Lithographic ink is prepared in nearly the same way, viz.: wax 16 parts, tallow 6 parts, hard soap 6 parts, shellac 12 parts, mastic 8 parts, Venice turpentine 1 part., lamp black 4 parts. These are to be ground and heated together carefully.
The use of autographic paper is an im provement in lithography, as it abridges labor and does away with the necessity of making the drawing on the stone revers ed. The drawing is made on this paper and then transferred to the stone. The ink for this purpose must be fatter than that intended for the stone, and may be made of white soap and white wax of each 10 parts, mutton suet and lamp black of each 8 parts, shellac and mastic of each 5 parts. These are to be melted and well incorporated together.
Lithographic paper.—Lay on the paper, 8 successive coats of sheep-feet jelly, 1 layer of white starch, 1 layer of gamboge.
The first layer is applied with a sponge dipped in the solution of the hot jelly, very equally over the whole surface, but thin ; and if the leaf be stretched upon a cord, the gelatine will be more uniform. The next two coats are to be laid on, un til each is dry. The layer of starch is then to be applied with a sponge, and it will also be very thin and equal. The coat of gamboge is lastly to be applied in the same way. When the paper is dry, it mast be smoothed by passing it through the lithographic press ; and the more po lished it is, the better does it take on the ink in fine lines.
Tranefer.—When the paper is moisten ed, the transfer of the ink from the gam boge is perfect and infallible. The starch separates from the gelatine, and if, after taking the paper off the stone, we place it on a white ash of stone, and pour hot water over it, it will resume its primitive state.
The coat of gamboge ought to be laid on the same day it is dissolved, as by keeping it becomes of an oily nature ; in this state it does not obstruct the transfer, but it gives a gloss to the paper which renders the drawing or tracing more dif ficult, especially to persons little habitu ated to lithography.
The starch-paste can be employed only when cold, the day after it is made, and after having the skin removed from its suriltee.
A leaf of such lithographic paper may be made in two minutes.
In transferring a writing, an ink draw ing, or a lithographic crayon, even the impression of a copper-plate, to the stone, it is necessary, 1, that the impression be made upon a this and slender body like common paper ; 2, that they may be de tached and fixed totally on the stone by means of pressure ; but as the ink of a drawing sinks to a certain depth in paper, and adheres pretty strongly, it would be difficult to detach all its parts, were there not previously put between the paper and the traces, a body capable of being sepa rated from the paper, and of losing its ad hesion to it by means of the water with which it is damped. In order to produce this effect, the paper gets a certain pre paration, which consists in coating it over with a kind of paste ready to receive every delineation without suffering it to penetrate into the paper. There are dif ferent modes of communicating this pro perty to paper. Besides the above, the following may be tried : Take an unsizod paper, rather strong, and cover it with a varnish composed of:— Starch 120 parts Gum arable 40 Alum 20 — A paste of moderate consistence must be made with the starch and seine water, with the aid of beat, into which the gum and alum are to be thrown, each previ ously dissolved in separate vessels. When the whole is well mixed, it is to be applied, still hot, on the leaves of paper, with a flat smooth brush. A tint of yel low color may be given to the varnish, with a decoction of the berries of Avig non, commonly called French berries by our dyers. The paper is to be dried, and smoothed by passing under the scraper of the lithographic press.
Steel pens are employed for writing and drawing with ink on the lithographic stones.