 Chapter 8. Capers, Almonds, Oranges, Lemons, Citrines, Lines, olives, oils, melons, tamarins, and dates. What are capers? The full-grown flower buds of the capetry, a small shrub generally found growing after the fishes of rocks or among rubbish, on old walls and ruins, giving them a gay appearance with its large white flowers. It is a native of Italy. It is also common in the south of France, where it is much cultivated. How are they prepared and for what are they used? They are gathered and dried in the shade, then infused in vinegar, to which salt is added, after which they are put in barrels to be used as a pickle, chiefly in sauces. What are frequently substituted for capers? The buds of broom pickled in the same manner or the berries of the Nestertium, an American annual plant with pungent fruit. What are almonds? The nut of the almond tree, a species of the peach, growing in most of the southern parts of Europe. There are two kinds, the bitter and the sweet. What are their qualities and use? The sweet almonds are of a soft, grateful taste, and much used by the confectioner in numerous preparations of sweet meats, cookery, etc. Both sorts yield an oil and are useful in medicine. Of what country is the orange a native? It is a native of China, India and most tropical countries, but has long been produced in great perfection in the warmer parts of Europe and America. Oranges are imported in immense quantities every year, from the Azores, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc. They are brought over in chests and boxes, packed separately in paper to preserve them. The oranges in common use with us are the bitter or surveil, the China or sweet orange and those from Florida. Where are the Azores situated? In the Atlantic Ocean, about 800 miles west of Portugal. These islands are very productive in wine and fruit. Where is Seville? In Spain, it is an ancient and considerable city, the capital of the province of Andalusia. The flowers of the Seville Orange are highly odiferous and justly esteemed as one of the finest perfumes. Its fruit is larger than the China orange and rather bitter. The yellow rind or peel is warm and aromatic. The juice of oranges is a grateful and wholesome acid. Odiferous, sweet scented, fragrant, having a brisk, agreeable smell which may be perceived at a distance. Who first introduced the China orange into Europe? The Portuguese. It is said that the very tree from which all European orange trees of this sort were produced was still preserved some years back at the house of the Count St. Laurent in Lisbon. In India, those most esteemed and which are made presence of as rarities are no larger than a billiard ball. The Maltese oranges are said to be some of the finest in the world. Who are the Maltese? The inhabitants of Malta, an island of the Mediterranean, situated between Africa and Sicily. Whence are lemons brought? The lemon is a native of Eastern Asia. Whence it was brought to Greece and afterwards to Italy? From Italy it was transplanted to Spain, Portugal and the south of France whence lemons are imported in great plenty. What is the citrine? The fruit of the citrine tree, resembling the lemon, but somewhat larger and having a finer pulp. The citrine was also brought originally from the east of Asia, but has since been produced in the warm parts of Europe, like the orange and lemon. Genoa especially is the greatest nursery for them. Its rind is principally brought to this country in a candid state, and is applied by confectioners to various purposes. Where is Genoa? A city of northern Italy on the Mediterranean between the rivers Bissanio and Poltivera. What is the lime? The lime is by some thought to be a species of lemon, by others not. It is a smaller fruit, and in the West Indies is greatly preferred to the lemon. It is cultivated in the south of Europe, the West Indies and the warm parts of America. The agreeable scent called bergamot is prepared from the rind of a small species of lime. What are olives? The fruit of the olive tree, an evergreen, now common in the woods of France, Spain and Italy, but in the wild state producing a small fruit of no value. When cultivated, however, which it is extensively, both for the fruit and the quantity of oil which it yields, it forms one of the richest productions of southern Europe. The olive came originally from Asia. Its use is very ancient. It is frequently spoken of in the Bible, both as in a wild and cultivated state. The Promised Lands of the Israelites was a land of oil, olive and honey. From the time that the dove returned to Nero in the Ark with an olive leaf plucked off, in all ages and countries, wherever this tree is known, down to the present day, has an olive branch been the favorite emblem of peace. What nation holds the olive in great repute? This tree was a great favorite with the ancient Greeks and scarcely an ancient custom existed in which the olive was not in some way associated. At their marriages and festivals, all parts of their dwellings, especially the doors, were ornamented with them, and the same custom prevails at the present day, both in public and private rejoicings. It was also scarcely lesser favorite with the Romans, although it was not held in the same sacred light as amongst the Greeks. The olive branch has likewise been universally considered the emblem of plenty, and as such is found on the coins of those countries of which it is not a native. Two centuries after the foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangest to this useful plant. It afterwards became naturalized in those countries, and at length arrived in Spain, France, etc. Olive trees sometimes attain a great age. How are the olives eaten? The olives, while on the tree, are intolerably bitter, without any of that peculiar taste which gains them admittance at the richest tables, to fit them for which they are pickled. Ripe olives are eaten in the eastern countries, especially amongst the Greeks, as an article of food, particularly in lent. The oil, which they yield in great quantities, is very highly esteemed, being that chiefly used for salads, etc., in medicine, and in various manufacturers. Lent, a time for fasting, the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter. How is the oil drawn from an olive? By presses or mills made for the purpose. The sweetest and best olive oil comes from the south of France, from Naples, Florence, and Lucca. Quantities also brought from Spain and the Ionian islands. Where is Naples? In the south of Italy. Where are Florence and Lucca situated? In Italy. Florence is a very ancient, large and celebrated city, the capital of Italy. Lucca, formerly a republic, now belongs to the kingdom of Italy. Republic, a state in which the supreme power of government is lodged in representatives chosen by the people, instead of being vested in an emperor or king. You said that the olive is an evergreen. To what plant or shrub is the term particularly applied? To any shrub or tree whose leaves continue fresh and green all the year round, winter and summer, as the laurel, pine, cedar, holly, etc., which do not shed their leaves in autumn as other trees. Is oil a production confined to the olive alone? By no means. Oil is a fatty, inflammable matter, drawn from many vegetable and animal bodies. The oils in common use are of three different kinds. The first are mere oily or fatty bodies, extracted either by pressure or by decoction. Of the first kind are those of almonds, nuts, olives, etc., and of the other those of different berries, etc., which are procured by boiling the substance in water, which causes the oil to collect on the top. Decoction, act of boiling, a chemical term. What are the second and third kinds of oils? The second are those drawn from vegetables by common distillation in the alembic with the aid of water. These contain the oily and volatile part of the plant, and are called essential oils. The third sort are those produced by distillation, but of a different kind in an open vessel, and without the help of water. They are likewise divided into vegetable oils, animal oils, and mineral oils, which last of those drawn from amber, and a few other substances partaking both of the vegetable and mineral natures as petroleum, commonly known as kerosene or coal oil. Alembic, a chemical vessel used in distilling. It consists of a vessel placed over a fire containing the substance to be distilled. The upper part, which receives and condenses the steam, is called the head. The beak of this is fitted to a vessel called a receiver. Volatile, easily escaping, quickly flying off. Whence is the word oil derived? From the Latin, oleum, formed from olea, olive tree, the fruit of which abounds in oil. What immense fish is it that furnaces us with quantities of animal oil? The whale, the largest and noblest inhabitant of the waters. It is protected from the cold by a case or coating of blubber, that is, a thick oily fat from which the oil is made. Numbers of them are caught for the sake of that. Ambergris, highly prized in perfumery, is a product of the sperm whale. In what seas are they found? Chiefly in the northern seas, extensive whale fisheries are carried on by the Americans, English, Dutch, etc., and numbers of vessels are sent out for the purpose of taking the fish. They usually sail in the later end of March and begin fishing about May. The whale fishery continues generally from that time to the later end of June or July. There are also other fishes and animals which afford us oils of different kinds, which are used for various purposes in medicine and the arts. Is the oil called castor, which is so much used in medicine, the product of an animal or a plant? Castor oil is expressed from a West Indian shrub called Palma