Dec. 1, 1.864,] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



CORK AND ITS USES. 



BY JOHN R. JACKSON. 



Amongst the many materials or productions in use in everyday life, 

 cork may certainly take a position in the foremost rank. We all know 

 something of cork ; from our earliest childhood we have been familiar 

 with it. It is a substance that has retained all its ancient uses, as well 

 as its importance and value, from its earliest history down to our own 

 day. Unlike most other things, it has not, even in this age of applica- 

 tion and invention, found a rival. True it is we have " corky " sub- 

 stances in abundance, produced in almost every country ; but neither 

 the productions of Nature nor the productions of mechanical skill have 

 produced an efficient substitute for cork, one that could take the place 

 of this valuable bark, or even go side by side with it. 



Considering the great quantity of cork that is consumed even in this 

 country alone, as well as the great amount that is wasted, the quantity 

 of bark annually stripped in the cork-forests is an operation of no little 

 importance. The slight value many individuals place upon cork, on the 

 whole, does not lead us in the least degree to estimate its real importance, 

 which, in a commercial point of view, is of no trifling nature. 



There must needs be a large quantity imported ; for amongst wine 

 merchants, bottled-beer merchants, or soda-water makers, a cork is never 

 used a second time : but then what an immense bulk would go to make 

 up a ton of cork, and yet it is by weight that the imports are estimated. 

 There is an immense consumption, and the demand of late years has 

 almost exceeded the supply. The annual quantity imported into this 

 country averages about 5,000 tons. 



Of the early history of cork, it is very clear that it was well-known 

 and in use amongst the Greeks and Romans. Theophrastus distinctly 

 alludes to the fact, now so well-known, that the continual barking of the 

 trees tends to improve the quality of the cork. With the Greeks it was 

 called " Phenos," while the Romans knew it by its present specific name. 



VOL. V. Z 



