Is prepared by pouring acetate of lead into a solution of alum, on which
a double decomposition takes place; the sulphuric acid combines with the
lead, and the sulphate of lead precipitates in the form of an insoluble
powder, while the alumine combines with the acetous acid, and remains in
the liquor.
This mordant gives a richer colour than alum.
Lime is also sometimes employed as a mordant, but it does not answer so
well in general, not giving so good a colour. It is used either in
acetate of lime water, or as a sulphate of lime dissolved in water.
A solution of indigo in the sulphuric acid is used for dyeing wool. This
is called the _Saxon blue_, and it gives a very beautiful colour.
To dye by the sulphate of indigo, dissolve one part of indigo in four
parts of concentrated sulphuric acid; add to the solution one part of
dry carbonate of potash, and dilute the whole with eight times its
weight of water. Boil the wool for an hour in a solution of five parts
of alum, and three of tartar, for every thirty-two parts of cloth. The
wool is then to be put in a bath of sulphate of indigo, diluted
according to the strength of shade required, and kept till it has
acquired the desired colour. The use of the alum and tartar is not to
act as mordants, but to facilitate the decomposition of the indigo; and
the alkali is added to the sulphate for the same reason.
ACID, _a._ Sour, sharp.
ACIDS, _s._ In veterinary practice are divided into three classes,
mineral, vegetable, and animal. _Mineral_ are sulphuric, nitric,
and muriatic. _Vegetable_, acetic (vinegar), and tartaric (cream
of tartar). Muriatic acid is commonly called spirit of salt.
Sulphuric, oil of vitriol.
ACTION, _s._ The accordance of the motions of the body with the
words spoken. In _sporting parlance_, it is used to describe the
movements of a horse.
ADDER, _s._ A serpent, a viper, a poisonous reptile.
Adders or vipers are found in many parts of Europe; but the dry, stony,
and in particular the chalky countries abound with them. These animals
seldom grow to a greater length than two feet; though sometimes they are
found above three. The ground colour of their bellies is a dirty yellow;
that of the female is deeper. The whole length of the back is marked
with a series of rhomboid black spots, touching each other at the
points; the sides with triangular ones; the belly entirely black. It is
chiefly distinguished from the common ringed snake by the colour, which
in the latter is more beautifully mottled, as well as by the head, which
is thicker than the body; but particularly by the tail, which, in the
viper, though it ends in a point, does not run tapering off to so great
a length as in the other. When, therefore, other distinctions fail, the
difference of the tail can be discerned at a single glance.
The adder differs from most other serpents in being much slower, as also
in excluding its young completely formed, and bringing them forth alive.
The kindness of Providence seems to be exerted not only in diminishing
the speed, but also the fertility, of this dangerous creature.
The adder is capable of supporting very long abstinence, it being a well
ascertained fact that some have been kept in a box six months without
food; yet during the whole time their vivacity was not abated. They feed
only a small part of the year, but never during their confinement; for
if mice, their favourite diet, should at that time be thrown into their
box, though they will kill, yet they will never eat them. When at
liberty they remain torpid throughout the winter; yet, when confined,
they have never been observed to take their annual repose.
They are usually taken with wooden tongs, by the end of the tail, which
may be done without danger; for, while held in that position, they are
unable to wind themselves up to hurt their enemy; yet, notwithstanding
this precaution, the viper-catchers are often bitten by them; but, by
the application of olive oil, the effect is safely obviated.
William Oliver, a viper-catcher, at Bath, was the first who discovered
this admirable remedy. On the first of June, 1735, in the presence of a
great number of persons, he suffered himself to be bit by an old black
viper, brought by one of the company, upon the wrist, and joint of the
thumb of the right hand, so that drops of blood came out of the wounds.
Being willing to satisfy the company thoroughly, and trusting to the
speedy effects of his remedy, which was nothing more than olive oil, he
forbore to apply anything till he found himself exceedingly ill, and
quite giddy; in about an hour and a quarter after the first of his being
bit, a chafing dish of glowing charcoal was brought in, and his naked
arm was held over it as near as he could bear, while his wife rubbed in
the oil with her hand, turning his arm continually round, as if she
would have roasted it over the coals; he said the poison soon abated,
but the swelling did not diminish much. Most violent purgings and
vomitings soon ensued; and his pulse became so low and so often
interrupted, that it was thought proper to order him a repetition of
cordial potions; he said he was not sensible of any great relief from
these; but that a glass or two of olive oil, drank down, seemed to give
him ease. Continuing in this dangerous condition, he was put to bed,
where his arm was again bathed over a pan of charcoal, and rubbed with
olive oil, heated in a ladle over the charcoal. From this last operation
he declared that he found immediate ease, as though by some charm: he
soon after fell into a profound sleep, and, after about nine hours’
sound rest, awaked about six the next morning, and found himself very
well.