Christi, and especially from the ripe seeds, which are full of this oil. It is prepared by collecting these ripe seeds and freeing them from the husks, then bruising and beating them into a paste. They are next boiled in water, when the oil rising to the surface is skimmed off as it continues to appear. The castor oil plant is found growing abundantly in Sumatra, particularly near the seashore. Where is Sumatra situated? In the Oriental Archipelago, of the southeastern part of the continent of Asia. In what other countries is this plant found? In some parts of Africa, Syria and Egypt. It was anciently cultivated in the last two mentioned countries in large quantities, the seeds being used for the oil they yielded, which was burnt in lamps. Is not the Palma Christi much affected by soil and situation? Greatly so. In some places it attains the stature of a tree, and it is not a biennial plant, but endures for many years, as in the warm plains of Iraq, Arabia and some parts of Africa. Biennial, lasting for the space of two years only. What are melons? A species of the cucumis, a genus of plants to which the cucumber belongs. There are great varieties of this fruit cultivated in different parts of the world. That sort called the cantaloupe, so named from being cultivated at a place of that name in the neighbourhood of Rome, whether it was brought from Armenia, is a species of musk melon. The mature fruit is juicy and delicately flavoured. Where is Armenia situated? Armenia is a large country situated in Asiatic Turkey, to the west of the Caspian Sea. What species of melon is that which most makes up for a scarcity of good water in hot countries? The watermelon, which affords a cool, refreshing juice, and quenches the thirst produced by the excessive heats. It requires a dry, sandy soil and a warm climate. The pulp of the fruit is remarkably rich and delicious. What are tamarinds? The fruit of the tamarind tree, a native of both the Indies, Asia, Africa etc. It is of a roundish form and composed of two pods enclosed one within the other, between which is a soft pulpy substance of a tart but agreeable taste. The inner pod contains the seeds or stones. Tart, sharp, acidic. For what are they used? We use them only as medicine, but the Africans and many of the Oriental nations, with whom they are common, make them into a kind of preserve with sugar which they eat as a delicacy and which cools them in the violent heats of their climate. From what nation was the knowledge of their use in medicine obtained? From the Arabians. What does the word Oriental signify? Belonging to the East, therefore those countries of the globe situated in the East are called Oriental, those in the west Occidental, from Orients, signifying East and Occidents, West. What are dates? The fruit of the palm, a beautiful and graceful tree, peculiar to the warmer regions of the globe. The growth of the palm is extremely singular, for although some species attain to the height of the largest forest tree, their structure differs materially from that of a tree, probably so called. The leaves of the young plant arise directly from the surface of the ground, and there is no appearance of any stem for several years. This stem, once formed, never increases in size, the growth of the plant being always upwards, so that the stem itself is formed by the prior growth of the green portions of the palm. Structure, the manner of formation. How often does this tree cast its circle of leaves? Every year, so that the number of years a palm has existed is known by the scars which are left by their falling off. The palm is an evergreen. What are the uses of this tree? The palm is of the utmost importance to the inhabitants of the tropical regions, the fruit and sap providing them with food, the fibrous parts with clothing, and the leaves forming the greater part of their slightly constructed huts. The leaves of some species are formed into fans, hats and parasols. Others are written on, in the same manner that we write on paver. Artificial flowers are made of the pith of some. The lightened sap or rat and walking cane is the slender shoot of another kind, and solid and useful utensils are made from the shell of the coconut. The fibres of the date palm are formed into ropes and twine. A liquor is drawn from the trunk called palm wine. The trunks of the old trees furnish a hard and durable wood, and even the nuts or stones of the fruit are useful for feeding cattle. A wholesome flavour is also made of the fruit when dried and reduced to powder. Constructed, put together. Whence is its name derived? From the Latin word palma, a hand, given to these productions of the vegetable world from the supposed resemblance of their broad leaves to the human hand. The date, the fruit of the date palm, derives its name from the Greek dactylus, a finger, from its mode of growing in clusters spread out like the fingers of the hand. The palm sometimes forms in penetrable forests, but more frequently is found in small groups of two or three, or even singly, besides springs and fountains of water, affording a kindly shade to the thirsty traveller. Inpenetrable, not easily penetrated or got through. From what countries are dates brought? From Egypt, Syria, Persia, Africa, and the Indies. Among the Egyptians and Africans, they make a principal article of food. Dates, when ripe, are of a bright coral red, of an oblong form and possess a sharp biting taste. They are usually gathered in autumn, before being perfectly ripe. LibriVox.org This reading by Kara Schallenberg. A catechism of familiar things, their history, and the events which led to their discovery by the Benziger brothers. Chapter 9 Hats, stockings, shoes, gloves, leather, furs, and ink. Of what are hats made? Of felt and wool. Dress hats for menswear were formerly made of beaver fur, but the increasing scarcity of this article led to the introduction of silk plush as a substitute, and the result is that beaver is entirely superseded and plush is used altogether. They possess many advantages over the beaver hat, as they are light, glossy, and durable. Hats are also made of straw, plated, and sewed together. When did hats come into general use? The first mention made of hats is about the time of the Saxons, but they were not worn except by the rich. Hats for men were invented at Paris by a Swiss in 1404. About the year 1510 they were first manufactured in London by Spaniards. Before that time both men and women in England commonly wore close, knitted woolen caps. They appear to have become more common in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is related that when Charles II made his public entry into Ruin in 1449, he wore a hat lined with red velvet, surmounted with a plume or tuft of feathers, from which entry, or at least during his reign, the use of hats and caps is to be dated, and from that time they took the place of chaperons and hoods that had been worn before in France. Where is Ruin? In the province of Lower Seine, in France, it was formerly the capital of Normandy. Describe the castor, or beaver, and its habits. The beaver has a broad, flat tail covered with scales serving as a rudder to direct its motion in the water. The toes of its hind feet are furnished with membranes after the manner of waterfowl. The four feet supply the place of hands, like those of the squirrel. The beaver has two kinds of hair, of a light brown color, one long and coarse, the other short and silky. The teeth resemble those of a rat or squirrel but are longer and admirably adapted for cutting timber or stripping off the bark from trees. Membranes, thin, flexible, expanded skins connecting the toes of waterfowl and amphibious animals, and thus enabling them to swim with greater ease. Where do beavers usually fix their habitations? Their houses are always situated in the water. They are composed of clay, which they make into a kind of mortar with their paws. These huts are of an oval figure divided into three apartments raised one above the other and directed on piles driven into the mud. Each beaver has his peculiar cell assigned him, the floor of which he strews with leaves or small branches of the pine tree. The whole building is generally capable of containing eight or ten inhabitants. On what does the beaver feed? Its food consists of fruit and plants, and in winter of the wood of the ash and other trees. The hunters and trappers in America formerly killed vast numbers for their skins, which were in great demand as they were used in making hats, but as the only use they are now put to is for trimming, and for men's gloves and collars the demand has fallen off. Of what are stockings made? Of cotton, silk, or wool, woven, or knitted. Anciently the only stockings in use were made of cloth or stuff sewed together, but since the invention of knitting and weaving stockings of silk, etc., the use of cloth has been discontinued. From what country is it supposed that the invention of silk knitted stockings originally came? From Spain, in 1589, the art of weaving stockings in a frame was invented by William Lee, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge, England. Explain the significance of M.A., Master of Arts, a degree of honour conferred by the universities. What are shoes? A covering for the foot, now usually made of leather. In different ages and countries shoes have been made of various materials as raw skins, rushes, broom, paper, silk, wool, iron, silver, and gold. What nation wore shoes made of the bark of the papyrus? The Egyptians. The Turks always take off their shoes and leave them at the door when they enter mosques or dwelling houses. The same custom also prevails in other eastern nations. What is a mosque? A Mohammedan church or temple. What is meant