Acetic Acid
Acetic Acid. The Sour Principle Of Vinegar. This Acid Occurs In The Vege Table Kingdom In The Elder And Some Varieties Of Aim. It Exists In The Gas Tric Juice And Other Animal Secretions. When Vegetable Matter Is Distilled In Close Vessels, This Acid Is Always One Of The Products. ...
Adhesion
Adhesion. That Property Possessed By Bodies Of Dissimilar Natures Of Resist Ing A Force Applied To Separate Them ; And It Differs From Cohesion And Affinity. Adhesion Cannot Occur Between Two Solid Bodies, For Then The Force Which Binds Them Together Is Either Some Modifica Tion Of The Attractive Force, ...
Agate
Agate. A Name Given To Many Com Binations Of Chalcedony, Carnelian, Quartz, Amethyst And Flint. It Is One Of The Varied Forms Of Silicions Minerals, And Contains 98 Per Cent. Of Silica ; It Is Opaque, And Has A Resinous Fracture With Deep Tints, Produced By Traces Of Iron. When ...
Alcohol
Alcohol. The Liquor Procured By Distillation Of Vegetable Infusions Of A Saccharine Nature, And Juices Which Have Passed Through The Vinous Fermentation. Ordinary Alcohol Is Not Pure, Containing Usually Half Its Weight Of Water, From Which It May Be Freed By Redistillation At A Gentle Steam Or Water-bath Heat, Until ...
Alkali
Alkali. A Name First Applied By The Arabians To The Carbonates Of Soda And Potash Derived From The Ashes Of Plants, But Now Extended To Those Substances Which Dissolve In Water,generally Form Seeps With Oils,'and Form Ing Crystalline Salts. The Chief Alkalies Of Importance In The Arts Are Potash, Soda, ...
Alloy
Alloy. A Compound Formed Of Two Or More Metals Fused Together. Thus Bronze Is An Alloy Of Copper And Tin ; Brass An Alloy Of Copper And Zinc : They All Have Lustre, Are Sonorous, Elastic, Duc Tile, And Malleable, Like Simple Metals. Metals Do Not Alloy Indifferently With Each ...
Alum
Alum. One Of The Most Useful Salts Manufactured ; It Is Extensively Employed In Dyeing And Calico-printing, To Which It Supplies The Mordant. In Candle-mak Ing, It Is Used To Harden And Whiten Tal Low; In Bread-making, It Is Often Used For A Similar Effect ; It Is Added To ...
Amalgam
Amalgam. The Union Of Mercury Or Quicksilver With Other Metals. Many Of These Crystallize Definitely, And May Be Separated From The Excess Of Mercury With Which They Are Surrounded. They Are Mostly Brittle And Soft. Tin And Mercury Unite By Mere Rubbing ; It Has A High Reflecting Surface, And ...
Ammonia
Ammonia. Volatile Alkali, First Ob Tained By Priestly In A Gaseous Form, From Sal-ammoniac, Whence Its Name. It Is A Volatile Gas, Composed Of One Equivalent Of Nitrogen And Three Equivalents Of Hy Drogen. It Is Found In The Vegetable And Animal Kingdom. Urine Decomposing Always Contains It : Hence ...
Anchor
Anchor. A Heavy Iron Hook Of Great Strength, Used To Hold On A Ship To The Ground, And Fasten Itself In A Certain Situ Ation By Means Of A Rope. Too Much Importance Cannot Be Attached To The Me Chanism And Construction Of Anchors, For Upon These Depends The Safety ...
Anemometer
Anemometer. A Measurer Of The Ve Locity Or Force Of Wind. To Ascertain This Force Is Sometimes Of Considerable Mo Ment To Mechanical Science. Cronne, In The 17th Century, And Woinns And Others In Later Times, Have Invented Instruments For This Purpose With Butpartial Success; In Them The Velocity Of ...
Antimonic Acid
Antimonic Acid. The Peroxide Of Antimony. (see Antimony.) A Brittle Metal Of A Silver White Color ; Specific Gravity, 6'7. Fuses At 810°, Or Just At A Red Heat. The Principal Properties Of This Metal Were First Described In The " Currus Trium Phalis Antimonii" Of Basil Valentine, Published Towards ...
