:■::i:^;.H^;v!>^^;;|!i;Wm^§■fcE6pi| Ulljp i. 1. IHill ffitbrarg Nartlj (flarnlina S'tatt Special iJniorrmtg Collecti< T9 C95 v.l This book was presented by August Lewis Poller Class of *^9, Architecture THIS BOOK MUST NOT BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY BUILDING. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/americanartistsm01cutb THE AMERICAN ARTIST'S MANUAL, OR DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE APPLICATION OF PHILOSOPHY TO THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. Selected from the most complete Kiirojpean Sijstems, WITH ORIGINAL LMPROYEMENTS AXD APPROPRIATE ENGRAVINGS. ADAPTED TO THE USE OP THE MANUFACTURERS OF THE UNITED STATES. BY JAMES CUTBUSH. r.Y TWO rOLUMES^rOL. I. PHILADELPHIA : PUBLISHED B? JOHNSON ^ WARNER, AND B. FISHER. W. Brown, Printer, Church Alley. 1814. DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit: Be it remembered. That on the eighteenth day of February, in the thirty- eighth year of the independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1814, Johnson & Warner and R. Fisher of the said district, have deposited in this office the Title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit : •' The American Artist's Manual, or Dictionary of Practical Knowledge, in " the application of Philosophy to the Arts and Manufactures. Selected *' from the most complete European systems, with original improvements " and appropriate engravings. Adapted to the use of the Manufacturers " of the United States. By James Cutbush." In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, intituled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the autliors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned."— And also to the act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act, entitled, * An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania- TO BENJA]\liN SMITH BARTON, m. d. PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY AXD PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, AND OF NATURAL HISTORY AND BOTANY, IN THE UNIVER- SITY OF PENNSYLVANL\, THIS WORK IS BEDIC.ITEB BY THE EDITOR, AS A TESTLMOXY OF ESTEEM FOR HIS PRrVATE, AND RESPECT* FOR HIS PUBLIC, CHARACTER PREFACE. A HE Editor of the Artist's Manual having completed the task he had undertaken, now offers it to the public. It will occur to the mind of the candid and enlighten- ed reader, that a work professedly treating of most, if not all the useful Arts and Manufactures, cannot be the pro- duction of an individual , neitlier can a proper selection from the best pnblicafcions, be made without assistance. To this assistance the Editor has frequently had re- course ; and while he hopes the work may give general satisfaction, he feels a confidence that no expense has been spared by the publishers or himself, completely to fulfil the proposals of the prospectus. It was not to be expected that the United States, pos- sessing such an extensive territory, and with a population so small compared with the oldei' countries of Europe, where the number of inhabitants insures manual labour at a moderate price, could have, hitherto, made equal advan- ces in the arts and manufactures. Recent experience has however shewn us what the united efforts of industry and enterprize, conducted by the inventive talents of our countrymen, are capable of effecting. The time has al- ready arrived, when a general diffusion of the knowledge of Europe on these subjects, cannot fail of being highly interesting and beneficial amongst us. And as we are indebted to foreign publications, for some of the best IV PREFACE. treatises made use of, this necessarily makes the present more a work of selection than of original matter. At the same time it may be observed, that every opportunity to avail himself of the experience of his countrymen, has been souglit for by the editor, and much important infor- mation, has been thus cheerfully afforded him. To those •J- from whom he lias borrowed, both in Europe and Ame- rica, it has been uuiformly his wish to do justice, by giving the name of the author, with the quotation. Of such origiual essays as the editor has furnished, they are the result of much study and practice;, having devoted the greater part of his life, to chemical pursuits. He therefore feels a confidenccy that they will not be found uninteresting to such as are engaged in those arts, which are purely chemical, or are largely connectecnwith that science. AVith these general observations the work is submitted to a candid pu])lic, with a hope that it may be found de- serving of approbation and encouragement. THE ARTIST'S MANUAL ; OR, DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE. ACE ACETOUS ACID. As this important acid is, for the most part, though not al- ways, the product of a fermentation con- sequent to the vinous, and formed of the same general materials, we have referred to the articles Fermentaiion and Vinegar the description of the process of vinegar- making, the rationale of this operation, and the domestic uses of this acid ; we shall therefore in this place only describe some of the properties of the pure acetous acid. The sources whence this acid may be procui-ed are very numerous, more so than has commonly been supposed. It is found native in several vegetable juices, particularly in the sap of various trees. It is procured not only from vinous fer- mented liquors, but from most mucilagi- nous, insipid, extractive animal or vegeta- ble matters, when they turn sour by spon- taneous change. Thus the moulding of starch, of moistened flour of any kind, of animal jelly, and even of urine, and the souring of milk, is in some degree a pro- cess of acetification. Pure acetous acid is usually procured from common vinegar, the distillation of which is carried on in the large way by the druggists, for general purposes, and for the preparation of sugar of lead ; in some parts of the south of France for the preparation of verdigris ; with these it is distilled in a tinned copper vessel, as the VOL. I. ACE action of vinegar upon tin is but slight. A watery and slightly acid vapour first con- denses, which is a very weak acetous acid, and may be set aside. Then the distilled liquor still continuing equally clear and colourless, but a little empyreumatic in smell and taste, becomes more strongly acid, and continues so to the last. This is the common acetous acid or distilled vi- negar. Towards the end of the process, the residue is very apt to acquire and communicate a burnt smell and taste : this is prevented by carefully regulating the fire, and, if it be worth while, by adding to the liquor a little warm water ; but when about five-sixths of it is distilled, the process should be discontinued, as thS^residue is of little or no value. ' The truly acid part of the purified acid is still mixed with a large portion of wa- ter. Means have been devised for cop- densing or concentrating the acid in a smaller bulk. Distillation alone, is not competent to this purpose ; for, though some of the water rises nearly pure at first, yet it soon becomes very sour, as the acid is almost equally volatilized by heat, and by water. The effect of frost in concentrating vi- negar is very striking. If a quantity of this acid, distilled or not, be set out in the air in winter, when the cold is below 26° a tender flaky ice forms in the liquor, A ACE ACE and renders a large portion of it solid ; on breaking it, a portioii, still fluid, is found bencatli, whicli is to be carefully drained off" fiom the ice. This fluid is the acetous acid, concentrated by the loss of all the frozen part, which last is tasteless op very nearly so, and is little else than pure wa- ter. A fiu'ther exposure of the strong acid to a sharper cold, will produce a similar and increased condensation, till at last the process must be stojiped, either on ac- count of the cold not being now sufiicient to separate the water from the constantly strengthening acid, or liom the ice itself becoming acid. A more effectual mode of concentrating this acid is by previous union with an al- kali, an earth, or a metallic oxyd, and bringing it, by evaporation, to a solid con- sistence. In doing so, all the superfluous water of the acid is separated, and if the acid be afterwards expelled from the salt by means of a stronger affinity, it appears in the most concentrated form of which it is capable. The first process is to saturate pure dis- tilled vinegar with mild soda, filter the solution, evaporate to a sirupy consist- ence, and suffer the acetited soda to crys- tallize. Dry the salt thus obtained, pow- der it, put it into a tubulated retort luted to a large receiver, add half its weight of strong and quite colourless sulphuric acid, and distil on a sand bath with a gen- tle heat, neai-ly to dryness. If it rises mixed with sulphuxicor sulpliureous acid, redistil it off' a little clean clay. This acid is excessively volatile and pungent, and also inflammable. Howe- ver, it always contains sulphuric and sul- phureous acid, from which it may be se- parated with great ease, by adding ace- tited barytes, as long as any white preci- pitate falls down. The acid thus highly concentrated is crystalhzable by cold /but another me- thod which answers as well, is to n)ix and put into a retort two parts of dry acetited soda, with eight parts of dry crystailizeri acidulous sulphat of potash, and distil with a gentle heat. The process goes on spee- dily cveti in a weak tire, and two pans of a very strong acetous acid are obtuliicd. By this method no contamination with sul- phuric acid is to be feared. This acetous acid, in a temperature ol" about 3H^', or a little higher than freezing water, shoots into either fine arbore.sceni feathery crys- tals, or else into a confused striated mass. It rcmaihs unlhawed till about 59°. We proceed to mention that variety of acetous acid, formerly known under the name o\' radical vinegar. It is procured bv distillation of the metallic acetous salts. more especially the acetite of copper, or distilled verdigris. This may be procured in various me- thods : but the following is the most (Eco- nomical process -. mix equal parts of sul- phat of copper and acetited lead, distil with a gentle fire. A vjry pleasant and extremely pungent radical vinegar comes over, about a third of the weight of the ingredients used. The acetic acid, procur- ed from the salts of copper, is distinguish- ed by a light greenish colour and a cop- pery smell, \vnich makes an unpleasant addition to the agreeable pungency of the acid. An acid, similar at least in most sen- sible properties, may be obtained from the acetite of lead, not by distillation, but by tlie addition of sulphuric acid, for none of the metallic, or alkaline, or earthy ace-' tites, that have been subjected to experi- ment, will yield their acid, undecomposed by simple distillation, except the acetite of copper. Six ounces of sulphuric acid, added to twelve ounces of sugar of lead, and distilled with a gentle heat, will give seven ounces of a very concentrated caustic vinegar. In this, however, as in most of those processes wliere the naked sulphuric acid is added, the product is contaminated towards the end of the dis- tillation. The uses to which the acetous acid in its purified state is applied, are not very numerous. The most important is in the manufacture of sugar of lead and verdi- gris. It is used largely in medicine. None of the acetites, besides those of copper and lead, are employed to any extent, except in pharmacy and in the laboratory. 'I'he tests to discover the presence of acetous acid in any mixture, are not very obvious or direct. If the substance to be examined contains the acid in an uncom- bined state, it slioidd first be saturated with an alkali, and evaporated very gently to dryness. Then the affusion of a few drops of sul|)huric acid on a small portion of tiie residue, assisted by a gentle heat, will displace the acetous, and give the agreeable i)ungent acid vapour, by which this hatter is cliar.icterized. For the chemical properties of acetous :tcid, see the different treatises on chemis try. Also see Vinegar. ACETOUS ACID. Empyrcumatic. A great immber of vegetable substan- ces when strongly heated in close vessels, so as to destroy their org'.anization and tex- ture, yield, among other products, a con- siderable quantity of a bitterish, pungent, sourli(pior, whici) is always more or less turbid and dark coloured; is incapable of crystallization, imites with alkalies, earths, and some metallic oxyds, forming, ACE ADU for. the most part, brown and foul-looking compounds, generally deliquescent. On account of some little variety when procured from different substances, they have been distinguished from each other, and till of late, were considered as sepa- rate species. They are the following : 1. Empyreuinatic Acid of Sugar, iS)- rupous Acid, or .Pyromucoiui Acid. 2 Empyreumatic Acid of Tartar, or Py- rotartareoiis Acid, also to be carefully dis- tinguished from an acid of similar name, but totally different nature, Tartareous Acid. As the foregoing varieties are seldom applied to the arts, on account of their expense, we have thought any account of their preparation unnecessary. 3. Empyreumatic Acid of J Food, Ligne- ous Acid, or Pyroligntous Acid. To procure it, distil any quantity of shavings of any kind of wood, such as box, guiacum wood, or beech, and an extremely strong-smelling, dark-coloured empjTCumatic acid liquor is obtained, nearly one-third of the weight of the wood. This acid is sourer, and also much black- er and more empyreumatLc than the two former, probably as requiring a stronger heat for its production. The acid of wood is obtained in a large quantity near Lon- don, from the preparation of charcoal for Gunpowder, by distilling wood in cast- iron cylinders, it stains the hands deep- ly, and wood indelibly. The three varieties of empyreumatic acid above mentioned, are all capable of very considerable purification by easy me- thods, and in proportion as they become purer, they lose their empvreuma. their peculiar taste and smell, and consequent- ly their characteristic differences, till at last, when brought into the most concen- trated state by some of the methods in which vinegar is dephlegmated, they all exhibit the characters of acetous acid in so unequivocal a manner, tliat no doubt Charcoal, newly burnt and powdered, has a great effect in puritying ;iU the^e acids : they may be either gently distilled off it, or even merely filtered tiirough a stratum of it. But the most effectual me- thod of purification, is by uniting these acids with lime, or a fixed alkali, evapo- rating to drj-ness, and then expelling the acid by means of the sulphuric, in the same manner as the concentrated vinegar is prepared. The pjToligneous acid alone is procu- red in such a quantity as to be an ocyect for manufacture. At the best it is only an inferior acetous acid, and the difficulty of purifying it will forbid its profitable use in many of the arts to which vinegar is ap- plied. However, as the process for prO' curing radical vinegar at the same time purifies this empyreumatic acid, it may probably be used for this purpose. We may add, tiiat much of the acid from the distilled charcoal for gunpow- der, near London, is employed by calico- printers in forming the acetited iron, used as a mordant, as here the colour and smell of the acid are in no way detrimental. ACIDS.— We shall only U'eat of such acids as are of importance in tlie arts ; such as sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, muiiatic acid, or spirit of salt, &c. Acids are a peculiar class of bodies which are possessed of ceriain general properties, as follow 1. Their taste is sour, and, unless dilu- ted with water, corrosive 2. They change blue vegetable colours to red. 3. Most of them unite with water in all propor- tions ; and many have so strong an attrac- tion to that fluid,' as not to be exhibited in the solid state. At a moderate tempe- rature, or in the humid way, they com- bine with alkalis so strong!}', as to take them from all other substances. 5. They combine with most bodies, and form com- bmations attended with many interesting' phenomena ; upon the due explanation of which great part of the science of chemis- try depends. ACID, Acetous. Sec Acetous Acid. ACID, Arsenic See Arsenic Acid. ACID, Citric. See Citric Acid. ACID, Gallic. See Gallic Acid. ACID, Muriatic See ^lunatic Acid. ACID, Muriatic Oxvgekized. See Oxygenized J\Iuriatic Acid. ACID, Nitric See Nitric Acid. ACID, Prussic. See Prussic Acid. ACID, Sulphuric See Sulphuric Acid. ADULTERATION, is the corrupting of any substance, by mixing with it some- thing of less value. Wines are sometimes can now be entertained of their identity. -^ adulterated with lead and copper, to im- prove theu- taste ; but, as these metals are Oi" a very poisonous quality, the following ' alu^ble test is given to detect their pre- sence. Equal parts of oyster shells and crude sulphur, are to be kept in a white heat for a quarter of an hour ; and, when cold, this is to be mixed with an equal quantity of acidulous tartrite of potash, or cream of tartar, and put into a strong bottle with common water for an hour, and then de- canted into bottles holding an ounce, with twent}- drops of muriatic acid each. This liquor precipitates the least quan- tity of lead, copper, S;c, from vines, in » AGR AGR reiT sensible black or dark brown preci- pitate. See Tests. AFFINITY, or Attractiun. Almost all the phenomena ofnuture may be ultimate- ly referred to two kinds of motion, attrac- tion and repulsion. Attraction may again be subdivided into that which takes place between bodies at sensible distances, in- cluding gravitation, magnetism, .md elec- tricity ; and that which acts only at ni- sensibie distances, such as cohesion and chemical affinity. Cohesion, or homogeneous affinity, is the attraction between tiie component par- ticles of homogeneous bodies, as between two globules of quicksilver : when made to touch each other, they run togetlier into one globule, and are mixed in the most intimate manner, without however undergoing any alteration in their chemi- cal or physical properties. Chemical or heterogeneous affinity can only take place between dissimilar parti- cles ; and the change of properties which is the consequence of this combination, cannot, in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, be inferreil from those of the elementary particles. As when quick- silver is added to melted sulphur, the re- sult is a compound possessed of neither the colour, tiie splendor, the inflammabi- lity, the volatility, nor specific gravity of either of its constituent parts. These two affinities are the great agents in all the operations of nature and art, which are referable to the science of Che- mistry ; not only as Instruments of Syn- thesis, as might be supposed from the primary meaning of the term, but also as the sole means of analysis, there being no way of resolving a chemical compound but by exposing its elements to the action of stronger affinities than those which retain them in union. Sec Fourcroy's Chemistry. ACRICL'LTUUE claims a pre-eminence above manufactures and commerce, from its seniority and superior usefulness, and to use an expression of the celebrated Sul- ly, .Tiay be regarded as the breasts from whicli the state derives its support and nourishment. .Manufactures and com- merce originally owed their existence to agricultuie; and the people employed in carrying them on, must constantly be fed by those who are engaged in the parent art. Agriculture may, therefore, be con- sidered as of the first importance to man- kind ; because their temporal welfare and prosperity depend upon receiving a regu- lar and sufficient supply of the various articles cultivated by the agriculturist. In an age like the present, when the utlUty of agriculture is so fully recognised, it is unnecessary to dwell at length upon the advantages which every individual, wc may say every nation, must enjoy when that art is sufficiently understood and skilfully practised. Passing by the histo- ry and tedious forms of division, subdi- vision, &c. which are usually practised in treating on this subject, we shall make a few observations on the theory, and then proceed to the practical part of farming. 1st. On the Theory of ^Agriculture. — We consider the numberless hypotheses that have been presented respecting the orga- nization and food of plants, or the princi- ples of vegetation, as quite foreign to a treatise on agriculture. The operative far- mer could not thereby be benefitted in the smallest degree, nor would any part of his practice be illustrated or improved; per- haps, on the contrary, he might be led out of tile right path into the vortex of delu- sion, and induced to forsake that system of practice, which is sanctioned by expe- rience ; and which ought to be his only guide. We are inclined to believe, that a degree of certainty is already altalned,con- cerning the real and efficient theory, suffi- cient either to guide or determine the con- duct of those engaged in carrying it on. If the earth is enriched by generous manures, or stimulated by powerful cor- dials, as circumstances may require; if it is laid dry, or drained of superfluous wa^ ter ; if the soil is sufficiently cultivated, and its aboriginal inhabitants, namely weeds, are removed ; and if, in naked and exposed situations, slielter is afforded, by making enclosures, then every thing, that man is capable of doing to forward the productive powers of the earth, is com- pletely executed. In short, the man who is governed by tliese principles, may be pronounced to possess more knowledge of the art than tlie most scientific agricul- turist. The one acts upon principles which never can fall, and which uniformly lead to the same issue ; the other is guided by no certain principle whatever, but led by an igmisfatuus, whose d lusions may draw ■iiini into bogs and quagmires, where he may Hounder for a while, and at last be luined and made miserable, both in for- tune and reputation. The theory of agriculture, which we lay down, is therefore built upon the fol- lowing fundamental principles ; and with one or other of them every part of rural practice is more or less connected : — First, That the soil ought to be kept drj ; or, in other words, free of all superfluous moisture. Secondly, That it ought to be kept clean ; or, in other words, free of noxious weeds. Thirdly, That it ought to be kept rich ; or, in other words, that evcrv particle of manure, which can be . AGR AGR collected, ought to be applied, so tliat the soil may be kept in a state capable of yielding good crops. Every perscMi, pos- sessed of a sufficient capital stock, may act according to the first and second prin- ciples; but it is only where local circum- stances are favourable, that tlie last can be carried completely into effect. No more, however, being required of the far- mer, than that he shall make the most of his situation, the principle applies equally to all ; and, in like manner is equally cor- rect and beneficial in all situations and circumstances. In the first place, the utility, nay the ne- cessity, of keeping land dry, and preserv- ing it from being inundated or flooded with water, is so obvious, that few arguments will be required in support of this primary principle. When land is allowed to re- main in a state of wetness, wliich may ei- ther be occasioned by spouts, or springs, in the under soil, or by rain-water stag- nating on the surface, the earth gets into a sour state, which afterwards is detri- mental to the growth of plants ; and often, in the first instance, prevents either plough- ing or harrowing from being successfully effected. Under such circumstances, the young plants, either of corn oi' grass, be- come yellow and sickl}', and never assume that vigorous thriving aspect, which they maintain upon fields difierently circum- stanced. Besides, manure has not the same effect when the earth is drowned, or even injured with wetness, as when it is kept dry and free fi'om superfluous mois- ture. Under-draining is the only method of correcthig the evils arising- from spouts, or springs, and digging out the liead-land, and £-au^«;rowi, the only preventive against surface-water, when heavy falls of ram or snow storms ensue. In tact, without at- tention to these important operations, ai-a- ble land can neither be perfectly managed, nor full crops reaped. Perhaps, the good- ness or badness of farm-management may be as correctly estimated by the attention shown to di'ainage, as by any other mark whatever. Where drainag-e is neglected, a s'are proof is furnished, that many other branches of the art are imperfectly exe- cuted. Unless this branch of rural a:cono- my is assiduously attended to, tlie advan- tages arising from ploughing and manur- ing are only partially obtained. In the second place, the benefit arising from keeping the land clean is sufficiently discernible. Weeds, whether of tlie an- nual or perennial sorts, may be regarded as preferable creditors of the soil, wiio will reap the first advantage of manure, if al- lowed to remain in possession : their re- moval therefore forms an important object of the husbandman's attention. It may he stated, that, according to the degree ot success that follows the means employed, so will the goodness or badness of the husbandman's crops be regulated. If the, strength, or nutritive powers of the soil be exhausted or drawn forth by weeds, or such plants as the soil naturally produces, it is impossible tliat artificial plants can prosper. In the third place, the necessity of re- storing to the soil, in the shape of manure, the powers drawn from it by artificial crops, is acknowledged liy almost every person. Manure, in fact, is the most pow- erful agent in the hands of the farmer, and the attention bestowed upon collecting, preparing, and applying it, constitutes an important branch of the art, which he practises. Perhaps agriculturists are more behind, in the points connected with this third general principle, tiian in the others ; and here the utility of chemical knowledge may, in some respects, be estimated and recog'nised. These three fundamental principles hang or fall together. Without laying- land dry, neither the advantages of good ploughing-, nor the benefits arising trom manui-e can he fully obtained. When any of the otiier pj-inciples are neglected, simi- lar defects will necessarily ensue. But when they arc all acted upon ; when the land is kept dr}-, clean, and in good heart, the husbandman may expect a suitable re- ward for the ti-ouble and expense bestow- ed on its cultivation. An agricultural code of this kind is not only a true one, but has the particular merit of being sim- ple and distinct ; nay, it has an advantage which few creeds possess; it may be un- derstood by the dullest capacity. Were it carried into execution, were the opera- tions of farmers regulated by its tenets, were their endeavours constantly directed to keep the lands in their possession dry and clean, and as ricli as possible, then the country would be progressively improved. 0.7 Soils — Soil, strictly speaking-, is the ground or earth wherein crops of every kind are produced; and we notice it in this waymeiely to distingtiish the surface from the under stratum or subsoil on which the surface is incumbent- The va- lue or worth of that part of the earth, which is the object of cultivation, depends materially upon tlie nature of the under stratum ; because, wlien the latter is close or extremely retentive of moisture, the expense and hazardof cultivating the sur- face is considerably increased, whilst the growth of plants cultivated upon it is much abridged and impeded, particularly in ad- verse seasons. AGR AGR 'I lie nomenclature of ap'iculturists, with regard to soils, being variable and indis- tinct, It IS a difficult task to describe them, or to mark with any degree ot" accuracy tlie shades wiiicli distinguisii one from anotiier, so nearly are many ot'tiiem con- nected. Generally speaking, the conipo- nent parts ot" soil, uliatever may be the color, are argiil, silcx or sand, watei-, and air; forintothestoriginal principles may all cartlis be reduced, however blended with apparently foreign substances. Argiil is the soft and unctuous part of clay. The primitive earths, argil! and sand, contain each, perhaps in nearly equal degrees, the food of plants ; but in their union the pur- poses of vegetation are most completely answered. The precise quantities of eacli necessary to make this union perfect, and whether they ought to be equal, it is nei- ther very easy nor very material to ascer- tain, sincc^ tliat point is best determined in practice, when the soil proves to be nei- ther too slirt'or adhesive, from the super- abundance of clay, nor of too loose and weak a texture, from an over quantity of sand in its composition. Tlie medium is undoubtedly best; but an excess towards adhesion is obviouslj' most safe. A stitf or strong soil holds the water which falls upon it for a long time, and, being capable of much ploughing, is naturally well qua- lified for carrying the most valuable ara- ble crops A light soil, or one of a tex- ture feeble and easily broken, is, on the contrary, soon exhausted by ploughing, and requires renovation by grass ; other- wise it c:innot be cultivated to advantage. Soils may be considered and c'larac- lerized, as far at least as is necessary for practical purposes, under the distinctions of Clayey, Loamy, Chalky, Sandy, Gravel- ly, and Peaty or .Mossy. Each of these diversities, of course, comprehends several varieties, according to the nature and ])reponilerance of the different sorts of materials of which they are composed. Loam has generally l)een considered as ;in original earth, though we are disposed to view it as an artificial Sf)il, produced by calcareotis matters, and animal and vege- table manures. The .strongest clay may, in process of time, be converted into a loam, by repeated applications of these hubslance.s ; and the richness or freeness of that loam w ill depend entirely upon the •pianlityof iiianiue with which it has been supplied. Sandy soils may also be coy. verted into light loams, by the application of lime, chalk, marl, and especially clay. Even peat may be converted into a black soft loam, and in various ways rendered fertile and jjroductive. Tiom these cir- cumslaitccs, a degree of confusion pre- vails respecting the nature and properties of soils, which renders the subject more difKcult than at first sight might be ex- pected. Even the admixture of siu-face and subsoil, by deep ploughing, creates a change of considerable magnitude. A clay soil, though distinguished by the colour which it bears, namely black, Avhite, yellow, and red, differs from all other soils, being tough, wet, and cold, and con- secjuently requiring a good deal of labour from the husbandman before it can be suf- ficiently pulverized, or placed in a fit state for bearing artificial crops of corn or grass. Clay land is known by these qualities, or properties. It holds water like a cup, and once wetted does not soon dry. In like manner, when thoroughly dry, it is not soon wetted; if we except the varieties which have a thin surface, and are the worst of all to manage. In a dry sum- mer, clay cracks, and shows a surface full of small chinks, or openings. If ploughed m a wet state, it sticks to the plough like mortar, and in a dr) summer the plough turns it up in great clods, scarcely to be broken or separated by the iieaviest roller. Sandy soils next come under considera- tion. Soils of this description are managed with infinitely less trouble and at an ex- pense greatly inferior to what clays re- quire; but at the same lime the crops produced from them are generally of smaller value. There are many varieties of sand, however, as well as of clay; and in some places, the surface is little better than a bare barren sand, wherein artificial plants will not take root, unless a dose of clay or good earth is previously adminis- tered. I'his is not the soil meant by the farmer when he speaks of sands To speak practically, the soil meant is one where sand is predominant, although there be several other earths in the mix- ture. J'Vom containing a gre;it quantity of sand, these soils areall loose and crumb- ling, and never get into a clod, even in the driest weather. This is the great article of distinction betwixt sands and sandy loams. A sandy loam, owing to the clay that is in it, does 'iiot crumble down, or become loose like a real sand, but retains a degree of adhesion after wetness or drought, notwithstanding the quantity of sand th;it is mixed w ith it. Pei-haps a true sandy loam, incumbent upon a sound subsoil, is the most valuable of all soils. Upon such, every kind of grain may be raised with advantage, and no soil is bet- ter calculated for turnips and grass. The real sands are not favourable to the growth of wheat, unless when pre- ceded by clover, which binds the surface. AGR AGR and confers a temporary strength for sus- taining that graui. We have now to speak of gravelly soils. The open porous nature of these soils dis- poses them to imbibe moisture, and to part with it with great facility ; from the latter of which circumstances they are subject to burn, as it is termed, in dry sea- sons. The main difference between gra- vel and sand is, that the former is chiefly composed of small soft stones ; though, in some instances, the stones are of the siU- cicous or flinty nature, and, in others, of the calcaieous and chalky. From these constitutional circumstances arises the propriety of deepening gravelly soils by coats of marl or earth, and of keeping them fresh by frequent returns of grass, and repeated applications of manure. Gravelly soils, from the lightness of their texture, are not expensive or difficult in the means of cultivation. All the neces- sary business required for gravels may be carried forward with ease and expedi- tion ; and such soils are, in general, soon brought into a proper state for tlie recep- tion of crops. From what is said respecting gravels, it will appear, that naturally they are bar- ren, unless when mixed with other earths ; and that the surface of most of them would exhibit the same appearance as tlie sub- soil, or what is beyond the reach of the plough, were it not changed and meliora- ted by vegetable matters. The constitu- tional qualities of gravels also point out the propriety of ploughing them deep, so that the suiface soil may be augmented and greater room given to the growth of the plants cultivated on them. A shallow- ploughed gravel can stand no excess of weather, however enriched by manure. It is burnt up by a day or two of drought, and it IS almost equally injured by an ex- cessive fall of rain, unless the pan or firm bottom, which such soils easily gain, be frequently broken through by deep plough- ing. According to an old adage, the top of clay, and the bottom of gravel, are best; but though we cannot subscribe to the first part of the adage, being satisfied that deep ploughing is highly beneficial, ex- cept where the subsoil is of a poisonous nature, we are certain that the latter is well founded, and ought never to be over- looked. Peat earth, or moss is the next kind of soil which \v-e have'to treat of; though we are very uncertain whether, like loam and garden mould, it ought not to be viewed as an artificial soil, made and produced by certain substances deposited on the sur- face of the eailli, and not one originally created, or to be found in the early ages. Satisfactory accounts concerning the for- mation of moss, the uses to which it may be applied, and the means of removing it, have not yet been discovered. Soils, therefore, difter considerably from each otlier, according to the proportions of the diflTerent earths, of which they con- sist. To determine what are the requi- sites which distinguish or constitute ara- ble or fruitful soils, is of much importance to the farmer. Since vegetable substances evidently imbibe from the earth and sur- rounding atmosphere, the principle of oils, mucilage, and other peculiar products on- ly found in organized substances ; it can hardly be doubted, but that manure, or the remains of decayed substances, ren- der lands fruitful, by supplying these ma- terials ready formed. What remarks we have to offer on the subject of tnanure, will be found under tliat head. We shall oflTer the following additional observations, which are drawn, principally, from analyti- cal investigations. In cases where a barren soil is examin- ed with a view to its improvement, it ouglit in all cases, if possible, to be com- pared with an extremely fertile soil in the same neighbourhood, and in a similar si- tuation : the difference given by their ana- lyses would indicate the methods of cul- tivation, and thus the plan of improvement would be founded upon accurate scientific principles. If the fertile soil contained a large quan- tity of sand, in proportion to the ban-en soil, the process of melioration would de- pend simply upon a supply of this sub- stance ; and the method would be equally simple with regard to soils deficient in clay or calcareous matter. In tlie application of clay, sand, loam, marl, or chalk to lands, there are no par- ticular chemical principles to be observed ; but when quicklime is used, great care must be taken, that it is not obtained from the magnesian lime-stone ; for in this case, it is exceedingly injurious to land. The magnesian limestone may be distinguish- ed from the common limestone by its greater hardness. When the analytical comparison indi- cates an excess of vegetable matter, as the- cause of sterility, it may be destroyed by much pulverization and exposiu'e to air, by paring and burning, or the agency of lately made quicklime. And the defect of animal and vegetable matter must be sup- plied by animal or vegetable maniu-e. The general indications of fertility arid barrenness, must necessarily differ in dif- ferent climates, and under different cir. cumstances. The power of soils to absorb moisture, a principle essential to tlioir pro- AGR AGR diicliveness, ought to be much grcalcr in warm and dry countries, than in cold and moist ones ; and the quantity of fine alunii- Tious earth they contain should be larp^er. Soils likewise that are situate on declivi- ties ought to be more absorbent than those ill the same climate on plains or in val- leys. The productiveness of soils must llke- V ise be influenced by the nature of the subsoil, or tlie eai-tby or stony strata, on Avhich they rest. Thus a sandy soil may owe its fertility to the power of the sub- soil to retain water ; and an absoibent clayey soil may occasionally be prevented from being barren, in a moist climate, by the influence of a substratum of sand or gravel. Those soils that are most productive of corn, contain always certain proportions of aluminous or calcareous earth in a finelv divided state, and a certain quantity of ve- getable or animal matter. The quantity of calcareous earth is however very various, and in some cases exceedingly small. -Mr. Tillet, in some experiments made on the composition of soils at Paris, found, thai a soil composed of three eighths of clay, two eighths of river sand, and three eighths of the parings of limestone, was very proper for wheat. In general, bulbous roots require a soil much more sandy, and less absorbent, than the grasses. Plants and trees, the roots of which are fibrous and hard, and capable of penetrat- ing deep into the earth, will vegetate to advantage in almost all common soils that arc moderately dry, and do not contain a \ ery great excess of vegetable matter. From the great dilFerencc of the causes that influence the productiveness of lands, it is obvious, that, in tlie present state of science, no certain system can be devised j for their improvement, independent ofex- ))eriment ; but there are few cases, in ; which the labour of analytical trials will ! not he amply repaid by the certainty with , which th(.y denote the best methods of melioration; and this will particularly happen, when the defect of eomjiosition is l'>und in the proportions of the primitive earths. In supplying animal or vegetable ma- nure, a temporary food only is provided for plants, which is in all cases exhausted l)y means of a certain numljcr of crops ; but when a soil is rendered of the best possible con.stitution and texture with re- gard to its eartliy pai'ts, its fertility mav | be considered as permanently established. | It becomes capable of attracting a very ; large portion of vegetable nourishment ! fromtlic atmosphere, and of producing its crops with comparatively little labour and expence. Under the he.id of mineral analysis nothing is of so much general irni)ortance as the examination of soils, with a view to the improvement of such as are less pro- ductive, by supplying the ingredients they want in due proportions to increase their fertility.. An account of the methods to be pursued for this purpose, we shall here slate. The substances found in soils are cer- tain mixtures or combinations of some of the primitive earths, animal and vegetable matter in a decomposing state, certain sa- line compounds, and the oxide of iron. These bodies always retain water, and ex- ist in very difli^rent proportions in thil'er- ent lands, and the end of analytical expe- ments is the detection of their quantities and mode of union. The eartlis commonly found in soils are pi'incipally silex, or the eaith of flints , alumine, or the pure matter of clay ; lime, or calcareous earth ; and magnesia. Silex composes a considerable part of hard gra- velly soils, hard sandy soils, and hard sto- ny lands. Alumine abounds most in clayey soils, and clave}' loams ; but even in the smallest particles of these soils it is gene- rally united with silex and oxide of iron. Lime always exists in soils in a state of combination, and chiefly with carbonic acid, when it is called carbonat of lime. This carbonat in its hardest state is mar- ble ; in its softest, chalk. Lime united with sulphuric acid is sulphat of lime, or gypsum ; with phosphoric acid, phosphat of lime, or the earth of bones. Carbonat of lime, mixed with other substances, composes chalky soils and marles, and is found in soft sandy soils. Magnesia is rarely found in soils : when it is, it is com- bined with carbonic acid, or with silex and alumine. Animal decomposing matter ex- ists in different states, contains much car- bonaceous substance, volatile .ilkali, in- flammable aeritbrm products, and carbo- nic acid. It is f )und chiefly in lands late- ly manured. Vegetable decomposing matter usually contains still more carbo- naceous substance, and dillers from tlie preceding principallj' in not producing vo- latile alkali. It forms a great i)roportion of all peats, aboiuidsin rich mould, and is found in larger or smaller quantities in all lands. The saline compounds are ihw, and in small (juantlty : they are chiefly nuiriat of soda, or common 'salt, sulphat of magnesia, mui iat and sulphat t)f potasli, nitrat of lime, and the mild alkalis. Oxide of iron, whicli is the same with the rust produced by exposing iron to air and wa- AGR AGR :er, is found in all soils, but most abun- dantly in )-ed and jellow clays, and red and yellow siliceous sands The instruments requisite for the ana- lysis of soils are few, A pair of scales ca- pable of holding- a qiiaiter of a pound of common soil, and turning- with a single grain when loaded : a set of weights, from a quarter of a pound troy to a grain .- a wii-e sieve, coarse enoug'h to let a pepper- corn pass through : an Arg-and lamp and stand : a few glass bottles, Hessian cruci- bles, and china or queen's ware evaporat- ing- basins : a Wedg'wood pestle and mor- tar : some filters made of half a sheet of blotting paper, folded so as to contain a pint of liquid, and greased at the edges : a bone knife : and aix apparatus for col- lecting and measuring aeriform fluids. I'he reagents necessary are muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, pure volatile alkali dissolved in water, solution of prussiat of potash, soap lye, and solutions of carbonat of ammonia, nmriat of ammonia, neutral carbonat of potash, and nitrat of ammo- nia. 1. When the general nature of the soil of a field is to be ascertained, specimens of it should be taken from different pla- ces, two or three inches below the siu-- face, and examined as to the similarity of tlieir properties. It sometimes happens, that on plains the whole of the upper stra- tum of the land is of the same kind, and in this case one analysis will be sufficient. But in v.illeys, and near the beds of rivers, there are very great difierences, and it now .and then occui s, that one part of a field is calcareous, and another part sili- ceous ; and in this and analogous cases, the portion dliicrent from each oihei- should be analysed separately Soils when collected, if they cannot be examined im- mediately, should be preserved in phials quite filled with them, and closed with ground glass stopples The most conve- nient quantity for a perfect analysis is from two hundred grains to four hundred. It should be collected in dry weather, p.nd exposed to the air till it feels dry. Its spe- cific gTavity may be ascertained, by inti'o- ducing into a phi.al, which will contain a known quantity of water, equal bulks of water and of the soil ; which ma} easily be done, by pouring in water till the phial is h.alf full, and then adding- the soil till the fluid rises to the mouth. The difference between the weight of the water, and that of the soil, will give the result. Then if the bottle will c0ntahi four hundred grains of watei, a'>d gains tv.o hundred grains wlien half filled witli water and half with soil, the specific gravity of the soil will be 2 ; that is, it will be twice as heavy as VOL. I. water : and if it gained one lumdred and sixty-five grains, its specific gravity would be 1825, water being lOUO. It is of im- portance that the specific gravity of a soil should be known, as it afibrds an indica- tion of the quantity of animal and vegeta- ble matter it contains, these subst.ances being always most abundant in the lighter soils. The other physical properties of soils should likewise be examined before the analysis is made, as they denote, to a certain extent, their composition, and serve as guides in dircctin;'- the experi- ments. Thus siliceous soils are generally rough to the touch, and scratch glass when rubbed upon it : aluminous soils ad- here strongly to the tongue, and emit a strong earthy smell when breathed upon : and calcareous soils arc soft, and much less adiiesive tiian aluminous soils. 2 Soils, when as dry as they can be made by exposure to the au", still retain a considerable quantity of water, which ad- heres with gre.at obstinacy to tht m, and cannot be driven off without considerable heat : and the first process of analysis is to i'vee them from as much of this water as possible, without affecting- their composi- tion in other respects. This may be done by heating the soil for ten or twelve mi- nutes in a ciiina basin over an ArgiHid lamp, at a temperature equal to SuO'' F. ; and if a thermometer be not used, the proper degree of heat may easily be ascer- tained by keeping a piece of wood in the basin in contact with its bottom ; for as long as the colour of the wood remains unaltered, the heat is not too high ; but as soon as it begins to be charred, the pro- cess must be stopped. Tiie loss of weiglit in this process must be carefully noted ; and if it amount to 50 grahis in 400 of the soil, this may be considered as in the greatest degree absorbent and retentive of water: and will generally be found to con- tain a large propoj-tion of aluminous earth : if the loss be not moje than 10 or 20 grains, the land may be considered as slightly absorbent and retentive, and the siliceous earth as most abundant. 3. Xone of tjie loose stones, gravel, or large vegetable fibres, should be separated from the soil, till tlie water is thu|-cxpell- ed ; for these bodies are often hi^ldy ab- sorbent and retentive, .and consequently influence the fertility ot the land. But af- ter tiie soil has been heated as above, these should be separated by the sieve, after the soil has been gently brui.sed in a mortar. The weights of the vegetable fibres or wood, ar.d of the gravel and stones, should be separately noted down, and the nature of the latter ascertained : if they be calcareous, they will effervesce AGR ACiK with acids ; if siliceous, they will scratch jjlass ; il" ahiininous, tliey will be soil, easi- ly scratched with a knite, and incapable of tllervcscing with acids. 4. Most soils, beside stones and gravel, contain lai-ger or smaller proportions ol' sand of dimrent ikgrccs of fineness ; and the next operation necessary is to sepa- I'ate this sand from the parts more minute- ly divided, such as clay, loam, inarle, ajid vegetable and animal matter. Tliis may be done sutticicnlly by mixing tlie soil well witli water ; as tiie coarse sand w ill generally fall to the bottom in the space of a minute, and the finer in two or three ; so that by pom ing the v. ater off after one, two, or three miniiles, the sand will be for the most pai*t separated from the other substances ; which, with the water con- taining them, nuist be poured into a filter. After the water h;is passed llirougli, what remains on the filter nmst be dried and weighed ; as must also the sand ; and their respective quantities must be noted down. Tine water njust be preserved, as it v ill contain the saline nuitter, and the .soluble animal or vegetable mattcj-, if any existed in the soil. 5. A nnniite analysis of the sand thus separated is seldom or never necessary, and its nature may be detected in the same way as that of the stones and gravel. It is always siliceous sand, or calcareous sand, or both together. If it consist wholly of carbonat of lime, it will dissolve rapidly in muriatic acid with cfl'erves- cence : but if it consist partly of this and Eartly of siliceous matter, a residuum will e left after the acid has ceased to act on it, the acid being added till the mixture has a sour taste, and has ceased to efler- vesce. This residuimi is the siliceous part ; which being washed, dried, and heated strongly in a crucible, the difler- ence of its weight from that of the whole, %vill indicate the quantity of the calcare- ous sand. 6. The finely divided matter of the soil is usually very compound in its nature : it sometimes contains all the fi)ur piiniitive cartlis of soils, as well as animal and ve- getable mutter; and to ascertain the pro- poi-tions ofthese witii tolerable aceurac\ , is the most dilFicult part of tlio subject. The first process to be peifornied in tins part of llie analysis is the exposure of the fine matter of the soil to the action ofnni- riatic acid. This acid, diluted with dou- ble its bulk of water, shoulil be poured upon the earthy matter in an evaporating basin, in a (juantil)- e([ual to twice the weight of the earlli\ matter 'I'he mixture should be often stirred, and sufieied to .t'emain for an hour, or an hour and half. before iL is examined. If any carbonit of lime, or of magnesia, exist in the soil, they will have been dissolved in this time by the acid, which sometimes takes up like- wise a little oxide of iron, but very seldom any ahniiiiie. The fluid should be passed through a filter; the solid matter collect- ed, washed with distilled or rain water, dried at a moderate heat, and weighed. Its loss will denote the quantity of solid matter taken up. The washings nnist be added to the solution ; which, if not sour to the taste, must be made so by the ad- dition of fresh acid; and a httle solution of prussiat of potash must be mixetl witli the liquor. If a blue precip tate occur, it denotes the presence of oxide of iron, and the solution of the prussiat must bedroj)- ped in, till no further eflect is produced. To ascertain its quantity, it must be col- lected on a filter in the same manner as the other solid precipitates, and heated red : the result will be oxide of iron. Into the Huid freed from oxide of iron a solu- tion of carbonat of potash must be poured till all eflervcscence ceases in it, and till its taste and smell indicate a considerable excess of alkaline salt The precipitate that falls down is carbonat of iime ; which nnist be collected on a filter, dried at a heat below that of redness, and afterward weighed. The rcniaiiiing Huid must be boiled for a qiuirter of an hour, \\ hen the magnesia, if there be any, will be precipi- tated combined with carbonic acid, and its quantity iiuist be ascertained in the same manner as that of the carbonat of lime. If any minute jiroportion of alumine shoidd, ii om ])eculiar circumstances, be dissolved by the .'icid, it will be found in the precipi- tate with the carbonat of lime, and it may be separated from it by boiling for a few minutes with soap lye sufficient to cover the solid matter; for this lye dissolves alu- mine, v.ithout acting upon carbonat of lime. Sliould the finely divided soil be sullieieiiily calcareous to eiit;rvesce very strongly w ith acids, a simple method of ascertaining the (juantity of cai'bonat of lime, sufficiently accvirate in all common eases, may be adopted. As carbonat of lime in all its states contains a determinate (iuantii\()f acid, which is about 45 piu'ts in a hundied by %\ eight, the quantity of this acid given out during the eil'erves- cence occasioned by its solution in a stron- ger acid will indicate the (piantity of car- bonat of lime present Thus, if you weigh separately one jiart of the matter of the soil, and two parts of the acid diluted with an e([ual unil much greater, in consequence ot" the dilliculty of col- lecting the whole quantities of the diffl r- ent precijiitates ; and wlien it is within thirty, for four hundred grains, there is no reason to snspect any want '-'t' due preci- sion in the pnicesscs. 12. Svhcn theexi^crimentcr has become acquainteil \viU» the use of the different instruments, liie pi-operlies of tlie re- agents, and the relations between the ex- tei'nal antl chemical qualities of soils, he will seldom lind it necessary to perform, in any one case, all the ]3roccsses that have been described. AVhen his soil, for in- stance, contains no notable proportion of calcareous matter, the action of the muri- atic acid, N'o. 6, may be omitted : in exami- ning ])eat soils, he will principally have to attend to the operation by fire and air, Xo. 7 : and in the analysis of chalks and loams, he will often he able to omit the experi- ment with sulphu; ie acid, No. 8. In the first trials tliat are m;ule hyper- sons unacquainted with cheniisti'V', the) must not expect nuich precision ot result. Many difticulties will be met wilh^ hut in overcoming them the most usehd kind of practical knowle'lge will be obtained ; anil nothing is so instructive in experimental i-cience, as the detection of mistakes. The coiTCCt analyst ought to be wrll grounded in general chemical informa- tion ; but perhaps there is no better mode of gaining it, than that of attempting oii- ginal investigations. In pursuing his ex- periments, he will be Cintinually obligeil to learn fi'om books the historj' of the sub- stances he is employing or acting upon ; and his theoretical ideas will be more va- luable in being connected with practical operation, and acquired for the pui'pose of discovery. On the vses to ivhich each toil.inay l>e vioit mtvantageously applied. — Clay soils, V hen snrtiticntly cimchcd with manures, are naturally \ycll qualified for can*jin^ crops of wheat, oats, beans, and clover; but are not fitted for bark y, turnips, pota- te considered as a good mean for procuring a seed-bed, in wliich the seeds of the fiitiu'c crop may be safely de- posited. Hence the necessity of cleaning clay soils durmg the summer months, and of having always a large part of every clay farm under summer fallow. All clay soils require great industry and care, as well as a considerable portion of knowledge hi the dressing or management, to keep them in good condition ; yet when their natural toughness is got the better of, they always yield the Jieaviest and mo.st abundant; crops. One thing requisite for a claj- soil, is to keep it rich and full of manure ; a poor clay being the most ungrateful of all soils, and hardly capable of repaying the expense of labour, after behig worn out and exhausted. A clay soil also receives, comparatively, snuill benefit from grass i and when once allowed to get into a sterile condition, the most active endeavours will with difiicidty restore tcrtility to it, after tlie lapse of many years. Upon light soils, the case is very differ- ent. These flourish under tlie g^ass hus- bandry ; andb;ire summer fallow is rarely required, because they may be cleaned and cropjied in the same ye:u', with that valuable esculent, turnip. L'pon light soils, however, wheat can seldom be ex- tensively cultivated ; nor can a crop be ob- tained of ec[uul value, either in respect of ([uantity or qualit\, as on clays and loams. 'I'he best method of procurhig wlieats on light lands, is to sow upon u clover stub- ble, wlicn the soil has got an artificial so - liility of hotly, and is thereby rendered ca- pable of sustaining thi.s grain till it arrives it matmity. The same observation ap- plies to soil.i of a gravelly nature; and upon both, bar'ey is generally found to be of as great benefit as wheat. The fiicility \nth which every variety' of light soil is cultivated, furnishes great encouragement to keep them under the plough, though it rarely happens,, that when more than one half of such soils are kept in ploughing, the possessors are greatly benefited. Tiiin clays, and peat earths, arc more friendly to the growtli of oats than of other grains, though in favourable seasons a heavy crop of wheat may be obtained from II thin clay soil, when it has been completely summer-fallowed, and enrich- ed with dung. A first application of cal- careous manure is generally accompanied with great advantage upow- these soils; but when once the effect of this applica- tion is over, it can hardly be repeated a second time, unless the Lind has been ver\' cautiously managed after the first dressing. Neither of diese soils is friend- ly to grass, yet there is a necessity of ex- ercising this husbandly with them, be- cause they are incapable of standing the plough more than a year or two in the couiseofa rotation. When we come to that branch of our article winch treats of cropping, we shall notice these matters at gieater length ; but in this place it may be sufficient to say, that wheat ought to be the predomuianl crop upon all the rich clays and strong loams, and that liglit soils of every kind are well qualified for turnips, barley, &c. Upon the thin and moorish soils, oats must necessarily pre- serve a prominent rank; and grass seeds may be cultivated upon every one oftliem, though with d'^ferent degrees of advan- tage, according to the natural and artifi- cial richness of each soil, or to the quali- ties which it possesses for encouraging the growth of clover, in the first instance, and prt serving the roots of the plant aiter- wards. We now come to that part which treats on practical agriculture. On Tillage. — Tillage may, in general terms, be described as an operation where- by the soil is either cieaj-ed from noxious weeds, or prepared for receiving the seeds of plants cultivated by the husbandman. when this operation Ls neglected, or even partially executed, the soil becomes foul, barren, and unproductive ; hence, upon arable farms, tillage forms the prominent branch of work ; and, according to the perfection or imperfection with which it is executed, the crops of the husbandman, whether of corn or grass, are hi a great measure regulated. Tillage, in tlie early ages, was perform- ed by hand labour; but in modern times, tlie plough has been the universal instru- ment used for exccuung this necessary and important branch of rural work. In AGR no other way can large fields be turned over, because die expense of digging with the spade, tlie only other method of turn- ing over the ground, would much exceed any profit that could be reaped ^pade- work, hov.ever, is almost universally used in garden cilture, where the plants raised are of greater value than those cultivated in tlie fields ; though the nearer that field culture can be brought to what is exer- cised in a garden, so much more may the practice of the art be considered as ap- proximating in perfection to tiiat of the otlier. In a work of this kind, it is unnecessary to enlarge upon the way by which tillage may be successfully executed. It is pro- per to state, however, that stones l)ing above or below tlie surface ai'e the most formidable obstruction to perfect tillage. On stony ground, the work is not only im- perfeclly executed, but in many cases tlie implement is broken to pieces, and a con- siderable portion of time lost before it Ls repaired, and put in order. The removal of stones, therefi)ie, especially of such as are below the surface, ought to be a pri- mary object witli every agriculturist ; be- cause a neglect of this kind may after- wards occasion him considerable loss and inconvenience- In our practice we have ascertained, that rocky fields are plough- ed at an expense nearly double of what was required tipon others under different circumstances; because the ploughman, from necessity, is obliged to go slowly and with caution. In such situations tlie evil hardly admits of correction, because the substratum is almost of the same nature; and the rocks which appear may be consi- dered in the light of excrescences from the substratum ; but where single fixed stones appear in an arable field, they ought to be removed immediately, altliough tlie. closeness of their texture may render the assistance of gunpowder necessarj'. It deserves attention, that verj- fine soil is alwa} s in contact witli recks of this de- scription ; and that by gaining the use of it, m_uch benefit is derived, independent of the facility which is thus afforded to the ploughman's operations. On the utility (f Summer Fallovi. — The necessity of summer fallow depends great- ly upon the nature and quality of the soil; as, upon some soils, a repetition of this practice is less frequently required tlian upon others. Wherever the soil is in- cumbent upon clay, it is more disposed to get foul, than when incumbent upon a dry gravelly bottom; besides, wet soils, fiom being ploughed in winter, contract a stiffness which lessens the pasture of arti- ficial plants, and prevents, them from re- AGR AUR reivinjj sufficient nouvislimeni. When land of a dry gravelly quality ^^a-ts foul, it mav easily be cleaned without a jjlain summer tkllow ; since crops, such as tur- nijjs, &c. may be substituted in its place, which, when diilled at proper intervals, admit of bein_^ plouij^hed as often as ne- ccssai"y ; whereas wet soils, which are na- turally unfit for tarrying' suchciops, must be cleaned and brought into good order, by freaged in a dUVercTit way ; this militates only against the impro])ricty of the ma- naifement, but not against the practice it- self. 'I'he necessity of summer fallow funis ujion this single ])oint: — Can wet lands be advantageously employed in raising t»u-- nips or cabbages ; a question which the piactical faimer, who is sufllcienti}' ac- quainted with the nattue of such soils, and the immt nse laboiu- required to bring them into proper tilth, m ill have no diili- rulty to answer in the negative. It is not disputed that turnips and cabbages will grow upon tliese soils ; but the (jiiestion IS, whether the extraordinary labour they ix-quirc, and the damage sustained by the ground, during the consumption or carry- ing oftthe crops, will not exceed the value of the produce .' As many different oi)inions prevail rela- tive to the manner in which a fallow should be conducted, our sentiments upon that head may be acceptable. Upon all clay soils (and upon such only, xi-e understand a complete s\mimer fallow to be necessary,) the first ploughing ought to be given dtumg the winter months, or as early h\ the spring as possible; which promotes the rotting of the sward and srubble. This should be done by gather- ing up the ridge, whieh both lays the groimd dry, and rips up the furrows. As soon as seed-time is o\er, the ridge shotild be cloven down, ])reparatory to cross ploughing; and, after lying aiirojier time, shouUl be harrowed and rollctl rej)cated- ly, and every particle of (juickens that the harrows have brought above sliould be rarefully picked off with the hand- It is then pro|)er to ridge or gatlier it up imme- diately, which both lays the hmd in ])ro- ntr condition i'or meeting bad we;itlier, and opens up any hist land th;;l ni:i\ have b( en misst d in tlie furrows when the cross ploughing vas given. After tliis. haiTow, roll, and gather the toot wccdrt again ; and continue so doing till the field is perfectly clean. Considei ing how much weeds prevail in oui- iields, and how difficult it is, even fur the most attentive farmers, to prevent their crops being hurt by Uiem, fret^uent fal- lowing as the most proper method c^' destroying these enemies, cannot be too much recommended When we have arrived at gieatcr perfection in the several operations of agriculture, and brought our lands to a higlier degree of fertility than at present, tlien, and, indeed, in my opi- nion, not till then, should we think of intro- ducing schemes of perpetual cropping. A mode of executing summer fallo\r, and procuring a crop of turnips in the same year, comes now to be noticed. In this way the land may be completely clean- ed, perhaps more so than by a bare fallow ; but it is only on light dry soils, that such a mode of cleaning is eligible, or can be executed with advantage. The second object of tillage is to pre- pare the ground for receiving the seeds of plants cultivated by the husbandman ; and here, in general, it may be remarked, that the object is most omplctely accomphsh- ed, when the ground is ploughed deep and e(ivial, while the bottom of the furrow immediately above the subsoil is perfectly loosened, and turned equally over with the part which constitutes the surface. In many places, these pro])erties are altoge- ther neglected, the ground being plough- ed in a shallow way, while the bottom of the ploughed land remains something like the teeth of a saw, having the under piut of the furrow untouched, and consequent- ly not removed by the action of the plough. While these things are suffered, the object of tillage is only partially gained. The (bod of plants (whatever it may be,) can only be imperfectly procured; and the ground is drenched and injured by wet- ness; these bridges, or pieces of land, which are not cut, jneventing a descent of the moisture from above to the open fur- rows left for carrying it oil". Where the seed-bed is prepared by one ploughing, the greatest care oi'ight to be used in hav- ing it closely and equally performed. When two are given, they should be in op- jiosite directions, so that any firm land left in the first may lie cut up in the second ploughing. It is not profiUible to plough t\\ ice one way, if it can be safely avoid- ed. Another important point, towards pro- curing good tillage, is never to plougli the land wlii-n in ;i wet state; because encou- ragement is thus given to the growth of weeds, while a sourness and adliesion is AGR AGR < omtnunicated to the ground, whicli is rarely got the better of till the operations (^ of a summer fallow are again repeated. " The Roman writers are very particular against plongliin;^ land, when wet. It is reprobated, in fact, by every one of them. Columella justly represents wet ploughing as most dangerous to the gTound: — "When we plough," says be, "we must not touch wet land; for the fields, which are ploughed wet, cannot be touched for the whole year, and are fit neither for be- ing sown, narrowed, nor planted " From this passage, it appears, that it was rec- koned particularly dangerous to give the fallow the first ploughing when in a wet .state ; and that, when this was done, it was impossible, by any operations afterwards, to bring it to a right tilth that seed-time. Before we finish this, it is proper to re- mark, that all such soils ougjit not to be wrouglit, or ploughed, in one manner. Each kiiid has its particular and appro- priate qualities ; and therefore, each re quires a particular and appropriate mode of tillage. Ploughing, which is the capi tal operation of husbandry, ought, on these accounts, to be administered ac cording to the nature of tlie soil which is to be operated upon, and not executed agreeably to one fixed and determined principle. On strong clays and loams, and on rich gravels and deep sands, the plough ought to go as deep as the cattle are able to work it ; whereas, on thin clays and barren sands, the benefit of deep ploughing is very.questionable, e.specially vvhen such are incumbent on a till-botlom, or where the subsoil is of a yellow ochre nature ; such, when turned up, being little better than poison to the surface, unless highly impregnated with alluvial compost, the efiect of which e.xpels the poisonous substances contained in this kind of sub- soil, and gives a fertility to the whole mass, more decisive and permanent than M'ould follow a heavy application of tlie best rotten dung. On clay soils, where the ridges must be considerably acclivated, so- that the ground may be preserved in something like a dry condition, the plough, used for tillage, ought to have a mould-board con- siderably wider set tliau is required for light soils, in order that tlie furrow may be close cut below, and duly turned over. This method of constructing the plough necessarily makes a heavier draught than would be the case were the mould-board placed differently, though, if good and suf- ficient work be wanted, the necessity of constructing tlie implement in the way mentioned, is absolute and indispensable. The plough to be used on light soils, or on all soils that admit what is technically called crown and furrow ploughing, may be made much straiter below, and } et be capable of executing the work in a perfect manner. Perhaps on every fui ra consist- ing of mixed soils, two sets of ploughs ought to be kept, otherwise proper work cannot be performed. All land ought to be ploughed with a shoulder, a phrase well understood by ploughmen, though not ea- sily explained; and the advantages of ploughing in this way are, that, if ]jlough- ed before winter, the svu-face is enabled to resist the winter rains, and afterwards to present a face, on which the harrows can make a proper impression, when the seed process is to be executed. Tiiis de- serves particular attention when old g-rass fields arc to be broken up ; as, by neglect- ing it, tlie harrows often are tmable to co- ver the seed. It is perfectly practicable to plough land with a tolerably broad fur- row, say 10, 11, or 12 inches, and yet to plough it clean, provided tlie implement used is properly constructed; but, then, care must be taken that the furrow be of proportional deepness, otherwise it will be laid on its back, instead of being de- posited at an angle proper for undergoing the harrowing* process. On i7ianurcs. — The term wjawj/re is ap- plied indiscriminately to all substances, which are known from experience either to enrich the different soils, or contribute in any other way to render them more fa- vourable to vegetation. Though little doubt can be entertained of the utility and necessity of such sub- stances, yet the progress hitherto made, in ascertaining the mode in which they ought to be apphed, the quantity thai should be made use of, and the soils for which they are res])eclively best adapted, has not yet reached that perfection or cer- tainty that could be wished. The m.ost superficial observations wilJ serve to convince any intelligent person, that, in an agricultural point of view, the subject of manures is of the first magni- tude. To correct what is hurtful to ve- getation in the different soils, and to re- store what is lost by exhausting crops, are operations in agriculture which may be compai'ed to the curing- of di.seases in tlie animal body, or supplying the wasj;e occa- sioned by labour, or the ordinai-y evacua- tions of nature. The utility of manuring has, however, been questioned in scnne instances, parti- cularly by TiiU and his disci])ks, who as- sert, thatf///(i^e alone, frequently and ju- diciously apphed, will produce every ef- fect that can be expected from tliat prac- tice. AGR AGR That tillage is essential to die succesb fif ajjricultiual operations, is a point in wliicli all good Imsbanclmcn ai'e agited; but that, by tillage alone, the eartli should bf nuide to prothice a succesbion of va- lual)le crops of grain or vegetables, is a floctrine, which, fortunately for the ad- vancement of agriculture, has met with very few converts. By such manage- ment poor lands would never become productive, and the richest soils would soon be exiiausled. Anotlier opinion has been lield forth to the public, tliat when land has once been put into good heart, it may be preserved m a state of constant fertilii} , merely by a proper rotation of crops, wiiliout any fo- reign manure. ' ■ \\c need not extend our observations »ipon this subject farther ; for a good far- mei', who wisiics to avail himself of eveiy advantage which experience points out, will, to a certain degree, adopt, 1st, 7'/te iilluge recoviniended by Tul/,ior X.]ic pur- post, of pulveriting the soil, and e.Mir- pating the weeds with which it may be in- fested; 2d, .i regular rotation of a ops, iu order that the various sorts of earth may, in their turn, according as they are calcu- lated for different plants, become produc- tive ; and, 3d, Endeavour to gatlitr a suffi- cient quantity of vianure, not only to l^re- vent the soil from being exhausted, bui, it possible, annually to make some addition to iis former soui'ces of fertility. On the .Mviagement of J)u!i;^. — Manure, being the first retjuisitc of good husband- ry, it shall be our business, in this Section, to speak in a particular manner of the best methods of collecting, preparing, and ap- ])lying that p'ortion of it called y'i/wv«ra' duiti;, wliich, in mo.st instances, may be considered as the cliief maniue used by the great body of husbandmen. The most supei-ttcial observer in rural economics must have often noticed, that a considerable number of practical agricul- turists are inattenti\ c, not only to tiie ga- tiiering of the raw materials, but also ile- fective in the several steps of preparatory process, before dung can be thrifiily and suitably aj)plied. With such, very little care is used in cutting the corn crops, which, properly speaking, is the only source .whence raw materials can be got. Tliey are aLso too apt to dispose of any hay which may be raided upon tlieir larms, even wIk-.i pi-ices are not so high as to tempt a breach of good husbandry. They often keep more beasts on the pie- mises than is consistent with the c[uantity of provendt-r in hand, thus reducing the btock of manure in an e\i;aoidinary de- gree. Besides, seldom is any cure be- stowed in laying up the clung, in aregulai and careful way, during the winter month' and still less upon its state during the e;. hausting spring winds, or the parching heat of the summer months. Instead of stoiing it up V ith regulaiity, and mixing- the ditterent kinds in a compact heap, it is sufttrred to remain as tossed from the stable; continues exposed, in its i-ough state, to the weather ; often inun- dated with water, and rarely touched till the c;u-t arrives to drive it to the field. As straw is the basis of manure, it might be expected that every good iius- bandman would bestow the most sedu- lous attention upon the shearing or cut- ting of his crop, so that the greatest possi- ble quantity of the raw material may be procured. Very different, however, is the conduct of farmers in general; as it may be safely estimated, that at least one-half of the straw is left in the field, where its strength is wasted and dissipated by the rains and storms tiiat commoid\ pievailat the conclusion of aulunm In some dis- tricts a stricter attention is now paid to this im])ortant operation, and it is to be hoped that such an iuiirovenient will gra- dually extend. Independent of the addi- tional grain which is gained, tlie increase of manure will more than compensate the increased ex])ense of gathering the crops in an accurate manner. By a steady perseverance in this prac- tice, from one to two tons of manure (per acre) may be annually gained, especially where the crops are good. This annual increase must operate powerfully upon the iir.pi"ovement of the country, the effects being' precisely similar to to those of add- ing compound interest The usual modes of converting strav into dung, hardly require to be mentioi: ed. A good de;vl is consumed in tin house by draught horses and milch-cows , ;ind the remainder is used by lean cattlu, kept in the fijld-yard. Though these are the general methods of consumption, it will be necessary to divide the subject into two parts, viz. The management of dung upon light lands, and heavy lands; be- cause manure on each is prepared in dif- ferent wa\s, u^< I in diiferent seasons, aiid applied to diHereni crops. For light soils, manure requires to be much more highly prepared than is necessaiy for clay soils; and every step of the previous pre- paration, in order to be perfect, ought to be executed in a quite different man- nei". For soils of the first description, where turnips-are taken as a first crop, dung can hardly be too well prepared; because the AGR AGR oature of the crop to which it is applied, renders a complete incorporation with the ground absolutely necessary ; without which the young plants might^be starved at tlieir very enti'ance into life. In the best farmed districts, which have come under our observation, dung is often kept more than a year, in oi-der that it may be perfectly rotted. Management of this kind, however, cannot be appi'oved ofj for if the preparatory steps are conducted with judgment, there is rarely any neces- sity for keeping dung over the year; bcr sides, such a delay causes a waste of the article, and serves to dissipate its strengtli : at all events, a year's interest of the value of tlie increased produce must be lost. In general cases there is not much diffi- culty in preparing dung; because, in the driest season, from the nature of the food used, such a quantity of hquid passes from the animals, as to prevent burning, the greatest obstacle to the rotting of dung that can be experienced. If dung is regularly removed, if it is propei-ly mixed with the horse litter, and other excremen- titious matter accumulated upon the farm, it will be found an easy task to prepare all thai is made by the middle of April ; at which time the fold-yard should be clear- ed. What is produced after that time should be stored up separately ; receive waterings, if the weather is dry, and be reserved for clover-stubbles, or other fields that are to be dunged in autumn. The middle of April is mentioned as a good time for clearing the fold-yard; but this does not prevent the work from go- ing partially forward through the winter, when suitable opportunities occur. When driven out of the fold-yard, the dung should be laid up in a regular heap or pile, not exceeding four feet and an half in height ; and care should be taken not to put either horse or cart upon it, which is easily avoided, by backing the cart to the pile, and laying the dung compactly together with a grape or fork. It is also useful to face up the extremities with earth, which keeps in the moisture, and prevents the sun and wind from doing inj ury . Perhaps a small quantity of earth strewed upon tlie top might also prove useful. Dung, when managed in this manner, generally ferments very rapidly ; but if it is disco- vered to be in a backward state, a com- plete turn over, about the first of May, when the weather becomes warm, will quicken the process ; and the better it is shaken asunder, the sooner will the object in %iew be accomplished. A secluded spot of ground, not much exposed to wind, and perfectly secure from being' floated w ith water, ought ai- VOL. I. ways to be chosen for the scite of such piles or heaps. If the field, to which it is to be apphed, is at hand, a little after-trouble may be saved by depositing it there in the first instance: But it is found most conve- nient tQ. reserve a piece of ground adja- cent to the homestead for this purpose. There it is always under the farmer's eye, and a greater quantity can be moved in a shorter time than when the situation is more distant Besides, in wet weather, and this is generally the time chosen for such an operation, the roads are not only cut up, by driving to a distance, but the field, on which the heap is made, may be poached and injured considerably. The above is the most approved me- thod of preparing dung upon light land farms ; and a few words shall now be said respecting the management necessary upon those of a different description. Upon clay soils, the rotting of dung is not only a troublesome, but an expensive affair. Independent of what is consumed by the ordinary farm-stock, the overplus of the straw must somehow or other be rotted, by lean cattle kept in the fold-yard, who either receive the straw in racks, or have it thrown across the yard, to be eaten and trodden down by them. According to this mode of consumption, it is evident that a still greater necessity arises for a frequent removal of this unmade dung : otherwise, from the trampling of beasts, and the usual want of moisture, it would compress so much as altogether to pre- vent putrefaction. To prepare dung suf- ficiently upon farms of this description, is at all times an arduous task, but scarcely practicable in dry seasons ; for if it once gets burnt, it is almost physically impossi- ble to bring it into a suitable state of pre- paration afterwards ; and, at all events, its virtues are thereby considerably diminish- ed. To prevent such an injury, no mea- sure can be so successfully used, as a fre- quent removal of this unmade dung, espe- cially if the weather is wet at the time. If people can stand out to work, there cannot be too much wetness when executing this operation : for there is .always such a quan- tity of the straw that has not passed through the entrails of the cattle, as ren- ders it almost impossible to do injury, in the first instance, by an excess of moisture. It is therefore recommended, upon eve- ry clay-land farm, especially those of con- siderable size, that the fold-yard be fre- quently cleared; and that the greatest care be taken to mix the stable or horse dung in a regular way with what is ga- thered in the fold-yard, or made by other, anim.als, in order that a gradual heat oi- Icnnontation may be spcetltly produced. c AGR AG 11 The heap or pile, as ah-eady recom- mended, in tlie first preparation of dung, should be formed in a secluded spot, if such can be got at hand ; because tlie less it is exposed to the influence of the sun and wind, so much faster will fermenta- tion proceed. It should be constructed on a broad basis, whicli lessens the hounds of the extremities; and several separate heaps are necessary, so that too much may not be deposited at once ; which, to a cei"tain extent, would bring on the very evil we have all along been endeavouring to avert. By sliifling tiie scene frequent- ly, and allowing each covering* or coat t(j settle and ferment, before laying on any more, the most happy effects w ill follow, and these heaps (at least all such as are completed before the first of May,) may reasonably be expected to be in a fit con- dition for applying- to the summer fallow fields, in the end of July, or first of August. If the external parts get dry at any time during the process, it will be pro- per to water them thoroughly, and in many cases to turn over the heap com- pletely. It may be added, that much be- !icfit has been experienced from laying a thick coating of snow upon such heaps, as, bj- the gradual melting tliereof, the whole moisture is absorbed, and a strong fermentation immediately follows. The same method of management may be continued during the summer months, so lar as circumstances permit, though it rarely happens that dung collected at tliis advanced period is fit for use in the same season, unless it be such as is made by keeping horses and cattle in the house upon green food. Perhaps, as a genera), principle, it is proper to thrash out all grain before summer .arrives, (a small quantity for litter and other necessary jnu-poses excepted,) in order tliat the full value of the raw materials, when convert- ed into manure, may be gained. Upon laige faims, where the manage- m jiu of manure is sufficiently understood and practised, it is an in)])ortant matter to have dunghills of all ages, and ready for use, wlienever the situation of a field calls for a restorative. No method of applica- tion to clay soils, however, is so beneficial as during tlie year of summer fallow, though, in such situations, a greater stock of manure is often gatherecl than is re- c[uired for the fields under this pro- cess. It likewise deserves attention, that dung applied to a clay fallow at the end of sunnner, lias full time to incorporate with ♦ lie gi'oiind, before tlie crop, sown there- upon, stands much in want of its invigo- • utiiig support ; consequently, though of apparently inferior quality at the time of application, may, in reality, be possessed of equal powers for fiructifying the ground, as if it had reached a higher state of pre- paration. We may now notice some instances, re- specting the management of manm-e, where grass husbandry is extensively jjractised. In these districts, it is very common to use a considerable proportion of their hay in the fields, dui-ing the winter months, instead of consuming it in the iiouse or fold-yard, where the manure pro- duced could readily be collected, and pro- perly managed. Sloth and waste are the parents of this custom ; a custom which ought to be interdicted by every proprie- tor who is disposed to regard either his own interest or that of the countiy ; much of the article being absolutely rendered useless by the feet of the beasts so main- tained, while the gi-ound is most unequal- ly and partially dunged ; that is to saj"^, the richest and driest parts ai-e sure to receive the gi*eatest store. Some remarks relative to the applica- tion of dung, a subject of as much impor- tance as the collecting and prepaiingof it, shall now be oftered. 'i'hese are, that no greater quantity ought to be given at one time than is suf- ficient to fructify the ground ; in other words, to render it capable of producing good crops, before the time arrives when a fresh dose can be administered. The errors of former times consisted in giving too great a quantity at once, thereby de- priving the ground of its regular nourish- ment ; in other words, the soil rioted in the midst of plenty for two or three years, and fasted and starved for several succeeding ones. Hence the generality of fields were either too rich, or too poor ; either satu- rated with manure, or completely barren from the want of it ; whereas, had sup- plies been furnished in an ceconomical manner; had the quantity of manure on hand been distributed with judgment, a more uniform produce would have been tlie consequence. The new system of up- plying manure corrects all tiiesc errors, in so far as local circumstances will per- mit. Accordingly, a small quantity is now bestowed at once, and the dose fre- quently repeated. The ground is regulai'- ly fed ; but never surfeited with a proiu- sion. Hence the crops constituting a re- gular rotation are more uniformly good, and a greater proportion of tiie valuable giains are raised, than could be accom- jjlished in former limes. Though land can rarely be rendered too rich for carrying green crops, yet it is well known that the same vhserv«tion will AGR AGR not hold good when applied to wheat, barle}', and oats ; but that such may be, and often have been, materially injui-edin consequence of heavy manuring. Another general remark occurs; that is, concernnig the utility of spreading dung witli accuracy; in other words, dividing it into the minutest particles, thereby giv- ing every part of the ground an equal supply of food. This practice was mise- rably neglected in former times, and is still less attended to than its importance deserves. The principal object to be attended to. Is an allotment of the manure collected upon the premises, in such a way as that the greatest possible return over the whole fai-m, not from a particular field, may be gained by the occupier. It remains only to be stated, that many arable farms, under tlie strictest eeconomy, are unable to furnish supplies for an in- termediate dunging, at least to its full ex- tent; but persons so circumstanced have it always in their power to overcome this defect, and preserve a regular rotation, by keeping certain fields longer in grass ; which,ofcourse, will yield weightier crops when broken up, and stand less in need of manure during the after rotation. By sucli arrangements, made according to circumstances, it is an easy matter to pre- serve a regular rotation, and to pi'opor- tion the corn crops to the quantity of ma- nure collected upon the premises. We may add, that the practice of soil- ing or feeding horses and cattle in the house or farm-yard, is eminently calcu- lated to increase the quantity ot manure upon every farm, and to improve its quality. The soiling of horses, in the summer months, on green clover and rye-grass, is a practice wliich prevails in every corn district where farm labour is regularly executed. The utility of the practice does not need the support of argument; for, it is not only occonomical to the far- mer, but saves much fatigue to the poor animal: besides, the quantity of dung' thereby gathered is considerable. Of Compost jWddens. — The use of ma- nure in the shape of compost, or ingre- dients of various qualities, mixed toge- 1 ther in certaui proportions, has long been a favourite practice with many fiirmers ; though it is only in particular situations that the practice can be extensively or profitably executed. The ingredients} used in these composts are chiefly earth j and lime ; sometimes dung, wliere the ■ earth is poor; but lime may be regarded as the main agent of the process, acting as a stimulus for bringing the powers of the heap into action. Lime, in this vieWj may be considered as a kind of yeast, operating upon a heap of earth as yeast does upon flour or meal. It is obvious, therefore, that unless a sufficient quanti- ty is given, the heap may remain vmfer- mented ; in which case little benefit will be derived from it as a manure. The best kind of earth for compost is that of the alluvial sort, which is always of a rich greasy substance, often mixed with marl, and in every respect well cal- culated to enrich and invigorate barren soils, especially if they are of a fight and open texture. Old yards, deep head- lands, and scourings of ditches, offer themselves also as the basis of compost middens ; but it is proper to summer fal- low them before hand, so that they may be entirely free of weeds. When the lime is mixed witli the soil of these mid- dens, repeated turnings are necessary, that the whole may be suitably fermented; and some care is required to apply the fermented mass at a proper time to the field on which it is to be used. The formation and conveyance of com- post being expensive, it becomes an im^ portant object to save labour in the pre- vious steps of preparation, and in the con- cluding one of applying it to the soil. The first part of the object is gained by using horse instead of manual labour, when the lime is incorporated with the earth, and when the after turnings are bestowed; and the other is lessened con- siderably when the compost is laid on a field adjoining the one where it is pre- pared. A few words may be necessary with respect to the quantity of lime required to produce a suitable fermentation, though here we can at best but speak at random, because the proper quantity falls to be re- gulated by tlie nature of the earth which is meant to be used as the basis of the fu- tiu-e compost. As the quantity of the compost to be afterwards applied to the soil must, however, be ascertained by its quality, and as sixty cubic yards of allu- vial compost may be viewed as containing the same portion of nutritive substance, as one hundred yards of headlands and ditch scourmgs, we shall assume eighty yards as a medium dose for an acre of ground, and from this datum endeavour to fix the quantity of lime that is requu'ed. From trials that have been frequently made, it appears, that two bushels of lime shells, will sufficiently ferment a cubic yard ot" earth of d medium quality; therefore, that one hundred and sixty bushels of lime shells are required to ferment compost for an acre of ground, where the ^asis con- ACiR AGR sists of ordinary materials. This goes upon the supposition that an admixture is regularly conducted, and that eighty cubic vards of the compost is sufficient to impregnate or enrich the field on wliicli it is to be applied. The benefit of such a compost In nour- ishing soils is even greater than what is gained by dressing them with dung; though it is to be regretted, that it rarely happens, where such soils are prcdnmi- nant, that materials, sucli as we have re- commended, can be prociu-ed ill any quan- tity. Of Lime. — Lime has been regarded by some as a manure, by others as a stimu- lus, which can only be profitably applied Avhero the soil possesses some dormant principle of fertility that needs to be rous- ed into action. In fact, the modus ope- randi of lime is imperfectly understood, though the greater part of agriculturists seem pretty well acquainted with its ef- fects. It is sufficiently understood, that land which has been long in grass, con- tains much vegetable matter, andtliatthe trouble and expense of liming it will be amply repaid to the cultivator; but the projiriety of applying lime on old arable lands has been questioned, and with much justice, by tlie most part of practical agri- culturists, and their doubts on that head are confirmed by the fullest experience, li lime were a maimrc, llien it would be a noble substance for enriching and restor- ing fertility to lands that were worn out by a succession of corn crops ; bus as worn out land is not restored to fertility by the api)lication of lime, we are warranted to rank it ui a different class, or, to speak more correctly, as an article calculated to bring certain principles into action, which were previously possessed by the soil. Tiiis conclusion is sanctioned by expe- i-ience; and experience is a far better guide than the most plausible theory. Lime has been used witl. very great SL'cccss, both in the United States and Great Britain, though it is evident that the grossest errors have been committed in the after management of land to which lime has been a[)plied ; and, what is worse, that the extent of these errors was in di- rect proportion to the efi'ect produced upon the soil by the application. Tiiis remark api)lies more to the former state of husbandry than to the present practice, because the former rule was to crop so long as the earth would make a good re- turn, without considering lliat a field, so treated, was not to be recovered for a cen- tury afterwards. Indeed, when lime duly operates, the whole powers of the soil are p\it in a ^iate of requisition, and D)ay be forced to act till the very soul of vegeta- tion is extracted. It is scarcely practica- ble to restore fertility to land, even of the best natural quality, which has been thus abu-sed; at least a considerable period must elapse before it can be restored to its original fertility ; but thin moorish soils, after being exhausted by lime, are not to be restored. I'o lime them a se- cond time, is not only an useless expendi- ture of bihour nnd money, but also pro- ductive of serious mischief. Soils of this description, after a second liming, are apt to singe and burn the grain that is sown upon them, and even when dunged, not to make such a return as would have been rendered under dilTereiit circumstances. From a pretty long experience, and con- siderable attention to the operation of lime, we are inclined to think, that it acts both as an alterative and a stimulant, ope- rating in the one case as a medicine, that changes the nature of the soil, and in the other, as rousing, or bringing into action, the vegetable powers contained in the soil, which, without such an application, would have remuuied dormant and inactive. These opinions, we know, are different from what have been maintained by seve- ral ingenious men on the subject; but they are supported by the result of numerous trials, undertaken to ascertain how, and in what manner, lime operated upon the soil, and whether it could be used in an hot state with the most advantage. On these points, tlieoretical writers are apt to fall into mistakes; and therefore every theory not foi-med fi-om facts, must be viewed a.s a romance which may amuse, but cannot instruct agriculturists. See JMemoirs of the .Agricultural Society of Philadelphia, and tiie Jlrchivcs of Useful Knoxvledge. Gypsu7n or Plaster of Paris, is a native combination of calcareous earth with vitri- olic acid. There are various species of gypsum found both in Europe and Ame- rica. That mostly used in the United States comes from the Bay of Fundy, though considerable quantities are pro- cured from the interior of the States of Pennsylvania and New York. Tlie uses of gypsum are very extensive ; when it is sufficiently compact it is em- ployed by the architect for columns and otiier orn.aments, being easier to work than marble ; it is also turned by the lathe into cups, basons, vases, and other similar articles. When exposed to a low redlicat it parts with its water of crystallization, is converted to a fine powder called plaster of I'aris, like meal ; and this, when beaten up with water to the consistence of paste, shortly after sets and becomes solid ; lience it is lar{;cly used for taking casts of vari- AGR AGR aus magnitude, fx*om a medal to a colossal statue ; it enters into the composition of many cements ; and within these few years, has also become an article of great importance in fertilizing soils. It is diffi- cult to determine what quantity per acre will produce the best effects, as so much depends on accident of weather, &c. which cannot be calculated with any certainty ; but in general, as great effect has been produced by two bushels per acre, as from any larger quantity. Indeed, there appeal's to be a certain point in the opera- tions of plaster, which is not gained by ad- ditional quantity so much as by a combi- nation of extraneous circumstances, diffi- cult to trace or account for. Ihe time and methods of applying it are different ; on grass land it is sowed at all seasons of the year, though perhaps April or May is the most suitable time. On arable lands it is frequently sowed after the last har- rowing or with the seed, but its effect is undoubtedly the greater when it is scat- tered amongst the plants And the morn- ing, while the dew prevails, or on the pros- pect of rain should be preferred for the purpose. Every other year is sufficient to resort to the use of gypsum, thougli some prefer to disti'ibute half the quantity an- nually. The loamy, dry and sandy soils ai-e the most suitable for it. On clay land or near the sea it does not succeed. Plaster is sufficiently fine when ground to produce 20 bushels to the ton, if it is finer it is subject to fly away in strewing. It should always be remembered that cal- cination, however necessary it may be to make cement of plaster, lessens, if not de- stroys its agricultural uses. To try the quality of plaster, heat a small quantity of it pulverised, in a pot over a brisk fire : if the effervescence of a sulphureous smell be considerable itis good, if it be smaU it is less valuable, and if it remains inert like sand it is worth nothing. When the soil is, suitable gypsum is applied with very ^eat advantage to every species of agri- cultural vegetation ; but as the limits of this work will not permit a more detailed account of the uses of this very important manure, the reader is referred to a work by Judge Peters, entitled Agricultural Enquiries on Plaster of Paris ; also to the Domestic Encyclopedia. On Marl.—Msiv\, like lime, may be viewed as a stimulant, forcing tiie soil to produce crops of corn and glass, wliich otherwise would not have been obtained. The value of land has been mucli aug- mented by the application of marl. Treat- ing of this article in a practical way, it may be divided into shell-marl and earth- marl. Shell-marl is composed of animal shells dissolved; earth-marl is a fossil. The colour of the latter is various ; white, black, blue, red, and its hardness is as va- rious as its colour ; being sometimes soft and ductile like clay, sometimes hard and solid, like stone, and sometimes it is ex- tended into thin beds, like slate. Shell- marl is easily distinguished by the shells, which always appear in it ; but the simila- rity betwixt earth -marl and many other fossil substances, renders it difficult to distinguish them. Shell-marl is very different in its nature from clayey and stone marls, and, from its effects upon the soil, is commonly classed among the animal manures. The Rev. Mr. Dickson states, " That it does not dis- solve with water, as the other marls do. It sucks it up, and svv^ells with it like a sponge. But the greatest difference, be- twixt the shell-marl and the other marls, consists in this ; the shell-marl contains oils. It is uncertain, if the other marls contain any oils. This marl, it would seem, from the qualities which it possesses, promotes ve- getation in all the different ways. It in- creases the food of plants ; it communi- cates to the soil a power of attracting this food from the air ; it enlarges the pasture of plants ; and it prepares the vegetable food for entering their roots. The shelly sand, often found deposited in beds in the crevices and level parts of the sea coasts, is another substance capa- ble of being employed, both as a manure and stimulant, not only on account of its containing calcareous matter in greater or less proportions, but also from the mix- ture of animal and vegetable substances that are found in it. The portion of cal- careous matter, contained in these sub- stances, must vary according to circum- stances ; but, when the quantity is any way large, and in a reduced or attenuated state, the quality is so much the more va- luable. On that account, the quantity, which ought to be applied to the soil, must be regulated entirely by the extent of calcareous matter, supposed, or found upon trial, to be contained in the article, which, as already said, is very variable- The clayey and stone marls are distin- guished by their colours ; viz. white, black, blue, and red. The white, being of a soft crumbly nature, is considered to be the best for pasture land ; and the blue, which is more compact and firm, for corn land. In the districts where marl is much used, these distinctions of management are attended to, though either of the kinds may be employed with advantage, if the following rules are adhered to. If marl is of the blue kind, or of any AGR AGR kind that is compact and firm, lay it upon the land early in the season, so as the weather may mellow it down before the Jast plough ; and, if on pasture land, let it also be early laid on, and spread very thin, breaking any lumps afterwards wliich are not completely separated by the first spreading. If marl is of the white, or any of the loose or crumbling iiorts, it need not be laid on so early ; be- cause those varieties break and dissolve almost as scon as exposed to the weather. There are many kinds of impure and mixed marls, such as sandy, clayey, loamy, and stony marls, according as these varieties of soil are incorporated or mixed with the principal substance. These sorts, of course, are inferior to the piu"e marls ; but the stony kind is consid- ered to be the best, because its efficacy is more lasting, though the fat and crumb- ling kinds enrich or operate more speedi- ly. The hard marls, however, in every case, operate for the greatest lengtlx of time, and are often followed with bad consequence to the soil, unless good ma- niagement, with regard to cropping, is ex- ercised during the period of their opera- tion. After being long excessively fruit- ful and productive, the soil will gradually become so sterile and barren as scarcely to be worth cultivating ; in which case, the greatest exertion can hardly procure a return of fertility. In tliis respect, the effect of over-cropping land, that has been marled, is precisely the same as takes place with lime. An luicommon exertion is made, occasioning a proportionable de- bility, tiiough, were good husbandry stu- diously practised, the exertion would nei- ther be so excessive, in the first instance, nor the after-consequences so mischiev- ous. In numerous instances, land has been vcdviced so much, as to be thought little better than useless, by the effects of iime and marl. Both, liowevcr, are ex- cellent agents in forwarding agriculture, thougli often tlielr agency lias been mis- applied, and used for mischievous purpo- ses. Under a correct rotation of cropping, and with a suitable supply of dung, neith- er lime nor marl is injurious. Reverse these circumstances, and the contrary ef- fect must necessarily be produced As marl j)osscsses, properly speaking, certain distinctive characters, some cau- tion is necessary in distinguishing earthy manure. Th»is, in some jiarts oFNew Jer- sey, an earth, which is considerably blend- ed with oxyd of iron, and which is fouml useful as a mamue, h:is received, tliough very improperly, the name of marl. Sjjc- cimens of the various kinds of earthy ma- nure were sent me bv Dr. Molcomb of Al- lentown, New Jersey, which on examlna* tion, proved to be nothing more than ar- gillaceous earth combined wltli oxyd of iron. In a soil, where the siliceous mgre- dient predominates, as in some distxicts of New Jersey, argil itself would be an ex- cellent manure ; hence it Is, that the earth just noticed, has been used with so much success. In some districts of that state, as near the sea coast, shell marl has been discovered. This variety of marl, it may be proper to add, has been found in other places in this country. Some wri- ters, as we have just obser^■ed, consider only two varieties or species of marl; the one consisting of clay dhidsd by a very fine fuller's earth ; the other of clay divided by calcareous earth. The pre- sence of the latter earth. If combined with carbonic acid, which is always the case when found, is the cause of the efferves- cence on the addition of an acid : this ef- fect is uniformly a criterion of calcareous marl. The English farmers distinguish five sorts of marl : 1. The coroshut marl, wliich is brown mixed with fragments of chalk and blue veins. 2. Stone, slate, or flag marl : it resembles blue slate, ajid crumbles easily when exposed to the air. 3. Pont marl, or delving marl ; it is brown» and rough to the touch. 4. Clay marl : which contains much clay. 5. Steel marl : its colour is black, its consistence like that of bits of paper. On .Sen-weed. — Sea-weed, a plant tliat grows upon rocks within the sea, is driven asliore after storms, and is found to be an excellent article for manuring light and dry soils, though of little advantage to those of a clayey description. Iliis arti- cle may be applied on the proper soil witli advantage to any crop, and its effects are immediate, tliough rarely of long conti- nuance. Sea-weed is applied at all seasons to the surface, and sometimes, though not so profitably. It is mixed with uiu-ottendung*, tliat the process of putrefuction may be iiastened. Generally speaking, it is at once applied to the soil, wliich saves la- bor, and prevents that degree of waste, whicli otherwise would necessarily hap- pen. Sea-weed is, in one respect, prefer- able to tile richest dung; because it does not ])roduce such a quantity of weeds. Some h.ave thouglit, that the weeds upon land, which has received dung, are pro- duced by seeds mixed witli the chmg ; but It is reasonable to presimie, that the salts contained In sea-weed, and applied witli it, may be the real cause of the after cleanli- ness. This may be inferred from the ge- neral state of coa.st-.side lands, where sea- AGR AGR weed is used. These lands are almost constantly kept in tillage, and yet are cleaner and freei- from weeds, tlian those ii\ inland situations, where corn crops are not so often taken. Clay soils are not so much benefited by sea-weed, as those of a light nature ; there- fore, when a coast-side fai'm contains mix- ed soils, the best management is exer- cised, by applying sea-weed to drj', and dung to clay land. In this way, die full advantage of manure may be obtained, and a farm so circumstanced is of infinite- ly greater value, with respect to manur- ing and labouring, than one which con- tains no such variety. On paring and burning the Surface, and using the Ashes as a Manure. — The prac- tice of burning the surface, and applying the ashes as manure, to tlie soil tliat re mains, has been long prevalent ; and though it has been condemned, nay repro bated by many writers, and prohibited in numerous instances by proprietors, yet, by professional people, who judged of the utility of the practice, from the nature and consequences of its effects, it has, almost in every case, been supported, and consi- dered as the most advantageous way of bringing in and improving all soils, where the surface carried a coarse sward, and was composed of peat-earth, or other in- active substances. The bui-ning of this surface has been viewed as tlie best way of bringing such soils into action ; the ashes, furnished by tlie burning, serving as a stimulant to raise up their dormant powers, thereby rendering them fertile and productive in a superior degi'ee, than could otherwise be accomplished. What we have said relates to what is generally called paring and burning ; that is, paring the surface to the deepness of one, two, or three inches, gathering it into heaps, and burning it. We shall now speak of ashes bmnit and used in a differ- ent maimer ; that is, when peat-earth is digged and bmnit in quantities, and after- wards applied to a field of a different sort of soil or quality. The effects of ashes, used in this way, are precisely the same with those of lime, tliough tlieir operation is more violent and therefore sooner over. The first crop is commonly very luxu- riant ; but, unless dung is afterwards ad- muiistered, the soil will be rather exliaust- ed than enriched by the application of the ashes. On Chalk. — Chalk is used to great advan- tage as a manure on some wet, stiff soils having no calcareous eartli ; in quantity, iVom fifty to eighty cart-loads per acre. Its Oeneficial effects are said to last twenty vear=. There are many soils, however, where chalk is in plenty, which derive no benefit from it. Some farmers, from observing the beneficial effects of chalk as a manure at other places, have been tempted to use it on their lands ; where it has proved to be of no kind of use, and much time and espence have been entirely thrown away. The best method of using it, is to spread it early in the autumn, in order that it may be thoroughly drenched with rain, and that the frost may have its full operation upon it ; by which means it is well pulver- ized when the thaw comes on, and will mis the more readily with the soU. Old grass-lands on wet sandy or clayey soil, over-run with fui'ze or rushes, are greatly improved by chalk. But it is to be observed, that land once completely chalked, after its fertilizing powers appeal- to be exhausted, is reckon- ed to be inferior to land that never was chalked. Could bone dust be procured in sufficient quanti1,y, and at a reasonable price, few substances would be more advantageous as a manure. Its effects upon the soil, though not immediately apparent, are in the highest degree beneficial ; and their durability does not constitute the least portion of then* value. The application of sand as a manure is of the greatest advantage in many re- spects. When there is a piece of strong clay land in tillage, and the farmer has an opportunity of covering it over with sand, about twice as thick as in a common set of manure, the soil will be pulverized and opened by this means, \\i\\ give better crops when in tillage, and, when laid down, will produce a finer herbage, less Uable to be parched in dry, or trod down in wet seasons. It is excellent management in the farmer, before he ties up his cattle for the winter, to lay a coat of sand, at least a foot in thickness, where he intends to throw his dung out of the cow-houses- The dimg should be repeatedly levelled on the sand, and a second coat of the lat- ter laid on towai'd the end of February ; upon which should be put the remainder of the dimg procm-ed before the cattle go to grass. As soon after this time as pos- sible, the compost should eitlier be tuiTi- ed, and mixed well where it lies ; or cut down in breasts, filled into the dung carts, and taken away to some situation neai' the land on which it is intended to use it. Here it should be laid in a heap of at least two yards in thickness. After remaining two or three months in tliis state, it is in excellent condiUon for putting upon the iland ; and will be found, upon the whole, one of the most advantageous manure^ AGU AGH Ihe fanner can employ, particularly on soils wliei-e there is a considerable predo- minance of clay. Coal-ashes are a good manure, but not much used, on account of their consump- tion in the manufacture of bricks, i'hey •are sown on tlie land in the spring, at tlie rate of four or five chaldrons per acre. Cold, wet, clay me.idows are much im- proved by them. Soot is a valuable manure for a top- dressing on sainfoin, clover, lucerne, and meadows : it is usually sown on the land at the rate of forty or fifty busliels per acre, early in the spring. Though various experiments have been made, with a view to ascerUiin the utility oi common salt as a manure, yet, from the difference which has been experienced in their results, no very decisive or satisfac- tory conclusion has hitherto been obtain- ed on the subject- Rape dust is another excellent manure, and has been used in several instances with the greatest advantage. The large proportion of oily and mucilaginous mat- ter which it contains, might indeed in- duce a belief, a priori, that this would be the case. Refuse leather, soap suds, luoollen rags, IS^c. have each been used, to a certain ex- tent, as manures in some counties ; and with different degrees of success. The dung of those .animals which are fed upon the substances constituting in a great measure the subsistence of man, is esteemed more valuable than that procur- ed from animals whose food is of a differ- ent description. The dung of swine, of Iiorses fed upon corn, &c. is said to be more beneficial as a manure, than th.at of cows, sheep, or horses fed entirely upon grass or hay. The generality of agricultural writers, in treating of maimres, have given innu- merable directions for the management of the several varieties, as if tlie larmer had a store-liouse, or repository, into which each could be deposited. AVe liave ppokcn of them hi such a way as may serve every useful purjiose; and, without troubling the reader with instructions which cannot be carried into execution, we have restricted our details to matters that aie practicable by every farmer. We have directed his attention to the manage- ment and application of dung, because this article may be considered as liie ma- gic w.and which influences every rural operation. Instead of troubling him wilh speculative opinions on the jirincijiics of vegetation, and the pasture of plants, sub- ejects of an abstruse nature, and on wiiich the best informed can only form crude and uncertain notions, we have pointed out the manner in which tlie greatest quantity of dung may be collected, and have described the most suitable and pro- fitable method of applj ing it to the land. We have ti-eated of lime, and other stimu- lants, in the same manner; every kind of theory being avoided. Many valuable essays on agriculture have appeared in the United States ; and particularly the application of manures to land. Since the estabhshment of so- cieties, and particularly- of the Agricultm-al Society of Philadelphia, which does so much honour to our countrj', this subject has already undergone many improve- ments. In the memoirs of that society, several valuable essays on manure may be found ; to one of which 1 would call the attention of the reader, namely, the experiments and observations of the ho- nourable Richard Peters, on gjpsum, or plaster of Paris. On the Cultivation of Culmiferous Crops. — The varieties of grain ranked as culmi- ferous, are Wheat, Barley, Oats, and Rye. These varieties we are inclined to con- sider as bearing equally hard upon the soil ; and we think it does not matter mucli which of them are taken, because all are robbers of the ground, and tend to exhaust it of its productive powers. No doubt some soils are more favourable for one sort of corn than for another ; as, for instance, cla^-s and loams are better adapt- ed for wheat than sands and gravels ; while, T!ce versa, the latter arc better cal- culated for barley than the heavy soils. It is by fixing upon the most proper oi" eacli for the soil cultivated, that the judg- ment of the farmer is correctly ascertain- ed. In other respects, such as the ex- haustion of tiic ground, we view it as a matter of no importance wl)ich of them is preferred. As wheat is the most valuable grain cul- tivated in this eountry, we shall treat of the several processes connected wilh its culture in a more particular manner than may afterwards be reipiired, when othei- grains occupy our attention. We shall first s])cak of the soils best adapted to the growili of wheat ; 2 Of tlie culture required for that grain ; 3. Of the varieties of seed ; 4 of tlie way in wluch it is sown ; 5. Of pickling the seed, so that it may be preserved from being smutted or blacked ; 6. Of the diseases to wliich wheat is lia- ble in different stages ; 7. Of harvest ma- nagement ; 8. Of thrashing the grain, and preparing it for market. 1. On the Soils best adapted for the Croivth of If'heat. — Rich clays and heavy loams are naturally well calculated for AGR AUil ,\\y- pose. Stale urine may be considered as the safest and surest jJickle ; and where it can be obtained in a sufficient quantity is commonly resorted to. The mode of using it does not, iiowever, seem to be agreed upon; for, while one party con- tends that the grain ought to be steeped in the urine, another paity considers it as sufficient to sprinkle the urine upon it* Some, again, aie advocates for a pickle made of salt and water, sufficiently strong to buoy up an eEg, in which the grain is to be thoroughly steeped. But w hatever difference of opinion there may be as to the kind of pickle that ought to be used, and the mode of using it, all admit the utihty of mixing the wetted seed with hot lime fi'esh slacked ; and this, in one point of view, is absolutely necessary, so that the seed may be equally distributed. It may be remarked, that experience justi- fies the utility of all these modes, provided they are attentively carried into execu- tion. There is some danger from the first ; for, if the seed steeped in urine is not immediately sown, it will infalUbly lose its vegetative power. The second, viz. sprinkling the urine on the seed, seems to be the safest, if performed by an attentive hand ; whilst the last may do et^ually well, if such a quantity of salt be incorporated with the water, as to render it of sufficient strength. It may also be remarked, that this last mode is oftener accompanied with smut, owing no doubt to a deficiency of strength in the pickle ; whereas a single head with smut is rarely discovered when urine has been used. 6. Diseases of JVheat. — Wheat is sub- ject to more diseases than other grains, and in some seasons, especially in wet ones, heavier losses are sustained from those diseases, than are felt in tlie culture of any other cidmiferous crop with which we are acquainted. Wheat may suffer from the attack of insects at the root; from blight, which primarily affects the leaf or straw, and ultimately deprives the grain of sufficient nourishment ; from mil- dew on the ear, which operates thereon with the force of an apoplectic stroke ; and from gum of dillerent shades, which lodges on the chaff or cups in which the grain is deposited. Theorists often neglect these distinctions, or confoimd tlic dif- ferent disorders to which tliis valuable gTain is exposed ; but the practical far- mer, who sedulously examines his crop in every stage of its gi-owth, will not readily fall into such errors. It has, without inquirj-, been taken for granted by some people, that blight, mil- dew, antl rust, are the same disorder, though most agriculturists have hitherto rccki)nt_Hlthem separate diseases, brought on at iliili^rent ])crlods, and occasioned by difVert'Ut causes It may be laid down as a primary principle, that the proxiinate cause of every disease which attacks the stalk and ear of wheat plants may be found in the state of the weather at the time, conjoined witli tlie circumstances ol AGR AGR soil, situation, and the seed that has been used. It is difficult to classify these dis- eases, or describe tliem in a distinct man- ner ; because the sentiments, oi rather the language of agriculturists on this subject IS arbitrary and indistinct- Xotwitlistand- ing that they are, by the great body of farmers, attributed to atmospherical influ- ence solely, yet much confusion arises in their nomenclature ; for many people use the terms of blight, inilde-.v, and rust, as synoni,Tnous, though, to us, they appear to be distinct diseases. Blight, according to our ideas, origi- nates from moist or foggj" weatlier, and from hoar-frost, the eflecls of which, when expelled by a hot sun, are first discerni- ble on the straw, and afterwards on the ear, in a greater or lesser degree, accord- ing to local ciicumstances. Mildew, again, strictly speaking, may be ranked as a disease which affects the ear, and is brought on by causes some- what similar to those which occasion blight, though at a more advanced period of the season. These different disordei-s are genei-ally accompanied by insects ; which animalculae, by many people who take tlie effect for the cause, are con- sidered, though witliout the least founda- tion, as the authors of the mischief that follows. Their appearance, however, may justly be attributed to the diseased state of the plant ; for wherever putrefaction takes place, either in animal or vegetable sub- stances, the presence of these insects will never be wanting. Another disorder which afiects wheat, and by several people denominated tlie real rust, is brought on by excessive heats, which occasion the plants to sutler from a privation of nourishment, and become sickly and feeble- In this atrophical state, a kind of dust gathers on tlie stalk and leaves, wliich increases witli the disease, till the plant is in a great measure worn out and exhausted. The only remedy in this case, and it is one that cannot easily be administei-ed by the hand of man, is a plentiful supply of moisture, by which, if it is received, before consumption is too far advanced, the crop is benefited in a degree proportional to the extent of nourishment received, and tlie stage at which the disease has arrived. Some people have recommended the sowing of blighted and mildewed wheat, because it will vegetate ; though certainly the recommendation, if carried into prac- tice, would be attended with imminent danger to those who attempted it. That light or defective wheat will vegetate and produce a plaat, we are not dispos- ed to contradict ; but that it will vege- tate as briskly, or put out a stem of equal su-ength, and capable of withstanding the severe winter blasts, as tliose produced from sound seed, we must be excused for ^ not believing. Let it only be considered,"^ that a plant of young wheat, unless when very eaily sown, lives three or four months, in a gi-eat measure, upon the nourishment which it derives from the parent seed ; and that such nourishment can, in no view of the subject, be so great, when the pa- rent is lean and emaciated, as when sound, healtliy, and Tigoi-ous. Let it also be remembered, that a plant produced from the best, atti weightiest seed, must, in every case, under a parity of other cir- cumstances, have a stronger constitution at the outset, which necessarily qualifies it to push on with greater energy when the season of growth aixives. Indeed, the economj- of nature woald be over- turned, had any other resiUt followed. A breeder of cattle or sheep would not act nittfe foolishly, who trusted that a detbrm- ed diminutive bull or ram would produce him good stock, tlian the corn fantier does who uses unsound or imperfect seed. But another reason operates with us against tlie use of mildewed wheat, which at least deserves consideration : — Is there not some risk that the disease may be con- veyed from the pa:ent to the crop, and that the produce may thereby be les- sened ? We do not go so far as to say, that this disease, like smut, begets its like, though tliere is a degree of risk in the use of mildewed seed, which no prudent fai-mer would choose to hazard, v. ho could avoid it. 7. On Harvest Management — It is ad- vantageous to cut wheat before it is fiUly ripe ; but in ascertaining the proper state, it is necessary to discriminate betwixt the ripeness of the sti-aw and the ripeness of the grain ; for, in some seasons, Uie sXxasv dies upwards ; under which circum- stance, a field, to the eye, may appear to be completely fit for the sickle, when, in reality, the grain is imperfectly consolidat- ed, and perhaps not muci: removed from a milky state. Though it is ob- vious, that, under such circumstances, no further benefit can be conveyed from the root, and that nourishment is wiin- held the moment that the roots die ; yet it does not follow, that grain so ciicuni- stanced shoidd be immediately cut: be- cause, after tliat operation is performed, it is in a great measure necessarily depriv- ed of even' benefit fi'om the sun and air, both of which have greater influence in bringing it to maturit)-, so long as it remains on foot, than when cut down, whether laid idu the groimd, or bound up AGlt AGR in sheaves. The state of the weather at the time alsotleserves notice ; for, in moist, or even variable weatlicr, every kind of grain, when cut prematurely, is more ex- posed to damage than when completely ripened. All these things will be studied by the skiliul husbandman, v lio will also take into consideration the dangers which may follow, were he to permit his wbeat crop to remain uncut till completely rij)en- ed. The danger from wind will not be lost sight of, even the quantity dropped in the field, and in the stack-yard, when wheat is over ripe, is an object of con- sideration. Taking all ihese things into view, it seems prudent to have wheat cut before it is fully ripe, as less damage will be sustained from acting in this way than by adopting a conti-ary practice. If the weatlier be dry, and the straw clean, wheat may be carted to the stack- yard in a iew days ; indeed, if quite ripe, it may be stacked immediately from tiie sickle, especially when not meant for early thrashing. So long, however, as any mois- tui-e remains in the straw, the field will be found to be the best stack-yard ; and where grass or weeds of any kind are mixed with the crop, patience must be exerted till they are decayed and dried, lest heating be occasioned ; which, independent of the loss, is to the farmer a most disgraceful aft'air. 8. On Thrashing }rl:eat. — Before thrasli- ing machines w ere introduced, the task of separating wheat from the straw was ardu- ous and djifRcult. The expense was very considerable, whilst the severity of the labour almost exceeded the power of the strongest man, especially in unfavourable seasons, when the grain adhered perti- naciously to the ear, and could not, with- out difliculty, be completely loosened and removed. Every thing of this nature, however, may be prevented, now that tlirashing machines are introduced, pro- vided the feeder is caret'vd, and propor- tions the quantity on the board to the strength of the impelling jjower. Wheat, in fact, Ls now the cleanest thrashed grain ; because the length of the straw allows it to be properlv beat out before it passes the machine, which sometimes is not the case with short oats and b;u-ley. If horses are used as the impelling power, thin feed- ing is necessary, otherwise the animals m:.\ be injured ; but where wind or water is employed, the business of thrashing is executed speedily, completely, and econo- mically. On Barley. — Next to wheat, the most valuable grain is biU'lc}, especially on light and sharp soils. It is a tender grain, and easily hurt in any of the stages of its g^-owth, particular- ly at seed time ; a heavy shower of rain will then almost ruin a crop on the best prepared land; and in all the after pro- cesses, greater pains and attention are re- quired to ensure success, than in the case of other grains. The harvest process is difficult, and often attended with danger; even the thrashing of it is not easily exe- cuted with machines, because the awn, or tail, generally adheres to the grain, and renders separation from the straw a trou- blesome task. Barley, in fact, is raised at greater expense than wheat, and, general- ly speaking, is a more hazardous crop. Barley may be divided into two sorts, early and late ; to which may be added a bastard variety, called bear, or big, wiiich affords similar nutriment, or sub- stance, though of inferior quality. Early barley, under various names, was former- ly sown upon lands that had been pre- viously summer fallowed, or were in high condition ; but this mode of culture being in a great measure renounced, the com- mon sort, which admits of being sown ei- ther early or late, is now generally used. The most proper seed season is any tihic in April, though we have seen good crops produced, the seed of which was sown at a much later period. Bear, or big, may be sown still later tlian common barley; because it ripens witli greater rapidity. But, as a general principle, where land i.; in order, early sowing, of every variety, is most desirable. Quantity of Seed. — The quantity sown is diHerent in difterent cases, according to the qualit}' of the soil, and other circum- stances. Upon very rich lands, eight pecks per acre are sometimes sown ; twelve is very common ; and, upon poor land, more is sometimes given. Among the best farmers, it seems a disputed point, whether the practice of giving so small a quantity of seed to the best lands is advantageous. That there is a saving' of grain, there can be no doubt; and that the bulk may be as great, as if more seed had been sow n, there can be as little ques- tion. By good judges, it is thought pre- ferable to sow a quantity of seed sufficient to ensure a full crop, without depending on its sendhig out offsets; indeed, where that is done, lew oti'sets are produced, the crop grows and ripens equally, and the grain is imiformly good. Jfirvestii'g — iNloie care is reqim*ed in the harvesting of barley, than any of the other white crops, even in the best of sea- sons ; and in bad years it is often found very difficult to save it. Owing to the brittleness of tlie sti-aw, after it has reach- ed a certJiin period, it must be cut down ; AGR AGR us, when it is suffered to stand longer, inuch loss is sustained by the breaking of the heads. On that account, it is cut at a time when the grain is soft, and the straw retains a gi-eat proportion of its na- tural juices, consequently requires a long time in the field, before either the gram is hardened, or the straw safficienily dry. When put into the stack sooner, it is apt to heat, and much loss is frequently sus- tained. It is a custom with many fai-mers to have an opening in tlie middle of their barley stacks, from top to bottom. This opening is g*enerally made b)' placing a large bundle of straw in the centre of the stack, when the building commences, and, in proportion as it rises, the straw is drawn upwards, leaving a hollow behind ; which, if one or two openings are left in the side of the stack near the bottom, en- sures so complete a cb'culation of air, as not only to prevent healing, but to pre- serve the grain from becoming musty. On Oats. — Of this grain tlie varieties are more numerous than of any other of the culmiferous tribe. These varieties con- sist of what is called die common oat; the Angus oat, which we consider us an im- proved variety of the other; the Poland oat; the Friesland oat ; the red oat ; the dun oat; the Tartar, or Siberian oat ; and the po- tatoeoat. The Poland and potatoe varieties are best adapted to rich soils ; the red oat, for late climates ; and the othervai-ieties,for the genei-ahty of soils. The Tartar, or Siberian kind, though very hardy and pro- lific, is much out of use, being of a coarse substance, and unproductive of meal. The dun oat has never been much culti- vated ; and the vise of Poland's and Fries- land's is now^ much circumscribed, since jjotatoe oats were introduced, the latter being considered, by the most discerning agriculturists, as of superior value, in eve- ry i-espect, where the soil is rich and pro- perly cultivated. Preparation. — Oats are chiefly sown af- ter grass ; somelimes*iipon land not rich enough for wheat, that had been previous- ly summer fallowed, or had carried tiu-- nips ; often after barley, and rarely alter wheat, unless cross cropping, from parti- cular circumstances, becomes a necessa- ry evil. One ploughing is generally given to the gTass lands, usually in the month of January, so that the benefit of frost may be gained, and the land sufficiently mellowed for receiving tlie harrow. In some cases, a spring furrow is given, when oats succeed wheat or barley, espe- cially when grass seeds are to accompany the ci'op. The best oats, both in quantity and quality, are always those which suc- ceed grass ; indeed, no kind of grain seems better qualified by nature, for foraging upon gi-ass land, than oats ; as a full crop is usually obtained in the first instance, and the land left in good order for succeed- ing ones. Quantity of Seed. — From twelve to eigh- teen pecks of seed is generally allowed to the acre of ground, according- to the rich- ness of the soil, and the variety that is cultivated. Here it may be remarked,' that land, sown with potatoe oats, requires much less seed, in point of measure, than when any of the other sorts are used; be- cause potatoe oats till much better than Poland ones, and have not an awn, or tail, like the ordinary variedes. On that account, a measure contains many more seeds of them, than of any other kind. If land is equally well cultivated, we have httle doubt, but that the like quantity of seed, given when barley is cultivated, may be safely trusted to when potatoe oats are to be raised. Harvesting. —Oats are a hardy grain, and rarely get much damage when under the harvest process, except from high winds, or from shedding, when opened out after being thoroughly wetted. The early varieties are much more liable to tliese losses, than the late ones ; because the grain parts more easily fiiU from the straw, an evil to which the best of grain is at all times subject. Early oats, however, may be cut a little quick, wliicb, to a cer- tain e.\tent, lessens the danger to which they are exposed from liigh winds; and, if the sheaves be made small, the danger from shedding after rains is considerably lessened, because tliey are thus sooner ready for the stack. Under every ma- nagement, however, a greater quantity of early oats will be lost during the harvest process, than of late ones; because the latter adhere firmly to the straw, and con- sequently do not drop so easily as tlie former. On Rye — Rye ought never to be sown upon wet soils, nor even upon sandy soils where the subsoil is of a retentive nature. Upon downs, links, and all soft lands, which have received manure, this grain thrives in perfection, and, if once covered in, will stand a drought afterwards, that would consume any of the culmiferous tribe. The several processes may be re- garded as nearly the same with those re- commended for wheat, with the single ex- ception of pickling, which rye does not require. R\ e may be sown either m w in- ter or spring, though the winter-seeded fields are generally bulkiest and most pro- ductive. It may succeed either summer fallow, clover, or turnips; even after oats, good crops have been raised, and where AGR AGR such crops are raised, tlie land will al- ways be found in good condition. On Corn. — Indian corn or maize ; for the culture of whicli, prepare tlic gi-ound by plougliin^ it in single leng-tlis in the au- ttinin, in the spring harrow it down as smooth as possible, then ploui^h and liai-- row it again ; afterward mark out the fur- rows at right angles, five or six feet apart, according to the strength of the soil". At the intersection of these furrows drop two or three seeds, four or five incbes apui-t, cover them about three inches witli ma- nure, and afterwards witli mould by the hoe. By this metbod the plants come soon up and flourish vigorously : when they are five or six inches higli plougli be- tween them, taking the mould from the plants, throwing it up in a ridge, and witli a hoe cut up the weeds and superHuous plants. The subsequent periods of ploughing are quite arbitrary : but an at- tentive farmer will readily discover when the plants require support, or when tlie weeds begin to filch their nourishment. The next ploughing- the mould must be removed from the ridge to the plants, ta- king care to till the ground between them, and to destroy all the weeds. Tliis is of more use than would at first be imagined, for it not only prevents the robbing of the plants, but admits the influence of the air and dews to penetrate to their roots- The third ploughing tlie soil must again be removed ti-oin the plants, and the weeds destroyed : the fourth and last ploughing must be managed like the se- cond by throwing up the mould to the stalks of corn. Previous to ploughing, the seed should be soaked in water moderately warm over night : then add a small quantity of tar, which must be stirred till the grains ap- pear to be uniibrmiy coated with it. After the water has been drained off, add as much slacked lime, ashes, or gypsiun, as will adhere to the grains, which will cause the grains to separate, so that they may be as conveniiutly planted as though they had never been tarred. This preparation will preserve the ten- der plants iiom tlie ravages of the birds, squirrels, &c. which piove vciy destruc- tive to the fields of corn in many parts of the United States Corn that lias been steeped in a strong infusion of Indian poke or tobacco, and scattered over the field before the plants are up, is also an excel- lent preventive. At the second or third hoeing, the suckers should be bent down and buried vmder the soil ; to break theni wounds and materially injures the parent stock. Some think high bills are necessary to make the corn stand upright ; but it is undoubtedly oftener broke when the hills are high, which is a greater evil than for it to lean, \yhich would be the consequence if the hills were low ; nor would this circum- stance prevent their maturing to a tolera- ble degree of perieetioii. The fanner who wishes for a long crop should not annoy his corn with running beans or pump- kins ; the former, by winding round the stalks ;md ear cramp them in their growth and often bnid them by the weight. The latter rob the soil of much vegetable food, and by their shade shut out the in- fluence of the sun from the roots of the corn. Neither should he, for the sake of the fodder, cut or top-stalk the plant, for by such a wound the corn is much more injured, than the difference in the quality of the fodder will compensate for. The time tor corn planting depends on the cli- mate and season : it, lioviever, should be got in as early as possible after the season of frost, that it may be advanced in strength and constitution, to enable it tlie better to conflict with the drought which sometimes occurs. When the pei-iod for harvesting has ar- rived, which will be readily known by the consistency of the kernel,' cut the stalks close to the ground, i-emove the whole near the farm house, strip the husks from the ear, and after pei'mitling both to dry, place the corn in cribs to be ready for llmishlng, and stack the husks, Sic. to be distributed to the cattle during the ap- proaching winter. The best method of preserving com, and in fact every species of grain, is to move and air it frequently for the first six months ; after that time it will require less labour, if kept in a di-y place. When the corn has been preserved from all impuri- ties for the sjiace of two years, and has ex- haled all its /)/;-!«, it may be kept for any length of time by lodging it in pits cover- ed with plank, closely joined together : but the safer way idWb cover the heap with quick-linic, which should be dissolved by sprinkling it over with a small quantity of water ; this causes tl)e grains to shoot to the depth of two or three fingers, and in- closes the heap with an incrustation, through which neither air nor insects can penetrate. For a further account of tlie difierent species of grain, see the Domes- tic Encydoptdiu, lU'ticles Wheat, Corn, &c. Of Beans and Pease. — As the plants of beans and pease are of a hardy constitu- tion, these articles requiring little more than to be deposited in the earth to cause a generous reproduction ; so also their cultivation is little more attended to hi this AGH AGR country than to obtain a garden supply, and as the attention they require is so ge- nerally understood, a particular account of their cultivation is thought unnecessa- ry. Those of" our readers, however, who are desirous of information on this liead, are referred to M'Mahon's System of Horticulture, and Bvewster's Encyclopedia, article Agriculture. Of Potatoes. — Considering potatoes as an article of human food, next to wheat of the greatest importance, in the eye of a pohtical economist, it is proper to illus- trate the culture of this esculent in the va- rious stages, from preparing the gTound, till the crop is digged up and ready for mai'ket. # Preparatio7i of the ground. — To work the ground till it is completely reduced and free from root-weeds, may be considered as a desideratum in potatoe husbandly; though in many seasons these operations cannot be perfectly executed, without losing the proper time for planting, which never ought to be beyond the first of May, if circumstances do not absolutely inter- dict it. Three ploughings, with frequent harrowings and rollings, are necessary in both cases, before the land is in suitable condition. When this is accompUshed, form the drills from two to three feet apart; cart out the manure, which ought not to be sparingly applied, plant tlie seed above the manure, reverse the drills for covering it and the seed, then harrow the drills in length, which completes the pre- paration and seed process. They are sometimes planted with the hoe, in the same manner as corn, though somewhat nearer. Quantity of Seed. — It is not advantageous to cut tlie seed into small slips ; for the strength of the stem at the outset depends in direct proportion upon the vigour and power of the seed-plant. At all events, rather err in giving over large seed tlian in making it too small ; because by the first error, no great loss can ever be sus- tained; wliereas, by the other, a feeble and late crop may be the consecj uence. Vx'^hen the seed is properly cut, it requires from ten to twelve hundred weig'ht of potatoes to plant 'an acre of groimd, where tiie rows are at 27 inches distance; but this quantity depends greatly u})()n the size of the potatoes used; if they are large, a greater weight may be required, but the extra quantity will be abundantly repaid by the superiority of crop which large seed usually produces. Ofth( kinds cf Potatoe lohick can beviost successfully cultivated. — The varieties of this excellent root are become so nume rous, that it is impossible to treat of each. or even to give a list of their naiiies or particular properties. It Is almost cev- tain, that a new variety may be propagated at any time, by mixmg contrary sorts iu the same drill ; and if tliese are allowed to come to maturity, a kind of connection takes place betwixt the blossoms of each, winch produces a new race or variety. In this way, the numerous varieties of the potatoe root have been procreated and in- troduced. Cleaning of Potatoes. — After having de- tailed the method of cleaning corn so cir- cumstantially, it appears tuinecessary to enter at much length upon what is re- quired for potatoes, because one and all of the green crops require somewhat simi- lar management. It may be remarked, that green crops of eveiy kind are greatly benefited by frequent hoeings, and that their growth, in some measure, is regulated by the extent of labour bestowed on them. When treated in a slovenly manner, or left to fight with weeds, or even to encounter a fii-m soil, the plants are deprived of nou- rishment, and unable to procreate their kind in due abundance; on the contrary, wlien the soil is sufficiently stirred up, and kept free of weeds, natiu'e will return a croj) in direct proportion to the quality of the soil, and the quantity of manure be- stowed upon it by the cultivator. Na- ture may be improved by art, but when her bounties are neglected, and not im- proved, she generally turns aside, and re- pays the contempt with interest. JMethod of taking up the crop, and storing it for consumption. — Potatoes are general- ly digged up with a hoe, three-prong grape, or fork ; but at other times, when the weather is dry, the plough is used, which is the most expeditious implement. After gathering the interval, the furrow taken by the plough is broken and sepa- rated; in which way the crop may be more completely gathered than when ta- ken up by the grape. The potatoes are then stored \ip for winter and spring use ; and as it is of importance to keep them as long through siunmer as possible, every endeavour ought to be made to preserve them from frost, and from sprouting in the spring months. The former is accom- plished by covering them well with straw when lodged in a house, and by a thick coat of earth, v/hen deposited in a pit ; and the latter, by picking them carefully, at different times, when they begin to sprout, drying them sufficiently by exposure to the sun, or by a gentle toast on a kiln. Careful people often preserve potatoes in perfection till the succeeding crop is fit for use; though it rarely happens that AGR AGR they possess their original qualities after fcumiDL ommences. Of turnips. — Tlie benefits derived from turnip husbandry, are of gi-eat magnitude ; lig-lit soils are cultivated with profit and I'acility ; abundance of food is provided for man and beast ; the eartli is turnetl to the uses for whicli it is jihysically calculated ; and, by being suitably cleaned with this preparatory cro]:), a bed is provided for gi-ass seeds, wherein they flourisli and prosper with greater vigour than after any otljer preparation. Preparation. — The first and second ploughings are given usually in contrary directions. It is then repeatedly harrow- ed, often rolled between the liarro wines, and every particle of root weeds carefully picked off with the Iiand; a third plough- ing is then bestowed, and the other ope- rations are repeated. In this stage, if the ground has not been very foul, the seed process generally commences; but often a fourth ploughing, sometimes a fifth, is necessarv', before the ground is sufficient- ly cleaned. Turnip land cannot be made too rich, for, in fact, the weight of the crop depends in a great measure upon its condition in this respect. The next part of the process is the sow- ing of the seed. From two to three pounds of seed are sown upon the acre, though the smallest of these quantities will give many more plants, in ordinary seasons, than are necessary ; but, as the seed is not an expensive article, the greater part of farmers incline to sow thick, which both provides against the dan- ger of part of the seed perishing, and gives the young plants an advantage at the outset. Turnips are sown from the beginning of June to the middle of August; but the last of July is, by judicious farmers, ac- counted the most proper time. As a ge- neral rule, it may be bid down, that the earliest sowing should be on the latest soils ; plants on such soils are ofien long before the} make any great progress ; and in the end, may be i'ar behind those, in other situations, which were mucli later sown. Tiie turnip plant, indeed, does not thrive rapidly till its roots reach the dung. The hand-hoeing then commences, by which the turnips are all singled out, at a distance of eight inches, which is an ope- ration of great im])ortance, for an error committed in tliis j)rocess can hardly be afterwards rectified. Care must after- wards be taken to stir the soil often, de- stroy the superfluous plants, and keep the weeds down. On Crops to be used in Manufactures. — Three other crops remain to be treated of; namely, hemp, flax, and hops. None of these, however, can fje viewed as im proving crops ; on the contraiy, they ma\ be characterized as robbers, ihat exhaust llie soil, and return little, orratiiorno ma- nure for restoring it to fertility. 'I'hey are, however, all necessary articles, and ui the present state of public affairs, tiie culuii« of the two first, viz. hemp and flax, may be considered as materially connected with national prosperity. On Hemp. — This is a plant of the her- baceous fibrous-rooted kind, which has a thick strong stem, that rises to a consider- able height, and aftords a rind or covering of a fii-m strong texture, that is valuable for the purpose of being maimfactured in- to cloth, cordage, &c. « The soils most suited to the culture of this plant, are those of the deep, black, putrid, vegetable kind, that are low, and rather inclined to moisture, and those ol the deep, mellow, loamy, or sandy de- scriptions. The quantity of produce is generally much greater on the former than on the latter ; but it is said to be greatly inferior in quality. It may, however, be gro\vn with success on lands of a less rich and fertile kind, by proper care and at- tention in Iheir culture and preparation. In order to render the gi-ounds proper for the reception of the crop, they should be reduced into a fine mellow state of mould, and be perfectly cleared from weeds, by repeated ploughing. When it succeeds grain crops, the work is mostl\' accomplished by three ploughings, and as many hanowings ; the first being given immediately after the preceding crop is removed, the second early in the spring, and the last, or .seed earth, just before the seed is to be put in. In the last plough- ing, well rotted manure, in the proportion of fifteen or twenty, or good compost, in the quantity of twenty-five or thirty cart loads per acre, should be tvn-ned into the land ; as without this it is seldom that gooil crops can be produced. The surface of the ground being left perfectly flat, and as free from furrows as possible ; as by these means the moisture is more efl'ectually retained, and the growth of the plants more fully promoted. Sery common error, of lajing out a greater quantity of meadow, than can be i'ully and properly floated, should by all means be avoided ; as it leads to great ex- penses, and brings the practice of irriga- tion into discredit. " It ought to be observed, that in catch - work, the surface of the meadow is sel- dom very much bioken. Rough parts may be pared oif, and some trivial work done in rafter levelling-, which Ica^'es a part of the sward, li' any seeds are wanted, the proper kinds may be under- stood, by attendnig to what follows re- specting flat meadows. These are formed hito ridges by the spade or plough, and are therefore almost totallj- destitute of grass, when newly laid down. To sow any seeds that are not pe- rennial, or that woidd not agree with the soil and water, would prove a serious loss. "If any trial has been made of the wa- ter, and it has been found to encourag-e a set of good plants, these ought to be preferred. But it is also necessary to consider the soil, and to sow the seeds of such plants as are known to prosper in soils of a similar description. Attention and experience will be found the surest guides in this unportant point; that from the first, the meadow may be stocked with such plants as may answer every purpose." We now come to anotlier branch of ir- xigation, calk d -wurping; which is one of the greatest improvements that can be exercised, adding to the value and thick- ness of the soil every time it is repeated. In fact, a new soil is artificially created by the operation to be treated of, and of a ([uality superior to tliat of every natural one. It is only in certain situations, how- ever, that warping can be used; but vvlierc sucli an opportunity occu"s, it I ought never to be omitted. The erjjense varies according to situation, but can never in the slightest degree be compar- ed with the immense benefit derived from it. Most rivers are constantly stored with mud and all sorts of alluvial matter ; and these being stirred and kept in motion by the tide, are conveyed over such adjoin- ing grounds, as are flat and easily flood- ed. Embankments, however, are previ- ously required before warping can be ex- ecuted ; and these embankments are made of earth taken from the land, and built with a slope of three feet on each side for every perpendicular foot of rise, 'i'here are mcn-e or fewer openings in the banks according to the extent of gi-ound pro- posed to be warped ; but, in general, two sluices are only necessary, one called the flood-gate to admit, tlie other called the cloui^h to let off the water. When the spring tide begins to ebb, the floodgate is opened to admit the water, while the dough is kept close by the flow, or tide. As the tide ebbs down the river, the pres- sure upon the outside is taken from the dough, when the weight of water admit- ted by the flood-gate pushes open the dough, and is discharged slowly thi'ougli it. The doughs are so constructed, as to let the water run off between the ebb of one tide, and the flow of another ; and to this pohit particular attention is paid. Tlie flood-gates are j^laced above the level of common tides, it beins^ only the water of spring tides that is admitted. It will be understood, from what h stated, that warp consists of the mud and salts left by the water that has been ad- mitted; and that the technical phrase luarping, comprehends all the processes necessary to admit the tide water, and to deposit its sediment upon the field that is meant to be improved Letting in fresh water would not be called warping, but simply flooding. Fresh water, though useful at proper seasons, would by no means answer the same jnirpose as y'wqy water stiired up by the tide ; because it never could furnish a sufficient sediment for thickening the soil ; neither would the sediment left be of so rich a nature as what is furnished by tide water. On Enclosures. — l-'.nclosures, with some trifling exceptions, are formed by build- ing stone walls, or with posts and rails, and sometimes by planting tliorn hedges. To render a stone wall useful as a fence, its height ought never to be less than five feet three inches, otherwise it will not keep in many of the breeds of sheep which prevail in the country. In erecting the fence, great care ought to be ...^ci. i,y u^tiWi upon a solid foundation, otherwise ilie wuU is apt to incline to a .■Ide and gradually to fall down. The con- -iruclion of the rail enclosure is so simple IS torendt-radehcripiionof it unnecessary. On Thorn J/cil^'es. A ihorn hedge nakes an excellent fence, when orice rained up and bi-ou(jht to maturity ; but he length of lime which elapses betbreit an prove of much benefit, and the great 'xpense incurred in training it up, ren- der such a fence not much clicaper tlian I stone wall ; especially if the loss frojii ■he want of it in the first instance is dnly jstimuted. Tlie price of such a fence, however, being gradually expended by 'die farmer, he is not so sensible of its nriount as of that of a stone wall, and is herefore generally disposed to give a preference to the former. If the several, expenses belonging to hedges, and tlie extent of ground wasted by this mode of fencing, are fully considered, we arc not -■ertain that the balai\ce will be mucli in 'avour of them as fences. At all events, ^ stone wall is useful in the first year, '.yiiereas a dozen at least must elapse be- fore a hedge can be of much benefit. When a thorn hedge is to be planted I is of advantage to fallow the ground a -ear befoi-e hand; and if the soil is poor, .0 dress it with dung, so that the young .ilants may not be opjiressed with weeds, ■jv Stunted f )r want of food, when weak uul unable to send forlli their fibres in search of nourishment. These things -ting attended to, :-nd the hedge plant- -d, an annual cleaning ought to be given; sometimes two cleanings are necessary before tin; hedge will thrive. It is also i^ecessary to fence it at the back with l^aling, that beasts may be restrained from going over it, and to switch it over when two or three years of age, in order that it may be kejJt close at the bottom. It may be remarked, that a gap' once made is never efiectually filled up ; and therefore the utmost care ought to be exerted to keep cattle of all kinds from making tres- passes. As the hedge grows up, repeat- ed cuttings are necessary, so that a wide bottom may be gained, without which no hedge can be considered as a suitable Fence ; and some attention is required to give a proper shape to the top, which is a matter of much importance to the wel- fare of the hedge. When thorns are al- lowed to grow to unequal heights, the strong plants are sure to smother the weak ones ; and when the hedge becomes broad at the top, it retains water 'and snow, to the great injury of the plants. All these evils may be avoided by proper VOL. I. ' •;,^ ALA management ; though, us we have already said, twelve years must elapse before the best managed iiedge can be considlered as a sufilcient fence: and in many cases double that time must intervene betwixt planting and perfection Upon many soils, the most arduous endeavours will not make a fence from thorns, though this, after all, depends nuich upon the atten- tion bestowed at the outset. If once mar- red in its growth by carelessness and ne- gligence, it is hardly practicable to make up for former enors, by additional dili- gence. In fact, it is an easier business to root up the old hedge, and train up & new one, than to recover a hedge 'which has been mismanaged, or suffered to get into bad condition, from want of attention to the cleaning and cutting processes. Concluding Observations. To give a cor- recL idea of the agriculture ot the United States, would require a very consider- able volume ; since it embraces all the productions of Europe, except wine and oil, and some even of those which are not found there, such as sugar and indigo. Us staple commodities may be numbered under the following heads. Grain of every species produced in the temperate climates of Europe, cattle of every kind, except the buflaloe ; sheep, horses, asses, mules and swine, tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo, sugar, flax, hemp, hops, and every species of fruit and legumens reared in any part of Europe. • To treat of the culture of each of these would lead us beyond the limits of this work ; we are, therefore, obliged, much against our wishes to omit the considera- tion of many important articles; neverthe- less the foregoing we flatter ourselves, contains such judicious remarks on the theory and practice of the primary branches of agriculture, as. If adopted, cannot fail to redound to the very great advantage of the agriculturist. Those of our readers, htuvever, who are desirous of more comprehensive and detailed ac- counts of the history, theory, and prac- tice of agriculture, are referred to the American edition of the Edinburgh En- cyctopadia. Art. Agricultuke, and the Do7ncstic Encyclopedia. See als" Ani- mals, Domestic. ALABASTER. Alabaster h a kind of stone softer than marble, and more easily worked. Its colours are various, but the white is the most beautiful. Soro ■ sorts are extremely wliite a.'id shinipg ; some red, like coral ; some of a da»* horny co- lour,^ resembling onyxj and another sort of ayellowish coloui',-like honey, variegat- ed with .specks and Utile veins. See Gyp- , ..-<«* ALC soM, or Plaster oj Paris, under the arti- cle AcRieuLTURE. ALCARKAZAS, in Pottery ^'dvcViMmd of vessels for coolintj wine or water. As tliey are exceeding porous, the liquor oozes tlirough them on all sides ; tlie air which comes in contact witii it, by making' it evaporate, carries otftlie heat contained in tiie water, &c. in the \ I'ssel ; thus the h- quid remaining in the jar, continues at a temperature considerably below the sur- rounding atmosphere. The pecidiur convenience attathed to these vessels, has iiilrodnccd tliem to nu- merous places in the world, where heat, by caushig evaporation, renders the cool- ness of what is drank greatly to be de.sir- ed. Thus they ^le used in Kgypt, and other pai-ts of Afi-ica, the Kast and West Indies, some parts of Europe, Syria, I'cr- sia and China. Tlie manufactory of Alcarrazas possess- i;s recomniendaiions, which mosi others do not easily admit. The expense of form- ing establishments for tliis purpose is very U'ifling. The process, by wliich ihe jars are made, as we shall see below, is very simple and the profits are very certain, when so useful a practice is generally , adopted. ' The preparation given to the earth may be reduced to three principal ope- rations. First. Su])pose it were necessary to manufacture 150 pounds of earth : after it has been dried and divided into por- tions of the size of a walnut, it is macerat- ed in a basin or tub, by proceeding in the foHowing manner : The workman takes fiom 12 to 15 quarts of earth, wliich are s]iread out etiualiy in the basin and water, is poured over it ; the same operation is to i)e repeated till the tub is sufliciently fidl. fn pouring on the last water, more is not required than may be necessary to cover the whole mass. In this state, itis sufier- f>d to remain 12 hours, when il is to be Uneadcd by the hands to the con.sisteuce of .1 tough i)aste. The earth Is then to be >"-eposited to a clean tiled form, over which IS strewed a little sifted ashes. It is form- ed ii.io a cake about 6 inches in thickn'ess, which is smoothed at the surface as well as at the sides. It is left in that state till it begins U crack, after which it is freed from the as)ics, wiilcii adhere to It, and removed to a sinilhu- f >iin made exceed- ingly clean. Second preparation. To this earth, the workman Mds 7 poands of sea-salt, if he wishes to maVe jarras, and only hatt.lhat quantity if it is destined for the forni\icion of botizas or camtaros. This difference arises frorA the grea,ter or less opacity in- '\^\ ALC #^t leiKieci to oe given to the vases ; thftlai'™ gcv the vase is so much the thicker tlie sides require to be, that it may have the necessary strength ; it nfust-also bfe more porous, as the thickness of tiie sides in creases, which quality dope'iids on tlic quantity of salt added, the largest requir- ing more, and the least, less. The fcarih is kneaded with thefeet,add- ing the salt gradually, and this labour is repeated at least three times without the necessity of adding more water, as thc moisture retained by the material is sufh- cient. , Third preparation. T!ie earth after be- ing thus subjected to these various mani- pulations, is now fit to-be applied to the lathe. . The man who is employed for this work, ought U> beat it well with his Jiands, taking care to extract the stones, as v^ell as every other foreign body. Me then forms it into lumps, which he ap- plies to the lathes to be made into vases or jars. The alcarrazas may be baked in any kind of furnace used by p>)tters ; as they requii-e to be only half baked, ten or twelve hours, according to the quantity of fuel, or degree of temperature, is suffi- cient for the purpose. Care is always ta- ken to choose earth of a proper quality, without ever having occiision to add to it a mixture of sand. TJie same earth that is used in common j^oitery, with the addi- tion of salt, is the clay employed for tlie alcai'razns. ALCOHOL, or Sphif-of Wine, is the constant and more cliaractcristic product of the vinous fermentation, produced equally from all fermented intoxicating liquors, by the process of distillation. Spirit of wine is immediately obtained by (listillution from every species of ardent spiiitSi The latter again, are the pro- ducts of a previous distillation of any li- quor wliich has undergone the vinous fer- mentation, so that at least two distillations are reciuisite to obtain the purely spiri- tuous part of vinous liquorsi We shall refer to tiie article."! l)isrii.LiNC, or Distillation, the many important ob- servations to be made on the business of tlie distillery, and the manufactureof i)ran- dy, rum, .-^.nd malt spirits ; and shall here only describe the chemical process of rf c- f(/fc(if;on, rtr the~ preparation of alcohol from these spirits. The simplest process is the followiiiL;- Tut any quantity of brandy or malt spirits, or rum, into an alembic,johi to it the refii - geratory,and (Ustil with a gentle heat. Ihe first product is invariably the strongest and purest. The spirit coiitinues to come over colourless, but gradually diminish- ALC ALC jiig' in strengtli and purity, till at last it is so watei'y as no longer to take fire by a lighted match. After this, if the distilla- tion be continued, the liquor becomes milky, scarcely spirituous to the smell, and of a sourish taste. In this process no advantage is gained by continuing it after the liquor is no 'onger inflammable, which happens when about 3-4ths or 4-5ths of the wliole contents of the alembic have passed over. If the first fourth or third of the distilled spirit be set apart, it forms a moderately strong alcohol, and the re- mainder, one more dilute, which will serve for many purposes. Simple distillation will therefore sepa- rate tiie alcohol of any ardent spirit from the water, colouiing matter and acciden- tal impurity ; but diere are t\\ o principles which are not entirely got rid of in tins manner ; these are, an empyreumatic fla- vour often given by a careless or too has- ty previous distillation of the spirit, and a strong, often foetid oil, which the spirit has dissolved, either out of the cask in which it is kept, or from some of the materials of fermentation, or from intentional additions by the manufacturer. The flavour of this oil is best perceived on rubbing some of the spirit on the warm hands, whereby it readily evaporates, and a stale nauseous smell, like the breath of drunkards, is left. The mere empyreuma, or burnt smeil, goes off in a great degree by keeping in charred casks, but the oil more obstinate- ly adheres. Alum, sea salt, Glauber's salt, calcined bone, chalk, toasted crumbs of bread, and many other substances have been added, during distillation, to keep down tlie oil, all of them with considerable but not com- pleat success. Alkalies and lime remove it entirely, but with some alteration of the spirit it- self, as we shall presently mention. Beaume recommends the following ju- dicious management in distillation, to ob- tain part of the spirit considerably freed from the oil : it is fovuided on the fact that the first portion distilled contains scarcely any oil, but the latter product is almost saturated with it. Heat brandy in an alembic as usual, and when about a quarter of the liquor has passed, set it aside, and continue the process as long as the spirit is inflammable This latter spir- it re-distil as before, separating the first from the last product Still repeat the distillation on the last product of the fore- going process, as long as the first quai'ter of the product comes over tolerably pure. Tlien mix all the first products together and distil, reserving the first half for the purest alcohol, and the last for ordinary purposes. Thus the oil is constantly con- centrated into the latter distilled portions, whilst the first are obtained proportion- ably purer. We iiave mentioned that simple distil- lation of alcohol, however often repeated, and only the first product reserved, will yield a spirit of the specific gi-avity of about .825 at 60°, but the highest concen- tration is given by the use of alkalies or lime, or in some degree by any salt which has a very strong affinity with water; and the two former have the additional advan- tage of desti'oyhig the empyreumatic oil, though the alkalies are apt, in return, to communicate somewhat of an urinous fla- vour. Though both the carbonated and caus- tic alkalies have the effect of concentrat- ing alcohol, a difference takes place in their action on this liquid. The carbonat- ed alkalies are insoluble in the^spiiit, but the caustic alkalies compleatly absolve in it. If to a weak spkit is added some dry cai'bonated potash, and shaken together, the alkali becomes dissolved only in the water of the spirit, and thus two liquors appear of very different specific gi'avit}^ and absolutely immiscible b)^ agitation. The lower liquor is the alkaline solution, tlie upper the alcohol, now rendered stronger by the loss of the water, which the alkali lias separated from it. If the alcohol alone be poured off", and mixed with a fresh quantity of di-y carbonated potash, the alkali will again either entire- ly dissolve, or become pasty, according to the quantity of superfluous water left in the spirit ; if there is none, it will remain at the bottTom untouched. Tills is a ready way of bringing alcohol to very great concentration witliout distil- lation, and would answer every purpose, if it were not that the dry carbonated al- kalies (except the cr3^stallized) all con- tain a cei'tain portion of the salt, in a state sufficiently approaching to causticity to be soluble in alcohol ; so that, in the above process, the liquid swimming above the watery solution of carbonated potasli, is not pure spirit, but a very weak solution of caustic alkali in alcohol. To obtain it quite pure, add one part of very hot dry carbo- nated potash (good pearl-ash will do) to about six or eight parts of alcohol, already brought to considerable strength by dis- tillation, let them stand together for some hours, frequently shalcing them ; tlien dis- til with a gentle heat, and the first half or two-thirds of the product is th.e purest al- cohol. Or, with less trouble, add one part of ALC ALC the «lkali to four parts of brandy, anddis- til,*f"tcT standiuj^totjelher for about a day : but tlie former process is the best- Burnt alum, dried Glauber's salt, or decrepitated c/immon salt may be very coiivciiiently substituted for the carbonat- ed alkali. Hot, drj', caustic alkali is still more ef- ficiicious in separating the water fi-om Uie alcoliol, wliicli, carefully distilled, is ex- tremely pure. But caustic alkalies, as well as lime, decompose so much of tlie alcohol, as to render it both a wasteful process and one ihat requires more cai'e in conducting it. By the above means the levity and pro- portionable dephlegmation of alcoiiol may be brought from the specific gravity of .825 at 60" of heat, to about .813" or per- haps still lower. Malt spirits yield as strong and pui-e an alcohol as wine, bran- dy, or other spirits. Various methods have been employed for ascertaining tlie strength of ardent spi- rit, but this is attended with more diffi- culty tlian might at first be imagined. Long habit will enable a person to judge with tolerable accuracy by the taste, and the frotliiness and size of tlie bubbles when sliaken, but tliis is obviously liable to error. The test of burning the spirit has long been used, and, with proper pre- caution, it may be brought to some degree of accuracy. ' It has been already men- tioned, tliat a very pure alcohol will burn away without leaving any residue, and tliat the weaker the spirit is, the more wa- ter will be left after combustion. In ma- 3iy countries this trial is actually perform- ed in the following simple manner. A cylindrical silver cup, properly graduated and made for this purpose, is filled to a known h.eight with the spirit, wliicli is then kindled, and is suffered to burn till the flame goes out, after which the quan- tity of watery residue is noted. Pure al- cohol leaves n©ne, rectified spirit of mode- rate strength about 25 per cent, French brandy about 56, common good malt spir- it about 65, and the like. The principal imperfection of this method, is the difficul- ty of always jjcrformin^ the experiment under similar external circumstances : and besides, it is by no means proved tlial the combustion of compound spirits will fol- low the same rules as that of simple mix- tures of alcohol and water. In this trial •J)e residue still contains a portion of al- cohol, the combustion ceasing before all the spirit is burnt off; but on the oilier hand, some of the water must necessjirily have been evaporated by the heat of com- bustion. Another trial, though extremely incor- rect, is to pour a few drops of the spirit on a very small heap of gunpowder, and kindle it. The spirit first burns as usual, and when the last portion is burning off, the powder explodes, if the spirit has not been too watery to leave the powder very damp. Cotton wool burns in like manner at tlie end of the combustion of the spirit, if not too damp. But it is well known tliat a little heap of powder drenched with even a strong spirit, will not take fire, and a large heap will explode if only a tew drops of a watery spirit is used. Besides, these tests, were tliey accurate, would on- ly indicate two degrees of strength, that wliich would fire tlie powder, and that wiiich would not. Anotlier test, sufficiently accurate for a rough estimation of the strength of the spirit, is to sliake it in a bottle with some dry carbonat of potash, and to judge of its strength by the quantity of water which the alkali attracts from it. A spirit that swims in olive oil has sometimes been considered as proof, and this method is actually used in the manu- facture of rum, but this test also only in- dicates two degrees. The only mode of ascertaining the rela- tive strength of every species of ai'dent spirit, with any considerable accuracy, has been by determining its specific giavity; and the high public importance of the subject in countries where the consump- tion of spirits adds a vast sum to the pub- lic revenue, has been the means of insti- tuting many very interesting series of ex- periments to this purpose. \s our limits will not allow a complete notice of all that has been done on this subject in different countiies, we shall confine ourselves to the very minute, accu- rate, and every way excellent series of experiments made for the Board of Ex- cise in London, by Sir Charles Blagden, assisted by Mr Gilpin, and published in the 79tii and 8\l volumes of the Philoso- phical Transactions. 'Iheir object was to determine, by ac- tual experiment, the specific gi-avity of mixtures of different proportions of alco- hol of a determinate strengtli, with pure distilled water at difierent degrees of the thermometer ; and tiiese experiments were carried to a minuteness much more than necessary even for the high duties now levied on spirits, where a trifling dif- ference in strength becomes an object of attention. It is assumed as a principle in the pre- sent mode of laying the duties, that all kinds of distilled spirits conniin an equal proportion of real alcohol v. h a mixture of pure alcohol and water, brought to the ALC ALC same specific gravity, and therefore it is on the absolute quantity of alcohol m any mijrtiu-e tliat the duty is levied. This po- sition though sufficiently accurate for tlie purposes of the revenue, is not absolutely true ; since ardent spirit will dissolve vari- ous substances, such as sugar, colouring mutter, &c. the effect of which solution will be to increase its density, and there- fore to make it appear to contain less al- cohol than is really the case. The whole expansion of alcohol as pure as simple distillation will give, when rais- ed fi'om the temperature of 30" to lOO** is about one-twelfth of the bulk which it had at 30° ; and, witliiu this range, the expan- sion is pretty equal for equal increments of heat. On the other hand, the expansion of water within the same range of from 30° to 100° is only one hujidred and forty-fifth of its bulk at 30*. Besides, a curious property of water, discovered by Dr. Blagden, hei'e comes into action ; which is, that (contrary to the nature of all other known liquids) it has arrived at its greatest density much before it is cooled down to its fi-eezing point, namely at 40*^ or 42", and that between this temperature and 30" its specific gi-avity regularly goes on diminishing till congealed. So that the gravitv of water at 30" is found to be no more than at 48 1-2". When alcohol and water are mixed, a mutual peneti-ation of the two liquors takes place, as we have already mentioned, and the liquors occupy less room mixed than separate, so that the specific gravity of the mixture is greater than the mean specific gravity of the two, before mix- ture. The anomaly in the action of heat on water below 42" has just been noted, but another source of complication in cal- culating the densities of spu-it and water, arises from the following circumstance witli a heat gradually raised from 42° up- wai-ds to 100'', water at first expands slower in comparison to its entire increase, than alcohol ; but afterwards, wlien ap- proaching to the liighest term of heat, its expansion is proportionably gi*eater than that of alcohol. Hence it is that a mixture of these two liquids will approach tlie nearer to the pi-ogressive ratio of expan- sion of the one or of the otlier, in proportion as one or the other liquor predominates in the mixture. But, again, the absolute ex- pansion will be greater as there is more alcohol in tlie mixture. All these circumstances indicated the danger of trusting to mere calculation from a very few data (as had been done by other scientific persons) to compose tables of the expansion of alcohol and wa- ter, witli even tolerable correctness ; and hence Sir C Blagden, and liis coadjutor, determined to undertake so many actual experiments on the spepific gravity of mix- tiu-es of alcohol and water, at various temperatures, as to leave but ^ ery little room for incorrectness in the spaces on the scale filled up by interpolation. The pure, or standard alcohol, was that of .825 at 60", being tlie purest obtainable by simple distillation, lowered a very little by water to bring it to even numbers for the convenience of calculation. The specific gravity was taken, in every case, by fill- ing the same bottle to a known height with the spirit, and weighing it. To en- sure a perfect penetration of the spirit and water, they were never used till they had been mixed for a montli, and often sha- ken. The extreme precautions taken to ensure as great accuracy as human instru- ments can command, are given in detail hi the original memoirs. Tlie actual expe- riments were, the specific gravities, first of the pure spirit, then of lOO parts of i*: (by weight) witli every five parts of wa- ter, from 5 to 100, and lastly of 100 parts of water with every five parts ofspirit;;^! of them tiikcn at every fifth degree of heat, from .30 to 100. The intermediate de- grees, both of temperature and of propor- tion of water or spirit, are filled by inter- polation. The following Table, extracted from Mr. Gilpin's corrected tables, in the 82d vol. of the Philosophical Transactions, will apply to most cases which may be wanted in chemical enquiry. ALC ALC C'b % "^ .__ oi- - ' - 'I* - - rf -;. c-: - : I : - "? '^' S;' ?* i? I) i?J "•> c^ c , -H -H 'O -• CTl » O '^ 1^ N. o .o CT 'O >! "M c< •>» 1^ ~. - 1 ex ' <:■» CO "T OJ C>» — . t-l ,-1 -O ■» <0 I 0> O) '^ ^ '0> o> o> 0> Oi Ci 3^ OV "O Ij O O a« -• Cft T C) 7-. 3> 'O CO D 1^ O 3» r O "O •-' ^ - "3 O "O -O t^ 'r i-i 1^ 'O -O — ' 3 O — !>, O C7> ^ O ■ "> »-i i^ "M jO CO Oi f^ 'J' I-- 'C CO O "N -ri — — -• O O ?i O^ 30 20 33 I , Iv. .0 -C O >0 -* TI O C-JDCNC^ 'NO> C^OJ"--!^,-*-. — I— I— .— <^^— .^,-i,- 'O ■; 'O 'O O) 1^ CO Oi ■* O 'ri -^ (^ — a-i r-, o -o o 'O 'o -* •* CO 31 31 a> c^ a> -J" ^-t ^ J y-^ *^ 'jf ' -« '.-J ^/i Nj- "^ yjj (T^ -H Oi J^ O O -< 'O -. 00 ""O a-, r" O '-C: — r^ fN CO - Oi 'I' 3 1 , CO •* '"~J CT) ^-i :?■• O) no i>- 1^ ^ -O 'n /^ 'O ■>* -^ O CO I cNf -H i-t — 20 vcoo'ic^-^aoc" is,c^h»c^i^c^h.'^>oo>coN,~Jh,c^oo-- a> •' (o -« .t c« t-^ 'o 00 -d< 0-. "o o "^ •-' t^ t^ 'o oo ■* Oi »o -< 00 'O CO -^ •-< O O CT> Oi X 00 N. I - '^ lO O » CN O l^ O O 3 3 3 O a> C7> J. C> r:> d C7> CT. Ol Ol 0» CT. a. !7> O) Cl C^ Ol CO cr;GiO>a»CT>o-. 00 x jOOTcoxTOooooooooxioqjOXoooooqoo A:?-;-^ ?i*^ ^ V N.IO 't xco 1^ ^^ 'n -5 ■n — -, •n o -t r. too CO .^ 00 — • -:^ 00 o '>( CJ 00 -0 :/-i ■«f CTl ■* O >0 f^ ■O '0 ,^ — . O d T. -/I -/3 ^ '„•" ■o •o "?1 Vl 1^ V-. -o » 00 X ■r: 00 CT! X: -XKXl CO CO 33 «r- XJ » » 00 X) 00 CO 00 CO JO CO 00 CO X XJ X 73 ou CO X) CO 00 00 ■* __ --'r)3-*t^oco«30-'*o>co«oo'*N.— >noo»-<'o^c^ 00 'O CO CO CO Ol >* 3> 'O O -O r-i lO OJ l'^ CO 00 CO o» ■* Ol «o O (C C-J rf OC5C1J0 C0r^l^l^'^0^'0->:t"rt "OCOC^CN— •—•-< :0<0 X CO 3D I- i-~ l^ t^ 1^ I'- t^ 1 - • - '^ ' - "^ IN. t^ t^ N. r^ t^ r-^ jv, .^ O coco iD0000X00COO00000C0 00COX)O00O0OCO000OC0»X0O I) Tfii^-toaioioco— "oco --. -O CCC^'OqjCM^OCOO -4. - O 00 r^ b b, C^J 00 CO K3 ^ a» 'a' O "O O 'C -- CO K «3 -O O O -O >£) '£ O <0 « O O O O -O '^3 'O '-^ O 3 6ocOcodoMXooooooooooooocoooocococo»x CO 00 00 CO 00 ^_rfCS>>000OC^-*00'-H-Htv.OlM'0C0i--C0'0';Cx5>— Ol^ 3 CO o in o -o ^ S -H jv. ' ' 1-^ CO CO ' o CO -^ :7. ■* 5; rr- 2' '-^ " ^ ^ i-i ^ M 00 N. b- to o 'o »n ■* ■<< CO ro . — - O o C cr. N. m; u? S ?5 !o "o ■> 'o ^ lo 'o >o 'O «•: 'O lo i-o >o 'o o 'o ^ _* ■* -* OTOTMOOcScOOOCOCOCOOOCOCOOOCOCOOOXMOJOOCOXOOCO 1^ l\r rJ O^ ^ 5> "O O 'C O >0 'H 'X: / I-, CM !>. CO X CO X 'S- CMO o Sr3SCTiaiooxooN.i-~'-o'oio-*Ti»(N'-'—ioxnXr-lC0Ti<00iH CO S ^- CI X ro X CO X <* 01 ^ 0-. 'O O lO O --O — tC Ol Is. CM In. CO 'O 1^ O O Ol ?i X X I- 1-- to <0 'O 'O »0 -* T CO CO O C^ •-' — X ^ N. Ol •- ro ■* to CTl O 'J' l^ Cl 'O- 'O b. O O >* b. cr. ^ CO O O 5^r^XCOOOCOXrfO^-*0'0 lOr-tO — tO-^N-C^XCO S r^ cT -, X X N. tvl '^ to io "O lO •* '^ CO CO CJ c>» -H --. O O b- "O To K r J r^ S ci 05 ?j ci c5 -) O C> 'N (>» C) CJ cN C^ £> __ ^ « coxxxxxxxxxroxMxx xxxxx xoqxxoo t-^in^i— «OCO'*»OtDN.XOO'-'C">cO'4''OtOls-XC7>0'00 §^»c^ioio^'n»ofo5>lotoitriolic salts, that abound in tliose parts, becomes congealed and fixed. However, as good amber is found by digging a great distance from the sea, it is piobable that it is a bitumen of the naphtha or petroleum kind, hardened into its present state by a vitriolic acid, or oil of vitriol. The natural colour of amber is a fine pale yellow, but it is often made white, and sometimes black ; in botli cases, it is rendered opaque, by the admixture of ex- traneous bodies. The most frequent va- riation, however, from the yellow, is into a dusky brown. Sometimes it is tinged with metalline particles, and remains pel- lucid. The salt, oil, and tincture of Amber, have been variously applied in medicine ; but its mechanical use for toys, beads, ca- binets, and utensils, and the better soi"ts of varnishes, ai'e of more importance. See Varnish. This substance is principally to be met with on the sea coasts of Prussia The river Giaretta in Sicily, formerly called Simetus, which takes its rise on the north side of Mount Etna, throws up near its mouth, great quantities of fine amber, some of which is more electric, and emits a stronger smell, than what is received from the Baltic. Some pieces of this amber contain flies and other insects, curiously preserved. It is generally supposed to issue from the earth in a liquid state, at which time the insects that alight upon it, are caught, and by their struggle to get loose, soon work themselves into its substance ; which hardening round them, they are for ever preserved in the greatest perfection. AMBER-GREASE, Amber-Grise, or Grey Amber, i< ii solid, opaque, gene- rally ash coloured, fatty, inflammable substance, variegated like "marble, re- markably light, rugged and uneven in its surface, and has a fragrant odour when heated. It does not effervesce with acids, melts freely over the fire into a kind of yellow rosin, and is hardly soluble in spi- rits of wine. It is found on the sea coasts, or swim- ming on the sea, or in the abdomen of whales, in various shapes and sizes, weiphing from half an ounce to upwards of one hundred pounds. The ambergTease found in the abdomen of the whale, is not so hard or fragrant as that, wiiich is found on the sea coast, but soon grows hard m the air, and acquires tb.at particular odour, so agreeable to most people. It is known, tJiat the cuttle fish is the constant food of the sjjcrmaceti whale ; hence it is easy to account for the many beaks, or pieces of beaks, found in all anibergrease. Dr. Swediaur therefore defines anibergrease, to be the preterna- tui'ally hardened dung or faeces of the spermaceti whale, mixed with some in- digestible relics of its food. The colours of ambergrease vary ; there is, first, the white ambergrease, which is scarce and of little value ; as it seems, eitlier not to be ripe, or mixed with some heterogeneous matter ; then, the asli coloured or true ambergrease ; afterwards the black ambergrease, which is inferior to the preceding soi't, and frequently adulterated ; lastly, the brown amber- grease, which has a particular, unpleasant smell. It looks mostly sleek or smooth, as if covered with a skin. Ambergi'euse ought to be chosen in large pieces, of an agreeable odour, en- tii'eh' grey on the outside, and grey with Utile black spots wiiliin. The purchaser should be extremely cautious, as this arti- cle is easily counterfeited with gums and other drugs. Ambergrease is chiefly found in tlie Atlantic Ocean, on the sea coast of Brasil, ofi"the East Indies, Cliina, Japan, and tlie Molucca and West India Islands. The use of ambergrease is now nearly confined to perfumer}' ; it was formerly recommended in medicine by eminent physicians. In .Asia and part of Africa i", is also used as a spice in cookerv. AM.MO.VIA. See Alkalies. AMPELJTfiS, (cannel or candle coal, • a hard, opaque, fossil, inflammable sub- stance, of a black colour. Though much inferior to jet, it is a very beautiful foisilc, and for a body of so compact a structure, remarkably fight. ■I'hevo is a large quar- ry of it near Alencon in France; it is also dug in many parts of England, of which the finest is in Lancasiiire and Cheshire. It makes a very bii>:li fii-e, flaming violently for a short time, and after that continuing red and .'"lov.lne- hcH fov a long while. ]: ANI ANI 1 rapnlilc of a very high and elegant po lish, and in the countries \\ here it is pro duccd, it is turned into u vast number of toys. It is likewise used for dyeing' the hair black. An alum ore found in Burgundy, and consisting of clay, ))y rites, and bitu- men, is also distiiiguibhed by this name. See Coals. ANIMALS, DOMESTIC, Under this head we shall treat only of such animals as contribute, in an eniineut degree, to supply the necessaries and conveniences of man ; as the horse, sheep. See. nor do Me deem a very detailed account of these important, since their use and value are so generally know n. Of Horses. — Of all the .inimals in the brute creation, the horse doubtless claims pre-eminence, whether we consider him beautiful in form, swifi in motion, or bene- ricial to the ease and comfort of mankind. It is not an easy matter to say to wliat rountry horses originally belonged; or, if We take into considei-ation their extensive utility, where they are produced in the greatest perfection. Climate produces an astonishing effect on thesiz,e, strength, and elegance of this animal; yet food and attention to keeping and breeders, causes still greater. The horses of Canada are small and ill shaped, though strong and hardy; those of Penn- sylvania, if we except strengtli, are, in ge- neral, the reverse; while those of Virgi- 2iia and the Carolinas, are on a medium ; though recently, by attending to breed, they have produced some that may vie, in point of beauty and swiftness, with all tlic rest of the world. But notwithstanding this great diiTcrence, there are, indisputa- bly, good hoi'ses in every breed; and the chief object of the farmer is to select such as are best qualified for the uses to •which they are to be appropriated. Foi the plough, both strength and agihty are required ; a dash or mixture of blood, tlierefore, is not disadvanla- geou.s. It is not size that confers strength, the largest horse bi nig often soonest worn out. A clever step, an easy movement, and a good temper, are qualities of the first im- portance to a working iiorse ; and tlie pos- session of these is of more avail than big bones, long legs, and a hunpy carcase. To feed well is also a property of great \;due; and this property, as all judges know, depends much on the shape of the barrel, deepness of chest, strengtli of back, and size of the hips or hooks with v.'liicli the animal is ftirnished. If straight in the back, and not over-short, — high in the ribs, axid withhook"^ flo.sc and round, — the animal is generally hardy, capable of undergohig a great deal of fatigue, with- out lessening his appetite, or impairing liis working powers ; whereas horses that are shaip pointed, flat ribbed, hollow backed, and wide set in the hooks, are usually bad feeders, and soon done up when put to hard work: Hence it is mat- ter of serious consideration, to breed only from the hardy and well proportioned tribes, these being supported at the least e.Npense, and capable of undergoing, with- out injuiy, a degree of labour which would disable those of a diilerent consti- tution. Tlie female brings forth one colt after a gestation of eleven months : none of the parent creatures should be under foiu* years of age. Castration is commonly performed when the colt is twelve or eigh- teen months old ; but the best practice is to delay that operation till the animal at- tains the age of two years, for they will then retain a greater degree of strength and spirit. If properly kept, they wiU live to the age of forty years ; but mares do not breed after eighteen, and studs, or stallions, are useless at the age of twenty, so that they are fit only for the harness. Potatoes, carrots, fui'7,e, cabbage, EiC. have been successfully tried as substitutes for oats, and the more expensive method of corn feeding. When, however, grain is used, tlie most economical way will be to boil and give it, with the liquor in a cool state, to the animal, by wliich simple means one halt may be saved. Broken winded horses, when fed on carrots, soon recover. A considerable reduction may also be made by cutting the hay into a kind of cliafl', and mixing it with straw, or broken ears of corn, whicii arise in dressing grain ; and also by soiling horses, as observed under the ailicle Agriculture. The management of horses, after hav- ing performed the labour of the day, is a matter of equal moment witli their feed- ing; and as considerable expense has in- judiciously been incurred by erecting ele- gant stables, we propose the following practice to the eonsideratirn of the rural economist. It coiibists sinipiy in forming a small yard, proviiled with a shed that is open in "front, and furnished with racks, as well as with a pump and cistern. A su- persU'ucture of this kind, if well littered, is in every respect jjieferable to a stable, and will preserve horses in better health, without rec[uiring any other covering or dressing tlian is usually given when othei'- wise stabled. See Farriekv. Of the Ass. — The ass by naturalists is i-anivcd as a species of the horse, and bv ANI ANI same, lirom his very ^eat similitude in habits, while in a state of nature, and re- semblance of external and internal parts, thought to be only a degeneracy of that noble animal. As, however, bis history is foreign to the design of our work, we leave it for the investigation of the naturalist. This animal in his natural state is swift, formidable, bold, and fierce ; but the mo- ment he has lost his freedom, his disposi- tion and habits are totally changed, and he becomes remarkable for meekness, pa- tience, and tranquillity. He submits with firmness to chastisement, is temperate in his food, contenting himself with the re- fuse of other animals, but is extremely delicate in the choice of his drink, prefer- ing the inconvenience of thirst to impure •water. This animal is esteemed for his attachment; and, though treated with harshness and cruelty, is fond of his mas- ter, will trace him out by scent, and readi- ly distinguishes him from other persons. Of all animals tlie ass perhaps is capa- ble of supporting the heaviest burthen in proportion to his size ; and, on account of his slow and regular pace, is particularly usefiil in journe\"ing over mountainous countries. He is regarded of little value in the United States, except in studs wltli the horse, which produces the mule, a mongi-el animal, partaking both of the na- ture of a horse and an ass. Of mules.— The mule is a \evx hardy animal, and will undergo changes in cli- mate withotit being either unfitted for labour, or constitutionally injured. On this account he is preferred in warm countries for the purposes eitlier of draught or carriage, and in cold, though not so much used, he deserves to be more generally propagated, on account of his disposition, and stability, as also tlie lit- tle expence of keeping, his habits being very similar to those of the ass. These animals some times attain the height of 15 or 16 hands, earn.- heavy burthens, .ire sure footed and attain to a very great age. Mares selected for tiie stud should be young, of a Hvely tiu-n, small limbed, and with a head of moderate size ; these witli proper attention, will drop folds, which it will benecessaiy to house, in or- der to render them ti'actable, by being frequently handled. "When three ycai*s old, they may be broken in ; but it will not be adviseable to work them to any consi- derable extent, till they have attained the fourth }ear of their age. After which 4.ime, tiicy will, if properly treated, conti- nue in full vigour till they are past oO, and sometimes 40 years. It should however be remarked, that wheat and ne stxjiw, disagree with their natm-e, and incapaci- tate diem for hard labour. For the treat- ment of diseases incident to the Horse, Ass and Mide, see the article Farriery. On v\, entitled Real Improve- ments in .flgricultitre, &c. in which it is amply discussed ; and an accotnu is given of the steps that have been taken to ascertain the cavise, and seat of the rickets in sheep. Ifi.GALL in Sheep, denotes a disorder. with which tliese animals are affected during the winter, and which is probably occasioned by severe frosts. Although we have met with no remedy for the cure of this complaint, yet for its prevention, the following useful fact de- serves to be recorded. Mr. Ellman, of Shoreham, Sussex, has observed, that by giving his sheep some hay in mornings of hoar-frosts, it preserves them from the sail. 17. Flux, a disorder to which sheep are subject, when those animals, after having been kept on too short an allowance, sud- denly come to their full feed. It is also sometimes occasioned by their eating the Fetid Chamomile, or May-weed. This disease, however, is not attended with any dangerous consequences, and generally disappears in the course of a few days, es- pecially in dry weather. But, if it conti- nue longer than a week, some sweet and well dried hay should be given them, and a decoction of clover-flowers, with the ad- dition of a little barley -meal ; and neither allowing them any salt, nor to feed upon saline plants near the coast, during their convalescent state. 18. The Sheep fogg, is an insect well known to shephei ds. Its beak consisting of two valves, is cylindrical, obtuse, and pendent, and the feet have several claws. These depredators live among the wool : they materially prevent sheep from thriv- ing, in consequence of the severity with wiiich they bite, and the blood they ex- tract from the tortured animals ; but, on account of the hard shell, or cover sur- rounding them, they are with difficulty destroyed — The remedy suggested by Sir Joseph Banks for curing the rot (which see) may also be safely applied to the ex- termination of the Skeep-fagg ; as thus the quality of the wool will not be in the least unpaired. 19. Obstructions in the lacteal ducts of the udders of eives, after the lambs are yeaned. The whole udder is covered with hard tumors or knobs, which, in a short time become inflamed ; and if the parts affected be not speedily relieved, a mortification will take place in the course of 2'i hours ; and the animal must conse- quently perish. As soon, therefore, as the tumors appear, it will be pi'opei- to clip of! the wool closely to the skin, and to open the principal milk vessels with a razor, or similar shaip instrviment ; the morbid matter should then be expressed, and a little fi-esh butter applied to the wotind Tlie ewv, thus aflt-cted, must be separated from the flock ; and, though perhaps U)suig the use of one teat, sh^ may be suflered to suckle her lamb; but. ANI ANI if both teats be diseased, the latter must be reared by hand, and the dam fattened for sale. Mr. Livingston, in the Transactions of the Agricultural Society, New-York, ob- serves that the legs of sheep are fui-nish- ed with a duct, terminating in tlie fissure of the hoof; from which, when the ani- mal is in health, there is secreted a white fluid, but when sickly, these ducts are stopped by the hardening of the fluid. He has in some instances found, that the sheep were relieved, merely by pressing out the hardened matter with the finger, from the orifice of the duct in each foot, and thinks that it may in some cases, be proper to place their feet in wann water, or to use a probe or hard brush, for cleansing this passage- Sheep are farther liable to be bitten, torn, or uorried, fi-om the carelessness, or impatience of the shepherd ; or, from his dogs not being sufficiently broken, as well as from the dogs of other persons ; in consequence of which, the wool is of- ten injured, and its value greatly re- duced. Such accidents, however, may be prevented by proper care and at- tention. Lastly, to preserve the health of sheep, it will be advisable that ever)' farmer, or breeder, daily inspect his flock, and take particular care, that their tails be kept perfectly clean -. nor should they be fold ed two successive nights on the same spot; being more tender and obnoxious to disease than other quadrupeds. Xo animal is more useful than the sheep, which supplies man with food and clothing, while it furnishes numerous poor famiUes with constant employment, in the various branches of the woollen manufacture. Its milk is very nutritious ~ and its flesh is a grateful and wholesome food ; farther, the pi-incipal parts of the skin are advantageously converted into parchment; and the clippings, or shreds, are boiled into glue; a substance which is indispensable to carpenters, joiners, and cabinet-makers. The homs are form- ed into buttons, and various other arti- cles of conveniency: the trotters afford, on expression, an oil which is usefully employed in several branches of the arts ; and, when boiled, or baked, they furnish a nourishing repast. LasUy, their dung is a valuable manure ; and even their bones, when reduced to ashes, constitute a principle ingredient in the compositions for artificial stones, for ornamental chim- ney-pieces, cornices, &c. On account of these numerous useful purposes, the sheep has desenedly be- come an object of national consideration : It will, therefore, not be uninteresting to i^ive a concise view of tlie different breeds, at present existing in Britain, and which IS selected from Mr. CuUev's practical Observations on Live Stoci, 8vo. 2d edi- tion, Robinsons, 1795. 1 Dishley 2 Lincolnshire 3 Tees- Water i 4 Dartmore NattsJ 5 Kxamoor 6 Dorsetshire 7 Herefordshire 8 South-Down 9 Norfolk 10 Heath 1 1 Hardwick 12 Chevoit >• long wool ditto fine short wool very fine short wool ditto fine short wool coarse long wool short wool fine short wool Average weight of fleece Years old when kiUed. per lb. 8 n 11 3 9 2 9 6 H 2 24 2 2 H 2 41 4| ir» 4i ANI ANI AVERAGE PRICES OF NATIVE BRITISH WOOL. LONG WOOL. Lincoln Leicester *20s. per tod of 28 lb. 21s, 6rf. ditto, 84 Norfolk South -Down Hereford, trinded SHOUT WOOL. 48s. 6cl. per tod of 28 lb. Is. lOd. per lb. 2s. 5d. To these different breeds must be add- ed, 1. The improved Gloucester, or the Costwold Sheep, enlarged Ijy the old Lei- cester Cross ; producing full-sized and well-flavoured mutton : and, 2. The Staf- fordshire Cannock-heath sheep, which resembles those of the South Down. Uoth these breeds are said to be susceptible of great improvement by crossing, and have been highly recommended to the atten- tion of breeders. Beside the native kinds, or varieties, of this valuable animal, we cannot in this place omit to mention the Spanish or ma- rino sheep Numerous experiments were instituted, under the immediate superin- tendance of LordSomerville,andthe Board of^lgriculture ; which have been attended with tiie most desirable success. Kay, tlial patriotic nobleman lately performed a journey into Spain, with the sole design of collecting a number of the finest Span- ish sheep : and thence imported tijielve rams. '1 he following directions will be found useful, by those who are inclined to im- prove the breed of sheep chujly for wool. They are taken from Dr. Anderson, and other late practical writers. 1. Fineness of pile and softness of texture, are the peculiarities chiefly wanted 2. When two or more sheep are found in a flock, which are entirely equal in these respects, that one which has the fewest hairs through the fleece, ouglit to be preferred, for although these hairs may be separated, as the natives of Shet- land experience, by letting the wool rise entirely from the skin, without bemg shorn, yet in large flocks that practice woidd be very inconvenient. 3 If fineness of pile and ])urity arc equal, that sheep which has the closest pile, or thickest fleece, should be prefeiTed. 4. If fineness, purity, and closeness of pile, be equal, prefer that which has tlie greatest uniformity in the texture of the whole fleece. 5. All the above named particulars be- ing equal, the general shape and figure of the animal ought to influence the choice. A round compact body, a. full smd deep chest, straight back, straight firm legs, neither very long, nor too short ; and a strong hardy figure, upon the whole, with a lively mild looking eye ; are the parti- culars respecting shape, that should be preferred : but this circumstance should be a subordinate consideration to those already enumerated. 6. All otiier circumstances being equal, that sheep which is in the best condition at the time, if their pasture has been nearly equal, should be preferred. 7- If two sheep are equal in all the foregoing respects, that which is of tlie larger sixe, may be preferred. 8. Ewes should be chosen as nearly as can be found, of the same quality with the ram. It is only after the best breeds are once obtained pure, that experiments should be tried, to see what will be the eflect of crossing with others. 9. In every case, the colour ought to be particularly adverted to, and though there may be exceptions, it will be found, that a pure white breed, is upon the whole, best calculated for general use, as white wool admits of being dyed of all colovu's with greater facility tlian any other. If, however, any one incUne to try to improve a particular colour, it may be a very proper subject for experiment — But, in every case of this sort, the ram and ewes selected, ought to be e.xactly of the same kind, and should be carefully put apart by themselves, till such a quan- • Sterling currency. ANI ANI tity of this wool could be obtained, as might serve, to ascertain what were its peculiar qualities, and iLs intrinsic value. In no cases should any sheep be selected to breed from, that are spotted in any way, for this peculiarity can never be be- neficial to the rearer. Those who have not adverted to the effects produced by selecting proper breeds of sheep, for breeding from, but who have been accustomed to let theii" sheep run promiscuously, and breed toge- ther without any selection, can iiave no idea of tiie surprising effect that an atten- tion continued for a few years, would have, on improving the wool, the shape, and the general hardiness of then- whole flock ; and will therefore be inclined to look u7)on these directions as unnecessary refinements : — but the farmer may rely, that these observations are the result of experience, and not of specidative reason- ing ; and that, if any of them shall make trial of selecting a few sheep, and of seclu- ding them during the rutting season, from all others, they will themselves be astonish- ed at the effects, and they would be very agreeably surprised, to find, that they might be able to obtain from 6 to 12 cents per pound more, for their wool, than their neighbour who was not careful. It de- serves also to be mentioned as an import- ant and well substantiated fact, that the sheep which carry the finest wool, if care- fully selected, are in general equally hardy, and as easily fed, and cariy fleeces of equal weight, with other sheep, yielding the coarsest wool. A small size in sheep, is no way connect- ed with the quality of the wool : the finest wooUed Spanish or marino sheep, is a large well bodied hardy animal, and the Thibet sheep which carry the finest wool in the world is still of a larger size. Fine wool, therefore, may be obtained without dimin- ishing the size of the cai'case of the sheep in the smallest degree, and also without diminishing the weight of the fleece, or losing any other peculiarity that could render any particular breed desirable. This would, no doubt, require pains, and a careful selection of the best breeds, wherever they could be found, and an attentive and cautious procedure, but no one can easily imagine, how much can be done by attention in tliis respect. Mr Bakewell, the famous breeder at Dish- ley, Leicestershire, in England, began with a few good sheep ; and yet by a course of good management, brought" his sheep, to a degree of perfection hardlv^ credible by American farmers. Dr. An- derson continued his expei-iments but three years, and yet even in that time, he I had some wool that measured full half a yard in length, which was equally fine ' with the best Spanish wool, and much : softer to the touch. If such were the 1 effects of only three years attention, in a situation that did not admit of an accurate I seclusion of different breeds at the rutting I season, what might be expected from a i course of experiments conducted on a , more enlarged principle, in a place where I an entire seclusion of breeds could be I easily affected, continued for half a cen- tury ? No one can pretend to say to what perfection we might arrive- i Experiments made by various persons I have clearly proved, that the permanent I quaUties of any breed of sheep can only be affected by a change in the parent stock, and that of course, if a new good breed be introduced into the countiy, it will infallibly be debased by interniixing with the native breed, unless acare/j in the greatest repute — Tlu'ir fat is in equal esteem with the hair, and candles are made of it, which, in whiteness and quality are said to be superior to those of w ax ; their horns af' ford excellent handles for knives and forks ; and their skin is well calculated for g-loves, especially that of the kid, which is dressed abroad, made into stock ingri, Ijed-iicks, bed-hanging-s, sheets, and even shirts. The flesh of these animals, however, is hard, and almost indig-estible : lience the meat of kids only should be eaten, as it is more tender, and aftbrds good nour- ishment. Goat's-milk is sweet, nutritive, and medichial ; it is an excellent substi- tute for that of asses; and, when drank warm in the morning and evening, with a tea-spoonful of Iiarlshorn, for several weeks, it has been productive of benefit to phthisical patients, who were not too much reduced — Cheese j)]epared fi'om goat's milk is much valued in mountain- ous countries, after it has been kept to a proper age ; but possessing a peculiar flavour, it is to some persons very un- pleasant ; nor is it more easily digested than any other kind of caseous matter. Jlog A genus of animals consisting of six species, the most remarkable of which is Uie scrnfa, or cimimon hog. Its botly is covered with bristles, and it has two large teeth, both in the upper and lower jaw. In a wild state, this creature is of a dark brinded colour, and beneath the bristles is a short soft liair ; its ears are moi'e diminutive than those of tame hogs, whicii ai-e long, sharp-pointed, and hang down ; the colour of the latter is gene- rally white, though sometimes mixed with other shades. The hog is proverbially the most rude and brutal of quadrupeds : its habits are gross, and such is its glutton}-, t'lat it de- vours every thing indiscriminately. But, tiiough it be the most in\pure and filthy of animals, its sordidnt.ss is usefid, inas- mucii as it swallows with avidity, refuse and offal of every kind, so that matters which would become a nuisance, arc con- verted into the richest nutriment Sows generally breed at tiie age of 18 months, or two years, and bring from five to ten or more pigs, twice or often- er in the year, alter a gestation of four months. As hogs, from their voracious nature, \n\\ eat almost every thing, they are very generally reared in all situations, being quickly and cheaply fattened. In miry and marshy grounds, where they dchght to wallow, they devour frogs, fern, the roots of rushes, sedge, &c. In the drier countries, they feed on hips, haws, sloes, crabs, beech -mast, chesnuts, aconis, &c. on the last of which they thrive exceed- ingly. Of late years, the management of these animals has become an object of at- tention. Clover, potatoes, turnips, cab- bages, and carrots, are, it is well known, articles with which they may be fed, and even fattened, at a small expence. Pars- nips are of considerable utiUty for this purpose, and probably the roots of the white beet, if it were fully tried, would be found still more useful ; for experi- ments have shewn, that it contains a con- siderable proportion of saccharine mat- ter, and may be cidtivated with very little difficulty, Cos-lettuces arc likewise emi- nently serviceable, especially for young pigs, which when fed on them, may be weaned a fortnight earlier than is usual: Pease also aiford an excellent food for fattening, and if duly mixed with salt, will render the animals fit for sale at the end of five weeks. In the vicinity of London, vast numbers of hogs are annually fattened with grains from the distilleries : such pork, how- ever, does not take the salt so readily as tl>e flesh of those pigs which have been fed witli more substantial food, and been dri\ en to the market from a considerable distance. Hogs may with great advantage be folded on wheat, where the soil is loose, light, and fiiable; for they will drop a considerable quantity of dung, and tread the looser parts of tiie land so closely to- getlicr, that it will not hove during sum- mer ; nor will the wheat be root fallen. I'ai'ticular care, however, ought to be taken, tliat these animals be wf// ringed ; an operation that ought to be performed as early as jiossible. The diseases to which hogs are sub- ject, are but i'cw : nor are they often troubled with them. The chief are, 1. The measles, said to be perceptible only in the throat, which, on opening the mouth, appears full of small tumors, that in some cases are visible externally. The remedy usually applied is the powder of crude antimony, in small portions, which generally removes the affection. 2. The fever, which is also called the heaving of the lights : it is cured by giving the dis- eased animal a mixture of oil and brim- stone : 3. the Mange, a disease afiiLCting dogs and swine, in a manner siuiilar to the itch in the human body ; and arising- from an insect that works its way beneath the uppermost skin ; where it causes so great an ii-ritation, that the animals rub ANI AN£ r scratch themselves, teai'ing off" the head of the pustule, which occasions a scab and, in a siiort time, an ulceration. Tiiis disorder, especially in dog^s, origi- nates from too high feeding, want of ex- ercise, and an opportunity of refreshing themselves with dog's grass ; from being starved at home, so that the animals are compelled to devour carrion, and excre- ments abroad ; from want of water, or neglect of cleanliness in their kennels. It is induced in swine, by suffering them to lie in their styes, without clearing away their ordure. As tiic malady is entirely situated in the skin, the cure may be effected in dogs, by giving them a small quantity of fine pulveri2,ed sulphur, either in milk, or incorporated with butter, and rubbing them daily, for the space of a week, witl> an ointment consisting of sulphur and liog's-lard; to which should be added a small portion of oil of turpentine. Another remedy is obtained we are told by boiling four oimces of quicksilver in two quarts of watei", till the quantity be reduced to one half: with this liquid the animals are to be washed regularly, and ought also to take a small draught of it e\'ery day, during the continuance of the eruption. With respect to the mange in hogs. Dr. Norford recommends the following oint- ment, which seldom fails to effect a per- fect cure, provided it be properly ap- plied, and the animals be kept clean, after the disease is removed — Take three ounces of hog's-lard, one ounce of fine flower of suipluu", two drams of white hellebore, newly pulverized, and half an ounce of the water of kali, prepared in the shops. These ingredients are to be thoroughly incorporated, so as to form an unguent ; the whole of wliich is di- rected to be rubbed on the animal at one time, and is said to be sufficient for a hog of six or seven stone : if the ointment be properly applied, there will be no occa- sion for any repetition — Should, however, a slight cough affect these quadrupeds, after the cure is performed, it will be ne- cessary to give each, according to its size, from half an ounce, to an ounce and a half, or even two ounces of crude an- timony, properly levigated and mixed with some of his daily food, for the space of ten days or a fortnight, by which sim- ple remedy, the hogs will be effectually restored. When these animals have been long ne- glected, their necks, and various other parts of the body become affected with loathsome chaps or cracks. In this case, the best remedy is, to anoint the ulcerat- ed parts every three or four days, till tliey are healed, with a little tar-oint- ment, prepared by mixing equal pai-ts of tar and mutton suet over a gentle fire, and sti'aining the mixture while hot. But the most ccrtaui preventive of the mange, and its subsequent disagreeable effects, is the strictest attention to the health and cleanliness of the animals. For this pur- pose, every part both of the kennel and of the stye ought to be thoroughly swept, before they are littered with fresh straw ; nor siiould a clean bed be spread over a foul or dirty one, as is too frequently the case with careless and negligent servants ; who, regardless of their master's interest, thus eventually cause the destruction of many valuable dogs and swine. 4. JHur- rain or leprosy, a contagious disease in- cident to cattle and swine ; it is known by the animals hanging down their heads, which are swollen ; by short and liot breathing ; palpitation of the heart ; stag- gering ; an abundant secretion of viscid matter in the eyes ; rattling in the throat ; and a shining tongue. In the 36tli vol. of the Annals of^gricul. ture, the following recipe is inserted for the murrain in hogs : A handful of nettles is to be previou.sly boiled in a gallon of small-be«-, when half a pound of flour of sulphur, a quarter of a pound of elecam- pane, three ounces of liquorice, and a quarter of a pound of aniseeds, are to be added in a pulverized state. This pre- paration should be administered in milk, and the quantity here stated, is said to be sufficient for six doses. Hogs are very valuable quadrupeds, and theu" flesh furnishes at all times an agreeable meat. (See Bacon and Ham.) In a fre^ih state, it is called pork, and af- fords a wholesome and noia-ishing food to a sound stomach, when eaten in mo- deration, with sub-acid vegetables or sauces. Their lard, or fat, is applicable to various purposes, both culinary and medicinal. Tiie blood, intestines, feet, and tongue, are all used in the kitchen ; though the first is indigestible. The fat of the bowels and web, which differs from common lard, is pi-eferably employ- ed for greasing the axles of wheels. The bristles are made into brushes, pencils, &c. tlie skins into sieves ; yet the latter might be more advantageously tanned, and converted into shoes, as is the prac- tice in China, where all the shoes sold to the Europeans at Canton, are made of hogs'-leather, the hair being previously burnt off" with a red-hot iron. The dung of swine is reputed to be next in value to that of sheep, and is par- ticularly useful in destroying that pernici- ous weed, the commau coltsfoot. ANl ANI As ho.E^s are animals of extensive utili- ty, we trust it will not be uninteresting: to point out those remarkable breeds wliicli amply repay the expence of fattening- them. 1. The Bertshire hog- is spotted red and brown, attains a larg-e size, lias small ears, short legs, and very broad sides. They are highly valued; but, as they grow uncommonly large, no person shoidd attempt to keep them, unless he be pro- vided v.ith a sufficient stock of food ; as otherwise they will dwindle away, be- come diseased, and yield less profit than a smaller kind- 2. The Shropshire swine g-row to a large size : they are generally white, have short legs, and long- ears, which hang down upon their cheeks. This is a fine breed, much prized and bears a close i-e- semblance to o. The J^ortbatripton hogs, which are %vliite, have very short leg's, and attain an extraordinary size, especially those reared at Naseby. They are chiefly dis- tinguished by their ears, which are of an enormous si2.e, much larger than those of the preceding- breed, and sweep along the ground, so as almost to blind them. 4. The Chinese breed (which is one of the most profitable kinds of hogs intro- duced into this covmtrj) is very hardy : will live on less food than any of the ani- mals already mentioned ; and seldom ap- pears lean, 'ihey are mostly white, at- tain to a large siz.e, and \^ ill fatten ivell on food that would barely keep other liogs. — To these may be added the Suffolk breed, which, in the estimation of some persons, is the best; and the Leicester, which is much fatter than that of Suf- folk, but is said to produce very feiu pigs. 5. The Large Spotted iloourn Breed, introduced by the late duke of Bedford — from the experience of the carl of P-gre- mont, and other able breeders, it clearly appears, that these animals are superior to the Suffolk breed ; tlie former being not only more hardy, but also more pro- lific, and attaining double tlie size, in the same period of time. 6. The Jiudgeiuick Hogs, are thus de- nominated fioni a village on the borders of Surray and Sussex: this race of ani- mals is remarkable for the astonishing weiglit they atfiin, in the course of two years, which exceeds that of other swine iit a similar age, in the proportion of at least two, and often three, to one. Hence, tliey deserve to be more generally rear- ed, and their number ought to be in- creased, because they repay the cxj)encc of their keeping more speedily than any other breed. As many frauds are practised at mar- kets and fairs, on the unsus|>ecting far- mer or cottager, in the act of buying or selling hogs, we shall briefly communi- cate a few hints, that may furnish some rules for guarding against imposition. In purchasing lean hogs, the most cer- tain method is to judge by weight, if, therefore, a farmer were to weigh a few lean pigs which were about the size of those he intends to purchase, he would obtain some standard on which to pro- ceed, and will consequently be able to bid a fair price in the market. With respect to fat hogs, it has been proved from repeated experiments, that every 201bs. live weight will yield, when killed, from 12 to 14 nett weight. In those which do not exceed 12 stone Cl41bs. to the stone,) the weight will be, 121b ; but, in larger animals, it will in ge- neral amount to about 141b. If, there- fore, a farmer weigR them alive^ he will not only know the clear profitable weight when killed, and consequently its value, but he will also, by weighing the animal every week, be able to ascertain the pro- ])er time to slaughter, or dispose of it to the best advantage ; for, when the hog ceases to acquire that daily increase which renders it profitable, the best course that can be followed is, to kill him |inmiediately. ]\fr. Billingsley prefers large hogs to 'small, for profit : and observes, that small '■ growing pigs ate nearly as much food as ; the large full-grown hogs, and yet they did not ajjpear propoi'tionably to improve either in size or fat ; that advantage was j derived from mixing up a quantity of j meal a week or two befijre it was used ; • thatno kind pay more for food than splay- ed sows ; they fatten quicker and on less i food. i In April 1769, a hog was killed atWil- ; hamsburg, Virginia, which weighed 1050 lbs. after the blood, bowels, and hair had been taken from him. It is supposed he j weighed ujnvards of 12001bs. when alive. In March 1787, another hog was kil- I led .at New Port, Rhode Island, which weighed, when gutted and dressed 834 lbs. The length of the animal is said to have been nine feet, and height six feet. 1 'I'hc owners oi' these hogs were guilty I of a very unpatriotic act, in sacrificing animals which would have been so high- ly valuable for breed. In future it is lo ■ be hoped, a similar error will not be com- I milted. " A sow kept at IloUowmire, ncai* I'l ANI ANI ^pston, only four yesrs old last Septem- ber, has farrowed 229 pigs, which is on an average of 57 per year ; and except at the first time, always brought up tliir- teen. Within 19 weeks and three days she has farrowed twice. The animal went to the male the next day after the pigs were taken away, which was done when they were three weeks old. Parsnips ai-e said to be liighly fatten- ing for hogs, and to give a fine flavour to the meat. This vegetable abounds with sugar, and therefore must be nourish- ing ; but it is probable that Indian Corn would be required to harden the flesh be- fore killing. The economy of feeding with boiled food has been mentioned ; though no di- rect experiment v/as adduced to support tlie opinion, yet the following compara- tive experiment settles the point. Mr. Timothy Kirk of York Town, Penn. fed one pig with boiled potatoes and Indian corn, and anotlier with the same articles imboiled. The two animals we-re weigh- ed everj' week, and the difference be- tween tliem was as 6 to g. The experi- ment was contmued several weeks, and the animals alternately fed upon boiled and unboi'ed food, with an uniformity of result, which sufficiently proved the very great profit arising from boiled footl. The little care required to raise the hog, I'enders it of very great importance in almost every part of tlie world. In Virginia and the Carolinas, the hog runs at large in the extensive forests of tliose countiies, feeding on grass, roots, and nuts, till they ai'e in a suitable condition for market, when they are decoyed into traps or pens, and often their fat has been hardened by more substantial food ; tliey afford the neighbouring states an abundant supply of bacou and smoaked gammon, which from the peculiarity of its nourishment and preservation, is pos- sessed of a flavour unequalled in richness and delicacy by any in the world. In the maritime parts of the United States, vast quantities of its flesh are preserved, and exported to variotis parts of Eui'ope and the West Indies, thus aflFording » very important article in commerce. hog. A genus of animals supposed to be orig-inally natives of China, and consisting of more than thirty species, of winch tliat most generally known is the familiaris, or domestic dog : this again produces se- veral varieties. Dogs are remarkable for dieir great docility, fidelity, and affection for their master. These viseful creatures guard our houses, gardens, and cattle, with spi- rit and vigilance. By their assistance we are enabled to take both beasts and birds, and also to pursue game through the wa- ters as well as over land ; nay, the Norwe- gians render them also useful in fish- ing. The dog is an animal of quick motion, and remarkable for travelling long jour- nies. He easily follovvs his master, whe-- tlier on foot or on horse-back, for a whole day ; and, wnen fatigued, does not sweat, but lolls out his tongue. It is peculiar to dogs, before they lie down, to run about in a circular direction, with a view to disco- ver the most proper situation for rest. They sleep Uttle, frequendy starting, and seem to hear witli more acuteness, than while awake. Dogs possess tlie sense of smelling in a very high degree. They can trace their master by the smell of his feet in a church, or in the streets of a populous city. In a savage state they are of a fiei'ce, cruel, and voracious disposition; but when civi- hzed, and accustomed to live in the socie- ty of men, they acquu'e every endearing quality. Gentle, obedient, submissive, and faithful, they appear to have no other desire than to serve and protect their master. These qualifications, added to theu- very great sagacity, justly claim the esteem of mankind. Accordingly, no ani- mal is so much caressed or respected : in s!iort, dogs are so tractable and so much disposed to please, that they assume the very air and temper of the family to whichi they belong. Proper management of Dogs. — As these are, at all times, very valuable animals, it is matter of some importance to take care of their health. Tliis depends much on their diet and lodging: the frequent clean- ing of their kennels, and giving them fresh straw for their couch, are highly necessa- ry ; or, during the summer, deal shavings may be substituted for straw, as the for- mer will prevent the breeding of fleas. If they be rubbed with chalk, and brushed and combed once or twice a week, tliey will thrive much better ; the chalk will clear their skin from all greashiess, and they will be less Uable to the disorder called the mange. Dogs are of a very hot nature ; hence they should always be provided with cleaii water, that they may drink when thirsty. Witli respect to food, carrion is by no means proper for them, as it must hurt their sense of smelling. In which their ex- cellence in a great measure consists. Barley-meal, the dross or grossest part of v.'lieaten flour, or' both mixed together, with brotli or skimmed milk, affijrd very wholesome nourishment. Oil account of the sanguine constitution of these animals. AKI AM the ^atest relief to them in summer is Couch-grass, or Dog's-grass, to which •we refer. Those who keep a complete kennel of clogs, should purposely culti- vate this plant, in a place into which they may be turned every morning : here they will eagerly eat it, to relieve tlie disorder to which they are subject, and thus to cure the uncommon heat of their blood. These animals are liable to various diseases ; of which we shall mention only the following : 1. Jiites and stings. If dogs are bitten by any venomous reptiles, such as snakes, vipers, &c. the blood shoidd be squeezed out, and the part washed with salt and urine : a plaster composed of calamine, pounded in a mortar, and mixed with tur- pentine and yellow wax, till it acquire the consistence of a salve, should then be ap- plied to the wound. A drauglit, consist- ing of an ounce of treacle dissolved in wine, if given to the animal affected, will greatly contribute to its recovery. 2. Mange. See this disease in the pre- ceding article, Siuine. 3. Poison. If there be reason to sus- pect that a dog is poisoned with mix 'vo- mica, (which is often employed for that purpose by warreners, and causes convul- sive fits,) the most qilectual remedy is to make- him swallow,' without loss of time, a considerable quantity of common salt, dissolved in the smallest proportion of wa- ter: this simple remedy may be adminis- tered by opening his mouth, and placing a stick across, to prevent him from shutting it, while his throat is filled with the solu- tion. Thus, by holding his mouth up- wards, a sufficient dose mitj be introduc- ed, both to purge and vomit him. As soon as the stomach is proiJcrly cleared by a free passage downward, some warm brotli should be frequently given to re- lieve his extreme faintness, which other- wise might prove fatal. 4. Worms, a disorder with which young dogs in pai'ticular are very frequentlij troubled. All bitter substances are so of- fensive and nauseous to worms, th.atthey arc oflcn voided in consequence of the ani- mals taking two or three common doses of aloes, in the course of a week. Should this remedy fail, an ounce of the powder of tin, mixed up with butter, may be given in three portions, which generally destroys the worms, togetiier with Ihcir seed. 5. Cough and Colds Dogs are very subject to a cough, attended with extra- ordinary paroxisms of clioaking, which is often the con.scquence of a cold. In this case, it will be necessary to bleed the ani- mal affected, in small quantities; but if the disorder proceed from what is called the distemper ij» dogs, and they appear to be very low in spirits, blood letting must not be attempted Meat-broUi, or milk- broth warmed, shoidd then be \hc princi- pal part of tlicif diet, and the following medicine administered : Take Hour of sulphvir, cold drawn linseed oil, and salt- petre, of each one ounce; let them be well mixed together, and dividcil into four doses ; one of which is to be taken every other day. Meanwhile, the creatui'e af- fected should be furnished with plenty of clean straw to lie upon, and likewise swallow, at least, one spoonful of honey evei-y day. 6. Tlie scab, or itch, tliough a rare dis- ease in dogs, is sometimes very obstinate : it may, however, be easily cured by an ointment made of hog's lard and sulphur, with which a part of the back of the ani- mal should be rubbed every day, and the application gradually extended, till the whole back from head to tail, and at length all the affected parts, have been anointed. Thus, the re([uisile portion of sulphur, which is a specific in those cases, will be introduced into the system, both by absorption, and the constant licking of the diseased creature. 7. Madness frequently happens in hot summers, or very cold winters ; and i» supposed to be occasioned chiefly by suf- fering this faithful animal to feed upon putrid meat, without supplying it with sufficient water; but more probably ori- ginates fi-oni a specific contagion, like the small pox, &c. Tliis virulent disorder does not in gene- ral, manifest itself for a considerable time after tlic bite, for, though in some in- stances it has commenced in seven or eigiit daj's after the accident, tlie patient often continued in health for twenty, thir- tj', or forty days, nay, sometimes for se^■e- ral mouths. If the wound be not jjrevent- ed, it will in most instances, be healed long before the symptoms of the disease appear. In oriler to ascertain whether a .dog is really infected with th;it distemper, ttic following particulars deserve attention. Several days previously to the invasion of the disorder, the animal becomes sullen and sliows equal iniiiirerence to his mas- tor, his food, and drink. His ears and tail droop ; instead of barking, he growls and snaps at every surrounding object, runs about irregularly, is no longer able to distinguish liis master from strangers, and lolls out his tongue, which is purih- cd, and of a livid hue. At length, he (Imps down suddenly, starts up again, bites whatever seems to obstruct his pas- s.ige, and in this condition he seldom sur- ANN ANO vives twenty -four, or, at the farthest, forty- eight hours. No danger is to be apprehended fi-om the s;diva of a dog' falling upon the skin; nor from the ba-eath being received into the lungs. The saliva of a dog must be applied to a broken sui'face to infect. The mere insertion of the tooth of a dis- eased dog, covered with saliva, into the flesh, is sufficient to produce the disease ; and the late Dr. Hutchinson relates a case in which it came on in consequence of a dog merely licking a sore on the leg. Another case is recorded in the J\Iedical Repository, of the disease being ro i. c ''. by a little dog licking a sore in the ear. hi botli cases the dogs discovered no symp- toms of madness at the time. (Mease.) The practice of worming dogs to pre- vent their being attacked by . madness is highly a])surd, because cjuite use- less ; and, when attacked, no specific I'e- medy has yet been discovered for the cure of this dreadful disorder. ANNEALING. When a substance melted or nearly in a state of fusion, is cooled very hastily, its textiue is so much altered, that, if a ductile metal, it loses much of its malleability, and cannot be ex- tended far under the hammer without cracking ; or, if a brittle metal, a glass, or vitrescent mi.vture, it is liable to fly to pie- ces by a very slight change of temperature or external injury. To avoid tliis the pro- cess of annealing is resorted to, which is nothing more than cooling the heated or melted substance as slowly and equally as possible, often in a separate furnace of the requisite heat, and sometimes called an aiviealing oven.. The utility of annealing is shewn very conspicuously in the manu- facture of Glass, tlie casting of Speculum ATetal, or the beating of Gold. The difference between unannealed, and annealed glass, is very remarkable. When a glass vessel that has not under- gone this process, is broken, it often flies into a small powder with a violence appa- rently disproportionate to the stroke which it received. In general, it is in greater danger of being broken from a very slight blow, than from a more consideralile one. Such a vessel will often resist the effects of a pistol bullet dropt into it, from the height of two or three feet, yet a grain of sand faUing into it, will break it into small ii-agments. This sometimes takes place immediately on dropping the sand into it, but the vessel will frequently remain ap- parently sound, for several minutes after ; when, without the least touch, it will sud- denly fly to pieces. If the glass be very thin, this effect does not take place ; and, VOL. I. I on the contrary, it seems to possess all tlie properties of such as are annealed. Glass is one of tliose bodies which in- crease in bulk, on passing fiom a fluid to a solid state. When it is allowed to crys- tallize regularly, the particles are so ar- ranged that it has a fibrous texture; but, when a mass of melted glass is suddenly exposed to a cold temperature, the sur- face ci-ystallizes, and forms a firm shell I'ound the interior fluid parts, by which they become sohd, and ai'e prevented from expanding. By the process of annealing, the glass is preserved for some time in a state ap- proaching to fluidity ; the heat increases the bulk of the crystallized part, and ren- ders it so soft, that the internal fibres have an opportunity of expanduig and forming a regular crystallization. A similar process is now used for ren- dering kettles, and other vessels of cast iron, less brittle ; which admits of the same explanation as that above stated. The greater number of metals diminish in bulk when they pass from a fluid to a so- lid state. Iron, on the contrary, expands. ANOTTA, Annotto or Arnoxto, is a' dry hard paste, brownish on the out- side and red within, brought from Ca)- enne and various otiier parts of Ame- rica, and much used in Europe in dye- ing- This article is procured from tlie seeds of a large ti'ee,.the Bixu Oiieana of Linnseus, lioucoyer, or ^Vaca-w tree, also called by the Caribs . Ichiote, Cochehue, or Bichet, and by the Brazilians, JJruai. They are thus prepared: the seecV when ripe are gathered, the husk taken oW, gently bruised and put into a trough to soak for about eight or ten days, being well stirred twice a day w^ith a wooden implement. They are then beaten with heavy mallets for a quarter of an hour, till they are thoroughly bruised, again moist- ened with water and passed through a sieve. When thus reduced to a kind of pulp, it is put into a wooden vat, and al- lowed to ferment or putrify for a week, during which time it gives out a very fe- tid smell, and moulds on the surface. Af- ter this tlie pulp is ag-ain beaten, and soaked with water twice successively. The seed is now nearly exhausted of its coloiuing matter, which has passed in- to the several waters with which it has been washed, and which are cai-efully re- served, strained through, sieves, and mix- ed in diflerent proportions. This water holding the colouring matter suspended, is then transferred Into iron boilers, and heated gradually, till a scum rises to the surface, which is successlveiy removed as ANT ANT it forms into another boiler. This scum is the annotta, and it is slowh- diied in tlic last boiler with perpetual stirring', till it is of so thick a consistence as not lo stick to the wetted finger. After this it is laid out on the floor to dry, and made up into cakes, (the negro who does tliis part of the business sme;iring his hands with palm oil) and finally wrapped up in p;dm leaves, and in two months lime it is tit for exportation. The Caribs make annotta in a much simpler manner. They lake the seeds wliL-n ripe, and rub ihem for a long time in their liaiids smeared with j)alm oil, till the fine red outer coat of the seed is rub- bed ofl' and slicks to the palm of the hand, which is the annotta, and imdergoes no otlier preparation than being moulded in- to large cakes and dried, Tliis is es- teemed ihe purest, as it has undergone no change by fermentation. Annotta readily dissolves in water, and more easily in alcohol. Its solutions liave a yellowish red, or orange cast, and are employed m the counti-ies where it grows for various purposes of colouring, for staining the skin, giving a coioiu-, and a pecidiar taste to ceitain articles of food, sometimes lo chocolate. In Europe it is used largely in dyeing-, particularly silks and wool, of difterent hues of red, orange, aurora, &c. In this case it is always pre- pared with an alkali, wiilch gives a cast of red. The colour is fugiiive, particularly in the sun's liglit, but it is not readilv washed out, ancl is a very powerful d\e, asniall (juantiiy giving a tinge to a verv large bodv of licpior. A peculiar use of annotta is in giving the high orange yellow to Chesiuie and Wiltshire cheese, so much in fashion at present, i'o employ it, the annotta is rubbed on a stone with a little wiiey, tili a sufficiently strong solution is made, which is mixed with the cheese-curd just before pressure. AXTI.MOW is a compact biittle me- tal, of a brilliant slightly bluish-white co- lour Antimony is found in occasional mix ture with the ores of lead, of copper, and of silver ; but the six following are the only species which aie allowed by minera- logists to rank as the proper ores of this metal. Sp. I. Native Antimony. The fresh-broken surface of which is of a pxu'e tinwhilt; colour, but by exposure to the air it acquires a slightly greyish or yellowish tinge. Antimony when native is by no means in a state of absolute purity, but always c.ontains u portion of arsenic, varying from two to fifteen per cent, hence it exhales an alliaceous odour when heated before the blow-|)ipc. Sp. II. Grey Sidphuret of Antimony. 'I his species is divided by the German mineralogists into four varieties, the com- pact, tolialed, radiated and plumose. Var. 1. Compact. This variety is rarer than any of the following. It is found mixed with other antimonialorcsat Braunsdorf, in Saxony; Goldkronach, in Uareith ; Majurka, in Hungary ; and in Auvergne : it is usually accompanied by c]uartz and spathose U"OQ ore Var. 2. Foliated. 'i his variety diftlsrs Irom the preceding in Being of a high steel-grey colour, and in presenting a fine grained fohated frac- ture. Var. 3. Radiated, (Striated, of Kir- w^an.) The recent fracture of this mineral is, like the preceding, of a light steel grey colour; its sui-face, however, presents a blackish grey colour, mixed with azure blue, golden yellow, and other iridescent tuns. It occurs in mamillated, glandular, and stalactitic masses, or disseminated, or crystallized. The primitive crystal- line form of sulphuretted antimony has not yet been ascertained ; it is, liov/ever, easily and very neatly divisible by sec- tions made parallel to the axes of iis prisms. When the stria: are very broad, tliey give almost a foliated appeiO'ance, and being very brilliant, such specimens have obtained the name of Sfiecular Anti- niony. j^ccording to the analysis of Bergman, it consists of 74 antimony and 26 sulijlutr, /;£•/■ cent. The Hungarian anti- mony also .contains a variable proportion of gold. This variety is the commonest of all the antimonial ores. It is procured in Hun- gary, at Felsobanya, and Kremnitz ; at ])j-avilza, in the Bannat; at Braunsdorf and lloclilitz, in Saxony ; at Lubillac, in Auvergne, and at Allemont, in Dauphine, in France; at I'ei'eta, in Tuscany; in Cornwall, in Knglandj also in Spain, Mex- ico, and Siberia. The most splendid iri- descent specimens come principally fi'om Hungary and Auvergne. A'ar. 4. Plumose. Its colour is steel-grey, passing into greyish black, lead or smoke-grey ; by exposure to I he air it tarnishes to an ir- descent blue or yellow. It has not yet been accurately analysed, but according to Bergman consists of antimony, ii'on, arse- nic, sulphur, and sometimes silver. The proportion of the last ingredient is very ^•al■iuble, never exceeding 4 per cent, it is ANT ANT ttierefore improperly ranked by some mi- neralogists among^lhe silver ores. It is upon the whole a mineral of rare occurrence, and is found chiefly at Frey- l)erg and Braunsdorf, in Saxony ; and at Stollbcrg-, in tlie Hartz ; also at Scliem- nitz, in Hungary. It is accompanied by quartz, calcareous spar, brown spai', ga- lena, martial pjTites, and blende. Sp. III. Red Antimony. The colour of this mineral is a cherry red, more or less deep, passing- on the surface into brown, i"eddish, or bjuisli. Its lustj'e is little shining, vitieous; itsiV.^tc- ture is fine and irreguhirly fibrous. It is opaque, brittle, almost friable Xo a( curate analysis has yet been made of this mineral : it was formerly supposed, on account of its colour, to contain arse- nic and sulphuretted antimony; accord- ing to Sage it is a native kermes, or hy- drosidphuret of antimony : thus much, however, is certain, that it occurs in tlie crevices and investing the surf.ice of the common gre\" sulphui-et of antimony, and appears to originate from this by the pro- cess of spont.aneous decomposition : the amorphous or massive variety is frequent- ly studded with octahedrons of native sulphur. It is found at Braunsdorf, in Saxony ; ZVIalazka and Kremnitz, in Hungary ; and Ailemontjin Uauphine. S]3. IV. White Antimony. Muriated A. of Kir wan.. The colour of this mineral varies from snow-white or yellowish white to greyish and ash-gre)-. The tabular crystals of tliis mineral, ac- cording to Klaproth, are composed of oxyd of antimony with muriatic acid. The needle-shaped variety from Dauphine, has been analysed by Vauquelin, and appears to contain 86 oxyd of antimony, 3 oxyd of iron and oxyd of anti- mony, 8 silex. 97 loss 100 White antimony is an extremely rare mineral. Sp.y. Antimoni.al Ochre. The colour of this substance is straw or lemon yellow, passing to yellowish grey. It has not yet been analysed, but is sup- posed by Karsten tg be an oxyd of anti- mony. It occurs in small quantities at Braunsdorf, in Saxony, and in Hungary, mixed with grey and red antimony. Sp. \T. Yellow antimony. The colour of this mineral is orange or wax-yellow, or yellowish white, often bC' coming dusky by exposure to the air. By Rasumousky it is considered as a phos- phat of antimony, whereas Boru supposed it to be a combination of the muriais of antimony and lead. The grey sulphuret of antimony is the only ore of this metal wiiich is foiuid in siiflicient quantity for the purposes of commerce, and it is fitted for market in the large way by simple fusion. For this purpost the ore being dressed and sepa- rated fiom the greater part of its stony gangue by hand, is placed in the bed of a reveiberatory furnace, and covered with charcoal powder ; being then brougiu to a low red heat, the sulphuret of antimony enters into fusion, while the earthy parts float on the surface, and ai"e taken off with a rake or ladle ; the fluid portion is then cast into the form of loaves or large cakes, and is fit for sale, forming the covt- monov crude antimony ofthe shops. The old method of obtaining crude antimony, and which is still practised in some ofthe French founderies, was by means of an apparatus consisting of a large crucible, the bottom of which was perforated, and inserted into the wide end of a conical tube, passing through the furnace, and terminating in an earthen pot or reservoir. The crucibU' was filled witli ore broken into small pieces, a cover was luted on, and by the application of a modeiate heat, tlie liquefied antimony dropped tlirough the tube into the reservoir below, while the stony parts were detained in the cru- cible. From the crude or sulphuretted anti- mony thus prepared, there are several me- thods of sep:u-ating tlie sulphur, and pro- curing the metal in a state of piu'ity ; the best, and which is tlie most used in pro- cesses in the great way, is the following. Reduce the sulphuret to small pieces, and sti-ew it evenly and thinly on the floor of a reverberatory furnace, in order to drive oft' the sulphur by roasting. The heat at first must be very gentle, scarcely exceeding that required for the fusion of tin, otherwise the antimony will clog or even melt : in a short time a lambent blue flame, proceeding from the combusdon of the sulphui", will appear over the sur- face of the ore, wliich, at the same time, will begin to lose its metallic lustre, and be converted into a greyish oxyd. By as- siduously stirring tlie''>re, and' cautiously Increasing the tempera: re as its lusibility decreases, it will, in the course of some hours, cease to emit sulphureous vapom-s, and bear a moderate red heat without ANT ANT melting. The roasting is now fiiiislied, aiid when the ore is removed from the fire, and becomes cool, it will be found converted into an ash-grey oxyd, weigh- ing from thirty to thirty-six. per cent less than the original sulpiniret, and still by no means entirely free from sulphur. In order lo obtain the regulus from tliis grey oxyd, it is to be mixed with half its weight of crude tartar, and exposed to a fviU red heat in a covered crucible. The carbona- ceous part of the tartar decomposes the oxyd, and the antimony, reduced to the metallic form, collects itself in a mass at the bottom of the crucible, except a vari- able proportion, which is held in solution by the sulphuret of potash formed by the alkaline base of the tartar and the sulphur of the oxyd. The quantity of metal thus obtained in the large way, equals fiom 66 to 70 per cent, of the o.vyd employed ; but a much greater loss will be observed, if the ore has not been projjerly roasted. Tlie method followed by T Kunkel ap- pears, liowever, on the whole, to be better and more economical than the common practice. He mixes the roasted oxyd with oil or fat, and a little powdered chai-coal, puts the mass into a crucible to melt, and as soon as the regulus begins to show it- self, injects, by degrees, some powdered nitre, in the proportion of an ounce to a pound of oxyd : the matter soon appears in tiiin fusion, and on being poured out af- fords a pure regulus, in considerably greater pi'ojJortion than is obtainable by the usual vvaj' of operating. The cxpence of iiiire and tartar in pre- paring regulus of antimony in large c|uan- tities, for the purpose of commerce, is ve- ry considerable; m consequence ofwliich a sci'ies of experiments were undei-taken by llassenfratz, Vauquelin, and Bouillon la Grange, in order to ascertain whether the use of these substances could be su- perseded by cheaper materials. In tlie prosecution of this enquir)-, ditt'erent por- tions of the roasted ore were mixed with charcoal powder, with tallow, and vvitli pitch, and exposed in covered crucibles to a heat sufficient for their reduction : the crucibles being then witlidrawn were found U) contain only a little carbonaceous matter, and a few minute globules of anti- mony, all the rest being evajiorated. Some grey oxyd was then mixed with 1st. two ])arts of lime and one of clay ; 2d. equal parts of sulpliat of barytes, chalk and clay; 3d. with common salt; 4th. with sulphat of soda: ai\J tiie materials bein;^- strongly heated, were all fountl converted into yellow glasses, withoui any a])pcar- ance of regulus. These being each pul- verized, and mixed w ith charcoal jiowder, I were again heated as before, and produc- ed only vitreous scorise, with a few mi.ute globules of amimony. Lastly, some o" ;he same e crucible from the fire, and when its contenls are upon tlie point ot" becoming solid, pour in an ounce and a half 'of warmed quicksilver, stirring- it as before. Previously to using this alloy, it must be ground in a stone or earthenware mortar with white of egg and spirit varnish, and in this str.te ap- plied to the intended work. AVhen dried it may be burnished in the usual manner, and has then very much the appearance of silver. ARGOL, or TAIlTAll, is a substance thrown off from wine, after it is put into casks to depurate. Tiie m.ove tartar is separated, tlie more smooth and palatable is the wine. This substance forms a thick hard crust on the sides of the casks : and as part of the line dregs of the wine ad- here to it, the tartar of the white v/ines is of a greyisli white colour, called white argol ; and that of red wine has a red co- lour, and is called red argol. When separated from tlie cask in which it is formed, argol is mixed with much heterogeneous matter ; from which, for the purposes of medicine and chemistry, it requires to be purified. This purifica- tion consists in first boiling the Arg-olin water, filtrating the solution, and allow- ing the salt to crystallize, which it very soon does, as it requires nearly twenty times its weight of water to dissolve it. The crystals of tartar obtained by tins operation, are far from being perfectly pure ; and therefore they are again boiled in water, with an addition of clay, Avhicli absorbs the colouring matter; and thus on a second crystallization, a very pure and white salt is obtained. These crys- tals ai'e called Cream nf Tartar, and are commonly sold under that name. Cream of Tartar may berecomposed in the following manner; upon fixed vege- table alkali pour a solution of the acid of tartar ; and continue this, till the efier- vescence is over. The fluid will then be transparent ; but if more of the acid is added, it will become turbid and white, and small crystals like white sand wlW be formed in it. These ciystals are a \->&v- fect Cream of Tartar. Argol therefore consists of fixed vegetable alkali, over sa- turated with the pure acid of tartar, and joined by a great deal of earthy impuri- ties and coloiu-ing matter. The white Argol is preferable to the red, as containing less of the drossy or earthy matter. The marks of good ai-gol of either kind, are its being- thick, brit- tle, hard, brilliant, and little earthy. That brought from Germany is the best, on ac- count of its being taken ovit of tliose great tuns, wherein the salt has time to come to its consistence. Argol is of considerable use air«ig dyers, as ser\ing to dispose the stuftij to take their colours the better. ARMENIAN EOLE, is a soft bole of red colour, used in medicine. An indu- rated kind of this affords the material for the red pencils. Bolus's or boles, are martial clays, con- taining a fine and dense clay of various colours, with a large quantity of iron. The Armenian Bole was formerly brought from Armenia, but it is now found also iu several parts of I'rance and Germany. ARMENIAN STONE. This substance is improperly called a stone, being no- thing else than an ocherous earth, and properly called Blue Oc/trc. It is a very valuable substance in painting, being a bright and hvely blue. It easily breaks between the fingers, and does not stain the hands. It is of a brackish disagree- able taste, and effervesces with acids. It is a very scarce fossile, and was in so high esteem as a paint amongst the ancients, that counterfeits were continually attempt- ed to serve in its place. Though in but small quantities, it is foiuid very pure iu the mines of (iosslar in Saxony. ARR.