ALA 



jn proport'on to the rr.pidity of the ftrcam, ard the (b- 

 limiity of its fall. Tliis circumdancc fiiggcHtd to Dr. 

 Vfgn'i the idea of cftabhfliing, on this moiiiitnin, a niami- 

 fa<\in-e of artificial alabafter. For tliis piirp(jfL-, he tiifl: 

 coMidtd a number of plailtr modtU, of the bill bas-relitis, 

 in Rome and other phiecs of Italy. Tliefe models fei-ve to 

 iorm the hollow moulds, wliieh are n :ade of fiilphur, ac- 

 cording to the following procefs. The philUr model is 

 rubbed over with boiled liiileed oil, and lurroundcd witii 

 an edging of plafler, of the fame height as the inteiidid 

 thieknels of the fiibfeqiicnt ba'i-relief. 'I'hcn fulphur, 

 melted with jull fiithcicnt lieat to make it floM , is poure<l 

 on tlie plaller model, and fills it to tlie height of the edg- 

 ing. 'I'hc fulphur moidd tiiiis made, is placed in a kind 

 of wooden tub, roughly put together, open at top and 

 bottom, and of lefs diameter below than above. This 

 tub has on the infide a falfe bottom, made of (lips of 

 wood laid crofs-wife, in order to detain, for a (liort 

 time, the water which dallifs on them. Juft above this, 

 is a row of wooden pegs, fallcned to the tub, around its 

 whole inner circumference, on which the fulphur mould is 

 let down, and thus fnpported. The whole is then placed 

 under the boiling fpring, and inclofed with walls, to pre- 

 vent it from being dilplaced by the wind. The water, 

 which thus dalhcs on ihe moulds, depofits its earth both 

 witliiii and witliout them, giving the impreflion in bas-relief 

 within, and dt-fpofing itfelf in an undulated furface on the 

 outfide. The hardncfs of the alaballer depends on the degree 

 of obliquity at which the mould is placed, in order to receive 

 the dalhing of the water. The more vertical its pofition, 

 the harder is the alabafter. However, as the hardeil mo- 

 dels are not fo white as the fofter, the water is in fome 

 cafes caufed to make a circuitous courfe, in order to de- 

 pofit all its groffer particles before it arrives at the mould, 

 tven ■ the fofter ones, however, are as hard as Carrara 

 marl)le, and furpafs it in whitenefs. The time required for 

 thefc produAions varies, according to the thicknefs, from 

 one month to four. When the fulphur mould is fuffici- 

 cntly filled, and the ground of the model has acquired a 

 thicknefs capable of fupporting the figures, the whole is 

 removed from the water ; the wooden fupports are broken 

 by gentle ilrokes of the hammer, and the incruftation on 

 the outfide of the moijd is chipped off by repeated ilrokes. 

 Then the tub is ftruck with a fmart blow of a hammer, 

 which feparates the model from the mould ; generally, how- 

 ever, cracking the latter. The briUiancy of the models 

 is completed by brufhing them with a llift" hair-bru(h, and 

 rubbing with the palm of the hand. 



The compofition of this alabafter is gypfum, mixed with 

 a fmall proportion of carbonated lime. Dr. de Vegni has, 

 after many attempts, fucceeded in giving a fine black, or 

 flefh colour to the figures thus formed, by putting a vefltl 

 half full of colouring matter into the water, before it 

 arrives at the mould. The colouring may alfo be varied, 

 Hsy protecting particular parts of the mould, while the 

 water continues charged with colouring matter. 



A fpring of the fame kind as that juft defcribed, and 

 applied to fimilar purpofcs, is that of Guancavelica in 

 Peru. The water riles from the ground into a large bafon 

 boiling hot, and of a muddy yellowifh w hite colour. At 

 a little diilance from the bafon, the water becoming cool, 

 depofits calcareous matter in fuch vaft abundance, as to 

 fill large moulds with a compaft ftone, of which fome of 

 the houfes of the town are conftrufted. The moulds of 

 ^atuaries, in like manner, being expoled to the water, are 

 filled with hard confufedly cryftallized alabafter, and the 

 bus reliefs thus produced, by polilliing, become femitranf- 



ALA 



parent and very beautiful. The images mede ufe of by 

 the Cathol'cs of Lin;a, in their religious ceremonies, are 

 faid to be all fonned in this manner. 