Apatite Phosphorite
Phosphorite, Apatite. _nave Phosphate Of Lime, Natural Bone-earth,. Under These Various Terms, Nearly Syno Nymous, Are Comprehended A Variety Of Mineral Which Is Rather Sparingly Diffus Ed, And Has Lately Become Of Considerable Value In An Agricultural Point Of View, As A Substitute For Bone-dust And Guano, And In A ...
Aquatint
Aquatint. (let. Aqua, Water, Tints, Dyed.) Iu Engraving, A Species Of Exe Cution Resembling An Indian Ink Drawing In Ct. (lat. Aqua, Water, And Ductus, A Conduit.) A Conduit Or Chan Nel For Conveying Water From One Place To Another ; More Particularly Applied To Structures Erected Tor The Purpose ...
Arbor
Arbor. The Spindle Or Axis Which Communicates Motion To The Other Parts Of A Machine. Arch. (lat. Arena, A Bow.) In Build Ing, Is Structure Of Stones Or Bricks, Or Distinct Blocks Of Any Hard Material, Dis Posed In A Bow-like Form, And Support Ing One Another By Their Mutual ...
Arsenic
Arsenic A Very Soft, Brittle, And Eminently Poisonous Metal, Of A Steel Gray Color : Its Sp. Gr. 5.7. It Volatilizes, Exhaling A Strong Odor Of Garlic, Before It Fuses, At A Temperature Of 365° F., And Is Easily Inflammable. It Combines With Oxygen In Two Proportions ; And As ...
Art Of Lapidary
Lapidary, Art Of. The Art Of The Lapidary, Or That Of Cutting, Polishing, And Engraving Gains, Was Known To The Ancients, Many Of Whom Have Left Admir Able Specimens Of Their Skill. The Greeks Were Passionate Lovers Of Rings And En Graved Stones ; And The Most Parsimo Nious Among ...
Artificial Fuel
Fuel, Artificial. Coal, In Its Natural State, Consists Principally Of Bitumen, Carbon, And Some Earthy Matters. All Fuel Contain Substances Possessing Bitu Minous And Carbonaceous Properties. Various Compounds Have Been Brought Forward From Time To Time, Some Of Them Patented, To Produce Artificial Fuel. All Those Compounds Have Been Combina ...
Artificial Incubation
Incubation, Artificial. The Egyptians Have From Time Immemorial Been Accustomed To Hatch Eggs By Artifi Cial Warmth, Without The Aid Of Hens, In Stoves, Called Mammals. The Inhabitants Of The Village Berme Still Travel Through The Most Distant Pro Vinces Of Egypt At Certain Seasons Or The Year, With A ...
Artificial Pearls
Pearls, Artificial. These Are Small Globules Or Pear-shaped Spheroids Of Thin Glass, Perforated With Two Oppo Site Holes, Through Which They Are Strung, And Mounted Into Necklaces, &c., Like Real Pearl Ornaments. They Must Not Only Be White And Brilliant, But Exhibit The Ir Ridescent Reflections Of Mother Of Pearl. ...
Artificial Yeast
Yeast, Artificial. Mix Two Parts, By Weight, Of The Fine Flour Of Pale Barley Malt With One Part Of Wheat Flour. Stir 50 Pounds Of This Mixture Gradually Into 100 Quarts Of Cold Water, With A Wooden Spatula, Till It Forms A Smooth Pap. Put This Pap Into A Copper ...
Assaying Assay
Assay, Assaying. A Branch Of Chemical Analysis. It Is A Process By Which The Quality Of Gold Or Silver Bul Lion, Trinkets, Plate And Coin Is Ascertained With Precision, Or By Which The Quantity Of Either Of These Precious Metals May Be Determined In An Alloy. It Is Now Ex ...
Automaton
Automaton. Applied To Pieces Of Mechanism So Constructed As To Imitate The Actions Of Living Animals. The Term Android Is Sometimes Applied To Such Machines As Resemble The Figures And Imitate The Actions Of Mankind. The Extent To Which These Useless But Ingenious Contrivances Has Been Some Times Carried Is ...
