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 FIRST PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 ENGLISH HISTORY. 
 BY T. 8. TAYLOR, 
 
 UNDER-GRADUATE OF LONDON. 
 
 In which all Unnecessary Statistics and Unimportant 
 Details are Omitted. 
 
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 had three wives or six — whether that one was crowned 
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 and all of us to know why a devastating war raged 
 between the king and his parliament ; what principles 
 were involved ; and how it might have been avoided : 
 to trace the growth of trial by jury through successive 
 generations ; to leani hov jne man's character influenced 
 the whole realm for go«.»« or evil ; to know that our deeds 
 outlive us, and bear fruit of which we little dream. 
 
 By the same Author. Price One Shilling. 
 
 FIRST PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 FRENCH HISTORY. 
 
 In this little work few kings are mentioned by name. 
 Their births, their marriages, their deaths, their wars, 
 squabbles, and disasters, are only alluded to when these 
 have had a great and lasting effect on the land they 
 governed. Its object is to teach principles, not per- 
 sons ; to show how peoples and nations grew, and to 
 trace the struggle for and against arbitrary power, which 
 has taken place, not in France only, but in all nations 
 growing to maturity. 
 
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 FIRST PRINCIPLES 
 
 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 S. M. PAULL, 
 
 AUTHOR or " QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON rSEFTTL A^T) 
 
 1NTEKE8TINO SUHJECTS ;" " SIMPLE CATECHISMS O^ TKK 
 
 HISTORIES OF GREECE AND ROME," ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 BEVISED, CORRECTED, AND GREATLY IMPROVED, 
 
 BY 
 
 ^ JOHN DAVENPORT, 
 
 ATn-HOB, OP " THE HISTORICAL CLASS BOOK," BTC, ITTC 
 
 PUBLISHED BY RELFE, BROTHERf^, 
 6, Charter-house Buildings, Aldeesoate, 
 LONDON, E.G.
 
 M^^^OiM 
 
 :>t
 
 5 taut 
 'Annex 
 
 PEEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION. 
 
 The success whicL attended the author's first 
 series of Catechisms has encouraged her to 
 attempt a second one, not quite so infantine 
 in its style and character, but entering more 
 fully into the subjects treated of 
 
 She is aware that the works of this descrip- 
 tion already in circulation are by no means 
 few ; but, with some exceptions, they will be 
 found either not simple enough for the junior 
 forms, or else so dijffuse that their price renders 
 them unavailable for the use of more advanced 
 pupils. The want of due classification is also 
 another objection frequently raised againsb such 
 books — a defect which, in the present one, has 
 been remedied by referring, whenever practi- 
 cable, each particular to its appropriate head, 
 and by omitting whatever is irrelevant or ex- 
 traneous. 
 
 In a book so limited as this one is, both aa 
 regards extent and cost, it has, of course, been 
 impossible to enlarge upon many of the sciences, 
 such as Geology, Chemistry, Mechanics, &c. ; 
 while others. Geography, Astronomy, &c., for 
 instance, have been wholly omitted, as forming 
 studies of themselves. It is, however, hopetl 
 that sufficient explanations have been given on 
 
 50{)3t.^'>
 
 IV I'KEFACE. 
 
 every subject discussed, not only to prejent a 
 general view of its nature, but also to render 
 intelligible to children such of tlie terms con- 
 nected with it as are of almost daily occur- 
 rence. 
 
 PEEFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 In this new edition of the '* First Principles 
 OP General Knowledge," the style has been 
 amended throughout, faulty definitions have 
 been corrected, and additional matter intro- 
 duced where required. For the purpose also of 
 enlarging the pupil's acquaintance with several 
 of the subjects which, for obvious reasons, have 
 been treated of more briefly than their impor- 
 tance demanded, reference has, at the suggestion 
 of several experienced teachers, been made to 
 Mr. Quested's im])roved edition of " Erredge's 
 Student's Hand-Book of General Knowledge," 
 a work comprising much curious and valuable 
 instruction. Mrs. O'Brien's " Sim])le Catechism 
 of the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral King- 
 doms," may also be consulted with great advan- 
 tage, and would moreover prove an interesting 
 and useful vade-mecum of a visit to the South 
 Kensington Museum. 
 
 JOHN DAVENPORT
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Chbohologt I 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 COINS, WEIGTITS, AND UEA80RE8. 
 
 Skction 1.— (^oina and Money 82 
 
 „ 2. — Weights and Measures 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PBOPUCTIONS OF THE EARTH USED FOR FOOD, MEDICINE, 
 MANUFACTURK8, ETC., ETC. 
 
 Section 1.--Usc1u1 Seeds, &c 60 
 
 „ 2.- -Plants and Shrubs 59 
 
 , 3. — Useful Trees and Fruits, &c. ... 74 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ANIMALS, BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC., USED FOR MANUFACTURES 
 AND food, ETC. 
 
 Section 1. — Quadrupeds 102 
 
 „ 2.— Birds 114 
 
 ^ ?.— Insects 116 
 
 „ 4.— Fishes 121 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GEOLOGY, MINERALOOT, BTC. 
 
 "Section 1. — Geolojry 127 
 
 ., 2.— Mineralogy 13^
 
 n CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Ckemibtbt 159 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Sbction 1.— Silk, Wool, Hemp, Cotton, Paper, Ink 170 
 „ 2. — Printing — Letterpress, Lithography . 190 
 „ 3.— Cutlery, Glass, and other Manufactures 197 
 „ 4. — Brewing, Distilling, &c 213 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS. 
 
 Section 1. — Mathematics 221 
 
 „ 2. — Mechanics and Steam-Engine . . . 224 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Optics 230 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 Electricity and Electric Telegraph .... 237 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Physics, etc 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 Navioation, Ships, and Shipbuildino .... 24B 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 AcoDSTics , . • . . 253 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Abcuitkctdrb 256
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 Q, From what is the word Chro- 
 nology derived ? 
 
 A, From two Greek words, Chronos, 
 Time, and logos, a discourse, 
 
 Q. How has time been divided ? 
 
 A. Into eras, or epochs, or certain 
 periods at which great events have hap- 
 pened, and from which time is reckoned, 
 
 Q. Which are the most important 
 of these eras ? 
 
 A, The creation of the world, from 
 which the Jews reckon, called — the Jew- 
 ish era; and the birth of Christ, from 
 which the Christians reckon, called — 
 the Christian era. 
 
 Q. What were the principal eras 
 among other nations ? 
 
 A. The Romans reckoned from the 
 Duilding of their city, and the Greeks 
 oy Olympiads.
 
 Q. Are not certain letters used to 
 represent these eras ? 
 
 A. Yes ; A.M. anno mundi, in 
 the year of the world, for the Jewish 
 era. It is 5863 years since the creation 
 of the world ; we are therefore in the 
 year A.M. 5863. 
 
 Q. What letters are used for the 
 Christian era ? 
 
 A. A. D. anno Domini, in the year of 
 our Lord. It is 1860 years since Christ 
 was born ; we are now, therefore, in the 
 year A.D. 1860. 
 
 Q, What letters were used by the 
 Eomans ? 
 
 A. A.U.C. «^ urhe condita, from the 
 building of the city. The present year 
 would be A.U.C. 2612, as Rome was 
 built 753 years before Christ. 
 
 Q. What was an Olympiad among 
 the Greeks ? 
 
 A. A space of five years; and it 
 was during the fifth that the Olympic 
 Games were celebrated. 
 
 Q. What were the Olympi© Games? 
 
 A. Festivals in honour of Jupiter. 
 The first Olympiad commences 776
 
 3 
 
 years before Christ was born, which 
 event happened in the 1 55th Olympiad. 
 
 Q. Have not the Mahometans a 
 particular era ? 
 
 A, Yes; they reckon from the He- 
 gira, or flight of Mahomet, which hap- 
 pened 622 years after Christ. The 
 Mahometans believe that Christ was a 
 prophet, but that Mahomet was a greater 
 one than he. 
 
 Q. Have other nations particular 
 eras, from which they date their time ? 
 
 A. None of any importance, as most 
 civilized nations reckon from one of 
 these, except the Chinese, who date from 
 the deluge, affirming that they are the 
 real descendants of Noah, who Avas no 
 other than their king Foi. 
 
 Q. What people first divided time 
 into years ? 
 
 A. The Egyptians; at first a year 
 consisted of only one month, then of 
 four, and lastly of twelve, forming a 
 lunar year of 360 days. 
 
 Q. What information does the 
 knowledge of this afford us ? 
 
 A. It accounts for the vast anti<*
 
 quity attributed to the world, and ex- 
 plains how some of their kings may be 
 said to have lived a thousand years. 
 
 Q. What other contemporaneous 
 nation adopted the Egyptian year? 
 
 A. The Greeks: Cecrops, the Egyp- 
 tian, founded Athens about the time of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Q. What is supposed to have first 
 occasioned the division of time into 
 years ? 
 
 A. The changes of the moon ; as it 
 revolves round the earth in twenty-nine 
 days and a half: which interval of time, 
 now called a month, formed the first 
 Egyptian year. 
 
 Q. What occasioned the extension 
 to twelve months? 
 
 A, The discovery that the different 
 seasons came round again in the space 
 of about 360 days ; but, although the 
 Chaldeans were the earliest astro- 
 nomers, and Egypt has been called 
 the cradle of the sciences, many 
 years elapsed before the real cause 
 of the changes of the seasons was dis- 
 covered.
 
 Q. By whom was the length of the 
 solar year first fixed ? 
 
 A. By Thales, a Grecian philoso- 
 pher, one of the seven wise men of 
 Greece ; he added five days to the year, 
 making it to consist of 365 days. 
 
 Q, Why was this called a solar year? 
 
 A. Because it was supposed to be 
 the time the sun took to go round the 
 earth ; for the ancient astronomers be- 
 lieved the earth to be stationary, and 
 that the sun with the planets moved 
 round it. 
 
 Q. When did Thales live ? 
 
 A, In the fourth year of the forty- 
 eighth Olympiad, 6^5 years before 
 Christ. 
 
 Q. Did this number of days in 
 the year make it agree with the solar 
 year? 
 
 A. No; because the earth goes 
 round the sun in 365 days five hours 
 and a fraction ; so that, when the next 
 change took place, it was found that the 
 year was many days in arrear of the sun, 
 as every four years the six hours 
 amounted to another day. 
 
 b2
 
 Q. Did the Eomans adopt the divi- 
 sion of the year used by the Greeks ? 
 
 A. Not at first; Eomulus, the foun- 
 der of Eome, divided the year into ten 
 months, imagining the sun performed 
 his annual course in that time. 
 
 Q, What alteration did Numa 
 make? 
 
 A, He added two months more, 
 making the year to consist of 355 days; 
 but he afterwards, in imitation of the 
 Greeks, added months and days, until, 
 at the time of Julius Csesar, there had 
 been sixty-live days added. 
 
 Q. By whom was the next change 
 made? 
 
 A, It was made by Sosigenes the 
 Egyptian astronomer, who lived in the 
 time of Julius Caesar, the Dictator. 
 
 Q. What name was given to the 
 year in which the alteration was so 
 made by Sosigenes ? 
 
 A, The year of confusion; there 
 were fifteen months in it. 
 
 Q. In what way did Julius Ceesar 
 compensate for the six hours ? 
 
 A, He decreed that everv fourth
 
 year should consist of 366 days, and 
 have the name of Bissextile or leap- 
 year. This is called the Julian year, 
 and it first began to be computed in the 
 year of Rome 708, about forty-three 
 years before Christ. 
 
 Q. What is meant by bissextile ? 
 
 A. The word bissextile is derived 
 from bis, twice, and sextus^ sixth; because 
 in leap-year the 24th of February comes 
 twice over ; in other words, there are 
 two 24th s of February. 
 
 Q. Why was the 24th of February 
 called the sixth? 
 
 A. Because one of the divisions of 
 time among the Romans was into calends, 
 and the 24th of February was the sixth 
 of the calends. From this word calends, 
 came that of calendar, signifying the 
 different divisions of time among the 
 Romans. 
 
 Q, Did any thing after this occur to 
 require change? 
 
 A. Yes ; it was found that, by add- 
 ing a day every four years, the Julian 
 year would, in 1600 years, be eleven 
 days in advance of the sun.
 
 8 
 
 Q. What was the cause of this? 
 
 A, The earth takes 365 clays, 5 
 hours, 48 minutes, 57 seconrls, and 39 
 thirds, to go round the sun, thus form- 
 ing a solar or astronomical year, conse- 
 quently it was eleven minutes less than 
 six hours every year ; this error of eleven 
 minutes had, in the course of time, 
 caused that of eleven days in the 
 calendar. 
 
 Q. Among what nations was the 
 Roman Calendar then in use ? 
 
 A. Among most civilized ones. 
 
 Q. Who detected the above error? 
 
 A, Pope Gregory; and he was en- 
 abled to do so by finding that the sun 
 entered Aries on the 10th of March 
 instead of on the 21st, at the vernal or 
 spring equinox ; at which time the 
 astronomical year begins. 
 
 Q. How did he correct it. 
 
 A. By throwing out eleven days; so 
 that the fourth of October was reckoned 
 as the fifteenth, and so on. It was in 
 October, 1512, that the New Style, as 
 it is called, commenced on the conti- 
 nent, but it was not adopted in England 
 till the year 1 752.
 
 Q, What changes would have arisen 
 if the error in the calendar had not been 
 detected ? 
 
 A, The seasons would have changed 
 their time of appearing : we should 
 have had Midsummer in May, and 
 Christmas-day in November. 
 
 Q. What were the means adopted 
 by Pope Gregory to prevent this error 
 from occurring in future ? 
 
 A, He ordered that leap-year 
 should be omitted at the expiration of 
 a hundred years, if the date of the year 
 would not divide evenly by four ; thus 
 1600 was a leap-year, but 1700, 1800, 
 were not. 
 
 Q. Cannot leap-year be found by 
 dividing the date of the year by four? 
 
 A. Yes; 1850 was not a leap-year, 
 because wh"en divided by four there is 
 a remainder ; but 1852 leaves no 
 remainder, and therefore was a leap- 
 
 jeai. ) 462 2 ) 4^3* 
 
 Q. What is a lunar year ? 
 
 A. It consists of twelve lunar 
 months ; during which time the moon 
 revolves twelve times round the eaHh.
 
 10 
 
 A lunar montli is about twenty-uine 
 days and a half. 
 
 Q. What is a calendar month ? 
 
 A. The twelfth part of a year ; some 
 of the calendar months consist of thirty 
 and others of thirty-one days ; Febru- 
 ary has twenty-eight, excepting in leap- 
 year, when it has twenty-nine. 
 
 Q. Is the division of years into 
 months very ancient? 
 
 -4. Yes ; the earliest account is in 
 the Bible, and occurs in the passages 
 where mention is made of the time 
 that Noah remained in the ark, as also 
 in those where the wanderings of the 
 Israelites through the wilderness are 
 spoken of. 
 
 Q. What were the names of the 
 Jewish months ? 
 
 A, Nisan, or Abib, answering to 
 part of our September and October, as 
 the Jewish year began at the first full 
 moon after the 21st of September — 
 
 Jair, or Zius — answering to our November. 
 
 Siban, or Siwan, December. 
 
 Thamuz, or Tumuz, January. 
 
 Ab, February. 
 
 i^lul, March.
 
 11 
 
 Tisri, or Ethanim^answering to our April 
 
 Marchesvan, or Bui, May. 
 
 Cisleu, June. 
 
 Tibeth, July. 
 
 Sabat, August. 
 
 Adar, September. 
 
 Q. Had not other nations names 
 for their months ? 
 
 A, Yes ; but the Roman names 
 are the only ones of importance, as 
 from them those of the English months 
 are derived ; all of them being, more- 
 over, significative, thus : — Januarius — 
 (January) was so called from Janus, 
 the god of the year, who is represented 
 with two faces, one looking forward, 
 the other backward. 
 
 January — being the first month, was 
 supposed to be the time in which per- 
 sons looked forward to the new year 
 and back upon the old one. 
 
 Februarius — February, from a feast 
 called Februa, held by the Romans in 
 that month. 
 
 Martins — March, because this being 
 the first month formed by Romulus, he 
 gave it the name of his supposed father 
 the god Mars.
 
 12 
 
 Aprilis — April is derived from the 
 Latin Aperio, I open, because the earth 
 then opens her bosom for the produc- 
 tion of fruits and vegetables. 
 
 Mains — May, from the goddess Maia, 
 the mother of Mercury, whom the Ro- 
 mans worshipped on the first of May. 
 
 Junius — from the goddess Juno, the 
 wife of Jupiter, and queen of heaven. 
 
 The remainder of the months took 
 their names from their numerical order, 
 reckoning from March, which Romulus 
 made the first month. 
 
 Quin tills, the fifth 
 
 . ... July. 
 
 Sextilis, the sixth 
 
 . ... August. 
 
 September, the seventh .. 
 
 ... September. 
 
 October, the eighth 
 
 ... October. 
 
 November, the ninth 
 
 ... November. 
 
 December, the tenth 
 
 ... December. 
 
 Q. Were the fifth and sixth months 
 always called Quintilis and Sextilis ? 
 
 A, No ; Julius Csesar having been 
 born in the month Quintilis, it was 
 named Julius in honour of him. Sex- 
 tilis was changed into Augustus in 
 honour of Augustus Caesar, whose birth- 
 day was in that month. From these 
 names come our July and August.
 
 13 
 
 Q. What is supposed to have occa- 
 sioned the division of time into weeks ? 
 
 A. The four changes of the moon 
 during her revohition round the earth, 
 each of which takes rather more than 
 seven days ; it had been used from the 
 earliest time by the Syrians, Egyptians, 
 and most eastern nations, but was not 
 introduced into Europe until the esta- 
 blishment of Christianity. 
 
 Q. How was the month divided by 
 the ancient Greeks and Romans ? 
 
 A, By the Romans into periods of 
 nine days, and by the Greeks into those 
 often days, hence called — decades; but 
 some ancient WTiters assert that the 
 seventh day was honoured by these and 
 other nations. 
 
 Q. Where do we read the earliest 
 account of a week ? 
 
 A. In the Bible ; where it is stated 
 that God created the world and all it 
 contained in six days, and rested on 
 the seventh day and blessed it, 
 
 Q. Is it not most likely that this 
 ordination of God was the real origin 
 of the division of time into weeks ? 
 

 
 14 
 
 A. Yes; as all nations are de- 
 scended from Noah, and as the Israel- 
 ites, the chosen people of God, were, 
 for four hundred years, captives among 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 Q. Had the Jews names for the 
 days of the week ? 
 
 A. No ; the Sabbath was the 
 seventh day — the next day was called 
 the first of the Sabbath, the following 
 the second, and so on, except the sixth, 
 which was called the preparation for 
 the Sabbath. 
 
 Q. What names were given by the 
 ancient heathens to the days of the 
 week ? 
 
 A. The names of the seven heavenly 
 bodies then known, thus : — 
 
 Dies Solis Sun-day. 
 
 Dies Lunse Moon-day. 
 
 Dies Martii Mars-day. 
 
 Dies Mercurii Mercury 's-day. 
 
 Dies Jo vis Jupiter's-day. 
 
 Dies Veneris Venus-day. 
 
 Dies Saturni Saturn's-day. 
 
 Q. Are not the French names of 
 the days of the week derived from 
 these ?
 
 15 
 
 A. 
 
 Yes ; thus : 
 
 
 Dies Luuse ... 
 
 Lundl 
 
 Dies Martii ... 
 
 Mardi. 
 
 Dies Mercurii 
 
 Mercredi 
 
 Dies Jo vis 
 
 Jeudi. 
 
 Dies Veneris 
 
 Vendredi 
 
 Dies Saturni 
 
 Samedi. 
 
 Q, From what are our English 
 names derived ? 
 
 A. From the names of the gods 
 and goddesses, whom the Saxons wor- 
 shipped on particular days of the week: 
 thus they worshipped the sun on Sun- 
 day, the moon on Monday, Tuesco on 
 Tuesday, Woden on Wednesday, Thor 
 on Thursday, Friga on Friday, and 
 Sater on Saturday. 
 
 Q. Who was the greatest of these 
 gods ? 
 
 A. Woden, whom they worshipped 
 on Wednesday, Friga was the wife of 
 Woden, and Mother of Thor, who was 
 next to his father in greatness. 
 
 Q. How many weeks are there in a 
 year ? 
 
 A. Fifty-two weeks and one day; 
 in leap-year there are fifty-two weeks 
 and two days.
 
 16 
 
 Q, How did the ancient Romans 
 divide their months ? 
 
 A, Into calends, ides, and nones. 
 The calends were the first day of every 
 month, the nones the seventh, and the 
 ides the fifteenth days of March, May, 
 July, and October ; in every other 
 month the nones were on the fifth, and 
 the ides on the thirteenth. 
 
 Q. How were the days reckoned ? 
 
 A, They were counted backwards ; 
 the sixth of March, instead of being 
 the sixth of the calends, was the first, 
 or one day before the nones ; and the 
 eighth of May, instead of being called 
 the second of the nones, was the sixth 
 before the ides, 
 
 Q. What is generally understood 
 by the terms artificial and natural day ? 
 
 A. The artificial day is the time 
 between sunrise and sunset, and varies 
 with the latitude of places. The natu- 
 ral or astronomical day is reckoned 
 from noon to noon, and consists of the 
 same length of twenty-four hours in all 
 latitudes.
 
 Q. Do all nations begin their clay 
 at the same time ? 
 
 A. No ; the Babylonians, Persians, 
 Syrians, modern Greeks, and other Eas- 
 tern nations begin their day at sun- 
 rise. 
 
 Q. What nations begin their day 
 at sunset ? 
 
 A. The Jews, Athenians, Italians, 
 Austrians, Bohemians, and Chinese. 
 
 Q, When do the Arabians com- 
 mence their day ? 
 
 A. At noon ; and the Egyptians 
 and Komans, with the modern English, 
 French, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, 
 and Portuguese, at midnight. 
 
 Q. How is the artificial day divided? 
 
 A. The Greeks divided the time of 
 light into twelve equal parts ; this they 
 learnt from the ancient Egyptians ; the 
 Jews did the same ; consequently each 
 of these twelve parts, or hours, must be 
 longer in summer than in winter. They 
 are called unequal hours. 
 
 Q, When was the division of the 
 day and night into twenty- four hours 
 known to the Romans ? 
 
 c2
 
 18 
 
 A. Not till after the first Punic war; 
 the Romans did not then as now begin 
 their day at midnight, but assigned 
 twelve hours to the day and twelve to 
 the night. 
 
 Q. When did their day begin ? 
 
 A. At six in the morning; the hours 
 of the day being reckoned therefrom — 
 nine o'clock in the morning was called 
 the third hour of the day ; twelve 
 o'clock the sixth, three o'clock the 
 ninth, and so on. 
 
 Q, How were the twelve hours of 
 the night divided ? 
 
 A. Into four watches of three hours 
 each ; the first ended at nine o'clock, 
 the second at twelve, the third at three, 
 and the fourth at six, when day com- 
 menced. 
 
 Q. Will this information enable us 
 to explain any passages in the IsTew 
 Testament ? 
 
 A. Yes, two: 1st, the one in which 
 it is stated that when our Saviour was 
 crucified, there was darkness over the 
 earth from the sixth to the ninth hour; 
 this was, consequently, from midday to
 
 19 
 
 three o'clock in the afternoon. 2nd, 
 the other, in which it is said, " And in 
 the fourth watch of the night, Jesus 
 went unto them (his disciples), walking 
 on the sea ; " this, therefore, must have 
 been between three and six o'clock in 
 the morning. 
 
 Q, Why should this division of time 
 among the homans apply to the time 
 of our Saviour ? 
 
 A. Because Judea was then a 
 Roman province, and many of the 
 Koman laws and customs had become 
 common among the Jews. 
 
 Q. Have not some particular days in 
 the year been observed by all nations ? 
 
 A, Yes ; either in honour of their 
 religion, their laws, or their great men 
 — days in honour of religion are gene- 
 rally either feast-days or fast-days. 
 
 Q. What were the principal feasts 
 among the Jews ? 
 
 A. The Sabbath, the feast of 
 Weeks, the feast of Pentecost, and the 
 feast of the Passover. Some of our 
 fasts and festivals occur at the time of 
 these Jewish ones.
 
 20 
 
 Q. Is the Christian Sabbath the 
 same day as the Jewish ? 
 
 A. No; the Jewish Sabbath is the 
 seventh day of the week, being the day 
 on which God rested, after the six days 
 of creation. Our Christian Sabbath is 
 on the first day of the week, being the 
 day on which Christ rose from the dead. 
 
 Q. What Christian festival occurs 
 at the time of the Jewish Passover ? 
 
 A. The festival of Easter, on which 
 day Christ rose from the dead. It is 
 the third day after Good Friday, on 
 which day we commemorate his cruci- 
 fixion, which took place the day before 
 the Jewish Passover. 
 
 Q. Does Easter Sunday always 
 take place on the same day of the year ? 
 
 A. No ; it depends upon the moon, 
 Easter being the first Sunday that fol- 
 lows the first full moon after the 2 1st 
 of March. 
 
 Q. Do not many of the other fasts 
 and festivals depend upon Easter ? 
 
 A, Yes ; and they are therefore 
 called movable feasts. Ash-Wednes- 
 day, the first day of Lent, must be forty
 
 21 
 
 days before Easter ; Palm-Sunday, a 
 week before ; Whit-Sunday, seven 
 weeks, and Trinity-Sunday eight weeks 
 after. 
 
 Q. When was this arrangement for 
 Easter made ? 
 
 A, In the year A.D. 325, by the 
 Council held at Nice, a town in Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Q. Why is the first day of Lent 
 called Ash-Wednesday ? 
 
 A. Because the early Christians 
 used to put ashes on their heads, as a 
 token of humility. 
 
 Q. When does Lent occur? 
 
 A. It is the interval between Ash- 
 Wednesday and Easter. 
 
 Q. Why did the Council of Nice 
 order Easter to be held at this time? 
 
 A. To avoid holding it on the same 
 day as that of the Jewish Passover, 
 which was always held on the day of 
 the full moon. 
 
 Q, How did it happen that the two 
 feasts occurred together? 
 
 A, Because our Saviour was cruci- 
 fied at the time of the Jewish Passover.
 
 22 
 
 The Greeks and Latins called it Pascha, 
 originally a Hebrew word signifying to 
 pass over. 
 
 Q. What was the origin of the 
 Passover ? 
 
 A. It was ordained by God, in com- 
 memoration of the destroying angel 
 passing over the dwellings of the Israel- 
 ites, when he put to death all the first- 
 born of the Egyptians, among whom 
 they dwelt. 
 
 Q. From whence came the name 
 Easter ? 
 
 A. The ancient Britons had a Saxon 
 goddess of the name of Eostre, whom 
 they worshipped in April, and the 
 Christian festival of Easter generally 
 occurs in that month. 
 
 Q. When is Palm-Sunday ? 
 
 A. The Sunday before Easter, it 
 is in commemoration of Christ's entry 
 into Jerusalem, when the people 
 strewed the way with palm branches. 
 
 Q. When does Whit-Sunday oc- 
 cur ? 
 
 A. It is the seventh Sunday after 
 Easter; it was originally called White-
 
 23 
 
 Sunday, because those who were newly 
 baptized wore white garments. 
 
 Q, What Jewish feast occurs at 
 this tmie ? 
 
 A. The feast of Pentecost, when 
 the Jews, from different parts of Judea, 
 were required to assemble at Jerusalem. 
 
 Q. On what account do we keep 
 this day ? 
 
 A. In commemoration of the Holy 
 Spirit having been poured out on the 
 Apostles on this day, while they were 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 Q. What is Holy-Thursday ? 
 
 A. The day on which our Saviour 
 ascended to heaven: it is called Ascen- 
 sion-day, and is held ten days before 
 Whit- Sun day. 
 
 Q. When is Trinity-Sunday ? 
 
 A, It is the first Sunday after Whit- 
 Sunday; and is the last of the movable 
 feasts. 
 
 Q. Mention some feasts which 
 always occur at certain days. 
 
 A. Lady-day, Midsummer-day, Mi- 
 chaelmas-day, and Christmas-day; also 
 many days kept in honour of the saints.
 
 24 
 
 Q. What are these days intended 
 to commemorate? 
 
 A, Lady-day was originally called 
 Our Lady's Day, because on that day 
 the angel Gabriel announced to the 
 Virgin Mary that she should be the 
 mother of Jesus Christ. It is called 
 Annunciation-day, and occurs on the 
 25th of March. 
 
 Q, When is Midsummer-day ? 
 
 A, On the 24th of June: it is the 
 festival in honour of St. John the Bap- 
 tist. Michaelmas-day is on the 29th 
 of September, and is in honour of St. 
 Michael. Christmas-day is the com- 
 memoration of the birth of Christ, and 
 is on the 25th of December. 
 
 Q, What is Twelfth-day? 
 
 A. Old Christmas-day, or the 
 twelfth day after Christmas. When 
 Pope Gregory threw out eleven days in 
 order to rectify the Calendar, people 
 were unwilling to forget the day on 
 which Christmas had been kept ; they 
 therefore observed both, and the pracr 
 tice has been continued ever since.
 
 25 
 
 Q. Is there not another feast on 
 Twelfth-day ? 
 
 A. Yes; the feast of the Epiphany, 
 
 Q. Of what other use are these 
 days? 
 
 A, They are called quarter-days, 
 and divide the year into four parts. 
 On these days, matters of business, rent, 
 and other affairs, are generally settled. 
 
 Q. How can Easter-Sunday be 
 found for any year ? 
 
 A, By finding the cycle of the sun, 
 or of the Sunday letter; the cycle of the 
 moon, the epact, the golden number, the 
 dominical letter, and the Easter limit. 
 
 Q. What is the cycle of the sun ? 
 
 A. It is a period of twenty-eight 
 years, at the end of which time the days 
 of the week, Easter, and other feast- 
 days return to the same days of the 
 month. 
 
 Q, What is a cycle of the moon ? 
 
 A, A period of nineteen years, at 
 the end of which time the new and full 
 moons fall on the same days of the 
 month.
 
 26 
 
 Q. How is tlie cycle of the sun 
 found ? 
 
 A. By adding 9 to the given year, 
 and dividing by 28, the remainder will 
 be the sun's cycle. 
 
 Q. Why is 9 added to the year ? 
 
 A, Because the . first cycle was 
 commenced nine years before Christ. 
 
 Q, How do you find the cycle of 
 the moon ? ' ' 
 
 A. By subtracting 1500 from the 
 given year ; because the first cycle is 
 reckoned from the year 1500. Then 
 divide by 19, and the quotient is the 
 number of cycles that have elapsed 
 since 1500 : the remainder is the golden 
 number. 
 
 Q, What is the golden number ? 
 
 A. The number of years since the 
 completion of the last cycle of the 
 moon. The golden number for the 
 year 1860 is thus found: — 
 
 I860 
 Subtract 1500 
 Divide by 19 ) 360 (18 number of cycles, 
 19 
 170 
 152 
 18 golden number.
 
 27 
 
 Q. Why is it called the golden 
 number ? 
 
 A. Because when Me ton, the 
 Athenian, discovered it, the people 
 were so pleased that they had it 
 written in letters of gold, and hung up 
 in the market-place. 
 
 Q. What is the epact ? 
 
 A, The difference between a solar 
 and a lunar year. A lunar year of 12 
 months contains only 354 days, and a 
 solar year 365 ; there is therefore a 
 difference of 11 days in the first year 
 of the moon's cycle, 22 in the second, 
 and so on. 
 
 Q. What is done with the number 
 of these days when they get above 30 ? 
 
 A. They are divided by 30 ; the 
 remainder will be the epact. 
 
 Q. What is the dominical letter ? 
 
 A. One of the first seven letters of 
 the alphabet, which are used for the 
 seven days in the week : as the first of 
 January and the last of December fall 
 on the same day of the week, the letter 
 for Sunday changes every year.
 
 28 
 
 Q. How is the dominical letter 
 found ? 
 
 A. First divide the given year by 
 4, add the quotient to the year itself, 
 and increase the amount by 6. This 
 sum must be then divided by 7, and 
 what is over subtracted from 7 ; the 
 remainder is the number of the domini- 
 cal letter. 
 
 Q. How are the letters numbered? 
 
 A. As follows : — 
 
 A 1 
 
 B 2 
 
 C 3 
 
 I) 4 
 
 E 5 
 
 F 6 
 
 G 7 
 
 Q. What is the Easter limit ? 
 
 A, The number of days from the 
 first of March to Easter-day, both in- 
 cluded. By the Easter limit, the epact, 
 the golden number, and dominical let- 
 ter, Easter-day can be found for any 
 year. 
 
