Cork is the external bark of a species of oak (Quercus suber) which grows in Spain, Portugal, and other southern parts of Europe and in the north of Africa, and is distinguished by the great thickness and sponginess of its bark, and by the leaves being evergreen, rectangular, somewhat oval, downy underneath, and waved. The outer bark falls off of itself if left alone, but for commercial purposes it is stripped off when judged sufficiently matured, this being when the tree has reached the age of from fifteen to thirty years. The first stripping yields the coarsest kind of bark. In the course of eight or nine years, or even less, the same tree will yield another supply of cork of better quality, and the removal of this outer bark is said to be beneficial, the trees thus stripped reaching the age of 150 years or more. The bark is removed by a kind of axe, parallel cuts being carried round the tree transversely and united by others in a longitudinal direction, so as to produce rectangular sheets of bark. These vary in thickness between 2 mm and 7 mm. Care must be taken not to cut into the inner bark, or the tree would be killed. The pieces of cork are flattened out by heat or by weights, and are slightly charred on the surface to close the pores.
Cork is light, elastic, impervious to water, and by pressure can be greatly reduced in bulk, returning again to its original size. These qualities render it peculiarly serviceable for the stopping of vessels of different kinds, and formerly for floats, buoys, swimming-belts or jackets, artificial limbs, etc. Corks for bottles are cut either by hand or by means of a machine. The best corks are cut across the grain. Research Cork
Ivory is an opaque, creamy white, hard, fine-grained, modified dentin that composes the upper incisor teeth of an elephant. Ivory is composed of curved layers of dentine alternating in shade, that intersect one another; the resulting lozenge-shaped structure is elastic and finely grained. The layers of a tusk are deposited from the central pulp, so that the innermost layer is the newest. Most commercial elephant ivory is obtained from the tusks of the African elephant, mainly from eastern and central Africa. (Most of the ivory of the western half of Africa is hard, whereas that from the eastern half is soft. Hard ivory is glassier in texture, harder to cut and more likely to crack than soft ivory.)
Fossil ivory, called odontolite, is a blue variety that is found in small quantities in the frozen soil of northern Siberia. Odontolite was produced by the mammoths of the Pleistocene geological epoch; its blue colour results from saturation by metallic salts. Carved ivory has been used for decorative purposes since the time of the ancient Egyptians. Small pieces of ivory are used for high-quality furniture inlays, chess pieces, and small jewellery. Larger pieces of ivory sometimes have been used in the manufacture of billiard balls, piano keys, and toilet articles.
During the late 1980s, as Africa's elephant herds declined, environmentalists led a world-wide effort to shut down the ivory trade; in 1989 the USA and the European Union banned all ivory imports. Tusks of several other animals such as hippopotamuses, narwhals, sperm whales, and walruses are commonly called ivory and have similar physical properties, and many plastic substitutes for ivory have been developed. Several ivory-like vegetable parts are also used in imitation of ivory; the ivory palm, for example, produces large, white, hard seeds, called ivory nuts, the endosperm of which is commonly known as vegetable ivory. In painting, ivory is a delicate colour deeper in tone than off-white, but not so deep as cream. Research Ivory
Purpleheart (also known as purple heart, amaranth, purple wood, violet wood) is a strong, durable, and elastic wood of a purplish colour used for decorative veneering and obtained from several tropical American leguminous trees of the genus Peltogyne. Purpleheart timber is mainly used for inlay work in furniture. Research Purpleheart
Aril or aririus, in some plants, as in the nutmeg, is an extra covering of the seed, outside of the true seed-coats, proceeding from the placenta, partially investing the seed, and falling off spontaneously. It is either succulent or cartilaginous, coloured, elastic, rough, or knotted. In the nutmeg it is known as mace. Research Aril
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
In botany, bast is a structural element in the stem of dicotyledons and gymnosperms. In most plants long, tough, elastic fibres form part of the
bast, and it is on account of this that it has economic value, these fibres being extracted and used to make Russian bast or bast mats and for tying plants. Research Bast
The Belarus Red (also known as the Krasnaya belorusskaya, Krasnobelorusskaya, Byelorussian Red, Red White-Russian, White-Russian Red) is a breed of cow characterized by a medium long head, not wide, with a long face. The poll is pronounced. The horns are of medium size. The neck is thin and of moderate length. The withers are not sharp, occasionally divided. The chest is of medium depth, wide enough. The back is level, slightly narrow. The loin is long and level, of medium width. The mid-part of the body is well developed. The abdomen is capacious, not drooping. The rump is level, slightly raised. The hindquarters are of medium length and width, with protruding hips. The legs are comparatively thin, bony, not long, correctly set. Sometimes legs are splayed or bowed. The udder is medium in volume, glandular, cup-shaped or roundish. The teats are cylindrical, of medium size. The skin is thin, elastic, mobile. The skeleton is light and strong. The musculature is moderately developed. The conformation is harmonious and compact; the constitution delicate. The colour is red or rust-red of various shades. many animals are noted for their longevity. Research Belarus Red
The camel is a group of two species of even-toed, ungulate ruminating mammals of the family Camelidae characterised by the absence of horns, the possession of incisor, canine and molar teeth, a fissure in the upper lip, a long and arched neck, one or two humps or protuberances on the back (the Arabian camel has one hump, the Common, Asian or Bactrian Camel, two), and a broad elastic foot which does not readily sink into the sand of the desert.
