Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/880

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from the others ; for as her eggs are in a more advanced ftate than theirs, her belly muft be more diftended ; and as all the bees become of a brighter colour afterwards than they are at the firft hatching from the nymph ftate,. this eldeft will be eafily diftinguifhed from the others by her colour. Ariftotle fays, that the proper fovereign is red, and the ufur- pers black; but tbefe expreflions are to be undsrftood with their proper reftrictions, and then it will be only underftood, that the younger females are yet of the duiky brown colour, of which they all are when firft hatched, and that the eldeft has begun to affiime the reddifh yellow colour, which they arc all to have when of a certain age- Experience proves that the having the eggs in; a ftate almoft ready to be hatched, is the great circumftance that determines the bees in favour of one particular female,, when they are brought to a choice ; for if the bodies of the rejected females, which are murdered and thrown out of the hive,- be opened and examined with glafles,. there will be found in them either no eggs at all, or at the utmoft fuch extremely minute ones, that it muft have been a long time before they could have been in a condition to lay them ; whereas if the felccted female, who is become their queen, be opened, fhe is always found quite full of eggs, very near the time of their being laid.

It is a very mifchievous practice to murder a female in this eircumftance, and indeed the proof may be had without it, fince if the works of the new fwarm be examined, fhe will be found the very next day to have laid eggs in feveral T if not all of the cells they have formed, and at the utmoft in two or three days will be found to have laid a great number. It is not however (o ftrictly limited by nature, that there can be only one happy female in every hive: There are often three or four, which fucceed alike, and lead out T and become the fovereigns of as many little colonies. It is only raiferable for thofe females which are hatched all nearly at the fame time, for of thefe all are doomed to perifh but one - v but others which appear at more diftant periods have a better fate, as there are produced alfo at thefe different times numerous fwarms of the common bees* Thus it often happens that one hive fends out three, four, or more fwarms in one fumrner,. at the dif- tance of a fortnight or lefs from one another, each headed and led out by a queen produced at the fame time with them- felves. Reaumur's Hi-ft. Inf. v. 10. p. 3Z1. It is not at all times however that the bees are thus cruel, to the fupernumerary females, and neceffity feems to compel them to it when they are fo. It would be wrong in them to receive a plurality of females- among them, at a time when they were newly efhblifhed in their habitation, and as yet in want of all things, fo that they could be in no condition to bring up an additional family ; but at other times they are as kind to ftrange females brought into their hive as fupernu- meraries, as to their own : For Mr. Reaumur tried the expe- riment of giving a ftrange female to a hive, the combs of which were perfect and well filled with honey, and the bees received her with all pofiible refpect, and treated her as they did their proper fovereign.

Some are of opinion that the females which are found killed and thrown out of the hives, are all murdered by the reign- ing female herfelf, and not by the other bees ; and this is fup- pofed to be the only ufe for which nature has given her a fting, as fhe never goes abroad, and has not the oeeafion the common bees have fo* it as a defenfive weapon. But allow- ing this to be the cafe, there feems nothing ftrange in the fe- male of another hive being well received by the fovereign ii her own dominions-, at a time when (he finds all the combs of a hive in a flourifhing ftate at her difpofal, and perceives that there is room for herfelf and another in the hive. Id. ibid. HOACHE, in natural hiftory, a name given by the Chinefe to a peculiar kind of earth, which they have found lately, very ufeful in the manufacture of their China ware. It is called Hcachc from the word hoa, which fignifies foft and glutinous, and is defcribed to us as being an earth approach- ing to the nature of chalk, but harder, and feeling like foap to the touch. There is great reafon to believe that this is ei- ther the fame earth with our foap-rock of Cornwall, or fome- thing very like it. Ours has very much the appearance of the French chalk with which they take out fpots of cloaths 7 and which marks white in the fame manner as chalk. The word chalk is fo- little determinate in its general fenfe, and

- the white- fubftanee we commonly call by that name, is fo little likely ever to be ufed in earthen-ware of any kind, that there is great reafon to believe French chalk is the fubftanee to which the Hoache is compared j and if fo, all the cha- racters agree fo Well, that it is probably the very fame thino- with our fteatites. We have often attempted to make a por- celain ware with this, and that with good profpects of fuc- cefs. But we are to learn in regard to the Chinefe way of ufing it, that it is only one of the ingredients of their fine ware, not the whole matter of which it is made.

