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Description of the beaver
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Descriptlon o f the Beaver.
to believe or reject it. They assert, and there are some who p,'ofess to have been ocular witnesses, that fire two chiefs of two beihgerent tribes, sometimes terminate the quarrel by single combat~ in the presence of the two hostile armies, like tile l)eopie of Medidve, or three a,,ainst three like the Itoratii and Curiatii of anti(ratty. Beavers a,,a d', 'ath , eparates then,. They p nish infiaelity the females severely, even with death. " I n fine, these animals are so extraordinary5 even in the eyes of the Indians themselves, that they suppose them ~ e n , become beavers by transmigrathm, a,d they think in killing them to do them a great service, tbr flmv say they restore them to their original state. ''~ \V('. may ad~mt.[~eously ('mtclude the fifl)ulous history of the be'~vet, by iut'r~ducin~ the judici(ms observations made on the subject by lb:,u~l.:, who~ e'x(:t~lhmt remarks oa this animal have been, hitherto, alt,,gcdw.r (wcrlooke.d. ~ [ cannot rcflain fr~)m smiling when I read the accounts of differcut auihors v.:bo have written on the economy of these animals, as there seem~ to be a contest between them who shall most exceed in tlctiou. But the compiler o[" the Wonders of Nature and Art, seems in my opiuion to have succeeded best ill this respect, am he has not only collected all ihc fictio~ls into which other writers (,n this sul@ct }lave run, but has so greatly improved on them, that little remains to be added to his accomLt of the beaver, besides a vocabulat\g of their lanTuage, a code of their laws, and a sketch of their religion, to make 'i~ttlie'most complete natural history of that animal which can possibly be otI'ered to the public. "There c:muot be a greater imposition, m" indeed a grosser insult ou commou understanding, than the wish to make us believe the stories of some of the worl
Descri12tion of the Beaver. The beaver is about two feet in length, having a thick and heavy body, especially at its hinder part. The head is compressed an't[ somewhat arched at the front, the upper part being rather narrow, and the snout, at the extremity, quite so; the neck is very short and thick. The eyes are situated rather high up on the head, and have rounded pupils; the ears are short, elliptical, and almost entirely concealed by the thr. The whole skin is covered with two s(n-ts o[ hair; one w[lich is long, raffler stiff; elastic~ and of a gray eolour tbr to state that this is g~vcn,in that work, as a '~hunter'sstory," which is too el'ten. synonymouswith an English word of three letters. * Bcitrami; I,:,. l)ccouverte des Sources du Missis6ipl)i, ~.c. 1325. J Octa~o cd. 1796, p. 231.
Esg:tjs on Bleaching.
231
two-thirds of its length next the base, and terminated by shining, reddish, brown poiut~, giving the general colour to the pelage; tim other is short, very fine, thick, tufted and soft, being of different shades of silver gray or light lead colour. On the head and feet the hair is shorter than elsewhere. The tail, wlfich is ten or eleven inches long, is covered with hair similar to that of the back, for about one-third of its length nearest the base, tile rest of it is covered by hexagonal scales, which are not imbricated. The only species of beaver, known, is the one we have described; all the otherswhich have been noticed, are varieties of this species. During the first year of their lives, the beavers are termed pappooses, by the hunters; when two years old, small meddlers; at three years of age, large meddlers; in their fourth year tliey are called beavers, and after that, old, or great beavers.
ESSAYS ON B L E A C H I N G . By JAMES RENNIn, A. M. Lecturer on Philosophy, &c. &e. London. :No. V.--Processes followed in Bleaching. SECTION
II.
~. Jhecking.--This is one of the processes which has lately received important improvements t'~'omthe invention of an apparatus called the whale boiler, whose ope,'ation has ah'cady been described. But w rather this b e , sod, (a,~d it is not yet general,) or the okI apparatus, the goods are treated precisely in the same way, and it is a very important part of the whole operations. The first thing to be attended to in bucking is the preparation of an alkaline ley of a proper strength. For this purpose the crude alkali is to be broken into small pieces not exceeding the bigness of a hazel nut, or bruised by means of a horse mill, and put into .the. boiler with a proper. _quantityof water. It would be an econommng of fuel to put tMs into the boiler immediately on drawing oit" old leys, when the heat of the
• • ought ¢ r ~ " not to be • 'permitted "¢ " to " • • liquor boil, for Dr. Home," g (p.* 105,) proves by experiment that salts fi'om ashes by boiling are not so strono_ly alkaline as the ashes themselves. If pearl ashes are added to a l~y made from the other crude alkalies, they need not be put in till the solution is nearly completed, as their greater quantity of carbonic acid renders them much easier to dissolve. Those who pursue the older modes of bleaching, put the goods into the alkaline solution which is thus prepared; but as its strength can be, accordinz to Kirwan's experiments, increased one-haft by the addition of socheap an article as quick-lime, this ought never to be neglected, particularly also as chemistry informs us, that no alkali will combine with any oleaginous matter (unless it be in a state of causticity). It
Descriptlon o f the Beaver.
