SEAL, THE 757 



A great point in this kind of cleaning is to use strong cold soap-liquors ; and this 

 cannot be done with ordinary soaps, as they congeal when cold, and on this account 

 Field's soap is the principal soap which is used, because it is made from oil, and does 

 not congeal. It is probaby made from the olein obtained in the manufacture of com- 

 posite candles. 



French cleaning is what is called dry cleaning. In this process the articles are put 

 into camphine and worked about in it, drained, sheeted, and dried. The camphine 

 dissolves the grease, &c., and does not injure the colours ; but when things are very 

 dirty, it does not clean so effectually as the English method. It is, however, the only 

 process that can be employed in some cases, as in cleaning kid gloves. 



SCREWS. The elementary idea of the form of the screw is obtained by regarding 

 it as a continuous circular wedge ; and it is readily modelled by wrapping a wedge- 

 formed piece of paper around a cylinder; the edge of the paper then represents the 

 line of the screw. The use of the screw is well known to all ; and the system of 

 cutting a rod of iron or steel into a screw scarcely requires any description. The 

 manipulatory details and the tools used in their manufacture are admirably and most 

 fully described in Holtzapffel's ' Turning and Mechanical Manipulation.' 



SEA-HOIiIiY. Eryngium maritimum. The sea-holly sea eryngo or sea hulver 

 is found on the sea-shores of Britain, and on the European and African shores of 

 the Mediterranean Sea. The root was at one time much used medicinally. It is now 

 prepared as a sweetmeat, and is especially candied at Colchester in Essex. 



The E. faetidum is used in Jamaica as a remedy for hysterical fits ; snd the E. 

 aguaticum, sometimes called 'rattlesnake-weed,' from the circumstance of the North 

 American Indians using it as an application to the bite of that serpent. 



SEA-KAIiE. The Crambe maritima is a native of the English coast, and is 

 found as far north as the Polar circle. The plant is blanched in spring, and the 

 etiolated leaves are used as a delicate vegetable. 



SEAXi, THE. A marine animal, belonging to the class Mammalia, order Carnivora, 

 and sub-order Pinnipcdia. Although there are many species, only two genera, properly 

 speaking, belong to this group, the seal (Phoca) and the walrus or morse ( Trichecus). 

 The seal is an amphibious creature ; it sleeps, basks, and feeds its young on land, but 

 has never been seen to take its food excepting when in the water. Its limbs are very 

 short and covered with a skin, so as to resemble fins more than legs ; the feet are 

 webbed, and have the power of considerable expansion, and serve as excellent oars 

 when the animal is in the water, but are of little service when on land, its terrestrial 

 progression being effected by a sort of shuffling, jumping, or creeping motion ; it uses 

 these fin-like legs in climbing on to rocks or ice out of the water. It is an excellent 

 swimmer, and, when in deep water, dives with remarkable rapidity, in an instant 

 reappearing at perhaps a distance of fifty yards ; this rapidity of motion gives it great 

 power over its prey, which can seldom escape, except by swimming into shoal water. 

 It feeds on almost any kind of fish, even shell-fish ; but the salmon of the northern 

 seas seems to be its favourite food. It is a native of the northern seas generally, and 

 is found on the coasts of England and France, but is most plentiful around Green- 

 land and Newfoundland. It is everything to the Greenlander ; it supplies his food, 

 light, and clothing, its flesh is his food, the liver being considered a dainty, and even 

 by English sailors an agreeable dish ; the fat (of which there is a large quantity, 

 especially in the young about six weeks old) is consumed in his lamp; and the 

 skin, being dressed in a peculiar way that renders it waterproof, furnishes him 

 with almost all the other necessaries of life. When the skin is dressed without 

 the hair, the Esquimaux and Greenlanders use it instead of planks for their boats, 

 and as an outer covering for themselves, so that they are enabled to invert their 

 canoes and themselves in the water without getting their bodies wet. The skin of 

 the young is used as raiment for the women ; and the skin of old animals to cover 

 the houses ; the stomach is filled with air and used as a fishing buoy ; while the 

 teeth furnish the heads of the hunting-spears. The skins of the Stemmatopus cristatus 

 and the Calocephalus hispidus are sent in great quantities to Great Britain, where 

 they are much used for hats, waistcoats, jackets, &c. The walrus or morse (Trichecits 

 Eosmarius) has two large canine teeth or tusks in the upper jaw, which measure from 

 15 to 30 inches in length. Great numbers of these animals are annually destroyed 

 for the sake of their tusks, the ivory of which is highly esteemed. These animals do 

 not produce much fat, but the oil is of good quality ; the skin is used for carriage- 

 traces, wheel-ropes, &c. 



Mr. Frank Buckland writes as follows on the seal-fishery : 



' When engaged two years ago in examining the salmon-fisheries of Scotland, I had 

 the pleasure of meeting at Peterheacl Captain David Gray, commanding officer of the 

 screw-steamer ' Eclipse,' one of the principal vessels which sail annually from Scotland 

 jn pursuit of whales and seals. These vessels leave Dundee and Peterhead about 



