of wood or bone, is used for the drawing of the colors in producing nonpareil marbles. This was described in the chapter on nonpareil edges.
THE COMB.
For the production of nonpareil marble, the comb is employed, made in the following way; take two strips of heavy pasteboard, 12 inches long and 2-1/2 inches wide, divide one of these exactly where the needles are to be inserted, draw grooves so that the needles can be laid in; glue the part in which the needles are to be laid, insert the needles in the grooves as aforesaid, and, after drying, the second strip of pasteboard, is glued upon the first.
The needles best adapted to comb making for use in comb marbling are fine pearl needles of steel; they are preferable to the common pins because they do not bend and do not offer any resistance to the size while drawing the colors, and also because they cut the colors easily without forming furrows.
The comb is so prepared that the pasteboard protrudes slightly at both ends, by this the movement of the comb is defined by the rim of the trough. It is advisable to prepare about three such combs with the needles separated from each other about 3/32, 3/16 and 1/4 inch respectively.
THE PEACOCK COMB.
The peacock comb consists of two common combs having strong needles separated from one another by 1/2 inch. These two combs are put together by means of a pasteboard frame in such a way that they can be moved 1/4 inch to the side.
Moved sideways the needles of one comb move to the centre between the needles of the other comb, they cover each other as soon as both combs are moved 1/4 inch in the opposite direction.
THE BRUSH.
To distribute the colors equally for drawn edges it is necessary to divide the color around on the size as explained in the chapter on nonpareil marble. This is almost impossible if a common brush is employed as the drops cannot be voluntarily directed by it, I have had, therefore, brushes made with bent bristles which make the distribution of the drops easier.