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To dye or stain horn tortoise-shell colour

The horn to be dyed must be first pressed into proper plates, scales, or other flat form, and the following mixture prepared: Take of quick-lime two parts, and litharge one part, temper them together to the consistence of a soft paste, with soap ley. Put this paste over all the parts of the horn, except such as are proper to be left transparent, in order to give it a near resemblance to the tortoise-shell. The horn must remain in this manner, covered with the paste, till it is thoroughly dry; when, the paste being brushed off, the horn will be found partly opaque and partly transparent, in the manner of tortoise-shell, and when put over a foil of the kind of lattern, called orsedue, will be scarce distinguishable from it. It requires some degree of fancy and judgment to dispose of the paste in such a manner as to form a variety of transparent parts, of different magnitudes; and figures to look like the effect of nature; and it will be an improvement to add semi-transparent parts, which may be done by mixing whiting with some of the paste, to weaken its operation in particular places, by which spots of a reddish-brown will be produced, which, if properly interspersed, especially on the edges of the dark parts, will greatly increase the beauty of the work, and its similitude to real tortoise-shell.