Note 13 — Chapter VII

Hands are nearly always made of lime wood, which has the advantage of lightness, but the fingers are fragile and easily break. Instead of using hornbeam, which is hard but heavy, as the fragility only affects the fingers, some makers have overcome this difficulty by reinforcing the fingers by what they call a "philippeau."

The finger is divided throughout its whole length by a mortise 1·5 millimetres in width, in which are glued two layers of veneering wood (mahogany, rosewood, etc., extremely hard woods, or else a layer of hornbeam).