Lichens
Lichens; A Family Of Plants, Belong Ing To The Class Cryptogamict, Containing About 1400 Known Species, Are Under Sev Eral Genera. Their Substance Is Powdery, Crustaceous, Membranous, Coriaceous, Or Even Corneoua. They Are Common Every Where, Adhering To Rocks, The Trunks Of Trees, And Barren Soil. On Ascending Mountains, They ...
Life Boat
Life-boat. A Boat Originally Made At Shields, In 1789, By Mr. Greathead, For Saving The Crews Of Shipwrecked Vessels. The Following Are The General Principles : The Boat Is Wide And Shallow ; The Head And Stern Are Alike, For Pulling In Either Direction, And Raised, To Meet The Waves ...
Life Buoys
Life-buoys Consist Of Two Hollow Copper Cylinders, Each As Large As A Pillow, And Sufficient To Support One Man Stand Ing On Them : They Are Connected To Each Other. Should More Than One Person Re Quire Support, They Can Lay Hold Of Rope Beckets Fitted To The Buoy, And ...
Light
Light. The Philosophical Consider Ation Of This Imponderable Element, As It Used To Be Termed, But More Properly Now An Affection Of The Ether Pervading All Space, Does Not Belong To A Treatise On The Useful Arts. The Practical Applica Tions And Various Kinds Of Artificial Lights Are Those Points ...
Lime
Lime. The Oxide Of Calcium, One Of The Metals Of The Earths. This Very Use Ful Earth Is Obtained By Exposing Chalk And Other Kinds Of Limestone, Or Carbon Ates Of Lime, To A Red Heat—an Operation Generally Conducted In Kilns Constructed For The Purpose ; The Carbonic Acid Is ...
Linen
Linen. A Species Of Cloth Woven With The Fibres Of The Flax Plant (linum Writatissinsum). The Origin Of The Manu Facture Of Linen Is Lost In Its Antiquity. In The Time Of Herodotus Linen Was An Article Of Export From Egypt, Where It Had Been Used From Time Immemorial ; ...
Liquoriste Liqueurs
Liqueurs, Liquoriste; Names Given By The French To Liquors Coin Pounded Of Alcohol, Water, Sugar, And Different Aromatic Substances ; And To The Person Who Compounds Them. There Are Given Here, On Dr. Ure's Authority, A Few Of Their Most Approved Recipes. Infusion Of The Peels Of Fruits.—the Outer Skin, ...
Lithography
Lithography, Is The Art Of Throw: Ing Off Impressions, Upon Paper, Of Fig Ures And Writing Previously Traced Upon Stone. It Has Been Partly Treated Of Un Der The Bead " Engraving." The Pro Cesses Of This Art Are Founded : 1. Upon The Adhesion To A Smoothly-po Lished Limestone ...
Lock
Lock. An Instrument Composed Of Springs And Bolts, Used To Fasten Doors, Drawers, Chests, &e. It Is An Improve Ment On The Primitive Latch Or Bolt, With A Crooked Stick Or Instrument, To Turn It Through A Hole On The Outside. Obsta Cles Are Opposed Inside, And Then The Ac ...
Locomotive Engine
Locomotive Engine. Any En Gine Which, Being Employed To Draw Loads In Transport Overland, Travels With The Load Which It Draws. Since The Improvement And Extension Of Iron Railways, This Term Has Been Ex Clusively Applied To The Steam Engine, By Which Loads Are Drawn Upon Them. Al Though, Strictly ...
Log
Log. A Machine Used To Measure The Rate Of A Ship's Velooity Through The Water. It Is A Piece Of Thin Board, Forming The Quadrant Of A Circle Of About Six Inches Radius, And Balanced By A Small Plate Of Lead, Nailed On The Circular Part, So As To Swim ...
Looms
Looms, Are Machines For Crossing And Weaving Threads. The Two Materiels Are The Warp And The Weft, Crossed And Matted By A Shuttle Carrying The Weft. There Are Various Forms For Different Fabrics And Ma Terials, And Next To The Plough The Loom Is The Most Useful Of Machines. Until ...
Lucifer Matches
Matches, Lucifer. The Manufac Ture Of These Useful Little Articles Consti Tutes A Most Extensive Business. In Some Large Factories The Wood Alone For The Annu Al Consumption Approaches In Value $5,000. Lucifer Matches Are Sulphur Matches, To Which A Separate Inflammable Com Pound Is Afterwards Added. The Primary Coating ...
