362 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



onese makers were Nicholas Amati, Joseph 

 Guarneri del Gesu and Antonius Stradivarius. 

 To those who at the present time willingly pay 

 hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a 

 violin made by one of these great makers, 

 it may be of interest to know that they all 

 were simple, hard-working artisans, who sold 

 their works of genius for a few florins. 



Volcanoes. A volcano is a mountain, or 

 opening in "the earth's crust, through which 

 issue fire, smoke, ashes, lava, steam, etc. 

 Volcanoes may be distinguished as extinct 

 and active. Extinct volcanoes are such as are 

 now at rest, but were subject to eruptions in 

 former ages, as is shown by their form and 

 structure, and the presence of craters. Active 

 volcanoes are such as are either in a constant 

 state of eruption, or have eruptions from time 

 to time, with intervals of rest. 



Volcanoes throw out an enormous amount of 

 material. Whole islands and portions of con- 

 tinents have been formed by volcanic action. 

 Iceland is an example of a volcanic island. 



The lava, when it first issues from a volcano, 

 is somewhat like melted iron running from a 

 furnace, but soon cools on the surface and 

 forms a black, porous crust. Sometimes the 

 streams are so thick that the interior remains 

 hot for twenty years. 



A terrific eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, A. D. 

 79, destroyed the flourishing cities of Pompeii, 

 Herculaneum, and Stabise, and covered them 

 with ashes and cinders to the depth of fifteen 

 feet. 



About sixty eruptions of Mt. Etna are re- 

 corded. In 1669, a stream of lava from this 

 mountain overflowed the ramparts of Catania, 

 sixty feet in height, and destroyed a portion of 

 the city. In 1832, several craters opened in 

 the sides of the mountain, and a stream of 

 lava eighteen miles long, or.e mile broad, and 

 thirty feet deep, poured over the adjacent 

 fields. 



In 1835, the terrible eruption of Conseguina 

 occurred. It lasted three days, during which 

 the light of the sun was obscured over half of 

 Central America, and more than 40,000 square 

 miles are said to have been covered with dust, 

 ashes., and lava. 



Water Gas. Much of the illuminating 

 gas now used is made by the comparatively 

 new process in which the main volume of the 

 gas, consisting of hydrogen, is taken out of 

 water. In the original coal gas process the 

 illuminating agent is obtained directly from 

 the distillation of soft or bituminous coal ; 

 and impurities being removed by washing it 

 with water and then passing it through lime, 

 the gas is ready for burning. The new proc- 

 ess is, in outline, as follows : Steam is passed | 



through retorts filled with anthracite coal raised 

 to a white heat by an air blast. In its passage 

 it is decomposed, and the gas issuing from the 

 pipes at the top consists of a mixture of hydro- 

 gen and carbon dioxide. This serves .as the 

 carrier for the true illuminating agents, which 

 are a comparatively small percentage of the 

 entire volume, and" these are combined by 

 mingling with naphtha vapor. This mixture 

 has now about the same composition as the 

 ordinary coal gas, but must be fixed that is, 

 made a stable compound by subjecting it to 

 the effect of heat and cold. This is accom- 

 plished by conducting it through two series of 

 pipes, surrounded in one case by cold, running 

 water, and in the other by steam. It is then 

 purified in the same way as mentioned above. 

 By passing it through a water tower loosely 

 filled with something, as charcoal, down 

 through which water trickles as the gaseous 

 mixture ascends, the ammonia is dissolved out ; 

 then, by passing it through thin layers of lime, 

 the other main impurity, sulphureted hydro- 

 gen, is removed. It is then ready for distri- 

 bution through the city. Its illuminating 

 power is about the same as, or somewhat 

 greater than, that of coal gas. The water 

 process produces the gas at a much lower cost ; 

 but in the other process there are a number of 

 by-products derived from the distillation of 

 the coal e. g., coke, coal tar, and also aqua 

 ammonia, which is present in greater quanti- 

 ties in the coal gas which are sold, and thus 

 make the entire cost of manufacture about the 

 same in each case. 



Weaving. The art of weaving appears 

 to have been practiced in China from the ear- 

 liest antiquity more than a thousand years 

 before it was known in Europe or Asia. Poets 

 assign the art to the spider. Women origi- 

 nally spun, wove, and dyed ; and the origin of 

 these arts is ascribed, by ancient nations, to 

 different women as women's art. The Egyp- 

 tians ascribed the art to Isis, the Greeks to 

 Minerva, and the Peruvians to the wife of 

 Manco Capac. In most Eastern countries, 

 the employment of weaving is still performed 

 by the women. The Saviour's vest, or coat, 

 had not any seam, being woven from the top 

 throughout, in one whole piece. In 1331, two 

 weavers from Brabrant settled at York, Eng- 

 land, where they manufactured woolen. Flem- 

 ish dyers, cloth drapers, linen makers, silk 

 throwsters, etc., settled at Canterbury, Nor- 

 wich, Colchester, Southampton, and other 

 places, on account of the Duke of Alva's per- 

 secution, 1567, and carried on the occupation 

 of weaving. 



Whisky. The process of distilling liquors 

 from grain is thought to have been first 



