ON THE TOBACCO PIPE MANUFACTURE, ETC. 497 



get hot, begin to smoke, and finally burst into flame ; which accounts 

 for many of the apparently mysterious tires of mills and manufactories. 

 And if linseed oil and ground manganese are "triturated" together 

 the soft lump so formed will speedily become firm, and take fire of 

 is own accord. Oils are purified by sulphuric acid, by steam and hot 

 air passing through them, and by tannic acid. Mineral oils, so-called, 

 are not oils at all, according to the proper definition of oils ; they are 

 fluid hydro-carbons, with the addition in the Burmese naphtha, of a con- 

 siderable quantity of paraffme. — ( All the Year Round.' 



THE TOBACCO PIPE MANUFACTURE, PIPE CLAYS, AND 

 MEERSCHAUM. 



BY JOHN GEORGE REYNOLDS. 



The manufacture of the tobacco pipe is an item of labour which 

 has required for this purpose nearly 40,000 tons of clay per annum, of 

 which quantity about 12,000 tons are consumed in the United Kingdom, 

 supplied principally from the Clay works of Messrs. Whiteway and Co., 

 Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot, Devonshire, who have also supplied the 

 French manufacturers for the last six years. 



Those who do not indnlge in the use of tobacco may despise an 

 article which ministers in no way to their pleasure, but on the other 

 hand excites their disgust. A feeling kindred to this might have pos- 

 sessed the mind of the Greek Sage, who, when passing through a fair 

 at Athens, and on seeing stalls filled with a variety of wares, exclaimed, 

 with a derisive smile : — " How many things are here that I do not 

 want." Many may smile at, but we think they cannot but admire, the 

 amount of science and skill which has been brought to bear upon 

 a want so general, and in the gratification of a pleasure which none but 

 the smoker can appreciate. There are those who decry the use of 

 tobacco, and who denounce it in the strongest terms. Medical and other 

 men have written against it ; but they have never advanced anything 

 specific upon the subject. They argue, that as nicotine the active prin- 

 ciple of tobacco is injurious in its isolated form, the use of it must be 

 pernicious. The experience of mankind does not confirm their opinion 

 although we cannot but admit, that the excessive use or abuse of 

 tobacco, as of everything else is injurious. 



We shall proceed to illustrate the nature of clay, and its adaptation 

 to the tobacco-pipe, and then go step by step through the several pro- 

 cesses, from the native material to its completion. 



Granite is the primary constituent of pipe clay, deriving its name 

 from the Latin word " Granum" (grain). Granite is a mixture of quartz, 

 felspar, and mica ; the pavement of London Bridge, hewn from the Haytor 

 "VOX. III. v u 



