Orcin
Orcin. A Crystallizable Coloring Mat Ter Obtained From The Lechers, Varitgark Oreina. Ores. (germ. Erne.) The Mineral Bodies From Which Metals Are Extracted. Metals Exist In The Ores In One Or The Other Of The Four Following States : 1. In A Metallic State, And Either Solitary Or Combined With ...
Oxalic Acid
Oxalic Acid. A Vegetable Acid, First Discovered In The Juice Of The Oxalis Aostosello ; It Was Afterwards Ascertained That The Same Acid Might Be Produced Ar Tificially By The Action Of The Nitric Acid Upon Sugar; This Process Yields It In Slen Der Prismatic Crystals, Intensely Sour, And Soluble ...
Oxidation Of Metals
Oxidation Of Metals Is Effect Ed Either By The Air And Heat, By Burning With Nitrate Of Potash, By Water, By Acid Ulous Solution, The Excess Of Acid Being Subsequently Withdrawn By An Alkali, Or Other Substance Of Greater Affinity. Oxidation Renders Metals Susceptible Of The Action Of Acids, And ...
Oxygen
Oxygen. This Important Element Was Discovered In 1774, By Dr. Priestly. It Has Been Termed Dephlogisticated Air, Vital Air, And Empyreal Air. As It Forms A Component Part Of Many Of The Acids, It Was Termed, At The Framing Of The New Nomenclature, Oxygen Gas. There Are Several Compounds Of ...
Paint
Paint, Use Of. It Is Not An Uncom Mon Thing For Some Paints Especially When Exposed To The Atmosphere, To Rub Off Like Whitewash, After They Have Been Put On For About Six Or Eight Months. We Have Known White Paint Do This, Al Though Both The Oil And White ...
Painting Housework
Painting Housework Is Effected For The Most Part By Priming, And Then Applying Two Or Three Coats Of White Lead Or Ceruse, In Linseed Oil. Colors Are Add Ed At Pleasure, Of Lamp-black, Red Lead Or Ochres, Or Pigments. Priming, Used By Painters For New Woodwork, Is A Thin Solution ...
Palladium
Palladium. A Rare Metal, Possess Ed Of Valuable Properties, Was Discovered In 1803, By Dr. Wollaston, In Native Plat Inum. It Constitutes About 1 Per Cent. Of The Columbian Ore, And From T To 1 Per Cent. Of The Uralian Ore Of This Metal ; Occurring Nearly Pure In Loose ...
Palm Oil
Palm Oil Is Obtained, In Guinea And Guyana, By Expressing, As Also By Boiling, The Fruit Of The Avoira Elais. It Has An Orange Color, A Smell Of Violets, A Bland Taste, Is Lighter Than Water, Melts At 84° Fahr., Becomes Rancid And Pale By Ex Posure To Air, Dissolves ...
Paper
Paper. A Thin And Flexible Sub Stance Of Various Colors, But Most Com Monly White, Used For Writing And Print Ing On, And For Various Other Purposes. It Is Manufactured Of Vegetable Matter, Reduced To A Pulp By Means Of Water And Grinding ; And Is Made Up Into Sheets, ...
Paper Hangings
Paper Hangings. This Import Ant And Elegant Substitute For The An Cient "hangings" Of Tapestry Or Cloth Came Into Use About 200 Years Ago. The Manes Facture Has Undergone A Gradual Succes Sion Of And Has Now Reached A High State Of Beauty And Per Fection. The Patterns On These ...
Parachute
Parachute. An Apparatus Resemb Ling The Common Umbrella, But Of Far Greater Extent, Intended To Enable An Aeronaut, In Case Of Alarm, To Drop From His Balloon To The Ground Without Sus Taining Injury. This Is Effected By Means Of The Resistance Of The Atmosphere. When The Parachute Is Detached ...
Parchment
Parchment. This Writing Material Has Been Known Since The Earliest Times, But Is Now Made In A Very Superior Man Ner To What It Was Anciently. The Art Of Making Parchment Consists In Certain Manipulations Necessary To Prepare The Skins Of Animals Of Such Thinness, Flex Ibility And Firmness, As ...
Parts
Parts. Muria& Acid At 220 10 Oil Of Vitriol 4 Crystallized Boracic Acid 2 Water 150 Or, Acid Muriate Of Alumine (liquid) 13 Crystallized Sulphate Of Soda 4 Crystallized Boracic Acid 3 Water 150 Either Of These Mixtures, With 20 Gra. Of Neutral Muriate Of Gold, Constitutes The Bath, Which ...