Balance
Balance. A Machine For Weighing Substances. The Process Of Weighing May Be Performed In Various Ways, And Accordingly There Are Several Kinds Of Balances ; As The Common Balance Or Scales, The Bent Lever Balance, The Spring Balance, The Steel-yard, The Hydrostatic' Balance, &c. The Term Is Also Applied To ...
Balloon
Balloon. (fr. Ballon, A Little Ball.) The Name Of A Machine, Which, Consist Ing Of An Envelope Containing A Gas Speci Fically Lighter Than Common Air, Rises Into The Atmosphere With A Greater Or Less De Gree Of Aseensional Force. A Car, Sup Ported By A Net-work Which Extends Over ...
Barometer
Barometer. A Well-known Instru Ment For Measuring The Weight Or Pres Sure Of The Atmosphere. The Invention Of The Barometer Was In Some Degree Owing To An Accident. Some Workmen Employed By The Duke Of Florence To Prepare A Sucking-pump For A Deep Well, Mond To Their Surprise That Notwith ...
Beam
Beam. A Horizontal Piece Of Timber Used For Resisting The Strain Of A Weight ; As A Tie-beam, Which Acts Like A String Or Chain By Its Tension ; A Straining-piece Where It Acts By Compression ; Or A Bres Summer Where It Bears A Resisting Weight. Beer. Wine Made ...
Biscuit
Biscuit. In Sculpture, A Species Of Porcelain, Of Which Groups And Figures In Miniature Are Formed, Which Are Twice Passed Through The Furnace Or Oven. It Is Executed Without Glaze Upon It. In Pottery, This Term Is Applied To Earthen Ware And Porcelain, After It Has Been Hardened In The ...
Black Lead Pencils
Pencils, Black Lead, Manufacture Of. The Best Pencils Of This Kind Are Made From A Natural Ore, Plumbago, But There Are Other Kinds Made Of Plumbago Dust And Antimony. The Lumps Of Pure Plumbago, When Scraped From Dirt, Are Generally Of An Irregular Form, Not Of A Large Size. These ...
Blacking
Blacking. An Article Prepared In Various Ways For Polishing Shoes And Boots. Each Manufacturer Has His Own Recipe, In Which Ivory Black Or Some Other Black Color, Oil, And Vinegar, With Molasses, Are The Principal Ingredients. The Following Is The Mode Of Making The Waterproof Or India-rubber Blacking : 18 ...
Blast Furnace
Blast Furnace. (see Iron.) Bleaciiing. The Art Of Depriving Stuffs And Goods Of The Coloring Matters Contained Within Their Texture, Whether Natural Or Artificial. When Calico, Muslin, Or Other Cotton Fabrics Have Been Spun And Woven, They Generally Pass Into One Or Other Of These Establishments Before Being Brought To ...
Blood
Blood. The Fluid Which Circulates In The Heart And Blood-vessels. When Viewed Under The Microscope It Appears To Consist Of Very Minute Red Globules, Or Spheroids, Floating In A Colourless Fluid. The Average Quantity In An Adult Man Is Estimated At About 28 Lbs. ; It Is Of Two Distinct ...
Bone
Bone. An Important Organ In The Higher Orders Of Animals, Forming The Solid Support Of Their Fabric, And Pro Tecting The Vital Organs, Such As The Brain And The Heart And Lungs, From External Pressure And Injury. In The Human Skele Ton There Are Commonly Enumerated 200 Distinct Bones. They, ...
Bookbinding
Bookbinding. There Are Several And Distinct Branches Of This Business,— Plain And Ornamental Binding,—law Bind Mg,—blank Book And Ledger Binding ; The Latter Is A Department In Itself, And Usually Conducted By Stationers. The Various Sizes Of A Book Are Desig Nated By The Number Of Leaves In Which The ...
Borax
Borax. This Salt Is Found Native In Some Of The Lakes Of Thibet And Persia, And Is Imported From India Under The Name Of Lineal, Which, After Purification, Forms The Refined Borax Of Commerce. Of Late Years Borax Has Been Obtained By Combining Native Boracic Acid With Soda. Borax Forms ...