\CK, Arac, or Rack, is a spu'ituous liquor imported from the East Indies, and used either as a cordial, or an ingredientin piuich. It is obtained by distillation from rice, or sugar, fermented with the juice of cocoa-nuts. Goa and Batavia ai-e the chief places from which arrack is export- ed. At the former, there are three sorts, viz. the single, double, and treble distilled. The double is but a weak spirit, in com- parison with that obtained at the latter place ; but, on account of its peculiar flavour, it is preferred to all the others. The arrack now in general use contains but a sixth, and sometimes only an eighth part of alcohol, or pure spirit. A spirituous liquor of this name is also extracted by the Tartars of Tungusia,fi-om mare's milk, which is first suffered to turn sour, and then distilled two or three times, between two close earthen pots,fi-om which it runs through a small wooden pipe. It is pos- sessed of the most intoxicating qualities ; so that, according to Professor Pallas, men,women,and ciiildren, frequently diink themselves into a 'semi -delirious trance, which continues for forty -eight hours. Genuine arrack is said to possess bal- samic, softening', and restorative proper- ties, and to be less liable to produce the ustial inconveniencies of other spu-its. It ARR ARR is iUrlhci' supposed to contain a fine sub- tile oil, so minute as to incorporate rcailiiy witli water : lience it is generally prcfl-rrtd in ^ose cases, where repeated debauches have abraded the internal sides of the vessels. Persons who are unfortunately addicted to the use of ardent sj^irils, as well as those troubled with the gout or Theumatism, and who cannot comi)ly with the rules of sobriety and temperance may use arrack in preference to Hollan.ds, or brandy. On account of its strong eru- pyreumatic oil, however, it is difficult of dig-estion, soon turns rancid, causes nu- merous obstructions, and is consequently injiu-ious to individuals of lax solids, and thick or sizy fluids. ARROW-GRASS, is a plant fiequently met with in marshy grodnds, or near the sea coast, and in saline tracts. As they are eaten with avidity by sheep, for which they serve as an excellent and wholesome food, we presume strongly to recommend their cultiu-e. An additional motive f )r the propagation of the arrow-grass, maj be suggested to the farmer and breeder of sheep ; because it thrives extremel}- well in moist and swampy places, where few other vegetables would grow. ARROW-HKAD, Commo'm, is one of those neglected plants, which, though growing wild in many parts of the United States, especially on the banks of rivers are not converted to any useful purpose : The root of the arrow-head is composed of numerous stroivg fibres, which strike into the mud ; the toot stalks of the leaves are of a length in-opoi-tionate to the depth of the water in which they gi-ow ; they are thick, fungous, and sometimes three feet high. Its sharp pointed leaves resemble the point of an arrow, aitd float upon the water. At the lower extremity of the root, there is always, even in its wild state, a bulb which grows in the solid clay, beneath the muddy stratum. This esculent root is industriously cul- tivated in China and America, where it at- tains to the size of several inches in diame- ter. With respect to the mimner of ch'cs- sing and preparing such vegetables, we shall give the necessary directions under the article Bread The arrow-head requires a low, cold, marshy situation, and a clayey soil, where scarcely any other plant woidd thrive. Here it grows luxuriantly, and produces an oblong, thick, bulbous root, which, from its niea/y nature, may be easily con- verted into starch, or flour. Even in its raw and unprej^ared state, it :ifl'oi'ds a j>ro- per and wholesome food for horses, goats and hogs ; though cows do not relish it — There are two 'methods of propagating this beneficial plant ; either by the wild- gj-owijig fibres of the root, or by the seed ; and we earnestly recommend its culture, from a cMniction of its great utilitv. ARROW KOO'I', Indian, or the Mar. anta, a plant of which there are three species, the arundinacta, gnlartga, and coniosa ; all of them ai-e herbaceous, perennial exotics of the Indies, and kept ' in our hot-houses merely for curiosity. The first of these species is the true starch- plant, and is likewise used by the Indians to extract the poison communicated by their ;u-rows. Dr. Wright, of Jamaica, appears to be the first who informed us that a decoc- tion of the fresh roots makes an excellent ptisan in acute diseases. From an ingeni- ous pamphlet published in 1796, by Mr. T. Ryder, of Oxtbrd-street, we farther learn, that one of his West -Indian patients, employed it as an arti(Je of diet, and since that period it has been very generally used in families- The arrow-root powder unquestionably yields a larger proportion of nutritive mucilage than any European vegetable, if we except the Salfp-root; hence a single tablespoonful of either, makes a pint of strong and nourishing jelly, which affords a very proper food in acute diseases as well as in all those complaints where ani- mal food must be abstained from. Mr. Rvder, befi)re mentioned, lias justly recommended the culture of this root to the AVest-lndian Planters, and the new African Colonists, as an object of com- merce, and the most eligible substitute for suu'ch, made of wheat : 1- Because it would save annually 66,000 quarters of that valuable grain, in Great Britain alone, where the average quantum of starch made in the years 1793, 1794, and 1795, amounted to 8 millions of pounds weight, allowing one hundred and twenty pounds per quarter : — 2. As the wholesale price of the aiTOw-root was, in 1796, fifteen pence a pound, and as one pound of its starch is equal to two pounds and a half prepared from wheat, its intrinsic value would, by this computation, not exceed s?»:-peMce per pound : whereas the average pri^e of starch in England for seven years (from 1789 to 1795) may be stated at «/;/<' -pence the poimd. 3. As the arrow- root contains more soluble, gelatinous matter, occupying less space, being less envelo])cil in earthy particles and aflbrd- ing a ))urer farina than any other plant, it may be reasonably inferred, that the stai'ch obtained from it must be of the finest quality : an opinion amply confirmed by thiee clearstarchcrs, who were, on this occasion, consulted by the Society ARS ARS for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufac- tures and Commerce. The plants would thi'ive in the southern states, ajid oug-ht to be introduced into them, by some of t!ie numerous Americans who visit tlie V/est-Indies. • ARSENIC, is a substance of very fre- quent occurrence, being found in combi- n:ition wiUi almost every other metal, as well as with sulphur and lime : the four following species however, are the only ones that by the common consent of mi- neralogists are ranked as ores of this me- tal, the rest being considered as ar- senicated ores of silver, copper, cobalt, &c. Sp. 1. Xative Arsenic. The coloui' of this mineral when newly broken, is a light lead-gray, passing into tin-white; but the surfuce by exposure to the air becomes yellow, then blackish gray, and at length almost black. Native arsenic has not been accurately analysed ; but besides arsenic, it appears always to contain a little iion, to which its fusibility is owing, and occasionally a very small portion of gold or silver. This mineral is foimd only in the veins of primitive mountains, accompanied by red silver, realgar, galena, specular cobalt, kupfernickel, pjrites, &c. It. occurs in the mines of Freyberg, in Saxony; at Geisberg, in Carinthia; at Nagyag, in Transylvania ; and Saint ilai'ie aux Alines, in France. Sp. 2. Arsenic;d pp-ltes, Alarcasite, or !Mispickel. The colour of this mineral, when re- cently broken, is a silvery white, but it soon tarnishes to yellowish, grayish, blu- ish, or u'idescent. This miieral has not been accurately analysed, or rather appears to contaiji arsenic, h-on, and sulphur, in variable pro- portions ; mixed with which is occasional- ly found from one to ten per cent, of sil- ver. It is found in almost all metalliferous primitive mountains ; but the viU'iety con- taining silver has hitherto been met with only at Freyberg luid Braunsdorf, in Saxo- «y. Sp. 3. Sulphuret of Arsenic. This species is generally, though pcr- i" iiaps unnecessarily, divided into two va- rieties. Vai". 1. Realgar; the colour of ^yhich is a bright am-ora red, passhig on one side into scai-let, on the other to Ught orange. It has never been accurately analysed, but consists for the most part of arsenic and sulphiu-. Realgai- occurs native in the vicinity of Etna and other volcauoes, Rod in VOL. I. the primitive mountains of Germany, Swisserland and Hungarj-. The sub- stances by which it is usually accom- panied are native arsenic, red silver, and galena. Var. 2. Orpiment. Orpiment differs from realgar m the follow-ing particulars. Its colom- is a bright lemon yellow, passing into gold yellow and aui'ora-red. Sp. 4. Native AVhite Arsenic. Its colour js snow white, or yellow- ish reddish, or smoke gray. Tliis mineral is of very rare occur- rence, having been met with as j-et only in the cobalt mines of Bohemia and Saxony, and on the surface of native arsenic in Transylvania and Hun- gary. _ "White Arsenic, when in its purest state, appeoi-s as a beautiful white, sonorous, \ itriform mass, very brittle, and easily re- duced to powder. When recently pre- pared it is considerably transparent, but becomes opaque by keeping. It is pre- pared in the large way by a second subli- mation of the impure arsenic, obtained in the roasting of the arsenical ores. M. Fragoso de Sigueira gives the follow- ing account of the method adopted in Bohemia. The subliming vessels are strong square boxes of cast iron, furnished with conical heads of the samo- material, close- ly luted to them with clay. The square boxes are disposed in a lai-ge brick area, which is heated by the flues of two fur- naces placed a httle below them. When red-hot, the impure arsenic is laded into the boxes by fifteen pounds at a time, where it melts, and in about an horn- after it beguis to subhme into the conical head. When no more rises, another fif- teen pounds is put into the vessel, and treated as before ; and this successive ad- dition is continued till about 150 pounds of arsenic have been used to each vessel, the sublimation of die whole of which quantity lasts about twelve hours. When cold, the workmen take off the coni- cal head, and carry it with its con- tents to another place, where they break off with hammers the sublimed arsenic, separating any impurity for a second ope- ration. The yellow glass of arsenic, or artificial orpiment, is prepared in the same manner with the same apparatus, but for this the arsenic is previously mixed with half its weight of sulphur. In either case the heat should be maintained all die wliile uniformly red, so as to keep the mate- rials in the lower vessel always in fu- sion. When tjiese ar^ tolerably pure, M ARS ARS hnost the whole rises in the subUma- ;on. 'I'iie rough material of this process is the oxj'd of arsenic, olituinetl by roasting the Tin and Cobalt ores, and twice tor- refied before it is used for sublimation. If these precautions are not observed, the arsenic remains j'ellow and gray instead of wliite. Reguhis of Arsenic, or Arsenic, proper- ly so callci!, may be prepared in several vi'ays, and ihe most convenient substance for proc\uing it is the common wliite arsenic of the shops. This is a simple oxyd of the metal, and it may be reduced by" heating witii any carbonaceous mat- ter ; but as arsenic in a metallic state is even more volatile than its oxyd, the com- mon mode of fusion will not answer, as the metal will escape in dense fumes as fast as it is produced. Sublimation must tliereforc l)c used, the white arsenic and Us reducing flux being heated together in close vessels, and tlic fumes of the regu- line arsenic being condensed on a cooler part of the same or of an adjoining vessel. The following mode is simple, easily per- formed, and makes an interesting experi- ment in the small way. Mix white arse- nic with oil into a mass of the consistence of soft dough, drop it into a dry Florence flask, taking care not to soil the neck as tlie mixture passes down ; put the vessel on charcoal, either naked or in a sand pot, and l\eat gradually. When hot enough, the oil begins to burn, and partly flies oif in thick fumes, blackening the neck of the flask ; tliese fumes soon acquire a strong and most olli;iisive otlour, somewhat like garlick, owing to the escape of part of the arsenic, whicJi should be carefully avoid- ed by the oj^erator. The whole flask now becomes obscure, so that the pro- cess can only be judged of by the co- piousness of the fumes, which presently are seen to deposit black films on the neck of the flask, like soot, but symmetri- cally arranged. The heat should be slow- ly raised, so as to redden the bottom of the flask, and wlicn the fumes scarcely arise, and the hottest part of the vessel is found to be nearly empty, the whole may be allowed to cool. On breaking the ves- sel carefullj', nothing is fiiund in the bot- tom, as l"ar as it was red-hot, but a light spongy coal, the renuiins of the oil ; all above it, to the very top of the neck of the flask, is lined willi a light black-gra/ crust, beneath which, iuunediately ad- hering to the glass and taking the impres- sion of its shape, is a brittle black shining metallic substance, which is the reguhis of arsenic. The neck of the flask is also eovercd with u number of beautiftd green- ish transparent pyramidical crystals cf arsenic, oxydated by the access of air through the mouth, which, in condensing, assume this elegant form. To obtain tiie reguhis more completely, the whole of the»contents of the flask shoiild be mix- ed together by rubbing, and put into a fresh flask witliout addition, and again sublimed slowly, stopjjing the mouth with paper, as there is now little need of giving A ent to any fumes during the pro- cess. The sublimed regulus is now as perfect as it can be obtained, often crys- tallized, and exhibits every mark of a true metal. The old method of preparing tliis me- tal was the following. White arsenic four parts, black flux two parts, iron flhngs and borax each one part, were put into a covei'cd crucible, and hastily fused ; after which the vessel was immediately removed from the fire. Much of the arse- nic was tlissipated in this way, but at the bottom of the crucible a blueish white regulus was found, consisting of reguline arsenic, combined with the iron into a hard alloy, the use of tlie latter metal be- ing only to detain the arsenic and prevent its volatilization. This alloy tarnishes much sooner than, the jnue regidus. By sublimation in close vessels, the ai'senic rises much soonc than before, but is thought still to car- ry up with it a small jjortion of iron, though the greater part is left behind. For the most delicate chemical purpo- ses, a beautiful regulus may be made by mixing arseniat of potash with about one- eighth of charcoal, and subliming- in a close glass vessel slowly heated to redness. Tht- regulus is beautifully brilliantaud crystal lized. The regulus is equally prepared in tin large way by sublimation, in earthen ves- sels, of the oxyd, mixed with a reducing flux. Arsenic when pure has the following- properties : its colour is between a tin- white and lead-blue, which by exposure to air readily tarnishes, the later as it is tlie purer, and becomes iirst yellow, and then black and pulverulent ; but it may be kept under water tmaltered. Slowly sub- lliwed in close vessel;;, it crystallizes in octahedrons. Its hardness is about equal to that of copper, but it is quite brittle and very easily pulverizable. Of all me- tals arsenic is the most volatile by heat, for it begins to rise \a fumes at about 356" rahrenheit, that is, long before it melts, so that it can luu-dly ever be seen in a state of fusion. These fumes in the open air are dense, white, and ex- hale a very pecidiar and noxious smell. ARS ARS somewhat resembling gfarlick, which cir- cumstance forms one of the readiest tests for this metal or its oxyd. Arsenic sudden- ly heated to redness, by being thrown into a vei-y hot crucible, takes fire, and burns with a whitish-blue flame, yellow at the «dges. The condensed fiune of arsenic heated in close vessels is the regulus unaltered, but in the open air it condenses into a white, sometimes yellowish, mealy sub- stance, which is the IVhite Oxyd cj Arse- nic, similar to the common -xhite arsenic of the shops. This oxyd is also volatile per se, but requires for the purpose a greater heat than the reguline arsenic, and when mixed with eartliy substarxes it acquires so much fixity as to prove a most powerful flux. This semi-metallic concrete is very use- fully employed in various branches of the arts and manufactures; it is frequently added as an ingredient, to facilitate the fusion of glass, and to produce a certain degree of opacity. Painters use two arsenical preparations, namely, the orpi- ment and realgar. A very beautiful green pigment may be precipitated from blue vitriol, by a watery solution of white arsenic and vegetable alkali : tliis, when prepared either with water or oil, affords 1 permanent colour. (See Colour .Making.) It is highly probable that, if arsenic were added to tlie paint used for wood, it might form an ingredient which would not be liable to be preyed upon by worms. But the practice of painting the toys of children with arseni- cal pigments, deserves severe censure; as they are accustomed to put every tiling into theii- mouth. In dyeing, it is likewise of great ser- vice. Combined with sulphur, it has the property of readily dissolving indigo ; for which purpose it is used in the printing of calico, and other cloth. On exposure to the air, however, the arsenic is precipi- tated from this solution, and may be far- ther employed in pencil colours. Some dyers are said to understand tlie art of im- parting beautiful shades of colours to furs, by arsenical solutions. See Dye- : NTG- In rural and domestic economj-, this oncrete is also frequently resorted to with gi-eat advantage, though not always with due precaution. Farmers dissolve it in lime-w ater, for steeping wheat, in or- der to prevent the smut ; and it is likewise asserted, that the husbandmen of Flan- ders and Germany use it for fertilizing the earth, by sprin^-Jing the soil with a so- 'ution of ai-senic in dung-water. See -AGRICULTURE. Arsenic is one of the most sudden and violent poisons we are acquainted with. Its fumes are so deleterious to the lungs, that artists ought to be extremely cautious to preserve themselves from its influence on tlieir mouth and nostrils, as well as from touching it with their hands; for every external contact may be attended with serious consequences. Hence they should dress in thick and firm clothes, keep at a proper distance from the ex- haling fumes, and cover the orifices of the face with a mask, made for the pur- pose. - In their system of diet, we advise them to make use of a great pi'oportion of bland and mucilaginous nourishment ; such as fresh butter, pork, sv.cet-oil, milk, artichokes, and sunilar vegeta- bles. ARSENIC ACID. We are indebted to the admirable skill and sagacity of Scheele for our fii st knowledge of tliis acid, and of most of its known combinations. To prepare it, put 2 ounces of white arsenic into a retort, with 7 ounces of muriatic acid, and dissolve the arsenic by boiling : then, when still hot, add 3A ounces of pure nitrous acid, and again heat. The mixture soon foams, and red nitrous va- pour escapes. When this last appear- ance has ceased, add another ounce of white arsenic, dissolve by boiling as be- fore, and then add 1 i ounce additional of rdtrous acid, whereby tlie same ebullition and escape of red vapour will be renew- ed. Distil the whole to dryness, till a white mass remains in the retort, which should be gradually heated to redness. When the retort is cold, break it, and the dry substance within is the concrete acid of arsenic, which i» transparent when hot, but on cooling becomes white and opaque. Dissolved in water, it forms a strong acid liquor, leaving behind some siliceous eai-th, acquired from tlie retort, \vhich is much corroded in the process. The concrete acid also deliquesces by keeping in a moist place, and runs into the same acid liquor. In the above process, the use of the muriatic acid is to keep the arsenic dis- solved whilst the nitrous acidifies it. If economy of the distilled nitro-muriatic acid be no object, the second addition of white arsenic and nitric acid niay be spared, and the whole taken at once : tliat is, 3 parts of white oxyd, dissolved in 7 parts of muriatic acid, and .5 parts of ni- tric acid, added when the solution is ef- fected. Towards tlie end, when the arse- nic acid is nearly dry, the expulsion of the last-adliering portion of nitric acid is attended with a boiling up, which is apt to carry with it part of the acid of arse- ARS AUS nJc, and thus an error arises in estiinat- ing the quantity produced. To prevent it, Proust gently shakes the retort at tliis period with a rotatory motion, wliich much promotes the easy volatihzation of the nitrous acid, prevents the ebullition, and the metalUc acid thickens immediate- ly. In applying the red heat to dry it thoroughly, it should be continued till a few cryslalUne streaks of sublimed oxyd of arsenic appear in the top of the retort ; that is, till the acid begins to be spon- taneously decomposed by heat. It is then quite pure. • A sijeedier way of preparing this acid is the following : mix together in a cru- cible 2 parts of muriatic acid of 1.2 specific gravity, 8 parts of white oxyd of ai'senic, and 24 parts of nitric acid of 1.25 specific gravity. Evaporate to dryness, and expose the mass to a slight red lieat. The quantity of the acids recommended varies considerably, but no harm can en- sue from using an excess of them, beyond the loss of acid ; and on the other iiand, if too little be employed for acidifying all the arsenic, it is probable that all the im- perfectly oxidated portion will fly off in the heat, and the arsenic acid left beliind will be equally pure. Arsenic acid has but little taste till pre- viously dissolved in water, when it is ex- tremely sour. Its specific gravity when dry is about 3.391. According to Proust, and other con- firming calculations, 100 parts of arsenic in the metallic state acquire 33 of oxygen when converted into the white ox}d, and 20 additional oxygen when completely acidified. So that 100 parts of the white oxyd are composed of about 75 of arsenic and 25 of oxygen ; and 100 parts of tjie acid contaui 65.4 of arsenic and 34.6 of oxygen. The compounds of arsenic w\{h sulphur merit attention, lloth tiie regulus and white oxyd unite readily with sulpluu-, and the result is an amorphous mass, of a fine yellow or red, according to the ]iro- portions, called in the former casejcZ/ow arsenic, in the latter sandarac or realgar. Similar combinations are also found na- tive. The exact ]n-o|)ortions of each vary according to ciicumstances, and it is not precisely determined wiietlier the colour is more owing to these ])roportions or to the degree of oxygenation of the arsenic. 'J'hey are given in)wever in the best au- thors to be, in the red sulpiiurct 1 of sul- phur to 4 of arsenic, and in the yellovi 1 to 9 or 10. Sulphur renders arsenic much more lixcd in the fire, so tliat tlie red sul- pluuet may be melted by moder.ite heat into a transparent mass, called arscnh-al ruby. In the Large way these sulphuretV are prepared as pigments, and the exact process is not generally known, but it is said to be by subliming in earthen ves- sels iron pyrites mixed with misj^ickel or some of the otlier native ores of arsenic and iron. Tlie iron is certainly of great service is diminislilng the volatility both of the arsenic and the sulphur, for a full red heat is requisite to drive them off; and we find in tlie way of experiment, that a simple mixture of while arsenic and flowers of sulphur subhme too liastily to contract a very close union, and seldom produce an orpiment of a full uniform body of colour. See Colour Making. For experiment, the operation may bo performed in a glass matrass, slightly stopped at the moutli, and heated only at the bottom gradually to redness. Equal parts of white arsenic and sulphur well mixed, yield in this manner a red subli- mate, whicli attaches itself to the neck of the vessel. If two parts ofarseniatof potash and one of sulphur, are slowly heated, barely red, for an liour in a ma- trass, a very fine realgar of red sulphurct sublimes, and the residue at bottom con- sists of a yellow orpiment, mixed witii liver of arsenic, or arsenic united with potash. The arsenic acid gives also a fine realgar. Six parts of liquid arsenic acid mixed with one of sulphur, give no signs of mutual action till the water is expelled, when, on encreasing the heat, tlie whole rises rapidly, and forms a fine red subli- mate of reaig-ar. The dry arsenic acid and sulphur, in equal parts, heated for an hour, give the same jiroducts. Quick-lime and orpiment boiled to- gether produce a sidphuretof lime, liold- ing some arsenic in solution This has long been known as infallible to cause the liair to fldl off where it is rubbed, and is also used as a ivine-test to detect the presence of lead, which it does by mak- ing a black preci])ltate. See Tests. The great volatility of arsenic, eitJier reguline or oxidated when h(;ated, ren- ders it diflicult to unite it by fusion with the metals that cannot themselves be melted with less than a red heat. Tiiere are two or tiiree ways liowever of manag- ing this combination. One is by first In-ingingthe metal into fusion, then tiirow- ing in the crucible the ar.senic, hastily mixing them, and cooling the alloy speedily, before nuicli of the arsenic lias had time to evaporate. Some artists in this way unite arsenic and copper, by melting the copper, wi-apping uj) the ar- senic in paper, and U;vusting it witli hot pincers to the bottom of the melted me- tal, tlu-nugh wJiich it immediately risesi ARS ASB and diffuses itself pretty uniformi}'. Ano- ther method is to mis the white osyd of arsenic wiih cliarcoal, and put it at the bottom of a tall crucible, over this to spread a layer of clay, and above the clay to strew the filings of the metal, witJi which the arsenic is to be alloyed. By heating the crucible, the arsenical oxyd becomes reduced by the charcoal, sublimes in the metaUic state through the clay, and unites with the heated metal above, fusing it down, in proportion as the alloy becomes saturated with arsenic. A third method, and the most conveni- ent, is to employ the white oxyd of arse- nic, and to mix it witli an alkali (with or without a carbonaceous flux) and heat it ^vith the metal. Soap is a very good ad- dition in this case, as it furnishes the ar- senical oxyd with both carbon from its oil, and with alkali. The latter keeps down the aisenic and renders it much more fixed in the fire, as has been before mentioned in describing the combination of these two substances. When no car- bonaceous matter is present, tlie arseni- cal oxyd becomes reduced at the expence of part of the other metal, which there- lore is found partly oxidated, and sepa- rates h-om the alloy uniting wltli the al- kali into a scoria. Those of the arsenical alloys which are used in the arts, such as White Copper, tlie Lead alloy for shot, arsenicated Pla- tina, &c. will be mentioned under these metals. Arsenic is one of the least valuable of the metallic substances. Its violent ef- fects on the anhnal bodj' when taken in- ternall)-, and the easy solubility of its oxyds in almost every fluid, render it al- ways suspicious, and often highly dan- gemus, when employed in the arts. Tlie white oxyd or arsenic of the shops is how- ever largely employed as a cheap ilux for glasses of different kinds, and it acts in this way in a very pov/erful manner; but if too much is employed, vessels made of it are not absolutely safe for domestic piu-poses, and are apt to become opaque. The red and yellow sulphurets afford good pigments to the painter. The most decisive experiments for the detection of arsenic, when suspected to be contained in any substance, are the following. Koiled in water, even the white oxyd (the preparation the most likely to occur) makes a solution of suf- ficient strength to give very clear indi- cations of its nature. 1st. Sulphuretted hydrogen passed tlirougli the solution, or water saturated with tlie gas, added to jt gives a golden yellow precipitate. 2d. -in extremely small (juantity of carbonat of potash added to the solution, and thien mixed with a solution of sgiphal of cop- per, gives a yellowish gieeii\ precipitate. 3d. The dried substance to be examined, or the solution evaporated to dryness, mixed with a little powdered charcoal, and put into a glass tube closed at the bottom, hghtly stopped at the top, and heated slowly to redness, will yield a me- tallic sublimate, which will give tlie strong smell peculiar to arsenic, and will con- dense on the sides of the tube, lining it with a brilliant metaUic coating. 4th. The same strong smell, and a dense white fume will be given, mereh' by sprinlding the powder on hot charcoal. 5th. A lit- tle of the reduced regulus, or of the sus- pected powder, mixed icith a little char- coal, laid between two pieces of coppei* (halfpence for example) scoured quite bright, bound round with wire, and heat- ed red-hot for a few minutes, will leave on each piece of copper a bright while stain, which cannnt be rubbed oJf, except by making a new surface. All tliese marks combined, cannot fail to indicate the jiresence of arsenic. See Tests. ARTICHOKE. See Horticultusf. ASBEST, is of a texture more or les-; filamentous, and by trituration is reduc- ible to a soft somewhat fibrous powder- It is commonly divided into four varietie?;, but we shall onlv notice one, the Jmuwtli, the others being- of very little im].o;tanre. The fibrous texture of amianthus, i:.=i incombustibility, and the little alteratiou that it undergoes even in a strong heat, were early noticed, especially among the Eastern nations ; and methods were found out of drawing the fibres into thread, and afterwards weaving it into cloth This, when dirtied with grease, or oth.er in- flammable matter, was cleaned by tiirow- ing into a bi-ight fire ; the stains were burnt out, and the cloth was then remov- ed, but little altered in its properties, and of a dazzling ^^■hite; hence it obtained from the Greeks the name uy^iuv'lo<; or undejiled. In the rich and luxurious times of the Roman empire, this incombustible cloth was purciiased at an enormous price, for the purpose of wrapping up the bodies of the dead previously to their be- ing laid on the funeral pile. The prac- tice of burning tlie dead fiuling into dis- use, occasioned the manufacture of aini- antliine clotli to be neglected, and at length entirely tbrgottcn in Europe; but though it has ceased to be an article of necessity or luxury, yet the method of its preparation has occa:iicnally attracted, the notice of travellers and occupied the time of the curious. Ciampini, of Rome, in 1691, published the folio \\ing as tlic ASH ASH best way of preparing the incombustible clotli. Having previously steeped the ami- anthus in wairm water, divide its fibres by gently rubbing them with the fingers, so as to loosen and separate all the cx- ti'ancous matter ; then pour on repeatedly very hot water, as long as it continues to be in the least discoloured. Nothing will be now left but tlie lon^ fibres, which ai-e to be carefully dried in tlie sun. The bundles of thi-ead arc to be carded with very fine cards, and the long filaments thus obtained are to be steeped in oil, to render them more flexible. A small quan- tity of cotton or wool is to be mixed, and by means of a thin spindle the whole is to be drawn out into thread, taking care tliat in every part tlie amianthus may be the principal material. The cloth being then woven in the usual manner, is to be placed in a clear charcoal fire to burn off the cotton and oil, wiicn the whole re- maining tissue wiM be pure wlnte amian- thus. The shorter fibres that are inca- pable of being woven, have been some- times made into paper, the process for which is the same as that employed for common paper, except that a greater pro- portion of paste or size is required: aftei having been matle red hot, however, this paper becomes bibulous and brittle. Ami- anthus threads are also sometimes used as perpetual wicks for lamps ; they re- quire, however, to be cleaned occasion- ally from the soot that collects about them, and tlie fibi-es in the hottest part of the flame are apt to run together, so as to prevent the due su]iply of oil. In Cor- sica, amianthus is advantageously em- ployed in tlie manufacture of pottery : being reduced to fine filaments, it is kneaded up with the clay, and the ves- sels which arc made of this mixture are lighter, less brittle, and more ca^mble of bearing sudden alterations of heat and cold tlian common pottery. ASMES, generally speaking, are the remains of bodies reduced by fire. These are vegetable, animal, and mineral ashes ; but the first only arc strictly entitled to that appellation. We understand, tliat the French have recently contrived a pro cess of converting the ashes, or residuum of animal substances, decomposed by burning thcni, into glass, similar to that which is ])roduced in the manufactui-c of this article, when siliceous earth and wood-ashes are the principal ingredients. This curious conversion of luuium l)odies into a transparent and most beatitii'ul me- tal, is an ingenious imitation of t'.ie ])rac- tice frequently adopted among the an- i' nts, with a view to preserve the sacred . maiiis of their revered ancfestors, or of persons of great worth and merit. But, whether such expedients, if they ever should become general, be compatible with the refined feelings of relations and friends in other countries, we submit to the determination of our sentimental rea- ders. If we may be allowed to express our opinion on so delicate a subject, the scheme may be a very econumical one, for saving theexpences of an ostentatious i'u- neral ; and, as such we have mentioned it in this work : but we doubt whether there may be found many individuals in this country, except those few among the emigres, who incline, or deseive, to re- ceive the honours of conibustion. Mineral bodies, when reduced by fire, are properly called Calxes, of which we ■shall treiit under that distinct head. There is a great variety of tvood-ashes prepared from dilTerent vegetables. We have already described the properties of Alkalies, and shall at present observe, that vegetable ashes contain a g-reat quan- tity o\i fixed salt, blended with earthy par- ticles ; and that from these ashes are ex- tracted the fixed alkaline salts, called Pot-ash, Pearl-ash, Barilla, &c. of tlie preparation, and properties of which, we propose to treat under their respective heads. Confining, therefore, our account to ashes, in their unchanged and ci'ude state, we shall give the following descrip- tion of the different useful puiposes to which they are subservient, in domestic and rural economy. Ui'. i'rantis Home, of Edinburgh, who may be considered as the earliest bene- factor of tlie Scottish cotton manufacto- ries, justly observed, in an ingenious trea- tise, entitled Experiments in Jileuching, that the proper application of alkaline leys, is one of the most important and critical articles in the whole process of that art. See Bleaching. In rural economy, ashes have, since the days of Virgil, been considered as one of the best, and easiest means of fertilizing- land ; yet many objections have been start- ed, by modern writers, against their use ; probably because they were indiscrimi- nately employed for all kinds of soil, whe- ther moist or dry, cold or wai'm, loose or clayey. Hence we need not be surprised that agriculturists have differed in opi- nion on this subject. Without detaining tiie reader with s]iecvdations concerning the manner in which ashes act on tlic; soil, in promoting its fertility, we shall briefly observe, on the authority of the best writers, su])ported by experience : 1. That vegetable ashes, in general, arc most effectual for manuring moist, cold, boggy, marshy, or uncultivated soi'j. ASH ASH 2. That ashes ai-e no less fit for manure, after the salt is extracted from them, than before ; and, if there be any difference, it is in favour of the washed ashes. An anonymous correspondent in the Gentl. Mag for June, 1766, appears to liave derived the first hint respecting the advantages of peat -ashes in dressing land, and a method of preparing coal-ashes for the same purpose, from the Dictitmnaire £conomique, or the Family Dictionary, -^ translated from the Frernrh by the late Prof Bradley, of Cambridge, and pub- lished ill 1725. Ii> tliis curious uork, wliicli equally abounds with excellent and frivolous remarks, we find the following passage : " Turf and jjeat ashes are very rich ; producing, when spread upon land, an effect similar to that of burning the soil." Perhaps it is in consequence of this suggestion, that we find in tJve Magazine before alluded to, an account of too in- teresting a nature to withhold it from oiu" readers. Peat-aslies, properly burnt, afford an excellent manure for both com and grass- land ; but the most valuable are those ob- tained from the lowest stratum of the peat, where the fibres and roots of the earth are most decayed. This will yield a large quantity of very strong ashes, of a colour, when recently burnt, resem- bling Vermillion, and of a very saline and pungent taste. Great care and caution should be used in burning these ashes, and likewise in preserving them for fu- ture use. The method of burning them is similar to that of making chai-coal. After tlie peat is collected into a large heap, and covered, so as not to flrane out, it must be suffered to consume slow- 1}', till the whole substance is reduced to ashes. Thus burnt, they are found excellent in sweetening sour meadow- land, destroying rushes, and other bad kinds of weeds, and producing in their place great quantities of excellent grass. In some parts of Berkshire and Lanca- shire, they ai'e considered one of the best dressings for spring crops. A very great improvement may like- v.ise be made, and at a moderate expense, >vitli coal-ashes, wliich, wlien properly preserved; are a most useful article for manure. By putting one bushel of Ume, in its hottest state, i\ito every cai-t-load of tliese ashes, covering it up in tlie middle of the heap for about twelve hours, till the lime be entirely fallen ; then incorpo- rating them well togetlier, and by turn- ing the whole over, two or three times, the cinders or half burnt parts of the coals, which instead of being useful, are noxious to the ground, will 1^ reduced to as fine a powder as the lime itself For tliis piu-pose, however, the coal-ashts should be carefidly kept di-y : and, thus prepared, they are tlie quickest breakers and improvers of moorish and benty land. Professor Bradley, in his dictionary be- fore mentioned, farther observes, that sonp-ashea are highly commended by Mr. Pratt, as being, after the soap-boiler has exti-acted them, eminently fructifying, and that tlie ashes of any kind of vege- tables are profitable for enriching barren, grounds, as they promote tlie decompo- sition of moss and rushes, in a very great degree. The best season for laying them, either for corn, pasture, or meadow, is said to be in the beginning of winter, ui order that they may the more easily be dissolved by showers of rain Having given this view of the subject, from the collective experience of British writers, we shall also communicate a few practical facts, derived from authentic German authors. According to theli- experience, pot-ath is most useftdly employed for correcting a sandy and loamy soil ; the ashes obtain- ed from the hardest woods, being the most beneficial, and among these, the beech and oak are generally preferred. A small addition of quicklime to the pot- ash, tends considerably to increase its fertilizing iwoperty. Tiie refuse of soap-boilers ashes, is likewise used in Germany, with the best effect, when sprinkled, soon after sow- ing, either in spring or in autumn, as closely as possible, oyer fields of wheat, rje, spelt, lentils, pease, beans, barley, lint-seed, hemp, millet, and similar grain. An acre of wheat, or baiiey, requires however a much greater proportion of these ashes, than one sown with rye, or corn of an inferior quality. They are farther emplojed with great advantage, by scattering them on meadows in the eai-ly pai't of spring. Leached ashes are much used in some parts of the United States as a manure. Great quantities are annually taken from the city of Philadel- phia to Long Island, for the purpose. They cost here 40 cents per one horse cart4oad, and commonly bring one dollar 50 cents, when delivered. From a paper in the first volume of the JVew Yori ^gric. Soc. Trans, by M. E. D'Hommedieu, it apjiears, that ashes are found to succeed best on dry loamy lands, or loam mixed with sand. It is considered as the clieap- est manure that can be procured. Ten loads of this manure, on poor land, will produce ordinaril}- twenty -five bushels of wlieat, which exceeds, by five dollars, the expence of the manure, and the fi\ s ASS ASS raising tlic crop. The land is Uien left in a "State i'ov yielding' a crop of luiy of be- tween two and onc-lialf tons per acre, wliicli it will continue to do for a },''rcat number of years. No manure continues so long in tiic ground as ashes. See Agriculture. ASSAY or Essay. The term assay, in cliemistry, in a general sense, implies tlie analysis or cx.imination of a sample of any substance, whose chemical com- position is to be ascertained ; but this term is also teclmically restricted to the analysis of gold and silver mixtures, with the express and sole pvn-pose of determin- ing the proj)orti()n of noble metal to that with which it is alloyed, in any individual mass. It is only in tliis sense that we here understand it, and on accomit of the vast ♦{uantity of coin, plate, and plate orna- ments which are constantly fabricated, the business of the assayerbcconiesof extretne importance ; for few opcravions in chemis- try require so nice and minute attention, and such practical experience as one, which, from the sample of a few grahis, is to decide the standard of very large masses of the most valuable metals. Gold and silver assaying is, however, in principle extremely simple, the whole be- ing included in two operations, name!} , the separation of the alloy from the noble metals, and the parting of these latter (gold and silver) ii'om each other. These processes must be considered separately. Of all the metals hitiicrto known, three r'ione, gold, silver, and platina, are incapa- ble of oxidation by simple exposure to ail', either w hen solid or in a state of fusion, and honce they ac([uired the antient name ui' perfffct 01- noli/e mcXiih. All the other •metallic bodies tarnish and oxidate, when in fusion in open vessels, with more or less facility, and by constantly renioving the oxidated surface irom tiie nicked metal, the whole may be successively con- verted to an ox}d. ilcre, therefore, is a method of separating the imperfect from tiie pv:rfect metals, when the tv.-o species are mixed ; namely, to melt the mixture and keep it in fusion with access of air, when the alii))i, or imi)eriect metal will scjiarate at the suif.ice in oxidated scales, and the noble metal nmiain unaltered. This separation, however, is not in all cases ecpially exact, iin- when gold or silver is allc)ycd with a metal not very fiisily oxidable, though imiKTfect, such as copper, and when the j3rop(»riion of the alloy to the noble metal is but small, the ailinity of the latter to t!ie former encrcases so mtich as to protect it from any further action of the air, however long the fusion is kept up. Thus a mass of eleven parts of silver to one of copper, oxidates but lightly by a long continued melting heat, nor could the whole of the copper be extracted fiom the mixture by heat alone. Another difficulty in the way of this separation is the very diilicult fusi- bility of the o.x} d of copper (for all metallic oxyds by heat melt into a species of colour- ed glass), so that in a heat much above that at which the mixture remains in fusion, the crust of oxyd clings unmeltcd to the surface of the fluid metal, and un- less sedulously removed, it there remains and prevents the fuither action of the on the alloy, by which alone ali the imperi feet nietalcan be thrown off from the mass. But chemists have found that the sepa- ration of many of the imperfect metals is nmch promoted by adding to the mix- ture a quantity of a metal, itself highly oxidable, and its oxyd easilj- fusible, which unites with the original alloy of the mix- ture, enereases its oxidy.bility, carries it off dissolved in the vitrified oxyd, and thus compleatly extracts from the mass all the impefrect metal or alloy, leavuig the noble metal or metals puie. A few of the more fusible white metals have been tried for this purpose, particu- larly lead and bismuth ; but lead is found to answer the end better than any other, and is the only substance actually used. Hence litharge, the oxyd of lead, was termed by the antient chemists, not un- aptly, the bath, of the noble metals, scour- ing or cleansivg, them, as it were, from all their alloys of base metal, and leaving them quite bright and pure. 'I'his process of oxidiz-ing the alloy by lead is employed in the large way in the irfinhig of gold and silver ; in small sam- ples, with the ])eculiar jjrecautions to be presently mentioned, it forms the process vi' cu/jellation, which, therefore is tiie first and most important part of the assayers business. The secoiul process is the sep.aration of the gold from the silver, where both metals are present, for bebig- ecjually per- fect, or unoxidable by mere fusion, they are left uniformly mixed by melting-, after the alloy has been separated In cupella- tion. 'i'he nicthoil of sei)arating gold from silver is by tlu; nitric acid, which, if iiro- perly managed, may he made to dissolve all tiie silver and leavt- all the gold. This pi-ocess is called y-'<;r///(^, and is the second great oj)eration of the assayer. I'lalina may in general be put out of the question, and it seldom is contaiiK.-d in any gold or silver alloy actually used, but when pj-e- sent it occasions some peculiar appear- ances, which will be afterwards noticed. ^^ dollars pays for the expcnce of labour ia ASS ASS Cupellation. This process is performed in a furnace contrived for the purpose, and capable of giving a heat at least sufficient for the easy fusion of gold. In the mid- dle of this furnace is placed an earthen pot called a rmtffie, of an oven form, vaul- ted at top, with a level floor at bottom entirely open at one end, and closed every wheie else, except a few narrow openings througli the sides. The open end comes in contact witli a door at the side of tlie furnace, and is generally luted thereto, so as entirely to separate it from the burn- ing fuel. The body of the muffle is sur- rounded with the coals, and before cupella- tion is gradually heated to a glowing red- ness Its use is to protect the small cruci- bles or cupels, ranged on its floor, from any accidental impurity which tlie fuel might furnish, and at "the same time to afford the melted metal a free access of heated air to promote the oxidation. The cupels ai-e sohd pieces of eartli, cubical or circular, with a shallow depression at the top to contain the metal, and small in proportion to the size of the muffle, so that the floor of this latter will hold se^ eral of them side by side. They are made solid, but at the same time so porous as freely to absorb the lead, in proportion as it oxidates and vitrifies, whilst the globule of metal that remains in the reguhne state rests on the surface- Cupels may be made of any infusible eai'th of little cohesion, such as the ashes left after the lixiviation of the residue of burnt wood, which ai'e much employed in refining, or cupellation in the great way, but for assaying they are made entirely of bone-ash (phosphat of lime) ground to a fine powder, mois- tened with water, so as to take the im- pression of a mould, and afterwards thoroughly dried The cores of ox-horns are preferred at the Tower Assay-Office. The fire being kindled, the muffle and empty cupels are first heated gradually, till the whole are of a glowing red, a little powdered chalk or sand being first sprink- led on the floor of the muffle, to prevent the adhesion of the cupels by the litiiarge soaking through them. They are thenj ready to receive the metal to be cupelled i It should be observed that tlie cupels of: bone-ash cannot absorb more than theb- ; own weight of litharge at the utmost, and . hence the quantity of fine metal to be ' assayed shoidd not require more lead than i the weight of the cupel. The pro^iortion 1 of lead to the fine metal is determined by I the estimated purity of the latter, as will ; presently be mentioned \ Experience has shewn the extreme , difficulty of conducting cupellation at . times with perfect accuracy, eveti to per- j VOB. I. sons habitually employed in this delicate operation, and many valuable series of ex- periments on this subject have been un. deilaken by able assayers, among which we may particularly rnention those of M. Tillet, and his associates, nominated by the French government, and published in the memoirs of the academy in the vears 1763—9—75—6—8—80—8. Assay of Silver. — For the assay of sil- ver, in tliis country, a clean piece of the metal is first taken, not more than 36 grains, and less if the alloy appears to be considerable, is laminated, and weighed with extreme accuracy in a very sensible balance. It is then wrapped up in the requisite quantity of lead, i evi\ ed from litharge, and for convenience roiled out into a sheet ; or else the silver and lead may be together closed in paper. The purity of the lead is of importance, as all lead only once reduced fi om its ore con- tains some silver, the quantity of which might make some notable error in the de- licate operations of the assayer. But when revived from litharge lead retains no more than about haH" a grain of silver to the pound, which may be entirely neg- lected. When the muffle and cupel are fully red hot, the silver and lead are then put in the cupel with a pair of pmcers, when they immediately melt ; ancl when red the following appearances take place. The melted metal begms to send t)ff" dense fumes, and a minute sti-eam of red fused matter is seen perpetually flowing from the top of the globule down its sides to the surface of the cupel, through which it sinks in and is lost to view This fume and the stream of melted matter consist of the lead oxidated by the heat and air, in one case volatilized in the o'her vitrified, and in sinking through the cupel it carries down with it the copper or other alloy of the silver, hi proportion to the violence of tlie heat is the density of the fume, the violence with which it is given oft, the convexity of the surface of the globule of melted metal, and the rapidity with which the vitrified oxyd circulates (as it is term- ed) or falls downi the sides of the metal. As the cupellation advances, the meked button becomes roundel-, its surface be- comes streaky wiih large bright poinis of the fused oxyd, which move with increased rapidity, tiU at last the globule being now freed from all the lead and other idloy, suddenly lightens ; the last portions of litharge on the surface disappear with great rapidity, shewing the melted metal bright with iridescent colours, which di- rectly after becomes opake, and suddenly appears brilliant, clean, and white, as if a ASS ASS curtain had been witlulrawn from it. The opeia.ion being now fimslicd, and the sil- ver left pnrc, the cupel is allowed to cool giaduuily, till the globule ol" silver is fixed, after wliich it is taken out of the cupel while still hot, and when cold weighed w.th as much accuracy as at first, i'he difterence between the globule and the silver at first put in, shews the quantity of allo\, the globule beini' now perfectly pure silvei-, if the operation has been well l>erf()nned. The reason of cooling the globule or button gradually is, that pure silver, when congealing, assumes a crys- talline texture, and if the outer surface is too suddenly fixed, it forcibly contracts on the still fluid part in the center, causing it to spurt out in arborescent shoots, by which some minute portions are often thi'own out of the cupel and the assa\ spoilt. In the delicate assays for the Mint, in the Tower of London, two assays arc alvva} s made of the same mass of metal, and no sensible difference between the weigiit of the two buttoris is allowed to pass, ascertained in scales wliich turn with I'io'o "^'^ gr-Ain troy. If they differ tlie ass;iy is repeated. Tiie process is considered as well per- formed wlien the button of silver adheres but slightly to the cupel ; when its shape is very considerably globular above and below, not flattened at the margin ; when it is quite clean and brilliant, shewing the beautiful white of pure s-lver, and not in any . ry decided manner upon the alloy of copper and gold, when this latter metal is as much as two-tliirds of the mass, and lience this process is chiefly of use in the lower mixtures. But if a small portion of miu'iatic acid is added to the nitrous, the activity of the menstruum is so much cncreiised that any mixture below three- fourths will be acted on, and consequent- ly the power of tJiis operation is much ex- tended. Gold therefore protects the alloy from the acid to a very great degree, and this is similar to what is found in parting, as tlie gold must not be more than a fourth, or at most a third of the mass, to allow of the separation of its alloy. The best acid for touching is recommended by V'aviquelin to be 98 parts of nitric acid of 13-4 specific gravity, - parts of muiiatic acid of 11-73 specific q'ravity, and 25 parts of water. This nitro-muriatic acid, it may be observed, does not act sensibly on the gold of the streak on the touchstone, the application being so short, without heat, and especially the muriatic ingredient be- ing in such small proportion. Touching is particularly of use in judging of the va- lue of very small samples of gold, wrought trinkets, and such pieces as cannot spare as much as six or eight grains for an as- say. As it only gives the fineness of the surface v.hich is abraded, caution is ne- cessary where plated metal is suspected, or where the surface is artificially made finer than thu inner part. Of Flirting. — The button of gold and silvei: left after cupellation, having been laminated and rolled into a spiral in the way above mentioned, is called a cornet ,- it is then put into a glass mattrass, of a pear-form, called -a parting-glass, and about twice or thrice its weight of pure nitric acid moderately diluted (M. Vauquelin recommends 1.25 specific gravity) is pour- ed on it, the glass is set on a sand bath or over charcoal to boil, the mouth being slightly covered to keep out the dust. When warm, the acid soon begins to act on the silver, and dissolves it witli the usual evolution of nitrous funics. As long as the acid continues to act, the cornet is studded all over with minute bubbles ; I when these discontinue, or unite into a ;fev,' large ones, it is a sign that the acid has ceased to act. About fifteeen or twen- ty minutes from the time the acid boils, is required for this process. The cornet is now corroded throughout, having lost by the solution all the silver, which was fiom two-thirds to three-fourths of its sub- stance : the gold retains the same coiled form, but is very slender and brittle. It is of importance that it should not be bro- ken, as it tends much to the accuracy of the business to have all the gold in one piece and not in fragments, and this is the chief reason why no more silver than ab- solutely necessary is added before cupel- lation ; for it is obvious that the less the proportion of gold in the cornet the more likely it will be to fall to pieces on the slightest agitation. The hot acid solution of silver is then poured off with great cai'e, and fresh acid, rather strongei-, is added, to clear away all remains of the silver, and boiled as before ; but only for five or six minutes. It is then decanted and added to the former solution, and the parting glass is filled with hot distilled water, to wash off all the remains of the solution. This is decanted off, and at the same time the coinet, now brown, spongy and unme- lallic in appearance, is got out by the fol- lowing little manual dexterity. A small crucible is inverted over the top of the parting glass Vvhilst full of water, the lat- ter is then rapidly inverted upon the cru. cible, and the cornet falls softly Uirough the water down the neck of the glass into the crucible, where it is gently deposited and the water carefully decanted off. The crucible is then dried and heated un- der a muffle to redness, by which the cornet shrinks extremely in every direc- tion, becomes firm, regains its metallic lus- -le, and when fully red hot and cooled, it appears a small coinet of pure gold, with all tile beautiful lustre, softness and flexi- bility of this noble metal. This is then most acciu-ately weighed and the process is finished. The final weight of the gold cornet in- dicates the absolute quantity of this metal in the assayed sample : the difference be- tween the weight of the button after cu- pellation (deducting the silver added) and the first sample is the weight of the cop- per or other base metal in the gold ; and the difference between the gold cornet to- gether with the silver added, and the but- ton after cupellation is the quantity of sil- ver alloyed with the original gold. The solution of silver left after parting is usually recovered by immersing in it, when collected in quantity, some bright ASS ASS copper plates, which dissolve and precipi- tate the silver in its metallic form It inay also be recovered by a solution of co'Timon salt, which converts the silver into luna cornea, of which wlien washed and fully drietl at a heat below redness, 100 parts indicate 75 of silver. The ac- curacy of the assay may be partly verified by this method. Assay fVeights. — A peculiar set of weirf-hts have been used by the difi'erent nations in the assaying- of gold and silver, which require to l>e explained. The real quantity taken for an assay is always ve- ry small, in this coimtry generally from 18 to 36 troy grains for silver, and fi'oin 6 to l2 grains for gold. This is the integer, and whatever be its real weight it is denominated the assay pound. This imaginary pound is then subdivided into aliquot parts, but difi'ei-ing according to the metal. The sil^ixr assay pound is sub- divided as the real troy pound mto 12 ounces, each ounce into twenty penny- weights, and, for assaying, these again in- to halves. So that there are 480 dittcrent reports for silver (this being the number of half pennyweights in the pound) and therefore each nominal half dwt. weighs one-twentieth of a troy grain, when the entire assay pound is 24 grains. The report is made according to the proportion of fine metal, thus standard silver of England is reported by the assayers to be 11 oz. 2 Awi-Jine, meaning thereby that the remainder of the pound is composed of 18 dwt. of alloy or copper, or in other terms that there are 37 parts of silver to 3 of copper- The gold assay pound is subdivided into 24 carats, and each carat into 4 assay grains, and each grain into quarters- So tliat there ai-e only 384 separate reports for gold. The stand- ard for gold coin is 22 c;u-ats^ne, and of course 2 carats alloy. Wiien the gold as- say pound or integer is only 6 ti'oy grains, the quai-ter assay grain only weighs l-64th of a troy grain. This will give an idea how acciu-ate must be the scales used for such delicate operations. Assayers also make their report upon gold and silver as being better or ii-orse than the established standard. Thus gold of 20 carats would be reported as ivorse 2 carats, beuig that proportion less than the standard of 22 carats. When a mixture of gold and silver is the subject of enquiry, if the quantity of gold exceed that of silver, it is called gold parting : if the contrary, silvtr parting, and the return is made accordingly, but with this distinction : in silver parting the report is first made on all the fine metal collectively, as if for silver alone, so if 10 oz of fine metal be fbuiKl, the as- sayer reports worse 1 oz. 2 dwt. that is 1 oz. 2 dwt. lower tlian the standard of silver. When tlie assay pound is subdivided, as for silver, in the same manner as the troy pound, it is obvious that alltlie lower denominations bear the same relation to each other; which is some httle advan- tage in transfei-ring the assay reports to 1 eal mixtures for use. On the contrary, the cai-at subdivision for gold, is confined to assaying, but its fractions being aliquot parts of the troy pound, the calculation for real use is very easy: as the troy pound contains 5760 grs. the carat cor- responds with '240 grs. or 10 dwt. the ass.ay grain or 4th of a carat with 60 troy grains, and the assay quaiter gi-ain with li troy grains. To which report, when the assayer has sepai-aled the gold (4oz. for example) lie adds 4 oz. gold in ii lli. troy. Whereas in gold parting he takes two equal assay pieces, treats one as a silver assay, juid the other as a gold assp.y, to find tiie absolute quantity of each metal, after which tlie report is first made on the gold singly, to which is added tlie report of the silver sepa- rately. Thus if he finds 4 oz. of gold and 3 oz of silver, he reports luorse 14 carats, (2 carats being equivalent to an assay ounce, and consequently the 4 oz. of gold equal to 8 caiats, which sub- tracted from 22 carats, the gold stand- ard, leaves 14) to which report he adds Jine siher 3 oz. But when the mixed metal contains more than half alloy, it is called metal Jar gold and silver, and the absolute quantity of each reported separately The assay pound, or integer, is di- vided in a different manner in several parts of Europe. In France before the late altei'ation of weights the gold assa\ was divided into 24 carats, and the carat subdivided into 32 parts, making an ul- timate division of 768 parts. The sil- ver assay pound was divided into 12 deniers, and the denier into 24 grains, making 288 grains in the pound. The Cologne assay weights, used in most parts of Germany, are the follow- ing. For gold the integer, here called a mark, is divided into 24 carats, and each carat into 12 grains, making 288 ultimate divisions. For silver, the mark is divided into 16 loths, and the loth into 18 grains, also making 288 subdi- visions. The Chinese use the decimal division for gold as well as silver. The integer ASS ASS contains 100 touches, and the simple use of tlie touchstone will enable the expert- est dealers to ascertain with much accu- racy, to the i touch or 200lh of the in- teger. The French have of late years adopt- ed tlve dccimaf method, consistently with their general system of decimal nume- ration. The integer for assaying (both | gold and silver) is the gramme, equiva- ^ lent to about 15A troy gi-ains, and the assay subdivisions are the same as those [ establisned for the gramme, being tenths, , hundredths, and thousandths. It remains to give the proportions of' lead to the estimated alloy of fine metal necessary to be added for cupeliation. I The most authentic documents for this J purpose are probably the very cai-eful ; experiments of Messrs. Tillet, Hellot, | and Macquer, which -svere the basis of j a regulation subsequently adopted by i an edict of the late French government, j Copper, the usual alloy of the fine me- ; ^als, when taken singly is found to re- quire from ten to fourteen times its weight of lead for complete scorifica-i tion on tlie cupel. Now all admixtures of fine metal tend to protect the copper from the action of the litharge, and the more obstinately, the greater the pro- portion of fine metal. So that copper with three times its weight of silver (or 9 oz. fine) requires 40 times as much lead as copper, with 11 parts of silver requires 72 of lead, and the like in an increasing ratio. The following is the table of the proportions of lead required to different alloys of copper, of which a few points are founded on the above- mentioned experiments, and the rest filled up according to the estimated ratio of in- crease (being multiples of the assay inte- ger 24, in arithmetical progression). In the three first columns is shown the abso- lute increase of the quantity of lead in al- loys of decreasing fineness : in the three last columns will be seen the gradual di- minution of the protecting powt r of fine metal against scorification, in proportion to the increase of alloy shown by the de- creasing quantity of lead required for the same weight of copper, under different mixtures. TABLE. Copper Lead. Ratio of increase. 1 requires 96 (zi 4x24) and hence -M4 (= 6X24) -192 (— 8X24) -240 (Zi:10x24) 288 (—12x24) Copper. Silver. -336 (:=14X24) 384 (:z:i 6X24) -432(ZZ18X'4) 480 (:=20X24) 528 (n22 ^-24) -576(11:24X24 -624(Z126X24 with 23 11 2 — l — 5 T Lead, requires 96 - 72 - 48 -40 - 36 - 33 - 32 SOX - 30 -29X -28x -28X It should be remarked however, that ma- ny assavers of good authority use propor- tions of* lead to alloy, considerably differ- ent from the above table, and the whole of the numbers here given may be consider- ed as rather high in regard to the quanti- ty of lead. The German assayers observe the fol- lowing rules. Copper. Silver. Lead, with 30 requires 128 15 7 4 3 1 i 1 TT 96 64 56 40 30 20 17 ASS ASS The proportions of lead required for gold assaying are nearly the same as for 5>ilver» ^issays t^f alloys ofPLitina — On account of the great specific gi'avity of plutina, it has sometimes been fraudulently employ- ed iis an alloy for gold, and being equally unoxidable b}- lead as gold and silver, it remains in the assay button after cupella- tion. It is not difficult however to detect this metal even in very small admixtiu'es, and by the following marks. Gold alloyed with so little as 1 per cent, of piatina, and cupelled in the usual way wich 3 pai'ts of silver, differs from gold and silver alone. 1. In requiring a much greater heat for compleat fusion of the button, especially at the last when all the lead is worked off, otherwise the button remains flat, like a piece of money, and its surface knotty. 2. Even when the button is well fused, its edges are much thicker and more rounded tlian hi common gold assays, its colour more dull and tending to yellow , aiwl especially it appears remarkably and entirely crystallized on its surface. This power of piatina in giving a decided crys- talhne form to the gold or silver alloys m vliich it enters, is very characteiistic. 3 In the cupellation, as soon as the last portions oflead are worked off, the button appears somewhat pasty, is scaixely iri- descent, and especially it does not lighten or assume suddenly a brilUant metallic look, but remains dull and tarnished. These appearances encrease with the quantity of piatina in the alloj-, but when it amounts to about 10 per cent, the colour of the alloy is so debased and whitened as readily to be distinguished from that of pure or standard gold, by simple inspec- tion. Silver is seldom alloyed with piatina, in- cntionally, the price of the two metals Oeing so nearly the same as not to make it v.orUi while as a fi-aud. When the piati- na is not more than 5 per cent of the al- loy, it works easily on the cupel, but the lightning is less obsei'vable than in a but- ton of pure silver. But the remarkable jiroperty of cr^stalhzing is still more con- spicuous here than in the compound alloy of gold silver and piatina, and the button is besides of a duller white, with some- what of yellow. 'When the piatina amounts to a quarter of the alloy, the button on the cupel flattens and becomes pasty, even be- fore all the lead is run off; its surface be- comes full of knobs, which by help of a glass appear clusters of crj-stalhne points, and its colour is grey and tarnished. The action of nitrous acid on the alloys of piatina is veiy remarkable. By itself VOL. I. piatina is insoluble in this acid as gold is, and an alloy of these two metals equally resists its action But when silver enters into the mixture in the same proportion as for parting (tliat is about 2 1-2 or 3 times the weight of the gold and piatina) and when the piatina is not more than about a tenth of tlie gold, the piatina is totally so- luble in nitix)us acid, togethe.- with the sil- ver, and the gold alone remains untouch- ed. On the other hand when an alloy of sil- ver and piatina alone is treated with ni- trous acid, the silver dissolves as usual, but the hquor soon becomes muddy, xsith a very fine bulky black precipitate, which continues encreasing till all the silver is chssolved, and when collected is found to be entirely piatina, comminuted by the acid, but scarcely changed in any other respect. A ])art of the piai'ma however re- mains in perfect soludon, for on adding to tiie liquor, separated fi-om the black pre- cipitate, some muriatic acid, white luna cornea falls down, after which cai'bonatof potash will tlii'ow down a gi'een coagulum, which is oxyd of piatina. The abo^e ef- fect of nitrous acid will therefore detect an .'dloy of silver and piatina- Gold alloyed with piatina may be en- tirely purified (as we have just mentioned) by the process of parting with aqua-fortis, the alloy being as usual previously mixed witJi two or tlu-ee times its weight of sil- ver. Some peculiar circumstances are re- quired in the operation. The mixed me- tal being laminated very thin and rolled into a spiral cornet, a weak acid is first added and boiled for some time. If the piatina is above 2 per cent, of the gold, the acid assumes a straw colour, which deep- ens in proportion to the piatina, and at the same time the comets take a brownish green. A stronger acid is tlien added and boiled three times successively, to detach the last portions of piatina, which are with diflSculty separated, and by a mag- nifying glass May be seen adhering in mi- nute grains to the surface of the gold cor- net. Thus by laminating very fine, suid by using tl.e acid liberally, and long boiling, all the piatina may be separated at one operation, when it does not exceed a tenth of the gold, and above that pi'oportion the colour of the gold is so much debased, andtlie appearances on cupellation ai-e so striking, that the fraud can hardly escape an experienced eje. Even if more than a tenth of tlie gold alloy, the piatina may- still be separated veiy completely by parting, but in tliatcase more silver must be added, which will reduce the propor- tion of gold so much, that after the artion o BAG of the acid the cornet can hardly be an- nealed without breaking down and losing its form. ASTRINGENT {Vegetable). Till the later experiments on vegetable substances had shown the important distinctions be- tween tlie tanning principle, and tlie acid, which from its being first extracted from galls lias been termed tlie Gallic, that part of vegetables which has the power BAG of tanning leather, and that which strikes a dee]) inky black with the salts of ii'ou, were both confounded under the general term astringent principle, taken from the sensible quality of astrbigency to tlie tongue. They are now found to be total- ly distinct, and will be described respec- tively under the aiticles Tanning and Gallic Acid. ATTRACTION. Sec Affinity. B. UACON, the flesh of swine, salted, dried, and, generalh', smoked in a chim- ne}'. As the history and customs relative to this savoury dish, would furnish but little instruction, we shall proceed to state the most approved methods of preparing it. When a hog is killed for bacon, the sides are laid in large wooden troughs, and sprinkled all over with salt, mixed with a small quantity of nitre : thus they are left for twenty-tour hours, to drain away the blood ancl the superfluous juices- After this first preparation, they should be taken out, wiped very dr}-, and the drainings thrown away. Next, some fresh salt, mixed with sugar or molasses, is to be rubbed over the meat, until it has absorbed a sufficient quantity, and tliis friction repeated six or eight successive days, while the meat is turned e\ery other day. If large hogs are killed, the flitches should be kept in brine for three weeks, and, during that period, turned few times, then taken out, and thorouglily dried in the usual manner; for, unless they be tluis managed, it is impossible to preserve tliem in a sweet state, nor will their flavour be equal to those properly cured. As the preservation of the salt used in this process, when carried on to a gjx-at extent, may be an oljject of economy, we shall state the following- method of reco- vering the saline matter contained in these drainings, or in any other brine, whether from herrings, beef, or pork : it was communicated to us by a friend, wiio had seen it jn-actiscd. He first added such a quantity of boiling water to the brine, or drainings, as was sufficient to dissolve all the particles of tiie salt. 'I'his solution he then placed in either an iron or eai-lhen vessel, over a fire, which, bv boiling, forced .all the feculent and animal particles to the top, so that they were care- fully removed by a perfor.ated ladle. Af- ter the liquid hatl jjecome clear, it was set aside for twenty-four hours, in a cool place, that the colouring matter might subside. But, as the combination it had formed with the boiled liquor was very tenacious, he contrived two different ways of separating it: 1. A solution of alum in water, one pint to an ounce of that sub- stance, was gradually dropt into tlie cold liquor, in the proportion of a table-spoon- ful of the former to every gallon of the lat- ter; and the whole allowed to stand for several hours ; or, 2. If time and circum- stances would permit, he filtered the li- quor by means of long flannel slips, cut longitudinally by the web, but previously soaked in another strong and perfectly clear solution of salt: these slips were so immersed into the coloured fluid, that the projecting external end reached another vessel, which had been placed much low- er than that containing the brine, or drainings. When these particulars were properly attended to, the absorbed li- quor became almost colovu'less, and pel- lucid. Having thus procured a clear li- quid solution, nothing more was required than to evaporate it to dryness, in order to re-produce the salt in its original gi-a- nulated form. We have faithfully re- ported the process, which may be imi- tated without difficulty, and at little or no expense. In our opinion, the second me- thod of discharging the colour is jjrefer- able, as, by this, no alum will be re- (luired, which only contiiminates the salt. Smoied Bacon. — The manner of pre- paring them is nearly as follows : after the iianis hiive been properly s.ilted, rubbed, antl wiped with dry cloths, in order to ab- sorl) all the impure juices, the cavities of ihe joints, as well as the bones themselves, are carefully covered with a mixture con- sisting of two pai"ts of the best salt, per- BAK BAK tccUy dried, and one pai-t of black ])epper, coarsely pow dered. As soon as this ope- nilion is performed, the hams ai-e, on the same day, suspended in a chimney or smoke house, where no otlier but wood lire is burnt, and which is usually in- creased during' the first three days- The lime of fumigation is regadatedby the size of Uie meat, and generally extends ficm three to six months. BAKING is the art of converting flour, or other fia-inaceous substances, into bread. As we propose to treat more fully on tliis subject, under the article Bread, we shall here only explain what re- lates to a proper method of preparing- it. In private families, the baking of bread is frequently mismanaged; which may be ascribed to the following- circumstances. Some women do not use a just proportion and temperature of water, so that the bread turns out either pasty, or too firm and lieavy ; others do not use a proper quantit\ or quality of leaven, or yeast, w hence the bread acquires either an un- pleasant bitterish taste, or the dough can- not rise, and consequently becomes tough and viscid ; again, others do not imder- stand the diie degree of heat required in the oven, so that it will be eitlier under, or over-baked. All these particulars deserve to be attended to, otherwise a bad and un- wholesome bread will be produced To survey, therefore, tlie whole process, which is one of the most comphcated in chenustry, we shall Jiere communicate a few general directions. 1. The flour, whether made of wheat, or lye, (which two are doubtless the best and most wholesome species of grain,) ouglit not to be used immediately on com- ing from the mill, as in a fresh state it is too moist for making good and palatable bread; but it should be kept in a dry place, for several weeks, stirred every day in summer, and at least every other day in colder seasons, till it lias ac- quired such a consistence, as renders it loose and yielding between the lin- gers. 2. As the dough will not rise, witliout gi^-ing it a proper leaven or yeast, this ought to be a principal object in families, as well as to bakers. If lea^•en be em- ployed, it should, on the j^receding even- ing, be deprived of its hard crust, and dissolved with a little, scarcely milk- Warm, water ; then carefully mixed with about a third part of the flour to be used for baking, and kneaded into a soft dough, by adding more tepid water. A small quantity of flour is j^ut on the top ; and, tiiiis prepared, it will be necessary to co- ver the trough with blanket.«!, and suffer it to stand in a moderately warm place till the following morning, that it may rise and duly ferment. The remaining' two- thii'ds of the flour must then be added, with a proportionate qtiantity of luke- warm water, and tlie whole kneaded into such an elastic dough as will draw into strings without breaking, and iiot adhere to tlie fingers. In this state it is again covered, and allowed to stand, (while preparations are making in the oven,) and not distiu'bed till it begins gently to rise, when it should be formed into loaves. 3. A proper degree of heat is an essen- tial requisite to the baking process. WJien the inner arch of the oven appears entirely white, it is generally considei'ed as sufficiently heated. But tliis being a fal- lacious criterion, we woidd recommaid the following: Place a handful of flour before the aperture of the oven, and if it turn of a brown colour, the heat is then nearly of the degree requu'ed ; but if it become black, or remain white, in the for- mer case the fii-e must be considerably re- duced ; and in tlie latter, more iuel must be added. Lasth , all pai-ts of the oven should be uniformly heated; and though we cannot enter into farther particulars, yet tlie attentive house-wife will easil}-, from her own observations, regulate the degree of heat, with the same effect as it might be done by IMr. Wcdgcwood's Pyrometer for the baking of earthen- ware. Reinmk. — ^lusty flour, when baked into bread, is not only extremely detri- mental to health, but it also imparts a bitter and nauseous taste. Wlien such flour is not too strongly tainted, it may be corrected bv first kneading it with leaven or sweet yeast, then making large holes witli a wooden cylinder in the dough, filhng up the cavities with flour that is perfectly sweet, suffering it to lemain in this preparatory state till tlie next morn- ing, then removuig tlie dry flour carefully with long spoons or similar implements, and afterwards converting the dough into bread, witli the addition of such flour as is not musty By this simple process, the flour first mixed up will be sweet- ened, but that which has been left over night in the dough, is said to become so corrupted, as to be unfit for use. It has frequently been attempted, and not without success, to bake good, whole- some bread, with little or no barm. In consequence of a dispute between the brewers and bakers of Dublin, concern- ing the price of yeast, hi the year 1770, BAK BAN tlie latter carried tlie point, by making their bread without it. As this process, however, could not be readily imitated in private families, we shall here state a me- thod ofraisiug a bushel ofjluur with a tea- sponiiful of yeastf first practised by James Stone. It IS as follows : Put a bushel of flour into the kneading-trough or tren- dle ; take about tliree quarters of a pint of warm water, and thoroughly mix with it a spoonful of thick, sweet barm; then make a hole in the middle of the flour, large enough to contain two gallons of water; jiour in youa- small quantity, and stir it with a stick, so that it may, with some of Jhc flour combining with it, ac- 3uire the consistence of batter for pud- ing; then strev/ a little dry flour over it, and let it stand for about one hour, when you will find the small portion so raised, that it will break through the dry flour scattered over it. After this, pour in ano- ther quart of w^arm water, while you are stirring in more flour, till it becomes as thick as before ; then again shake dry flour over it, and leave it for two hours longer. Repeat the same method about twice more, always suffering it to be somewhat longer at rest, and the bread w-ill become as light as if a phit of barm had been used. Nor does this method i-equire above a quarter of an hour more time than the usual way of baking; and the author of it asserts, that his bread has never been heavy nor bitter. With respect to the difference of sea- sons, J. Siune directs that, in summer, the water sliouid be used blood warm ; in win- ter, or cold frosty weather, as liot as the hand can beai- it without pain; while in the former season the dough should be covered up very warm, and strew^ed over wilh dry flour eveiy time tepid water is added, to keep in tlie heat: after using six or eight quarts of such water to every bushel of flour, in the guadual manner be- fore described, it wiil be found that tlie whol'i body of flour which is mixed w ilh the warm water, by means of a single tea- spoonful of barm, is brought into consi- derable agitation, so that it waxes or ferments williout diflRculty. See also Yeas r BVNK-FENCE, in rural economy, sig- nifies the inclosiu'e of ground with an artificial bank. In places where flat stones cannot be procured, the most du- rable and advantageous metiiod of fen- cing in arable ov pastuie lands, is with turf or green sods, about five ov six inches thick; the foundation five feet wide ; the middle filled up with earth ; the top about three feet broad, and plant- ed with proper shrubs or dw;u"f-wood. As every agriculturist is ac(iuanuc'(i wn'u the manner of constructing such fences, we shall only remark, that tUey are in many respects preferable to the common hedges ; because the latter, with their ditches, cover an almost incredible quan- tity of soil, while they neither afford suf- ficient shelter for cattJe, nor can the herb- age growing contiguous to them, be com- pared to that generally produced on the sloping sides of banks, where nettles and other aquatic weeds w^ould not obstruct the vegetation of the more useful plants. It is, however to be regretted, that manual labour in this country is at present so vei-y expensive, that few farmers, except- ing' those who hoard up their gi-ain, and wait for the maxivunn, or highest price, are either inclined or able, to defray the first and unavoidable expence connected with the system of bank-fencing. A subject of such extensive import- ance, we conceive, is entitled to every at- tention from a w'lse and economical legis- lature, or at least deserves to be conduct- ed on similar principles, and with the same patriotic spirit, as has lately been displayed in the different schemes of in- land navigation. BANKS of Rivers, are those natural boundaries within which every stream is confined, according to the magnitude and velocity of its current. But as the course- -»■ of rivers is frequently rapid and irregular, taking different directions, and often tiu*n- ing at acute angles, extensive iiumdations, especiallj' in high spring tides, necessa- rily happen from the overflowing of their banks. Hence it is of the utmost im- portance to every inhabitant in the vicini- ty of rivers, to possess some knowledge ot the proper method of forming embank- ments for the prevention of floods. Although we cannot, consistently with our limits, attempt a full mathematical analysis, yet we shall lay down a few general hints, and maxims, by which the reader may be guided in the practical view of tliis subject 4. The principal point to be ascertain- ed, is the elevation, or the heights neces- sary to be given to such banks. This must be regulated by the additional quan- tity of water, which, according to former experience, the river brings down during its freshes; and likewise by the distance, at which the artificial bank is to be con- structed, from the natural boundary of the stream. On this important point, mis- taken economy frequently defeats its own Diu-pose. If, tiierefore, the embankment IS to lie raised at some distance from the natural banks of the river, both a compa- ratively smaller lieight and base will be BAN BAN i-equired ; the saving will be ia the dupli- cate proportion of the former, and the works will be likewise tlie more durable, nearl}' in tlie same ratio ; becatise, by en- larging the additional bed given to the swollen river, its velocity and power of ruining tlie works are, according- ly dimimshed. Unless, therefore, tlie freshes of the stream be loaded with fine sand^ which might decompose tlie tui-f, the embankment should always be under- taken at a considerable distance from tlie edge of a river. By placing the artificial bank at half the breadth of the stream, from its natural banks, its 'channel will thus be nearly doubled, and tiie detached space, in general, afford excellent pastu- rage. 2. The next circumstance to be attend- ed to, is, that the river will rise higher, when embairked, than it did at the time when it was suffered to overflow ; and hence the difficulty of ascertaining to what height it may rise, from tlie greatest I swell which has been observed in its fbmier floods. For tliis reason, the ut- most rise in some gorge, where the river could not extend farther, shoidd be accu- rately marked, as far as can be remem- bered by the oldest inhabitants. Now the increased section in this place should be measured ; and, as the water rises in a much greater proportion than the section, the latter must be increased nearly in the same proportion as the gorge already mentioned. Those who neglect this method of regulating the proper height of the embankment, by the greatest swell that has in former floods been observed in the plain, are in danger of constrict- ing their banks too low, and consequently rendering them totally useless. 3. The whole embankment should, as much as possible, be conducted, in an unifonn line, and bj* the cojicurrence of the proprietors of hoth banks; because the general efiect tabc aimed at, consists in rendering the course of tlie stream straighter than it was before. All bends should be made less abrupt, by keeping the embankment farther from the river in all convex lines of the natural bank, and approaching to it nearer, where the latter is concave. Thus the action of tlie wa- ters on the embankment will be conside- rably diminished, and the dui-ation of the work insm-ed. On the same principles, we ought to pi'oceed in fencing rivulets, or brooks, which empty themselves into a larger river; and whatever bends ai-e given at its mouth to the two lines of em- bankment, they should always be made less acute than those of tlie natural brook ; Tit the same time an opportunity should be taken of reducing the angle of this trans- verse brook, or, m other words, of con- ducting it witli a more gentle flexion into the main river. 4. Particidar care should be taken, to cover the outside of the dyke with com- pact pieces of turf, or green sods, closely united. For, if it admits the water, there is gi"eat danger of drenching the interior and more porous part of the waU, while the statical pressui-e of this fluid body tends to burst the bank on the land side ; and thus the labour of months or years may be suddenly destroyed. Hence, too great attention cannot be bestowed on making and keeping it perfectly tight ; so that the whole be one continued fine turf, and every bare spot must without delay be cai-efully covered with firm and fresh sods : nor should the rat and mice-holes be neglected. Lasth, it deserves to be remarked, that a dry earthen bank, not firmly con- joined by grass-roots, will scarcely main- tain itself against the pressure of the water with a slope of forty -live degrees, while a canal conveying a modei*ate stream cannot be supported, even with such a declivity. Those banks, however, the base of which is as four to three of their height, will stand without danger in a moist soil : and this is not only the slope usually given them, but also ob- served in the spontaneous operations of Nature, in the channels which she forms in conducting lills and rivulets through the higher and steeper grounds. This natural form possesses both mechanical and mathematical properties, which justly claim the admirutiotrof those wJio adopt her beneficent hints and maxims. The only metliod of keeping these im- pervious to water, is to puddle them. That is, when about two feet of the bank is built up on each side, let tlie intermediate space, amounting to three fourths of the whole width be made thus : Put in the common dirt or earth in the vicinity of it, to which add w ater enough to make it a fluid paste. Let this be well raked back- wafd and forward by iron rakes with the teeth not much apart, constantly add to, and rake the whole of the middle pai-t of the bank, till it is comp.leted. On well and laborious raking of common earth, in a fluid state, depends the goodness of a bank. The sides may be sodded. "When well raked, moles find it difficult to get tlirough, but where moles are in a bank, tliev must be exterminated. BARILL.\, or BAlilLHA, is properiy, the Spanish name of a plant cultivated tor its ashes, frfmi which the jiurest mi- neral alkali is obtained ; but likewise sig- BAR BAR r.ifies tliat particular sort of alkali which is principally imported from Spain There are four plants cultivated by the Spaniards for this useful purpose, name- ly, the Barilla, G.izul, Goza, and SaCi- cor. But, as this account appears to be defective, we shall first present the reader with a list of those vegetables from which good barilla has been extracted in Bri- tain ; and next give a description of tlie most expcditiovis and profitable method of preparing- this valuable nialerial, for the various processes of washing, bleach- ing-, Stc Among the British plants, from which l)arilla or mineral alkali may be obtained, we shall at present enumerate the follow- ing, and then describe them in their al- phabetical places : l,-T\vo species of the Salsola, of Lin- ujeus, or Salt-Wort- 2. Two species of the Salicorniu, L. or Glass worn, and SA?fPHtRE. 3. The Zostera Marina, L. or Glass- wreck. 4. Two species of the Triglochin, L. or Arrow-Grass 5. The Cher.opndium album, and mari- titnum, L. or Wliite and Sea Goose- FooT. 6. The .rlrrrplcx porfulacoides, and lit- toralis^Vi. or Sea-Purslane, and Grass- Orach. 7 The Pluntago maritima, L. or Sea Plantain. 8. The Tatnarix galUca, L. or French Tamarisk 9. The Eryngiuni maritimuni, L. or Sea Holly. 10. The Sedtnn Telcfibitnn, L. or Or- pine SroNECROP, or Livelong- 11. The Dipsacus Ju'lonum, L. or Ma- nured Teasel; and, 12. All the species of the Cynara and Cardiius, L. or the Artichoke and Thistle, when cultivated either on the sea-shore, or in any soil irrigated with sea-water. Jiarilla, as an article of trade, ought to possess the fiillowing properties ; it should be firm, hard, and heavy, though porous ; dry, and soimding on percus- sion ; of a blucish colour, and impart, on treakingit, a flavour slightly resembling that of the violet. By these criteria, it may be easily distinguished from pot- ash, though it would be difliciilt to pro- cure a bai'illa consisting purely of mineral alkali; as the very best sort of the former generally contains a small proportion of common salt. According to the experi- ments made by Mr. Kirwan, and publish- ed in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, in 17^9, the barilla exported from Spain, contains car- bonic acid, carbon, hme, clay, and sile- ; cious earth ; but such as is very pure, also contains both common and Glauber's salt, and water. From the small quan- tity of carbonic acid discoverable in Spa- nisii baiilla, he concludes that its mi'ie- ral alkali is for the most part cf)mbined with it in a pui-e or caustic state ; and that its blueish colour must be ascribed to the matter of carbon : in a similar way, he attributes the green or blue colour ot pot-ash to its combination with manga- nese.. This important article of commerce, is. In proportion to its degree of purity and strength, classed according to the fol- lowing places, from which it is imported : 1. The barilla made at Alexandria ; 2. That from Alicant ; 3. Carthagena ; and 4, Bourde, or Smyrna. Various methods and schemes have excited the ingenuity of speculative men, in the production of this valuable sub- stance. Those of our readers, wiio ap- ply their attention to experiments of this useful nature, will, perha]5S, be gi-atified by the following specification of Mr .lames King's patent for his new-invented Jiritisli barilla, granted in 1780. As his exclu- sive privilege is now expired, we shall communicate the process nearly in the patentee's own woi-ds. He first takes a quantity of ashes obtained from burning the loppings or branches of ash-wood, oak, beech, elm, alder, and any other kind of green wood and bramble, in the proportion of one-foiu'th ; and a similar quantity of ashes obtained by burning the green vegetables, known by the name of fern, brecon, bean and pea-straw, and whin-ashes ; also common field and high- way thistles ; the stalks of rape and mus- tard seed ; and the bent, or rushes, that grow by the seashore. One half of the ingredients being thus procured, they are then passed through a fine sieve, placed on a boarded floor, and carefully mixed with a similar quantity (making the other half) of soapboilers' waste ashes, which must be ultimately blended together with a shovel. Next, lie adds one hundred weight of quick -lime to twelve times that quantity of the other materials, and like'- wise intermixes them thoroughly. After this preparation, tlie whole is put into large square iron pans, and a suflficient quantity of sea-water is pom*ed on it to dissolve the lime, ashes, &.c. while the mass is stirred with an iron rake, to ef- fect a more minute intermixture. A coal fire Is now lighted under the pans, and kept I)rlskly burning foi'ty-eight hours, without intermission j 'at the same time, BAR BAR tlie pans are continually supplied with sea- water, in oi'der to impregnate these ma- terials with a greater degree of the saline 4fe quality, till tliey acquire a proper cou- sistence for calcination in a melting fur- nace, knowni by the name of ca:'car. This apparatus is constructed in the usual minner, except that there is a wall above the grate -room, to separate the fire from the materials laid upon the bottom. An intense degree of heat is used in" this cal- car, by means of which the saline mass boiled in the pan is completely dissolved, and afterwai'ds kept in a state of fusion for one hour, diu-ing which time, the vo- latile part is expelled, and a fixed alka- hne salt remains : this, being cooled in U'on pans, produces British barilla, re- sembling that imported from Spain. Mr. King also declares, in the preamble to his patent, that tliis new chemical compound is calcuhited to serve as a substitute lor manufacturing crown and broad window- glass, and also bottles, as well as fur mak- ing soap and alum to much greater ad- vantage, than any other material hitherto used in the production of tliose commo- dities. Barilla is produced, by the incineration ef different sea plants, chiefly in Spain and Ital}-, where whole fields are sowed with them by the farmers, to good advan- tage. From this impure and mixed mass ©f cinders, is obtained the marine alkali. In Spain, Italy and France, it is also obtained from the fucus vesiculosus and from the salsola soda. The Saracens in Spain, called the plant which they used for the preparation of their Barilla, kali ; which with tlie addition of the Arabian article, has given rise to the name alkali. The discovery of the use of these plants, seems to be a {iresent of the Sara- cens to the Europeans, for no mention is made of it, before the ^lahometan rera. Tlie Ancients seem to be silent on that head. The manner of preparing tliese ashes, usually is thus : when the plant has at- tained its full height, they cut it down and let it dry ; afterwards they burn and calcine it in certain pits, like lime kilns, dug in the ground for that purpose, which are covered up with eartli, so tliat no an- may come at tlie fire. The matter by this means is not only reduced into ashes, but by means of the salt juices united into a hard substance, which they break out of the pits with hammers. The Spanish barilla is reckoned the best; and among the Sicily barilla, the preference is given to the produce of Utica, then comes that of Trapani, then Catanea, iSIarsula, &c. In Sicily, the first crop of these herb.s is cut in September and October; and they make a second crop about the end of J^ovember; but this second crop pro- duces an inferior kind of barilla. In shipping barilla, particular attention should be paid, to have as little small or dust as possible ; as in the latter state it is most exposed to the access of air, which destroys its virtue. The marine alkali however, is less subject to attract humi- dity, than the vegetable alkali, like pot and pearl ashes, which can only be pre- served when closely packed in casks. Tiie usual assortment, in which barilla is sold in Sicily, consists of two thirds large lumps, one sixth small lumps, and one sixth dust. It answers best, not to ship any dust, but to resell it at half price. Prime quality in barilla is to be distin- guished, by its strong smell, when wet- ted wiili the spittle, and by its wliitish color. If the lumps ai'e hard, it shews they are fiesh. Biirilla is used by glassmakers, soap- boilers, bleachers, and other manufac- turers. BARING OF TREES. See Horti- CULTURE. BARK, in the dissection of plants, is the exterior coat of trees, corresponding to the skin of animals. As tlicse are fur- nished witii a cellular membrane covering all the fleshy parts, and usually replete with white granulated fat, which can be liquified only by heat ; so are plants sur- rounded with a bark abounding with oily juices, by means of wliich, natiu'e ha.s rendered them inaccessible to cold; be- cause the spicula: of the ice are prevented from fixing and freezing the fluids, which circulate through the vessels. Hence it is tliat evergreens continue their verdure at all seasons of the year, because their bark contains an unusual proportion of oil, more than is dissipated by tlae heat of the Sim. The quantity of bark on a ti-ee may be increased by pinching ofi" the flower-buds, as soon as they appear ; but, if the former be woimded, by any accident, the edges of the dead rind ought to be carefully cut oflj without injuring the living bia-k; and a mixture of wiiite lead and boiled oil be applied, to preserve tlie woimded part from air, moisture, and insects — The fol- lowing method of cui-e, which is stated to have been successfidly practised where the bark of a tree had recently been torn ofl", we give on the authoritj' of Dr. Dar- win. It consists simply in again f istenfaig the same piece of bark, or in tying down another piece from a u-ee, belonging to the same species ; the edges of the wound BAR BAS antl bark being carefully adjusted ; in con- sequence of which, the whole will com bine hi the same manner as the vessels of a seven unite with those of the bark be- longing to the engrafted stock. 'the bark of plants is hable to peculiar tliseases, as well as to be preyed upon by insects, which frequently prove destruc- tive to the tree. er mate- rial. M. Chabouille, in France, has lately suggested improvements upon bee-hives, which appear to us deserving of notice. His principal object is to procure the greatest degree of cleanliness for these delicate and industrious insects, by co- vering the bottom of the hive with plas- ter of Paris, and constructing the cylin- drical inclosure of rye-straw, and cross ligaments, or bands, made of the inner rind of die lime-tree When the basket- work is completed, he coals it over with a cement made of two-thirds of cow-dung, and one-thu-d of ashes. In tlie interior purt of the hive, he places two thin pieces of oak, crossing each olher at right an- gles, which greatly facilitate the deposi- tion of the honey-combs. Tiie cover of the luve consists of -a firm board, seven- teen inches hi diameter, and the entrance is so constructed, that it may be closed by a small door, to exclude injurious animals during winter. The lower part of this door has small semi-lunar incisions, each of which admits two bees abreast : above these, are made two rows of holes, just large enough for one bee to pass. I'iie floor should be so constructed, that it may encompass and secure the founda- tion of the hive, to prevent any disiur- bance from that quarter. Such a smooth aiid white floor of gypsum, gi-eatly ccm- tributes to cleanliness, and the bees be- come so much attached to it, that they will not easily relinquish their habitation. The straw wall ouRhtto be one-inch, and the cement before described, half an inch in thickness ; the latter is Ihe best coat- ing jet contrived, for excluding noxiou,s' insects which would perforate the straw, and ibr sheltering the bees fi'om rain and wind, while it exhales an odour very gi-ateful to them. M. Chabouille has al- so observed, that bees kept in a hive of this description, are sufficiently protected against the effect of cold during winter ;. and that they swarm much earlier than those reared m any other. However ingenious this contrivance may appear, we regret that the inventor has not stated the particular dimensions of the bee-hive, nor attended to many other circumstances relative to the cul- ture of the insect itself. Hence we are induced to communicate a later, more ac- curate and circumstantial description of a bee-hive, hiventcd in Italy by Professor Gaetano Harasti, which has proved of practical uiility. This account is trans- lated from the Transactions of the Patri- otic Society cf JMilan, and as it contains much useful information on the subject, we have endeavoured to render it of prac- tical service, by accom])anyinglt with the appro}5riate cuts of the different figures described. It is well known tliat bees, when pro- perly cultivated, produce considerable profit, and in order to obtain the greatest possible advantage, it is necessary to sup- ply them widi every convenience for the suppoT-t of themselves and their young. We should also contrive means to take the wax and honey with the smallest pos- sible loss. In short, when the apiary is placed in a good situation, (either south or sou I h west,) that is, in a country abounding vvith flowers, at a distance from brew-houses, smelting works, &c. tlie nexl and most imijortant pohil is the choice of well constructed hives. Ill Lombardy, the common hive, com- posed of straw, or twigs, is generally BEE BEE used, though ill-contrived ; as it is diffi- rult to take away the wax and honey with- out destroying the bees. Reflecting on these circumstances, M. Harasti, during his cultivation of bees. Conceived that it would be possible to form a hive which should liave all the advantages of the best kind, while the simplicity and cheapness of its construc- tion, might bring it into use among- hus- bandmen. A good bee-hive ought to possess the following properties : First, it should be capable of enlargtment or contraction, according to the number of the swarm. Secondly, it should admit of being opened without disturbing the bees, either for the purpose of cleaning it ; of freeing it from insects ; of increasing or dividing the swarm ; or for the admission of a stock of provisions for the -(vinter. Tliii'dly, it fihould be so constructed, that the pro- duce may be removed withou' injury to the bees. Fourthly, it should be inter- nally clean, smooth, and free fr-. An emptj box must I be in readiness, in the place 'where the I hive is to stand : a cover must also be • procured; and, as soon as the hive is di- : vided in two parts, the two upper boxes ! nuist be taken from the lower ones, and the cover must be immediately put upon the latter, closing all the interstices whU tlie usual cement The upper boxes are to be placed upon the empty one just mentioned, so that a hive will then be formed of three boxes The lower boxes, on which tlic fresh cover was put, must be left at rest till the evening, at which time a third may be placed under them ; and when it appears that a proper quan- tity of work has been done in the lower box (of either hive) a fourtli box may be added, under the others. In tJie above manner, artificial swarms may be formed; and, by this method, we not only avoid the inc(»nveniences whicii attend the procuring of swarms ia the common way, but we obtain the ad- vantage of having the hives always well stocked. This ought to be the first ob- ject of every one who cultivates bees ; for it is allowed to be of more advantage to keep the hives well stocked, than to in- crease their number ; and, in fact, it has been observed, that if a hive of 4uU0 bees gives six pounds of honey, one of 8000 w ill give twenty-four pounds. Ujion tills principle, it is proper to unite two or more hives, when they happen to be tliinly stocked. This may easily be done, by taking a handful of balm, and scattering it in those hives which are in- tended to be united. By this means, the bees will all acquire the same smell ; and, it has been observed, that by the seubc of smelhng, bees distinguish those which belong to die same hive. After tlie above preparations, the hives are to be jomed, by phicing tliem one upon the otlier, in the evening, when they are at rest, taking away those boxes which contain few or no bees Care must be taken to shut all tlie little doors, except the lowest. It may even be proper sometimes to shut the lower tioor also, when, for in- stance, any tumult within the hive, causes tlie bees to endeavour to quit it. In such case, that vhe bees may not be deprived of air, a piece of tin, pertiuated with nu- merous holes, may be used to close the opening, instead of the usual door, and may be taken away when the bees become quiet. The following is the method of taking the wax and honey, with little or no in- juiy to the bees ; but it should be previ- BEE BEE eusly remarked, that the honey is chiefly ! of the same form and size. But in every at the top of the hive, tlie young brood box, on that side which is opposite the in the middle, and the greatest stock ofiHttle door, there must be fixed a pane of wax is at the bottom. For this reason, when three of the four boxes are filled with comb, &c. the upper one A is to be first taken off, in the manner here de- scribed. The buttons b, b, &c. wl\ich serve to unite the boxes, are to be turn glass, with a sliding shutter over it, so that by drawing back these sliders, the inside of the hive will be exposed to view. To see the bees at work, however, it is necessary that the comb should be dis- posed in a regular manner, and pei-pen* ed, or the wooden peg-s (if such are used) dicular to the pane of glass. This may taken out; the cement employed for clos- 1 be obtained, by placing in the boxes, in- ing the intervals is to be scraped off ;[ stead of the two cross-sticks already de- and then a piece of iron wire is to be drawn through the comb so as to divitle it. When the box A, is separated, its cover is to be taken ofi' and ]iut upon the box B, now become the highest. After taking out the contents of the box A, it is to be cleaned, and again placed upon the stand or table, under the box D, tak- ing care to open its little door, and to shut that of the box D. To prevent any bees remaining in the upper box, when taken away, a little smoke may be intro- duced by means of a bellows. The more empty space the bees find in the hive, the more eagerly they go to work The brood of the box B, which remained at top, do not long delay to swarm, or at least they pass from the state of chi-ysalis into that of the perfect and laborious animal ; therefore, when it is perceived that the lower part of the hive is occupied, the box B may be ta- ken off, in the manner already described, and after being emptied, may be placed under A. In the same way the thb'd box C, in which there is generally a good stock of WMX, may after waixls be taken off; but this is a matter of greater delicacy, be- cause in general the eggs are deposited in it. We must also take care not to de- prive the bees entirely of the stock of wax and honey which they have collected for the winter. A hive made in the manner here point- ed out, appears to me to be such as would be most useful to husbandmen in general, who wish to cultivate bees ; but a hive may be made upon tlie same principles, which will shew tile work of the bees, through its whole progi^ss, and thereby enable any one to study the nat\.u"d his- tory of these wonderful Insects. A hive of this kind is composed of three or four boxes, with a cover, like the hive already described ; It may also be scribed, five parallel sticks or bars, as represented in the following figure : The bees will attach their combs to these bars, and the intermediate space will afford suflicient fight for seeing them work. If more light is desired, it may be obtained by opening the little doors op- posite tlie glass; which doors may be made considerably higher than is above directed, and may have a slider over them, by whicli tlieir aperture may be diminish- ed at pleasure. The sliders which cover the panes of glass, ought never to be opened, except for the purpose of observing the bees ; becav^se a strong light lessens their dis- position to work If it sliould be perceiv- ed that the coldness of the glass is pre- judicial to the bees in winter, it may then be covered with a cotton cloth ; or it may be entirely taken away, and a piece of ])aste-board put in its place ; for at that time, the operations of the bees are sus- pended. Instead of making a little door to each box, to be left open when the box is low- ermost, for the passage of the bees, per- haps it might be better (because more simple) to cut a groove in the board or table on which the hive is placed. This groove should be about two inches wide, and about three fourths of an inch high at the outer edge, and should be gradu- ally diminished, both in width and height, towards the part where it meets the hive, BEE BEE as IS represented at b, in the foUotving figure : Two advantag'es are derived from tliis construc'doii. First, the little door in t!.e box, and the contrivance tor opening and shutting it, will be unnecessaiy. Second- ly, it is somedmes proper to diminish or enlarge the opening for tlie passage of the bees, according to circumstances, with- out shutting it entirely ; and this may be done with the greatest ease, by moving the hive nearer to, or furtlier from, tlie edge of the table ; or this passage may be entirely closed, by moving the front of the hive beyond the groove : but in that case some small holes must be made in the hive to let in air, which may be stopped up when that formed by the groove is open. A farther advantage attending this con- struction is, that as the groove will have a slanting direction, the bees will thereby be enabled, v.ith very little trouble, to remove fl-om the hive any dead bees, ex- crement, &c. which may be obnoxious to their nature. Another ven' curious and useful bee- hive, is that originally contrived b\- Air. Thorley, of London ; which, from nearly sixty yeai-s experience, has proved of su- perior utility to any other. It is construct- ed as follows : the lower pait is an octan- gulai' box, made of deal boards, about a;i inch in thickness, the cover of wliich is externally seventeen inches in diameter, but internally only 15^, and its hcigiu ten inches, lu the middle of this coNcr is a hole, which may be opened or shut at pleasure, by mc;msof a slider. In one of the pannels is a pane of glass covered witli a wooden do jr. Tiie bet-hole at the bot- tom of "he box is about 3^ niches broad, and half an inch high. Two silly's of deal, about half an inch square, cross each other in the centre of the box, and are fastened to "the p.uinels by means of small screws. To tliese slips the bees fasten thek combs. In this octangular box the bees, after swarming in the usual manner, are hived, and suflercd to conti- nue there, till they have built their combs, and filled them with honey ; which may be known bv opening the door, and view- ing their works through the glass pane, or by the weight of the hive. When they have filled tlieu* habitation, a common bee-hive of straw, made either flat at the top, or in tlie common form, must be placed on the octangular box, and the slider dra^\^l out; thus a communication will be opened between the box and the straw -hive, so that these industrious in- sects will fill this hive also with the pro- duct of their laboius. AVhen the straw- hive is sufficiently filled, the slider may be pushed in, and after plachig another in its room, again speedilj- removed. The Egiptian bee-hives are made of coal-dust and clay, wliich being weU blended together, the mixture is formed into a hollow cylinder, about a span in diameter, and from six to twelve feet liigh : this is dried in the sun, and be- comes so hard that it may be handled at pleasure- Another, of a very simple and ingenious construction, has been invented bv M. Degelieu. It ma\- be made either of straw or wood: but, as its internal dimensions must be the same throughout its whole length, it is necessary that its form should be either cylindrical or pjL«matic. Its principal advantage is, thai its bases ai'e moveable, and may be fixed by pins at any distance from each other ; by which means its size may be increased or dimi- nished according to ci-cumstances. It must he on its side, and, in tlie foremost base, there must be a passage left for the bees. Hence, by drawing out the poste- rior base, the honey may be taken from the back part of the hive, witliout huiting the bees ; and when this is done, the base should be pushed hi close to the remain- ing comb, that an intermediate space may remain. By turning tlic liive, and mak- ing the entrance in that part which had before been the posterior base, the bees will build new cells, in the room of Uiose taken away; consequently the honey will be w hiter, and mo!-e pure. "\Mioever intends to erect an apiaiy, should purchase hives towards the close of the year, v/hen tiiey are cheapest; and such only as are full of combs, and stock- ed with a sufficient number of bees. In order to ascertain the age of the liiyes, it BEE BEE should be remarked, tliat th(? combs of the last year are white, while'those of the former year acquire a darkish yellow. Where the combs are biack, the hive should be rejected as too old, and liable to the inroads of veimiii. Bees never swarm till the hive is too much crowded by the youns^ brood They sometimes begin to swarm in May, or earlier, according to the warmth of the season. As soon as a swarm is settled, tlie bees should be immediately hivt^d, to prevent their taking wing again. Jf they settle on a low branch of a tree, it may be cut olT and laid on a cloth, the hive being ready for their reception ; but if it be diffi- cult "to reach them, it will be advisable to Jet them remain where they have settled till the evening, when there will be less danger of their escaping. When the swarm is hived, they should fae immediately removed to the apiary, but the hive should be kept near the place at which the bees settled, till the evening, lest some stragglers might be lost. The usual method of uniting swarms, is by spreading a cloth at night ujjon the ground close to the hive in which the two swarms are to be placed. Lay a stick across the cloth, on which place the hive with the new swarm: on giving a smart stroke on the top of the hive, all the bees will drop in a cluster upon the clolli. Then take another hive from the stool, and place it over the bees, when they will ascend into it, and mix with those already there. Another method is, to invert the hive in which the united sv/arms are to live, and strike the bees of the other hives into it, in the manner before described. A large swarm weighs eight pounds, and others gi-adually less, to one pound. Hence a good swarm should weigh five or six pounds. Such as are less than four pounds weight, should be strengthened Ly a small additional swarm. The shx: of tl.ie hive ought to be proportionate to the number of the bees, and it should he rather loo small than too large, as tlicse insects require to be kept warmer than a large iiive will admit. Great improvements may be made in providing plenty of pasture for bees; and as a lich corn country is. unfa- vourable to tlicir industiy, the prac- tice cf other nations, in shifting tlie abode of their bees, is deserving of imi- tation. M. Maillct, in his description of Egyp^, informs us, that the nativc:s of tliat fci-tile country annually send their bees into dis- tiut regions to procure sustenance for I them, when they cannot find any at home- ) About tiie end of October, the inhabitants ! of Lower Egjpt embark their bees on the ! Nile, and convey them to Upjier Eg^'pt, ! when the inundation is withdrawn, the lands are sown, and the flowers are be- j ginning to bud. These insects are thus conducted through the whole extent of j Egypt, and, after having gathered all the rich produce of the banks of the Nile, I are reconducted home about the begin- i ning of February. I In France, floating bee-hives are very 'common- One barge contains from sixty to a hundred hives, which are well de- < fended from the inclemency of the wea- ther. Thus the owners float them gen- tly down the stream, while they ga- ther their honey from the flowers along its banks; a single bee-house yields the proprietor a considerable income. Their method of transporting bees by land, is also vv'orthy of our attention. The hives are fastened to each other by laths, placed on thin pack-cloth, which is drawn up on each side, and then tied by a piece of pack-thread several times round their tops, hi this state they are laid in a cart, which generally contains from thirty to fifty hives, and conveyed to places where the bees can collect honey and wax. During the winter, bees are in so lethar- gic a state, that a little food is sufficient for their sustenance : but as every sunny day revives, and prompts them to exer- cise, food is necessary on these occasions. Some hives of Ijees, which are supposed to have died of cold, have in reality pe- rished by famine, especially whes a rainy summer prevented them from collecting a sufficient store of provision. IJence the hives sliould be carefully examined in au- tumn, and ought then to weigh at least eighteen pounds each. With respect to the feeding of bees, the common practice is, to leave them as much honey in autumn as will make the hive weigh twenty pounds. The honey should be diluted with water, and put into an empty comb, split reeds, or upon clean wool, which the bees will suck per- fectly dry. By the dilution with water, however, the honey is apt to become can- died, in wiiich state it is prejudicial to the bees. A better method is, to replenislk the weak hives in Sejitember, with such a portion of combs filled with honey taken ii-om other hives, as may he deemed a sulMcicnt supply. Tliis is done by turn- ing" up the weak hive, cutting out the empty combs, and placing full ones in tlieir stead, secured by pieces of wood, that they may not falj down when tlie BEE BEE hive is replaced. If this method be con- sidered too troublesome, a plate of honey, unmixed with water, may be placed un- der the hive, and straws laid across the plate, covered with paper perforated with several small holes, through which the bees will suck the honey without dif- ficultj'. The degree of cold which bees can endure, has not been ascertained. In the cold parts of Russia, tliey are often fbun4 in hollow trees. Their hives are fi-equentlv made of bark, which does not afford them much protection Hence, Ml*. White observes, tliat bees which stand on the north side of a building-, will not consume more than or.e-half of the honey necessary to supply others which stand in the sun. In winter, how- ever, they should be examined; and if, instead of being clustered between the combs, they ai'e found in numbers at the bottom of the hive, they should be car- ried to a warmer place, where they ^^iU soon recover. In wiiitei's extremely se- vere, lay on the bottom of an old cask the depth of half a foot of very dry- earth, powdered, and pressed down hard. On this, place the stool with tiie hive; and, to preserve a communication with the air, cut a hole in the cask, oppo- site to the entrance of the hive, in which fix a piece of reed, or hollow alder, and then cover the whole with dry- earth. In England it is usual, in taking the honey, to deprive the bees of their lives The common method is, to suffocate them with the smoke of brimstone ; but Mr. Manley has adopted a more humane and judicious plan : he says, " I never destroy the old stock of bees ; but after lifting them, to examine v.hat honey there is, if I think the hive is full, I put another under it with a fiat top, having a square hole in the centre. When the bees are in the under hive, I place a shutter, which is of wood, in the hole at the top ; and that prevents them from going into the upper liive. I then invert it in a bucket, and strike it with a rod till I think they are all out, after which they go into the under hive." Mr. WUdman gives the following in- stiTictions for taking tlie honey and wax. Remove tiie hive into a darkened room, that it may appear to the bees as if it was late in the evening ; then gently in- vert tlie hive, and place it between the frames of a chair, or any other steadv support, and cover it with an empty liive raised a little towards the window, to give the bees sufficient light to guide theii- ascent. Hold the empty hive, stea VOL. I. dily supported, on the edge of the full hive, between the left side and arm, and continue striking with the right hand round the full liive, from the bottom up- wards, and the bees, being frightened by the noise, will ascend into the other. Repeat the strokes, rather quick tlian sti-ong, round the hive, till all the bees are gone out of it, which will be in about five minutes. As soon as a number of the bees have got into the empty hive, it should be raised a little from tlie full one, that they may not return, but con- tinue to ascend. When they are all out of the full hi^e, that in which they are must be placed on the stand, to receive the absent bees as tliey return from the fields. The combs should be cut from the sides and top as clean as possible, to save the future labour of the bees. Dur- ing this operation, tlie hive sliould be placed, reclining to the side from which, the combs are taken, and afterwards put for some time upright, that the remaining honey may run out. Ha\-ing' finished the taking of the wax and honey, tlie next business is to return the bees to their old hive, foi* which pui-pose we must refer the reader to the directions already given, when we stated the usual method of uniting swanns. By inverting the hive which contains the bees, and placing their own over it, they will immediately ascend, especially if the lower hive be struck on the sides to alarm them. With regard to the increase of bees, Mr. Hubbard, of Bury St. Edmunds, Eng- land, advises the owner to wait with pa- tience, until he has acquired twenty stocks, and in the month of April to separate ten of the strongest hives for swarming ; the other ten must be raised on large empty hives, the tops of which should be previ- ously taken off, and the joinings of the two hives secured with a little clay, whicTi plan prevents the bees from swarm- ing. He also recommends the prime swarms from the other stocks, to be put into three -peck at least : for, when they appear very early, they will probably swai-m again in a few weeks, which should always be prevented, and all the after- swarms be united, two or three into one ; for the great advantage arises from a large quantity of bees being kept toge- ther ; and, by that mode, ten slocks will generally yield fifteen good ones. The following observations were pub- Ushed by George Morgan, Esq. formerly of Princeton, New Jersey. " Several writers on the management ©f BEE BEE bees, have given very ingenious direc- tions for taking their new made honey, witliout destroying those useful creatures. Aly Imnianity, hurt at tlic idea of setting fire to the fatal match, induced me to imi- tate tlicir methods ; particuhtrly tliose of Mr. \Vildmai>, and the Rev. Mr. Wliite, whose directions I observed very atten- tively, with some success ; but my expec- tations were not gratified, as 1 found young broods in every hive I took, and conse- quently the honey obtained was impure. However, after a variety of experiments, I discovered an agrteablc, safe, and easy vay to take the huney, without the least injur)' or distuibaiice of the bees. As I liave experienced great pleasure, and some benefit from my discovery, 1 take this opportunity to lay it before the Agiicullurai Societ}'. Mv boxes are made af;er the manner of Mr. Wliite's, of anv well-seasoned wood, ten inches jsquare in the clear ; in pairs, with communications at tiie sides, for the bees to pass freely from one box to ano- ther : a pane of glass (7 b\ 9) with a glid- ing shulier, may be put into the back part of each box, through wliich you may see the bees at work. Any pei son who can handle a saw and hammer, nuvy make the boxes at a small ex pence. The commuincations between the boxes are at top and bottom ; those at top siiould be tlnee inches long, and half an inch wide, to serve as sti'eets or allej s betwixt the hives. The communications at bottom should be five or six inches long and three fourths of an inch deep, so as to affbi-d a free pas- sage from one hive to the other. Tiie mouth of the hive may be from three to ten inches long, and half an incli deep. In the busy season, this wide en- trance facilitates the bees going out and coming in, and may be contracted at plea- sure in autunm. Early tlie next morning after hiving a swarm of bees in one of these boxes, 1 add another to it, the door of which 1 close un- til the bees begin to work in it ; when 1 open it to facilitate their industry. Each box, of tlie above dimensions, will contain thirty pounds of honey. An early swarm, in a favourable situation and sea- son, will fill two bo.xes, and cast out seve- ral swarms ; each of wliich will fill two boxes with honey. As winter approaches, all tlic bees col- lect themselves into one box, anil will leave the other, with its conleiils, to the use of the owner, wliose profit, in good seasons, will be 90lb. of honey, and seve- ral additional svarms, for every slock kej)! ovei the preceding winter — 15 or 201b. of honey are sufficient to keep a stock over our longest winters, but Heave tliem 30lb. Thus I acquire the purest honey, with- out the use of the match, or any trouble in dividing or disturbing tiie bees ; for on turning up the hives (wliich have no glas- ses) I disrover, immediately, that in which the bees are collected, and I cai'ry ofi'the other, witliout a single bee in it. The losses and disappointments I have met with in a great variety of experiments, induce me to recommend this manage- ment to every lover of bees, as I have foimd it easy, pleasant, and profitable." It ought to be oliserved, that all honey is not wholesome. Bees indiscriminately sip the flowers of all plants abounding with sweets ; and as s.ome of these plants are of a poisonous nature, it follows that the honey must partake of their injurious qualities. Dr. Barton has written a very excellent paper on this subject. Amer. Phil. Trans, vol. 5tli. The plants afi()rd- ing this poisonous honey are, kahnia m- giistifolia, or dwarf laurel ; kalniia latij'o- lia, or great laurel ; kul. hirsuta, a pretty little shrub of the southern states; andro- rneda inariana, or broad-leaved moorwort. As these are very plentiful in many of the American forests, their blossoms aflbrd much honev for the wild bees. Ur. B. thinks that it will be found that other plants yield unwholesome honey ; such are, 1. Ithododendron iKdxinium, or Pennsylvania moun^iin laurel ; azalia nu- difiora, or wild honey suckle ; and datura stramnnium, or James-town weed The four first mentioned plants ought to be ex- tirpated in the neighbourhood of bee- hives ; and the honey procured from the three enumerated in the second place as suspicious, should be carefully examined to determine the fact with regard to them. The manner of ti'eating bees in Portu- gal, is as follows : A spot of ground is chosen for the hives, exposed towards the south or south-east, well sheltered from the northern blasts, and surrounded with shrubs and flowers ; of the latter, rose- mary is preferi'ed. The richer the neigh- bouring grounds are, the better ; for bees are said to range fin* food to the distance of a league from tlieii- home. Lanes are cut througii tlie slirubby thickets, of five or six feet w ide. The fences between the lanes are about tlie same dimensions, and formed at intervals into small recesses, like bowers or niches, to receive the hives. With respect to the Diseases of Bees, we shall mention a few hints, extracted from the above-mentioned work. Bees are sometimes afflicted witli a diarrhoea, in consequence of feeding gree- dily on tJie blossoms of the milk-tliistle. BEE BEE awd elm. The best cure is, pounded po- megranate seed and honey, moistened with rich, sweet wine ; or raisins mixed with similar wine or mead, in which rose- mary has been boiled. When they are in- fested with vermin, the hive must be cleansed, and perfumed with a branch of pomegranate,* or the wild fig-tree, which will inevitably destroy the vermin. Butterflies are said to conceal them- selves in the Mves, and annoy tlie bees : these intruders may easily be exterminat- if ed, by placing lighted candles in deep tin pots between the hives ; as the flame will attract them, and conduce to their de- struction In order to extirpate hornets preying upon the honey, it is only necessary to ex- pose shallow vessels near the hive, with a little water ; to which these predatorj in- sects will eagerly repair, to quench their thirst, and thus easily drown themselves To prevent bees of one society from at- tacking or destroying those of another, Dr Darwin recommends a board, about an inch thick, to be laid on the bee-bench, and the hive to be set on this board, with its mouth exactly on the edge ; the mouih of the hive should also be contracted to about an inch in length, and a semi-circu- lar hollow made in the board, immediate- ly under the mouth of the hive. By tliis simple method, the assailing bees will be constrained to act with greatdisadvantage. If, however, this should not succeed, Dr. Darwin advises a removal of the bee- hive to a distant part of the gai den, and to a more easterly aspect; as he has from ex- perience observed the goodeftects of such a change. This acute philosopher fartlier observes, in his adniirable Pliytologia, ^yllen treating of the glands and secretions ■of vegelables, tliat the depredations ofin- sects committed on that luitritious fluid, honey, is probably injurious to the pro- ducts o( vegetation; and that some, plants are more exposed and accessible to bees than others, whicli are either better de- fended, or secrete a greater portion of ho- ney than is necessary for their own eco- nomy. Of the latter desci-iption are, the catch-fly, sun-dew, hellebore and aconite: of the former, the Doctor mentions the Polygonum vielanipyrum, or Buck-wiieat, and the Cacalia siia%'eolens, or Alpine Colts-foot ; in both of which there also ap- pears to be a superabundant quantity of 'honey secreted. The flowers of the two last-mentioned plants are perpetually load- ed with bees and butterflies; insomuch, that at Kempton-land, in Germany, Mr. Worlidge says, in his Mysteries of Husban- dry^ chap. ix. 3, lie saw forty great bee- hives filled with honey, to the amount of seventy pounds each, in one fortnight, by tlieir being placed near a large field of buck-wheat in flower : and Dr. Darwin adds, that he well remembers having seen an astonishing number of bees on a field of buck-wheat in Shropshire, as well as on a plant of the ,\lpine Colts-foot in his gar- den ; from which the scent of honey could be perceived at seveial feet distance from the flower. To conclude this interesting subject, we cannot omit the judicious lemai'ks of a veteran writer, Dr J Anderson, whose nu- merous and useful works, in every branch of rural and domestic economy, are of in- estimable value to the farmer. In one of his practical papers On the JManagenient oj the Dairy, communicated to the Bu.h and West of England Society, he observes in a note, tliat bees, in tliis variable clunate, are a very precarious stock, though ex- tremely profitable where they thrive. Du- ring the frequent mild days of winter, and the warm mornings of spi-ing, which are suddenly succeeded by a nipping frost, or sleety rain, these creatures are roused from theii- torpid state; and, being unable to obtain food abi-oad, they are obliged to consume and exhaust their stores, and perish from want. And as the warmth of tlie weather in spring invites tiiem to search in vain for flovveis affording them nourishment, they are ofien chilled by cold, before they are able to return to the liive. To prevent such fatal accidents. Dr. Anderson is of opinion, that no method would be so eflTeclual as that of placing the hives in an ice-house, at the approach of winter. Here they may be kept till the spring has so far advanced, that no dan- ger is to be apprehended from bad wea- ther. During the whole winter, they will remain in a state of torpor, and requii-e no food. As soon as the mild weather incites them to appear, they will commence their labours with vigom*. The intense degree of cold which the bees sustain, without the least injury, in Poland and Russia, where even quick-silver is sometimes frozen, re- moves every doubt, or anxiety, concerning the safety of bees in an ice-house. BEES-WAX. See Wax. BEECH-MAST OIL, is expressed from the mast, or nut of the Beech tree, after it has been shelled and pounded. It is used in many parts of France and Silesia instead of butter ; according to some ac- counts, it is little inferior to oil of olives. After the oily part has been extracted, the remainder of the mast, when dried, is said to be sweeter and more palatable than before, and may be easily converted into flour, of a similar taste and colour to that of wheat. BEE BEE 111 order to obtain pure oil, the following cli'cumstances nuisl be attended to : 1. The tVuit mast be carefully selected, and all musty, rotten, or tainted nuts, particu- larly those of the lorraer year, should be rejected- 2. The shell of the nut should be taken off, which is necessary not only for in- creasinj? the quantity, but also for ini- provinjj the quality of the oil, because the husk communicates a pai'ticular fla- vour. 3. The film which surrounds the ker- nel should then be removed, an opera- tion which is essential to the perfection of the oil and the flour ; for the film, thougli small in quantity, has an astring'ent tUs- agreeable taste, which is plainly percepti- ble in botli the i>il and the flour, where its removal has been neglected. It may be sepai-ated by putting the kernels into hot water, as is practised In blanching al- monds. 4. After the nuts are gathered, they should be preserved for two or three months in a di-y place, so thinly spread out as not to allow them to heat, and of- ten turned, to keep them sweet ; then bruised like apples in a cyder mill. In tliis state the mass should be put into bags of strong thin canvas, and pressed cold. The oil must be extracted by three degrees of pressure : the first mode- rate, which gives the purest and finest oil ; the second harder, which yields it of an inferior quality; and tiie third as forcibly as the materials will bear, fi-om which an oil of an indifferent quality is ob- tained. After each separate pressure, the bag should be turned, and the mast, after being well shaken, may be preserved for use. It has been asserted, tliat the mast, though three times pressed, is more nu- tritive than in its natural state. It may, therefore, not only be given as a whole- some food to poultry, swine, and oxen, but also be manufactured into hair-pow- der. Se an interesting extract frpm a pa- per in the JMenioirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, on beech-mast oil, in Dr. Anderson's recreations, vol. 2d. BKEF, the flesh of cattle, prepa- red fur food. This process is managed in various ways, accordingly as the meat is intended f jr keeping a longer or short- er time. The usual method of salting beef, being generally known, we shall re- fer to the article "Bacon," and briefly observe, that much depends, 1. On the purity and quaniily of the salt used for this purpose ; 2 On the size of tiie pieces, and the nature of the vessels in which they are kept; and 3. On tiie ingredients which may be employed witli a view to assist the operation of the salt. It is an estabhshedfact, that salt provei antiseptic only when used in a consider- able quantity ; and that a ive J: lirinc strongly tends to hasten the putrefaction of animal substances : hence the necessity of making a liberal use of this article. On the other hand, as common sea-salt con- tains a very considerable proportion of magnesia, one of the most absorbent eanns for promoting putrefaction, it is attended with great inconvenience to those who are obliged to make tise of large quantities of such salt ; because it is difficult to separate that ingredient from this concrete Hence rock-salt, though apparently more impure, is doubtless more advanta- geous, and proper for the curingof beef ; because its crystallization has been ac- complished by Nature, probably after the more earthy base, or magnesia, had in a great measure, spontaneously subsided. We ofter this as a mere conjecture ; as it is of little importance to the economist, how this combination of salt and putre- factive earth has originally taken place, if we can suggest a method of purify ing the former, so as to render it fit for the purpose intended: See Salt. At pre- sent, however, we shall treat first of the manner which, by experience, has been found the most eflectual for salting, pre- serving, and imparting a fine flavour to beef, mutton, and ix)rk. Tor this useful information we are indebted to M. Sche- del, who has inserted the following recipe in the " Economical Journal" for Sep- temJjer, 1795, printed at Leipzig : Take four pounds of common salt, one pound and a half of refined sugar, two ounces of salt-petre, and two gallons of pure spring water. Boil the wliole o^er a gentle fire, and carefully scum off the impurities. Af- ter this brine has become cold, jiour it over the meat, so that every part of it may be completely (Covered. In this pre- paration, the meat not only keeps for many months, but the pickle also has the efleci of softening the hardest and tough- est beef, and rendering it as mellow as the flesh of chicken But, in warm weather, it will b^ necessary to express the blood from the meat, aid to rub it well witii fine salt, before it is inmiersed in the li- quor. Young pork should not be left longer than three or four days in tiiis Ijiine, during which time it will bt- suflici- ently sofiened ; but hams intended to be dried, may lie in it a fortnight, before tiny are suspended. At that peiiod, tiiey ougiil to be rubbed with pollard, and covci-f d witli paper bags, in order to pre* BEE BEE vent them from becoming fly-blo^vn. It farther deserves to be remarked that, though this liquor is more expensive at first than the common brine, yet as it may again be used after boiling it, and addi'ig more water with a proportionate quantity of the other ingredients, its relative utility is obvious. Tlie superiority of the receipt comnion- ly known by the name of Adml. Pocock's, is so well known to those, who have had an opportunity of comparing it with others, A that it ought to be generally adopted. It is thus made. Water four gallons. Mus- covado sugar or molasses a pound and a half salt (the bay or large sort) six pounds. Boil all together in an iron pot, or kettle, and skim it repeatedly, as long j as any scum rises ; then take off the pot i to stand till the liquor is cold. The meat I being placed in the vessel meant to hold | it, pour the cold pickle on the meat, till it is covered ; and, in that state, keep it ; for family use- If the meat is to be pre- ' served a considerable time, the pickle i must be boiled once in two months ; , skimming off all that rises, and throwing ] in, during the boiling, two ounces of su- gar, and about half a pound of common salt. Mr. Bordley, says, the above pic- '; kle " is incomparable, also, for curing ! hams, tongues, and hung-beef. Wlien tongues and hung-beef are taken out of. the pickle, clean and dry the pieces ; then put them in paper bags, and hang them . up, in a dry warm place. In very hot weatlier, it is necessary, before the meat is put to the nickle, to rub it well over with salt, and let it lie for one, two, or three hours, till the bloody juices run off. If the meat in this case be in the least tainted, before it is put to thepickle, it will be entirely spoiled in a day's time in hot weather. Mr. Bordley recommends, to keep beeves intended to be killed, two da} s from food and drink ; and, in a dark and close place. He thinks, the animal bleeds better, handles lighter and cleaner ; and, that the meat looks better by observing these directions. The barrels are to be ready, sweet and well trimmed, and the salt previously washed or refined, and ground small, before the beeves are to be slaughtered. Delay in salting is injuriou s. The pieces are, therefore, to be packed into the tiglit barrels, piece by piece, as they are salted ; instead of b-dlking them on a frame, or dresser to drain, as is the practice. Coarse salt washed but not ground, having also been previously rea- dy, is to be dissolved in fair cold water, un.il no more can be dissolved on stir- Tinjy. L^t it settle a day, or two, skim off the top, pour off all but the dregs. When perfectly cool and clean, it is ready to be poured on the repacked beef. After the meat has remanied in the barrels six or eight days, headed up tight, it is to be taken out, resalted, and closely repacked in the same barrels ; the drainings are to be preserved and boiled : the barrels are then to be lieaded up. In a tew days, bore a hole in one of the heads, or h'lge of each barrel, and fill the barrels with the prepared and boiled juices of the meat, saved from the fir.st salting- and bar- relling. Every time of filling, the barrels being- rolled, leaves room for more liquor. Wiien there is no more of the prepared liquor, the barrels are next to be repeat- edly filled with the plain strong brine made as above, from the washed coarse salt, till they can take no more, after standing a short time. Here, as in pre- serving fish in barrels, the operations are distinctly to salt and to cure, and the boiled juices from the salted meat, must serve to beef what the pickle offish cured is to herrings. On boiling the blood and juices with the pickle, tlie firmer parts settle in a mass on standing, and the liquor pours off clean. The barrels ought not to be exposed either to the sim, or to damp. A cool dry place is best. Attention to the kind of salt used in ' salting meats, is of more consequence than is generally imagined. The Hol- landers who furnish the world with the finest flavoured herrings, (caught on the coast of Scotland,) and derive an im- mense revenue from the trade, prevent by law the use of all kinds of salt in the herring business, except that from Por- tugal or Spain. It would be well to at- : tend to this circumstance in this coun- i try. As to the properties of beef, in general, ■ we shall orily say, that it affords a good, strong, and" invigorating mitrlment, be- cause no animal food is equal to the flesh of a healthy, middle-aged bullock. ' Plethoric persons, however, as well as ' youth, in whom there is naturally a dispo- sition to generate heat, should eat beef i in great moderation. BEKR is a fermented, spirituous liquor, prepared fi-om any farinaceous grain, but generally from barley ; ar.d strictly speak- ing, is a vinous production, serving as a substitute for wine. As we propose to give a short analysis of the art of Brewing, under that head, we shall here only observe, that all kinds , of beer are produced by extracting a pro- i portionate quantity of malt, whether made 1 f)f wheat, barlev or oats, in boiling wa- BEE BEE ter ; then sufiering it to remain at rest, in a degree of warmth requisite to induce a vinous fermentation, and afterw ards ma- naging it in the manner as will be describ- ed under the article just mentioned. Although malt alone might doubtless produce a liquor possessing the spiritu- ous pi'opcrties of beer, }'et such a prepa- ration would speedily turn sour and in sipid, unless impregnated with hops, or another aromatic and bitter principle, de- rived from vegetable substances, which not only render it less liable to undergo the putrefactive stage of fermentation, but also impart to it an agreeable bitter- ness. Of tbis nature is the hop in a very eminent degi'ee, the price of which, how- ever, has of late years been so exorbi- tant, that speculative brewers have sub- stituted a variety of other vegetable ingre- dients, and especially the wood, bark, and root oi quassia. Independently of the inferior price of this drug, when compar- ed to the indigenous hop, there can be no reasonable objection to its use; as it is one of the few astringent substances pos- sessing a considerable share of the bitter principle, without partaking of the nar- cotic, beating, and intoxicating properties of other plants. It would be difficult to lay down an ac- ciu'ate criterion of the best and most wiiolcsome beer ; as its relative strength and flavour, or the immediale effect it produces on the palate, aie generally con- sii^cred the mcjst essential requisites. But a well-l)rewed and wholesome beer, whe- ther ale or potter, ought to be of abrigl.t colour, and perfectly transparent, that is, neither too high nor pale ; it should ha\"e a pleasant and mellow taste, sliarp and agreeably bitter, wi\hout being' acrid or tart; it should leave no particular sensa- tion on the tongue; and, if drunk in any considerable cjiianiity, it must neiiher produce .speedy intoxication, villi its con- c(jniitant effects of sleep, nausea, vomit- ing, head-acb, langotir, want of appetite, 8ic. nor shoiild it be rciained too long in the urinary passages, or be too quickly discliurged. Dr. James Stonehousc, of Northamp- ton, inserted the f()ltowing recipe for making liie^ of Treacle, in the (Jtnrl. Mig of January, ir-'!:5: "To eight quarts of boiling watei-, put one pound of trea- cle, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, and two bay-leaves. Let the whole boil for a quarter of an hour, (hen cool and work it with yeast, the same as other beer:" or, " Take onebiislul of malt, wiih as much water and hops as if two bushels of malt were allowed; put seven poin.ds of the roarscst brown sugar into the wort, while boiling. This makes a very pleasant li- quor ; is as strong, and will keep as long without becoming sour or flat, as if iwo bushels of malt had been employed." — Dr. Stonehouse adds, that the latter is the preparation used hi the Shrewsbury Infirmary, and he does not hesitate to at- test its wholesome and nutritive properties. jMxtemporaneous small beer. To two quarts of common porter, add of molas- ses half a pint, of ginger two drachms, wa- ter just warm, four quarts ; let the whole ferment in a warm place, then i-ack off. A Another. Lemon Feal, one ounce, Cream of Tai-tar four ounces, hops one ounce, molasses one quart, pnger one drachm (sixty grains) bruised cloves four in number, boiling water four gallons ; ferment with yeast. Jlnot/ier . — To ten bottles of hot water, add one bottle of porter, and one pint of molasses, stir them well together and bot- tle them for use. — It will be fit to drink in a few days. JJeer, f Spruce. J To a four ounce gal- lypot of essence of spruce, add three quarts of molasses, tw o gallons of warm rain v* ater, and half a pint of good yeast. Stir them well together until the liquor bears a froth, then put it into the cask and fill it with nine gallons of water, shaking it well. Set it aside for two or three days to ferment with the bung close, and place the cask in a cool cellar, and in twenty- four hours it will be fit for use. If intend- ed for bottling let the cask stand inidis- turbed three days before it be drawn off. For the second brewing, the sediment re- maining in the cask may be used instead of yeast. IK well-water be used it should be warmed a little. It ought to be mentioned that very great deceptions are practised, with re- spect to the essence of spruce brought here fbi- sale from Nova Scotia. In the sixth volume of the JMvscum Rnsticimi et Commerciale, a work of con- siderable merit, we meet with a similar account of making a kind of Table lieer, which from its cheapness, and agTeeable- ness, is greatly jjrtferable to th..t obtain- ed fi-om malt; and which has ihisfariher advantage, that it may be made ready for drinking in three or fbiu' days : — " Take fifteen gallons of water, and boil one half of it, or as much as can conveniently be mar.aged ; put the part of the water thus boiled, wliila it is yet of its full heat, to the cold part, contained- in a b;ii-rel or cask ; and tlien add one gallon of molas. ses, commonly called treacle, stirring them well together; add a little yeasl, if the vessel be new; but, if it has been used for the same purpose, the yeast is BEE BEE unnecessary. Keep the bung-hole open till the fermentation appear to be abated, and then close it up. The beer will, in a day or two afterwards, be fit to drink. " It is usual to put tops of the spruce fir into the water which is boiled for mak- ing this beer ; and it is then called spruce beer. But though this is done at sea, when such tops can be obtained, on account of tlie scurvy ; yet it is not necessary, artd may veiy well be omitted, where they are not to be easily procured. Scurvy- W grass, or other herbs or drugs, used in making purl, gill-ale, or any other fla- voured malt liquor, may be added at dis- cretion. But a little of the outer rind of an orange-peel, infused in the beer itseif, and taken out as soon as it has imparted a sufficien't degree of bitterness, will both be found grateful, and assist in keeping the beer from turning sour. A very little gentian-root, boiled in the water, eitiier with a Utile orange-peel, or without, gives also a very cheap, wholesome, and plea- sant bitter to this beer," The philanUiropic editor of the " Re- ports of the Society for bettering the Omdi- tion, (i:id increasing the Comforts of' the JPoor" T BernaTl, Esq. very ju'jtly ob- serves, (in a note, vol. i. p 149 ) '* that it would be a very desb'able thing, tliat the poor shouid be able to supply them- selves with beer of their own brewing, without being obHged always to recur to the ale-house. I am aware of the disad- vantage of brewing in small quantities; but that might be compensated for by great advantages, and by the superior flavour of beer hrewed and drank at home. — The following recipe is according to tlie proportions used in the House of In dustry, at Shrewsbury : To half a bushel of maU, add four pounds of treacle, and three quarters of a pound of hojjs ; this will make twenty-five gallons of beer ; the cost of which (supposing the value of tlie grain to be only equal to the expence of fuel,) would be two-pence a gallon, where the materials were purchased to the best advantage ; and, when bought at the re- tail shop, about three-pence I have tried the receipt, and found the beer very good : it was fit for use in a fortnight ; but it is not caxulated for keeping, par- ticularly in warm weather." We have been induced to communicate these different methods of preparing a pure and wholesome bev'-vage, in order to con- tribute oiu' mite, however small, towards alleviating the burt.iens of doniesiic life. And though we should not succeed in persuading niany persons, in the middle ranks of society, to adopt our sugges- tions, we still may flatter oiu'selves with the chearing hope, that they will hu- manely exert tlieir influence on such fa- milies as may be benefited by brewing their own liquors at home : instead of cai-- rying, perhaps, one-half of theh- weekly earnings to the next ale-house, and de- barring theii' helpless children from that necessary assistance, for want of which, they are often doomed to become addi- tional bui-thens on the parish. Having pointed out the peculiar quali- ties of good beer, as well as the most easy and advantageous methods of using a substitute for malt, we shall next con- sider the most effectual way of clarifying this gi-ateful beverage; and of preventing it from turning sour, or restoring it to its former briskness, when it has, by mis- management, acquired a tart or insipid taste. Various schemes have been proposed, and many also adopted in breweries, for fining or clarifying different beers. But, as the superior brilliancy and transparen- cy of that liquor, depend in a great mea- sure on the quality of the malt and water — which properly belongs to the article " Brcrwing" — we shall here speak of that process only so far as it relates to tlie management of beer, after it is fermented. In Britain, mult uquors are generally fined with gromid-iv}, the Glecomu hede- rac^a, L; whicli plant however, will not produce the desu'ed effect, ii" tiie beer has been brewed of bad malt, or other- wise mismanaged during the different processes of boning and fermenting the wort. In such cases, and especially if it has been too long boiled, the liquor may indeed become clear, by throwing- into it an additional quantity of ground-ivy ; but it will letaln an opacity, or turbid appear- ance, because this useful plant, being at first lighter than the liquid, and swim- ming on the top, gradually becomes hea- vier ; and tliough it combines with the impurities of the liquor, and at length sinks to the bottom of the vessel, yet it is Incapable of correcting and decomposing those nuicllaginous and enipyreumatic particles, which pai tly arise from interior malt, and are partly extricated by the action of too great and long-continued heat. Hence we shall pi-opose the follow- ing simple remedy, which was communi- cated to us by a continental friend : After the beer is properly fermented, and a few days old, take one gallon out of every barrel, and add two ounces of hartshorn- shavings (or filings, which are still bet- ter) to every gallon. Place the liquor over a moderate fire, till it boils, and rises to the top ; let the decoction stand for an hour or two; and, v/hen milk- BEE BEE \vi4'm, pour the clear part of it into the barrels, according to the proportion be- fore specified. In tliis stale, the casks mnst be left undisturbed for twenty-four hours, and then the beer should either be bottled, or drawn otl" into other ves- sels. Tliis easy and cheap process, not onlv has the effect of completely clarify- ingthe beer, but likewise preventing it from turning sour, especially if it be laid up in bottles properly corked, and secur- ed witli a cement consisting of nearly equal parts of melted bees-wax, resin, and unpenline. Beer, should never be forced more than a week before it is tapped, else it becomes stale. Dissf>lve A an oz. of isin- glass (fish glue) in as mucb small beer as will make it of the consistence of thm size, put 1^ pints of this in a barrel, and stir it about. To give new beer the hard flavour of old beer, add a small quantity of oil of vitriol. To ropy beer, add a little salt, and roll tlie cask well. There is considerable damage to be apprehended from the effects of a thun- der-storm, by wiiich ale or beer is apt to become turbid and fiat, not only at the time when under;^;iiiig the critical pro- cess of fermentation in the tub, but like- wise after it has been barrelled. In the former case, we are not ac- quainted with a better method than that of ]>lacing (on the ajiproaeh of a tem- pest) several vessels filled with lime- water, or where this cannot be immedi- ately procured, only simple water con- tiguous to the fermenting vat ; and, if it be convenient, both fluids in their seve- ral ves.sels should be on a level, or the beer might be somewhat lower than the y-ater; wiiich attracts and absorbs the then prevaiUng acidity of the atmosphei-e. In the hitter case, the injurious infiu- rncc of thunder may be enectually pre- vented, by laymg a solid piece of iron on each cask : this easy expedient we find recorded in t!»e Gentleman's J\Tagazinc, for January 17''3; and tlie anonymous writer adds, that the fact is accounted fur in one of the volumes of the " Athinhtn Ordc/ts" In summer, especially in what is called the bea.n-seas()n, v hen all malt liquors are liable to become flat, t'le following remedy is often successfully employed as a jn-cventive : Take a new laid egg-, per- forate it with small holes, put it in a clean linen bag, together witb some laurel-ber- ries, and a little barley ; then suspend it in tlie vessel containing the beer : — in- stead of tiie berries and barlev, a few leaves of the walnut-tree may be substi- tuted. Others put salt, made of the asiies of barley-straw, into tne vessel, and stir it till it be incorporated ; or, if the beer is not very sour, a small quantity of such ashes, or calcined chalk, oyster-shells, egg-shells, Sec. may be suspended in a similar manner, in order 10 absorb the acidity of the liquor, and recover its for- mer sweetness. Sour Beer, however, cannot be easilv restored in the manner above stated, without undergoing a new process offer- ||i mentation, or impregnating it, for that purpose, with fixed auv But as the lat- ter is an expensive and troublesome me- thod, we shall communicate another of more easy application. Clauber recom- mended his sal onirabile (common Glau- ber's salt) and saltpetre, to be put into a linen bag, and suspended from the top of the cask, so as to I'each the surface of the liquor : thus the beer will not only be preserved and strengthened, but it may also, when flat, or sour, be restored to its former briskness. The experiment may be easily made ; but we cannot vouch ibrits result. Another, and a better remedy, for re- covering tart, or insipid beer, is the fol- lowing: add to every pint of such beer, from twenty to tliirty drops of what is commonly called oil of tartar (salt of tar- tar, or pure pot-ash, reduced to a liquid state, by exposing it to the influence of the air in a cellai-, or other damp situa- tion) then mix it in the vessel, and the acidity will be quickly neutralized — Those who live at a clistance from apothecaries' shops or wish to pi-epare this liquid tar- tar, for occasional use on journies espe- cially in summer, may easily make it, by dissolving': two ounces of fine pearl-ashes in eight ounces, or half a pint, of pure water, frequentl}' shaking the bottle, then suMering it to stand for twenty -four houi-s, and afterwards filtering the solution through a fine clolh. In this state it may be preserved for one year ; but beer thus restored ought to be drunk soon after it has recovered its briskness, or at least on the same day : and this small addition of vegetable alkali is, in warm seasons, ra- ther conducive, than detrimental to health. When beer has acquired a peculiar taste of the cask, either fi-om an unclean stale of the vessel, or, by long keeping, from the astringency of the oak, it is ad- visable to suspend in it a handful of wheat tied up in a bag; which generelly re- moves the disagreeable taste. With respect to the i)hysical p operties of mult-liquors, we shall observe, that BER BER they are possessed of various degrees of ■salubrity, according to tlie proportion and nature of theii- ingredients, namely, water, malt, and hops, of which tliey are com- posed; and Ukewise, according to the manner in which they have been brewed. If, ibv instance, a large proportion of wa- ter has been used, tlie beer will be more proper for quenching thirst, than if it were sti'ongly impregnated with the mealy and spirituous particles of the malt. Hence, strong and sweet beer is the most nourishing and beneficial to thin and ema- ciated persons ; stale and bitter ale, the most intoxicating; and weak, half fer- mented porter, the most flatulent, and least serviceable to nervous, debilitated, hysteric, or asthmatic constitutions. But, as there is no peculiar test, by which we can ascertain with critical accuracy, when the vinous fermentation is cumpleted, and the acetous has comtnenced, every kind of beer must be barrelled, or bottled, be- fore it is perfectly fermented, so that the completion of tliis natural process is ef- fected in the stomach and bowels. Strange as tliis propo-sition may appear to some persons, it is so true that the infinite di- versity of flavour and briskness obtained from the same mixtui-e, when drawn oft' into different vessels, or bottles, cannot fail to strike the most superficial ob- server. BEET. See Sugar, see also Horti- culture. BERNE-MACHIXE, an engine for root- ing up trees, invented by P. Sommer, a native of Berne, in Switzerland. This machine consists of tlyee princi- pal pai-ts : the beam, the ram, and the le- ver. The beam is composed of two planks of oak, three inches thick, and separated by two transverse pieces of the same wood, of an equal thickness. These planks are perforated with holes to receive iron pins, upon which the lever acts between the two sides of the beam, and is shifted higher as tlie tree is raised out of its place. The sides are secured at the top and bottom by strong iron hoops. The pins should be an uich and a quarter, and tlie holes through which they pass, an inch and a half in diameter. When the machine is in action, the bottom of tlie beam is secured by stakes driven into the earth. The ram, which is made of oak, elm, or some other strong wood, is cap- ped with three strong iron spikes, which take fast hold of the tree. This ram is six or eight inches square; and an incision is made longitudinally through its mid- dle, from the lower end to the first ferule, in order to allow room for the chain to play round the puUy, which should be VOL. I, four inches thick, and nine in diameter. The ram is raised by means of the chain, which should be about ten feet long, with links four inches and three quarters in length, and one inch thick. One end of this chain is fastened to the top of the beam, while the other, after having passed through the lower part of the ram, and over the pully, terminates in a ring or link, the two ears of which serve to keep it in a true position between the two planks of the beam. The hook, which should be m.acle of very tough u'on, is inserted in this ring ; and tlie handle ought to be two in- ches thick where it joins to the hook, and gradually lessen in thickness up to the arch, which should be about half an inch in diameter. On each side of the upper pin is a semi-circular notch, which rests alternately on the pins, when the machine is worked. The hole and arch serve to fix a long lever of wood, by means of two iron pins, and thus it is raised or lowered at pleasure, in order to render tlie work- ing of the rnacliine easy, in whatever part of the beam it may be placed ; for, with- out this contrivance, the extremity of the lever would, when tiie handle is near the top of the beam, be higher than men standing upon the gi'ound could reach. This machine is worked in tlie follow- ing manner : it is placed against a tree, and the end of the beam supported by stakes. The iron handle is placed in the opening between the two planks cf the beam, and the wooden lever fixed to it, by means of the iron pins. The hook takes hold of the chain, and one of the u-on pins is thrust into the outer row of holes, by which means the exterior notch v.ill rest on the pin, which will be the centre cf mo- tion ; and the end of the lever being pres- sed downwards, the other notch will be raised, at the same time tlie chain, and consequently the ram. Afterwards, the other iron pin is to be put into the hole in the inner row, above that which was be- fore the centre of motion, and the end of the lever elevated or pushed upwaids, the latter pin on which the notch rests tlien becoming the centre of motion. By this alternate motion of the lever, and shilling the pins, the chain is drawn upwards over the pulley, and consequently the whole force of the engine exerted against the tree. There is a small wheel joined to the end of the ram opposite the pulley, in order to lessen the friction of that part of the machine. From this account, the reader ^^'ill per- ceive that the machine is a single pulley, compounded with a lever of the first and second order. As the push of the engme is given in an oblique direcion, it will ex- B BIS BIR crt a greater or less force rujaiiist Uie liori- 7.ontal roots of tl>c tree, in pioportion lo the angle formed by the miiclune wilii the plane of theliorizon; and llie angle of 45^ is the maximum, or tli:it when the machine will exert its greatest force against the horizontal roots of the tree. BISCUIT. See Bread. BISMUTH, or Tiii-£rlass, one of tli- se- mi-metals, of a reddish or light yellow co- lour, and a lamellated texture : it is mode- rately hard and brittle, so that it breaks under the hammer, aiid may even be re- duced to powder. It is very fusible, and soluble in the vi- triolic, muriatic, and nitric acids, particu- larly in tlie last, and when dissolved in it, is prccipitable by a mere dilution with pure water ; the precipitate is wliite ; and is commonly called Magistery of Bis- muth ; it forms \httjlakc-i\:hite, which when mixed with suet or f;ft, is used to blacken the hair. Bismuth, dissolved in the acids, forms pellucid sympathetic inks, which become black by exposure to the vapour of alkaline sulphurets. Most metallic substances, by an union with bismuth, become more fusible ; hence it is used in the making of solder, printer's types, pewter, &c. Bismuth reduced to powder, mixed with the wliite of eggs, and applied to wood, gives it the appearance of being sil- \ered — when it is gradually dried, and rubbed with a polisher. This semi-metal is commonly deposited in cobalt-ores ; which, wiien of a high red colour, are called bismuth bloom or fioivcrs of bismuth. To this mixture may be as- cribed the property which bismutli-ore has «f making sympathetic ink, similar totliat formed by a solution of the regulus of co- balt. See Ink. The very great utility of bismuth in the art of dyeing, ar.d particularly in the ina- mifactory of types, which is yearly increa- sing in the United St ates, will cause a consi- derable consumption of tliis metal, and ren- tier it an important article in commerce. BlUD-Ll.ME is a viscid matter used for catching birds. Tiicre are diHi;rent ways of preparing this substance, but it is gene- rally made of holly bark, which is boiled ten or twelve hours ; anil wiien its green rind is separated, it is covered up in a moist place, to stand for a fortnigjit. It is afterwards reduced to a tougli ])aste, and washed in a running stream, till no impu- lities a])pear. Next, it is suffered to fer- Jnent for four or five d.iys during which it must be frequently skimmed- Aficrwards it is mixed over the fire, with a third part of nut-oil, or thin grease, and thus ren- dered fit for use. The German method of preparing bird, lime, is, by putting about two pounds of lihtseed oil into a jiot, to simmer »ipon the fire for some time, after whicli it is taken ofl", and ligiited witli a match. In this state of inflamnialion,lt continues about 2 hours, when half the ([uantity will be con- sumed. By dipping from time lo time, a stick into the oil, and trying the matter between the fingers, its proper glutinous consistence may be easily ascertained; on which the pot is covered, and the flame extinguished. . IViitcr bird-lime may be prepared as follows : Take a poimd of strong and good ordinary bird-lime, v/ash it thoroughly in spring-water, till it become perfectly soft ; next beat it well, that the water may be entirely separated ; then dry it, put it into an earthen pipkin, and add to it as much capon's or goose-gi'ease as will render it fluid. In this state of the preparation, add two spoonsful of sti'ong vinegar, one spoonful of oil, and a small quantity of A'enice turpentine. Let the whole boil for a few minutes over a moderate fire, stir- ring it during that process. Then take it off; but previous to its use, warm it, and cover the twigs with it in every direc- tion. This is tlie best bird-lime for snipes, or such birds as frequent marshy places. Tile proper method of using bird-lime is, lo cut down the principal branch of a tree, the twigs of which are straight, long and smooth. The willow and birch are tlie best for this purpose. After the su- perfluous shoots have been lopped, and the twigs cleaned, they must be uniform- ly covered with the bird-lime, to within four inches of the bottom; but the main stem should not be touched by this mat- ter. Great care is required in laying it on properly ; for, if two thick, it will alarm tlie birds, and prevent their approach ; and, if too small a quantity be applied, it will not hold them when they settle vqion it. The branch thus prepared, must be erected in a hedge or among some grow- ing bushes, if employed in summer, it should be placed in a (luickset hedge, in groves, bushes, or white-thorn trees, near corn-fields, &,c. but in winter, the best sjiots are near stacks of corn, sheds, or barns. The sportsman ought to stand as near the limed bush as possible, and imi- tate tlie notes of birds with a call. When a bird is attracted to the bush, andentan- gk (1 by the lime, the sportsman should suflijr it to remain ; as by the fluttering it makes to disengage itself, others will be attra<;'ted to the bush, and thus several may be taken togelhei". Tiie hours pror BIT BIT f'CV for this sport, are from siin-i'ise till ten o'clock ; and fi-om one, to sun-set. Ano- tlier metliod of attracting birds is, by a stale ; a bat makes a very g-ood stale, but it must be fixed so as to be perceptible at a distance. An owl is still more eligible for this purpose, being followed by the small biids, whenever it appears. If a live owl, or bat, cannot be obtained, the skin of one stuffed will likewise answer; nay, even the image of an owl carved in wood, and painted of the natural colour, will pro- duce the desired effect. When the German composition is used, care should be t:iken to seize tlie bird, when entangled, to prevent it from at- tempting to free itself by its beak ; other- wise it will be destroyed by the deleteri- ous effects of the oil. The following process appears to be the most easy and efiectual method for pre serving birds : After opening the bird, by a longitudi- nal incision from the breast to the vent, dissecting the fleshy parts from the bones, and removing the entrails, eyes, brains, and tongue, the cavities, and inside of the skin are to be sprinkled with the following powders : Take of corrosive subUniate :^b. pulverized nitre ^.Ib. burnt alum ^Ib. flow- ers of sulphur |lb. camphor ^Ib. black pepper, and coarsely ground tobacco, one pound each ; mix the ingredients well together, and keep them in a glass vessel closely stopped. First insert the eyes, and stuff the head with cotton or tow; then pass a wire down the throat, through one of the nostrils, and fix it into the breast- bone : wires arc likewise to be introduced thi'ough tlie tcet, up the legs and thigiis, and fastened into the same bone ; the bo- dy is aftei'wards stuffed with cotton to its natural size, and the skin sewed over it. In whatever position the bird is placed to dry, the same will afterwards be retained. Small birds may be preserved in bran- dy, rum, arrack, or first runnings ; but, by these means, the colour of the plumage is liable to be extracted by the spirit. Large sea-fowl have thick strong skins, and such maybe skinned ; the tail, claws, head and feet, are to be carefully preserved, and the plumage stained as little as possible with blood. 1'Iie inside of tlie skin may he stufled as rcconunended above. TliefoUowiug simple composition may also be employed with success, for the same purpose : Common salt one pound, pov.dered alum, four ounces, ground pep- per, two oufices. The bird intended for p'.-eservation, should be opened fi-om the lower part of the breast-bone to the tail, with a pair of sharp-pointed scissars, and the whole of the iiiiestineii taken out. Tlte cavitv is then to be filled with the mixttrrpj and the lacerated part should be properly sti'iched. The thorax, from the beak to the stomach, must be filled with the same composition, reduced to a fine powder. The head is to be opened near the root of tlie tongucj with the point of the scissai's^ and the structure of the brain destroyed, by moving them in a circulai* direction, and as soon as they are withdrawn, the cavity is likewise to be filled with the niixture. After having been suspended by the legs, for a few days, the bird may be fixed in a frame, in its natural attitude. RITUIXFEN. I'he bitumens form a class of mineral inflammables distinguish- ed by the following properties. They burn with a bright flame and much smoke, leaving behind scarce any earthy residue. The most convenient arrangement of the bitmnens appears to be into the li- quid, solid and clastic. Sp. I. Liquid bitumen, or mineral oil. Vai". 1. Naphtha is either colourless or of a dilute 3 ellowish while colour : it is perfectly fluid and transparent ; has an oily lustre and is unctuous to the touch. It lias a penetrating but not dis- agreeable odour, and communicates part of its aroma to water and alcohol, but appears to be insoluble in these fluids, though it combines with ether, the essen- tial oils and resins. Pure ammonia and the caustic fixed alkalies also unite with it into a savonule analogous to Starkey's soap. The purest Europeaj) naphtha comes from Monte Ciaro, near Piacenza, in Italy. , This hill consists of horizontal beds of argillite, in which pits are sunk till tlie water comes in, after which the naphtha ouzes out of the sides and floats on the surface of the water, whence it is skimmed off every week. An inferior kind, often passing into petroleum, is procured at Monte Festino, not far from Modena, in the vicinity of which subterranean fii-es often break out- But the most copious springs of naph- tha with which we are acquainted are at Baku, near Derbend, on the north- west shore of the Caspian sea. The soil is a clayey marl, strongly effervescing with acids, and so thoroughly impreg- nated with naphtha that when turned up to the depth of a few inciies it will take fire on the application of a lighted candle, and continue burning till it is purposely extinguished; the flame is of a jialc bluish yellow, and in calm weatliei- rises to the be%hlh of several feet BIT BIT The naphtha is procured by sinking' pits, into which it percolates, and which are emptied from time to time. Naphtha is employed as an external application for sprains and rheumatism ; the Persians and Russians are said also to use it internally as a cordial. It en- ters also into the composition of some varnishes. Var. 2 Petroleum, mineral tar, fossi^ tar, Barbadoes tar. The colour of petroleum is reddish or browntsh-black ; it is more or less trans- lucid; its consistence varies according to its temperature; when warm it is as fluid as common tar, but at 32° of Fah- renheit, it becomes very viscid : it is unc- tuous and clammy to the touch : it has a strong disagreeable odour and a pungeut acid taste. Petroleum is considerably inflamma- ble, though by no means so I'eadily as ua])htha. Alcohol takes up some of its aroma and colouring matter. When distilled with water it comes over more fluid and clearer, approaching to naph- tha. Petroleum combines with the fat and essential oils, with the resins and cam- phor, and by long digestion dissolves sul- phur. Petroleum appears to be found for the most part in coal strata, or in secondary limestone. There is a spring of this sub- stance at Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire, originating from a stratum of coal : at Pitchford," in the same county, is a coarse- grained sandstone highly impregnated with it. It is also found in various parts of France, Italy, Swisserland, Hungary and Sweden. A few miles from the naphtha wells at Baku, on the Caspian sea, are some very copious springs of petroleum, issuing from hillocks of the same substance hardened by exposure to the air ; these springs sometimes take fire, ;iiid roll a flaming torrent into the sea, which floating ou its surface often covers the water with a sheet of fire to a consi- derable distance. No country however produces so large a quantity of petroleum as the Birman empire in Asia: tlie town of Rainanghong- is the centre of a small district in wliich there are 520 wells of petroleum in full activity. The country in wliich these are situated consists of a sandy loam resting upon alternate strata of sand- stone and indurated clay ; under these is a layer of pale blue argillaceous schistus impregnated with peti'oleum, of consi- derable thickness jesting upon coal. The petroleum begins to flow into the ueU when it ja sunk a few leet Uito the argillaceous schistus, and when it begins to fail the well is deepened. It is remarkable that no water ever pene- ti-ates into these wells. The ann»ial quan- tity of petroleum produced by the wnole district amounts to more than 400,000 hogsheads. The uses of petroleum where it abounds ai*e very important. It serves the lower classes instead of oil for lamps, and when mixed with earth or ashes it answers the purpose of fuel. A composition of petroleum and resin is found to be an excellent material for covering wood- work and paying the bottoms of ships and boats, as it protects the timber from the attacks of insects or marine worms. Finally, when rectified by distillation, it is applicable to the same purposes as naphtha- Sp. II. Solid Bitumen, or Mineral Pitch. Var. 1. Maltha. Cohesive mineral pitch. The colour of maltha is brownish black ; it is opaque, and has little or no lus- tre ; it is tough and soft so as to be impressed by the nail; its fracture is uneven : it has a strong disagreeable odour, acquires a polish when rubbed or cut with a knife, and does not stain tlie fingers. Var. 2. Asphalt, Jew's pitch. The consistence and general appear- ance of the asphalt is that of pit coal, only the colour is rather grayer: it is very brittle and breaks into small cellular glossy fragments. When put into the fire it boils up for a long time witliout suffering- nuich diminution, and after a continued heat the sui-face burns and forms a scoria, underneath which the rest remains in a semifluid state. A gentle heat renders it ductile, and when mixed with grease or common pitch it is used for paying the bottoms of ships, and is supposed to protect tlieni from that pest of the West Indian seas, the teredo or borer. The uses of asphalt, besides that al- ready mentioned, are as a varnish, and an essential part of the best wax or varnish for the use of engi-avers. Asphalt is of- ten sophisticated by mixture with com- mon pitch : it may however be readily dis- tinguished f)-om this latter, by having lit- tle or no smell, by its not adliering to the fingers. In' its superior lustre and minute conchoidal fracture, by its burning with- out becoming fluid, and by its insolubility in alcohol. Sp HI. Elastic Bitumen, or Mineral Ca- oulcliouc. Var. 1. Compact mineral Caoutchouc. '1 lie colour .of this substance is yellow- BLA BLE ifih or reddish-brown, hyacinth-red, olive brown and blackish brown. It occurs massive, or mamilliuy, or stalactitic, or in globular distinct concretions. It burns readily with a large flame and much smoke: v/hen exposed to a gentle heat it melts, and is converted into petroleum or maltha, or asphalt, according to its previous consistence. Mineral caoutchouc has hitlierto been found only in the Odin mine near Cas- tleton in Derbysliire, in secondaiy lime- stone accompanied by calcareous spar, fluor, blende, galena, pyrites, and as- phalt. Var.2. Suberiform Mineral Caoutchouc. Its colour is that of cream or pale ochre, but by exposure to the air it becomes of a pale reddish brown colour, and its texture is veiy minutely cellular like cork. The elastic bitumen appears to be only a peculiar modification of petroleum in its passage to asphalt, and in all probability owes its elasticity to the moisture with which it is combined and to its cellular texture. All the bitumens appear to be of vege- table origin, but for further remarks on this subject see Coal. BLACKIXG, in general, signifies a factitious black; as lamp-black, shoe- black, &c. The common oil-blacking, consists of ivory-black mixed with lint- seed oil. The shining blacking is made in various ways, and affords employ- ment to several persons in London, who prepare it for tlie supply of the shops. I'he preparation which has experienced the most extensive sale, is probably that of Mr. Bayley. His patent being expired, we shall communicate the particulars of the process. Take one part of the gum- my juice that issues, in the months of June, July and August, from the shrub called the goat's thorn, four parts of river water ; two parts of neat's foot, or some other softning, lubricating oil ; two parts of su- perfine ivory-black ; two parts of deep blue, prepared from iron and copper ; and four parts of brown sugar-candy. Let the water be evaporated, and, when the composition is of a proper consistence, let it be formed into cakes, of such si'z.e that each cake may make a pint of liquid blacking. FrankfurtMacking is made by a process much more simple. A quantity of the ieesof wine is burnt in a well closed ves- sel, and the residuum i-educed to powdei", which, when mixed with water, is fit for immediate use ; or, if made into cakes, may be preserved for any length of time. Another preparation for blacking which .perhaps is belter thaiv either of the fore- going, is thus pi-epared. Take IAoe, gum arable, ^z. copperass, 2oz. muriat- ic Acid (spirit of salt) and 4oz. ivory- black, moistened with ^ an oz. of oil of vitriol diluted with two or three times its weight of water ; mix them well together, and tlien add 4oz. sugar-candy, l^oz- sweet oil.and three pints of vinegar ; which being shaken, then spread lightly over the boots and nibbed with a stiff brush till dry, will give a brilliant jet black. A mixture of yellow wax, linseed oil, and ivory black, has been recommended in order to render leather impervious to water ; but we think the following pre- ferable for that pui"pose. Dissolve loz. of glue in two pints of water ; add 4oz. ivory black, and 2 or 3oz. sugar : mix this with a solution of gum elastic and rosin, prepared with spirit turpentine and lin- seed oil. Ha^^ng first wet the leather with a strong decoction of oak bark, ap- ply this composition, which will render the leather water proof, when dry. In the above preparations lampblack will an- swer, when ivory black cannot be had. The following composition is also re- commended, lallow half a pound, hogs lard 4oi. turpentine, bees wax, olive oil, 2oz. each ; to be melted by a gentle heat, and rubbed on the leather when free- frrm|dampness, the night before the boots and shoes are wanted. BLANCHING, the art of rendering any thing white. The blanching of woollen stuffs is performed with soap, chalk, sul- phur, &c. Silk is blanched with soap and sulphur, and wax is rendered white, by exposing it to the action of the sun and dew. See tlie following article. BLEACHING is the art of whitemng- linen cloth, thread, cotton, &c. To attain tliis end, oils, metallic oxides, earthy im- pregnations, resins,, and other animal, ve- getable, or mineral- particles, containing any colouring matter, must be discharged from the texture of the substances manu- factured. The process of bleaching is divided in- to five parts, viz.. 1. Steeping and mUling; 2. Bucking and boiling; 3. Alternate wa- tering and drying; 4. Souring; and, 5. Rubbing with soap and warm water, starching and blueing. By the first of these methods, the cloth is in a great de- gree freed from its superficial foulness, and is rendered more pliant and soft. The second process is the most important of the whole. Its object is to loosen and cai'- ry off, by means of alkaline leys, tliat par- ticulai- substance in cloth, which is tlie cause of its brown colour. The operation of alternate watering anddi-yingis as fel- BLE BLE lows : After the cloth has been buclad, it is carried out to the field, and frequently ■watered, during the first six hours. For, if in the course of that time it be allowed to dry, while strongly impregnated with salts, the latter, by ajjproaching closer to- g-ether, and being assisted by a degree of heat whicli increases in proportion to the dryness of the cloth, act with greater force, and destroy its texture. After this time, dry spots are suficred to appear be- fore it receives any water. By the continual evaporation which takes place on the surface of the clotli, it is evident that this ojieration is intended to carry off some impurities that remain after the former process of bucking. This is clearly proved from the fact, that tlie upper side of the cloth, M'hei-e the evapo- ration is strongest, attains to a greater de- gree of whiteness than the reverse side ; and the whole likewise turns much lighter "ijn being exposed to the influence of the sun, air, and winds. Souring — Every person, who possesses the smallest knowledge of chemistry, is aware that alkaline salts may, by various methods, be converted into absorbent earths. One ofthese is, frequent solution ill water, and again evaporating' it. A transmutation, therefore, of these salts must be conlinuall^v going forwards in tlie cloth, during the alternate waterings and th'yings of the former process. The sour- ing pi'ocess is sooner completed in cold than in warm weather ; and it is now ex- perimentally ascertained, that vitriol is preferable to milk sours in bleaching. The next is ha7id rubbing icith soap and '.aarni water, rubbing-boanL; starching, and blueing — After the cloth has been sufli- ciently soured, it is washed in the mill, to deprive it of the acrid particles whicli ad. here to its surface. From the mill, it is ta- ken to be washed by the iiand, with soup and warm water, to free it from the olU particles which could not be disengaged by the milling. Soft soap is jn-eferred to bard, for this purpose, as the latter contains a considerable quantity of sea-salt, which is prejudicial to tiie cloth. The management of coarse cloth in tills operation is very diiferent irom that uf fine : for the former, instead of being worked by the hands (a method whieli would be too expensive) is laid upon a ta- ble, rubbed over with soap, and tlien ])ia- ced between what are called rubbing- boards, which have ridges and grooves from one side to the other, in the foiui of teeth. The starching and blueing, which Is the last operation, differs so little l"rom the process cmploj'cd by laimdry-women. that it scarcely requires description. Hiit it often ballpens, that the cloth, when ex^ posed to dry in the o])en air, after l)eing starched, is wetted b\ rain, which frus- trates the efiects intended by the opera- lion : to remedy this inconvenience, many bleachers employ a dr}- -house, where the linen may be dried in all weathers. As bleaching is a process still suscepti- ble of improvement, scarcely a year elap- ses, which does not produce some new- discovery in this useful branch of manu- facture. We shall, Uiercftre, content our- selves with comnumicating a few of such hints as may prove advantageous to the practical bleaclier; and with which, we presume, there are many persons still un- acquainted. The new method of bleaching with the dephloglsticated or oxygenated muriatic •Held, is founded upon the remarkable ])rojJerty which that acid possesses of de- stroying vegetable colours ; and though various attempts have been made to intro- duce it Into this countr}', tiie difficulties or disadvantages attending it have prevented its general adoption. Tins acid was first applied to the purpose of bleaching by M. BerthoUet; and the particulars of the pro- cess are described at length in a treatise on bleaching, published a few years since, at Edinburgh. It is to be regretted, that no parti- cular statement of the difference of ex- igence between the old and new methods of bleaching, has yet been laid before the public; but it is probable that the acid drawn from one pound of salt, will whiten four of linen clotli, without any addition. Tiie expence in this case may appear tri- fling, but when we compute the vitriolic acid which Is employed, and that the resi- duum Is almost useless, it will soon be found to be very considerable ; and upon the whole, the advantage may be only Ii\ the saving of time : but M. IJertholet as- serts, that by this method the texture of the cloth Is less injured than by that hi- therto practised. The oxy-muriatic acid Is also very ge- nerally used for bleaching paper. Accord- ing to M. Chaptal, blotting-paper, when put into it. Is bleaclied wuliout suflering any iiijin-y : and old books, and prints, when soiled in such a manner as to be scarcely distinguishable, have been com- ))letely restored to their original stale. I'he simi)le immersion of a print in this acid, is sufficient to ])roduce that desira- ble cfrect ; but with books some farther precaution is necessary : they should be unsewed, and the adhering leaves careful- ly separated, that the ^\ hole may be equal- ly Impregnated. BLE BLE ■Mr.Higgins, chemist to the Irish Linen Board, has discovered that tlie oxy-mu- riute of lime is, in bleaching', not only cheaper, but in other respects preferable to that of pot-ash. The chemical attrac- tion of the former is somewhat sti-ongei tlian that of the latter; and, on account of this qiiahty, it does less injury' to the cloth. Aliernate boilings in solutions of pot-ash, steepings in oxy-muriate of lime, exposure to the action of light, and eva- porating' water on the green, are found^ to complete within six weeks, at little more than half the expence, what otherwise cannot be performed in less than double the time. Notwithstanding this great improve- ment, Mr. Higgins was anxious to dimin- ish still farther the expence attending the process of bleaching. Convinced that the niixtures of sulphur with soda, are deter- gents, or cleansers of the most powerful kind, he was naturally led to conjecture, that lime, which, in other respects, pos- sesses properties nearly similar to those of the fixed alkali, might also resemble them in the detergent effect of their combination with sulphur. He made trial : a sulphuret of lime, composed of four pounds of sul- pliui' added to twenty pounds of lime, and diluted in sixteen gallons of water, formed a solution which answered cold, just as well for the bleachii^ of linen, as the boil- ing solution of pot-ash. In consequence of this experiment, he recommends, that linen, after being perfectly cleansed from the weaver's dressing, be immersed alter- natdy in solutions of sulphuret of lime, and of oxy-muriate of lime, namely, six times in each. By this method, linen may be completely bleached, toid with a consider- able saving of expence. In Ireland, it is ait present almost generally adopted. Sleaching Linen — In bleaching linen the objects are as follow : to get rid of the sowen or paste used by weavers : to destroy the colouring matter of the cloth ; to give additional whiteness when this is desti'oy- ed ; to give apparent fineness to the clotli. *Into a tub sunk in the ground, put anv number of pieces from 50 to 100 immers- ed hi water. Let them stay tlierein for two or three days, until there is an appeai-ance of fermentation. Take them out and dash them well in the dash-wheel, and lay them down on the grass till di-y. Into a cuir or round tub about four feet six inches deep, capable of holding 220 pieces of common Irish linen, put in that quantity. The up- per pieces shoidd be covered by pieces twisted and placed leiy close, so t^|^ the steam may be somewhat confined ; near the bottom of this cuir is a hole, stopped occasionally with a plug through which the liquor is let out into an iron pan just below. Under this pan is a fire, with its proper flue. Put into this u-on pan 701b, of good pot-ash. Fill the paji with water and make a fire under it. The pan should hold just enough to let the liquor cover the cloth when the cuir is full and the plug in. By the side of the pan stands a man with a tin vessel, holding about a gallon, fixed at the end of a wooden handle ; w^ith which he continually lades out the liquor in the pan to the cloth, distributing it even- ly, beginning with it cold, and continuing as it boils from morning to night, occa- sionally filling up the pan to prevent the alkaline solution being too strong. This operation, which should continue nine hours, is called banking \ The cloth is • See Plate, title Bleaching. ■\ A very ingenious and simple method of effecting this has been suggested by ]M. Chaptal, and the experiments which have been made appear to confirm the va- lue of the proposed alteration. M. Chaptal's method of bucking, consists in expos- ing the cloth when impregnated with caustic alkali to the action of steam raised to a somewhat higher temperature than that of boiling water. For tliis purpose a square or rectangular shallow" boiler is firmly fixed in masonry, and a vault of stone- work hned with lead is raised over it ; at one end is a door sufficient to admit a man, made to fit very closely, and capable by the action of screws of being render- ed steam-tight. Witliin the vault are fixed reels, by means of w'hich either cloth or yarn can be wound off one on to tlie other, by a somewhat circuitous route, dur- ing which it is made to pass through the liquor in the boiler and is also exposed to the action of the steam. The cloth or yarn being previously steeped for a few hours in an alkaline ley is wound upon one of the reels, and a quantity of ley is also pour, edinto the boiler; the door of the vault is then secured and the "fire under the boiler is lighted. This being done, the cloth is slowly transferred from one reel to the otlier, and afterwards returned to the former one, by means of a winch worked by hand or macliinery on the outside of the vault. This being performed in a dense atmosphere of very hot steam, and the cloth in one part of its progress passing through tlie liquor in the boiler, the colouring matter of the cloth is much more speedily extracted than by the common process of bucking-. Her.ce not only time is saved but the beating to which the goods are subjected in the wash-wheel, and by which their strength is in some degree injtvred, may be considerably lesr sened. BLE BLE thus left all night, taken out in the morn- ing, well dashed und laid down on the fras3 for about a week, being turned every ay or two. It must undergo tliis opera- tion of bouking a second time with from 50 to 601b of pot-ash, and being well dashed, is laid do\\-n as before. It is now soured in vitriolic acid and water in tubs sunk in the ground : the mixture sjiould be the strength of if?&n^' vinegar or a little more. In tliis souiir.g they should continue two days and nights at least : then dashed well ; layed down for a week and turned as before. The pieces should then be honied with 301b. of pearl ash, and ten pounds of soap to a culr ; dashed, laid down for three or four days : then soured, dashed, laid down for three or four dajs, turned, &c. as before. Boi^ again with 25lb. of good pearl ash to a cuir. Dash, lay down for two or three days, and then sour if you please in the oxygenated muriatic acid, made in the manner directed in the ai-ticle, Mu- RiATic Acid. If you do not use the oxy- geneted acid, sour again in common vi- triolic acid for six or eight hours, and ■wash it extremely well. Indeed, perfect dashing continued to a certainty till all the acid is vMshed out, is indispensible: otherwise the pieces would rot on the ground when dry. Less than a month is not sufficient to get a piece of linen cloth perfectly while, though half that time will do for callicoes inKngland — But in America the superior heat of the sun will save at least one fourth of the time in laying down the pieces. After this process, the cloth is put under the operation of the rub- bing boards, wluch certainly injure the texture, as appears by the knap in the teeth, although the more soap is used the less injury is done. But it is a part of the manufacture which may be omitted where the cloth is required to gain credit by the strength of its texture. After the rubbing boards the cloth is gradually wound round cyhnders of wood and beetled — The beetles are stampers lifted up by a cog-wheel, and let fall on the cloth, as it is slowly taken up round a turning cylinder. This is also a part of the operation by which the thread is flat- tened, and the cloth made to look finer at the expence of the texture. It is then run through a very thin solu- tion of fine starch, and blued with smalt. Then run through two cylinders to give it evenness and gloss, and made up for market. The manner of bleaching fine linen cloths, viith the method of preparing them as prac- tised in Ficardy, (/Vtf»ee.)— After the lin- ens are ttiken from the loom, they are put to soak in clear water for a whole day.: when they have been well washed and cleansed, they are taken out and thrown into a bucking tub filled with cold lye made of wood ashes and water, which has been used in former processes. When they are taken out of that lye, they are washed again in clear water and spread in a meadow, where they ai-e occasionally watered with clear water out of small ca- nals made for that purpose in the ground. They water them with scoops or hollow and narrow wooden peels, with a long^ handle. After lying acei-tain time on the ground they pass them through a fresh lye poured on hot : this lye is of different strength according to the qualitj- of the linen. Being taken out of this second lye, they are worked in clear water, and laid again in the meadow ; all which several operations are repeated until the Uncn has acquired the desired degree of whiteness. They are afterwards put into a weak lye, to restore the softness which the preced- ing sti'ong lyes had deprived -them of^ and after this they wash them in clear water. They next rub them with black soap, which finishes whitening the seh ♦^^gesi, wiiich would never become perfectly white without the help of soap. Then they wash them well, to take off all the soap, and put them to soak in sour cows' milk, the cream being first taken off. This perfects their bleaching, gives them all their sottness, and makes tiiem cast a little nap. Being taken out of the milk, they ai-e washed agiun in clear water for the last time. When they have undergone all these operations, they give them the first blue ; tiiat is to say, they dip them into water in which a little starch has been dissolved, together with smalt, or Dutch lapis, of which the fattest and palest is the best, for the linens must not have too blue a cast. The linens being thus bleached, after the manner we have related, the bleachers or whiteners deliver tlicm into the hands of the merchants to whom they belong, who cause them to be properly made up. These prepiirations diller according to the qualities of the linens : for there are some which ouglit to preserve all their strength ; and others the strength of which must be diminished, in order to render them clearer. Lawns or cambrics are prepared with starch and pale blue, or smalt diluted with clear water. They add some other drugs, the quantity and quality of which depend on the workmen's knowledge and capacitjfc BLE BLE Being thus prepared, they are fasten- ed M"ith ropes to poles fixed in tlie ground at some distance from eacli other. When they ai"e three quarters or half drj, they take tliem f.om the poles, and beat them on maible blocks, with verj- smooUi wooden mallets, wliich is done to beat down the grain, and give them a more beauiifal appearance. After this, they fold them "mto small squares, and press them. When they come out of the press, the dealers in France put their numbers upon them, wliich are written or stamped upon small pieces of parchment, and tied to the sel- vage of the piece %nth silk of different co- lours, according to the merchant's fancy, who calls that silk his hvery ; each mer- chant having his particular coloui', which he never changes. After this, they %vrap up the pieces very neatly in brown paper of Rouen, well beaten, tied with small packthread, which they commonly get from Holland. The linens are then in a proper condition to be sold, packed up, and sent to the places where they are disposed of. All the clear linens of Picardy, such as plain, striped, or spotted lawns, are pre- pared after tlie same manner as those be- fore mentioned ; except that these are beaten, but those of Picardy are not- It must be observed that tlie fau-er the weather is, the easier are the linens bleached. In fur weiiher they may be bleached in a month's time ; but, in foul weather, six weeks, or more, are hardly sufficient to complete the operation. It must also be observed, that all the linens, of whatever kind they are, which are bleached m Holland, Flanders, and Picardy, are dipped in cows' milk after the cream is taken off; it being certain, that it is this liquor which gives them tliat delicate whiteness so much admired in the linens which come from those differ- ent countries. It is customary with the merchants who send their hnens to the bleaching- grounds of Flanders and Picardy, to mark them at each end with one or more letters of their names (which marks are made with thread of Epinay, worked with the needle) and to fasten at the places where these marks are put, some small twists, made also of the same thread of Epinay ; which twists have a certain number of knots, at some distance from each other ; each knot having its pai-ticular value, ac- cording as every merchant thinks pi-oper. The marks are put, in order to know to whom each piece belongs ; and the twists, to remember the prices. The method of bleaching common linent, VOL. I. as it is practised in ^injou. — Immedlateljr after the pieces are taken fi'om the loom, they iu"e carried to the whitner, or bleacher, who puts tliem directly ijito wooden trouglis, fidl of cold clear water ; where, with wooden mallets, which are moved by a water-mill, they rje so well agiutted and beaten, that thcv are inren- sibly cleared from all t^leir impurities. Being taken out of the mill, the}' are spread on a meadow, where the dew which they receive during a week begins to bleach them. Then they are put into a kind of wooden tubs, when they tlirow over them a com- mon lye, quite hot. The linens ha^•ing thus gone through the lye, they take them out of the tub, to clean them again in the mill ; then they spread them a second time in the meadow, where they leave them a week, after which tliey give them a second lye : all these several operations are repeated until the linens have acquired a perfect degree of whiteness. Then they fold them up, after a maimer proper to each sort^ and to the places for which tliey are de- signed. Bleaching of CaUon. — ^The process is exactly the same as for linen, only re- quuing less time and labour, viz. — 1. Steep the grey cloth for two or three days, then wash. 2. Bouk with 701b. of pot ash to 2o0 pieces of caUico of 28:|^ yards each, or mtislinets, velverets, &c. in proportion, that is to a cuir, full, which will hold 230 caliicoes in the grey. .\ cuir that wiU hold 230 caliicoes will not hold quite so many of Irish Unen of equal length. 3." Lay tlie goods down on the grass three davs, turning them each day. 4. Boiik with 50ib. of good pearl ash, and about 5lb. of soap. Dash, Liy do\ni for three days as before- 5. Sour in vitriolic acid and water, the strength of strong %-inegai" for two days. 6. Dash well, lay down for three days as before. 7. Bouk with 301b. of pearl ash, dash and lay down for three days. 8. Bleach with oxygenated muriatic acid. Dash well, lay down for a day; dash again and make up the calicoes." A new metliod of bleaching cotton thread and hosiery has been adopted in Swabia. The operation is performed in two days, and does not require extensive premises. An alkaline caustic ley is prepared, by^ taking two measures of quick lime, and covering them with ten measures of good ashes ; the heap Is then to be sprinkled with water, and when the lime is slacked, and the mass cooled, it S BLE BLE is fit for making the ley by tlie addilion of cold soft Avater. The skeins of cotton being untwisted and tied in parcels, are to be immersed in the ley, in which they are to be left six hours, and to be occa- sionally turned ; they are tlien to be wash- ed in a river, and afterwards Ijoilcdtw clve ho'vs in a bath of the same kind of ley, in wliich for every sixty-six pounds of cot- ton thread, six pounds of soap have been dissolved ; they ;u'e then to be boiled the same length of time in a solution of soap and water only, according to tlie former proportion; after which, they are again to be washed in the river, and hung up in the air, or laid on the grass, to dry as quickly as possible. The process for the hosiery is similar. The boiler must be made of copper, and always well cleaned after it has been used. The successful experiments made by Berthollet in bleaching vegetable goods, by means of the oxyviuriatic acid, seem to have brouglit this art nearly to a state of perfection. But this method is not in every instance, equally economical. It requires to be performed by very skilful operators, in order that the goods may not be affected by a ley too corrosive, or applied at an improper time ; indepen- dent of which consideration, it is desir- able that every process should be com- pletely disclosed, in order that the artist may choose such means as may best suit his pursuit. Tiiis consideration lias in- duced tlie publication of ihe following ac- count of Chaptal's simjile and economical mode of bleaching cotton thread. At the height of about 17 inches above the grate of a common furnace, a copper boiler is placed, of a round form, 19 in depth, and 52.49 inches in diameter. The projecting rim of the boiler, which is about 7 inches, rests upon the brick work of the furnace. The remainder of the kiln is made of free stone, and forms an ova! boiler or digester, about 78 inches in height, and its width, when mea- sured at the centre, 52 inches — The up- per part of this vessel has a round ori- fice, about 19 inches in diameter, which is closed when necessary, by a large moveable stone, or by a cojijier lid adapt. ed for the i)urpose. On the flank of tlic copper vessel, which forms the iiottom of this digestei", a grating is laid, wliich consists of bai's of wood placed near enough to prevent the cotton that is put on them from faUing through, and suffi- ciently strong to sui)port the weight of 1780 pounds. Wlien this structure is com- pleted, the cotton thi-ead, having been previously divided into parcels or lianks, u slightly impregnated witli u solution of soda, rendered caustic by lime. This operation is performed in a trough ol" wood or stone, and as soon as the cotton is sufliciently impregnated witli the alka- line liquor, it is conveyed to the digester, and piled »ipon the wooden-g^ate. In this silu-ition, the exuding liquor runs through the bars into the copper boiler, where it forms a stratum of fluid, and allows the whole mass to be heated, without danger of burning either the cotton or the metal. The alkaline ley is composed of the best potash, one tenth part of the weight of the cott(m in quantity. After the cotton is properly disposed in the boiler, the cover is put on, and very little issue left for the disengaged vapours, in order that they may acquire a greater degree of heat, and act more powerfully on the cotton. When the digester is charged, the fire is lighted in the furnace, and the ley submitted to a gentle ebulli- tion from 20 to 36 hours. It is then suf- fered to cool, the cover taken off", the cot- ton cai'efully washed and exposed on the bleaching ground for 2 or 3 days, by spreading it on frames during the day, and on the grass at night. Thus the cot- ton acquires a beautiful degree of white- ness; and if some portions should acci- dentally remain unbleached, which may ha])pen from its not having been equally and completely impregnated with the ley, those portions must be replaced and sub- jected to a second operation, or left in the bleach-field for some days longer. The oxygenated muriatic acid was dis- covered by Scheele ; its application to bleaching was hrst suggested by Berthol- let and Chaptal in France, and used at Glasgow, by Mr. Watt, and in Manches- ter in the year 1791 in a large way, first by Baker and Co whose process has never vet been made public, and is that now about to be detailed. The method of making this acid for bleaching, yet used in Manchester and elsewhere, is by adding to 3 parts, by weight, of manganese, 8 parts of common salt and 6 parts of oil of vitriol, and 12 of water — Tliese are distilled together, and tlie products received in bariels of water, arranged in the maimer of Wolfe's apparatus, by tubes communicating from the retort to tlie first barrel, and from tlie first to a second. Sometimes the water is only impregnated with the acid, sometimes it is made to saturate lime or jiearl ash. This process cannot be used with economy: the trouble and expence of retorts, and the attendance on the fire render it com]ilicated so as ultimately to bring it into disuse. It has not ) et, and never will answer for goods in general. 18LE BLE Mliere particular patterns are suddenly wanted for the market it may pay. The \*Tiler of this article attended for three years continually to tlie bleaching of cotton g"oods of various kinds, to the amount of 800 pieces of callico per week, on tlie average of the year, by the follow- ing process. The goods undei-went tiiree bouking^, as described befoj-e in this ar- tide, and two acid batiis. 'I'he thiixl was the oxygenated muriatic acid, made as follows. In a building of one ixwrn on a bank and another over it, were placed on substantial fi-amcs or tressels, five wooden cyundricul machines four feet diameter by five fc-et long, the staves two and an half inches thick and well dove-Uiiled. Iiuo each of these, twice a day, through a fun- nel inserted in a two inch augur hole and let through the floor of the upper room, was poured T5\h. of salt and 25ib.of red lead. To tliis was added 401b. of oil of vitriol, weighing 29Aoz.. to the wine pint. The maclilne was tlien filled with w ater, the augur hole stopt with a plug and rag, and then turned round 20 or 30 times, and in 15 minutes tlie acid was made — The vitriolic acid acts on the salt, and the marine acid tiius produced on tlie red lead, which in a few minutes is deprived of its ox)gen. The handle of each macliiiie was fixed on the centre of one of tlie ends with two ci"oss-bars [X] — The acid when made was let off on the pieces plucetl in wooden vessels in a room adjoining and below. It frequently occasioned a spit- ting of blood among the workmen wiio took out the pieces, but was never attend- ed with any further deleterious effects: laudanum relieved the short phthisicky cough. One of these vessels full was al- lowed to 60 muslinets. No lead remained in the Uquor. This process may be imitated in a small wa\-, by poming into a strong vial, with a glass stopper, about an ounce of spirii.s of salt on a tea-spoonful of red-lead ; stop the vial; heat is generated, the Jijad turns white and a very sti-ong oxygenated acid is produced in a uunute's time. But this acid will contain a little le:«d, while the acid mude with vitriol and salt does not. This acid has lately been recommended by Gujton Mor^eau, as aneflectual de- stroyer of putrid exhalation. We shall abstract the patent lately granted to Mr. Turnbull, for an improve- ment in the common process of bleaching cotton, or linen pieces : Take any kind of earth which is easily mixable with water, such as clay, marl, or Fuller's earth, or if tliat cannot be had, any kind of soft mud 01- the like, which is put into a boil- er to evaporate the moisture; dried, ag*irt mixed with water, and passed through fine sieves. This powder is then mixed with quick-lime, which is slacked in the eartliy mass, and forms the materials for tlie several boukings which the cloth is to undergo. The pieces are to be worked in the bouking tubs for a number of times, alternating tliis operation with rins- ing and souring, as is usual in the long estabhshed method, and afterwards ex- posing tlicm to the air, on tlie bleaching ground. The only difJerence in the pro- cess here employed, is the admixture of eai-iliy mud, or clay, to tlie lime, so that tlie corrosive power of the latter is dimi- nislied, and may consequently be used more freely. In the last botikings, j)ot- ash is also added to tlie earthy mixture. Hence the patentee's method imites that of fulling with soap, or washing witli al« kaline lye ; and it is very probable, that by such a combination not only time, but also expcnce may be saved, as alkah is tlie most valuable article used m the process. In January, 1798, a patent was granted to ]Mr. C. Tennant, for his method of using c-.dciu-eous eaiths, especially tliose known under the names of barytes and sti-ontites as substitutes for alkalies, in neutralizing tlie muriatic acid gas em- ployed in bleaching, &c. and the paten- tee diiects such calcareous earths to be calcined, pulverised, and sifted ; afler wiiich a certain portion of qoick-Ume, ac- cording to the degree of strength requir- ed, must be tlirown into the vessel usu- ally em])lo\ed in the preparation of the bleaching liquor, for the purpose of re- taining the oxygenated muriatic gas. When the ingredients generally employed, name- ly, manganese and spirit of salt, have been introduced into the retort, and tlie gas begins to rise, llie Uquor contained in the receiver ouglit to Ije constantly agitated, so tliat tlie fine particles of the lime may be difhised throughout the wiiole of such fluid ; for the success of the process depends chiefly on this cir- cumstance. As soon as Uie manganese, or odier material, ceases to yield the oxy- genated muriatic acid gas, the whole should be suffered to remain at rest, for two or three hours ; after which the clear liquor muse be decanted for use ; Mr. T. farther observes, that if these calcareou.s earths be mechanically suspended in v.-a- ter, or other aqueous fluid, they will unite with such gas, and form a compound that may be advantageously employed in bleaching. The liquor, thus prepai'ed, is not only BLE BLE a considerable saving in the article of ashes, bwt also the time usually required for bleaching is remarkably hhoiiened. It will be observed, that the proportions of the ingredients are varied, and must in some measure depend on the goodness of the articles, Mr. Rupp of Manchester recommends manganese 3 parts more cr less according to ils qnalLly, common salt 8, oil of viUiol 0, water 'l 2. Mr. Ten- nant of Glasg'>w, equJ weights of manga- nese, saltj und sulphuric acid, with a quantity of water equal to the acid in measure. Tn Ireland, the common pro- portions are said to be manganese 6 parts, common salt C, sulphuric acid 5, water 5. In France and Germany we understand they vai-y little Irom tlio following : man- ganese 20 part?, common salt 64, sulphu- ric acid 4"?, w<"ter 54. It must be obser- ved, iKAvevcr, that, as the efficacy of the acid rlt'pends upon the oxigen imparted to it by the manganese, a deficiency of this article must render it less efficacious. The process of distillation may be per- formed in a large leaden alembic, sup- ported by an iron tre\tt,in an iron boiler. But instead of this apparatus, which is pecuhariy adapted for making a solution of h_\pei'<)xigenated nuiriat of lime, some, as heib/e noticed, employ a series of large barrch disposed in the manner of a Wpulfc'd apparatus, disengaging the oxi- genatcd niurlatic acid gas in one or more tubulated i ctorts, either of lead or stone, proj^crly an i.nged for the purpose ; or rec<'i\e the gas thus disengaged into the ViJi:.;eU in which the goods are to be bleached. But whatever mode be ado])t- ed, '/very possihlo precaution should be employed, to prevent tlie escape of the fjai into theair, to the injury of the work- men, If the bleaching liquor be not made in the vessel in which it is to be used, it is proper to draw off the liquor from the cask as so< n as it is prepared, because it acts upon the wood, and not only becomes by this m-eaus weaker, but likewise hastens the destruction of the cask : but when it is conveyed into a vessel in which clotlis are properly placed, these speedily weak- en it to such a degree, that it does not perceptibly act upon tiie wood. The ck,'tl;3 are to be piepared by leav- ing them twenty-tour hours iu water, or still belter in the old lixivium, to extract the dr(.s-;ing ; after which they must be once or twice well washed in alkaline llxiviums, because all that part wliich can be extractccLby thclixiviunis woidd have neutralized a portion of the licpior, which requires to becarefidly used. After this the cloth must be carefully washed, and disposed upon sticks, in such a manner, that it may be impregnated with the li- quor poured on it, without anv part being compiessed. The frammgot' the sticks, as well as the cask and vesse intended to contain the cloths, ought to be con- s.ructcd without iron ; because this me- tal becomes calcined by the oxigenated muriatic acid, and would produce iron- moulds, not to be taken out but by means of oxalic, or dilute sulphuric acid. The first immersion must be longer than the following ones ; it may last three hours : after which, the cloth is to be ta- ken out, lixi\ iated anew, and then put into a shallow vessel, in order that new liquor may be poured on it. It is sufficient, that this immersion, and the following, shouUl contiimc for the space of half an hour. The clotli is taken out, and cleared of the liquor by pressure ; then lixiviated, and subjected to new immersions. The same liquor may be used until it is exhausted : and when it is fbimd to be much weaken- ed, a proportion of the liquor which has not been used may be added. When the clotli appears white, except- ing at the selvages, and a few threads darker than the rest, it must be impregna- ted with black soap, and strongly rubbed ; after which it is to be lixiviated for the last time, and immersed once more in tlie liquor. The number of lixiviations and immer- sions which are necessary cannot be de- termined, because it varies according to the nature of the cloth : the limits of this number, liowever, are between fovir and eight, for linen and hempen cloths. M. Berthollet expresses his inability to point out the best method of making the alka- line lixiviums; this useful art being still a matter of mere practice, and variously performed in diflercnt places. It appear- ed advantageous to him, to render the al- kali caustic by mixing one third of lime ; but in this c.ise care must be taken that tlie lixivium l)e strained through a cloth, hi ordt-r that the calcareous earth may not mix itself with tlu linen, as its par- ticks might corrode or wear it by their hardness. By this management the lixi- vium being rendered more active, it does not requu'e so large a quantity of alkali ; and nevertheless, if the quantity of alkali be not too considerable, it produces no damage to the clotli, notwithstanding the contrary prejudice, which is very general, lie haa likewise remarked, that it was of no advantage, and even prejudicial, that the lixiviations should be of long duration ; but it is necessary that the fluid be very- hot, aiid of considerable sti-ength, other- wisu the cloths bleached by the oxigenated BLE BLE muriatic acid would become coloured and ruddy when submitted to new lixiviations. Cottons are much more easily and speed- ily bleached than linens : two lixiviums, or at most three, with the same number of immersi xis in the liquid, are sufficient ; and as they are so much the more readily bleached, it is advantageous, when linen, hemp, and cotton are to be bleached, to reserve the liquors for the latter, wliich have been already weakened by exerting their action on the former. Such liquors as are so exhausted as scarcely to act upon hemp or linen will do very well for cot ton . After the last immersion in the liquor, the cloth must be plung-ed into sour milk, or water acidulated with sulphuric acid. The true proportion is not well ascertain- ed ; but Beri hoUet thinks, from his expe- riments, that one part of the acid by weight, with fifty parts of water, may be employed successfully and without dan- ger. The cloths are to be kept about half an hour in this fluid, warmed ; after which, they must be strongly pressed, or wrung, and immediately plunged into common water : for, if they were siiffei'ed to dry by evaporation, the sulphuric acid, becoming concentrated, would attack them. When the cloths are well washed, they must be passed through a weak alka- line lixivium, and rinsed a second time ; after which nothing moi'e is necessary than to dry and prepare them in the usual manner. It is an obvious precaution, that this acid water be not too strong, as it would of course injure the texture of the stufl's : and soap must not be used after it, as a lixivium, for this would render them } el- low. To avoid the inconveniences arising from the escape of the gas, whicli wc liave mentioned above, potash was added . to the water in the i"cceivci-s. But this was found to add considerably to the ex- pense, and diminish the strength of the liquor. Mr. Tennant of Glasgow em- ployed a cheaper material, quicklime, ad- ded to the water in the receiver, and kept in continual agitati(jn. xVs lime is very little soluble in water, what is not sa- turated with the acid will subside to the bottom, if the Uquor be left to stand after all the gas is come over. If thirty pounds each of manganese, salt, and sulphuric acid, be used, Mr. Tennant puts sixty pounds of finely powdered quicklime into his receiver, which is capable of contain- ing a hundred and forty wine gallons of water. He likewise previou.'-iy dissolves thirty pounds of common salt in the wa- ter, but this does not appear to us to be necessary. Indeed, by increasing the spe* cific gravity of the water the lime does not subside in it so quickly, and probably a small portion of hyperoximuriat of pot- ash is formed. In bleaching with the oxigenated mu- riatic acid, it is of consequence to ascer- tain its relative strength, in order that the experiments may be at all times equally successful. Mr. de Croisille made use of a solution of indigo in the sulphuric acid; for which purpose he took one part of finely pulverized mdigo, with eight parts of concentrated sulphuric acid. This mixtuie is kept in a matrass for several hours on the water bath ; and, when the solution is complete, it is diluted witli a thousand parts of water. In order to as- certain the force of the oxigenated muriat- ic acid, one measure of this solution is put into a graduated tube of glass, and the liquor or impregnated water is added, until the colour of the indigo is completely destroyed. In this way it is ascertained, by means of the graduations, how many meastu'es of any liquor, the goodness of which has been fouijd by direct experi- ments upon linen or cotton, are necessary to destroy the colour of one measure of the solution of indigo : and this number will serve to ascertain the respective force of all the liquors, which are required to be comp.ared together. Mr. Watt makes use of a decoction of cochineal tor the same purpose. All the colours of calicoes or printed goods may be discharged by the oxige- nated muriatic acid, or hyperoxigenised nuu-iat of potash. The blues, yellows, and blacks indeed require a previous bath of water acidulated with suljDhuric acid; and according to their shade two or three immersions in the oxigenated muriatic .icid, alternately with this bath, may be recess iry. I'he Adrianople reds will al- \va}'s retain a ruddy tinge, on account of tlic oily matter that enters into their pre- paration, let them be immersed ever so of- ten. All other colours require only a single immersion, without any previous lixiviiition. Silk too, and woollen dyed of certain colours, may thus be rendered white; but they must be exposed to the action of sulpiuirous acid gas, to remove the yel- low colour left by the oxigenated muriatic acid. 'I'he rags or other materials for making paper may be bleached in a similar man- ner : but it is best to reduce them first to the state of pulp, as then the acid acts more uniformly upon tlie whole sub- stance. For bleaching old printed paper, to be BLE BLE worked up again, Pajot Descharmes ^Ives tlie following directions : Boil your printed paper for an instant in a solution of caus- tic soda. That from kelp may be used. Steep it in soapsuds, and then wash it; after which it may be reduced to pulp. The soap may be omitted without much inconvenience. For old written papers to be worked up again : steep it in waier acidulated with sulphuric acid, and then wash it well before it is taken to the mill. If the water be heated it will be more ef- fectual. To bleach printed paper, witli- out destroying its texture. Steep tlie leaves in a caustic solution of soda, either hot or cold, and then in a solution of soap- Arrange them alternately between cloths, as papermakers do thin sheets of paper when delivered from the form, and sub- ject them to the press. If one operation do not i-ender them sufficiently white, it may be repeated as often as necessary. To bleach old written paper, without de- stroying its texture: steep the paper in water acidulated with sidphuric acid, ei- ther hot or cold ; and then in a solution of oxigenated muriatic acid ; after which im- merge it in water, that none of the acid may remain behind. Tliis paper, when pressed and dried, will be fit for use as before. With a view to bleach wax, it is cut in small pieces, melted and poured into cold water, where it granulates. In this state it i.. exposed to the sun and air, melted and granulated repeatedly, then submit- ted to the influence of tlie sun, air, aid dew in the interval between each liquifica- lion. When the wax is perfectly blanch- ed, it is dissolved for the last time and cast into flat moulds, in which it is always exposed to the air, for one or two days, in order to render it more transpa- rent. The they put them into a stove to receive the vapour of sul))hur, which finishes their perfect whitening. Tliis bleaching is not the best, though very agreeable to the eye. It must be observed that, when wool- len stufi's have once imbibed the va- ])our of sulphur, it is a difficult mat- ter to make them lake a good co- loiir ill dyeing, unless it be a black or blue. The colour of manufactured wool re- , sides partly in its own oil, and partly in BOI BOI the greasy and mucilaginous applications ^vhich it receives in being prepared for the loom Botli the one and the other are also easily got rid of by the action of fidler's earth and soap in the process of fulling. Fuller's earth is a very fine grained absorbent earth, which by itself is capable of mixing rather than com bining with vegetable or animal oils, and rendering them miscible with water; its action is found however to be uicreased by the addition of soap ; and woollen cloth being beat in a fulling mill with hot V. ater, and a proper mixture of earth and soap, or of soap alone, and afterwai-ds well washed and dried in the aii', receives all the bleaching which it requires or is indeed capable of It is then of a white coloiu-, somewliut verging towards yel- low; this last tinge may be made to dis- appear by the addition of a verj- small quantity of stone blue in the water in which the cloth is last washed, or by exposing it to the fumes of burning sul- phur ; by this latter method however it acquires a certain hai'shness of feel and is apt to turn very yellow when washed with soap. BOILERS. Many ingenious vessels and utensils have, at djfTerent periods, been invented, with a view to facilitate the process of boiling, and save the consump- tion of fuel. In the latter respect, count Rumford stands at the head of those ex- perimental inquirers, w ho have directed their labours to the benefit of society ; yet we must confess that there is still gTeat room for improvement. One of the latest inventions in tliis department of domestic economy is tliat of Mr. Thomas Kowntree, engine -maker, of Great Sui-ry-street, Blackfriars-road, London, and the fol- lowing is a literal abstract of tlie inven- tor's description. "For heating of coppers, boilers, fuinaces, ovens, and stoves, my fire-place is much smaller than heretofore made use of for the same sized copper, boiler, furnace, oven, or stove. Instead of placing my fire-place, according to the common practice, immediately under the boiler, or other vessel, I place it at the front, side or end, as I see most conveni- ent, in such a manner as to oblige the flame to rise in the front, side or end, and pass all round the vessel, &c. while at the same time it strikes the bottom of the ves- sel, &c. without suffering the flame to pass oft' in a flue, or flues, as it usually does in the common way, and by tliat means sending the heat into the flues, instead of its being used where it ought to be, name- ly, on t!ie vessels. Sec this, my method effectually pre\ ents ; for, by means of a small perpendicular, or other opening, in- to a box or trap, which I call a reservoir, and which I place horizontally, or diagon- al!} , as the situation may require, and is made of iron, brick, stone, or any other material capable of bearing heat, where a valve is placed riding on centres or other- wise, and standing in a diagonal or other direction, asis found most convenient ; the flame is returned or impeded in its pro- gress to the chimney, aud made to de- scend below the bottom of the vessel, and pass out at the bottom, top, or side of said bo.\, trap, or reservoir, into the com- mon chimney. This reservoh- is placed between the vessel, &c. and the chimney. To the opening, which admits the flame into the reservoir, ai-e affixed, when ne- cessary, sliders, registers, or stops, which serve to increase or diminish the heat. The valve in tlie reservoii- is for the ^ame purpose in another degi-ee, which more immediately appertains to increas- ing or diminisliing tlie draught, which it does by moving the said valve into differ- ent positions, as the speed of the opera- tion may requii-c." It would be needless to state the par- ticulars of the evidence relative to the ef- fect produced by the new invented furna- ces, in heating boilers, &c. as well as the gi-eat saving of fuel, which was proved to be more than one-third, and in some cases nearly one-half, of what is usually consu- med in furnaces constructed on tlie old plan. Hence we shall communicate otily the hubstance of Mr. Hindmarsh's evi- dence, which gi-eatly tends to illustrate the principles of the invention. This, he conceives, principally consists in the three following circumstances : 1. In the peculiar mode of constructing tlie fuiTiace, or setting the boiler, and of placing the fire, not immediately under, but a little in front, or at one side of it, whereby the flame and hot air can get ac- cess to every part of the vessel, and not only strike with force against its bottom, but also with equal effect reverberate against, and violently embrace its sides, and whole external surface ; unlike every former contri^■ance, the most perfect of which could only cause the flame and hot air to act partially upon tlie bottom and sides of the vessel. 2. In tlie elevated situation, andsmall- ness of the aperture leading- from the fur- nace towards the chimney ; thereby the flame and hot air are impeded in their progress to the atmosphere, and compel- led to tarry in the ca%it}' of the furnace, and occupy every part thereof much lon- ger than tliey otherwise would do. This effect in stopphig, checking, and as it were arresting- the flame and hot air, in BOI BOR their attempt to escape into tlic atmos- phere, Mr. Hindmai'sh considered us not only new, but sing'ularly beneficial ; for, by this means, the flame and hot air are detained in tlie very place wliere their presence is most wanted, and constrained to give f'oi'th their energies with an im- petus against the bottom and sides of the vessel to be heated : wliereas, in none of the furnaces heretofore erected, was any effectual stop interposed between the fire and the chimney, to cause the flume and hot air to dwell under and round tlie sides of the vessel ; but they passed rapidly oft' into the atmosphere, eitlier by a direct communication through the chunney, or indu-ectly, but almost as speedilj-, by flues ; or else by a drain (as it is called,) the aperture of which is equal in dimensions to that of the chinmey itself 3. In an open space between the fur- nace and chimney, called by the Patentee a box, trap, or reservoir, and intended us a receptacle of the flame, hot air, and smoke, after they have quitted the fur- nace, and passed through the small aper- ture as above described. Tliis space, or reservoir, for the flame, liot air, and smoke, being closed at the top and exter- nal sides, and open only at tlie boctom out- vards, for the j)urpose of permitting the smoke, &.c. to pass off into the chimney, still farther checks and detains the flame and hot air in the furnace ; and behig it- self constantly full of warm air, smoke, &c, causes the heat to be reverberated against the sides and bottom of the vessel or boiler, and eftectually prevents the ad- mission of the cold atmosiiheric air from the chimney, which, on the old plans of construction, is found by experience to rob the furnace and vessel of more than half the supply of heat which any given quantity of fuel is capable of yielding. The valves, sliders, and dani])ers, are not essential parts of the invention, but merely as regulators, which, in many ca- ses, may be altogether omitted, without detriment to tlie operation of the Are. Count Rumford lias successfully ex- tended his researclies to discover the most economical plan in the manage- ment of fire, and tlic generation of IkuI for culinary and oUier purposes, and thinks that the fii-e cannot be made to im- pinge against the sides of a vessel with the same force and efl'ect as against the bottom : whicli is a plain proof, that at the time of writing that essay, he was to- tally unacquainted ^\ilil Mr. Itowntne's method of applying and iiKaiaging (he fire ; in whicli the very efl'ect which ilie count considers as a 'Icsidtratttm in science, and which appears to have been one graiitl ol/jort of his philosoi)hical pursuits, is now in a great measure completed. See Kitchen. liOlLlNG, in the ctilinaryart, is a me- thod of dresshig animal food, v( getables, &c. by decoction in hot water, for ilie pur- pose of removing their natural crudities, and rendering them more easy of digestion. By too much boiling, however, flesh is de- prived of a considerable part of its nour- ishing juice, as the gelatinous substimce of the meat is extracted, and incorporated with the water, wliile the spiritous and balsamic particles are dissipated by evapo- ration. Tlic culinary process of sttiving is more proHiable, especially if conducted in close vessels, as it is better cidciduted to ])reserve and concentrate the most sub- stantial and nutritious parts of animal food BOUAX, or Sub-Borat of Jorfa— Borax is a saline substance found in Tibet and China ; hi the former place it is procured from a lake situated among the momitains, hfteen days journey from Tisoolumbo the capital, and entirely su])plied by sjirings, no streams eithei- falling into or flowing from it. The water has a salt taste and contains both borax and common salt, and on ;iccount of its elevated situation is fro- zen for a great part of the year. The edges and siiallows of the lake are covered w ith a stratum of borax, which is dug up in con- siderable masses, and the holes thus made are gradually filled by a fresh deposition : from the deeper parts of the lake common salt is procured. The borax in its rough state is called tincal, and is brought to Europe in the form of a brownish-grey impure amorphous salt, or in detached crystals about an inch in length, of a pale greenish hue, and in the foi'm of compi'es- sed he.vahedral jirisms. The purification of borax is an art w hich was first discovered by the Vene- tians, afterwards passed to the Dutch, and is now practised in great perfection by some English and French chemists. The ])rocess is as yet kept a secret, but in all jjiobability consists of calcination, solution ai;d cr)stallization. Chaptal, however, in- forms us, fioni his o\\ n extensive experi- ence, tliat tlie destruction of the oily jiart of borax by calcination is attended with considerable loss, lie finds, after trying- all the ])rocesses in the large way, that tlie .sini])iest method consists in boiling the borax slrnn<;|y, und foi a long time, with water. This solution, being filtered, af- foiiis liy e\ a|)oratioii crystals, which are soniewiiat foul, but may be purified by re- peating tlie operation. TJic crude borax is often covered with an oily or grea.sy matter to prevent it from efflorescing BOR BRA and on this account is not easil}' acted on by hot water. It appears however that bv exposing the tincal to a calcining" heat lower than its point of fusion, tlie g-rease may be burnt off and the other inflamma- ble impnrities got rid of; the residue be- ing then reduced to a fine powder and di- gested in boiling water, tlie saline paits will be dissolved, leaving most of the im- purities behind. Borax when quite pure is in colourless crystaUine masses, very shghtly efflores- cent on exposure to the air ; but when ex- posed to a dni- heat speedily dissolves in its water of crystallization, it then, as the moisture evaporates, becomes of an opake ^vh^te colour, and a voluminous spungj' texture like burnt alum. If the heat is en- creased to a moderate redness it liquefies, and when cool appears as a colourless transparent glass. If poured out of the crucible in order to cool, it should be transferred as soon as it becomes solid to a covered bason or other proper vessel, for it always cracks and flies to pieces before it grows cold. Borax when thus fused is called glass of boi-as. By exposure to the air it acquires the appearance of chalce- dony on account of the partial efflores- cence that it undergoes If made in a sU- rer crucible, or if hastily melted in an earthen one, it is pei-fectly resoluble in vrater, but when kept fluid for a longtime in a common crucible it dissolves a por- tion of the earth of the vessel and becomes little if at all soluble in water. Borax is decomposable by all the mine- ral and vegetable acids. Silex and alu- mine combine in the dry way with borax, the former into a transparent, the latter into an opake glass. If the ingredients are in nearly equal proportions the glass is in- soluble in the mineral acids, but if a con- siderable excess of borax is employed, the result is a soluble glass. Of this circum- stance Mr. Chenevix has ingeniously ta- ken advantage, by substituting borax for caustic potash in the analysis of the more refractory stony compounds, the use of the former salt being on many accounts much more convenient than tliat of the latter. Borax will also dissolve most of the me- tallic oxyds, receiving fi-om each of them peculiar tinges of colour. The uses of borax are considerable : it Ts employed in the laboratory as a verv active flux, and as producing a more per- fetly limpid fusion than any other sub- stance. For the same reason it is an in- gredient in some of the finer kinds of ^lass ; though its dearness prevents it irom being employed so often as itxjther- wise might be to great advantage. Borax is also highly useful to the jewellei-s and VOL. I. goldsmiths as a flux for the solder by which pieces of gold and silver are ce- mented together ; in the East Lidies it is emplojed in the moist way as a solvent for gum Lac; and dyers frequently employ it for giving a gloss to silks. Borax is not only found in the East Indies butlikewisein South Anierlca.Mr.Anthony Carera, a physician established at Fotosi, informs us, tliat this salt is abundantly ob- tained at the mines of Riquintipa and those in the neighbourhood of Escapa, where it is used by the natives in the fusion of cop- per ores. BR.\NDY. Tliis valuable spirit is pro- duced by the distillation of wines of all kinds, and properly speaking, by no other fermented liquor whatever. Under tlie article Alcohol we mentioned that the purely spirituous part of all fermented liquors appears to be identically the same. Brandy, rum, corn spirits, &'c. be- ing the products of the first distillation fiom fermented liquors, and alcohol the purer part of each, beuig separated bv a quent process. Brandy is prepared in many of the wine countries of Europe, and with p:u'ticular excellence in many parts of the centre and south of France. The necessary process is extremely simple, being no- thing more than a well regulated distil- lation of wine without addition, fi-om suitable vessels ; but to alter or improve the colour and flavour, various substances are added to the spirit after distillation. The manufactory is technically called in France Brulerie, and the makers, Bndeurs d'Eau de Vie. Though every wine will give a certain portion of brandy by distillation, some are much preferable to others. In general the strong heavy wines yield tlie most spirit, giving nearly a fburtli of good proof spirit, whilst' some of the light thin wines furnisJi no more than about a fifteenth. If the quantity is less than a sixth it will hardly repay the expense of distillation. Fi-ench brandy acquires by age a great degree of softness, and at the same time a yellowish brown colour, which our dis- tillers have imitated in theu* artificial pre- parations. But this colour being found only in such brandies as have become mellow by long keeping, it follows th.at the ingredient, from which it is extracted, is the wood of the cask, and tliat the brandy in leality has received a tincture from the oak. The peculiar flavour which French brandies pos.?ess, is sup- posed to be derived from an essential oil of vvine, mixed widi the spirit ; but, more probably, it originates from the T BRA BRA very nature of the gi'ape, or the wine lees. It deserves to be remarked, that our distillers frequently make use of the spi- rit of nitrous ether, commonly called, dul- cified spirit of nitre : a very small propor- tion of which, added to pure whiskey, or a liquor obtained by the distillation of mult, imparts to it a flavoui-, not unlike that of French bi-andy. A vinous spirit has been extracted from carrots by Mr. Thomas Hornby, of York, (England,) who found, that an acre of carrots (20 tons,) produced 240 gallons of spirit; which is considerably more than can be obtained from five quar- ters of barley, the -average produce of an acre. Brandy, even of the most genuine kind, is less wholesome than rum; but the counterfeit and adulterated sorts are ex- ceedingly detrimental to those who are habitually addicted to the use of this per- nicious liquor. It should, therefore, be drank very moderately, rather from neces- sity than for gratification. Excellent brandy is made from apples in the United States, notwithstanding what Chaptal has said on the subject. If carefully distilled from sound apples, and kept a few years in a warm situation, it is very agreeable when diluted with wa- ter. Peaches also yield a liquor, which, when properly distilled, is by many preferred to the finest French bran- dy. The following recipe for making apple brandv, was communicated by Mr. Joseph CoopeV, of New Jersey. The liquor made agreeably to this process, is mild, mellow, and pleasant, and greatly superior to ap- ple spirits procured by the common mode. "Put the cider, previously to distilling, into vessels free from must or ill smell, and keep it till in the state whicli is com- monl" called good soimd cider, but not till sour, as that lessens the quantity and injures the cjuality of the spirit. In the distillation, let it run perfectly cool from the worm, and in the first time of distil- ling, not longer than it will flash when cast on the still head and a lighted can- dle applied )nulcr it. In the second dis- tillation, shift the vessel as soon as the spirit runs below proof, or has a disagree- able smell or taste, and put what runs af- ter with the low wines. Uy this method the spirit, if distilled from g-ood cider, will take nearly or quite one third its ([uantity to bring it to proof; for wliich purpose take the last running from a cheese of good water cider, direct from the press, unfermei^ed, and ui forty -eiglit hours the spirit will be milder and better flavoured than in several years standing if manufac- tured in the common way. When the spirit is drawn off, which may be done in five or six days, there will be a thin jelly at bottom, which may be distilled again, or put into the best cider, or used for making royal cider : it being better for these purposes than the clear spirit, as it will greatly facilitate in refining the li- quor." One wine glass full added to a half gal- lon bowl of punch, highly improves the flavour of that drink. In Virginia, peach brandy has long been distilled, and might be made a very profitable article of inter- nal commerce, as the peach tree appears to thrive better m that state, than in al- most any other in the Union. See Dis- tilling. BRASS, in metallurgy, is a factitious metal, made of copper and zinc, or lapis calaminaris. By long calcination alone, and without the mixture of any otlier substance with it, brass affords a beautiful green or blue colour for glass : but if it be calcined witli powdered sulphur, it will give a red, yel- low, or chalcedony colour, according to the quantitv, and other variations in using It. Jiraxx cnlour, is tliat prepared by colour- men and braziers to imitate brass; of wliich there are two sorts : namely, the red brass, or bronze, which is mixed with red ochre, finely pidverized; and the yel- low, or gilt brass, which is made of cop- per filings only. Both sorts are used with varnish. Corinthian brass, is a mixture of gold, silver, and copper ; so called from the melting and running together of immense quantities of those metals, when the city of Corinth was sacked and burnt, 146 years before Christ. In 1781, a patent was granted to Mr. James Emerson, for his invention' of mak- ing brass of copper and zinc. The Paten- tee directs the spelter to be melted in an iron boiler, then passed througli a perfo- rated ladle and placed over a vessel con- tiiining water; by which means the zinc will be granulated. Fifty-four pounds of copper shot are now annexed with lOlbs. of calcined and pulverized calamine, to- gether with about one bushel of charcoal : a handful of this mixture is first put into a casting-pot, tlien 31bs. of the gi-anuialed zinc ; upon which the composition befoi'e specified is laid till the vessel is filled : Mr. Emerson, however, has not stated the exact proportion of the ingi-edients. Eight similar pots are now to be supplied with the same materials, and the whole must BRA BRE be submitted to the heat of a furnace, for the space of 12 hours ; when the pro- cess will be completed and 821bs. of brass be prociu'ed ; which the Patentee asserts to be of a very superior quality to that manufactured from copper and cala- mine. Various articles made of brass have sometimes an appearance of well gilt me- tal. This appearance, we now know, is produced by means of a solution of gum- lac in spirit of wine, with which they are rubbed. As long as the lac lasts, they retain their splendour. These articles, however, are attended with one inconve- nience, that they must never be cleaned with a strong brush, or scoured with chalk or whiting, but only wiped with a soft rag; for as soon as the lac is rubbed off they loose their brilliancy- A varnish of this kind may be prepared in the follow- ing manner : Dissolve two ounces of very pure and fine gum lac in forty-eight ounces of al- cohol, and place the solution in a sand bath exposed to a moderate heat. To prevent the too abundant evaporation of the spii'it of wine, as well as the bui'sting of the glass, a piece of bladder ought to be bound over the latter, and a few holes made in it with a needle. In another glass, dissolve in the same quantity of spu-it of wine, an ounce of di-agon's blood in grains. When both the solutions are completed, mix them together, then put three grains of yellow wood into it, and suffer it to remain there twelve houi's in a moderate heat : after which, strain the li- quor through filtering paper, and pre- serve it for use in a clean glass bottle. To give this lac-varnish a high gold co- loui', yellow wood is preferable to every other substance. If the varnish be in- tended to be pale, and not to change the colour of tlie brass- tlie yellow wood may be omitted, but if a stronger colour be re- quired, a half more of the yellow wood may be added. 