/ 7 . ( /^ / >:r THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corpbration http://www.arcliive.org/details/compendiumOOgoodricli » A NEW FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA; OR COMPEIVDIUM OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE: COMPREHENDING A PLAIN AND PRACTICAL VIEW OF THOSE SUBJECTS MOST INTERESTING TO PERSONS, IN THE ORDINARY PROFESSIONS OP LIFE. KUttJJteateTJ i»2 numerous Bnsrabiiifls. SECOND IMPROVED EDITION. EDITED BY CHARLES A. GOODRICH. PHILADELPHIA. 1831. tJO 1? Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1831, by Charles A. Goodncl), m the Clerk's office of the District Court of Connecticut. Part First contains ----- 240 pagea. Part Second contains - - - - 228 pages Whole number of pages, - - - - 468 PREFACE TO THE gECOND EDITION. The First Editiou of the ibllowing work, having met with a more flattering- reception among its Patrons, than the most sanguine hopes of the Editor allowed him tx) anticipate, he has been encouraged to attempt several improvements in this edition. In making these improvements, the Editor has endeavored to ren- der the plan of the work more simple — has erased such portions as appeared devoid of mterest, or utility, and substituted therefor more than sixty pages, original matter, on topics, which, it is beUeved, will be found important in the view of those for whose benefit the; work is designed. It has been the object of the Editor from the first to proceed upon the principle of selection and utility — to embrace so lew subjects, as to enable him "to enlarge upon them, according to their relative importance ; and to treat of them in so plain and practical a man- ner, as to render the work intelligible and useful. By this means, he has been enabled, he trusts, in a measure to avoid a serious ob- jection, which has sometimes been made to the portable Encyclope- dias extant, that they embrace so great a variety of articles, as to render them little more than Dictionaries. • A different rourse has been here adopted ; aru;! it gives the Editor pleasure to know that it has the sanction of a large portion of his patrons. To the friends, who have aided him, and lightened his task, he takes occasion to renew the expression of his thanks, especially to the author of the article on Horticulture. In respect to that article, the Editor is requested to say, that it is chiefly an abridgement ot' Cobbett's excellent system of*^ gardening. And in relation to several other parts of the work, he cJan claim no other merit, than that of presepting to his readers a condensed and faithful compilation. The nature- of the work has precluded hi tn, in many instances, from giving credit to the several authors of whose labors, he has availed himself It belongs to this place, therefore, to express his . obUgation to Guy's Pocket Encyclopedia, Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Mitchel's Pocket Encyclopedia, Library of Useful Knowledge, Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Godman's Natural History, Goldsmith's Natural History, Hooper's Medical Dictionary, Family Physician, American Farmer, New England Farmer, Complete Grazier, Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, Clater's, Hind's and Ma- son's Farming, White on the Diseases of Cattle, Bigelow's Tech- nology, Allen's Mechanics, T egg's Book of UtiUty, American Almanac, &c. &c. CONTENTS. PART I. MAN. GENERAL INTRODDCTORY REMARKS. Section I. NATURAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, &C. p. 14 — 29. Varieties of the Human Species — Intellectual capacity — Difference of Form, Stature, and Complexion — Origin of the North American Indians — Human Struc- ture, viz. Bones — Teeth — Muscles — Flesh — Skin — Absorbents — Cartilages — Mem- brane — Gland — The Brain — Cerebrums-Cerebellum — Tlie Spinal Marrow — The Thorax, or Chest — Respiration — The Windpipe — The Lungs — The Heart — An Ar- tery—A Vein— Air— The Blood — Thoracic Duct— The Abdomen— The Liver— The Bile — The Spleen, or Milt— The Stomach— Of Digestion— The Gastric Juice — The Intestines — The Kidneys — The Senses, viz. — The Eye — Feeling — The Nose-^The Taste— The Sexes. Section ii. of the mind and its faculties, p. 29 — 35. The Mind — Sensation — Memory — Imagination — Genius — Reasoi>— The Will — Ghost — Knowledge — The Passions. PART II. ALIMENTS. GENERAL VIEW OF THE VARIOUS ALIMENTARY PROPERTIES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD ; AND THEIR DIFFERENT EFFECTS UPON THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION, p. 35 — 47. Section I. OF ARTIFICIAL ALIMENTS, p. 47 — 53. Bread — Starch— Sugar — Tea — Coffee— Chocolate — Rice— The Yam— The Plan- tain — Bread Fruit, &c. — Cheese, Butter, &e. See Agriculture. Section II. OF FRUITS, p. 53—63. Oranges — The Citron— The Lemon — Olive— The Almond — Tamarinds — Prunes —The Cacao Nut— The Cocoa Nut— The Pomegranate— The Fig— The Banian, or Indian Fig Tree— Raisins — Dates — Pine Apple — Apple — Plum— Peach— Nectarine — Apricot— Cherry — Q,uince. FAMILY COISTENTS. Section III. OF DRINKS, p. 63 — 73. Water — Wine — Method of Makin? and Pining Wine — Currant Wine — Method of making Currant Wine — Cider — Method of making Cider — Vinegar — Metliod of making Vinegar — Alcohol — Rum — Brandy — Geneva, or Gin — Arrack — Ale — Malt Method of making Malt — Brewing — Hops. Section IV. OF condiments, p. 73—81. Ginger — Nutmeg — Clove — Pepper — Cassia — Cinnamon — Salt — Method of ma- king Salt— Mustard— Ketchup. Section V. or animals, p. 81 — 111. Domestic Animals, Sec Agriculture — The Lion — The Tiger — Tiie Puma, or Cou- gar—Domestic Cat— The Dog— The Camel— Lhmia— The Giraffe — Rein Deer— ^fuoso — ^American Elk — rElephant — Method of taking tlie Elephant — Gigantic, ^ I asf odon, or Mammoth — Bear — Seal — Beaver. Section VI. OP fish. p. Ill — 117. The Salmon Fishery— ^od Fishery — Herring Fishery — Mackerel Fishery — Shad The Lobster — Oystcris — Tortoise — Whale — Method of taking Whales, Section VII. OF FOWL. p. 117 — 125. The Cock— The Hen—The Turkey- The Guinea Hen— The Goose— Duck- Wild Pigeon— Carrier Pigeon. , PART III. PRESERVATION OF HEALTH, &C. Section I. RULES AND hints FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE, HEALTH, &C. p, 127 — 156. Rules of Sir R. Philips — Of Dr. Boorhaave— Experience of Howard— Hints to Students — Q,uantity of Food — Abstinence — Exercise — Friction — Air — Sleep — Sleep- ing Apartments— Beds— CleanUness — Badiing— Contagion — Purifying and Disin- fecting Agents — Tobacco — Dr. Rush's View of the Effects of certain Liquors upon the body and minds of men — Of Opium and Laudanum — Of Wounds cut with sharp Instruments— Of Poisoned Wounds— Mode of Treatment— Strains or Sprains — Treatment of Frozen Limbs — Burns and Scalds — Dress of Children — Diet of Children— Sleep — Ejcercise — Washing and Bathing of Cliildren— Teething- Summer Complaint — Hooping Cough — Croup — Measles. ENCYCLOPEDIA. CONTENTS. Section II. OF POISONS SUSPENDED ANIMATION, p. 156 — 164, Different kinds of Poisons — Syraptoms, and Remedies — Stomach Pump — Poison from the fumes of Burning Charcoal, Gas from Wells, Caverns, &c. and the neceg- sary Treatment — Drowning — Symptoms of apparent Death by Drowning — Treat- ment — Choking — Treatment — Lightning, and its Remedy. Section III. FAMILY DISPENSATORY, p. 164 — 168. Weights and Measures used by Apothecaries, and the signs by which they are denoted — Recipes for the making of Laxative Pills — Pills of Aloes, and Petida — Hull's Colic Pills— Purging Pills— Sir H. Halford's Aj^erient Pills — Strengthening Pills— To Excite Perspiration — Adhesive Plaster— Anodyne Plaster — Strengthening Plaster — Picra — Sweating Powder, or Dover's Powder — Elixir Proprietatus — Tine, ture of Bark, . or Huxham's Tincture — Tincture of Guaiac — Laudanum — Elixir Asthmatic — Linseed Meal Poultice — Bread and Water Poultice— Mustard Poultice — Yeast Poultice — Simple Ointment — Golden Ointment — Sulphur Ointment — Pile Ointment — BasiUcan Ointment — Simple Sirup — Sirup of Ginger — Sirup of Lemons — volatile Liniment — Liniment of Oil and Lime — Camphorated Oil— Opodeldoc. PART IV. p. 168—340. Cotton ; Manner of raising Cotton ; Process of Manufacturing Cotton into Cloth ; Silk Manufacture ; Satin ; Velvet ; Taffety ; Gauze ; Tabby ; Brocade ; Stockings ; History of Silk; Mulberry Tree; Mode of Cultivation; Eggs of Silk Worms; Hatching the Eggs ; Rearing Silk Worms ; Rising of ths Silk Worms; Picking of the Cocoons ; Cocoons kept for Use ; Cocoons intended for Sale ; Manufacture of Linen; Of Cambric; Of Lace; Culture of Flax; Culture of Hemp; Art of Tanning ; Of Currying ; Manufacture of Parchment ; Of Morocco ; Of Glue ; Of Hats ; Of Buttons , Method of Refining Gold ; Art of Gilding ; Of Silvering ; Of Coining ; Process of Making Tin and Tin plate ; Solder ; Melting and casting of Metals ; Art of Casting in Sand ; Of casting Statues ; Of Casting Cannon ; Of Casting Bells ; Of Casting Printing Letters ; Printing ; History of Printing ; Art of Common, or Letter-press Printing ; of Rolling press Printing ; of Calico Print- ing ; and Stereotype Printing; Method of Making Virnish; Art of Japanning ; Method of making Bricks ; Manufacture of Tiles ; Pipes ; Pottery ; Delft- ware ; Of Porcelain, or Ciiina ; Of Glass ; Ingredients of Glass ; Method of making Bottles, Phials, Drinking Glasses, Window Glass, Plate Glass, for Looking Glasses, &c. ; Manufacture of Putty ; Pins ; Needles ; Art of Bleaching ; Manufacture of Woollen Cloths; Of Camblet; Of Carpets; Art of Dyeing ; Materials for Dyeing different Colors ; General Rules for Dyeing all Colors ; Soap ; Candles ; Wax ; Manufacture of Sealing- Wax ; Of Paper ; Architecture ; General History and De- scription of the different Styles of ancient and modern Architecture, &c &c. &c. 10 FAMILY CONTEPTTS. PART V. AGRICULTURE. GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Section I. ON NEAT CATTLE, &C p. 3 — 42. Different Breeds of Neat Cattle in Great Britain and the United States ; Wild Cattle ; Devonshire Breed ; Sussex Breed ; Hereford ; Short Horned Cattle ; Long Horned ; Galloway Breed ; Highland Breed ; Welsh Breed ; Alderney Breed ; Va- rieties in the United Slates ; Coke Devon Bull Holkani ; Wye Comet ; On buying and stocking a farm with Cattle ; Of the Bull ; Method of managing mischievous Bulls ; Of the Cow ; Description of a Perfect Cow ; On the Treatment and Rear- ing of Calves ; Of Steers and Draught Oxen ; E^asy method of accustoming animals to draw ; Mode of yoking in France ; Of Grazing ; Soiling and Stall Feeding Neat Cattle. Section II. on the dairy, &c, p. 42—52. Of Milch Kine, and of the Pasture and other Pood best calculated for Cows, as it resiiects their Milk ; Of the Management of Milk and Cream ; £md the Making and Preserving of Butter ; Of the Making and Preserving of Cheese. Section III. ok the breeding, rearing, and management op horses, p. 52 — 90. Brief History of the Horse ; Different Breeds of Horses, viz. Barb ; Dongola Horse ; Arabian ; East India Horse ; Chinese ; Persian ; Toorkoman ; Tartar and Kalmuck ; Turkish ; German ; Swedish, Finland and Norwegian ; Iceland ; Flemish and Dutch ; Spanish ; Italian ; English ; Roadster or Hackney ; Farmer's Horse ; Coach Horse ; Heavy Draught Horses ; Cleveland Bays ; Suffolk Punch ; Clydesdale ; Heavy Black Horses ; Dray ; Cavalry ; Race Horse ; Darley Arabi- an ; Flying Childers ; Eclipse ; Wellesley ; Arabian ; Hunter ; Galloways and Ponies ; Welsh Poney ; Highland Poney ; Shedand Poney ; Irish Horse ; Ameri- can ; Wild Horse ; Canadian ; Conestoga ; English Horse in the United States ; Rules for judging of the Age, Action, Hardihood, and Spirit of Horses; Nicking ; Pricking; Foxing; Docking; Fattening; Excessive Fatigue; Treatment on a journey ; On the management and Training of Colts ; Castration. Section IV. ON THE BREEDING, REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP, p. 90 — 104. History of the Sheep ; Synopsis of the different Breeds of Sheep in Great Bri- tain ; Heath, Linton Short, or Forest Sheep ; Exmoor and Dartmoor ; Norfolk ; Wiltshire ; Dorset ; Leicester ; Lincolnshire ; Teeswater ; Romney Marsh ; De- vonshire ; South Down ; Cannock ; Ryeland ; Cheviot ; Merino ; Sheep in the United States ; Eissential Requisites to a good Ram ; Signs of a Healthy Sheep ; Signs of Age ; Time of purchasing ; Breeding Ewes ; Owning of Lambs ; Wean- ing ; Winter Management ; Quantity of Food ; Manner of Feeding ; Salt ; Fold- ing; Marking. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 11 CONTENTS. Section V. ON THE BBEEDING, REARING AND FATTENING OP SWINE, p. 104—112. Different Breeds of Swine ; Chinese Breed ; Berkshire ; Essex Half Black ; Sussex ; Dishley ; Woburn ; Hampshire ; Northampton ; Shropshire ; Yorkshire ; liincolnshire ; Cheshire ; Swine in the United States ; Management of Sow^s with Pig ; Pigs ; Store Pigs ; Fatting Hogs. Section VI. DISEABES OF HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP AND SWINE, p. 112—135, 1. Horses. Botts; Colic ; Inflammation of the Bowels ; Lampas ; Bridle-sores ; Pole evil ; Stranguary or suppression of urine ; Of Mange ; Glanders ; Treat- ment ; Of Shoulder Strains ; Treatment ; Of Galls ; Of Wind Galls ; Of Ring Bone ; Of Broken Wind ; Of Pounder ; Symptoms of a Founder ; Remedy. 2. Of Cattle. Of Colic, or Gripes; Remedy; Of Jaundice, or Yellows; Of Foul in the Foot, or Hoof-Ail ; Of Grain Sickness ; Of Warts, or Horny Ex- crescences ; Of Mange ; Of the Horn Distemper ; Its Treatment ; Of Udder ; 111 ; Of Sore Teats; Of Lice. 3. Of Sheep. Of Scab ; Its remedy ; Of Staggers, or Dizziness ; Treatment ; Pinning or Scouring ; Of Tick ; Cold and its consequences ; Foot Rot ; Bowel Sickness ; Catarrhal Affections ; Of Poisons ; Of Wounds. 4. Of Swine. Measles ; Of Mange ; Of Murrain ; Of Diseases of the Lungs ; Of Fever, or rising of the Lights ; Of Gargut ; Of Issues. 5. Veterinary Pharmacopeia. PART VI. ART OP GARDENING, OR HORTICULTURE. J). 138 — 176. Of the proper Situation of Gardens ; Soil ; Fencing ; Laying out ; Hot beds ; Of making the bed ; Of the management of a hot-bed ; Propagation and Cultiva- tion ; Sort of Seeds ; True-Seed ; Soundness of Seed ; Saving and Preserving Seed ; Of Sowing ; Of Transplanting ; Of Cultivation ; Alphabetical List of the several sorts of Plants, and the proper treatment of each. Propagation of Fruits ; By Cuttings ; By Slips ; By Layers ; By Suckers ; By Budding ; By Grafting ; Of Storks ; Of Planting ; Of tlie Cultivation of Fruit Trees ; List of the different kinds of Fruits, and the proper treatment of each ; Di- rections for the Culture of Grape Vines, Management of Bees. Bee ; Female or Queen Bee ; Males or Drone*? ; Working Bees or Neuters; Swarming; Hiving; Wax; Propolis; Building of Cells ; Honey ; Bee Bread ; Hives ; ^Bee-moth, PART vn. arts op locomotion, heating, ventilation, &c. p. 176 — 201. Motion of Animals ; Human Strength ; Aids to Locomotion ; Wheels ; Broad Wheels ; Form of Wheels ; Mode of Attaching a Horse ; Rail Roads. Of Steam Engines ; Of Canals ; Canals of Egypt ; China ; Italy ; Russia ; Sweden ; Denmark ; Holland ; Germany ; Spain ; France ; Great Britain ; American Canals ; Fuel; Chimneys; Telegraph; Deaf and Dumb Alphabet. 12 FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA. ■ r. ■ - ■-■ g- CONTENTS. PART VIII. ON CIVIL POLITY. OP GOVEHNMENT. p. 201—217. Origin and History of Government ; Of the different Forms of Government ; Synopsis of the Constitution of Maine ; New Hampshire ; Massachusetts ; Ver- mont ; Connecticut ; Rhode Island ; New York ; New Jersey ; Pennsylvania ; Delaware ; Maryland ; Virginia ; North Carolina ; South Carolina ; Georgia ; Alabama ; Louisiana ; Mississippi ; Tennessee ; Kentucky j Ohio ; Illinois ; In* diana ; Missouri ; United States. PART IX. STATISTICS, p. 218 — 228. Popiilation of the American Colonies in 1701 and 1749 ; Settlements of the'several Colonies ; Expense of the Revolutionary War ; Amount of Continental Money is- sued ;' Loans and Grants of Money from France ; Number of Troops employed during the Revolution ; Naval Force of the United States ; Adoption of the Consti- tution by the several States ; Amount of money expended by the United States upon Works of Internal Improvements ; Amount of Public Debt ; Bank of the United States ; Value of Exports and Imports of the United States in 1829 ; Domestic Exports of the United States ; Troops furnished by each State during the Revolution ; Total Population of tlie Earth ; Inhabitants of the Earth divided according to their Religious Belief FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPENDIUM OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. PART I -MAN. A knowledge of the various objects of nature and art is doubtless worthy the attainment of every one. An acquaintance with these ob- jects contributes to enlarge the mind — to gratify a rational curiosity — to excite admiring views of the Great Author of all things, and to pre- pare for a wider sphere of usefulness. Yet, it cannot be denied, that a knowledge of oneself is of higher importance still. Without self-know- ledge, man must be ignorant of the true dignity of his nature, and lost to just views of the Divine wisdom and goodness, displayed i^liis com- position. Man, it has been well observed, is a compound|Bxistence, made up of two great parts ; the Body, and the Mind^ or Soul. The body was form- ed of the dust ; but it is a frame of a most wonderful nature. The parts of which it is composed — their number — their various uses — de- pendencies and operations, — the arrangement, by which they are formed into a system — the faculties attached to it, of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling — its capacity of pleasure and pain — the warnings which it is fitted to give of approaching or commencing evil — and the power which it so variously possesses of self restoration, are all wonder- ful, mysterious, and strongly declaratory of the skill, and benevolence of the Creator. But the Mind or Soul is of a still more wonderful nature. It is this, which emphatically gives man his pre-eminence over other beings, by which he is surrounded ; and entitles him to be considered as " the lord of the creation." To the faculties of the body there is a limit ; but to the immortal mind God has never said, " Thus far shalt thou go, but no further." Much as man knows, in any stage of his progress, he may know still more ; and may become still more exalted and lovely. Not confined to the present system, as are other animals, he is destined to an existence, which, in point of duration, will run parallel with that of his Maker. 2 14 FAMILY NATURAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE. It will» therefore, naturally belong to the first part of our work, to take a view of man, considered as to his animal and intellectual nature. SECTION I. NATURAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, 6lC. VARIETIES.— The human family iAlivided into different nations, which are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, and exhibit sev- eral varieties of form and color. These divisions aire Jivf. in number : — The European, ox while race — the Tartar, or J^ong'ul — the Jlfa/ay— the African^ or Negro race — and the Americ in, or Copper-colored race. 1st. The European race is distinguished by the elegance of its form, and by a forehead more or less broad and prominent; indicative of a considerable portion of brain, in the front part of the skull ; the skin is, however fairer ; the hair and eyes lighter in color, in the more temper- ate climates, than towards the south. This race includes all the in- habitants of Europe, (except the Laplanders and Finns,) and tlie descendants of Europeans in America, and other portions of the world. It also embraces the inhabitants of the western temperate parts of Asia, as far as the river Oby, the Caspian Sea, and the Ganges, and those of the northern parts of Africa, viz. the people of Barbary, Egypt, and Abyssinia, and the Moors of Northern Africa. 2d. The Tartar or Mongul race, is characterized by a yellow skin ; straight black hair ; square heads ; large and flat face ; small and flat nose ; round and j)rominent cheeks ; and pointed chin. This variety includes all the nations in Asia, east of the Oby, Caspian, and Ganges, excepting Malacca, •it embraces, also, the tribes which inhabit the frigid zones in both the eastern and western continents, including the Laplanders, Samoiedes, Ostiacs, Tunguses, Yakuts, Tschutskis, and Kamschadales of Siberia, and the Esquimaux and Greenlanders. 3d. The Malay, comprehends the inhabitants of the peninsula of Malacca, Ceylon, the Asiatic Islands, New Zealand, and Polynesia, with the exception of New Holland, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Van Dieman's land. This variety is characterized by a tawny color ; black curled hair, which is soft, thick, and abundant ; a prominent forehead : thick, wide, and flattened nose ; and moderately projecting upper jaws. 4th. The Jlfrican or J^e^ro variety, is spread over western and southern Africa, it is found, also, upon the coasts of Madagascar, and occupies New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, New Caledonia, and New Guinea. This variety is characterized by a black color ; black and woolly hair; thick lips ; projecting cheek bones ; large and flat nose ; raised chin ; retreating forehead ; and crooked legs. 5th. The American or copper-colored race, includes all the aborigi- nal inhabitants of both the Americas, exc«pt the Esquimaux and Greenlanders. This race is of a copper color, resembling that of rusty iron, or cinnamon ; coarse, straight black hair ; high cheek bones ; and ENCYCLOPEDIA. 15 INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY. sunknu eyes. The forehead is usually short ; the nose and the whole countenance broad ; the nostrils open ; and the lips thick. The beard is thin and scanty. Of ihe Indians it has been affirmed, that they are destitute of beards ; but this only occurs, when the beard has been era- dicated, at the expense of much industry and suffering. INTELLKCTUAL CAPACITY.— Of all the varieties of mankind, there can be no doubt that the white man exhibits the greatest marks of ingenuity and intelligence ; and of this variety, the most intelligent will be found to be those who reside in temperate climates. Portions of the Mongul race exhibit also considerable ingenuity, evinced particularly in the Hindoo and the ChinesB ; but the range of intellect of this portion of our race is nevertheless comparatively circumscribed. The third, or .Malay race, exhibits no small variety of intellectual endowment. While none of the tribes, which belong to this race, equal the Chinese and some others of the Mongul race, few, perhaps are so sunken aa some portions of the Negro race. This last race exhibits much animal power, yet it is far beneath the white man in intellectual capacity ; we see the Negro in the Hottentot at its lowest grade. The copper- colored man, we may be certain, is also far beneath the European in his intel- lectual capacity, although he is not deficient in many fine traits of cha- racter. DIFFERENCE OF STATURE, FORM, AND COMPLEXION.— Three causes, a writer remarks, may be regarded as concurring in the production of those varieties which we find attached to the different nations of the globe. First, the influence of the climate ; tecond^ food, which has a dependance on climate ; and thirds manners, on which cli- mate has, perhaps, a still greater influence. The heat of the climate is the chief cause of blackness among the human species. When this heat is excessive, as in Guinea, we find the people are perfectly black ; when a little less severe, the blackness is not so deep ; when it becomes nearly temperate, as in Barbary, the Mogul empire, and Arabia, the men are only brown ; and when it is altogether temperate, as in many parts of Europe, Asia, and America, the men are white. Some varieties are, indeed, produced by the mode of living ; all the Tartars, for example, are tawny, while Europeans, who live under the same latitude, are white. This difference may safely be ascribed to the Tartars being always exposed to the open air ; to their having no cities and fixed habitations ; to their sleeping con- stantly on the ground ; and to their rough and savage manner of living. These circumstances, are sufficient, at least, to render the Tartars more swarthy than the Europeans, who want nothing to make life easy and agreeable. — Why are the t hinese fairer than the Tartars, though they resemble them in every feature ? Because they are more polished, live in towns, and practise every art to guard themselves against the injuries of the weather ; while the Tartars are perpetually exposed to the ac- tion of the sun and air. When the cold becomes extreme, it appears to produce effects similar to those of great heat. The Samoiedes, the Laplanders, and the natives of Greenland are tawny. Here the two extremes approach each other ; great heat and great cold produce similar effects on the skin, because each of tliese causes acts by a quality common to both — the dryness of 16 FAMILY ORIGINOF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. the air, perhaps, is equally great in extreme cold, as in extreme heat. Both cold and heat dry the skin, and give it that tawny hue which we find in so many different nations. Cold contracts all the productions of nature ; the Laplanders, accordingly, who are perpetually exposed to the rigors of the frost, are the smallest of the human species. The most temperate climates produce the most handsome people, and from this climate, the ideas of the genuine color of mankind, and of the various degrees of beauty ought to be derived. Although the climate may be regarded as the chief cause of the dif- > ferenl colors of men, yet food greatly affects the form of our bodies ; that which is unwholesome and ill prepared, makes the human species degenerate. All those people who live miserably, are ugly and ill made. The air and soil have considerable influence upon the figure of men, beasts, and plants. In the same province, the inhabitants of the eleva- ted and hilly parts, are more active, nimble, handsome, and ingenious, than those who live in plains, where the air is thick and less pure. Every circumstance concurs in proving that mankind are not composed of species essentially different from each other ; that on the contrary, there was originally but one species ; who, after multiplying and spreading over the whole surface of the earth, have undergone various changes by the influence of climate, food, mode of living, epidemic dis- eases, and the mixture of dissimilar individuals ; that, at first these changes were not so conspicuous, and produced only individual varie- ties, which afterwards became specific, because they were rendered more general, more strongly marked, and more permanent, by the continual action of the same causes ; and that they have been transmit- ted from generation to generation, as deformities or diseases pass from parents to children. ORIGIN OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.— This is a subject which has justly attracted the attention of philosophers, and produced many interesting researches. It would obviously be impossible, within our narrow limits, to give our readers any correct idea of the various theories which have been adopted, to account for the peopling of Ameri- ca by the Indians. The received opinion, we believe, and that which seems to be supported hy facts is, thai the aborigines of America emi- grated to America from the continent of Asia. The principal objections which have been urged against this doc- trine, so far as we know, are, the two following ; Isl, that many thou- sand years must have elapsed subsequent to the creation, before the population of the old world could have been sufficiently numerous, to extend to its remote borders, and thence attain the American conitnent. Besides, it is thought to reflect upon the wisdom of the Deity, to permit so large a part of the globe to remain during " so long a time'^ unpeopled. The second objection is drawn from the number of different langua- ges spoken in North and South America, which Mr. Jefferson and other? have thought incompatible with the idea of so recent an arrival on this continent, as even three or foul* thousand years. In respect to ihejirst objection, it were sufficient to reply, that it as- sumes a position which needs itself to be proved, and can therefore nc\:* ENCYCLOPEDIA. 17 ORIGIN OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. er be the basis of solid argument. On this subject, Dr. Godman, in hia Natural History, observes ; " There is neither extravagance nor impro- priety in the opinion, that the two continents were originally one, and being continuous, the only difficulty is removed, that could be urged against the approach of population from the extremity of Asia. But in addition to all the reasons that can be urged in support of the doctrine we maintain, it should not be forgotten, that there are strong evidences, derived from astronomical and geological observations, proving- the axis and poles of our globe to be not now precisely where they origin- ally stood. It is therefore very unfair to decide against the probability of peopling America from the extremity of Asia, if we reason from the existing climate of the countries adjacent to East Cape, or Cape Prince of Wales, the two nearest points of Asia and America. " The greatest difficulty thrown in the way of this opinion, was thought to be the striking difference between the Esquimaux and the common Indians, seeming to prove that they were derived from differ- ent races or kinds. We are informed in Crantz's History of Green- land, that the Moravian Missionaries, who visited the countries inhabit- ed by the Esquimaux, were much surprised to find that they were in all respects similar to the Greenlanders, and made use of the same lan- guage ; shewing that the Esquimaux had sprung from the same race, and had gradually reached their present residence from the extreme northern parts of Europe. This fact, now rendered undeniable by more recent researches, entirely invalidates the conclusion, that the Es- quimaux were derived from another species. The resemblance exist- ing between these people and the Siberians, Kamtschadales, Tunguse, &c. is manifest ; and notwithstanding they differ in many respects from other inhabitants of the New World, they are undeniably descended from the same parent slock,, coming from different parts of the globe. The copper-colored natives of America, who are the most numerous of the aborigines, approach more closely to the Asiatic Tartars in color and stature, and this because they are descendants of that race arriving in America from the extremity of Asia." In respect to the second objection, the same writer observes ; " Grant- ing, as we are perfectly willing to do, the great lapse of time which would be requisite for the production of such radical changes, we do not thiuk the objection derived from the languages more solid than those heretofore mentioned. As far as the researches of philologers havd ex- tended, we do not find that there is so much difference in the dialects of our aborigines, as the arguments of these objectors would seem to imply. Throughout a large mass of this liative population, a very per- ceptible connexion of language is apparent, and the relation to a parent stock is fairly evident. Even allowing that the amount of difference is as great, as could be desired by our opponents, the comparison of the aboriginal dialects with those of European nations, is by no means a correct mode of deciding the point. If, according to our idea, people reached this country at different times, from the extreme north of Eu- rope, or the northeast of Asia, the immense extent of country they were gradually to be scattered over, the new objects by which they were sur- rounded, and the new modes of life they assumed, would all conspire to produce a change in their language in a much shorter time than could take place on the old continent, where their wanderings must have been, 2* 18 FAMILY HITMAN STRUCTURE. BONES. not only comparatively circumscribed, but their modes of living subject to very few variations. " But in the present condition of our knowledge, we have no right to state tiiat the traces of affinity between the American dialects are en- tirely oblilernted; it would be far more correct to say, that we do not possess the means of making the necessary inquiries and decisions ; our knowledge of their language is confined to a few meagre vocabularies, frequently derived from persons, whose statements cannot be relied on, however correct their intentions may have been, to say nothing of the almost insuperable difficulty of writing such languages from the hearer's ifiea of their pronunciation. " But whatever apparent difficulties may be suggested to the Asiatic origin of the aboriginals of America, the circumstance of but one spe- cies of the human race existing througliout the world is sufficient to re- duce us to the necessity of acknowletiging that mankind have descend- ed from one parent stock, however their external appearance may have been modified by accident, disease, or situation. We are aware that some persons talk of the possibility of there having been rarioxis centres of creation to the human race, as among inferior animals ; but we con- sider it very unphilosophical to suppose the existence of various centres of creation for the same species.^^ To the believer in Divine Revela- tion, this last idea, whatever may bethought of it in a philosophical view, will doubtless appear repugnant to the Scripture account of the origin of the human species, and is therefore to be rejected. HUMAN STRUCTURE.— The animal frame is composed of bones, muscles, brain, nerves, arteries, veins, cartilages, membranes, glands, — also of chyle, blood, milk, &c. BONES are white, hard, brittle, and almost insensible ; they support and form the stature of the body, defend its viscera, and give power to the various muscles. The number of bones in the human body is gen- erally 240 ; but in some individuals, who have two additional bones in each thumb and great toe, they aqiount to 248. TEETH, a set of bones, situated in the upper and lower jaws, for the purpose of mastication. In adults, they are 32 in number, or 16 in each jaw-bone, consisting of 4 cutting, 2 canine, and 10 grinders. The teeth are of various sizes, being aiTanged in the following or- der ;four in front, termed cutting teeth, on each side of which is a sharp pointed canine or ei/e-looth ; adjoining to these arejive grinders on each side, the last of which is denominated the loofh of ici-idom, because it seldom appears before the 25th year. The front and eye teeth are fur- nished with only one root each ; the two first grinders with two ; and the hindmost generally with three or four ; which may in most persons be ascertained by the number of small tubercles on the crowns. The tooth is divided into two principal parts ; viz. the crown, which projects above the gums ; and the root, that is enclosed within the sockets. The crown is a hard, fine, glossy white enamel, serving to defend the substance against external injury. The root is open at the bottom, where it is connected with vessels and nerves, by which it receives nourishment, life and sensation. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 19 MUSCLES. FLESH. SKIN. ABSOBBENTS. CARTILAGES. MUSCLES, of which, it is said, there are 446 in the human body, dissectible and describable, are parts of the animal body destined to move some other parts, and hence are termed the organs or instruments of motion. They are composed of flesh and tendinous fibres, and con- tairk vessels of all kinds. FLESR is the fibrous or muscular part of the animal body : mus- cular flesh is composed of a great number of fibres or threads ; it is commonly of a reddish or whitish color. The ancients distinguished five diffbrcnt kinds of flesh ; but the moderns admit one ouly^ Jleshj/ and muscular parts being with them the same. SKIN is the general covering of the body. Though apparently a simple membrane, it consists of several parts. The outermost is the scarf-skin : it has no nerves, and is extended over every part of the true skin, except where the nails are ; it is this skin which is raised by the application of a blister ; it is thickest in those parts accustomed to labor or pressure, as the hand and foot. The rete mucosum is a web-like mucous substance lying between the scarf and true skin, which chiefly gives the color to the exterior of the human body. It is black in the negro ; white, brown, or yellowish in the European. The true skin is a very sensible membrane extended over all parts of the body, and has nerves terminating so plentifully on its surface, that the finest needle cannot prick it without touching some of them. ABSORBENTS are a set of small colorless vessels, which pervade the whole surface of the body both externally and internally. Their office is to take up whatever fluids are effused into the different cavities, and to pour out their contents for particular uses. For the purpose of absorption they are highly irritable at, their extremities, and are very replete with valves to prevent the escape or return of their contents. Their number, when compared with other vessels, is four times greater ; and they are divided into lymphatics and lacteals, according to their re- spective offices, the former conveying lymph, the latter chyle. CARTILAGES, or gristles, are smooth, solid, flexible, elastic parts, softer than bone, and seem to be of the same nature : some even be- come bones by time ; some again are much softer, and partake of the nature of ligaments. They terminate those bones that form moveable joints, and in some instances serve to connect bones together. In the nose, ears, and eyelids are cartilages. A MEMBRANE is a thin, white, flexfible, expanded skin, formed of several sorts of fibres interwoven together. The use of membrajies is to cover and wrap up the parts of the body ; to strengthen them, and save them from external injuries ; to preserve the natural heat ; to 'join one part to another ; to sustain small vessels, &c. A GLAND is an organic part of the body, destined for the secretion or alteration of some peculiar fluid, and composed of blood-vessels, nerves, and absorbents. The glands are designated either according to the particular fluids which they contain, as mucous, sebaceous, lym- phatic, salival, and lachrymal glands ; or their structure, as simple, compound, conglobate, and conglomerate glands. The vessels and nerves of glands always come from the neighboring parts, and the ar- 20 FAMILY BRAIN. CEREBRUM. — CeREBELLUAl. — SPINAL MARROW. teries appear to possess a higher degree of irritability. Glands appear to the eye as whitish membranous masses. The BRAIN consists of the whole of that mass which, with its sur- rounding membranes and vessels, fills the greater part of the skull. It is said to be larger in man, in proportion to the nerves belonging to it, than in any other animal. It consists of the cerebrum, cerebellum, tuber annulare, and medulla oblongata ; the whole weighs usually about forty-eight or fifty ounces ; but its weight varies in different subjects. The CEREBRUM, which is by far the largest portion, is contained in all the upper part of the skull ; it is divided into a right and left hemisphere by a membrane termed falx. Each hemisphere is also again subdivided into three lobes, thetwo lying in the front portion of the skull being the largest. It is surrounded with membranes, and ac- companied with blood-vessels. The CEREBELLUM, or little brain,i8 situated in the back part of the skull beneath the posterior lobes of the cerebrum, from which it is separated by a membrane called the tentorium. It is divided by the falx minor into two hemispheres, which are again subdivided into lo- bules. The Tuber annulare is of a roundieh form, about an inch in length and of the same width. From the tuber annulare arises the medulla oblongata, which forms the begmning of the spinal marrow. From the Brain arise nine pairs of NERVES ; some in solid cords, others in separate threads which afterwards unite into cords. Of these some have their origin in the cerebrum, some in the cerebellum, some in the tuber annulare, and some in the medulla oblongata. From these the nerves supplying the organs of smell, sight ^ taste, hearing, Sind feel- ing, m part, are derived. The nerves are called pairs, not because they proceed together from the brain and spinal marrow, but because they proceed from the opposite lobes of the brain, or from opposite sides of the spinal marrow, and supply similar parts on each side of the body with nerves. And hence it often happens in paralysis, or pal- sy, that on one side of the body all the nerves perform their office im- perfectly, while on the other side no diminution of nervous energy is evinced. A nerve is along white medullary cord. The uses of the nerves are to convey impressions to^he brain, from all parts of the body, over which they are spread, and to impart motion, by exciting the mus- cles, to the whole system. It is the opinion of some philosophers, that tlie nerves contain a subtle fluid, by means of which impressions are immediately carried to the brain : this fluid has, however, never been seen : others think that sensation is produced by what has been termed vibration ; but the plain truth is, we are at present ignorant of the ^ means by which sensation and muscular motion are produced, further than that we know both are the effect of the agency of the nerves. The SPINAL MARROW, or medulla spinalis, is acontmuation of the mfjdulla oblongata from the head through the centre of the spine, which consists of a series of bones called vertebral supporting the body. From the spinal marrow are given out thirty pairs of nerves : these, in conjunction with those arising from the brain, communicate energy and feeling to the whole body ; and also by their extreme sensibility ENCYCLOPEDIA. 21 SPINAL MARROW. convey to the brain, the mind, or soul, the slightest as well as the strongest impressions macie qpon the different organs ; hence our pleasures and onr pains^ our hopes^ onr fears, and our affectioris. That the Brain, as a whole, is the organ of thought, the seat of the understanding, and the place where the emotions of the mind or soul arise, we cannot doubt ; it is also the centre of sensation and muscular motion, and to which all the nerves of the body appear subservient. But to what other particular uses the different parts of the brain are applied, does not yet appear accurately known. Phrenologists have pretended to throw some light on this curious and interesting subject. We shall confer a favor on our readers, we trust, by making them acquainted with some of the results of their investiga- tion. The founder of the system of phrenology — ^by which is meant, " the science which treats of the faculties of the human mind, and of the organs by which they manifest themselves," — is Dr. Gall, a physician of Vienna, who, about the year 1796, first began to deliver lectures on the subject. In 1804, Dr. J. G. Spurzheim became associated with him. Under the auspices, and captivating eloquence of these gentle- men, the system has acquired some credit, in several parts of Europe. For ourselves, we give little credit to it. Its tendency is obviously towards the gloomy and foolish doctrine of materialism. In one re- spect — in regard to the position, and size of the brain — there is truth in phrenology ; but, of the particular mapping of the skull, as adopted by the phrenologists, we think it behooves us, at present, to remain in modest doubt. Still, as a subject of curiosity, it ie not without interest. And in or- der that our readers may judge, in respect to themselves, what is the strength of their intellectual powers, or to what propensities they are most inclined, we have engaged our engraver to execute the outlines of a human head, skilfully and scientijically divided up, or mapped out, in the language of the science. The reader will notice that in each division is supposed to lie some faculty, or propensity of the mind. By an mspection of the brain itself, or the living man's head, tlie phre- nologists affect to determine what faculty or propensity predominates — whether a man is gifted with the love of study, or inclined to idle- ness—whether he is peaceful or quarrelsome — timid or courageous — a wise man, or a fool. We leave our readers to apply the subjoined rules for themselves. The numbers which follow, refer to the numbers to be found in the maps of the heads below. 1. Here lies the propensity of amativenesa or physical love. 2. Here^ the propensity of philo progeniiiveness, or love of children. 3. Concen- traveness, or power of close study, (not represented.) 4. Adhesiveness^ or disposition to friendship. 5. Combativeness or quarrelsomeness. 6. Destructivene^, or desire to destroy, and murder. 7. Constructiveness^ or mechanical skill. 8. Acquisitiveness, disposition to avarice, theft, &c. 9. Secretivenesa, cunning, deceit. 10. Self-esteem, on the top of the head, (not represented.) 11. Love of approbation, in the same vicinity. l->. Cautiousness. 13. Benevolence. 14. Veneration. 15. Hope. ^Q. i(/ea/»/3^, or love of the sublime. Fine arts. U. Wonder. IS. Consci- 22 FAMILY THORAX. RESPIRATION. e'ltiou^ness. 19. Firmntss. 20. /nrfiwdua/;///, love of philosophy. 21* Form, or power of imitating. 22. Size, ubility to judire of it. 23- U'dght of resistance, powtr to judge of the momentum of bodies. 24. Co /orir??, ability to distinguish between nice shades. 25. Locality, de- sire for travelling. 26. Order, desire to see every tiling in its place. 27. 7'tm^ recollection of dates. 28. JVumfr^r, the conception of num- ber, and its relations. 29. Tune, the perception of melody, (not repre- sented.) 30. Langna^;e, faculty of acquirmg language easily. 31. Comparison, power of perceiving resemblances. 32. Causality, genius for metaphysics. 33. Wit, disposition to view objects in a ludicrous light. The TFIORAX or Chest consists of the upper portion ofthe trunk of the human body ; it is inclosed by the ribs, having the sternum or breast bone in the front, and a portion ofthe bones ofthe back behind. It is separated from the liver, stomach, intestines, &c.,-by the dinj/firagm, or loidriff". The thorax contains the lungs, heart, &c., and niimerous blood vessels, nerves, and absorbents. It is also separated, by a mem- brane called mediastinum, into a right and left portion. ^ The RESPIRATION is that action ofthe lungs and diaphragm con- sisting of the processes of inspiration and expiration, by which air i* received into, and expelled from the thorax or chest. The quantity of air taken into the lungs at each natural inspiration is supposed to be about 15 or 16 cubic inches ; the number of respirations made in a min- ute is about 20. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 23 WINDPIPE. LUNGS. HEART. The WINDPIPE is a cartilaginous and membranous canal, through which the air passes into and from the lungs. It is divided by anato< mists into three parts, — the larynx^ the trachea^ and the bronchia. The larynx is a hollow cartilaginous organ at the top of the trachea. The air which passes through it during respiration produces the voice. The trachea, is that portion of the wind-pipe which extends from the larynx to the bronchia. The bronchia is a term given to the trachea after it has entered the thorax, or chest; here it separates into two branches, one of which com- municates with the rigiit and the other with the left lung. The LUNGS are two viscera situated in the thorax, by means of which we breathe. The lung in the right cavity of the chest, is divided into three, that in the left cavity into two lobes. They hang in the chest, attached at their superior part by means of the trachea, and are separated by a membrane called mediastinum. They are furnished with innumerable cells which are formed by a continuation of the trachea, the bronchial tubes of which communicate with each other ; the whole appears not unlike a honey-comb. The most important use of the lungs is for the process of respiration, by which the circulation of the blood appears to be immediately sup- ported ; and, doubtless, by their alternate inflation and collapsing, they contribute with the diaphragm to promote the various functions of the abdominal viscera, such as digestion, &:c. For the change which the blood undergoes in its passage through the lungs, see the following ar- ticles. The HEART is a hollow, strong, muscular viscus, having the shape of a cone or pyramid reversed. Its size varies in different subjects ; it is generally about six inches long, and, at the base, four or five wide. The younger the subject, the larger is the heart, in proportion to the body. It is often smaller in tall and strong men than in others. It is situated on the left side of the thorax, and is surrounded by a membrane called pericardium or heart purse ; it is also imbedded, as it were, in the left lung. Its weight, with the pericardium, is usually from ten, to fifteen ounces. It is the centre of the circulation of the blood : of course from it all the arteries arise, and in it all the veins terminate. It is divi- ded internally into a right and left vtntricle ; these are divided by a fleshy septum. Each ventricle has two orifices ; one auricular, through which the blood enters, the other arterious, through which the blood passes out. These four orifices are supplied with valves. There are also two cavities adhering to the base of the heart called auricles. The heart has, in the living subject, an alternate motion consisting of con- traction and dilatation, called s^ystole and diastole, by means of which the blood is circulated throughout the body. The heart is said to con- tract 4000 times in an hour ; hence, as each ventricle contains one ounce of blood, there passes through the heart every houf 4ti00 ounces, or 350 pounds of blood. The whole mass of blood is about twenty-eight pounds, so that this quantity of blood passes through the heart thirteen or fourteen times in an hour, or about once in every four or five minutns. In the whale, ten or twelve galloi.s of blood are thrown out of the heart 24 FAMILY ARTERY. VEIN. AIR. at a stroke, with an immense velocity, through a tube of a foot diame- ter. An ARTERY, or a pulsating blood-vessel, is a cylindrical canal con- veying the blood immediately from the heart to all parts of the body for the purposes of nutrition, preservation of life, generation of heat, and the secretion of ditferent fluids. The motion of the blood in the arte- ries is called the ^M/*e ; it corresponds with that of tlie heart. The pulse may be felt in various parts of the body, but the most usual place of feeling it is at the wrist. From seventy to eighty pulsations in a min- ute are commonly that number which in the adult subject is considered, as far as the pulse is concerned, to constitute health. In children, how- ever, the pulse is much quicker than this ; and in old persons slower. Wounds in arteries are always dangerous, and very frequently mortal ; hence the wisdom evinced in the structure of man : all the arteries are deeply imbedded in flesh, or other surrounding media, while the veins, a wound in which is comparatively unimportant, are plentifully scat- tered on the surface of the bbdy. The blood in the arteries is of a flo- rid red color. A VEIN is a blood-vessel which returns the blood from the various parts of the body to the heart. The veins do not pulsate; the blood flows through them very slowly, and is conveyed to the heart by the contractility of their coats, the pressure of the blood from the arteries, the action of the muscles, and respiration ; and it is prevented from going backwards in the veins by valves, of which there are a great num- ber. The blood in the veins is of a much darker red tlian that in the arteries. • Before we treat of the blood itself, it may be useful to know the com- ponent parts of atmospheric air, so essential as it is to the life of all warm blooded animals. AIR was for many ages considered as a simple homogeneous fluid ; and it was not till towards the end of the last century that it was found t(5 be a compound body. Common air is composed chiefly of two gases, of which one, oxygen, forms of it 24 parts by weight, and the other, ni- trogen, forms of it 76 parts ; or about 21 parts of the former, and 79 of the latter by bulk. These proportions are found the same, in whatever part of the world the experiments are made, or from whatever height in the atmosphere the air is obtained. It ought however to be mention- ed, that besides these ingredients, common air contains a very minute portion oi carbonic addgan, but that portion is in general so small as not indeed to be considered of any moment. Of the two portions of atmospheric air, the oxygen only supports animal life or combustion. j| Thus, if an animal be inclosed under a bell glass containing atraospher- ' ical air, it will live in it till all the oxygen is absorbed by its breathing, and then it instantly dies; the same takes place when a lighted candle is inclosed under similar circumstances ; hence the necessity and impor- tance of this fluid to animal existence. But although only about one- fourth of atmospheric air can support life, it yet appears that such a mixture is more advantageous for animal life than oxygen alone ; thus evincing the wisdom of that mixture found every where as atmospher- ic air. In what state of combination the two gases are, which consti- tute common air, is not exactly known ; but we well know that a more ENCYCLOPEDIA. 25 BLOdD. THORACIC DUCT. — ABDOMEN. intimate union of the same materials produces most powerful agents, namely, the nitrous and the nitric acids. The BLOOD is a red fluid of a saltish taste, of a somewhat urinous smell, and glutinous consistence, which circulates in the heait, arteries, and veins, conveying nutrition, heat, and excitement to the whole body. The quantity of blood in the human body is estimated to be about twen- ty-eight pounds in an adult. Of this, four parts are contained in the veins, and a fifth in the arteries. The blood being returned by the veins of a dark red color to the heart, it is sent from that viscus into the lungs, to undergo some material change by coming in contact with atmospher- ic air in the air-cells of the lungs : after which, as has been stated, it is returned to the heart again of a much more florid color, and then im- pelled into the arteries, to be distributed over the body. The heat of the blood is usually about 98 degreps. THORACIC DUCT, an important vessel called the trunk of the ab- sorbents. It is of a serpentine form, and about the diameter of a crow- quill. It is attached to the bones of the back, and extends from the low- er opening of the mtrfr/^ or diaprahgm (a membrane which separates the heart and lungs from the stomach, bowels, and other abdominal vis- cera,) to the angle formed by the union of the left subclavian and jugu- lar veins, into which it opens and evacuates its contents, there to be mixed with the blood. These contents consist chiefly of c%/e, a whi- tish or milky fluid, separated from the food by the process of digestion, and taken up by the absorbents thickly spread over the intestines, and by them conveyed to the thoracic duct. Such are the offices of respiration and the blood. We shall now pro- ceed to consider some of the most important of the abdominal viscera. The ABDOMEN consists of all that portion of the trunk of the hu- man body situated below the thorax. It contains the liver, its gall- bladder, the stomach, the spleen, the pancreas, the intestines, the me- sentery, the kidneys, the urinary bladder, the omentum, &c. It has al- so numerous blood vessels, nerves, and absorbents. The LIVER, which is the largest and most ponderous viscus in the abdomen, it weighing, in adults, about three pounds, is of a deep red color. It consists of a glandulous mass, interspersed with numerous blood vessels. It is situated under the diaphragm, inclining to the right side of the body, having the stomach beneath it; between which and the liver itself, lies the gall-bladder^ with which it is of course intimate- ly connected. It is divided into two principal lobes, the right of which is by far the largest. Its shape approaches that of a circle ; it is attach- ed to the diaphragm by the suspensary and other ligaments. It is lar- ger in young animals than in old ones. The BILE is of a yellow-green color, about the consistence of thin oil ; when much agitated it froths like soap and water. Its smell is somewhat like musk ; its taste is bitter. It is, in fact, a species of soap ; and like other soap, is successfully employed to remove grease from clothes, &c. The gall-bladder in the human body is shaped like a pear, and is generally capable of containing about an ounce. It is firmly con- nected to the liver. In the elephant, stag, all insects and worms, this 3 26 FAMILY SPLEEN.