West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-04-30

go, ana even then the conditions must
toe exactly 50. The tree must grovy I'M
certain latitude and i'm Ger
tain soil, and the seasoning Is
matter of the greatest Importance. In
cutting the tree the axe must bc laid i'm
the spring. when all the sap is at the
top, going To feed the Young shoots AT
the extreme end of the trunk The
reasons for this are several, the main
ones being that the wuOdT'is'left 4rh,r
and better seasoned, and the ascension
of the sap carries with it all the im-
purltieN ln the hbcrs, such as grit, for
instance, leaving ihe wood at it's clean.
est. MIR. Joscphs exhibited sample
of wood from Cincinnati. which am
eminent LoipSic professor recently
claimed was the original wood used by
the old masters. II was said "a fine
Stradivari was taken 10 pieces by him
IN order Co make this discovery and
quantities of the wood were sent to
Germany To be worked up The wood
Is species of balsam iir, and so soft as
To be totally unreliable, as.ik would
neither take "a tine varnish nor stand
the strain put on il by the tension of
the strings over the bridge This
branch of the subject was left with the
assertion 10y the host that American
wood was the best i'm the world for
violin-making.
The NarniSh was the next branch of
the subject. and package of brilliant
red gum was exhibited as the coloring
matter for the finest instruments. 1t
was genuine dragons blood. now ont
OF commerce, and the little package
was all that MIR. Joscphs was able to
procure I'M a years search of the shops
OF Europe. When broken the gum
presents all the appearance of the
ruby, and the rays of the sun went
through ii with beautiful effect. The
pure gem is the cNudation of the dragon
tree of Central Africa, and was formerly
used rs medicine. II is collected bv
the natives i'm wcll-washcd leaves.
which are inserted i'm incisions made i'm
the tree at certain stages of the moon.
AZ such times the cNudations are per-
iectly pure and free from any other
substances. During the collection
III" leaves are carefully shaded,
as the suns rays on the LIQUID
gum have the effect of fading out the
color, and leaving the rcsiduum clear
ana white. There is dragon, blood
m commerce now, but il totally. lacks
the richness of shade and the purity
OF that in the little package possessed
by Mr JoScphs, which. rs far as can
be learned, is all that is i'm existence i'm
Europe or America. The color comes
out IN the wood beautifully and every
wave and shade is intensified with en-
cceding brilliancy. The making of the
famous CrcmOna varnish does not ap-
pear TO have been secret, but the
knowledge of its manufacture appears
to have been lost for about a century.
and the money that has been spent i'm
seeking to rcsurrect il would make sew
eral heavy fortunes Chemists have
claimed to have found the Ingredient,
by analysis, but their claims have NOT
generally been allowed. The gums
that formed the basis melted at various
degrees of heat-somc probably at aS
low as two hundred degrees, and others
as high as Eve hundred degrees. If
these gums were reduced 10 proper
consistency before blending, and then
put together a finely as they were.
1t must be a very bold chemist who
could scrape off bit of the varnish
after century of service and claim
to tell the ingredients and their
proportions. Coming down 10 the
finishing touches, MIR Joscphs cx-
hibitcd several pieces of ebony i'm pro-
cess of being shaped into fngcr-board-.
keys and tall pieces. The ribs wcrcin
sin pieces, joined at the end Of every
curve 10y gluing them To- little three
corncrcd pieces of wood. fitted to tho
angles Of the outline. One common
error prevails ia regard To the strings.
usually termed "cat-gut" by the vul-
gar In reality they are made from
the cntrails of Europe sheep, and the
entrails of a sheep over six months old
can not be converted into "E' strings
The sheep i'm this country do not pro
duce good strings. and only certain
parts Of Europe produce the very best
The bows were the last subjects of
consideration, and Pcrnambuco wood
was their basis the world over. II is
the toughest and stfIcst wood OF it,
weight in the world, and is rather a
valuable article. II Is natural dvc-
wood, and requires no coloring. Thc
fine white hairs that enter into the
composition come from France. the
coarscr black ones being ft for nothing
except bass bows.-AHa CaiiJori5ia.