China Wax is a sort of wax deposited by insects on a deciduous tree with light-green ovate, serrated leaves, cultivated in the province of Sichuen in South-western China. The insects, a species of Coccus, are bred in galls which are formed on a different tree, an evergreen (a species of Ligustrum or privet), and these galls are transported in great quantities to the districts where the wax trees are grown, to the branches of which they are suspended. Having emerged from the galls the insects spread themselves over the branches, which gradually become coated with a white waxy substance, reaching in 90 or 100 days the thickness of a quarter of an inch. The branches are then lopped off and the wax removed. It is white in colour and is chiefly made into candles; it melts at 160 degrees whereas tallow melts at about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Research China Wax
Horn is a general term applied to all hard and pointed appendages of the head, as in deer, cattle, etc, but as a term denoting a particular kind of substance nothing should be called horn which is not derived from the epidermis or outer, layer of the integument, whether on the trunk, hoofs, or head.
Horn is a tough, flexible, semi-transparent substance, most liberally developed in the horns of bovine animals, but also found in connection with the 'shell' of the tortoise, the nails, claws, and hoofs of animals, the beak of bird and turtle, etc
Horn is softened very completely by heat, so as to become readily flexible, and to adhere to other pieces similarly softened. True horn consists principally of an albuminoid principle, keratin, with a small portion of gelatine and a little phosphate of lime. In some species of animals the males only have horns, as for instance the stag. In cattle both male and female have horns, though there are also hornless cattle.
Horns differ widely in the case of different animals. Thus the horns of deer consist of bone, and are deciduous; those of the giraffe are independent bones, with a covering of hairy skin; those of oxen, sheep, and antelopes consist of a bony core covered by a horny sheath. The horns of the rhinoceros alone consist exclusively of horny matter. The horns of oxen, sheep, goats, and antelopes are never shed, except in the case of the prong-horned antelope. The number never normally exceeds four, and in the case of deer the horns are branched.
The various kinds of horns were formerly employed for many purposes. The principal formerly used in the arts are those of the ox, buffalo, sheep, and goat. Deer horns were almost exclusively employed for the handles of knives and of sticks and umbrellas. Those which furnish true horn can be softened by heat (usually in boiling water), cut into sheets of various thickness, which sheets may be soldered or welded together at the edges so as to form plates of large dimensions, and were formerly polished and dyed so as to imitate the much more expensive tortoise-shell. The clippings of horn may be welded together in the same manner, and were formerly made into snuff-boxes, powder horns, handles for umbrellas, knives, forks, etc. As horn has the valuable property of taking on and retaining a sharp impression from a die, many highly ornamental articles were also turned out. Combs for the hair were made from the flattened sheets, and out of the solid parts of buffalo horns beautiful carvings were made. Research Horn
The Alder Moth (Acronicta alni) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 33 and 38 mm found throughout Europe except the extreme south and in western Asia. The moth lives in damp deciduous forests, valleys and on watersides flying from May to June. Research Alder Moth
The almond (Prunus dulcis, formerly Amygdalus communis) is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to the Caucasus region, of the family Rosaceae with a smooth reddish coloured bark, spreading branches and alternate, stalked, rectangular to lanceolate, glossy and finely serrate leaves. The almond grows usually to the height of six meters, and is akin to the peach and nectarine. The flowers are sessile, white or pink in colour and appear in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is an elliptical, light-green coloured, velvety drupe which contains one oval seed in a hard- pitted shell. The almond was introduced to southern Europe in ancient times, and started being grown in Britain in the 16th century for its blossom, since the fruit doe not ripen in Britain. Research Almond
An antelope is any of several cloven hoofed ruminates, members of a large family, closely resembling the Deer in general appearance, but essentially different in nature from the latter animals. They are included with the Sheep and Oxen in the family of the Cavicornia or 'Hollow-horned' Ruminants. Their horns, unlike those of the Deer, are not deciduous, but are permanent; are never branched, but are often twisted spirally, and may be borne by both sexes. They are found in greatest number and variety in Africa. Well-known species are the chamois (European), the gazelle, the addax, the eland, the kudu, the gnu, the springbok, the sasin or Indian antelope, and the prongbuck of America. Research Antelope
The Apple Fruit Moth (Argyresthia conjugella) is a moth of the family Argyresthiidae with a wing span of between 10 and 12 mm found in Europe, Asia and North America in deciduous forests flying from May to July. the caterpillar feeds on the fruit of the apple and rowan trees. Research Apple Fruit Moth
The Apple Leaf Miner (Lyonetia clerkella) is a moth of the family Lyonetiidae with a wing span of between 7 and 9 mm found in Europe and northern Africa in deciduous forests flying in between one and three generations throughout the year, with the adults of the last generation hibernating from September until April. Research Apple Leaf Miner
Ash (Fraxinus) is, a genus of deciduous trees belonging to the natural order Oleaceae, having imperfect flowers and a seed-vessel prolonged into a thin wing at the apex (called a samara). There are a good many species, chiefly indigenous to Europe and North America. The common ash {Fraximus excelsior), indigenous to Britain, has a smooth bark, and grows tall and rather slender. The branches are flattened; the leaves have five pairs of pinnae, terminated by an odd one, dark-green in colour; lanceolate, with serrated edges. The flowers are produced in loose spikes from the sides of the branches. and are succeeded by flat seeds which ripen in autumn. It is one of the most useful of British trees on account of the excellence of its hard, tough, elastic wood and the rapidity of its growth. There are many varieties of it, as the weeping-ash, the curled-leaved ash, the entire-leaved ash, etc. The flowering or manna ash (Fraximus Ornus), by some placed in a distinct genus (Ornus), is a native of the south of Europe and Palestine. It yields the substance called manna, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, when the juice exudes and hardens. Among American species are the white ash (Fraximus americana), with lighter bark and leaves; the red or black ash (Fraximus pubescens), with a brown bark; the black ash (Fraximus sambucifolia), the blue ash, the green ash, etc. They are all valuable trees. The mountain-ash or rowan belongs to a different order. Research Ash
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Abbreviations
Research China Wax
