Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/780

 W I T

W O A

the hooks being pulled back, draw the Wire through the

holes.

The plate in which the holes are is iron on the outfide, and

fteel on the infide ; and the Wire is anointed with train oil, to

make it run the eafier, it^y's Englifh Words, p. 133.

Wires of Afleria, in natural hiftory, a name given by authors to a fort of extraneous foffil belonging to the Afterias, and be- ing a fort of branches from the body of that column. See the article Asteria.

Wire of Lapland, The lavage inhabitants of Lapland have a fort of fhining flender fubftance in ufe among them on feveral occaiions, which is much of the thicknefs and appearance of our filver Wire, and is therefore called by thofe who do not examine its ftructure or fubftance, Lapland -wire-. The people of this miferable country find many ufes in every thing nature has afforded them, and, among the reft, that fpecies of ftag called the rein-deer, which is the mod: frequent animal among them, is not only ferviceable in furnifhing them with meat, cloaths, houfes, and the means of carriage and travelling j but its bones make many of their moft neceflary utenfils; and the finews, which are all carefully feparated in the eating, are, by the women, after foaking in water, and beating, fpun into a fort of thread, which is of admirable fine- nefs and ftrength, when wrought to the fmalleft filaments ; but when larger, is very ftrong, and fit for the purpofes of ftrength and force. Their Wtre 3 as it is called, is made of the fineft of thefc threads, covered with tin. The women do this bufmefs, and the way they take is to melt a piece of tin, and placing at the edge of it a horn with a hole through it, they draw thefc finewy threads, covered with the tin, through the hole, which prevents their coming out too thick covered. This drawing is performed with their teeth, and there is a fmall piece of bone placed at the top of the hole, where the Wire is made flat, fo that we always find it rounded on all 1 fides but one, where it is flat.

This Wire they ufe in embroidering their cloaths as we do with gold and filver ; and they often fell it to ftrangers, under the notion of its having certain magical virtues. Scheffe'r, Hift. Lapland.

WVT-Fifo, in zoology, a name given by the Dutch in the Eaft Indies to a fifh common on thofe coafts, and feeming to be of the taenia kind. It is of the fize of our common whit- ing. Its back is ftrait and even, and its belly prominent. Its

' fnout is pointed fomewhat upwards, and its tail forked. It has One fingle fpine or prickle on its back, and has a long belly-fin reaching from the head to near the tail. Its whole body is ftriated, and it has two long filaments or beards hanging from its fnout, and is a very fine and delicate fifh. Ray's Ichthyo- graphy, Append, p. 6.

Wn-Fijb is alfo the name given by the Dutch to an Eaft Indian fifh, of the herring kind, caught in great plenty near the faores in many places, and called by Mr, Ray, albula-ln- dica. Ray's Ichthyogr. Append, p. 3. See the article Al-

BULA-W&J.

WITCHES Suiter, a name given by the common people of England to a fort of tremella growing on the bark of old trees, in form of a corrugated membrane. See the article Tre- mella.

WITCH-Craft (Cycl.)— The old laws made in England and Scotland againft conjuration and Witch-craft are repealed by a lute ftatute, and no perfon is to be profecuted for any fuch crime, 9 Geo. 2. c. 5. Sect, r, 2, & 3. But pretenders to Witch-craft, or to tell fortunes, or to any crafty or occult fcience to difcover ftolen goods, may be im- prifoned for a year, put in the pillory, and bound over to their good behaviour. Ibid. Seel:. 4.

WITHERS, (Cycl.) that part of a horfe where the mane ends, being joined to and ending at the tip of the fhoulder- blades. Thefe parts fhould be well raifed and pretty ftrong, for this is a fign of ftrength and goodnefs in the horfe. They keep the faddle from coming forward upon the horfe fhoulders and neck, which immediately galls and fpoils him. A hurt in this part is very difficult to cure, and, for this reafon, they fliould be lean rather than flemy, as they are then lefs fubject to be bruifed and hurt by the faddle.

When there are fores on the Withers, the caufe mull be looked to, in order to determine a proper cure, and prevent a return. If the hurt be caufed by the largenefs of the faddle- bands, pro- vided that it be not too great, it may eafily be cured by the following remedy ; Take the whites of fix eggs, beat them with a piece of alum as big as an egg for a quarter of an hour, or till the whole is reduced to a thick fcum or froth ; let the fwelling he rubbed well with this mixture, and then covered , over with more of the froth ; this is to be left to dry on, and the application is to be repeated every ten or twelve hours ; notwithflanding that the heat and fwelling remains, this, by degrees, will take place, though not at firft. If the hurt be great, recourfc mult be had to bleeding ; and this may be repeated after two days, if the fwelling and in- flammation continue.

