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Perralle 16.
TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE;
Of
COMMON OBJECTS.
FOR THE USE OF
Private and Public Schools,
AND
DOMESTIC LIBRARIES,
WITH NOTES AND IMPROVEMENTS,
BY
D. MEREDITH REESE, A.M., M.D.
SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS FOR THE CITY AND
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
......
PHILADELPHIA:
SOLIN & BALL, 42 N. FOURTH STREET
1846.
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TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE;
OR,
COMMON OBJECTS.
FOR THE USE OF
Private and Public Schools,
f
AND
DOMESTIC LIBRARIES.
WITH NOTES AND IMPROVEMENTS,
BY
D. MEREDITH REESE, A.M., M.D.
SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS FOR THE CITY AND
COUNTY OF NEW YORK,
PHILADELPHIA:
SORIN & BALL, 42 N. FOURTH STREET.
1846.
The
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by
SORIN & BALL,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Printed by T. K. & P G. Collins.
Stereotyped by L. Johnson & Co., Philadelphia
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INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS
BY THE
AMERICAN EDITOR.
In the compiler's preface which follows, it will appear with
what purpose the London edition of this work was prepared,
and the design contemplated by the society, at whose instance
it was published, is also distinctly stated. In adapting it to
the common schools of the United States, very considerable
alterations have been judged necessary, and numerous additions
have been made, especially in reference to those objects of
special interest to American youth. Those subjects which,
however familiar in Great Britain, are not common in this
country, and would hence be neither interesting nor intelli-
gible, have been omitted, or rather substituted by other articles
of more familiar and practical utility.
In many of our schools, a kindred work, entitled "Conversa-
tions on Common Things," has long been in use, and is
highly estimated. But the present volume will be found to
possess higher claims in many respects, apart from its being
more scientific and extensive in its scope and details. Even
viewed in the light of a sequel to that work, it would be re-
garded worthy of introduction into the schools; while as a
book for teachers, to qualify themselves to give minute and
accurate information to their pupils, touching the common ob-
jects in nature and art, this volume is greatly to be preferred.
The catechetical questions, which are both analytical and
critical, will be found sufficiently numerous to constrain the
pupil to think, and to understand every part of this book, if he
3
4
would prepare himself for such an examination as is here con-
templated. To the teacher, they will furnish very great facili-
ties both for acquiring and imparting knowledge on these
common but important subjects. Indeed it will be difficult to
find a work of so small size, condensing so much useful and
practical instruction on such a variety of topics, many of which
will singly furnish a theme for an oral lecture, or protracted
conversation of itself. Its introduction into our common
schools is warmly commended, from a conviction of both its
need and utility, and for which purpose no pains has been
spared in preparing it.
THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
PREFACE.
THE following work has been prepared at the request and
under the superintendence of the Committee of the Home and
Colonial Infant School Society.
The end proposed was the communication of such know-
ledge as would be desirable for a teacher to possess before
giving a lesson on any common object, and only such facts
have been stated as it is requisite they should know. It may
not be out of place to guard teachers against the supposition
that they are to bring before the children all the knowledge
here communicated; the aim is rather to put them in posses-
sion of that confidence which is essential to the giving a really
good lesson-the confidence that they are acquainted with their
subject, and are prepared to satisfy the desire for information
which an examination of any of the objects may awaken in the
minds of their pupils.
The objects described are contained in a box arranged for
the use of schools according to instructions given by the Com-
mittee of the Society.
Although the classification of the descriptions is imperfect,
it is perhaps the least objectionable that could be made.
The articles are described as briefly as is consistent with
clearness, so that the size and price of the work might be as
small as possible.
A list of some of the works consulted by the compiler is
annexed:-
Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.
Lardner's Cyclopædia-Manufactures in Metals.
Penny Cyclopædia.
Encyclopædia Britannica.
Comp
(
1*
5
6
PREFACE.
Partington's Cyclopædia.
Burnett's Outlines of Botany.
Burnett's Useful Plants.
Lindley's Flora Medica.
Smith's English Botany.
Loudon's Arboretum Britannicum.
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture.
Thompson's Dispensatory.
Pereira's Materia Medica.
Library of Entertaining Knowledge-Vegetable Substances.
Transactions of the Society of Arts.
Turner's Chemistry.
Graham's Chemistry.
Knight's Weekly Volume-Textile Manufactures; and Bri-
tish Manufactures.
Taylor's Handbook of Silk and Cotton Manufacture.
Owen's Lectures on the Invertebrate Animals.
Fleming's Molluscous Animals.
OBJECTS DERIVED FROM THE MINERAL
KINGDOM.
Introduction
· Platinum
Lead
Copper
Gold..
Silver
..
Chalk.
Clay.
Coal.
Emery.
..
••
..
CONTENTS.
•
··
THE METALS,
Alum.
China, Earthenware, and
Red ware..
Chloride of Lime.
Glass
Key
Mortar..
Needles.
PAGE
11|Tin...
16 Mercury
16
Pewter.
19 Iron
21 Zinc.
22
MINERALS.
31 | Flint...
32 Salt
33 Sand
36 Slate
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
42 | Nails
Knife
..
··
43 Pin.
46 Putty.
47 Scissors
··
49 Thimble...
49 Watch-spring.
50
ገ
PAGE
24
24
26
26
30
37
38
39
41
52
53
54
56
56
57
58
8
Introduction.
Wheat...
Barley
Oats
Rice
··
•
OBJECTS DERIVED FROM THE VEGETABLE
KINGDOM.
Introduction.
Cedar-wood..
Mahogany
•
..
CORN.
Acorn
Chamomile Flowers
Camphor
Cane
Chaff.
Coffee
Cork
Currants
Figs.
Gum Arabic.
•
..
•
••
··
••
Hops
Indian Rubber
Ink...
Mustard Seeds
Nutgalls
CONTENTS.
•
PAGE
t
WOODS.
··
}
59 | Allspice
61 Cinnamon
63 Cloves..
65 Ginger.
65 Nutmegs and Mace.
··
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
84 Sugar.
85 Tea
I
71 | Oak........
72 Pine, or Fir-wood
73
•
•
761 Oak Bark…….
77 Olive Oil……….
•
78 Papers, various
79 Pearlash..
80 Raisins
80 Saffron
82 Sago......
83 Sealing-wax.
83 Soda...
•
86 Vinegar
87 Wafers
88 Walnuts
89 Willow
SPICES.
•
1
..
..
1
DO
···
•
•
PAGE
68
68
69
69
70
74
75
90
91
92
95
96
97
98
99
99
100
103
104
105
106
107
1
1
The
1
OBJECTS DERIVED FROM THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM.
Introduction
Snail shell..
Mussel.
Introduction
Bees.
Bees' Wax
Black Beetle..
··
Bones
Bristles.
Coral..
Foot of Duck
Feathers.
Down.
Fur....
Glue..
Hen's Foot.
Horn
·
...
··
CONTENTS.
Spinning
Weaving
Raw Cotton.
Flax....
SHELLS.
PAGE
108 | Oyster.
110 Mother of Pearl
111
INSECTS.
113 | Silkworm Moth
115 Butterfly....
119 Grasshopper
121
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
127 Horse-hair.
128 Ivory
··
129
130 Milk...
Leather..
131
134 Soap
136 Sponge
137 Tortoise-shell
138 Whalebone
139
Parchment.
MATERIALS.
•
153 | Hemp
154 Silk
•
156 Wool..
157
..
G
•
TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS, AND THEIR
9
PAGE
112
113
122
124
126
140
140
141
144
145
146
148
149
150
161
163
165
OBJECTS
DERIVED FROM
THE MINERAL KINGDOM.
THE METALS.
INTRODUCTION.-The metals form a class of bodies be-
longing to the mineral kingdom. They are distinguished
from minerals in general, not by any one character in par-
ticular, but by several taken together; [usually their
weight, lustre, fusibility, and power of conducting elec-
tricity, are enumerated. The metals are not usually found
pure in nature, but in the state of ore, in which they are
combined with various minerals, and from which they are
separated by heat, the metal being melted, and while in a
liquid state in suitable furnaces, it is suffered to flow off
from the earths or stones with which it was previously
united in the ore. In some instances, metals are combined
with sulphur and other volatile materials, which are driven
off by heat, while the pure metal remains. The art of re-
fining metals is included in the science of Metallurgy.]
They all possess a peculiar brightness, very different,
for instance, from that of glass, or wax, or varnish;* but
we must not therefore imagine that all bodies that possess
this peculiar brightness or lustre are metals, for many
other minerals have it. [What is called the rusting or
tarnishing of a metal, is occasioned by the union of oxygen
*We are apt to consider lead, and some other metals, as not pos-
sessed of this brightness, from the circumstance of their tarnishing
on the surface, when exposed to the action of the air; if, however,
the tarnish is removed by scraping or polishing in any way, their
brightness is immediately restored.
1. How are metals distinguished from other minerals ?
11
1
f
12
with the metal on its surface; so that an oxide is another
name for rust. Silver, platinum, and gold are not liable to
this change, and therefore preferred for making plate and
coin.]
MINERAL KINGDOM.
If a sheet of polished metal be held before the fire or a
candle, the heat from the fire or the light from the candle,
instead of passing through the metal, as they would partly
through a sheet of glass, or sinking into it, as they would
into a rough black board, are thrown back again, or
reflected: if, instead of holding the metal straight before
the fire, we hold it at an angle or slantingly, the heat,
instead of being thrown back, will be thrown in another
direction; this will be easily proved if we stand by the
side of the fire-place, so that we cannot see the fire, and
get another person to hold the sheet of metal, moving it
until we see the light of the fire on it, when we shall feel
the heat also.
This simple experiment, which may be performed with
any sheet of polished metal, as a bright shovel or the
under surface of a large saucepan lid, proves that the
light and the heat of a fire, on striking or falling on a
polished metallic surface, are thrown off from it, or, in
other words, reflected; and therefore metals are said to be
good reflectors of heat and light. Many of the most im-
portant uses of metals depend on this property; for in-
stance—metals are used to make the reflectors placed in
carriage lamps, which throw the light in the direction re-
quired. Light-houses on the sea-shore are usually provided
with metallic reflectors, so placed as to throw out to sea
the light that would otherwise pass inland. In our kitchens,
screens of bright tinned plate are placed before meat that
is being roasted, in order that the heat from the fire may
be reflected by them back upon the meat instead of passing
into the room.
When metals are required to reflect heat or light in any
direction, they should be brightly polished, as it is only
when in this state that they reflect well.
2. How does their surface become tarnished?
3. What of the reflection of heat and light?
4. Of what use is this property of metals?
13
If we make a bar or rod of metal, as for instance the
poker, red-hot at one part, we shall find that we are not
able to hold it in the hand nearer to the red-hot part than
one foot and a half or two feet; if we make a stick of
wood or charcoal red-hot, we can hold it readily within an
inch of the heated part without being burnt. This re-
markable difference arises from the metal conveying the
heat to the hand with great quickness and facility, whilst
the wood and charcoal do not possess this power of con-
ducting heat.
METALS.
Metals are, in fact, distinguished among solid bodies by
the ease and rapidity with which heat passes along them,
and from this circumstance they are said to be good con-
ductors of heat; whereas wood and charcoal are bad con-
ductors of heat. It is from possessing this property that
metals feel cold to the touch, because they carry away
the heat of the skin very rapidly, and not (as is often
wrongly supposed) because they are really colder than
other bodies: a spoon or any other metallic substance that
has been lying some time on a table, must necessarily be
of the same heat as the table, both having been exposed
to the same air and warmth; if, however, the hot hand is
placed on the spoon, the latter feels cold, because it carries
away the heat from the hand very fast; on the contrary,
the table does not feel cold, because it does not possess the
power of conducting the heat so rapidly.
Not only do metals possess the power of conducting
heat, they also are distinguished as conductors of another
principle called Electricity, or, when it occurs on a large
scale in nature, Lightning. It was from a knowledge of
this fact that lightning conductors for protecting buildings.
and ships were first devised. A lightning conductor con-
sists of a rod of metal, higher than the building or mast
to which it is attached, and carried some depth into the
earth or the sea; the use of this rod is, as its name im-
plies, to conduct the electric fluid: being higher than the
building to which it is affixed it attracts the lightning, and
5. What example is cited of the conducting power of metals?
6. Explain the difference to the touch, between metals, wood, &c,
7. Of what else, besides heat, are metals good conductors?
2
14
MINERAL KINGDOM.
conveys it into the ground or into the sea. The metal
allows the electricity to pass freely along it, and hence it.
is not injured by it; the brick and stone work of a house
do not allow a free passage for the lightning, and conse-
quently, if struck by it, are destroyed.
Of all metals, copper is by far the best conductor of
electricity, and should therefore always be used for this
purpose. [And hence copper wires are used in the electro-
magnetic telegraph, which is now becoming generally
adopted in our country as the means of communicating
intelligence between distant places.]
Some few of the metals are brittle, so much so, that if
struck with a hammer they break into small pieces; this
is the case with antimony and bismuth. The greater
number, however, on being beaten with hammers spread
out into thin leaves;-this property is called malleability,
and those metals capable of being beaten out into the thin-
nest leaves or sheets are said to be the most malleable.
Of all the metals, gold possesses this property in the
highest degree; it can be beaten until the leaves are only
the 282,000th of an inch in thickness.
Malleable is derived from the Latin word malleus, a
hammer, from whence comes our English word mallet.
Another property possessed by several of the metals is
capability of being drawn out into thin wires: this pro-
perty is called ductility. Of all metals, gold is the most
ductile, or, in other words, it can be drawn out into thinner
wires than any other metal. The mode adopted for draw-
ing out metals into wires is, first, to form the metal into a
bar or cylinder: this bar is drawn by machinery through
a hole smaller than itself, and is, of course, lessened in
size and increased in length by the operation; it is then
drawn through a still smaller hole; again through one still
less, and so on until the wire is of the size required.
The strength of wires does not, as would be supposed,
correspond with the ductility of the metals of which they
8. What useful inventions have resulted from this fact?
9. What of malleability and its opposite, with examples?
10. Define ductility, and illustrate it by examples.
1
15
are formed; by far the most tenacious metal is iron,
although in ductility it is surpassed by gold, silver, and
platina.
METALS.
The strength or tenacity of metals is easily ascertained,
by taking the same sized wires of the various metals, and
trying what weight they will bear without breaking.
We are apt to think that all the metals must be very
heavy bodies; the greater number of them are so, but not
all; there are some (though these are not common) that,
being lighter than water, float on its surface. Others,
again, as gold and platina, are the heaviest bodies in
nature; the latter is more than 21 times heavier than
water, and gold more than 19 times. Iron, tin, and zinc are
between seven and eight times the weight of water.
All the metals are capable of being melted by heat, that
is, they are all fusible: they vary, however, very greatly
in their degree of fusibility; the heat that always natu-
rally exists in this country is sufficient to melt one of
them, mercury. Near the north pole, however, the tem-
perature is not sufficiently great to melt this metal, and it
is, of course, there in a solid state. Some metals fuse
below a red heat, as lead, tin, and zinc. The other com-
mon metals do not melt until they are heated above a red
heat. It is a singular fact, that when two metals are
mixed together, the resulting compound, which is called
an alloy, melts at a much less heat than either of the two
metals of which it is formed would have done separately.
For this reason solder, which is an alloy formed of lead
and tin, is used by plumbers for uniting pipes together, as
it melts at a less heat than lead, and is consequently more
manageable.
Not only are all the metals fusible, but some are even
volatile, that is, on being heated they fly off in the form
of vapour.
The common metals that possess this property
are mercury and zinc.
11. Explain tenacity, and how tested.
12. Name the comparative weight of metals.
13. What of the relative fusibility of metals?
14. Which of the metals are volatile?
?
16
}
MINERAL KINGDOM.
{
The metals vary much in hardness; some of the un-
common ones are as soft as wax, and can be moulded by
the hand. Lead can be scratched by the nail; copper,
gold, and silver are harder; zinc and iron still more so.
The metals are supposed to be simple substances, that
is, they are not compounds or mixtures of several bodies.
We know glass to be a compound body, because we can
make it by mixing several things together, and melting
them; or we can separate the various things of which it
is made: but we suppose iron and all the other metals to
be simple substances, because we cannot make them, nor
can we separate any thing from them. Metals are usually
found not pure, but mixed with various substances, and in
this state they usually look like stones, and are called
Thus, the minerals from which iron is obtained are
called iron ores. Lead is procured from lead ore, &c. &c.
[There are, in all, forty-one metals, but some of them are
rare and of little use. A few only are sufficiently import-
ant to be separately noticed, such as platinum, gold, silver,
copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, and quicksilver.
ores.
PLATINUM.-Platinum, from its durability and hardness,
would be of immense utility in the arts, were it not too
expensive to be generally used. Chemical vessels are
made of it, and it is employed for pointing gold pens. Of
late, it has been used for coating copper vessels in Europe,
instead of tin. It is heavier and more costly than gold.
Mines are found in Russia, Spain, and South America.]
LEAD.-Lead is a metal found principally, in England,
in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, and in the peak of Der-
byshire, not in its metallic state, but as an ore, containing
a large quantity of sulphur. This ore is called galena, or
lead glance. [Lead mines are wrought in several parts of
the United States; but those most productive are on Mis-
souri and Fever rivers, and yield ten millions of pounds
annually.] The metal is obtained from the galena by first
heating it strongly, or roasting it, as it is termed, in order
15. Why are metals called simple substances or elements?
16. Describe platinum, its locality and its uses.
17. Where is lead ore found in quantity?
*
17
to burn away the sulphur. The whole is then melted,
when the lead, being heaviest, sinks to the bottom, leaving
the impurities on the surface. It is then allowed to run
into moulds, each of which holds about 150lbs. The
masses of lead thus obtained are termed pigs, or pig-lead.
It is a bluish-gray colour, very brilliant when first melted
or scraped, but the surface rapidly tarnishes when exposed
to the air or to water. The use of lead, as a material for
making water-pipes, and for lining cisterns, depends partly
on the forming of this rust or tarnish, for the metal itself is
poisonous; but it does not render the water unwholesome,
as the tarnish on the surface prevents any further action
of the water on the metal. It is the softest of the common
metals, being readily cut with a knife, or even scratched
by the finger nail. When rubbed on paper a portion is
left, causing a bluish-gray stain. It is readily melted,
fusing before it is heated to redness, and it is one of the
most inelastic metals, remaining in any position in which
it is bent. It is this very softness, and the ease with which
it is melted, that render lead so valuable to man.
It re-
quires little labour to work it; it is easily cast into any
shape, consequently it is much used. Sheet-lead is made
either by casting the melted metal in sand, or by rolling it
into sheets, when solid, between large rollers. It is in
great use for covering the gutters or roofs of houses and
other buildings; for lining cisterns, coffins, making water-
pipes, &c., the ease with which the metal is cut, and the
flexibility it possesses, enabling the workers to bend and
adapt it to any object it is desired to cover.
The Chinese have taken advantage of the ready fusi-
bility of lead to form the thin lead with which they line
their tea-chests. A quantity of the melted metal is poured
on a flat stone, and before it cools another is laid on it,
which presses the lead into a thin sheet. Bullets used by
soldiers are made by casting the melted metal in moulds,
whilst the lead shot employed by sportsmen are made by
melting the lead with a small quantity of another metal,
METALS.
18. Describe the process of separating lead from its ore.
19. What are the uses of this metal?
20. For what other purposes is it used, and how?
2*
;
f
18
called arsenic, to render it harder. When melted, this
mixture, or alloy, is poured into an iron or copper frame
pierced with holes like a cullender, through which it
streams in a shower, dividing into drops, which fall into
cold water; and, in order that the lead may be somewhat
cooled before it reaches the water, it is allowed to fall from
a great height, the shot factories being built for this reason
about 100 feet high. Alloyed with one-sixteenth part of
the metal called antimony, the use of which is to harden
it considerably, lead forms the substance of which the types
or letters used in printing books are cast. Melted with
tin, it forms the substance used by plumbers for uniting
together pieces of metal, and which is called solder. When
two metals are melted together, the compound formed is
much more easily fused than either of the metals sepa-
rately would be; therefore the hot iron of the plumber will
melt the solder whilst there is no risk of his melting the
lead or other metal he has to join. In weight lead exceeds
most of the common metals; it is eleven-and-a-half times
heavier than water: being so very heavy, it is often em-
ployed for clock-weights, &c.
Its ductility and tenacity are exceedingly small; it can-
not be drawn into wires less than one-twelfth of an inch
in diameter, and they will not support more than two 20lbs.
To bear one cwt. a wire of lead would be required two
inches and a half in diameter. Lead, however, can be
beaten out into very thin leaves; but they possess but
little strength. Use is made of the capability of lead to be
drawn out in making pipes. A thick rod of lead is cast
with a hole down the middle, the size of the bore of the
pipe required; in this hole an iron rod is placed to keep
it from closing, and the lead is then lessened in size and
increased in length by being drawn by a machine through
grooves in rollers gradually decreasing in size. When the
pipe is sufficiently small, the iron wire is withdrawn. [To
obviate the poisonous properties of lead pipes, they may be
coated with tin by rubbing heated lead with melted tin,
MINERAL KINGDOM.
[
21. What of its ductility and tenacity ?
22. How are lead pipes made and tinned?
"
19
using turpentine or resin as a flux. The tin adheres to the
lead, and it may afterwards be drawn out into pipes as
before.]
METALS.
When kept melted for any length of time, lead rapidly
forms a dross on the surface: this substance is litharge,
which is much used in glazing earthenware, and in making
flint-glass, to which it gives great transparency and clear-
ness, and lessens its liability to crack.
Red-lead is another preparation of this metal; it is also
used by glass-makers, and by painters as a colour. White-
lead is prepared by corroding lead with the vapour of vine-
gar. It is used in very large quantity to form paint. All
these preparations of lead are extremely poisonous, giving
to persons who use them paralytic diseases, and a dread-
ful complaint called painters' cholic. Besides painters, those
who work with the metal, and are called plumbers, from the
Latin name of lead (plumbum), are liable to these disorders.
Black-lead is a mineral substance that does not contain
any portion of lead. [It is called plumbago, and is a car-
buret of iron, out of which crayons and pencils are made.]
COPPER.-The most important and valuable ore of cop-
per is that termed copper pyrites, in which the metal is
united to sulphur and iron. It is found in very large
quantity in Cornwall, Devonshire, and Anglesea, [in Bri-
tain, and also in North America, especially near Lake
Superior. But there are no copper mines wrought in the
United States.]
The copper is obtained from this ore by a very compli-
cated process, during which the ore is heated to redness
(or roasted) many times, in order to drive off the sulphur,
and the earthy impurities are separated by their being
melted away. As thus obtained, copper is of a reddish
colour; it has a nauseous taste, and, when rubbed, a dis-
agreeable smell. It is one of the most malleable of the
metals, capable of being beaten or rolled into very thin
23. Name the preparations of lead, and their properties ?
24. What of black-lead pencils, so called?
25. Where is copper ore found?
26. Describe the properties of copper, and its uses.
}
ļ
:
20
MINERAL KINGDOM.
leaves, and it is possessed of very considerable hardness.
It is on its malleability that its great use depends. When
heated, it is rolled into sheets between cast-iron rollers,
which are, after each rolling, placed nearer together so as
to lessen the thickness of the sheet. These sheets are
used for protecting the parts of a vessel that are under
water, for which purpose the copper is well fitted by its
hardness. Sheets of copper are also used for making cop-
per money. Round pieces of the size of the coin required
are cut or punched out of the sheet, and then by a power-
ful engine are stamped with the design. Sheet copper is
much used by the engraver; it is not so exceedingly hard
but that his steel tools will act upon it, and yet is suffi-
ciently so for a large number of prints to be taken from it
without injury to the design.
Copper is remarkable for its great ductility and tenacity;
it can be drawn out into wire smaller than those of any
other common metal, except gold, silver, or iron; and in
strength copper wire is superior to all, except that of iron.
The use of copper wire for bells is well known, and no
metal could well supply its place; iron is stronger, but then
it rusts, which copper does not if not wetted. Copper is
of all metals the most sounding or sonorous when struck.
This property, perhaps, depends partly on its elasticity,
which is very considerable. In consequence of this pro-
perty, copper, when properly prepared, or some mixture
of it with other metals, is always selected to form musical
instruments. Among the other uses to which copper is
applied is that of making utensils for cooking; but it should
never be so employed, being one of the most poisonous of
the metals, and readily acted on, and in part dissolved, by
any substances containing acids, as vinegar or fruit, when
the portion dissolved renders the whole poisonous. Many
lives have been lost by persons eating food that has been
left standing in copper vessels. [They should be perfectly
lined with tin.]
At a bright red heat copper melts, and then may be
27. For what other properties is it valuable?
28. What precautions are necessary?
慢
​-
METALS.
21
readily alloyed with other metals. Some of the compounds
thus formed are more valuable than even copper itself.
When SO parts of copper are mixed with 20 parts of a
metal called zinc, and melted together, brass is formed, an
alloy of extreme value. The colour varies with the pro-
portions of copper it contains; its value depends on its
being cheaper and more easily melted than copper, and
though not so hard, yet as it does not rust when exposed
to the air, it is used for the making of engines, clocks, and
wheels of watches. So readily and cheaply is it worked
in consequence of its softness, fusibility, and ductility, that
it is employed to a great extent for domestic purposes, as
for pins, candlesticks, &c.
Bronze is an alloy of copper with a small quantity of tin;
it is extremely hard, and was used by the ancient Romans
to form cutting instruments and weapons, as iron was not
known to them. In the Scripture we find constant refer-
ences to its use: it is there, however, termed brass, and
the articles made of it are called brazen. [It is now very
extensively manufactured in France, in the construction of
various articles for use and ornament.]
The compound of which bells are made is formed of
copper alloyed with tin and other metals.
The German silver now used contains copper, which is
dissolved if the spoons, &c. made of it are left in vinegar
or pickles, rendering the whole unwholesome.
[GOLD is not only valuable for its scarcity, but for its mal-
leability, ductility, tenacity, and unalterability, by reason
of which properties it is employed in various ways for use
and ornament, excelling as it does in some of these respects
every
other known material. It is found in Mexico, South
America; Russia, and some other parts of Europe; in
Africa, and occasionally in the United States. It exists
chiefly in scales, grains, and lumps, though sometimes in
rocky beds, and in the state of ore. It is chiefly gathered
29. What is brass, how made, and its uses ?
30. What other alloy of copper is named?
31. What renders gold so valuable?
32. Where found, and for what purposes employed?
1
f
22
by washing or picking in the sand. Lumps of virgin gold.
have been found, occasionally weighing several pounds.
In England $300,000 have been annually converted into
gold leaf; and the quantity of gold coined at the London
mint in 1829, amounted to 200 millions of dollars. At
present the gold mines wrought in various countries
scarcely yield the expense of working them; even those
of South America only producing four millions of dollars
annually, though very numerous and most productive
there.]
MINERAL KINGDOM.
SILVER.-Silver is a valuable or precious metal that is
found in very considerable quantity in the central countries
of America, viz. Chili and Peru. In the mines, which
usually are in the mountainous districts, the silver occurs
native or in the metallic state; and being nearly pure, it is
readily separated from the substances it is united with by
roasting it, to drive off any small quantities of sulphur pre-
sent, and then mixing the whole in mercury, which dis-
solves the silver and leaves the impurities. The mercury
is then evaporated by heat, and is collected to be used
again, whilst the silver, not being volatile, remains in the
vessel. The fumes of the mercury, when thus heated,
are very destructive to the lives of the workmen em-
ployed. In almost all the lead ores of this country there
is a small proportion of silver, and in many the quantity is
sufficient to repay the cost of extracting it.
In appearance, silver is one of the most beautiful of the
metals, it being more brilliantly white than any other; and
it is capable of being more highly polished than any, ex-
cept steel. It is quite destitute of any taste or smell, and
is not in the slightest degree changed or acted upon by
water, moisture, or pure air. It is these circumstances that
render silver so highly prized as a material for making
utensils for domestic use. Its beautiful appearance and
high polish recommend it to the eye; and as it is not acted
upon, like copper, by our food, or by any acid, such as
33. Whence is silver obtained, and how?
34. Describe its properties and uses.
+
1
?
METALS.
4
vinegar, it does not render our victuals impure or poison-
ous; and as it is without taste or smell, it cannot commu-
nicate either.
23
The value of silver, and its occurring in the earth in a
metallic form, not requiring any great skill to extract it,
are the causes that it was one of the metals first used by
man; and we have records of its being appreciated in the
earliest times.
Silver can be beaten or rolled out into thinner leaves than
any other metal, with the exception of gold, and its use to man
depends, in a very great degree, upon this property. Be-
fore being made into such articles as cups, candlesticks,
&c., silver is rolled into thin sheets, which are cut the re-
quired shape, and soldered together at the edges. Sheets
of silver, cut into circular pieces, and stamped with a de-
vice, are used in almost all civilized countries as coins or
money; and, from the high price of silver, these are used
for greater amounts than coins of copper. Silver, how-
ever, when quite pure, is too soft for the purpose of making
money, therefore it is usually alloyed with about one-
twelfth of copper.
The value of silver prevents its being much employed
by any but rich persons; but by a process termed plating,
articles are formed that possess all the advantages of silver,
and are not more than one-sixth of its cost. Plating is the
covering of another metal with a surface of silver. If a
sheet of copper is required with a face of silver, it is
formed in this manner: A thick, stout bar of copper is
taken, and on it is laid a thin sheet of silver. They are
bound together by wire, and heated so as to make them
unite. The bar thus formed is rolled into a large sheet,
which still has a thin covering of silver, and may be used
in the same manner as a sheet of silver. Articles that,
from the shape, cannot be covered with silver in this man-
ner, are rubbed over with some silver dissolved in mer-
cury; the latter is then driven off by heat, and the silver
remains covering the article.
35. What of sheets of silver, and why alloyed?
36. Describe the art of plating.
24
MINERAL KINGDOM.
11
Silver is one of the most ductile and tenacious metals:
it is therefore much used in the form of wire, and from its
strength, as well as its unchanging beauty and value, ist
formed into chains for watch-guards, &c. These, again,
are frequently covered with gold, or gilt, as it is termed.
Besides the above uses, silver supplies a most valuable
caustic for the use of surgeons; and the same preparation
of it is made into marking-ink.
N.B. Plating of articles, as spoons, forks, ornaments,
&c. of an irregular shape, is now done by the aid of gal-
vanism, a kind of electricity.
[TIN is always found in the state of ore, and the chief
mines are those of Cornwall, in England, where it is ob-
tained with copper and lead, and yield about nine millions of
pounds of tin annually. It is chiefly employed in the form of
sheet tin, which is made by dipping plates of iron into
melted tin, when it is wrought into various utensils, and
used for covering roofs. It enters into the composition of
metals, forming pewter, bronze, solder, &c., and is very
useful in various arts and manufactures.]
MERCURY, or QUICKSILVER.-Mercury is found united
with sulphur in many parts of the earth, but the largest
mines of it are in Spain and Peru. One mine alone in
Spain employs about 1000 persons in working it. The
mercury is obtained from the sulphur with which it is
united, by placing the ore in close iron or earthen vessels
along with iron or lime. The vessels are then heated to
redness, and the sulphur unites with the lime or iron,
whilst the mercury is set free, and, being volatile, passes
off in vapours, which are cooled, when they condense into
the fluid metal. Mercury is a metal of a very brilliant
lustre, and a white colour, resembling silver. It is the
only metal that is melted by the warmth of our climate.
Near the poles, and even in some parts of Siberia, in win-
37. What of tin, and its various uses?
38. Where and how is quicksilver obtained?
39. Describe its nature, peculiarities, and uses.
25
ter, it is solid, but when brought to warmer climates it
melts; in this country it is always fluid. A small drop of
mercury placed on a flat surface, retains a round form, for
it does not adhere or stick to those objects with which it
is placed in contact—hence it readily rolls about if the sur-
face on which it be is at all inclined, and this power of
rolling readily over sloping surfaces, and its colour, have
gained for it the name of quicksilver. It is very easily
divided-a drop allowed to fall on the table separates into
an immense number of little globules, each of which re-
tains its round form, and runs about readily if the surface
of the table be not quite level. Mercury is quite free from
any taste or smell, and in the state of a metal is not poi-
sonous. The use of Mercury in the arts depends partly on
its being a volatile substance, and on the readiness with
which it combines with other metals, forming compounds
termed amalgams. Silver is extracted from its ore by be-
ing placed in contact with mercury, with which it unites
and becomes dissolved; the compound is then heated
strongly, and the mercury is driven off in vapour and
is collected for future use, whilst the silver remains
behind. It is used in the same manner in silvering or
plating small objects. (See SILVER.) It unites readily
with the common metals, tin and lead'; advantage is taken
of this circumstance in forming looking-glasses, which are
backed with a compound of tin and mercury. A small
piece of glass may be easily made into a looking-glass, by
taking a piece of tinfoil (which is merely tin beat out into
thin leaves); on this, which must be very smooth, some
mercury is to be spread quite evenly, and both covered by
a piece of very smooth paper; the glass is then to be laid
upon the paper, and pressed down, whilst the latter is
pulled steadily away, when the glass and the mercury will
come into contact, and if the operation has been skilfully
conducted, there will be no air bubbles, as they are drawn
out by the paper; if a weight is then put on the glass, so
as to press out the excess of mercury, a very tolerable
METALS.
40. What of its amalgams, and their use?
41. How are looking-glasses made?
3
26
mirror is the result. Large glasses are made on exactly
the same principle. The weight of mercury is very great
-it is thirteen times heavier than water; this circum-
stance, together with its being unchanged by the air, and
its fluid state, render it of great use in making philosophi-
cal instruments.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
It is also used in medicine when combined with other
substances. One very useful preparation of mercury is
calomel, and it also yields corrosive sublimate, a medicine
of very poisonous properties, which is much used for pre-
venting the dry rot in wood and cordage.
PEWTER.-Pewter is an alloy formed of tin, copper, an-
tirmony, lead, and different metals, according to the use to
which it is to be applied. The common pewter dishes
and measures for beer are made of tin, with one-twentieth
of its weight of copper melted together. The uses of
pewter depend upon a quality common to all mixtures of
metals, that they melt more easily than simple metals;
pewter melts readily, and is without trouble cast into any
required shape. When cold it is inelastic, and will bend
to some considerable extent without cracking; thus it is
advantageously employed for measures which are exposed
to great violence, as, if it is knocked out of shape, it can
be restored by beating. Compared with copper and other
metals that might be employed, it is cheap, and it answers
where cast iron would not, being too heavy and liable to
crack; it is also sufficiently soft to allow any name or ad-
dress to be engraved on without much trouble, and there-
fore cheaply.
Britannia metal may be regarded as a superior kind of
pewter, and, like the latter, its use depends on its cheap-
ness and on the ease with which it is melted, and on its
softness, enabling it to be turned in a lathe, and cut of any
required shape.
IRON.-Iron is, of all metals, the most useful and really
valuable to man-and, by the kind care of the Creator, it
42. What of pewter, its properties and uses?
METALS.
27
is one of the most abundant. It is found in every country
in soils, in rocks, and in quarries, combined with other
substances in the form of various ores, but it is very rarely
met with in a metallic state. [In the United States iron
mines are very numerous, particularly in Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Kentucky, Vermont, New Jersey, Massachusetts,
and New York. Pittsburgh is largely devoted to the manu-
facture of iron, and the extensive increase of mining and
manufacturing operations in this country is not yet suffi-
cient to meet the demand, so that large quantities of manu-
factured iron are still imported from Great Britain. The
amount of iron annually produced in the United States is
300,000 tons, and yet much more is consumed in this
country. Our railroads have used 40,000 tons annually,
and 50,000 tons are consumed annually in our own manu-
facture of nails. The annual value of the iron manufac-
tories of the United States is computed at 50 millions of
dollars. The most useful of all the ores of iron is that
which is termed clay iron ore, because the iron is united
with a large quantity of clay. It is from this ore that the
iron used in England is obtained; the first process is to
roast or heat the ore for some time, so as to drive away any
small portions of sulphur which it may contain; it is then
mixed with coke and lime, and the whole thrown into im-
mense furnaces, lighted, and kept at an intense heat by
blasts of hot air, forced in by steam-engines; the use of
the coke is to supply the heat as it burns, while the lime
unites with the clay and earthy matters of the ore; and
forms an easily melted mass, which is allowed to escape.