by Mohammedan? Belonging to the religion of Mohammed, the warrior and prophet of Arabia and Turkey, who was its founder. He was born at Mecca, a city of Arabia, in 571, and died in 631 at Medina, a city situated between Arabia Felix and Arabia Dzerta. His creed maintains that there is but one God and that Mohammed is his prophet. It enjoins the observance of prayers, washings, almsgiving, fasting, sobriety, pilgrimage to Mecca, etc. What do the appellations of Felix and Dzerta signify? Arabia, a country of Asia, lying on the borders of the Red Sea, is divided into Petraea, Dzerta, and Felix. Petraea, signifying the Stony, Dzerta, the desert, and Felix, the fortunate or fruitful. What is leather? The skins of various animals as oxen, cows, calves, etc. dressed and prepared for use. How is the leather prepared? By tanning, that is, steeping the skins in an infusion of tan, by which they are rendered firm, durable, and in a great degree impervious to water. Infusion, a liquor made by steeping anything in water or other liquids, without boiling. What is tan? The bark of the oak tree, etc., ground by a mill into a coarse powder. What is lime? A white, soft, friable, earthy substance, prepared from marble, chalk, and other limestones, or from shells, by burning in a kiln. Friable, easily powdered. For what is it used? Its greatest use is in the composition of mortar for building. It is also much used by tanners, skinners, etc., in the preparation of leather, by soap boilers in the manufacture of soap, and by sugar bakers for refining sugar. What is a kiln? A fabric of brick or stone formed for admitting heat in order to dry or burn materials placed in it. Of what are gloves made? Of leather, silk, thread, cotton, worsted, etc. What skins are generally used for gloves? Those of the chamois, kid, lamb, dog, doe, and many other animals. What are furs, and how are they prepared? Furs are the skins of wild animals, dressed with a hair on, and used as a peril, either for warmth, ornament, or distinction of rank or dignity. Name a few of the principal furs in use. The fur of the ermine, an animal inhabiting the cold regions of Europe and America, is highly valued, and much used for ornamental purposes. In summer the upper part of the body is of a yellowish-brown color, the under part's white, slightly tinged with yellow. It is then called a stote. In winter the fur is closer and finer, and is of a snowy white color. The tip of the tail is black throughout the year. In Europe the fur is much used for ornamenting the state robes of sovereigns and nobles. The sable is another animal much prized for its rich fur. It is a native of Northern Europe and America. The skins of the Martin found in North America, as well as in Northern Asia, and the mountains of Kamchatka, and also of the bear, fox, raccoon, badger, lynx, muskrat, rabbit, hare, and squirrel, which are all procured in North America, are valuable. One of the most valuable descriptions of fur is that of the seal. How is it procured? By hunting the animals, which is the employment both of natives and settlers from other countries. The hunters sell the skins for money to a company established for the purpose of trading in furs, or more frequently exchange them for clothes, arms, and other articles. The Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco is granted by the United States Government the exclusive privilege of catching the fur seal. What is alum? A kind of mineral, of a strong sharp taste. It dissolves both in cold and boiling water, but best in the latter. It is of some use in medicine, a principal ingredient in dyeing and coloring, neither of which can be well performed without it, as it sets and brightens the colors, and prevents them from washing out. It is also extremely useful in many arts and manufacturers. Are there not different sorts of this material? The principal kinds are native alums, viz, those prepared and perfected underground by the spontaneous operations of nature, as the rock, commonly called rock alum, from Roka in Syria, whence it is brought. Spontaneous, unassisted by art. Orientals, inhabitants of the eastern parts of the world. What is ink? A liquor used in writing on paper or parchment, made of copperus, galls, and gum arabic, mixed together. There are likewise several plants that may serve for the making of ink, as oak bark, red roses, log wood, etc. It is also made from an infusion of oak galls and iron filings. There are also many other ways, as well as materials, employed in the making of this useful article. Ink is the name applied to all liquids used in writing, of whatever color they may be, as red, blue, etc., though black is the most used for common purposes. The ink of the ancients seems to have been of a thick oily nature, unlike the modern ink. It consisted of nothing more than a species of soot, or ivory black, mixed with one fourth of gum. What is copperus? A kind of vitriol. Copperus is the name given to green vitriol, which is a preparation from iron. The blue vitriol is a sulfate of copper, and the white vitriol a sulfate of zinc. For what is vitriol used? In the making of glass, to color it, in many arts and manufacturers, and in medicine. What are galls? Excresences formed on a kind of oak tree in certain warm climates. Perforations are made by an insect into the bark of the tree, once issues a liquid which hardens by exposure. They are used in dyeing, making ink, and other compositions. There are two sorts of oak galls in our shops, brought from the Levant, and the southern parts of Europe. What does the word Levant signify? A country to the eastward, it is applied to the countries of Turkey, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, etc., which are washed by the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Is the ink used in printing the same as writing ink? No, it is more of the nature of paint, being thicker and more glutinous. It chiefly consists of a mixture of oil and lamp black, or some other ingredient, according to the color required, and is remarkable for the ease with which it adheres to paper that is moistened. Glutenous, gummy, resembling glue. What is Indian or Chinese ink? An admirable composition, not liquid like our ink, but solid, and made into cakes, somewhat like the mineral colors we use in painting. It is made into all sorts of figures, usually long and about an inch thick, sometimes gilt with the figures of birds, flowers, etc. To use this ink it must be rubbed with water, on stone or earthenware, till it produces a beautiful liquid shining black. It is used in drawing, etc., and is brought from China. It is composed of lamp black and size, or animal glue, or gum, to which perfumes and other substances are sometimes added. CHAPTER X OF A CATECHISM OF FAMILIAR THINGS This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Corrie Samuel and Jonathan Horneblo. A catechism of familiar things, their history, and the events which led to their discovery, by the Benziger brothers. Chapter X. Asbestos. Salt. Coal. Iron. Copper. Brass. Zinc. Lapis Calaminaris. What is the name of the remarkable stone of which a cloth has been made that resists the action of fire? The Asbestos, a mineral substance of a whitish or silver color. There are several species of this material, which are distinguished by different names, according to the appearance of each, as fibrous asbestos, hard asbestos, and woody asbestos. It is the fibrous sort which is most noted for its uses in the arts. It is usually found enclosed within very hard stones, sometimes growing on their outside and sometimes detached from them. Fibrous. Full of fibers or threads. What are its qualities? It is insipid. It will not dissolve in water, and exposed to the fire it neither consumes nor calcines. The industry of mankind has found a method of working upon this untoward material and employing it in making cloth and paper. The process is, however, difficult. Insipid. Without taste. Was not this curious mineral better known to the ancients than it is at present? The linen made from them was highly esteemed by them. It was not only better known, but more common than among us, being equally valuable with the richest pearls. But the superiority of all other cloths to this in every respect, except the resistance to fire, has caused incombustible cloth to be regarded in modern times merely as a curiosity, but it is still employed in chemical preparations. Incombustible. Remaining undestroyed in fire. To what use did they put it? In royal funerals, it formed the shrouds to wrap the body in that its ashes might be prevented from mingling with the wood, etc. that composed the pile. Some of the ancients made themselves clothes of it, particularly the Brahmins amongst the Hindus. It formed wicks of their perpetual lamps. Thread, ropes, nets, and paper were also made of it. Pliny, the Roman naturalist, says he has seen napkins of asbestos taken soiled from the table after a feast which were thrown into the fire, and by that means better scoured than if they had been washed in water. Naturalist. A person who studies nature, especially in what relates to minerals, vegetables, and animals. Brahmins. Hindu priests. Where is the asbestos found? This mineral is found in the greatest quantity in the silver mines of Saxony, at Bleyberg, in Carinthia, in Sweden, Corsica, and sometimes in France, England, and the United States. Also in Tartary and Siberia. What method is used in preparing the asbestos? The stone is laid in warm water to soak, then opened and divided by the hands that the earthy matter may be washed out. This washing is several times repeated, and the flax-like filaments collected and dried. These are easily spun with the addition of flax. The cloth when woven is best preserved