To remove paint containing tar from letters cut in a gravestone, dissolve American potash, mix with sawdust, and lay it on the paint for twelve hours. Should this fail to allow the bitumen to be washed off, it may be so far softened by heat as to permit the superfluous black to he scraped off; and the letters can then be repainted. To make a good job of removing blacks marks from the level face of the stone, it will be necessary to grit the stone all over.