The melted iron, being the heaviest substance in the fur-
nace, sinks to the bottom, and every twelve hours is al-
lowed to flow out into channels made in sand. The shape
of these channels into which the melted iron runs and
cools, has caused the workmen to call the iron pig-iron,
and it is always known by this name in commerce. Thus
obtained, iron is usually very hard and brittle, and is
43. Why is iron the most abundant metal ?
44. Where is it abundant in the United States?
45. How is it obtained from its ores?
ال
1
28
melted without much difficulty and cast into various
articles; hence it is frequently termed cast-iron.
In order to form iron fit for the blacksmith's use, or
forged iron, as it is termed, the cast iron is melted by an
intense heat, and exposed to the air for about two hours; it
is then cooled suddenly, and again heated in another fur-
nace until it melts; after a short time it begins to thicken,
when it is taken out and beaten by heavy hammers, and
rolled under immense pressure whilst still hot-by these
operations its nature is much changed-it is no longer
brittle, but excessively tough and strong-infusible, and,
to a certain degree malleable.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
Forged or malleable iron, as thus produced, is usually
of a grayish white colour, with a slight shade of blue. It
is ductile to a very great degree, for it can be drawn into
wire less than a quarter of the size of human hair. It also
possesses a very considerable power of malleability, for it
can be rolled or hammered into sheets, although not into
such excessively thin leaves as gold, silver, or copper,
can; but the quality that renders iron of such extreme
use to man is its immense strength and toughness, or
tenacity-in which quality it exceeds that of all other
metals: if a chain or wire be required of great strength,
iron is taken to form it; if a tank or vessel to hold large
quantities of water is made, it is of iron, because it is the
strongest as well as the cheapest material that could be
employed. Forged iron, although it can scarcely be
melted by the most extreme heat, is readily worked into
any shape-for when heated to bright redness, or to white-
ness, it becomes sufficiently soft to be moulded by the heavy
blows of a hammer, or to be cut or punched with holes by
the tools of the blacksmith. Iron possesses an invaluable
property that is not found in any other common metal; it
is that of welding: when two pieces of iron are heated
to whiteness and hammered together, they unite firmly, and
are as strong at the place where they are joined as else-
46. How is iron forged and made, and how changed?
47. What of its ductility and malleability?
48. In what property does it excel the other metals?
29
where. Without this property iron chains could not be
made without soldering, and then the strength would be
so much lessened that they would not be fit for the uses to
which they are now applied, as for cables, harness for
wagon horses, &c. One would be apt to imagine that so
strong a metal would necessarily be very heavy; but as,
if it had been of very great weight, iron would not have
been so useful to man, it has been benevolently ordered by
a kind and thoughtful Providence that it should be very
light compared with the other metals; it is much lighter
than silver, copper, or lead.
[Ships of the largest class now traverse the ocean by
wind and steam, which are built entirely of iron, and such
is the control over this metal acquired by the improve-
ments of the blast furnace, slitting, and rolling mills, and
other modern inventions in mechanical skill, that iron can
now be moulded in any conceivable shape with as much
ease as though it were paper or cloth.]
Not only is iron valuable to us as a tough and some-
what malleable metal, but we possess the power of ren-
dering it very hard, and of removing this ductility: this is
done by cooling iron suddenly, by plunging it into water.
The blacksmith, after making a hoe or a ploughshare,
renders it still more valuable by hardening it as much as
possible, as, after it is once formed, it is not required to be
malleable; he does this by plunging it whilst hot into water;
and if at any time it should require altering in shape, it
has only to be heated in the forge, and it again becomes
malleable.
METALS.
Besides all these properties rendering it so valuable to
man, iron possesses another not less important than any
of those before mentioned. If bars of the best iron are
taken and surrounded with powdered charcoal, and then
heated to whiteness for some days, it is much changed in
its appearance-it has become excessively hard, and much
more elastic than before, and is called 'Steel. It is of this
49. What of welding and the weight of iron?
50. How is it hardened?
51. How is steel made, and to what uses is it applied?
3*
30
material that penknives, scissors, razors, table-knives, and
all cutting instruments are formed; the steel springs of
bells and watch-springs are also made of this substance.
It may strike us with surprise that so brittle a body as a
penknife, and so elastic a one as a watch-spring, can be
formed of the same material; but steel can be altered in
the same manner as iron is: by being suddenly cooled, it
becomes very hard and brittle, but if it is cooled very
slowly it is elastic and not so hard: by attention and ex-
perience the workman is enabled to give the exact degree
of hardness required to all steel instruments. Both iron
and steel are capable of being highly polished, and when
exposed to dry air they undergo no change, but if there is
much damp they become rusty. The rust of iron, how-
ever unlike the rust of copper, is not unwholesome, but,
on the contrary, it is, as well as many other preparations
of the metal, used as a strengthening medicine.
Iron is also used in dying black, and in making ink.
(See INK and NUTGALLS.)
The needle of the mariner's compass, which always
points to the poles, and so enables him to steer his ship
across the pathless ocean, is formed of iron or steel ren-
dered magnetic, either by rubbing with a loadstone, or
other means: not any of our common metals could be used
for the same purpose.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
[ZINC, is chiefly obtained from Germany and Belgium,
and is chiefly useful for combining with copper and other
metals, as in the manufacture of brass, bronze, &c. It has
been lately introduced for the manufacture of bath tubs,
pipes, and various utensils, but is not adapted to culinary
purposes, because of the poisonous nature of its salts.
The other metals enumerated will be found fully de-
scribed in the volume of this series entitled, the " Rudi-
ments of Chemistry."]
52. What difference between cooling it slowly and suddenly.
53. Name other valuable uses of iron and steel.
54. Whence is zine obtained, and its uses?
MINERALS.
MINERALS.
31
[A FEW only of this class of bodies will be described
here, and only those which are familiar to young persons.]
CHALK.-Chalk is a mineral substance, consisting of
lime, the acrid and caustic properties of which are de-
stroyed by its being united to carbonic acid gas. This
acid gas is given off if the chalk is placed in a stronger
acid, such as vinegar, and occasions a foaming or effer-
vescence.
When chalk is heated to redness, this gas is driven off
by the heat, and caustic lime remains.
It is in this way
that lime is formed, by burning the commoner kinds of
chalk or limestone in kilns.
Chalk is one of the most common minerals. It forms
several ranges of hills in the south of England, which are
distinguished by their rounded summits. [It was the hills
of chalk, the white cliffs of England, which conferred on
it the name of Albion, from albus, white. The chalk for-
mation is an important geological feature of that country,
and obtains an elevation in many places of nearly 1000
feet above the level of the sea.]
Limestone is an impure kind of chalk. Marble is of
the same nature as chalk, only of a harder texture.
As chalk lies near the surface, it is not obtained by
mining, but by simply digging pits or quarries.
Chalk is an article of very extensive use; it is of great
value to the farmer, from its improving the quality of
clayey lands. Its white colour and friable texture render
it useful for drawing, or writing on slates, wood, &c.
When chalk is finely powdered and mixed with water,
the latter becomes turbid or milky, from the finer particles
55. Name the composition of chalk.
56. Where is it found abundant?
57. Describe its properties and uses.
32
being suspended or held up in the water, while the coarser
sink to the bottom. If the water is poured off, it carries
all the finest powder with it. On being allowed to stand
undisturbed for some time, this settles at the bottom; it is
collected and sold under the name of whiting, for cleaning
metals, &c.; and when mixed with glue and water, it
forms whitewash.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
Chalk is used occasionally as a medicine, to correct
acidity in the stomach; for the same purpose it is placed
in calf-pens for the animals to lick.
CLAY.-Clay is an earthy substance, which is readily
distinguished by its forming a soft, inelastic, ductile mass
when moistened. It is opaque, and usually possesses a
very peculiar odour (clayey). Clay, when pure, is white,
as we find pipe clay and porcelain clay; but in general it
is deeply coloured by the mixture of other substances.
The greater part of the clay near London is of a bluish
tint; other kinds are of reddish brown, brown, &c.
Few mineral substances are of more importance to man
than clay; its great use in the arts arises from the valua-
ble property it possesses of becoming extremely hard when
exposed to great heat. From its softness and ductility it
can be formed into any required shape, which is readily
fixed by burning. Before the clay is made into vessels,
sand or flint finely powdered is mixed with it (see China),
which prevents it becoming cracked in burning. Vessels
formed of baked clay are hard, brittle, opaque, and porous,
permitting water slowly to pass through them; therefore,
before use, they require to be glazed. A description of
this process is inserted under the article "China." The
coarser kinds of clay are manufactured into bricks and
tiles; the clay being shaped in moulds, is dried in the sun,
and baked in kilns.
Clay is also used to form the bottoms of ponds and ca-
nals to prevent the water draining away; as the soft mass
it forms, when moistened, does not permit water to soak
through it.
58. What of clay, its varietios and uses?
33
All soils, except sandy heaths and deserts, contain a
large portion of clay mixed with the sandy and vegetable
substances that form the soil. Good loamy soils, when
dry, contain at least one-half their weight of clay. [All
clays contain alumine as their basis, of which alum is ob-
tained. They are called argillaceous earths, and combine.
various other substances, such as flint, oxide of iron, &c.,
the red colour, as of bricks, depending upon the presence
of iron in the clay.]
MINERALS.
COAL.-Coal is the name used by us to signify a black,
brittle, inflammable substance, found sometimes near the
surface, but usually at a considerable depth under the
earth. The word was originally applied to any substance
used for fuel, and in this sense it occurs frequently in the
New Testament. The general use of mineral, or sea coal,
as it was formerly termed, from being brought to us by sea,
did not prevail in London until little more than 200 years
ago. From its stony appearance, and being dug out of
the ground, coal is usually considered as a mineral sub-
stance; but there is no doubt of its being the remains of
vegetables. It is not uncommon to find pieces of coal dis-
tinctly fibrous like charcoal. In many mines the remains
of trees and plants are found only partly converted into
coal; even the leaves and fruits are sometimes seen. So
perfect are many of these parts, that it has been ascertained
that coals are the remains of such plants as fir-trees and
ferns, &c., of a kind that we are not now acquainted with.
Coal is found in beds or layers, deep under the surface of
the ground; each of the layers is usually from three or
four, to eight or nine feet in thickness, and they lie one
over the other, separated by layers of rock or stone. Some-
times the stone between the layers of coal is ironstone,
which is also valuable.
The process of obtaining coal is termed mining, and as
the expense is very great, mines are usually worked by a
company of persons. When by boring down into the
59. Of what ingredients is clay composed?
60. Describe coal, its nature, and use.
4
34
earth coal is discovered, an immense well, eight or ten
feet in diameter, is dug, and if necessary, the sides of it
are bricked all round. This well is called a shaft. When
it is dug down to a layer or seam of coal, they make large
passages about twelve feet broad, and as high as the layer
of coal is. There are usually two of these passages made
at first, extending in opposite directions; the coal which
is dug out of them being drawn to the surface by a large
steam-engine placed there. From these two large pas-
sages proceed others of a smaller size at right angles; and
at last a large number of passages are formed (like streets
in a town), and they are separated by immense square
pillars of coal left to support the roof. If the mine becomes
larger, a second shaft has to be dug, in order that all the
foul and explosive air that is frequently given out by the
coal, should be carried out by a thorough draught of pure
air, which is caused to rush down one shaft, and up the
other. The draught is directed by doors being shut across
passages, where it is not required.
The dangers of working the mines are many: some-
times the roof falls in, crushing the workmen; sometimes
large springs open into the mine, drowning many; and gas
escapes from the coal, which takes fire from some light
coming in contact with it, killing all in the mine; or a
suffocating gas chokes them. The explosions are now
much prevented by the use of a lamp enclosed in a case
of wire gauze, which prevents the flame passing out so as
to set fire to the gas. [This was invented by Sir Humphry
Davy, and is called a safety lamp.]
Coal is a black, brittle substance, inflammable at a red
heat, when it burns with much flame, from the gas that is
formed. The use of coal for fuel is very great, not only
for our houses, but for manufactures; without coal no iron
could be obtained, nor glass, nor porcelain, nor, in fact,
any of the numerous things formed by the aid of furnaces.
Besides these purposes to which coal is applied, when
heated in iron vessels, it gives out gas, which is carried
MINERAL KINGDOM.
61. What of mining for coal, and its dangers ?
62. What is the safety-lamp, and its use?
35
by iron pipes, to the houses in towns, and is of great use
in lighting the streets at night. After the coal has given
out its gas, it is still very valuable, as it burns with a clear
fire without flame or smoke; in this state it is called coke.
From the gas factory, tar and several other substances are
produced.
[The coal mines of the United States are numerous,
and in quality as well as extent unsurpassed in the world.
The anthracite coal found in so rich abundance in Penn-
sylvania, possesses peculiarly advantageous properties for
manufacturing purposes, by the absence of any considera-
ble proportion of sulphur, and other deleterious admixtures,
so objectionable in bituminous coal. The expense of work-
ing iron with this coal is diminished more than 50 per
cent., while there is less waste, and the metal is found to
have more malleability and tenacity, and is every way su-
perior. So, also, for all other manufacturing and mechani-
cal purposes this coal is vastly preferable.
Moreover these mines, for the most part, are not subter-
raneous, the removal of a few inches of the soil only being
necessary, in many cases, to reach the coal. The iron ore,
in exhaustless beds, lies beside the coal, as though infinite
wisdom had designed thus to facilitate this important ina-
nufacture, so invaluable to man. Who can enumerate,
much less estimate, the utility of mineral coal? It sup-
plies fuel for an innumerable population, though every
other material for the purpose may be exhausted; it fur-
nishes gas to light up the houses and streets of our cities;
it turns the wheels of our million of factories, devoted to
every species of manufacture and machinery; it impels
the locomotive upon its track, with its lengthened train and
ponderous load, almost annihilating time and space upon
the land; and it covers the ocean with swift-winged steam
ships, which defy the winds, and tides, and waves, thus
bringing into frequent and almost daily intercourse the in-
habitants of the most distant countries, and exchanging the
MINERALS.
63. What of anthracite coal in America ?
64. For what purposes is coal valuable?
36
MINERAL KINGDOM.
products of every clime. And yet there are countless
millions of acres in our country, beneath which lie ex-
haustless beds of the richest coal, amply sufficient to sup-
ply the world for ages. And this in close proximity with
mountains of iron ore, which yield abundantly to the
miner's toil, and, if improved will be far more valuable than
the mines of gold which are wrought in Mexico or Peru.
A single bed of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania is ascer-
tained to be 60 miles long, two miles wide, and 100 feet
deep! While in the western counties of the same state
the bituminous coal is even more abundant, covering more
than 70,000 square miles. So also in Maryland, a single
field covers 400 square miles; in Ohio more than 12,000
square miles of coal are found, while in Virginia there
are immense beds, more than 60 feet deep, and of un-
known extent. Large amounts of coal are also found in
the southern, western, and some of the northern states.
The supply, therefore, furnished all over the United States,
must ultimately be a source of immense wealth to our
growing country, and be equal to any demand.]
EMERY POWDER.-Emery is a very hard opaque grey
mineral, commonly found in large shapeless masses at the
foot of several mountains in the islands of the Grecian
Archipelago. Small quantities are also found in our own
country in iron mines, &c.
Emery is a substance of extreme hardness; it is in con-
sequence of its possessing this property that it is so very
useful in the arts as a polishing material. To fit it for
this purpose, it is powdered in large iron mortars, or steel
mills; the finer parts are then separated by mixing the
powder with water, and allowing the coarser particles to
subside, when the water containing the finer powder is
poured off, and after long standing the latter sinks to the
bottom. By this operation emery is reduced to a very fine
powder; so fine that it will polish metals, &c. without
scratching them. Emery powder thus formed is used in
various arts. By lapidaries, for grinding and polishing
precious stones; by opticians, for polishing glasses; by
MINERALS.
37
cutlers, in finishing their instruments; and also by masons
in polishing marble.
Emery is also used in making emery paper. A strong
cement is spread upon strong coarse paper, and powdered
emery of the requisite degree of fineness sprinkled on it.
When dry, this paper is much used in cleaning iron in-
struments of various kinds. [Emery cloth is now preferred,
calico being substituted for paper, and is very useful in the
arts.]
FLINT.-Flint or silex is a mineral substance of extreme
hardness, but very brittle, and when broken, yielding sharp-
edged pieces. When struck against iron or steel, its sharp
edge and excessive hardness enable it to cut away a piece
of the iron, which being heated to redness by the force of
the blow, flies off in a bright spark. Hence, before the
introduction of chemical matches, a flint and steel, with
some easily inflamed tinder and a sulphur match, were
the usual means employed in obtaining an artificial light
in this country. Flints are usually of a blackish brown
colour, and, when thin, are semi-transparent. They are
found in immense numbers amongst the beds of chalk in
this and all other countries. When heated to redness,
flints lose their colour, becoming grayish white, and per-
fectly opaque. In this state, they are extensively employed
in the manufacture of all kinds of pottery ware.
China.)
(See
Flints are used in countries where they are large and
abundant, for building houses, &c.; for which purpose
they are well adapted, as the rough surface gives a firm
hold to the mortar, and their indestructible nature resists
every change of weather. They are also used for road
making, but for this purpose they are not well fitted; as,
from their extreme brittleness, they are rapidly ground to
dust; at the same time, their hardness wears away with
great quickness the shoes of the horses, and even the iron
tire of the wheels.
65. What of emery, and its uses?
66. Describe flint and its properties.
4
38
MINERAL KINGDOM.
They are also employed in gun-locks for lighting the
powder in the pan. For this purpose they are cut into a
peculiar shape by the dexterous blows of hammers and
the use of a chisel, which is fixed, the flint being struck
on the edge. So expert do the workmen become by prac-
tice, that one man will in three days make a thousand gun
flints.
SALT.—The valuable substance known by the name of
salt is found in the greatest abundance in nature, and în
situations where both man and animals can easily obtain
it. Thus the waters of the ocean contain a very large
quantity, and in order to produce it from them, nothing
more is required than to allow the waters to evaporate,
when the salt remains behind. In this manner an im-
mense quantity is annually procured in England and in
other countries.
Formerly the water was allowed to evaporate in the
open air, aided by the heat of the sun; but the plan now
pursued is to boil away the water in metal pans. In the
interior of different countries a great number of salt
springs and lakes arise, from the water of which salt is ob-
tained in a similar manner.
Large solid beds or layers of this substance, several
yards in depth, are found in many places under the sur-
face of the earth; when thus found, it is called rock salt.
In England it occurs in the greatest abundance at North-
wich, in Cheshire. It is found there in two layers; the
one nearest the surface is about thirty to fifty yards under
ground, and it is about twenty yards thick. The salt,
however, is coloured, like coarse sugar candy, and is ren-
dered impure by being mixed with earthy substances.
Below this is a layer of stone, in its turn resting upon a
bed of salt forty yards thick, which is generally perfectly
transparent and colourless.
From these various sources 500,000 tons of salt are an-
nually obtained for the consumption of England alone.
67. To what uses are flints applied?
68. What of salt, and whence procured?
69. By what process may it be obtained?
70. Is salt found in a solid state, and where?
39
[Brine springs, or Salines, as they have been called, -
are very numerous in the United States, especially in
western New York, as on the borders of Onondaga lake,
where the brine is of such strength that from some of the
wells or springs 30 to 40 gallons will yield a bushel of
excellent salt. Nearly four millions of bushels are annu-
ally produced at these works. Solar evaporation, the
gradual application of artificial heat, and rapid boiling in
kettles are all employed in manufacturing salt at the Onon-
daga springs.]
MINERALS.
ST
From whatever source procured, salt, if pure, is a white
crystalline solid, of a peculiar taste, readily soluble in
water, to which it imparts its peculiar taste, and whose
weight it increases. It is one of the most important mine-
rals to man; its use as a wholesome seasoning to food is
well known. It has also the valuable property of keep-
ing flesh from putrefaction, and it is therefore employed
in preserving meat for sea voyages.
It is used in immense quantities in curing or drying
fish, as cod, herrings, &c.
It is extremely beneficial to domestic cattle, and is much
liked by them; the fattening effects of the food in the salt
marshes of the coast is well known. The wild animals
of many parts often perform long migrations in order to
obtain this substance.
Salt is used as a manure in some peculiar soils, and also
for the glazing of very coarse earthenware; and in all
chemical factories it is extensively required.
That a substance so invaluable to man should be so
abundant, and so universally distributed, is one of the
proofs which so continually present themselves, of the
foresight and goodness of the Creator.
SAND.-A hard granular mineral substance, formed of
the silex or the same material as flint; which occurs in some
places on the surface of the ground, in others under the
surface; it is also found forming the beds of many rivers,
and the shores of the sea.
71. Where found in the United States ?
72. Name its properties and its uses.
$
}
40
{
1
MINERAL KINGDOM.
Where the surface of the earth is to a great extent
covered with sand, it is called a desert, or downs.
Deserts of sand of an immense extent are extremely
common in Africa, Arabia, and Persia. The sands form-
ing them are blown about by the high winds, like the
waves of the sea, burying caravans of travellers and
camels. Other dangers assail those who venture across
these deserts; springs seldom occur, and if the water they
carry with them is exhausted, all must perish of thirst.
In England and our own country downs of sand are not
uncommon. They are formed by the waves of the sea,
driving a quantity of fine sand on the beach; this is car-
ried forward by the wind when it blows inland, and is
deposited. Sometimes even a large tract of country is
thus converted into downs, and villages and towns have
been gradually overwhelmed by mounds of sand. This
event occurred some years ago to the town of Findhorn,
on the coast of Morayshire, in Scotland, where a fertile
and highly productive district of ten square miles in extent
has been rendered barren by being gradually covered with
drifting sand. The same effect also takes place on the
west coast of the Hebrides; the inhabitants, however,
partly succeed in preventing it, by setting reeds and grass
in the sands; these take root, and thus bind the sands
together.
Sand is a material of great value for many purposes in
the arts. The whiter kinds are used extensively in making
glass (see glass). The coarser kinds are used for making
mortar (see mortar); and also in brickmaking; for ma-
nuring heavy clay soils, which they render lighter and
more pervious to water, and thus allow the roots of plants
to penetrate more freely.
•
Sand is also useful in cleaning and scouring, by its gritty
nature helping to remove dirt; and some kinds are used to
make the moulds in which melted metal is cast for cannon,
and in which iron, brass, and other metal articles are cast.
73. Define sand, and its most abundant sources.
74. What is said of deserts, and downs of sand?
75. Name the uses of sand in the arts, &c.
}
41
SLATE.-Slate is a kind of stone not crystallized, but
foliated, or composed of flat layers, which may be easily
separated from one another. In colour it varies very
much; the most common is bluish black; other kinds are
green, brown, bluish, &c. Slate is not a very heavy stone,
it being about three times the weight of water.
The slate used in England is dug out of the open quar-
ries of Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Wales, and Derbyshire,
&c. It is obtained in large flat pieces by means of wedges;
and these are again divided into thinner portions, by the
use of smaller wedges. Some of the larger and thicker
pieces are sawn, like stone, into the required shape.
Slate, from its lightness and its being impervious to
water, is much used for covering roofs of houses, &c.
When applied in this way, it is split into layers of the re-
quired thickness; these are pierced with holes and fast-
ened with pegs to the laths of the roof, the top ones being
made to overlap the lower (like the scales of a fish) so as
to keep out the rain. For this purpose pieces are taken
that are very free from pores, smooth, and that split readily.
It is ascertained to be free from pores by placing a portion
in water, weighing it both before and after it is put in; if
it is found to have increased much in weight by absorbing
water, it is not used for roofing, as such slate not only
allows the rain water to soak through and rot the wood
work underneath, but it becomes covered with mosses,
which also retain the moisture.
MINERALS.
Writing slates are made from the smoothest pieces;
these are split, when fresh from the quarry, as they divide
more readily at that time. They are then ground smooth
with fine sand, and in that state used for writing on with
slate pencil, which is nothing more than the softest and
most splintery kind of slate cut up into the required size.
Slate is now getting into use for many purposes to
which it was not formerly applied; thus it is sometimes
used for grave-stones, chimney-pieces, for paving, and also
76. What of slate, and its varieties?
77. Whence obtained, and how prepared?
78. To what uses is slate chiefly applied?
79. What of slates and pencils?
4*
4
I
42
MINERAL KINGDOM.
for making water cisterns: for which purpose the less
absorbent slabs are well adapted, as they neither absorb
the water, or even grease, should it come in contact with
them. For this reason slate cannot be painted, as the paint
readily peals off when dry. Inkstands, slabs, and various
small articles, are now frequently made from slate.
!
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
ALUM.-This substance is found, occurring naturally,
near volcanoes. It is also prepared by a chemical pro-
cess, from alumine, a kind of bluish-gray slaty mineral,
found at Paisley, and at Whitley, in Yorkshire, at which
places are the chief alum factories of England.
[It is also abundant in many parts of America, espe-
cially in the state of New York.]
Alum is a saline substance, soluble in water; and on
the water being allowed to evaporate, it is left in the form
of crystals, in which state it is usually sold in the shops.
It contains so much water-nearly half its weight-that
when heated it melts, and the water gradually boils away,
leaving a dry white powder, which is sold by the chemists
as burnt alum. The taste of alum is astringent, but at the
same time sweetish. It is transparent and colourless.
The uses of alum in the arts are very numerous, as, in the
manufacture of many colours for painters; in dyeing, and
in printing calico. In preparing some kinds of leather it
is much employed (see Leather). Candle makers use it
to harden and whiten tallow; and bakers to whiten the
80. Name its other properties and uses.
81. Where is alum found, native and otherwise?
82. What is alum, as found in the shops ?
83. Name its properties and uses.
}
43
bread; the latter should rather be termed an abuse than
a use, as it is injurious to the health. Alum is a valuable
medicine, acting as a powerful astringent; hence it is used,
when dissolved, as a gargle in relaxed sore throats; and it
is also employed to stop bleeding from leech-bites.
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
CHINA, EARTHENWARE, AND RED WARE.-These three
substances, which are sometimes classed together under
the name of pottery, are so much alike in their composi
tion and manufacture that it would occasion great repeti-
tion to describe them separately. It will be better, there-
fore, to treat of their manufacture together, and state the
points in which they differ afterwards.
The ingredients used in making pottery are clay and
flint. The quality of the clay is of great importance; that
used in England is principally brought from Dorsetshire
and Devonshire (although, for making china, a very supe-
rior kind is obtained from Cornwall). The clay is mixed,
usually, by the aid of machinery, with very pure water,
until it is of the thickness of cream. This mixture is
strained through lawn sieves, in order perfectly to sepa-
rate from it any grit. The flints used are burnt in a kiln,
and whilst red hot, thrown into cold water; this renders
them brittle, and, consequently, more easily ground. When
they are reduced to powder, which is done in a mill, they
are mixed with a large quantity of water, and much stirred,
or agitated; this causes the finer parts to mix with the
water, while the coarser powder settles at the bottom.
The water and the fine powder are then drawn off, and
allowed to stand for some time, when the latter settles at
the bottom, and the greater part of the water is poured
away.
The potter then mixes together, in a large vat, the
requisite proportions of the clay and water, and the flint
and water. When the whole is thoroughly mixed, it is
passed several times through a fine silk sieve, not only to
ensure its freedom from grit, but also its perfect uniformity.
This mixture of clay, flint, and water (which is called slip)
84. What varieties of pottery are spoken of?
85. Of what ingredients, and how mixed?
44
is then pumped into a boiler, or kiln, and the water evapo-
rated, or boiled away, until the mass is left of a proper con-
sistence for working. As soon as removed from the kiln,
it is beaten with wooden mallets, in order to expel any air
it may contain, and is then fit for being formed into the
different vessels for which it is designed.
The clay thus prepared is formed into the shape of the
vessels required, in three different ways. The first method
is called by the workmen throwing, and is performed by
means of the potter's wheel. This consists of a small round
table, at which the potter sits, and which is turned round
and round by an assistant working a handle. On this
table, or wheel, articles of a circular or round form are
made. A lump of prepared clay, and flint, of the proper
size, is thrown upon the centre of this table, which is then
put in motion by a woman, and as it turns round with the
clay, the thrower, or potter, fashions or moulds the latter
into the desired shape, forming a hollow in it, by pressing
with his thumbs in the middle, drawing it out at the edges,
and moulding it until it is finished. The table, or wheel,
is then stopped, and the article is separated from it by
drawing a wire underneath. It is then carried to a ware-
room to harden.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
The articles made by the potter's wheel are rough, and
not finished in shape. A teacup, for instance, has not the
foot nicely formed; it is not hollow underneath, or round
at the edge. In order to give the articles the exact shape
required, they are turned in a lathe, like that used by
wood turners, and cut and smoothed with iron instruments.
Such vessels as require handles and spouts, are taken, after
being turned, to the handler, who forms the handles, &c.
in moulds, and fixes them on with soft clay, or slip. There
are, however, many oval or angular articles, such as cream
jugs, &c., that cannot be formed by the potter's wheel; these
are made by pressing the soft clay into moulds of the re-
quired shape, made of plaster of Paris.
Plates, saucers, and other flat articles, are formed by
pressing the soft clay on moulds, which are the shape
86. What of throwing, and how performed?
L
+
--
•
!
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
45
of the inside of the saucer, &c., and smoothing the out-
side.
In whatever manner the vessels are formed, they are al-
lowed some time to become dry, when they are carefully
placed in large clay boxes, called seggars, and baked in
an oven, or kiln. When first put in, the fire is moderate,
but it is afterwards increased, until the whole is brought
to a white heat. Baking the article occupies about forty-
eight hours, and the oven is allowed gradually to cool for
twenty-four hours before it is opened.
The pottery, after baking, is hard and firm, but at the
same time porous, and not waterproof. In this state it is
called biscuit, or biscuit porcelain.
The next operation is to form on it the patterns which
are to ornament it. This is done by first printing the pat-
terns in the desired colours, on tissue paper. The pattern
is then cut out from the sheet of paper, and pressed upon
the vessel, which, being porous, absorbs the colour; the
tissue paper is then washed off, and the colour dried in by
heat.
To render these porous vessels fit for holding liquids,
they must be glazed: this is done by dipping them in a
liquid, which is generally formed of white lead, ground
flint, and water. They are then heated in the glazing
oven to a sufficient degree to melt the glaze, which runs
over and covers the surface, rendering it impervious to
water.
:
The difference between china, earthenware, and red
ware, is simply owing to the different kinds of clay and
other materials used. For china, a very pure white clay
is necessary this is obtained from Cornwall. In the
manufacturing, the china is so highly heated as nearly to
melt; thus it becomes semi-transparent. For earthenware,
a less pure clay is obtained from Dorset; and for the
coarse red ware, a large portion of common red clay is
used. [In various parts of America the porcelain earths
are found, but the best is in Delaware near Wilmington.
87. How are the articles otherwise formed?
88. What of baking, and how ornamented?
89. How is the glazing done, and its use?
#
·
#
t
{
MINERAL KINGDOM.
1
f
46
The only porcelain manufactory in America is at Phila-
delphia.]
i
90. What of the varieties of porcelain, &c ?
91. What of chloride of lime, and its properties?
$
CHLORIDE OF LIME.-This substance is formed by
placing fresh burnt lime in chambers or closed vessels,
where it is exposed to a gas called chlorine; which it
absorbs in great quantity, and acquires its peculiar odour.
The gas chlorine is distinguished by several remarkable
properties; it possesses a most peculiar odour, it destroys
all vegetable colours placed in it-hence its great use in
bleaching; it also removes infection, or any unpleasant
smell arising from decaying substances. It is, if breathed
in small quantities, extremely wholesome; but if much
of it is mixed with the air, it is irritating to a very great
degree. The use of chloride of lime depends on the fact
that if exposed to the air, it gives out its chlorine: and in
such a gradual manner, that the unpleasant effects of the
gas are not produced, whilst enough is set free to destroy
bad smells, or prevent infection. If it is required to purify
a room more rapidly, some acid, such as oil of vitriol and
water, may be added, when the gas is given out much
more rapidly.
It is recommended that all school-rooms in close and
crowded districts should be fumigated with this powerfully
disinfecting gas once a week at least. If after school-
hours a small quantity, such as an ounce or two, of chloride
of lime be placed in a saucer, and a small quantity of oil
of vitriol, with three times its bulk of water, be added to
it, chlorine is given out; if then the doors, &c. be closed,
the room will be completely purified by the morning. If
not done in ordinary periods, it is the bounden duty of all
persons in authority over schools to see that during the
prevalence of infectious disorders, the school-room be not
the means of conveying death into many families. This
may be readily and effectually accomplished by fumigat-
ing with the gas as described. Immense quantities of
47
chloride of lime are used in bleaching calicoes, linen, &c.
&c.
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
GLASS.-White Glass, and Green Bottle Glass.-Glass
is an artificial mineral substance, made by melting toge-
ther sand or flint, and an alkali, either potash or soda.
The invention has been known to man many hundred
years, perhaps, before the Christian era. Neither the date
nor the mode of its discovery are certain, though it is
sometimes stated that it was found out by accident; and
that some sailors making a large fire on the sea beach, the
potash contained in the ashes of the wood they used united
by the heat with the sand of the beach and melted into
glass. This occurrence is supposed to have taken place
on the coast of Syria, where it is certain that glass was
first manufactured.
In England and America the manufacture of glass is now
brought to as great a degree of perfection as in any other
countries. The materials used for flint or white glass are
sand, potash, the preparations of lead, termed red lead, and
litharge; with a small quantity of some other mineral sub-
stances. These, after being well purified, are perfectly.
mixed, and are then melted together; being exposed to
an intense heat in large melting pots made of clay, and
built into an immense furnace. The sand and potash are
the essential articles in the making of the glass but the
lead is added in large quantities, as it is found to make the
glass melt much more readily, also to give it greater bril-
liancy, and to render it less liable to crack. When these
ingredients are thoroughly melted and united (which pro-
cess usually takes two or three days) the mouth of the
melting pot is opened, and the liquid glass within is ready
to be formed into any shape desired, by the workmen.
The mode adopted is, to take on the end of an iron tube
some of this substance, which is then in a moist, tenacious
and plastic state, and to blow through the tube and roll the
soft mass on flat iron plates, pressing it with various shaped
92. How used for fumigation, and why?
93. How is glass made, and how discovered?
¦
!
}
:
{
48
tools. The workman at last fashions it to the shape de-
sired, which it retains when cold. Perhaps no other sub-
stance known could be moulded into such a variety of forms;
for melted glass seems to exceed all things in its ductility
and tenacity. Its consistence is something between that
of soft putty and treacle, neither solid nor liquid, but ca-
pable of being bent, blown out, pulled, pressed, twisted, or
cut, so as to assume at the will of the workman the various
forms required. When the glass articles are made, they
have to be annealed, that is, cooled slowly in an oven
formed for that purpose: if they did not undergo this
process, they would crack on the slightest blow, and
would not bear warm liquids, &c. The qualities that ren-
der glass so valuable when manufactured, are its hardness,
and the polish of its surface, which renders it so readily
cleaned when soiled-its beautiful transparency, enabling
us to perceive its contents when it is used to form vessels
for liquids-its being so incorrosive that it is not acted
upon by any ordinary substances, not even by the strong-
est acids, with one exception. Its value, again, as a sub-
stance for glazing windows depends on its transparency
and its insolubility; so that whilst it admits the light, and
even the warmth of the sun, it perfectly excludes the wind
and wet, and even to a great extent the cold. It is, in
fact, only the circumstance of its being so common, so
constantly before our eyes, that renders us usually insen-
sible to its exceeding value and its great beauty.
Although glass readily allows the light to pass through
it, yet when it is made into certain shapes it has a great
effect upon the light, sometimes bringing it into one point,
&c.;
such pieces of glass are termed lenses, and are used
for making telescopes, microscopes, &c., and singly for
spectacles.
The dark green glass, of which wine bottles are made,
is merely glass of the coarsest kind; it being made
MINERAL KINGDOM.
94. Describe its manufacture.
95. What are the properties of melted glass?
96. Describe annealing, and the value of glass.
97. What useful instruments are made of it?
{
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
49
of the common dark-coloured sand, and the coarsest
alkali.
KEY.-The use of this instrument is so well known as
scarcely to need description. Its value depends upon the
circumstance of the lock it is made to open being so formed,
by a number of thin pieces of metal, termed wards, placed
in its interior, that the key to open it must have a part
filed away to correspond with each ward, so that it may
turn round and push back the catch or bolt. The parts
of the key are termed by the maker the bow, the shank,
and the bit. Until within about fifty years, keys were
made by being hammered out of a bar of hot iron on an
anvil; they are now formed by placing a piece of iron of
the required shape, previously heated, under a powerful
stamp, which forms the bow, the shank, and bit; the key
is then filed smooth, the shank bored or turned, and is then
sold to the locksmith under the name of a blank. It is from
these blanks of various sizes that the locksmith pre-
pares keys, filing the bits so as to suit any lock they are
making.
