BEADS 299 



with a hammer, so as to compress it inwardly, and spread it outwardly on all sides 

 around the place of impact. See STAMPS. 



BATTERY. In mining, a stamping mill. In electricity, a combination of 

 glass plates or jars, with both surfaces coated with tinfoil. A combination of zinc 

 and copper, or of other dissimilar metal plates, which arc placed in an acid solution, 

 or some other exciting fluid. The galvanic battery. See ELECTRICITY. 



BAUX>K. A piece of timber the whole trunk of a tree. The term is applied by 

 London timber-merchants to wood in lengths of from 20 to 25 feet and 10 inches 

 square. 



BAUXITE. A mineral which was at one time regarded as an ore of iron. It is so 

 called from Baux, near Aries, the name of one of the localities in France where it is 

 found. Its composition varies, but the following analysis of a specimen from Revest, 

 near Toulon, may be taken as typical . 



Silica 2-8 



Oxide of titanium . 

 Sesquioxide of iron . 

 Alumina . . . 

 Carbonate of lime . 

 Water 



3-1 

 25-5 

 57-4 



0-4 

 10-8 



It is used as the source from which to obtain aluminium with the most facility and 

 in the greatest purity. See ALUMINIUM. 



BAT S AIiT. The larger crystalline salt of commerce. See SALT. 

 BAT, THE SWEET. (Laurus nobilis.) Bay-leaves have a bitter aromatic 

 taste, and an aromatic odour, which leads to their use in cookery. 



BAYItDONITE. A hydrated arsonate of lead and copper from Cornwall. It 

 occurs in little concretions of a grass-green colour; and was described by Prof. 

 Church in the 'Journal of the Chemical Society' for 1865. 



BATS, OXXi OP. This oil is imported in barrels from Trieste. It is obtained 

 from the fresh and ripe berries of the bay-tree by bruising them in a mortar, boiling 

 them for three hours in water, and then pressing them. When cold, the expressed oil 

 is found floating on the top of the decoction. Its principal use is in the preparation 

 of veterinary embrocations. 



BDEIiI/ltrivi. Two gum-resins pass in commerce by this name. One is the false 

 myrrh (the Bdellium of Scripture), the produce of the Amyris commipkora. The other 

 is the African Bdellium, obtained from Hcudolatia Africana. Pelletier gives the 

 composition of the African bdellium as resin, 59'0 ; soluble gum, 9'2 ; bassorine, 30'6 ; 

 volatile oil and loss, 1*2. 



BEADS. (Grain, Fr.) Perforated balls of glass, porcelain, or gems, strung and 

 worn for ornaments. Amongst some of the uncivilised races, beads are employed 

 instead of money. 



The use of beads is of the highest antiquity. They are found in the tombs of 

 Thebes and in the ruined temples of Assyria. They are discovered buried with the 

 mighty dead of Greece. The Roman lady had them placed with her in her grave ; 

 and even in the burial-places of the ancient Britons we find beads, and these, too, of 

 a similar pattern to such as we have every reason to believe are as old as Moses. 

 Indeed, the peculiar ornamented zigzag pattern of the most ancient beads has been 

 always, and still is manufactured at Venice, and found over the entire continent of 

 Africa. 



Glass beads have long been made in very large quantities in the glass-houses of 

 Murano, at Venice, 



Glass-tubes, previously ornamented by colour and reticulation, are drawn out in 

 proper sizes, from 100 to 200 feet in length, and of all possible colours. Not less than 

 200 shades are mamifactured at Venice. These tubes are cut into lengths of about 2 

 feet, and then, with a knife, are cut into fragments, having about the same length 

 as their diameter. The edges of these beads are, of course, sharp ; and they are sub- 

 jected to a process for removing this. Sand and wood-ashes are stirred with the beads, 

 so that the perforations may be filled by the sand ; this prevents the pieces of glass 

 from adhering in the subsequent process, which consists in putting them into a 

 revolving cylinder and heating them. The finished beads arc sifted, sorted in various 

 sizes, and strung by women for the market. 



In the Jurors' Report of the Great Exhibition of 1851, are the following remarks on 

 this manufacture: 



' The old Venetian manufactures of glass and glass-wares fully sustain their im- 

 portance; and those of paper, jewellery, wax -lights, velvets, and laces, rather 

 exceeded their ordinary production. The one article of beads employs upwards of 

 6,000 people at the principal fabric on the island of Murano; and the annual value ia 