 Q. Find on what day of the year 
 1860 Easter-day will fall. 
 
 A, First find the golden number 
 thus, as in page 26 : —
 
 29 
 
 I860 
 
 1500 
 
 19) 360(18 
 19 
 
 170 
 162 
 
 18 golden number. 
 
 To find the epact, subtract 1 from 
 the golden number, and multiply by 1 1 ; 
 if the total be above 30, divide by 30 : 
 the remainder is the epact. 
 
 Golden number 18 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 3,0 ) 18,7 
 
 6 — 7 epact. 
 
 The Easter limit is then found by 
 adding 6 to the epact, and subtracting 
 the sum from 50 : the remainder is the 
 Paschal full moon, or Easter limit. 
 Thus :— 
 
 Epact 7 60 
 
 6 13 
 
 13 37 Easter limit. 
 
 D 2
 
 3.0 
 
 Then, for the dominical letter, divide 
 1860 by 4, thus, as described in p. 28 : — 
 
 4) I860 
 
 465 
 
 6 
 
 7 ) 2331 
 
 333—0 
 
 subtracted from 7 leaves 7, which is 
 the number of the dominical letter. 
 The dominical letter for the year 1860 
 will be G. 
 
 To find Easter-day, 4 must be added 
 to the number of the dominical letter, 
 and the sum subtracted from the limit. 
 
 Dom. letter Easter limit 37 
 
 4 4 
 
 33 remainder. 
 
 The remainder, 33, must be subtracted 
 from the next highest number which 
 will divide even by 7: this number 
 must be 35. 
 
 35 
 33
 
 31 
 
 The remainder, 2, must be added to 
 the Easter limit, and the whole to the 
 1st of March. If the 31 days in March 
 are then subtracted from it, the day in 
 April on which Easter-day falls will be 
 found. 
 
 Easter limit 37 
 2 
 
 ~39 
 31 days iu ^[arch 31 
 
 8th day of April. 
 
 Easter Sunday will therefore fall on the 
 8th of April, in the year 1860. 
 
 Q. Is not 1860 leap-year? 
 
 A. Yes; there will therefore be 
 two Sunday letters ; one used until the 
 29th of February, and one after. 
 
 Q. What letter is used before the 
 29th of February? 
 
 A. The letter following the domi- 
 nical letter of the year ; thus, the Sun- 
 day letter for 1860 is A G, and there- 
 fore, till after the 29th of February, D 
 will be used. 
 
 Q. Are there not tables in prayer- 
 books, and other books, by which 
 Easter-Sunday may be found ?
 
 32 
 
 A. Yes; but as it is at once satis- 
 factory and amusing to solve such 
 questions ourselves, the above rules 
 have been given to enable the pupil to 
 work them. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 COINS, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. 
 
 Section. 1 — Money and Coins. 
 
 ENGLISH AND FOREIGN. 
 
 Q. What is money ? 
 
 A. Money is any thing which we 
 exchange for food, clothes, or other 
 articles we may wish to possess; but 
 it is generally understood, among Eu- 
 ropean nations, to be stamped coins. 
 
 Q, What is barter? 
 
 A. Barter is the exchanging one 
 thing for another of the same value : 
 it is only used now by uncivilized 
 nations, who will give the produce of 
 tlieir country to strangers, in exchange 
 for beads, nails, steel articles, &c. 
 
 (2. Was barter practised among 
 the ancients?
 
 33 
 
 A. Yes ; Homer describes the 
 golden armour of Glaucus to have been 
 worth one hundred oxen, and that of 
 Diomedes ten. 
 
 Q. To whom do the Greeks ascribe 
 the invention of money ? 
 
 A, To the wife of Midas, king of 
 Phrygia, who is said to have had the 
 power given him by Bacchus, of turn- 
 ing every thing he touched into gold. 
 
 Q. What is the earliest account 
 we have of the use of money ? 
 
 A. That in the Bible, where it is 
 said Abraham gave four hundred she- 
 kels of silver for a burial-place for his 
 wife Sarah. Josephus, who wrote a 
 history of the Jews, ascribes the inven- 
 tion to Cain. 
 
 Q. To whom is it ascribed by the 
 Romans ? 
 
 A. To Janus, an old Italian deity. 
 The Romans called money pecvnia, the 
 Latin name for money, either because 
 their chief wealth was cattle, or 
 because, as Pliny (the elder) says, theii 
 first coin was stamped with a cow ; 
 vecus being the Latin word for cattle.
 
 34 
 
 Q. What are tlie metals most used 
 for coin ? 
 
 A. Gold, silver, and copper; but, 
 in the earlier ages, iron rings, leather, 
 and even wood, served for money. 
 Copper was first used, then silver, and 
 lastly gold. 
 
 Q, When was the first silver money^, 
 coined in Eome ? 
 
 A. In the year of Rome 484 B.C. 
 Gold was not coined till 100 years after. 
 
 Q, Was money always in round 
 pieces, as it is now ? 
 
 A. No; and even now in Spain it 
 is multi-angular, and in some parts of 
 India, globular. 
 
 Q. What is usually stamped on 
 money ? 
 
 A. The head of the king of the 
 country where it is struck. In an- 
 cient times, different nations stamped 
 various effigies on their money. The 
 Jews had the golden pot of manna on 
 one side of their shekel, and Aaron's 
 rod on the other. 
 
 Q. When were rei)rcsentations of
 
 35 
 
 the heads of great men first stamped 
 on coins, in Eome ? 
 
 A, Not till after the fall of the 
 commonwealth. Many nations had the 
 figure of a horse, an owl, or an ox ; but 
 in modern times all nations have the 
 head of their king, or prince, stamped 
 on their coins, except the Mahometans, 
 who, ol)jecting to images, inscribe the 
 name onli/ of their prince. 
 
 Q. From whom did the Britons 
 learn to coin money ? 
 
 A. From their conquerors, the Eo- 
 mans. The earliest English coin was 
 made in the reign of Ethelbert, first 
 Christian king in Britain ; money then 
 began to be reckoned in pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence. 
 
 Q, From what was the term penny 
 supposed to be derived ? 
 
 A. From the word pecunia, money, 
 or from pondus, weight, on account of 
 the penny then weighing as much as 
 three of ours. Five of these pennies 
 made a scilling. 
 
 Q. What is supposed to be the 
 origin of the word scilling ?
 
 36 
 
 A, Most likely from the scilingus, 
 or the fourth part of an ounce. 
 
 Q. Wliat is the origin of the word 
 sterling, applied to money? 
 
 A, In the time of Richard the First, 
 money coined in the eastern parts of 
 Germany became very valuable, on ac- 
 count of its purity. The people were 
 called Easterlings, and were sent for to 
 England to improve the English coin- 
 age : the money thus coined was at first 
 called Easterling, and now sterling. 
 
 Q. From whence arose the words 
 farthing and halfpenny? 
 
 A, The Norman kings had a penny 
 coined with a very deep cross on it, so 
 that it could be broken into halves, 
 called halfpennies, or fourth parts, called 
 fourthings, from whence our word far- 
 thing is derived. 
 
 Q. When was gold first coined in 
 England ? 
 
 A. In the year 1320, in the reign 
 of Edward the Third. Most of the coun- 
 tries of Europe began to coin money 
 about this time. The first pieces were
 
 37 
 
 called Florentines, as they were coined 
 in Florence. 
 
 Q. When were shillings coined ? 
 
 A, In the reign of Henry the Seventh. 
 Crowns and half-crowns, in the reign of 
 James the First. 
 
 Q. What gold coins were used at 
 first in England, besides Florentines ? 
 
 A. E^obles, worth 135. 4^/. ; rose- 
 nobles, 6*. 8c?. ; then guineas, worth 
 21 5.; and half-guineas, worth 10^. 6d 
 But the gold coins now in use are sove- 
 reigns, worth 20^., and half-sovereigns, 
 worth 105. 
 
 A, What were the ancient silver 
 coins ? 
 
 A, The most ancient was a mancus, 
 worth 30 pennies of those days, or 90 
 of ours. It is thought by some to have 
 been a mark ; but a mark was 13^. 4:d. 
 The mancus was sometimes of gold. 
 Our silver coin now consists of crowns, 
 half-crowns, florins, shillings, sixpences, 
 and fourpenny and threepenny pieces. 
 
 Q. Has any silver money of less 
 value ever been coined ?
 
 38 
 
 A, Yes; twopenny, and even penny 
 pieces. 
 
 Q. What gold coins are used in 
 France ? 
 
 A . The 20 franc or Napoleon, worth 
 15s, lO^d; and the 40 franc, or double 
 Napoleon, worth £l 11 5. S^d. 
 
 Q. What are the silver coins ? 
 
 A, The quarter-franc, or 25 cen- 
 times, equal to 2^d. ; half-franc, or 50 
 centimes, worth 4^d, ; franc, or 100 
 centimes, equal to 9^d, ; the 2-franc 
 piece, worth Is, Id, ; and the 5-franc 
 piece, equal to 4^. 
 
 Q, What are the copper coins? 
 
 A. The centime, the 100th part of 
 a franc ; sou, or 20th part of a franc ; 
 2 sous, gros sou, or decime, the 10th 
 part of a franc, equal to a little more 
 than f ths of an English penny. 
 
 Q. What are the coins most in use 
 in Germany and other countries? 
 
 A. In Germany, Flanders, Holland, 
 and America, they use dollars, rix- 
 dollars, ducats, and ducatoons ; the 
 florin, the stiver, the shilling, and the 
 kreutzer and feniu.
 
 39 
 
 Q, Which of these are gold ? 
 
 A, The ducat, worth £6 155. (a 
 silver ducat is worth 7^. M.)^ and some- 
 times the florin, worth 2s, The silver 
 coins are dollars and rix-doUars, each 
 worth about 5s., the florin, and the 
 shilling. The Flemish shilling is worth 
 7^d, and the Dutch three-halfpence. 
 
 Q, Which are the copper coins ? 
 
 A, The stiver, worth five farthings ; 
 the kreutzer, worth little more than a 
 halfpenny; and the fen in. Three fenins 
 are worth one farthing, 
 
 Q, Have other European nations 
 coins, besides some of these? 
 
 A, Yes; in Italy, Spain, and Por- 
 tugal they have pistoles, moidores, and 
 doubloons; all of gold. The moidore 
 is worth 275.; the pistole, twice as 
 much; and the doubloon is a double 
 pistole, it is therefore worth £5 8^. 
 
 Q. Of what were the coins of ancient 
 K-ome and Greece made ? 
 
 A. Of gold, silver, and brass. From 
 the Eoman names for their money, the 
 letters £ s. d. are derived by the English.
 
 40 
 
 £ stands for librce, pounds ; s, for solidly 
 shillings ; and d. for denarii, pence. 
 
 Q. What are the Jewish coins men- 
 tioned in the Bible ? 
 
 A. The gerah, worth about three 
 halfpence ; the bekah, worth \s. l^d. ; 
 the shekel of silver, worth 25. '^d. ; the 
 talent of silver, worth £342 Zs, 9d. ; the 
 talent of gold, worth £5,475. 
 
 Q, What are bank notes? 
 
 A. Bank notes are promissory notes 
 for money to be paid on demand by a 
 banking company. 
 
 Q. What is the lowest amount now 
 printed on a bank note ? 
 
 A, Five pounds ; the next amount 
 is for ten pounds; the next twenty; as 
 the amount increases by tens. 
 
 Q, Where are bank notes made? 
 
 A, Principally at the Bank of 
 England. The word bank comes from 
 the Italian banco^ a bench, because the 
 ancient money-changers sat on benches 
 in the market-place to transact their 
 business. 
 
 Q, Which is the most ancient 
 banking establishment ?
 
 41 
 
 A. That of Venice, in Italy, wliich, 
 founded A.D. 1157, has served as a 
 model for all subsequent ones. 
 
 Section 2. — Weights and Measures, 
 
 Q, Of what use are weights and 
 measures ? 
 
 A. They enable the seller and the 
 buyer to receive an exact equivalent ; 
 the former, in money, for what he sells; 
 the latter, in goods, for what he pays. 
 
 Q, Which are the different weights? 
 
 A . Troy weight, Avoirdupois weight, 
 Apothecaries' weight, and Wool weight. 
 
 Q. For what is Troy weight used ? 
 
 A, For weighing gold, silver, jewels, 
 and precious stones. It is also used in 
 ascertaining the strength of spirituous 
 liquors, and in experiments for natural 
 philosophy. But diamonds form an ex- 
 ception to the jewellery, being weighed 
 by the carat^ which is 4 grains. By 
 one of the chapters in Magna Charta it 
 is ordered that the same weight should 
 be used throughout England, but Avoir- 
 
 E 2
 
 4S 
 
 dupois is now used for all articles tliat 
 waste in weighing. 
 
 Q. When is Avoirdupois weight 
 used? 
 
 A. It is used in weighing groceries, 
 heavy goods, metals, excepting gold 
 and silver, and every article of food, 
 together with every substance used in 
 the arts and manufactures. 
 
 Q. How was the weight of a pound 
 decided ? 
 
 A, It was found that 24 grains of 
 wheat weighed exactly as much as an 
 ancient silver penny, and twenty of 
 these pennyweights made an ounce. 
 The word ounce is derived from the 
 Latin uncia, the twelfth part of any 
 thing. 
 
 Q. Of what is an ounce the twelfth 
 part? 
 
 A. Of a Troy pound : there are 
 twelve ounces in a pound Troy weight, 
 but sixteen in a pound Avoirdupois 
 wei/]jht. 
 
 Q. What is the use of Apothecaries' 
 weight ? 
 
 A. It is used by druggists and 

 
 43 
 
 apothecaries in compounding their 
 medicines, but they buy and sell their 
 drugs by avoirdupois. 
 
 Q. What is the scruple used in 
 Apothecaries' weight ? 
 
 A. A scruple weighs twenty grains 
 of wheat : the word is derived from the 
 Latin scrupulus^ the smallest of the 
 Roman weights. 
 
 Q. From what is the word dram 
 derived ? 
 
 A, From the Latin word drachma, 
 the eighth part of an ounce. 
 
 Q, For what is Wool weight used ? 
 
 A. Only for weighing wool : the 
 pounds are the same as avoirdupois, 
 but different names are given to certain 
 numbers of these pounds : 7 lbs. is a 
 clove ; 14 lbs. a stone, and so on. 
 
 Q. From what are these terms de- 
 rived ? 
 
 A. Tod is derived from the Gaelic 
 word tod^ signifying a mass of any thing. 
 Clove comes from the Danish word 
 kloof, to divide, separate ; and stone is 
 derived also from a Gaelic word signify- 
 ing to add.
 
 44 
 
 Q, What were the weights among 
 the Greeks and Eomans ? 
 
 A, The highest weight was a libra, 
 weighing about eleven of our ounces ; 
 this was divided again into lesser 
 weights, the smallest a lentes, or 
 scruple, scarcely weighing half a grain. 
 
 Q. What are the principal Jewish 
 weights ? 
 
 A. The shekel, weighing about half 
 an ounce ; the maneh, about 2 lbs. ; 
 and the talent, nearly 114 lbs. 
 
 Q. Are the French weights similar 
 to ours ? 
 
 A. The French use the pound 
 weight, and they have also half and 
 quarter pound weights. 
 
 Q. Are the French weights similar 
 to ours ? 
 
 A. They are partly so in name, but 
 differ in other respects, for the French 
 adopt the decimal system, of which the 
 gramme is the unit or element of weight. 
 In retail business the livre usuelle 
 (common pound) is used, and is divided 
 into halves, quarters, and eighths. The 
 next denomination to livre is the once
 
 45 
 
 (ounce), two of which equal the eightii 
 of a livre, while the half of the quarter 
 ounce is a gros^ being the last denomi- 
 nation. 
 
 Q. How was long measure decided ? 
 
 A, By the length of a grain of 
 barley, taken from the ear when quite 
 ripe: it was found that three of these 
 barleycorns would measure one inch, 
 which is the twelfth part of a foot. 
 
 Q. For what is long measure used ? 
 
 A, For measuring lengths and dis- 
 tances. In measuring land, the denomi- 
 nations are leagues, miles, furlongs, 
 poles, yards, feet, inches, and barley- 
 corns, 
 
 Q. From what is the word league 
 derived ? 
 
 A. It is derived from the Celtic word 
 Jlac (a flat stone), stones being used 
 from the earliest times to mark dis- 
 tances. An English league measures 
 3 miles or 5280 yards; the great French 
 one, 4400 yards. 
 
 Q. From what is the word mile 
 derived ? 
 
 A, From the Latin words miV
 
 46 
 
 passuum, a thousand paces, because tlie 
 Roman mile measured a thousand geo- 
 metrical paces or steps. An English 
 mile measures eight furlongs, or 1,760 
 yards. 
 
 Q, Who determined the length of 
 a yard ? 
 
 A, Henry the First: it was the 
 length of his own arm, A yard mea- 
 sures 3 feet, or 36 inches. 
 
 Q. What is the length of a fathom ? 
 
 A, Six feet : the depth of the sea 
 is generally measured by a line divided 
 into fathoms. 
 
 Q, What were the measures among 
 the ancient Greeks and Romans ? 
 
 A, They had different names; but 
 the Greeks used a measure called pous^ 
 a foot, about 13 inches in length. 
 The Roman pes, a foot, measured 11 
 inches. 
 
 Q. What was the length of a 
 Roman milliare^ or mile? 
 
 A. About three-quarters of an Eng- 
 lish mile. The Grecian miliorii or mile, 
 was a few feet less.
 
 Q. What are the Jewish long mea- 
 sures mentioned in the Bible ? 
 
 A. The digit, about three-quarters 
 of an inch ; the palm, nearly 4 inches ; 
 a span, 11 inches ; and a cubit, 22 
 inches. The giant, Goliath of Gath, 
 must therefore have measured above 11 
 feet! 
 
 Q. "VYhat other measures had the 
 Jews ? 
 
 A, The fathom, measuring nearly 
 7-^ feet ; and the measuring-line, 145 
 feet ; a sabbath day's journey, mentioned 
 in the Bible, was about three-quarters 
 of an English mile. 
 
 Q. How is the yard divided for 
 measuring cloth, linen, &c.? 
 
 A. Into halves and quarters : half 
 a yard measures 18 inches ; and a 
 quarter, 9. The quarter is divided into 
 four nails, each measuring 2^ inches. 
 
 Q. Is the yard used as a measure all 
 over Europe ? 
 
 A, ^o ; the French use a metre, 
 measuring about IJ yard, and an ell, 
 measuring 1|- yard; this ell, with the 
 English and Flemish ones, is used in
 
 48 
 
 Holland, Flanders, Sweden, Switzerland, 
 and great part of Germany. 
 
 Q. What does an English ell mea- 
 sure? 
 
 A, A yard and a quarter; a Fle- 
 mish one, three-quarters of a yard. 
 
 Q. What is the general width of 
 English goods ? 
 
 A, Some goods are a yard wide ; 
 but the English, French, and Flemish 
 ells are also used for many articles. 
 French ^oods are usually ell wide. 
 
 Q What are the usual measures 
 for liquids ? 
 
 A. Ale, beer, and wine measures. 
 These all have pints, quarts, and gallons: 
 the larger measures differ only in the 
 number of gallons they contain. 
 
 Q. How many gallons does a barrel 
 of beer or ale contain ? 
 
 A, Thirty-six. 
 
 Q. What is the difference in the 
 hogshead ? 
 
 A, A hogshead of wine contains 
 63 gallons; of ale or beer, 54. 
 
 Q. What were the ancient Jewish 
 measures for liquors ?
 
 49 
 
 A. The bin, measuring a gallon and 
 a half, and the ephah, rather more than 
 7 gallons. 
 
 Q. Are not pints, quarts, and gallons 
 used for measuring dry goods ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for corn, fruits, and some 
 vegetables. Coals were originally mea- 
 sured ; now they are weighed by avoir- 
 dupois weight, 10 sacks of 224 lbs. each 
 being equal to one ton. 
 
 Q, What are the measures used in 
 dry measure ? 
 
 A, Pints, quarts, gallons, pottles, 
 pecks, bushels, and strikes. The pints, 
 quarts, and gallons are the same as 
 liquid measures. 
 
 Q. What is the measure of a 
 pottle ? 
 
 A, Two quarts, or half a gallon. 
 There are 2 gallons to a peck ; 4 pecks 
 to a bushel ; and 2 bushels to a str ike. 
 
 Q. What is supposed to be the 
 origin of these words ? 
 
 A. Most of them are likely to be 
 the old Saxon names for the vessels 
 used for measuring. The word pint is
 
 50 
 
 said to be derived from the Greek word 
 vinta^ a vessel. 
 
 Q. What is the origin of the word 
 quart? 
 
 A. It is from quarter, a quart being 
 the quarter, or fourth part of a gallon. 
 
 Q, What were the dry measures 
 used among the Jews? 
 
 A, The hin, measuring 9 pints ; 
 the cab, 2 J pints; the gomer, 5| pints; 
 and the ephah, 3 pecks and a pint. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRODUCTIONS OF THE EARTH USED FOR 
 FOOD, MEDICINE, AND MANUFACTURES, 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 Section 1. — Useful Seeds ^ etc* 
 
 ENGLISH AND FOREIGN. 
 
 Q. What is considered the most 
 useful European plant? 
 
 A. Wheat, or corn ; it being the 
 material of which bread is most gene- 
 rally composed. 
 
 Q. W^hat is included, besides wheat, 
 in the word corn ? 
 
 ♦See also O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the Auiinal, 
 Ve-^etable, and Mineral Kingdoms, pige 49.
 
 51 
 
 A, Barley, oats, and rye : bread has 
 been made of all these in olden times, 
 when wheaten bread was considered a 
 luxury; and even now among the poor, in 
 the northern counties and in {Scotland, 
 oats are used for bread and porridge. 
 
 Q. In what country was corn first 
 cultivated? 
 
 A, In Egypt, which was anciently 
 the most fertile of all other countries 
 in corn. From Egypt it passed to 
 Greece, Italy, and the otlier countries 
 of Europe, 
 
 Q. Who is said to have taught the 
 cultivation of corn to the Greeks? 
 
 A. Ceres, a Sicilian w^oman, and for 
 this she was deified, and was called the 
 fifoddess of ao-riculture. 
 
 Q. "What is maize ? 
 
 A. It is the general name for the 
 seeds of Indian corn : it is also culti- 
 vated in America, and yields two crops 
 a-year. 
 
 Q. In what countries is corn now 
 generally produced? 
 
 A. In all European countries ; in 
 Egypt, Barbary, and some other parts
 
 52 
 
 of Africa; and in most parts of America, 
 when cultivated by Europeans. 
 
 Q. In what way is corn prepared to 
 make bread ? 
 
 A. It is ground into flour, after the 
 corn has been freed from the shell, or 
 husk : this husk, when ground, is called 
 bran. 
 
 Q. What is brown bread ? 
 
 A. Bread made of flour in which 
 the grain has not been separated from 
 the shell. The flour of barley and oats 
 is called meal. 
 
 Q. Of what other use is flour ? 
 
 A, Besides using it as we do for 
 pastry, the Italians make of it semolino, 
 macaroni, and vermicelli. 
 
 Q, How are these made ? 
 
 A. Semolino is merely fine wheat 
 ground or cut down into small grains ; 
 it is used for puddings. Macaroni and 
 vermicelli are made of flour mixed 
 with the white of eggs. 
 
 Q, In what shape are they made ? 
 
 A. Vermicelli is in the form of 
 long thin threads, like worms ; maca- 
 roni, like narrow pipes.
 
 53 
 
 Q. What Is the cause of this dif- 
 ference ? 
 
 A. Vermicelli is forced through 
 holes as small as possible, but macaroni 
 through larger ones the size of a pea. 
 Macaroni is sometimes made in the 
 form of thin broad ribbons ; it is then 
 called sassagna. 
 
 Q, Of what are wafers made? 
 
 A. Of flour, isinglass, and yeast. 
 When coloured with red-lead they are 
 injurious to health, red-lead being a 
 poison. 
 
 Q. When was baking first intro- 
 duced into Rome ? 
 
 A, After the war with Pyrrhus, 500 
 years after the building of Rome : every 
 housewife was then her own baker. 
 
 Q. Have we not earlier accounts of 
 baking than this ? 
 
 A. Yes, in the Bible; and it is 
 most likely that the Greeks, who intro- 
 duced it into Rome, acquired their 
 knowledge of it in Egypt. 
 
 Q. What other article besides 
 bread is made from wheat ? 
 
 A, Starch. By steeping wheat in 
 
 f2
 
 54 
 
 water, and then exposing it to the sun, 
 a glutinous sediment is obtained, which, 
 beinof then cleaned and dried in an 
 oven, yields the above article. 
 
 Q, Of what use is starch ? 
 
 A. It is largely used by laundresses 
 for stiffening linen, and by calico prin- 
 ters and bleachers. 
 
 Q. For what are oats now used ? 
 
 A, Besides being made into bread, 
 &c., they are used as food for horses. 
 Barley having been first steeped in water 
 and then dried in a kiln produces malt, 
 used in making what are called malt- 
 liquors. Barley also forms the chief 
 food of poultry. 
 
 Q. Of what other use are oats ? 
 
 A, When freed from their husks 
 they are called groats, and are used to 
 make gruel for sick persons. 
 
 Q. Of what use is rye now ? 
 
 A. Chiefly in the distillation of 
 spirits, it being seldom made into 
 bread except by very poor people. 
 
 Q. What is yeast and its use ? 
 
 A. Yeast is the scum or froth which 
 rises in beer and other malt-liquors
 
 55 
 
 during a state of fermentation : it is of 
 the greatest importance in the making 
 of bread, which without it would be 
 heavy and unwholesome. 
 
 Q, What is pearl barley ? 
 
 A, The small round kernel which 
 remains after the husk or skin, and a 
 considerable portion of the barley, have 
 been ground off by the mill. 
 
 Q, What are hops ? 
 
 A, The flower-buds of a beautiful 
 plant which grows to a great height, 
 twining round long poles. The best 
 hop-grounds are in Kent. 
 
 Q. What is porter ? 
 
 A, A kind of beer, first intro- 
 duced about the year 1730 : being 
 a hearty and nourishing beverage, it 
 was very suitable for porters and other 
 hard-working people, and hence its 
 name. 
 
 Q. What name was given, by the 
 Egyptians, to liquor made from barley ? 
 
 A. Barley- wine : it was also a 
 favourite drink of the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 Q. When were hops first used ? 
 
 A, The first mention made of hopy
 
 56 
 
 is by the Arabian physician, Mesne, 
 who lived about the year 845. They 
 began to be used for beer, in Flanders, 
 in 1500, and were cultivated in Eng- 
 land about 1530. 
 
 Q. What is rice ? 
 
 A, The grain of a cereal much culti- 
 vated in Eastern countries, and also in 
 some parts of America. In India and 
 China, where it yields two crops a-year, 
 it forms the principal food of the poorer 
 classes. 
 
 Q. Where does the best rice come 
 from? 
 
 A, From Carolina, in North Ame- 
 rica ; the grains are double the size of 
 those that grow in the East Indies. 
 Rice will not grow without plenty of 
 water. 
 
 Q, What spirit is distilled from 
 Bice ? 
 
 A. Arrack. 
 
 Q. What is millet ? 
 
 A. The grain of a plant growing in 
 the East Indies, various species of which 
 are used as food for man and animals. 
 
 Q. What are caraway seeds?
 
 57 
 
 J., The seeds of a British plant: 
 they are hot and pungent, and are used 
 in confectionery and medicine, 
 
 Q, What are coriander seeds ? 
 
 A, The seeds of a plant, a native of 
 England, but which also grows in India. 
 They are used by druggists, confection- 
 ers, and distillers. 
 
 Q, What did the ancients imagine 
 about this seed ? 
 
 A, That the juice of the coriander 
 seed would render a person insensible. 
 
 Q, What are cardamoms ? 
 
 A, Seeds brought from the East 
 Indies in pods : useful in medicine. 
 The Indians mix them with the betel, 
 and chew them ; and also use them in 
 their soups, curries, &c. 
 
 Q. Where do the best capers come 
 from ? 
 
 A. From the south of France: 
 where they grow wild on a small shrub, 
 flourishing most near ruins or in cavities 
 of rocks. 
 
 Q, What is anise seed ? 
 
 A. A seed used for medicine, grow- 
 bg wild in Egypt, but cultivated in
 
 58 
 
 Spain and Malta, whence the seed is 
 imported. 
 
 Q, What is linseed-oil made from? 
 
 A, It is made from the pods and 
 seeds of flax, a beautiful plant growing 
 in this country. From the fibres of the 
 stalks linen is made. 
 
 Q, What is rape seed ? 
 
 A, The seed of a plant which grows 
 in a rich soil, in several parts of Eng- 
 land. Oil is made from it, as well as 
 oil-cakes for fattening cattle. 
 
 Q, What is castor oil produced 
 from? 
 
 A, From the seeds of a plant called 
 by the Americans Palma Christi, grow- 
 ing in both the Indies. The seeds are 
 pressed, and boiled in water till the oil 
 rises to the top, when it is carefully 
 skimmed off and kept for use. It is a 
 mild purgative. 
 
 Q, From what is soy made ? 
 
 A. From the seeds of a Japanese 
 plant called Soya ; it is chiefly used as 
 a fish sauce.
 
 59 
 
 Section 2. — Plants and Shrubs, 
 
 Q. Where does the tea-shrub grow? 
 
 A. In China, Japan, and Siam : it 
 is an evergreen, and the leaves are 
 dried for use. 
 
 Q. What is the difference between 
 the plants on which green and black 
 tea grow ? 
 
 A. Some travellers suppose it to be 
 the same plant ; but botanists tell us 
 that the flower on the black-tea shrub 
 has six petals, or leaves, and the green- 
 tea flower has nine. 
 
 Q, What does the flower resemble? 
 
 A, That of our white wild-rose ; 
 the root is like that of the peach-tree. 
 
 Q. Which is considered the most 
 expensive tea ? 
 
 A. That in which the leaves are 
 gathered when very young. There are 
 three seasons for gathering the leaves. 
 
 Q. When is the first ? 
 
 A. In March, when the leaves are 
 only a week old ; the second in April, 
 and the third in June
 
 60 
 
 Q. How old must the tree be before 
 the leaves can be gathered ? 
 
 A, Three years; the finest shrubs 
 are kept for the emperor : this is called 
 imperial tea. 
 
 Q. What are the names given to 
 black tea ? 
 
 A. Bohea, congou, souchong, and 
 pekoe. 
 
 Q. What are the names of the green 
 teas ? 
 
 A, Single, hyson, and gunpowder. 
 
 Q. How is tea prepared for use ? 
 
 A. When the tea leaves have been 
 collected, they are exposed to the steam 
 of boiling water, after which they are 
 put upon plates of copper and held over 
 the fire until they become dry and 
 shrivelled, and appear such as we have 
 them in Europe. 
 
 Q, What is gunpowder tea ? 
 
 A, The unopened leaf-buds : they 
 are gathered and dried so carefully that 
 they retain more of their flavour and 
 colour. It derives its name from its 
 resemblance to the grains of gun- 
 powder.
 
 61 
 
 Q, Who first introduced tea into 
 England ? 
 
 A. Lord Ossory and Lord Arling- 
 ton who brought it from Holland, the 
 Dutch having been the first to import 
 it into Europe in 1610.* 
 
 Q. In whose reign was tea intro- 
 duced? 
 
 A, In the reign of Charles the 
 Second, and was generally sold at fifty 
 shillings a pound. 
 
 Q, What is cofi*ee ? 
 
 A, The berry of an evergreen 
 shrub ; when ripe it is red, something 
 like our cherry. It is first dried, then 
 roasted, and, before we can use it, ground 
 to powder in a cofibe-mill. 
 
 Q. Where does the best cofi'ee come 
 from ? 
 
 A, From Mocha in Arabia ; Ja- 
 maica was the first of the West India 
 islands in which coffee was planted. 
 
 Q. From what is chocolate made ? 
 
 A, From the pulp of the cacao, or 
 
 * See Erredge's Student's Handbook of General In- 
 formation, page 60.
 
 62 
 
 chocolate nut : it is mixed with sugar, 
 cloves, cinnamon, and other spices. 
 
 Q, Where does the cacao-tree 
 grow? 
 
 A, In South America and the West 
 Indies : it has a beautiful flower, and 
 the fruit is enclosed in a pod, something 
 like a cucumber in shape. The nuts 
 are like almonds, twenty or thirty in 
 one pod. 
 
 Q, When was chocolate introduced 
 into Europe ? 
 
 A, About the year 1520, being 
 brought by the Spaniards from Mexico 
 and the Brazils. It was sold in London 
 coffee-houses in 1650. 
 
 Q, What is sugar ? 
 