'the uses of brass are too numerous to be mentioned. It is applicable to an infi- nite variety of purposes, is easily wrought by casting and hammering, and by the lathe ; its wh-e is eminently useful, and it takes a high and very beautiful pohsh The appearance of brass is given to otlier metals by washing them with a yellow lac- quer or Varnish, a substitution often very much to the detriment of the manu- factiu-ed article. Many other yellow alloys of copper are used, such as bronze, bell-metal, &c. most of which are triple compounds, and \vill be noticed under the article Cop- BREAD, an important article of food, prepared of flour kneaded with a mixtiu'e of yeast, water, and salt, and afterwards baked in an oven. Before the invention of mills for grind- ing corn, bread was prepared by boiling the grain, and forming it into viscous cakes, not very agreeable to the ]5alate, and difficult of digestion. In process of time, machines were constructed for grind- ing corn, as well as for separating the pure flour ; and a method was discovered to raise the dough by fermentation. Dough may be fermented either b)' leaven or by yeast ; but as the latter raises the kneaded mass more uniformly, and produces the sweetest and lightest bread, it is generally preferred. Bread well raised and baked is not only more agreeable to the taste tiian unfermented bread, but more readily mixes with water, without forming a vis- cous mass, or puff, and is at the same time more easily digested in the stomach. Bread [in England] is divided into three kinds, namely, white, wheaten, and household. Fine white bread is made only of flour ; the wheaten contains a mixture of the finer part of the bran ; and the household of the whole substance of the grain. Altliough we have, in the article Bak- ing, given general directions for sticcess- fuUy conducting this complicated pro- cess, j-et we think it will be useful, in Uiis place, to add, by way of supplement, a few particulars relative to this subject, and more especially applicable to domes- tic purposes. Mr. Dossie, who appears to have paid great attention to the ai-t of baking, gives the following simple and much approved method of making good white bread: Take of fine flour, six pounds; of water, moderately warm, but not hot, two points and a half; of liquid } east, eight spoonsful ; and of salt, two ounces. Put about a pint of tlie warm water to the yeast, and ml-: tliem well, by beating them together with a whisk. Let the salt be put to the remaln'mg part of the water, and stirred till completely dissolv- ed. Then put both quantities of the fluid gjadually to the flour, and knead the mass well till the whole is properly mixed. The dough thus made must stand four or five hours, that is, till tlie exact moment of its being fully risen, and before it is sensibly perceived' to fall. It is then to be formed into loaves, and immediately placed in the oven. To bake it properly, is attended with some difficultv to those who are not skilled in the art. The fu-st cai-e is to see that the oven be sufficiently heated, yet not to such a degree as to burn the crust. If a green vegetable turns black when put BRE BRE ill, the oven will scorch the bread ; in which case it must stand open till the Iieat has somewhat abated. The next circum- stance to be attended to is, that the mouth of tlie oven be well closed, till the bread has risen to its full Iieiglit, which will not take place in less tlian 2 or 3 hours. After this, but not before, the oven may be opened for the ])urpose of viewini^ the bread, and seeing that it is baked witliout being either bm'nt,or too crusty; for if the mouth of the oven be not kept closely stopped till the bread is fully risen, it will flatten and become heavy. Wiien properly ma- naged, the above mentioned ingredients will have lost about one pound two ounces in weight, so that a well-bakedloaf of this kind sliould amount to seven pounds twelve ounces. Bread may be made ivithout yeast, as is practised in Hungary, by tlie following- process : Boil two good handsful of hops in four quarts of water ; pour the decoc- tion upon as much wlieat bran as the li- quor will moisten. Then add four or five pounds of leaven; mix the whole togeth- er, till perfectly united Put this mass into a warm place for twenty -four liours ; then divide it into pieces about the size of a hen's egg; let these be dried in the air, but not in the sun, and they will keep good for six months Or, make the above into six lai-ge loaves, take six good hands- ful of dough, broken small and dissolved in eight quaiters of wai*m water, and poured through a sieve into one end of the bread-trough ; tlien pour three quarts more of warm water through the sieve af- ter it, and what remains in the sieve must be well expressed. To maie bread viith salt. — Take as much salt as is necessary to a loaf of the size intended, dissolve it in as much warm water as will mix the flour. Set it in a pot at a distance from the fire, sufiicient to wai-in, but not to bake the flour on the side of the pot ; a yellow water will rise on the top, which take oft" with a spoon, and the rising will begin. Then mix it with as mucli flour, as will make the loaf, and if it should not be sufficient add a little warm water ; in less than an hour it will be fit to bake. P'rom the time the salt water and flour are mixed, three or four hours arc required. The mass does not rise hke bread made with yeast. The editor has lasted bread made agreeable to the above recipe, and found it pk asant and light. Mr. Ferryman, of England has invent, fd a machine for separating the outer coat or bran of wheat, without loosing the internal coat, which adheres to the outer, and has always hitlierto been thrown off with the former in grinding. It is asserted that this second coat, is highly nourisliing and gives a sweetness to bread, which it never has, when made from common flour. The late Duke of Bedford bore tes- timony before a committee of the house of commons, of the superiority of bread made of grain tlius blanched. The only objection which can be made to such bread is that it is of a darker hue than common bread. One hundred pounds weight of flour will make from 134 to 138i pounds of bread. In an experinjent made to asceiliun the number of loaves of bread which a barrel of flour will produce, it appeared that oilb. of flour produced 4 lb. 9 oz. of good light bread. This is an increase of about 40 per cent. Therefore, a barrel of flour will make 372 Mbs. of bread, which will pro- duce 312 loaves, weighing 14 oz. and at 6 cents, or -L of a dollar, jdeld §19- ^*^°^ A machine for kneading flour is used in the public bakmg houses at Genoa, and is calculated to save much labour. An account of this machine, together with a plate may be found in Nicholson's Phil. Jour and the Hep. of Arts ,- taken fi om the Trans, of the Pat. Society of Milan, vol. 2- Like all other farinaceous substances, bread is very nourishing, on account of the copious mucilage it contains ; but, if eaten too freely, it is in weakly habits, productive of viscidity which obstructs the intestines, and lays the foundation of habitual costiveness- Leavened bread, or such as has acquired an acidulated taste by a slow fermentation of the dough, is cooling and antiseptic. By this process, all the viscous are combined witli the drier parts of the flour, and the fixed air is expelled in baking. New baked bread contains a large propoilion of indigestible paste, which may be rendered less un- wholesome by allowing it to dry tor two or three days, or by toasting it. This mode ought to be adopted, both on account of health and economy, especi. ally in times of scarcity. Stale bread, in every resiiect, deserves the preference to that which is newly baked; and persons troubled with flatulency, cramp of the sto- macli, or indigestion, should abstain fiom new bread, and particularly from hot rolls. Various substances have been used for bread, instead of wheat. In the jears 1629 and 1630, when there was a deartli in England, bread was made in London of turnips, on t!ie recommendation of Dr. Beale- In 1693 also, when com was very dear, a great quantity of turnip-bread was made in several parts of the kingdom, but particulai'ly in Essex, by a receipt regis- tered in the Philosophical Transactions . BRE BRE The process is, to put tlie turnips into a kettle over a slow fire, till they become soft ; they are then taken out, squeezed, and drained as dr)- as possible, and after- wards mashed and mixed with an equal weight of flour, and kneaded with yeast, salt, and a little warm water. The following is anotlier method of making bread of turnips, wliich deserves to be recommended for its cheapness : Wash clean, pare, and afterwards boil a number of turnips, till they become soft enough to mash ; press the greatest part of the water out of them, then mix them with an equal weight of wiieat-meal, make the dough in tlie usual manner with yeast, &c. it will rise well in the trough, and, af- ter being well kneaded, may be formed into loaves and put into the oven. Bread prepared in this manner has a peculiar sweetish taste, whicli is by no means dis- agreeable ; it is as light and white as tbe wheaten, and should be kept about twelve hours before it is cut, when the smell and taste of tlie turnip will scarcely be percep- tible ■ Potatoes have also been made into bread, by different processes. The simp- lest is to choose tlie large mealy sort, boil them as for eating, then peel and mash them verj- fine without adding any water. Two parts of wheat floiu- are added to one of potatoes, and a little more yeast than usual. The whole mass is to be kneaded into dough, and allowed to stand a proper time to rise and ferment, before it is put into the oven. Bread thus prepar- ed is good and wholesome ; and if bakers were to make use of no worse ingredients than this nutritive root, they might be justified in times of scarcity, provided they sold it at a moderate price, and un- der proper limitations. M. Parmentier found, from a variety of experiments, that good bread might be made of equal quantities of flour and po» tatoe meal. He also obtained well-fer- mented bread of a good colour and taste, from a mixture of raw potatoe-pulp and wheaten meal, witLi the addition of yeast and salt. Dr. Darwin asserts, that if eight pounds of good raw potatoes be grated into cold water, and after stu-ring the mixture the starch be left to subside, and when collect- ed, it be mixed with eight pounds of boil- ed potatoes, the mass will make as good bread as that from the best wheaten flour. He likewise observes, that haj-, which has been kept in stacks, so as to undergo the saccharine process, may be so managed, by grinding and fermentation with yeast, like bread, as to sene in part for the sus- tenance of mankind in times of great scar- city. As an instance of the very nutritive quality of hay, it is mentioned, that a cow, after drinking a strong infusion of it for some time, produced above double the usual quantity r)f milk. Hence, if bread cannot be made from ground hay, there is reason to believe, that a nutritive bever- age may be prepared irom it, either in its saccharine state, or by fermenting it in- to a kind of beer. There are other vegetables, says Dr. Darwin, which would probably afford wholesome nutriment, either by boiUng, or dryuig and grinding them, or by both these processes. Among these may be reckoned perhaps the tops and bark of gooseberry-trees, holly, gorse, and haw- thorn. The inner bark of the elm may be conveiled into a kind of gruel, and the roots of fern, and probably those of many other plants, such as grass or clover, might yield nourishment either by boiling, baking and separating the fibres from the pulp, or by extracting the starch from those which possess an acrid mucilage, such as the white biyony. Tlie adulteration of flour and bread has often been the subject of animadversion. Mealmen and millers have been accused of adding chalk, lime, and whiting to the flour, and bakers of mixing alum with the dough. There is much reason to suspect, that these practices are but too prevalent. It has been asserted, that the adultera- tion of bread is owing to the legal distinc- tions in the quality of it, and to our mak- ing colour the standard of goodness. Dr. Darwin observes, that where much alimi is mixed with bread, it may be easily dis- tinguished by the eye : when two loaves so adulterated have stuck together in the oven, they break from each other witli a mucli smoother surface, where they- had adhered, than those loaves do, which con- tain no alum. An excellent method of making bread of rice is, by boiling three-fourths of wheaten flour and one-fourth of rice sepa- rately. The rice should be well boiled, the water sqtieezed out (wliich may be af- terwards used as starch for linen, for there can be no better), and the mass sliould then be mixed with the flour. It is made in the same manner as common bread, and is very nutritive. One pound and a half of flour mixed with half a pound of rice, will produce a loaf weighing from three pounds to three pounds two oimces, which is greater than that obtained by baking bread of wheat flour only. Rice has also beentiied in the same propoi-tion with barley, and makes good bre.ad for BRE BRE labouiing people ; but the gain in baking is bv no means equal to that obtained by mixing it wilb wlieat. Another mode of prepai-ing bread with bran, is as follows: " Take seven pounds seven ounces of bran and pollard, and fourteen quarts of water, and boil the whole very gently over a slow lire, ^^'hen the mixture begins to swell and thicken, let it be frequently stirred, to prevent its boiling over, or burning either at the bot- tom or sides of the vessel. After liaving boiled two hours, it will acquire the coii- sistence of a thin pudding. Now put it into a clean cloth, and squeeze out tlie U- quor : take a quart of this, mix it with three i)ints of yeast, and set the sponge for twenty-eight pounds of flour. The mass, bran, and pollard, even after the liquor has been separated, will be found to be above four times its original weight; it is then to be placed near the fire, in about two Jiours, the sponge will have sufficient- ly risen. The bran and pollard, then lukewarm, should be mixed with the flour ; and, after adding half a pound of salt, the whole must be well kneaded, with one quart of the bran liquor. Thus j)rcpared, the dough is formed into loaves, and baked for two hours and a quarter in a. common oven. The bread, when cold, will weigh one-half more than the same quantity of flour would, without the addi- tion of the bran. If the bran-water only is used, and the bran itself (which, by tlie boiling, in- creases considerably in weigh.t) is not added to the dough, the increase of bread will still be considerable; but not more than one-third of the increase obtained, when all the bran is used. It is known that rice gains greatly in boiling; and hence, when made into bread with flour, is highly economical, as will appear by the following experi- ments : Six ounces of rice were boiled in a quart of water, till it was dry and soft, and two pounds of flour were then add- ed, and the whole, with two table spoons- ful of yeast well worked into dough to- gether, with the usual quantity of salt, giving it rather longer time to rise, whicli it was found it required — The loaf thus made, when baked, was light in Substitutes for Flour or Bread. — We have, in the preceding analysis, men- tioned vai-ious substances which might advantageously be employed in the manu- facture of this indispensable article of human sustenance ; independently of the different kinds of grain and roots that are already made subservient to this beneficial purpose. In order to exhibit a distinct view of tlie most promising substitutes, whether indigenous or exotic, and espe- cially such as have actually been used, on the authority of creditable evidence, we shall here divide them into three clas- ses, and, in the course of the work, give a more particular account of each article, in its alphabetical order. T. Farinaceous Seeds. — Wheat -grass, Millet, Common Buck-wheat, Siberian Buck-wheat, Wild Buck-wheat, Wild Fescue -grass. Maize, or Indian Corn, Rice, Guinea Corn, or White Round- seeded Indian Mdlet, Canary-grass, Hough Dog's-tail Grass, Water Zizany, Upright Sea Lime-grass, Sea-reed, MaiTam, Hel- me, or Sea Mat-weed. The following mealy fruits, however, deserve a decided preference over many of the preceding: viz. Water Caltrops, or the fruit of the Pulse of various kinds, such as Peas, Lentils, Beans, and the seeds of the Common Vetch, Fetch, or Tare-acorns, and especially those of the Quercus cerris and esculus ; the seeds of the White Gri>ose-foot, Common Wild Orange, or the Chenopotlium Album: the seeds and flowers of the Rocket, of the Sorrel, of the different species of Dock, of the Yellow and White Water-lily, of the Corn- spurrey, or of the Spin age, of the Com- mon Gromwell, or GrajTiiill, of the Knot- grass, the Beech-nut, (see Beech-mast Oil,,) the husks of the Lint-seed, &c. II. Farinaceous Roots : 7iamely, those of the Common and Yellow Bethlem Star, of the Y'ellow Asphodel, of the Wake Robin, (after being properly dried and washed) of the Pilewort, or Lesser Ce- landine, of the Common Dropwort, of the Meadow-sweet, of the White Bryony, of the Turnip-rooted Cabbage, of the Great Bistort, or Snake-weed, of the Small, Welch, or Alpine Bistort, of the Common Orobiis, or Heath-Pea ; the Tu- berous Vetcli ; the Common Reed ; both the Sweet-smelling and Common Solo- mon's Seal ; the Common Corn-flag, the Salt-marsh, Club-rush, &c. m. Fibrous and less juicy roots .• viz. those of the Couch -grass, or Creeping Wheat-grass; the Clown's or Marsh Wound-wort, the M.arsh Mary-gold, or Meadow-Bouts ; the Silver-weed, or Wild Tansey ; the Sea Seg, &c. Having thus stated the various substi- tutes for bread, which have either already been adopted with success, or which might, in times of real scarcity, be easily converted into proper nutriment, we can- not better conclude this article than in the words of Arthur Y'oung, Esq. who, in his Observations on the late Royal Pro- clamation, recommending frugality in the consumption of corn as one of the surest and most effectual means of alleviating the present pressure of the times, es- pouses the cause of the unfortunate poor, nearly in the following words : Everv master or head of a family is in dufy bound to second, without compidsion, the humane views of the legislature. Hence, bread made of the whole produce of the wheat, excepting only seven pounds of the bran in each bushel, and adding one- Iburth or third part of a substitute, would probably be the most effective saving. If the consumption of the whole kingdom of Great Britain be computed at 8,000,000 of quarters in twelve months, this saving on all the wheat consumed in nine months would be 700,000 quarters, wliich would feed 875,000 persons, at tlie ordinary con- sumption of one quarter a head per an- BRE BRE num ; and probaljly he eqiial,\inderlheprf- scnt rcstricions, to afford food to 1,000,000 of people for the next nine months — Far- tlier, if the savinc^ of oats to the su])posed numher of 500,000 liorses of hixury, lie calculated onlj'at 1 biisiiel per week, this would, in 9 months, amount to 18,000,000 of bushels ; or sufficient to su])port 1,000,000 of persons for the same period of time, allowing- to each not less than twenty-five bushels per annum With due deference to .'Mr. Young's statistical information, liowever, we beg leave to doubt whetiier 500,000 fat horses, cram- med on the food of man, move about the country ; though it must be acknowledg- ed, that pleasiirf horses "are spectacles of envy to the starving poor — abominable and scandalous spectacles, which, in times of scai-city, ought to be removed from the view of those whose miserable children might be fed on the corn thus saved." BREEDING of Cattle : As the different circumstances to be attended to in the management of cattle, has been stated when treating of domestic animals, we shall here only observe, that the first thing to be considered is beauty of form ; the next is proportion of j^arts, or what maybe called ittility of form; the third, which has engaged the attention of mid- land breeders, is the texture of the mus- culai" parts, or what is called fiesh ; a quality which, liowcvcr familiar it may have been to the butcher and consumer, has not in general been attended to by breeders. In short, it is a rule applicable to all sorts of live-stock, to breed from straight backed, round bodied, clean, small boned, healthy animals : carefully rejecting such as have roach backs and heavy legs, with much extern-.d appear- ance of ofl'al, &.C. To the late Mr. Rakewell of Dishley,Eng- land, who was undoubtedly the most scien- tific breeder of his time, we are indebted for many new and im|>ortant impj-ovements in the art of breeding cattle. Ills princi- ple was to procu.re the best beast, that would weigh most in the valual)lc joints ; and thus, while he gained in point of shape, he also acquired a breed much hardier, and easier fed than any other. AVith resi^cct to the breed of oxen, Mr. Bakcwell asserts, that the smaller the bones, the more perfect will be the make of tlie beast, and the quicker it will fat- ten. The breed preferred, and considcr- ed by him as the best in England, is thai of Lancashire. The sha])e which should be the criterion of a cow or bull, an ox, or ashee]), is that of a hogshead, or a fir- kin with legs as small and short as possi- ble. lie found from various experiments in diflx^rent parts of England, that no land is too bad for a good breed of cattle, and particularly of sheep. The great ad- vantage arising from his breed is, that the same quantity of food will suffice them, much longer than it will any other kind ; besides which, the wool is of the finest quality, and the sheep stand in the fold perfectly well. The wintering of cattle also received particular attention from this professional breeder : his horned beasts were tied up during the winter, in sheds, and fed with straw, turnip.s, or hay ; all the lean beasts were fed with stiaw alone, and lay with- out litter. Young cattle, that require to be kept in a thriving state, are fed upon turnips ; and as the spring advances, and this vegetable becomes scarce, hay is their only food. The floors, on which the cattle stand, are paved, and raised six or eight inches above the level of the yard ; and each crib being only broad enough for a beast to stand on, its dung falls on the lower pavement; by which contrivance it is kept perfectly clean without litter. Little attention has been paid to the ))reservation of a good breed of cattle in the United States. Some with excellent qualities, have been imported, and are oc- casionally met with ; but they are in ge- neral fattened and killed, instead of being carefully preserved for breeding cattle. But this is not the way to improve. It was by a practice directly the reverse that Bakewell brought his breed to unri- valled celebrity. Droves of cattle are annually brought to Philadelphia from New England and North Carolina. The former are larger and more profitable than the latter, whicli are generally small, and wild from having been fed in the woods. Several very large cattle have been fed and killed within a few years in Philadel- phia. They have in general been raised near Elizabeth-town, New-Jersey, but whether fj-om a native or imported stock is unknown. The following are the weights of a few of these beasts : 1. A Cow raised by the late Mr. Hilt- zheimer, of the city of Philadelphia, and killed on the 2dof IVIarch, 1787. The fore-quarters weighed, (one) . . . 326 lbs. The other, 328 The hind-quarters weigh- ed, (one) 282 The other, 289 1I).S 654 571 The nett Beef 122j BRE BRE Brought forward The Hide weighed ... Ill Head and Heart . . 49 Belly and Feet . . . 72 Fack 35 Tallow 163 lbs. 1225 430 Eiitii-e weight (exclusive of'gvits) . . 1655 2. A five year old steer, fed by Mr Sec- kel, of Philadelphia, a few yeara since, one summer and one winter, weighed ahve, 1,4944 lbs. Tiie belly fat . . 278 lbs. Kidney do .... 100 3. Ten head of cattle, fed by the same gentleman, produced 2,439 Ibu. of beiiy and kidney fat, with one summer feeding on grass. 4. A steer, raised at Tulpehocken, was killed on the 12th March, 1787, weighed alive, 2,184 lbs. 5. A steer raised at Haddonficld, New- Jersey, killed at Philadelphia, on the 7th April, 1787, weighed alive, 2,140 lbs. Formerly a great prejudice prevailed in favour of large beasts, but it has been as- certained diat this large big boned breed is not so profitable as the middle sized, barrel shaped, short legged kind. jNIuch may be done towards improving the breed by a careful attention to stock. Mr. Bake- well and his disciples relied upon a kind- ly skin, as a principal point in the choice of a beast. By that is meant a skin that feels soft, though firm to the touch, which is equally distant from the hard diy skin, peculiar to some cattle, as from the loose and flabby feel of others. Some breeds have a tendency to gene- rate fat on certain parts of the body in great quantities, while others have it more mixed willi the tlesh of every part of the body. These parliculai'S demand the at- tention of improvers. The first object that nattu'ally offers to be attained, is the possession of a breed of cattle, which, with a given quantity of food, will afford the quickest and greatest return of the most valuable parts of flesh, or of milk or butter. After repeated ex- perience and close attention to the subject, b_v European improvers, it has been found, that so far as ficsh is concerned, there are certain forms and pi-oportions of body, intimately connected with the gTeat object in view, and these shall now be detailed. 2d. Of a Boll. — The head should be rather long, and small, muzzle fine, chaps clean, eyes lively and prominent, ears long and thin, horns tapering, bright and spread- . ing ; neck fine, rising witli a gentle curve from his shoulders, and sm&ll and fine VOL. I. where it joins the head, progressively leading down to a full and deep bosom j shoulders moderately broad at tlie top, joining full to the chine crops and chest ; breast broad, and pi-ojecting well before his legs ; his arms or fore -thighs muscular and tapering to his knee ; his legs clean, straight, and very fine boned, and standing wide ; his chine and cuest so full as to leave no hollows behind t'.ie sliuul- dcrs, the plates sti'ong, to keep his belly frora sinking bt;low ihe level ef h.^ b'-east ; \\:i back or loii:s broad, straight and fiat ; his ribs rising one above another, in such a manner that the last rib shall h^ rather ■J-e highest, leaving only a small space to j the hips, tht: whole torr.iing a round, b?x- !i'el-hke, br.t capacious carcase; his hips * should be wide, round, and a little higher tlian the back; the rump wide, and lying in a horizontal direction, and not sinking backwards, but even with the general level of the back ; the huckle bones and rump bones not in the least protuber- ant ; the tail should be thin, round and tapering, not hairj', and set on so high as to take ill the same horizontal line with the back ; it should moreover be broad at bottom, to prevent the appearance of the cavities at the nache ; and the gris- tles at the setting on of the tail should rather project on each side, as they ac- cumulate much fat in this part. The skin should be mellow and elastic, yielding pleasantly to the touch, especially on the chine, shoulders and ribs ; feeling soft, though firm to the touch, equally distant from the dry hard skin, or loose flabby feel : finally, whatever the size of the ani- mal may be, just and equal proportions of length, depth and substance, are the truest indications of vigour, and of the ability of the animal to produce and stand under the greatest possible load of flesh. This improvement is to be effected by a conjunction of male and female, of the desired spec'es, form, and properties ; some steps being gained in every procrea- tion. The male, of course, being able to multiply his likeness to such an extent, must be the prime instrument in the busi- ness : it is therefore of the utmost conse- qtience that he be thorough-shaped, or tliorough-bred : "That is, descended front a race of ancestors, who have, through several generations, possessed, in a higli degree, the properties wliich it is oiu- oIj- ject to obtain. The female ouglit also to "be selected with tlie strictest care, and, ac- cording to Ml-. Chr.e, ought rather to be- ])roportionally larger than tlie mide, since the improvement depends on tliis princi- ple, tltat the power of the female to sup- \>ly iier ofispring vilh rimui.^iuTieut in pro- 15 BRE BRE portion to her size, and the power of nour- ishing herself from the excellence of iier constitution. In tins particular an error is very commonly committed, the atten- tion being confined to the male. In tlie case of the Horse, where perfection in a great degree consists in the excellence ot their " wind " this depends on parentage, and most on the female. Some however, object to the principle laid down by Mr. Cline, respecting the advantages of propagating from large in preference to small ft-malcs. " Nature," he says, " lias given to the ott'spring of many animals, (those of the slieep, the cow, and the mare, afford familiar exam- ples) the power, at an early age, to ac- company tluir parents in flight ; and the legs of such animals are very nearly of the same length at the birth, as when they have attained their perfect growth. When the female parent is large, and the fcetus consequently so, the oli'spring will be large at its birth, in proportion to the bulk it will ultimately attain, and its legs will thence be long comparatively with the depth of the chest and shoulders. When, on the contrary, the female is small, and the foetus so, at the birth, the length of the legs of the yovmg animal will be short comparatively with the dcjnh of its chest and shoulders : and an animal, in the latter form, will be greatly prefer- able, either for the purposes of labour, or of food to mankind. This difference in the influence of the male and female pa- rents on the offspring, has been very strikingly exemplified, in the result of an attempt to obtain very large mules from the male ass, and the mare. The largest females, that could be procured, were selected, and the forms of the off- spring at the birth, were j^erfectly con- sistent with the theory of Mr. Cline; they were remarkably lai-ge, and the length of their legs, when tliey were only four days old, very nearly equalled that of the legs of their parents. The same animals when five years old, in the depth of their chests and shoulders, very little exceeded their male parent, (a Spanish ass) but from marcs of small stature, were ])erfectly well proportioned. "There is another respect in which the powers of the female aj^pear to be preva- lent in their influence on the oifspring, and that is relative toils sex. In several species of domesticated, or cultivated ani- mals, particular females are found to pro- duce a very large majority, and sometimes all their offspring, of the same sex ; and it has been proved repeatedly, that, by dividing a herd into three equal parts, a very large majoiity of females could be obtained from one part, of males from another, and nearly an equal number of males and females from the remainder. Endeavours have been made to change these habits, by changing the males, but always without success ; in some instan- ces, the offspring of one sex, though ob- tained from different males, exceed those of the other, in the proportion of five or six, and even seven to one. When, on the contrary, in the iitimerous oftspring of a single bull, or ram, or horse, no con- siderable difference in the number of off- spring of either sex, has ever been obser- ved. We are therefore disposed to be- lieve, that the sex of the offspring is given by the female parents. To obtain t^e most approved form, two modes of bi-eeding have been practised, one by the selection of individuals of the same family, called breeding, "in-and-in ;" the other, by selecting males and females from different varieties of the same spe- cies, which is called "crossing the breed." When a particular variety approaches perfection in form, breeding in.a7id-{n may be the better practice. In following this, however, great caution is requisite in se- lecting the best shaped individuals. It was thus the celebrated Bakenuell pre- served his various stock, without degene- ration in any of the cjualities for which they were famous. But as, in the United States, the origination of a breed of neat cattle is to be aimed at, the system of crossing must be adopted, and for this end, the following rules should be attend- ed to. Individual variety of size and shape prevails in all breeds, to the infinite use and convenience of man. Some will run naturally to length and depth of carcase ; others will have a tendency to tlie con- trary form, or ivith much substance, widr loins, and sliort legs. The improving breeder, in joining the sexes, will take ad- vantage of these varieties of shape or pe- ctdiar j)ropertics; hicreasing length and depth of carcase, when required, or mo- derating too great length with its opi)o- site, — with rotundity of form, and width of loin, and shortness of leg; ever liaving especial regard to ))reserving substance iu the form of his stock, and to prevent the increasing length and too near ajijiroach of the legs. It is ^ery conmion for tlic best breeds to degenerate in this way from neglect; in which case it will be ne- cessan to change the males for others of a still sjiorter and more substantial foi-m, i:ither from the same or a kindred va- riet\ , and to pay an increased attention to tlie selection of females. BRE BRE Disposition. —It is of great importance to have a breed distinguished by a tame and docile disposition, without however being deficient in spirit. Such a breed is not so apt to injui'e fences, to break intu fields, and unquestionably less food will rear, support and fatten them. As tame- ness of disposition is much owing to the manner in which the animal is brought up, attention to inure them early to be fa- miliar and docile, cannot be too much re- commended. Hardiness. — This is a most important requisite. Even where slock is most at- tended to, it is of essential consequence that they should be as little liable as pos- sible to disease, or any hereditary dis- temper, as being black fleshed, or having yellow fat. It is a popular beUef that a dark colour is an indication of hardiness, and tliat cattle with light colours are soft- er and more delicate. A rough piile is also reckoned a desh-able property in out- 'oiinterers. Easily maintained. — On an attention to this poait depends the profit, in a great measure, of the grazier. It is intimately connected with the shape above mention- ed, and with smallncss of bone In the horse, every one knows that acertain shape is indicative of being easily kept, and the remark will apply to neat cattle. Early maturity. — Arriving soon at per- fection is a material object for the breed- er, as his profit must in a great measure depend upon it. Something will certain- ly depend upon their being fed in such a manner as to keep them constantly in a growing state : in this way they make more progress in three years, than they usually do in five, when they are half starved during wintei', and their growth checked. Quiility of Flesh. — The quality of flesh most certainly depends much upon age and sex; heifers, for instance, must be finer grained than oxen ; and the coarse- ness of sta^ beef is proverbial. The ex- cellence of the meat also greatly depends upon their food, and the nature of the soil producing it. On the whole, there is no better sign of good flesh, than when it is marbled, or the fat and lean nicely and al- ternately mixed with each other. U'l'rking. — In the case of working oxen, a quick step, and strength in proportion to speed, are of the greatest importance; and that these qualities may be imparted to an ox, there can be little doubt. In England, they are supposed to have been obtained by an admixtiu'e of the lighter, small boned French, Norman or Guernsey breed, with some of the native breeds. Their gentleness of disposition, mildness and hardihood, also serve to recommend the French breed When well kept, they gi'ow to good sizes, although naturally small. In the United States, a great di- versity is found in respect to the gait of oxen ; for while some are slow, others will walk nearly as fast as a horse. The for- mation of tkeir fore -quarters, as before noted, will greatly influence their speed. If a breed could be originated, which, with the above mentioned qualities, this of quickstep were joined, a great object would be obtained, and would amply re- pay the breeder. It may be asserted with safety, that in no country does the dairy-man receive greater prices for his milk, butter or cheese, than in the United States ; and yet it is notorious, that the cows in general are far fi-om excellent. The abundant provision required for the support of stock, during our long winters, ought to insure a plentiful supply of rich milk in summer, and yet it is believed that the profit from them is much smaller than is commonly imagined. We are much more deficient in this article of farm stock than in any other, which calls loudly for the at- tention of the improver. The indications of form, which so strongly ciiaructerise the profitable cattle for beef, fail with re- spect to milk, as we find that some of the most excellent milk breeds arc very dif- ferent in external form. The surest mode of procedtu*e for the improver, is to breed from good milkers, that is, such as give rich milk, and if possible, from such as possess the forms approved of for bulls in the preceding pages, making allowance for the difference of sex. There ai-e, how- ever, some marks of a good milch cow, in every breed, which it may be useful to note; namely, a capacious and thin-skin- ned udder, large teats, with a large and distinct milk- vein ; fine head and chaps, thin neck, shallow and light fore-quarters, capacious behind, wide loin, thin thig-h, and white horns. A gaunt and meagre appearance of body, promising no great disposition to fatten, is added by some as a sign of a good milker; but although good milkers are often of a tiiin habit, yet there can be no reason why the rule should be absolute. The combination of the valuable pro- perties in a breed of milk and beef, is so important, and hat. been thought to be so difficult of attaining, that it has been re- commended not to attempt the union, for in proportion as we gain in one point, we lose in the other. We know in general, that good milkers are seldom quick feed- ers. The two objects have however been accomplished to a certain extent in Eng ■ BRE BRE land, in the case of tlie North Devon cows, and in some individuals ot* tlie K} Ice or Highland breed, and in the Siifiolk Duns; a»nd there is no reason why the same suc- cess should not attend equal industry in this country. It is to be regretted that opportunities for the improvement of stock of neat cat- tle by meuns of the improved breeds of Europe are so few, and that even tho knowledge of the existence of any among us is so parLialiy diflused. In ihe scarcity therefore of good foreign breeds, we must have recourse to our na- tive stock, and it is a great satisfaction to know tliat there are excellent materials among us, on which we may commence the attempt. We every year see beasts of good lorm brought down in droves from various quarters, and sacrificed, af- ter performing their duty for a season in a herd of cows ; and which, if kept as breed- ers, would naturally improve tiie stock of the district. As a general rule, let no offspring be raised except from the finest boned, cleanest headed, straight backed, and best fleshed of every stock, both male and female- The lale colonel Pollen, a Dsitish offi- cer, and well informed on the subject of cattle, passed ihrough the United States in 1802, and mentioned in a note to a gen- tleman of Philadelphia, thai he saw "a breed of cows near Lancaster, with a fine small head, smooth and delicate hair, small eye, round rib, and straight back, which would be an acquisition to England if introduced tliere." This remark, macie by an inielligent foreignier, who was well acquainted with the improved breeds of Entjland, ought to have its due weight, and slioidd stimulate us to attend to the animals wc meet with, which may possess some valuable properties. A close adherence to those. principles of choice at home, and in occasional pur- chase at markets, will sooii convince any man how striki'ig the improvement of his stock might become in a few years : and we look forward with great satisfaction to the period when the eflects of our re- commendation shall be shown. Sir John Sinclair sums up the desirable qualities ot cattle as follows. 1. .\ moderate size, unless when food is of a natine peculiarly forcing. i 2. Shai)c the most likely to yield pi'ofit ■ to the farmer. i ". Of a docile disposition, without being ': deficient in spirit. I 4. Hard}', and not liable to disease. i 5. Kasily maintained, and on food not of a costly natuic. 6. Arrivi)ig soon at maturity. 7. Producing considerable quantities of milk. 8. Having flesh o£ an excellent quali- ty- 9. Having a tendency to take on fat. 10. Having a valuable liide. To which may be added, Listly, A quick step, and proportion- ate speed in woiking. 3d- Of a Ram. — The head should be fine atul small ; the eye prominent and lively, the ears thin, but not reg-ular ; the collar fidl from the breast and shoulders but tapering down; the shoulders should be broad and full, joining to the collar forward, and a chine backward in a straight line, so as to leave no hollow in either place ; the mutton upon the fore thigh siiould come down to the knee, the legs should be straight, with a fine clean bone, free fi'om superfluous skin and coarse hairy wool, from the hough and knee downwards: the breast should be broad, and project well before the legs : the fore legs should be wide asunder ; the back and loins broad, flat and straight, and from the ribs should rise in a circular direction; the hind quarters should be long and full, with the nuitton down to the hough, which should be wide and ra- ther boning out. In the Merino race a rosy hue in the skui, and abundance of yoke or natiu'al grease in the fleece, are peculiarities denoting healdi and high proof. Wool is divided into two kinds, viz. long or combing, and the short or carding species ; in both cases; the thicker and finer the fleece the better. The particular spe- cies, whether long or short wooUed, hav- ing become fixed on, it will be found best to adhere thereto, and not to cross with a view to the division of properties. Thus, an attempt to produce a mi.Kture of the long and short woolled breeds, might in all probability disappoint expectation, and not be useful for either combing or card- ing. Lengtli of staple in the long wool- ed breed, and fineness, elasticity, and closeness in the short -woolled fleece, will be the best guides in this case. In all cases the carcass of the animal ought to be amp!}- and regularly covered ; it is a great dcfi;ct when the belly is bare, as Is too often the case with the .\merican sheep, and a still greater when the wool is thin and open along the ridge of the back, admitting rain, which washes out the yoke or natural grease and chills the animal. At shearing time, notice siiouid be taken of the fleece when cut oflj and if it be stichy-haired at tlie bottom or part of separation, it should be marked for fattening. In the formation of a stock, such BRE BRE sheep should be avoided. In a general way, those should be chosen for breeders that have the finest, closest pile or thick- est fleece, and have the greatest unifor- mity in the texture of tlie whole fleece, and are in the best condition at the time, pro- vided the pasture has been nearly equal. In various parts of the United States, sbee]^ of good forms and valuable fleeces are to be seen ; but few persons have at- tended to the preservation of their stock, with tliat care which a measure so im- portant deserved. Witliin a short time however the eyes of the public have been ope,, jd, and it is to be hoped that the de- basement of a valuable stock by the ne- glect and unrestrained intercourse with interior rams, will be no longer permitled- Those anxious to improve should make it a point to preserve the best formed and most thriving of their lambs for breeders, whether ewes or rams, and carefully put away, or fatten all those of inferior iyrms or of less thrifty dispositions. Of imported sheep we have four kinds, and all valuable, viz. Spanish or Merino, Broad-tailed or Tunis, Irish, snd New Leicester breeds, on each of which a few remarks shall be made. The Spanish or Merino sheep are uni- versally known for the superior fine quaU- ty of the wool, and it is agreeable to know that so far from degenerating in this coimtry, the improvement in fleece is evident in proportion to the increase of blood. — It is a fact, that upon some occa- sions, tlie very tii'st cross between the Spaniard and American ewes gives lambs, which in ihe course of even the first year attain to a greater size than the sire : — that the mutton is excellent ; that tlie crosses fatten in much less time than the common sheep of the country : — that they are very hardy, hcidtli}', and do not be- come sick whenlat, nor are they affected by tlie pelt rot, like our native sheep in winter, if kept in good heart, (as they al- ways should be) ; nor do they shed their woi)l in the spring ; that their bodies are completely covered, and lastly, tiiat tlie ewes make excellent nurses. It may be necessary to repeat to tlie American improver, that no judgment can be formed with respect to tlie ulti- mate quality of the wool or forms of this breed from the appearance of the lambs, until they are upwards of a year old ; and for this reason, no males of the higiier bloods should be sold, until the second yeai-, unless they are defective in form. The facts stated with respect to the importance of the female in all attempts to improve form, particularly apply to the case of sheep. One objection to the Me- rino breed, which frequently Las been of- fered by those wljo consider size as ail important in cattle, is the general diminu- tive appeai"ance of the full blooded rams. But it should be known, tlu>t- it is upon the mother we must principally depend for an increase of carcase, and for im- provement of form. The sire gives the fleece ; a due attention therefore to the size and form of the ewes in ihe forma- tion of a flock, is of the first consequence to insure success. I'hese principles, hi- therto but little known in this country, will probably admit of conti'overs}:, or ex- cite doubts, but their accuracy has been repeatedly demonstrated by the expe- rience of numerous intelligent breedci-s, and by all those European improvers A\ho liave favoured the public \\ith the result of their experiments and observa- tions. The idle notion, that Merino sheep can produce line wool onh' in Spain, lias been amply disproved by Lasteyric, and by the result of tlie experience of the EngUsh and American improvers. In France, owing to the care taken to provide plcnt}- of food at all times ; to the selection of tne largest and best formed and finest wpoiled ewes and rams for breeders, and to not using eitlier until the second year, the flock of the national farm has been brouglit to carry finer and heavier fleeces, and to be better formed than any in Spain. The long journies which the Merino breed in Spain are obliged to take, to procure food every day, owing to the numbers kept together, and wliich are absurdly su|)posed to contri- bute to the pre.'-ervation of tlie fine quali- ty of the wool, tends on the contrary to diminish tlieir size, and injure the wool ; for instead of laying down to chew their cud, after they iiave iiiled their stomach, tiiey are forced to m;ii,'cii several miles, and by this forcible deviation from the laws of nature, their digestion is impeded, and nutrition, and c(?nsequent growth, is proporticmably defective. The Merino race aflord's a variety of advantages over every other kind of sheep, and ouglit therefore, under the present circumstances of the country, to demand the first attention fro-ii our farmers. Mr. Li\ingston has remarked, and with great truth, tliatwool, in the United States, is more valuable, and is certainly more scarce than meat; wliiie the contrary is tl.e case in Europe, and particularly in England. Merino wool sells from 75 cts. to 2 dolls, per lb.; and from tiie increas- ing numbed of manufactories in tiie Uni- ted States, will for many yeavs command those prices; for tiie consumption of fine BRE BRE cloth will increase in proportion to the readiness n iiii wliicli it can be obtuinei' Hut the tiicl is, as ah'oudy stated, llial i.lii-> breed, having' a fair cliance, yields good mutton, as well as good wool The Barbaiy breed of sheep with broad tails cairy good and long wool, and fatten easily and to desirable weights. The Irish breed is confined principally to the vicinity of West Cliester in this state : they fatten to gTeat wciglits at tliree years old. The possession of the new Leicester sheep may be justly deemed a treasure to the United States; where, from great inat- tention, most of the breeds formerly among us have become worn out, so that they are difficult to fatten, and have de- generated in form. We owe tlie introduction of this vahui- ble breed to tlie spirit and exertion of , , Beans, now of New Jersey, who succeeded in sliipping some rams and ewes from England, a few years since; the full-blood descendants of which are exclusively in the possession of captain Farmer of New Brunswick, New Jersey. But tlieir progeny is distributed through- out the state of i\ ew Jersey, and a part of Pennsylvania. The barrel shape of the bodies of the New Leicesters, tlieir very gentle dispo- sition, and natui\il indolence, cause them to take on fat very speedily, and hence answer admirably to ci-oss with tlie nar- row backed, flat sideil, long leggetl brei:leto the owner, but iiom tlie cl<)seiu;ss of its texture, ancl the tjuai'tity of yolk it always contains, is a; nnich better protection to th<; sheep in !)ad' weaihcr, than the open and Imiry covtr- ing, which too generally disgrace oiu- i flc?cks. ■ . I The fineness of the fleece, like every | other property in animals of all kinds, j may be imi)roveil by selection in breeding. '■ The opinion that g(jod wool could only be [ ])r'.)(luced in i)artieular districts, is apre-f judice which fortunately no longer exists.: Climate, food, and soil, have certainly ■ some cfTcct upon the quality of wool, but not so nmch as is gener.'dly supposed. The fleece is alfected by the degree of nourishment which the animal receives, not by tlie quality of the pasture on which | it is fed. if sheep are highly kept, the wool will l)e less fine, but in other res- jjects its flesh will not be deteriorated. Tlie wool of a starved sheep may be ap- parently fine, but it will be brittle, imd of little value to the manufacturer. A regidar supply of food to tlie sheep is essential to the growth of good wool, for that part of the haii- which grows when the animal is in a high state of flesh, will be thick, and that wliich is grown when it is reduced by hunger, will be weak and thin ; and conseciuently the thickness of hair will always be irregular, if tjie animal jKisses from one extreme to the other. The alteration which may be made in any bjeed of animals by selection, can hardly be conceived by those who have not paid s(jme attention to this subject; tlicy attribute every improvement to a cross, when it is merely the effect of judi- cious selection. Upon the contested point of the size of cattle, it may be proper to say something on the jn-esent occasion. Even keeping the grand oi^ject of all farmei'S and gra- ziers, iu view, viz. jn'ofit, the only conside- ration would seem to be, what variety of any particidar breed of cattle will soonest make the most profit, or return of flesh or fleece from a given quantity of food. It follows therefore clearly, tiiat if the same quantity of food be j)laced on one animal or on three, in a given time tlie profit to the farmer is the same. In the case of sheep, the superior value of the fleece may even more than compensate for a defi- ciency of flesh, wcvc that an object of prime attention, but it is a fact, as has been more than once stated, that even in respect to flesh t!ie Merino bi'eed is infe- rior to none. M'ithout detailing the argu- ments w hich might be lUi^ed on both sides of the ipiestion, we m;.y say generally, that the result of several experiments made i\» direct refl;rehce to the point, was in favour of the su[)erior profit of smaller animals. .Much more however will cer- tainly tlepend upon the dispo.sition of tlie animal to take on liit, than uj)on his size, and hence the great importance of attend- ing to the im|)rovement of flirni is made inanifes'. In the case of siieep, it will be seen, by the comnuuucalion in this num- ber, tiiat those of a small size are more profilal/le feeders than the larger species. '}?o;h lari^'c and small cattle however are necessary ; the former for long voyages, the latter ibr home consumption, and the BRE BRE judicious farmer will alvvaj's of course suit his stock to his pasture, or to the par- ticular situation or ciixurastances in which he may be placed. Thus on upland, if the fafnier feeds on clover and has not the excellent g^reen grass, or speai- gi'ass as it is sometimes called, {Poa Viridis) it is a folly to attempt to feed cattle above 6 or 700 Cwt. for the frost will desU'oy his grass, and then corn, potatoes and hay must be resorted to. In the luxuriant meadows on Delaware and Schuylkill, owinj;- to the abundance of that most ex- cellent natural production of the United States, just meriioned, catdc will conti-' nue to thrive a fwil month after frost, and then, if destbied for long voyages, corn meal for a short tinle will pay well ; but as usually given, a loss will inevitably be suscained. Breeding of Fish. The necessary qualities of a pond for breeding fish are very different from tliose which are re- quisite to make it serve for their nourisli- ment. A good breeding pond is more rai-ely to be met with dian a good feeding one. The best indications of the former are plenty of rushes and grass about its sides, with gravelly shoals, like those of horse- ponds. The quantity of the spawn of fish is prodigious ; and where it succeeds, one fish may sometimes produce millions. Hence two or three meltci-s, and as many spawners, placed in such a pond, will, in a short time, stock a whole country. If it be not intended to keep these ponds en- tirely for breeding, but to let the fish gi-ow to a considerable size, their numbers should be thinned, or they will otherwise starve each other. Different kinds of fish may also be added, which will prey upon the young, and prevent their increasing in number, for this purpose, eels and perch are most useful, because they not only- feed upon the spawn itself, but also upon the young fry. Some fish will breed abundantly in all kinds of waters ; of this nature are the roach, pike, perch, &c. BRE^VING. The art of preparing beer or ale from malt, by extracting all its fer- mentable parts in the best manner ; by- adding hops in such proportions as expe- rience has shewn will preserve and me- liorate the extracts ; and by causing a per- fect fei-mentation in them, by means of yeast and bai'm. One of the most approv- ed methods of performing this operation, is as follows : Take of the purest and softest water you can procure, as much as you will have occasion for ; boil it, put it into large tubs, and let it stand exposed to the air to piu-ge itself, at least one week. Grind a sufficient quantity of the best brown, high- VOL. I. dried malt ; let it remain four days before you use it, that it may mellow, and dis- pose itself for fermentation Fill a copper tvith your prepared water, and let it boil ; then lade about tliree-quarters of a hogs- head into the mash-tub, filling the copper up again, and making it boil. When the water in the mash-tub is cooled tu such a degree, that in consequence of the steam subsiding, you may see your face in it, emp- ty into It, by degrees, nine bushels of the malt, mash it well, and stir it about with the rudder near. half an hour, till it is tlioroughly wetted, and incoi-porated with the water : then spread anfither bushel of malt liglitly over its surface, cover the whole witli emptj' s.ar.k<; to keep in the ■itpum, and leave it for an hour. At the end of the hour, the water in the copper being boihng, damp the fire, and let the water cool a little as before : then lade as much as is necessaiy on the mash, till the whole together will yield a bout a hogshead of wort. When this second quantity of water is added, stir it again well, cover it, and leave it for another hour. Then let the first wort run in a small stream into the under back, and lade another hogshead [or 64 gallons] on the mash : stir it again as before, cover it, and let it remain for two hoiu-s. In the mean time, return the first wort into the copper, and put into it six pounds of fine brown seedy hops, first rubbing them between the hands. Then make a brisk fire under your copper, till the li- quor boils ; let it continue to boil till tlie hops sink : [the sinking of tlic hops is not always a sign of the liquor beuig boiled enough. A better method is when the woi-t bucks well and is perfectly clear. The casks must be filled up every three hours. A. A.] Then damp the fire and strain the liquor into coolers. When it is about as warm as new milk, mix some yeast or barm with it, and leave it to work till the surface appear^s in curls ; then stir and mix the whole properly with a hand- bowl, and let it again ferment. Repeat the stin-ing with the bowl three times, then tun it, and leave it to work in the hogs head. When it has nearly done working, fill up the cask, and bung it, but let tlte vent-hole remain open. Set the second wort aside for the next brewing, which, as far as wetting the mash, must be managed exactly in thu same manner as the first ; but afterwards, instead of water, heat the second wort of the first brewing, and lade it on the mash, which will give the new wort additional strength and softness. Make the second wort of the second brewing- with water, and save it for tiie first wort of the third ■ BRE and so on for as many brewings as you | please. A third wort may be taken from • tlie first brewing, which should l)e heated | and laded on the mash of your second j brewing, after taking ofi' the second wort ; and thus an additional hogshead of very good mild beer may be procured. On taking a review of the above pro- cess, and the multiplicity of circumstan- ces to be attended to, it is easy to see that the operation of brewing is of a very pre- carious nature ; and requires great skill and dexterity to manage it with complete success. The goodness of the beer will depend on the quality of the malt from which it is made ; on the pecidiar proper- ties of the \tzriipv It/If 1-1 w.-hirh it is infuScd ; on the degree of heat applied in tlic ma«h. ing ; on the length of time the fusion is continued ; on the due manner of boiling the wort, together with the quantity and quality of the hojjs employed : and on thp proper degree of fermentation : to ascer- tain all which particulars, with precision, constitutes the great mystery of brewing, and can only be learnt by experience and repeated observation. Afr. Mills, in his System of Practical Husbandry, and Mr. Combrune, in his Theory and Practice of Breiviiig, give the following directions for the choice of ma- terials used in brewing, and for conduct- ing the whole process : 1. Of the Tl'ater. — Pure rain-water, as being the lightest, is esteemed the most prop'^r. Well and spring waters are com- monly hard, and consequently unfit for drawing the tincture completely from any vegetable- River-water, in point of soft- ness, is next to rain-water : and even pond- water, if piu-e, is equal to any other for brewing. 2. Of Malt.— Those malts are to be preferred for brewing, which have been properly wetied and germinated, then dried by a modtrate heat, till all the ad- ventitious moistut°. is evaporated, without being blown, vitrified, or scorched, by too hot or hasty fires. For, tlie better the malt is dryed, the sovmder will be the beer brewed from it, and the longer it will keep. In order to ascertain the quality of this article, bite a grain of it asinKler,and if it tastes mellow and sweet, breaks soft, and is full of flour from one end to the other, it is good; which may also be known by its swimming on the surface, when put into the water. The best way of' grinding it, is to bruise it in a mill com- posed of two iron cylinders. These break the malt without cutting its husk, so that the hot water instantly pierces its whole substance, and soon draws fortli a rich BRE tincture, with much less mashing tlian in the common way. 3. Of //o/Ji.— Experience has proved, that hops slack-dried, or kept in a damp place, are pernicious ingredients for ma- king beer; and likewise, that they yield their aromatic bitter more efficaciously, when boiled in Avort than in water : hence, to impregnate the extracts from malt with a due proportion of hops, their strength, as well as that of the extract, should previously be ascertained. The newer the hops are, the better they always prove ; the fragrance of their flavour be- ing in some degree lost by keeping, not- withstanding the care used in preserving them. Private families, who regard only the flavour and salubrity of their malt li- quors, should use from six to eight bush- els of malt to the hogshead of their strong- est beei-. The quantity of hops must be suited to the taste of the drinker, and to the time the hquor is intended to be kept. From two to three potmds will be suffi- cient for a hogshead, though some go as far as six pounds. Mr. Mills is of opin- ion, that small beer should always be brewed by itself ; in which case, two bush- els and a half of malt, and a pound and a half of hops, are sufficient to make a hogs- head. 4. Of the Vessels used in Brevsing. — The brew-house itself, and every vessel in it, ought to be perfectly clean and sweet ; for if the vessels are in the least degree tainted, the liquor put into them will con- tract a disagreeable scent and taste. A vessel of the most simple and excellent contrivance, among the multiplicity of brewing utensils adapted to family purpo- ses, is that of Mr. J. B. Bordley, who has described it in his Essays and JVotes on Husbandry and Rural ^/iffairs, (Philadel- phia, 1801.) He terms his process, by way of distinction, a tripartite method (fbreiv- ing : because the kettle-apparatus is worked in three divisions. The whole vessel is 40 inches long, 20 broad, and 24 deep ; namely, the first or upper division is two, the second is nine, and the third or bot- tom, thii'teen inches deep. I'he bottoms of the two uppermost are finely perforated and moveable. In the bottom division is Xhauater or ivort ; the middle one contains the malt ; and into tlie top the hot water is pumped up, or poured over by means of a small pump, and thus passes through every particle of the malt ; so tliat, by frequent agitation, the water in a manner washes out its whole substance, ;uid extracts all its farinaceous and saccha. rine ingredients. This oijeration is re- peated, occasionally stirring up the gi-ains. BRE BRE till the Ikiuor becomes clear, when it must be l^t off into a kettle and boiled with baps, the proper proportion of which must be determined by experiment ; it must af- terwai-ds be let out into coolers. Mr. Bordley ingenuously acknowledges, that a Swedish method of brewing in camp af- forded him the hint for this invention. He also observes, that his tripartite kettle is made of copper, and the small pump of tnetal, and may be either permanently fix- ed, or past through a cylinder, so as to raise the water from the lower to the up- per division ; though we are inclined to think that, for the latter, wood, or pure tin, would be preferable to brass, in order to prevent the formation of verdigrise. At the bottom is a cock on one side of the vessel. On the whole, we consider this as the most proper and convenient piece of machinery, ever conti'ived for family- brewing. 5. 0/ the heat of the nxaterfor JMashing. — Particular care should be taken, that the malt be not put into tlie water whilst boiling hot. In order to bring the water to an exact heat, Mr. Combrune advises us, to put on the fire 22 quarts, gallons, or barrels, according to the quantity wanted; and when it has just arrived at the boiling point of the thermometer, to add 10 similai- measures of cold water, which, when mixed with the former, will be of a temperature not exceeding 161° of Fahrenheit : and this he considers as tlie most proper heat for mashing. He far- ther remarks, that water which has en- dured tlie fire the shortest time, pro- vided it be hot enough, will make the strongest extract. 6. Of Mashing. — When the water is Iirought to a due heat, the malt is to be put in very leisurely, and uniformly mixed iiitli it. 7. Of boiling the Wort — As the design of boiling the wort is to clear the liquor of its impurities, and to obtain the virtue of ' he hop, a much shorter time than usual is ufhcieut. Long boiling of the hop is a nost pernicious practice, and produces an .ustere, nauseous bitter, but not a plea- ant aromatic one. Instead of adding he hops to the wort, when this is put in- o the copper, or before it boils, they may i)e infused about five minutes before the vort is taken off the fire : if this is not suf- ficient to give tlie desired degree of frag- rant bitter, ten minutes may be taken, or as much longer as will be found necessa- ry. Mr. Mills prefers putting the hops to the wort towards the latter end of the boiling, rather than at the beginning, be- cause the continued boiling of the liquor is apt to dissipate their fragrance. 8. Of Fermentation.— One gallon of yeast, in the coldest fermenting weather, is, according to Mr. Combrune, sufficient to ferment the extract from one quarter of malt; and, if properly managed, will yield two gallons of yeast. Great care should be taken in the choice of yeasts, as they are liable to be soon tainted, and very rea- dily communicate their infection to the liquors fermented. The whole process of fermentation ahould be carried on in the slowest and coolest manner ; so that the temperature, which at the commencement was between 40 and 50" of Fahrenheit, should very gradually be raised to the 70th degree. [This is proper for a large quantity ; but for small, 66 is the best.] Fermentation will always succeed best where the air is purest. If too hot water has been employed for obtaining strong and fatty extracts, from the malt, fei-men- tation will be retai-ded : on the contrary, in weak extracts, it is so much accelerat- ed, that the whole soon becomes sour. When the femientation is at its height, all the feculent matter, or foul yeast, which rises on the surface, must be carefully skimmed off, whatever be the quality of the liquor. The beer, as soon as it is tole- rably clear, should be racked off into per- fectly clean and sweet casks ; and when managed in tliis manner, M'ill remain a long time in a state of perteclion. 9 Of fning the Liquor. — As the excel- lenc}' of all fermented liquors depends, in a great measure, on their transparency, it often becomes necessary to resort to arti- ficial means, in order to bring them to tliis state of perfection, if the process of fer- mentation has been mismanaged. Thus, a solution of isinglass in stale beer, is used to fine and precipitate other beers : but, as this method has proved ineffectual in brown beers, we are informed by Dr. Com- brune, that breweis " sometitnes put one pound of oil cf vitriol into one butt, thovigh four ounces should never be exceeded in that quantity. 10. Of the distempers of Malt Liquors. Among the distempers incident to beer, one, which has been found most difncuit to cure, is that of its appearing ropy. A bunch of hyssop put into the cask will, however, effectually remedy this evil. It deserves to be remarked, \h?i\. brown beer, made from well-tb-ied malt, is, in tlie opinion of Mr. Combrune, less lieatliig than pale beer, bre^^'ed from slack-dried malt. If extracts from pple malt be made with verj' hot water, tliey will keep sound for a long time ; but those obtained from brown iiialt, with too cold wat- gested by Richardson, in his treatise on brewing — Thus, if a Florence flask filled with water accurately, up to a mark in the neck, weighs 2 lbs. for instance, the same flask filled with wort properly boil- ed for ale, and ready to be let off into the cooler, will weigh more. When you have once ascertained the weight of the wort which will make good ale, you may al- ways know in futiu'e when your wort is sufficiently boiled ; for little evaporates but steam of water impregnated with the oil of the hops. Wlien boiled, turn the worts into the coolers, and the instant they are cool enough, put tliem to ferment. Otherwise, especially in summer, they are apt to Jbx, as it is called ; that is, they acquire a reddish colour and a disagree- able flavom". They are cool enough at 45 or 50, that is, for a large brewing ; but for smaller Ijrewiug 60 to 62 degrees will be proper .- BRE BIIE and in family brewing 66 to 70, and in ve- rv cold weather 76° will be Uie rig-ht tem- perature. Fahrenheit's scale is alluded to. * In winter, allow one gallon of yeast to the quarter of malt : in summer half a gallon. In winter jiut in the yeast ut once, in summer one half at first, or v.'hen the tun is about half full of wort, and the other half when tlie beer is fit to be clean- sed, (that is filled up with wort). When the wort begins to cream, stir it about, and mix the yeast well with the liquor. In winter the beer should be cleansed when tlie head or froth is just beginning to be- come solid and thicken. In summer, as soon as it begins to shew a white head Generally, wlien the head becomes brown, solid, and of a yeasty consistence, and seems just ready to full back into the liquor, the beer should be pvit into casks. Never suffer the head to b)-cak. Better fill the casks a few hours too soon than one hour too late. Strong beer, if brev/ed in small qtiantities, and ale in any quanti- ty, should be tunned the second day. The casks, when well cleaned with hot water, (and if necessary also witli lime or ashes to neutralize the acid absorbed by the wood,) should be filled and put upon the stilling, or frame, of about 12 inches high. Fill up the casks as they work over, once every hour for the first 6 or 8 hours be sure to keep the casks filled till the fermentation has entirely subsided, which will be in a few days. Place vessels under the casks to col- lect the workings over, and the casks may be filled up with the clear part of tiiesc workings. Take great care to keep jour cellar diy, and free from the drip- jiings of the casks : if the cellar be damp and musty, your beer will be in hazard of smelling. When the beer has worked in the casks, bung it and remove it, if necessary, to tlie [)lace where it is to remain : then draw the bung, and fill up with clear beer, scumming off the sediment that may be thrown up by rolling. Biuig the casks tight ; bore u vent hole, and put in a vent peg, which should be rather slack while ihe beer is observed to be on the fret. If it runs out at the vent hole, draw off about a (piart, to give it room and prevent the starting of the wood. When beer is di-awn, take care never to leave the vent peg out, or loose : the best liquor may soon become flat and va- pid by the carelessness of ser\ants in tliis respect. Take care also that the sides of the bar- rels, the stoops and the floor, are not suf- fered to remain wet with the beer spilled or running over. Dirtiness and moisture are apt to make tlie beer smell in the bar- rel. 0/ the proportions of JVIalt and other Ingredients. The following are about the average propoi-tions of malt, used in England: but the barley of America is not equally good, nor is the process of malting carried to such perfection : hence, the same quantity of ale or porter will re- quire about one fourth more of malt to make a liquor in America of equal strength. When nothing is used to make ale or porter, but malt and hops, it will require, in England, about three bushels of malt to make one barrel of ale of 32 gallons, or porter of 36 gallons. But this will be strong. For ale intended to be drank immedi- atelv, ^ of a lb. of hops to the bushel, will suffice. If meant to be kept a twelve- monUi, allow 1 lb. to the bushel : if long- er lA lb. Porter requires IHb. of hops to the bushel, if no bitter but hops be used. Small-beer is usually brewed from the malt after the quantity of wort intended for ale is taken off: then a quarter (or 8 bushels) of malt, will make about one barrel of sti'ong ale, and two barrels and an half of good small-beer : the hops used for the ale, kept in a net during boilijig, will do with a little addition for the small- beer- But small-beer so made is never so good as when it is run off by- itself from a quantity of malt wholly appropi'iated to it. , In this case about 1| or 1^ bushels of malt will make one barrel of good small- beer, with \ of a lb. of hops to the bushel. But in malt liquor, the, addition of a small portion of sugai- gives more strength to the liquor, and enables it to keep bet- ter ; pai'ticularly in summer time : hence the following proportions seem prefei'able in practice, for this country. Ale — Malt (amber) tliree bushels : hops olbs. ; good moist sugar 1^ lb.; about A an oimce of coriander seeds will be an improvement. The addition of the sugar will netu'ly make up for the defici- ency in strength of tlie AmericaJi malt. This will make one barrel of strong ale. Having thus afforded an analytical view of this important subject, we shall con- clude it with an account of the latest patents, which have been granted to those who have contributed,.or attempted to±n- prove the Art of Brewing. • In Mai-ch, 1788, Mr. W. Ker, of Kerfield, Twecdale, received the king of Great Bfi- BRE BRE tain's patent for his improvement in brew- ing ale, beer, porter^ and other malt liquors, so as to save a considerable portion of hops, to produce the liquors of a superior flavour and quality, and render them less liable to become acid or putrid. The steam which arises from the boiling copper, is known to be strongly impregnated with the es- sential oil of the hops, in which their fla- vour consists. Instead, therefore, of al- lowing it to escape and evaporate, as it does in the common mode of brewing, Mr. Ker contrives to preserve and con- dense it, by means of a winding-pipe fixed to the copper, similar to the worm of a still, or by a straight pipe passing througli cold water, or any other cooling medium. The oil and water, thus obtained, are re- turned into the worts when boiled ; or the oil, after being- separated from the water, along with which it has been exhaled, is returned into the worts after they are boiled^ and the watery part, which, after the oil is separated, still continues im- pregnated with the aromatic taste and bitter of the hop, is returned into the next copper or boiling vessel, and so on, from one copper or boiling vessel into anotiier. By this process, a considerable part of the hop and flavour, Avhich is lost in the or- dinary mode of brewing, is presei^ved ; the flavour of the liquor is improved by the preservation of the finer parts of the aromatic oil ; and the ale and beer ai-e better secured from any tendency to acid- ity or putrefiiction, and therefore must be fitter for home consumption and exporta- tion. In June, 1790, Mr. John Long, of Ire- land, obtained a patent for an improve- ment which he calls an entire nttu 7netliod, in ail the essential parts, of brewing good' malt liquor. Though this method, in one respect, is similar to that adopted by Mr. Ker, yet as it comprehends the whole pro- cess of brewing, we shall lay it before our readers, nearly in the words of its au- thor. 1. For the better extracting the virtues of malt, place near a mash-tun a shallow copper, or otiier vessel, that will readily heat, the curb of which to be on a level with the tun, ?nd to contain from two to six hogsheads, according to the dimen- sion of the tun, more or less; and, at the lower end of the copper, have a cock, fi-om two to five inches in diameter, to conduct the heated liquor from the cop- per into a tube, which passes down the external part of the tun, and enters it through an aperture about six inches from the bottom; then forming two revo- lutions, more or less, through the body of the tun, and communicating its heat to the wort as it passes through the tube; and then, at a convenient distance from the place where it first entered, it runs from the tun into a cistern or tub, situate j as near as convenient to the copper or heating-vessel. In tlie tub or cistern i.'i to be placed a pump, for the purpose of conveying the cooler liquor back to the copper or heating vessel again, there to receive the heat of 208 degrees, more or less, (which it will require after the first half hour,) and then convey it through the mashing-tun, as before, and in the same manner, as long as the working brewer may thuik necessary, to raise the mashing-tun to an)- degree of heat re- quired. By adhering to the foregoing process, the first liquor ma}-, with tlie greatest safety, be let upon liie malt, from 20 to 30 degrees lower than the present practice ; by which means it operates witii gentleness, opens and expands the malt, and prepares it for the reception of sharp- er or warmer liquor, so as to extract the whole of the saccharine quality from the malt. By the foregoing metiiod, the mashing-tun, instead of losing its first heat, (which it does by the present pi-ac- tice,) continues to increase in heat everv moment by conveying the heated liquor through the tube into the tun ; by which means, at the end of two hours, the work- ing brewer can have the tun brought to any degree of heat he shall think best suited to the difl^erent qualities of tlie malt. Persons who would wish to savr expense, may heat their mashing-tun at the side or bottom, by a large piece of metallic substance made fire-proof, and fixed therein ; which, in some degi-ee, will answer the end proposed, but with great trouble and delay. 2. To prevent the wort from receiving a disagi-eeable flavour, while in the under- back, a tube must be placed at the cock, of the mashing-tun, to receive the wort as it comes ofl", and convey it to a great cis- tem, or refrigeratory, which is suppUed with a stream of water. Tiie wort, pass- ing through that medium in a spiral tube, soon loses that heat which so often proves prejudicial to the brewer in warm wea- ther; it is then poured from the tube into a vessel in which pumps are placed, to re- turn the worts into the copper, for the purpose of boiUng off". 3 As the great object of long boiling the wort is remedied, by this invention of talcing the extract" from' the hops in a se- parate manner from the woits, Mr. Long boils tlie latter no longer than from fifteen to twenty minutes ; and, by piu-suing that method, he saves much time and fuel, and regulates the length of time accordingly. CRE BRE 4. He steeps liis hops, the pveceding- day to whicli they are to be used, in a copper or other vessel, with as mucli fluid, blood-warm, as will cover the hops ; where it is to remain over a slf)w fire, at least fourteen hours, close covered ; the copper, at the tenth hour, not to be of a gicater heat than 175 degrees, continuing slow until tlie last hour. Then he brings the copper gradually to a simmer, or slow boil ; in which state he suffers it to re- jnain about ten minutes, and then runs off the uuid ; and this he does at the same time the first wort is boiled off, that they may both pass togetlier through the re- iHgeratoi'v, into the fermentation or work- ing-tun. After the foregoing operation, he covers the hops again with other li- quor, brings the copper to boil as soon as convenient, and lets it remain in that state a considerable time, until the second worts are boiled off. Then he passes the hop-fluid with the wort, the same as in tlie first instance; and, if there is a third wort, he boils the hops a third time with small worts, and drains off the liquid as before ; by which means, he gradually ob- tains the whole of the essential oil and pleasant bitter from the hops, which is ef- iectually preserved in the beer, 5. When the wort is boiled off, it is conducted from the cock of the cojjper or boiler into a ttibe of a proper dimension, wliich piisses the wort from the cock to the large cistern or refrigeratory, and there performs several revolutions, in a spiral manner, through the same tube; w jiich is immersed in a constant supply of oold water, where it loses the greatest part of its heat in a short time, and thence continues a straight course through the lube, a little elevated, and of a suitable length, placed in brick-work, until it ■neets a small refrigeratory, sni)plied with ';older water from a reservoir made for that purpose, at the head of the works; whence a continual stream runs on the surface of the tube down to the great re- frigeratory, cooling the wort as it passes, in order to enable the working brewer to send it into the backs, or working-tuns, at whatever degree of heat he may think proper. The tiibcs may be made of lead, or any other metallic substance. 6. To enable him to brew in tlie warm summer months, Mr, Long sinks the lacks, or working-tuns, at least to a level vlth tl)e ground, but if deeper, the better, lud covers them closely by an arch made of bricks, or other materials, that will to- tally exclude the almos]jlu;ric air. He rheii placcfe them as near as possible to a pring or sand-drain, as their depth will • latur'allv dr.iv/ the water thence, which must be so contrived as to pass or flow round the backs or tuns. Next, lie in- troduces a large tube, -which passes through the tuns, and keeps tiie wort se- veral degrees lower than can possibly be done by the present practice ; by which means he produces a complete fermenta- tion, even in the dog-days. 7. In cold or frosty weather, if the tuii and backs should lose the first heat, in- tended to be conducted through the pro- cess by tlie foregoing method, a supply of warm or boiling water may be conveyed by the tube which passes through the body of the backs or tun, communicating its heat, which rises to any degree the working brewer shall think proper : by pursuing this method, in the coldest sea- son, a fermentation may always be pi-o- cured. In February 1798, Dr, Richard Shannon obtained a patent for his method of im- proving the processes of brewing, distil- ling, boiling, evaporating, raising, apply- ing and condensing steam or vapour from aqueous, spirituous, saccharine, saline, and other fluids. The principle of his in- vention consists chiefly in tlie following arrangement: By covering and making the mash-tun air-tight, and casing it round, under and over, with a steam-tight casing, so that, during the mashing and soaking of the malt and grain used, the heat may be preserved, or i-aised and regulated to any pitch, by the application of steam, both in and between the casing of the mash-tun ; by which contrivance, the whole of the farina and substance of the grain may be as effectually extracted iu one, or at most in two mashings, as is now done in three or four. The steam, conducted by a proper tube or pipe, is to be also employed for sweetening and cleansing all the brewing, distilling, and vinegar-making utensils, and casks em- ployed in each, &c. so as in future to pre- vent furring, tbxing, &c. even in tlie in- miost crevices. In June 1798, the same patentee, in partnership with Mr. Robert Burnett, of Vauxhall, procured another patent, for the discovery of a principle and invention of a method of improving the process of fiirmentation, by which porter, beer, ale, malt and molasses wash, wine, cyder, and all other saccharine and fermentable fluids, may be conducted with certainty through the vinous process of fermenta- tion in mild, warm, hot, and cold wea- ther, without being materially injured as heretofore, by the different changes of the atmosphere, &c. But as these improve- ments dei)end on the application of an ex- pensive pneumatic apparatus, which docs BRI BRI not appear to us adapted to tlie use of fa- milies, we refer the reader to the tenth and fourteenth volumes of the Repertory of Arts and Manufactures, where he will find a detailed specification of both pa- tents. The hist patent we shall mention, is that of Mr. 'I'iiornton, of East Smithfield; which, being- dated April 15, IZTS, is eai'lier th;.n either of the preceding", and does not strictly relate to the process of brewing-, as his invention consists in a new method of I'educing tnalt and hops to an essence or extract, from which beer may be made either at sea or in distant Goiintries. The whole is managed by the transmitted heat of compressed vapour of boiling water 5 and a proper apparatus for that purpose. This apparatus may be made of iron, tin, or copper : it consists of a boiler of any dimensions, a clo^'ble ves- sel, and conducting tubes. The double Vessel consists of one vessel placed witliin another, and fitted tiglit at their rims. The upper vessel forms the upj^er p'ait of the under vessel, and contaii\s the liquor to be evaporated. Tlic luider vessel is every where inclosed, except at an aper- ture communicating with the boiler, and at anotlier aperture communicating witli the conducting tubes; and is constructed so as not to allow any part of tlie vapour condensed into drops within it to escape, except back again into the boiler : it is not so extensive as to act as a common refri geratory, and yet is cajjacious enougl> to prevent the liquor boiling over. The aperture communicating with the boiler, is large enough to freely admit the vapom- from tlie boiler into the under vessel ; and the aperture communicating with the con- ducting tulieG, is of a proper size to al- low of the vapour in the under vessel be- ing compressed, to a degree capable of transmitting to the liquor to be evapo- rated a proper heat, and at the same time to serve as, a passage for more heat than is necessary to keep up that degiee of compression. The conducting tubes are to convey this superfluous heat or vapour, to be used for farther pin-poses, or imme- diately out of the building-. Tliose of our readers who are desirous of farther information ou the subject, may consult tlie last edition of Philosophical Principles of Brevjing, by Mr. Uiciiurd- son, of Hull, England; a work of ac- knowledged merit, and practical utili- ty- BRICK. Among the numerous branches of the general art of fashioning argilla- ceous earths into useful forms, and after- wards hardening them by fire, tlie art of making bricks and tiles is by no means VOL. I. one of tlie least useful. By this art \ves, possess tlie advantage of obtaining the ma- terials for constructing edifices at clieap rates, in almost every situation, without: tlie expense of carrying stone from re- mote quarries ; and this is so far from be- ing the only advantage, that it is extreme- j ly probable, that these artificial coniposi- I tions, if jji-operly made, would prove su- perior in durability to every natural stone. The streets in Holland are every where paved with a hard kind of brick, known b}' Its under the name of clinkers, and used in tliis country for paving stables and court-yards ; and the houses in Ain- stei-dani tippear to be not at all decayed, but are perfectly fresh, as if new, though most of those in the vicinity of the Excliange have stood at least two centu- ries. The sjiirit of improvement may perhaps efiect at some future period la tJiis country, what the stimulus of ne- cessity has done on that naturally poor spot. The art of bvickmaking has for the most part been confined to the manufac- tories, no one having attended to it in a direct chemical way, except the cele- brated Bergman. AVe shall therefore in the present article give an account of the leading facts and observations in his treatise. 'Jhe pottery made use of in the con- struction of edifices may be considered as of two forms; tiles for the roof, and bricks for the walls ; to which may be added ano- ther kind of bricks for pavements. Soft- ness and porosity are the greatest fault of tiles. The water retained in the pores of tiles becomes frozen in winter; and as ice occupies a larger space than water, the expansion of the water, at the instant of its congelation, does not fail to split and destroy such porous and brittle substances as tiles which are HI made. This has been remedied by covering them witli a glaze, which adds considerably to the ex- pense. Bergman is of opinion, that a stronger heat used in the baking would render them so close as to absorb very lit-. tie moisture. This illustrious chemist did not find that pure clay, or argillaceous earth, was fusible eitiier alone or when mixed in any proportion with lime, though the ad- dition of the smallest quantity of sili- ceous earth brought the mass into fu- sjon. Neither was clay fusible with pure quartz alone. Spath fluor ren- ders it fusible ; as does likewise feld spar. Common clay is scarcely ever found in, a state appi-oac'hing to purity on tlie sixr- face of the earth. It usually contains a Y BHl BRl large proportion of siliceous eaitlj. liei'g- luan exiumnecl several clays iu the neigli- boiirhood of Upsal, :uiu made bricks, which he baked with various degrees of licat, suflfcred them to cool, inunersed them in water for a considerable time, and then exposed them to the open air for tliree yeai-s. 'I'hey were formed of clay and saird The hardest were those, into the composition of whicli a fourth part of sand had entered. Those which had been exposed for the shortest time to the fire were almost totally destroyed, and crumbled down by the action of the air : such as hud been more thoroughly burned, suffered less damage ; and in those which had been formed of clay alone, and were half vitrified by the heiit, no change whatever was pro- duced. On the whole, he observes, that the propoj'tion of sand to be used to any clay, in niaking bricks, must be greater, the more such clay is found to contract in burning ; but that the best clays are those which need no sand. Bricks should be well burned; but no vitrification is neces- sary, when tliey can be rendered hard enough by the mere action of the heat. AVhere a vitreous crust might be deemed necessary, he recommends the projection of a due quantivyof s^dt into tlie furnace, which woxdd produce the effect in the same manner as is seen in the fabrica- tion of the English poUery called stone- ware. It is of considerable importance to exa- mine clay before il is made hito tiles. This is done in a rough way by ihe manu- facturers ; but Bergman advises the fol- lowing as the most expeditious ])rocess: Nitric acid poured ilpon imburned clay detects tlie presence of lime, by ])ro- ducing an eflfervescence. Calcareous cla)s, or marles, are often the fittest materials for making bricks. In the iiext place, a lump of clay, of a given weiglit is to be diffused in water by agitation. Tlie sand will subside, and the clay remain suspend- ed. Otlier wasliings of the residue will carry off" some clay, and by due manage- ment in this way, the sand, or quartzose matter may be had separate. Nitiic acid by digestion will take up the lime from a part of the clay, previously weighed, and this may be precipitated by volatile alka- li. The clay, the sand, and the lime may thus be well enough ascertained by weight, so as to indicate the (luantity of sand or other material requisite to be added in order to ibrm that compound, which, from otlier experiments,^ may have been found best adapted to pro- duce good tiles and bricks, An exa- mination with the microscope will show whether the sand contain feld spar, or other stones of known fi- gure. I'he brickmakers in the vicinity of Lon- don collect the refuse cinders and jishes of the coal fires of that metropolis, and employ women to sift them. The cinders, called breeze, are used as fuel in the burning, and the smaller powder, or black ashes, enter into the composition of the bricks instead of sand. The proper management of the clay is of considera- ble importance with respect to the quali- ty of the bricks ; and various acts have been passed, to prohibit its use when re- cently dug. The clay is best if dug in the fall of the year, and exposed to the frosts during the winter, turning it over once or oftener during the time- Indeed the more it is turned and worked with the spade the better. When thus mellowed, it may be thrown into shallow pits in the spring, and left to soak in water some days. . It is then to be tempered, and wrought into a smooth paste, with as lit- tic water as possible. This is usually done by a horsemill. All tlie stones j ought to be picked out ; but this is sel- idom done, except in the finer articles. When the materials are properly mixed ! and wrought, the bricks are fasliioned in wooden moulds; and then piled up in long double rows to the height of four or five feet, the bricks being so arranged as to admit a free access of air between them, and covered at top with straw, to defend them from the rain. When sufficiently dried in this manner, they are «X!innionly [built up into large square heaps, called [clams, stratified with fuel between the I rows, and leaving room for the fire to } play between the bricks. Two or more j arches likewise, according to the size of the clam, are formed at the bottom, for ) holding the fuel, and kindling- the fires. , In this way it is obvious the bricks cannot be uniformly burnt; and to deficiencies in ;the management of this process, and ne- ; giigences in temperhig and working the j.materials, we may probably ascribe the bad qualities of too many bricks. A few : of tlie finest kinds of bricks, for particular uses, as well as tiles, are burnt in kilns erected for the purpose, where the fire can be managed with nmch more regu- larity. A kind of bricks called firr-bricks are made near Windsor, v. Inch are very hard, ]lea^y, and contain a large projiortion of s.ind. These are chieffy used in the con- I struction of furnaces for steam engines, or I other large works, and in lining the ovens of glass-houses, as they will stand any- BRI BRI de^ee of heat. Indeed Ihej' should al- •viays be employed where fires of any in- tensity are required. English statute-bricis ought, when burnt, to be nine inches long-, four and a auarter broad, and two and a half ;hick : ley are commonly used for pa\"ijig' cellars, sewers, sinks, hearths, &c. There is, however, a great variety of bricks, in con- sequence of their different forms, dimen- siens, uses, and the method of making them. On compai'ing the strength and dura- bility of modern bricks with those of the ancients, it is evident that the former are in every respect inferior; and that we are either unacquainted with the exact mate- rials of which these admirable productions of art are composed, as well as with tlie proper manner of preparing them; or that this useful manufacture has been shame- fully neglected, while o\ir masons and brick-makers are little concerned about the quality of their materials, if they can obtain them in a cheap and expeditious manner. Such appears to be the tenden- cy of the patents that have, from time to time, been procured bv various scheming men, who are generally ignorant of the fu'st principles of chemistry, on which the successful practice of this i\Tiportant branch of the aits chiefly de- pends. , Whoever is desirous of producing the best and most durable kind of bricks, ought to attend to the following rules : 1. Clay of every description, whether fat or lean, whether more or less mixed with particles of lime, iron, &c. must be dug up after Midsummer, that is, be- tween the beginning of July and latter end of October, before the first frost ap- pears : it should be repeatedly worked with the spade, during the winter, and not formed into bricks till the following- spring. 2. The clay, before it is put into pits for soaking, must be broken as small as ]iossible, and allowed to lie at least ten days: every stratum of twelve inches should be covered with water, as in this manner it will be more uniformly soft- ened. o. Two such pits, at least, will be ne- cessary for every brick-manjfactoiy, so that after having been suffered to remain for five days, the second may be prepared, and thus the manufacture carried on witli- out interruption. 4. The next step is that of treading and tempering the clay, which requu-es^ dou- ble the labour to what is usually bestow- ed on it; as the quality of the bricks cliiefly depends upon the first prepara- tion. If, in tempering them, too much water be used, they become dry and brit- tle; but, if duly tempered, they will be smooth, solid, and durable. Such a brick requires nearly as much earth as one and a half made in the common way, when too great a proportion of water is added; in which case tlie bricks become spongy, light, and full of flaws, partly through neglect in working them proper- ly, and partly by a mixture of ashes and hg-ht sandy earth, (as is generally prac- tised in tiie vicinity of London,) with a view to dispatch and facilitate the work, as well as to save culm or coals in the burning 5. Bricks made of proper earth, being more solid and ponderous, require a much longer time for drying th:m those made in tlie common wa\ ; they ought not to be removed to the kiln, till they have become lighter by one-half, and give a hollow sound on collision ; because the proper drying of bricks will prevent them from cracking and crumbling in the kiln 6. Of whatever materials the kiln be constructed, each burning of from 6 to 10,000 bricks, requires that the fire be kept up for 24 hours, and double that time for a nimiber of fi-om 12 to 50,000. The uniform increase of heat deserves great attention; the duration of it should be regulated according- to the seasons ; and, during the last 24 hours, the fire should be uninterruptedly supported by means of flues ; but aflerwaids the kiln must not be suddenly closed, as there is always some danger either of bursting the flues, or more probably of melting the bricks. Fire bricks are made in Philadelphia of certain proportions of clay from the banks of the Delaware, a few miles below Bor- dentovm, and tlie sand found near the lower bridge on tlie Schuylkill. Besides their great utility in the con- struction of furnaces, they ought to be used for fining the backs and sides of fire- places. Among the multiplicity of patents late- ly obtained for the making of bricks, it is somewhat singular, that the inventors confine their lucrative views chiefly to the formation of this useful article, witliout paying much regard to tlie materials of which it may be composed. Of this na- ture are tlie patents granted to tlie follow- ing indhiduals : 1. Mr. Edmund Cartwright, of Doncas- ler, England, for his invention of a new piinciple, on which briclis, stones, or any other building materials to be substituted for those ai-ticles, may be so formed, as fc BRl BRI be applied with peculiar advantage in the erection of walls, and in the construction of arches. (Dated April 14, 1795.) His improvement consists in giving bricks such a shape or form as th;it, wlicn in work, they shall mutually lock into, or cramp each other. The principle of his invention, he says, will be readily undei-- stood, by supposing the two opposite sides of a common brick to have a groove oi' rabbet dov/n the middle, a little more than half the width of the side of the brick in which it is made; there will then be left a shoulder on e.ach side of the groove, each of which shoulders will be nearly equal to one quarter of th.e widtii of the side of the brick, or to one-half of the groove or rabbet. Buildings con- structed with bricks on this priticiplc, will require no bond-timber, one \miver- sal bond running tiirough, and connecting the wliole buildmg together ; the walls of which can neither crack r.or bulge out, without breaking throngli tlic brides themselves. When bricjfsof this .-iimple, form arc used for the construction of arches, the sides of the grooves or rab- bets, and tlie siioulders, should be the i-adii of the circle, of which the intended arch is to be the segment. In forming an arcli, the bricks must be coursed across the centre on which the arcli is turned, and a grooved side of the bricks must face the workman. They may be either laid in mortar, or dry, and tlie interstices afterwards filled, and wedged up, by pour- ing in lime-putty, plaster of Paris, grout- ing, or any other convenient material, at the discretion-of the woj'krian,or builder. It is obvious, that arches upon thispi inci- ple, having no lateral pressure, can nei- ther expand at the foot, nor spi ing at the crown, consequently they will want no abutments, requiring only per]:)endicular walls to be let into, or to rest upon ; and they will want no incumbent weight upon the crown, to prevent their springing up; a circumstance of great importance in many situations, in the construction of bridges. Another advantage attending this mode of torching is, that the centn's may be struck inuuediately ; so that the same centre, (wliich in no case need be many feet wide, whatever may be the breadth of the arch) may be regidarly shifted, as the work proceeds. But the greatest and most striking advantage at- tending ti)is invention is, tlie absolute se- curity it adbrds (and at a very reason:ible rate) against the possibility of fire; for, from the peculiar properties of this arch, requiring no abutments, it may be laid upon, or let into connuon w.alls, no strong- er than what are required for timbers, of which it will preclude the necessity, antl save the expense. For a more particular account, we refer tlie reader to the third volume of the Jieptrtory of Jrts and Ma- Mijactiires, p. 84, and following, of which he will also find annexed two plates illus- trating the subject. 2. A very important discovery h»s lately been made by Mr. 'Whitmore Da- vis, at Castle Comber, in the county of Kit' kenny, Ireland, lie observed some per- sons in the vicinitv of a collier}', to cm- ploy a mortar for tiie backs nf their grates, which in a short time became hard. Tills substance he foimd, on examination, to be what miners term seat-cnal, or that fossil which lies between coal and the rock. It has been submitted to the hi- vestlgation of Mr. Kirwan, who is of opi- nion, that it will, when mixed in due'|)ro- portions with clay, produce a kind of bricks, ca])able of resisting the action of fire, and consequently well calculated for furnaces, or similar structures. Mr. Da- vis has accordingly employed it with suc- cess; and he farther observes, that seat- coal, if propel ly prepared, will answer every pinpose of tarras, for buildings be- neath water. To conclude, \ve shall only add, that the reasons why the modern bricks are so very inferior to those made by the an- cients; which, in their monuments, after having withstood the ravages of time for many centuries, are still in perfect preser- vation, appear to be principally the fol- lowing: In the present expensive state of society, the price of manual labour, though far from being adequate to the pressure of the times, is so considerable, that the manufacturer is under a kind of necessity to make choice of those mate- rials wjiich arc the cheapest and most ea- sily procmed: thus, a mixture of the most iiTcproper earths and clay is often em- plojed in the manufacture of bricks, without reflecting that two bodies speci- fically diflerent in their nature, must ne. cessarily require different degrees of heat in the kiln, in oider to produce an uniform hardtiess, and an intimate combi- nation of parts. On the contrary, the an- cients not only selected the very best sort of clay, but combined it with other ingredients well adapted to form tlie most cinnpletc cement, such as coarsely powdered ciuucoal and old mortar added to the clay. Of tliis descriiJiion, likewise, were the bricks which professor Pallas, on Ins last journey through the southern pro- vinces of Russia, discovered in the stu- pendous Tartar monuments, and which v.'ould scarcely yield to the force of a hamjuer. Another advantage peculiar to BP.I BRI liie. bricks and tiles manufactured by ^I'.U' forefiuliers, arose from their method of buminsj thein uniformh', after being thoroughly dried. There is no doubt, that if all tlie defects before pointed <)u\, were removed, and modern brick- makers were to pay more attention to their art, by digging the clay at proper seasons, working it better than is done at present, bestowing more care on the burn- ing of them, and particularly by making them much thinner than what is pre- sci-ibed by tlic standard form, we might produce bricks of an equal strength and durability to tliose of our less enlighten- ed, but moi'e provident and industrious, ancestors. BRICKLAYKRS, artisans whose busi- ness it is to build witli bricks, and to per- form brick-work ; such as tiling, walling, cliimney-work, and paving' with bricks and tiles : in country places, they also un- dertake the masons' and plasterers' busi- ness. Tl)e London bricklayers were in- corporated as a regular company in 1568, consisting of a master, two wardens, 20 assistants, and 78 of the livery. The art of bricklaying has bcv^n ana- lysed in a paiticular treatise l)y Moxon; in wliich he describes tlie materials, tools, and method of working used l)y brick- layers. Great care should be taken tliat bricks be laid joint on joint in the middle of the walls as seldom as may be. If they be laid in winter, let them be kept as dry as possible; if in summer, they ouglit to be Vvctted, because they will then unite with the mortar better than if they were quite dry, and render the work much stronger. In large buildings, or where it is too troublesome to dip each brick sepa- rately, water may be thrown on every coiu'se after they are laid, as was judi- ciously done, when building the College of Physicians in London, on the sugges- tion of Dr. Hooke. If bricks are laid in summer, they sliouid be covered, to pre- vent the mortar from drying too quickly ; because tlnxs it will not be cemented so firmly as if it were left to dry more gra- dually. In winter also they ought to be well covered, to protect them from rain, snow, and frost, which last is the worst enemy to mortar, especially If the work )nis become wet before the frost hap- pens. BRICK-WATER, or water iinpreg- nated with the contents of bi-iclcs, is pos- aessed of properties so peculiarly Striking-, and at the same time so pei-nicious in their effects, wlien used for culinary pur- poses, that we cannot, in justice to oin- readers, withhold from them the follow- ing curious experiment made by Dr. Per- cival, and stated in the first volume of hiB , Essays. He steeped two or tl\ree pieces of common brick, four days in a bason full of distilled water, which he after- wards decanted offi and examined by va- rious chemical tests. It was not miscible with soap ; struck a lively green with sy- rup of violets; by the fixed alkali, and by a solution of sugar of lead. No change was produced on it by an infusion of tor- mentil root. Hence the doctor justly concluded, that the lining of welit viith bricks, a practice very common in many places, is extremely improper, as it can- not fail to render the water hard and un- wholesome. Clay generally contains a variety of heterogeneous matters; and co- loured loams often participate of bitumen, and the ochre of iron. Sand and lime eai'th are still more common ingredients in their composition ; and the experiments of Mr. Geoffrej- and Mr. Pott prove, that the earth of alum also may in considera- ble quantity be separated from clay. As, therefore, clay is exposed to the open air for a long space of time, before it is mould- ed into bricks and burnt, this process in many respects resembles that by which the alum stone is prepared. And it is probable, tJiat the white efllorescence, wliich is frequently observable on the sur- face of new bricks, is of an aluminous na- ture: indeed the combinations of the vi- triolic acid with the earth of alum, may be sufficiently accounted for, partly from the long exposure of clay to Jthe air, before it is moulded into bricks, and partly from the sulphurcotis exhalations of the pit- coal used for burning them, together with the suffocating, bituminous vapour, arising from the ignited coal. Tiie above experiments of Dr. Percival are highly interesting, and deserve the se- rious attention of city corporations and private persons. The wells of pumps are m generally only steined, that is, lined witli dry bricks. Two disad\antages arise from this practice. The first, is the bad qualities which it appears are communi- cated to the water by the bricks ; the se- cond, is the inability of these bricks to prevent the filthy contents of drains and privies from soaking through the ground into the wells, to which cause may be faii-ly attributed the bad taste of the wa- ter in many pumps in Philadelphia, which were formerly proverbial for their excel- lence. Everv- privy and well, ought to be lined witli the valuable cement of Copt. Jfunii. It is easily made, and, if the work be well done, the cement will last for ever. See Cement- BRINE, or Pickle, is water saturated with saline particles. It is either native^ 1 BRI BRO as the sea-water; or factitious, vh en formed by a solution of salt in water. Pickle made according to the common rule, that it should bear an egg, may be sufficiently strong to presei-ve substances intended for early use. A true pickle, however, for preserving meat, fish, and butter, daring a long voyage, ought to be boiled down till the salt begins to crys- talize, which is discovered by a thin scum on the surface of the liquid while it conti- nues over the fire. The water being tlien completely saturated with salt, the pickle is perfect. BROAD-CAST, a term in husbandry, used to denote a pai-ticular mode ot" sow- ing corn, pulse, turnips, clover, grasses, and most field-plants. Wlien seeds are scattered over the surface of the groiViid by the hand, they are said to be sown in broad-cast ; by whicli this method is dis- tinguished fi'om drilling, and horse-hoe- ing, or the new husbandry. The comparative merit of the drill and broad-cast, has, by several e^iperiments, been determined in I'avor of tiie former. One of the most practical details on this subject, was communicated to the Society fur the Encouragtvimt of Arts, JManufic- tures, and Coinmerce, by Mr. Boote, of Atherstone, who, in the year 1789, ob- tained the gold medal from that patriotic institution, as an acknov/iedgement of his merit, in ascertaining this interesting point. Mr. Boote selected a piece of cold clay land of twenty acres, four of which were drilled with four bushels of wheat ; and, at the same time, four acres adjoining, of a similar soil, were sown in the broad- cast way, with ten bushels of the same grain. In the beginning of April, 1788, tlie drilled wheat was first hoed, and again in the last week of the same mcmth, when tlie broad-cast was also hoed, with hoes of a proper size for the purpose. At harvest, the crops were separately reaped and thi'cshed, to ascertain tlie dif- ference of each produce. That of tlie four acres drilled was one hundred and nine- teen bushels, one g.allon, and four pints ; and the four acres broad-cast yielded ninety-four bushels, two gallons, and four pints. Hence the dlflerence in favour of the former, was twenty -fovn- bushels, se- ven gallons, valued at five shillings and six pence a bushel, together with .six busli- els of seed saved by diilliiig-, whicli cost seven shillings and four ])encc half-penny a bushel, amounting in the whole to nine pounds one sliilling and three fM.'th- in.?s. In tins comparativje experiment, a h'lsh- el of wheat produced by tlie broad-cast was nearly equal in weight to a bushel of that obtained from tlie drill. Mr. Green- way, however, by an experiment made hi the year 1 TS?, found that the grain of his drilled crop was superior to that of his broad-cast, not only in quantity but in quality, the former weighing two ])ounds per bushel more than the latter. But as his broad-cast crop was not hoed, it may be f lirly inferred, tiiat it did not arrive at full maturity, either in consecjuenceof the injury done to it by weeds, or for want of the soil being pulverized by the hoe It must be evident to the agriculturist, that seed deposited from one and a half to t])ree inches deep hi the soil, will vege- tate sooner, ::nd grow faster, than that sown on the surface, which is seldom bu- ried deeper than from one-quarter of an inch to an incli — at a season, when mois- ture is {particularly requisite tor the.growth of the plant. BRONZE, a metallic compound of cop- per and tin, to which zinc and other sub- stances are sometimes added. It is hard, brittle, sonorous, and specifically heavier than the metals of which it is composed. INI. Tiilet, in his memoir concerning the ductility of metals, observes, that in bron2,e the colotirof the copper is totally disguised by that of the tin, even though the proj^orlion of the former be fovu'-fifths to that of the latter. This compound is much more fusible than copper alone, and less liable to be covered with verdigrise. From the properties here enumerated it appears, lliat bronze is well calculated for the casting of bells, cannons, statues, and other works exposed to the air and Weather. Bronze-colottr, in imitation of the metal, is much used by the colourmen of Paris, who prepare two sorts of it, namely, tiie led bronze, and the } ellow or golden : the latter is made solely of the very finest and brightest copper-dust ; the former is" pi-e- pared of tlie same material, by adding a small proportion of well jiulvcrised red ochre Both are ajjplied, with varnishes, to the putside of substances, as gold leaves are in gilding. But, to prevent it from turning green, the bronzed work should, as soon as laid on, be carefully dried over a chafing-disli. BUUNSWICK-G REEN. See Co i.o un- Makixo. BUILDING is the art of constructing and raising .an edifice : in which sense it compreliends as well the expenses, as the invendon and execution of the design. In the practice of this iiseful art, there are five particulars to be principally at- tended to : 1, Situation ; 2. Contrivance, pj- Bm BUI design; 3. Strength and solidity ; 4. Cen- \ enience and uulity ; and 5. Elegance. As our aim is not to impart elemeniary in- structions in the art of building', we shall only sketch the most essential rules, by an attention to which, the reader may be enabled to discriminate between good and bad building, and to guard against many common errors. In laying the foundation of a buildings proper care should be taken to ascertain the nature of the soil, either by a crow or rammer ; or, which is still better, witli a miner's or well-digger's borer, in order to discover whether it is thoroughly sound, and fit to be laid upon it. If the founda- tion be not very louse it may be improved by ramming in large stones. With regard to situutinn, a dwelling- house ought never to be erected near marshes, fens, or a boggy soil, nor too close on the banks of a river, unless it stand on a rising ground, at tlie north or west side of the bank. Contrhance u? design, is of the first im- portance in biiiidiiig, as a skiifid architect will not only make the structure liaiul- some and convenient, but often save great expences ; which canrtot be avoided wlien, by hasty and injudicious management, any futuie alteratioKS become nei:essary. A model is the most certain way to prevent mistakes, and is SAiperior to tlie best draughts. But if tlie latter be adopted, they should be of the largest s\/.q, so that the delineation of all the chimneys, heanlis, bed-places, stairs, and the lati- tude of all doors and wiridows, in each floor, may be distinctly represented : and if the workmansliip be agreed upon by the bulk, it will be useful (for obviating differences and disputes) to insert tlie length and thickness ofthegTound-plalcs, breast-siunmers, girders, trimmers, joists, raisings, and wall-plates ; as also the thick- ness of the walls, jjaiiitions, &,c. In tim- ber buildings, the several sizes of tlie ground-plates, interduces, breast-sum- mers, beams, principal port-braces, quai"- ters, window-pDsts, door-posts, cellar- beams, principal raiiers, &c. Sic. should also be minuteiy ascertained. During the l8th centuiy, and particu- larly wiiiun the last forty jears, great im- provemeiu.s have been nsade in tlie art of building ; as L)ur modern edifices ure more convenient, and elegant, than, those oi'ihr- mer times. Oiu* ancestors generally ir.ha- bited houses wiih a blind staii-case, low ceilings, and dark windows ; tlie rooms were built at random, without contrivance or symmetry, and often with steps leading from one to the other ; so that wc might be induced to imagine, they purposeh- guarded against the influence of light and fresh air. The more happy genius of our age is for light stair-cases, fine sash win- dows, and lofty apartments. Thus, % house buiit according to the prevaifingf taste, excels both in point of compactness and uniformity; insomuch thut on the same extent of ground, it affords nearly double the conveniences that could be procured on the old plan. The modem rage for building, however, is apparently attended with this unfavourable effect, tliat little attention is paid to the qtialitj- of the materials, and the strength of the edi- fice, if speculative monied men attain their object, in erecting houses that may be let at a certain rent. We believe tliere are few, perha}is no instances recorded in an- cient history, that dwelUng-houses have tumbled down before they were finished or inhabited ; such' events, however, have occasionally happened, especiidly in this metropolis. Instead of that variegated tin- sel ornament bestowed on almost every chimney-piece, and other immaterial parts of a mansion, it wotild be more judicious and economical, to attend to the quality and durability of bricks, mortar, and tim- ber. Nor do our modern builders, in the erection of their walls, observe that uni- formity, which rendered the buildings of tlie Romans almost indestructible. From t!ie description given in the 493d number of the FhiloscphiC'U Trwisuctions, by Mr. Arderon, it appears that tlie ruins of two old towers, belonging to the Roman camp at Castor, in Norfolk, were built ia the following- ingenious manner : They began first with a layer of bricks, laid flat as in pavements ; on that they placed a Li3er of clay and marl mixed together, and of the same thickness with tlie bricks ; then a layer of bricks, afterwards' of clay and marl, then of bricks again; making in the whole three layers of bricks, and two of clay. Over tliis were placed bricks and lime twenty -nine inches, ilie outside being faced with bricks cut in squares ; then brick and clay alternately, as high as the old ruins now standing. He adds some remarks on the hardness of the mor- tar, and durableness of the bricks, the length of which last is found to be 17,4-tendis inches, or a Roman foot and a half; their breadth 11,6-tentlis inches, or precisely a Roman foot ; and their thick- ness only 1,3-tenths of an inch. This last circumstance deserves particular notice, and we therefore refer the reader to tlie ar- ticle Brick. Many compositions have, with more or less success, been devised for making mortar impenetrable to moisture. The following we believe is one of the most Bill BLI 6im|jle and effectual : Mix thoroughly one- fourth of fresh uiislacked lime with three- fourths of sand ; and let five labourers make mortar in these ingredients, bj- pouring on water, with trowels, to sujiply one mason, who must, wlien the materials are sufficiently mixed, apply it instantly as cement or plaster, and it will become hard as stone. Tliis recipe is given by Mr. R. Dossie, in his second volume of Me- moirs of Agriculture and other Economical .9rts, 1771. The author, on this occasion, observes that the lime used should be stone-lime; that previous to its use, it should be preserved from the , access of air or wet, and the plaster screened for some time from the sun and wind, lie justly remarks, that its excellence arises from tiie particular attraction between lime and sand, which would be destroyed by slacking the lime. Skimmed milk, (says he) is preferable to water ; and for the si- milarity of tliis mortar to tliat of the an- cients, lie refers us to the celebrated Pliny, Yitruvius, &c. Another very durable and cheap ce- ment in building, which is particularly de- iigned as a handsome coping of walls, is that of the late P. ^Vynah, Esq. Take four or five bushels of such plaster as is commonly burnt for floors about NottiTig- ham, (or, according to Mr. IJossie, a siini- lar quantity of any turras, plaster, or calci- ne<} gypsum) ; beat it to fine powder, then «iftand put it into a trough, and mix with it one bushel of pure coal ashes, well cal- tjned. Pour on the w ater, till the whole becomes good mortar. Lay this in wood- en frames of twelve feet in length on the walls, well smoodied with common mor- tar and dry, the tliickncss of two inches at each side, and three inches in tlie middle. When the frame is moved to proceed with the work, leave an interval of two inches for this coping to extend itself^ so as to meet the lastframe-woik. Li December 1789, Dr. R. Williams ob- tahi'id a patent f )r the invention of amcr- tar or stucco for the ])urpose of buildings, of which we shall give the following par- ticulars : Take of sharp, rough, bi-ge- grained sand, sifted, washed, dried, and freed fron» all impurities ; of well burnt lime, slaked, and finely sifled ; of curd, or cheese produced from milk ; (the first fresh made, anil strongly jires^ed, to di- vest it of its whey; the second, whilst perfectly sound, raspt.-d into jjowder with a gi-atcr, or brought into a very light sub- stance with scraper.s.or fine-toothc-d plane Irons, in a turner's latlie) ; and lastly, of Mater in ils natural state, in the following )jroportions, viz. of the cheese, or curd, i''U\r pounds; tJ><; liuie twelve pounds; the sand eighty-four pounds ; the watet ten pounds. It the sand i i not thorough- ly dried, or the lime has got damp from the air, the quantity of water must be less than the above proportion ; and, on- the contrary, when the lime is used as soon as slaked, it may require more ; so that the proper stiffness of the mortar, under those circumstances, will regulate the ma- king of the composition. As the goodness of this mortar depends on the preservation of the natural pnjper- ties of the cheese, or curd, made use oY, all those parts the least tainted or rotten must be rejected ; and as the cheese, like the curd produced from skim milk, is divested of its buttery and oily par'.icles, and on that account possesses a powe;*fid cohe- sive quahty, which makes it better tor this work than that made of milk in its rich and pure state ; it is at all times to be bought of the wliolesale cheesemongers at a lower price than any other; and being more convenient than the curd, as that will require frequent making, is to be prefcrred to it, as well as to e\ery other sort of cheese ; t<)r less of it is sufficient, only four poiinds being allowed to the net hundred weight of all the solid ingredi- ents ; more than wliich, might make the mortar too lively to keep in its place with- out bagging, but less should not be used ; as that, on the other hand, would endan- .ger its drying loose and gritty, within its surface, hinder it from adhering properly to the walls, and thus reduce it to the level of common mortar. Many tedious and trivial rules are stated by the paten- tee, relative to the manner of applying this cement, and its preservation in boxes for ready use. Those who wish to acquire additional inform.ation concerning this subject, may find the specification of the patent at full length, in the tlurd volume of the " Repertory (f Arts and J\IanuJac- turesV See Mort.\r, Cemext. In July, 1796, Mr H. \\'alker, of Thur- maston, Leiceslershi;'e, procured a patent for his in\ enlion of a mctliod, by which ' houses and other buildings, of any de- scription or dimensions, might be erected In one entire mass or body, at a much easier expense, especially in the articles of timber, lime, and workmanship, and which would be equally as durable in themselves, and less liable to accidents by fire, than buildings erected upon the common construction. His process is as fcjllows : 1. The patentee takes an argillaceous earth or natural clay, which hepui'ities by the usual well-known methods, and rom- {)ounds it with sand or broken pfuii.dtd pottery or brick, coid-;i»hes, cU,arcoalj or. BLI BUI in short, with any other of those substan- ces which are adapted to form a gx)od, firm, and durable brick, when properly baked : and he varies the composition ac- cording' to the nature of tlie component parts tliemselves, and the ])u:ix)ses which tliey aic inlc-iided to answer; but, for common construcilons, he uses the same proportions as brick-maktrs in general. He then proceeds lo mix, kne:.d, and in- corporate the materials, till ihey are brought to the requisite firmness and te- nacity for building ; which is nearly such, that the p;u-ts of an}- lump or mass of the same may be readily incorporated with, or joined, to any otlier similar mass, by mo- derate blows with a wooden maiiet, and the occasional addition of a very small portion of water : this composition he calls the prepared material. 2. ye constructs iinors, walls and all other buildiiigs, according to this inven- tion, iasucii a manner that the power of fire, from v.ood, coal, charcoal, coak, or other combusiible matters may be applied to the external and interioi- surfaces of tlie floors, walls and oiher parts, by means of fires maintained in caviuc:s left within, which he calls by the name of furnaces. 3. With i-espect to the particular lorm.'s, dimensions and relative positions of the floors, walls and furniices left or form- ed within tlie same, together with tlie apertures or communications, for tlje ptu-- poses of ventilating tlie fires, of suiTering- the volatile matters to escape-, and of con- vening the wiiolc into on.e cntii'e mass of brick, by a due commimication and con- tinuance of heat, Mr. Walker says, the ground must be rendered solid :*nd the foundation Ir.id in the usur.l i^ianiier ; af- ter which he applies a quantity of the pre- pared material before ailiuied to, and beats, rams or presses it down to tlie thickness of about six inches ; ai:d in width, coiTesponding witJi the ruieiidcd tlimcnsions of tlie wall, regulated by boards or.fi-aming. He then plant*, up- right, ut the distance of about vhu'vV in- thes asunder, in the layer or i)ed of prepared niuLeri.tl, a r.umber of cylindri- cal pieces of wood, of about nine incites in diameter euc'n, and eighteen or more inches in length, to serve as moulds for the cavities nt the furnaces ; and between each of sucii moulds he places, in the , longitudhial direction of the wall, a num- ber of pipes of wood oi otlier miiteriuh, or rods, i)f combustible or incombusiible matter, for the purpose of forming com- mur.icaiions between all the several furna- ces, or as many of them as he thinks pro- per. 'I'hen he proceeds to form anotlie? layer or bed of tlte material, to the same VOL. I. height, namely, about six inches, and d.s- poscs a number of such pipes or rods, for the purpose of fornxing shnilar communi- cations. In this jnanner he constructs the whole, or so much of the wall as he ap- prehends at the time may be conveniently formed, in tlie raw or unhumt state : ta- king care, as tlie work lidvancts, to raise the wooden cylinders or moulds, that a sufficient portion of them may remain abo\e the surface of the work, to :.dmit of the reception and proper fashioning of each subsequent layer ; or he forms the communications between the furnaces, by perforating the wooden moulds, in various places, at right angles to tlieir respective axes ; and dirouj^h tlie said perforations he passes a bar of iron or other material, which serves to connect three or more of the said lurnace-moulds ; and, being after- wards withdi-awn, as the work proceeds, leaves cavities of communication, similar to those formed b}- pipes, rods, etc- in tlie manner before described. Farther, he opens such a number of horizontal or ob- lique apertures, or flues, into all the fur- naces, and likewise into iJl thecaviti.s, as may be requisite for admitting, on all sides, the access of atmospheric air. In some instances he forms the horizontal or oblique apertures, or flues, by disposing, along with the pipes, a suitable number of taper-rods, which are afterwards extrac- ted. 4. Wlien the wall is built, he either suffers it spontaneouslv to dry, or pro- motes tjjis cftect by moderate tiies in the furnsces. Sometimes by increasing tne heat within, and at others, bv suitable ap- p;icatio:iS of fire externally, he converts the whole into one entu'e mass of bricks. By occasional closing or opening of the furnaces at top, or any of the other aper- tures, in various parts, the intelligent ope- rator will easily understand how to regu- late the progress, commimication and ef- fect of the heat, that the conversion into biick may be uniform tlirough the entire mass. 5. The dimensions of the furnaces, the positions and relative distatices of the pipes of communication luid lateral aper- tures, and the thickness of tlie layers of tlie prepared mateiial are each susceptible of great variations, according to the na- ture of this preparation, the activity of the fuel, tlie proposed solidity or figure of the work, Sec. 6. He then forms the remaining parts of the wall or edifice, by applying addi- tional portions of the prepared material in contact with that aheady baked ; while he :J.so av;Uls himself of suitable ex- ten^.al and ijiteraal moulds, supports, Z BUI i3ur frames, and other occasional contri- vances, well known to builders, for sus- taining works, or forminij arches, or de- termining the figure and positions of soft plastic substances. 7. The ground-floor is likewise formed of tlie prepai-ed material, leaving hollow spaces between the supports beneath for making fii-es, ventilated by side apertures, which are provided with numerous holes. When the floor is of considerable thick- ness, it will require the construction of furnaces, in every respect similar to those before described. 8. The iirst above the ground-floor is made upon . uitable temporary framing, in such a manner that the upper surface siiall be plane, and the lower concave, so that it may, when baked, support itself, upon the principle of a low arch. 9 and 10. The patentee constructs, bakes, or burns olher floors above the first, and also the roof, &c. he closes the aper- tures, fills up the furnaces, amends the de- ficiencies, adorns the walls, floors, ciel- ings, or other parts, with his prepared ma- terial, according to the taste and direc- tion of the proprietor. Various plans have lately been devised for securing buildings and ships against fire. We shall, however, only mention that of David Hartley, Esq. who, in April, 1773, obtained a patent for iiis invention of applying plates of metal and w ire, varnisli- ed or unvarnished, to tlie several parts of buildings or ships, so a.s to prevent tlie ac- cess of fire, and tlie current of air; secu- ring the several joints by doubling in, over-lapping, soldering, livctting, or any otlier manner of closing them up ; nailing, screwing, sewing, or otherwise fastening, the said plates of metal in to, and about the several parts of buildings and siiips, as the case may require. Convinced that this method would be too expensive for common buildings, and that it does not af- ford sufficient security against violent fl.imes, when the contiguous buildings arc actually burning, we shall suggest other and more eflcclual means of protection under the article Fiue. BUTTEH, a preparation of cow's milk ; which, either in its entire state, or in that of cream, is agitated for a considerable time, till ail its unctuous particles are separated from the whey, and a sol't consistent mass is formed. As butter is at jnesent, used in our daily food, chiefly on account of its agree- able taste, we sliall first speak of its phy- sical propei-ties— To render it whole- some it ought to be perfectly fresh, and free fiom rancidity ; which it easily ar- 'l^iircs, if the Gutter -iiiiik Jias not been completely separated. Fried, or burnt butter, is still more detrimental to hcaltli; as it is thus converted into an acrid, and even caustic fluid, which cannot fail to disorder the stomach, to render digestion difficult and painful, to excite rancid eruc- taiions,and ultimately to taint all the fluids wi.h a peculiar acrimony. Hence toast and butter should never be eaten by per- sons who value their health ; as there are many who, even by fresh butter, are af- fected with those inconveniences. Nor can we recommend the prevaihng custom of melting butter with flour and water ; for in this manner, it forms a compound more indigestible than sweet butter is in its natural state- With respect to the various methods of making butter, we shall state only those practised in Essex, England ; the farmer should never keep any cows but such as afford an abundance of milk. No milk must I be sufTifred to remain in the udder, as by this neglect the cow will give less every meal, till at length she becomes dry be- fore her proper time; and, the next season, will scarcely give sufficient to repay the expenses of keeping her. If a cow's teats are scratched, or wound- ed, her milk will be foul, and should not be mixed with that of other cows, but j given to pigs. In warm weather, the milk should remain in the pail till it is nearly cool, before it is strained ; but, in frosty weather, this should be done immediately, and a small quantity of boiling water mixed with it ; which will produce cream in abundance, especially hi pans, or vats, of a large surface. During the hot summer-months, the milk should stand only 24 hours, and the cream be skimmed from it, either early in the morning, before tlie dairy becomes warm ; or in the evening, after sunset. In winter, the milk may remain unskim- med for 36, or even 48 hours; the cream ought to be preserved in a deep pan,ke])t, duihig summer, in the coolest part of the dairy, or in a cool cellar where a free air is admitted. Those, who have not an opportunity of churning every other day, should shift the cream daily into clean pans, in order to keep it cool ; but they should regularly churn twice a week in liot weaUicr, and this in the mornhig before sun-rise, taking care to fix the churn in a free draught of air. Nor should this vessel be exposed to a fire so near as to iieat the wood in cold seasons, as by this means the butter will acquire a strong rancidity A correspondent in the Pajiers of the Diitli and West of-E'ig/atid Society ob- .servc?, tliattlieopei'atiun of chuniingmav BUT BUT be innch facilitated, by adding a table- spocnful or two of distilled vinegar to a gallon of ci'eam, but not till after the lat- ter has undergone considerable agitaticui. When the butter is churned, it should immediately be washed in several waters, till it be perfectly cleansed from tlie milk; but a tvarm hand will soften it, and make it appear greasy. Hence it is advisable to employ two pieces of wood, such as are used by cheese-mongers ; an expedient by which those who have naturally a very warm hand, might render their butter more saleable. See Churning. In man}' parts of England, butter is ar- tificially coloured in winter ; though tl\is jjrocess adds nothing to its goodness. The farmers in and near Epping, take sound carrots, the juice of which the express tlu'ough a sieve, and mix with tlie cream, •when it enters the churn ; which makes it appear like May^butter. There is very little salt used in the best Epping butter ; but it is a fact, that a certain proportion of acid, either natural or artificial, must be used in the cream, in order to ensure a successful churning. Some keep a small quantity of the old cream for tliat purpose; some use a little reimet, and others a i'tw tea-spoonsful of lemon juice. Cleanliness in the daily is, at all times, an essential requisite. The Lancashire method of preparing milk for butter, is as follows : The whole milk is divided into two pai-ts ; the first drawn being set apart for family use, af- ter being skimmed ; the cream of which is put into proper vessels; as also the whole of the second, or last drawn milk, provln- cially called afterings. These two, being mixed together, are stirred, but not to a great depth, to prevent the bad effects of foul air accumulating on the surface, and kept, according to the season of the year, exposed to the fire, for promoting the ace- tous fermentation, which is accelerated b\- tiie acid remaining in the pores of the ves- sels. For this reason they are not scalded, except after having contracted some taint ; find in this case, they are sometimes very expeditiously rinsed out with soiu' butter- roilk : during this preparation ^ov souring, the milk is kept ready fortiie churn ; and, in consequence of such judicious treat- ment, more butter is obtained, and of a better quality, tlian If the milk were churn- ed in a sweet state. Decisive experiments have been made, in order to ascei-tain whether it be more profitable to ciiurn the wliole milk, or only the cream which tJie milk produces y it was fotmd that one day's milk of a parti- cular cow, churned by itself, }ielded only 12oz. of butter ; find the c!-cam of two days milk produced 3lb. 2oz. Hence it appears to be more profitable to collect the cream, and churn it, than to chtirn the whole milk. Cream-butter is, likewise, the richer of the two, thotigh it will not keep so long sweet. In justice to Dr. James Anderson, who has favoured the public with an excellent Essay " On the Managtvient of a Dairy" inserted in the correspondence of the Bath and West-of-England Society, we shall communicate a tew of his aphorisms : 1. The first milk drawn from a cow is always thinner, and of an inferior quality to that which is afterwards obtained ; and this richness increases progressively, to the very last drop that can be drawn from tlie udder. 2. The portion of cream rising first to the surface, is richer in quality, ana greater in quantity, than what rises in the second equal space of time, and so forth : the cream continually decreasing, and growing worse than the preceding. 3. Thick milk produces a smaller proportion of cream than that whicJi is thinner ,though the cream of the former is of a richer qua- hty. If, therefore, the thick milk he di- luted with water, it will afibid more cream than it would have done in its pure state ; but its quality will at the same time be inferior. 4. Miik carried about in pails, or other vessels, agitated, and partly cool- ed, before it be poured into the milk-pans, never throws up such a good and plenti- ful cream as if it had been put into proper vessels immediately after it came from the cow. From these fundamental fiicts, .says Dr. Anderson,respecting the dairy, many very important corollaries, serving to direct the practice, may be deduced ; among which we shall oiily take notice of the fol- lowing : First. It is evidently of iptu;h impor- tance, that the cows should be always milked as near the dairy as possible, to prevent the necessity of carrying and cool- ing the miik before it be put into the dish- es ; and as cows are much iiuil by far driving, it must be a great advantrige in a dairy farm to have the principal g-rass- fields as near the dairy or homestead as possible. In this point of view also, the practice of feeding cows in the house ra- ther than turning thein out to pasture in the field, must, appear to be obviously beneficial. Second. The practice of putting the miik of all the cows of a large dairy into one vessel, as it is i,Tiilked, there to remain till the whole milking is finished, before any part is put into the milk-pans, seems to be highly injudicious, not only on account of the loss sustained by tlie agitation a^id BUT BUT cooling; but also, and more espec'uiUy, I \ery detiimentiil to pour cold \^atcr on because it prevents the owner of the dniry I the butter dining' tliis opcralioiv If the from distinguishing the good from the . heat should be so great, as to render it bad cow's milk, so as to enHghten his ' loo soft to receive the impression of the judgment respecting tlie profit that he ! mould, it may be put into small vessels, may derive from each. Without this | allowed to swim in the trough of cold precaution, he may have the whole of iiis ■ water under the table ; pieventing, how- dairy produce greatly debased by the | ever, the water from touching the butter : milk of one bad cow, for years together, wjtiiout being able to discover it. A bet- ter practice therelbre v ould be, to have the milk drawn from each cow separately, put into the creaming-pans as soon as milked, without being ever mixed with thus it will, in a short time, acquire the necessary degree of firmness, especially if a small piece of ice be put into the ves- sel. The Doctor, on this occasion, severe- ly censures the practice that prevails in many private families, of keeping fresh anyothcr: and if tliese pans were all made bulter in water, and thus bringing it to of such a size as to be able to contain th whole of one cow's milk, each in a sepa- rate pan, so that the careful dai (an ex- -ellent provincial word denoting the per- son wlio has the chief concern in a dairy) would thus be able to remurk, without any trouble, the c|uantity of milk afforded In- each cow every day, as well as the pecu- liar qualities of the cow's milk. And if the same cow's milk were always to be placed on the same part of ihe slielf, liav- ing the cow's name written beneath, there never could be the smallest ditiiculty in ascertaining w-h.ich of the cows it would be the owner's interest to dispose of, and which he oug'ht to keep and breed fiom. Tliinl. If it be intended to make butler of a verjjine quality, it will be ad\isable, not only to reject entirely the milk of all those cows which }ieid cream of a bad quality ; but also, in every case, to keej) tlie milk that is first drawn from the cow at eacli milking, entirely separate from table in a glass vessel. If coolness only is wanted, he advises to put the butter into a dry glass, and immerse this ir.to cold water : and if it be taken out imme- diately before it is used, such butter will, in our climate, always have suilicient firm- ness. After the butter has been beaten and cleared from the milk, it is ready for being salted. The vessels intended for this pur- pose, being rendered perfectly clean, should be rubbed uithe whole inside with common salt; and a little melted butter should be poured into the cavity, between the bottom and the sides ; thus prepared, they are fit to receive the butler. ThefoUowhig method of preparing but- ter is advantageously practised m Holland. AVhen the cow s are milked, the fluid is not poured iiito pans, till it becomes per- fectl}' cold ; it is then stirred two or three' times in the day, so that the cream and milk may more intimately combine ; and that which is got last ; as it is obvious, if | if it be agitated till a s])oon will nearly this be not done, tlie quality of the butter ' .stand uprighl, the butter thus obtained i;j must be greatly deliased, Avithoiit much : iield in higli esteem. As soon as the augmenting its quantity I'hose who wish | milk acquires a proper consistency, it is to be singulai'ly nice, keep tor their best i poured into a churn, worked for an houi-, b'r:ter a rtry small proportion only of the and when the butter begins to form, one last drawn milk. Dr. Ancki son, in the same pi'.pcr, im or two pints of cold water jire added, in proportion to the capacity of the vessel ; par'-s the follov.ing judicious hints : 'I'iie ' ^^idi a view to separate the milk with milk should be f)rced out of the cavities ; greater facility. of the butter with a flat, wooden ladle, or j After the butter is taken out of the skimming dish, provided with a short i churn, it is repeatedly washed and handle; and this sliould be dexterously; kneaded, in pure water, till the last aff'u- performcd, with as little working of the! si"" be clear and free from milk. In this butter as possible; foi' if it be too much' simple manner, a larger portion of butter beat and turned, it vvill become tough and , is gained from an equal {Ti-oportion of miij;, gluey, which greatly debases its qiialiiv.' anti which is not only niore firm and sweet. To beat it u;i by the hand, is an indelicate ' l>i't also remains iiesh tor a longer time, practice. '\Vhen butter is first made, and ' than that usually made in Kngland, -w bile just taken out of the butter-milk, get out I the butter-milk is more palatable, of it as mucli of the butter-milk as you | Dr. Anderson observes that woodeh can ; then spread it thin over a marble- ! vessels are most ])ioper for containing stone, or plate of clean iron, and soak u]) \ salted butter. They should be made of the remaining moisUire by patting it with ■ cooper-work, and joined with -wcoden dry towels. This will tend to keep it , hooj)s. It will be iidvisable to make them sw'eet longer than otlieru lae^ it is also i strong where they are to be returned to BUT BUT lite dairy; ibr as it is a matter of consi- derable diifliculty to season new vessels so well, as that they shall not affect the taste of the batter, it is always advisable to employ the old sound vessels, rather than make new ones. Iron hoops should be rejected ; as the rust from them will in time sink through the wood, though it be very thick, and injure the colour of the butter : one iron hoop may be put at the top, and another below and beyond the bottom ; the pj-ojection below the- bottom being made deep for the purpose. An old vessel may be prepared for again receiving butter by the ordinai'y process of scalding, rinsing and drying; but to season a new vessel requires greater care. This is to be done by tilling- it frequently with scalding water, and allowing it to re- main till it slowly cools. If hay, or other sweet vegetables, are put into the vessel with the water, it is sometinit-s thought to facilitate the process. A cotisiderable time is requu'ed before they can be rendered fit for use. Althoug'li common salt is generally em- ployed fur preserving buttei', yet Dr. An- derson has found by experience, that the following composition not only preserves the butter more eifectually from any taint of rancidity, but makes it also look better, taste sweeter, richer, and more marrowy, than if it had been cured vviih common salt alone. Ikst common salt, two parts ; saltpetre, one part ; sugar, one part : beat them up together, so that they may be completely blended. To every pound, or sixteen ounces of butter, add ohe ounce of this composition. Mix it well in the mass, and close it up for use. Butter l)repared in this manner, will keep good li)r three years, and cannot be distinguish- ed from that recently salted. It should, Lowevei', be remarked, that butter, tlius cured, does not taste well till it lias stood a fortnight, or three weeks. In the opi- nion of Dr. Anderson, such butter woiild keep sweet during t)ie longest voyages, if it were so stowed, that it could not melt by the heat of the climate, and occasion the salts to separate from it Hence the butter ought to be previously freed from its mucilage, which is more putrescible than the oily parts. In order to prepare it for a distant voyage, let it be put into a vessel of a proper shape, which should be immersed into another, containing water. I>et tills be gradually heated, till the but- ter be thoroughly melted ; in which state it may remain for some time, and then be allowed to settle. Thus, tlie mucilagi- nous part will fall entirely to the bottom, and the piue oil will swim uppermost, perfectly transpaveiit, w bile hoit ; but, on cooling, it becomes opaque, assumes a colour somewhat paler than the original butter, before it was melted, and acquires a firmer consistence ; by wliich it is bet- ter enabled to resist the heat of tropical climates. When this refined butter is be- come somewhat firm, yet soft enough to be handled, the pure part should be se- parated from the dregs, then salted, and packed in the usual manner. There is another, still more curious way of preserving this refined butter, stated by Dr. Anderson. After it is purified, add to the butter a certain portion of firm honey, mix them well, and they will tho- roughly incorporate ; this mixture, when spread on bread, has a very pleasant taste, and may be given to aged persons, if they relisli it, instead of marrow ; and to others, as being useful for coughs and colds. The proportion of honey employed was consi- derable; and the Doctor remarks, that this mixture has been kept for years, without acquiring the least degree of x-ancidity ; so that there can be no doubt that butter might tlms be preserved durhig long voy- ages. Besides the different modes of curing butter already described, it may be easily preserved in a sweet state, by melting it down in large vessels over a slow fire ; care being taken to remove the scum that rises to the surface. This method being adopted by the Tartars, we have inserted it on the authority of Mr. Eton, who states, in his late interesting Survey of the Tur- klsk Empire" See. 8vo. that he has used butter, thus boiled, and then salted, as is usual in Britain; in which state it remained perfectly sweet for the space of two years. Butter has been sent from Philadelphia to the Wesc Indies in summer, and kept well, by packing it in a stone jar, and pouring a strong pickle on the top, about two inches deep. The cover of the jar was secured by a cloth, and over this tliere was a covering of Plaister of Paris. (Gypsum.) Tlie food of cows very often afi'ects the taste of butter. Thus, if wild garlic, char- loc, or May-weed, be found in a pasture ground, cows should not be suffered to feed there, before the first grass has been mown ; when such pernicious plants will not ag-ain appear till the succeeding spring ; but milch-cows must not partake of the hay made of those plants, as it will likewise communicate their pernicious in- fluence. Cows should never be suffered to drink water from stagnant pools, in which there are frogs, spawn, &c- ; or from com- mon sewers, or ])onds that receive the drainings of stables — all which are ex- ceedingly improper. BUT BUT For removing, or rather prcrenling-, tiic bitter taste of barley-straw butter, as well as tlie rancidity of turnip-butter, JNIr. Alai shall suggests the followinsy simple, and rational means. Instead of putting' the cream, immediately aflor it is skimmed oil' the milk, into the jai-, or other retaining vessel, it is first poured upon hot ivater, and having- stood till cool, it is again skimmed otF the water. According to experiments accurately made by Mr. Joseph Wimpey, to deter mine the com])arative value of butter and cheese, lOJi gallons of milk, propei-ly dis posed in pans for skimming ofl' the cream, produced 361b. of butter, and 601b. of skimmed cheese, from a like quantity of milk were made 106lb. of raw-milk cheese, and 61b. of whey butter. After selling the cream-butter at 8^d. and the skimmed- cheese at 2d. the pound, when the raw- milk cheese, two months old, was worth Sid. the pound, and the wliey-lmtter 7d. it appears that a small advantug-e of about three per cent, lies on the side of butter and skimmed cheese. Many abuses are practised in tlie pack- ing and salting of butter, to increase its bulk and weight, against which we have an express statute. Lumps of good but- ter ai'c frequently laid, for a little depth, at the top, witii an inferior quality under it ; sometimes the butter is set in rolls, touching" only at top, and standing- hollow at bottom.' l"o prevent such de- ceptions, the factors employ a surveyor, ■who, in case of suspicion, tries the cask, m* jar, with an iron instrument, made not nnlike a cheese ta.ster, and which he ''brusts in obliquely to the bottom. Lastly, we cannot omit to animadvert wipon the ))ernicir>us practice of keeping milk in leaden vesseU, and salting butter in tCone jars, which begins to prevail, from a mistaken idea of cleanliness. But, in the hands of a cleanly person, there sure- ly can be nothing more wholesome than wooden dishes. We fully agree with Dr. Anderson, that vessels made either of so- lid lead, or badly glazed, are alike dcs- ti-iictive to the human constitution ; that we may doubtless attribute to this cause the frequency- of paralytic complaints which occur m all ranks of society ; and that the well known effects of the poison cf lead, are, bodily debility, palsy, and death. Milk-Butter is principally made in Chcsliire; where, contrary to tlie usual •;i:-actic.e in other parts of the king-dom. i-.e whole of the milk is ciuu-ned, without '.ing skimmed; preparat(jry to which o;ieration, in summer, immediately after "Jijlkinf, the milk is put tp cool in earthen jars, till it becomes sufficiently coagulat- cd, and has acquired a shght degree of acidity, sufficient to undergo the opera- lion of chiuning. This is usually per- formed during the summer, in the course of one or Iv/o days. In winter, in order to forward coagulation, the milk is phiced near a fire ; but, in summer, if it has not been sufficiently cooled, before it is added to the former milk, or, if it has been kept too close, and be not churned shortly af- ter it has acquired the necessary degree: of coagulation and acidity, a fermentation will ensue ; in which case, the butter be- comes rancid, and the milk does not yield that quantity, which it woidd, if it had been cliurned in proper time. I'his is also the case, when, in winter, the jars, or mugs, have been placed too near the fire, and the milk runs entirely to wlicy. No othei- peculiar process attends the mak- ing of this kind of butter. Whey-B UTTER is so Called, from its being made of whey, which is eitlier green or white. The former is taken from the curd, out of the cheese-tub ; the white whey is pressed out of the curd, by the liand or otherwise, after having been put into the cheese-vat. This kind of butter is made as follows : Sometimes the white whey, or, as it is called in Cheshire, the thrustings, is set in cream mugs, to acquire a sulRcient degree of coagulation, and aci- dity, for chm-ning, either by the warmth of the season or of a room, in the same man- ner as above described, for making milk- butter. IrTother instances, the green and the white whey are boiled together, and turned by a little sour ale, or other aciii, which produces fieetinj^s. In this case, when the green whey is boiled alone, it is necessary to keep up such a fire as will make the whey as hot as possible, without boiling it ; and, when it has acquired that degree of heat, the bulyraceous particles, which it contains, will break and separate, and rise to the surface; which eft<:ct usu- ally takes j)lace in the space of an hour. Care shoidd be taken to rub the boiler, if of iron, with butter, to prevent the whi-y from acquiring a rancid taste. In other resjiects, the process ('. Mr. tJhupnian's Observations i;n t/ie various sjs- tons of Ccinui N.,vigalio)!, 4to. TaUor. I'his performance al.sy abounds with useiul in.struction, and forms a valuable and ne- ( CI. ;,"v addition to Mr. Fu!to)t'-= work. S CAN CAN Mr. Tatham's On the Political Economy of Inland JVavigation, Irrigation, and Drain- age, 4to. Faulder, 1799. This work like- wise contains some valuable hints, and is not destitute of utility. CANDLE. A Ught made of tallow, wax, or spermaceti, the wick of which is usu- ally composed of several threads of cot- ton. There are two species of tallow candles, the one dipped, and the other moulded ; the first are those in most common use ; the invention of the second is attributed to Le Brege, of Paris. Good tallow candles ought to be made with equal parts of sheep and ox-tallow ; care being- taken to avoid any mixture of hog's-lard, which occasions a thick black smoke, attended with a disagreeable smell, and also causes the candles to run. When the tallow has been weighed and mixed in due proportions, it is cut very small, that it may be more speedily dis- solved ; for otherwise it would be liable to burn, or become black, if left too long over the fire. As soon as it is completely melted and skimmed, a certain quantity of water, proportionate to that of the tallow, is poured in for precipitating the impure particles to the bottom of the vessel. This, however, should not be done till after the three first dips ; as the water, by penetra- ting the wicks, would make the candles crackle in burning, and thereby render them useless. To purify the tallow still more, it is sti'ained through a coarse horse-hair sieve into a tub ; where, after having remained three hours, it becomes fit for use. JVax Candles are of vai-ious kinds and forms ; they are made of cotton or flaxen wicks, slightly twisted and covered with white or coloured wax. This operation is performed either by the hand or with a la- dle. In order to soften the wax, it is first worked repeatedly in a deep narrow caul- dron of hot water : then taken out in small pieces, and gradually disposed round the wick, which is fixed on a hook in the wall, beginning with the larger end, and diminishing in proportion as the neck ap- proaches. To prevent the wax from adher- ing to the hands, they are rubbed with oil of olives, lard, or other unctuous sub- stance. When it is intended to make wax candles with a ladle, the wicks being pre- pared as above-mentioned, a dozen of them arc fixed at equal distances round an iron circle, wliich is suspended over a tinned copper vessel containing melted wax ; a large ladleful of which is poui-ed gently and repeatedly on the tops of the wicks, till the candles have acquired a pro- per size, when they are taken down, kept VOL. I. warm, and smoothed upon a walnut-tree table with a long square instrument of box, which is continually moistened with hot water, to prevent the adhesion of the wax. In other respects, this mode of mak- ing wax candles corresponds with that of manufacturing them with the hand. Prom the increasing demand and price of wax, various experiments have been tried, in order to discover proper substi- tutes, which might possess similar solidi- ty. We are informed by a foreign jour- nal, that this desirable object has been sa- tisfactorily attained, by melting down an equal quantity of tallow and resin. In or- der to ascertain the truth of this assertion, we were induced to repeat the experi- ment, but without success : for, though the two substances incorporated, they had not a sufficient degree of cohesion ; and, when moulded into a proper form, the tal- low burned, but the resin dissolved, and separated from it. In September, 1799, Mr. William Bolts, of London, obtained a patent for new modes of improving the form, quality, and use of candles, and other hghts, made of tallow, wax, spermaceti, &c. This inven- tion the patentee founds on four princi- ples : 1. On the fabrication of the body of such lights, prior to, and independently of, the wicks, which may be subsequently applied to them. 2. On the application of moveable wicks, which may be appUed to, or extracted from the candles, or lights, any time after they have been made. 3. On the using of fixed, or ordinai'y wicks, for those lights or candles, at any period subsequent to the making of either ; and 4. On placing the inflammable substance while in fusion, in a close vessel, and sub- mitting it there to the action of a vacuum, and of a pressure superior to that of the atmosphere. This was effected with a view to extract, by the vacuum, whatever elastic fluid may remain in it, under the ordinary pressure ; and also to increase the solidity and whiteness of the sub- stance, by the superior weight appUed to it, when cooling. Although candles are preferable to lamps, as their light is less injurious both to the eyes and lungs, and as they do not pi'oduce so great a volume of smoke, yet a clean chamber-lamp, which emits as little smoke and smell as possible, is far superior even to wax candles. For, 1. As all candles burn downwards, the eye ne- cessarily becomes more fatigued and strained during the later hoiu's of candle- light ; 2. Because they yield an irregular light, which occasions the additional trou- ble of snuffing them ; and lastly, because, if the air be agitated ever so little, or if the A a CAN CAO candles are made of bad materials, they injure the eye by their flaring light. A method of making this useful article with wooden -wicks, is practised at Munich, in Bavaria : and, as it promises to be of jjrcat utility, we lay the following account before our economical readers. The wood generally used for this pur- pose, is that of the fir-tree, when one year old ; though pine, willow, or other kinds are frequently employed ; the young shoots must first be deprived of their bark by scraping ; which operation ought to be repeated after they become dry, till they be reduced to the size of a small straw. These rods are next to be rubbed over with tallow, or wax, so as to be covered with a thin coating of either of these sub- stances ; after wluch they should be rolled on a smooth table, in fine carded cotton, of the same length as the rod or candle- mould ; care being taken that the cotton be of an uniform thickness around the wick, excepting at the ujjper extremity, where it may be made somewhat tliicker. By this preparation, the wicks will acquire the size of a small quill, when they must be placed in moulds, in the usual manner ; and good, fresh tallo'uj, that has previously been melted with a little water, be poured around them. The candles tluis manufactured, emit nearly the same volume of light as tliose made of wax : they burn considerably lon- ger than the common tallow candles; never crackle or run ; and, as they do not flare, are less pi-ejudicial to the eyes of those persons who are accustomed to long continued lucubrations. It ought, however, to be observed, that a pair of sharp scissars must be employed for snuf- fing such candles ; because, in perfoi-ming that operation, great precaution is requir- ed, that the wick be neither broken nor deranged. Prof. Hermbstadt, of BerUn, finds by ex- periment, that pure white -wax candles, are, with regard to the time they last, the most economical : that tallow candles, provided the wicks be in proportion to the tallow, burn the slower the smaller they are, because in larger ones a greater cjuan- tity of tile substance is wasted in burn- ing ; the oxygen (pure air) cannot act upon the whole flame, and the increased heat disperses the combustible matter in vapour, without decomposing tlic air, which would augment the light. He also finds that spermaceti candles are subject to the greatest waste of any, and emit more smoke than lallow candles, although their vapour causes no disagreeable siinell like them. — He thinks that those candles v.ould be the brightest, and afford the most pleasant light, which, instead of ii, round, were made with a broad flat wick, or rather inthe form of a hollow cylinder, that the air might act upon the flame both internally and externally, CAOUTCHOUC. This substance, which has been impi-operly termed elastic gum, and vulgarly, from its common ap- plication to rub out pencil marks on pa- per, India rubber, is obtained from the milky juice of difterent plants in hot coun- tries. The chief of these are the Jatro. pha elastica, and Urceola elastica. It is also obtained from the milkyjuicesof the Indian fig, the berries of the misleto, and probably from all the vegetable barks that yield bird lime. The juice is applied in successive coatings on a mould of clay, and dried by the fii'e or in the sun ; and when of a sufficient thickness the mould is crushed, and the pieces shaken out. Acids separate the caoutchouc from the thinner part of the juice, at once coagulat- ing it. The juice of old plants yields nearly two thirds of its weight ; that of younger plants less. Its colour, when fresh, is yellowish white, but it grow* darker by exposure to the air. The elasticity of this substance is its most remarkable property: when warmed, as by immersion in hot water, slips of it may be drawn out to seven or eight times their original length, and will return to their former dimensions nearly. In Ca- yenne it is used to give light as a candle. Its solvents are ether, volatile oils, and pe- troleum. The ether, however, requires to be washed with water repeatedly, and in this state it dissolves it completely. Pel- letier recommends to boil the caoutchouc in water for an hour ; then to cut it into slender threads ; to boil it again about an hour ; and then to put it into rectified sulphuric ether in a vessel close stopped. In tliis w ay he says it will be totally dis- solved in a few days, without heat, except the impurities, which will fall to the bot- tom, if ether enough be employed. Ber- niiu'd says the nitrous ether dissolves it better than the sidphuric. If this solution be spread on any substance, the ether evaporates very quickly, and leaves a coating of caoutchouc unaltered in its properties. Oil of turpentine softens it, and forms a pasty mass,that may be spread as a varnish, but is very long in drying. A mixture of volatile oil and alcohol dis- solves it better, and dries more speedily. A solution of caoutchouc in five times its weigiit of oil of turjientine, and this so- lution dissolved in eight times its weight of drying linseed oil by boiling, is said to form the varnish of air-balloons. Cacutchouc may be formed into vari- CAR CAS ous articles without undergoing the pro- cess of solution. If it be cut into an uni- form slip of a proper thickness, and wound spirally round a glass or metal rod, so that the edges shall ^e. in close contact, and in this state be boiled for some time, the edges will adhere so as to form a tube. Pieces of it may be readilyjoined by touch- ing the edges with the solution in ether • but this is not absolutely necessary, for, if they be merely softened by heat, and then pressed together, they will unite very firmly. If linseed oil be rendered verj' drying by digesting it upon an oxide of lead, and afterward apphed with a small brush on any surface, and dried by the sun or in the smoke, it will afford a pellicle of con- siderable firmness, transparent, burning like caoutchouc, and wonderfully elastic. A pound of this oil, spread upon a stone, and exposed to the air for six or seven months, acquired almost all the proper- ties of caoutchouc : it was used to make catheters and bougies, to varnish balloons, and for other purposes. CARMINE. See Cochin eai. and Colour ^Making. CARPET MAKING. See Weaving. C-\RROT. SeeHoiiTicuLTURE. See alsoBRAXDV. CARTHAMUS, Saftlower, or Bas- tard Saffrox. In some of the deep reddish, yellow, or orange-coloured flow- ers, the yellow matter seems to be of the same kind with that of the pure yellow flowers ; but the red to be of a different kind from the pure red ones. Watery menstrua take up only the yellow, and leave the red ; which may afterward he extracted by alcohol, or by a weak solution of alka- li. Such particularly are the saffron-co- loured flowers of carlhamus. These, af- ter the yellow matter has been extracted by water, are said to give a tincture to ley; from which, on standing at rest for some time, a deep red fecula subsides, called safflower, and, from tlie countries whence it is commonly brought to us, Spanish red and China lake. This pig- ment impregnates alcohol with a beauti- ful red tincture; but communicates no co- lour to water. Rouge is prepared from carthamus. For this purpose the red colour is ex- tracted by a solution of the subcarbonat of soda, and precipitated by lemon juice, previously depurated by standing. This pi'ecipitate is dried on earthen plates, mixed with talc, or French chalk, reduced to a powder by means of the leaves of shave-grass, triturated with it till they are both very fine, and then sifted. The fineness of the powder and proportion of the precipitate constitute the dlfleren«e between the finer and cheaper rouge. It is likewise spread very thin on saucers, and sold in this state for dyeing. Carthamus is used for dyeing silk of a poppy, cherry, rose, or bright orange red. After the yellow matter is extracted as above, and the cakes opened, it is put into a deal trough, and sprinkled at different times with pearl ashes, or rather soda well powdered and sifted, in the proportion of six pounds to a hundred, mixing the alka- li well as it is put in. The alkali should be saturated with carbonic acid. The carthamus is then put on a cloth in a trough w ith a grated bottom, placed on a larger trough, and cold w.iter poured on, till the large trough is filled. And tlus is repeated, witli the addition of a little more alkali toward the end, till the carthamus is exhausted and become yellow. Lemon juice is then poui-ed into the bath, till it is turned of a fine cherry colour, and after it is well stirred the silk is immersed in it. The silk is wrung-, drained, and passed through fresh baths, washing and drying after every operation, till it is of a proper colour; when it is brightened in hot water and lemon juice. For a poppy or fire co- lour a sliglit annotta ground is first given ; but the silk should not be alumed. For a pale carnation a little soap should be piit into the bath. All these baths must be used as soon as they are made ; and cold, because heat destroys the colour of the red fcculx. CASE-HARDENING. Steel when har- dened is brittle, and iron alone is not ca- pable of receiving tlie hardness steel may- be brought to possess. There is never- theless a variety of articles in which it is desirable to possess all the hardness of steel, together with the firmness of iron. Tliese requisites are united in the art of case-hardening, which does not differ from the making of steel, except in the shorter duration of the process. Tools, utensils, or ornaments intended to be po- lished, are first manufactured in iron and nearly finished, after which they are put into an iron box, together with vegetable or animal coals in powder, and cemented for a certain time. This treatment con- verts the external part into a coating of steel, which is usually very thin, because the time allovred for the cementation is much shorter, than when the whole is in- tended to be made into steel. Immersion of the heated pieces into water hardens the smface, which is afterward polished by the usual methods. ]Moxon's Jfecha- nic Exercises, p. 56, gives the following re- ceipt : — Cow's horn or hoof is to be baked or tlioroughly dried, and pulverized. To CED CED this add an equal quantity of bay salt : mix them with stale chamberley, or white wine vinegar : cover Uie iron with this mixture, and Ded it in the same in loam, or enclose kin an iron box : lay it then on the hearth of the forge to dry and harden: then put it into the fii-e, and blow till the lump have a blood red heat, and no higher, lest the mixture be burned too much. Take the iron out, and immerse it in water to harden. CASTOR-OIL. Castor-oil is extracted from the kernel of the fruit, produced by the ricinus Americanus, or oil-nut tree, which grows in many parts of America, and is now much cultivated in Jamaica, and in the United States. It is raised from the nut or seed, grows with a surprising rapidity to the height of fifteen or sixteen feet, and seems to flourish most in gullies, or near running water, in cool shady spots. The seeds being freed from the husks or pods, which are gathered upon their turn- ing brown, and when beginning to burst open ; are first bruised in a mortar, after- wards tied up in a Unen bag, and then thrown into a large pot, with a sufficient quantity of cold water (about eight gallons to one gallon of seeds),and boiled till their oil is risen to the sui-face ; this is care- fully skimmed, strained, and kept in tight bottles for use. One gallon of nuts, will yield about one quart of oil. Thus pre- pared, it is entirely free from all acri- mony, and will freely stay upon the sto- mach, when most other medicines are rejected. But when intended for medicinal use, the oil is more frequently cold drawn, or extracted from the bruised seeds, by means of a hand-press ; though this is thought more acrimonious than what is prepared by coction. The cold drawn oil, at first is perfectly limpid ; but after being kept for some time, acquires the appearance of a pale tincture, resembling Lisbon wine, probably caused by the mem ferane, which covers the kernels. This plant thrives in almost every soil, and should be cultivated in every garden, on account of its great importance in me- dicine, it being used internally, as a gentle purgative, and externally for removing spasms, cramps, 8ic. the plant is cuUi- rated largely, as an article of profit, in Kentucky, New-York, and some of the New-England states. In the sandy soils of Georgia, South Carolina and the Flo- ridas, it gi'ows to a great size and is very prolific. CATECHU, see Tannin. CATTLE, see Animals Domestic, dee also Breeding of Cattle. CEDAK, or the Pir.us Cediiis, is of a coniferous evergreen of the bigger sort, bearing large roundish cones of smootli scales, standing erect, the leaves being small, narrow, and thick set. Cedar-wood is reputed almost immor- tal, and incorruptible: aprerogative which it owes chiefly to its bitter taste, which the worms cannot endure. As this tree abounds with us, it might and ought to have a principal share in our most superb edifices. The aromatic efflu- via, constantly emitted from its wood, is said to purity the air and make rooms wholesome. On account of the great du- rability of cedar wood it was, that the ancients used cedar tablets to write upon, especially for things of importance. A juice was also drawn from cedar, with which they smeared their books and wri- tings, or other matters, to preserve them from rotting, and the destruction caused by the worms. Plantations of this beautiful tree might conduce to the ornament as well as convenience of domestic life : for the wood of cedar is not subject to the depre- dations of insects, and is admirably cal- culated to withstand the effects of mois- ture : hence attempts have been made to imitate it, by dyeing inferior wood of a red colour : but the fraud may be ea- sily detected by the smell, as that of tlie cedar is very aromatic. Besides the nu- merous articles of the cabinet-maker and joiner, the wood of cedar is also made into moulds for black lead pencils. Cedar, Red and White. These two ce- lebrated trees are of different genera. The first is the Juniperus Virginiatia, and the latter, Cupressus Thy aides. The red cedar is famous in America for affording the most durable fence posts, and in Ber- muda for its duraljle and light timber, in the constiHiction of fast sailing vessels. h\ Virginia and Carolina the berries of this treee are distilled jnto brandy. The wood is said to preserve furs or woollens enclosed in boxes of it from being touch- ed by motlis. The white cedar affords one of the most useful woods in the Uni- ted States, particularly for covering houses, and other buildhigs : most of the houses of Philadelphia are roofed with shingles made of this wood. It is prefer- red to all other wood for the purpose be- fore mentioned, as well as for fence rails, boarding frame buildings, and all sorts of inside work of houses, particularly, where paint, varnishing, or paper hangings are intended ; it is preferred to all other wood, for coopers-ware, such as wooden cis- terns, tubs, p:iils, chums, &c. This celebrated tree possesses an ex- tensive range on the Atlantic coasts from New England souths ard as far asv, CEM CEM East and West Florida. Its natural situ- ation and soil is the flat country near the sea shore and fifty or sixty miles back, where swamps, or a wet morassy soil abounds, but will grow very well if plant- ed in higher land, provided tlie soil be sandy and moist. CIELING, in architecture, is the top, or roof, and sides of a room, made of plaster, laid over laths nailed on the bottom of the joist of the upper room ; or, where there is no upper room, on joists made for that purpose, which are therefore called deling foists. Plastered cielings are in much greater use in America than in any other country ; they are preferable to papered, or other cielings, as they make a room not only lighter, but also prevent the dust from penetrating through crevices ; lessen the noise from above ; check the progress of accidental fires ; and, during summer, contribute to cool the air. See Cement. CEMENT. Whatever is employed to unite or cement together things of the same or different kinds may be called a cement. In this sense it includes lutes, GLUES, and solders of every kind, but it is more commonly emplo}'ed to signify those of which the basis is an earth or earthy salt. We shall here enumerate some cements that are used for particu- lar purposes, and in the following article mention calcareous cements, such as mor- tar, tarras and other substances, used to close the joinings of bricks or stones, in buildings Seven or eight parts of resin, and one of wax, melted together, and inixed with a small quantity of plaister of Paris, is a very good cement to unite pieces of Der- byshire spar, or other stone. The stone should be made hot enough to melt the cement, and the pieces sliould be pressed together as closelyas possible so as to leave as little as may -be of the cement between them. This is a general rule in cement- ing, as the thinner the stratum of cement interposed, the firmer it will liold. Melted- brim stone used in the same way will answer sufficiently well, if the joining be not required to be very strong. It sometimes happens, that jewellers, in setting precious stones, break of!" pieces by accident : in this case they join them so tliat it cannot easily be seen, witli gum mastic, the stone being previously made hot enough to melt it. By the same me- dium cameos of white enamel or coloured glass are often joined to a real stone as a ground, to produce the appearance of an onyx. Mastic is likewise used fo cement false backs, or doublets, to stones, to alter their, hue. Tlie jewellers in Turkey, who are ge- nerally Armenians, ornament watch-cases and other trinkets with gems by glueing them on. The stone is set in silver or gold, and the back of the setting made flat to correspond with the part to which it is to be applied. It is then fixed on with the following cement. Isinglass, soaked in water till it swells up and becomes soft, is dissolved in French brandy, or in rum, so as to form a strong glue. Two small bits of gum galbanum, or gum ammonia- cum, are dissolved in two ounces of this by trituration : and five or six bits of mas- tic, as big as pease, being dissolved in as much alcohol as will render them fluid, are to be mixed with this by means of a gentle heat. This cement is to be kept in a phial closely stopped ; and when used, it is to be liquefied by immersing the phial in hot water. Tliis cement resists mois- ture. A solution of shell lac in alcohol add- ed to a solution of isinglass in proof spi- rit makes another cement that will resist moisture. So does common glue melted without water with half its weight of resin, with the addition of a little red ochre to give it a body. This is particularly useful for cementing hones to theu* frames. If clay and oxide of iron be mixed with oil, according to Mr. Gad of Stockholm, they will form a cement, that will harden under water. A strong cement, insoluble in water, may be made from cheese. The cheese should be that of skimmed milk, cut into slices, throwing away the rind, and boiled till it becomes a strong glue, which how- ever does not dissolve in the water. This water being poured off, it is to be washed in cold water, and then kneaded in warm water. This process is to be i-epeated several times. The glue is then to be put warm on a levigating stone,and knead- ed with quicklime. This cement may be used cold, but it is better to Avarm it ; and it will join marble, stone, or earthen- ware, so that the joining is scarcely to be discovered. Boiled linseed oil, litharge, red lead, and white lead, mixed together to a pro- per consistence, and applied on each side of a piece of flannel, or even linen or pa- per, and put between two pieces of metal before they are brought home, or close together, will make a close and durable joint, that will i-esist boiling water, or even a considerable pressure of steam. The proportions of the ingi'edients is not ma- terial, but the more the red lead predomi- nates the sooner the cement will drj', and [the more the white lead the contrary. CEM CEM This cement answers well for joining stones of any dimensions. The following is an excellent cement for iron, as in time it unites with it into one mass. Take 2 ounces of muriat of ammonia, 1 of flour of sulphur, and 16 of cast iron filings or borings. Mix them well in a mortar, and keep the powder dry. When the cement is wanted for use, take one part of this mixture, twenty parts of clear iron borings or filings, grind them together in a mortar, mix them with water to a proper consistence, and apply them between the joints. Powdered quicklime mixed with bul- lock's blood is often used by copper- smiths, to lay over the rivets and edges of the sheets of copper in large boilers, as a security to the junctures, and also to prevent cocks from leaking. Six parts of clay, one of iron filings, and linseed oil sufficient to form a tough paste, make a good cement for stopping cracks in iron boilers. Temporary cements are wanted in cut- ting, grinding, or polishing optical glass- es, stones, and various small articles of jewellery, which it is necessary to fix on blocks or handles, for the purpose. Four ounces of resin, a quarter of an ounce of wax, and four ounces of whiting made previously red hot, is a good cement of this kind ; as any of the above articles may be fastened to it by heating them, and removed at pleasure in tlie same manner, though they adhere very firmly to it when cold. Pitch, resin, and a small quantity of tallow, thickened with bi-ick- dust, is nivich used at Birmingham for these purposes. Four parts of resin, one ot bee* wax, and one of brick-dust, like- wise make a good cement This answers extremely well tor fixing knives and forks in their hafts ; but the manufacturers of cheap ai'ticles of this kind too commonly use resin and brick dust alone. On some occasions, on whicli a very tough cement is requisite, that will not crack though exposed to repeated blows ; as in fasten- ing to a block metallic articles, that are to be cut with a hammer and punch ; workmen usually mix some tow with the eenicnt, the fibres of which hold its parts together. From the vast variety of receipts fi)r lutes and cements of different kinds the following may be selected, which will an- swer most of the purposes of the experi- mental chemist. To prevent the escape of the vapors of water, spirit, and liquors not corrasive, the simple application of slips of moisten- ed bladder will answer very well for glass, ajid paper with good paste for met^l. lilad- der to be very adhesive should be soaked some time in water, moderately warm, till it feels clammy, it then sticks very well. If smeared with white of egg in- stead of water, it adheres still closer. Another very convenient lute is linseed meal moistened with water to a proper consistence, well beaten,'and applied pret- ty thick over the joinings of the vessels. This immediately renders them tight, and the lute in some hours dries to a hard mass. Almond paste will answer the same purpose. The use of the above lute is so exten- sive, that no other is required in closing glass vessels, in preparing all common distilled liquors, and it will even keep in ammonia and acid gasses for a longer time than is reqviired for most experimen- tal purposes. It begins to scorch and spoil at a heat much above boiling, and therefore will not do as a^rc lute. ' It is still firmer and dries sooner when n>ade up with milk, or lime water, or weak glue. A number of very cohesive cements im- pervious to water, and most liquids, and vapors, and extremely hard when once solidified, are made by the union of quick- lime with many of the vegetable or ani- mal mucilaginous liquors. The variety of these is endless. We may first men- tion the following, as it has been exten- sively employed by chemists for centuries. Take some whites of eggs with as much water, beat them well together, and sprin- kle in sufficient slacked lime to make up the wliole to the consistence of thin paste. The lime should be slacked by being once dipped in water, and then suffered to fall into powder, which it will do speedily with great emission of heat, if well burnt. This cement should be spread on slips of cloth and applied immediately, as it hardens or sets very speedily. While hardening, it may be of use to sprinkle over it some of the lime in fine powder. This cement is often more simply, and as conveniently,, managed, by smearing slips of linen on both sides with white of ^^^, and, when a])plied to the joining of the vessel, shaking some powdered lime over it. It then dries very speedil}'. Another lute of the same kind, and equally good, is made by using a strong solution of glue to the lime, instead of the white of egg". It sets equally soon, and becomes very hard. A mixture of liquid glue, white of c^^, and hme, makes the iut (ffine, which is so firm that broken vessels united with it are almost as strong- as when sound. None of these lutes how- ever will enable these vessels to hold li- quids for any great length of time. JVIilk CEM CEM or staVch with lime make a good but less firm lute. A very firm and singular lute of this kind is made by rubbing down some of the poorest skimmed-milk cheese with water to the consistence of tliick soup, and then adding lime and applying as above. It answers extremely well. Lime and blood, with a small quantity of brick- dust or broken pottery stirred in, is used in some places as a very good water ce- ment for cellars and places liable to damp. Plaster of Paris mixed with egg, milk, glue, starch, or any mucilaginous liquor, also makes a good lute. Some artists mix other earths with the above materials. Thus, a very good ce- ment is made with equal parts of clay and lime, about one-third of flour and white of egg ; or, as is used by many of the aqua-fortis makers, a mixture of colco- thar, lime, and white of egg. All the above-mentioned cements with lime become very hard by drying, inso- much that they cannot be separated from glass vessels without the help of a sharp knife and some violence, and hence deli- cate vessels and long thin tubes cemented with it are apt to break when the appara- tus is taken down, and sometimes even by the mere force of contraction in setting. It is a great advantage however, that they may be applied immediately to any acci- dental crack or failure of the lute already on, notwithstanding a stream of vapour is bursting through, and in large distilla- tions it is of advantage always to have some of the materials at hand. These lutes will not confine very cor- rosive acid vapours perfectly for a great length of time, but will answer for other purposes, particularly where a compli- cated apparatus is to be kept steadily unit- ed and air-tight. They will bear nearly a red-heat without material alteration. Another kind of lute whicli is the most perfect for confining acid vapours for any length of time, and which never hardens to an inconvenient degree^s ihe^fat lu te as it is_ called. This is made by taking any quantity of good clay, tobacco-pipe clay for example, thoroughly dry, but not burnt, powdering it in an iron mortar, mixing it gradually with drying linseed oil, and beating them for a long time to the consistence of thin paste. Much manual labour is required, and it should be continued till the mass no longer ad- heres to the pestle. Then, make the ed- ges of the glass or other vessels where it is to be used, perfectly dry, and apply the lute carefully, and it will stand the long- est process without failing. This grows firm enough to retain its place and to hold the vessels together, but may readily be separated by a knife. This lute much improves in adhesiveness by long keeping, which should be in a covered pan in a cool cellar. When wanted, it regains sufficient ductility merely by being beat- en for a minute or two, or by the help of a few drops more of the oil. Good gla- ziers putty, which is made of chalk beat up with drying linseed oil, much resem- bles the fat lute in quality. Often a fire lute is required to join the covers to crucibles, or for similai- purpo- ses, so as to keep them air-tight when hot. A very valuable composition of the kind is made of glass of borax, brick-dust, and clay, finely powdered together and mixed with a little water when used. No very great nicety is required in the pro- portions, but about a tenth of borax is quite sufficient to bring the earths to that state of semi-vitrification which is desired. Litharge may also be used instead of bo- rax, but the latter is by far the best, as it promotes that thin spreading fusion which is best calculated to be equally applied over an uneven surface, and besides, if a portion of the htharge-lute were to drop into the crucible it might possibly be re- duced, and lead introduced into the re- sults of the experiment. A cement said to be useful to stop cracks of iron vessels intended to be strongly heated, is made of 6 parts of clay, 1 of iron filings, and linseed oil enough for mixtui-e. Another species of cement is what is termed by the French Mastich chaud, a.nd. consists of difl'erent kinds of oily and re- sinous substances, liquid when hot, and which become more or less solid by cool- ing. They are useful for a variety of mis- cellaneous purposes, for experiments w ith gasses over water or mercury, and others where only a very moderate warmth is used, and v/here it is of importance to keep out air and water. I'hese will also confine acid vapours, but not the vapoiu-s of alcohol, turpentine, or essential oils, which dissolve most resinous substances. Most of them will stick very well to glass. Common sealing-wax is o'lc of the most useful of tliese cements. A cheaper and less brittle cement is made simply by melt- ing bees wax with about one-eighth of common turpentine. This may be made up into sticks to be used when wanted, being first melted or spread evenly with a hot iron. A greater portion of turpen- tine renders this lute softer, and more fu- sible, but somewhat pliable. Chaptal,found after many trials,lhat,the penetrating vapours of sulphureous acid CEM CEM ill the manufacture of alum were com- pletely confined in a wooden chamber, lined very carefully with a mixture of equal parts of pitch, turpentine, and wax, boiled till all the essential oil was dissi- pated (which was known by the cessa- tion of tlie bubbles) applied melted to the wood, and spread with a hot trowel over the joints. Vintners stojj leaks in their casks with melted suet I'ubbedover, when cooling, with sifted wood-ashes, or i)rc- viously mixed with the ashes in melt- The use of gum arable dissolved m wa- ter for cementing- paper tables to bottles, and a great variety of miscellaneous pur- poses is known to every one. A still bet- ter cement for the same uses is ishiglass dissolved in vinegar to a pretty thick con- sistence when warm. This congeals on cooling, and before it is used it should be g-ently warmed. Many of the varnishes and oil paints are employed in rendering vessels air and water tight. The following cement is said to be very useful in joining together glass or steel. Take of mastich five or six bits as big as peas, dissolve in as much alcohol as will render them liquid. In another vessel dis- solve as much isiuglass (previously soak- ed in water) in brandy or rum, as will make two ounces by measure of a sti-ong glue ; warm it, and incorporate with it, by rubbing-, two or three small bits of gal- banum or ammoniacum, and then the mastich solution. Keep the cement in a bottle well stopped, and gently warm it before use. Those fusible metallic compounds uijed to unite pieces of metal, form another to- tally distinct species of cements. Tjjcse lire termed Solders, under which they will be described. Some inconveniences occasionally at- tend the use of these lutes in chemical operations. The application of them takes uj) time and requires a little manual dex- terity, which can only be learned by prac- tice. It may be added, that the modern use of Woulfe's apparatus, or simihu- contri- vances, so completely takes away tiie pressure of expansive vapours in all dis- tillations, that in many instances very simple lutes will answer now, where for- merly it was necessary to render the join- ings of vessels as firm as the vessels them- selves. But the pi-oper application of all these kinds of cements is of great impor- tance to the practical chemist to prevent continual losses and disapuointments. CKMKNTS, CALCAREOUS. In this Ju tide it is proposed to give an accotmt of the various cements used in building, into which lime enters as an essential con- slituent part; and in order to treat the subject with a degree of clearness in some nrieasure corresponding to its impor- tance, it will be advisable to arrange eve- ry kind of calcareous cement under one or otherof the foUowingthree divisions: First, simple calcareous cement: secondly, wa- ter cements: thirdlj-, mastichs or. mal- tha. 1. Simple Calcareous Cements. — This section includes tliose kinds of mortar which are employed in buildings on land; and generally consist of lime, sand, and fresh water. The various kinds of marble, chalk, and lime stone, as far as regards their use iii cements, may be divided into two species ; the first being pure, or nearly pure carbo- nat of lime, the second containing besides from -^^ to -L. of clay and oxyd of ii-on. Previous to burning or calcination, there are no external characters by which the simple limestones can be distinguished from the argillo-ferruginous ones ; but tlie former, whatever may have been their colour in the crude state, become, when calcined, of a white colour, while the lat- ter possess more or less of a light ochery tinge. The brown lime is by far the best for all kinds of cements, but the white va- rieties being more abundant, and allowing of a larger proportion of sand, are gene- rally HKide use of. It was an opinion of the ancients, and is still commonly re- ceived among architects, that the hardest lime stone, ceteris paribus, furnishes the best lime; hence marble was considered as superior to common limestone, and this latter to chalk. The experiments of Mr. Smeaton, however, show that this is entirely a mistake ; common chalk and the hardest Plymouth marble, when simi- larly treated, affording cements of equal firmness. When carbonated lime has been tho- roughly burnt, it is dcprivctl of its water, and of all, or nearly :ill of its carbonic acid; if in this state it is plunged into wa- ter, and immediately taken out again, the water which it has absorbed will occasion- the mass to crack and become excessive- ly hot, and at length to fall into an impal- pable powder, much of the water being carried off in the form of steam during- the process. When lime luis been tlius slacked, if it is beaten up with a little wa. ter into a very stiff paste and allowed to dry, it will be found that the while limes, will liier from chalk or marble, never ac- fjuire any degree of hardness, that the brown limes become considerably indu- rated, though yot so much so as when CEM CEM mixed with sand, and that shell lime (procured by calcining- sea-shells) con- cretes into a lirm hard cement, well quali- fied for dry building-, aitliough it falls to pieces in water. A proper selection of sand is of great importance m the composition of mortar; the sliarper and coarser it is, the better, both because it requires a smaller pro- portion of lime, which is the most costly ingredient, and because the mortar thus prepared is stronger than v\hen fine grained and round sand is made use of Se;i sand requires to be well washed in fi-esh water to dissolve out the salt with which it is mixed, otherwise the cement, into which it enters, never becomes tho- roughly dry and hard. The Roman builders were accustomed to allow four parts of coarse sharp pit sand, and only three parts of river or sea sand to one of lime. If, however, the cement was re- quired to be very compact, the propor- tion of lime was increased: thus the mor- tar used in constructing reservoirs for wa- ter, consisted of two parts of the strongest lime and five parts of pure and sharp sand. The weakness of modern mortar com- pai-ed to the ancient is a common subject, of regret, and many ingenious men, taking for granted that the process used by the Roman architects in preparing their mor- tal* is one of those arts which are now lost, have employed themselves in mak- ing experiments to recover it, instead of attending to the directions left us in Pliny andother authors, which when illusti-ated by the actual practice of builders in va- rious parts of Europe, seem to leave ht- tle or no doubt on the subject. The characteristic of all modern artists, builders among the rest, seems to be to spare their time and labour as much as possible, and to increase the quantity of tlie articles they produce without much regard to their goodness; and perhaps there is no manufacture in wliich this is so remarkably exemplified as in the prepa- ration of common mortar. One radical fault is the use of chalk in- stead of stone lime, for although chalk when pei-fectly burnt is equally good as the hardest lime, yet it possesses two ca- pital disadvantages ; first, it will fall into a coarse powder on tlie application of wa- ter, wlieii it is only partially calcined, wliicli stone liuie will not ; and secondly, the cores or unburnt lumps may be bro- ken down by a blow with the spade, and are therefore very seldom rejected as they ought to be. The metliod of preparing common mortar is extremely imperfect. The lime being slacked by the addition of water, VOL. J, and the unburnt lime being broken down and mixed with the rest, a large quantity of dirty sand is added, and the whole be- ing incorporated by means of a spade is reckoned to be fit for use ; thus the princi- pal point in the making of mortar, namely, beating the ingredients together so as to mix them thoroughly, is sluned over in a liasty careless manner, and the result, as might be expected, is a crumbling mass scarcely fit for use. I'he Roman build- ers, on the other hand, after they had mixed together the materials, employing" for this pur-pose a smaller proportion of water than is customary at present, put the mass into a large wooden mortal-, and beat it, till it ceased to adhere to the hea- vy wooden or iron pestle which was used on the occasion. A practice this wliich has been followed by the Dutch with complete success, as will be shown in the next section, and the high utility of which is also proved by Mr. Smeaton, in his his- tory of Eddystone light-house. Fresh made mortar, if kept under ground in considerable masses, may be preserved for many months without inju- ry ; and the older it is before it is used the better, the builder taking the precaution to beat it up afresh previously to using it; for it not only sets sooner, but acquires a greater degree of hardness, and is less apt to crack. Pliny informs us, that the ancient Roman laws prohibited builders from using mortar that was less than three years old, and to this circumstance he expressly attributes the remarkable firmness of the oldest buildings in the city. A similar law prevailed, and, we believe, still prevails in Vienna, requiring the mortar to be a year old before it is employed. But there is nothing which shows in so striking a point of view the advantage and necessity of beating mor- tar, and that the effect produced is owing to something more than a mere mechani- cal mixture of the ingredients, as the pre- paration of grout or liquid mortar. This differs from common mortar only in con- taining a larger quantity of water, so as to be sufficiently fluid to penetrate the narrow irregular cracks and interstices of rough stone walls, and is generally made by diluting common mortar witli water either cold or hot. It not unfrequently happens tliat this grout refuses to set, and at all times it is a long while in ac- quiring the proper hardness: but if in- stead of common mor I ar, that which has been long and thoroughly beaten is em- ployed, the grout will set in the space of a day, and soon after acquire a degree of hardness much superior to what is made in t!ie common manner. CEM CEM 2. Water Cejnents. — Although a well made mortar, C(;mpo»ed merely of sand and iimc, if allowed to dry, becomes im- pel vious to water, so as to sei ve for the lining- of reservoirs and aqueducts, yet if the circumstances of the building are sue)) as to render it impr;icticable to keep out the water whether fresh or salt a suf- ficient leiigtli of lime, the use of common mortar must be abandoned; for lime and sand if mixed together in any proportions, and put wJiilc soft into water, will in a short time fall to pieces. Among the nations of antiquity the Ro- mans appear to have been the only people vvlio practised building in water, and es pecially in the sea, to any great extent. The bay of Bai?e, like our fashionable watering places, was tlie summer resort of all the wealthy in Rome, who not con- tent with erecting tlieir villas as near the shore as possible, were accustomed to construct moles, and form small islands in the more sheltered parts of the bay, on which, for the sake oftiie g-rateful cool- ness, they built their summer houses and pavilions. They were enabled to build thus securely in the water, by the fortti- nate discovery, at the neighbouring town of Puteoli of an earthy substance, wliicii, from this circumstance, was cnWed pulvis Puteolavus (powder of ruleoii). Puteolan powder, or as it is now denoir.inatcd Puz- zolana, is a light, porous, friable mineral of a red colour, and is generally supposed to deri^'e its origin Irom concreted volca- nic ashes thrown out from A'esuvius, near to which moimtain the town of Puleoh is situated: it SL-eins to consist of a feriugi- nous clay baked and calcined by the force of volcanic hre, and when mixed with common mortar, not only enables it to ac- quire a remarkable hardness in tiie ai)-, but to become sjp h.m as stone, even un- der water. The only preparation which puzzolana imderg-oes is that of pounding and sifting, by whicii it is reduced to a coarse pov.cler : in this state, being tho- rouglily bea en up witli lime, either with or witliout sand, it forms a mass of re- iTiarkaOle tenacity, which speedily sets under water, and becomes at least as strong- as good freestone. In the compo- sition of walei- cemeiVis it is that the supe- rior efficacy of argiilo ferruginous Iuik, compared with the pu.'er kl; ds, is most strikingly manifest ; and as building in water is generally ^ ery ex]x-nsive and dif- ficult to repair, every precaution should be taken to sectire the goodness of the cement. In situations exposed to the violent shocks of the sea,tiie diflerence of expense between the best and inferior kinds of mortar is so little, compared to I the whole cost and the satisfaction of per- 1 feet security that the cement ought to be I of the very best quality. That which was used by Mr. Smtaton, in the construc- tion of Eddystone liglit-house, was com- posed of equal parts by measure of slack- ed Abertiiaw lime and puzzolana; but for works that are less exposed, such as locks and basons for canals, &c. the pro- portions of puz/.olana may be considera- bly diminished. A composition ot this kind, whicli has been found very eflectual, is two bushels of slacked Aberthaw lime, one bushel of puzzolana, and three of clean sand; the whole being beaten well together with the proper quantity of wa- ter, will yield 4-6r cubic teet of cement. The Dutch have practised building in water to a greater extent than any other nation of modern Europe ; and to tiiem is due the discovery of a cement admirably well qualified for this purpose, and called tarras or trass. This is nothing more than wakke or cellular basalt; and is pro- cured chiefly from Bockenheim, Frank- fort on tile Maine, and Andernach, whence it is transported down the Rhine in large quantities to Holland. It undergoes no further preparation than grinding and sifting, and being thus reduced to the consistence of coarse sand it is beaten up with the blue argillaceous lime from the banks of the Scheld, and thus composes the celebrated tan-as mortar with which tlie mounds and other constructions for the purpose of protecting the lowlands of Holland against the sea are cemented. The strongest tarras mortar is composed of two measures of slacked lime, and one of tarras ; ai. other kind almost equally good and considerably cheaper, is made of two measures (jf slacked lime, one of tarras, and thiee of coarse clean sand; it reqiiires to be beaten a longer time tlian the foregoing, and produces three and aii half measures of excellent mortar. When the building is constructed of rough ir- regular stone."-;, where cavities and large joints are to be filed up with cement, the jiebble mortar may be most advantage- ously ^apphed : tills was a favourite mode of construction among the Romans, and has been used ever since their time in those Avorks in wliich a large quantity of mortar is required. Pebble mortar will be found of siifiicient compactness, if com- posed of two measures of slacked argil- laccous lime, lialf a measure of tarras or puzzolana, one measuie of coarse sand, one of fine sand, and four of small peb- bles, screened and washed. Although the cellular basalt is the only kind ad- mitted into the preparation of Dutch tar- ras, yet it appears fi-om some good expc CEM CEM riments of Morveau on the subject, that j mixing' it accurately with three bushels of the common compact basult, if previously i wood ashes: the mass is to lie till it is calcined, will answer ne;u'ly tlie same pur- j cold, and is then to be well beaten: in pose. Tlie compact basalt abounds in | this state it will kt-ep a considei »ble time all the districts where coal is raised, and i without injury, and even \\i\\: advantage, may theieture be procured easily, and •' provided it is thoroughly beaten twice or calcined with the refuse coal, so as to be sold at a ciieap rate. In some parts of the Low Countiies coal tlirice befbi e it is used. The scales of black oxyd which are de- tached by hauimering red-hot iron, and ashes are substituted for tarras with very | are theiefore to be procured at the forges good effect, of which the valuable cendree de Tournay is a striking instance. Ihe deep blue argillo fenuginous lime-stone of tiie Scheld is burnt in kilns with a and blacksmiths' shops, have been long known as an excellent material in water cements, but we believe that Mr. Smea- ton was the first person who made any ac- sla.y kind of pit coal that is found in the ' curate expeiiments on their efficacy com- neiglibourhood: when the calcination of 1 pared with other sub.stances The scales the lime is completed, the pieces are ta- ; being puherizc-d and sifted, and incorpo- ken out, and a considerable quantity of j rated with the lime in the same manner as dust and small fragments remain at the i puz/.olana, are found to produce a cement bottom of he kiln. This refuse consists 'equally powerful with pu^zolana mortar, of coal ash mixed with about one quarter I if employed in the same quantity. In- of lime dust, Iroin which the cendree is ' duced by the success of these cxperi- thus prepared. About a bushel of the ments, Mr. Smeaton substituted loasted materials is ptit in any suitable vessel, j iron ore for the scales, and found that this andsprinkled with water, just sufficient to I also gave to inorur thf; property ot .set- slack the lime ; another bushel is then | ting under i' ater : k requires howt ver to treated in the same way and so on till tl it j be used in gi-eater proportions than ei- vessel is filled: in this stale it rtrmains j ther tanas or puz^olana; twobushils of some weeks, and may be kept for a much ' argillaceous lime, .wo of iron ore, and one longer time if covered wi.h moist earth, i of sand, being mixed with the s.ame care A strong open trough, containing about ■ as we have aircad;.- mentioned, j.roduce two cubic feet, is filled about two-thirds j 3-22 cubic leet of cement fully equal to full with the cement in the above state, I tarras mortar Ifthe common white lime and by means : f a heavy iron pestle, sus- : is made use of, it will beadviscable toem- pended a' the end of an elastic pole, is well ;-i)loy equal qtiantities of all the thi'ee in- beaten for about half an hour ; at tiie end j gredients. of this time it becomes of the consistence Nothing more remains to be said on of soft mortar, and is then laid in the shade ! this part of the subject but a few words from three to six days, according to the 'concerning the choice of the watir by dryness of the air; when sufficiently dry, j which the several ingredients of the ce- it is beaten again for half an hour as be- ' ment are to be mingled together. River fore, and the oftener it is beaten, the bet- ! or pond water, where it can be had easily, ter will be the cement; three or four : is to be preferred to spring water ; but for times however are sufficient to reduce ■ works exposed to the action of the sea, the cement to the consistence of an uni- \ such as piers, light-houses, &,c. it is usu- form smooth paste; after this period it is ially more convenient, and equally advan- apt to become refractory on .icconnt of jtageous in other respects to use salt wa- the evaporation of its water, as no more ter. The great point, and which is too of this fluid is allowed to enter the com- {often neglected, is not to put in too much of either one or the other : it is infinitely position than what was at first employed to slack the lime. The cement thus pre- pared is found to possess the singular ad- vantage of uniting, in a few minutes, so firmly to brick or stone, that still water ma) be innnediately let in upon the work without any inconvenience; and by keep- ing it dry for twenty-four hours, it h:is afterwards nothing to fear from tlie most rapid c u'rent. Somewhat analogous to the preceding is a Cement used in certain parts of Kng- land with advantage, and called ash better to employ no more than is requi- site to slack the lime, and so hicoi-porate the materials at the expense of a little more labour, than by a superfluity of wa- ter to bi'ing the whole to the proper con- sistence without beating. 3. Maltha or JMastich. — Under this term we include those calcareous cements of a more complicated kind, whose hard- ness appears to depend on the oily and mucilaginous subi^tances that enter into their composition. The use of these is at mortar. It is pi epan d b\' slacking two : present very limited, at kast in Europe ; bushels of fresh burnt meagre lime, and j but they were highly esteemed by the CEM CER ancients, especially for stucco. The mal- tha of the Greeks seems to have been more simple than that employed, by the Roman architects ; at least, we are inform- ed that Panjenus, the brother of Thidias, lined the inside of the temple of Minerva at Elis, with a stucco, in which the usual materials (sand and lime) were mixed up with milk instead of water, some safi'ron being also added to give it a yellow tinge. The Roman maltha, according to Pliny, was prepai'ed in the following manner. Take fresh burnt lime, slack it with wine, and beat it up very well in a mortar witli hogs'-lard and figs : this cement, if well made, is excessively tenacious, and in a short time becomes harder than stone : the surface to which it is to be applied is to be previously oiled in order to make it adhei-e. Another kind almost equally strong, and considerably cheaper, was pre- pared by beating up together fine slacked lime, pulverized iron scales, and bullock's blood. In the preparation of mastichs, as well as of every other kind of mortar, so much depends on the manipulation, and especially on the care which is taken to in- corporate the ingi'edients by long beating, that those countries in which labour is of the least value, possess in general the best mortar. Hence, no doubt, principally arises the unrivalled excellence of the mortar made by the Tunisians and other inhabitants of the northern coast of Africa, which, according to Dr. Shaw, is prepared in the following manner. One measure of sand, two of wood ashes, and three of lime, being previously sifted, are mixed together, and sprinkled with a little wa- ter; after the mass has been beaten for some time, a little oil is added : the beating is carried on for tln-ee days successively ; and as the evaporation in that hot climate is considerable, the cement is kept at the proper degree of softness by the alternate addition of very small quantities of water and oil. The cement being completed, is applied in the usual manner, and speedily acquires a stony hardness. The last spe- cies of maltha that wc shall mention is tlie celebrated chunam of India, v.here it has been used from time immemorial. The method in wliich it is prepared at Madras is as follows. Take 15 bu.shels of pit sand, and 1.5 bushels of stone lime, slack the latter with water, and when it has fallen to pow- der, mix the two ingredients togetlicr, and let them remain untouched for three days. In the mean time dissolve 20 lbs. of molasses in water, boil a peck of gramm (a kind of pea) to a jelly; boil a peck of jniraboliuis also to a jelly, mi.x the three li- quors and incorporate part of tlic mixture very accui'ately with the lime and sand, so as to make a very fluid cement : some short tow is now to be well beaten into it, and it is then fit for use. The bricks are to be bedded in as thin a layer as pos- sible of this mortar, and when the work- men leave oft', though but for an hour, the part where they recommence work- ing is to be well moistened with some of the above liquor before the .-ipplication of any fresh mortar. "When this is used ibr stucco, the whites of four or five eggs, 4 oz. of butter, or sesamum oil, and a pint of buttermilk, are to be ground up with eve- ry half bushel of cement, and the mixture is to be applied immediately. It is to be regretted that no experiments have as yet been instituted, to ascertain the cause of the induration of calcareous cements: it is obviously not owing to the absorption of carbonic acid, because in numerous instances the cement hardens long before the lime is saturated : in the different kinds of maltha the lime com- bines with the albumen, mucilage, and oil, Avith which it is in contact, and in all probability takes up little or no carbonic acid ; and if it is true that the lime in old mortar cannot, by burning, be reconverted into quicklime, it may reasonably be ques- tioned whethei", even in the simple calca- reous cements, carbonic acid acts so im- portant a part as is usually attributed to it. CERUSE, or White Lead, is a white oxyd of this metal prepared by the vapour of vinegar. See Lead. CHALCEDONY. Of this mineral there are two subspecies. 1. Subspecies. Common Chalcedonj'. The colour of chalcedony is bluish grey, passing into milk-white and smalt- blue ; greenish grey, passing into apple and olive green ; and yellowish grey, pass- ing into wax and ochre-yellow, yellowish and blackish brown, and brownish black. Two or more of these colours are not ini- frequently found in the same specimen, of which one generally forms the basis, while the others are distributed over its surlace in dots, clouds, or stripes. It occurs in geodcs and veins in Amyg- daloid ; also in veins accompanied by quartz, pyrites, o:c- in porphyry. It was anciently procured from Clialcedon in les- ser Asia, whence its name, Init at present it is lovnid principally in Scotland and the adjoining islands, in Cornwall, Iceland, Saxony, llniigary, Piedmont, and various parts of Asiatic liussia. 2d Subspecies, Carnelian. The usual coloiu" of this mineral is blood-red, whence it passes into flesh-rod, rcddish-wliite, milk-white, orange, and CHA CIIA honey-yellow : two or more colours often occur in the same specimen, disposed in zones, stripes, and arborizations. It is customary among modern minera- logists to p\sice agates as an appendage to the species of chalcedony, since it is to this mineral that tiie former is indebted for its most striking characters, and be- cause tlie coloured chalcedonies pass im- perceptibly into agate the process, for those who employ them- selves in the preparation of this article. Charcoal may be preserved to an inde- finite length of time, and in the ancient tombs of nortliern nations, entire pieces are frequently discovered. It is, therefore, jdeserving the attention of those, who wish to preserve valuable records from the "destructive tooth of time;" for there yet exists, according to Uodart, charcoal Agate is a mixture of chalcedony, car- made of corn (probably in the days of neUan, jasper, hornstone, quartz, helio- : Cxsar) which is in so complete a state, trope, amethyst, and indiu-ated lithomar- ' that the wheat may be distinguished from ga, aggregated into binary or more com- ; the rye. plex combinations. i This stib.stance is not soluble in any of Agates are found for the most part in the acids, but may be dissolved in consi- nodules m Amygdaloid, and sometimes in derable quantities, by plunging it into a so- Gj-psum : near the river Wolga they oc- lution of the liver of sulphur, to which it ciir between strata of secondary lime- imparts a green colour. Melted with co- stone : and in Siberia certain rocky tracts lorn-less frits, or glasses, it gives a pale, consist of banks ofpudding-stone, of which dark, yellow, reddish, brownish, or black- agate and chalcedony form the principal ish colour, accordingly as the inflammable part. " matter is in greater or less proportion- The most beautiful agates that Europe Fresh charcoal made of wood strongly at- produces, are those of Oberstein in the tracts the air, and will absorb it for a con- Duchy of Deuxponts. Those of Siberia siderable time ; but Dr. Priestley unitorm- are eminently beautiful, but the most es- ly observed, that, after submitting it to teemed of all come from Ceylon and other distillation, the expelled air was less ptire parts of India. than that of the atm.ospliere, and part of Agate is cut into cameos or seal -stones, it wnsfxed tiir. Hence it may occasion- is hollowed into snuff-boxes, or sawn into ally be employed in a dry and po'on'.ered thin plates for inlaying tables, and is ap- state, for damp and foul habitations. pUed to other ornamental purjwses. The Lastly, Dr. Priestley has discovered that commoner kinds are made into mortars severalof the metals, such as copper, iron, for the enameller and chemist, as from ' silver, &c. may be converted into charcoal, their hardness they are not liable to be i by passing the steam of either spirit of materially abraded by pulverizing the '■ wine or turpentine, over them when red hardest glass and stones in them. The : hot ; and this, by way of distinction, he coarsest fi-agments that are applicable to calls the charcodnj metals. As charcoal no other use are formed into the white i has been separated from the purest spirit gunflints, which are harder than common ' of wine in tlie process of making- ether, flint, and not so brittle. j M. Lavoisier is of opinion, that it is one of CHALK. See Lime. | the constituent parts, or elements, of that CILVIiCOAL, or Carbon of the French j volatile liquid, chemists, a sort of artificial coal, or fuel. Uses. — Besides the great advantage consistingof half-burnt wood. It is chiefly .; which charcoal affords to tlie artist and used, where a clear an^l strong fire with- ] manufacturer, it has lately been employed out smoke is required ; for the humidity of the wood is dissipated by tlie fire in which it was prepared. The art of making charcoal is very an- cient ; for even Solo mo x (I'ro verbs xxvi. 21.), distmguishes that kind of fuel fi-om common fire-wood. Among the Romans, it was held in gi-eat estimation, and JEmi- lius Scaurus, the conqueror of tlie Ligu- rians, was a charcoal-merchant. Pliny describes the piles of wood erected bv the manufacturers of this article, and observes that the blocks ought to be placed in a pyramidal form, coated with clay, and a hole left on the top for conducting the smoke, when the wood is set on fire. Thus, it would be unnecessaiw to describe with consider.able success, 1. In correct- ing the biu-nt or empyreumatic taste of ar- dent spirits ; 2. In depriving rancid oil of its disagreeable flavour ; and 3. In restor- ing putrid meat. For these useful pur- poses, however, it is fit only when kept in close vessels immediately after it has been prepared, so that it may absorb no acidi- ty, or fixed air, from tlie common atmos- phere. When employed in the two first- mentioned cases, it should be previously reduced to powder, a very large quantity of which is required for the rectification of distilled liquor ; but a smaller proportion, for purifying animal or vegetable oil, so that even the common train-oil may be rendered fit for being burnt in chamber- CHA CHA lamps. Several manufactories of this des- 1 the coals of various vfg-etables, with res- cription liave lately been estibiished in the vicinity of London, of which we sliall only mention tliat carried on by Mr. Joshua Collier, of Southwai-k. F."oni the great attraction which char- coal possesses for any kind of oily matter, or fit that invisible something, formerly ])ect to their habitude to fire : tlie very light coals of linen, couon, sone lungi, Sic. quickly catch fire tVoni a spark, and soon consume : tlie more dense ones of wouds, and roots, are set on fiie with greater difficulty, and burn more sl(i7g (as' it is diiVerently called), perfect- ly sweet and fresh ; lor, if it be in the least degree tainted, the cheese will never acquire a fine flavour. When the veil, or maw, is fit' for the purpose, a strong so- lution of salt should be made, with two quarts of soft, sweet water, into which aie to be introduced sweet-briar, rose leaves and flowers, cinnamon, mace, cloves, and, in short, almost every kind of spice and aromatics, that can beprocured. The whole must boil gently, till the li- quor is reduced to llu'ee pints, and care should be taken that it be not smoked. Tlie spices should next be strained clean, and the liquid, when milk warm, poured upon the veil, or maw. A lemon may then be sliced into it, and the whole stand at rest for a day or two ; after which it should be again strained, and bottled. Thus, if Mell corked, it will keep good for twelve months, or longer, possess a fine aromatic odour, and impart an agreeable flavour to the cheese. n. Cheshire Cheese, is prepared in the following way : The evening's milk is not touched till the next morning, when the cream is taken oft", and put to warm in a brass pan, heated with boiling water : one -third part of that milk is heated in a similar manner. The cows beingmilked early in the morning, the new milk, and that of the preceding nlglu, thus prepar- ed, are poured into a large tub, together with the cream. A piece of i-ennet, kept in lukc-wann water, since the preceding evening, is put into the tub, in order to coagulate the milk ; with which, if the cheese is intended to be coloured, a small quantitv of armtto (or an infusion of ma- rigoklsj or cai-rots), is rubbed fine and nii.Kcd; the whole is stii-red together, and, being covered up warm, allowed to stand about half aji hour, or till it is co- agulated ; when it is first turned over with a'bowl, to separate the whey from the CUE CHE cdicls, and broken soon after into verj' Ki nail particles : the whey being separated, by standing' some time, is taken from the curd, wliich sinks to the bottom, and is llien collected into a part of the tub, pro- vided with a slip, or loose board, to cross the diameter of the bottonv, for the sole purpose of effecting this separation : on which a board is placed weighing from 60, to 120 pounds, in oi'der to press out the whey. As soon as it acquires a R-reater degree of solidity, it is cut into slices, and turned over several times, to extract all tlie whey, and again pressed witli weiglits : tliese operations may con- sume about an hour and a half It is then taken from the tub, and broken veiy sniidl by the hand, salted, and put into a cheese vat, the deptli of which is en- larged by a tin hoop fitted to the top. Tlie side is then strongly pressed, both by hand, and with a board at tlie top, Well weighted ; and wooden skewers are placed round the cheese, at the centre, which are frequently drawn out. It is then shifted out of the vat, a clotli being previously put on the top of it, and rever- sed on the cloth into another vat, or again into the same, if wAl scalded, before the cheese be returned to it. The top or up- per part, is next broken by the hand, down to the middle, salted, pressed, weigiied, and skewered, as before, till all the whey is exti'acted. This being done, the cheese is again reversed into another vat, likewise warmed, with a cloth under it, and a tin hoop, or binder, put round the upper edge of tiie cheese, and within the sides of the vat ; the former being previously inclosed in a cloth, and its edges put within the vessel. These various operations are performed from about seven o'clock in the morning till one at noon. The pressing of the cheese re- quires about eight hours more, as it must be twice turned in the val, round which thin wii'e skewers are passed and shifted occasionally. The next morning it ought to be turned, and pressed again, as like- wise at night, and on ihe succeeding day ; about the middle of which it is removed to die salting room, where the outside is salted, and a cloth binder tied round it. After this process, the cheese is turned twice daily, for six or seven days ; then left two or tlueedays to diy, during which time, it is once turned, and cleaned every day ; and at length deposited in the com- mon cheese-room, on a boai'ded floor, co- vered with stravv^ where it is turned daily, till it acquires sufficient hardness. The room should be of a moderate warmth, but no wind, or di-aught of air, must be permitted, to enter, as this generally VOL. I. cracks tlie cheese. The outsides, ot rinds of them, are sometimes rubbed with but- ter, or oil, in order to give them a coat. HI. Gloucester Cheese, is made of milk immediately from the cow ; but which, in summer, is thought too hot, and is, therefore, lowered to the requisite degree of heat, before the rennet is added ; by pouring in skim-milk, or, if that wiU not answer, by the addition of water. As soon as the curd " is come," it is broken with a double cheese knife, and also with the hand, ill order to clear it from the whey, which is laded ofl". The curd, being thus freed from the principal part of the whey, is put into vats, wliich are set in tlie press for ten or fifteen mmutes, in order to extract all tlie remaining li- quid. It is then turned out of the vats iiito the cheese tubs again ; broken small, and scalded witli a pailful of water, lower- ed with whey, about three parts of watef to one of whey ; and the whole is briskly agitated, the curd and water being equal- ly mixed together. After having stood a few minutes, to let the curd subside, tlie liquor is poured off; and the former collected into a vat, the surface of which is, when about half full, sprinkled with a little salt, that is worked in among the curd. The vat is then filled up, and the whole mass turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd is put into a cloth, and placed in the press, whence it is carried to the shelves, and turned, generally, once a dav, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of compactness, to enable it to undergo the operation of washing. ly. Wilts/lire Cheese. The milk which produces this cheese is ru.i, as it comes from the cow, or as it happens to be loitered, by the small quantity of skim- milk mLxed v.ith it. The curd is first broken witii thehandanddish, care being taken, in first crushhig the curd, to let the whey run off gradually, to prevent its earning away with it tlie "fat" of the cowl. For thin cheese, the curd is not broken so fine as in Gloucestershire ; for thick cheese, it is crushed still finer ; and, for what is called iowses, it is, in a man- ner, reduced to atoms. The whey is poured oft' as it rises,' and the curd pres- sed down. The mass of curd is {hen pa- red dou-?i, three or four times over, in slices about an mch thick, in order to ex- tract all tlie whey from it, pressed, and scalded in a similar manner to the Glou- cester cheese. After sepai-ating the whey, the curd is, in some dairies, rebroken, and saited in the co-al ; while, in others, it is taken warm out of tlie liquo]-, aiid c c CHE CHE salted in the vat : thin cheese bein^ pla- ced, with a small handful of salt, in one layer ; thick ones, with two small hand- fills, in two layers ; loaves, with two liand- fuls, in three or four lajers ; the salt being spread, and rubbed uniformly among' the curd. Wiltshire cheese is commonly salted twice in tJie press, where it remains in proportion to its thickness ; thin cheese three or four meals ; thick ones, four or five ; and loaves, five or six. Wiltshire cheese is esteemed among the best kinds that are made in England4 Y. Cottenham Cheese. The superiority of this cheese, both in delicacy and fla- vour, is not ascribed to any particular management of the dairies, but solely to the fragrant nature of the herbage on the commons. VI. Suffolk, or Skim-Cheese. The curd used in making this cheese, is " broken up," in the whey, which is poured off, as soon as the former has subsided ; the re- mainder, witli the curd, being thrown in- to a coarse strainer, and exposed for cooling, is then pressed as tightly as pos- sible ; after which, it is put into a vat, and set in a press, for a few minutes, to dischai'ge the remaining whey. When all the liquid part is drained ofl, the curd is taken out, again broken as finely as pos- sible, salted, and returned to the press. In some large dahies, mills are employed for breaking the curd. This kind of cheese is much used at sea, as being less liable to be afiected by the heat of warm climates, than the others. Dr. Anderson remarks, that these cheeses are remarkable for **a horny hai'dness and indigestible quality." VII. Chedder Cheese, is held in high es- timation ; but its goodness is attributed chiefly to the land on which the cows feed ; as the method of making it is similar to that pursued throughout Somersetshire, and the adjoining counties. ATil. Lincolnshire Cheese. By adding the cream of one meal's milk, to that which comes immediately from the cow, excellent cream cheese is made in that county. It is gently pressed two or three times,and turned for a few days,previously to its being sent to market. This cheese is usually eaten whilst new, Jiath Cheese — Take 6 quai'ts of luke- warm new milk, to which should be add- ed two quarts of spring watei*, and one large table-spoonful of rennet: when the coagulation is completed, which general- ly takes place in half an hour, the curd must be broken to pieces ; then suffered to settle ; and, after straining the whey, it should be put into square vats. In tlie course of an hour, it will be requisite it turn the curd ; which operation must be repeated after some hours, or at night ; and continued twice every day, till the cheese be fit for the table. Hafod Cheese — Let 30 gallons of new milk, and 3 gallons of sweet cream, be mixed with tlie juice expressed from one peck of picked marigold flowers. One- fourth of a pint of sack or canary wine and a sufficient quantity of rennet contained in a bag, together with cloves and mace, in order to coagulate the milk. When the curd is formed, it must be broken very small; and after carefully expressing the whey, it ought to be put into a cheese vat, covered with a wet cloth, and pressed by the hands. A pound of newly made but- ter is then to be incorporated with such :i quantity of salt as may be required to season the cheese ; and after combining these ingredients with the curd, the whole must again be put into the vat, and treat- ed in the manner above described. Now, the cheese must be submitted to the ac- tion of the press ; the wet cloths be changed for dry ones, every foui" hoiu-s -, and, after having been thus squeezed for 24 hours, it should be placed beneatli a smaller weight, and pressed for one week; during which it ought to be turned every day : at the expiration of that period, it must be removed to a dry place, and shifted every other day, till it be ready for use. Hafod Toasted Cheese, is prepared by warming new milk above the natural tem- perature ; after which the rennet is add- ed. As soon as the curd is come, it must be completely drained of the whey, and afterwards scalded with this liquor. The curd is now to be pressed in the cheese mould,in order to render it as dry as its na- ture will admit; when it is to be broken into small pieces by the hand, and seasoned with a proper c[uantlty of salt. Now it is again submitted to tlie press, and treated ui the usual manner. This process, though more simple than that pursued in Glou- cestershire, produces a toasting cheese, little inferior to that prepared in the latter county. Having thus given an account of the principal sorts of cheese produced in En- gland, we sliall likewise enumerate some of the most celebrated kinds prepai'ed on the continent. 1. The JParmesan Cheese is made of the evening's milk, after having been skim- med in the morning, and at noon, and mi.ved with that of the morning, which has likewise been previously skimmed at noon. The whole is poured into a copper CHE CHE cauldron, resembling an inverted bell, and suspended on the arm of a lever, so as to be moved off and on the fire at plea- sure. In this the milk is gradually heat- ed to the temperature of about 120 de- grees, when it is removed from the fire. As soon as it has subsided, the rennet, in a small bag, is steeped in it; and, being occasionally squeezed, a sufficient quan- tity of it soon passes into the milk, which is then well stirred, and left to coagulate. In the course of an hour, the coagulation is completed, when the milk is again put over the fire, and raised to a temperature of about 145 degrees: and, while it is heating, the whole mass is briskly agitat ed, till the curd separates in small lumps Part of the whey is then taken out, and a little saffron added to the remainder, in order to colour it. When the curd is thus broken sufl!iciently small, nearly the whole of the whey is taken out, and two pail- fuls of water poured in, by which the tem perature is lowered, so as to enable the dairy-man to collect the former, by pass- ing a cloth beneath it, and gathering it up at the corners. The curd is then pressed into a fi-ame of wood, resembling a peck-measure without a bottom, placed on a solid table, and covered by a round piece of wood, with a great stone at the lop. In the course of the night, it cools, assumes a firm consistence, and the whey drains off. The next day, one side is salted, and on the succeeding day the cheese is turned, and the other side rub- bed in a similar manner. This operation is continued for about forty days, when the outer crust of the cheese is pared off, the fresh surface is varnished with linseed oil, the convex side coloured red, and the cheese is fit for use. The climate of Pennsylvania is similar to that of Placentia and Milan, where the cheeses called Parmesan are made : and it is highly probable, if we fail in making cheeses of equal flavour and excellence with the EJnglish, tliat we may rival those of Italy, which have a superior advantage in being found to keep in warm climates, much better than most other cheese. 2. Green Swiss Cheese, appears to pos- sess no other peculiarity than that derived from the fragrant powder of the common INIellot, or the TrifoUutn Melilotus officin. L. [a native plant of the United States,] which, however, imparts to it a strong fla- vour, rather offensive tlian agreeable to most persons : hence it is not calculat- ed to become a favourite article in this country. 3. Dutch Cheese is likewise prepared in the manner generally adopted in Che- shire, with this difference, that the Dutcli, instead of rennet, make use of spirit of salt. Hence theu* cheese not only acquires a sharp saline taste, but is also said to be exempt fi-om the depredations of mites : its rich buttery quaUty must be ascribed to the luxuriant vegetation in the low countries. 4. Westphalia Cheese. M. Hochheimeir, a German author, asserts " that it is pre- ferred in England to the Dutch, Swiss, and even Parmesan cheese.'* Having had no experience of its taste, we can only give an account of the manner in which it is prepared. After the cream Is removed from the milk, when in a sub-acid state, the latter is placed near a fire, spontaneously to co- agulate. The curd is tlien put into a coarse bag, and loaded with ponderous stones to express the whey : in this dry state, it is rubbed between the hands, and crumbled into an empty, clean milk-vat, where it is suffered to remain from three to eight days, accordingly as the cheese is intended to be strong, or mild. This part of the process is called " skinning," or more properly, m-elloicing ; because it undergoes the putrid stage of fermenta- tion, and acquires a coat, or skin, on the top, before it is taken out of the vessel, and kneaded into balls, or cylinders, with the addition of a considerable portion of caraway seed,salt and butter; or occasion- ally, a small quantity of pounded pepper, and cloves. But, if it be too far advanced in the mellowing process, a third part of fresh curds, likewise crumbled into small pieces, is superadded, to prevent, or cor- rect its putrid tendency. In short, the whole mass requires a powerful hand to form a complete union of parts ; for it is very apt to corrupt, when imperfectly kneaded. As the pieces, when moulded, ai'c of small size, not exceeding three or four ounces each, in weight, they soon diy in the open air, and are then fit for use. It is, however, necessary to turn and clean them, as well as to shift tlieir places every day upon a board, in order to pro- mote their maturity. After being nearly dry, they are sometimes (for the palate of epicures) suspended in a wood-fire chim- ney, by means of a net, for several weeks, or months : and both their taste and fla- vour, are said to be remakably improved, whether kept in a dry air, or subjected to the action of smoke. 5. Potatoe-Cheese. There are three va- rieties of this ciu"ious article prepared in Germany : we shall, however, describe only that sort which appears to us the most plausible. The best mealy potatoes are selected^ and half-boiled in steam ; as, by bursting, their flavour and efficacy CHE CUE are diminished. When cool, ihey are peeled, and finely grated, or boat into a pulp with a vvooden pestle. Tlirce parts of this soft mass, and two parts of sweet curd, after expressing ail its whey, are kneaded together, and allowed to stand two or three days in warm, and four or five days in cold weather. l"he mixture is tlien formed into small pieces, like those of Westpiialia cheese, and dried in a simi- lar manner. But, says M. Hochheimer, if you wish to procure a inure, delicate potatoe-ciieese, take only one part of potatoes, and three of the curd made of sheep's milk : let the kneaded mass remain three or four days in a vat, to become mellow ; then put a stratum of it, one inch liigh, into a small firkin, strew a few lilac fiowers, or caraway and mace, over it ; spread a little fresh butter, about the size of a walnut, over these aromatics ; then form another layer, repeat tlic same mode of seasoning the cheese, and proceed in a similar manner to the top of the vessel. When this cheese has been kept for some days in a dry airy place, without being exposed to the sun, it is said to excel in taste the best sort made in Holland ; and to possess the additional advantage, that it improves with age, and generates no vci'min. Dr Anderson thinks that tlie goodness of cheese depends more upon the parti- cular process adopted in the management, than upon the materials of which the cheese consists. Tlie taste of a Glouces- ter and that of a Cheshire cheese is very difierent from each other, though the quality of the milk of which they are made varies very little. Tlie same thing may he said of Stilton and Parmesan cheeses, though their peculiarities are attributed to soil, or pasture, or other circumstan- ces that seem to throw the blame of want of success fi'om off our ov%n shoul- ders. Tlie business of cheese making has greatly improved within a few ycai-s past in the U. States. The state of Connecticut, and N. York, and the islands ne;ir N. Fort, Tlhodc-Island, have deservedly obtained a great character ibr cheese-m.'iking; and an ' English family near Flemington, New- 1 Jersey, has also justly acquired the high- ' est reputation in the business. Indeed ■ they have clearly evinced, even to the i most ])rcjudiced, (ui)on some of whom an \ experiment has been made,) that age is ' only required to render their cheese equal ' in flavour and riciiuess to those of En- gland. And why sliould they not be equal, if the same care be used in Qvery part of the process ? i As no good cheese can be made with- out good rennet, it may be well to add the following account of the jut])rtralion of that substance, to the mode described by Dr. A\'illich. " Dairy women usually preserve the maw, and the curd contained in it, alter salting them ; and then by steeping this bag and curd, make a x'ennet to turn their milk for making cheese. But a method which seems to be more simple, and is ecpially guod in every respect, is, to throw- away the curd, and alter steeping it in pic- kle, stretch out the maw upon a slender bow inserted into it, which will soon be very dry, and keep well for a long time Take an inch or two of the maw thus dried, and steep it over niglit in a few spoonfuls of warm water ; which water serves ftdl as well as if tlie curd had been ])reserved, for turning tiie milk. It is suid that one inch will serve for the milk of five cows. An ingenious writer, who has made strict inquiryinto tliis subjectrecommends the following method of preparing a ren- net, whicli he has found to be better than any other. — " Throw away the natural curd, which is apt to taint, and give the bag a bad smell ; then make an ai'tihcial curd, or rather butter, of new cream, of sufficient quantity to fill the bag. Add three new laid eggs well beaten, one nut- meg gi'ated fine, or any other good spice : Mix them well together, with thiec tea- cups full of fine salt : Fill the rennet bag with this substance : Tie up the mouth : Lay it under a strong brine for three days, turning it over daily. Tiien hang it uji in a cool and dry place for six weeks, and it will be fit for use. When it is used, take, with a spoon out of the bag, a sufficient quantity of this artificial buiyrous curd fur the cheese you purpose to make ; Dissolve it in a small quantity of warm water, and then use it in the same manner as other rennet is mixed witii the milk for its- co- agulation." ^ Whatever kind of rennet the dairy wo- man ciiooses to prepare, she shoidd kee]i it in mind, that this animal acitl is extreme- ly apt to turn rancid and putrify, and take care to apply a sufficient quantity of salt to pi-eseivc it in its best state. For it is probable tliat the rank and putrid taste, which is so often perceived in cheeses made in this country, is owing to a ])utri- dity in the rennet." Ikant^s J\'.E.Far7ner. Preservation nf Cheese. Among the va- rious productions of the vegetable king- dom, there are perhaps none better calcu- lated tor this pur]..)£e, than the following: 1. The leaves of the Yellow Star of Hethle- luni. Ornitho^alu»i lutf.nn, L. 2. Tlii; CHE Tut.?an, or Park-leaves, Hypericum AnJro- sccmatn, L. and 3. The tender branches of the conjir.on birch tiee, Bttula alba, L. — The two first of whicli, in particular, have from cxperier.ce, bten found to possess considerable antiseptic pi-operties. They ouglit, however, to be employed only when moderateiy dry, in which state they should be placed upon, or at the sides of the cheese, in an airy situation. The twigs of the birch are especially useful, in pre- venti'.ig the ravages of mite-s. Hard and spoiled cheese may be restored in the following manner : Take four oun- ces of pearl-ash, pour sweet white wine over it, till die mixture ceases to effer- vesce. Filti-e the solution, dip into it clean linen cloths, cover the cheese with them, and put the whole into a cool place, or dry cellar. Kcpeatthis process evtry day, at the same time turning the cheese; and, if necessary, continue it for several v.eeks : thus, the hardest and most insiiJid cheese lias frequently recovered its former Ua- %our. C;HESNUT,or Castanea, L. is a species of tlie Fagus or beech-tree, a genus of plants comprising five species. It flourish- es on ]x)or gravelly or sandy soils, and will tlirive in any but moist or marshy si- tuations. There is no plant cultivated, that is more valuable J^han the chesnut ; as it grows to a considerable height, and its wood, if kept dry, is exti'emely durable. It excels the oak in two respects, namely, that it g"ows faster, and that the " sap- parts" of the timber are more fii m, and less liable to corruption. Being greatly superior to elm for door jambs, and seve- ral other purposes of house carpentry, it is considered as nearly equal to the oak itself; but, on account of its possessing a precarious brittleness, which renders it un- safe for beams, it ought not to be em^ ployed in any situ.ation, where an uncer- tain weight is sometimes to be supported. All writers agree tiiat the wood of the chesnut is peculiarly excellent for casks, as it neither shrinks, nor changes the taste or colour of the liquor. It is also con- verted into various articles of furniture, and w hen stained, may be uiade to resem- ble in beauty and colour the finest maho- gany: this improvement 'is effected, by rubbing it over, first with alum water, then laving on with a brush a decoction of log- wood-chips ; and lastly, a decoction of Llrazil-wood- Besides these various uses, to wliicli this tree may be applied, its fruit affords an agreeable addition to our winter dessert If properly managed, a sweet and nutriiious brTud may be pre- CHE pared of it, especially when mixed with » small proportion of wheaten or other flour. Chesnuts, especially the small escident sort, form an important article of com- merce, in Italy, and in die island of Corsi- ca; which latter alone exports annually such quantities as amount in value to 100,000 crowns. The Germans roast diem among embers, and eat them with butter and salt ; the French, with lemon-juice and sugar, which agrees better with weak stomachs. This leguminous fruit is also employed in several articles of confection- ary ; as a substitute for coffee, and in the preparation of chocolate. This tree is highly valuable for many purposes, and ought to be carefully at- tended to by the people of this countn,'. The superiority of the timber over most others in durabi-i'.y, is well known ; and the nuts are also very profitable. The tree splits easily, and hence is used for fence rails. An old chesnut tree is very brittle, and apt to crack, and therefore should never stand longer than while it is in a groAring state. If cut when it squares only six inches it will be most durable, having very little sap in proportion to other trees. The nuts are the usual, and in some places, almost the only food of the common penple in Ital}', Savoy, and France, not only boiled and roasted, but also in puddings, cakes, and bread. The tree may be propagated by plant- ing the nu:s vrith the burrs, in the spring. The best nuts for planting, are such as are brought fi-om Portugal and Spain, or a large fine kind which are sometimes seen in the Philadelphia markets. The direc- tion to plant the nuts in the burrs is g-:v- en, in consequence of the destruction of them, which a gentleman in Xew-Jersey (who has wisely planted several acres) lately experienced fiom field mice. The nuts, if imported, must be brought over in boxes of earth. In setting the nuts, m:dje a drill with a hoe, about 4 inches deep, and six inches distant, with the eye upper- most : then draw die earth over them with a rake, and make a second drill at about a foot distance from the former, pro- ceeding as before, allowing three rows in a bed, with an alley between them three feet broad, for conveniently cleaning the beds. Keep die ground clear of weeds, and in two ye.ars remove the tiees to a nurseiy, at a wider distance. In three vears afterwards, transplant them into the places where tliey are intended to stand. Fors_\-th gives a number of judicious di- rections respecting the propagation of ch- sr.ut tree.<;, v» liich cannot be \> ell abri^- CHE CHll gtd, but out;^ht to be consulted by every one who may w ish to propagate this valua- ble tree. 2. Facus, Castanea pumila. Dwarf chcsnut tree, or Chinquepin. This sel- dom rises above eight or twelve feet, otlierwise much resembling the cliesimt in the appearance of its branches and leaves. Its fruit capsules are small, and generally contain but one conical shaped But. It grows naturally in a hght gravel- ly soil : when exported, the nuts should be put in sand, when ripe, and sent away ini- mediatelj', otherwise they loose theii" ve- getating quality. Horse-Chesnut, or ^Esculus, L. a ge- nus of exotic plants, natives of the East, consisting of four species: the principal of these is tlie Wppocastajium, or Common Horse-Chesnut. It thrives best in rich fat lajid, but will also floiuish on clayey and marley soils. This tree grows so rapidly tliat, in the course of a few years, it becomes large enough, in groves and alleys, to afford a good shade during the heat of summer, when it is in full bloom. Its fruit furnishes a gi-ateful food to horses, and has been successfully employed for fattening cattle, the tallow of which ii renders uncommon- ly firm, especially when mixed with ground barley. The milk obtained from cows fed with it, is also said to be richer than that produced by any other aliment. The nuts have likewise been used with ad- vantage in feeding poultry ; but tliey are unwholesome for hogs. There are, be- sides, various other purposes to which horse-ciiesnuts may be rendered subser- \ient in the arts and manufactures. Prof. Beckmann states, that horse- chesnuts yield, by distilLition, a spirituous Hquor, which, notwithstanding its bitter taste, may frequently serve us a substitute for alcohol. Prof. Leonhardi observes, in his Econo- mical Pochet-Book for 1793 (in German) that the prickly husks of the horse -chesnut may be advantageously employed in tan- ning leather ; and, when burnt to coal, tliey are said to produce an excellent black w alcr-colour. — Suckow has made experiments with the brown gh :sy shell of tills fruit ; li-orn which it jipjiearb, that, when, bruised and boiled in w.-iter, with the addition of a little potash, it makes a saturated dark-bn>wn dye, which imparted to cloth previously dipped in a solution of green vitriol, a yellow brown, and tc thiit prepared in alun)-water, a liiint red-brown colour. According to Dainbotirney, both the branches ard V uves communicate a good brov;n in dyeing. The wood of the horse-chesrut is, in every respect, equal to that of the com- mon chesnut ; and, as the former thrives luxu]-iantly in coppices, it deserves to be more generally cultivated, with a view of raising timber for building. In medicine, the bark has been found of eminent service in intermittent fevers, and is often substituted in Russia for the Pe- ruvian bark. CMUOME. An acidifiable metal, first discovered in the red ore of Siberia by Vauquelin iu 1797, and so named from the beautiful colours it affords. In this ore it exists in the acid state, forming chromat of lead : chromat of alumine is the colouring matter of the spinel ruby ; as the green oxide of chrome is of the Pe- ruvian emerald : and its green oxide is imited with lead in the green crystals commonly found with the red lead ore of Siberia. Besides these it has been found in the stones called meteoric by Laugier and 'I'henard, and combined with iron in an ore dug near Toulon j and also iu some districts of the United States. If the red lead ore be treated with mu- riatic acid it will be totally dissolved, forming a fine deep red solution. On evaporating the liquor the muriat of lead will fall to the bottom, till the supernatant liquor cont.ains only the oxide of clu'ome, which gives it a fine green colour, and may be obtained by further evaporation. Gmelin precipitated the green oxide from its solution in muriatic acid by means of zinc, prussic acid, sulphat of potash, carbonat of potash, and potash alone. The latter threw it down of a mountain blue colour; and this precipitate I'used with saline substances into a green mass. As it is very soluble in saline fluxes, he found it difficult to fuse into a metallic button by tiieir means, witliout precipita- ting it, while in fusion by means of zinc. The button thus obtidned, when fused with borax, rendered it grepn. This metal lias recently been found in considerable quan- tities in Pennsylvania and Maryland. An- nales de Clihnie. — Philos.-Mag.-Fourcoy. CHKOMIC-ACID. This acid is but late- ly known, and has only been examuied iu small quantities by Vauquelin, who first discovered it, and by count Mussin Pusch- kin ; yet we are better acquainted with it, than with the metal that lorms its basis. However, as the chromat of iron lias late- ly been found in abundance in the de- partment of Var, in France, we may ex- pect its properties to be nu)re amply in- vestigated, and ai)plied with adv.antage in the arts, as ihc chromats of lead and iron arc of excellent use in painting and enam- elling. it was extracted from the red lead ore CHU CIS of Siberia, by treating this ore with car- bonat of potash, and separating the al- kali by means of a more powerful acid. In this state it is a red or orange-coloiu-ed powder, of a peculiar rough metallic taste, which is m.ore sensible in it thari in any other metallic acid. It readily unites with alkalies, and is the only acid that has the property of colour- ing its salts ; whence the name of chromic has been given to it. If two parts of the red lead ore of Siberia in fine powder be boiled with one of an alkali saturated with carbonic acid, in forty parts of water, a carbonat of lead will be precipitated, and the chromat remain dissolved. The solu- tions are of a lemon colour, and aftorU crystals of a somewhat deeper hue. 