— STOMACH. — DIGESTION. reservoir is wanting, the bile which they secrete, passing at once into the intestinal canal. The real use of the bile does not even now seem to be accurately ascertained. It appears, however, to assist in separa- ting the chyle from the chyme^ to excite the intestines to action, and to produce the healthy appearance ofthe intestine evacuations. The SPLEEN, or Milt, is a spongy vi^cus of a livid color, in form somewhat resembling a tongue, but its shape, situation and size vary very much. It is, in a healthy subject, always on the left side between the false ribs and the stomach. Its general length is six inches, breadth three, and one thick. It is connected, by the blood vessels, to the sto- mach and the left kidney. It is larger wiien the stomach is empty, and smaller when compressed or evacuated by a full stomach. The uses of the spleen have, till lately, been considered as unknown ; but by a pa- per of 8ir E. Home, in the Philosophical Transactions, it appears pro- bable that this viscus is a reservoir for the superabundant serum, lympli. globules, soluble mucus, and coloring matter carried into the circula- tion immediately after digestion is completed. The STOMACH is a large receptacle, varying in its capacity from about five to eleven pints. It is situated under the left side ofthe dia- phragm, its left side touching the spleen, and its right covered by the thin edge ofthe liver ; its figure nearly resembling the pouch of a bag pipe, its left end being most capacious. The upper side is concave, the lower is convex. It has two orifices, both on its upper part; the left, through which the aliment passes from the mouth through the gullet or msophagus io the stomach, is named cardia; the right, ihrougli which it is conveyed out of the stomach into the duodenum, is named pylorus^ where there is a circular valve which hinders the return ofthe ahment from the gut, but does not at all times hinder the bile from flowing into the stomach. The stomach, like the intestinal canal, is composed of three coats or membranes. The uses of the stomach arc to excite hunger, and, partly, thirst; to receive the food from the oesophagus, and to retain it, till, by the motion ofthe stomach and the admixture of various fluids, and by many other changes not exactly understood, it is rendered fit to pass the right ori- fice ofthe stomach, and afford chyle to the intes^nes for the nutrition ofthe body ; or, in other v/ords. till the important process Of DIGESTION is completed. The chief agent in this process is? beyond question, the gastric juice ; a fluid that is secreted from certain glands in the stomach, and which possesses great solvent powers in re- gard to numerous animal and vegetable substances. The food being duly .Mfk masticated, and blended with a considerable portion of sahva, is propel- %| led into the stomach, where it soon undergoes a remarkable change, be- ing converted into a pulpy mass, termed chyme ; the chyme afterwards passes from the stomach into the small intestines ; here, it is mixed with bile, and separated into two portions, one of which is as while as milk, and called chyle; the other passes ort to the larger intestines, and is voided as excrementitious matter. The chyle is absorbed by the lac- teals^ which terminate in the trunk or tube called thoracic duct; it is there mixed with variable proportions of lymph, and, lastly, with the blood, as stated under that article. £fr^XYCLOPEDIA. 27 GASTRIC JUICE. PANCREAS. INTESTINES. KFDN KYS. The GASTRIC JUJCE is said to be of so powerful a nature, that after death the stomach is occasionally eaten into holes by its action. And it is also said, that if exposed to a proper temperature, it will di- gest food in metal tubes. The PANCREAS, or Sweet-bread, is a large gland of the salivary kind, of a long figure, compared to a dog's tongue. It lies across the upper and back part of the abdomen, under the stomach. Its use is to secrete a juice called the pancreatic juice, which appears to be similar in its properties to saliva, and together with the bile helps to complete the digestion of the aliment. It communicates with the duodenum. The INTESTINES consist of that convoluted tube beginning at the right orifice of the stomach called pylorus, and ending with the sphinc- terrecti. The length of this canal is generally six times the length of the whole human subject. It is divided by nature into two parts. The small intestines begin from the stomach, and fill the middle or fore part of the abdomen; the large intestines occupy the sides, and both the up- per and lower parts of the same cavity. The KIDNEYS aro shaped like a kidney-bean. They are situated on the lower part of the back, one on each side. They are generally surrounded with more or less fat. The SENSES are those faculties or powers by which external ob- jects are perceived. The sight, touch or feeling, hearing, smell and laste^ are called the senses. The organs through which they operate are the following : — The EYE is the organ of seeing. The eye lids, the eye-lashes, and the eye brows, require no particular description. The eye-ball is of a globular figure ; it is composed of various membranes; but those p -rts of the eye deserving the most notice, are the iris, the pupil, and the re- tina. The iris is that colored circular ring situated beneath the cri/s- talline lens, which surrounds the central or dark part called the pupil. It is capable of expanding or contracting, which it constantly does, ac- cording to the quantity of light which is thrown upon the eye. In a very bright light the pupil is reduced by the contraction of the iris to a very narrow hole ; in a dark place the pupil is so much enlarged, as to render the iris scarcely visible. The pupil is the dark round opening in the middle of the eye, surrounded by the iris, and through which the rays of light pass to the retina, which is the true organ of vision, and is formed by an expansion of the pulp of the optic nerve. Externally the globe of the eye and the transparent cornea axe moistened by a fluid called the tears, which are secreted in the lachrymal glands, one of which is situated above each inner corner of the eye. In proportion as the eye is more or less round, is the sight of a person longer or shorter. Persons of short sight are called myopes, of long sight, preshyopes. TOUCH, or Feeling, resides in every part of the body that is sup- plied with nerves. The sense of touch is most exquisite in the lips, the tops of the fingers, the tongue, and a fQw other places. The EAR is the organ of hearing. In man it consists of an external ear, or auricula, and an internal bony cavity with numerous circular and winding passages, by which the vibrations of the air are collected 28 FAMILY NOSE. — TASTE. — SEXES. and concentrated, and by a peculiar mechanism conveyed to the audi- tory nerves. The ear is supplied with peculiar glands, which secrete an unctuous substance, called the wax of the ear. The external au- ditory passage proceeds in a spiral direction to the tympanum or drum of the ear, which forms a complete partition between this passage and tlie internal cavities. Beyond the tympanum is a hemispherical cavi- ty which leads to the fauces^ or opening at the back of the mouth : this opening is of a trumpet form. The inner cavity, including the wind- ing passage, is aptly called the labyrinth of the ear. The sense of hear- ing is perhaps still more important than that o^ seeiTig ; but as we can have no just conception of the real state of social existence without either of these senses, it is idle to speculate on such comparisons. The NOSE is in man, and most of the superior animals, the organ o^ smelling. The structure of the nose has nothing in it so very pecu- liar that can convey any idea of a mechanical organization to aid the sense of smelling. It is true, the nerves of the nose are considerably expanded over the nostrils, and are defended from external injuries by a peculiar mucus ; but it is very difficult to ascertain what are the es- sential organs of smelling. The nostrils are two passages of the nose which communicate interiorly with the upper part of the mouth. The use of the nostrils is for smelling, respiration, and speech. The nose is an important part of the human countenance ; it is considered in almost all countries as one of the features to which peculiar merit is attached. The TASTE resides chiefly in the tongue^ in conjunction with the palate, lips, and other parts of the mouth. The tongue is however des- tined to perform much more varied and important functions than that of conveying to the mind the taste of sapid bodies. It is the tongue, in conjunction with the lips, teeth, palate, and throat, which produces the sounds of language. The tongue is partly muscular, and partly composed of membranes and cellular substance. Its upper side is covered with papilla, in which the taste more immediately resides. The impression of sapid bodies on the organs of taste is modified by age, size, habit, and the more or less frequent application of strong stimu- lants. The state of the stomach, as well as general health, is often in- dicated by the state and color of the tongue. In health the tongue is always of a red color ; in disease it varies from white to yellow, and sometimes is almost black. In health the tongue is always more or less moist ; in disease frequently parched and dry ; this last condition is, however, produced in health by the mere absence of moisture, evin- ced by the sensation we call thirst. _jM The SEXES differ by obvious indications ; but there are some not ^ so universally recognized, which we may mention. The male is gen- erally of a larger size than the female, and more robust ; the male be- comes frequently bald on the top of the head, the female rarely or nev- er ; the male has always more or less beard, the female rarely any, ex- cept as old age approaches, and then it is chiefly confined to the upper lip. The anatomical diffeVences, besides the obvious ones, are, in the female, a larger pelvis than in the male, more delicate muscles and smaller bones ; and the phrenologists say, that the female skull is more elongated than the male, from the protuberance in the middle of the ENCYCLOPEDIA. 29 MIND. SENSATION. back part of the skuW, (which they denominate philoprngeniiiveness^ or love of children,) being more prominent. The mental differences of the two sexes are also important ; women appear to possess more ima- gination and less judgment than men ; these differences are unfortu- nately too often widened by mistakes in the education of the female mind. SECTION II. ON THE MIND AND ITS FACULTIES. The term MIND has been lately applied by philosophers to the intel- lectual portion of man, as being a more correct term than either sovl or understanding. It implies that part of our being which is occupied in thoughl. The seat of the mind is manifestly the brain : but in what part of It, whether the whole, or in the pineal gland, as Des Cartes main- tains, whore he says all the nerves terminate ; or whether, as Soemmer- ing states, the fluid contained in the ventricles of the brain be its seat, is unknown : all such opinions being mere conjectures. The mind, or soul, has been usually divided into a certain number of faculties. We shall consider it from its more simple to its more com- plex state. The commonest and simplest impression made upon the mind being conveyed to it by either of the senses, is called SENSATION. Sensation is either pleasurable or painful ; in pro- portion to the degree of pleasure or of pain produced by a sensation, will be the vividness of its apprehension by the mind. An apprehend- ed sensation is termed perception : that is, when the mind itself per- ceives, recognizes the sensation, — when it becomes the subject of thought in the mind, it is then called perception. An idea is a resem- blance or image of any thing, which, though not seen, is conceived, — apprehended by the mind ; — an idea appears to be, therefore, nothing more than a well-defined and apprehended perception. An idea may be simple or complex, true or false. Simple ideas are those which arise in the mind from sensation; as those of color by the eye, of sounds by the ear, heat by the touch, &c. ; some ideas are formed by sensation and reflection jointly, as pleasure, pain, power, existence. Complex ideas are infinite ; some are not supposed to exist by themselves, but arc considered as dependencies on, or affections of substantives, as, triangle, gratitude, murder, &c. Combinations of simple ideas are such as, a dozen, a score, beauty, theft, ve ; the desire of avoiding any thing hatful or destructive consti- tutes hatred or aversion; the desire of a good which appears probable, and in our power, constitutes hope ; but, if the good appear impro- bable or impossible, it constitutes fear or dfspair. The unexpected gratification of desire is joy ; the desire of happiness to another under pain or suffering is compassion ; and the desire of anothers punish- ment, according to this hypothesis, is revenge or malice. The desire of happiness is, then, it ajipears, the spring or motive of all our passions. Some wise and reasonable motive seems certainly necessary to all wise and reasonable actions. To act without a motive, would be the same as not to act at all ; that is, such an action would answer no further or better end than not acting ; but whatever wise ends are intended by the passions, if they are not kept under due regu- lation and restraint, they soon become the sources of our misery. Au- thors have arranged the passions into grateful and ungrateful, primi- 34 FAMILY THE PASSIONS. live and derivative, Sic. ; but the simplest classificatiou is into the seljisk and the social^ according to the exciting cause : in the former, the idea ofgood predominates; in tlie latter, that of evil. The only emotions, which cannot be considered as connected either with the selfish or so- cial feeling, with self-love or apprehension, are surprise, astonishment, and icojider : these are excited by something novel, embarrassing, or vast and incomprehensible in the object, without any reference to its peculiar nature ; and, exerting their influence indiscriminately in pas- sions of the most opposite characters, are aptly denominated introduc- tory emotions. The passions and affections founded on self-love, and excited by the idea of good, are joy, cheerfulness, mirth, contentment ; pride, vanity, haughtiness, arrogance, &;c. ; desires inordinate, as glut- tony, drunkenness, lust, &c., avarice, rapaciousness, emulation, ambi- tion, and hope. The passions and affections operating on the principle of self Jove, in which the idea of evil is immediately pregent to themind, are sorrow, grief, melancholy, discontent, vexation, &c. The virtuous affections inspired by sorrow, are patience, resignation, humility ; and fear, terror, despair, remorse, cowardice, doubt, shame, &;c. Fortitude, courage, intrepidity, are virtuous affections, excited only by exposure to those evils, which are usually productive of fear, to which they are diametrically opposite. To this class also belong anger, resent- ment, indignation, and peevishness ; fortitude, courage, and intrepidity, are likewise influenced by anger, with which they are always more or less blended. The passions and affections derived from the social feeling, which extends its regards to the state, conduct, and character of others, and their relative circumstances, deportment, merit, and dispositions, as contrasted with ourselves, may be classed under the cardinal affections of love and hatred, in which the idea of good or evil is predominant. The benevolent desires and dispositions appear in the parental, filial, fraternal, conjugal, and friendly affections. Sympathy is that inward feeling, which is excited by the situation of another, or which harmonizes with the condition and feelings of its object ; in this manner it may become a passion, an affection, or a dis- pojition. Sympathy indicates a susceptible mind, and impels men to plunge into water, or rush into flames, to succour a fellow creature. The sympathetic affections are very numerous, and discriminated by various appellations. They may be considered as they respect distress, such as compassion, mercy, commiseration, condolence, pity, generosi- ty,liberality, charity, and condescension : as they relate to prosperity, in the sensations of joy, gladness, happiness, &:c. at the good fortune of others ; and as they proceed from sympathetic imitation, or affec- tions derived from good opinion, euch as gratitude, thankfulness, ad- miration, esteem, respect, veneration, awe, reverence, with the devia- tions of fondness and partiality. The passions occasioned by displa- cency, in which evil is the predominant idea, are of two kinds ; those in which malevolent dispositions are indicated, and those of simple dis- approbation, without any mixture of malevolence. Those arising from malevolent dispositions are hatred, envy, rancour, cruelty, &c. ; anger, rage, revenge, resentment, and jealousy. The displacency occasioned by unfavorable opinions gives rise to horror, indignation, contempt, dis- dain, and irrision. The five grateful passions, as they have been call- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 35 VIKTTJK. ALIMENTS. ed, of love, desire, hope, joy, and pleasing recollection, enhance each other; so do the five ungrateful ones of hatred, aversion, fear, grief, and displeasure. As happiness and misery, virtue and vice, depend almost entirely on the proper exercise of the passions and affections, the study of their nature and influence should become a distinct and primary branch of education. Virtue^ therefore, consists not only in an exemplary desire of regulating all our thoughts and pursuits by right principles, but also by so acting as to produce beneficial results to others as well as to our- selves. Vice is distinguished by unhappy effects, by conduct and pro- pensities opposed to those of virtue, and consists in depraved affections and ungoverned passions. Religion is evinced by a laudable desire of rectitude, of yielding obedience to the divine command, and habitu- al solicitude to obtain the divine favor. Devotion is the religious tem- per or disposition applied to prayers and meditations vv'hich deeply in- terest the affections. Superstition is a consecrated self-interest, without either love or regard to the supposed duties it enjoins, or to its object. He who imagines that the divine favor is to be gained by a strict atten- tion to frivolous ceremonies is superstitious. i\ tenacious reverence for unimportant sentiments, with a disposition towards those whose opinions are opposite, constitutes bigotry. An incessant desire to pro- pagate some particular sentiment, or principle, to make proselytes, from whatever motive, is called zeal. The decided ascendancy of some partic- ular object in the mind is denominated a /^amcw, as a passion for music, Sic. When this predilection occupies all our thoughts, an d incites us to the most vigorous exertions with such an ardor and constancy as to brave all difficulties, it is termed enthusiasm. Even our motives form va- rious species of desire, which characterize the prevailing disposition ; such as integrity, fidelity, loyalty, honesty, industry, honor, &c. ; or treachery, treason, fraud, artifice, deceit, cruelty, &c. ; according as they are influenced by worthy or unworthy dispositions. An invinci- ble predilection to some one thing, opinion, or sentiment, extreme con- tempt for all other kinds of knowledge, and an obstinate opposition of private opinion as the only counterpoise to public sentiment, without any regard to the weight of evidence on either side, are the invariable features o^ fanaticism. PART II. ALIMENTS. Aliments are those materials, from which the different orders of created beings derive their nourishment. To most animals, nature has assigned but a limited range of aliment ; but to man an extensive choice has been allotted. The vegetable and animal kingdoms, fruits, grains, roots, and herbs, flesh, fish, and fowl, all contribute to his suste- nance. 36 FAMILY ALIMENTS. It is an interesting inquiry, How aliments so diversified in structure, and sensible qualities, become assimilated in one system, and contribute to our support ? To this question, it may bo answered, that all organi- zed beings, animal as well as vegetable, are composed principally of carbon^ hydrogen^ oxygen^ nitrogen^ Ume., sulphur., and phosphorus. Different combinations of these elements make up the whole of their material systems. Now, then, as the human frame is composed of the above materials, its daily waste must be supplied, by substances which yield these ma- terials. These are to be found in various animal and vegetable sub- stances, used by man as food. This food, when masticated, is received into the stomach, where it is exposed to the action of the gastric fluid, a powerful solvent of animal and vegetable matters. Here, it soon un- dergoes an important change, being reduced to a soft and similar mass called chyme. From the stomach, the digested chyme passes into the intestines ; where, subjected to the action of the bile, the pancreatic and mucous secretions, it undergoes still further changes ; the result of all which is the formation and separation of a bland, white, milky fluid, called chyle. The chyle is sucked up by numerous vessels, called ab- sorbent lacteals, to whose orifice it is every where exposed, in passing through the intestinal canal. These absorbents after numerous com- munications, terminate in one common trunk, by which the chyle is mixed with the blood, and subjected to the action of the heart and ar- teries. Circulated now through the lungs, it undergoes new changes, from the respiration of the atmosphere ; — it is incorporated with the common circulating mass, and becomes itself blood, the fountain from which all the other constituent parts of the body are formed, and re- newed. Such is a concise account of the manner, by which animal and vege- table substances contribute to the support of the human frame — a pro- cess, though complex, taken in all its parts, yet easily understood ; and when understood, eminently calculated to draw forth admiration, in view of the wisdom of God. The gastric fluid of man is capable of digesting a great variety of animal and vegetable matters. And the structure of his body, his in- stinct and experience, clearly indicate, that his Maker designed him to derive his aliment, from both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. We say from both, for it is obvious that neither is suited to form the whole of our daily aliment. Animal food is more nutricious ; but, from its heating and stimulating nature, when exclusively used, it ex- hausts and debilitates the system, which it at first invigorates and sup- ports. And it is matter of observaiion and experience, that those per- sons, who confine themselves to animal diet, become heavy and indo- lent ; the tone and excitabiUty of their frame are impaired ; they are afflicted with indigestion, and numerous other infirmities. On the other hand, vegetables are ascescent, and less stimulating ; they are, also, less nourishing, and of more dilficult assimilation, than food derived from the animal kingdom. A pure vegetable diet seems insufficient to raise the human system to all the strength and vigor of which it is capable. Some eastern nations, indeed, and thousands of individuals of every ENCYCLOPEDIA. ^ ' ALIMENTS. nation, live almost entirely on vegetable aliment. But these, it is re- marked, are seldom so robust, so active, so brave, as men who live on a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food. In truth, a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food, it is believed, is the best suited to the nature and condition of man. The propor- tions, in which these should be used, we shall not attempt to settle. But generally the quantity of vegetable food should exceed. Indeed, it is doubtful whether sedentary men should ever use animal food, more than once a day. Inhabitants of warmer climates require less than those of higher latitudes, and the sedentary of every climate less than those who labor. All the products of vegetation are far from being equally nutritious. Some, indeed, instead of being alimentary, are highly noxious to ani- mal life. The wax, resins, and balsams, the astringent, bitter, and nar- cotic principles are often used medicinally ; but never as food, and those vegetables which abound in these cannot, with safety, be used as aliments. The alimentary principles of vegetation are gwm, or mucilage, star cf*^ gluten, jell., fixed oil, sugar, and acids ; and the different vegetables, and parts of vegetables, are nutritious, wholesome, and digestible, ac- cording to the nature and proportion of these principles, contained in them. The lightest kind of nourishment is afforded by the mucilage, jelly and acids of vegetables. The sugar and fixed oils are more nutritive ; but not so digestible. The starch and gluten are the most nutritive ; and together with mucilage, are at the same time, the most abundant principles contained in those vegetables, from which man derives his sustenance. Of these, the gluten approaches nearest the nature of animal substances. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, rice, millet, and Indian corn, abound in farinaceous matter, a compound of the most nutritive alimentary principles of vegetables. Wheat flour contains by much the largest quantity of gluten ; the flour of other nutritive grains, but very little of it. It is this large proportion of gluten, which gives the superiority to wheat, over all other grains. Starch and mucilage, are the chief alimentary princi- ples of other grains ; and hence, the bread formed from them is inferi- or to that made of wheat. Rice is the chief sustenance of some nations ; and, when boiled, afibrds an agreeable and nourishing food of easy digestion, and not so apt to sour on the stomach, as some other grains. Barley bread is vis- cid and not very digestible. Rye bread is ascescent, and not so easily digested ; but useful in costive' habits, from its tendency to open the bowels. Oat bread is nutritive and wholesome, and easy to be digest- ed. The flour of millet forms but indifterent bread, but excellent, wholesome, and nourishing pottages and puddings. Indian corn is nu- tritive and laxative. The seeds of leguminous plants, such as peas, and beans, afford a great quantity of alimentary matter ; though less than the grains we have noticed. The nutritious matter is a compound of starch and mucilage. Theu: flour is sometimes formed into bread ; but it is coarse 4 FAMILY ALIMENTS. and indifferent, and not easily digestible. These seeds are not more nutritive, but generally more palatable, and wholesome, wlitn green, 3'oung, and tender, and simply boiled, than when fully ripened and ba- ked. Yet, with some constitutions, they are apt to produce flatulency, and disorder of the stomach and bowels. The potatoe, either boiled or roasted, as it is one of the most useful, is, perhaps, after the grains, one of the most wholesome, and most nu- tritive vegetables, in common use. Its alimentary properties are great as is proved by general experience, and especially by tiiat of the Irish peasantry, a robust and hardy race, who derive tlicir principal suste- nance from this invaluable root. Wheti mixed witli wJicat, it forms a wholesome and nutritive bread. The sweet, or Spanish potatoe, yam, and artichoke, come near to the potatoe in their nutritive properties; but do not equal it. The roots of parsnips, turnips, and carrots, con- tain a considerable quantity of mucilage, and a small portion of saccha- rine matter. When boiled, they are considerably nutritive ; and by most stomachs easily digested. The beet, both white and red, contain a large proportion of sugar. They are fine for cattle ; but cannot be safely used in great quantities by raan, a^ they are apt to induce flatulence and indigestion. In some roots, as in the onion, leek andgarhc, the nutritive principle is found combined with an acrid principle, which renders them less fit for the purposes of aliment. This principle, however, is lessened by boiling, and then they are lightly nutritive and mucilaginous. The radish, too, is an acrid root ; and, though much used, afl^ords little nu- triment, while it is apt to produce flatulence, and disorder of the stom- ach. In some seeds, called kernels, as in the hardnut and filbert, walnut, almond, cocoa nut, cashew nut, chocolate nut, we find oil combined with their farina. Tiiis renders them nutritious ; but, at the same time, indigestible. When freely used ihey are sure to produce flatulence, thirst, nausea, pain of the stomach, and headache ; more especially, if from age they have become rancid. Hence, they should be used sparing- ly, at any lime. Chocolate, which is prepared from the chocolate nut, forms a well knov,'n, wholesome, nutritious aliment, employed in many cases as a restorative. Cocoa, which is prepared from the same nut, is, however, less oily ; and, on this account, decidedly preferable for weak stomachs to the chocolate. Fixed oil is contained in many vegetables, and is sometimes obtained by expression, and is highly nutritive. Olive oil is much used in seve- ral parts of the world, particularly in Italy, and the south of France. In these countries, it is used in lieu of butter. In other countries, it is used chiefly as a sauce, or condiment to salJads and fish. With many stomachs it disagrees, being too heavy and indigestible. The leaves, stalks and flowers of vegetables contain much less nu- tritious matter than the seeds and roots, already noticM. They are cooling and aperient, however, and sure to correct the stimulant, and binding effects of animal food. The vegetables to which these remarks apply are cabbage, colewort, cauliflower, brocoli, sea-kale, endive, lettuce, purslane, spinage, and asparagus. Of these, there is none ENCYCLOPEDIA. ALIMENTS. more lender, or more wholesome than spinage. Of the varieties of cabbage, the brocoli and cauliflower are ihe most easily digested, and least flatulent. The asparagus is an excellent vcgetagle, agreeable and wholesome, tolorably nutritious, and besides, is diuretic. The endive and lettuce arc chiefly used as sallads. Lettuce has, also, some de- gree of narcotic and soporific effect, a quality, which depends on the bitter, milky juice contained in the leaf stalks. Parsley is slightly aromatic, littio nutritive, and chiefly used to season broths, sallads, &c. Celery is highly relished by many people, as a sallad ; but, raw, is not easily digested. Of fruits, such as the peach, apricot, plum, cherry, date, fig, pear, apple, mulberry, orange, lemon, it may be observed, that they do not abound in nutritive qualities. Their nourishment depends upon the mucilage, and sugar, they contain. Together with these principles, and water, many of them, also, contain the different vegetable acids, the malic, citric, tartaric, &c. ; and it is this combination, which renders thorn so agreeable to the taste, and so generally relished by man. From this combination of principles, too, may bo estimated the ad- vantages and disadvantages they possess, as aliments. They are nour- ishing, in proportion to the mucilage, joily and sugar, which they con- tain ; cooling, and aperient, and antisceptic, in proportion as they are watery and acidulous. Tiiey are not qf themselves capable of long supporting the strength, and renewing the waste of the system ; but, conjoined with other more nutritious aliments, ripe fruits are, in their season, safe, useful, and often highly beneficial adjuvants to our diet. They obviate and correct the stimulant, and sceptic effect, of animal food ; open the body, and cool and refresh the system. Hence, they are found so emenintly useful in febrile, inflammatory and scorbutic affections. Indeed, in the sea scurvy, a disease arising from the too exclusive use of a stimulating animal diet, the sub-acid fruits are sov- ereign remedies. By the same properties, however, they are hurtful, in cases of gravel, stone, and diabetes. Intemperately eaten, fruits have in all constitutions, and particularly in the nervous, dyspeptic, and hysteric, produced great disorder of the stomach, and bowels, chol- ic, diarrhoea, and cholera. Upon the whole, as a.pnrt of our daily diet, fruits are safe, and useful ; but, excepting under particular circumstan- ces, they ought not to form the whole of any one meal, and should never be indulged into satiety. The pulpy fruits, such as the fig, and apple tribe, are more nutritive than the more watery, acidulous fruits, as the orange, grape and berry. The former, too, when conserved, boiled or baked, afford a light and wholesome nourishment. The sub-acid fruits, as goose berries, and currants, are advantageously made into tarts, jellies, &;c. The nour- ishment derived from them is not great ; but they are wholesome, an- tisceptic and cooling. We shall next speak of animal substances. The alimentary princi- ples of which, are gelalin, albumen, Jib rinc and oil, or fat. Gelatin, or animal jelly, is a colorless, transparent, tremulous sub- stance, found in calves' feet, in the skin, tendons, and bones of all ani- mals.^ Glue and isinglass are specimens of dried gelatin. Animal jel- ly, when properly prepared, is very nutritious, and well adapted to per wns in cv convalescent state. 40 FAMILY ALIMENTS. Albumen is distinguished from gelatin, by its coagulating on the ap- plication of heat. The white of an egg presents us with the best and most familiar example of albumen. It exists in the serum of blood, and the curd of milk ; and forms a principal part of the cartilages, membrane, hoofs, horns, feathers, quills, and hair of animals. As an aliment, it'is highly nutritive ; it is not used as a separate article of diet, except as it exists in the white of an egg. Fibrin is the chief constituent of muscular flesh. It is a white, lough, elastic, fibrous substance, insoluble in water, and contains more nitrogen than any of the other principles. It is readily dissolved by the gastric fluid, and may be regarded as the strongest, and most stim- ulant of aliments. Animal oil, or fat, is a nutritious, component part of animal substan- ces ; but less easily digested, than the other alimentary principles. Animal aliment, may be distinguished into fluids and solids. The only fluids, which can be regarded as alimentary, are the blood and milk of animals. The blood is composed of the three alimentary principles, fibrin, albu- men, and gelatin ; it contains, besides, water, the red globules, and some saUne matters. Blood is a heavy and indigestible aliment, in whatever way prepared. Milk is the fluid secreted by the female of the mammalia class, for the nourishment of their young. It consists of oil, albuminous and saccha- rine matter, water, and some saline matters. Hence, it will be seen, that as it contains both animal and vegetable principles, it is a sort of mixed aliment. It is nutritious and wholesome ; but not equally well digested by every stomach. It sometimes oflfends in two ways ; first, coagulating very firmly in the stomach, it occasions sickness, and is afterwards rejected by vomiting ; secondly, becoming acid, it gives rise to flatulence, heart burn, gripings and diarrhoea. Still, most peo- ple bear milk well ; but, when it sits too heavily on the stomach, it is advantageously diluted with water. Sometimes, again, it agrees bet- ter, after having been boiled, though it is then more apt to produce cos- tiveness. Butter, the oily part of milk, is nutritious ; and, when moderately used, is wholesome. Like the other animal oils, however, it is too heavy to be used by itself. Curd, separated from the whey, is an agreeable and nutritive aliment, differmg, however, but little from uncoagulaled milk. Cheese, which is curd subjected to strong pres- sure, is highly nutritious ; but, as an aliment, is diflicult of digestion, especially when new. Buttermilk is moderately nutritious. It is, moreover, somewhat acid, and thus affords a wholesome, cooling beve- raffe, grateful and very useful in a heated, or feverish state of the body. Whey contains in solution, the saccharine and saline parts of the milk, with a small portion of the animal principles. Its nutritive powers are not great. Eggs come next to be considered. Those of the common domestic fowl are the best. Though eggs of different fowls differ less in alimen- tary properties than might, at first, be expected. The chief difference consists in some variety of flavor. The white of an egg consists al- most entirely of albumen. The yolk contains albuminous matter, oil. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 41 ALIMENTS. gelatin and water. Thus the egg is formed of the most nutritive ali- mentary principles. It is a rematk of Dr. Cullen, '' that a smaller bulk of tJiis, than of any other food, will satisfy and occupy the digestive powers of most men." Of the solid parts of animals, almost all are alimentary ; and accord- ing to the nature, proportion and state of combination of the principles of which they are formed, they are more or less nourishing, and more or less easy of digestion. The white parlSy comprehending the skin, cellular texture, the mem- branes, ligaments, cartilages and tendons, which consist almost entirely of gelatin, and condensed albumen, unless they have been much soft- ened and dissolved into jelly, by long boiling, are more difficult of di- gestion, and afford, even then, a nutriment of a lighter and less stimu- lating nature, than that derived from other parts, containing a due ad- mixture of the other alimentary principles. Cow-heel, calf head, sheep-head, and trotters, afford examples of this kind of aliment, which, unless extremely well boiled, is far from being easily digested. The gelatin of bones is digestible, and alimentary, only after it has been extracted and dissolved in water. Tripe, the stomach of ruminating quadrupeds, is nearly allied to the white membranous parts, in composition and aUmentary properties. The stomach, however, circulates more red blood, contains besides a certain portion of muscular fibre, is more animalised, and furnishes ac- cordingly a more savoury aliment, perhaps a more nourishing one, than those parts entirely formed of gelatine. We find it more difficult to estimate the alimentary qualities of the glandular parts of animals. The spleen and kidneys are enumerated by Celsus, with those aliments, which afford a bad, and the liver with those which yield a good juice. All that we can venture to say on this subject is, that the glandular parts of young animals, if freed from the odour of their peculiar secretions, are agreeable, and sufficiently nu- tritive aliments. The pancreas, or sweet bread, is the most delicate, the least stimulating, and perhaps the most digestible. The spleen is a coarse, and not very digestible aliment. The brain, too, is heavy, and apt to disagree with some stomachs. The liver, especially that of young animals, and of some birds, is by many esteemed a great de- licacy, and appears to be very wholesome. The liver of many fishes abounds in oil. The muscular flesh, which constitutes, indeed, the chief part of our food, derived from the animal kingdom, appears to be, upon the whole, the most nourishing, the most wholesome, and the most easily digested of any. Its advantages in these respects may well be attributed to its peculiar composition — a just assemblage of all the alimentary principles. For the flesh, besides containing the largest quantity of fibrin, has, also, a due proportion of gelatin, albumen, and fat. And, indeed, the alimen- tary properties of different kinds ef flesh, appear to depend, in a great measure, on the proportions and aggregation of these principles. Thus the flesh of young animals contains more gelatin, and less fibrin, than 4* FAMILY ALIMENTS. that of the full grown and older ; and yields, at the same time, a light- er nutriment, and of less easy digestion. Very old, hard, tough flesh, contains, again, too little gelatin, and fat; the fibrin has become firm- er and less soluble ; and, therefore, such meat is less succulent, less di- gestible, and less nutritive, than the same kind of flesh, in its prime. By boiling, the gelatin and a portion of albumen are extracted ; and hence, perhaps, it is, that boiled meat is less nourishing and digestible than roasted flesh, which retains all its principles. Muscular flesh contains a larger quantity of red blood, from which, indeed, it derives its color, than any of the other parts of animals, com- monly employed as aliment. Whether or not any of its alimentary quaUties may depend on this circumstance, we cannot confidently say. But red-colored flesh, is certainly a stronger, and more nourishing food, than the white-colored muscle — the flesh of the ox, for example, than that of the rabbit. QJiemists have detected another principle in muscular flesh, to wiiich they have given the name of extractive. This principle is soluble in alcohol, of a brownish red color, an aromatic odor, and strong acrid taste. The particular flavors of flesh have been attributed to this principle, which may probably add, also, to its stimulant properties, if not to its nutritive. The flesh of quadrupeds is more largely consumed than that of any other class of animals. But, as might be supposed, they difler consid- erably in their alimentary properties. Bull-beef is tough, dry, of a disagreeable flavor; and is, therefore, sel- dom eaten. This affords us one example of the great amelioration of the alimentary qualities of the flesh of annuals by castration; for ox beef is at once agreeable, nourishing, wholesome, and tenderer, even than the flesh of the cow. Veal, the flesh of the young animal, is more delicate, and more gelatinous, than beef ; but, at the same time, less nourishing, less stimulant, and, in general, not so easily digested. It is less animalizcd, and therefore less putrescent, than almost any other flesh. Indeed, the jelly and broth of very young veal is disposed to become even acescent. Mutton is esteemed one of the best aliments ; it is, also, one of the most common. The flesh of the uncastrated animal is hardly eatable. Wedder mutton, not under two years old, is agreeable, tender, and suc- culent; at five years, it has probably attained its highest perfection. Ewe mutton is much inferior to it. Lamb bears the same relation, in its alimentary properties, to mutton, that veal does to beef. It is less stimulant, and less nutritive than mutton. But if the lamb have been properly nursed for six months, or a hltle more, and not weaned, as is too often done, at two months old, it affords a most agreeable, suffi- ciently nourishing, and digestible aliment. Goat's flesh is coarser, and in every respect inferior to that of the sheep. The flesh of the kid is suQicicntly tender and dehcate. Venison is an aliment in great estimation. It is very nutritive, and easily digested. The flesh of the young fawn is tender, succulent and gelatinous ; but the most nutritive and best flavored is that of the full grown animal, of four years old, or more. The best season for killing ENCYCLOPEDIA. 43 ALIMENTS. it, is in the month of August ; for in the rutting season, September and October, the animal becomes lean, and its flesh rank, tough, and ill-fla- vored. The flesh of the female is at all times inferior to that of the male. The fallow deer is commonly better fattened than the stag, and its flesh, upon the whole is tenderer. That of the roe-buck is also ve- ry tender ; but it is inferior in flavor, and other qualities, to the fallow deer. Pork is an aliment, without doubt, highly nutritious ; but, on ac- count of the fat, with which it abounds, not so digestible. It is stimu- lant, and savory, though its particular flavor is not agreeable to every one. It yields, however, to those with whom it agrees, much nourish- ment. By the ancients, it was regarded as the strongest of all aliments ; and was, therefore, much employed in the diet of the alhletae, or persons who engaged in the public games. The flesh of llio boar is strong, coarse, and ill-flavored ; that of the sow, wliich has farrowed, is also disagreeable. The flesh of the castrated anirqal is freed from this ill- flavor ; it is also fatter, tenderer, and more digestible. The flesh of the sucking pig, like that of other young animals, abounds in gelatin, and affords a more delicate, hghter, and less stimulant aliment, than that of the full grown animal. The hare and rabbit aflford agreeable and wholesome food. The former is more dense, higher flavored, and more stimulant than the lat- ter ; the flesli of which is white and delicate, and, of the young rabbit, very tender, and easily digestible. The aliment obtained from birds is, in general, less nourishing than that derived from the mammiferous quadrupeds. The flesh of those birds which feed on grain and fruits, is the most delicate, and most easi- ly digested. The flesh of v/ater- fowl, and such as devour fish, insects, and the like, is commonly very alkalescent, oily, strong flavored, highly nour- ishing, but heavy, and of more difficult digestion. The birds in most common use, and yielding, at the same time, the best aliment, belong to the gallinaceous family. ' Their flesh is white, of the most agreeable and delicate flavor, little heating; and, when not too old, succulent, nutritive, and easily digested. To this order belong the Dunghill fowl, Pheasant, Turkey, Peacock, Guinea hen. Partridge, and Quail. The flesh of the goose, domestic and wild, of the duck, widgeon and teal, is very nourishing ; but considerably heating, and strong flavored. They are not, therefore, so well suited to the weak and delicate, as the fowls above named ; nor are they, in general, so easily digested. The woodcock, snipe, plover, and some other of this family, (Gralloe,) are savory and v/ell flavored aliments, moderately stimulant, wholesome and sufficiently digestible. Pigeons afford a very riph and stimulant food. The different species of the lark furnish a delicate and lighter aliment. Of amphibious animals, the sea turtle, land turtle, frog and viper on- ly, are used as aliment. The flesh of the turtle is white, tender and nourishing. The rich fat, with which it abounds, is not so easily digest- ed. But if plainly dressed, the turtle, upon the whole, affords a whole- some and nutritious aliment, not very different from the flesh of young quadrupeds. The frog is not known, it is believed, as an aliment in the 44 FAMILY ALIMENTS. United States. The hinder legs alone are served up in France, and some other countries ; but, though the flesh has a white and delicate appearance, it is insipid and not very nourishing. In Italy, the viper broth is still used. But there is no good reason to suppose that it pos- sesses any peculiar properties as a restorative. We shall next speak offish. Fishes circulate but little red blood ; and their temperature hardly exceeds that of the element in which they live. Their muscular parts have little color, and their texture is soft. These abound most in a watery, gelatinous, and albuminous matter, and their fibrin possesses less elasticity and cohesion, than that of the flesh of terrestrial animals. Their oil, too, is thinner, and not concressable, like that of quadrupeds and birds. They afford a less nourishing ali- ment than flesh, weight for weight ; and are of more difficult digestion and assimilation. In some particular constitutions, fish not only disa- grees with the stomach, producing flatulence, sickness and vomiting, but occasions more general and lasting disorder, if continued. Yet, many fish afford an aliment, abundantly wholesome to most i)eoplo. And from being less stimulant, they are, in some cases, better adapted to the sick and convalescent, than the richer aliment of flesh. The red-blooded fish, and those which abound with oil, are more stimulant, and more nutritive, than the white-blooded. But they are, also, heavier, and more apt to disagree with the stomach, especially of the delicate and dyspeptic. The cod and whiting, for example, afford a much lighter aliment, than the salmon, the eel, the mackerel, and the herring. Sea fish are, also, upon the whole, more nourishing and more palatable, than those which inhabit the rivers and fresh water. A very great variety offish is, in different parts of the world, used as aliment. But it is enough to have marked the general qualities of this kind of food. And, indeed, there seems so little real difference in the alimentary properties of those genera and species, commonly employ- ed, that to be more particular than we have been, would be an useless and unprofitable labor, even could we do this with any tolerable degree of certainty. The flesh of the Crab, Lobster, Craw fish, Prawn, Shrimp, White Shrimp, bear a close resemblance in flavor, color, and texture to fish ; from which, indeed, they do not greatly differ in alimentary properties. There is little or no oil in their composition ; and they are said to yield less ammonia, during their decomposition, than flesh or fish do. They are in general of more difficult digestion, and are allowed to afford less nourishment. The meat contained in the body of the crab is rich, high flavored, more stimulant, and probably more nutritive ; but extremely heavy, and apt to disagree with the stomach and bowels. The flesh within the claws is lighter and more wholesome. The lobster is es- teemed more delicate and palatable than the crab. It is also moderate- ly nourishing, but not very digestible. Both, indeed, are apt in some constitutions to occasion great disorder, cholic, fever, itching, and efflo- rescence of the skin. The craw fish is, in alimentary properties, nimi- lar to the lobster. The prawn and shrimp are delicate, and well flavor- ed foods of the same kind. The decoction or broth of the three last, is much used on the continent, and much extolled, though without any sufficient reason, as purifying and restorative. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 45 ALIMENTS. Of shell fish not many are used as articles of diet. Those which are esteemed the best are the cockle, oyster, mussel, and snail. All these abound in soft mucous and albuminous matter, coagulable by heat, on which their alimentary powers would seem to depend. They furnish us with almost the only example of any animal food, that is ever eaten in the raw, and even living state. Of these, the best is unquestionably the oyster, which is highly esteemed in the raw and live state ; and with the healthy and robust stomach it commonly agrees well. But with the weak and dyspeptic, it often occasions considerable dis- order, and does not appear to be easily digested. Indeed there are ma- ny, whose stomachs do not appear faulty in other respects, w^ho cannot digest raw oysters; and yet bear them well enough when roasted, stew- ed or boiled. They appear therefore to be, on the whole, mors gene- rally wholesome and digestible in the last state, than raw. A few raw oysters, eaten before dinner, appear sometimes to increase the appetite, an etTect which is to be attributed rather to the salt, than to the oyster itself. The nourishment afforded by this kind of food does not appear to be very great. Where they do not disagree with the stomach, oys- ters are, therefore, sometimes usefully taken as alight restorative ali- ment, by the feeble and c«msumptive, when more stimulant and nour- ishing food would be improper. The other shell fish are similar in ali- mentary properties to the oyster, though greatly inferior in delicacy and flavor, and much less fitted to be eaten raw. The mussel, in particular constitutions, has occasioned distressing, and even dangerous symp- toms; sickness and pain of the stomach, violent retching, fever, heat, pain, swelling of the eyes, face, mouth, and throat, and erysipelatous inflammation of the skin, especially if eaten in the months of July and August. Scarcely any of the various alimentary substances employed by man are used in the raw and crude state, in which they are presented to him by nature. Almost all of them are previously subjected to some kind of preparation or change. The preparatory changes to which our food is usually subjected, are produced by the application of heat, and by the admixture of water, and of condiments or seasonings. By the application of heat to vegetables, the more volatile and wa- tery parts are, in some cases, dissipated. The different principles, ac- cording to their peculiar properties, are extracted, softened, dissolved, or coagulated ; but most commonly, they are forced into new combina- tions, so as to be no longer distinguishable, by the forms and proper- ties, which they formerly possessed. When in the preparation of bread, a baking heat is applied to the paste formed of flour and water, a complete change is effected in the constituent principles of this mixture, so that in making the analysis of bread, the proximate ingredients of flour are not to be found in it. A new substance, bread, has been produced, which is more digestible in the human stomach, more wholesome, and more nutritive, than the ma- terials from which it is formed. In like manner, the leguminous seeds, and farinaceous roots, are greatly altered by the application of heat. The raw potatoe, for exam- ple, is watery, ill flavored, extremely indigestible, and even unwhole- 46 FAMILY ALIMENTS. some. By roasting, or boiling, it becomes dry, friable, farinaceous, sweet, and agreeable to the taste, wholesome, digestible, and highly nutritive. Little is lost, and nothing is added to the potatoe by this preparation ; yet its properties are greatly changed ; its principles, in short, liave suffered a derangement and new collocation. Other examples of such changes are presented to us, in the boiling, roasting and baking of many fruits ; in which processes, wc sometimes find acid destroyed, saccharine matter formed, mucilage and jell}' ex- tracted, and combined anew, so that the product shall be more palata- ble, wholesome, and nourishing, than the raw material. Even in the simple boiling of the various pot-herbs, and esculent rootp, the effect does not seem confined to the mere softening of the fibres, the solution of some, and coagulation of others of their juices and principles ; not their texture only, but their flavor, and other sen- sible qualities, have undergone a change, by which their alimentary properties have been improved. In general, vegetable substances, after having been thus prepared, are more wholesome, less flatulent, and more digestible, than in their crude state. The changes produced in animal substances prepared for our tables, by heat, are different according to the manner, in which it is applied, in the various processes of roasting, baking, frying, broiling, stewing, and boiling. In the usual way of roasting meat, there is little loss of the succu- lent or nutritive principles of the flesh ; they are not even greatly changed, for if the meat have not been overdone, they may still be ob- tained from it, by the usual modes of analysis. Some changes, howev- er, both of texture and composition, it has certainly suffered. It is more tender than before, and much higher flavored. Roasting seems, there- fore, the simplest, and, upon the whole, the best mode of preparing the flesh of animals. It is wholesome, and highly nourishing ; and, in general, more easily digested, than when prepared in any other way. It is often found to sit more easily on the stomach, and to be sooner di- gested by the dyspeptic and feeble, than boiled meat, or broth. By the methods of baking and stewing, the whole of the alimentary principles are also preserved ; but not unchanged ■; for in these process- es, by the longer continuance of heat and moisture, the meat is more disorganized, the jelly, oil, and albumen, are separated, dissolved, mixed, or combined anew. These preparations are accordingly savory, rich, and glutinous, very nourishing, without doubt; but not near so easily digested, as meat simply roasted or boiled. Above all, the whole vari- ety of slews, meat pies, and the like, are extremely apt to disagree with find disorder the stomachs of the gouty and dyspeptic: In boiling, part of the soluble principles is always extracted by the water; but, if the process have not been carried too far, the flesh is still sufficiently succulent and juicy ; and, at the same time, very ten- der, abundantly nourishing, and by most people easily oiough digested. Boiled meat has less flavor than roasted, and appears to be somewhat less stimulant. Over-boiled meat, from which the greater part of tho soluble principles has been extracted, is dry and insipid, less soluble in the stomach, and much less nutritious. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 47 ARTIFICIAL ALIMENTS. Boiling is, also, employed with the more immediate intention of ex- tracting and dissolving the more soluble parts of animal matters, as in the preparation of soups, broths, and jellies. These are necessarily lighter, or more nourishing, according to the quality and parts of the meat used in their preparation. TJie lighter and less costly broths afford an aliment abundantly wholesome. The richer soups are heavy, and liable to all the incon- veniences of stewed meats. Though soups are less nourishing than the solid meat, from which they are extracted, they do not appear to 'je always so easily digested ; and, indeed, those who are liable to stomach complaints, generally find that plain roasted and boiled meat sits easier with them, than any kind of soup or broth. Under the head of aliment, it is usual to conclude condiments and drinks. Of these we shall treat, sutficient for our purpose, in the sub- sequent pages of our work. We shall, therefore, next proceed to some additional observations upon various aliments of a more detailed and miscellaneous character. SECTION I. ARTIFICIAL ALI3IENTS. BREAD. At the head of the vegetable class stands bread ; that ar- ticle, which, from general use, has received the name of "the staff of life." Of the manner of making it, it is unnecessary to speak. It is made, as is well known, from different species of grain ; ichcat, barlcyy rye-, oats, &c. ; but of all the articles of which bread is made, none is so nutritious as that which is obtained from wheat. This arises from the fact, that wheat contains not only more nutritive matter as a whole, but it also contains considerably more gluten than any otJier grain with which we are at present acquainted. Of 1000 parts oi^ Middlesex icheat, according to Sir Humphrey Davy, the whole quantity of nutri- tive matter is 955 parts ; of these, mucilage, or starch, forms 765, and j:iulen 190. An analysis of some Sicilian wheal produced 961 parts of nutritive matter, of which 722 parts were mucilage, or starch, and 239 gluten. In short, it appears from numerous experiments, that wheat generally contains at least double the quantity of gluten found in most other grain, as well as considerably more starch than either oats, beans, or peas. Norfolk barley, however, contains more starch than wheat; but as its proportion of gluten is much less than in that grain, it is nei- ther so nutritious, nor will it make such good bread as wheat. It ap- pears, too, that no grain which does not contain a considejcable quanti- ty of gluten will make good bread ; the gluten being essential to the raised or porous appearance of it. Gluten is, besides, a peculiar sub- stance, which approaches much nearer to the nature of animal matter than any other vegetable production, and hence we may learn why it is more likely to assimilate with, and nourish the animal body. Gluten yields, by destructive distillation, ammonia, and appears to be, in oth- er respects, similar to the substance found in animals called albumen. 