MORTAR.-Mortar is a substance which, from possessing
the power of hardening gradually from a soft state, is used
for the purpose of cementing together the bricks or stone
used in building.
Mortar is formed of lime, fresh burnt and slaked, and
sand; water being added in sufficient. quantity to make
the whole mixture a soft paste, when the materials are
well worked up together. The proportions employed are
usually one bushel of lime and one bushel and a half of
sand; but, for particular purposes, these quantities are
varied. As thus formed, the mortar is spread between
the bricks, &c. of a building, and, by being exposed to the
air, it gradually hardens, from the water evaporating, and
also from the lime undergoing a chemical change, which
renders it insoluble, by uniting or combining with water;
98. Explain the nature of a key and lock.
99. What improvement in making keys ?
..
5
50
{
MINERAL KINGDOM.
therefore, mortar which has hardened or set, as it is termed,
is not softened when exposed to wet, hence its great use
in building.
NEEDLES. These small, but at the same time exceed-
ingly valuable instruments, are made in immense numbers
in England, both for home use and for exportation. The
material from which they are made is soft steel wire of the
required thickness: this is bought by the needle-maker in
large coils, each of which contains enough wire to make
many thousand needles; the coil is divided into pieces the
length required for two needles, which is usually about
three inches; large shears are used capable of cutting a
hundred wires at once. Many thousands of these pieces
are then taken and made into bundles, being kept to-
gether by a ring of steel at each end; they are then placed
in a furnace and heated to redness, when they are taken
out and laid on a flat iron plate; the worker then with a
steel bar rolls the wires (still kept together by the rings at
each end).
After this stage of the manufacture, the wires are per-
fectly straight, of the required length for two needles, blunt
at each end, and dull, from having been heated in the
furnace. The next step is to grind a point at each end
of the wire this is done very quickly, by the aid of a
small grindstone revolving very rapidly. The grinder
takes from fifty to a hundred of these wires between the
palm and fingers of his hands; and as he presses them
against the quick moving stone, he so guides his fingers
as to cause all the wires to roll round, and thus be ground
to a point. So expert do the grinders become by practice,
that they will point a handful of these wires, about a
hundred in number, in half a minute, or about ten thousand
in an hour. Whilst being ground, each wire of the
hundred sends out a stream of sparks, and together they
form a bright glare of light. Pointing the wires is the
most unhealthy part of the manufacture; for the fine dust
100. What of mortar, its nature and uses?
51
is carried into the lungs of the workmen, and destroys them
in a few years, not many living beyond the age of forty.
The wires, thus pointed at each end, are taken to the
stamping machine; which is nothing more than a heavy
hammer of about thirty pounds' weight, moved up and
down by a lever worked by the foot. The under surface
of this hammer is so formed, that when the workman lets
it fall upon the wire midway between the two ends or
points, it forms the gutters or little grooves in which the
eye is afterwards made; and the anvil on which the wire
rests when the hammer strikes it, is likewise so formed
that it makes the two grooves on the other side of the
wire.
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
Besides making the grooves, the stamper, or hammer,
partly makes the eyes for the two needles. The wires
then go to a boy, who takes a number of them in his left
hand, spreading them out flat, whilst with his right he
works a press moving two hard steel points or piercers;
and as he places each wire beneath the points, he works
the press, and the points come down and cut out the eyes
for the two needles. Each wire now nearly resembles
two rough unpolished needles fastened together in a
straight line, by their heads; and as it would take much
time to divide each wire separately into two needles, a
little contrivance is adopted by which many are divided
at once. A boy takes two fine wires in his right hand, and,
holding them close together, he spits or threads the double
needles upon them, and they are then taken to the filer,
who separates each bundle into two halves, each of which
consists of a number of rough unpolished needles strung
on a fine wire. As it is possible that during the numerous
operations the needles may have become bent, they are
rolled under a steel bar to straighten them; this process is
done by hand. They are then hardened, by being heated
in a furnace, and then suddenly plunged into cold water
or oil.
After hardening, they have again to be heated to
temper them, so that they may not be brittle. They are
again straightened by being hammered on small bright an-
vils with tiny hammers by girls; and now they are finished
all but the polishing and packing up. The first is accom-
:
i
52
plished by taking about twenty or thirty thousand needles,
laying them straight side by side upon a piece of thick
canvass; they are then smeared with oil and emery.
The canvass is rolled up, and rubbed under a press like a
mangle, for many hours; after polishing they are examined,
and the broken ones removed. Should drilled-eyed needles
be required, they undergo another operation, the object of
which is to take off the rough edge of the eye, and to
polish the head more completely: but this is only done to
the finest kinds; lastly, they are counted in bundles of
twenty-five, and enclosed in small papers for sale.
The chief place for the manufacture in England is Red-
ditch, in Worcestershire, where, it is stated, 70,000,000
per week are manufactured.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
NAILS.-Nails are small instruments (usually made of
iron) used for the purpose of fastening together separate
pieces of wood, or other substances. Each nail consists
of three important parts, the point, the shank or body, and
the head. The use of the point is to enable the nail to
enter the wood more readily, when struck by the hammer,
and also to lesson the probability of its cracking, or split-
ting the wood. The shank or body of the nail is usually
left somewhat rough, so that when driven into the wood it
is firmly retained. The head of the nail also offers a
greater security against slipping, and it is variously
shaped, according to the uses for which the nail is re-
quired. Those called tacks, used for nailing down car-
pets, &c., are furnished with flat round heads, in order
that they may, without cutting, hold the carpet securely;
whilst the nails used by carpenters to fasten down the
flooring of rooms have small heads, that can be readily
struck so far into the wood as not to project and cause ir-
regularities on the floor. Nails are generally made by
hand, by persons who work with a blacksmith's forge,
having the usual description of bellows and hammers, of
101. How are needles made?
102. Describe the complicated process.
103. What of nails and their use?
$
1:
=
53
a larger and smaller size, according to the size of nails to
be made.
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
The persons pursuing this employment, whether men
or women, are termed nailors. They use iron which has
been rolled at the foundry into thin rods. One end of
these rods is heated in the forge, and then hammered on an
anvil, whilst still soft, to a point; and the length of rod re-
quisite to form a nail is then cut off, when the rod is im-
mediately placed in the fire to be reheated, during which
process the head of the nail cut off is formed by hammer-
ing the nail into a hole in a steel instrument called a bore,
the hole being the shape of the head required. The mak-
ing of a nail takes a much less time than the description
of the operation. One man has been known to make
17,000 in one week; and the usual number of nails made
by one workman in a week is 6000.
[In the United States the manufacture of nails has be-
come very extensive. It is computed that no less than 50
millions of nails are made in this country every day, and
even this falls far short of the demand, and hence the ex-
tensive importation of nails from Great Britain.
1
The flat nails, called brads, are cut out of sheet iron by
the aid of powerful and complicated machinery.]
KNIFE.-Knives or cutting instruments of some de-
scription have been used by man from the earliest ages of
the world, both for slaughtering animals and cutting up
food, &c. The knives at first made were probably of sharp
shells, flints, or other hard stones; metals being then un-
known. The knives mentioned in the earlier passages of
Scripture were probably of this description. (Exod.
vi. 25.)
At the present day knives are almost exclusively made
of steel; the maker being termed a cutler. Clasp knives
consist of several distinct parts-namely, the blade, the
spring, the iron sides, and the scales.
The blade is made out of a rod of steel: one end of
104. How made and by whom?
105. What of knives and their parts?
5*
}
54
this being heated to redness, is hammered to the shape re-
quired, and then cut off with the part to form the joint
while hot. The small recess called the nail hole, for open-
ing the blade, is made by means of a chisel of the shape
required, which is struck upon it. The blades are har-
dened by heating them to redness, and plunging them into
cold water, and they are afterwards tempered to prevent
their being too brittle. The iron sides and the spring are
also forged by the workmen. The scales (as they are
termed), whether of iron, ivory, mother-of-pearl, or wood,
are then taken, and the whole, having been drilled to cor-
respond in the places where the rivets are to pass through,
are at first loosely pinned together with bits of wire; and
when each part is exactly fitted by filing, &c., the rivets
are tightened by hammering. The sides and back of the
handle have now to be scraped and polished; this is done
on a wheel, somewhat like a grindstone, covered with
leather, on which is placed at first sand, and afterwards oil
and rotten stone. The blade is lastly ground and polished,
and the knife is then fit for use.
MINERAL KINGDOM.
The maker's name is usually punched on when the
steel is soft. The use of knives depends entirely on the
excessive hardness of the steel with which the blades are
formed; this allows a very sharp edge to be given to them,
which is preserved for some time.
PIN. This small instrument, from its extensive use, is
an important article of manufacture. It is stated that
there are made in England, for home use and exportation,
more than 15,000,000 pins daily. [They are also very
extensively manufactured in America, and a large estab-
lishment for the purpose is conducted in the city of New
York.]
The mode of making pins is as follows. A quantity of
brass wire, of the requisite size, is first cleaned by soaking
it in dilute oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) and water; it is
then straightened and cut into pieces a little longer than
106. How are knives made ?
107. Describe the process of pin-making.
#W
}
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
55
the length of six pins; these pieces are pointed at each
end by a person who sits in front of two small, but broad
steel wheels, the rims of which are notched like a file,
one coarsely, the other finer. Several of the pieces of
wire are taken in the hand, and their ends being applied
to the wheels, which are turned round with great rapidity,
are ground to points. They are first commenced on the
coarse wheel, then finished on the fine one.
After both ends of the piece have been pointed, one pin's
length is cut off from each end. The ends left are then
pointed, and two more pins' lengths cut off, and so on, un-
til each length is converted into six pointed pieces. The
stems of the pins are then complete, and the next step is
to form the head. This is effected by winding some small
brass wire in a coil round a piece of steel wire, the same
size as that of the pins. (The smaller wire is coiled round
the larger one in exactly the same manner as the thread
is coiled round the wire used for stiffening caps and bon-
nets.) The coils of small wire are slipped off the large
wire, round which they were made, and the workman
takes a dozen, or more, coils, and, with a pair of shears,
cuts them up into little short pieces of two turns or coils
each, and these form the heads of the pins. These heads
are then annealed, by being made hot and thrown into
water, and are ready to be fixed on the stems. This is
done by the workman taking one of the stems, dipping
the point of it into a bowl containing the heads, catching
one on it and sliding it towards the other end; he then
places it on a piece of steel, called a die, containing a hol-
low the exact shape of half the head, and presses down
on the head, four or five times, another similar piece of
steel. This operation fastens the head on the stem and
gives it the required figure.
The pins are next cleaned, and tinned, by boiling them
with a solution of tin. They are then taken out, dried and
polished, by being well shaken in a bag with a quantity of
bran, which is removed by shaking them in open trays,
when the bran flies off, leaving the pins perfectly dry and
clean, and ready to be fixed in the papers in which they
F
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}
;
56
MINERAL KINGDOM.
are sold. Even this last simple operation is done by the
aid of machinery.
PuTTY is the cement used by glaziers for fastening the
glass in the frames of windows. It is composed of lin-
seed oil and whiting. The latter is well dried, pounded,
and sifted, till it becomes a fine powder, perfectly free
from grit; it is then gradually added to the linseed oil,
which is warm. These ingredients are well stirred with
a stick, till thoroughly mixed together, and when suffi-
ciently thick, are worked by the hand on a table, and after-
wards beaten with a mallet, so as to become a smooth, soft,
tenacious mass.
The use of putty depends on the property it possesses
of hardening gradually on exposure to the air; after some
time it becomes almost as hard as stone.
It is well adapted to the cementing of window frames,
as it not only secures the glass firmly, but perfectly
closes the joint, so as to prevent draughts of air entering,
or the rain from beating through the window. When
used in very exposed situations, a small quantity of white
lead is added; this has the effect of rendering the putty
more durable.
SCISSORS.-Scissors are a well-known cutting instru-
ment made of iron or steel. The manufacture of scissors
consists, first, in the hammering out of the blades from a
bar of heated steel; the bow being roughly made by
stretching a small hole made in the steel, by hammering
it on to a conical anvil. Another workman then files the
blades thus roughly forged into a more perfect shape, and
bores the hole for the screw; they are then passed to the
grinder, who forms the cutting part to its proper shape.
The ground blades are then polished by women, who rub
them with oil and emery powder. After this they are put
together by a screw, and fitted so as to work smoothly over
one another. The screw is then removed, and the two
blades being wrapped closely together with fine wire, to
108. What of the nature and use of putty?
57
prevent their warping, are heated to redness, hardened by
sudden cooling, and afterwards tempered. After these
operations they again require grinding, so as to bring the
edges to a perfect state. Another workman then adjusts
the screws, filing the blades so as to make them open and
shut easily. The parts which had become black by burn-
ing, are polished by very fine emery and oil, and again,
for the third time, are ground, and the edges whetted;
they are then ready for sale, previously to which the
handles are sometimes burnished by rubbing with a hard
steel burnishér.
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
Scissors that have ornamented handles are worked by
the file and drill, one pair sometimes occupying a work-
man many days or even weeks in finishing the design.
The edges of the blades of scissors are not ground
sharp like those of a knife, therefore in cutting they bruise
or crush much more than that instrument. With thin
objects, such as paper, cloth, &c., this is not of import-
ance, but it prevents their being usefully employed in
cutting thick substances.
THIMBLE.-This well-known little instrument is worn
on the middle finger of the right hand, by persons sewing,
for the purpose of enabling them, easily and readily, to
push the needle through the cloth, and of preventing its
head injuring the finger.
It is made so as to suit the shape of the end of the finger,
being conical, with a rounded head.
The difference in the thimbles used by men is, that they
are open at the end. Thimbles are usually made of some
metal, and are pitted on the outside with small sunken
dots, so that the needle should not slip.
They are made out of a single piece of flat thin metal,
which is cut or punched into a circular shape, about two
inches in diameter; this is then, either by a machine or by
a punch and hammer, forced into a hollow mould, or into
several moulds, each smaller than the last, by which it
109. Describe the manufacture of scissors ?
110. What is the process of finishing?
111. What of making thimbles?
$
1
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MINERAL KINGDOM.
acquires somewhat the shape desired. It is then fixed in
a lathe, and turned smooth, inside and out, after which the
depressions are indented, or pressed in. Thimbles are
frequently made of silver, which is, compared with iron,
a soft metal, easily worked, and they are often ornamented
on the outside with patterns, or initials, engraved or cut in.
[Gold thimbles are now very common.]
WATCH-SPRING.-The force employed to turn the key
of a watch, in winding it, coils up very tightly a spiral
spring, called the main-spring, which is enclosed in a brass
box, and is not seen unless the watch be entirely taken to
pieces. The force of this spring uncoiling itself, gradu-
ally moves the works of the watch.
Both the main and hair-spring of watches (the latter
being a very small spring used to regulate the movements)
are made from steel wire. The workman first hammers
it out on an anvil, by which means it is flattened; it is
then ground smooth on both sides; hardened by being
heated, and cooled quickly; coiled up, and made to pre-
serve its shape by being heated or tempered, as it is
termed.
This last heating gives it the blue colour it
possesses,
and also seems to increase its wonderful elasticity, and at
the same time to preserve it from rusting so readily as it
otherwise would do.
112. Explain the nature of a watch-spring.
113. What of its manufacture?
•
t
---
OBJECTS
DERIVED FROM
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
CORN.
INTRODUCTION.—The word corn is used as a general
name for various kinds of grain-such as the grain of
wheat, of barley, of oats, of rye, of maize, which last is
chiefly used in America, and is frequently called Indian
corn. [This is the only species of grain generally known
in the United States by the name of corn, and it is un-
doubtedly indigenous, for it was unknown in Europe until
since the discovery of America. It is not sown like other
grain, but is planted like potatoes in the ground, and
covered with the hoe.] Though so many different plants
come under the name of corn, there are certain characters
or marks by which they may be distinguished, and which
we will consider before we proceed to the description of
each sort in particular.
There are, likewise, certain words used in describing
the culture of corn and its preparation for human food,
which we will endeavour to define at once, and thus avoid
repetition under each head.
The various corn-plants are only grasses of a larger
kind. They are all annual, the whole plant, including
the root, dying when the seed is perfected.
The stem of all is hollow and is generally called straw,
but in some places culm. The inside of this hollow stem
•
114. What of the varieties of corn?
115. Describe the general structure of corn-plants.
59
A
60
is divided by partitions, which form joints. One use of this
structure is evidently to strengthen the stem; from these
joints or knots the leaves grow; embracing or forming a
sheath to the stem for some distance. The leaves are all
long and taper, and the veins run straight and parallel
with one another from the base to the termination, instead
of branching out, and uniting again so as to form a net-
work, as is the case in most leaves.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
1
The blossoms of corn-plants are collected into a head,
or ear, or spike, and are not coloured like the flowers of
most plants. Those parts of the flower which, in most
other plants, are large and coloured, are in these small and
scale-like. When separated from the grain after the corn
is ripe, these parts are called the chaff or husk.
The difference between corn-plants and the grasses is
merely in size. The seeds of all grasses might be used
as food, if they were large enough to make it worth while
to collect them for that purpose; no grass-plants, with the
exception of one (the common darnel grass), being un-
wholesome.
The cultivation of the soil is called agriculture, from
ager, a field, and cultura, culture.
The measure generally used to express the size of
fields, &c., is called an acre, and a field is said to consist
of so many acres.
The first operation necessary in agriculture is that of
breaking up the ground by means of a plough; this is
called ploughing. The earth, when broken up, generally
requires to be mixed with other substances (in order to
increase its power of nourishing the seed), varying accord-
ing to the nature of the soil. These substances (which
are sometimes bone, sometimes lime, or fish, or seaweed,
&c.) are classed under the word manure; and the process
of mixing them with the soil is called manuring the land.
When the land is properly prepared, the seed-corn is sown.
This is done in one of two ways, according to circum-
In one, the sower takes a handful, and scatters
stances.
116. What of their blossoms and flowers?
117. How is the soil prepared?
61
the seed on the surface of the ground, by swinging his arm
in a circular direction, while he opens his hand at the same
time. This is called sowing broadcast. The second
method is to make holes in straight rows, into each of
which seed is dropped. This is called drilling or dibbling,
and is, in most cases, preferable to the first method; but
in some soils it cannot be adopted. Each seed produces
more than one stalk; the grain is then said to tiller.
The growing plants produced in a field, thus prepared
and sown, are called the crop.
When ripe, the crop is cut down; this is called reaping.
The grain is beaten out from the husk by a process
called threshing.
CORN.
The grain is then separated from the particles of husk
with which it is mixed, by means of a current of air
strongly forced upon it. The chaff, being light, is blown
away: the grain, being heavy, remains; this is called
winnowing.
The grain, thus cleaned, is next measured out in bushel
measures. The number of bushels is then divided by the
number of acres of land on which the corn grew, and the
produce is said to be so many bushels an acre.
Grain is sometimes used without any other preparation
than cleaning it; sometimes reduced to a mealy powder,
called flour, according to the purposes for which it is
required. The grain is ground in mills to reduce it to
flour; and in the same mill, the flour or mealy portion is
separated from the outer skin, which is called bran. [The
amount of grain of all kinds, produced annually in the
United States, exceeds 800 millions of bushels.]
WHEAT.-Wheat is the most esteemed of all kinds of
corn, and, where it can be cultivated, and the people are
not too poor to use it, is invariably preferred as food. In
England, two kinds of wheat are cultivated, and they are
called, from the seasons in which they are sown, spring
or summer wheat, and winter or Lammas wheat.
Spring wheat is a much more delicate plant than winter
118. What of winnowing, measuring, and grinding?
119. Describe wheat, and its varieties.
6
>
62
wheat. The ear is more slender, and is readily known by
being provided with long awns or beards. Its grain is
smaller, and it is less productive; therefore it is seldom
sown by the farmer, unless the winter crop fails, or the
land cannot be got ready in time to sow the winter kind.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
It is not uncommon, in the case of a failure in a crop
of winter wheat, to sow the spring wheat in April or
May; as it may be depended on for producing a fair
return in the following autumn. Sometimes, patches of
spring wheat are sown amongst the winter kind, where the
latter has partially failed. If this is done about the com-
mencement of April, both kinds will ripen at the same time.
Winter wheat is a more vigorous plant, and it is desti-
tute of the long awn or beard. Some varieties of winter
wheat are redder than others; hence we hear of red and
white wheat.
Wheat is most commonly sown broadcast, though, of
late years, the practice of dibbling has been introduced to
a considerable extent.
Wheat plants tiller very freely; the usual number of
stalks arising from one grain is five, but sometimes many
more.
The produce of wheat at the present time in England,
is about 24 to 28 bushels an acre. In those counties
where manure is cheap and agriculture carried to a high
state of perfection, a much larger quantity is produced.
In Middlesex, for example, upwards of 40 bushels are not
unfrequent from a single acre.
From every 12 bushels of wheat one load of straw is
usually obtained, which is made up into 36 parts, called
trusses. The weight of a bushel of wheat is usually 60
pounds. This, on being ground, yields
Bread-flour
Pollard
Bran.
Loss in grinding 2
Total
60
•
•
47 pounds.
8
((
3
66
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120. What is said of sowing, and tillering?
121. What is its produce per acre ?
63
[More than 100 millions of bushels of wheat are annu-
ally produced in the United States. The produce of
wheat in this country is greater than in Europe, many
fields yielding more than 50 bushels to an acre.]
BARLEY.
BARLEY.-Barley is more cultivated in England than
any corn, except wheat; for, although bread is not now
made of it, as formerly, it is used very extensively for the
making of fermented and spirituous liquors.
In
Barley is a much more hardy grain than wheat. It
comes more quickly to maturity, and in short, dry sum-
mers ripens perfectly when the other grains do not.
Spain and the Eastern countries, two harvests of barley
are collected each year. This fact explains a passage in
Exodus (ix. 31), where the plague of hail is mentioned-
"The flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley
was in the ear."... "But the wheat and the rye were
not smitten; for they were not come up."
This event
happened in March; the first crop of barley was, there-
fore, nearly ripe, being sown the previous autumn; but
the wheat and the rye were not sufficiently advanced in
growth to be injured by the hail.
In this country, barley is usually sown in the spring,
and reaped the following autumn. It thrives best in dry
seasons. If there be much wet, it becomes sickly; and
in very wet seasons, the grains contained in the ear will
sprout while the plant is yet in the ground; so that each
ear resembles in appearance a tuft of grass.
Clover is often sown with barley; the two crops grow-
ing at the same time.
The quantity of barley produced on an acre of land is
from 35 to 50 bushels.
The shape of a grain of barley is well known; and
from its tolerably uniform length, it has given name to
one of our divisions of the inch-namely, the third; it
being reckoned that three barleycorns, placed end to end,
make an inch.
122. For what purpose is barley chiefly used?
123. What Biblical criticism is made here ?
1
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1
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64
J
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
Each grain of barley ends in a long awn or beard,
which is broken off in threshing. The uses to which
barley is applied in this country, are chiefly for the form-
ation of beer and spirit. Some portion, however, is formed
into pearl barley, by grinding off the outer husk in mills
adapted to that purpose.
Barley is also used as food for poultry, and, when
ground into meal, for fattening pigs.
At times, when wheat is dear, the labouring classes in
the country mix barley flour with their wheat flour to
make a cheaper kind of bread; but this food is by no
means a favourite with them; as it is coarse, dry, and
apt to become sour.
The large quantity of 30,000,000 bushels of barley is
yearly consumed in Great Britain, in brewing beer, for
which it is prepared by a process called malting, or con-
verting it into malt. This is performed by first steeping
the barley in water until it has become soft and swollen.
It is then taken out to drain, and allowed to lie in heaps
for forty hours; during which time each grain begins to
grow, as it would if planted in the moist earth. To check
the growth, the barley is then turned and spread out for
some days; then heaped together again, and afterwards
dried, by being spread out, on a wire or hair cloth, over a
kiln; and as it is more or less dried, the colour is dark or
light brown, and the malt is used for brewing porter or
pale ale.
In malting, barley undergoes the change which all seeds
do in beginning to grow. The starch of the seed is con-
verted into sugar; hence the taste of malt is sweet, and
the liquor which is afterwards made into beer, and has a
bitter taste in consequence of the hops having been added
to it, is, in the first instance, when the malt only has been
boiled in water, extremely sweet, and in that state is called
sweet wort. [In America, barley is not extensively culti-
vated, only three millions of bushels having been raised
124. What of barleycorns, and pearl barley?
125. Name the uses of barley.
126. Describe the process of malting.
-
1
:
1
1
1
OATS.
65
during the last year. The beer and liquor manufacture
in this country is on the decline so rapidly, that this may
account for the neglect of it by agriculturists.]
OATS.-This grain is much more grown in northern
than in southern countries; the oats of the south of Eng-
land being very inferior to those of Scotland. In appear-
ance, this corn differs much from wheat and barley; the
grains are not arranged in a close ear, but form a loose
cluster around the stem.
This corn possesses the very great advantage of grow-
ing in places too cold and exposed for wheat or barley;
in dry and hot seasons, it does not flourish, as the grain
becomes husky, and contains little nourishment.
Oats are sown by broadcast, in March or April; about
50 or 60 bushels are the usual produce of an acre.
There are several kinds of oats-some are dark in
colour, others light; some have an awn or beard, while
others are destitute of such an appendage.
Oats are by no means so nutritious a corn as wheat, or
even barley; formerly they were used in the preparation
of intoxicating drinks. In the southern parts of Britain,
oats are chiefly used as food for horses, and in fattening
poultry. Coarsely ground, they are called groats, (a con-
traction probably of ground oats,) and are much used for
making gruel. In Scotland, oats are largely used as
human food, both in the form of porridge and made into
oaten cakes. These are much eaten in Lancashire also.
Although not so nutritious as wheat, oats are an extremely
wholesome article of food. [They are never thus used in
America except for horses. 150 millions of bushels of
oats are annually grown in the United States.]
RICE.-Unlike most corn plants, the native country of
rice may be fixed with certainty; it is, undoubtedly, a pro-
duction of the warmer regions of Asia, in some parts of
which it is now found growing wild, and the seed is col-
lected for use. From hence it has been carried by man
127. How do oats differ from wheat and barley?
128. Name the various uses of oats.
6*
66
over the greater part of Asia, part of Europe, and the
continent of America, where it is now cultivated in im-
mense quantities; it was introduced there about 150 years
since. In appearance, the stalk and plant of rice may be
said to resemble wheat, but the grain is bearded, and not
arranged in a close ear. In fertility and abundance of
produce, it much exceeds our other grains. In India
they raise two crops a year of 30 to 60 bushels each, the
ordinary produce of an acre. The great peculiarity in the
culture of rice is the large quantity of water it requires.
In America, for instance, it is sown in the spring, in rows
or trenches about 18 inches apart, and the ground is then
flooded for some days; again, when the plant is but a few
inches high, the water is allowed to flow over the land
and remain for a fortnight; and a third time, shortly
before the grain ripens, the fields are again flooded, and
remain so until the harvest. From the swampy condition
in which the soil is kept, the cultivation of rice is a most
unhealthy occupation, and, in America, it is left almost
entirely to the care of the slaves, their masters frequently
leaving the province during the time. Rice is grown in
much the same manner in Italy; and also to an immense
extent in the island of Ceylon, China, Africa and India.
In all these countries, the best rice fields are the low open
grounds through which large rivers pass; in other situa-
tions, the waters of the small streams are caused to flow
into artificial reservoirs, which are used for watering the
grounds. On the grain becoming ripe, the water is drained
off, and the corn reaped with a sickle, the labourer being
frequently knee-deep in the soft mud in which it grows.
No grain supports the life of so large a number of per-
sons as rice. The inhabitants of China, India, Africa, and
a large portion of America, live chiefly upon it. In the
south of India it forms, with a few spices called curry, the
whole food of an immense number of the inhabitants, and
even the resident Europeans eat it with every meal. Rice
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
129. What of rice, and where cultivated?
130. What is peculiar in its culture?
131. By what class of labourers in America ?
132. Name the important uses of rice.
=
7
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67
consists almost entirely of starch; hence it cannot with
advantage be baked into bread, as the dough is not tough
enough to rise. It is, however, light, wholesome, and
easily digested. Rice is brought into England in two
forms in the brownish husk, in which state it is called
-Paddy or Paddee, and with the husk ground off; formerly,
the separating the husk was chiefly performed in India,
by beating the rice in large earthen or stone mortars: it is
now done by machinery taken from England. But, at the
present time, very large quantities of unhusked rice or
paddee are brought to England; it is found that, from be-
ing protected by the husk, the grain is less injured in the
passage; and it is more perfectly cleared by the superior
machines of that country.
SPICES.
Although rice is not spoken of by name in the Holy
Scriptures, it must have been known to the Sacred Histo-
rians, and it is most probable that its cultivation is alluded
to in Eccl. xi. 1, and Isa. xxxii. 20
SPICES.
THE spices are vegetable substances which, from their
aromatic, pungent, stimulating qualities, and, in most
cases, agreeable taste and odour, are used for flavouring
food, and also to assist in preserving it. Taken in small
quantities they are not unwholesome, as they assist di-
gestion; in large quantities they are extremely hurtful.
The spices are all foreign productions, procured from
tropical climates, chiefly the East and West Indies: not
any of the plants that produce them will bear the cold of
our climate.
133. What proof is cited of its antiquity?
134. Of what use are the spices, and whence obtained ?
1
68
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
ALLSPICE. This spice is also named Pimento, and
sometimes Jamaica Pepper, from the island whence it is
chiefly obtained; it is the berry of a tree somewhat re-
sembling the myrtle in appearance. It grows to the
height of 30 feet, the trunk being smooth, and much
branched towards the top; the branches are thickly
covered with a large number of shining evergreen leaves,
which resemble, in size and appearance, those of the sweet
bay. In July and August the trees are covered with a
great number of small white flowers, contrasting beauti-
fully with the dark green leaves, whilst the whole tree
sends forth a rich, fragrant perfume. The allspice tree is
chiefly grown in the island of Jamaica; it is there culti-
vated largely for the sake of its fruit, which is the berry
we use as spice. These are plucked by hand before they
are ripe, and dried in the sun until the seeds rattle inside
when shaken. During the drying, the berries change in
colour from green to a reddish brown. If they are allowed
to become ripe on the tree, they turn purple, and when
dried are found to have lost their aromatic odour and fla-
vour, and are useless as spices. The name of allspice is
given to them, because their taste and smell resemble that
of a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmegs.
M
1
=
CINNAMON. This spice is the inner bark of a tree
closely resembling the laurel, or sweet bay, a native.
originally of Ceylon, but which is now grown in the other
parts of the East Indies, and also in Jamaica and other
islands of the West Indies. The trees are usually left to
grow unmolested until they are nine years old, at which
time the young shoots, or branches, that are about three
years old, are lopped off. The bark is then slit up on one
side and removed from the branch, tied up in bundles
until the next day, when it is loosened, and the skin or
outer bark scraped off. It is then dried or rolled up into
135. Where is allspice chiefly cultivated?
136. Describe its nature and peculiarities.
137. Whence is cinnamon procured?
148. Describe the process of gathering it.
69
quills or pipes, about three feet long, which have a slit
down one side, where the bark was cut. The smallest
quills are rolled up inside the largest; the whole are then
tied up in bundles of 80 or 90 lbs. weight, and wrapped up
in cloths, when they are ready for exportation.
SPICES.
CLOVES.-Cloves are the unopened flowers of a small
evergreen tree that resembles in appearance the laurel or
the bay; it is a native of the Molucca, or Spice Islands,
but has been carried to all the warmer parts of the world,
and is now largely cultivated in the tropical regions of
America. The flowers are small in size, and grow in large
numbers in clusters at the very ends of the branches. The
cloves we use are the flowers gathered before they have
opened, and whilst they are still green. After being gather-
ed, they are smoked by a wood fire, and then dried in the sun.
Each clove consists of two parts, a round head, which is the
four petals or leaves of the flower rolled up, enclosing a
number of small stalks or filaments. The other part of the
clove is terminated with four points, and is, in fact, the
flower-cup, and the unripe seed-vessel. All these parts
may be distinctly shown if a few cloves are soaked for a
short time in hot water, when the leaves of the flowers
soften, and readily unroll. The smell of cloves is very
strong and aromatic, but not unpleasant; their taste, when
unmixed with other substances, is pungent, acrid, and
lasting. Both the taste and smell of cloves depend on the
quantity of oil they contain: this is so great, that it may
be pressed out with the finger. Sometimes the oil is sepa-
rated from the cloves before they are sold, and the odour
and taste in consequence much weakened by such unfair
proceeding.
GINGER. This spice is the produce of a plant growing
in both the East and West Indies. In its appearance it
somewhat resembles a reed, or sedge, but the stems arise
M
139. What is the nature of cloves?
140. Upon what do their properties depend?
141. What is ginger, and how obtained?
▸
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70
from a root of exactly the same kind as the root of the
sweet flag, or iris, that is so commonly grown in our gar-
dens.*
Like the root of this flower, that of the ginger-
plant spreads and increases in size every year. From the
upper surface of this root arises, in the spring, a green
reed-like stalk, about two feet and a half high, which bears
narrow lance-shaped leaves. The flowers of the plant,
which are white and lilac, grow on a separate stem. The
ginger we employ as a spice is the root, to obtain which
the plant is cultivated in much the same manner as pota-
toes are, and when the stalks have withered, the roots are
dug up. The best and soundest of them are selected,
scraped quite clean, and carefully dried in the sun, when
they are ready for exportation and use. The inferior roots
are scalded in boiling water instead of being scraped; and
these when dried form what is called black ginger, a
very inferior kind. The colour of black ginger, as it is
termed, is yellowish gray on the outside, and orange brown
within; in shape it is thick and knotty. The best, or white
ginger, being scraped in preparing it, is less in size, not
being so thick or knotty; its colour is a light yellow, and
its taste is much more pungent and aromatic than that of
the black kind.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
NUTMEGS and MACE.-These two spices are the produce
of one tree, which is a native of the East Indies. The tree
is not of large dimensions. Its fruit is of the same size as
a peach; the outer rind, which resembles somewhat the
green rind of a walnut (although it is much thicker), is
smooth, pulpy, and bitter, and about half an inch thick. ´As
the fruit ripens, this outside covering bursts, and discloses
a thin bright scarlet membrane, which appears as if torn
into narrow branched slips. This membrane, when dried,
*This part is not, strictly speaking, the root of the plant, but a
kind of underground stem; the true roots, which consist of fibres,
grow from its under surface, and penetrate the ground.
142. How many varieties are spoken of?
143. What is the difference between nutmegs and mace?
144. How are these spices prepared?
¦
}
71
is mace. It grows round the nut, which consists of a thin,
hard, dark-brown shell, enclosing an oily kernel, which is
the nutmeg. The nutmeg-tree is largely cultivated for the
sake of these spices. The fruit is gathered when ripe, the
outer rind taken off, and thrown away. The mace is then
carefully separated from the nut and dried. During the
operation it loses its bright scarlet, and becomes of a red-
dish orange colour. It is then pressed into bags, and is
ready for exportation. Mace, when good, is of a rather
deep colour, very oily, with an agreeable aromatic odour,
and a similar, though somewhat bitter taste. After the
mace has been removed, the nuts are dried, first in the sun,
and then over a fire, until the kernel has so shrunk as to
rattle in the shell when shaken. The latter is then broken,
and the kernels, which are the nutmegs, extracted. These
are dipped in lime and water to preserve them, and ex-
ported.
WOODS.
WOODS.
INTRODUCTION.-On examining the stem or trunk of
any tree, that is a native of temperate climates, we find it
consists of three distinct substances. In the centre is situ-
ated a light, soft, and porous, or cellular body, called pith,
which is so large in the elder that it may be readily ex-
amined. The use of the pith appears to be to convey the
sap upwards to the leaves when the plant is very young,
and before any other channels are formed for its ascent; as
the plant increases in age, the pith becomes dry, and is,
apparently, of no further use, and may be removed with-
out any injury to the life or health of the tree. Surround-
ing the pith is the wood, which consists of tough, strong
fibres, so closely united as to form a very firm, solid sub-
145. What is the pith of trees, and its use?
•
4
I
72
stance. The fibres are placed side by side, and run in the
direction of the trunk; they cause what is termed the
grain of the wood, and when we cut a piece of wood
across the grain we cut these fibres across; when we
split it with the grain, we merely tear the fibres apart, that
were before lying side by side. Every summer the tree
forms a fresh quantity of wood around that of a previous
growth; therefore it of necessity makes a circle, and on
attentive examination of the trunk, when cut across, we
may perceive that the whole mass of wood consists of a
number of circles in succession; each of these circles has
been the growth of one year, and by counting them we
ascertain the age of the tree. The wood that was formed
the first year is next the pith; that formed the second
year
of the tree's life is outside the wood of the first year, and
so on a fresh circle is deposited every year outside those
previously formed; hence the oldest, and usually the
firmest wood in a tree is the centre, and this is called heart
wood; whilst the youngest and softest is on the outside,
and is called the sap wood, as it is through it that the sap
rises to supply the branches and leaves. The uses of the
wood to the plant are twofold: it gives great firmness and
strength to the stem, enabling it to bear up the head of
the tree, and to withstand the force of the wind blowing
against it; it is also the channel through which the sap
rises from the roots to be conveyed to the leaves and
flowers. The uses of wood to man are immense, but they
will be spoken of as each particular wood is described.