to believe or reject it. They assert, and there are some who p,'ofess to have been ocular witnesses, that fire two chiefs of two beihgerent tribes, sometimes terminate the quarrel by single combat~ in the presence of the two hostile armies, like tile l)eopie of Medidve, or three a,,ainst three like the Itoratii and Curiatii of anti(ratty. Beavers a,,a d', 'ath , eparates then,. They p nish infiaelity the females severely, even with death. " I n fine, these animals are so extraordinary5 even in the eyes of the Indians themselves, that they suppose them ~ e n , become beavers by transmigrathm, a,d they think in killing them to do them a great service, tbr flmv say they restore them to their original state. ''~ \V('. may ad~mt.[~eously ('mtclude the fifl)ulous history of the be'~vet, by iut'r~ducin~ the judici(ms observations made on the subject by lb:,u~l.:, who~ e'x(:t~lhmt remarks oa this animal have been, hitherto, alt,,gcdw.r (wcrlooke.d. ~ [ cannot rcflain fr~)m smiling when I read the accounts of differcut auihors v.:bo have written on the economy of these animals, as there seem~ to be a contest between them who shall most exceed in tlctiou. But the compiler o[" the Wonders of Nature and Art, seems in my opiuion to have succeeded best ill this respect, am he has not only collected all ihc fictio~ls into which other writers (,n this sul@ct }lave run, but has so greatly improved on them, that little remains to be added to his accomLt of the beaver, besides a vocabulat\g of their lanTuage, a code of their laws, and a sketch of their religion, to make 'i~ttlie'most complete natural history of that animal which can possibly be otI'ered to the public. "There c:muot be a greater imposition, m" indeed a grosser insult ou commou understanding, than the wish to make us believe the stories of some of the worl
Descri12tion of the Beaver. The beaver is about two feet in length, having a thick and heavy body, especially at its hinder part. The head is compressed an't[ somewhat arched at the front, the upper part being rather narrow, and the snout, at the extremity, quite so; the neck is very short and thick. The eyes are situated rather high up on the head, and have rounded pupils; the ears are short, elliptical, and almost entirely concealed by the thr. The whole skin is covered with two s(n-ts o[ hair; one w[lich is long, raffler stiff; elastic~ and of a gray eolour tbr to state that this is g~vcn,in that work, as a '~hunter'sstory," which is too el'ten. synonymouswith an English word of three letters. * Bcitrami; I,:,. l)ccouverte des Sources du Missis6ipl)i, ~.c. 1325. J Octa~o cd. 1796, p. 231.
Esg:tjs on Bleaching.
231
two-thirds of its length next the base, and terminated by shining, reddish, brown poiut~, giving the general colour to the pelage; tim other is short, very fine, thick, tufted and soft, being of different shades of silver gray or light lead colour. On the head and feet the hair is shorter than elsewhere. The tail, wlfich is ten or eleven inches long, is covered with hair similar to that of the back, for about one-third of its length nearest the base, tile rest of it is covered by hexagonal scales, which are not imbricated. The only species of beaver, known, is the one we have described; all the otherswhich have been noticed, are varieties of this species. During the first year of their lives, the beavers are termed pappooses, by the hunters; when two years old, small meddlers; at three years of age, large meddlers; in their fourth year tliey are called beavers, and after that, old, or great beavers.
ESSAYS ON B L E A C H I N G . By JAMES RENNIn, A. M. Lecturer on Philosophy, &c. &e. London. :No. V.--Processes followed in Bleaching. SECTION
II.
~. Jhecking.--This is one of the processes which has lately received important improvements t'~'omthe invention of an apparatus called the whale boiler, whose ope,'ation has ah'cady been described. But w rather this b e , sod, (a,~d it is not yet general,) or the okI apparatus, the goods are treated precisely in the same way, and it is a very important part of the whole operations. The first thing to be attended to in bucking is the preparation of an alkaline ley of a proper strength. For this purpose the crude alkali is to be broken into small pieces not exceeding the bigness of a hazel nut, or bruised by means of a horse mill, and put into .the. boiler with a proper. _quantityof water. It would be an econommng of fuel to put tMs into the boiler immediately on drawing oit" old leys, when the heat of the
• • ought ¢ r ~ " not to be • 'permitted "¢ " to " • • liquor boil, for Dr. Home," g (p.* 105,) proves by experiment that salts fi'om ashes by boiling are not so strono_ly alkaline as the ashes themselves. If pearl ashes are added to a l~y made from the other crude alkalies, they need not be put in till the solution is nearly completed, as their greater quantity of carbonic acid renders them much easier to dissolve. Those who pursue the older modes of bleaching, put the goods into the alkaline solution which is thus prepared; but as its strength can be, accordinz to Kirwan's experiments, increased one-haft by the addition of socheap an article as quick-lime, this ought never to be neglected, particularly also as chemistry informs us, that no alkali will combine with any oleaginous matter (unless it be in a state of causticity). It