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HO USE-PAINTING. 
 
HOW SHALL WE PAINT OUR HOUSES ? 
 
 A POPULAR TREATISE 
 
 ON THE ART OF 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING: 
 
 PLAIN AND DECORATIVE. 
 
 SHOWING THE NATURE, COMPOSITION AND MODE OF PRODUCTION 
 OF PAINTS AND PAINTERS’ COLORS, AND THEIR PROPER 
 AND HARMONIOUS COMBINATION AND 
 ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN W. MASURY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 90, 92 & 94 GRAND STREET. 
 1808. 
 
CANCELLED 
 
 FROM 
 
 <ER LIBRARY 
 
 2 6 1984 ! 
 
 OoN'S 
 
 rr 
 
 WHS 
 
 105825 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
 JOHN W. HA STIRY, 
 
 In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for 
 the Southern District of New York. 
 
 ft 
 
 &V 
 
 riAv- 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introductory, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 .9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Art of House-Painting,. 1<7 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Paints and Colors, ••..... 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 True Economy in the Use of Paints, ... 29 
 
 Tin Roofs, . 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 .34 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Chemistry in the Production of Paints, ... 38 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Preparation of Colors,.46 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 White Pigments,.49 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 White Lead, its Mode of Production, etc., ... 56 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 White Oxide of Zinc, ..66 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Theory of Color,.*70 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Color-Blindness,.78 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Black Pigments,.85 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Green Pigments,.91 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 Blue Pigments, -.98 
 
CONTENTS. yii 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Red Pigments,.. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Yellows,. . 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Brown Pigments,. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Whiting and Paris White,.. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 011 s ) •■•■•.... 123 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Action of Linseed-Oil upon Paints, . . . 134 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Varnishes,.. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Preparation of Work for Painting, . . . .149 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Decorative House-Painting,.258 
 
vm 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Harmony and Discord of Colors,.170 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Consumption of Paint in the United States, . . 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Weight of Paint and Measure of Oil required to cover 
 a given number of superficial feet of Wood or 
 Brick,.198 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 “ Of making many kooks there is no end.”— Eccles. xii., 12. 
 
 In the multitude of hooks treating of every 
 conceivable subject and matter—serious and 
 comic; religious and secular; arts, commerce, 
 and philosophy; architecture, farming, land¬ 
 scape gardening, politics, law, inventions, dis¬ 
 coveries, etc., etc.—which have issued from 
 the prolific press of America during the last 
 fifty years, one would naturally conclude that 
 no stone had been left unturned, no field 
 ungleaned, no subject available either for 
 profit or pleasure, undisposed of. With 
 multiplied, facilities for publishing and ad¬ 
 vertising, authors have increased, and all 
 the realms of space and thought, of the 
 past and the future, the actual and the ideal, 
 heaven and earth, and “ the third estate,” 
 
10 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 have been ransacked for topics on wliich, or 
 about which, “ to write a book.” The boast 
 of Glendower, that he could “ call spirits from 
 the vasty deep,” has been more than realized 
 by our modem rappers, and communications 
 by spiritual telegraph from the shades of the 
 “great departed” may be had for a considera¬ 
 tion. The present abiding-place of those gone 
 before has been visited, and the “secrets of 
 the prison-house”—revealed in book form— 
 may be purchased for a trifle. 
 
 There is, however, one subject at least 
 which has not, so far, drawn to itself the at¬ 
 tention of the book-makers, or which has not 
 been considered of sufficient importance to 
 justify the outlay of time and money which 
 its publication must of necessity involve. Yet 
 it is one which comes home to us all, and on 
 which, in no small degree, depend our com¬ 
 fort, our pleasure, and our health. The art 
 of House-Painting, by itself , has not, to the 
 best knowledge and belief of the writer, been 
 made the subject of a book; nor is the task 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 11 
 
 begun now with any expectation of pecuniary 
 reward, but simply as a labor of love, in the 
 hope that some may find instruction in its 
 pages, and that all who shall honor the writer 
 by its perusal, may be led to a better appre¬ 
 ciation of the importance of the subject. 
 
 If house-painting consisted of merely 
 covering the wood-work of a dwelling with 
 one or more coats of white paint, to speak of 
 it as a fine art, would hardly be justifiable; 
 but so far is such from being the case, that to 
 conduct successfully the business of painting 
 in our cities and larger towns, requires the 
 exercise of those faculties which, in general 
 acceptation, are supposed to distinguish the 
 artist from the mechanic. An eye prompt by 
 nature and education to distinguish the nice 
 gradations of colors and tints—and the faculty 
 so to arrange and dispose them as shall best 
 harmonize them with each other, and with 
 the surroundings—are indispensable requisites 
 in the house-painter of the present day. 
 
 Happily, the day of dead whites for the 
 
12 
 
 nOESE-PAESTTEsTG. 
 
 interiors of onr dwellings lias passed by—let 
 ns hope, not to return. It was a kind of Puri¬ 
 tanism in painting, for which there was no 
 warrant in Nature, which, in such matters, 
 should he our teacher and guide. If we go 
 to her humbly, as little children, for instruc¬ 
 tion, she will point us to the vaulted arch 
 above, frescoed by day with a thousand shapes 
 and hues of beauty and loveliness, and by 
 night with myriads of stars ; to the cool gray 
 tints of the morning twilight, and the gorgeous 
 bhazonings of the summer sunset. She will 
 show us a landscape whereon, with lavish 
 hand, she has painted forms of beauty of every 
 color, and tint, and hue, and shade, and pen¬ 
 cilled with exquisite touches the tiniest leaf. 
 But the subject must not be considered only 
 in its aesthetic aspect, not alone as adding 
 beauty and comeliness to our homes, but in its 
 economical aspect, as most important in pre¬ 
 serving wood from the action of the weather, 
 in excluding dampness, and arresting mouldi¬ 
 ness and decay. It is, too, highly promotive 
 
INTKODU CTOE Y. 
 
 13 
 
 of that “ cleanliness which is nest to godli¬ 
 ness,” and affords the "best outward sign of the 
 advance of a people in the path of civiliza¬ 
 tion : for just in proportion as the houses, 
 fences, and outbuildings of a community, are 
 painted or neglected, will be the advance of 
 that people in wealth, literature, home-com¬ 
 forts, in short, all the consequences and refin¬ 
 ing influences of a high civilization. That 
 this is true, of our own country at least, ap¬ 
 peal is made to those who have travelled 
 much, and have thereby acquired the expe¬ 
 rience necessary to the forming of a correct 
 conclusion. 
 
 Indeed, one feels as he leaves behind him 
 the freshly-painted houses and lattice-fences 
 of the older and more thrifty portions of our 
 land, and finds himself surrounded by the 
 evidences of a ruder cultivation, that this con¬ 
 dition is owing in a greater or less degree to 
 the absence of the house-painter and his stocl-c 
 of paints. 
 
 A knowledge of the materials employed 
 
14 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 in the prosecution of any trade, profession, or 
 calling, their source, origin, nature, effects, 
 and properties, and the mode and manner in 
 which they are influenced by the invisible 
 forces of Nature, ever active in the great law 
 of change, would seem to be a necessary con¬ 
 comitant of success. 
 
 The materials used by the painter and 
 colorist, are more directly the result of chemi¬ 
 cal research, and discovery, than are those of 
 other trades and callings ; and no amount of 
 observation and study, without the assistance 
 of written explanations, will give the clew to 
 their composition and mode of production. 
 The wood which the carpenter fashions into 
 shapes of utility and beauty, bears in its grain 
 the story of its growth. The nails which he 
 uses are familiar as household words, and of 
 themselves suggest the mechanical force which 
 fashioned them. But the materials which re¬ 
 flect to the eye the thousand tints and colors 
 which the painter disposes with cunning hand, 
 give no sign of the secret of their origin. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 15 
 
 Tliey may be simple or compound substances 
 wrought out in Nature’s vast laboratory, or 
 the result of the highest scientific skill. 
 
 The aim of the writer has been to give, in 
 as brief a form as possible, the mode of opera¬ 
 tion in the production of the factitious pig¬ 
 ments used in house-painting, and to explain 
 the origin and properties of those which are 
 of Nature’s own production. 
 
 There is nothing in domestic or out-door 
 life so common—so constantly before our 
 eyes—as painted surfaces ; yet, outside the 
 ranks of those who profess the art of painting, 
 there prevails a general ignorance of the na¬ 
 ture and composition of paints, and of the 
 proper and economical use of the same. 
 
 Owing to what the writer must call a de¬ 
 fect in our system of education, not only in 
 our common schools, hut in the higher institu¬ 
 tions of learning, no effort is made to educate 
 the perceptive faculties in the discrimination 
 of colors, or in their harmonious combination 
 and arrangement. Such teaching is certainly 
 
16 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 worthy the attention of those to whom we 
 commit the instruction of our children, and 
 the neglect of it is a national misfortune. 
 
 Hoping to create an interest in this im¬ 
 portant subject, the writer is induced to offer 
 this little hook to the public, and would 
 modestly commend it not only to the trade, 
 but also to the general reader, with the belief 
 that there are but few who may not find 
 some instruction in its pages. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE AKT OF HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 When Christian civilization summons her 
 recruits and sets out on the “march of em¬ 
 pire ” toward the setting sun, she has no wel¬ 
 come place in her ranks for the painter. 
 Foremost in the van march the subduing 
 forces, the hardy earth-worker, the woodman 
 with Ins axe, and side by side with them the 
 artificer in iron, the great and crowning glory 
 of all; indeed, without him the first step can¬ 
 not be taken, for the hammer of Tubal Cain 
 must give the note of busy preparation. 
 When the sanctity of Eden was violated, and 
 the edict went forth, “ In the sweat of thy 
 face shalt thou eat bread,” Tubal Cain, the 
 instructor, appeared first among the workers, 
 and that place he has since, and must ever, 
 
18 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 maintain. The hammer and good right arm 
 of Tubal must he most honored among the 
 emblems which teach the story of obedience 
 to that command, to “ replenish and subdue 
 the earth.” But for him the forests would 
 bar the advancing hosts, and the earth refuse 
 her increase. bTor is the painter found among 
 the camp-followers of the advancing army, 
 but he comes when peace and plenty reign, 
 and abundant harvests give promise of leisure 
 for the cultivation of that love of the beautiful 
 in art for which the hand of rude necessity 
 had no welcome. 
 
 The business of house-painting has so out¬ 
 grown its former insignificant proportions, 
 that its past and present features have almost 
 lost their resemblance. To-day, more money 
 is expended in the painting of a single edifice 
 than would have sufficed to paint every house 
 in a respectable-sized town thirty years ago; 
 and the amount of capital, skill and intelli¬ 
 gence now required to conduct the business 
 successfully in the cities and large towns, was 
 
THE AKT OF HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 19 
 
 not dreamed of at that time. The services of 
 the painter are better acknowledged and ap¬ 
 preciated. and his labor more adequately re¬ 
 warded, than formerly. The business tact, 
 knoAvledge, skill and capital of employers, in 
 many cases, meet with ample but deserved 
 remuneration, for the business seems to be 
 attended with more than its fair share of the 
 vexations and annoyances which, to a greater 
 or less degree, appertain to all the various 
 branches of the mechanic arts. 
 
 One of the most serious difficulties with 
 which the employing painter contends is that 
 of obtaining the services of skilful, reliable 
 workmen, during what is called the busy 
 seasons. 
 
 This grows out of the fact, partly, that a 
 large proportion of repainting, interiors par¬ 
 ticularly, is crowded into the brief season of 
 spring, and partly from the idea that once 
 generally prevailed, and which unfortunately 
 obtains now to some extent, that anybody can 
 do plain painting, and that the art of mixing 
 
20 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 and laying on of colors requires less skill, and 
 is more easily acquired, than skill and dex¬ 
 terity in other trades. 
 
 During this brief busy season, the em¬ 
 ployer, under the pressure of necessity, avails 
 himself of such workmen as present themselves; 
 some of them, perhaps, fresh from the lap- 
 stone and the last, who have stepped from the 
 shoemaker’s bench to the paint-brush, as if the 
 same were a natural and proper transition. 
 
 The elements, too, conspire against the 
 painter : a sudden shower will sometimes pro¬ 
 duce a most undesirable commingling of tints, 
 blending black, white and gray in streaky 
 confusion. The dust-plague, too, is ofttimes a 
 double plague to him. A change of tem¬ 
 perature may check the drying disposition of 
 his pigments, for the property of absorbing 
 oxygen, which the oil possesses at ordinary 
 temperatures, seems to be wanting under cer¬ 
 tain atmospheric conditions. 
 
 Clamorous housekeepers exact promises 
 which are made for the sake of peace, too 
 
THE ART OF HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 21 
 
 often, alas! only to be broken. The disor¬ 
 dered condition of the bousebold, extended far 
 beyond the stipulated time, is added to his 
 unavoidable sins of omission, and many a 
 brave “ boss ” has beaten a hasty and inglorious 
 retreat, rather than meet the unmerited rebuke 
 of an angry and disappointed housekeeper. 
 But there is one drop of comfort which the 
 painter shares not in common with other 
 craftsmen. His coming always gives satisfac¬ 
 tion and meets a ready welcome, and the doors 
 close behind him, when his work is completed, 
 with intensified delight. 
 
 Formerly, a slab and rnuller were indis¬ 
 pensable articles in the furniture of the paint- 
 shop. These have been in a great measure 
 superseded by the iron paint-mill, and the 
 latter in some degree by the introduction of 
 ground colors put up in tin boxes (commonly 
 called cans) of convenient size. These boxes, 
 after the manner of fruit-cans, are sealed by 
 soldering a patch or disk of tin over the open¬ 
 ing through which the contents were intro- 
 
22 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 duced, and being hermetically closed, the paint 
 remains unchanged until such time as it may 
 be wanted for use. 
 
 The objection, formerly, to this mode of 
 putting up colors, was the difficulty of opening 
 the cans, particularly the smaller ones. This 
 has, however, been entirely removed, by an 
 invention which is patented, and which most 
 effectually overcomes the difficulty before 
 mentioned. It consists simply, in making one 
 end of the can of thinner metal than the body 
 and bulk of the same, so that the said end may 
 be cut out with a penknife. To get at the 
 contents requires but an instant of time, and 
 may be effected without waste of material or 
 even soiling the lingers. 
 
 For interiors' of the best class of houses 
 and public buildings, what is called fresco¬ 
 painting is now the fashion. This is, proper¬ 
 ly, only an imitation of fresco-painting, which 
 term, in its proper sense, signifies a method 
 of ornamenting the walls and ceilings of 
 buildings with colors ground in water, and 
 
THE ART OF HOUSE-PAINTIMG. 
 
 23 
 
 mixed with lime and applied to freshly-laid 
 plaster. 
 
 True fresco-painting was practised by the 
 ancient Greeks, and by other nations of an¬ 
 tiquity ; and all who have travelled in Italy 
 are familiar with the magnificent frescoes 
 which adorn the walls and ceilings of so many 
 churches, convents, and palaces there. After 
 the middle of the seventeenth century, this 
 art rapidly deteriorated. The present century 
 has, however, witnessed its revival, and it is 
 now practised to a considerable extent, par¬ 
 ticularly in Germany. 
 
 With us, what is called fresco-painting 
 is simply the painting of walls and ceilings 
 either in oil or water colors, and ornamenting 
 the same with panels, mouldings, flowers, or 
 other designs. The woodwork in so-called 
 frescoed rooms, is painted in what are called 
 parti-colors, neutral tints generally, to har¬ 
 monize with the colors on the walls and ceil¬ 
 ings. This style of interior decoration affords 
 a fine field for the display of taste and true 
 
24 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 artistic skill; consequently, house-painting 
 now-a-days comprehends something more than 
 the mere mechanical operation of covering 
 the woodwork of a house with a coat of plain 
 white or lead-colored paint. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAINTS AND COLORS. 
 
 The materials from which color is ex¬ 
 tracted are obtained from all sources. Among 
 mineral colors, the earths seem to claim the 
 first notice, from their having been naturally 
 the first substances employed in painting, as 
 well as from their known durability. It 
 would seem that these colors must of necessity 
 be permanent; because, had they been liable 
 to change, such change must have taken place 
 during the ages that they remained unappro¬ 
 priated to the use of man. These colors, 
 when carefully purified, are well suited for 
 painting, where no very vivid tints are re¬ 
 quired, being generally dull (although very 
 useful) yellows and reds. In other respects, 
 they are excelled by mineral colors prepared 
 
 by chemical agency. In brown tints, as 
 -2 
 
26 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Tan dyke Brown, Cologne earth, Umbers, 
 Siennas, etc., however, the native earths sur¬ 
 pass the artificial preparations. 
 
 Minute specimens of brilliant colors fre¬ 
 quently occur among minerals, though gen¬ 
 erally found in small particles, embedded in 
 large masses of stony material, so that their 
 extraction, with a view to their use In paint¬ 
 ing, must he considered impracticable. They 
 have, however, suggested to the chemist the 
 idea of combining the same elements for the 
 artificial production of similar results. 
 
 Native cinnabar, no doubt, suggested the 
 idea of combining sulphur with quicksilver to 
 produce vermilion, and hut for the analysis of 
 true ultra-marine, the artificial substitute 
 would probably have remained undiscovered. 
 
 There is, really, no metal that does not 
 yield pigments of some sort. Mercury pro¬ 
 duces Vermilion. Venetian Bed , Mars Orange 
 and Yellow , and Indian Red , are produced 
 from Iron. Copper gives us Emerald Green 
 and Verdigris. Chromium affords Oxide of 
 
PAINTS AND COLOES. 
 
 27 
 
 Chromium and Chrome Yellow. Kings’ Yel¬ 
 low and Orpiment are made from Aksenic. 
 Cobalt Blue and Smalt, from tlie metal Co¬ 
 balt. Zinc supplies Zinc White. Lead sup¬ 
 plies White Lead, Krems White, FlaLe White, 
 China White, Patent Yellow, Red Lead, and 
 Orange Mineral, and from the newly-discov¬ 
 ered metals, such as Cadmium, Ueanium, Mol¬ 
 ybdenum, etc., colors of equal beauty are pro¬ 
 curable. 
 
 Among the colors extracted from animal 
 matter, those distinguished by the brilliant 
 hues imparted through the agency of prussic 
 acid are most remarkable. This peculiar 
 acid is produced by the calcination of dried 
 blood and the hoofs and horny parts of ani¬ 
 mals, and in conjunction with iron, it affords 
 those beautiful and powerful blues known as 
 Prussian and Antwerp Blue. 
 
 Gall Stone and Lndian Yellow are both 
 the products of animal economy, and the co¬ 
 chineal insect, by a particular treatment and 
 great delicacy in manipulation, is made to 
 
28 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 yield tlie most powerful and beautiful crimson 
 known, viz., tlie Carmine and Crimson Lakes. 
 Scarlet and Purple Lakes are also made from 
 the same by varying the mode of manufacture. 
 
 Vegetable Colors , from the want of perma¬ 
 nency, are mostly rejected by the color-maker. 
 Among the few that are retained, the Madder- 
 root holds the most conspicuous place. The 
 Indigo-plant and Gamboge also afford useful 
 colors in the line arts. Among the vegetable 
 colors we must class Frankfort Black and 
 that most important pigment Lamp Black. 
 
 From this brief review, it would seem that 
 all the kingdoms of the material world, and 
 all quarters of the globe, are laid under con¬ 
 tribution to supply to the painter his stock of 
 colors. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TRUE ECONOMY IN TIIE USE OF PAINTS. 
 
 The fact cannot be too forcibly impressed 
 on the minds of all who may be engaged, in 
 the business of painting, that good results can 
 be produced only by the use of good materials. 
 The best are always the cheapest! The main 
 expense in painting is not in the cost of the 
 paint, but in that of labor and oil, and it re¬ 
 quires more labor to apply the worst than to 
 apply the best paint that can be obtained. 
 The cheapening of paints, by the admixture 
 of adulterating materials, is carried on to the 
 last degree, probably to a greater extent than 
 in any other article of general use and con¬ 
 sumption. 
 
 The experienced eye can with difficulty 
 detect the difference between colors which are 
 
30 
 
 nOUSE-PAINTINGr. 
 
 pure and those which are highly adulterated, 
 the only test being actual use and application. 
 The sate way, therefore, is to purchase such 
 colors only as hear the name of some well- 
 known and responsible manufacturer. 
 
 The writer would not, however, he under¬ 
 stood as advising the use of the best white 
 lead or zinc, for all kinds of painting ; there 
 are paints much more economical because 
 more durable for outside work than these. 
 The Ochres, or earth-paints are, for many 
 purposes, the best and cheapest. Paints are 
 durable mainly because of the water-proof 
 quality of the oil in which they are used. 
 Some paints, the Ochres for instance, are in¬ 
 ert substances, and do not, in any degree, 
 change the nature of the oil; while others, such 
 as white lead, affect the oil chemically, and 
 impair, in a measure, its tenacity, its property 
 of resisting the action of water and the sun’s 
 rays. 
 
 Much of outside wood-work is painted 
 simply to preserve it from the action of the 
 
ECONOMY IN THE USE OF PAINTS. 
 
 31 
 
 weather, color and appearance being in suck 
 cases unimportant considerations. Hence, it 
 follows, that whatever material will most eco¬ 
 nomically produce tliis result, is the most de¬ 
 sirable, regardless of the name it may bear. 
 
 The natural deposits of Ochres (colored 
 earths) belong, to what is known in geologic 
 nomenclature, as the Jurassic period. 
 
 The time when these deposits occurred is 
 a matter of pure speculation, and may as well 
 be supposed to have taken place five hundred 
 thousand years ago, as at any period more or 
 less remote. As has been before remarked, 
 had these materials been liable to change, it is 
 only reasonable to suppose that such change 
 would have occurred during the ages that they 
 remained unappropriated to the use of man ; 
 experience teaches that they are not subject 
 to those changes which belong to most of 
 the artificial products used in painting. 
 
 Hence the value of these native pigments. 
 Economically considered, they are undoubt¬ 
 edly the most valuable of all the paints, where 
 
32 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 primary or prismatic colors are not absolutely 
 required. The only change they are liable 
 to, is a change of place. They may he, and 
 are of course, wasted by the slow disintegra¬ 
 tion of the coating which they form with the 
 oil, hut in color (when unmixed with white) 
 they are inflexibly permanent, and stand ex¬ 
 posure to the sunlight without fading or bleach¬ 
 ing- in the slightest degree. ISTor are they 
 affected by the action of acids and gases, as 
 are most of the artificial paints. 
 
 blow that the day of white and light tints 
 is passing away, and a better taste in decora¬ 
 tive ornamentation is about to prevail, it be¬ 
 comes all those engaged in the business of 
 painting, to consider to what extent these 
 natural pigments may be made to take the 
 place of the artificial compounds, which have 
 heretofore been considered indispensable, and 
 for which it has been supposed impossible to 
 find substitutes. 
 
 It must be remembered that the native 
 pigments are in inexhaustible supply, that 
 
ECONOMY IN THE USE OF PAINTS. 
 
 33 
 
 tliey are of almost universal distribution, and 
 that they are not known to possess any value 
 excep t for the p urp oses of p ainting. If or are the 
 production and preparation of them supposed 
 to affect the health of the workmen engaged 
 in it, unfavorably. So far, therefore, as they 
 can be substituted for those paints the pro¬ 
 duction of which lessens the stock of useful 
 metals, the use of them adds directly to the 
 wealth of the country and of the world. Their 
 application is strongly recommended on the 
 ground of “ true economy in the use of paints,” 
 whenever they can be made to take the place 
 of the more expensive metallic substances. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TEST HOOFS. 
 
 “A stitch in time saves nine” is a some- 
 what trite saying, but nevertheless well 
 worthy of consideration; and in nothing con¬ 
 nected with building has it more significance 
 than in the matter of Tin Hoofs. 
 
 For a flat roof, tin is, beyond question, the 
 most economical covering that can be applied. 
 If not neglected, it is absolutely indestructible 
 by external influences, and will last a hundred 
 years in as good condition as when first laid 
 on, if kept well painted. Yet there are to¬ 
 day, in the city of Hew York, thousands of 
 roofs undergoing tire process of slow corrosion 
 and decay, because of the want of a little 
 timely attention. The comfort of the house¬ 
 hold, and safety of the property, depend in a 
 
TIN HOOFS. 
 