Paste
Paste. In Gem Sculpture A Prepara Tion Of Glass, Calcined Crystal, Lead, And Other Ingredients, For Imitating Gems. This Art Was Well Known To The Ancients, And After Being Long Lost, Was Restored, At The End Of The Fifteenth Century, By A Milanese Painter. Some Modern Artists Have Succeeded In ...
Pavement For Roads
Pavement For Roads. As The Advantages Of Good Roads Through The Country Are Unquestionable, So The Bene Fits Of Well Paved Streets In Cities Are No Less Apparent. Good Roads Are An Evi Dence Of Civilization. The Indian Follows The Trail Of His Forefather, And Gives Evi Dence Of Some ...
Pearls
Pearls. These Are Substances Form Ed By Certain Bivalve Mollusks, Consisting Of Concentric Layers Of A Fine Compact Na Cre, Or Substance Identical With That Which Lines The Inside Of The Shell ; They Are Sometimes Found Free And Detached With In The Lobes Of The' Mantle, But Most Com ...
Peat
Peat. The Natural Accumulation Of Vegetable Matter On The Surface Of Lands Not In A State Of Cultivation ; Always More Or Less Saturated With Water, And Generally Abounding In Modifications Of Extractive Matter, Varying With The Nature Of The Plants Of Which The Peat Is Composed. Peat Is Generally ...
Peat Soil
Peat Soil. Peat In A State Of De Composition, On Which Corn Or Other Ag Ricultural Crops May Be Grown. The Pro Cess Of Turning Living Peat Into Peat Soil Is Greatly Facilitated By Draining, And By Laying Earth Or Lime On Its Surface, And Af Terwards Mixing The Earthy ...
Pendulum
Pendulum. Hatay Heavy Body, Sus Pended By An Inflexible Rod From A Fixed Point, Be Drawn Aside From The Vertical Position, And Then Let Fall, It Will Descend In The Arc Of A Circle Of Which The Point Of Suspension Is The Centre. On Reach Ing The Vertical Position It ...
Perambulator
Perambulator Is An Instrument For Taeasuring Distances On Roads. It Con Sits Principally Of A Wheel, Upon Which It Runs, And An Index Which Shows The Num Ber Of Turns Of The Wheel Reduced Into Miles, Furlongs, Poles, Or Yards. The Carriage Or Stock, Which Is Divided In Or Der ...
Perforating Glass
Perforating Glass, Eaurtieri Wenn, &c. The Only Tools Requisite For This Are A Few Worn Out Three-edged Hand-saw Files. These Being Generally Made Of Cast Steel, Retain When Ground A Very Fine Point, Which Is Of The Utmost Importance. In Order, However, To Give Them The Requisite Degree Of Hardness, ...
Pewterer Pewter
Pewter, Pewterer. Pewter Is, Generally Speaking, An Alloy Of Tin And Lead, Sometimes With A Little Antimony Or Copper, Combined In Several Different Pro Portions, According To The Purposes Which The Metal Is To Serve. Plate Pewter Has A Bright Silvery Lustre When Polished ; The Best Is Composed Of ...
Phosphorescence
Phosphorescence Is The Proper Ty Which Certain Bodies Possess, Of Be Coming Luminous Without Undergoing Combustion, As, When We Rub Or Heat Them, Or In Consequence Of The Action Of The Living Principle, Or Of Decomposition. Two Pieces Of Quartz Emit Light On Being Rubbed Together. Light Is Seen In ...
Phospiiorus
Phospiiorus. So Called From Its Property Of Shining In The Dark. It Was Discovered In 1668 By Brandt, An Alche Mist Of Hamburgh, And Was Originally Obtained By Distilling Urine ; But It Is Now Always Extracted From Banz Earth, By A Process Contrived By Scheele. The Bones Are Calcined, ...
Photometer
Photometer. An Instrument For Measuring The Intensity Of Light, Or Of Illumination. The One Which Most Usually Goes Under This Name Is The Photometer In Vented By The Late Sir John Leslie. It Is Merely The Differential Thermometer Of The Same Ingenious Philosopher, Having One Of Its Balls Diaphanous, And ...
Piano Forte
Piano-forte. A Musical Stringed Instrument Of The Keyed Species. Its Name, Compounded Of Two Italian Words, Signifying Soft And Loud, Given To It To Distinguish It From The Harpsichord And Spinet, In Which No Light Ness Of Touch Could Lessen The Strength Of The Sound Produced From The Quills Al ...
Pigs
Pigs. The Want Of Ready And Cheap Access To Foreign Markets, Led The Western Farmers To Raising Hogs And Distilling Whiskey As A Convenient Means Of Taking Corn, The Great Staple, In These Shapes To Market. Mr Cist, Of Ohio, In A Communica Tion Published In The Patent Office Report ...
