The brushes used by the Painter, are either round or flat, the latter being used in varnishing or graining; they are made of hog’s bristles. The smaller kinds of brushes are called _tools_ or _fitches_, and are used for small surfaces, such as ornaments and mouldings round panels, when the colour is generally taken from a _palette_—a round slab of wood, with a hole through which the thumb of the left hand passes in order to hold it. The brushes must never be allowed to get dry, but when not in use must be kept in water: it is always best to keep a brush for each colour. Another part of the Painter’s business which requires more skill, is graining and marbling; or the imitation in colours of the marks and grains of various kinds of wood, and the veins and spots in marbles. This is of course a part of the trade which requires a knowledge of the thing to be imitated, and great care and taste in doing it well. Graining is generally done with “distemper colour,” that is a kind of paint in which whiting and size are used instead of white lead and oil, for the basis of the colour; but the colours depend on the sort of grain to be imitated, and they are applied in various ways and with different sorts of brushes, some of the colour being occasionally removed with a piece of wash leather, in order to give the appearance of the light marks seen in the “heart” of the wood. The appearance of the “grain” of the wood is effected by the _graining comb_, a comb with short thick straight teeth, which is drawn along the paint in a wavy line. [Illustration: Graining Comb. Painter’s Brush.] Marbles are imitated in oil if it is outside work and exposed to the weather, but for inside work distemper colour is frequently used. Occasionally walls are coloured in distemper, and it then frequently happens that a pattern or some ornamental design is painted in the centres of the panels, or round the mouldings. This is a part of the Painter’s trade which requires much skill, and a knowledge of artistic drawing and design. Varnishing is an operation requiring great care to perform it properly, since it is necessary not only to choose the right kind of varnish, but also to apply it to the surface of the paint with a light but firm hand. Varnishes are made of gums or resins melted, spirits of wine, oil of turpentine, or strong white drying oil. The hard varnishes dry rapidly, and are made of the harder kinds of gums, such as copal, mastic, &c., and the soft of Canada balsam, elemi, turpentine, &c. The most useful for the House Painter are those of copal, linseed oil, and turpentine.