 A. A very sweet juice pressed out 
 from the sugar-cane, a plant which 
 grows to the height of seven or eight 
 feet, and is a native of the East and 
 West Indies. 
 
 Q. What is treacle ? 
 
 A. The remains of the sugar syrup : 
 it is sometimes called molasses. A 
 spirituous liquor, rum, is distilled from 
 the sugar-cane, or from the molasses. 
 
 I
 
 63 
 
 Q, What is arrow-root ? 
 
 A. A kind of starch manufactured 
 from the root of a plant which is a 
 native of South America, but is culti- 
 vated both in the East and West Indies. 
 
 Q. From what is its name de- 
 rived ? 
 
 A, From the use made of it by the 
 Indians, the juice having the power of 
 curing wounds made by poisoned ar- 
 rows, &c. &c, 
 
 Q, What are cloves ? 
 
 A, The dried buds of a small aro- 
 matic plant growing in the Moluccas. 
 
 Q. What is pepper ? 
 
 A, The berry of a creeping shrub: 
 the berries grow in clusters, like cur- 
 rants, and are first green, but when 
 ripe, red. 
 
 Q, What is the difference between 
 black and white pepper ? 
 
 A. The unripe grains or corns are 
 called black pepper ; the ripe ones, de- 
 nuded of their skin, constitute white 
 pepper. 
 
 Q. What is ginger ? 
 
 A. The root of a reed-like plant
 
 64 
 
 growing in Calicut and many places in 
 Asia and the West Indies ; it spreads 
 far under ground, the plant itself re- 
 sembling a rush. 
 
 Q. In what way do the Indians 
 use it ? 
 
 A. When fresh it is soft, and eaten 
 like a salad ; it also makes a delicious 
 preserve. 
 
 Q. What is the orris-root ? 
 
 A. The root of a white flowering 
 plant, a native of the south of Europe. 
 In a dried state it communicates a 
 grateful scent like that of violets. 
 
 Q, What is liquorice ? 
 
 A, A root which grows wild in 
 the south of Europe, &c., is cultivated 
 in many places, even in England. 
 The extract known as Spanish liquorice 
 is manufactured in Spain, and great 
 quantities of it are annually imported 
 into this country, to be used in the adul- 
 teration of porter and as a medicine. 
 
 Q. Where do yams grow ? 
 
 A. In Africa and the East and 
 West Indies. The yam is a species of 
 vine, having large tuberous roots,
 
 65 
 
 (vhicli are eaten either roasted or 
 boiled, while the flour is often made 
 into bread and puddings. 
 
 Q. What are capsicums ? 
 
 A, The pods of an American and 
 Indian plant. Capsicums, either green 
 or ripe, are very much eaten in hot 
 climates, and in Europe are much 
 esteemed as pickles. 
 
 Q. From what is cayenne pepper 
 made? 
 
 A. From a kind of capsicum grow- 
 ing in Cayenne, a town in French 
 Guiana, in South America. 
 
 Q. What is garlic ? 
 
 A. The bulbous root of a plant 
 which grows wild in Sicily and in other 
 parts of Europe : although its smell 
 is very strong, and to some persons 
 offensis^e, yet this root is much used in 
 cookery, especially on the continent. 
 
 Q, Is it not valuable in medicine ? 
 
 A, Yes : the jnice also forms a very 
 strong cement for broken glass. Leeks 
 are a kind of mild onion sometimes used 
 in broths and soups, and they are par- 
 ticularly esteemed by the Welsh, who 
 
 g2
 
 66 
 
 wear tLem, as a badge, on St. David's 
 day, in honour of tlieir patron saint. 
 
 Q. Is there another kind of garlic? 
 
 A, Yes, shalots; much used by the 
 French in cookery. Onions are the 
 roots of a plant having a mild flavour 
 of the leek, and are much used in 
 cookery, Spanish onions are considered 
 superior to all others. 
 
 Q. What is the Canadian onion ? 
 
 A. A plant on which the onion 
 grows at the top of the stalk instead of 
 at the root. 
 
 Q, Where do mushrooms grow? 
 
 A, They grow wild in England, in 
 parks or other places where the turf 
 has not been ploughed up for many 
 years. 
 
 Q. What are morrels? 
 
 A, Another kind of fungus, used 
 for broths and soups. 
 
 Q. What is madder? 
 
 A, The root of a creeping plant 
 used by dyers and painters for obtaining 
 a fine scarlet colour, and is imported 
 into this country from the Levant and 
 Holland. It grows wild in many parts
 
 67 
 
 ot Europe ; and when eaten by cows, 
 wlio are very fond of it, it imparts a 
 fine yellow tint to their milk, and con- 
 sequently to the butter made from it, 
 
 Q. What is flax ? 
 
 A. The produce of a beautiful plant 
 with slender stalks, small leaves, and 
 blue blossoms. Of the fibres of the 
 stalks linen and cambric are made. 
 
 Q, What island is famous for linen? 
 
 A, Ireland; it is also very perfect 
 in Holland; cambric takes its name 
 from Cambray, in Holland, at which 
 place it was first manufactured. 
 
 Q. What is hemp ? 
 
 A, A useful plant growing in Eng- 
 land; the fine fibres of the stalks are 
 spun into coarse cloth and canvass, and 
 the coarser are made into twine, ropes, 
 cables, and cordage. 
 
 Q, What is tow ? 
 
 A, It is flax or hemp beaten and 
 combed into a thread-like substance : 
 it is used for various purposes, such as 
 stopping an effusion of blood, &c. ; 
 twisted round the handle of an instru- 
 ment it renders the grasp of it more 
 firm.
 
 68 
 
 Q. What is cotton ? * 
 
 A. Tlie wool or down surrounding 
 tlie seeds of various species of the gos- 
 sypium, or cotton plant, or shrub, 
 which is cultivated in the East and 
 West Indies, North and South America, 
 and other parts of the world. 
 
 Q. AVhat is the use of cotton? 
 
 A, It is spun into calicos, muslins, 
 dimities, and many other stuffs. A 
 buff- coloured cloth is made in China 
 from a species of yellowish cotton 
 grown in the Nankin district ; whence 
 the stuff itself is called nankeen, 
 
 Q. From what is indigo produced? 
 
 A. Indigo is obtained from the 
 leaves of various species of Indigo/era, 
 largely cultivated in India and America. 
 The leaves being bruised and fermented 
 in water, a blue powder is deposited, 
 which is collected and dried so as to 
 form the cakes sold in the shops. It 
 yields a deep purple. 
 
 Q. Where is logwood found ? 
 
 A. In Jamaica, Campeachy, and 
 
 * See also Erredge's Student's Handbook of General 
 Infonnution, page 46.
 
 69 
 
 Honduras. It is principally used 
 in dyeing, particularly black and 
 violet. 
 
 Q, What is woad ? 
 
 A, A plant, tiie leaves of which, 
 after undergoing a certain process, are 
 used in dyeing black and blue ; but 
 indigo is now generally substituted for 
 it. The ancient Britons stained their 
 bodies with woad. 
 
 Q. What is weld? 
 
 A. It is a plant much cultivated in 
 Kent for the use of the London dyers. 
 With the help of potash it yields a 
 deep lemon colour. 
 
 Q. What is turmeric ? 
 
 A, It is a root brought from Mada- 
 gascar and the East and West Indies, 
 and is used by dyers for producing a 
 yellow colour: turmeric is also em- 
 ployed in medicine, as beneficial in 
 cases of dropsy, jaundice, &c. 
 
 Q. What is tobacco ? 
 
 A. A plant growing in America 
 much used in smoking, chewing, and 
 for snufF. 
 
 Q, Whence does it take its name ;
 
 70 
 
 and when was it first brought into 
 England? 
 
 A, Tliis plant received its name^ 
 from Tabacco, a province of Yucatan 
 some, however, say that it is derived 
 from the island of Tobago. It was 
 first brought to England in the reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth, 1565, by Sir John 
 Hawkins, although its first introduc- 
 tion has been ascribed to Sir Walter 
 Kaleigh. 
 
 Q. What vegetable was brought 
 into England about the same time ? 
 
 A. The potato. Potatoes were 
 brought to England from Santa Fe in 
 America, by John Hawkins, in 1563, 
 but Sir Walter Ealeigh first planted 
 them in Ireland, at Youghall, near 
 Cork, in 1586. 
 
 Q. Who first planted cabbages in 
 England ? 
 
 A. Sir Arthur Ashley, of Dorset, 
 three varieties of this plant having 
 been brought from Holland in 1510. 
 A species of the Brassica plant, which 
 grows on cliffs by the sea in many parts 
 of England and Scotland, is the origin 
 of our garden cabbage. 
 
 I
 
 71 
 
 Q. When were other vegetables in- 
 troduced into this country ? 
 
 A, Peas and beans by the Romans ; 
 but first cultivated in England in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. Artichokes in 
 1487 ; asparagus in 1602, and turnips 
 about the same time. 
 
 Q. "What is rhubarb ? 
 
 A, A root of great medicinal quali- 
 ties, introduced into Europe from 
 China by Turkish traders, and was first 
 cultivated in England in 1763. The 
 rhubarb plant is much used in England 
 for tarts. 
 
 Q. From what place have we 
 senna ? 
 
 A. From Alexandria in Egypt ; the 
 leaves are dried and used for medicine. 
 
 Q, What is peppermint ? 
 
 A, An aromatic and pungent plant, 
 growing in wet marshy grounds in some 
 parts of England : peppermint water is 
 distilled from it. 
 
 Q. AYhat is ipecacuanha ? 
 
 A. The root of a plant growing in 
 Brazil in South America; very useful 
 in medicinal cases.
 
 72 
 
 Q. Where do aloes grow ? 
 
 A. In various parts of Asia, Africa, 
 an-^ the West Indies, but especially in 
 Socotra. The juice is pressed from the 
 fresh leaves, and, when dried in the sun, 
 it becomes hard, and is a very valuable 
 medicine. 
 
 Q, What colour is produced from 
 aloes ? 
 
 A. A beautiful violet. The Ma- 
 hometans and Egyptians consider the 
 plant as sacred, and hang it on their 
 doors when they return from a pilgrim- 
 age to Mecca. 
 
 Q, Is not the Chinese aloe very 
 useful ? 
 
 A, Yes, the inner bark when burnt 
 yields an agreeable perfume, and the 
 branches taste like candied citron. 
 
 Q, Of what use is the root ? 
 
 A, Eopes are made of it. The In- 
 dians cover their houses with the 
 leaves ; and the fibres are made into 
 thread. 
 
 Q. What is quassia ? 
 
 A. The root of a tree growing in 
 J^orth ^^"^ South America, and the
 
 73 
 
 West Indies. It took its name from 
 the slave who first used it in Surinam 
 to cure fevers. The bark and wood, as 
 well as the root, are all useful in medi- 
 cine. 
 
 Q. What is saffron ? 
 
 A. A plant first brought into Eng- 
 land from the east by a pilo^rim in 1389. 
 It was cultivated in England in 1582. 
 The best grows in Essex, between Cam- 
 bridge and Saffron-Walden : saffron is 
 used both in food and medicine, and 
 also in dyeing. 
 
 Q. Where do mint and thyme 
 grow? 
 
 A. In England — they are very use- 
 ful herbs, and were brought from Persia. 
 
 Q. What is sorrel ? 
 
 A, A wild sour herb growing in 
 England. Salts of lemon, used for tak- 
 ing ink-stains out of linen, are made 
 from it. 
 
 Q. What are camomile flowers ? 
 
 A. The flowers of the plant of that 
 name, a native of England. The flowers 
 when dried are very useful as a sto- 
 machic medicine
 
 74 
 
 Section 3. — Useful Trees and Fruits, etc, 
 
 Q. W hat are the names of the prin- 
 cipal English trees ? 
 
 A. The oak, the elm, the fir, the 
 beech, the ash, the poplar, the walnut, 
 and chestnut. 
 
 Q. Of all these trees which is the 
 most valuable ? 
 
 A, The oak, on account of its 
 strength and durability ; on which 
 account oak timber is used in the 
 building of ships and houses. The best 
 oak for naval purposes grows in the 
 forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. 
 
 Q. Is not every part of the oak 
 valuable ? 
 
 A. Yes, the bark is used by tanners 
 and dyers, the ashes to purify and 
 cleanse wine, and even the sawdust is 
 of use. 
 
 Q. What is made of the root? 
 
 A. Handles for knives, hammers, 
 &c. ; and the acorns provide food for 
 deer and hogs. 
 
 Q. Has the bark any other use ? 
 
 A. Yes, for medicinal purposes ,
 
 75 
 
 the branches are burned for char- 
 coal. 
 
 Q. Does the oak live to a great 
 age ? 
 
 A. Yes, one was cut down in Wales, 
 which had been growing 400 years. 
 
 Q. How is the age discovered ? 
 
 A, By counting the rings in its 
 trunk ; it forms a fresh ring every year. 
 
 Q. What tree is next in beauty to 
 the oak ? 
 
 A. The elm ; the wood is used for 
 water-works, mills, pipes, and pumps ; 
 also for picture-frames, coffins, and 
 carved works. 
 
 Q. Of what other use is the elm ? 
 
 A, The branches are burnt to make 
 charcoal, and cattle are sometimes fed 
 on the leaves ; the charcoal is nearly as 
 good as that of the oak. 
 
 Q. What is the wood of the fir- 
 tree called ? 
 
 A. Deal ; it is very useful for floors, 
 wainscots, and other common purposes. 
 The best deal comes from Norway. 
 
 Q. Of what other use is the fir- 
 tree ?
 
 76 
 
 A. Turpentine, pitch, tar, and rosin 
 are obtained from it. 
 
 Q. In what way? 
 
 A, A hole is cut in the bark during 
 the spring, and the sap or juice which 
 runs out forms common turpentine. 
 After it is prepared, a thick matter 
 settles at the bottom, called yellow 
 rosin, 
 
 Q. Of what use is the tree after 
 this? 
 
 A. It is cut down, sawn in pieces, 
 and burnt in a pit. While burning, a 
 black thick matter runs from it called 
 tar. 
 
 Q. What is pitch ? 
 
 A, Tar boiled with water, and some- 
 times rosin ; pitch, mixed with rosin and 
 oil, makes shoemakers' wax ; and, when 
 mixed with fat, carriage grease. 
 
 Q. Is the ash useful ? 
 
 A, Yes, the wood is used for handles 
 for various implements, for ploughs, 
 harrows, axle-trees, and oars for boats. 
 
 Q, Of what use is the beech ? 
 
 A. The wood is used by turners 
 and cabinet-makers for fancy articles,
 
 77 
 
 as it is clean, white, and finely grained, 
 and not apt to bend or slit. 
 
 Q. A.re not the walnut and chest- 
 nut trees used for the same purposes ? 
 
 A, Yes. Their wood is more adapted 
 for joiners, being less subject to worms ; 
 it is also more beautifully grained, and 
 of a browner colour. The wood of the 
 chestnut is very lasting. 
 
 Q, Of what use is the poplar ? 
 
 A. Wooden vessels, and soles and 
 heels of shoes, are sometimes made 
 of it ; the timber is also useful to car- 
 penters. 
 
 Q. What other trees are useful for 
 manufacture ? 
 
 A, The lime, the willow, the box, 
 the holly, the maple, the plane, the 
 cypress, and the yew tree. 
 
 Q. Of what use is the lime or linden- 
 tree ? 
 
 A, The lime has a beautifully 
 scented blossom, of which the bee is 
 very fond ; the wood is used by carvers, 
 and makers of pill-boxes. 
 
 Q, What is made of willow twigs ? 
 
 A, Baskets, cradles, and all sorts of 
 
 h2
 
 78 
 
 wicker-work. Osiers are low willow- 
 trees, used for hampers, hurdles, &c. 
 
 Q, Of what wood are tops and 
 chessmen made ? 
 
 A, Of boxwood. The maple, the 
 box, and the holly are mostly used for 
 fancy articles ; violins and musical 
 instruments are often made of maple, 
 because of its lightness. 
 
 Q. What are the uses of the holly ? 
 
 A, Birdlime is prepared from its 
 bark. Its timber, which is the whitest 
 of all hard woods, and takes the 
 finest polish, is used by inlayers. The 
 boughs with the red berries decorate 
 rooms at Christmas-time by way of 
 rejoicing. 
 
 Q. What ancient people used it for 
 the same purpose ? 
 
 A, The Romans ; they also valued 
 maple wood, and had expensive tables 
 made of it. 
 
 Q. Was not the plane-tree much 
 valued by the Greeks and Romans ? 
 
 A, Yes ; and, on account of the 
 agreeable shade it afforded, was planted 
 in the avenues to their villas.
 
 79 
 
 Q, What kind of tree is the 
 cypress ? 
 
 A, A tree whose wood is of an 
 agreeable stnell, and that scarcely ever 
 decays ; it was originally found in the 
 island of Cyprus, and was used by the 
 ancients as a token of sorrow. The 
 cypress was brought into England 
 about 1441. 
 
 Q. By whom was the wood con- 
 sidered very valuable ? 
 
 A. By the ancients. It is of a pale 
 red colour, with deep veins, and very 
 durable. Pliny, the Roman historian, 
 tells us that the gates of the temple of 
 Diana were made of it, and that, al- 
 though in his time they were 400 years 
 old, they were still in excellent preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. How does it happen that so 
 many yew-trees are planted in church- 
 yards ? 
 
 A. The wood of the yew-tree was 
 used for the making of bows in the time 
 of the Normans, when bows and arrows 
 were used in battle. William the Con- 
 queror, therefore, ordered yew trees to
 
 80 
 
 be planted in every churchyard, that 
 there might be always a supply of that 
 kind of wood. 
 
 Q. Are not many other English 
 trees useful ? 
 
 A. Yes, the wood of the pear-tree 
 is often used, and many others, as the 
 sycamore, the larch, the aspen, the 
 acacia, the laburnum, &c. ; but these, 
 and indeed all trees, are considered as 
 ornaments to a landscape, and are sel- 
 dom cut down unless necessity require. 
 
 Q. Mention some foreign trees use- 
 ful for manufacture ? 
 
 A. The teak, the mahogany, the 
 cedar, the ebony, the jacaranda or rose- 
 wood, and the bamboo. 
 
 Q. What is the teak-tree ? 
 
 A. It is called the oak of the East- 
 ern world, and is used for shipbuilding ; 
 it is a native of Pegu, and grows on the 
 coast of Malabar, and in all parts of 
 Ben gal. 
 
 Q. What tree produces mahogany? 
 
 A. One which grows principally 
 in Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo, 
 the West India islands, and in thy
 
 81 
 
 southern parts of Honduras and East 
 Florida. 
 
 Q. Which is considered the best 
 mahogany ? 
 
 A. The Jamaica wood, for beauty 
 of colouring, firmness, and durability, is 
 most valued ; it takes a most brilliant 
 polish. Mahogany has been used in 
 medicine with the same effect as Peru- 
 vian bark. 
 
 Q. What is the cedar-tree ? 
 
 A. An evergreen, the native of no 
 place but Mount Lebanon. It is a tree 
 of great beauty and durability. Solo- 
 mon's temple and palace were built of 
 cedar, and historians tell us that some 
 of this timber was found in the temple 
 of Apollo at Utica, 2000 years old. 
 
 Q. What is ebony ? 
 
 A, A species of hard, heavy, and 
 durable wood, brought from Ceylon 
 and Madagascar, and which is capable 
 of a very fine polish, being on that ac- 
 count used for inlaying and other orna- 
 mental work. The most usual colour 
 is black, red, or green, but the best is a 
 let black. Ebony yields an agreeable
 
 82 
 
 perfume when laid on burning coals. 
 Green ebony is used as a dye-wood. 
 
 Q, What is rosewood ? 
 
 A, A dark beautiful wood, often 
 used for furniture in preference to ma- 
 hogany; it grows in Jamaica and the 
 Brazils, It has a fragrant smell, and 
 from it is obtained a perfume used in 
 scenting pomatums, &c. 
 
 Q, Is the bamboo a tree ? 
 
 A. No, it is a plant of the reed 
 kind, growing in the East Indies, and 
 other warm climates, to the height 
 sometimes of 80 feet. Bamboos are 
 turned to almost every use, for posts and 
 buildings, masts, water-pipes, pitchers.^ 
 drinking cups, cooking utensils, &c. ; 
 when split they are made into mats and 
 sails. 
 
 Q. What is sandal-wood ? 
 
 A, The wood of a tree growing in 
 Siam ; it is used for fans, toys, and or- 
 naments, and small pieces are burnt in 
 India on account of its beautiful scent ; 
 perfume is also extracted from it. 
 
 Q. What use is made of it in 
 China ?
 
 83 
 
 A, The Chinese make coffins of it, 
 and perfume their persons and houses 
 with it. 
 
 Q. What is satin-wood ? 
 
 A, The wood of a beautiful tree 
 growing in the Brazils and Jamaica, 
 used for inlaying. 
 
 Q, Mention some English fruit- 
 trees. 
 
 A. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, 
 peaches, apricots, nectarines, damas- 
 cenes, mulberries, grapes, medlars, me- 
 lons, and the various kinds of nuts. 
 
 Q, What are the fruits growing on 
 shrubs or small plants ? 
 
 A. Gooseberries, raspberries, cur- 
 rants, and strawberries. 
 
 Q. Are any of these trees and plants 
 natives of England ? 
 
 A. Only the common nut ; as acorns, 
 nuts, and crab-apples were the only 
 fruit in the island when it was con- 
 quered by the Homans. 
 
 Q. From what country was the 
 apple-tree brought ? 
 
 A, It was first brought into Italy 
 from Syria and Africa, 80 years B.C.,
 
 84 
 
 but several kinds are indigenous in 
 England ; those however in general 
 use have been brought at various times 
 from the continent. A great number 
 of the orchards in Kent are said to have 
 been planted by Richard Harris, fruit- 
 erer of Henry VIII. 
 
 Q. Will not all fruit-trees grow 
 from the pip of the fruit ? 
 
 A, Not to produce good fruit ; the 
 plant growing from a pip is only wild, 
 and must be ingrafted with good fruit 
 before it will come to perfection. 
 
 Q, From what country were pears 
 brought ? 
 
 A. From Italy. The wood is used 
 for picture-frames, tools, and common 
 rulers. 
 
 Q, What pleasant drinks are made 
 from apples and pears ? 
 
 A. Cider from apples, and perry 
 from pears. 
 
 Q, From what are plums produced ? 
 
 A. The greengage and the magnum 
 bonum, or e^g plum, are both produced 
 from the wild plum or bullace. Plums 
 were brought to this country from
 
 85 
 
 France, and, when dried, are exported 
 irom thence in large quantities ; they 
 are then called prunes, or French 
 plums. 
 
 Q, From whence had we cherries? 
 
 A, Cherries grew wild in the woods 
 near Cerasus in Pontus, on the Black 
 Sea; from Cerasus the name is cor- 
 rupted to cherries. They were brought 
 to Eome by LucuUus, a Roman general, 
 70 years B.C. 
 
 Q. When were they first planted 
 in England ? 
 
 A. Cherry-trees were first planted 
 in Britain 100 years B.C., but the finer 
 kinds were afterwards brought from 
 Flanders in the reign of Henry VIII., 
 and planted in Kent. The wood of the 
 tree is very useful. 
 
 Q, What country produced the 
 peach ? 
 
 A, Persia ; the nectarine is a kind 
 of peach. Apricots and quinces came 
 from Epirus, Carthage, and Asia 
 Minor. 
 
 Q. Where is Epirus ? 
 
 A, In Greece. Carthage was a city
 
 S6 
 
 in Africa, founded by Queen Dido ; 
 Tunis now stands on its ruins. 
 
 Q, What is the word apricot de- 
 rived from ? 
 
 A, From the Latin word apricus, 
 which signifies sunny. The apricot is 
 supposed to be a native of Africa. 
 
 Q, What are medlars ? 
 
 A. A native Enghsh fruit found 
 growing wild about a hundred years 
 ago. They are kept in bran for a 
 iortnight, and sent to table half rotten. 
 The wood of the tree is used for walking- 
 sticks. 
 
 Q, From what country were me- 
 lons brought ? 
 
 A, From some of the islands of the 
 Levant ; it is a sort of cucumber, eaten 
 when ripe, and is raised under glass in 
 this country. 
 
 Q. What are water-melons ? 
 
 A, Another species, equally cool- 
 ing and delicious. The pulp is gene 
 rally of a red colour. 
 
 Q, Is the cucumber a fruit ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is eaten before it is 
 ripe, with pepper, salt, and vinegar.
 
 87 
 
 The young cucumbers, when pickled, 
 are called gherkins. The plant was 
 brought from the Netherlands about 
 1538. 
 
 Q. Are nuts natives of England ? 
 A, Only the common nut. Phi- 
 libert, King of France, caused this nut 
 to be improved, and hence it was called 
 Filbert. Chestnuts come from France 
 and Spain. 
 
 Q. What is the difference between 
 this chestnut and the horse chestnut- 
 tree ? 
 
 Q. The leaves of the Spanish chest- 
 nut are long and pointed, with notches 
 at the edges. The horse chestnut ir. 
 also enclosed in a prickly shell. From 
 the horse-chestnut excellent flour and 
 starch have been made. 
 
 Q. When was the first gooseberry- 
 bush planted in England ? 
 
 A, In the re'gn of Henry YIII. it 
 was brought from Flanders. 
 
 Q. Do not several berries form de- 
 licious fruit ? 
 
 A. Yes, strawberries and raspberries 
 are supposed to be the common black-
 
 88 
 
 berry in a highly cultivated state ; cran- 
 berries, elderberries, whortleberries, grow 
 wild, and are very useful. 
 
 Q, Where was the first mulberry-tree 
 planted ? 
 
 A, At Sion House, the seat of the 
 Duke of Northumberland* The Morea 
 in Greece is famous for mulberry-trees, 
 and takes its name from morus, a mul- 
 berry-tree. 
 
 Q, What are the different kinds of 
 grapes ? 
 
 A, Eed and white grapes, raisins or 
 dried grapes, and currants or Corinthian 
 grapes. 
 
 Q. Is the black, white, and red cur- 
 rant a species of small grape ? 
 
 A. Yes; the first tree was brought 
 from the island of Zante, and planted in 
 England in the reign of Henry VHI. 
 They were called Corinthian grapes, 
 and the word Corinthian was in time 
 corrupted to currants. 
 
 Q. Is Corinth now famous for these 
 grapes ? 
 
 A. No. The dried currants used 
 for puddings^ &c., and exported to other
 
 89 
 
 countries in great quantities, are now 
 prepared in Zante ; for the Turks not 
 allowing vessels to sail to the Morea for 
 the currants, the cultivation of them 
 was therefore neglected. 
 
 Q. What country produces the finest 
 grapes for table ? 
 
 A, England, by artificial heat in 
 hot-houses : a bunch of grapes weigh- 
 ing iiJ^ lbs. was produced in the vinery 
 of the Duke of Portland. 
 
 Q. Where are the finest vineyards ? 
 
 A. Between Eome and Naples ; 
 they are trained from the branches of 
 elms and poplars. 
 
 Q. Are many foreign fruits pro- 
 duced in hot-houses ? 
 
 A. Yes, with great care and atten- 
 tion, oranges, pine-apples, figs, and seve- 
 ral others may be produced, but they are 
 not so fine as those brought from their 
 native country. 
 
 Q, Where do oranges grow ? 
 
 A, In the islands of, and places near, 
 the Mediterranean ; also in China. The 
 perfume called Bergamot is made from 
 the rind of the orange. 
 
 li
 
 90 
 
 Q. Where do the Seville oranges 
 grow ? 
 
 A. Near Seville, a town in Spain : 
 although not sweet, they are useful in 
 medicine and cookery. 
 
 Q, What is the shaddock ? 
 
 A, A kind of orange, sometimes as 
 large as a child's head ; it takes its name 
 from Captain Shaddock, who took it 
 from China and planted it in the West 
 Indies, where it grows as well as in 
 China. 
 
 Q. From whence are lemons 
 brought ? 
 
 A. From Spain and Portugal. The 
 lemon-tree is a native of Asia Minor. 
 The lemon is useful in medicine and 
 cooking, and the juice will take out 
 iron-moulds. 
 
 Q, What are the citron and lime ? 
 
 A» Both species of lemons, but the 
 citron is larger, and the lime smaller 
 than the lemon. The lime grows in 
 North America and the West Indies. 
 
 Q, Where do the finest figs come 
 from ? 
 
 A. From Spain ; they arc dried and
 
 91 
 
 packed in boxes in the shape of a drum. 
 The wood of the fig-tree is much valued ; 
 in Eastern countries coffins are made 
 of it. 
 
 Q. Where are pine-apples plenti- 
 ful? 
 
 A, In Sierra Leone in Africa, but 
 they are brought to England now in 
 great quantities by steam from North 
 America and the West Indies. 
 
 Q. Mention some other foreign 
 fruits. 
 
 A. Almonds, cocoa-nuts, Spanish 
 and Brazil nuts, dates, guavas, mangoes, 
 nutmegs, olives, allspice, pomegranates, 
 and tamarinds. 
 
 Q. What are nutmegs ? 
 
 A The kernel of a fruit growing in 
 the East Indies. It has four covers, the 
 first like our walnut, thick and soft ; 
 the second, a thin reddish coat, with an 
 aromatic smell and taste. 
 
 Q. What is this red shell called? 
 
 A. Mace : it is useful in cookery ; 
 the shell under the mace is hard an^ 
 black, and under this is a thin green skir 
 of no use, which encloses the nutmeg.
 
 92 
 
 Q, From whence have we almonds ? 
 
 A. From Spain, France, and Italy : 
 they are enclosed in a tender shell, and 
 the fruit yields a great deal of oil when 
 pressed. The oil of the bitter almond 
 is poisonous. 
 
 Q. What are cocoa-nuts ? 
 
 A. A fruit growing in most hot 
 climates. The tree grows to a great 
 height, and has leaves only at the top ; 
 the fruit hangs in clusters like grapes, 
 twelve or fourteen together. 
 
 Q. Has the cocoa-nut more than 
 one shell ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is enclosed in a rough 
 fibrous shell, sometimes as large as 
 a child's head, but egg-shaped. The 
 inner shell is round, and contains 
 milk ; when fresh, it is a delicious 
 fruit. 
 
 Q. What use is made of the shells 
 by the natives ? 
 
 A. Of the outer one, sails, cloth, 
 and cordage are made ; from the inner 
 shell, ornaments, cups, spoons, &c. ; 
 and from the trunk of the tree they 
 make tlieir boats.
 
 93 
 
 Q. Where do the small nuts grow 
 which are eaten at table ? 
 
 A. In Spain ; they are called Span- 
 ish or Barcelona nuts, and are about 
 the size of our wild nut. Brazil nuts 
 are long, brown, and flat at the sides ; 
 they come from Brazil in South 
 America. 
 
 Q. Where does the date-tree prin- 
 cipally grow ? 
 
 A. On the African coast of the 
 Mediterranean ; it is also called the 
 palm-tree, and the leaves, which grow 
 at the top, are sometimes eight or nine 
 feet long. %. 
 
 Q. Wnat is the shape of the fruit ? 
 
 A, It generally resembles a large 
 acorn, but sometimes is larger, and 
 round like an apple. There are also 
 black, white, and brown dates. 
 
 Q, What are guavas ? 
 
 A. A wholesome West Indian fruit ; 
 it is sometimes eaten raw, but generally 
 as a sweetmeat or jelly. 
 
 Q. Where do mangoes grow ? 
 
 A. In the East Indies. Those we 
 see in this country are pickled, or,
 
 94 
 
 while unripe, preserved. When ripe, 
 the fruit is the size of a goose's egg, 
 and the smell is so refreshing that it is 
 supposed to restore people to health. w 
 
 Q. What are bananas ? 
 
 A. The fruit of the plantain-tree, 
 cultivated in the East Indies. It grows 
 to fifteen or twenty feet high ; the leaves 
 are sometimes eight feet long, and grow 
 in clusters at the top like the palm and 
 cocoa-nut trees. 
 
 Q. Of what shape is the fruit ? 
 
 A. That of the cucumber. The 
 bunches in which it grows sometimes 
 weigh above forty pounds. The negroes 
 make it their chief food. 
 
 Q. Where do olives grow ? 
 
 A, In Italy, Spain, and the South 
 of France. They are pickled, but not 
 considered wholesome for delicate per- 
 sons on account of the oil they contain. V 
 
 Q. Is this oil useful ? ^ 
 
 A. Yes ; it is called sweet oil, or 
 oil of olives, and is used in dressing 
 salads, and for many other purposes. 
 
 Q. What are tamarinds ? 
 
 A, The pulp of a fruit growing in
 
 95 
 
 India, by some people called the Indian 
 date. The tree is like our ash-tree, 
 and the frait grows in a pod. Tama- 
 rinds are useful as a medicine, and as 
 a preserve. 
 
