_Counter-Boule._ _Contre partie._--See Chapter VI., where specimens of this work are illustrated. It consists of a brass groundwork with tortoiseshell inlay. _French Polish._--A cheap and nasty method used since 1851 to varnish poor-looking wood to disguise its inferiority. It is quicker than the old method of rubbing in oil and turpentine and beeswax. It is composed of shellac dissolved in methylated spirits with colouring matter added. _Gate-leg table._--This term is self-explanatory. The legs of this class of table open like a gate. They belong to Jacobean days, and are sometimes spoken of as Cromwellian tables. An illustration of one appears on the cover. _Gothic._--This term was originally applied to the mediaeval styles of architecture. It was used as a term of reproach and contempt at a time when it was the fashion to write Latin and to expect it to become the universal language. In woodcarving the Gothic style followed the architecture. A fine example of the transition between Gothic and the oncoming Renaissance is given (p. 44). _Inlay._--A term used for the practice of decorating surfaces and panels of furniture with wood of various colours, mother-of-pearl, or ivory. The inlay is let into the wood of which the piece inlaid is composed. _Jacobean._--Strictly speaking, only furniture of the days of James I. should be termed Jacobean. But by some collectors the period is held to extend to James II.--that is from 1603 to 1688. Other collectors prefer the term Carolean for a portion of the above period, which is equally misleading. Jacobean is only a rough generalisation of seventeenth-century furniture. _Lacquer._ _Lac._--A transparent varnish used in its perfection by the Chinese and Japanese. (See "Consular Report on Japanese Lacquered Work," in Bibliography.) Introduced into Holland and France, it was imitated with great success. Under Louis XV. Vernis-Martin became the rage (_q.v._). _Linen Pattern._--A form of carving panels to represent a folded napkin. This particular design was largely used in France and Germany prior to its adoption here. (See illustration, p. 60.) _Marquetry._--Inlays of coloured woods, arranged with some design, geometric, floral, or otherwise, are classed under this style. (See also _Parquetry_.) _Mortise._--A term in carpentry used to denote the hole made in a piece of wood to receive the end of another piece to be joined to it. The portion which fits into the mortise is called the tenon.