Machine
Machine, In A General Sense, Signi Fies Any Thing Which Serves To Increase Or Regulate The Effect Of A Given Force. Ma Chines Are Either Simple Or Compound. The Simple Machines, Otherwise Called The Simple Mechanical Powers, Are Usually Teckoned Six In Number ; Namely, The Lever, The Wheel And ...
Machinery
Machinery. The Utility Of Machin Ery Consists In The Addition Which It Makes To Human Power. The Forces De Rived From Wind, Water, And Steam, Are So Many Additions To Human Power, And The Total Inanimate Force Thus Obtained In Great Britain Has Been Calculated By Dupin To Be Equal ...
Madder
Madder (rubia), A Genus Of Plants Including An Extensive Family, Of Which The (tedium. Or Bedstraw Is One Which Closely Resembles It In Many Properties. Fifteen Species Of It Are Known, But Only One Is Indigenous In The United States— The R. Brownii Which Grows In Florida, J Georgia, And ...
Magnesia
Magnesia. A White, Tasteless, Earthy Substance, Usually Obtained By Ex Posing Its Hydrated Carbonate To A Red Heat. Its Specific Gravity Is 2.3. It Is Almost Insoluble ; But When Moistened And Put Upon Turmeric Paper It Reddens It : This Sometimes Depends Upon A Trace Of Lime. It Is ...
Man Ufacture Of Leather
Leather (varnished French, Man Ufacture Of). This Process Consists Of Two Operations :—first, The Preparation Of The Skin, Described Under The Head Fanning; And, Second, The Varnishing Of The Leather Thus Dressed. In The Prepa Ration Of The Leather, Linseed Oil, Made To Dry Quick By Means Of Metallic Oxides ...
Manganese
Manganese. This Name Is Gene Rally Given To A Black Mineral, Originally Described In The Year 1774, By Scheele, As A Peculiar Earth, And Which Was After Wards Shown By Galin To Be The Oxide Of A Metallic Substance Which He Called Magnesium. This Term, However, Having Been Applied To ...
Mangosteen
Mangosteen. A Far-famed Fruit, • Is The Product Of A Middling-sized And Beautiful Tree, The Garcinia Mangostana, And Was Originally Brought From The Mo Lueca Islands, But Is Now Cultivated In Many Parts Of The East Indies. It Is, On All Hands, Admitted To Be The Most De Licious, As ...
Manufacture Of Articles In
Horn, Manufacture Of Articles In. Horn, Particularly Of Oxen, Cows, Goats, And Sheep, Is A Substance Soft, Semi-trans Parent, And Susceptible Of Being Cut And Pressed Into A Variety Of Forms ; It Is This Property That Distinguishes It From Bone. These Valuable Propertiesbeing Known Render Horn Susceptible Of Being ...
Manufacture Of Sugar
Sugar, Manufacture Of. The Great Commercial Demand For Sugar Is Almost Exclusively Supplied From The• Sngar Cane (arundo Vaccharvera), Which Contains It In Greater Quantity And Purity Than Any Other Plant, And Consequently Affords The Greatest Facilities For Its Ex Traction. A Large Quantity Of Sugar Is Contained In The ...
Manufactures From Cocoa
Cocoa, Manufactures From. The Cocoa Manufactures Are Remarkable For Simplicity Of The Process Resorted To, And For The Usefulness Of The Articles Pro Duced, In Many Instances, From Materials Formerly Thrown Away As Useless. The Cocoa Nut As It Comes From The Tree Con Sists, First, Of The Outer Husk, ...
Manures
Manures. Substances Added To The I Soil, With A View Of Accelerating Vegeta Tion, And Increasing The Production Of The Crops. Animal, Vegetable, And Mineral Substances Are Used For This Purpose. Decomposing Animal Matter Of Any Kind Forms One Of The Most Powerful Manures, And In Many Instances Accelerates The ...
Manuscripts
- Manuscripts. (lat. Maim Scrip Turn, Written By The Hand.) Literally, Writings Of Any Kind, Whether On Paper I Or Any Other Material, In Contradistinction To Such As Are Printed. Books Were Ge Nerally Written Upon Vellum, After The Papyrus Used In Classical Times Had Be Come Obsolete, Until The ...
