Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/106

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fcaper thus made of it proved coarfe, and apt to tear, but endured both Ink and Fire very well ; the Ink only turn- ing Red with the Violence of the Fire.

M. Patdus Feti&tits gives us the Manufacture of the Li- fttttn found in the Province of Chinchintbvlas in Tartary, from one Curficar a Turk, Superintendant of the Mines of that Country, as follows : The lanuginous Mineral, or Amianthus, being firft dried in the Sun, is then pounded in a Brafs Mortar, and the earthy part feparated from the woolly, which is afterwards well warned from Filth j being thus purged, it is fpun into Thread like other Wool, and atter, wove into Cloth, which, if foul orfpot- ted, they cleanfe, he fays, by throwing it into the Fire for an hour's time, whence it comes out unhurt, as white as Snow : Which very Method, according to the Account given us by Strabo, feems to have been ufed in ordering the Cretan Amianthus 5 with this Addition, that after it was pounded, and the earthy Part feparated from the woolly, he fays it was combed 5 and fo does dgricola.

Signior Camgam, after defcribing four forts of tile Li- mm t whereof he had Specimens in his Uuf<sum ; the firft fent him from Corfu, the fecond from Seftr't Hi Ponejtte, the third coarfer and darker than the reft, and the fourth from the Tyreneam 5 and after obferving, tho' he kept it three Weeks in a Glafs-houfe Fire, yet found it unal- tered, tho it would not preferve a Stick wrapp'd in it from the Fire : he proceeds to /hew the manner of fpin- ning it, and making it into Cloth, which he effected thus ; He firft laid theStone in Water, if warm the better, for fome time to foak ; then opened and divided it with his Hands, that the earthy parts might fall out of it, which are whitifh like Chalk, and ferve to bind the thready Part together. This makes the Water thick and milky. That Operation he repeated fix or feven times with frefti Water, opening and fqueezing it again and again, till all the heterogeneous Parts were warned out, and then the Flax-like Parts were collected and laid in a Sieve to dry. As to the fpinning, he firft ftiews a Method dif- covered to him, which is thus; Lay the Amianthus, eleanfed as before, between two Cards, fuch as they card Wooll withall, where let it be gently carded, and then clapp'd in between the Cards, fo that fome of it may hang out of the fides 5 then lay the Cards faft on a Table or Bench 5 take a fmall Reel made with a little Hook at the end, and apart toturn it by, fo that it may be eafily turned round. This Reel mult be wound over with fine Thread : then having a fmall VerTel of Oil ready, with which the Forefinger and Thumb are con- flantly to be kept wet, both to preferve the Skin from the corrofive Quality of the Stone, and to render the Fiia- inents thereof more foft and pliant ; by continuing to twift about the Thread on the Reel in the Arbeftos hanging out of the Cafes, fome of the latter will be worked up together with it ; and by little and little the Thread may, with Care, be Woven into a coarfe fort of Cloth ; and by putting it into the Fire, the Thread and Oil will be burnt away, and the incombuftible- Cloth remain- But finding ibis way of uniting the Stone with the Thread very te- dious, infiead of the Thread he put fome Flax on a Ditfaff, and by taking three or four Filaments of the Af- beftos, and mixing them with the Flax, he found they might be eafily twilled together, and the Thread thus made much more durable and ftrong ; fo that there is no need of Carding, which rather breaks the Filaments than does any good : only open and feparate the Fila- ments after wa/hing on a Table, and rake them up with the Flax, which is fufficient. As to the making of Pa- per, he fays, in the warning of the Stone there will re- main feveral /hort Pieces in the bottom of the Water, of which Paper may be made in the common Method. He concludes with the beft way of preferring the Cloth, or any thing made of the Linncn, which, by realon of its excefiive Drynefs, is very apt to break and twift 5 and itconfifts in keeping it always well oiled, which is the only Prefervative. When the Cloth is put in the Fire, the Oil burns off, and the Cloth comes out white and purified.

This kind of Linnen-Cloth was highly efteemed by the Antients ; tho' then better known and more common than among us, being held equally precious with the richeft Pearls 5 nor is it now of mean Value even in the Country where 'tis raoft generally made, a China Cover, (j. e. a Piece of twenty-three Inches and three quarters long) being worth So Tale, i.e. ;tf /. 13 j. 4 d. Pliny fays, he him fe If had feen Napkins thereof, which being taken foul from the Board, after a Feaft, were thrown into the Fire, and by that means were better fcowcrcd than if they had been wa/hed in Water, £S?c. But its principal Ufe, according to Tliny, was for the mak- ing of Shrowds for Royal Funerals 5 to wrap up the Corps, fo as the A files might be preferred diflincT: from that of the Wood, &c. which made the Funeral

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Pile ; and the Princes of Tartary, according to the At? counts in the PbilrfopbicalTranfachons, ftill ale it at this" day in burning their Dead. Some of the Antients are laid to have made themfelves Clothes of it, particularly the Brachmans among the Indians. The Wicks for their perpetual Lamps, according to Dr. Zijter, were made of it ; and we are told that Sepsalla Canon of Milan had Thread, Ropes* Nets, and Paper of it. A Handkerchief or Pattern ot this Linnen was prefented to the Royal So- ciety, a foot long, and half a foot broad. This gave two Proofs of its refifiing Fire j tho' in both Experiments it loft above three Drams in its Weight. When takeri out red-hot, it did not burn a Piece of white Paper, on which it was laid. Mr. Villette pretends, that his large burning Concave ufually vitrifies the Asbeftos.