48 FAMILY STARCH. SUGAR. We may just add, that wheat contains, besides the ingredients above mentioned, a portion of sugar ; and as unferraented flour, when taken into the stomach, almost immediately enters into active fermentation, producing flatulence, and other unpleasant consequences, the necessity for its being first fermented, and afterwards baked, to complete the pro- cess, so as to render tlie bread suitable for the stomach, is apparent. STARCH, as we have seen in the preceding article, forms a large portion of the composition of wheat, as well as innumerable other veg- etable substances. It is well known as a white powdery substance, in- soluble in cold, but readily soluble in hot water, when at a temperature between 160° and 180°. Its solution is gelatinous, and, by careful evaporation, it yields a substance resembling gum in appearance. It appears that in their ultimate elements starck and sugar difier little in composition, and hence it often happens that the former is converted into the latter. Starch is nevertheless much better calculated for hu- man food than sugar, as it does not appear to undergo in the stomach that peculiar change which saccharine matter frequently does, produ- cing flatulence and other unpleasant symptoms. Besides the use of starch as food, in various vegetables, it is used for many purposes in the arts and manufactures ; and also occasionally as a medicine. SUGAR, or Saccharum, is the general basis of sweetness in all veg- etable substances. It is found also in milk, and a few other animal se- cretions. It is obtained from various vegetables in considerable quan- tity, but more commonly from beet root^ and from the juice of the sugar maple, a tree growing plentifully in the back settlements of North America. But most of the sugar used is obtained from a reed or cane growing in the East and West Indies, and southern part of the United States. The Common sugar cane, saccharum qfficinarum, has flat leaves and panicled flowers ; it has a jointed reed-root, from which ascend four or more shoots (pro- portionable to the age and strength of the root,) eight or ten feet high, accord- ing to the goodness of the ground ; in some moist soils, the cane has measured twenty feet, but such are seldom so pro- ductive. This species of the sugar cane has three varieties, the white, the red, and the elephantine sugar cane. It is a native of both the Indies, and also of the islands of the South Sea. It may be increased by slips or suckers from the root, or by cuttings. In its natural climate it is planted by cuttings in parallel furrows, where it comes to perfection in about fourteen months ; when ripe, the reeds are cut off" at a joint near the root, cleared of the leaves, tied up in bundles, and sent to the mills, where, being cut in short pieces, they are squeezed till all the juice is obtained from them. * It is then evaporated, with the addition of a small quantity of lime, un- til ii becomes thick, when it is transferred into wooden coolers, where a portion concretes into a crystallized mass, which is drained and ex- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 49 SUGAR. TEA. ported to this country, under the name of muscovado, or raw sugar. The remaining liquid portion is called molasses or treacle, which in the West Indies, with other refuse saccharine matter, is commonly con- verted into rum. Sugar is rejined by boiling it in pans with lime water, mized with a certairi portion of bullock's blood. The albumen of the blood mixes with the impurities of the sugar, which, rising to the surface, are skim- med off. Occasionally, we believe, the whites of eggs and butter are also used. When the sugar is sufficiently purified, it is placed in cool- ers, where it is violently agitated, till it becomes thick and granulated ; it is then poured into conical earthen moulds, previously soaked in wa- ter, and again agitated. When sufficiently cold, the moulds, with the sugar in them, aie set with their broad oids upwards, in earthen pots, wlien the first portion of liquid molasses runs down ; pipe-clay, mixed witii water, to the consistence of thick cream, is now laid upon the su- gar about an inch tliick ; the water, leaving the pipe-clay, descends through the sugar, washing out the molasses and other colouring mat- ter. The process of claying is often repeated. The loaves are after- wards dried in a stove. TEA, Thea, or, as the Japanese call it, Jeah, is the leaf of a tree or shrub growing in several provinces of China, Japan, and Siam ; an infusion of which is in general use as drink, and called also tea. The tea-plant likes valleys, the feet of mountains, and a stony soil ; it is likewise found in mountainous and rocky districts. Its seed is usually sown in places exposed to the south ; and bears three years after sown. The root resembles that of the peach tree ; the leaves arc green, sharp- ish at the point, and pretty narrow, an inch and a half long, and jagged all around. The flower is much Uke that of the wild rose. The fruit is of ditt'erent forms, round, long, or triangular; of the ordinary size of a bean, containing two or three peas, including each a kernel. These peas are the seed^ by which the plant is propagated. Botanists have, in fact, distinguished two tea shrubs ; one they call Tkea bohea, or the Bohea tea plant ; the other Thea viridis, or Green tea plant ; but it is probable that more species, or at least more varieties exist than two, as the numerous kinds and qualities of teas would seem to indicate. The tea tree is a branchy, evergreen shrub, growing to the height of four or five feet, although some have asserted that it reaches thirty. The best time to gather the leaves of tea is while they are yet small, young and juicy ; when gathered, they are passed over the vapour of boiling water to moisten them ; they are then laid on porcelain plates, which are heated ; and, by thus drying the leaves, they curl up in the manner they arc brought to us. It is very rare to find tea perfectly pure ; the Chinese always mixing other herbs with it to increase the quantity, though among them it is sold at a price moderate enough ; from three-pence to nine-pence per pound. The seasons for collecting the leaves are April, June, and September. Much has been said and written about the properties of tea. The reason why the gout and stone are unknown in China, is ascribed to the use of this plant ; which is further said to cure indigestion, dispel wind, &ic. From analytical experiments on tea, made some time since at the Royal Institution, no deleterious proj)erties were detected in 5 50 FAMILY COFFEE. — CHOCOLATE. either green or black tea ; nor has there been in green tea discovered the least particle of copper. The injurious effects of tea, if indeed any be produced by it, may be attributed, we presume, to the hoi water rather than to the tea. COFFEE is a seed or berry, brought ori- ginally from Arabia Felix, used for making a drink of the same nature. By coffee we usually mean the drink itself, prepared from those berries. Its origin is not well known ; some ascribe it to the prior of a monnstery, who, being informed by a goatherd that his cattle, sometimes browzing on this tree, would wake and caper all night, became de- sirous of proving its virtue ; accordingly he first tried it on his monks, to prevent their sleeping al matins. Others refer the inven- tion of coffee to tJie Persians, from w hom it was learned in the fifieenth century, by a mufti of Aden, a city near iIjc mouth of the Red Sea: and who, having tried its virtues himself, and found that it dissipated the fumes which oppress the head, inspired joy, opened the bowels, and prevented sleep with- out his being incommoded by it, recommend- ed it first to his dervises, with whom he used to spend tiie night in prayer. Their example brought coffee into fashion at Aden : there the professors of the law, for study, artisans to work, travellers to walk in the night, in short, almost every person drank coffee. Thence it pass- ed to Mecca, and from Arabia Felix to Cairo, and from Egypt to Syria and Constantinople. Thevenot, the traveller, was the first who brought it into France ; and a Greek servant, called Pasqua, brought it into England in 1652, and setting up the profession of coffee-man, first in- troduced the drink among us ; though some say Dr. Harvey had used it before. CHOCOLATE, a kind of cake, or confection, prepared from certain drugs; the basis or principle whereof is the carao nut, or chocolate nut, a nut about the size of an almond, of which from thirty to a hundred are contained in a pod shaped like a cucumber, and very different from the cocoa nut, with which it is apt to be confounded, from the similari- ty of pronunciation. The drink prepared from the cake is also called chocolate, and is usually drunk warm, being esteemed not only an ex- cellent nourishing food, but also a good medicine ; or at least a diet for keeping up the warmth of the stomach, and assisting digestion. The Spaniards were the first who brought chocolate into use in Europe. The thin shell of the cacao nut, ground like coffee, and boiled in wa- ter, yields a beverage resembling chocolate, but less rich, and is used as zn economical and wholesome breakfast by the name o^cacao ; and for delicate stomachs is much better adapted than the oleous compound. RICE, orysa^ a grain or seed. It is frequent in Greece, Italy, Spain, the East and West Indies, and America. The grains of rice, which grow in clusters are severally inclosed in yellow rough cases. Rico ENCYCLOPEDIA. 51 RICR. YAM. PLANTAIN, OR BANANA. grows in marshy places. A weak spirit, termed arrack^ is drawn from rice. Rice is Ie?s nutritious than wheat, and forms a very useful light food for patients unc'er the influence of medicine. The best rice comes from Carolina ; an inferior sort from the East Indies. The mountain rice, the paddt/ of the Hindoos, grows in mountainous and other dry soils of India. It is said that America is indebted for thie grain to a small bag of it, which was formerly given as a present from a Mr. Dubois, treasurer of the East India Company, to a Carolina merchant. A wet and morassy soil and hot climate appear, in general, necessa- ry to the cultivation of rice. The parts of the farms or plantations, in which it is grown, are usually so situated, as to admit of being flooded; and, in many places, reservoirs of water are formed for this purpose. These reservoirs have sluices, by which the rice fields may be inunda- ted at pleasure. In reaping the crop, the laborers gerierally work knee deep in water and mud ; and as the rice is cut, the sheaves are put on drays, which follow the reapers, and are thus carried out to be spread on the dry ground. The rice thus produced has the name of marsh rice, and is that which is chiefly exported to Europe. The YAM is a root, the produce of a creeping plant whose stalks pro- ceed to a considerable distance, putting out roots from the joints, by which it becomes soon multiplied. The roots consist of blue or brown round or oblong tubers, each tuber weighing two or three or sometimes, twenty pounds. They vary greatly however, in size, shape, and color. The inside of the yam is white, and in mealiness resembles the potato. When dressed they are somewhat like that root; they are considered nutritive, and easy of digestion ; they are the common food of the slaves in the West Indies ; and if kftpt from moisture may be preserved for many years. They are ground into flour, and made into bread a,nd puddings. The plant is propagated by cuttings, precisely the same as we propagate potatoes, namely, by cutting the root in pieces, preserrinj? an eye in each piece. The PLANTAIN or Banana, (though, they are thought by some to be distinct species,) are generally spoken of together, as having more points of resemblance than of dissimilarity. They grow in the same re- gions, and are applied to the same uses. The plantain is of considerable size ; it rises with a herbace-f ous stalk, about fiv« or six inches in dian}- eter at the surface of the ground, but taper* ing upwards to ths height of fifteen or 5-2 FAMILY I'LANTAIN OR BANANA. twenty feet. The leaves are in a cluster at the top ; they are very large, being about six feel long and two feet broad ; the middle rib is strong, but the rest of the leaf is tender, and apt to bo torn by the wind. The leaves grow with great rapidity after the stalk has attained its proper height. The spike of flowers rises from the centre of the leaves to the height of about four feet. At first, the tlowers are enclosed in a sheath, but, as they come to maturity, that drops nfl'. The fruit is about an inch in diameter, eight or nine inches long, and bent a little on one side. As it ripens, it turns yellow ; and when lipe, it is filled with a pulp of a luscious sweet taste. The Banana is a shorter and rounder fruit than the plantain : the Btem is also different, — that of the plantain being wholly green, while the banana is spotted with purple. The banana is not s;o luscious as the plantain, but is more agreeable. The banana is found in equinoctial Asia and America, in the tropical parts of Africa, and of the islands of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, wherever the mean heat of the year exceeds 75" of Farenheit. The banana is one of the most important and interesting objects for the cul- tivation of man. The banana is not known in an uncultivated state. The plant is propagated by suckers. It is ten or eleven months after the sucker has been planted, before the fruit is ready to gather. The stalk is then cut, from which sprouts put forth which bear fruit again in three months. They are exceedingly productive. A spot of a little more than a thou- sand square feet will contain from thirty to forty banana plants. A cluster of bananas produced on a single plant, often contains from one Imndredand sixty, to one hundred and eighty pounds. But reckoning the weight of a cluster only at forty pounds, such a plantation would produce more than four thousand pounds of nutritive substance. M. Humboldt calculates that as 33 pounds of wheat, and 99 pounds of potatoes require the same space as that in which four thousand pounds of bananas are grown, the produce of bananas is consequently to that of wheat as 133 : 1, and to that of potatoes as 44 : 1. The ripe fruit of the banana is preserved like the fig, by being dried in the sun. This dried banana is an agreeable and healthy aliment. Meal is extracted from the fruit, by cutting it in slices, drying it in the gun, and then pounding it. ENCYCLOPEDIA, 53 BREAD FRUIT TREE. ORANGES. BREAD-FRUIT Tree, a tree grow- ing at Otaheit^ and other Soath Sea Islands ; it was brought to the notice of Europeans by Captain Cook. It has the height and proportion of a middle^ sized oak ; the leaves are often a foot and a half long, oblong shaped, and in color, consistence, and sinuosity, resem- bling those of the fig-tree, and exuding a milky juice on fracture. The fruit is about the size and shape of a new-bom child's head, covered with a reticulate skin, and containing a core in its centre. The eatable part lies between the skin ' and the core, is as white as snow, and of the consistence of new bread. It is prepared for food in various ways. It affords much nourishment, and there- fore is esteemed very proper for laboring people. Attempts have been latterly made to naturalize this tree in the West Indies ; it can only, it is said, be propagated by suckers or layers. CHEESE, Butter, See article Agriculture — Management of the Dairv. HONEY, See bees. SECTIOxX. II. FRUITS. ORANGES make a considerable article of merchandize. Those called China oran- ges were first brought into Europe from China by the Portuguese ; and it is said, that the very tree whence all the European orange trees of this sort were produced, is still preserved at Lisbon. The China or- ange is not so hardy as the Seville, and rare- ly produces good fruit in England ; nor are the leaves of the tree near so large or beau- tiful as those of the Seville orange. There is a great variety of sweet oranges both in the East and West Indies, some of which are much more esteemed than those now in Europe : but as they are much tenderer, they will not thrive in that country with the common culture. There are several va- rieties of the orange tree, but they may all be referred to the sweet, or China orange, and the bitter, or Seville orange, the juice of which is sour. Those most esteemed, and 5* 54 FAMILY CITRON. LEMON. OLIVE. that are made presents of as rarities in the Indies, are no larger than a billiard-ball. The juice is cooling and antiscorbutic. The se^ds of oranges ought never to be swallowed ; a case of a young lady in England has recently occurred, in which her death was in all likelihood caused by several orange seeds lodgings for a long time in the intestines. The CITRON is the produce of a tree, much resembling the lemon tree. A citron has the same qualities as the lemon, but it is larger, higher colored, and has a brisker smell. It is au agreeable fruit, and serves, like that, to cool and quench the thirst. Genoa is the great European nursery for this sort of fruit. The Florentine citron. Miller says, is in such great esteem, that the single fruits are sold at Florence for two shillings each, and are sent as presents to the courts of princes. This kind is rot to be had in perfection in any other part of Italy ex- cept the plain between Pisa and Leghorn, and if transplanted to other parts it loses much of its excellence. From citrons 'are produced es- sences, oils, confections, waters, &;c. The LEMON is a variety of the citron tree. There are several sub-varieties of this tree, some of which are sour, and others again sweet. The lemon grows naturally in that part of India, which is sit- uated beyond the Ganges ; but its transmigration to Europe belongs to the invasion of the West by those mighty caliphs, who from the heart of Southern Asia, extended their conquests to the foot of the Pyrenees, leaving every where traces of their power and of their know- ledge. The lemon, thus transported by the Arabs into every part of their vast empire, where it would grow, was found by the crusaders in Syria and Palestine, towards the end of the twelfth century. By them it was introduced into Sicily and Italy ; though it is probable that at the same period, it was already multiplied in Africa and Spain. Lemon-jaice is one of the most cooling and antiseptic vegetable pro- ductions : it improves the taste, and corrects the putrid tendency of animal food in the summer. Hence, lemonade affords a grateful and cooling beverage for febrile patients (but it should be used moderately, for all acids have a tendency to produce stone, gravel, and gout, when too freely taken.) Esmice of Lemon is obtained from the exterior rind of the fruit, ei- ther by compression or distillation ; it is often an impure essential oil, as found in the shops. The OLIVE, is an evergreen tree common to the woods of the south of France, Spain and Italy. It rarely exceeds twenty feet in height ; it has lanceolate, grey, ferruginous leaves, downy or silvery under- neath ; the flowers are small and white ; the fruit is a drupe of au oblong form, about an inch and a half or two inches long, and black when ripe. Of the olive there are several varieties. Abroad it is propagated by shoots, which are grafted to produce good sorts. In England it is propagated by layers. The most valuable part of this tree is the fruit; from which, when ripe, is obtained the olive oil, so well and universally known as food and as a medicine. Olives are brought mto this country pickled as a condiment ; but they are neither good nor wholesome food. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 55 ALMOND.S.— TAMARINDS. PRUNES. CACAO. Tho growth of olives and the manufacture of the oil furnish a con- siderable employment to many of the inhabitants of f'rance and Italy. The importation of olive oil into Great Britain amounted, in 1827, to about four thousand live hundred tons, paying a duty of eight guineas per ton. The ALMOND is a fruit inclosed in a thick stone, and under a thin skin. The tree that produces the almond is pretty tall, and resembles a peach tree. It is frequent in Germany, France, Spain and the neigh- boring countries, and also in Barbary. The flowers of this tree are ranged in the rose manner : the pistil becomes a fleshy fruit, contain- ing a seed which ^s tlie almond, and which drops out when the fruit is arrived at maturity. There are two kinds, sweet and bitter ; and it has been said that the same tree, by a difference in culture, has yielded both. In flavor, bitter almonds resemble water distilled from laurel leaves, and contain Prussic acid, which, in a pure state, is extremely poisonous. Sweet almonds are of a soft grateful taste ; and are re- puted cooling, healing, and nutritive. The oil of almonds is a safe emollient in pains arising from the stone or gravel ; in coughs and hoarseness ; and for costivenoss and gripes in children. The quantity of almonds imported annually into Great Britain is estimated at 430 tons, on which a duty is paid of j£l8,000. TAMARINDS are brought from the East and West Indies. Some call them Indian dates,, others Indian acacia. The tree which yields this fruit is called by the Indians, tamarinds, and by the Portuguese tamarindos. It is not unlike our ash ; its leaves resemble those of fe- male fern ; its flowers are joined eight or ten together, like those of the orange tree. Its fruit is a pod, from two to five inches or more in length, covered at first with a green rind, which afterwards becomes brown, and contains a blackish acid pulp, among which are found seeds resembling lupines. Tamarinds must be chosen large, the pods unbro- ken, and of a brisk taste. Those put up in small casks and preserved in sugar, not syrup, are the best. They are laxative, cooling, and good to quench thirst. These trees grow to a great magnitude in their na- tive countries ; but in Europe they are preserved as curiosities by those who are lovers of rare plants. PRUNES are plumbs dried and baked in an oven, or in the sun. The prunes chiefly used among us are black, and are chiefly imported, we believe, from France. Great quantities are used by the English and Dutch. Prunes are slightly laxative. The prunello brignole, or French plum, is less dried thiU the common prunes, and much more grateful to the taste. The CACAO nut, mentioned under chocolate, is the seed or fruit of the chocolate tree, which grows in several parts of the West Indies. It resembles our cherry tree ; but is so very delicate, and the soil it grows in so hot, that to guard it from the sun, it is always planted in the shade of another tree, called mother of cacoa. Within the pod of the fruit is formed a tissue of white fibres ; in the middle of these fibres are contained ten, twelve, or even forty grains or seeds of a violet color, and as dry as acorns. Each grain, which is covered with a little rind, separates into five or six unequal pieces, in the middle whereof is a 56 FAMILY COCOA. POME« RAN ATE. — FIG. kernel, having a tender bud, very difficult to preserve. Of this seed, witU the addition of other ingredients, chocolate is made. Some Span- iards have made five thousand pounds i)cr annum from a single garden of cacaos; In several parts of America, tlie cacao grains are used by the Indians as money ; twelve or fourteen are esteemed equivalent to a Spanish real, or Hve-pence three farthings sterling. The COCOA jiut is the fruit of a tree of the family of palms. It is of a large size, being sometimes near a foot in length. Like a walnut, it has a soft external huyk, from the fibres of which cordage may be made. This husk, in its early stale, is edible, and agreeably acid. The hard shell is sometimes mounted with silver, for drinking cups, or sugar basins. \'\ ithiu the shell is a large white kernel, pleasant to the taste, inclosing a very grateful fluid, called milk of cocoa. An oil like that of almonds, may be obtained from the kernel. The POMEGRANATE is a fruit in the form of an apple or quince, full of seeds or kernels, inclosed within a reddish pulp, sometimes sweet, sometimes acid. It is so nailed, either from the abundance of its grain or kernels, pomum gta7ialuiit, a kernelled apple, or from the country where it was auciently produced, viz. Grenada. The pome- granate is, however, a native of the south of Europe, and grows to the general height of an apple-tree ; the branches are a little prickly ; the leaves resemble those of the great myrtle ; the fruit, which is compo- sed of red angular grains, is inclosed in little distinct cells, the whole of which are enveloped by a thick and highly astringent outer rind. Pomegranates are by some esteemed. Of the kernels are made syrups and preserves ; the peel contains a considerable quantity of astringent matter. A FIG is a most delicious fruit, the produce of a tree of the same name^ Figs are of several kinds ; the black and the violet colored are the worst ; the white are esteemed the best. They are dried either by an oven or the sun, and in this state they arc used both as medicine and food. The best figs are the produce of Italy, Spain, Provence, &c. The islands of the Archipelago yield figs in great abundance, though inferior in goodness to those of Europe. The Greeks in those islands cultivate them with wonderful care and attention, making them their principal food, and a considerable part of the riches of the country. Figs are gathered in autumn, and generally laid on a rack or hurdle to dry in the sun. They are found to contain mucilage, sugar, and some oil. They are very nourishing; yet when eaten freely, they often pro- duce much inconvenience. They are used to make gargarisms against disorders of the throat and mouth : they are also applied externally to soften and promote the maturation or suppuration of tumors, particu- larly when toasted and applied to swelled gums. BANIAN, or INDIAN FIG TREE. This tree deserves notice, not as a fruit tree, but from its being a sacred tree with the Hindoos in the East Indies, from the vast size that it attains, and from the singularity of its growth- The fruit does not exceed that of a hazel nut in bigness ; but the lateral branches send down shoots which take root, till, in the course of time, a single tree extends itself to a considerable grove. This remarkable tree was known to the ancients. Strabo mentions that af- ter the branches have extended about twelve feet horizontally, they ENCYCLOPEDIA. 57 THE BAMAN TREK. RAISINS. THE BAiNIAN TREE, shoot down in the direction of the earth, and there take root themselves ; and when they have attained maturity, they propagate onward in the samjD manner, till the whole becomes like a tent supported by many columns. Some specimens of the Indian fiar-tree are mentioned as being of im- mense magnitude. One near Mangee. twenty miles to the westward crformed in clear cold weather. After the first racking, the casks should be kept bunged close, and further rackings be avoided, if possi- ble, as every racking reduces its strength, and much of the spirit es- capes with the carbonic acid gas which is evolved in the fermentive process. The oxygen of the atmosphere, besides, increases the vine- gar fermentation. But if these methods fail, resort may be had to the means of impeding the natural operation of the mucilage, or vegetable leaven. This may be done by what is called stumming^ that is, burn- ing a rag impregnated with sulphur, in the cask in which the liquor is to be decanted, after it has been partly filled, and rolling it so as to in- corporate the liquid with the gas ; or by putting a drachm or two of 72 FAMILY VINEGAR. — ALCOHOL. RUM. sulphite of potash into each cask, which will precipitate and render in- soluble the remaining leaven. If the fruit is good, and properly ground, and the cider racked from the fermenting casks at a proper time, most or all of the subsequent operations will be superseded. VINEGAR is an agreeable acid liquor, prepared from wine, cider, beer, and other liquors, and it is of considerable use, both as a medicine and a sauce. The word is French, tinaigre; from vin^ wine, and aigre^ sour. There are four kinds of vinegar known in commerce ; that from uinc, from malt, from sugar, and from wood. This last is called the pyrolig- neoiis acid, and is now prepared in large quantities in London, by distil- ling wood in close vessels. It may be obtained eight times the strength of common vinegar, so that it may be diluted by the purchaser at plea- sure. It is colorless, and b}' many considered superior to common vin- egar. It is said to be perfectly, free from all flavor, save that of the pure acid. The principal requisites to form good vinegar, are, 1. contact with the air; 2. A temperature not exceeding 77° of Fahrenheit ; 3. The addition of some extraneous vegetable matter, to promote the acetous fermentation ; and, 4. the presence of alcohol. The vinegar used in the United States is chiefly made from cider. It may be prepared thus : to a quarter cask of good cider, add 4 lbs. of white Havanna sugar, and half a pound of argoL or rough tartar, in fine powder ; it will be better for the addition of some lees of wine. Ex- pose it to a heat not less than 75°, nor more than 80°, with the bung out. Twice or thrice a day, draw oil' a pail full, and after it has stood exposed to the air, a quarter of an hour, return it to the bung-hole by a funnel. Vinegar is sometimes made from whey. The following directions are given by Mr. Genet, of New-York. " After having clarified the whey, it is poured into casks with some aromatic plants, or elder blos- soms, as suits the fancy, and exposed in the open air to the sun, when it soon acquires an uncommon degree of acidity." ALCOHOL. This is said to be an Arabian word, which signifies antimony ; so called from the usage of the Eastern ladies to paint their eyebrows with antimony, reduced to a most subtile powder ; v.-hence, it at last came to signify any thing exalted to its highest perfection. Alcohol is highly rectified spirit of wine, freed from all those watery particles, which are not essential to it. When pure, it consists of hy- drogen, carbon and oxygen. It is quite colorless, and clear ; of a strong and penetrating smell and taste ; capable of being set on fire, without wick, and burning with aflame, without leaving a residue, and without smoke and soot. It is not known to freeze, in any degree of coldness. It is used in those preparations, called elixirs, tinctures, essences, Szc. It is a powerful stimulant and antisceptic. It is this, which in brandy, rum, wine, &c., exhilarates, and which, at length, destroys the constitu- tion of the drunkard. In England, alcohol is procured by distillation from molasses ; in Scotland and Ireland, from whiskey. In the East ludies, arrack is distilled from rice ; in the West Indies, rum from the ^sugar cane ; and in France and Spain, brandy, from wine ; in the Uni- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 73 RUM. BRANDY. GIN. — AKRACK. ted States, cider-brandy^ from cider. All these afford alcohol by dis- tillation. RUM is a spirit obtained by distillation from the fermented juice of the sugar-cane, or from molasses and other coarse saccharine matter in the West Indies. Rum contains a considerable portion of alcohol ; but as it contains, in solution, a gross essential oil, which is apt to disagree with some stomachs, it is not so good, considered medicinally, as brandy. BRANDY is obtained by simple distillation, from real wines, or the fermented juice of grapes. To distil brandy, they fill the still half full of the liquor from which it is to be drawn, and raise it with a little fire, till about one sixth part be distilled, or till they perceive what falls into a receiver is not at all inflammable. Brandy, when first made, is per- fectly colourless ; the colour it has in this country is given to it by burnt sugar. The peculiar taste of brandy is produced by a small por- tion of some essential oil ; whether arising from the wine from which it is distilled, or added afterwards, is not known in this country. On this account, in moderate doses, it is very grateful to the stomach. The greatest part of the brandies in use is prepared in France. Of the French brandies, those of Languedoc and Anjou, whence the well known Cognac brandy, are the most esteemed. Of brandy, either plain or rectified, are prepared various kinds of strong liquors, with the addi- tion of other ingredients, sugars, spices, flowers, fruits, &c. The strength of brandy may be determined by olive oil or tailow, both of which sink in good brandy. GENEVA or GIN ; the name of a compound water, procured from juniper berries and other ingredients, distilled with malt spirits. The French name of the juniper-berry, is genievre, from which the word is formed. But our common distillers leave out the juniper-berries entirely from the liquor they now make and sell under that name. ' Our chem- ists have taught them, that the oil of juniper berries and that of turpen- tine are very much alike in flavor, though not in price ; and the com- mon method of making what is called geneva^ in London, is with com- mon malt spirit, and a proper quantity of oil of turpentine distilled to- gether, with sometimes angelica root^ and other aromatic vegetables. The Dutch, it is said, still continue the original use of juniper berries, and hence the reason why Hollands is by many preferred to English gin. This hot fiery spirit is too much used by the lower classes of peo- ple in its undiluted state as a dram. It is most injurious to their con- stitution and morals. ARRACK ; a spirituous liquor imported from the East Indies ; used by way of dram and in punch. The word arrack, according to Mr. Lockyer, is an Indian name for strong waters' of all kinds, for they call our spirits English arrack. But what we understand by the name ar- rack, he affirms to be no other than a spirit procured by distillation from a vegetable juice called ioddy^ which flows by incision out of the cocoa-nut tree, like the birch juice procured among us. Others are of opinion, that the arrack is a vinous spirit obtained by distillation in the East Indies from rice or sugar fermented with the juice of the cocoa , tree. The Goa arrack is said to be made from the toddy ; the Batavia arrack from rice and sugar ; there is likewise a kind of shrub from 7 74 FAMILY ALE. MALT. which arrack is made. By fermenting, distilling, and rectifying, the juicG of the American maple, wliich has much the same taste as that of the cocoa tree, arrack has been made not inferior to any that comes from the East Indies. ALE is a popular beverage or drink made from malt. The zythum and cunni, mentioned by Tacitus as the beverage of the ancient Ger- mans, are supposed to correspond with our ale and beer. MALT denotes barley cured, or prepared to fit it for making a pota- ble liquor, under the denomination of beer, ale, &;c. The manner of making malt Sir Robert Murray describes as follows: Steep good barley in a stone trough full of water, till the water be of a bright reddish color, but it may be known when it is steeped enough by other marks, as by the excessive swelling of the grain and the degree of softness. It is afterwards taken out, and laid on heaps, to let the water drain from it, then turned and laid in a new heap, where it may lie forty hours, more or less. In abuut fifteen or sixteen hours the grains put forth roots, which when they have done, the malt must be turned over, otherwise the grains will begin to put forth the blade or spire, which must be prevented. It must now be spread to a depth not exceeding five or six inches, and then turned over and over for the space of forty eight hours at least. This cools, dries and deadens the grain, when it becomes mellow, melts easily in brewing, and separates easily from the husk. Then throw up the malt into a high heap, and let it grow as hot as your hand can endure it, which it usually does in about thirty hours. This perfects the sweetness and rtiellowness of the malt. It is now again cooled and turned over, and then laid on a kiln, with hair cloth or wire spread under it, where, after one fire, it must have a se- cond, and perhaps a third, before the malt be thoroughly dried. The time during which the grain continues on the malt floor varies according to circumstances ; fourteen days is, however, the general average. Malt drinks are either pale or brown, as the malt is more or less dried on the kiln, that which is the least dried tinging the liquor least in brewing, and therefore called pale; whereas the higher dried, and as it were roasted, makes it of a higher colour. High dried malt yields less liquor or beer than low dried or pale malt does, and hence the por- ter-brewers are obliged to use colouring drugs and many pernicious stuffs, as substitutes for malt, which is too dear to afford deep-colored pure malt liquor at the common price of porter. BREWING is the operation of preparing ale or beer from malt. In brewing, a quantity of water, being boiled, is left to cool till it becomes of the temperature of 175° or 180° ; or till the face can be seen pretty distinctly in the water. Mix the malt with the water, stirring it dur- ing the process with the mashing stick. Reserve a few handfuls of the dry malt to strew over the surface after it is mixed, to prevent the es- cape of the heat; the vessel should also be covered besides with cloths, in order to keep the mixture hot; this operation is called mosAtn^. Let the whole stand for three hours, more or less, according to the strength bf the wort, which is then to be drawn off into a receiver. The mashing is repeated for the second wort nearly in the same man- ner as for the first. After these worts are run off, a quantity of hops is added, and the liquor is again boiled. The hops are afterwards ENCYCLOPEDIA. 75 BREWING. — HOPS. strained from it, and when it is moderately cool, the barm or yeast is applied. The barm causes the whole to ferment, and when sufficient- ly fermented, it is tunned up in vessels for use. One, two, three, or more months are necessary to pass, before it will be fit for use. The quantity of malt for making a hogshead, sixty-threo gallons, of strong beer, may be ten bushels ; for good ale five bushels are sufficient. The following account of a London brewing establishment, from the pen of Professor Griscom, will give the reader some idea of the extent to which brewing operations are carried in England. This establishr ment (Barclay's brewery,) covers about eight acres ofground, and man- ufactured last year (1829), 340,000 barrels of 36 gallons each. The building which contains the vats, and the vats themselves, are enor- mous. The largest of the latter contain each 4000 barrels. The aver- age number of vats is nearly one hundred. A steam engine of twenty two horse power is employed in driving the machinery, and about two hundred men are engaged in the various works of the establishment; while it is supposed that the number of persons dependent upon it with- out, in lliC sale and transportation of the beer, is three or four thousand. The three coppers in which the beer is boiled, hold each 150 barrels. Twenty-five gentlemen once dined in one of them ; after which, fifty of the workmen got in and regaled themselves. One hundred and nine- ty pounds of beefosteaks were thus consumed in one day, in this novel dining room. The tuns in which the beer ferments, hold 1400 barrels each. The carbonic acid in one of them stood about three and a half feet above the liquor, and poured over the side in a continued stream. A candle is instantly extinguished on being placed near the outer edge of this receptacle, and on holding one's face over it, a sharp, pungent sensation is felt in the mouth and fauces, not unlike that produced by ardent spirits. An immersion of a few moments would be sufficient to occasion a suspension of voluntary motion. One hundred and sixty horses are kept on the premises, for the pur- pose chiefly of transporting the materials to and from different parts of the city. HOPS, it is said, preserve malt liquors : if hops were not added, that clammy svyeetness, which the liquor retains after working, would soon become acid, and render the liquor unfit for use. The whole virtue of the hop resides, it appears, in a fine yellow powder, readily separable from the leaves by mere rubbing, or threshing : this powder is called Lupulin. SECTION IV. CONDIMENTS. GINGER, the common, is a native of the East Indies, but now natu- ralized in the West Indies, whence we are chiefly supplied with it. ]t is a perennial shrub, which grows about a yard high. Its propagation is efl'ecteu by parting the roots in the spring, plantms{ them in pots of 76 FAMILY NUTMEG. — CLOVE. light earth, and placing them in a hot bed of tanner's bark, where they remain. The different kinds of ginger found in the shops appear to be the same root differently dried, or otherwise prepared ; the roots which are white, soft, and woolly, are in general, less pungent than the more solid and compact kinds. Ginger is much employed as a condiment, and as a medicine. It is considered as a useful stimulant in dyspepsy, gout, and other complaints, requiring exciting medicines. Ginger is sometimes brought to this country, preserved in syrup. It is also used as a plaster, wet with French brandy, to be laid upon the stomach, in cases of great pain, or to check excessive vomiting in cholera; and of- ten subserves an excellent purpose. NUTMEG is the product of a tree, which resembles the cherry tree in growth, and size, and is a native of the Molucca Islands, from which, except Banda, by the policy of the Dut. h, it has been nearly extirpa- ted ; Banda, now supplying with mace and nutmegs, the whole of Europe. The flowers, which are inodorous, are present at the same time with the fruit, and male and female are on the same, and on sepa- rate trees. Nutmegs are inclosed in four different covers. The first a thick husk, like that of our walnuts. Under this lies a thin reddish coat, of an agreeable smell, and aromatic taste, called mace. This wraps up the shell, and opens in proportion as the pod grows. The shell, which makes the third cover, is hard, thin, and blackish ; under this is a greenish film of no use ; and in this is found the nutmeg,which is properly the kernel of the fruit. The nutmeg tree yields three crops annually : the first, which is the best, in April; the second in August, and the third in December. The fruit requires nine months to ripen ; when gathered, the outer covering is first stripped off, and then the mace carefully separated and dried ; the nutmegs in the shell are next exposed to heat, and smoke, for three months, then broken, and the kernels thrown into a strong mixture of lime and water, after which they are cleaned and packed up. This process is said to be necessary for their preservation, and with the same intention, the mace is sprink- led with salt water. The CLOVE is obtained from a tree, somewhat in the form of a nail ; whence the term clove, from the French clove.^ a nail. The clove tree was anciently very common in the Molucca islands ; at present, cloves are chiefly obtained from Amboyna, the Dutch having from their cupidity, dug up the trees in the other islands. It is now, however, cultivated in the isles of France, at Cayenne, and in the island of Dom- inica, in the West Indies. The tree is very large ; its bark resembles that of the olive tree, and its leaves those of the laurel, its fruit falling, takes root without any culture, and eight years after bears fruit. The clove is the unexpanded flower. At Amboyna, they are collected from October to December, when they begin to redden. They require to be dried quickly ; on which account, they are first immersed in boiling water, and then exposed to smoke and heat ; the drying is afterwards, finished in the fun. Although the unopened flowers, and even the leaves, are extremely aromatic, the real fruit which is a coriaceous ber- ry, is not so. Cloves are hot, stimulating aromatics, which affect the breath, eyes, and head, and are useful in palsies, &c. There is an oil drawn from cloves by distillation ; it is sometimes used as a remedy for ENCYCLOPEDIA. 77 PEPPER. — CASSIA. CINNAMON. the tooth-ache, but very improperly, since from its pungent quality, it is apt to corrode the gums and injure the adjacent teeth. When the tooth is carious and will admit of it, a bruised clove is much to be preferred. Much, however, of the oil of cloves, which is sold, is said to be obtain- ed from all-spice. PEPPER, or rather Black Pepper, is well known from its general use. It is the produce of a climbing plant, or vine, growing in several parts of the East Indies, chiefly Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and the coasts of Malabar. It is propagated in Sumatra by cuttings, or suckers ; in growing, it is supported by props. The plant is three years old, before it bears fruit ; it yields two crops annually, the first in December, the second in July. White pepper is the fruit of the same plant, perfectly ripe, and freed from its outer coat by means of a preparation of lime and mustard- oil applied before it is dried. The Cayenne Pepper, or 6zrri;jIERICAN ELK. — KEIN DEER. genus, and is dry and harsh. The young deer or fawns are mostly spot- ted with white, upon a brownish yellow ground. The males of this genus are all provided with iiorns, which are variously branched. The species which we shall notice are the Moose, American Elk, Rein Deer, and the Virginia or Common Deer. The MOOSE is the largest of the deer kind, and often exceeds the largest horse in size and bulk. In his form, ho is not as handsome, nor are his motions as graceful, as those of the other species of deer. His head is large, and his horns, which sometimes exceed fifty pounds in weight, are unwieldy. In the summer, the moose frequente swampy or low grounds, near the margin of lakes and rivers, through which he delights to swim, as it frees him for the time from the annoyance of insects. During the winter, in families of fifteen or twenty, they seek the depths of the forest, for shelter and food. Their flesh, though generally coarser and tougher than other vt iiison, is esteemed excellent food, and the Indians, hunters, and travellers all declare, that they can withstand more fatigue, while fed on this meat, than when mmg any other. The skin of the moose is of great value to the Indians, who use it for tent covers, clothing, &;c. This animal inhabits the northern parts of both continents. In Europe it is called the Elk. Its northern range in America is not ascertained. It has been found as far north as the country has been explored. It was formerly seen in the New Eng- land States; but is now rare, even as far south as the State of Maine. The AMERICAN ELK. This animal was, for a long time, con- sidered as a mere variety of the moose, if not identically the same ; but more recent investigation has corrected the mistake, and shown, that though inferior in size to the moose, in beauty of form, grace, and agility of movement, and other attributes of its kind, it is not excelled by any deer of the Old and the New World. The hair of the elk, in autumn, is of a blueish gray color ; during winter it continues of a dark grey, and at the approach of spring it assumes a reddish or bright brown color, which is permanent throughout the summer. Its horns often rise to the height of four and five feet. The elk is shy and re- tiring. When surprised by the hunter, he gazes for a moment intense- ly upon the object of his fear, and then throwing back his lofty horns upon his neck, he flies with the velocity of the race horse. The flesh of the elk is highly esteemed by the Indians and hunters as food ; and the hide is converted to the purpose of dress, &c. The elk is occa- sionally found in the remote and thinly settled parts of Pennsylvania ; but it is only in the western wilds, where exists a luxuriant vegetation, and where the solitude is seldom interrupted, that they are seen in considerable numbers. REIN DEER. The height of this animal is generally about three feet and a half, and his length about five feet and a half. His color is commonly brown, with white under the belly. His horns are long, slender, and branching. This animal is of great value in the northern parts of both conti- nents ; and constitutes a very considerable part of the subsistence of the tribes inhabiting the region it frequents. In the northern parts of Asia, and Europe, the rein-deer has been domesticated for a lonf time ; 9 98 FAMILY REIN-DEER. and with tlie exception of the dog, is the only beast of draught or burthen possessed by the natives. The North American Indians, how- ever, have never profited by the docility of this animal to aid them in transporting their families or property, though they annually destroy great numbers of them, for the sake of their flesh, hides, horns, kc. To the Laplander, they are of great importance, supplying the place of the horse, cow, sheep, and goat. The milk is used as food, and is often converted into cheese. Of the skins, a warm clothing is made for winter, and when dressed into leather they are converted into stock- ings, and shoes, and light summer clothing. Harnessed to a sledge, a rein-deer will draw about 300 pounds ; but the Laplanders generally limit the burden to 240 pounds. REIN-DEER DRAWING A SLEDGE. The trot of the rein-deer is about ten miles an hour ; and his power of endurance is such, that journies of loO miles in nineteen hours are not uncommon. There is a portrait of a rein-deer in the palace of Drotningholm, (Sweden,) which is represented, upon an occasion of emergency, to have drawn an officer with import?int despatches, the in- credible distance of eight hundred Englieh miles, in forty-eight hours. This event is stated to have happened in 1699, and the tradition adds, that the deer dropped down lifeless upon his arrival. The number of deer belonging to a herd is from three hundred to five hundred ; with these a Laplander can do well, and live in tolerable comfort. He can make in summer a sufficient quantity of cheese for the year's consumption ; and, during the winter season can afford to kill deer enough to supply him and his family pretty constantly with venison. With two hundred deer, a man, if his family be but small, can manage to get on. If he have but one hundred, his subsistence is very precarious, and he cannot rely entirely upon them for support. Should he have but fifty, he is no longer independent, or able to keep a ENCYCLOPEDIA. 99 DEEK. ELEPHANT. separate establishment ; but generally joins his small herd with that of some richer Laplander, being then considered more in the light of a menial, undertaking the laborious office of attending upon and watch- ing the herd, bringing them home to be milked, and other similar offi- ces, in return for the subsistence afforded him. The VIRGli\IA, or COMMON DEER. This deer is the smallest American species at present known, and is found in all parts of North America, and in the northern parts of South America. Considerable varieties in size and color, are presented by this species, in the exten- sive range of country in which it is found. The length of the common deer is from five feet to five feet and a half. This animal has always been of great importance to the Indians, scattered over the country, as well as to those, who have settled our western wilds. Immense numbers are still found far to the west, as is evident from the vast numbers of hides and horns which are annually brought into the market. ELEPHANT. " This wonderful quadruped," says Bigland, in his Natural History, '' is a native of Asia and Africa, but is most numerous in the latter. In the extensive regions which lie between the river Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope, elephants abound more than in any other part of the world, and are also less fearful of man ; for the savage inhabitants of those countries, instead of attempting to subdue this powerful animal, and render him subservient to their necessities, seem only desirous of avoiding his anger. In the countries near tiie Cape, elephants are seen, in large herds, consisting of many hundred, and in the vast regions of Monomrotana, Monocmerci, and other parts of the interior of Africa, they are probably still more numerous. "At the Cape, the height of the animal is from 12 to 15 feet. His eyes are very small in proportion to his size, but lively, brilliant, and full of expression. His ears are very large, long and pendulous ; but he can raise them with great facility, and make use of them as a fan to cool himself, and drive away the flies or insects. His hearing is re- markably fine : he delights in the sound of musical instruments, to which he is easily brought to move in cadence. His sense of smelling is equally delicate ; for he is highly delighted with the scent of odorif- erous herbs. In each jaw he has four grinders ; one of which, some- times measures nine inches in breadth, and weighs four pounds and a half. " The proboscis, or trunk, is a most wonderful instrument. With it, the animal can lift from the ground the smallest piece of money, se- lect herbs and flowers, untie knots, and grasp any thing so firmly, that no force can tear it from him. " Although the elephant be indisputably the strongest, as well as the largest of ail quadrupeds ; yet in its native woods it is neither formida- ble nor ferocious, but mild and peaceable in its disposition, equally fearless and inoffensive ; and when tamed by man, and tutored by his instructions, the noble animal submits to the most painful drudgery, and is so attentive to the commands of his master, that a word orlook IS sufficient to stimulate him to extraordinary exertion. *' Of all the animals that have been subjugated by the human race, 100 FAMILY ELEPHANT. the elephant is universally allowed to be the most tractable and obedi- ent. When treated with kindness, he testifies his gratitude by fulfilling all the desires of his keeper, caresses him with affectionate fondness, receives his commands with attention, and executes them with punctu- ality and zeal. He bends tlie knee for the accommodation of those who wish to mount upon his back, suffers himself to be harnessed, and seems to delight in the finery of his trappings. These animals are used in drawing chariots, waggons and various sorts of machines, hav- ing the strength of six liorses ; and they can travel near a hundred miles a day, and fifty or sixty regularly, without any violent effort. ^VARREN HASTINGS' ELEPHANT. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 101 ELEPHANT. It sometimes happens, however, that domesticated elephants make their escape to the wild herd. Warren Hastings, the governor-general of India, possessed an elephant, which had been ten years absent from the rule of man. His keeper being dismissed, he was refractory to all others, who attempted to control him ; and, at length, escaped. After the long interval we have mentioned, his old keeper recognized him, and the elephant instantlysubmitted himself. The preceding is an ex- act portrait of this beautiful animal. The instrument which he carries with his trunk is described as a cow-tail, with a silver handle, which elephants of rank bear for driving off flies. "In taking the elephant, a large piece of ground is marked out, in the midst of some forest, and surrounded with strong pahsades, inter- woven with large branches of trees ; one end of this enclosure is nar- row, from which it opens gradually, so as to take in a considerable ex- tent of country. Some thousands of people assemble, kindle large fires, of which the elephants are exceedingly afraid, and by these and the noise of drums, they drive them towards the enclosure. Another large party with the aid of female elephants trained for the purpose, urge the wild ones slowly forward, the whole train closing in after them, shouting and making loud noises, till, by insensible degrees, they are driven into the narrow part, through which there is an opening into a smaller space, strongly fenced in and guarded on all sides. As soon as a wild elephant enters this narrow passage, a strong bar closes it from behind, and he finds himself completely environed. He is then urged forward to the end of the passage, where there is just room enough for him to go througli. He is then received into the custody of two tame elephants, which stand one on each side ; and if he be likely to prove refractory, they beat him with their trunks, till he is reduced to obedi- ence and suffers himself to be led to a tree, where he is bound by the legs with stout thongs of untanned elk-skins. The tame elephants are then led back to the enclosure, and other wild ones are brought to submission in the same manner. Attendants are placed by the side of each elephant that is caught, and in the space of fourteen days, his subjugation is completed." Elephants are sometimes taken, as in the kingdom of Ava, and other places, by means of decoy female elephants. These elephants are so trained as to favor the designs of their drivers. When a male wild ele- phant is discovered alone, the decoy elephants are let loose, upon which they proceed cautiously towards him, grazing along, as if they were, like him, inhabitants of the wild forest. As they approach him, he generally makes up to them, and abandons himself to their caresses. In the mean time, the hunters cautiously creep under him, and during the intoxication of his pleasure, fasten his fore legs with a strong rope ; after which the hind legs are secured in a similar manner, when the fe- males quit him, he discovers his condition, and endeavors to make his escape. If the ropes are sufficiently strong, he soon becomes exhaust- ed with his own rage. 9* 102 FAMILY ELEPHANT. The following is a represenlalinn of the manner of securing a male- elephant as just described. This extraordinary quadruped is tliirty yeanj in arriving at its fulF growth, and lives even in a state of captivity a hundred and twenty jents ; in a state of natural freedom, the duration olits life is supposed, to be much furllier extended. " In regard to the Elephant's discernment and sagacity, stories have been related that might seem incredible, and of which some are un- doubtedly fictitious. Of such, however, as are so well authenticated as not to admit of a doubt, wc have a sufficient number to shew its su- periority over the rest of the brute creation. Some of the actions of ENCYCLOPEDIA. 