Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/310

* BONE. 274 BONE FEKTILIZERS. in the tail and back fin of certain fislics for pointing arrows. These uses of bone, coupled with the employment of the serrated teeth of sharks as a war weapon, are still practiced by many uncivilized tribes. The fatty and other organic matters in bone allow of its being em- ployed as a fuel where coal or wood cannot be obtained, as in the pampas of South America and the steppes of Russia. In these regions it is considered that the heat evolved during the combustion of the bones of an ox suffices to cook the flesh. See also Bone Fertilizers. BONE,Henry ( 1755-1834). An English enamel painter, lie was born at Truro, in Cornwall, February 0, 1755. He w.-is aiiprenticed to a manufacturer of china, but in 1778 moved to London, where he made designs in enamel for jewelers. His merits as an artist were soon recognized; the beauty of his work attracted the notice of the Royal Academy, and he was admitted to that institution, first as an associ- ate, afterwards, in 1811, as a full academi- cian. His copies of the "Sleeping Girl," by Sir ,7oshua Reynolds, brought him early fame, but his most beautiful examples were the exe- cution of eighty-five portraits of ilhistrious men and women of Queen Elizabeth's time. All were reproduced in enamel, and were of sizes varying from 5 by 4 to 13 by S inches. These exquisite portraits, so greatly admired in the time of Bone, with other valuable objects of art, were disposed of by public sale after his death, and are now in the hands of pri- vate collectors. Bone was enamel painter to George III., (Jeorge IV.. and William IV. He executed miniatures after Raphael, Titian, and llurillo. One of the most famous was a copy of Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne" in the National Gallery, 18 by IG inches. He died Dec. 17, 1834. BONE -ASH. See Bone Fertilizers. BONEBLACK, Animal CirARC0.L, or Char. A substance prepared from carefully selected, clean, hard bones, made by heating them in retorts, out of contact with air, until they are carbonized. In this process combustible gases and water, together with oil and the va- pors of various salts of ammonia, are given off, and boneblack is left in the retort. It is gen- erally reduced to coarse grains from about the size "of small peas, down to large pinbeads. and is extensively used in the arts for decolorizing liquids, such as the syrup of sugar, and solu- tions of argol (impure cream of tartar). It is capable of removing various mineral substances from their solutions, and is therefore used in filters for separating chemical impiirities from water. The general mode of using the bone- black for the purpose of decolorizing liquids is to allow the liquid to percolate through a layer of the charcoal, when all color is arrested, arid the syrup of sugar luns through clear and colorless. This power of absorlnng coloring mat- ters is possessed also by vegetable (peat or wood) charcoal, but not to such an extent as by boneblack. The application of heat to the liquids before filtration greatly facilitates the decoloriza- tion, and where the volume of liquid to be oper- ated tipon is not great, the most expeditious method is to boil the liquid and bonelilack to- gether, and then strain through filtering-paper or cloth. The power of absorbing colors appears to be due to the porosity of the substance; it is extremely improbable that the absorption of color is due to a chemical process. When syrup of sugar and other liquids have been run through boneblack for some time, the jjores of the latter appear to get clogged with the color, and the clarifying infiuence ceases; then the bone- black reqvures to imdergo a ju'ocess of rerivi/ica- tioii, which usually consists in reheating it care- fully in ovens, or iron pipes inclosed in a fur- nace, when the absorl)ed color is charred, and the boneblack can be of service once again as an arrester of color. After several reburnings, the bonebl.ack becomes of very inferior absorptive ((uality. and is disposed of for the manufacture of fertilizers. Boneblack has also the power of absorbing odors, especially those of a disa- greeable natuie, and can be employed to deodor- ize apartments, clothing, outhouses, etc. See Bone Fertilizers. BONEBREAKEB (for derivation see be- low). The giant fulmar petrel (Oss-ifrapa qiqan- tea), which is nearly as large as an albatross, and belongs in the South Pacific. It breeds upon Kerguelen and neighboring islands, and feeds mainly upon the carcasses of dead seals and ce- taceans, the bones of which it is able to smash with its powerful vulture-like beak. It is called 'Nelly' by the sealers. See Fulmar, and Plate of FiSHIKfi BUiDS. BONE CAVE. See Cave. BONE COAL. A term used in the anthracite regions to designate himps of coal containing shaly matter. In the sizing and sorting of an- thracite the bone coal has to be separated by hand or by machinery. See Anthracite. BONE-DOG. The bone-shark. See Dogfish. BONE FERTILIZERS. Bones have long been xised and are highly valued as a fertilizer. Sir John Lawes, of England, early in his career, recognized their value for this purpose and es- tablished a factors' for treating them with .sul- phuric acid to increase their eti'ectiveness, ac- cording to the process suggested by Liebig. Bones are valuable as a fertilizer on account of the nitrogen and phosphoric acid they contain. The proportions of these depend upon the kind of bones, and the method of treatment to which they are subjected. Untreated bone consists chiefly of tricalcium phosphate bound together by gelatinous matter ricli in nitrogen. If raw bone is soaked in dilute hydrochloric acid the calcium phosphate is dissolved, leaving a tough, elastic, gelatinous mass behind; if it is burned, a friable earthy mass — bone-ash- — is obtained. If sub- jected to the action of superheated steam, more or less of the gelatinous matter is removed, leaving a product richer in phosphoric acid and poorer in nitrogen than the original. Raw Bones. According to Voorhees. raw bones free from meat and excess of fat should con- tain a considerable amount of phosphoric acid and 4 per cent, of nitrogen. They are highly valued as a fertilizer, although they often con- tain a considerable amount of fat which inter- feres with their decomposition in the soil. Bones from which the fat has been removed by ex- traction with solvents, stich as benzine or pe- trohMini, contain a high percentage of nitrogen (sometimes li per cent.) and about 20 per cent, of plios])horic acid, are easily ground, and de- compose readily in the soil.