Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/911

* TABLEWARE. 797 biitannia ware industry hail spread into seven States, in which were lotateil about 50 factories. Connecticut, liowcvcr, still leil, aljout one-half tlie total number of factories being in that S^tate, with an annual [jroiluct valued at $9,538,397. liefore the introduction of electro-plating, all ware was plated by the application of a thin sheet of silver to the object. Bits of solder were jjlaccd here and there between the plating anil the body material, and, on subjecting the object to moderate but continued heat, the solder was melted and firmly united the metals. In this process it was always dillicult to finish the sharp edges so they had the appearance of a continu- ous silver surface. The art of fashioning ma- terials by stamping them out with dies (see DiES AND Die-Sinking) has greatly facilitated and cheapened the manufacture of plated ware. In the modern factory three methods are employed for shaping the body material before the plating is applied — spinning, stamping, and casting, and special parts are sometimes hannncred into shape. (See REPOUSSfi.) The body mateiial used in a standard factory is the composite metal called German silver, which consists of 53 per cent, cop- per, 311.4 per cent. zinc, and 15^_t per cent, of nickel. Stamping is the method usually em- plo.ved when a large number of objects after the same pattern are to be made. When only one or a few pieces are to be made according to a given design, they are usually spun. In this process the object is shaped over a rapidly revolving wooden mold, known as a chuck, frequent annealing be- ing required to keep the metal flexible. Spinning requires considerable manual dexterity, while stamjiing is a purely mechanical process. But the preliminary making of the wooden mold is much easier and cheaper than that of the metal die. Of course only objects which are somewhat spherical in shape can be spun, and the flat metal which is thus molded into shape is stamped out of the sheet. Often the chucks are sectional and hinged, so that they can be removed from the finished object, when this object is narrower at tile top than at other portions: but oftener a dish, whether stamped or spvm. is fashioned in several sections, which are soldered together be- fore plating. Ornamental borders and similar decorations are stamped separately and soldered on. The final preparation for plating is to re- move all roughnesses and scratches from each article and render it perfectly smooth, which is done by sand-finishing. In applying the process of electro-plating (q.v.) to produce silver-plated ware, the objects are first washed in caustic soda and then in a strong solution of nitric, sulphuric, and hydro- chloric acids. The trade terms 'single.' 'triple.' and 'quadruple,' which are commonly applied to plated ware to denote its quality, are somewhat misleading, for the heaviness of the plate usually depends upon the length of time during which the object remains in the electric bath, and not on the number of times the dip is repeated. The Ware is carcftilly weighed before and after im- mersion and is allowed to remain in the bath un- til the desired number of pennyweights of silver have been added to its weight, an operation which, in thoroughly good ware, requires several hours, although the vessel is quite as attractive in appearance after a bath of a few minutes. It is sometimes stated that danger of poison is in- curred in using certain forms of cheaply made TABOO. plated ware, but in all but the poorest quality the silver is subjected to .so many cleansing processes after it is plated that not a ve.stige of the deadly poison, cyanide of potassium, in which it has been immersed can remain upon its sur- face. Standard ware, after it is plated, is fin- ished by a succession of processes of hand polish- ing and burnishing. TABOO' (Samoan fapu. Hawaiian kapii, for- bidden). An object or act religiously interdicted, and the religious svstem based upon such inter- diction. Under various names and in one form or another, the practice of taboo is found all over the earth ; but it has nowhere else been so sys- tematized as in Polynesia. Primarily, taboo is something forbidden because the tabooed object is regarded as potent to injure owing to its mana, or mysterious (spiritual) ]iiiwer, which may be cither holy, as a priest's possession, or unclean, as a corpse. There is at first no moral signifi- cance in taboo, and in many eases the interdict is due merely to fear of spirits. Thus in New Zealand there are a mana taboo and an atua taboo, the latter arising from a belief in spirits, atua, or a more personal embodiment of mana. Even in rites of purification the object is simply to keep olT evil spirits. Taboo in man_y cases re- verts to another phase of primitive philosophy, which sees retained in blood, nails, hair, etc., though severed from the body, the spiritual power of the individual. But in some cases taboo is mcrel.v the expression of conservatism, which may be religions or social. An instance of the former is the taboo of iron in religious cere- monies. Thus in such ceremonies both the an- cient Romans and the modern Pawnee Indians put a taboo on iron, since the gods dislike innova- tions. Even without the fear of divinities, the same religious conservatism prevents the Austra- lians from using stone implements in circum- cision, for which the.v employ the still more antique burnt-wood knife. But there is also a social conservatism resulting in taboo. Foreigners and new things generally are dangerous and are regularly tabooed by man.v wild tribes (as in Africa), though the taboo is easilv removed ex- cept in the case of chiefs. In such eases the foreign person, thing, or act is tabooed because of the unknown and dreaded mana. But, on the other hand, there are taboos which are simplv in the interest of old practices. Thus the Hindu laws give the bed-hours of kings, and it needs only the right environment of superstition and antiquity to make such laws seem to be the ef- fect of taboo, as in Egv'pt, though there can be no question that this is not the case in India. Taboo may be permanent or temporary, pri- vate or public. Especially stringent are all roval and priestly taboos, because kin.cs and priests control the weal of the people and must, for the people's sake, be guarded against danger in fond and the like. In some cases a king becomes a mere slave bound by the rules thus laid upon him. In others he makes taboos for his own interest. The king is guarded from t.abooed acts and ob- jects; but the people too must guard themselves from the mvsterious divine mann of the king, and it is this latter aspect of taboo which king and priest alike find it for their ii.ferest to main- tain. What is not taboo is nna. common, and in this antithesis lies the germ of the conception of per-