Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/402

* BOTTLEHEAD. 354 BOTTLING. the dolphins; the forehead rises suddenly from the beak, and is remarkably elevated, owing to large bony crests rising over the bones of the upper jaw. The teeth are only two in number, and are situated in the fore part of the lower jaw, pointed, but sometimes completely hidden. There is a dorsal fin, rather small in proportion to the size of the animal, and placed farther back than in the common dolphin. The blowhole is crescent-shaped, the points of the crescent directed backward. The skin is smooth and glossy, of a blackish lead-color on the back, grad- uallj- becoming lighter on the sides, and whitish on the belly, turning yellowish-brown in old age. These small wliales travel in bands of four to ten, and keep just south of the limits of the Arctic ice, moving northward in summer and southward in winter. They are active, leaping out of the water, and curious rather than alarmed by the presence of boats. They feed mainly on squids, for which they are believed to dive to a very great depth. They are pursued and harpooned for the sake of their oil. resem- bling and equal to sperm, of w'hich a large one will yield two tons, besides 200 pounds of sper- maceti. The same name is often applied to several other of the smaller cetaceans, such as dolphins and blackfish, with protruding snouts. BOTTLENOSE. In Great Britain, a puffin (q.v.). BOTTLE-TREE (so named from the shape of the trunk and the water it contains; see be- low), Sterciilia riipestris. A native of Aus- tralia, noted for great globular expansion be- tween the ground and the branches; or, where the soil is without rocks, for a trunk in the shape of an ordinary bottle, the limbs a]ipcaring to grow from the mouth. It belongs to the order Stereu- liaceae, and is of middling stature. The wood is soft and brittle ; the leaves are from 2 to 4 inches long, entire, stalked, and lance-shaped; the flowers inconspicuous, on short panicles, aris- ing from the axils of the leaves; caly.x in the males, five-cleft, the stamens numerous; the fruit, of five-stalked, leathery follicles contain- ing six seeds. According to von Miiller, the stems of this tree hold consideralile quantities of water, a fact often taken advantage of liy travelers and the aborigines, who cut lioles into the soft wood to get the supply of water. There are a number of other s[)eeies to which the name 'Bottle-tree' is applied. Some of them are important food- plants of the natives of Australia, who eat their roots, which are filled with a gum similar to gum tragacanth. For illustration, see Bread- fruit. BOTTLING AND BOTTLING MACHIN- ERY. Bottling is practiced wherever liipiids or merchandise of any kind is placed in Ixiltlcs for preservation or sale. The materials bottled on the largest scale are beers, wines, and liquors, mineral and other table waters, and such non- alcoholic beverages as soda-water, ginger ale. and sarsaparilla. Some or all of the following pro- cesses usually are involved: (1) Cleansing the bottles; (2) cleansing the corks; (3) filling, corking, labeling, and tin-foiling or capping the bottles. In addition, some goods, such as lieer. are steamed or pasteurized after the bottles are forked. In some bottling cstablislimcnts the operations include the preparation of the ma- terials bottled, such as carbonated waters; but in this article it is as.sunied that the various liquids are ready for bottling, and that macliines are used throughout. Clean bottles are essential, particularly for the higher grades of gcxids. The slightest speck of dirt might seriously damage a bottle of champagne or mineral water, and fer- mentable matter left in old bottles might ruin other beverages. New bottles are easi!_y cleansed by wasliing and rinsing; but in many industries the bottles are used repeatedly, and must be cleaned as often as they are returned to the bot- tler. Old corks are renioved from the bodies of bottles by special apparatus. Before being washed bottles are soaked, wliere necessary, in tanks containing hot water, or some oUier cleans- ing solution. Soaking-wheels are sometimes em- ployed. These contain pockets in which the bot- tles are laid horizontally, mouth outward. The weight of the bottles as they are successively added causes the wheel to revolve slowly through the water in the tank. After having been soaked the interiors of the bottles are washed or scrublied by means of brushes revolving at speeds as high as 2800 revolutions per minute. Both bristle and rubber brushes are used, though the former are less durable and leave bristles in the bottles. Some of the rubber brushes consist of elastic rubber stretched between two forked springs, and a more recent rubber brusli has three prongs, which are spread by centrifugal action. A single steam-driven washer will clean 60 to 75 dozen bottles ])er day. The bottles are then placed upside down on rinsers, the essential features of which are vertical tubes, closed at the top, except for small holes, through which jets of water under pressure are emitted. Each rinser includes 24, 30, or more spouts, mounted on liori- zontal plates, with water-supply pipes beneath. Filling-machines may he operated by siphnnage from open tanks or by air or g-as pressure from closed tanks. The latter is preferable, and some- times essential, for carbonated beverages or any other liquids that might be injured by ex])osure. In the siphon-fillers the bottles are placed on the long leg of a siphon, the short leg of which is immersed in the filling-tank. The weight of the bottle tilts the siphon sufficiently to free the end of its short leg from the sloping side of the tank, thus peniiitling the li(|uid to flow into the bottle. An automatic Moat maintains a uniform supply of liquid in the liUing-tank. In the pres- sure fillers the siphcms and open reservoir give place to a system of piping, and the barrel or other closed receptacle containing the supply of liquid. Air or gas under pressure is admitted to the supply-barrel and forces the liquid iiilci the bottles. The pipes to the latter are controlled by cocks or gates. Pressure fillers, like the rinsers, are also mounted so that they may he revolved. Waters highly charged with carbonic- acid gas. like .-ieltzer in siphons, present a difi'er- ent problem in filling. They may supjdy their own pressure, wholly or in part, and special pre- cautions may be necessary to prevent injury to the operators from bursting bottles. Siphon bottles are extra strong, and are tested in ad- vance of use. In addition, the bottles are placed in strong iron cages or tra]is while being filled, and the workmen wear masks, gloves, sleeves. and aj)rons of rubber as a protect iiui against flying glass from bursting bottles. .Siphon bottles aro filled upside down, through the siphons. Cora-