A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 12

What is Cayenne Pepper?

The dried fruit of a plant called bird pepper, a native of both Indies. It is more pungent than the other sorts.

CHAPTER VII.

GLa.s.s, MIRRORS, EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, NEEDLES, PINS, PAPER, PRINTING, PARCHMENT, AND VELLUM.

What is Gla.s.s?

A transparent, solid, brittle, fact.i.tious body, produced by fusing sand with an alkali. The essential ingredients of gla.s.s are silex and potash, or soda; a few other substances are sometimes added. Silex is found nearly pure in rock crystal, flint, and other varieties of quartz; for the manufacture of the better kinds of gla.s.s in this country, it is generally obtained from sand, especially the white sand of New Jersey.

_Fact.i.tious_, made by art, not found in a state of nature.

What is Potash?

The saline matter obtained from the ashes of wood, by causing water to pa.s.s through them; the water imbibes the salt, which is then obtained from it by evaporation. When purified by calcination, it is termed pearlash. In countries where there are vast forests, as in America and Russia, it is manufactured on a very large scale.

What can you say of the origin of Gla.s.s?

The period of its invention is quite unknown. Pliny relates that some merchants, driven by a storm to the coast of Phenicia, near the river Belus, made a large fire on the sand to dress some food, using as fuel some of the plant Kali, which grew there in great abundance; an imperfect gla.s.s was thus formed by the melting of the sand and ashes together. This production was picked up by a Syrian merchant, who, attracted by its great beauty, examined the cause of its origin, and, after many attempts, succeeded in its manufacture.

Who was Pliny?

A celebrated Roman naturalist and historian.

At what place was Gla.s.s first made?

Some authors mention Sidon in Syria, which became famous for gla.s.s and gla.s.s-houses; but others maintain that the first gla.s.s-houses noticed in history were built at Tyre; which, they add, was the only place where gla.s.s was made for many ages. It is certain that the art was known to the Egyptians.

What is Phenicia?

A sub-division of Syria in Asia.

What is an author?

A person who writes a book.

What is signified by a gla.s.s-house?

A building erected for the making and working of gla.s.s.

What countries had gla.s.s windows first?

Italy, then France and England; they began to be common about the year 1180.

In what year, and where, was the making of gla.s.s bottles begun?

In 1557, in London. The first gla.s.s plates for mirrors and coach-windows were made at Lambeth, in 1673.

What is a Mirror?

A body which exhibits the images of objects presented to it by reflection. The word mirror is more peculiarly used to signify a smooth surface of gla.s.s, tinned and quicksilvered at the back,[3]

which reflects the images of objects placed before it.

[Footnote 3: See Chapter XII., article Mercury.]

Are they a modern invention?

The use of mirrors is very ancient; mention is made of brazen mirrors or looking-gla.s.ses in Exodus, the 38th chapter and 8th verse. Some modern commentators will not admit the mirrors themselves to have been of bra.s.s, but of gla.s.s set or framed in bra.s.s; but the most learned among the Jewish rabbins say that in those times the mirrors made use of by the Hebrew women in dressing their heads were of metal, and that the devout women mentioned in this pa.s.sage made presents to Moses of all their mirrors to make the brazen laver for the Tabernacle. It might likewise be proved that the ancient Greeks made use of brazen mirrors, from many pa.s.sages in the ancient poets.

_Commentators_, explainers of pa.s.sages in the Bible, &c.

_Rabbins_, doctors among the Jews, their learned men or teachers.

What nation invented the large looking-gla.s.s plates now in use?

The French.

What city of Italy excelled all Europe for many years in the making of fine gla.s.s?

Venice. The manufacture of fine gla.s.s was first introduced into England by Venetian artists in 1078.

Of what is Earthenware composed?

Of clay, and those earths which are capable of being kneaded into a paste easily receiving any form, and acquiring solidity by exposure to fire: sand, chalk, and flint are likewise mixed with clay.

In what manner is it formed into such a variety of shapes?

The flint or sand, and soft clay, are mixed together in various proportions for the different kinds of ware; this paste is afterwards beaten till it becomes fit for being formed at the wheel into plates, dishes, basins, &c. These are then put into a furnace and baked; after which they are glazed.