A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 10

From the Italian word _velluto_, signifying velvet, which comes from _vellus_, hair or fleece.

What is Mohair?

The hair of a kind of goat, common about Angora, in Turkey. It is used in the manufacture of various kinds of stuffs, shawls, &c.

Is there not another animal much celebrated for the material it furnishes in the making of shawls?

Yes; the Thibet goat. The wool is sent to Cashmere, where it is spun and dyed. Cashmere is situated in the north-west extremity of India, and has long been celebrated for the beautiful and valuable shawls bearing its name which are manufactured there. The goats are beautiful creatures, with long, fine, wavy hair, reaching nearly to the ground, so as almost to conceal their legs. The material of which the shawls are made is a fine silky down, which grows under the long hair, next to the skin.

CHAPTER VI.

CURRANTS, RAISINS, FIGS, RICE, SUGAR, SUGAR CANDY, &C., SAGO, MILLET, GINGER, NUTMEG, MACE, PIMENTO OR ALLSPICE, PEPPER, AND CAYENNE PEPPER.

What are Currants?

A kind of small raisins or dried grapes.

Whence are they brought?

From several islands of the Archipelago, particularly Zante and Cephalonia; and from the Isthmus of Corinth, in Greece.

Do they grow on bushes like our Currants?

No, on vines like other grapes, except that the leaves are somewhat thicker, and the grapes much smaller: they have no pips, and are of a deep red, or rather black color.

When are they gathered, and how are they dried?

They are gathered in August, and laid on the ground in heaps till dry; they are then cleaned, and put into magazines, from which they are taken and packed in barrels for exportation.

What do you mean by Exportation?

The act of conveying goods for sale from one country to another.

What are Raisins?

Grapes prepared by drying them in the sun, or by the heat of an oven.

Raisins of Damascus, so called from the capital city of Syria, near which they are cultivated, are very large, flat, and wrinkled on the surface; soft and juicy inside, and nearly an inch long. Raisins of the sun, or jar raisins, so called from being imported in jars, are all dried by the heat of the sun; they are of a reddish blue color, and are the produce of Spain, whence the finest and best raisins are brought. There are several other sorts, named either from the place in which they grow, or the kind of grape of which they are made, as those of Malaga, Valencia, &c.

In what manner are they dried?

The common way of drying grapes for raisins, is to tie two or three bunches of them together while yet on the vine, and dip them into a lye made of hot wood-ashes, mixed with a little olive oil. This makes them shrink and wrinkle: after this they are cut from the branches which supported them, but left on the vine for three or four days, separated on sticks, in an upright position, to dry at leisure.

Different modes, however, are adopted, according to the quality of the grape. The commonest kinds are dried in hot ovens, but the best way is that in which the grapes are cut when fully ripe, and dried by the heat of the sun, on a floor of hard earth or stone.

_Lye_, a liquor made from wood-ashes; of great use in medicine, bleaching, sugar works, &c.

What are Figs?

A soft, luscious fruit, the produce of the fig-tree. The best figs are brought from Turkey, but they are also imported from Italy, Spain, and the southern part of France. The islands of the Archipelago yield an inferior sort in great abundance. In this country they are sometimes planted in a warm situation in gardens, but, being difficult to ripen, they do not arrive at perfection. The figs sent from abroad are dried by the heat of the sun, or in furnaces for the purpose.

_Luscious_, sweet to excess, cloying.

What is Rice?

A useful and nutritious grain, cultivated in immense quant.i.ties in India, China, and most eastern countries; in the West Indies, Central America, and the United States; and in southern Europe. It forms the princ.i.p.al food of the people of eastern and southern Asia, and is more extensively consumed than any other species of grain, not even excepting wheat.

_Nutritious_, wholesome, good for food.

Does it not require a great deal of moisture?

Yes, it is usually planted in moist soils, and near rivers, where the ground can be overflowed after it is come up. The Chinese water their rice-fields by means of movable mills, placed as occasion requires, upon any part of the banks of a river; the water is raised in buckets to a proper height, and afterwards conveyed in channels to the destined places.

What is Sugar?

A sweet, agreeable substance, manufactured chiefly from the Sugar Cane,[1] a native of the East and West Indies, South America and the South Sea Islands; it is much cultivated in all tropical countries.

The earliest authentic accounts of sugar, are about the time of the Crusades,[2] when it appears to have been purchased from the Saracens, and imported into Europe.

[Footnote 1: Most of the sugar in Europe is made from beets.]

[Footnote 2: See Chapter XVII., article Navigation.]

_Authentic_, true, certain.

_Crusades_, holy wars.

_Saracens_, Turks or Arabs.

How is it prepared?

The canes are crushed between large rollers in a mill, and the juice collected into a large vessel placed to receive it; it is then boiled, and placed in pans to cool, when it becomes imperfectly crystallized, in which state we use it. This is called raw or soft sugar: loaf sugar, or the hard white sugar, is the raw brown sugar, prepared by refining it till all foreign matter is removed.

Is the Sugar Cane the only vegetable that produces Sugar?