 35 
 
 great measure on tlie quality and condition of 
 the roof; yet there are hundreds of thousands 
 of dollars wasted every year by the most in¬ 
 excusable negligence in this matter. Many 
 owners of valuable houses never visit the roofs, 
 and until admonished by the appearance of 
 stained ceilings and discolored walls, pay no 
 attention to this important subject. The re¬ 
 newing of a tin roof is attended with a con¬ 
 siderable outlay of money, and no small 
 amount of inconvenience and trouble. A rain¬ 
 storm during the process may involve the ruin 
 of hundreds of dollars’ worth of expensive and 
 cherished household goods. To avoid this, in 
 many cases, some nostrum-vender who adver¬ 
 tises to “ cure leaky roofs for a small considera¬ 
 tion,” is allowed to cover the neglected house¬ 
 top with a coating of tar and sand, warranted 
 to remain tight for five years. This tempora¬ 
 ry expedient, however, like most temporizing, 
 proves a costly experiment, and time soon 
 shows the second state of that roof to be worse 
 than the first; for such neglect there is but 
 
36 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 one remedy, repentance, a new roof-covering, 
 and a promise of better attention in the future. 
 Tin on a house-top should be well painted 
 once in four years. 
 
 For roofs, light cool colors are preferable, 
 because they reflect the warm rays of light 
 and thereby lessen the expansion and contrac¬ 
 tion of the metal, and the shrinking of the 
 boards underneath, and so lessen the liability 
 of the tin to crack in the seams. The tem¬ 
 perature of attic rooms in summer will be 
 materially lower if the roof be painted with a 
 light rather than with a dark color. 
 
 The writer has learned, from long expe¬ 
 rience, that the finest French Ochre is the 
 most economical pigment that can be used for 
 that purpose. If, as is sometimes the case in 
 country-houses, where the roof is a conspicu¬ 
 ous object in the architecture of the building, 
 a dark color be indispensable, the use of pure 
 Venetian Fed, darkened with Lamp Black, is 
 recommended as the most durable and eco¬ 
 nomical. If, by some process, the oil used in 
 
TEST HOOFS. 
 
 37 
 
 roof-painting could be prevented from becom¬ 
 ing bard and brittle, it would be a great gain. 
 
 The poorest oil-paint, however, is better 
 than neglect; and the best economy consists 
 in keeping tin entirely and thoroughly pro¬ 
 tected from the corroding influence of damp¬ 
 ness. Old paint which has become “ fatty ” 
 from exposure to the atmosphere, is better 
 than new for roof-painting. Not a drop of 
 turpentine should be used for such work. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHEMISTRY IN THE PRODUCTION OF PAINTS. 
 
 To an intelligent comprehension of the 
 nature and properties of the materials used in 
 painting, the complex substances of which 
 most of them are composed, of the changes 
 which they undergo when exposed to the in¬ 
 fluence of certain gases, of the sun’s rays, of 
 atmospheric action, etc., a knowledge, to a 
 greater or less degree of the science of chem¬ 
 istry would seem to he indispensable. 
 
 Chemistry may be defined as that science 
 which seeks a rational explanation of all the 
 operations of the material world. This it 
 would accomplish by a thorough knowledge 
 of the forces of elementary substances, of the 
 laws which govern these elements when they 
 are permitted to enter into combination—by 
 
CHEMISTRY—PRODUCTION OF PAINTS. 
 
 39 
 
 reducing all natural compounds to their ulti¬ 
 mate constituents—by recombining them to 
 ascertain their mutual relations—and to dis¬ 
 cover all the possible combinations and forms 
 of matter which have not been worked out in 
 Nature’s laboratory. 
 
 The discoveries of modern chemists, suffi¬ 
 cient already to bewilder ordinary minds, are 
 —the professors of that noble science assure 
 us—as nothing to the revelations which a later 
 day shall bring forth. If, to-day, as its pro¬ 
 fessors claim, the science be in its infancy, 
 what may we not anticipate from its maturity? 
 
 The boast of Fairy Puck, to “put a gir¬ 
 dle round about the earth in forty minutes,” 
 is on the threshold of realization. The lamp 
 of Aladdin is no longer, only a fiction to 
 relieve the monotony of “Arabian Nights.” 
 The Genius, locked up in the casket which 
 the fisherman drew out of the depths of the 
 sea, is to-day in the control of the chemist, 
 and is set free or imprisoned at his will. 
 The “ seven-league boots ” may be put away 
 
40 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 in tlie lumber-room, they have already ceased 
 to excite the wonder of listening childhood, 
 and dust and ashes have caused transforma¬ 
 tions a thousand times more wonderful than 
 the coach and horses and fine dresses of Cin¬ 
 derella. 
 
 IIow little do we realize the fact, which 
 chemical discovery has revealed to us, that 
 there is within us, and around us, an element 
 of the presence of which we are not conscious; 
 a substance so unsubstantial, that its existence 
 even was not known until the eighteenth cen- 
 fury!—without palpable form, or smell, or 
 taste, but which, nevertheless, plays the most 
 important part among the forces which control 
 our world. 
 
 This spirit, is the breath of our nostrils and 
 the life of our blood, yet a consuming fire 
 which sooner or later will cause us to “ wither 
 as the grass, and fade as the flower.” ISTor will 
 it leave us at the portal of the tomb. There 
 it will enter with us, and continue the work 
 which it commenced on this side the dark val- 
 
CHEMISTRY—PRODUCTION OF PAINTS. 41 
 
 ley, until we become in reality the dust of 
 which we were created. 
 
 The word gas, or ghost, was, in the days 
 of alchemy, applied to certain substances, from 
 their supposed connection with the spirit- 
 world. 
 
 The discovery of oxygen gas, in England, 
 by Doctor Priestley, in the latter part of the 
 eighteenth century, was one of the most im¬ 
 portant discoveries, so far as regards the ma¬ 
 terial well-being of mankind, that the world 
 has ever witnessed. 
 
 Oxygen is a transparent, inodorous, taste¬ 
 less, colorless substance, about one-tenth heav¬ 
 ier than the air, and forming about one-fifth of 
 its bulk. Mixed with nitrogen, it forms the 
 atmosphere which surrounds us, and in which 
 we move and have our being. With hydro¬ 
 gen it forms water, and with carbon, carbonic 
 acid. This latter gas is that substance which 
 gives to soda-water and other effervescing 
 drinks the lively, pungent flavor which is so 
 much liked. 
 
42 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Hie scope of this work does not compre¬ 
 hend the teaching of the science of chemistry, 
 and the only object in introducing oxygen is 
 the fact that, without some conception of the 
 nature of this wonderful agent, in the produc¬ 
 tion of paints, no intelligent idea of their com¬ 
 position and properties and mode of produc¬ 
 tion is possible. 
 
 Oxygen has a wonderful affinity for most 
 all known substances, and particularly so for 
 the metals. So great is the affinity in some 
 instances, that certain metals can he preserved 
 only by immersing them in naphtha, which 
 liquor contains no oxygen. 
 
 Molten lead oxidizes instantly on expo¬ 
 sure to the atmosphere, but the coating of 
 oxide serves to protect it from any further ac¬ 
 tion of the gas; if this coating be removed, 
 however, another coating is immediately 
 formed, and this may be kept up until the 
 metal shall have lost its metallic character. 
 The most familiar example of this operation is 
 the rusting of iron. This metal, on exposure 
 
CHEMISTRY—PRODUCTION OF PAINTS. 43 
 
 to the atmosphere (particularly an atmosphere 
 charged with much moisture), becomes at once 
 covered with a coating of oxide of iron. All 
 housekeepers are familiar with this substance, 
 unpleasantly so at times, in the operations of 
 the laundry. 
 
 To the presence of this oxide, the ochres or 
 earth-paints owe their colors—they being 
 simply earthy substances, mainly silica ("which 
 is of itself more than one-half oxygen by 
 weight)—colored by water impregnated with 
 iron rust. Oxygen with lead, in varying 
 proportions, gives us white lead, red lead, 
 litharge, and with the addition of chromic 
 acid, chrome yellow and American vermilion. 
 From oxygen with zinc, we have the beauti¬ 
 ful white pigment, oxide of zinc. With iron 
 and potash, oxygen affords the beautiful color 
 known as Prussian blue. From the oxides of 
 copper we obtain verdigris, and the brilliant 
 pigment known as Paris green. With cobalt, 
 We have the fine blue of smalts; and with 
 chromium, the greens and yellows known as 
 
44 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 chrome colors. “Yet this simple substance, 
 which makes up more than one-half of the 
 ponderable matter of the earth, is without 
 color, taste, or smell, and the eye of man has 
 never beheld it.” 
 
 How few realize the fact that the white- 
 lead paint which beautifies and preserves our 
 dwellings, is the well-known and familiar 
 metal transformed to its present unrecogniz¬ 
 able condition by the action of oxygen ! that 
 to this invisible agent we owe most of the 
 colors and varied tints which, by the never- 
 ending variety of their harmonious blendings 
 and contrasts, afford us such exquisite enjoy¬ 
 ment and gratification! 
 
 Nature, bounteous in colors, proffers us in 
 the vaulted arch above, in the blue expanse 
 of waters, in the flowers which bloom along 
 the land, an exhaustless source of innocent 
 delight ! Shall we churlishly refuse the 
 proffered joy, shut our eyes to all the forms 
 of beauty spread out around us, and tram¬ 
 ple, brute-like, on the flowers which spring 
 
CHEMISTRY-PRODUCTION OF PAINTS. 45 
 
 up in our path? Let us rather accept and 
 admire, with hearts full of gratitude toward 
 the glorious Giver of all these good and per¬ 
 fect gifts! 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PREPARATION OF COLORS. 
 
 The art of preparing colors for the use of 
 the painter, is one which requires a thorough 
 practical knowledge of the nature and compo¬ 
 sition of the various pigments, and skill in the 
 selection of the same, as well as an entire 
 familiarity with the different degrees of fine¬ 
 ness which the colors may require to fit them 
 for the purposes to which they may he ap¬ 
 plied. Some paints lose their brilliancy and 
 beauty by too much crushing and grinding, 
 and become dull, pale, and comparatively 
 worthless, while others require grinding to the 
 last degree of fineness, to develop the color 
 which is in them. Notwithstanding these 
 facts, which are known to every painter who 
 has been properly educated in his profession, 
 
PEEPAEATION OF COLOES. 
 
 47 
 
 the business of preparing colors for his use is 
 to a great extent in the hands of persons en¬ 
 tirely ignorant of the nature of paints, and 
 the requirements of the painter. Active and 
 ever-increasing competition has begotten a 
 strife, not as to who shall produce the best 
 possible paints, but as to who shall put upon 
 the market the worst article which can by 
 any stretch of fancy be called a “ ground- 
 color.” This evil has, however, like most 
 others, worked out (or is in process of work¬ 
 ing) its own cure. Experience is teaching the 
 lesson, where it has not already been learned, 
 that “ cheap paint,” that is, paint made to sell 
 at a low figure by means of extreme adultera¬ 
 tion, is “ dear at any price.” This rule, how¬ 
 ever, is not of universal application, but is in¬ 
 tended to apply to painters mostly, who have 
 the means and knowledge required to avoid the 
 waste of good material. There are many cases 
 when a small quantity of color is required to 
 produce a certain tint, and colors cannot al¬ 
 ways be obtained in such small quantities as 
 
HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 48 
 
 may be desired. In such cases, it would be 
 advisable to buy a cheaper article and consume 
 it all, rather than to buy the best, and suffer a 
 large portion of it to be wasted. It must be 
 borne in mind by the painter that in cheapen¬ 
 ing paints by the admixture of adulterating 
 materials, the reduction must be made wholly 
 in that portion of the mixture which possesses 
 the coloring property he requires. There can 
 be no corresponding cheapening of all the 
 materials. The oil, the labor, and packages, 
 cost as much for the poorest as for the best 
 colors; therefore a color which sells at twenty 
 cents per pound may possess really three 
 times as much intrinsic value as one which 
 sells at one-half that price. There can be no 
 better rule for a painter to adopt than to buy 
 always the lest colors , and in packages as large 
 as the requirements of his trade will justify, 
 with a view to strict economy and the pre¬ 
 vention of waste. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WHITE PIGMENTS. 
 
 The only white pigments used in liouse- 
 painting that are of sufficient importance to 
 notice in this place, are the Carbonate of Lead 
 (White Lead) and the White Oxide of Zinc. 
 In the detailed description which follows, of 
 the method of producing these two most im¬ 
 portant articles, the writer has endeavored to 
 avoid, as much as possible, the use of techni¬ 
 cal terms, and has confined himself to such 
 only as shall set forth in the clearest manner 
 possible, to those who may be unacquainted 
 with scientific signs, the mode of operation. 
 The use of white lead in oil-painting is of very 
 ancient origin, while the use of white oxide of 
 zinc is comparatively of recent date. One of 
 these two, at the present day, forms the staple 
 
 3 
 
50 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 of all the neutral tints used by painters, and 
 enters more or less into all the shades of the 
 positive colors, such as green, red, blue, yel¬ 
 low, etc. They are more extensively used by 
 themselves, that is, without tinting, than other 
 paints, and are consequently of the first im¬ 
 portance. The comparative value of these' 
 two materials, the properties they possess to 
 resist the action of the weather, and the many 
 gases to which they are under nearly all cir¬ 
 cumstances exposed—and, most important of 
 all, their merits or demerits in an economical 
 point of view, open a wide field of discussion, 
 and call into action a vast amount of preju¬ 
 dice. In entering this field, the writer prom¬ 
 ises to set forth as clearly and impartially as 
 possible what lie believes to be the facts in 
 the case. Ilis views are the result of an ex¬ 
 perience of more than twenty-five years in the 
 business of preparing paints and colors for 
 painters’ use, and he has had unusually good 
 opportunities of comparing the opinions of 
 painters from various and widely-separated 
 
WHITE PIGMENTS. 
 
 51 
 
 parts of the country, many of them men of 
 large experience, whose views are entitled to 
 much consideration. White lead, having had 
 for so many years undisputed possession of the 
 field, looked very naturally upon any rival as 
 an upstart—a usurper of its before unques¬ 
 tioned prerogative. The large amount of 
 capital invested in its production, its many 
 good qualities, the repeated failures to find a 
 substitute for it, and its entire respectability, 
 so to speak, caused it to look upon the humbler 
 aspirant for public favor with contempt. That 
 time, however, has passed by; and the ques¬ 
 tion is no longer, whether or not Zinc shall 
 have a share in the public estimation, but 
 whether or not it possesses superior properties 
 as a white pigment to the carbonate of lead. 
 
 Keeping in view the fact that painting is 
 done not so much to preserve as to beautify 
 our dwellings, and to make them cleanly and 
 easy to be kept clean, and that whiteness is 
 an indispensable requisite—as clear pure tints 
 cannot be produced without a pure white—the 
 
52 
 
 nOUSE-PAESTTING. 
 
 ready conclusion would be, that any white 
 paint which most readily and economically 
 realizes that result would be adopted with¬ 
 out question. That white lead possesses a 
 density, opacity, body, and covering property 
 superior to zinc, will not be questioned—white- 
 lead ground, without any admixture of adul¬ 
 terating materials, of course, is meant. To 
 account for this, we need go no further than 
 the fact that, a given weight of white lead in 
 its dry state requires less than half the quan¬ 
 tity of oil to wet it that would be necessary 
 to wet the same quantity of zinc, blow, white 
 paint derives, in a great measure, its value 
 from its covering qualities, that is, the prop¬ 
 erty of opacity, its quality of rendering soiled, 
 dirty, stained, discolored wood-work or walls 
 solidly white; of producing a clear, white 
 surface, covering up and rendering invisible 
 whatever may have been before unsightly. 
 That this result may be obtained more cer¬ 
 tainly with lead than with zinc, there can 
 hardly be a question; but there is a second 
 
WHITE PIGMENTS. 
 
 53 
 
 very important consideration, which is, the 
 comparative durability of the two materials. 
 The painted work inside a house requires 
 constant wiping and washing to keep it clean; 
 hence it follows, other things being equal, that 
 the paint which adheres most tenaciously to 
 the wood, which resists most successfully the 
 constant and repeated washings to which in¬ 
 side work must more or less be exposed, is 
 the most economical and most desirable. Zinc 
 paint is more water-proof than lead; that is, 
 the application of water and soap to the out¬ 
 ward surface of a coating of zinc does not im¬ 
 pair its durability to the same degree that it 
 does lead paint. The particles of lead do not 
 have any cohesiveness except what the oil 
 gives them; and that cohesiveness being re¬ 
 moved by the action of water or the sun’s 
 rays, they fall off from the wood. On the 
 contrary, the particles of zinc seem to depend 
 on each other to form a continuous coating; 
 they seem to overlie, to lap on, in such a way 
 as to prevent the water from working around 
 
54 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 or behind them. All who have taken notice 
 are aware of the fact that outside work, cov¬ 
 ered with the very best of white-lead paint, 
 becomes in a short time chalky, and the paint 
 mbs off on the hand or clothes when brought 
 in contact with it, especially in sunny expo¬ 
 sures. The reason of this is, that the sun, 
 acting with the lead, destroys the water-proof 
 properties of the oil, and the paint becomes, 
 a whitewash, liable to be removed by rain 
 and storms. Zinc, from this property of co¬ 
 hesiveness which it possesses, is not so soon 
 affected by the action of the sun and rain. It 
 forms a smoother, harder surface, and, shedding 
 the water more perfectly, resists its action for 
 a greater length of time. 
 
 Yet for this very reason zinc is unsuited 
 for use in situations exposed to much damp¬ 
 ness, for, though it does not, like white lead, 
 crumble away and fall off particle after par¬ 
 ticle, it does scale or flake, and falls from the 
 wood in shelly masses, leaving the surface of 
 the work as entirely free from covering as if 
 
WHITE PIGMENTS. 
 
 55 
 
 it had not been painted. This occurs, how¬ 
 ever, only in situations where it is exposed to 
 much dampness. Where zinc is employed, it 
 is not recommended for a first coating, hut 
 white-lead for the first application, and zinc 
 for the succeeding coats, particularly the fin¬ 
 ishing one. As to the question of comparative 
 expense in the use of these materials, there is 
 not much to he said—possibly there is a slight 
 difference in favor of zinc, hut it is incon¬ 
 siderable. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHITE LEAD, ITS MODE OF PRODUCTION, ETC. 
 
 Until within the present centiuy, the 
 manufacture of white lead was confined prin¬ 
 cipally to Holland; and what is known as the 
 Dutch process is now the mode of operation 
 in its production in most of the lead-works of 
 Europe and America. As before stated, until 
 within a few years, carbonate of lead was the 
 only white paint in use for painting the wood¬ 
 work and walls of houses. It preserves its 
 whiteness well when mixed with oil, works 
 smoothly and easily under the brush, and 
 gives a uniform coating to wood, plaster, or 
 stone. Under some of its various names, as 
 Silver White, Flake White, Ivrems White, or 
 China White, it is the most important pig¬ 
 ment on the palette of the artist, and forms, 
 
WHITE LEAD—MODE OF PRODUCTION. 57 
 
 with zinc, the staple in the stock of the house- 
 painter. Although some improvements have 
 been made in the manufacture of this article, 
 it remains the same, in all its essential features, 
 as when first described in print. Hundreds 
 of so-called improvements have been made, 
 and innumerable patents have been issued, for 
 inventions whereby the loss of time consequent 
 upon the production of white lead by the old 
 process was to be avoided, and the cost of 
 manufacture lessened; or, some other oxide 
 of lead was to be substituted for the carbonate. 
 So far none of them have, to any appreciable 
 extent, lessened the demand for white lead, or 
 brought it into disfavor in the slightest degree. 
 Millions of dollars have been wasted in the so- 
 far vain attempt to find a preparation of lead 
 which should take the place of the carbonate, 
 as produced by the Dutch process. 
 
 White lead is produced simply by exposing 
 thin sheets or shapes of blue lead to the fumes 
 of vinegar. The metallic lead is melted in iron 
 kettles, and run into moulds or shapes called 
 
58 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 buckles. These buckles are about the cireum 
 ference of small tea-plates, and have the ap¬ 
 pearance in form somewhat of large, round 
 buckles; the object being to expose as much 
 of the surface of the metal as possible to the 
 action of the vinegar. These buckles are 
 placed in earthen pots (glazed on the inside) of 
 uniform size, along with a quantity of whiskey 
 or molasses vinegar, or other acetic acid. Thus 
 charged, the pots are placed in a bed of spent 
 tan-bark (the refuse of the tan-yard) to the 
 number of 12,000, more or less, according to 
 convenience. The first layer of pots is cov¬ 
 ered with boards, on which is placed another 
 and thinner layer of tan, and again a layer of 
 pots, and so on, alternate layers of tan and 
 pots, until the stack, as it is called, is com¬ 
 pleted. On the top of all is placed a thick 
 layer of tan, and the process of converting the 
 metal into white lead may be said to have 
 commenced. In a longer or shorter time, ac 
 cording to circumstances, the tan generates 
 sufficient heat to vaporize the acid, which, 
 
WHITE LEAD—MODE OF PRODUCTION. 59 
 
 coming in contact with the metal, changes the 
 same, by a mysterious chemical process, into a 
 white, brittle substance which, with crushing 
 and grinding, becomes the beautiful white 
 pigment with which all are familiar under the 
 name of white lead. The process of disin¬ 
 tegration and conversion goes on for many 
 days, and at the end of eight or ten weeks, 
 more or less, the stack is ready to be taken 
 down. On uncovering the pots, they will be 
 found to contain no acid, and the buckles will 
 be found to have increased materially in thick¬ 
 ness and bulk and weight. In that unsightly 
 and apparently inert mass of tan and boards, 
 has been going on, silently and secretly, hour 
 after hour, day after day, and week after week, 
 during the lone watches of the night and the 
 bright glare of noonday, one of the most beau¬ 
 tiful and interesting processes of nature. The 
 acid, at first cold and inactive, warmed into 
 life by the self-generated heat of the surround¬ 
 ing mass, has attacked the tough and ductile 
 metal, destroying its metallic structure, form 
 
60 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 ing a new combination into which it enters as 
 one of the component parts, adding weight 
 and bulk to the already heavy substance, and 
 bringing forth a material which to the eye 
 offers no sign of the secret of its birth. Dur¬ 
 ing the process, the tan will have lost its power 
 of generating heat, the acid will have been 
 resolved into its original elements, and the 
 buckles, with their added weight, remain to 
 repay the cost of expended labor and material. 
 These buckles, when taken from the pots, are 
 found to be encrusted, to a greater or less ex¬ 
 tent (in some cases perfect corrosion has taken 
 place), with a white, brittle coating, amount¬ 
 ing say to two-thirds or three-fourths by 
 weight of the buckles when first placed in the 
 pots. This crustation is removed by pound¬ 
 ing, in a machine prepared for the purpose, 
 and that portion of blue lead which shall re¬ 
 main is returned to the melting-pots to be 
 again cast into buckles and again submitted 
 to the action of vinegar and heat. The crust, 
 which is now the carbonate of lead, composed 
 
WHITE LEAD—MODE OF PKODUCTION. (11 
 
 of about ninety parts of metal with ten pails 
 of carbonic acid, is thoroughly washed to free 
 it from stains arising from whatever cause, 
 and then crushed and ground in water between 
 heavy mill-stones, into a fine, pasty mass, which 
 is conveyed to a stack or series of steam-tight, 
 hollow pans placed one above the other, the 
 upper surfaces of which are composed of sheets 
 of copper, riveted together to form continuous 
 plates. Into the hollow of these pans, the ex¬ 
 hausted steam from the engine is introduced, 
 and the white lead is thoroughly dried. It has 
 now become the dry white lead of commerce, 
 and is ready to be made into paint, simply 
 by mixing with linseed-oil in the proportion 
 of about nine pounds of oil to one hundred 
 pounds of lead, and again grinding in heavy 
 stone mills. The production for the United 
 States for the year 1867 is estimated at about 
 eighteen thousand tons; more than half of 
 which was produced by the different manufac¬ 
 tories in the city of Brooklyn. The objections 
 to the use of white lead, as a paint, are worthy 
 
62 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 of consideration, though not by any means so 
 formidable as most persons suppose. The 
 main objection is the poisonous property of 
 the article, and its consequent deleterious 
 effect upon the health. The second, its lia¬ 
 bility to become discolored by the action of 
 certain gases which are common in and about 
 every dwelling. The first objection was, in 
 former times, of great importance, but now 
 has lost nearly, if not wholly, its force. In 
 those times the rudimentary part of the edu¬ 
 cation of a painter’s apprentice in the myste¬ 
 ries of the craft was the mixing of dry white 
 lead with oil in a tub or keg, and grinding 
 the same in a mill with hand-power. This 
 work was usually performed during the winter 
 months, in close, warm rooms, and more or 
 less of the particles of dry lead found their 
 way into the system by inhalation. The 
 effect was seen in the fair complexions and 
 decayed teeth of most of those who followed 
 the trade, and not a few cases of painter’s colic 
 occurred, some of which proved fatal. In 
 
WHITE LEAD—MODE OE PRODUCTION. 63 
 
 these times we have changed all that. Now, 
 steam does the unwholesome drudgery, and 
 gives to the painter’s apprentice better occu¬ 
 pation for his winter hours, than the rudimen¬ 
 tary crank-work which, to say the best of it, 
 was not a liighly-intellectual occupation, nor 
 one calculated to lead the soul to longings 
 after the ideal. Now, the white lead comes 
 to the hands of the workman locked up, so to 
 speak, in indissoluble bonds, every particle of 
 it enclosed and encased with a water-proof 
 substance, and no more deleterious to health 
 than would be the same quantity of flour-paste. 
 It has been pronounced by learned and scien¬ 
 tific men, doctors and professors, to be un¬ 
 wholesome to sleep in freshly-painted apart¬ 
 ments, or to inhale the air of a room newly 
 painted. The ground for such a theory is, 
 of course, the supposition that there are, float¬ 
 ing in the atmosphere, particles of white lead 
 in sufficient quantity to injure the health, the 
 same finding then way into the system by in¬ 
 halation or absorption. In the opinion of the 
 
HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Gi 
 
 writer, it would take as long to poison a man 
 with the particles of white lead which float in 
 the atmosphere of a freshly-painted house, as 
 to cause an attack of gravel by inhaling the 
 particles of a grind-stone which fly off with 
 the water that evaporates from its surface. 
 Indeed, it is contended that not the minutest 
 particle of white lead passes off from the sur¬ 
 face of newly-painted wood-work during the 
 chemical operation of the drying of the paint. 
 To say that people are made sick or nauseated 
 by the smell of fresh paint, is no more an ar¬ 
 gument in favor of the theory of its being 
 poisonous, than that the odor of onions, which 
 is disgusting to many, is proof of the unwhole¬ 
 someness of that pungent and liighly-nutri- 
 tious vegetable. 
 