 Q. V^^here do pomegranates grow ? 
 
 A. They are natives of Granada in 
 Spain. The fruit, which is like an apple, 
 but with a thick brownish rind, grows 
 on a shrub like the myrtle. The blos- 
 soms are purple. K. 
 
 Q. What is allspice ? 
 
 A, The fruit of a beautiful tree 
 growing in Jamaica, called the pimento. 
 It is called allspice because it is sup- 
 posed to taste like all other spices ; 
 we use it ground into powder. 
 
 Q, Wliat is the betel-nut ? 
 
 A, The nut of a kind of palm-tree, 
 growing in India. In India betel is 
 taken after meals and during a visit : 
 it is offered to friends when they meet 
 and when they separate ; in short, no- 
 thing can be done without betel. They 
 also carry it about like snuff. - 
 
 Q, Where does the bread-fruit-tree 
 grow ?
 
 96 
 
 A, It is a native of the South Sea 
 Islands, where it attains the thickness 
 of a man's body, and the height of 40 
 feet. The fruit is the size and shape 
 of a child's head, and is covered with a 
 thin skin, the edible part being between 
 the skin and core, as white as snow, 
 and of the consistence of new bread. 
 When ripe it is pulpy and sweetish, 
 but when green it is farinaceous, and 
 forms wholesome food, either when 
 baked or roasted. J^ 
 
 Q. Where is the butter-tree found ? 
 
 A, In Bambarra, in the centre of 
 Africa. It yields a kind of fruit like 
 vegetable marrow ; from this fruit oil 
 is extracted by boiling; which, when 
 cool, is made into cakes and used as 
 butter. 
 
 Q. Besides the bread and butter 
 trees, is there not a tree called the cow- 
 tree ? 
 
 A, Tes ; it grows in America j the 
 branches appear dead, but when the 
 trunk is pierced it yields sweet milk. 
 
 Q, What other parts of trees( are 
 useful besides the trunk and the fruit ?
 
 97 
 
 A, The bark, the leaves, the flowers, 
 the pith, and the gum found on many 
 trees are all useful^ 
 
 Q, Of what tree is cinnamon the 
 bark? 
 
 A. Of a tree growing in the island 
 of Ceylon ; it is the under bark of the 
 branches. The leaves, fruit, and root 
 yield oil, of which candles are made for 
 the king, on account of their fragrant 
 smell while burning. Cinnamon is 
 used as a spice and medicinally. 
 
 Q. From what is sago prepared ? 
 
 A, From the pith of several diffe- 
 rent plants. The sago sold in England 
 is principally imported from the islands 
 of the Indian archipelago, and is the 
 produce of a plant called the true sago 
 palms. 
 
 Q, What is cork ? 
 
 A. The bark of a beautiful tree like 
 the oak, growing in Spain ; it is soaked 
 and dried for use. The Egyptians 
 made coffins of cork.^ 
 
 Q. What is Peruvian bark ? 
 
 A, The bark of the quinquina- tree, 
 growing in Peru, very useful in medi- 
 
 K
 
 98 
 
 cine. The Jesuits discovered it, and it 
 is often called Jesuits' bark. 
 
 Q. What is India-rubber? 
 
 A, The gum or juice of the syringa- 
 tree, growing in Guinea, Quito, and 
 Cayenne. As the gum flows it is taken 
 and dried, or made into boots, bottles, 
 cloth, and many useful things. 
 
 Q, What is the black varnish used 
 in Japan and China ? 
 
 A. The gum of the cashew-nut- 
 tree, and whatever it touches is stained 
 a deep black. Our japanned articles 
 are imitations of this. 
 
 Q, Why are they called japanned ? 
 
 A. Because the first beautiful things 
 varnished in this way were brought from 
 Japan. 
 
 Q, What is gum-arabic ? 
 
 A, The gum of a tree growing in 
 Enrypt, Turkey, and places near the 
 Persian Gulf. It is used by dyers and 
 water-colour manufacturers, and also 
 in medicine. 
 
 Q. What is pounce ? 
 
 A, A resinous powder used to 
 Bjjrinkle over fresh-written documents,
 
 99 
 
 consisting of gum-sandarac, pounded 
 and sifted very fine, and mixed with 
 the bone of the cuttle-fish, crushed. 
 
 Q. Of what use are juniper berries t 
 
 A. They are used in medicine as 
 carminatives and stomachics, while the 
 oil which is obtained from them, mixed 
 with that of nuts, makes an excellent 
 varnish ; and is also extensively used 
 to flavour gin. 
 
 Q, What is manna ? 
 
 A, A gum flowing from a kind of 
 ash-tree, growing in Italy and Sicilyj 
 very useful as a medicine. 4- 
 
 Q. Is not myrrh also a gum ? 
 
 A. Yes; it flows from a kind of 
 tree like the acacia ; frankincense is 
 also another gum, which when burnt 
 has a very fragrant smell. 
 
 Q. Is there a tree called the tallow- 
 tree? 
 
 A. Yes; the kernel of the fruit is 
 melted by the Chinese to make candles; 
 they add a little oil, and colour it with 
 vermilion : it is better than tallow, al- 
 though not so good as wax. 
 
 Q, What is opium ?
 
 100 
 
 A, The juice of the white poppy ; 
 it is used as a medicine, but, when too 
 much is taken, is a deadly poison^^i 
 
 Q. Is not gutta percha a gum ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is a concrete milky juice, 
 forming a gum-resin, obtained in the 
 eastern archipelago from a tree called 
 the Isonandra gutta ; it is of extensive 
 use in the arts, and for various do- 
 mestic purposes, being easily shaped, 
 and retaining the form given to it. 
 
 Q. What is camphor ? 
 
 A, A concrete acrid juice from the 
 Indian laurel-tree, which grows wild in 
 Borneo, Sumatra, &c. It has a bitterish 
 aromatic taste, and a very fragrant 
 smell, and is of great use in medicine. 
 
 Q. What is attar of roses ? 
 
 A. It is the essential oil of roses. 
 Herat, in Persia, is noted for this beauti- 
 ful perfume. Roses were first brought 
 to England from Persia. 
 
 Q. What is benzoin ? 
 
 A, A thick white gum, which oozes 
 from a tree growing in the island of 
 Sumatra ; it is very useful in making 
 friars' balsam and for healing cuts.
 
 101 
 
 Q. Is it not used to make court plaster? 
 
 A, Yes ; isinglass is dissolved and 
 spread over black sarsenet, and this is 
 afterwards washed over with benzoin 
 and spirits of wine. 
 
 Q. What is gum guaiacum ? 
 
 A, The gum of a tree growing in 
 the West Indies ; the bark and flowers 
 are also used as niedicine, and the wood 
 is very valuable. The tree is called 
 lignum vitas. 
 
 Q. W^hat is copal ? 
 
 A. The gum of a tree growing in 
 New Spain ; mixed with spirits of tur- 
 pentine, it makes a transparent varnish. 
 
 Q, What is balm of Gilead ? 
 
 A, The dried juice of a small shrub 
 growing in Abyssinia and Sjria ; only 
 sixty drops can be procured from one 
 tree daily. Balm of Gilead was one of 
 the presents sent by the Queen of Sheba 
 to King Solomon. 
 
 Q. What is asafoetida ? 
 
 A. A fetid thick sap from a large 
 plant which grows in Persia and the 
 East Indies ; it is much used in medi- 
 cine as a remedy for spasms. 
 
 k2 -
 
 102 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC., USED 
 FOR MANUFACTURES AND FOOD, ETC. 
 
 iSection 1 . — Quadrupeds. * 
 
 Q. Which are the most useful 
 quadrupeds ? 
 
 A, Horses, oxen, and sheep. Horses, 
 besides being employed as beasts of 
 burden when living, are also useful 
 when dead. 
 
 Q. In what way ? 
 
 A. The hair of the mane is used for 
 stuffing mattresses, chair-seats, and sad- 
 dles ; and the hair of the tail is woven 
 into cloth for covering chairs and sofas : 
 fishing lines, sieves, and bows for vio- 
 lins, (fee, are also made from it. 
 
 Q. Is the skin useful ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is used to make collars, 
 traces, and other parts of harness. 
 
 Q. Of what use are the cow and the 
 ox ? 
 
 A. While living, the cow provides 
 
 * See also O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the 
 Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms, p. 4.
 
 103 
 
 us with milk, from which we have 
 cream, and from cream are made butter 
 and cheese. 
 
 Q. Of what use is the ox ? 
 
 A. The ox provides us with food^ 
 after being slaughtered ; of the skin 
 leather is made ; and the horns are 
 made into spoons, cups, handles for 
 knives, and also used instead of glass 
 for lanterns. The hair is mixed with 
 lime to make mortar. 
 
 Q. Is oil made from any part of 
 the ox ? 
 
 A, Yes ; from the feet, called neat's 
 foot oil. The refuse of their fat is also 
 made into tallow for candles. V 
 
 Q. What is rennet ? 
 
 A. The gastric juice, or concreted 
 milk found in the stomach of a suckinof 
 quadruped, particularly of the calf : 
 after being prepared by salting in water 
 lor some weeks, it is used for curdling 
 milk, in order to make curds and whey. 
 
 Q, What is vellum made from ? 
 
 A. The skin of calves. 
 
 Q. What is the buffalo ? 
 
 A, A kind of wild ox Butler
 
 104^ 
 
 made from the milk of the buffalo, is 
 called by the Indians, ghee. 
 
 Q. How is cheese made in Lom- 
 bardy ? 
 
 A, From ewes' and goats* milk, 
 mixed with that of the cow. It has a 
 very rich flavour, from the pasture on 
 which the animals feed ; and is called 
 Parmesan cheese. 
 
 Q, What is parchment ? 
 
 A. The skin of sheep and goats. 
 Sheep are most useful animals ; their 
 wool, which is shorn twice a year, is 
 spun, woven, and dyed to make cloth for 
 coats, flannel and stockings for winter. 
 
 Q. Is the flesh of the goat eaten 
 for food ? 
 
 A, Not in England, but the hair is 
 very useful ; when mixed with wool it 
 makes a kind of cloth called felt, of 
 which hats are made. / 
 
 Q. Is not the fur of the rabbit and 
 hare used in the same manner ? 
 
 A. Yes ; the skin of goats is also 
 used to make leather, called Morocco 
 leather, because it was invented by the 
 pciople of Morocco in Africa.
 
 105 
 
 Q. Is not Morocco leather coloured? 
 
 A* Yes ; and the skin of the goat 
 is used because from its softness it takes 
 the dye better, and the colours are more 
 brilliant. Morocco leather is now 
 beautifully made in London. 
 
 Q. What is a young goat called ? 
 
 A, A kid. Gloves and sometimes 
 shoes are made of the skin of the kid, 
 and also of the lamb and doe skin. 
 The doe is the female deer. 
 
 Q. Are the horns of the deer use- 
 ful ? 
 
 A, Yes ; in ancient times harts- 
 Jiorn was made only from them; but 
 it is now also distilled from bones. 
 The flesh of deer is called venison.-y- 
 
 Q. Of what use are swine ? 
 
 A, Their flesh supplies us with 
 pork, ham, and bacon ; their fat, after 
 being melted and separated from the 
 flesh, forms lard, while their skin is made 
 into leather for saddles and bridles. 
 
 Q. Is dog's skin useful ? 
 
 A, Yes ; shoes are made of it ; 
 men's shoes are partly made of calves' 
 skin.
 
 106 
 
 Q. Ts the ass useful ? 
 
 A. It is the horse of the poor man ; 
 its milk is considered very salutary for 
 sick persons ; leather is also made of 
 its skin. 
 
 Q. Mention the names of some 
 foreign quadrupeds whose skins are 
 useful. 
 
 A, The merino sheep, the Angora 
 goat, the elk, the bear, the badger, the 
 wolf, the wild cat, the lynx, the tiger, 
 the leopard, and the wild fox. 
 
 Q. Of what country is the merino 
 sheep a native ? 
 
 A, Of Spain. The Angora goat is 
 a native of Thibet. Cashmere and 
 mohair are the wool of goats found in 
 the northern parts of India. The wool 
 of these goats is spun into very fire 
 cloth for dresses, shawls, &c>/* 
 
 Q. What is the elk ? 
 
 A. A kind of deer as ^large as a 
 horse ; glov^ss are made of its skin ; it 
 inhabits Europe, Asia, and America. 
 
 Q. Of what countries is the bear a 
 native ? 
 
 A. Of most northern countries.
 
 107 
 
 The fur is useful for hammer-cloths 
 for carriages, caps, and gloves, and to 
 line winter cloaks. Muffs, &c., are 
 seldom now made of this fur ; bear- 
 skins are black and brown, except in 
 Greenland, where the bears are white. 
 
 Q. What is the badger ? 
 
 A, A small kind of bear ; the skin 
 is used for soldiers' knapsacks and for 
 travelling trunks ; the hair or bristles 
 are made into brushes for painters, and 
 are used by shoemakers instead of 
 needles. 
 
 Q. Of what are the brushes used 
 by artists made ? 
 
 A. Of camels' hair fixed in quills. 
 The hair of the camel falls off, and is 
 renewed every year. 
 
 Q. Of what are the beautiful In- 
 dian shawls made ? 
 
 A, Of camels' hair ; imitations of 
 it, m.ade from undressed wool, are now 
 used for ladies' cloaks and trimmings.-"-^ 
 
 Q. Is the skin of the wolf useful ? 
 
 A. Yes ; it makes a warm and 
 durable fur. Wolves were once very 
 numerous in England, but were de-
 
 108 
 
 slroyed by order of King Edgar and 
 Edward I. 
 
 Q, What is the colour of the hair 
 of the wild cat ? 
 
 A, A line whitish-grey. This cat 
 is very savage, and inhabits the woods 
 of Asia, America, and some parts of 
 Europe. 
 
 Q. What cat's skin is most valu- 
 able ? 
 
 A. That of the Spanish cat. The 
 Russians also export a great number of 
 cats' furs even into China. 
 
 Q. What is the lynx ? 
 
 A, A creature of the cat tribe, 
 about four times as large, with a soft 
 thick spotted fur. 
 
 Q. What animals provide us with 
 fur for muffs, boas, victorines, and 
 other fur trimmings ? 
 
 A, The best furs are from the sable, 
 the ermine, the eliincliilla, the Siberian 
 squirrel, the polecat, and sometimes 
 the bear. 
 
 U. What is the sable ? 
 
 A. An animal about the size of a 
 large rat, found in the northern parts
 
 109 
 
 of Asia and America. The fur is a 
 dark brown with black edges. It is 
 very expensive. 4- 
 
 Q. What is tihe ermine ? 
 
 A, A little creature about the same 
 size as the sable, found in Siberia, 
 Russia, Norway, and Lapland. The 
 ermine is yellow in summer and white 
 in winter, with a black tail. 
 
 Q. What is the colour of the fur of 
 the Siberian squirrel? 
 
 A, A kind of grey. There £uO red, 
 white, and black squirrels in other 
 countries, but the skin of the grey or 
 Siberian squirrel is the most valuable. 
 
 Q. What is the chinchilla? 
 
 A, A small creature of the rat tribe. 
 The fur is a mixture of grey and white, 
 and beautifully soft. It is found in South 
 America. The Peruvians used to spin 
 the hair into wool. 
 
 Q. What is the fur of the polecat 
 called? 
 
 A. Fitch. It is said to breed moths, 
 and is now seldom used for dress. 
 Polecats are natives of Germany and 
 Poland. 
 
 L
 
 110 
 
 Q. Have not many other skins been 
 dyed to make imitations of these valu- 
 able furs? 
 
 A. Yes; the skins of the squirrel, 
 hare, rabbit, and cat, are often dyed to 
 represent sable. -- 
 
 Q. Are the skins of wild beasts 
 ever used ? 
 
 A. Yes; the skins of the tiger and 
 leopard are used to place under saddles 
 on war-horses, also for hammer-cloths 
 and hearth-rugs. The Chinese value 
 tiger-skins very highly. 
 
 Q, What are seals? 
 
 A. Amphibious animals, generally 
 found in rocks and caverns near the 
 Polar Seas. Their skin is very useful 
 for covering trunks, making caps, &c. 
 
 Q. What are elephants' tusks ? 
 
 A. Ivory: that of Ceylon is not so 
 liable to become yellow in wearing, and 
 hence is preferred to that of Guinea. 
 
 Q. Of what use is ivory ? 
 
 A. For manufacturin<r various arti- 
 cles ; handles for knives and piano keys 
 are made of it, as well as boxes, fans, 
 and other ornamental articles.
 
 Ml 
 
 Q, Is ivory valuable? 
 
 A, Yes; the Indians and Chinese 
 can make from a piece of ivory weighing 
 about 3 oz., a beautiful toy worth 100 
 dollars, or nearly £25. 
 
 Q. What is ivory-black ? 
 
 A. Animal charcoal, being a powder 
 prepared by heating ivory shavings in 
 an iron cylinder. It is used by painters 
 and jewellers. ^ 
 
 Q, What is often used for common 
 purposes instead of ivory ? 
 
 A. Bone. The bones of animals 
 may be scraped and polished to make 
 handles, and many other useful things ; 
 the shavings of bones are also useful. 
 
 Q. Is the skin of the rhinoceros 
 thick ? 
 
 A. Yes; it is sometimes an inch 
 thick, and so hard and pliant, that 
 walking-sticks and riding-whips are 
 made of it. 
 
 Q. Is the skin of the wild-boar 
 useful ? 
 
 A. Not very, as it is thick and 
 coarse ; but the flesh, when pickled, is 
 called brawn ; and the hams brought
 
 112 
 
 from Westphalia, in Germany, have a 
 very peculiar flavour, being smoked in 
 chimneys where wood only is burnt. 
 
 Q, What is the marten ? 
 
 A. A small animal found in Hud- 
 son's Bay ; the fur is much admired by 
 the Turks. It is of a dark colour. 
 
 Q. What is shagreen ? 
 
 A. The skin of the wild ass, useful 
 from its hardness for many things, — 
 covers of books, cases, leaves for pocket- 
 books, &c., are made of it. 
 
 Q. What is musk ? 
 
 A, A perfume, found in a bag under 
 the stomach of the musk-deer. It is 
 an odoriferous substance, one of the 
 most powerful, penetrating, and lasting 
 of all perfumes. It is used as a medi- 
 cine. 
 
 Q. What is the chamois, and where 
 is it hunted ? 
 
 A. A kind of antelope, whose skin 
 is in much request : this animal is 
 hunted in the Alps and Pyrenees. 
 
 Q. What kind of animal is the 
 beaver ? 
 
 A. An amphibious animal about the
 
 113 
 
 size of a rabbit, of a brown colour, and 
 a native of Canada and other parts of 
 North America ; beaver hats are made 
 of the hair. 
 
 Q. For what is it remarkable ? 
 
 A. For its wonderful instinct, and 
 for the curious manner in which it 
 contrives its habitation. 
 
 Q. Are the sinews of animals useful ? 
 
 A. Yes ; when boiled down they 
 make glue. A kind of glue, called 
 size, is also made from the parings of 
 sheep-skins and the edges of parchment. 
 
 Q. Of what are the strings of harps 
 and violins made ? 
 
 A. Of the entrails of sheep and 
 lambs twisted ; it is called cat-gut. 
 
 Q. What is sponge ? — 
 
 A. A porous marine substance found 
 adhering to rocks and shells ; it is 
 supposed to be of animal origin, and is 
 used for various purposes in the arts 
 and surgery, besides being an indispen- 
 sable requisite for the bath. 
 
 l2
 
 114 
 
 Section 2. — Birds, 
 
 Q. Wliicli birds are called domestic 
 fowl in England ? 
 
 A. Turkeys, geese, ducks, and 
 chickens, all of which are eaten for 
 food. 
 
 Q. Of what other use is the goose ? 
 
 A, The small feathers of the goose 
 are used for stuffing beds, the wing 
 feathers for pens, and the soft feathers 
 onthe breast are called down. Chickens' 
 and ducks' feathers are also used for 
 filling beds. 
 
 Q. Is not the swan a domestic bird ? 
 
 A, Yes, but the swan is not now 
 eaten ; it is kept for ornament, as also 
 the peacock. Cygnets, or young swans, 
 are sometimes fattened for the table. 
 
 Q, What is swan's-down ? 
 
 A. The skin of the wild swan 
 dressed with the down on it, and made 
 into muffs and boas for ladies. 
 
 Q. i\re not the young pea-fowl 
 considered great delicacies ? 
 
 A, Yes; and among the ancient 
 Romans the peacock was 8lsK> highly
 
 115 
 
 esteemed as a valuable dish. The 
 Chinese decorate the caps of their 
 mandarins, and their ornamental works, 
 with peacocks' feathers. 
 
 Q. What are wild birds generally 
 called when used for food ? 
 
 A, Game ; such as pheasants, part- 
 ridges, wild pigeons, &c. 
 
 Q. Is the plumage of birds in east- 
 ern climates more beautiful than that 
 of those of Europe ? 
 
 A. Yes; the colours are generally 
 brighter and gayer. The most beauti- 
 ful is that of the bird of paradise, 
 found in New Guinea, and sometimes 
 worn by English ladies in their bonnets. 
 
 Q. What are those large feathers 
 sometimes worn by ladies ? 
 
 A. The feathers of the ostrich, a 
 large African bird. The eggs of the 
 ostrich are much esteemed ; they are 
 so large that one will weigh fifteen 
 pounds, and furnish food enough for 
 eight men. 
 
 Q. Have the feathers of birds been 
 generally used for ornaments ? 
 
 A, Yes ; and among savage nations
 
 116 
 
 the chief is generally known by wear- 
 ing the feathers of some particular bird. 
 
 Q. What is eider-down ? 
 
 A. The beautiful down of the eider 
 duck. These birds strip the down 
 from their breasts to line their nests, 
 froni which it is stolen by the natives. 
 
 Q. Where are they found ? 
 
 A. In the northern parts of Europe, 
 Asia, and America. Cushions and pil- 
 lows are made of the down, and in very 
 cold countries beds of it are used in- 
 stead of quilts. Vn. 
 
 ^_ Section 3. — Insects,* 
 
 Q. Can any insects be useful to 
 man ? 
 
 A, Yes ; that interesting little in- 
 sect, the bee, provides us with honey 
 and wax. 
 
 Q. What refreshing drink is made 
 from honey ? 
 
 A. Mead and methesflin. The cells 
 in the beehive, which contain the 
 
 * See also O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the Ani- 
 mal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms, page 32.
 
 117 
 
 honey, are formed of wax, and are called 
 he honeycomb. 
 
 Q. Of Avhat use is wax ? 
 
 A. For making wax- candles, forming 
 moulds, a'" ' many other things : the 
 bee's-wax is yellow, like honey, but is 
 made white by melting in water and 
 bleaching in the sun. 
 
 Q. Of what is sealing-wax made ? 
 
 A, Of gum lacca, melted and pre- 
 pared with resin, and coloured red with 
 ground cinnabar, vermilion, or according 
 to fancy. 
 
 Q. What is gum lacca ? 
 
 A. It is a resinous incrustation pro- 
 duced on the boughs of trees by the 
 punctures of an insect called the coccus 
 lacca; it forms the basis of dyes, 
 varnishes, and sealing-wax. 
 
 Q. What is the colour of this gum? 
 
 A, A bright red : it is formed in 
 cells like the honeycomb, in which, 
 when broken, the young insects are 
 found ; they are of a bright red colour. 
 
 Q. What are nut-galls ? 
 
 A, A kind of spherical excrescence 
 formed upon the leaves and leaf-stalks
 
 118 
 
 of several species of the oak and tama- 
 risk in the south of Europe. They are 
 made by the punctures of the female 
 gall-fly. 
 
 Q. Are the nut-galls, used for dye- 
 ing, &c., produced in England ? 
 
 A, No ; it is from Aleppo, in Asia- 
 tic Turkey, that the most useful nut- 
 galls are exported in great quantities ; 
 the black and green are used to dye 
 black, and also in making ink. 
 
 Q. What are cantharides ? 
 
 A. Spanish flies, or beetles, used 
 for raising blisters. They are produced 
 from a little worm hatched on wheat, 
 and are all of a green or golden 
 hue. They are destroyed by the 
 fumes of boiling vinegar, and after- 
 wards dried, 
 
 Q. What is cochineal ? 
 
 A. A dye produced from an insect 
 of the same name, found in the leaf of 
 a tree growing in Mexico and the 
 Spanish West Indies. 
 
 Q. Do these little red insects alone 
 produce this beautiful scarlet ? 
 
 A, No ; they are prepared with a
 
 119 
 
 sohitiun of tin. These insects are not 
 larp^er than a pea. 
 
 Q. What is the hornet ? 
 
 A, An insect of the wasp species. 
 It is much larger and stronger than the 
 wasp, and its sting gives severe pain : 
 hornets are much esteemed by the 
 Hottentots, who boil them in milk, and 
 make their eggs into a kind of soup. \ 
 
 Q. What is coral ? 
 
 A, A beautiful substance formed by 
 small creatures, called polypes, into 
 large rocks. The real, or red coral, is 
 found in the Eed JSea and the coasts 
 of the Mediterranean. The white is 
 found on the shores of Ceylon. 
 
 Q. Which is the most useful insect 
 for clothing ? 
 
 A. The silkworm. Velvet, satin, 
 and silk are made of the web. It is a 
 native of Serica, a country of Asia, 
 generally supposed to be China. 
 
 Q, What changes does the silk- 
 worm undergo ? 
 
 A. From a little black egg, of the 
 size of a pin's head, a w^orm ishatclied ; 
 and, after feeding on mulberry-leaves
 
 120 
 
 for about six weeks, it becomes a large 
 yellowish worm or caterpillar. 
 
 Q, What happens to it then ? 
 
 A, It winds itself up in a bag of 
 silk, from which, if the silk were not 
 wound off in a month, it would work 
 its way out and appear as a beautiful 
 moth with four wino^s. 
 
 Q, What is the bag of silk called ? 
 
 A. A cocoon ; when wound off at 
 the end of a fortnight, a grub or chry- 
 salis is found within, which remains 
 another fortnight before it becomes a 
 butterfly. 
 
 Q. Does the silkworm eat after it 
 begins to spin ? 
 
 A. No ; and the butterfly, after 
 laying about two hundred eggs, dies in 
 a week. 
 
 Q. What are leeches ? 
 
 A. Black worm-like animals, found 
 in muddy waters in several English 
 rivers ; useful in surgery for drawing 
 blood. 
 
 Q. How are they caught ? 
 
 A, In many ways, but the best is 
 by throwing bundles of weeds into the
 
 121 
 
 water, and when drawn out the leeches 
 will be found sticking to them. These 
 creatures have three small sharp teeth 
 with which they bite. jj 
 
 Section 4. — Fishes.* 
 
 Are any of the fishy tribes use- 
 ful in manufactures, &c. ? 
 
 A. Yes; the whale, the tortoise, 
 the sturgeon, and the oyster. 
 
 Q, Where is the whale found ? 
 
 A, Principally near the shores of 
 Greenland. The small bones of the 
 roof of the mouth are useful for many 
 things, and are called whalebone. There 
 are about four or five hundred pieces in 
 one whale, each measuring three or four 
 yards long. 
 
 Q, What is done with the fat of 
 whales ? 
 
 A. It is melted, and called train-oil; 
 the Greenlanders call it blubber : it is 
 twelve inches beneath the skin, and the 
 oil obtained from it is used for lamps, 
 cleansing wool, &c. 
 
 * See also O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the Animal, 
 Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms, page 28.
 
 122 
 
 Q. What is spermaceti ? 
 
 A. An oil prepared from the cache- 
 vot whale, of great use in medicinal 
 cases ; candles are also made of it. The 
 cachelot whale is known by having a 
 hunch on its back. 
 
 Q. What kind of creature is the 
 tortoise ? 
 
 A. There are two kinds, the land 
 and the sea tortoise. It is a sea tortoise, 
 called a caret, that furnishes the beauti- 
 ful shell so useful in England. 
 
 Q. Where is it found ? 
 
 A, In the islands of the Indian 
 Ocean. They are said to be so large 
 on the coast of Brazil, that the natives 
 make boats of the shell. Combs, boxes, 
 and other things, are made of tortoise- 
 shell in England. 
 
 Q. What is a turtle ? 
 
 A, A kind of tortoise found in most 
 countries within the torrid zone, very 
 valuable for making soup.-'J^ 
 
 Q. What is caviar ? ^ 
 
 A. A kind of food eaten by the Rus- 
 sians and Italians, made from the roes 
 of the sturgeon, a large fish, sometimes
 
 123 
 
 twenty feet long. The greatest sturgeon 
 fishery is at the mouth of the Wolga. 
 
 Q. What other useful article is pro- 
 cured from the sturgeon ? 
 
 A. Isinglass, which is an animal-- 
 ielly obtained from the swimming- 
 bladder of various fish. It is employed 
 both in the arts and domestic economy, 
 being used in confectionary and cook- 
 ing, and for clarifying wine and beer. 
 
 Q. What is valuabie in the oyster 
 besides the food it provides for us ? 
 
 A, The oyster found in the Persian 
 Gulf and off the coast of Ceylon pro- 
 duces the pearl, which is a disease owing 
 to some injury done to the shell. These 
 oysters lie at the bottom of the sea, 
 and are obtained by diving. 
 
 Q. How are the pearls separated 
 from the oysters ? 
 
 A. By placing them in heaps of 
 sand, which causes the fish to decay, 
 and the pearls to separate from the 
 decayed flesh. 
 
 Q. How many will one oyster con- 
 tain ? 
 
 A. Generally about twelve or four-
 
 124 
 
 teen, but it is said that one oyster has 
 produced one hundred pearls. 
 
 Q' What is mother-of-pearl ? 
 
 4. It is the hard, silvery, and bril- 
 liant layer of several kind of shells, 
 particularly oysters, which is often varie- 
 gated with changing purple and azure 
 colours. The large oysters of the In- 
 dian Seas alone secrete this coat of suf- 
 ficient thickness to render their shells 
 available for the purposes of manu- 
 factureis 
 
 Q. Are these oysters larger than 
 those we have m England ? 
 
 Ao Yes ; the pearl oyster is four 
 times as large ; and the flesh is equally 
 good when pearls are found in it as 
 when they are not. 
 
 Q. What are anchovies ? 
 
 A. Small fish found in the Mediter- 
 ranean, and along the coasts of Spain, 
 Portugal, and France ; it is about the 
 size of a sprat, much used for sauce, and 
 also pickled, a^ ■;.. .^ =^ -•". ■ J^^' ^^-^^-""^ *^ 
 
 Q, What is the nautilus ? 
 
 A. VA. species of mollusca. Its name 
 has been erroneously applied to other
 
 125 
 
 species. The animal which is said to 
 sail in its shell upon the surface of the 
 water is the Argonauta Argo, and very 
 different from the nautilus, and it is this 
 shell which is supposed to have given 
 mankind the first idea of a sailing vessel. 
 
 Q. What is the murex, or purple 
 fish? 
 
 A, A kind of shell-fish, from which 
 it is supposed the Egyptians obtained 
 the rich purple dye so much valued by 
 the ancients. 
 
 Q. AYhat is the cuttle-fish ? 
 
 A, A fish which is furnished with a 
 little bladder under the throat contain- 
 ing a dark inky fluid, of which it is 
 supposed the Chinese partly make In- 
 dian ink, while its bones being crushed 
 are employed in making pounce. ^ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, CHEMISTRY, ETC. 
 
 / Section 1. 
 
 Q. *\Vhat is meant by geology ? 
 A. A description of the structure 
 of the globe, the relative situation of 
 
 m2
 
 126 
 
 rocks and minerals, and their connection 
 with each other. 
 
 Q. From what is the word geology 
 derived ? 
 
 A, From two Greek words : ge, the 
 earth, and logos, a word or discourse. 
 
 Q. How may geology be divided ? 
 
 A. Into four divisions. 
 
 Q, What is the first division of 
 geology ? 
 
 A, A knowledge of the materials 
 which form rocks, mountains, and strata. 
 
 Q, What are the strata ? 
 
 A, The different beds of earth 
 which lie one under the other below 
 the surface. 
 
 Q. What is included under the 
 second division ? 
 
 A. The direction, formation, and 
 extent of the mineral dykes and metal- 
 lic veins which pass through the earth. 
 
 Q, What is the third division ? 
 
 A, It includes the changes which 
 occur on the surface of the earth by in- 
 undations, earthquakes, and volcanoes. 
 