If a tumour, with great inflammation, follow a bruife with the faddle-bows, the part affected is to be rubbed with lime- water, and covered with a lamb's fkin, the woolly part next the back : after the warning, the ointment, weli known among

our farriers by the name of the Duke's ointment, is to be ap- plied ; and if the tumour inclines to fuppurate, the ointment muft be warned oft" with a mixture of vinegar and water warmed, mixed with a handful of fait to every quart of it : an ointment is then to be made of half a pound of populeon, and a quarter of a pound of black foap, and as much honey :. thefe are to be thinned with a large glafs of fpirit of wine, and the part is to be well rubbed with fome of this three or four times a day, covering it afterwards with a Jamb's-fkin. Some ufe, inftead of this ointment, a pultice made of powder of cummin-feed, linfeed-oil, and pigeons-dung, which does as well.

Withers of the Bow of a Saddle, in the manege. See the ar- ticle Bow.

^iTUV-R-Band, in the manege, a band or piece of iron laid underneath a faddle, about four fingers above the withers of the horfe, to keep tight the two pieces of wood that form the bow.

WiTHER-^nMrg-, in the manege. A horfe is faid to be Wi~ ther-icrung, when he has got a hurt in the Withers ; which fort of hurts are very hard to cure. See the article Wi- thers, fupra.

WITTENA-(?w«f (Cyd.)— In the Saxon times this was the chief court of the kingdom, where all matters, both civil and criminal, and thofe relating to the revenue, were determined. In civil and criminal matter?, it was a court, in the firft in- ftance only, for facts arifing in the county where it fat • but it heard and determined caufes from all other counties, by way of appeal. Lombard, Archaionom. 57, 239, 245. Mirror, c. 5. Sect. 1.

To this court were fummoned the earls of each county, and the lords of each leet, as alfo the reprefentatives of towns, who were cliofen by their burgefles. Lombard, Archaionom. 2 39-

WIT WALL, a common Englifh name for the great fpotted wood-pecker, the pictts varhts major of authors. See the ar- ticle Pi.cus.

WOAD, Ifatis, in botany. Seethe article Isatis.

This ufeful plant makes a very confiderable article in trade, and is in many parts of the kingdom propagated to very great advantage.

It requires a dry and warm foil, which fhould have lain quiet for fome time before. The land it is fown on muft be laid very even, and all the clods and large ftoneS taken away. It is to be fown in the latter end of July, foon after the feed is ripe. It will come up in Auguft, and muft then be houghed, leaving the plants about ten or twelve inches afunder, that they may be ftrong, and produce the larger leaves. It is ne- ver fown more than two years upon the fame land, becaufe it robs it greatly. ■ It is ripe for the cutting at different feafons, according to the drynefs or moifture of the weather ; but when the leaf is full grown, and of a fine green colour, it is known to he fit for ufe, and is to be cut immediately, left it fhould turn pale by ftanding.

Good Woad will yield five or fix crops in a plentiful year, and very feldom gives lefs than three or four. The two crops firft 1 cut are always the beft, and thefe are not to be mixed among the after- cuttings.

An acre of ground ufually yields, one year with another, about a ton, which fells, according to its goodnefs, for from fix pounds to thirty. Miller, s Gardeners Diet. According to^Mortimer, the proper foil for this ufeful plant is a warm and rich land, and the longer it has lain unploughed the better, for the Woad requires a great deal of nourifhmenr. It will do very well on fandy and gravelly foils, if they are of a good depth, and have rich mould among them. When land is too rank for corn, nothing can prepare it for this crop better than Woad, abating the too great fertility of it. The land where it is tobefowed rnuft be laid very level, and the clods all broken. The time of fowing it is from the be- ginning to the middle of February. It muft be kept conftantly weeded; but if it come up ftrong, it will need the lefs trou- ble of this kind, as it will kill the weeds of itfelf. The plant muft be gathered when the leaves are fully grown, and 'have not yet loft their colour. What grows in winter is of no ufe as Woad for the dyers, but it is an excellent food for fheep. If the ground be dry, it muft be watered for a day or two be- fore the feed is fown, -other wife it does not fucceed well. It is remarkable of Woad, that it requires a peculiarity of cli- mate to bring it to its perfection, and make it fit for the dyers ufe ; and that in many places where it feems to grow Vigo- rouily, it yet never ripens this juice, which is its only value* to any degree of colour.

The French cultivate this herb in as large quantities as we do in England, and have tried in many provinces j but they find it fail in feveral of them. In upper'Languedoc it arrives at a very great degree of perfection, and its leaves are very large and fucculent, and furnifh a blue colour, very ufeful in dying fluffs of all kinds ; but in Normandy, where there is much land proper to cultivate it on, it has been often tried with all the advantages of manure and hufbandry ; but the want of a fufficient degree of heat will not fuffer it to arrive at perfection. Its leaves, tho' as large as thofe of the Languedoc Woad, are never fo thick or fucculent, and the colour they afforfl is

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