'I'hose of chromat of ammonia are in yellow lami- nx, having the metalhc lustre of gold. The chromat of barytes is very little so- luble, and that of lime still less. They both afford a pale yellow ; and when heat- ed give out oxigen gas, as do the alkaline chromats. If the chromic acid be mixed with fi- lings of tin and the muriatic acid, it be- comes at first yellowish brown, and after- ward assumes a blueish gTeen colour, which preserves the same shade after de- siccation. With a solution of nltrat .of mercury it gives a precipitate of a dark cinnabar colour. With a solution of ni- trat of silver it gives a precipitate, which, the moment it is formed, appears of a beautiful carmine colour, but becomes purple by exposure to the light. When melted with borax, or glass, or acid of phosphorus, it communicates to it a beautiful emerald green colour. CHURN a vessel in which butter, by long and violent agitation, is separated from the serous part of milk. The infe- riority of the churns in common use, has induced several ingenious mechanics to exert their skill in contrivhig others, tliat would render the process of making but- ter less tedious arid expensive. These are very numerous, and the most ap- proved being in general use, makes a description of them unnecessary. We shall therefore only observe th:U, if a pump-churn be employed, it may be plun- ged a foot deep in a 'tub of cold vvater, and remain there diu-ing tlic whole time of churning ; which will harden the butter m a considerable degree. This operation, as we have before observed, may be much faciUtated, by pouring into the churn a small quantity of distilled vinegar, which will produce butter in the course of one hour. Those \\ ho make use of a pump- churn, should endeavour to keep up a re- gular motion of the machine ; and by no means admit any person to assist them un. less from absolute necessity : for, if the churning be irregularly peribrmed, the butter will in winter go back ; and, if the agitation be more quick and violent in summer, it will cause the butter to fer- ment, and thus to acquire a very disagree- able flavour. Where there are many- cows, a barrel-churn is preferred; but unless it is kept very clean, the bad effects of it will be soon discovered in the butter. Particular care should also be taken, to place it, in a proper temperature, accord- ing to the change of the season ; that is, to fix it in a warmer situation in the win- ter ; and, in the summer, to expose it to a fi-ee current of air. CiXNABAR, see Mercurt. CISTERXS are vessels employed for the reception of rain, or otlier water, ei- ther under ground, such as those of na- vigable canals, &,c. or above ground, for domestic and other purposes. In this place we shall only treat of the latter. As tlie water collected in leaden cis- terns is apt to corrupt, either by stagnat- ing for Several days, when the pipes hap. pen to be obstructed, or by the deposi- tion of feculent matter, as well as the in- crustation formed in such vessels, it fol- lows ihut they ought to be frequently cleansed of tlie copious sediment they con- tain. Tiiis attention is the more necei. sary, as lead is a metal liable to be dissolv- ed bj- acids ; and, in tliat state, proves a slow, but fatal poison. Although the aci- dity contained in stagnant water, which has, in its course, been impregnated with animal and vegetable particles, cannot be very considerable, yet it will be more safe, and prudent, to prevent the forma- tion of such acids, by an early attention to the purity of the water. See Fil- tration. For an excellent water ce- ment, see Cemext. The deeper cisterns are, the better the water will be kept. Where the ground is not so bad as to require a round form, a cube is a good figure : a double cube m.ust be better, as it gains depth and con- sequently coolness. A cistern of 6 cubic feet, holds 16 hogsheads of 100 gallons each, or 26 hogsheads. A double cube of 5 feet would hold above 18 rum hogs- her^dsof 100 gallons. The pit should be dug exactly by square and plumb. On the f;ice of tlie pit, lay potters-clay, plas- terv.dse, v,-ith a trowel, coat over coat (as it dries and cracks) two or three inches in all. Against this firm even face of plaster raise the brick or stone work. Bed the bottom, three or four inches thick with strong clay, beat to a smooth, even sur- face. Moisten the cla>', and beat it with CIT CIT switches, or small hoop poles, but with uothin.5 heavy. On this clay-floor, lay a double bed of brick ; and, on the margin of this, cany up the side walls half brick tiiick, laying them in tarras. Cover the cistern over, but leave room to hx a small pump, which must be two feet from the bottom : or a roller or bucket may be used to raise tlie water. The above directions are taken from Mr. Bordley's Essays, and will answer where lime cannot be had to make Mr. Hunn's cement, before noted. In many places of Europe, rain-water saved in cis- terns is the only water drank. Stolbcrg says, he drank some in the vicinity of Na- ples, near three years old, and found it excellent. Mr. Bentham has lately taujjht us, tliat water may be kept during the above period perfectly sweet. On the flat coasts of the United States, these rain wa- ter cisterns ought to be generally built : for the water from the ground is very bad, and occasions many of the disorders attri- buted to other causes. CITRIC ACID. Lemon juice is known universally to be one of the sourest, and ai the same time the most ag-reeable of all the native vegetable liquors. It is pre- pi.red simply by squeezing the fruit, and straining througii linen or any othet loose flltci'. In Sicily, Italy, Majorca, and many other parts of tiie .Mediterranea;i, lemon juice forms an im])ortant arlicleof cf)m- mcrce. It is procured simjily by peeling the fruit, slicing it, and putting it in a large press with a cloth or hair strainer. The juice, which comes out very turbid, is placed for a day in cellars and then strained, and ])ut in jars with narrow necks well cemented up, tlie top of the juice being generally covered with a little oil, the l)etter to defend it from the action of the air. Many of the presses will squeeze six thousand lemons at once. Lemon juice is a natural mixtiu'e, com- posed of much water, ofhisipid vegetable nuicilage, of extractive matter, of a slight portion of something that gives an astrin- gent taste, of a little malic acid, and last- ly of that peculiar acid, which, from its being contained more copiously in this fruit than in any other, is called the citric acid. Tiie jji-oportions of tliese ingredi- ents must of course vary according to the degree of riiieness.the season, and the like, but on an average accoi-dngtofrousi, 576 grains of the I'ush juice lose by eva- poration 528 grains, which is the watery l)art ; and of the remaining 48 grains ibout oO grains are the ]>uie citric acid iiid the remainder is chiefly mucilage and extract. On account of these two latter ingredients, lemon-juice sooner or later, according to tiie temperature, spoils fiy keeping, becomes mouldy, undergoes an impeifect lt;rmentation, and at last totally loses its acidity, acquii'ing a fiat musty taste. To ]jrevent this destruction of the acid for which alone this juice is valuable, many methods of preservation have been devised, all of wliich answer to a certain degree, l)ut none of them perfectly, ex- cept tliat of separating the acid in i: crys- tallized form by means wliich will be pre- sently mentioned, itsliould be observed that of the mucilage and the extfacti\e matter, (the two materials which princi- oally contribute to spoiling the juice) the loriiier alone is separable by the ordinary methods of clarification, but the extract adheres to the acid with the grjpatest ob- stinac}', and it is this which hinders it from crystallizing when evaporated near- ly to dr}ness. Lemon-juice is clarified partly by being put for a day or two in a cold cellar, re- maining perfectly at rest. Much of the mucilage then subsides, and the clear juice poured off, bottled, and carefully corked, will then keep for a cousiderablu time. It is better if briskly boiled for a minute or two before it is put aside to clarify, but this somewhat impairs the fla- vour, and gives one that is not agreeable, hi some pl.aces, oil is poured over it to prevent the action of the air, wliicli has a temporary effect, but after a wiiile the juice beneath becomes muddy, bitter, mouldy, and besides gets a rank taste from tiie oil. Concentration by freezing is sometimes used with some success. It the mucilage is first separated as much as may be by standing in a cool place, and the clear juice then exposed to a cold of from 23"^ to 26*^ the watery part alone freezes, and the remaining unfrozen 11- c[uor, of coui'sc, contains the acid in a con- densed state. By continuing to remove the ice, till it begins to grow sour from the acid itself freezing, lemon juice may be concentrated to about one-eiglnh of its former bulk, and is then clear, intensely sour, and will kee]) in a cool climate for several years unaltered. Still however the extract entirely remains and J^art of the mucilage, and therefore in ti-opical climates even this concentrated juice sjioils in no great length of time, besides the capital defect in tiie utility of tlie process, that tlie cold which it-Jcqulrcs can never be obtained naturally in the countries where the fruit grows, and at tlie season in which it is most likely to spoil. Sometimes certain mixtures are added to lemon-juice to prescive it. Forstcf CIT CIT found in Cook's Voyage to the South Pole that the juice mixed willi a fifth part of brandy or rum, in well closed casks, kept very well for tliirty-two months. Brug- natclli proposes to clarify the juice by al- cohol. Fresh lemon juice was mixed with some strong alcohol and bottled. In a few days a slimy mucilage had sepa- rated, and the liquor filtered through pa- per, contained the purified juice witJi al- cohol, which last may be separated by evaporation. But it is obvious that this only very partially clarifies the juice ; for the clear liquor, evaporated slowly to drjniess, gives no crystals, but only a sour extract. Besides, tlie expense forbids its being used in the great way. Some per- sons add sulphuric or some other mineral acid to the juice, partly to preserve and partly to adulterate it. The juice is in- deed kept a long time from moulding by this addition, but the adulteration is often a serious inconvenience and loss. Evapo- ration is certainly the best method of pre- serving the juice in hot climates in its natural state, that can be practised in the large way. This juice cannot be purified like vinegar by distillatir-n, for, being less volatile than water, it will not rise m va- pour with a heat leas than will decompose it; but if the fresh juice simply strained be exposed to a very gentle heat, the greater part of the water flies oiF without carrying away any of the acid, and when the liquor has nearly a syrupy consistence (before it acquires a burnt taste,) it is then intensely sour, and will keep in bottles for many years, with very little alteration, and even retaining much of its original fla- vour. This inspissated juice or Rob of Lemons, as it is called, if intended for the table, may be immediately mixed with dry white sugar, which is known to pre- serve all vegetable matter from corrup- tion, and it will then keep for almost any length of time unimpaired,andis excellent for sea voyages and domestic use. In hot climates the heat of the sun is made to assist considerably in the evaporation. But the pure citric acid cannot be ob- tained by such simple methods, but a double process of chemical affinity is re- quired, first, by adding an intermede to separate it from the other parts of the juice, and next to obtain it free from this addition in its crystallized form. This very ingenious process was discovered by Scheele, and has since been followed by all succeeding chemists, with only a "Slight variation in the proportions and minutiae of the process. The Liter mede which this admirable chemist used was lime added in the form of chalk, the same tijat he had before employed for a similar VOIi. I. purpose in preparing the concrete acid of Tartar. The mode he recommends is in a few words the following: Saturate boiUng lemon juice with chalk in powder added j;radually, till no more effervescence ari- ses. The compound thence arising is a grey iitsoluble mass, the citrat of lime, which readily settles, leaving the muci- lage, extract, and other ingredients of the juice in the supernatant liquor, which is thrown away, and the calcareous preci- pitate well washed with cold water till it is colourless. Then add to the precipi- tate a quantity of dilute sulphuric acid, diluted with ten times its bulk of water, and equal in weight to the chalk used, and boil for a few minutes. This by stronger affinity unites with the lime,form- hig a sulphat of lime equally insoluble with the citrat, whilst the citric acid, now set free, remains dissolved in the clear liquor, and by due evaporation may be procured pure, and in large crystals. The sulphuric acid should be a little in excess to engage all the lime, otherwise the acid will not crystallize. Such is the process of this excellent chemist, but as the preparation of this acid has lately become an object of some importance in manufacture, it may be of advantage to compare the particulars of the process as given by different chemists. In preparing citric acid in the great way, M. Dize mentions the following par- ticulars. After the citrat of lime has been decomposed by the sulphuric acid, cold water, assisted by stirring, is sufficient to wash out all the citric acid adhering to the sulphat of lime. This is of use both as saving fuel and as less of the calca- reous sulphat is dissolved. Much how- ever is still contained in the clear liquor, which, in fact, is a mixture of citric acid with the excess of sulphuric acid, which it is necessary to add, and sulphat of hme held in solution. This liquor may be eva- porated at a heat of boiling water. It is of a clear light yellow. As the bulk of li- quid diminishes, the sulphat of lime falls down ; and it is of use to suspend the eva- poration once or twice for some hours, that, by cooling, the whole of the sulphav. may be deposited. Towards the end, the hquor becomes blackish, owing to the sul- pliuric acid becoming concentrated, antl acting partly perhaps on the acid itself, and partly, as the author imagines, on a portion of extracti'.e matter, which sub- sides along with the citrat of lime, and which bethinks it is necessary to destroy in this manner before the citric acid will crystalline. This acid is so very soluble,' that the evaporation must be pushed to a B d CIT CIT very thick syrupy consistence before the crystals will separate. They are, at first, black aiid dirty. By re-solution in cold water (of which a small quantity may suf- fice) by filtration, and a second evapora- tion, they become yellow and more regu- lar. A third crystallisation seems neces- sary to make them white and pure. As there is much waste in these operations, the foul poilion, which will not pass the filter, should be evaporated and treated as before. Scheele has well remarked (and all other chemists have found the same) that an excess of sulphuric acid is required. M. Dixe supposes the peculiar use of this excess to be to destroy the remaining ex- tractive matter, the existence of which he endeavours to prove by the proportions of ingredients required, and their products. One hundred pounds of the lemon juice he found to require for saturation 6'23 lb. of chalk, and to produce as much as 20 lb, of citrat of lime. On the other hand, he found the crystallized citric acid to re- quire its own weight of chalk tor satin-a- tion, and to produce a quantity of citrat of lime equal to three-fourths of the weight of the two ingredients, tlie loss bemg chiefly carbonic acid. Hence he con- cludes that 100 lb. of fresh juice contains 6*25 lb. of the pure acid, (that is, equal in weight to the chalk required,) and that the citi'at of lime thence resulting, if pure, ought to be no more than 9-378 lb. (be- ing three-fourths of the sums of the weight of the chalk, and the supposed quantity of pure acid.) But as it is really 20 lb. even after washing, he supposes this enormous difference to be made up by extractive matter precipitated along with the citrat of lime, and adliering to it. However, the results of the experiments of other che- mists do not give this difference, though they agi-ee tolerably in other particulars. M. Dixe does not specify the quantity of crystallized acid actually obtained from a given quantity of juice. Westrumb saturated 4 lb. of fresh le- mon juice, simply sti-ained, with 3 ounces of chalk, and obtained 5 ox. and 1 drachm of citrat of lime; which, decomposed with 23 drams of strong sulphuric acid diluted with about ten times its bulk of water, gave, by due evaporation, 2^ ounces of crystal- lized acid a little foul, which lost one drachm by a second crystallization. Professor Proust has examined the same process. The ingredients and pro- ducts given by those thi-ee chemists, re- duced to the same proportion, are as fol- lows : Lemon Juice Clmlk Citrat of Lime 100 lb. requires 4.2« lb. and produces 7.Sllb. Cr>'st. CitricA. 6.25 Citric Acid Citric Acid in crj'stals iquires 4.Zf lb. ana produces v.aiio. yields 4.38 lb. and contains 4.74 lb. Proutt for ^ by by by saturation 4.65 — precipitation 8.0 — evaporation 3.90 — estimation IVestrutnb. 6.25— , 20, 6.25— Disi. 9.375 Do. To separate the citric acid completely from the lime, by the sulphuric, in the se cond step of the jn-ocess, Froust recom- mends boiling the whole for about five 6r ten miinites. The difficulty of separating all tl>e sulphat of lime and extract from the disengaged citric acid, and of pro- curing clear regular crystals has already been mentioned. A little alcohol added towards the end of the first evaporation, and subsidence, for some liours, greatly assists this separation, and the perfec- tion of the crystals. Lemon juice, wlien imported in this state, is not unfi-equently adultfcrated with some sti'ong and cheaper acid. The sul- phuric is most to be suspected. It is de- tected in the following way ; put some of the juice in a glass, and add a solution of acetite of lead. This will produce a co- pious white sediment in any case ; after which add some drops of strong nitric acid. If the juice contained no sulphuric acid, the white precipitate will be redis- solved, and the liquor become again clear, the citrat of lead and malat (of which a small portion will also be formed) being readily soluble in nitric acid ; but if the juice was mixed with sulphuric acid, the sulphat of lead will remain at the bottom. If this is collected, washed, and dried, the quantity of sulphuric acid may be esti- mated from the known proportions of this salt. Vauquelin asserts, that this acid may be obtained by passing oxymuriatic gas through gtun arable, in water, for a consi- derable time. The culinary uses of lemon juice are well known. The concrete citric acid may be often substituted for the juice with advantage, where the latter is not conveniently procurable ; but it is to be observed, that none of the peculiar flavour of the fruit, so agreeable in the fresh le- mon, passes into the solid acid, which is CLA CLA merely sour, and without any particular astringency. Tlie use to wliich this acid has lately been put in manufactures is as a discharger of colour in calico-printing: the white fi- gured parts of coloured patterns, prepared with iron colours, being produced with great clearness and effect by this acid It is not absolutely necessary to crystal- lize the acid for this purpose, but only to concenti'ate it. The mineral acids an- swer equally as dischargers, but when sufficiently strong to do this effectually, the}' injure the texture of the cotton. CLARIFICATION, is the sej^aration, by chemical means, of any liquid fi-om sub- stances suspended in it, and rendering it turbid If a difference can be made be- tween clarification a.nd Jiltratioti, it is that the latter is effected by mere mechanical means, but the former either by heat or by certain additions, the action of which may be considered as chiefly chemical. A few practical observations belong to both these articles. The liquors subjected to clarification are almost, without exception, those ani- mal or vegetable juices, in which the mat- ter that renders them tiu'bid, is so nearly of the same specific gravity witli the li- quor itself, that mere rest will not effect a separation. In these too the liquid is ge- nerally rendered thicker tlian usual, by holding in solution much mucilage, whiclt further entangles the turbid matter, and prevents it from sinking. Hence it is that vinous fermentation has so powerful an effect as a clai-ifier, (wine being much more limpid than the grape or other fruit juice of which it is made) since this pro- cess always implies the destruction of a portion of saccharine mucilage, and the consequent production of a thin limpid spirit Coagulating substances are great clari- fiers, when mixed with any turbid liquor, the process of coagulation entangling with it all matters merely suspended and not dissolved, and carrying them either to the top, in the form of a scum, or to the bottonit in the form of a thick sediment, according to circumstances. Thus, to clarify muddy cyder, the liquor is beaten up with a small quantity of fresh bullock's blood, or new milk, and suffered to stand at rest for some hours, after which Uie li- quor above is as clear as water, and al- most as colourless, and at the bottom is a thick tough cake, consistingoftlie coagu- lated blood, or milk, which has carried down with it all the opaque matter sus- pended in the liquor. Many other albu- minous and gelatinous substances act in the same manner. The effect of white of e^^ in this way is known to every one. It should be first mixed with the turbid liquor (a syrup for example) witliout heat and by agitation^ vflerwaids, on apply- ing less than a boiling heat, the albumen of the egg coagulates, and carries up with it all the opaque particles of the syi-up, leaving the rest beautifully clear and lim- pid. Isinglass also produces a similar effect. Sometimes clarification takes place in a very unaccountable manner. Thus it is well known that a handful of marl or clay will clai'ify a large cistern of muddy wa- ter, and marl is also used with advantage In clarifying vinous liquors. Mere heat will often clarify. Thus the expressed juice of cabbage plants is a strong-smelling, green, clammy, muddy liquid. By heating, all the turbid matter separates in the form of a green coagulum, and the liquor that remains is almost as hmpid as water. Clarification may often be detrimental. In many liquid medicines, such as decoc- tions of medicinal vegetables and the like, the medicinal portion resides chiefly in that part which is merely suspended, and therefore, when separated by any kind of coagidation, the cleai- liquor Is left nearly inert. See Filtration. See also Wine. CLAY. Any natural earthy mixture which possesses plasticity and ductility, when kneaded up with watei", is in com- mon language called a clay, which term is probably derived from the Latin glnrea through the medium of the Yieuch giaise. All mineralogists however, have compre- hended within the appellation, not only clays properly so called, but a few other mineral substances nearly allied to some of the claySi and which become plastic by decomposition. Clay, however, is by no means a mineral species stilctly speaking, being in most cases, perhaps in all, the result of the decomposition of other mi- nei'als. It seems advisable, therefore, to consider the property of plasticity as an essential character, and to exclude from the class of clays all earthy bodies that are destitute of it. Mineralogists have hitherto arranged all the plastic clays under two species, rather from the economical uses to which they are applied, than according to their external characters, composition or geo- logical situation : the first species is the white infusible porcelain clay, and the se- cond contains all the rest, confounded to- gether, under the general appellation. Patterns clay That this mode of arrange- ment is very defective, will be readily al- lowed, and the readei-, it is hoped, will re- ceive with candour the following attempt at a more scientific clas.sification. CLA CL\ Essential character. Flattie by intimate tiiixture -with water, 1. Porcelain clay. Its colour is generally reddish-wliitc, also greyisu and yellowish-white : it has no lustre nor transparency. It occurs either friable or compact ; stains the fin- gers ; adheres to the tongue ; is soft but meagre to the feel : is easily broken. Sp. gr. about 2. 3. It falls to pieces in water, and by kneading becomes ductile, though not in a very great degree. The Cornish porcelain clay certainly originates from the decomposition of feltspar, and contains particles of quartz, mica, and talc, from which it is separated by eluti'iation. The Chinese kaolin also contains mica, and is probably of the same origin as the Cor- nish. The same remark may be applied to the French Stc. It is, however, by no means certain, that all porcelain clay is de- rived from feltspar, as it varies consider- ably in its composition and fusibility ; all tlie kinds indeed are infusible at any tem- perature less than a white heat, but some, especially the Japanese, are refractory in the most powerful furnaces. The Cor- nish clay, according to Wedgewood, con- sists of 60 per cent, alumine, and 40 silex. That from Limoges in France, according to Hasseufratz, contains 62 silex, 19 alu- mine, 12 magnesia, 7 sulphat of barytes. Another specimen of tlie same, analysed by Vauquclin, gave 55 silex, 27 alumine, 2 lime, 0. 5 iron, 14 water. A porcelain clay analysed by Rose, gave 52 silpx, 47 alumine, 0.33 iron. 2. Stctititic clay, Its colour is a light flesh red passing into cream colour ; its texture is minutely foliated ; it has a slight, somewhat greasy lustre, and takes a polish from the nail. It stains the fingers, is very friable, and has a smooth unctuous ftel. When laid on the tongue, it dissolves into a smooth pulp, without any gritty particles ; it is very plastic and has a strong argillaceous odour. It occurs in nodules, in a hard cellular horn-stone, that fi)rms large moun- tainous masses near Conway iu North Wales, and originates from the decompo- sition of indurated steatite. 3. Clay from Slate. Its colour is ash-grey passing into ochre- yellow : its texture is foliated : it has a smooth unctuous lc;el, and its .siliceous particles are ko small as to occasion .scarcely any grittinpss between the tcetii. It occurs in thin beds on the tops of the softer kinds of slate-rock, and, from its impervio>isness to water, is always found lining the boUonis of the ]>eat mosses whh which this IchkI of mountains is generally covered; and in these situations it is of a white ash colour, being deprived of its iron and carbon by the acid of the peat. It also occurs, in thicker beds, at the foot of the mountains, but is of a darker co- lour and less plastic. 4. Clayfrotn Shale. Its colour varies from greyisli-bluc to bluish black : its texture is foliated : it has a smooth unctuous feel, takes a polish from the nail, is excessively tenacious and ductile, and has but a slight degree of grittincss. When burnt, it acquires more or less of an ochre-red colour : those va- rieties which are of the deepest red, usual- ly contain, before burning, a portion of sul- phuric acid. It is for the most part difii- cult of fusion. It occurs abundantly in all collieries, and is produced by the s|)on. tancous decomposition of the shale v\ith which the beds of coal are covered. A sandy clay, of a greyer colour, and more refractory nature, is procured from the de- composition of the indurated clay that forms the floor of the coal, and is provin- cially called clunch. The Slurbridge clay, from which crucibles, glasshouse-pots, &.C. are made, is of this kind. 5. Clay from Trap. At the toot of the softer rocks of trap- formation, such as wakke, clay-porphyiy, and some varieties of grunstein and horn- blende rock, are found beds of clay evi- dently originating from the gradual dis- integration of these by the weather. The colour of this clay is g'cnerally brownish grey verging to ochre yellow ; it occurs in mass, is of a compact texture, unctu- ous, tenacious, gritty, and probably is not very infusible. 6. JMarley clay. The colour of tliis is bluish or brown- ish red : it occurs either compact or foli- ated: it has a soft unctuous foel, takes a polish by friction with the nail, is very plastic, more or less gritty, tliough not so much so as the common alluvial clay. It burns to a brick of a bufl' or deep cream colour, and at a high heat readily enters into fusion. It ce attacked witli that dajigerous swelling, they may be relieved by adopting tiie remedies pointed out under the article Cattle. In Sweden, tlie heads are employed for dyeing wfwl of a green toloiu"; and if mixed with alum, they eield a light, if with copperas, a dark green colour. 2. The tnediuin,- or red perennial clo- ver, which is found in pastures, hedges, and on the sides of woods. It thrives on a rich soil, whether clay or gravel, and will even grow upon a moor, if properly cultivated. When red clover is intended f >r seed, the gfioimd ought to be carefiilly cleared of weeds, thatthe seed may be preserved pm-e. It is collected both fi-oni the first and second crop, but pi incipally from thR former. When one half of the field lias cliangcd its colour, by the drying of the clovtr heads, the reaping of them inaytlien be commenced. In America, this is ef- fected by two implements, [which are des- cribed in the trans. ofN. Y. Agric. Soc.by Mr. L'Hommedieu, and were invented in Brookliaven, Sufiblk County, New York,] and for ingenuity and simplicity of con- struction, deserve to he greatly recom- mended : we have therefore subjoined the following representations : DiiTi'-nsions. 1, 2, The shafts, 4 feet 4 inches long, and 3 feel astmder. 3. 4, The handles, 5 feet long, and 20 inch.cs apart. 5, The fingers, or teeth, tlditeen inches long. CLO CLO The vvheels are sixteen inches in diame- ter This machine is di-awn by one horse, and guided by a man or boy; it simply consists of aii open box, about 4 feet squaie at the bottom, and about three in height, on three sides ; to the fore part, which is open, fingers are fixed, similar to those of a cradle, about 3 fee* in length, and so neai as to break off the heiuls from the clover -stocks between them, which are thrown back into the box as the horse ad- vances. The box is fixed on an axle-tree, supported by two small wheels, two feet in diameter; two handles are fixed to the hinder part, by means of which the driver, while he manages the horse, raises or low ers the fingers of the machine, so as to take off all the heads of the grass; and. as often as the box is filled with them, they are thrown out, and the horse goes on as before. This Instrument is called a cradle, and is made of an oak board about 18 inches in length and 10 in breadth. The fore -part of it, to the length of 9 inches, is sawed in- to fingers ; a handle is inserted behind, inclining towai'ds them, and a cloth put roimd the back part of the board, which is cut somewhat circular, and raised on the handle ; this collects the heads or tops of the c^rass, and prevents them from scat- tering, as they are struck off by the cra- dle, which may be made of diflferent sizes; being smaller in proportion for women and children, who, by means of It, may like- wise collect large quantities. Mr L'Hom- medieii says, as soon as the clover is mown, it should be immediately raked in- to small heaps, and exposed [about three weeks] in the field, to promote the decay of the husk, as otherwise it will be diffi- cult to obtain the seed. These heaps should be occasionally turned, especially during wet weather. It may, however, be easily ascertained, whether the husks are sufficiently rotten, or dry, by rubbing the heads or tops between the liands : when that is effected, they should be housed, and the seed threshed out when conveni- ent, and cleared with a wire riddle. Last- ly, this species is a valuable substitute for the common clover, as it continues much longer in the land. Upon the subject of collecting clover seed, .Mr. L'Hommt. dieu observes further ; by sowing three or fou; pounds of seed to the acre, on light loamy soiis, which yield eight or ten bushels of wheat oi rye per acre, the clover will not be profitable to mow, but standing thin on the ground, tho heads will be well filled with seed. The fields are to be kept up next year, till the seed is collected, by the machine repre- sented above. On rich lands, no seed comes with the first crop, but the second crop being shorter and thinner, is com- monly well seeded. Sometimes, indeed, considerable quantities of seed are gath- ered from the first crop, on land where wheat has been cut tlie same year, the stubble, preventing the clover from grow- ing too thick to produce seed. If the land be rich, and it is intended to sow the first crop, and collect seed from the second, eight lbs. are not too much for one acre. Ked clover is an essential article in the rotation of crops in Pennsylvania, and the immense riches which the whole staie has acquired during the last twenty years, may, in part, justly be ascribed to this grass aided by the almost magical fertili- sing power of gypsum, by which more COA COA wealth has been introduced than would have resulted from the discovery of a gold mine. 3. The procumbens or hop-clover, or hop ti-efbil, whicli grows in dry mea- dows and pastures. It flowers in the months of June and July. When mixed with common clover, on light land, it makes a most excellent fodder. This plant is variously called back-grass and non- such. 4. The repens, or white-clover, which abounds in meadows and pastures. It al- so delights in light land, where it will thrive luxuriantly, if frequently rolled. It is usually sown with red clover, rye-grass, or barley, and is in blossom from May to September. It produces the sweetest hay on dry land, especially when mixed with hop-clover and rye-grass ; and possesses this advantage over the common clover, that it will admit of being irj-igated. Hor- ses, cows, and goats eat it, but sheep are not fond of it, and hogs totally refuse it COAK, see Coal. COAL. Mineralogists are by no means agreed in their ai-rangement of this im- portant genus of mineral inflammables, we shall therefore with the less scruple differ in some degree from them all. It appears to be upon the whole the most convenient as well as more conformable to nature to include both the carbonace- ous and carbono-bituminous fossils under a single genus, sub-dividing it into the families of Brown Coal, Black Coal, and Mineral Carbon. 1. Brown Coal. Imperfectly bitumi- nous ; of a brown colour, and vegetable texture. Sp. I. Bituminized wood. Its colour is bi'own approaching to brownish-black. Its external shape ex- actly resembles that of compressed trunks and branches of trees ; its internal tex- ture is precisely that of wood, retaining not unfrequently even the bark. It burns with a clear flame though with but little heat, and gives out a bituminous odour often mixed with that of sulphur. Bituminized wood occurs usually in alluvial land among the beds of common brown coal ; sometimes also forming beds by itself. It is found in Britain at Bovev, near Exeter, in the isles of Skye and Cannay, in the coal strata of Mid-Lothian ; in Bo- hemia and various parts of Germany ; m France, Iceland, and Russia. It passes into common brown coal and pitch coal, and is occasionally penetrated by quartz. It is employed as a fuel, but is greatly inferior to black coal. Sp. U. Eartliy Brown coal. Its colour Is blackish or wooden-bro"vm or yellowish-grey : it occurs in mass, of a consistence between solid and friable. It is without lustre except when rubbed or cut, and then it becomes somewhat shining. It soils the fingers a little : its fracture is intermediate between uneven and fine earthy. It is very soft and falls easily to pieces. It readily takes fire and burns with a weak flame and disagreeable bituminous odour. It is found in similar situations with the preceding species : in the neighbour- hood of Leipsig it occurs in beds fi-om twenty to forty feet thick, and of great extent. It is used as an inferior kind of fuel, especially in manufactories where a low degree of heat is required ; for this pur- pose it is moistened with water, well beaten and made into brick-shaped mas- ses. In the vicinity of Cologne a variety is found of areddish-bi'own colour, which is prepared as a pigment under the name of Cologne umber. Sp. 111. Common Brown-coal. Its colour is light brownish black pass- ing into blackish brown. It acquires a polish by friction ; is moderately hard. And burns readily with a weak flame like half-charred wood and a disagreeable bituminous odour, when heated in close vessels it yields much charcoal and when ignited in an open fire it leaves behind a small quantity of white ashes. Brown coal is found in the territory of Hesse, and various parts of Germany, in Denmark, Greenland, Italy, and in En- gland. It is used like the preceding species, for fuel. It passes into bituminous wood and moor-coal, sometimes into pitch- coal. Sp. IV. Moor coal. Its colour is dark blackish brown. It occurs in mass forming very thick beds, and is characterized by being always full of rifts and crevices. Internally it dis- plays a considerably resinous lustre. It is tender, remarkably frangible, and light, and in its chemical characters it resem- bles the preceding species. It occurs in alluvial land and in the newest floetz-trap-formation. It is met with very frequently in Bohemia, and is also found in Transylvania and otlier pai'ts of the Austrian dominions, in Ucnraai-k and the Faroe islands. 2. Black Coal. Perfectly bituminous ; of a black colour. Sp. y. Slate coal. Its colour is perfectly black passing into greyish-black, and often presents more COA eoA or less of an imdescent tarnish* It runs into the two following varieties. Var. 1 . Foliated coal. This differs from the preceding' in hav- ing a somewhat higher lustre, and a strait foliated longitudinal, and slaty cross frac- ture. It is also softer and more subject to decomposition. Var. 2. Coarse coal. The cross fracture of this displays a coarser granular texture than common slate-coal; its colour is not so i>ui'e a black, it possesses less lustre, and is considera- bly harder. Most of the common coals belong to tliis species, and fi-om the difierent phe- nomena wliicli they exhibit dtu'ing com- biisuon, a great number of varieties are known in the market, and are sufficiently obvious to an experienced eye, which yet camiot be described. The two points which are principally to be attended to with regaid to common Goals, in an economical point of view, are the intensity of the heat and che durati'^n of the combustion, and these are cliiefly influenced by tiie proportion of asphalt which they contain. Coals i\\ which the bituminous part is chiefly maltha, with only a small quantity of a-^phalt, kindle very easily, bum briskly and quickly with a brigiit bla'ie, cake but little, require no stirring, and by a sing-le combustion are reduced to loose ashes such are the Lancasliire coals, he Scotch and most of those wliicli are raised on the western side of England. Those on the other hand in which asphalt prev;iils kindle difficultly, and after lying some time on the fire become soft and in a state of almost semifusion ; they then cohere or cake, swell considerablx', and throw out on every side tubercular scoria: accom- panied by bright jets of flame. In eon- sequence of the cohesion and tumefaction of the coals, the passage of the air is in- terrupted, tlicfire burns hollow and would be exlinguislied if the top were not brok- en in from lime to time. The produce of ashes is smaller than in the free burning ooals, the greater part of them being mi.\- e.d with the carbonaceous jxut of tlie coal and forming grey scorl;e,conimonly kncjwn by the nuip.e of cinders, vvhich I)clng burnt again with fresli fuel give out an intense heat, and arc slowly reduced, partly U) heavy ashes and partly to slug. 'I'he best coul of Nortluunbcrluntt, Uurliam and Yorkshire is of lh!;> kind : it burns longer arid gives more lieat than tlie ])receding, .'uul In general bears a liiglser price. Siale coal is found principally in the in- tfependent coal-formation, as it is the most widely dinii;>ed of any of the species. It is ofteri mixed with pyrites, and penetrat ed by tliin veins of quartz or calcareous spar. Sp. VI. Pitch coal. Its colour is velvet black passing some" times into brownish black. It occurs in mass, in plates, and sometimes in the shape of branches with a regular woody structure. It has a brilliant resinous lus- tre. It burns with a greenish flame and a strong bituminous smell, and leaves be- hind a little yellowish coloured ash. It occurs principally m the newest floetz- trap coal-formation. It is used as fuel, but the finer and harder pieces are worked into various trinkets, and go under the name of jet. It occurs in detached frag- ments in the Prussian amber mines, and is tliere called black amber. Sp. VII. Cannel coal. Its colour is dark greyish black. It occurs in nuiss : has a glistening resinous lustre. It is very inflammable, and crac- kles, and flies while burning, especially if it is not laid in the direction of the cross fracture •• it flames much and burns quick- ly, but does not cake, and leaves behind from 3 to 4 per cent of ashes. Cannel coal occurs in the independent coal-formation. It is found in great plen- ty and remarkably pui'e in Wigan in Lan- cashire, and occasionally in most of the other English collieries. Its chief use is as a fuel, but the purest Wigan cannel will bear to be worked in the turning lathe, from which it receives a high polish : hence it is shaped into va- rious ornamental utensils, and when cut into beads is not to be distinguished from jet. See Ampetites. o. Jli/ieral Curbon. Destitute of bitu- men ; consists of charcoal, with various proportions of earth and iron. Sp. \'iJ. Mineral charcoal. Its colour .". greyisli black. It occurs in plates and irregular pieces. It has a glimmering silky lustre, and a fibrous fracture discovering its ligneous texture. It soils tlie fingers, is soft and friable, li is somewhat heavier tlian common char- coal, and is easily reduced to ashes before the blowpipe without flaming. It occurs in tiiin layers in brown coal, slate coal, slaty glance coal, anroprietors wiil be enabled to accomyjfish tlie important object. — The analysis of this coal by the late Professor Woodhouse, may be seen in the Medical Museum. (JOB A LP is a semimetal, of a whitish grey or steel colour, hard and brittle; of a dull, close-grained fracture, and mode- rate specific gravity. It is rather more difficult of fusion tlian copper ; does not easily become calcined ; and its oxide is of so deep a blue colour as to appear black. To obtain the metal pure, Tromsdorft' recommends to mix eight parts of finely pulverized zaffre with two of dry nitrat of potash, and one of charcoal powder, and project them by small quantities into an ignited crucible : to repeat this pro- cess three times with the detonated resi- duum and fresh quantities of nitre and charcoal : to mix the mass with an equal weight of black flux, and keep this mix- ture at a red heat for an hour. The me- tal thus obtained is to be pulverised, mix- ed With three times its weight of nitrat of potash, and detonated as before. This being powdered and washed to separate the arseniat of potash, the filtered residue is to be digested in nitric acid, which \\\\l dissolve the cobalt, and leave the highly oxidized iron untouched. I'hen evaporate the solution to dryness, re-dissolve in ni- tric acid, refilter lest some oxide of ii'on should have been retained, decompose the nitrat of cobalt by potash, wash the pre- cipitate, and reduce it by heat. Brugnatelli supposed he had discovered an acid in7.affie, which he called the co- baltic, but it appears to have been only arseniat of cobalt. It may be observed on the subject of separation of iron from cobalt (as this is of consequence for manufacturing the finest possible colour from it) tliat when an alkali is added gTadually to a mixed solution of the two intt:ils, much of the iron precipitates bcibre tlie cobalt falls, and lliis distinction is very obvious by the colour. Til us if carbonated potash be slowly added to nitrat of cobalt and iron, the first precipitate is a dull ochery slime, chiefiy iron, afler which the cobalt shews itself by azj/o/ef coloui-ed preciijitate, and thus a judicious addition of alkali (stop- I)ing when the violet colour is ])erceive(J) will alone purify the solution to a consi- derable dff!Te. COB COC Cobalt is never empkn eel in the rogu- line state for any purpose of tnajiufactory. the sole use oi this valuable metal being- to give various sliades of blue colour to ghiss, porcelain, and otiier earthy mix- tures, and when thus employed it must be ia the state of oxyd. But the inten- '^ity of colour given by the ox\d in very small proportion is so great that it is found moie convenient, after a due calcination, to mix and dilute it will i a quantity of vi- (riikible earth, and in this s'.ate it is gene- rally sold, that is, either simply mixed with earth, when it appears as a brown critty powder called Zaffrc or Azure, or r considerable improvements in the manufacture of ivory black, may prove useful to the artist. " First. To manufacttire ivory black, I take the bones and sloughs of the horns of animals, and calcine them to blackness, in close or air-tight vessels. 1 then crush them in their dry slate, between metal rollers, of about two feet diameter, until they are broken sufficiently small to pass COL COL tlirough a hopper into the eye of a mill- stone, and be reduced to powder between mill-stones, in a horizontal situation, ex- actly similar to the method of reducing or grinding corn or grain to flour. By a like process, the pow^der thus obtained is then partly passed through a di'essing ma- chine, constructed wiih brushes and fine iron or brass wire, upon a circular frame, inclosed within a rim, which receives it. Such part as passes through the meshes of the wire (which should be about sixty- eight to an inch) is sufficiently fine for use, and is damped down by a small quan- tity of water sprinkled upon it, and packed for sale ; the coarser part is returned to the hopper, and ground over again be- tween the stones." Some advise the use of linseed oil, when the shavings or raspings of bone or ivory, are made use of in tlie small way ; it is said, that after the charring, the black is more perfect than that prepared in the common process. Ti'Otters bones, calcined in the same way, afford a pigment called also ivory black, but more properly bone black. Any osseous substance, treated as before men- tioned, will produce a black pigment. Gertnan Black, or Frankfort black. This pigment is made by charring the lees of wine in a close iron vessel; and after- wards reducing the matter to powder. It has been made in this country by burning certain vegetable substances. The stalks and husks of grapes, charred in the same manner, i>roduce a good Frankfort black. Blue Black. TJiis is similar to the for- mer : it is made from burning vine stalks in a close vessel- Colour makers substi- tute a mixture of ivory black, and the oommon blue used tor dyeing cloth. Indiim Ink. This colour may be made I the following manner : Take dryed black horse beans, and burn them to a powder; mix them up with gum-arabic water, and bring them to a mass ; press it in a mould made for that purpose, and let it dry. Or, Take one ounce of lamp-black, two ounces of indigo, half an ounce of fish black; grind them with half wafer and half milk, and a little gum-arabic, and form tables thereof. The lamp-black must be cleared from all greasiness, by burning it in a clean pan, on a coal fire. The Indian Ink, brought from China, is supposed to be the gall of a species of cuttle fish. According to Thomson, (V. 106,) a solution consisting of 20 grains of borax, 100 grains of lac, and four ounces of water, mixed with lamp black, consti- tutes Indian ink. To make afinelnk-toivckr totvrkeordraiv VOL. I. v)ith. Take half an ounce of lamp-black ; plumb or cherry-stones, vitriol, and gall- nuts of each half an ounce; burn them toge- ther in a crucible ; add half an ounce of gum-arabic : beat all in a mortar to a fine powdei*, and sift it tlyough a fine sieve ; then put it up in a box, and, when you want to use it, dilute it with fair water. § 2. White. There are a variety of whites used as pigments, such as flake white, white lead, pearl white, &c. Flake white. Some writers confound this pigment with white lead, supposing that they are both produced from the same metal. According to 1 homson (I. 366,) the flake white, and the pearl white, are the same as the magistery of bismuth, made by dissolving bismuth in nitric acid or spirit of nitre, and precipitating the me- tal by the addition of water. The metal thus precipitated, is in the form of white uxyd, containing about 10 per cent, of oxygen. White lead. This is prepared by corro- ding lead by the vapour of vinegar. See Lead. Spaniih White is nothing but chalk, ground generally in tubs, the bottom of which is paved with small stones of a hard quality, or has one large hard bed- stone instead thereof, and a stone on edge is fixed to an upright axle, both which go round by the means of a water-wheel, steam-engine, or horses. The chalk is broke into small lumps about four ounces each, and thrown into the tub in which it is ground ; but the tub is previously charged Xvitii a large quan- tity of water, and as the grinding opera- tion commences, the chalk unites with the water, its finer particles rise to the surface, and, as a small stream of water is 'constantly running into the tub , and fresh quantities of chalk are added, the level of the mixture rises to a certain height, finds its way through an aperturo of the tub near the top, and is discharged into a large reservoir, by whicli the two operations of grinding and washing are performed at the same time with a small expense. After the ground chalk has stood a sufficient time to subside, the water is run ofl', and the chalk being so stiff" as to cut with a spade, is then remo- ved to a place to dry, eitiier by the air or by stove heat : the former of these is termed stiffening, the latter is called dry- ing, and is the finisliing process. Chalk, taken into the north coasts of England, at the chalk wharf's on the Thames, costs about 2ff. 61-/. per ton, and when made into Whiting in the North, sells from 16*. to 20s. per ton. French Whiting, or Paris White, has, (JUL COL not been made in England above 50 or 60 years ; the manufacture of it was brought by a Dutchman, who settled in a sea-poit town in Yorkshire, and who, by it, and his mode of refining aiid depurating rapeseed oil, and linseed oil, acquired a large for- tune, and became a respectable banker. Egg-shell white, and Oyster-shell white. Tliese are only egg-shells and oyster- shells calcined, by wliich the animal glu- ten is destroyed. JVottinghani white. This pigment is nothing more than white lead, prepared by corroding lead by means of sour ale instead of vinegar. Glass white Take crown glass, and beat it to an impalpable powder ; take also finely pulverized sulphur ; mix them together in a large crucible with a cover to it ; lute it close, and put it upon a char- coal fire, so as to make the crucible i"ed hot all over; when it is thus heated, take it off the fire, and let it cool ; then take oft' the cover, and grind the matter upon a stone with clear water, and temper it either with oil or gum-water : it will give a good white colour. Darcet's composition for ivhite. The following composition has been used with success for painting : Take cheese or curd well drained, 5oz. Slacked lime ^ oz. Whiting, 10 oz. Fine powdered charcoal, 1 dram. AVater, 3 oz. At the moment of commencing the ope- ration, a certain quantity of strong quick lime must be slaked in the least possible quantity of water. This is the surest and most speedy method of reducing it into fine powder. The lime is to be sifted, in order to separate the pieces which do ijot fall down, and of the powder seven grammes are to be weighed. The quan- tity of cheese above indicated is to be ta- ken and pounded till it has the appearance of salve, and with this the seven grammes of lime arc to be mixed, and the mixture well agitated, which loses its consistence, and acquires that of hot new made glue. On the other hand, whltingin powder is taken, and added to the water and the charcoal, and the whole accurately mixed. This mixture may be ])asscd through an open sieve, in order that it may be reduc- ed to a liquid homogeneous paste. Tlie mixture of lime and cheese is then to be added, and carefully mixed with that of the whiting and charcoal diffused in water. The colour is then finished. Calcined Hartshorn. I'his preparation is formed by calcining or otherwise burn- ing, tlie shavings of hartshorn, until all the gelatinous matter is destrojcd. It is con- sidered the most useful of the earthy whites. § 3. Red. Colours, wliich come un- der this head, are numerous ; of these, cai'mine, rose pink, and vermilion, are the principal. Carmine. This colour is produced from cochineal. There are various modes of preparing it. Any process will answer for extracting the colour, so that the co- louring matter of the insect shall be dis- engaged from the extraneous matter. This is usually accomplished by making an infusion in water, and adding thereto a solution of alum, or nitro muriate of tin. See Cochineal. Red Lake. This colour is also prepar- ed from cochineal, though other substan- ces have been used. For the preparation of this pigment from cochineal, see that ai-ticle. Florentine lake. The best sort may be prepared from the sediment of cochineal, that remains in the kettle, after making carmine, adding to it a small quantity of cochineal, or Brazil wood, and precipita- ting the colourmg matter with a solution of tin. Madder lake. This is formed nearly in the same manner as the foregoing. According to Merime, if madder be steeped a certain time in water, and a small quantity of potash added to the so- lution, a fine red lake will be obtained. An improvement in the method of ex- tracting the red of madder for lakes has been published by Sir H. Englefield, for which the gold medal of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts was given to the inventor. It is founded on the disco- very that the red colouring part is scarce- ly soluble in cold water, but in the com- mon method of extraction is chiefly sus- pended by means of the mucilage of the root. The jjrincipal process is the follow- ing : Inclose two ounces (troy weight) of the finest Dutch madder, known in com- merce by the name of crop ^tnadder, in a bag, ca]iable of containing three or four times that quantity, made of strong and fine calico. Put it into a large marble mortar, and pour on it a pint of soft river water, pressing the bag in every direction, and rubbing it as much as may be without danger of bursting. The water will soon become quite opake, and loaded with co- louring matter. Poiu- oft' the watcj-, and add another fresh pint of water, triturating it with the madder as before ; and repeat the operation till the water, the last add- ed, comes oft' but slightly tinged. About five pints will he recjuired to exhaust the colour ; after wliich the root, if taken out and dried, will be found to have lost COL COL 11.16ths of its weight, and with it its pe- culiar smell, and the colour wUl be a lig-ht nankeen or cinnamon. The Avater loaded with the colouring matter must then be put into an earthen or well tinned copper vessel, (not iron) and heated till it just boils. Then pour it into a large bason, and add an oimce of alum dissolved in a pint of hot soft water, stirring the mixture carefully- Then add about 1 h oimce of a saturated solution of carbonai of potash, wliich will excite an immediate effervescence, and a subse- quent precipitation of a coloured lake. After standing till cold the lake is to be collected, well waslied with repeated quantities of warm water and gently dried It will be then found to weigh about half an ounce, ov a fourth part of the madder employed. The above madder lake, which is verj- beautiful, is found by analysis to consist of more than 40 per cent, of alumine. The rest is the colouring matter of the mad- der. See Madder. Hose Lake, or Hose Pink. This is a de- licate colour, inclining more to purple than scarlet. It is prepared from chalk colour- ed with a decoction of Brazil wood, brightened by an alkah, which renders it liable to fade. This pigment, therefore, is nothing more than the colouring matter of Brazil wood, combined with chalk. The colour may be improved by the addi- tion of a solution of tin to the decoction of the wood, previously to the addition of chalk. A beautiful lake maybe obtained fi'om the same wood, in imitation of car- mine, in the following manner : Boil three pounds of the raspings of Brazil wood with three pounds of com- mon salt in three gallons of water ; filtre the hot liquor tlirough flannel, and add to this a warm solution of five pounds of alum in four gallons of water. Now, dis- solve, or have ready dissolved, three pounds of the best pearl-ash in a gallon and a half of water, and filtre it also ; and put the liquor to the other, gradually, till the whole colour is precipitated. If it be pui-ple instead of red, add a fresh quanti- ty of alum till a scarlet hue is produced ; and then proceed with the sediment as in the former article. By the addition of half a pound of seed-lac to the solution of pearl-ash before it is filtered, a lake will be produced, that will stand well both in water and oil, but is not so transparent in oil as without the seed-lac. The lake from Brazil-wood may be also made, by adding half an ounce of Spanish anotto to each pound of the wood ; but the anotto must be dissolved in the solution of pearl-ash. The effects of the solutions of tin and alum on Brazilwood are the most import- ant to the colour-maker. Alum added to the water\- decoction of the wood gives a copious fine red precipitate, inclining to crimson and subsiding slowly. The su- pernatant liquor also retains the original red colour of the decoction, but if enough of alkali is added to decompose the alum, its earth falls down and carries with it nearly all the remaining colouring matter of the wood. In this way a fine crimson lake, imitating the cochineal carmine, may be prepared ; which therefore consists of alumine, intimately combined with the colouring matter of the wood a little heightened. Niti'o-muriat of tin added to the decoc- tion, separates the whole of the colouring matter, which falls down in great abun- dance in union with the 0x3d of tin, and tlie liquor remains colom-less. Vermillion. This is a bright scarlet pigment, called the red sulphuret ofmer- cury, composed, as its name imports, of sulphur and mercurj'. "When in its crude state, it is called cinnabar. See Mercurv. Red Lead. This is an oxyd of lead, prepared by melting lead, and exposing it to the air in a reverberatory furnace See Lead. Indian Red. This is a very useful co- lour, answering some of the purposes of lake ; it stands well both in water and oil. Venetian Red, is a native red ochre, ra- ther inclining to the scarlet than crimson hue : it is not of so good a colour as the common Indian red, and is chiefly used by house painters. It is often imitated by colcothar. Spanish 6roxun,is also an earthy substance, the base of which, like many other of the eartliy pigments, is alumine, coloui'ed with oxyd of iron. Red Ochre, as it is usually found in tlie shops, is yellow ochre, heated red hot in the fire, till the colour changes from yel- low to a red. In this manner, red ochre is manufactured in the United States. Ochres, both the red and yellow, have been found native, of an excellent quality, in this countrj*. Red Chalk, or Reddle, This is an ore of iron in tlie state of red oxyd, usually com- bined with more or less alumine. It is used for marking in the manner of a crayon. It stands perfectly well, and may be used both in w.iter and oil. It is made artificially in this city. Burnt Terra di Sienna. This colour Is made by calcining the raw terra di sienna, till it acquires a red colour. It is of a ve- ry rich tint, and is much used both iit wa- ter and oil. It stands wel] in both. COL COL § 4. Orange. The genuine orange paints, are principally red orpinient, and orange lake. The first is a sulphuret of urseuic ; farmed, of course, of arsenic and sulphur. The other may be prepared from turmeric, by infusing it in spirit of vine, and adding a solution of tin. Orange may be formed by mixing red and yellow colours together, in due pro- ])ortions. The follow ingformulx will al- so form a good orange colour : Boil four ounces of the best Spanish iinotto, and one pound of pearl-ash, for the space of half an hotu", in one gallon of Avater. Strain the tincture, and mix it gra- dually with a solution of a pound and a half of alum to six quarts of water, desist- ing when no ebullition ensues. Treat the sediment as is usual in preparing lake, and dr}' it in square bits,or roundlozenges. § 5. Yellow. The principal colours of this kind are. King's Yellow, Naples Yellow, Uutch-pink and Turbith Mineral. King's Ytllow. This colour is orpi- ment purified, and consists of arsenic and .sulphur. It is of a bright yellow, but \evy apt to fade, on which account, as well as from its great price, it is but sel- dom employed. A'aples Yellow. The true Naples yel- low is found near Naples, and consists of a kind of lava, unchangeable by fire and by acids. To prepare it artificially, the following process may be used : Take twelve ounces of white lead, one ounce of alum, one ounce of sal-ammoniac, and three ouncesof diaphoretic antimony; put them into an unglazed pipkin, and expose them in a moderate heat for the space of eight hours. Thus will a beautiful yel- low be obtained, such as the artists of Italy, term Giallolino. If a Ijright golden colour be wanted, add half an ounce more of antimony, and H quarter of an ounce of sal ammoniac. Turner's Patent Yelloij. If two parts of common salt be dissolved in water, and one part of litharge added, and boiled for some time, the soda of the common salt will be disengaged and held in solution, whilst l!ieleHle danger may be avoided ; tliis we are enabled to do from the direc- tions given bj' the late G. C Morgan, in his lectures uoon electricity; Norwich, 1794.) The foundation of each partition wall of the house must be laid on a strip of lead; or the lead must be fastened to the sides of them. These strips must be con- nected, and their dimensions not less than one-fourth of an inch thick, and 2 inches wide. A perpendicular strip on each side of the house, should rise from this bed of -metallic conductors to the surface of the ground: there a strip should be conti- nued around all the house, and carefully connected with water pipes, &c. The strips on the sides of the house should then be continued to the roof, where the method of g'uarding the bottom must be imitated. The top is to be surrounded by a strip, whose connection should spread over every edge and prominence, and hence must continue to the summit of each separate chimney. The chimnies in pai'ticular must be protected ; for ^Ir. Morgan was witness to a case in \vhich a house was guarded, in most respects, according to the method just desci'ibed : but from the chimnies having been left unprotected, the light- ning consequently struck one of them, where its rage terminated ; but tlie turn- bUng of the chimney into the roof was at- tended by serious consequences. By guarding the house, we make it of all ob- jects, that which is the most likely to be- come the circuit of a cloud ; and conse- quently should be cai-eful that no interrup- tion divides the conductors, or the havoc will probably take place. COP COP Tiie expcnce of a conductor, erectetl according to the plan described, may be considerably lessened, by making a pro- per use of the leaden pipes and copings which belong to most houses ; no other skill being requisite, than that of fasten- ing the strips of lead, so tliat they may be secure, and at the same time be connect- ed with each other. Ships may be also easily protected. One strip of metal should surround the deck ; another should be fastened to the bottom, or the side of the keel ; these strips should be connected with others which embrace the ship in different parts. If the vessel be copper-bottomed, no- thing more is necessary than to connect the metal wliich surrounds the deck with the copper ; but in both cases, a separate strip should pass from the rest of the strips to each mast ; no injury can then possibly happen below deck. This is a circumstance of considerable importance ; lor tlie conductors wliich are usually de- signed for the masts, are moveable, and injiu'y has often been the consequence of neglecting to place them in their proper situation. The protection of the masts must be managed by extending a metallic body along the stays to as great a height as possible. Chains are frequently employ- ed for tiiis purpose ; but strips of load are cheaper; they are not separated by any interi'uptions ; they are not so liable to injury from the weather and salt water as iron is, and, might be fastened wilhoutan- noying any necessary movement. * (JOPAL. Copal, iniproperly called gum copal, is a hard, shining, transjiarcnt, citron-coloiu'cd, odoriferous, concrete juice of an American tree, procured from natural extulations, but which lias jicilher the soUibiiily in water common to gums, nor tlie solubility in alcohol common to resins, at least in any considerable degree. Ey these pi'ojiertics it resembles anibei". It may be dissolved by digestion in linseed oil with a lieat vory little less than suffi- cient to boil or decompose the oil. This solution, diluted with oil of tuii)entine, forms a beautiful transparent varnish, which, when ])ropcrly apjilied and slowly dried, is vi ly hard, and very durable. This vurnisli is applied to snuff-bo.xes, tea-boards, and other utensils. It pre- serves and gives lustre to paintings, and greatly restores the decayed colours of old pictures, by filling up tlie cracks and rendering thcsurfaccs capable of reflect- ing light more uniformly. See A'arnis'h. COl'PEli. Copper is a malleable and ductile metal of a pale-red colour wiili a tinge of yellow. The ores of this metal arc very nume- rous, and may, with most convenience, be arranged under the eight following varie- ties. Var. 1. Native copper. Its colour is a clear copper-red, often tarnished,externally yellowish, blackish or greenish. It occurs in mass, disseminated, in leaves, in rolled pieces, in grains, capil- lary, filiform, moss-like, dentritical and crystallized. It occiu's in veins and beds in quartz and granite, in slate, porphyry, serpen- tine, hornstone and limestone ; accompa- nied by various other ores of copper, par- ticularly the red oxyd, malachite and copper pyrites ; with galena, honi-silver, native silver, calcareous spar, heavy-spar and fluor. It is very generally, though not often abundantly, diflused. The finest spe- cimens conie from the Tourinski mines on the eastern side of the Uralian moun- tains, from Herrngrund in Hungary, from Saxony, the Hartz, Fahlun in Sweden, and Cornwall. It is said to be remarka- bly abundant in Japan and Brazil, and to contain a considei-able proportion of gold. It is also procured in quantity from the Copper-mine river within the Arctic circle in America. Var. 2. Oxyd of Copper. Sp II. Rui)y Copper. Florid red Cop- per ore, Kirw. Hoth Kupfererz, Werner. Cuivre oxyde rouge, liauy. Of this species there are the following varieties. Var. 1. Lamellar R. C. Blattrigcs R. K. A\'erner. Its colour is cochineal-red, inclining sometimes to lead-grey ; when crystalliz- ed it is of a full carmine-red. It occurs in mass, disseminated and crystallised. It is met with chiefly in veins, and ap- pears to be peculiar to primitive moun- tains : the substances with which it is ac- companied are native coppcpj malachite, and brown iron ochre ; sometimes moun- tain green, copper pyrites and other ores of this metal, also cpiartz, calcareous and heavy spars. It is found in Cornv.all, in Hungary, Saxony, thellartz, Siberia,Veru andChili. ^'ar. 3. Sulphuret of coj^j^er. Its coloia- IS dark lead-gicy passing into blackish grey, it often presents a super- ficial steel-coloured tarnish. It occurs in mass, djiji^eminated, or crystallized. It *occin*S" in veins in slate and some other of the newest primitive rocks, and iji beds in the transition and floetz-rocks- COP COP It is accompanied by copper pyrites, ga- lena, manganese, spathose iron, quartz, heavy spar and fluor; also, though rarely, with malachite and azure copper. When it contains a notable proportion of sliver, it is worked as an ore of that metal, and will accordingly be mentioned again under silver. It is found in Cornwall and Ayrshire, and in many parts of the continent. Var. 4. Arsenicated copper. Its colour is intermediate between sil- ver-white and brass yellow. It occurs in mass or disseminated. Internally it has a slight metaUic lustre. Its fracture is small and fine-gi'ained, uneven. It yields easily to the knife, is brittle and readily frangible. It occurs in veins and beds in primitive mountains, and is generally accompanied by copper pyrites and vitreous copper. It is found in the copper mines of Cornwall, Saxony, Hessia, Silesia, Hungary, Siberia, and Chili in South America. By its colour and arsenical odour when heated, it is distinguished from the sul- phurets of copper. Var. 5. Cai'bonated coppei*. Its principal colour is aiure-blue, which passes into Prussian-blue, indigo blue, and rarely to smalt-blue. It is opake, slightly stains the fingers, and is easily frangible. In borax it dissolves with vehement ebul- lition forming a green glass. Aiure copper occurs in the newer pri- mitive rocks, but more commonly in floetz mountains. It accompanies other ores of copper, especially malachite, grey copper and copper pyrites. The most beautiful specimens come from the Bannat in Hun- gary and Siberia. In the Tyrol it is found in sufficient plenty to be manufactured into the pigment called mountain-blue. Var. 6. Arseniat of copper. Its usual colour is deep sky blue, pass- ing into Prussian-blue ; it is also found of a bright grass-green, passing into apple- green, greenish-white, and bluish-white. It occurs in the Muttrel mine, adjoining to Huel Gorland,accompanled by the same substances as the preceding species. Var. 7. Phosphat of copper. Its colour externally is greyish -black, internally between emerald and verdegrls- green. It is found loose in the bed of a river at Remolinos in Chili, and elsewhere, though rarely, in Spanish South America. Reduction of the Ores. The reduction of copper ores in the large way is on the whole a very simple business, being little else than a succession of roasting and re- ducing pi'ocesses of the simplestkind, till VOL. I. the metal acquires the desired degi-ee of malleability and purity It is to be ob- served, that both arsenic and sulphur ad- here to copper with gi-eat obstinacy, even long after it has assumed the appearance of a pure regulus, and even in very small propoition they make the metal brittle, hard and difficult to work. There are scarcely two works in which precisely the same oi'der is observed in the different I'educing processes (suppos- ing the quality of the ore to be the same) and as the manufacturer is generally sa- tisfied with that which has long been established, and is attended with ordinary success, he seldom enquires whether the labour may be shortened or the expence diminished. The sulphuret of copper which is ob- tained in such vast quantities at the Parys mine in Anglesea, is wrought into rough copper in the following manner. The ore is dug up in large pieces (being mostly obtained by blasting,) and is first broke into smallish lumps by the hammer, chief- ly by women and children, and put into a kiln from wliich proceeds flues that open into a very long closQ pent-house gallery to collect the sulphur. The kiln is covered close, and a little fire is appli- ed to the mass of ore in different jilaces, whereby the whole is gradually kindled. The sulphur then rises in vapour to the top of the kiln, and thence through the flue into the long gallery, where it slowly condenses, and Is afterwards brushed out and further prepai'ed for sale. The mass of ore when once kindled continues to burn of itself with a smouldering heat for about six months, during wliich time the sulphur-chamber is cleared out four times, after which the ore Is sufficiently roasted. The old sulphur-chambers are on a level with the kilns and of the same length and height, or in fact they are a prolongation of the kilns : but the more modern and improved chambers are like llme-kllns, the ore being at the bottom, and the sulphur subliming at the top, with a contrivance to take out the roasted ore, and thus to keep up a perpetual fire. The richest part of the roasted ore is exported without further preparation, but the poorest part is smelted on the spot. It still contains a vast quantity of sulphur and other impurities. The smelting houses are a range of large reverberatory fiu'- naces, thirty-one of which are under the same roof, ranged side by side, in a single long row. They are all air furnaces, the chimneys of which are 41 feet high, which causes a most powerful dranght tlirougli them. The fuel is coal, which is bumed on a grate atthe anterior part of the fur. Gg COP COP jiace, and the flame in drawing up tlie chimney passes over tlie bed of tlie re- verberatory, into which is put 12 cwt. ot the roasted ore, previously mixed with a small portion of coal dust. The ore is liere melted and reduced into a very im- pure regulus, and wlien sufficiently fused, it is drawn off thi-ough a plug--hole into cartlien moulds. A sing'le c barge of the furnace, or 12 cwt. yields half a hundred of rough coj)[)cr, whicli by further purifi- cation affoi ds about 50 per cent, of pure malleublc metal. The furnaces vvoik ofi" a single charge about every five Jjours. TJic copper furnaces inCornwall are also of the reverbatory kind. The ore when drawn up from tiie mine is first broken into pieces no bigger than a hazel-nut, which operation is called cobbing, and the Ijetter sort is picked out by hand. The reduction begins by the process of roast- ing in large I'everberatory furnaces 14 feet by 16, the bottom or bed of which is )iiade of fire bricks, and covered to the thickness of about two feet with silici- ous santl, wiiich runs together by the heat into a scmi-vitrified mass. The chimney is from 40 to 50 feet high, which causes s«ch a powerful draught that the arsenic and sulpbur, separated during the roast- ing, pass almost entirely tlu-ough the chimney into the open air, none of it being collected as at Anglesea. The ore is spread over tlic bottom of the furnace, about afoot tliick,being thrown in tlirougb a kind of funnel or hopjjer just above. The fuel is Welsh coal ; which, as usual, is burnt at the anterior part of the fur- nace, and its flame draws over the surface of the ore in its passage to the chimney. In this furnace, which is called tlie cal- cining furnace, and is the largest of all, the ore is roasted without addition with a dull red heat for 12 hours, and is fi-e- quently in tiat time, stirred witli a long iron rake, introduced through a hole at the further end of the reberveratory, to expose fresh surfaces to the action of the flame. The ore is not melted here, but, ■when roasted sufficiently, it is carried to another furnace, exactly similar to the former, but smaller, tliat is, about 9 feei \)y 6, and here it receives a fusing heat, but still without any addition, except that when the slag does not rise freely, a little calcareous sand is thrown in. At tlie end of every four hours the slag is raked out; it is then of the consistence of soft dougli, and is ladled into oljlo\ig moulds, and a little water is !lest manner - possible, the common copper ores are \ freed from arsenic, sulphur, and earthy matters, and gradually brought to the state of mkUcable copper. Where a va- COP COP riety of ores from different places and of different species are brought to the Same smelting-house (wliich is the case in many of the houses at Swansea and different parts of the Bristol coast) much technical judgment is exercised in sorting the ores and distributing the charges for the fur- nace, in such a manner that the more fu- ^^ble will assist the reduction of the re- j^B6ctor%', and the poorer will be made THpre worth working by the addition of « portion of the richer ores, and the like. Before the copper is converted into plates or bars, the pig of metal, is made red hot, when it is closely beaten toge- ther under the hammer, and cut into pie- ces of the most convenient length, for the purpose wanted, by shears moved by a wheel. Again, those pieces are conveyed to the furnace, when they become red-hot as at first. One of the pieces is carried, at a time, to the flatting mill ; a machine, not much uidike the I'olling press, of a copper-plate printer. The two cylinders are of steel, case-hardened and secured, within a frame of iron. A man stands on each side, and, wiiile the two c}'linders revolve, each in a contrary direciion, one of them lifts up the piece of red hot cop- per with a pair of tongs, and thrusts it be- tween the cylinders, the other man on tlie opposite side securing it with his tongs, as it passes through. This he lifts back again over the upper roller, to the first man, who, by the assistancL of a strong screw, diminishes the distance between the two cylinders, in order to widen and compress the plate still more ; when it is conveyed a second time between them. This screw is tiu'ned for the same reason everj' time before the plate passes between the cvlinders, and thus, by the most sim- ple process imaginable, the plate is gra- duitlly reduced as thin and broad as the workmen desire. By means of a similar machine, the copper is wrought into bars instead of plates, of any form or thickness,with equal facility. For the latter purpose, the smooth surface of both the cylinders, are alike indented with eight, ten, or more distinct grooves, all which differ from each other in width and deptli. The se- ries commences with the largest groove, encircling one end of the cylinder ; the next in point of size succeeds, and thus they diminish gradually to the other ex- tremity of the series, which terminates with the smallest groove. The piece of copper being heated as before, to a fiery redness, the workmen force it between tlie first or largest groove of the adjusted cvlinders, where it receives eitlier the round or angulated form of the groove, fi-om the compression of both the cylin-. ders, as readily as wax in a common mould. Should it be necessary, the bar is conveved in like manner, progressively through the second, third or fourth groove, or tiirough the whole series, till it is reduced to the thickness wanted, the length being increased, as the bulk dimi- nishes. The copper, after receiving its proper form in the flatting mills, and cooling, is of a dusky black, or iron coloiu", and in order to communicate to it that lively liue which is commonly understood to be tlie true complexion of this metal, the plate or bar is heated again for the last time in a furnace, and when red hot is plunged into a i-ecess filled with a saline liquor, wliere it assumes that colour in a few moments, and being withdrawn, the copper is put aside as being finished for exportation The subsequent operations, whereby the ingots or pigs of malleable copper are formed into wire, nails, bolts, and an infi- nite variety of maufactured articles, will be treated on under tlieir respective heads. It may be necessai-y to observe, that the working renders the metal much more uniform, close, and ductile, but this requires to be ti'cquently alternated with annealing at a full red heat, to prevent the metal from cracking under the power- ful pressure to which it is exposed. In the reduction of the copper ores of Xeusol in Hungary, lead is used in the refining part of the process, in the follow- ing manner : the rough copper is spread on the bed of a furnace, and when it has been six hours in fusion, some lead, in the proportion of from 6 to 8 per cent, of the coppej, is thro\vn in, which immediately begins to vitrify and to form a t.hick sco- ria along with the impurities of the cop- per, which is scummed oft' successively till the whole is exhausted ar.d the cop- per remains fine and clear. This process lasts from 10 to 12 hours, with 50 quintals of raw copper. The scorix retain a por- tion of copper, which makes it answer to work them again. The power which the vitrified oxyd of lead has to scorify all metals, except gold, silver and platina, is amply shewn in the process of .issaying, and hence it must hapnen that in refining, some of the cop- per becomes oxidated together with the lead ; but the same process of assaying shews that copper requires a large por- tion of lead for this purpose, and there- fore the latter metal in so small a propor- tion as 6 to 8 per cent- is probably a most useful addition where not too expensive. COP COP For of all the common imperfect metals, copper is that which scorifies and oxi- dates with most difficulty when in fusion, and therefore tlie same method, with some little variety, may be practised to separate lead and tin (for example) from copper, as any or all of tliese metals from silver or gold ; care being taken in the former case not to carry tlie scorification beyond vvliat is necessary to separate the more ea- sily oxidable metals from the copper, which tlien remains in the metallic state. This will he further noticed in the suc- ceeding article of Jllloys of Copper, and the puiification of bell-metal. After the greater part of ti>e lead has been worked oft" as often as is judged necessary, the re- maining copper must be kept for a while longer in fusion, to throw up the last por- tions of lead that may adhere. In assay- ing gold or silver the total expulsion of the lead is known by the fine metal be- coming at once brilliant on the surface, but in refining copper this appeai'ance can never take place, as the copper itself al- ways forms a thin oxyd on its melted sur- face ; and therefore, to judge whether it is pure, the workman dips a polished iron i"od in the melted mass, and draws out a portion of copper adliering to it; which, if pure, immediately falls oft" when the rod is dipped in water. The colour of the scoria is also another test. While the copper remains impure and alloyed with iron, sidphur, &c- the vitrified ox} d on the surface is black or of a dirty brown, but tiie scoria of pure copper is red, and also is readily separated from the iron when cold, leaving no stain behind. The plates of fine red copper, called Ronette Copper are made in the following way. When the refined copper is found, by the way just mentioned, to be suffici- ently pure, the surface of the melted me- tal is well scummed and suffered to cool till it is ready to fix; at which time a work- man brushes it over with a wet broom, which immediately fixes the surface and causes a thin plate to separate from the still fluid metal below. Tiiis plate is taken off" and thrown into water, where it lakes a high red colour, and the same process of wetting the surface is repeated with the remaining fluid metal succes- sively, till tlie whole is reduced to these ihin irregular plates. A considerable quantity of copper is ob- tained from the springs of native sulphat of copper or blue vitriol, which are found in most copper mines or flow from hills containing this metal. To obtain it, the vitriol water is pumped up into large square open pits, two or three feet deep, made with rammed clay, into whioh is thrown a quantity of refuse iron of any kind, a»d suffered to remain for a consi« iderable time, during which the iron is dissolved, displacing, by superior affinity, tlie copper which is precipitated in the form of a brown mud. When the water is thus exhausted of its copper, the pits are raked out, and the oxyd collected from them is simply dried in the sun. It is then fit for reduction in the revcrbeMij^ tory furnaces in the usual manner. TllHr is by far the richest material employed^ • for, though containing scire clay and u'on mixed with the copper, it yields on an average full 50 per cent, of pure metal, and therefore it is seldom smelted by it- self, but mixed with the pooler ores, some of which contain no more than 5 per cent, of metal. Many of the finest copper ores contain so much silver as to make it worth while to extract this last metal by a separate ope- ration, which will be described under the article Silver. In all the different roast- ings and reductions necessary to bring the copper to purity, the silver remains united with it. Acetous acid acts upon copper, when oxydated, and dissolves it with ease into a fine green liquor, readily crystallizable. There is with this, as with many of the otlier cupreous salts, a distinct state of sub- acid and of saturated salt. Both the sub- acetite and the acetite of copper are the products of a manufacture, cai-ri- ed on to a considerable extent in the South of France, and therefore require a fuller description: the sub-acetite being the common verdigris of the shops, and the acetite, being the crystallized, or dis- stilled verdigris, as it is called. This manufacture in its present some- what improved state, is thus described by Chaptal, as carried on at Montpellier. The materials for this manufacture are, 1st. Any refuse matter of the I'ipe grape, the stalks, seeds, &c. but more particularly llie marc or the cake that remains in the wine-press after the greater part of the juice has been extracted. This, when fer- mented, produces the acid requisite to corrode the copper. 2d. Plates of cop- per of convenient size and previously hammered well to smooth the surface, in order that the corroded portion may be conveniently detached, without which preparation too much of the copper would peel off in the scales, without being tho- roughly jienetrated by the acid- The marc of the grape, which may be ke[it tor a good wliile by being close packed in casks, is first fermented, sim- ply by being laid loosely in a large bar- rel, moistened with water (or better w'lW). COP COP wine) and set^a warm airy place. After awhile, sometntfes in a day, at other times in two or three weeks, it heats, swells, and gives a strong smell of vinegai-, and when the fermentation subsides it is fit for use. The richer the grape juice of course the better is the mai'c, and the more perfect will be the subsequent fer- mentation, on which much of the quahty of the verdigris depends. Hence it should not be too closely pressed, or, if poor, it should be moistened with a little ordinary wine. To determine when the marc is sufficiently fermented, a small copper plate is buried in it for twenty-four hours, and if fit, the plate will come out covered uniformly with a green crust. The plates are then all heated scorching hot over a pan of charcoal, and laid regularly in ear- then pots with a layer of the fermented marc at bottom and at top, and interposed between each plate. The pot is then loosely stopped with straw, and the whole left at rest from ten to twenty days. These earthen pots (the same in which the marc is fermented) are about 16 inches high, and 14 in diameter, and the mouth 12 inches. Each holds about 30 or 40 pounds of copper plate, with the re- quisite quantity of marc. When the plates are used for the first time, they are previously prepared, by being rubbed with a rag dipped in a solution of verdigris in water, and suffered to dry. Without this the first produce of verdigris is apt to be black. This is not requu'ed a second time. The earthen pots are emptied when the marc begins to whiten, and if the pro- cess has gone on well, the copper plates are found covered with a green crust in- terspersed with distinct sUky green cry- stals. They ai-e then taken out (tlie marc being thrown away) and set on end face to face on wooden racks in a cellar : an^d when dry they are dipped in water (formerly in wine) and again set to dry, and this is repeated once a week for six or eight times, which makes tliem swell, and in eveiy way improves and enci-eases the crop of verdigris, which is finally scraped off with a knife without difficulty. Every pot yields about five or six pounds of rough verdigiis, and the plates, after this is separated, will serve again repeat- edly till they are corroded quite through. The verdigris is sold by the maker in the rough stale, and is further prepared by being well ground in wooden mortars and exposed to the air on skins till suf- ficiently dry, in which process it loses nearly half its weight. The whole of the manufacture of the rough verdigris is a part of household business in the wine- farms about Montpellier, and is generally done by the women. It requires little at- tendance, and no other capital than the expence of the copper plates and earthen jars. Verdigris thus prepared may be con- sidered as copper osydated by the action of the acetous acid of the fermented ma- terials, united with water, and a small portion of undecomposed acetous acid, together with pai-t of the extractive or mucilaginous matter of the marc. In this state it is insoluble, or nearly so, in wa- ter. The colour is a fine green, and it is used more largely as a pigment than any other cupreous preparation. Verdigris is however completely solu- ble in an additional portion of vinegar, and the result is tlie perfect acetite of copper, a beautiful crjstallizable salt, sold at a a very high price in the shops under the name of distilled verdigris. It is prepa- red from common verdigris in Holland and France, and .Montpellier ; the process which is followed at the latter place is very simple, and is thus described by tlie same accurate observer. Common \-ine- gar is first distilled in a copper alembic, which seems to be a process constantly going on in the small way in most of the vintage farms in the neighbourhood. This is put witli common verdigris into a copper boiler, and, when a hot saturated solution is made, it is strained and let oft' to another copper evaporating vessel, where it is boiled down till a crust ot' the salt appears on the surface. A light frame of sticks in cross-bars is then sunk in the liquor and the fire put out. On cooling, the acetite of copper crusts around the sticks in most beautiful clus- ters of rhomboidal crystals of a fine deep blue-green colour. When these are dried and finely powdered, they form a greeu pigment of great beauty and value. It requires about three pounds of verdigris to make one pound of the crystallized acetite. The part which remains undis- solved in the nnegar consists of an im- perfect oxjd or acetite, which used to be throwTi away, but as Chaptal has ob- served, when moistened occasionally with vinegar, and exposed to the ah', it yields a Iresh quantity of verdigris, and is then readily soluble in vinegar. According to Chaptal, two kinds of verdigris are particularly distinguished in France, that of Montpellier, and that of Grenoble. The latter is prepared in a different manner from that already de- scribed, no fermented refuse of the \'in- tage being here used, but the process is chiefly to dispose plates of copper in a pro- per room, and to moisten them repeat- edlv with distilled vL'.eerar till the surface COP COP is sufficiently oxydated and converted into verdigris. The former is somewhat cheaper, and is preferred in painting, tiie latter is more used in dyeing. The uses of copper, in all its various states, are almost endless, and only, if at all, inferior in number to those of iron. Besides the variety of uses for which cop- per and its alloys are employed in the me- tallic state, various pigments and dyeing materials are obtained from its salts, and the oxvd is used to give an emerald green to coloured glasses and enamels. See Colour-Making, Dyeing and Glass. All the salts of copper are more or less poisonous, producing violent nausea, and the severest pain and inflammation of the alimentary canal. Yet from the sudden vomiting which they excite, a large dose may be given with safety, and this is some- times used when it is necessary imme- diately to empty the stomach. COPPER, Mloys of. The alloys of copper (that is, those In which this metal predominates) are more numerous and more important in the arts, than those of any other metal. Many of them are perfectly well known, and have been in use from very ancient times ; of many the exact composition, and particu- larly the mode of jireparing, are kept as secret as possible ; for, even when tlie pre- cise coniposltlon of an alloy is foimd by chemical analysis, it may often be ex- tremely difficult to produce a mixture by common methods, which shall have ex- actly llie same shade of colour, the same malleability, texture, susceptibility of po- lish, or some othei- excellence, which, per- haps, a mere accident has discovered to the possessor. Another circumstance of infinite consequence to the manufacturer, is the ordinary state of piu'ity of the mate- rials he employs, and this alone will ac- count f()r the great superiority of one ma- nufacture over anothei' ; thus, the Swe- dis!) cojiper is commonly purer than the Brilisi), and makes more malleable alloys, the English tin better than most of the "fo- reign, and the like The princi!)al objects of alloying copper, appc ar to lie to render it less liable to tarnish, and especially to be acted on by common animal or vegetable substances, (which, when it is used for culinary purpo- ses, is of extreme importance) : to make it more fusible, and harder, and able to take a higher polisii ; and to alter its colour either to a golden yellow or a silvery white. All these objects are attainable by tlifVerent alloys. Copper with Gold, Silver, and Platina. Tiiese are seldom if- ever used in the proportions in which they would be al- loys of copper, being mucnii too costly for any purpose of manufiicture, considering the great deterioration of the more valua- ble metals ; with this exception, however, tliat a very small portion of silver much improves the composition of the alloy of copper and tin, when used as bell -metal, or speculum-metal. Copper is used large- ly as an alloy of gold and silver, and it is often plated with one or the other. This subject we shall refer to these metals re- spectively. Copper ixiith Arsenic. Arsenic has, beyond any. other metal, the effect of wliitening copper, but as it is readily evaporated in fumes at less than a red heat, and therefore at a temperature much below the melting point of copper, some management is required to effect a combination of the two. It seems, some put the arsenic in a small crucible, in- vetting it over the smelted copper and for- cing it down to the bottom, holding it there till all the arsenic has passed through. . By repeating this several times, the copper may probably be more fully sa- turated with arsenic, observing each time to give no more heat than i equisite. This alloy is quite white, of a very close texture, but perfectly brittle. Vauquelin has observed, >Hhat when equal parts of silver and coppcrare alloy- ed (which by themselves make a pale yel- low mixtvu'e) the addition of so little as 2 of arsenic to 100 of the alloy gives a per- fect whiteness, whilst the ductility and malleability remains. Beyond 5 per cent, of arsenic the alloy beghis to be brittle, w'ithout increasing in whiteness. Arsenic is used in small cjuantity in some of tlie more compotmd white alloys of copper, ])articularly in spesulum-metal. Copper ivith Iron. These only unite when the iron is iu small quantity. 'I'he alloy is grey, hard, and somewhat brittle. Tutenag is a M'hite alloy of copper, zinc, and iron, according to Keir, which is very iiard, tough, and sufficiently ductile to be wrought into vaiious articles of furniture, sucli as candle-sticks, &,c. which take a high polish, and when made of tlie better sort of tutenag are hardly distinguishable from silver. The inferior kinds are still white, but with a brassy yellow. Tlie Chinese Fetong 'is another fine, while, malleable alloy of coppei-, the com- position of wliich is not exactly known, but it contains a small portion of silver. Neither of the above metals are imitable by the common processes. Copper viith V.ecirf. COP COP Copper with about a fourth of its weight of lead forms pot-metal. The ancient llo- man pot-metal, according to PHny, was composed of lOO of copper, 2 of lead, and 2 of tin. The same ingredients, but with more of the two latter^ were the materials of many of tlie ancient Greek and Sicilian coins. Copper Hxith Zinc. Copper nearly saturated with zinc, that is, in which the latter makes about a fourth (more or less) of the mixture, forms brass, the most important of all the alloys of this metal, and whieh has been described under that article. With a much less proportion of zinc the colour of the alloy approaches very nearly to that of gold, and the malleability increases. Mix- tures chiefly of these two metals are used to form a variety of yellower gold-colour- ed alloys, known by the names of Tombac, JManhcitn or Dutch Gold, Tinsel, Similar, Prince Rupert's Metal, Pinchbeck, &,c. but the precise composition varies according' to the fimcy or the experience of different manufacturers. The Dutch gold may be beaten out into extremely fine leaves, which, when fresh, have nearly the bril- liancy of gold-leaf, and are used as a cheap imitation of it, but they tarnish very soon- The mixture may be made either by di- rectly melting copper and zinc, or, bj- , mixing brass and copper. In either case, the copper should be melted first, and the zinc added afterwards ; the whole stirred together with wood, covering it with a lit- tle charcoal, and poured out immediately, to prevent the loss, by the burning ofl' of the zinc. Several dii'ect experiments on the union of copper and zinc, in different propor- tions, were made by Margraaf In all, the copper was the purest Japanese, and the mixture was made in the way above- mentioned. With 8 drams of copper, and as much zinc, much of the latter una- voidably burnt off, and the alioy, only weighed 12, instead of 16 drams — the mixture was haid, brittle, yellow, and of a radiated texture. With 16 drums of cop- per, and 8 of zinc ; the loss by burning, was only J^ of a dram. The alloy was soft- er than the last, still radiated, yellow, and began to be a little malleable. From this, successively diminishing the proportions of zinc, the alloy became softer, more malleable, and of a colour, more and more appi-oaching to gold : and at last, with 1 1 or 12 of copper, and 1 of zinc, the finest golden tombac was produced. Accord- ing to Wiegleb, theManheim gold is made by melting separately, 3 parts of copper, and 1 of zinc, mixmg them, covwing with charcoal, stirring with a stick, and cool- ing immediately. These proportions scarcely differ from those of some kipds of brass. Beaume gives for the same me- tal, 4 of copper, and 1 of zinc, whence it is obvious, that the proportions are quite arbitrary ; but it appears that the alV»v is not made, as brass i?, hy cementation, but by simple mixture of t''e metals. A %'ery small qiwmtity of tin is sometimes em- ployed ; but this metal has the disadvan- tage of remarkably diminishing the mal- leability of copper and its alloys. A fine malleable tombac is made, however, with 16 of copper, 1 of zinc, and 1 of tin. An alloy of 12 of brass, and 1 of tin, is scarcely malleable. A kind of tombac, is the material, of which a large proportion of the Roman coins were composed. Klaproth, on ana- lyzing several, struck during the first cen- tury of the emperors, found them all to consist either of pure copper, or of cop- per and zinc ; in which t])c latter metal made generally, from a fifiii to a sixth of the mass. A httle tin and lead were found in some, but in such small proportion as to appear only an accidental impurity. Copper with Tin. ' The alloys of co])per and tisi, are ex- tremely important in the arts, and ciu-ious as chemical mixtures. They form in dif- ferent proportions, mixtures, which have a distinct and appropriate use Tin add- cd to copper, makes it more fusible, much less liable to rust or corrosion, by com- mon substances, harder, denser, and more; sonorous. In these respects, the alloy ha.'^. a real advantage over unmi.ved copper; but tliis is, in many cases, more than counterbalanced by the extreme bi-ittle- ness, which even a moderate portion of tin imparts, and which is a singular circum- stance, considering how very malleable both metals are before mixture, and the remarkable softness and ductility of tin. The sensible qualities of the differen*. mixtures, are the following :— Copper al- loyed with from 1 to about 5 per cent- of tin, is much harder than before, the colour }ellow, with a cast of red, and the fracture granular. It is still con.siderably mallea- ble. An alloy, in which the tin is from one -tenth to one-eighth of the whole, is hard, brittle, but still a little malleable, ciose-grained, and yellow ish-whiie. — Where the tin is as much as one-fourth of the mass, it is entirely brittle, and continues so in every higlier proportion. The yellowness is not entirely lost till the tin is above seven twenty-thirds of the whole. Copper, or sometimes copper with a lit- tle zinc, alloyed with as much tin as will make from about one-tenth to about one- COP COT fifth of the wliole, forms an alloy which is tlie principal, and often the only composi- tion for bells, brass cannon (so called) bronze statues, and several smaller pur- poses ; and hence it is called Bronze, or Bell-Metal, (always observing, that tliere is no perfect unitiirniity in the different al- loys under these names, either in the pro- portion or die actual number of ingredi- ents) and it is excellently fitted for these purposes, by its hardness, density, sono- rousness, and fusibility, wliereby the mi- nute parts of iioUow moulds may be readi- ly filled, before it fixes in cooling. For cannon, a lower portion of tin seems to be used. According to Dr. Watson, the me- tal used at Woolwich, is 100 parts of cop- per, and 8 to 12 of tin. Hence, it still re- tains some little malleability, and of course, is tougher than with more tin. Bronze cannon, are much less liable to rust than those of iron ; but in large ])ie- ces of ordnance, by very rapid firing, the touch-hole is apt to melt down, and spoil the piece. On account of the sonorous- ness of bronze, these cannon give a much sharper report than those of iron, which, for a time, impairs the liearing of the peo- ple that work them. A common alloy for bell-metal, is about 10 of copper to 20 of tin ; or, where copper, brass, and tin are used, the copper is from 70 to 80 per cent, including the portion contained in the brass, and the remainder is tin, and zinc. The zinc certainly makes it more sono- rous. Antimony is also often found in small quantity in bell-metal. Some of the finer kinds, used for small articles contain also a little silver, which much improves the sound. When the tin is nearly one-third of the alloy, it is then most beautifully wliite, with a lustre almost like that of mercury, extremely hard, very close-grained, and perfectly brittle. In this state it takes a most beautiful polish, and is admirably fitted for the reflexion of light, for all op- tical purposes. It is then called sfieculuin metal, which however, for the extreme perfection required in modern astronomi- cal instruments, is better mixed with a very small proportion of other metals, par- ticularly arsenic, brass, and silver. But, the basis of these compositions is coi)per, alloyed with nearly half its weight of tin. The use of this alloy for the same purpose, is of great antiquity, and certainly was in frequent use in the time of Pliny. Klap- roth analyzed a portion of an ancient spe- culum, and found it to consist of 62 parts of copper, 32 of tin, and 8 of lead, which last was probably an adulteration of the ' in, and not added designedly. When more tin is added) the allov lo- ses its splendid whiteness, for which it Is so valuable as a mirror, and becomes more of a blue-grey. The speculum metal is, tlierefore, in the highest proportion of alloy of tin, that copper will admit for any tiseful purpose. An alloy, containing 6 of copper, 2 of tin, and 1 of arsenic, is nearly the proportion of Sir I. Newton's specula, which is very good, but polishes somewhat yellow. See Brass. COPPERAS, a name given to green vi- triol, or sulphatof iron. It is purified and prepared in the same manner as alum and saltpetre, being passed through several lixivia till it is wholly reduced to crystal. It is used in dyeing wool and hats black, in making ink, tanning leather, and in preparing a kind of Spanish brown, or colcothar, for painters. A patent was granted in May, 1791> to Mr. William Murdock, of Redruth, Corn- wall, for a method of making (from the same materials, and from processes en- tirely new) copperas, vitriol, and differ- ent sorts of dye, or dyeing stuff, paints, and colours. The patentee directs any quantity of what remains after tlie calcination of mun- dic, or such other ores as contain sul- phur, arsenic, and iron, to be washed in water; which is to be placed on the top, or on any other part of the kiln, house, or oven, while the mundic or other ores are burning ; the heat of which will cause the water to evaporate ; or the water may be evaporated to a crystallizing point, by exposing it to the heat of the sun ; after wliich it should be suffered to stand for 24 hours, or longer, wheji crys- tals of copperas, or green vitriol, will be produced. From this process arises a considerable saving ; as the ores remain- ing after fusion may be applied to various chemical purposes. See Ieon. CORN. See Agriculture. COTTOX is a soft, downy substance, found on the gossypium or cotton plant, which is of tlie shrubby kind ; and when full grown, resembles the raspberry shrub. There are different species of gossy- pium, all the natives of warmer climates. 1. The common herbaceous cotton, which creeps along the ground, lias yellow flow- ers, succeeded by large oval i)ods, fur- nished with seeds and cotton. 2. The hairy American cotton, has hairy stalks, two or three feet high. 3, The Bai-ba- does shrubby cotton, has a shrubby stalk, branching four or five feet high. 4. The tree cotton, has an upright woody stalk, brandling* six or eight feet high. The flowers and pods of the thi'ee latter spe- COT CUT cies are like those of t!ie first. The three | ledonss of the comnion bean, and as soon species first enuriieraied are annual; but as they appear above ground, the weakest the fourtli is pereimiai, both in stalk and are pulled up, and none left but tliose root; and the common herbaceous cotton j which are strong and vigorous. In the is the plant most generally cultivated. j months of June and July, great cave is The cottoii shrub is propagated by the j taken to hoe the eartli gently around them, seed, which is sown in regular iines, i and the crop is collected in the montJis of about five feet asunder, at the 1 itter end j October and November. As some little of September, or beginning of October; 'time is requisite before the seed can be and at first but slightly covered, but af- ter it springs up, and becomes a plant, the root is wed moulded, and the ground hoed frequently. When the pods are come to maturity they burst o|)en and disclose their seeds, iiueimixed widi the flock or wool. When grea.. part, ot the pods are thus expanded the crop begins. The wool is picked, and afitrwards clear- ed from the seeds by a convenient ma- chine, of very simple contrivance, called a gin, composed of two or ti.ree wooden rollers, ranged horizontally, close and pa- rallel to eacii other, in a frame; at each extremity they are toothed, or clianiielled longitudinally, corresponding 0:16 witli the other; and the centriil roller being moved witli a treadle, m;Jies the other two re- volve in a contrary direction. The cotton is laid, 11 small quantities at a time, upon these rollers, whilst they are in n).;tion, and readily passing between them, diops into a s;xk, placed underneath to receive it, leaving tlie seeds behind, which are too lai'ge to pass with it. The wool thus discharged from the seeds, comes after- wards to be handpicked, and cleansed thoroughly from any Little particles of the pods, or other substances whicii may be adiiering to it. It is then stovrtd in large bags, where it is well trod by a negi-o whilst it is thrown in, that it may Ue close and compact; and the better to answer this purpose, some water is every now and then sprinkled upon the outside of the bag 1 he fiioest sort of cotton comes fi-om the island of Bourbon; then follow the growths of the Brazils, Berbice, Surri- nam, Tobago, Garohna, Georgia, Sec. diat of Surat in the East Indies, is the most in- ferior kind. The Cyprus cotton, on account of its whiteness, softness, and the length of its filaments, is accounted the best of the Le- vant cotton. The season for sowing the cotton plant in the Southern States, is the month of April, or earlier. The ground for that fi-eed from its cover or husk, the first ex- porlation does not take place till Feb- ruary or March, the year following. See SpixNiN'G See also Bleach- ing. CREAM, the most oily part of milk: it is speclficalh lightei' than the other con- stituent parts, collects aid floats on the surface, whence h is gent; rally skimmed, in order to separate effectually the caseous and serous parts employed for the mak- ing of But I ER and Cheese, to which we refer. Cream is an agreeable and verv nou- rishing article of food, when fresh ; bi.* too fat and difficult to be digested by persons of a sedentary hfe, or possessed of a weak stomach; It is nevertheless of considera- ble service in medicine, as h lenient (ti-.'jugh palliative) application to tetters and erysipelas, which are attended with pain, and proceed from acrid humours. A JMethod of Preserving Cream.- — Take 12 ounces of white sugar, and dissolve them in the smallest possil)le quanuty of water, ove:- a moderate fire After the soluti-ni has taken place, tlie sugar ought to be boiled for about two minutes in an eartlun vessel; when 12 ounces of new cream should be immediately added, and the whole uniformly mixed, while hot. Let it then gradually cool, and pour it into a bottle, which must be carefulh' corked. If kept m a cool place, and not exposed to the air, it may be preserved in a sweet state for several weeks, and even months. CRUCIBLE. See Pottery. CUTLERY As the cutler's art can only be acquired by practice, a minute theoretical treatise on this subject, be- comes unnecessary. Bu' as the temper- ing and setting of edge tool instruments consdtutes the great desideratum of the art, (which however are seldom attended to, farther than appearance favours the disposal of the article,) we shall for the information of tl)Ose*who are desirous of chrections, uisert an abridgement of an purpose is prepared in the same manner excellent paper, by Mr. Nicholson, w as that of corn fields. Furrows being formed in the earth, the seeds are put into them in the same manner as French beans. Ihe young plants come up with two yawning lobes, exactly like the coty- VOI.. 1, ho received has information from Mr. Slod- dai-t, a celebrated workman of the Strand, London. " Cut steel is used for all works which do not require welding,and particularly for H h CUT CUT fine cutlery. Huntsman's steel is used, but it is inferior to that formerly sold under tliat name. The best rule is to liarden as little as possible above the state intend- ed to be produced by tempering. Work overheated, has a crumbly edjje, and will not afford the wire, hereafter to be de- scribed. The proper heat is a cherry red, visible by day liglit. No advantage is obtained from the use of salt in the water; or cooling that fluid, or fi'om using mercu- ry instead of water; but it may be remarked that questions respecting the fluid, are, properly speaking, applicable only to files, gravers, and such tools as are intended to tbe left at the extreme of hardness Yet, though, Mr. Stoddart, did not seem to at- tachmuch value to pecuUarities,in the pro- cess of hardening, he mentioned it as the observation and practice of one of his workmen, that the charcoal fire should be made up with shavings of leather: and upon being asked what good he supposed the leather could do, this workman re- plied, that he could take upon himself to say, that he never had a razor crack in the hardening since he had used this me- thod, though it was a very common acci- dent before. To heat thicker parts before the slight- er arc burned away, plunge the piece in- to pure lead, containing little or no tin, ignited to a moderate redness, for a few seconds, that is to say, until when brought near the surface, that part does not ap- pear less luminous than the rest. The piece is then stii'red about in the bath, suddenly drawn out, and plunged into a large mass of water. In this manner a plate of steel may be hardened, so as to be perfectly brittle, and yet continue so sound, as to ring like a bell. The letting down, or tempering of hard ptcel, is considered as absolutely neces- sary for the production of a fine and du- rable edge. It has been usual to do this by heating the hardened steel, till its bright surface exhibits some known co- lour by oxidation. 'l"he first is a very faint straw colour, bccomhig deeper und deeper, by increase of heat, to a fine deep golden yellow, which cliauges irre- gularly to puri)lc, tlien to an uniform bine, succeeded by white, and several I'aiut re- petitions of those series. It is well known, that the hardest state of tempered instru- ments, is iiidi'^atedlby this straw colour, that a deeper colour is required for lea- ther cutters' knives, and other tools that reqviire the edge to be turned on one side; that the blue vvliich indicates a good tem- per for springs, is almost too soft for any cutting instrument except saws, and such tools as arc sharpened with a file, and that the lower states of hardness, are not at all adapted to this use. But it is of consider- able importance, that the letting down or tempering, as well as hardening, should be effected by heat equally applied, and that the temperature, especially at the lower heats, where greater hardness is to be left, should be more precisely :i!*cer- tained, than can be done, by the difl'erent states of oxidation. Mr. Hartley first prac- tised the metliod of immersing hard .steel in heated oil, or, the fusible compovmd of lead five parts, tin three, and bismuth eight ; oil is preferable to the fusible mix- ture for several reasons. . Mr- Nicholson gives an account of the temperatures at which the colours make their appearance upon hardened steel, while floatnig in the / fusible mixture. The cutting instrument being forged, hardened, and let down or tempered, it • is ground upon a grindstone, of a fine close grit, called a Bilson grindstone, and sold at the tool shops of l^ondon at a mo- derate price. The cutlers use water; the face of the work is rendered finer by sub- sequent grinding- upon mahogany cylin- ders, witit emery of different fineness, or upon cylinders faced with hard pewter, called laps, which are preferable to those with a wooden face. The last polish is given upon a cylinder, faced with buff lea- ther, to which crocvis, or the red oxide of iron is applied with water. This last ope- ration is attended with considerable dan- ger of heating the work, and almost in- stantly reducing its temper along the thii} edge, which at the same time acquires the colours of oxidation. The setting now remains to be perform- ed, which is a work of mud' delicacy and skill ; the tool is first whetted upon a lione with oil, by rubbing it backwards and forwards. In all the processes of grind- ing or wearing down the edge, but more especially in the setting, the artist ap- pears to prefer that stroke which leads the edge according to the action of cutting, instead of making the back run first along the stone. This proceeding is very judi- cious ; for if there be any lump or parti- cle of stone, or other substance lying up- on the face of the grinder, and the back of the tool be first run over it, it will pro- ceed beneath tiie edge, and lift it up, at the sarnc time producing a notch. But on the other hand, if the edge be made to move foremost, and meet such a particle, it will slide beneath it, and sufler no in- jury. Another condition in wliilting is, lliat the hand should not bear heavy ; be- cause it is evident, that tiic same stone, must produce a more uniform edge if the steel be worn away by many, tluui by CUT CYD few strokes. It is also of essential impor- tance, tliat the hone itself' should be of a fine texture, or that its siliceous particles should be very minute. Mr. Stoddait in. forms me, that there are no certain crite- ria by which an excellent hone can be dis- tin<»uislied, from on« of ordinary value, excepting those derived from the actual use of both : that the Turkey stone cuts fast, but is never found witli a very fine grit : that the yellow hone is most gene- rally useful, and that any stone of this kind requires to be soaked in oil, and kept wet with, that fluid, or otherwise its effect will be the same as that of a coai-ser stone under the better treatment : and lastly, that there is a green hone found in the old pavement of the streets of London, ■which is the best material yet inovjn for finishing a fine edge. The grindstone leaves a ragged edge, which it is the first effect of whetting to reduce so thin, that it may be bended backwards and forwards. This flexible part is called the wire, and if the whet- ting were to be continued too long,it would break off" in pieces without regularity, leaving a finer, though, still very imper- fect edge, and tending to produce acci- dents, while laying on the face of the stone. The wire is taken off by raising tlie face of the knife, to an angle of about 50 degrees, with the surface of the stone. These strokes produce an edge, the faces of which are incUned to each otlier, in an .angle of about 100 degrees, and to which the wire is so slightly adherent, that it may often be taken away entire, and is easily removed, by lightly di-awing the edge along the finger nail. The edge thus cleared, is generally very even ; but it is too thick, and must again be reduced by whetting. A fine wire is h\ this means produced, which will require to be again taken off", if for want of judgment, or of de- licacy of hand, the artist should have car- ried it too far. But we will suppose the obtuse edge to be very even, and the se- cond w'u'e to be scarcely perceptible. In this case the last edge will be very acute, but neither so even nor so strong, as to be durably useful. The finish is given by two or more al- ternate light strokes, with tlie edge slant- ing foremost, and the blade of the knife raised, so that its plane forms an angle of about 28 degrees with the face of the stone. This is the angle which by care- ful observation and measurement, I find Mr. Stoddart habitually uses for the finest surgeons' instruments, and which he con- siders as the best for razors, and other keen cutting tools. The angle ofthe edge, is therefore about 56 degrees. The excellence and uniformity of a fine edge may be ascertained, by its mode of operation when lightly drawn along the surface of the skin, or leather, or any or- ganized soft substance. Lancets are U-ied by suffering the point to drop gently through a piece of thin soft leather. If the edge be exquisite, it will not only pass \Wth facility, but there wlU not be the least noise produced, any more, than if it had dropped in water. This kind of edge cannot be produced, but by performing tlie last two or more strokes on the green hone. The operation of strapping is similar to tliat of grinding or whetting, and is performed by means of the angular parti- cles of fine crocus, or other material, bed- ded in the face ofthe strap. It requires less skill than the operation of setting, and is very apt, from the elasticity ofthe strap, to enlarge the angle of the edge, or round ^ it too much." (|| CYDER, or Cider, a sharp, cool, and vinous beverage, made by fermenting the juice of apples. Some connoisseurs in this liquor are of opuiion, that the juice ofthe more delicate table-fruit is gene- rally more cordial and pleasant than that of the wild or harsh kinds ; though others assert the latter to be in many respects preferable. The apples should remain on the tree till the\' are thoroughly ripe, when they ought to be gathered with the hand in dry weather, that they may be protected both fix)ra bruises and fi-om moisture. They ai'e then to be sorted, according to their various degrees of maturity, and laid in separate heaps, in order to sweat ; in con- sequence of which they greatly improve. This practice, however, appears to be useful only for such fruit as is not per- fectly ripe, though some recommend it as being proper for all apples. The duration of the time of sweating may be determined ' by the flavour of the fruit, as different kinds requu-e various lengths of time ; namely, from eight or ten days to six weeks. The harsher and moie crude the apples are, the longer it is necessary that they should remain in a sweating state, and not only be well dried, but the rotten parts carefully pared, before they are ex- posed. The utility of the sweating practice is acknowledged in all the cyder countries/ though various metliods have been adopts ed in following it ; as the apples are piled either in the open air, or under cover in houses. In the South-hams, a middle way has been adopted, to avoid the fermenta- tion occasioned by pllijig them up in rooms, and which we recornmend as tke CYD CYD best and most rational. Heaps of tVuit arc raised in an open part of tlie orchaid, where by means ot a free air undies:-. Iteui., the desired maturity is (gradually eHecled with an inconsiderable waste of the juice and decay of the fruit, which thus be- comes almost tt>tatly divesledof rancidity. And liioug-li a few :.j)j)ies will rot even in this manner, vhey are still fit for use : all of them continue iilun.p a'ld full of juice, and heighten in a considerable degree the colour of the liquor, without imparting to it any disagreeable smell or taste. i The fruit is tiicn to be ground till the rind and kernels are well bruised; a pro- cess which will considerably improve the flavour and strength of the liquor : when it should be allowed to stand for a day or two, m a large open vessel. It is next pressed between several hair-cloths, and the liquor received in a vat, whence it is removed into casks, which ought to be placed in a cool situation, or in the free air, with their bung-liolcsopen. These casks are to be sedulous!} watched, till the cyder drops Jint, when it is to be im- mediately racked off ti'om the lees into other vessels. I he first racking is a most important operation ; as cyder, which is suftcMcdto become foul again, by missing the first opportunity of racking it wlien fine, will never become what is c;lled a prhne liquor. After the clear part has been i-acked off, a quantity of lees or di-egs remains, which, when filiered through coarse linen bags,yields a bright strong, but extremely fiat liquid : if this be added to tlie former portion, it will greatly contribute to pi-c vent fermentation, an excess of which will make the cyder thin and acid. To avoid such an acci- dent, the casks should neither be entirely filled, nor stopped down too close ; and, if the whole incline to ferment, it ought again to be racked. This latter operation, howevet, should on no account he re- peated, unless from absolute necessity ; as every ruci-ing diminishes its strength. When there arc no signs of any farther fermentation, the casks should be filled up with cyder of tlic best quality, and the bung-hole firmly closed with resin. Some farmers, however, instead of racking, _/?«« it with isinglass, steeped in white-wine, dissolved over the fire, ajid then boiled in a quaiaity of the li- quor intended to be lined: in this state, it is added to that in the cask. Others, instead of dissohing the Isinglass over the fire, digest it in white wine for the space of four or five weeks, during which time it acquires the consistency of u jelly ; a quantity of this being beaten up with some of the liquor, the whole is worked into a froth, and mingled with the I est, As soon as the cyder becomes clear, it is drawn, or bottle J off, as occa- sion may reqiure. Those who are anxbus to prepare good cyder, ought diligently to watch every change of the weather, however slight; as the least neglect, at such times, is of- ten detrimental to many hogsheads. In summer, the danger is much greater than in winter. There is, however, scarcely any distemper incident to this liquor, which may not, by a tmielj application, be easily remedied If it become some- what tart, about half a peck of good wheat, boiled and hulled in a manner si- milar to rice, may be put into each hogs- head, which will effectually restoie it; and also coniiibute to preserve it, when drawn out of one cask into another. Such a remedy is doubtless far preferable to that odious custom jn-actised by too niinj cyder merchants, who put animal substances into their liquors, namely, veal, pork, beef, mutton, and even horse- fiesli, for the purpose of fining them. This singular expedient, though sanction- ed by the usage of our ancestors, we think it our duty to reprobate ; because it is fraught with mischievous effects on the constitution of those, who are doomed to di ink the c) tier thus adulterated. By al- lowing a small c^uantity to stand, in an ' open vessel, lor two or three days in a warm i-oom, the fetid exhalation of the liquor will easily discover its ingredients. iVlany estates where the soil is not pro- ■ per tor coni, might be greatly improved ; in value, bj cultivating the different sorts of apples that are used in making cyder, ; which finds at all times a ready market, ', and requires no fuel in brewing it ; be- ' sides that the labour occurs only once [every year. The greater the quantities of cyder made together, the better it usu- ally succeeds; but it will be necessary I that the vessels hi which the liquor is to be kept, be capacious and well seasoned. In ihis case, it will not only r«main sound for a great number of years, but also pro- gressively imjjrove. An ingenious Treatise on Cyder, in 4to. was publislied in tiie year 1804, in which the reader will find several perti- nent instructions relative to this sub- ject. Apples thrive well in all the states of United America, except in the low lands of the maratime parts of Carolina and Georgia. In such a variety of soils and climates, apples of great di\ersity of taste and flavour must necessarily grow. CYD CYD The cyder made from these apples ac- cordingly differs very much; but in a ge- neral way it may be safely asserted, that the cyder of ihe United States equals tliat of any part of the world. There have been numerous recipes published to make cyder, some of which have occasioned considerable losses. A few general and important rules will be given, for insuring good cyder, and after- wards some particular du-ections founded on experience. 1. The fi"st and indispensible requisite for making good cyder, is to to choose perfectly ripe and sound fruit. Farmers, in general, are very inattentive to these points, but it is utterly impossible to make good cyder unless they be attended to. 2. The apples ought to be hand pick- ed, or caught in a sheet, when the tree is shook When chey fall on the ground they become bruised, and as it frequently happens that they remain for some hours before pressing, the apples are apt to communicate a bad taste to the liquor from the bruised part. 3. After having sweated, and before being gi-ound, the apples should be wiped, in order to remove a clammy moisture which covers them, and which, if permit- ted to remain, would impoverish the cy- der. 4. The practice above noted to press the pumice in hair cloths is certainly much preferable to the common American cus- tom of inclosing it in bands of straw, be- cause the straw, when heated in the mow or stack, gives the cyder a bad taste. 5. After cyder has run from the press, it has been directed to strain it through hair sieves into a lai-ge open vat, which will contain a whole making, or as much as can be pressed in one day. When the cyder has remained in this vat a day, or sometimes less, according to the ripeness of the fruit of which it has been made, and the state of the weather, the pumice, or grosser pai-ts of the pulp, will rise to the top, and in a few hours, or after a day or two at furthest, will grow very thick, and when little white bubbles break through it, draw it off through a cock or faucet hole, within three Inches from the bottom, that the lees may quietly remain behind. This operation is of great importance, as the sinking of the feculent matter would greatly injure the liquor. 6. On drawing off the cyder from the vat, it must be tunned into clean casks, and closely watched, to prevent the fer- mentation ; when therefore white bubbles, as mentioned above, are perceived at the bung hole, rack it again, immediately af- ter which it will probably not ferment un- til March, when it must be racked off as before, and if possible in clear wea- ther. 7. It is of gi-eat consequence to prevent the escape of the carbonic acid, or fixed au-, from cyder, as on this principle all its briskness depends. To effect this, va- rious expedients have been contrived. In the state of Connecticut, where much cy- der is made, it is a common practice to pour a tumbler of olive oil into ihe bung- hole of every cask. Upon the same prin- ciple we have lately heard of a man, who j boasted that he had drank brisk beer out of the same cask for Jive years, and that I his secret was to cover the surface of the liquor with olive oil. Dr. Darwin also says he was told by a gentleman who made a considerable quantity of cyder on his estate, that he procured vessels of stronger construction than usual, and that he directed the apple juice, as soon as it had settled, to be bunged up close ; and that though he had had one vessel or two occasionally burst by the expansion of the fermenting liquor, yet that this rarely occurred, and that his c)'der never failed to be of the most excellent quality, and was sold at a great price. To prevent a succeeding fermentation, put in a handful of powdered clay, and to preserve it, add one quart of apple brandy to each barrel : every cask must be filled up, and closely bunged. 8. When care has been taken to pre- vent the precipitation of the feculent mat- ter which rises in the cyder, good liquor will generally fine without artificial means; but sometimes it is necessary to fine after the last racking, when the above men- tioned article has been found to answer very effectually if used in the following way. For a barrel : cut one ounce of isin- glass fine, put it into a pint of water, stir it frequently, and make a thick jelly. Di- lute this with cyder, strain and mix it well with the liquor in the cask, by means of a long clean stick. An ounce of orris root, in powder, gives a pleasant flavour to cyder. A friend directs cyder to be bottled in July, to fill the bottles within two inches of the top, letting them stand twelve hours open before corking. Use strong porter bottles, and the best velvet corks. The bottling should be done in clear weather. The following communication on the making and fining of cyder, is from the pen of Joseph Cooper, Esquire, of New Jersey. "Cvder is an article of domestic manu- CYD CYD facture, which is, in my opinion, Worse ma- naged than any in our country: perliaps the better way to correct errors, is to point out some of the principal ones, and then to recommend better plans. "Apples are commonly rollected when wet, and throwh in a lieap, exposed to sun and rain ; until a sourness pervades the whole mass, then ground, and for wai.t of a trough or other vcsslJs sufficient to hold a cheese at a time, the pumice is put on the jjress as fast as ground ; and a large cheese is made, which requires so much time to finish and press off, that a fermentation comes on in the cheese be- fore all tile juice is out; and certain it is, that a small quantity of the juice pressed out after termentution comes on, will spoil the product of a whole cheese, if mixed therewith. When either of the above er- roi-s will spoil cyder, we need not wonder at the effect of a combination of the whole, as frequently happens. As 1 have very often exported cyder to the West Indies, and to Euj'ope, and also sold it to others for the same purpose, without even hear- ing of any spoiling ; and as it is my wish to make the productions of our country as useful as possible, I will give an account •f my method of making this valuable li- quor. " I gather the apples when drj', put them on a floor untler covei', and have a trough large enough to hold a cheese at once ; and when the' weather is warm, 1 grind them late in the evening, spread- ing the pumice over the trough to ai;* it, as the cydei" will thereby be enriched, and a fine amber colour in it produced : and here it may be remarked, that tlie longer a cheese lies after being ground, be- fore pressing, the better for the cyder, pro- vided it escapes fermentation until the pressing is completed. The following experiment will render this evident. Bruise a tart apple on one side, and let it lie until brown ; then taste the juice of each part, and it will be found, that the juice of the bruised part is sweet and rich : so if sweet and tart apples are groiuid to- gether, and put immediately on the press, the liquor wiiicli ihey produce will ha\ e the taste of both kinds of fruit ; but if per- mitted to lie iiHlil the jiumice become brown, the cyder will be greatly im- proved. " 1 lake great care to put cyder in clean sweet casks, antl tiie only w ay to eflect this, is to rinse oi scald them well, as soon ab thecyder is out, and not to permit them to stand w ith liie lees, which will certain- ly cause ihcm to become sour, or nmsty, or to snkcU. When my casks arc filled, 1 place them in the shade, exposed to the northern air ; and when fermentation takes place, I fill them up once or more, to cause as much of the feculent matter as jjossible, to disciiarge from the bung ; when a clear white fi-oth comes out, I put in the bung loo.'?6ly, or bore a hole in it, and put in a sjjill, thereby checkhig the fermentation gradually. After this has subsided, I take the first opportunity of clear, cool weather, and rack it off into clean casks ; which I prepare thus. When I draw cyder out of a cask in which it has fermented, I rinse It with cold water, and ptit in two or three quarts of fine gravel, and tliree or four gallons of water; the cask is well shaken, or rolled, to scour off the sediment always adhering to the cask, and which, if not removed, will act as a ferment to the liquor when returned to the cask, and spoil, or greatly injure tlie liquor. After scouring the casks, I again rinse them ; and I find advantage from burning a match of sulphur suspended in the cask by a wire, after ptitting in two or three buckets of cyder. A convenient way to perform this process, is to have a long ta* penng bung, so as that between the two ends, it will fit any hole ; to the small end of this bung, drive in a wire with a hooked end, to hold the match. If the cyder stands a week, or more, after racking, previously to being put away in the cellar, r rack it again, rinsing the casks, but not with gi'avel, and remove them to the cel- lar. The late made cyder, I put in the cellar immediately after, or before the first racking, according as the weather may happen to be. The cyder intended to be kept till summer, 1 rack in cool, clear weather, in the latter end of Febru- ary, or begiiming of March ; the casks must be kept full, and bunged as tight as possible." Mr. Cooper fines with the isinglass jel- ly, mentioned above, but in case the li- quor should not fine in ten days, he diiects to rack it again, and rei)cat the fining as before ; but says, it is best to rack it, wiie- ther fine or not, in ten or twelve days, lest the sediment should rise, whicii often hap- pens. Mr. Ct)oper adds, "The foregoing operation should be ]ierfbrmed previously to the apples being in bloom, but I have succeeded best in the winter, during stea- dy cool weather. I have likewise had good success in fining cyder, directly from the press ; when tliis is done, I set tile casks with one head up, but covered; put in taps, and let them remain in a coo! place, properly fixed for drawing. AVhen Un; fermentation ceases, and the scum be- GYD CYD gins to crack, I take it off carefully with a skimmer, and draw it from the sedi- ment. If not sufficiently fine before the middle of winter, I fine it again as above. " The settlings of ray improved cyder spirit, (see ai'ticle Brandy) in the pro- Kortion of two or three gallons to a liogs- cad of cyder, answers as well for fining as tlie isinglass jelly." Cyder is a cooling, pleasant, and whole- some liquor, during the heat of summer, if it has been prepared without foreign in- gredients, and properly fermented. On the contrary, when it is too new, or tart, or has, perhaps, been kept in leaden ves- sels ; or the apples and pears have, after grinding tliem, passed through leaden tubes, we can by no means, recommend it as a salubrious beverage ; because, that poisonous metal is easily dissolved by the acid, and tlius graduall}- introduced into the body. However agreeably such cyder, or perry, may stimulate the palate, it can- not fail, sooner or later, to produce pain- ful and dangerous coUcs, as it not unfre- quently generates the most desperate and incurable obstipations, among those who accustom themselves to the free ^use of these liquors. Cyderkin, Purre, or Perkin, is a liquor made of the murk, or lees, remain- ing after the cyder is pressed : these are put into a large vat, with half the quanti- ty of cold water, which has been previ- ously boiled : if that proportion be exceed- ed, the cyderkin will be small. The whole is left to digest for 48 lionrs, when it should be well expresed : the liquor thus obtained, is to be immediately barrelled, and closely slopped ; it will be fit for use in a few days. Cyderkin easily clarifies, and is used in many families, instead of small beer : if boiled after pressure, with a proper quan- tity of hops, it may be kept for any length of time. Cyder-Spirit, an ardent liquor, drawn from cyder by distillation, in tlie same manner as brandy is from wine. The flavour peculiar to this spirit is by no means agreeable ; but it may, with care, be totally divested of it, (see Charcoal) and become an excellent substitute for those deleterious preparations, sold under the name of spirituous compounds and cordialSi Wholesale-dealers have lately availed tbemselves of this liquor ; and, af- ter imparting to it various flavours, they vend it as a substitute for otliers, but es- pecially by mixing large quantities of it with foreign brandy, rum, and arrack, without the remotest appreiiension of such fraud being detected. See Braxdy. Cydeu Wixe, is a liquor made by boiling the fresh juice of apples : after be- ing kept three or four years, it is said to acquire the flavour and colour of Rhenish wine. The method of preparing it, con- sists in evaporating the juice in a brewing- copper, till one half be dissipated ; the re- mainder is then immediately conveyed to a wooden cooler, whence it is barrelled, with the addition of a due proportion of yeast, and fermented in the usual man- ner. This American process, has, of late years, been imitated in the cyder-countries, and particularly in the West of England, where several hundred hogsheads of cy- der-wine, are annually prepared ; and be- ing supposed to contain no particles of copper from the vessels in which it is boil- ed, the country people consider it as per- fectly wholesome, and accordingly drink it witliout apprehension. In order to as- certain the truth, various experiments were instituted by the late Dr. Fothergill; from the result of which he proved, that c}'der-wine does contain a minute portion of copper; which, though not very consi- derable, is sufficient to caution the public against a liquor, that "comes in so very questionable a siiape." Independently, however, of the danger arising from any metallic impregnation, we doubt whether the process of prepar- ing boiled wines be useful, or reconcile- able to economy. The evaporation of the apple -juice, by long boiling, not only oc- casions an unnecessary consumption of fuel, but also volatilizes the most essential particles, without which the liquor can- not undergo a complete fermentation, so that thei-e can be no perfect wine. Hence, this liquor is, like all other boiled wines, crude, heavy, and flat : it generally causes indigestion, flatulency, and diarrhoea. Those amateurs, however, who are deter- mined to prepare it, ought at least to ban- ish all brass and copper vessels, from this, as well as from even" other ciilinary pro- cess. D. DAI DAIRY-HOUSE, in rural economy, a place a])pr()[j!iatc'l to the nianagcment of milk, biiuer, ciieese, &.c. See Milk, Bu TIER, Cheese, Churn. A dairy oiig-ht to be so situated, that the windows, or the lattices, m^vy never front the soutU, south-east, or south-west ; and it should at all limes be kept in the neatest order. Lattices are also prefer- able to glazed lights, as they admit a free circulation of the air. It has, howevei-, been objeced, ihat the former afl'ofds ac- cess to the cold air of winter, and to the sun in summer ; but either may be easily remedied, by making the frame somewhat lai'ger than the lattice, and constructing it so as to slide backward and forward at pleasure. Across this fraine, pack-thread may be stretched, and oiled pajjer pasted on it, which will thus admit the liglu, and eflectually keep out the sun and wind. During the summer, dairy-houses can- not be kept too cool : they ought tliere- fore to be erected, if possible, near a cold spring, or running water ; and where it is practicable, to conduct a small stream through tlie premises, it will much con- tribute to the convenience and utility of the place. Dr. Anderson observes, in his practical essay on the management of the dairy, (published in the 3d and 4th vols, of his ingenious "/fecrf anions iji -^gri. culture,^* &.C ) that if tile water can be introduced by means of a pipe, so as to fall from some height on the floor, it will be productive of many advantages, particu- larly by preserving a continual freshness, and purity of the air. Dairy -houses should therefore be neatly paved, either with red brick, or smooth hard stone, and laid with a proper descent, so that no \^ater may stai^nate. This pavement shoidd be well washed every day, during the summer ; and all the utensils, liere employed, be kept with unremittin;^ attention to clean- liness. Nor should the churns be at any tiine scalded in the daiiy ; as the stean) arfting from hot water tends greatly to iuhu-e the milk. For similar reasons, nei- DAI ther tlie cheese and rennet, nor the cheese press, must be suffered to taint the at- mos|)here ; as the wliey and curd will dif- fuse their acidity over the whole build- ing. All the utensils of the daily should be made of wood, in preference to either lead, copper, or cast iron; for these metals are easily soluble in acids ; the solutions of the two first are in a high degree poi- sonous ; and, though the latter is in i.self harmless, the taste of it renders the pro- ductions of the dairy very disagreeable. Tlie cream-dishes, when perfectly clean and cool, ought to be filled with tiie m,ilk, as soon as it is drawn from the cow, and has been carefully strained through a cloth, or cloth-sieve, made of hair or sil- ver-wire ; the latter of which, as Dr. An- derson justly remarks, is more vvhoiesome than those of otiier metals. These dishes should never exceed throe inches in depth, but may be so wide as to contain a gal- lon, or a gaUon and a half of milk: when filK-d, they ought to be placed on shelves, to remain there till the cream be com- pletely separated. Kow it is to be taken oW with nicety, by a skimming-dish, (with- out lifting or removing the milk, or shed- ding any of it on the floor, which would soon corrupt the air of the room,) and then deposited in a separate vessel, till a projjer quantity be collected for churning. A firm, neat wooden barrel, which is open at one end, and lias a lid closely fitted to it, appears to be well calculated for this purpose ; a cock, or spigot, ought also to be fixed near the bottoni, to draw olf the thin, or serous part, tliat may drain from the cream ; and the inner side of tlie opening should be covered with a piece of fine silver wire-gause, in order to pre- vent the latter from escaping, while the former is allowed to pass. But, if notwithstanding the fatal conse- quences, arising from the use of metallic utensils, or of earthen vessels glazed with lead, farmers still persist in employing them, it ought to be a constant and indis- DIG DIS pensible rule, to scald and scour them properly^ with salt and water, evei-y day, and to dry them thoroughly, before the milk is deposited in them. Lastly, it is sincerely to be wished, that all the uten- sils employed in the dairy, of whatever materials they may consist, should be cleaned with similar care, previously to tlieir being used ; and, as long as the least acid smell is perceptible, they ought to undergo repeated scourings, till they are completely sweetened. DIGESTER. The digester is an in- strument invented by Mr Papin about the beginning of the last century, and usu- ally called Papin's digester. It is a strong vessel of co]jper or iron, with a cover adapted to screv/ on with pieces of felt or paper interposed. In some vessels of this kind the cover is made of an elliptical form, and is inserted through an opening of the same figure, which it completely closes by application of its upper surface, to the internal surfixe of the vessel. A valve, with a small aperture, is made in the cover, the stopper of which valve may be more or less loaded either by actujil weights, or by pressure from an appara- tus, on the princijile of the steel-yard. Instead of the common valve sir A. N. Edelcrantz employs, a cylinder in the co- ver, with a steam-tight piston. This pis- ton ma) be loaded with any weight, and the cylinder is perforated with small holes, at different heights, and a larger hole near the top, to allow an exit to the steam re- ceding to the pressure it exerts. The purpose of this vessel is to prevent the loss of lieat by evaporation. The sol- vent power of water, when heated in this vessel, is greatly increased, chiefly, no doubt, on account of its increased tempe- rature, and likewise in all probability on account of tlie pressuie exerted by the re- action of the elastic water or steam, which is upon the point of being gene- rated. We do not hear of many experiments made by this engine. The inventor pro- posed it as a culinary utensil, by which the grisly and bony parts of animals might be combined with water, in the form of a jelly, as is in fact the case. But whether a food, so loaded with the phosphoric salt of lime, would be wholesome, may per- haps admit of seiuous doubts : it is like- wise very liable to acquire an empyreu- ma, if the heat be carried a little too high. Bergmann thought that the digester might exhibit a considerable solvent pow- er of welter upon the pure earths, and he considered the deposition of siliceous earth from the hot \^"ater, of the stupendous VOL. r. fountain, of Geyser, in Iceland, mentioned by Von Troil, and others, as a proof of such a solution. Cast iron digesters have recently been manufactured in England, and successfully applied to cuUnary purposes. They have also been found incomparably more eco- nomical than the various kinds of stew- pans formerly employed. DISTILLING or Distillation. Is the process of evaporation performed in vessels adapted to condense or collect the substance evaporated Distillation in the large way is usually carried on in an apparatus composed of three parts, namely, the alembic or boil- er in which the substance is heated, the head or capital, a dome-shaped continua- tion of the foi-mer, in which the vapours are collected, and a tube or worm spi- rally disposed and passing through a tub of water, in which the distilled vapour is condensed into a liquid. For smaller purposes this apparatus is often simpli- fied, and the capital is enclosed in a case which holds cold water, whereby the con- den satibn takes place in the capital itself. Another apparatus more usual in expe- riments is a retort, generally of glass, which answers the purpose both of boiler and capital, and a globe-shaped receiver fitting to tile retort in which the conden- sation is completed. The greatest im- provement perhajDs ever made to chemi- cal apparatus is the (comparatively) mo- dern addition of a separate series of tubes and vessels to convey and collect the ga- seous products, and to avoid all the dan- ger from sudden expansion' without in- curring the necessity (formerly required) of letting ofl' to waste a large portion of the difficultly condensible, but often most important, products of the operation. The practical uses of distillation are too numerous to be mentioned. Bj"^ it the vo- latile part of any substance is separated from tiiat which is fixed, as in the distil- lation of turpentine, in which the essential oil rises and the resin is left behind ; the more evaporable is separated from the less evaporable, as in the preparation or rectification of ardent spirit ; liquids are freed from foreign or accidental impuri- ties, as in the distillation of common wa- ter : volatile substances are united in an easy and commodious manner, as in- pre- paring the odorous distilled waters of aro- matic vegetables : bodies are decomposed and analysed, new compounds are formed, and a knowledge is gained of the native and chemical properties of natural sub- stances. When the products of distillation are Li DIS DIS solid and dry, the process is usually term- ed sublimation. Witli respect to the practical pai't of distilling or retining', we shall first observe, that the heat should in all cases be as gentle and uniform, as possible. Accidents may be effectually prevented by employing a worm of a proper width, and by rectify- ing spirits in a ivnter-bath ; which, if suf- ficiently large, will pcribrm the operation with ^1 the despatch requisite for tiie most extensive business. The vessel in which the rectification is efiected, ought to be immersed in another filled with wa- ter up to the nitck, and loaded with lead at the bottom, in oider to keep it firm and steady. The process will thus be ma- naged as expeditiously as if the vessel were placed over an open tire, and with- out the apprehension of being disappoint- ed ; nor will it be necessary at any time to raise the water in the bath to a boiling heat. To obtain spirit from fermented liquor is the business of the distiller ; but to re- fine and purity it belongs to the rectifier. The second operation is so dependent on the first, that unless the distillation be carefully conducted, the rectification will be rendered both tedious and dif- ficult. The art of distilling malt spirit, may be reduced to the following principles. 1. To obtain spirit free from the oil of malt. 2. To raise the vapours in the most eco- nomical manner. 3. To condense them as speedily as possible ; and 4. To prevent empyreuma. The first may be done by mixing a small quantity of sulphuric acid with the wash ; and the remaining three by a pro- per construction of tlie still, and the ne- cessary care in distillation. The still should be so constructed as to be capable of containing a column of ferrr entable matter, considerably broader than high, to prevent tlie liquor at the bottom from being burnt before the upper part is heated. Tiie top should be as wide as the bottom, to give the vapours free and complete liberty to escape. U}' the common construction of the stills, they are incessantly returned into the boiler, especially at the commencement of the process. Various contrivances have been adopt- ed by the distillers to prevent the wash from burning in the still Mr. Anderson's apparatus answeis this purpose effectu- ally. Rectijication is simple and easy, pro- vided the previous operations have been well managed ; but it an empyreuma has b{ien contracted in the still, or the foetid oil has been combined with the spirit, then it becomes more difficult. On the contrary, if these have been avoided, no- thing more is necessary than to mix the spirit with an equal quantity of pure wa- ter, and recommit it to distillation, when it will come over pure. When the liquor has been burnt in the still, it ought to be kept for some weeks, in charred vessels : a quantity of char- coal should be mixed with the spirit and water, previously to the distillation. This will, generally, be found a sufficient reme- dy for empjTeuma, but will not correct the disagreeable flavour communicated from the admixture of the foetid oil. Many substances have been used tor this purpose, none of which, I think are fully adequate to the end proposed. Filtration has been recommended, but the oil is so intimately mixed with the spirit, that a considerable quantity will pass thiough tlie filter. The operation is also tedious, and some of the spirit eva- porates during the process. Alkaline salts are frequently mixed with the spirit, previously to rectification, such as the carbonat of pot ash, but more frequently the carbonat of soda They, however, are both liable to considerable objections, when unassisted by any other substance ; for, although they combine with the oil, and, in some degree, prevent its rising in vapours, yet they communicate an urinous flavour to the spirit, which is highly inju- rious. Neutral salts, qiiici.lim,e, calcined bones, and chalk, are equally liable to ob- jection, as they do not effectually deprive the spirit of the oil which it holds in so- lution, and an improper flavour is also contracted from them. Of the accidents that too often happen in perform.ing the processes of distillation. Among the accidents which frequently happen in distilling, the least of all is for the operation to miscai-ry, and the ingre- dients to be lost. And this being a sub- ject of the greatest importance, we shall treat it with all possible accuracy. All accidents arc occasioned by fire, their primary cause ; by want of attention they get too much heat, and fear often sutiers them to become irremediable. The first accident which may happen by the fire, is when a distiller, by too great a heat, causes the ingredients to be burnt at the bottom of the still ; by this means his liquor is spoiled by an empy- reumatic taste, and the tin is melted off from the alembic. An empyreuma re- sembles the smell of burnt tobacco, and is produced in licpiors by too great a de- gree of heat To illustrate this, distil any fruit, flowers, or aromatic whatever, but DIS DIS especially something the smell of which is very volatile, draw off only tlie best, unltite the alembic, and what remains in the still wiU be found to have a verj' disagree- able smell ; whence it follows, that if a little more had been di-awn off, it would have spoiled what was before obtained. If tlae fire be too violent, the extraor- dinary ebullition of the contents causes them to ascend into the head; and, if in a g'lass alembic, they fall ignited into the recipient ; tlie heat breaks it, the spiriis are dissipated, and often take fiie from the heat of the furnafce. If the fire be too strong, the bottom of the still becomes red hot, the mateiials inflamed, and consequently tlie fire reaches the recipient. When an earthen alembic is used, the closest attention is requisite to keep the fire from burning the materials at the bot- tom — the head, which is always of glass, bursts, and the spiiits are spilt, and often catch fire. And the remedy becomes the more difficult, as earth retains the fire much longer than a common alembic. If the alembic be not fiimly fixed, it is soon put out of order, falls down and un- lutes itself; thus tlie liquor is spilt, and the vapour sets the spirits on fire. If all the joints be not carefiilly luted, the spiiits at their first effort issue through the least aperture, run into the fire, which is propagated into the alembic by the vapour. In distillations where the phlegm same time that it renders it more inflam- mable, also causes the fire to spread with the gi-eater rapidity. Aad, when their store houses are once on fire, they are sel- dom or never saved. To prevent a'-.cidents, two things espe- cially must be Known, and adverted to. 1. The knowledge of the five ; which depends on the fuel, whether wood or coal. 2- The manner of luting, so as to pre- vent the vapours from escaping thi-ough it, ai d by tiiat means uf setting the whole on fire. It is evident, that the larger the alem- bic, the more fire is necessan. What has not been digested, also requires move fire than that which has been prepared by that operation. Spices require a stronger fire than flowers ; a distillation of simple wa- ters, more than that of spirituous liquors. The surest way of ascertaining the ne- cessary degree of fire is, to regulate it by the materials, as they ai-e more or less dis- posed to yield theii- spirits, &c. and this is done as follows. The operator must not leave the alembic, but attentively list- en to what passes within, when the fire be- gms to heat it. When the ebullition be- comes too vehement, the fire must be les- sened, either by taking out some of the fuel, or covering itwith ashes or sand. It requires a long experience in the se- veral cases, before a distiller can acquire a competent knowledge in this important point. Nor is it possible to determine the degree of fire from tlie quantity of fuel; ascends first, its humidity penetrates the J judgment, assisted by experience, must lute, and loosens it, so that, when the I supply this defect spirituous vapours ascend, they are ex- posed to the same accident. Lastly, when the recipient is unluted, especially if nearly full, without the great- est circumspection, the spii'its will be spilt, and so catch fire. Hitherto, we have only given a simple account of what daily happens to distil- lers; but the consequenceses of tliese ac- cidents ai-e infinitely more terrible than the accidents tliemselves; for an artist to lose his time, his labour, and goods, is no small matter ; but it follows from what we have premised, that both his life and -fortune are in danger from these confla- grations. Instances of the former are too common, as well as of the latter, re- lating- to the danger to which the operator is exposed. The spui-its catch, the alembic and re- cipient fly, and the inflamed vapour be- comes present death to all who breathe it. The rectifiers who perform the most dangerous operations of distillery, are particularly exposed to these terrible ac- cidents ; the fineness of the spirit, %( the Eveiy thing being determined with re- gard to the degi-ee of fire, we shall now proceed to explain the method of luting alembics. By the term luting an alembic, we mean, the closing the joints through which the spirits might transpire. Lute is a composition of common ashes, well sifted, and soaked in water ; clay, and a kind of paste, made of meal or starch, are also used for this purpose ; which, as we have before observed, is to close all the joints, &c. in order to confine the spirits fi'om transpiring. See Cement. Good luting is one of the surest meth- ods for preventing accidents. From an alembic, where all transpiration is pre- vented, nothing is to be feared, but from the too great fierceness of the fire; and that may be regulated by the rules already laid down. The refrigerating alembic is mostly used. The body and the head are joined to each other; but notwitlistandin^ the greatest care be taken in luting the junc- ture, there will still be some impercepti- ms 1)IS ble Inlcrslicc for transpiration ; and the least being of the greatest conseriuencc, a piece of strong paper should be pasted t)ver the joint, andtlie alembic never left, till the spirits begin to flow into the re- ceiver, in order to apply fresh paper, if the former should contract anj' moisture, 'iiie master himself, should careiuUy at- tend to this ; and whatever precautions may have previously been used, the eye must be constantly upon it. The alembic, when vinous spirits arc distilled, should be luted with clay, care- ftdly s])read round the junctures, in order to prevent all transpiration; because the consequences here are terrible ; for, when the fire catches a large quantity, it is oft en irremediable. Besides, as this earth cracks in drying, it must be often moist- ened, and fresh applied. On the first ap- pearance of any occasion for it. The retort is also luted v.-lth clay ; but as glass retorts are also used, they are oft- en coated with the same clay, to prevent their melting by the intcnsencss of the fire. Lastly, the earthen and glass alembics are luted witii paper and jjuste, as abT)ve. Having thus explained the great in)])or- tance of circumspection with regard to luting, and the degree of fire, we shall now jirocecd to the third method of jn-e- ventingthem. Of the remedies for accidents, %vher.evcr they happen — The most essential, are courage and presence of mind ; fear only increasing the misfortune. 1st. If the fire be too violent It must be covered, but not so as totally to prevent its action, as by that means the process of the distillation would be interrupted, and render it more difficult and less perfect. 2d. When the higrcdients burn, which will soon be discovered by the smell, the fire must be immediately put out, in order to prevent the whole charge of the still from being entirely spoiled, wliich would otherwise inevitably be the consequence. 3d. If the spirits should catch fire, the first care is to unlute, immediately, the re- ceiver, and stop bulb the end of the beak and the mouth of the receiver witli wet cloths. The fire nuist then be put out ; and if the flame issued througli the luting, the joints must be closed with a wet cloth, which, together with water, should never be wanting in a distil-housc. 4th. If llie alembic be of earth, and the contents burn at the bottom, the fire must be inmiediately put out, the alembic re- moved, and water thrown upon it, till the danger is over ; and for farther security covered with a wet cloth. 5th. If after care in closing the junc- tures, to prevent transpiration, yoxi per- ceive any thing amiss, wliile the spirits are ascending, apply clay, oi- any other composition, in order to stop the aperture, and have always a wet cloth ready to stifle the flame, if the sj)irits should take fire. 6lh. If the heat detaches the lute, or it becomes moist, inmiediately apply another, having always ready what is necessary for perf()rming it. Should the transpiration be so violent that you cannot immediaiely apply afresh lute, c\ap a wet cloth round the joint and keep it on firm and light, till the siilrits have taken their course. But if, notwithstanding all your eftbrts, the ti-anspiralion shovdd hicrease, so that )'ou fear a conflagration, remove the receiver as soon as possible from the fire, and after- wards your alembic, if portable ; but if otherwise, put out the fiie immediately. 7th. .The charge being worked ort", be cautious in luting the receiver, that noth- ing be spilt on the furnace, and carry it to some distance from it, that the spirits ex- haling may not take fire. 8th. Lastly oliserve, that whenever a remedy is i-equired, there must l)e no can- dle used ; for the spirituous vapours easily take fire, and propagate the flame to the vessels from whence they issue. All tliat has been hitherto said, concerns only the management of the alembic ; but what remains, is still more interesting-, and relates to those who work it, that thej' may not, by conquering the accident, des- troy themselves. On discovering any of the above acci- dents, when the flame has not yet reach- ed the spirits, let the remedies already mentioned be applied, either with regard to the lute, or the violence of the fire. But if the flame has reached the alembic, the following precautions are to be used. The operator mast not approach the alembic without a wet cloth over his mouth and nostrils, it being immediate death to inhale the inflamed vapour. In hastening to stop any accident, be careful to approach on the side opposite to that whither the air impels the flame ; for, without this precaution, you would be in- volved in it, and could not, without the ut- most ditticulty, extricate yourself from it. If, notwithstanding this precaution, the eddy of the air should force tlie flame to your side, quit the place immediately, and do not return till its direction be changed, always taking care to have a wet linen cloth before your nose :uid mouth, and keep yourself on the side o])posite to the direction of the flame: and ;dso to have another such cloth, in order to smother Anbek h on 'S Patent Condensing Tub DIS DIS t]ie flame, and close the crevice, through which the spirits issue. Should it be j'our misfortune to be co- vered with inflamed spirits, wrap yourself in a wet sheet, which should always be ready for that purpose. Self-preservation is of so great importance, that any of these precautions should not be omitted in sucli variety of dangers. If tlie fire has acquired such a head that it cannot be stopt, the receiver must be broken, and the alembic, if portable,thrown down ; but no person must be suffered to go near tliem, especially those who are strangers to the business. In a desperate case, like that of a large quantity of rectified spirit taking fire, if time permit, the communication of the beak of the alembic, with the recipient, which is usually a cask, must be cut off", by closely stopping the bung ; and be sure no candle come near the receiver, leaving the rest, as the danger would be too great to expose one's self to the flames of a large charge, and the distiller's safety should be principally considered. A patent was granted in July, 1773, to Mr. Thomas Danforth, of Charlestown, in Massachusetts, for his invention of a me- thod of condensing the vapour arising in distillation: as the term of his privilege is now expired, we insert the following par- ticulars. The whole improvement con- sists in making the worm-vessel, or that containing the water to cool the worm, or vessel which receives the steam or vapour to be condensed, (whether the steam-ves- sel be a worm, strait tube, or of any other form), so that it may act in a manner simi- lar to a syphon or crane ; and, upon the same principles, by making it air-tight; excepting a commimication by a tube, or part of the vessel itself, with tlie water that supplies it, and an aperture from a tube or part of the vessel, below the hori- 2ontal level of the surface, in the reser- Toir, where it first enters; in order that the water may escape in the same propor- tion of time and quantity, as it flows into the vessel in the reservoir. Of the many patents for improvements in distilling, which have been granted to ingenious men within a few years, both in Europe and America, none have been more deservedly obtained than that by A. Anderson, Esq. formerly of Philadel- phia, but at present residing *at Laraber- ton, New-Jersey. Mr. Anderson's patent is taken out in general terms, " for mak- ing use of steam arising in distillation, for heating wash or any subject to be distill- ed, by means of a condensing tub, in which the wash is so placed as to receive the whole heat of the steam, the wash at the same time, condensing the steam." The process saves wood and labour, in the proportion of 3 to 1 of the common stills. At the works of Messrs. Anderson and Hall, Lamberton, two stills are in operation, of 110 gallons each, each of whicli charged with 90 gallons, is run off" twelve times in 24 hours. Explanation of the annexed engraving of ..Anderson's Patent Condensing Tub. A. Still to contain 110 gallons, exclusive- ly of the head, as near this shape as possible. B. Half globe made of copper 501b. to the slieet, bottom of copper, a thimble on the centre of the top, 24 inches in the bottom, and 16 high. C. Tub for holding the charge of wash, 36 inches wide in the bottom, 33 at top, and 34 deep, made of 1 } cedar or white pine. D. Small brass cock, to be opened when the charge is let into the still from the tub. E. Stuffing box made of copper, to pre- vent the steam escaping by the spin- dle ; tlie box stuffed with tow, and screwed down fast. F. Pipe from the head of the still, 4i in- ches wide. G. Pipe : the lower end fitting into the pipe F, and receiving the pipe H, and large enough to slip up on the pipe H, so as to leave the head free to be taken off". 11. Pipe : the lower end fits into the pipe G, and passes through the bottom, 4 in- ches, to prevent the condensed steam returning into the still, and fastened firmly in the bottom of the half globe. I. Pipe to convey off' the condensed steam into the worm, fitted even in the bottom of the half globe; the other end fits into the mouth of the worm. K. Iron spindle, with its handle to stir the still, with the cross piece and chains. L. Charging pipe, 3 inches wide, with a large cock screwed into the bottom of the tub, and the lower end fitting into the pipe M, in the breast of tlie still. X. Stuffing box made of wood. O. Spindles when used by water, DISTILLING APPARATUS. Besides those of Mr. Anderson's, already men- tioned, it may be necessary to notice some others that are used for common, as well as for chemical, purposes. A, ("Frg. 1, I'late \.J represents a re- tort used for distillation- It is a vessel, cither of glass or baked eai-th, for con- taining the liquid to be distilled. AVhcn DIS DIS it has a small neck, a, •with a stopple fit- ted to it, tor introducinj^ the materials through, it is called a tubulated retort. B is the receiver for condensing' the vapour which is raised, and into which the neck of the retort is inserted. Tlie joining-, b, is made air-tight by means of a lute. Va- rious methods ai-e used for supporting both the retort and receiver, according to the degree of heat to be emplo3 ed in the process, and several other circumstances. When great heat is employed, earthen retorts are used, which are placed on or in the fire. "When a less heat is wanted, glass retorts are generally employed, which must not be placed immediately on the fire, unless the) are coated over with a composition of clay and sand, which is sometimes done. Glass retorts ai"e gene- rally placed in a sand-bath, or suspended over a lamp, for which Argand's lamp is the best. The receiver is placed upon some stand convenient for the purpose, with a ring made of hay under it, or some such contrivance, to keep it steady. A, (Fig 2. J is a vessel called a viat- trass, for the same purpose, having a ves- sel, C, ci.lied an alembic, fitted to the head. The liquid raised by heat into the state of vapour, is condensed in the alembic, and falls into a groove all roimd its inside, from whence it runs out by the spout C, into the icceivcr D. Fi^' 3, are conical tubes that fit into one another, for lengthening the necks of re- torts, &c. to con.nect them with the re- ceivers at any distance : they are called adopters. Fig. 4, are phials with bent glass tubes fitted in them, for disengaging gases, and similar experiments: they were used by Priestley, and are hence called . riestley's bottles, and sometimes proofs: they are ei- ther tubulated or ])lain. A, C Fig. 5. J represents a conitnon still. It is a large vessel of copper, into which the njaterials to be distilled are put. The still is built uj) in brick-work, which co- vers it up to tiie neck ; the fire is ajiplied underneath, and runs round it in a spiral manner. IJ is the Aca(/of the still. This head is connected with the nuorvi, which is a spiral tub ;, immersed in a vessel of cold water, called the refrigeratory, or cooling tub, C. The liquor being con- densed in its passage through the worm, riuis out at the cock U, into the vessel placed there io receive it. This is the construction of the common still for distilling spirituous liquors; but a very great im[)rovement has been made upon this instrument in Scotland within these few years. This improved appara. tus is known bv the name of the Scotch still, a section of which is represented by Fig. 6. The principle of the improvement consists in exposing a great quantity of the surface of the liuid to the action of tlie fire, and affording a more ready means for the escape of the vapour or gas. A, is the body of the still, made very shallow and concave at the bottom, in or- der that the fire may act better upon it, bb, are a number of tubes opening into the still, and communicating with the neck of the still B, in order to convey the vapour off as soon as it is formed, cc, is a cover that shuts down over the pipes and top of the still, to keep it warm, by preventing the loss of heat which would be occa- sioned by the contact of the cold air. I'his is eflJected by the quantity of air that is confined between the cover and the top of the still ; for it is a fact which is now well known, that conjined aii* is a non- conductor of heat. In general, the heads of stills are kept warm by laying blankets upon them, at least when this is attended to, as it ought always to be ; but this me- tallic covering, by surrounding the still with a quantity of confined air, answers the pui-po.se still better. DISTILLED SPIRITS Under the ar- ticles BuANDY and Alcohol, we have already given a description of the pro- cesses by which ardent spirit is made ; we shall tlierefore in this place only mention a few circumstances in tlie preparation of corn-spirits and rutn. The greater part of the common spi- rituous liquors consumed in this and the countries of Europe where the vine does not grow, is prepared from fermented corn of one kind or other, mixed occa- sionally, when it suits the purpose of the distiller, with molasses, and sometimes with carrots and other sub-saccharine vegetables. But when there is no scar- city of grain, this is by far the greatest, and often the only ingi-cdient. The spirit thus procured is rectified for sale by being redistilled with juniper ber- ries, turpentine, and many other sub- stances, to give it tlie desired flavoui* and appearance. The grain, if barley is used, is gene- rally first malted in the usual manner, and in Scotland is dried with peat, the smoke of which gives that peculiar fla- vour which is found in -whisky, the spirit distilled fi'om it. It is then grovmd to coarse powder, maslied , and the infusion fermented with yeast in large tuns. In this state it is a strong ale, and only differs from the malt liquors used lor drinking, in containing no hops nor any other bitter. I'his fermented liquor is called wrtiA, and is then fit for the first distillatioiL DISTILLING APPARATUS -V_ Fiq.l. -t:-„,.„.,--*™%-„, Fiij. i Dis BIS The theory and practice of distillation liaving been described, (see Alcohol,)! we shall not here repeat it, except to mention, that several additions are made to tlie wash with a view either of increas- ing (as is supposed) the yield of spirit, or of correcting and keeping down the es- sential oil derived from the malt, which is apt to give it a nauseous flavour ; or of re- gulating the boiling within the still, and preventing it from boihng over or running Joul; or of neutralizing the acid generated during the fermentation, which remai-ka- bly lessens tlie product of spirit For all these purposes soap is accounted the best addition, and large quantities of it are em- ployed for this purpose in distilleries. Others use alkalies. During the distillation the first spirit that comes over (as in the distillation of wine) is oily and turbid, and often of a nauseous flavour, owing to the oil of the malt which accompanies it in all these changes. The spirit then runs clear and continues so to the last, but constantly decreasing in strength, becoming more watery, and tlierefore of less specific gra- vity. The whole of the spirit thus obtained is then again distilled or rectified, and in this process the middle runnings from the still are received apart fi-om the first por- tion which is too oily and turbid, and from the latter which is too watery to come up to the established proof. It is in the rec- tification also that the additions which give a pecuUar flavour to the spirit, (such as juniper berries, &c.) are made. The general process of the distillery is simple, and certainly not difficult of ma- nagement to ensure a certain degree of success, since it is cari'ied on in the small way by hundreds of farmers and ig. norant persons, in those remote parts of the island which offer the greatest facility of eluding the excise duties. But in con- ducting vast and expensive works a large share of practical skill is required, and al most every distiller professes to have some peculiar nicety of practice in the ma- nagement of the process or the construc- tion of the apparatus. The tbrm of tlie still in particular has undergone many successive alterations; and by gradually widening the bottom and contracting the height of the boiler, dis- tillation is now carried on with a rapidit}' that would almost exceed belief were it not perfectly well authenticated. After successive improvements and a consider- ably complictited apparatus, a still has been constructed wiiich contains only 40 gallons in the body and 3 in the head, in which the time of charging, boiling and running, and letting off" the waste liquor, amounts only to two minutes and three- quarters when the charge of wash is l6 gallons, which is two-fitths of the whole contents. In rectification, which is a slower process, the chai'ge is 24 gallons, and the time of distilling about ten mi- nutes. This rate of working however is fai" beyond the ordinary rate. It is not necessary to malt grain in or- der to make it ferment sufficiently to yield a good spirit, and not only bai-ley but any other giainwill answer the same pur- pose. In this countiy a mixture of bar- ley and malt is generally preferred; in Holland the very finest geneva is made from wheat and malt, but more common- ly from malt and rye, which latter yields more spirit than wheat. Very superior care and attention seems to be besiowed in conducting the whole process. I'he gi'eater number of distillers pro- ceed in the following manner. A quan- tity of rye flour coarsely ground is mixed with a third or fourth part of malt and put into the fermentuig tub with cold water, stirring it well with the hands to prevent the meal from clotting. Suffi- cient water is then added of a blood warmth, after which the ferment is mixed with the whole, which is composed of the yeast of former operations dried and kept for a certain time. If the weather is fa- vourable and the heat well regulated, the fermentation begins in six hours, and ter- minates on the third day, and tlie liquor becomes transparent and assumes a hot pungent taste. The distillation is then proceeded upon immediately, before the liquor turns sour, which is avoided as much as possible. The distillation is con- ducted very slowly, that the spirit may be as little as possible impregnated witli the oil of the grain, to which much of the unpleasant flavour of the ordinary spii-its is justly atti'ibuted. The first spirit is then rectified by a second distillation over juniper-beri*ies, or in double Geneva by a third process. In some of the ordinary sorts, however, the juniper-berries are mixed with the fermenting materials, and one distillation suffices In the common geneva or gin vulgarly used in this coun- try, the fine juniper flavour is coarsely imi- tated by turpentine. Rum is prepared by distilling a fermen- ted liquor made from molasses, and other refuse saccharine matter, whicJi is pro- cured during the manufacture of raw su- gar in the West Indies Tiie common process in Jamaica is the following. The materials for the fermentation are, molas- ses or the treacle which drains from the sugar, scummings of the hot cane juice. DIS DIS or sometimes raw cane liquor, lees or dunder as it is called, and water. The dundcr answers the purpose of yeast, and is usually prepared by a separate fermen- tation of cane sweets and water. The rrtaterials being mixed in due proportions, (which are about equal parts of scum- mings, dunder, and water,) the fermenta- tion begins very soon, and in 24 hours the liquor is fit for tlie first charge of molas- ses, which is added in the propoition of 3 gallons for every 100 gallons of the liquor. Another charge is added in a day or two afterwards. The heat in fermentation should not exceed 90^ or 94°, so that in this climate it is necessary to keep the fermenting tubs as cool as possible. The fermentation falls in six or eight days, and the liquor grows fine and fit for distilla- tion. In about two hours after lighting the fire the spirit begins to run (in a still of 1200 gallons) and it is collected as long as it remains inflammable. The first y«ju-it is called, in the country, loiu -joints, and it is rectified in a smaller still to the Jamaica proof, which is that in which olive oil will sink. About 220 gal- lons of proof rum are obtained from 530 gallons of low wines. See Fermenta- tion- DISTILLED WATERS. Of this large class of ciieniical preparations, but almost entirely devoted to pharmacy, a few ob- sei'vations may be made, The object of them :dl is to impregnate water, solely with the iU'oniatic or flavour- ing principles of plants or pai-ts of plant.?, kiiving behind all the other soluble mat- ter. There is every reason to believe, that the substance which flavours the distilled waters of vegetables is essential oil ; be- cause in most instances, a portion of es- sential oil, actually scp;u-ates from the water, wlicn recently distilled, because the sensible projierlies of the water are ne:u'ly the same, as when a few drops of the essential oil of the plant are mixed with pure water by simple agitation, be- cause in the process of distillation the condensed liquor becomes gradually less :uul less flavoured, in proportion as the <.ssential oil must esca])e, and because distilled waters, evaporated to dryness, leave no sensible portion of residue. Common distillation of aroniutic vege- tables, is a simple jjpoccss, but gives room tor some nicety of management, particu- larly in tiie regulation of the heat, and the quantitv of water, which can only be K arnt by experience. As an example, common pejipermint water may be given, and is thus made. Put a jjound and a half of dry peppermint in a still, cover it V. ith v.atcr, put on the capital, luting the joints with wet bladder or pasted paper, bring the liquor to boil quickly, and keep it just boiling till about a gallon of water has run over. The residue in the still is then thrown away as useless. The water that comes over first, is somewhat turbid, owing to the excess of essential oil that it contains, and in consequence, is by much the strongest. By rest it becomes clear, and a fine pellicle of oil rises to the top. As a knowledge and choice of blos- soms, fruits, and aromatic plants, used in distillation is imjjortant, we shall make some observations on these subjects, and conclude with a few directions for prepar- ing distilled waters. The distillers make use of blossoms on two accounts, viz. either to press out the tincture of them, as of violets, damask- roses, corn-flowers, saffron, hyacinths, pinks, Scc.orto extract from them the vo- latile smell, as from the rose, carnation, jessamine, violet, jonquil: the blossoms of aromatic plants, as thyme, rosemary, basilic, spike -lavender, &c. or the blos- soms of sweet-scented trees, as of lemon, orange, and otliers, are much used. The distiller ought to know the choice of blossoms, and to make use of them only in their prime, and the time in which they have their full strength. The gene- ral rule is to gather them always before sun-rising, in clear, dry weatlier, whilst the cool of the morning prevents their volatile scent from dispersing. The fruits made use of by distillers are of several kinds, lemons, oranges, golden- rennets, muscatel-pears, and quinces. From the quinces, which are fit to ferment, we may distil a spirituous water, which is very good to mix with other liquors,par- tukingof the fine flavour of that fruit, and contracting medicinal virtues for the slo- mach. This fruit is principally made use of for ratifias ; which, alter it has stood for some time, come to a very great per- fection. Cherries, plumbs, and apricots, are made use of in ratifias : these three sorts are infused in brandy. Distillers use other fruits to ratifias, as strawberries, rasp- berries, mulberries, 8tc. Kernels of nuls are also used in distill- ing : those for ratifia are infused in bran- dy , when young. IJitter almonds serve the same purpose, as well for extract- ing oil from them, as for odoriferous es- sences. Aromatic plants, are those whose stalks and blossoms have a penetrating, }ct pleasing odour. These plants retain their ■ scent, for a long time, after they are ga- thcred, nay, even after they are drictl. W-^ DIS DIS may extract from tbem odoriferous wa- ters, and essences, which are used in- stead of the plant, when that cannot be had. Spice is frequently made use of by dis- tillers; such as, cIoTes, cinnamon, nut- megs, and mace. Out of these four sorts are extracted, by dig^estion, tinctures and infusion ; and likewise oil, by distillation, as shall be specified hereafter. The seeds g-enerally made use of in distilling' ai-e, anise, fennel, angelica, cori- ander, dill, celery, parsley ; of these are drawn the spirits, with brandy ; and are well tasted liquors. We shall here subjoin a few directions, for making such compound waters as ai-e in most general estimation. 1st. CloTe-ivater .• Take 4lbs. of bruised cloves, half a pound of piniento, or all- spice, and 16 gallons of proof spirit. Di- gest the raistui-e in gentle heat, and then draw off 15 gallons, with a somewhat brisk fire. The water may be coloured red, either by a strong tincture of cochi- neal, or of corn-poppy flowers ; and sweet- ened at pleasure, with double-refined su- gar. The preparation of cordials or spice- waters, is very arbitrary ; though after se- lecting your materials, as a general rule, follow the direction in the above article, keeping in mind that the quality of the liquor does not so much depend on the quantity or variety of the ingredients as on their judicious management. 2d. Lemon-\iater ■• Take of dried lemon peel 41bs. pure proof spirit, 10^ gallons, and one of water ; draw off ten gallons by a gentle fire, and dulcify the compound with fine sugar. 3d. Citron-'jiater : Take of the drv- yel- low rinds of citrons, 31bs. of orange peel, 21bs, bi-uised nutmegs, three-fourths of a pound ; clean proof spirit, 10^ gallons, and one of water. Digest them in a mo- derate heat ; then draw off ten gallons, and add the requisite pixjportion of fine sugar. 4th. Orange-v}atei : Take of the yellow part of fresh orange-peel, 51 bs. clean proof spirit, 10 gallons and a half; water, two gallons ; and draw off ten, over a slow fire. 5th. Double distilled in-ange-viater. Put orange blossoms into the still according to the quantity of water that is to be made, and having fire under it ; draw over the flavour from the blossoms, re-distil this product with fresh blossoms, and you will obtain the double distilled orange- water. With the double distilled orange-wa- ter you will have the essence, which is the VOL. I. oily part tliat swims on the siu-face. The essence is at first of a green colour, but changes in a kw days into a reddish colour. In order to part this from the water, turn it in a bottle ; when the double dis- tilled water will come out fiist, and the essence remain to the last. 6th. Soie-viater. The common white roses are the best for distilling, while the red and wild roses are fittest for phar- maceutical purposes. For distilling of simple rose-water, the leaves of tlie rose while fresh are slightly bruised, and then distilled, and re -distilled (according to the quality of the liquor required) as noticed in the preceding article. Rose-water is generally distilled from the salted rose-leaves. The leaves, as they are gathered, ai'e salted, in order to pre- serve tliera ; and to every quart of the leaves, thus salted, about four quarts of water are added ui the still. The thstil- led water is preser>ed by adding to it a small quantity of spirit: if it contract acidity, which is often the case in sum- mer, it may be corrected by inti'oducing into it a little potash or chalk. Rose-wa- ter may be prepared very expeditiously, by using 1 he essential oil, commonly called the otta of rosea ,- for this purpose it is first mixed with alcohol, and then added to distilled water ; or it is put into the stil! witli a small quantity of spirit and a suf- ficient quantity of water, and distilled. One drop of the oil, if the process be pro- perly conducted, will impregnate one pint or e\en a quart or more of water : for it is only the impregnation of the water with the aroma of the rose, which resides in an essential oil, that constitutes rose-wa- ter. The double distillation of rose-water, 83 it is called, is intended (to use a tech- nical plwase) to saturate the water witli the essential oil, in order to impregnate it the rnm-e effectually- In order to unite essential oils with water, as may be prac- tised also with the oil of roses, a method has been adopted, which answers in many cases as a substitute to distillation. This is accomplished in the shops of the apo- thecaries in the following manner: A piece of white sugar, about an ounce, is put into a mortar, and, for every quart of water that is to be made, ten to sixteen drops of the oil is added, with two ounces of alcohol ; these are rubbed to- gether ; and the quantity of water gradu- ally added. In this way is made the fol- lowuig waters, viz : of Peppermint, mint, lavender, cinnamon, pennvroval, &c. The waters sold in Xhv^ Kk DIS ms city as distilled, by the hucksters, such as mint, are prepared altogether of the es- sential oils. We shall notice, however, some of these waters as prepared by dis- tillation. 7th. Llly-xvater. To make lily-water, take good blossoms, gathered in the manner as before observed, put tliem into a still and pour water on them. Distil your ingredients with an open and pretty strong fire. Be careful not to bring over too much, lest the flowers should burn arid spoil all; nor too little lest you wrong yourself. To three cjuai-ts of water take one pound of lilies, or in proportion, if you intend to distil a larger quantity. For the double distilled lily-water, fill the still half full with flowers, and put water lo them. In this manner you will get a fine lily- water, and a beautifier to the skin. If you distil the lilies in a hot season, you will get an essence. When you dtaw over the double water, let it be only the fourth part, and the quintessence will swim on the surface, which, by de- canting off" the water, you will preserve in the receiver. 8th. Of Carnations ■ and Pinks. — The carnations used by distillers are tiie small ones, which have only four leaves; and to make a good choice of them, pitch upon such as are of a deep red, terminat- ing into black, of a velvet hue, and gather them in warm weather. These pinks blow thrice in the summer ; the first blown are the best, for they are of more strength, a)id of a volatile smell. When you have gathered your pinks, pluck off the leaves, and cut away the white end of them, which has no smell, and lessens the colour of the water. This done, put them into a stone bottle, and, when full, pour brandy to them ; letting them, thus .infused, stand for six weeks ; then put some cloves to them, in order to extract the flavour from the leaves. In case you cannot get a sufficient quantity of ipinks to fill a large bottle, take less, but be sure to fill It to tlie top ; and then, but not before, pour in yom* brandy, and close it up, to prevent its evaporating, and lessening the odour of tlie flowers. After six weeks, pour the infusion through a sieve, and press the liquid gently from the leaves; add a small quantity of sugar, afterwards, filter and bottle it, and you have a beautiful tincture more valuable for its deep crimson colour. 9th. Of the Jessamine. — Part the blos- soms from the green they arc enclosed in, and use them soon, lest they lose some of their odour : put six ounces of tflem into yoQr still, pour three quarts of brandy on them, and distil it with a pretty strong fire, care being taken to bring over none of the phlegm. The spirits bemg all drawn over, close your receiver with a cork; then, having dissolved two pounds of sugar in fresh wa- ter, pour the syrup into the receiver, upon the spirits. This done, cork your receiver directly, and do not filter it till the next day, tliat it may have time to cool, and preserve its odour. Cover the funnel whilst the liquor runs through the filter, and then carefully pre- serve it m bottles. 10th. Of Violets. — The single-violets in the spring are much prefefable to the dou- ble ones in autumn. Follow, in these, the directions given concerning the management of other flowers. Having gathered your violets, part the blossom from the green, and put them in brandy The excellency of this flower consists in its beautiful colour and fine smell. Its colour both for syrup and liquid, is care- fully extracted by infusion; and the value of either the one or the other is according to the beauty of its colour. The violets having been for a month kept in infusion, pour the same through a sieve ; dissolve sugar in watei', and put the liquor of the uifusion into the syrup, mixing both well together ; after which, pour it through a filter and your liquor will be ready for bottling. Flowers should be used as soon as pos- sible after they are gathered, lest their volatile odour should escape. lltli. Of the Jonquil. — Select the single jonquils that have a fine odour, infuse them in brandy, as has been directed in the foregoing article ; keeping the infu- sion in a moderately warm place. Then follow the du-ections given concerning the jessamine. It will be recollected that the principal use of the foregoing preparations is in perfumery, where, frequently the co- lour is of as much importance as the odour ; but as this is generally destroyed where a considerable degree of heat is used, dis- tillers resort to artificial means to supply this defect. Tiie most usual colours in demand among perfumers, are crimson, cherry, rose, orange, lemon, purple and blue : these colours are prepared from turnsole, cochineal, and from the infusion of plants. 1. To prepare a crimson co- lour, take tliree drachms of cochineal and half a draclun of alum, beat them to an impalpable !■ juder, add a wine glass of boiling water, and when well mixed, blend them with the syrup for the filter- ing operation. 2. To prepare a violet or DIS DIS purple colour, turnsole-powder, treated similarly to the foregoing preparations, is alone sufficient. 3. For other prepara- tions, select flowers of the colour you wish to impart, separate them from their impurities, put them with a small quanti- ty of water into a pan or glass vessel, place the vessel in a sand-bath or over a mode- rate fire, and the blossoms will soon im- part theii" colour to the water, which must be used like the first preparation. 12th. Lavender and other herbs. — For four quarts of spirits of lavender, ivith rectified spirits of xaine. — Draw the spirits of seven quarts of brandy o^ver by itself; then add four ounces of the esseri<;e of lavender, in the still, to rectify. If you make use of the plant, thf n put half a pound of blossoms In, and as much brandy as before, to bring over the low spirits ; and a gill of water, to prevent the ingredients burning at the bottom. When you have brought it over, add half a pound more of lavender to the distilled spirits, and rectify them without water. Of t lie essence of lavender, or other aro- matic herbs. A distiller may be in a place where he cannot procure essences ; he should then take off the blossoms from the stalks of such plants as he intends to use, (whicli must be cut fresh at sun-rise in warm weather;) spread the blossoms on a white linen cloth, and lay them in the sliade for twenty -four hours ; after which, stamp or bruise them ; then immerse them in wai-m water, in the still, over a well covered fire, or hot ashes, and let them infuse for the space of five or six hours, wi.hout the head, yet so covered that nothing may exhale from it ; after which, take off the covering and quickly put on the head, and lute it carefully. You must in the beginning draw over half the quantity of the water you put in. Take away the re- ceiver and you will see the essence on the surface of the water, which you may separate from it, as you do that of the orange. Then put the distilled water back, and distil it over again, till no more of the essence appears on the water. Dis- til this water four or five times over,accord- ingly as you perceive the essence upon it. The best distdling utensils for this work are those for the sand bath. You may also, after the" common method, distil the ingredients on an open fire. But if you intend to make essence for waters, use common salt, in order to extract more from the blossoms. 13th. Of tlie Essence of Spices. To draw the essence from spice, is the most diffi- cult task in distilUng ; for if it be extract- ed in the same mamier ^ from aromatic plants, it will produce but very little ; but in order to procure the greatest possible quantity, we proceed in the following manner : Instead of extracting an oil, you make, for example, a tincture of cinnamon, (which approaches to the essence,) with rectified spuits, like the tincture of amber, nutmegs, and cinnamon: you first beat the cinnamon in a mortar to a fine powder, covering the same with leather, to prevent its escape : after which, you seaixh it through a fine hair sieve ; what remains, beat again in the mortar, and sift it as before. Then put the powder into a small still, and pour on it rectified spirit ; stop it close with a cork, and se- cure it witli melted wax. The spirits must be about two inches over the cinnamon. In this state of infusion you leave it for the space of foiu-teen or fifteen days, shak- ing it once every day ; after which let it stand for some days to settle, then pour ofl' tlie spirits as clear as possible. You draw the essence from cloves after the same manner. . To lutike the Essence of Jiuttnegs. Take one pound, and beat them in a mortar, ajid they will become a dough, which spread on a new linen cloth, and put into a sieve ; then put it over an ash fire, or make use of a kettle, or sauce-pan, of the size of your sieve, filling it about half full of water, so that, upon occasion, vou may pour more to it Your kettle must be pretty deep, so that tlie steam of die \^ater may play freely, and the water when boiling, iray not touch tlie sieve, but the steam may penetrate into the nutmegs. Cover the sieve close with an earthen dish or plate ; then set it over a fire, till the dish is too warm to bear your hand upon it. The nutmeg is now pre- pared for drawing out the essence, for which take two smootli ii'on or copper plates, which heat to the degree usual for ironing of linen. Take the nut- megs, hot as they are, wrap the cloth around them, tie it with a strong cord : put it between the plates, under a press, and the essence will soon be discharg-ed from the nutmegs. The water which may come along with tlie essence, sepa- rate as before du-ected, and you will have an excellent oil, or essence of that spice. By the same method, the essence may be separated from mace and cloves; but to extract it thus, from cinnamon, is imprac- ticable. To draw tlie essence from spices, as from aromatic herbs or plants, take four pounds of them, witli six quarts of water ; but if vou extr.act them over an ash DIS DIS fire, Of sand batli, then take only two pounds. Of Seeds. Having under the preced- ing' arliclcs, shewn the metliod of distill- insy blossoms, aromatic plants, &c. we now come to aromatic seeds. l4th. Of .Stiseseed. There are two kinds of anise-seed, viz. the Spanish which is of an excellent flavour, and is as larg'e as a juniper berry, but yields very little in distilling' ; and the inland or green anise-sci'd, which if good is heavy, and thougii dry, retains its colour for a long time. "^I'his seed is best when green, or fresh gathered, and if bruised with a third part of I'ennel-seed, its quality is veiy much improved. To prepare anise-seed- >vater, put two quarts of brandy diluted with a small quantity of water, into the still; add one ounce of fennel-seed, and two ounces of anise-seed, distil with a gentle heat, and with what comes over, combine three quarts of water, and two pounds of sug^r ; then filter and bottle it for use. 15th. Of Fennel, Coriander, and ^nge- lica-secd. To prepare water from these, individually, lake two ounces of seed of each of the two foi-mer, and one ounce of tiie latter, and follow the directions laid down in the jircccding article. 16th. Jumper betries,\\\\i:\\ new and fresh should be lound, full, and of a black colour. Ifthcy arc tart or soiuish, in tiie flavour, moulded and shrivelled, they are of little or no value. In oi'der to make geneva, or junipct- watcr, first bruise the berries, and put them in a vessel wherein they may fer- ment, wliich they will do in a kvf days, and receive a spirituous and winy qua- lity. When the berries have received sufficient strength, filter them and distil juniper-brandy, called gcnevu from them. To make a coi'dial liquor from tliis fer- ment, bring tlic berries under the press, extract the juice from them ; and distil it without apprciiension of danger; but if you jnit the husks in, you run the danger of tiieir rising up to tiie head, and slop- ping the entry of the pipe, which would ()cc:ision dangerous accidents. inii. Unf/iir/jiug/t, is prepared in the follow manner: Take of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmegs, eacli 2oz. of caraway, anise, and coriander-seeds, each 4 oz. and half a pound of liquoiice-root, cut in" slices. Let these ingredieiUs be bruised, and dis- tilled with 1 1 gallons of ])roof-spirit, and two gallons of water, till \\nfiints begin to rise. Wiien the liquor is about to run, 2 oz. of British saflfion, tied in a linen bag, should be fixed to the extremity of he worm, so that the spirit may filter !i rough, and extract all the virtues of the safiron. When the distillation is complet- ed, the whole should be sweetened with a sufficient quantity of double-refined su- gar, and decanted for use. 18th. Common ratafia, is obtained by infusing 2 oz. of nutmegs, 2^ lbs. of bitter almonds, 2 lbs. of Lisbon sugar, and 2h grains of amber-grease, in ten quarts of clear proof spirit. It will be proper to bruise the nutmegs and almonds ; and also to triturate tiie ambei-grease with the sugar, in a mortar, before they are added to the other ingredients ; and, when the whole has digested for a sufficient time, it may be filtered throvg-J' a bag, and kept for use in close vessels. Jied Ratafia: Take 24 lbs o{ black-heart chtrries, 4 lbs. of the conim,' the fire, otherwise, the vegetable matter.' will scorch, and give a very .Lsagreeable burnt taste and sraell, or empyreuma, to the distilled liquor. On the other hand, too much water makes tlie distilled liquor unnecessarily dilute. In general, fresh ve- getables require about thrice tlieir weight of water, and when dry, five or six times. The still should never be more than about tln-ee-fourths full, or even less, when suc- culent vegetables are used, to prevent boiling over. The management of tlie fire is of some consequence, to prevent boiling over aitd empyreuma on the one liand, and on the otlier, to give lieat enough for extraction of tlie aromatic principle. Where a water bath is used (whicli, however, is tedious, and seldom if ever necessary) all danger of excess of heat is avoided ; but, it'is oft- en requisite to encrease the heat of the batli by adding salt to the water. When, in distilling without a bath, too much heat is used, tiiere is danger either of blowing off tlie capital, not without risk to thebj-e- stander, when" tlie I"quor boils with ex- treme vehemence (which is particulai'ly likely to occur, whe.n the still is too full of bulky iierbaccous vegetables, thr.t rise in the capital, and partly choak up the open- ing into theworm-pij)e) or else the liquor boils over into the worm-pipe, and mixes a decoction of Die vegetable witli the dis- tilled water. This is soon perceived by the condensed liquor coming out at the bottom of the worm, not in a clear uni- form streamlet, but by gushes and starts, with a gurgling noise, and fouled or co- lotu-ed. When this accident happens, the fire should be entirelj' slacked, the capital taken ofi^, the liquor already come over, returned into tlie still, and the distillation begun again with more care. When the stream of distilled water flows evenly, and the boiling liquor is heard to simmer mo- derately in the boiler, tiie operator will know that the process is going on pro- perly. The quantity of aromatic water, to be obtained from a given weight of any vege- table, cannot be l;iid down with accuracy, so as to obtiiin a liquor of uniform strength ; as, (independently of any difi'erence in conducting the operation) the season of the year, the length of drying-, and other can ses, will materially affect the intensity of aroma in the vegetuble. The taste, there- fore, is a better criterion to judge when to stop the process, as tlie liquor will rim nearly tasteless, long before the water has all boiled away. Some advantage is gain- ed by mixing all the distilled liquor toge- ther, as the first portion has generally ra- tlier more essential oiltiian it can retain, and the last poition has less. Some other observations relative to the management of distillation, will be men. BRA. DRA tinned under the article of Oils Essentiai, which are mostly obtained by the same process. Distilled waters are geiierally supposed to be made much stronger by cohobation, or redistilling the same water from fresh materials. No very accurate experiments liave been made on this subject ; and, it would appear, that when water is the first time so supersaturated with essential oil, as to let go a portion by mere subsidence, no further process can make it take up more. If so great an increase of sensible and other properties is really produced by cohobation, as is usually allowed, it would render probable the old opinion of a spiri- tus rector, or a peculiar principle in which the active and odorant particles reside, se- parated from, and independent of the es- sential oil, and which is most largely dis- engaged at the first impression of heat, ancl soluble in water, already saturated with essential oil The greater numbei* of those liquors, commonly called DhtilUd Waters, Cordial Waters, &,c ave prepared by the particular vegetable, distilled with ardent spirit, more or less diluted. The simple tuaters, such as are extract- ed from orange-blossoms, or lavender, and other aromatic plants, are va- luable ; since by them we may give their respective flavour to other liquors and things, and, by that means, save abun- dance of labour, pains, and expence. Tl>e simple waters of orange, lemon- peel, and others, are not only used by perfumers, but they are also of use in the kitchen, for making of ragouts, &c. There are waters also distilled from thyme, sage, chevril, parsley, sorrel, and other kitchen-herbs, which retain fheir natural flavour, and supply tliewant of tliem in the winter season. We know, by experience, that distilled waters of spices have more odour and vo- latile essence, than the spices themselves ; for the distillation frees them from the gross parts, and a superfine spirit is there- by extracted, whereof two or three drops, according to the quantity of meat, or sauce, to be seasoned, will be of more ef- fect than seasoning it with a larger quan- tity of the spice itself. The spirit of spice, is principally useful in sauces and meats, that are of a transparent and cleai- nature, which, by the solid spices, are rendered thick and obscure. DOG. See Animals Domestic DRAGON'S BLOOD, is a red-colour- od, inodorous, and insipid resin, insoluble • n water, soluble in alcohol and in oils, to )oth wliich liquors, it communicates a red olotfr. By fire it is fusible, inflammable. and it emits an acid vapour, like tliat ot benzoin. A solution of dragon's blood in alcohol, is used for staining marble, to which it gives a red tinge, which pene- trates more or less deeply, accoiding to the heat of the marble, during tlie appli- cation. But, as it spreads at the same time tiiat it sinks deep, for fine designs the marble should be cold. Mr. du Fay says, that, by adding pitch to this solu- tion, the colour may be rendered deeper. It is also used, in considerable quantities, in many coloured varnishes, and to give a mahogany colour to white wood ; if mixed with a small portion of gamboge yellow, it much improves the tint, rendering it more deep and rich. DRAINING, is the art or practice of making artificial channels, for carrying ofli" superfluous moisture or water, from wet or marshy lands. Those lands to be drained, are usually divided into two classes : 1. Uplands, or those which are situated so high, that the water can descend from them, if properly collected and conducted ; and, 2- Fens, marshes, or those lands which lie so low as to command no fall ; have no descent ; and some being even below the level of the sea. 1. With regard to uplands, it generally happens, that the waters from the springs beneatli the soil are obstructed in their course to the neighbouring rivers. These springs originate from the atmospheric moisture ; which, being condensed on the summits of hills into water, by the great- er coldness of those parts, perforates the different strata of the incumbent soil, where it is of a porous nature ; the water continues to descend, sometimes for many miles togetiier, but generally from the neai'est eminences into the adjoining val- ley, till its course is intercepted by a stra- tum of clay ; where, being collected in considerable quantities, it is forced to work i'L self a passage through the porous strata of sand, grnvcl, or rock, that may be above the clay, following the course of these strata, till they approach tlie sui'- face of the earth, or are interrupted by any obstacle, which causes the water to rise to the svu-face, and to form springs, bogs, marshes, &c. At the loot of hills, therefore, where the plain begins to be too moist, some augur- holes should be bored, in order to find tlie dejjth of the springs, and consequently the thickness of the upper stratum of the soil. If this be only 4 or 6 feet, an hori- zontal ditch should be cut along the bot- tom of the hill, to intercept the water, which ought to be carried off" by one or more ditches communicating with the for- DRA DRA mer, and conducting the water thus col- lected, into the neighbouring rivulet. Further, as the strata, through which the water descends in forming these springs, have, with a few exceptions, the same in- chnation as the surface of the hill, the holes should be bored, and the ditch cut, not vertically downwards, as is common- ly practised, but perpendicularly to that surface, or in other words, they should be formed perpendicularly to the side of the mountain, and not perpendiculai-ly to the horizon. If, nevertheless, on cutting a ditch five or six feet deep, along the foot of a hill, vertically to the rising pkm, the upper stratum be not penetrated, and conse- quently no water ooze into the bottom of the ditch, it will be expedient to bore other holes at the bed of such ditch, some yards deeper, or till water ascend through them. Where this succeeds, mam- holes should be made, and the water conducted into the adjacent brook, or river; for it will then rise, collect in those trenches six feet below the wet surface of the val- ley, and thus be carried off, instead of rising up fiom the lower wall-springs, or apertures of the stratum, through the in- cumbent soil, to the surface of the valley, which is so many ieet higher. Situations, however, fi-equently occur, where the first stratum of the earth may be too tliick to be easily perforated ; or where the water, condensed from the at- mosphere on the summits of the hills, may work itself a passage between the second and third, or between the third and fourth strata, which form the sides of those hills, from a deficiency of so many of the strata at theu- summits. Hence the water lies too deep to be retarded in its progress by a ditch, or by boring; but, being dammed up by the materials that form the plain of the valley, it ascends through them to the surface, and thus forms boggj", or marshy ground. In such cases, the common mode of draining may be successfully employed: it consists in cutting several ditches four or six feet across the bog, or morass ; and in covering them so that the water may not be obstructed in its passage, but be thus in part collected and convey- ed away, though certainly with less ad- vantage than where springs can be inter- cepted. Another method of draining is, that of opening trenches, or drains, almost an- nually, by a large plough with two con- verging coulters, and other appropriate machinery, for the purpose of cutting both sides of a ditch at the same time, and turning out tlie intervening soil. II. With respect to the draining of those plains or morasses, where no fall can be procured, the water may, in many situa- tions, be collected by cutting u long hori- zontal ditch above the level of the morass, so as to intercept all the wall-springs; and may then be carried off in wooden troughs, or hollow bricks, above the sur- face ; and, if any water continue to pene- trate the morass, it may be conducted to the extremity of the ground, either in open or covered drains. The draining of low moist lands may also be advantageously effected by a roller or liheel; for an account of which see Agriculturi:. The necessity and utility of draining the surface water from clay soils, in wet seasons, is generally acknowledged ; but, excellent as the different methods are in the cases before mentioned, they do not appear to be so simple, or so effectual, as could be wished in the present. Covered drains frequently fail in producing the desired effect, in consequence of the co- vering materials being of too close a tex- ture to admit the water to filtrate through them with sufficient freedom. Mole- ploughs, of the best consti'uction, requu'e such a number of horses to draw them, as must necessai'ily injure the soil, by poaching it. Farther, covered drains are not only dangerous to cattle, but from the quantity of clay necessarily dug up, and spread over the richer surface-soil, they are also injurious to vegetation. None of the several modes of draining now in use, being subservient to the essential pur- pose of conducting large quantities of wa- ter, fi-om a deep soil, we feel satisfaction in communicating the following simple contrivance of Mr. John INIiddleton, just published in the 22d No. of the " Com- mercial ami ^Agricultural Jllagazine." It consists merely in adding a piece of wood to the felly of a common six-inch cart- wheel, to which is prefi.xed a rim of iron, of a triangular form. The whole expense of this addition does not exceed one gui- nea. A wheel of this description, when put on the axle of a cart in the usual way, will of course rest on the edge of tlie triangular rim of iron, above alluded to ; and, on di'iving the horses forward, will make a small indent on the ground, mere- ly by its own revolution. But, in order to press it down, to the depth of six or eight inches, that side of tlie cart should be laden with stones, iron, or any other heavy material, until the whole of the rim, as well as the additional piece of wood, and the felly itself, if necessar}-, sink into the soil. The cart should then be drawn in such a direction that the cutting-wheel ma%' revolve where the drains are intend- DRA DRA ed to be formed. Sometimes it will be necessary to apply the indenting' machine to every fdrrow ; but, where tlie land is level, it should be drawn over it in paral- lel lines, five or ten yards apart. The wheel on the opposite end of the axle is a common six-inch wheel, wiiicli supports only the empty side of the cart, and con- sequently will not cut the ground. The advantage of this contrivance, as stated by Mr Middleton, is, that it makes an indent in the soil, sufficient to carry off the water during the ensuing winter, by pressing down the herbage, without de- stroying it. In the succeeding spring, these drains will be nearly grown up, so that there is no Injury done to the grass. He observes, however, that this wheel should be drawn over the ground every yeai', on the approach of winter ; but so' ea.sy is its application, that by means of it, and two old horses, one stout boy, or man, may drain from te7i to twenty acres in eig/it hours. The first object in draining a bog or marsh, is to discover the lowest spot of dry ground that surrounds it, in order to o])en on that part the main trench which is to carry oft" the water : if there be the least appearance of any stream, it should be traced with care ; for this will point out the proper spot on which to be- gin. The main trench, commencing at the lowest part, may be carried to what ever distance it is thought proper ; if it begin at the right spot, ten acres inay be detached from the marsh, however exten- sive, and completely drained ; but, if the drainage be not begun where there is a sufficient fall, the labour bestowed will be to no purpose : the main cut or trench should be ten feet broad in the clear, with a proper slope, to prevent the sides from falling in, and filling it up. Bogs are divided into two sorts, Uaci and red The former are solid, and make excellent fuel for common fires, or burn- ing lime ; but the red bog consists of a loose, porous, fimgous mass, which burns badly, and yields no ashes. Hence, in black bogs only, the drains ought to be cut into turfs, dried, carted, and pil- ed. As the main canal advances, small ones may be conducted into it, on either side, inclosing such spots of ground, as are in- tended to be improved. No certai.i rule can be laid down for the depth of drains ; yet we apprehend the prevailing practice of cutting them down to the solid ground, beneath the bog, is founded on the erro- neous principle, that such deptli is suffi- cient as will leave the surface dry. Nu- merous di'ains,- liowever, bt;ing always useful and necessary, the spots inclosed ought not to contain more than five acres; but in such space it is requisite that seve- ral cross-cuts be made, which should be four feet broad at the top, and three feet deep. A whole year wilj be requisite to complete these drains ; and, in the ensu- ing spring, it will be necessary to open, deepen, and clear them of the adventitious boggy matter ; a work which should be occasionally renewed. The second year may be employed in extending the main trench ; in taking in fresh hiclosures by new lateral cuts ; and in draining these by means of small transverse drains. Al- though this annual deepening and clear- ing of marshy grounds be attended with great labour and expense, yet the opera- tion is thus progressively completed, and in succeeding yetu-s both trouble and costs will be gradually diminished, in propor- tion as the bog subsides. As soon as the drains have rendered the marshes sufficiently fii-m for oxen to walk on them, the heaviest rollers that can be procured should be employed, to act by repeated pressure. Indeed, with- out a considerable degi-ee of such pres- sure, during the first year, no bog can be effectually consolidated. An alternate draining and rolling, annually (the drains being still kept open,) would, probably, contribute much to the destruction of weeds- Previously to rolling in the spring, it has been strongly recommended to sow every kind ot grass seeds, indiscriminate- ly, such as ray-grass, hay-seed, clover, &c. Before we conclude this subject, we think it necessary to give some account of stone drains, which are calculated for soils where the common methods of drain- iiig cannot be adopted. Such drams ought to be cut 10 or 12 inches wide, with per- pendicular sides ; and flat stones should be so placed, as to leave a water-course at the bottom, by setting two stones trian- gularly to meet at the points. Or, the bottom may be covered with a flat stone, and three others placed upright, and tlie water left to work itself a passage between them. In either case, the cavity of the drain ought to be filled neai'ly up to the top, with loose stones : screened or wash- ed gravel, whei e it is found in great abun- dance, has been successfully substituted. Those pebbles, however, which are of- ten found on the sea-shores, are well adapted for filling drams ; as, being smooth, and generally round, the water Hows through them more freely The principal drains ought to be tln-ee feet deep, and 18 inches in width; the hottom and top should be laid with flag- DRI DRI s:fones ; the sides bmit up to a sufficient height witli common stones; and the whole covered with sous of turf, but the grassy sides downwards : these again are to be overspread with earth, sufficient to ad- n it tile plough. Tlie smaller drains are, in general, to be conducted at an acute angle into the main trendies Lastly, sod or eartli-drains are usualh' dug two feet deep with a spade, when the soil is taken out by an instrument, or scoop, about four inches wide, and the drain covered with sods first dug out, if the ground be firm enough to support them ; or, some black-thorns are put in, in order to bear the weight of the sods. Those drains which have the smallest pas- sage for the water at the bottom, are re- puted to be the most durable; as the force of the water has been found suffi- cient to clear away any small obstacles, accidentally obstructing its course. Common earth-drains, are sometimes dug two or three spits deep, with a broad spade, the bottom is taken out with a nar- row one, and filled with stones. Some- times a furrow is drawn with a plough, and cleared by a common spade : the draining instrument, (which is a long, narrow, pointed spade, terminating in an acute an- gle, in the form of a wheat leaf) is then introduced, to the depth of 18 inches from the surface ; and, after taking out the loose mould with a scoop, or spade, black thorn bushes, or heath, which is still bet- ter, are carefully laid along- the bottom, covered with strong wheat-straw, twisted to the thickness of a man's leg ; and the whole is then carefully closed in. Hollow drains, without stones, have been tried on stiff lands : the}' are made narrow at the bottom, and covered half- way up with sods, or square pieces of the surface-sward, resting on ledges, cut for that purpose. Those who wish to acquire more mi- nute information on this subject, we re- fer to Dr. Anderson's excellent Practical Treatise on draining bogs and sviavipy grounds, 8vo. p. 308; and to Mr. John- stone's Account of the most approved JMode of JDraining Land, &c. 4to. in which it is amply investigated. See also Agri- culture. DRILLING, in husbandry, a method of sowing grain, or seed of any kind, so that it may be deposited in the ground at an imitbrm depth ; a circumstance of the ut- most importance to the production of h«;althy and vigorous plants. This method differs fi-om the old, or broad-cast husbandry, which is performed by sowing the grain, or seed, with the hand ; whereas, the new practice is ef- VOL. I. fcctcd by one of the most useful machines ever invented, and called a drill plough. By the broad-cast system of culture, the land is often sown in bad tilth, the seed Is always scattered at random, and sometimes by very unskilful hands. In drilling, the ground must be in good or- der ; and the'seed set in trenches regular- ly drawn, all being nearly of an equal depth, >vliich is adapted to the nature of each particular kind of seed. These seeds are also distributed at proper distances ; and, by being equally and speedily cover- ed, are most efiijctually ])rotected from vermin, and other accidental injury. Farther, in consequence of the broad-casti practice, the seed falls in many places too thick; in others, too thin ; and, being im- perfectly covei-ed, part of it is devoured by vermin, which follow the sower ; the remainder is exposed to rain or frost, or to heats, either of which are veiy hurtful. When harrowed in, a considerable portion of the seed is so deeply buried in the soil, tliatif the latter be wet, it putrefies before it can vegetate. Besides, when corn is thus sown, the crop will not admit of being^ touched af- terwards, because its growth is irregular. The soil cannot be broken, in order to af- ford it more nourishment ; nor can even tlie weeds be destroyed without much da- mage and inconvenience. On the contra- ry, in the drill-husbandry, the intervals between the rows, whether double or sin- gle, may be horse-hoed; and nourishment may thiis be repeatedly given to the plants, and tlie weeds almost totally extirpated. Drillirig, however, is not calculated for every soil ; yet, as there are but few situa- tions, in which the broad-cast method is preferable to it, they ought not, by any means, to impede the more general intro- duction of the folmer. The drill-husbandry is said to be attend- ed v/ith many disadvantages : namely, 1, That it is very difficult to procure the persons, who are acquainted with the use of the drill-plough, or its proper manage- ment, when on the soil. 2. That the earth requires to be well prepared to ad- mit of it. 3. That the crop is too thhily sown by it. 4. That drilled crops are ■ harvested later than broud-cast ones. 5, That clover does not succeed, when culti- vated according to the drill-husbandry. 6. That oats produce rank and coarse straw, which does not afford wholesome food for cattle. These objections appear formidable; and it must be allowed, that no person can acquire a thorough knowledge of the drill-husbandry in one season. It is never- theless untrue, that the seed is too thmly 1.1 DRI BRI sown ; for, though the quantity required is nearly one halfless (wiiicli is consequent- ly saved), yet the crops of drilled wheat are, in general, so much more valuable than those of broad -cast, whether we con- sider the quantit}', quality, or weiglit of the grain, tijat the infi-rioiity of the latter is evident to every impanial observer. This reason is likewise a sufricicnt answer to the objection alledged against the ex- pence of horse'-hoehig, which eradicates almost every weed, even where hand-hoe- ing is impracticable; and, consequently, in a very considerable degree, promotes vegetation. To This, we may add, that by drilling, the seed grows more regularly and vigor- ously ; and that, though the crops are har- vested later than broad-cast ones ; yet, they are gotten in with less expence, and with greater safety ; while the soil is left in a better state for future cro])s. Such are the advantages, and disadvan- tages, attending the drill-husbandry, wiiich we have endeavoured tairly to state : after these decisive proofs, no ra- tional agriculturist will hesitate to pro- nounce in favour of the new system. On..- of the earliest implements of this description, is the hand-drill, which is chiefly employed in th'elow-lands of Scot- land, where it was also invented. It is puslied along by two handles, in a man- ner similar to wheel-bari-ows, and sows one row at a time. The principal part of this machine ^s a wheel, about 22 niches in diameter, and made of solid deal, upon the axle of which is fixed a notched roller 2^ inches in diameter, and 2 inches long, that turns in the fore part of the drill-box. The quantity of seed intended to be sown, is regulated by a slider, which moves up and down in tiie fore -part of the box, by an adjusting screw fixed at the top ; and has a strong brush, that projects from its lower end, and sweeps upon the notched roller. There is also a sluice, or slider, which lies fiat on the bottom, on the in- side of the drill-box, and juts out between the two handles of the driil, so as to be within the reach of the person guiding it; who, by pushing the slide forwards, c(mi. pletelycovers the notched i-ollcr, and pre- vents any of the seed fi-om being scatter- ed while the drill is turning at the end of the ridges. With this im])leinent, a wo- man, or boy, is aljle to drill from 2 to 2\ acres in adW ; tiie rows being ^tthe dis- tance of 20 inches. The next contrivance, is that of the in- genious Mr. Arthur Young, whose inde- fatigable labours in promoting agriculture, are too well known to require our enco- mium. In the common drill-ploughs, . there are generally two or three barrels with corresponding hoppers, or recepta- cles for seed, through which it is com- mitted to the ground. Such an arrange- ment renders them necessarily complex ; and to obviate the defect resulting from it, Mr. Young has two divisions in the barrel, and two corresponding ones in the hopper, which are more simple, and doubt- less preferable to moveable boards. In his drill-plough the whole machinery is hxed, yet he sows with it single rows at any distance, double ones at two feet, or three rows at one foot ; relinquishing the olh< r powers of mechanism, to render the plough in all its parts stronger, and more steady. It is likewise calculated for the stiffiist soil ; and Mr. Young adds, that it it will even deposit seed in drills cut through a clay held, without any previous ploughing. — For a more detailed account of this excellent machine, as also of seve- ral others, we refer our readers to the '3d vol. of" Annals of Agriculture" Before we conclude this highly iiriport- ant subject, it will be useful to state the extraordinary saving that would arise from a general introduction of the drill-husban- dry, hideedthe patriotic Lord Somerville, late president of the board of agriculture, in England, whose exertions in promoting that beneficial science, must endear him to every friend of his country, lias already anticipated our calculations. Though bred to the broad-cast method, which he till lately followed, that enlightened man, has, in the appendix to his inte- resting work, entitled, " Tlie Systtin fol- lowed dnririg tiie ttvo last years by tlie Board of Agriculture,'' &c (8v( . pp. 500, Miller, 1800), impartially exhibited the great ad- vantages that might result from the na- tional adoption of the drill-husbandry., — We regret that ovu- limits will permit us only to extract a few leading circum- stances from his jjublication. In ordei' to -'ascertain, bejond the possibility of doubt, the infinite superiority of the drilling, over that of the broad-cast method of sowing, lie a])plied to three gentlemen alike eminent for their agri- cultural skill, and each of whom made use of different drill-plougiis. From an accui-ate statement it appears, that the expenccs attendant on the old and new pr;ictices, are as follow : DYE DYE Expence of seed-corn on 133 acres of land, sown in the usual broad- Sterling. cast husbandry in 1799, was . . . L. \3i 10 6 The expence of seed-corn for the same number of acres, according to the present improved system of drilling-, 100 4 6 In the year 1800, the expence of 140 acres broad-cast, was ... 216 10 Ditto, ditto . . drilled, 92 Which affords a saving- of not less than 124 10 HI seed-com on 140 acres of land. Both estimates were made from actual experience, by the industi'ious Mr Bud- den, and communicated to Lord Sommer- ville, by the Rev. H. J. Close, of Hordle, near Lyming-ton, England ; from whose let- ter we insert the following- computation of an annual ^saving that ma)' be effected by the uniform practice of the drill-husbandry; and which, at a moderate calculation, will amountto no less than eight niiUions of bushels of wheat, one million of bushels of rye, three millions of bushels of barle}', Jour m.illions of bushels of oats, and or^ iniilion of bushels of beans and peas ! . Having-, however, in the course of at- tentive observation, during the last twen- ty years, witnessed many disappointments, both in statistical 'M\d. political schemes, we are not so sanguine in our expecta- tions, as to place implicit confide;tce on any general statement, especially when it is exemplified by rouH.{ numbers. Xever- theless, in justice to the zealous support- ers of the drill-plough, we fully admit its superiority over the clumsy and irregular practice of the wasteful broad-cast hus- bandr}- ; and posterity will ever grate- fully remember the names of Tull, Cooke, Young, and DarwiTi, if, by theii- joint labours, one half o? the above stated quantity of grain and seeds, that is, toge- ther eight or nine millions of bu^she Is, could be annually saved to the Englsh nation, be- fore one half of the presenteventful century is expired. DRYING OIL, is oil prepared by boil- ing oils, such as linseed, with litharge, and is the basis of a vast number of paints and varnishes. If the naturally drying oils are boiled upon litharge without the intervention of water, they become thick, glutinous, and more dry- ing than before. Not only the oxids, but also aqueous solutions of the ace- tite of lead, as well as the sulphat of zinc, are eanployed for this purpose. See Oils. DYEING. The Jlrt o/"._The object of this ancient and truly chemical art is to fix uuiformlj" and more or less perma- nently, certain colouring matters into the fibres of wool, linen, cotton, silk, and other filamentous substances. The operations of dyeing, from the preparation of the stuff to that of the co- bur or dye, and some subsequent pro- cesses, are so completely chemical, that however the dyer may consider his art meciianical, a knowledge of chemistry seems indispensably necessary. Although it is well known, that few who practise dyeing in this country are skilled in the- or}-, and those onlj" are confined to the production of a few colours, yet we have known, that a dyer well acquainted with chemistry has made more progress in the advancement of his art, than at first view would be supposed. The person, to whom we allude, is Mr. Partridge, now principal dyer to the Messrs. Du- ponts' of Brandywine. He has not only employed a number of indigenous plants, but has invented new mordants, so that many colours, for which we were heretofore indebted to Europe, we obtain from our own resources. Dr. Penxixg- Tox, in his Cliemical and Economical es- says, by turning his attention to this sub- ject, has recommended several vegeta- ble astringents for the production of black dye. These facts are designed to shew, that to those engaged in extensive manufac- tures, where dyeing forms a necessary part, much may be accomplished not on- ly in discovering new coloiu-s, but in using new mordants, or certain bases suited to the stufl' and the colouiung in- gredient. We have seen, however, w-ith great satisfaction, that the art of dyeing has kept pace with the progressive im- provements of tlie other arts ; but we have found, that in every case where a new co- louring matter or a new mordant was to be used, considerable time has been wasted in a number of vag-ue experiments, Mhich, from theu- being unchemical, have serv- ed to perplex and confound the ope- rator. In families we find, tliat mixed coloufs have been hit upon, for dyeing their do- mestic articles, without any chemical knowledge whatever, and very often alum, chamber-lie, &c. are employed without knowing their use ; but the case is differ- ent on a larger scale, though probably from chance the manufacturer may suc- ceed, yet the risk and the considerable expense he incurs are, too frequently, objects of much importance, -we would, DYE DYE therefore, recommend to the professional dyer, to acquire a thorough knowledge of chemistry as connected witli dyeing-. A detailed account of all the processes of dyeing would of itself fJl a volume : in this place therefore all that can be done vill he to give a short view of the lead- ing facts and operations. The substances commonly dyed are either of animal or vegetable origin. To the former belong wool, silk, hair, leather, and skin of all kinds ; to tlie latter, cot- ton, flax and hemp. The particular che- mical analysis and properties of these sub- stances, as far as they have been examined, will be described under the respective ar- ticles. A 7nost important and essential difterence exists between the affinity for colouring matter possessed by th«se sub- stances, so that a process which perfectly succeeds in dyeing- wool (for example) may have no elfect upon cotton, neither is there any agreement in the cpiantity of colouring ingredient necessary to dye each stuff. A simple experiment of Dufay's proves this. He had a piece of clotli woven, of which the warp was wool, and the woof cotton, this was fulled that each sub- stance might undergo exactly the same prcj)aratlon, and then passed through a scarlet vat. The mooI only took the co- lour, but the cotton remained white after rincing. With regard to c^uantity of co- lour, it is found that silk takes twice as much cochineal to dye it, as wool does. Tile different force of affinity between different fibres and colouring matter is also shewn by the more or less perfect manner in which they exhaust a coloured bath ; thus, as Bergman observes, wool dyed in a weak solution of sulphat of in- digo entirely absorbs the dye, and leaves the solution colourless, whereas silk can only partially rob the sul])huric acid of the colouring matter. Generally speak- ing, wool has the strongest affinity for co- lour, taking it more easily, and retaining it more firmly ; silk and other animal matters come next to wool, cotton next, and hemp and flax last ; but this is not to be understood with great latitude, nor does it always happen that substances which take colour tlie easiest, retain it the longest, besides that the previous prepa- ration is not the same, and hence the comparison is not altogether accurate. No exact explanation can be given of the different affinity for colour in different substances, except that the analysis of vegetable and animal matters shews a most essential difference in their compo- nent parts, and their habitudes with clie- niical reagents. It is on tiiis account too. that the preparation, which eacli substance receives previously to being d) ed so much varies. Animal matter, especially wool, when immersed in caustic alkali has it^ fibre immediately relaxed, becomes clam- my, loses its natural toughness and elas- ticity, and at last is entirely dissolved in a soapy compound. Vegetable fibre on the other hand resists alkalies much longer, and is not easily dissolved ; and hence in tiie jirevious cleansing and fulling of wool, alkalies are scarcely admissible, or must be used with extreme caution, whereas tliey may be employed with safety in the preparation of cotton and linen. Animal fibre is also much more easily afl'ected by acids. The simple colours employed in dye- ing are chiefly of animal or vegetable origin. The number of possible dyes is almost equal to that of the vegetable or insect tribes on the face of the eai-th, for almost all of these will make a coloured decoction with water, which is capable of tinging cloth immersed in it. Hence the variety of native dyes from indigenous plants used in different parts of the globe by every nation, savage, or civilized. A very few, however, are employed in the i-egular manufactories of European na- tions, being such as are obtained in the most abundance from countries where they form valuable articles of commerce, and whose qualities are minutely known, by long and accurate observation. Of the great variety of known dyes, some, (liiough comparatively but few) may be applied to animal or vegetable fi- bre without any other preparation than that of cleansing the stuf^", and immers- ing it in a decoction or infusion of the dye for a sufficient time. The colouring matter then unites with the fibre of the cloth with a greater or less degree of force, so as sometimes ])ermanently to re- sist tlie effect of washing, and the bleach- ing power of the sun and air, sometimes partially, sometimes scarcely at ail. On the other hand the greater number of dyes have naturally only a very feeble af- finity for fibre, (though never in the same degree for animal and vegetable) and therefore, when applied without addition, they are destro3ed very speedily ; but the ingenuity of man has discovered that they may be made to unite with fibre much more durable by the intermede of some other substance (generally a salt with an alkaline, earthy, or metallic basis) which possesses a very strong affinity both with fibre and with colouring mutter, and hence serves to bind the one to the other. These intermedes are called JMordants (a term derived from an erroneous theofy DYE DYE nov.- abandoned) and the usual practice is first to steep the cloth or fibre in the mor- dant, and afterwards in the dye. The dyes that cannot be fixed into the stuff without mordants may be termed (with Dr. Bancroft) adjective colours ; those in which mordants are of no use may be called substantive colours. Madder is an adjective coloiu-, since it is rendered much more durable by the intermede of alum, or of many other salts than when used alone. Indigo is a substantive co- lour, since its durability is not encreased by any intermede whatever. Another important difference in the na- ture of dyes is in the degree of perma- nency of tint, vliich certainly in part de- pends on the force of affinity with M'hich it unites to the fibre, and partly on the in- timate nature of the colouring matter, and its susceptibility of decomposition by light, air, moisture, and also by alkalies, soaps, and other substances employed in the common uses of dyed stuffs. The permanency of colour has no necessary connexion with the mode in which it is united to the substances dyed, for among the substantive as well as the adjective colours some are very permanent, others verv fugitive. For example, of the sub- stantive colours (or those which unite as strongly to cloth without, as with mor- dants) Indigo is very permanent, resist- ing the sun, air, washing with soap, and most chemical agents : the oriental tlen.tf, which is a fine orange red, long resists the sun and air, but is altered and de- stroyed by soap : ^Srchil, and other of the purple lichens, is instantly altered by soap, and is soon changed by the light and air, so as only to give a very fugitive but beautiful gloss. Of the adjective co- lours JMadder is one of the most perma- nent that is known, retaining its body of colour (wlien well applied) under almost every circumstance. Cochineal on wool is neatly equally fast or permanent, but on cotton much less so ; Brazil Wood fades miich sooner than the last, whatever mor- dant be appUed. The selecti(m and right application of mordants is of infinite consequence in dye- ing, and it is this subject, with its various niodincations that forms the trulv scienti- fic pai't of this beautiful art. Linen or cotton requires a different mordant from wool or silk, some colours adhere only to a particular mord;\nt, the order of appli- cation, the su'englh, and many other smaller circumstances, all of which mate- riallv aflect the beauty and durability of the colour, and the texture of the cloth, must be attended to by the artist. Some simple experiments related by Dr. Bancroft, and which are readily re- peated, well illustrate the action of mor- dants. A piece of coiton was impressed with various figures with a moi-dant of" acetited atumlne, and when Avy was j-inced and cleansed in the usual way of calico printing. It was then dyed in an infusion of saffron and came out uni- formly yellow, but on exposure to air the whole became white. Hence it is shewn both that the colouring matter of saffron has no strong affinity with cotton, and that alumlne has no power of fixing it, and hence is useless as a mordant. The same piece was then dyed with a decoc- tion of Brazil wood, and the whole came out coloured, but tlie figures printed with the aluminous solution were of a fine crimson, whereas the gi'ound was only faintly tinged. On exposure to the sun and air for two days the ground sooh became white, and the figures also were faded, and in eight days the crimson of the latter, which had been gradually di- minisiung, was no longer nsible. This second experiment shews that acetited alumlne is a powerful mordant for Braz.ii wood, but still not sufficient, finally to fir its colour. The same piece was then dyed with a. decoction of madder, and the whole came out coloured, but the figures deeper than the gi'ound. On washing with bran and water, and exposure to sun and air, the ground became white, but the figures re- tained all their bod}' and brightness of colour, and this time the dye was perma- nent, shewing in a very striking manner the strong affinity both of the alumlne for the cotton so as to remain fixed in its fibres during three successive operations, and of the alumine for the madder co- lour so as to retain it permanently in spite of the washings and bleachings which entirely desti'oyed the dye of the ground. Mordants not only fix colouring mat- ter, but most commonly thej' in some de- gree alter the natural hue. Thus in the instance above-mentioned the aluminous mordant changed the dull red of madder to a bright crimson ; the solutions of tin not only fix the colour of cochineal in wool, but change it from crimson to a bright scarlet : the salts of iron which are powerful mordants, always alter the colour of dyes, changing the yellow of weld to olive-brown, drab, or lead-coloiu" according to circumstances, the red of madder to a violet brown, and, as is well known, striking a bluish-lilack whenever tiie gallic acid is present. Hence a great advantage is most ingeniously made of mixing different kinds of mordtints to DYE DYE produce varieties of sliadc ; thus a mix- ture of the iron and aUiminous mordant will produce with madder all t!ie shades of flea-colour, purple and violet ; with weld, brown and olive green, and the like, so that with no more tiian tiiree or fbui; colouring materials an almost infinite va- riety of dyes may be produced by a due selection and mixture of the various mor- dants. On the subject of mordants, the fol- lowing interesting- memoir, by Messrs. Thenard and Hoard, will illustrate eveiy part of this branch of dyeing. See An- iJALES DE ChIMIE. quarts of distilled water.and lOO grammes of pure alum, which had been previously dissolved in a complete manner. After this time, the silk being taken out of the liquid, was hung up to be entire!