A DICTIONAEY 



OF 



ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND MINES. 



A red dye used in Central India for imparting a permanent colour to the 

 native cotton cloth. It is yielded by the roots of the Morinda citrifolia, a small tree 

 belonging to the Rubiacea, or madder order. Professor T. Anderson has obtained 

 from the aal root a pale yellow crystalline substance which he calls morindin, and 

 this when subjected to distillation yields a crystalline sublimate termed morindonc. 

 It has been found that this morindone is identical with alizarine, one of the colouring 

 principles of madder ; and it is conjectured that the morindin may correspond with 

 ruberythric acid. 



ABA. A woollen stuff manufactured in Turkey. 



ABACA. A species of fibre obtained in the Philippine Islands in abundance. 

 Some authorities refer those fibres to the palm-tree known as the Abaca, or Anisa 

 tcxtUis. There seem, indeed, to be several well-known varieties of fibre included 

 under this name, some so fine that they are used in the most delicate and costly 

 textures, mixed with fibres of the pine-apple, forming Pina muslins and textures equal 

 to the best muslins of Bengal. Of the coarser fibres, mats, cordage, and sail-cloth are 

 made. M. Duchesne states that the well-known fibrous manufactures of Manilla have 

 led to the manufacture of the fibres themselves, at Paris, into many articles of furniture 

 and dress. Their brilliancy and strength give remarkable fitness for bonnets, tapestry, 

 carpets, network, hammocks, &c. The only manufactured articles exported from the 

 Philippine Islands, enumerated by Thomas de Comyn, Madrid, 1820 (transl. by 

 Walton), besides a few tanned buffalo hides and skins, are 8,000 to 12,000 pieces of 

 light sail-cloth, and 200,000 Ibs. of assorted abaca cordage. 



ABXCRZTZi. An arsenate of copper found occasionally in the copper mines of 

 Cornwall and of the Hartz. It usually consists of 54 per cent, of protoxide of copper 

 and 30 per cent, of arsenic acid, with water. 



ABIES (in Botany). The fir ; a genus of trees which belong to the coniferous order. 

 These trees are well known from their ornamental character, and for the valuable 

 timber which they produce. They yield several resins or gum-resins, which are 

 useful in the arts. 



ABIES BALSAMEA. The Balm of Giload fir. It is a native of Canada and Nova 

 Scotia ; it produces the Canada Balsam. This elegant tree grows most abundantly 

 in the colder regions of North America. (See CANADA BALSAM). 



ABIES CEDBUS (Cedrus Libani t . The Cedar. It is a native of Mount Lebanon 

 and the range of Mount Taurus. Cedar wood is said to be very indestructible, and 

 its wood is used in the manufacture of ornamental boxes, on account of its odour. See 

 CEDAB WOOD. 



ABIES EXCELSA of De Candolle (Pinus abies of Linnaeus). The Norway Spruce fir, 

 or Danteie Deal, a native of Germany, Kussia, Norway, and other parts of Northern 

 Europe. It yields- a resinous exudation known as Frankincense or Tints, while the 

 wood forms the ' White Deal ' of the carpenter. Tho well-known Burgundy Pitch ig 



Voi, I. B 