 Q. What may the fourth division 
 be termed ?
 
 127 
 
 A, A kind of speculative geology, 
 or an inquiry into the causes which may 
 have formed mountains, or caused other 
 changes on the earth's surface.")^ 
 
 Q. Of what are rocks and moun- 
 tains principally composed ? 
 
 A, They have beei;i divided by geo- 
 logists into classes : 1. Primary rocks; 
 2.' Intermediate rocks ; 3. Secondary 
 rocks; 4. Alluvial ground; 5. Volcanic 
 products. 
 
 Q, What is meant by primary 
 rocks ? 
 
 A, Primary rocks are supposed to 
 have been formed before the creation 
 of vegetables and animals ; they are 
 extremely hard, and their substances 
 are pure crystallized matter. 
 
 Q. What are intermediate ?ocks^ 
 
 A, They consist partly of crystal- 
 lized matter, and contain numerous 
 remains of animals and vegetables in a 
 fossil state. They separate the primary 
 and secondary rocks, and partake of the 
 nature of each. 
 
 Q. Do not these rocks contain 
 metallic ores ?
 
 128 
 
 A, Yes; and also .sandstone, coal, 
 limestone, chalk, ha.Js 
 
 Q, What is alluvial ground? 
 
 A. Land formed from the ruins of 
 other rocks by the influence of water ; 
 it consists of gravel, clay, &c. 
 
 Q. What are volcanic products ? 
 
 A. Substances thrown up from vol- 
 canoes, or formed by subterranean fires. 
 
 Q. What number of primary rocks 
 are observed in nature ? 
 
 A. Eight. Among these are in- 
 cluded granite, porphyry, and granular 
 marble. 
 
 Q. Of what use is granite ? 
 
 A. It is used for paving carriage- 
 roads, on account of its hardness and 
 durability. Waterloo and London 
 Bridges are built of granite. 
 
 Q. Is it found in England ? 
 
 A. Yes, in Cornwall ; and forms 
 the summit of some of the highest 
 mountains in the world. 
 
 Q, Where are the principal quarries 
 for porphyry ? 
 
 A. In Egypt; it is the hardest 
 granite, and of a red colour; it has
 
 129 
 
 been used for statues and columns, as 
 it will bear as high a polish as marble ; 
 but on account of its hardness, the work 
 is expensive^-:.-;-"' - 
 
 Q' What is granular marble ? 
 
 A. All kinds of marble may be 
 included under this term ; there are 
 about twenty different sorts, as very 
 few countries produce the same. 
 
 Q. Which are considered the most 
 beautiful ? 
 
 A. The Parian marble, found in the 
 Island of Pares, in the Grecian Archi- 
 pelago ; it is beautifully white, and 
 most of the ancient Grecian statues 
 were made of it. 
 
 Q. What European countries are 
 famous for marble ? 
 
 A. Italy, Spain, France, and Great 
 Britain. The white-grained marble 
 with grey and blue stains is brought 
 from Carrara in Italy. 
 
 Q. How is white marble generally 
 veined ? 
 
 A, It is veined with blue, red, 
 green, yellow, violet, according to the 
 country in which it is found.
 
 130 
 
 Q. Where is black marble found ? 
 
 A, It is found in some quarries of 
 France and Italy. African marble is 
 generally of a reddish-brown streaked 
 with white, or of carnation with veins 
 of green. In many places in Europe 
 marble is of a pale red, yellow, and 
 black, with veins of other colours./ 
 
 Q. Where is the best English 
 quarry for marble ? 
 
 A. In Derbyshire. There are also 
 beautiful marbles found in Devonshire, 
 Westmoreland, and many parts of Scot- 
 land. 
 
 Q, What is alabaster ? 
 
 A, A kind of limestone, sometimes 
 supposed to be fine transparent marble, 
 but it is of a closer texture, and belongs 
 to the secondary rocks. It. is much 
 used for statuary and ornamental pur- 
 poses. Most of the alabaster with 
 which we are supplied comes from the 
 shores of the Bristol Channel, between 
 Watchet and Minehead. 
 
 Q. How many divisions may be 
 said to belong to secondary rocks ? 
 
 A. Twelve: of these limestone.
 
 131 
 
 bitumen or common coal, rock-salt, 
 gypsum, and chalk, are most used. 
 
 Q. Of what colours are limestones ? 
 
 A. Black, white, red, and yellow. 
 Limestone is burnt in a kiln to make 
 lime for mortar. Lime-water is also 
 used as a medicine. 
 
 Q. Is not gypsum another kind of 
 alabaster ? 
 
 A. Yes ; it is softer than limestone, 
 and when calcined and powdered forms 
 plaster of Paris, In the crushed state 
 it is used as manure in North America. 
 The images carried about for sale by 
 Italians are formed of this material. 
 It is found in Derbyshire and Cheshire, 
 but the best comes from Italj^'^- 
 
 Q. Is the common coal found in 
 England ? 
 
 A. Yes, England is the country 
 most noted for coals ; great quantities 
 are exported to other nations. It is 
 principally found near Newcastle-upon- 
 Tyne, Sunderland, and Whitehaven. 
 
 Q. Where is cannel-coal found ? 
 
 A. In Lancashire. It gives a bril- 
 liant light, and affords the best gas.
 
 132 
 
 This coal can be polished, to form vases 
 and other ornaments. 
 
 Q. Of what is the pavement of 
 Lichfield Cathedral formed ? 
 
 A, Of pieces of cannel-coal and 
 alabaster, to appear like the squares of 
 a chess-board. 
 
 Q, What is coke ? 
 
 A. Sea-coal partly burnt. Mostly 
 used where a great heat is required. 
 
 Q. Where is rock-salt found ? 
 
 A. Chiefly in Poland, Hungary, 
 and Catalonia. Sea-salt is most likely 
 produced by the quarries of rock-salt 
 having been penetrated by sea-water, 
 which carried away the saline particles 
 with it. 
 
 Q. Is salt from rock and sea- water 
 used with food ? 
 
 A, In some countries ; but in Eng- 
 land it is drawn from briny springs 
 and wells. The best are in Cheshire, 
 Worcestershire, Hampshire, Northum- 
 berland, and some other countries of 
 Europe^ 
 
 ■ ^> K>Are there any remarkable mines 
 of rock-salt ?
 
 1^3 
 
 A. Yes 5 the Polish mines are won- 
 derful both in size and depth. At the 
 mine of Cracow, there is a kind of town 
 under the earth ; the miners live there 
 entirely, and horses taken down never 
 see daylight again. In these mines 
 many persons have been born, have 
 jd, and died. 
 
 In what form is rock-salt found ? 
 
 A, Hanging like icicles from the 
 roof and sides of the mines. Travellers 
 when they enter are astonished at the 
 .^littering appearance of the salt, which 
 has been cut into columns, arches, and 
 even chapels ; and these being lighted 
 with flambeaux, sparkle as if they were 
 covered with thousands of precious 
 stones. 
 
 Q. What is chalk ? 
 
 A. It is a kind of earth forming 
 part of the composition of secondary 
 rocks ; it is usually full of the remains 
 of marine animals, and contains layers 
 of flint. 
 
 Q, What is done with flints ? 
 
 A. They are sometimes used foi 
 houses and walls, and are broken 'I'b
 
 134 
 
 pieces to make roads ; when burnt into 
 powder they are mixed with clay to 
 make china and glass. 
 
 Q. Is slate useful ? 
 
 A. Yes. as it can be cut into thin 
 plates for covering houses. Writing 
 slates and slate-pencils are also made 
 of this stone, yhen found solid and 
 dark-coloured. \ 
 
 Q. Is not cnma made of a kind of 
 earth ? 
 
 A. Yes, called porcelain-clay, very 
 fine and white, and hence the finest 
 kinds of earthenware are called porce- 
 lain. 
 
 Q. When was the art of making 
 porcelain first discovered ? 
 
 A. It is not known, but the manu- 
 facture has been carried on in China at 
 King-le-Ching since a.d. 442. It is 
 first mentioned in Europe in 1531. It 
 was made at Dresden in 1706, and in 
 England by Wedgewood in 1762. ' 
 
 Q. What is the word porcielain 
 derived from ? 
 
 A. From pour cent annees, it being 
 believed that the materials of porce-
 
 135 
 
 lain were matured underground a hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 Q. From whence is Portland stone 
 dug ? 
 
 A. From some rocks named the 
 Isle of Portland in Dorsetshire. It is 
 called freestone because it will not 
 split, and is therefore a fine stone for 
 building. 
 
 Q. Which of the buildings of Lon- 
 don are built of freestone ? 
 
 A. Most of the bridges, St. Paul's 
 Cathedral, the Monument, Whitehall, 
 &c. It was introduced into general 
 use by Sir Christopher Wren, after the 
 fire of London.^^^ 
 
 ^. Of what use is chalk ? 
 
 ~A, It is used for manure ; and a 
 chalky soil promotes the growth of 
 corn and fattens cattle. It is also used 
 as a medicine. 
 
 "Q. Is not putty made from chalk ? 
 
 A. Yes ; whitening is pounded 
 halk, which, when mixed with oil and 
 white-lead, forms putty. 
 
 ^. By whom is black chalk used ? 
 
 A, By artists. It is found in France,
 
 136 
 
 Spain, and Italy. From the latter 
 place we have the best Italian chalk. 
 
 Q. What is the foundation of all 
 other rocks ? 
 
 A. Granite; and from its great 
 depth it is seldom met with. Countries 
 covered with secondary rocks can gene- 
 rally be cultivated over the whole 
 surface. 
 
 Q. Of what are soils composed ? 
 
 A, Of various kinds of earth, pro- 
 duced by the influence of air and water, 
 on all k^nds of rocks lying near the 
 surface./' 
 
 Q. Is any thing useful in a decayed 
 state ? 
 
 A, Yes ; rich soils are produced by 
 the remains of animals and vegetables 
 in a state of decomposition. Secondary 
 rocks also contain great quantities of 
 these in their formation ; but from the 
 absence of air and the influence of 
 saline particles to act upon them, they 
 are sometimes found in a state of petri- 
 faction. 
 
 Q. What is petrifaction ? 
 
 A. Changing to rock or stone. The
 
 137 
 
 organic remains of animals in a perfect 
 form have been dug out of rocks, and 
 are preserved in museums ; they are 
 called fossil remains.-^- 
 
 Q. Are there any places in England 
 which produce petrifactions ? 
 
 A. Yes; the caverns of Derbyshire 
 and Westmoreland. They contain 
 water strongly impregnated or filled 
 with mineral juices, and which, as it 
 drops, not only becomes stone itself, 
 but petrifies every thing upon which it 
 falls. 
 
 Q. Of what are volcanic rocks 
 formed ? 
 
 A. Of lava, pumice-stone, and other 
 things, which have been thrown up by 
 the fires of a volcano ; the soil pro- 
 duced by these particles is so rich, that 
 although whole cities have been buried 
 bv the burning lava, yet after a few 
 years another is found near its ruins.'^i^ 
 
 Q. What city is near the foot of 
 Mount Vesuvius ? 
 
 A, Naples. Many curious things are 
 made by the Italians of the lava ; and 
 pumice-stone is used for smoothing the 
 
 n2
 
 138 
 
 surface of wood, leather, metals, stones, 
 glass, and other things ; it is, therefore, 
 very valuable in trade. The dome of 
 the church or mosque of St. Sophia at 
 Constantinople is built of pumice-stone, 
 for the sake of its lightness 
 
 Section 2. — Mineralogy.^ 
 
 Q. What are meant by the mineral 
 productions of the earth ? 
 
 A. Any thing dug out of the earth in 
 mines. Minerals may be divided into 
 four classes: — 1st, Earthy, or the 
 stones^ 2nd, Saline, or the salts; 3rd, 
 Inflammable, as sulphurs ; 4th, Metals, 
 or metallic ores. 
 
 Q. How are the earthy minerals 
 divided ? 
 
 A. Into the siliceous or flint genus, 
 and the clay genus ? 
 
 Q. What is included under the flint 
 genus ? 
 
 A. All marbles, stones, flints, and 
 precious stones. The clay genus in- 
 
 *See also O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the Animal, 
 Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms, page 60.
 
 139 
 
 eludes common clay, sand, gravel, or 
 other moist earths. JKi^ 
 
 Q. What are the saline or salt 
 minerals ? 
 
 A. They contain a mixture of acids 
 with alkali, as saltpetre, nitrate of pot- 
 ash, common salt, sal ammoniac, &c, 
 
 Q. What is alkali, or kali ? 
 
 A. A kind of salt, sometimes called 
 soda, found in a burnt vegetable of that 
 name. Potashes are the ashes of other 
 vegetables. 
 
 Q. Where is saltpetre found ? 
 
 A, It is a kind of salt, found on the 
 surface of the earth in Africa, India, 
 and some parts of the South of Europe. 
 It is sometimes called nitre. 
 
 Q, What is nitrate of potash ? 
 
 A. A mixture of nitre and pot- 
 ashes. These earths are all found 
 mixed or combined ; but the same can 
 be produced by chemistry. 
 
 Q. What are acids ? 
 
 A. Chemical preparations of a sharp 
 and sour taste. They all belong to the 
 class salts, and by mixing with alkali 
 produce many useful minerals
 
 140 
 
 ♦^. What are the inflammable mine- 
 rals ? 
 
 A. They include sulphur, resins, 
 bitumens, graphite, and all combustible 
 bodies except metals and the diamond, 
 
 Q. What is included under minerals 
 of the fourth class ? 
 
 A. All substances composed, either 
 partly or entirely, of metalsA, 
 
 Q. What are the principal precious 
 stones included under the first class of 
 minerals ? 
 
 A. The diamond, the ruby, the 
 emerald, the topaz, the garnet, the 
 sapphire, the amethyst, the beryl, the 
 carbuncle, the cornelian, the chryso- 
 prase, opals, the turquoise, &c. 
 
 Q, Where are diamonds found ? 
 
 A. The best in the mines of Gol- 
 conda in India. The diamond is a 
 sparkling white ; very precious as an 
 ornament in dress ; and, from its hard- 
 ness, is used to cut glass. It was called 
 by the ancients, adamant. 
 
 Q. Where is the ruby found ? 
 
 A, In Pegu and Ceylon. Kubies are 
 ftlso found in Europe, particularly \u
 
 141 
 
 Bohemia and Hungary. It is a red 
 sparkling gem, of the first class among 
 precious stones. 
 
 Q. Of what colour is the eme- 
 rald? 
 
 A, Of a dark but delicate green. 
 It is brought from the East Indies ; 
 some are said to be found in Cyprus, 
 and even in our own islands. 
 
 Q, Is the topaz a valuable stone ? 
 
 A, No; it is the third order of 
 gems after the diamond ; it is generally 
 yellow, but some have been found pink, 
 orange, and blue. The finest come 
 from South America, and many parts 
 of Europe^ 
 
 Q. Wtfa^ is the garnet ? 
 
 A. A fine stone of a deep crimson 
 colour. There are mines of this gem 
 ^n Bohemia. 
 
 : Q. Where is the rich purple ame- 
 thyst found ? 
 
 A, In most eastern nations ; but the 
 common amethyst, brought from South 
 America, is of a pale violet. It wa? a 
 favourite gem with the ancients, who 
 'upposed that, when hung round their
 
 142 
 
 necks, it would prevent their being 
 inebriated. 
 
 Q, Of what colour is the sap- 
 phire ? 
 
 A. Of a fine blue; found princi- 
 pally among the sands of the rivers in 
 Ceylon. 
 
 Q. Are not the beryl and chryso- 
 prase both green ? 
 
 A. Yes; but the beryl is a sea- 
 green, and the chrysoprase a delicate 
 apple-green; it is brought from Ger- 
 many, and the beryl from the borders 
 of China. 
 
 Q. What is cornelian ? 
 
 A. A stone useful for seals, neck- 
 laces, &c. ; sometimes white and yel- 
 low, but usually a pale red. It is 
 found in most countries, but the best 
 are from India. 
 
 Q. What is the opal ? 
 
 A. A precious stone, of which there 
 are mines in Turkey, Arabia, Egypt, 
 Bohemia, and Hungary ; the opal is 
 half-transparent, and has the colours 
 of the rainbow more or less lively, and 
 chanjieable accordinsr to the different
 
 143 
 
 positions of tlie stone relatively to the 
 light^ 
 
 Q, ' What is turquoise ? 
 
 A. A soft stone, of a pale blue 
 colour, found in the mines of Persia. 
 The Persians and Turks consider them 
 very valuable as ornaments.. They are 
 brought to England from Eussia. 
 
 Q, What is jasper ? 
 
 A, It is a very hard stone, with 
 stripes and shades of different colours 
 with black dots ; used for ornamental 
 purposes; also for pillars in large build- 
 ings. There are fine quarries in Spain. 
 
 Q. What is lapis lazuli ? 
 
 A. A beautiful dark stone, with dots 
 like golden veins; chiefly found in Asia. 
 
 Q. What is ultramarine ? 
 
 A, A preparation made from the 
 lapis lazuli. It is a beautiful blue, and 
 very useful to artists for oil and water- 
 colour drawings. 
 
 Q, Of what use is common soot ? 
 
 A, The colour called bistre, used 
 by artists, painters, and dyers, is made 
 from it ; and it is also used as a manure. 
 
 Q. What is lamp-black ?
 
 144 
 
 A. The carbon or smoke formed by 
 burning vegetable substances in con- 
 fined air. It is used in lithographic 
 and printing ink^.£ 
 
 Q. What is ocKre ? 
 
 A. A kind of yellow earth found in 
 iron, copper, and lead mines ; much 
 used by artists for painting. 
 
 Q. What useful things are included 
 in the second class of minerals ? 
 
 A, The principal are the two sorts 
 of alkali. Soda and kali form a mix- 
 ture, of which, with acids and other 
 minerals, by a chemical process, many 
 useful drugs may be produced. 
 
 Q. What are Epsom salts ? 
 
 A. The popular name for sulphate 
 of magnesia, a well-known purgative. 
 Seidlitz salts or powders are brought 
 from Bohemia. 
 
 Q. What is alum ? 
 
 A. A kind of salt dug from the 
 earth, containing sometimes sulphur 
 and clay ; it is useful in manufactures, 
 in dyeing, tanning, preparing paints, in 
 making paper, refining wine, whitening 
 bread, and hardening candies.
 
 145 
 
 Q. By whom was it introduced into 
 England ? 
 
 A. By Sir Thomas Chaloner, in 
 1608 ; who discovered that the mineral 
 he found while in Italy, was the same 
 as one on his own estate in England. ^^ 
 
 Q. How is bay-salt made ? 
 
 A. By exposure to the sun's rays. 
 It is principally in France that bay-salt 
 is made. It is of a brown colour; 
 hence its name.* 
 
 Q, Is not vitriol a naineral salt ? 
 
 A, Yes ; and it is found in European 
 countries. The Eoman vitriol is blue ; 
 that of Sweden and Germany, greenish ; 
 there is also a white kind. 
 
 Q. What is borax ? 
 
 A. A mineral salt used in medicine, 
 also for soldering gold and silver. 
 
 Q. What is the asbestos ? 
 
 A. A saline mineral, like a sil- 
 very white stone. The filaments or 
 silky threads were made into a kind of 
 cloth among the ancients in which to 
 burn their dead. 
 
 * See Erredge's Student's Handbook of General 
 Information, page 15. 
 
 O
 
 146 
 
 Q. On what account ? 
 
 A, Because, being itself incombus- 
 tible, and only becoming white by the 
 heat, the ashes of the dead person were 
 more easily collected* This mineral 
 was also called amianthus. ^ 
 
 Q. What is umber ? 
 
 A. A kind of earth from which a 
 dark colour, used by painters, is made. 
 
 Q' What is included under the 
 third class of minerals ? 
 
 A. Sulphur, resins, mineral pitch, 
 graphites, and all kinds of coal. 
 
 Q. What is sulphur ? 
 
 A. A hard mineral of a yellowish 
 colour, used in medicinal cases; and 
 when mixed with saltpetre and charcoal, 
 makes gunpowder. 
 
 Q, Who discovered the use of gun- 
 powder? 
 
 A. Roger Bacon, a monk; but a 
 monk of Cologne, named Swartz, had 
 already found that these three ingre- 
 -ilients would cause explosion.* 
 
 Q. What is amber ? 
 
 * See Erredge's Studop*' T^andbook of General 
 Information, page 5,
 
 147 
 
 A. A beautiful yellow resin, found 
 in tlie mines of Prussia and on the 
 coasts of the Baltic and Adriatic ; very 
 useful in medicine, and sometimes for 
 ornaments. Some suppose it to be 
 honey converted into bitumen. Pieces 
 very frequently are found containing 
 flies and other insects of extinct species. 
 When rubbed it becomes electrical. 
 
 Q, Is amber all one colour ? 
 
 A, No ; there is the white, the yel- 
 low, and the black. The white is most 
 useful in medicine; the yellow and 
 black for beads and ornaments. 
 
 Q, What is black amber generally 
 called? 
 
 A. Jet. It is light, smooth, and 
 pitchy, and formed in the earth like 
 coal. 
 
 Q. What is ambergris ? 
 
 A. An odoriferous substance ob- 
 tained from the sperm whale, valued 
 as a perfume and a stimulant aromatic. 
 In the east it is used in cookery^ 
 
 Q, What are graphites ? "^ 
 
 A. Minerals containing iron; one 
 of which is plumbago, or black-lead,
 
 148 
 
 used for pencils. The best mines for 
 this are in Cumberland. 
 
 Q. Where is arsenic found? 
 
 A, Mostly in copper mines. The 
 white arsenic is a fierce poison ; red 
 arsenic is made by mixing white arsenic 
 with sulphur. Yellow, red, and green 
 arsenic are used by oil and water- 
 colour painters, also by dyers. 
 
 Q. Is not verditer used by artists ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is a mineral used some- 
 times for a blue, but more frequently 
 mixed with yellow, for green. Most 
 colours used by painters and dyers are 
 prepared from coloured earths, mine- 
 rals, or plants. 
 
 Q, Where is the calamine stone 
 found ? 
 
 A. Plentifully in Germany, the 
 Netherlands, and England. It is burnt 
 and ground in a mill. 
 
 Q. What is smalt ? 
 
 A. A kind of mineral stone, pre- 
 pared and purified abroad, and brought 
 to this country, sometimes as a blue 
 powder, and sometimes in lumps. 
 
 Q, From what is it produced ?
 
 149 
 
 A. From cobalt, a mineral, con- 
 taining a little silver, some copper, and 
 a great deal of arsenic. Smalt is used 
 with starch, and is known as powder- 
 blue. Colours for artists, dyers, and 
 painters are made from smalt and 
 cobalt. There are mines of cobalt in 
 Saxony.^ 
 
 Q. What is included under the 
 fourth class of minerals ? 
 
 A. Minerals from which metals are 
 extracted. They are subdivided accord- 
 ing as they agree or differ in shape, 
 quality, colour, hardness, &c. 
 
 Q. How are metals found ? 
 
 A. They are seldom found in a 
 native state, except gold, silver, platina, 
 and copper; but combined with sulphur, 
 acids, or in the state of oxides. 
 
 Q. What has arisen from this com- 
 bination ? 
 
 A, The four genera of metals called 
 ores: the alloys, the sulphurets, the 
 oxides, and the salts. 
 
 Q. Of what do these genera consist? 
 
 A. The alloys consist of pure and 
 TGipure metal in one ore ; the sul- 
 
 o2
 
 150 
 
 pliurets, of metal and sulphur; the 
 oxides, of oxygen and metal ; and the 
 salts, of a mixture of metals and acids. 
 
 Q. Are not certain metallic ores 
 found in particular rocks ? 
 
 A. Yes, brimstone is found in gra- 
 nite, and in some kinds of slate, but 
 never in limestone ; certain ores are 
 also found together, as lead with zinc, 
 and copper with lead and iron^'^^ 
 
 Q. Where are gold anfi silver 
 found ? 
 
 A. In primary rocks, with porphyry 
 and sandstone. Gold has been some- 
 times found in coal, also among the 
 sands of rivers ; iron is found in every 
 kind of rock. 
 
 Q, How many principal metals are 
 at present known ? 
 
 A, Twenty-eight; twelve malleable, 
 and sixteen not sufficiently tenacious 
 to bear extension by beating. 
 
 Q, Which arethe malleable metals? 
 
 A, Platina, gold, silver, mercury, 
 copper, iron, tin, lead, nickel, palladium, 
 cadmium and zinc. 
 
 Q. What is meant by malleable ?
 
 151 
 
 A, Any thing that can be bent, 
 beaten, or stretched out, without break- 
 ing, is malleable. Gold is the most 
 malleable of all metals ; and being 
 almost the heaviest, is therefore the 
 most valuable. 
 
 Q. What country has always been 
 famous for gold ? 
 
 A, Africa ; but the quantity of gold 
 now sold in England is brought from 
 Peru and Chili in South America. 
 The principal gold mines of Europe 
 are in Hungary and Spain. Gold has 
 also been lately found in large quanti- 
 ties in California, a peninsula of North 
 America ; and, more recently, in Aus- 
 tralia. 
 
 Q. Where is silver found ? 
 
 A. Silver is a white shining metal 
 found in all parts of the world, but the 
 silver mines of Peru are by far the 
 richest. Gold, silver, and platinum are 
 called perfect metals, because they lose 
 nothing by the heat of the fire. 
 
 Q. What is platinum ? 
 
 A. The heaviest of all metals, and 
 harder than gold or silver. Its name
 
 152 
 
 originated with the Spaniards on ac- 
 count of its silvery colour. It was 
 found in the auriferous sands of the 
 river Plata in South America. It was 
 unknown in Europe until a.d., 741. It 
 would be very valuable and useful could 
 it be found in sufficient quantity, as its 
 qualities are equal to those of gold and 
 silver. 
 
 Q. Why are all metals besides gold 
 and silver called imperfect ? 
 
 Ao Because they can be melted or 
 turned into powder by the heat of fire 
 and dissolved or rusted by acids. 
 
 Q. Where is quicksilver found ? 
 
 A. In Germany, Hungary, Spain, 
 Italy, and South America. Quicksilver, 
 or mercury, is an imperfect metal, re- 
 sembling melted silver ; it is useful for 
 many things, but chiefly for separating 
 other metals from their ores. 
 
 Q. Have not the changes of the 
 atmosphere great effect upon mercury? 
 
 A. Yes; and on this account mer- 
 cury is used in barometers and thermo- 
 meters, for in hot weather it rises, 
 and in cold weather it sinks, and the
 
 153 
 
 degrees of heat and cold, humidity and 
 dryness, can thus be ascertained. Mer- 
 cury is very useful in medicine ; calomel 
 is made from it. 
 
 Q, Where is copper found ? 
 
 A. In all parts of the world ; the 
 best is from the mines of Sweden, and 
 Paris mountain in the isle of Anglesea. 
 Copper is of a reddish colour. 
 
 Q. How many kinds of copper are 
 there ? 
 
 A. Three ; common, rose-copper, 
 and virgin-copper. When copper is 
 mixed with a large quantity of tin, it 
 makes bell-metal, of which bells, stew- 
 pans, &;c., are made. 
 
 Q. What is bronze ? 
 
 A. A mixed metal, being composed 
 of two parts brass and one of copper. 
 The Greeks added one-fifteenth of 
 lead and silver. Bronze is used for 
 statues ; and in olden times the 
 ancients wore bronze armour. Copper 
 mixed with zinc makes pinchbeck. 
 
 Q. Of what colour is pinchbeck ? 
 
 A, Nearly the same as gold; it is 
 used for watch-cases, and other things.
 
 154 
 
 Q. What is verdigris ? 
 
 A, A green rust sometimes found 
 on copper, very poisonous, but used by 
 dyers for dyeing black, and when mixed 
 with logwood it makes a beautiful green 
 for painting. 
 
 Q. Which is the most useful metal? 
 
 A, Iron ; it is found in all parts of 
 the world ; the best iron mines of Eng- 
 land are in Colebrook Dale, in Shrop- 
 shire, and the forest of Dean, in 
 Gloucestershire. 
 
 Q. How many kinds of iron are 
 there ? 
 
 A . Three : cast-iron, forged-iron, 
 and steel. Cast-iron is iron melted in 
 a very hot furnace, and poured or cast, 
 while liquid, into shapes made of earth, 
 such as cannons, pipes, grates, &c. 
 
 Q. What is forging iron ? 
 
 A, Beating it while red-hot with 
 large hammers into the shapes required, 
 as horse-shoes, &c. ; it is sometimes 
 called wrought-iron, 
 
 Q. What is steel ? 
 
 A, It is formed by heating bars of 
 iron with charcoal ashes and bone
 
 155 
 
 shavings, to render it whiter, closer 
 grained, and capable of bearing a very 
 high polish. 
 
 Q. How is steel made hard or 
 brittle ? 
 
 A. By being thrown into cold 
 water when quite hot. Steel is very 
 useful on this account for all kinds of 
 cutlery, because it can receive a sharp 
 edge or point, as a razor, or a needle. 
 
 Q. What is emery ? 
 
 A, A kind of heavy iron ore found 
 with other minerals, and which, when 
 ground to powder, is very useful for 
 smoothing precious stones, cutlery, 
 glass, &c. 
 
 Q. Where is the loadstone found, 
 and what are its properties? 
 
 A. In iron mines in Germany, Eng- 
 land, Arabia, Bengal, and China ; it 
 will attract any other piece of iron 
 or steel placed near it. Every magnet 
 has two poles, one pointing north, the 
 other south, which causes its great use 
 in navigation. 
 
 Q. What is tin ? 
 
 A. The lightest of all the metals ; it
 
 156 
 
 is of a whitish colour, and being free 
 from rust, it is very useful for cooking- 
 vessels. Block tin is formed by pour- 
 ing melted tin into stone moulds, 
 shaped like saucepans, kettles, &c. &c. 
 
 Q, What English county is famous 
 for tin ? 
 
 A. Cornwall. The Phoenicians trad- 
 ed to this country for tin 700 years 
 before Christ, and it is supposed the 
 name of Britain, given to the island, is 
 derived from this circumstance. 
 
 Q. Where are the best lead mines ? 
 
 A, In England; the most important 
 are in Cornwall, Devonshire, Northum- 
 berland, Durham, and some parts of 
 Wales. Lead is a soft metal, but very 
 heavy. 
 
 Q. For what is it used ? 
 
 A. For covering houses, making 
 pipes, cisterns, &c. ; and when mixed 
 with tin it makes pewter. 
 
 Q. What is white-lead ? 
 
 A. Common lead corroded by the 
 steam of hot vinegar; it is used by 
 house-painters to thicken and dry their 
 paints. White-lead is a slow poison ;
 
 157 
 
 the smell of a newlj-painted house is 
 therefore very injurious. 
 
 Q, Is not a preparation of lead used 
 by artists ? 
 
 A, Yes; it is called red-lead, and 
 is used also by potters and surgeons. 
 
 Q, What is vermilion ? 
 
 A, A beautiful red, prepared from 
 mercury. 
 
 Q, What is zinc ? 
 
 A. A brilliant white metal, very 
 useful for manufactures, as it mixes 
 well with most other metals. 
 
 Q. What is meant by alloys ? 
 
 A, Alloys are portions of inferior 
 metals, mixed with superior ones, such 
 as copper with gold to render it harder, 
 &c. 
 
 Q, Which are the fusible metals ? 
 
 A, Bismuth, antimony, tellurium, 
 arsenic, and chromium. These are all 
 fused easily. 
 
 Q. What is meant by fusible ? 
 
 A. Any thing that can be melted by 
 heat is fusible ; all metals are fusible, 
 but some not without violent heat, as 
 gold, silver, iron, &c.
 
 158 
 
 Q, What is bismuth ? 
 
 A. A mineral sometimes found in 
 silver but more commonly in tin mines ; 
 by some supposed to be tin in an imper- 
 fect state, and frequently called tin-glass. 
 It is glossy, white, and shining, and 
 very useful to chemists. 
 
 Q, What is antimony ? 
 
 A. A mineral found in all mines, 
 but chiefly in those of silver and lead ; 
 it is similar to black-lead, and very 
 useful in medicine and surgery. Letters 
 for printing are made of lead mixed with 
 antimony. 
 
 Q, What is tripoli ? 
 
 A, A kind of earth mixed with sul- 
 phur, used for polishing metals and 
 stones; first brought from Tripoli in 
 Africa. 
 
 Q. What is rottenstone ? 
 
 A, An earth of the same description 
 found in Derbvshire and StajQFord. 
 
 Q, Of what are tobacco-pipes made ? 
 
 A, Of a fine clay, called pipeclay, 
 which is also used for yellow ware. 
 
 Q. Which are the most useful metals 
 that are fused with difficulty ?
 
 1^9 
 
 A. Cobalt, manganese, and many 
 others, chiefly useful to chemists and 
 surgeons. 
 
 CHEMISTRY. 
 
 Q. What is chemistry ? 
 
 A, The science which relates to 
 those operations by which the intimate 
 nature of bodies is changed, or by which 
 they acquire new properties. 
 
