Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/365

Rh will be very much improved thereby. In 3 quarts of water boil $1/2$ pound of logwood chips, and add 1 ounce of pearlash, strain, and apply whilst hot. Boil $1/2$ pound of logwood chips in 3 quarts of water, adding $1/2$ ounce of verdigris and $1/2$ ounce of copperas. Strain this decoction and add $1/2$ pound of rusty steel filings. Wash this stain over the previous one.

Brown Stain. Make a decoction by boiling 1 part of Catechu, Cutch, or Gambier in 30 parts of water, to which add a little soda. Apply this to the wood which is to be stained, and allow it to dry in the air. Make a solution of 1 part of bichromate of potash and 30 parts of water, and apply over the stain, which may be varied in color according to the strength of the solutions used. Catechu, which is much used in dyeing and staining, is the extract of the wood of the Acacia Catechu, the seeds of the Areca Catechu, and the leaves of the Nauclea Gambir. The Acacia Catechu is a small spiny tree, rarely exceeding twenty feet in height, the wood is hard and heavy, the center is of a very dark red color nearly approaching to black, it is from this portion of the wood that the extract is made. In India, it is made by the poorer natives, who move from place to place, selecting jungles where the Acacia is most abundant. They cut down the trees, and chop the heart-wood into chips, which they boil in water, when the water is deeply colored, it is strained off and submitted to the process of evaporation, fresh supplies of the decoction being added until the whole becomes sufficiently thickened by evaporation. It is then poured into clay moulds and left to dry in the sun. The Catechu made from the Acacia Catechu is also called Cutch and Terra Japonica. The term Cutch is said to be named from the native language, in which the substance is called Kutt. Commercially, one variety is called Catechu, and another Cutch, although the source is the same. The former has been poured out onto mats when about the consistence of honey and dried in the sun. When sufficiently hardened, it