184 



DEFINITION OF TERMS. 



will be separated from the spirit, and will 

 appear, together with the undissolved 

 part of the salts, in the bottom of the 

 bottle. Let the spirit be poured off or 

 freed from the phlegm and the salts, by 

 means of a tcitorium, or separating fun- 

 nel; and let half an ounce of the pearl- 

 ashes, heated and powdered as before, be 

 added to it, and the same treatment re- 

 peated. This may be done a third time, 

 if the quantify of phlegm separated by the 

 addition of the pearl-ashes appears con- 

 siderable. An ounce of alum reduced 

 to powder, and made hot, but not burnt, 

 must then be put into the spirit, and suf- 

 fered to remain some hours, the bottle 

 being frequently shaken; after which the 

 spirit, being poured off from it, will be 

 fit for use. 



The addition of the alum is necessary 

 to neutralize the remains of the alkaline 

 salt, which would otherwise greatly de- 

 prave the spirit, with respect to varnishes 

 and lacquer where vegetable colors are 

 concerned, and must consequently ren- 

 der another distillation necessary. The 

 manner of using the seed-lac, or white 

 varnish, is the same, except with regard 

 to the substance used in polishing; which, 

 where a pui;e white of a great clearness 

 of other colors is in question, should be 

 itself white; whereas the browner sorts 

 of polishing dust, as being cheaper, and 

 doingthe business with greater despatch, 

 may be used in other cases. The pieces 

 of work to be varnished, should be placed 

 near a fire or in a room where there is a 

 stove, and made perfectly dry; and then 

 the varnish may be rubbed over them by 

 the proper brushes made for that purpose, 

 beginning in the middle, and passing the 

 brush to one end, and then with another 

 stroke from the middle, passing it to the 

 other. But no part should be crossed, or 

 twice passed over, in forming one coat, 

 where it can be possibly avoided. When 

 one coat is dry, another must be laid over 

 it; and this must be continued at least 

 five or six times, or more, if on trial 

 there is not sufficient thickness of var- 

 nish to bear the polish, without laying 

 bare the painting or ground color under- 

 neath. When a sufficient number of 

 coats is thus laid on, the work is fit to be 

 polished: which must be done in com- 



mon cases by rubbing it with a rag 

 dipped in tripoli or rotten-stone, finely 

 powdered ; but towards the end of the 

 rubbing, a little oil of any kind should 

 be used along with the powder; and 

 when the work appears sufficiently bright 

 and glossy, it should be well rubbed with 

 the oil alone, to clean it from the pow- 

 der, and give it a still brighter lustre. 



Jatropha, the cossada plant, a genus 

 of the monadelphia order, in the monoe- 

 cia class of plants, and in the natural 

 method ranking under the thirty-eighth 

 order, tricocca. There are nine species, 

 of which the most remarkable are — 1. 

 The curcas, or English physic nut. 2. 

 The gossypifolia, cotton leaved jatropha. 



3. The multifida, or French physic nut. 



4. The manihot or bitter cassada, 5. The 

 janiphii,or sweet cassada. 6. The elasti- 

 ca. The root of the bitter cassada has no 

 fibrous or woody filaments in the heart, 

 and neither boils nor roasts soft. The 

 sweet cassada has all the opposite quali- 

 ties. The bitter, however, may be der 

 prived of its noxious qualities (which re^ 

 side in the juice) by heat, Cassada bread 

 is therefore made of both the bitter and 

 sweet. Thescrapings of fresh bittercassada 

 are successfully applied to ill disposed 

 ulcers. Cassada roots yield a great quan- 

 tity of starch, which the Brazilians ex- 

 port in little lumps, under the name of 

 tapioca. A fermented drink called ouycau, 

 is prepared with this root. West India 

 potatoes and molasses. The sixth species 

 is the hevea guianensis, of Aublet, "or 

 tree that yields the elastic resin caout- 

 chouc (India rubber.) 



Jelly, in chemistry. If we press 

 out the juice of ripe blackberries, 

 currents, and many other fruits, and 

 allow it to remain for some time in a 

 state of rest, it partly coagulates into a 

 tremulous soft substance, well known by 

 the name of jelly. If we pour off the 

 incoagulated parts, and wash the coagulum 

 with a small quantity of water, we ob- 

 tain jelly approaching to a state of pu- 

 rity. In this state it is nearly colorless, 

 unless tinged by the peculiar coloring 

 matter of the fruit ; it has a pleasant 

 taste, and a tremulous consistency. It is 

 scarcely soluble in cold water, but very 

 soluble in hot water, and when the solu- 



