TO BURNISH GOLD.
Acorns and any wooden part attached to leather work can be burnished, which adds much to the variety of the work, and is done in the following manner:—that part of the work intended to be burnished must be prepared exactly as above, except that instead of using the prepared oil gold size take the white of an egg and give the work a coat of it, let it dry, then give it another coat, and when nearly dry see that it lays on evenly; apply the gold leaf all over; leave it an hour or two to become hard; then burnish it by rubbing it all over with a burnishing stone or any very hard and perfectly smooth substance. This burnish gilding is far more brilliant than the oil gold, but will not wash, and is not so durable.
