Crocus is very good for polishing any metal under the hardness of iron, and it may be used for finishing iron and steel, after the rough polishing is done. It may be made into hard cakes by mixing with lard, suet, or tallow, first melting the tallow and then stirring in as much crocus as the tallow will hold, and pouring into an open oblong box, the sides of which may be taken apart to release the cake. For a paste to be put up in tin boxes, the crocus may be mixed with soft soap, with a percentage of a common oil to be ascertained by experiment, the oil preventing the paste from becoming hard. The former composition would be useful for lathe polishers, and the latter for domestic and general use.