Pliny Nat. Hill. — Hauy, Traite de Mineralogie Kir- 



wan's Nlineralogy. — Bomare, Diet. d'Hill. Kat. — Journal 

 de I'hyfiquc, vol. i.^:. 



Alabaster, in Anliqtiily., is alfo ufed for a vafc, wherein 

 odoriferous liquors were anciently put. 



The reafon of the denomination is, that veHels fur this 

 purpofe were frequently made of alabafter-ftonc, which Pliriy 

 and other ancients reprefent as peculiarly proper for this 

 purpofe. 



Several critics will have the box mentioned in the Gofpils 

 as made of alaballer, to have been of glafs. And though 

 the texts fay, that the woman broke it, yet the pieces feera 

 miraculoufly to have been united, finee we are told, the 

 entire box was purchaled by the emperor Conrtantine, and 

 pi'eferved as a relic of great pr.ce. 



Otheis will have it, that the name alabafter denotes the 

 form rather than the matter of this box. In this view, they 

 define alabafter-, by a box without a handle, deriving the 

 .word fi-oni the privative a, and ?.a?>i, an/a, har.cUe. 



The expreflion, o-nrpiiarai to aXafixrfov, ufed by the 

 evangelift Mark, (xiv. 3.) and which oiu- tranflators have 

 rendered " She brake the box," has occafioned fome 

 difficulty in the interpretation of this paffage ; but by i-e- 

 ferring the term ;rv»Toi4 a?:^ to the ointment, and not to the 

 alabafter box ; and rendering the words, with Bifhop 

 Peaice, "breaking fire poured the box," ;'. e. breaking the 

 parts of the ointment, and liquefying them by fliaking it, 

 ihe poured fome of the ointment out of the box upon his 

 head ; or, with Mr. Wakefield, " After fhaking the box 

 together-, fire poured it out upon his head," the difficulty 

 is obviated. Tojuftify this tranflation, and interpretation 

 of the word c-uvrfi^oura, it may be obferved, that Luke 

 (ix. 39.) ufes awTfi^u-j for bru'ifing. Blackwall, Sacred 

 Claffics, vol. ii. p. 166. has remarked, that the fliaking of 

 liquids of this nature breaks and feparates their parts, and 

 thei-eby makes them miOre liquid and fragi-ant ; and that 

 the word 3-t7Tpi4.ao-5i is an excellent one for that purpofe; 

 and he very juilly quotes, on this occafion, Plato in Phasf- 

 done, AixTfi^-"? fo $:»f^axov : Martial's Epigrams, iii. 55. 

 Ed. Delphin. 



" Et fluere cscujh cinnama fufa vitro." 



and Lucretius iv. 700. 



" Frafta raagis redolere videntur 



Omnia quod contrita." 



See Peai-ce's Com. vol. i. p. 276. Wakefield's 

 Silva critica. Pars. ima. p. 156. 



Sir Edward Knatchbull and Dr. Ham.mond have fug- 



gefted the fame interpretation of this palfage. 



Alabaster is alfo faid to have been ufed for an ancient 

 liquid meafurc, containing ten ounces of wine, or nine of 

 oil, and in this fenfe the alabafter was equal to half the 

 fextarj'. 



Alabaster IJlnnd, in Geography. See Eleuthera. 



ALABASTRA, in Botany, arc thofe little herbaceous 

 leaves which encompafs the bottoms of flowers, pai-ticularly 

 the rofe. See Calyx, &c. 



Some, with Jungius, explain alabaftra, by the globe or 

 roundifti bud of the rofe juft peeping out. 



ALABASTRA, in Jinaent Geography, a town of 

 Phrygia, mentioned by Steph. Byz. on the authority of 

 Herodotus, but probably miftaken for Alabanda. Ptolemy 

 meations a town of this uame in Egypt. 



ALABASTRIT^, 