103 ELEPHANT. this surprising animal might, indeed, almost seem to be the effects of a portion of intellect, rather than of mere instinct. " Among the several anecdotes communicated by the Marquis de Montmirail, we find that the cornac or conductor of an elephant, had excited the animal to make an extraordinary effort, by showing him a vessel of arrack, which he pointed out as his reward ; but when he had l>erformod his arduous task, the elephant had the mortificalion of see- ing himself disappointed of his expected recompense, and impatient of being thus mocked, immediately killed his governor. " The man's wife who was a spectator of this dreadful catastrophe, in a fit of agonizing grief, took her two Utile infants and ihxew them at the feet of the enraged animal, saying, " since you have destroyed my husband, kill me also and my children.''' The elephant immediately stopped ; and, as if stung with remorse, took up the eldest boy with his trunk, placed him on his neck, and would never after obey any other governor. It is here to be observed, that the elephant is ex- tremely fond of spirituous liquors, as well as of Vv'ine ; and the sight of a vessel filled with these liquors, v/ill induce him to make the most extraordinary exertions, and to perform the most painful tasks ; and to disappoint him is dangerous, and his revenge is almost certain. But if he is vindictive, he is equally grateful, and will suffer no kindness shown him to go unrewarded. " A soldier of Pondicherry, who frequently carried one of these an- imals a certain measure of arrack, being one day a little intoxicated, and seeing himself pursued by the guard, who were about to conduct him to prison, took refuge under the elephant, where he fell sound asleep. The gu^rd attempted in vain to take him from this asylum, the elephant defending him with his trunk. The next day, the soldier becoming sober, was terrified at seeing himself placed under so enor- mous an animal ; but the elephant caressed him with his trunk, to re- move his fears, and made him understand that ho might depart in safely. " The elephant is sometimes seized with a sort of phrenzy, which makes him extremely formidable, so that on the first symptoms of mad- ness, he is commonly killed, in order to prevent mischief: yet in these fits he has been frequently known to distinguish his benefactors ; so strongly are gratitude and magnanimity impressed on his nature. " The elephant that was kept in the menagerie, at Versailles, always discerned when any person designed to make a fool of him, and al- ways remembered an aflroijt, which he never failed to revenge at the first opportunity. Having been cheated by a man who feigned to throw something into his mouth, he struck him with his trunk, and broke two of his ribs, and afterwards trampled him under his feel, and broke one of his legs. A Painter being desirous of drawing him in the attitude of having his trunk erect and his mouth open, ordered his ser- vants to make him retain that posture, by constantly throwing him fruit ; the servant however at last deceived him, which so roused his indigna- tion, that perceiving the original cause of the deception to be the paint- er's desire of drawing him, he revenged himself by throwing with his trunk a large quantity of water on the paper, which completely spoiled the design. 104 FAMILY ELEPHANT. " The elephants exhibited in Europe are commonly of a diminutive size, as the coldness of the climate both checks the growth and abridges the life of these animals. That which has just been mentioned, and which was went by the King of Portugal to Ijonis 14th A. 1). 1C68, died in 16J!1, being four years old at his arrival, and being only tliirteen years at the menagerie at Versailles. He was six feet and a half high, at four years old, and advanced in growth only one foot, during lliu tiiirteen years that he lived in France, although he was treated with care, and fed with profusion. He had every day four pounds of bread, twelve pints of wine, two buckets of porridge, with tour or five pounds of steeped bread, and two buckets of rice boiled in water. " The elephant that died in \H0'3 at Exeter change, was brought over in t)ie Rose East Indiauian, and purchased by the owner of the mena- gerie for j£lO()0. He was generally fed with hay and straw, and could also eat with avidity, carrots, cabbages, bread and boiled potatoes. He was so excessively fond of beer, that he has been known to drink upwards of fifty quarts in a day given by his numerous visiters. He drank also nine pails of water daily, given at three different tirrtes ; but the quantity he ate could not be precisely ascertained, as he frequently scattered great part of the straw which was given him for food, and ate a considerable portion of that which formed his litter. This animal would kneel down, bow to the company, or search the pocket of his keeper at command," Tiie elephant is invariabjy employed inJndia, in hunting the tiger. Occasionally the hunter, with his rifle, is mounted on the elephant's back. When a tiger is perceived, he is fired at; if wounded, he gene- rally bounds towards tlie elephant, with savage ferocity. In the meau time, the elephant, assisted by the hunters, prepare to keep him at bay ; butif, at any time, the elephant's proboscis be injured, the contest ends from that moment. He seems to lose his self conmiand, his courage, and-even his senses, and sets off at full speed, utterly regardless of his driver, and heedless of the way he takes. The following is a represent- ation of an elephant thus wounded, fleeing from a tiger. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 105 GIGANTIC MASTODON, OR MAMMOTH. OrOAXTIC MASTODOX, or MAMMOTH. The former of these n;iiiii;s is the appropriate ap[)e]lation, according to Ur. Godman, of a cniature ofgigantic dimensions, which formerly exi^itod in North Ame- rica. The race itself is now extinct ; but nearly entire skeletons have heen found, and from thoir huffe dimensions, it is apparent that they were amonjj llie chief of the works of God. To these animals, the 106 FAMILY GIGANTIC MASTODON. name mammoth, said to be a corrviptiou ot' the Hebrew word behemoth, was formerly applied. Bui iImj more appropriate name of mastodon, has, at length been given to it by Cuvier. *' The emotions experienced." says Dr. Godman. " when, for the first time, we behold the giant relics of this great onimal, are tiiose of un- uiingled awe. We cannot avoid reflecting on the time, when this huge frame was clothed with its peculiar integuments, and moved by appro- priate muscles ; when the mighty heart dashed forth its torrents of blood through vessels of enormous calibre, and the mastodon strode along in supreme dominion over every other tenant of the wilderness. However we examine what is left to us, we cannot help feeling that this animal must have been endowed with a strength exceeding that of other quadrupeds, as much as it exceeded them in size; and, looking at its ponderous jaws, armed with teeth peculiarly formed for the most effectual crushing of the firmest substances, we are assured that its life could onl}' be supported by the destruction of vast quantities of food. Enormous as were these creatures during life, and endowed with faculties proportioned to the bulk of their frames, the whole race has been ■ extinct for ages. No traditions nor human record of their existence have been saved, and but for the accidental preservation of a comparatively few bones, we should never have dreamed that a crea- ture of such vast size and strength, once existed, — nor could we have believed that such a race had been extinguislied forever. *'Such, however," continues Dr. Godman, '^ is the fact — ages after ages have rolled away — empires and nations have arisen, flourished, and sunk into irretrievabe oblivion, while the bones of the mastodon, which perished long before the periods of their origin, have been dis- covered, scarcely changed in color, and exhibitinj; all the marks of per- fection and durability. That a race of animals so large, and consisting of so many species, should become entirely and universally extinct, is a circumstance of high interest; for it is not with the mastodon as with the elephant, which still continues to be a living genus, although many of its species have become extinct : — the entire race of the mastodon has been utterly destroyed, leaving nothing but the 'mighty wreck' of their skeletons, to testify that they once were among the living occu- pants of this land." The BEAR in general is an animal of 'ijreat strength and ferocity of disposition, slow in his movements and of sluggish habits. The eyes and ears are small, and the tongue smooth. The body and limbs are large and powerful, and covered with a thick woolly hair. Of this animal there are several species. We shall notice but three ; the black, grisly and polar bear. Black Bkaii. This bear is found throughout North America, from the shores of the Arctic sea, to its most southern extremity. He is about three feet hiii:h, and from four and a half to five feet long. His feet I'.re louo-, and crowned with five claws each. The food of this ani- mal is principally grapes, plums, whortle-berries, bramble, and other berries; he is also particularly fond of the acorns of the live oak, on which he grows excessively fat, in Florida, &c. In attempting to pro- cure these acorns, bears subject themselves to great perils, for after climbing these enormous oak-trees, they push tliemselves along the ENCYCLOPEDIA. 107 BLACK BEAR. limbs towards the extreme branches, and with their fore-paws bend the twififs within reach, thus exposing themselves to severe, and even fatal accidents, in case of a fall. They are also very fond of the differ- ent kinds of nuts and esculent roots, and often ramble to great distances from their dens, in search of whortle-berries, mulberries, and indeed all sweet flavored and spicy fruits ; birds, small quadrupeds, insects, and eggs, are devoured by them, whenever they can be obtained. In the north, the flesh of the black bear is fitted for the table, after the middle of July, when the berries begin to ripen ; though some kinds of berri*;s on which they feed, impart a very disagreeable flavor to their flesh. They remain in good condition until the following January or " February ; late in the spring, they are much emaciated, and their flesh is inditierent, in consequence of their long fasting through the season of their torpidity. The black bear, like all the species of this genus, is very tenacious of life, and seldom falls unless shot through the brain or heart. An ex- perienced hunter never advances on a bear that has fallen, v.'ithto it too warm ; while it doubtless arises from the contrary practice. Dr. J. Currie, of Liverpool, in his valuable " Treatise on the effects of Water in Fevers,''"' says, with equal truth and precision, that '' in the earlier stages of exercise, before profuse perspiration has dissipated the heat, and fatigue debilito-ted the living power, nothing is more safe, according to my experience, than the cold bath. This is so true, that I have, for some years, constantly directed infirm persons to use such a degree of exercise, before immersion, as may produce some increased action of the vascular system, with some increase of heat, and thus se- cure a force of reaction under the shock, which otherwise might not al- ways take place. But, though it be perfectly safe to get into the cold bath in the earlier stages of exercise, nothing is more dangerous than this practice, after exercise has produced profuse perspiration, and ter- minated in languor and fatigue ; because, in such circumstances, the heat is not only sinking rapidly, but the system parts more easily with the portion that remains." In short, it is a rule, liable to no exception, that moderate exercise ought always to precede cold bathing, to pro- mote the re-action of all the vessels and muscles, on entering the wa- ter; for neither previous rest, nor exercise to a violent degree, are pro- per on tliis occasion. 2. The duration of every cold bathing applied to the whole body ought to be short, and must be determined by the bodily constitution, and the sensations of the individual ; for healthy persons may continue much longer in it than valetudinarians ; and both will be influenced by the temperature of the air, so that in summer they can enjpy it for an hour, when, in spring or autumn, one or two minutes may be sufficient. Under similar circumstances, cold water acts on aged and lean persons with more violence than on the young and corpulent ; hence the former, even in the hottest days of summer, can seldom with safety remain in the bath longer than a quarter of an hour, while the latter are generally able to sustain its impressions for double that time. 3. The head should first come in contact with the water, either by immersion, pouring water upon it, or covering it for a minute with a wet cloth, and then diving head foremost into the water. 4. As the immersion will be less felt when it is efiected suddenly ; and as it is of consequence that the first impression should be uniform over the body, we must not enter the bath slowly or timorously, but, with a degree of boldness. A contrary method would be dangerous ; ENCYCLOPEDIA. 141 COLD BATHS. as it might propel the blood from the lower to the upper parts of the body, and thus occasion a fit of apoplexy. For these reasons the show- erbalkis attended with considerable advantages, because it transmits the water quickly over the whole body ; and, consequently, is more consistent with the rules before mentioned. 5. The morning is the most proper time for using the cold bath, un- less it be in a river : in which case the aflernoon, or from one to two hours before sunset, will be more eligible ; as the water has then ac- quired additional warmth from the rays of the sun, and the immersion will not interfere with digestion ; on the whole, one hour after a light breakfast, — or two hours before, or four hours after dinner, are the best periods of the day for this purpose. 6. While the bather is in the water, he should not remain inactive, but apply brisk general friction, and move his arms and legs, to pro- mote the circulation of the fluids from the heart to the extremities. It would, therefore, be extremely imprudent to continue in the water till a second chillness attacks the body ; a circumstance which would not only defeat the whole purpose intended, but might, at the same time, be productive of the most injurious effects. Immediately after the person leaves the bath, it will be necessary for him to wipe iand dry his body with a coarse and clean cloth. He should not afterwards sit inactive, or enter a carriage, unless warmly clothed and wearing flannel next the skin ; if season and circumstances permit, it will be more proper, and highly beneficial, to take gentle exercise till the equilibrium of the circulation be restored, and the vessels, as well as the muscles, have acquired a due degree of re-action. The best place for cold bathing is in the invigorating water of the sea, or a clear river ; and where neither of these can be conveniently resorted to, we recommend the Shower Bath. Its effects are doubtless more powerful than those of the common bath : and though the latter covers the surface of the body more uniformly, yet this circumstance by no means detracts from the excellence of the former : because those intermediate parts, which the water has not touched, receive an elec- tric and sympathetic impression, in a degree similar to those brought into actual contact. As every drop of water from the shower bath op- erates as a partial cold bath, its vivifying shock to robust individuals is more extensive and beneficial than from any other method of bathing. Hence this bath is possessed of the following important advantages ; 1. The sudden contact of the water may be repeated, prolonged, and modified at pleasure. 2. The head and breast are tolerably secure, as it descends towards the lower extremities : thus, the circulation is not impeded, breathing is less afltected, and a determination of blood to the head and breast is effectually obviated. 3. As the water descends in single drops, it is more stimulating and pleasant than the usual immer- sion, and can be more readily procured and adapted to circumstances. And, 4. The degree of pressure from the weight of water is here, like- wise, in a great measure prevented ; nor is the circulation of the fluids interrupted so as to render the use of this bath in any degree danger- ous ; — a circumstance of the highest importance, because, by the ordi- nary immersion, persons are often exposed to injuries which they least apprehend. 142 FAMILY COOL BATHS. — WARM BATHS HOT BATHS. COOL BATHS may be called those which are of a temperature be- tween the 56th and 76th degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. They are of great service in all cases where cold bathinjr has before been recom- mended, and require nearly similar precautions. As their influence, however, on first entering them is less violent, though their subsequent effect may be attended with equal advantages, it follows, that even persons of a more delicate organization may resort to them with great- er safety. With respect to rules for cool bathing, we refer the reader to those stated in the preceding article ; and shall only remark, that notwith- standing its effects are less perceptible while the body continues in the water, it is necessary that the bather, on coming out of it, should be wiped dry with the greatest expedition, to prevent catarrhal affec- tions. WARM BATHS, are such as have the temperature above the 76, and not exceeding the 96 or 98 degree of Fahrenheit's thermometer. " Physicians, as well as patients, have hitherto been too generally ac- customed to consider a warm bath as weakening the body, and useful only for the removal of certain diseases, especially those of the skin. Experience, however, has amply proved, that there can be no safer and more efficacious remedy, in a variety of chronic or inveterate com- plaints, than the warm bath, if properly used, and continued for a sufficient length of time. Instead of heating the human body, as has erroneously been asserted, it has a cooling effect, insomuch as it obvi- ously abates the quickness of the pulse, and reduces the pulsations in a remarkable degree, according to the length of time the patient con- tinues in the water. After the body has been overheated by fatigue from travelling, violent exercise, or from whatever cause, and likewise afler great exertion or perturbation of mind, a tepid bath is excellently calculated to invigorate the whole system, while it allays those tem- pestuous and irregular motions, which otherwise prey upon, and at length reduce the constitution to a sick-bed. Its softening and assua- sive power greatly tends to promote the growth of the body ; on which account it is peculiarly adapted to the state of such youth as manifest a premature disposition to arrive at a settled period of growth ; and it has uniformly been observed to produce this singular effect in all cli- mates." HOT BATHS are those which have a temperature above 98 or 100 degrees of Fahrenheit, and are occasionally increased to 110 or 120 de- grees, and upwards, according to the particular nature of the case, and the constitution of the patient. There can be no stated rules laid down for its use, as every thing depends upon the particular circum- stances of each patient. No prudent person will, we trust, have re- course to a hot bath without medical advice. CONTAGION, or infection, is the communication of disease from one body to another. Without entering into the disputed points on this subject, it is probable, without debate, that some diseases are con- tagious; and hence the propriety of certain rules to be observed in the apartments of those who are confined by infectious disease. 1. It is of the utmost importance to the sick, and their attendants, that there be a constant admission of fresh air into the room, and es ENCYCLOPEDIA. 143 CONTAGION. PURIFYING AND DISINFECTING AGENTS. pecially about the patient's bed. The door, or a window, should there- fore be kept open both day and night, care being taken to prevent the wind from blowing directly on the patient. 2. An attention to cleanliness is indispensable. The linen of the patient should be often changed ; and the dirty clothes, Szc. should be immediately put into fresh cold water, and afterwards well washed. The floor of the room should be cleansed every day with a mop, and all discharges from the patient should be immediately removed, and the utensils washed. 3. Nurses and attendants should endeavour to avoid the patient's breath, and the vapor from the discharges ; or, when that cannot be done, they should hold their breath for a short time. They should place themselves, if possible, on that side of the bed frpm which the current of air carries off the infectious vapors. 4. Visiters should not come near to the sick, nor remain with them longer than is absolutely necessary ; they should not swallow the spit- tle, but should clear the mouth and nostrils when they leave the roorfi. 4. No dependence should be placed on vinegar, camphor, or other supposed preventives, which, without attention to cleanliness and ad- mission offresh air are not only useless, but by their strong smell ren- der it impossible to perceive when the room is filled with bad air, or noxious vapors. If these rules be strictly observed, an infectious disease will seldom ifever, be communicated; but, if they be neglected, especially where the patient is confined to a small room, scarcely one person in fifty who may be exposed to it can resist the contagion ; even infants at the breast do not escape it, though providentially less liable to be affected than adults. Since infection originates in close, crowded, and dirty rooms, those who make a practice of admitting the fresh air, at some convenient time, every day, and of frequently cleansing and fumigating their apartments, bedding, furniture, &;c., and washing the wall with quick- lime, mixed with water, in the room, may be assured they will preserve their families from malignant fevers, as well as from other diseases. The process of fumigation is as follows : Take an equal quantity of powdered nitre, and strong vitriolic acid, or oil of vitriol, (about six drams of each are sufiicient) ; mix them in a tea-cup, stirring them occasionally with a tobacco-pipe, or piece of glass; the cup must be removed occasionally to different parts of the room, and the fumes will continue to arise for several hours. The oil of vitriol should be in quantity not weight. PURIFYING AND DISINFECTING AGENTS. In connection with the above observation on contagion, it may be proper in this place to state, that certain purifying and disinfecting agents have wuthin a few years been discovered, and which promise to be of the utmost im- portance to the world. These are the chlorides of soda and lime. Al- ready have they been extensively used on the Continent, and are be- ginning to be used in the United States. By means of these, gutters, vaults, sinks, sewers, hospitals, alms-houses, may be entirely purified ; and even putrefaction disarmed of its noxious and destructive influ- ence. 144 FAMILY TOBACCO. The chloride of soda, which is liquid, is more expensive, and more powerful than the chloride of lime, which is in form of a white powder, and hence the former is applicable to disinfecting operations on a small scale. They are both used, mixed with more or less water, according to the intention in view. If a body is to be preserved before burial, add about a pint of the concentrated chloride of soda to a bucket-full of water, and cover the body with a sheet dipped in this solution, which must be sprinkled occasionally over the corpse. Or if the chlo- ride of lime is employed, make a mixture of about a pound of the chloride with two buckets-full of water, and proceed as before. For Vaults^ take two ounces of the chloride of lime to three or four pints of water, and sprinkle from time to time, by means of a watering- pot. To preserve the health of workmen employed in common sewers, a pound of the chloride of lime should be dissolved in three buckets-full of water, and a bucket-full of the solution should be placed by the side of the workmen, to be employed by them in washing their hands and arms, and moistening their nostrils, and for sprinkling on the filth. For Ships^ take a spoonful or more of either chloride, add it to a bottle of water, and sprinkle the solution in the hold, and over the decks. For purifying offensive Water^ mix it with the chloride of lime in the proportion of one or two ounces of the latter to about sixty-five gallons of the former. After being thus disinfected, the water must be exposed to the air, and allowed to settle for some time before it can be drunk. TOBACCO. The chewing of tobacco has been and is still \ery extensive throughout our country, and indeed throughout the world, wherever it is known. Extensive liowever as its use is, and " bewitch- ing''' as Sir Hans Sloan says it is ; it no longer remains doubtful that it is a practice, fraught with almost innumerable evils. Were other testimony insufficient, that of the ablest physicians of the country should decide the question. " The chewing of tobacco" says Dr. John C. Warren, as quoted by the author of Dyspepsia forestalled and resist- ed — " is not necessary or useful in any case, that I know of: and I have abundant evidence to satisfy me, that its use may be discontinued without pernicious consequences. The common belief, that it is bene- ficial to the teeth, is, I apprehend, entirely erroneous. On the contra- ry, by poisoning and relaxing the vessels of the gums, it may impair the healthy condition of the vessels, belonging to the membranes of the socket, with the condition of which the state of the tooth is closely connected." Similarly strong is the testimony of the editors of the Journal of Health. " Tobacco," say they, "is, in fact, an absolute poison. A very moderate quantity introduced into th« system — even applying the moistened leaves over the stomach — has been known very suddenly to extingfuish life. The Indians of our own country were well aware of its poisonous effecls, and were accustomed, it is said, on certain oc- casions, to dip the points of their arrows in an oil obtained from the leaves, which being inserted into the flesh, occasioned sickness and laiating, or even convulsions and death. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 145 EFFECTS OF CERTAIN LIQUORS. It must be evident to every one, that the constant use of an article possessing such deleterious properties, cannot fail, at length, to in^u- euce the health of the system. In whatever form it may be employed, a portion of the active princi- ples of the tobacco, mixed with 1 he saliva, invariably finds its way into the stomach, and disturbs or impairs the functions of that oriran. Hence, most, if not all, of those who are accustomed to the use of to- bacco, labour under dyspeptic symptoms. They experience, at inter- vals, a want of appetite — nausea — inordinate thirst — vertigo — pains and distention of the stomach — disagreeable sensations of the head tremors of the limbs — disturbed sleep, and are more or less emacia- ted. Of smoking and snuffing, it will only be necessary to add that the practice is followed in general by the same evils which afflict the to- bacco chewer. Nor is there any safety or immunity for such persons, but abstinence — resolute and entire abstinence. EFFECTS OF CERTAIN LIQUORS. The late Dr. Rush, who paid great attention to the subject, has presented us with the follow- ing view of the physical, moral and immoral effects of certain liquors upon the body and mind of men, which we appropriately assign to this place. 13 m 146 FAMILY OPIUM AND LAUDANUM. Liquors. Upon his body. Upon his mind. Upon his condi- tion in Society. Water, (to which " 'Good api^tite. A peaceable dispo- f may be added Health, sition. Reputation Soda-water,) S Sound sleep, Serenity of mind. and Molasses and wa- A nagreeaiile com- Industry and Wealth. ter, plexion and long Domestic happi- Molasses-beer & life. ne.ss. Small beer, > ' 'Strength and a power in the sys- tem to resist the Cider, extremes of heat Cheerfulness, Friendship, Perry, o and cold, provid- Good humour, Honour, Wine, J . ed they at e taken Generosity and Public and pri- Porter and o in small quanti- Social pleasures. vate confidence. Strong beer. Oh ties, and chiefly with meals. s- ■ 'Tremors in the hands, Sickness and puk- Idleness, Peevishness, Quarrelling and != ing in the morn- Scolding, Poverty, discov- Punch, ing, Obscene conver- ered in a filthy Toddy, Indigestion, sation, house, «nd in Grog, Belching, Uncleanliness, ragged cloth- Milk-punch, Hiccup, . Black eyes from ing. Slings, Red eyes andnose, fighting, Debt, Flip, Rosc-budsovertlie Broken bones Detestation by Egg-nog, whole face, and from falls. family and Liquors, after a while a Adultery, friends. Bitters made with i pallid face, Gaming, Hospital, spirits, '1 ^ Fetid breath. Lying, Jail, Raw-rum, Hoarseness, Cursing, blasphe- Hard-labour, Brandy, A short cough. ming, Chains, Whiskey and Sore and swelled Swearing, A solitary cell. Spirits in the legs. Pilfering, Disgrace, morning, Pains in the limbs, Stealing, Universal con- The same two or Burning in the Perjury, tempt, three times a palms of the Picking pockets. Imprisonment day. hands and soals House breaking, for life, The <»ame every ' of the feet, Assaults on the The Gallows. hour in the day, Jaundice, highway. and in the Dropsy, Murder. night, Loss of memory and self respect, Palsy, Apoplexy, J 1 Madness, Death. I L OPIUM AND LA UD ANUM. In the hands of the judicious physi- cian, opium is a val uable medicine, and both that and laudanum in certain cases indispei isable. But when taken habitually as they fre- quently are to mitiga te unpleasant feelings, or remove melancholy, the habit is to be placed along side of the disgusting practice of chewing tobacco, and wh at is worse, the awfu vice of drinkini I to exces-s. In ENCYCLOPEDIA. 147 WOUNDS. point of morality it can make little difference whether a person stupi- fies his faculties by the use of brandy or opium ; and among men, the infamy which is now attached to excess in the use of the former, should alike follow excess as to the latter. " We have indeed few genuine opium eaters among us," observes the author of " Dyspepsy Forestalled and Resisted" — more we believe, than this author seems to be aware of— "but," continues he " the lau- danum and paregoric phial are considered almost indispensable in eve- ry family. Nor does the mother hesitate night after night, to quell the cries of her infant child, by administering increasing doses of these poisons." Less danger, it is believed, results from this practice, than this author imagines. It is not that children are so often injured : it is older folks. It is " the nervous invalid" and " the delicate votary of fashion.'' And in respect to their habitual use of opium and lauda- num, no terms of condemnation are too severe. Truly and even elo- quently have the Editors of the Journal of Health expressed their ab- horrence of this practice. " However repugnant to our feelings," say they, " as rational beings, may be the vice of drunkenness, it is not more hurtful in its effects thin the practice of taking laudanum." " This is not the language of exaggeration or speculative fear. We speak from a full knowledge of facts. We repeat it— the person who gives into thd habit for weeks, (he may not reach to months, or if he pass these, his years will be but few and miserable,) of daily measuring out to himself his drops of laudanum, or his pills of opium, or the de- leterious substance, call it tincture, solution, mixture, potion, what you will, is destroying himself, as surely as if he were swallowing arsenic, or had the pistol -applied to liis head. The fire of disease may for a while be concealed — he may smile incredulous at our prediction : but the hour of retribution will come, and the consequences will be ter- rible." WOUNDS are recent divisions of the soft parts of the body, occa- sioned by external causes. They are generally divided into five classes, viz. incised^ lacerated., contused,, punctured^ and poisoned wounds. We propose to offer a few remarks upon the first and last kinds of wounds. Lncised wounds are those which are cut with a sharp instrument. These wounds generally occur suddenly and accidentally ; and not unfrequently are of so severe a nature, as to demand immediate atten- tion, even before a surgeon can be procured. In such a case, what shall be done .'' The first step is to stop the bleeding. If an artery be cut, the blood is of a bright scarlet color, and gushes from the bleeding vessel iii a jet, with great force. In this case, the pressure of the thumb, or palm of the hand, must be on the side of the wound, next the heart ; and if this be not sufEcient, pass a handkerchief round the limb above the wound,, tie its two ends together, and twist it, by means of a cane, or stick, until the blood ceases to flow, so as to endanger the life of the patient. Now send immediately for a surgeon. But, if a surgeon be not to be obtained, and the life of the patient be in danger, any discreet person may wax together three or four threads of a sufficient length, cut the ligature they form, into as many pieces ' as you think there are vessels to be taken up, each piece being about a fx)ot long. Wash the parts with warm water, and then with a sharp 148 FAMILY WOUNDS. hook, or a slender pair of pincers in your hand, fix your eye steadfast- ly upon the wound, and direct the handkerchief to be relaxed by a turn or two of the stick ; you will now see the mouth of the artery from which the blood springs, seize it with your hook or pincers, draw it a little out, while some one passes a ligature round it, and ties it up tight, with a double knot. In this way, take up in succession every bleeding vessel you can see, or get hold of. If the wound is too high up a limb to apply the handkerchief, don't lose your presence of mind, the bleeding can still be commanded. If it is the thigh, press firmly in the groin, if in the arm, with the hand end, or ring of a common door-key, make the pressure above the col- lar bone, and about its middle against the first rib, which lies under it. The pressure is to be continued until assistance is procured, and the vessel tied up. If the wound is on the head, press your finger firmly on it, until a compress can be brought, which must be bound firmly over the artery by a bandage. If the wound is in the face, or so situated that pressure cannot be effectually made, or you cannot get hold of the vessel, and the blood flows fast, place a piece of ice directly over the wound, and let it remain there, till the blood coagulates, when it may bo removed, and a compress and bandage be applied. But, if a vein only be cut, and this will be known by the running of the blood in an unbroken stream, and of a dark purple, red color, cleanse the wound with a soft sponge, and warm water, dry the skin with a warm soft cloth, bring the parts neatly and closely together, keeping them in that position by narrow strips of sticking or adhe- sive pleister. The number of straps should be in proportion to the ex- tent of the wound, and at some little distance from one another, to allow the escape of any fluid, which may run from the wound. A soft compress of old linen, or lint may be laid over the wound, thus dres- sed, and the whole bandaged ogT&^ttuiy ligli'i. Und9? oruiimry cir- cumstances, this dressing should not be removed, until the third or fourth day, or longer. If pain or heat ensue, wet the part with spirit and water. A cooling diet and regimen should be observed, and every kind of motion and disturbance of the part avoided. Poisoned wounds. By these are meant wounds occasioned by the bite of the mad dog, rattle-snake, or by the sting of the wasp, hornet, &c. The signs of madness in a dog are as follows. At the commence- ment he becomes sullen — retires from the family, ceases to bark, but growls continually at strangers, and without any apparent cause refu- nes to eat, or drink. His gait is unsteady, nearly resembling that of a man almost asleep. At the end of three or four days, he abandons his dwelling, roving continually in every direction ; he walks or runs, as if tipsy, and frequently falls. His hair is bristled up ; his eyes haggard, fixed, and sparkling ; his head hangs down ; his mouth is open, and full of frothy slaver ; his tongue hangs out, and his tail is between his legs. He has for the most part, but not always, a horror of water, the sight of which seems generally to redouble his sufferings. He experiences from time to time transports of fury, and endeavors to bite every object whith ENCYCLOPEDIA. 149 WOUNDS. — STRAINS. presents itself, not even excepting his master, whom, indeed, he begins not to recognize. Light and lively colors greatly increase his rage. At the end of thirty or thirty-six hours, he dies in convulsions. The instant a person is bitten by a mad dog, rattle-snake, or any rabid animal, or reptile, he should apply a ligature, by means of the stick, above the wound, as tightly as ho dan well bear it, and without hesitation, or delay, cut out the parts bitten, taking along with them a portion of the surrounding sound flesh. The wound should then be freely touched with caustic, or have turpentine poured into it. A de- coction of Spanish flies, in turpentine, may also be applied to the skin surrounding the wound. By these means inflammation will be exci- ted, and suppuration follow, which may prevent the usual dreadful consequences of such accidents. As soon as the parts are cut out, take off the ligature. Should the patient be too timid to allow the use of the knife, burn the wound very freely with caustic, and place in it a tuft of tow or cotton, well moistened with the above decoction. The discharge of matter that follows should be kept up for some time. The only rea- sonable chance for safety, is found in the above plan. The use of the chlorurets, however, in treating wounds from rabid animals, is now becoming general, in France and Germany, and many satisfactory cases are recorded. M. Schoenberg, a German surgeon, states, that of three persons who were bitten by a dog, two who used tjie chloruret of lime, recovered from their wounds, whilst the third, who refused to submit to the treatment, died raving mad. This gen- tleman applies to the wounds, twice a day, a piece of lint dipped in a solution of the chloruret, and orders his patients to take three times a day, from two drachms, to one ounce of the chloruret in water. A medicine, highly recommended in hydrophobia, is said to have been lately adopted in France, viz. the injection of warm water into the veins. To make the employment of the remedy safe, and to prevent pressure of the brain, the same quantity of blood should be previously abstracted, as it is intended there should bo water injected ; with this precaution, it is believed the remedy is a very proper one. The blood may be set flowing from one vein, w^hile the water is injected at another. For the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets, the part may be plunged into extremely cold water, where it should be held for some time, or which, perhaps is still more effectual, an application may be made of hartshorn, or of laudanum. Musquilo bites may be treated in the same manner, or a solution of common salt and water made very strong, will speedily remo"5e the pain. Camphorated spirits, vinegar, &c., may also be used for the same purpose. A solution of Prussian blue in soft water, with which the parts are to be kept constantly moist, is a highly celebrated remedy for the stings of bees, wasps, &c. &c. STRAINS or SPRAINS. An experienced physician holds the following language on the subject of strains. " Strains are often attended with worse consequences than broken bones. The reason is obvious ; they are generally neglected. When a broken bone is to be healed, the patient is compelled to keep quiet, 13* 150 FAMILY FKOZEN LIMBS. BURNS AND SCALDS. because he cannot do otherwise. But when only a joint is strained, the person finding he can still make a shift to move, is sorry to lose his time, for so trifling an accident. In this way he deceives himself, and converts into an incurable evil, what might have been removed by keeping the part easy for a few days. Country people generally immerse a strained limb in cold water. This is very proper, provided it be done immediately, and not continu- ed too long ; in which case the parts are relaxed, instead of being braced. Wrapping a bandage around the strained part is also of use. It helps to restore the proper tone of the vessels, and prevents the action of the parts from increasing the disease. It should not, however, be applied loo tight. But what we would recommend above all is ease. It is more to be depended on, than any medicine, and seldom fails to remove the complaint. A great many external applications are recommended for sprains, some of which do good, and others hurt. The following are such as may be used with the greatest safety, viz. camphorated spirit, volatile liniment, common fomentations of bitter herbs, with the addition of spirit or brandy. Previous to other applications, the sprained joint should be immersed in warm soap suds, and rubbed for an hour lightly with the balls of the fingers. The evening is the best time for this operation. TREATMEiNT OF FROZEN LIMBS. To Uiaw frozen limbs, they should be rubbed in snow or water, with ice in it, until sensibility and motion return. Due care should be taken not to break slender parts, such as fingers, ears, &c. When feeling and the power of mo- tion are restored, continue the friction with brandy, oil of amber, tinc- ture of myrrh, ur camphorated spirit. Put the patient to bed in a room with a fire in it ; give mulled wine ; and in this situation let him re- main until a perspiration appears, and a perfect recovery of sensibility takes place. If the whole body be frozen, the above prescription is to be observed. When signs of life appear, strong volatiles should be applied to the nose ; blow into the lungs. Tobacco injections should never be used, in cases of suspended animation. BURNS and SCALDS. For these, some persons make use of cot- ton bats ; and, if the parts are not blistered, and the injury not very extensive, the remedy is a good one ; yet children will seldom endure the application of cotton wool to any serious burn. It is well to cover the surface of the cotton, which is applied to the burn, with olive oil. Others recommend the constant application of brandy, vinegar, and water mixed together, the bathing to be continued till the pain is gone. The celebrated Mr. Abernethy, however, recommends the use of the oil of turpentine mixed with basilicon ; at llie same time, to give the patient some warm wine and a few drops of opium, and afterwards to place him in a warm bed. This stimulating plan of treatment, how- ever, is not to be continued after the equilibrium of the temperature is restored. The following application for a burn has been used with great success; viz. olive oil, three ounces ; lime water, four ounces — the mixture to be applied to the affected part with a feather, or earners hair pencil. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 151 DRESS AND DIET OF CHILDREN. Burns produced by gunpov/der should have the cause removed by the pomt of a needle to be followed by an emollient poultice to the part af- fected. In order that the most correct treatment for burns and scalds should be known, Mr. Abernethy lately recommended his pupils to dip two of their fingers in boiUng water, and let them be fairly scalded ; and then take them out, and dip one into a basin of cold water, and dress the other with the turpentine and basilicon. " I do not want to try, (remarked Mr. A, ;) I have decided already, and therefore have no occasion to scald my fingers." In addition to the opinion of Mr. Aber- nethy, we beg to subjoin that of Sir A. Cooper. "Lime water and milk have been commonly used ; but oil of turpentine is the best appli- cation. Give opium and wine, as long aa the chilly state continues ; but as soon as the heat is developed, and the pulse has recovered its power, do not continue it any longer; other means must then be em- ployed to reduce the inflammation." DRESS OF CHILDREN. The dress of children should be warm, but so soft and pliable as not to obstruct the easy motion of the joints. " The absurd custom," observes the Book of Health, " of confining the body of the infant by heavy bandages, formerly prevalent, is yielding to the more rational dictates of nature and common sense ; but the ri- diculous length of clothing in the earlier periods of infancy, still keeps its ground, though equally absurd. To the child it is a continual source of considerable uneasiness; obstruction is continually made to the freedom of circulation and breathing; and the more the child en- deavors to relieve itself, the more it v/astes its power, and, consequent- ly, interferes v.'ith its growth. Be careful, therefore, not to increase the perspiration to an unnecessary degree. A short shift, and a flannel v/aistcoat tied behind, with a short petticoat sewed to it, and a short gown, rather stouter in winter than in summer, are all the clothes which a child requires. If the child be weakly, a flannel shirt may be useful ; otherwise, too many clothes will render it tender, and susceptible of the least cold. Stockings are an unnecessary appendage, until the child be seven or eight months old ; for it is beneficial to expose the legs, arms, and breasts of healthy children to the open air : the clothing of infants cannot be made too short." DIET OF CHILDREN. « Remember, (says Mr. Abernethy,) it is not the quantity of food we eat, but the quantity we digest, which af- fords the nourishment to our bodies." Over-feeding, as well as im- properly feeding of children, is highly injudicious ; therefore the strict- est attention ought to be paid to dieting. Fortunate is the child who (during the first four months of its existence) is nourished with no oth- er aliment than the milk of its mother ; but, if the child be weakly, and the mother's milk insufficient, a cup of beef tea, and a crumb of bread may be daily given. At four months old, the child may be fed twice in the day ; once with biscuits or stale bread, boiled in an equal mix- ture of milk and water, and once with light broth and bread, arrow- root, or rice. After the first six months, weak veal or chicken broth may be given ; and, progressively, with broth, vegetables which are not very flatulent ; viz. carrots, endive, spinage, parsnips, &c. When the infant is taken early from the breast, the diet should principally con- sist of cow's milk warmed, and poured on bread, (first soaked in wa- ter,) and of light broth with bread : should the child be purged, the milk 152 FAMILY SLEEP. EXERCISE. must be boiled. When the child is weaned, and has acquired its pro- per teeth, it will be necessary to let it have small portions of meat and vegetables ; also, dLshos prepared of flour, as the most simple food is the most nutritive. Piipiry, confectionary, heavy or compound dishes, ought to be withheld, particularly from delicate children. Potatoes should be allowed only in moderation, and those not eaten with butler, but mashed up with other vegetables. It is advisable to accustom chil- dren to a certain regularity in their aliment, by giving them their meals at stated periods of the day ; which will render them less subject to de- bility and disease, give the stomach time to recover its tone, and to collect the juices necessary for digestion. To children of four or five years old, animal food may be allowed at dinner ; and bread and milk night and morning ; due regard being, at all times, paid to the health and habits of the child. SLEEP. " Infants, from the time of their birth, should be encour- aged to sleep in the night in preference to the day ; therefore, mothers and nurses ought to remove every thing which may tend to disturb their rest, and not to attend to every call for taking them up and giving food at improper periods. Infants cannot sleep too long ; when they enjoy a calm, long-continued rest, it is a favorable symptom. Until the third year, children generally require a little sleep in the middle of the day ; for, till that age, half their time may safely be allotted to sleep. Every succeeding year, the time ought to be shortened one hour ; so tliat a child seven years old may sleep about ten hours. Children ought to rise at six o'clock in the summer, and at seven in the winter. It is extremely injudicious to awaken children with a noise, or to carry them immediately from a dark room into the glaring light, or against a daz- zling wall : the sudden impression of light may debilitate the organs of vision, and lay the foundation of weak eyes. — Wet clothes or linen should never be allowed to be hung to dry in the bed-room, as an im- pure atmosphere is attended with various and often fatal consequences. " Banish (says Professor Hufeland) feather beds, as they are unnatural and debilitating contrivances." The bedstead should notbe placed too low on the floor ;' and it is highly improper to sufier children to sleep on a couch which is made without a sufficient elevation from the ground. EXERCISE. " The effbrt at exercise is both pleasant and service- able to a child ; and as it grows up, it is proper to regularly exercise it. Children who are perfectly healthy are in almost uninterrupted mo- tion ; but if exercise, either from its violence or too long duration, ex- ceed the proper limits, it naturally quickens the circulation and respi- ration, which may occasion the rupture of small blood-vessels and in- flammatory diseases. A weakly child ought not to be allowed to stand or walk long together ; but should be alternately carried, drawn in a vehicle, and invited to walk. If a child seek to put its feet on the ground, let it do so ; but do not force it to walk. In the first period of life, the exertion ofcrying is almost the only exercise of the infant ; by which the circulation of the blood, and all the other fluids, are render- ed more uniform ; digestion, nutrition, and the growth of the^ody, are thereby promoted, and the different secretions of the skin (together w ith insensible perspiration) are duly performed. The loud complaints of infants deserve attention ; for if their cries be violent and long con- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 153 ^ ■'''"*■' ' - - WASHING AND BATHING. — TEETHING. tinued, and they draw their legs towards the belly, it may safely be concluded, they are troubled with colic pains ; and no time should be lost in yielding relief. To endeavor to prevent an infant from crying on every occasion, is to do it an irreparable injury ; for, by such mis- management, it never acquires a perfectly formed breast, and frequent- ly the foundation is laid in the pectoral vessels for obstructions and other diseases. If children have been properly exposed to the air from infancy, they :^iay, if healthy, be safely exercised in it in all seasons. The sooner infants are taken into the air, they become less subject to cold, convulsions, disordered bowels, and the rickets, — diseases so fre- quent among those who are reared in nurseries." WASHING and BATHING. '' The benefit to be derived from the daily practice of washing a child with cold water from head to foot, is almost incredible ; it strengthens the nerves, maintains a sound and healthy state of the pores of the skin, and renders the surface of the body less susceptible of external impressions. In general, a child may bei begun to be washed in this manner in the third or fourth week, warm water being used till that period, which must be changed for cooler, until it be gradually reduced to cold. In frosty weather, a lit- tle warm water may be added to the cold. It is highly imprudent to wash children directly after they rise from their bed, as the pores are then open ; but, in about half an hour afterwards, if they be cool, they should be washed quickly. Avoid wotting the skin gradually ; else the skin is not excited by the friction. After washing, rub the body until it be dry and warm. Delicate children should be washed in the eve- ning, and placed in bed immediately afterwards. — In a striking manner does the cold bath preserve and promote the health of children; it re- freshes and invigorates the organs of the skin, and considerably miti- gates the diseases of measles and small-pox. It is proper to begin the practice in warm weather, and to continue it through every season af- l§rv.'2.rds. Delicate and weakly children must be bathed in luke-warm water ; but, as they increase in strength, the degree of warmth may be diminished. For ihe first two or three months, the child should re- main in the bath for a few minutes only at a time ; which as it grows older, may be gradually increased to a quarter of an hour. The body, while in the bath, should be gently rubbed with the hand, or a piece of sponge, and the greatest care taken in rubbing it dry. If the shock of a cold bath appear too powerful for the constitution, bathing in salt and water may be substituted. If a child after bathing should feel dis- posed to sleep, it may be indulged ; and weakly children using the cold bath, may wear a flannel shirt. A child should not be bathed directly after eating ; nor, in cold weather, after coming out of the bath, exposed to the cold air." TEETHING. This is an important and critical period of a child's life, and the dansfer generally increases in proportion to the delay of a child's getting its teeth. In general, children beffin to cut their teeth between the fifth and eighth month. The symptoms attendant upon teething are well known ; but many of the evils may be prevented by a strict attention to the bowels of the patient ; for if the child be of a full habit of body, it is essential to have them in a lax state. If there be considerable fever, the gums may be scarified, and leeches applied behind the ears; but blisters have been used instead of leeches, with 154 FAMILY SUMMER COMPLAINT. HOOPING COUGH. considerable effect. With strong healthy children, the process of teeth- ing passes off without the least difficulty ; but it is generally the con- trary with those who are weak or unhealthy. The practice of giving a child a coral, or other hard substance into its hand, cannot be too se- verely reprobated; a crust of bread, or a piece of wax candle, will be found much better. Opium is sometimes given in order to allay the pain and irritation ; but as it is attended with some danger, it ought to be prohibited from being used in the nursery, and a tea-spoonful of sy- rup of poppies substituted ; and this only in cases of urgency. To ena- ble a child to pass easily through this dangerous period, every thing that has a tendency to promote general health, and prevent fever, should be resorted to ; such as pure air, exercise, nutritious food, &c. SUMMER COMPLAINT. This is a disease which is said to de- stroy nearly one fourth of all the children who die, in the Middle and Southern States. Its chief causes are, doubtless, heated and impure air, and errors in regard to diet. Hence, as might be supposed, the dis- ease is most prevalent in crowded cities, and among the poorer classes, whose children are badly nursed, and especially neglected as to clean- liness of their persons and clothing. One of the most effectual means, therefore, of preserving children from an attack of this complaint, is to seek for them a healthy situa- tion in the country, where they can enjoy the benefit of pure air. This, however, cannot always be effected — still much may be done by pa- rents, who are confined with their families to the city, to prevent this disease. In such cases, the children should occupy, always, the largest and most airy room in the house ; if possible, on the secondjiloor. The room should be guarded from exposure to the direct rays of the sun, while a constant and free ventilation is kept up. The utmost cleanli- ness must also be observed in the room, as well as in the person and clothing of tlie children. During the summer months, the daily use of the cold or tepid bath, while it ensures the cleanliness of the skin, is a very powerful means of preventing this disease. It should not, therefore, be neglected, pro- vided there is no circumstance connected with the health and constitu- tion of the child to forbid its employment. In clear weather, and in the cool of the day, children should be fre- quently carried abroad, in the most open and healthy parts of the neigh- borhood; or, when tht- parents have it in their power, a considerable benefit will bo derived from repeated rides in an open carriage, into the neighboring country. HOOPING COUGH. This is a disease distinguishable from all others by its shrill whoop, an-ING. bladders filled with lukewarm water should be applied to different parts of the body, particularly to the pit of the stomach ; or a warm- ing-pan wrapped in flannel gently moved along the spine ; or aromatic fomentations frequently and cautiously repeated. 