}- diy, over the alum bath, and washed several times with distilled water, to separate the part of the mordant, which had nut been combined with it. The alum buth and the washings, were evaporated with much care, and they gave often, and even to the end, very transparent chrystals of alum. I'hese first results show us, in a positive manner, the nature of the combi- nation formed with the silk, during the Mordants are those substances which : aluming, and that it was at the same time sene to efil-ct a. perfect combination of very probable, that the alum had not been the colouring matter with stuff's, and that ; decomposed. We again boiled that alumed increase their beauty. Those properties ' silk i?) a matrass, with six litres or quarts are possessed by a great many saline and ' of distilled water ; after having let off the metallic substances ; but those that pos- ' boiling water, we washed it twelve times ; sess them in the greatest degree, and the 72 litres or quarts arising from these 12 which, for that reason, are preferred by operations, having been evaporated, gave all workmen,are alum, acetate of alumine, i us again well defined chrystals of alum, tartar, and solutions of tin. j which quantity added to that from the The examination and analysis of the { alum bath, did not differ more than two effects produced by these mordants, upon i decigramme, animal and vegetable substances, shall be the subjectof our present investigation. We shall divide the subject into four chapters, in which we will make known successively, the action of alum, the ace or one four hundred and twentieth part from the 95 gramnses which had befen employed. If after each ofihese twelve washings, you try to dye silk, the colour becomes less and less deep, so that after the twelfth washing, the silk tateof alumine, of alum and of tartar, and | becomes incapable of being dyed. Th of the solutions of tin upon silk, wooi, cotton and thread, agreeably to the me- tliods most commonly employed in dyeing. On Muni. The manner of usingaluni, ■which is called " alunage," (aluming) vai'ies according to the nature of the stuffs, and to the colours that are desired. I-'or silks, it is left to macerate for some days ill the solution of alum sufficiently strong to prevent the chrystallization of the salt. Aluming wool is effected by boiling it for two hours in water, with a fourth' of its silk bei)ig disalumed, or deprived of alum, and again alumed, acquires immediately the quality of fixing the colours as strong as before any washing. From which re- salts, the natural explanation of the cause, why the alumed silks take colour more intensely, when they are dyed at a low temperature, than when they are plung- ed at once into boiling water. The rea- son is, that in the first case, the action of the boiling water on the mordants is so (juicJi, that the colouring* matter lias not weight of alum. Cotton and flax thread time to be fixed in it, in order to give in are alumed with a strong solution of alum in luke warm water, to which potash is often added, and in which it remains at least for 24 hours. It lias hitherto been thought, that in this operation, alum was decomposed, and that alumine was com- bined with the stuff', the colour of which was more easily fixed, when dipped in tlie dyeing liquid : but the experiments which have been made, force us to reject this opinion. Jlnalysis of Almning of Silk. Ninety -five grammes [one gramtne is ten deci-grani- tnes or eighteen grains eighty four hun- dredths'] of silk well cleansed, and per- fectly purified,having been ])ut into a glass vessel, for the space of 6 days, at thc'tem- perature of the atmosphere, v ith about 4 solubility to the combination ; but in the second case, this effect car.not take place. Analysis of Alutned fl'ool. After hav- ing determined tlie ])henomena, that take place in the aluming of silk, it became ne- cessary to continue tiic examination in the case of wool, and to only employ matters perfectly pure,and especially free from car- bonate of lime, which is always in a pret- Ly strong j)rop()rtion. To separate it fiom them, we boiled them several times in a matrass.wilh veiy weak mu: iatic acid, but in order to extract the last portion of tlie acid it was necessary to use so considerable ([uanlity of distilled water, that we were ready to abaiulon the experiment, which recjuiied, besides time and patience, the greatest care. The separation of the nui- DYE DYE riatlc acid, from the two first liecto gram- mes of wool, which we had purified, re- quired 200 litres of distilled w ater, the temperature of 100 degrees of the centi- grade iheriiiometer, and being divided into 20 successive operations, every one lasted from seven to eight hours Calcin- ed and treated projierly, the hme and mu- riatic acid disappeared totally. One hun- dred grammes of tiiis wool, have been alumed with tlie same caution that vv ;is employed in the case of siili. Aflerwards it was submitted to 20 washings, ai the temperature of 100 degrees, of the centi- grade tliermoraeter, in a matrass, with 6 litres of distilled water for t?acii operation. The aluming being finished, tins wool took colours the must intense, while after the last washiiig', it could not receive a colour from the dye, more than the same white wool, that had not received any mordant. These comparative experi- ments show us, that the substance which had been fixed by the aluming, and which at first had determined the colouring of the wool during the dyeing, had been re- moved by the water- The alum bath eva- porated, gave in the state of chrystals two thirds of the quantity of alum which had been employed : we found almost entire- ly, the other third in the residue of the bath, chrystalizable witii diihcuky, and in the prodtice of the washing of the alumed wool. We repeated these experiments several times, and constantly with the same results ; btit as they did not appear to us, as sure as that on siilc, on accoimt of the drfticulty of separating the animal matters, from the last part of the alum bath : we alumed the wool in tlie cold, as we had done tlie silk, persuaded, that in that case, the bath could not sensibly dis- solve that matter. We alumed in the cold, in a solution of alum of 5'', some pure wool, and we have taken out during the operation on the silk, either from the alum bath, or the washings, except about one four hun- dredth part, all the alum which had been used. As we were certain, that in the aluming of all these animal matters, the alum is entirely combined witli them, without undergoing any decomposition, and that it then forms combinations, more or less soluble, M'hich have a great affinity for the colotiring matter. Jlnalysis of the Aluming of Cotton and Thread. After having extracted from a parcel of cotton, by the foregoing means, all the foreign matters combined with it, we alumed it in a luke warm bath, wit\x a certain quantity of alum, and let it ma- cerate therein two days. After that ope- ratioHj this stuff dyed perfectly well, but treated afterwards at 100 degrees of the centigrade thermometer, in a ma tress, wiih distilled water, it lost the property of being colotiied in the dye vat i he alum bath, and the washings^ being eva- porated, gave us the same qiuuitity of alum, that had been used. We succeed- ed in separating the alum from the vege- table matter, which it had dissolved by several chrystalizations. We did not wish in this operation, to wash the cotton as often as we did the silk and wool, seeing that the luiiou of the alum with vegeta- ble substances is so weak, that we cannot immerse dia-ing some minutes, the alum- ed cottons in boiling water, without de- priving them of a great part of their mor- dant. So, for cotton sttifis, the greatest care is to be taken to dye them at a low temperature, because it is only when the colouring matter has given a degree of insolubility to that union, that it can, without being altered, support a great heat. A parcel of thread, treated in the same , manner, gave the same result. Analysis of the Aluming cojnmon Wool. Our analysis haxe shown in the fullest manner, that in the aunning of animal and vegetable substances, the alum was combiiied with them, without any decom- position, btit we thought it necessary to verity also, on the substances, in their or- dinary state, the facts which they otlered to us after being puriLed. The wools alumed with alum alone, always rerider the bath very muddy, and let fall when cold, a great quantity of white precipi- tate, as several chemists have observed. These precipitates, being well washed, have constantly furnisiied us sidphate of lime, saturated sulphate, and sometimes a little alumine. The bath was composed of a considerable quantity of alum, of aci- dulous sulphate of potash, combined with a small proportion of animal matter. We only tbtmd on the wool some alum, and a very small quantity of precipitate. These experiments on the precipitates formed by the aluming-, do not differ from those of Mr. Berthollet, but that learned chemist having neither examined the mo- ther waters, nor the alumed wools, could not give, as he himself acknowledges, a clear explanation of the effects produced by the alum and the tartar in the opera- tion of dyeing. These precipitates ob- tained by the common wool with alum, never occur in purified wool ; and as those matters do not differ among- tiiemselves, except by the presence of the carbonate, it was natural in such a case, to attribute to that substance the decomposition of a part of the alum. DYE DYE We ascertained ourselves in Ircatiiig cluring many liours at the temperature of 100 decrees, in a glass vase, some solu- tions ot alum in distilled water, with dif- ferent proportions of carbonate of lime. We have acknowledged, that the alum was decomposed by liie carbonate of lime; and that if you had a sufficient quantity of it, there would not remain the smallest panicle of the alum salt in solution. The mother waters are the very acid sulpiiate of potash, and the precijVitatcs are formed of the sulphate of hme, ai.d the acidulous sulphate of ahimine, and of potash : from which it follows, that the property pos- sessed bv ordinary wools, of Ibrjning a precipitate in the alum bath, and causing a great degree of acidity therein, proceeds Teall) from the carbonate of lime. We ob- tain moreover a result precisely similar, in making with ordinary wool, 5 or 6 succes- sive alumings with the same bath. But to come to a general solution of the ques- tion, it was necessary to ascertain the na- ture of the precipitate formed in the solu- tions of alum, by means of se^ei-al alka- line and earthy substances. We have taken then, alums with base of potash, and base of ammonia, which we treated with ammonia and carbonate of potash, in such a manner, as to have in their so- lutions a small excess of alum. The mo- tlier waters evaporated, were very acid sulphate of ammonia, of potash and ajii- monia, and of potash according to the na- ture of the alum, and the precipitant cm- ployed. The precipitates, which were acidulous sulphate ofalumine and of jiot- ash or ammonia, treated by tlie sulphuric acid, gave some alum, and acidulous svd- phate ofalumine ; boiled moreover a num- ber of times with distilled water, tliey were changed into alum, into sulpliatc ot potash, and into \nivc alum: but more of the acid sulphate of potasli, than of alinn. The solutions of alum, brought to 100 degrees of heat, on the centigrade scale, with pure alumlne, were converted into very acid sulphate of potash, and acidu- lous sulphate of ahimine and ]M)tash. Af- ter this, we could have no doubt as to the alterations produced by the common wool bi the alumed baths, and upon the inconvenience of alkalies in those destined for cotton ; for the addition of those mat- ters diminishes tlie qiumtity of alum, anringing indigo to a soluble state. Dr. Bancroft also has found the sub-oxyd of tin equally beneficial The sulphuret of arsenic or orpiment is also commonly used for the same purpose. The indigo thus deoxygenated is now soluble in the alkalies or in lime-water, which are the solvents actually employed in the coniposition of the indigo vat. Indigo is a substantive colour, or one that requires no mordant to be previous- ly united with the stuft" to be d> cd It is also one of the fastest colours known, but to render it permanent, it must be pre- sented to the fibres of the cloth in its green deoxygenated state. Hence it is diat clotli when it comes out of the mdigo vat is always of a deep green, but by expo- sure to the air it .soon changes to a fine deep blue. This change of colour of the solution of indigo fii.m green, (oi-, if much alkali has been used, yellowish gTcen) to blue, forms a very enicrtaining expeii- ment in tlie smidl way. The same change is constantly going on upon the suilaces of indigo \ats, wliich, being in contact, with air, are always covered with a fine • variegated green and copper-coloured scum liiat is perpetually i)assing to blue, unless stirred in and mixed with the mass below. This constant change in the nature of the indigo, demands an equalh^ constant attention to the slate of the vat, on the part of the workmen, to keep the liquor at the proper point of ox} gvnation ; for when the blue colour is regenerated, the indigo again partly separates from the lime or alkaline solvent, or remains only suspended in it as a fine impalpable pow- der, which will not adhere to cloth with any permanence. Fresh deoxydating ma- terials also become from time to time necessary ; but again, too great a quanti- ty of this and of the lime or alkali, is equally detrimental, and so far alters the nature of the indigo, that it will no longer change to blue by air, but remains of a rusty yellowish green. Woad, which is a fecula or dried pulp, made of the fcrinented leaves and stem of the /satis Tinctiria, and in nature not un- like indigo, is commonly used along with indigo, in the dyeing of woollen. Woad is never employed alone, for the blue co- lour, which It gives, though full-bodied, and very perraaiieiii, is not sufficiently bright and glossy In its nature and affi- ihlies for oxygen it appears considerably to resemble iiuligo 'I'he bath in wliich wool is dyed blue, is not a copper boiler, as is the case with other dyes, hut is a large wooden vat, go nerally sunk in the gi-ound fitted, with a cover to |iroVect it fnnii the draught of external air, and to preserve the tempe- rature more uniform. Tht colour is some- times i^rocured from indigo alone, some- times from a mixtureof indigo and woad. DYE DYE The latter is prepared in the following' way. Two hundred parts of woad broken small, are first thi'ovvn into tlie vat, to which is then addt-d, a hot decoction of 15 parts of weld, .is much madder, and a basket of bran, all boiled in a separate vessel, with water enough to fill the wood- en vat. This is allowed to remain at rest for six hours, when the whole is well stirred together, and again let to i-est. A kind of fermentation is tiius produced in tlie vat, attended with very strong acrid vapours, owing to the beginning decom- position of the woad. After a sufficient time (during which the stirring- is often repeated,), four pans of lime are added, which turns the vat of a black colour, and makes the fumes still more acrid Imme- diately afterwards from 5 to 15 parts of indigo (more or less according to the depth of colour to be dyed,) mixed up with water, into a cream-like fluid poured in and th^ whole stirred and covered. The disoxygenation of tlie indigo, is ef- fected by the action of all the vegetable matter already in the vat, and "when thus altered it is dissolved by the lime. The signs of the solution of the indigo, are the rising of a blue copper-coloured and varie- gated scum, and the liquor beneath be- coming of a bright green. Before the cloth is put into the vat, it is wetted with clear hot water and wiling out. The time of remaining in the vat, depends on the depth of colour wanted, and on other circumstances. It comes out green, as already men- tioned, but the colour changes to blue by exposure to air. It is then thoroughly washed, to discharge all the colouring matter that is not fixed, and dried in the field. Dr. Bancroft thinks (and with some reason,) that the weld and madder added to this vat, have little other effect than to supply vegetable matter, for the fermen- tation, which is to disoxygenate the indi- go, and hence, that instead of these ex- pensive ingredients, any herbs, or a great- er quantity of bran, or coarse sugar, or many other cheaper materials, might be substituted. A richer blue bath, that gives a finer and softer colour (but is more expensive on acc(nint of indigo, alone supplying the blue colour,) is made by boiling in a cop- per \vlth sufficient water, nine parts of pearlash, with as much bran, and one part of maddei", after which nine parts of indi- go, ground up with a little water are add- ed, and a gentle heat kept up for about forty-eight hours, stirring the whole well together, three or four times during^ the VOL. I. ' solution. In this case the alkali is the solvent of the indigo when deoxygenated by the bian ard the maddei-. In other indigo batiis, the ammonia contained in stale urine, is the solvent of the colouring matter, and the deoxygCr naiing matters ai-e madder and tartar. The variety is endless of combinations thus afforded by the use of a vast num- ber of vegetable matters, with lime or any of t.he alkalies. Silk is dyed in a similar indigo vat with the f(;)regoing, and without woad. For the very deep colours, however it is found ne;. cessary to prepare the silk, with a high purple from archil. Metallic sub-oxyds and sulphurets were mentioned to be equally powerful in de- oxygenating indigo, with vegetable mat- ters, and to be employed accordingly. This chiefly takes place in preparing the indigo vats for cotton and hnen. A very simple and efficacious mode of compos- ing this kind of blue vat, is to mix to- gether one part of indigo, two parts of sulphat of iron, and two of lime, with suf- ficient water in a vat, to stir them toge- ther very well, for a considerable time, and then suffer them to remain two days at rest. In this case part of the lime first decomposes the sulphat of iron, sepai'at- ing the sub-oxyd of iron, which then acts on the indigo, and brings it to the state of the green-yellow, or deoxygenated in- digo, at which time, it becomes soluble in the remainder of the hnie. This vat therefore consits of a solution of deoxyge- nated indigo by lime, mixed with some sulphat of lime, (arising fiom the decom- position above mentioned) and at the bottom is a sediment of the oxyd of iron, with any undissolved lime, or regenerated blue indigo, that may be contained. The cotton comes out of the vat green, as in the former case, and turns blue by expo- sure to air. It is the constant practice after the cotton is dyed, to pass it through a cistern, containing cold water, with a small proportion of sulphuric acid. This is found to heighten the colour, and is of further use, in dissolving out any adhering lime or sulphat of lime, which would give a hai'shness to the stuff and impair the lustre. Alkalies are also frequently used in- stead of lime in the above vat. Their effect is precisely the same as that of the lime, only being themselves, much more solu- ble in water than lime, they will bear a much larger proportion of indigo, and of course will form a much deeper and rich- er dye. The indigo rapidly regenerates or reco- vers its oxygen (and with its blue colour) N n DYE DYE at the surface, of all tliese solutions, and in so doing, it separates from Uie alkali or lime-water, wiiich held it dissolved, and partly sinks to the bottom, partly reniaias entangled in the scum, llence the use of the occasional stirrings, to mix the re- generated indigo, with the other materials, and again dissolve it- Frequent additions are also used, of the deoxygenaiing and dissolving substances to refresh tlie vat, when long exposed to air, and bring it back to the proper state for dyeing. It is remarkiibie that the .salts of copper are found by constant experience, to liave a totally ojjposite eflect on indigo, from the salts of iron, the former being obscrv- ed n(ji only to have no ei'iect^ m render- ing indigo soluble, but even to prevent the operation of the sub-oxyds of ii-on, andtoliasten tiie regeneration of dissolv- ed indigo. This is suppo.>^ed to be tiie reason, why cottons, first soaked in sid- phat of copper, and tlien passed through a very weak indigo vat, extract at once ad the colour, the copper determining the inmu-diate separation of the indigo. Orpiment or sulphiu'el of arsenic, is clileHy used in jDreparing tlie indigo solu- tion tor topical application in calico-print- ing. Mr. Ilaussman mixes for this ])ur- pose 25 gallons of v/ater, wiih 10 poinids of indigo, (more or less according to its quality,) to whicli is added 30 lb. of good pearla'sli, 121b of lime, and 12 lb. of or- piment. The whole is boiled for a suffi- cient time with stirring, and forms a very strong yellow liquid solution, which turns blue by expo.sure to air. i'or calico- printing it is thickened either with gum senega) or with starch, to the consistence of a jelly, and wlien strongly impressed on cotton, it forms durable blue figines. The extreme inconvenience of this, antl all other solutions of indigo in lime or al- kalies, is tlie impossibility of preventing the perpetual regeneration of the indigo, before tite whole is used ; and as all the colour prematurely regenerated, is rea- dily washed away, in the after processes, itbecom'es extremely dillicult to maintain an unirorm sliade of l)lue'i through the pattern of a whole piece of cloth. The gum or paste is of further use, in re- tarding tins premature change of the in- digo. According to Professor Pallas, cotton and silk, are dyed blue at Astracan, %y a bath very sinular to tiie simplest indigo vat for wool, the deoxygenaiing substance being honey, and the solvent of the indigo being soda. The proportions are two pountls of in- dig'o, fiVe ])ounds of carbonat of soda, two pounds bt" ijne, and one pound of clarifi- ed honey. These are put with sufficient water into large earthen jars, set in brick work over a fire, which will bear a boil- ing heat, and are heated with frequent stirring, till the indigo is dissolved. Saxon Blue, is the name given to a to- tally diflerent preparation of indigo, from those hitherto mentioned, and is made by digesting tiiis colouring matter for above twenty-four hours, with a gentle heat, in a about four times its weight of strong " suliihuric acivl This acid (thus con- cern rated,wbich with the assistance of heat would charr and dcitvoy mo.st vegetable matters,) produces but little appaicnt al- teration on indigo, but dissolves it into a fluid of an inky blackness, wiien undilut- ed, bilt when iargeiy mixed wiin water, it produces a very beautiful transparent blue liquor, of a brighter colour, tiian the alkaline solutions of indigo, and capable of giving very fine dyes to cloth, silk, or cotton. Tiie great inconvenience how- ever, of the Saxon blue, is ction of quercitron is of a )ellowish })rown, darkened by alkalies, and render- ed lighter by acids : alum causes a verj- small precipitate of a deep yellow : the solutions of tin produce a very lively yel- low and a copious sediment. The quantity of colour contained in quercitron bark, is very great, compared to its weight, much more than in an equal weight of weld, to which it a])proaches the nearest in beauty and durability com- bined. Wool may be dyed of a fast yellow with quercitron, by being first cleaned in the usual manner, boiled for about an hour, with one-sixth of its weight of alum, in sufficient water, tlien without rincing, transferred into a copper, containing a decoction of as much quercitron bark as there was used of alum, and turned thj'ough the boiling liquor, over the winch as usual, till tlie colour appears to have taken sufficiently. After this, some chalk, in the propor- tion of one pound for every 100 lbs. of the cloth, is to be mixed with the dyeing liquor, and tlie operation continued ten minutes longer, when the process will be finished. It may be observed, that chalk or alkali, is of great service, in all yellow dyeing, whether with weld, quercitron, or any other colour, when the mordant is alum, as this addition helps to bring out and heighten the dye. The yellow of quercitron, given in this way, is however inferior to that of weld. 1'he salts of tin, being powerful mor- dants, for almost every colouring matter, may be employed with advantage in dye- ing ysUow, particularly the finest colours. Dr.. Bancroft, recommends the murio-sul- phat of tin, (made by dissolving 14 ounces of tin, -in a mixture of two pounds of strong sulphuric acid, and three pounds of the muriatic,) of which ten pound, with as much quercitron bark, are sufficient to give the highest orange yellow, to 100 lbs. of cloth. The bark is first put into the boiler, (tied up in a bag,) and boiled with water for a few minutes, after which the tin solution is added, the mixture well .stirred, and the cloth, previously scoured iind wi tted, is then passed briskly through the liquor over a winch, for a sufficient time, which is generally no more than a quarter of an hour. With an addition of alum a pure gol- den yeilow. with less of the orange is pro- (luci'd ; for the delicate gieenyeiiows Dr. B. uses the tin solution vith both tartar and alum. 'I'lie method of dyeing cotton yellow with weld, has been already mentioned. A similar way, will answer with all the yellow dyes, but owing to the small affi- iiity, which the fibres of cotton have for colouring matter, it is extremely dilR- cult, by any mean;>, to fix a full, equal and lasting yellow on this material. Even the salts of tin, which aie so useful as mordants, to wool or silk. Dr. Bancroft observes, to have no good effect with cot- ton, and to be worse in every respect than alum. On account of the superior beauty, and durability of the yellows given to cotton, in the process of calico-printing, to tltose BYE DYE r>f common dyemg. Dr. Bancroft proposes, tlie use of the primers mordant, the ace- tite of alumine, in general dyeing. When used for this purpose, it is not to be thickened witli gum or starch, but pre- pared simply by mixing one part of sugar of lead, with tln-ee of alum, and sufficient water. The cotton (and the same applies to linen,) should be first soaked for two hours, in the aluminous liquor, kept blood warm, and then dried in a stove : then soaked a second time in the mordant, dried without rincing in water, then soak- ed in lime-water,which tends to fix the alu- mine in the cloth, and neutralizes the ace- tous, acid. Afier this, (or where a very durable yellow is wanted, with a thud aluming- and liming,) it is fit for the yel- low bath; in which 12 or 18 pounds are sufficient for 100 of the linen or cotton. A finish with a very weak solution of sulphat of copper seems to raise the co- lour. Some of the further uses proposed to be made of the quercitron, by Dr. Ban- croft, will be mentioned, when describ- ing tiie cochineal scai'let, and calico-print- ing. Old Fustic, so called in this country, (the B.:is Jaune of tlie Fiencli,) is the \\ ood of a large tree, tlie JMorui tinctoria, which grows abundantly in many parts of the West indies, and the American con- tinent. Fustic is of a sulphur colour, abound- ing in colouring matter, which is much more durable than any of the other yel- low dyes, insomuch as when applied even substantively, or witiiout a mordant, the dye is considerably durable, but still more so, when used with, the same mordants, as weld, orquei-citron. The decoction of fustic in water, when strong, has a deep and somewhat dull red yellow, and by dilution becomes orange }ellow. Acids produce in it only a slight precipitate, which alkalies redissolve, ren- dering the hquor red. Fustic though valuable, for the dura- bility of its colour, is seldom used for the pure yellows, as the colour which it gives is dull and muddy. It is chiefiy used in compound colours, as in forming gieen with a Saxon-blue basis ; or in producing witli a mixed mordant, of alum and iron liquor, an infinite variety of diab and ofn c d}es, where the natural dullness of its co- lour is of no consequence. It is used cliiefly in general dyeing, and seldom in printing. It goes much further than weld. For use, fustic must be split or cut in chips, and inclosed in a bag, that no part of it, may fix in the stuff and tear it. We may heat fustic in the same way as weld, with only this difterence, that in order to obtain the same shade, much less fus- tic is required ; thus fi^'e or six ounces of this wood, are sufficltnt to give a le- mon colour, to a pound of cloth ; but the colours obtained from it incline more to orange, than those obtained from the weld. Young Fustic, the Fustet of the French, dyers, Jihus Cutinus or Venice Sumach, is a shrub growing in Italy and the South of France, which gives a fine greenish yel- low, but without any permanence, so that it is never used alone, but only as an ac- cessary colour, to heighten cochineal and other dyes, and give them an approach to yellow. The common Sumach, gives a yelldw dye with the aluminous mordant, but very pale and dull. It is therefore never em- ployed for this purpose ; but on account of the large quantitj" of gallic acid it con- tains, it is of great sen-ice in black dyes, and all the degradations of this dye. Sav-JVort fSarrttte, Fr.) the Serratula Tinctoria of Linnseus, is a useful plant which gives a good lemon yellow to wool, when used with the aluminous mor- dant, I)yer''s Broom fGenestroie, Fr.) the Ge- nista Tiuctorui of Linn sens, a plant abun- dant in dry hilly countries, gives a tolera- ble yellow, which witii an :Uum and tar- tar mordant, is sometimes used in the in- ferior woollen goods. Ji'vignon or French, berry ( Graine d'Avig- noil) is a very beautiful but remarkably fugitive yellow, which can never be used with advantage to the consumer, except where a very temporary but fine colour is wanted. The ,hnerican Golden Rod (Solidago Canadensis) tliough not commoidy intro- duced, appears by the experiments of able dyers, to be one of the very best of the vegetable yellows, little if.at all infe- rior to weld. Several other vegetables have also been occasionally used for yellow dyes, but are of little importance. In fact scarcely any other substance, is actually employed for this colour than weld, fustic, and querci- tron. OfJfadder lieds. The root of madder, f liubia TinctoruinJ is one of the most important of the colouring matters, on account of the great body and quantity of colour which it possesses, its durability when fixed by proper mordants, and the immense variety of shades of colour, which are obtained from it by various ad- mixtures. • Some facts concerning the cultivation DYE DYE of madder, will be described under that article. The general result oflhe analj sis is, that madder naturally contains, two distinct colouring- matters, one ofwliicii is of a deep blood-red, (for which alone it is valued,) and the otlier of a dun or yellow brown, more soluble tiian the for- mer, but so intimately combined with it, as materially to deteriorate the natural beau- ty of the red portion. The natural colour of madd(!r tlierefore, is a dull orange red, with much body but little brightness ; but by various means (some of them extremely complicated,) the art of man has been enabled to extract, and fix dies of gi-eat beauty from this in- gredient. _ . .Madder is an adjective colom*, its stains being removed from all kinds of cloth, without much difficulty by washing, and exposure, unless fixed by mordants. Of these tlie aluminous salts are the most powerful, and most commonly employed. The salts of tin, are not used in hxingtlie colour, but when fixed, tliey render it more livel}-. Wool or woollen cloth, when to be dyed with madder, is hrst soaked in a ba:h of alum and tartar, in varying proportions ; but w'wmi the latter is in excess, the co- lour, though solid, degenerates to a cin- namon brown The uiadder added to the bath of alum and tartar, musi scarcely be heatfd more tiian blood-warm, otherwise the dye will become browner and deeper. At any time, however, the madder reds, on wool, are not so beautiful as those on linen or cotton, though easier given, and with more body. The fixing a jsermanent, full, and beau- tiful madder red upon cotton, and especi- ally lineu, is, perhaps, the most difficult and complicated process in dyeing ; and one on which more has been written, and more experiments and enquiries have been nuide, than perhaps any other part of this chemical art. The affinity of cotton, (and the same applies to linen) to madder-colour is so small, that even the aluminous mordant will not alone be suffi- cient to enable it to resist fiequent wash- ing, and especially tlie bleaching effect oi' the sun's rays. Hence, it is found neces- sary previously, to fix into the fibres of the cotton, one oi* more substances, capa- ble of uniting with both the mordant, and the colouring matter, and to retain them with great I'orce. There are two principal kinds of mad- der colours known, but w ii ii a great varie- ty of intermediate shades ; one is the com- mon red, not very brilliant, but considera- bl}' permanent, in whicb the substances used are chiefly, first, any vegetable sub- stance, containing a large quantity of tan, and above all, galls ; secondh , an alumi- nous mordant added to the galled cotton, generally with a certain poi-lion of tartar ; thirdi)-, the madder colouring matter ; and fourthly, a finish, with an alkaline baih, wiiich indeed is not essential to tlie fixity oflhe colour, but is found most ma- terially to heighten and unprove it, chiefiy as has been supposed, by removing the brown-yellow part of the madder which ahrays mixes more or less. with the red, and degratles it 'Jhe other madder co- lour is a very bright, beautiful, and a most diu-able red, which, from having long been, and being still prepared at Adriano* pie, and other parts of the Levant, with a ])erfection scarcely imitable, is called the Ailrianople or Turkey Red, and if the ac- counts of its preparation are accurate, it is the most complicated and tedious pro- cess in the whole art of dyeing. Tlie true Adrianople red, besides its uncommon beauty, has tlie propei'ty of re- sisting more than any other madder red, the action of soap, alkalies, alum, acids, and all other reagents. On this account, nitric acid is employed as a test to distin- guish this red from any spurious imita- tions. If the latter is immersed in aqua- fortis, or common nitric acid, ilsoon.loses colour, and in about a quarter of an hour, it is quite white ; whereas, the genuine Turkey red cotton, will remain nearly an hour, without any perceptible loss of co- lour, and retains an oi-ange tint to the last. There can be no doulH too, that much of the beauty of the Levantine red, is ow- ing to the superior qiuility of the madder, as will be noticed undei- that article ;.so that even with the best madder of the North of Europe, it is probable, that no accuracy in the dyehig can entirely make up, for this radical diHerence. We shall not detail the .stwiiteen distinct o]5erations (given by the Abbe .Mazeas) as employed in tliis piocess, but only des- cribe the g-eneral way of proceeding. The cotton yarn is first thoroug'hly cleansetl by long boiling" in water. The next step is to impregnate it with an ani- ■in:l substance; which, having a much sti-onger affinity for colouring matter than the cotton itself, forms an excellent basis or substratum, on which the dye may fix itself by tlie sflbsequent operatioiis. Tiic animal matter in this instance, is shceji's dung. Oil, is another intermede also used ; and the effect of this, is cei'tainh' to assist infixing the coloui-, and rendering it af- terwards insoluble in all other substances. The oil and tlie dunj^ are blended, and DYE DYE both togctlier dissolved in a ley of soda, and the cotton well mixed with it with much manual exertion. The cotton is then steeped in olive oil, witliout the dung, brouglit to the state of a milky liquid, or an extemporaneous soap, by just sufficient soda. It is then steeped in three successive baths of soda and water, each stronger tlian the last, in order thoroughlj", to separate all the oil tliat loosely adheres to the cottoa ; or all but what is intimately combined with it. This is necessary to make it take up the solublepart of the galls, with which it is combined in the next operation. A strong decoction of galls is then made, and the cotton is long and thoroughly steeped in it, with much wringing and pressing, after which it is sti'etched and dried as quickly as possible. The cotton now may be considered as a compound of vegetable fibre, \vitu the ani- mal matter of dung, with oil, and witii tan very intimately combined ; and, it is tlien in the state fit to receive the proper mor- dant for tlie madder colour. This mor- dant is Roman alum, in which the cotton is carefully steeped for a due time, and then stretched and dried. After tins long preparation, the cotton undergoes an exact repetition of the whole process step b}- step, the dung bath only excepted ; tliat is, of oiling, steeping in soda, galling, and lUuming. The whole of this labour being perform- ed, the cotton is thoroughly dried and aired, and is then of a dun, or root colour, this hue being given by the galls. The next step is tlie maddering ; but, in order more fully to animalize the cotton, a small quantity of sheep's blood is mixed with tlie water in the boiler, in which the madder is dissolved. The selection of the mad- der depends on the precise coloiu- requir- ed to be given; the quantity is always twice the weight of the cotton. Wlien this bath has got to a lukewai-m heat, the hanks of cotton ai-e steeped in it, well stretched on wooden frames, that keep the thread sufficiently asunder, to allow the dye to penetrate thoroughly and uni- formly. This steep lasts an hour, during which, tlie heat of the bat^is slowly increasing; and, after it begins to boil, the cottonis taken off the frame, and let to he loose in the vessel for an hour longer ; the Uquor being all tlie while kept at a boiling heat. After this, the colour of tlie bath being ex- hausted, the cotton is taken out, and washed in running water, stretched, and dried. Lastly, the cotton, now thoroughlv and durably dyed, Is finished by being boiled for four or five hours, in a closely VOL. I. covered vessel in a solution of white Mai". seilles soap, olive oil, and soda. This fi- nishing brings out the colour, and much increases its richness and durabilitv. In a word, Turkey red may be dyed" thus : -Vfter boiUng the cotton for three hours, in about an ounce of potash and fish oil, to each pound of cotton, ^\^th a sufficient quantity of water ; wash it. -\fter it is dryed, let it be immersed in fish oil for ten days. After washing it well, soak it iii a solution of alum, composed of one part of alum, and forty parts of water. Agi- tate it in a mixture of cow dung and hot ^^ater, and again throitgh alum water ; then in a decoction of sumach or galls, in Uie proportion of an ounce to a poimd of cotton. Immerse it now in a weak solu- tion of glue ; tlien wash it, and alum it — Now madder it, with a half pound of mad- der, to the pound of cotton. Alum it, and ;ii;-ain madder it, using from a to A a lb. of madder more, to tlie pound of cotton. Then finish the operation, by boiling it in a weak solution of white soap. Instead of using alum, the acetite of alumine, has been recommended : this is prepared by mixing 1 lb. of alum, and 2 lbs. of sugar of lead in 1 gallon of water, separating, if you please, the white precipitate, (sul- phate of lc<»d) or removing it afterwards by washing. The process already men- tioned, has been found to answer remark- ably well, as will appear fi-oni the follow- ing obsen^ations of Mr. Lau. A. Washing- ton, of Winchester, (Vu-ginia) : " Mrs. Washington made attempt last summer, to dye cotton, to the colour ge- nerally known by the name of Turkey Red. She followed a receipt in the Do- mestic Encyclopedia, and succeeded be- yond her expectations, in imparting to the cotton yam, a beautiful, brilliant, red co. lour, possessing a permanence that was at first Ultle expected. She had the yarn woven into a piece of fancy cloth, for her own wear, which has been very often washed, and still retains its brilliancy of colour, without any sensible diminution, " Several persons have adnured the co- lour, and expressed a great deshe to get the receipt. As the Domestic Encyclo- pnedia is in com])arati%'ely few hands, and the season for dyeing and making cotton cloth is approaching, I have thought it would be rendei'ing some service to con- dense the receipt into familiar language, for general benefit. In the original it is very long, .and a gi-eat man)- technical terms are used, which I have avoided as much as possible. Sec." As tlie process is, in some degree, mo- dified, it may not be improper to give it iii this place. o o DYE DYE First — Make a lie of one part oi' fjood potash, dissolved i'.\ four jjarls of boilinjj water. Then slack half a part of lime in it- Next dissolve one part of powdered alum, in two parts boiling water, and wliiie tins last solution is warm, pour the He gradually into it, stirring- :uk1 mixing them close' together. Tlien odd to the above mixture, a thirty-third part of lin- seed oil, wluch, when well mixed witii it, will form a rich milky substance, resem- bling-cream. As the skenisuf coUoii are dipt in this mixture, it must be siirred, as the oil will rise to tlie top of it wiien it is at rest. The above ingredients make what is chemically called, ' Alkjline solutSion of alumine, mixed with oil ;' which, in sjjeak- ing- of hereafter, I shall call the aikaline mixture. The quantity of the alkaline mixture to be made, must be determined by the quantity of cotton intended to be dyed. And to" ascertain tlie respective parts of the diiferent ingredients as named above, they must all be weighed; begmniiig with the water first, of which theie must be enough to permit each skein of cotton to be entirely immersed in it. Before the cotton (or flaxen thread, when that is to be dyed) is dipt into the alkaline mixture, it must be first well bleached and cleaned by washing, of every foreign, extraneous substance. Then boiled in strong lie matte of pot- ash, and dipt into tlie alkaline mi.\ture wiiilst it lb hot, and as v/et as it will be, when tiie lie is well gotten out of it by drawing the skeins through the iiands. The skeins are to be immersed into the alkaline mixture, one afler another, and to be repeatedly dipt and di awn gently through the hand until tliey beconie well soaked. As each skein tnidergoes the above process it is to be i)ut upon a pole, in tlie shade, to dry; in summer they are to be put out of doors where they are pro- tected from the rain, and in thexwinler to be kept in a warm place, within doors. After remaining in that state for twenly- fom- hou's, they must be well washed in pure running or rain water and again dried. — Afier \>)rici> tliey are to be wash- ed in a strong lie, made of good hickor\ ashes (or belter of potash) one skein after another, and gently and equally pressfd, by drawing through the hand or a pair of smootlt wooden rollers, and again hung up to dry. The madder is no-.v to he used — after fixing upon the quantity, (w hich will be regulated by tlie deepness of tiie colour intended lo be produced, of wliicli more will be said presently) it nrist be put in as m\ich clean rain water, as will com- |)letely and entirely ccner the whole ol' the rotton. Then add thereto of pound- ed clialk, (whicli must by no means be omitted) a fourth of the wt. of the mad- der used. It must now be put over a slow fire, ane addition of tartar to the tin solution which converts tlie crimson to that fiery bright scarlet for which this dye is so |Treeminen'tly valuable. Now as scarlet is a colour composed of crim- son and yellow, and as tartar clianges the cochineal crimson to yellow, it may be inferred that the simple efi'ect of the tartrite of tin (which salt is formed by double decomposition when the nitro- muriat of tin and tartar are mixeth of its weight of tin. A small quantity ofti" (previously granu- lated by being poured when meited into cold water, kept briskly agitated with a a bimdle of rods) is ptit into a glass ves- sel, to which is added the aquutbitis mix- ed with from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of its weight of commoji salt or saO am- moniac, and still further diluted with wa- ter. A strong action begins almost im- mediately, without artificial heat, and it is the business of the preparer to keep this action as moderate as possible, by setting the vessel in a cool place and adding only small quantities of tin at a time, in pro- portion as the last added quantity is dis- solved. By this method the acid be- comes fully saturated with oxyd of tin, whereas if the heat generated in the pro- cess is not checked, or if the acid is too strong, tlie greater part of the tin will re- main undissolved in the form of a white oxyd. Kven wlien well made, the solu- tion (or spirit as the dyers call it) is apt to coagulate by mere keeping and to de- posit the oxyd of tin, which it cannot again be made to take up. The use of the muriat of soda or ammonia is to pre- vent the spontaneous separation of the tin. The miu'iatic acid singly is a much better solvent for tin, taking up a large quantity and retaining it for any length of time, but the simple muriat of tin, and in- deed of manj^ otiier metals, is found to have a very coiTosive effect on the fibres of wool, and even (in a less degree) on those of linen and cotton. To preserve the muriatic acid in the solution, and at the same time to combine it with some otlier acid which has not such a corrosive effect on cloth. Dr. Ban- croft recommends the murio-sulphuric so- lution of tin, :is equal in efficacy to tlie nitro-nmriatic and much cheaper. For this purpose 14 ounces of granulated tin are to be added to a mixture of two pounds of sulphuric acid of ordinary strength, with three pounds of muriatic acid. Xo particular precautions are re- quired in making the solution, which will be equally permaiient with or without ar- tificial heat. As the slate of oxygenation of all me- tallic solutions, and particularly of those of tin, very materially affects all their che- mical properties, a few observations oa this subject may be mentioned after de- scribing the process of scarlet dyeing. Woollen cloth is generally dyed scar- let in two operations, though a single one will suffice, but in general is less conve- nient. To dye a Imndred pounds of wool, 8 or 10 pounds of tartar are first put into the boiler with a sufficient quan- tity of soft water, and 6 or 8 ounces of co- chineal. Immediately afterwards, 10 or \2 pounds of the nitro-muriat of tin are added, and when the mixture is ready to boil, the ck)tli (previously wetted) is put into the dyeing liquor and turned through j it by a winch for an hour and a half, the I liquor being kept boiling the whole time. I The cloth IS then taken out and rinsed, I and is found to have acqtiired by this first DYE DYE operation a full flesh colour. Tlie boiler is emptied, and again filled with trcsli water, and when nearly boilinij, from live lo six pounds of powdered cocltine&l (ac- cording to the depth of colour wanted) are thrown in and w-ell stirred, after which about 10 pounds more of the solu- tion of tin are added, and the cloth is then put in and stirred through tlie boiling li- quor at first bilskly, afterwards slowly, lor half an hour. It is then washed and dried in the usual manner- 'I'lie average proportion of cochineal to dye a full scar- let is an ounce to a pound of the cloth, and hence from the high price of this ar- ticle the cochineal dye is one of the most (if not the most) expensive of all the pro- cesses in the whole art of dyeing. This dye may be given apparently, with equal effect, by a single jjrocess, that is, by mixing together the whole quantity of tartar, solution of tin, and cocliineal at once, and passing the cloth through the bath for a sufficient time; for the affinity between the wool, and the mordant, and the colouring matter is so strong, that this triple union takes place at once, and with great force. Or, the wliole of the tin and tartar may be used in the first operation, and the whole of the cochineal in the se- cond. It may also be observed, tliat a great difference is found in the res])cctive pro- portions of these ingredients, used b , dif- ferent dyers. ^ When a very bright flame-coloured scarlet is wanted, a little yellow fustic is added to the fii-st bath, or else some tur- meric is added to the cochineal in the se- cond. This gives both a yellow ground, and mixes a portion of yellow wjlh the scarlet. These additions arc discovered by cutting the cloth ; lor, iii this case, the iimer part will be found dyed sim.ply } el- low ; the reason of vvhicii is, that in the common process, the c()chineal does not penetrate the inner part of the cloth, so that where these yellows are not used, this part remains white. If ihe scarlet has too much of an orange tint, this is corrected by afterwards boiling the cloth In hard water, or one that contains any earthy salt. It is on accoimt of the case with which almost any alkaline or eartliy salt coun- teracts the yellow part of all these co- lours, that scarlet cloth is always changed more or less, to a rose or crimson, by the process of fulling. Hence too, the scailet is always given to wool, after it is manu- factured, and not in tlie stale of yarn. After the full scarlet has been given to the clotli, the liquor still retains part of liie cochineal, with a large poition of the mordant, and this is Used for the lighter d)es ; or with the addition of liistic, mad- der, and other ingrtdieiUb, it is employed for a vast variety of mixed or degiaded reds, orange, &c. jNluch technical skill seems to be vequired, to make the uUiiost advantage of these residues, which are still very valuable. It does not exactly appear in what state of oxygenation, tiie conmion dyer's solu- tion exists ; butpiobably, before the co- loiu' is co'npletelybrougiit out, the metal is oxygenated in the highest degree. The mtric acid indeed, when used alone, if weak, and if the Solution be made very slowly, and without heat, is found by Proust, to contain the sub-oxyd of tin, or this metal, in a very low state of oxygena- tion ; for, it is only in this state that it re- mains soluble ; and wiien more highly oxygenated, it totally se])arates from tlie acid in the form of a white peifect oxyd. But, the muriat ot tin on the other haiiTd, may contain either the perfect OX) d or the sub-oxyd ; the latter is the cuse wlien the solution is recently made, and has not been exposed to the air, from which it greedily attracts oxygen, but in this case, without separating from its acid solvent. The muriat of tin, loaded with metal, by being boiled on more than it can take lip, if cooled to the freezing point, gives abundance of crystals, which, however, again liquefy at a summer heat ; and hence, must lie kept in a cool place. Mr. Haubsmun dissolved one ounce of this salt, recently made in 8 pints of water ; to which iic added with constant stirring, an infusion of 2 ounces 9f cochineal, in 8 pints of water. A very deep violet coloiu'ed precipitate subsided, (a mixture of the sub-oxyd of tin with the colouring matter of tlie cochineal) which, however, by ex- posure to air, gradually turned to a fine carmine: but ke])t close in a bottle no such change of colour took place. If the solution of tin is exposed to air before mixture with the cocliineal, the precipi- tate becomes carmine much more speedi- Iv, as it already contains nearly oxygen sufficient for this ])urpose. 'I'lic cai'uiine- coloured oxyd turns somewiiat crimson, by theaddiiiuii oiainmonia, but returns to carniiiie when this alkali is again evaporat- ed. > Jf a carbonated alkali is added to >the muriated sub-oxyd of tin, a carbonated sub-oxyd is separated, wliich is very gi eedy ofoxygen, but il'added imniud late- ly to dilute nitrous, or dilute su'phuiic, or acetic acid, dissolves thereiv v.i>h ease, and produces a nitrated, stiiphaled, or acctiled sub-oxyd of tin. The nitrated sub- DYE DYE oxyd however, shews different properties from the common dyer's solution, produ- cing- only a violet, or dull crimson, with cochmeal, which afterwards heightens in colour by exposure to air An acetited sub-os}d of tin is also formed, as Mr Haussman has also observ- ed, by adding equal parts of crystallized muriat of tin, and acetited lead, with suf- ficient water, and decanting' the clear li- quor from the muriat of lead, formed by double affinity This liquor to reiain its sta.e of sub-oxyg-enation, should be kept in a close-stopped vessel, and wlien mix- ed with cochineal, gives also a deep violet precipitate, which requires an exposure of some weeks before it entirely changes to red or carmine. Mr. Haussman proposes the acetite of tin, as a mordant in topical dyeing, eitlier to calico or any other substance, and with any suitable dyeing drug. As the acetites are much better mordants for printing, than the salts, with the three mineral acid.s, the acetite of tin, may, perhaps, be of use, in this species of dyeing; but, when prepared with acetited lead, there is always a danger of some lead being mix- ed with the solution of tin, which may materially and unexpectedly alter andde- gi'ade the colours. Crimson is given to cloth in two ways, either directly, or by changi.ig the scarlet dyed in tlie manner already described. All earthy salts, and especially alum, will change the cochineal scarlet into crim- son, when boiled with it for an hour or more. Very h:ird water will produce the same effect witliout any addition. Hellot fiund that muriat of ammonia, with a lit- tle potash, gives almost immediately a beautiful rose colour to scarlet. To dye cloth directly of a full crimson, the same materials are used as fo** scarlet, but less of the tin solution is employed, and alum is added to the bath. They are sometimes finished with litmus and' pot- ash, which add much to the lustre and deptli of colour, but this finish is only su- perficial and extremely fugitive. Syk is dyed crimson in the following way. It is first prepared by boiling with soap as usual, but not so compleatlv, as it is ratlier of service to leave a sliade" of the natural yellow, which it is the object of the soaping to destroy. It is then alumed very strongly, and for a considerable time. The dyeing balli is made with the usual materials for scarlet, that is, solution of tin, tartar, and cochineal; but it is also found expedient first, to add some galls, to give a basis to the silk, tr) receive the cochineal dye. The particular manage- ment in the cochineal bath, need not be described. Ihe crimson is often slightly browned by passing the dyed siik through a weak bath of sulphat of iron. If an approach to flame colour is wanted, the silk is finished with fustic. It is impossible to dye silk scarlet by the same metnod as that employed for wool- len cloth ; for, instead of this fine colour, the silk ti-eated in ibis way would lose its lustre, and only take a very faint d}e. It appears still to be a point hardly attained, though ver\ desirable, to give to silk a full durable scarlet, equal to that on wool- len. Cochineal is very seldom used to cot- ton or linen, as no method is yet known (except as a lucrative secret to one or two individuals) of giving a good cochi- neal scarlet to these substances ; and, in general, the eifectof this dye on linen and cotton, is not so much superior to the cheaper madder and other colours, as to be at all adequate to the cost ot cochineal. Of litiis from. Kermes, Coccus Poloni- cus, and Gum-Lac. These three substances all give differ- ent shades of redj of at least as much du- rabiuty as those of cochineal, but much less brilliance ; and they are so totally dis- used in tliis country, and nearly so in Europe, that a very shert notice wiU suf- fice. The Kennes, C Coccus IlicisJ is a small insect found in many parts of Asia and southern Europe. It gives a high red both to water and alcohol. Wool, intended to be dyed with it, is first boUed in bran water, then alumed with alum and tartar, to which sour starch liquor is often added. In the dyeing pro- cess, nearly equal parts ot kermes with the cloth are required, whereas cochineal need not be more than about one-sixteenth of the wool. The dyed cloth may be finish- ed with soap water, which gives a crim- son cast. The dye of kermes is so durable, that tapestry 200 years old, was observed by Hellot, to have lost nothing rf its depth of colour, durinaso long an exposure to sun and ;dr. The kermes scarlet was an- ciently called in France Eccrlate de Graine (or sometimes Venice Scarlet.) It niaj' be prepared in the same way, generally, as the cochineal scarlet The kermes red is much less lively than that of cochineal, and tends more to the colour of blood. It has tlie great advan- tage however, of resisting soap and other substances very well, so that grease spots DYE DYE may be got out of kermcs-rlyed cloth, without any detriment. On tlie whole, it seems very worthy to be retained. Silk has never yet been made, to take more from it than a rusty red. The Coccus Polonicns is a small round insect, found adhering to the roots of a species of the polygonum. It is not known to be employed in Hie dye-l)oiises in England, but is used in I'oiand and countries where it is indigenous, and also in Turkey. Lac or Gum Lac (which see) is a gum- my-resinous substance somewhat resem- bling bees-wax, occasionally used in dye- ing, though rarely, if ever, in this coun- try. A part only of the colouring matter is soluble in water, and it gives a dull red but very durable dye, which has, been used with advantage mixed with cochi- neal. Of Reds and Violets from, other sub- stances — Many of the lichens are capable of giving different shades of purple, red, violet and the like, and these colours are so far substantive that no mordant will sensibly encrease their durability, but they are all moi-e or less fugitive, and can only be used with propriety to give a gloss or finish to articles already dyed. The substance called turnsole, archil, or litmus, is the best known of all the li- chens, and is used pretty largely, especi- ally in silk -dyeing. (See the articles JJ- chcn and Litmus.) Carthamus or SaffioiMer, is another beati- tlful and delicate red, verging towards orange, sometimes used in dyeing, but is fugitive. It is the colouring material of the rouge used as a cosmetic Brazil Wood or Fernmnbnuc is an arti- cle of much more importance thar; any of the preceding, and is employed vcrj- largely in dyeing. The natm-al colour of this wood is of a purple-red,, and by dif- ferent mordants it may be made to as- sume most of the shades of colour con- nected with red. The great inconvenience attending tlie use of iirazil wood is its fugiuve nature, and no method seems yet to be found which will prevent its loss of colour by considerable exposure to air, and its eated gra- dually, the vessel was put under a muffle well heated in an assaying furnace, and in half a mirute the enamel melted. The vessel being then withdrawn, was found enamelled of a beautiful black colour, which appeared to be owing to a thin lay- er of oxided iron seen through the trans- parent glaze. 2. The same, with one hundredth part of oxide of cobalt, pre- pared as above, covered t\ie vessel more perfectly with a blue enamel. 3. The same ground with potters' white lead, which consists of 4 parts lead and 1 tin, produced a very smooth gray enamel, more firm and hard than the preceding. A small quantity of red oxide of iron gave it a tine dark red colour. 4. Flint glass 12 parts, mhiium 18, potash 4, nitre 4, bo- rax 2, oxide of tin 3, oxide of cobalt one- eighth of a part, gave a smooth pearl-co- loured enamel, not brittle or subject to crack, and capable of enduring sudden ijianges of heat and cold, as well as the action of oils, alkalies, and weak acids ; but it cannot i-esist the stronger vegetable acids, and still less the mineral. 'I'hese enamels can be applied only on hammered iron, cast iron being too thick to be lieated with sufficient (juickness. It may be unnecessary to add,, none of them will bear hard blows. ENGINKS,for raisiftg water,in Hydrau- lics. The engines for raising water are numerous : tlie common pump is the sim- plest. This useful and domestic ma- chine was invented about one hundred and twenty years before tlie bu-th of Christ ; but it has been greatly improved, even since the time of Galileo, wlien the pressure of the atmospheie became more Ve*fectly known-. This pump is formed of a long cylin der of wood or lead, one end oi which stands in the water at the bottom of the- well. It contains two valves, or hollow pieces of wood, which tit close to the cy- linder, with lids opening upwards ; the lower valve c remains fixed, but the up-- per valve b is fastened to the piston rod, and moves up and down by the action of the handle or lever. The mode of operation. This descrip- tion supposes that the water in the cy- linder of the pump stands no higher than the water in the well, and tliat the re- mainder of the cylinder is empty, or ra- ther occupied by air. Now, when the handle of the pump is raised u]^, the pis- ton B sinks to shards o, which condenses the air between b and c, till its resistance forces open the valve or lid ; then the air escapes into the upper and open part of the cylinder. As the piston rises, the air which is contained between b and c becomes rarified, and the elasticity of that portion of air which is contained in the cylinder, between the lower valve c and the surface of the water in the well, forces open the lower lid, and a part of it esc.ipes into the rarified space between b and c, which has been formed by the rising of the piston. Tlius, by a few strokes of the handle, if the wood or metal of the cylinder be sufficiently close to exclude tlie air, and the piston and valves be well fitted to the sides of the pipe, the com- pressive power of the atmosphere will bi; removed from the surface of that part of the fluid which is contained within the cylinder, and the atmospherical pressure ENG ENG <«.n the general surface of the well wiU ibrce up the barrel to any height less than 33 or 34 feet. Then, supposing the lower valve to be placed at a less distance than 33 feet from the surface, the ascending water' will force it open and get admitted into the cylinder between c and b. When the pis- ton descends, the weight of the water upon the lower valve closes it, and the fluid is forced through the upper by the sinking of the piston ; so that, when the handle is returned, the water, which now rests on the upper lid, is carried towards the top of the cylinder, and flows out of the spout E ; and tlie supply irom the well, by the compression of the atmos- phere upon its surface, forces through the valve c into the cylinder, as the upper piston raises the water by the power of the handle. After the pump has been worked, if the barrel and pistons be good, the water will stand in the cylinder close to the ^out, and ready to flow on the first stroke • of the handle. As it is the pressure of the atnv^phere alone that forces the water up the barrel of the pump, when the lower valve is more than 33 or 34 feet from the surface of the water in the well, the pressure of the air •cannot raise it to the valve, consequently the machine would be useless ; but this is prevented by sinking the lower piston in the cylinder till it be actually within the height of the pressure, and by length- ening the piston rod of the upper in pro- portion to the depth of the lower ; this gives an additional weight of fluid to be lifted each stroke, and the power must be proportionate to the handle. See Mams' Philosophy, Jilartin's Philosophia Britta- nicoy bfc. The Hair-Rope Pump is also another means of raising water. It is formed in the following manner : The three hair ropes f pass ia grooves over two pullies a b, and the lines are kept extended by a weight which is fas- tened to the lower pinley b ; at c is a wheel and handle, over which the line passes that joins them to a small multi- plying wheel {listened to the well beam, and this acts on the uppermost pulley. When the machine is put in motion, as the hair ropes pass through the water in tlie well it sinks into their interstices, and by the quickness of their motion it is carried up the ascending ropes in consi- derable quantities, till it reaches the up- per pulley, when it falls into the reser- voir E. This method, simple as it may appear, is now used to raise water from a well 90 feet deep, and by tolerable ex- ertion it is capable of drawing up about 9 gallons a minute. ^rckinieifcs' Screw Engine. — This mode of raising" water is of great antiquity. The fluid enters at a, the mouth of the spiral, and by the surrounding- pressure, rises to c. When it has attained this point, it cannot afterwards occupy any other part of the spiral than that which is on the under side ; for it cannot move from c towards d, because it is situated higher above the horizon ; and as this will always be the same in eveiy similar part;, it is evident that when the machine is in motion, the water as it is raised by the spiral, will always remain on the under side till it flows out of the spout. ENG KNG The following is a description of a very cheap Engine for raising Water, in a let- ter from Mr. H. Sarjeant, of Whitehaven, to Mr. Taylor, Secretary to the Sopiety for the Encouragement of Arts. " I am sensible that the little engine, a drawing of which accompanies this letter, can lay no great claim to novelty in its principle ; nevertheless, it is respectfull}' submitted to the consideration of tlie so- ciety, how for its simplicity, and cheap- ness of construction, may i-cndcr it wor- thy of their attention, with a view to its being more generally known and used in similar cases. Irton Hall, the seat of E. I. Irton, Esq. is situated on an ascent of sixty or sixty- one feet perpendicular height ; at the foot of which, at the distance of about one hundred and forty yards from the offices, runs a small stream of water. The ob- ject was to raise this to the house for do- mestic purposes. To this end, a dam was made at a short distance above, so as to cause a fall of about foui- feet ; and the water was brought by a wooden trough, into which was inserted a piece of two-inch leaden pipe, a part of which is seen r.t A, fig. 3. The stream of this pipe is so directed, as to run into the bucket B, wlien the bucket is elevated ; but so soon as it be- gins to descend, the stream flows over it, and goes to supply the wooden trough or well, in which the foot of the forcing pump C stands, of three inches bore. D, is an u'on cylinder attached to the pump rod, which passes through it.^ It is filled with lead, and weighs about two hundred and forty pounds. This is the power which works the pump, and forces the water through four hundred and twenty feet of inch pipe, from the pump up to the house. At E, is fixed a cord which, when the bucket comes to within four or five inch- es of its .lov.est projection, becomes stretched, and opens a valve in the bot- tom of it, through which the water emp- ties itself. I beg leave to add, that an engine, in a great degree similar to this, was erected some years ago by the late James Sped- ding, esquire, for a lead mine near Kes- wick, with the addition of a smaller buck- et whio^ emptied itself into the larger, near the beginning of its descent, without which' addition it was found that the beam ENG ENG only acquired a vibratory motion, witliout making- a full and effective stroke. To answer this pui'pose in a more sim- ple way, I constructed tlie small engine in such a manner, as lo finish its stroke (speaking of the bucket end,) when the beam comes into an horizontal position, or a little below it. By this means, ilie lever is virtually lengthened in its descent in the proportion of tlie radius to the cosine, of about thirty degrees, or as seven to six nearly, and consequently, its power is in- creased in an equal proportion. It is evident, that the ojjening of the valve might have been effected, perhaps better, by a projecting pn\ at the bottom ; but I chose to give an exact description of the engine as it stands. It has iiow been six months in use, and completely answers the purpose intended. The only artists employed, except the plumber, were a country blacksmitli and carpenter ; and the whole cost, exclusive of the pump and pipes, did not amount to five pounds." In another letter, dated Whitehaven, April 28, 1801, Mr. Sarjeant further ob- serves, that the pump requires about eighteen gallons of water in the bucket to raise tlie counter-weight, and make a fresh stroke in the pump ; that it makes three strokes in a minute, and gives about a half gallon into the cistern at each stroke. He adds, " 1 speak of what it did in the driest part of last summer ; when it sup- plied a large family, together with work people, &c with water fof all purposes, in a situation where none was to be had before, except some bad water from a common pump, which had been since re- moved. But the above supply being more than sufficient, the machine is occasion- ally stopped to prevent wear, which is done by merely casting off tlie string of the bucket valve." Mr. Fessenden in his Register of Arts, observes, that the simplicity of construc- tion, and the cheapness of this machine, must render it worthy of attention, not only for raising water for domestic par- poses, but in many cases it might be turn- ed to account in agriculture, by watering upland fields, gardens, &c. This engine, although the most simple of any which has fallen within our notice, exhibits but one of a great variety of me- tliods which engineers have adopted for raising a part of a stream of water above its level by force of its till. Machines for accompUshing the same object, but of a more complicated construction, are des- cribed in philosophical journals. The in- vention of Mr. Close, pubhshed in Ni- cholson's Philosophical Journal, for Janu- ary, 1802; and analysed by Mr. Nicholson in his Journal for Februarv, the same year, of a hydraulick apparatus, acting by a syphon, Mr. Trevithack's powerful en- gine for raising water by the pressure of a column, enclosed in a pipe, described in Nicliolson's Journal, for March, 1802, im- provements on the hydrauhck engine of Schemnitz, and that of Mr. Goodwyn by Mr. John Wiiitley Boswell, likewise de- scribed in Mr. Nicholson's Journal, have all the same object. But, after having- attentively perused these, we are of opt- nion that the machine, liere desciibed, will be found to possess much the great- est general utility. See Hydkaulics. ENGINE STEAM. See Steam En- gine ENGRAVING, or Graving as it is generally called, is the cutting lines upon a copper-plate, by means of a steel instru- ment, called a graver, without the use of aqua fortis. This was tlie first way of producing copper-plate prints that was practised, and is still much used in historical sub- jects, portraits, and in finishing land- scapes. It would be an injustice to our coun- trymen, if we were not to observe, that this art has arrived to perfection in the United States ; specimens of engraving, equal, if not supeiior to the productions of Europe, have long since been produced. This reflects much honour to the names of a number, whom we could mention. i'he tools necessary for this ai-t, are, gravers, a scraper, a burnisher, an oil- stone, a sand-bag, an oil-rubber, and some good charcoal. J he graveis are instruments of tem- pered steel, fitted into a short wooden handle. They are of two sorts, square and lozenge : the fii'st is used in cutting very broad strokes, the oiiier for fainter and more delicate lines. The scraper is a three -edged tool, foi scraping off the burr rai.sed by the graver. Burnishers are for rubbing down any lines that are too -deep, or burnishing oiit anv scratches or holes in the copper : they are of very hard steel, well rounded and po- lisiied. The oil-stone is for whetting the gra- vei-s, etching-points, &.c. The sand-bag, or cushion, is for laying the plate upon, for the convenier.cy of turning it round in any duvction. The oil-rubber and charcoal, are for polishing the plate when necessary. As great care is required to whet the graver nicely, particularly ihe belly of it, cave must be taken to iay the two ang'ies oi the graver wliicii are to be held next ENG One plate, flat upon the stone, and rub them steadily, till tlie belly rises gn-adual- ly above vhe piute, so as that, when you iay the graver flat upon it, you may just perceive the light under the point ; other- wise it will di^^ into the copper, and tlien it will be impossible to keep a point, or execute the work with freedom- In order to do this, keep your right arm close to your side, and place the fore -finger of your left hand, upon that part of the graver wliich lies uppermost on the stone. When this is done, in order to whet the face, place tlie flat part of the handle, in the boUow of your hand, with the belly ot the graver upwards, upon a moderate slope, and rub the extremitj, or face, upon the stone, till it has an exceedingly sharp pomt, v/hicix you may try up<^n your thumb- nail. _ u 1 • When the graver is too hard, as is usu- ally the case, when first bought, and may be known by the frequently breaking of the point, the method of tempering it, is as follows : Heat a poker red-hot, and hold the graver upon it, within half an inch of the point, till the steel changes to a light straw-colour; then put the point into oil,' to cool ; or, hold the graver close to the flame of a candle, till it be of the same colour, and cool it in the tallow ; but be careful cither wa}-, not to hold it too long, tor then it will be too soft ; and in that case tlie point, which will tlien turn blue, must be tempered again Be not too hasty in tempering ; for sometimes a little M'iictting will bring it to a good condi- tion, when it is but a little too hard. To lioldthe graver, cutoff that part of the handle which is upon the same line with the belly, or sharp edge of the gra- ver, making that side fiat, that'll may be no obstruction. Hold the handle in the hollow of your hand ; and, extending your fore-finger towards tlie point, let it re'ston the back of the graver, that you may guide it flat and parallel with tlie plate Take care that your fingers do not interpose between tlie plate and the graver; Soy they will hinder you fi-om carrying the graver level witli the plate, and from cutting your strokLS, so clean as they ought to be. To lay tlie design upon the plate, after vou have polished it fine and smooth, heat "it so that it will melt virgin-wax, with which rub it thinly and equally over, and let it cool. Tlien the design which you lay on, must be drawn on paper, with a black-lead pencil, and laid upon the plate, with its pencilled .side upon the wax ; then press it to, and with a burnisher, go over every part of the' design, and when you rake oif the paper, j-yu will find every line ENG Mliich you drew with the black-lead pen- cil, upon the waxed plate, as if it had been drawn ; then with a sharp pointed tool, trace all your design through the wax upon the plate, and you may then lake off' the wax, and proceed to work. Let tlie table, or board you work at, be firm and steady ; upon which place your sand-bag with the plate upon it; and, holding the graver as above dii-ectcd, proceed in tlie following manner. For straight sti'okes, hold your plate firm upon the sand-bag, with your left hand, moving your right hand forwards ; leaning lighter where the stroke should be fine, and harder where you would have it broader. For circular or crooked strokes, hold the graver sledfast, moving your hand or the plate, as you see convenient. Learn to can-y your hand willi such dexterity, that you may end your stroke as finely, as you began it ; and if you have occasion to make one part deeper or blacker than another, do it by degrees ; and that you may do it with greater ex- actness, take care that your sti-okes be not too close, nor too wide. In the course of your work, scrape off the roughness which ai-ises, with your scraper ; but be careful, in doing this, not to scratch the plate ; and that you may see your work properly as you go on, rub it with the oil-rubber, and wipe the plate clean, which will take off the glare of the copper, and shew what you have done to the best advantage. Any mistakes or scratches in the plate, may be rubbed out with the burnishei", and the part levelled with the scraper, polishing it again afterwards, lightly witli the burnisher, or chaixoal. Having thus attained the use of the graver, according to the foregoing rules, you will be able to finish the piece you had etched, by graving up the several parts to the colour required ; beginning, as in the etching, with the fainter parts, and advancing gradually with the strong- er, till the wiiole is completed. The dry point er needle, (so called be- cause not used, till the ground is taken ofi" the plate,) ie principally employed in the extremcl}' light parts of water, sky, drapery, architecture, &c. I'o prevent any obstruction from too great a degree of fight, tlie use of a sash, made of transparent, or fan paper, pasted on a frame, and placed sloping at a conve- nient distance between your work and the light, will preserve the' sight ; and when the sun shines, it cannot possibly be dis- pensed with. In order ta obviate certain inconvem- i ngxaTrer ' S Machine . & Fi^.o. ENG ENG ences, to which engravers are liable, the Abbi Joseph Lorghi, of Monza, has con- trived a table, which in the opinion of the most celebrated engravers of our city, is «ot only very ingenious, but also extreme- ly well calculated for the purpose intend- ed A gold medal was given to the Abbe for this invention. The first professors of the art in Europe, liave approved of it Without going into particulars, the fol- lowing* description of the plate, will be sufficient. Plate fig. 1. Uepi'esents the whole machine, as it is used. A Copper-plate on which the engrav- ing is to be made. aaaaaoaa. Screws by which the plate is affixed to the moveable board B. B. The upper or moveable part of the table. It consists of a th^n plank, to the bottom of which is united tlie iron plate, represented in fig. 3. C. The under-boai'd, which is made to rise and fall at pleasure, in the manner of a pair of hinges ; in the middle of it is a pretty thick axis. D. The foot by which the desk is sup- ported at any requii*ed height. E. The frame of the table. Fig. 2. The under-board or desk. F. A circle of iron, through the middle of which protrudes that pai-t of the axis marked II. (In fig. 4.) Of Mezzotinto Scraping. — This art, which is of late date, is recommended by tlie amazing ease with wluch it is exe- cuted, especially by those who under- stand di'awing. Mezzotinto prints are those which h^ve no patching, or strokes of the graver, but whose lights and shades are blended to- gether, and appear like a drawing in In- dian-ink. They are different from aqua tinta; but as both resemble Indian-ink, the difference is not easily described : Mezzotinto is applied to portraits and historical subjects ; and aqua tinta is used only for landscape and ai'chitecture. The tools necessary for meziotinto scraping are the grounding-tool, burnish- ers, and scrapers. To lay the mezzotinto ground, lay your plate, with a piece of flannel under it, upon your table, hold the grounding- tool in your hand perpendicularly ; lean upon it moderately hard, continually rocking your hand in a right line from end to end, till you have wholly covered the plate in one dii'ection : next cross the strokes from side to side, afterwards from corner to corner, working the tool each time all over the plate, in every direction, almost like the points of a compass : taking all possible care not to let the tod cut (in one direction) twice in a place. TWs done, the plate will be full, or, in other words, all over rough alike, and would, if it were printed, appear com- pletely black. Having laid the ground, take the scrap- ings of black chalk, and with a piece of rag rub it over the plate ; or you may smoke it witli candles, as beforedirected, for etching. Now take your drawing, and having rubbed tlie black with red-chalk dust, mixed with flake-whitt, proceed to trace it on the plate. To form the lights and shadows, take a blunt needle, and mark out the outline only ; then with a scraper scrape off the lights in every part of the plate, as clean and smootli as possible, in proportion to the strength of the lights in your drawing, taking care not to hurt your outlines. . The use of the burnisher is to soften or rub down the extreme light parts after the scraper is done with ; ,such as the tip of the nose, forehead, linen, &c. which otherwise, when proved, appear rather misty than clear. Anotlier method used by mezzotinto scrapers, is, to etch the outlines of the original, as also the folds in drapery, making the breadth of the shadows by dots, which having bit to a proper depth with aqua fortis, they take offtlie groand used in etching, and having laid the mez- zotinto ground, proceed to scrape as above. When your plate is ready for taking a proof or impression, send it to the coppep plate printer, and get it proved. When the proof is dry, touch it with white chalk where it should be lighter, add with black chalk where it should be dark- er ; and when the print is retouched, proceed as before, tor the lights ; and for the shades use a small grounding-tool, as mucli as you judge necessary to bring it to a proper colour ; and when you have done as much as you think expedient, prove it again; and so proceed to prove and touch till it is entirely to your mind. Of engraving in ^iqiia Tinta. — Aq^ua TiNT.A. is a method of producing prints very mi\ch resembling drawings in Indi- an-ink. The principle of tlie process consists in corroding the copper with aqua Ibrti.s, in such a manner that an impression from it has the appearance of a tint laid on the paper. This is effected by covering the copper with a powder or some substance which takes a granulated form, so as to prevent the aqua fortis fi-om acting where the particles adhere, and by this mean? 'F^ ENG causes it to corrode the copper partially, and in the interstices only. Wlicn the.se particles are extremely minute- and near to eacli other, the impression from tlie plate appears to the nuked eye exactly like a wash of Indian-ink ; but when they are larger, the granulation is more dis- tinct, and as this may be varied at plea- sure, it is capable of being adai)tcd with great success, to a variety of purposes and subjects. This powder, or granulation, iij called the aqua ti>it{EstA. • ESSENTIAL OILS. See Oils, Es- sential; also Distilling. ESSENTIAL OIL VARNISHES. See Varnish. ETCHING, is a manner of engraving on copper, in which the lines or strokes, instead of being cut with a tool or graver, are corroded in, with aqua fortis. It is a much later invention than the art of engraving, by cutting the lines on the copper, and has many advantages over it for some purposes, though it cannot su- persede the use of the graver entirely, as there are many tilings that cannot be etched so well as they can he graved. In almost all the engravings on copper, that ai'e executed in the stroke manner, etching and graving ai-e combined, the plate being generally begun by etching, and finished with the graver. Landscapes, architecture, and machinery, are the sub- jects that receive most assistance from the art of etching; for it is not so applica- ble to portraits and historical designs. We shall first describe the various in- sti'uments and materials used in tiie art. Ccppir-platts may be had i-eady prepar- ed at the coppersmiths, by those who, re- ■ side in large towns ; but, wlien this can- not be had, procure apiece of pretty thick sheet-copper from a brarier, rather larger than your drawing, and let liim jjlaiiish it well; then take a piece of pumice-stone, and with water rub it all one way, till tiie surface is as smootli and level as it can be made by that means : a piece of char- coal is next used with water, for polish- ing it still fiU'ther, and removing the deep tcralches made by the pumice-stone ; and it is then finished with apiece of charcoal of a finer grain, with a little oil. Etching-points, or needles, are pointed instruments of steel, about an incli long, fixed in handles of hard wood, about six inches in length, and of the size of a goose-quill. They should be well tem- pered, and very accurately fixed in the centre of the handle. They must be brought to an accurately conical point, by rubbing upon an oil-stone, with wliich it is also very necessary to be provided. Se- veral of these points will be necessary. A parallel-ruler is necessary for draw- ing parallel straight lines with. This is best when faced with brass, as it is not tJien so liable to be bruised by accident. Compasses are useful ibr strikhig cir- cles and measuring distances. .'2qua fortis, or what is better, spirits of nitre (nitrous acid), is used for corro- ding the copper, or bititig-in, as it is call- ed. This must be kept in a bottle with a glass stopple, for its fumes destroy corks. A stopple made of wax will serve as a sub- stitute, or a cork well covered with wax. Bordering-viax, for surrounding the margin of the copper-plate, when the aqua fortis is pouring on. This may be bought ready prepared, but it may be made as follows. I Take one-third of bees-wax, to two- thirds of pitch ; melt them in an iron la- dle, and pour them, Avhen m;:lted, into welter, lukewarm ; then mould it with your hand till it is thoroughly incorporated, and all the water squeezed out. Form it into rolls of convenient size. Turpentine-varnish is used for covering the copper-plate with, in any part wlicre you do not wisli the aqua fortis to bite. This may be diluted to a proper consist- ency with turpentine, and mixed with lamp-black, tjiat it may be seen better wlien laid upon the plate. Etching-ground, is used for covci'ing the plate all over with, jjrevious to drawing the lines on it with the needles. It is pre- pared in the following manner. Take of virgin-wax and asjihaltum, each twenty ounces, of black-pitch and JSurgimdy-intcl), eacii half an ounce ; melt tlie wax and pitcli in a new cartlien- warc glazed pi])kin, and add to them, by degrees, the asphaltum, finely powdered. Let tiie whole boil till such tune as that, by taking a drop upon a plate, it will break when it is cold, on bending it dou- ble t\\'o or three times between the fin- gers. The varnisli being then enotigh boiled, must be kiken ofl" from the fire, and letting it cool a little, nuist l)e poured into warm watei-, tiiat it mav work the ETC ETC more easily with the hands, so as to form into balls for use. It must be observed, first, that the fire be not too violent, for fear of bm'ning the ingredients ; a slight simmering- will be sufficient; secondly, tiiat while the as- phaltum is putting' in, nnd even after it is mixed with them, the ingredients should be stirred contiimally with a spatula ; and thirdl}', tliat the water into which this composition is thrown, should be nearly of the same degree of warmth witl) it, to ' prevent a kind of cracking-, which hap- pens when the water is too cold. Tlie varnish ought always to be harder in summer than winter, and it will be- come so, if it be suffered to boil longer, or if a greater proportion of the asphaltum be used. The experiment above men- tioned, of the drop suffered to cool, will determine the degree of hardness or soft- ness, that may be suitable to the season when it is used. To lay the ground for etching, proceed in the following manner : Having cleaned ' the copper-plate with some fine whiting k and a linen rag, to free it from all grease, fix a liand-vice to some part of it, wliere no work is intended to be, to serve as a han- dle tor managing it by, when warm. Rc.u up some coarse brown paper, and liglit one end ; then hold the back of tlie plate over the burning paper, moving it about until every part of it is equally heated, so as to melt the etching-ground, which shoidd be wrapped up in a bit of taffety, to prevent any dirt that may happen to be among it, from mixing- with what is melt- ed upon the plate. If the plate be large, it will be best to heat it over a chafing-- dish with some clear coals. It must be heated just sufficient to melt the ground, but not so mucli as to burn it. When a sufficient quantity of the etching.ground has been rubbed upon the plate, it must be dabbed, or beat gently, while the plate is hot, with a small dabber made of cot- ton, wrapped up in a piece of taffety ; by which operation, the ground is distributed inore equally over tlie plate, than it could be by any other means. When the plate is thus uniformly and thinly covered with the vamish, it must be blackened by^ft^king it with a wax- taper. For this- purpose, twist together three or four pieces of wax-taper, to make a larger flame, and while the plate is still warm, hold it with the varnished side downwards, and move.the smoky part of the lighted taper over its surface, till it is made almost quite black ; taking care not to let the wick touch the var- nish, and that the latter get no smear or ytain. In laying the etching-ground, great care m\ist be taken that no particles of dust or dirt of any kind settle upon it, as that w ould be found very troublesome in etching; the room, therefore, in which it is laid, should be as still as possible, and free from dust. The ground being now- laid, and suffered to cool, the next opera- tion is to transfer the design to the plate. For this purpose, a tracing on oiled pa- per, must now be made, from the design to be etched, with pen and ink, having a very small quantity of ox's gall mixed with it, to make the oiled paper take it ; also a piece of ihin paper, of the same size, must be rubbed over with red chalk, powdered, by means of some cotton. Then la}'ing the red chalked paper, with its chalked side next the ground, on the plate, put the tracing over it, and fasten them both together, and to the plate, by a little bit of the bordering-wax. When all this is prepared, take a blunt etching needle, and go gently all over the lines in the tracing ; by which means the chalked paper will be pressed against the ground, and the lines of the tracing will be transferred to the ground : on ta- king off the papers, they wUl be seen dis- tinctly. The plate is now prepared for drawing through tlie lines which have been mark- ed upon the ground. For this, the etch- ing-points or needles ai-e employed, lean- ing hard or lightly, according to the de- gree of sti-ength required in the lines. Points of different sizes and forms ai-e :il- so used, for making lines of different thicknesses, though commonly, this is ef- fected by the biting-in with the aqua for- tis. A margin, or border of wax, must now be formed all round the plate, to hold the aqua fortis when it is poui-ed on. To do this, the bordering-wax already describ- ed, must be put into lukewarm water to soften it, and render it easily worked by. the hand. When sufficiently pliable, it^ must be drawn out into long rolls, and ■ put round the edges ofthe plate, pressing- it down firm, and forming it with the iiri-; gers into a neat wall or margin.,. A spout must be formed in one corner, tp. pour off the aqua fortis b)', afterwards.- Tlie nitrous acid (spirits of nitre) is now to be diluted with four or five times as much water, or more (according as you wish the plate to be bit quick or slow), and poured upon the plate. In a few mi- nutes, minute bubbles of air will be seen filling all the lines that have been di-a.wn on the copper, which are- to be removed by a feather ; and the plate must be now and tlien swept, as it is called, or kept free from air-bubbles. By the more or less ETC ETC rapid production of these bubbles, you judge of the rapidity with which the acid acts upon the copper. The biting-in of the plate, is the most uncertain part of tlie process, and nothing but veiy gi'eat ex- ])erience can enable any one to tell when the plate is bit enough, as you cannot ea- sily see the thickness and depth of the line till the ground is taken oH". When you judge, from the time the acid has been on, and the rapidity of the biting, that those lines which you wish to be the faintest, are as deep as you wish, you pour off the aqua fortis by the spout, wash the plate with water, and dry it, by blowing with bellows, or by the fire, tiik- ing care not to melt the ground- Those lines that are not intended to be bit any deeper, must now be stopped up Avith turpentine-varnish, mixed with a lit- tle lamp-black, and laid on with a camel's- liair pencil ; and when this is thoroughly dry, the aqua fortis may be poured on again, to bite the other lines that are re- quired to be deeper. This process of stopping-oiitand biting- in, is to be repeated as often as there are to be lines of different degrees of thick- ness, taking care not to make any mistake in stopj)ing-out wrong lines. It is also necessary fo be particularly careful to stop-out with the varnish, those pai'ts from which the ground may hajipen to have come off by the action of the acid, otherwise you will have jiarts bit that were not intended, which is called foul- biting. When the bitlng-in is quite finished, the next operation is to remove the border- ing-wax and the ground, in order that you may see what success you have had ; for till then,this cannot be known exactly. To take off the bordering-wax, the plate must be heated by a piece of lighted paper, which softens the wax in contact with tlie plate, and occasions it to come off quite clean. Oil of turpentine is now poured upon the gi'ound, and the plate is rubbed with a bit of linen rag, which removes all the ground. Lastlj , it is cleaned off with whitening. The success of the etching may now be known ; but, it is necessary to get an im- pression taken upon ])aper, by a copper- plate printer. Tins impression is called a proof. If any parts are not bit so deep as were intended, the process may be repeated, provided the lines are not too faintly bit to admit of it. This second biting-in the same> lines, is called re-biting, and is dcnie as follows : McK a little of the etching- jgrourtd on a square piece of copper, and^ ^iifhcn you are ready to etch, warm, and dab it a little, to get some on the dabberj then, having cleaned out, with whiting, the lines that are to be re-bit, heat the plate gently, and dab it very lightly with the dabber. By this, the parts between the lines will be covered with the ground, but the lines themselves will not be filled up, and consequently will be exposed to the action of the aqua fortis. This is a very delicate process, and must be per- fumed with great care. The rest of the l)late must now be varnished over, the bordering wax put on again, and the bit- ing repeated m the same manner, as at first If any part should be bit too deep, it is more difficult to recover it, or make it fainter : this is generally done by burnish- ing the part down, or rubbing it with a piece of charcoal. This will make the lines shallower, and cause them not to print so black. Siiould any smallparts of the lines have missed altogether in the biting, they may be cut with the graver ; which is also sometimes employed to cross the lines of the etching, and thus to work up a more finished efrect. Dry-pointing, as it is called, is another method employed for softening the harsh effects usually apparent in an etching. This is done by cutting with the etching- ponit upon the copper, without any ground or varnish. Tiiis does not make a very deep line, and is used for covering the light, wheee very delicate tints and soft shadows are wanting. By varying these processes of etching, graving, and dry-pointing, as is thought necessary, the plate is worked up to the full effect intended ; and it is then sent to the writing engraver ^ to grave what letters may be required to be put upon it. The etching upon sword or knife blades is given in the Laboratory, as follow : To pnpare the Etch-u-atrr. Take mer- cury and aqua-fortis, put them together into a glass, till the mercury is dissolv- ed, and it is fit for use. To viake the Ground. Take three oun- ces of red lead, one ounce of white lead, half an ounce of chalk, all finely pounded; grind these together with varnish, and anoint your iron ; let it dry in the sun, or before a slow fire, and with a pointed steel, or needle, draw or write on it what you please ; ai»d then etch it with the above prepared water. Jhwther Water to (tch ivith. Take two ounces of verdigrise, one ounce of burnt alum, and . one ounce of dissolved salt : boil this mixture in one quart of vinegar, till it is half boiled away ; and ETC EXT pour it with a spoon, or glass cup, over your work ; hokl it over the fire to keep it warm, and repeat this till you find it etched deep enough. To etch 100 or more Knife Blades at once. Grind red lead with linseed oil, or var- nish ; with tliis wipe your blades all o\er, and let them dry well, and harden : then write or draw, witli a pointed bodkin, whatever you will : then put them at some distance from each other, into a glass or ■well glazed pot or pan ; dissolve some vitriol in hot water, pour it over the blades, and lute the glass or pot ; set it over a gentle coal-fire ; let it boil for some time, and then let it cool ; then take your blades, out; scrape the red lead off, and you will find the etching to your satisfaction. To make Blue Letters on Siuord-blades, Take the blade ; hold it over a charcoal fire till it is blue ; then, with oil colours, write what letters you will upon the blade, and let them dry ; when dry, take good strong vinegar; make it warm, and pour it all over the blade ; this will take off the blue colour ; then wet your oil colour with fresh water, and it will come off easily, and the letters drawn therewith remain blue. ETCHING, on Stone. A method of etching on calcareous substances, which may be termed a chemical mode of multi- plying hatched drawings, has also been re- cently discovered in England, or recently imported fi-om Germany'- and some very spirited sketchy etchings have been exe- cuted in this way by the president West, and Messrs. Fuseli, Cosway, Barry, and some other members of the Iloyal Acade- my. Messrs. Corbould Stubbs, and C. Heath are also among those whp have successfully practised this new art. "The materials were supplied by a gentleman not now in England : the knowledge of the exact proportions of the ingredients of which they consisted, was not impart- ed to those who made use of them, nei- ther is it believed to have been imparted to any one else ; but tlie materials them- selves being known, the proportions may presumptively be ascertained by a little experience. The stone was of a species resembling that fine-gi-ained stone, of a yellowish co- lour, whicii is found in large quantities in the neighbourhood of Bath, and is called Bath stone. The etchings were of two kinds ; those performed with a crayon, and those performed with pen and ink. The craj'on was a mixtui-e of white wax and lampblack, with a small quantity of shell-lac. The ink consisted of shell-lac, borax, and water ; and the stones which •received the crayons, were ground to a surface somewhat less smooth than those which were prepared for the reception of the ink. The method of etching is merely draw- ing on the stone with these materials. The mystery, or secret, which any che- mist would easily develope, resides in the nrianner of printing these drawings, and is simply as follows. The ink is to be prepared as printer'ss ink is commonly prepared, namely, ground up with oil ; and the paper, which is to receive the impression, must be damped in the usual manner. The etch- ed stone is then to be wetted by immer- sion in water; when it is taken out, and while it is still wet, the ink being careful- ly applied on its surface, without violent friction, by means of a printer*s ball, (such as is used in letter-press printing,) will be found to adhere only where the stone has been hatclied by the ai'tist, with the cray- on or ink, the antipathy of oil to water ef- fectually preventing it from sticking any where else. The paper is now to be placed as in letter-press printing, and a pressure, which need not be very violent, applied either by means of a roller, pass- ed over the back of the paper, or other- wise, a blanket of finer woollen cloth be- ing interposed between the roller and pa- per. Etching on stone has been practised in this city; but no progress, with respect to its use, has yet been made. ETCHING, on Glass. See Engrav- ING, on Glass. EXTRACT. This is nothing more than the inspissated juice, or decoction, of vegetables . Thus, liquorice ball is the extract of liquorice wood, prepared by making a decoction of the wood, and eva- porating it to a solid or hard consistence. Extractive matter, in the language of che- mists, is a peculiar substance, supposed to be of the immediate materials of vegeta- bles. . According as water, spirit, or alco- hol is employed to extract the virtues, or particular parts of vegetables, the extract obtained from the decoction, or infusion, is either a watery or spirituous one ; hence, in the language of chemistry, such extracts as are obtained by water are principally guminy, or, properl) , ex- tractive matter; and such as are pro- duced by the use of alcohol, are prin- cipally resinous. Thus we iiave the ex- tract of bark, and tlie resin of bark, formed in this manner. The use of di- luted alcohol, or spirit, forms an extract which contains both a giun and a resin ; such extracts are called gum-i'esins. The colouring matter of vegetables resides in a gum, a resin, or other EXT EXT principle; and frequently to oblaln it, ei- tlier vvaler, water and alcohol, or alcohol alone, is necessary, as the menstruum. Considering either one or the other, or that extract itself forms a great portion of tJic colouring matter of vegetables, in or- der to apply the colouring matter to stuffs, a proper solvent should be used; and a particular mordant, suited to the stuff and tlie colour, is uidispensably necessary. See Dyeing. Thus, if a solution of alum be added O any extract dissolved in water, a copious coloiu-ed precipitate is formed, insoluble in water, and consisting of extract or co- louring matter, intimately combined with alumine, whilst the supernatent fluid is rendered nearly colourless. Some of the metallic salts have also this effect; by the metallic oxyd combining with the colour- ing matter. F. FAR FAR FALLOWING of Land. See Acri CULTURE. FARMING, System of. See Agri CULTURE. FARUIERY. The art and profecslon of the farrier, or farriery, which has compre- hended from the earliest to the present pe- riod, the medical and surgical care of tlie horse, as well as that of manufacturing and fitting hinv with shoes. These me- chanics, as labourers of iron, were origi- nally termed terriers, from the latin word ferfum, iron, and their craft fcrriery. — This term remains yet in general use, to its fullest extent, and not inaptly ; since, notwithstanding the laudable attempts of many enlightened men, at various periods, the Clacksmiths in America form a very large majority of horse surgeons, and physicians. Nor is this defect peculiar to this country, but prevails in a great de- gree throughout Europe. The term Vete rinarv, was originally used by the Latins, (^y't^etlus) and has a more extensive im- port Jian our farriery, coniprehending tlie care, both in healthi and in a state of disease, of all those animals, domesticated for the laborious service, or food of man. AVe have chosen to treat the subjects, se- parately ; and having already under the head of Animals Domestic, given an account of the diseases incident to those of other species, with the best mode of cure ; we proceed now to the horse ; — and, as our limits will not admit of a trea- tise on the iinntoviy of this useful animal, we are obliged to content ourselves with a concise treatise on the diseases to which lie is subject, and of the mode of cure, adopted by the best Veterinarians. Ovu- work beiiig in the form of a dictionary, we shall pursue this plan, and give the disea- ses in their alphabetic order, as prefera- ble to any other, viz,. Of Abscess. — The treatment of an abscess consists either in resolving" it by absorption, or evacuating the matter. The fii'st is <3ie most preferable method, and should always be attempted in the inci- pient state of abscess, when ihere is pro- bability of success The most efliectual means for promoting resolution by ab- sorption, are, Vn. general bleeding, with a view to lessen tlie inflammatory action of the system ; tdpiSal applications to Die af- fected part, such as scarifying, bleeding with leeches, and! cold, applications, such as solutions of ««'gari>f lead, with v.'ater, vinegar. Sec purgatives and clysters, should also be emjiloyed ; and the horse should be kept on low diet, and all warm applications to be absiained from, as they tend to promote suppuration- These remedies, when used sufficiently early, will, in general, succeed in discuss- ing an incipient abscess ; but should they fail, and the abscess be advanced in size, and the formation of pus ; then the con- tents must be evacuated, and the treat- ment changed to the direct opposite of what we have recommended foderately warm. AVith this treatment no clanger can accrue, arid in a very few days the horse will be fit for work. But if, on the contrary, a large dose of purging medicine be administered, or a proper treatnient nut observed dui'ing the operation of the medicine, and tliat excessive pinging, witli inflhUiinatio:!,' have taken place, recouise must be imme- diately Iiad to -.he 1i)liowing treatment :— >'irst, ther, tlie horse should be kept warm ; and, with t!ie view of removing the irritation witii tiie cause of the dis- ease, starch clysters siiould be us.,d : by these tlie iuHamcd intestine will be fo- moited, and the ren.aining aloes washed away ; nor ouglit astringent medicines to be exliibiled tili this eifect be produced. OpiuiTi may ni;W be adniini.steied in the quantity of half a drat hm twice a d.ay; and, at tlie same lune, it shi;u!d be endea- vouied to determine the blood as much as pu-ssible to the surface of the body : this is to be eflected by employing embro- cations of oil of tur])entine, by blisters, and even by firing: the animal's extremi- ties, also, should be frequently well rub- bed, and his body kept warmly clothed : — and further, the horse shouicl be allowed to remain at perfect rest, les; tlie action of his intestines may be increased by exer- cise, and the disease consequently be ag- giavated. With this treatnr.eiit the ani- mal may be saved ; but it more frequently happens, that either the proper remedies are not employed t>ufficieni!y in time, or tlie inflammation has gone on so rapidly, that mortification and death speedily tate place, no'.withstauding all the fit means \ov preventing them were used. Tt should be observed, that, in this dis- ease, the coecum and colon are qiost gene- rally the seat of inflammatioi., which, af first, is coi fin.'d tu tiie mucous membrane of these intestines, but afiei ward» extends to their muscular and even peritoneal coats. Injlatnmation of the fiyf.— When the eye is inflamed, it loses part of its beauti- ful 'transparency, appearing then as if co- vered with- a film ; the lids are partially clo.sed, and ihe haws become more visi- ble — Siiould the infiamniation have been brought on by some external injury, and p.i"ticularly if it is not very conside'-able, the eye lotion will be sufficient to remove It, but in more violent cases it will be ne- cessary also to bleed moderately and give a laxative ball; by these means inflamma- tion ansing from external injury may generally be cured in a short time. The eves of'.en become ii^flamcd in conse- (piencc of coUl and fevei||^n which cases the cjuse is to be chie^lr .ittended to ; when that is removed tlie inflammation usually ceases. The most commcm cause of this com- plaint is high feeding, without a due pro- pottion of exercise- These cases require great Care and attention, for unless proj)er remedies are employed on the first at- tack, the di-sease (though it appe:as to go oil ) will be frequently returning, and in all prol>ability eventually produce blind- ness. The first remedy to be emplojed on this occasion, is bleeding, and the quantity of blood that is drawn shotdd be proportionate to the violence of tiie in- flammation, and the condition of the ani- mal. Sliould the vessels on the white part of the eye and Inner part of the eye- iiils appear to be distended witli blood, great advantage will be derived from sca- rifying the latter with a lancet. A laxa- tive ball is to be given, and the bowels af- terwards kept in a lax slate by means of bran maslies. I have found a setoii placed immediately under \he e\e, a very useful remedy ; but unless the operation is nicely performed, it frequently leaves an unpleasant mark behind, which would FAR FAR lead a person, experienced in horses, to suspect that the eye had been diseased, and might therefore diminish the vahie of the horse. A shade, so adapted as to preser>'e the eye from th3 irritation of dust and light, will be found useful. This'ki'id of in- flammation g^enerully comes on rather suddenly, sometimes attacking only one eye, at others both are affected ; as there is no apparent cause for tliis sudden at- tack of inflammation, the groom very commonly attributes it to seeds or dust having /alien from the rack into the eye, and very little attention is paid to it Notwithstanding tins neglect, the disease frequently goes off, and in some cafes its disappearance is nearly as sudden as its attack ; in a short time, however, it again appears as unexpectedly as at first, and ^gain perhaps goes off; in this un- certain way it may continue a considera- ble time, the eyes sometimes appearing transparent, and free from inflammation, at others, waiery, inflamed, and opaque on the surface; at lengtli the internal parts of the eye are affected, and a cata- ract sometimes produced. It has been supposed, that the diseases of a horse's eye are frequently hereditary, or dependent on some natural defect in the structure- I do not know how far this opinion may be true, but never hav- ing seen a case wliich seemsd to corrobo- rate it, I am not inclined to give it much credit ; it is notary improbable, however, that the eyes of^ome horses may be na- turally weak, and more liable to become inflamed when exposed to the exciting causes of inflammation^ than such as are originally endued with a proper degi'ee of strength ; but it appears to me that where this weakness or aptitude to disease ex- ists, it is more frequently the efiect of some injury which tliis tender and deli- cate organ has sustained, than a defect of .Xature. Wlien the eye becomes inflitm ed, it is necessarj' to enquire into the cause of the inflammation ; if it arises from any mechanical injury, and is not verj' considerable, there is a probability of its being speedily removed, by m^an.s of the remedies I have pointed out ; but if the inflamma'.iun has arisen without any ap parent cause, depending, perhaps, upon pletiiora, ur redundancy of blood in the system, tliere will be some chance of a ra- dical cure, provided ti'e proper remedies are en'ployed sufficiendy esvly ; but, if they are neg'ecied at the commencenM:nt of the disease, though the h.flammaticn, after some time, appears to go off, andthe eye, to a superficial observer, seems to have recovered, yet the disease treqxipnUy returns, and ultimately occasions blind* ness. Should the disease have occurred before, and particularly, if the former at- tack was violent, there is still less chance of its behig removed, and all our remedies may prove inefl'ectual : in this case, the Alterative No. 3, may be tried. It. frequently happens, that when both eyes are inflamed, and a complete calui-act forms in one of them, the other becomes perfectly sound and strong. It must be observed, that when a horse has sufiered more than once from this disease, and is in low condition, evacuations must not be made too freely ; there are few ca- ses, however, where moderate bleeding, and a laxative ball, are not required. With respect to topical applications, or those remedies which are applied imme- diately to the eye, I must confess that I have not seen much benefit derived from them, exce])t when the inflammation lias aba.ed considerably, and there remains an opacity or filni on the siuface, a.nd then ccmmoc salt, finely jiowdered, has often proved useful ; but, if the eye has been "m this state for some time, and the opacity is very considti-able, white vitriol finely powdered and mixed with honey, is a more effectual remedy. Whenever the eyes are weak, or in a state of inflamma- tion, the vapours which arise from foul litter, should be carefully guarded against ; indeed, it Is by no means an im- probable conjecture, that when the eyes are weak, these irritating vap«urs may of- ten prove the exciting cause of inflamma- tion. There is a cartilaginous body connected witii the eyes of horses, commonly term- ed the haw. Whenever the eye is drawn into the socket, (which the horse has the- power of doing, by means of a muscle that does not exist in the Imman subject) the haw is iorced over the eye, so that when dust happens to adhere lo the sur- f.ice of the eye, he is enabled, by means of this cartilage, to wipe it off; and as light is painfiil to t!)e animal when the eye is in a state of inflammation, we generally find that organ, on siich occasions, dra vn more than usual into the socket, andcon- se(|U».ntly the haw becomes conspicuous on its 3U"iace. Fariiers in this case, con- sider the hav,' (IS an unnatural excres- cence, and the cause of the disease, they fr quentiy therefore cut it ofl". Ti-e once ceil brated Mr. Taplin, cor.sidered the, hasv as a preternatural enlargementof the corners of the eye. Fever. — 'I'he fevers of horses fcear very- little 3!.ulogy to those of che human body, and require a ditiereni treatment. Wri- ters on Farriery have described a great FAR FAR raiiety of fevers, but their obsen'ations appear to have been drawn from the works of medical autliors, niul their rea- soning- seems entirely analog-icaL I can distinguish only two kinds of fever, the one, an idiopathic or orijjhial disease, and therefore properly termed si7nplt; the otlier dependent on internal inflammation, and very justly denominated xyviptomatic fever : for example, if tiie linij^s, bowels, or stomach were inttamcd, the wliole sys- tem would be thrown into disorder, and a sym])tomatic fever produced; but if a collapse of the perspirable vessels hap- pens to take place, the blood will accu- mulate in the interior parts of the body, and -.houg-h inflammation is not pro duced by it, the unequal distribution of the blood ah^ie will occasion that de- ran£jcn;ent in the system which consti- tutes the simple fever. The simple fever does not occur so frequently as the symptomatic, nor is it by any means so formidable in its appearance, yet it is necessary to gl\e it the ear- liest attention, for miless nature re(5eives timely assistance, she will be sometimes unable to get rid of tiie load wliich. op- presses her; and tiie blood will accumu- late in tiie interior part of the body, until inflammation in some of the viscera is pro- duced, and a dang^erous disesise estab- lished. The following' are the symptoms of sim])le fever : — Shivering-, succeeded by loss of appetite, dejected appearance, ijuick pidse, hot mouth, and some de- gree of debility ; the horse is generally costive, and voids his urine with difficulty. Sometimes the disease is accompanied with quickness of breathing, and in a few rasi s with pain in the bowels, or symp- toms of cholic. As soon as a horse is attacked by this disease, let him be bled freely, and if cos- tiveness is one of the symptoms, give a pint of castor oil, or the oil of olives, and let a glyster of warm water gruel be in- jected; the fever powder is to be given once in twelve hours, and continued until its diiu'etic effect becomes considerable. "Warm water and mashes are to be fre- quently offered in small quantities ; warm clothing, fVc(iuent hand-rubbing, and a liberal allowance of litter are also neces- sary ; and wiien the fever runs liigh, it is adviseable to insert rowels about the chest and belly, in order to prevent in- flammation from taking place. When the disease a])j)ears to be going off, the horse looking more lively, and llie appetite i-eturning, let him be led out for a short time in some warm situation, and give now and then a malt mash for the purpose cid" recovering his strengtlK Fever powder. — No. 1. Powdered nitre, 1 oz. Camphor and tartarized antimony, of each 2 dr. Mix for one dose. No. 2. Powdered nitre, 1 oz. Unwash- ed calx of antimony, 2 dr. Mix for one dose. No- 3. Antimonial powder, 3 dr. Cam- phor, 1 dr. Mix for one dose. ■ Symptomatic Fever. — The symptomatic fever is generally occcasioned by higli feeding, close stables, and a want of pro- l)er exercise ; sometimes, how ever, a sudden transition from a cold to a hot len)pcratuie is evidently the caiis^ of it ; in this respect it is difleroit from the .sintple fevei', which, as before observed, sometimes arises from exposing a horse suddenly to a cold air, when he has been accusloined to a warm sUd^le. Horses that are taken froln camp or grass, and l>ut suddenly into warm stables, are ex- , tremelv liable to those internal inflamma- tions on wiiich s} mptomalic fever depends, and many thousands fall victims to this kind of irealnient- When a fever is symptomatic, it is not preceded by shivering, nor is it so sud- den in its uitack as tlie simple fever ; but when it is not subdued by an early ajipli- cation of roiTiedies, the symjitoms gra- dually increase in violence, until they pre sent a very formidable appearance. When the disease however is occasioned bv great and long continued exertion, it gxiierally comes on suddenly, and the complaint has a very dangerous appeai'ance in its cai"- licsL stage. • The symptomatic fever has many symptoms in common with the simple fe- ver, which are, loss of appetite, quick pulse, dejected appearance, hot mouth, and debility ; and, if to these are joined difficulty of breathing, and quick working of the flanks, with coldness of the legs and ears, we may conclude that an hiflamma- tion of the lungs is the cause of the fevei-. If the horse hangs down his head in the manger, orlt;aiis back upon his collar vitli a strong appearance oi'being drowsy, the eyes ajijiearuig watery and inHamed, it is probable tiuit the i".-\er depends upon an accumulation of biood in ihe vessels of the brain, and thai the staggers are ap- proaching : in this case, however, the pulse is not always qu.ck^ned ; somethnes indeed, I Juve found it uiuisnally slow. When the symjuonis of fiiver are join- ed witii a yellowness of the eyes and mouth, an inflamniation of tiie liver is in- dicated. Should an intlunnnation of the bowels be the cause, tlie horse is violently griped. An infiainniaiion of the kitlneys will also produce fever, and is distinguish- ed by % suppression of urine, and an ina- FAR F.\R "bility to bear pressure upon the loins. When inflammation of" the bladder is the cause, the horse is fi-equently stalin voiding' only very small quantities of urine, and that with considerable pain. Extensive wounds, and particularly those of joints, will also produce symptomatic fever. Sometimes several of the internal parts are in darned at the same instant, and indeed, when inflammation has exist- ed for a considerable length of time, it is seldom confined to the organ m which it originated ; the disease spreads to other viscera, and when more than one organ is inflamed, the symptoms will generally be complicated ; still, however, the essential remedies are the same, that is to sa\', co- pious and early bleeding, purging, with rowels and blisters. The Frog— The frog is a very important part to be known ; for, fi-om its good or bad treatment, arises more of the sound- ness or lameness of horses' feet, than from all the other parts of the foot be- sides. Its shape is wedge-like, with a cleft be- hind : it is composed of a very tough, elas- tic kind of horn ; and is intended to em- brace the ground, serving thereby as a stop when the horse is in motion. But, perhaps, its principal use is to keep the heels of the foot expanded, and thereby prevent contraction, which almost always produces lameness, sooner or later. The latter function the fi-og always performs, while it is in health, and while the heels of the shoe are not allowed to be so thick as to raise it above pressure with the ground : for, by continuing the pressiire it leceives from the ground to the pai-ts above, tliese are necessarily expanded la- terally, and contraction of the quai"ters consequently prevented. But if it be cut away, as is frequently and erroneously done in shoeing ; or if the heels of the shoe applied to the foot be made too thick, or turned up ; in either case the frog being no longer in contact with the ground, there can be no pressure on the toot above ; and the quarters of the crust, acted upon by heat, dryness, and. perhaps ill-made shoes, necessarily contract ; and the bottom of the foot, instead of beuig nearly a circle in shape, the heels being as far asunder as the toe is from the back of the frog, and which is the true and natu- ral shape of a horse's foot before it is changed by disease and bad shoeuig, be- comes of partly an oval shape, the dis- tance between the quarters appearing but short, in comparison to that from the toe to the back of the foot . Of the Grease — This is an inflammalion, TOl. I. swelling, and consequent discharge at- tacking the skin covering the heels of horses : it is brought on ^by sudden and great changes of temperature, and pre- vails only in the winter, and most in the wet season. It is never known to attack horses that have not been domesticated; nor does it commence during the time horses are at grass. Horses of a hght co- lour, and particularly where the legs are wliite, are much more liable to be affect- ed with grease, than are horses with dark coloured legs ; and hence it would appear, that the skin bearing hght coloured hair, is more delicate and susceptible of injury than skin covered with dark or black hair ; and this supposition is further cor- roborated by seeing that the hair growing from new formed skin, and which is less perfectly qrganized than tlie old, is al- ways white : tlie hind legs also are more frequently greased tlian the fore legs, ow- ing to their greater distance from the heart, and the cii'culation in them being consequently weaker. The change of temperature causing gi-ea>e,istliat which a horse undergoes in being removed fi'om a cold, wet situation, to a warm one : thus, horses taken from grass or camp, and put into warm stables, will often be greased in a very few days afterwards, and particularly if the proper methods be neglected for preventing it ; for the heels being mostly wet while the horses were abroad, and consequently subject to bear a greater degree of cold than could have affected them had they remained dry, now tliat tlie horses are changed from this cold situation into a wai-m one, they become inflamed by the increased heat of the stable, and grease is tlie consequence. To prevent, then, as much as possible, tlie change of tempera- tiu'e producing gi-ease, the following rules should be obsened on removing horses from camp or grass into stables. First, the stable doors and windows should be throwni open during the day, to prevent the toogi-eat accumulation of heat, which may afterwMrds be gradually increased, and the stables ought also to be kept par- ticularly clean : the diet of the horse should be gi-adually increased; his legs well hand rubbed ; and, above all, the horse ought to be regulai-ly exercised each day, which, together with the fric- tion, will promote the circulation in the heels, and promote absorption of any fluid which may be determined to these parts. The symptoms of grease are, swel- ling of the legs, attended w itli heat ; soon after tliis, the inflamed skin, covering thie heels, becomes cracked, and an oflensive u u FAR FAR discharge also takes place. Tlie horse, after having stood still for some lime, walks lame at first, owing to the pain he suffers from the tearing asunder the cracks, and which, during his rest, were beginning to unite. The discharge in- creases in qviantity and oirensiveness, but does not cause ulceration ; the cracks above mentioned, being merely the natu- ral secretion of the skin covering the horse's heels, but increased and chang- ed by the inflammatory action going on in the vessels of the parts. To cure this disease, it will be necessa- ly to begin with poultices and fomenta- tions of warm water, which should be frequently applied to the affected parts, with ihe view of removing the inflamma- tion. The following diuretic -ball should be occasionally given, to promote absorp- tion ; and, with the same intention, exer- ^ cise ought also to be frequently had re- ' . course to. When the inflammation has subsided, which is often obstinate, and not to be suppressed for four or five weeks, astringent medicines may be used Ibr the purpose of putting an end to the discharge: those mostly used, are blue vitriol and alum, which may be applied alternatelj', either dissolved in water or finely powdered. Exercise and a diuretic ball, (after proper intervals) may still be continued, and wUi accelerate the cure; and that the applications may have the better eflect, the liair should be" kept close cut, and the skin frequently washed with warm water and soap. Diuretic Ball — Venice turpentine 1 oz. Castile soap 2 oz. Powdered anise-seeds, enough to give consistence — to be divided into tiu'ee balls. Sometimes, in grease, the skin becomes of an unusual thickness, from tlie great quantity of fluid wliich is determined into it by the inflamed action ; and numerous excrescences, termed grapes, from their seeming to gi-ow out in bunches, appear on it : when this is the case, tliese excres- cences should be removed by the actual cautery. -Grease is apt to produce another and more dangerous disease, called can- ker ; and for wliicli see title Canker, for the inflammation of grease increases the growtli of the hoof; and the frog being, in consequence, raised too far from tlie ground to admit longer of pressure, and also being in a continual state of moisture from tlie greasy matter of the heels run- ning down upon it, canker is die conse- quence Of Casting the Hair — Horses cast their hair once a year, some in autumn, but the greatest number in spring ; and as there is a gi'cat change, attended with some debi- lity, to be observed in the animal during the time he is throwing oflT the old hair, particular attention should be paid to him at that period. Tlie weakness he then shews, and his consequent liability to be aflected by cold, in all pl'obability arises ; the first, from the great proportion of blood which is deter- mined from tlie other parts of the frame towards the skin for supplying the growth of the new hair; and the second circum- stance, or susceptibility of cold, from the unprotected condition of the sensible skin during the interval between casting the old hair and the growth of the new, and which must render it more liable to be af- fected by the cold. During this period, then, the" horse should be kept more warmly clad than before, and his diet ought to be full and nourishing. . Hide bound. — This term implies a tight- ness of the skin, which feels as if it were glued to tlie rilos, the coat having at the same time, a rough unhealthy appearance. This complaint is generally occasioned by worms, or want of attention in the groom ; it occurs sometimes, however, witliout any manifest cause ; in such cases give the Alterative Ball, No. 1, every morning, until moderate purging is produced, and if this does not succeed, try the Alterative No. 2, which is to be given every morning for eight or ten days, taking care to assist its operation by warm cloathing, good grooming, and regular exercise. Tiie exei'cise sliould not be confined to walk- ing, but may be earned so far as to ex- cite a moderate perspiration. Great care must afterwards be taken that he does not get cold; let him be taken into the stable while warm, and immediately clotiied ; when the legs and head have been well cleaned, remove tlie cloth and continue to rub the body with large wisps of clean straw, until it is quite dry. 1 cannot forbear mentioning here a re- medy that is employed in some parts of Staflordshire for this complaint, as it clearly evinces how necessary it is to res- cue tills valuable animal from the barba- rous and absurd treatment of illiterate Blacksmiths. --\n account of this opera- tion was sent me by a gentleman who saw it practised a few months ago. "The head and legs of the horse being secured, two men (one on each side) pull the iiide from the ribs in about fifty places, with pincers." Tlie proprietor of this unfortu- nate animal must surely liave been desti- tute of common sense or humanity, to al- low an ignorant, unfeeling Farrier to per- FAR FAR form so cruel and fruitless an operation. iterative Bulls — No. 1. Barbadoes Aloes, 1 oz Castile Soap, 9 dr. Powdered Ginger, 6 dr. Syrup enough to form the mass, to be divided Into four doses. Xo. 2- Tartarized Antimony, 2J oz. Powdered Ginger, 1^ oz. Opium, ^ oz,. Syrup enoug'h to form the mass, to be di- vided into eight balls. Inflammation. — It was supposed by the celebrated Boerhaare, and other Physiolo- gists of his time, that inflammation de- pended on a viscidity of tlie blood, which rendered it unfit for circulating in tiie finer vessels, and that hence arose ob- structions, and those appearances by which the disease is characterized Tliis opinion, however, has obtained very little credit with modern Physlolo.^sts, and is now universally rejected, it haying been proved, that blood drawn from an animal, labouring under inflammation, is more fiuid, and remains fluid longer, than that which is taken from the same animal when in health. The most prevailing opinion at present respecting inflammation is, I believe, tliat it consists in an increased action of the heart and arteries, when general ; whereby the blood circulates with unusual veloci- ty, throwing the whole system into de- rangement; and when local, or existing in a paiticular part, the increased action is in like manner, confined to the vessels of that part. When a part is mflamed, there arises in it an unusual degree of heat, generally attended with considerable tension and swelling; the sensibility and irritability are always increased, and produced by it in parts where it did not before exist ; in bones and tendons, for example, scarcely any sensibility can be perceived when they are in a state of health; but, when injlavi- ed,\\. is roused to an alarming degi'ee, and the most dangerous consequences may ensue fi-om it. Inflammation has four modes of termi- nation : the first is termed resolution ; that is, when the disease, after going a certain length, gradually disappears again ; the second, suppuration ; that is, when matter is formed, or an abscess produced ; the tliird is named effusion, which implies an extravasation either of blood, coagulable lymph, or serum : and the ifourth, gan- grene or mortification, by which is meant the death of tlie inflamed part. Inflammation of the external parts is generally occasioned by some mechanical injury, such as wounds, bruises, &c. Sometimes, however, it arises from inter- nal inflammation, or symptomatic-iever. and Is then to be considered as an efTort of Natm-e to cure the internal disease. Thus we sometimes find in fevers, absces- ses tiking place on the surface of liie bo- dy, whereby the fever is considerably di- minisb.ed, and, in general, terminates fa- vourably. Inflammation is often produced by ple- thora, or redundancy of blood in tlie bo- dy; in which case it is so.metimes gene- pal, the whole arterial system having its action increased : this also may be consi- dered as an efijrt of Nature to get rid of the superfluous blood, and in such cases she. must be assisted by copious bleed- ing. It more commonly happens, however, that the redundant blood is determined to some particular part, occasioning local inflammation; very frequently falling upon some of the internal organs, and the lungs are peculiarly liable to suffer ; from this soLU'ce, indeed, the most dangerous fevers arise. The eyes also are very apt to suffer when a horse becomes pletlioi-ic, to wliich cause, I believe, almost ail the diseases of that delicate organ ^ay be at- j tributed- In the treatment of external inflamma- tion, we should endeavour to bring it to tiie most favourable termination, that is, resolution ; — unless when it arises from an effort of Nature to cure some internal dis- ease ; — it is then desirable to bring it speedily to suppuration. The remedies to be employed for resolvmg inflamma- tion, are, local or general bleeding, pur- gatives, fomentations, poultices, or tlie Saturnine lotion, made warm ; sometimes, indeed, I have seen cold applications used with success, such as Sal Ammoniac dis- solved in Vinegar, Goulard, &c When inflammation takes place In ten- dinous pai-ts or joints, the saturnine poul- tice has been found an useful remedy, and in tlie latter case I have often found blis- ters exti'emely efficacious. As in tliese cases the inflammation generally proves more troublesome, and as the pain which it occasions is often so considerable as to produce Symptomatic fever, it becomes necessary to employ, without loss of lime, the most prompt and efficacious means for its reduction ; with this view we excite ar- tificial inflammation in the contiguous skin and cellular membrane, which are parts of far less importance in the animal eco- nomy, than joints or tendons, and capable of bearing a considerable degi'ee of in- flammation, without much inconvenience to the animal : this is done by means of rowels and blisters, and the inflammation thus excited, will tend in a considerable degree to diminish that which is going on FAR FAR In Uie more important part. Sliould we fail in our endeavours to resolve iiiflam- matiou, it will probably terminate in sup- puration ; and when it appears that the disease does not abate by tlie use of the remedies we have recommended, an assi- duous application of fomentations and poultices, will expedite the suppui-ative process, and aflbrd ^reat relief to the ani- mal. When the inflammation, or rather the swelling which it occasions, arrives at- this state, it is termed an Mscess; in which, when the suppuration is complete, and it contains matter, a fluctuation may be felt upon its being pressed by two fin- gers alternately. This point being ascer- tained, an opening is to be made with a lancet or knife, in such a way that the matter may be completely evacuated, and a future accumuUition prevented ; it is then to be dressed with digestive liniment or ointment. Should tlie wound appear indisposed to heal when this treatment has been pursued for a short time, discharg- ing a thin offensive matter, and wanting that red appeai-ance by which the healing process is indicated, the detergent lotion (see Physic) will soon remove those unfa- vourable appearances ; the discharge will become whiter and thicker, and red gi-anu- lationsof new flesh will sprout up ; should tjiese granulations however, become luxu- riant, constituting what is commonly term- ed jbroat/^s/j, they are to be kept down by means of the caustic powder. It some- times happens, tliat when a part is inflam- ed and swollen, instead of going on vo suppuration, it degenerates into a hard and almost insensible tumour ; this de- pends on the inflammation having termi- nated in effusion of coagulable lymph, and is to be removed by stimulating embroca- tions or blisters. Inflammation of the Lungs. — Tliis is a very dangerous disease, and one to which horses are extremely liable ; the frequen» cy of its occurrence is occasioned by im- proper management, and not by any natu- ral defect in the constitution of the ani- mal; it may tlierefore be prevented by proper attention in the groom. Medical writers make a distinction between in- flammation of the lungs, and of the pleu- ra, or the membrane wliich covers those organs, calling the former Peripneutnony, and the latter Pleurisy; this distinction, however, is not necessai-y in veterinary nosologj', since we never find those parts affected separately in the horse. The progress of this disease is often very ra- pid, and unless proper remedies are em- ployed at an early period, it Irequently terminates fatally. Its approach is indicated by the follow- ing s3Tnptoms : loss of appetite, an ap- pearance of dullness, and disinclination to motion, unusual quickness in the motion of the flanks, hot mouth, and sometimes a cough. If tlie disease, by adopting an in- ert, or improper mode of treatment, is suffered to proceed, all these symptoms will increase ; respiration will become ex- tremely quick and laborious, the pulse more frequent, and at the same time weak. A striking appearance of uneasi- ness and anxiety may be observed in the animal's countenance : tlie nostrils ex- panded, the eyes fixed, and the head in- cHning downward ; the legs and ears be- come cold, and the debility is so consi- derable, that he is incapable of moving in the stall without gi-eat difficulty ; he ne- ver lies down unless so much weakened • as to be incapable of standing. The dis- ease, however, is not always so rapid in its progress as we have here described it, and not unfrequently a considerable re- mission may be observed, wlucli is occa- sioned probably by an effusion of .serum or water having taken place in the chest, and this remission is sometimes so conspi- cuous, that we are led to give a fiivoura- ble prognosis; the horse beginning to feed again, and the pulse becoming less frequent. But this flattering appearance often proves fallacious, the di.sease soon returns with accumulated force, and p\its a period to the animal's life. I have seen cases, where bleeding lias not been per- formed with sufficient freedom, in which the inflammation being checked in some degree, at length terminated in a plenti- ful effusion of water in the chest ; when this happens, the horse returns to his Ibod, looks more lively, and, in short, the symptoms of fever in a great measure dis- appeai-. There remains, notwithstanding, an unusual quickness in respiration, gene- rally accompanied with a cough ; the hind legs swell, and the horse very rarely lies down ; a rough vmhealthy appearance may also be observed in the coat, the skin feeling as if stuck to the ribs, and the ani- mal continues in a state of weakness ; af- ter some time the inflammation generally returns, and then speedily ends in death. It sometimes happens that tl)e inflamma- tion terminates in suppuration, in this case also the fever is in some degree les- sened, and the horse begins to feed a lit- tle ; but he still remains in a very feeble state, has a weak cough, and discharges fetid matter from his nostrils ; at length tlic disease again becomes violent, and soon puts a period to his sufferings. The first thing to be done \ylien tins dangerous disease is observed, is to bleed copiously, even till the horse begins to FAR FAR famt from loss of" blood. I have seen six quarts drawn at one operation, and with the best effect ; sometimes indeed the disease will be completely subdued by tlius bleeding freely at its commencement. Should the horse be costive, or even if the bowels are in a natural state, it will be advisable to give a pint of castor oil, and inject a glyster of water gruel ; it will then be necessary, in oi'der to divert the inflammation from this important organ, to insert rowels about the chest and belly, and to blis^r the sides extensively. Let the legs be kept warm by almost constant hand-rnbbing, — and warm cloathing must never be omitted. Nothing is moi*e per- nicious in this complaint than compelling the animal to breathe the impure air and stimulating vapours of a close stable; this is indeed so obvious a troth, that it would be unnecessary to mention it, were it not a constant practice with grooms on tliis occasion to stop every crevice they can find by which pure air might be admitted, and the noxious exhalations suffered to escape. If the disease does not appear to abate iu twelve hours after the bleeding, parti- cularly if it has become more violent, let that operation be repeated, and with the same freedom as at first; we need not be apprehensive at this early period of the disease, of any dangerous debility ensu- ing from the loss of so much blood ; on the contrary, it will tend to reestablish strength, by subduing the inflammation on which the fever depends. It has been foimd necessary to bleed several times, and that very plentifully ; but it must be recollected, that when the fe- ver has existed for some time, and has nearly exhausted the horse's strength, bleeding seldom does good, and in some instances, I believe, has been the means of hastening death. When suppuration takes place in the lungs, though there is little probability of saving the animal, his life may be {prolonged by giving frequent- ly good water gruel and infusion of malt -.-^ Opium, salt of hartshorn, and other cordials, will, also be of service. I have generally given the following ball on those occasions, and though I have never seen a horse recover after extensive sup- puration had taken place in the lungs, yet these remedies have certainly afforded considerable relief Salt of hartshorn, IJ dr. opium, 1 dr. powdered aniseeds, i oz. and syrup enough to fbrm the ball for one dose. When the mode of treatment here re- commended is adopted before the disease has gained much ground, it will general- ly succeed completely ; considerable weakness will of course remain after the fever has been removed, but that also will gi-adually go off, if proper attention be paid to the horse's diet and exercise. When the appetite begins to return, it will be adviseable to give small quanti- ties of oats that have been steeped in boiling water ; good water gruel will also be found serviceable in recruiting his strength ; the sweetest parts should be selected from the hay, and given frequent- ly in small quantities. Malt is an excel- lent restorative on these occasions, but must not be given too freely. When the weather is favourable, let the horse be led out for a short time every day ; or if a small paddock can be procured, and the season of the year will admit of it, he may be turned out for a few hours every day, while the sun shines, taking care that he is well cloathed during that time ; by these means he will gradually recover his original strength. Inflammation of the Boiuels. — This dis- ease is not so frequent as the preceding, thougli equally dangerous and generally more rapid in its progress. Inflamma- tion may attack either the peritoneal coat of the intestine, or that delicate membrane which forms the internal or villous coat : in the former case the disease will be at- tended with costiveness, but in the latter a violent purging is the most conspicu- ous sjTnptom ; but which ever of these coats is first attacked, the inflammation, in a short time, generally spreads to the other. The peritoneal inflammation begins witli an appearance of dullness and unea- siness in the horse ; the appetite is consi- derably diminished, or is entirely lost, and the pulse becomes more frequent; the pain and febrile sjmptoms gradually in- crease ; he is continually pawing with his fore feet, and frequently endeavours to kick his belly; he lies down and sudden- ly rises again, and looks roimd to his flanks, strongly expressing by his counte- nuiice the violence of the pain he suffers; his urine is commonly high coloured, and in small quantity, and sometimes voided with considerable pain; he is generally costive, and the pulse remarkably small and quick; the legs and ears become cold, respiration is very much disturbed, and sometimes, from the violence of the pain and the animal's struggling, profuse per- spii-ation breaks out ; at length mortifica- tion takes place, and is quickly succeeded by death. Sometimes the progress of this disease is remarkably rapid; in one instance I have seen a complete mortifi- cation take place in the course of twelve hours, and that very extensively. FAR FAR When only the internal coat of the in- testines is inflamed, there is {generally a violent purging, accompanied with fe- brile symptoms; these, however, are sel- dom so considerable as in pci-itoneal in- flammation, nor docs the animal appeal' to be in so much pain. This disease is commonly produced by the improper use of physic, or by neglecting a horse dur- ing the operation of a purgative. In the treatment of peritoneal inflam- mation, early and copious bleeding is the most important remedy. The efficacy of artificial inflammation on the surface of the body is remarkably conspicuous in this disease ; and I have seen even the ac- tual cautery applied to the skin of the ab- domen with manifest advantage. As a substitute for this severe remedj', I would recommend covering the back with fresh sheep skins, which will soon excite, and keep up for a considerable time, a copious perspiration on the part ; the whole of the abdomen or belly should have the mus- tard embrocation assiduously rubbed upon it, the stimulating effects of which may be promoted by covering the part af- terwards with sheep skins or warm cloathing. Rowels also may be inserted about the chest and belly, putting into them blistering ointment instead of tur- pentine, or the common digestive, which is usually employed for the purpose. Should the horse be costive, which, as we have before observed, is almost al- ways the case, give a pint or twenty ounces of castor oil, and let glysters of fine water gruel be injected. He should be allowed to drink plentifully of warm infusion of linseed, or warm water alone ; while hand rubbing to the legs, with a liberal allowance of litter, should not be forgotten. If the disease does not abate in six hours after the bleeding, the ope- ration must be repeated, and if the cos- tiveness continues ten or twelve hours af- ter tile oil has been taken, give anotiier dose, and repeat the glyster. If the dis- ease continues, and increases in violence, after all these remedies have been proper- ly applied, there will be but little proba- bility of recovery ; particularly if the pulse has become so quick, weak, and fluttering, as to be scarcely felt; or if tliere appears to be a remission or cessa- tion of pain, or the horse becomes deli- rious. These are always fatal symptoms, denoting that moitification is taking place, which is the certain harbinger of death ; but should the pain continue af- ter the above remedies have been fairly tried, the anodyne glyster may be inject- c 2 Laes down and rolls upon his back. 3. Legs and ears generally warm. 4. Attacks suddenly, is never preceded and seldom accompanied by arty symp- toms of fever. 5. There are frequently short inter- missions. Inflammation of the Stom,ach.~T\\e stomach, like the intestines, may be in- flamed either on its external or internal surface. When the external coat is the seat of disease, the symptoms are nearly the same as those by which Peritoneal in- flammation of the intestines is indicated, and the same treatment is required; tlie only difference observable in the symp- toms is, that in this case the pain seems to be more acute and distressing than in the other: the same difference may be observed between the large and small intestines, the latter being possessed of more sensibility than the former When inflammation attacks the perito- neal coat of the stomach, it very soon dif- fuses itself to the small intestines and neighbouring viscera ; or if tlie small in- testines be its original seat, it frequently spreads to the stomach, and sometimes to the large intestines also. In examining )iorses, therefore, that have died, of these diseases,'\ve seldom find the inflammation confined to one partitular organ ; it more commonly happens, indeed, that the whole of the abdominal viscera will exhi- bit morbid appearances, but in different degrees ; those most contiguous to the part first diseased having suffered consi- derably, while such as are more remote from it are perhaps scarcely altered ; for we can generally distinguish the original seat of the inflammation. An inflammation of the Internal or Vil- lous coat of the stomach is not % verv common disease, and is generally occa- sioned either by poisons or strong medi- cines that have been swallowed, or bv that species of worms termed Bolts. When poisons, or strong medicines incautiously given, are the cause, it will of course come on suddenly ; the pulse will be extremely quick, and so weak that it can scarcely be felt ; the extremities will become cold, and there will be a peculif.r dejected ap. pearance in the animal's countenance, respiration will be disturbed : sometimes there will be a cough, and always a high degree of debility. The treatment of this disease consists in gi\'ing oily or mucila- ginous liquids freeh', such as decoction of linseed, gum ai-abic dissoh ed in water, &.C and at the same time medicines that are capable of decomposing or destroying the poison : for tills purpose I believe the sulphurated potash is useful in doses of half an ounce, provided the poison be ei- ther mercurial or arsenical. Clysters are to be injected, and if the disease is accom- panied with purging, they should be com- posed of strong- linseed decoction or wa- ter gruel I saw five cases of inflamed stomach at one time, (all occasioned by poison) — the above treatment was pur- sued, and four out of the five perfectly- recovered. That inflammation which botts produce in the stomach, is indicated by symptoms sometimes different from those just de- scribed : indeed it may more properly be considered as ulceration of the stomach than inflammation, since, upon examining horses that have died of this complaint, I have always found ulcers of considerable size- This disease generally comes on gradually : the horse becomes hide-bound, has a rough unhealthy coat, gradually loses flesh and strength, though he conti- nues to feed well, and has a frequent and troublesome cough. The disease per- haps will continue in this state for some time, and no serious consequences are apprehended ; its cause and seat are sel- dom suspected, medicines are given to re- move the cough, with common altera- tives for the purpose of improving his con- dition. In some instances these insects are spontaneously detached, and expelled through the intestines : in such cases, if the stomach has not been much hurt by them, it will gradually recover, and the horse be restored to his original strength and condition. When this does not oc- cur, these worms produce so much mis- chief in the stomach, as to throw the whole system into disorder. The lungs are particularly liable to sympathise with the stomach m this case, and fi-equently FAR FAR become inflamed in consequence. The in- flammation thus produced in the lungs is extremely obstinate, and though it may be checked in some degree by bleeding, and the other remedies we have recom- mended for that disease, yet as the cause cannot often be removed, it generally, I believe, terminates fatally. Tliis sympto- matic inflammation of the lungs may be distinguished liom the idiopatTiic or ori- ginal, by tlie following criterion : — It is generally preceded by an luihealthy ap- pearance in the coat, and a troublesome cough ; tlie animal seldom beurs bleeding well, the loss of any considerable quanti- ty of blood causing a ra.\ml diminution of strength ; whereas, in the idiopathic in- flammation of the lungs, the strength of the pulse, as well as the whole system, is often increased by bleeding. With respect to the remedies for this disease, those recommended for inflam- mation of the lungs are the best ; but when the stomach has been considerably injured, there is little prospect of success. Infusion of malt has been recommended ibrthe purpose of inducing bots to disen- gage tliemselves ; (See Index, Jiots.) I must confess, however, that I have never seen any thin.^ eficctually remove them, though they frequently come off sponta- . neously, particulai-ly in Spring, 1 have . taken occasion to examine the bodies of several horses which had been destroyed 'in this way : in all of them there was mortification and suppxn-ation of the lungs, which ap])eared to haVe been the proximate cause of death, but on opening the stomach an immense number of bots was found, many of them attached to the sensible part, and to the pylorus or beginning of the intestine ; in every in- stance there were ulcers of considerable size found ; in some tiie coats of the sto- mach had been nearly destroyed. It ap- peared very clearly, I think, in all these cases, that the disease of the stomach was antecedent to that of the lungs. g It must not be supposed, from what has f been said on this subject, tliat bots cannot exist in the stomach without producing all this mischief; on the contrary, they are often found in healthy horses that have been shot or otherwise destroyed, and it has been known that such horses have , sttflTered no ap])arent inconvenience from / tliem during life. In all these instances, however, they have been attached to the upper or insensible coatof tlie stomach. Ivfiamonation of the Kidneys. — This dis- ease does not occiu* very frequently, and is often occasioned, I believe by an immoderate use of strong diuretic medi- cines. At the fii'St attack of this com- plaint the horse constantly stands as if hft wanted to stale, sometimes voiding a small quantity of high coloured or bloody urine; when tlie inflammation becomes more considerable, a suppression of urine and fever generally take place ; if the loins are pressed upon, the animal shrinks from it, and appears to feel great pain. In the first place, bleed freely, then give a pint or twenty ounces of castor oil, throw up glysters of warm water, and cover the loins with sheep skins, having previously rubbed upon them the mustard embroca- tion ; should these remedies fail of pro - curing relief, repeat tlie bleeding, and should the oil not have operated suffici- ently, let another dose be given. All di- uretic medicines s^^e to be carefully avoided. Inflaonmation of the Liver — This dis- ease is indicated by a yellowness of the eyes and mouth, red or dark coloui-ed urine, great weakness, and fever, gene- rally accompanied with dian-hoca or pur- ging, and sometimes witli costrveness ; the horse has a very languid appearance, and is almost constantly laying down. Sometimes the progress of,this complaint is very rapid, speedily terminating in deatli ; at others it proceeds more slowly, the animal lingering for a considerable time ; in this case it not unf requently ter- minates in dropsy, or inflammation of the bowels. A case we recently met with, terminiUed in this wii}'. It is often com- plicated with other internal diseases, caus- ing some variety in the symptoms, Bleeding can only be emiiloyed with s-afety at the commencement of this dis- ease; .ifterwards it generally does harm, by inducing a dangerous degree of deb?ti- ty. The sides should be blistered, and if there be no purging, the Ball No. 1, given, once in twelve hours, until it occasions moderate purging; but if the bowels are already in a lax state, the Ball, No. 2 or 3, will be better adapted to the complaint, and is to be given in tlie same way. The Hall— No. 1. Calomel, ^ dr. Bar- badoes aloes, 1 dr. Castile soap, 2 dr. rhubarb, ^ oz. Syrup enough to fbrm the Ball for one dose. No. 2 — Opium, ^ dr. to 1 dr. calomel, 1 dr. Castile soap, 2 dr. Syrup enough to form the Ball for one dose. No. 3 — Opium and calomel, of each, I dr. emetic tartar, 2 dr. liquorice powder, 3 dr. Syrup enough to form the Ball for one dose- Of .Jaundice — Tliis disease sometimes exists independent of inflammation of the liver, and may be distinguished from it by the absence of fever and debility, wliich always attend the former diaoi-der. FAR FAR Its principal symptom is yellowness of the moutii and eyes, with purging-. The cure consists in giving once a day to the horse, till he begins to recover, the follow- ing ball. Ball — Opium 1 dr. calomel, 1 dr. Sy- rup to form one ball. fistula in the xnithers. — This disease generally originates in a bruise from the saddle, and is at first simply an abscess, which by early attention and proper treat- ment may be easily cured ; but when ne- glected it degenerates into a fistulous sore, proves exti'emely difficult of cure, and cannot be removed without very se- vere treatment. As soon as the injury is discovei'cd, fo- mentations should be applied in order to promote suppuration, and when matter is formed let the tumour be opened, so that its contents may be completely evacuated, and a future accumulation jarevented ; the sore may then be healed by di'essing it daily with digestive liniment or ointment ; but should these prove ineffectual, apply the detergent lotion until the soi-e as- sumes a red liealthy appearance, and the matter becomes whiter and of a thicker consistence. When tlie disease has been neglected in its first stage, and the mat- ter suffered to penetrate among the mus- cles, aflecting the ligaments or bones of the withers, it becomes necessary to adopt a more severe treatment. The sinusses or pipes are to be laid open with a knife, and if it is practicable, a depending open- ing is to be made, that the matter may run oil freely; the sore is then to be dressed with the following ointment, which is to be melted and poured into the cavity while veiy hot. The sore is not to be dressed, until the sloughs which this ointment occasions have separated from the living parts; which generally happens two or three days after tlie operation. If the surface of the sore looks red and healthy, and the matter appears to be whiter and of a bet- ter consistence, a repetition of this painful operation \\\\\ not be required, the diges- tive liniiTient or ointment being sufficient to complete the cure ; but should the sore still retain an unhealthy appearance, and the matter continue thin and of a bad colour, the hot dressing must again be applied. The ointment — No. 1. Ointment of ni- trated quicksilver, 4 oz. Oil of turpen- tine, 1 oz. Mix. No. 2. VerdigTis, ^ oz. Oil of turpen- tine, 1 oz. Ointment of yellow resin, 4 oz. Mix. Flatultnt Cholic, Gripes, or Fret. — This disease generally attacks rather suddenly, VOL. I. and is brought on by various causes ; sometimes it is occasioned by drinking a large quantity of cold water when Uie body has been heated, and the motion of the blood accelerated by violent exercise. In horses of delicate constitutions, that have been accustomed to hot stables and warm clothing,it may be brought on mere- ly by drinking water that is very cold, though they have not been previously ex- ercised. Bad hay appears to be another cause of the complaint ; but it frequently occurs without any apparent cause, and then probably depends upon a spasmodic action of the stomach or bowels, occa- sioning a constriction of the intestine, and a confinement of air. The air which is thus confined, does not appeal* to be produced by fermentation of the contents of the intestine ; but I have been informed, that the air which is confined in the intes tines of persons who have died of the dis- ease termed Tympany, consists, in great measure, of azotic or nitrogene gas, which could not have been the product of fer- mentation, rhis opinion will appear still more probable, when we consider the im- mense quantity of air that is sometimes discharged from the human stomach, even after its contents h^ve been expelled by vomiting. The pain and uneasiness which this complaint occasions are so considerable as to alarm those who are not accustom- ed to see it, and lead them to be appre- hensive of dangei'ous consequences ; but if properly treated, it may be easily and . expeditiously removed. It begins with an appearance of uneasiness in the horse, j frequently pawing the litter, he voids a small quantity of excrement, and makes I fruitless attempts to stale ; the pain soon ; becomes more violent, he endeavours to ; kick his belly, and looks round to his ' flanks, expressing by groans the pain he i labours under ; at lengtlv he lies down, i rolls about the stall, and falls into a pro- fuse perspiration. After a short time he generally gets up, and appears for a mi- nute or two to be getting better, but the pain soon returns and the succeeding pa- roxysm is genei'ally more violent than the former — the pulse'is seldom much acce- lerated, nor are there any symptoms of fever. The disease will sometimes^o off • spontaneously ; it more commonly hap- i pens, however, when proper remedies ' are not employed, that the air continues i to accumulate, and so distends the intes- ! tine, as to produce inflammation of its j coats : the distension has sometimes been so considerable as to rupture the intestine, whereby tlie horse is speedily destroyed. X X FAR FAR As soon as this disease is observed, let one of the following draughts be given, and a glyster injected, composed of six quarts of waier gruel or warm water, and 8 oz. comition salt. If ihe disease has ex- isted for severalsjiours, and lue pain ap- pears to be very considerable, particularly if the pulse has become quick, ii will be adviseable to bleed to tiiree cjuaris, with a view to prevent inflammation and remove the spasmodic contraction of the intestine. If the disease, however, i.s perceived on its first attack, tlie draught and glyster will generally be sufficient to cure it ; but should no relief be obtained by these means in an hour or two, let the dr.iught be repeated, and let the belly be rubbed lor a considerable timewith tlie fnustard embrocation, biiould the disease be so obstmate as to resist even these reme- dies, which will scarcely ever happen, give a pint of castor oil, with IJ. oz. tinc- ture of opiiuii: as soon as the horse gets up, let him be rubbed* perfectly dry by- two persons, one on each side, and idler- wards let him be well clothed. It is ne- cessary in this complaint to provide a large quantity of hiler, lor tl>c ])U!pose id' preventing tiie horse from injuring himself during" the violence of the paioxysm. The Draught. No. 1. Balsam ofcai/ivi, 1 oz. Oil of juniper, 2 dr. Spirit of nitrous ether. 1 oz. Simple mint water, 1 pint. JMix for one dose. No. 2. Venice turpentine, 1 oz. .Mix with the yolk of an c^gt .and add gradu- ally — peppermint water, 1 pint. Spirit of nitrous ether, ^ oz. Mix tor one dose. No. 3. Camphor, 2 dr. Oil of turpen- tine, i oz. Mint water, 1 pint. Mix for one dose. As this complaint is liable to occur du- ring a journey, in situations where the above reniedies cannot be readily pj'o- ciurd, I have annexed a formuJa for a ball, for the convenience of those who are in the habits of travelling. It' this ball is wra)>ped up closely in bladder, it may be kepr a cons'iderable time without losing its vivtues- The Ball — .Castile soa]), 3 dr. Cam- phor, -dr. Ginger, 1^ dr. Venice tur- pentinc, 6 dr. To be niude into a ball for a dwse. Disi^oses of the Foot — The most fre- quent cause of lameness in the foot in, a contraction of tiie horny matter that composes Ihe ho<' those that are well bred for the turf, whose pasterns arc remark ably long and oblicjiie in their position, while the heels are very low, and the toe of considerable length ; if thin heeled shoeg were ajiplied to feet of this descrip- tion, or if the toes were not kept short, the horse would b^ very liable to lame- ness, from the extraordinary pressure to which the ligaments and back sinews would be exposed ; the heels therefore of such horses are to be carefully prer served, and the toes kept as short as pos- sible. The shoes which are applied should be made sufficiently thick and long at the heel to make up for the de- ficiency of horn in that part, in order to relieve the ligaments and back sinews, and with the same view the toe should be made rather thin, and of the best steel. 'I'here is another kind of deformity sometimes observable in the foot, that is, the hoof loses that oblique form repre- sented in Plate 3, Fig. 9. and approaches towards the perpemlicular, (Fig, 3,) at the same time the heels beconie very high ; in this case it is necessary to re- duce the cru9t at the heels, and apply the thin heeled shoe. Gangrene— When inflammation runs very high, as is sometimes the case hi violent bruises, or deep and extensive wounds of the lacerated kind, it may ter- minate in gangrene or mortification, which is generally attended with danger; in this case the matter dischaigcd, instead of being white and thick, consists of a dark coloured fluid, of a peculiar oflcn- sive smell ; the constitution is generally afl'ected, the pulse becoming quick, weak, and sometimes iri-egular, the appetite goes off, and there is a great degree of (lebility. Should the infiammation termi nate in this way, if it arises from a wound, let it be dressed with (hgvstive liniment, oil of turpentine, or canijihorated spirit of wine ; the diseased parts should be scarified, and fomentations applied al- most incessantly, until the mortified parts appear to separate, and the matter loses in great measure its offi;nsi\e smell, ap- pearing wliilL*r and more thick. Wlieii the horse is weakened by the disease, and loses his ajopctite, ])aiticularly if there is a copious discharge from the wound, one or two of tiic following cor- dial balls are to be given daily : No 1. Yellow Fei-uvian bark, 1 oz. (iinger, powdered, 2 dr. Opium, 1 dr. Oil of carraways, 20 divips. Syrup enough to make the ball f.)r one dose. No. 2. Yellow I'eruvutn bark, Joz. Powdered snake root, 2 dr. Powdered cassia, lAdr. Oil of cloves, 20 drops. Syrup enough to form the ball tor one dose. Jiemark. — Tl-.e opium in the ball. No. 1, is to be omitted when the horse is cos- tive, or if it appears to take off his ap- petite ; but when the disease is accom- panied with a purging^, it is extremely useful. FAR FAR When any of the internal parts are in- flamed, i. fever is general!}' produced, the violence of wliich will depend upon tlie importance of the inflamed org-a.n, as well as upon the extent of the inflanuna- tion ; some of the internal parts being- more essential to life than others, and when inflamed occasioning of course g-reater derani^eraent in the system The only J a'Dour able terminations to which in- ternal inflammation can be brought, are resolution and efTusion; and as the firstis Ijy far the most desirable, the most vigo- rous Rieasures should be adopted in or- der to effect it ; the most important re- medy in tiiose cases is copious bleeding, and the earlier it is employed tlic more effectual will it prove: tlie next remedy is external infiainrnntion, artificially ex- cited by means of rowels and blisters. 'I'he fever powder, and occasional glys- ters, are of considerable sen'ice. Of Glanders. — This is the most destruc- tive disease aflhcting the horse, being iiighly contagious, and almost universal- ly fatal. The symptoms are a swelling of the glands under the throat, and a dis- charge of purulent matter from the nos- trils : most commonly the discharge is confined to one nSfetril, and the inflam- mation is also limited to the gland on that side. Soon after tliis, the membrane lining tlie inside of the nose ulcerates, as may be seen by looking into the nostril, and tlie discharge becomes of a worse colour, and feiid; tiie ulceration now spreads : the thin, delicate, feony parts of the nose are destroyed by the virus, which is increased in quantity and viru- lence, and the whole system of the ani- mal being at length affected, the vital Functions gradually fail, and death closes the progress of this cruel disease : but its progress to destruction is more or less rapid in different horses : some it kills in a comparatively sliort time, while other horses not only sustain their condition, but are also able to endure work long after Ihcy have been undoubtedly glan- dered. This practice, hov,e\er, of pre- serving glandered horses while they are capable of affording servi'^.e, and which but a mistaken interestedness of the owner can approve, is highly injurious to the nation at large, and therefore ought not to be permitted. — A horse labouring under glanders may be considered a ma- cliine which is constantly generating and scattering around him the glanderous poison ; every thing to which he applies his nostrils has this poison deposited on it ; the manger and rack from which he eats, the pail in which he di'inks, the collar, bridle, and clothes he may have on, all are infected ; even the parts of the stable that are contiguous, but vvilh whicli he may not have had absolute con- tact, are not exempt from the infection of tliis dreadful disease : the glanderous matter on the membrane ofliis nose, car- ried forth by the air whicli he expiies in breatliing, vitiates the atmosphere aioand him, and spreads tlie seeds of furtlier iii- fection to a distance from the animal. \t present there is no effectual remedy ktiown for preventing or cvu-ing th.is dis- ease : from a corresponding appearance between some of its symj)lon)s with those of the venereal disease, and seeing the effects of mercvu'y in curing the latter, various preparations of quicksilver, m different doses, have also been given to the horse, witii the view "of cuung the glanders, but not witii the same happy effect. This failure, however, should not preclude the hope that a specific re- medy for at least suppressiiiaf the mor- tality of the distemper, may not, ere long, be dlscovcitrd. The cow-pock was not thought of as being an inlahible pi'even- tive aguinst the mortality of the small- pox, and a successful remed\ against tliis virulent and frequently fiital disorder was beginning to be despaired of, until the sa- gacious Jenner made the immortal disco- very ; a discovery wiiich, in some mea- sure, atones to hitmanity for the unparal- lelled destruction of the species, commit- ted by the tlien existintr ruinous and bar- harous war. it is probable that a certain ])reventive against the mortality of the glanders also exists in some milder and more original disease, and only waits a few lucky circumstances to be discovered by some sagacious observer. It was thought the cow-poCk would have had the desired effect, jind accordingly tlie hoi-se Avas inoculated with it, but wiuout success, iLls adm.itted that glanders is general- ly_ spread by contagion ; but it is also supposed, cases occur wiicre this disease arises spontaneously. The h'.tter suppo- sition, however, rests meieh' in sugges- tion, where the disease cannot be traced to a contagious source ; but considering the subtlety and virulence of the poison- ous matter generated and constantly de- posited by a liorse- infected with the glan- ders, it is not unreasonuble to believe that this disease, in all cases, is produced by contagion, A neglected coid, ill cur- ed strangles, and tlie breathing impure air, have been thought to be productive of glanders ; but is it not possible that in- cipient glanders might have been mis- taken for the two first diseases ; and that in the case of breathing* foul air, the aui- FAR FAR mal might have received the infection into his system prior to being placed in so noxious a situation. Tliese however, are suggestions also, unproved l)y fuels, which can aione enable us to draw certain con- clusions witli i-egard to diseases ; and thes' are oftei-c-d here, principally, with the vifv of I'.ducing practitioners of ta- lent and ubservation to direct theii' views to the discovciy of a preventive against the n^ortaliiy of ihis dreadful disease. Until, however, a remedy be discover- ed fur preventing or curing the glanders, every horse certainly known to be infect- ed wicli this disease, excepting such as may be left witli skilful practitioners f()r experiment, oughvtobeimmtdiaU.'|y kept sep.ivate, with tiie vie w of preventing the extension of tl.e co!it;igion to other hor- ses ; but care slioukl be had, that a cold or slranjrles be not mistaken for glanders, and the horse be improperly doomed to seclusion. To prevevil sucii error, it will be necessary to discriminate between the sjrnptoms of the difliirent diseases : in a cold, there is mosily some fever with a cougli, and the discharge at the nose is generally from both nostrils, which are never ulcerated. In the glanders, parti- cularly in its er.rly stages, there are nei- ther cougli nor fever; the disch.arge is mostly confined to one noi^tril, and there is always ulceration after a certain time. Again, strangles difie.- from glanders in this ; that the inflamed glands imdcr the throat soon run to suppuration in the for-, mer disease; and, di^cllarging their mat- ter, the animal gets well ; whilst, in glanders, these glands are scarcely ever K.nown to inflame actively and suppurate. 'iVhen then a hoise is observed to have a discharge at the nose, lie sliould lie in- stantly seiniratcd fi'om all otlier horses, until the nature of the discharge be known ; when, if it proceed from glan- ders, the animal should be kept sepa- rate, and destroy tire things he was most likely to have infected, as the collar, nose -bag, &.c. and it will be re- ([uisite afterwards to wash clean the rack, manger, and other places on which he may have deposited glanderous matter; and to ensurii safey against .further con- tagion, a coat "v two of lime should be given to the stable inside. Lampas. — When the bars or roof of the horse's mouth, near tlie front teetli, become level wiin, or hi(;iicr than the teeth, he is sajil to liave the Lampjs, and this is supposed to prevent his feeding. Farriers burn down this swoln part witli a red hot iron made for the purpose. I believe this operation is performed much more frequently than is necessary, but I have never seen any bad consequences arise from it. Locked Jfiw— This disease, fortunate- ly does not occur very often, and general- ly terminates fatally. It begins with a difficulty in mastication ; at length the jaws become so completely and immove- ably closed, that neilner medicines nor food can be got into the stomach : the muscles of the neck are generally in a state of rigid contraction, and the animal appears to siifier great pain ; it is often bi ought on by trifling causes, such as wounds of the foot, inflammation of the tail, from docking or nicking, &c. and sometimes it attacks with(,ut any appa- ren. cause. Various remedies have been tried in this complaint, but 1 do not think any efTcciual mode of treatment has yet been discovesed; immersion in cold water, or even snow, is said to produce a leniporary relaxation of those muscles by which the jaws are closed. Opium and camphor have been strongly recom- mended. I have lately been informed of a case in which a combination of these medicines completely succeeded. In Ame- rica and the West India Islands, where the disease is much more frequent than it is in this climate^ strong stimulants have been found efiectual ; it would be adviseable tlierefore to try the same plan on horses should opium and camphor fail. T!ie best stimulants for this pur|)ose are spirits of hartshorn, ether, opium, and brandy- In every case of locked jaw, the injur- ed part si ould be burnt with a led hot iron, and if no particular part is injured, the same ap]ilication should be freely made in the nick. Lymph, Coi:gulablc Effusions of. See iNrt-A-VIMATIO-V. J\iiilUndtrs liiid SalUnders. — When a scui-l'y i:vupti<)n appears on the iKiste. ior part of the knee joint, it is ttrn.ed J\Ld- lenders, and when the same kind of dis- ease happens on the anterior of the hock joint, it is named SalUnders. Should these complaints occasion lameness, it will be proper to give in the first place a dose of physic ; let the iiuir be carefully clipped ofVlrom the diseased part, and let ail the scurf be washed off with soap and warm water ; a cure may then be soon eileeted by applying the foUowing oinlnient twice a-day : 'yv.e Ointment. — No- 1. Ointment of wax or spermaceti, 2 oz. Olive oil, 1 o-!. C'am- phor and oil of rosemary, of each, 1 dr. Acetated water of litharge, 2 dr. Mix. No. 2. Ointment of nitrated quick-sil- ver, olive oil, of each, 1 oz. Mix. No. 3. Oil of turpentine, ^ oz. Vitri- FAR FAR oUc acid, 1 dr. Mix cautiously, and add of oil of bay, 3 oz. Mix. Mange — This disease is seldom met with, except in stables where scarcely any attention is paid to the horses, and where their food is of the worst quality : it is certainly very contagious, and may in that way attack horses that are in good condition. It is known to exist by the horse constantly rubbing or biting liimself, so as to remore the hair, and some t.nes produce ulceration ; the hair of the maJie and tail frequently falls off, and small scabs are observable about the roots of that which remains. The mange is, I beheve, a local disease, and requii-es only the following ointment or lotion for its removal : in obstinate cases, however, it may be adviseable to try the effect of the loUowing klterative. JMange Ointment. — No 1. Sulphur, vi- vum, finely powdered, 4 02. Oil of tur- pentine, 3 oz. Hog's lurd, 6oz. Mix. No. 2. Oil of turpentine, 4oz. Strong vitriolic acid, A oz. Mix cautiously, and add tram oil, 6 02.. Sulphur vivum, 4 oz Mix. jifange Lot'tcn — White hellebore, pow- dered, 4 ox. Boil in 3 pints of water to 1 quart, then add muriate of quicksilver, 2 dr. that has been previously dissolv- ed in 3 drams of Muriatic acid. • . ilterativefor Mange. — M uriate of quick- silver, 4oz. Tartarizcd antimony, 3 oz. Powdered aniseeds, 6oz. Powdered gin- ger, 2 oz. Syrup enough to foruj the mass, to be divided into sixteen balls, one of which is to be given every morn- ing. Should they appear to diminish or take off tlie appetite, or create a poi'ging, the}' must be discontinued two or three days. Mortification. See Gangrene. Of Opiithahny. — I his consists in an inflammation of the conjunctiva, or mem- brane lining the eye-Uds, and reflected over the ftn-e part of the eye ; it first at- tacks the part lining the lids ; then that on the white, or opake, coat of the eye ; and, lastly, the portion spread over the tiMUsparent cornea. In the former parts it produces great redness and fuUness of the blood-vessels, as may be seen by gen- tly drawing either lid from tlie eye; while in the latter, or transparent part of tlie eye, a dullness, or film-like appear- ance, is the consequence. The tears are, at the same time, so much increased as to flow over the face ; tlie lids are partly closed, to exclude some of the light, and which would now be p.Jntid and injuri- ous '.0 tlie eye, rendered irritable by tlie inilamiaation ; and the more effectually to avoid irritation from abroad, the ani- mal draws the diseased eye farther into the orbit, by means of the retractor mus- cle, which, at the same time that it effects this motion, forces the haw, as we before observed, outwards, to increase the pro- tection of the eye. Some persons mis- taking the haw for an excrescence pro- duced by, or producing, the disease, used to cut it away, and, consequently, de- prived the horse's eye of a material part of its defence ; but now its use beginning to be understood, it is rarely removed, except by the most uninslructed practi- tioners. When the above symptoms are caused by blowap or other accidents, a cure is soon effected by bleeding, and giving the followi-ig laxative balls twice or three times, after an interval of a few days be- tv.een each, and keeping the animal at rest, and on a cooling diet : and should any speck, or appeaiance of opacity, re- main on the transparent part of the eye, after the intiammation has subsided, a little finely powdered salt blown on the part through a quill, once or twice a day, will gently sdmulate the absorbent vessels, and sho4"tly remove the opa- city. Poll £w/7.— The poll evil, so called from taking place in the poll, or upper part of tlie neck close to tlie head, arises from bruises, or bicws on the part, and is, at first simply an abscess ccMifined to the cellii'ar membrane between the mus- cles of the part ; and may, in this stage, be easily cured by early and proper treat- ment, like other abscesses : but, on the other hand, if the disease be neglected, as is mo:-e commonly the case, till the mat- ter find its way totiie ligaments and bones underneath, it then becomes much more difficult of ctu-e, and requires a severer treatment. In this case it will be necessary to lay open the different sinuses ; and also, when there is op-portunify, to make a depend- ing opening for the ma'.ter to discharge it- self b}'. The fjllowing corrosive and highly stimulating ointment should then be poured into the cavity, while hot, with the view of destroying the diseased sur- faces of the sinuses, and also producing a healthy intiammation, and matter for filling up and healing the cavities. This mode of ti eatment, though severe, is yet the ii'ost likely, if judiciously proceeded in, to effect a cure of this veiy obstinate disease ; and should it be found that ap- plying it once has not been sufBcient to desuoy totally the diseased parts, it will be requisite to repeat it ; after which the sore may be di-essed, as a common abscess, with digestive ointment. FAR FAR Ointment. ,011 of turpentine 1 oz. Ver- digiis ^ oz. Ointment of yellow resin, 3 oz. Mix Qtiittor. — Tliis disease generally arises fioni a wound or bruise in the corcnet, and if neglected, penetrates under tlie lioof, forming sinuses in various directions. 'I'he most effectual method of treating those complaints is to ascertain, in the first place, the direction and extent of the sinuses, and tiien to force into them witii u strong probe h'^'>ie cvystailized verdi- gris, rolled up in ti»in blotlhig or silver pa- per. This, tliougli apparently a severe remedy, will he found very eifectuai. Subliniiate and arsenic have bee|>str()ngiy recommended as remedies for the quittor, indeed it is ])rob;ible that any caustic ap- plication would effect a cure ; but I have succeeded so well with the chrystalliz-ed verdigris, that 1 have not been induced to try those medicines When a corn has been neglected and suffered to break out at the coronet, or when the ibot has been wounded, or pricked, as it is termed, Ijy the farrier in slioeing, and this is not dis- covered until matter appears at the coro- Det; though these nuay be considered as cases of 'piiitor, a different treatment is required from that we h^'e just de- scribed; in those cases the cure greatly deper.ds on m;dciiig an opening for the matter in the bottom of the fool, where tlie nail which inflicted the injury enter- ed; or if produced by a corn, the opening must be made in the angle between the bar and crust, at e, fig. 1, plate 3. The best dressing on those occasions is the compound tincture of benxoin and diges- tive ointment; a potdlice is sometimes re- quired to soften the horny matter, and subdue any inflammation that may exist in the foot. Ring- Hemes. Are bony excrescences about the small pastern bone, near the coronet, or an o.ssifK-alion o'f the cartila- ges of the loot. H observed in its incipient state, a blister will probably be of service ; but when of longer standing and large, the actual caute- ry will also he necessary : this remedy, however, is by no mean.s uniformly suc- cessful, the corni)laiiit being frequently incin-able, and if it has proceeded so f;ir as to cause a atiff joint, there is no chance of recovery. . Kojiii.g. This disease takes its name from a peculiar sovmd in respiration, par- ticularly when the horse is put into a brisk trot ol" galh.!]). It seems to arise from lymph that has been elfuscd in the wi:)dpi])e or it j br:inches, which beeorhing solid, obsli-ucts, in a greater or less de- gTe<;, the passage of air. As a remedy for this compljunt, blistering tlie whole length of the windpipe hiks oeen recom- mended ; I believe, however, that it is al- ways incurable huddle Galls — The skin under the sad- dle is frequently liable to be so injured as to run into inflamed tumours called sad* die galls or warbles. These are sometimes troublesome, if not attended to in time ; but by an early application of some repelling solution, as sugar of lead and w atcr, or vinegy, the tumour n\ay be soon discussed: n, how- ever, matter has formed, it should be eva- cuated by the lancet, and the sore after- wards healed as on ordinary occasions. Sand Cracks. — the crust of some horses is liable, in the dry season, to be afl'ected w\\.\\ fissiues, which generally run from ihe coronet downwards: they are to be Ibund mostly at the sides of the crust aj)- proaching the heels. AVhen they do not enter dee]) they produce scarcely any in - convenionce to the animal; but on the contrary, if they descend to the sensible parts of the foot, they necessarily cause great pain and lameness, anil require much attention to remove them. As excessive dryness of the crust ap- pears to be one of the causes jn-oducing sand-cracks, moisture is evidently neces- 9ar} to prevent them, and also to assist the cure where they do exist; and witii this view tlie crust so cracked should be kept constantly moist, either in the stable, or by turning the horse out mto moist gj-ound But first it wiil be necessary to thin the quarter, and after opening the line of crack with a drawing-knife, to ap- ply a hot iron with the view of exciting in- flammation, by which a matter will be discharged, which will tend to All up the crack, and defend the iiUernal parts; gra- dually, as the hoof grows downwards, the crack will disaj^pear, and a cure be effected ; but in the intci im the edge of the crust below the crack should be so rasped as not to come in pressure witli the shoe. Sitjl.sts. — Owing to iajvuies from the saddle, callosities are apt to form in the skin beneath, which are termed sitfasts. They slicndd be dres.sed with some .sti- mulating ointment, until Uie callous j)art can be rcmoveil, when ihe sore may be treated in the usual way Spavin. — A s]):ivin is a swelling on the inside of the hock, and is of two kinds : the first is termed a bone spavin, consist- ing of a bony excrescence ; the other a b 'gov blood s\y^y\n. Tlie former often oc- casions lameness just before it makes its appearance, and then can be discovered only by feeling the part, which will be FAR FAR found unusually Iiot and tendef. If a ulisier is applied at this period of the dis- ease, it will g'enerally prove successful ; but when the disease has existed for some time, the cure is much more diffi- cult. In such cases the actual cautery should be applied, and the following day a strong blister ; afier this two or three months rest (at gi-ass) are absolutely ne- cessary The bo^ spa\"ui does not so often occa- sion lameness as tlie other, except when a horse is wcM'ked hard, which generally causes a temporary lameness, removeable by i-est ; but it does not often admit of a radical cure, for though it is frequently removed b\' two or tliree blisters, it gene- rally returns when the horse is made to perform any considerable exertion. lying up the vein which passes over the inside of the hock has been consider- ed the most eflectual remedy, from a supposition that the lameness was caused by an enlargement of that vessel ; this, operation, however, cannot be necessary, since it has been proved that the enlarge- ment of the vein is always an effect^ and not a cause of the disease. Splents. — Owing to too much weight being frequently placed on the bones, tlie connecting ligament, inadequate to sup- port tlie bui'den, begins to be torn ; and nature, to prevent dislocation, brings on inflammation, which produces ossific mat- ter ; and by it unites the small and great metacai-pal bones together. So far, this process can scarcely be called a disease ; the elasticity however, of this part, no longer exists : but it commonly happens that a mere imion of the bones is not all ; the ossific matter continues to be thrown out, till a considerable body of en- largement takes place, producing pain and lameness. In this case the object should be to remove the extraneous bony jnatter by exciting- its absorption, by the application to the part of the following blistering ointment ; when, if a cure is not eft'ected in a few days, it will be ne- cessaiy to lire the splent, and to blister it again. This diseased enlargement, term- ed splent, from the bone concerned, takes place, in nine cases out of ten, on the in- side of the leg, owing to the pernicious habit of turning up the outside heel of the shot: ; iind which, by throwing a more liian ordinary degree of weight on tlie inside splent-bone, produces the con- sequences already described. Blistering Ointment. — Spanish flies pow- dered, 1 oz- ; oil of turpentine, 1 oz. ; and hog's-lard, 4 oz. Mix them together. In applying a blister, the hair of the part sliould be cut close, and the ointment VOL. I. well rubbed in ; the horse's head should also be tied up, to prevent him biting or injuring the blistei ed surface ; and the discharge, when it begins to exude, ori.:i'llt to be gently and frequently removed by means of a sponge and wai-m water, so as to preserve the skin from blemishes. Strains. — This is a subject with which every sportsman ought to be well ac- quainted, s'mce his horses ai*e particular- ly liable to such accidents. Strains may affect either the muscles, ligaments, or tendons. Muscular strains consist in an inflammation of the muscles or flesh, oc- casioned by \-iolent and sudden exertion. When ligaments are the seat of this dis- ease, there is generally some part of them ruptured, whereby very obstinate and sometimes permanent lameness is produced ; in this case also inflammation is the symptom whicb first requires our attention. But tendons are the parts most frequently affected, particularly the flexors of the fore leg, or back sinews, as they are commonly termed. Tendinous strains are commonly supposed to con- sist in a relaxation or preternatural ex- tension of the tendon, and the remedies that have been recommended, are sup- posed to brace them up again. How- ever plausible this opinion may be, it certamly is very erroneous ; indeed it has been proved by experiment, that ten- dons ai'e neither elastic nor capable of ex- tension, and from investigating then* struc- ture and economy, we learn, that were they possessed of these quaUties they would not answer the,, purpose for which they were designed. From an idea that a strain in the back sinews depends on a relaxaUon of the tendons, many practi- tioners have been apprehensive of danger from the use of emollient or relaxing ap- plications, than which nothing can be more useful at the beginning of the disease. Tendinous strains consist in an inflam- mation of the membranes in which ten- dons are enveloped, and the swelling which takes place in these cases depends on an effusion of coagulable lymph, from the vessels of the inflamed part. Inflam- mation being the essence of a strain, we are to employ such remedies as are best calculated to subdue it, and should any swelling remain, it is to be removed by stimulating the absorbent vessels to in- creased action. Strain of the Shoulder. — This disease is by no means so frequent as it is supposed to be, lameness in the feet being often mistaken for it ; the difference, however, is so well marked, that a judicious ob- server will never be at a less t* distin'- guish one from the other. T y ^' FAR FAR A shoulder sti-ain is an infiammatlon of some of tlie muscles ol" ihe showider, most commonly, I beiieve, tliose by whicli the limb is connected with the body. Tlie iumeiiess which J.is accident occa- sions coir.ea on rathei- suddenly , and is ge- nerally considerable, \^'iltn the horse attempts to walk, the t-jc oi tlie afiected side is geierally drawn ulonm a disease of tlie foot, it is generally gradual in its :.ttuck, unless oco:irtion<;d by an accident- al woimd, and does not at all hinder the cxtei--;ion of the limb; an unu^iual heat and tenderness may also be perceived in the foot, and as »he horse stands in tite staoie, the affecl'xl foot will be put for- ward; that it may bear as little as possi- ble of tlie -.veight of the Ijody. The first remedy lo be emjiloyed on those occasions is bleeding in the shoul- der or plate vein, then give a laxative ball, and if ihe injury is considerable, let a rowel be put in the chest; by means of these remedies, and rest, the disease will generally be removed in a short tin'ie; a cooling opening diet, witli perfect rest, will also be necessary. When the in- flammation and lameness begin to abate, the horse should be turned into a loose stall, and after a week or two he may be suffered to walk out for a short lime eve- ry day, but should tliis appear to increase the lameness, it must be discontinued. The intention of moderate exercise, after the inflammation is in great measure sub- dued, is to ctfl-ct an absorption of any lymph that may have been eiliised, and to bring the injured muscles gj-adually into action; After an accident of this kind, particu- larly when it has been violent, the horse shoidd not be worked in any way lor a considerable time, as the lameness is veiy apt to recur, unless the injured parts have had sutllcient refet to recover their strength. If lie can be allowetl t^vo or three months' ran at grass, it will be found extremely conducive to his lecove rv, provided he is iireventcd from gallop iiig or exerimg himself too much when fust turned out; it is necessary also to choose a situation where there are no ditches ui which he may get bogged. \Vith respect to embrocations, and other external applications, they are certainly useless, unless the exUnuil parts arc af- ft'cted, and then fiinientations nuiy be em- ployed with advantage. Strain of the Stijle. — In this case the sti- fle joint will be found unusually hot, ten- der, and sometimes swollen. The remp- diee are fomentations, ,a rowel in the thigli, and a dose of physic. When by these means the inflammation of tlie joint has abated considerably, and at the same time the swellii.g and lameness continue, the embrocation for strains, or a blister, should be applied. Strains in tliC hock joint require the same treatment. Strain of the Hip Joint fcovimonly term- ed IVhirl Jione, or Round Bone) —When lameness occurs in the hind leg, the cause «>f which is too obscure for the farrier's comprehension, he generally pronounces it to be a strain in the round or whirl bone, and with all tliat aft'eclation of mfal- libility, so commonly observed in those gentlemen. I have seen several cases of lamtness which. were supposed to be oc- casioned by an injury of this part, but af- ter attentive examination an incipient spa- vin was found to be the cause. I would advise therefore in" such cases, that tlie hock joint be cai'efully examined, and if unusual heat or lendernes be observed on the se:it of spavin, it is probable that the lameness aiises from that cause, and tliat it may be removed by the application of a blister. I have met with several horses tliat liad been severely burnt and blister- ed in the hip, when the hock was evident- ly the seat of the disease. Strain of the Flexor Tendon or Back Sinew — A strain of the back sinew de- pends, as we have before observed, on an inflanmiation of the membranes in which it is enveloped, (see plate 9, ana the back sinew, Ob the membranes,) and is some- times complicated with a rupture of the ligaments which are situated immedi;itely under the sinews. See plate 10. When the lameness and swelling are considera- ble, bleed in the shoulder vein, and give a dose of physic ; then let the saturnine poultice be apjilied, so as to extend from the hoof to the knee, and let it be fre- quently moistened with the saturnine lo- tion. — When the inflammation and lame- ness have abated considerably, ami a swelling still remains, apply the embro- cations for strains, rubbing it well on the part twice or three times a day; if this does not succeed, recourse must be had to a blister ; it will be adviseable also to turn the horse loose into a large stable or barn, and to give him this kind of rest for a considerable time : Should he be worked too soon after the accident, the part is very liable to be injured again, particular- ly when it has been violent. Should the swelling continue, notwithstanding these renr.edies have been carefully employed, particularly if it feel callous and hard. FAR FAR unci it be perfectly free from inflamma- tion, it will be necessary to apply the ac- tual cautery (vide firing); this operation, however, must never be performed vvliile any inflammation remains. These swell- ings sometimes prove so obstinate, that even repeated blistering- and the actual cautery prove ineffectual; as soon, how- ever, as the inflammation which caused them is completely removed, they sel- dom occasion lameness, yet they will not admit of any violent exertion in the part, nnd are tlierefore always an impediment to speed. Saturnine Lotion. — Acetated lead, 4 oz. vinegar and water, of each 1 pint; mix them well. Saturnine Poultice. — J of a peck of fine bran, to be made into a thin paste with hot saturnine lotion ; to this add as much linseed meal as will give it a proper con- sistence. Embrocation for Strains. — Oil of rose- mary and camphor, of eacli 2 dr. soft soap, 1 ox. and spirit of whie, 2oz. To be mix- ed together. ^inother. — Soft soap, s})irit of- wine, oil of turpentine, and ointment of elder, of each 4 ounces. Mix it together. Strangles. — This disease generally at- tacks young horses between s the ocl and 5th year of their age, and consists in an inflammation and Sivelling of the glands imder the throat, accompanied witli cough and a discharge of white tliick matter from the nostrils ; somclimes there are likewise a soreness of the throat, and difficully in svv'allowing. The inflamed glands commonly suppurate in a short time and burst, dLscliargingalarge quan- tity of matter ; wlien this lias taken ])lace, tlie cough and oUier symptoms generally go off, the sore gi'adually heals, and the horse speedily recovers. In some cases the strangles assume a more fbrinidable appearance, are attended with a con- siderable degree of fever, and the throat i.s sometimes so much inflamed, that the horse is incapable of swallowing either food or water ; but however violent tlie attack may be, I huve always foimd that by adopting a proper mode of treatment, every unpleasant symptom may be easilj' removed, and a speedy recoverv effected. It is not a very uncommon circumstance for the strangles to attack young horses while at grass, and then they are iie- quently not perceived until Nature has nearly effected a cure. The approach of strangles may be known by a dulness of countenance, wa- tery eyes, cough, and a slight degree of swelling in tlie glands under the jaw. As soon as they are discovered, let the hair be carefully clipped off from the inflamed glands and contiguous parts of the throat ; let a large poultice be then applied to the throat, in doing which it is necessary to take care that it is so secured as to be constantly in contact with tlie throat, for unless this is attended to, the poultice w ill be but of little service. I have gene- rally found that by rubbing a small quan- tity of some stimulating ointment on the inflamed glands, previous to the applica- tion of each poultice, suppuration has been considerably promoted : for this pur. pose the following formula will be found useful : Camphor, 2 dr. Oil of Origanum, 1 dr. Spermaceti ointment; 2oz. Mix. When matter is completely formed in the glands, which may be known by the tumour becoming lai-ger, and by the skhi feeling tense, and somewhat elastic, au opening should be made with a lancet, and its contents evacuated ; lliis plan is certainly pi'eferable to that of waiting until it bursts spontaneously, as the ani- mal is instantly relieved by it, and the cure more speedily effected. To evacu- ate the matter perfectly, it is necessary to use moderate pressme with the fin- gers, and when this has been done, let a piece of lint, dipped in digestive liniment, be inserted, for the purpose of keeping the lips of tlie wound open, and allowing the matter to escape freely ; the poultice is to be continued until the swelling is perfectly reduced. When Strangles at- tack the internal parts of the throat so as to render the hotse incapable of swallow- ing, and particularly if the external swel- ling is not considerable, it will be advise- able to apply a blister, and keep tlie bowels open with glysters. It is very ne- cessary, in every case of strangles, to steam the head well, that is, to put hot bran mashes into the manger frequently, so that the horse may inhale the vapours. It is of consequence to distinguish cases of incipient strangles from common colds ; in the latter bleeding is an useful remedy, but in the former I believe it does much harm, by interrupting a process of nature. I cannot, by any argument, shew why bleeding should be improper in tlie Stran- gles ; indeed, if our practice were guid- ed by theory only, we should be led to consider it as a case of common inflam- mation, and consequently adopt that mode of treatment which would tend to remove it most exjjeditiously and prevent suppuration, and with this view Me should have recourse to bleeding and purga- tives ; experience, however, certainly sane- tions a different treatment, and has, I tlunk, fully proved the propriety of using FAR FAR every means for encouraging suppura- tion. I have seen several huiicli-ed cases in which this plan has been pursued, and Jiot one of them terminaicd unfiivour- ably. Should a cough or any unpleasant symptom remain after the strangles are healed, let the following alteiative ball be given every morning, until moderate purging is produced, and if it is found necessary, let it be repeated after an in- terval of four or five days. It is almost superfluous to add, that great attention must be paid by the groom ; the head, neck, and chest, as well as the body, should be cloathed, warm water should be given frequently in small quantities, a large quantity of litter should be allowed, Sfind hand-i-ubbing to the legs should never be omitted Jilterative Ball — Barbadoes aloes, 1^ dr. Emetic tartar and Castile soap, of each, 2 dr, I'o be made into a ball for one dose Suppression of Urine. — Horses are oftei\ attacked with a difficulty in staling or making water, sometimes amounting to a total suppression of that excretion ; this most commonly arises from spasm in the neck of the bladder, or from hardened excrement in the rectum or latter part of the intestines. When this happens let glysters of warm water be injected until all the hard excrement is discharged, then give the following ball. Nitre, 1 oz. Camphor, 2 dr.' Linseed meal and syrup enough to form the ball for one dose. Should there be any appearance of fever, or should the horse appear to feel pain when the loins are pressed upon, it is probable that the kidneys are inflamed, — in such cases the ball would be im- pi-oper (vide inflarrimation of the kid- neys. Surfeit. — This absurd term is given by larriers to a disease of the skin, consist- ing in small tumours or knobs which ap- pear suddenly in various parts of the body, sometimes in consequence of drink- ing largely of cold water, when the body is unusually warm : it appears frequently without any manifest cause. It may be easily cured by bleeding moderately, or giving a laxative ball ; sometimes, in- deed, it goes off witliout any medical as- feistance. There is anotlier disease of the skin of the same name, which is gene- rally more obstinate, and attacks horses that are hide-bonnd and out of conditio;) ; in this a great number of very small scabs' may be felt in various ])arts of the body ; the horse, is frequently rubbing himself, and sometimes the hair falls ofi" from the parts which he rubs. This complaint approaches to the nature o{ mange, and requires the same treat* ment, assisted by a generous diet, good grooming, and regular exercise. Tlwrougli.Pin. — By this term is meant a swelling both on the inside and outside of the hock joint. When one of the tu- mours is pressed with the fingers, the fluid which it contains is forced into that on the opposite side. From this conmiu- nication between the two swell'ings the disease has probably obtained its name. It is generally a consequence of hard work, and therefore diflicult to cure ; the only remedies are blisters and rest. Thrush. — This disease consists in a dis- chai'ge of foetid matter from the cleft of the frog, which part is generally rotten and so soft as to be incapable of afl()rd- ing suflicient protection to the sensible frog which it covers ; hence arises that tenderness of the foot which is so often observed. When this complaint attacks the fore feet, it is seldom, if ever, i\n ori- ginal disease, but merely a symptom or an effect. The cause is generally a con- traction of the horny matter at the quar- ters and heels, by which the sensible frog is compressed and inflamed ; the dis- charge which takes place is a conse- quence of this inflammation, and may be considered as an ineffectual eflbrt of na- ture to cure it. The discharge, how. ever, certainly diminishes the inflamma- tion, and prevents it from becoming so considerable as it otherwise would ; for it often happens when it has been stopped by the injudicious application of astrin- gents, or when it ceases spontaneously, that the inflammation becomes violent, extends to the other parts of the foot, and occasions severe lameness, which ge- nerally is relieved or removed by a return of the discharge : biU we are not to infer from this that an attempt to cure thrushes is improper ; it only shews that it is ne- cessary in the first place to remove the cause of the disease. With this view tlie quarters are to be rasped, and the hoofs kept constantly moist by making the horse stand in clay some part of the day, taking care to keep the frog dry by means of tar. When by these means we have succeeded in removing in some measure the compression and consequent inflam- mation of the sensible frog, it will be ad- viseable to apply some astringent to the frog, which, if assisted by pressure and tar, will render that part firm and solid, and the discharge will of course cease when the inflammation leaves the sen- sible frog. The best astringent for tiiis purpose is a solution of white or blue vitriol, FAR FAR aUiin, &c. There are some cases, how- ever, of thrushes which though occasion- ed by compression ol' the sensible frog, it is difficult, if not impossible, to eradi- cate. I have examined feet with this dis- ease after death, and have found the con- cave part or cleft of the sensible frog in a stale of ulceration, whicii of course ren- dered it incapable of secreting horny matter, and proved a constant source of thrushes. With respect to those Thrushes wliirh attack the hind feet, and wliicli some- times, thougli rarel.v, happen also in the fore feet, independently of the above cause, a different treatment is required. "When the discharge has existed for a considerable time, by stopping it hastily we frequently produce inflammation and swelling of the legs; still it is necessary to check the disease, since, if neglected, it sometimes degenerates into that dan- gerous disease termed canker. It is ad- viseable, therefore, in such cases, to krep l!ie bowels open by the following laxa- tive ball, given every morning until the desired effect is produced, and repeated occasionally, — The best application for the frog is tar, and one of the above as- tringents ; other remedies, however, have been strongly recommended, among which are powdered lime, ^lel Egypli- acum, tincture of Myrrh, &c. and other Astringents. This treatment will be greatly ajsisted by two or three hours exercise every day, and frequent hand-rubbing to the legs. J^xative Ball. — Take aloes, 2 dr. C;^.- tile soap, 3 dr. To be made into a ball for one dose. Warbles. See Saddle Galls. ]Vi)}d. Broken. See Broken Wind. Jl'indgttlls — Consist in an enlargement of the mucous sacs, which are placed be- hind the flexor tendons for the jjui-pose of facilitating their motion Tiie swelling appears on each side die back sinew, im- mediately above the fetlock joint ; if punc- tm-ed they discharge a fluid resembling joint oil; indeed, ihey frequently commu- nicate with the cavity of the jouit, and therefore cannot be opened without dan- ger of producing an incurable lameness. Blisters are the only applications likely to be of service, and these seldom effect a cure unless assisted by rest. This com- plaint does not often occasion lameness, and is therefore seldom much attended to ; but, as it is almost always a conse- quence of hard work, and often renders a horse unfit for much labour, it diminishes his value considerably. I have sometimes applied rollers, or bandages to llie legs with good effect, keeping them constantly moist witli the following embrocation : Muiiate of ammonia, 1 oz. muriatic acid, A o%- water, 1 quart. Mix. li'onns — There are three kinds of worms found in horses The most com- mon and mischievous reside in the sto- mach, and are named Bots. They are of a reddish colour, and seldom exceed three-fouitlis of an incli in length : at one extremity they h:.ve two small iiooks, by which they attach tliemselves, and the belly seems to be covered v.iUi very small feet. TLey are found adjiering to the coat of the stomacli, and do great injury to this important organ, keep- ing up a constant irritation, an.d there- by occasioning emac-atinn, a rough star- ing coat, hide-bound, and a cough. I have met with s-.'veral instances of tiieir destroying the horst- by lilceratjng the stomacli in a considerable degree ; and cases are i-ecorded wl)ere ihej- have pe- netrated quite througii tlie stomach. It is astonishing with what force these worms adhere, and how tenacious ihey ai'e of life : they have been found to resist the sti'ongesl poisons; nor have we \et disco- vered any medicine capable of destroying* them, or of detaching them from their si- tuation. It seems probable that this worm, like the caterpillai-, undergoes several changes ; it is said to be originally a fly, wliich depositing its eggs in the horse's coat, causes an itchi'g which induces him to bite the part ; in this way lie is suppos- ed to swallow some of the eggs, which, bv the heat of the stomach, are brought to maturity, and produce bots. When the bots are fit to assume the chrysalis state, they are spontaneously detached, and gra- dually pass ofl' with the faces. This is the most rational account we have of their production. It has been asserted that the fly from which bots are produced, crawls into the anus of horses, and deposits its eggs there; that the worms, when hatched, soon find tlieir way farther up the intes- tines, and often penetrate into the sto- mach. This account is literally copied by a late writer f RydingJ on Veterinarv Pa- thology; but, it appears to me rather strange, that any one who has considered the structure of the horse's intestines, should, for a moment give credit to it. It seems impossible indeed, for tJiis worm to crawl from the anus to the stomach, and as far as my observation goes, they are never found residing in the intestines; sometimes we find two or three, but they are evidently proceeding towards the anus to be expelled. I have before observed, tliat I am not acquainted with any medi- FAR FAR cine that is capable of (letacliing- or dcs- stroying these worms, though I liavc fre- ffiientlj' tried the strougLst mercurial pre- parations, and many ])o\verf'ul medicines. I have tried the yellow emetic mercu- ry, or vitriolated quicksilver, as recom- mended by the writer just mentioned, as well as e%'ery other mercurial preparation, but never saw a single hot expelled by them ! A pint of Castor oil, given after this d()se of mercury, would prove useful. The next worm we iiave to describe, is very slender, of a blackish colour, and seldom exceeds two inches in length ; they arc never found' in the stomach, and very rarely in thesmall intestines, the lar- gest part of the canal being generally the place of their residence: here they prove a constant source of irritation, occasioning loss of condition, a rough uniiealthy look- ing coat, and freqnentiy a trouolesomc cough. A variety of alterative medicines liave been proposed for the destruction of these worms, and some of them are sup- posed to be infallible ; 1 believe, however, that none of them are possessed of much efficacy, and ought not therelbre to be de- pended upon. The following are the Alteratives to which I allude : — Savin, rue, box, iKthiops mineral, antimony, sulphur, emetic tartar, calomel, and vitriolated quicksilver ; the two last, if given with aloes, so as to purge hiiskly, and particularly the cahmiel, are excellent remedies: but given merely as Alteratives, they do no good. 1 have generally found the following Ball very eiiectual, giving, the preceding night, fiom half a drachm to a drachm of •■alomel. I have often mixed the calomel with the bail, and found it equally effica- cious; tlie f()rmer method, however, is generally preferred. ^(7// — liarbadoes aloes, 6 dr. powder- cd ginger, 1^ dr. oil of wormwood, 20 drops, i)repared natron, 2 dr. Syrup ciHuigh to tijrm the ball for one dose. It is oiten necessary to re])eat this me- dicine ; but tliL-rc should always be an in- terval often days between each in ihtScitlt' /■■*: FAR FAR And as much of the lameness to which tiiis useful animal is subject, proceeds from ueg-ligence in shoeing, we beg leave to imp'.'ss upon all horsemen the impor- tance of the following observations on that subject. On the Practice of Shoeing. — Previously to giving directions for the proper accom- plishment of this important object, it will be necessary to premise, that the mode ot shoeing most commonly practised has a de- structive tendency, and produces such a variety of diseases, that w? seldom meet with a foot that has not lost, in a greater or less degree, its orig-inr.l shape ; it must be obvious, therefore, that one kind of shoe cannot with propriety be recommended for general application, and that it is ne- cessary on all occasions to adapt it care- fully to the state of the foot. This con- istitutes the most difficult part of the art of slioeing, and from neglecting this pre- caution, shoes of the best form have often occasioned lameness. In fig. 1, plate 3, is represented a colt's hoof in a state of nature, of which no part has ever been cut away, nor ever been shod; this we have given as a standard of perfection, fi'om which the goodness of feet in general may be judged of; for surely no one will liesitate for a moment in adiiniiting that the natural form is the best it can possibly possess. In fig. 2, of the same plate, is shown a perfect foot, properly prepured for the shoe ; in this foot, the superfluous horn has been cut away, and an even surface made for tlie shoe to bear upon. W we examine tlie feet of an hundred coks, it will be found that more than ninety of them are of the same form. It is true that some m.iy have grown more luxuriantly than others, whereby the crust will be deeper, and the bottom part may have been partially brokeUj so as to give the foot a ragged and uneven appear- ance, still the essential shape is the same, and when this superfluous horn has been removed, it will be found that the bottom of the foot will be nearly circular, the sole concave, the bars distinct, the frog and heels open and expanded. Li preparing a iiorse's foot for the shoe, the lower part is to be reduced, when luxuriant, which is generally the case, more particularly at the toe, and this is to be done by means of a buttress or rasp: tlie loose scaly parts of the sole are like- wise to be removed, so as to preserve its concavity, and a small cavity is to be made with a diawing knife, between the bar and crust, to prevent tlie slioe from pressing on that part, and occasioning corns ; it is however necessary in doing this, to Vake particular care that the connection be- tween the bar and crust is not destroyed or weakened, which would of course ren- der the bar useless. The junction of the bar and crust af- fords a firm bearing for the heel of the shoe, and is to be rasped perfectly flat, and so low as to be exactly on a level with the frog, that they may beai- equally on a plain surface, before the shoe is ap- phed; indeed, the whole of the bottom of the crust is to be made perfectly flat and even at the same time with the rasp, that the shoe may bear equally on every part of it. Faniers should never he allowed to do this by means of a hot shoe, which is too freqently the case. If any ragged parts are observed in the frog, they are to be carefully removed with a knife, for, if suffered to remain, they might afford a lodgement for dirt and gravel. Tlius do we prepare a foot for the shoe, and to a foot of this description, I mean one that is sound and perfect, or that has not suffer- ed any material alteration in its form from improper shoeing, the shoe (fig. 8, plate 3) is to be applied. The toe of a shoe, for a middle sited, horse, is about an inch in width, and half an inch in depth or thickness ; the heels about half an inch in widtli, and three eighths in depth. The wearing part of the toe is to be made of steel, and it may be observed, that the nails are brought very near to the toe, but not quite round it; for when that is done, there must also be a groove made, which considerably weakens that part, and almost all horses wear principally at the toe. Both sm'- faces of the shoe are perfectly flat, and the heel of the shoe rests upon the junc- tion of the bar and crust, beyond which it should never extend. It will be supposed, perhaps, that a shoe which is flat on that surface next the foot, will be apt to produce lameness by pressing on the sole ; but let it be re- collected, that this shoe is recommended only for a sound foot, in which the sole is always a little conc.ive, so that it cannot possibly receive any pressure from a flat shoe : it may be said also, that when the nails are placed so far from the heels, the shoe will not be sufficiently secure, and will be frequently loosened; but as the shoe bears equally on every part of the crust, this objection cannot have any weight. It must be granted, however, that when a foot is pared in the common way, that is, when tiie heels have been opened, and the shoe so applied, that near- ly an inch of the heel has no bearing upon the crust; that if the nails were placed so far Irom the heels, as I have recoiOJDen4'' FAR FAR ed, the shoe would be very insecure ; for, asmucliot it as had no bearing upon the crust, would operate occasionally as a le ver in raising the nails, and consequently the shoe would frequently be loosened. Farriers therefore fiml it necessary, when the foot has been tlius pared, and the shoe applied in this way, to place the nails in the quarters, by wliich the shoe is certainly rendered more sccui-e than it would be, had they been placed nearer the toe. Many disadvantages, however, attend this metliod. In the first place, by plac- ing the nails in the quarters, they prove a considerable obstacle to the expansion of the heels, and as the crust is generally much thinner at the quarters than at tlie toe, the sensible parts are more liable to be wounded ; but this does not apply to the hind teet, in which the crust of the quarters is generally thicker than that of the toe. When a horse over-reaches, if any part of the shoe has no bearing upon the crust, it is very liable to be struck by the toe of the hind foot, and shoes are of- ten forced off in this way; to this may be added, the insecurity of such a shoe when a horse is rode on a deep or heavy grovmd. It will probably be observed oi' liie shoe which I have recommended, that it is in- consistent with the principle which has been laid down respecting the necessity of the frog's receiving pressure. I be- lieve it is an incontrovertible fact, that un- less the frog receives a certain degree of pressure, it will become soft and incapa- ble of aflbrding sufficient protection to the sensible frog which it covers; that the heels will gradually contract, and the natural form of the foot will be destroyed, for 1 have proved by experiment, that the bars alone are not sufficient to pi event con- traction, though they certainly oppose it with considerable force; but it does not follow from this, that it is necessary for the pressure to be constant, nor do I be- lieve that a shoe which allows the frog to bear upon tiie ground, when he stands upon a plane hard surface, can be always applied, even to sound feet, without incon- venience- There can be no doubt, that a horse in a slate of nature has his frog al- most always in contact with the ground, and then of course he feels no inconve- nience from it; but when burthens are placed upon his back, and he is driven about upon liard roads, he is certainly in very different circumstances, and if the frog in such cases were constantly ex- posed to this severe pressure, it would sometimes, I believe, occasion lameness. In the foot, prepared for the slioe, (fig- 2, plate 3,) the frog and heels are on a kvel, and if placed on a plane hard sur- face, would bear equally ; by applying the ihoe, (fig. 8, plate 3,) the frog would be raised tliree-cighths of an inch from the i;ioiind; so that when the horse is going upon a hard surface, where he would be most liable to feel inconvenience lipearance which wg have before des- cribed, and IS notditVerent tioni the other teeth, except in huving a mark or cavity on its upper surface. At the end of the seventh year, tlic marks of the corner teeth also are obliterated, and then the horse is said to be aged. We often find, howeverj that the marks of the corner teeth ai'e not totally effaced at this pe- riod, a small dark coloured spot may be observed in most horses, until about the end of the eighth year; from this period we have no criterion by which the ai^e inay be ascertained ; but, it is said, that the marks of the upper teeth will enable us to judge of the age until the thirteenth year, \hc marks of the front teeth being- worn out when he becomes eight years old, those of the adjoining teeth at ten, and the corner teeth at twelve ; but I can- not say how far these mai'ks can be de- pended upon. TASCETS, in the art of making glass, are irons thrust into the mouths of bottles, in order to convey them to the annealing- tower. See Glass. FAWN COLOUil. ;rhls colour is giv- en to stufts, by common sumach, which inclines to green, or by using other vege- table substances. Soot is also employed to communicate a fawn colour to wool, which is more or less deep, according to the fjuantitj' used. See Dyeing. TEA THERS, dveing of. See Dyeing, FEATHERS. 'The feathers of bh-ds make a considerable article of commerce, particularly those of the ostrich, heron, swan, ]5cacock, g(joso', ?<.c. for plumes, or- naments of the head, filling of beds, and writing pens. There are scarcely any birds, but what bed-feathers may be prociu'cd from, par- ti" iilarlytlu)se of the domestic kind ; yet s >ans, geese and ducks, are those that iurnish mo.st, and the best. The feathers of dead birds are in the least esteem, upon account of the blood in»bibced with sniall stones, over which smaller may be jilaced, support- ing layers of gi'avel increasing in fine- ness, and lastly covered to the depth of a few inches with fii^e sand, all thoroughly cleansed by washing. This apparatus is buperior to a filtering stone, as it will cleanse water in large quantities, and may readily be renewed when ihejiassage is obstructed by taking out and washing the up))er stratt'im ^sand. A tilli-r for coiyosivc liquors may be constructed on the same principles of broken and ])ounddd glass. A patent has been lately granted to Mr. James Peacock, ihv a filtering machine, which consists in causing the lurbid fluid to ascend through a medium of fine gra- vel, of progressive degrees of fineness. 'i'he machine, it is said, does not oc- cupy more room than a large drip stone, and yiekls a c(jnst:uit and pure stream of more than oOO gallons in "24 hours. I'hcre does not require any arguments to prove the beneficial ellects of pure soft water to the preservation of health ; a useful and convenient apparatus is the chief object by which it is to be obtained. 1 he proper 'materials of whicii vessels de- signed to Com a in water should be made, ai-e glass, porcelain, or stone-ware, and aslien wood, such as is used in dairies, 8ic. for larg-e reservoirs, brick, marble, stone, in tarras, or barren lime may be the best. A wooden cistern lined with lead, or a. strong leaden one itself, may be suflicient, when the expense or incon- venience may render the others objec- tionable- The substance and dimensions of the cistern being determined, it should be divided hito three compartments: the first division to receive the turbid water from the service-pipe ; the second to con- tain Mr. Peacock^ s stratified medium for the filtration : and die third to receive the water in its clarified state, after its as- cent through the fiitei". Gravel of different sizes, suitirtile to the several strata, arc necessary to pro- duce the filtration. Mr. Feacock also thinks that glass reduced to ihe sizes is the most proper ; but should any other ])re{t;rable materials be suggested, the inventor would be ready to adopt them. Dirtirrent sizes of gravel appear to us easily to be obtained, by sifting it in dif- ferent sized wire sieves. Mr. Peacock in his work does not describe this. The various sizes of the panicles of gravel, as placed in layers, should be nearly iu the quadruple ratio of their surfaces; that is, upon the fiust layer or stratum a second is to be placed, the diameters o whose particles arg not to be less thau one half of the first, and so on in this pro])ortion ; and as this theory supposes the particles to be spheres, in pracuee it is necessary to increase ihe heigiit or thickness in each stratum, ;rs may be necessary, to correct tlie u-rtgularities in their form : experience only will best de- termine tliis. This arrangement of filter- ing particles will graduail}' refine the water by the grosser particles being quite iiUercepled in their partly ascending with the water. The ojieration will be more clearly understood by the following de- scription of the glass vessels iu which .Mr. Peacock fiist made his experiment. I'late [[Peacocks Filtering Apparatus] fig. 1. represents the plan and action of these cylindrical glass vessels. A is the one to receive the turbid water, served from any cistern or other means b} the pipe and ball-cock at 1). E is a strain- ing-rlotli, to clear the water from lila- menls, Sec. it is in the t()rm of a bag, \\ Inch may, by being fixed to a. hoop, be kept on the top of the vessel. The cock may be turned, and the ball taken ofl'oc- casionally. The glasses are contained in a light frame fined at bottom and about three inches up tlie sides with sheet lead, to fiirni a recipient for the waste water from the cocks in the glasses. The lur- Peacock's filtering- Apjiaratus. Fi^.2. A B C A B C FIL FIL Ijid walei" tVom the vessel A, passes by the pipe G, into the lower part of the vessel B, under a spherical or conical form of grating H, wliich is supported by three feet I, I, I. Upon this grating are laid the several strata of gravel, or tlie filtering medium to the height proper to receive the lower end of Uie alr-pipe K, which pipe is supported at the top of the gl.'^ss. Afterwards the remainder of the strata is placed round the pipe, in proper order, till a secure foundadon is obtained for the finest stratum, which is the main agent in tiie percolation, and is represent- ed at L. Upon this tiie others ai'e laid, but ia an inverse order, and to sucli a height, that tiie whole medium shall re- sist an/ disturbance from tlie pressure of the co'unui of the water in A. Tlie air- pipe, I^, IS charged to a similar lieight, beginning with a degree coarser than that at the bottom of the pipe, leaving out the finest sli-alum ; whence, as the water passes i-om tiie vessel A, through G, into the baviiy below H, in the vessel B, the air fipm the cavity, and from the in- terstices «f those strata whicii lie below the end cf the pipe K, is driven up the said pipe, and permits the water to rise to the pije F, in a filtered state, and through wjich it passes into the vessel C, fi-om wlipii it is drawn by the cock M A portable apparatus of this kind will serve for a fitnily of six oy eight persons. When the operation appears uncom- monly languic it will be proper to let all the vessels beis fidl as possible, which will be in the ctirse of a night ill its worst state, and the s-xt morning a stop-cock, in the pipe G, aiuy be tinned, and the cock, N, opend to discharge all the water in the vest-l B, togeilier witli as much of that in ^ ;is shall be above the pipe F. By thispeans, thereilux of tlie water carries do^i with it all tlie fecu- lences and obstn^tions, and tiie degree of filtration is restred, as at first Mr. Peacock says, thatthis cleansing is not required ofcener tin five or six times in a year, unless the\)riginal water comes in uncommonly tu>id. This cleansing may also, at any ti^, in a few minutes be effected, by shiting the cock at it, and opening the cod at O. All the water of the third vessel £Ove the pipe F, to- gether with the who of the second ves- sel, down to thepipeV, would flow back, and pass through theock O. Fig. 2, will coJivejMr. Peacock's idea of plans of three ves^?, made of earth, stone, maible, &c. herein the space, A, represents the Wtomless tube, which is to receive ,he turbid water from tlie pipe, and di(>, on the one side to ^, and on the otlier to », and then the Un*, i k, will shew the ground-line of the fore- \)art of the back of the chimney. In all cases where the width of tlie o]>er.ing of the fire-place in front, A B, happens to be not greater, < r not more than two or three inches greater, than three times the width of the new b.vck of the chimney i k, this opemng may be left, and lines ch-awn from i to A, and from k "o 1), v.-iil shew the widtli and position of tiie front of the new c ' ings : hut when the opening of ihe fii-' -ijluce i'" ftonr is Slid wider, it must he '-educed; which is to be done in lUe following iT.anner: From c, the middle (■{ t!ie line, n b, c d and c b must be set of^eqiet U) the width of the back i /t,aaded to lu.lf il^ v.id,h/i, and then lines drawn from / ton,;,nL: fiom k to b, will shew tlie ground-plan of the fronts of the new covings. When this is done, nothing more will be necessary than to build up Jie back and covings ; and, if the fire-place be de- signed for burning coals, to fix the grate in its proper place, according to the di- rections already given. When the vidth of the fire-place is reduced, the edges of the codings a A and b B are to make a finish witli the front of the jamhs. And in general it will be btst, not only for tlie sake of the appearance of the chimney, but fur other reasons also, to lower the height of the opening of the fire, wiien- ever its width in front is diminished. Fig. 2, shews a front viev/ of the ch mney after it has been altered ac- cording to the directions here p-iven. By comparing it with ABC 1), tig. 1, which shews a section of the same cliim- ney before it was altered, the manner in which the opening of die fire-places in iront is dimuiished may be seen. In fig. 2, the under part of the dooi'-way, by which the chimney-sweeper gels up the chimney, is represented by white dotted lines. The door-way is represented as closed . FllUNG-lRON in Farriery^ an instru- ment used for cauterising and discussing preternatural swelling's See Fakuiery. FiSH SOAP, is a kind of soap lately attempted to be introduced in m;inufac- lures, made by ilissolving refuse fish of all kinds in caustic alkali See Soap. FlSH-OlL, {Purification of, according lo Dorsie. Process the First — For purifying fish-oil, in a moderate degree, and at a very little expence. Take an ounce of chidk in powder, and half an ounce of lime, slacked by exposure to the air ; put them into a gallon of stink- ing oil, and having nu.\ed them well toge- FIS FIS Lher by stirring, add halt' a pint of water, and mix that alse with them, by the same means When they have stood an hour or two, repeat tlie stirring, and continue the same treatment at different inter^'als, tor two or three days ; after which super- add a pint and a half of water, in wliich an ounce of salt had been dissolved, and mix them as the other ingredients, repeating the stirring as before for a day or two. Let the whole stand at rest, and the wa- er wil'i sink below die oil, and tiie chalk subside in it to the bottom of tUe vessel. The oil will become clear, be of a lighter colour, and have considerably lt;?s suitli, but will not be pui'ihed in a maimer equal to wiiat is effected by the othei- processes below ^ven ; though as this is done at the expense cf onh- one ounce of salt, it may be practised advantageously for mpoj' jiuvposes, especii-iiy as a prepara- tion for iiie :\fS: method, the operation will be tiiereb}- facilitated. Process the second. — To purify, to a great tlegrce, hsh-oii without heat. Take a gallon of crude stinking oil, or rather such as has been prepared as aboveaientio'ied, and add to it an ounce of powdered caaik ; stir them well toge- ther several tirtici, as in tiie preceding process ; and after they have been nnixed some hours or a whole day, add an ounce of pearl ashes, dissolved in four ounces of water, and repeat the stu-ring as before. After they have been so ti-eated for some hours, put in a pint of water in which two ounces of salt are dissolved, and pro- ceed as before : the oil and brine will se- parate on standing some days, and the oil will be greatly improved both in smell and colour. AVher<; a greater purity is required, the quantity of pearl ashes must be increased, and the time before the ad- dition of the salt and water prolonged. If the same proportion is repeated seve- ral times, diminishing each time the quan- tity i)f ingredients one half, the oil may be brought to a ver}' ligiit colour, and rendered equally sweet in smell with the common spermaceti oil. By tliis process the cod-oil may be made to burn ; and when it is so putrid as not to be fit for any use, either alone or mixed, it may be so corrected by the first part of the pro- cess, as to be equal to that commonly sold : but where this process is practised in tiie case of such putiid oil, use half an ounce of lime. Process the third. — To purify fish oil with the assistance of heat, where the gi-eutest purity is required, and particu- larly for the woollen manufacture. Take a gallon of cmide stinking oil, and mix it with a quarter of an ounce of pow- dered chalk, a quarter of an ounce of lime, slacked in the an*, and half a pint •= of water ; stir them together ; and when they have stood some h)ijrs, add a pint of water and two our.ces of peavi-a.shes, and place them over a fire that will just keep them simmering, till the oil appears of a liglu amber colour, and has lost all smell except a hot greasy, soap-like scent. Ihen superadd half a pint of water, in wiiich an ounce <.f salt has been dissolved ; and having boiled them half an hour, pour tliem into a proper vessel, and let them stand till the separation of the oil, water and lime be made, as in the preceding process. When this operation is per- formed to prepare oil for the woollen ma- nufacture tlie salt may be omitted ; but the separation of the lime from the oil will be slower, and a longer boiling will be necessary. If the oil be required to be yet more pure, treat it, after it is separated from the water, .&c. according to the second process witli an ounce of chalk, a quarter of an ounce of pearl ashes and half an ounce of chalk. In his observations on these difTerent processes the author apprises us, that pro- cess the first will render oils more fit for burning, which are in that point faulty, and is of use merely when a moderate improvement is required. Tiiat when the oil is taken from the dregs and brine, the dregs should hkewise be taken ofi' and put into another vessel of a deep form, fresh water added, and stuTcd with them, and nearly the whole of the re- maining part of the oil will separate from the foulness ; or the dregs may be put to any future quantity of oil tliat is to be edulcorated by this method, which will answer the same purpose. Process the tlmd he says is best for train oil, called vicid whale oil ; and the more putrid and foul, the greater the pro- portional improvement, especially if there be no mixture of the other kinds of fish- oils, particularly the seal, which do not admit of being edulcorated by heat. Oil thus purified will burn without leaving any remains of foulness, and being more fluid than before, will go further when used in woollen manufacture, and be more easily severed from tiie wool. If a more thick oil be wanted, a certain proportion of tallow or fat may be added, and kitchen stuff, which will dissolve in oil moderately heated. It may be neces- sary to vary the proportions of the ingre- dients, if the oil be very vicid, as the quantity above stated is tlie least that will be suitable. If in six or eight hours sim« meriiig the oil does not appearto behn- FLr FLI proving, a fourth or third part of the ori- "ginal >juantity may bt; added Fi-esh ad- ditions of water must be made as the quanuty is lessened by evaporation. If it be iiiconvuiienl lO give the whole time of boihng at once, the Hre may go out and be rekindled at any distance of lime, and a small proportion of ;jcarl ashes dissolv- ed in water being added and stirred in be- tween the time of boiling wiii facilitate the operation. Process the fourth. — Wliich may be practised instead of piocess Uie first, as it will purity fish-oil to a considerable de- gree, and for process the third when tlie whole is performed Take a gallon of cfude fetid oil, and put it to a pint of water, poured from two ounces of lime slacked in the air; let them stand together, and stir iheni seve- ral times for the first twenty-four hours; tiien let them stand a day, and the lime water will sink below the oil, which must be carefully separated from tliem. 'i'his oil, if not sufficiently purified, to be treated as in process the third, diminish the quantity oi" pearl ashes to one ounce and omit the lime and chalk. The dregs remaining af'.er the sundry proceases above mentic^ned, will fiirm an excellent niunuie, as lias been since no- ticed in IJr. Hunter's GeorgicaJ Essays. FiSM (jLl'E. — See CJelatine. FIXEU AIR.— This air, called fixed by Dr. Ijlack, and carbonic acid gas by mo- dern chemists, is a compound of carbon, oxygen, and caloric. Carbonic acid gas ex- ists in limestone, marble, chalk, stalactite, Sic. from which it is disengaged by the addition of acids, as the sulpjiuric, nitric, 8iC. As it is found in cellars, wells, ike and as it is deleterious to aiiimal life, its presence may be known by letting down alighted taper; which, if extinguished, mdicates this gas It may ue removed by throwing (piicklime into the well or cel- lar, as this has the property of absorbing it, or otiierwise reudering it fixed in the sub- stance of the lime. FL.\KES are certain pigments used in painting, such as jiake lukite, Sac. See Cor.OUK-MAKI NG. FLANEL, or FLANNEL, a kind of light, loose, woollen stuff, composed of a woof aiul warp, and wove in a loom with two treddles, after the maimer of lays. See Weaving. FLAX. See Agriculture. FLINT. Futnttin. Wern. The colour of this mineral is smoak- grey, of different shades, passing into greyish-black, and almost perfect black, or yellowish-grey, passing into yellowish- white, wine and ochre yellow ; it also oc- curs blueish-grey, yellowish and reddish- brown. Two or more colours, are often found in the same specimen, forming points, spo.s, clouds, or stripes It gene- rally also exhibits opake white spots. It occurs in mass, disseminated, in angular grains and fragments, in globular and tu- bercular masses, or carious, and amor- plioiis, sometimes also in pseudo-crystals, cit hcrpyrair.idal or pnsmaiic moulded on calcareous spar. Italso constitutes the sub- stance of various petrifactions as echinites, earths and coralloids. Its external lustre is casual, internally it is glimmering. Its fiacturc is perfectly conchoidal : it breaks into indetermin.itely angular and very sharp-edged fragnients. It sometimes, thougli rarely, occurs in lamellar distinct concretions. !i is translucent, varying iii degree, accoiding to the depth of clour, the very light-grey varieties being semi- transpaient. Its hardness is a little great- er than tliat of quartz, it is easily frangible in any direction. Sp.gr. 2.58 to 2.59. When exposed to the blow-pipe it be- coiues of an opake-white, but is wholly infusible without addition. By being heated red hot in a distillatory apparatus, it yields from one to two per cent, of a soiiiewhat emjnreumalic water, and a lit- tle carbonic acid. If projected on fused nitre, it gives out a few sparks, accompa- nied by a sli.^lit detonation. It has been analysed by Klaproiii and Vauquelin, with the following results. Klap. Vauq. Silex . . 98. — 97. Lime . . 0.5 — 0. Alumine . 0.25 '} ^ O.vydoflron 0.283 Loss . . . 1. _ 2, 100 liO The cloudy and opake greyish specks which frequently occur in this mineral, contain, according to "\ auquelin, from two to five pel* cent, of carbonated lime, and the white opake cru.'it with which those specimens are covered that are taken im- mediately outof chalk, consists, according to the same able chemist of Silex 86.42 Oxydofiron ... 123 Carbonated Lime . 9.88 Loss 2.47 100 . . Flint occurs sometimes, though rarels', in primitive rocks forming veins, but when belonging to this foi mation its fracture has a tendency to splinteiy, and is less easily frangible llian common flint, and in fact, FLI FLI appears to be a variety of hornstone pas- sinj^ into chalcedony- Common flint oc- curs in rounded pebbles, conslituiing^ the greater part of the extens've beds of g-ra- vel, which accompany the ranges of cJialk Jiills, but here it is evidently worn by at- trition and disposed in a fortuitous irre- gular manner. It is only in the chulk hills themselves, tliat it appears in its na tive repository : here it is disposed in re- gular beds alternating witli the chalk ; and detached masses are often enveloped in the chalk itself A bed of flint is ne- ver a continuous stratum, but is composed of irregular flattened nodules, with tubei- cular or long pi-ojecting processes, each separated from the other by ochery chalk i— yet the whole bed preserves its paral- lelism very exactly- Many nodules are hollow, and if the cavity communicates with the outide, are, for the most part, fil- led with chalk ; but, if there is no exter- nal aperture, the hollow is lined with mi- nute pyramids of quartz, or tubercles of chalcedony. These flints, which burn to a pure white colour, are emjjloyed in the finfer kinds of pottery. The light coloured flints are made into gun-flints, for which they are admirably qualified by the vivacity of sparks, which they yield on collision with steel, and from tlie case with which they are manufactured Flints occur in abundance in the United States. Dolomieu has given an excellent treatise on the art of making gun-flints, which we have abridged. Instruments. The instruments used for fashioning the gini-flints, are four in number : 1. A small piece of iron or mace, with a square head, the weight of which does not exceed two pounds, or, perhaps a pound and a half, witii a handle, seven or eight inches long. 1 liis instrument is not made of steel, because if it were too hard, its stroke might shatter the flint, instead of breaking it by a clear fractiu'e. 2 A hammer with two p<^)int,s. in which the position of the points is of conse- quence as to the nature of the stroke This hammer must be of good steel well hardened, and does nut vveigli more than sixteen oimces ; some do not exceed ten. It is fixed on a handle seven inches long, which passes thiough it in such a manner, that the points of the hammer are nearer the hand of the work- man, than the centre of gravity of the mass. The form and size of the hammers of difierent workman vary a little, but this disposition of the points is common to them all, and is of consequence to the force and certainty of the blow. 3. A little instrument named Roulette (roller) which represents a solid wheel, or segment of a cylinder, two inclies and one third in diameter. Its weight does not exceed twelve ounces ; it is made of steeij pot hardened, and is fixed on a small handle six inches long, wliich pas- ses through a square hole in its centre. 4. A cliissel beveUedon both sides, se- ven or eight inches long, and two inches wide, of steel not hardened; it is set on tiie block of wood which serves as a work bench, out of which it rises to the i.eight o< four or five inches. To these four in- ■-truments we may add a file, for the pur- pose of I'estoring the- edge of the chissel tiom time to time. 'f/ie process : After selecting a good mass of silex, the whole operation may be divided into four manipulations. 1. To break tlie block. The workman being seated on the grotmd, places the (lint on his left thigh, and strikes it gently with the larger hammer, to divide it into portions according to its size, that is to say, of about a pound and a half each, with broad surfaces iiearly flat. He is careful not to crack or produce shakes in the flint by striking it too hard. 2. To cleave the flint, or break it into scales. The principal ojieration of this art is to cleave the flint well : that is to say, to separate from it pieces of the length, thicknes-i, and figure, adapted, to be af- teiwards fashioned into gun-flints ; andin this part the greatest degree of address, and certainty of manipulation are requir- ed Tlic sKme has no particulai" direction in which it can be most easily broken. The course of its fracture depends entire- ly upon the choice of the workman. In this process he holds a piece of flint in his left hand, not supported, and strikes with the hammer, on the broad faces pro- duced by the first fracture, in such a man- ner as to cliip off the white coating of the stone in small scales, and to l.iy bare the silex in the manner represented, fig. 1. : after which he continues to strike oft' other similar portions of tiie pure silex. These pieces are nearly an inch and a half wide, two inches and a half long, and one sixtli of an inch thick in the middle. FU Fig. 2. Mm mm Fig. 3. They are slightly convex within, and consequently leave " a space somewhat concave, terminating longitudmaU)- m two lines, somewhat projecting, and nearly strait. Tlie prominent edges produced bv the fracture of t!ie first scales, must af- terwards constitute nearly the middle ot the subsequent pieces ; and those pieces only, in wliich they are found, can be used to foi-m gun-flints. In this manner the operator continues lo cleave, or scale tlie stone in different directions, until the natural defects of the mass render it impossible, to make the fractures required, or until the piece is reduced too much to receive the small blows which separate the pieces. 3. To fashion the fiint. . The gun-flint, fig. 3. may be distm- iruislied into five parts ; namely, 1. The edsre, or bevel part, which strikes the, hummer or steel. This is two or three: twelfths of an inch in width It it were broader it would be too liahle to break ;| and if more obtuse, it would not afford a brisk fire. 2dly. The side edges, \^■\^^c\^ are always somewhat irregular. ocl y. The back edge, most remote from the hammer wliere the stone possesses its in- tire thickness. 4thly. The under surface, which is smooth and slightly convex. And 5thlv. The upper face, which is sli!>-htly concave, and receives the action .>f tlie upper claw of the cock, in which it is" fixed for service. In order to fashion the stone, those scales or chips are selected, winch have at least, one longitudinal prominent an- srle One uf llu^ two edges is fixed on to form th(^strikh.g edge- ; after wh'd., the uvo sides of the stone which are to form the side edges, and tliat winch is to form the hinder edge, are successively placed M-ith the convex surface upon the edge of ,he chisscl, M'hich is supported with the fore-finger of the left hand, at the same time tliat a small blow or two is given above the point of support with the Rou- lette, by which the stone breaks exactly along the edge of the ciiissel, as if it had been cut- In this manner the sides and posterior edge of tlie stones are made. _ 4 The stone being thus reduced to its proper figure, the finishing operation con- sists in completing its edge in a straiglit line For this purpose, the stone is turn- ed, and tlie imder flat part of the edge is placed on the chissel, in which situation it is completed by five or six small strokes • with the Roulette. . The whole operation of fashionmg a gun-flint,' is pertijrmed in less tlian one minute. , A good workman can prepare a thou- sand good chips or scales in a day, if his flints "be uf good quality, and he can also fashion five hundred gun-ffints in a day ; conseqwently, in three days, he will cleave and finish a thousand gun-flints witnout fiirilier assistance. This manufacture leaves a great quan- tity of refuse ; that is to say, about three- fourths of the wi;-.)le sione. • For there are not more than hall the scales which prove to be well figured, and nearly half the mass in the Ust flinti is incapable of he- ir."' chipped out: so that it seldom hap- pt^is that the largest piece will ifford inure than nftv gun.fhnts. The larger pieces of refuse arc sold ibr the cuhnary puipose of -^t 'iking a light. The gun-flints wlun ccnnpleted .ire soru-d cut, and sold al different pi ices, according to their degrees of perfection, from 4 to 6 decimes (or pencej the hun- dred They are ci.-.ssed into fine flints and coinmon Hints; and, according to J.eir applicaUon, into flints for pistols, fowling pieces, and muskets. FLU FOl FLOORS earthen. Earthen floors are commonly made of loam, and sometimes, especially to make malt on, of lime, biouk- sand, and anvil dust from the foi-ge. Ox blood, and fine clay mixed together, it is said will produce a g-ood floor If two thii'ds of lime, and one of coal ashes well sifted, with a small quantity of loam, be mixed and tempered with w ater, and laid on the ground with a trowel 2^ or 3 incii- es thick, an excellent earthen floor will be formed. Foi- elegance, coloured piais- ter is recommended. FLOUU, the powder of wheat, rye, corn, &c. As grain contains, be.sides fe- cula, or starch, a quantity of gluten and saccharine matter, which may be several- ly separated by agitating it in cold water, it is obvious, that the use of warm water, yeast, &.c, in the making of bread, con- sists in decomposing it, and changing its substance into an article, known by the name of bread. We have noticed the different processes necessary for this pur- pose. See S r ARCH, Spirit, Fermen- tation, &c FLUMMKRY, an article of food, pre- pared by boiling oatmeal in water ; to which, after boiling, sugar and orange flower water are added FLUOR SPAR, called also Derbyshire spar, and fluate of lime. This spar, which is composed of fluoric acid and lime, is employed in obtaining fluoric acid for etching on glass (which see) ; as a flux for the reduction of various metallic ores ; and, when massive and of a sufficient size, solidhy, and beauty, for ornamental objects, suclias vases, basons, obelisks, &c. This manufacture is entirely confined to Derbyshire, no other part of the world aflbrding fluor sufficiently com- pact for this purpose. The fluor that is manufactured, commonly called Derby- shire spar, is found only in one mine a lit- tle to the west ot Castleton ; it there oc- curs in veins and detached masses from three inches to a foot in thickness. The method of manufactui-ing it is as follows. When the fluor is intended to be work- ed into a vase or the like article, a piece is selected fit for the purpose, and if, after minute examination it be found free from defects, it is carved with a mallet and chissel into a spherical form, and then fixed on a chock with an exceedingly strong cement. The chock is then screw- ed on the lathe, a slow motion is pro- duced and water continually drops on the stone to keep tlie tool cold, which is at first applied with great care. This tool is a piece of the best steel, about two feet long and half an inch square ; it is reduced to a point at each end, and tem- VOL. I, pered to suit the work. As the surface becomes smoother the tool is applied more boldly and the motion much quic- kened, lill the piece of fluor be reduced to as intended form. Tiie piece being thus formed and ren- dered smootli by the steel Instruments, in order to render it fit to receive a polish, a coarse stone is applied v.ith water so long as the smoothness is improved by these means ; then finer grit-stone, pum- ice, &c. till tiie piece be sufficiently smooth to receive coarse emery, and af- terwards fine emery. If with the latter it appear of a good shining gloss, then the finest putty is employed for a considera* ble length of time, till the polish be as bright as possible, which is known by throwing- water on it. If the part thus watered appear higher polished than the rest, the polishing is continued till water will not heighten the appearance. The advantages of a lathe worked by water is particularly conspicuous in form- ing delicate hollow vases, &c for by the use of the foot-lathe the fluor was fre- quently broken, and its laminated texture at all times disturbed, but the use of the water-lathe by its steadiness prevents these inconveniences. FLY-STONE, an arsenical iron ore, which, digested in water, furnishes a means to destroy flies. The liquor is however, poisonous, and much care should be observed in using it. FLI KS, to destroy. Various means have been used to kill flies, and genei'ally fly- stone has been used for this purpose. This stone or ore, is pulverized, and put into water ; which dissolves the arsenic contained in it, and communicates a dele- terious quality to the water. Various bitter decoctions have also been employed. Tromsdorf recommends a solution of the extract of quassia, made of two drachms of the extract and half a pint of boiling water, sweetened with sugar, which is then poured on plates. If the atmosphere of a room be impregnated with the smell, or smoke produced by burning the dried leaves of the gourd {cucurbita, L.) the flies will immediately be expelled. FOIL, among glass grinders, a sheet of tin, with quicksilver or the like, laid on the back side of a looking-glass, to make it reflect. See Foliating and Silvering. FOIL, among jewellers, a thin leaf of metal placed under a transparent stone, in order to reflect certain coloured rays. These foils are made of different metals. The copper foils are commonly known by the name of Nuremberg or German foils ; and are prepared as follows : Procure very 3B FOU thin copper plates and polish them. Place Jieni between two iron plates as thin as writing paper, and heat tliem in the fire Boil the foil in a pipkin containing a solmion of common salt and cream oi tar- tar, till it becomes white. The foil being thus prepared, and of a sufficient liiin- ness, is next to be polished, whicli is done I* ii' by rubbing it on copper hi contact with FOLIATING of looking-glasses- This is a process which consists in covering the back, side of looking-glasses, with tin toil, in order to reflect the image, and is per- formed in the foUowhig manner ; a thin blotting paper is laid on the table, and sprinkled with fine chalk, and then a fine lamina or leaf of tin, called foil, is laid over the paper : upon this is poured mei-- cury, which is to be distributed equably by a hare's foot or coiton : over this is laid a clean paper, and over that the glass plate, which is pressed down with the right hand, and tlie paper drawn gen- tly out with tlie left : this being done, the plate is covered with a thicker paper, and loaded with a greater weight, that the superfluous mercury may be driven out, and the tin adheres more clearly to the glass. When it is dried, tlie weight is removed, and the looking-glass is com- plete. This subject, liowever, will be noticed hereafter. FOILING, of globe looking-glasses is performed with an amalgam of 5 ounces of mercurv, one ounce of bismuth, half an ounce "of lead and the same quantity of tin. FOUNDKRY or FOUNDRY, the art of melthig and casting all sorts of metais ; particularly brass, iron, beli-metal, &c. A toundery, in tlie iron manufacture, is almost always connected with tlie blast furnace, where the metal is smelted Jrom the ore. The casting-liouse, as it is also called, or foundery, is situated on one of the sides of the furnace, tiie surface ot its ground about two feet bi.low the level of the bottom of the hearth of the fur- nace. Tiie floor of the founder) should be about ten feet deep, with tht loamy sand, of which the moulds are formed ; this is for the convenience of burymg large moulds beneath the surface, so lliat the metal niay be conveyed into them by small channels or soughs hollowed out in the sand. A most Important circumstance to be attended to is, that the foundery is well drained of water, as any dampness in moulds would produce the most tatal explosions by the sudden expansion of the Steam. Wlien the iiot metal is introdii- ced into a wet mould many serious acci- dents have arisen from a want of atten- FOU tion to this very necessary circumstance ; in such a case, the moulds are burst asun- der, the ground torn up, and the fluid metal thrown in every direction amongst the workmen, occasioning as much da- mage irf)m its projectile force, as from its great heat, to those on whom it falls. Every foundery is furnished with a crane, or sometimes two, placed so as to com- mand the wliole for the convenience ot taking up and removing heavy pieces ot casting from any part of the place. The most comjjlete founderies are pro- vided with two or more, air or reverbe- rating furnaces, in wliich the metal is melted occasionallv, either when the nieUl contained in the bhist furnace is not suffi- cient, or when the qualhy of the metal made there is not proper for casting, ow- ing to its containing too much or too lit- tle carbon, and it requires mixing with better or worse metal to render it fit tor the purpose. They have also two or three cupolas, or small blast furnaces, to melt small quantities of metal, particularly when it is wanted in haste, as the reverberato- ries are much longer in filling their cliarge of metal, though it is in greater quantity, but the latter does not so well answer the purposes of the iron founder, because it would require so great a stock of flasks and implements to make moulds to re- ceive a l.a-ge quantity of metal ; for this reason thev seldom employ the reverbe- ratory but for large articles which re- quire the whole charge; smaller goods are cast from the cupolas. In the foundery of a blast furnace, a pit is sunk at a convenient distance from the furnace, and the moulds for i)ipes, and other similar articles, are placed verti- cally in it, within reach of the crane : the metal is convcved by gutters or soughs front the furnace, and a small iron trough filled with sand, leads the fluid metal into each of the moulds ; these are a con- siderable improvement on the old method of burying them in the sand, in tlie saving of labour' and time; the flasks are made of cast iron for the purpose. It has of late become a practice at ex- tensive founderies, to substitute sand for loam castings in many cases where a great number of articles of one kind are to be cast, so that the expense of the flasks is not an object of importance ; where the articles are intiicate, the sand is wetted so much to render it sufliciently adhesive, that it is necessary to dry the moulds to avoid the danger of an explosion : for this purpose large stoves are used, and car- riages adapted, on which to convey a great number of moulds into the stove at FOU FOU once, and when sufficiently dry, which ge- nerally happens in about halt" an hour, they are withdrawn, and a new set placed on the carriage. A foundery is generally provided with a boring-mill for forming tiie internal sur- face of the cylinders cast for steam-en- gines, &.C. and the same macliinery turns large lathes, for turning heavy mill-axes, ])istons, rollers for sugar-mills, and la- minating rollers ; the same mill gives motion to all these, and also blows the cupolas, though, at a blast-furnace, these are supplied by a smad pipe from the great blowing-engine for the furnace- With respect to casting of every de- scription, whether of iron, brass or other materials, for tlie purpose of cannon, bells, steam cylinders, machinery, &c. We may add, that the United States in this as in other arts, have long since vied with tile European nations Tliis reflects much honor on the zeal and industry of our countrymen. We shall first consider the foundery of small works, then of statues, guns, 8ic. and lastly of the type or letter foundery, reserving for other parts of oui' work more particular information. Foundery of sniail ivorks or the manner of Casting in s ind. — The sand used by the founders, in casting brass, &c. is yel- lowisli, and pretty soft ; but, after it has been used, it becomes quite black, be- cause of the charcoal-duat used in the moulds. Every time they would use tliis sand, they work and tew it, several times over, on a board about a foot square, placed over a kind of trunk, or box, into which it may fall from ott" the board. This tewing is performed with a roller, or cyUnder, about two feet long, and two inches in diameter ; and a kind of knife, made of the blade of a sword : with these two instruments they alternately roll and cut the sand ; and, at length, turn it down into the box or trough underneath. Then, taking a wooden board, or table, ofalengtli and breadtii proportional to the quantity of things to be cast ; round this they put a frame or leJge ; and thus make a sort of moidd This mould they till with the sand before prepared, and moderately moistened : which done, they take wooden, or metalline models, or pat- terns of the things intended to be cast : apply tliem on the mould, and press them down in the sand, so as to leave their form indented ; along the middle of the mould is laid half a little cylinder of brass, which is to be tlie master jet, or canal for running the metal ; being so disposed, as to touch the ledge on one side, and only to reach to the last pattern on the other : from tliis are placed several lesser jets or branches, reaching to each pattern, whereby the metal is conveyed through the whole frame. This first frame being thus finished, they turn it upside down, to take out the pattern from the sand ; in order to which, they first loosen them a little all round, with a small cutting instrument. After the same nianner they proceed to work the coimterpart, or other half of the mould, with the same patterns, in a frame exactly like the former; excepting that it has pins wliich entering holes corres- ponding thereto in the other, make, when the two are johied together, the two ca- vities of the pattern fall exactly on each other. The frame, being thus moulded, is car- ried to tlie founder or nielter ; who, after enlarging the piincipal jet, or canal, of the counter-part with a kind of knife, add- ing the cross jets, or canals, to the seve- ral patlerns in both, and sprinkling them over with mill-dust, sets them to dry in an oven. When both parts of the mould are suf- ficiently dried, they join then> together, by means of the pins ; and to prevent their starting, or slipping aside, by the f-aUct which supports the staple of the <:l;'i)pcr within. /..The bent and hollow- ed branciies of metal uniting wilii tlie cannons, to receive the iron keys, where- by tlie bell is hung up to the beam which Ls its support and counterpoise, when rung out. The business of bell-foundcry is reducible to three particulars. 