Marble
Marble. This Title Embraces Such Of The Primitive, Transition, And Purer Compact Limestones Of Secondary Forma Tion, As May Be Quarried In Solid Blocks Without Fissures, And Are Susceptible Of A Fine Polished Surface. The Finer The White, Or More Beautifully Variegated The Colors Of The Stone, The More Valuable, ...
Marl
Marl, Is Compact Limestone And Argillaceous Matter, And Essentially Com Posed Of Carbonate Of Lime And Clay, In Various Proportions. Marl Frequently Contains Sand And Other Foreign Ingredi Ents. It Occurs In Masses, Either Com Pact, Or Possessing A Slaty Structure. All Solid Marl Crumbles By Exposure To The Atmosphere, ...
Massicot
Massicot. Yellow Oxide Of Lead. Mast. A Long Piece Or System Of Pieces Of Timber, Placed Nearly Perpen Dicular To The Keel Of A Vessel To Support The Yards Or Gaffs On Which The Sails Are Extended. When The Mast Is One Entire Piece, It Is Called A Pole-mast ; ...
Mercury
Mercury. This Metal Is Found Chiefly In The State Of Sulphvret, Which Is Decomposed By Distillation With Iron Or Lime. It Is Also Found Native. Mercury Is The Only Metal Which Is Lipid At Com Mon Temperature ; It Is White And Very Brilliant. It Freezes And Assumes A Crys ...
Metallurgy
Metallurgy. The Act Of Separat Ing Metals From Their Ores With An Ore Perfectly Pure The Obtaining A Pure Metal I Is A Metallurgic Process. It Is Not Con Fined However To This, For Ores Are Rarely Pure, But Contain Earthy Ingredients, Foreign To, And Injurious In, The After Treatment. ...
Metals
Metals Are A Very Numerous Class Of Simple Bodies, And Are Distinguished By Their Very Peculiar Lustre Arising Out Of Their Opacity And Reflective Power In Regard To Light. They Conduct Electricity And Heat ; And They Have Not Been Re Solved Into Other Forms Of Matter, So That They ...
Meter
Meter. An Instrument For Measur Ing Gas. When Gas Commenced To Be Used Extensively, It Was Found Necessary To Have Some Check Upon The Gas-works Us Well As The Public, As A Means Of Calcu Lating Between The Works And Large Con Sumers, And Indicating Accurately The Amount Consumed. This ...
Mica
Mica Is A Finely Foliated Mineral, Of A Pearly Metallic Lustre. It Is Harder Than Gypsum, But Not So Hard As Cale-spar ; Flexible And Elastic ; Spec. Gray. 2.65. It Is An Ingredient Of Granite And Gneiss ; In This Country Commonly Called Isinglass ; In Europe It Is ...
Micrometer
Micrometer. An Instrument Ap Plied To Telescopes And Microscopes For Measuring Very Small Distances, Or The Diameters Of Objects Which Subtend Very Small Angles. A Great Number Of Con Trivances Of Various Kinds, And Depend Ing On Different Principles, Have Been Employed For This Purpose ; But It Will Be ...
Milk
Milk Owes Its Whiteness And Opacity To An Emulsion Composed Of The Caseons Matter And Butter, With Sugar Of Milk, Extractive Matters, Salts, And Free Lactic Acid ; The Latter Of Which Causes Fresh Milk To Redden Litmus Paper. Milk, In General, Contains From 10 To 12 Per Cent. Of ...
Mills
Mills Are, In The Original Sense, Estab Lishments For Grinding Grain, Ctrc., But The Word Is Often Synonymous With Factory Or Manufactory, And Applied To Any Thing Wrought By Machinery. Flour Nulls Have, For Ages, Been Wrought By Water And Wind, But Latterly Steam Has Been Applied. The Principle Is ...
Mine
Mine. The Name Given Generally To Every System Of Subterraneous Work Or Excavation Which Has For Its Object The Discovery And Extraction Of The Metallic Ores Or Other Mineral Produce. But In Addition To The Underground Works Which Constitute The Mine Properly So Called, The Term Usually Comprehends Also The ...
Mineral Waters
Mineral Waters, Are Those Waters Which Contain Such A_proportion Of For Eign Matter As To Render Them Unfit For Common Use, And Give Them A Sensible Flavor And A Specific Action Upon The' Ani Anal Economy. They Are Commonly Divi Ded Into Four Classes : Acidulous Or Car Saline, Chalybeate ...
