Brookes’ Universal Gazetteer, page 808
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nsed fbr ships to ride in a harbor.
3. The stream anchor. 4. The grap-
nel.

Anchovies, the name of a small fish
common in the Mediterranean. It is
much used in sauces from the excellence
of its flavor.

A nil, the plant from which indigo is
made.

Aninga, a root which grows in the
Antilles islands, and is used for refining
sugar.

Anise, a small seed of an oblong shape.
It is cultivated in Germany, but the
best comes from Spain.

Antimony, a bluish-white, brittle me-
tal, of a scaly or foliated texture. It is
used as an ingredient in the manufac-
ture of pewter, and type-metal. There
are mines of antimony in Germany and
many parts of France.

Aquafortis, nitric acid in a diluted
state. It is much used by dyers, calico-
printers, &c.

Aranea, a silver ore found only in Po-
tosi, and in the single mine there of
Catamito.

Areb, a nominal money used in ac-
counts in India, equal to five shillings
sterling.

Argol, tartar or the lees of wine used
by dyers.

Arquifoux, a sort of lead ore, used by
potters to give their works a green var-
nish.

Arrack, a spirituous liquor imported
from the E. Indies, used as a dram and
in punch.

Arrowroot, a kind of starch manufac-
tured from the roots of a plant which is
cultivated in the E. and W. Indies.

Arsenic, a metal of very common oc-
currence, being found in combination
with nearly all of tlft metals in their
native ores. It is-usually seen in white,
glassy, translucent masses, to which
form it is reduced by fusion from a pow-
dery state. It is o'ae of the most viru-
lent poisons known, not only when
taken into the stosiaeh, but when ap-
plied to a wound, or even when its va-
por is inspired.

asbestos, a kind of mineral substance,
of a woolly texture, endued with the
property of resisting fire.

Ash, a well-known tree, the timber
of which is useful in making imple-
ments of husbandry and for other pur-
poses.

Asparagus, an esculent plant, the
heads of which are useful for the table
and the roots in medicine.

Assafcetida, a resinous gum of an ex-
tremely powerful odor, procured from
the root of a large umbelliferous plant,
which grows in the mountains of some
parts of Persia.

Autom, a sort of bark which resem-
bles cinnamon, but is paler and thicker.
It comes from the Levsyit, and is an in-
gredient in the carmine dye.

BAIZE, a sort of coarse, open, wool-
len stuff, having a long nap, sometimes
frizzed and sometimes not. It is man-
ufactured to a great extent in different
parts of England.

Bamboo, a plant which multiplies very
much by its root, whence springs a ra-
mous or branchy tuft, after the man-
ner of the European reeds. The Indian
bamboo is the largest kind of cane that
is known

Bandannas, silk handkerchiefs, gen-
erally red spotted with white, manufac-
tured in the E. Indies.

Bariga, a species of raw silk brought
from tiie E. Indies.

Barilla, the name of a sea-plant which
grows very plentifully on tne coast of
Spain. It abounds with soda ; and the
impure aslies of the plant, containing
that salt in great abundance, form an
important article of commerce. The
ashes themselves are commonly called
barilla.

Batik, Peruvian, the produce of a tree,
which is the spontaneous growth of
many parts of S. America, but more
particularly of Peru. This valuable
medicine was first introduced into Eu-
rope by the Jesuits, wlience it was for-
merly called Jesuit’s bark.

Barley, a sort of grain very well
known, principally used for making
beer

Barnacles, a kind of shell-iUli in the
W. Indies, which penetrate into the
bottoms of vessels, and sometimes in-
jure them so materially as to give the
sheathing the appearance of a honey-
comb.

Barometer, a machine for measuring
the weight of the atmosphere.

Bazaar, a place for trade among tiie
eastern nations.,

Beaver, an amphib.ous animal, for-
merly common in England, but now
extirpated, lt abounds in N. Ameri-
ca, where the skins make a consider-
able article of exportation.

Beech, one of our handsomest forest
nrees, common in almost all the N. Eng-
land and middle states.

Beer, a generic term for drink extract-
ed from malt. It may be extracted from
most kinds of grain after having under-
gone the process of
malting.

Bergamot, the name of a fragrant es-
sence extracted from a species of citron.

Beryl, a pellucid gem ofa bluish-green
color, found in the E. Indies and about
the gold mines of Peru, and especially
in Siberia and Tartary. Its value is
trifling compared with the ruby, topaz,
& c.

Birch, a forest tree, easily known by
the smooth appearance and silvery color
of its bark.

Bismuth, a considerable heavy metal,
of a much harder and firmer texture
than antimony. It causes the metals
that are difficult of fusion to melt with
a much smaller degree of fire than they
otherwise would do.

Black Lead, a mineral found in great
abundance in Cumberland, England, as
also in many parts of Spain, particular-
ly in the neighborhood of Malaga. It is
used in the manufacture of pencils, also
for blackening the front of stoves, grates,
&c.