On the outside of the wood protecting it, and serving also
as a channel for the descent of the sap, is the bark, which
is more particularly described under the head of Oak Bark.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
CEDAR-WOOD.The cedar-wood used in this country at
the present time is not, as its name would lead us to sup-
pose, the produce of the cedar tree, but of a kind of juni-
per, a native of the island of Bermuda; the tree is too
146. Describe the wood and the grain of trees.
147. How is the age of a tree computed?
148. Describe the heart, sap-wood, and bark of trees.
73
tender to grow in the cold climate of England; like our
common juniper, it has long, narrow, sharp-pointed leaves,
and its seeds, instead of being contained in a cone, like
those of the real cedar, are enclosed in a small fleshy
berry.
WOODS.
The tree attains a very large size, and the wood is sent
to this and European countries in considerable quantities.
It is of a very fine close grain, but, at the same time, ex-
ceedingly soft and light. Its odour is agreeable and fra-
grant, and its colour a delicate slightly reddish brown. It
is occasionally used by cabinet makers, but it is too soft
for most purposes, being readily scratched by the nail. Its
great use is for making pencils and pen-holders; to these
purposes it is well adapted, by its lightness, and by the
readiness with which it is cut, as well as by its agreeable
colour and smell. It is occasionally used in the form of
shavings to drive away moths; but a stronger odour, as
camphor, is much more efficacious.
MAHOGANY.-The tree that yields this valuable wood is
a native of the West India islands, and the central and
warmer parts of America.
The tree is tall and straight, often rising to a great height
before it branches out; it frequently measures above 100
feet to the top of the branches. The latter spread out on
every side to a great extent, forming a very large head;
the leaves are a deep shining green, and somewhat resem-
ble those of the walnut; the flowers are small and whitish,
their pearly appearance contrasting very beautifully with
the deep colour of the foliage. The age which the tree
attains is great, as it grows but very slowly-most proba-
bly it does not arrive at maturity under 200 years. The
trees, when felled, are hewn into a square shape before
shipped to this and other countries.
The wood yielded by the tree is of great value to the
cabinet maker, partly from its great hardness, which ren-
ders it not so liable as other woods to be scratched, and
149. What of cedar-wood, and its uses?
150. Whence is mahogany obtained, and how does it grow?
7
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74
enables it to take a fine polish. It is also valuable from its
remaining straight when made into articles of furniture, it
not being liable to warp or bend. Its colour also is dark
and rich, especially when it is oiled or varnished, and it
also readily receives a polish.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
These desirable qualities have brought this wood into
almost universal use as a material for furniture, and there
are but few houses in this country which do not contain
some article made of mahogany, though it is a native of
so far distant a climate. When first discovered, the wood
was used for building or repairing ships by the Spaniards;
but its beauty being observed, it came rapidly into present
use.
The bark of the tree has been used in medicine; but,
though very astringent and bitter, its value is not equal to
that of other barks more employed.
OAK-WOOD.-Oak-wood is the produce of several va-
rieties of oak growing in different parts of the world. It
is also yielded of a most excellent quality by the several
kinds of oak which are natives of this country.
The wood is of a coarse open grain, but, at the same
time, heavy, and exceedingly strong and tough. Hence
it is of great value for all purposes where strength is re-
quired-as, for example, for spokes of wheels, the bars of
ladders, and the framework of machinery; builders re-
quiring wooden bars of great strength for roofs, &c. of large
buildings, as cathedrals, usually employ oak, as there is
not any wood so readily obtained that possesses its strength
or durability; many of the roofs formed of it have lasted
even hundreds of years. Oak resists the action both of
air and water, and it is owing to this property, as well as
to its strength, that it is employed in building ships of
war-for which purpose it is well suited, by the power it
possesses of permitting a cannon-ball to pass through it
without its splintering, so as to form a large aperture.
151. Describe the tree and its uses.
152. What makes it so valuable ?
153. Describe oak-wood and its uses.
75
[For this purpose, the live oak, which is abundant in
Florida, is in high reputation.] The crooked branches of
the tree also yield what are termed knees; these are the
bent timbers placed inside the vessel to support the decks,
and to strengthen the hull.
As the oak is not affected by moisture, it is generally
employed for making tubs, casks, and pails, for which
purpose its great strength also renders it serviceable.
WOODS.
PINE, or FIR-WOOD.-The different kinds of fir-wood,
pine, or deal, are all the produce of various species of fir
trees. Thus the Scotch pine, or fir, yields the red deal,
used by carpenters, &c.; and the yellow deal, white deal,
and pine are the produce of other fir trees.
All the various kinds of fir-wood are valuable, but none
inore so than the Scotch fir. The value of these woods
depends on several circumstances; the trees being tall and
straight yield planks, which are long and free from knots.
The wood is also light and soft, so as to be readily worked
by the carpenter or builder, and, at the same time, suffi-
ciently strong to form beams and joists for houses, frame-
work for machinery, &c.
It is from its holding glue better than most other woods,
and being so readily worked, that it is selected by the pic-
ture frame carver, and by the cabinet maker; who, after
that he has formed articles of furniture from it, covers
them with a thin coating of mahogany, or rosewood,
called veneer, which is glued on.
The various kinds of deal are valuable from their power
of resisting decay; this is perhaps owing to the quantity
of turpentine and resin that they contain. The wood seems
saturated with these substances; and as they are not acted
upon by water, they must serve to protect the wood from
damp; so well is this known, that builders always cause
the piles on which bridges are raised to be made of fir.
The straightness, lightness, and strength combined in this
154. Why used for ships of war?
155. What of the pine or fir-wood?
156. Name its various uses.
157. Why is it so highly valued?
76
VEGETABLE KINGDOM,
timber, cause it to be used for forming masts, yards, &c.
to ships. It is fortunate for man that a wood so valuable
should be abundant; we find, in the mountainous districts
of all countries, pines in immense forests, from the coldest
regions of Norway and Sweden, to the warm climate of
the Holy Land ("Solomon got cedar trees, and fir trees,
according to all his desire"); so that the wood most gene-
rally useful is the most easily obtained, and though in
quality the most valuable, in price the least.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
ACORN.—An acorn is the fruit, or ripe seed-vessel, of
the oak. It consists of a hard cup, formed of small scales
firmly connected together, and an oval nut, which is joined
at its base to the cup. The nut has a thin, light brown
shell, which encloses the kernel, or seed. Before the
acorn has become ripe, the cup entirely covers the nut,
which it preserves from injury. As the nut grows its
shell becomes hard, and it no longer requires the protection
of the cup, from which it bursts forth.
The only use to which acorns are applied at the present
time in this country is for the food of pigs. When the
acorns are ripe, they fall from the oaks, and the swine are
driven into the forest and eat them. The bacon and hams
of the Hampshire pigs, which feed in the New Forest,
are considered particularly excellent.
Before the birth of our Saviour, the original inhabitants
of this country (the Ancient Britons) made acorns a large
part of their food; and even now the inhabitants of Spain
and Portugal eat the acorns which grow on different kinds
158. Describe the acorn, and its use.
159. When and how has it been used for food?
my
of oaks; they are, however, much less bitter than our
acorns, and are really good food.
The squirrel, and other small quadrupeds, and some of
our wild birds, feed largely on acorns.
The mode in which a plant bursts forth from its seed
may be most beautifully and instructively shown by par-
tially filling a hyacinth glass with water, fitting a card to
the top, as a kind of lid, and from the card suspending an
acorn over the surface of the water. After a few weeks
the acorn begins to sprout, or germinate, and when some
time has elapsed, a hole must be made in the card for the
little tree to shoot through. This experiment should be
performed in the autumn, when the acorns are fresh from
the trees; and if the glass be kept in a warm room, the
plant will live through the winter: it dies however in the
spring, if not planted in the earth.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
CHAMOMILE FLOWERS.-Chamomile flowers are the pro-
duce of a plant common in many parts of England. It is
a dwarf plant, with very finely cut or divided leaves; each
flower head consists of a yellow centre surrounded by white
leaves in the form of rays. All parts of the plant are in-
tensely bitter and nauseous to the taste, especially the
flowers, which have a rather agreeable aromatic odour.
On account of possessing these bitter tonic properties, cha-
momiles are used as medicine, and are cultivated exten-
sively; the flowers are picked and dried in the sun.
When growing wild, chamomile should not be con-
founded with the mayweed, a plant to which it bears a
great resemblance; but which is distinguished readily by
its erect branching stem, and very disagreeable and pow
erful odour.
CAMPHOR.-Camphor is a vegetable substance, in ap-
pearance semi-transparent and colourless; solid, and easily
broken, and yet at the same time so very tough that it is with
160. What experiment is described?
161. Describe chamomile flowers and their use?
162. What of camphor, and its properties?
.
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78
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
great difficulty it can be powdered, without the addition of
a few drops of spirit or oil.
It is exceedingly volatile, and when exposed to the air
it flies off in vapour.
Its smell is very strong and aromatic, and not easily
mistaken if once known. On account of this strong odour,
it is much used to preserve cabinets and clothes from in-
sects and moths; it does not destroy them, but is so much
disliked by them, that they will not frequent the situations
where it is placed.
From its strong smell also has arisen the idea that it will
prevent the catching of infectious disorders, and it is fre-
quently carried by persons under this supposition; it is,
however, much more hurtful than beneficial, as its effect
on the system, though at first stimulating, becomes de-
pressing, leading to slight headache and oppressed breath-
ing, thereby rendering the disease feared much more liable
to be taken.
<3
Camphor dissolves in water only in very small quantity;
sufficient however is taken up to give to the water both its
aromatic odour and bitter taste. Water containing a small
quantity of camphor dissolved in it, is known by the name
of camphor julep.
A singular effect takes place if some very small shavings
of camphor are thrown on the surface of perfectly clean
water contained in a large basin; the pieces of camphor im-
mediately begin to move rapidly, some turning round on.
their centre, and others moving from place to place: the
cause of these motions is unknown.
Camphor is readily dissolved by spirits of wine: the
solution thus made is called camphorated spirit; it is use-
ful for rubbing unbroken chilblains, and for applying to
burns and scalds when the skin is not destroyed or broken.
As a subject of an experimental object lesson, camphor
is well adapted to develop several ideas; for instance, a
small portion placed in water will show its sparing solu-
bility. Another portion may be dissolved in spirit of any
163. Name its various uses.
164. What singular experiment is named?
1
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MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
79
kind. If first coarsely powdered, its fusibility and vola-
tility may be strikingly exemplified by placing a small
piece in a spoon, and holding it over the flame of a candle.
Ît first melts, and then rapidly volatilizes; and if allowed
to come in contact with the flame, its inflammability is
easily shown.
Camphor exists in many plants, but it is obtained
chiefly from two trees; one a native of China and Japan,
very much resembling the laurel. From this tree it is
procured by chopping up the leaves, branches, root, &c.
into small pieces, and placing them in a still with water;
on the bottom of the still being heated, the camphor, from
its volatility, rises in vapour, and collects again in a cold
part of the apparatus. When brought to Europe, it is
purified by a second distillation. The other tree from
which camphor is procured is a native of Borneo and Su-
matra; the camphor is obtained by splitting open the tree,
when it is found in large pieces in the interior.
CANE.-Canes, or ratans, are the long slender shoots of
a prickly plant which grows wild, in immense numbers,
in the forests of the Malay peninsula, and the Eastern
Islands, as Borneo, Sumatra, &c. The stems are cut by
the natives, stripped of the outer skin by being pulled
through a notch cut in a tree, and tied up in bundles of
100, being bent in the middle and the ends fastened to-
gether.
In this form they are exported in immense numbers to
various parts of India, China, and Europe; to England
alone many millions of ratans being brought annually. If
a cane be examined, it will be found to consist of tough
wood fibres, among which are a number of open tubes,
which allow the sap to ascend with sufficient rapidity to
supply the great evaporation that takes place from the
leaves in tropical climates. On the outside the cane is
covered with a transparent glazing, of extreme hardness,
165. What of camphor, julep, and spirit?
166. Whence is camphor obtained, and how?
167. What of ratans, and where grown?
168. Describe canes, and their uses.
A
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80
so that when two pieces are rapidly and forcibly struck
together fire is produced.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
For use, those canes are regarded as the best which are
thin, very long, of a pale yellow colour, and so flexible as
to bend without breaking or cracking the glazing.
The chief use to which they are applied in this country
is, in forming the open lattice, or cane-work used for the
seats of chairs, and similar purposes. When employed
for this purpose, they are split into slender slips, the glaze
being retained. These slips are woven, by hand, into the
open work, which is well adapted to resist pressure, from
the great strength of the material; whilst the extreme
hardness of the glazing, which is placed on the side ex-
posed, renders it very durable.
CHAFF.-Chaff consists of hay, dried clover, straw, or a
mixture of these, cut small by means of a machine called a
chaff-cutter. It is used as food for horses, being generally
mixed with the corn that is given to them.
This name is also given to the husks of corn that are
detached from the grain by threshing, and afterwards sepa-
rated by winnowing. It is in this sense that the word is
used in the Scriptures. The chaff of grain is used for
stuffing common beds, and it is also thrown down in farm-
yards for litter.
COFFEE-RAW AND ROASTED.-Coffee is the seed of a
small evergreen tree, or shrub, which grows to a height of
sixteen or twenty feet. It is a native of Arabia and Abys-
sinia, but is now grown in very great quantities in the East
and West Indies.
The evergreen leaves of the shrub are of a bright co-
lour, and resemble, somewhat, in shape and size, those of
the bay. The flowers are like the jessamine, and are
brilliantly white; they open so rapidly, and are in such
great abundance, that the trees at the time of flowering ap-
pear as if covered with snow, and at the same time emit a
169. What of chaff, its variety, and use?
170. What is coffee, and whence obtained?
I
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
81
most delicious fragrance. Each flower is succeeded by a
small berry, which attains the size of a cherry, and becomes,
when ripe, of a dark red colour; it contains two seeds.
In Arabia the berries are gathered by placing cloth un-
der the trees and shaking the branches, when the ripe
ones fall off; they are then spread on mats and dried in
the sun, and the husk removed by being crushed with a
large stone roller. After this the seeds are again dried in
the sun, and packed up in bales for exportation.
In the West Indies, as soon as the fruit is of a deep red
colour, it is gathered by the negroes, who pick the ripe
berries with their hands and put them into large bags hung
about their necks. The berries are then either placed in
the sun, in layers, about four inches thick, when the pulp
ferments, and dries in about three weeks; or they are at
once crushed in a mill, which bruises the pulp, but not
the seed; the former is then washed away, and the coffee
dried.
Coffee, of which the beverage so called is made, is the
seed of the berries. The form of the seed is convex or
curved on one side, and flat on the other; the latter being
deeply grooved. In this raw state it is of a pale brownish
yellow, and has but little taste or smell. When roasted
in a close iron vessel, placed over a slow fire, it acquires a
dark chestnut colour, and each seed increases very much
in size; from being nearly tasteless and inodorous, it be-
comes bitter and crisp, and gives out a powerful aromatic
smell.
This roasted coffee is made into a beverage by infusing
it in boiling water, or by boiling it. When the latter mode
is employed, care should be taken to boil it a very short
time, for if long on the fire, the aromatic flavour is dissi-
pated, and the bitter principle alone remains.
Coffee is a stimulant, and a preventive of sleep; if
made very strong, and taken at night, as it frequently is by
persons engaged in literary pursuits, it retards the acces-
sion of sleep for several hours.
171. Describe the manner of gathering it.
172. What is said of its nature and properties?
82
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
CORK.-Cork is the bark of an evergreen oak, which
grows abundantly in Spain, Portugal, and the south of
France.
In order to remove the cork, a long cut is made down
the tree, at the two ends of which incisions are made round
the tree; the bark is then removed by an instrument in-
serted under it. If the operation is carefully performed,
the cork tree is not injured, as the part of the bark which
is taken is really dead; but the inner bark cannot be re-
moved without killing the tree.
The cork is first taken from the tree when it is about
fifteen years old, and the operation is repeated every eight
or ten years, as long as the tree lives, which is usually
about 150 years.
After the cork bark is taken from the tree, it is slightly
charred, or burnt. This improves it by closing the pores;
but at the same time blackens it, and gives it a burnt odour,
which it sometimes communicates to the liquors with
which it comes in contact. After being pressed flat, it is
tied up in bundles and exported.
Cork possesses several qualities that render it very valu-
able. It is extremely light, hence it is used to float other
bodies in water; as when used as floats to fishing nets;
for cork jackets to support persons in the water; and also
for life-boats.
Cork is extremely compressible and elastic. These
qualities fit it admirably for stopping the mouths of bottles.
containing fluids; as, when pressed firmly in, its elasticity
causes it to press so closely on all the parts of the mouth
as to prevent the contents of the bottle from escaping, or
the air from entering. Cork is also used to form the inner
soles of shoes and boots; whilst it keeps out the wet, it
adds little to the weight.
Cork is brought to this country in an unmanufactured
state, and is cut into the shapes and sizes required, by men
173. Whence is cork obtained, and how?
174. What of the age of cork trees?
175. Name the various uses of cork.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
called cork-cutters: the knives they use are extremely
sharp, and require to be frequently whetted.
83
CURRANTS.-The foreign, or grocers' currants are small
raisins, or dried grapes, which are grown principally in
the Grecian Islands. The name of currant has probably
been given them from the resemblance, in size, to our com-
mon American fruit of that name. They are destitute of
stones, and of a dark reddish-black colour.
gathered their flavour is extremely delicious.
When first
These small grapes are gathered from the vines in
August, and spread out on earth which has been stamped
hard, and left until the sun has dried them, when they
are closely pressed into warehouses, where they remain
until they are dug out and packed in casks for exportation.
They are so much used for various purposes, that above
6000 tons annually are imported into England.
FIG. This fruit is the produce of the fig-tree, a plant
originally a native of the south-west of Asia, but which is
now also cultivated abundantly in all the countries in the
south of Europe.
The tree is of small size, and bears a large leaf, which
is so deeply notched as to be partially divided into several
lobes. There are not any visible flowers, but the fruit
arises from the stem, in the form of little buds; these are
pear-shaped, and appear to be pierced at the large end with
a small hole. They continue to enlarge in size till they
become the ripe fruit, retaining their original pear-like
shape.
Ma
If one of the unripe buds be cut open it will be found to
be hollow, and the inside to be covered with numerous
small points; these are the real flowers, which are thus
enclosed in the fruit. Before it is ripe the fig abounds
with a bitter milky juice; in the ripe fruit this is con-
verted into sugar.
The tree is easily cultivated in this country, if protected
176. What are currants, and whence derived?
177. How are they prepared for exportation?
178. What of the fig-tree, and its fruit ?
!
84
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
from severe cold; but its green fruit is not much valued,
as it does not arrive at perfection in our climate.
In the East, figs are a most important article of food, both
in their fresh aud dried state.
I
One of the most valuable qualities of the plant is its
bearing ripe fruit three times in the year.
In the Scriptures we find frequent allusions to its utility.
The Old Testament contains many passages respecting the
value set on it; and the failure of the crop was regarded
by the Jews as a very serious calamity. We find its
treble crop of fruit alluded to. Hosea says, "I found
Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers
as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time."
In the Levant, from whence most of our figs are obtained,
the first crop ripens in June. The summer crops then
begin to form; it is this which is dried, and packed in
boxes and baskets, and sent to various countries: about
1000 tons are yearly brought to us.
After the summer
crop has ripened, there appears a third crop, which often
ripens on the tree after the leaves are shed, thus supplying
the inhabitants with fresh fruit during a great part of the
year.
GUM ARABIC.-Gum Arabic is the produce of several
kinds of acacia trees, which are natives of the sandy de-
serts of Africa, and the East Indies.
When the bark of these trees is wounded, a liquid oozes
out, which hardens in semi-transparent lumps; and this
is the gum generally known by the name of gum Arabic.
Similar lumps of gum may be obtained from the plum
and cherry tree of our gardens; when a rupture is made
in the bark, this mucilaginous substance oozes out.
The use of gum depends on its ready solubility in water,
and its adhesiveness when melted. The solution of gum,
or gum-water, as it is usually called, is much used for
sticking light and thin objects together, fastening labels on
glass, or for any delicate work; but not where great tena-
179. Name the peculiarities here cited.
180. Whence, and how, is gum arabic obtained?
181. Why, and how, is it useful?
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85
city is required. It is also employed extensively in the
arts, in stiffening crapes and other fabrics, and in the
manufacture of ink.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
HOPS.-Hops are the produce of a coarse, rough, climb-
ing plant, which attains the height of several feet, twining
for support round the hedges or poles near which it grows.
It is furnished with opposite heart-shaped leaves, toothed
like a saw at the edge, and extremely harsh to the touch,
from the presence of minute points or hairs.
The flowers are of two kinds, barren and fertile; both
are of a pale green colour; the former being small and
grouped together; the latter, or fertile flower, consists of
thin green scales, each of which covers a single seed-
vessel containing one seed. These seed-bearing flowers
are collected together in cone-shaped heads, which in-
crease in size; and, when ripe, form the substance known
to us under the name of hops. The inner surface of
these scales, and the surface of the seed-vessels, produce
a powdery substance, in which the bitter principle of the
hop chiefly resides.
The hop grows wild in many parts of England and
America, and it is cultivated in fields called hop-grounds.
Long poles are placed at the root of the plants in the spring,
and as the plants grow they twine round them, hanging in
beautiful festoons. At the hop-picking season the poles
and the plants are taken up and laid across large baskets,
into which the seed-vessels are put. At this time most.
of the labouring people of Kent, in England, are employed
in hop-picking, from the smallest child to the aged men
and women.
The great use of hops, and the purpose for which they
are so largely cultivated in England, is as an ingredient
in making beer. Their utility depends upon their bitter-
ness, which gives to the liquor an agreeable taste, and
wholesome properties, and upon their strong aromatic
flavour; whilst the presence of a considerable amount of
182. Describe hops, and the manner of their growth.
183. What of the flowers of hops?
184. Where and why are the hops cultivated?
7
86
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
astringency stops the fermentation of the beer, and pre-
vents it turning sour.
The hop is valuable as a medicine, from its strengthen-
ing and tonic properties.
INDIAN RUBBER.-This substance is the produce of
several trees, which are natives of the warmer parts of
South America.
It is obtained by making incisions in the bark during
the rainy season, when a thick milky juice, of a yellow-
ish-white colour, flows out. If this juice is at once corked
up in bottles, it will remain some time without undergoing
much change; but if it is exposed to the air, it soon dries,
and becomes the substance we call Indian rubber.
The natives of South America spread the juice, as it
flows from the trees, on moulds of clay, and as soon as
one coat is dry, they apply another, and so on, until it has
acquired sufficient thickness. They hasten the drying
by placing the moulds over a wood fire, the smoke from
which blackens the Indian rubber, which would other-
wise be white. The clay moulds on which the soft juice
is spread, to harden, are usually shaped like a large pear;
when the whole is dry they are easily broken and the
pieces removed, and the Indian rubber is left in the form.
of a hollow bottle.
Indian rubber, as we receive it in this country, is a soft,
pliable, and highly elastic substance; tough, and difficult
to be cut. Its elasticity is much increased by warmth;
and, on the contrary, if allowed to remain long undisturbed
in the cold, it is much diminished.
If heated considerably, India rubber melts, but it does
not become solid again on cooling. If set fire to, it burns
with a white flame, gives out much smoke, and a peculiar
odour. It is quite insoluble in water, and even in spirits.
Indian rubber is a substance of great use, not only to
the natives of the climates where it is produced, but to us
and other nations. The inhabitants of South America
185. Whence and how is Indian rubber obtained?
186. How are the bottles we see prepared?
187. Name the properties and uses of Indian rubber.
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87
form water-proof boots, by spreading the milky juice of
the tree, before it hardens, on cloth. They also use the
bottles into which they first shape the substance, and they
make torches of it.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
In this country and in England, it was for many years
only used to rub out the marks of black-lead pencils, and
from this circumstance it took its name; but a late dis-
covery, that a fluid obtained from coal tar dissolves it, and
on drying leaves it unchanged, renders it an article of
extreme utility.
This dissolved Indian rubber is now used for many
purposes. Water-proof, or "Macintosh" cloth, as it is
called, from the name of the inventor, is made by spread-
ing the dissolved Indian rubber on a piece of cloth, press-
ing another piece on it, and passing the whole through.
rollers. In a short time, the coal tar naptha flies off, and
leaves the two pieces of cloth firmly connected together
by the interposed Indian rubber. The fabric is quite
water-proof, and even air-proof, so that bags of it may be
blown up like a bladder, and used as pillows or cushions.
Its great use, however, is in making water-proof caps,
cloaks, and great coats. The dissolved Indian rubber is
also used, instead of glue, in binding books, and it holds
the paper so firmly that threads are not required. Water-
proof shoes are made of Indian rubber, thin sheets being
formed to the shape of the foot. It is also much used in
surgical apparatus, for forming elastic bandages, &c.
INK.-Writing ink is an opaque, black liquid, much
used for writing on paper, parchments, &c.
The principal ingredients used in making ink are, green
vitriol, or sulphate of iron, nut-galls, gum, and water.
The nut-galls, coarsely powdered, are usually boiled in
a part of the water first, so that the latter may dissolve
out all their astringent particles. To this liquid, when
strained, the gum and the green vitriol, previously dis-
solved in water, are added; a chemical change immedi-
188. What agent dissolves it, and what is Macintosh cloth?
189. Name the various purposes to which it is applied.
190. Of what ingredients is black ink made?
1
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88
ately takes place in the mixture, and a black colour is
produced, which is insoluble in water, and would sink to
the bottom if the gum were not present to thicken the
ink, and so suspend the colour. The colour of ink is not
very deep when first made, but it becomes much darker
on exposure to the air for a few days.
In the wholesale manufacture of ink, logwood and blue
vitriol, a preparation of copper, are both frequently added,
to improve the colour. The use of the latter is attended
with two serious inconveniences; it causes the ink to act
on steel pens, and penknives, coating them with copper
and rapidly spoiling them; and what is even still worse,
it renders ink exceedingly poisonous; for these reasons,
though it much improves the colour of the ink, it is better
to omit it.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
[Red ink is made by boiling Brazil wood in vinegar,
and then adding alum and gum.
Blue ink is made by dissolving indigo in oil of vitriol,
mixing it with water, and adding a little potash or soda.
Prussian blue and oxalic acid are sometimes used.]
MUSTARD SEEDS.-The mustard in common use is the
seed produced by two annual herbaceous plants with yel-
low flowers, the four petals of which are arranged in the
cross-like form, so characteristic of the wholesome and
generally pungent tribe of plants to which they belong
(the cruciform).
Both the plants are natives of England. The seeds of
one plant are pale yellow, or nearly white; hence it is
termed white mustard, and the plant producing them is
chiefly cultivated for small salad. Those of the other are
dark reddish brown-the plant bearing them is called black
mustard. The latter kind is chiefly used, the seeds being
much more pungent than those of the former. It is cul-
tivated, very extensively in the counties of Durham and
Yorkshire. The seeds are sown either with the drill, or
by the hand broadcast, in March or April, after the ground
191. Why should copper be omitted?
192. How is red and blue ink made?
193. Describe the two plants which yield mustard seed.
I
89
has been prepared by ploughing and harrowing. When
the plants are a few inches high, they are thinned by hoe-
ing, and in August or September, when the small yellow
cross-shaped flowers have faded, leaving the seed vessel
and seeds fit for gathering, the plants are cut down and
tied in sheaves.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
In preparing mustard for use, the seeds are ground in a
mill, and the dark-coloured husk separated by fine sifting.
Ground mustard, or flour of mustard, as it is sometimes
termed, when mixed into a paste with water, forms the
well-known condiment that is used to flavour our food,
and to quicken digestion by stimulating the stomach to
more rapid action.
Ground mustard also forms an extremely useful and safe
emetic where poison has been taken; a large table-spoon-
ful of the powder in a glass of water acting immediately.
It is also used to aid the effects of hot foot-baths, as by its
stimulating properties it causes a great determination of
blood to the skin from any affected part.
White mustard is cultivated for salad, the young plants
being cut when about two inches high. Some years since
the seed was much used as a cure for many complaints,
when swallowed whole in water; but its use was much
more injurious than beneficial.
It may be mentioned that the mustard plant, though pro-
duced from so small a seed, attains a large size in hot
climates, and was hence chosen by our Saviour as a sub-
ject for one of the parables-Matt. xiii. 31; Mark iv. 30;
Luke xiii. 18. As, however, it does not become a tree,
it is supposed by many writers that another plant was
alluded to.
NUTGALLS. These useful substances are the produce
of a small shrubby oak that grows abundantly in all the
countries of Asia Minor. Its stature is so low that it
ought to be considered as a shrub rather than a tree, not
attaining a greater height than six feet. The nutgalls,
194. What difference between white and black mustard?
195. Name the various uses of mustard.
196. What are nutgalls, and how produced?
8*
90
although produced on the plant, are not its fruit (which
resembles that of our oaks, being acorns), but are caused
by a small insect, which pierces the bark of the young
shoots, and deposits its egg in the hole; the presence of
the egg causes a swelling to take place, which is the gall.
The eggs are hatched in the gallnuts, they become larvæ
or grubs, and feed on the substance of the gall that con-
tains them; after a certain time they turn to the perfect
insects, which soon gnaw their way out, leaving a small
hole in the side of the nutgall. On looking at a number
of galls, we find that some are pierced with this round
aperture, whilst others are not-the latter are considered
the most valuable in commerce; if broken, they will be
found to contain the remains of the grub, or not unfre-
quently the perfect insect. Galls are in perfection when
they have arrived at their full size and weight, yet before
they are pierced by the insect. They are gathered by
- hand for sale. Of all vegetable substances, nutgalls are
by far the most astringent. This we might be led to ex-
pect, as they are produced from the juice of the oak,
which abounds in astringent matter. (See OAK BARK.)
4
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
They are used in the manufacture of ink, as they have
the property of producing a black colour when mixed with
green vitriol (a preparation of iron). They are also used
in dyeing cloths black and other colours, and also occa-
sionally in medicine.
OAK BARK.-The stems of trees growing in temperate
climates have a covering called bark; this not only protects
the growing wood, but serves as a channel down which
the sap that has been prepared in the leaves descends.
This descending sap, having been exposed in the leaves.
to the action of the sun and air, is charged with the pecu-
liar products of the plant; and as it descends by the bark,
this last is also highly charged with them. It is from this
circumstance that the bark is selected in preference to the
wood, when we wish to obtain the peculiar principle of
any plant.
The bark of the oak, therefore, contains a
197. Of what use are they in the arts?
198. What is the nature of oak bark ?
91
much larger proportion of the astringent matter of the
plant than the wood. Its great use is to convert hides into
leather; it is carefully removed from the tree, and is then
ground into a coarse powder between iron rollers, and
placed in layers between the skins in the tan-pit. The
skins of animals consist in a great part of a substance
similar to glue, which is soluble in water, and very per-
ishable. When this is acted upon by the astringent part
of the oak bark, the two unite and form the insoluble and
durable substance called leather.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
After all the astringent part of the coarsely powdered
oak bark has been absorbed, the refuse is used sometimes
to keep up the heat in hotbeds, for as it gradually decays
it gives out a mild warmth; and at other times it is pressed
into a solid mass, dried, and sold for burning as a kind of
turf.
Much more oak bark is used in England for tanning
hides than their own oaks will supply; therefore large
quantities are imported from the Netherlands, Germany,
and other countries. [In the United States, the use of
oak bark for tanning leather is immensely great, and the
mills for grinding it are generally wrought by steam en-
gines.]
OLIVE OIL.-This liquid is the produce of the fruit of
the olive, which is crushed when fully ripe, and the oil
pressed out. Thus obtained, it is a pale yellow liquid,
with a bland oily taste, and destitute of smell. In the
warm countries of the south of Europe and Syria, of
which the olive is a native, the oil has been in use from
the earliest periods of which we have any record (Exod.
xxvii), both for burning in lamps and for food. For these
purposes it is well adapted; it is readily inflammable, and
burns with a clear flame and without smoke: and from its
being without any unpleasant odour, and not being liable
to turn rancid, it is much used for food.
Another use to which olive oil was applied in the East
was for the purpose of making ointments, which were
199. What property does it possess, and of what use?
200. Whence and how is olive oil procured?.
92
used in anointing; these were made of spices of the most
expensive kind, mixed together with oil. In England and
this country, at the present time, oil is used for food and
for the preparation of medical ointments, &c.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
Oils of a cheaper kind, obtained from animals, as the
whale and seal, are used for burning in lamps. [Lard oil
is becoming an article of extensive use in lamps, all over
the United States.]
Another important use of oils is for the purpose of mak-
ing paint when mixed with chemical substances of a dry-
ing nature, and exposed to the air, they become hard and
dry; and if in this state they are laid on wood, &c., they
form a kind of varnish that perfectly resists the dampness
of our climate, and much preserves the wood. When
white lead is added, so as to render the mixture perfectly
opaque, it is called paint, and various colours are generally
added to produce the tints required.
Olive oil, from its great price, is not usually employed
for making paints, but that prepared from the seeds of the
flax or linseed. (See LINSEED.)
PAPER. This valuable material is manufactured almost
entirely from various kinds of rags. In England and the
United States, so great is the demand for rags for this
purpose, that they are imported in immense quantities
from Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe. The
first operation in making paper is the sorting of the rags
according to their various degrees of fineness, and at the
same time they are cut into small shreds; these shreds are
then beaten and shaken in a machine, so as to free them
as much as possible from dust and dirt. The rags are
then washed, and afterwards ground to a pulp in water, by
means of a machine of rather a complicated construction;
it consists of a large cistern to contain the water and the
rags to be converted into pulp. In this cistern turns round
with immense rapidity a cylinder like a drum, from the
sides of which project a number of blades or cutters; these,
201. What are its properties and uses?
202. What oils are now used for burning?
203. To what use is flax or linseed oil applied?
I
93
as the cylinder turns round in the water, have their cutting
edges brought close to those of another set of cutters fixed
to the cistern, and as the rags are caught between the
knives they are rapidly cut or torn up, and reduced to a
pulp, which is whitened by the addition of chloride of
lime. (See CHLORIDE of LIME.)
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
This pulp being again well beaten, so as to render it
exceedingly smooth, is mixed with some size or thin glue ;
and for the manufacture of some papers a small quantity
of blue, as indigo, is added.
Formerly, from the pulp thus prepared, the paper was
made by hand; but latterly by far the greatest quantity
is made by a machine, propelled by water or steam.
In the former case, the paper was made in sheets the
size required for use, but by the machine in pieces of im-
mense length-viz., from twenty to thirty feet, and five
feet in breadth. It is stated that the machines now at
work in Great Britain make nearly 2000 miles of paper
four or five feet broad every day. The formation of the
machine is very complicated, and could not be understood
without the aid of engravings; therefore the mode of
making paper by hand will be described, the principle
being the same in both cases; for whatever plan is adopted,
the object is to separate from the pulp the water it contains,
and to cause the former to assume the shape of a sheet of
paper. The worker stands by the side of a vat containing the
pulp well mixed; into this he dips a kind of sieve called a
mould, on which he takes up a small quantity of pulp;
this sieve is formed of wires, the arrangement of which
varies with the kind of paper required: for foolscap, the
wires are separate and run parallel, giving that paper its
peculiar ribbed appearance. Wove paper is so called
from the sieve or mould being formed of wires woven
into a fine cloth, with about fifty or sixty meshes to the
inch.
Usually the maker's name and the date are marked on
the mould by sewing in a piece of wire in the form of the
204. Of what is paper made, and what of the pulp?
205. Describe the process of paper making.
1
94
letters required; this being raised above the surface of the
mould, makes the paper thinner at these parts. The pulp
taken into the mould is, by shaking, spread very evenly
over the whole surface, and the water drains away through
the wires; when so much of the water has drained off as
to leave the pulp tolerably firm, it is turned out on a piece
of felted cloth, and upon it another piece of felt is laid to
receive a second layer of half solid pulp; and so on alter-
nately pulp and felt until six or eight quires are piled up.