Minerals
Minerals Comprehend All The Solid Matters Of The Earth, Not Vegetable Or Animal ; For, Though These Last Are In Substance Mineral, Yet Their Organization And Phenomena Separate Them From The Simple Mineral. In Like Manner, Though The Gases And Acids May Be Generated From Minerals, And, Again Perhaps Concentra ...
Minium
Minium. This Pigment Is A Peculiar Oxyde Of Lead, Consisting Of Two Atoms Of The Protoxyde And One Of The Peroxyde ; But, As Found In Commerce, It Always Con Tains A Little Extra Protoxyde, Oryellow Massicot. It Is Prepared By Calcining Lead Upon A Reverberatory Hearth With A Slow ...
Mordant
Mordant, In Dying And Calico-print Ing, Denotes A Body Which, Having A Two Fold Attraction For Organic Fibres And Coloring Particles, Serves As A Bond Of Anion Between Them, And Thus Gives Fixity To Dyes ; Or It Signifies A Substance Which, By Combining With Coloring Par Ticles In The ...
Mosaic
Mosaic. There Arc Several Kinds Of Mosaic, But All Of Them Consist In Imbed Ding Fragments Of Different Colored Sub Stances, Usually Glass Or Stones, In A Ce Ment, So As To Produce The Effect Of A Pic Ture. The Beautiful Chapel Of Saint Law Rence In Florence, Which Contains ...
Myrtle Wax
Myrtle Wax Is A Concrete Oil, Or Vegetable Wax, The Product Of The Class Of Plants Myrioa, Known By The Name Of Eandleberry Myrtle. It Has Too Long Been Considered Merely As An Object Of Curi Osity. The Plant Abounds In Nearly All Parts Of North America, And Varies In ...
Nankeen
Nankeen Is A Cotton Cloth Of A Beau Tiful Color, Which Derives Its Name From Nankin, In China, From Which Place It Was First Brought To Europe. The Manu Factured Nankeen Is Now Exported Largely To China. Many Suppose That True Nan Keen Is Artificially Colored, But This Is Not ...
Naphtha
Naphtha, The Most Fluid Bitumen, Is Nearly Colorless, But Of A Yellowish Tinge, Transparent, And Emits A Peculiar Odor. It Swims On Water, Its Specific Gravity Being From 011 To 0.84. It Burns With A Bluish-white Flame And Thick Smoke, And Leaves No Residue. It Con Sists Of Carbon, 82'2, ...
Natural Magnet
Magnet, Natural. One Of The Numerous Oxides Of Iron ; Possessed, However, Of Properties Peculiar To Itself, If We Except The Metals Nickel And Co Balt, Which Possess It Also In A Very Slight Degree. The Magnet Consists Chiefly Of Two Oxides, Together With A Small Portion Of Quartz And ...
Needle Manufacture
Needle Manufacture. This Useful Little Article Constitutes A Large Business, Giving Employment To Many Hundred Operatives. The Following Is An Outline Of The Various Processes Carried Out : The Best Steel, Reduced By A Wire-draw Ing Machine To The Suitable Diameter, Is The Material Of Which Needles Are Formed. It ...
Nickel
Nickel Is A Silver-like Metal, Sp. Gr. 8.9. It Is Magnetic, And Is Greedy Of Oxygen, Forming Gray Protoxide And Black Peroxide. Heat Will Not Oxidate It Be Cause It Drives Off Oxygen As Fast As It Fixes ; But The Oxides Are Formed By Solu Tion In Nitric Acid, ...
Nitrate Of Potash
Nitrate Of Potash, Nitre, Salt Petre. This Salt Occurs Native As An Efflorescence Upon Limestones, Sand Stones, Marls, Chalk, And Ealctuff ; It Forms A Saline Crust In Caverns, As Also Upon The Surface Of The Ground In Certain Places, Especially Where Animal Matters Have Been Decomposed. Such Caverns Exist ...
Nitrate Of Silver
Nitrate Of Silver Is Prepared By Saturating Pure Nitric Acid Of Specific Gray. 1.25 Withpure Silver, Evaporating The Solution, And Crystallizing The Nitrate. When The Drained Crystals Are Fused In A Platina Capsule, And Cast Into Slender Cy Linders In Silver Moulds, They Constitute The Lunar Caustic Of The Surgeon. ...
Nitric Acid
Nitric Acid Exists, In Combination With The Bases, Potash, Soda, Lime, Inao , Nesia, In Both The Mineral And Vegetable Kingdoms. This Acid Is Never Found In Sulated. It Was Distilled From Saltpetre So Long Ago As The 13th Century, By Ignit Ing That Salt, Mixed With Copperas Or Clay, ...
