A cheese cement for stone, and for many other purposes, is made as follows. It may be kept for a long time, and is very durable (Lehner):—
| Caseine | 200 |
| Calcined lime | 40 |
| Camphor | 1 |
This must be closely incorporated and kept well corked. When it is to be used mix it with water, and apply at once.
The following cement was used by the Romans especially in setting mosaics. It becomes as hard as marble, and sets with great rapidity:—To one quart of milk add the white of five eggs, and stir in powdered quicklime till a paste is formed. This composition may be used to repair or make scagliola, which is fragments of marble or stone embedded in a hard mass. When it sets, polish the surface with rasps, and rub down with a rough stone, and finally polish with marble dust, and then emery or tripoli. Beautiful slabs for tables, columns, floors, and walls can thus be made. It is valuable for repairing.
Ceresa is allied to this. We make a basis of this or any other cement which will hold firmly, and press into the surface powdered glass, which may be fine or of any degree of coarseness. Coarse grains shine most brilliantly; fine powder is best adapted to delicate shading. The effect is best when mosaic stones and gold cubes are sparingly introduced. To make the gold cubes, take two small panes of window glass, cover one side of each with varnish or mastic cement, lay between them gold-leaf, and join them. Very beautiful pictures can be made in this manner. Nor is it at all necessary that they should be finely executed for ordinary decoration. All that is needed for this beautiful and little-known art is the cement, a quantity of glass or stone of different colours, and a mortar and pestle. The mosaic cubes, with those of gold, can be bought in London.
Allied to this is an art which I believe I can claim to have invented. It consists of breaking waste chinaware, crockery, or fictile ware into small squares or triangles, and setting them as mosaic in cement. The advantage of it is the cheapness of the material, and the infinite number of shades of colour which can be selected for it. Its disadvantage is, that it will not wear as a pavement, but it is perfectly adapted to walls.
A strong, coarse cement for brick or stone work in building is made as follows:—
| Slacked lime | 40 |
| Brick-dust | 10 |
| Iron filings | 10 |
| Ox-blood | 8 |
| Water | 8 |
The blood is stirred as it comes from the slaughtered beast with a broom for ten minutes to break the fibre. It should then be mixed with the water and kneaded with the powder. Glue may be substituted for the blood. This cement, if properly made, sets very hard and adhesively.
For tiles, bricks, or composition:—