The whole is then pressed by machinery, with a pressure
equal to or exceeding 100 tons; by this immense force
much of the water is driven out, and the paper becomes
much more solid. Removed from the press, the felts and
paper are separated by a boy, the former being again
ready for immediate use. Two men working at the vat,
and a boy to separate the felts and pressed papers, can
make six or eight reams a day.
In the evening, the whole of the paper made during the
day is placed in a press, where it remains all night; this
somewhat smooths the surface, and gets rid of more of
the moisture. It is then separated and hung on ropes to
dry.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
From the drying room it is removed to be sized; this is
accomplished by dipping about four quires at once into a
kind of size or thin glue (see GLUE), each sheet being
moistened equally. The whole is once more pressed, and
again dried slowly for some days. The paper is now
finished, with the exception of pressing once or twice, so
as to give it a smooth and even surface. It is then sent
to the finisher, who counts the sheets into reams and does
them up; so great is the rapidity acquired by practice,
that a good finisher will count 200 reams, or 96,000 sheets
a day.
Several kinds of paper are made from various materials,
as they are required to answer different purposes.
Brown paper, in use for packing up heavy articles, is
made from canvass, sackcloth, and other strong hempen
materials. Whity brown paper is a cheap paper used for
206. How is paper sized and finished?
95
wrapping up small articles; is made thin, and of rather
finer materials.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
Blotting paper is made without being much pressed,
and is not sized; so that it is porous and very absorbent,
readily sucking up, like a sponge, the superfluous ink
from writing-the pulp for this paper is usually coloured
in making.
Foolscap is a paper of large size, made on a mould whose
wires are parallel. Letter or wove paper, is formed on a
mould of closely woven wire gauze. It is sometimes left
white; at others dyed, when in a state of pulp, with indigo,
or a dye called smalt; this is called blue, the other yellow,
Wove.
Hot pressed or satin paper is merely the best Bath or
letter paper, sheets of which are placed alternately between
very smooth pasteboards, and between every fifty paste-
boards a hot sheet of iron is put; the whole is then pressed
with immense force, when the warmth from the iron pene-
trates the pile, and with the pressure gives an exceedingly
smooth surface to the paper. Silver paper
Silver paper is a very thin
paper used for ornaments, and usually made without much
size.
Pasteboard and card consist merely of several thick-
nesses of paper pasted together, and made to adhere by
being firmly pressed together.
PEARLASH.-Pearlash is an alkaline substance obtained
from wood ashes. The great supply of pearlash for Eng-
land is from America, where the trees are often cut down
and burnt, solely for the purpose of manufacturing this
article. The ashes of the burnt timber are collected and
put into cisterns; water is poured upon them, which dis-
solves all the soluble parts of the ash, and, after standing
some hours to become clear, is drawn off and evaporated
to dryness in iron pots, when the half-melted pearlash re-
mains.
It is brought to England in casks, containing about five
hundredweight.
207. What varieties of paper are cited?
96
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
}
Pearlash obtained by this process is usually of a grayish
colour, from the presence of impurities; but it is readily
freed from these by dissolving it carefully in water, and
evaporating the clear liquor.
Pearlash, when pure, is a white substance of an acrid
caustic taste, easily soluble in water; with which it has so
great a disposition to unite, as to attract it from the air,
unless it is kept in closely corked vessels or casks. It is
an article of great importance in many of our manufactures.
Soft soap is in part composed of it; many kinds of glass
are made by its aid (see GLASS). It is also used by
scourers in cleaning wool, &c.; and its use in removing
grease and scouring wood-work, paint, &c. is very great:
although it is now not so much employed for these latter
purposes as soda, a substance somewhat similar in pro-
perties, but much cheaper in price.
Soda (which does not attract moisture from the air) is
prepared by a complicated chemical process from common
salt.
RAISINS.-Raisins, or dried grapes, are the produce of
the vine. This plant, although now cultivated in all the
warmer regions of the globe, was originally a native of
Asia, from whence it spread into Europe, Africa, and even
the New World.
The grapes of Palestine are now, as well as in the time
of Moses, of a larger size than those of other countries.
Although the vine is grown in England, and the grapes
are eatable, yet they do not arrive at perfection. Wine,
for instance, cannot be made from them without the addi-
tion of sugar. Neither is the sun powerful enough to dry
them so as to form raisins. We are dependent, therefore,
on other countries for this dried fruit.
In Valencia, from whence our great supply is obtained,
raisins are formed by cutting the bunches of grapes, dip-
ping them in a kind of lye made of wood ashes and lime;
the lye is heated, the grapes are placed in a vessel full of
208. What is pearlash, and how produced?
209. For what is it useful in the arts?
210. What are raisins, and how procured?
I
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
Af
97
holes, and the whole put into the hot lye; the grapes are
then taken out of the vessel, and spread out on leaves
placed on the ground, when they are rapidly dried by the
heat of the sun.
The raisins called Malaga raisins are dried without
being dipped in lye; hence their different appearance and
flavour. The effect of the lye is to soften the skin of the
fruit, and to render it less tough; whereas those dried
without being dipped have tough skins, but the flavour is
much superior. Hence Valencia raisins are used for pas-
try, the others for eating raw.
SAFFRON.Saffron is the produce of the purple crocus,
a plant much cultivated in our gardens for its beauty, and
growing wild in many parts of England, but originally
brought from the East.
The leaves appear in the spring, whilst the plant does
not flower until the following September. Each flower
consists of a long tube, expanding at the top into six
purple petals. In the centre of the tube grows the style,
which is a slender, bright orange-coloured stalk, divided
at the top into three stigmas, which are the thread-like
bodies that form, when dried, the substance called saffron.
To obtain this substance, the flowers are gathered early
in the morning, before they open; the stigmas are picked
out of them and carefully dried, by being spread out on
horse-hair cloths over a stove. The saffron obtained in
England is superior to the foreign. The best is dried in
loose fibres, when it is called hay saffron. The inferior
kinds are pressed into flat cakes.
Saffron is distinguished by a peculiar aromatic odour,
and a slight bitter taste. It is used to colour and flavour
pastry, and as a dye. When thus employed it is soaked,
or boiled in water, which extracts both its fine yellow colour
and its flavour, and may then be used for the purposes re-
quired.
It was once much used in medicine, but is not now
highly esteemed. A plant bearing the somewhat similar
211. What varieties of raisins are named ?
212. Describe saffron and its source.
213. What are its properties and uses?
9
98
name of "Meadow saffron, or Colchicum," is much used
in medicine; care should be taken that it is not confounded
with saffron, as its roots and seeds, the part employed, are
exceedingly poisonous, and have frequently proved fatal.
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
SAGO. The nutritious food, known to us under this
name, is the produce of a palm-tree growing in low marshy
situations, in the peninsula of Molucca, and the adjacent
islands.
The sago palm grows to about 25 or 30 feet in height;
the trunk is thick and cylindrical (not tapering), destitute
of branches, and bearing on its top a tuft of numerous
leaves before the tree forms its fruit. The stem consists
of a thin hard wall or shell outside, about two inches in
thickness; the whole of the inner part of the trunk is filled
with an immense quantity of a pithy substance, from
which the sago is obtained. This pith disappears as the
fruit ripens, the latter deriving its nourishment from the
pith, and when the fruit is quite ripe the stem is merely a
hollow shell, or cylinder.
The inhabitants of the Moluccas, to whom sago is the
staff of life, obtain it by cutting down the tree close to the
ground, splitting up the trunk, and taking out the pith,
which they rub to powder and mix with water; after
straining off, the water is left standing; the sago settles at
the bottom, and after a few more washings it is fit for use;
but before it is sent to England it is again wetted with
water, so as to make a paste, which is rubbed or rolled into
the small grains we are acquainted with.
The quantity of sago yielded by each tree is immense;
500 or 600 pounds is a common produce for one palm.
Sago is a nutritious, wholesome food, of a starchy nature,
light, and very easy of digestion, so that it is frequently
used by invalids. It is now much employed as an article
of food in England, being valuable from its cheapness, and
its wholesome properties. Many hundred tons are annu-
ally imported into England. [In America it is only used
as nutriment for the sick.]
214. What is sago, and whence procured?
215. What of its abundance and uses?
妻
​MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
99
Sealing-wax.—This is a substance employed for fas-
tening letters and papers. Its use depends on the readi-
ness with which it melts; on its adhesiveness when
melted, which is sufficient to enable it to stick very firmly
to paper, but not so great as to fix it to a polished seal; on
its plastic nature, when fused, which allows it to receive
any impression stamped upon it; and as it hardens when
cold, it retains the image impressed upon it.
Sealing-wax, possessing these properties, is prepared
from a resinous substance termed shell-lac (which is the
produce of an insect, a native of the East Indies), melted
with about one quarter of its weight of Venice turpentine,
and coloured red by vermillion, or sometimes black, by
lamp-black. These ingredients are all melted together,
and well mixed by stirring; and, while still soft, either cast
into moulds of the shape desired, or rolled into round
sticks, on a smooth marble slab.
A cheaper kind of sealing-wax is made with resin and
red lead, for sealing over the corks of wine-bottles, &c. &c.
SODA. Soda is an alkaline substance, well known to all
from its great use in washing. Until a few years since
soda was obtained from the ashes of burnt sea-weed, in the
same manner as pearlash is now procured from the ashes
of land plants (see PEARLASH): and not many years ago
20,000 persons were employed in the Orkney Islands
alone, in collecting and burning sea-weed for this purpose.
At the present time soda is obtained from sea salt by a
very complicated chemical process, conducted on a most
extensive scale, in manufactories in the northern parts of
Britain, and in such abundance is it produced that it is sold
retail at 1d. per pound. As thus obtained, soda is
usually in large crystals, which are transparent, readily
soluble in water, and have a cooling, alkaline taste. They
contain nearly two-thirds their weight of water, and if
gently heated they melt.
216. Describe sealing-wax and its properties?
217. How is it made and coloured?
218. What is soda, and how was it formerly obtained?
219. Whence is it now procured, and how?
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If the crystals of soda are kept in a warm, dry place,
the water they contain flies off, and a dry white powder
is left, less than half the weight of the crystals.
1
....
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
Soda is an article of very great value in various arts;
all the different kinds of soap (with the exception of soft
soap) are made with fats, or oils, and soda (see Soap).
Its use in cleansing from dirt and grease, both clothes and
wood-work, or paint, is well known. A small quantity
placed in what is termed hard spring water will render it
fit for washing, or boiling vegetables.
It is also a substance of considerable value in medicine.
=
SUGAR. The sugar used in England and America, both
that called moist and the refined, is the produce of the
sugar-cane, a native, originally, of the East Indies, but
which is now extensively cultivated in the West Indies,
the Brazils, and in the southern portions of the United
States, &c. &c.
C
The stem of the sugar-cane is jointed, and without
branches. It rises erect to the height of ten or twelve
feet. The leaves, which are very long and narrow, rise
singly from the joints, and they sheath or embrace the
stem to the next joint above, like the leaves of our grasses.
The top of the stem ends in a loose bundle of small downy
flowers, of a very pale lilac colour, and about two feet long,
giving to the plant a most elegant appearance. In the
West Indies these blossoms are not seen, as the plant is
cut down before they make their appearance.
The sugar-cane is always cultivated by sowing cuttings,
the top joints being selected for planting, when the cane is
cut down. The planting of the cane does not require to
be renewed yearly; as, if the roots are left in the ground,
fresh canes spring up for several years.
The sugar-cane, whilst growing, is subject to several
injuries. They are sometimes destroyed by millions of
small insects, that live on the juice; and, at other times,
220. What are its properties, and uses?
221. Whence is sugar chiefly derived?
222. Describe the sugar-cane.
223. How may the sugar-cane crop be lost?
101
they are subject to the depredations of monkeys and
rats.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
When the canes are fully ripe, which usually is the
case in March, they are cut down near the ground; and
then, being divided into convenient lengths, are tied up in
bundles, and conveyed to the mill, where they are crushed,
and the juice squeezed out, by passing them between large
iron rollers. The juice is immediately collected in a cis-
tern, and boiled, with the addition of some lime, or lime-
water, the use of which is to promote the separation of the
impurities, in the form of scum, which rises to the surface,
and is skimmed off. The clear liquor is then rapidly
boiled, in order to thicken it, and to enable it to form into
grains on cooling; when it is placed in hogsheads, in which
it is sent to Europe. These casks have their bottoms
pierced with holes, in order that the molasses, or that por-
tion of the sugar that will not crystallize, may drain away,
whilst the raw or moist sugar remains in the cask. The
fuel used in boiling down the juice is the crushed cane,
dried by exposure to the air. It is calculated that 110
canes will yield about five gallons of cane juice; and this
quantity, boiled down, produces about six pounds of crys-
tallized sugar. The molasses which drain from the casks
and the scummings of the boilers are collected, and, being
fermented and distilled, yield the ardent spirit known as
rum.
Raw or moist sugar is converted into lump, loaf, or re-
fined sugar, by a process termed refining. This was, until
lately, performed by boiling it with white of eggs, blood,
&c.; but now the art of refining sugar has wholly changed,
and much more cleanly and improved means are employed.
The raw or moist sugar is first dissolved in water heated
by steam, lime-water being added at the same time; the
liquor is then filtered through thick folds of cloth. By
this process it is freed from many impurities, and becomes
transparent, although it is still coloured. The next stage
of the process is the discolouration of the syrup; this is
1
224. Describe the process of making sugar.
225. What of refined sugar, and how prepared?
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102
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
effected by allowing it to filter through beds or layers of
animal charcoal, or bone-black, formed by heating bones in
close iron vessels. This substance has the property of
separating and retaining the colouring matter of the syrup,
which passes through the filter perfectly colourless. It is
then pumped into covered boilers, and, by the aid of steam,
is boiled down, or concentrated at a low temperature.
This boiling down is continued until part of the sugar be-
comes solid; it is then poured into iron moulds of the
well-known sugar-loaf shape. On cooling, it becomes a
solid mass of sugar; a small hole is then opened at the
bottom of the mould, and a small quantity of impure syrup
drains out; this is the substance sold as treacle.
m
Loaf sugar, as thus obtained, is a granular substance,
formed of a number of small white and hard crystals ad-
hering together. If pure, it has no smell, and its taste is
simply sweet, without any other flavour. It is readily
melted by heat.
As an article of food, sugar is exceedingly wholesome
and nutritious. It is noticed, that during the making of
sugar the negroes in the plantations, and even the horses
and cattle which are fed on the green tops and refuse,
grow fat and strong, though their labour is at that time
much increased.
The general uses of sugar are well known. Sugar
candy is formed by allowing a hot concentrated syrup to
cool slowly, when it forms large crystals on threads placed
in the liquor. Barley sugar is merely sugar melted by
heat and cast in moulds.
[Sugar is also manufactured from the juice of the maple
tree in various parts of the United States, particularly
in Vermont, and also in Canada. The trees at the
proper season are bored with an auger, to the depth of
two inches, and a piece of hollow cane inserted, to allow
the sap to flow into vessels placed below for receiving it.
Twenty or thirty gallons may be obtained from an ordinary
tree, yielding some five or six pounds of sugar by boiling.
226. Describe loaf sugar, and how made?
227. Name the sources of sugar, other than the cane.
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103
With suitable refining, very excellent sugar may thus be
procured.
In France the sugar beet yields sugar of so good a
quality that it is supposed to be used exclusively by half
the population. The white beet is preferred, and more
than 400 manufactories of the article are in operation.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
Sugar is also obtained from the juice of the palm-tree,
grapes, turnips, parsnips, starch, and potatoes.]
TEA.-Tea is the produce of an evergreen shrub, a na-
tive of China, Japan, and some parts of India. The leaves,
which are lance-shaped, somewhat like those of the myrtle,
are serrated, or toothed like a saw at the edges, and, when
fresh, are of a bright deep green. When full grown their
length is about two inches. The flowers are small and
white, and are succeeded by a seed-vessel, or dry fruit,
divided into three cells, each of which contains a single
seed. The plants are raised from the seeds, two or three
being dropped into the place where the shrubs are desired.
The leaves are gathered several times during the year,
the young leaves alone being plucked. The drying be-
gins directly the leaves are gathered, and it is effected
partly by the sun, and partly by charcoal fires. During
the drying, the leaves are rubbed between the hands, so as
to roll them up; and, when over the fire, are constantly
stirred to prevent their scorching. When quite dry, they
are either retained for use or sent to one of the sea-port towns,
where they are again dried, packed in chests lined with
thin sheet-lead, and shipped for this and other countries.
There are two kinds of tea brought to this country,
black and green: it is not ascertained whether these are
produced by the same or different plants. The green tea
appears to differ from the black chiefly in the leaves being
gathered without the stalks, which are always present in
the latter, and in being less heated in the drying. It is
an error to suppose that its green colour is owing to its
being dried on copper pans.
228. What is tea, whence and how procured?
229. What of the varieties, and consumption of tea?
!
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104
The mode in which tea is used as an almost universal
article of diet in this country and England is well known;
and when taken in moderate quantities it is not injurious,
as it cheers the spirits and refreshes the body; but, in
large quantities, tea, or any other liquid, is unwholesome,
by weakening the tone of the stomach, and preventing
the due digestion of food. [It has been ascertained that
8 millions of pounds are used in this country, and 30
millions in England annually. In the latter country the
black tea is most generally used, but in America the green
is preferred.]
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
=
VINEGAR.-Vinegar is an acid liquor much used in fla-
vouring food, and for pickling. It is readily obtained by
allowing any liquid containing a small quantity of spirit
to be exposed to the air, when a kind of fermentation goes
on, by which the spirit is changed into the sour or acid
principle of the vinegar. Formerly, vinegar was made
by exposing weak wine, or a kind of malt liquor brewed
without hops, for a long period to the air in open vats;
but now the process is much more rapidly conducted, by
allowing the liquor to flow through loose shavings, by
which it is so much more exposed to the air, that it
is changed into vinegar in less than two days. As thus
obtained, vinegar is a reddish-brown coloured liquid, of
an agreeable, aromatic, but rather pungent odour, and a
sour taste. It has been used as a condiment from the ear-
liest times; and, in the sultry eastern countries, its cooling
and acid properties cause it to be much valued. From its
being so readily procured by allowing any weak spiritu-
ous liquor to become sour, it was generally employed, being
used by the labourers in harvest time. (Ruth ii. 14.) Its
well-known effect on the teeth, when undiluted with water,
supplies Solomon with an apt comparison. (Prov. x. 26.)
Vinegar, or sour wine, was the usual drink of the
Roman soldiers; and, mingled with myrrh, or some such
bitter substance, it was offered to the Messiah when on
230. What is the nature and uses of vinegar?
231. How may it be procured?
232. What scriptural references are cited?
:
105
the cross. By St. Matthew (xxvii. 34 and 48) the offered
beverage is termed vinegar; by St. Mark, wine.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
At the present time, in England and this country, vine-
gar is used for seasoning food, for preserving vegetable
substances from decay, and for forming pickles. In large
quantities, however, it has a very injurious effect, weak-
ening so much the structure of the stomach as to prevent
the food being digested.
Vinegar of a much stronger kind is now obtained, in
large quantity, by heating wood to redness in iron vessels,
when a sour liquor passes off in vapour, which, when
purified, is found to contain the same acid as vinegar; this
is much used in making pickles.
WAFERS.-The wafers in common use for fastening
letters are made with wheat flour. This is first stirred up
with water so as to make a thin fluid, quite free from any
lumps or unmixed portions of flour. Then, according to
the colour required, various substances are mixed with it;
such as vermillion, indigo, gamboge, lamp-black, &c. &c.
The worker then takes a tool formed of two thin iron plates,
which he can bring together like a pair of tongs or pin-
cers, but which do not quite touch, leaving a small space
between them as thick as the wafers are to be; he first
slightly warms the plates, then gives them a thin coat of
grease, when they are filled with the flour paste, closed
together, and held over a charcoal fire. On being opened
when cold, a thin cake of wafer is found nearly dry, brittle,
and about as thick as an address card; this is by means of
ring-shaped punches cut into small round pieces of the
size required. The use of wafers depends upon their
becoming, when moistened, both soft and adhesive; if in
this state they are placed between two pieces of paper,
and the latter pressed together, the wafer adheres to both,
and, when dry, firmly unites them.
The substances used for colouring wafers are frequently
poisonous. This is especially the case with red ones,
233. Name the various uses of vinegar.
234. How are wafers made and coloured?
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VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
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106
which are tinted with either red lead or vermillion, both
unwholesome substances, and very injurious effects have
resulted from their being moistened in the mouth when
used in large numbers, in which case they should be
dipped in a cup of water.
Coarse wafers, made with red lead and flour, are used
for poisoning black beetles or cockroaches.
WALNUTS.—These nuts are the fruit of the walnut tree,
which is not a native of England, but of the warmer parts
of Europe and Asia; and in the colder parts of Britain it
will not ripen its fruit. [It grows abundantly in America.]
The tree, which produces timber of a very valuable kind
for use, as gun-stocks, &c., is of a beautiful appearance,
bearing leaves which are divided into seven or nine di-
visions or leaflets, and two kinds of flowers, the barren
blossoms being in long heads or catkins, which soon fall
from the tree, whilst the fertile ones grow only two or
three together, and are each succeeded by a large oval
fleshy fruit, which consists of an outside green coating having
a very bitter taste, and which possesses the property of
dyeing the skin a dingy greenish yellow colour, which can-
not be removed without much trouble; this green rind
covers a hard oval shell, which consists of two pieces,
each of which is deeply and irregularly grooved; this
shell contains the seed or kernel, which is a very irregu-
larly shaped body, covered by a brown skin.
235. What is said of their poisonous qualities?
236. Describe the walnut tree and its fruit.
237. To what uses are the fruit and wood applied?
.
-
The fruit of the walnut tree is useful for a variety of
purposes; before the inner shell has become hard, the
whole fruit is pickled, and the juice obtained by crushing
them in this state forms walnut ketchup. When ripe,
the outer rind has been used as a dye for staining wool,
hair, &c., of a greenish yellow colour.
The kernel forms a delicious and nutritious article of
food; it contains a very large quantity of oil, even as much
as half its weight. This oil is extracted by pressure, and
is of considerable value to painters and varnishers, from the
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MISCELLANEOUS SUBSTANCES.
107
property it possesses of drying very quickly; and in some
countries it is used for food, in the same manner as salad
or olive oil.
WILLOW or OSIER.-In this and other temperate coun-
tries grow a large number of trees known by the names
of willows, osiers, or sallows. They are found in damp
and watery situations, some attaining the size of large
trees, whilst others are small plants; both kinds bearing
long straight twigs.
The great value of the willow and osier depends on the
long straight shoots they put forth, which are very flexible,
exceedingly tough, and of very rapid growth. These cir-
cumstances have caused them to be selected for the pur-
When
pose of making baskets, hampers, crates, &c.
employed for large baskets, the largest shoots are taken,
and the bark is not removed; for smaller baskets the bark
is stripped off; and for still finer work the shoots are split
into small strips, which are worked up into hats, and even
bonnets, fine baskets, &c., &c.; they are previously
bleached by being held over burning sulphur. Besides
its use for basket-work, the toughness of the willow leads
the cooper to use it for the hoops of casks; for which
purpose the larger shoots are split down the centre, and
the ends being fastened together form hoops, the flat split
side fitting closely to the cask.
238. What of the willow or osier ?
239. What is its value and uses in the arts?
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THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
SHELLS.
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INTRODUCTION.-Shells are the hard substances that
cover, and at the same time protect, the bodies of the
animals that inhabit them. These animals are soft, fleshy,
and cold to the touch; they differ from the higher animals
in not possessing an internal framework, or skeleton, and in
having cold and white blood; also in the absence of a brain,
and in their senses being usually less developed.
The shells themselves consist of chalk, or carbonate of
lime, mixed with animal matter; they are formed from
the skin of the animal they enclose; when the latter is
small, the shell is small also; and as the animal grows,
it enlarges the shell, by adding to it at the edge of the
opening.
As the shell is thus formed upon the animal, its shape,
of course, depends entirely on that of its inmate.
The various colours that adorn shells are deposited from
glands in the skin of the animal, when the substance of
the shell is still soft.
Besides this power of constructing their habitations, they
have the power also of repairing them when any breach
has been made in them.
Shells are interesting to us, not only on account of the
241. What are shells, and of what composed?
240. What of their shape and colour?
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use of the animals as food, but from their beauty, and the
wisdom displayed in their structure; for we find each
shell suited to the position in which it is placed: some,
by their impenetrable hardness, are well adapted to the
rapid rivers in which they are found; others, which are
fragile, are, by their very lightness, preserved from being
thrown with force against any substance, and they float on
the surface of the sea uninjured.
SHELLS.
To the natives of savage countries, shells are especially
valuable; of broken pieces they make substitutes for
knives; they also use them to form their arrow and spear-
heads, and even their fish-hooks; they are also used as
vessels for holding liquids.
In many parts of America, lime is obtained in large
quantity from shells, the animal part of which has been
destroyed by burning.
Shells have been arranged in three great divisions or
classes; those which are formed of one piece, or valve,
are called univalve, as the snail, whelk, &c.; those formed
of two pieces, joined together by a hinge, are called bi-
valves, as the oyster, mussel, &c.; and those formed of
several pieces, are called multivalves, the most familiar in-
stance is the barnacle.
SHELLS OF ONE PIECE, or UNIVALVE SHELLS.-The
principal parts of a univalve shell are the whorls; they
are the parts that roll round and form the spire, the largest
one being called the body whorl; the mouth, which is
the entrance into the shell; the lips, which form the edge
of the mouth; the base, which is the largest part of the
shell; and the point or top. Some shells have a projec-
tion at the bottom of the mouth: this is called a beak
the inside of the beak is a canal, in which the trunk of
the animal fits. The animals inhabiting such shells have
a head distinct from the body, and generally furnished
;
242. For what are they interesting?
243. Of what use are shells to savages?
244. What classification has been made ?
245. Describe the univalve shells.
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with long organs, termed feelers; they have also eyes,
and a fleshy foot, on which they crawl.
SNAIL SHELL.-This shell is a univalve of a conical
form, with a large swelling body whorl, a smooth surface,
and round mouth. Its inhabitant is one of the pulpy ani-
mals distinguished by crawling on a broad fleshy foot,
which is placed on the under part of the body; it has a
distinct head, with mouth, &c., and four feelers, the two
upper and longer of which, carry at their ends the eyes,
which appear like black spots. The food of the snail is
entirely vegetable; during winter they become torpid, and
close the mouth or opening of the shell with a thin lid,
which they have the power of forming. In dry weather,
even in the greatest warmth of summer, they will close
up the shell as described. Also, if they are put into a
box without food, they will attach themselves to the side,
and become torpid, in which state they will remain for
years, and will immediately revive if moistened with water.
The writer cannot call to mind a more beautiful instance
than this of the infinite wisdom and goodness of the great
Creator: not only are these animals able to abstain from
food during winter, but when occasional dry weather has
parched up the vegetables on which they subsist, they have
the power of becoming dormant ; whilst the same refreshing
shower that restores the green herbs, brings back again to
life those beings whose food they form. As the snail is not
exposed to the violence of the waves, it does not require a
strong shell like that of the periwinkle; it is therefore pro-
vided with a thin light one, that does not encumber its move-
ments; and it is an acknowledged fact that no art could form
a substance, affording the protection it does, of so light a
weight. Various kinds of snails have been employed as food;
a very large kind was anciently fatted for the table by the
Romans, and is now eaten by the Roman Catholic inha-
bitants of many parts of Europe during Lent; this kind
has been introduced in England, and is now very common
in the chalk hills of Surrey and other parts. The common
garden snail has been employed as food in consumptive
cases, as it is extremely nutritious and easy of digestion..
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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From the power that snails possess of becoming torpid
during drought, they are enabled to inhabit the most de-
sert plains; and on the small tufts of coarse grass and herb-
age found there, large snails are abundant, and it has been
thought that they formed part of the food of the Israelites,
during their passage from Egypt, as large ones are abun-
dant, and to the present day are eaten as a delicacy in
Egypt. Snails form the favourite food of birds of the
thrush kind, whether in a wild or confined state.
SHELLS.
SHELLS OF Two PIECES, or BIVALVES.-The twe
pieces or valves of which these shells are formed are united,
at the part called the hinge, by an elastic ligament, the
effect of which is to keep the shell open; but the animal,
by means of strong muscles which pass from its body,
and are attached inside to the valves, can close them at
pleasure. It is these muscles that are cut away when the
oyster is taken from its shell. At the hinge are often
small prominences called teeth, and the points of the valves
over the hinge are called beaks. The animals inhabiting
these shells differ much from those of the univalves.
They have no distinct head; consequently, no eyes, nor
feelers; and their mouth is merely a small aperture or
hole. Some of them have a foot, by which they can creep
slowly from place to place. Others, as the oyster, cement
themselves to the rocks, and are incapable of motion. The
food of these animals is found in the water in which they
all live, and is washed into their shells, when they allow
the elastic ligament to keep it open for that purpose.
MUSSEL.-The shell of the mussel consists of two
pieces, of equal size, and of a similar shape, which is oval,
and pointed at the beaks. The colour is dark brown; the
inside is pearly white, blueish towards the edges. The
animal has the power of fixing itself to one spot, or of
moving from place to place, by means of a tongue-shaped
246. What of the snail?
247. What wonderful power in the snail is named?
248. What is said of snails as food?
249. Describe the bivalve shells.
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foot, which it can push out of the shell to some distance,
and draw in again. When they wish to move, they place
the shell erect on its edge, and stretch out the foot. This,
being sticky, adheres to the ground, and, when shortened,
pulls the shell along. In this way, the mussel moves
until it finds a convenient place of residence, when it forms
a bundle of fine silky threads-one end of which it fastens
to the rock, and the other is attached to the animal; and
thus it remains securely anchored. Mussels are found on
our coasts in immense numbers, collected in beds, which
are uncovered at low water. Women and children tear
them away from the rocks and stones to which they are
attached, by an iron hook. In England, they are sold as
they are thus collected; but in France they are fattened
as we fatten oysters. The mussel, which is usually eaten
boiled or pickled, is rich, and not unwholesome when it is
in season. In the spring time, however, it is to many
persons injurious; as it is then liable to be diseased. This
noxious quality was long thought to be owing to a small
crab which often takes up its abode in the mussel-shell;
but there seems to be no reason for believing this to be the
case. The mussel is much used by fishermen as bait for
catching both cod and haddock.
Branded
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
OYSTER. The shell of the oyster consists of two pieces,
which are roundish, but very irregular in form, and are
not alike; one being nearly flat, the other convex or bulg-
ing. The outside is very rough and scaly, and of a dingy
colour. Oysters are found in the sea, with the lower or
convex shell fixed firmly or cemented to rocks or stones,
or to one another. They prefer a rough and rocky bottom,
to which the shells can adhere firmly, better than a sandy
one; and they are generally found in water varying from
five to twenty fathoms in depth. They are fished up with
a dredge, which is a kind of net with an iron scraper at
the mouth-the use of which is to separate the oysters
from the rocks. After being taken, they are placed, for
six or eight weeks, in ponds of sea-water to fatten. Oysters
250. Describe the mussel and its shell.
251. What of the oyster and its shell ?
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abound on the shores of Great Britain and America. The
fishing for them gives employment to 100,000 people.
Oysters form a light food, easy of digestion.
INSECTS.
MOTHER OF PEARL.-This is the hard, silvery, brilliant
substance which forms the internal layer of several kinds
of shells. The interior of our common oyster shells is of
this nature; but the mother of pearl used in the arts is
much more variegated with a play of colours. The large
shells of the Indian seas alone have this pearly substance
of sufficient thickness to be of use. The play of colours
seer in mother of pearl depends on its peculiar structure.
It has, even when polished, an immense number of small
furrows running across the surface. These reflect the
light in such a manner as to produce the various hues
seen on the surface. These furrows, though too small to
be perceived by the naked eye, may be easily seen with
a microscope; and impressions of them may even be taken
in very fine black sealing-wax, which will then possess,
to a considerable extent, the same changing coloured ap-
pearance. Mother of pearl is used in the arts for forming
small articles; as counters, handles to knives, and salt-
spoons, &c., &c. It is also much used for inlaying dark
woods, with which its beautiful and varied surface forms
a striking contrast.
INSECTS.
*
INTRODUCTION.-Insects are a large and very numerous
class of animals, distinguished by their form, which in
general has the appearance of being cut into three parts;
252. What of fishing for them, and their abundance?
253. Whence is mother of pearl derived?
254. What are its various uses?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
the head, trunk and abdomen. They are also distinguished
by passing through several changes before they arrive at
the perfect state.
The bodies of insects are not (like those of the higher
animals) supported by an internal framework of bones, but
by the hardened and in most cases horny skin which gives
shape to the body, and forms also the joints of the limbs.
The head of insects is covered with several distinct
pieces of hardened skin. It usually supports two organs,
or parts, which from their use are termed feelers; below
these is the mouth, the direction of which is perpendicu-
lar. On the head also are placed the eyes, which are
sometimes simple in their nature, sometimes very com-
pound, each apparently simple eye consisting of a large
number of eyes united together.
The trunk of insects supports the wings, of which there
are usually two, as in the house-fly, or four, as in the but-
terfly. Sometimes the two upper wings are not used for
flight, but are hardened into a horny covering for the pro-
tection of the two lower, which are then very thin and
delicate; this is the case in the ladybird, cockchaffer,
beetles, &c. From the trunk also spring the legs, which
in all true insects are six in number.
The breathing of insects is not carried on by lungs, nor
does the breath pass through the mouth, but enters into
the body by several holes or pores on the sides.
The changes through which insects, properly so called,
pass, are very singular. The animal when in the perfect
state lays eggs usually in great numbers, which are of
very various shapes, and covered with a skin, although
destitute of a shell. The warmth of the climate hatches
these eggs into larvæ, or, as they are more frequently
termed, grubs, caterpillars, or maggots. These larvæ
are at first very small, but they usually eat voraciously,
and grow with great rapidity. A silkworm, for instance,
in thirty days weighs many thousand times its orginal
weight.
255. How are insects distinguished?
256. Describe their peculiarities.
257. What of their breathing, and of their eggo ?
258. What are they when hatched?
INSECTS.
115
During their continuance in the larva state, the growth
is too great for the skin to enlarge sufficiently to contain
the body of the animal; it is therefore changed several
times. Arrived at its full size, the larva changes into a
chrysalis, or pupa; in which state it is incased in a horny
covering, is destitute of limbs and of the power of motion.
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After a time, however, the animal bursts forth from this
tomb, and appears as the perfect insect. Its life in this
state is usually but short; it lays its eggs for the produc-
tion of another generation, and dies.
In some insects the whole of these changes are not dis-
tinctly marked, the grub and perfect animal being very
much alike; this is the case in the cockroach, &c.
Though small, insects are of vast importance in the
world; many yield a number of useful products; whilst
others remove with rapidity the decaying remains of ani-
mal and vegetable substances.
BEES.-Bees are the well-known insects that are do-
mesticated, and kept in hives by man, for the purpose of
yielding honey and wax. In their natural state they live
in large societies, forming their habitation in the hollow of
a tree or rock. (Deut. xxxii. 13; Ps. lxxxi. 16.) This
is still the case in some parts of America; but in Europe
they are seldom seen in a wild state.
Like most other insects, the bee is divided into three
parts,—namely, the head, the chest or thorax, and the ab-
domen. The head, which is fastened to the chest by a
thin neck, supports the feelers, the eyes, the mouth, and
the various parts connected with it. The chest has the
six legs and the four membranous wings attached to it;
whilst the third part, or abdomen, consists of several rings,
the last of which carries the sting.
In every hive there are three kinds of bees-the drones,
the workers, and the queen.
The drones are easily distinguished by their nearly
259. What changes are specified?
260. Of what use are they?
261. What of bees, and their structure?
262. How many kinds of bees in a hive?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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cylindrical form—the abdomen not tapering towards the
tail; by their large eyes, which meet at the top of their
head; their chest being thickly covered with short pale
brown hair, resembling velvet, and the wings being large
and rather longer than the body, and they are destitute
of a sting. In each hive there are usually from 700 to
2000 drones.
The working bee is smaller than the drone, from which
it is readily known by the abdomen tapering towards the
tail, and by its wings not reaching quite to the end of the
body. It is also armed with a straight sting. In a well-
stocked hive there are from 15,000 to 20,000 working
bees.