Brass
Brass. An Alloy Of Copper And Zinc : To Make Brass, The English Method Is By Melting Together Copper In Round Masses, Or In Bars, With Calamine, Which Is A Na Tive Oxyde Or Ore Of Zinc, And A Native Carburet Of Zinc Combined With Oxyde Of Iron, Which Make ...
Bread
Bread. (ger. Brod.) This Impor Tant Article Of Food Is Made Of The Flour Of Different Grains ; But It Is Only Those Which Contain Gluten That Admit Of Con Version Into A Light Or Porous And Spongy Bread, Of Which Wheaten Bread Furnishes The Best Example. When Flour Is ...
Brick
Brick. (dutch, Bricke.) In Archi Tecture, A Mass Of Clay Earth, Sometimes Mixed With Coal Ashes, Chalk, And Other Substances, Formed In A Mould, And Burned In A Kiln Or Clamp. The Earth Used For This Purpose Is Of Two Sorts. The One A Stiff Clay, With Little Or No ...
Bridge
Bridge. (sax. Brigge.) In Archi Tecture, A Structure For The Purpose Of Connecting The Opposite Banks Of A River, Gorge, Valley, &c. &c., By Means Of Cer Tain Materials, Forming A Roadway From One Side To The Other. It May Be Of Stone, . Brick, Iron, Timber, Suspended Chains Or ...
Bronze
Bronze. A Material Used For Casting Statues, Groups, &c., In A Mould Similar In Principle To That Wherefrom All Plaster Casts Are Produced. From The Extraordi Nary Dimensions Which Involve The Chief Differences Between The Operations Of Cast Ing In Brass And Plaster, Much Intelligence And Care On The Part ...
Butter
Butter. The Oil Or Fat Of Milk. The Light Matters Suspended In Milk Separate In The Form Of Cream, And This Cream By Churning Becomes Separated Into Butter And Buttermilk. During This Process The Temperature Of The Cream Is Slightly Raised, A Little Oxygen Absorbed, And The Acid Produced : ...
Buttons
Buttons. .the Materials Of Which Buttons Are Made Arc Very Various, And This Variety Gives Rise To A Subdivision Somewhat Akin To That Which Marks Many Other Departinents Of Manufac Tures. Besides The Well Known Gilt But Tons, Plain And Figured, There Are Plated, Silk, Florentine, And Other Covered But ...
Cable
Cable. The Rope Or Chain By Which The Anchor Of A Ship Is Held. Cables, Un Til Within A Recent Period, Were Usually Made Of Hemp, But Of Late Years Iron Chains Have Come Much Into Use. A Hempen Cable Of 12 Inches Girth, And Length 120 Fathoms, Weighs 3075 ...
Calendering
Calendering. The Subjection Of Cloth And Other Articles To A Machine, Which, When So Prepared, Are Calendered, Literally Meaning Hot-pressed; By Passing Between Rollers It Acquires A Level Or Uniform Surface. After Goods Are Bleached And Washed, They Are Twisted And Tangled, So That They Would Not Pass Smoothly Between ...
Calico Printing
Calico Printing. The Art Of Pro Ducing Figured Patterns Upon Cotton By Colored Substances. Silk And Woollen Fa Brics Have Been Made Of Late Years, Sub Ject To A Similar Style Of Dyeing. The Fab Ric Takes Its Name From Callen; A District Where It Has Been Practised For Many ...
Calotype
Calotype Is The Name Given By Mr. Fox Talbot To His Improved Photo Graphic Method. The Method Of Obtain Ing Calotype Pictures Is As Follows :—take A Sheet Of The Best Writing Paper. Dis Solve 100 Grains Of Crystallized Nitrate Of Silver In 6 Ounces Of Distilled Water. Wash The ...
Canal
Canal. An Artificial Channel Filled With Water, Formed For The Purpose Of Draining, Irrigation, Supplying Towns With Water, Or Of Inland Navigation. The Cay Uga Canal, Which Drains The Marshes At The Bead Of The Lake, And Empties Into The Ontario Lake, Is An Illustration Of The First. Those Of ...
Candle
Candle. Candles Can Be Made From Any Fatty Substance Which, At Ordinary Temperatures, Is In A Solid State ; Wax, Spermaceti, And Tallow Being The Usual Substances Employed. That Very Essen Tial Part Of A Candle, The Wick, Performs An Office Which Involves A Scrap Of Philo Sophy Not Always ...