by all from breaking or wasting. On exposure to the fire, the flax and the oil burn out, and the cloth remains of a pure white. The shorter threads, which separate on washing the stone, may be made into paper in the usual manner. What is salt? A saline crystallization of a sharp, pungent taste and cleansing quality used to season flesh, fish, butter, etc., and other things that are be kept apart. It is distinguished, with reference to the general sources from which it is most plentifully derived, into three different sorts. Namely, fossil or rock salt, sea or marine salt, and spring salt, or that drawn from briny springs and wells. Marine belonging to the sea, saline consisting of salt, briny consisting of brine, which means water tasting of salt. It is used to signify the waters of the sea or any salt water. What is fossil or rock salt? That which is found in large beds in the bowels of the earth, and which has not undergone any artificial preparation. It is sometimes colourless, but more frequently red, yellow or blue, and mixed with earthy impurities. This salt was entirely unknown to the ancients, who, by rock salt, meant that which adheres to the rocks above high watermark, being lodged there by the spray of the sea, which is evaporated by the heat of the sun. This is the purest salt, and is to be found on the rocks of Sicily and several islands of the West Indies. Artificial, produced by art and the labour of man. Evaporated, converted into vapour and dissipated. What is marine salt? That which is made from sea water, concentrated by repeat evaporations, and at length crystallised. What is spring salt? That salt which is not made from sea water, but from the water of salt wells or springs. Large quantities of this salt are made in the United States, in some parts of which saline springs are numerous. In what manner is it obtained? The means employed for extracting the salt from the water vary according to circumstances. In hot countries, the water is merely exposed to the action of the sun, until the water is evaporated. The salt procured in this manner is considered the best. What method is usually employed in countries where the sun's heat is not sufficiently powerful? In climates where the rays of the sun do not afford sufficient heat, the water, which has been partly evaporated in large shallow reservoirs formed in the earth, called salt pans, is poured into enormous coppers and boiled for four or five hours. When the contents of the copper are wasted to half the quantity, the liquid begins to be crystallised. The vessel is again filled up, and the brine again boiled and purified. This is repeated three or four times. After the last purifying, the fire is kept very low for 12 or 14 hours, and when the moisture is nearly evaporated, the salt is removed, and after the remaining brine has drained off, is placed in the storehouses. In what countries is salt generally found? This substance, so necessary to the comfort of mankind, is widely distributed over the face of the earth, and nothing except, perhaps the air we breathe, is more easily placed within our reach. The ocean is an exhaustless storehouse of this valuable article. Those nations of the earth which are placed at a distance from the sea find themselves provided with magazines of salt, either in solid masses, or dissolved in the waters of inland lakes, or issuing from the solid rocks in springs of brine. At Salina, Syracuse, and other places in Onondago County, New York, salt springs are remarkably abundant, and yield annually several millions of bushels. Immense quantities are also obtained from the salt wells on the great and little Canahua, and other places in western Virginia. It is also extensively manufactured in the western part of Pennsylvania, and throughout the western states. Name the countries most noted for mines of salt. Poland, Upper Hungary, and the mountains of Catalonia have extensive salt mines. Those in the village of Wieliszka, in Poland, about five leaks from Cracow, are of a surprising depth and size. In the interior of Hindustan, there is a remarkable salt lake, and in several parts of the globe, there are spots of ground impregnated entirely with this substance. An island in the East Indies contains a singular kind of fossil, a native dry salt. The soil there is in general very fruitful, but in certain parts of the island, there are spots of ground entirely barren, without the appearance of anything vegetable upon them. These spots taste very much of salt, and are bound with it in such quantities as to supply not only the whole island, but the greater part of the adjacent continent. In Utah territory, especially in the neighborhood of the Mormon city, at the Great Salt Lake, are found extensive plains thus impregnated with salt, which is procured in great abundance. Fossil, the remains of minerals or shells dug from the earth. Impregnated, filled, saturated. Catalonia, a considerable province of Spain situated to the northeast. adjacent, adjoining, line near or contiguous. To what use did the ancient inhabitants of Africa and Arabia put this substance? The large slabs of rock salt, with which their country abounds, were employed by them instead of stones in building their dwellings, the pieces being easily cemented together by sprinkling the joints with water, which, melting the parts of the two surfaces that opposed each other, formed the whole, when dry into one solid block. Does rock salt undergo any preparation before it is used? Yes. When taken from the earth, it is dissolved in cold water, and afterwards drawn off into salt pans and refined in the same manner as the sea salt. What is coal? A hard, black, sulfurous and inflammable substance dug out of the earth, serving in many countries as fuel. It is common in most of the countries of Europe and America. In some parts of the United States, it is found in beds having an area of several thousand square miles. From what is coal supposed to have originated? It's origin is supposed to be derived from gigantic trees which flourished in the swamps and forests of the primeval earth. These, having been torn away from their native bed by storms and inundations, were transported into some adjacent lake, river or sea. Here they floated on the waters until, saturated with them, they sank to the bottom, and, being buried in the lower soil of adjacent lands, became transformed into a new state among the members of the mineral kingdom. A long interment followed, during which a course of chemical changes and new combinations of their vegetable elements converted them into the mineral condition of coal. Primeval, original, existing before the flood. Gigantic, extremely large, greater than the usual size. Interment, burial under the ground. What is a coal mine? A subterraneous excavation from which coal is obtained. Do the terms coal and charcoal signify the same substance? No. Charcoal is an artificial fuel, made in imitation of coal, by burning wood covered with earth so as partially to exclude the air. It is used for various purposes, as the making of gunpowder, polishing brass and copper etc., and when a clear and bright fire is required, it burns with little or no smoke. It is dangerous, however, for one to remain many hours in a close room with a charcoal fire, as the fumes it throws out are hurtful, and would destroy life. Charcoal, in fact, is the coley residuum of any vegetables burnt in close vessels. But the common charcoal is that prepared from wood, and is generally black, very brittle, light, and sometimes destitute of taste or smell. It is a powerful antiseptic, unalterable, and indestructible. Residuum, the remaining part, that which is left. Antiseptic, that which prevents putrification. What is iron? One of the most useful and abundant metals being found in all mineral earths and stones, in plants and animal fluids, and is the chief cause of the varieties of color in all. Iron is found in great masses, in various states, in the bowels of the earth. It is usually, however, compounded with stone, from which it is separated by the action of fire. In some parts of the world, whole mountains are formed of iron. Among these may be mentioned the pilot knob and the iron mountain in Missouri, being unsurpassed by anything of the kind found us where. What are its characteristics? It is hard, fusible, not very malleable, but extremely ductile and very tenacious. It is of a grayish color, and nearly eight times heavier than water. Without iron, society could make no progress in the cultivation of the ground. In mineral arts or trades, in architecture or navigation, it is therefore of the greatest use to man. Iron tools have been used in all European countries as long as their histories have existed. This metal appears likewise to have been known and used by the inhabitants of the world in the earliest ages, being frequently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. In the fourth chapter of Genesis, tubal cane is spoken of as a hammerer and artificer of every work of brass and iron, and thus their existence was evidently known in that early period of the world. Artificer, one who works or makes. Fusible, capable of being melted by fire. What do you mean by metals? Useful substances dug from the bowels of the earth, being sometimes found pure, but mostly combined with other matter. They are distinguished by their weight, tenacity, hardness, opacity, color, and peculiar luster, known as the metallic luster. They are fusible by heat, and good conductors of heat and electricity. Many of them are malleable, and some extremely ductile. Those which were first known are gold, silver, iron, copper, mercury, lead, and tin. Tenacity, the firmness with which one part adheres to another. Opacity, want of transparency