LIONCELES, in Heraldry, a Term for Lions, when there are more than two of them born in any Coat of" Arms, and no Ordinary between them.

LIPOTHYMIA, orLIPOPSYCHIA, in Medicine, is a fudden Diminution or Failure of animal and vital Ac- tions, othetwjfe called a Swooning or Deliquium. In the Lipothymia the Pulfe is very faint, the Senfes both in- ternal and external, and the animal Motions, both vo- luntary and natural, extremely weakened, and the Re- fpiration fcarce vifible. The ordinary Caufes of the Li- potbymia are great Lofles of Blood, exceflive Evacua- tions, immoderate Exercife, grofs hot Air, fuch as that in the midft of Crowds of People. The word Z'potby- mia comes from the Greek *eim>, dejicio, and 3vf*of, Ani- mus 5 and Zypvpfycbia from tewa, and 4uX"> fj ke Soul.

LIPP1TUDO is a Diforderof the Eyes, otherwife call'd Slear-Eyednefs ; confining in the Oozing out of a thick vifcous Humour, which hardening, binds the Eye-lids together. Some, after Ce//i<s, give the Name Lippitudo to the Optbalmta; which fee."

LIPS, Labia, the Edge or exterior Part of the Mouth, or that mufculous Extremity which ftiuts and covers the Mouth both above and below. The Lips, befides the common Integuments, confift of two Parts, the exterior, hard, and mufculous ; the interior, foft, fpungy, and glandulous, covered with a fine Membrane, the fore and protube- rant Parts of which are red, and called Prolabia. Authorsi generally content themfelves with calling the Subttance of this Part fpungy, but in reality 'tis glandulous, as ap- pears by the fcrophulous and cancrous Humours to which it is fubjecl. The Mufcles of which the outer Parts of the Lips coefilt, are either common to them with other Parts, or proper ; the common are the third Pair of the Nofe, the Subcutaneus, and the Buccinator.

The Zps have fix Pair of Mufcles belonging to therny and an odd one ; of thefe, three are peculiar to the upper and under Lp, the other three and the fingle one are common to both Lips i The peculiar are the Atiollens La- biorum Superius, Deprimens Zabiorum Inferitts, shtolkns Labioi rum Inferius 5 the three common Fair are* the 'Zyfomati- cus, the DepreJJar Labiorum, the Attollens Lahiomm ; the odd one, Orbicularis, which fee.

All thefe Parts are ferved with Blood by fome Bran- ches of the Carotids, which the Veins carry back to the external Jugulars. Their Nerves come from the yth, 6th, and 8th Pair of the Head, and fome from the Par AcceJJbrinm. The Zips have a great ihare in the Action of Speech, and are of good Ufe in taking in the Food,- ($c.

Lips ate alfo ufed to fignify the two Edges of a Wound, and the exterior Parts of a Woman's Privities.

LIQUEFACTION, an Operation, by which a folid Body is reduced into a Liquid ; or the Action of Fire or Heat on fat fufible Bodies, which puts their Farts into Motion. The ZiquefaUimi of Wax, £5?c. is per- formed by a moderate Heat, that of Sal Tartari by the mere Moifture of the Air. All Salts liquify. Sand, mix'd with Alkalies, are liquified in the Fire of the Re? verberatory to make Glafs. In fpeaking of Metals, in- ftead of Liquefaction, we ordinarily ufe the^word Pufion, which fee.

LIQUID, a Body that has the Property of Fluidity ; and befides that, a peculiar Quality of wetting other Bo-. dies immcrged in it, arifing from fome Configurations of Particles, which difpofes them to adhere to the Surfaces of Bodies contiguous to them. See Fluid,

Liquid, among Grammarians, is a Name applied to certain Confonants oppofed to Mutes ; L, M, N, and R are Liquids,

Z ; quid is fometimes alfo ufed by the Civilians ; thus Goods or Effects, that are clear and out of difpute, are faid to be liquid.

LIQUIDATION, a Reduftion and Afccrtainment ei- ther of fome dubious difpurable Sum, or of the refpec- tive Pretenfions which two Ferfons may have to the fame liquid or clear Sum. Z'-quidation is alfo ufed for the Or- der and Method a Dealer endeavours to eftablifh in his B b b b b b Affair*