CHAPTER VII. 
PIPES AND SMOKERS. (CONTINUED.) 
AEs ‘ 
4p SN Russia and Denmark as also in Norway and 
‘HC 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 arich 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, 
Vallecos, and Toledo; the best however comes from Asia 
Minor. The chief places are the celebrated meerschaum 
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