or clearness. What are metals called in their natural state? Ours, so named because the metal contained within them is either mixed with other metals or with mineral earths, from which they are separated and purified by various means, such as washing, roasting, etc. But the method is always regulated by the nature of the ore. What is copper? A hard, heavy, ductile metal, found native, and in many ores. Of these, the most important is copper pyrites, which is a sulphurate of copper. Next to gold, silver, and platinum, copper is the most malleable and ductile of metals. It may be drawn into wires as fine as hair, or beaten into leaves as thin as those of silver. The rust of copper is very poisonous. Copper, mixed with a certain quantity of tin, forms bell metal. With a smaller proportion, it forms bronze, a substance used in sculpture for casting figures and statues. It is an abundant metal, and is found in various parts of the world. Native oxides of copper are found in Cornwall, Siberia, and in North and South America. Oxide, a substance combined with oxygen in a proportion not sufficient to produce acidity. Sulfurate, a combination of sulfur with a base. What are the uses of copper? They are too various to be enumerated. In sheets it is much used to sheath the bottom of ships, for boilers and other utensils. Copper coin was the only money used by the Romans till the 485th year of their city, when silver began to be coined. In Sweden, houses are covered with this metal. What is a mine? A cavity underground, formed for the purposes of obtaining metals, etc. Mines are often very deep and extensive. The descent into them is by a pit, called a shaft. The clues by which mines are discovered are mineral springs, the discolouration of vegetables, the appearance of pieces of ore, etc. Clues, signs or means by which things hidden are brought to light. What is brass? A factitious metal, consisting of copper and zinc. Brass is lighter and harder than pure copper and less subject to rust. Owing to these properties, together with its beautiful colour, it is extremely useful in the manufacture of many utensils. Factitious, made by art, not found in a natural state. What is zinc? A metal of brilliant bluish-white colour. Its name was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Arabians. It is mixed with other substances in the ore, from which it is obtained by smelting in the furnace. It has never yet been found native or pure. For what is zinc used? From its readiness to dissolve in all acids and unite with other metals. It is used in alloy with them in the composition of brass, etc. Thin sheets of zinc are also used to cover roofs of houses and in the manufacture of various household utensils. What is lapis calaminaris? Lapis calaminaris, or calamine stone, is a native carbonate of zinc of some use in medicine, but chiefly in founding. It is sometimes brownish as that found in Germany and England, or red as that of France. It is dug out of mines, usually in small pieces, generally out of those of lead. Calamine is mostly found in barren, rocky soils. Founding The Art of Casting Metals Chapter 11 of A Catechism of Familiar Things This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. A Catechism of Familiar Things, their history, and the events which led to their discovery by Benziger Brothers. Chapter 11 Yams, mangoes, breadfruit, shea or butter-tree, coutry, water-tree, licorice, manor, opium, tobacco, and gum. What are yams? The roots of a climbing plant growing in tropical climates. The root of the yam is wholesome and well-flavoured, nearly as large as a man's leg and of an irregular form. Yams are much used for food in those countries where they grow. The natives either roast or boil them, and the white people grind them into flour, of which they make bread and puddings. The yam is of a dirty brown colour outside, but white and merely within. What are mangoes? The fruit of the mango tree, a native of India, and the southwestern parts of Asia. It also grows abundantly in the West Indies and Brazil. It was introduced into Jamaica in 1782, where it attains the height of 30 or 40 feet, with thick and wide extended branches. The varieties of the mango are very numerous, upwards of 80 are cultivated, and the quality of these varies according to the countries and situations in which they grow. The mangoes of Asia are said to be much better than those of America. Describe the appearance of the mango tree. The flowers of this tree are small and whitish, formed in pyramidal clusters. The fruit has some resemblance to a short, thick cucumber, about the size of a goose's egg. Its taste is delicious and cooling. It has a stone in the centre like that of a peach. At first this fruit is of a fine green colour, and some varieties continue so, while others change to a fine golden or orange colour. The mango tree is an evergreen, bearing fruit once or twice a year, from six or seven years old to a hundred. Pyramidal resembling a pyramid. How is this fruit eaten? When ripe it is eaten by the natives, either in its natural state or bruised in wine. It is brought to us either candied or pickled, as the ripe fruit is very perishable. In the latter case they are opened with a knife, and the middle filled up with fresh ginger, garlic, mustard, salt, and oil or vinegar. The fruit of the largest variety weighs two pounds or upwards. The several parts of this tree are all applied to some use by the Hindus. The wood is consecrated to the service of the dead. From the flour of the dried kernels different kinds of food are prepared. The leaves, flowers, and bark are medicinal. Medicinal, fit for medicine, possessing medical properties. Consecrated, separated from a common to a sacred use. Is there not a tree which bears a fruit that may be used for bread? Yes, the breadfruit tree, originally found in the southeastern parts of Asia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, though introduced into the tropical parts of America. It is one of the most interesting, as well as singular, productions of the vegetable kingdom, being no less beautiful than it is useful. This tree is large and shady. Its leaves are broad and indented, like those of the fig tree, from twelve to eighteen inches long, rather fleshy, and of a dark green. The fruit, when full grown, is from six to nine inches round, and of an oval form, when ripe of a rich yellow tinge. It generally hangs in clusters of two or three on a small thick stalk. The pulp is white, partly farenacious and partly fibrous, but when ripe becomes yellow and juicy. Indented, toothed like the edge of a saw. Farenacious, mealy, consisting of meal or flour, from farina. Flour. How is the breadfruit eaten? It is roasted until the outside is of a brown colour and crisp. The pulp has then the consistency of bread, which the taste greatly resembles, and thus it forms a nourishing food. It is also prepared in many different ways besides that just mentioned. The tree produces three, sometimes four, crops in a year, and continues bearing for fifty years, so that two or three trees are enough for a man's yearly supply. Its timber, which at first is of a rich yellow, but afterwards assumes the colour of mahogany, is used in the building of houses and canoes. The flowers, when dried, serve as tinder. The sap or juice serves for glue. The inner bark is made by the natives of some islands of the Pacific Ocean into a kind of cloth, and the leaves are useful for many purposes. One species of the breadfruit, called the jacka tree, grows chiefly on the mainland of Asia. Mainland, the continent. Describe the jacka tree. This kind grows to the same, if not a larger size, than the breadfruit of the islands, but is neither so palatable nor so nutritious. The fruit often weighs thirty pounds, and contains two or three hundred seeds, each four times as large as an almond. December is the time when the fruit ripens. It is then eaten, but not much relished. The seeds are also eaten when roasted. There are also other trees in different parts of the world, mostly of the palm species, which yield bread of a similar kind. Is there not a tree which produces a substance resembling the butter which we make from the milk of the cow? The shea, or butter tree, a native of Africa. It is similar in appearance to the American oak, and the fruit, from the kernel of which the butter is prepared, is somewhat like an olive in form. The kernel is enclosed in a sweet pulp under a thin green rind. How is the butter extracted? The kernel, being taken out and dried in the sun, is boiled in water, by which process a white, firm and rich-flavoured butter is produced, which will keep for a whole year without salt. The growth and preparation of this commodity is one of the finest objects of African industry, and forms a principal article of their trade with one another. You have given me an account of a useful butter prepared from a plant. Is there not also a tree which can supply the want of a cow? In South America there is a tree, the juice of which is a nourishing milk. It is called the cow tree. This tree is very fine, the leaves are broad, and some of them ten inches long. The fruit is rather fleshy, and contains one or two nuts or kernels. The milk is very abundant, and is procured by incisions made in the trunk of the tree. It is tolerably thick, and of a glutinous quality, a pleasant taste and agreeable smell. The negroes and people at work on the farms drink it, dipping into it their bread made of maize. Glutenous, having the quality of glue, an adhesive, gummy substance prepared from the skins of animals. It is used in joining wood, etc., and for many other purposes. What time of the day is the best for drawing the juice? Sunrise. The blacks and natives then hasten