Cannon
Cannon. A Military Engine For Pro Jecting Balls, Shells, &e., By The Force Of Gunpowder. The Principal Parts Of A Cannon Arc : 1. The Breech, Which Is The Solid Metal From The Bottom Of The Bore, Or Concave Cy Linder, To The Extremity Of The Cascabel, A. 2. The ...
Caoutchouc
Caoutchouc. This Curious Sub Stance Is The Inspissated Juice Or Sap Of Several Plants ; The Principal Supplies Are From South America And Java, And Are Derived From The Siphouia Elastica (berea Caoutchoue), And Probably From Other Eu Phorbiaceous Plants. It Is Often Termed Gum Elastic And India-rubber. Its Gen ...
Carbonic Oxide
Carbonic Oxide. A Gas Corn Pcsed Of Made,—wire, Covered With Tin, Is Then Wound Tight And Spirally All Over The Con Vex Surface Of The Cylinder. Metal Pro Per For Soldering Is Then Poured Over The Surface Thus Formed, Which Renders The Whole Firm And Compact, The Surface Is Then ...
Carburet Of Sulphur
Carburet Of Sulphur. A Lim Pid Volatile Liquid Of Fetid Smell And Acrid Taste. It Boils At 112° F., And Eva Porates So Rapidly As To Congeal Mercury In A Vacuum. It Is Composed Of Two Atoms Of Sulphur And One Of Carbon. It Is Used As A Solvent For ...
Carmine
Carmine. A Brilliant Lake, Made Of The Coloring Matter Of The Cochineal In Sect, Combined With Alumina And Oxide Of Tin. It Is Of Different Shades,—either De Pendent On The Amount Of Alumina Pre Sent, Or Of The Adulterations To Which It Is Liable. Vermillion Is A Common One Of ...
Carpet
Carpet. An Ornamental Covering For ' The Floor. The Manufacture Of Carpets Is Carried On To Great Perfection In This Country. The Principal Varieties Are The Brussels, Axminster, Wilton, Kidder Minster, And Venetian. They Are Gener Ally Composed Of Linen And Worsted. In Some The Pile Is Cut So As ...
Cashmere Shawls
Shawls, Cashmere. The Secret Of The Quality Of These Shawls Is Not In The Working; It Is In The Beautiful Wool From The Goats Of The Upper Thibet, The Equal Of Which In Softness Has Never Yet Been Found. The Goats Live In High Table-lands Of Tartary, Where The Cold ...
Cements
Cements. Substances Capable Of Taking The Liquid Form, And Of Being In That State Applied Between The Surfaces Of Two Bodies, So As To Unite Them By Solidifying. They May Be Divided Into Two Classes, Those Which Are Applied Through The Agency Of A Liquid Men Struum, Such As Water, ...
Chameleon Mineral
Chameleon Mineral. A Com Pound Of Manganesic Acid And Potash, Which Presents A Variety Of Tints When Dissolved In Water. As It Has Of Late Been Largely Employed For Whitening Tal Palm Oil, And Decoloring Other Or Game Matters, It Merits Description. It Exists In Two States ; One Of ...
Charcoal
Charcoal. A Form Of Carbon, Ob Tained By Burning Wood With The Imper Fect Access Of Air, Or By Heating Or Dis Tilling It In Iron Cylinders So Constructed As To Allow Of The Collection Of The Vola Tile Products ; Among Which Are Tar, And Pyrolioneous Acid, Which Is ...
Charred Wood
Charred Wood. Wood, The Outer Surface Of Which Has Been Carbonized By Burning, In Order To Preserve It From De Cay When It Is Buried In The Soil. Charring Of Posts. The Prac Tice Of Carbonizing By Burning That Por Tion Of The Surface Of Wooden Posts Which Is To ...
Chimney
Chimney. (fr. Cheminee.) The Place In A Room Where The Fire Is Burnt, And From Which The Smoke Is Carried Away By Means Of A Conduit Called A Flue. Chimneys Are Usually Made By Projection From A Wall, And Recess In The Same From The Floor, Ascending Within The Limits ...
