The Dictionary of Merchandize and Nomenclature in All European Languages

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Boosey, 1815 - 396 pages
 

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Page 34 - Gilead. 1 1 ; i -. . , •!, 1 1 ii .1 has given a description of the true balsam-tree of Mecca. He says that the exudation from the plant " is of a yellow color, and pellucid. It has a most fragrant smell, which U resinous balsamic, and very agreeable. It is very tenacious or glutinous, sticking to the fingers, and may be drawn into long threads.
Page 170 - They begin to appear off the Shetland Isles in April and May ; these are only the forerunners of the grand shoal which comes in June ; and their appearance is marked by certain signs...
Page 223 - The flowers are of a reddish or saffron colour; and the fruit of an oval form, about the size of a turkey's egg. Some of them have reached to a monstrous size, exceeding one hundred feet in height; One was cut about thirty years since in St.
Page 201 - March, an animalcule, no larger than a grain of millet, fcarce able to crawl, is perceived flicking to the branches of the tree, where it fixes itfelf, and foon becomes immoveable ; at this period it grows the...
Page 316 - Cosmas) in different parts of India, had penetrated into the country of the Seres or China. There they observed the labours of the...
Page 319 - Of three specimens from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half in length...
Page 222 - Madder gives out its colo.ur, both to water and rectified spirit : the watery tincture is of a dark dull red ; the spirituous of a deep bright one. It imparts to woollen cloth, prepared with alum and tartar, a very durable, though not a very beautiful red dye. As it is the cheapest of all the red drugs that give a durable colour, it is the principal one commonly made use of for ordinary stuffs. Sometimes its dye is heightened by the addition of Brazilwood, and sometimes it is employed in conjunction...
Page 215 - The glycirrhiza, or common liquorice shrub, has a long, thick, creeping root, striking several feet deep into the ground; an upright, firm, herbaceous, annual stalk, three or four feet high, garnished with winged leaves, of four or five pair of oval lobes, terminated by an odd one : and from the axillas, erect spikes of pale blue flowers in July,succeeded by short smooth pods.
Page 101 - His conjecture was right; for in less than two days they met with, at the depth of seven feet from the surface, the solid mineral, which proved to be that vast body which has since been worked to such advantage. The day that this discovery was made was March 2d, 1768; which has ever since been observed as a festival by the miners.
Page 223 - In felling these trees, the most beautiful part is commonly left behind. The negro workmen raise a scaffolding of four or five feet elevation from the ground, and hack up the trunk, which they cut into balks. The part below, extending to the root, is not only of larger diameter, but of a closer texture than the other parts, most elegantly diversified with shades or clouds, or dotted like ermine with spots : it takes the highest polish, with a singular lustre.

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