Bombazine, a kind of silk stuff origin-
ally manufactured at Milan, but now
extensively in G. Britain.

Borax, a substance of a greenish color,
brought from the E. Indies in great
masses: it is used as a flux for metals.

Bosphorus, in geography, a narrow
strait or arm of the sea.

Box-wood, is a yellowish, hard, and
solid wood, and takes a good polish. It
is used in works of sculpture, and in
instruments of music, such as flutes,
nagelets, &c.

Brandy, a spirituous and inflammable
liquor, extracted from wine and other
liquors, and likewise from the husks of
grapes by distillation. Brandy is pre-
pared in many of the wine countries of
Europe, and with peculiar excellence in
Languedoc, in Anjou, and other parts
of the south of France, whence is the
Cognac brandy.

Brass, a factitious metal, made of
copper and zinc in proper proportions.

Brazil-IVoodfSo called because it came
first from Brazil, a province in S. Ame-
rica. It is of a red color, and very
heavy. It is much used in turned work,
and takes a good polish ; but is chiefly
used in dying.

BrazUetto, the worst species of Brazil-
wood : it comes from the Antilles is-
lands.

Bristles, the strong hair standing on
the back of a hog or wild boar. They
are imported principally from Russia.

Buckram, a sort of coarse cloth, made
of hemp gummed, calendered and dyed
several colors.

Buckwheat, a grain which is native of
Africa, but so hardy that it will flourish
in almost any country. It is extensive-
ly cultivated in different parts of the

U. States, and from the flour an excel
lent article of food is produced.

Buffalo, or Bison, a wild bull, found is
large herds in different parts of Ameri-
ca. The hides are exported in large
quantities.

Bulbs, the roots of several sorts ot
flowers, as tulips, hyacinths, &c., of
which large quantities are imported from
Holland.

Bullion, uncoined gold or silver in the
mass

CACHALOT, a large fish of the whale
species, from the brain of which
sperm-
aceti
is extracted.

Cajepvt Oil, the volatile oil obtained
from the leaves of the cajeput-tree,
which is common on the mountains or
Amboyna, and the other Molucca is-
lands. It is of a green color, very lim-
pid, lighter than water, of a strong
smell resembling camphor, and ofa pun-
gent taste.

Calabar Skin, the Siberian squirrel
skin used in making muffs, tippets, &c.

Calamanco, a woollen stuff principally
manufactured in the Netherlands but
also in England.

Calico, a cotton cloth, which derives
its name from Calicut, a city of India,
from which it was first Drought. The
art of calico-printing is supposed to have
been practised in India more than 2,000
years, though it was not introduced into
England till the year 1676.

Cambric, a species of very fine white
linen, first made at Cambray, in French
Flanders, whence it derives its appella
tion.

Camel, a large beast of burden, used
throughout all the eastern countries.

Camlet, a plain stuff, composed of a
warp and woof, which is manufactured
on a loom, with two treadles, as linens
are. Camlets are of different kinds, as
goats’-hair, wool, silk camlets

Camphor, a white, resinous produc-
tion, of peculiar and powerful smell,
extracted from trees which grow in the
islands of the E. Indies and in China.

Canal, a kind of artificial river, made
for the convenience of water carriage.

Cantharides, flies of a shining green
color, found adhering to certain kinds
of trees in Spain, italy and the southern
part of France. They are commonly
called
Spanish flies, and are of extensive
use in medicine.

Canras, a very clean unbleached
cloth of hemp or flax, woven very regu-
larly in little squares.

Cape, a promontory or headland, run-
ning out with a point into the sea.

Capers, the full grown buds of a low
shrub generally growing out of the
joints of old whlls or fissures of rocks
in the warm climates of Europe.

Carbon, a substance which has been
found to exist in a state of absolute pu-
rity in the diamond. It is the base of
common charcoal, which is an oxide of
carbon.

Carbuncle, a precious stone of the ruby
kind, of a very rich, glowing blood-red
'color.

Cascari.Ua, the hark of a tree growing
plentifully in the Bahama islands, of a
fragrant smell, and moderately bitter
taste.

Cassada, a mealy substance, derived
from the root of a plant called Magnoc;
a native of the W. Indies. From the
pure flour of cassada is formed the sub-
stance called
tapioca.

Cassia, the bark of a tree, which
grows in the E. and W. Indies and in
China. It is thicker and coarser than
cinnamon, but of a similar taste. It is
mostly imported from China.

Castor-Oil, an oil extracted from ths
seeds of a plant which grows in the E.
and W. Indies, and in the U. States. Its
uses in medicine are well known

Cedar, a tree common in America, ths
wood of which is of a reddisli color, and
incorruptible.

Chestnut, a handsome forest tree,
808



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Brookes' Universal Gazetteer of the World (1850)


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