■ The Chinefe phyficians had long ufed this earth as a medicine, giving it in disorders of the lungs ; but it is only of late times that the workmen in porcelane attempted to ufe it inftead of kaolin. Itfucceeds, however, fo well, that the porcelane made of it fells dearer in the Indies than any other kind. The grain of this porcelane is remarkably fine and even, fo that it is

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fitter for receiving the fined pencilling than any other, and it may be made furprifingly light. But there is this dif- advantage, that the whole is more brittle than ordinary, china, and the juft degree of baking it is very difficult to hit ; with- out which it is never Wrong. The Chinefe fometimes make the body of their veffels of the common China ware, and dip them when dry into a thick liquor like cream, in which the Hoache is diflblved. This gives a new and beautiful coat to the veffeh They give the common varnifhing over this, and it fucceeds to a very great perfection. Obferv. fur les Cou- tumes de l'Afie, p. 300.

Suppofing we could not, for want of the petunfe, or fome- thing analogous to it, ever arrive at making the true porce- lane in England, there is yet room to hope for great advan- tage in the making the varnifh or coating of other veffels with this fteatites or foap-rock. The manner in which the Chinefe ufe it is this : They firft wafh it clean with river water to feparate a yellow fort of earth, which lies near it in the mine where they dig it, and is often brought up with it. When it is thus cleaned, they beat it to powder, and mix it in large quantities of water ; they ftir the mixture well,, and then let- ting the coarfer part fettle, they pour off the thick liquor, and let it (land till a fubftanee like cream fubfides, which they keep moift and ufe, as before mentioned, to dip the veffels in, or elfe they dry it, and ufe it with the petunfe in- ftead of the kaolin in the common manufactures. It is faid that a very good porcelane ware may be made with this earth alone, without any other mixture ; but the work- men* themfelves are unwilling to do this, and always chuie, if they do not work in the common way, to add at leaf! two pans of the petunfe to eight of the Hoache, and with thii mixture they make a very good ware,, working it in the fame manner as- they do the petunfe and kaolin. Id. ibid. The Hoache, though ever lb proper to fupply the place of the kaolin, could not be ufed in the common works, becaufe it cofts three times the price, it being much fcarcer, and brought much farther.

There is another very elegant fort of China ware which de- pends entirely on the Hoache for its beauty. It is all white \ but though the furface is perfectly fmooth and polifhed, there are feen flowers and other ornaments on it in a very delicate manner. The method of making this is as follows : They make the veflels of the common matter of the porcelane ware ; they then diflblve in a fufficient quantity of dear wa- ter, as much of the refined Hoache as will give it the con- fidence of a fyrup. With this they pencil out the figures they intend on the furface of the veiled while yet not quite dry. This penetrates the furface, and the lines and ftrokes all appear very determinate. They let this dry thoroughly, and then cover the whole veffel with the common varmih of the porcelane. When it has been baked, the whole appears white, but the figures are very diftin&ly feen, and appear extremely beautiful. They are of a brighter white than any of the reft, and feem formed of a thin white vapour, running with regularity juft under the furface of the veflel. They have a way of doing this with another fort of earth, which they call chekao ; but this requires more trouble, as it muft be roafted and powdered before- it is fit for ufe. The white of this alfo is not fo fine when done as the other.

HOACTLI, in zoology, the name of an American bird de- fcribed by Nitremberg : It is of the fize of a common lien, the legs and neck are long, its head is black, and is orna- mented with a beautiful crcft of the fame colour ; its wliole body is of a fine white, but its tail is grey, as are alfo the upper fides of its wings. The wings have a greenifli caft, and the back fometimes has many black feathers. Its feet arc not web'd, its legs are of a pale whitifh colour; it has a circle of white, beginning at the eyes, and going round the bead. It is common on the lakes of Mexico, and builds among reeds and fedge. It bites very defperately. Ray's OrnithoU p. 300.

HOACTON, in zoology, the name of a Mexican bird, de- fcribed by Nieremberg, and feeming of the heron or bittern kind. Its neck and belly are white, nightly Variegated with brown ; the reft of the body is brown variegated with white j its eyes are large, and have a pale iris. Ray's Ornithol. p. 302.

HOACTZIN, in zoology, a name under which Nieremberg has defcribed a fpecies of American bird, which is of the fize of an hen, and has a crooked beak ; the breaft is of a yel- lowilh white, and its wings and tail are variegated with large (pots of a pale grey and white colour ; its neck and back are of a brownifh yellow, and it has on its head a creft made of white feathers, which are black on their infides. Its voice is very loud, and it feeds on (hakes. It is feen in the autumn about Mexico, and generally frequents high trees near wa- ters ; its bones, feathers, and (bine other parts, are efteemed by the natives fpecific in the jaundice and other difeafes. Ray's Append, p. 300.

HOANGICOYA, in natural hiftory, an amphibious animal which in fumrner is a bird, and in winter a fifh. See the ar- ticle Croceus.

HOARHOUND, Marubmm, in medicine. See the article Marubium,

4 HOARSENESS,