Am.  Jour.  Phaxm. 
July,  1893. 
Asbestos. 
353 
from  Tarantaise,  in  Savoy,  and  forms  filaments  exceeding  fifty  centi- 
metres in  length.  In  the  Alleghany  and  Appalachian  mountains 
there  are  important  beds  of  this  mineral,  and  veins  of  it  are  fre- 
quently found  about  fifty  centimetres  in  thickness.  Canadian 
asbestos  is  also  of  a  very  superior  quality.  On  the  St.  Francois 
river  there  is  a  bed  sixteen  hundred  metres  long  and  of  unknown 
depth.  In  olden  times  asbestos  was  spun  and  made  into  table-cloths, 
serviettes,  etc.,  which  were  cleaned  by  being  passed  through  the 
fire,  and  this  material  was  also  used  by  the  ancients  to  wrap  around 
•corpses  before  placing  them  on  the  funeral  pile,  in  order  that  the 
ashes  might  not  be  mixed  with  the  wood.  In  the  Vatican  Library, 
at  Rome,  an  asbestos  shroud  can  be  seen  which  contains  ashes  and 
half-burnt  bones,  with  which  it  was  found  in  a  sarcophagus.  The 
ancients  also  made  wicks  for  funeral  lamps  of  the  material.  In 
modern  times,  asbestos  has  been  used  for  firemen's  clothing  and  for 
fire-proof  paper.  More  recently,  in  America,  its  employment  has 
greatly  increased,  and  it  is  now  used  as  a  substitute  for  minium  and 
caoutchouc,  in  connection  with  the  machinery  in  steamboats  and 
locomotives.  Asbestos  tissues,  manufactured  with  pure  amianthus 
yarn,  are  employed  by  the  manufacturers  of  chemical  products  in 
filtering  acids,  and  as  wicks  in  certain  heating  apparatus.  Asbestos 
mastic  has  an  advantage  over  all  known  mastics,  and  resists  the 
very  highest  temperature  without  injury.  Asbestos  colors  are 
manufactured  which,  in  the  case  of  metals,  form  an  excellent  pre- 
ventive of  oxidation,  and  render  wood  and  tissues  absolutely 
incombustible.  Bricks,  made  of  very  light  and  porous  asbestos, 
are  frequently  placed  in  gas  chimneys  ;  the  mineral  reddens,  and 
throws  out  a  great  heat.  Abaut  twelve  years  ago  not  more  than 
three  or  four  articles,  at  the  most,  were  made  of  asbestos,  while,  at 
the  present  day,  the  list  contains  more  than  a  hundred,  and  the 
use  of  this  article  is  extending  every  where.  One  of  the  uses  to  which 
abestos  is  now  put  is  in  connection  with  ceramics,  and  the  use  of 
asbestos  pottery  is  expected  to  become  popular,  and  to  spread. 
With  asbestos  powder  a  species  of  earthenware  is  manufactured,  of 
which  the  results,  from  an  industrial  point  of  view,  are  very  inter- 
esting. This  earthenware  has  the  peculiarity  of  possessing  a  grain 
of  a  fineness  hitherto  unattained  bv  any  china  ware.  Its  color 
varies  according  to  the  treatment  to  which  the  asbestos  has  been 
subjected  ,;  it  most  frequently  approaches  that  of  terra  cotta,  and  this 