 White lead is not recommended for iron¬ 
 work, when the object is to preserve the metal 
 from the corrosive action of oxygen. It may 
 be truly said that there is no pigment in com¬ 
 mon nse (the copper greens excepted) which 
 does not afford a better protection than pure 
 
AVIIITE LEAD—MODE OF PRODUCTION. 65 
 
 white lead. Most oil paints are simple me¬ 
 chanical mixtures, and the pigments are not 
 supposed to exert any chemical action on the 
 oil in which they are mixed; hut the oxygen 
 in white lead is supposed to combine with 
 part of the oil, and thereby form true plaster 
 or metallic soap. This chemical change may 
 account for the well-known fact, that pure 
 white lead is the least durable of any known 
 pigment. When a white surface is indispen¬ 
 sable, zinc is far preferable to lead, for paint¬ 
 ing iron. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHITE OXIDE OF ZINC. 
 
 This pigment, which ranks next in impor¬ 
 tance to white lead in the list of paints, consists 
 of thirty-two parts of the metal zinc, and eight 
 parts of oxygen. In its dry state, it is a beau¬ 
 tiful white, soft, feathery substance, and has 
 long been known and used for medicinal pur¬ 
 poses, under the name of Flowers of Zinc. 
 It mixes readily with oil, hut does not work 
 so freely under the brush as white lead, and 
 requires rather more skill in its manipulation, 
 to produce a smooth and even surface. It is 
 entirely free from objections in a sanitary 
 point of view, and is not known to affect 
 deleteriously the health of the workmen en¬ 
 gaged in its production, in the slightest degree. 
 This pigment is produced by reducing the 
 
WHITE OXIDE OF ZINC. 
 
 6'7 
 
 ores of zinc in oven-shaped furnaces having 
 • perforated cast-iron floors, and openings in the 
 tops for the escape of the zinc and the gases 
 of combustion. A fire of anthracite coal is 
 made all over the floor of the furnace, and a 
 blast of cold air is driven through the same. 
 The ores, crushed to the size of coarse sand, 
 and mixed with fine coal, are spread on the 
 fire, and when raised to 2,000 degrees Fahren¬ 
 heit, are deoxidized—the oxygen of the ore 
 uniting with the coal, forming carbonic acid 
 gas—the zinc rising as a metallic vapor. The 
 vapor and gases are sucked from the furnace, 
 and conveyed through iron pipes to a large 
 room into which they are driven, and out of 
 which the gases escape. This room is filled 
 with large, stout hags, suspended open- 
 mouthed to catch the zinc, which, in its pas¬ 
 sage from the furnace to the hags, goes through 
 chambers into which air is admitted. In its 
 vaporous form it unites with the oxygen of 
 the atmosphere, forming the light, flaky sub¬ 
 stance known as Flowers of Zinc. The oxide 
 
6S 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 at tliis stage is extremely light, thirty or forty 
 pounds of the same being sufficient to fill a 
 barrel. It is then compressed to about one- 
 fonrth of its former bulk, and packed in bar 
 rels of 200 pounds or casks of 400 pounds, and 
 sold to manufacturers, whose business it is to 
 prepare the same by mixing and grinding in 
 oil for the use of the painter. 
 
 White zinc was formerly largely, and is 
 now to some extent, imported from France 
 and Belgium. The rapid improvement in the 
 manufacture of it in this country has, however, 
 to a great extent, driven the foreign zinc from 
 the market. There are several establishments 
 in this country for the manufacture of white 
 oxide of zinc, the principal ones being the 
 New Jersey Zinc Company, at Newark, N. J., 
 who manufacture principally from the ore 
 known as red oxide; the Lehigh Zinc Com¬ 
 pany, at Bethlehem, Pa., who use the ores 
 known as carbonates and silicates; and the 
 Passaic Mining and Manufacturing Company, 
 who use the red oxides, as also the carbonates 
 
WHITE OXIDE OF ZINC. 
 
 69 
 
 and silicates. The total production of zinc 
 paint by the different manufactories in the 
 United States, during the past year (1867), 
 was seven thousand five hundred tons. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THEORY OF COLOR. 
 
 When tlie material objects composing a 
 landscape or other diversified view are pho¬ 
 tographed on the retina of the eye, the mind 
 becomes conscious of certain impressions. 
 These impressions, when analyzed, are found 
 to comprise the ideas of height, breadth, depth, 
 form, distance, and color. All these, except 
 the latter, are facts capable of mathematical 
 demonstration, and exist, so far as the eye 
 alone teaches, independent of the direct action 
 of any of the invisible forces of nature. Color, 
 on the contrary, which in many instances pro¬ 
 duces the most vivid impression of all, is not 
 in any sense an attribute of these visible 
 forms. It does not belong to them, and is no 
 more a part of them than the sensation which 
 
THEORY OF COLOR. 
 
 71 
 
 it produces. All tlie attributes of substantial 
 objects, all the material forms which are re¬ 
 vealed to the eye, may be made comprehen¬ 
 sible to the mind of one deprived of the sense 
 of sight; but the mind of a blind man cannot 
 grasp the idea of color. The fatigue conse¬ 
 quent upon ascending a lofty tower, may 
 teach him, experimentally, of the fact of 
 height; the exercise of limb necessary to reach 
 a remote point, tells him of the fact of dis¬ 
 tance ; the sense of touch, in his case, exquis¬ 
 itely acute from constant use, will reveal to 
 him forms the most delicate and intricate; 
 but of the sensation of color his darkened 
 mind can have no conception—simply be¬ 
 cause, when there is not a perfect visual or¬ 
 gan, there can be no intelligent comprehen¬ 
 sion of that sensation which for convenience 
 we call color. ISTor does it follow even when, 
 for other purposes, the organ of vision is 
 perfect, that the sensation of color is pro¬ 
 duced upon the mind. Color-blindness is by 
 no means uncommon, and some facts con- 
 
72 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTIN’Gr. 
 
 nectecl with that peculiar affection will he 
 given in succeeding pages. 
 
 Color is an attribute of light , and in the 
 absence of light all objects are black! That 
 the color which seems to belong to any mate- 
 - rial substance is not inherent in that substance, 
 or inseparable from it, is proved by the fact 
 that we can give to a body, any desired color, 
 by exposing it to light of that peculiar hue. 
 For example; the light which passes through 
 a stained-glass window gives to any substance 
 on which it may fall the color of the light 
 which is transmitted; and so long as the light 
 continues the color remains; as the light 
 fades, the color grows more indistinct, and in 
 the absence of light will have ceased to exist, 
 not only in the particular spot, but on all sur¬ 
 rounding objects. 
 
 A direct ray from the sun, reaching the 
 brain through the optic nerve, causes a sensa¬ 
 tion which is signified by the term white. 
 That ray, however, is not simple, but a com¬ 
 pound structure, and is capable, under certain 
 
THEORY OF COLOR. 
 
 73 
 
 modifications, of causing a variety of sensa¬ 
 tions which collectively we call colors. When 
 a ray of light from the sun is passed through 
 a three-sided piece of polished glass, it is re¬ 
 fracted ; that is, broken, separated. This 
 broken ray, falling on a white surface, pre¬ 
 sents to the eye an image composed of many 
 bands of colored light. The cause which pro¬ 
 duces these sensations must be inherent in this 
 white light, because the medium through 
 which it has passed, and which has broken it, 
 is colorless of itself, and cannot impart color 
 to the light in its passage. 
 
 A closer examination of this split or 
 broken ray, shows us its true composition. 
 At the base of this image we find Rer. This 
 modulates into red-orange, orange, yellow- 
 orange, which is succeeded by yellow, the 
 second color in the spectrum—the intermediate 
 hues being the result of the mingling of the 
 two colors. Yellow is succeeded by yellow- 
 green, green, blue-green, and blue / then 
 comes, completing the circle, blue-purple, 
 
 4 
 
74 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 purple or violet, red-purple, and again red. 
 Shut out the ray of light, and we have black, 
 which is the absence of all color; remove the 
 prism and admit the ray, and we have white, 
 unbroken light, which is made up of the three 
 colors, red, yellow, and blue. 
 
 The true theory of color (or more properly, 
 perhaps, the theory generally accepted by the 
 scientific to-day) is commonly hard to he un 
 derstood, and the objections to it take this 
 shape: “ Do you mean that the many colors, 
 and hues, and tints, which we see around us, 
 have no existence hut in the brain, and are as 
 unsubstantial as the emotions we experience 
 in beholding them—mere impressions, which 
 cease to exist, except in the memory, when 
 we close our eyes to them ? ” 
 
 The hues of the rainbow are as substantial 
 as the colors of the most gorgeous purple 
 stuffs which the eye ever beheld! the same 
 law operates to produce them all. Little 
 globules of water, under certain circumstances, 
 possess the power or property of breaking the 
 
THEORY OF COLOR. 
 
 75 
 
 sunlight into its component parts. When, 
 under such circumstances, these refracted rays 
 fall upon the eye, and enter the brain, the 
 image photographed there is a how or arc of 
 greater or less extent, composed of hands or 
 stripes of colors and hues in regular succession, 
 always in the same order, differing only in 
 intensity. While we gaze, the image fades; 
 from some cause—either the declining sun or 
 an intervening cloud—the beautiful how has 
 ceased to exist; yet the colors in that rain- 
 how were as real, as substantial, as those found 
 on the painted walls of Herculaneum, or in 
 the chambers of the Egyptian pyramids, which 
 have retained their brilliancy through all the 
 changes of twenty, thirty, or forty centuries. 
 Similar causes will again produce like effects. 
 When the sun, the eye, and the rain-drops shall 
 again find themselves in the same relative posi¬ 
 tions, the colored bow will reappear, and the 
 colors would remain fixed, permanent, suppos¬ 
 ing the resulting causes could remain the same. 
 
 All visible substances possess the property 
 
76 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 of refracting, reflecting, transmitting, or ab¬ 
 sorbing the rays of light which fall upon them, 
 and the results are colors, hues, tones, tints, 
 and shades. Some substances absorb all the 
 colored rays, others reflect them all. (In a 
 strictly technical sense, this is not so, but the 
 language is sufficiently correct for practical 
 purposes.) In the one case, we have black, 
 which is the absence of all color; in the other 
 white, which is the presence of all. Between 
 these extremes we have the primary colors, 
 red, blue, and yellow, and all their deeper and 
 lighter tones. 
 
 By mining these colors in varying propor¬ 
 tions, we obtain the various hues. By mixing 
 the colors with black, we shade them, and by 
 mixing with white, we tint them. Combina¬ 
 tions of colors with each other, and with 
 white and black, where no particular color 
 predominates, are called neutral tints. By 
 mixing blue and red, we obtain violet, and by 
 varying the proportions, all the hues between 
 red and blue. By mixing blue with yellow, 
 
THEORY OF COLOR. 
 
 77 
 
 we produce green, and all the hues of blue 
 and yellow-green as the blue or yellow pre¬ 
 dominates. By mixing red with yellow, we 
 produce orange, and all the hues of red and 
 yellow-orange. 
 
 When a substance or form of matter pos¬ 
 sesses the property of absorbing or extinguish¬ 
 ing those primary colors which are called 
 blue and yellow, and reflecting the third, we 
 signify the sensation, which is produced on 
 the brain by looking at this substance, as red. 
 
 When red and blue are absorbed, a differ¬ 
 ent sensation is the result, and yellow is the 
 name we use to distinguish that; and so 
 through the never-ending variety of colors, 
 hues, tints, and shades. 
 
 The alphabet of color has only three let¬ 
 ters ; but so wonderful are these in their pos¬ 
 sible transpositions and combinations, that the 
 skill of man shall never exhaust them. The 
 pencil of the artist shall write new stories 
 from age to age, and new combinations shall 
 ever afford us fresh delight. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 COLOK-BLIHDITE8S. 
 
 To say that one lias “ no ear for music,'’ 
 is a common ancl properly significant expres¬ 
 sion, and the want of it is considered not only 
 a misfortune, but is frequently made a subject 
 of reproach. Its absence is popularly supposed 
 to indicate the presence of certain qualities 
 which render a man unworthy the confidence 
 of his fellows. To say that one has “no eye 
 for color’’ is equally proper and significant; 
 but, as yet among our own people, such a mis¬ 
 fortune is not supposed to furnish good ground 
 for impugning a man’s sincerity, or to unfit 
 him for the occupation of any position of trust 
 or confidence. Yet it would be difficult to 
 give a plausible reason why “his affections” 
 should be “ dark as Erebus ” in the one case, 
 and not in the other. 
 
COLOR-BLINDNESS. 
 
 79 
 
 Tlie faculty to discriminate color, exists in 
 different individuals, in all tlie various degrees 
 of development. The want of sensibility to 
 color-impressions is generally supposed to he 
 peculiar, and the affection in marked cases is 
 termed “ color-blindness; ” but, in the opinion 
 of the writer, it will be difficult, if not impossi¬ 
 ble, to draw the line to determine who are and 
 who are not color-blind. Doctor Wilson, of 
 Edinburgh, in 1855, published a work on color¬ 
 blindness, wherein he arranges the different 
 forms or degrees of dulness to color-impres¬ 
 sions, as manifested by different individuals. 
 
 The first form, which is common among 
 males, particularly of the educated classes, is 
 shown in the inability to distinguish certain 
 tones of browns, from certain tones of green; 
 say a dull green from a dingy brown; the 
 second, an inability to distinguish certain 
 primary colors, as red from green; the third, 
 an inability to distinguish any color, as such; 
 the person affected in the latter degree, seeing 
 only white and black, lights and shades. In 
 
SO 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 the first degree, this affection is, among males, 
 perhaps the rule rather than the exception, 
 and is owing, probably, to a lack of education 
 in the discrimination of colors. In support 
 of this hypothesis, the fact may be mentioned 
 that deaf mutes possess this power of discrimi¬ 
 nation to a high degree. Being deprived of 
 the use of those most important faculties, hear¬ 
 ing and speech, the organs remaining to them 
 are called into action to an extent quite im¬ 
 possible with those who possess all the facul¬ 
 ties unimpaired. Hence such persons become, 
 unconsciously, highly educated in the dis¬ 
 crimination of tones, hues, and shades. 
 
 An instance illustrative of this fact fell 
 under the observation of the writer, in the 
 person of a deaf mute, a girl, the offspring of 
 a married couple who were related to each 
 other in the degree of first cousins. This child 
 was of rare personal beauty, both of face and 
 figure, and the senses remaining to her were 
 quickened to a degree quite uncommon with 
 children generally. In the room occupied by 
 
COLOR-BLINDNESS. 
 
 81 
 
 the writer was a large piece of Berlin worsted 
 work, and a basket containing the remnants 
 of the colored yarns, portions of which had 
 been used in the production of the work. The 
 child was a frequent visitor, and it was a 
 source of great interest and amusement to ob¬ 
 serve how unerringly she would select from 
 the basket, the yarn corresponding to any des¬ 
 ignated hue on the work. ETo matter how 
 slight the difference in shades, she never made 
 a mistake in the selection. Dr. Wilson found 
 that the majority of pupils in the chemical 
 class at the veterinary college in Edinburgh, 
 declined to name any colors beyond red, blue, 
 green, yellow, and brown; while they failed 
 entirely in attempting to arrange nearly re¬ 
 lated hues of yarns, or those of varying shades 
 of the same hue, and that pink and other pale 
 colors, as pale yellow, blue, and green, were 
 often confounded. In the second degree, in 
 the less marked cases, red and green, and these 
 with olive and brown, failed to be distin¬ 
 guished. 
 
82 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 It is by no means uncommon to find per¬ 
 sons unable to distinguish the red fruit on an 
 apple-tree from the green of its leaves. Three 
 brothers are mentioned by Dr. Wilson, who 
 mistook red for green, orange for grass-green, 
 yellow for light green. In the third degree, 
 cases of winch are rare, all colors are recog¬ 
 nized only as giving certain degrees of light 
 and shade. Instances are related of tailors, 
 who matched black cloth with red thread, and 
 scarlet livery with green strings; of a phy¬ 
 sician who never found a case of scarlet 
 fever; of a gentleman who condoled with a 
 lady supposing her in weeds, when she was 
 dressed in a vivid green; of a Quaker who 
 purchased a bottle-green coat for himself, and 
 a scarlet merino gown for his wife; and of a 
 school-girl who attempted to arrange the col¬ 
 ors in her drawing by the sense of taste. 
 
 The causes of color-blindness are difficult 
 to trace : it occurs equally with light and dark 
 eyes, and is confined mostly to the educated 
 classes, the female sex, however, furnishing 
 
COLOR-BLINDNESS. 
 
 83 
 
 but few examples. Among the savage tribes 
 no case lias ever been known. 
 
 These instances of color - blindness are 
 given, to meet the objection which will be 
 made to the theory that color is a sensation, 
 and not a substance. It must be borne in 
 mind that, for all other practical purposes, the 
 visual organs in those persons affected by 
 color-blindness, were as perfect as are those of 
 ordinary individuals. The defect is some¬ 
 where between the eye and the brain; either 
 the eye is incapable of transmitting the col¬ 
 ored rays of light, or the brain is incapable of 
 experiencing the sensation of color: arguing 
 from general principles, we should say that 
 the defect is in the optic nerve, and is simply 
 a want of sensibility to certain impressions, 
 bearing the same relation to the waves of 
 light as the hearing in those persons who are 
 said to have no ear for music, does to the 
 waves of sound. It is well known that those 
 •who are insensible to musical sounds, who can¬ 
 not distinguish the tones in the musical scale, 
 
84 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 are for other purposes sufficiently acute in the 
 sense of hearing; hut he the cause what it 
 may, there will he no difficulty in arriving at 
 the conclusion that one, so affected, should not 
 adopt the calling or profession of painting, or 
 any other trade wherein a nice sense of dis¬ 
 crimination between colors and shades is re¬ 
 quired. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BLACK PIGMENTS. 
 
 Lamp Black, Drop Black, Ivory Black, 
 Bone Black, Frankfort Black are tlie names 
 applied to the simple substance which affords 
 all the blacks used in painting, and in the 
 manufacture of printers’ ink, viz., Carbon. 
 Lamp black, the most important and useful 
 form of carbon to be considered here, is pro¬ 
 duced from the article known in trade as com¬ 
 mon rosin, or other bituminous substances. 
 The finer kinds are made from rosin, and the 
 common kinds from coal or gas tar. 
 
 All resinous, oily, fatty substances produce 
 lamp black in the process of burning, it being 
 simply the soot resulting from highly-combus- 
 tible bodies as they are imperfectly consumed. 
 Every smoking lamp is a lamp-black manu- 
 
86 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 factory in miniature. Being nearly pure car¬ 
 bon, it is one of the most unchangeable sub¬ 
 stances known, absolutely indestructible under 
 all ordinary influences. Acids, alkalies, and 
 gases, which powerfully and rapidly affect 
 most other forms of matter, have generally no 
 effect on this. 
 
 The most powerful sunlight cannot bleach, 
 or destroy, or change its form or character. 
 Through all the changes of times and seasons, 
 the winter’s cold and summer’s heat, it re¬ 
 mains the same. Except in combination with 
 oxygen, it is unchanged by heat, and, in some 
 of its forms, a furnace-fire which will melt 
 steel as wax, causing it to flow like water, 
 does not produce the slightest perceptible 
 effect on this simple substance. 
 
 A very good idea of its permanent charac¬ 
 ter, when used as a paint, may be had by ob¬ 
 serving the old sign-boards at toll-gates and 
 toll-bridges. Exposure for many years to sun¬ 
 shine and storms has, in most cases, not only 
 removed the surrounding white-lead paint 
 
BLACK PIGMENTS. 
 
 87 
 
 wliich originally covered the wood, and on 
 which the letters were traced, hut the wood 
 itself will have yielded to atmospheric influ¬ 
 ences, and fallen away by slow disintegration, 
 leaving the characters which signify the direc¬ 
 tions, rates of toll, etc., raised above the sur¬ 
 rounding surface, like the letters used by blind 
 persons in learning to read. The carbon used 
 in painting the letters has remained through 
 all, the same, bidding defiance to the tooth of 
 Time himself. This property is shown also 
 in a more striking degree perhaps, fly the 
 writings found at Herculaneum, which have 
 retained their original blackness for more than 
 two thousand years. In remote former periods 
 this property was known and appreciated, and 
 the ancients seem to have availed themselves 
 of it on all important occasions. 
 
 It would be a great mistake, however, to 
 suppose that all the black paint sold and used 
 is pure carbon ; on the contrary, all that used 
 in ship-painting, and known as common black 
 paint, is very extensively cheapened by adul- 
 
88 
 
 house-painting. 
 
 teration. So far, indeed, is this process car¬ 
 ried, that common black paint is mostly com¬ 
 posed of some cheap earthy snbstance, black¬ 
 ened by the addition of a small percentage 
 of lamp "black. The extensive use of this 
 worthless material affords another instance of 
 the want of economy manifested in painting. 
 The actual first cost of painting a vessel with 
 pure carbon black is much less than painting 
 with the cheap adulterated material in com¬ 
 mon use, to say nothing of the saving in la¬ 
 bor, Avhich is a most important consideration. 
 While, in the one case, the paint retains its 
 blackness, and adheres tenaciously to the wood, 
 in the other it turns gray after a brief expos¬ 
 ure, and needs frequent renewals. 
 
 The test of the purity of black paint is its 
 weight in proportion to its bulk: a can or keg 
 which will contain twenty-five pounds of com¬ 
 mon black paint will contain but ten pounds 
 of pure carbon black. One pound of pure 
 black will cover as much surface as three 
 pounds of common black, at proportionately 
 
BLACK PIGMENTS. 
 
 89 
 
 nrucli less expenditure of labor. Notwith¬ 
 standing these facts, it would be difficult, if 
 not impossible, to obtain in any chandlery in 
 the city of New York, where ship-paints are 
 sold, a keg of pure black paint. 
 
 In ship-painting, as in house-painting, good 
 results can be produced only by the use of 
 good material. The best are always the 
 cheapest. 
 
 The article next in importance is ivory or 
 bone black (animal charcoal), known also as 
 drop black, and patent black. This is made 
 by first calcining bones or ivory chips and 
 turnings, in a close retort, and afterward 
 powdering the charcoal, and grinding it in 
 water between heavy millstones. To render 
 it more entirely black, and give opacity, a 
 portion of prussiate of iron is added. After 
 being thoroughly dried in the form of drops 
 or cakes, it is again powdered, and again 
 ground in oil. This black is used mostly in 
 coach and carriage work. 
 
 Fra/rikfort Black is produced by calcining 
 
90 
 
 HOUSE-PAENTING. 
 
 vine branches and twigs and other lees of the 
 vinegar-vats in Germany. It is of no particu¬ 
 lar importance to the house-painter, but is 
 used to some extent in painting in water- 
 colors. It has a peculiar blue tint. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 G-BEEfT PIGMENTS. 
 
 Gkeens, so abundant in the vegetable 
 kingdom, are rare in the mineral world—cop¬ 
 per being tbe only metal, which, in its combi¬ 
 nations, affords the various shades of green in 
 common use. All greens used in house-paint¬ 
 ing are either copper greens or chrome greens. 
 Chrome green (when moderately pure) pos¬ 
 sesses a dense body, or covering property, and 
 is classed among what are called body colors. 
 