1. Tiie proportion of a bell. 2. The forming of t!ie mould. And, 3. The melting of the metal. There are two kinds of propor- ' ion's, viz. the simple and the relative; the former are those proportions only that are between the several parts of a bell to render it sonorous ; the relative proportions establish a requisite harmony between several bells. 1 he method of forming the profile of a bell, previously to its being cast, with the proportion of the several parts may be seen in Rees's Cyclopaedia. The particulars necessary for making the motdd of a bell are, 1. The earth : the most cohesive is the best; it must be well ground and sifted, to prevent any chinks. 2 Brick-stone ; which must be used for the mine, mould, or core, and for the furnace. 3 Horse dung, hidr, and hemp, mixed with the earth, to ren- der the cement more binding. 4. The wax for inscriptions, coats of arms, &c. 5. The tallow equally mixed with the wax, in order to put a slight layer of it upon the outer mould, before any letters are applied to it 6. The coals to dry the mould. See Encyclopaedia, Art. Cloche, also Diet. Commerc. Art. Foundery- Found ERV. Manner of casting great guns, or pieces of artillery — The casting of cannons, mortars, and otlier pieces of artillery, is performed much like that of statues and bells; especially as to what regards the wax, shell, and fur- naces. Ail pieces of artillery are now cast solid, and bored afterwards, by means of a macliine invented at Strasburgh, and muc!i improved by Mr. Verbruggen, head founder at Woolwich. The gun to be bored was at first placed in a perpendicu- lar position ; but tlie machines used for this purpose have lately been made to bore horizontally, and much more exact- ly than those that bore in a veriical situ- ation. Whilst the inside is bored, the outside is turned and pohshed at the same time. As to the metal, it is somewhat differ- ent from both; as having a mixture of tin, which is not in that of statues; and only having half the quantity of tin that is in beils, i c. at the rate of ten jiounds of tin to an hundred of copper. 'I'he re- spective quant'rties of diflercnt metals that siiould enter into the composition for brass cannon is not absolutely decided ; the most common proportions of the in- gredients are the following: viz. to 2401b. of metal fit for casting, tliey put 6alb. of copper, 25lb. of brass, and 121!). of tin. To 42001b. of metal fit for casting, the Germans put 3687^|lb. of copper, 204A J- Ib. of brass, and 30730ib.of tin. Other.s, again, use 1001b. of copper, 61b. of brass, and 91b. of tin ; and l^tly, others make FOU FOU use of 1001b. of copper, 101b. of brass, and l5lb of tin. A cannon is always shaped a little co- nical, being thickest of metal at the breech, where the greatest effort of tlie gunpowder is made, and diminishing thence to the muzzle ; so that if the mouth be two inches tliick of metal, the breech is six Its length is measured in calibers, /. e. in diameters of the mu2.zle. Six inches at the muzzle require twenty calibers or ten feet in length ; there is always about the sixth of an inch allowed for play for the ball. The method of casting iron can- non differs very little from that of brass. Fo UNDER Y, Letter, or the method of casting printing Letters. — In the business of cutting, casting, &c. letters for print- ing, the letter cutter must be provided ■with a vice, hand-vice, hammers and files of all sorts for watch makers' use ; as also gravers and sculpters of all sorts, and an oil-stone, &c. suitable and sizeable to the several letters to be cut : a flat guage made of box to hold a rod of steel, or the body of a mould, &c. exactly per- pendicular to the flat of the using-file : a sliding guage, whose use is to measure and set ofi' distances between the shoulder and the tooth, and to mark it off from the end, or from the edge of the work; a face-guage, which is a square notch cut with a file into the edge of a thin plate of steel, iron, or brass, of the thickness of a piece of common tin, whose use is to proportion the face of each sort of letter, viz. long letters, ascending letters, and short letters. So there must be three guages, and the guage for the long let- ters is the length of the whole body, sup- posed to be divided into forty -two equal parts. The guage for the ascending let- ters, Roman and Italic, are 5-7, or 30 pai-ts of 4"2, and 33 parts for the English face. The guage for the short letters is 3-7 or 18 parts^ of 43 of the whole body for the Roman 'and Italic, and 22 parts for the English face. The furnace is built of brick upright, with four square sides, and a stone on the top, in whicb stone is a wide I'ouiid hole jbr the pan to stand in. A foundery of any consequence has several of these fur- naces in it. As to the metal of which the types are to be cast, this, in extensive founderies, is always prepared in large quantities ; but cast into small bars of about twentv pounds weight to be delivered out to the workmen as occasion requii-es. For the purpose of forming the metal, a large fur- nace is built under a shade, containing a pot of cast iron, which holds, \rben full, fifteen hundred weight of the metal. The fire being kindled below, the bars of lead are let softly down into the pot, and tlieir fusion promoted by ihrowmg in some pitch and tallow, which soon inflame. An outer chimney, which is built so as to project about a foot over the farthest lip of Uie pot, catches hold of the flame by a strong draught, and makes it act very powerfully in meiling die lead ; whilst it serves at the same time to convey away all the fames, &c. from the workmen, to whom this laborious part of the busiiess is committed. When the lead is thorough- ly melted, a due proportion of the regu- lus of antimony and other ingredients are put in, and some more tallow is inflam- ed, to make tlie whole incorporate soon- er. The workmen now having mixed the contents of the pot very thoroughly, by stiiTing long with a large iron ladle, next proceed to draw the metal oft' into the small tioughs of cast iron which are ranged, to the number of fourscore, upoa a level plaiform, faced with stone, built towards the right hand. In tHe course of a day fifteen hundred weight of metal can be easily prepared in this manner; and the operation is continued for as many days as are necessary to prepai-e a stocfc of metal, of all the various degrees of hardness. After this the whole is dis- posed into presses, accordnig to its qua- lity, to be delivered out occasionally to the workmen. With respect to the operations of cast- ing, polishing, and finishing of tj'pe, we need only mention, that these dhfferent processes are performed by workmen and boys, according to the nature of the ope- ration. As a mere description of the me- chanical part of tiie type founflery cannot be considered of any importance, it is presumed that the act in all its branches will only be conducted by experienced workmen, so that any description wliicii we might offer would be imnecessan'. To the real talents and industry of Messrs. Binney and Ronaldson, of this city, the countiy at large, is mucii in. debied for the production of every species of type of tlie best metal, and, of the most improved kind. Besides the founderies already enume- rated, there is another called the ^tliittary Foundery, wtiich comprehends the cast- ing of inilitai'y arms, great guns, s.helis, ball, &c. Tiie United States, either by their own ' foundery, have these articlae cast, or p;-o- cure them by contrac; : it may bi- observ, ed, hawever, that a v, ork of this acscrip- FRE FRE tion should be established, for tlie sake of economy, as well pirhaps as for con- venience, in the vicinity of c L;al and iron mines. FRANKFORT IlLACK.— This black is made of tlie lees of w ine, burnt, washed in water, and ground in mills, together with ivory or peach sones burnt. It is usually brougiit from Frankfort ontheMa\n; Mentz, and Sti-asburg; ei- ther in lumps or poudci'. Thut of Fiance on account of tiic dillerence in the lees of wine, is less valued than that of Germany. This olack makes the jjrincipal ingre- dient in the i-oliing-prcbs printers ink. See Colour-Making. FKEKZING. — Tliis process, called also congelation, is the conversion of water to a sohd state or ice, and takes place by the reduction of temperature to, or be- below 32° of Fahreniieil ; the theory of which is th'e disengagement of free heat, or caloric of fluidity. Without detailing the hypotheses of chemical philosophy, or tlie reasoning of science to develope the laws or principles whicli govfern these changes, it will be sufficient to observe, that solids are ren- dered fluid by the interposition or absorp- tion of caloric, and vice versa. Whether these changes take place in the laborato- ry of the chemist, or in the laboratoiy of nature, as the same causes exist, it is but rational to conclude that the laws are uni- formly tlie same. We shall first make a few remarks on ice or snow, and conclude with the n'odes which have been used for preparing ice in warm climates. The preservation of snow or ice during the summer months is almost a necessa- ry of life in hot countries, and an object of useful Ihxury iu temperate climates. *I'he consti'uction of ice-houses is in gene- ral very simple often indeed they consist of nothing more than deej) caves hollow- ed out in the coldest side of mountains, and filled with ice or snow rammed down with much manual hibour. Ice may ge- nerally be presei'ved during the summer, if the place selected be cool and tho- roughly sheltered from the direct influ- ence of the sun, if the ice be kept in con- siderable mass, with as few interstices as possible, lined with straw, reeds, or any loose substance of the kind, which is a bad conductor of heat, and esj)ecially if it be kept dry both by avoiding external moisture and by giving an exit to the wa- tt r formed by the slow liquefaction of the outer ])art of the mass. The common ice- houses are usually placed in the shadiest and coolest part of a wood, and consist of caves about eight or ten feet in depth, lined with masonry, unless cut out of a di'v rock, finished at ihe bottom in the fonn of a sugar loaf, and the whole lined with a , considerable thickness of thatch, straw, or ixeds. The ice when ihiown in is broken down as much as possible, that it nui\ lie close, and when filling, water may be thrown on ;it, which by freezing will : cement the whole into a hard solid mass I penetrable only by the pickaxe. When • filled it is covered very carefidly with 1 earth and thatch, leaving only a small en- j trance with a door at each end also very closely lined Tie snow caves in Italy are no more than deep pits dug in the north side of a hill, lined with straw, and furnished with a small tap-hole at bottom to carry oft' the water fornied by melting. The snow is rammed very hard, and if well laid up will keep during the w hole summer But inti'opical climates far distant from high mountains, as neither natural snow nor ice car. be obtained, recourse is had to the cold generated by evaporation and the comparative coolness of the air a lit- tle before daj -break, to manuf^tcture ice in large quantities, and thus to supply a most grateful luxiu-y at a moderate price. Ice is thus simply manufactured in the large way at Benares, Allahabad, and Calcutta, where natural ice has never been seen. On a large open plain an ex- cavation is made about thirty feet square and two deep, on the bottom of which su- gar-cane or maize stems are evenly strew- ed to the height of about eight inches. On this bed are set rows of small shallow unglazed earthen ])ans, so poious that when filled with water the outsides are immediately c( vered with a thick dew oozing through them. Towards the dusk of the evening, the pans previously smear- ed with butter, are filled with soft water generally boiled, and let to remain there during the night, hi the morning before sun-rise the ice-makers at^nd and collect from each pan a crust of ice more or less thick that adheres to the inner side, and is put into baskets and carried without loss of time to the common receptacle, which is a deej) pit in a high dry situation, lined first with straw and then with old blanketing, where it is beaten down and congeals into a solid mass. The crop of ice varies extremely, sometimes amount- ing to more than half the contents of the pan, at other times scarcely a pellicle. Clear and serene weather is the most fa- vouiable for its production whatever be the sensible heat of the atmosphere. The cold generated by the ra])id evaporation roimd every jiart of the pan is the cause of this congelation. When used for the ta- FRt FRI ble, the ice Is either added to the liquor to be cooled, or is put into a laig-e vessel mixed with salt or nitre, and tlie sherbet, creams, and the Uke, intended to be frozen, are inclosed in thin silver vessels and immersed in tiie mixture In this way ices are procured for the table, when the heat even in the shade is very com- monly above IOC. At tlie ice manufactory at Benares about 100,000 pans are reckoned to be exposed at a time, and the business of filling them at night and gatiiering the ice in the morning employs about 2jU men, women, andchildi-en. It is necessary that the cane-stalks be kept perfectly dry, il' by accident any jiart becomes wetted, no ice will form in the pans above. Mr. Williams found the temperature of the air on the cane-stalks never to be lower than 35'', and even plenty of ice would form m the pans when it was as high as 40°. What is remarkable, he found tliat ice was best formed with the g'entlest winds, at which time a thL-rnio- meter placed on the straw would alwa\s stand about 4 degrees lower than one fix- ed toapolefive feet higher, hut in strong winds no such diiTerence was observable, and then no ice was formed. To compare the eflect of the porosity of tliese vessels in lowering the temperature of water contained in them, Mr. Williams took a new pot and one in which by long u.^e the pores had been nearly stopped, and placed them in a hot westerly wind in the shade, where the heat of the air was 100°. On exposure for four hours the wa- ter in the old pot was 97, and that in tlie new pot was only 68-". Many other instances of artificial cold produced by evajjoration might be brought. Another mode of producing cold is by freezing mixtures, or sahne substances of various kinds, v.hich, during their lique- fiiction either by solution in water or in acids, absorb a vast quantity of caloric from all substances in contact with them. Tliis subject, however, in its extent, would lead us bevond our limits. FUKNCM CHAlK. See Steatite. FRENCH BERRIES. The fruit of the Jihiimr.us irjectorius, cuti^d by the French graines d'^ivignon. 'I'hey give a pretty good yellow colour, but void of perma- nency- See DvEixG. FRICTIO.V. If a horizontal plane was perfectly smooth, a body would be free to move upon it in any direction, by the least force applied to it. But however smooth bodies may appear to the eye, yet, if you examine their surfaces with a mi- YOL, I. croscope, you will discover nufnberleSS inequalities ; in consequence of which,- the prominent parts of one body fall into the hollows of another, so as to be locked together j and therL-t'ore, ul moving tliem over eacli other; one of the bodies must be raised up, or its prominences broken of}': this is what is calledy>/cf:on Fi iction is greater in bodies, in propor- tion to tfieir weight or pressure against each other. It docs not increase much in proportion to the surface, although it does in some degree. It also increases in proportion to the velocity of tiie moving bodies. Wood slides more easily upon thei ground, or earth, in wet weather than in dry, and more easily than iron in dry weathei-j but iron more easily than wood in wet weather. A cubic piece of smootii soil wood, eight pounds in weighty moving upon a smooth plane of soft wood, at tiie rate of ihi-ee feet every second, has a friction equal to above two-thirds of its weight. Soft wood upon hard wood, has a friction equal to one-sixth part of its weight ; and hard wood upon hard woodj has a friction equal to about one-eighth purt of its weight. In wood i-ubbingupon wood, oil, greaSe,' or black-lead, |jioperlj- applied, makes the friction two-thirds less. Wheel-naves,- when greased, have only one-fourth of the friction tliey would have if wet. ^\'i;en polished steel moves on steely or pewter (jroperly oiled, the friction is about one-iinirth of tlie weiglit ; on cop- per or le;id, one-fifth of the freight ; on brass, one-sixth : and metals have more friction when they move on metals of the same kird, than when they move on dif^ fcrent metals. I'he tiiction of a single lever is Very little. The friction of" the wheel and axle is in proporuon to the weight, velocity, and diameter of the axle ; the smaller the diameter of the axle, the less will be die fi'iction. The fnctian of puUIesis very great, oii account of the smallness of their diam- eters, in proportion to that of tlieir axes ; because they very often bear against the blocks, and from the weaiing of their lioles and axles. In the wedge and screw there is a great deal of friction. Screws with sharp threads, have more friction than those with square thread.s, and endless screws have more than either. The friction of carriage wheels is much furtlier increased, if they be tacked or fastened so tliat tliey drag upon the sur- flice of the road ; it is, therefore, to in- crease the resistance by augmenting- the FRI FRU friction, that a wheel is locked in de- scending steep hills, where tlie relative gravitation gives too mucli velocity to the carriage- Friction is considered as an unifoiTnly retarding force in hard bodies, and not subject to alter by diflerent degrees of velocity ; it uicreases in a less ratio than the quantity of matter, or weight of the body; and the smallest surface, or the fewest parts in contact, have the least fric- tion, the weight being the same. The force or power of friction varies, in proportion to the diflerent surfaces in contact ; that is, accordingly as the sur- faces are hard or soft, rougli or smooth ; even the hardest bodies which have the highest polish are not free from inequali- ties on their surface, which retard their motion when they act upon each other. When polished iron and bcU-metal are opposed to each other in motion, they produce less resistance than bodies in ge- neral ; but even these polished planes do not lose less than an eighth of their mov- ing power, and others not less than one- third of their force by friction. As the friction between rolling bodies is much inferior to tliat which is produced by bodies that drag, the attrition of the axle in the nave has been lessened by a contrivance made by Mr. John Garnet, now of New Brunswick, New-Jersey, with a number of small wheels, which are cal- led friction rollers ; these are placed to gether in a box, and fastened in tlie nave so tliat the axle of the carriage may rest upon them, and they turn round their own centres as the wheel contbuies its motion. A represents a section of tlie axle, C C the nave, and 1« B tlie friction rollers which turn round their o\\ n axis as tlie wheel revolves round llie axle of the carriage. Cylindrical and spherical rollers are used with great advantage in turning heavy bodies, such as the top of a wind- mill or the dome of an observatory; or in moving lai'ge logs of wood or blocks of stone from one place to anotlier. The ijrond equestrian statute of Tcter Uie Great, at Pctersburgh, was formed out of an immense block of stone, which was brought from a place some miles distant, by rolling it along the road on iron balls laid on thick planks. Mr. Vince and Mr. Coulombe made a number of experiments on this subject. The experiments of the former were made to determine. 1 Whether friction be a uniformly retaiding force. 2. The quantity of friction, 3. AVhether the fric- tion varies in proportion to tlie pressure of the weight. 4- Whether the friction be the same, on whichsoever surfa- ces the body moves. His conclusions, however, were far from being precisely acurate, owing to the resistance which arises from cohesion. To have the friction of machines as lit- tle as possible, they ought to be made of the fewest and simplest parts. The diam- eters of the wheels and puUies ought to be large, and the gudgeons of the axles as small as can be consistent with the required strength. The sides of the pid- lies ought not to be all over flat, but to have a small rising in the middle, to keep from rubbing against each other's sides, and against the sides of their mor- tises at a distance from their axle. All the cords and ropes ought to be as pliant as possible ; and, for that end, rubbed with grease. The teeth of the wheels should just fit and fill the openings, so as not to be squeezed nor shaken therein. All the parts which work into or upon one another, ought to be smooth ; the gudgeons ought just to fit tlieir holes^ and the working parts must be greased. The rounds or staves of the trundles may be made to turn about upon iron spindles, fixed in the round end-boards ; which will take oR' a great deal of friction. Frieslaiid Ureen. An ammonia comuriat of copper, the same with Brunswick green. See Copper, and Colour Mak- ing. FRITT. The materials of glass are first mixed together, and then exposed to calcination by a degree of heat not suf- ficient to melt tliein. The mass is then called fritt. The calcination deprives it of any accidental combustible matter it might have contained, and disposes it to fusion in the melting-])ot with less effer- vescence than would else have taken place. See Glass. FKUITS, Colours from. It is well known, that a variety; of fruits, as the poke berry, currant, mulberry, black cheny, &.c. yield a juice which has tlie property of giving a fugitive colour to li- iien and the' like. Upon these juices va- rious chemical reagents have diflijrent ef- FUE FUE T'lcts : Thus, upon some, acids heighten the colour, and alkalies strike a purple. Whiting soaked in the juice of some of these fruits, is changed into a pigment of a beautiful colour, but which is liable to fade. See Colour Making. Mr. Lin - do, of South Carolina, made some experi- ments with the juice of the poke berry, in order to fix it with the substance of cotton, which succeeded only in part. Dr. Seybert, some time since, made a number of experiments on the poke ber- ry; and, after trying as many as twenty fluids, either acid, alkaline, earthy, or me- tallic, no permanency could be given to the colour. We have also tried a num- ber, but not with much success. It is said, however, that a Mr. Allison, I think in New Jersey, has discovered a process, or mordant, by which the colour may be indelibly fixed on stuffs. If this be true, the poke berry, which abounds so plenti- fully in the United States, will prove an acquisition to our counti^. The fruit, as it may be termed, of the Lombardy poplar, which communicates a purple to the skin, may be fixed pretty permanently by means of a solution of tin, or of alum, to which potash is afterwards added. In Dr. Lewis's examination of the co- louring matters of vegetable fruits, he found, that the red juices of fruits did not afford a permanent dye by any treatment he used. The dark dull stain of the black cheny proved considerably durable. Sap CiREEM is prepared from the berries of buckthorn, and Annotto is obtained from the pellicles of the seeds of an Ame- rican tree. See Sap Green and Annot- TO. FUEL, whatever is proper to btun, or make a fire; as wood, turf, peat, coal, &c. FUEL, Economy in. Notliing is of more importance, where fuel is scarce and consequently high, than economy in tlie use of fuel. In order to economize in the article of coal, count Kumtbrd long sinc^ turned his attention to this subject, and has proposed a composition, which is to be made into balls, composed of equal parts of coal, charcoal, and clay. If balls be made of this mixture, and afterwards soaked in a solution of saltpetre, they will instantly take fire from the smallest spark. The patent coal balls, invented by Mr. Frederic, are of a similar kind. A mixture of coke and charcoal, or of sea coal, charcoal, saw dust, tan, &c. after being heated in a furnace, form the im- proved fuel invented by Mr. Peter Davey. Various patents have been obtained for the means of saving fuel, for the purposes of salt making, sugar refining, boiling, distilling, evaporating, and for every pro- cess in which fuel is necessaiy. In the kitchen, also, contrivances have been used for the same puriwse : To this subject, in particular, too much attention cannot be given. Among the means of economizing fuel already carried into ef- fect in Europe, principally at the instance of sir Benjamin Thompson, we may men- tion also the improvements of our coun- trymen. Injustice to one, in particular, (>Ir. Daniel Pettibone,) to whom we are indebted for sundry improvements in this way, our country has already received considerable advantages. Dr. Franklin, however, may be said to be the first, in the then colonies of Ameri- ca, who applied him self to these improve- ments, and the construction of stoves. In relation to this subject, Mr. Pettibone ob- tained the following patents : 1. A wheel oven, or stove, called a per- petual oven, which is useful in an anmy. It moves by weights. 2. A ship's camboase, with many ad- vantages. 3. A furnace, or stove, made of u'on or copper, with a grate, consisting of hollow bars. 4. An improvement on all kinds of pots, kettles, or boilers whatever, by adding or attaching a lioop to the sides, near the bottom, thereby confining the heat to it : the contents will boil in half the usual time required without the hoop This improvement is useful for camp kettles, or washing rooms. 5. An improvement in the common tin kitchen, or roaster — Cover the back and top witli a thick soft woollen blanket ; or, to make the kitchen durable, leave a dead column of air between . 6. A rarifying air stove, for sundry pur- poses. These, with other patents, are described in Pettibone's Econnmy of Fuel. On the subject oftiie kitchen stove, &c. Mr. Pettibone observes : " I contemplate the application of a bel- lows to blow into a stove, camboase, fur- nace, or a number of small furnaces, some- what similar to those of count Riimford''s; which improvement I call the "Improved Kitchen Range, Furnace, fitove, and Camboase. — This improvement consists in placing a bellows, similar to that of a smith's, in any convenient part of a house, or building, and conveying air from it, by a pipe or tube, to the stove furnace, furnaces, or range. — And from tlie main air-tube, other branches or tubes are fitted with cocks, so as to admit air into any single stove or furnace, or into all the furnaces atone and the same time. FUL FUS " By this means, stone or oilier coal, pr wood, may be used to grtat adv:m- tap^e. — The fire can be inimeduitcly kin- dled or cxtinguislied. — 'I'hcse furnaces are fitted without gi-atcs, and with grates, that the fire may be kindled by the air of the room, or from the cellai-, or from without the house, wlien only a slow and moderate heat is rccjuircd, as in com- mon. " The application of the bellows, as above mentioned, is ol'g-reat use, particu- larly in the summer, lor ilomestic i)ur- poses, as tlic common I'urnaces are not apt to kindle or tlraw well, for want of u full supply of air. Uy this plan of the impro\"ed kitchen, cast or wrous^lit iron heaters, of a ])rQper size, may be heated,, so as to jirepare tea, or coffee, &c. on a table. By putting- them in a proper apparatus, pre- pared to prevent the escape of heat, some kinds of baking can be performed. — This improvement is particularly suitable and w-ell calculated for the camboases of ships (>r vesselsj-r^as the vessiel will work the bellows by its motion, when at sea. •' These stoves, furnaces, or camboases, are made of stone or brick, or, if of cast or wrought iron, they must be lined with brick or stone, to prevent the escape of heat — and a damper is fitted in the smoke pipe or flue, so as to regulate it. "This plan will he of great advantage, as no more cold air can enter the stove, furnace, or camboos, than is required to kindle or blow tlic fire. — It will save at least one half the fuel commonly usetl on board of vessels, or in kitcliens." The most convenient and, wc may add, the most economical stove, for the ))ur- poses of the kitchen, where fuel is to be saved, is the patent stove of Mr. Abbot, which we shall describe hereafter. FULIGINOUS. Vapours which pos- sess the property of sniokc; numely, ojia- city, and the disposition to apply them- selves to surrovmding bodies in the form of a dark-coloured powder. FULLEUS' E.VUlIi. See Eauih, Fullers'. FULLING, sometimes called also mill- ing, is used for cleansing, scouring, and pressing cloths, stuff's, and stockings, to ^•ender tlie;n stronger and much tinner. The fulling of cloth is performed in a mill, called a fulling or scouring mill. Tiie stvilfs are prepared in a bath of" urine, then in fullers' carl 1), difVustd in water; and, lastly, in soup, dissolved in hot wa- ter. The sccmringof tile cloth is not the only object in fulling; but, by the alter- ^late presstire oommunicaied by the ytamps to thestiifis, an eflert is produced Similar \oJ'eiti>is, which elmnges the tex- lui c of the clolli into a substance analo- gous to felt. Thejul/ing of stockings, caps, life, is per- formed witli the feet or hands, or by a kinil of rack or wooden machine, armed with teeth. Urine, soap, fullers' eartli, &c. are also used in this process. Stock- ings, however, manufactured in a loom, should be fulled with soap alone; but, if the stockings be knit, earth may likewise be added. If the earth, known by the name of ful- lers' earth, cannot be had, it may be re- marked, that every fine clay that does not communicate a colour, is in general fit for the business of fulling; even the excrements of hogs, mixed with human urine, are used for this piu'pose, in various woollen manufactories. The properties required in good fullers' earth are, that it shall carry ofl" the oily impurities of the woollen cloth, and at the same time thicken it, by causing the hairs or fibres to curl up. The best is composed of fine siliceous earth with clay, and a little calcareous earth. See Manufacture ofCloih. FUliNACK, an article of chemical ap- paratus, &c. Without entering into a dry detail of the various kinds of furnaces, either used in chemical experiments or in the arts, which we shall notice hereafter, when treating of some particular pro- cesses, we may observe, that we have tlie air furnace, the blast furnace, the rc- vcrberilory fiuiiace, &c. Dr. Black's portuhle furnace api)ears to be the basis of all the portable clieniical furnaces of oiu" day, ti'om which the universal funiace of .'Vcrum, Aikin's furnace, &c.have been modelled. The muffle, portable cham- ber, portable blast, the reverberato- ry, and tlie draught melting furnace, have each their several uses. See Ap- pendix. FUSTKT. The \yood of the rhus coti- mis, or Venns's sumiich, yields a fine orange colour, but not at all durable. It is used by the French dyers, but we be- lieve not much in this country, with other colouring substances, particularly cochi- neal, to modify nv heighten their efiect, and in this way is more permanent. Jjike the French berries, its colour is soluble both in water and alcohol. Its decoction contains a small portion of gallic acid, but no gum; reduces gold; and preci- pitates the metallic salts. See Dve- ING. FUSTIC, or Yf.m.ow Wood. This Mood, the -morus tinctnria, is a native of the West Indies It afi'ortls much yellow colouring matter, which is very perma- nyut. See DvEiNC. G. GAL GAL GALENA, sulphuret of lead, or blue I casionally used in medicine. As galls kad ore. See Lead. are scarce in this country at this time, GALLS, or GALLNLTT, is the produce their place may be supplied, in the opi- of the prickly-cupped oak (Quercus Cer-inion of Dr. Penington, altogether, by the ris Linn.) a small timber tree that grows! pig nut. Many vegetable astringents. wild in almost all the coimtries bordei'ing upon the Mediterranean, and in some of tiie soutliern provinces of Germany. Tliis substance is said to oria:inate from which contain an abundance of gallic acid, may be obtained in this coim- try. GALLIC ACID. If an infusion of galls a puncture made by an insect of the ge- be exposed to the air, in the course of iHis cynips, to the young of which, while; time a dark-coloured sediment, with in their laiva state, it serves for habitation! small crjstals, will be depo.sited. The and food. It is found adhering to tlie | latter is gallic acid. If alumine, or a so- soft annual shoots of the tree, and in !lution of glue, be added to a filtered de- short, in its original .situation and gene- cocliou of galls, the liquor then filtered ral appearance is considered bv natiu-alists as precisely similar to those cxcresrencies on English oaks, vulgarly called o«/)/f*. There are two kinds of gall-nut distin- guished in commerce ; the inferior is of a pale brown colour, and about the size of a nutmeg, and is procured from Spain, France, and the northern Mediterranean countries ; the superior sort is of a deep olive colour, apin-oaching to black, is smaller than the otlier, and its specific gravity is considerably greater: it is pro- duced in Asia Minor, but more especially in Syria, and is hence called the Aleppo gall, tiiis town being the principal seat of the foreign Sp'ian commerce. "Without stating tlie exact analysis of gails, and without noticing all their clie- mical properties or cliaracters, we may observe, that they contain a considerable quantity of gallic acid and the tanning- principle. For particulars concerning gall-nut see Gallic Acid, Ink, and Tanning. The uses of this substance are very im- portant. It is employed largely in dye- ing not only blacks and various kindred colours, but is also an essential ingredient in the composition of the finest madder reds. — See Dyeing. It is a necessat-y part of all the black writing inks : it is employed in the laboratory as a use- and evaporated, crystals of tlie same acid will be obtained. In consequence of the ready decompo- sition of this acid and the large proportion of carbon that it contains, it precipitates gold, silver, mercury, copper, bismuth and iron from all their acid combinations, reducing the two first in part to the me- tallic state. It appears incapable of de- composing the salts of platina, zinc, tin, cobaJt, and manganese. The oxygenated salts of iron are thrown down by it, of a deep blue colour spproaching to black, and this is its most characteristic proper- ty. It is not used in its pure state, but as a component part of galls and other as- tringent vegetables. It is applied to a va- riety of important purposes, for which see especially the articles Dyeing and Ink. GALLING, an operation in Dyeing, which see. GALLIUM TINCTORIUM.— This is an indigenous plant, which affords a brilliant red dye. It grows plentifully in some of the middle states, in woods, swamps and on the banks of rivers. So far as we are acquainted with it, and from the fact tliat the Indians dye all the por- cupine quills, and the white hair of deer t:iils with it, and fi-om the observations of professor Woodhouse, that the dye on cloth and silk is durable, and not changed ful lest for the salts of iron, and is oc-!by any agent except the alkalies, we may GAM GAS justly infer that it is a. valuable plant to the American dyer. GALVANISM, or GALVANIC ELEC- TRICITY, called also Voltaism. As no immediate use is made of tlie science oi galvanism in its application to any art, which we at present remember, we shall only offer a few general remarks without detailing the experiments of Galvani, Volta, Davy, and otliers. It has been observed, that porter, when drank from a pewter pot, has a superior fla- vour than when drank out of one of glass or of china. This effect is explained by galvanism. Galvani, however, discovered this principle, if we may so call it, in dis- secting a frog, by touching the nerve with his instrument, which, in a particular manner, produced convulsions intlie mus- has obtained its name of cambadium, cambogium, gambogium. It is a very rough and strong purge : it operates both by vomit and stool, and both ways with much violence, almost in the instant in which it is swallowed, but yet, as it is said, without griping. The dose is from two to four grains as a ca- thartic ; from four to eight grains prove emetic and purgative. The roughness of its operation is diminished by giving it in a liquid form sufficiently diluted. Tl'is gum resin is sohible both in water and In alcohol. Alkaline sohilions possess a deep red colour, and pass the filter. Dr. Lewis informs us, that it gives a beauti- ful and durable citron yellow stain to mar- ble, whether rubbed in substance on tlie hot stone, or applied, as dragon's blood cles. When zinc and silver are placed I sometimes is, in form of a spirituous on the tongue, so that they may commu- i tincture. AVhen it is applied on cold mar. nicate with each other, a peculiar sensa- ble, the stone is afterward to be heated to tion will follow, which is galvanism. make the colour penetrate. It was afterwards discovered, that It is chiefly used as a pigment in water plates of zinc, silver, or copper, arranged colours, but does not stand. in a pile with a piece of cloth moistened j Gamboge enters into the composition with salt water between each pair of! of the gold coloured lacquer ; it is also plates, when arranged properly, would j employed by the inlay er and cabinet ma- communicate a shock. The apparatus i ker to stain white woods in imitation of thus found, received the name of the gal- j box, &c. See Varnish. vanic pile. If the same plates be arranged GANGUE. The stones which fdl the in an oblong box, the galvanic trough ! cavities that form tlie veins of metals are will be formed. The peculiar sensation ; called the gangue, or matrix of the ore ; produced by drinking out of a pewter mug, the discoloration of a silver spoon in the act of eating eggs, and the loosen- ing of the bolts in ships, which liave been coppered, by the contact of salt water, with many other phenomena, are resolved the rocks that lie over tlie veins are called the roof; those that lie under them the floor, and by some the hading : the matrix is almost always a liner species of stone than the surrounding rocks, though of the same genus ; even the rocks thcm- into galvanism. For an account of this i selves are finer graij^ed as they approach science, its history, progress, apjilication to experiment, together with the mode of forming piles, batteries, and conduct- ing experiments therewith, we refer the reader to Volta's treatise, ' 4to. Wilkin- son, 2 vol. 8vo. and Davy's Elements of Chemical Piiilosophy. GALLEY, an oblong reveiberatory fur- nace, in which a row of retorts is placed beside each other, with their necks pro- truding through lateral openings. GAMBOGE, is a concrete vegetable juice, the produce of two trees, both called by the Indians caracapulli (gam- bogia gutta, Linn.) and is partly of a gummy and partly of a resinous natiu-e. it is brought to us either in form of orbi- cular masses, or of cylindrical rolls of various sizes : and is of a dense, compact and firm texture, and of a beautiful yel- low. It is chiefly brought to us from Cambaja, in the East Indies, called also Cambodja, and Cambogia ; and thence it the vein. There is no matrix peculiarly appro- priatcd to any metal : it has only been re- marked, that tin is generally found among stones of the siliceous genus, and lead very ii-equently among those of the cal- careous. GARNET-COLOUR. See Colouring of Glass. (iAUNETS, to imitate. — Take prepar- ed crystals two ounces, common red lead six ounces, manganese, 16 grains, /aftre, 3 grains; mix and put them in a crucible; cover it and lute, and set it in a potter's kiln, for twenty-four hours. Or take crystal 2ounces,miniu7n, 5?, ounces, man- ganese, 15 grains, zafi're, 4 grains; mix them well together, and let all lie baked in a pot well luted, in a potter's kiln for 24 hours. See Glass. GAS LIGHT.— The introduction of carbonated hydrogen gas iiUo stores, ma- nufactories, 8ic. to produce liglit, under GAS GEE tlie name of the^'rjs light, has led to the construction of an apparatus for obtain- ing it from pit coal. It may be proper to mention, that of the combination of car- bon and hydrogen, there are several varie- ties ; hence, we iiave tlie heavy and ligiit carburetted hydrogen gas, all tlie varie- ties of which are inflammable. The gas which rises spontaneously in hot weather from stagnant water, mud, &.c. when ve- getable and animal matter are in a state of decomposition ; that produced by the distillation of acetate of potash, the acid of which by decomposition affords the materials of the gas, and by the distilla- tion of otiier substances at high or low temperatures, as pit coal, moistened charcoal, wood, &c. to which may be add- ed the decomposition of alcohol by sul- phuric acid, in the production of olefiant gas, are all varieties of the same gas. Without stating, however, the particulars on this subject, we shall observe, that pit coal or fossil coal is generally made use of, which is exposed to heat in iron pots or cylinders, and the. gas, togetlier ■with bituminous matter, is conveyed by a pipe into a reservoir, where the tar condenses ; the gas is afterwards passed Ihrougli water, or lime water, in a suita- ble apparatus, where it is purified ; and by a simple contrivance, togetlier with an adjusted pressure, is forced througJi pipes or tubes into different parts of the building where it is inflamed. The resi- duei in tlie distillery vessel, is the same as cake, which may be used as fuel, and the bitumen collected in the receiver, may be employed for sundry purposes. Although the apparatus used in England we think in Soho, as well as in other parts, is rather complicated, and probably an- swers the purpose very complelcly, yet trials of tlie same kind have been made in this country, particularly in fhiladel- phia, and found to be imperfecti Whe- ther this was owing to a1iy defect in the apparatus, or whether some other cause may be alleged lor its failure, we have not ascertained. It is obvious, vthat as distillation is the only means of obtaining the gas from pit coal, the more simple tiie cojitrivance is, the better ; but as a constant supply of gas is necessary, a reservoir is indis- pensibly requisite, together with stop- cocks, pipes with small apertures, &:c. A single experiment will shew the man- ner in which this gas is produced. Fill the bowl of a common tobacco pipe with powdered pit-coal, cover the mouth over with moistened clay, and expose the bowl to the action of heat ; in a short time a yellow-coloured smoke will pass through the stem, which, on applying a lighted taper, will take fire, and thus ex- hibit the gas light in miniature. Those who desire information on this subject, in order to introduce the light into manuf;\ctories or the like, may find a description of the apparatus, accompa- nied with a plate, in the third edition of Parke's Chemical Catechism. GAUZE, a transparent stuff made of silk, and sometimes of thread. See Weaving. GELATIN, or animal jelly.— This is a most abundant principle in a vast vari- ety of the parts of animals, and appears to be one of the great elementary con- stituents of animal organization. Scarce- ly any organ is without it, but it is most abundantly contained in skin, in most of the soft and white parts, hi bone, and the hard bony horns, in membrane of all kinds, in tiie blood in small quantity, and also in small proportion as the natural ce- ment of many of the shells. From all these substances gelatin is ex- tracted simply by boding in water for a greiiter or less time, according to the hardness or toughness of the substance employed. This watery solution is trans- parent and colourless, or neai-ly so, and when gently evaporated to a small bulk and suffered to cool it gelatinizes, or as- sumes the consistence of cohering, ex- tremely flexible and mobile, soft, tremu- lous jelly, such as is known to every one as prepared for the table. I5y further evaporation, the watery so- lution of gelatin may be rendered hard and brittle, in a degi-ee partly determined by the degree of evaporation, and partly by the original gelatinizing force of the substance tiiat yields it. In this state it forms the solid carpenter's glue, or of less- stifiiiess the different kinds of size used as cements in so many of the arts. The preparation of these will be described af- ter mentioning some of the chemical pro- perties common to pure gelatine of enetrate it suf- ficiently, an eHect which could not take place with the solid cakes of common g-lue. GEMS, artificial. See Glass, co- loured ' GENEVA See Gin. GILDING, art of The art of gilding or of la\ing a thin superficial coaxing of gold on wood, metal a id other substances has been lone practised, and highly es- teemed, both for its utility and the splend- id effect which it produces. Gold, from the extreme beauty of its colour, and from the length of time during which it may be exposed to the action of the air without tarnishing, is perhaps the most valuable of all substances for the purpose of decoration ; but on account of its dear- ness and weight it can very seldom be emplojed in substance, and its ornamen- tal use would be lin itcd indeed, if it was not at the same time the most exiensible of all substances : so that a given weight of gold, notwitlistanding its high specific gravity, mav, by beating, be made to cover a larger surface than an equal quantity of anv other body. Among the ancients, the Romans, and among tlie moderns, the Frencii, have been remarkable for their large and profuse consumption of gold : not only the temples, theatre.'!, and other public buildings being adorned with gild- ing, but even the private houses of tlie wealthier classes. The materials of gilding, or rather the different states in which gold is used for this purpose, are the following : leuf- gold, of different thicknesses and formed either of the pure metul, or of an alloy of this with silver, amalgam of gold, and gold powder The leaf-gold is procured by the wilder from the gold-beater, for an account of wliich we shall refer the reader to the anicie Gold; but the other two substances being prepared by the gilder himself may be witii propriety described here The an^algam of gold is made by heatmg, in a clean crucible, some pure quicksilver, and when it is nearly boiling adding to it about a sixtii of its weight of fiiie gold in thin piates heated red hot ; the niixlnic, »fter beiuj; kept hot for a few minuic!), t ec'jnies of a perfectly homoge- neous consisteiice, and may then be al- lowed to cool : when cold it is to be put in a piece of soft leather, and by gradual pressure, the fluid part of tlie amalgam, consisting almost wholly of mercurv,may be forced thro'-gh tlie pores of tlie lea- ther, while the gold combined with about twire its weight of mercury will remain behind, fornmig a yellowish' silvery mass of the consistence of soft butter. This, after being bruised in a moriav, or shaken in a stiong vial with repeated portions of salt and water, till tlie water ceases to be fouled by it, is fit for use, and maj- be kept for any length of time without in- jury in a corked vial. It is of essential importance that ihe materials of this amal- gam, and especially iJie mercury, should be perfectly pure, as tlie least portion of lead or bismuth would very materially in- jure the beauty of the gilding by deteri- orating the colour of the gold and filling it with black specks ; on diis account no mercury ought to be employed that has not been procured from distillation of tlie red precipitate (nitrous red oxyd of mer- cui-y) eillier alone or mixed with a little charcoal powder. Gold powder is prepared in three dif- ferent ways. The first and simplest is to put into a glass or earthen mortar some gold-leaf with a little honey or thick gum- water, and grind the mixture for a con- siderable time, till the gold is reduced to extremely minute fragments ; when this is done, a lutle warm water will wash out the honey or gum, leaving the gold be- hind in a flaky pulverulent state. A less tedious arid more effectual way of com- minuting the gold is to dissohe it in ni- trojnuriauc acid and then precipitate it by a piece of copper : the precipitate after being digested in distilled vinegar and tlien wed washed in water and dried, is in the form of a very fine powder, and both works beUer and is easier to burnish than the ground leaf-gold The finest ground goid however is produced by heating very gradually the gold-amalgam in an o|x;n earthen vessel, and continuing the fire till the whole of the mercury is evaporated, taking care that the amalgam shall be constantly stirred with a glass, rod or tobacco-pipe, in order to prevent tlie particles of gold from adhering as the mercury tiies off. When tlie mercury is compleatly evaporated, the residual gold beuig then ground in a Wedgewood ware mortar wiih a little water, and after- wards dried, is fit for use. Gilding is ])ei-formed either with or without the apphcation of heat. By the first of these methods those substances are gilt which are not liable to alteration by exposure to a moderate heat, such as GtL GIL metals and sometimes glass and porce- lain : the second method is practised with those substances, such as wood, paper, leather, silk, lacquered and japanned ware, &c which would be injured, and even destroyed at the temperature requi- site for gilding the former. The last of these methods, being the simplest, shall be firs\ described'; and we shall begin with the art of gilding on wood. There are two methods of gilding on wood, namely, oil-gilding and burnisiied gilding. Oil-gilding' is thus performed. The wood must first be covered or prim- ed with two or three coatings of boiled linseed-oil and wliite-iead, in order to fill up the pores and conceal the irregulari- ties of the surface occasioned by the veins in the wood. When tlie priming is quite dry, a thin coat of gold-size must be laid on. This is prepared by grinding to- gether some strongly calcined red ochre with the thickest drying oil that can be procured, and the older the better : that it may work freely, it is to be mixed, pre- viously to being used, with a little oil of turpentine, till it is brought to a proper consistence. If the gold-size is good it will be sufficiently dry in twelve hours, more or less, to allow the artist to pro- ceed to the last part of the process, which is the application of the gold For tliis purpose a leaf of gold is spread on tlie cushion (formed by a few folds of flannel secured on a piece of wo(xl about eight inches square by a tight covering of lea- ther) and is cut into strips of a proper size, by a blunt pallet-knife ; eacli strip being then taken up on the point of a fine brush is applied to the part intended to be gilded, and is then gently pressed down by a ball of soft cotton ; the gold immediately adheres to the sticky sur- face of the size, and after a few minutes the dexterous application of a large ca- mel's-hair brush sweeps away the loose pai'ticles of the gold-leaf without disturb- ing the rest. In a day or two the size wul be compleatly dried, and the opera- tion is finished. The advantages of tliis method of gilding are that it is very sim- ple, very durable, not readily injured by changes of weather even when exposed to the open air, and when soiled it may be cleaned by a little warm water and a soft brush : its disadvantage is that it cannot be burnisiied, antl therefore wants the high lustre produced by the next me- thod. Its chief employment is in out-door work. If wood be covered with two coats of parchment size, (see Gelatin,) and, when dry, one coat of a black compound of asphaltum, boiled in tur- pentine, in three hours after, you may Burnished gilding, or gilding in distem- per, is thus performed The surface to be gilt must first be carefully covered with strong size made by boiling down pieces of white leather, or cli|)])ings of parchment, till they are reduced to a stiff jelly ; this coating being dried, eight or ten more must be applied, consisting of the same size mixed with fine Paris plas- ter, or washed chalk; when a sufficient number of layers have been put on, vary- ing according to the nature of the work, and the whole is become quite dry, a mo- derately thick layer must be appUed, com- posed of size and bole, or yellow ochre : while this last is yet moist the gold leaf is to be put on in the usual manner; it will immediately adhere on being pressed with the cotton ball, and before the size is become perfectly dry those parts which are intended to be the most brilliant are to be cai ef'uUy burnished with an agate or dog's tooth. In order to save the la- bour of burnishing, it is a common but bad practice, slightly to burnish the brilliant parts, and to deaden the rest by drawing over them a brush dipped in size : the re- quired contrast between the pofished and unpolished gold is indeed thus obtained, but tlie general effect is greatly inferior to that produced in the regular way, and the smallest drop of water falling on the sized part occasions a stain. Tiiis kind of gildnig can only be applied on in-door work, as rain, and even a considerable de- gree of dampness will cause the gold to peel off. When dirty, it may be cleaned with a soft brush and hot spirit of wine, or oil of turpentine. It is chiefly used on picture frames, mouldings, and stucco. Letters written on vellum or paper are gilded in three ways : in the first, a httle size is mixed with the ink, and the letters are written as usual ; when they are dry, a slight degree of stickiness is produced by breathing on them, upon which the gold leaf is immediately applied, and by a little pressure may be made to adhere with sufficient firmness : in the second method, some white lead or chalk is ground up with strong si/.e, and the let- ters are made with this by means of a brush : when the mixture is almost dry the gold leaf may be laid on and after- wards buihishcd : the last method is to mix up some gold powder with size, and make tlie letters of this by means of a brush. The edges of the leaves of books are gilded, while in the binder's press, by first applying a composition formed of i'ouv parts of Armenian bole and one of sugar-candy ground together to a proper GIL GIL eonsistence, and laying it on by a brush with white of egg: this coating when nearly dry is smoothed by the burnisher, it is then slightly moistened with clean water, and the gold leaf applied and af- terwards burnished. In o;derto impress the gilt figures on the leather covers of books, the leather is first dusted over with very fine powdered rosin or mastich, then the iron tool by which the figure is made is moderately heated, and pressed down upon a piece of leaf-gold, which shghtly adlieres to it, being then imme- diately applied to the surface of the lea- ther with a certain force, the tool at the same time makes an impression, and melts the mastich which lies between the heated iron and the leather ; in conse- quence of this the gold with which the face of the tool is covered is made to ad- here to the leather, so that on removing the tool a gilded impression of it remains behind. Drinking glasses and other utensils of this material aie sometimes, especially in Germany, gilt on their edges : this is done in two ways, either by a simple adhesive varnish, or by means of fire. The varnish is prepared by dissolving in drying lin- seed oil a quantity of gum anime, or still better, of clear amber equal in weight to the oil : a very drying and adhesive var- nish is thus prepared, which, being diluted with a proper quantity of oil of turpentine, is to be applied as thin as possible to those parts of the glass which are to be gilded ; when tliis is dry, which will be in about a day, the glass is to be placed by the fire- side, or in a stove till it is so warm as al- most to burn the fingers when handled ; at this temperature the varnish will be- come glutinous, and a piece of leaf gold applied in the usual way will immediately adhere; when the gilding is thus put on and before it is grown quite cold it may be burnished, taking care only to inter- pose a piece of very thin paper between the gold and the burnisher, ff the var- nish is very good, this is the best method of gilding glass, as the gold is thus fixed on more evenly than m any other way: it often happens however, when the var- nish is but indifferent, that by repeated washmg the gold soon wears off": on this account the practice of burning in is some- times had recourse to. For this purpose some powder-gold is tempered with gum- water and borax, and in this state applied to the clean surface of the glass with a fine camel's hair pencil : when quite dry the glass is put into a stove heated to about the temperature of an annealing oven, the gum burns off, and the borax, by vitrifying, cements the gold with great firmness to the glass; after which it may be burnished. The gildings upon porce- lain is in like manner fixed by fire and bo- rax; and this kind of ware being neither transparent nov liable to sofien, and thus injure its form in a low red heat, is free from the risk and injury that the finer and more fusible kuids of glass are apt to sustain from such treatment. All the methods of gildmg hitherto de- scribed resemble each other by being ac- complished by means of some adhesive medium; thS, however, is not the case with gilding upon metals ; the gold is brought into immediate contact with the other metal, and they both remain firmly united merely by the attraction (jf adhe- sion subsisting between them. The sim- plest of all the kinds of gilding on metal, and which strikingly demonstrates the power of the affinity of adhesion, is one that is sometimes practised on plane sur- faces of copper and iron with considera- ble success. The metal being previously polished and quite clean, is heated to about the temperature of melted lead, and co- vered with a double layer of gold leaf: by the cautious application of a blood stone burnisher applied gently at first, and increasing the force of the pressure by degrees, the surfaces of gold and cop- per are brought to touch each other in almost every point, and then adhere with a force proportioned to the completeness of the contact. The first layer being tlius burnished down, a second is made to ad- here in the same manner, and sometimes a third, if the gilding is intended to be verv sohd. The objection to this me- thod of gilding is its tediousness, and the almost impossibility of using a sufficient pressure without injuring the evenness of the gilded surface: where these objec- tions do not apply, there cannot be a more effectual mode of gilding, as is evident from the manufacture of gilt silver or copper wire. The bar, before it is com- mitted to the wire-drawer, is plated with gold, by having several leaves of gold successively burnished down upon it, and being then subjected to the strong com- pression that takes place in wii-e -drawing, the gold and the other metal become so perfectly united," as to form in a manner but one substance. , The most usual method of covering the surface of a metal with gold is by means of an amalgam, or as it is technically call- ed, water-gilding. If the metal to be gift is silver, the best wav of pi-oceeding is first to soak it in warm dilute muriatic acid, that the surface may be rendered perfectly clean ; it must then be washed in clean water, changed two or three GIL GJL limes to get rid of tlie whole of the acid : being afterwards dried and made mode- rately warm, a Httle g-old-ainalgam also warm, is to be carefully and evenly spread upon the silver, to which it will imme- diately adhere: when this is com]>ieted, the piece i:> placed upon a convenient sup- port over a clear charcoal fire, and while the mercury is evaporating, if any specks or places appear that have escaped thq amalgam, a small piece is to be laid on and spread with a bi-ush to supply the deficiency, without removing the article from the fire. After a time the whole of the mercury will be driven off, and the piece after cooling being accurately exa- mined will be found to be entirely cover- ed with a thin coating of pale dull gold. The small roughnesses and loosely ad- hering particles are now to be removed with a scratch brush, which is made of some exceedingly fine brass-wire bound together into a tuft ; by this the surface is rendered perfectly smooth and bright, but it still remains of a pale yellow co- lour: this defect is next removed by warming the piece and smearing it over with gilder's wax, a composition of bees- wax, red ochre, verdigris, -and green vi- triol or alum. The wax being burnt off over a charcoal fire, and the piece quench- ed in urine, the colour of the gilding will be found to be much licightened ; if it is not sufficiently so by the first application a succeeding one will complete the de- sired effect; after which the work may be burnished or not, according to tlie taste of the artist. Instead of the com- mon gilder's w:ix a mixture of equal parts of nitre, sal ammoniac, green vitriol, and verdigris moistt;ncd with water, will an- swer tJie purpose. Copper and the alloys formed by its combination \^ith zinc are gilded nearly in the same way as silver: but as their af- finity for mercury is' considerably less than that of slher, it would bedifticidtto make (he amalgam of gold adhere to the burnished surface of tiiese metals by the same means, and with the s&me evenness as takes place in the case just described. To obviatcthis inconvenience, advantage is very ingeniously takei; of the action of nitric acid to facilitate the adhesion of tJie coi^ptr and mcrctiry in the following manner. . Tin- piece of copjier, a button for ex:imple, is first cleaned by steeping y^ acid' and siibscqiient washing, ar.d is then burnished either in a lathe, or by any other means: after this it is dipped in a neutralized solution of nitrate of mercury, and in the space of a few seconds, owing to the strong affinity of nitric acid for copper, the mercurial salt is decomposed. the copper takes the place of the mercu- r\ , and at tlie same time the mercury is deposited in the metallic state on the sur- face of the copper, covering it entirely, and stronglj adhering to it. The gold amalgam is now applied, and the rest of the process £foes on as already described. By this method of proceeding, a given quantity of gold may be m:f polished silver, upon which the minute panicles of gold became fixed, and cove, ed it with an ex- tremely thin coating, which,. when bur- nished, exhibited the genuine colour and lustre of this precious meiai. ' We have seen, therefore, that the real application of gold as a cove: ing may be performed,, either by a metallic mixiure after the manner of a pigment; or by fric- tion, upon the same principle as black lead and coloured chalks are used ; or by the chemical precipitation of gold from mercury, or some other fit solvent; or, lastly, by glueing or fiisteoing extremely thin leaves of gold to the surface intended to be gilded 2nd That the gfold prepared for paint- ing is called shell-gold or gold-powder. 3rd. That fjr cold gilding by friction, a fine Unen rag is steeped in a saturated solution of gold, till it has entirely imbibed the liquor ; this rag is then dried over a fire, and afterward burned to tinder. 4th. That the chemical application of gold to the surface of metals is usually called water-gilding, 5th. That for the method called Gre clan gilding, equal parts of sal ammoniac and corrosive sublimate ai*e dissolvt-d in nitric acid, and a solution of gold is made in this menstruum ; upon this the solution is somewhat concenti'ated, and applied to the surface of silver, which becomes quite black; but, on being exposed to a red heat, it assumes the appearance of gild- ing. 6th That the method of gilding silver, brass, or copper, by an amalgam, is with eight parts of mercury, and one of gold, arc incorporated together by heatmg them m a crucible. As soon as the .gold is perfectly dis.solved, the mixture is pour- ed into cold water, and is then ready for use. 7th. That the gilding of iron by mere a large cap made of coarse wool and goat's hail", and in this they are stirred about with a brush. The mercury is then volatilized by healing over the fire in a pan, to the loss of the article, and in- jury of the workinen*s health ; though the greater pait might be recovered, with less injury to the operators. By an act of the British parliament, a gross of buttons, of an inch diameter, are required to have five grains of gold on them; but many are deficient even of this small quantity- 9'v.li The gilt trinkets that are now common in the shops, are said to be made of copper coated with brass by an amal- gam of one part zinc and twelve mercury, put into muriatic acid with some argal. In this the copper, previously cleaned witli nitric acid is boiled If a little gold be added to tire amalgam, the efrect is im- proved ; but this is not always done. Cop- per thus coated may be drawn out to tlie fineness of a hair. 1 'th. 'Ihat painting with gold upon porcelain or glass is done with the pow- der of gold, which remains behind after distilling the aqua regia from a solution of that metal. Ii is laid on with borax and g.im-water, burned in, and polished. The gilding of glass is commonly effected by covering the part with a solution of bo- rax, and applying gold loaf upon it, which is afterward fixed by burning. 11th. That tlie gilders of wood, and other compositions designed to supply the "place of carved work, make* use of two methods : the one culled oil-gilding, or gilding in oil, because the gold is made to adhere by nieans of an oily composi- tioii ; the other is sometimes called water- srikling, though seldom, but more fre- quently burnished gold, on accoiint of the biirnish it b cap..ble of, which is one of the principal advantages it possesses over the other method. 12th. That the method of gilding Ir Gil. GIL >^ burnished gold consists in coA'eilng' the v;ork witli parchment size and wJiiting:, thinly laid on at (ive or six dirti;rent times. Tills is covered with a yellow size made of Ai-menian bole, a little wax, and some parchment size ; but in this, as in most oilier compositions used in the arts, there arc variations which depend on tiie skill or the capi ice oftlie artists. 13th. That the edges of the leaves of books, are gilded by applying a composi- tion of one part Armenian bole, and one quarter of a part of sugarcandy, ground together witii wiiite of eggs. Lastlj-, that leather is gilded either with leaf- brass or silver, but most com- monly by tlie latter, in which case a gold colourei^ v»rnish is laid ove*^ tiie metal. Tin-f;iil muy be used instead of silver-leaf for this less perfect gilding, upon such works as do not possess flexibility. Gir.iKg poivJer, preparation of^ ^ GH :ing on wood. Gilding in oil. Gilding in distemper. Gilding of letters, on vellum or pa- per. Gilding on leather, Gilding on glass. Gilding on metal, in general. Gilding, water, Gilding of steel. Gilding on silver. Gilding, cold, Gilding Grecian, Gilding of brass. Gilding of copper. Gilding of buttons. Gilding of trinkets, _^ Gilding lacquer, fir Gold lacquer. — See Lacquer and Varnish. GIN, Geneva, Holland — This spirit, which takes the name of gin, is prepared by distilling malt liquor a second time, with the addition of juniper berries. Spirit thus obtained, is merely a solution or impregnation of the essential oil of the feeriy in the liquor. • Instead of using the berry, the essential oil, called the oil of juniper, is merely added, which may be afterwards distilled. The practice of sophisticating liquor with spirit of tur- pentine, in imitation of gin, has been carried to a great length. Whatever may be said respecting the preparation of this liquor, we may add, that few possess the art or secret of manufactu- ring the genuine Hollands, as the sel- lers term it. We arc told, however, upon good au- thorit}', that the common gin is prepared by distiUing two ounces of oil of turpen- tine, and three handsful of salt, mixed with ten gallons of ordinary malt spirits. To make tiie best kind, the distillers take three pounds of juniper berries, ten gallons of pr.iot .spirit, and four gal- lons of water, and draw it off by a gen- tle fire. The best Geneva, called Hollands Geneva, is impoited from Holland, and is ciuefly maimfactured at Schiedam, a village near Rotterdam. U is supposed tliey use the same ingredients as pre- scribed in the last mentioned lecipe ; only instead of malt spirits, they use French brandies. They have also n^nufactories of Gene- va, at Ostend, Antwerp, and other pai-ts of Flandeis and Brabant ; but the Gene- va of these countries is greatly inferior to tiiat coming from Ilotterdam, and ! worth nearly one third less in this mar- ket. Notwithstanding tlie many attempts, which have been made in this country, to maiiufactui'e gin equal to the Rotterdam, yet no precise imit;ition has yet been ef- ibcied; ihougli at the same time ue are of ojiinion, that a set of experiments wich different substances, and. the mate- rials of the best kind, conducted with care and precision, would be attended with success. We are inclined to believe, that the age, biid proof of the liquor has a considerable tendency to improve the flavour and taste of gin. 1 he use of sweet spirit of nitre, in addition to the oil or berry of juniper has been recom- mended. This no doubt will improve the flavour, and make the liquor more diuretic. GIN, commonly called a Jinny, is a machine to free cotton from seeds. Some machines go by water or horses, and some by hand. The gin used in South Carolina differs from the common feet gins, in having iron instead of wooden rollers, and is said to gin 65 lbs. of cot- ton per day. An improved gin was late- ly invented by Messrs. Carr and Hancock of Philadelphia, which is said to be su- perior to the common kind. A figure of the Carolina gin is given by Dr. JVIease,in his edition of the Domestic Encyclopedia. GLASS. — The vitriform state is tliat of an incombustible body, which has been fused by a red heat. A numerous set of experiments have been made on the vitrification of earths alone, or by metallic oxyds, either performed or con- firmed by Kirwan, Achard, Klaproth, -Vlovcau and Wedgewood ; and also on the vitrification of earths with saline bo- dies, which have led to results of much importance in the manufacture of glass. See Glass-Making. GIASS-MAKING.— In order to com- GLA GLA prehend the different subjects embraced under the head of glass -making, we shall first enumerate the materials used in the formation of glass ; secondly, treat of the glass furnace and pots ; thirdly, of the furnace and working of glass ; and, fourth- ly, of the different kinds of glass. After which we will notice the coloured and opake glasses. We trust, that however long the articles may appear to the general reader, the importance of the art, as an item of industry and improvement in the catalogue of American manufac- tures, will be a sufficient apology. When, or by whom, the art of making glass was first found out, is uncertain : some will have it invented . before the flood ; but without any proof Neri traces the antiquity of this art as far back as the time of Job : but Dr Merret will have it as ancient as either pottery, or the making of bricks ; because that a kiln of bricks can scarce be burnt, or a batch of pottery be made, but some of the bricks and the ware will be at least superficially turned to glass ; so that it must have been known at the building of Babel, and as long before as the making of bricks was used. It must have been known consequently among the Egyptians, when the Israelites were employed by them in making bricks. Of this kind, no doubt, was that fossil glass mentioned by Ferrant. Imperat. to be found under ground where great fires had been. The ^Egyptians indeed boast, that this art was taught them by the great Hermes. Aristophanes, Aristotle, Alexander Aphrodisseus, Lucretius, and John the divine, pui us out of all doubts that glass was used in their days. Glass invariably contains two essential ingi'edients, silex, and an a'kali, either potasli or soda, and these are all that are absolutely necessary for its composition, but other accessory substances are also used for particular purposes, among which may be particularly mentioned, lime in the form of chalk, borax, oxyd of lead, oxyd of manganese, white oxyd of arsenic and nitre. Each of these requires some separate notice. The Silex may be obtained ftom various sources, and of different degrees of puri- ty, according to the fineness of the glass requii-ed. The siliceous material almost imiversally used, is sea sand, which is well known to consist of minute rounded grains of quartz, and is already sufficient- ly small to be used without any other pre- paration than that of wasliing. Another equally pure kind of silex, is the common black gun -flints, which before using, must be healed red-hot, and inamediately VOL. T. quenched in cold water. The heat whi- tens them, and the water splits them in every direction, by which means they may afterwards be ground in mills without much difficulty. But this ground flint though largely used in the poUeries iu Great Britain, is scarcely ever employed in glass-making. Tlie rounded lumps of white quartz found so abundantly in the beds of rivers in many mountainous dis- tricts, are sometimes used in foreign countries for this purpose, being first heated and ground to powder. In the different kinds of siliceous or jlinty stones, the United States abound. The alkali used in this manufactiu-e, is either soda or potash, each being appa- rently equally well fitted for tlie purpose. It is always used at first in the state of carbonat, though the carbonic acid flies off' in the process ; for, glass is a com- pound of silex and alkali, and not alka- line carbonat. These alkalies are used in every degi-ee of purity, according to the required quality of the glass. For the finest flint-glass, the best pearl ashes, pu- rified by solution and evaporation to dry- ness are employed ; but the inferior glas- ses are made with the coarser alkalies, with bai-illa where this alkali is cheap, with common wood ashes, and very large- ly with kelp. Though these alkalies are very impure, this does not prevent their dissolving the silex into a very good and perfect glass ; for the impurities partly consist of neuti'al salts, and partly of lime and other earths, all of which assist in the vitrification. Glass made from these al- kalies, has always more or less of agi-een tinge, as m the common bottle-glass, ow- ing to the presence of iron contained in these ashes. The methods of purifying and preparing these alkalies, are describ- ed under the Carbonats of the respective alkalies. Lime when employed in glass-making, is generally used in" the form of chalk. The property of lime, and the other alka- line eartlis, in promoting the vitrification of silex, has been already mentioned, and shewn to be veiy powerful, though less so than that of the alkalies. Lime is used only in small proportions in the glass-pots, fi)r the escape of the carbonic acid from the chalk during the fusion, causes the materials to swell to an inconvenient de- gree ; and also, if the lime is in excess it acts very powerfully on the sides of the pots. Besides, an over proportion renders the glass opake and milky on cooling, though quite clear when hot. Experience has shewn, that to lOO parts of silex, with the requisite quantity of alkali, no more than about 6 or 7 of quick lime can be 3e GLA GLA added (or chalk in proportion) without endangering the clearness of the glass- The particular use of this ingredient, be- sides that of affording a veiy cheap flux, is to lender the glass easier to work, and less habie to crack by sudden changes of temperature. Borax, is perhaps, the most powerful and valuable flux that is known. On ac- count of its high price, it is not used in any of the common glasses, but is em- ployed in the finest kinds of plate glass, ancl those articles that are required to be particularly clear and free from specks and bubbles. It is peculiarly well fitted for this purpose, as it renders ail vitres- cent compounds into which it enters re- markably thin-flowing, and therefore best adapted for being cast in a mould, which is the way in which these articles are manu- factured. A very small quantity of borax will con-ect any deficient strength in the alkali. The oxyds of lead, of which litharge and minium, (red lead) are the only ones em- ployed in the large way, are of singular use in glass-making. Litharge melts by itself into a very dense clear yellow transparent glass, remarkably soft and unctuous to the touch, fusible at a very low red heat, and when melted acting so powerfully on all earthen vessels as to run through the common porous crucibles in a very short time, almost like liquor through a sieve, but vitrifying and corroding the bottom of tlie crucible in its passage. Litharge is therefore a most powerful flux to all earthy mixtures, and it impai-ts to glass the valuable qualities of gi-eater density and greater power of refracting the rays of light, and of bearing sudden changes from heat to cold, without being so liable to crack, and also greater tenacity when red- hot, and therefore easier to be worked. Most of the finer glasses contain a con- siderable quantity of this oxyd, particu- laily the London flint glass, or that sort which is used for most of the purposes of the tables, for lustres, and other ornamen- tal works, which when cut into various forms, display so beautiful a play of light, for artificial gems, and for most optical purposes. Glass containing much lead, has, however, the great defect of being extremely soft so as to be readily scratch- ed and injured by almost every hard body it rubs against. It is also extremely fusi- ble, so that thin tubes of it will bend with ease in the flame of a candle, and will sink down into a shapeless mass, at a ve- ry moderate red-heat. This quality for chemical purposes, is sometimes an ad- vantage, sometimes the contrary. Wiien, the lead is in excess there is also some danger of the glass being corroded by ve- ry acrid liquors. Another defect also at- tending the use of lead, is the exii eme dif- ficulty of uniting it so intimutely with the sllex and alkali, that a whole piece of glass wrought with it, shall be of equal density throughout, as the litharge on ac- count of its much superior density is al- ways liable to sink towards the bottom of the glass-pots before it can be detained by the other higredients. This inequality subsists throughout, so that every stratum of the melted mass is of intermediate density between the stratum above and that below, which is apt to occasion waves in the glass when wrought, such as appear when water is gently poured on sulphuric acid, without mixing-, and the vessel slightly agitated. This defect is particularly felt in some optica^ purposes where a certain thickness of glass is used. The black oxyd of manganese was used in glass making long before its pre- cise nature was understood. Its ancient name of glass so ip denotes its particular use, namely, that of cleai-ing the glass from any accidental foulness of colour which it would otherwise contract from the impurity of the alkali, or other mate- rials employed, and especially the green tinge, owing as already mentioned to the presence of iion. Oxyd of manganese, however, is capa- ble of destroying such colours as are pro- duced principally by coaly matter, it is said to produce a mixed colour with the ^ oxyds in the glass. The substances which take away the colour from glass tinged red with manga- nese, which often hapjiens, are all the salts with the basis of sulphuric acid, such as gypsum, sul[)hat of soda, &c. and also sulphur itself, likewise the oxyds of tin and iron, and of some other metals- The oxyd of manganese is a very pow- erful flux for all earthy matters. This is seen in the result of all the attempts to reduce it to a reguline s*:ate in the usual way of combining with a saline carbona- ceous flux, and heating in a naked cru- cible. Not a paiticle of the oxj d is re- duced in this way, but the crucible con- stantly runs down, in a heat sufficiently intense for the reduction of manganese, together with all its contents, into a green slag. The only way hitherto known of reducing this oxyd, is to enclose it with- out any saline or earthy addition in a cru- cible lined with charcoal, and ajjply a very intense heat. Manganese as well as lead gives a great density to glass, and also like lead it always settles somewhat to the bottom of the pots where it accu- mulates, and being here out of the way GIA OLA of most of the decolouring additions it gives a purple to the glass immediately adhering to the bottom, and partly cor- rodes the pots ; so that when these are worn out and broken up, they are deeply encrusted with a thick purple vitrescent slag easily separable by the hammer. The oxyd of manganese forms a glass spyecifically heavier than common glass ; whence it anses, that tlie glass at the bot- tom of the pots in many glass-works is ^^olet. It is undoubted, that when this happens, the dose of manganese is too great. The usual method of remedying this inconvenience is to stir up the glass with an iron bar, after previously raising the fire to render it more fluid- It is thought, that the manganese is in part dissipated by that means ; but it is merely distributed through the mass. A more effectual remedy is to add some combus- tible substance to the glass to destsoy its colour ; such as arsenic, charcoal, sul- phur, &c. The vhite Oxyd of Arsenic is another flux used pretty largely in glass-making. This substance (as fully mentioned under the article arsenic^ is volatile in the fire in proportion as it approaches the metallic state, 'and hence it is of advantage to em- ploy niti-e to oxygenate it more highly, and make it more fixed. Its use in cor- recting the purple red colour of manga- nese has been just mentioned. Arsenic is a very powerful flux, and ver}' cheap, but must be used only m great moderation, for it takes a longer time to mix intimate- ly with glass, and to allow it to be per- fectly clear, than any other of the addi- tions commonly employed. Glasses in which the arsenic is not thoi-oughly or long enough fused, have a milky hue, which encreases by age : when the arsenic is in excess they tend to deliquescence, gradually become soft, and are decom- posed. They are besides unsafe as drink- ing vessels. The arsenic is constantly volatilizing from the arsenical glass when preparing, that is, till it is intimately united wilii the rest of the glass ; after which however it cannot again be sepa- rated by heat or any common means. As arsenic is entirely volatilized when in contact with any carbonaceous matter, another use has been made of it, which is to disperse any such matter which may remain in the glass, owing to a defect in the calcination of the alkali, or any other cause. \Vhen this happens, small lumps of white arsenic are sometimes thrust down to the bottom of the glass-pots and stirred in with the contents, and the arsenic meeting with the unbumt carbon diffused through the glass unites with it, is speedily volatilized with it, and the glass is left freed both from the adhering carbon, -and also from most of the arsenic that was added. The motion excited through the melting glass by the volatili- zation of the arsenic is also thought useful in hastening the compleat vitrification of the ingredients. Mtre is used in glass-making only in small quantities, and is an accessory in- gredient to fulfil particular purposes. This salt, at a heat even much below that of the glass-pots is readily decomposed, giv- ing out much oxygen, nitrous gas and a^ot, and leaving behind its pure pot-ash. It is of service in destroying any carbo- naceous matter in the ingredients of the glass (with which it should be mixed be- fore fusion) and its use in fixing arsenic, and in keeping up the tinging power of manganese has been already mentioned. The same circumstance of keeping me- tallic oxyds up to their liighest state of oxygenation, also renders this salt often useful, and even necessary in the prepa- ration of some others of the coloured glasses. Of the Proportion of Silex to the Saline JIuxes. — The exact proportion and num- ber of ingredients that enter into every species of glass cannot easily be obtained with any certainty, though many appa- rently good mixtures are given by differ- ent authors, which will be afterwaixis men- tioned. But some observations may be made on the solvent power of mere alkali over siliceous earth, which is the basis of the rules for the composition of glass, as, strictly speaking, nothing else is neces- sary for the formation of glass than a so- lution of silex in alkali by a melting heat ; all the other additions are more properly useful than necessar}- ingi-edients. When silex is melted v,'iih twice its weight, or more, of dry carbonated al- kali, either potash or soda, the result is a verj' soft deliquescent vitreous mass, al- ways more or less opake, strongly al- kaline to the taste, and which on expo- sure to moist air, or more speedily if put into water, totally dissolves into a clear liquor which is a solution of silex in al- kali. This silicited alkaline solution is decomposed by ai\ the acids, which se- parate the silex in the form of a white powder. When the alkali employed (meaning all along in this place the dry carbonated alkali) only equals the silex in weight, or at least does not much exceed it, the glass is now transpaient, but is still so- luble in water as before. It is not till the alkali is diminished to about one half of the weight of the silex liLA GLA that the glass becomes perfectly hard and insoluble in any corrosive liquors, (ihe fluoric acid excepted) and in sfiort, ac- quires the character of a perfect glass. This proportion therefore, that is two parts of sand to one of alkali is usually the datum on which the doses of tlie spe- cies of alkalies actually used are regulat- ed. Thus if common wood ashes (of which the alkaline part is leckoned at no more than 10 per cent.) are employed, 100 lbs. of these would lequire no more than about 20 lb of sand. If the best Spanish barilla, containing from 45 to 50 per cent, of carbonat of soda, be used, an equal wt-ighl of sand may be added; but if purified pearlash be taken, it will melt down perfectly twice its own weight of .sand. But glasses composed merely of pure alkali and sand require a very strong fire for ti;eir fusion, and are hard, harsh, and difficult to work. They are therefore never used alone, for even when common ashes and sand are the only ingredients, the ashes contain an abundance of earth and other substances. As o.)e half the weight of the sand is reckoijed an abun- dant allowance of alkali, it follows of course that when litharge, arsenic, borax, or any other fluxes are employed, the quantity of alkaU will be proportionally diminished. It must not be supposed that the glas- ses themselves contain nearly the original proportion of s\ks. and alkali that was put into the glass-pots. Of these two materials the alkali is abundantly volatile in the intense fire nccessaij for' glass- making, but the silex is absolutely fixed ; and hence in projjortion to the strength and continuance of the fire, the i-elative quantities of the two are constantly alter- ing, that of the alkali diminishing, and that of the silex and other ingredients in- creasing That the alkali dots really vo- latilize, and very rapidly at first when in large proportion in the mixture, is put beyond a doubt by the dense vapoiir which always proceeds from the glass- potts when ilie glass is first heating, and which corrodes tlie covers of the cruci- bles, and by various other tests is proved to be part of the alkali escaping. This may partly be owing to a want of tho- rough mixture of the silex, which, though in grains when sand is used, is very far short of intimate mechanical mixture No continuance of heat indeed can drive off' all the alkali, for when once melted into glass, it must remain as such, but the solvent power of alkah upon silex in- creases in propordon as the temperature is raised, as occurs in most otlier cases of solution. Mr. Loysel has the following remarks on the subject of the volatiUiation of the alkali, but it is to be wished thai he had given more of the particulars of the ex- periments on which they are lounded. 11 a mixture of two parts of sand and one of alkali be exposed for the accustomed number of hours in the ordinaiy glass- house fires (about 8000° degrees Keau- mur) the glass when finished will contain no more than a fourth part of alkali, all the rest having been dissipated. If the glass be iieated so as to retain no more than about 15 or 20 of alkali to 100 of silex, it will be very hard, transparent, and almost equal in beauty to rock crys- tal. Of a glass originally made of two parts of sand and three of alkali, Mr. Loysel observes, that if kept in the heat of 3000° for' one or two days, the result will be a soft glass retaining neaily equal parts of alkah and sil^'x ; if further heat- ed to 9000** a solid glass will remain com- posed of about four parts of silex to one of alkali ; and lastly, if urged to a heat of 10 to 12000<' the glass will be extremely hard, brilliant, and will consist of no more • than three parts of alkali to sefen of silex. All the common alkalies are largely mixed with various neutral salts, parti- cularly common salt, and some of the sulphats. It does not seem entirely as- certained what share these have in the vitrification. It is generally asserted tliat they are merely inefficient, and act as ex- traneous bodies, and it is certain, that during the fusion of the glass materials a quantity of scum rises to the top of the pots, which is a very heterogeneous mix- ture of common salt and other neutral . salts and other impurities of the alkali, '^ as will be presently noticed. Common '« salt being readily volatile in a full red '^ heat, can scarcely be supjwsed to conti'act mucli permanent union with the silex, and yet if a quantity of this salt be inclosed in a well luted crvicible and heated without addition, it will readily penetrate the sides of the vessel, and deeply corrode lliem in its passage- But the sulphats being fixed in the fire can withstand without volatilization all the heat of the glass-pots, and at this temi)erature they arc decomposed largely by the silex, this earth uniting with the alkali of the sulphat and the acid flying off' alone Thus if three parts of sulphat , of soda ond one of silex are put into an earthen retort with a receiver, and ihe fire strongly urged to whiteness, a trans- GLA GL.\. parent glass of silex and soda will re- main, and the receiver will contain much sulphureous acid. This is one of the verj* frequent exam- ples of chemical affinity being clianged by temperature, for at any common heat the sulphuric acid has a much stronger affinity for alkali than this has for silex, and therefore will decompose the solution of silicited alkaU, and separate the si- lex. Of the common neuti*al salts therefore, the mm-iats probably add but little to the quantity of real flux, but on the contrary, the siilphats are important additions, and leave in the glass pot the alkaU or earth with which they were united. Hence in some places sulphat of soda, where impure, and not reserved for other purposes, is sold to the glass- makers, and found to answer completely This is the case at Fi-eyberg, where the pjTitical ores of silver and copper after roasting are converted into sulphats, from whicli a large quantity of impure sulphat of soda mixed with some aiseni- ats is obtained, which is used without preparation as the sole flux in glass- making. Of the Glass Furnaces and Pots -^GIslSS is made in large deep pots or crucibles closed every where except at one side- opening, and arranged round a kiln or dome-shaped oven, into the middle of which they project, and by which they are entii-ely enclosed except at the side orifice above-mentioned, which opens iuto a small recess formed by the alternate projections of the masonrj' and flues of the kiln in which recess the workmen stand. The kiln is supported on arches, be- neatli which is a Krge space for a brisk and copious draught of cold aii- from without. The floor of the kiln nearly level with the ground is covered with a grate of very strong iron bars on which the fuel is thrown, and the flame draws verv strong and fierce i-ound the pots, and passes out together with the smoke, in one body, through the top of the dome, which is lengthened into a chimney for the space of a few feet. Tiie precise construction of the glass house can only be understood by figures which cannot be given in this place. At the top of the dome between the pots and the chimney, is a kind of broad covered shelf which is heated by the flame in its passage round it, but to a much less degree of intensitv than the pots, and serves as a receptacle for the glass as soon as wrought, in which it muy cool, slowly and g^adualJv. This is the annealing oven. Very great care is required in building a glass-house, to form the bricks of a« earth which combines in tlie highest de- gree the qualities of density and infus'bi- lity, so as to enable them to withstand the unceasing action of very strong heat for a great length of time, for the fires are seldom suflfered to go out from the time the furnace begins to be in action, till the inevitable weai- and fusion of the walls renders a repair necessary, which ma}- be in about two or three yciirs. But still greater attention is required in selecting proger materials for the glass-pots, as these have to withstand for a given time not only the constant action of a very fierce fire, but also the solvent power of the glass itself with the variety of power- ful fluxes in full vitrification. The pots therefore, being made of earth, must ne- cessarily be themselves always gradualh' dissolving in their contents, and hence, besides the pi"operty of difficult fusibili- ty, an earth of considerable purity is re- qiured for these, so that a small admix- ture with tlie glass may not injure its quality. The chief material both of the walls of tlie fiu-nace and of the pots is clay, as it is of almost everj- vessel and substance destined to bear a long and violent heat. This is mixed with sand, in different pro- portions according to its quality, for the fire-bricks and other parts of the fur- nace. On an average, a fine stiff clav will require about two-thirds as much of sand to bring it to such a consistence that it will work easily, dry in a very com- pact mass, and resist the impression of fire tor a length of time- Still howe\^r, this addition of sand renders it in some degree fusible, so that when the fire is in activity, drops of vitrified earth u^re con- stantly and slowly falling- from the walls, some of which cannot be prevented from dropping into the glass and mixing with it The crucibles are made of a still more refi-actory mixture, which consists simply of raw and of burnt clav, the latter is called technically cemeKt, And is procured fi-ona the remains of the for- mer furnaces when pulled down for re- paration. As clay loses its plasticitv bv bakmg, it then answers all the purposes of sand in diminishing the tenacity of the mass, and especially in lessening the shrijikage whilst drying and being the same kind of earth as the unbaked, it adds nothing to the vitrescibility of the material, for .is has been already shewn, earthy compoimds are, ceteris paribus, fu- sible in proportion to the number of in- gi'edients of which they are composed. I'he particulai- manipulations employed in constructing a glass-furnace and pots GLA GLA :iie foreign to the present purpose : very great precaution is used in drying' tlieni thoroughly and very gradually. This is peculiarly necessary in making the pots, lor as they are intended to hold a consi- derable weight of glass, and to last msxny months, they must be made very thick and strong, and Ihercfore would readily crack without much care When finish- ed, they are first kept in a warm sheltered room for many weeks to dissipate much of their moisture, and the small fissures formed by the unequal shrinking of the clay are closed up by beating gently with a mahet. I'liey are afterwards heated very gradually in a small oven made for this purpose, and ;u-e slowly brought to a red heat and kept there the requisite time, after which tliey are removed, whilst still hot, to the fur- nace and soldered down to their place by fire clay. A still further shrinkage takes place when in the furnace, fov which reason they are let to stand empty for a day or two before they are fitted to re- ceive the materials for glass. These pots last on an averas^e about a year, and hence' they must be changed once or twice during the continuance of the furnace it- self. The fuel used in England, is con- stantly coal, and the best is of the kind that gives a strong steady blaze. As the glass-pots open only outward, none of the fuel or flame conies in contact with , their contents, except through any accidental crack in the clay soldering. Considerable variety prevails respect- ing the exact form and construction of the furnace and crucibles, in dillerent coun- tries, and also according to the kind of manufacture, and in particular the plate- glass furnace requires a diflerent ar- rangement OJ the fusion and working of Glass — The sand, alkali, and other materials for the glass, after mixture^ are usually first cal- cined for a longer or shorter time, by a separate operation, before they are trans- ferred to the glass-pots. , This operation is cMQAfritt'tng, and is performed either in small furnaces close adjoining to the proper glass furnace and heated by the same fuel after the chief force has been spent upon the glass-pots, or else in small furnaces or ovens constructed for the ex- press purpose. The uses of hitting are, 10 drive oft' all moisture from the materi- als which might endanger the glass-pots, to expel part of the carbonic acid from the alkalies and chalk, and thus to mode- rate tlie swelhng up in the glass-pots, and especially to cause an adhesion or com- mencement of chemical union between the alkali and silex, and the metallic oxyds. For if the raw materials were immediate- ly exposed to the intense heat of the glass- pots, the alkali would How thin like wa- ler, and the grosser particles of the sand and the heavier oxyds would fal to the bottom, leaving the alkali above, nearly disengaged, and tlierefore liable stj'ongly to act on the crucibles, and also a large portion would be rapidly volatilized to mere waste. The glass materials there- fore, would thus have an excess of sand from the loss of the alkali, and a portion would remain at the bottom unvitrified. Fritting should be gradual, and carried to the point of semi-vitrification, in which the materials strongly adhere and begin to become pasty, but are still opake, and not yet homogeneous. It has the further use of destroying any carbohaceoue mat- ter.- When the materials are sufficiently fritted they are thrown into the glass-pots with clean iron shovels through the side opening. I'he fire is previously raised to its greatest intensity to prevent the whole furnace from being chilled and to save time. As the fritted materials are much more bulky than when they fall into a thin- flowing glass, the pots receive their full charge by two or three successive por- tions, tiie last-added being always tho- rouglily melted down before a fresh charge is thrown in When full, the side openinpf is closed up with wet clay, except a small hole for examining the work, which closure is pulled down when the glass is well refined, and about to be worked oft". As soon as the frit begins to feel the action of the fire in the glass-pots, which is immediately raised to its greatest pitch, it sinks down into a soft pasty state, which gradually encreases in tenacity till a perfect fusion is effected It is still how- ever opake at first, owing to the rising of a quantity of a white porous scum, the na- ture of which has engaged much atten- tion, and is known by the name oi'sandiver, or glass-gall. This substance appears to be a confused mass, consisting of all those salts, contained in common alkalies, which readily melt at somewhat less than a glass-making heat, and arQ either natu- rally, considerably volatile, or have little if any affinity for silex, and do not unite in the composition of glass, but being super- ficially lighter, rise to the top. There is another heterogenous substance, also call- ed sandiver, which sometimes is found at the bottom of the pots, and is taken out when the whole is worked off. The na- ture of this is very different from the other, and consists apparently of a vitri- GLA GLA fied mass of arsenic and earthy impuri- ties. But the scum or proper glass-gall is almost entirely saline. When laded out and cooled, it forms a white crumbly mass, sometimes quite white, and at oth- er times brown and fouled, and strongly saline, but not very uniform in its compo- sition, being sometimes merely salt, often very bitter, probably as common salt or sulphat of potash predominate. Glass- gall is very volatile in a strong fire, so that it is constantly dispersing from off the surface of the glass in a dense va- pour, at first thick and black, afterwards whiter, which verj- powerfully corrodes the top of the crucible in its passage. If the fusion were continued long enough, the whole would be dispersed merely in tfiis way ; but it is generally scummed off with iron ladles, and sold to metal-refiners as a powerful flux. As part of the alkali itself certainly is dissipated by the conti- nuance of fire, partly before it can unite with the silex, partly from the glass it- self, much of the corrosion of the pots must be owing to this circumstance, and probably it must also unite in part with the glass-gall, which renders it slightly deliquescent. An abundance of this glass- gall is one of the greatest incon%eniences that the glass-maker can meet with, for it requires a considerable time of very strong heat before the whole can be tlissi- pated ; or if the glass be wrought before it is thoroughly purged of this material it is full of bubbles, unsound, and has a cloudy gelatinous appearance. Glass made \mh potash, is more likely to suflTer from glass-gall, than the soda glasses ; for the potash-glasses are harder and do not run so thin as the others, and the glass- gall arisuig from them does not so easily dissipate in the fire. During this part of the process, small samples are occasionally drawn out of the pots with an iron rod, to examine the state of the materials ; and, gradually, the glass becomes more and more flexible, dense, and less brittle, and at last the glass-gall is entirely dissipated, and the vapours which it occasioned, are no lon- ger to be perceived. This is the first and very well defined step in the process of glass-melting. The glass is now full of minute specks or bubbles, which the continuance of the heat causes to expand and b\n-st at tlie top, till at last it refines beautifully clear, transparent, and colourless, as is seen by the samples, which are, from time to time, taken out and cooled. This second pro- cess, namely, from tiie cessation of tiie vapour of the glass-gall and its thorough removal, to the time when the glass is perfectly clear and free from bubbles, is called the refining. The glass is now com- pleat, but is of too thin a consistence to be wrought, it is therefore cooled by stop- ping the draught of the fire round the in- dividual pot, and in cooling, it thickens to the working point. The clay witii which the opening was luted is then picked off", and the working begun. But if the glass is to be cast into plates (as all the large minors are) a much shorter cooling is requii'ed, as for this purpose it is required to flow very thin and hot. The particular manner of managing the pots, and the alternations of filling and working tliem off varies considerably, and depends chiefly on the convenience of the manufacturer. Sometimes half the number of pots (which are generally six in common glass-houses) are kept in the working sUite, wliilst the materials are melting or refining in the three others, and sometimes they are all filled together. On an average, it takes about forty-eight hours for the fine flint glasses, froni the time that the pots are first filled till the glass is read)- for working ; but there is no occasion to use it immediately, as it may be allowed to remain a considerable time at a low working heat without any injury. When the glass is copied down to tiie working heat, which is a very full red, it has a kind of consistence and tenacity not exactly to be found in any other substance in nature. It is just soft enough to yield with the greatest ease to any outer im- pression, even to the force of the breath when urged pretty strongly in the center of the glowing mass, and may be bent, pulled out and shaped in ever)- possible way ; and its tenacity is such that it ex- tends uniformly without producing any cracks or fissures; but, when stretched to the utmost, it pulls out to a solid string, the diameter of which is constant- ly decreasii^ till it separates from tlie mass in a thin capillyy thread. As it- cools it stiffens, and becomes perfecti}- brittle, which takes place when no longer red hot, and at this time also it becomes transparent. Melted glass adheres very feebly to polished metal, so that it is wrought with briglit iron tools with the utmost ease. Almost every kind of glass vessel, and utensil, common window glass, and in short, almost every manufactured glass article except plate -glass, is shaped out of a hollow globe formed by blowing. The instrument used fur this purpose, is simply a hollow iron rod, about four or five feet long, which the workman first dips in the glass-pot and turns about till a sufficient mass of the melted glass ad- GLA GLA heres to it ; he then holds it near the ground, by which the mass pulls out and lengthens by its own weiglit, and then blows strongly through the tube. The breath thus penetrates the center of the red-hot mass, and immediately extends it into an imiform hollow globe of the re- quired thickness. Tiiis must be imme- diately blown out as large as intended, and the fierce ot tiie breath kej)! upon it for a few seconds till it Siiflcjiis by cool- ing, otherwise it would again sink in by the compression of the denser external air. This operation produces a hollow globe, adhering by a neck to the iron rod. and is the original form out of which the^ uniform without joining or burr of any others ai-e fitshioned It would be impossible to give, in a short space, an adequate idea of the ease and simple dexterity by which, with a few instruments, this most beautiful substance is stretched out, enlarged, closed, perfo- rated, and formed by a few ingenious ma- noeuvres into all the common utensils. As a single and short example, the making of a common tumbler may be given. A hollow globe, with a short neck, being- first blown on the iron rod as above-men- tioned, it is taken off in the following way ; an assistant dips the end of a siiort solid iron rod into the" glass-pot, and brings it out with a little of the mel;ed glass adhering, this is immediately thrust against the bottom of tlie globe, at tiie part directly opposite the neck, to which it firmly unites, so that the globe becomes cemented upon this second rod by means of the melted glass. The workman then wets a small ])iece of iron with his mouth and lays it on the neck of the globe which is still extremely hot, and this cracks it quite round in a second or two, so that with a sligiit pull, it comes off, and detaches the hollow rod, leaving the globe now open at the neck, and trans- feritd to the second lod at the opjjosite side. The globe, being now open, is again softened by holding it a few seconds over the mouth of the glass-pot, and is cut aw..y from the open end to the form of a cup, by iron shears. The workman when fiishioiiiiig the globe, usually sits upon a kind of aim cliaii', the arms of wliich .slope f(jrwards, and are covered with a flat, snio'jin iron plate, and by lay- ing the iron rod straight btfore hiin, rest- ing on both tiie arms of his seat, and twirling it backwards and f )rwards, the hot glass at the end is Tnicde to revolve like clay on a potter's lailie, and thus is opened, widenedy 0)- c inipnjsstd ai jjlca- sure, by any simple ii (in in.strunient that is made barrel-shaped, if this be the requir- * ed form, and is smoothed up at the edges. It only now requires to be separated fiom the iron rod, which is done as before, simply by wetting it at the point of at- tachment, and the tumbler drops oft com- pleat. Tills last operation leaves thai burr or roughness, with sharp fragments, which is seen at the bottom of all glass vessels, unless taken off by grinding Another important process is required before the glass vessel is fit for use, which is that of annealing or cooling very gra- dually. All glass articles require anneal, ing except those that are very thin and kind. Without this precaution the glass remains always liable to fly by the least change of heat and cold, by the smallest scratch, or even apparei^tly without any external cause.' The precise mechanical cause of this disposition to crack in unan- nealed glass is very difficult to explain, but generally speaking it is supposed to be the forcible contraction of the outer part by sudden cooling, whilst the inner portion is still soft and half-fluid, so that the whole fixes with a permanent strain or inequality of pressure of one pai'l upon the other ; and as glass is extremely elas- tic, though brittle, any force which tears asunder a portion, however small, of the tense part, communicates a strong and sudden impulse over the whole mass. The annealing is generally performed in a hot chamber built for the purpose at the top of the glass-house above the crucibles and a little below the chimney as already mentioned. The heat is here so mode- rate as not to soften the glass, and the ar- ticles are gradually withdrawn to a cool- er part till they are cold enough to be ta- ken out for use. Common articles are generally annealed in the course of a day. The place of all others in whicli ill-anneal- ed glass is most liable to break is at any point of junction where two pieces are cemented together when hot, and as dif- ferent kintls of glass contract to a differ- ent extent, two dissimilar pieces of glass should not be joined together. The hard glasses, and those in parti- cular made only with alkali and earths re- quire much more anneahng than the soft- er and more fusible glasses into which li- tharge enters largely. Tiie extraoi diiiary fragility of unanneal- ed glass is shown in a very striking man- ner by two kinds of ex[)erimcnlal toys made for the purpose, the one is the Bo- lof(na phial, as it is usually called, and the oilier ilie Jtuprrfs drop The Bologna p essed against it. Tiie globular cup is : phial is siniply a phial of any form what- tlius extended easily into a cylindei', or j ever, made of any kind of glass, but much GLA GLA 'thicker at bottom than at top, and cooled immediately without annealing. These being pretty stout fi-om their thickness will bear a smart blow with a wooden mallet or any blunt instrument, or the concussion of a leaden bullet dropped into it from a considerable heic^Iit, with- out injury; but if anj' sharp body however small, such as a large grain of sand, or better a shiver of a gun-flint be dropped in from only a few inches height, the bot- tom cracks all round just above the thick- est part and drops off. TJie same efl^ect happens if the bottom be slightly scratch- ed with any hard bpdy^ When very brit- tle, if a hard angular substance such as a cut diamond be di'opped in, it sometimes will pass through the bottom, though verj' thick, with apparently as little resist- ance as tlirough a spider's web. These glasses, when they have received the first injury, do not always crack immediatel}', but remain wiiole sometimes a few mi- nutes, sometimes tor hours, and tlien sud- denly give way- The Rupert's drop is simply a small solid lump of green bottle glass pom-ed when red-hot into water, and therefore is a rounded lump gradually extended into a kind of tail nearly capillary at the ex- tremity. This solid lump will bear very coividerable violence on the rounded end without injur)', and is altogether extreme- ly tough, but when the least portion of the thin end is broken oflfj the whole btirsts with a smart snap, instantly crum- bles into a coimtless number cd" fragments as small as fine sand, wliich from their very minuteness do no other injury to the hand holding it, than a slight stinging from the sudden concussion. This most singular phenomenon is ob- viously owing to some permanent and very strong inequaUty of pressure, for when they are heated so red as to be soft and merely let to cool of thems'elves, this property of bursting is entirely lost, and at the same time the specifie gravity of the dro^ is encreased. The pecidiar brittleness of the Bolog- na phial is also removed by again heating and cooling slowly. A defect in the annealing of common window glass is also shown when cut by the diamond. When the glass is well annealed the diamond cuts it with mode- rate ease, making' an uniform smooth fur- row, at first cfark, but which gradually opens and then appears as a bright sil- ver thread; but when the glass is badly annealed, the diamond works with much more difficidty, the cut opens very slow- ly, and often flies into a different direc- iion, or the glass entire!}' breaks. VOL. I. The other more common defects of glass are a liability to be acted on by cor- rosive liquors (which takes place when too much saline flux has been used) and also a number of visible imperfections, some of which materially injure the soimdness as well as beaut}' of the manu- factured articles. The chief of these visi- We defects ai-e strie, threads, tears, and inots. The sirie are undulating waves in the glass, perfectly transparent and vitri- fied, but which produce much strange distortion when used for windows or for optical purposes. This defect arises from die imperfect mixture of the mate- rials, and the great difference in their specinc gravities. For the gravity of glass made simply witli alkali and sand is about 2'o or 2'4, that of alkali and cru- cible clay, about 2'5; that of alkali and chalk 2'7 or 2'8; whilst tiie vitiified oxyd of manganese alone weighs 3 2 and the glass of lead 7-2 nearly. Therefore when these are altogether melted in the glass- pot, if they are not thcn-oughly mixed, they are in the case of liquors of unequal density, in contact with each other, and slightly agitated, so as to shake the differ- ent materials into su'eaks or waves. The defect from this cause is seen very strikingly in ordinary prisms, or pieces of solid glass of a certain thickness, whicl\ are seldom quite uniform in density throughout. For very nice purposes it is often of use when small moveable cruci- bles are used, to invert them when the glass is melted and empty the contents, whereby the heavier parts become mix- ed with the lighter as they fall through them. Threads in glass-making are those streaky filaments which arise fi'om the vi- trification of the clay. They are general- ly green and often render ihe glass more liable to crack at these parts. Another and one of the worst defects is tears, or drops of vitrified clay falling doAvn from the furnace into the pots and entangled with the glass. Articles made of glass with this defect are always very brittle, and genera ly break of themselves . by slight changes of heat and cold. This is the more likely to happen in propor- tion as the tear is nearer tl>e surface. Glass when not sufficiently refined by continuance of the melting heat is always Ml of small bubbles. This fault may also happen from a deficiency of flux vvhich renders the glass less fusible, and . therefore stiffer, during the ordinaiy time and degreeof heating,' so that the bubbles cannot easily disengage themselves. Hence the soft fusible glasses with much I lead are mudi less liable to this fault thati 3 F GLA GLA the liard green bottle glass which is made I differs essentially from the last in con- only of alkali and earth. j taining no lead nor any metallic oxyd ex Another defect is inots, which arise ei- ther from a portion of sand that has es- caped vitiihcation and remains entanj^lcd in tlsi- glass, or from a remaining cinantity of glass-gall; or from bits of ihe crucible whr.h may be accidvf ilally knocked off by the iron insti'umcnts used in the work- ing. Of the difftrent kinds of Glass. — Though an iiifiniie vaiieiy is found in the quahty and cuniposiiion of dlfiercnt giSisses, there are some principal kinds made for totally distinct purposes which may be shortly noticed. ^ Tile flint I'lass of l^ondon and other parts of Kngland (called by foi-cigners crystal) is that beautiful, soft, brilliant, fine glass of which both llie common and finest articles of white glass in domestic or ornamental use are maiuifacUiied. Many optical instruments are also made of the same material. It is particularly distinguished for the quantity of litharge which enters into its composition, on which accoimt'it is by far the heaviest, the most brilliant, the softest, and the easiest to work, and also the most expen- sive. The precise proportions of ingredients are not usually known, but the following is said to make an article of the best cjua- lity, namely; 120 ])arts of fine clean white sand, 40 of pearlash well purified, 3.5 of li- tharge or else minium, 13 of nitre, and a small quantity of black oxyd of manga- nese. The distinct use of these ingre- dients has been already explained. Very different proportions will also produce a fine glass of similar qualivy. and in parti- cular, the quantity of lead may be much encreased whicii naturally gives a yellow tinge but which the manganese counter- acts. Tlie foUowing comijosilion fiir a fine crystal glass is given by Loysel: 100 pounds of white sand, 80 to, 85 of red oxyd of lead, 35 to 40 of pearlash, 2 to 3 f>|f nitre ; and one ounce of manganese. 'I'lie specific gravity of this glass and of the common London Hint glass is about 3 2 'I'he oxyd of lead is so abundant in this glass that it may be partially re- duced in a very curious manner. If a tube of it be made led-liot and hydrogen gas passed tiu-ough, the whole inner sur- face becomes covered with a half-brilli- ant black coating owing to the reduced ■ lead, and moisture appears at the further end. This was discovered by Dr Priestley. Crown-glass is the name given to the best sort of window glass, the composi- ; 'II of wliicli. varies considerably, but it cept manganese and sometimes oxyd of cobalt in minute doses, for the sole pur. pose of correcting the natural colour and not as a flux. This kind of glass there- fore is much harder and harsher to tlie touch than the flint glass, but when well made is a very beautiful and perfect arti- cle. The comi)osition is sand, alkali, ei- ther potash or soda, tlie vegetable ashes that contain the alkali, and generally a small portion of lime- A small dose of arsenic is often added to facilitate the fu- sion. Zaftic or tjie oxyd of cobalt with ground Hint is often used to correct the dingy yellow which the inferior kind of crown-glass naturally acquires, and by adding the blue, natural to glass colour- ed with the oxyd, to convert the whole into a soft light green. The green huQ thus given is very slight and not disagree- able to the eye, and is hardly perceived unless the light pass through a great thickness of glass, as happens when a piece is held tip edgeways. 'I'he quanti- ty of zaf^re necessary for this effect is ex- tremely small, one ounce being sufficient for lUOO pounds, so that it is only jg^fo^ of the whole. It need hardly be added that when the sand, alkali, and lime, are very fine, and only these ingredients are used, no zaflre or corrective of bad co- lour is retpiireel. A great quantity of ii'agments uud refuse pieces of glass is always collected during the working, and these are added again to the next tus.on, bin as glass always loses alkali by the long continuance of fire and becomes thereby harsher and less fusible, too great a portion of these refuse bit;, (which of course uiidergo twice as long a fusion as the raw materials) will very sensibly alter the quality of the glass. As how- ever they consist of glass already reiined, the pot which contains much of them is much sooner brought to a working state, as it contains less glass-gall ^id impuri- ties. These fragments of glass are re- duced to gross ])owder by being heated red-hot, and immediately j)hmged into cold water, which sjilits them in every direction and enables them to be readily broken down. They .should not consti- tute much more than a third of the whole composition. A very fine glass of tliis kind may be made !))■ 20U parts of pretty good soda, 300 of fine sand, 33 of lime, and from 230 to 300 of the ground frag- ments of glass. The manufacture of the common win- dow glass though made by blowing, is carried on in a considerably diflerent man- ner from that of tlie common flint-glass ar- GLA GLA tjcles, as the object is to produce a large flat very thin plate of glass, which is af- terwards cut by the glaziers' diamond into the i-equisite sliape- The steps of the process could not be understood by mere description, but it may just be men- tioned, that the workman first takes a very large mass of glass on the hollow iron rod, and bj rolhng it on an iron plate and swinging it back\\'ards and forwards causes it to lengtlien by its own weight into a cylinder, which is then made hol- low by blowing with a force of breath which only those that are used to the busi- ness can com.mand, and is brought out to the requisite thinness. The hollow cylinder is then opened by holding it to the fire, which by expanding the air con- fined within it (the hole of the iron I'od being stopped) bursts it at the weakest part, and when still soft it is ripped up through its whole length by iron shears, opened out into a flat plate, and finished by annealing as usual. Common green bottle glass is another kind, which indeed is by no means uni- form in its composition, but is made al- most entipely of sand, lime, and sometimes clay, and alkaline ashes of any Isind ac- cording as cheapness or convenience di- rect, and more especially of kelp in this country, of barilla, varec and the other varieties of soda in France, and of wood- ashes in many parts of Germany and the' like. To this too is sometimes added even the earth remaining from saline ashes, af- ter the alkali and salts have been ex- tracted by lixiviation, and in England flags from the iron furnaces. This refuse mat- ter is still a flux of some power when in mixture with other earths, and it still re- tains a small quantity of salts which are not totally extracted. Bottle glass is a very hard well- vitrified glass, not very heavy relatively to its bulk and being fused at a very high heat, and from the impuri- ty of the alkali and the abundance of earthy flux, containing but a small pro- portion of real saline matter, it resists the corrosive action of all liquids much better than flint-glass. Besides being used for wine bottles it is much employed for very large retorts, subliming vessels, and other processes of chemical manufacture, and here too is has the additional advantage of bearing as mtich as a pretty full red heat without melting or sinking down into a shapeless lump as the lead glasses would do. The following composition is given by Loysel as a good and cheap material for bottle glass, 100 p..rts common sand, 30 of varec (a kind of coarse kelp made on the western coasts of France,) 160 of the lixiviated eai'^h of ashes, 30 of fresh wood-ashes or any other kiiid of ashes, SO 'of brick-clay, and any quantity, generally about 3 00, of broken glass. This com- position gives no glass-gall. A good bottle glass, but nearly black and opake, has been made in France of another material which probably may be applied in many countries advantageou.sly: it is the decomposed pulverulent basal- lie earth found in the vallies of all basal- tic countries- In France it r.boundi in the Vivarais.in Languedocand Auvergne. The first glass of this kind appeals to Rave been made in l780,by a M- Ducros, at tiie suggi-stion of Chaptal, who simply melted some of this basalt without addi- tion in a glass-pot, and formed of it two vei-y light, black, or rather deep yehow, shinjjig, perfect bottles. In subsequent trials by another artist a mixture of equal parts of basalt and sand was employed, as being* preferable to the basalt alone, and for awhile there was a very consider- able demand for bottles of this material, but the manufactiu'c was abandoned ow- ing to the want of uniformity in the ingre- dients, which made them often fail. The glass produced hereby was of a green olive. It may not be uninteresting also -to give the results of some experiments of M. Alliot on different mixtures of this basaltic earth. Seven crucibles filled with different mixtures were heated for eight- een hours in a common potter's furnace (a glass-house not being at command,) which however gives a less intense heat than the glass furnaces, and therefore if used in manufacture a greater effect might be allowed than was here noticed. The results were the following : No. 1. contained the pure basaltic earth, and melted into a black, opake glass, moderately well melted. JS'o. 2. was a mixture of one-third ba- salt, one-third of ashes, and one-third of white quartz in powder. It ■was a mil- ky, brilliant, cofl'ee-coloured glass re- sembling fine porcelain. No. 3. was a mixture, in equal .parts, of basalt and common sand. It was mo- derately well melted, of a blackish-blue in mass, but in thin laminae was of a yel- low-g^een. No. 4. was a mixture, in equal parts, of ashes and a volcanic granite. It melt- ed well, gave a very fine dark yellow glass, of great lustre, and would have been verj proper for bottles. No. 5. contained one-nineteenth of or- dinary soda, six-nineteenths of common sand, and twelve-nineteenths of ashes, and gave a yellow-black glass interspersed with opake blueish white veins. GLA GIA No. 6. consisted of one-third basalt, ont-tliird of refuse soda, and one-third of* sand. It gave a fine transparent green- yellow glass, very well melted, of a tine polish, and which would have been ex- cellent f()i" bottles. No. 7. was simply the sand of tlie river Orb in the neigh bourliood, which ap- peared by inspection to contain a large proportion of basaltic earth. It melted Weil and gavie a very good bottle glass. The analysis of basalt shews that it is very well filled both for fusion /ler *f , and to act as a flux of considerable power, for (as mentioned under that article) it consists of about 45 ])er cent.. of silex, l6 of ahimine, from 16 to 20 of oxyd of iron, 9 of lime, and from 2.6 to 4. of pure soda, of which the three lust are all -very powerful fluxes. Many other minerals contain even more soda, such, as the Klingstein, wliich contains about 8 per cent, of this alkali, but having much less lime and oxyd of iron it is much less fu- sible. The colour of all the glasses into which basalt enters largely as a consti- tuent is generally of a deep olive green passing to dee|) yellow, and in mass al- most yellow, nor is it probable that this colour could be materially corrected. The glass is wel^ ascertained to be sjje- eifically lighter than common green bottle glass but at the same time tougher, so as to bear harder blows without breaking, two very important advantages, and the quantity of alkali contained and that re- quired to bring the whole to a workable state is so small as probably to enable this glass to resist all corrosive liquors^ at least as well as any other known kind of glass. Plate glass is that most beautiful and perfect glass of whicli all ,the kinds of mirrors and looking-glasses are compos- ed, and of which the larger articles are wrougiit, not by blowing as every other glass article is, but by casting the melted glass on a flat table. The Venetians were long in the sole possession of tlie art of making mirror- glass, hut by them it was only manufac- tured by blowing, nearly in the way de- scribed under crown or window glass, and much of the common mii-ror g^ass is still prepared in this way. In 1665 under the ministry of the great Colbert a com'pany for blovm-mirror glass v/as first establislicd near Cherbourg in Normandy, on the ])lan of the Venetian manufacture, but the beautiful art of casting glass was invented in France aboin 1688, by one Abraham Thevart, and a company was soon established tor *his branch of manulhcture wliich was first carried on at Paris, and soon after removed to St. Gobin, where it still exists in full activity, and undiminished re- putation. The plate-glass cannot be made by blowing of the larger siie than about fifty inches to be perfect, but by the in- genious substitution of casting it may be made so large and at the same time so perfect, tliat scarcely any other limits can be set to the possible size of these plates than ilic heavy expence of the manufac- ture, in all its parts. As large plates as ^jj nine feet long, and wide in proportion, ^As,, ha^e been manutiictured. * As this art of casting glass requires more care in the choice of materials and nicety in the processes of manufacture than most other branches of glass-mak- ing, some niore detailed account may be given of it as can'ied on in France, as far as it can be understood without reference to plates. The materials of tlie finest plate glass are white sand, soda, and lime, to which are added manganese and zaffi-e, or any other oxyd of cobalt lin- particular colour- ing purposes, which will be presently de- described. The sand is of the finest and whitest kind, and is previously passed through a wire sieve of moderate close- ness into water where it is well stirred about and washed till all dirt and impuri- ty is got rid of The sharpest grained sand is preferred, and indeed it is found that the grains of moderate size melt with the alkali sooner than either the very fine dust or the larger fragments, in the former case the sand clotting together without mixing freely with the alkali, and in the Litter the grains taking a longer time to dissolve on account of their hulk. The alkali used Jiere is always soda, and there seems good reason to prefer this to potash, as glasses made with soda are found to be softer and to flow tliimier when hot, and yet to be equally durable when cold, and in casting a large plate, of which the perfection is to be without streak or bubble, it is ob\ious of how much importance it must be to have it flow ex- tremely li(|uid trom the pot. Besides, the neutral salts with the basis of soda wliicli constitute th^ glass-gall in this in- stance, such as the muriat and sulphat of soda, appear to be dissipated more readi- ly by the fire than the corresponding salts of potash. The soda used here is consi- derably pure, or such as is separated from the rough ashes of barilla, and other soda plants b\ lixiviation. Lime is of considerable use here and adds much to the fusibility of the other materials, supplying in this respect the GLA GLA use of litharge in the flint-glass. Too much lime liowever impairs the colour and solidity of the glass. About one lif- teentli of Uie whole is as much lime as can be used with propriety, and some use as little as one twenty -fourth. The colouring or rather decolouring substances used are azure, or cobalt blue, and manganese. The latter is liere in the state in which its effect is that of giv- ing a slight red tinge, which mixes with the blue of the cobalt and the natural slight jellow of the other materials, and altogether are found, when properly pro- portioned, to neutralize each other so that scarcely any definable tint remains. Besides these ingredients there is al- ways a great quantity of fi-agments of glass arising from what is split in the cast- ing and the ends cut off in shaping t.he plates, which are made friable by quench- ing in water when hot and used in this state along with the fresh materials. With regard to the proportions of the ingredients very considerable latitude may be allowed. The quantity of soda is a good deal more than necessary merely to produce a good glass, as one of great fusibility ia# required. The following proportions are found to produce a very fine glass : 300 lbs. of sand; 200 lbs. of soda; oOlbs.oflime; 52 ounces of manga- nese; 3 ounces of azure; and^oOO lbs. of fi-agments of glass. It does not appear whether or not any other fluxes are used, though there seems to be some secrecy observed in this respect at the masiufactory of St. Go- bin It is constantly asserted and with much probability, tliat borax is also used in small quantity. This is in itself highly probable, as the very thin watery fusion which this flux gives to vitrifting matters seems peculiarly wanted in glass intend- ed to be cast, and probably this addition would enable the manufacturer to use pot- ash with as much advantage as soda where it happened to be cheaper. Of the above materials the sand, soda, lime and manganese are first mixed ioge- * iher with more care than for ordinarv glass, and are fritted in small furnaces built for this express purpose, the heat being gradually raised to a full red-white, and kept at this point with frequent stir- ring till the materials undergo no further change, nor give any kind of vapour. The aziu'e and the glass fragments being already perfectly vitrified are not added till just at the end of the process, which lasts about six hours The glass-house for this manufacture differs in several particulars from the common houses for blowing glass. The furnace at St. Gobin is about 18 feet long and li wide, made of good bricks. They are particularly distinguished from the common furnaces b\- containing two kinds of crucibles, the' larger ones called /»of* are in the form of an inverted and trun- cated cone, and in lliese tJie glass is melt- ed. The other set of crucibles are small- er ones called cwetttes, the capacity of which is not more than a sixth, or where very large pUites are cast, a thi:d, of the pots, and are kept in the furnace empty, but quite hot, till the glass is ready for casting, when {hey are filled out of the furnace on an iron cradle to the heated table or bed on which the glass is cast. Both tlie pots and the cuvettes are of the same material, of good refi-actory claj'. Another essential part of this fmnace is the flat table (of which there is one cor- responding with each pot) on which the glass is cast. These tables are of smooth tliick copper plate, about ten feet by six, strongly supported by masonry; and con- tiguous to each t:ible on tl;e same level are flat ovens, heated from underneath, upon which the glass when cast and suffi- ciently cooled, may be slid without difii. culty from oft" the copper table and there annealed. The tops of the flat ovens and the tables are on a level with the corres- ponding opening of the fln-nace whence the cuvettes are withdrawn. The fuel used is wood, and the kind which makes the largest and brightest flame, but with- out giving much resinous smoke is pre- ferred. It requu'es about thirty-six hours of sti-ong heat from the time of filling the pots till tlie glass is fit for casting. The process of filling die pots and the appearances that take place in tlie melting materials, the rising of the glass-gall, re- fining, &c, need not be described, being the same as in other glass-making. When the glass is thoroughly melted and fine, the proceedings are in a general waj- as follows : the cuvette (which has. been pvevi'iusly emptied of all the loose glass and foulness which may have ad- hered to it and again made quite hot in its place .in the furnace) is filled in the following way; the workman takes a cop- per ladle about ten inches in diameter and fixed to an iron handle seven feet long, plunges it into the glass pot (the contents of wiiich have been previously scummed carefully) brings it up full of the melted glass, and empties it into tlie cuvette, the ladle being supported at the bottom by a strong iron rest, held by two other workmen, lest the red-hot copper should bend and give way with the weight of the glass witliin. The cuvette being filled by repealed lading is then suflered GLA GLA vo remain in the furnace for some hours, ihat the bubbles formed by this c\istvirb- ance of the glass may liave entirely disui)- peaied, and the samples taki n out fioni time to time become quite clear and lim- ])id The door of the furnace is now opened, the cuvette is shd out and" pulled upon a low iron cradle and immediately drawn on to the side of the copper table, previously heated \1\- hot ;ishes and wijicd quite clean. The cuvette full of the melt- ed glass is then carefully scummed by a broad sabre, or cf)])per blade set in iron, Avhich carries off witii it every impurity at the surface. The reason of using- cop- per for this as for the ladle and casting- table is tliat it does not discolour the hot glass as iron does. The cuvette is then hoisted up by a tackle and iron chains, and overset 'upon the copper table, on which a thick flood of melted glass Hows and spreads in every direction to an equal thickness. It is then made quite smooth and uniform at the surface, by passing over it while still quite hot a heavy hol- low roller or cyhnder of copper made true and smooth"by turning after it is cast, and weighing about 500 lbs. Atthe same time the empty cuvette is returned by the ii-on cradle to' its proper place within the furnace. The edges of the copi)er table overhang a reservoir of water into which the waste glass falls in drops, and is used for the next melting. The number of workmen required for the whole process of casting is at least twenty, each of winch has his scixu-ate employment. The plate being cast, the inspector ex- amines whether there are any bubbles on any part of the surface, and if found, the plate is immediately cut up througii tliem. The plate being now so far cool as to be stiffened is slid by an ir(m instrument from the casting table to the contiguous annealing oven, previously well heated, and is carefully taken up and ratiged pro- perly with'n it. Ivich oven will contain six entire plates, and when full, all the openings are stopped with clay and the ])lates allowed to remain there f(jr a fort- night, to be thoroughly anncided. 'when fit to be taken out of the anneal- ing oven, they are sent away to receive all the subsecpient operations of polishing, silvering. Sec. but iirst their edges iu-e cut smooth and squared. This is done by a j-ough diamond which is passed along the surface of the glass upon a square ruler in the manner of glazieis, and made to cut into the substance of the glass to a cer- tain depth. The cut is then opened by gently knocking with a small hammer on the under side of the glass just beneath, and tlie piece comes ofl",;ind the rough- 4 nesses of the edges are removed by pin- cers. The plate is ihen finished as far as the glass-house business is concerned, and is caiefully removed to the ware- bouse. The subsequent operations of polishing and silvering, may here be added in a few words. 'J'he plate is first exactly squared in' the diamond in the way mentioned above, and minutely examined as to any flaws or faults, which may be ft>und. The next step is to grind ofl'allthe inequalities and roughnesses of surface previous to the polishing. Tl>is is done on both sides by sand and water. For this the plate is laid on a thin plate of fiee-stone, or on a long- wooden frame, of about the same si2.e Mith it, and cemented strongly thereto by Pa- ris plaster. Another plate is also cement- ed in the same manner, and laid upon tht; lower |}late, and wet sand is interspersed between the two. The plates are then made to rub against each other steadily and evenly , by a kind of hand mill, the wheel of which is worked by a man, or some- times in large plates by two men, who can regulate the pressure of ore on the other as it may be judged proper. In jn-opor. tion as the sui-faces of th^plates wear down, the sand is used successively finer, being previously sifted and sorted for the purjiose. In general,, the workmen avoid rubbing two absolutely rough surfaces on the other, For fear that the great jarring of the friction should produce shakes anil (laws in the glass, but a half ground plate is rubbed on a liesh surface and so on successively. When one side of the plate is done, the plaster which cemented it is picked oft*, the jdate turned, and the opposite side ground in the same manner. Towards the end of the grinding, the press»n-e is encreased by loading the upper plates with flat stones of different thicknesses. This process lasts ab.-uit thi ee days, and great attention is ]:taid to finish them with surfaces, perfectly flat and parallel, which is determined by the ruler and plumb- line. The grount«ess which is seen in finished mirrors, so that the rays of liglit may pass through unim- paired to the silvering on the posterior siu-face, and be reflected again from thence, according to the laws of catop- trics. The substance used to give this last polish, is colcothar, imported from England, and called rouge cT.lngleterre or P<,tee. It is the residue left in the re- torts of the aqua-fortis makers, and when well washed and levigated, consists of lit- tle else than a red and perfect oxyd of iron. The polishing instrument is a block of v.-ood, covered with several folds of black cloth, with carded wool between each fold, so as to make a firm elastic cushion This block has a handle for the workman to Jiold; for the whole of this part is done by hand, and not by machinery, as the latter would work too uniformly, and not allow of that variation of pressure, and those fini^iing touches, which are requir- ed to bring every part of the glass to ex- actly the same height of polish. But to encrease tlie pressure of the polisher without Gitiguing the workman, the han- dle is lengthened by a wooden spring, bent to a bow, and tliree or four feet long, which at the other extremit), rests against a fixed point, in a beam placed above. The plate being fixed on tht table by plaster, he then moistens the polisher with a wet brush, covers it with colcothar, and begins his operation bv v.orking it backwards and for« ardi|ovcr the sui-face of tl^e plate. Much practical skill and dexterity is required, to give an uniform and high deg»ee of polish, over the sur- face of a large plate, as it must be done by separate portions, and tlie finishing touches giten with great care. The glas- ses of iT^^rate size, are compkated in four portions, from corner tO corner, the centers of which intermingle so as to leave no part untouched, bilt the laiger glasses require additional polisiiing in the center. AVhen one side is com'pleted and the re- verse is about to be done, the polished side, now the undermost, is entu-ely cov- ered w iih the red colcothar, to prevent the dazzle reflected from the white plas- ter, which would prevent the^ workman from judging so accurately of the state of the surfaces on which he is employed. When both sides of the glass are thus brought to the same perfection of ]X)hsh, the operation is finished by inspecting the glass, fi.st cleaning both surfaces, and lav- ing it, each side alternately upwards, upon a dark blue or black cloth, admitting only a moderate light, and if any part ap- pear less highly finished tlian the rest, it is retouchefl by a small hand-polisher, and colcothar, as before. When a numbei; of smaller pieces of glass, such as are used only for chamber or similar mirrors, are to be polished, they are laid together on the table, and several of them pohshed at a time. But, as these consist of pieces often of unequal thickness, though their surfaces have been rendered perfectly flat by the previ- ous grindmg, if they were simply placed side by side, and fixed on the table by plaster, as usual, the polisher would not work well over such a variety of heights, and would act cliiefly on tiie edges of each piece of plate- Therefore, they are all first arranged on a large smooth plate, fin- ished ;dl but the pohsiiing, and previously wetted, and plaster, is poured upon tliem, by which they are fixed together, and then when taken off, tlie surfaces which were in contact wi'.h tlie plate, are perfectly le- vel with each other, and the polishing goes on with the same ease, as on an en- tire plate. What is termed silvering of mirrors, is applying to the posterior surface a coat^ GLA GLA jng of quicksilver, which metal, when per- fectly bright and brilliant, reflects the rays of light with great accuracy and beauty. But, as this fluid metal could not be alone applied without great incon- venience, it is first made to adhere by a partial amalgamation to the surface of a a sheet of tin-leaf, and then by tlie help of pressure, is applied closely to tlie glass in a very thin lanikia. It is tlicieforc, pro- perly, a thin sheet of tin, fully impregnat- ed with mercury, which is the reflecting surface. > The management of the silvering is extremely simple. A perfectly flat slab of smoothed free stone (or sometimes of thick wood) a little larger tll|^ the lar- gest plate, is inclosed in a square wooden frame, or box, open at top, and with a ledge rising a few inches on three sides, and cut down even wiili the stone on the fourth. A small channel, or gutter, is cut at bottom of the wooden frame, serving to convey the waste mercury down into a vessel below, set to catch it. The slab is also fixed on a centre pivot, so that one end may be raised by wedges (and of course the other depressed) ai pleasure, when working fi-eely in the box- The slab being first laid c[uite hori- zontal, and covered with grey ji^Der stretchetl tight over it, a sheet of tin- toil, a little bigger thati the plate to be silvered is spread over it, and every crease smoothed down carefully ; a little mei'- cury is then laid upon it, and spread over with a tigiit roll of cloth, immedi- ately after which as much' mercury is poured over it as will lie on the flat sur- face without spilling. That part of the slab wliich is opposite the cut-down side of the wooden frame, is then covered with parchment, and the glass plates lifted up with care and slid in (holding it quite horizontally) over the parchment, and lodged on the surface of the slab. The particular care required here is, that the under surface of the glass should from the first just dip into the surface of the mercury (skimming it ott' as it were) but without touching the tin leaf in its passage which it niight tear. Hy this means no bubbles of air can get between the glass and the metal, and also any lit- tle dust or oxyd floating on the mercury is swept olf bv'fore the plate wltiiout in- terfering. The plate being then let go sinks on the tin-foil, squeezing out the superfluous mercury, wiiicji passes uito the channel of the wooden frame above- mentioned. The plate is then covered with a thick flannel and is loaded over the whole surface v.ith lead or iron weights, and at the same time is tilted up a .little, by which still more of the mercury is squeezed out It remains in this situation for a day, the slope of the stone slab being gradually increased to fa- vour the dripping of the mercury. The plate is then very cautiously remo\ed, touching it only by the edges and upper side, and the under side is found uni- formly covered with a soft pasty amalgam consisting of tlie tin-leaf thoroughly soak- ed with the quicksilver, and about the thickness of parchment. It is then set up in a wooden fi'ame, and allowed to re- main there for several days, the slope of its position being gradually encreased, till the amalgam is sufficiently hardened to adhere so firmly as not to be removed by slight scratches, afier which the plate is finished and fit for framing. It is a considevabk time before the amalgam has acquired its utmost degree of hardness, so that globules of mercury will often drip from new mirrors some time after they have been set up in rooips, and violent concussions of the.air, such as from the firing of cannon, will often de- tach portions of the amalgam. These can never be perfectly replaced by any jjatching, as the lines of junction with the old amalgam will always be marked by wliite seams saen when looking into the glass. See Foliating of Glass. Of ivorking glass with the lamp and b/mu-pipe.-^A great variety of small arti- cles of glass for philosophical purposes, such as thermometers and barometers, and many ingenious toys, are made out of glass tubes by the blow-jnpe, and some short account of the general me- thod of proceeding may here be added. Tl»e usual apparatus of the glass lamp- blowers is very simple. It consists of a solid table, at the bottom of wiiich is fixed a double bellows with a foot-boaixl, that the artist may work it with his f()ot and keep both his bunds at liberty, whence proceeds a jjipe which conducts the bhist to the lamp, which is a large bundle of cotton thread lying in a tin vessel of a horse-shoe shape and fed with lumps of tailow heaped up beside it. These ai'e from time to time drawn forwards into the flame, to keep up the combustion. A small chimney hangs a little way over the lamjJ to carry oil the smoke. The blast-pi]je comes up in front of the table where the artist sits, and drives the jet of flame in a contrary direction to his body, so that he is not in the least incommo- ded by it. All the rest of his apparatus consists of an assortment of glass tubes of diflerent bores and thicknesses of glass (made at the glass-house, bypuUingout ra- ther suddenly u bottle of blown glass when. GLil GLA ► still quite soft) and two or three very sim- ple ii'on tools, such as small forceps, files, &c. Any other method of working the blow-pipe may be adoptt d that will g-ive a very large and powerful flame- The flame, when in full vigour, is a jet of fire about four inches long, nut sharp-pointed, but lilce a blinit rounded spear-head, ^yhich near its extremity is of a clear light blue, ind beyond, of a pale yellow. The blue part is the hottest As general rules, for managing the working, the tubes should never have any moisture in- troduced into them, and should be well- dried on the outside before working. They are to be heated gradually (with more care in proportion to the thickness) first by being held in Uie llame of the lamp without blowing, and then at the edge of the outer yellow part of the jet of flame, and slowly brought to fusion. The flame is strong enough to bring to a very white- red heat, a solid mass of glass about as big as a child's playing marble, or even larger, which when blown out very thin, will make a bulb of the capacity of full three ounces, and this is nearly the ex- tent of the power of the common lamp- blowing. But the bulbs for thermome- ters, or~-other philosophical purposes are much less. Two or three of the com- monest operations may be described. To seal a tube hermetically, if small, it is sufficient to hold it in the flame for a little time, slowly turning it round, when the end will melt, and falling in, will close the cavity with a neat button. This may be assisted by pushing the softened ends in towards the common centre with an iron needle. But if the tube be very large, this button would be too clumsy, and being thick would be in danger of breaking on cooling. It is therefore necessary to lessen the quanti- ty of glass, which is done in the follow- 1 ing way : soften the end of the tube in tlie flame, and apply to it a piece of another tube of nearly the same size (fragments of tubes being always abundant in this business) which will stick firmly to it. Then soften the tube to be sealed a lit- 'tle higher up than the point of juncture, and pull the two slowly in contrary direc- tions till they separate. The tube M'ill then draw out at the heated part into two short thin funnels, and a little turn- ing and management of the flame will readily seal that which is wanted, leav- ing the joined ends and about half an inch of the lower part of the tube on the waslte piece. To bend a tube, if of a narrow bore and the glass is pretty thick, it is only neces- sary to hold it in tlie weaker part of the VOL. I. flame, and soften it for about an inch or two of its length, and bend it slowly into the required shape. Ir. this way ba- rometer tubes are bent. But if the tube be wide, arid the glass thin, this way of bending entirely, destroys the cylindrical form of the bore at the bent part, making a double .flattening. To avoid this, first seal up one end of the tube, and then, whilst bending it at the requu'ed part, blow steadily and gently into the open end, and the pressure of the breatli will counteract the falling in of the sides of the bending portion, and keep the bore cylin- drical. The closed end is then cut off by the file, to do which make a deep scratch with one edge of a fine three- cornered file on the part intended to be cut, then break the tube with a smart pull in that direction in which the scratched part will be outermost, and it will separate in general with great accu- racy at this point. Tojohi two tubes, heat them both in the flame, and apply them together when white hot, turning them round to finish the consolidation, or else to avoid the thick ring of glass which this produces, previously close one end of one tube, and when the two are fuUy joined blow into the open end of the other tube, and pull them out a little at the point of juncture, till an equal cylinder is formed. To form a bulb (of a thermometer for example) choose a tube of a very equal bore, seal the end in the usual manner, and to collect a greater mass of glass at the end, press upwards on it while quite hot with any iron instrument so as to con- solidate and shorten it a little ; let it re- main in the hottest part of the flame till the lump of glass is quite hot, then re- move it, put yoiu" lips to the open end without loss of time, holding it with the hot part lowest, and blow moderately and steadily. The lump of hot glass will im- mediately open into a bulb, the size of which can be regulated at pleasure. Glass may be spun out into threads of almost indefinite minuteness by means of the blow-pipe. When no thicker than fine hair, it is extremely flexible and elas- tic, and if still finer it may be wound al- most Uke common thread without break- ing. The way of doing it is very simple. A piece of glass tube is heated in the lamp, and the end dra^vn out into a thread by means of another piece of glass ce- mented to it. When a fine thread is once drawn, the end is carried round a reel or wheel two or three feet in diameter, and by turning the wheel and continuing to heat the tube, an endless thread is drawn out, winding round it as long as the ar 3 G GLA GLA list pleases or the glass lasts. The quick- er the wheel revolves, and tlie liotter the glass is kept, the firmer is tlie thread, wliich may thus be made as delicate as a single silk-worm's thread, with extrejne flexibility. Different cplourcd threads are made in tliis way by using very deep- ly coloured glasses instead of common glass. A singular cliange occurs in the tex- ture of" glass, more particulaily of green bottle glass, made only of sand, lime, and sahne ashes, when exposed for some time to a moderate red lieat, or any high- er temperature, but below its melting point. This is peculiarly ot>servable when it has been in contact with sand, and hence it frequently takes place in green glass retorts long exposed to a higii heat in sand-bath distillations. Neuman appears the first who jv. ticcd this change, which was afterwaids ex- amined more at Lu-ge by Reaumui-, and from the ])orcellaneoiis texUwe which the glass assumes when thus changed, it has been commonly called Reaumur^ s porct- lain. This ingenious philosopher had the idea that much advantage might be made of this fact in i-endering gUiss much tougher and less liable to crack from changes of heat and cold. Ko use how- ever has bten made of it in manufacture, but as a curious cliemical or i>hysical phenomenon it deserves fiu'ther nc^Uce. Dr Lewis made tlie following very va- luable expeiiments on this substance. A number of pieces of common quart bot- tles were put into crucibles, with white sand poured over them, and put into a proper furnace, where they were heated for many hours, and pieces withdrawn from time to time, to examine the pro- gress of the change. The pieces tiiat were taken out, after many hours heating, but below redness, did not appear to have suflered any change whatever. In a low red heat, the change went on, though ve- ry slowly ; but, in a strong red heat, ap- proaching to whiteness, just not suflicient to melt the j;lass, the cli:iuge went on pretty fast, and in two houis ihe glass had assumed the ap|)earance of porcelain, tlie change beginning at each surf.ice, and spreading gradually to the middle. The glass iirst became blucish on the surface, and, when held to the light, yel- lowish, and v\ idi a very sensible diminu- tion of its transparency. Afier this, it gratlually became white and opakc, and the texture was no longer viircous, but fibrou.s, and the fibres disposed neaily pa- rallel to each other. By degrees,' the glass became throughout opake and fifcrous, and the coloui- of a dun wliite ; the fibres were arranged regularly from the sides to the middle, where the fibres from the two sides meeting, formed a % kind of partition, in which, occasionally, were pretty large cavities. A longer con- tinuance of fire, induced a further change of texture, the fibres became divided or cut into grains at the outer ends, and gradually through their whole length, and the whole substance changed in texture, from fibrous to granular, like common porcelain. By a still further continuance of hre, the grains, at first fine and glossy, grew larger and duller, from being very compact, became porous, and at last, a fiiable substance like a slightly colie/ing mass of white sand, not easy to be distin- guished from the sand in which it was im- bedded. Glass thus changed whilst it remains in the fibious state, is considerably tougher and harder, so as to give abundant sparks N\ilh steel, which common green bottle glass will hardly do, to cut all common glass with ease, and scarcely to be scratched by the file It will bear also to be i)lunged suddenly from freezing to boiling water, without cracking ; and, at the same time, its texture is so dense, that no acrid liquors whatever, either cor- rode it, or transude through it. The cir- cumstance which the iijost prevents its use in manufacture is, that though the inner texture is fine and white, the outer is coarse and dirty-looking. When the heat is so long continued that the texture changes from fibrous to granular, it again becomes soft, no longei- gives fire with steel, and loses its cohesion. Another important circumstance to be observed is, that when this fibrous por- cellaneous glass is exposed to a very jj, strong heat, it melts into a semi-transpa- rent mass, drawing out in strings, which on breaking, are now no longer fibrous, but have returned to the •vitreous stiite, and at the same time again becomes no harder than the glass i'vom m hich it %\ as original- ly made. However, it does not melt so easily as the glass itself; and the longer it is cemented, tiie more difficult of fu-^j sion it becomes, so that the granulai* por-IB celain recjuires a much higher heal for melting than the fibrous. :• Dr. Lewis repeated the experiments, imbedding the glass in a variety of sub- stances, instead of sand, such as bone-ash, charcoal, chalk, Sic but in all the change of texture was the same, the outer colour alone being afl'ected. lie then heated the glass by itself, being stuck up with a lit- tl • luting in the middle of the crucible, and therelbre touching nothing with the part above tlie luting. The same changt GLA GLA however, took place, though more slowlj', and with some inconvenience from the fall- ing in of some of the pieces when softened by tlie heat. The sand therefore, has lit- tle other effect than to support tlie glass during the process, and prevent it from losing its shape. Another important fact, to the explanation of the cause is, that the glass does not sensibly lose or gain weight in the whole conversion, from tlie vitreous to the fibrous state. Mr. (iregory Watt, in his most valua- ble paper on JBasalt, very happily brings this porcellaneous change of glass, as an illustration of' his important position, namely, that bodies, whose fibres have a Jiatural tendency to a crystalline aiTange- ment, or a polarity, when vitrified by a sufficient heat, and cooled hastilj' in the vitreous state, are able subsequentlv to retuim to their natural crystalline arrange- ment of fibre, when exposed to a heal merely sufficient to soften the texture, tliough not enough for fusion. This, in the instance of basalt, he shews, by the singular crystalhzations formed in the cells of fused basalt, long after it had lost the liquidity of fusion. The circumstance of no material change occurring in the weight of glass by this conversion into the fibrous state, shews incontestibly, tliat it cannot be owing either to any thing gain- ed during the process, nor to any material loss of the alkali, and this is also render- ed manifest by its return to the vitreous state, and vitreous qualities, when again melted. This too, may again be porcella- nized in the same way, and again be melted into glass, and so on alternately. Glass has been often found crystallized quite at the bottom of the pots, and in places where ic has cooled, undisturbed, W- for a length of time. This is i)articulHrly the case in that mass of refuse and spilled glass, with ashes, melted drops from the clay of the furnaces and pots, &c. which fulls down behind tiie pots in the furnace. This is generally raked out, but part of it remains ; and, when tlie fire is let to go out, and the furnace is become useless, these ciystallizations are usually found here. Thej' are found in all kinds of glass, but less often in the fine Hint and the \ery saline glasses, than in the coarser green and crown glasses. The following interesting observations of Mr. Nicholson, concerning the princi- pal defects observable in works made of glass, may be interesting to a portion of our readers : The most considerable defects, as enu- merated by Mr. Loysel, are striae or veins, threads, tears, cords, bubbles, and knots. The stris or ^eins, arise from the hete^ rogeneous composition of the glass. It seldohi happens, that glasses of any consi- siderable magnitude, are exempt from them, and the reason is not difficult to ex- plain. Glass produced by the solution of sili- ceous earth by fixed alkali, at the ordina-, ry heat of the glass-house, possesses a specific gravity of 2 8 or 24, water being assumed as usual at one. Glass made with alkali, and the clay commonly used, weighs about 25. That of alkali and chalk, 2*7 or 2 8. The oxid of manga- nese vitrified alone, weighs 3 2 or 3-3. Glasses produced by other metallic ox- ides, are still more ponderous : that of lead, for example, weighs about 7 2 or 7-3. When the partial combinations of the ingi-edients of the glass are not well mixed together, but form strata of differ- ent density in the pots, they produce un- dulated veins in the work, similar to those observed when two liquids of very differ- ent densities are first mixed, such as wa- ter and alcohol. ,«. As the glass in the operations of blow-''^' ing is taken up nearly from the same part of the pot, and, as in the casting of glass, the pot is suddenly reversed, and its whole contents mixed together, it is found, that blown glass is much more uni- form than that which has been cast. The name of threads is particularly gi- ven to those vehis which are produced by the vitrification of clay. They are gi-eater than those produced b}- calcareous earth. These threads render the glass very brit- tle, when they are abundant, or when an}- of them are of considerable size, because the contraction and dilatation of this kind of glass, from change of temperature, are very different from those of the glass of sand and flint. Tears are the greatest defect which can be found in glass. They are the drops of glass afforded by the vitrification of the furnace of fusion. Articles in which these are found are brittle. Most of them break by the alternations of temperature, and that the more surely, the nearer the tear is to the surface. Such articles are generally thrown aside in the glass- house. Cords are asperities on the surfiice of certain articles of blown glass. They are produced whenever the heat of the fur- nace becomes so low, that the threads of glass which fall from the pipe into the crucible, cannot resume the proper de- gree of fluidity. When this appearance presents itself, the work is given up, till the heat of the furnace is again brought to the requisite degree. 1 The small bubbles abundantly diffused GLA GLA through certain glasses^shew, that the re- fining is imperfect. They arise from the disengagement of elastic fluid during tiic vitrilication. This imperfection shows, either that the quantity of flux has been too small, or the fire too weak, In tlie first case, the glass may be used to hold liquids without fear of being attacked ; in tlie second, the glass is tender and easily acted on by acids, if the flux were of an alkaline nature, because its proportion is too great. Bubbles may also be produced in glass, during the working, by certain foreign matters, which are fixed, and emit aerial fluids by the heat. Knots are of three kinds. They are either formed by giains of sand enveloped in the glass, or by tlie salt of glass which is found in pieces, or wiiite flocks; or last- ly, by pieces detached from the crucible, or the sides of the furnace. The fused glass has the property of sticking to an iron rod or tube, by which means it is taken out, either to ascertain its state of perfection, or to blow it into sucii utensils as may be wanted. The quantity to be used at once, is re- gulated by a process somewhat resemb- ling that of the tallow-chandlers ; that is to say, the part first dipped out is sufler- ed to cool a litttle, and serves as a recep- tacle for more glass to be taken up at a second dip, and so fortii, until the quanti- ty is sufficient. The lump of glass may be softened at pleasure, by holding it before the mouth of tlie furnace. The workman renders it hollow, and of a spherical form, by blowing through the tube. This sphere may be converted into a cone, a cylinder, or any other solid, tlie transverse section of wliich is a circle, by rolling it on a flat plate of iron. It may be stretched in length by swinging the tube in the ay, or giving it a vibratory motion like that of a pendulum. The workmen shew great dexterity in heating the glass in the vari- ous stages of the manipulation. They do this in such parts as they are desirous of extending; and on other occasions they cool certain parts of their work, by fan- ning the air against it. The glass, in the ignited state it possesses, after it conies out of the jiots, is very rough and flexible, may be cut with siiears, bended with j/in- cers, pressed into nioiilds,and wrouglitiii a variety of methods dependent on tiiese properties, of wliich the artists very dex- terously avail themselves. As far as observation has hitherto di- rected us, it appears to be a general rule, that the liardness, brittleness, elasticity, and other mechanical properties of con- gealed bodies, are greatly aftected by the degree of rapidity with which they as- sume the solid state. This, which no doubt is referable to the jiroperty of crys- tallization, and its various modes, is re- markably seen in steel and other metals, and seems to obtain in glass. AVhen a drop of glassissuflered to fall into water, it is found to possess the remarkable pro- perty of flying into minute pieces, the in- stant asmallpart of the tail is broken ofl'. This, which is commonly distinguished by the name of Prince Rupert's drop, is si- milar to the ijjiilosophical phial, which is a small vessel of thick glass, suddenly cooled by exposure to the air. Such a vessel possesses the property of flying in l)ieces, when the smallest piece of flint or angular pebble is let fall into it, though a leaden bullet may be dropped into it tioni some height without injury. Many ex- planations have been oli'ered, to account for these and other similar appearances, by referring to a supposed mechanism or arrangement of the particles, or sudden confinement of the nialter of heat. The immediate cause, however, appears to be derived from tlie fact, that the dimensions of bodies suddenly cooled remain larger, than if the refrigeration liad been more gradual. I'hus the s])ecific gravity of steel hardened by sudden cooling in wa- ter is less, and its dimensions consequently greater than that of the same steel gi'adu- ally cooled. It is more than probable, that an eftectofthe s:inie nature obtains in glass ; so that the dimensions of the ex- ternal and suddenly cooled surface re- main larger than are suited to the accu- rate envelopement of the interior part, which is less slowly cooled. In most of the metals, the degree of flexibility Ihey possess, must be sufficient to remedy this inaccuracy as it takes place ; but in glass, which, thougli very elastic and flexible, is likewise excessively brittle, the adapta- tion of the parts, urged different ways by, their disposition to retain their respective dimensions, and likewise to remain in con- tact by virtue of the cohesive attraction, can be maintained only by an elastic yielding of the whole, as far as may be, which will therefore remain in a state of tension. It is not therefore to be wonder- ed at, that a solution of continuity of wyr part of the surface should destroy 'tEs equilibrium of elasticity; and that the sudden action of all tiie parts at once, of so brittle a material, should destroy the continuity of the wiiole, instead of pro- ducing an equilibrium of any other kind. Though the facts relating to this dispo- sition of glass too suddenly cooled, are nu- merous and interesting to the philosopher, yet they constitute a serious evil with re- GLA GLA spect to the uses of this excellent material. The remedy of the glass-maker consists in annealing the several articles, which is clone by placing them in a furnace above the furnace of fusion. I'he glasses are first put into the hottest part of tliis fur- nace, and gradually removed to the cool- er parts at regular intervals of time. By this means the glass cools very slowiy throughout, and is in a great measure, fiL-e from the defects of glass, \\hicli has been too hastily cooled. It is difficult to speak with any preci- sion concerning the materials, proportion, and management necessary to, make the different kinds of glass, such as the green glass for bottles, the greenish or blueish glass for windows, the white glass for mirrors, the white flint glass for bottles, and the crystal glass used for the finer wares, called cut" glass, not to tnention the dense white glass rtiade expressly for optical uses. Ail these are made of better cpiality at some manufactories than at others ; and it is probable, that this supe- riority of produce is thus confined by the natural disposition for secrecy, which pre- vails among men, whose pecuniary suc- cess in a great measure depends on their monopolizing the effects of their own skill. Far be it from us to pretend to consider tliis proceeding as immoral. On the con- trary, we very much doubt, whether anv species of property can be defended un- der a title in any respect so strong as that which a man must hold in his own supe- riority of intellect and exertion. We mean simply to observe in this place, that, from the causes here mentioned, it is impossible to give a minute account of the art. The green glass is made from impure materi- . als ; the basis consisting of a ferruginous W stone or sand, and the alkali being such as can be the most cheaply purchased. The colour chiefly depends on the iron ; and the glass is harder, more durable, and less destructible by acids remaining in it for a longtime, the less the quantity of alkali, and consequently the greater the heat. Pit coal is used as fuel in tlie Eng'ish glass-houses It produces a more intense heat than wood. Chaptal, in his Elements of Chemistry, mentions the suc- eessful establishment of a manufactory of opake bottles of excessive strength and lightness, composed chiefly of basaltes ; but he relates that the establishment fail- ed, chiefly on account of the quaUty of the basaltes, which did not constantly prove the same, but, becoming in the lat- ter stages of the undertaking more calca- reous, produced an article of a perishable nature. All the white glasses owe their cle:u*- ness to the purity of the materials. The finest siliceuus sand is fused with puri- fied aikuli. The oxides ofleadactas a powerful flux, and are much used in com- positions of this nature. They give den- sity, softness, and a disposition to take a brilliant polisli. Optical writers teach us, that the re- fracting' telescope consists of a convex lens, called the object lens, in the focus oi which tiie image of a remote object is formed; ar.d that this im.age is seen mas;- nified and distinct by ti microscope appli- ed to it, wliicli forms tlie apparatus at thu other end of the telescope. It may easi- ly be iniaiiincd, that, if the focal "image be indistii.ct, or ifthere be a number of focal images occupying diflerent parts of the field of view of the telescope, the ei- fectwiil be less peiiect, and the magnify- ing power must be less, in order tliat the confusion may beat all tolerable. When- ever a i-ay of white or compounded light is refracted out of its course, by passing into another simple medium of different density fi-om that tiu-ough which it oricri- nally passed, it is found to be separated into its component parts, which produce the sensations of various colours. This separation is made by virtue of the dif- ti^rent properties possessed by the several rays of light, by which some are more i-cfi-acted in like circumstances than others. Thus the blue is more refracted tiian the green and }eilow, and these are more refracted than the red rays. Whence it follows, that a pencil of white light, which passed in parallel rays to a wedge or prism of glass, will come out of the prism on the other side, not only refracted in the whole, but diflerently re- fracted as to its p:u-ts; the red being less turned out of its coiu-se than any of the other rays, and the violet being the most deflected of any. And this difler- ence of direction will be greater, the greater the mean refraction. The edges of a convex lens may be considered as wedges of tlie same nature, with regard to the light, as the prism here mentioned. Such a lens, refracting the red rays less than any other, will fijrm a red iniage at a certain focal distance. The yellow "rays, being somewhat more refracted, will af- ford a yellow image, at a distance less re- mote from the kns : and for similar rea- sons, there will be formed, at still near- er distances, images of green, blue, and violet, with all the intermediate shades of colour. The entii-e focal iniage will con- sist of all these images uregularly com- bined. It has been^liscovered, that the quantity of dispersion is greater in some kinds of glass than hi otliers, while tlie 5f. GLvV GLA 1r^ vican refraction or focal lengtli remains the same. Two prisms of sucli different kinds of g'lass, i)r()ducing' the same mean refraction toward contrary parts on a ray of light, wonlii not therefore correct the colorific dispersion, though the ray would ])rocecd onward nearly in its ori- p^inal direction. It would be necessary, in order that this dispersion produced by the one j^lass should be rlccurately cor- rected by the other, tiiat the mean re- fraction should be greatest in that which possessed the least power in dispersing tiie rays of liglit ; and, in this case, the colourless emergent ray would not pro- ceed in its first direction. To aijply this doctrine to telescopes — suppose a convex lens formed oi' such glass as afforded very little colorific dispersion of the rays, and a concave lens of such glass' as afforded much of this effect: it will follow, that, when these two lenses possess such a fi- gure, as that the concave shall destroy the jn'ismatic colours produced by the con vex, the excess of mean refraction must be in the latter ; and consequently, that the compound glass will act like a con- vex lens, and produce a real colourless focal image. The problem of constructing teles- copes which shall be truly achromatic, depends, as we have before observed, chiefly on the perfection to which the glasses can be brought. The general facts respecting glasses for this use are, that lead, and probably other metallic ox- ides, increase the disjjersive power more than alkalis, and these last more than earthy fluxes ; and thi.t an addition of alkali to glasses containing lead sei'ves greatly to dinnnish '.he mean refraction, without much affecting the dispersive power ocasioned by the metal. Hence it might seem easy to com])ose such glass as the theorems of the optician demand ; but the practice is by no means so rea- dy. Regular refraction demands, that the medium should possess a uniform density throughout, or, in other words, that the parts of the glass should be well combined together. This however is sel- dom the case, especially in the dense metallic glass It is found, that the great fusibility of the glass of lead causes it to flow, and occupy the interstices between the particles of the sand before these are, melted. So that some very bright and apparently homogeneous glasses exhibit an infinity of small focal images of a can- dle, when examined by a magnifier, which are produced by rounded particles of sand remaining in every part of the sub- stance. Another fault, still more com- mon, consists in veins of a diflferent den- sity from the rest, partly arising from im- peifect fusion, and partly from the densi- ty of the glass in the pots being greater, the lower its position. Various have been the attempts to re- medy these defects, more especially since the ISoard of Longitude has oflered a con- siilcruble ])remium for this object. We do not, however possess any ample detail of these unsuccessful experiments. It is generally unilerslood, that it is vain to endea\()ur to make this glass in small tiirnaces, because the heat in these is continually varying, and is either too low for the requisite fiuidiiy, op so high as to extricate bubbles of clastic matter ; whereas a steady heat is required for the purpo.sc. Macquer and others have at- lempttd to correct the evil by repeated fusions and ])ulvcrlzation of the glass, and by exposing it to long continued tires, but without success. It is said, that one of the practices in the English glass-houses consists in lading tlie melted matter from one pot to another in the furnace. But this, • on account of the hea\y duty of excise, a\id the imijolitic manner in which it is levied, cannot be done to any great ex- tent in that country. If the glass be suf- fered to cool in the pots after a good fu- sion, its parts take a symmetrical ar- rangement, of the nature of crystalliza- tion, by which the light is acted upon in a manner independent of its figure, which is thought to be a great impedi- ment to its optical use. Mr. Kier w ho has had much experience in this branch of chemistry, is disposed to recommend the tiial of component parts difi'erent from any which have yet been admitted into the common glasses. I Without presuming to speculate in a M department of science, wherein our ex- fl perience is much conhned, we shall point otit a few facts, which may be of use to the philosophical operator, and leave the manufacturer to his own trials. It is ge. nerally aifirnied, that Mr. Dollond made ^\ his original experiments, and construct- ^li ed those excellent three-foot glasses * (which at present bear so high a price, and are not to be ^iiadc) with one single pot of glass made at the glass-house near Wellclose Square, and that none of tlie same quality has since been made. But the proprietor of that glass-house has as- sured us, that the original receipts and practice are still followed in the making of optical glass : that the principal opti- cians always complain of the bad (juali- ly of the glass, but never fail to take the whole quantity he makes at their re- quest ; and that when they renew their orders, they always desire it may be ex- GLA aclly tlie same as the last. From these circumstances 1 think it probable, 1 Tliat, thoui^ii one pot of glass may dif- fer from another, yet there may be as g-ood glass obtained for optical uses now as tbrmerly, if an optician skilled in the theory and pi-actice, Uke the late Mi-. Dollond, were to undertake, the task of adapting- the curvatures, *and selecting the best lenses. 2. That Mr. Dolloiid's purpose as a tradesman being now an- swered, by the establishment of an exten- sive business, he has not the same mo lives for exertion upon powerful teles- copes as actuated liis father 3. Tiiat iht- profits of this trade are greater, antl more certain, when many hinidreds of '"heap perspectives ai-e made hy common workmen, tlian when a few extraordinary tL-lescopes are made by tlie most excel- lent artists, superintended by the master iiimself; and, consequently, it is not the" interest of an establislitd lio'ase to extend the latter branch. 4^ Ihat it is not tlie interest of a glass manufacturer, who can gain a large and regular income by niukuig common utensils, to emjjio}' his time in costly experiments upon optical glass, which, if bro-aght to perfection, v.ould afford but a moderate demand, probably no g-reater than he now experi- ences : and, therefore, tliat the improve- mei^of achromatic telescopes is rather to be expected from a man of science, who may be a practical chemist, than from a mere tradesm;in. I suspect the opinion to be ill-founded, that those kinds of gla.-.s are unfit for op- tical uses, whiclt are veiny or ciuuded, or otherwise unpromising. On tlie contra- ry, there are reasons to think, that the defects of glass arise from irregularities too minute and numerous to oe discern- ed or discovered in any way, but by the actual proof of constructing a telescope. There are good g-lasses, which abound wiiii the larger veins ; and we possess two achromatic lenses, each of thirty inclies focus, the obvious qualities of v>hicl), and excellence as object glasses, clilVer very much, and in opjj'>siie res- pects. They are each composed of a con- vex of crown glass, applied to a concave of flint. The one was constructed for the tube of an astronomical quadi-ant It produces no colour, has no aberration from figure, and, when the eye is placed in its f )cus so as to receive the pencil of light from a fixed star, the whole aper- ture is uniformly covered v.'ith ligiit. The other glass, thougij perfectly similar, was made fur a pocket perspective. It pro- duces scarcely any colour, has considera- ble aberration from figure, and when the eye placed in its focus receives the light of a fixed star, the whole aperture is co- vered with a light of an irregular, curd- led, or cloudy appearance. I have no doubt but the former glass was angled to the superior, and the latter to^e'in- ferior use, from their obvious qualities : but when tliey are examined by vhe true test of optical excellence, the applica- tion of a large magnifying power, the former proves dark and indistinct, while tiie latter exhibits the object bright and well defined, and is on the whole an ex- cellent lens. Of' Coloured Glasses. — The metallic ox}ds when mixed with an\' of the glasses, dissolve in them with ease at a melting lieat, and 'always change the co- lour more or less, sometimes producing very beautiful compounds, which when well prepared, have a lustre and richnes.s of colour strongly resembling that of the natural gems, though in an inferior de- gree, 'i'he business of making these co- loured glasses or artificial gems, is carried on to a very great extent in the manufac- ture of a variety of ornaments, and though much of the management remains a se- cret in the hands of the artists, a good deal of valuable matter has been made public by the labours of Xeri, Kunckel, .Margra:af, Fontanieu, and many other practical chemists. It is veni" easy for any person at all used to cliemical experiments to repeat most of these in the small way, with sufficient success to satisfy himself of the leading facts, though for tb.ejmrpose of manufac- ture more care in tlie clioice and prepara- tion of the materials, and a greater length of time in tiie melting part is required than most experimcriters choose to be- stow. It may be premised too, that the art of making coloiu-ed enameU is essentially the same as that of coloured glasses, the chief difltirence being that in the former case Xhe ground or \iLreons substance that receives tiie colour is an opaque enamel glass, and in the latter a clear transparent g-las.s. The way of preiiaring the enamel ground is described under that article. 1 lie coloiu-ing power of the metallic oxyds is also in many instances much af- fected by the degree of heat to which they are exposed, and to tlie other ingre- dients with which they are mixed, and hence arise a good many precautions and niceties of luanagemcnt, many of which are only kno\ui to the practical artist. There seems good reason to suppose that much of this difterence depends on the degree of oxygenation in which the co- louring oxyd is left afte^the action o: GL\ GLA fire, or of the other inj^-ediciits. Tlie phenomena tliat occur in llic use of man- g'anese Itave ah-eady been described, and somethiiijj simihu- happens in using the oxvds'of iron and silver. Sometimes a metallic oxyd may be so nearly reduced to the reguhne slate, as not to lie pcrtect- ly sohible in the ghiss, but only suspend- ed in it. 'I'his liappens occasionally witii the oxyd of copper, whicli, wlu n ])ei-fectly oxydated, gives a fine bhitish-green, but when nearly in the ' metallic state pro- duces a brown-red and not perfectly trans- parent glass. There is also a mutual ac- tion of the oxyds upon each other, so that the glasses in which oxyd of had enters, will not receive a red colour by iron, an effect which is not produced with the merely alkaline glasses. .Much remains to be done on this very curious and en- tcitaining subject of the colouring power of metallic oxyds, and it is only by a well- conducted scienufic series of ex])eriments that the perplexing intricacy of many of the receipts of the articles on this subject can be reduced to certain rules. In making coloured glasses to resemble artificial gems, the glass which is to re- ceive the colour (which is often called crystal) ought to unite the qualities of great purity, lustre, and hardness, toge- ther with a sufficient fusibility to melt at a moderate heat those oxyds that are in danger of being decomposed by a high teini)ei-ature. A vast variety of receipts have been given for such a glass, and it appears that several sorts are actually in use according to the price and object of the manufactured article- Tiie glasses that possess the greatest lustre and are at the same time easily fusible, are un- questionably those in which the o.\}d of lead enters very largely, and it appears that many of them are little else than oxyd of lead vitrified with a much smaller proportion of silex than is used even in flint-glass, or any other species. To these borax is an impoitant addition, and often arsenic and other fluxes are added. But it unfortunately happens, that the lead-glasses are at the same time the soft- est, and scratch with the greatest ease. Hence it is the perfection of this art to find a compound, or manage any of the known compounds, in such a manner as to unite both lustre and hardness; in the former, the natural gems (the diamond excepted) may be very nearly equalled, l>ut not in the latter. Many of the older artists have had the idea that a harder glass would be obtain- ed by making rock crystal the siliceous basis than sand, flint, or any other stone f'f this genus. But this seems totally un- founded ; for when dissolved in a flux ol any kind, the hardness of rock-crystal is irrecoverably lost, as it is not an i'lherent propert}- of tliis particular species any otiierwise than as depending upon its na- tural aggregation, which of course is de- stroyed. Perhaps it may be somewhat puier than the linest sand, or tliaji pow- dered gun-flints, since these (the latter ]d| at least eertainh) contain a very minute portion of iron, wliich ])ossibly, though not very probably, may a little affect the ver\' finest colours. It is rendered fria- ble by being heated red-hot and quench- ed in water in the same way that gun- flints are. It should then be ground m a hard stone mortar, or in a mill, and not in any metallic mortar. * A few of these glasses may be here given from tlie directions of M. Fonta- nieu. No. 1. Mix 20 parts of litharge, 12 of silex, 4 of nitre, 4 of borax, and 2 of white arsenic, frit them in a crUcible and after- wards melt, then pour the whole into wa- ter, separate any revived lead that may be foi'ind, and melt again. No 2. Mix 20 parts of cerusse, 8 of si- lex (powdered gun-flints) 4 of carbonat of potash, and 2 of borax. When melt- ed, pour into water, and re-melt in a clean crucible. No. 3 Mix 16 parts of minium, 8 of • rock-crystal in powder, 4 of nitre, and 4 of carbonat of potash ; melt and re-melt as before. No. 4. Treat as above 24 parts of bo- rax, 8 parts of rock-crystal, and 8 of car- bonat of potash. No. 5. Make a quantity of liquor of flints by fritting together 3 parts of alkali with 1 of rock-crystal, which dissolve in water, and saturate with dilute nitric acid. Edulcorate and thy the silex which pre- cipitates, and which is then in a very fine impal]iable powder. 'I'hen melt it in a crucible with l\ its weight of very fine ;^ cerusse, and ])our llic glass into water, ^jf" I'hen break it down ami melt it with one- twelfth its weight of borax, and pour into water as bifore. Lastly melt this latter product with one-twell'ih of nitre, and the result will be a very fine hard glass of ex- treme lustre. Of the above glasses. No. 1 will be ex tremely soft and tusible, on account of the large ])roi)ortion of ihix, and it requires a very good crucible to withstand the cor- roding effect for a number of hours. The crucibles are found to stand better if they are first lineil with any common glass without lead, for which purpose a little of the glass. No. 4, may be moistened with water, rubbed over the hiside of the cru- GLA oible, slowly and thorouj^y dried and heated red-hot before tlie mixtuhe is add- ed, which will give it an uniform glazini^. Silex requires, to nvlien in very large tpiantity. riieir use as a 'flux has iieen repeatedly mentioned, and tliey will readily \iti-lfy most completely in a moderate lieat with- out addition, or will unite with any other GLA GLA vitiifiable matters and most powerfully as- sist their vitrification. This oxyd is sel- dom used directly as a colour, on ac- count of the enormous proportion requir- ed, whicl) should be at least three-fourths of the glass to give a yellow of an in- tensity, and tliis would give a compound extremely soft and one that would pow- ^' erfully corrode the crucibles. Of . iittimony. The perfect oxyd of this metal gives a full yeilow to glass which is much used, botli alone and in com- pound colours in v/hich yellow is a ne- cessaiy ingredient, OJ Manganese. The peculiar circum- stances attending the use of this metal- lic oxyd in glass-making have already been mentioned. "When not in contact with carbonaceous matter the proper co- lour given by this oxyd to glass is a pur- plish-red, rather muddy wiien in full body, but still very beautiful. It is al- most always combined with nitre when thus employed. The colour is totally destroyed by all the arsenical salts as before-mentioned, and therefore arsenic in any form should be avoided when man- ganese is used as a colouring matter. It also is tlie principal ingredient in most of the black glasses. Of Cobalt. The colour given by the oxyd of this metal is a fine deep blue, whicii is unalterable in any fire, and suc- ceeds with any flux. The colouring pow- er is also very intense- ZaflTre is usu- ally employed for this purpose. Cobalt is also used for some of the finer blacks mixed with manganese and iron, and with the yellow of antimony and lead it com- poses a green. Of J\''!ciel. Though this oxyd is not actually used, it may here be mentioned, that tlie oxyd gives a violet-blue glass witli fluxes of potash and to those glasses in which it largely enters, but not with soda or borax. Klaproth has fully as- rertained this in liis analysis of the ^^hrysoprase, which, from its giving a blue to potash glass, was thought to contain cobalt, but this is not the case, the colouring matter being nickel. Thus one part qf the rough chrysoprase, and two parts of carbonac of potash fused in- to a violet-blue glass ; and 80 parts of .silex, 60 of caibonat of potash, and three of oxyd of nickel from tiie chrysoprase, also gave a violet-blue glass. The same result was given by using an o.'cyd of nic- kel from a known ore of that metal. Equal parts of ti>e chrysoprase and of car- bonat of soda gave a tourmaline-brown glass nearly opake. Equal parts of chry- soprase and calcined borax gave a brown transparent gLiss : and 60 parts of siiex, as much borax, and three parts of oxyd of of nickel, also gave a cleai" light brown glass. Silex, phosphoric acid, and oxyd of nickel in the same proportions gave a honey-) ellow glass but not quite clear. Of Tungsten. Though this is not used it may be mentioned that with fluxes of phosphoric acid it gives a blue glass, but not when borax or alkalies are used. Of Chrome. This metal which is the natural colouring matter of the ruby and emerald, would be a most valuable in- gredient for the ai'tificial gems if it could be procured with a tolerable ease. It has been found to give a fine red and also a most beautiful and exquisite green to glasses, but its great scai-city has pre- vented its frequent use. See Chrome. Having thus generally described the colouring properties of the several me- tallic oxyds, some of the actual recipes for the different coloured glasses may be mentioned. These we shall chiefly give from M. Fontanieu, and from Neri and Kunckel, to which may be added the actual composition of a few of the beautiful antique coloured glasses, as found by the analysis of Klaproth. Witli regard to the recipes however, it may be added that there appears such enormous difference in the relative proportions of the metallic oxyds to the fluxes used, as either to give a suspicion of extreme in- accuracy or to shew that it must in most cases be determined by individual exp e rience. Of the Ruby red, Purple, Violet, ^c. 6y Gold. Little can be added here to what has been said above under Gold. The particulars of the process have always been carefully kept secret by the success- ful artists, and from the frequent failures there can be no doubt that it is a very difficult process to manage. According to Kunckel and others who have suc- ceeded, it appeai-s that tlie colouring power of tlie purple precipitate of Cassius, or the mixed oxyds of gold and tin, is so great that one part will give a full rich body of colour to from 600 to 1000 or more of glass. The glass of antimony too seems an important addition. This ruby glass comes out of the fire colourless, but assumes its beautiful hue as it cools. It has been thought tliat the colour is also further brought . out by exposure to smoke. Of other Beds, Purples, and Violets. Some of these are composed of a colour- less glass basis, such as one of the five before mentioned, whh manganese either alone or with the purple precipitate of gold, or more commonly witli the oxyd (if cobalt. Tlie colour given by manga- GLA GLA I nese being' of a violet red, the cobalt will give it a more decided purple by adding: its natural blue. It is impossible to pick out from the various recipes any other proportions, than that Uie oxyd of man- ganese will cover very fully about lOU times its weight of glass when used alone, and when cmi)loyed w ith cobnh, 200 parts of glass will be highly coloured wilh one of manganese, and (for a purple) about one-third to two-fourlhs of zafire. Neri gives tlie following receipt for a glass to imitate tlic garnet, namely, 2oz. of rock crjstal, 6oz. of minium, Ih grains of manganese, and 2 grains of zafh-e. Kunckel gives for a violet red glass a common lead-glass basis with -ji^ of manganese, mixed with nitre. Foiita- nieu gives for the imitation of the ame- thyst, 24 oz. of his glass, No. 5 (as al- ready described), A oz. of manganese, and 4 grains of purple p)ecipitate of gold, together with Ih ounce of nitre. But the quantity of colouring matter here is so enormous iliut the vitreous ba- sis should probably be 24 pounds instead oi ounces. A fine red has been mentioned to be procured from the oxyd of cojiper (with or without oxyd of iron) mixed witli the due proportion of glass and wiUi carbo- naceous matter stirred in. For a full deep red tiie oxyd of iron should be three or four times as much as the copper, and in proportion as the latter predomi- nates the colour approaches to carmine. The glass at first should appear when hot only of a faint greenish-yellow, and, when in full fusion, some tai-tar is stirred in, which in.stantly reddens the whole and causes it to swell prodigiously, after which it again subsides into a clear red glass, which should be worked off with- out delay. Probably charcoal would an- swer as well as tartar. The anti([ue red glass analyzed by Klaproth must probably have been made in the same way, that is by carbonizing a ^glass containing the oxyds of iron and copper. 'I'lie colour was a lively cop- per-red, perfectly opake and bright at the point of fracture. The earthy and me- tallic ])arts of 400 prains, as given by ana- lysis, were as follows : Silcx - - - 142 Oxyd of lead - - 28 Oxyd of copjier .- 1.5 Oxyd of iron - - 2 Aluminc - - - 5 Lione - - - 3 195 It is observable that this was opake, whereas the former mentioned glass is transparent. Klaproth conjectures that this antique glass was made not by any intentional proportion or selection of in- greiUents, but from the scorix of some co])per ores. Of Gre'.n Glasses. For these, which are hilendcd to imitate the emerald when full-bodied, and the aquamarine when light, there are Ynany receipts. Among others the following may be se- lected. Take 160 parts of any glass basis into which muc!» lead enters, as the glass No. 1, 2, 3, or 5, mix it with 4 parts of the oxyd of copper made by simple cal- cination, and .r?^ of a part of any oxjd ot iron, and melt with a sufficient heat. In this as in all the other emerald colours a very small addition of iron seems highly useful to give somewhat of a richness of tint, and to take away the cold hue of the copper alone. For this reason too the rich yellow of the leadtis of so much ad- vantage. Another is, 576 parts of the glass ba- sis, 6 of the same oxyd of copper, and only -j4:j: of oxyd of iron. -Another is, 200 parts of fine" sand, 400 of minium, 8 of calcined verdigris, and 1 of oxyd of iron. The variation in these proportions is extreme. Another method of composing the eme- rald-green is by a nfixture of blue and yellow glass in due proportions. The yellow may be given by the oxyd of an- timony, and the blue by cobalt. Fonta- nieu g'ives for this 120 parts of any of the glass bases, 1 of mountain htut, and -j^^- of glass of antimony : or else 576 parts of the glass No. 2, 20 of glass of antimony, and 3 of oxyd of cobalt (not zafti-e). When the green has a sensible mixture of blue in tl'ie tint it forms a fine semie- what cold colour resembling the aqua- marine. Tiiis is produced in general by adding cobalt in some form or other to the matei'ials for the gretn glass. For this the following receipts are given by Neri, Kunckel, and Fontanieu. Melt 300 parts of any fine crystal glass made with- out manganese, add thereto at intervals 6 parts of calcined copper or aiiy similar preparation, and ^ of a part ofzailie, stir the glasa well while mixing, and then let them fuse quietly fin* some hours. No reasons appear however why the whole materials should not be mi.xed at first as in the usual mode. Another is, 300 jjarts 'of fine soda glass with 6 of calcined brass, melted together, stirred twice at long in- tervals, the heat being continued a long- time, and finally suffered to remuiii in GLA GLA quiet fasion for many hours before work- ing. Another is, 256 parts of fine glass, and 150 of litharge or minium, first melt- ed togetlier and well mixed (or else any ©f the glass bases already mentioned that contain lead), to which is added 4 parts of calcined brass or of oxyd of copper made by calcination, and ^ a part of zaiTie. Another receipt for this colour is a mixture of yellow and blue, in such proportions that the blue shall prevail a little over the perfect green, the natural result of the mixture of blue and yellow. This is done by adding to 24 parts of the glass basis No. 1 or No. 3, 1-3 part of glass of antimony, and -j^-^ of a part of oxyd of cobalt. According to Klaproth's analysis of a portion of an antique verdigris-green opake glass, the colour was formerly, as now, given by copper and a small portion of iron, the same in kind as those that composed the red glass above mentioned, and probably also the oxyds were not ar- tificially mixed but were used as contain- ed in a natural ore. Two hundred grains of this green glass or paste yielded grains OfSilex 130 O.'cyd of copper ... 20 Oxyd of lead . . . .' 15 Oxyd of iroa .... 7 Lime 13 Alumine 11 196 Of Blue Glasses.— These glasses, which are intended to imitate the sapphire, are composed of a common basis and colour- ed with cobalt, but generally with the ad- dition of a quantity of manganese, which by addhig a violet tint gives a gi-eater richness of body. When the manganese is in large proportion, the colour then is a ricii violet blue or purple resembling the amethyst. There ajjpears no agree- ment in the different receipts as to thS re- lative proportions of manganese, only that the latter should be in less quantity than tile cobalt when used in the dilute form of xaitre. These mixtures appear to be materially improved by being twice melt- ed and poured into water and powdered between the first and second fusion. Among the several receipts the following may be given, namely, to 100 parts of a fine glass, without lead, add 1 part of zaffre and -^^ of a part of manganese. Another is 240 parts of glass frit, made witii soda and sand only, 192 of minium, 2 of zaflre and one third of manganese melted twice and treated as above. Or a very fine blue glass may be made simplj by the glass No. 5, with a necessary dose of oxyd of cobalt or zaffre. Though blue glasses cannot be now made v.'ithout cobalt, it is certain .that iron in some mode of combination gives this colour in great perfection. It ap- pears to be the natural colouring mattei* of the sapphire, lapis lazuli, and some other blue minerals, and is frequently produced accidentally in the scoriae of iron ores. The art of colouring pastes and enamels blue with iron was certainly known to the antients but is now entirely lost. This is proved by tlie analysis of some of the antient blue enamels, in which no metallic matter but iron, with a small proportion of copper, can be detected. Whether the copper assists in the effect cannot be told. Klaproth analyzed an opake antient lioman enamel, the colour of which was sapphire blue verging to- wards that of smalt, and found the fol- lowing ingredients. parts Silex 163 Oxyd of iron . . . 19 Oxyd of copper . , 1 Alumine 3 Lime 0.5 186.5 Some of these pjates of enamel were coloured equally throughout, others only to a certain depth on one surface, and the colour was given so uniformly that the plate had tlie appearance of two plates, one blue and the other colourless, adhering to each other. Of reUoKv Glasses.— The oxyds of lead, antimony, and silver are those which are used to give a yellow to imitate the varie- ties of tlie topaz, or the yellow diamond. M. Fontanieu gives the following propor- tions: 24 parts of the glass jYo. 1, or JVo. 3, and five eigliths of a part of glass of antimony, or for the deeper coloured to- paz, six eighths. For tlie imitation of the Brazilian Topaz he advises 192 parts of the glass J\o. 2, or 2^o. 3, eight and one third parts of glass of antimony, and one ninth of a part of the purple precipitate of gold. An inferior yellow glass may be made by fusing simply 2 pai-ts of fine sand or silex of any kind, with 7 parts of minium, but this is vei'y soft The deli- cate hue of the yellow diamond is imitat- ed by adding to 576 parts of the glass iVb 4, 25 parts of luna cornea, or ten parts of glass of antimony. A colour varying in shade from browTi to dingy smoke yellow, and thence to a fine transparent yellow, is given to com* GLA GLA mon pflass simply by adding to it when in soft fusign, any vegetable carbonaceous matter, part of which rises to the top and is burnt oflT, but a part also remains uni- formly diffused through the glass, and gives it a fine yellow vvitliout impairing' its transparency. No continuance of the fire will burn out this xellow colour al- together, after it has oucc lost its dingy smoked hue and accpiiretl a clear yellow. Tartar has been Cv)nnii()nly used ibr this purpose, but almost any vegetable inflam- mable substance not H;iid, will probably ilo as well ; tiie soft charcoal of the beech answers the same purpose. ^Nrungaiicsc glass rendered opake by some addition which in any proportion impairs the trans- larency; and the blue, green, yellow, ind other coloured opake glasses have the white glass for a basis, and are co- loured in the same way as the transparent glasses. Jf'/iitc Class — The finest white glass is a vitreous base made opake by the ox\ d of tin, and is tiien called Enamel, (which sec). liut a very good white may be made at less expence b) substituting for the oxv d of tin a j)retty large quantity of bone-ash or phosphai of lime in very fine powder. lias been employed in liie compositioli of jit ajjpears to be owing chiefly to the ex- this glass, hut it appc;us to be of no use. j treme infusibility of this earthy salt that Sometimes the carbonaceous matter is \ the opacity is produced, so that in fiict added to the glass frit when beginning to the glass thus mude is a common vitJ'cs- melt in the glass pots, at other times it is cent compound holding in intimate mix- mixed with it before firing. A little nitre liu'e a quantity of unvitrescible earth, is foimd of use in clearing the colour and Neri's receipts tor white glass are the correcting the smoakiness. but too much following: mix together 60 parts of white of it will destroy the colour altogether. ! .sand, 40 of potash, and 10 of finely pow- This glass swells much in the pot, when dei ed bonc-asb, and melt for the usual preparing, owing to the escape of part of time of glass-muking. The result is a the carbonaceous matter, especially when glass, which when fully red-hot is trans- tartar is employed : but probably with parent, but becomes milky and opake as quite dry and fresli burnt charcoal, pre- soon as it cools. It does not appear cer- viously heated strongly in close vessels tain whether tliis change is chiefly owing for about an hour, no such eflect would to a deception of sight which does not take place i allow the degree of opacity to be distin- Of the .irfificial Diamond — Though I guishcd when red-hot, or whether the no art has ever invented any vitreous com- i glass really becomes opake only when it position which can be mistaken for the i cools, and'then deposits the bone-ash by real cut diamond, by an eye at all prac- -tiie elFect of a kind of supersaturation by tised, (unless by particular artifices in the \ heat. setting, which are easily detected) yet Another receipt is, 130 parts of sand some artists can prejiare a very fine bril- or calcined flint, 70 of nitre, 12 of borax, liant hard glass paste, which possesses 12 of tartar, 5 of arsenic, and 15 of bone- great beauty, and a very considerable nvatcr or play of light, which more nearly imitates the dianiond than all the com- mem artificial gems. It will be sufficient here to add that AI. Fonlanieu recom- , mends his glass Ah. 1, for this purpose. ATliese glasses rvc(uire a considerable ifiiiength oitime of strong fusion before they .re brought to tlie state of the greatest' I' arness and brilliance OfOpah Glns.^es — The materials which 1 m the opake glasses are a common vi- icons basis, as for the coloured glasses, and cidiei' an excessive dose of colouring metallic oxyd whicli slwdl p.ive such a depth and body of colour as to proiluce opacity, or a subatancc whicli of itself gives an opake vl;i'. cress, to which any colour may be alurwaids adt'ed if re- quired. In gei!cral it is only the black glasses whicli are n»ade opake by mesi'e * quantity of the same coloHr which, in smaller pn'jjoiiion, would be transparent ; and the wliu? glasses art- made with a ash. An imitation of the opal is made ac- cording to Fontanieu by mixing 576 parts of the glass Ah. 3, lUofluna cornea, 'J of magnetic iron ore, and 26 of bone-ash. Black Glass. — It is not easy to make a very full-bodied, perfectly opake, fine blaclj glass. This is commonly made by ijnarganese, and it has been i'ound that one part of this oxyd will give a full body of opake black to about 20 of glass. A finer black used chiefly by the cnamellers is made (.iS appears) by mixing together equal parts of manganese, zafire, and scales of iron, and fusing one part of this mixed jKiwder with 15 or twenty of any kind of glass. For the other opake coloured glasses no more need be added than that tiiey may be made in the same way as the- transparent coloured glasses, .'iubsli'iuting tlie opake white glass far the common vi- . treous base. These however are not much used in mass, or l()r any of the QLA GLA common useful or ornamental purposes to which the transparent glasses are applied. The opake coloured enamels are oompos- td on the same general principles, the base being the while enamel made with the oxyd of tin. Glass, blowers lamp, ^ Glass, flint, I Glass, crystal, ^ Glass, crown, | z Glass, gi-een, J S Glass, plate, or mirror glass. Glass, coloured, Glass, pastes. Glass, purple, Glass, yellow. Glass, blue. Glass, ruby. Glass, violet, Glass, opake, white and black. Glass, gilding of See Gilding. Glass, silvering of. See Foliating, also, Glass-Jitaking. Glass, method of etching on. See £«- graving en Glass. GLASS OF BORAX is borax calcined till it loses its water of crystallization and flows into a very thin limpid glass. A moderate red heat is sufficient for the purpose. This becomes slightly opake by exposure to the air, in consequence of an incipient efflorescence. GLASS-GALL, or Sandiver, is the scum of the glass-pots which arises during the vitrification of the fi'it. See Glass- M-\KING. GLASSES (.Metallic) are the oxyds, or sometimes the sulphuretted oxyds of the different metals vitrified by heat. Those of lead and antimony are the most familial- to Chemists. GLAUBER'S SALT, called also Sul- phateof Soda, Vitriolated Natron, SaUlr- rabiie, &c This suit is produced either by the di- rect combination of sulphuric acid and so- da, or duiing certain processes of single or double decomposition, it is also found in mineral waters, and in the waters of the sea. It was first discovered by Glauber, in 165S, in the residue of the distillation of conmion salt, and sulphuiic acid, for pro- curing muriatic acid. This salt and Ep- som salt, or sulphat of magnesia, were oVtcn confounded together, for some time aficr ti'ie first discovery of each, till the real nature of the latter was ascertained by Dr. Black. Sulphat of soda is found native in a va- riety of places, and both solid and dissol- ved in natural waters, but on the whole, the quantity is but small. The native Glauber's salt, is found in Hungary, in the neighbourhood of salt lakes, and is described under this article. This salt is also contained in greater or less quan- tity, in almost every natui-al water that has any saline taste or quality, such as the Seltzer, Cheltenham, &c. and particularly in many of the hot saline springs, combi- ned with carbonat of soda, of which the celebrated thermal waiters of Carlsbad are striking instances, and are estimated by fair calculation to pour out annually, up- wards of a million of pounds of this salt, along with other ingredients. Many brine springs also contain this salt, which re- mains in the mother water after the ex- traction of tlie common salt, and may then be obtained by evaporation and crystalli- zation on cooling. Glauber's salt, we have observed, is al so procured in many processes of chemi- cal manufacture, cither as a residue, or an intermediate product in the preparation of soda. A good de;J of it is obtained in manufacture, as a residue in the distilla- tion of muriatic acid, from sulphuric acid and common salt, or of oxymuriatic acid from sulphuric acid, common salt, and manganese ; or in the manufacture of sal ammoniac from sulphat of ammonia and common salt, which last furnishes the greater part of the Glauber's salt, import- ed into this country. This salt is also obtained by the de- composition of muriat of soda by pyrites, and by gypsum, (as described under that article) and is the intermediate step in tlie mr.nufacture of soda Irom common salt. It is obtained in France by the combus- tion of tile taniarixgallica. In the United States it is procured in abundance, esp>e- cially in the eastern states, where salt is made from salt v.ater,bythe evaporation of tile mother water, remuining after the for- mation of saltj^from brine springs, licks, S:c. A manufactory was some years since established in this city, for the prepara- tion of sal ammoniac, during wiiich Glau- ber's salt was formed. Glauber's salt is composed of 58 water, 23o2 sulphuric acid, and 18-48 soda. Without stating the chemical properties of this salt, we shall only observe, that the conversion of the crystals into a white powder, called efflorescence, by exposure to the air, is nothing more than tlie separation of wa- ter, called the water of crystallization. Glauber's salt, thus effloresced, still re- tains its medicinal qualities. The best mode of administering it, is by dissolving- it in hot lemonade. GLAZING of Pottery. See Pottery. GLA«[NG, the art of fixing lights of glass in windows. GOL GOL The cement, sometimes, though im- properly called a glaze, which is used for comiecting the pane to the window frame, is C(;mposcd of" wliiting, and linseed oil, well tempered together, to which white lead is sometimes added. From the frequent accidents, which happen io painters and glaziers, from the ii'.isU'adiness of their macl)ines, and the consequent danger to which they are lia- ble, wlicn glazing or painting windows in the uppe- stories of a house, M''. Davis has pro])osed the following invention to cbviate this inconvenience. Fig. 1, Represents the machine : the part a is similar to that used by gla7.iers, which is placed on the outside of the win- dow, b, is an additional moving pisce, which presses against the inside f)f the window frame, and is brouglit nearer to, or removed farther from it, by means of the male screw c, and its handle d. Fig, 5. Shows the lower part of a window, and the manner in which the moving ])iece b, including a female screw, acts against the inside of the win- dow frame. ^Kjy. J. _^^ 7'\q.'?. IMtiiilf'PH'IMIiMiwiiMlMilMii jiaiiiii Fig. 3, Shews a cross bar, introduced in place of the moving piece last niention- cd, which bar extends from one window side to the other, and explains how tlic machine may be used, where any injury might arise from screwing the moving piece in tlic centre of the -recess of the window. The general improvement consists in the use of a screw on that end of tJie frame which is within ilie house, and which k<-i:ps the niaclune steady and firm, in- stead of the two upright irons, wliich are put through holes made in the top plank of llic macliinc.in tlie common mode, and which occasion the macliine to bo very unsteady in use, and liable to accident There are two blocks marked e, t, which may be occasionally put in, or taken out, according as the sUme work under the window may refiuire. (;0l,1). Gold is a metallic substance of a pure yellow colour, remarkably ductile and malleable, of great specilic j^'ravity, and nearly as soft as tin. hi fusibility it ranks between silver and copper; it is uot oxydable by fusion in atmospheric air ; nor is it acted on by any of the acids ex- cept the frxvuMiriatic and nitro-muriatic. Ores ojOold—i'iiM is found only in one state, namelx, the reguline, but is hardly ever pure, being alloyed more or leSs b/ silver, cojjper, tellurium, and a few o'.her metals. When alloyed with silver or cop- per, or with both, it preserves its ductili- ty, and is reckoned as native gold ; when combined with telliinum, it entirely loses its discriminative external char.acters, and in this state is generally classed among the ores of tellurium. For the conveni- ence, however^ of the reader, we shall de- .scribe tliis latter sub.stance both liere, and when we come to treat of telluriuni, trusting that a httle repetition will be ex- cused on this account. Native Gold— lia colour when pure, or nearly so, is a bright, somewhat orange yellow ; in proportion as it is alloyed with silver, it inclines to a pale brass yeilosv ; when combined, as is supposed with i)la- tina, it passes from brass-yellow to steel- grey. It occui-s in detached lumps aud GOL GOL grains, disseminated, superficial, reticula- ted, dendritical, capillary, cellular and scaly, as a snuff-coloured powder, and sometimes, though rarely, crystallized in small cubes, regular octahedrons andi rhomboidal dodecahedrons. The crystals are for the most part minute and very ir- regular. The surface of tiie oystals is smooth and brilliant ; of the other varie- ties, the lustre is faintly shining and glim- mering ; when cut wiili a knife it displays a bright and perfectly metallic lustre, lis fracture is hackly. It is very soft, per- fectly ductile and flexible, but not elastic. Its specific gravity varies according to its purity from about 17. to 19. Before the blow-pipe it runs into a glo- bule without emitting any vapour. Native gold is rather a rare mineral, and is by no means the principal source of this valuable metal. It occurs in veins or dispersed tlirough the substance of primitive mountains, especially argilla- ceous schistus, and clay porphyry, and is accompanied by^uartz, feltspar, cal- careous and heavy l^ars, pyrites, red and vitreous silver ore, galena, Sec. Tiie j'ichest mines of native gold are found in Br£7.il, Peru, and Mexico ; some of the African, Sumatran, and Japanese gold, is also procured fi-om a similar source; the mine of Beresof in tlie Uralian moun- tains, and some of the Hungarian and Transylvanian mines likewise yield na- tive gold, though in small quantities. But by far the latest proportion of na- tive g-nld is found accidentally dispersed through certain alluvial strata. That this, is not its natural situation is mani- fest from its occurring here only in round- ed and flattened uiasses, from microsco- pical spangles to pieces three or four | pounds in weight, all of wliich exhibit ■ decidedly the effects of friction. It is j from the sands of certain rivers that | this stream gold as it may be called, has ! been chiefly procured ; and it was natu- j rally thought that its oiiginal bed was at the mountainous sotirces of these streams, whence it was detached by the force of the torrents, and deposited in the lower and quieter part of the river. In some instances this is no doubt the case, but in most others the transportation of the gold appears to have taken place at a period anterior to the formation of our present rivers. Where gold is found in the bed of an actual torrent at no great distance from its source and in a moun- tamous country ; where, too the gold is confined within the present or probable former boundaries of the stream (as is particularly the case with that recently VOL. L fonad near Cronebane in the county of Wicklow in Ireland) it may be consi- dered as indicating the presence of gold, either dispei-sed or in a regular mine in the adjoining rocks. But on the other hand, when gold is found in the bed of a river at a considerable distance from its source ; if the surrounding country is plain or nearly so ; if the auriferous sand forms a stratum extending to a consideralile distance beyond the river ; then it is probable that the river has merely cut tlirough a previous allu- vial stratum holding gold, and that to en- deavour to find the mine whence this me- tal originated bj" searching the rocks to- wards the source of the stream, is mere loss of time. A considerable portion of the stream gold seems to have been contained in au- riferous pyrites, for almost all the sands from which this metal is extracted are highly ferruginous, and of a deep black- ish-brown colour : the gold itself is most- ly of a pale 3'ellow, and is considei'ably alloj ed with silver. The Peruvian, Mex- ican, and Brazilian rivers, are many of them extremely rich in gold, as are likewise several of the streams on the western coast of Africa : in Europe, the Danube, the Rhine and the Rhone, af- ford small quantities of this metal, and from several other of the lesser rivers it has been extracted rather for curiosity than profit : the streams of Hungary and Transylvania, under the patient ma- nagement of the Zigueners or tiipseys, yield a greater quantity of gold than the rest of the European rivers, yet hardly suiftcient to afford a very scanty main- tenance to the labourers. Of the alluvial strata yielding gold, none has ever been found comparable in richness to the plain of Cineguilla in the province of Sonora, on t!ie Eastern shore of the Californian gi:lf: this plain is about fourteen leagues in extent, and contains large lumps of gold irregularly dispersed through it at the depth of about 14 inches. Besides the gold found in Cabarrus county, North Carolina, which furnished the mint previous to the year 1805, with §11,000 gold coin— this metal has also been discovered ni Virginia. A lump of gold ore found near the falls of Rappahan- nock river, yielded 17 dwt. of gold. Small lumps of gold to the value of seve- ral hundred dollars have been found in the county of Buckingham, between James and Appomatox rivers, in the same state. Graphic Gold. Its colour is tin white with a shsde gf brass-yellow : it occurs 3 I GOL GOL crystallized in small flattened prisms with toiii- or six sides, and terminated by tetrahcdral pyramids. It is soft, brittle, and may easily be cut with a knife. According to the analysis of Klaproth, it consists of Tellurium . . 60 Gold .... 30 Silver .... 10 100 It has hitherto been found only at Of- fenbanya in Transylvania, in thin layers, upon grey quartz, in clay porphyry, and is accompajiied by iron-pyrites, grey-cop- per, blende, and occasionally native gold. White Gold Ore. — Its colour is silver- white, passing into brass-yellow : it oc- curs disseminated, and in small imbedded prismatic crystals. Externally it has a bright shining metallic lustre. It is soft, and somewhat ductile. Sp. gr. 10.6. It consists according to Klaproth, of Tellurium . . 44-75 Gold . . . 26.75 Lead . . . 19.5 Silver . . . 85 Sulphur . . 0.5 100.00 It has hillierto been found only at Xa- gy-ag, in Transylvania, where it occurs in ji gangue of quartz and brown spar, :ic- companied by blende, gi-ey-copper, and copper-pyrites. Blaci Gold Ore. — Its colour varies fi-om tead-grey to iron-black : it is seldom found in mass, being generally disseminated in the form of small scales, or long hexago- nal plates, either single or accumulated on each other. It has a moderately shin- ing metaUic lustre. It stains the fingers a little, is somewhat flexible, and very soft. Sp. gr. 8.9. It consists according to Klaproth, of Tellurium . . 32.2 Lead .... 54. Gold .... 9. Silver .... 0.5 (>opper ... 1.3 Sulphur ... 3. 100 II has been found as yet only at Na- gy-ag in Transylvania, in a gangue of red manganese, brown spar, and quartz, ac- companied by galena, iron pyrites, blende, plumose antimony, and grey cop- per ore. Sp' 5. Auriferous Pyrites The bronze-yellow Iron Pyrites in masa or in striated cubes, and the hepatic py- rites when occurring in veins in primi- tive mountains, are sometin)es found to contain a suflicient quantity of pure gold, or of gold alloyed with silver, to be well worth the trouble of extracting by me- thods that will be described hereafter. It was formerly supposed that the gold as well as the iron in this ore, was mine- ralized by the sulphur ; the experiments of Bergman however, pretty clearly shew that this is a mistake, and that the gold in small scales is merely interpo- sed between the laminae of the pyrites. A considerable proportion of the Ame- rican gold, and by far the largest por- tion ot the Hungarian gold, is obtained from this ore- The produce of the Hungarian pyrites is very vaiious, some- times not exceeding a few graij>s of gold in the quintal of ore, but in the cele- brated mine named Maria of Loretto, near Zalathna, in Transj Ivania, is a vein of auriferous p) rites, that occasionally yields as much as 450 ounces of gold in the quintal. ig^ Sp 6. AuriferousGalena. The native sulpliuret of lead common- ly called galena, almost always contains a little silver^ which not unfrequently is sufficiently abundant to be worth the trouble of extracting. The galena of Flungary occasionally holds not only silver but gold, and is ac- cordingly woi'ked as one of the ores of this precious metal: the galena of Boicza yields an ounce and a half in the quintal of an alloy, of which 31 parts are silver and 1 of gold. Seduction of Ores — The richest gold mines concerning the working of which we have any very particular description are those of Hungary: the method of pro- ceeduig therefore in these establishments shall be first mentioned. The high com- mercial value of gold compared with that of any other metal depends in a consider- able degree on its rarity, hence even the most profitable veins of gold are of trif- ling magniuide, and will pay very well to the miner though mixed very intimate- ly witli so large a jjroportion of stony gangue and oilier iinpurities as would render it impossible to work with advan- tage any other metal similarly circum- stanced In the Hungarian mines tlie attention of the miner is not confined to the string? of ore, but the whole contents of the vein are usually extracted It is raised lor the most part, in large masses to the surface, and is then distributed to the workmen, who break it first with large hammers and afterwards with smaller ones, till it is re- GOL 00I> duced to pieces of the size of a walnut or less. During this process each piece is attentively examined and arranged ac- cording to its value : the native gold even to the smallest visible grain is separated as accurately as possible from the quartz in which it is chiefly imbedded, and put by itself; the auriferous galena and py- rites are also tlirown into separate heaps. The small splinters detached during this process, as well as the sand and mud of the mine are also collected, washed and sifted, and ai-ranged according to their fineness and apparent richness. The portion rejected in this first examination is afterwards re-examined by boys, whose time is of liitle value, and who pick out neai'ly the whole of what has been over- looked by the men, and sort it in the man- ner just mentioned. The native gold with its adhering ma- trix is again broken by hand into still smaller pieces, by which an additional quantity of impurities and stony matter is got rid of: it is then put into a kind of wooden box floored with cast iron plates, and reduced to a fine powder by the ac- tion of two or more heavy spars of oak, shod with iron and worked alternately in the manner of a common stamping mill. This powder, or flour as it is called, be- ing now removed into a convenient vessel like a large bason, is mixed with a suf- ficient quantity of salt and water to ren- der it damp, after which a workman takes a thin porous leather bag, puts a quantity of mercury into it, and by a con- tinued regular pressure forces the mer- cury in minute drops like dew thi-ough the leather : in this minutely divided slate it falls upon the pulverized ore, and is immediately kneaded up with it till the requisite quantity (depending in great measure on the proportion of gold) has been added. Thispartof the process be- ing compleated, the mixture is rubbed together by means of a wooden pestle for some time to expedite the incorporation of the mercury and gold, and is after- wards heated in a pi'oper vessel to about tiie temperature of boiling water for three or four days : finally, the mixture is waslied very carefully by small parcels at a time, the earthy particles are carried off' by the water, and there remains be- hind only the mercury combined with the gold into an amalgam. Part of tiie mer- cury is then separated by pressure in a leatliern bag, and the rest is driven ofl" by distillation, leaving behind only the gold and the silver with which it may happen to be alloyed. (For a fuller account of this process see Silver.) Such is the simple method by which the native gold of the ore is extracted; a much more complicated process however is required to separate that portion of the metal which is dispersed invisibly in the pyrites, ochre, galena, and other metal- lic substances, as well as the stony parts of the gangue. These in the sorting al- ready described, are separated not only according to their apparent richness, but, what is of mere importance, are also ar- ranged according to their hardness. This being compleated they are transferred to the stamping mill. The principal pai-ts of a stamping mill are the following: 1. The coffers or cis- terns, usually two in number, in which the ore is pulverized, and through which a stream of water that may be increased or diminished at pleasui'e, continually passes. 2. The stampers or vertical beams shod witli uon. 3. The axle, fixed hori- zontally, and working at one end in a pivot and rivetted at the other into the centi-e of a large water wheel. Hence the mode of its action is evident : a stream of water falling upon the wheel turns it round, and at the same time the axle to which it is attached : the cogs fastened upon the axle raise alternately the stam- pers to a given height, and then let them fall upon the ore that is placed in the cof- fers, which in proportion as it is suflflci- ently comminuted, is carried by the water that is continually flowing through, out at the sides of the coffer, into the la. bjTinths where the stony and metallic contents of the ore are deposited nearer to, or further from the discharging aper- ture, according to their respective speci- fic gravity. The coflTer is a rectangular hole sunk below the level of the ground, and both floored and lined with strong double oak planking : it is about four feet deep, five in length, and two feet or less in width. The stampers are five in number, and are strong oaken beams terminated with iron, and weighing about 200 pounds each -, they are placed side by side, about two inches and a half distant from each other. When any ore is to be pounded, the first thing is to cover the bottom of the coffer with a close-set flooring or pavement, composed of large pieces of tlie hardest and poorest part of the vein, such a floor being found by experience to be much better on many accounts than an iron one. The thickness of this floor is inversely according to the hardness of the ore to be pounded ; it being manifest that the higher this is the smaller will be the space through which the stampers have to fall, and therefore the less will be their mo- mentum : care must however at all times GOL GOL be taken, that the part of the floor imme- diately benealli the middle stamper, is about two inches lower than tliat below the stamper on each side of the middle one, and that this again, is al)()iit an inch lower than that beneatli tlic two outer- most stampers. The colTer being thus prepared, the stampers are set in motion by the water wheel, a small stream is al- lowed to flow into the coffir, and the ore is thrown in just below the middle stam- per, by a careful workman, or supplied in the projier quantity by a iiopper : the ore being comminutecl by this stamper, is gradually delivered to the next on each side, where it is still further pulverized, and from which it is passed on to tiie two outermost stampers, hy which it is at length reduced to grains of sucli fineness, as to be for a time suspended in the water, and carried by it through one or other of the apertures which are at each end of the cofler. Much care is required, especially in stamping the ores ot gold and silver, in the first place that no pieces be subjected to the process that can economically be separated by hand from tlie ganguc, for even when it is the most skilfully con- ducted, a very notable proportion will he lost ; and secondly, that the ore be pound- ed either fine, or coarse, or be subjected to greater or less force according as cir- cumstances may require. If the ore is principally native gold dispersed in very minute particles through quartz or horn- stone, it will be impossible to separate the wliole or nearly the whole of the me- tal, except it is reduced to exceedingly fine powder, and this may be safely done both because the dilfcience in specific gravity between the two ingredients of the ore is very gi-eat, and also because the quartz if reduced to particles ever so minute, does not at all clot and adhei'e to the gold. In this case tlierefore the floor of the coffer may be set as low as possi- ble, to give the stampers their greatL-si momentum, and only a very small stream of water may be let in, that the current passing out of the coffer may carry with it only the smallest particles. It often how- ever happens that tlie gold is disseminat- ed in a very ochery and highly indurated clay, or in calcareous spar, and in this case there is only a choice of difficulties : if the ore is not extremely comminuted much of the metal will be kept in tlie earthy matrix, but if on tlie other hand the stamping is continued too long, tlie whole will be reduced to a fluid mud, which will prevent the thin laminje of gold from subsiding; and long practice and accurate judgment are required to ma- nage the process, so that the greatest quantity of gold shall be obtained. Son»e- times, as at Kremnitz, the gimguc con- sists partly of quartz and in part of indu- rated clay ; in this case the most approv- ed piaciice is, to I'aise the flour t)f the cotter to within about eighteen inches of the top, to put a moderate qtuuitity of ore at once under the middle stamper, and to let on, in the beginning of ihe ])ro- cess a full stream of water ; by this tiie clay as being the softest is battered to pieces, and cairied ofl' by the water be- fore the quartz is sufiiciently connninutcd to be washed out in any considerable pro- portion with it ; the stream of water is then slackened, and the quartz, is reduc!- See Gold. Gold Lenf, J Gold Thread, or spun gvU, is flatted gold warped or laid over a thread of silk, by twisting it with a wheel and iron bob- bins. To dispose the wire to be spun or silk, they pass it between two rollers of a little mill : these rollers are of nicely polished steel, and about three inches in diameter. They are set very close to each other, and turned by means of a handle fastened to one of them which gives mo- tion to the other. 'I'he gold wire in pass- ing between tiic line is rendered quite ■Hat, but without lo.