* * * * *
In every quarter of the globe but Europe, dogs are exposed to the
venomous attacks of snakes, whose bite is instantly mortal. The viper is
the only animal of this kind in Britain capable of inflicting a wound
attended with serious consequences, and to which dogs become exposed
when hunting. In these cases, the bitten part swells enormously, and the
animal expresses great distress and suffering: at length he becomes
affected with torpor, or, in some cases, with convulsions, when death
commonly ensues. But it is not often that these bites are fatal,
particularly when proper means are resorted to for obviating the
effects. These means consist in freely rubbing the bitten part with
volatile alkali, or with the spirit of hartshorn mixed with oil; giving
also seven, ten, or twelve drops of the volatile alkali, or otherwise
forty drops to a large dog, of the spirit of hartshorn, in a teaspoonful
or two of sweet oil, every hour, until the amendment is evident.
* * * * *
The venomous stings of hornets, wasps, and bees, may be relieved by
applying the vegetable blue used to colour linen. Laudanum also, or
vinegar, or brandy, will, either of them, often remove the pain and
inflammation speedily.—_Buffon_—_Blaine._
ADHESIVE, _a._ Sticking, tenacious.
ADHESIVE, or STICKING PLASTER, is made with diachylon, a small
portion of resin, and a still less of common turpentine—or with
diachylon and galbanum. Sticking plaster is employed to keep the
edges of a fresh wound together; but in horses, when the wound
is extensive, this is done more effectually by suture, that is,
by sewing up the wound.
AËRIE, _s._ A nest of hawks, or other birds of prey.
The following account of the robbery of an aërie is given by Mr.
Bullock:—“On the 10th of June, 1812, they were seen in their aërie on
the tremendous cliff called the West Craigs, in the Isle of Hoy, (one of
the Orkneys,) the towering rocks of which rise to the perpendicular
height of 1200 feet from the sea. About one third of the way down this
awful abyss, a slender pointed rock projected from the cliff, like the
pinnacle of a Gothic building: on the extremity of this is a hollow
scarcely of a sufficient size for the purpose for which these birds had
fixed on it, _i. e._, a place of security for rearing their young; the
situation was such as almost to defy the power of man to molest their
habitation; yet, with the assistance of a short slender rope, made of
twisted hogs’ bristles, did the well-known adventurous climber, or
rocksman, ‘Woolly Tomson,’ traverse the face of this frightful
precipice, and, for a trifling remuneration, brought up the young birds.
“After a fatiguing scramble up the sides of the mountain, we arrived at
the place from whence we could see the aërie beneath; the distance was
so great that the young eagles appeared no larger than pigeons. After
placing us in a secure situation on a projecting ledge of the rock,
Tomson left us, carrying his rope in his hand, and disappeared for
upwards of half an hour; when, to our great joy, we discovered him
creeping on his hands and knees up the spiry fragment, on which lay the
unfledged eaglets; when, knowing he was then in our sight, he knelt on
the top, and looking towards us, waved his hat. At this time it was
impossible to see the situation he was in without trembling for his
safety; the slender point of the rock on which he knelt was at least 800
feet above the surges of the Atlantic, which, with unbroken violence,
were foaming beneath him. Yet he deliberately took from his pocket a
cord, and tying the wings of the young birds, who made some resistance
with their bills and talons, he put them into a basket, and began to
descend, and in a few minutes the overhanging masses of stone hid him
from our view. The old birds were in sight during the transaction, and
made no attempt to defend, but, soaring a quarter of a mile above,
occasionally uttered a short shrill scream, very different from their
usual barking noise. Had they attempted a rescue, the situation of the
climber would have been extremely dangerous, as the slightest deviation
or false step would have precipitated him into eternity, a misfortune
that a few years since befel his brother on the same spot, when in his
company.
“After waiting in a most painful state of suspense for near an hour, our
climber suddenly made his appearance, and, laughing, presented his
prize.”
* * * * *
“In Doomsday Book a hawk’s aërie is returned among the most valuable
articles of property; which proves the high estimation these birds were
held in at the commencement of the Norman conquest.”—_Bullock_—_Strutt._
ÆTHIOP’S-MINERAL, _s._ A medicine so called, from its dark colour,
made of quicksilver and sulphur ground together in a marble
mortar.