MAUVE 221 



MABMATITE. A variety of blende, in -which part of the zinc is replaced, 

 sometimes by iron, and sometimes by cadmium. It is found at Marinate in Po^ 



payan. 



MAROON*. A peculiar deep-red colour produced, according to Crookes (' Hand- 

 book of Dyeing') in the following manner : 



Boil 20 Ibs. of cudbear, or 25 Ibs. of orchil, and 4 ounces of magenta crystals, for 

 ten minutes. Cool the dye to 175 Fahr. ; enter tho wool; increase the temperature 

 to 212; remove, rinse, and dry. 



MAROOIi. A vegetable fibre from the Sunseviera Zeylanica. See FIBEES. 



MARQUETRY is a peculiar kind of cabinet-work, in which the surface of wood 

 is ornamented with inlaid pieces of various colours and forms. The marqueteur 

 puts gold, silver, copper, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, horn, &c., under con- 

 tribution. These substances, being reduced to laminae of proper thinness, are cut 

 out into the desired form by punches, which produce the full pattern or mould, and 

 the empty one, which enclosed it ; and both serve their separate purposes. A 

 mosaic wood-work was much practised in Italy in the fifteenth century which very 

 much resembled marquetry. It was called Tarsia ( Tarsiatura, Ital.). The art was 

 cultivated to the greatest extent in tho Venetian territories, and was much employed 

 in decorating the choirs of churches, the backs of seats, and the panels of doors. In 

 Mrs. Merrifleld's 'Ancient- Practice of Painting' it is well described. See TABSIA; 

 PARQTJETRY. 



MARSH-GAS. Light carburetted hydrogen. This gas is tho fire-damp of the 

 coal-miner. See FIRE-DAMP INDICATOR ; VENTILATION. 



MARSH ROSEMARY. (Statica Caroliniaiue.) This plant is found along the 

 sea-coast in marshy situations from Maine to Florida. The root has been used for 

 tanning. According to Professor Parrish, it contains 12 per cent, of tannin. 



XVXARTIAIi. Belonging to iron ; from Mars, the old name of this metal. 



MARTXITS-YEXiXiOW. A name sometimes applied to naphthaline yellow. 



MASSICOT. Yellow oxide of lead. The old name of litharge. See LITHARGE. 



MASTIC (Eng. and Fr. ; Matsix, Ger.) is a resin produced by making inci- 

 sions in the Pistacia lentiseus, a tree cultivated in the Levant, and chiefly in the 

 island of Chios. It comes to us in yellow, brittle, transparent, rounded tears ; which 

 soften between the teeth, with bitterish taste and aromatic smell, and a specific 

 gravity of 07'1. Mastic consists of two resins; one soluble in dilute alcohol. Its 

 solution in spirit of wine constitutes a good varnish. It dissolves also in turpentine. 

 See VARNISH. 



MASTIC CEMENT. A mixture of lime, sand, litharge, and linseed-oil. 



MATCHES. See LUCIFER MATCHES. 



MATRASS is a bottle with a thin, egg-shaped bottom, much used for digestions 

 in chemical researches. 



MATTE is a crude black copper, reduced, but not refined, from sulphur and other 

 heterogeneous substances. A matte is simply a regulus, or fused sulphide. 



MAUVE, or Pcrkin's Violet. The earliest aniline colour introduced into com- 

 merce has lost much of its importance. Kunge had previously called attention to 

 the violet coloration produced on treating aniline with chromic acid or the h3"po- 

 chlorites. In August 1856 Mr. Perkin patented his process for the production of a 

 violet colouring-matter from aniline. See ANILINE-VIOLET. 



Among the very large number of new methods proposed for the manufacture of 

 this dye, especially after the spring of the year 1859, we may notice the following: 



Messrs. Depouilly and South's method, patented in June 1860, consisted in adding 

 to a salt of aniline a solution of chloride of lime, which yielded a purple insoluble 

 precipitate. This was repeatedly washed in slightly-acidulated water, dissolved in 

 concentrated sulphuric acid, and re-precipitated by the addition of an excesssof water. 

 It was then simply necessary to wash the precipitate thoroughly, in order to render it 

 fit for use if dissolved in alcohol or methylated spirit. The chloride of lime process 

 gives a more abundant yield than tho bichromate method, but the tone of the violets 

 obtained is redder and less pure. We may here mention that Mr. W. H. Perkm has 

 lately succeeded in obtaining the product of Eunge's experiment in the solid condition. 

 He finds that it dissolves in alcohol, forming a solution of a nearly pure blue colour, 

 which is changed to a brownish-red by the action of caustic alkali ; it therefore differs 

 essentially from the mauve ; an alcoholic solution of which, if treated with caustic 

 alkali, passes from purple to violet. Tho blue product, which the author proposes to 

 call ' Runge's blue,' undergoes a very remarkable change when subjected to the action 

 of heat. It is rapidly converted into a purple colouring-matter, which is found to be 

 the true mauve. Indeed, Runge's blue is so prone to change into the more stable 

 mauve, that its composition cannot be satisfactorily determined. 



Mr. Kay, in January 1860, took out a patent for producing purple-anilinemost 



