_To Color a Maple Stock Brown._—Dissolve a few grains of sulphate of manganese in water; wet the stock and hold over the flame of an alcohol lamp so as to scorch it. By heating some parts more than others the color can be variegated. Oil with raw linseed oil, and polish with a piece of hard wood. The oil and polishing will develop the color, which may be dull at first. _To Color a Reddish Brown._—Brush the wood with dilute nitric acid, and when dry apply the following with a brush: Dragon’s-blood, four ounces; common soda, one ounce; alcohol, three pints. Repeat if not dark enough. _To Color a Black._—Boil half a pound of logwood chips in two quarts of water; add one ounce of pearlash, and wash the work with it while hot. Then, when dry, go over the work with the following: Boil half a pound of logwood in two quarts of water; add half an ounce of verdigris and green copperas, in which has been put half a pound of rusty steel or iron filings. _Rosewood Stain._—Boil half a pint of logwood in three pints of water till the mixture is very dark red; add salts of tartar, one-half ounce, while boiling hot; and while still in this condition apply to the wood, repeating the application two or three times, as the previous application becomes dry. Rub over with a soft cloth when the last application has dried, and set away for a day or so. In the meantime boil one pound of logwood in four quarts of water until of a deep color, then add one pint of vinegar, heat hot and apply to the wood already stained, with a suitable brush, streaking on in imitation of rosewood. When thoroughly dry rub off all loose matter with a soft cloth, and varnish. _Black-Walnut Stain._—Put together gum asphaltum, one pound, and turpentine, half a gallon. Dissolve by gentle heating, taking care not to heat so as to ignite the turpentine. Rub over the wood, and when dry, if not sufficiently dark, repeat the operation. Having the shade to suit, polish down by rubbing hard with a woollen cloth, followed with a bit of soft wood, then varnish. A stain, not quite so good, but cheaper and more simple, is burnt umber, such as can be bought at any paint shop, ground in oil, thinned with a little turpentine. It should be put on very thick, and then rubbed off to the proper shade with a woollen cloth. Dry and varnish. _Mahogany Stain._—It is not often that guns are stocked in mahogany, but the gunsmith ought to know how to stain in imitation of that wood, should occasion happen to call for it. Put together, water, one half gallon; madder, four ounces; and fustic, two ounces. Boil. Lay on the wood with a brush while hot; and while yet damp, but not wet, rub off with a woollen cloth; then, when dry, go over with a second coat in streaks to imitate the grain of mahogany. Rub off all loose matter when dry, and varnish.