8. As the breathing of many persons in an apartment would render the air mephitic, and thus retard, or even prevent the restoration of life, not more than live or si\- assistants should be suffered to remain in the room where the body is deposited. Stimulants generallt employed. 1. Moderate friction with soft warm flannel at tlie beginning, and gradually increased by means of brushes dipped in oil till pulsations of the heart are perceptible. 2. Inflation of the lungs, which may be more conveniently effected by blowing into one of the nostrils, than by introducing air into the mouth. For the former purpose, it is necessary to be provided with a wooden pipe, fitted at one extremity for filling the nostril, and at the other for being blown iiito by a healthy person's mouth, or for receiv- ing the muzzle of a pair of common bellows, by which the operation may be longer continued. At first, however, it will always be more proper to introduce the warm breath from the lungs of a living person, than to commence with cold atmospheric air. louring this operation, the other nostril and the mouth should be closed by an assistant, while a third person gently presses the chest with his hands as soon as the lungs are observed to be inflated. 3. Stimulating clysters, consisting of warm water and common salt, era strong solution of tartar emetic, or decoctions of aromatic iieibs, or six ounces of brandy should be speedily administered. We do not consider injections of the smoke of tobacco, or even clysters of that narcotic plant, in all instances safe or proper. 4. Let the body be gently rubbed with common salt, or with flannels dipped in spirits ; the pit of the stomach fomented with hot brandy, the temples stimulated with spirits of hartshorn, and the nostrils oc- casionally tickled with a feather. 5. Persons of a very robust frame, and whose skin after being dried assumes a rigid and contracted surface, may be put into a sub-tepid bath, of about 65*^ which must be gradually raised to 75" or 80° of Fahrenheit's scale, according to circumstances ; or the body carried to a brewhouse, and covered with warm grains for three or four hours ; but these expedients generally require medical assistance. 6. Violent shaking and agitation of the body by the legs and arms, though strongly recommended, and supposed to have often forwarded the recovery of children and boys, apears to us a doubtful i-emedy, which can be practised only in certain cases. 7. Sprinkling the naked body of a drowned person with cold water ; Bubmitting it to the operation of a shower-bath, or the sudden shocks of the electric fluid ; as well as whipping it with nettles, administering emetics, and blood-letting, are desperate expedients, which should be resorted to only after the more lenient means have been unsuccessfully employed. It is, however, a vulgar and dangerous error to suppose that persons apparently dead by immersion under water are irrecoverable, because ENCYCLOPEDIA. 163 CHOKING. life does not soon re-appear ; hence we seriously entreat those who are thus employed in the service of humanity to persevere for three or four hours at least in the application of the most appropriate remedies above described ; for there are many instances recorded of patients who recovered after they had been relinquished by all their medical and other assistants. Treatment on the return of life. As soon as the first symp- toms of that happy change become discernible, additional care must be taken to cherish the vital action by the most soothing means. All violent proceedings should, therefore, be immediately abandoned, no farther stimulants applied, nor even the ears of the patient be annoyed by loud speaking, shouting. Sic. At that important crisis, moderate friction only is requisite. And, if the reviving person happen to be in the bath, he may either remain there, provided his sensations be easy and agreeable, or be removed to a comfortable bed, after being expe- ditiously dried with warm flannels : fomentations of aromatic plants may then be applied to the pit of the stomacli ; bladders filled with warm water, placed to the left side ; the soles of the feet rubbed with salt ; the mouth cleared of froth and mucus, and a little white wine, or a solution of salt in water, dropped on the tongue. But all strong stimulants, such as powerful electric shocks, strong odors of volatile salts, Szc. are at this period particularly injurious. Lastly, the patient after resuscitation, ought to be for a short interval resigned to the efforts of Nature, and left in a composed and quiescent state : as soon as he is able to swallow, without compulsion or persuasion, warm wine, or tea, witli a few drops of vinegar, instead of milk, or gruel, v/arm beer, and the like, should be given in small quantities frequently repeated. CHOKING. As soon as any person is observed to be choked, and more particularly children, the obstructing body should be felt for with a finger at the top of the throat ; it is possible many times to remove it directly, and should we fail in this, the puking excited by the finger frequently removes the oflending body. Food, and foreign substances are sometimes lodged in the top of the wind-pipe and produce immediate suflfocation ; help in this case must be afiforded at the moment, by introducing the finger. Sometimes, however, a bunch of thread with several small nooses, secured upon the end of a piece of whalebone, will frequently be serviceable, in remov- ing sharp pointed bodies, as fishbones, needles, Szc. Should this fail, a piece of sponge may be fastened to the whalebone, and passed into the stomach, and when it becomes enlarged by moisture, it most fre- quently brings away any foreign substance which may be present : the enlargement of the sponge may be forwarded by the patient swallow- ing a little water. Vomiting will sometimes succeed ; tliough this should not be attempted when the substance is sharp and pointed. Unless the offending body can be seen, any apparatus is unsafe ex- cept in the hands of an experienced surgeon. Presence of mind will enable any person to do much, in all cases of casualty, and particularly in this, and the directions above, are suffi- cient. The finger, and the vomiting it is sure to produce, will do much more at the instant than is commonly thought. 164 FAMILY FAMILY DISPENSATORY. LIGHTNING. Persons apparently dead from lightning may be frequently restored by proper means. Sprinkling or affusion of cold water, and in general the means laid down for aerial poisons, are to be persevered in. A rigidity of the limbs usually attends persons recov- ering from a stroke of lightning ; sprinkling, and rubbing the parts with cold water should often be used. The means to be used for the recovering of persons suddenly depri- ved of life, are nearly the same in all cases. They are practicable by every one who happens to be present at the accident, and require no great expense, and less skill. The great aim is to preserve or restore the vital warmth and motion. This may in general be attempted by heat, frictions, blowing air Into the lungs, administering clysters, cordials, &c. These must be varied according to circumstances. Common sense and the situation of the patient, will suggest the means of relief. Above all we would recom- mend perseverance. Much good may, and no harm can result ; who would grudge pains in such a case ? SECTION III. FAMILY DISPENSATORY. Every family should know something about the weights and meas- ures which are used by apothecaries, and the signs by which they are denoted. WEIGHTS. The pound - 16 contains twelve ounces, - ounce - 3 - eight drachms, - drachm - 3 - three scruples, - scruple - 9 - twenty grains. - grain - gr The grain weights are stamped with punch marks, indicative of the number of grains each is equivalent to. MEASURE OF FLUIDS. The gallon - cong. contains eight pints. - pint - (octavus.) - sixteen fluid drachms. - fluid ounce f 3 eight fluid drachms. - fluid drachm f 3 sixty minims. - minim or drop Til A table spoonful is supposed to be equal to half an ounce, or four drachms — yet many of the modern spoons will contain five drachms. A tea spoonful will equal sixty or seventy drops. A drop will contain a quantity proportioned to the size of the mouth of the vial from which it falls. A common ounce vial should be a medium size. Where the dose furnished for an adult is a certain quantity, the proper dose for a person of fourteen years will be two thirds of that ENCYCLOPEDIA. 165 FAMILY DISPENSATORY. quantity — for seven years, one half— for five years, one third — for three years, one fourth — for twenty-eight months, one fifth — for four- teen months, one eighth — for seven months, one twelfth — for two months, one fifteentlF— for one month, one twentieth — under, one twenty-fourth. * It is recommended that laudanum, antimonial wine, and other active fluids, should not be given to young children after there is a cloud in them, as the strength is then uncertain. In such cases, the substance having fallen to the bottom, the top of the fluid is weaker, and the bottom stronger. Laxative Pills. Take of powder of cinnamon, 10 grains ; socoto- rine aloes in fine powder, and castile soap, of each one drachm. Beat them together in a stone or iron mortar, adding one or two drops of sirup or molasses. Make into 32 pills. Dose for grown persons, two at bed time. Pills of Aloes and Fetida. Take socotorine aloes, assafcetida, and soap, equal parts. Pill with gum arable. These pills are good in indigestion, attended with costiveness, and wind in the stomach and bowels. Hull's Colic Pills. Take cinnamon, cloves, mace, myrrh, safiron, ginger, castile soap, of each one drachm, socotorine aloes one ounce, essence of peppermint sufficient to moisten it. Make common sized pills, and take them till they operate. Purging Pills. Take rhubarb one part, cream tartar three parts, grind together, and take a tea-spoonful in molasses occasionally to prevent costiveness. Sir H. Halford's Aperient Pills. Take of blue pill, twenty grains ; compound extract of colocynth, half a drachm : mix and di- vide into twelve pills. One or two to be taken for a dose every second or third night. Strengthening Pills. Take of subcarbonate of iron, two drachms; ipecacuanha, in povvder, one scruple ; extract of gentian, two scruples; socotorine aloes, powdered, eight grains ; simple sirup or mucilage, enough to form a mass ; divide into forty pills. Take two or three twice or thrice a day. To Excite Perspiration., Take of opium, six grains ; camphor, twelve grains ; James' powder, twelve grains ; conserve enough to form into twelve pills. One to be taken at bed time, occasionally. Adhesive Plaster. Take of yellow resin, half a pound ; lead plaster, three pounds ; melt the lead plaster by a gentle heat, then add the resin in powder, and mix. This is the plaster commonly applied to cuts, and to hold together the edges of recent wounds. Anodyne Plaster. Take of hard opium, powdered, half an ounce ; resin of spruce fir, powdered, three ounces ; lead plaster, a pound, melt the plaster and resin together, and then add the opium and mix. Strengthening Plaster. Take of litharge plaster, four ounces ; white resin, one ounce ; yellow wax, olive oil, of each half an ounce : 166 FAMILY FAMILY DISPENSATORY. rub the iron with the oil, and adding tlie other ingredients, mix the whole. PicRA. Socotorine aloes, one pound ; white canella, three ounces ; separately powdered and then mixed. Good purgative. Dose be- tween a scruple and a drachm. May be taken in sirup or molasses. Sweating Powder, or Dover's Powder. Ipecac in powder ; opium, (dry,) of each one part ; sulphate of potash, eight parts ; grind them together to a fine powder. Dose from five to twenty grains, as the stomach and strength will bear it ; lessen the dose if it threatens to puke. This is a powerful sweating remedy in fevers, rheumatisms, and dropsy, excellent in colds and suppressed respiration. In general, this is the best opiate, as the Ipecac lessens the danger of a habitual use of opium — a thing to be avoided next to habits of intoxication. Elixir Proprietatus, Elix. Pro., or Tincture of Myrrh and Aloes. Take of myrrh in powder, two ounces ; alcohol, one pound and a half ; water, half a pound ; mix the alcohol with the water and add the myrrh. Steep four days, and then add, socotorine aloes, an ounce and a half; saffron, an ounce. Steep three days, and pour off the clear liquor from the sediment. Laxative and stomachic. Tincture of Bark, or Huxham's Tincture. Take of Peruvian bark in powder, two ounceis ; orange peel dried, half an ounce ; Vir- ginia snake root bruised, three drachms ; saffron, one drachm ; proof spirits (rum,) two pounds ; steep fourteen days and strain. Good pre- paration of the bark taken as a bitter, a tea-spoonful to a glass of wine before eating ; useful in low fevers. Tincture of Guaiac. Take of gum guaiac, one pound ; alcohol, two pounds and a half; steep for seven days, and strain. A powerful sweating remedy in rheumatism and old goaty affections. Dose, a tea- spoonful in spirit. Laudakum. Take of opium, two ounces ; diluted alcohol, two pounds ; digest seven days. This is an elegant opiate, but separates by keeping. Elixir Asthmatic. Take liquorice root, (pounded pretty fine,) one pound ; common honey, one pound ; Benzoic acid, or flowers, half an ounce ; gum opium (good,) half an ounce ; gum camphor, a third of an ounce ; oil of annise, two drachms ; common pearlash, half an ounce ; best old spirits, eight pints. To the liquorice pounded pretty fine, add the other ingredients, taking care to pulverize the opium. When prepared, it should be kept in a warm place ten or twelve days, and decanted clear. The remaining liquor must be squeezed from the roots and filtered through a piece of unsized paper. Linseed Meal Poultice. Scald your basin by pouring a little hot water into it ; tlien put a small quantity of finely ground linseed meal into the basin, pour a little hot water on it, and stir it round briskly, until you have well incorporated it ; add a little more meal and a little' more water, then stir it again. Do not let any lumps remain in the basin, but stir the poultice well, and do not be sparing of your trouble. Bread and Water Poultice. Put half a pint of hot water into ENCYCLOPEDIA. ]Q7 PAMILX DISPENSATORY. a pint basin, add to this as much of the crumbs of bread as the water will cover, then place a plate over the basin, and let it remain about ten minutes ; stir the bread about in the water, or, if necessary, chop it a little with the edge of the knife, and drain off the water by' hold- ing the knife on the top of the basin ; but do not press the bread as is usually done ; then take it out lightly, and spread it about one third of an inch on some soft linen, and lay it upon the part. If the part to which it is applied be a wound, a bit of lint dipped in oil may be pla- ced beneath the poultice. « This poultice," says Mr. Abernethy," may be made with poppy water, if thought necessary ; it may be made with hemlock juice, if recently expressed, which is a very good application to irritable sores ; but there is nothing better, that I know of, than the bread poultice to broken surfaces," Mustard Poultice. Take of mustard seed, and linseed, of each, (m powder,) half a pound ; hot vinegar, a sufficient quantity ; mix them to the consistency of a poultice, and the poultice will be fit for use. Yeast Poultice. Take of flour, a pound ; yeast of beer, half a pint ; mix, and expose the mixture to a gentle heat, until it begins to swell, when it is fit for use. Simple Ointment. Take olive (sweet) oil, five parts ; white wax, two parts ; melt together. May be used for softening the skin, and healing chaps and excoriations. Golden Ointment. Take of purified quicksilver, an ounce ; nitric acid, eleven drops ; lard, six ounces ; olive oil, four ounces ; dissolve the mercury in the acid, then mix the hot solution, with the oil and lard melted together. This is an excellent ointment for sore eyes, scald head and most sorts of ulcers. When first used, it should be mixed vnth an equal quantity of simple ointment. Sulphur Ointment. Take of hog's lard, four parts ; flowers of sulphur, one part ; to each pound of this ointment may be added, vol- atile oil of lemons, or oil of lavender, half a drachm. A certain reme- dy for the cure of itch. A pound serves for four unctions. The pa- tient should be rubbed four nights in succession, each time one fourth part of the body. Sir H. Halford's Pile Ointment. Take one ounce of golden oint- ment, and the same quantity of almond oil ; mix them carefully in a mortar. Apply this ointment to the part affected once or twice daily. Yellow Basilicum Ointment. Take of yellow wax, white resin, and frankincence, of each one quarter of a pound ; mix, and melt over a gentle fire, then add lard, one pound : strain the ointment while warm. This ointment is the best dressing for all heathy ulcers. Simple Sirup. Take of double refined sugar, fifteen parts ; water, eight parts. Let the sugar be dissolved by a gentle heat, and boiled a little, so as to form a sirup. Sirup of Ginger. Take of best ginger, three ounces; boiling wa- ter, four pounds ; double refined sugar, seven and a half pounds ; steep the ginger in the water, in a close vessel, for twenty-four hours, then 168 FAMILY FAMILY DISPENSATORY. to the strained liquor add the best sugar, so as to make a sirup. This is an agreeable and moderately aromatic sirup ; impregnated with the flavor and the virtues of the ginger. Sirup of Lemons. Take of juice of lemons, suffered to stand till the sediment falls, then strain off the liquor, three parts ; double refined sugar, five parts ; dissolve the sugar in the juice till it forms a sirup. In the same way, are prepared sirup of mulberry juice ; sirup of rasp- berry juice, and sirup of black currant juice. All these are pleasant cooling sirups ; quenching thirst ; and may be used in gargles for sore mouths. Volatile Liniment. Take spirit of hartshorn, one part ; sweet oil, or fresh butter, two parts ; mix, and shake in a viol. Sometimes a lit- tle laudanum or camphor is added. Liniment of Oil and Lime. Take of linseed oil, lime water, of each equal parts ; mix them. This liniment is extremely useful in burns and scalds ; efficacious in preventing inflammation after such ac- cidents. Camphorated Oil. Take of olive oil, two ounces; camphor, half an ounce ; dissolve the camphor in the oil. Good, applied to local pains ; to glandular swellings, and to the bowels in tympany. Opodeldoc. Take of the best hard soap, two ounces ; camphor, one ounce ; very strong spirit, one pint : mix the soap with the spirit, and let them stand in a moderate heat, until tlie soap is dissolved, occa- sionally shaking the vial ; then add the camphor, and continue to shake the vessel frequently until the whole is dissolved. Useful in sprains, bruises, and in rheumatic pains. Good to disperse swellings, tumors and the like. ■I ENCYCLOPEDIA. 189 COTTON. PART IV. MANUFACTURES. COTTON. The rearing of cotton, and the manufacture of it into various fabrics, have of late years become objects of so much attention, in several parts of the world, that we shall devote the greater space to a notice of these two subjects, than our limits would otherwise seem to justify. The plant which produces cotton is cul- tivated in the East and West Indies, in North and South America, of which it is a native, and in Egypt, and other parts of the world. It is an annual plant, propaga- ted from seeds. It grows to a considerable height, and has leaves of a bright green color marked with brownish veins, and each divided into five lobes. The pods which contain the cotton, are triangular in shape, and have each three cells. These, on becoming ripe, burst, and disclose their snow white contents. The cotton which is cultivated in the southern parts of the United States is oi three kinds — the nankeen cotton, so called from its color; the green seed cotton, producing white cotton, and green seeds;' and the black seed cotton. The two first kinds are cultivated in the middle and upper country, where they go by the name o^ short staple cotton ; the last is raised in the lower country near the sea, and on the islands adjacent to the continent. This is denominated sea island cotton ; it is stronger, finer, and longer thf n the short staple cotton, and bears a high- er price in market. The manner of raising cotton^ upon which it will be proper to make a few observations, is as follows : — If the land has been recently cleared, or has long remained fallow, turn it up deep in winter; and in the first week in March, bed it up in the following manner. Form 25 beds in 105 square feet of land, (be- ing the space allotted to each able laborer for a day's work) ; this leaves about four feet two and one-half inches from the centre of one bed to the centre oftlienext. The beds should be three feet wide, and flat in the middle. About the 15th of March, in the latitude of from 29° to 30°, the cultivator should commence sowing, or as it is generally termed planting. The seed should be well scattered in open trenches, made in the centre of the beds and covered ; the proportion of seed is one bushel to an acre ; this allows for accidents occasioned by worms, or night chills. The cotton should be well weeded by hoes once every twelve days, until blown, and even longer, if there is grass, 15 170 FAMILY COTTOiX. observing to hoe up, that is, to the cotton, till it pods ; and hoe down, when the cotton is blown, in order to check the growth of the plant. From the proportion of seed mentioned, the cotton plants will come up plentifully, too much so, to suffer all to remain. They should be thinned moderately at each hoeing. When the plants have got strength and growth, which may be about the third hoeing, to disre- gard worms, and bear drought, they should be thinned according to the fertility of the soil, from six inches to near two feet between the stocks or plants. In rich river grounds, the beds should be from five to six feet apart, measuring from centre to centre ; and the cotlou plants, when out of the way of worms, from two to three feet apart. It is adviseable to top cotton once or twice in rich low grounds, and also ' to remove the suckers. The latter end of July is generally considered a proper time for topping. The month of August in South Carolina and Georgia, is the season for commencing the business of picking cotton. The quantity of black seed cotton produced on an acre of Georgia sea island, is about 2001bs. ; in Carolina, from 130 to 15Ulbs. ; an acre of upland will commonly produce SOOlbs. of green seed cotton. The preparation of the ground for cotton is almost entirely effected by the hoe. The plough is scarcely used. For many years the separation of the seeds was a work of great labor. But this is now much diminished by means of gins, of which there are two kinds — the roller-gin and the saw-sin. Thejirst of these gins consists of two small cylinders, which revolve so closely, that while the cotton passes through, the seeds are prevent- ed. The second kind, or saw-gin, was the invention of Mr. Whitney of New Haven, Connecticut, and is one of the most important labor sav- ing machines ever introduced into the country. It is used in disenga- ging the seeds of the black seeded cotton, which adhere too strongly to be separated by the roller-gin. This machine consists of a receiver, one side of which is covered with strong parallel wires, about an eighth of an inch apart. Between these wires pass a number of circular saws, revolving on a common axis. In the revolutions of these saws, the cot- ton becomes entangled, and is drawn through the grating, while the aeeds are, from their size, denied a passage. The earliest seat of the manufacture of cotton was Hindoostan, where it is still carried on, as at the first, by hand labor. But by means of the inventions of Hargreaves and Arkwright, between the years of 1763 and 1780, the manufacture of cotton has so far outstripped that of the East, that the countries of the latter are now receiving the pro- ducts of British manufactories at a cheaper rate than they can manu- facture for themselves. Cotton fabrics are also beginnmg to be export- ed from the United States to the East to advantage. Next to the facilities for preparing cotton for the loom, which have arrived to an astonishing degree of perfection, nothing has contributed to extend the manufacture more than the invention of the pover-loom, by which the laborious process of weaving is converted into the mere superintendence of two and sometimes three of these machines, each ENCYCLOPEDIA. 171 COTTON. one of which is capable of producing from tliirty to forty yards of cloth per day. Added to this, is the discovery of a process for transferring in the manufacture of calicoes, the most delicate patterns from copper cylinders, instead of from wooden blocks; by means of which the la- bor and expense are surprisingly diminished. We shall next speak of the process observed in the manufacturing of cotton into cloth, which we abridge from the Encyclopedia Ameri- cana. " After the cotton has been ginned and picked or batted, the first op- eration of the manufacturing, is carding. The carding engine consists of a revolving cylinder covered with cards, which is nearly surrounded by a fixed concave framing, also lined with cards, *with which the cylin- der comes in contact. From this cylinder, called the breaker, the cotton is taken off by a comb called the do^ng-plate, and passes through a se- cond carding in the finishing cylinder. It is then passed through a kind of funnel, by which it is contracted into a narrow band or sliver, and received into tin cans, in a state of uniform, continued carding. The next step in the process, is called drawing the cotton. This is ef- fected by the drawing-frame^ which in principle is similar to the spin- ning-frame. Roving the cotton, which is the next part of the process, gives a slight twist, which converts it into a soft and loose thread, call- ed the roving. The machine for performing this operation is called the roving-frame, or double-speeder. In order to wind the roving upon the bobbins of the spindles, in even, cylindrical layers, the spindle rail is made to rise and fall slowly by means of heart- wheels in the interior of the machine. And as the size of the bobbins is augmented by each layer, the velocity of the spindles and of the spindle-rail is made to di- minish gradually, from the beginningto the end of the operation. This is effected by transmitting the motion to both, through two opposite cones, one of which drives the other with a band, which is made to pass slowly from one end to the other of the cones, and thus continually to alter their relative speed, and cause a uniform retardation of the velo- city. The bobbins are now transferred to the spinning frame. The twist is given to the thread when drawn out by flyers driven by bands, which receive their motion from a horizontal fly-wheel. The yarn produced by this mode of operation is called water twisty from the circumstance that the machinery from which it is obtained was at first generally put in motion by water. In 1775 the mule-jenny .or mule was invented by Samuel Crompton of Bolton. The spindles artt mounted on a moveable carriage, which recedes when the threads are stretched, and return when they are to be wound up. By means of this machine the size and twist of the thread become uniform throughout." ' The following process of a pound of cotton may not be uninteresting to our readers. It appeared originally in the English Monthly Maga- zine. "There was sent to London lately, from Paisley, a small piece of muslin, about one pound weight, the history of which is as follows. The wool came from the East Indies to London ; from London it went to Manchester where it was manufactured into yarn ; from Manches- ter, it was sent to Paisley, where it was woven. It was sent to Ayr- shire next, where it was tamboured ; it was then conveyed to Dunbar- toD, where it was hand-sewed., and again returned to Paisley, whence it 172 FAMILY SILK MATJUFACTURE. SATIN. — VELVET. GAUZE. was sent to Glasgow and finished, and then sent per coach to London. It took three years to bring this article to market, from the time that it was packed in India till it arrived complete in the merchant's ware- house in London ; whither it must have been conveyed 5,000 miles by sea, and nearly 1000 by land, and contributed to reward the labors of nearly 150 persons, whose services were necessary in the carriage and manufacture of this small quantity of cotton, and by which its value was advanced more than 2000 per cent." SILK MANUFACTURE. Silk is a very soft, fine, bright, delicate thread, the production of an insect or moth, called by the ancients 6om- hyx ; by the moderns, phalizna mori^ or silk worm. Silk is manufactur- ed into a variety of fabrics, of which we shall notice the following : SATIN is a kind of thick silken stuff, very smooth and shining ; the warp is very fine and prominent, the woof coarser and hidden under- neath : on which depends its gloss and beauty. Some satins are quite plain, others wrought, some flowered with gold or silk, others striped. The finest satins are those of Florence and Genoa, yet the French will not allow those of Lyons to be at all inferior. Indian satins, or satins of China, are silken stuffs, much like those manufactured in Europe. Of these some are plain, others worked, either with gold or silk, flow- ered, damasked, striped, &;c. They are mostly valued because of their bleaching easily, without losing any thing of their lustre. In other re- spects they are inferior to those of Europe. Some very good satins are made in England. VELVET ; a rich kind of thick, shaggy stuff made o^ silk ; the nap, or velveting, of this stuff is formed of part of the threads of the warp, which the workman puts on a long narrow-channelled ruler, and which he afterwards cuts by drawing a sharp steel tool along the ruler to the end of the warp. The principal and best manufactures of velvet are in England and France ; there are others in Italy, as at Venice, Milan, Florence, Genoa, and Lucca, and in Holland at Haerlem ; those in Chi- na are the worst of all. A good imitation of silk velvet is now to be obtained, made of cotton ; but the dyes are less permanent on cotton tlian on silk. TAFFETY ; a kind of fine, smooth, silken stuff, having usually a remarkable gloss. There are taffeties of all colors, some plain, others striped with gold, silver, silk, &c. others chequered or flowered. There are three things that contribute to the perfection pf taffeties, the silk, the water, and the fire. The silk should not only be of the finest kind, but must be worked a long time and very much before it is used. The watering seems only, intended to give it that fine lustre, by a peculiar property not found in all waters ; and lastly, the perfection of the stuff depends greatly on a particular application of the fire. GAUZE, a transparent kind of stuff, which is woven sometimes of silk, and at other times only of flax. There are figured gauzes, some with flowers of gold and silver, on a silk ground; these last are chiefly brought from China. The gauze loom is much like that of a eommon weaver's, though it has several appendages peculiar to itself. TABBY: in commerce a kind of coarse taffety, watered. It is ma- nufactured like the common taffety, excepting that it is stronger and ENCYCLOPEDIA. 173 BROCADE. — STOCKINGS. HISTORY OP SILK. thicker both in the woof and warp. The watering is given to it by means of a calender ; the rollers are of iron or copper variously engra- ven, which, bearing unequally on the stuff, render the surface thereof unequal, so as to reflect the rays of light differently. It is usual to tabby mohairs, ribbons, &;c. Tabbying is performed without the addition of any water or dye, and furnishes the modern philosophers with a strong proof, that colors are only appearances. BROCADE, in commerce, a sort of stuff made of cloth, of gold, sil- ver, or silk, raised and enriched with flowers, foliage, or other figures, according to the fancy of the manufacturer. Formerly the term was applied only to cloths woven either wholly of gold, both woof and warp, or of silver, or both together; but by degrees it came likewise to pass for such as had silk intermixed, to fill up and terminate the flowers of gold and silver. At present any stuff or silk, satin, or even simple tapestry, when wrought and enriched with raised flowers, &c. obtains the appellation of brocade. STOCKINGS. Anciently the only stockings in use were made of cloth, or milled staffs sewed together ; but since the invention of knit- ting and weaving stockings of silk, wool, and cotton thread, the use of cloth stockings is laid aside. The modern stockings, whether woven or knit, are a kind of plexus, formed of an infinite number of little knots, called stitches, loops, or meshes, intermixed. Knit stockings are wrought with needles made of polished iron, or brass wire, which in- terweave the threads, and form the meshes of which the stocking con- sists. This operation is called knitting, the time of the invention of which it is difficult to fix precisely, though it is commonly attributed to the Scots, because the first works of this kind came from Scotland. Woven stockings are manufactured on a frame or machine made of iron, the structure of which is exceedingly ingenious, yet complex. On this account it is not easily described. HISTORY OF SILK. The silk worm is a native of China. The Seres, who inhabit the northern part of that country, cultivated the precious article. Having been expelled by the Huns, A. D. 93, they settled in Little Bucharia. Silks were first brought from China to Sy- ria and Egypt by traders, who in caravans performed journies of 243 days through the deserts of Asia. The price was far beyond the reach of any but the rich ; and for a long time the use of silk among the Romans was confined to women of fortune. The emperor Aurelian refused his queen a garment of silk, by reason of the high price it bore — its weight in gold. In the sixth century, two monks, who had been employed as missionaries in the East, penetrated into the country of the Seres, and observed the labors of the silk worms, and the manner of working their production into elegant fabrics. They imparted the < secret to the emperor Justinian, at Constantinople, who induced them, by a great reward, to return and bring away a quantity of the silk worms' eggs. They put the eggs into the hollow of a cane, and brought them safely to Constantinople, about the year S55. The eggs were hatched, and the worms were fed with mulberry leaves ; and the insects produ- ced from this cane full of eggs were the progenitors of all the silk worms of Europe, and the western parts of Asia. The people of the Morea, 15* 174 FAMILY HISTORY OF SILK. and of the cities of Athens and Thebes enjoyed the profit of the culture and manufacture of silk upwards of 400 years ; but in 1146, the king of Sicily made war upon Greece, and carried off a great number of silk weavers, who taught the Sicilians to raise silk worms, and Weave silk gtufts. The Saracens introduced the silk manufacture into Spain and Porluoal ; and subsequently the Italian States, France and England engaged in it. It will not consist with our limits to enter minutely into the history of the silk business in foreign countries. Much of the silk used in the manufactures of France is raised at home ; yet it is stated that that country pays nearly twenty millions of dollars annually for raw silk, raised in other countries. The art of reeling silk from the cocoons, so as to convert it into a saleable article, is known only in China, in Bengal, in the Turkish do- minions, in Italy, and in the south of France. It is not known in Great Britain, where the climate is not suited for that culture. Her manu- facturers are obliged to depend upon foreign countries for the raw and thrown or twisted silk, which they use, and of which several millions of pounds are annually imported into that country. The manufacture of this silk into various fabrics, employs a large capita], and many thousands of men and women. " I calculate," said Mr. Wilson, a well informed and extensive silk manufacturer, while under examination before a committee of the House of Lords, " that 40,000 persons are employed in throwing silk for the weaver, whose wages will, I think, amount to £350,000. I estimate that half a mil- lion pounds of soap, and a large proportion of the most costly dye- stuffs are consumed, at a further expense of £300,000 ; and 265,000 more are paid to 16,500 winders to prepare it. The number of looms may be taken at 40,000 ; and including weavers, warpers, mechanics, harness-makers, enterers, twisters, cane-spreaders, quill-winders, and draw boys, at two hands to a loom, will employ 80,000 more persons, and the wages amount to £3,000,000. If we include infants and de- pendents, about 400,000 mouths will be fed by the silk manufacture, the value of which I estimate at ten millions." Mr. Hale, of Spital- fields, estimates the number of persons supported by the silk manufac- ture, at 500,000 ; but Mr. Bell, and some other intelligent gentlemen engaged in the trade, do not carry their estimate so high as Mr. Wil- son ; perhaps his, which is the rtiedium, may be regarded as the most accurate. Since the settlement of the United States by the English, several experiments have been made on the subject of raising silk. The cul- tui-e of it first commenced in Virginia. As early as 1666, the rearing of silk worms was a part of the regular business of many of the far- mers. One man had 70,000 mulberry trees growing in 1664. Georgia sent eight pounds of raw silk to England, in 1735, and 10,000 pounds in 1759. Some attention was paid to the culture of silk in South CajF- olina, and in 1755, Mrs. Pinckney raised and spun silk enough for three compiete dresses. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the culture of silk began in 1771, but was suspended by the war of the revolution. Mulberry trees and silk worms were introduced into the town of Mansfield, in the county of Windham, Conn., about the year 1760 ; ENCYCLOPEDIA. 175 STATISTICS OF SILK. — MULBERRY TREE. and in 1789, two hundred pounds of raw silk were made in that town. At present, three-fourths of the families in Mansfield are engaged m raising silk, and make Annually from five to ten, twenty, and fifty pounds in a family, and one or two have made, each, one hundred pounds in a season. It is believed that there are annually made in that town and the vicinity, from three to four tons of silk. From the experiments which have already been made, ample evi- dence exists that the culture of silk may be profitably pursued in the United States to almost any extent, since the mulberry tree grows indi- genously throughout the country : and it is a fact well ascertained that American silk is decidedly superior to that of any other country on the globe. In France, twelve pounds of cocoons are required to produce one pound of raw silk, while eight pounds are amply suffi* cient to produce the same quantity in this country. Were the culture of silk only equal to our home consumption, an immediate attention to it would be a saving to the country of not less than ten millions of dollars annually, as may be seen hy the fol- lowing Statement of the value of sUk goods imported and exported in the years 1821 to 1825 inclusive. Years. 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 Imported. $4,-486,9.24 6,480,928 6,713,771 7,203,344 10,271,527 Exported. $1,057,233 1,016,262 1,512,449 1,816,325 2,565,742 $35,156,494 ^7,968,011 Yet there cannot be a doubt that a quantity may bo annually produ- ced, which shall not only meet the home demand ; but, in a few years, leave a surplus for exportation. The most important step to- wards this state of things is the extensive cultivation of the white mulberry tree, the leaves of which form the p-oper aliment of the silk-worm. Mulberry tree. All practical writers agree that the proper soils for the mulberry tree are dry, sandy or stony. Indeed, a soil which is of little value to the farmer, on account of its sterility, will answer well for the mulberry tree. The methods of propagating the tree are various. A writer in the New England Farmer speaks as follows of four methods. First, From the seed ; 2d from roots ; 3d from layers, and 4th from cuttings. The 1st and 4th can at present be alone generally resorted to in this country. An ounce of good, well cleaned seed, well mana- ged, will probably produce ten or twelve thousand plants. It should be sowed towards the last of April. The ground being properly pre- pared, by previous ploughing, or digging, and manuring, is to be clean- ed, levelled, and divided into beds of four or five feet in width. Drills from six to ten inches asunder, and from one to two inches deep, must then be made by a line. The seed may be sown in these drills dry, or having been steeped two days in water, rub it on pack thread to which 176 FAMILY EGGS OF SILK WORMS. HATCHING THK EGGS. it will adhere, lay the thread in the bottom of the drill and cover it with earth. In two or three weeks, if kept moist, the young plants will appear. Keep the beds clear of weeds. On the approach of winter it may be well to cover them with leaves. If the seedling* grow the first season to the height of one foot or more, take them up in the spring following, cut the top so as to leave about three inches above ground, cut off the lower part of the root, and set them in nur- series in rows, like other fruit trees, where the following spring they may or may not be grafted, pruned and cultivated, until they become sufficiently large to set in hedges or plantations. Cuttings should be taken from perpendicular shoots, and particularly from those which terminate branches. They should be of the last summer's growth, and from 6 to 15 inches in length. Plant them in shady borders, early in the spring, about two-thirds of their length m the ground ; close the earth well about them, and in dry weather let them be watered. After a year, they may be transplanted in open nursery rows, if Veil raoted. Another mode of cultivating the mulberry, and one which has been to some extent adopted in New England is to sow the seed broadcasts like turnips in the spring ; and in the following season to cut the plants with a scythq when wanted. The mowing is regularly prosecuted every morning, in the quantities required, and unless the season is one of severe drouth, the field will be cut twice or thrice before the worms begin to wind up. The advantages of this last mode are stated to be 1. The leaves are gathered with, less labor and expense, being cut and taken together like hay, or grain. 2. The leaves are larger and more tender, than on the grown tree, and the worms eat with more appetite and produce more silk. 3. The time of gathering the supply is so short, that the leaves are got with the morning dew upon them, which is deemed by practical men an essential advantage. Other writers say that the leaves when given to the worms should be thorougly dry. 4. More worms can be supported from a given space of ground, and the mulberries are ready after one season, instead of waiting several years for the formation of an orchard. The importance of the culture of silk will be our apology for giving at some length, directions for the raising of silk worms, for which we are indebted to a valuable work entitled " Essays on American Silk, &:c. by John D. Homergue." EGGS OF SILK WORMS. The eggs of silk worms so strongly resemble the seeds of the poppy, that they may easily be taken for them ; and the contrary. In Europe, the latter have sometimes been sold for the former. Pure water, however, is an effectual test ; good eggs sinking to the bottom, while poppy seeds and bad eggs will swim. Eggs, which have been washed, should be dried by exposure to cool and dry air. They should be kept in a cool place until the hatching season. Cold does not injure them provided that they do not freeze. HATCHING THE EGGS. The general rule in Europe is to put the worms to hatch, as soon as the mulberry trees begin to bnd. In this country, this happens usually about the 21st of May. Should the ENCYCLOPEDIA. 177 REARING SILK WORMS. RISING OF THE SILK WORMS. seeisoii of budding, however, be delayed, the hatching should be pro- portionally deferred. The manner of putting the eggs to hatch, according to M. D'Ho- mergue, is as follows : — " They should be put in a pasteboard or wood- en box, not covered at the top, and the sides not more than half an inch high, so that the worms, when hatched, may easily crawl out, as will be presently mentioned. The size of the box should be suited to the quantity of eggs to be liatched, so that they be not on the top of one another ; but they may touch each other. The box should be covered with paper, perforated with holes of the size of a large pin's head, so that the worms, when hatched, may easily pass through them. They are usually hatched in three days, after being put into the box. When they are near coming out, young mulberry leaves should be put on the top of the box, leaving spaces. The worms as soon as hatched, will smell those leaves, crawl up to them through the holes in the paper cover, and begin feeding. Now remove sach leaves as are covered with worms, gently, to the table or hurdle, which has been prepared to receive them. It should be added that a warm place should be pro- vided for the eggs to hatch ia, where the temperature is at least 80 de- grees Fahrenheit. REARING SILK WORMS. The worms, after being hatched as above described, arc to be laid on wicker hurdles, which are to be kept quite clean. Pine tables will answer well. During the first day, the room should be kept in the same degree of heat ; but, afterwards, as the strength of the insect increases, a lower temperature is admissible. Dry air from the north and west may be let in ; but all dampness should be carefully excluded. The greatest cleanlinesi should be maintained. In order to clean a table, place another table close to it, on which lay fresh mulberry leaves. Th5 worms will immediately crawl to them, leaving the first table empty. This shifting of the worms, however, should not take place, until after their first moulting. They generally moult, or shed their skin, four times. During the moultiug, which lasts twenty-four hours, they lie torpid, and do not feed. They should then be left quiet. RISING OF THE SILK WORMS. « When the silk worms are ready to make their cocoons, which in this country, generally, is on the 31st day after they have been hatched, a kind of artificial hedge, not above one foot high, must be prepared, by means of some brush- wood without any leaves, which is to be fixed along the wall, behind the table on which the worms are. They crawl of themselves in this hedge, which is called rmw^, and there make their cocoons. This brushwood must not be fixed straight up along the wall, but should be inclined above and below, m the form of a semicircle towards the table on which it is to rest, because the worms always move in a circular di- rection ; and also in order that, if they should fall, they may not fall upon the tabic or floor, but on some part of the artificial hedge, whence they may crav/1 up and carry on their work. It is easy to know when the worms are ready to rise. They crawl on the leaves without eating them ; they rear their heads, as if in search of something to climb on, their rings draw in, the skin of their necks 178 FAMILY COCOONS KEPT FOR USE. becomes wrinkled, and their body becomes like soft dough. Their color also changes to a pale yellow. When these signs appear, the table should be cleaned, and the hedge prepared to receive them. From the moment that the cocoons begin to rise, they cease to eat ; they must not be touched, nor their cocoons, until they are picked off, as will be presently mentioned." PICKING OFF THE COCOONS. " The worms generally form their cocoons in three days after their rising ; but they are not perfect until the sixth day, when they may be picked off from the hedge. In Europe this is not done until the eighth day, nor should it be done sooner in this country, if during the six days there have been violent thunder-storms, by which the labors of the moth are generally inter- rupted. The cocoons must be taken down gently, and great care taken not to press hard on them ; because, if in tlie least flattened, they fall into the class of imperfect cocoons, and are greatly lessened in value. In picking the cocoons from the hedge, the floss or tow with which thoy are covered must be delicately taken off, always taking care not to press too hard on the cocoons. After the cocoons are thus taken down, some are preserved for eggs and others kept for sale." COCOONS KEPT FOR USE. " In order that the farmer may judge of the quantity of cocoons that it will be proper or advisable for him to put aside and preserve for eggs, it is right that he should be told that fourteen ounces of cocoons will produce one ounce of eggs, and one ounce of eggs will produce a quintal of cocoons. In selecting the cocoons to be kept for eggs, it is recommended to se- lect the white ones in preference, and keep the colored ones for sale ; attention should be paid to having an equal number of males and fe- males, and they are generally known by the following signs : the male cocoons, that is to say those which contain the male insects, are in gen- eral smaller than the female, they are somewhat depressed in the mid- dle, as it were with a ring ; they are sharp at one end and sometimes at both, and hard at both ends; the female cocoons, on the contrary, are larger than the male, round and full, little or not at all depressed in the middle, and not pointed at either end. They ^^may easily be dis- cerned by a little habit. It is particularly recommended to take off all the floss or tow from these cocoons, so that the moth may find no difficulty in coming out. After the cocoons have been taken down from the liedge, those which are intended for eggs should be laid, but not crowded, on tables, that is to say, the males on one table and the fomales on another, that they may not copulate too soon, and before they have discharged a viscid humor, of a yellow reddish color, which prevents their fecundity. They discharge this humor in one hour after commg out of the co- coons, which is generally ten days after these have been taken down from the hedge ; but this may be accelerated by heat. At the expiration of one hour after the moths have come out of their cocoons, tiie males and females may bo put together on tables or on tho iloor ; the tables or floor ought to be previously covered with linen or ENCYCLOPEDIA. 179 COCOONS INTENDED FOR SALE. cloth, on which, after copulation, the females lay their eggs. One fe- male moth or butterfly generally lays 500 eggs ; the male and female remain about six hours together, during which time they copulate ; after which they separate, and the female is 48 or 50 hours laying eggs ; but the greatest quantity during the first 40 hours. From the moment the moths have come out of their cocoons until the females have laid all their eggs, the room must be kept entirely dark ; the light debilitates them and makes them produce but few eggg, and the worms that come from them are weak and puny. When the female moths have done laying eggs, all the insects must be taJien away, and may be given as food to the fowls. The eggs must remain on the cloth where they have been deposited during fifteen or twenty days, until they shall have become of an ash or slate color, when they are perfectly ripe, and may be considered as good eggs. Then the cloth or linen must be folded, and kept in a cool and dry place, until it shall be thought proper to take off the eggs, which is done by putting the cloth into pure water, and when tlioroughly wet- ted, scraping gently the eggs from the cloth, taking care not to injure them. When thus scraped into the water, all the good eggs will go to the bottom, and the bad, if any, will swim at the top. The eggs being thus washed, must be dried in the open air, and when perfectly dry, the be^t mode to preserve them is to put them into hollow reeds, or canes, perfectly dry, and closed at the two extremities with a thin piece of flaxen or cotton linen well fastened. It is also the best means to transport them from one place to another." COCOONS IiNTENDED FOR SALE. » In order to prevent the cocoons from being perforated by the moths escaping from them, which greatly lessens their value, it is necessary to kill the moths. This is generally done by baking in an oven or by steam, but the best mode, which is peculiarly well adapted to warm climates, is to lay the cocoons on linen or cotton sheets, but not too close, or one upon another, and to oipose them thus to the heat of the sun in open air, when it is per- fectly dry, during four days, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M. taking great care in handling them not to crush or flatten them, which is of the highest importance. In that time there is no doubt that the moths will be killed. . The processes of steaming and baking are not always safe, because they may be overdone and the silk greatly injured. Yet if the weath- er should prove obstinately damp or rainy, those processes must be re- curred to, but not in dry sunshiny weather, when they can be avoided. • The last thing to be spoken of is the packing of the cocoons to send to market. They must be put in boxes with great care, not pressed too close, lest they should be flattened, and close enough that they should not suffer in like manner by striking hard upon each other in conse- quence of the motion of carriages or stages. The boxes being dry and well conditioned may be transported by steam-boats; if transport- ed by sea, they should not remain longer than fifteen days on salt wa- ter, lest they should become mouldy. On river water, and particular- ly by steam boats, there is not the same danger. The boxes in eyery case should be covered with a tarpaulin or good oiled cloth, that they may in no case suffer from dampness or rain. 180 FAMILY LINEN. — CAMBRIC. — LACE. The price of good cocoons in France is from twenty-five to thirty- five cents per pound of sixteen ounces ; I mean of perfect cocoons. Perforated cocoons, from which the moth has escaped, those which are spotted, and the imperfect ones, called chiques^ command no price, and are generally given away by the silk culturists. There are but few of them, because those who raise silk worms being experienced in the bu- siness, produce hardly any but good cocoons. When these are sold, the bad ones are thrown into the bargain. The price of cocoons in this country cannot yet be settled ; but it will be the interest of the silk culturist to sell them in the beginning as cheap as possible, to encourage the silk manufactures, which alone can procure them regular purchasers, and without which their produce must lie upon their hands," LINEN. Linen cloth, it is well known, is manufactured from flax, an annual plant, with a slender hollow stem usually about two feet high, the bark of which consists of fibres, which when dressed, are ex- tensively worked into this cloth, and other articles, in various countries of the globe. Linens are manufactured for exportation to the greatest extent, and of the finest quality, in Ireland, Holland, Bohemia, Sile- sia, Moravia, and the Netherlands. The linen manufacture is the stj^- plo branch of Irish industry ; and in Bohemia alone, it is said to em- ploy more than three hundred thousand persons. The annual value of it in Silesia is 1,500,000/. sterling ; and there are wbole villages and towns occupied by weavers. Russia has three hundred factories of linen ; and this forms the most important manufacture and export of the Hessian States in Germany. In other parts of Europe, and in the United States, it has been carried on to a limited extent, and chiefly for home-consumption. A late writer remarks, that " the length and comparative rigidity of the fibres of flax, present difiiculties in the way of spinning it by the machinery which is used for cotton and wool. It cannot be prepared by carding, as these other substances are, and the rollers are capable of drawing it but very imperfectly. The subject of spinning flax by machinery, has attracted much attention ; and the Emperor Napoleon, at one time, offered a reward of a million of francs to the inventor of the best machine for this purpose. Various individ- uals, both in this country and in Europe, have succeeded in construct- ing machines which spin coarse threads very well, and with great rapid- ity. But the manufacture of fine threads, such as those used for cam- brics -and lace, continues to be performed by hand upon the ancient spinning wheel." CAMBRIC is a species of linen made of flax, very fine and whit^ the name of which was originally derived from the city of Cambray, where it was first manufactured. It is now made at other places in France, as well as in different parts of England, Scotland, and Ire- land ; but French cambrics are still preferred for their extreme finenese and durability. LACE is a complicated, ornamental fabric, formed of fine threads of linen, cotton, or silk. It consists of a net work of small meshes, the most common form of which is hexagonal. In perfect thread lace, four sides of the hexagon consist of threads which are twisted, while in the remaining two, they are simply crossed. Lace is commonly ENCYCLOPEDIA. 