 Q, What was the opinion of the 
 ancients as to the principles of che- 
 mistry ? 
 
 A, That they consisted of four 
 elements, earth, air, fire, and water. 
 
 Q. What have been the discoveries 
 of modern chemists ? 
 
 A, These four elements have been 
 analyzed, and other elements, of which 
 they are composed, have been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 Q, What are these simple elements ? 
 
 A, Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, 
 chlorine, carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, 
 nine earths, and above thirty metals.
 
 IGO 
 
 Q, Of what is the air we breathe 
 composed ? 
 
 A, Of oxygen and nitrogen ; 100 
 parts of atmospheric air contain 22 parts 
 of oxygen gas, and 78 of nitrogen. 
 These elements are preserved in the 
 form of gases by a state of motion. 
 
 Q, What is gas ? 
 
 A. A kind of invisible fluid pro- 
 duced from many substances. The gas 
 which is used to light our streets and 
 dwellings is produced from carbon, or 
 coals. 
 
 Q, Of what is water composed ? 
 
 A. Of hydrogen and oxygen ; the 
 latter in the greatest quantity : 100 
 parts of water consist of 85 of oxygen 
 and 15 of hydrogen ; these are both 
 produced from water by heat in the 
 form of gases. 
 
 Q. What is chlorine ? 
 
 A . A kind of acid gas of a y ello wi sh- 
 green colour, produced from many sub- 
 stances, but particularly from common 
 salt. 
 
 Q. What is carbon ? 
 
 A, It is the foundation of almost
 
 161 
 
 all animal, vegetable, and solid sub- 
 stances. Charcoal is impure, and the 
 diamond pure, carbon. 
 
 Q. What is phosphorus ? 
 
 A. A simple substance extracted 
 from the bones of animals while in a 
 state of decay: it is extensively em- 
 ployed in the manufacture of Lucifer 
 matches. 
 
 Q. Which are considered the active 
 or universal elements of l^ature ? 
 
 A. Oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, 
 and, perhaps, caloric and light, 
 
 Q. What are the nine earths dis 
 covered by chemists ? 
 
 A, Alumine, barytes, glucine, lime, 
 magnesia, silex, strontia, yttria, and 
 zircon. 
 
 Q, Which of these are most im- 
 portant ? 
 
 A. Alumine, lime, magnesia, and 
 silex. 
 
 Q. What is alumine ? 
 
 A. It is pure clay; it cannot be 
 melted, but is rendered hard by heat, 
 and from its readiness to absorb water 
 and grease is of great use to fullers for 
 
 p2
 
 162 
 
 scouring and cleaning cloth ; it is then 
 called fullers'-earth. 
 
 Q. What is lime? 
 
 A, Lime is produced by burning 
 chalk, marble^ limestone, -^c. ; by the 
 heat the carbonic acid gas 3 expelled, 
 and the lime remains. 
 
 Q. What useful cement is made 
 from lime? 
 
 A. Mortar; after the lime has been 
 burnt, it is mixed with water, ashes, 
 and sand, to cement bricks in building, 
 and when dry it hardens. Lime is also 
 used in tanning. 
 
 Q, How is magnesia found ? 
 
 A, Generally combined with sul- 
 phur ; it is a soft white earth, very useful 
 in medicine. Epsom salts are formed 
 by a union of magnesia with sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
 Q. Whatissilex? 
 
 A, The principal composition of 
 stones; it cannot be melted with any 
 heat, but when combined with alkalies, 
 as soda and potash, it forms glass. 
 
 Q. Which are the two fixed alka- 
 lies?
 
 163 
 
 A . Soda or kali, and potash ; there 
 is also a volatile alkali called ammonia, 
 obtained from animal substances. 
 
 Q. How are chemical combinations 
 produced ? 
 
 A, By caloric, or that power which 
 produces heat 
 
 Q. What are some of the terms used 
 to express chemical operations ? 
 
 A, Combinations, solutions, fusion, 
 calcined, combustible, inflammable, and 
 affinity. 
 
 Q. What are combinations? 
 
 A, The mixture of two or more 
 substances. A solution is produced by 
 dissolving a substance in water, and a 
 fusion by melting i.t. 
 
 Q. What is calcined ? 
 
 A. Any substance burnt or reduced 
 to fine powder by heat is said to be 
 calcined. 
 
 Q. What is meant by inflammable 
 and combustible? 
 
 A. Those substances are inflam- 
 mable and combustible which readily 
 take fire when in contact with each 
 other, or by the influence of caloric.
 
 164 
 
 Q, What is meani by chemical 
 affinity ? 
 
 A. It is the power by which the 
 minute particles of different kinds of 
 substances are caused to combine and 
 form a new body, possessing properties 
 entirely different from any of its com- 
 ponent parts. 
 
 Q. Which are the principal chemi- 
 cal combinations ? 
 
 A. Acids and salts, produced by 
 uniting oxygen with other substances. 
 
 Q. How many acids have been dis- 
 covered ? 
 
 A. Sixty-six principal ones, besides 
 others of minor importance. All acids 
 are compound bodies, and are sometimes 
 divided into four classes; the three first 
 of which are compounded with oxygen ; 
 the fourth class consists of those which, 
 at least, according to modern chemists, 
 have no oxygen; as, for example, sul 
 phuretted hydrogen. 
 
 Q, Mention a fe wof the mineral acids. 
 
 A, Sulphuric acid, nitric, muriatic, 
 carbonic, phosphoric, and the arsenic. 
 
 Q, How are these produced ? 
 
 1
 
 165 
 
 A. By oxygen with sulphur for sul- 
 phuric acid ; with nitrogen, for nitric 
 acid; and so on. 
 
 Q, What is muriatic acid ? 
 
 A. Acid produced by a combination 
 of oxygen and chlorine; when mixed 
 with soda, it is called muriate of soda, 
 and is the common salt of the table. 
 
 Q. Name some of the vegetable 
 acids. 
 
 A. The oxalic, the tartaric, the 
 camphoric, and the prussic. 
 
 Q. What is prussic or hydrocyanic 
 acid prepared from ? 
 
 A. From blood and other animal 
 substances; and when united with iron, 
 it forms the beautiful paint called 
 prussian blue. 
 
 Q. Are acids combined with other 
 substances ? 
 
 A, Yes; to make salts, they are com- 
 bined with alkalies, earths, and oxides, 
 and form many thousand combinations. 
 
 Q, What is the chemical name for 
 these salts? 
 
 A. Sulphates. Sulphuric acid is 
 known as oil of vitriol.
 
 166 
 
 Q. How may acids be distinguished 
 from alkalies? 
 
 A. The greater part of acids excite 
 a sour taste in the mouth, and most of 
 them are very corrosive : they change 
 vegetable blues into reds. Alkalies 
 have an acrid taste, and will convert 
 vegetable blues into greens, red to pur- 
 ple, and yellow to a reddish-brown. 
 
 Q, What is the process of combus- 
 tion? 
 
 A, During the burning of any com- 
 bustible body, the oxygen from the 
 atmosphere is absorbed by the influence 
 of caloric, and a separation of the parts 
 takes place. 
 
 Q. What are oxides? 
 
 A, The combination of oxygen with 
 metals when exposed to heat, and in a 
 less quantity than for acids, produces 
 a kind of rust on the metals called 
 oxides. 
 
 Q, How are gases produced ? 
 
 A. Gas is separated from the sub- 
 stance of which it is a part by fire. 
 - Q, What are mineral waters ? 
 
 A, Water containing oxygen and
 
 167 
 
 nitrogen gases, or acius, alkalies, and 
 neutral salts. 
 
 Q. How can these be discovered ? 
 
 A, By introducing an infusion of 
 violets; if the water contains acids they 
 will turn green ; if alkalies, red. 
 
 Q, How may sulphur and bitumen 
 he detected? 
 
 A, By the smell or taste ; iron will 
 tinge the water blue if a mixture of 
 prussic acid and potash is introduced. 
 
 Q, How is copper detected ? 
 
 A. It will deposit itself on a piece of 
 bright iron put into the water. Arsenic 
 n waier will turn copper white. 
 
 Q, Which of the chemical combina- 
 aons are inflammable? 
 
 A, Sulphur, carbon, hydrogen, and 
 phosphorus, and all acids formed by a 
 combination with oxygen. 
 
 Q. What are the uses of chemistry? 
 
 A. They are so numerous as almost 
 to defy enumeration. Chemistry may 
 with truth be said to be the handmaid 
 of all the useful and of most of the 
 elegant arts. 
 
 Q. What is aqua-fortis?
 
 168 
 
 A, Aqua-fortis, or, as it is now call- 
 ed, nitric acid^ is a mixture of clay and 
 nitre, or saltpetre; all metals, except 
 gold and silver, can be dissolved in it. 
 
 Q, Is it not used by dyers? 
 
 A. Yes; tin dissolved by it, and 
 mixed with madder, makes a beautiful 
 scarlet dye. 
 
 Q. What is copperas ? 
 
 A. A salt formed from iron and 
 sulphuric acid ; it is of a bright green 
 colour, and is used by dyers, tanners, 
 and ink manufacturers. 
 
 Q, What other materials are used 
 in ink ? 
 
 A, x^ut-galls and gum-arabic. 
 
 Q, What is white vitriol ? 
 
 A, A mixture of sulphuric acid and 
 zinc, much used in medicine, and by 
 dyers and varnishers. 
 
 Q. What is alum ? 
 
 A, A mineral salt, of great use in 
 medicine, and in various manufactures 
 of leather, paper, dyeing, &c. 
 
 Q. What is sal- volatile ? 
 
 A, A volatile salt composed of sal- 
 ammoniac and tartaric acid, and soften-
 
 169 ' 
 
 ed with spirits of wine ; it is often 
 scented, and very useful in medicine. 
 
 Q, Of what is tinfoil made, and 
 what is its use ? 
 
 A. Of a mixture of tin and quick- 
 silver. When formed into thin sheets 
 of metal it is used for lining tea-chests, 
 boxes, &c. 
 
 Q. How is permanent marking-ink 
 made ? 
 
 A. By dissolving nitrate of silver 
 in water with gum. 
 
 Q. What is caustic ? 
 
 A, It is a substance made from 
 silver dissolved in aqua-fortis, which 
 forms a crystal, and is afterwards 
 melted to form lunar caustic, so much 
 used by surgeons for burning away 
 proud flesh, &c., from wounds. 
 
 Q. What is crystallization ? 
 
 A. It is the act or process by which 
 the parts of a solid body, separated by 
 the intervention of a fluid or by fusion, 
 again unite and form a solid body. If 
 the process be slow the particles assume 
 a regular arrangement, but if rapid, the 
 arrangement will then be irregular. 
 
 Q
 
 170 
 
 Q, What is the calx of lead ? 
 
 A. The dross found on lead while 
 melting. Red and white lead, so much 
 used in paints, are the calces of lead. 
 
 Q. What is solder ? 
 
 A. A cement made of two-thirds 
 lead and one-third tin melted together, 
 and much used by plumbers and tin- 
 men. 
 
 Q, Of what is shot made ? 
 
 A. Of lead mixed with arsenic, 
 which makes it harder and more brittle. 
 
 Q. What is goulard ? 
 
 A, A solution of acetate of lead, 
 used as an external lotion or wash, and 
 called after the name of its inventon'. £ 
 Frenchman. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Section 1. — Silk^ Wool, Flax, etc, 
 
 Q, What is the origin of the word 
 manufacture ? 
 
 A, It is derived from two Latin 
 words, manus, the hand, and facturus, 
 about to make. 
 
 I
 
 171 
 
 Q. What were originally the princi- 
 pal machines used in manufactories ? 
 
 A. The distaff, the loom, and the 
 mill-wheel; the distaff and loom were 
 anciently worked by the hand, and the 
 mill-wheel turned by wind or water, 
 but now most machinery is worked by 
 steam. 
 
 Q. Of what use are the distaff and 
 loom ? 
 
 A. The distaff for spinning, and the 
 loom for weaving. Silk, cotton, wool, 
 flax, and hemp, must all be spun and 
 woven before being made into articles 
 for use. 
 
 Q. Of what use are mills ? 
 
 A. Mills turned by machinery, or 
 by steam, are now used for spinning 
 and reeling cotton, silk, and wool. 
 
 SILK.* 
 
 Q. What are the processes silk must 
 undergo before it is woven into satin, 
 velvet, or silk, for dresses, &c. ? 
 
 ♦Diagram 296, 297, & 298; and cases 299, 301, 325, 
 and 333. Division III. South Kensington Museum, 
 will be found very interesting.
 
 172 
 
 A, Spinning, reeling, bleaching, and 
 dyeing. 
 
 Q. What is reeling ? 
 
 A. The cocoons, or balls of silk spun 
 by the silkworm, are thrown into warm 
 water, and the ends of the threads 
 being found, four or more of them are 
 joined together and wound on reels ; it 
 is then called raw silk. 
 
 Q. Of what are satins and velvets 
 made ? 
 
 A. Of silk which has been wound 
 from the cocoons while in boiling water. 
 
 Q. What is done next ? 
 
 A. It is cleansed, and afterwards 
 spun into threads of different qualities 
 as required by the weaver. 
 
 Q. What is weaving ? 
 
 A. A kind of fine matting. Threads 
 the length of a piece of silk are stretched 
 on a loom to a proper tightness ; this 
 is called the warp ; the threads which 
 cross are called the woof. 
 
 Q, How are these twisted with the 
 others ? 
 
 A, The long threads are separated 
 by an instrument, called a reed, into
 
 173 
 
 two sets, and by the working of a 
 treadle, the two sets rise up and down 
 alternately, and the cross threads are 
 inserted between them. 
 
 Q. How is this effected ? 
 
 A. By a little instrument, caned 
 the shuttle, which contains the woof, 
 and is thrown across as the warp moves 
 up and down. 
 
 Q, What is the colour of the silk 
 when spun by the silkworm ? 
 
 A, Silk when imported varies much 
 in colour; the China and Brussa silk 
 being of a pure white, while the Bengal 
 is of different shades of straw colour. 
 To produce the various colours it is 
 first bleached and then dyed. 
 
 Q. What is the process of bleaching? 
 
 A. The silk is put into a thin liner* 
 bag, and boiled in soap and water for 
 two or three hours ; it is then thrown 
 into cold water with a little indigo, and 
 afterwards whitened with the fumes of 
 sulphur, and then pressed. 
 
 Q, How are the patterns on ribbons 
 and silk produced ? 
 
 A . The threads of silk are first dyed, 
 
 Q2
 
 174 
 
 and then woven into patterns designed 
 by parties employed for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Q, How is the pile on velvet pro- 
 duced ? 
 
 A, It is formed by the threads of 
 the warp being placed over a kind of 
 ruler or needle, in which is a channel 
 or groove ; these threads are afterwards 
 cut by drawing a sharp tool along the 
 channel of the needle. 
 
 Q, By whom was silk first manu- 
 factured ? 
 
 A, By the Chinese, who appear to 
 have known the art 2700 years B.C. 
 Until the time of the E-oman emperor 
 Justinian, the silkworm* was cultivated 
 only in China; but the raw material 
 was purchased and manufactured by 
 the inhabitants of Persia, Tyre, &c., 
 for a long time before. Before the 
 reign of Augustus the use of silk was 
 little known in Europe. 
 
 Q, When was the manufacture of 
 
 ♦ See O'Brien's Simple Catechism of the Animal, 
 Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms,p. 32; and Erredge'y 
 S udent's llaud-book of General Information, p. 131.
 
 175 
 
 silk introduced into France and Eng- 
 land ? 
 
 A. Into the former country about 
 the reio^n of Francis the First, 1521. 
 It was brought into the latter in 1604, 
 and was first manufactured by French 
 refugees in 1688. 
 
 Q. Where are the largest silk manu- 
 factories established ? 
 
 A» At Lyons, in the south of 
 France. 
 
 Q. What place in England is noted 
 for the weaving of ribbons ? 
 
 A, Coventry, in Warwickshire. 
 
 Q, Is not the process of preparing 
 wool and flax something similar to 
 silk ? 
 
 A. Yes, in the weaving ; but wool 
 requires picking, dressing, and carding, 
 before it can be spun or woven. 
 
 Q. What is done first to the raw 
 wool ? 
 
 A, It is picked and sorted; this is 
 
 * See Case 34, Division I., Section 1 South Ken- 
 sington Museum,
 
 176 
 
 eery necessary, as the same sheep will 
 sometimes produce wool of different 
 qualities. 
 
 Q. What is next done ? 
 
 A. It is cleansed and given to the 
 wool-comber, who draws it through 
 iron-spiked combs of different degrees 
 of fineness ; the fibres are thus drawn 
 out smooth and straight for spinning 
 and weaving. 
 
 Q, For what is wool used? 
 
 A, For every description of hosiery: 
 stuffs, carpets, flannels, blankets, and 
 cloths. 
 
 Q. In what way does the weaving 
 of carpets differ from that of cloth or 
 silk? 
 
 A, In the former case the warp is 
 placed on the woof in an upright or 
 perpendicular position ; in the latter it 
 is laid horizontally. 
 
 Q. Whence have we the best car- 
 pets ? 
 
 A, From Persia and Turkey and 
 Brussels; but Kidderminster, Wilton, 
 and Axminster, in England, are also 
 famous for this manufacture.
 
 177 
 
 Q. How are the patterns formed on 
 carpets ? 
 
 A. From coloured patterns, which 
 are divided into squares, in the same 
 manner as those used by ladies for their 
 Berlin wool-work. 
 
 Q. What causes Brussels carpets to 
 look like rich velvet ? 
 
 A. From the threads being passed 
 over a wire, which is afterwards drawn 
 out, leaving a row of loops. 
 
 Q. Are not Wilton carpets made in 
 a similar manner ? 
 
 A. Yes, but the loops are cut. Ax- 
 minster carpets are woven without a 
 seam, and are very expensive. 
 
 Q. What towns of England are 
 famous for the manufacture of woollen 
 goods ? 
 
 A. Leeds and Norwich for woollen 
 cloths, Witney for blankets, Wales for 
 flannels, Nottingham and Lancashire for 
 hosiery. 
 
 Q. Of what are the finest cloths 
 made? 
 
 A. Of Spanish wool obtained from 
 the Merino sheep.
 
 178 
 
 Q, Is not England famous for the 
 manufacture of woollen cloth ? 
 
 A Yes ; and formerly it was con- 
 sidered the staple commodity of the 
 kingdom ; for which reason, to mark its 
 importance, the Lord Chancellor's seat 
 in the House of Lords was, and still is, 
 a woolsack. 
 
 Q, Are not wool and silk often 
 mixed ? 
 
 A. Yes; and form stuffs of diffe- 
 rent names, such as poplin, &c,, &c., 
 which are very often those of the 
 original inventors, or of the places 
 where they were first manufactured ? 
 
 Q, What is meant by the scouring 
 and fulling of cloth ? 
 
 A, Oil and size having been used 
 during the progress of spinning the 
 cloth, potash is employed to get rid of 
 the former, and soap and water to 
 cleanse it from the latter ; this is called 
 scouring. Fulling is effected by enor- 
 mous wooden hammers, which, by con- 
 tinually beating the cloth, increases its 
 strength, by binding its filaments more 
 closely together.
 
 179 
 
 Q, Which is the next operation ? 
 
 A, That of brushing or raising, 
 which is effected by applying to the 
 cloth the ripened head or fruit of the 
 plant called the teazle,* which being 
 made to revolve upon the cloth, the 
 loose particles of it are raised and after- 
 wards sheared or cut off. No instru- 
 ment has yet been invented to super- 
 sede the teazle. 
 
 Q, How is flax prepared for spin- 
 ning? 
 
 A, Flax requires more operations, 
 both before and after weaving, than 
 either wool or silk : when first gathered 
 the stalks are left for the seeds to ripen, 
 and are then tied in loose bundles, and 
 left to steep in stagnant pools for about 
 fifteen days. 
 
 Q. What follows ? 
 
 A, A fermentation by which the 
 bark or flaxy substance is separated; 
 this is afterwards beaten and drawn 
 through two combs, one with coarse 
 teeth, the other with fine ones. 
 
 * A specimen of this plant may be seen at the South 
 Kensington Museum, Division I., Section 1 B, Case 67.
 
 180 
 
 Q, What is the next process ? 
 
 A, It is spun into threads by ma- 
 chinery, and then woven into linen, 
 lawn, cambric, sheeting, &c., &c. 
 
 Q. Is the process of bleaching fine 
 linen very tedious ? 
 
 A, Yes ; it is several times steeped 
 in hot and cold water, sometimes with 
 soap and wood ashes, then laid on the 
 grass, and kept wet. 
 
 Q. What is done after this ? 
 
 A, It is washed in skimmed milk, 
 then in clear water, with blue starch, 
 smalt, and gum ; this process takes a 
 month in summer, and six weeks in 
 winter. 
 
 Q. From what country is flax sup- 
 posed to have been brought ? 
 
 A, From those parts of Egypt fre- 
 quently inundated by the Nile. 
 
 HEMP. 
 
 Q. Is not the preparation of hemp 
 very similar to that of flax ? 
 
 A, Yes ; but the fibres of this plant 
 are coarse, and, from their toughness, 
 very useful for any thing requiring great
 
 181 
 
 strength. After being gathered and 
 steeped like flax to separate the fibres, 
 it is carded and prepared for spinning. 
 
 Q. In what country is hemp most 
 cultivated ? 
 
 A, In Russia, whence the annual 
 importation into England is about 
 100,000 tons: this will not appear sur 
 prising when it is considered that more 
 than 180,000 lbs. of rough hemp are 
 used in the cordage of a first-rate man- 
 of-war. 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 Q. What preparation does cotton 
 undergo before it is woven and spun ? 
 
 A, The wool which surrounds the 
 seeds has to be separated from them by 
 a machine, which, at the same time 
 loosens the fibres of the wool ; it is then 
 carded. 
 
 Q. What is the next operation ? 
 
 A, It is wound upon cards in the 
 form of cylinders worked by machinery, 
 after which it is roved. 
 
 Q. What is roving ? 
 
 A, Removing the loose fibres with an
 
 182 
 
 instrument resembling a comb; it is 
 then twisted and drawn out into 
 threads, and sent to the weavers. 
 
 Q. Is there not a machine in which 
 all these operations are combined ? 
 
 A. Yes, it is employed for carding, 
 roving, and spinning, and is much used 
 in America, where it was invented. 
 
 Q. Of what are the coloured dresses 
 worn by ladies made ? 
 
 A. The greater part of them are 
 made of cotton, on which coloured pat- 
 terns have been printed or stamped. 
 This is called calico-printing, and is a 
 very extensive trade. Prints, muslins, 
 chintzes, and other articles made of 
 cotton, and sometimes linen, are printed 
 in the same manner. 
 
 Q. What machines are used for this 
 purpose ? 
 
 A, Machines like a printing press, 
 with blocks of wood, copper, or stone, 
 cut in the forms of buds, flowers, or any 
 other fancy pattern. The colours are 
 the same as those used by dyers. 
 
 Q. Whence is the variety of patterns 
 obtamed?
 
 183 
 
 A. Persons called designers are con- 
 stantly employed inventing them ; and 
 should a new one prove successful, they 
 sometimes get £150, or even more 
 money for it. 
 
 Q. Is not dyeing also a very exten- 
 sive business ? 
 
 A. Yes, as silks, wools, and cotton 
 all require dyeing or printing, to fit 
 them for use. 
 
 Q. How are the colours on cottons 
 and silks rendered so permanent that 
 they so seldom wash out or fade ? 
 
 A, Because every substance must be 
 prepared, before it receives a colour, 
 with what is called a mordant. Alum 
 is used for linens and cottons, and solu- 
 tions of metals for silk and wool. 
 
 Q. What is muslin ? 
 
 A, A fine cloth made wholly of cot- 
 ton, &c., of which there are numberless 
 kinds. It was first brought from Mou- 
 sol in India, whence its name. First 
 worn in England in 1670; and manu- 
 factured there in great perfection about 
 1778. 
 
 Q. What is crape ?
 
 184 
 
 A, A kind of thin gauze made of raw 
 silk, gummed and twisted on the mill. 
 It was first made at Bologna. 
 
 PAPER. 
 
 Q. What is the principal use of 
 mills? 
 
 A . That of grinding and reducing to 
 fine particles, grain, fruit, or other sub- 
 stances, or for performing similar opera- 
 tions by means of wheels and a circular 
 motion : thus, wind-mills and water- 
 mills are used for grinding corn, besides 
 which there are many others, such as 
 powder-mills, saw-mills, sugar-mills, 
 paper-mills, &c. 
 
 Q. Is not the process of making 
 paper very curious ? 
 
 A. Yes ; paper is made of linen 
 rags, which are first carefully picked 
 and sorted ; they are then torn to pieces 
 by a machine which reduces them to a 
 pulp. 
 
 Q, Describe this machine. 
 
 A. It is a revolving cylinder, fur- 
 nished with sharp cutters, which is
 
 185 
 
 fixed in a trough with a certain quan- 
 tity of water. 
 
 Q. What is in the bottom of the 
 trough ? 
 
 A, A plate with steel bars also 
 ground sharp. The rags are placed in 
 the trough, and the engine being turned 
 very quickly, they are torn to pieces, 
 and, in four hours, are reduced to a 
 pulp. 
 
 Q. How is this pulp cleansed ? 
 
 A, The dirty w^ater is constantly 
 carried away, through a grating at one 
 end of the trough, while clean water 
 comes in at the other. The pulp then 
 passes clean and white to another engine 
 called the beating engine, which only 
 differs from the other by moving more 
 quickly. 
 
 Q. What is the next process? 
 
 A, It passes from this to a large vat 
 furnished with a mould, the size of a 
 sheet of paper, and the bottom of the 
 mould is like a sieve, with brass wires, 
 through which the water is drained. 
 
 Q, What is done with it then ? 
 
 A, Each sheet of paper is placed 
 
 r2
 
 18^ 
 
 upon a felt, or between two pieces of 
 woollen cloth, one upon the other, and 
 then pressed, to squeeze the water from 
 them. 
 
 Q. Is it again pressed ? 
 
 A, Yea, but the sheets are laid one 
 upon another without the woollen 
 cloths, and are pressed five or six times, 
 and then hung up to dry in rooms 
 where there is a fresh current of air. 
 
 Q, In what state is the paper by 
 this time ? 
 
 A. Like blotting paper, and it must 
 therefore be sized before it can be writ- 
 ten on. 
 
 Q, Of what is size made ? 
 
 A. Of vellum shavings, fish skin, 
 gloves-leather, &c., boiled in water 
 with white vitriol and pounded alum ; 
 after being dipped in this, the sheets of 
 paper are pressed several times, then 
 hung up to dry, counted into quires and 
 reams, and are then ready for sale. 
 
 Q, Is this the only kind of paper 
 used by other nations ? 
 
 A . JSTo, it is sometimes made of cotton 
 and bark; straw has also been intro-
 
 187 
 
 duced into this country and America, as 
 a material. The Indians and Chinese 
 make it of silk rags and rice.* Brown 
 paper is made of the ends of ropes. 
 
 Q, From what is the word paper 
 derived ? 
 
 A, From an Egyptian reed called 
 papyrus growing on the banks of the 
 Nile, upon which the ancients wrote, and 
 it is even now used for the same purpose. 
 
 Q. What is one great improvement 
 of modern times in paper-making ? 
 
 A. That of bleaching the rags, which 
 enables the manufacturer to make the 
 finest paper of almost any kind of rags. 
 
 Q. When was the first paper-mill 
 erected in England ? 
 
 A. During the reign of Elizabeth, at 
 Dartford in Kent ; but the use of paper 
 was known in the time of Harold. 
 
 Q. Upon what did the English then 
 write their books ? 
 
 A. On parchment ; the ancient Ro- 
 mans wrote upon the bark of the ash and 
 lime-tree, called philyra — they called 
 this bark, liber, which is Latin for book. 
 
 * See O'Brien's Catechism, page 51
 
 188 
 
 Q, Which of our English words are 
 derived from this ? 
 
 A. Library and librarian; also the 
 French word livre, book. 
 
 Q. What were the books among the 
 ancients like ? 
 
 A. They were rolled like maps, and 
 placed end-ways on a shelf. We read 
 in the Bible of* " the roll of the book." 
 
 Q, Is parchment now used for 
 writing upon ? 
 
 A. Yes ; in law courts, for wills or 
 deeds; it is more durable than paper. 
 Some of the Roman manuscripts written 
 on philyra, have lasted a thousand 
 years. 
 
 Q. Did the ancients write on any 
 other substance ? 
 
 A. Yes, on tablets of iron, brass, and 
 wax ; and instead of a pen they used an 
 iron stylus, sharp at one end, to write 
 with, and blunt and broad at the other, 
 for the purpose of obliterating. 
 
 Q, Are pens now used by all nations 
 for writing ? 
 
 A, No ; the Turks, Moors, and other 
 eastern nations, write with reeds.
 
 189 
 
 Q. What improvement has been 
 made in pens ? 
 
 A. That of manufacturing them of 
 steel; pens so made are much more 
 durable than those formed of quills, be- 
 sides the saving of time, as steel pens 
 require no mending. 
 
 Q, Where were they invented? 
 
 A. In Birmingham ; avast number 
 of hands are constantly employed in 
 making them, since each pen passes 
 through fourteen processes before it is 
 finished. 
 
 INK. 
 
 Q. What is required besides a pen 
 in writing? 
 
 A. Ink ; which is made of nut-galls, 
 copperas, and gum-arabic ; modern ink, 
 however, is inferior to that of the an- 
 cients, as may be seen by the colour 
 of the ink in some old Saxon manu- 
 scripts. 
 
 Q. What is Indian ink ? 
 
 A, A preparation made by the Chi- 
 nese, supposed to be made of lamp-black 
 and glue : many persons think it is
 
 190 
 
 mixed wltli the liquid ejected by the 
 cuttle-fish. 
 
 Q. Did not the Eomans use this 
 latter liquid to write with ? 
 
 A. Yes; and they called it — sepia. 
 
 Section 2. — Printing, 
 
 Q, What is the printing-press? 
 
 A, A machine for printing a number 
 of words on paper quickly, instead of 
 writing, to form books, as in ancient 
 times. 
 
 Q, Wlio introduced printing into 
 England ? 
 
 A . William Caxton, a merchant, who 
 learnt it in Germany. The first book 
 printed in England was on the game of 
 chess. 
 
 Q, In whose reign was this ? 
 
 A, In the reign of Edward the 
 Fourth. Printing has been much im- 
 proved since that time. 
 
 Q, How many kinds of printing are 
 there ? 
 
 A, lliree kinds; one for books,
 
 191 
 
 anotlier for linens and calicoes, and a 
 third for pictures. 
 
 Q. What is meant by a type ? 
 
 A. The size or form of the letters or 
 words ; there are large and small types. 
 
 Q. What are the names of the dif- 
 ferent types ? 
 
 A. ^Ihe largest in general use for 
 printing books, is — English; the next 
 Pica, ^mall Pica, Long Primer, Bour- 
 geois, Brevier, and the smallest, Non- 
 pareil and Pearl. 
 
 Q. What is printing-ink ? 
 
 A. A composition made by boiling 
 linseed or nut oil, and burning it for 
 half-an-hour, then mixing it with lamp- 
 black, with an addition of soap and 
 resin. 
 
 Q. What are the different printing 
 presses ? 
 
 A. The printing letter-press, the 
 copper-plate printing-press, and the 
 steam printing-press. 
 
 Q. What is the common printing- 
 press ? 
 
 A. A machine consisting principally 
 of two parts, called the body and the
 
 192 
 
 carriage, between which the chase con- 
 taining the letters, and the paper on 
 which they are to be printed, are pressed 
 together. 
 
 Q. What articles are required in 
 printing ? 
 
 A, The composing-stick, the fount 
 containing the letters, the case, the 
 galley, and the chase, or form. 
 
 Q, Of what is the composing-stick 
 made ? 
 
 A. It is usually made of iron or 
 wood, and is used by the compositor to 
 arrange the letters to form one page. 
 They are placed in the galley. 
 
 Q. What is the galley ? 
 
 A. A flat wooden instrument the 
 size of a page. When as many pages 
 are composed as will fill a sheet or half- 
 sheet of paper, they are put into the 
 chase. 
 
 Q. What is the chase? 
 
 A, An iron frame, of different sizes, 
 to contain large or small sheets. 
 
 Q, What is done to paper before it 
 can be printed upon ? 
 
 A. it is made wet. The stiffer the 
 
 I
 
 193 
 
 paper, and the smaller the type, the 
 wetter it must be made. 
 
 Q. How are the letters inked ? 
 
 A. By a roller, filled with printing- 
 ink, being passed over the type. The 
 sheet of paper is then laid on a frame the 
 exact size of the form or chase, and after- 
 wards rolled under the bed of the press. 
 