 These greens (chromes) are not permanent, 
 being a combination of blue and yellow, which 
 colors are not affected in like degree by the ac¬ 
 tion of light. The copper greens are transpa¬ 
 rent, by far the most durable, and retain their 
 brilliancy much longer when exposed to the 
 action of the sun’s rays. Previous to the in- 
 
92 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 troduction of the clirome colors, the only green 
 pigment in common nse was verdigris— 
 French, vcrt-de-gris. 
 
 Verdigris (a union of oxide of copper 
 and acetic acid) is produced by exposing small 
 sheets of copper to the action of vinegar, in 
 the following manner: The refuse of grapes, 
 after the extraction of the juice, is placed in 
 earthen vessels, which are covered with lids, 
 and surrounded with straw mats. The mate¬ 
 rials soon become heated, and fermentation, 
 beginning at the bottom, rises till it permeates 
 the whole mass. At the end of two or three 
 days, the fermenting materials are removed to 
 other vessels, in order to check the process, lest 
 putrefaction should ensue. The copper plates 
 are prepared by rubbing them with cloth 
 dipped in a solution of verdigris, and then set 
 aside to dry. When the materials are all 
 found to be in proper condition, the plates are 
 laid on a horizontal wooden grating in the 
 middle of the vat, on the floor of which is 
 placed a pan of burning charcoal, which heats 
 
GREEN PIGMENTS. 
 
 93 
 
 them to a certain degree. In this state they 
 are put into earthen vessels, with alternate 
 layers of the fermenting grape-lees, the vessels 
 are covered with straw mats and left at rest. 
 At the end of ten or fifteen days, they are 
 opened, to ascertain if the operation he com¬ 
 pleted. If detached glossy crystals be per¬ 
 ceived on the surface, the grapes are thrown 
 away, and the plates are placed upright in the 
 cellar, one against the other; at the end of 
 two or three days, they are moistened by be¬ 
 ing dipped in water, which is continued at 
 intervals from time to time. This treatment 
 causes the plates to swell, to become green, 
 and be covered with a layer of verdigris. 
 This is scraped off, pressed in paper sacks, 
 dried by exposure to the sun and air, and be¬ 
 comes the verdigris of commerce. 
 
 Distilled Verdigris, erroneously so called, 
 is made by dissolving one part of verdigris in 
 two of distilled vinegar. The solution is then 
 evaporated and crystallized. This article was 
 formerly used in the paint-shop to some ex- 
 
94 
 
 nOTTSE-PAESTTING. 
 
 tent, but is hardly known now to the majority 
 of painters. 
 
 Paris Green, or, more properly, Scheele’s 
 Green (arsenite of copper), is a late discovery, 
 and was first manufactured by the chemist 
 whose name it bears. It is known in England 
 as Emerald Green. It consists of about twen- 
 ty-eight parts oxide of copper and seventy-two 
 parts arsenic, is a kighly-poisonous substance, 
 some persons being peculiarly obnoxious to its 
 poisonous influence. Eatal accidents have re¬ 
 sulted from its careless use. A few years 
 since, the quantity of this pigment used in 
 this country was enormous, but of late the 
 chrome greens have taken its place. It is 
 highly transparent, works badly under the 
 brush, and, as painters express it, “ covers 
 badly; ” consequently, most of the trade prefer 
 not to use it. In contrast with it, however, 
 so brilliant is this color, all other greens be¬ 
 come dingy browns, and the eye refuses to 
 recognize any other pigment as green, for some 
 seconds after looking at this dazzling tint. 
 
GUEEN PIGMENTS. 
 
 95 
 
 Its mode of production is as follows: First, 
 an arsenite of soda is formed, by adding ar¬ 
 senic to carbonate of soda dissolved in boiling 
 water ; next sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) is 
 dissolved in water: both solutions are filtered, 
 and the first is poured progressively into the 
 second so long as it produces a rich, grass- 
 green precipitate; this, being thrown upon a 
 filter-cloth, and cleansed by washing away all 
 particles soluble in water, is then dried and 
 pulverized. 
 
 Chkome Gtbeen.— This well - known and 
 serviceable pigment is another of the products 
 of the metal chromium, in combination with 
 prussiate of iron. Chrome-ore is a union of 
 the oxides of chromium and iron, and is of rare 
 occurrence. It is found in considerable quan¬ 
 tities in this country, in Maryland, near Bal¬ 
 timore ; the chief application of this ore is in 
 the production of chromic acid (bichromate of 
 potash), which is extensively used in dyeing 
 and calico-printing, and in the production of 
 the paints known as chrome colors. Chromic 
 
96 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 acid, literally color acid, derives its name (tlie 
 Greek original signifies color or to color) from 
 tlie property it possesses of throwing down a 
 colored precipitate, when added to the saline 
 solutions of certain metals. 
 
 The pigment known as chrome green is 
 made hy mixing together chromate of lead 
 (chrome yellow) and prussiate of iron (Prussian 
 blue). This product is combined with an 
 earthy base, either sulphate of baryta or silica, 
 in proportions to suit the market as to price. 
 It is sold under various names, as clironie 
 green, Brunswick green, Imperial green, 
 Hampden green, Mount Vernon green, Per¬ 
 sian green, Magnesia green, etc., etc. These 
 paints differ only in the quantities of coloring 
 matter which they contain, and in tlie differ¬ 
 ent tones of color. Under whatever name, 
 they are simply earthy substances, colored 
 ■with a mixture of blue and yellow. 
 
 The tones and tints of greens are distin¬ 
 guished by the following names; that is, the 
 names given are those by which the greater 
 
GREEN PIGMENTS. 
 
 97 
 
 majority of people, speaking the English 
 tongue, will best comprehend the idea in¬ 
 tended to be conveyed : grass green, known 
 among pigments as Emerald or Paris green 
 (this color best represents pure green ; the 
 others are mostly shades and* tints or broken 
 colors, including a mixture of white, or black, 
 or red, or perhaps of all these); verditer, or 
 verdigris green (a blue green, changing when 
 used in oil to a bronze hue), pea green, leek 
 green, sea green, parrot green, apple green, 
 tea green, olive green, blue green, yellow 
 green, rifle green, bronze green, sage green. 
 
 5 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BLUE PIGMENTS. 
 
 Hatuke, so prodigal in the dispensation of 
 green tints throughout the vegetable world, 
 has been correspondingly chary in the diffu¬ 
 sion of pure, unmixed blue. Among the wild 
 flowers of the woods and fields, and the thou¬ 
 sands of cultivated exotics in gardens and 
 green-liouses, one may look almost in vain for 
 a perfectly pure blue tint. The slightest ad¬ 
 mixture of yellow causes a green tinge, and 
 a trace of red produces a purple or violet 
 color. 
 
 The only blues used in house-painting are 
 Prussian blue, cobalt blue, and imitation of 
 ultra-marine. 
 
 Tkue U ltka-M arine.— This beautiful blue 
 (which formerly sold in London at twice Its 
 
BLUE PIGMENTS. 
 
 99 
 
 weight in. gold) is of Nature’s own production, 
 and has never been equalled by chemical skill. 
 It is the purest in tint of all the known blue 
 pigments, being nearly free from any tinge of 
 purple or green, and is also one of the most 
 permanent in color. It is produced from la- 
 zulite, a precious stone found principally in 
 Persia and Silesia. To the house-painter it is 
 of no importance, except as a matter of curi¬ 
 osity. 
 
 Imitation Ultka-Marine is the product 
 of chemical skill, and was discovered by a 
 French chemist, Guimet, It is said to be 
 manufactured from precisely the same mate¬ 
 rials as are found on analyzing the lapis la¬ 
 zuli, viz. : silex, soda, alumina, and sulphur; 
 and so nearly does this artificial product re¬ 
 semble the genuine, that good judges of color 
 have failed, at first sight, to distinguish the 
 real from the factitious. Its manufacture is 
 confined mostly to Germany. It is largely 
 used in the coloring of paper-hangings, and 
 on interior decoration. 
 
100 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING-. 
 
 Prussian Blue (prussiate of iron orferro- 
 cyanodide of iron ) is a deep-toned, brilliant, 
 transparent color, bordering slightly on the 
 green tinge. It possesses wonderful coloring 
 property, and is used extensively by the artist 
 on miniature draperies. It serves admirably 
 to represent blue velvet; and, mixed with 
 carmine, all the varieties of purple, violet, 
 maroon, and cherry-colored velvets are ob¬ 
 tained. It is little used by the house-painter 
 in its pure state, but for producing with white 
 the different tints of lighter blues. 
 
 Prussian blue is a chemical compound of 
 iron and the gaseous substance known as 
 cyanogen. It is produced by boiling together 
 prussiate of potash, green sulphate of iron 
 (copperas), and nitric and sulphuric acids in 
 certain proportions. The precipitate is washed, 
 filtered, pressed, and dried. This is known as 
 pure blue, China, or Chinese blue. The 
 cheaper kinds are produced by adulteration 
 with chalk, or China clay; starch also is 
 sometimes used. A good blue is known by 
 
BLUE PIGMENTS. 
 
 101 
 
 - the following tests: it feels light in the hand, 
 adheres to the tongue, has a dark, lively blue 
 color, and displays, when broken, a copper 
 red lustre. If adulterated with chalk or other 
 carbonate of lime, it will effervesce when 
 treated with acid; if with starch, it becomes 
 pasty when mixed with boiling water. 
 
 Antwerp Blue is a lighter colored and 
 somewhat brighter blue than Prussian blue, 
 hut possessing all the other qualities of that 
 pigment, except its extreme depth. It has 
 naturally a green tinge, rendering it well 
 adapted for mixed greens. 
 
 Cobalt Blue is oxide of cohalt, with 
 alumina. It is used to some extent in house¬ 
 painting. 
 
 Blue Smalt is glass, colored with oxide 
 of cohalt. 
 
 Blue Yerditer is a blue oxide of copper, 
 or precipitate of nitrate of copper with lime. 
 It is a pale, bright blue, deficient in color, and 
 not much in request, though it was formerly 
 extensively used in making washes for walls, 
 
102 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTEN'G-. 
 
 when paper-hangings were not as cheap and 
 common as at the present day. 
 
 In color nomenclature, hlues are distin¬ 
 guished hy the following names : indigo blue, 
 sky blue, pale blue, smalt, cobalt blue, ultra- 
 marine, or lapis lazuli, light blue, China blue, 
 Prussian blue, and turquoise. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 KED PIGMENTS. 
 
 Oe tlie primary colors, red lias tlie most 
 extensive range of combination. In tbe list 
 of colored pigments, reds are tbe most numer¬ 
 ous, and, in producing tbe tints and broken 
 colors, tbe most important. 
 
 Red (including crimson, and scarlet, and 
 purple) is tbe most pleasing of all the colors, 
 and exercises a wonderful fascination for all 
 ages and conditions of mankind. It is asso¬ 
 ciated with our most pleasing recollections, 
 and all our ideas of youth and beauty. We 
 speak of rosy health, and rosy life, and rosy 
 hopes. It has been the favorite color of poets 
 and painters in all ages. It is employed to de¬ 
 pict health and loveliness in woman, as those 
 “vermeil -tinctured lips,” and in the tomb-scene 
 
104 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 in “ Romeo and Juliet,” “ for beauty’s ensign 
 yet... is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, 
 and death’s jpale flag is not advanced there; ” 
 and in the “ Taming of the Shrew,” we find, 
 “such Avar of white and red within her 
 cheeks;” and again in “Romeo and Juliet,” 
 “ Else would a maiden blush bepaint my 
 cheek.” It is also the favorite color in most 
 national emblems and in the ensigns of war, 
 and ambition, and victory. Shakespeare says, 
 in “ Ring Henry II.,” “ He is come to ope the 
 purple testament of bleeding war,” and in the 
 same, “ Change the complexion of her maid— 
 pale peace to scarlet indignation.” Crimson is 
 suggestive of health and strength, of womanly 
 beauty, and manly vigor, and crimson sunsets 
 give promise of bright days to come. 
 
 hi ature has confined her use of reds mostly 
 to the painting of the petals of flowers, and 
 the tempting hues of luscious fruits, and the 
 gorgeous plumage of tropical birds. Nowhere 
 is it to be seen in the sky (except in occasional 
 sunsets), in the water, or in the earth; and in 
 
EED PIGMENTS. 
 
 105 
 
 the general landscape, so small is its propor¬ 
 tion, compared with the other colors, that it 
 may almost he said to have no place there. 
 
 Among pigments, Caumine is the purest 
 type of red. This beautiful and familiar color 
 is a product of the animal world, being the 
 coloring matter extracted from the females of 
 the insect known as cochineal. These in¬ 
 sects abound in Mexico, and are fed on the 
 leaves of a certain species of the cactus. 
 There are plantations of this cactus, princi¬ 
 pally in the province of Oaxaca, where these 
 insects are tended with as much care as is 
 usually bestowed on silk - worms. At the 
 proper season the insects are picked from the 
 plant with a dull knife, and killed by being 
 immersed in hot water, or by being placed in 
 a hot oven. It is said that it takes seventy 
 thousand of them to weigh a pound. 
 
 Carmine is prepared from the boiling solu¬ 
 tion of cochineal, by adding alum and carbo¬ 
 nate of soda. It is said to have been discov¬ 
 ered by a Franciscan monk at Pisa, in the 
 
106 
 
 HOUSE-PAOTTING. 
 
 preparation of a medicine of cocliineal and 
 salt of tartar. 
 
 Carmine is much used in dyeing, and not 
 a little of it is consumed in imparting to the 
 cheeks of fair maidens that beautiful bloom 
 which is so much admired. 
 
 The grades of carmine are distinguished 
 by numbers; that known as No. 40, being the 
 highest grade. 
 
 Vermilion is a compound of quicksilver 
 and sulphur, in the proportion of about one 
 hundred parts of the former to sixteen of the 
 latter. It occurs in nature as a common ore 
 of mercury, called cinnabar. It is known to 
 the trade as Chinese, Trieste, English, and 
 that manufactured in this country, as Califor¬ 
 nia vermilion. 
 
 For many years the only vermilion used 
 in this country was that imported from China, 
 which comes wrapped in papers containing 
 about one ounce each. It is now, however, 
 used in comparatively enormous quantities, 
 and the preference is given to the article of 
 
EED PIGMENTS. 
 
 107 
 
 English make. It is of different shades, and 
 is distinguished as dark and light; the latter 
 being the most expensive. Large quantities 
 of Trieste vermilion also are consumed in this 
 country, it being considerably cheaper than 
 the English article. 
 
 Vermilion is a rich, bright color of dense 
 body, and permanent when exposed to the 
 light. American vermilion, so called, a rather 
 poor imitation of true vermilion, is made 
 from white lead and chromic acid (bi-cliromate 
 of potash). These are boiled together, washed, 
 filtered, pressed, dried, and pulverized, either 
 with rollers or with the hand. It must not 
 be rubbed so hard as to break the crystals, or 
 it loses its color, and shows what it really is, 
 an orange chrome. The manipulation is quite 
 detrimental to the health of the workmen en¬ 
 gaged in its manufacture. 
 
 Venetian Red.— This most serviceable 
 and permanent color is an artificial ochre, 
 prepared from sulphate of iron. It is made 
 in England, mostly in the vicinity of Hew- 
 
108 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 castle-on-Tyne. When used in its pure state, 
 it is one of the most durable colors known. 
 The bright-red stain will remain on a build¬ 
 ing painted with it, long after the last vestige 
 of the oil has disappeared, indeed, after the 
 wood itself has become corroded by time and 
 the elements. It is but little used in house- 
 painting in its pure state; but is very service¬ 
 able in making grounds for black walnut, rose¬ 
 wood, mahogany, etc.; also, in making dur¬ 
 able gray tints, in connection with blue. 
 
 Indian Red is a deep, lakey-red earth, 
 chiefly a very rich iron-ore, or peroxide of 
 iron. It is permanent, of very dense body, and 
 is used mostly for tinting. With white and 
 ultra-marine or Prussian blue, it produces 
 fine, clear grays. 
 
 Red Lead is a pure oxide of lead, and is 
 produced by exposing metallic lead to the ac¬ 
 tion of heat, taking care not to fuse it. It is 
 mostly employed as a pigment in painting 
 iron vessels and iron-work generally. It has 
 an affinity for the latter metal, and serves 
 
BED PIGMENTS. 
 
 109 
 
 admirably in protecting it from corrosion. 
 Orange Mineral is another name for red lead, 
 and is produced by the slow calcination of 
 white lead in iron trays. This form of red 
 lead is not used as a pigment. 
 
 Light Red is burnt ochre, not used in 
 house-painting. 
 
 Rose Pink, and the wood-lakes, are earthy 
 substances, stained with the coloring matter 
 extracted from tropical forest - trees. They 
 are but little used in oil, but to some extent 
 in decorative painting in water-colors, and in 
 coarse scene-painting. The different sensa¬ 
 tions produced by red and its combinations 
 are distinguished as red, carnation, blood red, 
 crimson, scarlet, purple, vermilion, fire color, 
 madder color, alkanet color, pomegranate color, 
 cherry color, pink, peach color, damson color, 
 claret, brown purple, violet, mulberry, lilac, 
 apricot, and orange. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 YELLOWS. 
 
 In nature, pure, unmixed yellows are 
 found mostly in the floral kingdom. Tliis 
 color is not specially a favorite, and must be 
 sparingly used in internal decorations and fur¬ 
 niture. Extreme fondness for vivid yellow is 
 manifested mostly in uncultivated, undevel¬ 
 oped human intellects, as among barbarous 
 negro tribes, and in young children. Gener¬ 
 ally, the hues of yellow are not associated 
 with pleasant recollections, but with jaundice 
 and yellow fever; an ill condition of health is 
 indicated by a yellow complexion. The at¬ 
 mosphere assumes a yellow hue on the near 
 approach of earthquakes and hurricanes. Em- 
 due secretions of the bilious fluid cause ob- 
 
YELLOWS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 jects to assume a yellow tint. Blue discom¬ 
 forts seem temporary in their nature, fitful, 
 soon to he succeeded by rosy hues; hut yel¬ 
 low seems to be the tone of despair, of perma¬ 
 nent melancholy. A yellow flag is hoisted on 
 shipboard when an execution is about to take 
 place; and yellow flags warn us of hospitals, 
 fevers, and the “pestilence that walketli at 
 noonday.” A slight tinge of blue, no doubt, 
 suggested the idea of “ green and yellow mel¬ 
 ancholy.” So prevalent an impression can 
 hardly be the result of accident, but would 
 seem to spring from natural causes. 
 
 Chkome Yellow (chromate of lead) is, 
 strictly speaking, the only yellow pigment 
 used in house-painting, the yellow ochres be¬ 
 ing yellow browns of various shades. This 
 brilliant yellow (chrome) is readily produced, 
 and one so disposed may become an amateur 
 color-maker at a small outlay of time and 
 money. Sugar of lead (acetate of lead) in so¬ 
 lution, and chromic acid (bi-chromate of pot¬ 
 ash) in solution, when mixed together, instant- 
 
112 
 
 HOUSE-PAmTESTG. 
 
 ly assume a briglit-yellow color, and precipi¬ 
 tate, when left at rest, the pigment known as 
 chrome yellow. This is washed in cold water, 
 treated with lime, to produce the deeper or 
 lighter tones, filtered, pressed, and dried. The 
 result is pnre chrome yellow, which is cheap¬ 
 ened by admixture with carbonate of lead, 
 barytes, carbonate of lime, and China clay. 
 When pnre, it is a body-color to the last de¬ 
 gree, possessing a wonderful opacity and cov¬ 
 ering property, and also retains its color when 
 exposed to the light, though it is peculiarly 
 sensitive to the influence of gases. Sulphu¬ 
 retted hydrogen changes it in the same man¬ 
 ner as this gas changes white lead, that is, by 
 uniting with the lead, and forming a sulphuret 
 of the latter metal. 
 
 Cadmium Yellow (sulpliuret of cadmium ) 
 is one of the recently-discovered pigments, 
 being produced from the metal cadmium 
 in combination with sulphur. It is used 
 mostly by landscape-painters—chiefly in rep¬ 
 resenting gorgeous sunsets. It is the most 
 
YELLOWS. 
 
 113 
 
 intensely brilliant of any known yellow pig¬ 
 ment. 
 
 Yellow Ochee.— This most useful and in¬ 
 dispensable color is a native pigment, and 
 deposits of it, varying in shade and fineness, 
 are found in various localities. (The word 
 ochre , in its original sense, signifies pale, but 
 is now applied indiscriminately to all colored 
 earths, whether yellow, red, brown, or black.) 
 The most important are those known to the 
 trade in this country as French ochres, and 
 further distinguished as Rochelle ochre, and 
 Havre ochre. The former is the more highly 
 esteemed, being finer, and working more 
 smoothly and freely under the brush. In 
 house-painting, they are rarely used unmixed 
 with white, as the pure color, when in oil, 
 gives a rather deep yellow-brown ; but, mixed 
 with white in varying proportions, fine, soft 
 yellow drabs are produced, and pale delicate 
 cream tints. These ochres are inflexibly per¬ 
 manent in color, and are exceedingly durable 
 when exposed to the action of the weather. 
 
114 
 
 HOTJ S E-P AINTIN G. 
 
 The quantity annually imported into the 
 United States is about three thousand casks, 
 or a thousand tons. 
 
 Yellow colors are distinguished as chrome 
 yellow, or lemon, brimstone, corn color, straw 
 color, buff, saffron color, golden, canary, ochre, 
 and orange. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 BROWN PIGMENTS. 
 
 As lias been before remarked, the natural 
 brown earth-paints are, to a certain extent, 
 more brilliant in tint, and produce clearer, 
 purer tones of color, than do those paints which 
 are the result of chemical operation. They 
 are, too, as a rule, inflexibly permanent and 
 highly transparent. 
 
 Terra-de-Sienna is a ferruginous native 
 pigment, of a yellow-brown hue, produ¬ 
 cing, with white, bright sunny tints. That 
 known in commerce as Italian sienna is the 
 most esteemed, and is, in fact, the only ar¬ 
 ticle bearing the name of sienna which pos¬ 
 sesses any intrinsic value as a paint. The 
 so-called American sienna is vastly inferior, 
 both in color and transparency. Crude or raw 
 
116 
 
 HOUS E-P ABSTTIN G. 
 
 sienna, wlien subjected to a bigb degree of 
 heat, loses its yellow complexion, and takes on 
 a deep, clear, brown-red hue, retaining, at the 
 same time, all the transparency of the nnbnrnt 
 material. It is an invaluable pigment, and is 
 extensively used in every department of paint¬ 
 ing. By admixture with Homan or yellow 
 oclire, or raw sienna, or any other transparent 
 yellow, and Antwerp blue or indigo, it affords 
 fine olive greens. 
 
 Burnt Sienna is a rich, transparent brown- 
 orange. It has strong coloring properties, and 
 is permanent to the last degree. 
 
 Umbek. —Raw umber is a native ochre, 
 and occurs in the island of Cyprus. It is 
 known in the trade as Turkey umber, although 
 a great portion of the umber sold in this mar¬ 
 ket is obtained in the State of Virginia. Gen¬ 
 uine Turkey umber is a soft, brown pigment, 
 transparent in oil, and abounding in manga¬ 
 nese, from the presence of which it derives its 
 drying property. It is one of the most useful 
 colors in the stock of the house-painter, and 
 
BROWN PIGMENTS. 
 
 117 
 
 is much used in graining, and in producing, 
 with white, pure quaker-drabs and browns. 
 With blue, it affords a good neutral green, 
 very permanent. 
 
 The American substitute for this pigment 
 seems to possess none of the properties of the 
 genuine article, except its resemblance' in 
 color. 
 
 Burnt Umber — the natural umber cal¬ 
 cined—is much used both for graining, and 
 for making, with white, clear, warm browns 
 and stone-colors. No pigment, in the stock 
 of the painter, is better known and appre¬ 
 ciated than this: it is transparent and per¬ 
 manent. These colors (siennas and umbers) 
 require to be very carefully prepared and 
 finely ground, as it is only by reducing them 
 to the last degree of fineness that they show 
 their true colors. 
 
 Van Dyke Brown. —This useful paint is 
 a bituminous earth of vegetable origin. The 
 most valuable kinds are found in Germany. 
 The color is a very rich, deep, transparent 
 
118 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 brown. It is a favorite color with many ar¬ 
 tists, and is used by the liouse-painter mostly 
 for graining. It is valueless unless very finely 
 ground. Boiled oil should be used in grind¬ 
 ing this pigment, as it is a non-drier to the 
 last degree. It is clear in its pale tints, and 
 deep and glowing in shadows; very perma¬ 
 nent. 
 
 Spanish Brown —a coarse native ochre of 
 a dull-brown color, of dense body, suitable for 
 roof-painting when a dark color is required. 
 There are other browns, as sepia (the concrete 
 gall of the cuttle-fish), mars brown (an artifi¬ 
 cial umber), Cassel earth (a native pigment), 
 madder browns, etc. These are used princi¬ 
 pally by artists in landscape and figure paint¬ 
 ing, in oil and water, mostly, however, as 
 water colors. 
 