^ingany of its gilding ; and is rendered so exceedingly thin and flexible, that it is easily spun on silk thread by means of a hand wheel, and so wound on a spool or bobbin. Gold Brocade, is a slufi" of gold, raised and enriched with flowers, foliages, and other ornaments, according to the fancy of the merchant or manufacturer. For- merly the word signified a stuff" wove all of gold, both in the warp and in the woof. In manufacturing brocades, the flatted gilt wire is spun on threads oi yellow silk, approaching to the colour of gokl. The machinery used, where a number of threads are twisted at once by the turning" of a wheel, is rather compli- cated. For further information consult Lewis' Commerce of Arts, where this miunifacture, as well as the mode of cleansing brocades, may be found at length Gold Piatesj for enamelling. See Ena- melling. Goid (.shell,) sec Gilding. GoU Size, for burnished gilding, as well as for japanners. See GiLDiNcand .Iapanning. Gold, recovering of from gilt work. This may be effected in several ways. If silver be gilt, the gold may be removed l>y nitro-m(u-iatic acid, which dissolves it. Sec Gold. Gnld Lacquer. See LAC(iUEn. GRANULATION. The process by which a metal is reduced into grains is called granulation. This is for the most part effected by melting the metal, and then pouring it in a very slender stream into cold water. As soon as the metal touches the water it divides into drops, which have a tendency to a spherical shape, and are more or less perfect ac- cording to the tliinness of the stream, the height from which it falls, and the tem- perature both of the water and of the metal. Tin, and some others of the most fusible metals, may be reduced to much finer grains than can be effected in the usual way, by pouring it when melted into a wooden box smeared on the inside with chalk, and shaking it violently before it has time to become solid By this means tin is reduced to a fine powder; and there is no doubt but that the less fusible me- tals might likewise be so pulverized by a similar manipulation. GRAPHITE, or Plumbago. SeeCoAL. GRAVITY, SPECIFIC. See Specific Gravity. GREEN, in Dveing. See Dyeing. GREEN EARTH.' This is a mineral, found in different places ; and, when of a good colour, is made use of as a pigment by painters. See Colour Making. (iRERN VITRIOL, Sidphat of Iron, or Copperas. See Iron and Copperas. GUM ELASTIC. See Caoutchouc. GUM. The mucilage of vegetables. It is usually transparent, more or less biittle when dry, though difficultly pul- verable ; of an insipid, or slightly saccha- rine taste ; soluble in, or capable of com- bining with water in all proportions, to which it gives a gluey adhesive consist- ence in proportion as its quantity is great- GUM GUlJ er. It is separable, or coagulates by the action of weak acids ; insoluble in alcohol, or in oil; and capable of the acid fermen- tation, when diluted with water. The de- structive action of fire causes it to emit much carbonic acid, and converts it into coal without exhibiting- any flame Dis- tillation affords water, acid, a small quan- tity of oil, a small quantity of ammonia, ana much coal. These are the leading properties of gums, rightly so called; but the inaccu- rate custom i)f former times applied the term gum to all concrete vegetable juices ; so thai in common we hear of gum copal, g^m sandarach, and other gums, which are either pure resins, or mixtures of re- sins with the vegetable mucilage. The principal gums are, 1. The com- mon gums, obtained from the plum, the peach, the cherry tree, &c. — 2. Gum Ara- bic, which flows naturally from the acacia in Egypt, Arabia, and elsewhere. This forms a clear transparent mucilasre with water. — 3. Gum Seneca, or Senegal. It does not greatly differ from gum Arabic: the pieces are larger and clearer ; and it seems to communicate a higher degree of the adhesive quality to water. It is much used by calico-printers and others. The first sort of gums are fi'equently sold by this name, but may be known by their darker colour. — 4. Gum Adragant or Tragacanlh. It is obtained from a small plant of the same name growing in Syria, and other eastern parts. It comes to us in small white contorted pieces resem- bling worms. It is usually dearer than other gums, and forms a thicker jelly with water. Mr. Willis has found, that the root of the common blue bell, hyacinth us non descriptus, dried and powdered, affords a mucilage possessing all the qualities of that from gum arable. The roots of the vernal squill, white hly, and orchis, equal- ly yield mucilage. GUM-UESIN. These are for the most part the juices of various trees of tropical climates, which ooze out from natural cracks in the bark, or artificial Incisions, and harden by the sun and air into irregu- lar roundish masses. The gum-resins therefore are the juices of the respective plants as nearly as possible in their natu- ral state, and they retain the sensible pro- perties of smell and taste for a very great lengtli of time. A similar juice, but in- ferior in quality, may also be obtained from some of them by macerating in wa- ter the entire vegetable, or part of the ve- getable that yields it, and evaporating the water to an extract, but this is vcr\' sel- dom practised. The gum-resins are almost exclusively employed in medicine, and only a very- few of them liave engaged the attention of chemists. Though they agree in those leading characters which constitute a gum-resin, there is a vast difference in the composition of the several species when examined chemically, and they pass almost by imperceptible gi-adations either into the pure resins, or into the extracts and gummy mucilages. Of the most important gum-resins may be enumerated, myrrh, galbanum, guaia- cum, asafoetida, ammoniacum, olibanum, sagapenum, and perhaps opium. The che- mical analysis of these and others where it presents any important results, will be given under the respective articles. The genera) or characteristic proper- ties of a gtnn-resin are (as its name im- ports) sucb as would be produced by a natural mixture of gum and resin. To the resinous part they chiefly owe the property of burning with much flame, melting' In dfops by the lieat; of giving by distillation a large portion of volatile oil and some ammonia. To the gtimmy part they owe their partial solubility in water, so that when rubbed with this fluid they form an emulsion, generally whitish, which remains a considerable time turbid, and even \Vhen by rest the gum resin has again subsided, the clear liquor always retains some of the taste and smell of the substance employed Some of the gum -resinous juices are also mixed with a kind of Extract, or a coloured and bitter substance soluble in water and alcohol, and also Tan is very commonly united to them. On the whole the term' Gum-liesin is more properly a pharmaceutical than a chemical distinc- tion. GUNPOWDER, is a mechanical mix- ture of nitre, charcoal, and sulphur, the explosive powers of which are familiar to every one. The method of manufacture is extremely simple, but considerable precautions are necessary in the selec- tion of pure and good materials, in en- suring a very intimate admixtiu-e, and in avoiding any strong collision or any other event wliich might produce fire, and thu::: kindle the powcler, and be productive of the most .dreadful accidents. Among the number of improvements which have been made, in the machinery and apparatus, for the manufacture of gunpowder, in the United States, as well as to tlie improvements in refining saltpe- tre, and in tlie preparation of coal, to whicli the excellence of some American gunpowder is attributed, we may add, tliat our countrv is indebted to the Messrs. \5UN GUN Duponts, of Brandywme, as well as to Mr. John H. Worrell, of the Frankford (formerly Dccalur's) mills, Mr- Wiielen, of Hall mills, and others, for the produc- tion of this article, which is now equal, if not superior, to t!.e French and Englisn powder. Tile actual mode of makinjy gunpow- der CLUinot be better described than from the account given by Mr. Coleman, of the Koyal Powder .Mills of Wallham Abbey. The ingredients of gunpowder are taken ill the following proportion, namely, 75 of sahpetre, 15 of charcoal, and lO of sul- phur. 1 lie saltpetre used is almost en- Urely that which is imported from the Indies, which comes over in the rough state mixed with earthy and other salts, and is refnied bj^ solution, evaporation, and crystallization. After this it is fused in a moderate heat, so as to expel all the pure water, but none of the acid, and is then fit for use The great use of re- fining the nitre is to get rid of the de- liquescent sails, which by rendering the powder made of it liable to become, damp by keeping, would most materially lus- pair its goodness. The sulphur used is imported from Italy and Sicily, where it is collected in its native state in abun- dance. It is refined by melting and skim- ming, and when very impure, by subli- mation It should seem that the FiUglish sulphur, extracted in abundance from some of the copper and other mines, is loo impure to be economically use>l foi- gunpowder,requiring expensive processes of refining. The charcoal formerly used in this ma- nufacture was prepared in the usual way of charring wood, piles being formed of it and covered with sods or fern, and suf- fered to burn witij a slow smothering flame. This meliiod however cannot with any certainty be depended on to j)ruduce charcoal of an uniformly good quality, and thei'ei'ore a most essential improve- ment has !)een adopted in this cotmtry, to which the present superior excellence of American powder may be in a good mea- sure attributed, which is, that of enclosing the wood, cut into billets about nine inches long, in iron cylinders placed horiy.ontal- ly, and burning them gradually to a red heat, continuing the hre till every thing volatile is. driven oil', and the wood is completely ( harred. But as the jiyrolig- neous acid; tlie volatile product of the wood heated /icr sc, is of use in manufac- ture, it is collected by pipes passing out of the iron cylinder, and di|)ping into casks where tlje acid liquor condenses. This acid is used in some parts oj' calico- printing, chiefly as the basis of some of the iron liquors and mordants for dark- coloured patterns. The wood before charring is barked. It is generally either alder or willow, or dog-wood, but there does not appear to be any certain ground for preferring one wood to another pro- vided it be fully charred. The above three ingredients being pre- pared, they are first separately ground to fine powder, then mixed in the proper proportions, after which the mixture is fit for the important operation of tho- roughly incorporating the component parts in the mill. A powder mill is a- sUght wooden building, with a boarded roof, so that in the event of any moderate explosion, the roof will fly off without difficulty, and the sudden expansion will thus be made in the least mischievous direction. Stamping mills were formerly used here, which consisted simply of a large wooden mortar, in which a very ponderous wooden pestle was made to work, by the power of men, or horses, or water, as convenience directed. These performed the business with veiy great accuracy, but the danger from over-heat- ing was found to be so great, and the ac- cidents attributable to this cause were so numerous, that stamping mills have been mostly disused in large manufactures, and tlic business is now generally per- formed by two stones placed vertically, and running on a bed-stone or trough. The mixed ingredients are put on this bed-stone in quantities not exceeding 40 or 50 pounds at a time, and moistened with just so much water, as will bring th& mass in the grinding to a consistence considerably stilier than paste, in which it is foimd by experience that the incorpo- ration of the ingredients goes on witli the most ease and accuracy. These mills are worked either by water or horses. The composition is usually worked for about seven or eight hours before the mixture is thought to be sufficiently inti- mate, and even this time is often found, by the inferior quality of the powder, to fcic too little. The fine powder manufac- tured at Battle in Sussex, is still however mad- in large mortars or stamping mills, in the old way, with heavy lignum vitse pe.stles. Only a very few pounds of the materials are worked at a time. The composition is then taken from the mills and sent to the corning-liouse, to be corned or grained. This process is not essential to the manufacture of perfect gunpowder, but is adopted on account of the much greater convenience of using it in grains than in fine dust Here the stiff paste is first pressed into hard lumps, which are put into circular sieves with GUN GUN parcliment bottoms, perforated with holes of different sizes, and fixed in a frame connected with a Jiorizontal wheel. Vlach of tiiese sieves is also furnished with a runner or oblate spheroid of ligiium vitsc, wiiich being' set in motion by the action of the wheel, squeezes the paste through the holes of the parchment bottom, form- ing grains of different siz^s. The grains are then sorted and separated from the dust by sieves of progressive dimensions. They are then glazed or hardened, and the rough edges taken off, by being put into casks, filling them somewhat more than half-full, which are fixed to the axis of a water-wheel, and in thus rapidly re- volving the grains are shaken against each other and rounded, at the same time receiving a slight gloss or glazing. iVIuch dust is also separated by this process The glazing is found to lessen the force of the powder from a fifih to a fourth, but the powder keeps much better when glazed, and is less liable to grow damp. The powder bemg thus corned, dust- ed and glazed, is sent to the stove-house and dried, a part of the process which requires the greatest precautions to avoid explosion, which in this state would be much more dangerous than before the in- timate mixture of themgredients- The stove-house is a square apartment, three sides of which are furnished with shelves or cases, on p)-oper supports, ar- ranged round the room, and the fourth contains a large cast-iron vessel called a gloo-tn, which projects into the room, and is strongly heated from the outside, so that it is impossible that any of the fuel shouM come in contact with the powder. For gieater security against sparks by accidental friction, the glooms are cover- ed with sheet copper, and are always cool when the powder is put in or taken out of the room. Here the grains are thorough- ly dried, losing in the process all that re- mains of the water added to the mixture in the mill, to bring it to a working stiff- ness. This Mr. Coleman finds to be from three to five parts in 100 of the compo- sition. The powder when di'v is then compleat. The government powder for ordnance of all kinds as well as for small arms, is generally made at one ^ime, and always of the same, composition ; the difference being only in the size of the grains as se- parated by the respective sieves. A method of drying powder by means of steam -pipes running round and cross- ing the apartment has been tried with success: by it all possibility of an acci- deiU from over-heating is prevented. The temperature of the room when heated in VOL. I. the common way by a gloom-stove is al- ways regulated by a thermometer hung in the door of the stoves. The strength of the powder is some- times injured by being dried too hastily and at too great a heat, for in this case some of the sulphur sublimes out (which it will do copiously at a less heat than will inflame the powder) and the intimate mixture of the ingredients is again de- stroyed. Besides if dried too hastily, the surface of the grain hardens leaving the inner part still damp. Mr. Coleman deduces from experiment the following inferences, namely : that the ingredients of gunpowder only pulverized and mixed have but a very small explo- sive force : that gunpowder granulated after having been only a short time on the mill, has acquired only a veiy small por- tion of its strength, so that its perfection absolutely depends on very long-continu- ed and accurate mixture and incorpora- tion of the ingredients : that the strength of gunpowder does not depend on gi'anu- lation, the dust that separates during this process being as strong as the clean graiiis : that powder undried, is weaker in every step of the manuiacture than when dried : and lastly, that charcoal made in iron cylinders in the way already mentioned, makes much stronger powder than common charcoal. This last circum- stance is of so much consequence, and is so fully confirmed by experience, that the charges of powdgr now used for cannon of ail kinds have been reduced one-third in quantity, when this kind of powder is employed. In barrelling powder, particular care must be taken to avoid moistm-e, and this business is also generally reserved for dry weather. When powder is only a little damp, it may be restored to its former goodness merely by stoving, but if it has been tho- roughly wetted, the nitre (the only one of the ingredients soluble in water) separates more or less from the sulphur and char- coal, and by again crystallizing, cakes to- gether the powder in whitish masseswhich are a loose aggregate of grains covered on the surface with minute efflorescences of nitre. In this case the spoiled powder is \-)\\\. into warm water merely to extract the nitre, and the other two ingredients are separated by straining and thi'own away. Tlie specific gravity of gunpowder is estimated by Count Rumford to be about 1.868. The strength and goodness of powder is judged of in several ways, namely, by the colour and feel, by the flame when a 3 L GUN stnaU pinch is fired, and by measuring the actual projectile force by the tprouvettt, and by the distance to wliicli a given weight will project a ball of given dimen- sions under circumstances in all cases ex- actly simihir. Wlieii powder rubbed between the fin- gers easily breaks down inlo an impaljJ- able dust,' it is a mark of coniaining too much cliarcoai, and the same if it readily soils white paper wlien gently drawn over it. The colour should not be absolutely black, but is preferred to be more of a dark blue with a little cast of red. The ti'ial by firing is thus managed ; lay two or three small heaps of about k dram each on clean writing paper, about three or four inches asunder, and fire one of them by a red-hot iron wire : if the flanne as- cends quickly with a good report, send- ing up a ring of white smoke, leaving the pa];er free fiom white specks and not biu-nt into holes, and if no sparks fly off from it, setting fire to the contiguous heaps, tlie powder is judged to be very good, but if otherwise, either the ingre- dients arc badiy mixed, or impure- Tile conuT.on eprouvettcs or powder- triers are small strong bari'els, in wliicli a determinate quantity of the powder is fired, and the force of expansion measur- ed by the action excited on a strong spring or a gieat weight. Another method often adopted, is to fire a very heavy ball from a short mortar with a given weight of the powder and to find the range of projection. The Frencii eprouvette for government powder is a mortar of 7 niches (French) in calibre, which with three ounces of powder should throw a copper globe of 60lbs. weight to the distance of 300 feet. No powder is admitted which does, not answer this trial. Both these methods have been objected to, the former because the spring is mov- ed by the instantaneous stroke of the flame and not by its continued pressure, which is somewhat difi'erent ; and the otlier on account of tlie tediousness at- tending its use when a large number of barrels of jiowder are to be tried. Ano- ther method, wliich unites accuracy with disjjatch, is to suspend a small cannon as a pendulum, to fire it with powder only, and to judge of the force of explosion by that of the recoil, wliich in this circum- stance is a greater or less arc of a circle. Tiiat whicli Dr. l^hitton employs on this principle is a small cannon about one inch in tiie bore, the charge of which is two ounces of powder. The cause and measure of the explo- GUN sive force of fired gunpowder has been much investigated. It is generally allow- ed to be chiefly owing to the sudden ge- neration of a quantity of gas or elastic vapour, the chemical constitution of which will be presently mentioned. To determine the elasticity and quan- tity of this elastic vapour produced from a given quantity of powder, Mr. Uobins premises, that its elasticity is equally in- creased by heat and diminished by cold as that of common air (which is confirm- ed by Mr. Dalton's late experiments) and consequently its weight is the same with the weight of an equal bulk of air of liie same elasticity and temperature. Hence, and from direct experiments, he con- cludes that the elastic fluid produced by the firing of gunpowder is nearly three tenths of tile weigiit of the powder itself, which, expanded to the rarity of common air, is about 244 times tlie bulk of the powder. Hence it would follow, that the mere conversion of confined powder into elastic vapour, would exert against tlie sides of the containing vessel an expan- sive force 244 times greater than the elas- ticity of common air, or in other words, than" the pressure of the atmospliere. But to this, is to be superadded all the in- crease of expansive power produced by the, heat generated, whicli is certainly very intense, tliough its exact degree cannot be ascertained. Supposing it to be etjual to the full heat of red-hot iron, this would increase the expansion of com- mon air (and also of all gasses) about four times, which in the present instance woidd increase the 244 to nearly 1000, so tliat in a general way it may be assumed, that the expansive force of closely confined powder at the instant of firing is 1000 times greater than tjie pressure of com- mon air : and as this latter is known to press with the weight of 14^ jjounds oil every square inch, tlie force of explosion of gunpowder is 1000 times this, or, 14750! b. or about six tons and a half on every square incli. This enormous force, however, tliminishes in proportion as tlie elastic fluid dilates, being only half the strength when it occupies a double space, one-third of tlie strength when in a triple space, and so on. Mr. Uobins found that the strength of powder is tlie same in all variations of the density of the atmospliere, but not so in every state of moisture, being mucli im- paired by a damp air, or with i)owder damped by careless keeping or any otlier cause, so tliat the same powder which will discharge a bullet at the rate of 1 700 feet in a secondf in dry air, will only pro- GUN GUN pel it about 1200 feet when the air is fully moist, and a similar difierence holds be- tween dry and moist powder. A very considerable variation is found in the proportions of the ingredients of the powder of different nations and difler- ent manufactones, nor is it exactly as- certained wliether there is any one pro- portion which ous^ht always to be adher- ed to and for every purpose- The pow- der made in England, is the same for can- non as for small arms, the difference be- ing only in the size of the grains, but in France it appears that there were former- ly six different sorts manufactiu-ed, name- ly, the strong and the weak cannon pow- der, the strong and the weak musquet powder, and tlie strong and the weak pistol powder. The following are the pro- portions in each, though the reason of this nicety of distinction is not very ob- vious. For the strong cannon powder the nitre, sulphur, and charcoal we:e in the' proportions of 100 of the first, 25 of the second, and 25 of the third : for the weak cannon powder, 100, 20, and 24 : for the strong musquet powder, 100, 18, and 20 : for the weak, 100, 15, and IS : for tlie strong pistol powder, 100, 12, and 15; for the weak, 100, 10, and 18. The Chinese powder appears by the analysis of Mr Napier to be nearly in the f proportions of lOO of nitre, 18 of charcoul, and 11 of sulphur. This powder winch ■was procured from Canton was large- grained, not very strong, but hard, well- coloured, and in very good preservation. The sulphur _^is not (properly speak- ing) a necessary ingredient in gunpow- der, since nitre and charcoal alone, well mixed, will explode, but the use of the sulphur seems to be to diffuse the fire in- stantaneously through the whole mass of powder. But if the following experiments are correct, it should seem that the ad- vantage gained by using sulphur in in- creasing the force of explosion only ap- plies to small charges, but in quantities of a few ounces, the explosive, or at least the projecting force of powder without sulphur, is full as great as with sulphur. The following are a few out of many trials made at the Roj'al Manufactory at Essone, near Paris, in the year 1756, to determine the best proportions of all the ingredients. Of powder made with nitre and chaixoal alone, 16 of nitre and 4 of charcoal Avas tlie strongest, and gave a power of 9 in the eprouvette. With all three ingredients, 16 of nitie, 4 of char- coal, and I of stilphur, raised the eprou- vette to 15, and both a less and a gi-eater quantity of sulphur produced a smaller effect. Then diminisiiing the charcoal. a powder of 16 of nitre, S of charcoal, and 1 of sulphur gave a power of 1" in the eprouvette, which was the highest produced b)- any mixture. This last was also tried in the mortar-eprouvette against the common proof powder, and was tbund to maintain a small superiority. The pow- der made without sulphur in the propor- tions above indicated was also tried in the mortar-eprouvette, and with the follow- ing singular result : when the ciiarge was only two ounces it projected a sixty pound copper ball 213 feet, and the strongest powder with sulphur projected it 249 feet ; but in a charge of three ounces, the former projected the ball 475 feet and the latter only 472 feet : and on the other hand the great inferiority of Ibrce in the smaller eprouvette of the powder without sulphur has been just noticed. Gunpowder is reckoned to explode at about 600° Fahr but if heated to a de- gi'ee just below that of faint redness, the sulphur will mostly burn off, leaving the nitre and charcoal unaltered. The gasses produced by the explosion of powder iiave not been analyzed with accuracy since the discovery of all the varieties of gasses with the basis of carbon, but they are certainly carbonic acid, sulphureous acid gas, and carburetted hydrogen. The residue is chiefly a sulphuret of potash, formed by a part of tne sulphur uniting with some of the alkali of the nurc, and hence the hepatic smell of a foul and damp gun-barrel. I'he analysis of gunpowder performed with suflicient accuracy for most practi- cal purposes, is very easy and simple, but an absolutely acciu-ate analysis is more difficult. The usual way is first to boil the powder with three or four times its weight of water, edulcorating it with more hot water till no saline taste re- mains. This extracts the nitre only, the quantity of which may be either ascertain- ed by dr3'ing the residue and estimating as nitre all the loss oi weight, or more di- rectly by evaporating the w atery solution. If the residue, consisting of the sulphur and charcoal, is now spiead on an eartli- en plate of any kind and slowly heat- ed, the sulphur takes fire and burns off gradually, whilst the charcoal remains un- touched, when the lieatis kept down suf- ficiently. Beaum6 found however, that when all the sulphur is expelled which will be driven off in this heat, a certain portion will still remain and will not biuti away at a lower temperature than will consume the charcoal : so that to the last the burning residue will smell strongly sulphureous. This retained portion of sulphur he finds, by tb© results of many GUN GYP otbei' experiments, to be very uniformly about one twenty-tburtliparlof the whole- sulphur employed ; wlience for all com- mon purposes an adcqnale correction may be made, by estimatmg- that the filow weak ombustion ol tlie residue, i.iler the nitre has been got out, destroys only |§ of tiie sulphur instead of il)e wliole. On tryinjj- to separate them by an alkaline so- lution, he f )un(l some of the sulphur to remain undissolved and still adhering to the charcoal. The way to ensure perfect accuracy in analysis, woidd be first to se- parate the nitre by hot water, then t;) aci- dify all the sulphur by the nitric acid, to dissolve and to precipitate it by a solution of nitrat or muriat of barytes, and from the known constituents of tins salt to find the quantity of sulphur, whilst the ciiar- coal here remains perfectly untouched. The discovei'y of the astonishinij fulmi- nating property of the salts v.-itii the oxy- muriatic acid, led several chemists to tiie idea of substituting the oxymuriai of pot- ash to the nitre in the manufacture of gun- powder, and experiments liave been made on a sufficient scale to shew that this gun- powder far exceeds tlie common powtler in energy of exphjsive power, 'i'he oxy- muriats however appear to act in a difli-r- ent manner from the mixtures with nitre, and to exert all their power extremely suddenly and in a very small space, so as to destroy every substance in innntdi- ate contact with them at the time of ex- plosion, but to be infciior in pi-ojeciile force to common gunpowder. All the ex- plosive compounds with the oxymuriats iiave also the very dangerous projiertji of exploding with very moderate friction, and hence they have never been employed in the large way. GUN -FLINTS, manufacture of. See Flint. '^ GYP.SU1VI. This is a native combina- tion of lime and sulplun-ic acid. I'here are several varieties. It is used in agricul- ture as a manure, and also, in stucco work, (t has been found in various parts of the United States, in considerable quantities. See Agriculture. IIAll H.EMATITK. See Iron. HAHNEMAN'S WINK TEST.— The following description of a liquor for dis- covering, in wines, the presence of such metals as ai-e injurious to health, is bv Dr. Hahneman. The property which liver of sulpluir and he])atic air possess, of precipitating lead of a black colour, has long been known, and ihis property has been made use of in the preparation of a liquor called Liquor probatorius IVurteml>urgicti.i, b\ which it was supj)osedthe purity of wines might be ascertained. But, in examining wines which are suspected to he adulterated, tliis liquor can by no means lie trusted to, because it precipitates iron of tbe same colour as it does lead, winch is so poisonous a me- tal. For this reason, many respectable wine merchants have been tiiought guil- ty of adulterating their wines, to the great injury of their cliaracter. Consequently there was still wanting a test or re-agent that should jnnnt out, in wines, the presence of such metals only as are injurious to heahh. TJiis proper- IIAH ty the tbllowing liquor ]iossesses, as it precipitates lead and ct^per of a black colour, arsenic of an orange colour, &.c. It docs not, however, precipitate iron, which frequently, by various means, gets unobserved into wines, but which is in many cases salutary, to the human frame. Prtparation of the ticiv probatory liquor. — Mix together equal parts of oxster shells and crude brimstone, both finely powdered : put the mixture into a cruci- ble, and place the crucible in a wind furnace. When it is heated, let the fire be suddenly increased till the cru- cible becomes of a white heat, in whicU state it is to be contiiuied for about a quarter of an hoiu'. The mass, when cold, is to ht reduced to powder, and kept in a bottle closely stopped. In order to prepare the liquor, one hundred and twenty grains of the above powder, and one hundred and eighty grains of cream of tartar, are to be put into a very strong bottle, which is to be filled up with common water, that has. been previously boiled for about an Lour HAI HAI and then suffered to cool. The bottle must be immediately corked, and after- wards shaken from time to time When it has remained still, for a few hours, tlie clear liquor must be decanted into small phials, capable of holding one ounce, into each of which, twenty drops of spi- rit of sea-salt have been previously drop- ped. Tiie mouths of the phials must then be wpll closed with stopples, com- posed of wax mixed with a small quan- tity of turpentine. # If one pan of the above liquor be mixed with three parts of the wine meant to be examined, the slightest im- pregnation of lead, &c. will be imme- diately discovered, by a very percepti- ble black precipitate. But, if the wine contains i; on, the liquor will have no ef- fect upon that metal. When the above precipitate has subsi- ded to the bottom, we may find out whether, the wine contains any iron, by decanting the clear liquor, and adding to it a little salt of tartar ; if there is any iron in the wine the liquM" will immedi- ately turn black. Wines whicn are pyre and unadultera ted, remain clear after the addition of this liquor. See Tes i s. HAIR. The chemical composition of hair appears, by the experiments of Mr. Hatchett, to resemble very closely that of nail and horn. Boiling water extracts from hair a*very small proportion of gelatin, and the hair afier drying is some- wiiat stitfcr and more brittle than be- fore. The chief constituent of hair ap- pears to be organic, condensed albumen. Hair m.^y be dyed permanently in se- veral ways. A black or dark colour, which is generally desired, is given by many metallic solutions, particularly that of Sliver much weakened ; but these are liable to corrode its substance, if not carefully used. Pallas relates that the women of Astracan dye their hair, while growing, of a fine glossy black, in the following way : twenty-five galls are first boiled in oil, then dried and powdered : to this is added, 3 drachms of green vitri- ol, one drachm of cream of tartar, and one drachm of indigo, and the whole stirred up with a quart of water, to which is added a handful of the dyeing herb henne. Tlie hair is anoiited with this over night, care being taken not to blacken the skin, and is washed off in the morning. Tiiis application gives a shining black which lasts several months. If two drachms of lunar caustic be dissolved in eight ounces of water, a so- lution will be tbrmed, which, applied fre- quently to the hair, blackens it. We lately examined a white or rather red- dish white powder, for a perfumer of this city, which is sold to blncken hair, and bund it to be composed of litharge, quick-lime, and whiting. It is applied when melted by water. Ihe peruke- makers dye hair black, by boiling it in an iron pot with water and lithar.e,'e. From numerous experiments Mr. Vau- quclin infers, that black hsir is formed of nine different substances, namely : 1 An animal matter, which constitutes the greater part ; 2. A white concrete oil in small quantity : 3. Another oil of a gre- }ish green colour, more abundant than the former ; 4- Iron, the state of which in the hair is uncertain ; 5. A few parti- cles of oxide of manganese ; 6. Phosphat of lime ; 7. Carbonat of lime, in very small quantity ; 8. Silex, in a conspicuous quantity ; 9. Lastly, a considerable quan- tity of .sulphur. The same experiments shew, that red hair diflers from black only in containing a red oil instead of a blackish green oil ; and that white hair difiers from botli these only in the oil being nearly co- lourless, and in containing phosphat of magnesia, which is not found in them. From tiiis knowledge of the nature of the constituent principles of hair, Mr. Vauquelin thinks we may account lor the various colours that distinguish it. Ac- cording to him, the black colour will be owing to a black, and as it were bitu- minous oil, and perhaps likewise to a combination of sulphur with iron. Car- rotty and flaxen hair will be occasioned by the presence of a red or yellow oil, which, when deepest, and mixed with a small quantity of brown oil, produces the dark red haii-. Lastly, white hair is ow- ing to the absence of the black oil and sulphuretted iron. He beheves, that in the carrotty and flaxen, as well as in th^. white, there is always an excess of sul- phur; since, on the application of white metallic oxides to tliem, such as those of mercury, lead, bismuth, &c. they grow black very speedily. The manner in which this substance acts on metallic bo- dies leads him to suspect, that it is com- bined with hydrogen. Fine perfumed powder, for the hair. — Take a pound of Florentine orris-root, in fine powder ; two ounces of powdered gum-benjamin andstoi-ax; yellow saun- ders a pound and a half; cloves, two drachms ; some powdered dried lemon- peel. Mix the above, well powdered, and sift them through a lawn sieve, with twenty pounds of common starch, or com- mon hair-powder. HAIR POWDER.— This is generally HAT HEA prepared from wlieat, being tlie feciila or starch of grain. It is however, usualis prepared from starch, by pulverization, &c. It is frequently adulterated witli lime, and sometimes as Dr. Darwin says, with alum. See Starch. HAIR-HOPE-PUMP. See Engines. HALTER-CAST. See Farriery. HAM, the lower part of an animal's thigh, adjoining to the knee. It usually denotes the thigh of a hog. Hams may be cured by covering them with salt, which is to remain for 24 hours, then wipe them dry, and let them be placed in the following pickle for three weeks, viz. take one pound of brown sugar, a quarter of a for a method of dyeing, staining, and co- mring beaver hats green, or any other colour. The articles employed in dye- • iig are fustic, turmeric, saffron, alum,tar- ■.ar, indigo and vitriol, with urine, or pearl ;ish, at the option of the dyer ; which are used together, or separately, according to the colour required. Patents have also been granted tor substitutes, or new ma- terials, in this blanch of manutaciure, as, for molejur, kid hair, water proof hats, in imitation of beaver, &.c. which is extend- ed to silk, linen, leather, cotton, or other material of wearing ;ipp;irel. For further information on this subject, set- I{eptrtory fifjjrts, vol. 16. Nicholson s j^hilmopliicai pound of saltpetre, three and a half pints Journal, \o\. 1, 2, and 3, 4to. The dye- of salt, which is to be mixed with a sufSci- ing of hats was noticed under the article ent quantity of water. See Bacon. If Dyeing, which see. Several patents have hams, by keeping, should become tainted, . been obtained from the government of the they may be restored, as we have found by United Slates for improvements m this trying the experiment ; by boiling them in i art. water, in which an ounce of salt petre has J HEAT. The sensations expressed in been dissolved, and a few lumps of char- ' common language by the words heat and coal thrown in, i cold, are of too simple a naiure to re- The following method of preserving ' quire or to admit of definition. These hams, or other smoked meatthrougli the ivords, howcv*, are not always used in summer, is extracted from the Archives of their true sen.se, , but are indiscrimi- Useful Knowledge, conducted by Dr. nately applied both to the sensation it- James Mease. * '• self, and to that which causes it. Thus, Wrap up the meat in tow, of either flax we say, that we are hot or cold; and or hemp, atter shaking out the loose shives, that the fire or ice, which heats or cools and pack it in a tierce or barrel, taking | us, is likewise hot or cold, tliough the sen- care that there be next the tierce and be- ' sations we expti'ience are certainly very tween every piece of meat, a thick layer diflerent things from that which enables of tow packed in as close as possible : then 1 bodies to e.xcite them. It may ai.so be set it away in a dry cellar or upper room. I remarked, that, in this ambiguous man- It is enough that the barrel or tierce be ' ner of speaking, there is another cause of sufficient to keep the mice out, as no fly { uncertamty, which arises from the use of a or insect will enter the tow. variable standard ofcomparison. Every one Tow and Hax are such bad conductors knows, that the estimation of heat or cold of heat, that a piece of ice will be pre- j differs in various persons, because each served a long time wrapi}ed up in tow Cut straw also answers extremely well to keep hams in. Ashes are apt to commu- cate a bad taste to meat. Care should be taken to prevent tire flies from having ac- cess to the meat before being packedavvay. Various modes of preserving hams have been recommended ; but the forego- ing receipt has received the sanction of ex- perience. A dryand completely darkroom, will preserve hams in the best order. HAT-MAKING. Hats are manuf\ic- tured of wool, fur, &.c. The making of hats being too well known to rcquiie mi- nute description, we shall only observe, that it consists in furring the fell, accord- ing to the art of the hatter, and shapening the hat, which is then dyed in a liquid pre- pared of logwood, and a mixture ofgreei and blue vitriol ; when it is stiffened with common glue. A patent was granted to a Mr. Golding, forms his judgment fioni his own sensa- tions ; and the same body may ajipear Jiot to one person, and cold to another, or hot and cold to the same person at different times ; though the vuriaiiou is not in the body itselfj but m the state of the ])erson in whom these sensations are excited. Hence, it appears necessiay, in order to avoid error ni the pursuit of inquiries con- cerning heat, that the sense of the words made use of should be accurately defin- ed, and that some fixed standard ofcom- parison be made use of instemlof the hu- man body ; which, though fixed enough for the conunon affairs of life, is certainly not enough so for the purposes of science. The word heat, in a philosophical sens*', is used to denote the cause of the ;)ower which bodies possess of exciting the sensations of heat or coldness- The word temperature denotes the state of the body, with respect to that HEA HEA power. So that a body which excites a more intense sensation of heat or cold- ness, thuH another body, is said to possess a higher or lower temperature. It has not yet been determined in what heat itself, or the cause of temperature, consists. Two opinions have long divid- ed tiie scientific world. One is, that heat consists of a peculiar motion or vibration of the parts of bodies, so that the tempe- rature is higher, the strong-er the vibra- tion. The other is, that heat is a sub- stance or fluid, the greater or less quanti- ty of which produces a higher or lower temperature. The decision of this great question is highly deserving of the atten- tion of philosophers. But it will not be necessary to consider its merits in our first steps of investigation, because the doubts respecting it will not impede our reasoning concerning such phcenomena as are well known. P'or, since effects ai'e proportioned to their causes, we may speak of the quantities of heat in bodies, without deciding whether they be quanti- ties of motion or quantities of matter ; the relation of these quantities to each other, and not their peculiar nature, being the cliief object of our research. That heat is actually matter, which was an opinion held by some in ve- ry ancient times, is now pretty generally maintained ; and it is as generally distin- guislied by the name Caloric. To that article, therefore, we refer, for what is at present known on the subject: the facts being the same, whether we understand by it a peculiar substance, or a powej' of producing certain efiects. Heat communicated to Rooms by steam, according to Mr. Neil Snodgrass, of Renfrew. — Trans Sac.Jlrts, Vol 24. Mr. Snodgrass was induced to try the efi'ect of steam for warming the air of apartments (from observing the method of drying muslins by wrapping them round hollow cylinders heated by steam, which was practised near Glasgow) both on account of the saving of fuel it would produce, and its removing all danger of conflagi-ation, to which mills, heated in the usual manner, are most exposed. , He put this method in practice at a mill at Dornach, with such success as to heat it completely with one halfxh^ fuel, that would be necessary for this purpose with the best constructed stoves ; but as the ap- paratus for this mill was not as pertect as that afterwards contrived, it need not be here detailed. Two cotton mills belonging to G. Hous- ton, Bsq. of Johnstone, were also wai-med by steam ; in one of these, six stories high, a lying pipe of cast iron, 5 inches in diameter, is carried along the middle of the cieling of the lower story, about two feet from the cieling, with a small declivi- ty to carry off the water. This pipe heats the lower story, and from it arise tin ^pes of 7J^ inches in diameter, at intervals of 7 feet from each other, which, passing per- pendicularly upwards through all the floors in the mill, form a line of heated co- lumns in the middle of each room. In the other mill this plan has received some al- terations on account of the irregularity of the building. Valves opening inwards were added to the tin pipes, to prevent their compression by accidental conden- sation of the stream; and another valve was placed opening outwards at the low- er part of the apparatus, to permit the air contained in the pipes to pass as its place was occupied by steam. Certificates of five otlier mills being heated in tlie same manner, to great ad- vantage, by Mr. Snodgrass, were receiv- ed by the Society for Arts, &c. In Hew manufactories, where tlie mode of heating may be made an original part of the plan, Mr Snodgrass recommends an apparatus, of which the following is a description : Vertical pipes of cast iron, about 7 in- ches in diameter in the lower stories, and 6 inches diameter in the upper stories, as- cend from the bottom to the top of the mill, in the middle of the apartments, at about 7 or 8 feet distance from each other. These pipes come close to the beams in each story, and are contrived so as to sup- port them" by projecting pieces, like brack- ets, cast to them in the proner places, which go under the beams ; and by wed- ges driven between them and the beams, eacl) can be made to have a due bearing ; and thus these pipes perform the double office of steam flues, and of pillars to sup- port the mill-floors. The joints of the pipes are each of the length of the height of the story where it is placed, and fit into each other by a pro- jecting socket at the place of contact, which is stuflTed in the intervals so as to be steam tight These vertical pipes all communicate at top with a smaller hori- zontal pipe, which passes to the open aii- through the wall, where it has a valve fit- ted to it, openmg outwards, to admit the air to pass, contained at first in the pipes ; the vertical pipes all communicate at the bottom with a small horizontal copper pipe gently inclined towards the boiler, with a valve for the same purpose as that just mentioned at its upper end, outside the building, and an inverted syphon at the other end, over a hot well, from whence the boiler is supplied with water^ IJEA IIOX and into wliich all tjie hot water runs, that is formed by the condensation of the steam in tlie ])ipcs. The boiler is outside the building', and communicates with the first. vertical pipe near tlie top of the ground floor, by an inclined pipe passing through the wall from its upper part ; the steam ascends through t1>e first vertical pipe, in this apparatus, then enters the horizontal pipe at the top, from whence it descends into ail the vertical pipes, forc- ing out the air before it as it proceeds. The boiler, for a mill 60 feet long and 33 feet wide, is 6 feet long, Si broad, and 3 deej); it is fed, and managed in the usual manner ; but tlie smoke from its fiie piare after passing through a short level brick fiue, ascends into a cast metal pipe enclosed in a vertical brick flue, in the gable of the huikling; from which brick flue, small openings ai*e made into each story a few feet above the floor; and ano- ther opening being made in it near the ground outside, a current of air, heated by the iron smoke pipe, passes fi*om below into every apartment. Tlie air passages may have tlie space of their apertures re- gulated by registers ; and as the ii'on smoke pipe does not touch the fire, hav- ing a short brick flue intervening, and consequently can never be heated so as to be liable to crack, or in any other way transmit inflamed substances to the mill, there can be little or no danger of fire, while this part of tiie plan still further economises the heat. The strengih of the pipes, which are ,3-8tlisof an inch thick, renders unnecessa- ry, valves opening inwards, as llie pres- sure of the atmosjiliere cannot damage them. 'I'his apparatus will heat the air in the rooms to 84" in the coldest season ; and '\t is evident, that by increasing the number of pipes, and the sufjply of steam, any heat under 212°. may be produced. Tlie Society of Arts voted Mr. Snod- grass 40 guineas, or the gold medal, at bis option, for this commiuiicatiim. 'Ihe merit of Mr. Snodgrass in the des- cribed apparatus, consists in a judicious api)lication of well known principles, not in inventitm ; for count Kimiford, had seve- ral years ago, heated rooms by steam con- veved by piiHs,asmay be Seen in hispu!)- lication on tiiis snljject, inserted in the Repository of Arts, vol. 15. p. 186. and elsewhere. Mr. G een, of Wandsworth, also, in 179;1, obtained a patent for warming rooms by air, heated wiUi steam ; but his method had not the same similarily to that of Mr. Snodgrass's,which count lium- fbrd's possesses. "W 1th respect to this plan of heating rooms, or apartments, we may remavky that it has been carried into effect in se- veral manufacturing establishments in the United Slates, in one of which in particular, that of Craig, Marqucdant, &. Co. in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, the pLin has been successfully practised. Count Rumford long since recommended the use of steam as a vehicle for conveying heat li'om one place to another, by means of pipes, attached to boilers, for tlie pur- pose of dye houses, &.C. HEMP For the growth and cidture of hem]), see Agriculture. After it is prepared by breaking and hackling, it is spun into thread, whence it is made into twine, cloth, netting, &,c. Besides the uses of hemp here enumerated, the refuse, called hemp sheaves, affords a fuel, and the seeds, by expi'ession, pro- duce an oil, which is useful to burn in lamps. On the subject of the manufac- tures of hemp, see Address to the Culti- vators, the Capitolists, and Manufacturers in the United States, bv Trncli Coxe. HIGGINS' BLEACHING LIQIOR. Sulpiuu" 4 pounds, slacked lime 24b. and water 16 gallons, boiled half an hour in an iron vessel, the liquor strained ofi' and 16 gallons more poured on the dregs and also strained ott'; the two solutions being mixed together and poured into 33 gallons more of water, makes a liquor of a proper standard in which cloth may be stee[)ed in tlie process of bleaching, the sulphuret serving as a substitute for jjot- ash for condensing the oxy-muriatic gas. See Bleach I xg. HOG. See Anhnals, Domestic. HONEY. The most anciently used and one of the most grateful of all the sacciia- rine juices, is a natural compound of a considerable portion of sugar, intimately mixed with several other substances tliat give it its slimy consistence, its jieculiar colour, smell, and flavour, together with a small i)ortion of natiual acid. Ihniey is found dillering much in con- sistence and colour, being sometimes nearly as stifi" as soft suet, sometimes as tliin as a balsam, an(' of various shades of yellow, gold-colour, brown, and soine- timcs nearly white- The goodness of ho- luy iov culinary purposes is chielh deter- mined by the delicacy of flavour, but the comparative quantities of sugar and oil.er chemical diflerencts have not been much examined. When honey is gently warmed over a slow fire it liquefies and a tiiiek hcum rises to the top, which when removed leaves the honey somewhat purer than be- fore, and makes the despumated or cla- HON HON lifted honey used in pharmacy. If the Jioneyis naturally thick it should be pre- viously diluted with a little water. When clarified honey is slowly evaporated it becomes a thick tenacious mass, loses its {lelicacy of flavour, and acquires one somewhat disagreeable, becomes brown and foul, and can never by this means be made to yield crystals of pure sugar. The stronger the heat, and the browner and higher-flavoured it becomes. Whilst eva- porating, a vapour rises, which ti^kes fire at the approach of a candle and fills the house with a very strong and penetrating smell. Neuman obtained from 32 ounces of honey by distillation per se on a slow fire about 24 ounces of an acid watery li- quor mixed with a brown oil- The re- sidue strongly heated gave a coal difficult of incineration. Owing to the abundant quantity both of sugar and of extract or mucilage in ]ione>-, it very readily enters into the vi- nous fermentation and yields a very stront:^ wine, called niead, which possesses much of a honey flavour that lessens by keep- ing, and a" very strong body. Neuman obtained a mead from 36 ounces of honey diluted with 4 quarts of warm water and fermented with yeast, whicli by distilla- tion and rectification gave 8 ounces of strong alcohol. The most interesting experiments on honey are those wliich have been made with a view of purifying it, and separat- ing the ti-uly saccharine part from every other. For the purification from its pe- culi.ir flavour which is ofiensive to some palates, and from the yellow colour, mere despuniation and the other usual modes of clarification will not answer ; Mr. Lowitz has indeed found that when dilut- ed will) water and passed through fresh burnt charcoal it lost its smell and co- lour, but on again inspissating it by a very gentle fii'e, it soon acquired its for- mer brown colour and did not shew any tendency to crystallization. By long keeping, this honey spontaneously sepa- rated into a mass of white concrete gra- nulated matter entangled in a viscid slime. In this state it resembled the white concrete natural honey often met with. This concrete matter was dissolved b^- hot alcohol, which left the other part nearly untouched. On letting the alcoho- lic solution stand at rest for some days a ,,. number of spherical knobs began slowly ^_ to separate, which gradually increased, *■ forming a snow-white crust, which on „ being removed and dried would bear cut- ting wit!) a knife into thin slices. This 1 appeared to be the saccharine part of the I honey in a considerable state of purity, | VOL. I. but still so intimately united with some other ingredient as not to be ciystaUiz- able, as pure sugar is, but only to sepa- rate in tliese cauli'flower-hke knobs, which examined by the microscope, appeared composed of small thin longish crystals. Mr. Lowitz also gives as characteristic differences between this white sugar of honey and common white sugar, that the foi-mer is rendered brown by lime-water, and with lime in substance and a little water a strong effervescence takes place, and the mixture becomes black, thick, and nauseous, which, clarified by char- coal and evaporated nearly to dryness, leaves a bitter yellow extract. None of these appearances take place with lime and common white sugar, neitlier disco- louration nor decomposition being pro- duced. The caustic fixed alkalies also produce a similar eflect upon the sugar of honey, but not upon common sugar. The saccharine part of honey therefore appears most intimately combined with the extractive, and it appears probable that no direct attempts to procure pure sugar from honey will succeed, except by going through the whole process by which sugar is obtained from the cane juice. In this latter way, and with the use of claying, Neuman asserts that he has obtained a good sugar from honey re- sembling the fine moist sugars prepared in this way, but still not in tlie form of hard well-defined crystals- Honey is often adulterated with flour, whicli may be detacted by diflfiising it in biood-warm water, by which all the ho- ney will be dissolved and the flour remain nearly unaltered, and a subsequent boil- ing of the residue in the water will con- vert the flour into thick paste. Honey is used only for culinary and medicinal purposes. The distilled acid spirit was formerly thought, but quite erroneously, to be a solvent for gold and silver. The same honey -lu ate r has the re- putation of making the hair grow, and with as little foundation. See Bees. H(mey Vinegar. — This is prepared by dissolving or mixing one pound of honey in three or four quarts of water, and ex- posing the mixture to ferment till it be- comes acid, in a, temperature of between 70 and SO degrees. The product is white. HOKX. Under the general article of horn may be included (chemically con- sidered) a great variety of toiig'h, some- what flexible, semitrar.sp.-.rent organs in- tended by nature for defence or covering. Of this kind are the hollow horns of the ox, goaty ram, and some other animals, tlie hooi'y the horny claw and nail, and the horny scale of certain insects and ani- 3 31 IIOR IIOR mills, chicHy colcl-bloocled, such as the .v/ic// (so called) of the tortoise. All these resemble each other very closely in clie- iTiical character, and dill'er considerably from some of the harder and bony de- fences of some animals, sucli as the stag'-- Iiorn, ivory, ithd the liard tusks of the sea-cow, and many others. Horn (used in the above general sense) has various degrees of liardness, but is always in some degree tough and flex- ible, even in the cold, so that however dried, it cannot be bruised to powder as bone can. It is also distinguished from bone very remarkably, in being softened very compleatly by beat, either naked, or through tlie medium of water, so as then to be readily bent, moulded, and made to adhere by pressure to oUier pieces of horn in the same state. No sucii change takes place wilh bone. The valuable experiments of Mr. Hat- chett, with those of ])receding chemists, have also shewn a most decided chemical difllerence between horn and bone. "When bone is boiled witli water in an open ves- sel, (as mentioned under that article) a large quantity oi' gelatin is extracted, and tlie insoluble residue consists of the earth of bone, together with the albuminous cai'tilage, so tlial the texture remains un- broken. On tlie othei- iiand, the diflPer- ent species of horn boiled with water even for many days, give to it but very little gelaui), or any other ])rinciple, but of tills small portion of gelatin, the softer and more flexible horns give the most. The horn itself during 'he digestion, is softened considerably by the hot water, but on being taken out and dried, it be- comes more brittle than at fii-st, and in projiortion to the loss of gelatin. Bone therefore contains much gelatin, and horn scarcely any. Another difference appears after tbe Utmost action of fire on each. When bone is burnt, a number of substances are pro- cured, as described under that article, and tlie last residue is an earthy salt, chiefly phosphat of linic, amounting on an average to from half to one thiid of the entire weight of the bone. Wiien horn is treated in the sanie way, the volatile products are indeed the same, or nearly so, but instead of a large eartliy residue, scarcely any earth, or any odier com- bustible matter remains. Bone then fore contains much phosphat of lime, but horn hardly any. But the' substance which they possess in common is that condensed tough mat- ter, insoluble in water and weak acids, which Mr. Hatchett has so satisfactorily siiewu to resemble albumen in all essen- tial properties, and which in bone forms^ forms the original organic cartilage on which the earth is depositsd during the growth of the animal, and in horn forms almost the whole substance. Horn therefore seems to consist in by far the largest proportion of condensed albumen, combined however with a small and varying portion of gelatin, which mo- difies its texture and flexibility, and also with a small portion of phosphat of lime. It has been mentioned that boiling water in open vessels had hardly any ac- tion on horn, but when confined in a di- gester, liorn as well as bone is totally so- luble, because water assisted by the strong heat of a digester, will dissolve condensed albumen as well as gelatin. This method therefore is not sufficiently distinctive for chemical analysis. The fixed alkalies readily and totally dissolve horn into « yellow saponaceous hquor. The products obtainable from horn and bone of all kinds by distillation per se, were early attended to by chemists, as it is from these substances that a variety of valuable ammoniacal salts and prepara- tions are obtained. The products from bone and horn by fire are very similar, as it is only the soft pai-ts, such as gelatin and albumen, that are decomposed in the process, the earthy phosphat remaining inert without adding to, or modifying the volatile products. These latter are a we;ik ammoniacal phlegm or water, on the first impiession of the fire, to which succeeds an oil, thin and limjiid at first, but afterwai-ds brov.n and foul, and at last of a pitchy colour and consistence, and an extremely fetid empyreunialic smell. During the whole of the distillation, carbonat of am- monia comes over, partly dissolved in all the liquid products, and partly concret- ing on the sides of the receiver in crystal- line plates. A second distillation with re- gulated heat is used to pmcure the am- monia purer : but it can hardly ever be totally fieed by tliis means from the vo- latile oil ; so that, though limpid and gratefully ammoniacal, the alkaline li- quor or salt thus obtained, always re- tains somewhat of the peculiar smell of the oil, as nuist be observed by every one who coTn])ares the scent of common spi- rit of hartshorn with that of the ])nre car- bonat of ammonia or sal volatile, which is prepared in a different way, and from otiier materials. But horn (properly speaking) is seldom employed for the purpose of distillation, being too valuable as an article of maim- facture to be thu? sacrificed. The only HOR HOR horn ever used thus is the Jldg^s or hart. shorn, which as above mentioned, par- takes much more of the nature of bone, is not flexible like ox and other horn : when in shavings, readily dissolves by boiling water into a pure nutritious gelly, entangling the phosphat of lime along •with it, which makes it slightly opake Stag's horn therefore is somewhat inter- mediate in properties between bone and true horn. Horn and tortoise shell being applied to a number of mechanical purposes, must be cut, bent and shaped in an in- finite variety of ways. This is done in most instances by tiie assistance of heat applied either dry, with warmed irons or burning charcoal, or by softening the horn in boiling wa:er, and sometimes with tlie assistance of a weak alkaline liquor. When thus softened, one part may be made to adhere to another by mere pres- sure as firmly as the undivided substance Thus for example, to make the horn ring that surrounds a common opera glass, a fiat piece of horn is cut out of the requi- site shape, the ends intended to join are thinned down by a file, the piece is then put into boiling wate; till sufficiently sup- ple, and is then rolled round a warmed iron cylinder, and held in that position by a vice, so that the ends overlap each other. Another piece of iron heated and grooved is then laid upon tlie seam of the joined ends, and pressed upon th.e cylin- der, and confined there by iron wire ; and the heat of the two partially melts tliat portion of the horn, and cements the ends so compleatly, that no seam or join ing can be observed when cold. In a similar manner, two pieces of tor- toise shell may be joined together, by first neatly shaping with a file the part's that are to be united, then tying a thick paper doubled in several folds over the joining, and pressing the whole together ■with a hot iron instrument like curling irons, heated just sufficiently tliat the sliell when warmed by it, will begin to bend by its own weight. When cold, the joining is perfect, and without seam. Too great heat would make the shell rise in w hite opake blisters, and spoil its besuty. Horn is made to imitate tortoise shell, ji the following manner : make a paste with two parts of quick-lime, one of li- tharge, and a little soap-makers' ley, or solution of caustic pot-ash ; apply it skil- fully on a thin plate of horn in a way that will best imitate the natural spots of the tortoise shell, leaving the light parts un- 'uuched ; let this paste aqua- fortis. To Solder Hiyrn together, ajter it has been Imed with proper Foils or Colours. — Take two pieces of horn, made on pur- pose to meet together, either for handles of knives, razors, or any thing else; lay fi;)i!s of what colour you please on the in- side of one of the horns, or, instead of foils, painted or gilded paper, or parch- ment; then fix the other i)iece u])on it; lay a wet linen fillet, twice dovibled, over the edges, and widi a liot iron rub it over, and it will close and join together as firm as if made one piece. HOliN, to shape or bend into different forms. See Horx. HORN, how joined. See Horn. HOUX, made to imitate tortoise-shell- See Horn. HORN, spirit of harts. See Horn HOROLOGY. We have taken the lib- erty of introducing at the request of seve- ral watchmakers, the following treatise on clock work, which, from its simplicity and usefulness, is supposed to be valuable to tlie practical and scientific horologist. It is necessary first to explain the tech- )ilcu.l terms, or terms of art, and the names of tlie various parts of a clock and watch. The wlieels, and tlie rest of tiie work, is contained in the frame, which consists of the pillars and the plates. That which the main-spring lies in, is the spring-box: that which the spring winds about, in the middle of the spring- box, is the spring-arbor; to which the spring is hooked at one end. At the top of th^ spring-aibor, is the endless-screw, andiiu wheel: but in sjiring-elocks, it is a ratcliet- wheel, witli its eliek^tliat stops it. That which the main-spring draws, and ubout which the clsain or string is wound, and which is communly t:iper, is the fusee. In larger work, going with wc ights, where it is cvlindrical, it is called the bar- rel: the small teeth at the bottom of tlia fusee, or barrel, that stop it in winding up, is the ratchet. That which stops it when wound ui), and is driven up by the string, or chain, is the gardegut. The parts of a wheel are, the hoop, or rim; the teeth; the cross; and the collet, or piece of brass, soldered on the arbor, or spindle, on which the wiieel is rivctted. A pinion is that little wheel which plays in the teeth of the wheel : its teeth (whicli are commonly 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, &c.) are called leaves, not teeth. The ends of the spindle are called pi- vots; the holes in whicii they run, pivot; holes. The guttered wheel, v/ith iron spikes at the bottom, in whicli the line of ordinary thirty-hour house clocks runs, is called the pulley. The dial -plate, the hands, screws, wedges, stops, &c. hardly need mention, I'iiiis much fov general names, which are common to all parts of a movement. The mosttisual movements are watches and clocks. "Watches, strictly taken, are all sucii movements as show the parts of lime ; and clocks are such as publish it," by striking on a bell, &.c. But commonly, the name of watches is api)ropriated to such as are carried in the pocket; and that of clock to the larger movements, whether they strike the hour or not. Watches which strike the hour, are called pocket-clocks, or more commonly repeat- ing-watches. The parts of a movement to be consi- dered, are the watch and clock parts. The watch part of a movement is that which serves to measure the hours; in which the first thing to be noticed is the balance, whose parts are the rim, wliich is the circular part of it ; the verge is its spindle to which belong the two pallets, or leaves, which play in the teeth of the croMU-whecl : in pocket-watches, the strong stud in which the lower pivot of the verge plays, and in the middle of which one pivot of the balance-wheel plays, is called the pottance. The bottom of this is called the foot; the middle part (in which the pivot of the balance-wheel turns) is called the nose ; the upper part, the shoulder of the pottance. The piece wiiich covers the b.'ilance, and in which the upper pivot of the balance plays, is the cock. The small spring in pocket- watches underneath the balance, is the re- gulator, or penduium-s]>riiig. The partsof a i)endulum are the verge, pallets, and cocks, as befoie. 'I'he ball in long pendulumsi, the bob in short ones, is the weight at the bottom, which is fix- ed to the wire or rod. The term pecu- \ C:i:: ;'k Work HOR HOR liar to tlie royal swing', are the pads, which are the pallets in others, and are fixed on the aibor ; the fork is also fixed to the arbor, and about six inclies below, catches hold on the rod, at a flat piece of bniss, called the flat, in which the lower end of the spiini^ is fastened. The names of the wheels next follow : the crown-wheel in small tirne-pieces, and the swing-wheel in rojal pendulums, is that wheel that drives tlie balance, or pendulum. The contrate-wheel is that wheel in pocket-watches and others, which is next to liie crown-wheel, whose teeth and hoop lie contrary to those of other wheels ; whence it takes its name. The g-reat wheel, or first wheel, is that which the fusee, &c. immediately drives Next to it are the second wheel, third wheel, 8cc. Then follows the work between the frame and dial-plale ; and first the pinion of report, which is the pinion that is com- monly fixed on the arbor of the great wheel, and in old watches used to have generally but tour leaves ; this drives the dial-wheel, which carries about the hand. The last part to be mentioned is the clock, which is that part which serves to strike the hours ; in v\hich the great or first wheel, is that wliich the weight or spring first drives. In thirty -hour clocks this is commonly the pin-wheel : this wheel with pins, is called the sti-iking wheel or pin-wheel. Kext to this striking-wheel follows the detent w'heel, or hoop-wheel, it having a hoop almost round it, in which is a vacan- cy, at which the clock locks. The next is the third, or fourth wheel (according as it is distant from the first wheel) called also the warning wheel. And, lastly, is the flying pinion, with a fly, or fan, to gather air, and so bridle the rapidity of the clock's motion. Besides these, there is the pinion of re- port, which drives round the locking- wheel, called also the count-wheel, with eleven notches in it commonly, unequally 'Mstant from one another, to make the clock strike the hours of 1, 2, 3, &c. Thus much for wheels of the clock part. The detents are those stops which, by being lifted up, or let down, lock or un- lock the clock in striking. The hammers strike the bell; the ham- mer tails are what the striking pins draw buck tile hammers by. Latches are what lift up and Unlock the work. Catches are what hold by hooking. I The lifting pieces lift up and unlock the { detents, in the clock part. I The train is the number of beats or vi- brations which the watch makes in an hour, or any other certain time. There are besides these, several other terms which ckck -makers use in various sorts of pieces, as the snail or siepwheel I in repeating clocks, the rack, the safe- I guards, the several levers, lifters, and de- tents : but it would be tedious, and it is Ufccdless, to mention the particulars. For the bi i ^er unde; standing these terms of art, and the parts of a clock, they are represented in a plate ; in which two distinct pirts may be observed, the watch and the clock part. The wheels. Sac. on the right hand, is the watch part; those on the left, the clock. p. D. (Plate clock-work. Fig. 2.) the spnng boxes . of the watch and clock part. E. E. The great wheel of each part. F i' The fusee of eaca part, about which the chain or string is wound o. o. The click and spring of each part. g g. The ratchet of each part. a. Tlie hoop, or rim of tlie second wheel. b. The cross thereof. c. The pinion. d. The third wheel. X. The pallet-wheel. L. The pin-wheel, with the striking pins e. e. e. m. The hoop wheel. n. The warning-wheel, or fourth wheel O The detent. P. The lifting piece. 2. The f;ui, and flying pinion. R. rhe bell. S. The hammer. T. The hammer-tail. y. The hammer-spring, V. V. The chain, or string of the watch and clock. The pendulum consist of, 1. The rod. 2. The fork. 3. The flat. 4. The great ball. 5. The corrector, or regulator; being a contrivance of very great use to bring the pendulum to its nicest vibra- tions, and is fixed on the verge at the end of the pallets 5. 5. To divide the Circuwference of a Circle into any given number (f equal parts, in/ie- ther even or odd. — As ihere are very un- common and odd numbers of teeth in some of the wheels of tiie astronomical clocks, and wOiich consequently couid not be cut by an\- common engine i:?ed by clock-makers for ciitiing the numbers of teeth in their clock-wheels, the follow- rioR IIOR mg directions are given, to shew liow to divide the circumt'ercnce of a circle into any given odd or even number of equal parts, so as that number may be laid down upon the dividing plate of a cutting- engine. There is no odd number, but from which, if a certain number be subtract- ed, there will remain an even number, easy to be subdivided: thus, sniiposing the given number of equal divisirxis of a circle on the dividing plate to be 69, sub- tract 9, and there will remain 60. Every circle is supposed to contain 3G0 degrees ; therefore say, as the given num- ber of parts in the circle, which is 69, is to 360 degrees, so is 9 parts to tiie cor- responding arc of the circle that will con- tarn them ; which arc, by the rule of three, will be found to be 46.95. Therefore, by the line of chords on common scale, or rather on a sector, set oH'46 94 (or 46.9) degrees with your compasses, in the peri- phery of the circle, and divide that arc, or portion of the cy-cle, into 9 equal parts, and the rest of the circle into 60 ; and the whole will be divided into 69 equal parts, as was required. Again, suppose it were required to di- vide the circumference of a circle into 83 equal parts, subtract 3, and 80 will re- main. Then as 83 parts are to 360 dc- gi-ees, so, by the rule of proportion, are o parts to 13.01 degrees; which small fraction may be neglected. Therefore, by the line of chords and compass, set off 13 degrees in the periphery oi'the cir- cle, and divide that ])ortion or arc into 3 equal parts, and the rest of the circle into 80, and the thing will be done, Once more — Suppose it were required to divide a given circle into 365 eciual parts, subtract 5, and 360 will remain; then, as 365 parts are to 360 degrees, so are 5 parts to 4 93 dej:,*rees. Therefore, set off 4.93 (or 4.9) dc-grees in tlie circle ; divide that space into 5 equal parts, aiul the rest of the circle into 360; and the whole will be divided into 365 equal parts, as was required. This rule or method is very useful, in dividing circles into an odd nund)er of equal parts, or wheels into odd niunbers ot equal -sixcd teeth with equal spaces be- tween them ; antl it is as easy to divide any given circle int" any odd inimber of equal parts, as to divide it into any even number. For this purjiose, the line of chords on a sector is j^reicrable to that on a plain scale, l)ccause tijc sector may be opened so, as to make the r;i.dius of the lii\e of chords upon it equal to the r:idius ortlic c'h'i II cmt!'-. hv.'css the j-adiiis of the circle exceed the whole length of the sector when it is opened, so as to resem- ble a straight ruler or scale; and tlds is what very seldom happens. Any person who is used to handle the compasses, and the scale or sector, may very easily, by a little practice, take off degrees, and fractional parts of a degree, by the accuracy of his eye, from a line of chords, near enougli the truth for the above mentio.ied piu'pose. Supposing the distance between the centres of tiuu ^ilut'ls, one (f which is to turn the other, he given ; tluit the mnnber of teeth'iw tine of these "wheels is different front the mtmher of teeth in the other; anil it is re- (jutred to make the diameters oj these 'wheels ' in such proportion to one another as their numbers of teeth .re, so that the teeth in both wheels may be of equal size, and tlie spaces betiveen them equal, that either i.f them may turn the other easily and freely ^■^^ it is required to find their diaineters. — Her^H it is plain, that the distance between the centres of the wheels is equal to tiie sum of both their radii in the working parts of m the teeth. Therefore, as the number of teeth in both wheels, taken together, is to the distance between their centres, taken in any kind of nteasure, as feet, inches, or4DartB of anlnch, soisthenum* her of teeth in either of the wheels to the radius or semi-diameter of that wheel, "^ taken in the like measure, from its centre to the working part of any one of its teeth. Thus, suppose the two wheels must be of such sizes as to have their distance be- tween their centres five inches; that one wheel is to have 75 teeth, and the other ■ to have 33, and that the sizes of tlie teetii in both the wheels are equal, so tliat either of them may turn the other. 'Ihe sum of the teeth in both wheels is 108; therel()re say, as 108 teelh are to five inches, so are 75 teeth to 3.47 inches; and as 1G8 are to 5, so is 33 to 153 inches ; so that, from the centre of the wheel of 75 teeth to the working part of any tooth in it, is 3 47 inches; and from tlie centre of the wheel of 33 teeth to the working part of either of its teetii, is 1.53 inches. Gmcr^il preliminary Rules, and Di^'ec- tions for Calculation — For the more clear understanding this, it must he observed, that those atitomata (whose calculation is ciiiefly intended) measure out long por- tions " of time by little interstices, or strokes: thus the strokes of the balance of a watch measure out minutes, hours, days, 8ic. JN'ov/ to scatter those strokes amoiigst HOR HOR wheels and pinions, and to proportionate them, so as to measure time regularly, is the design of" calculation. And, in the first place, any wheel being divided by its pinions, shews bow many turns that pinion hath to one turn of that wheel. Thus, awheel of 60 teeth driv- ing a pinion of 6, will turn round a pinion 10 times in going round once. 6)60(10. From the fusee to the balance, the wheels drive the pinions; and conse- quently the pinions run faster, or go more turns, than the wheels they run in ; but it is contrary from the great wheel to the dial-wheel. Thus, in the last ex- ample, the wheel drives round the pinion ten times ; but if the pinion drove the wheel, it must turn ten times to drive the wheel round once. Here it will be requisite to shew how to write down the wheels and pinions, wliich may be done either as vulgar frac- tions, or in the way of division in vulgar arithmetic. For example, a wheel of 60 moving a pinion of 5, may be set down 60-5tlis, or 5)60 ; wiiere the uppermost figure 60, or numerator, is the wheel ; the lowermost, or denominator, is the puiion ; or, in the latter example, the first fig'ure is the pinion, the next without the hook the wheel. The number of turns which the pinion hath in one turn ofthe wheel, is set with- out a hook on the right hand, as 5)60(12; I. e. a pillion 5 playing in a wheel of 60, move round 12 times in one turn of the wheel. A whole movement maybe no- 4)36(9 ted thus, fg */ Y T° I'' notches in the crown wheel ; or 5)55(11 rather, because easier to mean 5)45(9 capacities, as in the margin, 5)40(b where the uppermost number above the line is the pinion of 17 report 4, tlie dial-wheel 36, and 9 turns of the pin of report. The second number (under the line) is 5, the pmion, 55 is the great wheel, and 11 turns ofthe pinion it driveth ; the third numbers are the second wheel, &c. ; the fourth the contrate-wheel, &c. ; and the single number 17 under all, is the number ofthe crown-wheel. By knowing the number of turns which any pinion hath hi one turn ofthe wheel it works in, you may also find out how many turns a wheel or pinion has at a greater distance, as the contrate-wheel, crown- wheel, &.C. ; for it is but multiplymg toge- ther the quotients (by tl>e quotients, is commonly meant tlie number of turns ; which number is set on the right hand without the hook, as shewn in the last ex- ample), 'and the number produced is the number of turns. An example will make 5)55(11 this plain. Let us choose three 5)45(9 numbers, here set down, the 5)40(8 first of which hath 11 tums,the next 9, and the last 8. If you multiply 11 by 9, it produceth 99, for 9 times 11 is 99 ; that is, in one turn of the wheel 55, there are 99 turns of the second pinion 5, or the wheel 40, which runs concentrical, or on the same arboi- with the second pi- nion 5; for as there are H turns of the first pinion 5, in one tiu-n of the great wheel 55, or (which is the same) of the second wheel 45, which is on the same spindle with that pinion 5 ; so there are 9 times 11 turns in the second pinion 5, or wheel 40, in one turn ofthe great wheel 55. If you multiply the last quotient S (that is, 8 times 99 is 792) it shews the number of turns which the third and last pinion 5 hatii ; so that this third and last pinion turns 792 times in one turn of the first wheel 55. Another example will 8(80(10 make it still more plain. The 6(54(9 example is in the margin. The 5)40(8 turns ai-e 10, 9, and 8. These multiplied as before, rttn thus, 15 viz. 10 times 9 is 90 ; that is, the pinion 6 (which is the pinion ofthe third wheel 40, and runs in the second wheel 54) turns 20 times in one turn of the first wheel 80. This last product 90 being multiplied by 8, produces 720 ; that is, the pinion 5 (whicli is the pin of the crown-wheel 15) turns 720 times in one tum of the first wheel of 80 teeth. A ixhole moxenient of a modern pocket Watch, may be noted thus : The great wheel, 48 12 Centre-wheel, 54 6 Third wheel, 48 6 Contrate-wheel, 48 6 Balance-wheel, 15 2 pal. Thus, when the w.atcli is wound up, the chain from the spring exerts a force upon the fusee, which gives motion to all parts ofthe machine. Tiie great wheel on the fusee having 48 teeth, and driving the centre-wheel by a pinion of 12 leaves, make the centre- wheel turn round four times in one turn ot the fusee. Thus also we may account for all others ; for, .If 12)48(4 turns ofthe centre-wheel. So 6)54(9 turns ofthe third wheel. 6)48(8 turns of the contrate-wheel, 6)48(8 turns of the balance. Tlien multiply these several quotients together successively, and you will find the turns of each of those wheels respect- ivelv in one tunt of the fusee. Thus, 1 turn of the fusee, or great wheel ; 4 mul. 1 gives 4 tui-ns ofthe cen- [ tre -wheel ; 9 mul 4 mul. 1 gives 36 turns of the third wheel ; 8 mul. 9 mul. 4 mid. 1 IIOR HOR ^ives ?88 turns of the canti-ate-whcel ; 8 uiul. 9 nml 4 m'li 1 gives 2304 tiu-ns of the b»lanct-\vln'v.'l. And the: h;thuice-wtieci havisip: 15 teeth, and each striking a paliet twice ui one re- • vohition, tlierc will bi 3u !>tr(;kcs upon the axis OT die baiasice, v hlcli are called the beats of the balance ; consequently there must be 2304 rnul. 30, which is equal to 69120 strokes or beats in one turn of the fusee or gicat wheel But tiiough these particulars arc neccssaiy t(» be premised, the princi- pal regard, in the division of time, is to be paid to tlie centre-wheel ; for this wlicei alone is tiiat upon which both the hour and minute hand is moved or carried round upon tlie face of the watch, to shew tlie hour of the day, the minute of the hour, &c. If we would find out the number oi' beats of the balance in the time of those turns above-mentioned, it must be noted, tliatas the watch goes 30 hours, and the minute hand, and consequently the cen- tre-wheel goes round once in an hour, the said centre-wheel will have 30 turns in the time of the watch's going round ; and be- cause it hath four turns in one of the fu- see, therefore we must say 4)30(7.5 the nuniber of turns of the fusee, in winding up the watch. Wlience we find 69120 mul. 7.5 equal to 518,400, the num- ber of the beats in 30 liours Then 30)518400(17280, the number of beats in an hour, which is termed the train, of a watcii ; wliicli train is said to f)e swifter or slower, as the number of beats in an iiour is more or less .- so again, if we divide this train 17280 by 3600, the seconds in an liour, the quotient will be almost 5. or nearly 5 beats per second in such a watcii. By this analysis, it is easy to firm an idea of the n>anner of calculation for the luimbers ot the teeth and lea\es for the several wheels and pinions in a watch ; which may farther be illustrated by an example of a train 14100, which will beat quurter seconds, because such a train is useful for phiiosopliical purposes, as well as for the just division of time. Suppose the intended watch is to go 32 hours; then it will be found that 14400 umUiplied by 32=460800=the beats of the balance in 32 hovu-s. And if the number of turns hi tlie fusee be 8, then 8)460800( = 57600 — the beats in one turn of the fusee. Again, sujjpose the niunber of teeth in the balance-wheel be \5, there will be 30 beats in one turn of this wheel ; then oO)57600( = 1920, which will be the number arising from the continued niul- tiplication of all the qvu)tients of the wheels, divided by the pinions they drive from the great wheel to the ba- lance-wheel, as has been already ex- ^ empiihed. The ne.\t care is to break this num- ber into four convenient small numbers, which, multiplied together, shall make the same number 1920. Then say, 4(J920( _ 480. . Again, say, 6)480( i= 80: and as 80 = 8 multiplied by 10, consequently the four numbers sought for are 4, 6, 8, and 10; because, mul- tiply tl;'. se luunbers together, and they will' make exactly 1920: thus 4 nml. 6 mul 8 nml 10 = 1920. Tlie quotients thus investigated, we may. easily find what large numbers, di- vided by small ones will produce the Said quotients : thus 12)48( = 4. Con- sequenth', if we allow 48 teeth to the great wiieel on the fusee, it must drive a pillion ot l2 on the centre-wheel. So again, if for tlie quotient 6, we choose 54 and 9, thus 9)34( = 6, it shews that the teeth of the centre-wheel may be 54; and it must drive a pinion of 9 on the tiiird wheel. Or if, instead of 54 and 9, we chuse 48 and 8, it will answer tlie same end: thus 8)48( = 6. Or, for the quotient 10, we may easily perceive that 50 and 5 will answer the inquiry : thus 5)50C = 10; so the third wheel having 50 teeth, must drive a pinion of 5 on the contrate-wheel : where note, tliat if t!ic said wheel has 40 or 60 teet!i,and drive a pinion of 4 or 6, we shall find the same number of turns exactly : and for tlie quotient 8, we have the number 48 and 6 : thus 6)48( = 8; or, 7)56( = 8 : or 5)40( =:r 8; therefore, if the coutrate- v\ heel be allowed 40, or 43, or 56 teeth, it will dri\e a pinion of 5, 6, or 7 leaves on the balance-wheel. This is the way to determine and ad- just all the wlieels and pinions in tlie body of a watch, from the fusee to the balance, so far as relates to the minute of an hour, and to the seconds and quarter seconds of a minute. <^ Having shewn the way of calculating i numbers for the watch part, the principle „ of the striking part vill next demand consideration. AlthouL;h this part consists of many wheels and pinions, yet respect needs to he had only to the count-wheel striking- wheel, and detent-wheel, which move round in this proportion ; the count-wheel B (Kig. 4) moves round commonly once hi 12 or 24 hours. The detent wheel moves roimd every stroke the clock strikes; sometimes but once in two strokes. From wlience it follows, 1. That as many pins as are in tl.e in- HOR HOR wheel, so many turns has Oie detent-whafel in one turn of the pin wlieel ; (or whicli is the same) th« pins of the pin-wheel are the quotient of that wheel, divided by the pinion of the detent-wheel. But if the detent-wheel move but once round in two strokes of the clock, then the said quotient is but half the number of pins. 2- As many turns of the pin-wheel as are required to perform tlie strokes of 1 2 hours (which ai-e 78), so many turns must tlie pinion of report have, to turn round the count-wheel once. Or thus : divide 78 by tlie number of striking-pins, and the quotient tiiereof will be tlie quo- tient for the pinion of report and tlie count-wheel. All this is, in case the pi- nion of report be fixed to the arbor of the pin-wheel, as is veiy commonly done. The example in the mai-gin will ex- plain this more clearly. Here 8)4'8(6 the locking-wheel A is 48, the pinion of report is 8, the 6)78(13 ps. pin- wheel is 78, the striking- 6)60(10 pins are 13 ; and so the rest. 6)4^(8 It need only be remarked here, that 78 being divided by the 13 pins, gives 6, which is the quotient of the pmion of report O, as was before hinted ; and the liolches of the plate B sen-e to let the locking piece C fall into, which comes from the detent D. As for the warning-wheel and flying- pinion, it matters little what numbers they have, their use being only to bridle the rapidity of the motion of the other wheels. J\'umbers of' several sorts ofviovetnents. — Although the directions that have been given ai'e sufficiently plain to accomplish a 50ung practitioner in the art of calcu- lation, yet it may be very convenient to set down some numbers fit for several movements, partly to be as examples to exercise the young reader, and partly to serve such who want leisure to attain to the art of calculation. j\'uinbers of an eight day piece, with six- teen turns of tiie barrel: the pendiditm, vibrates seconds, and shews minutes, se- conds, ijfc. Watch part. 8)96 8)60—40)40—6)72 7)56 30 Clock part 8)78 7)o6 8 pins. 7)49 7)49 In the watch part, the wheel 60 is the minute-wheel, which is set in the middle of the clock, that its spindle may go VOL. I. through the middle of the dial-plate, to carry tiie minute-hand. Also, on liiis spindle is the wheel 40, a, (Fig. 3), which drives another wheel b of 40 ; which last hath a pinion 6, c, which drives round that of 72 d in 12 hours. Note two tilings : 1. That tlie two wheels 40, are of no olh.er use but to set the pinion 6 at a convenient distance from the minute-wheel, to drive the wheel 72, which is concentrical with the minute- wheel ; for a pinion 6 driving a wheel 72, would be sufficient, d" die minute- hand and hour-hand had two different centres. 2. 'Ihese numbers, 60 — 40)40 — 6(72, set thus, ought, according as above, to be thus read %"iz. the wheel 60 hath another wheel 40 on the same spindle ; which wheel 40 divides (plays in, or turns round) another wheel 40 ; which has a pinion 6 concentrical with it ; which pinion dj ives or divides a wheel of 72 ; for a line parting two numbers (as 60 — 48), denotes those two numbers to be con- centrical, or to be placed upon the same spindle. And when two numbers have a hook between them (as 48) 48), it signifies one to run in the other. In the striking part, there are 8 pins on the second-wheel 56. The count- wheel may be fixed unto the great wheel, which goes round once in 12 hours. .3 piece of thirty-tv!0 days, ivith sixteen turns both parts : the luatch shevrs hours, minutes, and seconds ; and the pendulum vibrates seconds. Watch part, witli six- Striking part, with teen turns. sixteen turns. 16)95 10)130 ^)"2 ^2 8)96 {24 pins 8)60—48)48—6)7 7)56 30 2)39 6)72 double hoop 6)60 The pinion of report is fixed on the end of tlie arbor of die pinvwheel. The pinion is 12, the covnt-wheel 39 ; thus, 12)39. . j T'KO-JHontlis Piece of Sixty four Days Hsith Sixteen Turns : Pendulum vibrates Seconds, and shtws Minutes, Seconds, iS^C. Watch part. Clock part. 9)90 10)80 S^76 10)65 8)60—43)48—6)72 „.., ^I2pins 7)56 -''^*^— 8)52 5)60 double hoop. ;-') 5)50 3 N HOR. IIOR Here the third wheel is the pin-v.hecl; which also curries the pinion of report 8j driving the count-wheel 52. .2 Seven-Month Piece, ivlth Turns, rendu- lum, and Motions, as before. 8)60 8)56 8)48 \Vatch. Clock. 8)96 8)88—27)12 8)64—16 pins 6)45—48)48—6)72 6)48 double hoop 5)40 6)48 A Year-Piece of 384 Days, "UvVA Turns, Pendulums, and Motions, as before. ^ Watch. Clock. 12)108 10)120 9)72 8)96—36)9 8)64 6)7826 pins 8)60—48)48—6)72 6)72 double hoop 7)56 6)60 If you had rather have the pinion of re- poi't on the spindle of the pin-wheel, it must be 13)39. APiece (f Thirty Hours, Pendulum about Six Inches, Watch. 12)48 6)78 6)60 6)42 Clock, 8)48 6)78 13 pins 6)60 6)48 A Thirty-Hour Piece, to swin^ Seconds. Watcli part. Clock part. 6)90 6)r8l3 pins 6)72 6)54 7)49 30 Repeating- JVurk. Let A be a j>i<.'ce of brass cut down in twelve spiral stcj)s, in form of a snail (from wlience it lakes its name) as in llie hgure; let this be fixed on ihc socket of the hour wheel ; and B G LF (Fig 1) the rack, with 14 teeth, turning on its centre L, having a spring M to force the end F upon the steps of the snail A, wiien at li- berty. Tlie pin at I in the motion-wheel, takes hold of the lifting-piece DMK; and the end K, in rising, lifts up the hook C, which lies in the teeth of the rack, and rises until tlie teeth are disengaged from il ; the end F then falls down, and slx)p3 against the steps of the snail A, which, in the figure is at two o'clock. The arbor of the third or galhering- wheelm Fig. 2) comes through the plate on which the pallet E m (Fig. 1) is fixed ; a turn of which answering to one stroke of the hammer, gathers tlie rack up one tooth : 12 steps of the snail answer 12 teeth in the rack ; and when the gather- ing pallet E m, has taken as many teeth in the rack as tlie number of the hour, the end E of the pallet stops against a pin in the rack at G, and is tlicre at rest until the hook C is again lified out of the teeth by the lifting-piece, as before. When the hook C is lifted out of the teeth of tlie rack, the clock would strike continually, as the hook being out of the teeth, prevents the rack being gathered up ; but that the end K of the lifting-piece has a small arm which goes through tlie plate, and a pin in the wheel n, which stops against it in such a manner, tiiat when the lifiing-piece is suffered to fall by the pin I, having gone past the pin in the rim of the wheel n, it is clear of the arm at the end of the lifting -piece K ; the wheel being then at hberty, the clock strikes until the gathering pallet E stops against the pin of the rack at G, as be- fore. By putting a small string to the top-end of the sjiring S, to come through the case, it may be made to strike the last hour at any time, except when on the warning. In relation to this subject, we shall no- tice pendulums. A Pendulum is a heavy body hanging to asriiall cord, or wire, which is movea- ble round a centre. It is that well-known instrument so useful in measuring time, and ascertaining with accuracy its nicer divisions. A body thus suspended being put in motion, describes an arc, in one-half of wliich it descends, and ascends in the otiier. H C (Fig 5) is a pendulum, consisting of a body I', attaclied to a thread, P C, which is fastened to tlie point C, and is moveable round it. If the body P was let free, and not retained by the tiiread, it would fall in the vertical line P L : but be- ing- retained by the thread P C, it is for- ced to describe the arch PA, which is the segment of a circle, of which F C is the radius. Tiie body P acquires a velocity in frill- ing through the P A, tliat has a tendency, when it arrives at tJie point A, to cany it ofTin the tangent A D ; but being prevcutr HOR HOR ed from moving in a straie^ht line, by the string which continually draws it towards the centre, it is forced to describe the curve A E, which, provided the pendulum were not affected bj- the resistance of the air, or the friction at the centre, would be exactly similar to the arch P A ; that is, it would rise to the same height as it fell from. Having arrived at E, it will fall back again to A, and go on with its ac- quii-ed velocity to P, and so on, continual- ly backwards and forwards. Each swing that it makes, is called a •vibration, or oscillation. If the pendulum vibrated in vacuo, and tliere was no friction at the point of sus- pension, the vibrations would not only be all equal, but they would continue for ever ; but as this is not the case, the vi- brations become less and less, till at last the motion totally ceases. But it is a remarkable property of the pendulum, which whs first observed by Galileo, that all the vibrations of the same pendulum, whether great or small, were performed in very nearly equal times. The longer a pendulum is, the slower are its vibrations, and tlie contrary ; con- sequently, if a pendulum be required to vibrate seconds, it must liave a determi- nate length. This lenglli is found to be 39.13 incliesin Britain If a pendulum be heated, it expands, and becomes longer ; consequently it vi- brates slower. Pendulums of the same length vibrate slower, the nearer they are brought to the equator, because the semi-diameter of the earth's equator is about seventeen miles longer than the axis of the earth, conse- quently gravity is less at the equator than at the poles ; and because the centrifugal force at the equator, arising from the di- urnal motion of the earth, being grcater than that at tlie poles, lessens gravity by ^\-^ part. A pendulum, therefore, to vibrate seconds at the equator, must be somewhat shorter than at tlie poles. When we consider a simple pendulum, or a ball suspended by a string, having no sensible weight, we "suppose the whole weiglit of the ball to be collected in its centre of gravity, and the length of tlie pendulum is the distance from the centre of gravity to the point of suspen- sion. But when a pendulum consists of a ball, or any other figure, suspended by a metallic or wooden rod, the length of the pendulum is the distance from tlie point of suspension to a point in the pendulum, called the ccr.tre oj oscillation, v.hich does not exactly coincide with the centre of gravity ot the ball. If a rod of iron were suspended, and made to vibrate, that point in which all its force .^vas collected, and to wliich, if an obstacle were applied, all its motion would cease, and be received by the obstacle, is called its centre of oscilU- tion. A single pendulum, consisting of a ball and a tiiread, whose length is two-thirds of the length of a bar without a ball, will be found to perform its oscillations in equal times with the bar. Hence, a point taken one -third of the length of the bai* I from the lower end, is its centre of oscil- lation. The pendulums of clocks usually vi- brate in die arcs of circles. It has for- merly been thought an advantage to make them vibrate in the arcs of cycloids ; but the difficulties that attend the practical application, are such, that there is good reason to think that they produce greater errors in the measurement of time than those they are intended to re"medy. To find the length of a Pendulum that shall inake any dumber of Vibrations in a gi- ven Time. Reduce the given time into seconds, then say, as the square of the number of vibrations given is to the square of this number of seconds, so is 39.13 to the length of the pendulum in inches. Example. Suppose it makes 30 vibra- tions in a minute, a minute is = 60 se- conds; then. As 900, the square of 30: 3600 the square of 60 : : 39.13: 156 8 inches, the length required. h" tlie bob of the pendulum be not a whole sphere, but a thin segment of a sphere, as in most clocks ; then, to find the centre of oscillation, say, as the dis- tance between tiie point of suspension and the middle of the bob, is to half the breadth of the bob, so is half the breadth of the bob to a third proportional. Set one -third of this length, from the middle of the bob do\\-nward3 ; which gives the centre of oscillation." Then the distance between the centres of suspension and oscillation, is the exact lengtli of the pen- dulum. Haring the length of n Pendulum given, to find limu inany Vibrations it xsillviake in any gi'cen time. Reduce the time given into seconds, and the pendulum's length into inches; then say, as the given length of the pen - HUS IIYD tlulum is to 39.13, so is the square of the time ^iven to the square of the number (if vibrations, whose square root is the num- ber sought. Example. Suppose the length oi" the penduUim is 156.8 inches, to tind how oft- en it will vibrate in a minute I minute = 60 seconds. 1 lien 156.^:: 39.13:: 3600 the square of 60 : 900, the square root of which is 30, the number of vibra- tions souj^ht. As heat expands, and cold contracts all metals, a pendulum-rod is longer in warm than in cold weather; and hence a source of irregularity in clocks. Various ex])cdients have lieen tried for remedying this defect ; the best of whicli is the meliiod of i'onTiing the pendulum of bars of brass and steel, so placed, that the expansion of one con-ects that of tiie other, and thus preserves the centre of oscillation always in the samei)lace. Tiiis is called the gridiron pendulum, from its resemblance to a gridiron. Deal-wood is found to expand very lit- tle in the direction of the grain: hence it is much fitter lor pendulum-rods than me- tal. Baking, varnishing, gilding, or soak- ing them in any midtcd matter, is said to render them less accurate; but ru!)biMg on the outside with wax and a clotii, is re- commended. HOliSE. See Animals, Domf.s- 1 I c. HORSE, Disease of the. See Far- UlEllV- HOUSE MEDICINES. Under this head are included those articles, or drugs, administered or applied to tlje horse for the purpose of curing disease; such as purges, clysters, poultices, pow- ders, &c. See Faukiery. HORTICULTUliE. As the system or practice of horticulture, or gardening, is extensive, embracing in itself a variety of subjects, some of which we have treated of under Agriculture, we refer tlie reader, for every infoimation on this branch of domestic or rural economy, to the excellent treatise of Mr. Jitriuinl Macmalinn, who, with tlieoretical know- ledge, extensive reading, and practi- cal skill, has presented ti>e world with one of the best systems which has ever appeared. HOUSE TAIN TS, are particidar pig- ments used in ^painting ol" houses, with their a]>pendagcs. The colours gener;d- ly used are mentioned under Colour Making. See Paints. HUSBANDRY. As this subject em- braces the business of tlie farmer, which includes the tillage of the ground, and several other occupations, as tlie rearing of cattle, the making of butter, cheese, raising fiax, the management of bees, &.c. we refer the reader to the articles Ani- mals, Domestic, Agriculture, Bees, &c. HYDRAULICS, a branch of science wkich treat** of the motion of fluids, and their application in forniing water en- gines of every description ; such as sy- phons, engines, fountains, &.c. See En- gine. \Vc shall here describe the diving hell of i)r. Halley. In order to facilitate our y)ower of re- maining on the suilkce of water, or of breathing when at the bottom, difleient methods have been contriv/id. As to the 'irst, the cork waistcoat, marine spencer, £cc. answers the purpose tolerably well; for the latter, the diving-bell is a well- known security. Dr. JLilley, in afliving- bell of his own contrivance, remained fifty-two feet deep at the bottom of tiie sea, for the space of an hour and a half. The diving-bell is an Instrument long known and in use. That made by I)i', Hidley was in the form of a great bell, and was coated with lead, so as to make it sink in water: it was three feet wide at top, five feet wide at bottom, and eight feet high. Into this great !)ell the diver entered, and sat upon a small seat within- side prepared for that purpose, and re- ceived light from a strong glass at top. Thus prepared, by means of a rope, the bell, the man, and all, were let dov. n to the bottom, in-order to search for goods, or fix cords to wrecks of ships, and sucli like purposes. Thoug'h the machine is open at tlie bot- tom, and goes down many fathoms, only an inconsiderable quantity of water en- ters into, or rises in it, so that the diver has air enough above such water to breathe and live ia for some time. This you may illustrate by an easy expei'i- nient; take a gla.ss tumbler, and plunge it into water, with the mouth downwards and the sides perpendicular to the sur- face, and you will find very little water rise in the tumhlc-r. It is the air contain- ed therein wiiich resists and prevents the W ater rising-. It is iJi this topmost ])art, which is emp- ty, or only filled with air, that the diver keeps his head, and breathes tliat air which thus resists the ascending water; here he can ix-main for some time, living upon the condensed air, and at the same lime performing what he descended for. But, to be more particular in the de- scription of Dr. JIaUcy's bell. In the top HYD HYD was fixed, as before-mentioned, a strong clear sjltiss to let in the light from above, :ind likewise a cock to let out the hot ain that had been polluted by rej>eated inspi- ration below. It was suspended to the mast of a ship, and so hoisted over the ship's side as to be let down wiihout dan- fTer. In this, two or more divers were let down to the bottom, and two barrels of air were let down to them, to supply them with fresh air, which alternately rose and fell like two buckets. As the air from thp barrels was let into tlie space in the bell free from water, it entered cold, and expelled the hot air, which liad been spoiled, out throug^h the cock at the top. By this method, air was communi- cated in such plenty, that, the Doctor in- forms us, that he was one of five who were together at the bottom in ten fathom of water, for above an hour and a half at a time, without any sort of ill conse- quence; and he might have continued there as long as he pleased, for any thing that appeared to the contrary. By the glass at the top of the bell, so much light was transmitted when tlie sun shone, and the sea was undisturbed, that he could see perfectly well to read and write, or to find any thing that lay at the bottom ; but, in dark weather, and wlien the sea was rough, he found it as dark as night at the bottom. But then this inconvenience might be remedied, by keeping a candle buriiing in the bell as long as he pleased; for he found by experience, that a candle' polluted the air by burning, just as a man would by respiring, both requiring about the same quantity of fresh air for their support, to the amount of nearly a gallon in a minute. This mrchine was so far improved, that one of the divers might be detached to the distance of erghtj- or a hund'-ed yai ds, by a close cap being put upon his head, with a glass in tlie fore part for him to see through, and a- pipe to supply him with air, communicating with the great bell; tliis pipe was flexible, coiled round his arm, and served him as a clue to find his way back to the bell again. The only iacvinvenience that Ualley complained of was, that upon their first descending, '>e und his companions found a small pain m their ears, as if the end of a quill were thrust forcibly through into tlie aperture of the ear. One of the divers, however, witling to r-emcdy this inconvenience, slufftd his ears with oiiewcd paper, wiiich, as the bell descended, was so for- cibly pressed into the cavities of that orgiin, that ttie surgeon could "not ex- tract the stuffing wiiliout great diflScul- ty. The following is a description of Dr Halle v's machine. It is about three feet wide at the top, five feet at the bottom, and eight feet high ; containing about 63 cubic feet, or eight hogsheads. Its sides are loaded v/ithlead to make it sink in the water, and on the top of the bell, C, is a thick clear glass, to give light to the machine when it is immersed : D is a stop cock, by which the impure and rarefied air is dis- chai'ged .- towards the middle, E, is a seat for the divers to rest upon, and a broad iron rim, F, is suspended by fines fri)m the bottom of the bell for the men to stand upon as occasion may re- quire. Triedivaid, a Swedish engineer, has made some improvements on this ma- chine since Haltey'sXime- That contrived by him is less than Halley's, and conse- quently more easily managed ; it is illu- minated witli three convex glas.ses in. stead of one. It has been found, that tlie nearer the diver's head is to the surface of the water in the bell, the better he breathes, for the air at that place is most comfortable and cool. In Triedv:aUfs bell, the diver's head is therefore nearer the water, and when there is a necessity for his liking up his head to the top of the bell, he has a flexible pipe in his mouth, with which he breathes only the air at the surface of the water at tiie bottom of the bell. The following is a shdJt description of II YD HYD Thus we find, that scarce any part ot nature is wholly secluded from human visitation, since means have been found to ascend into the aerial regions, and to descend without danger to the baltom of the ocean. a submarine vessel, or dinng machine, in- vented by Mr. David Bushnell, of Ci>nnec- ticut. The external shape of the submarine vessel bore some resemblance to two up- per tortoise shells of equal size, joined to- gether; the place of entrance into the vessel being represented by the opening made by the swell of the shells, at the head of the animal. The inside was ca- pable of containing the operator, and air sufficient to support him thirty minutes without receiving fresh air. At the bot- tom, opposite to the entrance, was fixed a quantity of lead for ballast. At one edge, which was directly before the ope- rator, who sat upright, was an oar for rowing forviard or backward. At the other edge was a rudder for steering. An aperture, at the bottom, with its valve, was designed to admit water, for the pur- pose of descending ; and two brass forc- ing pumps served to eject the water with- in, when necessary for ascending or de- scending, or continuing at any part - cular depth. — A water guage or ba- rometer deternuned the depth of the descent, a compass directed the-course, and a ventilator within supplied the vessel with fresh air, when on the sur- face. Of .15-. Smeaton's Diving Chest. — See the annexed figure. Titis machine v.-as used with great success by Mr. Sme^ton, at Kamsgate. Instead of'the usual form jn addiUon to the engines for raising of a bell, or of a conical Uib of wood ' Vater, mentioned under the article En- sunk by weights extenially applied, .>!r. ^g, we shall here insert otliers which Smeaton's was a square chest of cast appear useful. m)n. which being 50 cwt. was heavj- .i pump, on a construction, invented by enough to sink itself; and being 4\ feet j/r. .AbA;e— This pump fig. 3, dcsenes in height, 4 i feet in lenprth, and 3 feet notice as it keeps a continual stream; wide, afforded room sufficient for two being composed only of one straiglit men at a time to work under it It was pipe, or tube, and two pistons, having peculiar to this machine, that the men eacli a bucket and a valve. It raises as therein were supplied with a constant in- much water with the same power, and flux of fresh air without any attention of in the same time, as two barrels with four theu^; that necessan- article being am-, valves will do; and 'being simple in its ply supplied by a forcing air pump, in a j principles, mav be constructed at a mode- boat upon the water's surface. Tl»e fi-|rate price compai-ed with M. de la fure will give you an idea of this ma- 1 Hire's pump chine ; only in the model from which the| A is a straight tube, or barrel, in which drawing was made, tlie sides were of 1 two buckets work: tlie bucket B is glass, for the purpose of rendering the j work'd bv the rod C ; and the bucket effects visible. In Mr. Smeaton's chest, |d is worked by the rod E; wliich rod Ijgljt was admitted through four strong! goes through a hole in the bucket B, pieces of glass fitted to tlie upper pail of] and is moved up and down bv two cir- tbe chest. • 1 cular pieces of wood F, fixed to two haji- HYD HYD dies gg, which causes one bucket to ascend with its load and vice versa. •^n Engine for raising ivater by a conti- nual stre.im, by means of a hair rope. In- vented by Sieur Vera — A is a uhecl 4 feet over, having an axis and a winch : B B, two pullies 14 inches diameter, in order to keep the ropes to a proper distance in the well, and be in contact with a greater surface of die wheel : C C, a hair- rope^ near one inch diameter : D a re- servoir to collect the water : E, a spout to convey the water from the reservoir • F, the top of the well : G, the surface of the water in the well; H, a frame in which the lower pulley I is fixed: I, a pulley under w' hich the rope runs, in or- der to keep it tight : K, the handle to turn the wheel L L L, a box made of thin boards, in order to collect the water into the reservoir- D. When the handle K is turned about with a considerable velocity, the water which adheres to the rope C C '^in wells not veiy deep) is very considerable ; the rope thus passes through the tube D, which, being 5 or 6 inches higher than the bottom of the reservoir, hinders the water from returning back into the well, and is conveyed in a continual stream through the spout E. Some, of the above engines improved by Mr. Stamford, have raised' a greater quantity of water tiun any person, unskilful in hydraulics, could suppose in tlie same time, from such a simple contrivance. ;^^L Of the disposition of pipes of conduit.—^ In some cases the pump cannot be placed conveniently perpendicular to the well ; for example, being to raise water out of the well at A, fig. 5, by means of a pump at B, the best way will be to carry the barrel as low as the spring is, communi- cating therewith by means of the pipe at C. The bucket then playing in the bar- rel D C, will have the same effect as it the well was made perpendicular to tlie pump ; because the water by its proper weight, will always replenish D C,thi'ough A, through the level of the well watev at E. IIYD • IIYD And if it should happen, from some considerable impediment, that the barrel cannot get down to the well directlj', it may be led about any other way for sake of convenience. And tlien making t!ie pipe of conveyance E, less in diameter than the bairel, it will sooner be ex- liausted of air, by moving the piston ; and the water will follow very briskh', as by the leaden pump at D. It will, Imwevcr, always be more easy to draw water witli pipes that are large, and of an equal bore throughout, because tlie water will have a less velocity in them, and the friction will be in pro- poi-tion less. Upon this account, the pumps ordinarily made by the plumbers go not so easy as those bo-c Jiand-Pttnip, invented by Mr. Walter Taylor, of Southampton, and used by the Royal J^avy tf Great Bri- tain. Every friend of mankind must rejoice on being informed, that the accidents to which ships that spring a leak at sea were liable from the imperfections of the chain pump, are liappily removed by the inge- nious contrivances of Mr. Walter Taylor, of Southampton, well known for his me- chanical abilities, which, in other instan- ces as well as in this, have proved equally beneficial to himself and to his country. It seems rather surprizing, that the common pump, whose effects are so well known, should have remained for centuries ina- dequate to the purposes of the navy. The mechanism adopted by Mr. Taylor is so important, and in various particulars, so different from what is in general applied to the common pump, that it may witli great propriety be considered as a new in- vention. 3 o liYD IIYH Mr. Taylor's pumps have been In gene- ral use in the British navy for some years : they have answered every expectation he first formed, though he has made many ihnprovements on them Here are three figures, which will give a general idea of these pumps; they are copied from draw- ings which were kindly communicated by Mr. Taylor. Fig. 1 is a section of one of Mr. Taylor's pumps, of a simple con- struction. The piston is represented as descending in a chamber properly adapt- ed thereto. At a and b you have a view of Mr. Taylor's pendulum valves ; which, from their form, disengage themselves from chipsj gravel, sand, &c. The piston is also so contrived, that no chips, gravel, or sand, can get between tlie leather and lower part of the piston ; to both which defects the former consti'uctions were lia- ble. Fig. 7 is a separate view of the pen- dulum valve. Fig. 1 represents a pump working with one piston-rod, and fig. 2 a pump work ing with two piston-rods ; the one rising as the other fsdls : in fig. 1 and 2, the rods are supposed to be worked by levers. By a judicious application of ropes, to be car- ried on either deck, see fig. 3, Mr. Taylor is enabled, where men are plenty, as in a man of war, to raise any quantity of wa ter. The drawing is taken from a pump with a seven-inch bore, and heaves one ton per minute twenty-four feet high, with ten men, five only working at a time- One is now constructing by Mr. Taylor, to heave five tons per minute twenty-four feethigh. The pumps are also so con- structed, that a copper pump may be ta- ken out of the wooden case, in order, when necessity reqvures, to make two pumps for separate work. 0/ tJie Hessian pump Jigures 1 and 2. fig. 8. ABC, DE, two tin vessels, soldered to- gether, but communicating with each other by a hole at bottom. The larger ves- sel is furnished with a rim, to receive the water thrown up by the circulating tubes, and convey it into the vessel DE ; m, n, o. p, represent four tubes of metal or glass, open at both ends, but bent at top, and fixed in an angular position to the axis K L. When in their place, the extremi- ty, L, of the axis, rests upon a point at the bottom of the large vessel, whUe the up- per part is steadied, and kept in a verti- cal position, by passing through a hole in a bar going over the large vessel ABC. Fill tlie vessels about two thirds with water, and then make the tubes circulate rapidly by turning the handle S, and tlie rotatory centrifugal motion will raise the water, and discharge it into the small ve-j- sel D Ej by the pipe h= HYD HYD Dela Hire's Pump, fig. 9. This engine is iiUtnded to raise water as fas.1 by the- descent us by the ascent of tlie piston. The pipe B is fitted to the lower end of the barrel in which the piston works. C is connected with the smaller one. There is a valve on tne top of ihe pipes li C, and also on the two pipes ¥,¥, which proceed from the pump barrel into the air vessel P. The water is forced up B. The valve.« e and s lie closed ;it E F. As soon as the piston is as low as it can go, the valve at D closes the pipe. When the pis- ton is rai.sed tiie water is forced through E, and, after opening the valve e, h)to tiie air vessel P. (See the annexed figure.) A very simple contrivance for raising water to small heit^hts, ni:iy ho elfectecl without much friction, and without the assistance of the pump maker or plumber. The pump is formed of a square t' unk, open ut botli ends, and having a litth' cis- tern or spout at top Near tlie boftom there is a partition made of board, perfo- rated with a hole, and covered witli a cli.ck. A long cylindrical bag or pudding, made of leather, with a fold of thin leatli- er, such as sheep skin, between the can- vass bags, is firmly raised to the board at bottom, with soft leathers between. The upper end of this bag is fixed on a round board, having a hole and valve. This board may be turned in the lathe, with a groove round its edge, and the bag fasten- ed to it by a card bound tight round it. The fork of the piston-rod is fixed into this board : the bag is kept distended by a number of hoops or rings, placed a few in- ches distance from each otlier. Thus the bag will represent tlie barber's bellows- powder-puff. When this pump is put into water, and the piston forced down, it is evident that the air is driven out, and on pulling up the piston rod, the lower valve will open and the upper one close; now, as there is no communication through the lathe or bag, except by the upper valve, it is evident, that on compressing the bag, the water will pass from the bag into the pump, and by repeating the operation of raising and depressing, the water will pass out of the pipe at top. This pump is with- out friction, will last a long time, and will r.iise a considerable quantity of wa- ter. This pump is similar to the one de- scribed by Bclidor, vol. 11, page 120, and some other writers on hydraulics. The most ingenious contrivance of a pump without friction, may be found des- cribed in the works of Dr. Desgauliere, called the quicksilver pump, which is ve- ry complicated, and not much known. It is called llaskins pump. In Darwin's Phy- tologia, or in the Domestic Encyclopedia, may be seen a useful, though a complica- ted engine for raising water, called Hiero's Fountain, which is designed to raise wa- ter to a great perpendicular height, f()r the irrigation of land, in such situations as \\'A\'c the advantage of a small fall. ]Vatcr Press, fig. 10. A is a cast iron c) linder, ground very acctu-alely within, that the piston e m.iy lit exceedingly close. C is the plunger, and n a vaive Ihat ojicns upwards Tiie water is brought into the pipe n o. The ]5lungcr C forces the water from n o, HYD HYD through the valve X into the bottom of jpiston downwards, allows the air which the cylinder, and drives up the plunger C. had come from the suction-pipe into the m represents a bundle of hay, or bag of 'barrel during the ascent of the piston, to cotton, or any other substance, whicli is thus bi'ought into a compass twenty or thirty times less than it generally occu- pies. The power of this engine, it is get through its valve. Upon drawing up the piston, the air is also drawn off through the rising-pipe, liepeating this process brings the water at last into the obvious, depends upon the strength of | working-barrel, and it is then driven along the materials of which it is made, and by the rising-pipe by the piston, the force applied to it. A single man, working at S, can, by a machine of this kind, bring hay or cotton into the compass before mentioned. A press for the pur- pose of packing hay or cotton, is now in use in this city, not by water, but by m^ns of screws. It is in the possession of Mr. Simmons, who, we believe, is the in- ventor or patentee. See Engines. It may be proper to mention, that a patent for a hvdro-mechanical press was grant- ed to Mr Beverly. Dec 26th, 1803, by the government of the United States. The common sucking-pump may, by a small addition, be converted into a lifting- pump, fitted for propelling the water to any distance, and with any velocity. The annexed figure No. 11, is a sucking, pump whose workingbarrel A B, has a la- teral pipe C, connected with it close to the top. This termmates in a main, or rising-pipe, furnished, or not, with a valve. The top of the working-barrel A B is shut by a strong plate, having a hollow neck terminating in a small flanch. The piston-rod passes through this neck, and is nicely turned and polished. A number of rings of leather are put over tlie rod, and strongly compressed round it by ano- ther flanch and several screwed bolts. By This is one of the best forms of a this contrivance, the rod is closely grasp-pump. The rai'efaction may be very ed by the leathers, but may be easily 'perfect, because the piston can be drawn up and do wii, while all passage of ; brought so near to the bottom of the air or water is eftectuaily prevented. The working-barrel ; and for forcing water piston is perforated, and furnished with a |iii opposition to great pressures, it ap- vabc opening upwards. There is also a :pears prefer.ible to the common forcing- valve, T, on the top of tlie suction pipe; 'pump; because in that, the piston-rod and it will be of advantage, though not is compressed and exposed to bending, absolutely necessary, to put a valve L at which greatly hurts tlie pump, by wear- the bottom of tlie rising-pipe. Now, sup-jing the piston and barrel on one side, pose the piston at the bottom of the work- This soon renders it less tight ; and much ingbarrel; when it is drawn up, it tends .water squu'ts out by the sides of the to compress the aii above it, because the piston But in this pump the piston-rod valve in the piston remains shut by its is always drawn, or pulled, which keeps own weight- Tiit air, therefore, is driv- it straight, and rods exert a much great- en through the valve L, into the rishig- er force in opposition to a pull than to pipe, and escapes. In the mean time, the compression. The collar of leather round air which occupied the small place be- the piston rod, is found by experience to tween the piston and the valve T, ex])ancls be very impervious to water; and though into the upper part of the working-bar- it needs but little repair, yet the whole rel ; and its elasticity is so much diminish- is very accessible ; and in this respect ed thereby, that the atmosphere presses much preferable to the common pump, the water of the cistern into the suction- in deep mines, where every fault ©f the pipe, where it rises until an cqailibriuu; is piston obliges us to diaw up some hun- again produced. The next stroke of the, dred feet of piston-rods. By this addi- HYD ti\U tion too, any common pump, for the ser- vice of a house, may be converted into an engine for extinguishing fire, or may be made to convey the water to every part of the house ; and this without hurting or obstructing its common uses. All that is necessary, is to have a large cock on the upper part of the working- bari-el, opposite to the lateral pipe in this figure. This cock serves for a spout, when the pump is used for common pur- poses ; and the merely shutting this cock, converts tlie whole into an engine for extinguishing fii-e, or for supplying distant places with water. It is scarce- ly necessary to add, tliat, for tliese ser- vices, it will be requisite to connect an air-vessel with some convenient part of the rising-pipe, in order that the current of water may be continual. It is of considerable importance, tliat as equable motion as possible be pro- duced in the main pipe, which diminishes those strains which it is otherwise liable to. The application of an air-vessel at the beginning of the pipe, answers this purpose. In great works, it is usual to effect this by the alternate action of two pumps. It will be rendered still more uniform, if four pumps be emploj'ed, succeeding each other at tlie interval of one quarter of tlie time of a complete stroke. But ingenious men have attempted the same thing with a single pump ; and many different constructions for this pur- pose have been proposed and executed. The annexed figure represents one of the best. It consists of a working-bar- rel, a i>, closed at both ends ; the pis ton c is solid, and the piston-rod passes tlirough a collar of leathers at the top of the barrel- This barrel communicates laterally with two pipes, h and i, the communications being as near to the top and bottom of the band as possible. At each of the communications are two valves, opening upwards. The two pipes unite in a larger rising-pipe at^; which bends a little back, to give room for the piston-rod. Suppose the piston down close to the entry of the lateral pipe A ; when il is drawn up, it compresses the air above it and drives it through the valve in the pipe i, whence it escapes through the rising-pipe; at the same time it rarifies the air below it. Therefore the weight of the atmosphere shuts the valve w, and causes the wa- ter in the cistern to rise through the valve n, and fill the lower part of the pump. ^Vhen the pbton is pushed down again, this water is first driven through 'he valve fn, because n immediately shuts; and then most of the air which was irt this part of the pump at the beg^ning, goes up through it, some of the water coming back in its stead. In the mean time, tlie air which remained in the up- per part of the pump after the ascent of the piston, is rarified by its descent ; be- cause the valve o shuts as soon as the pis- ton begins to descend, ihe valve p opens, the air in the suction-pipe h, expands into the barrel, and the water rises into the pipes by the pressure of the atmosphere. The next rise of the piston must bring more water into the lower part of the barrel, and must drive a little more air through the valve o, namely, part of tiiat which had come out the suction-pipe h ; and the next descent of the piston must drive more water into the rising-pipe J^, and along with it, most, if not all, of the air which remained below the pis- ton, and must rarefy still more the air remaining above the piston ; and more water will come in through the pipe /i, and get into the barrel It is evident, that a few repetitions will at last fill the barrel on both sides of the piston with water. When this is accomplished, there is no difficiUtj in perceiving how, at every rise of the piston, the water of the cistern will come in by the valve n, and the water in the upper part of the barrel will be driven through the valve o; and in every descent of the piston, the water of the cistern will come uito the barrel by the valve p, and the wa- ter below the piston will be driven through the valve m ; and thus there will be a continual influx into the barrel through the valves « and />, and a continual dis- charge along the rising-pipe /, through the valves m and o. This machine is certainly equiralent t* HYD HYD two forcing-pumps, although it has but one barrel and one piston ; but it has no sort of superiority. It is not even more economical, in most cases ; because pro- bably, the expence of the additional workmanship will equal that of the bar- rel and piston, which is saved. There is, indeed, a saving in the rest of the ma- chinery, because one lever produces both motions. It therefore cannot be called infeiior to two pumps: and there is un- doubtedly some ingenuity in the contri- vance. Mr Dearborn has obtained a patent from the United States for a pump, which answers as a lifting as well as forcing pump. Chain-punip.~ The chain-pump con- sists of two square, or cyhndrical bar- rels, through which a chain passes, hav- ing a great number of flat pistons, or valves, fixed upon it at proper distances. This chain passes round a kind of wheel- work, fixed at one end of tiie machine. The teeth of this are so contrived as to receive one half of the flat pistons, which go free of the sides of the barrel by neai" a quarter of an inch, and let them fold in, and they take hold of the links as they rise. A whole row of the pistons, which go free of the sides of the barrel by near a quarter of an inch, are always lifting when tlie pump is at work, and as this machine is generall_\ worked with briskness, thej- bring up a full bore of water in the pump. It is wrought either by one or two handles, according to the labour required. The many fatal accidents which hap- pen to ships from the choking of their pumps, make it an inr.portant object, in naval affairs, to find some machine for freeing ships from water, not liable to so dangerous a defect. The chain-pump being found least exceptionable in this respect, was adopted in the British navy ; but the chain-pump itself is not free from imperfections. If the valves are not well fitted to tlie cylinder, through whicli they move, much water will fall back ; if they are well fitted, the friction of many valves must be considerable, besides the friction of the chain round the sprocket- wheels, and that of the wheels them- selves. To which may be added, the great wear of leathers, and the disad- vantage which attends the surging and breaking of the chain- The preference therefore, which has been given lo chain- pumps over those which work by the pressure of the atmosphere, must have arisen from one circumstance, that they have been found less liable to choke. In point of friction, of coolness, and of cheapness, the sucking-pump has so evi. dently the advantage over the chaiuT pump, that it will not fail to gain tlie pre- ference, whenever it shall be no longer hable to be choked with gravel and with chips. Buchanan's pump, which, like the common pump, acts by the pressure of the atmosphere, is not liable to the de- fects incident to other pumps upon that pruiciple, being essentially diflPerent from any now in use. The principal object of its invention was to remove the imperfection of chok- ing, and in attaining this important end, a variety of collateral advantages have al- so been produced, which enhance its utility. The points in which it differs essen- tially from tlie common pump, and by which it excels, are, that it discharges the water below the piston, and has its valves lying near each other. The advantages of this arrangement are — that the sand or other matter, which may be in the water, is dis- charged without injuring the barrel or the piston-leatliers ; so that, besides avoiding unnecessary tear and wear, the power of the pump is preserved, and not apt to be diminished or destroyed in mo- ments of danger, as is often the case with the common and chain-pumps — that the valves are not confined to any parti- cular dimensions, but may be made capa- ble of discharging everj' thing that caii rise in the suction-piece, without danger of being choked — that if there should happen upon any occasion to be an ob- struction in the valves, they are both within the reach of a person's hand, and may be cleared at once, without the dis- junction of any part of the pump — and that the pump is rendered capable of being instantaneously converted into an engine for extinguishing fire. Besides, it occupies very little space in the hold, and thus saves room for stowage. But this pump is not confined to nauti- cal uses alone ; its adaptation extends to the raising of water in all situations, and with peculiar advantage where it happens to be mixed with sand or substances which destroy other pumps ; as, for in- stance, in alum-works, in mines, in quar- ries, in the clearing of foundations ; and in its double capacity it will be verj- con- venient in gardens, bleaching-grounds, in stable and farm yards, and in all manu- factories, or other places, where tliere is ' a necessity for raisuig water and the risk of fire. With all these advantages, it is a sim- ple and durable pump, and may be made HYD HYD citlier of metal or wood, at a moderate expense. Fig. 13, is a vertical section of the pump, as made of metal, in which A is the suc- tion-piece, B the inner valve, C the outer valve. ^ The valves are of the kind called clack- •oalves. Their hinges are generally made of metal, as being more durable than lea- ther. D the working-barrel, E the piston, G the spout. The following parts are necessary only when the pump is intended to act as a fire-engine. H an air-vessel, which is screwed like a hose-pipe, that it may, at pleasure, the more readily be fixed or unfixed. There is a perforated stopple for the spout, made for receiving such pipes as are common to fire-engines. It is oval and tapered, and being introduced trans- versely, upon being pulled back, becomes immediately tight. These parts being provided, all that is necessai'y to make the pump act as a fire- engine, after having been used as a suck- ing-pump, is to plug up the spout with the stopple. No particular mode being essential in the working of this pump, it may, accord- ing to choice, or circumstances, be wrought by all the mell^ods practised with the common pump. In many cases, however, it may be advantageous to have two of them so connected, as to have an alternate motion ; in which case, one air- vessel, and even one suction-piece, might serve both. Its principles admit of various modifi- cations; but, as what is already mentioned, may be sufficient to indicate its superiori- ty over the common and cliain-pumps, and the advantages likely to result from its general use, a further detail is unne- cessary. To this we may add, thai the testimo- nies of several navigators confirm in the fullest manner, tlie hopes that were con- cei\ ed of its utility, and warrant the re- commendation of it, as the best adapted for the purpose of any pump hitherto in- vented. Tlie great desideratum in a piston is, that it be as tight as possible, and have as little friction as is consistent with this indispensable quality. The common form, when carefully exe- cuted, has tliese properties in an eminent degree, and accordingly keeps its ground amidst all the improvements which inge- nious artists have made. It consists of a hollow cylinder, having a piece of strong leather fastened round it, to make it fit exactly the bore of the barrel, and a valve or flap to cover the hole through which the water rises. The greatest difficulty in the construction of a piston, is to give a sufficient passage through it for the wa- ter, and yet allow a firm support for the valve and fixture for the piston-rod. It occasions a considerable expense of the moving power to force a piston with a narrow perforation through the water lodged in the working-barrel. When we are raising water to a small height, such as 10 or 20 feet, the power so expended amounts to a fourth part of the whole, if the waterway in the piston is less than one- half of the suction of the barrel, and the velocity of the piston two feet per second, which is very moderate. Tliere can be no doubt, therefore, that metal ]Mstons are preferable, because their greater strengtli allows much wider aper- tures. For common jiurposes, however, they are made of wood, as elm or beech. There are many ingenious contrivances to avoid the friction of the piston in the pumps; but this is of little importance in great works, because the friction which is completely sufficient to prevent all escape of water in a well consti-ucted pump, is i)ut a very trifling part of the whole force. In the great pumps which are used in mines, and are worked by a steam-engine, it is very usual to make the pistons and valves Without any leather whatever, '['he working-barrel is boird truly cylin- drical, and the piston is made of metal, of a size that will just pass along it with- out sticking. "When this is drawn up with a velocity competent to a properly loaded machine, the quantity of water which escapes round the j/iston is insig- nificant. The piston is made without leathers, not to avoid friction, which is also insignificant in such works, but to avoid the frequent necessity of drawing HYD HYD h up for repairs through such a length of pipes. If apump absolutely without friction be wanted, the folIo\ving seems preferable, for simplicity and peiformance, to any we have seen, when made use of in pro- per situations. Let NO, fFig' 14, J be the surface of the water in the pit, and K the place of delivering. The pit must be as deep in water as from K to XQ. A is a wooden trunk, round or square, open at both ends, and having a valve, P, at the bottom. The top of this tiyjnk must be in a level with K, and has a small cistern, F. It also communicates laterally with a rising- pipe G, furnished with a valve opening upwards. L is a beam of timber, so fitted to the trunk, as to fill it without sticking, and is of at least equid length. It hangs by a chain from a working-beam, and is loaded on the top with weights exceeding that of the column of water which it dis- places. Now, suppose this beam to descend from the position in which it is drawn in , the figure ; the water must rise all round it, in the crevice whicli is between it and the trunk, and also in the rising-pipe ; be- cause the valve P shuts and O opens ; so that when the plunger L has got to the bottom, the water will stand at the level of K. \V'hen the plunger is again drawn up to the top by the action of the moving power, the water sinks again in the trunk, but not in tlie rising-pipe, because it is *-%tcpped by rhe valve O. Then allowing the plunger to descend again, the water roust Agam rise in the trunk to the level of K, and it nuisi now flow out at K; and the quantity discharged will be equal to the part of the btram below' the surface of the pit-water, dctlucting the quantity which fills the small space between the beam and the trunk. This quantity may VOL. I. be reduced almost to nothing; for if the inside of the trunk, and the outside of the beam, be made tapering, the beam may be let down till they exactly fit; and as this may be done in square work, a good workman may make it exceedingly accu- rate. But, in this case, the lower half of the beam, and trunk, must not tiiper ; and this part of the trunk must be of sufficient width round the beam, to allow free pas- sage into the rising-pipe; or, which is bet- ter, the rising-pipe must branch off from the bottom of the trunk. A discbarge mav be made from the cistern F, so that as little water as possible may descend along the trunk, when the piston is raised. In relation to the subjects of hydraulics, the following list of patents have been granted, bvthe government of the United States, to' sundi-y persons, at different times : Elijah Ormsbee, screw engine for throwing water. March 21, 1798. John Manning, improvement in rais- ing water froin fountains. April 10, 1798. John :Martin, regulating tlie action of the tide on his spiral ,4vheel. April 27, 1798. Mark Isambard Brunei, machine for raising water. April 27, 1798. Isaac Lazell, machine for remo^g rocks, Zic. May 18, 1798. James Smallman and Nicholas J. Roose- velt, a double steam engine. May 31, 1798. Charles Stoudingen, machine for pro- pelling vessels. June 2, 1798. Walter Brewster, water wheel flume for large streams. June 7, 1798. Mark Reevee, pipes and pumps for conveying water. December 14, 179S. Andrew Clover, machine for clean- ing docks and harbours. December 14, 1798. . . « Joseph Huntley, machine for raismg water. January 10, 1799. Edward Reed, improvement in a ho- rizontal water wheel. February 14, 1799. Benjamin T^ler, a flax and hemp mill. February 26, i 799. Josiah Shacford, improvement in pro- pelling boats. March 21, 1799. Samuel Morey, obtaining force from water by steam. March 27, 1799. Samuel Morey, improvement in iiis wa- ter engine. April 24, 1799. AViUiam Harris, machine for raising wa- ter. May 17, 1799. Samuel Eli Hamlin, a capstan fire en- gine. August 30, 1799. 3 P HYD HYD John Stickney, pumps for ships, mines, 8cc. November 29, 1799. Thomas Payne, saw mill. December 2, 1799 . Patrick Lyon, engine for throwing wa- ter. February 12, 1800. Aaron Brookfield, raising water for mills. October 24, 1 SOU Samuel Murray, obtaining force from water by the assistance of steam. No- vember 'l7, 1800 John Strong, hydraulic engine. March 24, 1801. John Eveleth, forcing pump. Jime 13, 1801. William Palmer, machine for raising water August 25, 1801. John Poole, syplionic steam machine. October 13, 1801. Hezekiah Richardson, junior, and Levi Richardson, improvement in a saw mill. April 28, lt-02. Jacob Perkins, improvement in pumps. July 9, 1802. Samuel Briggs, junior, imprnvpment in a steam engine Octobci 9, 1802. John Baptiste Aveilhe, a machine for raising water. (A perpetual motion!!!!!!!) October 4, 1802 James Cowen, improvement in the con- struction of mill wheels. December 14, 1802. Elisha Rigg, improvement in the method of making pumps. July 29, 1794. Benjamin Wynkoop, a new mode of propelling vessels. September 13, 1794. Joshua Ilathway, improvement in hy- draulics. October 29, 1794. Frederic Lipart, a machine for raising water from a running stream. 1805. Benjamin Tomlinson, a machine for raising and projecting tluids. May 27, 1805 William Tin, a spring pump for raising w.'Uer. February 13, 1805. Jacob Smith, junior, an improvement in the fire engine. .May 20, 1805. Daniel Watson, an improvement in the common suction pump. March 4, 1808. Ildvvard Lady, junior, a firing pump with double actions, applied to engines. March 9, 18U8. John .lohnsun, a wheel to run under w.iter. March 21, 1808. Isaac Stilwell, apparatus for propelling (boats by the force of the current. Jutie 3, 1808 David Burt, a hydrant for drawing wa- ter for iujucducis. June 22, 1808. Kicharfl llamsy, an improvement in making condijit pipes, &c. from clay. June 24, 1808 Besides these, other patents have been obtained tor hydraulic engines, and instru- ments connected with hydraulics, both in America and liurope. An enumeration of the latter may be seen in the Repertory of Arts. HYDRAULICS, ABSTRACT OF— 1. h draulics teaches the laws of fluids in mottor]. 2. The velocity of spouting fluids, is as the square root of the depth of the orifice below the surface 3. Water in bended pipes always rises as high as the source from whence it springs : hence the construction of jets, or fountains, and the supplying of towns with water. 4. Asyphon'is a bended pipe of unequal legs. The cause of its action in emptying vessels, is owing to the pressure of the at- mosphere added to the preponderance of weight in the longest" leg. « 5. Pumps for raising water are of three kinds: the sucking, Jorcitig, and lifting pump. 6. The water in a sucking-pump is raised from the well by the pressure of the atmosphere; and it can be raised by this means only 33 feet. 7 A lifting pump, not depending upon this, may i-aise the wat?r to any height, according to the power applied. 8. \ forcing pump is also unlimited, in regard to the lieightto which it may raise water. 9. An air-vessel is added to a forc- ing-pump, to give a more equable stream. 10. A constant stream is also produced by tTco barrels, with pistons moving up and down alternately. 11. The chain-pump also produces the same efiect, and has very little fric- tion. 12. Buchanan's pump is superior to the chain-pump, and is one of the best yet in- vented. 13. There ai"e many contrivances to avoid friction in pumps; but in great works, the friction of the piston is of little importance. 14. Fiui:gers, are pistons that nearly fill the working-barrel : these do not act upon the principle of the pressure ofUie atmos- phere. ■ 15. Valves in pumps are of various con- structions: the most usual and best are the clad valve, the button and tail valve, the conical valve, and the globular valve. 16. It is immaterial whether a pump b^ HYD HYD placed perpendicular to the well or not, provided it have a communication with by pipes. 17. In pump-work, all contractions, oi sudden enlargements, in the pipes, should be avoided 18. The steam-engine was originally invented by the marquis of Worcester, but was first put in practice to any extent, by captain Savary. 19. Savary's engine had no lever, but acted by the immediate pressure of the steam upon the water. 20. Newcomen improved it, by adding a lever, or beam, and attaciiing to it a pis- ton which worked in a cylinder. Upon this piston tlie pressure of the atmosphere is made to act, by forming a vacuum un- derneath it. 21. Mr. Watt improved the cylinder, by surrounding it with bad conductors of heat; and ihis prevented awaste of steam, by cooling. — He also condensed tlie steam, to form the vacuum under the piston, in a separate vessel. Instead of dejiressing the piston by tlie pressure of the atmos- j>here, he u.sed the force of steam, intro- duced above it, while the piston was raised up again by the load at the other end of the beam. His last improvement, is the double steam-engine; in wluch the piston is* forced both up and down, by the immediate pressure of the steam. With respect to the improvements which have been made on the steam en- cinnamon, and the same quantity of pi- : lento ; add a small portion of yeast, and el it ferment, after which bottle it for ise. Mead was the favourite beverage !)f the ancient Britons and Anglo-Saxons. As it contains a large quantity of carbonic acid, it is extremely wholesome, and if mixed with a little soda will form a substitute for soda -water, sold in oiur city. H^T)ROMETER. This is an instru- ment principally used by brewers and dis- tillers to determine ftie strength of tkett liquors. The neck A B is a piece of brass, or any other metal which is graduated, to gine, in this country, by Oliver Evans and | show the diflerent depths to which the others, we shall notice them under the instrument descends in different gravi- article Steam Engine HYDROGARBURET, or carbonated hydrogen gas. The only use made of this gas, is for the purpose of lighting rooms, houses, manufactories, &c. by inflaming it, and is known under the name of the gas light, which see. I'he species of hydrocai-buret used for this purpose, is tiiat obtained from pit coal, although the same has been obtained for tlie sapie use from wood by destructive distillation. Dr. Kughler informs us, that the gas obtained from ligneous sub- stances, gave a belter and a clearer light, without the inconvenience of tan, than that from pit coal. See Gas Eight. HYDROMEL or wiearf, is a fermented liquor made of honey and water. It is generally prepared in the following man- ner : Put 90 pounds of honey into oO gal- lons of water, boil the mixture or solu- tion, taking care to separate the scum ; remove it, and put it into a barrel, and add 2 ounces of ginger, half an ounce of ties of fluids, B is a brass bulb to which the neck is fastened : and C is a weight which is sometimes huu^ from the bot- tom to keep the instrument in an erect position when the bulb is immersed in the fluid; and at A is a small shoulder to receive the weights which are laid on the instrument, to adjust it to any particular depth on the graduated neck. Now, as the resistance of fluids is ac- cording to their density, it is obvious that the instrument will sink deepest in thoscy fluids that are the lightest, and this vari- ation is shown by the scale or neck. When the instrument is immersed, the fluid which is displaced by it is equal in bulk to that part of the instrument which is covered by the water, and in weight to the whole instrument. Then, supposing its weight to be 40' gi-ains, the differ- ent bulks of fluids containing Uie weight of 4000 grains may be compared, so that if a difference of one tenth of an inch take place in iTic neck by immersing it in IIYD ^ HYB two diflerent fluids, it shows that the same wci.^lit of the liquors dUicrs in bulk by the majjnitude oi one tenth of an inch of the stem of the instru- ment. The specific gravity of fluids may be found by putting an ounce, or any other weight, of distilled water into a glass phial, and maiking the height; then empty tiie bottle and fill it up to the same height exactly with any other fluid, and weigh them both in a nice balance ; the ditlerence of these weights will be the difference of their specific gravities, for their bulks are equal. 'I'he following observation on the hy- drometer are given by Nicholson : The best method of weighing equal quantities of corrosive volatile fluids, to determine their specific gravities, appears to consist in inclosing them in a bottle with a coni- cal sto])per, in the side of which stopper a fine maik is cut with a file. The fluid being poured into the bottle, it is easy to put in the stopper, because the redun- dant fluid escapes tiirough the notch, or mark, and may be carefully wiped oft". Equal bulks of water, and other fluids, ai'e by thi^ means weighed to a great de- gree of accuracy, care being taken to keep the temperature as equal as possi- ble, by avoiding any contact of the boUle with the hand, or otlierwise. The bottle itself shows with much precision, by a rise or fall of the liquid in tlie notch of ilie stopper, wliether any sucl» changt liuvc taken place. Sec Specific Guavi- TV. But as the operation of weighing re- quires considerable attention and steadi- ness, and also a good balance, tiie float- ing instrument called the hydrometer has always been esteemed by i)liilo.sophcrs, as well as men of business. It consists of a hollow ball, either of metal or glass, capable of floating in any known liquid : fi'oni the one side of the ball proceeds a stem, whirh terminates in a weight, and from llie side diametrically opposite pro- ceeds unotiier stein, most eonnnonly ol an equal thickness thiougliout. '["lie weight is so proportioned, that the instru- ment may float with the last mentioned stem uprigiii. In the less accurate hy- ilrometers this stem is graduated, anil .serves to show the density of ihe fluid, by the deptli to wiiich it sinks ; as the hea- vier fluids will buoy up the instrument more tiian siicii as are liglucr. In this wayjljiowever, it is clear, that the stem Huist'De comjjaralively thick, in order to I)ossess any extensive range. For the weight of vitriolic ether is not equal to three fourths of the same bulk of water; and therefore such an hydrometer, in- tended to exhibit the comparative densi- ties of these fluids, must have its stem equal in bulk to more than one fourth of tiie whole instrument. If this bulk be given chiefly in thickness, the smaller differences of densit}- will not be percep- tible, and it cannot, with any convenience, be given in lengtli. To remedy this imperfection, various contrivances have been proposed tor the most part grounded on the consideration, that a change in the ballast, or weight employed to sink the ball, would so far change the instrument, that the same short range of graduations on a slender stem, which were employed to exhibit the densities of ardent spirit, might be employed in experiments upon water. Some iiave adjusted weights to be screwed upon the hiwer stem ; and others, with more neatness and accviracy, have ad- justed them to be slipped upon the ex- tremity of the upper stem. But the method of Fahrenheit appears to be on all accounts the simplest and most accu- rate. Tiie hydrometer of Fahrenheit consits of a hollow ball, with a counterpoise be- low, and a very slender stem jjbove, ter- minating hi a small dish. The middle, or lialf length of the stem, is distinguish- ed bj' a fine line across. In this instru- ment «very division of the stem is reject- ed, and it is immersed in all experiments to the middle of the stem, by placing pro-' per weights hi the little dish above. Then as the part immersed is constantly of tiie same magnitude, and tlie whole weight of the hydrometer is known ; this last weight added to tlie weights in the dish, will be equal to the weight of fluid dis- placed by the instrument, as all writers on hydrostatics prove. And accordingly the specific gravities for tlie common form of the tables will be had by the pro- portion : As thfe whole weiglit of the»hydro- meter and its load, wiien adjusted hi distilled water, Is to the number 1,000, kc. So is the whole weight w hen adjusted in any other fluid To tiie number exjircssing its speci- fic gravity. .-^j,^ In order to show (he degree of accu- racy an instrument of this kind is capa- bieof, h may in tiie first place be observ- ed, that the greatest impediment to its sensibility arises from the attraction or repulsion between the surface of the fluid and that of the stem. If the instrument HYD HYD 6e carefully wiped with a soft clean linen clotli, the metallic surface will be equally disposed to attract or repel the fluid. So that if it possess a tendency to descend, tiiere will be a cavity surrounding the stem ; or if, on the contrary, its tendency be to rise, the fluid will stand round the stem in a small protuberance. The ope- rator must assist this tendency, by ap- plying the pincers, with which he takes up his weights, to the rim of the dish. It is very easy to know when the siu-t'ace of the fluid is truly flat, by observing the reflected image of the window, or any other fit object seen near the stetti in the fluid. In this way tlie adjustment of the weights in the dish may, without difficul- ty, be brought to the fiftieth part of a grain. If, therefore, the instrument dis- place 1000 grains of water, the result will be very true to foiu* places of figures, or even to five. This will be as exact as most scales are capable of affording. Some writers have spoken of the ad- justment of an hydrometer of tliis kind, so that it shall at some certain tempera- ture displace 1000 grains of water, as if this were a great diflicuity. It is true, indeed, that the performance of a piece of workmanship of this nature would re- quire both skill and judgment on the part of the artist : but it is by no means ne- cessary. Nothing more is required on the part of the workman, than that tlie hy- drometer shall be light enough to float in ether, and capable of sustaining at least one third of its own weight in the dish, without oversetting in a denser fluid. This last requisite is obtained by giving a due length to the stem beneath, to which the counterpoise is attached. With such an instrument, whatever may be its weight, or the quantity of water it dis- places, the chemist may proceed to make his experiments, and deduce his specific gravities by the proposition before laid down. Or to save occasional computa- tion, he may once for all make a table of the specific gravitie.i, corresponding to every number of the load in the dish, from one grain up to the whole number of grains, so tliat by looking for the load in one column, he may always find the specific gravity in the column ojjposite. We find this metliod very ready and conve- nient in practice : but, if it be preferred, tiie weights may be adjusted to the hy- drometer, so as to show the specific gra- vity, without computation or reference. For this purpose the hydrometer must be properly counterpoised in distilled water, at the assumed standard tempera- ture ; suppose 60°, and the whole weight of the instrument and its load called 1.000, Sec. Then the weight of the in- strument and its load must be separately determined in grains and parts, or other weights, by a good pair of scales. And as the whole weight of the instrument and its load is proportioned to the weight of the instrument alone ; so will be the number 1.000, &c. to a fourth term ex- pressing the weight of the instrument in such parts as make the whole 1.000, &c. Make an actu^d set of decimal weights of which 1.000, &c. shall be equal to the hydrometer and its load. And it is clear, that, whatever may be the load in these weights, if it be added to the number de- noting the weight of the insb'ument, the sum will denote the specific gravity of the fluid, wherein the instrument floats with that load. By following the above easy method it will be found, that every hydrometer, wheresoever made, must give the same results. The subject is indeed in itself sufficiently simple, and would require scarcely any discussion, if it had not hap- pened> th.-^t many philosophers, for want of recjuisite attention, have made their experiments with hjdrometers gradu- ated on the stem by no certain rule by which operators at a distance from each other might compare their experiments. The hydrometers, or pese-tiqueurs of Baume, though in reality comparable with each other, are subject in pai't to the defect, that their results, h.aving no independent numerical measure, requu-e explanation to those who do not know the instruments. Thus, for example, when a chemist acquaints us, that a fluid indicated 14 degrees of the pese-iiqueur of Baume we cannot usefully apply this result, imless we have some rule to de- duce the correspondent specific gravity : whereas we sliould not have been in any respect at a loss, if the author had men- tioned the specific gravity itself As a considerable number of French philoso- phors refer to this instrument, it will be of use to explain its principles. Mr. Haume appears to have directed his attention chiefly to the acquisition of a means of making hydrometers with a gra- duated stem, which should correspond in their results, notwithstanding any dift'er- ences in their balls or stems, 'rbere is little doubt but he w^as led into tlie me- thod he adopted, by reflecting on that by which tlicrmomete'rs are usually gradu- ated (see Thekmometer.) As ther- mometers are graduated, independent of each othef, by commencing with an inter- val betwiien two stationary points of tem- perature, so -Mr. Baume adopted two determinate densities for the sake of HYD HYD marking an interval on the stem ofliis hydrometer. These densities were those of pure water, and of wuter containing ^1 parts of its weight of pure dry com- mon salt in solution- The temperature Avas 10 degrees of Reaumur above freez- ing, or 54.5" of Fahrenheit His instru- ment for salts was so balanced, as near- ly to sink in pure water. VViiea it was plunged in this saline solution, the stem arose in pai-t above the surface. The elevated portion was assumed to be 15 degrees, and he divided the rest of the stem witli a pair of compasses into si- milar degrees. It is unnecessary to inquire in this place, whether this interval be constant, or how far it may be varied by any dif- ference in the purity, and more especially the degree of dryness, of the salt. Nei- tlier will it be requisite to inquire how far the principle of measuring specific gravities by degrees representing equal increments, or decrements, in the bulks of Huids, ot equal weight but different specific gravities, may be of value, or the contrary It does not seem probable, that Baume's instrument vill ever become of general use ; for which reason nothing further need be ascertained, than the spe- cific gravities corresponding with its de- grees, in order that such experiments as h;ive this element among their data may be easily understood by chcmicaU readers Mr Baume, in his Elemens de Phar- macie, lias given a table of the degrees of his hydrometer for spirits, indicated by different mixtures of alcohol and pure water, where, he says,, the spirit made use of gave 37 degrees at the freezing point of water ; and in a column of the table he states the bulk of this spirit, compared with that of an equal weight of water, as thirty-five three-eights to thirty. The last proportion answers to a specific gravity of 0.842, very nearly. As a mixture of two parts, by weight, of this spirit, with thirty of pure water, gave twelve degrees of the hydrometer at the freezing point. This mixture, therefore, contained 6^ parts of Blagden's standard to 100 water ; and, by Gilpin's excellent tables, its specific gravity must have been 0.9915. By the same tables, these specific gravities of 842 and 0.9915 would, at 10° Reaumur, or 55° fahr. have fallen to 0.832 and 0.9905, Here 'then are two specific gravities of spirit corresponding with the degrees 12 and 37, whence the following table is con- structed. Beaum6's Hydrometer for Spirits. Temperature 55o Fahrenheit, or 10° Reaumur, )eg. Sp. Gr. Deg. Sp. Gr. Deg. Sp. Gr. Dear 10 = 1.000 17 = .949 23 = .909 29 11 = .990 18 = .912 24 = .903 30 12 = .985 19 = 935 25 = .897 31 13 = 977 20 = 928 26 = .892 32 14 = .9-0 21 = .922 27 = .886 :-,^ 15 = .963 22 = .915 28 = .880 54 16 = .955 Sp. Gr. = 874 = .868 = .862 = .857 = .852 = .847 Deg. Sp. Gr, 35 = 36 = o7 — 38 = 39 = 40 = .842 .837 .832 ,827 822 .817 With regard to the li\ drometer for salts, the learned author of the first part of the Encyclopedic, Guyton-de-Vlorveau, who by no means considers this an accurate instrument, affirms, that the sixty-sixth degree corresponds nearly with a specific gravity of 1.848 ; and as this number lies near the extreme of the scale, I shall use It to deduce the rest. Ueg. Sp. Gr. = 1.000 3 = 1.020 6 = 1.040 9 = 1.064 12 = 1.0^^9 Bcaumes Hxjdrometcr for Salts. Temperature 55° Fahrenheit, or 10" Rcatmiur. Deg. Sp. Gr. 15 ~. 1.114 18 — 1.140 21 = 1.170 24 = 1.'.J00 27 = 1 :?".0 Deg. Sp. Gr. 1.261 1.295 1.333 1.373 1.414 30 33 = 36 = 39 = 4,3 ~ beg. S|). Gr. 45 = 1.455 48 = 51 = 54 = 57 r= l.aOi) 1.547 1.594 1.659 Deg. Sp. Gr. 60= 1.717 63 = 66 = 69 = 72 = 1.779 1.848 1.920 2 00(5 HYD HYD It may not be amiss to add, however, that In the Philosophical Magazine, Mr, Bingley the asay-master of the mint, has given the following numbers as the specific gravity of nitric acid found to answer to the degrees of an areometer of Baume by actual trial ; temperatui-e about 60° Fahr. But hts appears to have been a different instrument, as it was graduated only fi'om to 50. Deg. Sp. Gr. 18 = 1150 20 = 1.167 26 = 1.216 28 = 1.233 Deg. Sp. Gr. 29 = 1.250 30 = 1 267 31 = 1.275 32 = 1.283 I Deg. Sp. (3r. I 34 = 1.300 33 = 1.312 36 = 1.333 37 = 1.342 Deg. Sp. Gr. 38 = 1.350 39 = 1.358 40 = 1.367 41 = 1.383 Deg. Sp. Gr. 42 = 1.400 43 = 1.416 45 = 1.435 There are a variety of hydrometers used for determining the strength of ar- dent spirit. See an essay of the Editor, on specific gravity, 8vo. The following is a description of Mr. G. Atkins's hydrometer for determining the specific gravity of both solids and li- quids, wliich we insert from a belief that it will be exti-emely useful. The hydrometer consists of the bulb b, a small stem a c, with a cup d on its top to receive weights, and a shank ej^ beneath the bulb with a pointed screw, to wliich is affixed a cup g, to receive weigjits or soUds when their specific gra- vities are required to be taken. The instrument is accompanied wi||^ an accurate set of grain weights. Tlie weight of the hydrometer itself is seven hundred grains, and on addin.g three hundred grains in tlie upper cup, and immersing it in distilled water, at the temperature of 60 de.grees of Fahren- heit's thermometer, it will subside to the middle mark on the stem, and will then consequently displace one thousand grains of water. It follows, therefore, from this adjust- ment of the bulk of the instrument, that each grain in the upper cup will repre- sent one thousandth part of the specific gravity of the water, or one unit in spe- cific gravity, if that of water be taken to be one thousand ; and one-tenth of a grain one-tenth of a unit, which is also the value of each of the small divisions on the stem ; and accordingly, when the hydrometer is immersed in any liquid until it sinks to the middle point on ihe stem, the specific gravity, of such fluid will be indicated by the sum of the weight of the instrument (which is, as before stated, seven hun- dred grains) and the grains added in the upper cup. Suppose, for example, that, on im- mersing the instrument in ether, it re- quires thirty-four grains in the top cup to make it subside to the middle mark on the stem. The specific gravity of such ether will in this case be 700 + 34 = .734. And on puttin.g the instrument into al- cohol or wort, if it requires in the former case one hundred and twenty-five gi-ains, and in the latter three hundred and fifly- five, the specific gravity of the spirit will be .825, and that of the wort 1.055. To ascertain the specific gravity of a soli J, -ive have to take any frugment less than ^iree hundred grains ; find its weight in air, and its iveight in ivater, and take their dif- ference ; and on dividing its iveight in air by this difference the quotient luill be its spe- cific gravity. Tlie weight of a body in air is found by IIYD IIYD pnUiiijT it ill the upper cup^ and adilinn- grains luitil the hydrometer sinks in water to the mark on the stem. Now, as the substance ;nul the addition;il weiglits in the cup will !je altogether three hundred g-rains, the weight of the body wilLof course be so many grains as tlie weiglits put in fell short of tlu-ee hundred. Its weight in water will be found by putting it into the loxver cup, and adding grains in tile upper cup until the instrument sinks as before: the complement of the weights in the to|) cup to three hundred being in like manner its weight in water. Ex.jinplf. — If a body 'Cveiglis in air one )iundi-ed and twenty grains, and in water one^vmdied and four, the difference is sixteen. On dividing one hundred and twerity by sixteen, we have for the quo- tient .75, or (taking, as before, the spe- cific gravity of water at one thousand) 7.500 f()r tile specific gravity of the body. This instrument affords us consequent- ly a very ready mode of determining the pu- rity or value of any alloy or metallic ,ore, and is therefore particularly adapted to the mineralogist. Thus, for example, the weight of a guinea, or its weight in air, is one hundi'ed and twenty-eight grains ; and if the gold is of its proper standard, it will weigh about one hundred and twen- ty-one grains in water, or will lose one- eighteenth part only of its weight in air. If it loses more, therefore, it is not of its proper specific gravit)', and consequently not of standard gold To find the specific gravity of any of the different species of wood or other bo- dies ligliter than water ; — after taking its weight in air as before, fix it on the small i screw of the shank, and see iiow many grains it will then be necessary to add in the top cup, to sink the instrument to the mark, with tiie body on the screw ; whicli will in this case be more than tiiree liimdrtd, on account of its buoyancy; :uid dividing its weight in air by the dif- ference between the weights |)ut in the top cup in each case, the quotient will be its specific gravity. Thus, if on putting a piece of wtV/owin the upper cup, it re<|uires two hundred and hfty-eight grains to sink the hydro- meter ill water, tlie weight of the wood in air will be fbrt3-two grains : and if on fixing it to the screw beneath, tlie in- strument requires three hundred and twenty -eight grains to sink it to the mark in water, (being twenty-eight grains mor% than would be necessary to sink the in- strument itself,) we have only to find the difference between the weights put into the top cup, which in this case is seventy grains ; and dividing fortj'-tvvo by seventy, we have .6 or .600 for the specific gravity of the wood. For the man of science, the instrument with its set of weights is all that is neces- sary, and it is packed into a very small compass ; but to accommodate it to those who are concerned with spirituous li- quors, and to breVvers, the inventor at- taches a scale, showing the relation be- tween specific gravities and the commer- cial or technical denominations oY per ctn. tage with the former, and pounds per bar- rel with the latter. It is needless to enumerate the various dcjiartmcnts in which an attention to the specific gravities of bodies is now become of the first consequence, and wherein tliis instrument might be applied with advan- tage ; and although many may be satis- fied if they have any arbitrary standard to regulate their process by, yet it must be acknowledged that the universal stan- dard of specific gravity is by far the best ; for, by its currency all over Europe, it enables a person to know what relation their practice may bear to that of others in the same pursuit ; and it would, by the universal adoption of it, prevent the many differences which exist among mer- cantile men, especially those who deal in, or pay duty on, spirituous liquors. Indeed the wide field which opens, on considering the importance of paying at- tention to the specific gravity of bodies, convinces us that we are yet in infancy on the subject. UYDUOS I ATICS, a branch of natural philosoph), which treats of the motion, jiiessure, and equilibrium of fluids, and also, of the art of weighing solids in them, to determine the different specific gravities or relations of bodies to one another. IIYDUOSTATICS, abstract of 1. lly- ch'ostatics treats of the inechanical pro- perties of non-elastic ffuids, such us water. 2. The cat^se of fluidity is not perfectly known ; but ii caiiiioi be owing to any particular configuration of particles, since fluids and solids are convertible into each other by adding or subtracting heat. 3. A portion of fiuid giavitates in ano- ther, when surrounded by a larger por- tion, in the same way as if it were in the air. 4. Fluids pi'ess in all directions equally. 5. A fluid presses in proportion to its perpendicular height, and the base of the vessel containing it, without aii*vegard to tlie quantity. 6. l>y specijic gravities, is meant the re- lative weights of equal bulks of different substances. HYD HYD r. This relative weight is gienerally compared with an equal bulk of -water, as Ji standard. 8. The instrument for comparing these weights of solids, is called the hydrostatic- balance, 9. That for comparing the specific gra- vities of liquids, is called the hjUrometer. 10. Air-balloons rise in the atoiosphere, because they are specifically lighter, or lighter than an equal bulk of air. 11. They are of two kinds— ^re-6a/- loons, and inflammable-air balloons. 12. The diving-bell is an empty vessel inverted, and made so heavy as to sink in water. Hydrostatic Balance. See Specific ca- vity. I. ICE ICE. See Freezing. ICF^ CREAM. This preparation, which is only a delicacy, is usually made by confectioners, by mixing about three parts of cream with onepart of the juice orjam of raspberries, currants, &c. and is frozen in the following manner : Strain the mix- ture through a cloth, and introduce it in- to a pewter mould or vessel, and intro- duce the mould or ice pot, with its con- tents into ice and salt. Agitate the mould in this mixture for a few minutes, and the cream will be frozen. The principle on which tlie freezing of cream takes place, is the same as the freezing of water ; the use of salt with the ice, is intended to form an artificial cold, or freezing mixture, in order to expedite the process. The ice absorbs the caloric of fluidity from the cream, and becomes liquefied, by which the cream is rendered solid. ICE-HOUSE, a receptacle for ice, in order to preserve it in the summer months. There have been several im- provements in the construction of ice hou- ses, but generally they are notliing more than deep cellars, sometimes furnished with a drain, and covered either with tliatch or otherwise. On the best means of preserving ice, -see the article Freez- ing Dr. Mease considers the ice house at Gloucester-Point Tavern, in tlie neigh- bourhood of Philadelphia, as constructed in the best and most economical manner, and therefore recommends it as a pattern. A description of it may be seen in his edi- tion of the Domestic Encyclopsedia. IMPRESSIONS from leaves, how ta- ken. Take green leaves of trees or flow- ers, and lay them between the leaves of a book till they are dry. Then mix up some lamp-black with drying oil, and make a small dabber of some cotton wrapped up in a piece of soft leather. Put your colour upon a tile, and take some VOL. I, ICE on your dabber. Laying the dried leaf flat upon a table, dab it very gently with the oil colour, till the veins of the leaf are covered ; but you must be careful not to dab it so hard as to force the colour be- tween the veins. Moisten a piece of pa- per, or rather have a piece laying between several sheets of moistened paper for se- veral hours, and lay this over the leaf which has been blackened. Press it gently- down, and then subject it to the action of a press, or lay a heavy weight on it, and press it down very hard. By this means you obtain a very beautiful impression of the leaf and all the veins ; even the minu- test will be represented in a more perfect manner than they could be drawn with the greatest cai'e. These impressions may also be coloured in the same manner as prints. IMPRESSIONS from insects, how ta- ken. The fallowing mode of taking an im- pression from butter-flies, may be used for other insects. Having taken a butterfly, kill it with- out spoiling its wings, which contrive to spread out as regularly as possible in a flying position ; then, with a small brush or pencil, take a piece of white paper -. wash part of it with gum water, a little thicker than ordinary, so that it may easi- ly dry ; afterwards, laying your butterfly on the paper, cut off the body close to the w ings, and throwing it away, lay the paper on a smooth board, with the fly up- wards; and laying anoUier paper over that, pi;t the whole preparation into a' screw press, and screw it down very hard. The bill, legs, and teet, must be drawn and coloured from Nature. When it is finislied and adjusted to your mind, lay a sheet of paper upon it, and upon that a heavy weight to press it; which must remain till the whole is quite dry. 3 H IND IND INniAN YELLOW. See CotouR- LNULVN RUBBER, gum elastic, or caoutchouc. Tins singular vegetable substance was first broui;tu to Europe from South Ame- rica, iihdut the beginning' of llie last cen- tury. But nothing was known concerning its Natural history, till, in 1756, a memoir was presented to the French Academy by Condainiiie, in which it is stated, that there grows in the province of Esmeral- das, in Brasil, a tree, called by the natives Hheve, from the bark of wiucli there flows, on its being wounded, a milky juice, wiiich by exposure to the au", is convened into paoutchouc. M. Freneau discovered the same tree in Cayenne, and transmitted an account of it to the Acade- my fifteen years after the first notice of it by Coiulamine Later researches have proved that ihere are at least two trees natives of South America, from which ca- (Hi'cchouc is obtained, namely, the Havea caoutchouc and Jatropha elastica, and it is not improbable thai it is yielded by other species of these genera. The American caoutcliouc, is generally broui^lit to Eu- rope- in the form of giobtdar narrow neck- ed bottles hke receivers, about an eighth of an inch thick, and capable of holding from Ur.lf a pint to a quart or more, la its native country it is fabricated by the inhabitants into vessels for containing wa- ter and other liquids ; and on account of its ready inflammability is used in Cay- enne, as the chief material for torches. A substance possessing all the prt^per- ties of the American caoutchouc, has also lately been procured by Mr. Howison, sur- geon in Prince of Wales's Island, in the East Indies, from the juice of a climbing plant, the Urceola elastica, a native of that small island, and of the coast of Sumatra. The thickest and oldest stems of the ur- ceola yield by far the largest proportion of caoutchouc. If one of these is cut into, a white juice 0U7.es out, of the consistence of cream, and slightly pungent to the taste. When exposed for a time to the ac- tion of the air, or more expeditiously by the addition of a few drops of any acid, a decomposition takes place ; the uniform thick cream like juice, separatts into a thin, whitish li([Uor,rescmbhng whey, and the caoutchouc concretes into a clot or curd, covered superficially with a thin coating of a butyraceous mattci-. If the juice as soon as collected, is carefully ex- cluded from the air, it may be preserved for some weeks without any material change, but at length the caoutchouc se- parates from the watery part in the same manner, though not so perfectly as it does by free exposure to the air. Tiie propor- tion of caoutchouc contained in the juice of the oldest stems is nearly equal to two- thirds of its weight ; the juice f: om the younger trees is more fluid, and contains a considerably smaller proportion of this substance. Dr. Barton has discovered a plant, in- digenous to our soil, which affords a juice which, when inspisated, forms caoutchouc. According to the experiments of Mr. Howison, cloth of all kinds may be made impenetrable to water by impregnating it with the fresh juice of the L'rceola; and the pieces thus prepared, are expeditious- ly and most ehectually joined together by moistening the edges with either tlie entire juice, or even the more watery part, and then bringing them in contact with each other. Boots, gloves, &c. made of this impervious cloth, are preferable even to those formed of pure caoutchouc, as they are more durable and retain their sl)a]3e belter. If a sufficient quantity of this juice could be obtained, the iniport- ani purposes to which it might be ajipUed are almost iimumerable. The colour of fresh caoutchouc is yel- lowish wliite, but by exposure to the air, it becomes of a smoke-grey: .^me:ican caoutchouc in the state m wi ich it is b)-ought to Kuro])e, being formed of a multitude of extremel\ thin layers, each of which is exposed .o ilie air for some time, in order to dry before the tiexi is laid on, is of a yellowish smoke-grey colour throughout ; but nuissL-s of East- hidian csoutchouc being fori.iedjr.i.'re ex- peditiously, are dark-coloured only on the outside : when cut into they arc of a very light' brown, whicli, however, soon deepens by the action of the air. Caout- chouc is perfectly taslek ss, and lias little or no smell, exce])t when it is warmed, it then gives out a faint peculiar odour. The elasticity of this substance is very re- markable, and indeed, is one of its most chai'acleristic properties. Slips of caout- chouc, when softened by inmiersion for a few minutes in boiling water, may be drawn out to seven or eight times their original length, and will afterwards re- sume very nearly ihcir original dimen- sions. Diu'ing its extension a considera- ble quantity of caloric is given out, which is very jjerceivable when the piece is h^d. between the hps ; and when it is allowed to contract, u decreiise of lcmi)erature will immediately take place. By sucees- sive extensions and contractions in the open air, and especially in cold water, its IND IND elasticity is much impaired, and it refuses | of ihis Iat\er fluid The washed ether is to return to its former dimensions; but I readily separated from the residual water uhenin this state it is put iiUo not water, j by decantation on account of its superior it imbibes again the heat wliich it had lost, | lightness, and is now capable of effecting and by degrees resumes iis oiiginal size. At the temperature of abo'..f 40*^, caout- chouc begins to grow rigid, its colour be- a compleat and speedy solution of caout- chouc. The solution is of a light brov^Ti colour, and when saturated is considera- comes much lightei", and it is neai'ly ' bly viscid. A drop of it let tall into a cup opake i as the cold increases it becomes I of water immediately e^^tends itself over more stiff, and harder, and in all probabili- j the wlio!e surface, and the ether being ty, by a ])retty powerful freezing mixture, i partly absorbed by the water and partly M'ould be made brittle These changes however, depend merely on temperature, for a piece of hard frozen caoutchouc per evaporated, the«water is found covered with an extremely thin film of caoutchouc, possessing its elasticity and all its other fectly recovers its elasticity by being j cnaracteristic properties. A similar ef- warmed. The fresh cut surfaces of this feet takes place when cloth of any kind is substance will unite together by simple . soaked in the solution, or any hard sur- contacl, and by a proper degree of pres- j face is smeared over with it; on exposure sure, may be brought so compleatly in I to the air the ether is rapidly evaporated, union as to be no more liable to separate | and the caoutchouc which it was com- in this part than in any other. Its speci- j bhied with is left behind. The affinity of fie g:- .vity, according to Brisson, is 0.933 | this solution for caoutchouc is very great : It undergoes no alteration by the action j if the edges of two pieces of caoutchouc of tlie air at the common temperature. ! are dipped in it and immediately brought in close contact with each other, as soon When boiled for a long time m water, it communicates" to this fluid a pecuhar smell and flavour, and is so far softened by it that two pieces thus treated and after- wards strongly pressed together, will form a permanent adhesion to each other. Caoutchouc is soluble wltli ease at a boiling heat in the expressed vegetable oils, in wax, butter, and animal oil, form- ing viscid unelastic compounds. Rectified oil of turpentine at the com- mon temperature acts wiiliout difticulty on caoutchouc, first rendering it trans])a as the ether is evaporated they will be found to be perfectly united. There are two circumstances which must always prevent the extensive use of the etheric solution of caoutchouc, admi- rably qualified as it is in other respects for many useful purposes; these are, fii-st, its expensiveness, and secondly, the ex- traordinai'v rapidity whis which the ether evaporates, thus rendering it impossible to lay an even coating of#iis varnibh on any surface, and clogging up the brushes rent and enlarging its bulk considerably, by which it is applied. In order to form and in the course of two or three days ef- : tubes or catheters of this substance, the fecting a complete solution. The liquor best metliod is to cut a bottle of caout- is of the consistence of drying oil, and chouc into a long sing-le slip, and soak it when spread thin upon wood it forms a i for half an hour or an hour in ether : by varnish, which however is a long time in | this means it will become soft and tena- becoming dry. When mixed with wax 1 cious, and if wound dexterously in a spi. and boiled linseed oil, it composes an elas tic varnish, which is used in coating bal- loons. Tiie onlv menstrua for this substance ral form on a mould, bringing the edges in contact with each other at every turn, and giving the whole a moderate and equal pressure by binding it with a tape wound from which it can be again sepai'ated un-| in the same direction as the caoutchouc, altered are, ether, peU'oleum, and cajeput- a very effectual union will be produced. After a day or two let the tape be taken ofl^, and the cylinder of caoutchouc may be rendered still more perfect by pouring oil. The solubility of caoutchouc in ether was first discovered by Macquer, a cir cunistance which, from its frequent fiiiU' a little of the etheric solution into a glass lire in the hands of other chemists, was i tube closed at one end, the diameter of very generally called in question till Ca- . which is a little larger than that ofthecy- vallo cleared up the difficulty, by showing Under of caoutchouc ; which being intro- the necessity of employing ivaslied ether duced into the tube will force the solution for this purpose. If fresh made sulphuric ; to the top of the vessel. Let the whole of etlier is shaken in a vial witlx an equal ' the appai-atus be then placed in boiling quantity of pure water, the small portiQn ! water, the ether will be evaporated, and a of acid which it generally cont:iins is dis- , smooth and uniform coating of newly de= solved out by the water, and the etiicr \ posited caoutchouc w ill remain upon the combines with about a tenth of its weight {cylinder. IND iXD Fetroleum when rectified I)y gentle dis- tillation afibrds a colourless liquid not to be distinguished tiom the purest naphtha ; and this, accoiding to Fabroni, has the property of dissolving- one-seventieth of its weight of caoutchouc, and of deposit- ing it again unaltered, by spontaneous evaporation. Il does not appear however that tiiis menstruum has been much em ployed. The solubility of caoutchouc in cajeput oil was first noticed by Dr. Roxburgh, This is an essential oil procured in India from the leaves of the JMtialeuca Ltuca- dendron, and promises to be the most use- ful menstruum of this substance that has hitherto been discovered. The solution IS thick and very glutinous. When alco- hol is added, this latter unites with the es- sential oil, and leaves the caoutchouc float- ing on the liquor in a soft semifluid state, which on being washed with the same li- quor and exposed to the air, became as firm as before it was dissolved, and re- tained its elastic powers perfectly, while in the intermediate state between semi- fluid and firm, it could be drawn out into long transparent threads, resembling in the polish of their surface tiie fibres of the tendons of animals; w!ien they broke the elasticity was so great that each end in- stantaneously I'eturned to its respective mass. Through all these stages the least pressure with the finger and thumb united different portions as perfectly as if they had never beSh separated, and without any clamminess or sticking to the fin- gers. Alcohol has no action whatever on ca- outchouc. Although caoutchouc is procured in quantity only from the vegetable juices mentioned in the former part of this arti- cle, yet it appears to be contained in seve- ral other plants. It is contained in the milky juices of the Indian fig, (Flcus In. (fica,J and of the bread -fruil tree CArto. carpus incisaj; the berries of the misletoe, and probably all tlie vegetable barks that yield bird-lime, abound v.ith it. The ca- outchouc however obtained from these sources differs i>om that which we have been descrii)ing in retaining a greater or less degree of viscidity, and perhaps in other respects, for no accurate compai-a- tive experiments have yet been made to decide this point. An investigation into the properties and composition of the birdlime from misletoe and holly-bark woidd in all probability lead to very in- teresting results. The uses to which caoutchouc has hi- therto been applied are the following. It is employed ve^-y extensively for rubbing out black-lead pencil ntaiks from paper, hence its usual name of Indiaii rubber : it is of value to the cliemist as a material for flexible tubes to gazometers and other apparatus: the surgeon is indebkd to it for flexible catheters and syringes; and finally it enters as an essential ingredient into the composition of the best varnish for balloons. See Varnish. IXDIGO, or Anil. This most valua- ble pigment, whicli forms so important a pai't of West and East Indian commerce, is usually brought over in square or ob- long cakes of an intense blue colour, al- most black in the mass, brittle and friable, fight when of a good quality, and of a very peculiar and disagreeable smell. Indigo is usually reckoned by chemists as a kind of fccula, but of a veiy peculiar nature, not exactly resembUng any other known substance. It is prepared by fer- mentation of the leaves of the indigo-plant, of which the method, in a short way, is as follows. There are three principal varieties of the indigo-plant known and used in the West Indies, in Carolina, and the rest of the American continent, from each of which mucli indigo is obtained: one va- riety, which is tile smallest, is the Indigo- fera Tinctoria, Linn, (called by the French Indigo-franc, J which is a delicate ])lant, rather difficult of cultivation, but which yields indigo in abundance and with ease: a second variety is the Indigofera ^irgen- tea, Linn. (Indigo batard,J which is hardy and easily cultivated, and gives a very fine indigo: and a third variet\ is the In. dtgcferci JJisperma, Linn, f Indigo Guati. viala,J which much resembles the last mentioned. The seed of the plant is sown in about .March or April, at Saint Domingo, and the plant comes into flower about three months afterwards, at which time it is in full maturity ami is then cut If it is ga- thered before flowering", the indigo which it yields is of a, finer colour, but much less in quantity. 'I'he chief apparatus of an indigo-house consists of three wooden vats, of difle^ent sizes, and arranged on ilifl'erent levels, so that the contents of the first may flow into the second, and of the second into the third. The first is the steeping vat, in which the phmt ferments with water; the second is ;i,vat in which tiie thick fer- mented mass is beaten violently by ma- ciiineiv; and tlie third is tliat'in which the indigo settles when fully formed. The plant being cut, is first laid into the steeping vat so as to fill it entirely but without pressing, and is covereil about thrc^ iuphcs with water. A fiain© IND IXD <^f heavy wooden bars is then laid on the vat to keep the plant down when work- ing. Fermentation soon begins in these hot climates, and the whoie contents of tlie vat swell and foam prcdigiouslr like a wine vat in full action, and with disen- gagement of iurg'e bubbles of gas, which, as they burs:, appear lA' a livelj' green, and tinge the whole vat of the same co- lour. When tills process is at the highest T( the fcrnienting mass is also covered witli a brilliant copper-coloured scum, which passes into violet towards the end, but the pulp and liquor beneath remain green. The gas given off during the process is inflammable and readily takes fire by ap- plying a lighted candle, and the heaving of tlic scum is so powerful as often to lift tip the heavy wooden frame above men- tioned. The fermetitation is known to be car- ried on long enough by taking samples of the fennenting mass at different times, which when perfect appears as a liquor holding suspended a distinct green pulp, that by a little agitation speedily and completely separates and falls to the bot- tom of the cup, leaving a clear superna- tant gold coloured liquor- Much practi- cal skill is required to seize the exact point when to stop the fermentation, which requires in general from twelve to si.Yteen iiours. The wliole turbid green liquor is then let cut of the tl-rmeiuing or steeping vat and passes into another vessel wliere it is violently beaten either by the repeated fall of buckets, or by a more complicated mechanical contrivance This has the ef- iect of checking the further fermentation, of preventing puti'idity, and especially of promoting in a remarkable degree the se- paration of the grain as it is called, or the dark-coloured granular pulp which is the indigo. The whole liquor and pulp dur- ing the process change from green to deep blue by tiie agitation. It is also the cus- tom in many places to add lime-water to the pulp at this time, which is thought to hasten the graining. A large quantity of air-bubbles is also expelled by the beat- ing. When the grain separates readily and completely by a little rest fi-om the liquor that holds it suspended, the beating is stopped, and the grain slowly subsides The supernatant liqvior is then drawn off by cocks and suffered to run to waste, carefully avoiding to mix it with any brook or drinking pond, which it would poison and render dangerous for animals to use. The thick dark-blue pulp is then let off into tlie lowest vat, out of which it ;s laded into common sacks, which when full are htmg up that the water may drsua off, the indigo itself being too thick to pass through. The indigo is then transferred to small wooden boxes w'lere it is furtiier dried by alternate exposure to sun and shade, and as it becomes solid is cut into square cakes. It is not yet perfect how- ever, for if exported in this state it would mould and spoil, so that a second fermen- tation is necessary. For this, the cake.s are heaped in a cask, and simply suffered to remain for about three weeks. Dur- ing this time it undergoes a kind of fer- mentation, heats, sweats at the surface, gives out a disagreeable smell, and is covered with a fine white meal. It Is then taken out and dried in the shade for five or six days when it is quite com- plete. This, with some slight variations in dif- ferent plantations, is the general way of preparing indigo, which therefore maybe defined to be a fecula or pulverulent pulp separated from the fibre and juices of the entire plant by fermentation, and niateiial- iv changed, by the process, and doubtless bv exposure to the atmosphere, so as to pass from green to a deep blue, and from a soluble to an insoluble stale. Indigo is generally packed in che<;t.s of about two hundred pounds weight each. The very fine kind tiiat comes frcm Gua- timala is usually wrapped up in goats' skins. As indigo is an important article in coiTimerce and tiie arts, it may not be im- proper to describe some of its prominent characters. Very singular chemical properties have been discovered in indigo by diflerent ex- perimenters, among whom nia\' be parti- cularly mentioned Bergman, Huussman, and Bancroft. The most singular cir- cumstance concerning indigo, is tlie inso- lubility of the blue colouring part in every simple menstruum hitherto known (ex- cept the sulphuric acid) without such an alteration as entirely destroys the colour for which it is so much valued. Water boiled long upon indigo (the finest and purest kind being alwuys sup- posed, as the ordinal y sorts ai-e largely adulterated) dissolves about a ninth ac- cording to Bergman, or a twelfih accord- ing to Quaticmere, of the weight. The solution Is of a reddish brown colour, and contains what may be culled the extrac- tive part, but tlie colouring portion re- mains absolutely unaltered, and some- what of a brighter hue. The watery so- lution is astringent and mucilaginous. Alcohol dissolves a still smaller portion than water, and the colouring part re- mains equally untouched. Ether has IND IND nearly the same eflect. Neillier the fised nor the volatile oils have any cflect on in- digo. Tlie sulphuric acid is the only single agent tliat dissolves indigo without de- stroying its colour; audits application as a dye, in which state it is called Hitxon blue, has been mentioned under the article Dyeing, The acid shoidd be tolerably concen- trated to dissolve tiie indigo, and it may be used quite concentrated witiiout detri- ment, at least in small quantities. A mo- derate heat much assists its action, but it' too high, tiie indigo becomes partially burnt or charred, sidphuric acid gas is given out, and all the )>ortion thus altered Temains insoluble and is spoiled. 'I'iie following recipe for the sulphat of indigo, or Saxon blue, is given by Mr. Woulfe. Mix one ounce of the best powdered in- digo with four ounces of oil of vitriol, in a glass matrass, and digest it fir one hour in tiie heat of boiling water, shaking the mixture several times, then add twelve ounces of water 1o it, stir the whole well, and when cold liller it. T'.iis produces a very rich deep blue colour, of a much brigliter hue than any of the otlier solu- tions of this pigment, but not a fast colour upon animal or vegetable hbres. The co- louring power is very great, a few drops of this solution giving a very sensible blue- ness to a considerable bulk of water. The nitric acid acts upon indigo with great vehemence, and in a very singular manner. If on a drachm or two of tiiiely powdered indigo be poured about an ounce of finning nitrous acid, in a shoit time the mixture heats violently, sends ibrth a coj)ious flow of nitrous gas, with a stream of sparks, and the whole ends with bursting into tiame. When diluted, the acid acts much more mildly, but al- ways with the entire destiuction of the blue colour, and in its slcad produces a yellow astringent liqum*, which is pretty fast upon cotton or cloth dipped in it. This scilution however is useless in manu- facture. iNlr. Ilaussnian has examined with some minuteness the action of nitric acid on indigo. On adding at intervals lour ounces of powdered indigo to 16 oimces of common aquaff)rtis heated a lit- tle, ti great swelling and disengagement of nitr4)us gas took pl'ce, and a co.igu- lun> w:ts left, which, when washed with cold v/ater, formed a brown, viscous, and very brittle mass, in appearance like a giun-resin, dissolving in alcohol with ease, but not (-asily in water, e.vccpt i.i a large dose, and ln)t. The acid tiiiuor in which the coagulum was foimed, when evapo- xattd and cooled, let fall more; of the same bitter resinous matter, after which it deposited a large quantity of crystals resembling oxalic acid in appearance, but bitter to the taste, and totally difl'ering from it in chemitral properties. The na- ture of these crystals is not well known. An anonymous writer in Nicholson's Jour- nal, on repeating the above experiments, and using a very large quantity of acid, by repeated distillations nearly destroyed the resinous matter, and obtained in the S receiver a clear yellow liquor, strongly smelling of bitter almonds, which sug- gested the idea of its benig jjrussic acid ; liowcvcr after adding alkali to it and sul- pliat of iron, no blue precipitate was pro- duced. The osymuriatic acid acts bnt feebly on indigo in decomposing or disorganiz- ing it, but destroys the blue colour to- tally and speedily. Hence the sulphat of indigo has ingeniously been applied as a measure of the intensity of the bleach- ing power of the oxymuriatic acid. None of the other acids exert any ap- parent action on the colouring matter of indigo. None of the alkalies, nor alkaline earths, cither mild or carbonated, when used alone, have any action whatever on indigo in its blue or perfect state. But to effect a solution of it, in alkalies, it is ne- cessary to use some addition, which ap- jiears first to chatige the indigo, and bring it back to a state resembling the re- cent pulp during the jjrocess of manufac- ture. This at least is made probable by the change of colour that precedes tiie so- lution in alkalies, and appears an essen- tial circumst:mce, and this change isfi-om blue to green of various shades, with a brilliant pellicle on the surface, of the colour and gloss of reguline co])per, or rather brighter. This same change, but in a reverse order, takes place in the fc'rmentationr of the plant, and process of manufacture; that is, the coloiu" is at firstgreen, with a copper-coloiu-ed pellicle, and finally blue. liullgo not only requires to be changed from tiie blue to the green state, before it will dissolve in alkalies, bnt when the solution is made, it only remains dissolv- ed, as long as it continues green, or greenish yellow; for wiien by any means it resumes its blue state, it immediately bec(nnes insoluble, and separates from the alkaline liquor in form of a dark blue mud, or sediment. l'l\posure to the atniosplu-re regenerates blue indigo in a remarkable manner, so that if a drop of the solution be poured on paper, the sur- face turns from green and yellow to blue in a very few seconds, which last colour INK INK iTiav be again removed (but hrecovera- bly so) by the oxymuriatic acid. Fiom these and othei* ciixumstanccs, Dr. Ban- croft infers, that the cause of ihe change arises from t'.ie difierent degree of ox} - genation, the green being in the lowest state of oxy^ci.ation, and the' blue in the highest, ihe substances tiiat form pio- per additions to enable alkalies to dis- solve indigo are very i.umerous, andvei) r discordant hi their natui-e, for not only have the nietaUic sub-oxyds this power, (as might be expected) but even almost every soluble vegetable matter has the same, such as sugar, raisins, bran. Sec. &c. A very simple, and efficacious way of dissolvuig indigo, is by mtans of tlie oxyd of tin; for which, let some well sa- turated muriat of tin be super-saturated witli potash, so tliat the precipitate at first formed, may be redlssolved, and tlie solu- tion con\ Cited into an alkaline one, after which, indigo will dissolve m it reacUiy, and assume almost instantly a deep green colour. 'liie particular methods of preparing these solutions in the indigo vats, for the use of the dyer, aie described suffi- ciently under the article Dyeixg. The analjsis of indigo by fii'e onlv, af- fords but little insight into its composi- tion. M'hen distilled />fr se, some ammo- nia and a peculiar oil rise, and if after- wards burnt away, notliing remains but a very small portion of a very light brown powder or ash. This is a tolerable test of its goodness, as tliere is hardly anj- ve- getable tliat leaves so small a portion of allies. INFUSION, is the maceration of any substance in water, or any other liquid, hot or cold, with a view of extracting its soluble parts. The liquid tlius impreg- nated ia called an Infusion. INGOT. — An ingot is a small bar of metal n;ade of a pai-ticular tbrni and size, (generally a very long parallello- pepid) by casting it in hollowed iron or brass plates, called ingot nnouldn. It is chiefly to the small bai-s of gold and sil- ver that the term ingot is applied. INK. Common v:riting. — The prepa- ration of common \mting ink, is a sub- ject of great importance in technical che- mistry. A good ink is of a proper con- sistence to tiow freely from the pen, of a full deep black, so permanent as to re- main for a number of years without ma- terially fading or becoming illegible, dries very soon after writing with it, and does not considerably coiTode, or soften the pen. The basis of all the common writing inks is the fine black, or dark blue precipitate, fonned by the addition of vegetable astringents, and particularly ot" the soluble part of tlie gall-nut, to a so- lution of iron, gentratiy the suiphat. But as this, if dihused m water alone, woiUd subside in a short lime, and leave the supen.atant liquor nearly without colour, the precipitate is kept suspended, by thickening the water with gum arable, or any other gum mucilage, which also gives the ink the due consistence, and enables it to trace a fine snoke on the paper without running. These materials therefore, that is, gall-nuts, green vitriol, (suiphat of iron) gum ai-abic, and water, are all that are necessary for the compo- sition of ink, and if they are of good qua- lity, and properly proportioned to each odier, every other addition usualiv made, adds very little to its perfection. ' It is not well ascertained how soon the present kind of writing ink came into use. It has certainly been employed for m.any centuries in most European coun- tiies, but the ancient Roman inks were for the most part of a totally different com- position, being made of some vegetable carbonaceous matter like lamp-black, diffused in a liquor. The Chinese and many of the other inks used by the Ori- ental nations, are still of this kind. On the subject of the common writing ink, Dr Lewis has given so full and so ac- curate an investigation, and hrs experi- ments are so simple and well devised, that little else can be added to the subject in a technical point of view. Dr. Lewis first endeavoured to ascer- tain the best proportion between the galls and the suiphat of iron, to render the ink permanent; for it is to be ob- served that \»«ith almost any proporUons, if the entire qaantity be sufficient, the ink will be fine and black at first, but many of these inks if kept for some time, especially exposed to light and air, will grow brown and fade, and the letters made with it will become nearly illegible. By trying difierent proportions of galls and suiphat of iron, it was found, that when about in equal quantities (the galls being powdered and boiled fiilly to ex- tract tlieir soluble parts) diey appeared to be mutually saturated, so that the mixed liquors would receive no additional black- ness from a further dose of one or the other. This however was only a rough approximation to accuracy, for the same effect was produced wlien either sub- stance was also in a small degiee supe- rior in quantity to the other. But Dr. Lewis found that an ink with equal parts of the two, though very black at first, changed to a yellowish brown upon ex- posure to the sun and air ciily for a few INK INK days. This was again blackened b_v washing with fresli gall-iiifiision, and hence it appears a fair inference ihuttlie galls are in some degree a perislKiblc sub-slance, so that to ensure diirabilit}', a much greater proportion must enter into the ink than is required for mere satura- tion in the first instance. Thus it was found tliat two parts of galls and one of vitriol, make a much more duraljle ink than witli equal parts, and three of galls with one of vitriol was still more durable- When the galls were encreased beyond this point the colour was indeed quite permanent, but it was not of so full a black. The proportion of water or other liquid to the solid ingredients will admit of great variation. One part of vitriol three of galls, and fifty parts of water, gave an ink black enough for common use, but tlie finest and blackest was made when only ten of water were cm])lo} ed ; nor was any deficiency in the gallic acid ob- served after fil'tecn years, though the wa- ter was scarcely more than sufficient to cover the galls, and therefore could hard- ly be su imposed capable of extracting all the soluble part of them, and though the vitriol, from its greater solubility, would probably be dissolved entirely, and thus be in greater proportion than usual. Other liquors besides water were tried Of these while wine and vinegar appeared to answer somewhat better, but any con- siderable proportion of sjiirit of v.'ine, or brandy, obviously did harm, owing to tlie insolubility of the sulphat of iron (as of all the other sulphats) in alcoliol, and therefore its diminished solubility in any liquor is in ])roportion to tlie alcohol it contains. A decoction of logwood used instead of water, sensibly improved the beauty of the colour. Instead of galls other astringents were employed, such as sloes<, oak-baik, tor- niei:lil root, &.C. but though they all gave a good blue-black with the salt of iron, none of them was equal to the gall-nut in this respect. Other salts of iron were also substitut- ed to the sulphat. The muriat and ni- tr.at of iron nearly equalled the sulphat in colour, but jiroved too corrosive to the paper, and a;; they were in no respect preferable to the sulphat, there is no rea- son for abandoning it. Imagining that there must be some excess of sulphuric acid in common iik, to which the fading miglit be imputed, Dr. L. tried to neutralize it by lime and alkalies, but with manifest injury, the colour being rendered thereby extremely fiigi'dve. Another ingenious idea for avoiding the supposed excess ol .icid^ wiis to separate the black atramentous precipitate, wash it, and again difiuse it with water thickened with gum. This, did indeed make a very good ink, but with the capital defect of not i-emaining so long suspended in the liquor, and es- pecially of not fixing itself to the paper like common ink, but rather only slight- ly adhering like a weak gum varnish, an'!, was readily >vashed off by water. Hence M it appeals that the acid of the salt of iron acts as a kind of mordant or intermede, between the atramentous precipitate and the paper, and causes a degree of chemi- cal union between them : a real advan- tage which this species of ink possesses over all the lan)p-black or China hiks, which indeed arc rather black varnishes. With regard to the gummy ingredient, the effect of which is chiefly mechanical, it was found that any other gum-mucilage would answer as well, but not glue, isin- glass, nor animal jelly of any kind. Be- sides as these latter putrify by keeping, this alone would be a strong objection. Sugar is sometimes added to ink. It makes it flow somewhat easier from the pen, and gives it when dry a gloss which is admired by some. " It has this quality however of making it very slow in drj- ing, which in most cases is an incon- venience. On account of the great improvement to the black atramentous dye produced by adding sulphat of copper; some have recommended this addiuon to common ink, which is composed of the same ma- terials ; but it does not appear that the same advantage is hei'e obtained, and Dr. Lewis thinks it an useless addition. From the aljove observations Dr. Lewis gives (he following receipt for the com- position of ink : Put into a stone or glass bottle, or any otiier vessel, three ounces of finely powdered galls, one ounce of green vitriol, one ounce of log-wood finely rasped or bruised, one ounce of gum ara- ble, and a quart of soft water. Shake the bottle well, ?.nd let the ingredients stand in a modei-ately warm place for a week or ten days, shaking it frequently in the day. It is then fit for use, but a little be- Ibre it is put into the ink-stand, it is bet- ter to shake the bottle that the colour may be more uniformly difl'uscd. 'i'o prevent the ink from moulding, Hoffman recommends half a dozen cloves to be brui.sed with the gum arable and put into the bottle. This appears an use- iul addition. Instead of water alone, where a very fine ink is wanted, white wine or vinegar and water may be used. If the ink be wanted for use in a verv" INK INK short time, the galls and logwood may be boiled for half an hour in the water, adding a little more to supply the waste, and the decoction, while hot, strained oft" through a cloth, and tlie gum r.rabic and cloves, and the sulphat of iron, both in line powder, added to the decoction when in tlie hottle and shaken. The ink will then be fit for use almost immediately after tlie latter ingredients are dissolved. It will be improved by adding to U\e bottle some pieces of gall-nut coarsely bruised. Ink kept in a close bottle is always rather paJe, but it blackens by exposure to air in a few hours, and probably in this way tiie colour is somewhat more durable than if it were brought by previous ex- posure to its full colour at once. It has been mentioned that sugar ren- ders ink slow in drying. Advantage is ingeniously taken of this property in en- abling it to give one, and sometimes two impressions on soft paf)er when strongly pressed. In this simple way letters are copied in merchants counting-houses, and offices of business. A little sugar is mix- ed with the ink, the written sheet is laid on the copying press, a blank sheet of po- rous and damped paper is put over it, and by tlie pressure of the machine a pfcrfcct fac-simile of the writing is sti-uck oft', suf- ficiently legible for all ptuposes. This ingenious method saves a vast quantity of labour usually bestowed in co- pying letters, and besides prevents all possibility of mistake. As common writing ink is susceptible of being eftaced by oxygenated muriatic acid, and as the knowledge of this fact may be abused to very fraudulent pur- poses, chymists have judged it an object of importance to try, whether a writing ink might not be prepared, which should entirely resist the action of that acid, ritet, with this view, added to the ink commonly in use, a portion of indigo. But this addition is of no service if the ink be not carefully shaken every time it is em- ployed. ^Vestrumb recommends the fol- lowing composition of ink, as absolutely indestructible. Boil one ounce of fer- nambuco, and three ounces ofnutgp.il.*, in forty-six ounces of water, till thev shall be reduced to thirty -two ounces in all. Pour this decoction, while it is yet Jiot, upon half an ounce of sulphate of iron, or mar- tial vitriol, one quarter of an ounce of gum arabic, and one quarter of an ounce uf white sugar. After these substances are dissolved, add to the solution one ounce and a quarter of indigo, finely pul- veri2.ed, with three quai-ters of an ounce A' lampblack, very pure, or of smoke VOL. I. black, previously diluted In one ounce of the best brandy, M.Bosse g^ves a receipt, which is still more simple. He directs to boil one ounce of fernambuca with twelve oimces of w.ater, and half an ounce of alum ; to continue the ebullition till the liquid mixture shall have been reduced to eight ounces ; then to add an ounce of oxyd of manganese, which you liave re- duced by decantation to extreme fineness, and, in mixture witli it, half an ounce of gum arabic. Sometimes the ink of very old writings is so much faded by time as to be illegi- ble Dr. Blagden in his experiments on this subject foimd, that in most of these the colour might be restored, or rather a new body of colour given, by pencilling them over first with a solution of prussiat of potash, and then \nth a dilute acid either sulphuric or raiu-iatic ; or else vice- versa, first with the acid and then with the prussiat. The acid dissolves the oxyd of iron of the faded ink, and die prussiat precipitates it again of a blue, which re- stores the legibility of the writing. If this be done neatly and blotting paper laid over the letters as fast as they become visible, their form will be retained very d stinctly. Pencilling over the letters with an infusion of galls also restores the blackness to a certain degree, but not so speedily nor so completely. The blackness of common ink is almost instantly an.d irrevocably desti'oyed by the oxjmuriatic acid, and hence an}- writing may be effaced by this method complete- ly. To prevent this mischief, which might often be a serious one, several ad- ditions have been proposed to common ink, of which by far the best is lamp-black or charcoal, in impalpable powder, on which the acid h.is no efl^ect. The lamp- black sliould be of the least oily kind, as it does not reaciiiy mix with the ink, and some pains must be taken to incorporate them. On this account perhaps common charcoal is preferable. About a quarter of the weight of the vitriol used will be amply sufficient. This will not fade by age. Indelible Ink. — Receipt. Lunar caustic, one ounce : weak solution of galls, two ounces. The cloth to be first wetted with a solution of one ounce of salt of tar- tar dissolved in one ounce of water, .and must be quite dry before using the ink. ^>lnother. — Dissolve 4 drachms of lunar caustic in 4 ounces of rain or river water. To the clear solution add 60 drops of an infusion of 2 drachms of powdered gails in a gill of boiling water. The cloth is to be previously wetted with a solution of 1 ounce of pearl ash in 3 R IXK INK 4 ounces of water, and suffered to dry thoroughly. Ini, China or Indian. — The well known and much admired Indian or China ink, is brought over in small oblon;j; cukes, which readily become difluscd in water by rubbing, and the blackness i-emains suspended in it for a considerable time, owing to the extreme sublety of division of the substance that gives the colour, and the intimacy with which it is united to the mucilaginous matter that keeps it suspended. Indian ink does however deposit the whole of its colour by standing-, wlien it is difiused in a considerable quantity of water, Dr Lewis on examining this sub- stance found that the ink consisted of a black sediment totally insoluble in \*ater, which appeared to be of the nature of the finest lamp-black, and of another sub- stance soluble in water, and which pu- trefied by keeping; and when evaporated left a tenacious jelly exactly like glue or isinglass. It appears probable therefore that ii consists of nothing more tliaii these two ingredients, and probably may be imitated with perfect accuracy by using a very fine jelly, like isinglass or size, and the finest lamp-black, and incorporat- ing them thoroughly. The finest lamp- black known is made from ivory shavings, and thence called ivory-black. Ink, Printers. — Tliis is a very singular composition, paitaking much of the na- ture of an oil varnish, but difl'ering from it in the quahty of adhering firmly to moistened paper, aird in being to a con- siderable degree soluble in soap water. It Jb, when used by the printers, of the consistence of rather thin jelly, so tliat it may be sineared over the types readily and thiidy, when applied by leather cush- ions, and it dries very speedily on the paper without running through to the other side, or passing the limits of the letter. Tne method of-making printer's ink is thus described by Dr. Lewis. Ten or twelve gillons of mit oil are set over the fire in a large iron pot, and brought to boil. It is then stirred with an iron ladle, and v/hilst boiling-, the in- flammable vapour rising fiom it either takes fire of itself, or is kindled, and suf- fered to burn in this way for about half an hour, the pot being partially covered so as to regulate tlie body of the Hame, and consequently tlie heat communicated to the oil. It is frequently stirred during this time, that the wIkjIc may be heated equally, otherwise a part Mould be char- red and the rest left imperfect. Tlie iJanne is then extinguished by entirely co- vering the pot. The oil by this process has much of its unctuous quality destroy- ed, and when cold, is of the coiwistence of soft turpentine, and is then called varnish. After this it is made into ink by mixture with the requisite quantity of lamp-black, of which about 2i ounces are sufficient for 16 ounces of the prepared oil. The oil loses by the boihng about an eighth of its weight, and emits very offensive fumes. Several other additions are made to the oil during the boiling, such as crusts of bread, onions, and sometimes turpentine. These are kept secret by the preparers. The intention of them is more efTectually to destroy part of the unc1:uous quality of the oil, to give it more body, to enable it to adhere better to the wetted paper, and to spread on the types neatly and uni- formly. Besides these additions, others are made by tlie printers, of which the most important is generally understood to be u little fine indigo in powder, to improve the beauty of the colour. For further observations on the nature of fixed oils, and the alteration they un- dergo by heat, see 1 1,. lied printers ink is made by adding to the vainish aboiit half its weight of Ver- million. A little carmine also improves the colour. Inks, coloured. Fewof these are used except red ink. The preparation oft esc is very simple, consisting either of decoc- tions of the different colouring or dyeing materials in water, and thickened will* gum arable, or of coloured metallic oxyds or insoluble powders merely difl'used in gum wat^r. The proportion of gum ara- ble to be used m;iy be the same as for black writing ink. All that applies to the fixed or fugitive nature of the several ar- ticles used in dyeing, may be applied in general to the use of the same substances as inks. Hed Ink, is usually made by boiling about two ounces of IJrazil wood in a pint of water for a quarter of an hour, and ad- ding to tne decoction the requisite quanli- tyof gum, and about half as much alum. The alum both heightens the colovir and makes it less fugitive. I'robably a little madder would nuike it more durable. To make lied Ink that wilt not change iti ctdour — 'late four grains of the best car- mine, and jjour thcicon two ounces of caustic ammonia, adding twenty grains of the cleiirest gum arable; let them remain until the gum is dissolved. This ink, however it may be something dearer than in the ordinary way of its |)reparation, is of nmch finer colour and more durable : for by experience it is known thatcharac- IRO mo tei'fe which have been traced with this ink, have remained perfectly fresh for forty years afterward. Blue Ink, may be made by diffusing Prussian blue or indigo through strong gum-water. Yellow Lit, may be made by a solution of gamboge in gum-water. Most oftlie common water-colour cakes diffused in water, will make sufficiently good coloured inks for most purposes. IxKS, Sympathetic or Secret. Tliese are all liquids which have scarcely any coloi;r in their common state, and therefore when cbaraclers aie traced with them on paper they are invisible, or nearly so, at first, but a colour is given to them eiiher by applying some cliemical reagent, or by more heat. A considera- ble number of these have been ip.vented, some of which may be just enumerated. The sympathetic ink of cobalt is the best known and the most singular. Any solution oftiiis metal that contains muria- tic acid in any form becomes green when heated, but returns to a state nearly co- lourless when cold. This also will appear and vanish alternately by heating or cool- ing. When the cobalt is pure the colour approaches strongly to blue. See Co- balt. Charactei-s written with lemon-jnlce are invisible at first, but on strongly heat- ing the paper, llie extractive matter of the lemons tuins brown, and thus becomes visible. Sulphuric acid motlerately diluted, an- swers in the same way. On heating the paper the water of the acid files off, the latter becomes thereby concentrated, and acts on the paper, making it brown. Of the secret inks formed by the action of reagents, the metallic solutions that are blackened by a liquid svdphuret, or sul- phuretted hydrogen gas, are the best known. These metallic solutions are those of lead, silver, bismuth, and mer- cury. The acetite of lead is one of the most convenient. Letters written by any of these solutions, are at once blackened and rendered visible, by being wttted with the sulphuretted solution, or more slowly by exposure to the gas. The solutions may be very dilute, as the deepening of colour is very powerful. A weak solution of gallic acid diluted so as to be colourless, will also be blacken- ed by any salt of iron. Prussiat of potash will likewise become blue b}' any solution of iron. IRON, b'on is a metal, of a blueish grey colour, hard, ductile and malleable ; capable of acijniring magnetic poL-irily. and of being welded ; soluble in the muri- atic and most other acids ; precipitablein the state of Prussian blue by a prussi. ted alkali, and assuming a deep bluish-black colour, with infusion of gall-nut. Ores of Iron. Natiiie Iron. Its colour is light steel- grey, resembling white cast iron or plati- na ; but it is generally covered by a thin superficial cru.st of brown oxyd. It occurs branched or cellular. Its lustre is mode- rately shining and metallic. Its fracture is hackly ; it gives a bright streak, may be easily cut with a knife, and is perfect- ly malleable when cold, and in a moderate heat, but at a high temperature it becomes brittle and granular ; it is flexible and difficultly frangible. Sp. gr. not exceed- ing 6.48. A mass of native iron, reported by the inhabitants of the country to have fallen from t!ie sk}-, was found by Professor Pal- las in Siberia. Between the rivulets Ubei and Sissim, that run into the Jenisei on the eastern side, is a mountain containing a rich piine of" magnetic iron ore ; on the same side of the mountain where this mine is situated, was found lying loose on the rock the mass of native iron alluded to, weighing 1680 Russ. lbs. This mass is cellular, and the cells are either empty or occupied by a transparent greenish yellow substance, at first taken for fiuor spar, but which on subsequent examina- tion gi'eatly resembles the chrysolite. A still larger mass of native iron was seen and described by Don Rubin de Ce- lis. It is situated- in the district of Otum- pa, in the Vice-royalty cf Peru ; its weight is about 15 ton ; it is compact externally, and is marked with impressions as if of hands and feet, but much larger, and of claws of birds ; internally it is full of ca- vities. It is almost imbedded in white clay, and the country round it quite flat and destitute of water. Another mass of iron likened in shape to a fallen tree, has also been seen in the same territory. Native iron, in detached masses, and of a cellular texture, has also been foimd near Tabor in Bohemia, and m Senegal in Africa. Native iron has also been found imbed- ded in brown ironstone, spathose iron- stone, and hea\y spar, at Kamsdorf in Sax- ' ony, and is said to have occurred stalacti- tical with brown ironstone and quartz, forming a vein in the mountain of Oulle, near Grenoble. Uninagnetkal Iron Pyrites. Ofthistliere ai-e the five following sub- species. l.Subsp. Common Pyrites. Its colour is perfect brass-yellow. sometimes by tarnishing it is supeificially redilish or brownish. It occurs massive, disseminated, invest- ing, and crystallized Its primitive crys- taUine form is the cube, which passes in- to a number of varieties When exposed to the blowpipe on cliar- coal, it emits a strong sulpluireous odour, and burns with a bluish Hame It then becomes a brownish globule, attractable by the magnet, and by a further continu- ance of tl>e heat passes inloabiiackish slag. According to the experiments of Mr. Hatchett, the pyrites with smootli cubes, consists of Sulphur 52.-0 Iron 47.30 100.0 Pyrites with striated cubes contains Sulphur 52.5 L-on 47.5 lOO.O and dodccabedral pyrites contains Sulphur 5215 Iron 47.85 K' 00 The striated cubes and dodecaliedrons .ietical Pyrites. Its colour is intermediate between brass-jellow and co])per-red, and some- times inclines to tombac brown : by expo- sure to thea:^ it acquires a brownish tar- nish. It occurs only in mass and disscnii- nattd. Jnlernally it is shining or glisten- ing, with a metallic lustre. Us fracture is line or coarse grained uneven, sometimes passing into nnperfect conchoidal. It breaks into indeterminate blunt edged fragnients. It affoi'ds a few occasional IRO IRO sparks with steel ; is brittle and easily frangible. Sp.gr. 4.518. It is especially ilistinguishable from the preceding species in being attracted by the magnet and giving out sulphuretted hydrogen by digestion in muriatic acid. Its component parts, according to Mr. Hatchett, are Sulphur 36.5 ■^ Iron 63.5 100. It is said to be foimd only in beds in primitive mountains, in gneiss, micaceous schistus, primitive greenstone and lime- stone, where it occurs with common mar- tial pyrites, copper pyrites, arsenical py- rites, galena, blende, magnetic iron-stone, garnet, hornblende, and act\ nolite. It is met with in Bohemia, Bavaria, and Silesia, also in Norway, and has recently been found by Mr. Greville, near the base of Moel Eliun in Caernarvonshire, where it forms a thick vein or more properly a bed, as Jameson conjectures. Besides the above localities, it occnrs disseminated in transition greenstone, a little to the south of Pont Abei-glaslyn, in Caernarvonshire ; and forming a large bed with black calca- reous spar in transition slate, not fur from T;-etView in the vale of Conway, in the same county. At this lust place it is pro- cured in considerable quantity for the sul- phur which it yields by sublimation and the red ochre wiiich remains after the se- paration of the sulphur. Sp. 4. J\I.ignetical Iron Stone. Of this there arc the two following subr species. 1. Subsp. Common Magnetic Iron stone. Its colour is iron -black, often super- ficially tarnished. It occurs massive, dis- seminated and crystallized. The forms of its cr\ stals are, 1. The ociohedron. 2. The garnet dodecahedron. 3. A rectangular four-sided prism, ter- jiiinated four-sitled pyramid.s. it is not only attractable by the magnet, but itself possesses polarity, hence it takes up iron filings. Before the blow- pipe it becomes brown and tinge.'i glass of borax of a dark green colour. It bus not been regularly analyzed, but is sup- posed to be nearly a pure oxydofiron. Wlien smelted in the large way it is said to yield from 80 to 90 per cent, of metal, but this is manifestly impossible ; a more probable estimate is from 60 to 70 per cent. It occurs most frequently in primi- tive mountains and chlcHy in gneiss, mica- ceous schistus, chlorite sl.Ue, iuid priiiii- tive limestone : also in serpentine, and in die floetz-ti-ap formation. When in mass it forms beds and somethnes considerable rock-masses. It is usually accompanied by horn-blende, granular limestone, and garnet; also, though more rai'el)', by amianth, actynolite, fluorspar, coccolite, sahhte, augite, all the varieties ofpjTites, blende, tinstone and galena. The Mountain Taberg in Swedish Lap- land, and Fumachanche in Chili, are said to consist almost entirely of tliis mineral. It exists in great abundance and purity in Koslagia in Sweden, where it is manu- flictured into the best bai" iron, so much songht after by the English manufacturers of steel. It also occurs in sufficient plen- ty to be smelted in the islands of Corsica and Elba ; Arendahl in Norway ; in Sax- ony, Bohemia, Silesia, and tlie Hartz ia Gtrrmuny; in many places among the UraUan mountains in Russia ; and ia Siara in the East Indies. When pure it affords the best bar iron, but only middling cast u'on : it is easily fusible and requires but little flux. 2. Snl>sp. Magnetic iron sand. Its colour is deep iron black. It occurs in angidar and roundish grains from the smallest dimensions to the magnitude of a hazfl-nut ; also in octohedral crystals. Both the grams and crystals are external- ly somev.hat rough and glimmering In- ternally it exhibits a bright-shining metal- lic liisire. Its fracture is perfectly con- choidal and rarely imperfectly foliated. Its fi-agments are indeterminate and sharp- edged. It gives a greyish-black powder. It is moderately hard, brittle and easily frangible Sp. gr. 4.6. it Is pov.-erfully attracted by the mag- net, but is scai'cely at all acted on by the muriatic or nitric acids. It seems to belong almost entirely to the fioetz-ti'up fcn-mation, and is found imbedded in basalt and wakke, or loose u» the beds of livers. It does not often oc- cur in sufficient abundance to be smelted, yet it is employed for diis purpose in the Tyrol, near Naples, and in "Virginia, and produces about 60 per cent, of excellent bar iron. Sp. 5. SpEct'LAu Iron Ore. Of this there are the two following sub- species. Subs. I. Common Specular L-on oi^. GetJiehier Eismglanz, VV'ern. Ftr sptcu- Uiire commun, Broch. Its usual colour is deep steel-gre}-, pas- sing sometimes in the crystallized varie- ties to iron Uack, and in the massive va- rieUes to brownish red. It is often tar- nished externally, 'and then presents the blue and } e How tints of tempered steel. IRO lliO It occurs in mass, disseminated and crys- tallized. The colour of its streak is cherry -red. It is hard, brittle, not very easily frangible. Sp. gr. 4.7. to 5.2. When pulverized it is slightly mag- netic. It is infusible per se, before the blowpipe; with borax it gives a dirty yellow slag. According to Kirwan it con sists of iron and oxygen in the proportion of from 60 to 80 of the former and from 20 to 30 of the latter. It occurs in beds and veins in primitive and transition mountains, and is general- ly accompanied by magnetic iron-stone and compact red iron-stone, iron pyrites and quartz. The greater part of the iron ore of Elba is of this species ; it also abounds in Sweden and Norway, in Bo- hemia, Saxony, Silesia, Switzerland, France, Russia, and Siberia. It aliords an excellent malleable iron, but somewliat hard, and also a good but not the very best cast iron. 2. Subsp. Micaceous iron ore. Its colour is iron-black passing into steel-grey ; and the thin plates of which it consists when iield between the eye and the light appear blood-red. It occurs massive, disseminated, or superficial, or crystallized in thin hexahedral tables, which sometimes intersect one another so as to form cells. The surface of the crys- tals is smooth and almost specular. In- ternally it is more or less shining, with a metallic lustre. Its fracture is perfectly foliated ; the lamellje are curved and di- visible only in one direction. Its frag- ments are cither indeterminate or in the form of plates. When in mass it occurs in thin and curved lamellar or granular distinct concretions. The thin plates are sometimes faintly translucent. Tiie co- lour of its streak is cherry red. It is mo- derately hard, but becomes soft in i)ro- portion as it passes into the red scaly iron ore: it is brittle and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 4,5 to 6.0. It occurs only in primitive mountains, but chiefly abounds in the most recent of tliese. It lies in beds and veins accom- panied by red and brown iron-stone and iron pyrites. It affords on analysis upwards of 70 per cent, of iron. In the great way it is found to melt more easily than the i)receding subspecies, provided a sufllcient quantity of limestone is added to it by way of flux. The iron that it affords is sometimes cold- short but is well fitted for cast ware. It is met with in Norway, Sweden, va- rious parts of (iermany, Dauphinc in France, Piedmont, and tiie island of Elba in Italy, the forest of -IJai'tmour in De- vonshire, near Dunkeld in I'crthshire, and in Mainland, one of tlie Shetland islands. Sp. 6. Red Ironstone. Of this there are four subspecies. 1. Sul>sp. Red scaly iron ore. Its proper colour is cherry red, but it also passes into blood-red, brownish-red, steel-grey and iron-black. It occurs some • times in mass, but more frequently as a superficial covering to other ores of iron. It is glistening, with a semi-metallic lus- tre. It is composed of friable scaly par- ticles more or less cohering together. It stains the fingers, is unctuous to the touch, and moclcrately heavy. When exposed to the blowpipe without addition it blackens but does not melt. It commiuiicates to glass of borax an olive gi'cen colour. Its component parts, according to Mr. W. llein-y, are Iron 66 Oxvgen 28.5 Silex 4 25 Alumine 1.25 100.00 It occurs usually in veins in primitive ' mountains, also in transition mountains. > It is commonly accompanied by tlie other subspecies of red ironstone and spathose iron. It passes into micaceous iron ore. It is found at Ulverstone and other pla- ces in the North of Lancashire. At Salil in the Dutchy of Ilenneberg, it is smelted and produces very good iron. 2. iSuUp. Red Ochre. Its colour is blood-red passing into brownish red. It is found in mass, disse- minated and superficial. It has little or no lustre. Its fracture is earthy. It stains the fingers ; is usually friable and very tender, but in some varieties passes into solid : to the tovich it is smooth and some- what meagre. Sp. gr. 2 95. It is found accompanying the other subspecies of red iron-stone, but rarely in any considerable quantity. It is smelted in the Irrgange near Platte in Bohemia, is very fusible, and affords excellent mallea- ble iron. 3. Sul>sp. Compact red Iron-stone. Its colour is intermediate between brownish red nndip. Compact black ironstone. Its colour is between bluish-black and steel-grey. It occurs in niass, tuberous, reniform, bolryoidal, &c. Its intenud Iffstre is glimmering, semimetallic. Its fracture is conchoidal jj.assing into fine- grained iMievcn. Its fragments are inde- terminately angular. It forms thin and concentric curved huneliar concretions. It is moderately hard, brittle, and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 4.07. It occurs in primllive and floetz motui- IRO mo lajns accompanied by bi-own ironstone, spathose-iron stone and quartz. It is a rare mineral, and appears to have been found only in Saxony, the upper palati- nate, Hessia, and some other parts of Gemiany. It is easily fusible and yields a good iron, but corrodes the sides of the furnace. It was long; confounded with the compact grey manganese. 2. Suhfi. Biack Hsematite. Thij differs from the preceding in the following particulars. Its colour inclines more to a steel-grey. Its fracture is very delicately fibrous, passing into even : the fibres are either curved or straight, bun- dled or diverging round a centre. The fragments jire wedge-shaped. It occurs in coarse-grained distinct concretions. It has hitherto been found only at Schmal- kalden in Hessia. Argillaceous Ironstone. In this are comprehended Uie seven fol- lowing subspecies. 1. Subsp. Reddle or Red chalk. Its colour is light-brownish red passing into cherry red. It occurs only in mass. Its principal fracture is fine-slaty and glimmering; its cross iracture is fine earthy and dull. Its fragments are com- monly tabular, also splintei'y or indeter- minate. The colour of its streak is si- milar to that of tlie mineral in mass, but is somewhat lighter and more shining. It soils the fingers, and may be used to write with. It may readily be cut with a knife, is easily frangible, adheres strong- ly to the tongue, and is soft but meagre to the feel. Sp. gr. 3.1 to 39. When exposed to a red heat it decri- pitates and becomes black : at a high heat it melts into a greenish-grey frothy enamel. It occurs generally in the newer ar- gillite, forming entire beds or large im- bedded masses. In Silesia it is said to be found in com- pact limestone. It is found in various parts of Ger- many, but is principally wrought atTha- litter in Hessia. It is never smelted for the iron that it contains, but is largely used for drawing and marking : the coarser varieties are employed by the carpenter, and the finer by the painter. Wliat are vulgarly called Red-lead pen- cils, ai'e composed of thin slips of the finer kinds of reddle inclosed in a wooden case. 2. Subsp. Columnar argillaceous Iron- stone. Its colour vai-ies between liver-brown and cherry -red. It occurs in mass and in globular and angular pieces. It is dull, vol. I. and has a fine earthy fracture. It forms columnar distinct concretions either thick or tliin, strait or curved, parallel or diver- >ring ; sometimes they are articulated, riie surface of the concretions is rough and dull. Its streak is blood-red or jel- lo wish brown It is soft, brittle, very ea- sily frangible; adheres to the tongue, is meagi-e and somewhat rough to tlie touch, and modera»ely heavy. It blackens before the blowpipe, efFer- vesces with borax, and communicates to it an olive-green colour, i It is found in beds of shale, and seems in many cases to be a pseudo-volcanic ' product, being accompanied by porcella- nite and burnt cl;ty. It occurs in the Upper Palatinate, in Bo- hemia and other parts of Ciermany, and . has been found by Jameson in the Isle of ! Arraii. It is by no means a common mi- i neral, and is scarcely ever employed as an • ore of iron . j 3. Subsp. Lenticular argillaceous Iron- I stone. ! Its colour is reddish, or yellowish. brown, brown, brownish-red, and greyish- black. It occurs in mass. Its lustre is glistening, strongly semi-metallic. Its I fracture is uneven, passing into thin slaty. ^ Ivs fragments are indeterminately angular ': blunt-edged. It occurs in small and ) round granular, or in compressed lenticu- • lar distinct concretions ; these last are considered by many authors as actual pe- trefiictions. It gives a slightly-shining streak, not materially differing in colour . ii'om the entire mineral. It is soft, brit- tle and easily trangible. The black va- riety is often magneticaU Accordingto Lampadius it consists of Oxydofiron 64. Alumine 23. Sllex 7.5 ■\Vater 5. 99.9 Tiie red variety, which is common!}- in lenticular distinct concretions, occurs in rock masses in transition mountains. The brown and black varieties, which are in granular distinct concretions, occur in beds between tlie variegated sandstone and the most recent shell-lime-stone. The red and brown varieties abound in various parts of the European continent, the black has hitherto been only found m tlie canton of Berne. The red affords excellent cast iron, the brown affords both bar and cast iron of a good quality ; the black gives a large quantity of iron, but of a bad qualitj', and is difficult of reduction. 3 s IRO lUO 4. Subsp. Jaspery argillaceous Iron- stone. Its colour is brownish-red. It occu rs in mass ; it is internally feebly glininierlng-. Its fiacture is flat-conchoidal passinfj into even. Its fragments ajJiiroadi more or less to the cubical form. It is moderate- ly hard, brittle and easily frangible. The sliape of its fragments, and the general resemblance of its external appearance to common jasper, distinguibh it from the other subspecies. It occurs between Vienna and Hungary in a large bed 5. Subsp. Common argillaceous Ii-on- stone. Its usual colour is yellpwish or bluish- gi'ey, or steel-gi'ey ; frequently also yel- lowish or reddish brown ; these colours alter much by exposure to the air and be- come in general deeper, nor does thi.s change take place at the surface alone but peneUMtes frequently through the whole mass. It occurs in mass or disseminated, sometimes also cellular, and containing impressions of shells and vegetables. In- ternally it is dull. Its fracture is com- monly earthy, sometimes fine-grained un- even, or ,flat-conchoidal, or slaty. Its fragments are huleterminatc- It has for the most part only a very moderate de- cree of hardness' It is brittle; easily trangible ; adheres a little to the tongue ; is meagre to the feel. Sp. gr. 2.93 to 3.47. It blackens before the blowpipe, and gives with borax a blaclcish-green glass. It appears to consist essentially of ox\d of iron, alumine and a little sih-x ; there is also a small variable proportion of pyrites, dispersed through it. The amount of iron which it yields in the laige way varies be- tween 30 and 40 per cent. It occurs in beds in fioetz motmtains ; especially in the independent coal-forma- tion and the newest floetz trap. The large establishments at Carron in Scotland, Coalbrookdale in England, Merthyr Tyd- vil in South Wales, &c. arc principally supplied by this ore. It bears a considerable resemblance to compact limestone and indurated clay, but is distinguished from them by its su- perior specific gravity and perfect opacity. 6. Subsp. Nodular Ironstone. Its colour is yellowish-brown of various degrees of intensity : internally the colour is lighter, and it often incloses an ochre- yellow kernel. It occurs in roundish inasses from the size of a walnut to that of a man's head. Its fracture is even to- wards the surface and fine earthy towarils the centre. The external layers are semi- metallic and glimmering, but towards the centre it is dull. The fragments are inde- terminate. It occurs in lamellar concen- tric distinct concretions, often inclosing a loose kernel. The exterior layers are sofi, almost friuble. It is brittle, easily frangi- ble, adheres to the tongue. Sp. gi*. 2 57- It occurs imbedded in ferruginous clay in the most iccent floetz mountains, also in tht floetz-lrap and coal formations. It yields an iron of fine quality and is largely nianufacturccl both in England and Scot- land, especially at the places mentioned under the last subspecies. 7 Subsp. Pea shaped, or Pisifoiin, Iron- stone. Its external colour is accidental and is yellowish, reddish or grayish : internally it is yellowish-brown passing into blackish brov. n. It occurs in small round grains, sometimes spherical, sometimes slightly com])ressed. Its surface is rough and dull : internally it is ^nW at the centre, but acquires gradually a glistening resi- nous lustre in proportion to the distance from the centre. Its fracture is fine- earthy at the centre, but even towards the surface. It occurs in thin concentric la- mellar distinct concretions; gives a j'el- lowish-brown streak, is soft, not very brit- tle, but easily frangible. According to an analysis by Vauquc- lin, it contains Iron ... 30 Oxygen . . 18 Alumine . . 31 Silex ... 15 AVater . . 6 < 100 It occurs in cavities in secondary floetz limestone, the grains being concreted to- gether by calcareous stalactite: it also oc- curs in beds of clay, and in flat beds im- mediately 'beneath the surface. It occurs in various parts of Germany, Switzerland, France, and Dtilmatia, Its produce of metal varies from 30 to 40 per cent. It supplies very considera- ble ironworks at Aran near Berne, and the greater part of the I'reneh iron is said by Brochant to be ])roduced from this ore. Bog Ikon-ore. — Of this there are three following sidjspecies. 1. S'dh,\p. Morass ore. Its colour is jellowish-brown. It oc- curs sometimes in the state of friable earthy particles, sometimes in mass, or tuberous or carious. It is dull both ex- ternally and internally: its fracture is earliiy : it stains the fingers, is fine-grain- ed but meagre to the feel ; and moderate- ly heavy. 2. Subsp. Swamp ore. lis colour is daik yellowish-brown. mo IRO passing into dark yellowish -grey. Tt oc curs in amorplious masses, also tubercu- lar and carious. Internally it is dull, but the darker varieties are g^limmering. Its fracture is cartiiy, passing into fine-grain- ed uneven. It gives a clear yellowish- broNVTi streak ; is vtry soft, brittle, and easih frangible. Sp. gr 2-94. 3. Subsf). Meadow ore. Its colour Is internally between blackish and yellowish-brown ; in the clefts it ex- hibits a bluish-black and steel-gray tinge. It occurs massive, in rounded lumps, per- forated, and tuberous. It is internally shining or glistening, with a resinous lus- tre. Its fracture is minute conclioid:d or earth3', or even, or fine-grained uneven. It gives a yellowish-brown sti-eak; is soft, brittle, and easily frangible. All the preceding subspecies belong to the same formation and appear to be the most recent of any of tlie ores of iron. They ai*e probably formed by deposition from water which has becunie charged with iron by means either of carbonic acid or the vegetable acid that is gene- rated in messes and marshes. The mea- dow ore is the oldest and the morass ore the newest. It yields from 30 to 36 per cent of iron, well fitted for the finest kinds of cast ware. For wire or plate iron it is not qualified, on account of its being more or less cold-short, whicii is supposed to arise from a mixture of phosjihoric acid. The usual flux emplo3ed in smelling it is limestone ; it is also often mixed vsith red or brown ochre or haematite, by which the fusion of each is facilitated, ajid the pro- duce improved botli in quantity and quality. Sp. 12. Blue Martial Easth.