Inclusions and "checks" are pretty common in highly figured wood and in the old days were commonly repaired with stick shellac applied and smoothed with a heated spatula or pallet knife. The real "trick" was in the ability of the stockmaker to match the color of the wood. They kept a selection of shellac sticks in various colors. This was before epoxy and certainly before "plastic wood"(boo) or other filler, and was regarded as the proper way to address the problem. Whether "Lang would let that go" boiled down to a judgement of whether they would use a piece of highly figured wood for a stock or for firewood.
Mike
