CHAPTEK VII. 



PIPES AND SMOKERS. (CONTINUED.) 



Russia and Denmark as also in Norway and 

 Sweden the pipes are more simple and are principally 

 formed of wood sometimes tipped with copper but 

 usually of inferior material and work when compared 

 with French and German pipes. The German pipes con- 

 sidered as works of art are doubtless the finest made. Many 

 are made of meerschaum (sea foam). This material is found 

 in various parts of Asia Minor. "When first obtained it is 

 capable of forming a lather like soap, and is used by the 

 Tartars for washing purposes. The Turks use it for pipes 

 which are made in the same way that pottery is and after- 

 wards soaked in wax and is then ready for smoking. It heats 

 slowly and is capable of greater absorption than any other 

 material used in pipe making. To properly color a meer- 

 schaum is now considered as one of the fine arts and when 

 completed is considered quite a triumph. When the pipe 

 takes on a rich deep brown tint it is considered a valuable 

 pipe and is watched and guarded as a most valuable treasure. 

 M. Ziegler thus describes the source whence the considerable 

 annual supply of meerschaum for meerschaum pipes is 

 derived : 



" Large quantities of this mineral so highly esteemed by 

 smokers, comes from Hrubschitz and Oslawan in Austrian 

 Moravia, where it is found embedded between thick strata of 

 serpentine rock. It is also found in Spain at Esconshe, 

 Yallecos, and Toledo ; the best however comes from Asia 

 Minor. The chief places are the celebrated meerschaum 



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