired effect.

To Wash Brass Figures Over With Silver

Take one ounce of aqua-fortis, and dissolve in it over a moderate fire one drachm of good silver cut small, or granulated; this silver being wholly dissolved, take the vessel off the fire, and throw into it as much white tartar as is required to absorb all the liquor. The residue is a paste, with which you may rub over any work made of copper, and which will give it the colour of silver.