— Its colour when recently dug is said to be white, but it afterwards acquires an indigo-blue or smalt-blue, or various de- grees of intensity. It occurs in mass, disseminated or investing, but Mways in dull pulverulent particles, more or less cohering. It stains the fingers, is mea- gre to the touch, and moderately heavy. Before the blowpipe it becomes of a reddish-brown and then melts into a black shining globule, attractable by the mag- net. It tinges glass of borax brown, which at length becomes dark yellow. It is readily soluble in acids. It has been supposed by seme to be na- tive Prussian blue, and by otliers to con- tain •phosphoric acid, but its analysis by Vauquelin discovered nothing except u'on, alumine, and lime. It occurs in nests in beds of clay, and disseminated in bog bon ore, or investing peat. Green Martial Earth. — Its co. lour is yellowish or olive -green It oc- curs generally friable and superficial; rarely in mass, disseminated or carious. Internally it is dull. Its fracture is fine- grained earthy, sometimes uneven. It stains the fingers, is very soft, meagre to the touch, easily frangible, and moderate- ly hea^T. Beiore the blov^'pipe it becomes first red, then of a deep brown, but does not melt per se. It tinges borax of a greenish- yellow colour. It has been mistaken for bismuth or nickel ochre, but appears to contain no other metallic substance ex- cept iron. It occurs at Braimsdorf and Schnee- berg in Saxony, in veins. Arsexiat of Irox — Its colour is dai-k brownish green, or brownish yellow. It occurs in mass and crjstallized in cubes, either perfect or with the solid an- gles replaced by equilateral triangular planes. The planes of the crystals are smooth and shining. Internally it is glis- tening, with a vitreous lustre. Its fracture is imperfectly foliated ; its fragments are indeterminate. It is trans- lucent; is a little harder than calcareous spar, and brittle, Sp. gr. 3. By decom- position it acquires a deep brownish-red colom-, and at length becomes pulveru- lent. Before the blowpipe it melts and gives out arsenical fumes. Its component part?, according to Chenevix, are Arsenic acid 31. Oxydofiron 45.5 Oxyd of copper 9. Silex 4. Water 10.5 100.0 Reduction of the Ores of Iron. — The an cient and modern methods of extracting iron from its ores dift'ering very materially from each other, it will be necessary to treat of them separately. Iron as it exists in the ore, whether in a state of greater or less oxydation, is capa^ ble of being brougiit to the metallic state when heated in contact with charcoal, by a much lower temperatui'e than is requir- red for its actual fusion, and tlie ii-on be- ing brought to this state, the earthy mat- ter witli which it is mixed, may be vilre- fied by the addition of a proper flux, so as to allow the particles of metallic iron to subside in consequence of theii" superior specific gravity to" the bottom of the massj aldiough ihej" are only in tliat soft pasty state which common bar iron exbibitr, when it is at a white heat. Xow tlte blo\' - IRO ma ing machines of the ancient metallurgists being greatly inferior to those whicli are employed at present, they were obliged to make use only of the richest and most easily reducible ores, and even these they were never able properly speaking, to fuse in quantity ; so that cast iron was a modi- fication of this metal wliolly unknown to tbem. That iron which was esteemed the best was prepared in the following manner. A mass of brickwork was raised 5 feet in length and breadth, and 3 J feet high, re- sembling a smith's hearth, except that in the middle of this was sunk a cupshaped cavity or crucible, one foot in depth and half a foot wide, in the upper part of whlcl) was made a hole opening into a channel through the brick work. This hole being closed with clay, the crucible was filled with lighted charcoal heaped up so as to be above the level of the hearth ; a blast of air was then admitted through a pipe let into the wall in the same manner as a smith?s forge, and so contriv- ed that the focus of the blast should be juBt above the centre of the crucible. Charcoal alone was added from time to time, till the heap became thoroughly hot, and then at the discretion of the work- men the ore, in very small pieces, un roast- ed but mixed with unslacked quick-lime, was laid on alternately with tlie charcoal. As soon as it had descended low enough to be witiiin the immediate influence of the blast (which in a furnace of this con- struction would be in a few minutes) the lime and eailliy jiart of the ore became fused into a slag, and inveloping tlie iron now in a metallic state, sunk down into the crucible, displacing the charcoal with which it had been at first charged. The matter remaining at rest in the crucible gave an opportunity to the particles of iron to sink to the bottom, which they did in greater or less proportion ac- cording to the fluidity of the slag and the compleatly metallic state of the iron. After this process had been going on for the space of from eight to twelve hours, the crucible became lilled with melted matter : at this time the hole which had been at first stopped up with clay was opened by means of an iron bar introduced through the channel in the brick-work, and the .scorije immediately flowed out leaving the iron behind cover- ed with hot charcoal. The blast then being stopped, the furnace soon gotsuffi- ciently cool to allow the workmen to ta"ke out the iron, which was found imperfect- ly concreted together into a mass nearly of the shape of a wooden bowl : this being 1 rangferred to an anvil was first carefully hammered with wooden mallets to break off the encrusting scorix and render it suf- ficiently compact to bear the tilt hammer, to which it was next subjected : being then divided into five or six pieces, eacli was separately forged into a bar, and thus tlie operation was finished. The iron thus obtained was extremely tough and liard but difficult to work, and was in great re- ])ute for helmets and other articles of de- fensive armour, and in general for all pur- poses where toughness and hardness unit- ed were particularly required. I'he rich quality of the ore and the circumstances in which it was reduced, were probably the chief causes of tlie excellence of this kind of iron ; a jjeculiurity however in the method of forging it may also have some- what contributed to this ; for while it was under the tilt-hammer, an assistant stood by with a ladle of water, with which he sprinkled the bar as often as it was struck by the hammer. The poorer ores which were incapable of being smelted in the above method, first picked, washed and roasted. then reduced to pieces no larger than ha- zle-nuts, and reduced (no doubt with the addition of lime) in blast furnaces from se- ven to eight feet high and shaped like a chimney. In these a considerably greater heat could be produced than in the for- mer, but it does not appear that the me- tal when taken out of the furnace was in the state of cast iron ; certain it is that it was always allowed to cool there and was never run into pigs as is the modern prac- tice. Some ores that are very rich and yield a soft iron, liave been occasionally wrought in a manner still more simple than either of the preceding. The rich specular ore of the island of Elba in particular, appears formerly to have been worked to a consi- derable extent in this, whicli if not the earliest is certainly the rudest method that has Mthcrto been devised. The ore being broKcn into small pieces is heaped upon a bed of charcoal in a very simple re- verberatory furnace. AVhen the whole has been glowing hot for some time, the pieces being- now soft and at a welding licat, are by the dexterous management of the workmen brought in close contact with each other by means of an iron bar ; they are then lightly hammered while still in tlie furnace, and thus the whole mass acquires suflicient compactness to be removed to the anvil without falling to pieces ; it is now h.aramered will) a gradu- ally increasing force, the earthy impurities are thrown offtogether with the scales of black oxyd; the lump is divided into pie- ces of a convenient size, which by repeat- mo IRO ed heating and hammering, are dravm in- to bars. The rich red haematite, as ap- peal's from an experiment of Mr. Musbet, is capable of being manufactured in the same way. These ancient methods have gone into disuse, not because the quality of the iron thus produced was to be objected to, but because the time and fuel consumed were ' enormous, and the iron that remuined in | the scorix amounted at least to one half of the original metallic contents of the ore. j The modern methods of reducing the ores of iron are principally two ; de- pending on the nature of the fuel made use of. In England and Scotland the fuel is for the most part coak ; but in the rest of Europe, chaicoal : and the pro- cesses in tlie founderies v.'here tlie latter is employed being the most simple, we shall commence with this method. The best Swedish bar iron, named in the mai'kfct Oregrund iron, from the port whence it is shipped for the niaiket, is entu-ely prepared from the magne- tic ironstone of Dannemora. The forges and founderies where it is manulactured, are those of Soderfors and other places in the province of Uoslagia, and the most ap- proved processes tljat it undergoes ibr this purpose are the following. The ore in moderately large pieces,, such as it comes from the mine, is first roasted. For this purpose an oblong cof- fer of masonry, eighteen ieet long, fifseen wide and about six in depth, open at top, and furnisned with a door at one of its smaller extremities, is entirely filled with logs of w'>od, over this tlie ore is piled to the heighth of from five to seven feet, and iscovci-ed with a coatir.g of smidl charcoal almost a foot and a half in thickness. Fire Is then comnnmiciited lo tlie bottom of the pileijy means of the door just raenticined, and iii a s)iort time the combustion spreads thr.iugh the whole mass : t!ie small quan- tity of the pyrites that the ore contains is decomposed by the voiauiization of tlie sulphur, tlie mGisiir.e is also driven otf, and the ore from being verv hard ajid re- fractory, becomes pretty easily pulveriza- ble. In the space of twenty-four hours the roasting is completed, and tlie ore wlicn sufficientl}^ cool, is transferred to a slamping-mill, where it is pounded dty, and afterwards sifted through a nelwoik of iron, which will not admit any piece larger tlian u haile nut to pass. It is now ready to be smelted The smelting-furnace is a strong quad- rangular pile of masonry, the internal ca- vity of wliich, though simple in form, is not very easily described : it may be con sldered however in general, as represent- ing two irregular trimcated cones joined base to base : of these the lower is scarce- ly more than one-tlm-d of the length of the upper, and is pierced by two open- ings, tlirough tlie upper of which the blast of wind from the blowing machine is admitted into tlie furnace, and from the lower the melted matter, both scoriae and metal, is discharged from time to time, at the pleasure of the workmen. The fur- nace is first filled with charcoal alone and well heated, after which alternate char- ges are added of ore, either alone, or mixed with lime-stone if it requires any flux, and charcoal : the blast is let on ani the metal in the ore being highly carbo- nized in its passage through the upper pai't of the furnace is readily melted as soon as it aiTives in the focus of the blast, whence it subsides in a fluid state to the bottom of the furnace covered with a mel- ted flag. Part of the clay that closes the lower aperture of the furnace is occasion- ally removed to allow the scorize to flow out, and at the end of eveiy ninth hour the ij'on itself is discharged into a bed o£ sand, where it forms from ten to twelve small pigs. As -soon as the iron has flowed out, the aperture is closed again, and thus the furnace is kept in incessant acti^ ity during the first six months in the: year ; the other six months are employed in repairing the furnaces, making char- coal, and collecting the requisite provi» sicn c>f wood and ore. The next process lowaids the conver- sion of pig hito bar iron is refining. For this pui-pose a furnace is m.ade use of re- sembling a smith's hearth, witli a sloping cavit}' sunk fiom ten to twelve inches be- low the level of the blast-pipe. This ca- \-itv is filled with charcoal :e peat into large vats of masonry, and covering it with rain water, which flows through the heaps and is collected for the purpose, and also with some of the mother water of the former crystallization. It is then eva- porated and crystallized inthemetliod al- ready described. In some places, the pyrites requires roasting, before it can be 'decomposed by the action of the air. Thus, at Geyer, in Saxony, the pyrites, after being exposed for some time to the air, is soaked in wa- ter for twelve Iiours, then roasted as in the ordinary method of roasting ores, in a large bed upon faggots, on wiiich about seventy or eighty quintals at a time, are heated red-hot, and in this state plunged again into water. This is repeated six times successively, with the same pyrites, by which the water becomes strongly im- pregnated with vitriol, and is afterwards evaporated and crystallized as usual. A quantity of heat is always generated during the process of vitriolization, both in the first combination of iron with sul- phur, and the subsequent oxygenation of the sulphur, and consequent conversion into sulplmric acid, which enables it to dissolve the iron, and form the sulphat re- quired. The degree of the heat produced, and the quantity of moisture which the pyrites receives (by rain or other sources) are the circumstances that principally regu- late the production of vitriol, both as to the quantity and time of its production. Too much heat actually kindles the mass ; the remaining sulphur takes fire, and an im- mense quantity of sulphureous acid va- pour is given off to a great distance around. Where this takes place, little or no vitriol is produced ; for most of the sul- phur and acid already formed is dissipat- ed, and also the iron becomes too much oxydated to yield the crystallizable salt. Hence, it is dangerous and prejudicial to iqake too large heaps of pyrites, or to put it up into stacks, however preserved from the weather. Some moisture is also ne- cessary to vitriolization ; but too much of it keeps the pyrites too cold, and the pro- cess is languid. The iron added during the boiling is certainly useful, both as sa- turating the acid and increasing thereby the yield of the salt, and also as precipi- tating by its superior affinity, any copper which may arise from the admixture of copper pyrites, and also undergo vitrioli- j zation. In some manufactures, however, the admixture of a small portion of sulphat of copper, is even an advantage, as in the dyeing of hats. Since the method of preparing the sul- pliuric acid, from sulphur and nitre, has been universally adopted, apart of the use oi' vitriol of iron (namely for the produc- tion of sulphuric acid) has passed away; but it is still employed largely in the pre- paration of nitric acid in many places, be- sides its extensive use in dyeing. Sulphat of iron is also made even in Uie laige way, by tiie direct combination of iron and sulphuric acid, which is found to answer on the whole in point of cheap- ness, as a purer salt is obtained, and at an incomparably shorter time. Most of the salt of this kind used in medicine, is pre- pared in this way. Copperas has been manufactured in this country from iron pyrites ; and, dur- ing th« war of '76, it was made in abun- dance near Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. The green suipiiat of iron, according* to Kirwan, contains in 100 parts, 28 of black or sub-oxyd of iron (at 27 in 100 of oxygenation) 26 of real sulphuric acid, and 46 of water, of which he estimates 38 to be water of crystallization, and the re- maining 8 to be water of composition. Green vitriol when heated, melts in its own water of crystallization. When all this is driven off by a boiling heat, there remains a grey mass, commonly calcined vitriol. The salt has lost only water by this first process, as is proved by perform- ing it in a retort, and collecting the liquor driven off by the heat. It was formerly called detu of vitriol, and several fanciful alchemical propeities were ascribed to it. If the calcined vitriol be urged in astrong heat, and confined in a porcelain or luted glass retort, sulphureous acid gas, mixed with sulphuric acid, comes over and con- tinues to do so for a considerable time, till the salt has been for some time, fully red- hot. What remains is a blood-red mass, consisting of a perfect oxyd of iron, with a small portion of still undecomposed sul- pliat of iron, which being now in the state of the red sulphat is deliquescent, and causes the mass to grow damp by expo- sure to air. This red mass is called col- cothar, and is much used for polishing me- tals, glass, SiC. but is previously washed in warm water, to extract every thing sa- line that remains. If colcothar is further urged with a very intense white heat, a large quantity of oxygen gas is given out, and an oxyd of iron is left, which is slight- ly magnetic, and therefore in the state of a sub-oxyd. Therefore, the decomposition of the sulphuric acid firet affords a quan- mo IRO tity of oxygen to unite with the iron natu- rally in the state of sub-oxyd in the salt, and a very intense heat again drives oflT this additional oxygen, and leaves the iron nearly as at first. Along with the sulphureous gas that is given out so abun dantly in distilling green vitriol, a quanti ty of a very strong smoking and peculiar sulphuric acid comes over, which con- cretes in the receiver in long striated rays or crystals. This acid from the place of its first production was called smoking vi- trioUc acid of Nordhausen. It is now found to be sulphuric acid saturated with sulphureous acid gas, to which it owes its concretibility. The few observations to be made on the different alloys of iron, will all be describ- ed under the other metals respectively, except the manufacture of Tin-Plate, which may be here mentioned. Tin-Plate or Tinned Iron (/^er Blanc of the French) holds an intermediate place between an alloy and a coating. It is made simply by immersing plates of iron into melted tin, whereby they not only be- come covered with a perfect coating ot this metal, but a very intimate union of the two metals takes place, to a certain depth in the substance of the iron, which is seen by cutting it transversely, and when the tinning has been repeated two or three times, the whole plate is more or less alloyed, or as it were, soaked with the tin. Tin-plate is manufactured in several countries, but no where to such perfec- tion as in England, to judge by the quan- tity exported. The finest kind when highly polished, has a lustre and white- ness scarcely inferior to silver, and the pe- culiar excellence of the English plate, ap- pears to be chiefly owing to the perfect smoothness given to the plate before tin- ning, and the great uniformity in the ap- plication of the metallic coating. The general process is extremely sim- ple, and is thus described by Mr. Dono- van, It is carried on near Caermarthen in South Wales, the centre of an immense and increasing manufacturing district, of many of the most important metals. The iron ore employed in this manu- factory, is the common kind of the coun- try, intermixed with a large portion of die fine hajmatite from Ulverstone, in- Lanca- shire, which gives a very fine metal. This too is smelted with charcoal, instead of coke, to produce a metal of the greatest purity and extensibility, and closeness of texture, which qualities are particularly required in this manufacture. The redu- ced ore is smelted in the usual manner, and cast into pigs, which are then wrought by the hammer into long flat bars, that are afterwards cut into pieces of about ten in- ches in length. These are then wrought into plates by being heated red-hot, and passed through a flatting-mill, which con- sists of two lai'ge cylinders of steel, case- hardened, and secured in a frame of iron. These are placed contiguous to each other, but with a certain interval of space, and revolve in a contrary direction ; so that when one end of the bar is thrust in the space between the cylinders, the whole is drawn througli and proportionably ex- tended and flattened in the passage The distance between the cylinders, which of course determines the thickness of the plate,, is maintained and regulated by screws, which can be altered at pleasure. When the bar is thus made into a plate of twice the thickness oftlie ordinary plates, it is heated red-hot, cut in two by a pair of shears, and one piece folded exactly over the other, and both repassed repeat- edly through the cylinders, till the folded plate has extended to the same length and bieadth as the plate was before cut- ting. It is then clipped round the edges, and the two pl^ites torn asunder (which requii-es some little force) after which they are each finished by passing through a finer roUlng.press, so as to take away every crease or inequality in the plate, and those that are too rough to pass through this finer press, are thrown aside. The plates are then steeped in a very- weak acid liquor, and when taken out are scoured thoroughly with bran so as to be quite bright and polished to enable the tin to adhere. The tin is melted in deep rectangular crucibles, and kept fluid by a moderate charcoal fire beneath. To pre- vent its calcination a quantity of grease prepared from linseed-oil and suet is con- stantly kept floating on the surface of the tin and renewed as it evaporates oft", which gives an excessively nauseous stench. The plate is then taken up by one corner by a pair of pincers and dipped vertically into the tin, and when withdrawn is found beautifully white and resplendent with the coating of this metal that adheres to it. This dipping is repeated three times for what is called single tin plate, and six times for the double plate. The plates are then only cleansed and sorted, and are fit for use. Some further particulars may be added from other authorities. In many manufactories the iron plates before tinning are cleansed by being im- mersed in large barrels full of a mixture of rye-flour and water, sometimes with verjuice which by fermentation has be- IRO IRQ come very acid. In Bohemia the plates remain three times twenty-four hours in tubs filled with this acestient mixture, in three different states, after wliicli they are washed, scoured with sand and water, and kept under water till just before they are used, to avoid rusting again. Attention is to be paid to tlie heat of the melted tin ; if too hot, tlie plate comes out yellow. The plates are immersed quite wet into the melted tin, passing in their way tlirough the melted suet which covers it. Justbefore dipping, some wa- ter is thrown on the melted suet, which causes a violent ebullition and makes the surface of the metal quite clean and bright. The plates when tinned are set up to drain, by which a number of. drops of tin collect in small knobs at the lower part. These are taken off by a second immersion into a separate cauldron of tin, but only to the depth of a few inches, by which the drops of tin melt down and the whole tinning is made more uniform in thickness. They are then cleansed with a rag and saw-dust or bran. About 19^ povuids of tin are required for 300 plates, measuring 1 foot by y inches. The manufacture of tin-plate in France appears to be conducted so nearly in the same manner as not to require a separate description. In the manufactures of tin-plate on the continent a quantity of copper is always added to the tin, but in very smallpropor- tion. The exact quantity is regulated by slight circumstances, which only expe- rience can teach. It appears to be in general from one-eightieth to one hundred and twentieth of the tin. The copper prevents the tin from adhering in too great a quantity to the iron, and causes the superfluous part to drain off more freely. Too much copper gives a dull yellow tint. It appears that the method of flattening the bar into plate by cylinders is only adopted in this country, but in other pla- ces is done by the hammer. The aflfinities of the oxyd of iron for the respective acids are in tlie following or- der : the gallic, oxalic, tartareous, sul- phuric, muriatic, nitric, phosphoric, arse- nic, fluoric, succinic, citric, acetic, bora- cic, prussic, and carbonic acids. JUttliod of connecting iron ban, and coating the*n viitli lead, so as to form solid pillars for light houses, on rocks covered nt high water, ivithout being subject to corrosion from the action of sea luater. Bv Cap. Jos. Jirodie,ofthe British JVavy. — Trans. Soc. nf.itts, vol. xxii. In tliis method, four square rods of cast iron are composed of a number of pieces two feet long, and so rivetted together. thattlie ends of the component pieces are uniformly distributed, producing the ef- fect of one bar of double the breadth and thickness of the smaller ones ; a hollow tube of cast iron formed from a numberof separate pieces, each about 10 inches long, which, when placed round the con- nected iron bars and screwed together, form a mould, into which melted lead is to be poured, to coat the rods or bars. By these means, the rods may, by small portions at a time, be completely covered with melted lead, soas to form a cylindri- cal pillar apparently of lead. Tlie hollow cylinder is readily formed to any length required, by the junction of a number of semi-cylinders, fitting each otlier and rivetted together. After a certain portion of the iron rods is coated with lead, the lower parts of the tube are taken off and placed higher up, so that a few tubes may answer the pur- pose of coating any length of the iron rods. IRON, ores of American. See Iron. IRON, sulphate of. See Iron. Iron, gallate of. See Ink and Dye- ing. IRON, prussiate of. See Colour Making. IRON, cast, crude, pig, &c. See Iron. IRON, cold-short, hot-short, &c. See Iron. IRON and carbon (steel.) See Iron. IRON, hardening of. See Iron. IRON and carbon (steel) blueing of. — The blueing of steel appears to affect its elasticity in a manner not easily explained. This operation consists in exposing steel, the surface of which has been first bright- ened, to the regulated heat of a plate of metal, or a charcoal fire, or the flame of a lamp, till the surface has acquired a blue colour. Now, if this blue colour be removed by grinding, the elasticity is completely destroyed, and may be restored by blueing the steel again. Rubbing witli sand or emery-paper, glazing, or burnish- ing, equally impairs the elasticity in pro- p()rtion as it destroys the blue coat. Saw- makers first harden their plates in the usual way, in which state they are brittle and warped : they then soften them by blazing, which consists in smearing the plate with oil or grease, and heating it till thick vapours are emitted, and burn off with a blaze ; and after this they may be hammered flat : lastly, they blue them on a hot iron ; which renders them stiff and elastic without altering their flatness. The Damascus sword blades have long been celebrated for their excellence, but it is not known how they are made. Mr. Stoddart took six small bars of good mal- mo IRO ieable iron, and the same number of sheer steel ; laid them alternately on each other ; welded them together ; forged them into a stout flat plate, which was twisted spi- rally into a cylindei", hammered flat, and ag-ain welded ; hammered this flat, dou- bled it throughout its length, inserted in the fold a slip of good steel to form tlie edge, and by another welding heat con solidated the whole into one mass. This being forged to a proper shape, cracked in different places on being cooled in wa- ter after heating : but Mr. Stoddart con- ceives, that by using more pieces, repeat- ing the twisting, and not quenching in water, the process would succeed. IROX, uses of, in dyeing. — Iron is one of the principal ingredients for dyeing black. The stuff is first prepared with a bath of galls and logwood, then with a similar bath to which verdegris is added, and lastly dyed in a similar bath with the addition of sulphat of iron. If it be wish- ed, that the colour should be particularly fine, the stuft" should previously be dyed of a deep blue : otherwise a brown may be first given with the green husks of walnuts. Silk however must not be pre- viously blued with indigo, and sumach may be substituted instead of galls. Lea- ther, prepared by tanning with oak bark, is blackened by a solution of sulphat of iron. Cotton has a very strong afiinity for oxide of iron, so that, if it be immersed in a solution of any salt of iron, it assumes a chamois colour, more or less deep ac- cording to the strength of the solution. The action of ^he air on the oxide of iron deepens the colour ; and if the shade were at first deep, the texture of the stuff' is liable to be corroded by it. To prevent this, the cotton should be immersed in the solution cold, carefully wrung, and immediately plunged into a ley of potash mixed with a solution of alum. After having lain in this four or five hours, it is to be wrung, washed, and dried. Mr. Brewer, to give a nankin colour, prepares his cotton yarn by boihng it five hours in a mixture of water made grass green with sheep's dung and a solution of Avhite soap ; twice more, an hour each time, witli half the quantity of soap ; and a fourth time in a ley of pot or pearl ashes, one pound to twenty of yarn, ano- ther hour. He then passes it through iron liquor, to every gallon of which half a pound of red chalk, or ruddle, in pow- der is added ; the liquor being poured off clear, after it has stood four hours to set- tle, and immerses it in an alkaline lixi- vium. When of the proper colour, for which this operation may be repeated if VOL. I. necessary, he dries it, as after each of th« former processes ; and then puts it into a warm lixivium, in which it is brought to a scald, It is afterward to be soaked an hour in water made almost as sour as lemon juice witli sulphuric acid and then washed and wrung twice. Lastly, it is to be boiled slowly an hour in a solution of white soap, one poimd to ten of yarn. See Dyeing. IRON", ores of, American — We have noticed the ores of this metal under the article iron. The American iron ores are the same as the European, if we except however some few species. The magnetic iron ores abound in different parts of the United States. Some specimens are con- siderably magnetic, and the ore generally yields a large per centum of iron. Mag- netic iron ore is called also native magnet, or loadstone. The black ore, or steel grained iron ore, occurs in abundance in Pennsylvania, from which the Pennsylva- nia iron is obtained. The ochres are com- mon, but are seldom used with a view of affording this metal. The yellow ochre is sometimes made into red ochre by cal- cination See Colour Making. Earthy, argillaceous, or bog ores of ii'on, occur in abundance in New Jersey, from which the Jersey iron is obtained. The colour of these ores is various, some- times reddish, yellowish brown, and some- times grey. The iridescent or crystallized iron ore, such as is obtained from the island of Elba, is not met with in this country. Hsmatites, an oxyd of iron, of different colours, is found in the United States, so is also the specular iron ore. Emery, which was formerly considered aa iron ore, but now classed with corun- dom, is said to be found in Pennyslvania. Tlie white or sparry iron ore, as well as iron pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, the grey iron, and plumbago, occur more or less in abundance in this country. Tlie blue combination of iron is found in the neighbourhood of bogs, principally iu New Jersey. Bergman calls it native Prussian blue. Different opinions are en- tertained as to its formation, and chemical composition. See an Essay of the editor in Bruce's Mineralogical Journal. We intend, under the article Oke, to give u. lengthy account of the different ores, and the modes of working them. It may be said with truth, that from all the ores of iron found in the United States, excellent iron is obtained. Much interesting information on the subject of iron manufactiu-es, as well as on the ores of this metal, may be found in the numbers of Cooper's Emporium. See also Bruce's Mineralogical Journal , 3 X JAP JAP Seybert's Catalogue of some American Minerals in Coxe's Medical Museum ; the papers of Maclure and Godon, in the Transactions of the American Philosophi- cal Society, &c. Important improvement in the ix'orking nf iron. — In No. 1 of the new series of the Emporium of Arts and Sciences, edited by the learned Professor Cooper, it is an- nounced from the Annales de Chemie, that cast iron, previously heated to a cheri"y red, may be cut like a piece of wood with a common saw. As the truth of this discovei^ is of con- siderable moment to iron founders, and to all those who employ iron castings, Professor M'Neven tried this experiment a few days ago, and completely succeed- ed. At the iron foundery of Messrs. AVard and Talman, the ingenious foreman of that establishment, Mr. Keenan, was di- rected to heat a cast iron bar, seven- eighths of an inch square, to a cherry red, in which state it was cut through with a common handsaw in one minute and a half The saw was not the least injured by the process. The workmen who witnessed it, observed that it must succeed with still more facility, when a saw is used that is better adapted to the purpose ; one having finer and closer teeth, and a perfectly straight edge Dur- ing the operation, very numerous and ^ brilliant scintillations issued from the iron, as when it burns in oxygen gas. New York Amer. Med. and Philos. Re- gister for Julv 1813. IRRIGATION. See Agriculture. ISINGLASS See Gelatin. IVORY BLACK. See Colour Mak- INC. IVORY, silvering of. See Silver. IVORY, gilding of See Gilding. J. JACK, in mechanics, a well known in- strument for raising great weights of any kind, Sec See Mechanics. JAPANNING, is properly the art of varnishing and painting ornaments on wood, in the same manner as is done by the natives of Japan in the East Indies. The substances which admit of being japanned are almost every kind that arc dry and rigid, or not too flexible ; as wood, metals, leather, and paper prepared. Wood and metals do not require any other preparation, but to have their sur- faces perfectly even and clean ; but leather should be securely strained, either on frames or on boards ; as its bending, or forming folds, would otherwise crack and force of!" the coats of varnish. Paper should be treated in the same manner, and have a previous strong coat of some kind of size ; but it is rai-ely made the subject of japanning till it is converted in- to papier mache, or wrought by other means into such form, tliat its original state, ])articularly with respect to flexibi- lity is changed. One principal variation from the method formerly used in japan- ning is, the omitting any priming or under- coat, on the work to be japanned. In the older practice such a priming was always used ; the use of which \v:is to save in the quantity of varnish, by filling uji the ine- qualities in the surface of the substance to be varnished. But there is a great inconr venicncc arising from the use of it, that the japan coats are constantly liable to be cracked, and peeled oflf, by any violence, and will not endure near so long as the articles which are japanned without any such priming. The French still retain the use of this undercoat, and their japanned goods are upon that account less durable than those manufactured at Birmingham, where it is not used. Of the nature of Japan Grounds — When a priming is used, the work should first be prepared by being well smoothed with fish-skin or glass-papei', and being made thoroughly clean, should be brushed over once or twice with hot size, diluted with two-thirds watei', if it is ot the common strength. The priming should then be laid on as even as possible, and should be formed of a size, of a consistency between the common kind and glue, mixed with aj much whiting as will give it a sufficient body of cohxn- to hide the surface of what- ever it is laid upon, but not more. This must be repeated till the inequalities are completely filled up, and then the v ork nuist be cleaned oft" with Butch rushes, and polished with a wet rag. When wood or leather is to be japan- ned, and no priming is used, the best pre- pai'ation is to lay two or three coats of JAP JAP coarse vaniLil), composed in the following manner. Take of rectified spirits of wine one pint, and of coarse seed-lac and resin, each two ounces ; dissolve the seed-lac and resin in the spirit, and then strain off the varnish. This varnish, as well as all otliers form- ed of spirit of wine, must be laid on in a warm place; and if it can be conveniently managed, the piece of work to be var- nished should be made warm likewise ; and for tlie same reason, all dampness should be avoided ; for either cold or moisture chills this kuid of varnish, and prevents its taking proper hold of tlie substance on wliich it is laid. When the work is so prepared, or bv the priming with the compositon of size and whiting above described, the proper japan ground must be laid on, which is much the best formed of shell- lac vai-nish, and the colour desu-ed, except white, which requires a peculiai" treatment ; and if brightness be wanted, then also other means must be pursued. The colours used with the shell-lac var- nish may be anj' pigments whatever, which give tlietint of the ground desired. As metals never require to be under- coated with whiting, they may be treated in the same manner as wood or leatlier. White Japan Grounds. — The forming a ground perfectly white, and of thg iirst degree of hardness, remains hltlierto a desideratum in the art of japaniung, as there ai"e no substances which form a ve- ry hard varnish, but which have too much colom" not to injure tlie whiteness, when laid on of a due tliickness over the work. The nearest approach, however, to a perfect white varnish, already known, is made by the following composition. Take flake-white, or white lead, wash - ed over and ground up with one-sixth of its weight of starch, and then dried; and temper it properly for spreading with mas- tich varnish. Lay tliese on the body to be japanned, prepared either with or without the under- coat of whiting, in the manner as above f>rdered; and then varnish it over with five or six coats of the following var- nish. Provide any quantity of the best seed- lac, and pick out of it all the clearest and i whitest grains, reserving the more coloui- ' ed and fouler paits for the coarse varnish- es, such as that used for priming or prepa- \ ring wood or leather. Take of this picked ; lac two ounces, and of gum animi three i ounces ; and dissolve tliem, be'uig pre- \ -i iously reduced to a gross powder, in about a quart of spirits of wine, and strain off the clear varnish. The seed-lac will give a slight tinge to this composition ; but it cannot be omitted, where the varnish is wanted to be hard ; though, when a softer will answer the end, the proportion may be diminished, and a little crude tui-pentine added to the gum animi to take off the brittleness A very good varnish, entireh free from all brittleness, may be formed bv dissolv- ing as much gum animi as the oil will take, in old nut or poppy oil ; which must be made to boil gentlj when the gum is put into it. The ground of white colour itself may be laid on in tliis varnish, and then' a coat or two of it may be put over the giound ; but it must be v.ell diluted with oil of turpentine when it is used. Tills, though free from biittleness, is nevertlieless liable to suffer by being in- dented or bruised by any slight strokes ; and it will not well bear any polish, but may be brought to a very sniootli surface without, if it be judiciously managed in the laying it on. It is likewise somewhat tedious in drying, and will require some time where several coats are laid on ; as the last ought not to contain much oil of turpentine. Blue Japan Gro««rfj .-Blue japan grounds may be formed of bright prussian-blue : or of verditer, glazed over by prussian- blue, or smalt. The colour may be best mixed with shell-lac varnish, and brought to a poUshing state by five or six coats of varnish of seed-lac ; but the varnish, never- theless, will somewhat injure the coloiu-, by giving to a U'ue blue a cast of green, and fouluig in some degree a warm blue by the yellow it contains ; where, tliere- fore, a bright blue is requii-ed, and a less degree of hardness can J)e dispensed with, the method before directed in the case of white grounds, must be pursued. Red Japan Grounds. — For a scarlet japan gTound, vermilion may be used ; but the vermilion has a glaring effect, that ren- ders it much less beautiful than the crim- son produced by glazing it over witJi car- mine or fine lake, or even with rose pink, which has a very good effect, used for this purpose. For a \ei-y bright crimson, nevertheless, instead of glazing with car- mine, the Indian lake should be used, dis- solved in the spirit of which the varnish is compounded, which it readily admits of when good ; and in this case, instead of glazing with the shell-lac varnish, the up- per or polisliing coats need only be used, as tliey will equally receive and convey the tinge of the Indian lake, which may be actually dissolved by spirits of wine, and JAP JAP this win be found a much cheaper method than the using carmine If, however, the highest degree of brightness is required, the white varnish must be used. Yellovi J.ipan Grounds. —For bright yel- low grounds, king's yellow, or turpeth mineral, sliouldbe employed, either alone, or mixed wiih fine Dutch pink, and the effect may be still more heightened, by dissolving powdered turmeric root in the spirits of wine, of which the upper or polishing coast is made, which spirits of wine must be strained from off the dregs before the seed-lac be added to it, to form the varnish. The seed-lac varnish is not equally in- jurious here, and with greens, as is the case of other colours ; because, being only tinged with a reddish yellow, it is little more than an iiddiUon to the foi-ce of the colours. Yellow grounds may by likewise for- med of Initch pink only, which, when gcc^d, will not be wanting in brightness, thoutch -extremely cheap. Green Japan Grounds — Green grounds may be produced by mixing king's yel- low, and b:igl)t piussian-blue, or rather turpeth mineral and prussian-blue And a cl:eap, but foulei' kind by verdigris, with 1 little of die above mentioned yel- lo'.v ., or Dutch pink. But where a very bright green is wanted, the crystals of Vf idigris, called distilled verdigris, should be ernployed ; and to heighten the effect, they should by laid on a ground of leaf- golcl, which renders the colour extremely brilliant and pleasing. Orange Japan Grounds. — Orange colour- ed japan grounds may be formed by mix- ing vermilion, or red lead with king's yel- low, or Dutch pink, or the orange lake, which will make a brighter orange ground than can be produced by any mixture. Purple Japan Grounds. — Purple japan grounds may be produced by the mix- ture of lake and prussian-blue ; of a fouler kind, by vermilion and prussian-blue. They may be treated as the rest, with respect to the varnish JBlaek Japan Grounds ivithout Heat. — Black grounds may be formed by either ivory black, or lamp black ; but the for- mer is preferable where it is perfectly good. These may always be laid on with shell-lac varnish ; and have their upper or polishing coasts of common seed-lac varnish, as tlie tinge or foulness of the varnish can here be no injury. Coinvion lihck Japan Grounds on Iron or Copper, produced by tiicans of Heat — For forming the black japan grounds by means of heat, the piece of work to be japanned must be painted over with drj-- ing oil, and a little lamp black ; and wlieff it is of a moderate dryness, must be ex- posed to such a degree of heat, as will change the oil to black, without burning so as to destroy or weaken its tenacity. The stove should not be too hot when the work is put into it, nor the heat increased too fast, either of which errors would make it blister ; but the slower the heat is augmented, and the longer it is con- tinued, provided it be restrained within the due degree, the harder will be the coat of japan. This kind of varnish requires no polish, having received, when properly managed, a sufficient one from the heat. The fine Tortoise-shell Japan Ground, produced by iruans of Heat. — The best kind of tortoise-shell ground produced by heat, is not less valuable for its great hardness, and enduring to be made hot- ter than boiling water without damage, than for its beautiful appeai-ance. It is to be made by means of a varnish pre- pared in the following manner. Take of good linseed-oil one gallon, and of umbel half a pound ; boil them together till the oil become very brown and thick ; strain it through a coarse cloth, and set it again to boil ; in which state it must be continued till it acquire a pitchy consistence, when it will be fit for use. Having thus prepared the varnish, clean' well the iron or copper plate, or other pieces which are to be japanned, and then lay vermilion tempered with shell-lac varnish, or with drying oil diluted with oil of turpentine, veiy thinly, on the places intended to imitate the more tran- sparent parts of the tortoise-shell. When tiie vermilion is dry, brush over the whole with the black varnish, tempered to a due consistence with oil of turpentine ; and when it is set and firm, put the work into a stove, where it may undergo a very strong lieat, and must be continued a considerable time ; if even three weeks or a month, it will be the better. This was given amongst other receipts by KuNCKr.1, ; but appears to have been neglected till it was revived with great success in the liirmingham manufactures, where it was not only the groimd of snufl- boxes, dressing-boxes, and other such les- ser pieces ; but of those beautiful tea wai- ters which have been so justly esteemed and admired in several parts of Europe, where they have been sent. This ground may be decorated with painting and gilding, in the same manner as any other varnished surface, which had best be done after the ground has been duly hardened by the hot stove ; but it will be best to give a JAP JAP second annealing vrith a more gentle heat, after it is finished. ^iethod of painting Japan Work. — Japan worl; ought properly to be painted witli colours in vamish ; though, for the great- er dispatch, and in some very nice work in small, for the freer use of the pencil, tlie colours are sometimes temper- ed in oil ; which should previously have a fourth part of its weight of gum animi dissolved in it ; or in default of that, gum sandarach, or gum mastich. When tlie oil is thus used, it should be well diluted with oil of turpentine, that the colours may lay more evenly and thin ; by wliich means, fewer of tlie polishing or upper coasts of varnish become necessary-. In some instances, water colours are laid on grounds of gold, in the manner of other paintings ; and are best, when so used in their proper appearance, without any vamish over them ; and they are also sometimes so managed as to have the effect of embossed work. The colours employed in this way, for painting, are best prepared by means of isinglass siie, corrected by honey or sugar -candy. The body of which tie embossed work is raised, need not, however, be tinged witji the exterior colour, but may be best for- med of very strong gum water, thickened to a proper consistence by bole armenian and whiting in equal parts ; which being laid on the proper figure, and repaired when dr}-, may be then painted with the proper colours, tempered with the ising- lass size, or, in tlie usual maiuier, with shell-lac vamish. ^lannrr of Varnishing Japan-ITork. — The finislung of japan-work lies in the laying on, and polishing, the outer coats of varnish which are necessan. , as well in the pieces that have only one sinple ground of colour, as with those that are painted. This is in general done best with common seed-lac vamish, except in the instances, and on those occasions, where we have^ already shewn other methods to be more expedient ; and tiie same reasons which decide as to tlie fit- ness or impropriety of the varnislies, with respect to the colours of tlie ground, hold equally with regard to those of the paint- ing. For where brightness is the most material point, and a tinge of yellow will injore it, seed-lac must give way to the whiter gums ; but where hardness, and a greater tenacity, are most essential, it must be adhered to -, and where both are so necessary, that it is proper one should give way to the other in a ceilain degree reciprocally, a mixed vamish must be adopted. This mixed vamish, as we have already observed, should be made of the picked seed-lac. The common seed-lac vamish, which is the most useful preparation of the kind hitherto invented, may be thus made- Take of seed-lac three ounces, and put it into water, to free it fix)m the sticks and filth that are frequently intermixed with it ; and which must be done by stirring it about, and then pouring oiFthe water, and adding fresh quantities, in order to repeat the operation, till it be fi-eed from all impurities, as it is very effectually done by this means. Dry it then, and powder it grossly, and put it, witli a pint of rectified spirit of wine, into a bottle, of which it will not fill above two thirds. Shake the mixture well toge- ther, and place the bottle in a gentle heat, till the seed-lac appears to be dissolved ; the shaking being in the mean time repeated as often as may be convenient ; and then pour off all that can be obtained clear by this method, and strain the re- mainder through a coarse cloth. The vamish thus prepared, must be kept for use in a bottle well stopjied. Wlien the spuitof wine is very strong, it will dissolve a greater proportion of the seed-lac ; but this quantity will saturate the common, which is seldom of a strength sufficient to make varnishes in perfection. As the chilling, which is the most inconvenient accident attending varnishes of this kind, is prevented, or produced more fi-equently, according to tlie strength of the spirit ; we shall there- fore take this opportunity of shewing a method by which weaker rectified spirits may with great ease at any ti*e be freed from the phlegm, and rendered of the first degree of strength. Take a pint of the common rectified spirit of wine, and put it into a bottle, of wliich it uill not fill above three parts ; add to it half an oviiice of pearl-ashes, salt of tartar, or any other alkaline salt, heat- ed red hot, and powdered as well as it can be without much loss of its heat. Shake the mixture fi-equentlv for the space of half an hour; before which time, a great part of tlie phlegm will be separa- ted from the spirit, and will appear, toge- ther with tiie undissolved part of tlie salts, in the bottom of the bottle. Let the spirit be poured off, or freed from the phlegm and the salts, bv means of a tritorium, or separating funnel ; and let half an ounce of the pearl-ashes, heated and powdered as before, be added to it, and the same treatment repeated. This may be done a third time, if the quantity of phlegm separated by the addition of" the peailashes apjiears considerable. An ounce of alum reduced to powder, and At. KAR kEF made hot, but not burnt, must then be put into the spirit, and suffered to remain some hours, the bottle being frequently shaken ; after which the spirit, being poured off from it, will be fit for use. Tlie addition of the alum is necessary to neutralize the remains of the alkaline salt, which would otherwise greatly de- prave the sp'u"it, with respect to varnishes and lacquer where vegetable colours are concerned, and must consequently ren- der another distillation necessary. The manner of using the seed-lac, or white varnish, is the same, except with regard to the substance used in polishing ; whicii, where a pure white of a great clearness of other colours is in question, should be itself white ; whereas the brown- er sorts of polishing-dust, as being cheap- er, and doing their business with greater dispatch, may be used in other cases. The pieces of work to be varnished, should be placed near a fire, or in a I'oom ■where there is a stove, and made perfectly dry ; and then the varnish may be rubbed over them by the proper brushes made for that purpose, beginning in the middle, and passing the brush to one end, and then with another stroke from the middle, pas- sing it to the other. But no pait should be crossed, or twice passed over in form. ing one coat, where it can be possibly avoided. When one coat is dry, anotlier must be laid over it ; and this must be continued at least five or six times, or more, ii', on triah there be not thickness of varnish to bear the polish, without laying ba^e the painting or ground colour mider- neath. "Wlieh a sufficient number of coats is thus laid on, the woik is fit to be polished ; which must be done, in common cases, by rubbing it with a rag dipped in tripoli, or rotten-stone, finely powdered ; but to- wards tlie end of the rubbing, a little oil of any kind should be used along with the powder ; and when the work appears suf- ficiently bright and glossy, it should be well rubbed with the oil alone, to clean it from the powder, and give it a still bright- er lustre. In cases of white grounds, instead of tripoli, or rotten stone, fine putty, or whiting, must be used, JELLY. See Gelatijt. JET. See Coal. JOINERS' GLUE. See Gelatin-. JOINING of broken ware. See Ce- ment. JEWS' PITCH. See BiTUMEK. K. KALI. See Alkal*. KANNBL COAL, or,Cannel coal. See Coal KAOLIN, the Chinese name of an earth, used as one of the two ingredients of the oriental jiorcelain. Some of this earth was brought from China, and exa- mined by Reaumur. He found that it was infusible, and supposed it to be a talky eartli; but Mucquer supposed it to con- tain clay, because it forms a tenacious paste with the other ingredient called pe- btUDtse, which has no tenacity. IJomare found, that it was a comj)ound of clay, cal- careous eartli, mica, and small quartz crystals. He says, that he has found a si- milar earth upon a stratum of granite, and conjectures that it may be a composed granite. As porcelain is now manufactured in various parts of Europe, some mineralo- gists have apphed the term kaolin to the porcelain clay. See Clay, Porcelain. K AUAT. ' The fineness of gold is com- monly noted by karats. Pure gold being considered to be divided into twenty-tour ci^ual parts, or karats ; it is then said to be twenty.four karats fine. If the quan- tity of pure gold in any mass be less than tills, that quantity only is noted in express- ing the fineness. Thus, for example, if two parts out of the twenty-four be cop- per or other base metal, the gold is said to be twenty-two karats fine. This is the standard of British coin. See Assay. The karat is a real weight used by jew. ellers, divided by us into four grains : but these grains are less than the grains of troy weight ; four grains troy being equal 10 five of these subdivisions of tlie kai-at, according to David Jefferys. KEDIUA TEllUESTUIS. Barbadoes tar. See Bi lumen. KEFFEKIL. Tiic meerchaum of the Germans, spuma maris. A stone of a white or vellow colour, soapy feel, and moderate hardness, which increases in the fire. It is the substance of which the large Turkey pipes are made. It is found in Grim Tartary, in Canada, in Flanders, and elsewhere. The Tartars use it in- stead of soap, as do likewise the country people in llic barony of Hierges, in Aus- trian Flanders. Wiegleb found it to con- KFR KIL aist of equal parts of magnesia and silex, whence it seems to operate as a fuUers- eartJi. See Earth (Fullers). What Wiegleb analysed, had been manufactured into a pipe. Klaprotli analysed it in its crude state A whitish va.riety, of the specific gravity of 16, aiforded him from 300 parts, siiex 50-5; magrnesia 17 23; lime 0-5 ; water 25 ; carbonic acid 5. A gray sort gave silex 41 ; magnesia 1S25 ; lime 5 ; water and carbonic acid 39. In a third he found tlie proportion of silex much less, and of magnesia as much greater. He could not expel the whole of the carbonic acid in the humid way. KELP. See Soda. KKRMES ('coccus ilicis, Lin. J is an Insect found in many parts of Asia, and the south of Europe. It was known to the ancients by the name of coccutn tcarlati. ^ni, coccus baphicus, coccus infectiorius, grar.mn tinctorium. Ihat which came from Galatia and Armenia was prefencd : but at present it is gathei-ed chiefly in Languedoc, Spain, and Portugal. The kennes lives on a small kind of oak fcfuercus coccifera, Linn.^ The fe- males grow big, and at lengthremain mo- tionless ; when they are nearly tlie size and shape of a pea, and of a reddish brown colour. On account of tlieir figure, tliey were a long time taken for tlie seeds of the tree on which they live ; whence they were called, grains of kermes. They also bore the name of vermilUon. If the living insect be bruised, it gives out a red colour. Its smell is somewhat pleasant ; its taste a little bitter, rough, and pungent. When dry it imparts this smell and taste to water, and also to alco- hol, 'o both wliich it gives a deep red co- lour. This colour is retained bv the ex- ti-acts made fi*om these infusions. To dye spun worsted with kermes, it is first boiled half an hour in water with bran ; then two hours, in a fresh bath, with one fifth of Roman alum, and one tenth of tartar, to which sour neater is common- ly added ; alter wliich it is taken out, tied up in a linen bag, and carried to a cool place, where it is left some days. To ob- tain a full colour, as much kermes as equals three fourths, or even the wliole of the weight of the wool, is put into a warm bath, and the wool is put in at the first boiling. As cloth is more dense than wool, either spun or in tlie fleece, it requires one fourth less of the salts in tlie boihng, and of kermes in the bath. Less propor- tions of kermes will produce lighter and paler colours. If we want a succession of shades, we must, as usual, begin with the deepest. Hellot directs a small handful of cot or refuse wool, to be thrown into the bmler in which the kermes is, and to let ii boil a moment before the wool to be dyed is put in. This will absorb a kind of black dregs, and the wool afterwards dipped, will take a better colour. Before the wool that is just dyed is taken to the river, it may be dipped in a bath of water a little warm, in which a small quantity of soap h:is beea dissolved. In t!»is waj- the colour will ac- quire more brightness, though it will be rendered a little rosy, that is, will have a crimson cast. By using kermes and tartar, without alum, and with as much solution of tin as is required for a scarlet with cochineal, Hellot obtained a verj' lively crimson co- lour in a single bath. Cloth steeped in a solution of sulphat of potash, took with kermes a pretty fine and permanent agate gray : in a solution of sulphat of iron and tartar a fine gray : in a solution of tartar and sulphat of copper, an orange colour: and the same with nitrat of copper. So- lution of bismuth, added drop by drop to a kermes bath, produced a violet. All acids convert it to a cinnamon colour, which inclines more or less to red, ac- cording as the acids are weak, and their quantity small. Alkalis render its colour dull and rosy. . The colour th.at kermes imparts to wool has much less bloom than the scarlet made with cochineal ; whence the latter has generally been preferred, since the art of heightening its colour by means of so- lution of tin has been known. — Bcrtholiet. Formerly it was used in medicine as a cordial and mild astringent, and gave its name t^^ a confection. KERSEY, a kind of coarse cloth. See manufacture of Cloth. KILKENNY COAL. See Coal. KlLLAS. This stone is chiefly found in Cornwall ; its colour is pale gray, or greenish gray ; its texture eitlser lamellar or coarselj- granular : the lamellar is soft- er and less martial than the roofschistus : its specific gravity from 2-63 to 2"666. Kirwan found a hundred grains of the lamellar sort to contain about 60 of silex. 25 of alumme, 9 of magnesia, and 6 of 'u"on. The greenish sort contains more iron, and gives a greenish colour to tlie nitric acids. KILX. The term kiln either implies a stove used in various manufactures, or a building for the admission of heat, in or- der to dry or bum certain substances. Thus we have die lime kiln, malt kiln, &c. which are too well known to require description In the 5th volume of the Re- pertory of Arts, may be seen a description of a malt kiln, upon an extensive scale, the KIT KIT invention of Mr. J. Pepper, of Great Bri- tain. KINGDO.MS. Naturalists and chemists divide all natural bodies into tliree great classes, called kingdoms ; namely, the mi- neral, the vegetable, and llie animal king- doms. The utility of these divisions ap- pears to be, in a great measure, confined to the natural history of the various sub- jects examined by the chemist. The dis- tinctive criteria of tlieir respective prin- ciples are difficult, and perhaps impossi- ble to be ascertained, excepting in bodies of no great simplicity ; for none of the principles of organized bodies exhibit their pecuUar characters when resolved by putrefaction or otherwise, into then- simplest parts. KING'S YELLOW. See Colouh-Ma- KING. KITCHEN, an apartment for tlie dres- sing of provisions. Considerable pains has been taken by our countryman, count Rumford, in the arrangement of the difter- ent culinary apparatus, in order to econo- mize fuel in the construction of furnaces, kettles, &c. Several patents have been granted for improved kitclien-range, or stoves. The sliips kitchen, invented by Mr. Brodie, includes a stove, hearth, smoke jack, and iron boilers. On the subject of count Rumford's improvements, we would refer tlie reader to his Essays, Economical and Philosophical. KITCHEN GAliDEN— Under this head we shall treat of tliose subj ects, which it was our original intention to have arran- ged under the title Horticulture. This mode we have been induced to adopt from the nature of our work, tlie limits of which are too confined to war- rant such a dissertation as would have em- braced every branch of Horticulture. That article, if fully treated, would form a volume, and consequently occupy too much space, particularly when it is con- sidered that so large a ])artof it is devoted to ornamental gardening. Usefulness being the primary object, a concise treatise on the laying out of a Kitchen Garden, with an arrangement of the names and sorts of plants, and the modes of culture, is believed to be more appropriate and better adapted to our general design. A kitchen garden should be laid out in dift'erent methods, according to the dif- ferences in the circumstances of the ground. It is sometimes so managed, as to constitute a part of, or comnuuiicate with the pleasure-ground ; but where there is sufficient extent of land, it is bet- ter to be distinct, or detacheil from it, and in every case as much concealed from the house as possible. The most conve- nient cUstribution is at some distance be- hind it ; but on the sides may answer very well, especially when not too contiguous, or so situated as to interrupt any particu- lar prospect or view of the adjacent coun- try. Exposure. — With regard to the nature of the situation most proper for this pur. pose, it should, when convenient, be where there is a gentle declination to- waids the south, or south-east, in order that it may have the full advantage of the morning sun. The nature of the exposure of a garden is a matter of considerable importance, as not being capable of change like those of shelter, soil, &c. It has been observed, by a late writer on " Country Residences," that the best exposure for a garden is that of the south-east, but that in an ex- tensive and complete garden, it is desira- ble that part of it should have a norttiern aspect, in order that late crops may be raised with advantage. And this, it is supposed, may often be attained, either by fixing upon both sides of a gentle swell, or eminence, or on the two opposite sides of a hollow or depression. Should such a hollow wind in any considerable de- gree, every sort of exposure would at once be had without difficulty, and most- ly in combination with shelter and proper soil. Situation. — This should be relative to the nature of the rest of the place, and the convenience of water. It should be somewhat contiguous to the necessary of- fices, stables, &c. and at no great distance from the farm, being concealed as much as possible from general view, and so con- trived, as to interfere but little with pic- turesque improvements. It should be so near a supply of water as to have it in abundance tor the common purposes of watering during the whole of ti)e summer months. And it may be used in other ways with advantage, in particular situations and circumstances. It is a common but dangerous error to form gardens in too low situations, in order that they may have the benefit of natural shelter, as they are very liable to the effects of hoar frosts, blights, and mildews. Mr. Forsyth re- marks, in his " Treatise on the Culture and Management of I'ruit Trees," that if a g;u'den " be situated in a bottom, the wind will have the less efl'ect upon it ; but then the damps and fogs will be very prejudicial to the fruit and other crops ; ' and tliat when "situated too high, al- though it will, in a great measure, be free from damps and fo^s, it will be exposed to the lui-y of the winds, to the great hurt KIT KIT of the trees, by breaking' tbeii- branches, and blowing down their blossoms and fruit." Shelter — A garden should, in this wri- ter's opinion, " be well sheltered tiom the north and east to prevent the blighting ^vinds from afiecting the trees, and also from the westerly winds, which are verj' Imrtful in the spring or summer months." Where it is not " naturally sheltered with gentle rising hills, which are the best sheltef of any, plantations of forest-trees should," he thinks, " be made at proper distances, so as not to shade it." These, he supposes, will be found the best sub- ihan one hundred and twenty, or thirty teet of it J where however it is upon a rising bank, they may sometimes be ad- mitted to come as near as fifty or sixty teet. It is likewise in most cases a good way to form a deep sunk fence between such trees and the garden ground, espe- cially when tliey are of the fur tiibe, in order to prevent the roots from running too much in the surface moidd of the garden." Soil. — In fixing upon ground for a gar- den, it is likewise a point of much im- jjortance to have the natural soil of a good quality, being sufficiently dry, mellow. stitute, but at the same time the sun and ' and capable of being easily wrought in al air should be freely admitted. On this | seasons, as well as of a good depth, as account it is supposed that " a place sur- \ from a foot and a half to three feet And rounded by woods is a very improper si- \ if the surface be uneven, it will be the tuation for a garden or orcliard, as a foul ■ better, as there will be a greater variety stagnant air is very hurtful to vegetation." , in the quality, and of course will be more It is likewise adcied that «' bliglits are 1 fully adapted to the culture of different much more frequent in such situations ; crops. The most proper sort of soil for than in those that are more open and ex- 1 tliis purpose is that of the rich, friable, posed." In these sheltering plantations, i loamy kind, and the worst those of the it is well advised that fruit-trees should be ! very light, sandy, and stiff clayey de- intermixed with those of the forest kind, I scriptions. But the properties of soils which, besides being advantageous in the may be much improved in most cases by wav of affording shelter, ornament, and '. a judicious apphcation of different sorts fruit, become nurseries for raising forest- of materials in the way of manure, trees. But where the situations will not j Some think a medium loam tlie most admit of this, he suggests the propriety j proper, as being capable of being made of ])lanting som.e cross rows of fruit-trees of different degrees of lightness in differ- in the garden, at the distances of about ent parts, by the addition of sand and tbrty or seventy yards fix)m each other, other similar materials, so as to suit dif- more or less, according to the extent : \ ferent sorts of vegetables ; and in others where the lengtli is considerable, one row of various decrees of tenacity and heavi- may be sufficient on each side : but in short cross rows, two on each side the walks or paths. In this intention the trees should be planted opposite one another, but in such a manner that tliose in one row may be opiwsite to the middle jiarts of the open spaces in the others. In this method, besides tlie ornamental effect that is produced,, the force of violent winds is broken, and much damage to other trees prevented. In this view, the best sort of trees, ac- cowling to the same writer, is tliat of dwarfs, with stems about two feet high, which may readily be provided by remov- ing the lower branches. The autlior of the Treatise on Country llesidences advises, " that the planting should be performed on all sides of the garden, the distance being proportioned according to the particular circumstances of the case. But when the garden is up- on the perfect flat, the nearest forest trees should not, in common, be within less than one hundred feet of the outer fruit wall, nor on th^ south side within less VOL. I. ness, by the use of clay or other cohesive substances. Where the under soil is of the reten- tive kind, great care should be taken to have it well drained, as unless this be ef- fectually accomplished, healthy vegeta- bles or trees can seldom be produced. See Agriculture. In cases where fi"uit-trees, especially those of the finer sorts, as well as apple and pear kinds are to be planted, a great- er depth of good soil, as well as a greater degree of dryness, is necessary in general than that mentioned above. Form — There are verj- different opin- ions in respect to the most proper and ad- vantageous forms for this sort of culture; but though much must depend on the na- ture of tlie situation, wiiere the spade is to be made use of in performing the work, tlie square shape, or that which approach- es nearest to it, is probably the most con- venient. In other cases, where the prin- cipal part of the work i.s, fi-om tlie difficul- ty of procuring labourers, and theincreas- in from ik,!!- 1 sons, and convej- ii to large ponds or othet' KIT KIT places made for its reception jn tbe highesi. pan of the gulden ground that will ad- mit of it, from wliich it mav be dispersed to the different quarters that will allow of It by pipes, v.ilh cocks fixed at different places for turning it on, as may be neces- sar)-. Or, by having suitable channels cut, it may be tunied upon different parts, as in the practice of watering meadow land; which, where the roads are repair- ed with calcareous materials, or there is much vegetable matter washed down them, may be highly beneficial in the way of manure. A proper readv exit for the superabundant water must always be provided in these cases, to prevent stag- nation. And where tlie ground has been much enriched by stable manure, the practice should be cautiously adopted, as ir.oie fertility ma} be conveved away in the state of solution than is brought bv the water. T!ic most convenient time for turning on v.ater is generally dui-ing the night, which in dry seasons, is the most advantageous to the plants or crops that are upon the gi-oiind. The expence in pipes, drains, channels, and otiicr apparatus for these purposes, will be considerable at first ; but tiie sav- ing in labour and time, in pumping and carrying water, it is conceived, will soon repay it. \Miere water is under the ne- cessity of being pumped up from deep wells, large basons or reservoirs should he provided, in which it should remain some time exposed to the influence of tile atmosphere, before it is made use of m the above or any other way in gardens. Where garden grounds are of a wet oozing quality, Mr. Fors\-th recommends basons to be tbrnied in the most conveni- ent ]3aits of them, for the reception of the water that proceeds from the drains, and which falls in rain on the walks and patlis, as well as other parts. Forming ne\j Gardens — In forming new kitchen garden grounds, where the soil is of a strong, stiff, heavy quality, they should be ploughed or trenched over three or four times, being exposed to the efiects of frost, in pretty high ridges, for a winter, in order to bring them into a pro- per condition before the crops are put in. A crop of potatoes or beans, also assists greatly in bringing them hito a proper state of pulverization for being planted upon with culinary vegetables. When the land is become sufficiently broken down and reduced, the wall and other trees, as well as difierent sorts of vegetable ciops, may be put' in. Some, however, put the fruit-trees in before tliis Las been accomplished; but it is not a good practice, as tliey are liable to be in- jured bj- the digging which afterwards becomes necessary in preparing the soil in a proper manner. In planting wall-trees, they should be set at different distiinces, according to the kinds : tiiose of the peach, nectarine, apricot, plum, and cherry descriptions, at fifteen, eighteen, or more feet, and for figs and pears, twenty are seldom too much, suitable aspects being chosen according to tlie kinds. Between their wall-fi-uit- trees, some at first introduce half or full standards, tliat the walls may at once be covered, removing them afterwards. But this is a method that sliould never be at- tempted where it can be avoided, as be- ing very disadvantageous. Trees of the espalier kind, are likewise frequently in- troduced in ranges round the main quar- ters at the distance of about six feet from tile side of the walk, and from fifteen to twenty in the rows, according to the sorts tliat ni-e made use of Within these ran- ges of esp.alier trees, good standards of tall growth are occasionally introduced at the distance of thirty, forty, or more feet in each direction. A\'here tliere are orch- ards this should, however, always be avoided as much as possible. Fruit-trees of the small shrubby kinds, such as g-oose-berries, cun-ants, raspber- ries. Sec. where tiiere are not out-slips, are frequently introduced on the sides of the quarters, and as divisions to them when large, at the distance of. ight or nine feet from each other. A\ lien planted in tliis way, tliey should be trained in tlie fan form. But it is better, where it can be done, to iiave them in separate planta- tions, especially the first sort. Cropping — In respect to the distribution of the vegetable crops, it must be regu- lated by tbe nature of the situation, theii- particular kinds, as well as the taste and experience of the gardener. On the nar- row borders under tlie wall-trees, various sorts'of small crops may be grown, both of the early and late kinds, according to the difference of the aspects ; but all the deep rooting sorts should be avoided, such as cabbages, cauliflowers, beans, pease, except tliose of the frame kind, as being injurious to the trees by the shade whicli they cause, as well as by depi'iving tliem of due nourishment. But the large parts of the borders next the walks, are proper for raising all sorts of the more early crops, such as those of tlie radish, lettuce, spinach, carrots, French beans, sallad herbs, and all the dwarf pea kinds that are cultivated in wide rows ; tiiose w hicli have a southern KIT KIT aspect lor the earliest crops ; .-11111 tlie eastern and western ones, for succession crops of the several kinds ; and the north- ern ones, as beini^ more cool, ihv raisinj^ and pricking out many sorts of small plants, slips, and cuttings in llie summer ^ season, wht.n the other parts are apt to be it^ too dry, and too njuch exposed to the H^- heat of the sun. ^- All such borders as are next to tlie ran- ges of espalier trees are well suited to the different low growing crops, sucli as let- tuce, spinach, endive, straw-lieiries, &c. and for bricking out upon, at different seasons, many sorts of plants to be after- wards transplanted into different situa- tions, in order to complete their growth. But the quarters or large divisions should always be destined for the recep- r tion of the large principal crops, such as those of the onion, leek, carrot, parsnip, ' turnip, beet, potatoe, cabbage, cauliflower, brocoli, colewort, kale, pea, bean, scar- let-bean, celery, artichoke, asparagus, and other similar kinds. In every department the greatest atten- tion should be paid to the keeping of the diff'^V^"t parts fully cropped, as well as to neatness and regular order ; and as the crops are removed from the ground in the autumn, it is often of great advantage to have it ridged up for the winter in a regu- lar manner. ^Vhere the garden has been thus laid out, planted, and finished, Mr. Forsyth has found much >dvaiitage from having a plan of it, with the names of the different Trees inirodticed in their proper places. By this means the nicnioi-y is greatly as- sisted, especially in extensive grounds, and the various operations perfoiijned with more regularity and exactness. Mr. London advises that in complete residences the liJtchen garden should be laid out at first, and directed afterwards solely in the view of cultivating and pro- ducing culinary fruits and vegetables. Little or nothing of the ornamental -kind should be introduced, but utility every where predominate. Lvcn tlie edgings of the walks should be planted in most cases with useful plants, such as straw-berries, parsley, &c. Preparation of the Soil — The proper performance of this depends upon a va- riety of circumstances, such as the nature of the land, the kind (jf crop that is to be cultivated, and the season at which it is put in. After the primary operations of cleaning and draining iiave been execut- ed, it is generally necessary to break down and reduce the earth into a fine itate of mould by common or trench-dig- ging ; and th? exposure of a large surface to the action and influence of frost, or the effects of heat and moisture in altema- titm, as in ridging and summer-ti'encb- ing. There are other modes that contribute to the production of the same eHect, such as the gi'owtji of particular sorts of crops, as celery, and those of the caiTot, pars- nip, beet, and others of the tap-rooted kind : and the application of strong hand- hoes to the superficial parts at proper periods, as when the soil lias a disposition a to fall dov.n in a ]>owdery condition. " This last method, will likewise, at the same time, extirpate and destroy a num- ber of weeds ; but the necessity of this siiould be constantly well guarded against, by suflering none to run to seed in the garden. Considerable advantage may also bo gained in the view of rendering garden ground mellow, by the projier application of suitable manure. In this view the ma- nure should not have advanced too far in the state of decomposition. Composts and very rotten manures produce but a trifling efl'ect in this way, though highly beneficial in various other respects. It seems not improbable but that, in hot sea- sons, where the soil is inclined to be hea- vy and of course lumpy, benefit might be derived from the use of a small roller upon the surface. How far advantage is capable of being derived from the resting of ihc soil in this sort 6f culture, is perhaps not yet fully ascertained ; but certain kinds of garden crops are commonly sup])oscd to grow better on new land than such as have been long under cultivation, as those of tlie onion, the carrot, the turnip and the pota- toe kinds. Therefore, difierent methods of effecting this purpose have been pro- posed, such as laying down portions of garden -ground annually with grain and grass seeds, and breaking others up. This c:in, however, be only practised in large gardens, eitlicr wilh convenience or the prospect of success ; and in all cases must he employed with much caution. Another mode is by trenching to dif- ferent depths alteniateiy, as three and two spits, so as to have new or fresh sur- ficcs from the top, middle, and bottom, cropping each three years, and letting the futuie surfaces rest six. Tl)is practice has been recommended hv .Mr. Walter Nicol. But it can only be had recourse to , in particular histances, as few gardens admit of three spits' depth of good soil. Hesides, the expence of performing it af- fords a considerable objection. KIT KIT Succession of Crops — Tills is a matter of and most drill-crops ; others admit of it considerable importance in culinary gar- 'but in a small degree, as onions, leeks, dening, as the growth of good and heal- J carrots, &c. Some are occasionally and thy vegetables, and tlie keeping of the often materially injured by it, as straw- soil in a proper state of heat, in a great measure, depends upon it. The main principle on which it proceeds, is that of never growing what are termed exhaust- ing crops in succession ; or letting two or three of the same nature or sort, follow each other. It is well known to liorlicul- berries. In relation to duration, it is observed that some are sown and removed within three months : as early crops of turnips, . radi.shes, brassica plants, for removal, &c.; others continue double that time, as onions and potatoes ; otliers treble, as turists, that imder such circumstances, I frequently broculi and cabbages; some tliey constantly become deteriorated in I continue two seasons, as parsley, fennel, quality, and greatly lessened in the quan- ■ &c. ; others for several years, as straw- tity of produce. Tiie closeness of shade ; berries, asparagus, articliokes, &c. By affjrded by the plants, is also another 1 attentively considering these and other principle tliat should be carefully attend- , divisions which tiie subject admits of, it edto in managing this business. In this ; is supposed mucli advantage may be gain- practice it has been suggested by Mr. i ed by the culinary gai'dener, and appro- London, that " the vegetables cultivated ! priate successions of crops formed: should be divided into classes according j "thus celerj-, by being planted in hollow to their respective natures, modes of cul- trendies, pulverizes the soil in a high ture, and duration.*' It is conceived that degree ; by requiring a considerable in respect to n.ifurfjjtliey may be divided j quantity of manure it enriches it; both into, 1st. Such as have ramose roots, as | whicli properties are necessary for the the cabbage, cauliflower, brocoli, Sic. 2d. j production of plants of large, ramose, or Such as have fusiform roots, as the carrot, fasciculate rnnts, which penetrate deep beet, parsnip, 8ic. 3d. Such as are squa- into the soil, such as artichokes, scorzo- mose, as the onion, leek, eschalot, SiC. { nera, asparagus. Sec Again, these crops 4th. Such as are fibrous, as tlie lettuce, j by remaining long on the soil, afford, endive, &c. 5th. Such as are tuberose, ] when removed, an excellent situation for as tlie potatoe, Jerusalem arlicliokc, S.:c niey are supposed capable of further di- vision, " into such as partake of two of tliese divisions, as the fusiform and hbrous, exemplified in the bean, pea, kid uey-bean, spinach, &c. he." Tlie writer adds that " some crops re- quire to be cultivated in large quantities, as pease, turnips, onions ; others in small portions, as most sallad and pot-herbs. Some require very rich soil, and general such as are more transitory, as pease, po- tatoes, &c." After-managetncnt. — There are scarcely any two plants that require exactly tlie same means in the whole of tlie'u' cultiva- tion, though in many histances the differ- ences are but very small. In the annual and biennial kinds, the similarity in manv cases is very considerable ; but in that of the perennial sallad and pot-lierb sorts it mostly differs in a high degree. What- ly, manure, previously to planting or sow- ever the nature of the culture that is r celery, cauliflower, and leeks ; I quisite may be, in any sort of plant or others require a tolerably rich sod, but are much injured by manure immediately pre- vious to their insertion, as carrot, beet, and most shapes." vegetable, it should always be executed in due season, and under proper circum- stances in respect to the state of tiie esculent roots of fusiform j ground. There are several other matters In regard to modes of culture, it is sug gested that culinai-y vegetables may be distinguished " into, 1st, such as are sown A white or yellow- LACCIC ACID. 5 ish-white waxy mat- ter, the production of insects, and called in Madras White lac, was first particulai-ly noticed by Dr. Henderson about the year 1786, and supposed by him to resemble ver)- closely the Fe-ia of tlie Chinese, or white wax used in varnishes, for candles, &c. Some of tliis white lac sent over to England about the year 1793, was exa- mined by Dr. Pearson. The wliite lac is in grey, opake, rough, roundish pieces, of about the siz.e of a pea. It has a saltish and bitterish taste, but when fresh gathered it appears from Dr. Anderson's account to have a sweetish and deUcious flavour. On pressing the pieces between the fingers, a saltish liquid oozes out. White lac has no smell unless when rubbed. After melting and straining it sinks in water. If obtained largely it probably might prove of much use in the arts. LAC SULPHURIS, is sulphur separated by acids from its alkaline solution. It is somewhat altered in the process, and changes its lemon-yellow colour for a grey or yellowish-white, like cream. It is thought to be somewhat milder as a medicine. See Sulphur. LACE. When several threads of gold, silver, silk, or thread, are interwoven and worked on a cushion with spindles, ac- cording to the desired pattern, the stuff called lace is formed. There are various kinds of lace, such as Point, Brussels, or Fl:mders lace, and bone lace made in England. To restore gold or silver lace when tarnished, various liquors have been recommended, as spirits of wine, solution of soap, of potash, See. The gold or sil- ver may be separated from lace, by boiling the lace in soap ley. after which the stuff will become soi'iened, and. by means of a mallet, the sepai-ation may be readily ef- fected. LACQUERING. Lacquering is the lay. ing either coloured or tr..nsparent var- nishes on metals, in order to produce the appearance of a different colotu" in the metal, or to preserve it from rust, or the injuries of the weather. Lacquering is used w here brass is to be made to have the appearance of being gilt ; where tin is wanted to have the re- semblance of yellow metals ; and where brass locks or nails, or other such mat- ters, are to be defended from the coiTo- sion of the air or moistiu-e. The principal substance used for the composition of lacquers, is seed-lac ; but, for coarser purposes, resin or turpentine is added, in order to make the lacquer cheaper. .2 Lacquer for Brass, to imitate Gild, ing. — Take of turmeric one ounce, and of safli-on and Spanish annotto, each two drachms. Put them into a proper bottle with a pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, and place them in a moderate heat, often shaking them for several days. A very strong yellow tincture will the.i be obtained, which must be strained off' from the dregs through a coM'se linen cloth ; and then, being put back into the bottle, three ounces of good seed-lac, powdered grossly, must be added, and the mixture placed again in a moderate heat, and sl)a- ken till the seed-lac be dissolved, or at least such part of it as mav. The lacquer must then be strained, and must be put mto a bottle well corked. Where it is desired to have the lacquer warmer or redder than this composition, the proportion of the annotto must be in- creased ; and where it is wanted cooler, or nearer to a true rellow, it must be di- minished. The above, properly managed, is an extremely good lacquer, and of moderate price ; but the following, which is cheaper, and may be made where the Spanish ai.- LAC LAK iioUo cannot be procured good, is not greatly inferior to it. Take of turmeric root, ground, one ounce, of tlie best dragon's blood lialf a drachm. Put them to a p^nt of spirits of wine, and proceed as above. By dimi- nishing tiie proportion of dragon's blood, the varnish may be rendered of a redder or truer yellow cast. Saffron is sometimes used to form the body of colour in this kind of lacquer, in- stead of the tuinieric; but though it makes a warmer yellow, yet the dearncss of it, and the advantage which turmeric has in forming a much stronger tinge in spirits of wine, gives it the preference. Though being a true yellow, and conse- quently not sufficiently warm to-overcome the greenish cast of brass, it requires the addition of some orange coloured tinge to make it a perfect lacqtier. Aioes and gamboge are also sometimes used in lacquers for brass ; but the aloes is not necessary wheie turmeric or saffron is used ; and tiie gamboge, though a very strong milky juice in water, affords but a very weak tinge in spirit of wine. Jl Lacquer jor Tin, to imitate a Yello-w Jtletal — Take of turmeric root one ounce, of dragon's blood two drttciims, and of spii its of wine one pint ; add a sufficient quantity of seed-lac. .4 Lacquer for Locks, Ijfc. — Seed-lac varnish alone, or with a little dragon's blood : or a compound varnish of equal parts of seed-lac and resin, with or with- out the dragon's blood. A Gold coloured Lacquer for gilding lea- ther — What is called gilt leather, and used for skreens, borders for rooms, &.c. is only leather covered with silver leaf, and lacquered with the following compo- sition. Take of fine white resin four* pounds and a half, of common resin the same quantity, of gum sandarach two pounds and a half, and of aloes two pounds ; mix them together, after having bruised those which are in great pieces, and put them into an earthen pot, over a good fire made of cluocoal, or over any fire where there is no llatne. Melt all tlie ingredients in this manner, stirring them well with a spatula, that thty may be thoroughly mix- ed together, anu be prevented also from sticking to the bot\om of the ])ot. AVhen they are perfectly iiielled and mixed, add gradually to them seven pints of linseed oil, and stir the whol*; well together with the spatula. Make the whole boil, stirring it all the time, to prevent a kind of sedi- ment that will form, from sticking to the bottom of the vessel. When the varnish is lilraost sufficiently boiled, add gradually half an ounce of litharge, or half an ounce of red lead, and when they are dissolved, pass the varnish through a linen cloth, or flannel bag. The time of boiling this varnish should be about seven or eight hours. This, how- ever, varies according to circumstances. The way of knowing when it is sufficient- ly boiled, is by taking a little on some in- strument, and if it draws out and is ropy, and sticks to the fingers, drying on them, it is done ; but if not, it must be boiled till it acquires these qualities. See Var- nish. LACTIC ACID. SeeMiLic. LAKES. A lake may be defined to be an intimate combination of colouring ex- tract, with an earth, or metallic oxyd, formed by precipitation from the solution of the colouring matter. Thus, if a solu- tion of alum is added to an infusion of madder, a mutual decomposition takes place, and part of the alumine falls down intimately united with the colouring mat- ter of the madder. This separation is much assisted by an alkali The lakes form some of the beautiful pigments, and are much used in water-co- lour painting, and other purposes. They are almost invariably composed either of alum, or sometimes the solutions of tin, and some olher watery solution of a co- loiwing matter. In addition to what we have said on the subject of lakes, in other parts of our work, the following observations may piove useful in this place. The principal lakes are, Carmine, Flo- rence-lake, and lake from .Madder. For the preparation of Carmine, four ounces of finely pulverized cochineal, are to be poured into four or six quarts of rain or distilled water, that has been previous- ly boiled in a pewter kettle, and boiled with it for the space of six mmutes lon- g-er ; (some advise to add, during the boil- ing, two drachms of pulverized crystals of tartar.) Eight §^cruples of Roman alum in powder are then to be added, and the whole kept upon the fire one minute lon- ger. As soon as the gross powder has subsided to ttie bottom, and the decoction is become clear, the latter is to be care- fully decanted into large cylindrical glass- es covered over, and kept undisturbed, till a fine powder is observed to have set- tled at the bottom. The superincumbent liquor is then to be poured off from this powder, and the powder gradually dried. From the decanted liquor, which is still much coloured, the rest of the colouring matter may be separated by means of the solution of tin, when it yields a caj'mine little inferior to the other. LAK LEA For the preparation of Florentine lake, the sediment of cochineal, that remained in the kettle, may be boiled with tlie re- quisite quantity of watei-. and the red li- quor likewise, tiiat remained after tlie preparation of the carmine, mixed with it, and the whole precipitated with the solu- tion of tin. The red precipiuite must be frequently edulcorated with water. Exclu- sively of this, two ounces of fresh cochi- neal, and one of crystals of tartar, are to be boiled witli a sufficient quantity of wa- ter, poured off clear-, and precipitated with 'he solution of tin, and the precipi- tate washed. At the same time 2 pounds of alum are also to be dissolved in water, precipitated with a lixivium of pot-ash, and tlie white earth repeatedly washed with boiling water. Finally, both preci- pitates are to be mixed together in their liquid _ state, put upon a filter, and dried. For the preparation of a cheaper sort, in- stead of cochineal, one pound of Brazil wood may be employed in the preceding manner The red extracted from shreds of scar- let cloth by boiling them in a lixivium of a pound of pearl ashes to two quarts of water, being precipitated by a solution of a pound and half of cuttlefish bone in a pound of aqua fortis, is said to make a ve- ry fine carmine. If 1Mb. of the bone be not sufficient to saturate the aqua fortis, more must be added, till it excites no ef- fervescence. If the lake appear too pur- ple, a little alum may be added to the so- lution. For the following process for making a lake from madder, the Society of Arts in England, voted sir H. C Englefield, their gold medal. Enclose two ounces troy of the finest Dutch crop madder in a bag of fine and strong calico, large enough to hold three or four times as mucli Put it into a large marble or porcelain moi'tar, and pour on it a pint of clear soft water cold. Press the bag in every direction, and pound and rub it about with a pestle, as much as can be done without tearing it, and when the water is loaded with co- lour, pour it off. Repeat this process till the water comes off but slightly tinged, for which about five pints will be suffi- cient. Heat all the liquor in an earthen OP silver vessel, till it is near boiling, and then pour it into a large basin, into which a troy ounce of alum, dissolved in a pint of boiling soft water, has been previously put. Stir the mixttn-e together, and while stirring, pour in gently about an ounce and half of a saturated solution of subcar- bonat of potash Let it stand till cold to settle ; pour off the clear yellow liquor ; add to tjie precipitate a quart of /boiling soft water, stirring it well; and, when cold, separate by filtration the lake, v.hich should weigh half an ounce. If less alum be employed, the colour will be somewhat deeper : with less than three- fourths of an ounce, the whole of the co- louring matter will not unite with the alu- mine Fresh madder root is equal, if not superior, to the dry. Almost all vegetable colouring matters may be precipitated into lakes, more or less beautiful, by means of alum, or oxide of tin ; but Guyton-Morveau assejts, that the oxide of tungsten is superior to any other base. If this oxide were boiled in vinegar, so as to give it a blue colour, the tints of the lake were heightened. From the fermentedjuiceof tlie succotrine aloe he obtained a fine purple red with this oxide. See Colour-Making. LAMP-BLAC;K. There are two spe- cies of lamp-black in common use ; oneis the light soot from burning wood of the pine, and other resinous kinds ; and the other is a heavy black, prepared from bones, by calcining them in close vessels. In addition to what we have said on lamp-black, under Colour-Making, we may add, that its preparation is depend- ent on the making of common rosin : the impure resinous juice, collected from inci- sions made in pine and fir trees, is boiled down with a little water, and strained, whilst hot, through a bag : the dregs and pieces of bark left in the strainer are burnt in a low oven, from which the smoke is conveyed through a long pas- sage, into a square chamber, having an opening on the top, on v/hich a large sack made of thin woollen stuff is fixed; the soot, or lampblack, concretes partly in the chamber, from whence it is swept out once in two or three days, and partly in the sack, which is now and then gently struck upon, both for shaking down the soot, and for clearing the interstices be- twixt the threads, so as to procure suffi- cient diuuglit of air through it. In this manner lampblack is prepared at the turpentine houses, from the dregs and re- fuse of the resinous matters, which are there manufactured. See Colours. LEAD. — Lead is a metal of a bluish- grey colour, is malleable, ductile, and in- elastic : it is very soft, is fusible at less than a red heat, is easily oxydablc by es- posiu'e to the air jwhen melted, and its oxyd is easily fusible into a transpai'ent yellow glass. Ores of Lead. — 5^. 1. Galena. Of this there are Uie two following sub- species. 1. Subsp. Common Galena. Its colour is a more or less perfect lead- % LEA grey, inclining in some varieties to black- ish; it sometimes presents superficially, an iridesccni: tarnish. It occurs in mass, disseminateil or investing ; also in particu- lar sliiipes, such as globular, reniform, specular, reticulated, cellular, cylindri- cal. See. also crystallized. The crystals are rarely lai-ge, but ge-i nerally middle-sized or small; either grouped one upon the other, implanted, or solitary. Their planes are commonly smooth, sometimes drusy, rarely carious or rough. The external lustre of galena vai'ies, according to its surface, from re- splendent and specular to glimmering. Internally it varies from specular to glist- ering, audits lustre is metallic. Its fracture is lamellar, cither plane, curved, or diver- gent ; this latter passes into, radiated, the rays being short and broad. It is divisi- From Kirschwald, in Deux Fonts. Lead 54. Sulphiu- ..... 8. Carbonated lime and silex 38. Oxydofu'on .... 0. I.EA ble in a three-fold rectangular direction, hence its fragments are cubical. When in mass it is often composed of granular and rarely of lamellar distinct concre- tions. It is soft, somewhat seclile, easily frangible. Sp. g. 6.56 to 7.78. Before the blowpipe it decrepitates, then melts, giving out a sulphureous odour, and when this ceases a globule of metallic lead remains behind. Galena consists essentially of lead and sulphur, in the proportion of about lOO of the former, to 15 of the latter ; but, be- sides these ingredients, iron pyrites, grey antimony, copper, gold, and silygi-, are found in various proportions, besides dif- ferent earthy ingredients, chiefty lime and silex. The following are some of the most recent and accurate analyses that have ' been made of this ore. Kampfstein. __ 69. ■ _ 16. _ 15. — 0. ■ Ecklerberg. - 68.69 - 16.18 • - 16.13 100 100 101 Kantenbach. - 64- — - 18. — - 18. — — 100 Cologne. 63.1 12. .. 19.67 3.33 98.1 The above analyses were made by Vauquelin, to which we shall subjoin an analysis of galena from Durham, by Dr. riiomson. Lead . . • 8513 Sulphur . . 13.02 Oxydofiron . 0.5 98.65 The proportion of silver in galena va- ries greatl} > from ^.i.^ or less, to ^^ ; it is observable that the presence of this me- tal considerably impairs the lustre of ga- lena, and that it is nmch more frequent- ly found in the octohedral than in the cu- bical varieties of this mineral. The pre- sence of antimony is commonly indicated by a tendency to the radiated fracture- It is next to pyrites tlie most common of metallic ores, and is found in beds and veins in primitive, transition, and secon- dary mountains. It occurs most abun- dantly in argillaceous schistus and secon- dary limestone, and t^ almost always ac- comjianied by blende and calamine. To enuniorate the places where it is found, would be to mention almost all the mine- ral districts that are known. Lead is found in abundance in Louisi- ana, and in v;irious other districts, in the United States. In England, it is found in Coming all, Devonshire, and Somersetshire; in Derbyshire, in Durham, and the conti- guous boundaries of Lancashire, Cumber- land, and Westmoreland ; in Shropshire, in Flint and Denbighshire, in Merioneth and Montgomeryshire ; at the lead-hills in Scotland, on the borders of Dumfrieshire' and Lanarkshire, in Ayrshire, and at Strontian in Argyleshire. Most of the lead of commerce is pro- cured from this ore ; it is also made use of without any further preparation as a glazing for coarse pottery. 2. Subap. Comjiact galena. Its colour is similar to but generally somewhat lighter than that of the prece- ding subspecies. It occurs in mass, disse- minated and specidar (the specular in Derbyshire, is known by the name of»/<- iensit/e). The specular variety is splen- dent externally, the others are only gUm- mering. Internally all the varieties are slightly glistening with a metallic histj-e. Its fracture is even, passing into Hat con- choidal. Its fragments are indeterminate- Iv angular. It acquires a polish by fric- tion ; is more lender than the preceding subspecies, and agrees witli it in tlie rest of its chai acters. Sp. gr. 7.44. In its habitudes with the blowpipe, it dillers from common galena in not decre- piiatiiig on the first apphcation of heat. It occurs in veins with common galena, and always occupies the sides of. the vein. It is not very common. LEA LEA .?/». 2. Triple Sulphuret of Lead. Its colour is dark grey> inclining to black. It occurs crystallized. Its primi- tive figure is a rectangulai* tetrahedral prism, besides which it presents other va- rieties. The crystals are large and middle si- zed, with a splendent metallic lustre both externally and internally. Its fracture is coarse-grained, uneven. In hardness it ranks between calcai-eous and fluor spar ; is very brittle and easily frangible. It leaves a faint black trace when rubbed on paper. Sp. gv. 5.76. When suddenly heated before the blowpipe it crackles and splits, but if gra- dually heated it melts, and on cooling forms a globule of a dull metallic-grey colour; by further exposure to the flame a white and somewhat sulphureous va- pour is disengaged, consisting of sulphur and antimony, and there remains behind a crust of sulphuretted lead, inclosing a globule of metallic copper. It has been analyzed by Air. Hatchett, with the fol- lowing result. 17. Sulphur. 42.62 Lead. 2123 Antimony. 12.8 Copper. 1.2 Iron. 97.85 2.15 Loss. 100. It has hitherto been found only in the mine Huel-Boys, in Cornwall. Sp. 3. Blue Lead Ore. Its colour is intermediate between lead- grey and indigo-blue ; it also passes some- times to smoke-grey and black. It occurs sometimes in mass, but usually crystalliz- ed in small six-sided prisms, perfectly equiangular, often a little bulging, and the external surface of which is somewhat I'ough and dull. Internally it possesses a feebly-glimmering, metallic lustre. Its fracture is even, passing into line-grained uneven and flat conchoidal. Its fragments are indeterminately angular. It is opake, gives a shining metallic streak, is soft, somewhat sectile, and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 5.46. It fuses readily before the blowpipe, then bums with a weak blue flame, giv- ing out a penetrating sulphureous vapour, and is reduced to a metallic globule. It has not been regularly analyzed. Klaproth discovered in it some phospho- ric acid, and the other constituent parts are probably sulphur and oxyd of lead. It has hitherto been found only at VOL. I, Zschoppau in SaxoTiy, in veins accompa' nicd by black and brown lead ores, carbo" nat of lead, malachite, quartz, fluor spar' and heavy spar. Sp. 4. Carbonet of Lead. Its colour is greyish or yellowish -white, yellowish-grey, cream-yellow, and light clove-brown, sometimes, though rarely, dark ash-grey. It occurs massive, disse- minated, and superficial ; but most fre- quently crystallized. Its primitive figure is a rectangular octahedron, divisible pa- rallel to the common base of the two py- ramids of which it is composed. The ci-ystals are usually small, rarely middle-sized, either solitaiy or in groups : their surface is generally specular and splendent, sometimes a little rough or striated, and then only glistening. Inter- nally its lusti'e varies from highly resplen- dent to glistening, and is that of the dia- mond, inclining on the one hand to semi- metalllcj and on the other to resinous. Its fracture is small conchoidal, passing into fine-grained uneven and fine splintery or imperfectly fibi'ous, Its fragments are in- determinately angular. It varies from transparent to translucent, and is m a re- markable degree doubly refracting. It is soft, brittle, and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 6.0 to 7.2. Before the blowpipe it decrepitates, be- comes yellow and then red, and if heated on charcoal is immediately reduced. It effervesces slightly in cold nitrous or mu- riatic acid, but more vigorously if the menstruum is warmed. It is blackened by hydrosulphuret of ammonia. It is often confounded with columnar heavy spar, but may be readily distinguished from this by its superior specific gravity and its habitudes with the blowpipe and hydro- sulphuret of ammonia. I'aere are several analyses of this ore, but perhaps the most satisfactory are the following. ^^m From Zitterfeld, From-Leadhills, 0^ by Westrumb. by Klaproth. Oxyd of lead 81.2 77 I^ad Carbonic acid 16. 5 Oxygen Oxyd of iron 0.3 16 Carbonic acid Lime - - - 0.9 2 Water and loss I 98.4 100 Carbonat of lead is almost always ac- companied by galena, and appears to be more frequently found in argillaceous schistus than in any other kind of rock. It is by no means a rare mineral, but seldom occurs in sufficient quantity to be worth . . separating from the adhering spar, &c, for the purpose of smelting. The finest specimens of this ore that are found in Biitain cumc from the mines of Derby- i A LEA LKA shiPe, oi' Lead.hills in Scotland, and Mi- nera in Denbighshire, at which last place the compact variety is remurkubly abun- dant. It also occurs in the Uiuted States. Sp. 5. Black Lead Ore. Its colour is greyish-black passing into smoke-grey. It occurs in mass, dissemi- nated or cellular, or crystallized in six- sided prisms, either simple or terminated by dihedral summits. The crystals are small and grouped confusedly in groups. Their surface is sometimes smooth, sometimes striated longitudinally. Externally it is splendent or shining, internally it is shining or gl).s- tening, witli a lustre approaching to semi- metallic. Its fracture is fine-grained un- even, passing into imperfectly conchoidal. Its fragment's are indeterminately angular. It is opake, or at most translucent on the edges. It gives a greyish-white streak ; it is moderately hard, brittle, and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 5.77. Before the blowpipe it decrepitates, and is quickly reduced to a metallic glo- bule. Jt has recently been analyzed by Lampadiiis, and appears to consist of 72. Lead 7- Oxygen 18. Carbonic acid 2. Carbon 99 It occurs in veins of galena, principally of the most recent formation It usually occupies the upper part of the vein, in- crusting galena, and being itself covered by carbonat or green pliosjihut of lead. It is found in the Lead-hills in Scotland ; in Bohemia and Saxony ; in Brittany in France, and in Siberia. Sp 6. Murii/. of Lead. Its colour varies from the palest grey to wine-yellow. It occurs crystaUized in cubes, either simple or terminated by tetrahedral pyramids, or bevelled on the edges. The crystals are middle-sized and small, and have a splendent vitreous lus- tre. The principal fractiu-e is foliated, the cross fract /-«- ,-v 1 .. 1 71. 24 8 2. 1.0 98 8 70 55 Oxyd of lead. 25.75 Sulphuric acid 2.25 Water 0. Oxyd of iron 98.5 It occurs in veins of galena at Wanloch- head, and in the province of Andalusia in Spain, and in a bed of cellular quartz with iron pyrites and iron ochre at Parys mine in Anglesey. Sp 10. Arseniat of Lead. Of this there are two subspecies. I. Subsp. Reniform Ai-seniat. The colour of the recent fracture is brownish-red, but by exposure to the air it passes into ochre and straw-yellow. It occurs in reniform masses, the surface of which is rough and uneven. Internally it is ghstening with a resinous lustre. Its fracture is conchoidal. It occurs in coarse- granular distinct concretions ; is opake ; gives a dull orange-yellow streak ; is soil and brittle. Sp. gr. 3.92 Before the blowpipe it melts, emits an arsenical odour, and at length is convert- ed into a black shining globule, in which grains of lead are obseiwable. According to an analysis by Bindheim it consists of 35. Oxyd of lead 25. Arsenic acid 1.5 Silver 14. Iron 7. Silex 3. Alumine 10 Water 95.5 It has hitherto been found onlyat Nerst chinsk in Siberia. 2 Subsp. Green Arseniat of Lead. Its colour varies fi'om meadow-green to wax-yellow. It occurs in needles, in fine filaments, in compact masses, and granu- lar concretions. Its lustre varies from sUky to resinous. It is translucent, mode- rately brittle, and easily frangible. Sp. gr. 5.04. Before the blowpipe it gives out an ar- senical vapour, and is reduced to a metal- lic globule. It occurs in veins with galena in Anda- lusia in Spain, and in the departments of the Saone and Loire in France. The arsenico-phosphat of lead of Hauy may probably also be referred hither. Its colour is yellowish-green ; it occurs in mamillary masses, studded with brilliant 1.EA points. Before the blowpipe it i;ives out an arsenical odour. It contains, accoi dini;- to Fourcroy, by whom it has been ana- lyzed, 50 Oxyd of lead 29 Arsenic acid 14 Phosphoric acid 4 Oxyd of iron 3 Water 100 It is met with in a mine at Hosiers in Auvergne. Sp 11. Molybdat of Lead. Sp. 12. Chroniat of Lead, See Chrome. Up. 13. Lead of Ochre. Of these there are two subspecies. 1. Subsp. Indurated. Its colour is yellowish or greenish-grey, straw-yellow, apple-green, smoke-grey, and light brownish-red. It occurs in mass. Internally it is glimmering or glistening, ■with a-resinous lustre. Its fracture is fine- grained uneven, passing into fine splintery and earthy, also into flat conchoidal. It is opake 'or at most shghtly translucent on the edges. It gives a brownish streak; is soft, passing into friable ; is not very brittle, but is easily frangible. It is reducible before the blowpipe, ef- fervesces with acids, and is blackened by hydro-sulphuret of ammonia. It occurs with the other ores of lead, and is usually accompanied by iron pyrites and malachite. 2. Subsp. Friable. Its cclour is yellowish-grey approach- ing to suiphur-ye'Uow. It occurs massive, disseminated, and superficial. It is com- posed of dull, dusty, friable particles ; is meagre and rough to the touch, and is ; heavy. It is found to accompany galena and the other ores of lead, and is found at 'W'an- loch-head and the Lead-hills in Scotland, in the Hartz and Saxony, in Poland, and Sibena. Smelting and Reduction of Lead Ore. — The only ore of lead that is wrought in live large wav is galena, and the method of treating this is very simple, partly on account of the richness of the ore and partly on account of the low price of tlie metal itself, which therefore will not ad- mit of any but the most summary methods | of bringing it inlo a market al)le st.ate. ; TheVe when first brouglit up from the \ mine is dressed by women and hoys, wiio ' with a hand-hammer separate the greater , part of 1 ho adhering imi)urities, consisting ; of blende, iron pyrites, quartz, calciueous , spar, &c. The residue being broken into i nieces about the size of a hazlo nut is | LEA washed from aU adhering cby and dirl, .and is then ready to be snicUed. The furnace used for this purpose is the com- mon reverberatory, with a low arch. A ton or more of the ore is spread on the floor of tlie funiace, and by means of the flame from ])it-coal it is quickly brought to a bright red heat. In this situation it is occasionally stirred with iron rakes to ex- pose fresh surfaces to the action of the flame and facilitate the se])aration of the sulphur. In a short time tiie mass begins to acquire a pasty consistence ; upon which the heat is lowered and the ore is kept at a dull red till the sulphur is nearly all got rid of; the fire being tlien increas- ed the ore is brouglit to a state of perfect fusion, and visibly consists of two fluids ; the lower is the metallic lead, the upper is a vitreous slag, still holding a consider.a- ble portion of lead but mixed with vari- ous impurities. In this state of the process the fire is damped and a few spadefuls of quicklime are thrown into tlie fluid mass ; by tliis tlie scorix are suddenly solidified, and are raked to the side of the furnace ; the tap-hole is then opened, and the lead runs into moulds placed to receive it, where it congeals into oblong masses call- ed pigs, weighing about 60 lbs each. As soon as the lead has run out of the fur- nace, the tap-hole is closed, the scorix are replaced in the bed, and being quickly raised to a glowing red heat are soon melted ; the greatest part of the lead that they contained by this means collects into a mass at the "bottom ; a little lime is thrown in as before, the seorix thus ren- dered solid are raked aside, and tlie lead which they covered is let ofl" into a mould. This second scoriae, though still holding from 5 to 8 per cent, of lead, is nf)W' re- moved from the furnace, and applied to no purpose but that of mending roads, the expence of separating the last portions of metal being more than the value of the prodi\ce. The lead of Ihe first rimning is the best ; that procured from the scorise being sen- sibly harder, and less malleable on account of tlie iron tli:it it contains. It is a matter of doubt among the most intelligent smelters whether there is any advantage in retaining the carbonat of lead, witli which the galena is very often mixed in considerable proportion. On the one hand it is certain that it contains a hu-ge quantitv of met;d, and in assays is very casilv reducible; but ci the other hand, wht'n treated in the reverberatory, it vhrifies almost at the first impression of the heat, and beii'.g a very active flux it is apt to bring the wiiole into fusion while much sulphur still remains tinsublimcd ; LEA ij!:a hence the amount of scorix is procligious- iy increased, and with it the trouble of tlie smelters, wliile the produce of lead is very little augmented. Citizen Dubamel, in his Memoii' on the Keiining' of Leati in the large way, has given a sketch of the process used in England. The object of refining lead is not merely on account of the silver it contains, but to procure it as free as possible from the other metals with which it is usually allowed, and to procure lithai-ge. The silver is only an object so far as it helps to pay tlie expense of refining. The lead produced at the smelting hearths or firtaaces in England is never perfectly pure ; it is always alloyed with a portion of silver, and most commonly with one, or most of the following metals ; namely, zinc, antimony, copper, and arsenic ; which render it unfit for some of the purposes to which lead is applied. The operation of refining is founded on the facility with which lead is oxidated "when exposed to heat in contact with atmosplieric air, and the peculiar proper- ties the oxides of lead possess ; being easily fused, and in that state oxidating and combining with most of the metals ; gold, silver, and phitina excepted. 'I'he lead to be refined is exposed to the action of heat and air upon a cupel or ttst, composed of a mixttu-e of bone and fern ashes in a i-everberatory furnace. The refining furnace is composed of good solid masonry, bound together with iron bolts. It diifers very little in its construction from the common reverbera- tory furnace, except tlie bottom, which is perforated to receive the test or cupel. A good test is of the first importance in refinuig ; the method of constructing one we shall endeavour to point out. Six parts of well burnt bone ashes and one pai't of good fern ashes are to be well mixed, sifted through a sieve, (tlie spa- ces in which are about one-eighth of an inch square,) and moistened to about the same degTee the founders use their sand. The iron frame is to be laid on the floor and made stead)', with wedges under its rim; about two inches in thickness of the ashes are to be equally spread over the bottom, and with an u"on beater, such as used by tlie founders, equally rammed between the cross bars ; the frame is to be again tilled and rammed aU over, be- ginning at tiie ciicumfcreuce and work- ing spiral ways until finishe_d in the cen- tre, the filling and ramming to be repea- ted until the frame is completely full ; an excavation to contain the lead is made as expressed in the plan, with a sharp spade about five inches square, the edges dres- sed with a long-bladed knife ; a scmi- eliptical hole, is to be cut through the breast. Having proceeded so far, the test is to be turned on its side and dres- sed from all superfluous ashes adhering to the bottom, taking care that none shall be left flush with the bottom of the frame or cross bars, otlierwise in fixing the test to its situation at the bottom of the furnace it would be liable to be bulged. Fixing the Test in its situation. — TIip rim of the test is now to be plastered with ch y or moistened ashes, placed upon the supporting cross bars, and fixed with wedges firmly against the botttom of the furnace, the breast next to the feeding hole. A gentle fire may now be lighted, and gradually increased until the test be red hot. When it ceases to emit steam from the under side it is sufficienlly dry. Lead previously melted in the iron pot is ladled into the test until the hollow part be nearly filled, the operator closes the feeding aperture, and increases the heat of the furnace until the sm-face of liie lead is well covered with litharge ; he tlien removes the door from the feeding hole, and w ith an iron rod, which has one end bent down at right angles about three inches and made flat or chissel-shaped, scrapes the small gutter or channel until the litharge just flows into it, the blast from a pair of double bellows is then directed from the back part over the sur- face of the test, the litharge is urged for- ward, and flows from the gutter upon the floor of the refinery ; the operation now goes forward, gradually adding leid as the escape of litharge makes it neces- sary, until the gutter is so worn down that the test does not contain more than an inch in depth of lead ; the blast is then taken off, the gutter filled up with mois- tened ashes, and a fresh one made on the other side the breast ; the test is again filled, though not so full as at first, and the operation carried en until this gutter also is worn down and the test contain from about fifty to seventy pounds of alloy. This quantity is run into an iron pot, and set by until a sufficient number of pieces have been collected to make it worth v.hile to take off a plate of pure silver from them. The quantity of alloy left, in the working off each test must dei^end in a great measure upon the quantity of silver it, by estimation, is supposed to contain. A sufficient quantity of lead sliould always be left in the alloy to make it fuse easily in tlie iron pot. ■\Mien the test is removed from the LEA LEA furnace and broken up, the litliavpc uill be found to liave penetrated to an incon- sidcTuble but equal depth in tlie ashes ; that part not impregnated with lithui-ge may be pulverised, mixed with fresh ashes, and again used for another test. The operation of taking oif the silver pure, diH'ers in no respect from the forego- ing, only moi'C care is observed in the working, not to suffer the escape of any metallic particles with the litharge, as that would occasion consideiable waste of silver. As the process advances, and the proportion of silver to lead increases, the litharge assumes a darker colour, a greater heat becomes necessary, and at last the brightening takes place ; the interior of the furnace, which during the whole of the process had been very obs- cure and misty, clears up. When the operator observes the surface of tl\e sil- ver to be free from litharge, lie removes the blast of the bellows, and suffers the furnace to cool gradually ; as the silver cools many protuberances arise on the surface, and fluid silver is ejected from them witii considerable force, which fal- ling again on the plate spots it very ian- tastically whh small globules. The latter portions of litharge bring over a considerable quantity of silver with them ; this is generally reduced by itself and again refined. The litharge as it falls upon tlie floor of the refinery is occasionally removed ; it is in clots at first, but after a short time as it cools it tidls for the most part like slacked lime, and appears in t'oe brilliant scales it is met with in commerce : if it is intended as an article for sale, nothing more is necessary than to sift it from the clots which have not fallen and pack it in barrels. If, on the contrary, it is intentded to be manufactured into pure lead, it is placed in a veverberatory furnace, mixed with clean small-coal, and exposed to a lieat just sufficier.t to fuse the litharge. The metal as it is reduced flows through an aperture into an iron i)ot, and is cast into ])igs for sale. During the reducing, care is taken to keep tiie whole surface of the litliarge in the furnace covered with small- coal. In some smelt works, instead of a rever- beratory furnace for reducing, a blast furnace is made use of, on account of the greater produce, but tiie lead so reduced is never so pure as that made in the wijid furnace. The oxides of the metals, which require a greater heat to reduce than the lead, are in the blast Jurnace generally re- duced willi it. Tiie volatile oxides, as zinc, antimony. and arsenic, are mostly carried olf by evaporation during refining; a considera- ble portion of the oxide of lead itself is car- ried oft" by evaporation, making; die in- terior of the furnace so misty and oi)scure that a person unused to refining cannot sec more than a few inciies into it- A considerable portion of these oxides are driven by the blast of the bellows through the feeding aperture, and would be dissipated in the refining-house, to the great injury of the workmen's healths. Lead is a metal of a blueish-white co- lour, almost silver-white, when recently melted, but very soon tarnishes. It gives a peculiar smell when rubbed or heated. Its specific gravity, according to Brisson, is 11,352. It is very malleable, readily ex- tending under the hammer into very thin leaves ; but its tenacity is less than that of any other metal, for a wire one tenth of an inch in diameter will break with a weight of 30 lbs. Lead is the least sonorous of all the metals, giving, when struck, a very fiat heavy sound. It melts long before being red-hot. The melting point of this metal has been variously given, owing to the known irregularity of the mercurial ther- mcnneters at very high temperatures. Morveau gives it at 590° Fahr. Ac- cording to Mr. Crichton,it is 61^". When slowly" cooled, it crystallizes in quadran- gular pyramids. Heated fully to redness it smokes and sublimes in the ojien air, giving a grey oxyd, wliich settles on tlie sides of the' vessel that contains it, or if in large quantity, mixes with the atmo- sphere around, and collects in the chim- nies of the furnaces where it is melted. Lead in all forms and combinations, is poisonous vvlien taken in any (juantity, and a freciuent exposure to its vapour, or much handling it, gradually produces dangerous bowelcomijlaints, paralytic symptoms, and other maladies. Though the surface of lead at a com. mon temperature soon tarnishes, this me- tal will remain exposed to air, and all weathers, for a great length of time with, out further change, the oxidated surface protecting the inner ])art from destruc- tion, and hence the durability of leaden roofs, pipes. Sec but yet in process of time the whole is corroded throughout. Water has but little direct action on this metal either hot or cold, not being decomposed by it as it is by iron and some other metals ; but it slowly assists the ac tion of the air. for lead will be corroded sooner in a damp than in a dry atmos- phere. When lead is melted in free exposure LEA lo the air, it becomes almost immediately covered with a wrinkled pellicle of a dirty g-rey colour, and if tliis is skimmed off others form in succession, till tlie whole metal is changed into a yellowish-grev oxyd, tlie weight of which was one of the earliest observations made on the effect of calcination in increasing the weight of metals. This grey oxyd, by a further continu, ance of heat v/itii constant stii-ring, passes through various shades of a greenisli-yel- Jow to a deep dun-yellow, ownig to a suc- cessive absorption of oxygen. Tiie high- est state of oxygenation to be produced by mere calcination, appears to be that in which the oxyd has a beautiful high red colour, with more or less scarlet, wl\cn it is called Minium or Red Lead, a sub- stance well known as a pigment, and es- pecially as a Hux in glass-making, for which it is largely empioved. Minium, liowever, cannot be made with any certainty in the small way by mere calcination in the air, however long this is continued, the colour of the oxv'd never rising higher than a dun yellow ; "it is only produced in manufactories in tlie large way, with frequent stirring. Tlie process for making red lead, is thus described bv Ur. AYatson, as carried on in Derbysliire. The furnace is very much like a baker's oven, with a low vaulted roof, and on each sid.e of tlie furnace are two partv-w alls, rising from the floor of the surtiice, but not reaching to the roof. In the interval between these walls and the sides of the furnace, the coal is burned, and the Hame draws over the top of tlie party-walls, and su-iking the roof is thence reflected down upon the surface of a quantity of lead, which is laid on the floor of the furnace. The metal soon melts, and instantly be- comes covered with a peUicie, wh'ch is successively raked off till the whole is changed into a greenish-yellow powder. This is taken out, ground" in a mill, and washed, to separate the portion of lead that still I eniains in tlie metalUc state, by which it becomes an uniform vellow co- lour, and is then thrown back into die fur- nace and constantly stirred, so that every part may be equally exposed to the action of the flame, and in about forty-eight hours of calcination it is converted into red lead. Some practical nicety is required in the management of the fire, which, if too slack, gives only a yellow or orange co- loured powder, and if too tierce ciakes the minium dusky, and destroys that brilliant gloss for wliich it is so much admired. There are, besides, other minuter circum- stances of management, and probably LEA kept secret as much as possible. Jars mentions in particular, tliat of cooling the minium when made very gradually, and closing all the openings of the furnace, otherwise the beauty of colour is much impaired. Some makers also sprinkle the siuface with water occasionally, during the calcination. In Holywell, minium is made from lith- arge, which saves the previous calcina- tion. A portion of the lead in the process of conversion into minium, is always lost by voiatihzation, part of it being dis'sipatedlii the air, and another part settling in tlie chimnies, and on tlie roofs of the fuj-nace, in the form of a }ello wish -white soot, with crystallized lumps intermixed, which is collected from time to time, and either re- duced into lead, or is mixed with the lead in the subsequent calcination. The quan- tity of this sublimate collected, according to Watson, is about -j|_ of tliatof the mi- nium produced, but of course must vary greatly. On this account, and from the loss by entire volatilization in the air, it is impossible to ascertain, du-ectlv, the full increase of weight which the lead should acquire by conversion into minium. The actual increase is, on an average, about a tenth, twenty hundred weight of lead pro- ducing twenty-two hundred of minium. It has been mentioned, that tlie oxyd of lead becomes yellow before it ttirns'red. The substance called .Massicoc, and used as a yellow pigment, is generally made of this yellow oxyd ; but the finer sorts arc said to ha\e an addition of muriat of am- monia, and to be tlierefore a muriated oxyd of lead, or approaching to that fine pigment, called the Naples yellow, which will be afterwards noticed Litharge is another of the oxyds of lead, made by the simple action of heat andau\ It is produced in the process of extracting the silver from lead, as will be more fidly described under that article. The silver- holding lead, is put into a large shallow dish made of ashes, and therefore verv porous, and is kept till red-hot in a wind"- furnace, at the back of which enters the pipe of large bellows that direct a blast of au- on the siuface of tlie red-hot metal. This converts it into a scaly vellowish- white glistening oxyd, which is' raked off successively to expose new surfaces^ till nearly the whole of the lead is thus chang- ed into litharge. There are slight varia- tions in the colour of litharge, some kinds having more of a silvery gloss, others be- ing of a dead red-yellow. Part of it is again reduced mto very pure and soft lead, and the rest is selected for sale. The waste of lead by volatilization, is many LEA times more ii^ reducing lead into litharge than into minium; so that, thougli tliere is a lara-c (,'ain of oxygen tVom the an, the litharee weighs less than the lead trom which it was produced, l^art of it, how- ever, is lost by soaking into the test, a porous vessel in wliich it is made. All the oxvds of lead, wlicii strongly heated to a full redness, very readily run into a glass wliich has a clear topaz-vel- low colour, and is the most powerful ttux known of every vitrifiable matter ; so tl.at, in a very short time, the vitrihcd oxyd corrodes all tlie common crucibles, and runs through them like a sieve, and even the closest porcelain can only retain it tor a time. Minium, in vitrification, always eives out a quantity of oxygen gas ; but the quantity varies much, even in the same sample, and is never so much as b per cent. During the vitrification, a por- tion of the mininim is spontaneously reduc- ed to the metallic state, and is found at the bottom of the crucible. A fuller account of the vitrifving power of the oxyds ot lead, will be found under the article The yelloi^i oxyd of lead is that which appears to be the basis of by far the grea- ter number of the salts of this metal, and therefore is of i>rimary importance, it is formed in the calcination of this .metal per se, and is formed at so early a period that it is nrobably the first change tliat this metal" undergoes by union with o.y- g-en, though, as already mentioned, tUe colour is not obvious at first, on account of being mixed with metallic lead hncly attenuated, and not yet oxygenated, which debases tlie colour to grey or yeliow.Bb- jivcen, till it is sepiu-ated by washing. Massicot h the vellow o.\yd, as pure as it lan be formed by mere calcination, but as this is changed' to mcnium by coutmu- ing the process, the yellow oxyd made by he'at can never be procured so umtorm as by s(jhili()n. , <• i i * There is vet another oxyd ot lead to be noticed, which is the bmm oxyd. In this the lead is at tiie Inghest state of oxvgenation. It was first discovered bv Sc'heele and many of its distinguishing properties noticed by him. It is procured by adding nitric acid to muuum. 1 lie experiments of Scheele are the follow- ing If finely powdered minium be dissolved in nitrous acid, diluted with a triple quan. tity of water, a black <.r brown powder remains, which is the oxyd in question. This is not soluble in the acid by it.'.elt, but on adtliv.14- a little sugar a clear solu- tion is immediately obtained. The same happens with dilute vitriolic acid. It LEA muriatic acid be poured on the black powder, an effervescence takes place wJien warmed, and a strong smell of aqua regia (oxymuriatic acid) rises, the powder becomes white, and is turned into common wliite muriat of lead. If the oxyd be dis- tilled by itself in a glass i-etort, it grows yellow and becomes in every respect similar to the common yellow oxyd of lead, and is then entirely soluble in nitrous acid, and no longer gives any . smell of oxvmuriatic acid. ^ It may be of use to recapitulate all the oxyds and carbonated oxyds of lead m the supposed order of oxygenation, (be- ginning with the lowest) with their lead- ing properties, premising, that this i* a suljject in which tliere are still many points of uncertainty which it would not be very difficultfor future experiments to clear up. The sub-oxyd, stated by Froust to be formed by boiling the nitrat of lead with reguline lead. Tiie existence of this is doubtful. Tlic yellow oxyd, presumed to be tlic basis of most of" the salts of lead, pai;ti- cularly the common nitrat from which its proportions have been deduced. It is produced either by heating minium till it no longer gives out oxygen, or by calcining the solid nitrat (in both of which cases it is mixed with reduced lead) or more accurately by heating the white carbonat nearlv to melting, or by decom- posing the salts of which it is tiie basis bv caustic alkali. It gives no oxygen gas w'lien heated even to meUing. It contains, according to Proust, 9 per cent, of oxv- o-en, and occording to Thomson about 10 per 'cent. It vet "remains to be proved whether it does not aciiuire some other ingredient from the long-contintied cal- cination with coal-Hames besides oxygen. JMcissicot is tlie vellow oxyd formed by the calcination of" lead in its progress to the state of minium, and probably resem- bles tiie yellow oxyd very closely, but is less uniform in its composition. Minium or red oxyd is fornned by long- continued calcination of lead, is insoluble as such in acids, apparently fi-om being loo hiHily oxygenated. Its composition is vu-iously stated, and probablx- really va-_ ries according to tlie circumstances ot manufacture. Vauquelin states it to con- tain generally no more than 9 per cent, ot oxygen ; Thomson, 12 per cent, and others somewhat higher. Though it u;ivesout oxygen n'hen heat- ed, and '[. isses to the yellow oxyd, this is not an unexceptionable pi-oof of its con- taining more oxygen, on account of the entire reduction of a portion which always takes place, but the strongest proof ol LEA LEA lis super-oxygenation is derived from the action of nitric acid as already described, and its separation into two oxyds, of which the least oxygenated is the yellow oxyd, but if it is really the basis of the sulphat ot lead it would appear to contain no more tliaix about 7 per cent The bro'mn oxyd is formed by tlie further oxygenation of minium, is insoluble as such in acids, with muriatic acid gives oxymuriatic acid gas, gives out much oxygen on being heated, and contains, ac- cording to Thomson, 18.4 per cent, of oxy- gen, and according to Proust 21 per cent. lAtharge, according to Thomson, is the yellow oxyd combined with about 4 per cent, of carbonic acid. The vchite carbonat is the yellow oxyd fully saturated with cai-bonic acid and water, both of which are driven off at a red heat and the yellow oxyd left pure. All the pure oxyds or carbonated oxyds of lead are reducible with great ease when heated red hot in contact with carbonace- ous matter. It is not necessary to mix them with any reducing flux, nothing more being required in the way of expe- riment than to lay them in a covered cru- cible lined with charcoal. The same re- duction takes place when heated by the blowpipe on chaixoal. Wiien sU'ongly heated per se, and especially in a draught of hot air, the oxyds of lead partly volatilize during vitrification. Lead is soluble in most acids. All the salts have a sweetish taste, and are strong- ly styptic or astringent in the moutli. Prussiat of potash causes a white pre- cipitate, and all the bydrosulphurets a deep black-brown precipitate, even in very minute quantities, so as to funiish an excellent test for the presence of this metal. The carbonic acid unites readily with the oxyd of lead, forming (as already mentiontd) the white carbonat when fully saturated, and in a less proportion, con- verting ihe yellow ox}d to the state of litharge. The proportions of these two carbonats have been already given. Tlie white carbonat is produced by decompos- ing the nitrat or any other salt by a car- bonated alkali. Water holding curbonic acid will readily dissolve enough of the oxyd of le*d by remaining some time in contact, so as to be very readily detected by the hydro-sulphurets. Cerusse or Huliite lead is a carbonat pre- pared in the first part of the process of making acetite of lead. It is made in the following way : lead is melted and cast in a case or mould, so as to form a sheet about two feet long, five inches broad,. VOL. I. and from one-sixteenth to one-fourtli of an inch tliick. The lead in this instance is cast at once of tlie proper form, and not mechanically flattened like sheet lead, tliat its texture may be more open, and more easily penetrated by the acid vapour, These plates are then rolled up into a loose coil, and each is l^d perpendicular- ly in an earthen pot, like a common gar- den-pot, holding from two to six pints eacli, but with a ledge on the inside about half way down on which the coil of lead rests, so that it may not touch the bot- tom. Each pat is filled with vinegar of any kind, just so high as not to wet the bottom of the lead, and the whole is also covered witli a plate of lead fitting very close. The pots are then ranged under a building, so as to shelter them from the weather, and buried pretty deep in fresh stable litter or Tanner's bark, layer upon layer, according to tlie number of pots. The heat of the dung soon fills the upper part of the pots with the vapour of the vinegar below, and the lead kept con- stantly in contact with the acid vapour, but not immersed in the liquor, presently begins to corrode and oxidate at the sur- face. The pots remain under the litter for about two months, at the end of which time they are taken out and the coils of lead are found deeplj' corroded and the surface converted into a whitish scaly brittle oxyd. This is separated by passing the plates between rollers, which causes it to peel off, leaving the lead beneath in the metallic state. This oxyd is then mixed with a little water, and passed be- tween a pair of mill-stones ; then the finer paits are separated from Uie coarser by successive washings, the former being longer suspended in water than the latter, till the whole of the finer oxyd is obtain- ed. This is tlien dried either in the air or in large airy rooms warmed by a small stove, and is then perfect cerusse or white lead fit for use. Of late years the scales of oxyd, instead of being separated from the coils by dry laminating, which raised a dust of lead highly injurious to the liealth of the people about tliem, are de- tached by spreading the coils upon a per- forated wooden floor covered w ith water, and drawing them to and fro by rakes, which detaches the oxyd and causes it to sink through the water and the holes of the floor to the bottom of the vessel be- low. The cerusse or white lead thus formed was found by Bergman to be a carbonated oxyd of lead, and not an acetite or sub- acetite, though the acetous acid is the means of its formatioii. The iicet(,:!s acid does not dissolve Ifead LEA LEA I when in close vessels, but with access of air it first oxidates it, and then dissolves the oxyd. Or the solution may be made by adii'.ijj ox'm ot lead or carbonated oxyd to vinegu!-, and digesting for a lime. Acetite of lead, commonly called sugar of lead, is a salt used very largely in ma- nufactures, particularly iiicalictj-printing, and tlie preparation of it, though very simple, is confined to a very few places and countries. Most of the sugar of lead used in England is imported from Hol- land. Tliis salt is made very nearly in the manner of ccrusse, tiiat is, lead sheets are put into po;.s with vinegar and digested a sufficient time, but here the vinegai* is dis- tilled, and the plates, instead of being en- tirely out of the liquor, are half immersed in it. This being done, the upper half is soon covered with an efflorescence of cerusse, after which it is immersed in tlie vinegar, and tlie part which was before immersed is now brought up to be con- verted into cerusse as before, when tlie plate is again turned, and the newly oxy- dated siutkce in its turn buried in the liquoi'. The plates are thus turned about two or three times a day, and the vinegar in saturating itself with the cerusse has be- come milky, and soon sufficiently impreg- nated to be boiled down to the crystalliz- ing point, which is done in tinned vessels to about a third of the original quantity. This is then strained, and, on cooling, de- posits the acetite in small long-needled irregular whitish crystals. The mother- liquor is again evaporated for a fresh crop of crystals, but these are browner and somewhat deliquescent. Acetite of lead may also be made di- rectly by dissolving cerusse or litharge in vhiegar, and pi'obably the natural carbo- nat will answer the same purpose. Some tecluiical nicety appears to be required in making tlie salt crystallize in the lai-ge way. Sugar of lead has a remarkably sweet vaste, by no means unpleasant, but mixed with considerable astringency. By re -so- lution in boiling water and slow cooling, it changes its appearance considerably, and assumes the form of large transjjarent tetraiiedral prisms or lengllicnedparallel- opepids. Caibonic acid in any form decom- poses this salt, and causes a white carbo- nat to be precipitai ed, and hence one cause of the milkiuess which it usually assumes witli spring water ; but this is also partly owing to the sulphats contained in most natural springs. AVhtn dry acetite of lead is briskly heat- ed wi liout addition in a returt, it gives an acetous red fetid liquor, and the resi- due of the distillation furnishes a good pyropborus. But Proust, in distilling il very slowly, obtained firet a wateiy vine- gar, then a yellow liquid with the smell ot alcohol but rather empyreumaiic, from which after a time ammonia was disen- gaged, and from which, when saturated with potash, a strong smelling ethei ial oil separated. The liquid distilled from the solution famished a strong inflammable fluid resembling ether. Litharge boiled with vinegar to entii-e saturation forms a reddish-brown solution, universally known in medicine as Gou- lard's extract, and it seems to contain much more oxyd of lead than tlie com- mon acetite. I^ead and nitre have but a very w'eak action on each other. When lead filings are projected on melted nitre, lit', 'e if any deflagration is excited, but the metal is reduced to a yellow semi-vitrified foliated mass resembling litharge. The action of the oxyds of lead on the alkaline muriats is attended with some striking phenomena. In the numerous experiments for obtaining the alkali from muriat of soda, it was found that litharge was able completely to decompose this salt and produce a white mass, whilst the naked alkali remained in soluuon. This discovery has been applied to use in the large way on account of the fine yellow pigment which is obtained from the white mass by calcination, and for which a pa- tent was procured niany years ago by Air. Turner. Turner's Patent Yellow, or tlie sub-mu- riat of lead made yellow by licating, is ihus made according to the speciiicati:)n of the patent : take any quantity of minium, li- tharge, or calx of lead, add half the weiglit of common salt, with wafer suffi- cicnt to dissolve it, mix them b\ long tri- turation, and let them stand together at least for twenty-four hours, by which time the lead will be cliangcd into a good wiiite; then wash out the alkali and calcine tiie lead till it becomes yelhnv ; which will be of difiercnt tints according to the con- tinuance of calcination and degrees of heat. As only twice as much litharge as salt is here employed, it is probable that some of the salt remains undecomposed. T!ie oxyds of lead readily decompose munat of ammonia If this salt and mi- nium are rubbed together even without lieat, a strong smell of ammonia rises, and by distillation properly conducted, caustic ammonia may be prepared in this way as well as by murialed ammonia and lime. Jf litharge be used, some carbonat of am- monia is also obtained, and whh the whito carbonat of lead the entire ammoniacal product is carbonated. The residue in LEA LEA each case Is muriat of lead, in the form of I a grey brilliant brittle mass. See Colour ,• Making. j The fat oils dlssolve*the oxyds of lead ; with great case, and underg-o a remarka- ; ble cliange in the process, being thereby x'endered drying, or capable of speedily hardening into a firm varnish when ex- posed to the air. Some oils, particularly oUve oil, acquire at once a very firm con- i sistence and a considerable adliesive pro- perty, when gently warmed. It is in this slate the common white diaciiylon plaster. See the article On,. I^ad is capable of uniting with many otiier metals, forming alloys, some of which are of use in the arts. Four parts of lead and one of antimony form, according to Rinman and other au- thors, the common type-metal of tlie letter- founders, though some add a little cop- per or brass. This resembled the last-men- tioned alloy in appearance, and would not take a polish- Sp. gr 9.571. Eight parts of lead and one of antimony gave an alloy very like pure lead, but harder and more sonorous, and of a close granulai" texture like steel. Sp. gr. 11. Twelve of lead andone of antimony gave an alloy scarcely less malleable than lead, and capable of extending into very thin leaves. Antimony therefore is found to harden lead very coiisiderably, and hence its \ise in type-metal, and also probably in bullets, where greater hardness is required, but it does not add materially to its lustre, ex- cept in a quantity which totally destroys the malleabiUty. Lead and bismuth unite \vith great ease, and form alloys of remarkable fusibility, particularly with a small addition of tin, as described under the article Bismuth. Lead and cobalt unite but with difficul- ty, forming an unimportant alloy. See Cobalt. Lead alloyed with copper forms pot- metal. See Copper. For the important alloy of lead and tin, iee Tin. Lead and zinc do not unite readily un- less by particular management. The ores of this metal are abundantly found in tlie mine counties of England, and in various other parts of the globe- Its uses are numerous, and scarcely need be mentioned. Its oxides have been al- ready mentioned as of great use, as pig- ments, and in the manufacture of glass. Lead is cast into thin sheets for covering buildings, making water-pipes, and vai'i- ous other uses ; and this is rolled between two cylinders of iron, to give it the re- qiiisite uniformity and thinness. Lead is thought, and with some reason, to be not perfectly hmocent even for water pipes, and much less for any other kind of ves- sels. The workmen in any of the prepara- tions of lead are generally subject to a peculiar cholic and paralytic disorders ; wliich most probably arise from the inter, nal use of the metal : for it is a fact, that these workmen are not sufficiently cau- tious in vv-ashing their hands, or removing such particles of lead, or its prepara- tions, as may casually intermix with their food. A patent was granted in 1779 to Mr. W. KoE, for his new-invented process of exti-acting sulphur from poor lead ores, and rendering these as valuable, and sale- able, as any other ores of this metal. As this patent is now expired, and the prin- ciple of the inventor is equally simple and ingenious, we trust it is, or will be, gene- rally adopted in smelting-houses : the inquisitive reader will find it fully speci- fied in the 6th vol. of the " Repertory of ^rts and ^M'lniifactures " The plumbers cast thin sheets of lead upon a table or mould covered with wool- len, and above this a linen cloth, without burning or scorching the cloths. The melted lead is received in a wooden case without a bottom ; which, being drawn down the sloping table by a man on each side, leaves a sheet of its own width, and more or less thin, according to the greater or smaller celerity of its descent. For thick plates, the table is covered over with moistened sand, and the liquid metal con- ducted evenly over it, by a wooden strike, which bears on a ledge at each side. Some have preferred, for mechanic uses, the milled lead, or flatted sheets. Lead is put up for sale either in pigs, bars, or sheets. The milled or sheet lead is the dearest, then follow the bars, and the pigs are the lowest sort. Lead, how formed into sAof.— Lead is employed in considerable quantities in the casting of shot, for which a patent was granted iii 1782, to Mr. AVilliam Watts, in consequence of his invention for granu- lating lead solid throughout, without those imperfections which other kinds of shot usually present on their surface. The patentee directs 20 cwt. of soft pig- lead to be melted in an iron pot, round the edge of which, a peck of coal-ashes is to be strewed upon the sm-face of the me- tal, so as to leave the middle of the latter exposed. Forty pounds of arsenic are next to be added to the uncovered lead, and the pot closely shut ; the edges of the lid being carefully luted with mortar, clay, or other cement, in oi-der to prevent the evaporation of the arsenic. A brisk fire LEA i.i:A IS Uien kindled, so that the two substances may be properly incorporatad ; when tlie metal ought to be skimmed and laded in- to moulds, that it may cool in t!>e form of ingots or bars, which, when cold, arc call- ed slag, or poisoned metal — 20 cwt. of soft pig-lead, (according to the quantity of shot intended to be manufactured) are next to be melted in the manner above di- rected ; and, when it is completely lique- fied, one of the ingots or bars of slag must be added : as soon as the whole is combin- ed, a small quantity ofthe liquid metal is to be taken out with a ladle, and dropped from a height of about ty,o feet into the water. If the shot be not perfectly round, it will be necessar\' to add more slag, till it drops in a globular form. The metal is next skimmed, and the scum poured into an iron or copper frame perforated with round holes, according to the size ofthe shot designed ; the scum is then to be squeezed while soft, tlirough the frame, into which the liquid should be poured, and dropped through the holes. For the smallest shot, the frame must be at least ten feet above the water, and for the lar- gest, about 150 feet; the height being in- creased or diminished, in proportion to the size ofthe shot. JLead White, a machine for worihig in.— Description of a method of preventing in jury to the health ofthe workmen employ ed in preparing White Lead. By Mr Archer "Ward, in his own words : In order to explain, as well as I can, the advantage that will accrue to the work men by adopting my invention, in prefer- ence to the common mode of preparing white lead, I will first state what the com- mon mode is. When blue lead is in part corroded in the stacks, by an acid raised by a considerable degree of heat, brought on by horse-litter, the corroded and un- corroded lead are taken from the stacks to a room, called the engine-loft, where a pair of iron rollers is fixed with a screen imder them. The lead in this state is pass- ed through the rollers and screen ; from the motion of these rollers and screen, by which the white lead is separated from the uncorroded or blue lead, together with the moving the lead, in order to its being passed through them, a very consi- derable quanthy of fine dusty white lead is raised, which almost covers the work- men thus employed, and is very pernicious to them. And not only in this part ofthe process arc they liable to he thus injured, b\it they are again exposed to the dusty lead, by removing the blue lead fiom the screen-house to the furnace, a.s there still remains a quantity of the fine particles of white lead, which of course rises in re- moving it ; and also, in removing the white lead from imder the screen to the giind- ing-tub, a quantity of the dust arises, which is very detrimental to the people so employed. My invention removes all these difficul- ties respecting the dry dusty white lead, so very injurious to the health of the working people ; and consists of a vessel, as shown in the plate, fig. 1, twelve feet long, six feet wide, and tlirec feet ten in- ches deep. In this vessel is fixed a pair of brass rollers in a frame, one roller above the other. The centre of the rollers is about ten inches below the top ofthe ves- sel ; and, one inch lower, is a coverhig ot oak boards or riddles, an inch thick, fix- ed in the inside ofthe vessel, in a groove, 60 as to be taken out occasionally : these boards are bored, with a centre-bit, as full of holes as may be, without danger of breaking into each other ; the size of these holes is, in the machine at large, about five-eighths of an inch in diameter. This being done, the vessel is filled with water, about three inches above the oak boai-ds or riddles; the lower brass roller is now under water, and about half of the upper roller is under water also. Thus the lead coming from the stacks, is put thiough the brass rollers in water, and, by raking the lead with a copper rake, over the oak boards or riddles, the white lead passes through the riddles, and the blue lead re- mains above; which, being taken out, is thrown upon an inclined plane of strong laths to drain, where it remains about 12 hours, when the blue lead is ready for the fiu-nace to be re-melted ; by this means no dusty white lead can rise in any part to the work-jieople. No such plan as this (although long desired) has, to my know- ledge, been put in execution, so as to an- swer all the purposes above stated. It may be asked, why the lead in the com- mon mode, is not made wet before it is passed through the j'oUers and screen. Should this be done, the lead would be a paste on the rollers and screen, and the white lead ])revcntcd separating from the blue lead, which is absolutely necessary in the prepaiation of white lead. LEA ^ LEA :machine for working in white lead. Reference to the figure. Pig. 1, A, an inclined plane of wood, on which the white and blue lead is placed immediately from the stacks, and thus in- traduced between the brass rollers BB. CC, the vessel containing water. DDD, the pierced oak boards or rid- dles, whicli, by being- made to slide in J^rooves m the sides of the vessel CC, may occasionally be taken out by removinsrthe wooden bar ee. E, a handle or winch, which, in the ma- chine at large, may be a wheel communi- cating- to miU-work, and thus turn the rollers BB. F, a pinion, fixed on the gudgeon of the upper roller, and communicating witii a similar pinion on the arbor of the lower roller, keeping both of them in motionbv the turn of the handle. As it is necessa- i-y that tlie upper roller should be at li. berty to rise or fall, in order to give a due degree of pressure to the lead in passing between the rollers, two weights Gtf, with proper stems to them, are nlaced over tlie gudgeons of the upper 'roller, thereby keeping a due degi-ee of pres- sure ; and, if any piece of the lead should be thicker tlian usual, admitting the roll- er to give way to it, and thereby prevent- ing any injury to the machinery. H, a notch in one side of tlie wooden vessel, sei-vingto regulate the depth of the water on the riddles DDD. Tlie foregoing description is accompa- nied by two certificates ; one from Mr. Samuel Walker Parker, stating that ma- ny tons of white lead have been made, in LEA LEA the manner above described, at tlie ma- nufactory at Islington, belonging to Walk- er, "Ward, and Co. and that, since Mr. Waiil's plan was adopted, no other me- *liod has been used. The other cirtifi- cate'is from Mr. H. Browne, of Irongate, Derby ; who says, that he thinks the fore- going invention a very valuable improve- aient in preparing white lead, and that the quality of the lead is not in the least in- jui-ed by it. Mr. Wethcrill, of this cit}-, obtained a patent for a somewhat similar contri- vance. Lead, Ores of, ^^merican. — The ores of this metal abound in different parts ofthe United States; but none ofthe mines pro- duce so much lead as those of Louisiana, from which the greater part of the lead is obtained. As to the situation of the lead mines of Louisiana, and the number of persons employed in mining, every infor- mation may be found in lireckenridge's Ilistoiy of the productions of that state. The lead ore is galena, though other ores have been procured, but not in any quan- tity. In the state of Pennsylvania, lead is found at Ferkiomen, and in otlier dis- tricts. The ore is principally suljjhuret of lead. In the eastern, as well as in the southern states, this metal also occurs. We shall notice the American ores of lead more fully, under the article Ore. LEAD, Sugar of or Acetite of Lead (See the foregoing article) LEAD, red ") LEAD, Litharge of f g^^ ^ead. LEAI>, ores ot i JjEAD, Submuriate of J LEATHER. The preparation ofthe skins of animals for the many important purposes to which they are ai>j>lied is almost exclusively a chemical process in all its branches, and as such will deserve a general notice in this place. The art of preparing leather is unques- tionably one of the most ancient known, and is practised in every country on the face ofthe globe with a general similarity of method, the result of obvious reason- ing, and long experience. The objects fulfilled in converting skin into leather, are.to prevent the destruction by putrefaction, which unprepared skin Nvould undergo (though slower than with most other parts of animals) and to ren- der it strong, tough, and durable, and in some instances in\perviovis to moisture. The recent skin stripped oil' an animal consists principally of the true cutis, or membranous tcxiure, the chemical com- position of which is gelatin in a dense state, but 5*.>11 entirtlx' soluble in water more or less easily, according to its den sitv. This however is penetrated with diAerent vessels for blood, lymph, oil, &.c. some of the contents of which must ot necessity remain after the death ot the animal, and is covered on the outside with the insensible cuticle, to which is attached the exterior covering of hair, wool, tur, and the like- Tlie chemical composition ofthe cuticle and its investing hairy cover- ing, appears to be condensed albumen, insoluble in water, and nearly incapable of itself of putrefaction, butreadily separa- ble from the true skin by slight mechani- cal violence after the adhesion has been weakened by incipient fermentation or putrefaction," or the chemical action of lime, alkalies, or acids. The i)reliminary steps of all the pro- cesses for making leather consist m separating from the cutis adhering rni- purities and foreign matters, the animal juices retained inVis pores, and the cuti- cle with its hairy covering, (except on the very few cases in which the latter is pur- posely left on.) The true skin being thus obtained nearly pure, and its texture so far opened as readily to imbibe any sub- stance in which it is macerated, is then con- verted hito leather in different methods, of which there are two quite distinct from each other : namely, that of tanning, or impregn.ating it wi\h that peculiar vege- table matter called tan, and tawing, in which it imbibes alum and other salts, and afterwards some soluble animal mat- ter, such as the white of ti^^, or some- '' times blood. These two processes are 4 also sometimes combined, that is, (ir.st by tawing, and afterwards finishing- with a slight tanning. A large portion of the tanned leather also undergoes the fur- ther operation of currying, or imbuing with oil of some kind with much manual labour, in order to render it supple, Hexi» ble, and still more impenetrable by water. As famihar examples of eaci), the thick sole-leather of shoes is tanned ; the white kid leather, as it is called, for fine gloves, is tawed ; the upjjcr leather for boots and shoes is tanned and curried ; and the fine Turkey leather is tawed, and afterwards finished with a slight tanning. The slight variations in the preparation of difierent kinds of leather are so nu^ merous, that only some of the leading processes can be here described. Tanntd Leather. — All skins undergo a considerable preparation before they are fit to receive the tanning lixivium. In most jiarls of l-iigland the process is the following for the thin skins of cows, calves, and those that are used for the more flexllile kinds of leather, most ol LEA LEA vhich is afterwards finished by currying. The hide is first thrown into a pit with water alone to free it from loose dirt, blood, and other impurities. After lying there for a inentl}^ astringent, of a greyish-white when pure;, which is called tannin or tan, whose pro- perties will be more fully described under that article. When any kind of skin is soaked in an infusion of tan it gradually absorbs it or extracts is from the water in which the tan is dissolved, and the skin thereby becomes of a firmer texture, sensibly heavier, no longer capable of putrefaction or any spontaneous change, less easily pervious to water, and no longer soluble in this fluid even at a boiling heat, which all untanned skin is. LEA LEA whatever be its previous preparallon. The art of tanning therefore essentially consists in nothing more tlian immersing bkin for a sufficient length of time in an infusion of tun from vegetable bark or other sources till it is completely saturated with this principle. Hence the art of preserving the hides of animals by tliis method is one of the most antient and universal of all manufactures, no ap- paratus whatever being required to per- form it, except a pit or hole of water in v.hich the tanning vegetable may be put, and the skin throw ii in along widi it. And even in the most careful and improved methods of tanning, almost equal sim- plicity is observed in the operation, except that some art is used in regulating the strength of the tan-infusion, and some little manipulation in stirring the hides to give every pait an oppoi'tunity of being thoroughly and equally soaked. The substance used for tanning in this country is almost invariably oak-bark. The timber being felled iu spring (when the sap has risen) the bark is stripped oH' and piled in large stacks, protected from the wet by a shed, but open at the sides to admit a free circulation of air through it. The bark, before using, is ground into coarse powder, and is thrown into pits \v ilii water, by which an infusion of the tan and other soluble parts is made, which is called, technically, ooze. The hides previously prepared in one or otliei" of tiie ways above mentioned are then put iirst into small pits with a very weak ooze, where they are allowed to macerate tor some weeks, with frequent stirring or handling as it is called. The strength of the different oozes is increased gradually, after which the half-tanned hides (if of the thick kind intended for sole-leather, and wiiich require very complete t.iiming) are put into larger pits with alternate layers of ground bai'k, in substance, till ;he pit is iilied ; over which a heading of bark is also laid, and tiie interstices hlled ' up with a weak ooise to the brim. The hides lb us [lerpared are exposed to the full action of an ooze nearly satiu'ated with tan, and .sui)i)lied with more of this principle from the bark in substance, in proportion as the skin absorbs that portion already dissol- ved, till the tanning is judged to be com- plete. This, for the heaviest kind of lea- ther, requires never less than tifteen momhs. Skin is known to be fully tanned by cutting a small ])iece off the edge of the hide, and observing ihe change of colour. As tav as the Ian lias fully pene- trated, the eolour is of a nutmeg-brown, but the resi is wifite ; and therefoi-e, be- fore the process is complete, the upper ai.d under sides are brown, and a while lii>e or streak is seen in the middle. Lastly, when fully tanned, the hide is taken out to drain, and stretched ujion a convex piece of w ood called an horse, oil which it is thoroughly smoothed, and beaten with a lieavy steel pin, or some- times passed between iron cylinders, to make it more solid, and at the same time supple ; after which it is taken to the drying-house, a covered building with apertures for the free admission of air, where it remains till perfectly dry. Tfie common calves-skins require, for the whole process of conversion into lea- ther in this way, from two to four months, the thick sole-leather hides from hfteen to eigiiteen or twenty montlis, and a boar's shield can hai'dly be finished in less than two years. Leather gains in weight and improves in quality the longer it is suf- fered to remain in the ooze (within cer- tain limits) ; and, as it is sold by weight, this is also sometimes an object to the tanners, though counterbalanced to a great degree by the length of time that must elapse before his caj^ital is returned. 1 he art is indebted to M. Seguin, a tan- ner of extensive business in France, for the first accur.-.'e explanation of the ra- tionale of the process of tanning. Accord- ing to the ancient idea of tiiis process, the efi'ect of the infusion of astringent vegeta- bles was supposed to be little else tliau mechanical; and that it acted in constrin^. tug or condensing the fibres of the dead skin, as it corrugates tlie skin of the pa- late wlien tasted, and hence rendered it nearly impervious to moisture, and un- susceptible of putrefixction. Tliis expla- nation however, did not 'accord \\ ith the actual increase of weight which the skin acquires by tanning ; and whicli amounts, on an average, to an increase of from one- third to onc-i'otirth of the weight of the skin when dry. M. Seguin, reasoning* from the circumstance, that skin before tanning, is coni])letely resolved by water '] into a liquid jelly, but is insoluble after 4 tanning, was led to the simple exjicriment j of adduig a solution of skin (or glue) ti> i^' an infusion of oak-bark, and found an im- mediate precipitate of a thick, tough, ex- tensible, dun-white matter, strongly smelling of tan, and insoluble in water at any heal, and which, when dry, becomes of a dark-brown colour and brittle. This jn-ccipitate is an intimate combi- nation of gelatin with that part of the ve- getable infusion wliie.h gi\es the tanning property, and being altogether a peculiar subsl:ince, is denominated tannin or fe very finest reds a quantity of sorrel is used with the cochi- neal batli, and the subsequent tannin-v is given witli galls instead of sumach, which renders the colour as durable as the leather itself. The roughness, always ob- served on the surface of the skin, is given by a heavy kind of iron rake with blunt points. The yellow saffians are d\'cd with the berries of a species of rhamnus (the Avignon berry would answer the same purpose, and is used in other coun- tries) or with the flowers of the wild ca- momile. That singular and valuable leather cal- led Shagreen, is a manufacture almost pe- culiar to Astracan, where it is prepared by the Tartai-s and Armenians. For ma- king shagreen only horses' or asses'hides are taken, and it is only a small part from the crupper along the back that can be used for this purpose. This is cut oflf' im- mediately above the tail in a semicircular form, about 34 inches upon the crupper and 28 along the back. These pieces are first soaked in water till the hair is loose and is scraped ofi; and the skin, again soaked, is scraped so thin as not to exceed a wetted hog's bladder in thickness, and till all the extraneous matter is got out and only a clean membranous pelt remains! The piece is then stretched tight on a frame, and kept occasionally wetted that no part may shrink unequally. The frames are then laid on a floor with the flesh side of the skin undermost, and the grain side is strewed over with the smooth black hard seeds of the alabuta or goose- foot (Chenopodium album) and a 'felt is then laid upon them, and the seeds trod- den in deeply into the soft moist skin. The use of this is to give the peculiar mottled surface for wiiicli shagreen is dis- tinguished. The frames witJi the seeds still sticking to the skin are then dried slowly m the shade till the seeds will shake oW without any violence, and the skin is left, a hard horny substance with the grain side deeply indented. It is then laid on a solid block covered with wool, and strongly rasped v/ith two or three a-on instruments (the particular form of which need not be here described) till the whole of tlie grain side is sliaved, so that the impression of the seeds is very slight and uniform. The skins are then softened first with water, and then with a warm alkaline lye, and are heaped warm and wet on each other, by which means the parts indented bv the impression regain much of their elasticity, and having lost none of their substance by paring, rise un LEA LEA fully to the level of the shaved places, and llius form the j^'ain or granular texture peculiar to the shagreen. The skin is then salted and dyed. The heautiful green dye is given by soaking the inner or flesh side of the skin with a saturated solution of sal-ammoniac, strewing it over wilii copper hliiigs, roll- ing it up with the flesh side inwards, and pressing each skin with a considerable weight for about twenty-four hours, in which time the sal-ammoniac dissolves enough of the copjjcr to penetrate the skin with an agrecal;ie sea-green colovu-. Tliis is repeated a second time to give the co- lour more body. Blue shagreen is dyed with indigo dis solved in an impui-e soda by means oflime and honey. IJlack shagreen is dyed with galls and vitriol. The skins are finished with oil or suet. See Tan :^ in g. LEATHER, boots, bootees, and shoes of iron bound. Mr. Bedford, of this city, has obtained a patent, for a new mode of making shoes, boots, &c. which appears to be preferable, in many respects, to those made in the or- dinary way. The patentee, in his adver- tisement, gives the following observations Jle remarks, that "shoemakers, by his improvement, are able to make lour times the quantity of shoes that can be made in the common way with the same number of hands ; for example, the usual work of three men, is only three pair of common shoes per day ; vvheieas in the improved way, three men wirh the assistance of a boy, can make from twelve to fifteen pair per day. Thus the advantages, resulting from the improvement, are evidently of the most essential importance. In the first place, three-fourths of the labour is sav- ed ; in the second place, half the leather is saved, for one pair of shoes made in this way, will wear as long as two pair made in the usual way ; and in the third place, there is a saving of flax, at the rate f)f one pound to twenty pair of shoes ; they are also much more water proof than the others, and easier mended." Leather, hoiv rendered 'iuater proof— Mr. Mollersten has obtained a patent for a composition to render leather water proof, which he extends also to woollen clotli, linen, and other stuffs. He observes, that it will render them not only impenetrable to hot and corroding liquors, but will give them a fine gloss, and preserve them from decay. To prepare the composition of a black colour, INIr. Mollersten gives tlic follow- ing directions : Take two gallons of linseed oil, one gallon of whale oil, half a pomtd of horse grease, mingle them with four pounds of fmely ground Prussian blue, and four pounds of lamp black, and afterwards boil them over a strong fire ; to w Inch add, one pound of fine gromid benzoin gum, previously well mingled in one gallon ot" linseed oil, of which one half gallon is to be put in the above, when the composi- tion has boiled half an hour, and the remainder when the boiling is finished. This cnm])osition is sufficiently boiled when it gets so thick that no drops fall from any thing dipped into it ; and it is afterwards fit lor use w hen cold. For making the composition of other colours. The genuine linseed oil must be well bleached : to two gallons of which put half a gallon of spermaceti oil, and hall" a pound of Prussian blue, place them in a glass vessel in a strong sun (the effect may be increased by burning glasses if necessary) and when they have attained the same consistency as the black composition, after having boiled one half hour, take one pound of benzoin gum mixe,d with one gallon of linseed oil bleached, add one half of it to them and place the same in the sun, as before ; and, when it has again attained the same consistency as the black composition, add the remaining half of the gum and oil. Mr. Mollersten recommends that the colours used should be at lea'st one half of metallic compositions, as he is not certain that colours composed of animal substances onlj' will answer the purpose : he also observes, that the Prussian blue mixed with the other colours renders the substances on which they are i)ut capable of resisting hot and corrosive liquors, thougli witliout it they will resist wet equally well. Mr. Mollersten directs the composition to be laid very thin at first, on the substances to which it is to be applied, and that scraping irons be used for this purpose. 'Ihe substances are then to be stretched on a board or frame over blanketing, and put into an oven to dry the composition, and the ojjcration is to be repeated till the substances have attained the proper gloss and smoothness ; besides the sera, pers, pumice stone is to lie used in the intervals of drying, to make the surfaces smooth and even : from four to six repeti- tions of the lackering and drying will generally complete the process. The Editors of the Kctros|)cct of Ws- coveries, observe, that one of the direc- tions for boiling the composition shouUl not bo f<)llowed too exactly, or the whole composition will jnobably be spoiled, that is, " to boil it till no drops fall frojn any LEA LEM thing dipped into it." This is one of those extremely vague I'ules which those who are well acquainted with a process fre- quently give, from not considering that those they desire to instruct are not suffi- ciently acquainted with such operations to know that they mean by such phrases any thing but the literal sense. The di- rection would probably be nearer the truth if it was, that the matter siiould be boiled (ill it adhered to any thing dipped into it ; or till the whole of the matter adliering to any thing dipped into it did not again fall off in diops. This subject however will be again considered, in which we will notice the patents of several other persons, for the same pm'pose. LEAVEN, or sourdough, is a ferment- ed mixture of flour and water, which is effected generally with yeast, and is used to ferment a large quantity of paste in lieu of yeast- It is, however, a very im- perfect substitute. Mr Tillyer has pre- pared tiie following substitute, which ma}' be classed under this head, as a substi- tute for yeast, which we have extracted irom the Repertory of Arts. To make an yeast gallon of this composition, bOil in common vrater eight pounds of potatoes, as for eating ; bruise them perfectly smooth, and mix witli them whilst warm, two ounces of honey, or any other sweet substance, and one quart of com- mon yeast. And, for making bi'ead, mix three beer pints of the above composition with a bushel of flour, using warm water in making the bread ; the water to be warmer in winter, and the composition to be used in a few hours after it is made ; and as soon as the sponge (the mixture of the composition with the Hour) begins to fall the hrst time, the bread should be made and put in the oven. See Yeast. LEAVES of Plants. Lewis found, that the green colour of the leaves of plants, is extracted by alcohol, and by oils. The spirituous tinctures are generally of a tine deep green, even when the leaves are dull coloured, yellowish, or hoary. 'I'hesc colours are seldom lasting in the liquor. Alkalis heighten both the tinc- tures and the green juices. Acids weak- en, destroy, and change it to a brownish. L'.mc-vvater improves both the colour and durability. By means of lime, not inele- gant green lakes are procurable from the leaves of acanthus, lily of the valley, and several other plants. , Few plants communicate any part of their green colour to water, and perhaps none that give a green of any considera- ble intensity. It is said, however, that the leaves of some plants give a green dye to woollen, without the addition of any other colouring matter ; particularly those of tlie wild chervil, or cow-weed, the com- mon rag-wort and devil's bit. Lewis gives the process from Linnxus, as practised by the peasants in Sweden, with the last. It consists in boiling the leaves with their woollen yarn for a short time, and leaving the whole together for a night, after which the yarn is taken out, hung in the steam of the liquid, and again made to boil over the fire. It is then wrung, the leaves are taken out of the lic|uor, a little fresh water added, and the wool frequent- ly dipped thei'ein till sufficiently dyed. Many kinds of leaves afford a yellow dye to woollens, pre»iously boiled with alum and tartar, weld in particular, which see. Indigo and woad afford blue. Lewis tried without success, to obtain blues bv macerating the leaves of other plants in water. It is said, that the leaves of the plant, which Dr. Barton discovered, the Wood- housia Tinctoria, found, I think, in Virgi- nia, will yield a beautiful dye. LEMOiVS. The citrus lima, or Lemon tree, has an upright smooth trunk, divid- ed at the top into a branchy regular head ; fi'om twelve to fifteen feet high ; large oval, spear-shaped, pointed, slightly- sawed leaves, on lineal footstalks; and many flowers fi-om the sides of the branches, succeeded by large oval fruit,, prominent at the top. Tlie varieties are : the Lemon tree with sour fruit; witli sweetish fruit ; with very large fruit caH*. ed Imperial Lemon ; with pear shaajjd fruit ; with furrowed fruit ; with clustered fruit ; with childing fruit ; with wliitish fruit ; with tricoloured striped fruit, &c. The flowering and fruit setting season for the Lemon tree, is chiefly in .lune and July. It continues blowing, and setting fruit, for three months, when a full crop is set. The fruit is of a green colour first, turning yellow as it grows ripe. Its shape is almost oval, and divided into several cells, in which are lodged hard seeds, surrounded by a thick flesiiy substance, full of an acrid juice. The best Lemons should be large, weighty, and of a thin rind. In the southern part of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, there are forests full of Lemon trees, and a considerable trade is carried on in transporting them to all the northern parts of Europe- They are for that purpose, wrapped up in soft pa- per, and packed in chests. The Lemon yields a very agreeable acid juice,which, besides its common use, answers considerable purposes in medi- cine. The yellow peel of the Lemon is LEM LEM an agreeable aromatic and excellent sto- machic ; it is also used by the confection- ers to be candied. Considerable quanti- ties of pickled Lemons are annually shipp- ed from tlie Mediterranean for the Baltic. Tiie true, unadulterated oil, obtained from Lemon peel is very valuable. LEMON JUICE. An agreeable acid, obtained from the lemon fruit, which, when fresh, is used as a cooling' draught, mixed with water and sugar, under the name of lemonade : the same articles combined with spirit, as gin, whiskey, or brandy, form the beverage called punch. Without slating its use in medicine, when eombined with diilerent substances, we shall only remark, that it is an excellent antiseptic, and as such, is highly recom- mended by Ur. Pringle, for the sea scurvy. In order to preserve the juice, different methods have been recommended, some of which are given in the following arti- cle. LEMON JUICE, the purification and presei'vation of. Wit!) respect to the purification of the juice of lemon, which consists principally in separating the mucilaginous matter, ■with which it is intermixed, Mr. Scheele ill particular has given considerable atten- tion. He recommends, before bottling the juice, to boil it for some time, which will separate a large quantity of foreign matter in the form of scum ; after remov- ing which willi a ladle, he then advises filling and immediately bottling the jtiice, taking care to screw the corks sufficiently tiadit. The object in thus separating the foreign matter, is to prevent the putrefac- tive change, and by keeping tt well clo.se(l, to prevent t lie access of air. As the latter has a consicleral)le tendency to change the qualities of lime or lemon juice, some re- commend ])utting the juice in small bot- tles, and filling the rest of the bottle with sweet oil. BtHfbre using it, the oil may be readily rtmovcd by means of lint or cotton. 'I'his mode is highly recommended in the Domestic Cookery. Of all the methods of preserving lemon- juice, that of concentrating it by frost ap- pears to be the best, tiiough in the warmer climates it cannot conveniently be prac- tised. Lemon-juice, expo.sed to tlic air, in a temperature between 50" and 60", deposits in a few hours a white semiti-ans- parcnt n\ucilaginous matter, which leaves the fluid, after decantalion and filtration, much less alterable than before. This mucilag-e is not of a gummy nature, but resembles the gluten of wheat in its pro- pei'ties : it is not soluble in water when dried. More mucilage is separated from lemon-juice by standing in closed vessels. If this depurated lemon-juice be ^posed to a degree of cold ot about sever, or eight degrees below the freezing ]M)int, the aqueous part will freeze, and the ice may be taken away as it forms ; and if tlie pro- cess be contituied until the ice begins to exliibit signs of acidity, the remaining acid will be found to be reduced to about one-eighth of its original quantity, at the same time thatits acidity will be eight times as intense, as is proved by its requiring eight times the (juanlity of alkali to satu- rate an equal portion of it. This concen- trated acid may be kept for use, or, if preferred, it may be made into a dry le- monade, by adding six times its weight of fine loaf sugar in powder. The above processes may be used when the acid of lemons is wanted for domestic purposes, because they leave it in posses- sion of the oils, or other principles, on which its flaTour peculiarly depends ; but in chemical researches, where the acid itself is required to be had in the utmost purity, a more elaborate process must be used. LEMON, acid of. See Citric Acid. Lh-MON ACID, (dry.) In consequence of the scarcity of fruit, the juice of the lime, or lemon, cannot at all times be obtained. N. S. Allison £; Co. of Piiila- delphia, have therefore made a prepara- tion, which is sold as p-ure lemun acid, which makes an agreeable drink, such as punch, lemonade, See. We do nut doubt but that it is the concrete acid, and will answer all the purposes of the fi'uit, or juice of the lemon. AV'hetlier it be the fact or not, this much is certain, that it is calculated, from iis flavour, acidity, &c. to snperceile the juice, and therefore, when the juice cannot be obtained, must be considered as a valuable acquisition. In their advertisement they observe, that " Tills acid retains all the gratei'ul fla- voiu'of the fresh lemon, makes most ex- cellent ])unch, lemonade, shrub, SiC. and instantly dissolves in warm or cold water ; is also adapted for e\ ery purj)ose in cook- ery, where the lemon is required, such as sauces, jellies, S.c. " The conveniciice of this acid for ta- verns and public jjlaces of amusement, is sufficiently obvious, as it will make punch, lemonade, &.c. at any time of tlie year, e([ually rich as with the fiaiit, and always cheai)cr. For balls and as.seinblies this elegant jireparalion is ])arlicularly desii'a- ble ; as lemonade, &.c. may be made in the most easy and expeditious manner. It will also impart a pleasant flavour to a glass of seltzer, or other mineral waters. " It is particularly recommended to offi- cers and gentlemen travelling, to captains LEV Lie of ships and others going long voyages ; it is perfectly dry and portable, and will keep for any length of time, in every cli- mate. " It is warranted to contain no extra- neous matter, being nothing but the pure acid of lemons." LEMON, essential salt of. This pre- paration, which is sold in tlie shops to make punch, and remove ink stains and iron moulds, is nothing more than citric acid, combined with a little of the essen- tial oil of lemon. Veiy fi-equently, supertartrate of potash (cream of tartar) or superoxitate of pot- ash (salt of sorrel) is sold for it. See Citric Acid- LEI H AUG Y, in Farriery. See Far- RIERY. LEES of soap. See Soap. LEVER, cross bar, invented by Mr. Windham, of England, on whom the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &r. in 1796, conferred their silver medal. A, is the lever. B, an upright piece of wood, to be affixed to the lever ; care being taken to place the side marked with this letter opposite to that marked A on the lever ; by which means it inclines backwards, and thus increases the power. C, is a cross-bar, being the hand by which the workmen exert their strength. D, is another cross-bar, to be placed at the bottom, behind the upright piece of VOL. I, wood, on v/hich the labourers are to stand, and through which the end of the lever passes These additions are so construc- ted, that they may be occasionally fixed and removed ; because they are to be employed only, when the strength of the rock, or each, requires an increase qf power. # Sliould the rock be elevated so con- siderably above the ground, as to endan- ger tlie men by its fall, when tlie separa- tion takes place, the lever may be revers- ed ; so t!iat the labourers will stand upon the bar intended for the application of their hands, in common cases ; and thus all danger will be efi'ectually prevented. Various other levers have been contriv- ed; which will be noticed in Mechanics. LEVIGATION. The mechanical pro- cess of grinding the parts of bodies to a fine paste, by rubbing the flat face of a stone called the muller upon a table or slab called the stone. Some fluid is al- ways added in this process. The advan- tage of levigation with a stone and mul- ler, beyond that of triturating hi a mor- tar, is, that the materials can more easily be scraped together, and subjected to the action of the muller, than in the other case to that of the pestle; and, from the flatness of the two surfaces, they cannot elude the pressure. LEYfra solufionof potash, made caus- tic by means of lime- The process of extracting the alkali from wood ashes, and the setting of the ley tub, are too well known to require description. The use of lime is intended to render the liquor Caustic, which it does by abstracting the carbonic acid from the alkali. See Soap. LICHEN-LIVEIIWORT. Several spe- cies of this genns are useful in the arts, particularly dyeing, or as food or medi- cine. Under the v/ord Archil we have already noticed one. To wool, previously prepared with a bath of l)-copodium com- planatum, 1. clavatvmi, or 1- alpinum, the lichen Westringii is said to give a fine orange, superior to that of annotto. The lichen cinereus does the same. The chlorinus gives a bright yellow, and the vulpinus a lemon colour. Brasil gives to wool thus dyed with the 1. Westringii a very deep blue black ; to tliat with the chlorinus a fine green black, or raven's ,wing colour ; and to that with tlie vulpi- nus a blueish green. The lichen parellus, from which archil has beoi said by some to be prepared, afibrds or.ly a blue, which is so fugitive as to be useless. l^ord Dundonald has lately taken out a patent for the tise of lichen as a substi- tute for gum. Lichens that grow on trees 4 n LIG LIG and shrubs aflTord this gum, and apparent- ly dltlerent species ot" them. The lichen is scalded two or three times with boiling- water, to remove the outer skin and re- sinous matter, washed in cold water, and ■ then left ten or twelve hours on a stone or ^ brick floor; after which the gum is ex- w tracted by boiling some houi"# in water, with about half or three quarters of an ounce of alkali to each pound of lichen. According to the report, lib. of dry lichen will do as much work in calico-printing as 131b. of gum Senegal. LIGNEOUS ACID. See Acid. LIGHT RKl). See Colour Making LIGHTNING ROUS. Since the dis- coveries of Dr. Franklin, and the identity of the electric fluid and lis;htning being established, means have been recommend- ed, first by Dr. Franklin, and afterwards by others, for securing houses from the effects of lightning. These are called conducting or lightning rods. A great dispute has been carried on among electricians concerning tlie termi- nation of conducting rods, for preserving buildings from liglitning ; some warmly cctntending, that they should be terminat- ed by knobs or balls ; others as s£renu- ously contending, that they should be pointed. Ever since the identity of electiicity and liglitning has been proved, concHrctors of some kind have been generally allowed to be necessary for the safety of buildings in thunder storms, as they aflord a ready passage for the union of the contrary electricities. Electricians seem to have forgotten, that neither lightning nor elec- tricity ever strikes a body, merely for the sake of the body, but because that body is a means of restoring the disturbed equilibrium. When a quantity of electricity is excit- ed by means of an electric machine, a bo- dy communicating with the earth, will re- ceive a strong spark from the prime con? ductor ; it receives this s])ark, not because it is capable of containing all the electrici- ty of the cylinder and conductor, but be- cause, tile natural situation of the fluid being disturbed by the motion of the ma- ciiine, the natural powers make an eflbrt to restore the equilii>rium. No sooner, then, is a conducting body, commimicat- ing with the earth, presented to the prime, conductor, than the whole effort of the electricity is directed against tiiat body ; not merely because it is aconductoi", but because it afl'ords a place, by wliicii the '^', natural powers can more readily unite, and which they would do by other means, though that body were not to bepresent- ' ed. That this is the case, we may easily see, by presenting tlie same conducting substance in an insulated state to the prime conductor of the machine, when we shall find only a small spark will be pro- duced. In like manner, when lightning strikes a tree, a house, or a. conducting rod, it is not because these objects are high, but because they are situate in that place, where, from a variety ofcauses, the impetus of the two powers can be lessen- ed by uniting with each other. From hence we perceive the falla- city of that kind of reasoning, which is generally employed concerning the use of thunder rods. Because a point presented to an elec- trified body, in our experiments, draws off the electricity in a silent manner. Dr. Franklin and his followers have conclud- ed, that a pointed conductor will do the same thing to a thunder cloud, and thus pi event any kind of danger from a stroke of lightning. But, for this very reason, Mr. Wilson and his party have determined, that the use of pointed conductors is utterly un- safe ; they justly consider the Franklinian idea of exhausting the clouds of their electricity, to be not less absurd, than it would be to clear away an inundation with a shovel, or exhaust the atmosphere with an air-pump. They bring many in- stances, where a point will receive a full stroke, and assert, that it solicits a dis- charge; and that, being often unable to conduct the whole electricity of the at- mosphere, it is impossible for us to know whether the discharge it solicits, may not be too great for the conductor to beai* ; and, consequently, all the mischiefs aris- ing from thunder storms may be expect- ed, with this mortifying circumstance, that this very conductor has probablj' so- licited the fatal stroke. We nuist also further observe, that the Franklinians, still make their pointed con- ductors of too much consequence ; for it . is now well known, that points have nq|[| influence at all, unless they be immergcdnj in the electrified atmosphere. If apointeil body do not communicate with the ear'li, but the communication be interrupted by a short interval, it will receive a full spark. It will also receive a full spark, it it be suddenly brought sufficiently near a strongly electrified body : this case applies strongly against pointed conducting rods for shipping. It will also receive a full spark ;it a considerable distance, if sur- rounded with non-conducting sub.stances. The circumstances on which an explosion depends, are too many to be here enume- rated ; in general, it may be said that, with respect to a point, it will depend on LIG LIM tlie suddenness of the discharge, on tlie proximity of the cloud, on the velocity in its motion, on the quantity of electricity contained in it, and on the contrary elec- tricity opposed to it. If a small cloud bang suspended under alarg-e cloud load- ed with electric matter, pointed conduc- tors on a building underneath, will receive the discharge by explosion, in preference to those termiuated by balls ; tlie small cloud will form an intei-ruption, which al- lows only an instant of time for the dis- charge. If a single electric cloud be dri- ven with considerable velocity near to a pointed conductor, the charge may be caused to explode upon it by the motion of the charged body. A pointed conductor has not even the power of attracting the lightning a few feet out of the direction it would choose itself: of this we have a most decisive in- stance in what happened to the magazine at Purfleet, in Essex, Great Britain. That house was furnished with a conductor, raised above the highest part of the build- ing; nevertheless, a flash of lightning struck an iron cramp in the corner of the wall of the building, considerably lower than the top of the conductor, and only forty -six feet in a sloping hne distant from the point. The conductor, with all its power of drawing oft" the electric matter, was neith- er able to prevent the flash, noi- to turn it forty-six feet out of its way. The matter of fact is, the lightning was determined to enter the earth at the place where the board-house stands, or near it ; the conduc- tor fixed on the house which ottered the easiest communication, but forty-six feet of air intervening between the point of the conductor and the place of the explosion, the resistance was less through the blunt cramp of iron and a few bricks moistened with the rain to the side of the metalline conductor, than Uirough the forty -six feet of air to its point ; for the former was the way in which tlie lightning actually pass- An objection to the use of conductors of either kind may be also drawn from the accident which happened to the poor- house at Heckingham, Norfolk, (England) according to Adams (Nat. Phllos ) which was struck by lightning, though furnish- ed with eight pointed conductors, and which, Mr. A. was well assured fi-om good authority, were uninterrupted, continuous, and at the time of the stroke perfectly connected with the common stock. Hence it is evident, that the effect of conductors, in genei-al, is too inconsiderable either to lessen fear or animate hope. The thunder house, as it Is usually call- ed, is the apparatus principally used to il- lustrate the Franklinian method of pre- serving houses from damage by light- ning. It consists of a mahogany board, shaped like the gable end of a house. It is fixed upright on a horizontal board as a stand ; a square hole is made in the gable board, into which is fitted, so as to go in and out easily, a square piece of wood ; a wire is fixed in the one diagonal of this board, and wires are also fixed in the ga- ble board, one from the upper part, the lower end of which comes to one corner of the square hole ; the upper end of the other wire coincides with tlie opposite corner, and goes down to the bottom of the gable board. The upper wire has a brass ball on the top ; this may be occa- sionally taken oft, which leaves a point ex- posed ; at the bottom of the lower wire there is a hook : connect the hook at the bottom with the outer coating of a jar, place the square piece in the hole, so that tlie metallic wire shall not coincide with the other two ; when the jar is chai'ged, bring the discharging rod from the knob thereof to the ball of" the house -, an ex- plosion will ensue, and the square piece be driven out to a good distance from the gable boaid. Put the square piece into the hole in such a manner, that the ends of the dia- gonal may not coincide with the ends of tlie wire of the gable board, then make the discharge as before, and the metallic circuit being now complete, the square board will remain in its place. Take off the ball, and the point will prevent an explosion, and its accumulat- ing therein in any sufficient quantity to do any damage. The prime conductor is supposed to represent a thunder cloud discharging its contents on some metal projecting on the top of a building ; and this is considered as receiving no damage when the conduc- tor is perfect ; but when the connexion is imperfect, the fluid, in passing from one part to the other, damages the building. LIME. — Lime is an earth moderately hard, of a hot acrid taste, soluble in wa- ter, though to a small extent, producing nearly the same change on vegetable co- lour as the alkalies do, and strongly pro- moting tlie fusion of all earthy mixtures. See Earths. It is always prepared artificially by heating the various species of carbonats, till the carbonic acid is driven off, and it is made in very large quantities for the important purposes of mortars and ce- ments of difterent kinds, for manure, and LIM LIM for oUiei' smaller uses. The procebs oj' lime-burning in the large way will be no- ticed in the following article. For nice chemical purposes lime may "St be made by calcining in a full red heat for some hours citlier the white Carrara mar- ble of tlie statuaries, or oyster-shells (the outer coat being first taken ofl"). In both the lime is very considerably pure, that obtained from marble being only mixed with a small portion of silcx, and some- times with an atom of iron, and that from the shells containing only a little phosphat of lime. To obtain lime perfectly pure, let nitric or muriatic acid (free from iron) be quite saturated with fragments of white marble, leaving some of it for a time in the solu- tion that only the lime may be taken up ; add a little perfectly caustic ammonia to the solution, which will separate any ac- cidental impurity of iron or other earths but not the lime; then precipitate the lime in the state of carbonat by carbonated ammonia, edulcorate the precipitate, and afterwards calcine it thorougiily. If the burning be done hi an eartlien crucible, too strong a heat must not be used, as it would cause a portion of the lime to vitrify with, and adhere to the sides of the cru- cible, but with a platina crucible any heat niay be tjiven. Oyster-shells will answer as well as mar- ble, but the phosphat of lime, taken up by the acid along with the lime, must be first separated by pure ammonia. The lime is known to be thorougiily calcined, when, after being moistened with water, and reduced thereby to a soft pulp, it excites no effervescence with any acid moderately dilute. The portion that has begun to vitrify with the crucible remains hard and gritty, and will not mix with water. The most known and remarkable phe- nomenon attending lime is tlie slacking with water. When a lump of w^U burnt lime is dipped in water and removed after u second or two, or otherwise wetted so as not to i)e drenched, the surface imme- diately dries, after which, (a little sooner or later according to the kind of limestone employed) it becomes very hot, swells, and ciacks in every direction, and falls to pieces with a snapping noise and the evo- lution of a copious dense steam, owing to the evapori/.ation of the water by the in- tense heat generated. If a large quantity of very well burnt lime be slacked in the dark, flashes of light are also observed to come from it when breaking to pieces. The lime by this process falls into a very fine dry impalpable powder, and when cold it will not again heat by more water. In this state it is called slacked lime, and it differs fiom quick or unslacked lime, as appears, simply by containing wa- ter, and probably also by having parted witli a large quantity of caloric, but it does not at this time contain any notable quantity of carbonic acid. Slacked lime dried at a heat of 600"^ contains, accord- ing to Lavoisier, about 78 percent, ofhme and 22 ot water. If slacked lime be dif- fused in more water it mixes uniformly with it by stirring, and forms a thick milky liquor, called by some milk of lime, but, by repose, all the lime falls to the bottoi« as a fine white sediment, except a small portion which the water dissolves, form- ing lime-water. Lime-water, when it has been some time at rest, is alwaj s clear and transparent. It has a very strong hot dis.agreeable taste, and ciianges vegetable colours nearly as the alkalies. The actual quantity of lime contained in limewater however is very small, not being more at the utmost than about -J— of the solution, an. Satin spar. 'Cojnmon Jibrous iitnestone, lameson. Its colour is greyish, yellowish, or red- dish wiiitc ; it occurs in mass. Its lustre is between .vhinin'g and glistening with a pearly or satiny lustre. Its perpendicular iraclure is slraigiit or waved parallel iibrous, the fibres are either fine or coarse ; the cross fracture is compact spliiitcry. Its fragments are splintery or flattened fibrous. It is translucent, and in thin pie- ces is semitransparent. Its hardness is a little inferior to that of calcareous s]iar ; it is brittle, and easily frangible. Sp.gr. 2-7. In its chemical characters it resembles calcareous .spar. Its constituent parts, according to Mr. Pcpys, are Carbonic acid • 47.6 Lime - - 50.1 Water and loss - 2.3 100 It occurs in strata from one to four in- ches thick, and is transversed bj^ins of pyrites. The most beautiful is found in Derby- shire : it is susceptible of a fine polish, and is employed in inlaying, and in the manufacture of small ornaments in imita- tion of pearl. 5, Subsfi. Stalactite or sinter. The colour of stalactite is snow-white, greyisli, greenish, and yellowish white ; also wax and honey yellow and yellowish- brown ; also yellowish, brownish, or blu- ish green, or mountain-green ; some- times, though rarely, flesh or peach-blos- som red. The colour is either uniform or in stripes. It occurs massive, reniform, botryoidal, tabular, stalactite, and tuberous. Ex- ternally it is rough and often drusy. In- ternally it has a glimmering pearly lusU'e. Its fracture is fibrous, more (y less diver- gent, often completely radiated Its frag- ments are hidetermin.itely angular, or wedge-shaped. It generally occurs in cuived lamellar distinct concretions, pa- rallel with the external surface, it is more or less translucent passing into semitransparent. Its hardness is equal to that of calcareous spar. It is brittle, and easily frangible. It forms stalactites, and various round- ed projections in the caves and hollows that so frequently occur in limestone. The Grotto of Antiparos, the Wootlman's Cave in the Hartz, Castleton Cavern, and other caverns in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Jkc. attbrd abundant specimens of this mineral. Some caverns have been entirely filled by it, so that it is occasionally obtained ia large masses. In this state it is called oriental alabaster, and is much employed by the statuary. That beautiful coroUoidal substance, the flos ferri, is commonly ranked among the calcareous stalactites. It has never been analysed, but from its only occurring in veins of spathose iron ore, it probably contains a large proportion of carbonated iron. Stalactites occur in abundancAn many of the caverns of the United Slates. 4.' F.V.M. Compact. 6. Subsfi. Common limestone. Its usual colour is some shade of grey, either yellowish, bluish, or smoke-grey : from ash-grey it passes into greyish-black, from yellowish -grey into yellowish-brown and ochre -yellow : it also sometimes, though rarely occurs blood-red and flesh- red, and greenish-grey. Two or more colours often exist in the same piece in the fi)rm of veins, zones, bands, stripes, clouds, and dots : the surfaces of the strata and of casual rents are often cover- ed with black or brov\n arborisations. It is usually massive, but also exhibits a va- riety of external shapes Internally it is dull, yet often contains shining particles that appear to be crystalline laminse. Its usual fracture is fine splintery, but it passes into flat co|u;hoidal, uneven, and eartliy ; sometimes, though rarely, it is Lin LIM slaty. Its fragments are indeterminately angular, more or less sharpedged. It is translucent on the edges, moderately hard, brittle, and frangible. Sp. gr. 2.6—2.7. It dissolves in acids with a vigorous effervescence, and when exposed to the blowpipe is converted into quicklime. It is composed of lime and carbonic acid, wiih a small and variable proportion of silex, aliimine, the oxyd^ of iron and manganese, and inflammable matter. Limestone sometimes, though rarely, occurs among the transition rocks, in which case it alternates with and rests upon slate, and lias a splintery fracture, and is for the most part destitute of the remains of organized bodies. But the principal repository for lime- stone is the class of secondary or Hoetz mountains. Among these it always occurs in strata, constituting several distinct for- mations : the oldest of these is that which rests upon tlie red sandstone, and bitu- minous marl slate. Some of the other formations are characterized by the shells witli which they abound. Of tlicse the least recent contain ammonites belemni- tes, gr^-phites, and turbinites, while the most modern contain vai'iovis marine shells and fish. Limestone ranks among the metalliferous mountains : the ores which are deposited within it are galena and blende, more rarely fahlerz and mala- chite. It frequently also alternates with thin seams of nornstonc or chert, as chalk does with flint. Limestone when unhurnt is used for building and paving stones, and when hard and compact enough to admit of polishing it is employed under the name of marble, in the mure ornamental parts of architecture ; when deprived of its car- bonic acid, or in the state of quicklime, it forms the base of all the calcareous ctments, and, is largely employed by the farmer tor manure, by the tanner, the soapboiler, the calico-printer, &c. and by the smelter to facilitate the reduction of the more refractory ores. '1 he argillaceous limestones have for the most part a tendency to a slaty frac- ture, and pass into marl ; their colour is principally blulshgrey or reddish, and they are readily decomposed by the action' of the air ; the mortar into which this variety of limestone enters possesses the quality of hardening under water, as is mentioned at large in the article Cemeni. 7. Snbsp. Magnesian Limestone- Tiiis substance was confounded with common limestone till Mr. Teiinant under- took an e.Kamination of it ; and although the external distinctive characters be- tween tJic present subspecies and com- mon compact limestone have not hitherto been laid down by any author, yet the chemical differences in the composition of the two clearly require their division into distinct subspecies. Wlien deprived by heat of its carbonic acid it is mucli longer in reabsorbing it from the atmos- phere than common limestone is. Mortar made of the former and employed in the outside of a building, in the space of eight years, had recovered only 47 per cent, of the carbonic acid originally con- tained in the stone, whereas mortar of common limestone in a year and three quarters had regained 63 per cent, of it-i original amount of carbonic acid. The great length of time which this magne- siaii limestone continues caustic is the cause of a most important difference be- tween this and common limestone witli regarc\ to their employment in agricul- ture : lime of the former description is technically called hot, and when spread upon land in the same proportion as is generally practised with the latter, greatly impairs the fertility of the soil, and when used ill a somewhat larger quantity en- tii-ely prevents all vegetation. The habi- tudes of the two subspecies, with regard to their solution in acids, are also dif- ferent, in the same manner as dolomite differs from granular marble, the magne- sian limestone being much more slowly soluble than the other. It occurs in strata at Bredon-hill, near Derby ; at Matlock in the same county. In the counties of Yoi^^sliire and Not- tinghamshire it extends from near Work- top to the vicinity of Ferrybridge, a dis- tance of above thirty miles. It is also common in Xortliumberland. The Min- ster and city walls of York, and West- minster-hall in London, are built of it.- It sometimes though rarely contains shells, and appears to rest upon secondary limestone. According to Mr. Tennant's analysis it contains tl-om 2.5 Magnesia. 1.7 Lime. Carbonic acid. Clay and oxyd of iron. to 20 29.5 — 47.2 — OS — 5. Fam. 8. Subsp. 1.24 Granular. Roestone. \Ve have also examined the magnesian lime stone found in this country. See Agricultural Transactions. Pro- fessor Cooper also examined it, but with more accuracy. See Empohium, new series. Its colour is hair and chesnut brown, or yellowish-brown, or ash-grey. It occurs in mass, and is without lustre. It is composed of small and fine-grained LIM LIM globular* distinct concretions ; hence its Iracturc in tlie great is granular, but that of each dislinctconcretionisfine splintery. Its tragments are indelerniinately angular, mk. blunt-edged. It is opake passing; into translucent on the edges It is considera- bly sot'ier than common limestone. It is brittle, and very easily frangible. Sp. gr. 2.45—2 55. « It occurs in beds interposed between sandstone, common limestone, and gyp- sum. The Ketton-stone of England belongs to this subspecies, as also does the Port- land stone. It is found also in Sweden, Swisserlund, and especially in the pro- vince of Thuringia, in Saxony. It is used for building, and as a man- ure, especially when broken down by exposure to the air : but is not burnt into quicklime on account of the clay with which it is intimately mixed. It has obtained its present name from the resemblance which many of its varie- ties bear to the roe of fisli ; indeed it was formerly ignorantly supposed to be this very substance petrified. 9. Subsp. Peastone. Its usual colour is yellowish-white, whence it passes on one hand to snow- white, and on the other to light yellowish- brown. It occin-s in mass, but wiien it forms the lining of cavities it is then reniform or botryoidal. Internally it is dull : its fracture is diflicult to determine, but appears to be even : its fragments are indeterminately ^lunt-cdged. It is com- posed of spheroidal distinct concretions either coarse or small, and these are again composed of thin concentric curved lamella;. It is opake, soft, and easily ti-angible- It occurs in considerable masses near the hot springs of Carlsbad, in Bohemia, :uid appears to be a deposit from these fountains. The centre of each concretion .is usually a grain of sand, but sometimes a small cavity filled with air It is also said to occur in Hungary, and at Pers- cheesberg in Silesia. On Marble.— In the language of the statuary and architect all stones come under the name of marble that are harder than gypsum, occur in considerable mas- ses, and are capable of a good polish Hence, not only many varieties of lime- stone, but also granite, porphyr\ , serpen- tine, and even the fine-grained basalts, are called marble. Among mineralogists however the term is used In a more restricted sense, beuig confined to those varieties of dolomite, swiiiestone, and compact and granularly foliated limestone that are capable of receiving a considera- ble polish. Of these calcareotis marbles the most valuable for hardness, durability, and colour, are ]5rocured from Italy, from the Greek islands, and from Syria : the ancient Romans, when at their height of civilized luxury, also obtained from Nuniidia and otiier districts in Afi-ica some highly-esteemed varieties of marble. Tile white granularly ibliated limestone has always been the favourite material of the sculptors of ancient Greece and modern Europe, both on account of its pure colour, its delicate translucence, ■Old its granular texture, which renders it much more easy to work than compact limestone. Dolomite possesses similar ad- vantages, and is somewhat softer and of a finer grain : several of the smaller works of the Greek sculptors are of this material. The two great sources whence the statuary marble of Europe has been pro- cured are Paros and Canara. The Parian marble is the purest, consisting of iiardly any thing else than carbonat of lime ; hence it is softer, somewhat more trans- parent, and of a more visibly laminated texture than that of Carrara, which is mingled, often in considerable proportion, with granular quartz. The most esteemed of the architectural marbles are the Ibllowing. 1. A deep blue-coloured marble, called bardiglio, from Carrara, which appeal's to dlifer only in .colour from the white statuary marble of the same place. 2. Cipolin marble, which is statuary marble traversed by veins of mica. 3. L.umachelle marble, which is a secondary compact limestone of a grey or greyish-brown colour, holding shells that still retain their pearly lustre. The fire marble of Bleyberg, in Carinthia, is the most valuable of this variety; the base is a greyish-brown compact lunestone, in which are implanted shells of a fire colour and beautiful iridescent lustre. 4. Florentine marble, which is a. com- pact very argillaceous limestone, of a grey colour, with designs of a yellowish- brown representing architectural ruins. 5. The yellow marbles of Syria, Sienna, and Arragon. 6. The green marbles known by the names of camijan, vcrde antiche, vcrde di Ct)rsica, &c. whicli arc mixtures of granu- larly foliated limestone, calcarous spar, and serpentine, with threads of asbestos. 7. A very ricli breccia, called brocatelli, containing small fragments of yellow-red and purple limestone, cemented by semi- transparent white calcareous spar. Of the marbles that the British islands produce, that of Tiree deserves the first place i and if its colours were not apt to LIM LIM fiide, it might rank among the most beau- tiful even of Italy. The counties of De- vonshire and Derbyshire also afford seve- ral varieties of considerable beauty, though by no means to be compared witli the most esteemed of Italy and Spam. There are a variety of limes'tones, marbles, &c. found in the United States, especially on the Schuylkill, not far from Philadelphia, equal almost to any of the foreign. On Limestone. — Although all the spe- cies with their varieties that are described in this article may, properly speaking, be called limestone, since they consist al- most entirely of calcareous carbonat, and may by burning be brought to the state of quicklime, yet we shulffind in fact, that the substances belonging to the family of compact limestone are the only ones that are or that can be advantageously employ- ed for this purpose in the large way Sometimes calcareous spar, and, more frequently, statuary marble, are used in the laborator}- for the purpose of procur- ing a hme purer than ordinary for the purposes of chemistry. But owing to the crystalline texture of these substances, the laminae, of which they are composed, pai't from each other during the volatili- zation of their carbonic acid, so that by the time they are rendered thorough- ly caustic their cohesion is destroyed, and they are reduced nearly to the consistence of sand ; a circumstance which must al- ways prevent them from being used in kilns of the common construction. The limekiln at present almost universally em- ployed is a cup-shaped concavity in a so- lid mass of masonry, open at the top, and terminated at the bottom by a grate, im- mediately above which is an iron door that may be opened and closed at plea- sure. This simple furnace is first charged with fuel (either wood or coal, but more commonly the latter in Europe), upon which is afterwards laid a stratum about a foot thick of limestone, broken into pieces not larger than the fist: to this succeeds a charge of fuel, and so on alternately, keeping the kiln always full. The pieces of limestone descend towards the bottom of the kihi, in pro- portion as the fuel is consumed, being in the mean time kept at a pretty full red heat. At this temperature the water and carbonic acid are driven off, and by the time that the limestone arrives at the bottom of the kiln, which happens in about 48 hours, it is rendei ed perfectly caustic. The door above the grate is then opened, and all the lime below the next descending strattim of fuel is raked out : the rgmaining contents of the furnace sink down, and a fresh charge is laid on at VOL. I. top. The compact limestone, after having undergone this process, though much lighter and porous than before, still re- tains its figure unaltered, hence it is rea- dily separable from the asiies of the fuel, and is sufficiently hard to be carried from place to place without falling to pieces. For some further remarks on the different varieties, see Cements, Calcaueous. LIME, on the use of— mixed with gun- powder, in rending rocks and stones. By H. D. Griffith, esquire, of Caerhun, near Conway, North Wales. From the letters and papers of the Bath and West of Eng- land Society. " Having been for some time in the ha- bit of perusing j'our interesting papers on agriculture and other subjects, I am in- duced to lay before the society a circum- stance, which, though perhaps familiarly known to them, might, if more generally divulged through the channel of their publications, be of infinite advantage to the pubhc. " In clearing my lands of the heaps of stones with which this country every where abounds, I found the quantity of gunpowder used in the operation, to amount to a considerable sum at the end of the year ; and, as the price of this ar- tide has been increasing of late to an en- ormous amount, I had recourse to an ex- pedient, by which the expense of it has been materially diminished. " I weighed out two pounds of gunpow- der, and one pound of quick lime, well dried and pulverized ; which, after hav- ing been thoroughly mixed with each other, 1 delivered to the blaster, with di- uections to apply it, in similar quantities as he would have done the gunpowder by itself I then selected six of the hardest granites I could find for the experiment ; and tlie effects of the explosion were pre- cisely the same as if gunpowder alone had been used. It now occurred to me, that this might be fallacious, and that a smaller proportion of gunpowder would produce the same effect as a larger ; I accordingly ordered the man to bore holes in a similar number of stones, of the same texture and size with the former, and to put in a less quantity of gunpowder, by one-third, than he would have done if it had been left to his own management. The stones were separated by the shock; but the difference in the effect was mani- fest to every person in the field ; those with the mixture of lime and gunpowder having been much more effectually bro- ken and shattered than the others. " After the success of this experiment, I have constantly adhered to the practice ; and am so satisfied of its utility, that I 4 E LIT JLOA vish to see it more generally adoj^ted. One thing is cerUiin, that a mixture com- posed of equal parts of quick-lime and gun])owder will explode ; and, if this mix- ture were used merely as a train of com- munication to the powder within the stone, what a national saving would it be in works carried on upon an extensive scale" LI.VIK, in agi-iculture. See Agricul- ture LIMEKILN. See Limestone. LINEN. See Manufacture of CLOTH. LINSEED-OIL. See Oils, fixed. LIQUATION, or ELIQ.UATION. This process will be described under the article Silver. LIQUOR, spirituous. The fermented fluids, w-hich have an intoxicating effect, such as rum, gin, &c. are called spi- rituous liquors. Of the different kinds we might enumerate many ; but as the several liquors will be noticed under their different heads, we refer the reader to the articles Hum, Buandy, Gin, Spi- rits, Alcohol, Wine, &c. For the mode of clarifying liquors, see Clari- fication and FiLTRAiioN; and for the distillation of liquors, see Distil- ling. LITHARGE. Litharge may be easily revived into lead ; accordingly, much of that which is produced by refining in the large way is reduced, by being melted upon burning coals. The piart of it which -is least altered by mixture with other me- tals is thus reduced, and by this method good and saleable lead is obtained. The rest of the litharge of these refineries w sold and used for various purposes. Pot- ters use much of it for glazing their ware. It is employed for the preparation of some plasters, and other external remedies ; and also in painting, to render linseed oil drying. Lastly, it is added in the compo- sition of some glasses, for it is very fusi- ble, and assists the fusion of other sub- stances. It has in general the same pro- perties as the other oxides of lead. All the litharge which isconmi6nly sold comes from refineries. The quantity formed there is more than sufficient for the de- mand See Lead. LITMUS, or Archil. (Tournesol, Fr.) — This beautiful but perishable dye is a viole red paste, prepared from a species of liciien, which grows abundantly in the Canary Islands, in the south of France, and in some other parts Many other species of lichen have also the property of assuming a beautiful purple when pre- pared in the same manner as litmus Archil, by which name it is better known in commerce, is generally in the form of cakes like anotto, which are pre- pared largelj in Holland, and in London, for the use of the dyers. The Dutch process has long been con- cealed as much as possible, but it is known to be effected by fermenting the moss or lichen, and adding alkalies and urine. The following is given as the ex- act process. The lichen is first dried, cleansed, and reduced to powder in a mill like the oil-mill. The powder is then thrown into a trough with one half its weight of pearl-ash, and moistened with a little human urine, and allowed to fer- ment. This fermentation is kept up for some time by successive additions of urine till the colour of the materials changes first to red and then to blue. When in this state it is mixed with a third of its weight of very good potash, and spread upon deep wooden trays till dry. A quantity of chalk is added at last, apparently with no other object than to increase the weight. 'I'here are several other kinds of moss or lichen, which will assume by a similar preparation the rich colour of the true ar- chil, which is a crimson tending to violet ; and have occasionally been employed for the same purposes in dyeing. The colour of archil is readily extract- ed by water or by alcohol. The colour of the watery solution, or of any substance dyed with it, soon fades by exposure to air, and hence it is used to give a gloss or finish to the deeper and more permanent colours. It is much employed for this purpose in the dyeing of silk, stufls, and ribbons. All acids and salts with excess of acid, such as alum or tartar, change the natural violet-purple of litmus to red ; and this change is effected so readily and perfectly with a very small degree of acidity, as to render this colour a valuable test to the chemist, to detect the presence of un- combined acids Even the carbonic acid in so small a proportion as that in which it exists in the breath (or about 5 or 6 per cent, of the bulk of the air expired) may be made to change the colour of litmus infusion, if a little of it diluted, so that the purple-blue is scarcely visible, be shaken in a phial containing air expired from the lungs. Jt is probable too, on account of the carbonic acid from the atmosphere, that paper or any thing else tinged with litmus reddens before the colour is alto- gether lost. LIXIVIUM. This term signifies nearly the same as Ley. LOAM. A natural mixture of clay and sand. The coloured clays and loams parti- LOG LUIM cipate of iron ; hence many of these melt in a strong fire, without any addition; both clay itself, and mixtures of it with crystalline earths, being brought into fu- sion by ferruginous oxides, though the fusible mixtures of clay and calcareous earths ai"e by the same ingredient prevent- ed from melting. The bricks made from some loams, particularly the Windsor, ai'e, when moderately burnt, remarkably free, so as to be easily rubbed smooth, cut, sawed, grooved, &c. Hence their use in building furnaces, &c. They bear a con- siderably strong fire, but have been fre- quently melted in a vehement one. LOADSTONE. See Iro n ( Ores of.) LOGWOOD, or Campeachy Wood. The tree that furnishes this wood (the Hamatoxylum Campechiar.um) grows to a very large size in various parts of the West Indies, and especially on the bay of Campeachy and along the American conti- nent, and is imported largely into this country from Jamaica for the use of the dyer. It usually comes over in moderate sized logs, of a very dark violet-brown colour, very hard and heavy. Before it is used it is broken down or rasped in pow- erful mills into fine chips The taste of logwood is mildly and agreeably asti'ingent, and when long chewed it leaves a pleasant sweetness in the mouth Both water and alcohol take up a considerable part of the soluble por- tion of the wood (alcohol much more than water), and thereby become tinged of a deep purple -red or browni. Acids added to the watery decoction turn it yellow, but alkalies give a very deep pvu-ple coloiu", but without forming any precipitate. Alum added to the decoction of log- wood causes a violet precipitate or lake, and the supernatant liquor also remains violet, and gives a fresh portion of lake on the affusion of an alkali. The salts of iron give an inky black with all the solutions of logwood, under the same circumstances as with galls, as explained under the article Iron, whence the presence of gallic acid in logwood is proved. The solutions of tin form a very fine violet or plumb colour lake with the de- coction of logwood, and totally precipitate the colouring matter, so that the superna- tant liquor is quite clear and colourless. Logwood is used in dyeing, either to give its own natural purple (with several shades or variations according to the mor- dant used) or to heighten and improve the common black with iron and galls. It is found in this latter method to give a pecu- liar gloss and lustre which renders it a verj' valuable dyeing material. See Dye- ing LOGS OF WOOD, apparatus for split- ting. \ simple appai'atus for breaking up logs of wood, by the espl"sion of gun- powder. Bv Mr. Richard Knight. Trans. Soc. Arts, 1802. " This apparatus consists of a gouge and augur for boring a hole into the wood to receive the powder. An iron or steel rending or blasting screw, which is made use of instead of a plug or stemming to confine the powder. The handle of this screw should be divided into two forks or prongs in such manner as to admit a lever for the purpose of winding it into the wood The dimensions of the screw should be such tliat it may not too easily be wrought into the hole, previously made by the augur. Through the centre of the screw is a small iiole, to which a priming wire is fitted for the purpose of occasion, ally clearing the hole, and introducing a quick match. This hole should be as small as is convenient to prevent the escape of the ignited powder. The match may be made of cotton or twine thread, steeped in a solution of saltpetre. A straw, however, filled with powder, in the man- ner in which the miners use it answers very well. A leather thong may be attach- ed to the lever, in order to fasten h, oc- casionally, to the screw, to prevent the loss of the latter, in case it should be thrown out when the log is burst open; a circumstance which, the inventor says, does not ofien occur, as when tlie wood was sound he has always found the screw left fixed in one side of the divided mass. Should this not be thought a sufficient se- curity for the screw, it may be fastened by a chain or rope to any heavy or fixed ob- ject." LOOKING GLASS. See Mirror, the articles Foliating, Silvering, and Glass Making. LORICATION. The same with Coat- ing, which see. LUDUS HELMONTII. An indurated marie, composed of vaiious pieces of a whitish brown colour, separated into a great number of polygoiious compart- ments, the boundaries of which are form- ed of matter of a lighter colour tlian the rest. According to Bomare, the Ludus stellatus Helmontii, found in the county of Kent, England, is covered with a kind of striated selenite, resembling the zeo- lite. It is for the most part of a globose figure, seldom flat, but often convex on the outside. And sometimes with a con- cave surface. LUMACHELLA, A conglutinated, calcareous stone, ccrtnposed of shells and LUT LUT coral, united together by a cement ot the same nature. When tliey have many co- lours, tliey are called marbles, and em- ployed as s\ich. In the island of Gott- land, there is found one of this kind of one colour only, which on that account is not called marble. LUTE. Ill many chemical operations, the vessels must be covered witli some- thing' to preserve them from the violence of the fire, from being broken or melted, and also to close exactly their joinings to each other, to retain the substances which they contain, when they are volatile and reduced to vapour. For this purpose se- veral matters are employed, called in ge- neral lutes. The lutes with which glass and earthen vare retorts are covered, ought to be composed of nearly equal parts of coarse sand and refractory clay. These matters are to be well mixed with water, and a lit- tle hair, or cut tow, so as to form a liquid paste, with which. the vessels are to be covered, layer upon layer, till it is of the required thickness. The sand mixed with the clay is nc- cessar)^ in this lute, to prevent the cracks which are occasioiied by the contracting of clay during its drying,which it always does when it is pure. The halir serves also to bind the parts of the lute, and to keep it applied to the vessel : for,notwiihstanding the sand which is introdjiced into it, some cracks are always formed, which would occasion pieces of it to fall off. Tliis lute is applicable to the junctures of ves.sels requiring much heat, but it must be quite dry belbre tiiey are used. Mr. WiUis has recommended as a coat- ing for earthen retorts, a solution of borax in 8 parts of boiling water, brought to the thickness of cream with slaked lime ; which, when dry, is to be covered with a thin paste of slaked lime and linseed oil. The lutes with which the joinings of vessels are closed, are of diflTerent kinds, according to the nature of the operations to be made, and of the substances to be distilled in these vessels. When vapours of watery liquors, and such as are not corrosive, are to be con- tained, it is sufficient to surroimd the joining of the receiver to the nose of the alembic, or of the retort, with slips of pa- per or of linen, covered with fiower-paste. In such cases also slips of wet bladder are very conveniently used. Almond powder, mixed with water or mucilage to the consistence of a stiffpaste, makes a good lute. When more penetrating and dissolving vapours are to be contained, a lute is to be employed of quicR-lime slaked in the air, and beaten into a liquid paste with whiles of eggs. This paste is to be spread upon linen slips, which are to be applied exactly to the joining of the vessels This lute is very convenient, easily dries, be- comes solid, and suflicienlly firm. The whites of eggs with their yolks, and about half their weight of powdered chalk, or lime, thoroughly slaked in the air, applied in this manner, is sufficient, according to Prof Paysse for the oxigenized muriatic acid. Of this lute vessels may be formed hard enough to bear polishing on the wheel. Gluten and lime make a strong lute. Lastly, when saline, acid, and corrosive vapours are to be contained, we must then have recourse to the lute called fat lute. This lute is made by foimirg into a paste some dried cviy finely powdered, sifted through a silken scarce, and moistened with water, and then by beating this paste well in a mojtar with boiled linseed oil, that is, oil which has been rendered dry- ing by litharge dissolved in it, and fit for the use of painteri. This lute easily lakes and retains tiie form given to it. It is ge- nerally rolled into cylinders of a conveni- ent size. These are to be applied, by flat- tening them, to the jo ningsof the vessels, which ought lo be perfectly dry, because the least moisture would prevent the lute from adhering. When the joinings are well closed with Ihis fat lute, the whole is to be covered with slips of linen spread with lute of lime and whites of eggs. These slips are to be fastened with pack- thread. The second lute is necessary to keep on the fat lute, bec.iuse this latter • remains soft, and does not become solid enough to stick on alone. Fine porcelain clay, mixed with a solu- tion of borax, is well adapted to iron ves- sels, the part received into an aperture be- ing smeared with it. ^ Lute to mend a/l Sorts of broken Vessels, — Take any quantity of white of eggs, and beat them well to a froth. Add to this soft curd cheese, and quicklime, and begin beating a-new all together. This may be used in mending whatever you will, even glasses, and will stand both fire and water. Jinother, for the same Purpose, tukich resists Water. — Take quick-lime, tin-pen- tine, and soft curd cheese. Mix these well together; and, with the point of a knife, put of this on the edges of the bro- ken pieces of your ware, then join tliem together. A cold Cement for Cisterns and Foun- tains — Take litharge and hole in powder, of eacii two pounds ; yellow ochre and resin, of each four ounces ; mutton suet, five ounces; mastich and turpentine, of each two ounces; oil of nuts, a sufficient LYC LYC quantity to render it malleable. — Work these all together ; and, then it is fit for use. To lute or plaster Earthen Pots or Pans •uiith Linen-cloth, to stand the Fire. — Soak your linen-cloth in salt water, and let it dry by degrees in a shady place; then dip it in yolks of eggs well beaten. Hav- ing first rubbed the place you intend to lute thinly over with the above, clap on your cloth, smooth and even ; and, when dry, you may use your pan or pipkin, and set it on the fire for boiling any thing you have occasion for ; it will be as sound as it was before it was broke or cracked. See Cement. LYCO PODIUM. The fine dust of lyco- podium, or clubmoss, is called by some, on account of its great inflammability, ve- getable sulphur. The dust is properly the seeds of the plant. There are sundry other vegetablf s, as polypodies, ferns, co- niferous trees, &c. the seeds of which are like a yellow, impalpable farina, so subtle as to be blown away by the least motion of air : it is this dust which has given rise to some reports of showers of brimstone. The dust of lycopodium, diffused or strewed in the air, takes fire from a can- dle, and burns off like a flash of lightning. It is used in the London theatres. A quantity laid together upon burning coals does not flame, but smokes away with a foetid smell : burned in a red hot crucible, it leaves a very small proportion of a light cobweb-like matter. It does not, as some report, take fire from flint and steel, not* explode like gunpowder ; nor does it seem to detonate more violently with nitre than other inflammable matters do. Olearius relates, that the Russians employ much of it in fire-works, but does not inform us in what manner. There is a curious experiment of taking a shilling from the bottom of a vessel of water without wetting the hand. It is said to be done by strewing a small quantity of the dust of lycopodium on the surface of the water, which it so strongly repels, as to form a covering for the hand, and de- fend it from the contact of the water. If a handkerchief be strewed over with this dust, water may be tied up in it. Some of the species of lycopodium are good dyes. Wool or silk boiled in a de- coction of the 1. complanatum,or 1. clava- tum, and then immersed in a weak infu- sion of brasil, acquires a good and very fast blue. All acids, however, redden it; but the colour is again restored by alkalis. By increasing the quantity of brasil the co- lour may be brought to a puce. The !. annotinum treated in the same way pro- duces grays ; as do the 1. selago, and sela- ginoides, more or less inclining to blue or violet. All the species appear to be good mor- dants. The bark of the young shoots of plurftrees, affords, by their means, a fine Carmelite, and that of the populus dilata- ta, a permanent yellow. See also Li- END OT^ THE FIRST VOLUME, ■m % # INSERT FOLDOUT HERE HYDROBTATIC ENGINE. Tills invention, for which Messrs. Long and Hauto, liave recently taken out let- tcis patent, under the authority of the United States, and which they have se- cured in England, Scotland and Ireland ; is offered to the public, as a valuable and cheap substitute for the common over- shot wheel, in all situations, \vi ere there is a scarcity of water* with a fall of' 25 feet and upwards. * This engine bids' fair, with the improve- ments that ingenuity may suggest, to be- come one of the most powjerl'ul, and at the same time, oiie of the most simple water machines, that ever was invented. References to the Plate. Fig. 1. A perpendicular section of the box, &c. A a tube or canal, through which the water is conveyed into the engine. BB a Dox or cylinder, on which the pis- tons move. C a tube, that conducts the water from the box. DD the pistons, with their rods. E a valve, turning back and forth on a gudgeon, passing through its centre, and thus opening a communica- tion alternately between the tube A, and each end of the box, and at the same time opening a communication between the.box and the tube C, so that the water may be discharged- from either end of the box, whilst the other is fiUing. . ^ Fig. 2. A perpendicular sectioBi of the engine. ABBC, the same as in Fig. 1. DD a rack, the sides of which act alter- nately on the I'ack-wheel, thus -producing a continued rotatory movement. Its change from -side to side, is effected by means of cogs in the ends, which gearing into the cogs of the rack-wheel, alternate- ly raise and lowej it. E the rack-wheel. FF a fly-wheel turning on the shaft of the rack-wheel. GG a dog, moving on its axis g, at every change of the rack, and thus giving a reciprocated motion to the valve-rod. HH the valve-rod. I the winc^ acted upon, by the valve-rod, and giving motion to the valve, by means of its gud- geon. K a weight, suspended from the valve-rod, by a line passing over pullies, in the top of the dog L one side of the groove-box to regulate the inovements of the rack. M a lever connected with the dog by rods of iron. N^ne of the stan- dards that support- the lever. O a weight .VOL, I. to balance the rack. P one side of tiie sweep. Fig. 3. A horizontal section of the en- gine. AAA the frame of the engine. B the box with its pistons, &c. CCC a car- riage connecting the'pistons, and moving, outside of the box. DD the sweeps con- nected to the carriage, by means of de- vices, so that it may vibrate, in confor ty to the movements of the rack, wl is attached to it. E the rack as repre- sented at D, Fig. 2. FP' the sides of the grouve-box. G the dog. HH the main shaft, upon which the fly and rack-wheels turn, and to which other machinery of any kind may be attached. II the fly-wheel.,- "Fig. 4- An internal view of one side of the groove-box> in which the sliders are so disposed, as to Iceep the sides of the rack alternately in gear v.'ith the rack- wheel. The sliders represented by shades in this figure, are to consist of iron, and to be made fast to the sides of the groove- box, by means of screw-bolts. The up- permost is so constructed, as to permit the regulator in the end of the rack to pass around it. Fig. -5. A view of a part of the dog, and its friction wheel, upon which the weight of the rack is supported. Fig. 6. A view of one side of the frame at the back part of the machine, shqwing one of the grooves, in which that part of the carriage xnoves, to which the sweep is attached. Fig. 7. A side vievv of the valve, with, the winch by which it is turned. Fig. 8. The pullies in the top of the dog, together with a part of the valve-rod. Fig. 9. The carrier .or regulator, to be attached to the lower part of the rack, at i{s outermost end. The ears upon the Sides are fitted to the grooves of the groove-box, so that they pass entu'ely round the uppermost slider. Figs. 10 and 11. The parts of the ma chine represented by these figures, are intended ibr a substitute for the groove- box and sliders. A model has been con- structed on this plan, and it is found to answer the purpose far better, than the original plan. The greater part of the friction of the rack is completely done away by it. These figures represent dif- ferent views of a catch-frame, with fric- tion-wheels, bolts, and bolt-mortices. The HYDROSTATIC ENGlifE-. friction,whcels are placed so far asunder," as to admit the rack to pass fr*e> ly be- tween thenfj. Tlie frame, af every clianjje oi; the rack, rises and falls with' it. It is confined in sucli a manner by the bolts, that it keeps the sides of the rack alter- nately in gear, with tUo lack- wheel. Ihe bolts slip alternately into t,he mortices, by means of small \veit;!its, acting upon an- gular leavers or dogs ; and are drawn out of them again, by the ends of the r.-ick striking against pins or knobs, in the bolts. According to Fig. •!. as the water acts alternately upon the pistons, it follows, that a reci])rocated rectilinear motion is produced. This motion is accompanied bji^ power equal to tlie weight of a co- lumn of water, whose base is the area of one of the pistons, and whose height is equal to the whole perpendicular fall of ' lation to the rotatory, Uiat a line of tan gent does to its circle ; and tliis indeed is the only direction, in which a power act- ing in a rigiit line, can produce a rotatory movement, without a very considerable loss. It-may be objected that the unavoid- able friction to which the engine is liable, is sufficient to counterbalance all the ad- vantages it might otherwise have, over the v/heel, but an undeniable fact, which we will here iiltroduce, will place this point beyond all controversy. An engine lias' been erected, at Mr. Bayty's brewery in Germantownjfor the purpose of grind- ing malt. It ]s constructed on the origi- nal plan, viz. .with sliders to regulate the movements of thfe rack. It is situated on a small stream of water, rising out of the ground, a few rods above the dam. The fall from the surface of the water in the the water. Tor instance let the whole dam, to the bottom of the machine, is perpendicular fall be 33 feet ; the weight equal to 25 feet perpendiciilar heigiit. or power will be 15 pounds upon tvay WiUi this fall, grinding at the rate of -20 square inch of the piston. When the fall js 66 feet, the power is 30 pounds upon the square inch, and a fall of 132 feet will give a power of 60 pounds, upon every square inch of the piston, and so on. In order to apply the power thus acquired to machinery, it is necessary that a rota- tory movement should be produced. The manner in which this is effected is shewn by Fig. 2. ; by w]iich it .appears that the. rectilinear movement bears the same r^- ' bushels per hour, the engine expend.s lUU gallons of \\||jter per minute. . A grist- mill having an equal fall of water, and grinding at the rate of 3 A bushels of wheat per hour, requires about 400 gallons vS water per minute, to turn it. Farther information on the subject anri licenses may be, obtained, by applying to the patentees in Cicrmantown, near I'l.l ladelphia. M APPENDIX. BLEACHING. Observations on the machinery used in modern bleachfields, with a description of the diflPerent apparatus referred to in the article on Bleaching, accompanied with plates. The machinery and utensils used in bleachine^ are various, according to the business done by the bleacher. Where linen or heavy cotton cloths are whitened, and the business is carried on to considera- ble extent, tlie machinery is both com- plicated and expensive It consists chiefly of a water-wheel sufficiently powerful for giving motion to the wash stocks, dash wheels, squeezers, &c. with any other operations where power is required. Figures 6. and 7- Plate I. Bleaching, re- present a pair of wash stocks. A A are cal- led the stocks or feet. They are suspended on ii"on pivots at B, and receive their motion from wipers on the revolving shaft C. The cloth is laid in at D, and, by the alternate strokes of the feet, and the curved form of the turnhead K, the cloth is washed and gradually turned. At the same time, an abundant stream of water rushes on the cloth through holes in the upper part of the turnhead. Wash stocks are much used in Scotland and in Ireland. In the latter country, they are often made with double feet, suspended above and below two turnheads, and wrought with cranks instead of wipers. Wash stocks, properly constructed, make from 24 to 30 sti'okes per minute This mode of washing is now entirely given up in Lancashire, where a pre- ference is given to what are called dash wheels and squeezers. The dash wheels are small water wheels, the inside of which are divided into four compart- ments, and closed up, only leaving a hole in each compartment for putting; in the cloth. There are, besides, smaller open- ings for the free admission and egress of the water employed in cleansing. The cloth, by the motion of the wheel, is rais- ed up in one part of the revolution of the wheel ; while by its own wciglit it fdls in another. This kind of motion is very effectual in washing the cloth, while, at the same time, it does not injure its VOL. I. strength. This plan, however, where the economy of water is an object of any imporcance, is very objectionable, be- cause the wheel must move at by far too great a velocity to act to advantage as a water wheel. Fig. 1. Plate I. represents a dash wheel constructed to receive its motion from a shaft A, connected either with a water wheel or steam engine. The dash wheel, CD, is fixed on a separate axis, and is engaged or disengaged from the rest of the mill work by a very simple contrivance On die end of the shaft AB is a face wheel FG, with projecting teeth made to correspond with those of a simi- lar face wheel HI. The axis of the dasii wheel is made moveable endways; by sliding it forward, the teeth lay hold of one another, and the dash wheel is thus car- ied round by the mill; by the slidhig it backward, the teeth are disengaged, and the dash wheel ceases to move. LM represents the lever for tins purpose. NNNN Fig. 3. are the holes for introduc- ing the cloth into the four compartments ; the partitions are equidistant fi'om the holes. O Fig. 2. is the pipe which sup- plies the water for cleansing the goods. PQ is an open circle in the back of the weel for introducing the water from the pipe O. The ciicle lias a number of wires set all around to orevent any part ot the cloth from escaping through the cir- cle PQ. Near the circumference of the wheel are other holes, through which the water finds its way after passing from the cloth. Dash wheels are made to engage and disengage by various other modes than that which is described above. Cir- cumstances make it necessary to vai-y these ; and a judicious mill-\n-ight will be at no loss how to ad.apt the mode of throwing the wiieel in and out of gear to the rest of the mill-work. A dash wheel, six feet and a half in diameter, and two feet and a half wide, i F BLEACHING. making twenty-two^ revolutions per min- ute, is the most approved size and dimen- sions. The Plate represents tlie kind used in Lancashire, and in some parts of Scotland In the neighbourhood of Lon- don, tiiey are a little different in tlie mode of introducing the water. Instead of hav- ing- the circumference close boarded, as in l/mcashire, they ape made of sparred work : I'he end of the water pipe is flat- tened so as to make the aperture very wide and narrow ; and it is applied near the upper part of the circumference- After the process of washing by the dash wheel, the water is compressed from the cloth by means of squeezers. Squeezers consist of a pair of wooden rollers, wliich, in moving, draw the cloth throiigli betwpentJjem. The lower roller receives its motion from a mill, and the uppermost is pressed down upon it by means of levers. Till of late, these rol- lers were fixed in strong wooden frames ; but the framing is now generally made of cast iron, which makes a neater and more durable piece of work. Figures 4. and 5. Plate "f. represent one of these macliines having a cast iron framing, as constructed by Mr. Paikinsou of Mi^nchester . A is the lower roller- B the upper roller. CD a lever which presses upon the brass of the upper rol- ler. FE another lever to increase the power coimected with CD. The extremity of F is kept down by a pin. In some cases a weight is used in place of the pin 'i'he improved mode of bucking was the invention of Mr. John Lowrie, a native of GL.sgow. It is rfow practised by many bleachers in Lancashire, some on more perfect plans than others ; but we shall give the description of the kind of ap- p;u"atus best approved of by those whose experience and skill have rendered them tlie most competent judges. In Fig. 2. Plate II. JBlcaching, ABCD is the wooden kieve containing the cloth. CEFE I'epresents the cast-iron boiler. GG the pump. IK tlie pipe of communication between the kieve and the boiler. This pipe has a valve on each of its extremi- ties ; that on tlie upper extremity, when shut, prevents the ley from running into the boiler, and is regulated by tlie attendant by means of the rod and handle IB. The valve at K admits the ley ; but, opcninj; inwards, prevents tlie steam from escap- ing through the pipe IK 'i'he boilci- has a steam tight iron cover IL ; and at CD, in tlie kieve, is a wojden grating, a small disiunce above tlie cover of the boiler. At .MNO is a cone and broad plate of metal, in order to spread the ley over the cloth. It is hardly necessary to say, tliat the boiler has a furnace, as usual for simi- lar purposes. While the ley is at a low temperature, the pump is worked by the mill or steam engine. When it is sufficiently heated, the elasticity of the steam forces it up through the valves of the pump, when it is disjoined from the mill. NP is a copper spout, which is removed at the time of taking the cloth out of the kieve The boilers used in bleaching are of the common form, having a stopcock at bot- tom for running ofl' tne waste ley. They are commonly made of cast-iron, and are capable of containing from 300 to 600 gallons of water, according to the extent of the business done. In order that the capacity of the boilers may be enlarged, they are formed so as to admitof acrib of wood, strongly hooped, or, wbat is pre- ferable, of cast iron, to be fixed tp the upper extremity of it. In order to Jceep the goods from the bottom of the boiler, where the heat acts most forcibly, a strong iron ring, covered with netting made of stout rope, is allowed to rest six or eight inches above the bottom of the boiler. Four double ropes are attached to the ring, for withdrawing the goods when sufficiently boiled, which have eaph an eye for admitting hooks from the rt^nning tackle of a crane. Where more tJoilers than one are emplojed, the crane is so placed, that, in the range of its sweep, it may withdraw the goods from any of them. For this purpose, the crane turns on spindles at top and bottom : and the goods are raised or lowered at pleasure, by double pulleys and shieves, by means of a cylinder moved by cast-iron wheels. Before the year 1794, the apparatus used for making the oxymuriatic acid, was so very inconvenient and defective, that the health of tlie workmen employed was often injured, or at least thcu* situa- tion was rendered veiy uncomfortable, from the deleterious qualities of the gas. To remedy this defect, Mr. Peter Fisher, late of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, in the year 1794, invented an apparatus admira- bly calculated for this purpose, which, with-vei'y slight alterations, has been almost universally adopted. It consists of a leaden retort A, Fig. 4. Phite II. set on a tripod of iron D, into a cast-iron boiler B, built into brick-work, with a furnace and asU pit of the common con- struction EF. The top of the rfitoit is closed with a leaden cover with screws and nuts, having an iron flcnge of the same diameter above and below the mouth of the retort, with corresponding nuts ami screws. Tlie use of the flenge is to BleaeHinsr. -FiV/ . 5 BLEACHING. jjievent the retort fron being- compressed out of shape, and thereby preventing its fitting properly. Between the joinings of the mouth of the retort, loose flax, dipt in white lead, ground in oil, is spread equally ; and the whole is firmly screwed together. In the top of the cover, a cir- cular hole is made of three inches in diameter, for introducing the materials for making the bleaching liquor, and cleaning out the retort. The hole is fitted with a plug of lead C, which is gently struck into the cover when the apparatus is arranged for working, and is luted with a little soft clay to prevent the escape of gas. The oxymuriatic gas is convej'ed by the lead tube G, which is two inches in diame- ter, into the intermediate vessel H, set upon a stand as in the figure. This ves- sel is circular, and is fiom 12 to 18 inches in diameter, according to the capacity of the other parts of the apparatus; the use of it is to prevent any impurity from de- scending by the leaden tube I into the receiver K, should the contents of the retort be forced upwards by t^ie efferves- cence of the materials in it; but this is now seldom the case, since the distillation of the oxymuriatic acid is carried on by the use of the water bath, in place of heated sand. The receiver K is a vessel of an invert- ed conical shape made of lead, where the capacity does not exceed 120 gallons, or of wood lined with lead when the quantity of work done is large. It is closely cover- ed at top, and has a hole for introducing water into the receiver at M with a leaden plug. The brass stopcock for drawing off the oxymuriatic acid, is about two inches fronj the bottom of the re- ceiver, as at N. In some apparatus of this kind, two or three false bottoms, as they are called, LL, made of lead, are laid on brackets of the same metal fixed to the side of the receiver. These false bottoms are pierced full of holes, in order to spread the oxymuriatic gas through the water diu-ing the distillation. We shall now describe the preparation of the oxNTTiuriatic acid combined with potash, as conducted in the apparatus invented by Mr. Fisher. See Plate II. Fig. 4. Supposing the receiver K to contain 120 gallons English wine measure, it is filled at the hole M with a solution of caustic potash of the specific gra%-iiy of 1015 ; the lead stopper is then replaced. Twenty-one lbs. of common salt being intimately mixed with fourteen lbs. of the black oxide of manganese, the mix- ture is moistened with water, and wrought together until it is of the consistence of I moist dough. By this means, the salt, in j a state of solution, unites more intimately I with the manganese. The top of the ' retort being removed, the salt and mai»- : ganese are put into it ; the cover is theti- , replaced, and firmly screwed on its place. j Into 161bs. of sulphuric acid pour grad- I ually the same weight of water, and allow the mixture to cool. One half of the diluted acid is poured, by a lead funnel, into the retort by the hole at C, which is . then closed by the lead plug to prevent the escape of the oxymuriatic gas which is instantly disengaged, after which a vio- I lent agitation is heard in the receiver K. , The distillation is usually begun in the i evening, and the workman, after seeing ; the operation going properly forward, leaves it to work of itself. In the morn- j ing, the distillation having abated, the remainder of the diluted sulphuric acid ' is poured into the retort, when a fresh , disengagement of the gas takes place. ! As soon as it is observed to slacken, a I file is put into the furnace in order to j heat tlie boiler B, which is filled with j water, into which chaff or any similar I light substance is put to prevent the j evaporation of the water. By the increas- I ed heat of the water, the distillation goes forward with renewed vigour ; and the fire is continued until no more gas is dis- engaged, which is known by tlie bubbling noise in the receiver being no longer heard. The oxymuriatic acid combined with potash may now be dra\ni off by the stop-cock ^i from the receiver for use. In the above process, the sulphuric acid having a greater affinity for llie soda contained in the common salt tlnui that which the muriatic acid has, the latter is disengaged ft-om the soda, and, acting on tJi • manganese, it deprives it of its oxygen, which now existing in the state of oxy- muriatic acid gas, by its expansive force is impelled forwards through the tubes G and 1 into the receiver K, where it is absorbed by the caustic alkaline solution. Instead of caustic alkah, hme has been recommended, which from tlie experi- ments of Tennant, and subsequent prac- tice, is found to answer the purpose of alkali, and is more economical. In the tub in which the lime is put, which is first slacked and made into a kind of piste with, or diti'used in, water, some advise the addition of common salt ; but this an- swers no good purpose, and seems latlier to retard the formation of the bleaching liquor. When lime is used, in particular, it is necessary, in order to facilitate the combuiation of tlie acid with the lime, to use mechanical agitation. When a suffi- cient quantity, of pulverised lime, is BLEACHING. put into the receiver K in the place of pot- ash, and mechanically agitated during the distillation rf the oxymuiiatic acid, it will be ei^'Jrnh dissolved, and forms a pure and traiisoartni solt tion oi' oxymuriate, or rathe. hyperox\r,uu-iateoflinie- Tlie ap- paratus lately put up at the cotton manu- facto.y of Messrs Craig and Maiquedant, for bleaching rf)tton goods, wliicii is after Tennant's plan, in which lime is iised,an- svvers the purpose extremely well. On Bucking — The process of bucking was long canieil on without any improve- meiit, until Mr, John Lourie, as before narrated, introduced an apparatus admi- rably calculated for conducting tliis ope- ration on tlic large scale, which being in some meastue self operative, mueli la- bour, as well as a considerable quantity of alkali is saved. The boiler (Plate II. Fig. 2.) being filled with caustic alkaline ley, and tiie linens being properly arranged in the wooden kieve above it, the handle of the pump tiG is set in motion by the machine- ry : the ley now flows through tlie pi])e N by the working of the pump, and falling on the broad plate of metal MO, it is spread In a perpetual current on the cloth, while the valve K opening inwards, ad- raits the ley to return into the boiler. Im- mediately on the pump being set to work, a file is put to the boiler, by which the ley being gradually heated, the linens re- ceive the benefit of the regular increase of temperature, and the colouring matter from the cloth is thereby more efiectually removed. When the ley begins to boil, the handle of the pump is detached from the machinery of the water wheel, and by the ley being completely confined in the close boiler, it is forced up the pump, and falls in a perpetual stream through the pipe N upon tlic linens in the kieve AEJCD. The efficacy of this manner of conduct- ing the bucking process must be evident at first sight : while the heat is gradually increased, a current cious as to contain 10,000 gallons. English Iran Sineiting Furnace. — We have noticed this furnace under the arti- cle Irox ; but we have taken the drawing from one of Mushet. The following is a description : Figure 1st, of the plate, re- presents a blast furnace, with part of the blowing machine. A, tlie regulating cyhnder, eight feet diameter and eight teet high. — B, the floating piston, loaded with weights pro- poitionate to the power of tlie machine- — C, the valve, by which the air is passed ti"om the pumping cylinder into the regu- lator : its length 26 inches, and breiidth 11 inches. — D, the aperture by which the blast is forced into the furnace. Diame- ter of this range of pipes 18 inciies. The wider these pipes can w ith conveniency be used, the less is the friction, and the more powerful are the effects of the blast.— El, the blowing or pumping cylinder, six feet diameter, nine feet high : travel of the piston in this cylinder frotn five to seven feet per stroke. — F, the blowing piiton, and a view of one of the valves, of which there are sometimes two. and sometimes four, distributed over the siu-face of the piston. The area of each is proportioned to the number of valves .- commonly they are 12 to 16 mclies — G, a pile of solid stone building, on which the regulating cylinder rests, and to wliich the flanch and tilts of the blov.ing cylin- ders are attached. — H, the s:ifety-A-alve, or cock : by the simple turning of which the blast may be admitted to, or shut off from the furnace, and passed off to a co- lateral tube on the opposite side — I, the tuvere, by which the' blast enters the fur- nace. The end of the tapered pipe, which approaches the tuyere, receives small pipes of various diameters, from two to three inches, called nose pipes. These are applied at pleasure, and as the strength and velocity of the blast may require. — K, tlie bottom of the hearth, two feet square. — L, the top of the hearth, two feet six inches square. — KL, the height of the hearth, six feet six inches. — L, is also the bottom of the boshes, which here termi- nate of the same size as the top of the health ; only the former ai'e round, and the latter square. — M, the top of the bo- shes, 12 feet diameter and eight feet of perpendicular height. — X, tl'.e top of the furnace, at which the materials ai'e char- ged ; commonly three feet diameter — MX, the internal cavity of the furnace from the top of the boshes upwards, 30 feet high — XK, total height of the internal FURNACES. parts of the furnace, 44\ feet. — l.'O, tiie lining-. This is done in tlie nicest roannei witli fire bricks made on purpose, 13 inchts long and three nclies ihick. — PF, a vacancy which is \ci\ ali lound the out- side of tlic first lining, three inciies broad, and wliicli is beat full of couk-dust. 'I'liis space is allowed for any txpiinsion which might take place in consequence of the swelling of the materials b} l)eat when de- scending to the bottom of the furnace.— QQ, the second lining, similar to the first. R, a cast iron lintel, on which the bottom of the arch is supported.— Hb, the- rise of the arch.— ST, height of the arch ; on tlie outside 14 feet, and 18 feet wide— ^■V, the extremes of the lieartli, ten feet square This and the bosh stones are al- Avavs made from a course gritted freestone whose fracture presents large rounded grains of qtiartz, connected by means of a cement less pure. Figure 2. represents the foundation of the furnace, and a full view of tlie manner in which the false bottom is constructed. AA, the bottom stones of the hearth. K, stratum of bedding sand CC, passages bynvhich the vapour, which may be gene- rated from the damps, are passed off. DD, pillars of brick. Tlie lett.^rs in tlie horizontal view, of the same figure, cor- respond to similar letters in the dotted elevation. Figure 3, A.\, horizontal section of the diameter of the boshes, the lining and va- cancy for stuffing at M. C, view of the top of the hearth at L. Figure 4, vertical side-section of the hearth and boshes ; shewing the tymp and dam-stones, and the tymp dam-plates. «, the tymp-stone. i, the tymp-plate, which is wedged firmly to the stone, to keep it firm in case of splitting by the great heat. c, dam-stone, which occupies the whole bre'adih of the bottom of the hearth, ex- cepting about six inches, wliich, when the furnace is at work is filled every cast, with strong sand. This stone is surmounted by an iron plate of considerable thickness, and of a peculiar shape, fi*, and from this called the dam -plate. The top of the dam- stone and plate is two, three, or four inch- es under the level of the tuyere hole. The space betwixt the bottom of the tymp and the dotted line is also rammed full of sti'ong sand, and sometimes fire-clay. This is called the tymp-stopping,and pre- vents any part of tlie blast from being un- necessarily expended. The square of the base of this blast-fur- nace is 38 feet ; the extreme height from the false bottom to the top of the crater is 55 feet. .-? Furnace for Cast Iron Founders. — Vlusiiet gives tile tbllowing description. Sue plate. Fig. 1, a groxmd plan of two large air- furnaces, and chimney for melting pig or cast-iron witJi the flame of pit coal. 'I'he letters A B C D point out the exte- rior dimensions of the stalk or ciiimney, w hicl) is first erected, leaving two open- ings or aiches, into which the fore-part of tiie furnaces are afterwards built. The breadth of the chimney at the particular ])hice wliicli the plan exhibits, is 16 feet from A to U, and from A to D or from B to C 6 feet 6 inches. The plan is drawn at that elevation where the fiame enters the chimney by the flue or throat, n;u-row- cd on purpose to throw back par.t of the flame, and keep the furn;e Manchester Society, gives the accompanying plate of a furnace, for the manufacture of steel. Explanation of tlie plate — Fig. 1. is a plan of the furnace, and fig. 2. is a section of it taken at tlie line AB. The piail is taken at the line CD. The same parts of the furnace are marked with the same letters in the plan and in the section. Eli are the pots or troughs into which the bars of iron are laid, ti) be converted. V is the fire-place ; P the fire-bars-, and 11 the ash-pit. GG, &c. are the flues. HH is an arch, the inside of the bottom of which corresponds with the line IIII, fig. 1. and the top of it is made in the form of a dome, having a hole in the centre at K, fig. 2. LL, &.C are six clrimneys MM. is a dome similar to that of a glass-house, covering the whole. At N there is an arched opening, at which the materials are taken in and out of the furnace, and wlficb is closely built up when the furnace is charged. At 00 there are holes in each pot, through which the erids of three or four of*the bais are made to project quite out of Ute furnace. These are for the pulpose O^eing drawn out occasion- ally to see if the iron be sufficiently con- verted, . . The pots are made' of fire -tiles or fire- stone.; TJie bottoms of them are made of two courses, each course being aboHt the thickness of the single course which forms the outsrdes of the pots. The insides of the pots are of one coiu-se, about double the thickness of' the outside. The.parti- tioiis of the flues a-re made of fire-brick, which are of different thicla:esses, as re- presented in the plan, and by dotted lines in the bottom of the pots. These are for supporting the sides and bottoms of the pot^, and for directing the flame equally round them. The great object is to com- municate to tlie whole an equal degree of heat in every part. The fuel is put in at each end of the fire-place, and the fire is made the whole length of the pots, and kept up as equally as possible." ' Descriptioii of Ptate JVb. 1 — Farriery. A. The head, including all its ^arts as articulated with the neck. '• BB. The blade bone, or scapula. G. The humerus, or shouider-bone. ))D. The bones of the leg, or fore-arm, consisting in each of the radius and ulna. EE. The joints of the knees, with the small ranges of bones. ' FF. The posterior parts, of the knee joints'. GG. The shank-bones', consisting in each of the Canon bon'e, ami the two me- ' tacarpal, orsplent-bones. HH. 'I'he great pastern bones, with the two sesamoid bones of each fetlock. II. The lesser jjastern bones. KK. The bones oi"the feet, consisting in' each of the coffin and navicular bonesj with the lateral cartilages. LL. The bones qf the pelvis, called ossainnominat'a. MM. The thigh-bones. X>f. The bouts of the hind-legs ; con- siitin^ in each of IJic tibia and the fibula. FARRIERY. 00. The points of the hocks. PP. The small bones of the hocks. QQ. Tlie bones of the Insteps ; consist- ing, in each, of the canon bone and two metatarsal bones. RK. The great pasterns and sesamoid bones of the hind-legs SS. The little pastern bones of the hind- legs. TT. The coffin and navicular bones of each hind-foot, with the lateral carti- lages- V. The sternum, or breast-bone. X. The point of the sternum. YY The ribs. ^ Z. The cartilaginous OTds of the ribs en the breast and abdomen. 1. II. III. IV. V VI Vil. The seven vertebrae of the neck. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 10, 11, 12, 13, U, 15, 16, 17, 18. The eighteen verte- bra of the thorax and back. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The six vertebra of the loins. 1, 2,3, 4, 5. The five spines of the os sacrum 1, 2, 3, 4, .5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. The eighteen joints of the cosendix and tail. Description of Plate J^o. II. — Farriery. Representing the intestines of the horse as they appeal* in their natural situa- tion, when the abdomen is laid open. AAAAAA. The colon, with Its various circumvolutions and windings, together with Its numerous folds, and under which lie the small intestine. B. The coccum, or blind gut. C. The rectum. ^ Flat.! I. FJI M.M JTJBXr^^ t. PLat^ IL FutJfUliXJfk'. TjnnerSc ^^^ FEB. 71