Piiantascope
Piiantascope. A Curious Instru Ment Invented By Prof. John Locke, Which Will Illustrate, In A Manner Never Before Accomplished, "single Vision By Each Eye." It Is Very Simple, And Has Neither Lenses, Prisms, Nor Reflectors. It Consists Of A Flat Hoard Base, About Nine By Eleven Inches, With Two Upright ...
Plane
Plane, A Perfectly Flat Surface. In Mechanical Manipulation, A Tool Or Instru Ment For Producing A Straight Even Sur Face. It Consists Of It Cutter, Which Is Placed In An Oblique Position In A Wooden Stock, Whose Under Surface Is Perfectly Straight, The Edge Of The Cutter Protruding Slightly Through ...
Plank Roads
Plank Roads. The Manifest Ad Vantage Of These Roads Over Every Other, Has Led To Their General Adoption In Some Of The Western States, And Their General Extension Through The Western Part Of This State (n. Y.). Next To Steam Railroads, They Are The Most Useful Form Of Road For ...
Plaster Of Paris
Plaster Of Paris. (see Gxpsuie.) Plated Manufacture. The Sil Ver In This Case Is Not Applied To Ingots Of Pure Copper, But To An Alloy Of Copper And Brass, Which Possesses The Requisite Stiffness For The Various Articles. The Furnace Used For Melting That Al Loy, In Black-led Crucibles, Is ...
Platinum
Platinum. A Metal Of A White Col Or, Exceedingly Ductile, Malleable, And Difficult Of Fusion. It Is The Heaviest Sub Stance Known, Its Specific Gravity Being 21.5. It Undergoes No Change From Air Or Moisture, And Is Not Attacked By Any Of The Pure Acids ; It Is Dissolved By ...
Plough
Plough. An Implement Drawn By Horses And Guided By A Driver, By Which The Surface Of The Soil Is Cut Into Longi Tudinal Slices, And Successively Raised Up And Turned Over. The Object Of The Ope Ration Is To Expose A New Surface To The Action Of The Air, And ...
Ploughing
Ploughing. The Act Of Turning Over The Soil By Means Of The Plough. Trench Ploughing Is Effected By The Plough Passing Twice Along The Same Furrow ; The First Time For The Purpose Of Throwing The Surface Soil Into The Bottom Of The Furrow ; And The Second Time For ...
Plush
Plush Is A Textile Fabric, Having A Sort Of Velvet Nap Or Shag Upon One Side. It Is Composed Regularly Of A Woof Of A Single Woollen Thread, And A Two-fold Warp, The Ono, Wool Of Two Threads Twisted, The Other, Goat's Or Camel's Hair. There Are Also Several Sorts ...
Porcelain Pottery
Pottery, Porcelain. In Refer Ence To Chemical Constitution, There Are Only Two Genera Of Baked Stoneware. The First Consists Of A Fusible Earthy Mix Ture, Along With An Infusible, Which When Combined Are Susceptible Of Becoming Semi-vitrified And Translucent In The Kiln. This Constitutes Porcelain Or China-ware ; Which Is ...
Potato
Potato. The Tubers Of The Sola Num Tuberosum.—the Potato, Which Is At Present To Be Met With Everywhere In Europe, And Forms The Principal Part Of The Food Of A Large Proportion Of Its Inhabitants, Was Entirely Unknown In That Quarter Of The World Till The Latter Part Of The ...
Potato Starc11
Potato Starc11 May Be Roughly Made Thus: Put A Pound And A Quarter Of Potatoes, Grated Through A Common Tin Bread Grater, Into A Pan Of Water, And Stir With A Wooden Spoon, And As Soon As The Pulpy Matter Has Subsided, The Dis Colored Water Is Poured Off, And ...
Poultry
Poultry. Different Kinds Of Birds Reared For The Production Of Eggs, Feath Ers, And For The Use Of Their Bodies As Animal Food. The Domestic Poultry In Common Use In Britain Are The Common Domestic Fowls, Or Cock And Hen, The Turkey, The Duck, And The Goose ; To Which ...
Preiinite
Preiinite. A Mineral Of A Green Col Or, One Of The Zeolit Es, Called After M.prehn. Press. I. An Instrument Or Machine Of Iron Or Wood By Which Any Body Is Squeezed, Crushed, Or Forced Into A More Compact Form ; As, A Icinepress, Cider Press, Or Cheese-press. Any Of ...