181 CULTURE OF FLAX. made upon a cushion or pillow, by the slow labor of artists. A piece of stiff parchment is stietched upon the cushion, having holes pricked through it. in which pins are inserted. The threads previously wound upon small bobbins, are woven round the pins and twisted in various ways, by the hands, so as to tbrm the required pattern. The expen- siveness of the different kinds of lace, is proportioned to the tedious- ness of the operation. Some of the more simple fabrics are executed with rapidity, while others in which the sides of the meshes are plait- ed, as in the Brussels lace, and that made at Valenciennes, are difficult, and bear a much higher price. The cheaper kin !s of lace, have long been made by machinery. And recently the invention of Mr. Healhcoat's lace machine, has effected the fabrication of the more difficult or twisted lace, with precision and despatch. This machine is exceedingly complicated and ingenious, and is now in operation in this country and in France, as well as in Eng- land. The. best white lace has usually been made of flax ; but cotton can now be spun so neatly and finely, that the use of it, even in boneAace^ has completely, in England, superseded the use of flax ; and indeed woven lace is now got up in that country, so neatly as to have also su- perseded in a great degree, the use of that made by the hand. Gold and silver thread is also wrought into lace. This is a stout fabric, common- ly close, but wrought so as to exhibit some sort of figure. It is made of different widths, but all narrow like ribbon. There is also a icursted lace, of a, similar texture, commonly wrought with various patterns in colors. This was formerly much used on liveries, and may still be seen occasionally on the lining of carriages. CULTURE OF FLAX. While the people of the United States were British colonies, the culture of fiax was more attended to than since they have become independent. In the year 1770, there were exported in one year upwards of 312,000 bushels of flax seed. For twenty years preceding 1816, the annual export of this article averaged but about 250,000 bushels. The causes of this decrease it is unneces- sary in this place to mention. It cannot be doubted, that the cultiva- tion might be profitable to the people of this country, and that it will be more extensively cultivated in future years, scarcely admits of a ques- tion. Much of the soil is excellently well adapted to the raising of flax. This is true of considerable portions of the state of Maine, of New England, the western parts of the state of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and southward to the cotton latitude. In view of the importance of this subject to our country, we shall give, at some length, directions for the cultivation of flax, for which we are indebted to an able essay from the pen of S. W. Poraeroy, Esq. published in the Mass. Agricultural Repository. Soil. " The soils which rank first in this country," says Mr. Porae- roy, are the flat bottoms, that are covered by the fall and spring floods, which subside early enough in the season to get in a crop ; those river flats on the second banks, that have a depth of strong alluvial soil ; the reclaimed marshes and swamps, with a black, unctuous soil, not too peaty, with as much clay in the composition, as will permit its being rendered soon dry and mellow, and not retain water on or near the sur- 16 182 FAMILY CULTURE OF FLAX. face ; if it stands two feet below, so much the better, but must be well guarded by ditches and dykes against sudden freshets. Such is the soil of the province of Zealand, where more flax is raised, and of a bet- ter quality, than in any other part of Holland. The next in estimation axe the strong black loams on clay, or hard pan, that will retain mois- ture. Yellow loams, witli a holding sub-soil, may be rendered suitable for flax, by proper cultivation ; and since the discovery, that plaster of Paris is an excellent manure for it, a crop may be obtained with much more certainly on lighter land than formerly. Perhaps the character- istic of best garden mould may be applied to a flax soil, viz. retaining sufficient moisture, and all that falls, without ever being saturated ; but on any soils the surface should be completely pulverized, and never worked when wet. Manures. "No dung should be applied to the land, when the flax is sown ; but may be put on bountifully with the previous crop. The olyection is, that dung forces the growth so rapidly, that the plants draw weak, have a thin harle, and are more liable to lodge. Lime, marie, shells, leached ashes, &c. do not produce such effects. Top dressings, soon after the plants appear, or plaster, ashes, soot, &;c. are highly bene- ficial, as they not only encourage the growth, but are a protection against worms, which sometimes attack the young plants, and may be considered the only enemy they have, except weeds. "Salt has been mentioned by the late Dr. Elliott, of Connecticut, as an excellent manure to plough in with the flax, at the rate of five bushels to the acre ; probably more would be better. Plaster is now much used in Dutchess county, the best cultivated district in New York, aa a manure for flax, on which its good eflecls are as apparent as on corn. Preparation of the land. " It is not unfrequent in Ireland to ob- tain crops of flax from green sward, on which they put lime, shells, limestone, gravel, &c. and break up in the fall, cross ploughing and harrowing fine in the spring ; but it most commonly succeeds a crop of potatoes, which receive the manure. In Flanders, hemp was for- merly more used as a preparation for flax than since the introduction of potatoes. In Italy, it commonly precedes flax, and although the land gets no tillage, as the hemp is well manured it grows strong, and is then a powerful destroyer of weeds. In England, on some of the fen soils of Lincolnshire, the usual course is hemp two or three years in succession, well manured, then flax without manure ; a crop of tur- nips is often taken the same season after the flax, and hemp succeeds again. In Russia, it is said, that extensive crops of flax are drawn from new cleared lands, afterburning them over, and harrowing in the seed with ashes. The best preparatory crops in this country, at pre- sent, appear to be potatoes, corn, and roots ; they will most generally repay the extra manure, and if well managed, check the production of weeds. " The following rotations may serve as an outline, subject to be varied, and hemp or other crop introduced, as circumstances require, viz. — ENCYCLOPEDIA. 183 CULTURE OF FLAX. 3d do. 4th do. 5th do. more. No. I. — Low, COLD, OR RECLAIAIED SoiLS. 1st year, Potatoes. 2d do. Flax, with seed. 3d do. Herds irrass a»d red top., or tall iw^^adow oat grass, to contin- ue three years or more, and the course repeated. No. II. — Stro>g uplands. 1st year, Potatoes ox corn. 2d do. Corn or roots. Flax with seed. Ciover. Orchard grass or Herds grass, to continue three years or No. III.— Light Lands. 1st year, Potatoes or corn. 2d do. Corn or roots. 3d do. Flax vvitli seed. 4th do. Clover, to be mown once, the after growth to be turned in, and rye sown, thick on the furrow, which may be soiled or fed in the spring by sheep or milch cows, and plowed in ; for 5th year. Corn. . 6th do. Spring wheat, or harley. 7ih do. Clover, and the course to be pursued as before, when flax will occupy the land every seventh year. In all cases except when hemp is substituted, the tillage crops should receive the dung. " If the land is ploughed into beds, or convex ridges like turnpike roads, about a rod wide, especially if low and level, the crop will be much more secure from injury by heavy rains, and the grass crop will be better if it remains in that form. On any soils, fall ploughing in nar- row ridges will facilitate its early working in the spring, and should not be dispensed with. Choice of seed. — " That of the last year's growth should be obtain- ed, if possible. The usual marks of good seed are, that it be plump, oily, and heavy, of a bright brown color, sinking readily in water, and when thrown into the fire to crackle and blaze quick. A very simple method of trial is to sprinkle it thin between two pieces of wet paper, which plunge into a hot bed or dung liill, and in less than twenty-four hours, the proportion that will vegetate can be discerned, which should be ascertained, in order to regulate the " Quantity of seed to be sown. On this head no particular direc- tions can be given, as it depends on the various qualities of soil, good- ness of seed, fee. The rule for seeding small grains is reter^erf ; flax requiring to be sown thickest on a rich soil, as not more than one stalk is wanted for a plant. In England and Scotland never less than two, nor more than three bushels to the acre are sown. Two and a half is the most usual portion. In Flanders and Ireland, seldom less than three bushels are sown, except when seed is an object. Thick sowing is to obtain fine flax. In this country, it will be important, at present, to sow at such a rate as will ensure good crops of each ; and experience only can determine the exact point. " If sown very thin, too many lateral branches will be thrown out, each producing a boll or pod, afibrJing more seed, but shorter and in- 184 FAMILY CULTURE OF FLAX. ferior flax. If sown too thick, the plants will draw up weak, with a single boll on a plant, and, subject as our climate is to heavy showers and thunder gusts, very liable to lodge — one of the greatest dangers a flax crop has to encounter. Tiie commissioners for promoting flax cul- ture in Scotland, considered it as practicable, and strongly recommended that the system should be so conducted, as to obtain good flax and good geed at the same time. It is so viev.'ed in Ireland ; among the more extensive cultivators, except when wanted for fine linen, cambric, lawn, &c." Dr, bean, in the ' New England Farmer,' a work of great merit, published some thirty years since, when flax culture was more attended to than at present, recommends from six to seven pecks. It is probable that six pecks is the least, and two bushels the extent that should be sown to obtain the most profitable results, till the demand for seed is considerably lessened. • Sowing. " The seed should be got in as eaily as it is possible to prepare the ground. Dr. Deane observes that a slight frost after the plants are up will not injure them. For no crop is it more important that the seed should be equally distributed. Fortunately what has long been a desideratum is now attained. A machine, (Bennet's machine,) for sowing small seeds broad cast, with perfect regularity, great expe- dition, and in any desired quantity, has lately been invented, and per- forms to great satisfaction. * Weeding. " Weeding is considered in Europe, and by good hus- bandmen in this country, as necessary to secure a good crop of flax, which is a very tender plant when young, and more easily checked in its progress by weeds than any other. It is not supposed to be injured by the clover and grass sown with it ; on the contrary, the Flemish far- mers think them beneficial, by protecting the tender roots from drouth, and keeping the weeds under. It should be carefully wed when the plants are three or four inches high ; they are not then injured by the laborer going barefooted over them. Pulling. " This should be performed as soon as the leaves begin to fall, and the stalks show a bright yellow color, and when the bolls are turned a little brown. The seed will continue to ripen afterwards. When the flax is lodged, it should be pulled immediately, in any stage of its growth, or it will be entirely lost ; great care is requisite in sorting the different lengths, and keeping them separate till after the flax is hackled, or much waste will ensue in that process. Saving seed. " As soon as the flax is dry enough to put under cover, the bolls should be rippled, as it is termed. A comb resembling the head of a rake, but with teeth longer and nearer together, made of hickory or oak, is fastened upon a block, and the flax taken in parcels no larger than the hands can firmly grasp, is drawn through, and the bolls rippled off"; attention to sorting at the same time should be con- tinued. The bolls are to be riddled and winnowed immediately; spread thin on a clean floor, or on sheets, in the sun, and when sufficiently dry, and beginning to open, threshed. By this method, the foul seeds are completely separated with little trouble, and good clean seed is ready for an early market, often the best, without the use of -expensive ma- chinery to make it so. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 185 CULTURE OF FLAX. " The preparation of flax by steeping is very general in the great flax growing countrie's in Europe, but it is not quite finished in the water. It remains spread some days on the grass, which is necessary to render it soft and give that silvery appearance so desirable. The destructive process of dew rotting, is most commonly practised in this country, and when water is reso?ted to, it is at an improper season, and the process imperfect ; which is the cause of its being so harsh and brittle. Per- haps no part of the system requires such an allowance for difference of climate. In the humid atmosphere of Ireland, it is not very material when it is spread ; but in this climate, when exposed to a July or August sun, every drop after a shower, becomes a burning-glass, and literally scorches the fibres ; besides, such a highly putrid fermentation as will then take place in the water, though it separates the harle more speedily, not only injures it, but communicates a stain that renders the process of bleaching much more tedious and expensive. " The flax should not be put into the water till about the first of Oc- tober, and remain from ten to fourteen days, according to the tempe- rature of the weather, and should be taken out before the fibres will separate freely, spread on the grass, when the frost will very much as- sist the operation, and the flax exhibits a gloss and softness, that it is impossible to give it otherwise. "Clear, soft, stagnant water is preferred in Europe. A canal, forty feet long, six broad, and four deep, is said to be sufiicient for .the pur- pose of an acre of flax at one time. It should be formed on a clay, or some holding soil, where tlie water from a spring or brook can be con* ducted in with convenience ; the expense would not be great, and on most farms suitable sites may be had. May not boiling or steaming be found the most advantageous process of preparing flax ? The very su- perior sample of thread exhibited at Brighton, in 1818, for which Mrs. Crowninshield, of Danvers, Mass. received a premium, was spun from flax prepared by boiling ! It appears by the ' Transactions of the Swe- dish Academy,' that a method was practised in Sweden of preparing flax to resemble cotton, by boiling it ten hours in salt water, spreading on the grass, and frequently watering, by which it becomes soft and bleached. Boiling or steaming will not appear very formidable or ex- pensive, when we examine the subject. A box twenty feet long, six feet wide, and four deep, well constructed with stout plank, a boiler, from which a large tube extends into, and communicates with the wa- ter in the box, will boil the produce of a quarter of an acre in a day, that is, if we allow double the room to boil in that is required for steep- ing. A steam pipe, instead of a tube, and having the top of the box well secured, would permit the process of steaming to go on. It is pro- bable that by either method, grassing will be necessary, to obtain soft flax. The yarns of which the sail cloth is made at Patterson, are all steamed. The navy board expressly forbid their being boiled in alka- line lye, as is usual in most manufactures of linen. It is from this pre- caution that their canvass has the pliable, oily feeling, which so much recommends it. It should not be lost sight of, that by boiling or steam- ing, much time and expense will be saved in bleaching. Dressing. " In this process our climate gives us a decided advan- tage over Ireland, Flanders, or the north of Europe, where the flax is dried on hurdles, over a peat fire, in ovens, or in kilns requiring great 16* 186 FAMILY HKMP. care in regulaiiug the heat, so as to prevent injury. All this trouble and hazard is obviated by our dry atmosphere and keen north-west winds. — Dr. Deaiie estimated the expense of dressing flax by hand at one-third the product. I believe the present price does not much vary from his estimate. A respectable gentleman from Dutchess county. New York, informed me that mills or machines, impelled by water, have been erected there, that break and completely dress the flax for the toll of one tenth ! It is said that one or more of them are in operation in the western part of Massachusetts. These mills were invented in Scotland, and are now said to be brought to great perfection. They are erected in all directions in the principal flax districts in Ireland, and notwithstanding the low price and limited demand for labor, are resort- ed to by the poorer classes of people, the dressing by hand being mostly abandoned. There are machines in F-ngland that dress flax immedi- ately from the field, without any preparation whatever. An account of them may be found in the 5th volume of the Massachusetts Agri- cultural Journal. It appears, by the report of a committee of the House of Commons, that in 1817 they were in successful operation. A man and three children impelled the machines and dressed sixty pounds & day. We have no information of any further improvements. Should they be susceptible of the application of water or steam power, in any degree proportionate, the advantages may be incalculable, but in the present enquiry, we place these machines, however desirable, entirely out of the question. Product. " It is not uncommon in Great Britain and Ireland to ob- tain eight hundred pounds of flax from an acre ! Six hundred pounds in some distiicis is estimated as an average ; but it should be observed, that little, if any seed is obtained. The average crop in New England, as far as our information extends, cannot be estimated at more than two hundred pounds, or six or eight bufhels of seed. (We do not include the rich bottoms on the Connecticut and some other rivers.) Dr. Deane was of opinion that four hundred pounds might be calculated on, with proper management. •* We think that four hundred pounds of good clean flax, and eight or ten bushels of seed may fairly be assumed as a medium crop on fa- vorable soils, where the culture becomes such an object as to make oth- er farming operations subservient to it, and due attention is paid to the change of seed. " Those who grow flax to any extent are of opinion, that the seed, at the price it has been for some years past, pays for all the labor bestowed on the crop to the time the flax is ready to be prepared or rotted.'" HEMP is an annual plant of great use in the arts and manufac- tures, furnishing thread, cloth, and cordage. Hemp bears a near anal- ogy to flax, not only in form but also in culture and use. The bark of the stalk, as in flax, is the chief object for which it is cultivated. Hemp is manufactured into Canvass^ Russia Duck^ Russia Towellings Ticks^ Dowlass, &c. The process of manufacturing these various articles, wc shall not find room to detail. This portion of our work will be more usefully occupied by directions qb to the best mode of cultivating hemp in the United Slates. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 187 CULTIVATION OF HEMP. That the cultivation of hemp is important to the farmers of the land can scarcely be questioned. The climate and soil are well adapted to it. The annual import of the article from Russia does not probably fall short of half a million of dollars. In addition to this, we annually import in Duck, and other manufactures of hemp, exclusive of cord- age, to the amount of more than a million and a half of dollars. This amount of hemp, and even more, might be brought to market in a short time, from our own soil, and the manufacture of the various articles now imported might be earned on in our country, as well as those of cotton or woollen goods. American hemp, to say the least, is equal to the best Russia hemp. By an experiment made in 1 v24, by direction of the commissioners of the Navy, it would appear that American hemp justly claims the superiority in respect to strength. '•'■ Two ropes, each 2i mches, one made of American and the other of Russian hemp, broke the former with 3209 lbs. the latter with 3118 lbs." Cultivation of Hemp. " Hemp, (says a writer in the New Eng- land Farmer,) requires a deep and rich soil. Any attempt to raise it upon a light soil, or upon land worn out and exhausted, until it is re- cruited by manure, and a fertilizing course of husbandry, will result only in disappointment. iSor can it long be continued upon the same piece of ground, without an annual supply of manurt?. liut upon a good soil, with an annual sprmkling of manure, at the rate of eight or ten loads to the acre, it may be continued for a succession of years, without any material diminution of the value of the crop. The ground must be prepared for the seed, much in the same man- ner as for flax. It must be ploughed and harrowed sufficiently to break the clods, and to render the soil fine and mellovv. As different soils require different degrees of labor to produce this effect, it must be left to the judgment of the cultivator to determine when his ground is in a proper state to receive the seed. I can safely say, that few farmers err, in ploughing and harrowing too much. The time for sowing is about the iOth of May. A few days earlier or later will make no difference. It must not be so early as to expose the tender plant to severe frosts, and if sown late in May, it will pro- duce a light crop — the stalks will have a thin coat. No further attention to the crop is required until the season of pull- ing and cutting. Although the latter mode of gathering is attended with less labor, our farmers almost universally adopt the former as the most profitable. This commences about the lOth of August. The time of pulling isdetermmed by the appearance of the hemp. There are two kinds of hemp in every field, distinguished by the names of the male and the female. The latter produces the seed, the former the blossom and the farina. The male hemp has but few and slender branches When this has turned white, or a pale yellow, has shed its leaves, and the farina has chiefly fallen off", then it is time to pull it. The female hemp has more and stronger branches, and continues fresh and green until the seed is ripe. It is common to leave patches, or narrow strips, where the seed hemp is most abundant, until the seed has ripened, which will be about a month after the time of pulling ; in which case, the economical farmer will pull out the male hemp as far as it is practicable ; for the fibres of the hemp that stands in the field 188 FAMILY CULTIVAT.ON OF HEMP, until ihe seed is ripe, are always stiiF and harsh, and will bring less in the market than that which has been pulled at the proper season. The pulling is a heavy job. One-fourth of an acre is considered as a day's work, though expert hands will pull a third of an acre. No precaution is necessary except to guard against breaking the stalks. The laborer gathers a few stalks in his hands and pulls them up, and having repeated this three or four times, he strikes the roots once or twice with his foot, in order to kick ofFthe dirt, then holding the whole loose in his hands, lets the roots drop on the ground for the purpose of making that end of his handful even. And in spreading his hemp on the ground, he is carefal to lay the butts stiaight and true. This will greatly facilitate the labor of binding. Rain upon the hemp after it is pulled, produces the same effect as upon mown grass. It discolors it and injures its quality. It must therefore be suffered to lie upon the ground no longer than it is neces- sary ibrits preservation. As soon as it is sufficiently dried, which, in warm and drying weather, will be after two days sun, it must be bound up in small bundles or sheaves. A little rye straw is the cheapest and best thing for bands. Let the band be put on towards the top of the bundle, and then shoved down to about the middle, otherwise it will be difficult to bind close enough to hold together, through all the sub- sequent handlings. Set up 15 or 20 bundles together, well braced at the roots to admit a free circulation of air, and to prevent it from blow- ing over, and let it remain in this situation, until it is cured sufficiently to put into a stack or under cover. This may be done, in good weather, after two or three days. In the construction of the stack, great pains must be taken, lest the rain should find a passage into it. It is safest to put it under cover, either under sheds about the barnj. or by erecting one for the purpose. It may be asked, why not transport it to the place of rotting and immerse it in the water, immediately after it is pulled, or as soon as it is dry, and save the trouble of securing it from the weather ? I am not prepared to say that this cannot be done with safety, under vigi- lant care and attention. It is believed, however, that it would be ex- posed to greater hazard of loss, than at a later period. At the time of pulling, the weather is hot, and the water warm. Putrefaction proceeds with great rapidity. If the hemp should remain in the wa- ter a little too long, or if, after it is drawn from the vv^ater there should be along rain, or a continuance of damp weather to prevent its dry- ing, it would be rotted too much, and the fibre would be materially injured, if not destroyed. But when the hemp is immersed later in the season, after the weather and water have become cool, there is no risk in suffering it to remain in the water a short time longer than is necessary. It is also supposed that w^hen the hemp is rotted in hot weather, there will be a greater proportion of tow — and after it is drawn from the water, the bands must be opened and the hemp spread, in order that it may dry quickly. It is also a busy season with the farmer, and he can attend to it at a later period, with less interruption to other branches of husbandry. These are the reasons which have induced our farmers to postpone the rotting till the latter part of Oc- tober. As I have never tried any experiments in reference to this ENCYCLOPEDIA. 189 'JULTJVATION OF HEMP. part of the process, and indeed have had but little experience in the culture of hemp on ray own farm, I will not give an opinion whether their reasons are well founded or not. I have not undertaken to point out the best /nelhod. in relation to any part of the process, but only to describe the course pursued in my own neighborhood. It has sometimes been made a question whether running or stagnant virater was to be preferred. The latter is more generally used in Eng- land. The former has been universally applied here. A place is se- lected near the margin of some brook or small stream, which will af- ford a basin in which the hemp can be deposited, and where, by erect- ing a dam across the stream, the hemp can be covered with water. In the first place, the dam is built of a sufficient height to secure the requisite supply of water, leaving a gale-way in the natural course of the stream, and the top of the gate a little lower than the height of the dam, to let off the surplus water. After the dam is cf)mpleted, shut the gate and try the dam, in order to ascertain whether it is water tight, and will stand against the pressure produced by raising the pond. If it proves sufficient, then let off the water and put in the hemp. A space of two or three feet should be left between the hemp and the dam, so that if a leak should be discovered, there may be room to stop it. This precaution may be unnecessary in an old and long tried dam, but should not be omitted in a new one. Put down a layer of hemp, laying^ the bundles compactly, then a pecond course on the first, in a transverse direction, and so on successively, unfil the whole crop is deposited in the bed, or as much as the basin vill receive. Weights, consisting of long and heavy timber, or plank, or slabs with stones upon them, must then be laid across the bed to prevent it from floating. Having de- posited the hemp and secured it from rising, the gate way may be clo- sed, and the water raised upon the hemp. It will be observed that the level of the hemp must be lower than the top of the gate-way, so that the whole body may be immersed in water, and continued so until it is rotted. The length of time necessary to complete the rotting process de- pends much on the weather, and the temperature of water. It may be ascertained whether it has lain in the water long enough, by taking out one of the bundles, drying and braking it. If the seed cracks easily, and the rind, or harl readily separates from the wood, it is sufficiently rotted. So also, if while it lies in the water, the roots will twist off easily. Hemp put into the water the last week in October, will gener- ally require about three weeks. When put in later, J have known it lie seven weeks. If put into stagnant water, soon after it is pulled, five or six days is enough. When the hemp is rotted, open the gate-way and drain off the pond- The hemp must then be removed to a piece of grass land— the bundles laid upon the ground singly, and, after two or three days, turned over. When partially dried, it is carried and set up, inclining against a fence, where it remains until it is fit for the brake. It may then be carried to the building or shed where it is to be dressed ; or the brake may be carried to the hemp, as is generally the case here, and afier it is broken, it is removed to the barn for the finishing process — or if the weather is not too severe, it may be dressed where it is broken. 190 FAMILY TAXMNG. A cheap vehicle or slod, for the removal of the hemp from the pond, may be made of two pieces of slit work, about nine feet in length, with three cross beams of the same material. The stakes, driven closely through each beam and runner, will serve the double purpose of hold- ing the sled together, and keeping the hemp from falling off. No tongue will be necessary. It may be drawn with chains. If however the grass ground is at any considerable distance from the pond, wheels may be necessary. In dressing, two brakes are used. The first, coarser than a common flax brake, the second, as fine as a flax brake at the head, with one ad- ditional bar in each jaw. If the hemp is well rotted and faithfully broke, but little remains for the swingling board. A man, accustomed to the business, will brake and dress from 50 to 75lbs. a day. The labor required to prepare a crop of hemp for market, is not in- considerable. But it will be observed, that but a small portion of the labor comes at a season when the farmer is most busily occupied in gathering and securing his other crops. The pulling comes on soon after the hay and grain are secured. The rotting does not commence till after Indian harvest, and the winter grain is sown. The dressing is wholly done in cold weather, when the farmer has little occupation be- sides that of taking care of his stock and providing fuel. Every con- siderable farmer who has land suitable for hemp, might raise a few acres, without greatly interfering with his ordinary course of husbandry. The average crop is six or seven hundred pounds to the acre. I have raised nine or ten — but this was an unusual crop. The land was strong, and in veryjine tilth. The hemp grew to a great height, and was very uniform throughout the piece. The price of hemp in market, has va- ried, of late years, from |I0 to 1 12,50 a hundred. Scarce any crop of field culture can be put upon the land, which will produce so great a result. TANNING is the process of converting the skins of animals into Leather. It is difficult to determine when the art of tanning was first practi- sed ; but that it was known at a very early period, there is little doubt. The real change, however, which skins undergo by being tanned has not been accurately known till of late years. It is now indubitably ascertained that a mixture of gelatin and tanmn„ of which we shall presently speak, although each is separately soluble in water, becomes insolub]e»in that fluid, and forms the substance so well known as leath- er : hence, as the chief constituent of all animal skins is gchitin, the ease with which, by immersion in a solution oi" tannin, they are con- verted into that useful substance. The processes of tanning are nev- ertheless numerous, and somewhat complicated and tedious. The skins are in general, after being freed from their horns, ears and blood, and other impurities, placed in lime pits for a longer or shorter period, in order to their hair and scarf-skins being more readily removed ; af- ter which they are immersed in a pit containing water and sulphuric acid. This operation is called raisings which disposes the skin more readily to combine with the tannin. It is next placed in the tan-pit, with a layer of oak bark, ground fine between each skin ; the pit is then filled with tanning ooze prepared from oak-bark and water. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 191 TAVNIN. CURRYING. — PARCHMENT. where the skins remain a month or six weeks, when they are taken out, a fresh quantity of bark and ooze is put in as before, and ihe process is thus continued till the skins are completely tanned ; and they will be- come 80 in a shorter or longer time, depending upon the thickness of the skin and the manner in which the application of the tannin has been made. When sufficiently tanned, they are taken out, and after undergoing certain manipulations, are dried and weighed. The time required for the processes of tannin^j varies exceedingly ; the larger skins require from six to fifteen months to be effectually tanned. The processes are also varied for differeni sliins ; but we cannot detail them. TANNIIV, to which we have adverted in the preceding article, exists in large quantity in various vegetable substances : it is found particu- larly in abundance in the bark of oak, Spanish chestnut, willow, elm, ash, &c. In this country, however, leather is tanned chiefly by the use of the bark of the oak, which is ground in a mill by tanners for the purpose. CURRYING is the last process to which tanned skins are subjected; it is applied to those destined for the upper leather, legs of boots, seats of saddles, and such purposes as do not require either great strength or impermeability by water, and never to sole leather. Currying leath- er consists in shaving or scraping the flesh side of the tanned skm with a straight edged two handled knife, against a wooden bench or stock, and thus reducing the tanned skin to a uniform and determined thick- ness, according to the purpose for which it is designed. After being thus shaved (if designed for common shoes and boots,) it is rubbed with train oil and rendered soft and flexible, while the shaved side of the leather has assumed a shining fil)rous appearance. In this state the flesh side is waxed or blackened with a mixture of oil and lamp-black. But where the leather is not oiled in dressing, the hair side of the skin, if it be required to be black, after being duly scoured clean with a pumice-stone, is dyed with a solution of sulphate of iron in water, or some other dye. PARCHMENT is the skins of sheep or goats, prepared after such a manner as to render them proper for writing upon, covering books, &c. When parchment was first used as a material for the reception of writing, is not exactly determined. It is however tolerably certain, that it was used long before the Christian era ; and it is said that the name parchment^ or chartn pergamena, is derived from Pergnmics^ a city of Asia Minor, where it was invented in consequence of Ptolemy ha- ving forbidden the exportation of the pnpynis from Egypt. Before the invention of paper, parchment necessarily formed a considerable article of commerce, as, for many centuries, most of the books of Eu- rope were written on it. Its use is now confined chiefly to legal instru- ments and the covers of books. The manufacture of parchment is begun by the skinner, and finished by the parchment maker. The skin, havmg been stripped of its wool, and passed the lime-pit, is stretched on a frame, perforated lengthwise, with holes furnished with wooden pins, which may be turned at plea- sure, like those of a violin. When sufiiciently stretched, the flesh is pared off with a keen-edged instrument ; the skin is then moistened with a white rag, and a kind of white stone or chalk, reduced to fine 192 FAMILY SHAGREEN. MOROCCO. dust, being strewed over it with a large pumice-stone, flat at bottom, similar to a muller for grinding colors, the remainder of the flesh is scoured ofl". It is then gone over ageiin with the iron instrument, mois- tened as before, and rubbed with the pumice-stone without any chalk underneath. The flesh-side being thus treated, the iron is passed over the wool or hair-side : the skin is then stretched again tight on the frame by means of the pins, and the flesh side is again gone over with the iron. More chalk is now* thrown on, and the skin is swept over with a piece of Iamb-skin that has the wool on ; this smooths it still further, and gives it a white down or nap. It is now left to dry, and when dried, taken ofl" the frame, by cutting it all round. The skin, thus far prepared by the skinner, is taken out of his hands by the parchment-maker, who first scrapes or pares it dry on the summer^ a calf-skin well stretched on a frame, perving as a support to the skin, which is fastened over it with a wooden implement that lias a notch cui in it, with an iron instrument like that above mentioned, only finer and sharper ; with this, worked with the arm from the top to the bot- tom of the skin, he takes away about one halt of its thickness. The skin being thus equally pared on both sides, the pumice stone is passed over each side, to smooth it. This last process is performed on a kind of form or bench, covered with a sack stuffed wilh flocks, and leaves the parchment in a condition for writing on. The parings taken off" the leather are used in making glue, size, &;c. As there is a great waste in reducing the skins to a proper thinness in this mode, an instru- ment has lately been invented for splitting each skin into two. SHAGREEN, a kind of very hard, grained leather, brought from Turkey, Poland, Algiers, &c. ; it is used as covers for cases, books, &c. It is made thus : — The skin, having undergone the necessary prepara- tions, is covered, while wet, with a layer of small round seeds, which are pressed down upon it by weights. In this state it is suffiered to dry, and then the rising parts are shaved off", till the surface is quite smooth*^ Being wetted, the parts depressed by the seeds swell up, and appear like so many tubercles, which retain their figure after the skin is again dried. The best is of a brownish color. It is extremely hard ; yet, when steeped in water, becomes very soft and pliable, whence it becomes of great use among case-makers. It takes any color that is given to it ; red, green, black, yellow. The skin of some of the species of shark or dog-fish, being very rough, was formerly sold as shagreen, but its pro- minences have not the roundness of those of shagreen, and it has long been known by its proper name o^Jish-fikin. The skins of which sha- green is made are not exactly known in this country. MOROCCO is the skin of a goat, or some other animal resembling it, called menon^ common in the Levant ; dressed with sumach or galls,, and colored with any color, much used in upholstery, book-binding, for ladies' shoes, &;c. But most of the morocco to be obtained in this coun- try is prepared here from sheep-skins. The name is derived from the kingdom of Morocco, whence it is supposed the manner of preparing this leather was first borrowed. Morocco is however brought from the Levant, Barbary, Spain, Flanders, and Russia; red,black, yellow, blue, &c. ; the methods of preparing which are too long to be detailed here. The process has been latterly greatly simplified, and the brilliancy and durability of the Turkey red successfully imitated. The abundance ENCYCLOPEDIA. 1^ GLUE. SIZE. HATS. and excellence of the Spanish goat skins enabled the Spaniards to take the lead in this manufacture ; the Russians followed them : but mo- rocco of various colors is now prepared in England equal to any im- ported. GLUE, or GELATIN, is a viscid, tenacious matter, soluble in water, and used in the arts as a cement, to bind or connect things together. There are many kinds of gliies ; as common glue, glove glue, parch- ment glue. Common glue is used by joiners, cabinet-makers, case- makers, hatters, book-binders, &c. The consumption of it is very con- siderable. The best glue is made in England, in square pieces, of a ruddy brown color. Flanders glue is esteemed next to the English. Glue is made of the skins of all kinds of beasts, as oxen, cows, calves, sheep, &c. The older the beast is, the better the glue that is made of its hide. Indeed, it is rare that whole skins are used for this purpose, they being too valuable ; but shavings, parings, or scraps of skins, and sometimes the feet, sinews, &c. of beasts are used. Glue made entirely of skins is the best ; and that of sinews, &:c. the worst : and hence chiefly arises the difference of glues. To make glue of parings. They first steep them two or three days in water, then, washing them well, boil them to the consistence of a thick jelly. This done, they pass the jelly, while yet hot, through osier baskets to separate it from any impurities ; and in order to purify it still further, they let it rest some time. When the impure matter is precipitated to the bottom of the vessel, it is dissolved and boiled down a second time. It is then poured into flat frames, or moulds, whence it is taken out, when rather hard and solid, and cut into square pieces, or cakes. Nothing now remains but to dry it in the air, on a sort of coarse net, and afterward to string it, to finish the drying. The glue made of feet, sinews, &c. is managed after the same manner, with this diflference only, that they bone and scour the feet, and do not lay them to steep. The surest test of the goodness of glue, besides its clearness and hardness, is, when it dissolves completely in water, without leaving the least sediment. All the glues, when pure, are very nutricious aa food. SizK is less adhesive than glue, and is obtained from parchment sha- vings, fish-skins, and several animal membranes. It is employed by book-binders, paper-hangers, &;c. Fish olue is a sort of glue made of the gelatinous parts of fish. It is of considerable use in refining liquors, in pastry, and various other arts. It is better known by the name of isinglass. HATS are chiefly made of hair, wool, &;c., worked, fulled, and fash- ioned to the required figure. Hats are said to have been first worn in Europe about the year 1400. They now make a very considerable ar- ticle of commerce. The finest, and those most valued, are made of the fur of the beaver. They are also made either of the wool or hair of other animals, as the hare, rabbit, camel, goat. Jamb, sheep, seal, mole, and of cotton, &c. The process is much the same in all ; and we shall therefore give that with beaver. The skin of this animal is covered with two kinds 17 194 FAMILY MANUFACTURE OF HATS. of hair ; the one long, stiff, and glossy ; the other, short, thick, and soft, which alone is used in hats. When the hair is cut off, the whole is ci-rded with cards, like those used in the woollen manufacture, only finer. The stuff is now laid on the hurdle, which is a square table^ having longitudinal chinks cut through it ; on this hurdle, with an in- strument called a bow, much resembling that of a violin, but larger, the string of which is worked with a little bow-stick, and thus made to play on the hair or wool, it is mixed together, the dust and filth at the same time "passing through the chinks. This is considered one of the most difficult operations of hat-making, as upon the proper bowing and ad- mixture of the fur depends greatly the goodness of the hat. The quan- tity bowed at once is called a batt^ and never exceeds half of that which is required to make one hat. With this they form gores, or two ca- pades, of an oval shape. They are designedly made thicker in the brim, near the crown, than towards the circumference, or in the crown itself. The capades or batts being finished, they are reduced into closer and more consistent flakes, by pressing them down with a hardening skin, or leather. This done, they are carried to the basin, a sort of bench with an iron plate fitted therein, having a small fire underneath it ; upon which, laying one of the hardened capades, sprinkled over with water, and a sort of mould applied thereon, the heat of the fire, with the water and pressing, embody the wool into a slight hairy sort of stuff or felt; after which, turning up the edges all round over the mould, they lay it by, and thus proceed with the other. This finished, the two are next joined together, so as to meet in an angle at the top, forming one coni- cal cap. The hat thus basined, is removed to a large trough, resem- bling a mill-hopper, sloping from the edge to the bottom, which is a kettle, filled with water and grounds of beer, or water rendered sour by sulphuric acid, and kept hot for the purpose. On the sloping side, called the plank, the basined hat, being first dipped in the kettle, is laid. Here it is worked, by rolling and unrolling it again and again, first with the hand, and then with a little wooden roller, taking care to dip it from time to time ; till at length, by thus felting or thickening it for four or five hours, it is reduced to the extent or dimensions of the hat intended. After being thus wrought, the proper form is given to it, by laying the conical cap on a wooden block, of the intended size of the crown of the hat, and thus tying it round with a pack-thread, called a com- mander ; after which, with a piece of iron, or copper, bent for the purpose, and called a stamper, they gradually beat or drive the com- mander all around, till it has reached the bottom of the block, and thus the crown is formed ; what remains at bottom below the string being the brim. The hat being now set to dry, tiiey proceed to singe it, by holding it over a flare of straw, or the like ; then it is pounced, or rub- bed with pumice stone, to take off the coarser nap ; then rubbed over afresh with seal-skin, to lay the nap still finer ; and lastly carded with a fine card, to raise the fine down, with which the liat is afterward to appear. It is then sent upon its block, tied about with pack-thread as before, to be dyed. The dyer's copper is usually very large, holding ten or twelve dozen hats. The dye or tincture, is made of logwood, verdigris, sulphate of ENCYCLOPEDIA. 195 MANUFACTURE OF HATS. BUTTONS. iron, and alder bark, to which some add galls, sumach, &c. After the hat has been boiled in the coloring liquor about three quarters of an hour, it is taken out and set to cool, and then returned to the dye ; and this for ten or twelve times successively. The hat being dyed, is returned to the hatter, who proceeds to dry it, by hanging it up in a suitable stove or oven. When dry, it is stiffened with a solution of glue, or gura-senegal. It is next steamed on the steaming-basin, a lit- tle fire-place, raised three feet high, with an iron plate laid over it, exactly covering it. On this plate they first spread cloths, which being sprinkled over with water, to secure the hat from burning, the hat is placed, brim downwards, thereon. When moderately hot, the work- man strikes gently on the brim, with the flat of his hand, to make the jointings incorporate and bind, so as not to appear ; turning it from time to time, and at last setting it on the crown. When steamed sufficiently and dried, it is ajfain put on the block, and brushed and ironed on a ta- ble called the stall-board. This is done with irons like those commonly used in ironing linen, and heated like them ; which being rubbed over each part of the hat, with the assistance of the brush, smoothens and gives it a gloss, which is the last operation. Hats are distinguished in trade either as stuff-hats^ those which con- sist chiefly, if not wholly, of beaver and other fine fur; plate-hats^ which consist of wool covered with a better material on the outside only ; or, cordies^ made wholly of wool, or other coarse material. Silk-hats are also now worn ; they are formed of a stout oil case or some such material, and merely covered with silk ; tliese hats are wa- ter-proof. A BUTTON is an article of dress, serving to fasten clothes on the body, and made in various forms of siJk, mohair, thread, metal, horn, bone, mother of pearl, wood, &c. Metal buttons, which are now the most common, are formed in two ways, and are either solid metal, or consist of thin plates or caps, bottomed with bone or wood. Metal buttons, properly so called, are either white or yellow, gilded or plated, and consist of solid metal, generally copper, with more or less alloy of zinc. The tops of such buttons are either cut out of sheet metal, or cast ; in the latter case the shanks or eyes are fixed exactly in the cen- tre of each mould, so as to have their extremities immersed in the melted metal, by which means they are firmly fixed in the button when cooled. The former method is used for yellow buttons, the latter for those of white metal. The shanks or eyes of the former kind are made with great expedition ; by a curious engine, they are attached to the bottom of each button by a wire clamp, like a pair of sugar-tongs ; solder is applied, and they become fixed to the button after exposure on a hot iron. The button is then burnished for plating or gilding ; the latter is effected by covering the surface with a thin coat of mercury, over which is laid an amalgam of mercury and gold, and the mercury evapo- rated by heat. Five grains of gold will thus cover 144 buttons one inch in diameter. Plating or silvering may be performed nearly in the same manner, or with muriate of silver. Wrought or figured buttons are made of mohair or silk, and a very inferior kind of thread. In order to make a button, the mohair must be previously wound upon a bobbin, and the mould fixed upon a board, 196 FAMILY by means of a bodkin thrust through the hole in the middle of it. This being done, the workman wraps the mould in three, four, or six columns, according to the button. The moulds of horse-hair buttons are covered with a kind of stuff, composed of silk and hair ; the warp being bella- dine silk, and the shoot horse-hair. Gold twist buttons are first covered in the same manner as common buttons. Then the whole is covered with a thin plate of gold or silver. It is afterwards wrought all over with purl, a kind of thread composed of silk and gold wire twisted together, and gold gimp. Glass buttons of different colors are made when the glass is in a state of fusion, the button being nipped out of it by a pair of iron moulds, like those for casting pistol-shot ; the shank having been inserted in the mould, so that it may be found imbedded in the glass when cool. Mother of pearl buttons are a somewhat ingenious manufacture. The mode of fixing the eye or shank is by drilling a hole at the back, which is under cut ; that is, larger at the bottom than the top, like a mortise, and the shank being driven in by a steady stroke, its extremity expands on striking the bottom of the hole, and thus becomes firmly riveted in- to the button. Steel studs are thus often riveted into buttons of this and other kinds. In cases where stones and foil are used, the shanks are usually attached with isinglass glue. GOLD. The method of refining gold, and its application to manu- factures, are as follows. In separating the gold, the mineral ore is first broken with iron mallets, then ground in mills to a fine powder, and passed through several sieves. The powder is then placed in troughs, with mercury and water. Afler this the water and earth are forced out of the troughs by pouring on a stream of hot water. This done, there remains nothing but the mercury and the ore. The mercury is after- ward separated by distillation, and the gold is melted and cast into in- gots. For refining gold^ either antimony, oxymuriate of mercury, or nitro- muriatic acid, is used. Gold having the property which no other met- al has, except platina, of resisting the action of the simple acids, &c. it may be purified by the above agents from all metallic substan- ces, and consequently refined. Another method of purifying gold and silver consists in adding to the alloyed gold and silver a certain quantity of lead, and exposing afterward this mixture to the action of the fire. Gold wire, as it is called, is most generally made of a cylindrical in- got of silver, superficially gilt, and afterward drawn successively through a great number of the holes of a wire-drawing iron, each less than the other, till it is sometimes no thicker than a hair of the head. Before the wire is reduced to this excessive fineness, it is drawn through above a hundred and forty different holes ; previously to each time of drawing, it is rubbed afresh over with new wax, both to facilitate its passage, and prevent the silver appearing through it. Gold thread or spun gold, is flatted gold, Avrapped or laid over a thread of silk, by twisting it with a wheel. To dispose the wire to bo spun on silk, it is passed between two rollers of a small mill ; the gold wire is thus made quite flat, without losing any thing of its gilding, and ENCYCLOPEDIA. 197 GILDING. is rendered so exceedingly thin and flexible, that it is easily spun on silk thread, by means of a hand-wheel. Gold leaf is gold beaten with a hammer into exceedingly thin leave g» so that it is computed that an ounce may be beaten into sixteen hun~ dred leaves, each three inches square. That for the gold wire is left much thicker than that for gilding picture frames. The gold is beaten between pieces of skin on a block, commonly of black marble, about a foot square. The hammers are of polished iron. The gold is first formed from the ingot to the thickness of a sheet of paper, then it ig cut into pieces about an inch square ; they are then beaten thinner, and again cut into several smaller pieces. GILDING is the art of covering a thing over with gold either in the state of a leaf or liquid. The art of gilding was not unknown to the ancients, though it never arrived at the perfection among them, to which the moderns have carried it. Pliny assures us, that the first gilding seen at Rome was after the destruction of Carthage, under the censorship of Lucius Mummius, when they began to gild the ceilings of their temples and palaces, the Capitol being the first place on which this enrichment was bestowed. But he adds, that luxury advanced on them 80 hastily, that iu a little time you might see all, even private and poor persons, gild the very walls, vaults, fee. of their houses. Modern gilders make use of gold leaves of various thicknesses ; but there are some so fine, that a thousand do not weigh above four or five drachms. The thickest are used for gilding on iron, and other metals ; and the thinnest on wood. A color of gold is given by painting and varnishes, without employ- ing gold, but this is a false kind of gilding. Thus a very fine golden color is given to brass and silver, by applying upon these metals a gold colored varnish, which, being transparent, shows all the brilliancy of the metals beneath. Many ornaments of brass are varnished in this manner, which is called gold LAcauERiNG, to distinguish them from those which are really gilt. Silver leaves thus varnished are put upon leather, which is then called gilt leather. Among the false gilding may also be reckoned that which is done with thin leaves of copper or brass, called Dutch leaf. In this manner are made most kinds of what is coiled gilt paper. The gold intended for gilding ought, in general, to be beaten into thin leaves, or otherwise divided into very fine parts. As metals can- not adhere well merely by contact to any but other metallic substance?, when gold is to be applied to the surface of some non-metallic body, this surface must be previously covered with some gluey and tenacious substance, by which the gold will be made to adhere. Such substan- ces are in general called sizes, some of which are made of vegetable and animal glues, and others of oily, gluey, and drying matters. Upon them the leaves of gold are applied, and pressed down with a little cot- ton, or a hare's foot ; and when the whole is dry, the work is to bo finished, polished, or burnished with a hard instrument, called a dog's toothy to give it lustre. The method of applying gold upon metals is entirely different. The surface of the metal to be gilt is first to be cleaned ; and then leaves are 17* 198 FAMILY SILVERING. to be applied to it, which, by means of rubbing with a polished blood- atone, or pumice-stone, are made to adhere perfectly well. In this manner silver leaf is fixed and burnished upon brass in the making of what is called French platt ; and sometimes also gold leaf is burnished upon copper and iron. Gold is applied to metals in several other man- ners. One of these is by previously forming the gold into a paste or amalgam with mercury, with which the surface of the metal to be gild- ed must be covered ; then a sufficient heat is applied to evaporate the mercury ; and the gold, which is left on the surface of the copper, is lastly, burnished with a blood-stone. Some metals, particularly silver, may be gilt in the following man- ner : — Let gold be dissolved in nitro-muriatic acid. In this solution pieces of linen are dipped, and burnt to black ashes. These ashes be- ing rubbed on the surface of the silver by means of a wet linen rag, apply the particles of gold which they contain, and which, by this meth- od, adhere very well. The remaining part of the ashes is washed off; and the surface of the silver, which in this state does not seem to be gilt, is burnished with a blood-stone till it acquires a fine color of gold. This method of gilding is very easy, and consumes a very small quanti- ty of gold. Most gilt ornaments upon fans, snuff-boxes, and other toys of much show and little value, are nothing but silver gilt in this man- ner. Gold may also be applied to glass, porcelain, and other vitrified matters. After the gold leaf is laid on the glass, &;c., the pieces are ex- posed to a certain degree of heat, and burnished slightly to give them a lustre. A more substantial gilding is fixed upon glass, enamel, and porcelain, by applying to these substances powder of gold mixed with a solution of gum arable, or with some essential oil, and a small quan- tity of borax ; after which a sufficient heat is applied to soften the glass and the gold, which is then burnished. With this mixture any figures may be drawn. The powders for this purpose may be made, — 1. By grinding gold leaf with honey, which is afterward to be washed away with water. 