Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/746

 734 ESSEQUIBO ESSEX and water is added, when both the odor and flavor are easily recognized. The oils require to be kept in small bottles entirely filled, well stopped, and excluded from the light. By recently devised chemical processes artificial essences imitating the flavor of various choice fruits are prepared from substances which would seem entirely unfitted for producing such results. Thus butyric acid, a product of butter or putrid cheese, being converted into an ether, cannot be distinguished from that prepared from the pineapple, and may be used equally well with the latter to produce the celebrated pineapple rum. The fetid fusel oil, separated from brandy and whiskey in rectify- ing these liquors, produces, when distilled with sulphuric acid and acetate of potash, an essence of pears; and if for the acetate of potash bi- chromate of potash be substituted, the product is an essence of apples. By similar methods a variety of other flavors are obtained ; and though when concentrated they are acrid, they become very agreeable when used as flavoring in pro- portions of a drop to an ounce or two ounces. Some of the choicest perfumes are by similar chemical processes prepared from substances which seem strangely foreign to their nature. ESSEQFIBO. I. The principal river of Brit- ish Guiana, rises in the Acaray mountains near the S. limit of the country, lat. 1 30' N., Ion. 57 11' W., traverses it in an almost northerly direction, and falls into the Atlantic by an es- tuary 30 m. wide at its mouth, about lat. 7 N., Ion. 58 30' W. Its course is interrupted by numerous cataracts, the principal of which is that called King William's, about lat. 3 14' N., where navigation ceases. The upper part of its course is extremely tortuous ; but below lat. 5 it bends northward, and holds that direction to its embouchure. The last of the more important rapids occurs about 60 in. from the mouth of the river, and mark the limits of the tidal movement. There are many con- siderable islands in the river and at its mouth. The entrance is rendered dangerous by a num- ber of sand banks, like a succession of bars lying crosswise in the channel. The whole course of the stream is perhaps 450 m., mainly through a region of great natural beauty. The largest of the numerous tributaries of the Esse- quibo are the Rupununi, about 250 m. long ; the Cuyuni, or Cuyuwini, a river of great magni- tude flowing E. from the Venezuelan mountains' and forming its junction near the S. part of the estuary through a mouth 1 m. wide ; and the Putaro, in which is the stupendous cataract of Kaietur. (See GUIANA.) Numerous excellent fish are found in the Essequibo, the most re- markable of which is the formidable peri or oma, 2 ft. long, and armed with strong teeth ; also large numbers of manatees or sea cows, of gigantic size, and in most respects distinct from those of the West Indies, and electric eels. II. A part of the territory of British Guiana, now united into one county with Demerara. (See GUIANA.) the name of five counties in the United States. I. A N. E. county of Vermont, bounded N. by Canada, and E. by the Connec- ticut river, which separates it from New Hampshire ; area, 790 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 6,811. The surface is rough and mountainous, with numerous small lakes and ponds scattered over it. The soil is well watered, but, except in the valley of the Connecticut, not remark- able for fertility. It is traversed by the Grand Trunk railway from Portland to Montreal. The chief productions in 1870 were 13,613 bushels of Indian corn, 107,589 of oats, 229,- 941 of potatoes, 18,809 tons of hay, 233,285 Ibs. of butter, 24,132 of wool, and 178,188 of maple sugar. There were 1,383 horses, 2,543 milch cows, 4,341 other cattle, and 5,716 sheep ; 2 flour mills, 27 saw mills, and 6 starch factories. Capital, Guildhall. II. A N. E. county of Massachusetts, bounded N. by New Hampshire, and E. and S. E. by the Atlantic and Massachusetts bay, and traversed by the Ipswich and Merrimack rivers, the latter of which is navigable as far as Haverhill by ves- sels of 200 tons; area, about 500 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 200,843. The surface is generally rough and the soil hard and rocky ; but it is carefully cultivated, and in many places has been rendered very productive. The chief sources of wealth are commerce and the fisher- ies, for the prosecution of which the long line of seacoast broken by beautiful bays offers great advantages. The fishing interest is more extensive here than anywhere else in the United States. The interior towns are exten- sively engaged in the manufacture of leather, shoes, and cotton. The Boston and Maine and the Eastern railroads, with several branches, pass through the county. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 9,256 bushels of rye, 94,038 of Indian corn, 27,427 of oats, 20,653 of bar- ley, 310,807 of potatoes, 50,299 tons of hay, and 335,885 Ibs. of butter. There were 3,177 horses, 9,076 milch cows, 5,636 other cattle, 1,254 sheep, and 4,938 swine. There were 2,821 manufacturing establishments; capital employed, $29,777,160; value of products, $96,990,868. Those most important were 445 of boots and shoes, 111 of boot and shoe find- ings, 12 of cotton goods, 21 of woollen and 13 of worsted goods, 79 of carriages and wag- ons, 13 of hats and caps, 2 establishments for printing cotton and woollen goods, 6 for bleaching and dyeing, 24 for preparing moroc- co, 76 for currying leather, 59 tanneries, 14 flour mills, 34 machine shops, 5 paper mills, 43 yards for building and repairing ships, and 10 manufactories of cordage and twine. County towns, Salem, Lawrence, and New- buryport. III. A N. E. county of New York, bordering on Lake Champlain, and bounded N. partly by the river Au Sable ; area, 1,656 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 29,042. The country along the lake shore is tolerably level, but the N. W. part is occupied by the Adirondack mountains, which are covered with thick for-