 The browns are called broken colors, and 
 known as brown, russet, red-brown, or horse- 
 chestnut, chestnut, light brown, coffee color, 
 tawny, sorrel (horse), and puce. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WHITING- AND PAHIS WHITE. 
 
 The well-known article, common whiting, 
 is produced from chalk. Chalk is a white, 
 soft, friable carbonate of lime, containing more 
 or less silicious matter and other impurities. 
 These impurities are removed by grinding the 
 chalk under a heavy edge stone which slowly 
 revolves on a circular bed. The bed is sur¬ 
 rounded by a water-tight tank, into which 
 flows a constant stream of water. The par¬ 
 ticles of the crushed materials, agitated by the 
 stone in its motion, are temporarily held in 
 suspension by the water, and flow off with it 
 into large sunken vats, a number of which, 
 placed side by side, are connected by troughs ; 
 the overflow of the first vat is received by 
 its nearest neighbor, and so on, until all the 
 
120 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 vats become filled. The vat farthest from the 
 mill will, of course, contain the finest deposit 
 of all, from the fact that the purer material 
 will be longest held in suspension. The de¬ 
 posited mass, when of proper consistency, is 
 lifted from the vats and thrown upon thick, 
 roughly-shaped blocks of chalk which absorb 
 a portion of the water, and in a short time so 
 harden the cakes of whiting that they may be 
 handled. They are then taken from the blocks 
 and dried, by exposure to the air, in a kind 
 of lattice framework. Paris white is produced 
 by the same method, but the material used is 
 a finer, harder kind of carbonate of lime. 
 Paris white is consumed mostly in coating 
 walls and ceilings either with or without tint¬ 
 ing. Previous to the late war, chalk was not 
 subject to any import duty, and was brought 
 as ballast by the London packet-ships. At 
 that time it was common for ship-owners to 
 pay for taking the chalk-ballast from the side 
 of the vessel, so that the cost to the whiting 
 manufacturers was really nothing. During 
 
WHITING AND PAKIS WHITE. 
 
 121 
 
 tlie war the price of chalk was at one time as 
 high as forty dollars per ton, and large for¬ 
 tunes were in some instances realized by the 
 lucky holders of large stocks of this material. 
 The annual consumption of whiting and Paris 
 white in the United States is enormous—not 
 less, probably, than eighty thousand barrels, 
 equal to about thirty millions of pounds. 
 
 6 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OILS. 
 
 Oils are divided into two great classes: 
 the fat or fixed oils, and the volatile oils. Lin¬ 
 seed-oil is a very good example of the former 
 class, and oil of turpentine (spirits of turpen¬ 
 tine erroneously called), of the latter. 
 
 These two fulfil all the requirements of 
 the house-painter, and are the only ones of 
 any particular importance in the trade. All 
 fixed oils and fatty substances, whatever their 
 origin, possess the same ultimate constituents, 
 and mostly in like proportions, and differ hut 
 little in specific gravity. That is, the weight 
 in proportion to the bulk is nearly the same 
 in all. The extremes being 0.96 for castor-oil, 
 and 0.89 for cocoa-butter. The specific grav¬ 
 ity of linseed-oil is 0.934. Supposing a cubic 
 
OILS. 
 
 123 
 
 foot of water to weigh one thousand ounces, 
 the same hulk of linseed-oil will weigh- nine 
 hundred and thirty-four ounces. 
 
 Linseed-oil was formerly measured by the 
 gauging-rod, in this country, hut now by 
 weight, seven and a half pounds being the 
 standard of weight for the measure of a gallon. 
 
 Certain oils, in contact with the air, under¬ 
 go progressive changes; they thicken, and 
 eventually dry into a transparent, yellowish, 
 elastic substance which, after very long ex¬ 
 posure, becomes hard and brittle. Linseed-oil 
 seems to possess this property in a greater de¬ 
 gree than any other, and from this derives its 
 value in the preparation of varnishes and 
 painters’ colors. Many of the fixed oils pos¬ 
 sess this siccative or drying property; par¬ 
 ticularly those extracted from seeds and nuts. 
 Some of the animal oils also possess it in a 
 greater or less degree, but linseed is the only 
 article which gives oil possessing this property 
 in sufficient quantities for general use. 
 
 The cause of this change from liquid to 
 
124 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING-. 
 
 solid is brought about by absorption of oxy¬ 
 gen from the atmosphere, it being purely a 
 chemical process, and not the result simply of 
 evaporation, as some suppose. This drying 
 property in oil may be greatly increased by 
 boiling the same in connection with certain 
 metallic oxides, such as red lead and litharge. 
 These articles only, were in former times used 
 for this purpose; but of late, the black oxide of 
 manganese is extensively used. Turkey umber 
 also, to a certain extent, is employed by var¬ 
 nish-makers, for this purpose; but that article 
 derives its drying property from the presence 
 of the last-named oxide. A varnish, made by 
 dissolving gum-shellac in linseed-oil and tur¬ 
 pentine, was formerly used almost exclusively 
 for facilitating the drying of paint, but has 
 mainly given place to a combination of metal¬ 
 lic oxides, known to the trade as “ Patent 
 Dryer,” which seems to answer a better pur¬ 
 pose than any thing yet discovered. 
 
 Linseed-oil is obtained from flaxseed, by 
 grinding the same under heavy stones set on 
 
OILS. 
 
 125 
 
 edge, and made to revolve on beds of stone. 
 Attached to the edge stone are scrapers, which 
 throw the seed into the circular track of the 
 roller. The ground seed is placed in strong, 
 woven, woollen bags, which bags are covered 
 with mats made of horse-hair and sole-leather, 
 of a proper and sufficient width to protect the 
 bags in the operation of pressing. These mats 
 with their contents are subjected to an immense 
 hydraulic pressure, and the expressed oil flows 
 off into large iron tanks, where it is allowed 
 to settle. What remains in the bags after the 
 pressure is known as oil-cake. The great 
 bulk of this article is exported to England, 
 where it is sold as food for cattle. The fol¬ 
 lowing figures will convey an idea of the enor¬ 
 mous amount of linseed-oil used in the United 
 States: There were imported into this coun¬ 
 try, in the year 1867, 2,000,000 bushels of 
 linseed—mostly from Calcutta—which would 
 give four million gallons of oil. The home 
 product of flaxseed (or linseed) for the year 
 is estimated at from 1,750,000 to 2,000,000 
 
HOUS E-PAIN TING. 
 
 126 
 
 bushels, affording, at the lowest estimate, 
 3,500,000 gallons of oil—making a total of 
 7,500,000 gallons—most of which is consumed 
 at home. In addition to this, there were im¬ 
 ported from England 250,000 gallons of lin¬ 
 seed oil, making a grand total of say 8,000,000 
 gallons. 
 
 Admitting the correctness of the theory 
 heretofore advanced, that the consumption of 
 paint affords the best standard whereby to 
 measure the progress of a people in the best 
 civilization, it must be admitted that we are 
 marching with rapid strides in that path. 
 
 Adulteration of Oil.— The adulteration 
 of linseed-oil is practised to a very great ex¬ 
 tent, in this country, at the present day— 
 probably more so than at any former period. 
 The high price which this article has borne 
 since the second year of the war, in compari¬ 
 son with some of the less useful oils, has stim¬ 
 ulated the ingenuity of men of an inventive 
 genius, to mix the articles, and sell the mix¬ 
 ture under the name of the most respectable 
 
OILS. 
 
 127 
 
 of tlie two oily copartners. As before said, 
 the comparative bigli price of linseed-oil has 
 rendered the process of adulteration profitable, 
 even when the proportion of the cheaper ma¬ 
 terial amounts to but a small percentage of 
 the mixture. For example, supposing the 
 market price of linseed-oil to be one dollar 
 and fifty cents per gallon—which would be a 
 fair average of prices during the last three or 
 four years—the substitution of only ten per 
 cent., or four gallons to the barrel of forty 
 gallons, of an oil the market value of which 
 is only sixty cents per gallon, gives a profit of 
 three dollars and twenty cents; an enormous 
 profit on an article of such general and certain 
 demand, and which is sold at wholesale ordi¬ 
 narily at a merely nominal profit. 
 
 The adulteration, by mixing with inferior 
 oils, is carried to a greater extent in boiled 
 than in crude oil, as the liability to detection 
 is much less with the former. 
 
 There are various tests for determining the 
 purity of oil, but, unfortunately, those which 
 
128 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 are tlie most reliable are of no practical value 
 to tlie painter. The application of a few drops 
 of sulphuric acid to a film of the oil to he 
 tested, on a piece of glass, is a good method of 
 ascertaining its purity; but this involves a 
 knowledge of the peculiar effects of this acid 
 upon the different oils. A simpler method, 
 but less reliable, is to heat the oil, when the 
 presence of another oil may be detected by 
 the odor which exhales. Specific gravity also 
 is a good criterion. The instrument used for 
 determining the gravity of oil is called an 
 oleometer, which is graduated to sink to zero in 
 a certain oil raised to the temperature of boil¬ 
 ing water. Linseed-oil is the most dense of any 
 of the fixed or fat oils, with the single excep¬ 
 tion of castor-oil ; therefore, an oleometer 
 graduated to sink to zero in pure linseed-oil, 
 would of course sink lower in linseed-oil which 
 contained fish-oil, or any of the oils of less 
 specific gravity, and the measure of adultera¬ 
 tion would be shown by the figures on the 
 stem of the instrument. 
 
OILS. 
 
 129 
 
 Tlie presence of fish-oil in linseed-oil may 
 be detected by agitation with a little chlorine 
 gas, which blackens the animal oil, but has 
 little or no effect on the vegetable oil. Un¬ 
 fortunately, these modes of testing are trouble¬ 
 some, and involve a certain outlay of time and 
 money. The best inexpensive and ready test 
 which the writer can suggest, is to put a few 
 drops of the suspected oil in the palm of the 
 hand, and then rub the palms of the two hands 
 briskly together; after this has continued a 
 minute, by applying the hand to the nose, the 
 presence of fish-oil will reveal itself by its 
 peculiar odor. These directions are of little 
 value to those who conduct business in the 
 large cities, and who can purchase their stock 
 of oil directly from the crushers of seed; but 
 it is hoped they may be useful to those who 
 are remote from the place of manufacture, and 
 who must ordinarily purchase from second or 
 third hands. 
 
 Oil of Turpentine. —This indispensable 
 article, known to the trade as spirits of turpen- 
 
130 house-paestthstg. 
 
 * 
 
 tine, is obtained by distilling tlie sap which 
 flows from that species of tlie pine known as 
 Pinus australis , or long-leaved pine, which 
 grows in great abundance on the coasts of 
 North Carolina and Georgia. The turpentine 
 is procured by tapping the tree at first near 
 the ground, with an axe made for the purpose. 
 From one to three box-like cuttings are made 
 in a tree, having a capacity each of two or 
 three pints. The sap, which runs from the tree 
 only in warm weather, begins to flow freely in 
 March, and is dipped out from the boxes with a 
 peculiar-shaped ladle, and deposited in barrels. 
 The sap hardens on exposure, and soon forms 
 a coating on the surface of the wood, which 
 stops the flow. This surface must be removed 
 occasionally to renew the flow of the sap. 
 Formerly, the bulk of the turpentine produced 
 in North Carolina was exported in a crude 
 state for distillation in the North, but now the 
 principal portion is distilled in the State, the 
 larger proprietors having stills of their own. 
 These are not unlike the stills used for the 
 
OILS. 
 
 131 
 
 distillation of spirits from grain and other 
 substances, and have a capacity of from five to 
 twenty barrels each. After the turpentine is 
 drawn off, the residuum forms the common 
 rosin of commerce. 
 
 When the trees are no longer profitable for 
 their yield of turpentine, they are felled, cut 
 up, and charred in kilns, producing tar which, 
 by boiling, is concentrated into pitch. The 
 yearly average product of one acre of turpen¬ 
 tine forest is from twelve to sixteen bar¬ 
 rels of crude turpentine, which yield- about 
 two barrels of spirits of turpentine and eight 
 of rosin. 
 
 The statistics of the turpentine product, 
 always difficult to obtain, are more so now 
 than formerly. Before the war, the estimated 
 annual product of North Carolina was 800,000 
 barrels of crude turpentine, equal to about 
 115,000 barrels of spirits of turpentine, and 
 450,000 barrels of rosin. 
 
 Oil of turpentine is a most important, in¬ 
 deed indispensable article in house and other 
 
132 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 kinds of painting, but it requires to be bandied 
 with skill and judgment. As a rule, too 
 muck of it is used in exterior work, and not 
 enough in interior work. Wlien used to any 
 considerable extent for exposed situations, it 
 impairs the water-proof property of the paint, 
 and consequently its durability. Colors mixed 
 entirely with turpentine are but little more 
 durable than water-colors. In the prepara¬ 
 tory coats for dark-grained work, such as outer 
 doors and vestibules, when a finishing coat of 
 varnish is applied, the proportion of turpen¬ 
 tine should be as great as possible; such work, 
 being exposed to the direct rays of the sun, 
 becomes so heated that it is very apt to blis¬ 
 ter, whereby the best job will be completely 
 spoiled. The remedy for this state of things 
 is expensive and troublesome, it being no less 
 than the entire removal of all the paint, either 
 by washing with powerful alkalies, or by the 
 application of a high degree of heat,- and 
 scraping. Such a result can be prevented 
 only by using as little oil as may be, to spread 
 
OILS. 
 
 133 
 
 the paint evenly, and finishing with the best 
 attainable coach-body varnish. 
 
 For interiors, turpentine is used in the 
 finishing coat almost entirely, for the reasons 
 that clearer, purer tints are attainable than 
 with linseed-oil, that the paint does not dis¬ 
 color so quickly, and the flat, dead finish which 
 it produces conceals, by its lesser reflective 
 power, the irregularities and imperfections of 
 the surface. 
 
 Spirits of turpentine dissolves all resinous 
 substances, and is a very good solvent for In¬ 
 dia rubber. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE ACTION OF LINSEED-OIL UPON PAINTS. 
 
 Of all the fixed and fatty oils, linseed-oil, 
 when not exposed to the atmosphere, under¬ 
 goes the least change of condition. It does 
 not become rancid and emit an unpleasant 
 odor, as do the animal oils; nor does it thicken 
 and become viscid, as do some of the vegetable 
 oils. It remains limpid under all ordinary 
 temperatures^md does not congeal till cooled 
 from 4° to 18° below Fahrenheit. 
 
 All these qualities fit it admirably to serve 
 as a vehicle for mixing and spreading paints. 
 It has no effect on paints except simply to 
 darken the shade or tint and render them less 
 opaque. This is shown by mixing whiting or 
 Paris white with oil. These substances are, 
 when dry, to all appearance as opaque as 
 
ACTION OF LINSEED-OIL UPON PAINTS. 135 
 
 wliite lead; but when wet with oil they be¬ 
 come semi-transparent, and assume a yellow¬ 
 ish tint. The effect is the same precisely 
 as to saturate white writing-paper with oil. 
 It loses its opacity and becomes transparent. 
 (This word is used in its common and not in 
 its technical sense.) White lead, from its 
 wonderful opacity in body, is not thus affected, 
 and from this property it derives its chief 
 value as a pigment. In no other respect does 
 linseed-oil have the slightest effect on the 
 paint when mixed with it. 
 
 No possible preparation of the oil can 
 change the nature of the pigments which are 
 put into it. Within the last ten years it has 
 become the custom of the trade to mix white 
 paint for grinding in oil which has undergone 
 the bleaching process. This operation of 
 bleaching is performed either by subjecting 
 the oil to a certain degree of heat, or by treat¬ 
 ing it with acid and afterward washing with 
 steam. 
 
 In either of these processes the oil precipi- 
 
136 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 tates a portion of its coloring matter and as¬ 
 sumes a paler tint; otherwise it undergoes no 
 change, and, economically considered, the 
 operation is a losing one, there being a de¬ 
 crease of bulk, w r itli no corresponding gain in 
 quality; added cost, with no improvement in 
 either the water-proof or siccative property of 
 the oil. dSTo pigment is improved, either in 
 density, covering property, or tint, by being 
 mixed with linseed or other oil. 
 
 Some of the greens and blues, it is true, 
 assume a darker hue on being mixed ; but 
 this is equivalent to varnishing. A better re¬ 
 sult still is produced by mixing them in water 
 or turpentine, and afterward applying a coat 
 of varnish. What the writer washes to enforce, 
 is the fact, that no possible preparation of oil 
 can impart a value to materials which of 
 themselves are valueless. 
 
 The material used for adulterating paints 
 is of itself utterly and totally wdthout value as 
 a pigment, and it only becomes in a degree 
 respectable from its association with materials 
 
ACTION OF LINSEED-OIL UPON PAINTS. 137 
 
 wliick are intrinsically valuable. The oil 
 which is used to spread it cannot improve it, 
 or change its nature. 
 
 To speak of oil as the base of paint is the 
 veriest nonsense. With as much propriety 
 may it he said that water is the base of pig¬ 
 ments which are used as water-colors, as that 
 oil is the base of oil-paints. Water would be 
 the better menstruum for paints, if some pro¬ 
 cess could be discovered of rendering water- 
 color painting water-proof. Tarnish, cer¬ 
 tainly, does this, but varnished work is not 
 suitable for interiors; it produces a shiny, 
 cheap, tawdry appearance, and reveals all the 
 irregularities on the surface of walls and wood¬ 
 work which it is most desirable to conceal. 
 Tor outside work varnish is unsuited, because 
 it will not resist the action of atmospheric in¬ 
 fluences. It cracks, grows rusty, and requires 
 frequent renewal. An oil, to be perfectly 
 adapted to the requirements of the painter, 
 must possess the property of drying quickly, 
 without stickiness, must be inodorous (or at 
 
138 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 least free from any unpleasant odor), colorless, 
 limpid—must not congeal, except at very low 
 temperatures, must not discolor or turn yel¬ 
 low when not exposed to the light, and must 
 be entirely water-proof. IVhen an oil, either 
 vegetable or animal, fulfilling all these con¬ 
 ditions better than linseed-oil, shall he found, 
 and can be furnished in sufficient quantity at 
 a price no greater than the average price of 
 the oil produced from the seed of the flax- 
 plant, the finder may cry, “ Eureka! ” So far, 
 no unctuous oil, except the oil of linseed, has 
 been discovered, which possesses any two of 
 the above-named necessary properties com¬ 
 bined with the first, which does not exceed the 
 latter so far in cost of production as to render 
 its common use altogether impracticable. 
 
 The flax-plant should have a prominent 
 place in the coat-of-arms of the guild of the 
 liouse-painters, for without it the trade would 
 hardly have had an existence. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 VAUNISHES. 
 
 Except to gratify a laudable curiosity, 
 or to satisfy a thirst for knowledge, the de¬ 
 tails of the mode of operation, in the manu¬ 
 facture of varnish, are of no benefit to the 
 house-painter or to the public. Time was, 
 when a practical knowledge of varnish-mak¬ 
 ing was known to the few, and formulas or 
 recipes for producing the various kinds of 
 varnishes and japans were held in high es¬ 
 teem, and had a certain value. To-day the 
 business of manufacturing varnish has in¬ 
 creased to enormous proportions. So great 
 is the amount of capital employed, and the 
 skill developed by competition in the effort 
 to produce the best article for a given price, 
 that to make varnish in small quantities, in 
 
140 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 a domestic way, is altogether impracticable. 
 There are how no varnishes used in house- 
 painting (with a single exception which will 
 he mentioned hereafter) which can he profit¬ 
 ably manufactured at home. Ordinarily, the 
 cost of material alone would he as much or 
 more than would he the cost of a better var¬ 
 nish than could under any circumstances be 
 produced by one not skilled in the proper 
 manipulation of the materials, and lacking 
 the appliances necessary to produce, the best 
 results. 
 
 The exception before mentioned is the 
 white lac-varnish used for covering the knots, 
 and pitchy and discolored spots, which occur 
 in all new pine-wood work. 
 
 This is made simply by dissolving bleached 
 shellac in alcohol, in the proportion of two 
 pounds of the former to one gallon of the 
 latter. More or less of the gum may be 
 used to give the required strength. The 
 varnish is easily diluted by the addition of 
 alcohol, or made stronger by the addition 
 
VARNISHES. 
 
 141 
 
 of more sliellac. (In cases where color is 
 not important, the ordinary unbleached shel¬ 
 lac will answer, and the cost is much less.) 
 
 It is most readily prepared in a tin can 
 or bottle, which requires occasional shaking 
 during the process. A gentle heat facilitates 
 the operation. It may be prepared in greater 
 or less quantity, and rendered perfectly trans¬ 
 parent by passing it through a filter paper. It 
 then becomes the best possible varnish for 
 pictures. The alcohol must he of a strength 
 of ninety-five per cent. 
 
 Mastic Tarnish is made by dissolving 
 gum-mastic in spirits of turpentine. Of a 
 certain strength, this varnish thickens linseed- 
 oil, and makes what is called megilp. 
 
 The varnishes used by the house-painter 
 are made by melting gum-copal at a high 
 degree of heat, and adding thereto linseed-oil 
 and spirits of turpentine in certain proportions. 
 
 Copal (.Mexican Copalli ), a generic name 
 of resins, is the concrete juice of certain 
 trees growing mostly in the East Indies. 
 
142 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 It is hard, shining, transparent, yellowish- 
 colored, inodorous, resembling amber; strictly 
 it is neither a gum nor a resin : not being 
 soluble in water as are the gums, nor in al¬ 
 cohol as are the resins. 
 
 The most useful and valuable is that 
 which comes from the Mozambique country, 
 and is known in commerce as Zanzibar gum. 
 
 This copal, it is said, is dug out of the 
 sand, and not a vestige or trace of the tree 
 which produced it is visible in the places 
 where it is found. Geologists are agreed 
 that this substance is of antediluvian origin. 
 
 The copal nest in value to the Zanzibar 
 gum, is known in trade as Beuguela gum. 
 An inferior gum called Kowrie is now much 
 used by varnish-makers. 
 
 Bosin also is used by some manufacturers 
 in cheapening varnish. It is, however, at best 
 a poor substitute for copal, and the safe 
 course for consumers of varnish to pursue is 
 to buy only from well-known and responsible 
 parties. 
 
VARNISHES. 
 
 143 
 
 -Gum-copal expands on melting by heat, 
 and on exposure to the air has a tendency 
 to shrink to its original bulk. This causes 
 the surface to crack, and quite spoils the ef¬ 
 fect of the best grained work. (The art of 
 imitating colored wood by painting is called 
 by painters Graining.) The best possible 
 piece of work of this kind may be completely 
 spoiled by the application of a coat of poor, 
 cheap varnish. The only remedy is to begin 
 anew and have the work all done over again. 
 
 “ Quick-drying ” varnishes are not suited 
 to the varnishing of painted work. Those 
 known as coach or carriage varnishes only 
 should be used. Good coach-varnish may 
 be mixed with pure boiled linseed-oil, in the 
 proportion of three parts of the former to one 
 of the latter, to good advantage. The oil 
 renders the varnish more elastic, and prevents 
 its hardening to the point of cracking. 
 
 Best Coach-Body Yarnish. — The best 
 coach-varnish is made by melting, in a cop¬ 
 per kettle made for the purpose, best Zan- 
 
HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Iff 
 
 zibar gum, and adding gradually thereto pre¬ 
 pared linseed-oil, lieated to about 350 degrees, 
 in the proportion of about three pounds of 
 gum to one gallon of oil. 
 
 These are boiled together for a time, and 
 then allowed to cool partially. Spirits of 
 turpentine is then added in quantity about 
 equal to the oil, previously stirred into the 
 melted gum. This varnish improves by age, 
 and should not be used sooner than five or 
 six months. 
 
 Best Carriage-Varnish. — This differs 
 from the coach-body varnish only in the use 
 of a less quantity of oil and turpentine in 
 proportion to the quantity of gum and the 
 greater quantity of turpentine in proportion 
 to the oil. The mode of operation is the 
 same. 
 
 Inside, or Furniture Varnish.— Quick¬ 
 drying varnishes for rubbing and polishing 
 are made usually from mixed gums, gum- 
 kowrie entering largely into the composition 
 of some of them—the proportion of linseed- 
 
VARNISHES. 
 
 145 
 
 oil and spirits of turpentine being about one 
 of the former to three or four of the latter. 
 
 White Demar Tarnish. —This varnish, 
 which is used mostly with white zinc for 
 producing what is called “ gloss ” or u porce¬ 
 lain finish,” may be made by dissolving 
 gum-Demar in cold spirits of turpentine in 
 the proportion of about five pounds of gum 
 to one gallon of turpentine; a gentle heat 
 however, hastens the operation of solving the 
 gum, and possibly produces a better result. 
 
 Black; Japan Tarnish.— This article is 
 used for hardware generally, and is composed 
 of asphaltum, copal,—-either Zanzibar or Ben- 
 guela,—prepared linseed-oil, turpentine, and 
 benzine. This varnish must be dried by heat, 
 and is called “Baking Japan.” 
 
