After washing, melt a little white beeswax, dip a clean cloth in it, and polish the ornaments with the cloth. The best cement for mending alabaster is white gelatine size, made by melting 1 part of gelatine in about 5 parts of water. "Plaster-of-Paris is very often used as a cement, but only in places where the joints would not be seen, and it is not a strong cement.