[845] Taking Impressions of Leaves.

Manufacturer and Builder 1, 1874

Rub vermillion, ultramarine, chrome green, or their equivalents well up with castor-oil to a thick paste or kind of printing ink, then take thin strong paper and cover it very thinly with the paint thus obtained, by means of a stiff brush. It is well to do this on a warm stone slab, so as to be able to put the paint on thin enough; then put the back of the leaf of which you wish to take the impression on this paper, put another paper over it, and rub down. This causes the paint to adhere to the projecting parts of the leaves; place the leaf thus prepared with paint on the clean sheet of paper on which you wish to make the impression, place another clean paper over it, rub down, and you will be surprised how the markings of the leaves will be printed in detail. Lace does not take the printing-ink so well, and would besides be spoiled by it; but you can make an impression of it by placing it between two sheets of thin, smooth, and strong paper, place this on top of the sheet prepared with the color as described, and this again on the sheet to be printed upon. Then you may by rubbing down forma good impression of the lace, on the principle of the multiple writer. If your prepared paper dirties the clean paper on which it lays, you have too much color on it, which you must remove by laying several tittles on it a clean sheet of paper, and rub. Observe that the operation requires a hard smooth table, or better, a stone slab, in order to obtain fine impressions. The above inks are indelible on paper. To make it indelible on cloth which may be washed, rub some nitrate of silver in the black ink. If you want it to dry quick, you may mix some linseed oil with your castor oil, but then your prepared paper will not last so long, as this retains its efficacy only as long as the paint is not dried up.