Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/441

 ISINGLASS ISLA 427 called Samovey is brought from Taganrog. The leaf, book, and short staple from this place are all of inferior quality. The varieties from the Ural and Siberia are better. The Brazilian isinglass, imported from Parti and Maranhiio, is obtained in various forms dis- tinguished as pipe, lump, and honeycomb. It appears to be the product of different kinds of fish, and to be prepared with little care. It is largely used in brewing establishments for fining the liquors ; and though it is too impure for domestic uses, it is largely employed to adulterate the better kinds. Its presence may be detected by the isinglass failing to dissolve readily and completely in hot water, and by its forming with this an opalescent and milky jelly in which may be observed the insoluble shreds common to the Brazilian article. Its smell also is often disagreeable, while that of the pure Russian isinglass is as inoffensive as the odor of seaweed, which it somewhat resembles. The isinglass of New York and New England is obtained from the sounds of the codfish (morrhua vulgarix) and of the common hake (phycis Amerkanus). They are macerated in water, and afterward rolled out in long strips a few inches wide. The quality of this isin- glass is poor, its solution not readily obtained, and its color dark. It is used for the same purposes as the Brazilian. Other varieties are produced in other maritime countries. All isinglass has to undergo a process of refining before it is fit for making jellies, blanc-mange, &c. The best beluga leaf is imported in circu- lar sheets, the most perfect of which are some- times 2 ft. in circumference, and weigh from 8 to 16 oz., in some instances reaching even 4 Ibs. These are carefully picked over, and all the discolored parts are cut away and put aside for uses of less importance. The assorted leaf is then passed through successive pairs of iron rollers, until it is converted into thin ribbons of uniform width, which are afterward by other machinery slit into fine shreds. Inferior sheet gelatine is sometimes introduced between two sheets of isinglass before rolling, and thus incorporated with it. Isinglass, being a nearly pure gelatine, should have little or no color; and being commonly prepared without expo- sure to high degrees of heat, it should be tougher and more elastic than the other forms of this substance. It therefore makes a most adhesive cement. For this purpose it is swol- len with cold water and then placed in diluted alcohol. The vessel containing it is then put f into cold water, which is to be heated to boil- ing. The jelly forms the cement, which may be kept from mouldiness and other change by the addition of a few drops of any essential oil. It is known as the "diamond cement," and is also the adhesive substance of court plaster. Gum ammoniac is sometimes introduced, espe- cially by the Turks, who use the cement for fastening precious stones, mending broken porcelain, glass, &c. Isinglass has also been used' for the window lights of vessels, being covered with a transparent varnish which is not affected by moist air. Hence, sheets of mica prepared for similar uses, as in the doors of stoves, are popularly called isinglass. (See MICA.) Besides the methods already stated of detecting fraudulent mixtures with isinglass, the microscope may be used to render the dif- ferent textures apparent. The ash of isinglass seldom exceeds of 1 per cent., and is red ; that of gelatine is white, and in quantity not less than 3 per cent. ISIS, the principal goddess of the Egyptians, the wife of Osiris, and the mother of llorus, with whom she formed the most popular triad in Egyptian mythology. (See OSIRIS.) She was adored as the great benefactress of Egypt, who had instructed her people in the art of cultivating wheat and barley, which were al- ways carried in her festal processions. In Greece, where her worship was introduced at a very early period, she was occasionally ad- dressed as Pelagia, the queen of the sea. From Greece her worship passed into Italy, and was established in the first century B. 0. at Rome, where it became popular. In 43 B. C. the triumvirs, in order to ingratiate themselves with the people, commanded a temple of Isis and Serapis to be founded, and publicly sanc- tioned their worship. The principal Roman temple of Isis stood in the Campus Martius, and hence the goddess was often called Isis Oampensis. The Romans identified with her a native goddess of the Gauls, Sicilians, and Germans. The priests of Isis wore linen gar- ments, and her votaries in the public proces- sions wore masks representing the heads of dogs. In works of art she usually appears with the figure and face of Juno, arrayed in a long tunic, wearing a wreath of lotus flowers, and in her right hand a sistrum. ISLA, Jose Francisco de, a Spanish nuthor, born in Segovia in 1703, died in Bologna in 1781. He early became famous as a Jesuit preacher and a satirical poet. His first works were directed against an extravagant religious festival at Salamanca in 1727, and a royal pageant at Pampeluna in 1746 ; but he man- aged his sarcasm so adroitly that the authori- ties of the latter city at first regarded his effu- sion as complimentary, though subsequently he left the city, and probably was expelled. His published sermons (1729-'54) show a marked improvement upon the prevailing tone of the itinerant friars, and he reformed this effective- ly by his celebrated romance Historia del fa- moso predicador fray Gerundio de Campazas. The first volume, printed without his knowl- edge in 1758, was eagerly bought up ; the de- risive epithet of Fray Gerundio, henceforward applied to vulgar preachers, put an end to their vocation ; but the government was obliged to withdraw the license for its publication in obedience' to the clamors of the clergy. The inquisition condemned the book in 1760, but did not molest the author, who was protected by his increasing popularity. The violent ex-