Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 45

All organic substances may be employed as manures; preference being, however, given to those abounding in nitrogen, and which readily decay when mixed with the soil.

The a.n.a.lysis of manures, soils, and the ashes of plants, for the purpose of ascertaining their composition and comparative value, is not easily performed by the inexperienced; but a rough approximation to their contents, sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes, may be generally made by any intelligent person with proper care and attention.

See AGRICULTURE, BONE-DUST, GUANO, &c.

=Manures, Artificial.= Various formulae belonging to this head will be found dispersed, under their respective names, throughout this work. The following are additional ones:--

1. (Anderson.) Sulphate of ammonia, common salt, and oil of vitriol, of each 10 parts; chloride of pota.s.sium, 15 parts; gypsum and sulphate of pota.s.sa, of each 17 parts; saltpetre, 20 parts; crude Epsom salts, 25 parts; sulphate of soda, 33 parts. For clover.

2. (Huxtable.) Crude potash, 28 lbs.; common salt, 1 cwt.; bone-dust and gypsum, of each 2 cwt.; wood-ashes, 15 bushels. For either corn, turnips, or gra.s.s.

3. (Johnstone.) Sulphate of soda (dry), 11 lbs.; wood-ashes, 28 lbs.; common salt, 3/4 cwt.; crude sulphate of ammonia, 1 cwt.; bone-dust, 7 bushels. As a subst.i.tute for guano.

4. (Lawes' 'Superphosphate.') See COPROLITE.

5. (Fertilising powder.) A mixture of very fine bone-dust, 18 parts; calcined gypsum, and sulphate of ammonia, of each 1 part. The seed is ordered to be steeped in the 'drainings' from a dunghill, and after being drained, but whilst still wet, to be sprinkled with the powder, and then dried. See FLOWERS, LIME (Superphosphate), &c.

=Ma.n.u.sCRIPTS, Faded, to Restore.= One of the methods in use for the restoration of old or faded writing is to expose it to the vapours of hydrosulphate of ammonia (hydrosulphide of ammonium) until the ink becomes darkened by the formation of sulphide of iron. Another consists in carefully was.h.i.+ng, or sponging, the faded ma.n.u.script over with a weak solution of the ammonic sulphide, and as soon as the characters become legible, soaking it in water so as to remove the remaining sulphide, and then drying it between folds of blotting paper. A third plan, and one attended with less risk to the paper, is to brush over the ma.n.u.script with a moderately strong aqueous solution of gallo-tannic acid, to wash with water, and afterwards to dry it at a temperature of about 150 Fahr.

The solution of gallo-tannic acid may be obtained by making a strong infusion of bruised nutgalls in boiling water, and when cold, straining it. Some old and mediaeval ma.n.u.scripts are written in inks made of carbon.

To such the above treatment is inapplicable; being suited only to those traced in ordinary writing ink. For parchments the latter method is preferable.

=MAPS.= These, as well as architect's and engineer's designs, plans, sections, drawings, &c., may be tinted with any of the simple liquid colours mentioned under 'VELVET COLOURS,' preference being given to the most transparent ones, which will not obscure the lines beneath them. To prevent the colours from sinking and spreading, which they usually do on common paper, the latter should be wetted 2 or 3 times with a sponge dipped in alum water (3 or 4 oz. to the pint), or with a solution of white size, observing to dry it carefully after each coat. This tends to give l.u.s.tre and beauty to the colours. The colours for this purpose should also be thickened with a little gum water. Before varnis.h.i.+ng maps after colouring them, 2 or 3 coats of clean size should be applied with a soft brush--the first one to the back.

=MARASCHI'NO= (-keno). _Syn._ MARASQUIN, Fr. A delicate liqueur spirit distilled from a peculiar cherry growing in Dalmatia, and afterwards sweetened with sugar. The best is from Zara, and is obtained from the marasca cherry only. An inferior quality is distilled from a mixture of cherries and the juice of liquorice root.

=MAR'BLE.= _Syn._ LIMESTONE, HARD CARBONATE OF LIME; MARMOR, CALCIS CARBONAS DURUS, M. ALb.u.m (B. P., Ph. E. & D.), L. Marbles are merely purer and more compact varieties of limestone, which admit of being sawn into slabs, and are susceptible of a fine polish. White marble is employed for the preparation of carbonic acid and some of the salts of lime. It contains about 65% of lime. Sp. gr. 270 to 285. The tests of its purity are the same as those already noticed under CHALK.