from all quarters with large bowls to receive the milk. Some drink it on the spot, others carry it home to their families. What island possesses a remarkable substitute for the want of springs of water? Ferro, one of the Canary Isles, situated in the Atlantic Ocean. In this island there is no water, except on a part of the beach which is nearly inaccessible. To supply the place of a fountain, nature has bestowed on the island a particular kind of tree, unknown in other parts of the world. It is of a moderate size, with straight, long evergreen leaves. On its top a small cloud continually rests, which so drenches the leaves with moisture that it perpetually distills upon the ground a stream of clear water. To these trees, as to perennial springs, the inhabitants of Ferro repair, and are supplied with abundance of water for themselves and cattle. Perennial, lasting through the year, perpetual. What is licorice? A plant, the juice of which is squeezed from the roots and then boiled with sugar, and used as a remedy for coughs, etc. Great quantities are exported from Spain, Italy, etc. The dried root is of great use in medicine, and makes an excellent drink for colds and other affections of the lungs by boiling it with linseed. What are the lungs? The organs of respiration in man and many other animals. There are two of these organs, one on each side of the chest. Respiration, breathing, the act of inhaling air into the lungs, and again expelling it, by which animal life is supported. What is manna? A sweet white juice oozing from the branches and leaves of a kind of ash tree, growing chiefly in the southern parts of Italy during the heats of summer. When dry, it is very light, easily crumbled, and of a whitish or pale yellow colour, not unlike hardened honey. Is manna peculiar to the ash tree of southern Italy? No, manna is nothing more than the nutritious juices of the tree which exude during the summer heats. And what confirms this is that the very hot summers are always those which are most productive of manna. Several different species of trees produce a kind of manna. The best and most used is, however, that of Calabria in Italy. What are its uses? It was much esteemed formally in medicine, but it has now gone nearly into disuse. The peasants of Mount Libanus eat it as others do honey. The Bedouin Arabs consume great quantities, considering it the greatest dainty their country affords. In Mexico they are said to have a manna which they eat as we do cheese. At Brionçan in France they collect it from all sorts of trees that grow there, and the inhabitants observe that such summers as produce the greatest quantities of manna are very fatal to the trees, many of them perishing in the winter. Is there not another tree which produces manna? Yes, the tamarisk, a tree peculiar to Palestine and parts of Arabia. This remarkable substance is produced by several trees and in various countries of the east. On Mount Sinai there is a different species of tamarisk that yields it. It is found on the branches of the tree and falls on the ground during the heat of the day. Where is Mount Libanus? Mount Libanus or Lebanon is situated in Asiatic Turkey. It was anciently famous for its large and beautiful cedar trees. The cedars of Lebanon are frequently mentioned in Holy Rit. There are now scarcely any remaining of superior size and antiquity, but they vary from the largest size down to mere saplings, and their numbers seem to increase rather than diminish. There being many young trees springing up. How is manna gathered? From August to September the Italians collect it in the following manner, viz, by making an incision at the foot of the tree, each day over that of the proceeding, about four inches from one another. These cuts or incisions are nearly two inches long and half an inch deep. When the cut is made the manna directly begins to flow at first like clear water, but congealing as it flows it soon becomes firm. This they collect in baskets. Manna has been found to consist of two distinct substances, one nearly resembling sugar, the other similar to a gum or mucilage. What nation was fed with a kind of manna? The children of Israel, when wandering in the desert wilderness where no food was to be procured, were fed by a miraculous supply of manna, showered down from heaven every morning on the ground in such quantities as to afford sufficient food for the whole host. What is opium? A narcotic, gummy, resinous juice, drawn from the head of the white poppy, and afterwards thickened. It is brought over in dark reddish-brown lumps which, when powdered, become yellow. Narcotic, producing sleep and drowsiness. In what countries is it cultivated? In many parts of Asia, India, and even the southern parts of Europe, where it is exported into other countries, the Turks and other eastern nations chew it. With us it is chiefly used in medicine. The juice is obtained from incisions made in the seed-vessels of the plant. It is collected in earthen pots, and allowed to become sufficiently hard to be formed into roundish masses of about four pounds weight. In Europe the poppy is cultivated mostly for the seeds. Morphia and Lordenum are medicinal preparations of opium. What is tobacco? An herbaceous plant which flourishes in many temperate climates, particularly in North America. It is supposed to have received its name from Tabacco, a province of Mexico. It is cultivated in the West Indies, the Levant, on the coast of Greece, in the Archipelago, Malta, Italy, France, Ceylon, etc. It was not known in Europe till the discovery of America by the Spaniards, and was carried to England about the time of Queen Elizabeth, either by Sir Francis Drake or Sir Walter Raleigh. Tobacco is either taken as snuff, smoked in pipes or in the form of cigars, or chewed in the mouth like opium. There are many different species of this plant, most of them natives of America, some of the Cape of Good Hope and China. Tobacco contains a powerful poison called nicotine. Herbaceous, like an herb or plant, not a shrub or tree. What part of the plant is used? The leaves which are stripped from the plant, and after being moistened with water, are twisted up into rolls. These are cut up by the tobacco-nist, and variously prepared for sale, or reduced into a scented powder called snuff. Who was Sir Francis Drake? Sir Francis Drake was a distinguished naval officer, who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth. He made his name immortal by a voyage into the South Seas, through the Straits of Magellan, which at that time no Englishman had ever attempted. He died on board his own ship in the West Indies, 1595. Who was Sir Walter Raleigh? Sir Walter Raleigh was also an illustrious English navigator and historian, born in 1552. He performed great services for Queen Elizabeth, particularly in the discovery of Virginia, and in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. He lived in honor and prosperity during her reign, but on the accession of James I was stripped of his favor at court, unaccountably accused of high treason, tried and condemned to die. Being reprieved, however, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for many years, during which time he devoted himself to writing and study. Receiving at last a commission to go and explore the gold mines at Guyana, he embarked, but his design having been betrayed to the Spaniards, he was defeated. And on his return to England in July 1618 was arrested and beheaded, by order of the King on his former attainer, October the 29th, suffering his fate with great magnanimity. High treason in England means an offense committed against the sovereign. In the United States it consists in levying war against the government, adhering to its enemies and giving them aid and comfort. Reprieved, respited from sentence of death, magnanimity, greatness of mind, bravery. What is gum? A musilaginous juice exuding from the bark of certain trees or plants, drawn thence by the warmth of the sun in the form of a glutinous matter, and afterwards by the same cause rendered firm and tenacious. There are many different gums, named after the particular tree or plant from which they are produced. Musilaginous consisting of musilage. Tenacious adhering closely. What is the character of gum? Gum is capable of being dissolved in water and forming with it a viscid, transparent fluid, but not in venous spirits or oil. It burns in the fire to a black coal without melting or catching fire, and does not dissolve in water at boiling heat. The name of gum has been inaccurately given to several species of gum resins, which consist of resin and various other substances flowing from many kinds of trees and becoming hard by exposure to the air. These are soluble in dilute alcohol. Gum is originally a milky liquor, having a greater quantity of water mixed with its oily parts, and for that reason it dissolves in either water or oil. Another sort is not oily, and therefore dissolves in water only, as gum Arabic, the gum of the cherry tree, etc. Viscid, thick, ropey. Venous, having the qualities of wine. Are the last mentioned sorts properly called gums? No, though commonly called gums they are only dried mucilages, which were nothing else than the mucilaginous lymph issuing from the vessels of the tree, in the same manner as it does from mallows, comfrey, and even from the cucumber. The vessels of which being cut across yield a lymph which is plainly mucilaginous, and if well dried, at length becomes a kind of gum, or rather a hardened mucilage. Lymph, transparent fluid. What is gum Arabic? The juice of a small tree of the Acacia tribe, growing in Egypt, Arabia, Petria, Palestine, and in different parts of America. Are there other plants or trees which produce gum, besides those