Printing
Printing Is The Multiplication Of Co Pies By Movable Types. It Superseded The Once Extensive Business Of Copying. It Was A Mere Extension Of The Art Of Coining And Seal Engraving, On Which Letters Were Re Versed Like Types, But The Impressions Were Taken In Wax Or Metal. The First ...
Printing Ink
Printing Ink Is Made Of Oil-var Nish And Fine Lampblack. The Varnish Is Made By Heating Pure Linseed Oil In A Copper Till It Will Light With A Piece Of Lighted Paper. It Is Then Made To Burn Away To Three Quarters, To Two Thirds And One Half For Varnishes, ...
Printing Press
Printing-press (tyra) Is The Very Important Implement Used For Transferring The Impressions Of Inked Typos To Paper. The First Printing Was Effected By A Fiat Board With Blows Of A Mallet. But The Number Of Impressions Rendered It Ne Cessary To Convert The Board Into A Solid Platten, And Carry ...
Propagation Of Plants
Propagation Of Plants Plants Are Propagated By Seed, By Run Ners, Suckers, Offsets, Dividing The Tu Bers, Layers, Cuttings, Grafting, Budding, Inarching, &c. Seeds Are Gathered When Mature, And Sown On Recently Stirred Soil, And Covered To Different Depths, Accord Ing To The Size Of The Seed, The Nature Of ...
Protochloride Of Mercury
Mercury, Protochloride Of. This Compound, So Much Used By Medical Practitioners, Is Commonly Prepared By Triturating Four Parts Of Corrosive Subli Mate Along With Three Parts Of Running Quicksilver In A Marble Mortar, Till The Metallic Globules Entirely Disappear, With The Production Of A Black Powder, Which Is To Be ...
Pruning
Pruning. The Art Of Cutting Off Parts Of Plants, And More Especially Of Trees And Shrubs, With A View To Strength Ening Those Which Remain, Or Of Bringing The Tree Or Plant Into Particular Forms, Calculated To Increase Particular Products. Pruning, Therefore, Varies According To The Kind Of Plant Or ...
Prussian Blue
Prussian Blue. This Salt Is Made By Adding Solution Of A Salt Of Iron To A Solution Of Prussiate Of Potash. Green Sul Phate Of Iron Is Always Employed By The Manufacturer, On Account Of Its Cheapness, For Mixing With Solution Of The Ferroprus Siate, In Forming Prussian Blue, Though ...
Or Ar Tesian Wells
Artesian Fountains, Or Ar Tesian Wells. (fr. Puits Artaiens.) Vertical Perforations Of The Exterior Crust Of The Earth, Of Small Diameter, And Fre Quently Of Great Depth, Through Which Subterraneons Water Arises To The Sur Face, Often Forming Abundant And Ele Vated Jets. The Name Artesian Is Derived From Artois, ...
Or Atomic Weights Atoms
Atoms, Or Atomic Weights, Are The Original Quantities In Which Bodies Either Simple Or Compound Combine With Each Other, Referred To A Common Body Taken As Unity. Oxygen Is Taken As The Stand Ard By Some, And Hydrogen By Others. The Atomic Weight Of A Substance Is Its Lowest Combining ...
Or Budding Germination
Germination, Or Budding. The Process By Which A Plant Is Produced From A Seed. The Phenomena Of Germi Nation Are Best Observed In Dicotyledo Nous Seeds ; Such, For Instance, As The Bean,, Lupin, &e. These Seeds Con Sist Of Two Lobes Or Cotyledons, Enveloped In A Common Membrane ; ...
Or Buhr Stone Mill Stone
Mill-stone, Or Buhr-stone. This Interesting Form Of Silica, Which Occurs In Great Masses, Has A Texture Essentially Cellular, The Cells Being Irregular In Num Ber, Shape, And Size, And Are Often Cross Ed By Thin Plates, Or Coarse Fibres Of Silex. The Buhr-stone Has A Straight Fracture, But It Is ...
Or Crystal Flintglass
Flint Glass, Or Crystal. A Species Of Glass Which Derives Its Name From Flint, Bemuse That Substance Was Formerly Employed In Its Manufacture. It Is Very Extensively Used For Domestic Purposes ; But Is Chiefly Interesting To The Philosopher On Account Of The Pro-. Perty Which It Possesses Of Causing ...
Or Dew Measurer Hygrometer
Hygrometer, Or Dew-measurer, Is An Instrument For Measuring The De Grew Of Moisture Or Dryness Of The At Mosphere. Variations In The State Of The Atmos Phere With Respect To Moisture And Dry Ness Are Manifested By A Great Variety Of Phenomena ; And, Accordingly, Numerous Contrivances Have Been Proposed ...