2. By distilling to dryness a solution of gold in nitro-muriatic acid. 3. By evaporating the mercury from an amalgam of gold, taking care to stir well the mass near the end of the process. 4. By precipitating gold from its solution in nitro-muriatic acid, by ap- plying to it a solution of green vitriol in water, or copper, and perhaps other metallic substances. SILVERING. Wood, paper, k,c. are silvered in the same manner as gilding is performed, using only silver leaf instead of gold. For common purposes, copper or brass may be plated by dissolving silver in nitric acid, neutralizing the acid with alkali, and rubbing the polish- ed surface of the article with this mixture, till it assumes a white sil- ver color, which will continue for some time, if not exposed to much friction. Dial plates of clocks, barometers, &;c., are plated with old silver lace dissolved in nitric acid, and then precipitated with common salt ; this precipitate is mixed with carbonate of potash and whiting, until it forms a dry mass, with which the metal to be plated is rubbed. The most permanent plating, however, is performed in the following manner : — Take two thin plates of silver and copper, the former in the proportion of one to twelve of the latter ; put a little powdered borax between them, and expose them to a white heat, when the silver will be found firmly united to the copper, after which, it is passed between ENCYCLOPEDIA. 199 COINING. rollers, till it has acquired the proper thickness for the manufacture in- tended. COINING is the art or act of making money. Coining is either performed by the hammer or the mill. The first method is now little used in Europe, although it was the only one known until the year 1553, when a new coining-mill was invented by Anthony Brucher ; and first tried in the French king's palace at Paris, for coining counters. In either kind of coining, the pieces of metal are stamped, or struck with a kind of moulds or dies, wherein is engraven the device fixed upon. The first operations in coining are mixing and melting the metal : for there are no species of money coined of pure gold or silver, but always with a certain quantity of alloy of copper, or other metals, mixed with them ; the reasons are partly the necessity of making those metals harder, by some foreign admixture, and partly to defray the expenses of coining. Melting, if the metal be gold, is performed in earthen crucibles ; if silver or copper, in iron ones. When the gold or silver is melted, it is poured into moulds for casting into plates or sheets ; the method of doing this is exactly the same with that used by the founders in sand. Coining by the mill. The plates being taken out of the moulds, scraped and brushed, are passed several times through the mill, to flat- ten them, and bring them to the just thickness of the particular species to be coined ; with this difference, however, that the plates of gold are heated again in a furnace, and quenched in water, before they undergo the mill ; which softens, and renders them more ductile ; whereas those of silver pass the mill just as they are, without any heating ; and when afterward they are heated, they are left to cool of themselves, without water. The plates, whether gold, silver, or copper, thus reduced as nearly as possible to their thickness, are cut into round pieces, nearly the size of the intended species ; these pieces are adjusted, and brought, by filing or rasping, to the weight of the standard, whereby they are to be regulated ; and what remains of the plate between the circles is melted again. The pieces are adjusted in a fine balance ; and those which prove too light are separated from those too heavy ; the first to be melted again, and the second to be filed down : for the mill through which the plates are passed, can never be so just, but there will be some inequality. They are then carried to the blanching or whitening house, ?. e. the place where the gold pieces have their color given them, and the silver ones are whitened ; which is done by heating them in the furnace, and afterwards boiling them successively in two copper vessels, with water, common salt, and tartar. After scouring them well with sand, and washing them with common water, they are dried over a wood fire in a copper sieve. They formerly were next marked with an engine on the edges, to prevent the clipping and paring of the species ; but latterly, the edges and faces of the money are struck at once. This marking of the edges is called milling. Some of the larger pieces, as crowns, have legends impressed on the edge. A new method of coining has been introduced by Messrs. Bolton and Watt, which is now the only mode used in England. For this purpose build- ings are erected on Tower Hill. The machinery invented by these able mechanics has been long used in the manufacture of copper money. A steam-engine works the screw presses for cutting out the 200 FAMILY COINING. PLUMBERY. circular pieces of copper, and coins both the edges and faces of the money at the same time, with such superior excellence and cheapness of workmanship, as will prevent clandestine imitation. By this ma- chinery, four boys are capable of striking 30,000, pieces of money in an hour ; and the machine acts at the same time as a register, and keeps an unerring account of the number of pieces struck. These having now all their marks and impressions, both on the edges and fa- ces, become money ; but have not currency till they have been weigh- ed and examined. For the coining of Medals the process is the same, in effect, with that of money ; the principal difference consists in this, that money, having but a small relievo, receives its impression at a single stroke ; whereas for medals, the height of their relievo makes it necessary that the stroke be repeated several times. Medallions, and medals of high relievo, from the difficulty of stamping them in the press, are usually first cast or moulded in sand, like other works of tliat kind, and are only put into the press to perfect them. PLUMBERY is the art of casting, preparing, and workiug lead ; and using it in building, &c. The lead used in plumbery is furnished from the lead-works in large ingots, or blocks, called pigs of lead, each weighing generally about 100 pounds. Lead melting very easily, is used for figures of any kind, by running it into moulds of brass, clay, plaster, &c. But the chief articles in plumbery are sheets and pipes of lead. These constitute the basis of the plumber's work in building : the following is the process : — For casting large sheets of lead. The lead is melted in a large caul- dron or furnace ; near the furnace is a table, or mould, whereon the lead is to be cast. Around it runs a frame, consisting of a ledge or border of wood, four or five inches high from the table. The table is covered with fine, moist, smooth sand. At the end of the table nearest to the furnace is adapted a box equal in length to the width of the ta- ble ; at the bottom of the box is a horizontal slit to let out the melted metal ; the box moves upon rollers along the edges of the projecting rim of the table, and is set in motion by ropes and pulleys properly at- tached. The box is made to contain as much lead as will cast the whole sheet at the same time ; and the slit in the bottom is adjusted so as to permit the proper quantity of lead to run out during its progress over the table. The lead is taken out of the cauldron with an iron la- dle. Over the table is a strike or rake of wood, which bears and plays on the edges of the frame ; and so placed, as, that between it and the sand, is a space proportionable to the intended thickness of the sheet. The use of this strike is to drive the matter, while yet liquid, to the extremity of the mould, and give the sheet an equal thickness. The sheets thus cast, there remains nothing but to edge them, in order to render them smooth and straight. This is called cast lead. Milled lead is not made by the plumber, but at the lead works ; in the operation of making it, a roller or flatting- mill is used, whence its name. Milled lead is a slighter article than cast lead. Sheet lead is of different thicknesses, varying in its weight from 5 to Gibs, in each square foot. For casting thin sheets of lead. The table or mould here used is of ENCYCLOPEDIA. 201 TIN. FOUNDRY. a length and breadth at discretion. Instead of sand, it is covered with a piece of woollen stuff, nailed down at both ends to keep it tight; and over this is laid a very fine linen cloth. These fine smooth sheets of lead are sometimes used between the joints of large stones in great buildings, &;c. TIN. The mineral ore, being taken from the mine, is broken into pieces with large iron mallets ; then brought to a stamping mill, where it is beaten still smaller, and the water, passing through, washes away the earthy parts, leaving the metallic ones behind. It is then dried in a furnace on iron plates, and ground fine, washed and dried again, and in this state is called black tin. To convert it into white tin, i. e. pure tin, they carry it to a furnace, where it is melted, and ultimately cast in- to large oblong square masses, called blocks. Tin plate is iron plated over with tin. FOUNDRY is the art of melting and casting all sorts of metals ; particularly brass, iron, bell-metal, &;c. The word is also used for a place or house furnished with furnaces, or forges. Foundry of small works^ or casting in sand. The sand used by the founders, in casting brass, &c., is yellowish, rather soft, and greasy ; but after it has been used becomes quite black, from the charcoal-dust used in the moulds. With this sand a mould is made of dimensions suita- ble for the things to be cast ; wood or metallic patterns are then placed on the mould, and pressed down into the sand, so as to leave their form indented. Along the middle of the mould is laid half a little cylinder of brass, which is to be the chief conduit, funnel, or canal, for running the metal ; being so disposed as to touch the ledge at one side, and only reach the last pattern on the other. From this are placed several smaller conduits or funnels, reaching to each pattern, whereby the metal is conveyed through the whole frame. After the same manner they proceed to work the counter-part, or other half of the mould, with the same patterns, in a frame exactly like the former ; excepting that it has pins, which, entering holes corresponding thereto in the other, make, when the two are joined together, the two cavities of the pattern fall exactly on each other. When both parts of the mould are sufficiently dried, they are joined together by means of pins ; and to prevent their starting or slipping aside by the force of the metal, which is poured in a melted state, through a hole contrived as the chief con- duit, they are locked in a kind of press. The moulds thus secured in the press are ranged near the furnace, to be in readiness to receive the metal as it comes out of the crucible. While the moulds are prepar- ing, the metal is fused in an earthen crucible, in a furnace adapted to the crucible, so that the fire may completely envelope it. The founder now takes the crucible out of the fire with a pair of iron tongs, and car- ries it to the mould, into which he pours the fluid metal. Thus he goes successively from one to another, till his crucible is empiied. When sufficiently cool, the mould is opened, the cast matter taken out, and the sand and moulds applied again to other castings. In casting statues,, figures^ busts^ &c., there are three things chiefly re- quired, viz. the mould, wax, and core. In casting bells^ the metal is different ; there being, in bronze, or the 202 FAMILY FOUNDRY. metal of statues, from nine to twelve parts tin to 100 of copper, where- as bell-metal is generally composed of three parts copper and one tin. The mirrors for telescopes consist chiefly of two parts copper and one tin, with smaller portions of brass, silver, and arsenic. The dimensions of the core and the wax of bells are not left to chance or the caprice of the workman, but must be measured on, a kind of scale, which gives the height, aperture, and thickness necessary for the several tones re- quired. It is on the wax also that the several mouldings, and other ornaments and inscriptions to be represented in relievo on the outside of the bell, are formed. The clapper, or tongue, is not properly a part of the bell, but furnished from other hands. In Europe it is usually of iron, and is suspended in the middle of the bell. In China, it is only a huge wooden mallet, struck by force of arm against the bell : whence they can have but little of that consonancy, so much admired in some of our rings of bells. Belb have been cast in China of an enormous weight : some at Pe- kin are said to weigh 120,000 lbs. each ; one at Nankin weighs 50,000 lbs. Few European bells can compete with these. One at Erfurt, in Saxony, weighs 25,400 lbs. ; another at Rouen, in France, weighs 35,000 lbs. ; the bells of England sink into comparative insignificance after those. One at Oxford weighs 17,000 lbs. ; the great bell of St. Paul's, London, weighs only 11,474 lbs. ; and Tom of Lincoln, 10,854 lbs. But, if the testimony of some authors may be relied on, two bells at Moscow far exceed all others in size : one is said to weigh 288,000 lbs. ; and the other, the enormous weight of 432,000 lbs. ; its height is said to be 19 feet, its circumference at the bottom 21 yards, and its greatest thickness 23 inches. The casting of cannons^ mortars^ and other pieces of artillery, is per- formed like that of statues and bells, as to what regards the mould, furnaces. Sic. Cannons are made of a mixture of brass, copper, and tin, or of cast iron, but more commonly with the last. A cannon is al- ways shaped a little conical, being thickest of metal at the breech, where the greatest effort of the gun-powder is made, and diminishing thence to the muzzle ; so that if the mouth be two inches thick of metal, the breech is six. Its length is measured in calibres, i. e. in di- ameters of the muzzle. Six inches at the muzzle require twenty cali- bres, or ten feet in length ; there is about one-sixth of an inch allowed as play for the ball. The guns are cast without any core, and after- wards bored with a steel trepan, that is worked either by horses, a water-mill, or steam. There is a large iron foundry two .miles from Falkirk, in Scotland, called Carron Works. Above 100 acres of land have been converted into reservoirs and pools for water, diverted from the river by magnifi- cent dams built about two miles above the works, which, after turning eighteen large wheels, falls into a tide navigation, that conveys their castings to the sea. These works are the greatest of the kind in Eu- rope, and were established in 1760. At present the buildings are of vast extent ; and the machinery is the first in Britain both in elegance and correctness. There are 1600 men employed, who receive weekly 650/. sterling, which has greatly enrijAed the adjoining country ; 6500 tons of iron are melted annually froni the mineral, and cast into can- won, cylinders, kc. In the founding of cannon these works have lately ENCYCLOPEDIA. 203 LETTER FOUNDRY. arrived at such perfection, that they make above 5000 pieces a year ; and their iron guns of the new construction are the lightest and neatest now in use, not excepting brass guns. The words Crucible and Forge having been repeatedly used, it may be proper to describe them. A Crucible is a vessel commonly made of earth, sometimes of iron, plumbago, platina, &;c., without any handle; considerably higher than wide ; sometimes triangular, sometimes round at top, which is the widest part, and assuming a circular figure below ; in which chemists, coiners, goldsmiths, and other artificers, melt gold, silver, &c. Earthen crucibles are made of potter's clay, and hold from one ounce to 800 ; the iron ones are larger, some holding 10,000 ounces. Forge signifies a kind of small furnace, wherein smiths and other arti- ficers heat their metals. The word/org-e is also used for a large fur- nace, wherein iron ore, taken out of the mine, is melted down, though this is not so properly a forge as a furnace. A forge is more properly used for another kind of furnace, wherein pigs of metal are heated, fused, beaten with large hammers, and thus rendered soft, ductile, and fit for use. Of these forges there arc two kinds, through which the iron successively passes, before it comes to the smith. Forge-mills are turned by water, which serves to raise and let fall one or more huge hammers, to beat and form the iron into bars, anchors, or other massive works. In LETTER-FOUNDRY, or the casting of printing letters, two things are principally to be regarded — the matter and the matrices. The matter, or type-metal is composed of lead alloyed with a small portion of antimony. Every letter-founder preparing his own metal, the proportions of lead and antimony are as various as the founders differ in skill and experience. The excellence of type-metal consists in hardness, tenacity, and stiffness ; hard, that the face of the type may not be disfigured with a slight blow, that it may endure consider- able wear ; tenacious, that it may not be too easily broken ; and stiff, that the types may not be bent from their rectilinear position. The matrices of the letters are pieces of copper or brass whereon the impression of the intended character has been cut, or struck in a cavity by means of punches. Each letter haa its proper matrice ; and there are particular ones for points, figures, rules, head-pieces, and other or- naments of printing : excepting the quadrats, which being only of lead, and not intended to leave any impression, are cast without matrices, and only in moulds. Each matrice has its punch made of steel, or iron well tempered. The matrices being struck, and touched up, or repaired where needful, are put at the end of an iron mould enclosed between two thin pieces of board. Every thing belonging to the mould being disposed, they begin to prepare the matter. The furnace, whereon the basin is placed for the metal to be melted in, is made of the same matter as crucibles. Over the furnace is placed the melting basin, or copper, which is divided into two equal parts by a perpendic- ular partition. This basin contains the melted type-metal. One work- man is employed at eacii furnace. To run the metal into the mould, the founder holds in his ladle just enough for one letter. Having filled this ladle with liquid metal, he pours it tlirough a jet or funnel into the matrice or character. He then opens the mould, and takes out the character, and without loss of time shuts it again, replaces the matrice, 2(Vt FAMILY PRINTING. and casts a new letter. It is incredible with what expedition all this is done ; an expert workman being able to cast 3000 letters in a day. The letter being cast, it is examined, to ascertain that it is perfect ; if it be not, it is thrown among the refuse of the fount. When the let- ters are cast, they remain to be justified, both as to thickness and height. The justification of the Iwght is guided by the m of some body of characters already justified. All that remains is to dress the letters, and make that sort of groove, which every letter has in its bottom, in order that it may stand perpendicular. This is performed by turning a long line of them upside down, between two cheeks of wood, Avhich, pressing very tight, enable the workman to run his plane along the line of letters so inverted, and thus to form the groove. The letters are now fit for the printer's use. The perfection of letters thus cast consists in their being all square and straight on every side, of the same height, evenly lined, well grooved, &c. An inspection of the letters tlieraselves will assist the reader in understanding this descrip- tion, and afford a clearer idea than can be otherwise conceived. FOUNT, or FONT, among printers, is a set or quantity of charac- ters, or letters of each kind, cast by the letter-founder and sorted. We say a founder has casta fount of pica, of english, pearl, &c., meaning he has cast a set of characters of these kinds. A complete fount includes capitals, small capitals, little letters, called lower-case, double letters, accented letters, figures, points, characters for reference, spaces, and quadrats. The letter founders have a kind of list, by which they reg- ulate their founts. Some letters being much more used than others, it is necessary to have more of them cast, than of those which occur less frequently. Thus the o and i, for instance, are always in greater quantity than the k or z. In a fount, or bill, of the size called pica, weighing in all 800 pounds, the number of the letter e is 12,000 ; off 9,000 ; of a 8,500 ; of t, n, o, and *, 8000 each ; of c there are 3000 ; of 6 1600 ; A; 800 ; a; 400 ; z 200. This is for the English language. In other languages the comparative frequency must be different. Sizes. Different names are given to the various sizes of types, of which the following are most employed in common book printing. Pica, — abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&z. Small Pica, — abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&. Long Primer. — abcdefghijklmDopqrstuvwxyz&. Bourgeois. — abc(lefgliijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&. Brevier. — abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&. Minion. — abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&. vVon;?aref/.— abcdefgTiijkliiinopqrstuvwjiyz&;. PRINTING is the art of making an impression upon one body by pressing it with another. This art, in some way or other, has been known in all ages. It has been done upon wax, plaster, and iron, by the ancients ; their seals, rings, and money prove it. It has been done with wooden blocks upon cotton and silk by the Indians. Printing therefore in this unhmited sense was common to all nations. This art is now divided into four distinct branches. Common or letter-press printing ; rolling-press printing ; Calico printing ; and Stereotype printing. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 205 INTRODUCTION OF PRINTING INTO BRITAIN. Letter-press yrinting is the most useful and curious branch of the art. To this are chiefly owin^ our deliverance from ignorance and error, the progress of learning, the revival of sciences, many of the modern inventions and discoveries, and numberless improvements in the arts, which, without this noble invention, would have been either lost to mankind, or confined to the knowledge of a few. History of printing. — The honor of having given existence to the present method of printing has been claimed by the cities of Haerlem, Mentz, and Strasburg : and to each of these it may be applied in a qualified sense, as they severally made many improvements upon one another, in the art. But the origin, however, of printing, was at Haer- lem ; the first book was printed in the year 1430; and to Laurence Coster, of that city, is this discovery to be ascribed ; although there is no doubt, (hat soon after Guttemberg, as well as J^ust and Schoeffer, who invented melal types, the first types being of wood^ all added ma- terially to the perfection of this important discovery. It is said, indeed, that Guttemberg invented moveable types, and that he began his experi- ments at Strasburg, and completed them at Mentz ; it is also said that Coster's method was to cutout the letters upon a wooden block ; that he took for apprentice John Fust or Faustus, and bound him to secrecy, but that Fust, notwithstanding his oath, went oflf, not only with the knowledge of the art, but with the types and all the implements of his master ; first to Amsterdam, thence to Cologne, and afterwards to Mentz. Here, assisted by Schoeffer, they printed a number of Bibles in imitation of manuscript, and Fust carried them to Paris tor sale. The Parisians were astonished at their exact similarity, and accused Fust of some diabolical art; hence the origin of the story of the Devil and Dr. Faustus. Wooden types not being found sufficiently durable, and not answering expectation in other respects, it caused the first m- yeni'ion of c\it 7neial types. The honor of completing the dicovery is, therefore, due to Peter Schoefter, who found out the method of form- ing the characters in a matrice, that the letters might be cast singly, in- stead of being cut. He privately cut matrices for the whole alphabet ; and when he showed his master Fust, who appears to have assisted Guttemberg in his attempts to bring the art to perfection, the letters cast from these matrices. Fust was so pleased with the contrivance, that he promised to Peter his only daughter in marriage ; a promise which he soon after performed. Fust and Schoeffer concealed this new im- provement, by administering an oath of secrecy to all whom they en- trusted, till the year 1462, when, by the dispersion of their servants into different countries at the sacking of Mentz by the Archbishop Adolphus, the invention was publicly divulged. Introduction of printing into Britain. — Printing was practised at Rome in the year 1467, and the year following, it was introduced into England by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent W. Turner, Master of the Robes, and W. Caxton, merchant, to the continent to learn the art. While there they met with one Corsellis, an under workman, whom they induced to come to England. This be- ing accomplished, a press was set up at Oxford, and the first book printed in England in 146B, by Corsellis. Oxford was afterwards found inconvenient to be the sole printing place in England, as being too far 18 206 FAMILY PRINTING IN THK UNITED STATES. — PRESS. from London and the sea. The king: therefore set up a press at St. Alban's, and another in the city of "Westminster, where several books of Divinity and physic were printed. By this means the art grew fa- mous. But although Caxton has been heretofore considered the first printer in England, and it is now clear that that honor must be conce- ded to Corsellis, yet Caxton was the first in England that used fusile ii/pes^ and consequently the first that brought the art to comparative perfection ; whereas it is said that Corsellis printed with separate cut types in woorf, being the only method which he had learned at Haerlem. Caxton's printing-office was in the Abbey of Westminster ; he pursued his business with extraordinary diligence till 1494, in which year he died very old. History of printing in the United States — The first printing in New England, was done in 1639, by one Day — the proprietor of the press was a clergyman, by the name of Glover, who died on his passage to America. The first thing printed was the Freeman's oath, the second an Almanack, and the third an edition of the Psalms. No other print- ing press was established in America, until near the close of the seven- teenth century. John Elliot, the celebrated missionary, having trans- lated the Bible into the Indian language, had it printed at Cambridge, by means of this press, in 1664. The first newspaper in North America, called The Boston JVeekly Keics-Ltttir^ was established in 1704. About the middle of the 18th century, ten other printing presses were established — four in New En- gland ; two in New York ; two in Pennsylvania; one in South Caro- lina ; and one in Maryland. The number of books published at this time was also considerable, although they were executed in a coarse style, and were generally books of devotion or for the purposes of edu-^ cation. As to the method of printing, we shall only observe, that the types, or letters, are distributed each kind by itself, in cases. The composi- tor, placing the copy of the work before him, picks up letter by letter, and arranges them in order to form words and sentences, till he has composed a page, and so on for the whole work ; the degree of expe- dition and despatch, with which this is carried on, is not easily to be conceived. The instrument in which the letters are set is called a composing stick. When full, the compositor empties it on a thin board, called a ^ai/ey, till he has composed a page. When a certain num- ber of pages are completed, they are firmly placed in due order in a chase, which is a rectangular iron frame. In this condition the work is called a. form; and the next thing is to work it off at the priyiling'- press. This press is a very complex machine ; its two prnicipal parts are the body of the press, which serves to give the weight or stroke for the impression, and the carriage on which the form is laid. The wonderful power of the steam-engine has lately been applied to work the printing-press, and two diflTerent machines have been invented for the purpose, by means of which three boys can perform in one hour the work that in the usual way would employ two men eight hours. One of the boys lays the paper on the machine, which of itself distri- butes the ink onjthe forms, and prints first one side of the sheet and then the other ; the second boy removes the sheets thus printed ; and the ^ ENCYCLOPEDIA. ^ STEREOTYPE PRINTING. INK. — BOOKS. — ROLLING-PRESS. third boy lays them evenly on the bank. In this way a thousand sheets are printed in an hour. The press is of the rolling kind. Several of the daily newspapers^are now printed by steam, as well indeed as many valuable books. Stereotype Printing, although on a principle which was anterior to printing by moveable types, was invented in Scotland by Mr. Ged and Mr, Tilloch respectively, carried to France, and at a subsequent date was introduced into England. It has arrived at great perfection in the United States, within a few years. The mode of Stereotype Printing is first to set up a page in the com- mon way, with moveable types ; and when correct, a cast of plaster of Paris is taken from it; in this cast the metal for the stereotype is pour- ed ; and so for every page intended to be stereotyped, each page thus forming a single block or plate. When the plates are prepared, they are printed off like other works ; if by a rolling press, the plates are bent to suit the rotundity of the cylinder. But it is only for standard books of very extensive circulation and constant demand, and wherein no material additions, corrections, or alterations, as to plan, or size, are wanted, that the stereotype can be used to advantage. Such works are comparatively very ^e\v. It is true, the stereotype plates can be, and occasionally a.-e, altered by punching out words or letters, and inserting others ; but the trouble of doing this is great, and, of course, expensive. The Ink used in printing is composed of nut or lintseed oil, boiled and purified ; with this oil are mixed common resin, to give it tenacity, and soap, to destroy the greasiness of the oil, and make the ink easily wash off: these ingredients varying in proportions according to the experience of the ink-maker, arc ground up with a quantity of lamp- black. . For red ink, vermillion is used instead of lamp-black. Books are printed in China from wooden blocks, cut like those used in printing calico, paper, &c. among us. These blocks are made of a smooth, firm wood, and of the size of the leaf required ; upon the face side some able penman draws out the several letters with a kind of pencil ; when finished, the block is cut by the sculptor, with his sharp small instruments, which make all the characters ap])ear in relievo on the wood. Their paper is inferior to ours in color. It is made of the inner bark or rind of a kind of rushes, beaten up with water into a pulp or paste, and formed in moulds much like ours. The advantage of the Chinese printing consists in this, that they are not obliged to take off the whole edition at once, but print their books as they need them. Their blocks are easily retouched and made to serve again, and there needs no corrector of the press. Its disadvantages are, that a large room will scarcely hold all the blocks of a moderate volume ; the color of their ink easily fades ; and their paper is too thin, apt to tear, and subject to worms, whence it is that we see so few ancient books in China. Rollimz-press Printing is employed in taking offprints, or impressions from copper-plates engraven or etched ; an account of which shall appear under the article Engraving. VARNISH is a thick, glossy liquor, used by painters, gilders, and otlier artificers, to give a gloss and lustre to their works, and also to 208 ■ FAMILY JAPA^'NING. — BRICKS. defend them from the weather. There are several kinds of varnish, which are divided into two classes, spirit and oil varnishes. The finest of the former class is the copal varnish, made of gum-copal dissolved in spirit of wine, or essential oils. Shell lac, and the other gum-resins are next. The white varnish is made of oil of turpentnie, fine turpen- tine, and mastic. The tra:.. parent varnish,, used for window-blinds, is made of mastic dissolved alone, or with the addition of Canada balsam, in oil of turpentine. Drying varnish is made of oil, turpentine, and sandrac, melted together. The common varnish is only yellow or black resin dissolved in oil of turpentine! The word varnish is also used for the glossy coat wherewith potters' ware, China ware, &:c., are covered to give them a lustre ; but the common term, slaze,, is more proper, as it is in reality a glass. This will be noticed under Pottery. JAPANNING is the art of varnishing and drawing figures on wood, in the same manner as is done by the natives of Japan. The substan- ces which admit of being japanned are almost every kind that are dry and rigid, or not too flexible or extensible ; as wood, metals leather, and prepared paper. Wood and metals do not require any other prepara- tion, bnt to have their surface perfectly even and clean : but leather should be securely strained, either on frames or boards, as its bending or forming folus would otherwise crack and force off" the coats of var- nish ; the paper should be treated in the same manner, and have a pre- vious strong coat of size; but it is rarely made the subject of japan- ning, till it is converted into papier macht>\ that is, reduced to a pulp, mixed with gum and size, and dried to hardness, or wrought by other means into such form, that its original state, particularly with respect to flexibility, is lost. Bricks are formed by means of a wooden mould, dried in the open air, and then baked or burnt, to serve the purposes of building. The first step in the process of brick making is casting the clay. The next step is to tread or temper it. This is commonly done by means of ox- en who are employed to tread it. The goodness of brick depends chief- ly upon tliis preparation. The clay itself, before it is wrought, is gen- erally brittle, but by v/orking and incorporating it together with water, the whole becomes a homogeneous paste. Bricks are commonly of a red color. Bricks may be made of any clayey earth that is clear of stones, but all will not burn red. The clay ought to be dug before winter, but not made into bricks before spring. Bricks are burnt either in a kiln or clamp. Those in a kiln are burnt either with wood or coal, as may suit the particular convenience of the spot for obtaining most readily one or the other material ; and as the fire can be, in kilns, continued at the pleasure of the superintendant, the bricks can be more equally and uniformly burnt. About London, however, bricks are chiefly burnt in clftmps, built of the bricks them- selves, after the manner of arching in kilns, with a vacancy between every two bricks for the fire to play through ; but with this difference, they span it over by making the bricks project one over another on both sides of the place, for the wood and coal to lie in till they meet, and are bounded by the bricks at the top, which close all up. The place for the fuel is carried up straight on both sides, till about three feet high; then they almost fill it with wood, and over that lay a cover- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 209 TILES. ing of coal. They also strew coal over the clamp, upon every row of bricks, which are packed loosely, so that the fire may more readily communicate witli each row ; and lastly the_y kindle the wood, which gives fire to the coal ; when all is consumed, they conclude the bricks are sufficiently burnt. TILE is aBort of thin laminated brick, used for the roofs of houses; or, more properly, a fat clayey earth, moulded into a certain form, and dried and burnt like bricks. Tiles are made of better clay than bricks. The method of burning is similar to brick, but tiles are always burnt in kilns. There are various kinds of tiles for building ; but hollow and pi tin tiles are the chief. Dutch tiles, or, as they are sometimes called Flemish tiles, are of two kinds, ancient and modern. The ancient, for chimney foot-pieces ; they were painted with ancient figures and mo- resque devices, but came short, both as to the design and coloring, of the modern ones. The more modern Dutch tiles are commonly used plastered up in the jambs of chimneys, and are much better glazed and painted than the former kind. But these seem to be made of the same white clay of which glazed earthenware is made. Both these are now fallen into disuse. The blue slate used to cover houses are sometimes called tiles. A PIPE is a well knov/n machine, used in smoking tobacco, consist- ing of a long slender tube, made of clay. Pipes are of various fashions, as long, short, plain, worked, white, varnished, unvarnished, arid of va- rious colors, &c. The Turks use pipes three or four feet long, made of rushes, or wood bored ; at the end of which they fix a kind of nut of baked earth, which serves as a bowl, and which they take off' after smo- king. The clay witli which pipes are made is brought to the makers in lumps of six or eight inches square. When used, it is thrown into a large pan, moistened with water, and beaten and moulded till it is soft and mellow, and exceedingly well tempered. Thence it is removed to the rolling board, where the workman readily breaks off an exact quan- tity for a couple of pipes, rolls out both at once, one in each hand, to the proper length and form, leaving a sufficient quantity at one end for the bowl ; then lays them on a board by dozens, where they remain till they have acquired a greater degree of hardness. The tube is then formed by running a wire through the clay. The pipe, before the wire is withdrawn, is closed in a mould of polished iron, and now, by the help of another machine, the bowl instantly receives its form, and the whole pipe is returned in its exact figure. It is now again left to harden yet more, before it undergoes its last smoothing and finish, which is quickly done by a kind of knife, &;c. and thence it is taken to the kiln. The Kilns are of various sizes ; some hold twenty gross, others eighty, and even a hundred ; but the more usual size contains forty or fifty gross of pipes. Here they are six or eight hours exposed to a strong clear fire. This brings them to their state of whiteness; and is the last operation. They are then taken and packed up in boxes for sale. POTTERY is the art of making earthen pots or vessels ; or the man- ufacture of earthenware. The clay used for this purpose, is a soft, vis- cous earth, of different kinds and properties, and may be found in va- 18* 210 FAMILY POTTERY. rious places. The better kinds of English stiiiie ware are composed of pipe clny and pounded Jlints, in the proportion of four parts of flints to eighteen parts of clay. The yelfotvish iv/iite or queeyi 3 ware, so gene- rally in use, is made of the same materials, with larger proportions of clay. The common red earthenuare appears to be merely common clay, similar to that with which bricks are made. The first is glazed^ by throwing sea-salt into the furnace in which it is baked, when the heat is strong : the salt is converted into vapor, and this being applied to the surface of the stone-ware, vitrifies it, and forms an excellent glazing. The qucfiis ware is glazed by dipping the baked ware into a mixture of the consistence of cream, composed of white lead, ground flint, and ground glass, and submitting the ware afterwards to heat. The com- position is, however, sometimes varied. But the glaze for most of our common earthenware containing so large a portion of lead, such ves- sels should never be employed for acid liquors of any kind, as the acid will dissolve the lead, and thus render whatever is contained in the ves- sel poisonous. Among the instruments used in pottery, the wheel and Inthe are the principal ; the first for large works, the second, for small. The potter's wheel consists principally in its nw/, which is its beam or axis, the pivot of which plays perpendicularly ona free-stone sole at the bottom. From the four corners of this beam proceed four iron bars, which, form- ing diagonal lines with the beam, descend and are fastened at bottom to a strong wooden circle. On the top of the nut is laid a piece of the clay to be turned and fashioned. The wheel, thus disposed, is encom- passed on all sides with four diflferent pieces of wood, sustained on a wooden frame. The hind piece, which is that whereon the workman sits, is made a little inclining towards the wheel. On the fore pieces is placed the prepared clay ; by the workman's side is a trough of wa- ter, wherewith, from time to time, he wets his hands, to prevent the clay's sticking to them. The potter having prepared Jiis clay, and laid a piece of it, suitable to the work he intends, on the top of the beam, turns the wheel, till it has got the proper velocity ; forming the cavity of the vessel, and widening it till it has received its intended form. When the vessel is found to be too thick, he pares off what is redun- dant with an instrument. When the vessel is finished, he takes it olT the circular head by a wire passed underneath the vessel. The potter's lathe is also a kind of wheel, but simpler and slighter than the former. Its three principal parts are an iron beam or axis, placed perpendicularly ; a small wooden wheel, placed horizontally at the top of the beam, and serving to form the vessel on ; and a thick wooden wheel placed horizontally at tho bottom. The potters work with the lathe with the same instruments, and after the same manner, as with the wheel. The lathe and wheel serve only to give the fonn of the body of the vessel ; the feet, handles, and other occasional orna- ments are made and set by tho hand. If there be any sculpture inthe work, it is usually done in earthen or wooden moulds, and afterwards gtuck on the outside of the vessel. DELrTWARE is a kind of pottery of baked earth, covered with an enamel, or white glazing, which gives it tho appearance of porcelain. It is sometimes ornamented with paintings of figures, &c. The basis ENCYCLOPEDIA. 211 rOKCELAIN GLASS — WORKING OR BLOWING ROUND GLASS. of this pottery is elay, which is mixed in such quantity as to produce enough ductility to be worked, moulded, and turned easily, without cracking or shrinking too much in drying or baking. The vessels, be- ing slightly baked, are covered with an enamel or glazing. They are then painted with colors composed ofmetallic oxides, mixed and ground with fusible glass. When dry, they are again baked, and exposed to a heat capable of fusing the enamel, and conipleting the baking. — The furnace and colors used lor painting this ware are the same as for por- celain. For making these enamels there arc many recipes, but all of them are composed of sand and flints, vitrifiable salts, and oxide of lead or tin. The sand must be {)erlectly vitrified, so as to form a gloss con- siderably fusible. The kinds of clay chiefly used for delft-ware are blue and green : to give it a greater solidity, some red clay is added; which on account of its ferruginous matter, possesses the requisite bindmg quality. Three pi^rts blue clay, two red, and five marl, form the composition used in several manufactures. PORCELAIN, or CHINA, as it is commonly called, because former- ly brought chiefly from that country, is imported occasionally into Eu- rope from many other places of the east, especially Japan, Siam, Svu^at, and Persia. But very good porcelain is now made in various parts of England, as well as at Dresden, and in France. The Chinese call this manufacture tse-ki ; the origin of the term por- celnin does not appear to be decidedly known : the French call iXpor- claine ; the Italians porcellana. Whether porcelain was known to the lloroans is uncertain, as the Roman writers give us no decisive infor- mation concerning it. It is not known who was the inventor of this el- egant manufacture ; the Chinese annals are said to be silent about it ; it appears, however, pretty certain, that porcelain must have been known as early as the fifth century. It is said that the porcelain of China is made chiefly, if not entirely, at Kingteching, which has had the honor of supplying the greatest part of the world with this commodity, but England now bids fair to deprive China of much of her traffic in this elegant production. The most perfect and beautiful porcelains of Japan and China are said to be composed of two distinct earths; a porcelain is produced which scarcely vitrifies at the utmost furnace heat which art can ex- cite. It is also very hard, beautifully semi-transparent, very white when not artificially coloured, tough and cohesive, so that it may be made very thin, and bears sudden heating and coolhig without crack- ing. GLASS is a transparent, solid, brittle body, produced by a mixture of earthy or metallic with salin^ substances melted together by an in- tense heat. There are three principal kinds of glass, distinguished by tlie form or manner of working them, viz., round glass, as our vessels, phials, drinking glasses, kc. : table or window glass, of which there are divers kinds; and crown-glass and plate-glass, or looking-glass. WORKING OR BLOWING ROUND GLASS. The furnace in which the glass is melted is round, and has several apertures, through one of which the fuel is introduced; the others serve to lade out the melted metal, wnich is fused in pots made of tobacco-pipe clay, or some 212 FAMILY BOTTLES— PUTTY. Other material capable of resisting the heat. When the ingredients jire perfectly fused and sufficiently hot, part of the melted matter is ta- ken out at the end of a hollow tube about three feet long, which is dip- ped into it and turned about till a sufficient quantity is taken up ; the workman th«n roils it gently upon a plate of iron or marble, to unite it more intimately; he then blows through the tube, till' the melted mass at the extremity swells into a bubble ; after which, he rolls it again on a smooth surface to polish it, and repeats the blowing till the glass is brought to the size and form necessary for the required vessel ; he shaping it with pincers or scissors, according to circumstances. Crown or Window Glass is formed in a similar manner, except that the liquid mass is blown into large globes, and clt:;; bed from the first iron tube by the assistance of a second person, who fixes his iron tube at the opposite side of the globe ; and the man who originally blew it, then separates his tube from it ; the moutli of the globe is gradually widened til! it ultimately becomes, in the hand of the workman a cir- cular planisphere. Plate Glass for Loakino; Glasses and some superior windows, is made by causing the melted glass to flow upon a table made either of pot- metal or of copper, with iron ledges to confine the melted matter ; and as it cools, a metallic roller is passed over it, to reduce it to an uniform thickness. After being annealed, that is cooled in an oven or furnace very gradually, it is ground and polished thus : — The glass is laid hor- izontally upon a flat stone table made of a very fine grained free-stone; then taking a smaller piece of rough glass, and fastening it to a heavy wooden plank, the workmen continue to rub one glass backwards and forwards upon anotht^r, till they acquire a great degree of smoothness. While they are thus employed, they pour in water and sand, then a finer sort of sand, and lastly powder of smalt. When the grinder has done his part, by bringing the glass to an exact plainness, it is turned over to the polisher, who with the fine powder of Tripoli stone, or em- ery, and a putty formed of lead and tin calcined together, brings it to a perfect evenness and lustre. Glass is colored blue by oxide of cobalt ; red by the oxide of gold ; green by oxides of copper or iron ; yellow by oxides of silver or anti- mony ; and violet by oxide of manganese. BOTTLES. Glass bottles are better for liquors than those of stone. Foul glass bottles are cleaned by rolling sand or small shot in them. But it frequently happens, that some of the shot are left behind ; and when wine or beer is again poured into the bottles, this mineral poison will slowly dissolve, and impregnate those vinous liquors with its dele- terious qualities. The sweetness which is sometimes perceived in red port wine may arise from this cause, when it is neither designed nor suspected. It is much better, therefore, to use nothing but sand, or the dust of coal, and coarse brown paper, which are very effectual for the purpose. PUTTY sometimes denotes powder of calcined tin, which is used in polishing and giving a lustre to works in marble, glass, iron and steel. The putty commonly used by glaziers is composed of lintseed oil and whiting, with or without the addition of white lead. The whiting is first powdered very fine, then oil and white lead (should any ENCYCLOPEDIA. 213 ■NEEDLES. be deemed necessary for the purpose intended) are well wrought with it, and incorporated together. The mixture is beaten till the whole is thoroughly blended, and becomes a tenacious mass like dough. A PIN is an article well known. It is not easy to trace the invention of this useful .implement. It is first noticed in the English statute- book, in the year 1483, prohibiting foreign manufactures. In the reign of Henry VIlI. it would seem pins were then considered a new inven- tion, and probably brought from France, where they were esteemed ar- ticles of luxury. Hence arose the term pin-money, an allowance made by the husband to the wife fur her own spending. The art, however, of making pins from brass wire, was not known in England before 1543 ; before that period they were either made of bone, ivory, or box. Pins are made in the following manner : — The brass wire, reduced to its proper dimensions by drawing, is straightened, and afterwards cut into lengths of three or four yards, and then into smaller ones, ev- ery length being sufficient for six pins ; each end of these is ground to a point, upon gnnd-stones by boys, who will point 16, tOO pins in an hour. When the wire is thus pointed, a. pin is taken off from each end ; and this is repeated, till it is cut into six pieces. The heads are next formed by means of a spinning wheel ; one piece of wire being thus with astonishing rapidity wound round another, and the interior one being drawn out, leaves a hollow tube between ina circumvolu- tions ; it is then cut with shears, every two circinnvolulions or turns of the wire forming one head ; these are softened oy placing them in a furnace till red hot. When cold they are distributed to children, who sit with anvils and hammers before them, which they work with their feet by means of a lathe, and taking up one of the lengths, they thrust the blunt end into a qaantity of the heads which lie before them, and catching one at the extremity, they apply them immediately between the anvil and the hammer, and by a motion or two of the foot, the pin and the head are fixed together in a very expeditious manner. The pin is now thrown into a copper containmg a solution of tin, and the lees of wine. Here it remains for some time, when it assumes a white, though dull appearance ; to give it a polish, it is put into a tub with a quantity of bran, which is set in motion by turning a shaft that runs through its centre, and thus, by means of friction, it becomes entirely bright. The pin being complete, the bran is winnowed from it, leaving the pin fit to be stuck in paper for immediate sale. Pins are distin- guished in commerce by numbers ; the smallest are called mtnikins ; the next short whUes ; the next larger ones. No. 3, 3^, 4, 4^, and 5, to the I4th ; whence they go by twos ; viz. 16, 18, and 20, which is the largest size. Pins are sold in papers and packets as thus numbered, and also by the pound weight in assorted sizes. There are also black pins, pins with double heads, &;c. NEEDLES were first made in England by a native of India, in 1545, but the art was lost at his death ; it was liowever recovered by one Christopher Greening, in 1560. This familiar little instrument makes a very considerable article of commerce ; and the consumption is almost incredible. The German and Hungarian steel is of most re- pute for needles. The steel being placed in the fire, and afterwards hammered to bring it to a round form, is passed through successive 'ZU FAMILY BLEACHING. holes of the wire-drawing machine, till it is of the proper size ; it is then cut into suitable lengths ; these pieces are flatted at one end on the anvil, to form the head or eye ; they are then put into the fire to soften them further, thence taken out, and pierced at the extreme of - the flat part on the anvil, by a puncheon of well-tempered steel, and laid on a leaden block to bring out, with another puncheon, the small piece of steel remaining in the eye. The corners are then filed off" the square of the heads, and a small cavity filed on each side of the flat of the head ; this done, the point is formed with a file, and the whole filed oyer : they are then made red hot over a charcoal fire, and after- wards thrown into a basin of cold water to harden. When hardened, they are laid in a shovel on a brisk fire, to temper and take off their britlleness. They are then straightened one after another with the hammer; the next process is the polishing : 12 or 15,000 needles are ranged in small heaps on a piece of new buckram sprinkled with em- ery dust ; they are afterwards sprinkled with oil of olives ; lastly the whole is made up into a roll, and laid on a polishing table, and over it a thick plank loaded with stones, which two men work backwards and forwards, till the needles are polished. When taken out, they are washed with hot water and soap, and wiped in bran. The good are now separated from the bad, and the points smoothed on an emery stone. This operation finishes them ; and nothing remains but to make them up in packets. Needles are distinguished into common and Whitechapel, this last by having a c marked upon each needle; sharps^ butweens^ and blunts; darkling needles, double longs, and No. 50, &c. ; besides which there is the netting needle, the knitting needle, the glover''s needle, with a trian- gular point, the tambour needle, surgeon^s needles, &c. BLEACHING is tho art of whitening linens, stuffs, silk, and many other substances. Although the ancient inhabitants of India, Egypt and Syria, knew in some sort a method of carrying off" the coloring matters with which cloth is stained ; and although Pliny mentions that the Gauls were ac- quainted with a lixivium extracted from the ashes of vegetables, and knew how to combine it with oil to form soap, yet their knowledge of bleaching was very imperfect. Even in India, at the present time, it is said that the art of bleaching is no further advanced than it was in the time of Herodotus. Indeed in Europe, till toward the end of the 18th century, the art of bleaching advanced slowly ; but the discovery of oxymuriatic acid^ as a material for bleaching, has given an impulse im- known in any other art. Blenching; Silk. Raw Silk is put into a thin linen bag, thrown into a vessel of boiling river water in which soap has been dissolved, and then boiled two or three hours, the bag being turned out several times ; taken out, beaten, and washed in cold water, mixed with soap and a little indigo. The indigo water being slightly wrung out, the silk is put into a vessel of cold water ; after taking it out of which, it is wrung, and all the water and soap expressed ; shaken out to untwist and separate the threads ; and hung up in a kind of stove made on purpose, where sulphur is burnt, the vapor from which gives the last degree of whiteness to the silk. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 215 BLEACHING. Bleaching of woollen stuffs. There are three ways of whitening these ; the first, with water and soap; the second with vapor of sul- phur ; the third, with chalk, indigo, and vapor of sulphur. For the first : the stuffs, being taken from the fulling mill, are put into soaped water rather hot, and worked afresh by force of arms over a bench, which finishes the whitening the fulling mill had begun ; and lastly washed out in clear water and dried ; this is called the natural way of bleaching. In the second method they begin by washing the stuff in river water ; it is then laid to dry on poles, and, when half dry, spread out in a kind of stove well closed, wherein is burnt sulphur ; the va- por, diffusing itself, sticks by degrees over all the stuff, and gives it a fine whitening ; this is commonly called bleaching by thejiower. In the third method, after the stuffs have been washed, they are thrown into cold water impregnated with chalk and indigo ; after they have been well agitated here, they are washed afresh in clear water, half dried on poles, and spread in a stove to receive the vapor of the sulphur, which finishes the operation. This is not esteemed the best method of bleach- ing, though agreeable enough to the sight. It may be hero observed, that when a stuff has once received the steam of sulphur, it will scarce- ly receive any beautiful dye but black or blue, unless well washed in alkaline ley, and rinsed previously to being put into the dye vat. Bleaching of Hollands or fine linens. After taking them from the loom, while yet raw, they are steeped in clean water, rinsed out, and cleared of their filth in a tub filled with a cold lixivium or ley. When taken out of the ley, they are washed in clean water, spread on a mea- dow and watered from time to time. After lying a certain time on the ground, they are boiled in a new ley of potash or barilla, and again washed in clean water, soaped with black soap, passed through rubbing boards, and the soap washed out in clean water ; they are then steeped in sour milk, which finishes their whitening and scouring, gives a soft- ness,' and makes them cast a little nap : when taken out of the milk, they are wasiied in clean water for the last time. After all this pro- cess, they give the linen its first blue, by passing it through water, wherein a little starch and smalt, or powder blue has been steeped. Lastly, the proper stiffness and lustre are given with starch, pale malt, and certain gums, the quantity and quality whereof is adjusted accord- ing to occasion. In fine weather, the whole process of bleaching is completed in a month's time ; in bad, it takes up six weeks or more. Coarse linens are taken from the loom, and laid in wooden frames full of cold water, whereby means of wooden hammers worked by a water-mill, they are beaten so as insensibly to wash and purge them- selves of their filth ; then spread on the ground, where the dew whicli they receive for a week, takes off more of their impurity ; they are then put into a kind of wooden tubs, or pans, with a hot ley over them, and afterwards boiled with potash, kelp, or barilla. Thus lixivi- ated, they are again purged in the mill, laid afresh on the ground, and after about a week more passed through a second ley, and all things repeated, till such time as they have acquired their just degree of whiteness. The process of bleaching, not only Imens and cottons, but rags for paper, with oxymuriatic acid, or rather with solutions of oxymuriate of •potash^ or oxymuriate oflime^ has now been generally adopted ; and with 216 FAMILY WOOL. — CLOTH. the use of these, linens can be ninde as white in six days, as formerly they were in six weeks. WOOL. Woollen cloths are extensively manufactured in England, France, Netherlands, Prussia, and in some other places on the conti- nent of Europe. Those of Silesia, in Prussia, arc among thn most perfect produced; and they annually amount to more than jC50,(!00 in value. Ihe woollen cloths of France have long been distinguished for fineness and durability. In Spain and most other countries of Eu- rope, this manufacluie is in an imperfect state. Coarse cloths are made in considerable quantities in the northern countries; but not enough generally for home-consumption. England furnishes the great supply of woollen goods ; a due portion of which, are of superior excellence. The woollen manufacture of that country employs about halfa million of persons, and amounts annually to more than J^ 1 6,(X)0,- 000 sterling. Within a few years great attention has been paid to the growth and manufacture of wool, in various parts of the United States, and parti- cularly in ISew England, and some of the Middle Slates, It is doubt- ed, however, whether as much capital is at present invested in eptab- lishments of this kind, as a few years ago ; and in consequence of the recent depressed state of the price of wool, there are probably fewer sheep by several millions. In a speech delivered in the House of Rep resentatives on the 31st of January, 1827, by the Hon. John Davis, of Massachusetts, the amount of wool worked up was estimated by that gentleman at 32,000,000 lbs. and that 3,0C0,0('0 yards of broad, and 32,000,000 narrow cloths were annually produced, giving employment directly or indirectly to 100,000 persons. It was stated also, that more than one hundred millions capital were vested in the growth and man- ufacture of wool. The number of sheep were put at that time at 15,000,000. CLOTH, in commerce, in its general sense, includes all kinds of clothing woven or manufactured in the loom, except silk ; whether the threads be of wool, cotton, hemp, or flax. Cloth is, however, more peculiarly applied to woollen threads mterwoven ; some of which are called the warp, and extend lengthwise, from one end of the piece to the other : the others are called the woof, and disposed across tlie first, or breadthwise of the piece. Cloths are of various (jualities, fine, coarse, strong, &c. ; some are of different colours ; other are wrought white, and afterwards dyed in the piece. Their breadths and lengths are various. The goodness of woollen cloth consists in the wool being fine and well dressed ; in its being spun equally, always observing, how- ever, that the thread of the warp be finer and better twisted than that of the woof; in its being well cleared of the knots and other imperfec- tions, and well cleansed with fullers' earth, and afterwards properly dyed, dressed, and pressed. Cloth is distinguished by being either plain or kersey woven. The first method consists simply in the threads crossing each other at right angles ; in the last ihey are crossed so as to give an additional strength to the cloth ; hence it appears in diagonal hnes or rows running obliquely acroRS the piece ; and, in general, this style of weaving adds thickness as well as strength to the fabric. lu the cotton manufacture, cloth so woven is called twilled. ExNCYCLOPEDIA. ^l"? MANUFACTURING OF CLOTHS FOR DYEING. Manufacturing of white cloths for dyeing. The wool is first scoured in a liquor composed of three parts of water, and one of urine ; it is then drained, washed in running water, and hung out to dry in the shade. "When dry, it is beaten with rods on hurdles of wood, or on ropes, to clear out the dust and grosser filth. After beating, it is well picked, to clear the rest of the filth that had escaped the rods. It is now oiled, and carded on large iron cards, placed aslope. The best oil for the purpose is olive oil. The wool is now given out to the spinners, who first card it on the knee with small fine cards, then spin it by a wheel, observing to make the thread for the warp smaller than that for the woof, and much closer twisted. "When warped, it is stiffened with size : that which is made with shreds of parchments is the best. When dry, the weavers mount it in the loom. Formerly there were two weav- ers to each loom, one on each side, treading at the same time alternate- ly on the same treadle ; i. e. now on the right step, and now on the left, which raised and lowered the shreads of the warp equally ; be- tween which they threw, transversely, the shuttle from one to the other. This, however, is now performed by one person, by means of what is called a flying shuttle. Each time that the shuttle is thrown, so that a thread of the woof is inserted within the warp, he strikes it with the frame wherein the comb, or reed, is fastened, between the teeth of which the threads of the warp are passed, repeating the stroke as often as is necessary. The weaver having continued his work, till the whole warp is filled will wool, the cloth is finished. It is then taken off the loom by unrolling it from the beam whereon it had been rolled in proportion as it was woven, and given to be cleared of the knots, ends of thread, straws, and other filth, which is done with little iron nippers. In this condition it is carried to the fuUery, to be scoured with urine, or fullers' earth well cleaned and steeped in water, put along with the cloth into the trough, wherein it is fulled ; and after undergoing a variety of other manipulations and processes necessary to the perfection of the cloth, and being also dyed of the particular color desired, it is ready for the market. The above is the usual process of weaving woollen cloth in the small way, as formerly, as well as now sometimes practised ; but the ingenu- ity of modern times and the steam engine have very materially altered many of the processes above described. The spinning in particular is now, in our largo manufactories, no longer performed by the hand and the wheel, but a method is adopted by which one person can direct the spinning of thirty or more threads at once, and this so regularly and expeditiously as lo set at nought the former practice. The machinery of such spinning is moved by steum, as indeed is even the carding of th© wool, and many other processes not formerly thought capable of being brought to machinery subjection. For the manufacture o^ mixed cloths, or those wherein the wools are first dyed, then mixed, spun, and woven, of the colors intended, the process, except in what relates to the color, is mostly the same with that just spoken of. The method of adjusting the mixture is by first making a felt of the colors of the intended cloth, as a specimen; the wool of each color is weighed, and when the specimen is to the man- ufacturer's mind, he mixes, for use a quantity in the same proportion ; 19 218 FAMILY BAIZE. — BOMBAZET. WORSTED. — FLANNEL. TAPESTRY. estimating each grain of the specimen at twenty pounds' weight of the same in the cloth to be made. BAIZE is a kind of coarse, open, woollen stuff, having a long nap; Boraetimes friezed on one side, and sometimes not, according to the uses for which it is intended ; it is of various colors, while, green, &c. It is without wale, being wrought on a loom with two treadles like flannel. The manufacture of baize is very considerable in England, and in Flanders about Lisle and Tournay, &c. Formerly the French, as well as the Italians, were furnished with baize from England ; but for sometime the French workmen have undertaken to imitate it, and set up manufactures of their own, and with success, especially at Nantes, Montpelier, &c. The export of baize is very considerable to Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Its chief use is for the religious, and for linings in the army ; the looking-glass makers also use it behind their glasses, to preserve the tin or quicksilver ; and the case makers to line their cases. SERGE is kersey wove, and either white, colored, or figured. Co- lored serges and iigured Duroys were very commonly worn by the low- er orders in the west of England some years ago ; but these manufac- tures have been superseded by bombasets and printed cottons. White serge is however still in use, and is a useful and durable material, supe- rior in strength to flannel or baize. BOMBAZET, a woollen manufacture of various colors, now much worn ; some of it is got up to look glossy and very much like silk ; it is a valuable and useful manufacture. It is commonly woven plain, some- times however it is twilled. WORSTED is a kind of hard-twisted and doubled or trebled wool- len thread. It is chiefly used either to be knit or woven into stockings, caps, gloves, and the like. The name worsted is supposed to be derived from the town of Worstead in Norfolk, noted for line spinning. They who write it woolsted, do it on a supposition of the word being formed from wool, the matter of this thread. FLANNEL, a kind of soft, slight, loose woollen stufi", but very warm, ootnposed of a woof and warp, and woven on a loom, with two tread- les, after the manner of baize. CALAMINCO, or Mmco, a sort of woollen stuff manufactured in England and Brabant. It has a fine gloss, and is checquered in the warp, whence the checks appears only on the right side. Some cala- mincoes are quite plain, and others with broad stripes, some with narrow ■tripes, and others watered. TAPESTRY is a curious kind of manufacture, formerly used to adorn a chamber or other apartment, by hanging or lining the walls. The term is appropriated to a kind of woven hangings of wool and silk, frequently raised and enriched with gold and silver, representing figures of men, animals, landscapes, &c. Two methods are adopted in weaving tapestry : in the high warp the cloth is woven perpendicularly, in the low warp horizontally. The low warps in Flanders have been said to exceed those of France. Tho chief are at Brussels and Antwerp, where they have succeeded in hu- ENCYCLOPEDIA. 219 CAMLET. CARPET. DYEING. man figures, animals, and landscapes, equally in the designing and the workmanship. It would be difficult and tedious to give a clear idea of the loom, or the manufacture of tapestry ; it may be observed however, that it is all wrought on the wrong side; so that the workman cannot see the right side of his tapestry till the piece is finished, and taken off the loom. CAMLET or CAMBLET is a stuff made of hair, silk, or wool. In some, the woof is hair ; the warp, silk and wool twisted together. Cam- lets arc manufactured in Holland and Ftafuiers, and in Ireland and En- gland. The true or oriental camlet is made of the pure hair of a sort of goat, frequently about Angora, in Natolia, and which makes the riches of that city. A CARPET is a beautiful figured cloth, used for covering the floors of rooms, stairs, &c., generally composed of woollen stuff, either wrought in a loom, or with the needle. Formerly there were Persain and Turkish carpets made of silk, and some are still made of this sub- stance, and of hair; but the principal part are now made of colored woollen yam, manufactu?ed into divers patterns and figures, often ap- proaching to those of tapestry. In Germany, carpets are made of wool, and embellished with silk in needle-work. But the first and most extensive manufactures of carpeting exist in England, particularly those at Axminster, Wilton, Kidderminster, &;c. There are three prin- cipal sorts of carpeting; the Turkey, the Wilton or Brussels, and the Kidderminster, or Scotch. Both the first and second have smooth backs, and a nap on one side. The Turkey is distinguished by a very thick nap ; it is the dearest, the warmest, and the most durable. The Brussels, as it is called, though manufactured in England, has now nearly superseded the Wilton. The best of the Kidderminster and Scotch carpets are woven double, without any nap, so as to be similar in texture on both sides, and similar in pattern, the colors only being reversed. These are cheaper than the Brussels or Wilton, and nearly as durable. Carpets are sometimes woven in one piece for a room, with a border ; but most commonly they are woven in long pieces, which are afterward sewed together to make the breadth desired. At Axminster and in London, excellent carpets of the Wilton or Brussels, as well as of the Turkey kind, are made of the largest dimensions, suited to the full extent of drawing-rooms, all in one piece. The large carpets are made on frames and rollers, somewhat similar to tapestry. Carpet making has become a very flourishing, and valuable manufac- ture, which employs a great number of industrious people, and being almost wholly performed with the produce of our own country, is of great importance as a national concern. Carpets having hair or shag on one side only were called by the ancients tapttes, those with shag on both sides, amphilapetes. The use of carpets is of great antiquity, and they were no less a luxury among the ancient Greeks than among the moderns. They also give an appellation to a kind of knights, who be- ing mercantile or professional men, not addicted to the art of war, re- ceive the honor of knighthood from the king's hands, kneeling at court on a carpet, and hence called Carpet- Knights. DYEING, the art of staining cloth and other articles of different co- lori, is of great antiquity, as appears from the traces of it in the oldest, 220 FAMILY DYEING. sacred as well as profane, writers. The honor of the invention is attributed to the Tyrians ; though what lessens the merit of it is, that it is said to have owed its origin to chance. The juices of certain fruits, leaves, &;c. accidentally crushed, are supposed to have furnished the first hint. Pliny assures us, that even in his time the Gauls made use of no other dyes : it is added, that colored earth and minerals, washed and soaked in rain, gave the next dyeing materials. But pur- ple, an animal juice, found in a shell-fish, purpura, seems from history, to have been prior to any of them. This, indeed, was reserved for the use of kings and princes; private persons were forbidden by law to w^ear any of it. The discovery of its tinging quality is said to have been taken from a dog, which, having caught one of the purple fishes among the rocks, and eaten it up, stained his mouth and beard with the precious liquor; this struck the fancy of a Tyrian nymph so strongly, that she refused her lover Hercules, any favors, till he had brocght her a mantle of the same fine color. Of the great variety of known dyes, few only can be applied to ani- mal or vegetable fibre, without any other preparation than that of cleansing the stuff, and immersing it in a decoction or infusion of the dye. And hence it is necessary, to render most colors permanent, that the article to be dyed should be previously impregnated with what has been termed a mordant, generally a salt having an alkaline, earthy, or metallic base : thug alum, sulphate of lime, muriate of tin, sulphate of iron, tannin, and oil, are mordant?, according to the dyes, and to the substances to which they are to be applied. When the dye imparts to cloth a permanent color, without the intervention of a mordant, it is called a substantive color ; when it requires a mordant to impart a per- manent color, it is called an adjective color. Indigo is a substantive, madder an adjective color ; cochineal is also an adjective color : for although the red of the cochineal will stain the cloth while it remains immersed in the solution ; yet, as soon as it is taken out and washed, this temporary stain will immediately vanish, and the cloth become as white as before. But if the cloth be dipped in a solution of some alka- line or metallic salt, and then immersed in the solution of cochineal for come time, it will come out permanently colored ; nor will the color ever be discharged, even by waslung with soap and water. The materials for dyeing different colors are many and various* Some ingredients produce durable colors, which cannot be discharged either by exposure to air or washing with soap ; others, though they may be made to stand the action of soap pretty well, cannot by any means be enabled to '•esist the action of air. These are distin- guished by the different names of true a.nd false, permanent a.ndfading^ or substantive and adjective colors ; nor is there any method yet discov- ered of giving the false colors an equal degree of durability with the true ones. A solution of tin in nitro-muriatic acid will give most of the fading colors a high degree of beauty, and some share of durability, though even this is not able to make them equal to the others. The most permanent dyes we have are cochineal and lac for fine reds and scarlets : indigo and woad for blue ; and, when mixed in different pro- portions with cochineal or lac, for purple and violet colors : weld and aorae other vegetables for yellow : and madder for coarse reds, purples, and blacks. The fading colors are much more numerous. In this class ENCYCLOPEDIA. 221 DYEING. are included brazil-wood, logwood, peach-wood, red-wood, fustic, tur- meric root, annotto, archil, &c. With regard to the mordants used in dyeing, it has been too often customary to mix a quantity of different ones, by which the color has been generally spoiled. This truth should, therefore, be constantly bo- fore us, that, in general, one single mordant will answer for this pur- pose better than a hundred. A mixture should only be made, where it is necessary to produce the color desired ; and if a dyer proceed in this simple manner, he may not only attain to great perfection in the art from his own experience, without being taught by others, but even make considerable discoveries ; as dyeing is at present far from being brought to perfection. The mordants chiefly to be used in dyeing are fixed alkalies ; solutions of tin in sulphuric and muriatic acids, and in nitro-muriatic acid ; sugar of lead ; cream of tartar ; alum ; sulphuric acid ; and solution of iron in the acetous acid. By means of these, almost all kinds of colors may be dyed at an easy rate, and with very little trouble. Observe, the acids, and acid solutions, must be diluted with a considerable quantity of water, before they are used. General Rules for Dyeing all Colors. Having well cleans- ed the substance to be dyed, and made choice of the mordant proper for fixing the color desired, dissolve it in water, and steep the substance in this solution for twenty-four hours. Then take it out, and without wringing hang it up to dry, but without heat, and for this it will be proper to allow a pretty long time ; as the more perfectly the mordant penetrates the cloth, the more durable will the color be. Having then prepared a colored solution or decoction, put the cloth into it. The less heat is applied during the time the cloth remains in the dye, the finer the color will be ; but the longer time will be required for comple- ting the operation. If time cannot be spared, so that a strong heat must be applied, it will be necessary to roll the cloth during the time of dyeing, or the color will be in danger of proving unequal. After the dyeing is completed, rinse the cloth in cold water, but do not wring it strongly ; and then hang it up to dry. In this way may be dyed a great variety of colors, on wool, silk, cotton, and linen, without any variation in the process. A solution of tin in the sulphuric acid will produce all degrees of red, from the palest pink or rose color, to the highest crimson and scarlet ; and this, on all the before-mentioned substances, without exception. Cotton arid Linen may be dyed, by means of the before-mentioned solution, of the most beautiful red, crimson, and scarlet colors. The same may be done by a solution of tin in nitro-muriatic acid : but un- less the nitrous acid prevail greatly in the mixture, the colors produced by this last will incline more to purple than the former. With solution of tin in muriatic acid they incline remarkably to purple, and are like- wise deficient in lustre. The first two solutions therefore are capital ingredients in dyeing. Latterly, cottons have been dyed a fine and permanent Turkey red by means of madder, but the manipulations are too complex to detail. The same preparations will also serve for dyeing all other colors, blue and green excepted. Thus, a piece of cloth prepared with solution of tin in sulphuric acid, if boiled with the decoction of cochineal, will 19* 222 FAMILY DYEING. come out of a scarlet color ; if with turmeric, weld, fustic, or many of the common yellow flowers, it will come out different degrees of yel- low ; with Brazil-wood, peach-wood, &;c. it will give a fine purplish erimso7i ; with log-wood, a fine deep purple^ Szc. : and by combining these in different ways, an infinity of different shades may be produced. Green colors are to be jM-oduced only by a mixture of blue and yel- low : no ingredient being yet discovered, that will, by itself, produce a good green dye. It is usual first to dye the cloth blue with indigo, and then yellow with any yellow-coloring ingredient, by which means a grai^ color is produced. Cloth and silk may be dyed green with indi- go ; ffbt they must first be boiled in yellow dye, and then in blue. Black colors are dyed by preparing the cloth with any solution of iron, but that in the acetous acid is the best ; and then boiling it in a decoction of any astringent vegetable. Those chiefly made use of for the purpose are galls, sumach, logwood, and madder. Of these the last is most durable ; though galls will also produce a pretty lasting color, if properly managed. Logwood dyes a very pretty, but fading black color. It appears, however, by an experiment made by Mr. Clegg, that by a proper preparation of the cloth with fixed alkaline salts, black colors dyed with logwood might be improved, both as to Jtauty and durability. The finest blacks are first dyed blue, with indi- go ; and afterwards black, with a solution of iron, and some astringent vegetable. These are the best methods of producing permanent colors of all kinds. As it is necessary, however, often to give another color to stuffs which have already been dyed, it is also necessary that a dyer should know how to discharge colors, as well as to make the cloth im- bibe them. Thread is dyed a bright blue with braziletto and indigo. Bright green is first dyed blue, then black, boiled with braziletto and verditer, and lastly welded. A dark grcn is given like the former, only dark- ening more before welding. Lemon or pale yellow is given with weld, and rocou or annotto. Oran2;e and Isnbella^ with fustic, weld, and an- notto. Red^ both bright and dark, with flame-colors, &c., are given with brazil, either alone, or with a mixture of annotto. Violet^ dry rose, and amaranth, are given with brazil, taken down with indigo. — Fillemot and olive color are given with galls and copperas, taken down with weld, annotto, or fustic. Black is given with galls and sulphate of iron, taken dovv^n and finished with braziletto wood. Tanned Leather, Skins, Sec , are dyed of a black color, by rubbing them over three or four times with a solution of sulphate of iron, or a solution of iron in the vegetable acids. For leathers that have not been tanned, some galls or other astringents are added to the solution of iron; and in many cases, particularly for the finer parts of leather, and for renewing the blackness, ivory black or lamp black is used. A blue color is given by steeping the subject a day in urine and indigo, then boiling it with alum ; or by tempering the indigo with rod wine, and washing the skins therewith. Red is given by washing the skins and laying them in galls ; then wringing them out ; dipping them in a liquor made with privet, alum, and verdigris in water; and lastly in a dye made of brazil wood boiled in ley. Purple is given by wetting the skins with a solution of roche alum in warm water, and, when dried, ENCYCLOPEDIA. 223 DYEING. — SOAP. with a decoction of logwood in cold water. Green is given by smear- ing the skin with sap green and alum-water boiled ; to darken the co- lor, a little indigo may be added. Dark green is also given with steel filings and sal ammoniac steeped in urine till soft, then smeared over the skin, which is to be dried in the shade. Sky color is given with in- digo steeped in boiling water, and the next morning warmed and smear- ed over the skin. Yellow by smearing the skin over with aloes and linseed oil, dissolved and strained ; or by infusing it in weld. Orange color is given by smearing with fustic berries, boiled in alum water ; or, for a deep orange^ with turmeric. Wood^ for inlaying, veneering, &c., is dyed red by boiling it in water and alum ; then taking it out, adding brazil to the liquor, and giving the wood another boil in it. Black,hy applying a solution of logwood, boiled in vinegar, hot, with a brush, and afterwards washing the wood over with a decoction of galls and sulpbate of iron till it be of the hne required. Any other color may be given by squeezing out the mois- ture of horse-dung through a sieve, mixing it with roche alum and gum arabic, and to the whole adding green, blue, or any other color de- signed. After standing two or three days, the wood, cut to the thick- ness of half a crown, is put into the liquor boiling hot, and suffered to remain till it is sufficiently colored. J^ew mahogany, may be made of a dark color, by smearing it over with a paste made of quick lime and water. Bone^ Horn^ and Ivory are dyed Black by steeping brass in aquafor- tis till it is turned green ; with this, the bone, &;c. is to be washed once or twice, and then put into a decoction of logwood and warm water. Green is begun by boiling the bone, &c. in alum- water ; then with verdigris, sal ammoniac, and vinegar, keeping it hot therein till sufficiently green. Red is begun by boiling it in alum-water, and fin- ished by decoction in a liquor compounded of quicklime steeped in rain water, strained, to every pint of which an ounce of brazil wood is added : tlie bone, &;c. to be boiled till sufficiently red. SOAP is a kind of paste, sometimes hard and dry, and sometimes soft, much used in washing, and whitening linens, and for various oth- purposes, by dyers, perfumers, hatters, fullers, &c. Soap is a chemical compound produced by the union of any of the fixed oils with alkalies, earths, or metallic oxides. The alkalies, and particularly soda^ are necessary to the production of good soap ; and it is also necessary that they should be applied to the oil or tallow in a caustic state ; to this end when an alkali is dissolved in water, lime is added to the solution to absorb the carbonic acid of the alkali ; the li- quor deprived of its carbonic acid is coWed soap ley : it is exceedingly caustic and will decompose human flesh. This ley is usually made strong enough to float a new-laid Qgg. With this ley, oil, or tallow, or resin^according to circumstances, is boiled till it unites into the com- pound known as soap. The tallow for making soap is reckoned very good if thirteen cwt. of it yield with alkali a ton weight of soap. White soap of the best quality is made with olive oil and soda; or with tallow and soda, obtained from barilla, or impure carbonate of so- da. FAMILY SOAP. CANDLES. Yellow soap is made with tallow and yellow resin in the proportion of ten parts tallow and three and a half of resin, these with the addition of the ley, make twenty of soap. %(' Mottled soap obtains its speckled appearance erther by dispersing the ley through it towards the end of the operation, or by adding sul- phate of iron, oxide of manganese, or indigo. Windsor soap is the common white soap scented with oil of caraway seeds or other scent. Black soap and other soft soaps are made from fish oil and a ley of potash made in a similar manner as soap ley above, or with inferior tal- low and sach ley. Castile soap is sometimes made from common white soap having a solution of sulphate of iron mixed with it in cooling, to give the mar- bled appearance. But the best Castile soap is brought from Marseilles, although it is also brought from Spain. It is most probably composed of olive oil and soda, and sulphate of iron to impart to it the marbled appearance. Soap balls for washing the hands, are made of various colors by sim- ply cutting white soap into small pieces, rolling them in verraillion, blue, or other color, and squeezing them together into balls : they are scented at the will of the maker. A cheap soap is sometimes made of woollen rags, fee. and even with the horns of animals instead of oil ; but the ' smell is commonly very disagreabie. Soap as a medicine (the foreign Castile soap is, for this purpose, con- sidered the best) is generally regarded as purgative, lithontriptic, and tonic ; it is also given to counteract the effects of metallic and other poisons ; but common white soap is better for such purpose. Soap is also used externally for sprains and bruises ; it is an ingredient in the well known soap liniment or opodeldoc, CANDLES. There are two sorts of tallow candles ; dipped an movlded. The moulded are the invention of the Sietir le Brege, of Paris. In making candles, the general method is, after weighing and mixing the tallow in due proportions, to cut it into small pieces, that it may more readily melt. When properly melted and skimmed, a certain quantity of water is poured into it, in order that all remaining impurities may precipitate to the bottom. No water, however, must be thrown into the tallow designed for the^r*^ three dips; because the wick would imbibe tlie water, and thus render the candles unfit for burning. — The tallow, thus melted, is poured into a tub, through a coarse sieve of horse-hair, to purify it still more, and may be used after having stood three hours. It will continue fit for use twenty-four hours in summer, and fifteen in winter. The wicks are made of spun cotton, several threads of which the tallow-chandlers wind into bottoms or clews ; whence they are cut off with an instrument, into pieces a little more than twice the lenf^th of the candle ; and then put on the sticks for dip- ping. To make a tallow candle good, there must be an equal quantity of sheep's and bullock's tallow. Lard is always inadmissible. The wick ought to be properly twisted, neither too hard nor too loosely, sufficiently dry and pure, otherwise the candle will emit an irregular ENCYCLOPEDIA. 225 CANDLES. WAX. inconstant flame. Lately machinery has been invented by which the facilities of dipping the wicks have been increased, and tho labors of the tallow chandler considerably abridged. • Mould candles are so called because made in moulds of brass, pevvter, or lead ; but pewter is the best. Each candle has its mould. A number of these moulds, having the wick fixed in the middle, are placed in a table or frame, full of holes, and filled with melted tallow. After the moulds have stood long enough to cool, the candles are drawn out ; and they are sometimes rendered whiter by hanging them on rods, exposed to the dew and the earliest rays of the sun for several days. Wax candles. The wicks of wax candles are made of cotton or flax slightly twisted, and covered with white or yellow wax, but chiefly the former, well bleached. Of these candles there are several kinds ; some of a conical figure, are used in funeral processions, &c. Others are of a cylindrical form, used on common occasions. To make wax candles, an iron circle, on which are hung a dozen wicks at equal distances, is suspended over a large basin full of melted wax. A large ladle-full of this wax is poured gently on the tops of the wicks, one after another ; and this operation is continued, lill the candle arrives at its proper size. The first three ladles must be poured on the top, the fourth, fifth, and sixth, lower down, at certain distances, to give the candle its conical form. The candles are then taken down, and afterward rolled and smoothed upon a walnut-tree table, with a long square instrument of box, smoothed at the bottom. When wax candles are made by the hand, they begin to soften the wax by working it in hot water, in a narrow but deep cauldron. A piece of wax is then taken out, and disposed by little and little round the wick. Wax tapers are either made as the former, with a ladle, or drawn. The latter are drawn in the manner of wire, by means of two large rollers of wood, torned by a handle, which pass the wick through melted wax contained in a brass basin, and at the same time through the holes of an instrument. Spkrmaceti candles are now universally used in theatres, drawing- rooms, &c. as, should any drops fall from them on the clothes of the company, the spermaceti more readily comes off, whereas wax adheres more closely, and cannot be removed without disfiguring the cloth. - WAX is a yellowish matter, of which the bees form cells for their honey. There arc two or three substances, which resemble each other so closely as to have received the name of wax. The first, and by far the most important, is bees-wax, which is consumed in such vast quan- tities for giving light, and is also used for a variety of other purposes. Anotlier kind of wax is the myrtle wax, which is extracted pretty largely in Louisiana, and some other parts of America, from the myrica ceri/era^ or candle-berry myrtle. The next substance, very similar to wax, is the pella of the Chinese, the product of an insect: and the white matter extracted from lac has also a strong resemblance to wax. But although, from the latest researches, wax is not obtained from vegetables exactly as we find it in the combs of this animal, it being elaborated by some peculiar process of the animal itself, and hence may be considered an amma/ product, yet tho constituents of wax, with slight modifica- tions, are found in many vegetables ; and hence wax may be also con- 226 FAMILY STARCH. PAPER. sidered a vegetable production. The wax, however, obtained from the candle-berry myrtle, is much more like hard colored mutton suet than bees- wax. SEALING WAX may be made very good of the following materi- als ; Shell lac, eight ounces; rectified spirit of wine, two ounces; camphor, half an ounce ; Venice turpentine, four ounces; vermiilion,/ two ounces and a half. Dissolve first the camphor in the spirits of wine, next the shell lac, then add the Venice turpentine, and lastly the vermil- lion. A careful application of heat is absolutely necessary, or the mass will take fire. An inferior wax may be made by adding yellow resin, and taking away a portion of the shell lac. "Black wax may be made by merely substituting lamp-black for vermillion. STARCH is obtained from innumerable vegetable substances ; but the starch of commerce is separated from wheat by steeping the graiu in cold water till it becomes soft, then putting it in coarse bags, which are pressed into vats" of water ; a milky juice exudes, and the starch falls to the bottom of the vat. The deposited starch is collected, and dried in a moderate heat; when dried, it splits into the columns or fragments in which it is usually sold. A little smalt or indigo is added to it to give it a blue tinge. Starch is used to stiffen linen, and for vari- ous other purposes. Made into a fine powder, it is used 3iB powder for the hair. It is the nutritive part of most grains or roots, and may be extracted in considerable quantities from potatoes, and other roots. Vegetables indeed are esteemed nutritious in proportion to the quanti- ty of this matter and gluten which they contain. Arrow-root, tapioca, and sago, are principally if not entirely, starch. PAPER, sheets of a thin matter, made of some vegetable substance used principally for writing and printing. The materials, on which mankind have, in different ages, contrived to write their sentiments, have been extremely varied. In the first ages they made use of stones, and tables of wood, wax, ivory, &c. At a more advanced period, skins were employed ; and latterly, paper. The different kinds of paper, and materials employed in making them, are reducible to the following : Egyptian paper, made of the rush papyrus, (the paper used by the Greeks and Romans was made of this plant, and hence the origin of the term paper ;) bark paper^ made of the inner rind of several trees ; cotton paper, vadide of cotton wool; incombustible paper, made of asbestos; and European paper, made of linen rags. It appears that paper made from cotton was used as early as the ninth century. There are several Greek MSS. on such paper. The most ancient MS. on cotton pa- per, with a date, in the library of the King of France, was written in 1050. Linen, or European paper -wslb first introduced towards the beginning of the thirteenth century; but by whom this valuable commodity was invented is not known. The method of making paper of linen, cotton, or hempen rags is as follows : — the rags are first placed in a machine formed of wire, which is made to turn round with great velocity to whirl out the dust ; they are then sorted according to their diflferent qualities ; after which they are put into a trough perforated with holes, defended by wire gratings, through which constantly flows a stream of clear water. In this trough is placed a cylinder, set thick with rows of ENCYCLOPEDIA. 227 PAPER. iron spikes ; at the bottom of the trough are fixed corresponding spikes. The cylinder is made to whirl round with great rapidity, so that the cloth is torn to atoms, and with the aid of the water reduced to a thin pulp. By the same process, all the impurities are removed, and the pulp becomes perfectly white. The pulp being thus properly prepared is carried to a vat, called the priming vat, and mixed with a proper quantity of water. The vat is rightly primed when the liquor has such a proportion of the pulp, as that the mould on being dipped into it, will just take up enough to make a sheet of paper of the thickness re- quired. The mould is a kind of sieve, exactly of the size of the paper to be made, and about an inch deep, the bottom being formed of fine brass wire, guarded underneath with sticks, to prevent its bagging down, and keep it horizontal ; and further to strengthen the bottom, there are large wires, placed in parallel lines, at equal distances, which form those lines often visible in white paper when held up to the light : the mark of the paper is also made in this bottom, by inverweaving a large wire in any particular form. This mould the maker dips into the liquor, and gives it a shake as he takes it out, to clear the water from the pulp. He then slides the mould along a groove to the coucher, who turns out the sheet upon a felt or woollen cloth, lays another cloth on it, and re- tarns the mould to the maker, who by this time has prepared a second sheet in another mould ; and thus they proceed laying alternately & sheet and a felt, till they have made six quires of paper, which is called a post ; and this they do with such swiftness, that in many sorts of pa- per two men make twenty posts or more in a day. A post of paper being made, it is placed under a press, and all the water squeezed from it ; after which it is separated sheet by sheet from the felts, and laid regularly one sheet upon another ; and having undergone a second pressing, it is hung up to dry. When sufficiently dried, it is rubbed smooth with the hands, and laid by to be sized. The size is made by boiling shreds and parings of the tanner, currier, or parchment maker; and after mixing it with a certain quantity of alum, in a large tub, they dip as much paper at once as they can conveniently hold, and with a quick motion give every sheet its share of the size, which must be as hot as the hand can well bear ; the superfluous size is then pressed out of the paper, which is afterwards hung up sheet by sheet to dry, and being taken down, is sorted, and what is only fit for outside quires laid by themselves ; it is told into quires, which are folded and pressed. The broken sheets are commonly put together, and two of the worst quires are placed on the outside of every ream or bundle ; and being tied up in wrappers made of the settling of the vat, it is fit for sale. Every common quire of paper contains twenty-four sheets ; that for printing, twenty-five sheets. Each ream contains twenty quires. Paper is of various kinds, and used for various purposes : with regard to color, it is principally distinguished into white, blue, and brown ; and with regard to its dimensions, into atlas, elephant, imperial, super- royal, royal, medium, demy, crown, post, foolscap, pot-paper, &c. JVove pa- per is made in moulds, the wires of which are so fine that the marks of them are scarcely visible. Blotting paper is made of woollen rags and without size. Pasteboard is made in a similar way to that of paper ; when it is wanted very thick, it is made by pasting the sheets one upon another. Mill-board^ used for covers of books, is made at once of very 228 FAMILY PAPER. coarse rags, or old ropes, &c. ; of which also brown paper is made. BesMes paper frohi these materials, it is also occasionally made from straw : a Mr. Koop, in 1820, obtained a patent in England for straw paper. In the Maldive islands, the natives arc said to write on the leaves of a tree called macarequean^ which are a fathom and a half long, and a foot broad : and in divers parts of the East Indies, the leaves of the mvaa paradisiacal or plantain tree, dried in the sun, served the same use, till of late the French taught them the use of European paper. The process of paper-making takes about three weeks. The great- est modem improvement in paper-making is the bleaching of the rags. This is done by different methods ; one of the best consists of an air- tight chamber in which the rags are placed ; a mixture of manganese, sea salt, and sulphuric acid being heated in proper retorts to a certain extent, a gas is disengaged, which destroys all the color which the rags contain. The machinery for fabricating the paper from the pulp has been simplified, so that an immense saving of labor has been thus obtained. Another improvement in the manufacture of paper has been made in the United States by Messrs. Gilpin & Co., who have invented a ma- chine by which paper of any length, in one continued succession of fine or coarse materials may be produced. Egyptian paper is that which was principally used among the an- cients ; made of a rush called papyrus, or biblus, growing chiefly in E^pt about the banks of the jNile ; though it was also found in India ; and PUny describes ihe papyrus or paper rush as having a root of the thickness of a man's arm, and ten cubits long ; from this arise a great number of triangular stalks, six or seven cubits high, each thick enough to be cosily spanned. Its leaves are long like those of the bulrush ; its flowers staminous, ranged in clusters at the extremities of the stalks ; its rootB woody and knotted like those of rushes, and iis taste and smell near to those of the cypress. The moderns have arranged the papyrus under the genus cyperus or cyper-grass, and thus designate it ; cyperus papi/nu, or paper rush, having a three-sided naked culm, umbel longer than the involucres : involucels three-leaved, setaceous ; spikelets in threes ; a native of Ethiopia and Egypt. This tribe of plants contains numerous species, many of which have fragrant roots. MarblM paper is paper stained so as to appear in variegated colors, like marble. The operation of marbling is thus performed : gum is first dissolved in a trough, into which they plunge each sheet of paper ; this done, and all the colors ranged on the table, where also the trough is placed, they begin by dipping a brush of hog's hair into any color, commonly the blue first, and sprinkle it on the surface of the liquor. The red is next applied in the Hkc manner, but with another pencil ; after this, the yellow, and lastly tho green. When all the colors are thus floating on the liquor, to produce that agreeable marbling which we admire, the floating colors are curled and otherwise tastefully varied with a pointed stick ; to these the surface of the paper is ap- plied. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 229 ARCHITECTURE. Ivory Paper is a paper lately invented by Mr. Einslie, to be usefj in- stead of ivory for drawing, and miniature painting, and is said to bo superior to ivory itself. It consists in the preparation of a size from the cuttings of parchment, uniting, by a similar size, several sheets of drawing paper, and afterwards covering it with the size, having previ- ously mixed with it some plaster of Paris in fine powder. Plaster of Paris gives a while ; but oxide of zinc, mixed in proper proportions, gives a tint nearly resembling ivory. ARCHITECTURE; Architecture, is the art of building, or the science which teaches the method of erecting buildings, either for ha- bitation, defence, or ornament. It is an art of the first necessity, and almost coeval with the human species. Man, from seeking shade and shelter under the trees of the forest, soon felt the necessity and saw the utility of bendmg them to more commodious forms than those in which he found them disposed by nature.- To huts made of trees and branch- es leaning together at top, and' forming a conical figure, plastered with mud, succeeded more convenient, square, roofed, habitations ; the sides of these habitations, and the inner supports of the cross beams of the roofs, being trunks of trees ; from them were derived those beautiful, and symmetrical columns, the orders of Architecture. Although this art was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Assy- rians, and Persians, yet the Greeks justly claim the honor of having raised the first structures in which elegance and symmetry were com- bined with comfort and convenience in the plan. The established five orders of architecture, the Tuscan, the Doric, . the Ionic, the Corinthian, and the Composite, were brought to perfec- tion under the Greeks and Romans. Modern efforts have added little or nothing to the beauty and symmetry of these columns, and the parts dependent on them ; but much has been done in the internal improve- ment of mansions and houses. THE FIVE ORDERS OP ARCHITECTURE. From the above the reader will be able to form but an indistinct con- ception of the beauty of those ornamental columns which in both an- cient and modern times have excited the admiration of even the un- learned, and the uncultivated portion of mankind, which have had an opportunity to see them. A better conception will be had of the dif- 20 230 FAMILY ARCHITECTURE. ferent orders of architecture from the following cuts, which stand in the ■ame order as the above, and represent the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Co- ritithian, and Composite : ENCYCLOPEDIA. 2Si ARCHITECTURE. Tuscan Order. Although there are no ancient remains of this or- der, it is generally placed first on account of its plainness. The Tro- jan and Antonine columns at Rome are commonly called Tuscan, though they do not exhibit Tuscan plainness. It is probable the Tus- can is only a simplification of the Doric, of which there are numerous ancient remains ; bat to Tuscany it evidently owes its name. Doric Order. The origin of this order is ascribed to Dorus, who built a temple to Juno, in the ancient city of Argos. This order hag a masculine grandeur, and a superior air of strength to either of the other Grecian orders, viz. Ionic and Corinthian. It is therefore best adapted to works of great magnitude and of a sublime character. Of this order is the temple of Theseus at Athens, built ten years after the battle of Marathon, and at this day almost entire. lOiNic Order. The distinguishing characteristics of this order are lightness and elegance. It is likewise simple ; for simplicity is an es- sential requisite of true beauty. Of this order were the temple of Apollo at Miletus, the temple of the Delphic Oracle, and the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Corinthian Order. This is considered the finest of all the orders. It has been styled the " virginal order," from the delicacy, tendernesg and beauty of the whole composition. Exceptions however have been taken to it, it being thought to savor too much of pomp and splendor, and to mark an age of luxury and magnificence. Thompson has well characterized the three orders in the following appropriate lines : ——"First unadorned, " And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose ; " The Ionic then, with decent matron grace, " Her airy pillar heav'd ; luxuriant last " The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wreath." The most correct specimens of this order that remain in existence are to be collected from the Stoa, the arch of Adrian, the monument of Lysicratus at Athens, the Pantheon of Agrippa, and the three column* of the Campo Vaccino at Rome, particularly the last. Composite Order. This order is what its name implies ; it shews that the Greeks had in the three original orders exhausted all the prin- ciples of grandeur and beauty, and that it was not possible to form a fourth, except by combining the former. 232 FAMILY ARCHITECTURE. Gothic Architecture. To the above five orders was afterwards added another, called the Gothic or Saracenic, the marks of which are it* numerous and prominent buttresses, its lofty spires and pinnacles, its large and ramified windows, its ornamented niches and canopies, the sculptured saints and angels, the delicate lace-work of its fretted roofs, and an indiscriminate profusion of ornaments. But its most dis- tinguishing characteristics are the small clustered pillars; and pointed arches, formed by the segments of two intersecting circles. Of Gothic Architecture the continent furnishes some fine specimens? but the best examples it is said, are to be found in England. In the edifices of that country the whole progress of this style of architecture can be traced. The period from 1272 to 1400 marks the golden age of the Gothic. From, the time of Henry VIII. this style began to decline. This was succeeded by a mixture of the Grecian and Gothic. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the chaste architecture of the Greeks and Romans was revived. The first improvements took place in Italy, whence they passed into other parts of Europe, and though the Italians were long accounted the first architects, England produced Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, who hold the most exalted station. The banqueting-house at Whitehall : queen Katharine's chapel at St. James' : the piazza of Covent Garden, and many other public buildings are monuments of the taste and skill of Inigo Jones. The churches, royal courts, stately halls, magazines, palaces, and public structures designed by Sir Christopher Wren, are proud trophies of British talent. If the whole art of building were lost, it might be again recovered in the Cathedral of St. Paul, and in that grand historical pillar called the JSJonument. To these we superadd Greenwich Hospital^ Chelsea Hospital, the Theatre at Oxford, Trinity College Library, and Emanuel College, Cambridge, the churches of St. Stephen in WalbrooK St. Mary-k'bon, andjifty-two others in London serve to immortalize his memory. While we contemplate these, and many other public edifices erected and repaired under his direction, we are at a loss which most to admire — the fertile ingenuity, or the persevering industry of the ar- tist. The English architectural history of the eighteenth century differs from that of the preceding ages in two essential circumstances. 1. The public buildings erected during this period, are, in general, not so graiid and massive, as those of some former periods. But while they fall short of splendor and magnificence, they are superior to most ancient structures in simplicity, convenience, neatnees, and elegance. 2, Privnle dwellings have been made more spacious, convenient, and agreeable to a correct taste, than in any preceding period. The liber- al use of glass in modern buildings, contributes greatly to their beauty and comfort, and is a point in which the ancients were totally deficient. In descending to the various minute details of human dwellings, espe- cially those which have reference to elegance and enjoyment, it is ob- vious the artists of the eighteenth century exceed all others. Architecture in the United States. In the Ihiited States, we are yet in our infancy, both in respect to elegant and enduring speoi- ENCYCLOPEDIA. ARCHITECTURE. mens of architecture. This might well be imagined, considering th« recent settlement of the country, and the creation, by means of industry and toil, of the capital which we possess. Still, architectural skill exist* among us, and in respect to some buildings, it has been judiciously ap- plied. We shall give a brief account of a few of the most important public buildings to be found among us. CITY HALL, NEW- YORK. The foundation stone of this noble building, was laid on the 26th Sept. 1803, and was finished in 1812, at an expense, exclusive of the furniture, of half a million of dollars. It is one of the handsomest structures in the United States, and per- haps, of its size, in the world. It is of a square form, two stories in height, besides a basement story. It has a wing at each end, projecting from the front, and in the centre the roof is elevated, to form an attic story. The whole length of the building is 216 feet, breadth 105, height 51. Including the attic story it is 65 feet in height. The front and both ends, above the basement story, are built of native white mar- ble, from Stockbridge, Mass. ; the rest of the building is constructed of brown free stone. The roof is covered with copper. Rising from the middle of the roof is a cupola, on which is placed a colossal figure of iusTicE, holding in her right hand, which rests on her forehead, a ba- lance, and in her left, a sword pointing to the ground. The first story, mcluding the portico, is of the Ionic, the second of the Corinthian, the attic of the Fancy, and the cupola of the Composite orders. 20* 234 FAMILY ARCHITECTURE. CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. Tliis spacious edifice is finely situated on an eminence, and comteanda not only a view of the city, but a considerable extent of the adjacent country — the heights of Georgetown, &c., and the windings of the Vo tomac, as far as Alexandria. The following are the dimensions of ti.' building : Length of Front, 352 feet 4 inches. Depth of wings, 121 do. 6 do. East projection and steps, G5 do. "West do. do. 83 do. covering 1^ acre,