 A so-called self-drying japan is made of 
 asphaltum by itself, without the addition of 
 copal. This is used on trunks and articles 
 where it is not convenient or practicable to 
 apply artificial heat. 
 
 The latter varnish, reduced with spirits 
 1 
 
HOTTSE-PAINTING. 
 
 14-6 
 
 of turpentine, makes what is known as black- 
 walnut stain. Rosewood stain is a solution 
 of extract of logwood in alcohol in propor¬ 
 tions to meet the taste; about four pounds 
 of extract to a gallon of alcohol is generally 
 used. 
 
 Gold Lacquer is made by dissolving 
 shellac-gum, sandarach, and crude turpentine 
 in alcohol. This varnish is colored by the 
 addition of an alcoholic solution of gamboge 
 and alkanet-root in proportions to produce 
 the desired tint. 
 
 French Polish is made by dissolving 
 bleached shellac in alcohol in equal propor¬ 
 tions by weight. It is applied with a pad 
 made of a wad of cotton-wool wrapped in a 
 linen rag. The pad must first be dipped 
 in raw linseed-oil, then into the varnish, and 
 rubbed quickly on the work. The operation 
 of French polishing requires great skill and 
 dexterity in the manipulation to produce a 
 good result. 
 
 In closing this chapter on varnish, the 
 
VAJRNISHES. 
 
 147 
 
 writer would again call tlie attention of tlie 
 consumer to tlie importance of using great 
 care in the selection of the same. The appli¬ 
 cation of varnish is the finishing touch to 
 the work, and a coat of poor varnish may 
 waste all the previously expended labor and 
 material. 
 
 As a rule, buy only of makers of known 
 reputation, who cannot afford to use inferior 
 materials. 
 
 All the gum consumed by varnish-makers 
 in the manufacture of the various kinds of 
 varnishes, is the production of foreign coun¬ 
 tries, there having been as yet none of this 
 material discovered within the limits of the 
 United States. 
 
 The quantity imported in the year 1867, 
 including asphaltum (which is used in making 
 the black varnishes), was not probably short 
 of four millions of pounds. The quantity of 
 oil necessary to convert this amount of gum 
 into varnish would be about two hundred 
 and seventy-five thousand gallons of linseed- 
 
148 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 oil, and about one million gallons of oil of 
 turpentine and benzine, wliicb would produce 
 about two million gallons of varnish, equal to 
 fifty thousand barrels of. forty gallons each. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PREPARATION OF WORK FOR PAINTING. 
 
 In preparing work for painting, too muck 
 care cannot be exercised, as succeeding coats 
 and the final result depend very muck on tke 
 proper condition of tke work wken tke prim¬ 
 ing coat is applied. Pirst, all tke rougk places 
 in tke wood should be rubbed down with a 
 block covered with sandpaper; and the mould¬ 
 ings and beads should be well cleaned out 
 with sandpaper. Then (and this is a matter 
 of prime importance), every knot, however 
 small, every indication of sap on tke wood, or 
 discoloration of any kind, and every appear¬ 
 ance of pitch or gum, should be carefully var¬ 
 nished over with white shellac varnish, if the 
 work is to be finished in white or light tints— 
 
150 
 
 nOUSE-PArNTESTG. 
 
 or with varnish made from unbleached or 
 common shellac, if the work is to be finished 
 in dark shades. The common shellac, in the 
 latter case, answers equally well with the 
 bleached article, and at less cost. This should 
 not, under any circumstances, be neglected, 
 as it is impossible, in the nature of things, 
 otherwise to make ° - ood work. 
 
 O 
 
 When work is to be finished with two 
 coats, the putty used for stopping the nail- 
 heads and other indentations, should be made 
 of white lead, worked up with common whit¬ 
 ing to the proper consistency, and the filling 
 should be done after the first coat shall have 
 become well dried. When more than two 
 coats are to be applied, the filling should be 
 done between the first and second coats, with 
 ordinary pure linseed-oil putty. 
 
 It should be adopted as a rule, never to 
 apply pure white as a priming coat; no matter 
 whether the work is to be finished with one 
 or four coats, the result will always be more 
 satisfactory if the first coat be stained. A 
 
PREPARATION FOR PAINTING. 
 
 151 
 
 little finely-ground lamp black answers as well 
 for this as any tiling. 
 
 The only way to produce solid, uniform 
 work, is by making every succeeding coat 
 lighter in tint than tlie one wbicli preceded it. 
 This is specially tlie case with walls, and other 
 extended flat surfaces. No matter wliat the 
 finish is to he, the first coat should always he 
 clarlcer than the one which succeeds it; and 
 the darker the shade of the finishing coat, tlie 
 more important it is that this rule should be 
 observed. If the work is to be finished with 
 black, prime with black. If with green, let 
 that be the color of all the preceding coats. 
 If with blue, let that color be the ground¬ 
 work. What can be more stupid than apply¬ 
 ing to work which is to be finished in imita¬ 
 tion of black-walnut a priming coat of white ? 
 All work should he primed especially with 
 regard to the finishing color. 
 
 There is not half enough of dark colors 
 used in priming applications. Venetian red, 
 finely ground in boiled oil, deeply stained 
 
152 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 with black—and used very thin, in order to 
 stain the wood as much as possible—is the 
 best first coat for work which is to he finished 
 in imitation of black-walnut or other dark 
 wood. The succeeding coats should be as 
 dark as may he with a view to the proper 
 shade of ground-work for the graining. In 
 such case, if (as must happen in the ordinary 
 com’se of events) the work becomes bruised or 
 “ chipped ”—by an accidental knock from a 
 chair-leg or other article of house furniture— 
 the general appearance of it is little impaired 
 thereby. Quite the contrary, however, is the 
 case if the underneath coats are white. Then, 
 an accident of the kind before mentioned, 
 shows a white spot, which staringly proclaims 
 the work to he a delusion and a sham. Dark 
 colors, too, as the Venetian red before men¬ 
 tioned, make better foundations than white 
 lead or zinc. They dry harder and “ rub ” 
 better, and, what is most important, cost less. 
 
 This matter having been duly considered, 
 let us now proceed to the coats succeeding the 
 
PEEPAEATION FOE PAINTING. 
 
 153 
 
 first. Before applying a second coat, tlie first 
 should he carefully rubbed and all the nail- 
 heads and other indentations carefully stopped 
 with pure linseed-oil putty—using for flat sur¬ 
 faces a square-bladed putty-knife. Puttying 
 with the fingers should never be tolerated 
 (good work is now the subject under consider¬ 
 ation). This done, the whole should be care¬ 
 fully examined to ascertain if the oil in the 
 former coat shall have revealed any resinous 
 or pitchy spots, not previously covered with 
 the shellac. (But for the present high price 
 of alcohol, the writer would recommend the 
 application of thin shellac varnish to the whole 
 surface, between the first and second coatings.) 
 These preliminaries being attended to, the 
 work may be considered ready for a second 
 coat. The directions as to rubbing with sand¬ 
 paper are to be observed in all the succeeding 
 coats. As a rule, on interior work, paint 
 should never be applied to a surface which 
 has not been previously rubbed. 
 
 Sandpaper for fresh work and pumice-stone 
 
154 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 for old work. Always distrust tlie education 
 of a painter in liis trade wlio goes to work 
 without a lump of pumice-stone, a sheet of 
 sandpaper, a putty-knife, and a rag to wipe 
 off the spatters—sparks, as the Irish not in¬ 
 aptly call them. Apropos of spatters ! Every 
 painter has seen (the result too of unpardon¬ 
 able negligence) plates of glass so covered 
 with spatters, that to remove them would re¬ 
 quire more time than would serve to paint 
 the wood-work of a “full-trimmed” window. 
 
 In priming work which is to he finished 
 in oak, finely-ground French ochre is recom¬ 
 mended. The objection to this pigment, that 
 it does not work smoothly and easily under 
 the brush, has arisen from its coarseness. 
 Finely ground in boiled oil, it works as 
 smoothly as white lead, and makes an excel¬ 
 lent foundation for the succeeding coats. 
 
 For Avails the first coat should be as dark 
 in shade and as thin as practicable, the object 
 being to stain the plaster as much as possible. 
 Indeed, if the Avhole mass of plaster could be 
 
PREPARATION FOR PAINTING. 
 
 155 
 
 stained through, and through, it would he de¬ 
 sirable to so stain it. 
 
 The use of glue in wall-painting is of 
 doubtful propriety. It should never, under 
 any circumstances, he put on until after the 
 second coat, and then rubbed on with a rag, 
 very lightly. In first-class work, however, its 
 use is not recommended. 
 
 Plaster mixed with weak glue-size—which 
 prevents its setting too rapidly—is the best 
 material for stopping walls preparatory to 
 painting, and each coat of paint should be 
 carefully rubbed with worn sandpaper, before 
 the succeeding coat is put on. Por preparing 
 walls a small pocket-trowel will be found a 
 most serviceable tool, or a trowel-shaped put¬ 
 ty-knife, which article is now coming into 
 general use. 
 
 The preparation of ceilings for whitewash¬ 
 ing (or kalsomining, as this operation is some¬ 
 times pretentiously called) is an operation re¬ 
 quiring some skill and knowledge of “ how to 
 do it.” A dirty ceiling, which has been sub- 
 
150 
 
 iiousE-PAnsrrrNG. 
 
 jected to successive coats of whitewash, wheth¬ 
 er of lime, or whiting and glue-size, cannot 
 he made solidly and smoothly white by addi¬ 
 tional whitewashing. The mass has become 
 spongy, and sucks up the water so quickly, 
 that the material cannot be evenly distributed. 
 In such case, the only way is to begin anew, 
 to go at once “ down to hard pan ” by remov¬ 
 ing all the previous applications by washing 
 and scraping. This is best effected with a 
 broad-bladed square-pointed putty-knife, keep¬ 
 ing the ceiling wet meanwhile. Plaster (hard- 
 finish) is not of uniform density, and some 
 spots are much more absorbent than others. 
 To remedy this, a mixture of soft soap and 
 alum, dissolved in water, should he applied 
 with a broad kalsomine brush. 
 
 It is not assumed that mere verbal instruc¬ 
 tion can teach the art of whitening or tinting 
 Avails and ceilings in water-colors. To pro¬ 
 duce good results, great skill in preparing the 
 materials and dexterity in manipulation are 
 required ; and such work should be intrusted 
 
PREPARATION FOR PAINTING. 157 
 
 only to competent hands. A mass of unsuit¬ 
 able material may be cheaply put upon a 
 ceiling ; but when the same shall require 
 repainting, the cost of labor will be greater 
 in removing the previous coating, than will be 
 the whole cost of repainting. These remarks, 
 too, apply equally to all kinds of painting; 
 and reference is made to the whitening and 
 tinting of ceilings only, because of the general 
 impression that this kind of work may be 
 performed by anybody. 
 
 The materials and tools used in painting 
 are too costly to be wasted and worn by in¬ 
 competent handling. “ Painting up, just to 
 keep the gardener or hostler out of idleness,” 
 will prove in most cases a left-handed econo¬ 
 my. Such experiments are prudent only 
 when the services of skilled workmen cannot 
 be obtained. 
 
CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 DECORATIVE HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 It must be admitted that, as a people, we 
 are sadly indifferent to the effect of color for 
 decorative and ornamental purposes;—no 
 people more so. Certainly none have shown 
 less disposition to study the harmonious ar¬ 
 rangement of colors, either in furniture or 
 architecture. It would seem that in this 
 respect we are just emerging from a condition 
 of barbarism—but that all semi-civilized and 
 barbarous nations evince far more natural 
 taste in the arrangement of colors, and skill 
 in colored design, than we do. It may be 
 said that a people, with the task on their 
 hands of subduing a vast continent and bring¬ 
 ing into subjection the rude forces of Xature, 
 have weightier matters demanding their at- 
 
DECORATIVE IIOTJSE-PAINTING. 
 
 159 
 
 tention tlian tlie arrangement of patches and 
 stripes of colors to please a childish or frivo¬ 
 lous fancy. This proposition, if offered in 
 excuse, would perhaps be pertinent if, as in¬ 
 dividuals, we were not given to indulgences 
 far less important than the harmonious com¬ 
 bination of colors. If we were a patient, 
 plodding, laborious, painstaking people, given 
 over to the pursuits of gain—utilitarian in 
 our habits and modes of life—there would be 
 more excuse for this neglect of the education 
 of the perceptive faculties. But such is not 
 the case. We are a most extravagant people, 
 not only in our modes of living, but in our 
 modes of thinking. We waste more than 
 some nations consume ; and we look upon econ¬ 
 omy as at best a negative virtue, which a proud¬ 
 spirited people cannot consistently practise. 
 
 It is not, therefore, from the want, either 
 of leisure or of means, that we neglect to 
 educate ourselves in the various branches of 
 ornamental art, which, if properly cultivated, 
 would serve to render beautiful as well as 
 
160 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 useful articles of every-day requirement; nor 
 is it from an indisposition to spend our money 
 for the encouragement of decorative art. 
 How many lavish enormous sums in the 
 purchase of pictures which are placed in 
 houses furnished throughout with not the 
 slightest regard to harmony, or proportion, 
 or beauty of design, or finish! Many of the 
 houses of our rich men are frightful, from the 
 abundance of gaudy and meretricious orna¬ 
 mentation ! Indeed, we spend more money, 
 in proportion to what we get for it, than any 
 people on the face of the earth. 
 
 What we require most, is to free ourselves 
 from the slavery which we are under to 
 fashion and custom and servile imitation! 
 We must become, in our modes of thinking 
 and in our modes of acting, more independ¬ 
 ent. There must be more of individuality, of 
 self-assertion, and less of subserviency to the 
 prevailing fashion of the moment. We boast 
 of our independence—yet in such matters we 
 do not make it manifest. 
 
DECORATIVE HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 161 
 
 Few—either men or women—have the 
 courage, in the furnishing of their houses, to 
 ignore the prevailing fashion, however much 
 that fashion may set at defiance all rules of 
 harmony in arrangement and adaptation. 
 
 For example: paper hangings are the mode, 
 and we cover all our walls with paper, much 
 of which is perfectly frightful, both in design 
 and color. 
 
 An invalid lying in bed in some of our 
 papered rooms, with no mental occupation but 
 that of tracing the figures on the walls, will 
 he forced to hide his head beneath the bed¬ 
 clothes to escape the appalling images which 
 his diseased fancy will have conjured out of 
 the ill-regulated designs and patterns which, 
 in spite of himself, meet his gaze, turn which¬ 
 ever way he may. 
 
 Again: what is called plain painting is 
 the prevailing custom, and we rush to strip 
 from our houses the painted paper, and a 
 plain dead level of sombre neutral tints takes 
 the place of the many-hued, cheap, and too 
 
162 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 often gaudy hangings—an improvement, per¬ 
 haps, because less liable to add to the horrors 
 of a distempered fancy, and more in con¬ 
 sonance with the laws of health. If nothing 
 more is gained, cleanliness is promoted by the 
 change. 
 
 White walls for a time prevail, and we 
 put forth frantic efforts to find some substance 
 which shall rival the new-fallen snow in 
 whiteness. This spasm of puritanism gives 
 place to panelled work, and we have panels 
 and mouldings everywhere, in halls and ves¬ 
 tibules, in parlors and bedrooms, with high 
 ceilings and low. Now, brighter hues become 
 the fashion! Fresco-painting , so-called, is 
 the prevailing, and, therefore , proper style for 
 walls and ceilings, and parti-colors cover the 
 plain white which has so long held a place. 
 
 A soi-clisant fresco-painter is employed, 
 and the white walls disappear under sky- 
 blues, and blue and red-grays, and pink and 
 gilding, laid on by lavish but unskilful hands 
 —not only without regard to harmony either 
 
DECORATIVE HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 163 
 
 by analogy or contrast, but too often with no 
 fixed intent or purpose. 
 
 Carpets are cbosen with no regard to the 
 movable furniture, and pictures are hung 
 against walls so dazzling with colors and gild¬ 
 ing that the brightest hues on the canvas be¬ 
 come dull and dingy by comparison. 
 
 Living so much in-doors as we do, it is of 
 the first importance that the articles we have 
 constantly before us in our houses, and to 
 which the younger portion of the household 
 are so much indebted for early impressions, 
 should be beautiful and in good taste—that 
 the eye may be educated by the habit of seeing 
 what is good. We must discourage to the last 
 degree the idea that beautiful designs are to 
 be found only in costly and expensive objects, 
 and that the wealthy alone have such within 
 their reach; for, so long as taste is confined to 
 a few individuals, and is not introduced into 
 the ordinary ornaments and utensils of every¬ 
 day life, it will continue an exotic and a 
 luxury. There is no reason why these articles 
 
164 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 of every-day use may not be made beautiful 
 as easily as they now are too often hideous 
 and misshapen. 
 
 To be of use, taste should pervade all 
 classes ; all portions of the community should 
 be afforded the means of educating the eye ; 
 for there can be no hope of improvement in 
 the production of articles of every-day re- 
 quirement, if those who create them are 
 ignorant of the simplest notions of taste, and 
 cannot even comprehend the beauty of a de¬ 
 sign when it is presented to them. It is not 
 by the education of the wealthy that taste 
 can be spread through a country. Our 
 theory of general education, almost “with¬ 
 out money and without price,” is excellent 
 so far as it goes, but it does not go far 
 enough. It has not sufficient scope and ex¬ 
 tension. 
 
 We expend our energies in the develop¬ 
 ment of the intellectual faculties and forget 
 that there are perceptive faculties, which need 
 development and education. We teach the 
 
DECORATIVE HOTJSE-PAINTING. 
 
 165 
 
 ear to comprehend the harmony of sounds, 
 but make not the slightest attempt to educate 
 the eye in the harmony of color ! Yet how 
 much of the pains and pleasures of every-day 
 life do we realize through the sense of sight! 
 To be deprived of this faculty is considered 
 the greatest misfortune. Is it not a misfor¬ 
 tune to have eyes and see not ? 
 
 The school-room is of all others the place 
 where good examples of colored ornamenta¬ 
 tion should be displayed. 
 
 It is the least expensive and troublesome 
 of all kinds of teaching; for, with good ex¬ 
 amples, the eye becomes self-educated. 
 
 Every common school should be a school 
 of design in the best and most comprehensive 
 sense of the term ; and the fact should be im¬ 
 pressed upon the minds of all, that objects 
 possessing proportion, form, and other condi¬ 
 tions of beauty, need not 'necessarily be ex¬ 
 pensive. 
 
 The humblest individual may display an 
 innate perception of the beautiful in the or- 
 
1G6 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 namentation of a homely cottage and in the 
 poorest materials. It should he remembered 
 by those of limited means that the selection 
 of the beautiful depends upon the judgment, 
 and is not confined to the wealthy. 
 
 The bad taste displayed in the over-fur¬ 
 nished rooms of many of our rich men is con¬ 
 vincing proof that good taste is not confined 
 to the wealthy members of a community, nor 
 the possession of beautiful designs to those of 
 ample means. 
 
 It is not enough that the interior of our 
 dwellings and public buildings should be 
 covered with one or more coats of white or 
 pale-tinted paint. The panels and mouldings 
 which have been introduced there for archi¬ 
 tectural effect and beauty, should be made to 
 serve a double purpose in the way of colored 
 ornamentation. Nothing can be said in de¬ 
 fence of the custom which has until within a 
 few years almost universally prevailed, of 
 painting the walls and interior wood-work of 
 our dwellings with one unvarying color, that 
 
DECORATIVE HOIJSE-PAINTING. 
 
 167 
 
 will not apply with, equal force to the carpets, 
 hangings, and general furniture. 
 
 As has been before remarked, that puri¬ 
 tanic fashion has had its day, and is about to 
 be numbered among things that were. We 
 must now guard against the other extreme, 
 and not suffer our houses to be streaked with 
 colors and tints laid on by unskilful hands, 
 without regard to harmony or tasteful ar¬ 
 rangement. 
 
 The fashion for compound hues, neutral 
 tints, grays, and other so-called quiet colors, 
 is giving place to a preference for combina¬ 
 tions of red, blue, yellow, and other colors of the 
 prism. It has been the custom to decry these 
 colors as gaudy. But bright colors are not 
 necessarily gaudy. It is only when they are 
 put together without due regard to their suit¬ 
 ableness to each other, and their relative 
 quantities in the arrangement they require, 
 that they appear gaudy and glaring. A union 
 of bright hues, without regard to harmony, 
 must of necessity be disagreeable to the eye 
 
168 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTINGr. 
 
 educated to a knowledge of what constitutes 
 true harmony in the combination of colors. 
 
 There are some, however, who are as com¬ 
 pletely insensible to the effect of such har¬ 
 mony, as they are to that of musical sounds. 
 It is, therefore, of great importance that those 
 whose business or profession it is to arrange 
 colors in harmonious combination, should be 
 thoroughly imbued with the true feeling for 
 it, and should possess that natural perception, 
 which, though it may be improved by study, 
 cannot be acquired when the natural faculty 
 is wanting. 
 
 TSTo mere theory, however pretentious, can 
 teach the art of combining colors in har¬ 
 monious arrangement. The power depends 
 upon the perceptive faculty, and unless a 
 person possess this, he will vainly attempt to 
 lay down rules for the guidance of others. 
 Rules may be given for the direction of those 
 who do not possess the faculty of detecting 
 discords in colors, but they must be the result 
 of observation. Because such and such colors 
 
DECOKATIVE HOUSE-PAINTING. 169 
 
 stand in a certain relationship to others, or are 
 compounded in a certain manner, it cannot be 
 affirmed that they must therefore accord or 
 disagree with some other color. The question 
 is not whether they ought or ought not to 
 agree, hut whether they clo or do not agree. 
 
 What we want is a knowledge of a proper 
 combination of colors, derived from the ex¬ 
 perience of those who possess an intuitive per¬ 
 ception of it, and it is the eye alone which 
 must be consulted as the proper judge of 
 what it sees. 
 
 8 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IIABMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that, in the com¬ 
 bination of colors, there are some which, by 
 contrast, set off other colors, and materially 
 heighten the effect, while others decrease it. 
 Of course, much depends upon proportion, and 
 so great is this influence, that colors which 
 suit each other in one instance, will have a 
 disagreeable effect when one is too great or 
 too little in proportion to its neighbor. And 
 such a result will be produced in a carpet, or 
 other colored object, when the colors and hues 
 offend against these conditions. 
 
 In studying the harmony of color, it is 
 certainly important to know Avhat colors, when 
 placed together, are concords, and what are 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 171 
 
 discords ; but so much depends upon propor¬ 
 tion, that no rule can be laid down which 
 shall be a guide in this respect; therefore, it 
 would be a hopeless task to attempt to edu¬ 
 cate a person in the art of decorating with 
 colors whose perceptive faculties are deficient 
 in distinguishing what are or what are not 
 proper proportions. 
 
 Few persons are so color-blind as not to 
 experience the disagreeable effect produced by 
 placing in juxtaposition alternate stripes of 
 red and green. But this is not enough. It is 
 necessary to know what tones of these colors 
 are least discordant, and what color is wanting 
 to change this discord to harmony, supposing 
 such a result to be possible. 
 
 Harmony of color must not be understood 
 as meaning similarity of color. There is a 
 harmony by analogy , and a harmony by con¬ 
 trast also. As examples of the first, may be 
 mentioned crimson and rich brown, crimson 
 and purple, yellow and gold. Of the lat¬ 
 ter (harmony by contrast), scarlet and blue, 
 
172 
 
 nOUSE-PAINTmG. 
 
 orange and bine, yellow and black, white and 
 black, etc. 
 
 There are also colors which diminish each 
 other’s effect, as green and red. This fact is 
 well known to those of the fair sex who have 
 fire-colored liah’, and they avail themselves of 
 this knowledge, and soften the force of the too 
 bright red by a liberal nse of green. Blue, 
 on the contrary, being a contrast to red—par¬ 
 ticularly fire-red—sets it off, and women with 
 red hair (when that tint does not happen to 
 be the mode) are justified in their habit of 
 diminishing its intensity by the use of the 
 other more suitable color.- 
 
 The object in ornamentation, however, is 
 not to hide colors, but to show them—to 
 brighten, not diminish their effect—and what¬ 
 ever interferes with this, is contrary to the 
 spirit of ornamentation. Colors so affected 
 cease to appear to be what they really are ! 
 
 Thus, a black next to a red or green, or 
 between these two, becomes a dull or rusty 
 hue, and both the red and green lose by the 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OR COLORS. 173 
 
 arrangement. Introduce a white or a yellow 
 next the black, and it at once regains its own 
 hue ; others, again, raise the force of those they 
 are combined with, as both white and black 
 heighten the rose of the face, and these both 
 too increase the paleness of a pale complexion. 
 