The native country of the camel is said to extend from Marocco to China, within a zone of 900 or 1000 miles in breadth. The common camel (Camelus Bactridnus), having two humps, is only found in the northern part of this region, and exclusively from the ancient Bactria, now Turkestan, to China. The dromedary, or Single-hump camel (Camelus dromedarius), or Arabian camel, is
found throughout the entire length of this zone, on its southern side, as far as Africa and India. The Bactrian species is the larger, more robust, and more fitted for carrying heavy burdens. The dromedary has been called the race-horse of its species. To people residing in the vicinity of the great deserts the camel is an invaluable mode of conveyance. It will travel three days under a load and five days under a rider without drinking. The stronger varieties carry from 700 to 1000 Lbs. burden.
The camel's power of enduring thirst is partly due to the peculiar structure of its stomach, to which are attached little pouches or water-cells, capable of straining off and storing up water for future use, when journeying across the desert. It can live on little food, and of the coarsest kind, leaves of trees, nettles, shrubs, twigs, etc. In this it is helped by the fact that its humps are mere accumulations of fat (the back-bone of the animal being quite straight) and form a store upon which the system can draw when the outside supply is defective. Hence the camel-driver who is about to start on a journey takes care to see that the humps of his animalpresent a full and healthy appearance. Camels which carry heavy burdens will do about 25 miles a day, those which are used for speed alone, from 60 to 90 miles a day.
The camel is rather passive than docile, showing less intelligent co-operation with its master than the horse or elephant; but it is very vindictive when injured. It lives from forty to fifty years. Its flesh is esteemed by the nomadic Arab and its milk is his common food. The hair of the camel serves in the East for making cloth for tents, carpets and wearing apparel. It is imported into European countries for the manufacture of fine pencils for painting and for other purposes. The South American members of the family Camelidae constitute the genusAuchenia, to which the llama and alpaca belong; they have no humps. Research Camel
Durmast is a species of oak, Quercus sessiliflora, or according to some, Quercus pubescens, so closely allied to the common oak (Quercus robur) as to be reckoned only a variety of it. Its wood is, however, darker, heavier, and more elastic, less easy to split, not so easy to break, yet the least difficult to bend. It is highly
valued, therefore, by the cabinetmaker and formerly also by builders. Research Durmast
The eider (Somateria mollissima) is a coastal duck of the family Anatidae found from 45 degrees north to the arctic. Its favourite haunts are solitary rocky shores and islands. In Greenland and Iceland they occur in great numbers, and also breed on the western islands of Scotland. The eider duck is about twice the size of the common duck, being about 70 cm in length, 90 cm in breadth of wing, and from 6 to 7 lbs. in weight. The male is black, with the head and back white, with a black crown. The female is reddish drab spotted with black, and with two white bands on the wings. The eider feed largely on shell-fish, crustaceans, etc.
Their nests are usually formed of driftgrass, dry sea-weed, etc, lined with a large quantity of down, which the female plucks from her own breast. In this soft bed she lays five eggs, which she covers over with a layer of down. If this, with the eggs, is removed the bird repeats the process. One female generally furnishes about half-a-pound of down, but the quantity is reduced by cleaning. This down, from its superior warmth, lightness, and elasticity, is in great demand for beds and coverlets; and the districts in Norway and Iceland where these birds abound are guarded with the greatest vigilance as a most valuable property. As found in commerce this down is in balls of the size of a man's fist, and weighing from 3 to 4 lbs. It is so fine and elastic that 5 lbs. of the best quality is sufficient for a whole bed. The down from dead birds is little esteemed, having lost its elasticity. The king eider duck (Somateria spectabilis) is another species resembling the preceding and inhabiting the same coasts. Research Eider
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cork
