of Fishes. This Product of the Hake Is 

 Cement and to Provide Court-Plaster Adhesive 



Ribbons of Isinglass 



This is not a picture of spring 

 housecleaning. It is the drying 

 room of an isinglass factory. 

 The ribbons are dried in a few 

 hours by being hung in a moder- 

 ately warm, light room. The 

 ribbons are carried in baskets 

 into the drying room where they 

 are hung up by women. When 

 dry they are wound into coils 

 weighing less than a pound. 

 One fifth of the original weight 

 of the sounds is lost during the 

 complicated process of turning 

 them into commercial isinglass. 



Uses of Isinglass 



Winding the dried ribbon 

 isinglass on a wooden spool. 

 One ounce of isinglass will clari- 

 fy 200 to 500 gallons of wine and 

 one pound will clarify 100 to 

 500 barrels of beer. It is also 

 used for making cement for 

 repairing glass and pottery, for 

 the adhesive in court-plaster 

 and as a dressing for textiles, 

 which imparts luster and stiff- 

 ness to linens and silks. In 

 combination with other sub- 

 stances it is used to make india 

 ink and to waterproof fabrics. 



183 