 Light colors also brighten deeper ones; as 
 white or yellow with red or blue renders them 
 more lively; if intermixed with them, it on 
 the contrary diminishes their depth: thus, 
 yellow, interwoven with crimson, gives it a 
 scarlet tone, and white with blue, of course, 
 lightens it. 
 
 Some are harmonious from one being warm 
 and another cold; as red and blue, orange 
 and blue, brown and blue, and sometimes two 
 cold colors harmonize, as blue and white. 
 
 The perception of harmony in the arrange¬ 
 ment of colors is a natural gift, and can no 
 more be acquired, than an ear for music can 
 be acquired, when the natural faculty of dis¬ 
 tinguishing concord of sounds is wanting. LSTo 
 effort will compensate for the absence of the 
 
174 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTIN' G. 
 
 natural gift; but both the eye and the ear 
 may be improved by study, as both may be 
 impaired by bad habit. 
 
 The perceptive faculty necessary to the 
 arrangement of colors in harmonious combina¬ 
 tion is not only a natural gift, but is a na¬ 
 tional trait. The Italians are the most gifted 
 in decorative ornamentation, and the Trench, 
 perhaps, come nest. The Scotch are sadly 
 deficient in this faculty, their efforts, so far, 
 having resulted in the “ Scotch plaid,” which 
 ought to be the emblem of discord. The 
 Irish, too, display little or no taste in the ar¬ 
 rangement of colors. They, as a people, seem 
 to think that all the world should be one un¬ 
 broken green, save here and there a speck of 
 gold. The Dutch, who so far excel the 
 French as artistic colorists—particularly, in 
 imitating the colors of nature in landscapes— 
 are far inferior to the latter in decorative or¬ 
 namentation. 
 
 Colors in pictures do not, of course, admit 
 of the same contrast as when applied to orna- 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 175 
 
 mental purposes; tlie mode of using them, 
 also, is different, and the gray tints introduced 
 into a picture prevent the contrast of the 
 different colors being so strong and decided. 
 Nor are colors for ornamental purposes to be 
 used in the same way on all occasions. Those 
 which would suit well for some purposes will 
 not answer for other purposes. Those which 
 are well adapted for furniturfe, or the decora¬ 
 tion of a wall or ceiling, might not he suitable 
 for dresses; and the colors which suit a lady’s 
 toilet would not, according to the prevailing 
 taste, be admissible in the simpler costume of 
 men in civilized communities. Colors which 
 suit one complexion are not always adapted 
 to another. The orange hue, which would be 
 a favorite with a brunette, would be strongly 
 objected to by the light-haired blonde. The 
 latter would consider blue by far the prefer¬ 
 able color. 
 
 In furniture, such as carpets, coverings, 
 draperies, etc., it is better, as a rule, to attempt 
 harmony by analogy rather than by contrast. 
 
176 
 
 HotrsE-PAmTmG. 
 
 Reds, rich browns, crimsons, scarlets, and 
 greens, with an admixture of orange or gold, 
 produce much more satisfactory results than 
 yellows and blues. The former wear better, and 
 are much less likely to offend good taste than 
 when contrasts are attempted. Yellows and 
 blues—particularly light blues—soon acquire 
 a worn, faded appearance, and lack the warm, 
 genial effect so desirable in the place we call 
 home. 
 
 It must not be supposed that, because cer¬ 
 tain colors are placed in juxtaposition by na¬ 
 ture, such combinations must necessarily be 
 harmonious. Nature delights in contrasts, 
 and, while some flowers are most beautiful and 
 harmonious in their colors, others are equally 
 discordant. 
 
 In decorative ornamentation, N ature is not 
 a safe guide; and it does not follow, that leaves 
 and flowers and plants, so beautiful in the 
 conservatory, may with equal propriety be 
 introduced in patterns for carpets and hang¬ 
 ings. In carpets, colors, not patterns, should 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 177 
 
 be the chief object. It is of little consequence 
 what the pattern may be, so long as the colors 
 are arranged in harmonious proportion. ISTo 
 theory will serve to guide us in these matters. 
 The general effect is what is most to be con¬ 
 sidered, the tout ensemble , as the French say. 
 The detail is of little importance, so long as 
 the general effect is pleasing; above all, the 
 eye must not be offended by glaring contrasts. 
 Gaudiness is always offensive to a cultivated 
 taste. 
 
 Two colors agree—by the harmony of con¬ 
 trast, or by the harmony of analogy. To state 
 the proposition more plainly—two colors agree 
 by being like each other, or by being unlike 
 each other, or by the addition of a third, 
 which is wanting to produce perfect har¬ 
 mony ; as an instance of the latter, may be 
 mentioned blue and red, which are concords, 
 but which require the addition of yellow, to 
 make the harmony perfect. Among the most 
 pleasing colors which harmonize with each 
 other in pairs, are : 
 
178 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Blue and gold. 
 Purple and gold. 
 Green and gold. 
 Black and gold. 
 Crimson and gold. 
 Brown and gold. 
 Brown and orange. 
 
 Blue and orange. 
 Blue and scarlet. 
 Blue and black. 
 
 Blue and white. 
 
 Blue and chestnut. 
 Chestnut and orange. 
 Green and orange. 
 
 These are not, of course, all; hut others 
 harmonize in a less degree, and, as before said, 
 some want a third to produce harmony. Some 
 are disagreeable, and some positive discords. 
 Among the wanting and disagreeable may be 
 mentioned: 
 
 Blue and pink. 
 
 Blue and peach. 
 
 Blue and gray. 
 
 Blue and green. 
 
 Blue and blue-purple. 
 Orange and lilac. 
 Orange and drab. 
 Orange and gray. 
 Scarlet and brown. 
 Scarlet and chestnut. 
 Scarlet and drab. 
 Scarlet and green. 
 Crimson and purple. 
 Crimson and pink. 
 Crimson and gray. 
 Crimson and peach. 
 
 Yellow and red-purple. 
 Yellow and scarlet. 
 Yellow and gray. 
 Yellow and lilac. 
 Yellow and drab. 
 
 Red and green. 
 
 Red and blue-green. 
 Red and pink. 
 
 Red and buff. 
 
 Red and chestnut. 
 Purple and lilac. , 
 Purple and slate-color. 
 Purple and brown. 
 Purple and stone-color. 
 Purple and gray. 
 
 Purple and pink. 
 
HAEMONY AND DISCORD OF COLOES. 179 
 
 Green and gray. 
 
 Green and drab. 
 
 Green and stone-color. 
 
 The discords in two 
 
 Yellow and pink. 
 
 Green and pink-red. 
 Olive-green and red. 
 Slate-color and green. 
 Pink and green. 
 
 Brown and green. 
 Chocolate and green. 
 Busset and green. 
 Blue-green and lilac. 
 Scarlet and olive-green. 
 
 Purple and peach. 
 Purple and chestnut. 
 
 colors are : 
 
 Crimson and green. 
 Crimson and olive-green. 
 Mulberry and green. 
 Claret and green. 
 
 Lilac and green. 
 Red-brown and green. 
 Purple and citrine. 
 Blue-purple and green. 
 Purple and green.* 
 
 The colors which harmonize are : 
 
 Blue and red—but want yellow. 
 
 Blue and scarlet. 
 
 Blue and salmon-color. 
 
 Blue and orange—a most agreeable harmony. 
 
 Blue and yellow—harmonize, but not so rich as blue and 
 orange. A blue should not be placed between two 
 yellows, or a yellow between two blues, as a general rule. 
 Blue and white—but the white should be in excess. 
 
 Blue and black. 
 
 Blue and chestnut—have a rich effect. 
 
 Blue and chocolate—harmonize. 
 
 Blue and stone-color. 
 
 Blue and drab. 
 
 * The worst kind of discord. This applies to all purples 
 and greens. 
 
ISO 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Clue and green.—but want orange. 
 
 Blue and purple—but want scarlet and gold. 
 
 Yellow and black—not so good as orange and black. 
 
 Yellow and green—inferior to orange „and green. 
 
 Yellow and chestnut—not so rich as orange. 
 
 Yellow and brown. 
 
 Yellow and purple. 
 
 Yellow and red—but want blue. 
 
 Yellow and crimson—inferior to orange or gold and crimson. 
 Gold and green—very pleasing harmony. 
 
 Gold and blue—very pleasing harmony. 
 
 Gold and crimson—very rich. 
 
 Gold and purple. 
 
 Gold and scarlet—rich but inferior to gold and crimson. 
 
 Gold and chestnut—rich harmony. 
 
 Gold and lilac—harmonize (as do gold and lavender). 
 
 Gold and black. 
 
 Gold and white—harmonize, but wanting. 
 
 Orange and yellow—a good effect by gaslight. 
 
 Gold and gray—harmonize, but cold and wanting. 
 
 Orange and black—harmonize better than yellow and black. 
 Orange and chestnut—agreeable harmony. 
 
 Orange and purple, or red purple. 
 
 Orange and puce. 
 
 Orange and green—very agreeable harmony. 
 
 Orange and gold—harmonize by analogy, but wanting; orange 
 will not take the place of gold, and an orange ground is 
 cold and dead compared to a gold one. 
 
 Orange and crimson—rich, but want blue. 
 
 Eed is less suited for ornamentation than 
 scarlet and crimson. (In flowers, red is the 
 color of the original Verbena Mdindris. 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OP COLORS. 181 
 
 Red and gold—harmonize, but inferior to crimson, and gold. 
 Red and gray—harmonize. 
 
 Red and white—harmonize, but the white must be in excess. 
 Slate-color and black—harmonize. 
 
 Slate-color and scarlet—harmonize. 
 
 Slate-color and gold—harmonize. 
 
 Black and white—harmonize by contrast. 
 
 Black and yellow. 
 
 Black and buff—but the black overpowers its companion. 
 Black and scarlet—harmonize, but wanting. 
 
 Black and blue—harmonize, but gloomy. 
 
 White and gold—harmonize, wanting by daylight, but light 
 up well together. 
 
 White and red. 
 
 White and scarlet. 
 
 White and crimson. 
 
 White and brown—but white should be in excess. 
 
 White and purple—but white should be in excess. 
 
 White and chocolate-color—but white should be in excess. 
 
 Tlie most harmonious combination of colors 
 with two or more companions are: 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet or crimson) with yellow or gold. 
 Blue and scarlet, and purple and yellow (or orange or gold), 
 and black. 
 
 Blue and scarlet, and yellow (or orange or gold), with a small 
 quantity of (bright) green. 
 
 Blue and scarlet, and gold and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet, and white and purple, and yellow (or better, 
 gold or orange). 
 
 Blue and yellow, and scarlet, and white and black, and 
 orange and green. 
 
182 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Orange and blue, and green and white, and black. 
 
 Crimson (or scarlet) and yellow, and blue and white, and 
 black. 
 
 Blue and yellow (or orange), and purple and scarlet (or 
 crimson), and white and black. 
 
 Blue and scarlet, and green and yellow (or orange and gold), 
 and black and white, and purple and scarlet, and gold. 
 
 Tlie orange is not a red, hut yellow orange. 
 When scarlet is used instead of crimson, the 
 quantity of yellow must he lessened, and when 
 yellow is used in place of orange, it must he 
 in less quantity. Green must he in smaller 
 proportion to the other colors, and of bright 
 color. 
 
 The harmonious combinations of three col¬ 
 ors are: 
 
 Blue and red and yellow—if in proper proportion. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and yellow. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow. 
 
 Blue and crimson and orange. 
 
 Blue and crimson and gold—very rich in furniture. 
 
 Blue and crimson and scarlet—but want green and yellow. 
 Blue and red and white—cold. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and orange—but want black. 
 
 Yellow and scarlet and purple—but want blue. 
 
 Yellow and crimson and purple—but want blue and chestnut. 
 Purple and scarlet and gold. 
 
IIAEMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 
 
 183 
 
 Purple and scarlet and white. 
 
 Purple and orange and crimson—but want blue. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and gold. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and black. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and white. 
 
 Lilac and crimson and gold (or orange). 
 
 Lilac and white and gold—but want scarlet and black. 
 
 Lilac and white and blue—but want black and scarlet and 
 gold. 
 
 Black and white and scarlet—harmonize well. ' 
 
 Black and white and crimson—harmonize well. 
 
 Gray and scarlet and blue—harmonize. 
 
 The harmonious combinations in four col¬ 
 ors are: 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and yellow and brown—harmonize, 
 but poor. 
 
 Blue and red (or better scarlet) and green in small propor¬ 
 tion and yellow (or gold or orange). 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and black and yellow. 
 
 Blue and red and black and white—but rather cold. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and white and gold—the white 
 being in small quantity. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and white and yellow. 
 
 Blue and chestnut and scarlet (or crimson) and orange (or 
 yellow). 
 
 Blue and crimson and purple and orange. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and purple and gold. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and purple and yellow. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and purple and orange. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and purple and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and maroon and orange. 
 
184 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and green and white. 
 
 Blue and black and white and orange. 
 
 Bed and black and white and gold—wanting. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and gold and white. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and black and white. 
 
 Black and white and scarlet and blue—cold. 
 
 Black and orange and scarlet and blue. 
 
 White and black and orange and red—want blue. 
 
 Tlie harmonious combinations in five col¬ 
 ors are: 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and white and green and yellow 
 (better gold or orange). 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and white and purple and yellow 
 (or rather gold or orange)—harmonize well. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and green and yellow (or gold), on 
 white ground—harmonize. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and yellow (or gold) and brown 
 and white. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and yellow (or orange or gold) and 
 purple and black. 
 
 Blue and red (or scarlet) and orange and chestnut and white. 
 Blue and red.and yellow and black and white. 
 
 Blue and orange and green and black and white. 
 
 Blue and chestnut and yellow and black and white. 
 
 Blue and orange and green and purple and scarlet. 
 
 Blue and crimson and green and yellow and scarlet. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and white and scarlet. 
 
 Blue and chestnut and scarlet and orange and purple. 
 
 Purple and yellow and black and blue and scarlet. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and gold and black and white. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and yellow and black and blue. 
 
HARMONY AND DISCORD OF COLORS. 
 
 185 
 
 Black and white and scarlet and blue and yellow (or gold), 
 harmonize. 
 
 Black and white and orange and blue and crimson, harmonize. 
 
 Black and scarlet and blue and green and yellow (or gold, 
 which is better), harmonize. 
 
 Black and orange and blue and white and scarlet, harmonize. 
 
 Harmonious combinations of six colors are: 
 
 Blue and scarlet and green and yellow and black and white, 
 harmonize. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and green and orange (or better, gold) and 
 black and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and yellow (or orange or gold) and purple 
 and black and white, harmonize well. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow (or orange or gold) and purple 
 and black and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and yellow (or orange or gold) and black 
 and white and brown (or chestnut). 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow (or orange or gold) and black 
 and white and brown (or chestnut), harmonize, but scar¬ 
 let is better than crimson. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow (or orange or go'd) and green 
 and black and white, harmonize, but scarlet is better. 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or crimson or red) and orange and purple 
 and black and a little yellow, harmonize. 
 
 Blue and crimson and orange (or gold) and purple and black 
 and white, harmonize, but want yellow. 
 
 Purple and orange and scarlet and blue and black and white. 
 
 Lilac and scarlet and gold (or orange) and blue and black 
 and white. 
 
 Harmonious combinations of seven colors : 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and orange (or gold) and a little 
 
186 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 green and purple and white and yellow, harmonize, but 
 want black. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and orange and green- and purple and yellow 
 and black. 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and yellow and green and orange 
 and black and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and green and orange and black and 
 purple and white. 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and black and white and yellow and 
 brown and purple. 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and black and white and orange 
 and purple and brown, harmonize, but better without 
 the purple. 
 
 Blue and crimson (or scarlet) and orange (or gold) and black 
 and white and purple and yellow. 
 
 Harmonious combinations of eight colors : 
 
 Blue and scarlet (or red) and green and orange and black 
 and yellow and purple and white. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and black and brown and orange 
 and green and white. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and black and a little green and 
 orange and, white and purple. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and black and chestnut and 
 orange and white and purple. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and black and chestnut and 
 scarlet and orange and purple. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and black and white and brown 
 and orange and purple. 
 
 Blue and crimson and yellow and white and black and purple 
 and scarlet and brown. 
 
 Blue and scarlet and yellow and black and white and brown 
 and orange and purple. 
 
TT ATMVfONY AND DISCOED OF COLOES. 187 
 
 Blue and scarlet and yellow and brown and black and white 
 and orange and green. 
 
 Purple and orange and a little green and scarlet and blue 
 and black and white. 
 
 It has not been thought necessary to men¬ 
 tion the combinations with drab, fawn, and 
 stone-color, or with all the hues and tones of 
 the primaries and secondaries. Some of the 
 former are better suited for grounds than for 
 any marked position in colored composition. 
 As has been before remarked, the proper pro¬ 
 portions of the colors are indispensable. To 
 be all of the same quantity would be fatal to 
 them, as some are required to be in larger, 
 and others in smaller proportions to them; 
 as when red and blue and yellow are put 
 together, the same quantity of yellow as of 
 blue and red would be disagreeable; but it 
 is difficult to determine the exact quan¬ 
 tity. 
 
 It may be laid down as a general rule, 
 when blue and red and yellow are put together 
 that the greatest quantity should be blue, then 
 red, then yellow. In all cases when green is 
 
188 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 used, it should he bright and of smaller pro¬ 
 portions than the other colors. 
 
 In closing this chapter on the harmonies 
 of colors, the writer would again call attention 
 to the fact that no theory can teach the proper 
 combinations and proportions of colors for 
 ornamental decoration. The eye is the proper 
 judge of colors and the perception of color is 
 a natural gift. This may be improved by 
 study but cannot be acquired. Those having 
 the charge of our common schools can do more 
 to disseminate taste through the country and 
 encourage the various branches of ornamental 
 art, than all the rest of the people combined. 
 The community will not have a feeling for 
 art of any kind, until the study becomes gen¬ 
 eral ; and the minds of those who make, as 
 well as of those who use, must be imbued with 
 a true perception of the beautiful. 
 
 The walls and ceilings of our public school¬ 
 rooms should present the best examples of 
 colored ornamentation which the skill of our 
 country can produce. It is absolutely neces- 
 
IIAEMONY AND DISCOED OF COLOES. 189 
 
 sary that all should have the eye and mind 
 directed to the perception of what is good, for 
 it is not enough that good taste he possessed 
 by the few, while the community generally 
 continues to he unconscious of its beneficent 
 influence. For taste to last and become gen¬ 
 eral, its rise and progress must be simple and 
 gradual. It must be sown and reared, and 
 will never flourish by mere transplanting. 
 
 Begin at the beginning! Commence the 
 education of the perceptive faculties by good 
 examples, at the same moment that you com¬ 
 mence by precept to instill into the youthful 
 mind the simplest rudiments of a common- 
 school education. It cannot be doubted that 
 there are in our common schools thousands of 
 children who possess the natural gift of the 
 perception of color in an extraordinary degree. 
 But how shall this genius (so to speak) become 
 valuable to the possessor, or to the communi¬ 
 ty, unless some means are taken to educate, 
 and develop, and direct it? Let those who 
 have special charge of the education of our 
 
190 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 children be impressed with the fact that the 
 employment of the very best Italian artists, in 
 the decorative ornamentation of our common- 
 school rooms with colored designs, would be a 
 most economical expenditure of money, and 
 would do more toward the general diffusion 
 of taste throughout the country than all the 
 other influences combined could effect. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CONSUMPTION OF PAINT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Ho attempt, it is believed, lias been made 
 before tins, to estimate tbe total yearly con¬ 
 sumption of paint in this country. That we 
 consume vastly more than any other people, 
 will not be questioned. The painting of 
 houses in the six Hew England States requires 
 probably more material than is used for that 
 purpose in all Great Britain. This statement 
 may seem exaggerated, but the probable cor¬ 
 rectness of it will appear when.consideration 
 is had of the large proportion of wooden 
 houses which require painting and constant 
 repainting ; of the general use of soft wood in 
 our houses, out-buildings, and fences ; and of 
 the passion of our people for freshly-painted 
 apartments, and bright, cheerful exteriors. If 
 
192 
 
 HOtTSE-PAINTmG. 
 
 any fondness for antiquated, time-stained edi¬ 
 fices exists among us, it lias up to tliis re¬ 
 mained dormant. Possibly there may be 
 latent somewhere a veneration for such ob¬ 
 jects, but our eagerness in the race of life 
 has not afforded time for its development. 
 Rejuvenation, rather, is the rule ; for, when a 
 building cannot be made young again by 
 alterations and modern adaptations, the work 
 of demolition proceeds, and almost as by ma¬ 
 gic the old gives place to a new structure, 
 which, in its architectural proportions and or¬ 
 namentation, exhibits the prevailing taste of 
 the day, and which includes in its internal 
 arrangements all the conveniences which an 
 inventive people have been able to devise. • 
 Old New York has been almost entirely 
 rebuilt within the present generation; and 
 many young New-Yorkers have witnessed the 
 erection and demolition of houses which were 
 considered, in their day, models in the way of 
 architectural design and finish, and the erec¬ 
 tion in their places of still more elegant and 
 
CONSUMPTION OF PAINT. 
 
 193 
 
 costly structures. This constant tearing down 
 and building up very materially increases the 
 consumption of paint. Atmospheric influ¬ 
 ences, too, are more active in hastening the 
 decay of paint in this than in countries which 
 are not liable to the same extremes of heat 
 and cold, of dryness and dampness. Our 
 bright summer sun destroys the water-proof 
 property of the oil, and the fierce storms of 
 winter wash away the coating which has 
 become disintegrated by the burning sun¬ 
 shine. 
 
 It is not claimed that the figures here given 
 are strictly correct. In some cases they are 
 only approximately so, as for instance in the 
 matter of ochrey earths. Many substances of 
 this nature are used as paints, which are quite 
 unknown outside the locality where they occur, 
 and which have, consequently, only a local 
 consumption. So, too, in a measure with 
 chemically-prepared colored pigments. These 
 are manufactured at so many places, and the 
 quantities produced by the different manu- 
 
194 
 
 nOUSE-PAINTBSTG. 
 
 facturers vary so much, that no reliable data 
 can he obtained. 
 
 The total product of the different manu¬ 
 factures of white lead and zinc can be arrived 
 at with satisfactory exactness, as can the 
 amount of those articles which are entered for 
 consumption at the custom-houses. 
 
 For convenience, the figures are given in 
 round numbers, and may, consequently, in 
 some instances, exceed the amount actually 
 consumed or produced ; hut, as in other cases 
 the figures will fall short of the amount, the 
 total will be in the main correct and reliable. 
 
 The total domestic product of white lead for 
 
 1867 was not far short of eighteen thou- lbs. 
 
 sand tons, equal to. 36,000,000 
 
 The quantity of imported white lead, both dry 
 and ground in oil, was about three thou¬ 
 sand tons, equal to. 6,000,000 
 
 Of white zinc, the home production was seven 
 
 thousand five hundred tons, equal to . 15,000,000 
 
 Of sulphate of baryta, which is almost wholly 
 consumed in the cheapening of white lead 
 and zinc, and as the base of colored pig¬ 
 ments, twelve thousand tons, equal to . 24,000,000 
 
 Of yellow ochres imported from France, three 
 thousand casks, about one thousand tons, 
 equal to 
 
 2,000,000 
 
CONSUMPTION OF PAINT. 
 
 195 
 
 Of yellow ochres and other earth-paints of home 
 production, one thousand five hundred tons, 
 
 equal to. 3,000,000 
 
 Of Venetian red, imported from England, seven 
 thousand barrels, or one thousand tons, 
 
 equal to. 2,000,000 
 
 Of colored pigments, including those imported, 
 and including white zinc imported, say four 
 thousand tons, equal to ... 8,000,000 
 
 Of whiting and Paris white, most of which is 
 consumed as paint, eighty thousand barrels, 
 equal to. 30,000,000 
 
 Making a total of . . . . 126,000,000 
 
 The proportion of these paints used in 
 water is inconsiderable when compared with 
 the amount consumed as oil-paint. 
 
 The quantity of linseed imported during the 
 year 1867 was about two millions of bushels, 
 which would produce four millions of gallons 
 of oil, equal to thirty millions of pounds. The 
 domestic crop of flax-seed is estimated at two 
 millions of bushels, equal to four millions of 
 gallons of oil, or thirty millions of pounds. 
 The quantity of linseed-oil imported was one- 
 quarter of a million gallons, equal to one mil¬ 
 lion seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds. 
 
196 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTINO. 
 
 Making a total of four and one-quarter millions 
 of gallons of oil as the year’s consumption. 
 
 Of this quantity, it will he proper to de¬ 
 duct two hundred and seventy-five thousand 
 gallons as having been consumed by varnish- 
 makers, and in the manufacture of printer’s 
 ink say eighty thousand gallons, making a 
 total of three hundred and sixty thousand 
 gallons. 
 