already mentioned? A great number, though not all commonly in use. The leaves of rhubarb, the common plum, and even the slow and the laurel, produce a clear, tasteless gum. There are also a number of different gums brought from foreign countries of great use in medicine and the arts. Most of the Acacias produce gums, though the quality of all is not equally good. What is rhubarb? A valuable root growing in China, Turkey, and Russian Tartary. Quantities of it are imported from other parts of the world. That from Turkey is esteemed the best. Rhubarb is also cultivated in our gardens, and the stalks of the leaves are often used in tarts, but the root, from the difference of climate, does not possess any medicinal value. Chapter 12 of A Catechism of Familiar Things This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Ashwin Jain A Catechism of Familiar Things Their history and the events which led to their discovery by Benziger Brothers Chapter 12 Spectacles Mariner's Compass Barometer Thermometer Watches Clocks Telescope Microscope Gunpowder Steam Engine And Electromagnetic Telegraph When were spectacles invented, and who was their inventor? It is supposed that they were first known about the 13th century, and invented by a monk of Pisa in Italy named Alexander de Spina. Spectacles are composed of two circular pieces of glass set in a frame. What are these glasses called? Lenses. They are either convex or concave, according to the kind of sight requiring them. Old people and those who can only see things at a distance from the flatness of the eye, which prevents the rays of light converging so as to meet in the center require convex lenses. People who can only distinguish objects when viewed closely from the eye being too convex require concave lenses to contract it by spreading the rays and thus rendering vision distinct. Convex rising outwardly in a circular form opposite to concave. Concave hollow round but hollow as an inner curve of an arc etc. Converging Tending to one point from different parts Vision The Faculty of Seeing What is their Mariner's Campus? A most useful and important instrument by the aid of which the navigator guides his ship on the sea and steers his way to the place of his destination. The inventor of the Mariner's Campus is not known nor the exact time of its introduction. It was employed in Europe in navigation about the middle of the 13th century and has been in use more than 500 years. The Chinese are said to have been acquainted with it much earlier but no reliance can be placed on their dates. The power of the low stone to attract iron was known to the ancient Egyptians but was not applied to any practical purpose. Navigator One who guides a ship Steer To direct or guide a vessel in its course Destination The place to which a person is bound Practical Capable of practice Not merely speculative What is the low stone? An ore of iron which possesses the peculiar property of attracting iron namely of drawing it in contact with its own mass and holding it firmly attached by its own power of attraction. A piece of low stone drawn several times along a needle or a small piece of iron converts it into an artificial magnet and if this magnetized needle is carefully balanced it will turn round of itself till its end points towards the north. The magnetized needle also possesses the power of attracting iron and of communicating this power to another piece of iron or steel similar to that of the low stone itself. Contact Touch Magnetized Rendered magnetic Describe the Mariner's campus The Mariner's campus consists of a circular box enclosing a magnetized bar of steel called the needle carefully balanced on an upright steel pivot and having that end which points to the north shaped like the head of an arrow attached to this needle and turning with it is a card on which I printed the divisions of north, south, east and west called the points of the compass. By simply looking at the position of the needle the mariner can see the direction in which his vessel is sailing and regulate his helm accordingly. Helm, the instrument by which my ship is steered consisting of a rudder and tiller. What is a barometer? An instrument for measuring the weight of the atmosphere which enables us to determine the chances of the weather, the height of mountains etc. It consists of a glass tube hermetically sealed at one end filled with mercury and inverted in a basin of mercury. According to the weight of the atmosphere this mercury rises or falls. How is the hermetic seal formed? By heating the edges of a vessel till they are just ready to melt and then twisting them closely together with hot pincers so that the air may be totally excluded. The word is taken from Hermes, the Greek name for mercury, the heathen god of arts and learning and the supposed inventor of chemistry which is sometimes called the hermetical art or perhaps from Hermes, an ancient king of Egypt who was either its inventor or excelled in it. What is mercury? Wicksilver or mercury is a white fluid metal the heaviest except platinum and gold. It readily combines linearly all other metals and is used in the manufacture of looking glasses, barometers, thermometers etc. in some of the arts and the preparation of several powerful medicines. It is found in California, Hungary, Sweden, Spain, China and Peru. The quicksilver mines of Cuncavaliza in Peru is 170 fathoms in circumference and 480 deep. Its profound abysses are seen straight squares and a chapel where religious worship is performed. The quicksilver mines of Idria, a town of lower Austria, have continually been wrought for more than 300 years. The vapor which is continually arising from the mercury is very hurtful to the miners who seldom survive many years. Abyss, a gulf, a depth without bottom. In what state is mercury usually found? Either native or in the form of ore. It is often found mixed with silver but more frequently with sulfur in the form of sulfurite which is decomposed by distillation. The running mercury is found in globules in America and is collected from the clefts of their rocks. Mercury has the appearance of melted silver. It is neither ductile nor malleable in the state. It is a substance so volatile when heated that it may be evaporated like water. It is always seen in a fluid state even in temperate climates as a very small portion of heat is sufficient to preserve its fluidity. It is used to separate gold and silver from the foreign matter found with those metals. Calamel, a valuable medicine and vermilion, a color are both preparations of mercury, globules, small particles of matter having the form of a ball or sphere. What is a thermometer? An instrument for measuring temperature. It consists of a fine glass tube dominated at one end in a bowl usually filled with mercury which expands or contracts according to the degree of heat or cold. On the scale of the finite thermometer the freezing point of water is marked at 32 degrees and the boiling point at 212 degrees. In both the centigrade and the rumour scales the freezing point is at zero and the boiling point at 100 degrees in the centigrade and at 80 degrees in rumours. The invention of this instrument dates from about the close of the 16th century. It is not known by whom it was first brought into use. Terminated. Finished. Ended. When and by whom were watches and clocks invented? Watches were invented about the year 1500 but who was the inventor is disputed. They were however little value as timekeepers before the application of the spiral spring as a regulator to the balance. The glory of this excellent invention lies between Dr. Hooke and M. Heuens. The English scribing it to the former, the Dutch, French etc. to the latter. Some deserted pocket watches were first made about 1477 at Nuremberg in Germany. The most ancient clock of which we possess any certain account was made in 1634 by Henry D. Vique, a German artist. It was erected in a tower of the palace of Charles V, King of France. The pendulum was applied by Heuens in 1656. What is a pendulum? A weight so suspended from a fixed point that it may easily swing backward and forward. Its oscillations are always performed in equal times while the length of the pendulum and the gravity remain the same. It is said that the idea of employing the pendulum for the measurement of time was first conceived by Galileo while a young man upon his observing attentively the regular oscillations of a lamp suspended from the roof of a church in Pisa. It was not, however, till the time of Heuens that a method was devised of counting its motions and registering the number of its oscillations. Oscillation, a swinging backward and forward, gravity, the tendency of a body toward the center of the earth, registering, recording, charcoal burning, charcoal burning, gold miners washing ore, gold miners washing ore. To whom is the invention of gunpowder ascribed? Most authors, suppose it was invented by Bartholdus Schwartz, a monk of Goslar, a town of Boonswijk in Germany, about the year 1320. It appears, however, that it was known much earlier in many parts of the world and that the famous Roger Bacon, who died in 1292, knew its properties, but it is not certain that he was acquainted with its application to firearms. Who was Roger Bacon? A learned Franciscan, born at Ilchester, England, in 1214. He studied at Oxford and afterwards became professor at a great university. He was familiar with every branch of human knowledge, but was especially distinguished for his extraordinary proficiency in the natural sciences. To him, we owe the invention of the telescope that of gunpowder is ascribed to him, as stated above. Although we have no evidence to show whether he discovered its ingredients himself, or whether he derived the