COMB, an instrument made of horn, ivory, tortoise-shell, box, or holly-wood, &c. and useful for separating and adjust ing the hair, &c.
Coma-making. Combs are not only made for the purpose of cleansing the hair, but for ornament : they are some times set with brilliant stones, pearls, and even diamonds ; some again are studded with cut steel : these are of different shapes, and are used to fasten up the hair when ladies dress without caps. Combs may, of course, be had of all prices, from the value of a few pence to almost any sum. They are generally made of the horns of bullocks or of elephants, and sea-horse's teeth, and some are made of tortoise-shell and ivory, others of box or holly-wood. The horns of bullocks are thus prepared for this manufactory : the tips are sawn off; they are then held in the flame of a wood fire ; this is called roasting, by which they become nearly as soft as leather. While in that state they are slit open on one side, and pressed in a machine between two iron plates ; they are then plunged into a trough of water, from which they come out hard and flat; they are then sawn into lengths, according to the size wanted.
To cut the teeth, each piece is fixed into a tool called a claw. The maker sits on a triangular sort of a stool to his work, and under him is placed the claw that holds the horn, ivory, &c. that is to be formed into a comb. The teeth are cut with a fine saw, or rather a pair 'of saws, and they are finished with a file. A coarser file, called a rasp, is used to reduce the horn, &c. to a proper thickness ; and when they are completely made, they are polished with charcoal and water, and receive their last finish with powder of rotten stone. The process used for mak
ing ivory combs is nearly the saute as that already described, except that the ivory is first sawed into thin slices. The best ivory comes from the island of Cey lon, and Achen, in the East Indies ; as it possesses the property of never turning yellow, it is consequently much dearer than any other kind.
Tortoise-shell combs are much es teemed ; and there are methods of stain ing horn, so as to imitate it, of which the following is one ; the horn to be dyed is first to be pressed into a fiat form, and then done over with a paste, made of two parts of quick-lime and one of litharge, brought into a proper consistence with soap-ley. This paste must be put over all the parts of the horn, except such as are proper to be left transparent, to give it a nearer resemblance to tortoise-shell. The horn must remain in this state till the paste be quite dry, when it is to be brushed ofi'. It requires taste and judg ment, so to dispose the paste, as to form a variety of transparent parts, of dif ferent magnitudes and figures, to look like nature. Some parts should also be semi transparent, which may be effected by mixing whiting with a part of the paste, By this means spots of a reddish brown will be produced, so as greatly to in crease the beauty of the work. Horn thus dyed is manufactured into combs, and these are frequently sold for real tor toise-shell.