His tools being thus ready, he wets a small portion of the moulding by means of a camel-hair pencil dipped in water, and, taking the _tip_ in his right hand, he lays the hairs on one of the slips of gold, which slightly adheres to it. This slip of gold he transfers to the moulding, where it instantly adheres by means of the water with which the latter is wetted. Another portion is wetted in a similar manner, and another slip of gold laid on, one end of which is made to lap a little way over the one first laid on. A third slip is now laid on in a similar manner; and by this time the first leaf of gold is all used. A second is therefore laid out smooth by means of the knife,--cut into three pieces,--and laid on the moulding as before. This process continues until the moulding has been gilt in its whole extent. We may remark, that the moulding is placed in an inclined position, the higher end being first gilt: this is done in order that the water should gradually flow off from beneath the pieces of gold after they are laid on, to facilitate the drying. When the gold--or rather the wetted gold size which is beneath it--has attained a certain degree of dryness known only by experience, and which occurs in a time varying from one to twelve hours according to the state of the atmosphere, the gold is _burnished_ by means of a burnisher made of flint, agate, or bone. This, if carefully done, produces a brilliant gloss, but could not be at all attained without the layers of whiting and gold size under the gold. Sometimes a portion of the moulding is preferred, for relief and contrast, to be left dead or _matt_, as it is termed. In this case the burnisher is not used; but the gold, after it is dried, is merely secured by a thin clear cement or varnish of parchment size. The Process of Oil-Gilding. Sometimes no burnishing at all is required, while a degree of durability which cannot be conveniently obtained with burnish-gilding is desired. In this case the moulding is gilt in _oil gold_, by a process differing in many respects from that which we have mentioned. For oil-gilding a ground of whiting and size is required, as in burnish-gilding, but not in so great quantity. After the application of a few coats of whiting and size, the moulding is smoothed in the manner before described; and in some cases a few coats of burnish gold size are applied, but not always. The next process is to wash the moulding with two or three coatings of strong size, by which it acquires a gloss somewhat similar to that produced by varnish, and which has the effect of preventing the absorption of the substance next employed.