Marble is best cleaned with a little soap-and-water, to which some ox-gall may be added. Acids should be avoided. Oil and grease may be generally removed by spreading a paste made of soft soap, caustic potash lye, and fullers earth over the part, and allowing it to remain there for a few days; after which it must be washed off with clean water. Or, equal parts of American potash (crude carbonate of potash) and whiting are made into a moderately stiff paste with a sufficiency of boiling water, and applied to the marble with a brush. At the end of two or three days the paste is removed and the marble washed with soap-and-water. Any defect of polish may be brought up with tripoli, followed by putty powder, both being used along with water.

Marble is mended with one or other of the compounds noticed under CEMENTS.

Marble may be stained or dyed of various colours by applying coloured solutions or tincture to the stone, made sufficiently hot to make the liquid just simmer on the surface. The following are the substances usually employed for this purpose:--

BLUE. Tincture or solution of litmus, or an alkaline solution of indigo.

BROWN. Tincture of logwood.

CRIMSON. A solution of alkanet root in oil of turpentine.

FLESH COLOUR. Wax tinged with alkanet root, and applied to the marble hot enough to melt it freely.

GOLD COLOUR. A mixture of equal parts of white vitriol, sal ammoniac, and verdigris, each in fine powder, and carefully applied.

GREEN. An alkaline solution or tincture of sap green, or wax strongly coloured with verdigris; or the stone is first stained blue, and then the materials for yellow stain are applied.

RED. Tincture of dragon's blood, alkanet root, or cochineal.

YELLOW. Tincture of gamboge, turmeric, or saffron; or wax coloured with annotta. Success in the application of these colours requires considerable experience. By their skilful use, however, a very pleasing effect, both of colour and grain, may be produced.

=MARBLING (of Books, &c.).= The edges and covers of books are 'marbled' by laying the colour on them with a brush, or by means of a wooden trough containing mucilage, as follows:--Provide a wooden trough, 2 inches deep, 6 inches wide, and the length of a super-royal sheet; boil in a bra.s.s or copper pan any quant.i.ty of linseed and water until a thick mucilage is formed; strain this into the trough, and let it cool; then grind on a marble slab any of the following colours in table beer. For--blue, Prussian blue or indigo;--red, rose-pink, vermilion, or drop lake;--yellow, king's yellow, yellow ochre, &c.;--white, flake white;--black, ivory black, or burnt lampblack;--brown umber, burnt u., terra di sienna, burnt s.; black mixed with yellow or red also makes brown;--green, blue and yellow mixed;--purple, red and blue mixed. For each colour provide two cups--one for the ground colours, the other to mix them with the ox-gall, which must be used to thin them at discretion. If too much gall is used the colours spread; when they keep their place on the surface of the trough, on being moved with a quill, they are fit for use. All things being in readiness, the prepared colours are successively sprinkled on the surface of the mucilage in the trough with a brush, and are waved or drawn about with a quill or a stick according to taste. When the design is thus formed, the book, tied tightly between cutting boards of the same size, is lightly pressed with its edge on the surface of the liquid pattern, and then withdrawn and dried. The covers may be marbled in the same way, only the liquid colours must be allowed to run over them.

The film of colour in the trough may be as thin as possible; and if any remains after the marbling, it may be taken off by applying paper to it before you prepare for marbling again. This process has been called FRENCH MARBLING.

To diversify the effect, a little sweet oil is often mixed with the colours before sprinkling them on, by which means a light halo or circle appears round each spot. In like manner spirit of turpentine, sprinkled on the surface of the trough, produces white spots. By staining the covers with any of the liquid dyes, and then dropping on them, or running over them, drops of the ordinary liquid mordants, a very pleasing effect may be produced. Vinegar black, or a solution of green copperas, thus applied to common leather, produces black spots or streaks, and gives a similar effect with most of the light dyes. A solution of alum or of tin in like manner produces bright spots or streaks, and soda or potash water dark ones. This style has been called EGYPTIAN MARBLE.--SOAP MARBLING is done by throwing on the colours, ground with a little white soap to a proper consistence, by means of a brush. It is much used for book-edges, stationery, sheets of paper, ladies' fancy work, &c.--THREAD MARBLE is given by first covering the edge uniformly of one colour, then laying pieces of thick thread irregularly on different parts of it, and giving it a fine dark sprinkle. When well managed the effect is very pleasing.--RICE MARBLE is given in a similar way to the last by using rice.--TREE MARBLE is done on leather book-covers, &c., by bending the board a little in the centre, and running the marbling liquid over it in the form of vegetation.

