of a considerable amount of copper, the amalgam being generally termed "or-molu." POLISHING.--The older method of polishing woodwork consisted in the application of a mixture of turpentine and beeswax to the surface; this would be repeated again and again, and then well rubbed down with a hard brush, when a very durable polish was obtained. For flat surfaces, and particularly for the tops of dining tables which were formerly uncovered to show the wood, oil polishing was the fashion; this was effected by rubbing the table-top with a heavy weight backwards and forwards, using oil as a lubricant. Good housewives used to polish up their dining tables very frequently. Oil polishing had the great advantage, too, of producing a surface which hot plates did not easily mark. The cost, time, and trouble, however, caused these older processes to be abandoned in favour of "French" polishing, which is the application on a prepared surface of shellac dissolved in methylated spirits, and often other ingredients to give poor-looking wood a richer color. This polish is quicker, and therefore, cheaper than the old-fashioned method. It has come into general adoption since the Great Exhibition of 1851. THE PIANOFORTE. The Pianoforte is such an important article in the furniture of the present time, that a few notes about its development, from a decorative point of view, may be acceptable. In "Musical Instruments," one of the South Kensington handbooks, Carl Engel traces the Pianoforte from the "Clavicembalo," which he tells us, "was, in fact, nothing but a Cembalo or Dulcimer, with a key board attached to it." Our present Grand Piano was, however, more immediately a development of the Harpsichord[29] and Spinet, which had succeeded the Virginal of the 16th century. These were made of oblong shape and supported on stands, which were simply supports for the instrument, and did not form a part of it as do the legs of a modern "grand." In an original play bill, which is still preserved at Messrs. Broadwoods', there is an announcement that at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on the 16th of May, 1767, at the end of Act I. (of the Beggars' Opera), "Miss Brickler will sing a favourite song from 'Judith,' accompanied by Mr. Dibden, on _a new Instrument, called Pianoforte_."