These bees are occupied in collecting honey, pollen or
bee-bread, a sort of varnish called propolis, in forming wax,
building the combs, and attending to the young.
The honey is collected from flowers by means of the
tongue, which is like a flat strap, and is used in lapping
up the honey. This is swallowed by the bee, and is car-
ried to the hive, where it is disgorged; part being used
in feeding the young, and the rest stored up in the cells
of the hive for winter consumption.
Pollen, or bee-bread, is a fine yellow dust collected by
the bees from flowers; this is carried on the hind leg, the
middle joint of which is made broad and furnished with a
rim of strong hairs, so as to form a sort of basket, admira-
bly adapted for the purpose to which it is applied. This
pollen, or bee-bread, mixed with honey, forms the food of
the young bees; for which use alone it is collected.
The substance termed propolis is a sort of resinous var-
nish, collected by the bees from the buds of trees; its use
is to stop any holes in the hive, and to form some parts of
the comb.
The queen bee is distinguished from the working bees
by the great length of her abdomen, which is in the form
of a lengthened cone; by the shortness of her wings,
263. Describe the drones and their number.
264. What of the working bees, and how many?
265. What variety of their products is named?
266. What of the queen bee ?
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which do not reach more than half the length of her body;
and she differs from the drones in being furnished with a
sting.
In each hive there is but one queen, who is treated with
the greatest respect by the other bees. It may be won-
dered, perhaps, how they can distinguish the queen in the
dark hive; this, however, they do by the feelers.
INSECTS.
If the queen is accidentally lost or destroyed, her ab-
sence is soon discovered by the workers, and the greatest
confusion and disorder follows. They immediately pro-
ceed to supply her loss, by rearing up some of the young
grubs with rich food, so that when hatched they are
queens. The strongest of these young queens then kills
the others, and retains possession of the hive.
If the queen be removed from the hive, and a strange
queen immediately placed in her stead, the workers sur-
round her and keep her prisoner till she dies of hunger.
But if the strange queen be not introduced for twenty-four
hours, she is treated very differently, being at once ad-
mitted to the sovereignty of the hive.
Should a strange queen be placed in a hive whilst the
right queen is there, the two fight; one is killed by the
stings of the other, who remains mistress of the hive.
The only occupation of the queen is to lay eggs in the
cells prepared in the comb by the workers for that pur-
pose; she takes no care of the young herself. The num-
ber of eggs laid by the queen is very great, sometimes as
many as forty or fifty a day; one being laid in each cell.
The egg is one-twelfth of an inch long, and of a cylindri-
cal form, with rounded ends. In three or four days it is
hatched, and becomes a grub or larva; this is immediately
fed by the workers, with food consisting of honey and bee-
bread mixed together. After five or six days the grub is
full grown; it then spins for itself a silken lining to its
cell, and turns into a pupa, or chrysalis, and in about eight
days changes into a perfect insect.
267. What of the death of the queen, and her substitute?
268. How is the queen employed?
269. What of the hatching of the eggs?
270. How is the succession of queens secured?
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The eggs that are intended to become queens are de-
posited in larger cells, and the grubs fed with more nutricious
food. Shortly before the young queens are hatched, the
old one becomes restless, and at last quits the hive with a
great number of the bees, to seek a new home; and it is
thus that the first swarm occurs. The next swarms are
led off by the young queens, as they are hatched in suc-
cession; until at last the number of bees left is not large
enough to furnish any fresh swarms; then the strongest
of the young queens kills all the others, and remains mis-
tress of the hive.
The usual number of swarms is two or three; in a very
populous hive sometimes as many as five swarms are sent
off; but this is rare.
Each swarm, as it quits the hive, usually clusters on
some bush or tree in the neighbourhood; and if it be not
hived, will take possession of a hollow tree, or some other
convenient place. As soon as the swarm is accommodated
with an empty hive, they proceed about building a comb.
The first step to this is the formation of the wax. This
substance is not, as was long supposed, collected by the
bees from flowers, but is formed by them. During the
operation they hang themselves in festoons from the top
of the empty hive, and remain thus clinging to one an-
other for some time. Whilst thus suspended the wax is
formed in little scales, eight in number, which appear be-
tween the rings of the abdomen. After the wax is formed,
the bees commence building the first comb, by placing the
wax against the top of the hive. As fast as the wax is
placed by one set of bees, another set commence hollowing
it out into cells on each side, the wax that is dug out of the
hollows being added to the edges of the cells to deepen
them. As soon as the first comb is so far advanced as to
contain two or three rows of cells, another comb is com-
menced on each side of it, about half an inch apart, so as
to leave room for the passing of the bees. All the combs
are begun at the roof of the hive, and built downwards.
The hive, when full, consists of a number of these combs
271. What of swarming, and their industry?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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hanging perpendicularly from the roof, and about half an
inch apart, with cells on both sides.
The cells are six-sided, and it has been proved by ma-
thematical calculation that no other shape could be adopted
without a waste of wax.
The cells in the comb serve for various purposes: some
are for the queen to deposit the eggs in, where they are
hatched into grubs, and finally into young bees. In an-
other set of cells bee-bread is stored up, and some contain
honey for winter use. The latter are joined to the sides
of the hive, as the weight would break them down if they
only hung from the top.
INSECTS.
The bees never consume the honey that has been stored
up, except in seasons of scarcity, as in winter; each cell,
as it is filled with honey, being sealed up with a wax
covering.
BEES'-WAX.-Bees'-wax, the formation of which has
already been described under the article "Bees," is pre-
pared for use by washing and melting the comb, the honey
having been previously extracted; in this state it is yel-
low, and has a peculiar smell. As it is much used in
this country and England, large quantities are brought
from Africa, Cuba, and Russia. Yellow wax is freed
from the impurities mixed with it by melting, when the
heavier particles sink to the bottom, and the lighter rise to
the top, and are removed by skimming. In this state it
is cast in the form of cakes, and is used for making oint-
ments, cements, &c. ; it melts quickly under the heat of
boiling water, and becomes soft at the temperature of the
human body. If it is worked about in the warm hand, it
quickly becomes sufficiently soft to take the impression of
any object it is pressed upon, and it retains the form when
cold and hard; in this manner wax is much used by den-
tists, &c. to take copies of small objects. But the great
consumption of yellow wax is in the formation of white wax.
This is accomplished by the process of bleaching; the
272. What of the cells, and their variety?
273. What is bees'-wax?
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yellow wax is first melted and freed from its impurities,
and then formed into thin ribands or shavings, by pouring
it into water. These ribands of wax are then laid upon
canvas stretched between poles in the bleaching ground,
where by the action of the sun upon them they finally be-
come colourless, and are cast into small flat cakes and sold
as white wax. In this state it is used for making artificial
flowers and fruit, for waxing sewing thread, &c., but
chiefly for making wax candles. The manufacture of wax
candles differs from the mode adopted in making any other
kind. Common candles are made by dipping the wicks
into the melted tallow a sufficient number of times to
render them fit for use: the name of dips is given them
from the manner in which they are made. The candles
called moulds are made by pouring the melted tallow into
pewter moulds in which the wick is stretched ; when cold
the wick is pulled, and the candle comes readily out of the
mould. But if wax were to be treated in the same way,
it would not come out readily from the mould: therefore
another mode is pursued in forming candles of this sub-
stance. The wicks are hung to a hoop suspended from
the ceiling over a pan of melted wax; the workman
pours over each wick a quantity of wax; this adheres to
the wick; but as the candle will be larger at the bottom
from the running down of the melted wax, it is unhooked
and hung up again bottom upwards, when wax is again
poured over it, and it becomes of a more uniform cylindri-
cal shape. It is then taken from the hoop, laid on a moist
slab, and rolled with smooth boards until it is of the pro-
per shape; and the required length is given it by cutting
off the rough end. The wicks that are used for candles
are made of loosely spun cotton. The use of candles for
lighting is well known. When the wick is lighted, a part
of the wax or tallow is melted; this portion is drawn up
by the wick into the flame, and there burns. In order to
get the greatest amount of light from a candle, it should
be snuffed frequently, as it then gives out much more
light, and does not burn away faster. If the wick is long
the flame is dull; that part of the tallow that would give
out the most light, instead of burning, settles on the wick
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in large clots. It has been found by experiment that a
candle immediately after snuffing gives the greatest amount
of light, in twelve minutes time only one-third as much,
in nineteen minutes less than a quarter, and in half an
hour not one-sixth as much as at first.
INSECTS.
BLACK BEETLE or COCKROACH.-This annoying in-
sect, now so very common in many houses, and almost
always found in bakehouses, corn-mills, and on board ships,
was not originally a native of England, but was brought
there either from Asia or from America. When full
grown it is about one inch long, of a dark brown colour,
and nauseous disagreeable smell. The head, which is
partly hidden by the chest, is furnished with two long
thread-like feelers, each formed of a large number of mi-
nute joints. The male is readily distinguished from the
female by its wings, which are covered by the wing cases,
and extend half the length of the body. The female
has only the rudiments of wings, and is much broader
than the male. The eggs are usually sixteen in number,
and are contained in an oblong case, which is at first white;
but afterwards becomes brown and hard. Whilst this
case is soft, the female carries it about with her, being at-
tached to the extremity of the body; afterwards she fixes
it to various substances by means of a gummy matter.
When the young escape from the egg, they are not in the
form of a grub, but appear very like the perfect insect,
though they are destitute of wings. The cockroach does
not, like the butterfly, undergo the complete set of insect
transformations from egg to grub, then to chrysalis, and
lastly to the perfect insect. Cockroaches are nocturnal
animals, exceedingly active at night, but concealing them-
selves in crevices, &c. during the day. They run ex-
tremely fast, and are very tenacious of life. Their food
consists of meal, bread, and various eatables, raw potatoes,
274. How is the yellow colour changed to white?
275. Name the various uses of wax.
276. What of wax candles?
277. Describe the burning of a candle, and the effect of snuffing.
278. What of the cockroach and its peculiarities?
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&c. They are extremely voracious, and when their
usual food fails them, will devour almost any thing that
comes in their way, as woollen and silk garments, and even
the upper leather of shoes.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
1
The injury they do in some parts of Russia and Fin-
land, where they are very numerous, is extreme. On
shipboard also they are very numerous and destructive.
They may be destroyed by poisoned wafers, or by catch-
ing them in a box with a glass top like a tea-cup without
a bottom, down which they slip and cannot ascend; they
are then readily destroyed by being thrown into boiling
water.
SILKWORM MOTH, AND ITS PRODUCT.-The silkworm,
though now spread over a great part of Europe, and even
of America, originally came from China.
The animal is erroneously termed a worm, as it is really
a kind of caterpillar, and passes through all the changes
which so strikingly distinguish insects from other ani-
mals.
The eggs from which the silkworm are hatched are
about the size of mustard seeds. The caterpillar or silk-
worm is at first very small, and of a dark colour; it how-
ever rapidly increases in size, becoming cream-coloured,
and feeding voraciously on the leaves of the mulberry,
which form its natural food.
In about eight weeks the animal arrives at its full
growth, having during this period changed its skin four
or even five times; before shedding each skin the silk-
worm refrains from eating, remaining in a quiet state; it
then bursts the old skin near the head, and works its way
out.
When full grown, its length is from two and a half to
three inches; it then commences forming the cocoon of
silk, enclosed in which it lies as a chrysalis till it under-
goes the change to a moth. The animal usually selects
279. What is the nature and habits of this insect?
280. How may they be destroyed?
281. Describe the silkworm and its changes.
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some corner in which to perform this operation, moving
its head from side to side, and fixing the thread at different
points, so as completely to enclose itself. As the worm is
inside the cocoon, it follows that the outside portions of it
are first formed, and the interior last. In about five days
the animal ceases to spin, having during that time dimi-
nished very much in length; it then becomes torpid,
changes its skin, and appears in the form of a chrysalis en-
closed in a dark brown hard case. In this state it remains
from a fortnight to three weeks, and then changes into the
moth or perfect insect, which is enabled to escape by soft-
ening a portion of the cocoon with a fluid which it has the
power of forming.
INSECTS.
The whole cocoon spun by the silkworm is not equally
valuable; the external part is flossy, weak, and compara-
tively useless. The first process in obtaining the raw
silk from the cocoon is the destruction of the chrysalis;
this is easily performed by placing it in an oven heated
considerably. After the animals are killed, the rough
outer floss is pulled off, and the cocoons are thrown into a
vessel of hot water placed over a fire, in order to loosen
the thread. The whole is then stirred with a bunch of
twigs which catch the loose ends of the threads. Several
of these taken together are wound off upon a reel; they
are then tied up into hanks, which are ready for the use
of the silk manufacturer, and are known by the name of
raw silk.
In order to form a single pound of raw silk 2000 cocoons
are necessary, the silk on each weighing about three and
a half grains. Each cocoon is formed of one single un-
broken thread, the length of which varies from 600 to 1000
feet.
The rearing of silkworms is not carried on to any ex-
tent in England, as the climate is too cold, and the mul-
berry trees too late in putting forth their leaves. Supplies
of raw silk are chiefly obtained from the south of Europe
and Asia.
282. What of its cocoon ?
283. Describe the process of obtaining raw silk.
284. What quantity is obtained from 2000 cocoons?
124
A number of the cocoons are preserved each year, the
animals not being destroyed, but allowed to complete their
change and come forth as moths. These are of a pale
cream colour, and are covered with a fine down: they are
furnished with short combs like feelers, and do not use
their wings to fly, merely fanning the air with them.
After a short time the eggs are laid; they are firmly ce-
mented to the substance on which they are deposited, and
are not hatched in temperate climates until the following
year. The object of the moth's existence being then ac-
complished, it shortly dies.
It has been remarked, as an instance of the goodness of
the Creator to man, that those animals most useful to him
he has ordered should be the most easily managed; thus
there is scarcely a caterpillar which could be reared by
man with so small an amount of trouble as that which pro-
duces silk.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
[The experiments made in this country in the silk cul-
ture have been recently revived, and are prosecuted with
encouraging tokens of success. There can be little doubt
that the causes of former failures are now understood, nor
are there any insurmountable obstacles now in the way.]
BUTTERFLY.-In England, the most common kinds of
this insect are the large and small cabbage butterflies; both
well known by the destructive effects of their caterpillars
upon cabbage, brocoli, turnips, and other vegetables of the
same kind. The caterpillar of the large cabbage butterfly
is green, with three yellow lines running down the body,
and is covered with black spots, each having a single hair
growing out of the centre. The butterfly which is first
seen in April, has two pair of wings, of which the foremost
are white above, tipped with black, and slightly yellow
beneath; the hinder being powdered with black.
The small white cabbage butterfly does not appear until
about May; its caterpillars are bluish green, and are too
often to be found in the very heart of cabbages, cauli-
285. What of the moths and their peculiarities?
286. What common varieties of butterfly are named?
1
125
flowers, &c. Were it not for the immense number of
caterpillars destroyed by the various small birds, their
ravages would be excessive. They also fall a prey to a
small fly that lays its eggs in the body of the caterpillar;
these hatch into grubs, which feed on the fat of the insect,
and eventually destroy it before it changes into a chrysalis.
Like all true insects, these animals undergo several
changes during life. They are hatched from small eggs
(which are laid by the perfect insect or butterfly); these
give birth to the caterpillar, an animal having a long body
formed of twelve rings united together, and furnished on
each side with nine breathing pores. The bodies of some
kinds of caterpillar are covered with hairs, those of others
are naked. Each caterpillar is further furnished with six-
teen feet; of these, three pair near the head are horny;
these afterwards become the six legs of the butterfly; the
other five pair behind, being of no use to the perfect in-
sect, are shed with the skin when the animal changes its
state.
INSECTS.
The head is small, and furnished with horny jaws
which open sideways, and are well adapted for the de-
vouring of their food. During the short life of the cater-
pillar it eats voraciously, grows very rapidly, and sheds.
its skin several times; when full grown it ceases to eat,
fastens itself by a silken thread it has the power of form-
ing to some object, and there changes into a chrysalis: in
this state it remains some time, and then bursts forth as a
perfect butterfly.
The cabbage caterpillar usually attaches itself to a wall
to undergo this change, and its appearance when hanging
in this situation by its silken thread must be familiar to
most persons.
The life of the perfect insect is but short; it flutters
about in the summer's sun, alighting upon the expanded
flowers, and feeding upon their honey, which it sucks up
by its spiral trunk, unrolling it for that purpose; it lays a
farge number of eggs, and almost immediately after dies.
287. Describe the changes of these insects.
288. What is peculiar in the butterfly?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM..
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126
In consequence of the very great injury caused by these
insects to the vegetables used as food by man, various
means have been proposed for lessening their numbers,
but the only effectual one seems to be the destruction of
the caterpillars.
}
GRASSHOPPER.-Grasshoppers are well-known insects,
remarkable for possessing, in an almost equal degree, the
powers of flying and leaping. The body is thin, long, and
flattened at the sides; the legs are six in number, the
hinder ones being much larger than the others, and
longer than the body. Each hind leg consists of three
distinct parts-the thigh, the shank, and the foot; these
legs are not used in walking, but are only employed in
leaping. When the animal wishes to leap, it draws the
feet of the hind legs close to that part of the thigh that
joins the body; the joint uniting the thigh and shank be-
ing bent to a very sharp angle, high above the back of the
insect; the various joints of the leg are then suddenly and
powerfully strengthened, and the foot thus forcibly striking
the ground, the animal is propelled high into the air.
The wings of the perfect insect are thin and mem-
branous; when at rest they are not to be observed, as they
are folded up in a fan-like form under the narrow wing
cases.
The chirping noise made by the insect is caused by the
rubbing of the thighs of the hind legs against the horny
wing covers. The appetite of these insects is rather vo-
racious; they feed entirely on vegetable substances, such
as herbage of various kinds.
The eggs of the female are deposited in the ground,
and the young hatched from them resemble the old ones
in appearance; but they are not furnished with either
wings or wing covers, consequently they are unable to fly
or chirp. After some time these parts grow, and the
young then become changed into the perfect insect.
289. What of the grasshopper, and its structure?
290. Name its peculiarities.
291. What is said of young grasshoppers?
127
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
BONES.-Bones form the internal framework of the bodies
of men, and of animals of the higher classes. In order to
support the weight of the animal, bones must be firm,
unyielding, tough, strong, and able to bear pressing, pull-
ing, or twisting, without being liable to bend or break.
To combine all these properties, so as to fit them for
their office, the all-wise Creator has formed them of two
substances, one of which gives them toughness, the other
firmness.
If we burn a bone in the fire, nothing is left but a brittle
earthy substance, which before the bone was burnt gave it
firmness and hardness; whilst the substance that was de-
stroyed in the burning resembled glue, and its use was to
produce toughness and tenacity, with a little elasticity.
If bones were all earth, they would be brittle, as is the
case with the burnt bone. If they had no earth in them,
they would bend like gristle, and could not support the
weight of the body.
Bones are of several uses to animals. 1st. By their
hardness and firmness they give support and shape to the
body. 2d. They enclose and protect parts liable to be
injured: thus the bones of the head protect the brain, and
those of the chest the heart and lungs. 3d. The bones
keep the limbs firm, and enable us to move them at the
joints or the places where they are connected together;
and in order that the ends of the bones may move more
easily and smoothly, they are covered with a smooth gristle,
and kept moist by an unctuous fluid.
292. What of bones, and their requisites?
293. How is it that they combine toughness and firmness?
294. What are the several offices of the bones ?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
The long bones of the limbs are hollow, and are filled
with an oily substance which hardens, when cold, into mar-
row. The advantage of the bones being hollow is, that
they are lighter than if solid, and the same weight of bone
is much stronger when hollow than it would be if formed
into a solid body.
Bones are a very important article of commerce; the
larger bones are used for various purposes; they surpass
wood in hardness, and are not brittle. Tooth and nail
brushes, knife handles, combs, paper knives, spoons, and a
variety of small articles, are either turned or cut out of them.
The shavings and sawdust of bones formed in making
these articles, are used under the names of ivory or bone.
dust for jelly.
:
If bones are heated in iron vessels they turn black, and
in this state are termed bone black, or animal charcoal,
which is much used in bleaching, and in clarifying sugar.
(See SUGAR.)
But the great use of bones is as manure; for this pur-
pose they are collected from every part of the country,
and even from other countries, taken to the bone mills and
crushed, sometimes coarsely, sometimes to a fine powder.
In this state the farmer either scatters them over his land,
or sets a quantity with his seed.
The earthy matter of bones contains a large portion of
phosphorus; this is extracted from them by a chemical
process, and used extensively for the manufacture of lucifer
matches.
BRISTLES.-Bristles are the strong coarse hairs from the
backs of swine. They are very much used for the purpose
of making the best kind of brushes, brooms, &c. Shoe-
makers also use them instead of needles in sewing the
soles of shoes and boots. The thin or split end of the
bristle is twisted with the end of the thread, and the stiff
end is easily passed through the hole made by the awl, and
the thread pulled after it. Needles would not answer for
295. What of the hollow bones, and their contents?
296. Why are these bones hollow?
297. Name the various uses of dead bones.
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129
this purpose, as the force required to push them through
the leather would break them.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
The bristles used in England are chiefly brought from
Russia and Prussia, about 2,000,000 pounds being annu-
ally imported. Although the hog is entirely covered with
bristles, yet those on the back only are of sufficient size
and strength for use.
CORAL.-The various substances known to us by the
name of coral, are the produce of certain animals inhabit-
ing the ocean. Each of these animals has a cylindrical
or oval body without a head; the body is hollow, and con-
tains the stomach, which has but one opening, and this is
surrounded by several feelers, arranged in a star-like man-
ner around the mouth. The food of the coral animal
consists of other small animals living in the water; when
these latter approach within reach of the feelers of the
former they are immediately seized, and forced through
the mouth into the stomach.
If a
These animals do not live alone, but in vast numbers
together; growing like the separate buds of a tree upon a
kind of stem, which is the substance we call coral.
piece of white coral is examined, it will be found to be
furnished with numerous holes, each of which was the
habitation of a single animal. When undisturbed, the
animal comes out of its cell, moving its star-like feelers in
search of food; but when alarmed, contracting within the
cavity. All these animals are joined together by a thin
fleshy skin covering the coral. As the number of the ani-
mals increases, so does the coral branch out and grow, new
cells being formed for the new animals. The coral is
formed of lime chiefly, which the animals separate from
the sea-water.
Immense masses of coral grow together, forming rocks
or coral reefs, which rise up to the surface of the sea.
Sometimes these are near the shore, coasting the main
land for hundreds of miles, as in some parts of Australia.
298. To what uses are bristles applied?
299. Describe the nature and structure of coral.
300. What of coral rocks, reefs, and islands?
}
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130
In other parts, coral islands rise up to the surface of the
sea, stopping at the top of the water; upon them sand and
sea-weeds are drifted; the latter, by their decay, form
mould, in which seeds brought by the currents of the
ocean grow, until at last an island is formed fit for the habi-
tation of man.
Numbers of the islands in the southern
seas have been produced in this manner. One circum-
stance is requisite to the inhabiting these islands by man ;
namely, that fresh water should be readily obtained; it is,
however, an extraordinary fact, that if wells be dug in the
coral islands they are found to be filled with fresh water.
It is not by the growth of one kind of coral that these
reefs and islands are formed, but by that of several.
"
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
Many kinds are brought to this country, all of them
being deprived of the animal forming them. The white
coral has already been described; other kinds are yellow;
but the most valuable is the red coral, prized from its
colour, and great hardness, which enables it to receive a
fine polish, and its freedom from pores or cells; its use
for necklaces and other ornaments is well known. It is
found in the Mediterranean Sea, in water of a moderate
depth, and is obtained by divers.
When alive, the red coral is everywhere covered by a
fleshy skin, upon which are placed animals like those be-
fore described; these when touched shrink back into the
skin, but cannot penetrate the stem, as there are not holes
for them.
FOOT OF DUCK.-The foot of the duck is wonderfully
formed to suit exactly the habits and wants of the bird to
which it belongs. As the duck has to seek its food in
water, it wants a foot capable of propelling it from one
part of the stream to another; to answer this purpose we
find that the foot is webbed-that is, a thin soft skin or
web stretches from one toe to another, and unites them ;
when the duck, floating on the top of the water, wishes
to swim forward, the webbed foot is pushed back against
the water, and when the toes and web are spread out, the
301. What are the varieties and uses of coral?
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
131
foot is large, and does not pass easily through the water;
the body of the duck, which floats lightly on the top, is
pushed on; the other foot is then used, and so on alter-
nately as long as the bird wishes to swim forward. After
each foot has been struck back against the water, it has to
be brought forward before a second stroke can be made;
if it were spread out when brought forward, as it is when
pushed back, the body of the duck would be pulled back
again. But this does not happen, for when bringing the
foot forward to make a second stroke, the duck closes it;
the toes, instead of being spread out, fall together, and are
bent, so that they offer scarcely any surface to resist the
water; from this account it will at once be perceived how
admirably the duck's webbed foot fits it for a waterfowl.
When the bird wishes to swim towards one side, it strikes
the water with the foot of the opposite side several times
in succession.
Though this foot is beautifully formed for swimming, it
prevents the animal moving rapidly on land; and its broad
boat-shaped body, that enables it to float so lightly on the
water, also renders its progress on the ground waddling
and unsteady; but its chief food is found in the water, and
to that its formation is suited.
FEATHERS.-Feathers form the covering or clothing of
the class of animals called birds. The importance of
feathers to these animals will appear in the strongest light
if we consider their habits. First, warmth is essential for
birds; they are frequently exposed to great cold, as in the
water, or when they ascend very high in the air, where
temperature is always low. Again, the heat of their
bodies is greater than that of other animals, and requires
to be kept up by a warm clothing. It is also necessary
that their covering should be exceedingly light; if it were
heavy and dense, it is evident it would unfit them for flight.
Of the lightness of a bird's covering we may form a good
idea when we find that the plumage of a common owl (a
bird abundantly clothed) only weighs one ounce and a
302. Describe the duck's foot, and its advantages.
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
132
half. This lightness must be combined with great strength,
as the feathers of the wings are the parts with which they
strike the air violently to impel them in their flight. Lastly,
their whole covering must be so smooth as to offer the
least possible resistance to the air in their rapid passage
through it.
On attentive examination we shall find that these requi-
sites, warmth, lightness, strength, and smoothness, are
combined in the covering of birds in a manner that pro-
claims the wisdom of Him who has declared in his word
that without Him not a sparrow falleth to the ground.
Every feather consists of three parts-viz., the quill or
barrel, the shaft and the vane or beard. The quill is that
part of a feather by which it is attached to the skin; it is
formed of a horny substance, which is of a hard and elastic
nature, and is remarkable for being both strong and light.
Lightness is given to the quill by its being formed in the
shape of a hollow cylinder, which is filled with air; at the
same time its strength is increased by this contrivance, for
if the quill were formed of only the same weight of ma-
terial solid, it would be considerably weaker. It is for
this same reason that bones are hollow, that is, to ensure
strength with the least possible degree of weight. That
the quill may possess strength in all directions, it is formed
of two sets of fibres (though, from their being transparent,
this is not readily seen). One set runs the length of the
quill; it is this set that we tear apart (not across) when
we split up a pen; the other set runs round these, and
binds them tight together: if we do not scrape off the cir-
cular set before making a pen, the slit is jagged, because
we have torn these across violently. The membranous
substance found within the quill is the dried remains of the
pulp that originally nourished the feather.
The shaft of the feather is four-sided; it is largest near
the quill, and gradually lessens in size to the end; it is
slightly bent, to adapt it to the shape of the bird. It is co-
vered with a horny substance like that of the quill, only
1
303. Name the importance of feathers to birds?
304. What four qualities do they combine?
305. What of the structure of each feather?
!
133
not so thick, and is filled with a light elastic substance
called pith.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
The vane or beard of the feather is composed of a num-
ber of flat barbs or pieces which grow from the sides of
the shaft. They are placed with their flat sides towards
each other, their edges being turned upwards and down-
wards; this method of placing them is the strongest that
could be adopted, as it is their edges that strike the air
when the bird is flying.
In looking at an unruffled feather, we may notice that
the barbs or pieces of the vane are united together, and
that they are not to be parted without some force. It is
evident they do not adhere by any sticky matter, or the
feather would feel clammy; and if we ruffle the barbs,
and then smooth the feather from the quill to the end, they
reunite. This reunion of the barbs after separation is
effected by the following beautiful contrivance ;—each
barb has a set of tiny hooks springing from the top of each
side; those from the side nearest the quill turn their points
upwards, those on the other side hook downwards. When
the feather is unruffled, these little hooks are all caught
in one another, holding the barbs together; when the
feather is ruffled by any force, they are torn apart, but
not broken; for as soon as the sides of each barb are
brought together by smoothing the feather, or by the bird's
pruning itself with its bill, they reunite.
Perhaps some may suppose that the vane would have
been better formed of one piece than of many barbs hooked
together; but this is a mistake. Suppose the vane formed
of one piece, and by any accident torn, it would not be in
the bird's power to repair it; but if the barbs of the vane
are ever so much ruffled, the bird has only to draw the
feather a few times through its bill, and it again forms one
firm flat body to resist the wind.
We often notice that the part of the vane nearest the
quill is downy, and the barbs do not adhere together; this
downy portion is next the skin of the bird, and serves to
306. How are the double sets of fibres seen in quills?
307. Describe the structure of the feathered end of quills?
308. In what does the advantage of this consist ?
?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
134
keep the body warm. From the top of the quill where it
joins the shaft, a small tuft of down frequently arises;
this is sometimes so large as to give the appearance of
two feathers on one quill.
Feathers are often modified so as to suit the wants of
the particular species of bird. Thus birds of prey, such
as hawks and eagles, have hard, firm feathers, extremely
strong and elastic. Owls have soft downy feathers, so that
they fly silently at night, and surprise their prey. The
ostrich and other similar birds, that do not fly, have the
barbs not joined by hooks, but loose and flowing. Swim-
ming birds have their feathers close and oily, to prevent
the water getting to their skin, &c.
The coverings of birds are of great use to mankind, and
form articles of commerce, under the names of quills,
feathers, and down.
42
Quills are chiefly used for the manufacture of writing
pens, and are obtained from wings of geese; large num-
bers are kept in the fenny parts of England, and are de-
prived of the quills and feathers several times a year. The
quills when pulled from the animals are sorted according
to their size and quality; the smallest are sold under the
name of pinions. Before they are sold for use, quills are
frequently stained yellow.
The quills of other large birds are sometimes used for
pens, but they are not equal to those of geese. The quills
of swans are collected in Russia for making pens.
Feathers are used in this country for stuffing beds,
bolsters, and pillows.
The most valued are obtained from geese, the inferior
kinds from barn-door fowls, ducks, &c.
Down is the warm under-clothing of many birds; the de-
licate and elastic filaments of which it consists are not
hooked together like the barbs of feathers, but remain se-
parate. Down is most abundant under the feathers of
swimming birds, where it is requisite to prevent the water
309. What of the down, and where found?
310. How are feathers modified in their structure?
311. Name the uses of quills and feathers.
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135
abstracting the heat of their bodies; consequently it is
much more abundant on the under surface of the body than
elsewhere, as in many swimming birds that part is always
in the water. The down of these birds is never wetted,
as the close oily layer of feathers protects it from the water.
The down of the swan is made into small tippets for the
neck, &c., being preserved on the skin in the same manner
as fur is. Some water birds, as the eider duck, pluck
the down from their breasts to line their nests with; this
is collected by the natives of the frozen regions, where the
birds reside, and sold for a high price to stuff quilts, &c.,
for persons to sleep under in cold climates.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
FUR.-Fur is the name given to the skins of animals in
which the hair is very fine and close; these skins, after
being removed from the flesh, are dried without the hair
being scraped off, sometimes by the aid of alum water,
and at others merely stretched out in the sun.
The use
of the covering of fur to the animal is to protect it against
the changes of temperature. Fur is a very bad conductor
of heat, or in other words, it does not allow the warmth
of the body to pass through it, so that the heat natural to
the animal is kept from escaping. That benevolent care
which is found everywhere in the structure of animals, is
not in any part more evident than in their covering. The
fur of all animals is suited to their habits, to the climate
they inhabit, and even to the season of the year. If we
examine a hare or rabbit in summer, and again in winter,
we shall find that at the latter season it is thicker and
closer, much warmer, and therefore better suited to the
cold of the season, than if only of its summer thickness.
So well are the fur dealers aware of this fact that they
only pursue the animals yielding fur in the winter; and
even our own hare skins are worth much less in warm
than in frosty weather. God's care of the animal does not
consist in merely thickening the fur; in many instances
he has so wisely ordered it, that with the approach of
312. What of the oily layer of feathers in swimming birds?
313. Whence is fur obtained, and how?
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136
cold the fur changes colour, passing from the summer
colour of the animal to white. This is the case with the
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
} hare in the north of Scotland, with the stoat in England,
and with almost all the animals in the cold polar regions.
At first sight this may seem any thing but a wise provision,
for we all know that in summer dark clothes are warmer
than light ones, as they absord more rapidly the warmth
of the sun; but in extreme northern climates the sun has
very little power in winter, and the light coloured fur of
the animal prevents the escape of its own warmth much
more completely than a dark coloured fur would do. An-
other advantage the animal gains by its change of colour
is, that when the ground is covered with snow, the small
quadrupeds are much less easily discovered by their nu-
merous enemies, as hawks, owls, &c., and so more readily
escape destruction. It should be borne in mind that the
change of colour does not take place by the dark hairs
falling out and being replaced by light ones, which would
expose the animal to severe cold, but the fine hairs of the
fur remaining on change colour. So rapidly will the fur
become white, that it has been noticed that all the hairs
on an animal have changed by a week's exposure to se-
vere cold. Man, observing how completely animals are
protected by their warm coverings, has long been accus-
tomed to adapt them to his own use, more especially when
he resides in cold climates. Many thousand animals are
annually destroyed, their skins dried with the fur on, and
then used for clothing. In cold climates the garments are
frequently made or lined with fur; in this country they
are only used in winter, and then partly for ornament.
The principal furs used for this purpose are those of the
hare, rabbit; the ermine, which is merely the skin of the
stoat in its winter dress; various squirrels, sable, fitch, or
polecat, &c. &c. The fur of the beaver, the hare, rabbit,
and some other animals, is also used for the purpose of
314. Of what use is fur to the animals, and why?
315. How does its thickness and colour vary by the season?
316. How does white fur serve the animal best in winter?
317. To what purposes are furs applied by man?
137
covering beaver hats and bonnets, being cut off the skin
and fastened by varnish or glue upon the body of the
hat.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
GLUE.-Glue is an animal substance much used in the
various arts as a strong cement.
The best is obtained from
the skins of animals, the small cuttings of which, rejected
by the currier, being generally employed. An inferior
glue is made from the sinews and hoofs of animals.
These materials are first well washed in lime water,
which assists in removing any grease; they are then
boiled in water until all the soluble parts are dissolved
the impurities that rise to the surface are skimmed off; the
liquor is then strained to separate it from the undissolved
pieces of skin, and lastly boiled down until it becomes on
cooling a very firm hard jelly. This jelly is cut into thin
flat square pieces, which are dried upon coarse netting;
the depressions left by the network are always visible on
the dried glue.
When of a good quality, glue is of a deep rich brown
colour, semi-transparent, and without spots or clouds in its
interior; and it should be perfectly soluble in water, not
leaving any sediment. The solution of glue in water is,
when cold, a jelly-like mass, which varies in firmness
with the quantity of glue dissolved; even when made
very firm it readily melts with heat, and it is in this state
that glue is used as a cement. It is applied whilst hot to
the substances which it is wished to unite; they are then
pressed together, and as the glue becomes firm on cooling
they remain cemented, although it is not till after some
days (when the glue has become perfectly dry) that the
joint is very firm.
The use of glue depends upon its being so readily solu-
ble, especially in hot water, its adhesiveness when dis-
solved, and also upon its becoming solid as it cools and
dries. Its tenacity when used as a cement is very great;
318. Name some of the animals which furnish it.
319. What is glue, its use, and how made?
320. For what qualities is glue remarkable?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
frequently the wood-work joined by it will break at some
other place, and not at that at which it is cemented. Glue
is useless in damp situations.
In order to prevent the glue from being burnt in heating,
the carpenter employs a vessel called a glue-pot; this con-
sists of two vessels, one placed within the other. The
outer one, which is much the larger, is partly filled with
water, whilst in the inner one the glue to be dissolved is
placed. Its use is evident, for as long as any water re-
mains in the outer vessel the glue cannot be burnt.