Nitrogen
Nitrogen. A Simple Gaseous Body Which Forms A Constituent Part Of Nitric Acid, And Which, Being Unrespirable, Has Also Been Termed Azote. It Was Identified As A Peculiar Gas By Dr. Rutherford In 1774, And Shown To Be One Of The Compo Nents Of Atmospheric Air By Lavoisier In 1774. ...
Note
Note. Bank Note, Manufacture Of. A Block Of Thick Plate Steel Is Softened On The Upper Side ; The Device Is Engraved On This Softened Surface ; The Block Is Hardened By A Careful Process After The Engraving ; The Device Is Transferred From The Hardened Block To The Convex ...
Nutmeg Tree
Nutmeg-tree. A Native Of The Mo Lucca, Or Spice Islands, Principally Con Fined To That Group Denominated The Islands Of Banda, Lying In Lat. 4° 80' South. It Bears Both Blossom And Fruit, At All Seasons Of The Year, And Assists With Other Aromatic Trees And Shrubs, To Form That ...
Nutria
Nutria. The Commercial Name For The Skins Of Gyopotamua Bonariensis, The Coypou Of Molina, And The Quoiya Of D'azara. In France The Skins Were, And Perhaps Still Are, Sold Under The Name Of Racoonda ; But In England They Are Imported As Nutria Skins—deriving Their Appellation, Most Probably, From Some ...
Oats
Oats. The Arena Sativa. Natural Family Graminew. A Gramineous Plant Characterised By A Loose Compound Equal Panicle And Two-flowered Spikelet. The Oat Is Very Extensively Cultivated In Most Of The Northern Countries Of Europe As A Bread Corn. It Has Long Occupied The Same Place In Scotland That Rye Occupies ...
Object Glass
Object-glass (of A Refracting Tele Scope Or Microscope). The Lens Which First Receives The Rays Of Light Coming Di Rectly From The Object, And Collects Them Into A Focus, Where They Form An Image Which Is Viewed Through The Eye-glass. The Excellence Of An Object-glass De Pends On The Distinctness ...
Odometer
Odometer (see Parwxsulator). Oil. The Term Oil Is Applied To Two Dissimilar And Distinct Organic Products, Which Are Usually Called Aced Oils, And Volatile Oils. The Fixed Or Fat Oils Are Either Of Vegetable Or Animal Origin ; They Are Compounds Of Carbon, Hydrogen, And Oxygen; The Relative Proportions Vary ...
Oil Gas
Oil Gas. The Inflammable Gases And Vapors (chiefly Hydrocarbons) Which Are Obtained By Passing Fixed Oils Through Red-hot Tubes, And Which May Be Used As Coal Gas, For The Purposes Of Illumination; It Yields A More Brilliant Light Than The Latter ; But Is, In Most Instances, Too Ex Pensive ...
Oil Of Turpentine
Turpentine, Oil Of, Sometimes Called Essence Of Turpentine. As Found In Commerce, It Contains More Or Less Ro Sin, From Which It May Be Freed By Re Distillation Along With Water. It Is Color Less, Limpid, Very Fluid, And Possessed Of A Very Peculiar Smell. Its Specific Gravity When Pure, ...
Olive
Olive. (lat. Olea.) A Genus Of Trees Belonging To The Diandria Monagynia Class Of Plants. The Olea Europa -a Has An Upright Stem, With Numerous Branches, Grows To The Height Of Twenty Or Thirty Feet, And Differs From Most Trees In Yield Ing A Fixed Oil From The Pericarp Instead ...
Opium
Opium. The Inspissated Juice Of The Poppy, Obtained By Wounding The Unripe Seed Capsules Of The Paraver Somniferum, Collecting The Milky Juice Which Exudes And Dries In The Sun, And Kneading It Into Cakes. The Cakes Of The Best Opium Are Covered Externally With Pieces Of Dried Leaves And The ...
Of Iron Founding
Founding, Of Iron. The Opera Tions Of An Iron Foundry Consist In Re Melting The Pig-iron Of The Blast Furnaces, And Giving It An Endless Variety Of Forms, By Casting It In Moulds Of Different Kinds, Prepared In Appropriate Manners. Coke Is The Only Kind Of Fuel Employed To Effect ...