knowledge from some ancient manuscripts. Bacon suffered some from the ignorance of the age in which he lived, many of his experiments being looked upon as magic. He died at Oxford in the year 1294. What is understood by magic? Magic is a term used to signify an unlawful and wicked kind of science depending, as was pretended, on the existence of superhuman beings and of departed souls. The term was anciently applied to all kinds of learning, and in particular to the science of the Magi or wise men of Persia, from whom it was called magic. Natural magic is no more than the application of natural active causes to passive things or subjects to produce effects apparently in supernatural. Supernatural, beyond the powers of nature, miraculous, of what is gunpowder composed of salt peter, sulfur and charcoal mixed together and powdered. Its explosive force when fired is owing to the instantaneous and abundant liberation of gaseous matter by the intense heat resulting from the action of the combustibles upon the salt pit. It is not known by whom it was first applied to the purposes of war, but it is certain that it was used early in the 14th century. Cannons were used at the Battle of Cressy in 1346. Small guns or muskets were introduced into the Spanish army in 1521. Explosive, bursting out with violence and noise, liberation, a setting at liberty. Is not gunpowder highly combustible? So combustible is gunpowder that a single spark of fire lighting upon any of it will cause it to explode with immense force. And instances have occurred where any storage or magazine of it has taken fire that have been attended with the most fatal effects. It is useful to the minor and ingenious already means of overcoming the obstacles which are presented in the search for mineral treasures and in producing materials for building. For many passages in the ancient authors there is reason to suppose that gunpowder or a composition extremely like it was known to them, but it does not appear to have been in general use and the invention of fire arms is comparatively modern. Dynamite, a recent invention, has a still greater explosive force than gunpowder. Engineer, one who works or directs an engine. Obstacles, hindrances, obstructions. What is saltpeter? A bitter kind of salt called by the ancient knight, but more commonly among us saltpeter. It is composed of nitric acid and potassium. It is found in earthy substances, sometimes native or pure, in the form of a shapeless salt. Vast quantities are found in several of the Mali earths of the East Indies, China, Persia and also in South America. In India it is found naturally crystallized and forming thin crusts upon the surface of the earth. It is especially abundant in the United States, being found in immense quantities in the limestone caves in the southwestern states. What do you mean by Mali? Consisting of mal, a kind of earth composed of different proportions of clay and carbonite of lime. It is much used for manure. There are several different colored mouths, each possessing different qualities. The most common are the red and the white, though there are gray, brown, blue and yellow colored mouths. What is a telescope? An optical instrument which serves for discovering and viewing distant objects, either directly by glasses or by reflection. The invention of the telescope is one of the noblest and most useful of which modern ages can boast. Since by means of this instrument the wonderful motions of the planets and fixed stars and all the heavenly bodies are revealed to us. The honor of the invention is much disputed. It is certain, however, that the celebrated Calilio was the first who improved the telescope as to answer astronomical purposes. The name is formed from two Greek words, one signifying far, the other to observe, optical, relating to optics, the science of vision, astronomical, relating to astronomy, who was Calilio, a most eminent astronomer and mathematician born at Florence in Italy. His inventions and discoveries in astronomy, geometry and mechanics contributed much to the advancement of those sciences. He died in 1642. Astronomer, one versed in astronomy, mathematician, one versed in mathematics, a science which treats of magnitude and number. What is astronomy? That science which teaches the knowledge of the heavenly bodies with the nature and causes of their various phenomena. What is geometry? An ancient, perfect and beautiful science which treats of the relations and properties of lines, surfaces and solids. What does it mean by mechanics? The science which investigates the laws of forces and powers and their action on bodies either directly or by machinery. When the term mechanic is applied to a person, it means one skilled in mechanics, accustomed to manual labor. Investigate, to search, to inquire into, manual, performed by the hand. What is a microscope? An optical instrument by means of which very minute objects are represented exceedingly large and viewed very distinctly according to the laws of refraction and reflection. Nothing certain is known respecting the inventor of microscopes or the exact time of the invention but that they were first used in Germany about 1621. Minute, small diminutive. Refraction, a change in the direction of a ray of light when it passes through transparent substances of different densities. Reflection, a turning back of a ray of light after striking upon any surface. What is the steam engine? A machine that derives its moving power from the force of the steam produced from boiling water which is very great especially when, as in the steam engine, it is confined within a limited compass. This useful machine is one of the most valuable brilliance that the arts of life have received from the philosopher and is of the greatest importance in working minds, supplying cities with water, in working metals, in many mechanical arts and in navigation. By the aid of steam vessels are propelled with greater swiftness than those which are fully dependent on winds and tides. And thus, trade is facilitated and we are enabled to communicate with distant lands in a much shorter space of time than was formerly consumed. On land, railroads are constructed on which steam carriers run with astonishing rapidity so that a journey which by coach and horses formerly required two or more days may now be performed in four or five hours. Mechanical, belonging to mechanics, to whom are we indebted for its invention? Its invention is by most writers ascribed to the Marcus of Warchester, an Englishman, about 1663. But it does not appear that the inventor could ever interest the public in favor of this or his other discoveries. The steam engine of Captain Savry, also an Englishman, is the first of which any definite description has been preserved. It was invented in 1698. Since that period, it has been successively improved by various persons. But it is to Mr. Watt and Mr. Bolton of England that it is indebted for much of its brilliant state of profession. My home was a steam engine first applied to the purposes of navigation by John Fitch of Pennsylvania. From papers in the historical collection of Pennsylvania, it appears that the first successful experiments were made at Philadelphia. In 1785, three years before the attempts at fall kick, and on the slide in Scotland, the boat made several trips on the Delaware and squeaky rivers, but owing to repeated accidents to her machinery and the want of funds and competent mechanics for the necessary repairs, she was abandoned. In 1807, Robert Fulton, also of Pennsylvania, made his first experimental trip on the Hudson River with complete success. To this distinguished and ingenious American justly belongs the honor of having brought navigation by steam to a state of perfection. In 1890, the first steamship crossed the Atlantic from Savannah to Liverpool, and in 1838, a regular communication by steamship was established between Great Britain and the United States. Since that period, ocean navigation by steam vessels has made rapid progress, and at the present time, numbers of steamers connect over various seaports with those of other nations and with each other. What is the electromagnetic telegraph? An instrument or apparatus by means of which intelligence is conveyed to any distance with a velocity of lightning. The electric fluid, when an excess has accumulated in one place, always seeks to transfer itself to another until an equilibrium of its distribution is fully restored. Consequently, when two places are conducted by means of a good conductor of electricity, as for instance the telegraphic wire, the fluid generated by a galvanic battery, and if the communication be rendered complete, instantaneously travels the whole extent of the wire and charges at this distance station and electromagnetic. This attracts one end of a lever and draws it downward while the other extremity is thrown up and by means of a style marks a slip of paper which is steadily wound off from a roller by the aid of clockwork. If the communication is immediately broken, only one wave of electricity passes over and a dot is made upon the paper. If kept up, a line is marked. These dots and lines are made to represent the letters of the alphabet so that an operator employed for the purpose can easily read the message which is transmitted. The electromagnetic telegraph was first introduced upon a line between Baltimore and Washington by Professor Morse in 1844. At the present time, it is a successful operation between nearly all the important cities in towns of the United States and of Europe. An electromagnet is a piece of soft iron rendered temporarily magnetic by being placed with a coil of wire through which a current of electricity is passing. End of Chapter 12, Recording by Ashwin