The workmen using glue are chiefly carpenters, joiners,
and cabinet makers; a weak solution of it, resembling jelly
in appearance, is much used by whitewashers in order to
prevent the whiting from being readily rubbed off when
dry.
Isinglass, so much used for making jellies for eating, is
only a purer kind of glue obtained from the air-bladders
or sounds of several kinds of fish. And a pure kind of
glue is obtained from the skins of animals, and sold under
the name of gelatine for the same purpose.
HEN'S FOOT.-The fowl belongs to that class of birds
which in a natural state seek their food (which consists of
insects, grubs, and seeds) in the ground; to enable them
to do this, they are formed with exceedingly strong legs
and feet, and toes furnished with stout, blunt, curved claws.
The feet are used for scratching up the loose surface of
the earth, the bird supporting itself on one leg, and
scratching powerfully with the other. The claws grow
very quickly, so that they are of a sufficient length to be
serviceable to the animal.
As these birds have to seek their food on the ground,
they do not greatly want the power of flying; the strong
legs that serve them for scratching, give them the ability
of running very fast, and of moving readily from one
place to another in search of food.
321. What are its varieties, and by whom employed?
322. What of the hen's foot, its structure, and uses?
139
HORN.-The substance known as horn is yielded by a
large number of ruminating animals; as, for instance, by
the ox, the goat, the sheep, and the antelope. The same
term is often applied to the antlers of the stag or deer
tribe; but very erroneously, as these latter consist not of
horn but of solid bone, are generally branched, and are
also shed annually, whilst true horns are permanent. The
horns of the ox, &c., are of a conical form, and generally
somewhat curved. They are formed of a bony core in the
centre, which rises from the bone of the forehead; this is
supplied with nerves and with the vessels which form the
horny portion that surrounds it like a sheath.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
Horn, like the nails of the fingers, is quite insensible-
the tip may be cut off without giving pain; but if the
bony core be injured, it bleeds freely, and the sufferings
of the animal appear very great. The chief difference be-
tween horn and bone is, that the former is destitute of
earthy matter; hence arises its semi-transparency.
The horns used in manufacture are obtained chiefly from
the bull and the cow; so great is the demand for them in
England that they are brought there in large numbers from
Russia, the Cape of Good Hope, and South America.
Horn is prepared by first soaking it in water for five or
six weeks; this loosens the core, and it can then easily be
pulled out from the true horn. The solid part of the horn,
near the tip, is then cut off, and preserved to be used in
making knife-handles, buttons, &c.; the remainder is
softened by boiling water, and exposure to the flame of a
fire. In this state it is slit with a knife, and pressed flat
between hot iron plates. If required for thin sheets for
lanterns, it is pressed with great force, then split into thin
layers, smoothed by scraping, and afterwards polished.
When prepared for combs, the horn is slightly pressed
and cut into the required shape by a saw and rasps; the
teeth are then cut by a saw, and finished by rasping.
If a very large piece of horn is required for a comb, or
323. By what animals is horn yielded?
324. What of its structure, and peculiarities?
325. How is it prepared for use in the arts?
326. Name the various uses to which horn is applied?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
140
P.
any other article, two pieces are joined together by heat-
ing the edges until they are quite soft, and pressing them.
together firmly till they are cold.
Drinking cups are formed by moulding the hollow part
of the horn (softened by heat) into a regular shape-it is
then polished. A deep groove is afterwards cut or turned
near the bottom; it is again softened by heat, and a flat
piece of horn, of the proper size, forced into the groove.
The cup contracts as it cools, and the joint is perfectly
water-tight.
Horns were anciently used in making the musical in-
strument so called: the name still remains; thus we have
the bugle-horn, &c.
HORSE-HAIR.-By this name is generally meant the
hair of the tail and of the mane of a horse.
The long hair of the tail is woven into a kind of coarse
cloth for sieves; also into a fabric for covering sofas, chairs,
&c. ; but in this case the horse-hair only runs in one di-
rection, and threads of flax or hemp in the other, so strong
and firm as to give great strength to the whole.
The long hairs are also used to form fishing-lines and
violin-bows.
The inferior and shorter hair is used for stuffing mat-
trasses, sofas, &c. To fit it for this purpose, it is baked
with a gentle heat, by which it is rendered much more
elastic than before.
The short hair of the mane is used for stuffing horse
collars, and for very inferior work.
IVORY.-Ivory is the name applied to the bony sub-
stance forming the teeth of various animals, as the hippo-
potamus, walrus, and elephant; though, usually, those of
the latter alone are meant. It is the tusks of the elephant
which furnish this substance--the grinding teeth are
formed of various hard substances, not at all resembling
ivory; these tusks usually weigh, each, from fifty to
327. For what purposes is horse-hair useful?
328. Whence is ivory derived?
141
-
seventy pounds, and sometimes they are even much larger.
When cut, the inner part of each tusk is found to be white,
of a very fine, close grain; extremely hard, and yet elastic
-slightly compressible by great force. When cut into
thin sheets, it has a degree of transparency greater than
paper of the same thickness. Its use in the arts depends
on its possessing various properties. From its white
colour and semi-transparency it is used in thin sheets to
paint miniatures upon. The turner employs it for various
small articles, on account of its beauty and hardness, whilst
its elasticity and closeness of texture render it much less
liable to crack than bone. Dentists use the various kinds
of ivory for making artificial teeth: the qualities of hard-
ness and whiteness again recommending it.
Ivory is composed of the same kind of material as bone
(see BONE), viz., an earthy substance and glue; hence,
the small fragments and powder formed in turning, filing,
and working ivory, are sold under the name of ivory dust,
for the purpose of making jelly; as, when boiled for some
hours in water, the gluey portion dissolves and forms a
nutritious jelly, fit for food.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
LEATHERS, VARIOUS.- -Sole leather, upper leather, mo-
rocco leather, glove leather, and wash leather.-Leather
is a substance universally used amongst civilized, and very
generally among barbarous, nations. It is made from the
skins of animals, which are tanned and prepared with
some substance having the power of changing the perish-
able skin, that decays readily when wet or moist, into a
lasting and comparatively imperishable leather.
As leather is prepared from the skins of different animals,
and is required for various uses, several tanning sub-
stances are used, according to the kind of leather required;
that for the soles and upper leathers of men's shoes, for
harness, and such like purposes, is prepared and tanned,
as it is termed, with the aid of oak bark. The hides or
skins, either fresh, as received from the butcher, or salted,
as they are brought from abroad, being spread out, the
Tag
329. Name the various uses of ivory.
330. What variety of leather is named?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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small pieces of flesh on the inside of the skin are removed;
the hide is then soaked in lime-water, by which means the
hair is loosened, and can be readily scraped off. Thus
cleansed from the hair and flesh, it is soaked for some days
in sour water, made so either by putting barley or rye flour
into it, which remains till it becomes sour, or by adding a
small quantity of oil of vitriol. This acid solution has the
effect of opening the pores of the skin, so that the tan can
afterwards penetrate into it more readily. The hide is
then placed in the tan-pit along with oak bark and water;
it is first placed in weak, and lastly in strong tan.
Some-
times the hides and powdered bark are laid in layers one
over the other until the pit is full. [Very great improve-
ments have been introduced into America in the art of
tanning leather, by employing heat in the tan-pits, and by
reels upon which the hides are spread, and a rotary motion
given by machinery to these reels, thus dispensing with
the labour of handling, and manufacturing leather in less
than half the time formerly required.] The process of
completely changing the skin into leather is a very slow
one. To make strong and well-tanned leather, the hides
remain in the pits from six to twelve, or even to eighteen
months. If the hides are taken out too soon, the middle
of the skin is not tanned. The hides, being removed, are
dried, and then passed between rollers, which gives them
a smooth surface, and renders them firmer.
By these processes the skin is much altered in its pro-
perties; when it is taken from the animal it is soft and
moist, but when it becomes dry it is brittle, and liable to
crack, and very perishable, putrefying rapidly if kept wet:
these qualities prevent untanned skins being of much use
to man. Leather, on the contrary, is flexible and soft,
whether it be wet or dry; it is, if properly prepared,
water-proof and lasting, not decaying when moist; at the
same time it is light and sufficiently strong to stand much
wear when made into shoes, harness, &c.; for which pur-
331. Of what is it made, and how?
332. By what agent is sole and upper shoe leather tanned?
2
143
pose these properties render it better fitted than any other
material known.
The leather required for the upper leather of boots, &c.
is sent from the tanner to the currier, who, by rubbing and
paring it down, renders it more flexible, softer, and capa-
ble of being polished; at the same time he blackens it
with lamp-black and oil, or tallow. The skins used for
upper leathers are calf, and the thinner skins of cows and
horses; whilst the thicker ones, of oxen, &c., are made
into soles.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
Other kinds of leather, required for different purposes,
are made by slight variations in the process.
Morocco leather is prepared from goat skins, which are
imported into this country. The flesh and hair are scraped
off as before described; each skin is then sewed into the
shape of a bag, which is filled with a vegetable substance
termed sumach, and water; this, like the oak bark, is
astringent, and it has the effect of tanning these thin skins
in a few hours; they are then dyed of the colour required,
and rubbed over with a grooved ball in order to give them
the grooved appearance which distinguishes morocco
leather. Imitation or inferior morocco is manufactured
from sheep skins. As thus prepared, morocco leather is
soft, and very flexible, from the rubbing it receives, whilst
its grooved appearance renders it very beautiful. When
dyed it is frequently chosen for covering books, for chair-
covers, and lining carriages, &c.
The thin leather, which from its softness and capability
of yielding or stretching, is usually selected for gloves and
ladies' shoes, is tanned with alum, after the skin has been
scraped free from flesh and hair. In order to render this
kind of leather as soft and yielding as possible, it is, during
the process, prepared with eggs and flour. Although the
gloves and shoes made with it are termed kid, yet the
skins used in the preparation are chiefly those of lambs.
333. Describe the process in its several stages.
334. What improvements are used in America ?
335. What of the currier?
336. Of what is morocco made?
337. By what agent, and how is morocco tanned?
1
144
The only other kind of leather to be mentioned is that
termed wash, or shamois leather. In order to prepare it
the skins are cleaned with lime, dried, and then beaten
with heavy hammers, being kept wet with oil; they are
then hung up to dry, again beaten with the addition of
fresh oil; and this operation is many times repeated. The
excess of oil is then removed by soaking the skin in water
containing pearlash; it is afterwards dried, and is then fit
for use. Being exceedingly soft, it is much employed in
polishing metal articles; and, from its warmth and soft-
ness, it is frequently made into under waistcoats, &c. It
does not resist the wet, and is, therefore, unfit for outer
clothing.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
MILK.-Milk is the fluid with which the young animals
of the class of mammalia or quadrupeds are nourished.
It consists of several distinct substances, which separate
from one another on its being allowed to remain undis-
turbed: these substances are cream, curd, and whey.
The cream is obtained by allowing the milk to stand in
shallow pans twelve or more hours, when it rises to the
surface, and is readily removed. What remains is called
skim, or skimmed milk; if this is allowed to stand some
time it becomes sour, and the curd, or solid part, separates
from the whey.
In this country the milk of cows is that most generally
used for food; and, besides being most extensively em-
ployed in its fresh state, it is in great demand for making
butter and cheese.
Butter is made by collecting a sufficient quantity of
cream, which is placed in the churn, a wooden tub, wider
at the bottom than at the top, and covered by a round lid
with a hole in the centre, through which a handle passes,
that is fixed to a round flat board with several holes in it.
The cream, which fills two-thirds of the churn, is violently
agitated, by the handle being moved up and down. [The
churns very generally used in America are so constructed
338. What other agents are used in making leather?
339. Define milk, and its several parts.
1
145
that the necessary agitation is given by turning a crank,
which is done by steam in extensive butter manufactories.]
In the course of an hour's churning, small lumps of butter
appear, which soon unite together into larger masses.
When the butter is formed, it is taken out of the churn,
washed, and pressed, and (unless used fresh) is salted and
casked for use. The liquid part of the cream left in the
churn after the butter is removed is called butter-milk, and
is chiefly used for feeding pigs, but is a nutritious and
healthy drink.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
Cheese is the curd of milk pressed and dried. The
curd may be separated from the whey by allowing the
milk to become sour; but the cheese so produced is in-
ferior in quality. In this country rennet is added to the
milk to curdle it; this rennet is a fluid prepared from the
stomach of a sucking calf. The curd formed by the
rennet is separated from the whey, salted, and strongly
pressed into a shape; it is then dried, and is ready for use.
The richness of cheese depends on the milk from which it
is made. Skim milk makes poor hard cheese; whereas,
if an extra portion of cream be added to the milk, as is
done in making superior cheese, the quality is much im-
proved. It is often the practice to colour cheese; this is
done by adding a dye called annatto to the milk.
Although in England the use of cows' milk is general,
in other countries that of different animals is used; as,
goats' milk in Switzerland, reindeers' in Lapland, camels'
in Arabia, and mares' in Tartary.
The milk of the ewe contains a much larger quantity
of cream, and is richer than that of any other animal
that has been examined.
That of the ass contains no cream, and is therefore drank
by invalids, with whom oily substances would disagree.
PARCHMENT.-Parchment is a writing material made of
the skin of sheep or goats. The skins are first prepared
340. How is butter made?
341. Describe the process of cheese-making.
342. What other animals yield milk besides cows?
343. In what countries are they substituted?
13
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146
by the leather-dresser, in the same manner as if they were
1 to be formed into leather (see LEATHER), being soaked in
lime to remove grease and loosen the wool, which is after-
wards scraped off. They are then very tightly stretched,
either over a hoop or by means of a strong wooden frame;
then, with a large double-handled knife, the skin is scraped,
or pared down on both sides, and all irregularities of the
surface are removed, when it is ground, or rubbed smooth
with pumice stone and chalk, or lime; it is then allowed
to dry slowly, and is again scraped and ground with smooth
pumice stone until it is reduced to the requisite degree of
smoothness.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
+
As thus prepared, the chief use of parchment is for
writing upon, it being much stronger and less liable to in-
jury than paper, and being less perishable. For this
reason all legal writings, such as wills, leases of houses
and land, are written upon it.
It is also used for drum heads, for binding books, &c.
but in these cases a stronger substance is required, and
the skins of asses, calves, &c. are employed instead of
those of sheep.
SOAP. This useful substance is of great antiquity. In
excavating the city of Pompeii, which was buried by an
eruption of Mount Vesuvius, about 1700 years ago, a
soap-maker's shop, containing soap, was discovered. In
the Old Testament it is referred to in Jer. ii. 22, and Mal.
iii. 2; but it is thought that what is there alluded to is the
ashes of some plant.
The whole of the various hard soaps used by us are
prepared from different kinds of fat, or oil, and the alkali
soda (see SODA). It is necessary, in order to prepare
soaps, that the common soda should be rendered much
more caustic than it is in its usual condition; this is done
by boiling it with lime fresh burnt, which, acting chemi-
344. Whence is parchment derived, and how made?
345. Name its uses and advantages.
346. What is said of the antiquity of soap-making?
347. How are hard soaps made?
7
147
cally on the soda, greatly increases its caustic powers.
The soda thus prepared and dissolved in water, forms what
is termed the lye or ley of the soap-boiler. The soap
called mottled is manufactured in the following manner.
In a large iron vessel, heated either by steam or a fire, is
a large quantity of melted tallow and kitchen grease; into
this a quantity of the ley is poured, or pumped. The
mixture is boiled for some time, and frequently stirred,
during which time the tallow, &c., unites with all the soda
of the ley, leaving the water, which is then pumped away,
and a fresh supply of it poured in; this is repeated as
often as is required, until the whole of the tallow and
grease is changed into soap. The mottled appearance,
from which this soap has derived its name, is caused by a
small quantity of very strong ley being sprinkled on the
surface; this sinks in, and marbles, or mottles, the soap.
In order to cool and harden the soap it is removed from
the boiler and poured into large pans; and when become
a solid mass, is removed, and cut up by wires into the bars
in which it is sold.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
Curd soap is made in nearly the same manner, pure
white tallow, without kitchen grease, being used. When
scented, and cast in small cakes, it is sold as Windsor soap.
Yellow soap is made with resin and palm oil instead of
tallow. It is the resin that gives it the peculiar smell and
bitter taste it possesses.
Soft soap is made with pearlash (see PEARLASH) instead
of soda, and whale or seal oil used with the tallow.
All the various soaps are soluble in water, forming semi-
transparent solutions. If the water containing soap be
shaken, or agitated, it retains on its surface the bubbles of
air; it is then said to lather.
When wet, or dissolved, soap has a peculiar feel, which
is so unlike that of other bodies that it is distinguished by
the term soapy. The great use of soap depends upon its
dissolving in water, and upon its power of removing
grease and dirt. This effect is owing to the caustic alkali
348. What variety of soaps is spoken of?
349. Name the properties and uses of soap.
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it contains. It may be asked, would it not be better to use
the caustic soda by itself, instead of mixing it with tallow?
It would not, because its action would be too violent-it
would burn and destroy; whereas, when made into soap,
it retains much of its power of purifying without any of
the destructive effects of its caustic nature.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
SPONGE. The substance so well known by this name
is an animal product, which is found attached to the rocks
under water in the Mediterranean and other seas.
Sponge is a light, soft, and highly elastic material, very
easily compressed, and rapidly resuming its original shape
when the pressure is removed. It is exceedingly porous,
containing an immense number of small tubes, which
communicate with some larger apertures that are found in
it. The substance of the sponge consists of horny elastic
fibres, and these are so placed as to form the tubes and
pores described.
When the sponge is in the sea, alive, the inside of the
pores are covered with a soft substance, like white of egg.
This appears to be the flesh of the animal, and currents
of water may be seen running into the sponge through the
small pores, and out of it through the large ones; and it is
supposed that whilst the water is passing through the
sponge, the nourishment requisite for the support of the
animal is extracted from it.
When the sponge is removed from the water, this soft
flesh drains away, leaving nothing but the elastic fibrous
substance with which we are acquainted.
The use of sponge, as a material for washing with, de-
pends chiefly on its being so highly porous and elastic.
When placed in water its pores become filled with the
liquid. If in this state it is compressed, the water is
readily forced out over any thing it is desired to clean, and
as soon as the pressure is taken away the sponge resumes
350. What is sponge, and where obtained?
351. Describe its structure and properties.
352, How is it procured from the ocean?
1
149
its former size, and its pores are again open to suck up a
fresh supply of fluid, if required.
The sponge we use comes chiefly from the Mediterra-
nean Sea, where it is procured by diving, and also by
dredging, or dragging the bottom of the ocean. The best
sponge, which is white and fine, comes from Turkey; the
inferior and coarser kinds from the coast of Barbary. Ten
or eleven kinds of sponge are found on the coast of Eng-
land-none of them are fit for use.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
TORTOISE-SHELL.-This beautiful substance is produced
by a sea tortoise, or turtle. The animal from which the
tortoise-shell of commerce is obtained is the hawks-bill tur-
tle, a native of the seas of the torrid zone.
Its usual length is about three feet. As in the other
animals of the order to which it belongs, it is enclosed in
a bony case, formed underneath by the expanded breast-
bone, and on the back by the flattened ribs and spine; on
this bony arch grow the scales of tortoiseshell. In the
hawks-bill these scales of the back are thirteen in number,
besides twenty-five small ones at the edge; they overlap
one another to a great extent, and are thick in proportion
to the size and age of the animal.
The plates or scales are readily removed from the bony
arch by heating it over a fire; this process loosens them,
and they are easily separated by passing a knife under
them. The value of the rough shell is very considerable,
the best being worth about three guineas a pound. Fre-
quently it is injured by barnacles, limpets, and other shell
fish fixing themselves to the turtle whilst alive. Tortoise-
shell is manufactured in a similar manner to horn, a sub-
stance which it closely resembles. It is first softened by
boiling in salt and water, and is then pressed flat until cold;
it is rendered smooth and of uniform thickness by scraping
and filing; and if larger pieces are required than can be
obtained from single plates, two or more pieces are united
together in the following manner. The edges to be joined
7
353. Whence is tortoise-shell obtained?
354. How is it procured and manufactured?
160
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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1 are sloped off to the distance of about a quarter of an inch
from the edge-the margins are so placed as to overlap
one another, and pressed together by an iron press-
the whole is then placed for some time in boiling water;
the two pieces by this means become so perfectly united
that the joint cannot be seen. The filings and powder of
the various processes are not lost; they are collected and
placed in moulds, made of metal, and by the action of
pressure and boiling water are formed into any shape that
may be desired. As heat is likely to darken the tortoise-
shell, and greatly lessen its beauty, it is usually cut into
the required patterns by drills and saws, instead of being
moulded like horn.
In making small combs, in order to save the tortoise-
shell, two combs are formed out of one piece; the teeth
of one comb being cut out of the spaces between the teeth
of the other. Besides its use for combs, boxes, &c., tortoise-
shell is also used for inlaying and ornamenting tables, ca-
binets, &c. For this purpose it is cut thin, and a bright
metal is placed underneath it; this, shining through the
thin shell, gives it a brilliant appearance.
WHALEBONE.-This peculiar substance is not, as its
name might seem to signify, obtained from the bones
of the whale, but from what forms a substitute for teeth
in the Greenland whale, and the kinds more nearly re-
sembling it.
The lower jaw of this animal is very large and spoon-
shaped. It is totally destitute of teeth, or any thing re-
sembling them. From the sides of the upper jaw (occu-
pying the usual situation of teeth in other animals) hang
the plates or blades of whalebone, about three hundred in
number on each side; they are flat, and ranged parallel
to each other at right angles to the jaw. Their points
and edges next the inside of the mouth are coarsely fibrous,
so that they form a sort of strainer, or filter, the lower ends
355. What of making it into combs ?
356. What of whalebone, and whence procured?
357. Describe the upper jaw of the Greenland whale.
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MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
151
of the plates being enclosed within the capacious lower
jaw. The blades are the longest at the middle of the jaw,
and gradually decrease in length towards each end. The
usual length of the longest plates is about nine feet,
though they sometimes attain that of fourteen or fifteen
feet.
The surface of each blade is firm and very compact,
and can be readily polished. This substance is easily
split in the direction of its length. In the centre, between
the two surfaces, it is less compact, being more fibrous,
and the point and inside edge are so coarsely fibrous as to
form a kind of coarse fringe.
The use of this apparatus to the whale is very great; it
is the only means it possesses of securing its food; for
although this creature attains the immense length of fifty-
five to sixty-five feet, and a girth of thirty or forty feet,
with a weight equalling that of two hundred oxen, it feeds
entirely on the small pulpy animals that float in countless
multitudes in the water of the arctic seas. In order to se-
cure these, it swims with considerable rapidity, the mouth
being open. The water rushes in at the fore part, where
the plates of whalebone are absent, and passes out at the
sides, being strained through the fringe or filter above de-
scribed, which allows the water to escape, but retains the
food of the whale. The passage to the stomach of the
animal is of very small size, so as to prevent it from swal-
lowing even the smaller fishes.
The quantity of whalebone yielded by a Greenland
whale of full size is about one ton. In colour it is gene-
rally dusky grayish black; some pieces are partially, or
even wholly white. The first step in the preparation of
whalebone is to boil it for some hours in water. This
operation renders it soft, and more readily cut; but when
it has become cool again, after boiling, it is harder, and of
a darker colour than it was before.
Whalebone is used for various purposes. It is split
358. How is this structure useful to the animal?
359. How is it prepared for use?
360. To what purposes is it applied?
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ANIMAL KINGDOM.
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152
into fibres, which are used instead of hair in making coarse
brooms and brushes. It is also employed in great quan-
tities in the manufacture of the stretchers for umbrellas
and parasols, for which purpose it is well fitted, by reason
of its great elasticity. It is also employed for stiffening
women's apparel and is platted into riding-whips.
The white pieces are sometimes cut in thin stripes and
made into bonnets, and even, after drying, into artificial
flowers.
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
NOTE. The materials from which our clothing is de-
rived are obtained from both the animal and vegetable
kingdoms; it has, however, been thought better to unite
the descriptions of them under one head, as the processes
they undergo in the course of manufacture are very simi-
lar, and needless repetition will be avoided by such an ar-
rangement. The same reason has led to the insertion
of a short account of the processes of spinning and weav-
ing.
G
Spinning. This process, which consists in uniting the
loose fibres of cotton, flax, or wool, &c. into a thread fit for
the use of the weaver, is of the greatest antiquity; it is
alluded to by Moses in Exod. xxxv. 25, and was at that
time evidently an old art. Originally it was performed
with the distaff and spindle; the former was a stick about
a yard long, with a knob near one end. Around this the
flax or wool previously combed, so as to lay the fibres pa-
rallel, was loosely twisted. Thus charged, the distaff was
held under the left arm, some of the fibres being pulled
out by the thumb and fingers of the right hand, and twisted
into a thread, which was wound upon the spindle, a rod
of wood about a foot in length, having a slit at one end in
which the thread could be caught; the other end of the
spindle was fastened to a piece of stone or metal to increase
its weight; this enabled the spinner to keep it spinning
361. What of the antiquity of spinning, and how performed?
153
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
round as it hung by the thread, whilst the fingers were
pulling out fresh fibres from the distaff. As soon as the
spindle reached the ground, the thread was taken out of
the slit, wound on it again, fastened, and a new length
commenced. Distaffs and spindles are still used by the
peasants in some of the most remote parts of Ireland.
This process of spinning was at length superseded by
the use of the spinning-wheel; the cotton or wool, first
combed or carded, so as to lay the fibres parallel, is at-
tached to a spindle so fixed that it is made to turn with
great rapidity by a strap of leather passing over a large
wheel, which in its turn is caused to revolve by the hand
or foot of the spinner.
At the present time the spinning-wheel is almost as rare-
ly to be seen as the distaff and spindle, all the varieties of
clothing being now woven from thread spun by the aid of
powerful and complicated machinery, which acts upon the
same principle as the spinning-wheel, although far too in-
tricate to be understood without the aid of a long description
aided by numerous illustrations.
Weaving.-Weaving, or the art of making cloth by
the interlacing of threads, has been practised from the
earliest times. Upon the tombs of the ancient Egyptians
are found paintings of looms constructed on the same plan
as the hand-loom of the present day; and these were in
use in the time of Joseph.
If we examine a piece of any plain woven material, as
calico, silk, &c., we find a number of parallel threads run-
ning longitudinally the whole length of the cloth; these
threads are called the warp. There are also cross threads
which pass alternately over and under the threads of the
warp; these threads form the weft.
In weaving, the first process is to fix the threads of the
warp; in a common loom these are wound as evenly as
possible upon a cylindrical beam or roller; a kind of comb
362. Describe the spinning-wheel and its use.
363. What is weaving, and what of its ancient practice?
364. Define the warp and the weft, and their arrangement.
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155
being used to lay them parallel, and spread them to the
required width of the cloth; the warp is then partly un-
rolled, the ends being fastened to another roller. In order
to separate the threads of the warp, so that the thread of
the weft may pass alternately above and below them,
the contrivances called heddles are used; each heddle
consists of two horizontal sticks, one placed a small dis-
tance above and across, the other below the warp. These
two sticks are connected together by a number of small
threads passing from the one to the other, perpendicularly
through the threads of the warp; in the middle of each
thread of the heddle there is a little eye or loop, through
which every alternate thread of the warp is passed, whilst
the remaining threads of the warp are passed through the
loops of the other heddle.
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
Each heddle is so fastened that it may be raised up or
pulled down about two inches by a treadle moved by the
feet of the workman. Now it is evident that if one heddle
be pulled up and the other down, half the threads of the
warp will be raised, and every alternate one depressed,
leaving a space between them through which the thread
of the weft can be passed, when it will be over half the
threads of the warp and under the other half. If the
heddle that is pulled up is now pulled down, and the one
that was down pulled up, the position of the threads of
the warp is reversed; and if the weft thread be then
passed between the two layers, it will be under the threads
it passed over before, and over those it was under. As it
would be difficult to pass the thread of the weft by the
hand, it is wound on a small piece of wood called a shut-
tle, which is thrown across the warp, and the thread un-
winds as it proceeds.
D
In weaving by hand, the weaver sits at one end of the
warp with a foot on the treadle of each heddle, and then
takes the shuttle in one hand; he then raises one heddle,
by which half the threads of the warp are raised, the
other depressed. Through the opening between the threads
365. Define heddles and their use.
366. What of the shuttle, and why employed?
1
156
TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
he throws the shuttle right across from one side to the
other: then with a contrivance called a batten, which is
like a large comb, he forces the thread of the weft close up
to those previously woven. Then, taking the shuttle in
the other hand, he raises the other heddle, which reverses
the position of the threads of the warp, and throws the
shuttle back again; the thread of the weft is then pulled
up by the batten close to the last thread, and the process
is continued until the whole of the warp is made into cloth
by being crossed by the thread of the weft. As the cloth
is woven, it is wound upon a roller, so as to be out of the
way of the weaver.
In this manner what is called plain weaving is con-
ducted, and some slight variations of the process will be
noticed under the heads of the different fabrics described.
The hand-loom, as the instrument is called, which has
been described, is rapidly giving place to the employment
of the power-loom, in which the various movements de-
scribed are all accomplished by the force of the machinery,
which is moved by steam-engines. The principle, however,
is the same.
RAW COTTON.-This extremely valuable substance is
the produce of the cotton tree, a plant of which there are
several varieties; some distinguished by being annuals,
whilst others are shrubby and attain the size of a small
tree.
The leaves are deeply notched, or divided into several
lobes. The flowers are large, of a sulphur yellow colour,
and resemble in formation and appearance those of the
single hollyhock; each flower is succeeded by a brownish
seed-vessel, which is surrounded by three heart-shaped
leaves, toothed at the edge. This seed-vessel when ripe
bursts open, and discloses a mass of snowy white cotton,
amongst which are the seeds. One variety of cotton
much cultivated in China has the yellow tinge that is
367. What is the batten and its use?
368. How has the hand-loom been substituted?
369. What is cotton, and whence obtained?
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157
preserved when woven into the cloth called nankeen.
The cotton plant is largely cultivated in India, China, in
the United States of America, the West Indies, the shores
of the Mediterranean, and almost all the warmer parts of
the world.
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
Whatever variety is cultivated, the cotton is picked out
of the open pod whilst the plant is standing in the ground;
that portion only being selected which is ripe. It is dried
in the sun; and the next object is to separate the seeds,
which would otherwise injure the cotton, they being oily.
In India this is done by means of two rollers, which are
so fixed in a frame as to turn round together, leaving a
small space between them; the cotton is drawn through
by the turning rollers, but the seeds, being too large to
pass, are torn off and separated. But this machine will
only free from the seeds about forty-five pounds of cotton
in a day; therefore another process is adopted in America.
The cotton is placed in a kind of box, one side of which
is formed of a grating of strong parallel wires about one-
eighth of an inch apart. Close to this box is a roller
bearing a number of circular saws, the teeth of which
pass through the grating into the box. When the roller
is made to turn rapidly, the teeth of the saws drag the
cotton through the wire, whilst the seeds, being too large
to pass, remain behind. Thus separated from its seeds,
the cotton is pressed tightly in bags, and is brought to
England under the name of Raw Cotton. [The annual
crop of raw cotton in the United States is no less than 500
millions of pounds, upon an average, although 800 mil-
lions have been produced in some years when the season
was favourable to the crop. Nearly three-fourths of all
the raw cotton finds a market in Great Britain.]
The manufacture of raw cotton into calicoes and other
fabrics is now entirely accomplished by the aid of compli-
cated machinery, the description of which could not be
370. Describe the plant, and its cultivation.
371. How is raw cotton gathered?
372. What is the extent of the crop in America ?
373. Describe the process of its manufacture.
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
followed without the aid of numerous engravings, which
would be useless in a work of this nature; therefore merely
the name and use of each process will be mentioned, with-
out a lengthened account.
In the first place, the cotton is picked by hand, so as to
loosen its fibres and free it from dirt. This operation is
completed by a machine called a willow, in which the tufts
of cotton are torn into separate fibres by rapidly revolving
iron spikes. These loose light fibres require to be laid
parallel before spinning; this is effected by the carding
machine, in which the cotton is passed between what may
be likened to two brushes of iron wire: these have the
effect of laying all the fibres parallel, when they are trans-
ferred to the spinning machine, of which there are various
modifications, but the effect of all is to form a slight thread
fit for the use of the weaver. This is made to vary accord-
ing to the purpose required; some yarn (as the spun cot-
ton is termed) being fine, for muslin and lace; another
kind strong, for coarse work; a third is retwisted, two or
three threads together, so as to make the strong and firm
material known as sewing cotton.
[The cotton goods manufactured in the United States
annually exceed forty millions of dollars in value. In
the single town of Lowell, in Massachusetts, more than
8000 persons are employed in the cotton factories, and
nearly a hundred millions of yards of cloth are annually
produced. The multitude of the cotton factories spread
over New England has served to render these wonder-
working establishments so common, that they cease to
affect us with the amazement and admiration with which
they strike a stranger. But to gaze for the first time upon
one of the largest of these, and witness the extensive and
complicated machinery extending from story to story of
the immense building, every part of which is moving like
a thing of life, and all impelled by a single ponderous.
wheel, and keeping busily employed a thousand young
ladies from morn till night, and turning out 250,000 yards
374. What of the extent of it in America ?
375. What is said of a single cotton factory?
in
:
159
of cotton cloth per week, spinning 600 million feet of thread
every working day, and nearly a million every minute,
would seem to impress the spectator with sensations like
those produced by magic in fabled story.]
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
FLAX.-The plant known as the common flax is a native
of England, and is found abundantly in America and many
other parts of the world. The variety most commonly
cultivated is an annual, with slender green herbaceous
stems, one foot and a half or two feet in height, bearing
narrow pointed leaves without stalks, and terminated by
elegant blue flowers; each of which is succeeded by a
capsule or seed-vessel, containing ten flat oblong seeds of
a brown colour. The flax plant is cultivated for two pur-
poses. When the fibres of the stem are required to form
Îint, or the material of linen, the seeds are thickly sown,
so as to cause the stems of the crowded plants to run up
high and thin. When the seeds, which are called linseed,
are the principal object, the seeds are sown less thickly,
and the plants are allowed to remain longer in the ground
before reaping.
When ripe, the leaves fall off and the stems turn yellow;
the flax is then pulled out of the ground by handfuls;
carefully dried in the sun, and then either stacked or stored
in barns until the next year, or stripped of its seeds at once,
by drawing the ends through an iron comb fixed upright
in a block of wood. The seed-vessels, being too large to
pass through the teeth of the comb, are torn off, and fall
into a basket below; sometimes they are separated by
beating. As thus obtained, linseed, or the seeds of the
flax, are extremely valuable in the arts from the quantity
of oil they contain; in order to extract this for use, they
are crushed by immense pressure, and the oil forced out.
If they are slightly heated by steaming before being
pressed, they yield a larger quantity of oil, although it is
rather injured in quality by the warmth. From 100 pounds
of linseed are usually obtained twenty-three or twenty-
four pounds of oil.
376. What of the flax plant, and its products ?
377. What process separates the seeds?
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
Linseed oil is one of the cheapest and most useful of
our vegetable oils; it is used in large quantities by painters
and glaziers, for making paint and putty, and is also em-
ployed for other purposes in the arts. Though not un-
wholesome, it soon becomes rancid and nauseous to the
taste; therefore it is unfit for the food of man.
The crushed mass that remains after the oil has been
pressed from the seeds, is extremely nutritious, and is
much used for fattening cattle under the name of oil-cake.
The skins of the seeds contain a large quantity of muci-
laginous or gummy matter, and when boiling water is
poured on to them this substance is dissolved, and the solu-
tion is called linseed tea. If care be taken that the seeds
be not broken, it is quite free from any oily taste.
The seeds ground into powder form what is called
linseed meal, a substance much used in medicine, for
poultices, &c.
The stems of the flax plant freed from the seed undergo
a series of processes to prepare them for the use of the
weaver. They are first steeped, or partially rotted in shal-
low pools of water, in order to cause the fibres of the bark
(the part employed) to separate readily from one another;
the stems are then dried, by being spread out upon grass
and exposed to the sun and air for about a fortnight. The
next process removes the central woody portion of the
stem, which has been rendered brittle by the steeping the
flax has undergone; the instrument used is called a brake.
The simplest is a piece of wood, having a long slit in it,
and raised on a stand; into this slit a blunt wooden sword
fits loosely. If a bundle of flax be laid over the slit and
the sword brought down upon it, the woody, brittle part of
the stem is broken, by being bent as the sword presses it
into the slit. In general, the brake is made of three
swords fixed to one handle, and so arranged as to pass
be-
tween the edges of four others fastened in the frame; thus
the flax is broken in four places at once. In some parts of
378. How is their oil obtained, and what are its uses?
379. To what other purposes is it applied?
380. How is the flax itself prepared for the weaver?
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AND THEIR MATERIALS.
