THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Dec. 1, 1864. 



194 CORK AND ITS USES. 



of " Suber." Though cork was probably used in very remote times for 

 similar purposes to those of the present day — that of stoppers . for 

 bottles amongst the rest — this, however, does not seem to have been its 

 common or general use, inasmuch as we find that vessels of that period 

 were frequently closed by earth, clay, and other similar substances. 

 Stoppers of cork, or" corks," as we now call them, appear not to have 

 been generally introduced till some time in the latter part of the sixteenth 

 centmy ; from that period, however, its use has been getting more and 

 more universal in all parts of the world. 



Before the introduction of cork, or its general adoption for bottle- 

 stoppers, various articles were resorted to for this purpose. We are told 

 that apothecaries secured the contents of their phials with stoppers 

 made of wax, which must have been a somewhat tedious process. But 

 even in our own day, a similar custom prevails in many parts of Europe ; 

 for with many of the Italians and Neapolitans, for instance, the practice 

 of securing their wines, by pouring oil into the mouth of the bottle 

 before tying it down with skin, is still very prevalent. 



Before entering into the uses of cork, however, let us pay a short 

 visit to the forests from whence it is obtained, and trace its progress 

 from its natural position to that of its ultimate application. 



Cork, as we all know, is the bark of a tree, though commercially 

 miscalled " cork-wood." It is produced by two species of oak, Quercus 

 suber, L., and Quercus occklentalis, hence called the " cork-oaks." These 

 trees grow abundantly in large forests in Spain, Italy, the South of 

 France, and Northern Africa, the latter species being found alone on the 

 Atlantic side. This species is also peculiar, from the fact that it ripens 

 its acorns in the second year. 



In general appearance, the cork-oaks differ little from the common 

 oak, except, perhaps, that they do not attain to so large a size. There 

 is also a slight difference in the form of their leaves — those of Quercus 

 suber, L., being more lanceolate, and the margins not so deeply sinuate ; 

 the acorns are also 6oniewhat longer and more tapering in form than 

 those of the common oak. 



The cork-oak does not require a rich soil ; but, on the contrary, it 

 seems to thrive best in poor and uncultivated ground. To collect the 

 cork, incisions are made longitudinally and transversely in the bark of 

 the living tree, the instrument used being a kind of axe, the handle of 

 which terminates in a wedge-shaped form. After the bark is cut through, 

 it is beaten to loosen it from the liber or inner bark, the wedge-shaped 

 axe-handle being inserted to lift the bark from the trunk. The cork thus 

 removed usually varies from three-quarters of an inch to three inches in 

 thickness. The next operation is to divide it into pieces of an uniform or 

 convenient size, and to flatten it, each piece having, of course, a similar 

 curve, corresponding with the trunk of the tree from whence it was taken. 

 For this purpose, the pieces are placed in pits and covered with water, and 

 then pressed flat with heavy stones. The well-known charred surface 



