Hmmm, I wonder if this works on glass

[Kelly Thorson]

III. To soften crystal, or any other coloured stone, so that you may cut it like cheese; and restore it afterwards to its primary hardness.
1. Take, in the month of August, goose's and goat's blood. Let each of them dry till very hard. When you want to soften your stones, take an equal quantity of each blood, pulverize it and put in a pot, then pour over a strong lye made of pearl ashes. Leave it so for a while, stirring often; then add about a pint of strong vinegar. In this preparation, if you set your stones, and warm it a little over the fire, they will become so soft, that you may take and cut, or form them afterwards as you will.
2. To restore them again to their former hardness, put them in cold water, and let them there lay for about one hour and a quarter, it will be quite sufficient.
3. But to give them their lustre again, you must take antimony in powder, spread it on a very smooth leaden table, then polish your stones on this. It will restore them to their brightness as before.

I'll have to try it next August.

[Dale Feicke]

Kelly, which edition of "Merlin's Almanac" was that taken from...........?

[Kelly Thorson]

Hi Dale,
It's from a rather delightful (in my eyes) transcript of an original 1809 work called 18th Century Secrets in Arts, Trades and Crafts.
There is a section on gilding as well as the making of varnishes and recipes for glass paints.
If you like that type of thing it is an interesting and entertaining read.

I thought the line "Take in the month of August, goose's and goats blood." was pretty funny. Most of the info in there is a lot more realistic.

[Dale Feicke]

That's what I meant, Kelly. It sounds like a witch's brew of some kind. I found it fascinating, though I was sure somewhere "eye of newt" should be included.