 Q, How is the impression made ? 
 
 A, By turning the screw, which 
 causes a weight to descend; and by 
 another turn of the hand the sheet is 
 given up printed. 
 
 Q. What is meant by the words 
 octavo, duodecimo, &c., &c. ? 
 
 A When a sheet of paper is divided 
 into four pages it is called folio ; if into 
 eight, quarto ; into sixteen, octavo ; and 
 into twenty-four, duodecimo, &c., &c. 
 
 Q, What is meant by a stereotype? 
 
 A, When the type or letters of a 
 book, not likely to be altered, are cor- 
 rectly arranged, a cast is taken of the 
 whole and kept; so that a number of 
 books can be printed at any time without 
 the trouble of composing a new type. 
 Bibles are stereotyped. 
 
 S
 
 194 
 
 Q, To whom are we indebted for the 
 late great improvements in the printing- 
 press ? 
 
 A. To the late Earl Stanhope: but 
 the greatest and most wonderful inven- 
 tion is the steam printing-press. 
 
 Q. Is not this useful in large printing 
 offices ? 
 
 A, Yes : in consequence of the great 
 rapidity with which so many sheets can 
 be printed. In the Times I^ewspaper 
 Office fourteen thousand copies of the 
 newspaper can be printed in one hour. 
 
 Q. What is lithographic printing ? 
 
 A, Printing from stone. It was 
 brought into England in 1801. The 
 invention is attributed to one Alois 
 ISenefelder, whose first essays were exe- 
 cuted in 1796. 
 
 Q. What is the process ? 
 
 A. A writing or drawing is made on 
 stone, with a kind of thick oily ink or 
 chalk ; this is covered with ink of a dif- 
 ferent quality, the paper placed over it, 
 and then pressed. 
 
 Q. What is the result? 
 
 A. The thick ink remams on the
 
 195 
 
 stone, and the other is transferred to 
 the paper, producing the required 
 drawing. 
 
 Q, Has this method been brought 
 to great perfection ? 
 
 A. Yes; so much so that many 
 lithographic drawings can scarcely be 
 distinguished from copper-plate or steel 
 engravings. 
 
 Q. How are copper or steel-plate 
 engravings printed ? 
 
 A, By a very different process. The 
 copper or steel-plate press is formed of 
 two rollers, one placed over the other, 
 with only room for a board to pass 
 tightly between them. 
 
 Q, What is next done? 
 
 A, The steel or copper-plate upon 
 which the drawing is indented is slightly 
 heated to liquefy the ink, the paper is 
 spread upon it, and then covered with a 
 soft cloth, and placed upon the board 
 between the rollers. 
 
 Q. How is the roller turned which 
 presses them together ? 
 
 A. By a cross lever, and the print is 
 immediately produced.
 
 196 
 
 Q, Are not calicoes and muslins 
 printed in this manner ? 
 
 A. Yes : by the same press. En- 
 gravings on wood are printed by the 
 letter-press. 
 
 Q. How are the drawings prepared 
 on the wood and copper, &c., &c. ? 
 
 A. They are cut or drawn with a 
 sharp instrument : but sometimes the 
 drawing on copper, steel, &c., is effected 
 by aquafortis. 
 
 Q, In what manner ? 
 
 A. The metal to be drawn on is 
 covered with wax, and the drawing is 
 sketched upon the wax by a pointed 
 instrument which cuts it through to the 
 metal. 
 
 Q, What follows? 
 
 A. The aquafortis is spread over 
 the wax, but it only reaches the metal 
 where the marks of the drawings are 
 made, and it corrodes or eats into it 
 exactly in the form of the engraving 
 intended.
 
 197 
 
 Section 3. — Cutlery, Glass, and other 
 Manufactures, 
 
 Q. Is not machinery much employed 
 in the manufacture of articles of cut- 
 lery? 
 
 A, It i:3. 
 
 Q. What is comprised under the 
 term cutlery? 
 
 A. All cutting instruments made of 
 steel. 
 
 Q, How are tahle knives and forks 
 made? 
 
 A, Table knives are usually made 
 of shear steel. After being forged, they 
 are hardened by being beaten when red 
 hot, and then plunged into water ; the 
 next operation is that of heating them 
 again over the lire till they become 
 blue ; they are then ground upon stones 
 of large diameter. Forks are made 
 almost altogether by the aid of the 
 stamp and appropriate dies : the prongs 
 only are hardened and tempered; the 
 shanks and bosom of the fork are ground 
 upon a thin stone. 
 
 s2
 
 198 
 
 Q, Where are articles of tlie above 
 description chiefly manufactured? 
 
 A. At Shefiield, although there are 
 some small manufactories of them in 
 London. 
 
 Q. What is meant by casting ? 
 
 A. Casting is a term used in iron- 
 founding, and means the running of 
 melted iron into a mould prepared for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Q. What are the chief objects made 
 in this way ? 
 
 A. Guns, cannons, bells, stoves, 
 saucepans, candlesticks, brazen statues 
 and figures, letters for printing, &c., &c.; 
 and indeed most things made of iron, 
 and brass, or bell-metal. 
 
 Q, What is principally understood 
 by a foundry ? 
 
 A, A place in which large furnaces 
 are kept for smelting metals and glass ; 
 furnaces are also used by plumbers, 
 hatters and glass painters. 
 
 Q, What is a bellows-furnace ? 
 
 A. A place in which the fire is laid 
 on a flat hearth, behind it is a large 
 pair of bellows, by means of which the
 
 199 
 
 fire is thus blown to a great heat while 
 the metal is in it. 
 
 Q, Is not this something like a 
 smith's forge used for making horse- 
 shoes and nails ? 
 
 A, It is ; gold is melted in a bellows- 
 furnace, silver and copper are melted in 
 a wind-furnace. 
 
 Q, What is a wind-furnace ? 
 
 A. A furnace with a hole at the 
 bottom, through which the air passes, and 
 has a similar effect to a pair of bellows. 
 
 Q, "What is an anvil? 
 
 A, An iron block with a smooth 
 face, on which smiths hammer the red- 
 hot metal and shape it. 
 
 Q, What are the workmen gene- 
 rally called who work metals ? 
 
 A, Smiths ; as goldsmiths, silver- 
 smiths, coppersmiths; and those who 
 prepare steel articles for cutting, such 
 as knives and scissors, are called cutlers. 
 
 Q. Why is steel used for these arti- 
 cles ? 
 
 A. Because on account of its hard* 
 ness it can receive a very sharp edge. 
 Q, How many hands do scissors,
 
 200 
 
 snuffers, &c., pass through hefore they 
 are finished ? 
 
 A, Nearly twenty, while the diffe- 
 rent manipulations they undergo cannot 
 be less than fifty or sixty. 
 
 Q. What other useful steel article 
 passes through many hands ? 
 
 A, A needle : this very useful little 
 instrument is said to have been first 
 made in England by a native of India, 
 in 1545 ; but the art was lost at his 
 death : it was afterwards recovered by 
 Christopher Greening in 1560, the manu- 
 facture being carried on up to a very late 
 period at Long Crendon, in Bucks. 
 
 Q. When were knives first made in 
 England ? 
 
 A. In 1563, during the reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth. Forks were not intro- 
 duced until the reign of James the 
 First, and it was even then considered 
 affectation to use them instead of the 
 fingers ? 
 
 Q. How are modern forks made ? 
 
 A, They are made upon an anvil, 
 and the prongs are stamped and ground 
 upon a dry stone.
 
 201 
 
 Q. How many hands does a table- 
 knife pass tlirougli? 
 
 A. Sixteen; and undergoes one hun- 
 dred and forty-four operations before it 
 can be used. 
 
 Q. Is it soon made ? 
 
 A. Yes ; by the help of machinery, 
 a dinner-knife at Sheffield is shaped in 
 a few minutes. 
 
 Q, Of what are pins made ? 
 
 A, Of brass wire tinned. When 
 the pins are formed they are placed in 
 a vessel between tin plates ; it is then 
 filled with water and tartaric acid, by 
 means of which the tin is dissolved, and 
 after a five or six hours' boiling the 
 pins are found tinned. 
 
 Q. What causes the tin to unite with 
 the brass ? 
 
 A. The zinc, of which brass is partly 
 formed. 
 
 Q, How are pins polished ? 
 
 A. They are thrown into a tub con- 
 taining bran, and a wheel or shaft in the 
 centre turning them round quickly, they 
 are soon rubbed bright.
 
 202 
 
 GLASS. 
 
 Q. How is glass made ? 
 
 A, It undergoes many operations, 
 and the ingredients of which it is com- 
 posed are soda, or kali/ and flint. 
 
 Q. What is said to have been the 
 origin of the invention of glass ? 
 
 A. That some sailors cast on an 
 island having made a fire of the herb 
 called kali, found, that when burnt, it 
 mixed with the flint stones on the shore 
 and formed a kind of crystal. Man's 
 ingenuity acting upon this suggestion at 
 length produced glass. 
 
 Q. What is the first operation in 
 making glass ? 
 
 A, Melting the flint in a furnace ; it 
 is then called frit. To make it clear and 
 white for window-f^^lass or other thintjs, it 
 IS ao;ain melted or boiled with mangranese. 
 
 Q, What is the next operation ? 
 
 A» It is then blown to make round 
 glass, as phials and drinking glasses, or 
 cast in moulds for plate glass. 
 
 Q. How is glass blown? 
 
 A . By blowing through a pipe, some-
 
 203 
 
 thing in the manner of making bladders 
 with soap and water; the glass being hot 
 can be formed into any shape while 
 blowing. It is now generally done by 
 a chemical preparation, which produces 
 great heat, through a pipe, and the glass 
 IS worked while meltinor. 
 
 Q. When were drinking glasses first 
 used ? 
 
 A. In the reign of Queen Mary; they 
 were at first considered more precious 
 than silver. 
 
 Q, How are looking-glasses made ? 
 
 A, With plate-glass highly polished, 
 and covered at the back w^ith mercury or 
 quicksilver. 
 
 Q, How is coloured glass produced? 
 
 A . By painting on the glass and then 
 baking it in a furnace. 
 
 Q, When were looking-glasses first 
 used in England? * 
 
 A. In Queen Mary's time, but they 
 were very little used, and were so small 
 that ladies carried them in their pockets 
 or at their girdles. 
 
 *See "Erredge's Student's Handbook of General 
 Information," page 12.
 
 204 
 
 Q, Where were the first glass win- 
 dows seen in England ? 
 
 A. At Hesham Abbey, in Northum- 
 berland. They were made by some 
 French workmen ; the Italians first used 
 glass for windows. 
 
 Q, Which are the chief manufac- 
 turing towns in England for glass ? 
 
 A, Newcastle and Worcester. 
 
 EARTHENWARE AND CHINA. 
 
 Q. What are potteries ? 
 
 A, Places in which earthenware is 
 made ; the best ware is from China, and 
 is called porcelain. 
 
 Q. What are the instruments used 
 in pottery ? 
 
 A, The wheel and lathe ; clay and 
 flint are the chief ingredients. 
 
 Q. How are cups, basins, and jugs, 
 or other round utensils made ? 
 
 A. The flint is ground to a powder, 
 and then melted with the clay till it 
 becomes hke thick paste; it is then 
 turned round quickly by a wheel, and 
 the potter forms it into any shape he 
 pleases.
 
 205 
 
 Q. How are flat or other shaped 
 vessels made ? 
 
 A, In moulds of gypsum; the clay 
 articles are then baked for sixty hours in 
 a kiln ; in this state it is called biscuit. 
 
 Q. Is not the manufacture of porce- 
 lain very similar ? 
 
 A, Yes ; but while in a state of bis- 
 cuit it is painted blue with cobalt, and 
 then dipped into a glazing made of lead 
 and glass, with other ingredients, and 
 again baked for forty-eight hours. 
 
 Q. Will it now receive other colours? 
 
 A. Yes ; and any gilding the pattern 
 may require ; it is then baked again for 
 ten hours, and the gilding burnished 
 with bloodstone or agate. 
 
 Q. Does the baking change the 
 colours ? 
 
 A, Yes ; they are very dull and quite 
 different before baking. 
 
 Q. What is the origin of the word 
 porcelain ? 
 
 A, It is said to be a corruption of 
 the phrase pour cent annees^ it being be- 
 lieved that the materials of porcelain 
 were matured under ground 100 yearsL
 
 206 
 
 Q, Is not China-ware brought to 
 great perfection in England ? 
 
 A, Yes ; for that manufactured in 
 Chelsea, and in the counties of Derby 
 and Worcester, surpasses most other 
 china in beauty and elegance. 
 
 Q. From what is the purple colour 
 produced on porcelain ? 
 
 A, From gold ; the yellow from sil- 
 ver, and the bronze from the oxide of 
 iron. 
 
 TURNING. 
 
 Q. What is turning ? 
 
 A. The art of forming solid sub- 
 stances, such as wood, ivory, &c., into 
 spherical and various other shapes by 
 means of a lathe. 
 
 Q. What kind of instrument is the 
 lathe ? 
 
 A, One upon which the substance is 
 kept turning round like a wheel on its 
 axis, and a chisel, or sharp tool, by 
 Avhich the outside is cut off as it turns. 
 
 Q. Is turning supposed to be very 
 ancient ? 
 
 A. Yes; it is said by Pliny and
 
 207 
 
 other ancient writers, that the beautiful 
 vases, with their figures and ornaments, 
 were produced in this manner. 
 
 HATS. 
 
 Q. How are hats made ? 
 
 A. By preparing the skins of vari- 
 ous animals, but principally the beaver. 
 The skin of this animal is covered with 
 two kinds of hair, the one long, stiff, and 
 glossy, the other short, thick, and soft. 
 
 Q, "Which hair is used for hats? 
 
 A, The short hair ; it is scraped off 
 and carded like wool, then beaten, 
 pressed, and entangled together to form 
 a kind of cloth called felt. Tt goes 
 through several processes, and is then 
 blocked. 
 
 Q, What is the next operation ? 
 
 A, It is sent to the dyer, whose cop- 
 per is so large that it will hold twelve 
 dozen hats ; these are boiled in the 
 dye ten or twelve times successively 
 for three quarters of an hour each time ; 
 between each boiling they are allowed 
 to cool. 
 
 Q. Of what is the dye made ?
 
 208 
 
 A, Of logwood, verdigris, copperas, 
 and some other things. After this the 
 hats are returned to the hatter, who 
 dries and stiffens them with glue or 
 gum seneca: lastly, they are steamed 
 on an iron plate, dried, and then 
 ironed. 
 
 Q. Who introduced hats into Eu- 
 rope? 
 
 A, Charles the Seventh of France, 
 in 1499. Beaver for hats is now almost 
 superseded by silk. 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 Q. What preparation does the sugar- 
 cane require ? 
 
 A, It is gathered and carried to the 
 mill, where it is pressed between two 
 iron cylinders; the juice is received 
 into a trough, and from thence conveyed 
 to a boiler. 
 
 Q. What is thrown into the boiler ? 
 
 A, Quicklime, which causes the oil 
 and acid to rise to the top with it ; both 
 of which are then skimmed off. 
 
 Q, What is done when the sugar 
 boils ?
 
 209 
 
 A. It is strained through into another 
 boiler, where it undergoes the same 
 process ; this is repeated six or seven 
 times ; it is then received into shallow 
 wooden vessels called coolers. 
 
 Q, "What change now takes place in 
 the sugar ? 
 
 A, It separates into grains, leaving 
 the molasses or treacle ; when dry it is 
 called raw or moist sugar. 
 
 Q. How is it refined and made into 
 white or loaf sugar ? 
 
 A. Formerly it was effected by boil 
 ing the sugar with bullocks' blood and 
 other albuminous substances, but lime, 
 and burnt alumina, are now more fre- 
 quently employed. After this process 
 it is poured into a mould in the form 
 of a cone, and called a sugar loaf. 
 
 LEATHER. 
 
 Q. How is leather made? 
 
 A, By preparing the skins of ani- 
 mals. The unprepared skin is called a 
 hide. 
 
 Q. What is the first operation it 
 undergoes ? 
 
 t2
 
 210 
 
 A, Soaking in lime-water to cleanse 
 it from grease and other impurities ; the 
 hairs are then scraped off with a kind 
 of knife, and the oil and grease more 
 completely removed by alkali or a solu- 
 tion of sulphur. 
 
 Q. What is done next ? 
 
 A, It is taken to the tan-yard, 
 stretched over a pit, and covered with 
 tan for two months. 
 
 Q. What is tan ? 
 
 A, The bark of the oak, chopped 
 and ground by a tanning mill to a 
 coarse powder. 
 
 Q. Are all skins tanned in this 
 manner ? 
 
 A» No ; if they are intended for the 
 upper parts of shoes, seats of saddles, 
 or any purpose not requiring it to be 
 very strong or waterproof, they are first 
 sent to the currier. 
 
 Q. What is the currier's part ? 
 
 A. His work is to scrape it, and 
 reduce it to the same degree of thick- 
 ness all over, and also to render it soft 
 and flexible by oil or grease ; it is then 
 tanned.
 
 211 
 
 Q. What is the last process ? 
 
 A. The skins are hung up to dry in 
 the air, the tan is then cleaned off, and 
 they are stretched upon one another to 
 keep them tight and straight. 
 
 GOLD WORKING. 
 
 Q, Is not gold manipulated in or- 
 der to produce gold wire and gold leaf ? 
 
 A. Yes; gold wire is formed by 
 drawing a piece of silver covered with 
 gold, about the size of a tobacco-pipe, 
 through a number of holes, the last 
 always smaller than the one before it, 
 until it is as fine as the hair of the head. 
 
 Q, What is leaf-gold? 
 
 A, Gold beaten with a hammer on 
 a block of marble; it is said that an 
 ounce of gold may be beaten into six- 
 teen hundred leaves, each three inches 
 square. 
 
 Q. What is gold thread ? 
 
 A. Flattened gold wire twisted or 
 spun with a wheel round threads of silk 
 or iron bobbins. 
 
 Q. Whatisshell-gold? 
 
 A, It is made of the parings of leaf-
 
 212 
 
 gold, ground into powder on a marble, 
 and with honey. After having been for 
 some time infused in aqua-fortis, it is 
 put into shells, to which it sticks. 
 
 Q, For what is leaf-gold useful ? 
 
 A. For gilding picture and looking- 
 glass frames, leaves of books, and other 
 ornamented goods. 
 
 Q. What is sometimes used with 
 gold for gilding ? 
 
 A. Yellum, and leaves made of the 
 entrails of an ox ; the gold is interlaid 
 with these substances, covered with 
 parchment, and beaten to their size; 
 and it can then be laid on the article to 
 be gilded. 
 
 Q. What is gold-beaters' skin ? 
 
 A, A skin for healing wounds, pre- 
 pared in the same manner. 
 
 Q. Is gold ever applied in a liquid 
 state for gilding? 
 
 A. Yes; quicksilver dissolves gold 
 and unites with it. Buttons are gilded 
 with liquid gold ; they are dipped in, 
 and then exposed to a great heat, by 
 which the quicksilver is evaporated, 
 and the gold left upon the buttons.
 
 213 
 
 Section 4. — Brewing, Distilling, etc. 
 
 Q. How are beer, wine, and spirits 
 made? 
 
 A, By brewing and distilling. 
 
 Q. What is brewing? 
 
 A. The operation of preparing ale 
 or beer from malt and hops. 
 
 Q. What is malt ? 
 
 A. It is made from barley steeped 
 in water for two or three days ; the 
 water is then drained off, and the grain 
 becomes heated, swells, bursts, turns 
 sweet, and ferments. 
 
 Q. What is fermentation ? 
 
 A. Fermentation is a kind of change 
 or decomposition which all vegetables 
 undergo, either while vegetating under- 
 ground, or in a state of decay. 
 
 Q, Does not this cause the malt to 
 sprout ? 
 
 A, Yes ; but this is stopped by 
 putting the malt into a kiln, where it 
 is dried by a gentle heat, and is then 
 fit for mixing with hops to make beer. 
 
 Q. What is this first fermentation 
 called ?
 
 214 
 
 A' Saccharine, from its sweetness. 
 
 Q. What is the first process in 
 brewing calhxi ? 
 
 A, Mashing. The malt is steeped 
 in warm water in a mashing-tub ; after 
 water has been added two or three times, 
 the water is drawn ofi^, and is called wort. 
 
 Q, Is not this done twice ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and the wort is again 
 drawn off ; the first is called sweet wort, 
 from the sweetness of the malt. 
 
 Q, What is the next process ? 
 
 A. The two worts are mixed, the 
 proper quantity of hops added, and the 
 whole closely covered and gently boiled 
 for an hour or two ; it is then strained 
 from the hops into coolers. 
 
 Q. How is it fermented ? 
 
 A, When cool some yeast is added, 
 and it is left to ferment for a certain 
 time. 
 
 Q. What is yeast ? 
 
 A. A kind of thick froth produced 
 by the fermentation of malt ; by fer- 
 mentation the liquor is preserved from 
 turning spur. Yeast is used in making 
 bread.
 
 215 
 
 Q. How many kinds of fermentation 
 do vegetables undergo ? 
 
 A. Three : the first sweet, the second 
 vinous or acid, the third putrid ; there- 
 fore all fermented liquors must only fer- 
 ment for a certain time, otherwise they 
 will become decomposed. 
 
 W7NE. 
 
 Q, How is wine made ? 
 
 A, By pressing the juice from 
 grapes in a machine called a wine-press. 
 In countries famous for wines graj)es 
 are cultivated in vineyards, and the time 
 of gathering them is called the vintage. 
 
 Q. What are the processes of making 
 white and red wines ? 
 
 A. The grapes for red wines are 
 trodden, or squeezed with the hands be* 
 fore they are pressed ; for white wine 
 the grapes are put into the wine-press 
 immediately. 
 
 Q, Is not the difi'erence caused by 
 the red and white grape ? 
 
 A. No ; as sometimes the skins of 
 the purple grapes are taken off, and the 
 inside only used for wine.
 
 216 
 
 Q, What is the process after the 
 juice has been pressed from the grape ? 
 
 A, It is put into large tuns or bar- 
 rels to be fermented ; this is done with 
 sugar. 
 
 Q. What is this fermentation called ? 
 
 A, It is the second fermentation 
 which vegetables undergo, and is called 
 the vinous. 
 
 Q. What is the juice called before 
 it is fermented ? 
 
 A, It is called the must, and the 
 sediment at the bottom of the vessels in 
 which it is contained is called the lees. 
 
 Q, Are the lees of wine useful ? 
 
 A, Yes ; a kind of potash or kali 
 made by burning the lees of wine is very 
 useful to dyers, and as a medicine for 
 some diseases. 
 
 Q. What countries are famous for 
 wine ? 
 
 A. France, Spain, Portugal, and 
 the Madeira Islands : Hungary and 
 Germany also produce some good wines. 
 
 Q. Which are the principal French 
 wines ? 
 
 A. Champagne, Vin de Grave, Pon-
 
 217 
 
 tac, Frontignac, Muscadel, Burgundy, 
 Claret, and Hermitage. 
 
 Q. Are there not two sorts of 
 Champagne ? 
 
 A. Yes; still Champagne and spark- 
 ling Champagne. The difference is 
 caused by the sparkling Champagne 
 being bottled before fermentation has 
 ceased. 
 
 Q. From what did this wine take its 
 name ? 
 
 A. From the province of Cham- 
 pagne, where the grapes are grown from 
 which it is made. 
 
 Q. What are Frontignac and Mus- 
 cadel ? 
 
 A, White wines produced from 
 the province of Languedoc. Musca- 
 del is supposed to have its name 
 from mvsca, a fly, because the fly is 
 so fond of the grape of which it is 
 made. 
 
 Q. What are Burgundy, Claret, and 
 Hermitage ? 
 
 A. Red wines. Burgundy takes its 
 name from the province of Burgundy, 
 Claret comes from the country near 
 
 u
 
 218 
 
 Bordeaux, and Hermitage from the 
 banks of the Ehone. 
 
 Q, What are the wines most used in 
 England ? 
 
 A. Port and Sherry. Port is a red 
 wine ; it comes from Oporto, in Portu- 
 gal. Sherry is a strong white wine 
 brought from Xeres, near Seville, in 
 Spain. 
 
 Q. What are the other Portuguese 
 wines ? 
 
 A, Lisbon, and white Port. 
 
 Q, What is the wine brought from 
 Madeira, one of the Canary islands ? 
 
 A, It is called Madeira, and is the 
 most valuable of white wines. Malmsey 
 Madeira used to be called Canary sack. 
 
 Q, Which are the Spanish wines ? 
 
 A, Mountain, or Malaga, Tent 
 Wine, and Sherry. Tent Wine is so 
 called because it is white wine tinted or 
 coloured to produce a red wine. It is 
 produced in Alicant. 
 
 Q, Which are the German wines? 
 
 A, Tokay, Hock, Khenish, and 
 Moselle. The grapes from which Tokay 
 wine is made are so sweet that the
 
 219 
 
 hill on which they grow is called Sugar 
 Hill. 
 
 Q. Are not some wines quite white, 
 like water ? 
 
 A, Yes, Hock and one or two other 
 very expensive wines, not much used in 
 England. 
 
 §. What is cider? 
 
 A. The juice of apples fermented; 
 perry is the juice of pears. These are 
 both very pleasant, cooling liquors, and 
 made in a similar manner to wine. 
 
 y- / / / _PISTILLING.^ ->^o^^ 
 
 Q. What is meant by distilling ? 
 
 A, It is the art of separating spirit 
 or essential oils from liquor, by heat or 
 evaporation. 
 
 Q. How is brandy distilled ? 
 
 A, Fire is placed under a closed 
 vessel, called a still, containing some 
 weak French wines ; the spirit rises in 
 steam, which not being allowed to escape, 
 recondenses in fluid. 
 
 Q. Whence have we the finest 
 brandy ?
 
 220 
 
 A. From Bordeaux, Languedoc, 
 and Anjou. Cognac brandy comes from 
 Anjou. 
 
 Q. Is brandy white when it comes 
 from the still ? 
 
 A. Yes, white as water ; it is col- 
 oured by burnt sugar and other simple 
 things. French brandy is paler than 
 English. 
 
 Q, "With what is Hollands or Gen- 
 eva made ? 
 
 A. With juniper berries. English 
 gin is distilled from malt, flavoured with 
 oil of turpentine, a few juniper berries, 
 and hops. 
 
 Q, What is whisky ? 
 
 A. A liquor distilled from barley; 
 it has a smoky flavour from the peat 
 with which the still is heated. 
 
 Q. What cordials are made from 
 brandy ? 
 
 A. Noyau, ratafia, and cherry 
 brandy. 
 
 Q. How is Noyau made ? 
 
 A, By mixing white brandy, sweet 
 and bitter almonds, and other kernels. 
 Katafia is made by infusing the kernels
 
 221 
 
 of cherries, apricots, and other fruit 
 in brandy, and adding sugar, cinna- 
 mon, cloves, &c. 
 
 Q. What is cherry brandy ? 
 
 A, Cherries boiled with brandy ; 
 the juice mixing with the brandy takes 
 away its strength. The cherries are 
 put in whole. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MATHEMATICS. 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 Q. How are mathematics divided ? 
 
 A. Into pure, mixed, speculative, 
 and practical. 
 
 Q. What are comprehended under 
 pure mathematics ? 
 
 A, Arithmetic, algebra, and geo- 
 metry. 
 
 Q, What are mixed mathematics ? 
 
 A. Astronomy, geography, and phy- 
 sics. Speculative mathematics consider 
 magnitude abstractedly. 
 
 u2
 
 222 
 
 Q, What is meant by practical 
 mathematics ? 
 
 A, Practical mathematics can be 
 applied to the uses of life, as in me- 
 chanics. 
 
 Q. What are the uses of arithmetic 
 and geometry ? 
 
 A. Arithmetic treats of number, 
 and geometry, of magnitude. 
 
 Q. What are the names given to 
 geometrical figures ? 
 
 A. Superficies and solids. Super- 
 ficies consist of triangles and figures, 
 with three, four, five, &c. sides. 
 
 Q, What are these figures called ? 
 
 A. A figure of three sides is a 
 triangle ; a figure of four sides a 
 quadrangle, a square, or a parallelo- 
 gram. 
 
 Q. What are the others ? 
 
 A. A figure of five sides a pentagon, 
 of six sides, a hexagon, of seven a hep- 
 tagon, of eight an octagon, of nine a 
 nonagon, of ten a decagon, and of many 
 sides a polygon. 
 
 Q. What is an angle ? 
 
 A. The inclination or opening of
 
 223 
 
 two lines, having different directions, 
 and meeting in a point. 
 
 Q. How many kinds of angles are 
 there ? 
 
 A, Three, the right, the acute, and 
 the obtuse. 
 
 Q. What is a right angle ? 
 
 A, One in which the lines are per- 
 pendicular to each other, and contain 
 
 Q. What is an acute angle ? 
 
 A. One less than a right angle. 
 
 Q. What is an obtuse angle ? 
 
 A. One greater than a right angle. 
 
 Q. What is a triangle ? 
 
 A, A geometrical figure containing 
 three sides and three angles. 
 
 Q, Are triangles useful? 
 
 A, Yes ; for by means of them, as 
 taught in an art called trigonometry, 
 most problems in astronomy, geography, 
 navigation, and surveying, are per- 
 formed. 
 
 Q. What is included in mixed 
 mathematics besides astronomy and 
 eography ? 
 
 A, Mechanics, physics, pneumatics,
 
 224 
 
 hydraulics, hydrostatics, perspective, 
 navigation, gnomonics, pyrotechnics, 
 military and civil architecture, with 
 optics and acoustics. 
 
 Section 2. — Mechanics. 
 
 Q. What is the most useful division 
 of mathematics ? 
 
 A. Practical ; as under that we 
 have mechanics and the wonderful uses 
 of mechanism in machinery or works of 
 art. 
 
 Q, What are the principal mechani- 
 cal powers ? 
 
 A. The lever, the wheel and axis, 
 the inclined plane, the pulley, the wedge, 
 and the screw. 
 
 Q, Of what use is the lever ? 
 
 A, It is the foundation of all the 
 mechanical powers. The use of the 
 lever may be shown by placing a large 
 heavy stone on the ground, and a small- 
 er one in front of it ; then by pushing 
 a walking-stick under the large stone, 
 and balancing it on the small one, the
 
 225 
 
 large stone will instantly be lifted with 
 ease. 
 
 Q, Which is the lever in this ex- 
 ample ? 
 
 A. The walking-stick is the lever, 
 the small stone the fulcrum, the heavy 
 stone the weight, and the hand the power 
 or force used. 
 
 Q. What is the wheel and axis ? 
 
 A, It is simply a wheel turning on 
 an axis like a carriage- wheel ; the great 
 power of a wheel consists in its large 
 size in proportion to its axis. Wind and 
 water mills are made on this principle. 
 
 Q. What is a cogged wheel? 
 
 A, A large wheel with notches or 
 teeth moving another wheel (also with 
 teeth) the contrary way; they are used 
 to increase or lessen the motion. 
 
 Q. Are not clocks and watches made 
 on this principle? 
 
 A. Yes ; and the ticking of a clock 
 or watch is caused by the movement of 
 these cogged wheels, which move a notch 
 at a time. 
 
 Q. How are clocks and watches put 
 in motion?
 
 226 
 
 A, Clocks are put in motion by a 
 weight which turns a cylinder, and this 
 sets all the wheels going. 
 
 Q, Are there many wheels ? 
 
 A . Yes ; of different sizes ; also 
 numbers of teeth to indicate seconds, 
 minutes, hours, and even days and 
 months. 
 
 Q, How are watches set in motion ? 
 
 A By a coiled spring, which, in 
 trying to unwind itself, sets one wheel 
 in motion, and this turns all the others. 
 
 Q, What is a pulley ? 
 
 A. A kind of small wheel, over 
 which a string is passed, with a weight 
 fastened to the end ; this is called a 
 moveable pulley, and is used to draw a 
 great weight quickly from the ground. 
 
 Q. What are fixed pulleys ? 
 
 A . They are used to balance weights, 
 as in the window-sash or window-blind. 
 
 Q. What is the inclined plane ? 
 
 A. A sloping surface used to trans- 
 fer heavy weights from one level to 
 a higher one. Something of this kind 
 is used by bricklayers for wheeling 
 heavy wheelbarrows.
 
 227 
 
 Q, Of what use is the wedge ? 
 
 A, The wedge is used to split rocks, 
 trees, &c. ; it is a thick piece of wood 
 in the form of a triangle. 
 
 Q. What is the screw ? 
 
 A, A spiral groove or thread wind- 
 ing round a cylinder, and when turned 
 with a lever is of great force for moving 
 weights or pressing bodies close to- 
 gether. 
 