 Supposing the stock of linseed and oil on 
 hand at the beginning of the year 1868 did 
 not exceed the stock on hand at a correspond¬ 
 ing period of the previous year, the above 
 figures show a consumption of nearly four 
 millions of gallons used for painting purposes. 
 The weight of this quantity of oil, added to 
 the weight of the paints, gives the enormous 
 total of more than one hundred and seventy- 
 four millions of pounds of mixed paint con¬ 
 sumed in a single year ! 
 
 A fair estimate per pound of the money- 
 value of this paint when prepared for use, 
 would be twelve cents per pound, equal to 
 
CON SUMPTION OF PAINT. 
 
 197 
 
 twenty millions of dollars. It is estimated 
 that the cost of labor, at present prices, in the 
 various departments of plain and decorative 
 house-painting, in comparison to the cost of 
 materials, is as two to one. Supposing this to 
 be a correct estimate, the money-value of the 
 labor required to consume the given amount 
 of paint would be forty millions of dollars: 
 showing a total of sixty millions of dollars ex¬ 
 pended in painting our houses; and that, too, 
 at a time when the demand for paint through¬ 
 out a large portion of the country, owing to 
 its impoverished condition resulting from the 
 late war, has almost ceased. 
 
 The export of paint, owing to the uncer¬ 
 tain value of our currency, and the high prices 
 of labor and material which have prevailed 
 during the last three or four years, is incon¬ 
 siderable. Formerly the West Indies and the 
 Central American markets were supplied from 
 this country, but the trade has now fallen 
 mostly into the hands of the English manu¬ 
 facturers. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 WEIGHT OF PAINT AND - MEASURE OF OIL RE¬ 
 QUIRED TO COVER A GIVEN NUMBER OF 
 SUPERFICIAL FEET OF WOOD OR BRICK. 
 
 The figures given below are the result of 
 careful and repeated experiments, made under 
 the direct supervision of tbe writer. The 
 wood used was ordinary machine-planed piue 
 ceiling-boards of an average width of nine 
 inches. Each succeeding coat was applied 
 without rubbing the previous coat with sand¬ 
 paper. 
 
 The paints were, in all cases, free from any 
 admixture of adulterating materials, and were 
 of the best quality. Ho rule can be given as 
 to the exact quantity of oil required to reduce 
 white lead or other -paints to the proper con¬ 
 sistency, under all circumstances, and for all 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 199 
 
 kinds of work. A rough surface requires not 
 only an increased quantity of paint, but an 
 increased quantity of oil in proportion to the 
 paint. The temperature of the atmosphere, too, 
 affects the result; for although linseed-oil does 
 not congeal except at very low temperature, 
 it becomes less fluid as it loses heat, and con¬ 
 sequently a greater proportion of oil is re¬ 
 quired in cold than in warm weather. Allow¬ 
 ance must be made also for waste of material. 
 A wooden package supposed to contain one 
 hundred pounds of white lead will not afford 
 a hundred pounds of mixed or thinned paint, 
 minus the oil, for the reason that a portion of 
 the oil in which the lead was ground will 
 have been absorbed by the surrounding wood, 
 and a portion of the lead will in consequence 
 have become hard and unfit for use. 
 
 The amount of material thus wasted will 
 depend almost wholly on the lapse of time ere 
 the material shall reach the hand of the con¬ 
 sumer. 
 
 The smaller the package the greater will be 
 
200 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 the proportionate loss. On one-hundred-pound 
 kegs it will he from three to four per cent. To 
 paint one square yard of the surface of wood, 
 as before described, requires, for first coat, four 
 ounces of pure’ white lead mixed with oil, in 
 the proportion of seven ounces of oil to one 
 pound of lead. Accordingly, to cover a sur¬ 
 face comprising one hundred square yards, 
 would consume twenty-five pounds of mixed 
 (white-lead) paint, which mixture would con¬ 
 sist of about seventeen and one-half pounds 
 of ground white lead and seven and one-half 
 pounds of oil, which is the exact weight of a 
 gallon. Thus, one hundred pounds of ground 
 white lead with forty-three pounds of oil will 
 give a single coating to five hundred and 
 seventy-two square yards of surface of mod¬ 
 erately seasoned pine-wood. "When the un¬ 
 painted surface lias become very dry and 
 absorbent from long exposure to the weather, 
 allowance must be made therefor. For a 
 second coating, which should not, as a rule, be 
 applied until after a lapse of six or eight days, 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 201 
 
 the proportion of oil to the lead should he 
 considerably less than for the priming coat, 
 say at least ten per cent., or in the proportion 
 of five gallons of oil to one hundred pounds 
 of ground white lead. This mixture would 
 give a coating to about six hundred and twenty- 
 five yards of surface which had been once 
 painted. Great care must be observed in ap¬ 
 plying the second and succeeding coats, that 
 the paint be not too thin; particularly when 
 the temperature is liable to become materially 
 lower during the night. Otherwise the sur¬ 
 face is liable to wrinkle, crawl, creep, as 
 painters variously express it. 
 
 The foregoing observations as to quantity, 
 etc., will apply to any number of succeeding 
 coatings. 
 
 The sum of the foregoing is, that one hun¬ 
 dred pounds of pure ground white lead, with 
 the oil required to thin it, will give three 
 coatings to two hundred square yards of or¬ 
 dinary pine-wood surface. 
 
 Where white zinc is used in place of white 
 
202 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 lead, tlie proportions and quantities materially 
 differ. 
 
 To make a paint of dry white lead of the 
 proper consistency to spread with a paint¬ 
 brush, requires about one-half its weight of 
 linseed-oil; while zinc, under the same condi¬ 
 tions, requires nearly its weight in oil; hence 
 it follows, that a very much smaller quantity 
 of the latter oxide will be consumed in coat¬ 
 ing a given surface, than of the former. 
 
 As has been stated before, one hundred 
 pounds of lead, with the requisite proportion 
 of oil, will cover a surface of about five hun¬ 
 dred and seventy-two square yards of new 
 wood. The same quantity of white zinc, that 
 is to say, one hundred and fifty pounds of zinc 
 paint of the proper consistency for first-coat¬ 
 ing new wood, will cover about eight hundred 
 square yards. The lead-coating, however, 
 owing to its greater opacity, will better con¬ 
 ceal the wood and give a more uniform sur¬ 
 face than will the zinc paint. The cost of 
 labor in applying the zinc, too, will be greater 
 
WEIGH.T OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 203 
 
 than the cost of applying the lead; so that, 
 economically considered, there is not so great 
 a difference in favor of the zinc as would at 
 first sight appear. 
 
 (For the writer’s views as to the compara¬ 
 tive merits of these two most important pig¬ 
 ments, the reader is referred to Chapter VIII. 
 under the heading of White Pigments.) 
 
 Finely-ground French yellow ochre-dry 
 requires oil in the proportion of about five 
 ounces to two; that is, the proportion of oil 
 by weight will be about five-sevenths of the 
 mixed paint. One pound of this mixture will 
 cover a surface of eight yards of new pine- 
 wood, and the cost, in comparison with white 
 lead, is about as five to ten, while in point of 
 durability the difference in favor of the ochre 
 substance will be much greater. On tin roofs, 
 for instance, or other exposed situations, the 
 ochre-paint would remain intact, when the 
 white lead would have almost entirely disap¬ 
 peared. 
 
 Lamp-black requires more oil, in propor- 
 
HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 204 
 
 tion, than any substance used in painting. 
 One pound of pure black requires about two 
 gallons of oil to make it of proper consistency 
 for the painting of new wood. One pound 
 of this mixture will cover about nine square 
 yards of surface, and for second coating about 
 sixteen square yardsa single ounce only 
 being required to cover one square yard. 
 
 When spirits of turpentine is used, in¬ 
 stead of linseed-oil, for thinning lead or zinc, 
 as is the case in most interior work, the pro¬ 
 portions differ very materially; as has been 
 shown before, ground white lead requires, to 
 thin to the proper consistency for painting 
 surfaces which have been already painted, oil, 
 in proportion of about forty pounds of the 
 latter to one hundred pounds of the former. 
 When turpentine is used, the proportions are 
 about as one of the fluid to eight of the 
 lead ground in linseed-oil. The quantity by 
 weight of the latter mixture required to cover 
 a given surface is about the same as of the 
 oil paint, but the quantity of lead expended 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 205 
 
 is nrucli greater, of course, in proportion to 
 the fluid. 
 
 ShmmapvY.—O ne hundred pounds of pure 
 white lead ground in oil require, to thin to 
 a proper consistency for painting first coat, 
 on new or unpainted pine-wood, about six 
 gallons of linseed-oil at ordinary temperature. 
 
 One hundred pounds of pure white lead 
 require, for painting a second and succeeding 
 coats, about five gallons of linseed-oil. 
 
 One hundred pounds of pure American 
 white zinc ground in oil require, to thin to 
 proper consistency for first-coating or priming 
 new pine-wood, about ten gallons of linseed-oil. 
 
 One hundred pounds of' zinc as above, 
 ground in oil, require, to thin for second- 
 coating, about seven gallons of linseed-oil. 
 
 One hundred pounds of dry finest French 
 yellow ochre require about twice its weight 
 in oil (rather more than less), or about twenty- 
 seven gallons of linseed-oil to one hundred 
 pounds of the dry material. No reliable figures 
 can be given for the thinning of yellow ochres 
 
200 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 and other earth-paints ground in oil, for the 
 reason that ninety per cent, of such paints, 
 when put on the market as “ ground colors ,” 
 is very much adulterated with sulphate of 
 baryta, which substance requires only about 
 one gallon of oil to wet one hundred pounds 
 of it. 
 
 Pure White Lead. —One pound of pure 
 white-lead paint, made in the proportions as 
 before given, will cover an unpainted pine- 
 wood surface of about four square yards 
 (rather more than less). For second and suc¬ 
 ceeding coatings the same work will require 
 less than for first or priming-coat, and it is 
 safe to say that one pound of pure white-lead 
 paint will give four coatings to one square 
 yard of pine-wood surface. (See remarks as 
 to loss by absorption, waste, etc.) 
 
 One hundred pounds of pure white-lead 
 paint will cover a surface of four hundred 
 square yards of common machine-planed pine- 
 wood such as is used for out-door finish. 
 
 Puke Zinc White. —One pound of pure 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 207 
 
 wliite zinc paint, mixed in the proportions be¬ 
 fore given, will cover a surface of unpainted 
 pine-wood of more than five square yards, say 
 five and one-third. For second and succeeding 
 coats of same work the quantity required is 
 about eight per cent, less, so that one hundred 
 pounds of pure zinc paint may safely be es¬ 
 timated to cover five hundred and fifty yards 
 of wood surface which has been already 
 painted. 
 
 Yellow Ochre.— -One pound of pure yellow 
 ochre paint, mixed in the proportions before 
 named, will give a first or primary coating to 
 eight square yards of ordinary pine-wood sur 
 face. These proportions will apply to the 
 painting of tin roofs, but for such work the 
 proportion of oil must be less than for wood. 
 
 Venetian Fed. —One pound of pure Ve¬ 
 netian red will give a priming-coat to about 
 seven square yards of pine-wood surface, and 
 a second coating to about eight square yards. 
 The proportion of oil is somewhat less than 
 for yellow ochre. It must be borne in mind, 
 
208 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 that in earth-paints the purer the material, the 
 greater will he the quantity of oil required 
 to thin the same to a proper consistency for 
 spreading with a paint-brash. 
 
 Lamp Black, ok Carbon Black. —One 
 pound of pure carbon black will cover a sur¬ 
 face of painted pine-wood of sixteen square 
 yards, and this surface, when not subject to 
 abrasion from mechanical force or other acci¬ 
 dent, would remain intact for a century. 
 
 For Painting Brick-Work. —The experi¬ 
 ments in this case were made on a surface of 
 common hard rough bricks, laid in brown 
 mortar with wide joints, out of doors, in win¬ 
 ter, the atmosphere at a freezing temperature, 
 and with the following results: 
 
 Of pure white lead, thinned with oil to 
 the same consistency as for the first coating of 
 wood-work, one square yard of rough brick 
 surface requires about one half-pound of paint 
 and but little less for second coat. A thud 
 coat, however, requires considerably less, and 
 it will be safe to estimate the quantity neces- 
 
209 
 
 WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 sary to give such work three coats, at one and 
 one-quarter pounds. 
 
 For painting a surface of smooth-pressed 
 bricks laid up with close joints, the quantity 
 required for a given surface will he a little 
 more than for painting new pine-wood. 
 
 Except in cases where white or very light 
 tints are required, it is not advisable to use 
 white lead paint for rough brick-work. The 
 ochres, when the same can be either wholly or 
 partially substituted for lead, will be found 
 much more economical and more desirable. 
 
 Of Puke "White Zinc. —One square yard 
 of rough brick-work requires, for a first coat¬ 
 ing, about six ounces of thinned paint, or three 
 pounds for eight yards. For second coating 
 the quantity required is only about four and 
 three-quarter ounces, and for a third coat 
 about four ounces, showing a consumption for 
 three coats of about fifteen ounces. So, one 
 hundred pounds of mixed zinc paint will give 
 three coats to more than one hundred square 
 yards of rough brick surface. 
 
210 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 Oe Pure French Yellow Ochre, the 
 quantity required to give a first coat to one 
 square yard of rough hrick surface is about 
 the same as for zinc paint, that is, about sis 
 ounces; hut for second coat the quantity re¬ 
 quired is only about three and one-quarter 
 ounces, and for third coat about three ounces, 
 showing a consumption of about three-quar¬ 
 ters of a pound for three coats to the square 
 yard, or for one hundred yards say seventy- 
 five pounds of pure yellow ochre paint. 
 
 Of Pure Venet ian Red, for such work 
 the quantities are about the same as yellow 
 ochre, and the figures given for that pigment 
 will serve for this. 
 
 In painting brick-work good results are 
 possible only under certain conditions. 
 
 This kind of painting should be done in 
 dry warm weather, when the moisture which 
 bricks absorb from the atmosphere during the 
 winter and spring seasons shall have dried 
 out; otherwise, the paint will not adhere te¬ 
 naciously and will be apt to scale off. In ex- 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 211 
 
 terior liouse-painting it is of very great im¬ 
 portance that the work be dry when the paint 
 is applied. 
 
 The reader will hear in mind the fact, that 
 while the figures for the quantities of the va¬ 
 rious pigments required to cover a given sur¬ 
 face are, abstractly considered, correct, they 
 being the result of recent and carefully-con¬ 
 ducted experiments (the figures being rounded 
 to avoid the confusion which might ensue by 
 extending them to the exact number of grains 
 of material actually consumed on the various 
 trials), there are modifying circumstances 
 which must in the nature of things change the 
 result when the figures are tested on a more 
 extended scale. 
 
 A wooden keg, nominally containing twen¬ 
 ty-five pounds of white lead or other paint, 
 really contains but about twenty-three pounds 
 of material, the weight of the package being 
 included. There will be, from absorption and 
 consequent hardening of the paint, an average 
 loss of at least one pound of the contents of 
 
212 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 tlie package, so that only about twenty-two 
 pounds will be realized, showing a difference 
 between the nominal and the actual contents 
 of the package of about twelve per cent. 
 
 The experiments, too, were made in every 
 instance with the very best and purest mate¬ 
 rials, and under most favorable circumstances, 
 and the same results must not be looked for 
 when the pigments are inferior in quality and 
 possess far less intrinsic value. 
 
 With an apology for the repetition, the 
 writer would again remark that good results 
 in painting can only come from the use of 
 good mcdericds. 
 
 It may interest the general reader to 
 know that unsophisticated pigments are the 
 exception and not the rule; that hundreds of 
 tons of so-called white lead are annually 
 sold in the United States wherein the highest 
 chemical skill would be unable to detect a 
 grain of the material, under the name of 
 wdiich this fictitious article is sold. 
 
 Many of the materials Gold under various 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 213 
 
 names and recommended for use in painting 
 are in tlieir nature totally unsuited for such 
 purpose, being semi-transparent, and conse¬ 
 quently wanting the property without which 
 no pigment is valuable or economical for ordi¬ 
 nary exterior house-painting; they are, too, 
 coarse, gritty, and sandy, which renders the 
 spreading of them, evenly, a task not easy of 
 accomplishment. In hue, and tone of color, 
 they are disagreeable and unpleasant. A 
 dingy, chocolate-colored exterior is not in har¬ 
 mony with any landscape. Ho matter what 
 the character of the structure may be— 
 whether it be isolated or attached to other 
 buildings—whether it be a corn-crib or a cow¬ 
 house, if the same be worth painting at all, it 
 is worth painting with some regard for the 
 laws of harmony and the “ fitness of things.” 
 
 Every house, barn, out-building, or fence, 
 becomes when painted a more conspicuous 
 object in the landscape than it otherwise 
 would be; and the cost of painting the same 
 in conformity with the laws of harmonious 
 
214 
 
 HOUSE-PAINTING. 
 
 arrangement and proper adaptation to the sur¬ 
 roundings is lio greater than to paint in such 
 a manner as to set all these laws at defiance. 
 
 For example : the surroundings of most 
 country-houses reflect to the eye the various 
 hues of green. ISTow, red-brown and green in 
 juxtaposition produce horrible discord. A 
 yellow partaking of the orange hue, on the 
 contrary, makes agreeable harmony. Ited- 
 browns and chocolate colors are altogether 
 unsuited to the painting of country-houses. 
 They are out of place in a landscape and can¬ 
 not be made to harmonize with the surround¬ 
 ings. Some tone of yellow is preferable, par¬ 
 ticularly when the house has green blinds 
 attached to the windows. It is not good taste, 
 however, to use white for the trimmings, win¬ 
 dow-frames, cornices, etc., with yellow ; white 
 and yellow are poor and feeble and are want¬ 
 ing by analogy. The yellow loses by the con¬ 
 nection ; a rich shade of brown (not red-brown) 
 is proper for trimmings, in contrast with 
 yellow, and makes very pleasing harmony. 
 
WEIGHT OF PAINT, ETC. 
 
 215 
 
 Bright-green blinds also are more agreeable 
 with yellow than with any other color, which 
 would he suitable for painting the exterior of 
 a country-house. Next to yellow, the yellow- 
 drabs and stone-colors are recommended. 
 
 No rule can he given which will serve as 
 a guide in such matters, for the reason that 
 what might he very proper and suitable under 
 certain conditions, would be unsuitable and 
 improper under other circumstances; and it is 
 far more easy to point out Avhat to avoid than 
 what to adopt. When buildings are grouped, 
 yet not connected, a very good effect may be 
 produced by painting the smaller ones of a 
 darker shade of the same hue as the principal 
 or prominent building. Uniformity in such 
 cases is by no means desirable, except when 
 the object is to hide or diminish the lesser 
 structures. As a rule, very dark colors are to 
 be avoided in painting the exterior surfaces of 
 wooden houses, not only because such colors 
 are less in harmony with the surroundings, 
 but for the reason that such colors do not pre- 
 
216 
 
 HOUSE-PAEvTTNG. 
 
 serve the wood so well as lighter tints, and 
 so, are objectionable on the score of economy. 
 
 The painting of a .building, however poor 
 and mean the structure, affords some oppor¬ 
 tunity for a display of taste ; and, as has been 
 before remarked, the humblest individual may 
 manifest an innate perception of the beautiful 
 in the ornamentation of a cottage and in the 
 poorest materials. 
 
 A man may perform the mechanical part 
 in the operation of painting, faultlessly, and 
 yet he entirely wanting in the faculty to ar¬ 
 range and dispose colors in harmonious com¬ 
 bination. 
 
 Those to whom we intrust such work, 
 should possess the natural gift of discriminat¬ 
 ing colors, educated by good examples, and he 
 thoroughly imbued with love for the art. 
 
 THE EHD. 
 
BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 
 MASURY & WHITON, 
 
 111 Fulton Street, New York, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 White Lead, 
 
 FRENCH AND AMERICAN ZINC, 
 
 AND 
 
 batons. 
 
 N. B.-—Colors prepared and put up in patent cans, 
 with special reference to the requirements of the Trade. 
 
STORE, 
 
 FACTORY, 
 
 £6 Barclay Street. 
 
 £0 £2 Commerce Street. 
 
 H„ W 3 CEAii & CO., 
 
 (M. KtiOEDLER, C. P. Staab, H. W. Gear.) 
 
 l^i E W V O K K, 
 
 IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 ARTISTS’ MATERIALS, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF ARTISTS’ 
 
 Tube Colors, Canvas, Brushes, etc., 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 gristle Varnish Inrushes, 
 
 Sachtools, 
 
 Stencil and 
 
 draining T,rushes, 
 
 AND ALL JvINDS OF 
 
 Camel Hair, Bear Hair, Fitch, Badger, and Sable Brashes. 
 Full Supply of Winsor & IVewton’s Materials. 
 
 OILS AND WATER COLORS, ETC., 
 
 "Wax Sheets, and Materials for Wax Flowers. 
 
 Our Artists’ Colors are prepared with great care, and the following tes¬ 
 timonial from leading artists is a guarantee of their superiority: 
 
 New York, April 1st. 1807. 
 
 We. the undersigned, are happy to say that we have used, for the past 
 two years, the Artists’ Oil Colors’prepared by Messrs. H. W. Gear & Co., 
 which give qs complete satisfaction, and we find them equal to any imported, 
 Frederick E. Cnup.cn, C. E. Elliott, 
 
 S. R. Gifford, Regis Gtgnoux, 
 
 J. F. Ken-sett, M. F. H. de Haas, 
 
 James M. Hart, W. Whitteedge, 
 
 Alanson Fisher, E. Leutze, 
 
 William Hart, 
 
MCKESSON & ROBBINS, 
 
 WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS, 
 
 91 and 93 Fulton Street, and 82 and 84 Ann Street, 
 
 Four doors below William Street, N E W lOB K, 
 
 Offer lor sale, on the most favorable terms, a large stock of 
 
 DRUGS AND MEDICINES, 
 
 by the Package or in smaller quantities, in Bond or duty paid; 
 also, all the Staple Foreign and Domestic 
 
 Chamicals, Extracts, and Medicinal Preparations, 
 
 embracing the manufactures of Herring, Allen, Hander & Co., and 
 other well-known houses. Also a compl te assortment of 
 
 DRUGGISTS’ SUNDRIES & DRUGGISTS’ RANGY GOODS, 
 
 Shop-Furniture, Implements, etc., 
 
 Tooth, Hair, & Nail Brushes, & Toil t Articles. 
 
 Also all the principal favorite Foreign and Domestic 
 
 PERFUMERIES, COSMETIZES, SOAPS, ETC., 
 
 of their own direct importation. 
 
 Circulars will he sent by mail on application, and all orders in¬ 
 trusted to our care will be carefully and promptly filled at the low¬ 
 est market rates. 
 
ESTABLISHED 1827. 
 
 SMITH * 
 
 ^ Late SMITH & STRATTON, 
 
 J&anufacturers of 
 
 VARNISHES, 
 
 No. 160 Wil iam Street, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 TRADE MARK. 
 
 The following are some of the styles we manufacture: 
 Coach Varnish. No. 1 Furniture Varnish. 
 
 Coach Body do. 2 do. do. 
 
 Medium do. do. Polishing do. 
 
 Wearing do. do. Flowing do. 
 
 Rubbing do. do. White (Demar) do. 
 
 Carriage do. Black (Asphalt) do. 
 
 Elastic Carr’ge do. Brown Japan. 
 
 Finishing do. Black Baking do. 
 
 We invite special attention to our Wearing Body, and other 
 Coach Varnishes, believing them to be equal, if not superior, in 
 every respect, to the best English, or any other Varnishes. 
 
HIGHEST PREMIUM—A SILVER MEDAL, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 $$lHraifattam unb Importers 
 
 OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 BRUSHES, 
 
 JTezv Yo~rJc. 
 
 rA.OTOK.XES; 
 
 New York City and Lansingburgh, N. Y, 
 
 We import, and have constantly on hand, every de¬ 
 scription of Brushes, for €?jHjr ( XEIlB, jlll'XIBQ.'B, and 
 YjlJTGY G-OOQS QEjlLEIlB, and are prepared to 
 fill any orders. 
 
 Illustrated Catalogue furnished on application. 
 

 
 JUDD 
 
 mh %frm 
 
 COMPANY. 
 
 
 Manufacturers and Importers of 
 
 Raw and Boiled Mnseed Oil, 
 
 SPERM, WHALE, AND OTHER OILS, 
 
 AND AGENTS LINDER (H R OWN BRAND FOR UNIFORM GRAVITY 
 
 NATURAL LUBRICATING OIL, 
 
 Warranted 
 
 Produced from the Wells in Western Virginia, and of the same 
 density as Winter Sperm Oil, and warranted the 
 cheapest Lubricator in existence. 
 
 Sole Snccessors to Samuel Judd, 
 
 SAML. JUDD’S SONS & CO., and J. & L. K. BRIDGE. 
 
 Established, over forty years. 
 

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GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
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