Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-28
PICTURES ON GUM SENEGAL.
Curiosities Of the Queer Business OF
Marbiing for Books.

n NE OF THE funniest things that any
I'm body ever imagined in this world was
the notion of marbling paper. That is
%V 1.-THE name applied to the sort Of red and
49, yari-colored ornamentaiion on the edges
of nicely bound books. and on their bindings,
too, sometimes. Every one has observed such
markings, but it is safe TO say that not one per-
son out of ten thousand has ever taken the
trouble to speculate as TO how the effect is pro-
duced. There is nothing commonplace about
the process On the contrary, it is a marvel
worthy Of contemplation by the aesthetic and
the sage. You can see the thing done any time
you please at the Government Printing Once,
il you care to ask the privilege.
There is tree in Senegal, Africa, from which
exudes a gum, just as any other sort OF gum
exudes from q cherry or other kind Of tree.
The natives of Senegal collect the gum from
this peculiar tree and sell il to contractors,
who send it all over the world IN the shape Of
little hard Jumps. 1t is commercially known
as gum senegal" The most important use
for 1t Is this one Of marbling paper.
For this purpose solution is made OF the
gum IN water. tank, say four feet long and
two feet wide, is filed with the solution. and
theL the operation is ready to be performed.
At the Government Printing Office you can see
it done any day; the courteous attendant in
charge will show you how he does it.
To begin with, you will see nothing but a
tank of a foot or so in depth. filled with a
liquid not especially describable. On a shell
close by are halt dozen paint pots filled
with most brilliant water colors. The operator
takes the blue brush and sprinkles the surface
of the liquid in the tank with drops of that
color. Then he seizes the brush from the YER
million pot and sprinkles a spatter of bright
| red also. Next he reaches for the green and
distributes that. Finally sprinkling OF vel
low is employed, to wind up with.
Now the expert takes a long stick armed
with fine teeth like comb and with il combs
the surface of the liquid in the tank just once
from one end to the other. Then he gives 1t 4
single comb crosswise. The result of this is q
most curious mingling Of the blue, vermilion,
green and yellow. Next, on the surface Of the
fluid he carefully lays sheet Of white paper
| and lifts it off again by one corner. Lo, the
| sheet has received reproduction Of the water
color pattern from the liquid, most elaborate
and most beautiful. To reproduce IL. even i'm.
perfectly, by hand would take months of labor
Each color in the pattern Is distinct and brill.
liant as water colors can possibly be.
This, however, is but q simple pattern. The
expert takes a small comb with wire teeth and
makes a wiggle-waggle over the surface of the
| mixture. He lays down another white sheet
upon il and behold, a lovely design resembling
| collection of conventionaliZed peacock,
feathers appears. Another w1ggie-waggie OF
the wire comb and sheet similarly treated ex
| hibits a series of gorgeous arabesques alto
gether beyond description as to their brillianct
| and intricacy. But this is not all
The operator stirs up the liquid in the tanl
again. SO that all the colors disappear. TheI
be chooses other paints, making green the pre-
dominant one, and sprinkles them over the
| surface. As a magician might exercise hi,
| wand over . rejecting pool, he disturbs the
| smooth solution with the wires, and weird anC
| fantastic designs spring into view upon the
white sheets that he floats for an instant ant
| then lifts from the fluid. Giants, hobgoblin,
and monsters of all degrees pursue each othel
| across the paper with glaring eyes and con
| torted attitudes. When you were a little boy
or girl perhaps you have rubbed with you
| slate pencil upon your school slate, and ther
with moistened finger spread the whitley sub
| stance over the wooden-bound stratum o.
| plutonic mineral. You have wondered then Il
| see what astonishing demons and creatures in
conceivable started out upon the slate, caugh
| by the eye of your imagination. 1t is the same
way with the work of the artist in msrbIing foI
| books, though he does not dare to produce
such fantastic things TO please the popula,
taste. Only the commonplace sorts of mar
| bling does one find on books and pnch things
| whatever extraordinary the expert produces b,
keeps for himself, perhaps, to show what won
derful results the accidental mingling of ran
| dom tints on q solution Of gum senegal vii
bring forth.