161
England the flax is beaten with a mallet to break and
separate the woody portion of the stem. After being thus
broken, the pieces of the wood are beaten out from amongst
the fibres by a flat wooden staff, or sometimes rubbed out
by hand; at the present time, in England, both these ope-
rations are performed by machinery.
In order to fit it for the use of the spinner and weaver,
the flax has now to undergo the process of heckling, the
object of which is to comb out the short, useless fibres,
and lay the long ones parallel. The heckle consists of a
piece of wood thickly covered with metal points about one
or two inches long, so that each heckle may be compared
to a brush made of sharp-pointed needles instead of
bristles; of these heckles, some are coarse, others fine.
The workman, taking a bundle of flax in his hands, throws
it on to the heckle, fixed to a stand before him, and drawing
the flax through the teeth causes the long fibres to become
parallel, whilst the short broken ones are retained by the
teeth of the instrument; these latter are preserved and
sold under the name of tow. In the flax mills, at the
present time, this process is also performed by machines.
As thus prepared, either by the hand or by machinery,
the flax is ready for spinning. At the present time nearly
all the flax used in England is machine-spun, some being
made into yarn for the weaver's use, and a portion is em-
ployed in making linen thread, fit for lace-making and
needle-work, by two yarn threads being tightly twisted
together.
Flax, when woven, yields linen cloth, damask, sheetings,
&c. At the present day most of these fabrics are made
by the hand-loom, as described in the introduction to this
series of articles; the chief stations of the manufacture
being Dundee, in Scotland, and the various parts of Ire-
land. [Excellent linen is now made in America.]
HEMP.-The plant yielding hemp is an annual, a native,
381. Describe the use of the brake and heckle.
382. What is tow, and how separated?
383. What variety of articles are made of flax?
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
originally, of the warmer parts of Asia and Europe, but
now much more extensively cultivated.
Its stem, which is erect and simple, or unbranched, is
from four to six feet in height, and bears numerous leaves,
supported on long stalks, and divided into five lance-shaped
rough green leaflets, each of which is notched like a saw
at the edge; the whole plant is covered with stiff hairs,
giving it a peculiar harshness to the touch. The flowers
are of two kinds, barren and fertile; they grow upon dif-
ferent plants, and are green and inconspicuous. Each fer-
tile flower is succeeded by a small seed-like fruit, enclosed
in the green cup of the flower; the fruit is collected and
sold under the name of hemp-seed.
These seeds (as we may term them, in accordance with
custom) abound with oil, which they yield readily upon
being crushed in an oil press. They are exceedingly nu-
tritious, and are frequently given to birds in confinement.
The oil obtained from them is much used in the prepara-
tion of varnishes; is sometimes employed in the formation
of soft soap; and, occasionally, for burning in lamps.
The hemp plant, especially when grown in a tropical
climate, possesses a peculiar narcotic power, and the leaves
eaten, or even smoked, when dry, will produce intoxica-
tion. For this purpose they are much employed by the
inhabitants of the East, to whom the use of wine is for-
bidden by the Mahometan religion; even the seeds, given
in abundance to birds, tend to shorten their lives, and, in
some instances, change the colour of their plumage to
black.
Hemp is chiefly cultivated for its fibres, which are tough,
flexible, and particularly strong; well adapted for the
manufacture of coarse fabrics, such as sail-cloth, sacking,
ropes, string, &c. So great is the demand for it for these
purposes, that 600,000 hundredweights are yearly im-
ported into England, chiefly from Russia. [Hemp is one
of the products of Kentucky and other parts of the United
States.]
384. Where are there manufactures, and how conducted?
385. What is hemp, and where cultivated?
386. Describe the plant, its seeds, and oil.
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
163
For profitable cultivation hemp requires a sandy, rich
soil. The plants, when full grown, are pulled up with
the roots, the barren-flowered being first selected, whilst
the fertile are left some weeks, in order that the seeds
may ripen; the latter is readily rubbed out by hand. The
roots and leaves are then removed, after which the stems
are placed in water to rot, so that the fibres may be the
more readily separated from each other. The operation
of rotting the hemp renders the water poisonous, and gives
rise to offensive and pestilential odours; when it is con-
cluded the hemp is beaten and heckled, like flax, and
finally spun into yarn fit for the weaving of canvass, sack-
cloth, sail-cloth, &c. &c. It is also used for the formation
of string, cables, and ropes of every description. The
length of each fibre of hemp being but between three and
four feet, it is obvious that to make a string several fibres
must be so twisted as to hold firmly together; this process
is usually performed by hand. The spinner, taking a
bundle of heckled hemp, wraps it round his waist, bring-
ing the two ends to the front; he then draws out a few
fibres, and, twisting them together, fastens them to a hook,
which is twirled round with great rapidity by a strap
passing over it from a large wheel, turned by a boy.
The spinner now walks backwards, away from the hook,
and as he does so the part twisted by the twirling hook
draws more fibres out of the bundle round his waist,
whilst with his hand he regulates their number, and so
causes the yarn to be uniform in size.
Cord, or rope, is made by the twisting together a number
of yarns. A small number are generally twisted together
in the first instance, and several compound ones, so formed,
re-twisted into a single cord.
SILK. The process of the formation of raw silk has
already been described, under the head of SILKWORM
MоTн, page 103. We have now to trace its further pro-
gress into spun silk, adapted to the use of the weaver and
387. Name the properties and uses of hemp.
388. Describe the process of its manufacture.
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TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
sempstress. The hanks of raw silk are first washed in
warm water, and then wound upon bobbins, or reels; this
is accomplished by the winding machine, the effect pro-
duced by it being the same as when a skein of silk held
on the outstretched hand of one person is wound upon a
reel by a second. After being thus wound, the fine fil-
aments of silk have to undergo the process of spinning,
twisting, or throwing; this is effected by a very compli-
cated engine, termed the spinning machine. For the
stouter threads, required for some purposes, several of the
threads thus obtained are again twisted together.
The thick, strong, and tightly-twisted silk, known as
sewing-silk and twist, is made by hand, in the same manner
that hemp is spun into rope, each piece of silk twist being
from fifty to one hundred feet in length.
The silk spun for the use of the weaver is usually dyed
after it is twisted, being first boiled in soap and water to
render it soft and glossy.
The only silk fabrics requiring a particular notice are
shot silk, satin, and velvet.
Shot silk is formed by having the warp and the weft of
different coloured threads, so that a play of colours is pro-
duced as the silk is seen from different points of view.
Satin owes its peculiar lustre and softness to the cir-
cumstance of its being so wove that the threads of the
warp only are visible, the threads of the weft scarcely
coming to the upper surface. This is accomplished by
carrying each thread of the weft under five or six threads
of the warp, and then over one; again under five or six,
over one, and so on. By this means the weft threads are
scarcely seen, and a rich, glossy, unbroken surface is pro-
duced.
Velvet, the soft pile of which is so peculiar, is formed
by weaving short loops of silk into the fabric: these stand
at right angles to, and hide both the weft and the warp;
they are afterwards cut open by a sharp instrument, and
389. What of raw and spun silk?
390. How is sewing silk and twist made?
391. What variety of silk fabrics are named?
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the ends of the silk standing up from the cloth give to the
velvet its peculiarly soft appearance.
The same kind of formation is readily observed in thick
hearth-rugs, where the cut ends of short worsted threads
rise up from a coarse canvass. [The manufacture of silk
is but in its infancy in the United States. In France, how-
ever, its value is no less than twenty-five millions of dollars
annually. Even this is but a small proportion of the
whole amount of manufactured silk, and yet every thread
has first to be spun by a little worm, without whose agency
we could neither have silk, satin, nor velvet.]
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
WOOL.-From the earliest ages wool has been employed
as a material for clothing. We are informed that Laban
sheared the wool from the sheep during the life of the
animals, as is practised at the present day.
When spun and woven, wool yields two distinct classes
of products, woollen and worsted goods. The latter are'
spun, usually, from English wool, in which the fibres are
long and coarse; they are subject to nearly the same pro-
cess as cotton, and yield flannels, camlet, merinoes, mo-
reens, &c. &c.
Woollen goods, as they are termed, by which is meant
the various kinds of broad cloth, kerseymere, &c. &c., are
produced from Saxony and Australian wools, in which the
fibres are short; and peculiar processes are adopted to
produce the soft nap distinguishing cloth.
The woollen manufacture, properly so called, is chiefly
carried on in the west of England and Yorkshire. [In
America we are fast rivalling Great Britain in our woollen
manufactures, which amount in value to nearly fifty mil-
lions of dollars annually. We have twenty millions of
sheep in the United States, and they yield nearly fifty mil-
lions of pounds of wool annually.] For this purpose the
wool is first sorted into many different qualities, differing
as to fineness, length of fibre, colour, &c. These various
392. Describe the manufacture of each.
393. What of the antiquity of wool clothing?
394. Describe the difference between woollen and worsted.
395. Where are the woollen manufactories?
}
1
کو
I
166
TEXTILE, OR WOVEN FABRICS,
qualities are next separately washed in hot ley to remove
the grease they naturally contain, after which they are
generally dyed of the required colour. The next process
consists in the separation of the various fibres one from the
other, so that the wool shall be in the form of a light downy
layer; this is accomplished by the locks of wool being
torn apart by the sharp spikes of a machine; but before
spinning they are required to be laid parallel; this process
also, which in effect is somewhat similar to the heckling
of flax, is, as well as the spinning into yarn and the
weaving, alike accomplished by machinery.
After weaving, the cloth is felted, or fulled, as it is
termed. The fulling-mills are so constructed that the
cloth is beaten with heavy oaken hammers for two or three
days; this causes the fibres of the wool to lock together
so as to hide both the weft and the warp. Cotton or
linen goods could not be felted in this way, as the fibres
are smooth; but each fibre of wool is covered with a
series of rings of scales, like those of a serpent's skin.
When woollen cloth is fulled, these scales hook into one
another, and the close nap is the result. In a fibre an
inch long there are about three hundred rings, or teeth.
During the fulling, the cloth shrinks very much, both in
length and breadth; cloth one hundred inches wide before
fulling is about sixty inches afterwards; but in proportion
as it shrinks in extent, it increases in thickness. The
cloth, having been fulled, has the nap worked up or raised
by rubbing it with teasel-heads; these are the flower
heads of a plant, and are covered with small hooks some-
what like what are called burrs by the children in the
country; the hooks seizing the nap, loosen and raise it up
from the cloth; it is then cut of an even length, and pressed
to give a glossy surface.
Worsted goods, made of the long-fibred, coarse English
wool, are not fulled after weaving, and hence the fibres of
the warp and weft are always visible.
396. Describe the several processes.
397. What of felting or fulling the cloth?
398. How is the nap raised and glossed?
399. What parts of this manufacture are by machinery ?
T
AND THEIR MATERIALS.
*
At the present time every process of the manufacture
of worsted goods is accomplished by machinery: the
washing and drying of the wool; the combing and spin-
ning of the fibres into the different kinds of yarn re-
quired for the various fabrics; and also its weaving when
spun.
Worsted thread is formed in the same manner as cot-
ton thread, by the re-spinning two or more simple yarns
together.
400. What is peculiar in worsted thread and cloth?
167
THE END.
STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
PHILADELPHIA.
}
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PICTORIAL HISTORIES
OF THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE.
It is confidently believed that no books of the kind have ever been
offered to the Public, better adapted to Youth, or indeed even to general
readers than the present Series. The following recommendations of
ompetent Judges, Teachers, and others, it is hoped will be duly ap-
reciated by the Public.
Wilmington, Sept. 3rd, 1844.
I have read about two-thirds of "A pictorial history of the United States,
with notices of other portions of America, by S. G. Goodrich, author of
Peter Parley's Tales."
I commenced reading the book for the purpose of examining the manner
of the execution; I have proceeded because of the interest I have felt in the
history. It is not a dry compend, as I expected; but it is history instructive
though condensed, communicating in small, but well filled space, all the im-
portant events in their proper connexion, requisite to correct, historical know-
ledge. It can be recommended to any citizen of our nation, as a book well
worthy of his perusal.
As a school book, its proper place is among the first. The language is
remarkable for simplicity, perspicuity and neatness. We could not wish
youth trained to a better taste for language, than this is adapted to impart,
The history is so written as to lead to geographical examination, and impress
by practice, the lesson, to read history with maps.
As a reading book, apart from its use for studying history, it is one of the
best that can be used. The reading lessons in common use, make very little
impression on the mind. A child learning to read by this book, would ac-
quire a treasure of historical knowledge, of which no citizen should be des-
titute, and would have desire awakened and taste formed to learn more fully
men and events with their characters, causes and consequences, while no
better lessons could be selected to teach the art of reading. Indeed it is im-
portant to teach reading, that the lessons should be interesting: hence too
much resort has been had to fiction, greatly injuring the mind.
This book introduced into our common schools, would probably produce
another benefit. In some cases it would reach parents, through their children,
and form in them a desire for knowledge which would be the most efficient
of all ways to bring them to appreciate the value of Schools and the education
of their children.
I should be glad to see this book introduced as a reading book into every
district School in this State.
WILLARD HALL,
Judge of the United States Court, District of Delaware.
The following resolution was adopted by the Common School Convention
of the State of Delaware held at New Castle, Sept. 1844.
RESOLVED. That this Convention commend the "Pictorial History of
the United States," to the notice of Commissioners of common Schools and
Parents; and they also recommend its introduction into our Schools, as a reading
book, wherever it is practicable.
JOSEPH R. HAYES, Secretary.
WILLARD HALL, President of the Convention
Jag
1
P
2
}
Philadelphia, Sept. 20th. 1844.
GENT. I have perused your admirable work, "The History of the United
States," with much satisfaction. In my opinion it is a work of great merit,
which deserves to be extensively circulated.
1
The Author has, by a judicious selection of interesting incidents, rendered
a study which is too often considered irksome to the student, entertaining
and instructive, and capable of impressing on the minds of American Yonth,
a correct outline of the History of their Native Land.
The celebrity of Peter Parley's works is a sufficient guarantee, for its
being welcomed as an important addition to the means of elementary
education.
Very Respectfully,
W. H. PILE.
Principal of N. E. Grammar School,
Wilmington, August, 13th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
I have been much gratified in examining "A Pictorial history of the
United States," by S. G. Goodrich, recently published by yourselves. A
love of country cannot be better promoted than by a study of our Nationa!
History and from its popular adaptation I conceive this work well calculated
to promote such study. The strong points are given, and in a style render-
ing the study alike pleasant and profitable. It will make an excellent school
book. Every pupil should study it; all should read it; and none can own
it without finding it very convenient as a book of reference.
J. KENNADAY.
Philadelphia, Sept. 9th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
"Pictorial histories of the
GENT. I have thoroughly examined your
United States, and of France," by S. Griswold Goodrich, and have been de-
lighted by the ease of style, simplicity of manner, and perspicuity of diction.
History is by some considered a dry study, and indeed our school histories
are most commonly of that class, and that from the fact, that they are too
verbose; but the author of these histories, has hit that happy simplicity, and
avoided that length of detail which is so tiresome.
One peculiarity I will not pass by in silence, and that is, the beautiful vein
of moral reflection, found at the close of each chapter, which naturally
guides the pupil, to a proper estimate of the detailed transaction: this I
think to be a recommendation of superior order, for it necessarily leads the
pupil to think.
}
The style of the Book as regards mechanical execution, is superior, and
I hope the effort to impart good instruction in a pleasant way, will be well
rewarded by a discerning public.
Yours truly, and sincerely,
W. G. E. AGNEW,
Principal of Zane Street Public School.
Dickinson College, July, 31st, 1844.
'MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENTLEMEN,-I am delighted with the "Pictorial History of France, and
and also the Pictorial History of the United States," by Peter Parley, (S. G.
Goodrich of Boston.) They are books admirably calculated for the Common
Schools of our Country, and deserve to be generally adopted. I hope the
other three volumes of the Series, (England, Greece, and Rome,) will
soon follow.
Yours Respectfully,
J. P. DURBIN.
11
3
:
Philadelphia, 1844.
A "Pictorial History of the United States," with Notices of other parts of
America." By S. G. Goodrich, author of Peter Parley's Tales. For the
use of Schools. This is, perhaps, the best book of its kind which has issued
from the press, for the purpose intended. The history is necessarily greatly
condensed, but the incidents are clearly stated, and in a perspicuous style
There are a great many cuts, illustrative of historical facts, or descriptive of
places rendered memorable by important events. But the celebrity of Peter
Parley renders our commendation superfluous. This is the first edition of
the work. A Pictorial History of France, by the same author, has been
also recently published by Sorin and Ball, for the use of Schools.-Zion's
Herald and Wesleyan Journal.
Belle-Vue Seminary, August, 17th, 1844.
I have carefully examined the "Pictorial History of the United States,'
edited by S. G. Goodrich, and do not hesitate to say, that I regard it as su
perior to any similar work that I am acquainted with, and as much better
adapted to public or private instruction. I design to introduce it as a text
book this Seminary.
WILLIAM H. GILDER.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
Butler House, Chesnut Street, September, 24th, 1844.
GENT.-I know of no works of their kind more worthy of commendation
than Goodrich's Histories. In style, arrangement, and general fitness
for its purpose, I think the "Pictorial History of the United States," the
best book on the subject used in the schools.
Yours Respectfully,
RUFUS W. GRISWOLD.
**/
Philadelphia, July, 22nd, 1844.
I have examined with much interest "The Pictorial History of the United
States, with notices of other portions of America, by S. G. Goodrich."
The author of this work has, in my opinion, admirably succeeded in pro-
ducing such a work as he aimed at a full, accurate and attractive history of
the Western continent. Though intended particularly for youth, it may be
read with profit and pleasure by all, and cannot fail to inspire all with senti-
ments of patriotism and a love of virtue.
The work is illustrated by maps, plans of battles, portraits, and engravings
of scenes and incidents, equally creditable to the artist and profitable to the
student.
The style and arrangement are such as to render the facts and sentiments
most easy to be committed to memory.
JOSEPH P. ENGLES.
Principal of the Classical Institute.
From the Hon. Ovid F. Johnson, Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, Nov. 25th, 1845.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-I have to thank you for a copy of a "Pictorial History of the
United States with notices of other portions of America," by S. G. Good-
rich, which I have read with much pleasure. The general design, and man-
ner of execution of this work are very similar to those of the Pictorial His
1
4
tory of France, by the same Author, and in relation to which, I expressed
my opinion in a brief note commending that book. Making reasonable al
lowance for a very few crude statements of facts, and for some sentences
hastily written, this history appears to me, to be one of extraordinary fidelity
and merit.
It places at once in the hands of American youth, the history of their coun-
try from the day of its discovery to the present time, written in a style that
all can understand, and exhibiting in a connected and clear arrangement, all
the great and good deeds of their ancestors; of which they now enjoy the
benefits, and inherit the renown. The struggles, sufferings, firmness and
piety of the first settlers are delineated with a graphic, master-hand, and can-
not fail to inspire every American Citizen with just pride, when he reflects,
that the foundations of our national prosperity, of our civil and religious liber-
ty, were laid and sustained by such men as the pioneers of Jamestown and
Plymouth. The gradual enlargement of our dominions, and development
of our national energies are traced with a minute accuracy which the gene-
ral plan of the work, would seem to have rendered almost impracticable-
The events and achievements of the revolution and of the last war are
brought out in a strong light, and the subsequent history of our national po-
licy and advancement strikingly portrayed, without being disfigured by that
tinge of party bias, which is so difficult to be guarded against by the histo
rians of their own times, and of the age immediately preceding.-
V
The details of the discovery of this continent by Columbus, and of the
early settlements by the Spaniards, Portugese and other European nations,
are all of essential interest to the student of American history, and will be
found to furnish on these topics, an adequate amount of information to render
the history of this continent complete.
The general observations interspersed throughout the work, sparing as
they are, are sound, judicious and useful, and when they censure, as they
sometimes do, the acts of our illustrious fathers, it is in a spirit of kindness,
but of justice, which must extort from us more respect, than if the historian
were indiscriminately to applaud them.
The great object of history, is to teach the truth, and let it be as boldly
proclaimed, if it gall our national pride, as if it flatter our national vanity.
I trust the day is not far distant when every American Youth can read the
history of his country, and when that day arrives, I would rejoice to see a
book like this placed in his hands. He will then learn in the compass of a
few pages, how much reason he has to be proud of his country, of its insti-
tutions, of its founders, of its heroes and statesmen, and by such lessons,
may we hope that those who come after us, will be instructed in their duty
as citizens and their obligations as patriots.
I cheerfully lend my humble sanction to your "Pictorial History" and shall
be pleased to hear, that its claims to public favor, are duly appreciated.
I am, very respectfully, Yours &c.
OVID F. JOHNSON.
t
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5
From Col. H. B. Wright, late Speaker of the House of Representatives of the
State of Pennsylvania.
Wilkesbarre, Nov. 18th, 1844.
MESSRS, SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-I have very carefully examined the "Pictorial History of the
United States " published by you, which you were pleased to send me, and
I most cheerfully recommend it to the schools of the American nation. It
possesses rare merits, and adds another obligation on the part of the friends
of education in the United States to the gifted author of "Peter Parley's
Tale's," The history of the country connected with school exercises has
been too long neglected: and there is scarcely a man who does not feel most
sensibly the neglect in reviewing the course of his preliminary studies. The
design is excellent, the language chaste and well suited to that class of youth
for which the work is designed, and the volume itself a well digested com-
pendium of the history of the United States. It cannot fail of success. Most
intimately should the history of this country be associated with the discipline
and exercises of our schools. A form of government based on the intelli-
gence of the people cannot be too well understood. Its character, nature and
history should be the first lessons in childhood, and the last one of mature
and ripened age. The cause of Juvenile education has long felt the impe-
rative necessity of just such a book as Goodrich's Pictorial History of the
United States. Let its circulation be general-let it reach the hands of every
teacher of the youth of the land; and I feel confident the future benefits of
this little volume will be fully appreciated by the public, and be of lasting
utility.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENDRICK B. WRIGHT.
Warren Green Boarding School, Warrenton, Va. Jan. 11th, 1845.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT. I have been much gratified by an examination of the Copy of
Goodrich's "Pictorial History of the United States," which you have had
the kindness to forward me.-It is written with the Author's well-known
ability; and is, in my opinion, admirably adapted to the use of Schools. In-
deed few writers possess in an equal degree with Mr. Goodrich, the power
at once to interest, and instruct, the youthful mind. The engravings which
embellish this production, are very numerous and finely executed; and all
appear to represent scenes and persons connected with important events ;-
an aid to memory which all readers of history will immediately recognize.-
Mr. Goodrich's history of recent political events and contests, is generally
worthy of high praise; so that parents need not fear that the minds of their
children will be biased by the perusal of this volume.-I shall avail myself.
of the first opportunity to introduce this work as a text book into my school.
Yours Respectfully,
R. M. SMITH.
W
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$
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE “PICTORIAL HISTORY
OF FRANCE.”
Philadelphia, April, 1st, 1844.
The reputation of the industrious and successful author of the "Pictorial
History of France," is so well established, that it needs no other commen-
dation to the public, than his popular name. In preparing books of this
eclectic character, the principal labor consists in the selecting of matter, and
demands the exercise of a sound judgment, directed by a correct, discrimi-
nating taste, as the materials from which such histories are compiled, are
exceedingly copious. From an examination of the plan, arrangement of
parts &c., of this work, I think that it has been executed with great discre
tion. It is entertaining and instructive, as well as attractive to the eye, and
is well adapted to the object for which it was prepared.
I cannot doubt that the attentive reading of such a syllabus as is here fur-
nished, must excite an appetite, and prepare the mind for entering upon a
larger and more extended history of the European Nations.
I know of nothing of the kind, better suited to the use of Schools, for
which it is "particularly designed," and can cordially recommend it to the
favorable regard of their supervisors and teachers.
S. JONES.
Principal of Classical and Mathematical Institute,
No. 17, South Seventh Street.
Philadelphia, December, 3rd, 1842.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT,-Having examined with care, the " Pictorial History of France,"
which you submitted to my inspection, I am prepared to commend it to the
favorable notice to the public.
The want of a good history of France, suitable for a Class book, has been
long felt, and this work seems to fill the vacuum.
I cannot better express my estimation thereof than by informing you that
we have adopted it.
Yours, very Respectfully,
GILBERT COMBS.
Principal of the Spring Garden Institute, for Young Ladies.
Philadelphia, March, 30th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT,-It affords me pleasure to recommend the "Pictorial History
of France," lately published by you, to the favorable attention of teachers
and parents, as a work, eminently calculated, by the simplicity of its style,
the variety and interest of its facts, and the beauty and appropriateness of its
pictorial illustrations, to afford at once pleasure and profit, not only to youth,
for whom it is specially designed, but to readers of every class.
I am pleased to learn that you contemplate the publication of a History of
England, of the same attractive character.
Such works are a valuable acquisition to the cause of public and private
education, and cannot fail to be duly appreciated by those for whose benefit
they are intended
JOSEPH P. ENGLES.
Principal of the Classical Institute.
!
my
Philadelphia, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-A" Pictorial History of France," for Schools, by S. G. Goodrich,
author of Peter Parley's Tales. This volume seems well fitted to convey
to young readers a brief sketch of French History-being well arranged, the
prominent points clearly set forth and each chapter furnished with questions
adapted to direct the attention to the principal events and to fix them in the
memory. The book seems calculated to be of essential service in the early
tudy of history. The Publishers propose to publish similar histories of the
United States, of England, Rome, and Greece.
From the New York TRIBUNE.
Philadelphia, November, 10th, 1842.
GENT.-I have examined with much satisfaction the "Pictorial History of
France," by S. G. Goodrich, on the basis of Markham's History of France,
and consider it well adapted to use in our Schools.
Yours Respectfully,
A. D. BACHE.
MESSRS SORIN & BALL.
GENT. I have given a partial examination to the "Pictorial History of
France," lately published by you; and from what I have seen of the work,
I should think it sustains the reputation which its well known author has
acquired as an interesting writer for the young. A comprehensive know-
ledge of the history of France is next in importance to a similar knowledge
of our own history and that of England. And I think the author of this
work has taken a judicious medium between the voluminous detail and the
scanty abridgement.
Yours, &c., R. W. GREEN.
Philadelphia, May, 10th, 1843.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-I have looked over partially the "History of France," by S. G.
Goodrich, which you were kind enough to send me. From the slight ex-
amination I have been able to give it, it appears to me to possess most of the
qualities which have rendered the author's other works so popular, and to be
well adapted to the purposes of juvenile instruction.
Respectfully Yours,
É. C. WINES.
Philadelphia, September, 19th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-The "Pictorial History of France," recently published by you;
appears to me to be an excellent work, and well calculated for general use.
The simplicity and clearness of its style, the variety of its incidents, and the
number of its illustrations will tend to make it both interesting and useful.
Your obedient Servant,
A. B. HUTTON.
Deaf and Dumb Institution.
Philadelphia, September, 1842.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-Having examined your edition of S. G. Goodrich's "Pictorial
History of France," I am gratified at being able to speak of it in terms of
warm commendation. Written with all the clearness, method, and tact of
Goodrich, the work is curiously illustrated by pictorial representations of
8
of almost every great man or important event of French story. The num-
ber, variety, and appositeness of these illustrations, add greatly to the
usefulness of the book, which while it does not neglect any other mode of
impression, abounds in appeals to the great avenue to the memory, the eye.
Wishing you much success in your useful enterprise.
I am, very Respectfully, Yours,
J. K. MITCHELL.
From the Philadelphia, Saturday Courier, of September, 17th, 1842.
Is there a reader in the United States who has not read some of the pro-
ductions of Peter Parley? If there is, he should immediately buy and read
them all. Few men of any age have done so much real good towards faci-
litating the easy acquirement of useful knowledge, as our much esteemed
friend, Mr. S. G. Goodrich. IIe has now brought out an embellished His-
tory of France, and we will tell our young friends that they will find it a
condensed and valuable one. The history of France is a very absorbing
one. For years we have been deeply interested in it-and we are much
pleased that a natural, eloquent and pure writer, like the renowned author
of Peter Parley, has taken it upon himself to present to the Youth of our
land a "Pictorial History," of a country with which all Americans should
be well acquainted. It is a single 12mo, volume, of 347 pages.
From the Philadelphia, Saturday Evening Post, September 17th, 1842.
The "Pictorial history of France," by S. G. Goodrich, author of "Peter
Parley's Tales," one volume 12mo. Philadelphia, Messrs. Sorin and Ball.-
The great and well deserved popularity of all Mr. Goodrich's former works,
will secure for this history of France a favorable reception. It is designed
principally for schools, and is written in the author's peculiarly simple and
perspicuous style. The very large number of wood engravings with which
it is embellished are admirably executed, and will add much to its interest
and value, especially to the juvenile reader. We commend it heartily, as
well to the general reader, as to parents and teachers.
From the Pennsylvania Inquirer and National Gazette, September, 10th, 1842.
11
The "Pictorial History of France." An excellent volume with this title
has just been published by Messrs. Sorin and Ball, of this city. It is from
the pen of S. G. Goodrich, the author of "Peter Parley's Tales,' and
seems to us from the hasty examination we have been able to give it, one of
the very best works for Schools that has been issued for a long time. While
the facts are strictly historical, they are connected together in a manner at
once captivating, agreeable, and especially suited for the youthful mind.
From the Hon. Ovid F. Johnson, Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, Oct. 5th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT. I have read the "Pictorial History of France," by S. G. Good-
rich, author of Peter Parley's Tales, with much interest and gratification.
It appears to me to be one of the most useful historical compends that has
ever fallen under my notice. In a brief space it comprehends a full and de-
tailed history of France, so far at least, as the great leading events associated
with the history of that extraordinary nation are concerned. The facts are
collected with industry, arranged with judgment, and commented on in a
9
manner to produce the deepest impression. The central position of France
among the nations of Europe; the genius, enterprise and activity of the
French, have all conspired to give to its history an importance not easily
overrated. The mighty exploits and renowned works of the long series of
distinguished kings, statesmen, warriors, philosphers and poets, that adorn
its annals and run back till they are almost lost in the night of the Third
Century, impart to this history all the freshness and curiosity of romance,
dignified and elevated by the sober reality of history.
Mr. Goodrich seems to have caught the true spirit, by which alone, life
and animation can be breathed into a dry mass of detached historical details,
extending through eighteen centuries, and to have stamped them on almost
every page of his work.
The style is neat and polished, and admirably adapted to the pur-
pose for which this book is designed. As a school book, I think that it
must be universally commended, The general reflections are few, but
sound and judicious, and well calculated to impress upon the mind and hearts
of youth, the great principles of Virtue, Patriotism and Religion.
I cannot doubt its successful reception by the public, and I heartily hope
that its popularity may equal its merits.
Yours, very respectfully,
OVID F. JOHNSON.
From the Hon. H. B. Wright, President of the late Democratic National
Convention.
Wilkesbarre, Nov. 18th, 1844.
MESSRS. SORIN & BALL.
GENT.-I have hastily examined the "Pictorial History of France," by
the author of Peter Parley's Tales, which you were pleased to submit to me
for my opinion. I need scarcely add, it is a work admirably designed to con-
vey a correct impression of the history of a nation as much diversified, or
probably more, than any other on the face of the earth. The illustrations
are well calculated to make a vivid, as well as lasting impression, on the
youthful mind-the language appropriate, and the whole design and execu-
tion excellent. The work strongly recommends itself to the teachers of the
schools of our country, and I can hardly entertain a doubt but that its use
must become general. I have taken occasion, as a Trustee of the Wilks-
barre Female Seminary, to recommend the use of it, as well as the "Picto-
rial History of the United States," in that Institution. In fact, the author's
name, with his acknowledged reputation, is enough to recommend the book.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENDRICK. B. WRIGHT.
CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE.
EDITED BY
D. M. REESE, M. D.
THIS Course will, as far as possible, imbody the code and materials
of a complete Elementary Education, Physical, Moral, and Intellec-
tual, calculated to prepare the young for the performance of the duties
and labours of life. The Series will contain-
FIRST,
A GENERAL TREATISE ON, AND DIRECTORIES FOR, EDUCATION.
SECOND,
TEXT-BOOKS FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND FOR PRIVATE INSTRUCTION.
The Works already Published are as follow:
READING LESSONS.
THE FIRST BOOK OF READING; adapted to the intelli
gence of Children under Six Years Old.
THE SECOND BOOK OF READING; a Regular Series of
Lessons on the Consonants, for more advanced Pupils.
SIMPLE LESSONS IN READING; calculated to advance the
Child in Reading and Spelling.
RUDIMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE; a familiar explanation of
External Appearances in the Natural and Social World.
THE MORAL CLASS-BOOK; adapted for the use of Children
of Ten Years of Age.
"
I
CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCES; presenting a Con
nected and Systematic View of Nature.
Forces.
THE LAWS OF MATTER AND MOTION; comprehend-
ing Weight, Heat, and the Movement of Bodies.
MECHANICS; including the Elements of Machinery and Moving
HYDROSTATICS, HYDRAULICS, AND PNEUMATICS;
or the laws of fluids both liquid and aëriform.
RUDIMENTS OF CHEMISTRY; with Illustrations of the
Phenomena of Daily Life, and a series of experiments for Schools.
By D. B. REID, M. D., F. R. S. E.
PHYSIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY.
RUDIMENTS OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY; explaining in
familiar language the Structure of the various Organs of the Living
Animal, with their respective Functions.
THE RUDIMENTS OF ZOOLOGY; being a Comprehensive
Survey of the whole Animal Kingdom, adapted for the use of Schools.
THE RUDIMENTS OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY;
conveying a general idea of the Structure and Organs of Plants, with
their Functions, adapted for the use of Schools.
RUDIMENTS OF GEOLOGY; in which the leading facts of
the Science are stated in the simplest manner consistent with accu-
racy. By DAVID PAGE.
MATHEMATICS.
INTRODUCTION TO ARITHMETIC; including all that is
requisite for the common purposes of life.
THE ELEMENTS OF ALGEBRA; a Theoretical and Prac-
tical Treatise, with an Appendix, and various improvements. By A.
BELL. In Two Parts.
i
{
;
i
CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE.
A KEY to the Treatise on ALGEBRA. By A. BELL.
THE ELEMENTS OF PLANE GEOMETRY; according to
Euclid. By A. BELL.
SOLID AND SPHERICAL GEOMETRY AND CONIC
SECTIONS. By A. BELL.
A TREATISE OF PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS. Part
I. containing Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration of Heights,
Distances, Surfaces, and Solids. By A. BELL.
A TREATISE OF PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS. Part
II. containing Land-Surveying, Gauging, Projectiles, Spherical Tri-
gonometry, Astronomical Problems, and Navigation. By A. BELL.
MATHEMATICAL TABLES. By A. BELL. Comprehending
all the most important Tables required in Trigonometry, Mensura-
tion, Land-Surveying, Navigation, Nautical Astronomy, &c., and
particularly adapted to the above Treatises of Practical Mathematics.
DRAWING.
FIRST BOOK OF DRAWING, with exercises for practice on
the slate and black board. By JOHN CLARK.
SECOND BOOK OF DRAWING; including perspective, and
light and shade. By JOHN CLARK.
Published by SORIN & BALL, 42 North Fourth Street, Philadel
phia, and may be had from all Booksellers.

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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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NEW AND VALUABLE
SCHOOL BOOKS.
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A Pictorial History of the United States,
With Notices of other portions of America.
By S. G. GOODRICH. 1 Vol. 12mo.
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
By S. G. GOODRICH. Vol. 12mo.
PICTORIAL HISTORY
OF FRANCE.
By S. G. GOODRICH. 1 Vol. 12me
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF GREECE.
By S. G. GOODRICH. 1 Vol. 12mo.
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF ROME.
By S. G. COODRICH. 1 Vol. 12mo.
A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF ELOCUTION;
EMBRACING VOICE AND GESTURE,
DESIGNED FOR
SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, AND COLLEGES,
AS WELL AS FOR PRIVATE LEARNERS.
By MERRITT CALDWELL, A.M., Profes
of Metaphysics and
Political Economy, a Teacher of Elocution in Dickinson Col
lege. 4th Edition, 1 Vol. 12mo.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
AN IMPROVED GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ON
THE INDUCTIVE SYSTEM.
By Rev. BRADFORD FRAZEE. 1 Vol. 12mo.
BUTLER'S ANALOGY AND ANALYSIS.
By President EMORY, of Dickinson College. College edition,
12mo.
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