The knots are given by rubbing the end of a candle on those parts of the cover.--WAX MARBLE is given in a similar way to thread marble, but using melted wax, which is removed after the book is sprinkled and dried; or a sponge charged with blue, green, or red may be pa.s.sed over. This, also, is much used for stationery work, especially for folios and quartos. The 'vinegar black' of the bookbinders is merely a solution of acetate of iron, made by steeping a few rusty nails or some iron filings in vinegar.

All the ordinary liquid colours that do not contain strong acids or alkalies may be used, either alone or thickened with a little gum, for marbling or sprinkling books.

SPRINKLING is performed by simply dipping a stiff-haired painter's brush into the colour, and suddenly striking it against a small stick held in the left hand over the work. By this means the colour is evenly scattered without producing 'blurs' or 'blots.'

PAPER, PASTEBOARD, &c., in sheets, are marbled and sprinkled in a similar manner to that above described, but in this case the gum trough must, of course, be longer.

=MARGAR'IC ACID.= This term was formerly applied to a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids, produced by decomposing the alkaline soaps of solid fats with an acid, but it is now given to a fatty acid which can only be obtained artificially.

=MAR'GARIN.= _Syn._ MARGARATE OF GLYCERYL. A const.i.tuent formerly supposed to exist in solid fats, but now regarded as a mixture of stearin and palmitin.

=MARINE' ACID.= See HYDROCHLORIC ACID.

=MARL.= A natural mixture of clay and chalk, with sand. It is characterised by effervescing with acids. According to the predominance of one or other of its component parts, it is called argillaceous, calcareous, or sandy marl. It is very generally employed as a manure for sandy soils, more particularly in Norfolk. See SOILS.

=MAR'MALADE.= Originally a conserve made of quinces and sugar; now commonly applied to the conserves of other fruit, more especially to those of oranges and lemons.

_Prep._ Marmalades are made either by pounding the pulped fruit in a mortar with an equal or a rather larger quant.i.ty of powdered white sugar, or by mixing them together by heat, pa.s.sing them through a hair sieve whilst hot, and then putting them into pots or gla.s.ses. The fruit-pulps are obtained by rubbing the fruit through a fine hair sieve, either at once or after it has been softened by simmering it for a short time along with a little water. When heat is employed in mixing the ingredients, the evaporation should be continued until the marmalade 'jellies' on cooling.

See CONSERVES, CONFECTIONS, ELECTUARIES, JAMS, JELLIES, and _below_.

=Marmalade, Apricot.= From equal parts of pulp and sugar.

=Marmalade, Mixed.= From plums, pears, and apples, variously flavoured to palate.

=Marmalade, Orange.= _Prep._ 1. From oranges (either Seville or St Michael's, or a mixture of the two), by boiling the peels in syrup until soft, then pulping them through a sieve, adding as much white sugar, and boiling them with the former syrup and the juice of the fruit to a proper consistence.

2. By melting the confection of orange peel (Ph. L.), either with or without the addition of some orange or lemon juice, and then pa.s.sing it through a sieve.

3. (CANDIED ORANGE MARMALADE.) From candied orange peel, boiled in an equal weight each of sugar and water, and then pa.s.sed through a sieve.

4. (SCOTCH MARMALADE.)--_a._ Seville orange juice, 1 quart; yellow peel of the fruit, grated; honey, 2 lbs.; boil to a proper consistence.

_b._ Seville oranges, 8 lbs.; peel them as thinly as possible, then squeeze out the juice, boil it on the yellow peels for 1/4 of an hour, strain, add white sugar, 7 lbs., and boil to a proper consistence.

=Marmalade, Quince.= _Syn._ DIACYDONIUM. From quince flesh or pulp and sugar, equal parts; or from the juice (miva cydoniorum, gelatina c.), by boiling it to half, adding an equal quant.i.ty of white wine and 2/3rds of its weight of sugar, and gently evaporating the mixture.

=Marmalade, Tomato.= Like APRICOT MARMALADE, adding a few slices of onion and a little parsley.

=MARMORA'TUM.= Finely powdered marble and quicklime, well beaten together; used as a cement or mortar.

=MAR'ROW (Beef).= This is extensively employed by the perfumers in the preparation of various pomades and other cosmetics, on account of its furnis.h.i.+ng an exceedingly bland fat, which is not so much disposed to rancidity as the other fats. It is prepared for use by soaking and working it for some time in lukewarm water, and afterwards melting it in a water bath, and straining it through a piece of muslin whilst hot. When scented it is esteemed equal to bear's grease for promoting the growth of the hair.

=MARSH GAS.= Light carbonetted hydrogen.

=MARSH'S TEST.= See a.r.s.eNIOUS ACID.