 Q. Does every machine require all 
 the mechanical powers ? 
 
 A. No; mills, clocks, and watches, 
 require only the wheel and the axis. 
 The simple printing-press is formed 
 with the screw, the lever, and the 
 wheel. 
 
 Q. What is the mechanical power 
 employed in a common pump? 
 
 A, The lever, which is formed by 
 the handle. A pump requires also 
 valves, a piston, and a pipe. 
 
 Q, How is a pump made to act ? 
 
 A. By raising the handle, the pis- 
 ton or rod, which contains a little valve 
 or trapdoor, is pressed down through 
 che pipe ; the valve at the bottom of
 
 228 
 
 the pipe is closed, and the air passes 
 upwards. 
 
 Q. What is caused by this ? 
 
 A. A vacuum, or entirely empty 
 space, therefore, as the piston is again 
 raised by pressing the handle, the water 
 rushes up the empty pipe and passes 
 through the nose of the pump. 
 
 Q. What are the principal parts of 
 a steam-engine ? 
 
 A. A large cylinder or barrel, a 
 piston, valves, pipes, and a boiler. 
 
 (2, What is the principle upon 
 which steam acts ? 
 
 A. The boiler is filled with boiling 
 water, from which the steam passes 
 into the cylinder ; this cylinder has a 
 close lid or valve, which rises as the 
 steam rushes in. 
 
 Q. What causes the lid to fall 
 again ? 
 
 A, Cold water, which is made to 
 fall in for that purpose. The whole 
 action of the steam-engine is caused by 
 the rising and falling of this lid. 
 
 Q, How is this effected? 
 
 A. An upright iron rod is fixed to
 
 229 
 
 the lid, and also to the end of a large 
 beam, which, by the action of the steam 
 and cold water on the lid, is made to 
 move up and down with it. The action 
 is something similar to that of a see-saw. 
 
 Q. Has not steam been substituted 
 for cold water ? 
 
 A. Yes; Mr. Watt, of Birmingham, 
 invented a machine in which the lid of 
 the cylinder was moved both up and 
 down by steam alone. 
 
 Q, What difference is there between 
 steam-engines as applied to ships or to 
 railways ? 
 
 A. When applied to ships the beam 
 and rod of the engine work perpen- 
 dicularly up and down, but when to 
 raih^ ays, horizontally, or backward and 
 forw^ard ; by this means the wheels are 
 made to move round. 
 
 Q. What simple cause gave rise to 
 the knowledge of the use of steam ? 
 
 A. The inventor observed the great 
 force of steam in lifting up the lid of a 
 tea-kettle ; and he and many others 
 have since applied this wonderful power 
 to the improvement of machinery.
 
 230 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OPTICS. 
 
 Q. What is meant by optics ? 
 
 A, The science which considers the 
 nature, composition, and motion of 
 light ; the doctrine of colours, and all 
 the circumstances of vision. 
 
 Q, What is a transparent body ? 
 
 A, Any body which affords a ready 
 passage for light, as air, glass, water, &c. 
 
 Q, What are opaque bodies ? 
 
 A, Those which do not allow light 
 to pass through them, as wood, stone, 
 &c. 
 
 Q. What is light supposed to be ? 
 
 A, By some, light is regarded as a 
 fluid or real matter, while others con- 
 sider it only as a sort of undulation or 
 vibration. 
 
 Q. Is the motion of light very 
 rapid ? 
 
 A. Yes; for it passes through a 
 space of nearly twelve millions of miles 
 in a minute ! 
 
 Q. What is meant by refraction ?
 
 231 
 
 A. When rays of light pass ob- 
 liquely from one transparent body to 
 another they are bent out of their 
 course, and are called refracted. 
 
 Q. How can this be proved ? 
 
 A. By immersing a small stick in 
 a glass of water, the end will appear 
 bent because of the refraction. 
 
 Q. Mention another experiment ? 
 
 A. Place a bowl with a shilling in 
 it where the eye can just see the edge 
 of the shilling; without moving the eye, 
 pour water on the bowl, and the whole 
 of the shilling will be seen. 
 
 Q. What is reflection ? 
 
 A» When rays of light striking 
 against a smooth surface are sent back, 
 they are reflected, as in a looking-glass. 
 
 Q. What is the reason that in some 
 mirrors the image is inverted, or upside 
 down ? 
 
 A. Because the surface is convex 
 or raised, like the back of a spoon. 
 
 Q, What are lenses ? 
 
 A . Convex and concave glasses used 
 by opticians for producing certain op- 
 tical effects.
 
 232 
 
 Q, Are there various forms of these 
 lenses ? 
 
 A, Yes; the plano-convex lens has 
 one side flat, the other convex ; and a 
 plano-concave is on one side flat and 
 concave on the other. 
 
 Q. What is a double convex? 
 
 A. Convex on both sides ; a double 
 concave is concave on both sides. 
 
 Q. What is a meniscus ? 
 
 A. Convex on one side, concave on 
 the other. Burning glasses are double 
 convex. Furniture has been scorched by 
 exposing a decanter of water, which is a 
 double convex, to the rays of the sun. 
 
 Q. Is not the eye convex ? 
 
 A, Yes ; the images of objects are 
 reflected through a kind of horny coat, 
 called the cornea, and painted on the 
 retina at the back of the eye ; the cor- 
 nea being convex, objects are inverted, 
 but to the mind they appear erect. 
 
 Q. What is one reason for the dim- 
 ness of sight in old persons ? 
 
 A. The convex part of the eye be- 
 comes flattened, and the rays of light 
 do not unite clearly on the retina.
 
 233 
 
 Q. How are colours in objects pro- 
 duced ? 
 
 A, By the property possessed by 
 bodies of separating the elementary 
 rays of light, and absorbing some and 
 reflecting others. 
 
 Q, Of what use are the concave and 
 convex lenses ? 
 
 A, They are very useful for specta- 
 cles, microscopes, telescopes, magic- 
 lanterns, &;c. &c. 
 
 Q, What is the usual form of glasses 
 for spectacles ? 
 
 A. Convex, as the eye having be- 
 come flattened by age, the convex lens 
 is of use to unite the rays of light. 
 
 Q. What is the cause of young 
 persons sometimes wearing spectacles ? 
 
 A, From the eye being too convex 
 — this is called near or short sighted. 
 The lenses of these glasses are concave, 
 to spread the rays and render the sight 
 clear. 
 
 Q. What are the lenses used in 
 microscope ? 
 
 A, As the object can be brought 
 near the eye, the single microscope has 
 
 x2
 
 234 
 
 but one convex lens, but a compound 
 microscope has many, and some of them 
 enable the eye to enlarge the object, at 
 six inches distance, three hundred times. 
 
 Q. What glasses are required in a 
 telescope ? 
 
 A. As it is necessary in looking at 
 distant objects to make them appear 
 near, a convex glass is used; but as this 
 reverses the object to the eye, two other 
 eye-glasses are used, which rectify this 
 effect. Galileo's telescope had only one 
 eye-glass. 
 
 Q. How was the telescope dis- 
 covered ? 
 
 A» It is said, some children of a 
 spectacle maker in Holland were play- 
 ing with some of the lenses, when they 
 placed the flat parts of two convex 
 glasses together, and discovered that on 
 looking through them, a distant church 
 appeared quite close. 
 
 Q. What followed ? 
 
 A, Their father improved upon the 
 idea, and after a few years the first tele- 
 scope was made by Galileo, a native of 
 Holland.
 
 235 
 
 Q, What improved telescopes have 
 since been constructed ? 
 
 A. That of Sir W. Herscbel. The 
 tube was 39 ft. 4 in. long, and the dia- 
 meter 4 ft. 10 in. It had one lens, and 
 the object was reflected by a mirror ; 
 by it Sir W. Herschel discovered the 
 planet now called the Georgium Sidus, 
 Herschel, orUranius. Lord Ross's tele- 
 scope is a still more magnificent one, 
 its tube being 56 ft. long, diameter 
 7 ft ; and the great speculum 6 ft. 
 diameter, 45j in. thick, and weighing 
 3 tons. 
 
 Q. What lenses are used in a magic- 
 lantern ? 
 
 A, Two, one in the fore-part of the 
 lantern, a double convex or plano-con- 
 vex, very thick and of short focus ; in 
 front of this a glass slide is placed with 
 the picture painted upon it inverted. 
 
 Q. Why is this ? 
 
 A. Because the convex lens repre- 
 sents everything the contrary way to 
 which it is placed; the picture is there- 
 fore thrown on the wall upright. 
 
 Q. Where is the other lens placed?
 
 236 
 
 A. At the end of a sliding tube, so 
 that it may be shifted backwards or 
 forwards to a proper focus. 
 
 Q. What is the focus? 
 
 A, That point in a lens at which 
 rajs of light unite, and form a clear 
 representation of the object. 
 
 Q, What is the cause of the rainbow? 
 
 A^ The refraction and reflection of 
 the sun's rays upon the drops of falling 
 rain : the light must be twice reflected 
 from the drops, and once refracted or 
 bent back, to meet the eye of the spec- 
 tator, 
 
 Q, How should a person stand to 
 see a rainbow ? 
 
 A. With his back to the sun, as a 
 rainbow must always be opposite to the 
 sun, and can only happen while there is 
 rain and sunshine. 
 
 Q. How is a camera obscura made ? 
 
 A. By fixing a convex glass in a hole 
 in a window-shutter; if all light is shut 
 out, excepting that which passes through 
 the lens, objects outside may be seen on 
 a piece of wliite paper placed within 
 the focus of the lens.
 
 237 
 
 Q, Are they not inverted or turned 
 upside down ? 
 
 A. Yes ; but by placing the lens in 
 a tube inside a box, and a piece of 
 ground glass in the lid, the objects ap- 
 pear in their proper position, and may 
 be sketched and coloured from the 
 representation on the ground glass. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ELECTRICITY. 
 
 Q. What is Electricity or Gal- 
 vanism ? 
 
 A. That power by which certain 
 bodies when heated by friction attract 
 other bodies to them. 
 
 Q. Give me a simple experiment. 
 
 A, If a piece of glass or sealing- 
 wax be rubbed briskly for some time 
 with the coat sleeve, a silk handker- 
 chief, &c., and then held near hair, 
 feathers, bits of paper or other light 
 bodies, they will be attracted ; that is,
 
 238 
 
 they will jump up, and some will even 
 adhere to the glass or the wax. 
 
 Q. Would light be seen if this 
 were done in the dark? 
 
 A, Yes; and this light, faint as it 
 may be, is the electric fluid. 
 
 Q. Describe a simj)le electrifying 
 machine ? 
 
 A, A glass cylinder is placed on a 
 frame, so that it can be turned rapidly 
 round by a handle ; and if, while turn- 
 ing, a piece or a cushion of silk be near 
 it, streams and sparks of fire can be 
 produced. 
 
 Q. Will all bodies convey the 
 electric fluid from one body to another ? 
 
 A, No ; glass and all vitreous sub- 
 stances, precious stones, resins, amber, 
 sulphur, baked wood, wax, silk, cotton, 
 wood, hair, feathers, paper, white sugar, 
 air, oils, metallic oxydes, all dry vege- 
 table substances, and all hard stones, 
 when rubbed ever so much, do not ex- 
 hibit electricity, and are therefore 
 called non-conductors. 
 
 Q. What bodies are conductors to 
 electricity ?
 
 239 
 
 A. All animals, animal and vege- 
 table substances, metals, &c., &c. 
 
 Q, By what is the electric fluid 
 conducted to other bodies ? 
 
 A. By metallic wires. The revol- 
 ving glass cylinder is placed on glass 
 legs opposite to a metallic conductor 
 with brass points. These points re- 
 ceive the electric fluid, and a person 
 touching one of them, or the wires with 
 which they are connected, will perceive 
 the electric spark. 
 
 Q, What are thunder and lightning? 
 
 A. Electricity in the clouds. 
 
 Q, What is the most wonderful 
 power of the electric fluid ? 
 
 A, Its power to contract the mus- 
 cles of animals, such as man, &c., as it 
 passes through them. 
 
 Q. How is this done ? 
 
 A, If a plate of glass, in the form 
 of a jar, be covered on both sides with 
 gold, silver, or tin foil, and one side be 
 brought in contact with the brass points 
 of the machine, the jar will instantly 
 be charged or filled with the electric 
 fluid.
 
 240 
 
 Q, What should be done then ? 
 
 A, The person who wishes to re- 
 ceive a shock should touch one of the 
 brass points with one hand, and the jar 
 with the other; he will then feel a 
 sensation as if some one had struck 
 him a violent blow. 
 
 Q, Is the shock always the same ? 
 
 A. No ; a large jar will give a 
 much greater shock than a small one, 
 and several jars together all charged 
 are called a battery. Some batteries 
 are so powerful that an ox may be 
 killed by the shock. 
 
 Q. Who have been improvers of 
 this science ? 
 
 A. Galvani and Volta. The former 
 from his discoveries gave the names of 
 galvanism to electricity, and galvanic 
 batteries to the electrical machines he 
 invented. 
 
 Q, What is the Voltaic pile? 
 
 A. A kind of electrical machine in- 
 vented by Volta, and the most perfect 
 in acting. 
 
 Q. What is the most wonderful use 
 to which electricity has been applied ?
 
 241 
 
 A, To the electric telegraph, by 
 which in a few seconds messages and 
 information can be transmitted many 
 hundred miles, 
 
 Q. How is this done ? 
 
 A. In the telegraph offices which 
 are to be put in communication with 
 each other are placed galvanic batteries, 
 by means of which and the metallic 
 wires the connection between the two 
 distant stations is established, by the 
 electric fluid passing through these 
 wires with the rapidity of a flash of 
 liofhtnino:. The number of wires in the 
 chief office in London is twenty-one. 
 
 Q. In w^hat way are these wires 
 made to convey the messages ? 
 
 ^. The telegraph offices are fur- 
 nished with a machine havino^ a larofe 
 dial plate (technically called a face) 
 like that of a clock, and to which are 
 attached one and sometimes two move- 
 able mao^netic needles or hands. 
 
 Q. What is inscribed on this face ? 
 
 A. The alphabet, the letters of 
 which are represented by the number 
 of times each needle is made to move
 
 242 
 
 or vibrate, by means of the electric 
 fluid : 
 
 A. being represented by 2 movements to the left. 
 
 B. do. 3 do. 
 
 C. do. 4 do. 
 
 D. do. 1 to the left and 1 to the right. 
 
 Thus every word of the transmitted 
 message is spelt letter by letter, ac- 
 cording to the number of times each 
 needle moves. It should be observed, 
 that before proceeding to transmit the 
 message, a single movement to the left 
 calls the attention of the clerk to the 
 machine, and intimates that a com- 
 munication is about to be made. 
 
 Q. But how can the electric fluid 
 cause the needle to make such move- 
 ments ? 
 
 A. By moving a handle connected 
 with the instrument, a current of elec- 
 tricity is passed through the instrument 
 which is at the other end of the wire, 
 thereby charging an electro-magnet, and 
 the impulse so imparted to the hands 
 causes them to deflect either to the 
 right or to the left as required.
 
 243 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 PHYSICS, ETC. 
 
 Q. Of what do Physics treat ? 
 
 A. Of the properties of matter, and 
 the laws of motion ; or it explains the 
 power by which we perceive solidity, 
 softness, smoothness, quickness or slow- 
 ness of motion, sour or sweet, &c., &c. 
 
 Q, What is meant by Pneumatics ? 
 
 A. It is the science which treats of 
 the various properties of air, with the 
 clouds and vapours which float in it, 
 called the atmosphere. 
 
 Q* What are the properties of air? 
 
 A. It is invisible, elastic, and can 
 be compressed or exhausted by machines 
 called Pneumatic machines. 
 
 Q. Mention some Pneumatic in- 
 struments. 
 
 A. The air-pump, the syringe, the 
 condenser, which is a kind of syringe, 
 the air-gun, the diving-bell, the baro- 
 meter, the thermometer, and the hydro- 
 meter.
 
 244 
 
 Q. What is wind? 
 
 A. Air put in motion. The power 
 of air when compressed may be known 
 by filling a bladder with it ; and no 
 power can press the sides together with- 
 out breaking the bladder, or allowing 
 the air to escape. 
 
 Q. What is meant by hydrostatics ? 
 
 A, It is the science which teaches 
 the nature, gravity, pressure, and motion 
 of fluids, and the method of weighing 
 solids in them. The mechanical prac- 
 tice is called hydraulics. 
 
 Q. What is the science of hy- 
 draulics ? 
 
 A. It teaches how to estimate the 
 quickness or the force of fluids when in 
 motion. 
 
 Q. What are generally called hy- 
 draulic machines ? 
 
 A. All machines worked by water. 
 The syphon, the common pump, the 
 steam-engine, and fountains are some 
 of them. 
 
 Q. What is meant by Gnomonics ? 
 
 A. The art of making dials, or the 
 science of shadows.
 
 245 
 
 Q, What is meant by Pyrotechnics ? 
 
 A, The art of making fireworks. 
 It is also used in reference to the struc- 
 ture and use of fire-arms. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NAVIGATION. 4^ i"(^55/^ <l,^^ 
 
 Q, What is Navigation ? ^ ' ' 
 
 A . The art or science by which the 
 mariner is taught to guide his ship from 
 one place or port to another. 
 
 Q. To whom is the invention of 
 navigation ascribed ? 
 
 A. To the Phoenicians; but until 
 about 400 years ago no sailor would 
 venture out of sight of land. Colum- 
 bus, who discovered America, would 
 have lost his life among the sailors on 
 board his ship had he not discovered 
 land when he did. 
 
 Q, How was this ? 
 
 A, Because the men were much 
 alarmed at being so long out of sight of 
 \and ; they did not believe that the 
 
 y2
 
 246 
 
 world was round, and Columbus, who 
 did believe it, expected to reach the 
 East Indies by sailing round it westward. 
 
 Q. By what means do navigators 
 now so easily discover their exact lati- 
 tude and longitude in the open sea ? 
 
 A. The latitude is discovered by 
 taking an observation of the sun or stars. 
 The longitude, by comparing the time 
 so found with the time at the port or 
 place from which the ship sailed, as 
 shewn by a correct chronometer. 
 
 Q. How can the compass be made 
 useful to sailors ? 
 
 A. By the magnetic needle, which 
 is placed on a little pivot in the centre 
 of the circle ; and as this needle always 
 turns to the north, whatever direction 
 the ship takes may be easily ascertained. 
 
 Q. What causes the needle to be 
 magnetic ? 
 
 A. It is rubbed with the loadstone, 
 or is itself a portion of the magnetic 
 ore ; this was discovered 500 years ago 
 
 Q. Has the sailor no other guide 
 but the loadstone ? 
 
 A. Yes; by the position of the sun,
 
 247 
 
 moon, planets, and stars, a skilful navi- 
 gator can always discover his position 
 on the globe, but as cloudy weather 
 may, for a considerable time, prevent 
 these from being seen, then the compass 
 is a sure guide. 
 
 Q, Of what other aids do sailors 
 avail themselves ? 
 
 A, Of the Nautical Almanac, a 
 telescope, a chart representing rocks 
 and shoals as well as places, and a 
 quadrant. 
 
 Q, What is a quadrant ? 
 
 A. A quadrant is in reality the 
 quarter of a circle ; the quadrant for 
 navigation is a brass instrument, num- 
 bered on the edge fix)m one to ninety 
 degrees, through which the altitude or 
 height of the sun, moon, stars, &c,, may 
 be ascertained, 
 
 Q. Who was supposed by the an- 
 cients to have invented shipbuilding? 
 
 A, Dsedalus; they pretend that the 
 wings he used in order to escape from 
 Crete were the sails of a boat; but, ac- 
 cording to the Bible, Noah appears to 
 have been the first shipbuilder.
 
 248 
 
 Q. From whom did the Romans 
 obtain their first knowledge of this 
 art? 
 
 A. From the Carthaginians. 
 
 Q, Who are the greatest shipbuil 
 ders in the present day? 
 
 A. The English, who have extensive 
 dockyards. 
 
 Q, Where are the principal dock- 
 yards? 
 
 A. At Woolwich, Portsmouth, 
 Chatham, Pembroke, and Plymouth. 
 
 Q. What are the different names 
 tor ships? 
 
 A, Ships are divided into ships of 
 war and merchant ships. The frigate, 
 or man-of-war, the ship, the brig, the 
 sloop or cutter, and various other names. 
 The former are generally called ships 
 of the line, and are named according to 
 the number of guns they carry; as a 
 1 '20 guns, a 74, a 20 gun frigate, &c., or 
 accordiufy to their tonnage. 
 
 Q, Which are the principal parts of 
 a vessel? 
 
 A. The hull, the keel, the helm, 
 the stern, the bow, the decks, the quar-
 
 249 
 
 ter-deck, the forecastle, the masts, and 
 the rigging. 
 
 Q. What is the hull ? 
 
 A, The body of the ship. The bow 
 is the part that goes foremost, or in 
 front. The stern is the back or hind 
 part of the ship, and to which the rud- 
 der is affixed. 
 
 Q. What are the parts within the 
 hull ? 
 
 A, The cabins, the steerage, the 
 holds; and in men-of-war there are 
 many decks, one upon another, above 
 the hold, which is the lowest part of the 
 ship. 
 
 Q, What is the rudder ? 
 
 A, A large piece of wood on hinges, 
 which is turned by a wheel and chains 
 on the deck ; this is called the helm ; 
 by this the ship is guided. 
 
 Q. What is the anchor ? 
 
 A. A strong and heavy instrument 
 of iron, consisting of a shank, having at 
 one end a ring to which the cable is 
 fastened, and at the other end two arms 
 or flukes with barbs ; it is dropped 
 from a ship into the bottom of the
 
 250 
 
 water, to retain her in a convenient 
 station in a harbour, river, or a road- 
 stead. 
 
 Q. How is the anchor drawn up 
 again ? 
 
 A, By a machine called a capstan, 
 turned by a number of men, as it re- 
 quires great strength to move it. 
 
 Q. What are the portholes ? 
 
 A. Holes cut in the hull of a man- 
 of-war, through w^hich the mouths of 
 cannon are placed in battle, 
 
 Q, What are the names given to 
 masts ? 
 
 A. When there are two, the one 
 nearest the bow is called the foremast, 
 and the other the mainmast. If three, 
 the middle one is the mainmast, and the 
 one near the stern the mizenmast. 
 
 Q. What are the divisions of the 
 masts? 
 
 A. The lower mast, supported by 
 shrouds and mainstays, the topmast 
 above that, and the top-gallant mast 
 still higher. 
 
 Q. How are the masts supported 
 on the decks?
 
 251 
 
 A. By the standing rigging, which 
 consists of strong ropes, or more re- 
 cently of galvanized iron wire. 
 
 Q, What else is included under the 
 term rigging? 
 
 A. The tacks and sheets, which 
 serve to spread the sails, the stays, the 
 yards, the traces, the halliards, and the 
 shrouds. 
 
 Q. What are the shrouds ? 
 
 A, Ranges of ropes extending from 
 the hull to the head of the spars or 
 beams. They support the masts, and, 
 being crossed by other ropes, form a 
 ladder for the sailors to ascend an(? 
 descend. 
 
 Q, What are stays? 
 
 A, Strong ropes used to support the 
 masts in an opposite direction to the 
 shrouds. 
 
 Q, What are the halliards ? 
 
 A. Ropes or tackles by which any 
 sail may be lowered. Sheets are also 
 ropes used to extend the corners of sails. 
 
 Q. What are the yards? 
 
 A, Wooden bars crossing the masts 
 where they unite with each other, and
 
 252 
 
 forming a kind of platform for the sea- 
 men to stand upon when they climb the 
 rigging. 
 
 Q. What are booms ? 
 
 A. Also wooden bars to which the 
 (Sails are connected, and round which 
 they are hoisted or lowered by the 
 halliards. 
 
 Q' What is the bowsprit ? 
 
 A, A large spar extending beyond 
 the bow of a ship. The jib-boom ex- 
 tends beyond that still further. 
 
 Q, What are the nautical terms for 
 different parts of a vessel ? 
 
 A, The right side is called the star- 
 board, the left the larboard or port, and 
 the middle between these, amidships. 
 
 Q. What is meant by windward 
 and leeward ? 
 
 A. Windward is the point in the 
 horizon from which the wind blows, 
 and leeward the point towards which it 
 blows. 
 
 Q. What is meant by a ship being 
 in the offing ? 
 
 A, That it is so far at sea as to be 
 out of anchor ground.
 
 253 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ACOUSTICS. 
 
 Q, What is meant by Acoustics? 
 
 A. The science of sounds. 
 
 Q. What is sound? 
 
 A. Sound is supposed to be occa- 
 sioned by vibrations in the air caused 
 by the motion of the body from which 
 the sound proceeds. 
 
 Q. How are sounds conveyed to the 
 ear? 
 
 A. Mostly by air; but water, tim- 
 ber, and flannel, are good conductors 
 of sounds. A bell rung under water has 
 a tone as distinct as that rung in the air. 
 
 Q, How can we prove that timber 
 conveys sound? 
 
 A, Stop one ear with the finger, 
 and press the other close to a long 
 stick or deal board, the ticking of a 
 watch held at the other end will be 
 distinctly heard. 
 
 Q. How can flannel be proved a 
 conductor of sound?
 
 254 
 
 A, Tie a poker to a piece of flan- 
 nel, three feet long, press the ends of 
 the flannel into your ears with your 
 thumb, then swing the poker against 
 an iron fender, you will hear a sound 
 like a very heavy church bell. 
 
 Q. How quickly does sound fly? 
 
 A, Sound travels at the rate of 
 about thirteen miles in a minute. This 
 is the case with all sounds ; a whisper 
 flies as quickly as the loudest thun- 
 der. 
 
 Q, What is the principle upon 
 which a whispering-gallery is con- 
 structed ? 
 
 A. Upon the principle of reflection. 
 Sound, like light, after having been 
 reflected from several places, may be 
 collected into a point from whence it 
 will be more distinctly heard than in 
 any other. 
 
 Q. Why can sound be reflected in 
 a whispering-gallery? 
 
 A, Because the gallery is circular, 
 and therefore a whisper at one side, 
 being reflected from all sides of the
 
 I 255 
 
 circle, is collected to the other side as 
 a focus, and heard distinctly. 
 
 Q. Are not speaking-trumpets 
 made on the same principle ? 
 
 ; yl. Yes ; the sounds being reflected 
 from the sides, and prevented from 
 spreading in every direction. 
 
 Q, What is an echo? 
 
 A. An echo is sound reflected from 
 some "Surface, such as a wall, a house, 
 or a hill, which throws it back again at 
 intervals. 
 
 Q. How far off should the surface 
 be to reflect back a syllable? 
 
 A, About eighty or ninety feet; 
 for a dissyllable, 170 feet. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ARCHITECTURE.* 
 
 Q. W hat is the science of Architec- 
 ture? 
 
 A, The art of erecting durable, 
 
 * See also Erredge's Student's Handbook of General 
 Information, page 7.
 
 256 
 
 commodious, healthful, and handsome 
 buildings of all kinds. 
 
 Q. Is not architecture a very an- 
 cient science? 
 
 A, Yes ; but it is not supposed to 
 have reached any great magnificence 
 till the time of Solomon. 
 
 Q. Whom did Solomon employ to 
 build the temple? 
 
 A. The Tyrians, or people of Tyre, 
 who afterwards taught their architec- 
 ture to the Egyptians, from whom it 
 passed to the Grecians, and from them 
 to the Romans. 
 
 Q. Do all writers attribute the 
 improvement of architecture to the 
 Tyrians? 
 
 A, ]^o ; an ancient writer declares 
 that Solomon received the rules of 
 architecture from God; and that, having 
 employed the Tyrians as workmen in 
 gold, silver, brass, &c., he taught it to 
 them. 
 
 Q. Is it not commonly supposed 
 tliat the science came from the Greeks? 
 
 A. Yes; for there is not an order
 
 257 
 
 or a moulding that has not a Greek 
 name. 
 
 Q, But what proof have we of the 
 magnificence of the Egyptian and 
 Tyrian architecture? 
 
 A, The description given by Vitru- 
 vlus of the Egyptian oeci, pyramids, and 
 obelisks, and from Isaiah xxiii. 8. 
 
 Q. From whom do we derive our 
 knowledge of architecture? 
 
 A. From the Romans, whose build- 
 ings were magnificent, but who had no 
 idea of beauty and order in them until 
 they borrowed from the Greeks. 
 
 Q. How many orders or forms of 
 architecture were known amonoj the 
 Greeks ? 
 
 A, Five ; the Tuscan, the Doric, the 
 Ionic, the Composite, and the Corinthian. 
 
 Q. Of what must each order con- 
 sist ? 
 
 A, Of a column and entablature. 
 The column has three parts, the base, 
 the shaft, and the capital ; and the en- 
 tablature three, the architrave, the 
 frieze, and the cornice. 
 
 z 2
 
 258 
 
 Q, Where are these different parts 
 situated? 
 
 A. The cornice is the top, the 
 frieze the flat part under it, and the 
 architrave the part supported by the 
 column or pillar, 
 
 Q. What are the parts of the 
 column? 
 
 A. The base, the part which sup- 
 ports it, the shaft is the column itself, 
 and the capital the ornaments at the 
 top of the column under the entabla- 
 ture. 
 
 Q. In what consists the difference 
 of these orders? 
 
 A. In the plainness or ornament of 
 the entablature or capital ; the Tuscan 
 and Doric are the plainest, although 
 the column of the latter is fluted ; 
 and the Corinthian is the most orna- 
 mental. 
 
 Q. What is said to be the origin of 
 the Corinthian capital? 
 
 A, Vitruvius relates that a Corin- 
 thian architect passed by the grave of 
 young lady, over which her nurse had
 
 259 
 
 placed a basket containing some of her 
 playthings, and covered it up with a 
 large tile to protect it from the 
 weather. 
 
 Q. Upon what had the basket been 
 placed? 
 
 A, Upon an acanthus root. As 
 the branches sprung up tbey encircled 
 the basket till they reached the tile, 
 and then bent under it and grew down- 
 wards. 
 
 Q. In what way did the sculptor 
 imitate this ? 
 
 A. He imitated the basket in the 
 body of his capital, the leaves in the 
 volutes, and the tile in the abacus. 
 
 Q. What are the volutes of a 
 column? 
 
 A, The volutes are the pointed 
 ornaments round the capital, the abacus 
 the top of the capital, or that part 
 directly under the entablature. The 
 Ionic order has four, and the Doric 
 eight volutes. 
 
 Q. Is there any other order of 
 architecture than the Grecian ?
 
 260 
 
 A . Yes, several ; tlie ravages of the 
 Visigoths in the fifth ceutury destroyed 
 the beautiful architecture of anti- 
 quity. 
 
 Q. What arose from this ? 
 
 J, A new order called the Gothic, 
 still much in use, and distinguished by 
 its lightness and profuse ornament. 
 
 Q. How may it be known ? 
 
 A. By its pointed arches, and by 
 its pillars, carved so as to imitate 
 several conjoined. 
 
 Q, Who introduced the Gothic 
 order into England? 
 
 A. The Normans, in the reign of 
 Richard I. The Saxons had also a 
 simple style of building semicircular 
 arches and plain massive pillars. 
 
 Q. What is the Attic order? 
 
 A, That which has a number of 
 small pillars, with an architrave cornice 
 for an entablature 
 
 Q. AVliat is the Persian order? 
 
 A. It is that which has figures of 
 Persian slaves, instead of columns, to 
 support the entablature.
 
 261 
 
 Q, Is not the Caryatic order some- 
 thing similar to this? 
 
 A, Yes, the entablature is sup- 
 ported by figures of women. New St. 
 Pancras Church, London, is built in 
 this style. 
 
 Q. What is the meaning of it? 
 
 A, The Greeks, having conquered 
 the city of Caria, carried away the 
 women captive ; and, to keep up a re- 
 membrance of their being slaves, repre- 
 sented them in their buildings support- 
 ing the entablature as a burden. 
 
 Q. Is not architecture a proof of 
 civilisation? 
 
 A, Yes; for in the early history of 
 nations we find their houses buiit of 
 mud or clay, and by degrees improving 
 in form and materials. 
 
 Q. What are the common materials 
 for houses? 
 
 A, Bricks, mortar, wood, and stone. 
 
 Q. Of what are the best bricks 
 made? 
 
 A, Of clay, sand, and ashes ; brick- 
 making is now an extensive trade.
 
 262 
 
 They are made in moulds four inches 
 broad, and eight or nine long. 
 
 Q. How are they hardened ? 
 
 A. By burning in a kiln, or in 
 clumps of a number together with fire 
 between them ; they are made in this 
 way near London. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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