POTS AND PANS. 289 



Bone-black, or " animal charcoal " as it is popularly 

 but improperly called is made by burning bones in closed 

 vessels. From it is made the " ivory black " of the artist, 

 and it is also used in the manufacture of blacking. Bone 

 charcoal is employed for refining sugar, and is so absor- 

 bent that it will take all the colour out of treacle, or sugar- 

 water coloured with indigo, leaving them quite white. 

 The " charcoal " may be used over and over again by wash- 

 ing and heating, and when finally exhausted for refining 

 purposes, is used for manure and the manufacture of phos- 

 phorus. 



A word must be said about the old tin and iron ware 

 kettles, pots, and pans, &c. which are sometimes consigned 

 to the dust-bin. The tin-soldier business seems to be eon- 

 fined to the Continent ; in England the best parts of an 

 ancient tin-kettle are clipped out, cut into shape, punched 

 with holes, blacked and varnished, and used to strengthen 

 the edges and comers of cheap trunks. 



Old iron may, of course, be melted down, but before this 

 happens it frequently takes a voyage as ballast, and large 

 shiploads of frying-pans, gridirons, saucepans, candlesticks, 

 tea-trays, boilers, shovels, old corrugated iron roofing, the 

 produce of the old-iron shops, and the findings of the 

 Thames mud-larks, are sent off to the United States and 

 the Continent. Our exports of this description reached 

 132,033 tons in 1882, and were valued at ^507,161. 



Saucepans and frying-pans naturally lead one to think of 



food, and in concluding our notice of household refuse, we 



may mention a curious market held at the Halles Centrales, 



in Paris (Fig. 56), for the sale of broken meat of all kinds, 



T 