Chloral
Chloral. A Liquid, Obtained By The Action Of Chlorine As Upon Alcohol. Chlorate Of Potash. A Salt Composed Of Chloric Acid And Potass. It Is Formed By Passing Chlorine Gas Through A Solution Of Caustic Potass Till No More Gas Is Absorbed, Evaporating The Liquor And Crystallizing. By The Action ...
Chloride Of
Chloride Of Lime—bleach Ing Powder. Its Composition Is Not Yet Fully Determined. The Chief Agent In Bleaching Appears To Be The Hypochlor Ite Of Lime, One Of The Constituents. It Constitutes A Large Branch Of Chemical Manufacture, Which Is Carried On In Con Nection With That Of Carbonate Of Soda. ...
Chlorine
Chlorine. This Gas Was Discovered In 1774 By Scheele, Who Called It Dephlo Gisticated Muriatic Acid ; The French No Menclaturists Afterwards Termed It Oxygen Wied Muriatic Acid, Conceiving It To Be A Compound Of Oxygen And Muriatie Acid. This Erroneous View Of Its Nature Was Corrected In 1809 By ...
Chloroform
Chloroform. A Most Valuable Agent To The Physician In Producing Tem Porary Insensibility To Pain : And A Still More Useful Aid In The Arts, Where It Has Taken Its Place As A Solvent For Many Resins, &c. It Is Obtained By Distilling Alcohol, Woodspirit, Or Acetone With A So ...
Chocolate
Chocolate Is An Alimentary Prepa Ration Of Very Ancient Use In Mexico, From Which Country It Was Introduced Into Europe By The Spaniards In The Year 1520, And By Them Long Kept A Secret From The Rest Of The World. Linnaeus Was So Fond Of It, That He Gave The ...
Chromium
Chromium, (chrome.) A Metal Dis Covered By Vauquelin In 1797. It Exists Chiefly In Two Native Compounds • The One Formerly Called Red Lead Of Siberia, Which Is A Chromate Of Lead ; The Other, A Compound Of The Oxides Of Chromium And Iron. Chromium Is A Whitish, Brit Tle, ...
Chronograph
Chronograph, Locxx's Electro C. This Apparatus, For Which An Appropria Tion Was Made By Congress, Has Been Put In Operation At The National Observa Tory Washington. The Clock Case Is Of Fine Italian Marble, Ornamented With Glass Panels, Set In Silver Sashes. The Dial And Hands Are Like Those Of ...
Chronometer
Chronometer. A Watch Of Pecu Liar Construction, And Great Perfection Of Workmanship, Used For Determining Geo Graphical Longitudes, Or Other Purposes Where Time Must Be Measured With Ex Treme Accuracy. The Chronometer Differs From The Ordinary Watch In The Principle Of Its Escapement, Which Is So Construct Ed That The ...
Churn
Churn. An Instrument Used To Sepa Rate The Butter Out Of Milk. So Long As The Milk Is Alkaline The Butter Will Not Separate, But When It Becomes Faintly Acid The Butter Commences To Gather On The Top. Agitating The Milk By In Troducing Air Hastens This By Forming Lac ...
Cider
Cider. A Fermented Liquor Made From The Juice Of Apples. Cider Is Made In All The Temperate Climates Of The World Which Are Not Sufficiently Warm For Ma Turing The Grape, And Where The Cold Is Not So Great As To Reduce The Inhabitants To Only The Beer Produe,d By ...
Coal
Coal. This Highly Important Sub Stance Is Found In Beds Or Strata In That Group Of The Secondary Rocks Which In Cludes The Red Sandstone And Mountain Limestone Formations And Which Is Com Monly Called The Carboniferous Group, Or Coal Measures. From The Peculiarities Of Their Depositions They Are Often ...
Coffee
Coffee. The Seed Of An Evergreen Shrub, Coffers Arabica, Of The Family Itubi (teem. It Rises Twenty Feet High. The Berry Is Imported From Arabia, The East And West Indies. In Java Large Quanti-• Ties Are Grown And Exported. It Grows Upon Large Bushes, And The Grains Of Coffee Are ...