Or Engraving On Wood
Engraving On Wood, Or Xy Lography. In'this Branch Of Art The Ma Terial Used Is A Block Of Box Or Pear-tree Wood, Cut At Right Angles To The Direction Of The Fibres, The Thickness Regu Lated By The Height Of The Type In The Form. The Subject Is Either Transferred ...
Or Factitious Gems Pastes
Pastes, Or Factitious Gems. The General Vitreous Body Called Stress (from The Name Of Its German Inventor,) Preferred By Fontanier, Is Prepared In The Following Manner :-8 Ounces Of Lure Rock-crystal Or Flint In Powder, Mixed With 24 Ounces Of Salt Of Tartar, Are To Be Baked And Left To ...
Or Falling
Falling, Or Weight Of Bodies ; An Important Phenomenon, Which Used To Be Ascribed To Gravitation, A Translation Of The Word Weights; So That, According To This Wordy Philosophy, Weight Was Ow Ing To Weight. But It Is Now Con Sidered As Well Proved, That All Central Force In Planets ...
Or Heliography Photography
Photography, Or Heliography. Under The Article Daguerreotype, Full Men Tion Of The Action Of The Salts Of Silver Un Der The Influence Of Light Has Been De Scribed. Photographic Processes Require No Silver Plate, Making Use Of Paper Or Some Non-conducting Material And Apply Ing On Its Surface Sensitive Salts ...
Or Hydro Muriatic Acid
Muriatic Acid, Or Hydro Cutoma Acid. This Acid Was Originally Discovered By Glauber, And Called By Him Spirit Of Salt. In Its Pure Or Gaseous Form It Was First Obtained By Priestley In 1744; And Its True Composition Was Shown By Davy In 1809, Who Proved It To Be A ...
Or Nealing Annealing
Annealing, Or Nealing. A Pro Cess Applied In The Manufacture Of Glass And Some Metals, To Prevent The Particles Arranging Themselves In That Condition Which Produces A Brittle Quality. When A Glass Vessel Is Allowed To Cool Immedi Ately After Being Blown, It Will Often Bear To Be Struck Violently ...
Or Ox Gall Gall Of
Gall Of Animals, Or Ox-gall, Purification Of. Painters In Water Colors, Scourers Of Cloth, And Many Others, Em Ploy Ox-gall Or Bile ; But When It Is Not Purl Tied, It Is Apt To Do Harm From The Green Ness Of Its Own Tint. It Becomes Therefore An Important Object ...
Or Potassa Potash
Potash, Or Potassa. This Sub Stance Was So Named From Being Prepared For Commercial Purposes By Evaporating In Iron Pots The Lixivium Of The Ashes Of Wood Fuel. In The Crude State Called Pot Ashes, It Consists, Therefore, Of Such Consti Tuents Of Burned Vegetables As Are Very Soluble In ...
Or Projec Tion Mercators
Mercator's Chart, Or Projec Tion. A Representation Of The Sphere On A Plane, In Which The Meridians Are Represented By Equidistant Parallel Straight Lines, And The Parallels Of Latitude Also By Straight Lines Perpendicular To The Meridians. This Projection, Which Is Universally Adopted For Nautical Charts, By Reason Of The ...
Or Quinine Quinia
Quinia, Or Quinine. An Alkaline Base Obtained From Yellow Bark ; The Cinchona Cord Folic. This Substance, Combined With Sulphuric Acid, Forms The Sulphate Of Quinia, Which Is Now So Ex Tensively Used As A Medicine, And As A Substitute For The Various Forms Of Peru Vian Bark. To Obtain ...
Or Syphon
Syphon, Or Crane, Is A Bent Tube With One Leglonger Than The Other, So That Its Orifice May Be Lower ; If Then The Air Is Sucked Out The Short Leg, Being In A Fluid Will Continue To Flow Till The Surface Is Below The Level Of The Orifice ; ...
Or Tortoise Shell
Tortoise-shell, Or Rather Scales, A Horny Substance That Covers The Hard Strong Covering Of A Tiony Contexture, Which Incloses The Testudo Imbricate, Linn. The Lamellae Or Plates Of This Tor Toise Are 13in Number, And May Be Readi Separated From The Bony Part By Placing Fire Beneath The Shell, Whereby ...
Or Water Ram Hydraulic
Hydraulic Ram, Or Water Ram. An Ingenious Hydraulic Machine For Raising Water By Means Of Its Own Impulse. The Principle Of Its Action And The Mechanism Of Its Construction May He Described As Follows The Water Arriving At A From The Re Servoir With The Due To The Height Of ...