To Soften Horn
To one pound of wood-ashes, add two pounds of quick lime; put them
into a quart of water. Let the whole boil till reduced to one-third.
Then dip a feather in, and if, on drawing it out, the plume should
come off, it is a proof that it is boiled enough; if not, let it boil
a little longer. When it is settled, filter it off, and in the liquor
thus strained put in shavings of horn. Let them soak for three days;
and, first anointing your hands with oil, work the horn into a mass,
and print or mould it into any shape you please.