Chinese glue is a superior glue and varnish obtained from a species of seaweed which abounds on the chores of China. When once dried it resists the action of water. Research Chinese Glue
In painting, distemper is a preparation of opaque colour mixed in a watery glue, such as size, eggwhite or gum. It was used chiefly in scene-painting and in paper for walls during the 19th ecntury, but was employed in the higher departments of art before the introduction of oil-painting in the 16th century. Distemper is painted on a dry surface, fresco on wet mortar or plaster. Research Distemper
Gilder's compo is a substance comprised of glue, rosin and linseed oil stiffened with sifted whiting and formerly used in the Victorian era to produce relief ornaments such as picture frames and the like. Research Gilder's Compo
Glue is an adhesive substance made by boilinganimalhides, hooves or bones. Glue consists of gelatine and chondrin, the proportions defining the adhesive qualities of the glue. Glue made from skins is superior to that made from bones, and the best glue is called 'Scotch glue'.
During the Victorian period large quantities of glue were produced from the skins of sheep, calves, cows, hares, dogs, cats, etc, from the refuse of tanneries and tawing works, from old gloves, from sinews, tendons, and other offal of animal origin.
By a process of cleaning and boiling the albuminoid elements of the animal matter are changed into gelatine. This in a soft jelly-like state constitutes size; dried into hard, brittle, glassy cakes, which before use must be melted in hot water, it formed the common glue used by joiners, etc during the Victorian period. When a solution is mixed with acetic or nitric acid it remains liquid, but still retains its power of cementing; in this state it is called liquid glue. Marine Glue is a cement made by dissolving india-rubber in oil of turpentine or coal-naphtha, to which an equal quantity of shellac is added. Research Glue
An herbarium, or Hortus Siccus is , a collection of dried plants systematically arranged. Herbariums were popular among the Victorians, and a Victorian text describes the process for collecting specimens thus:
'The specimens should be collected in dry weather, and carried home in a japanned tin-box or vasculum, a small pocket-box being desirable, however, for mosses and small plants. Very delicate specimens should be at once placed in a small field-book of unsized blotting-paper carried tightly strapped between suitable boards, At home they are carefully arranged upon bibulous paper, and pressed between smoothly planed deal boards either by putting weights upon the boards or by using a screw-press. The paper is changed every day or two, as they are found to part with their moisture more or less freely.
Succulent plants (such as stone-crops) should be killed by immersion in boiling water, and left for some time to drain, before pressing. If the stem be thick and woody, or if the flower be thick and globular, as in the thistle, one half may be cut away without depriving it of its character. When the process of desiccation has been completed specimens are fastened upon stiff paper with a mixture of gum-tragacanth and gum-arabic, or thin glue, or with slips of gummed paper, or a needle and thread. To preserve the specimens from the ravages of insects, camphor should be placed in the cabinet and frequently renewed.' Research Herbarium
Traditionally papier mache is made from old paper boiled to a pulp in water, then pressed and mixed with glue or starch paste before being forced into a previously oiled mould and dried. After drying the articles are soaked with linseed oil and dried at a higher temperature. Another variety of
papier mache involved sheets of paper - maybe as many as thirty or forty - pasted on to a metal core and then planed, varnished and polished with pumice stone before being decorated. Research Papier Mache
Tempera is a mode or process of painting, the term especially being applied to early Italian painting, in which egg and glue were used to bind the colours. Research Tempera
Ceramiaceae is a family of cellular sea-weeds (Algae) consisting of thread-like jointed plants of a red or brown-red colour. The spores are in masses in transparent membranous sacs, and the tetraspores are external. The Chondrus crispus, or carrageen moss; the Rhodomenia palmata, or dulse; and the Plocaria tenax, extensively used by the Chinese as a glue and varnish belong to this family. Research Ceramiaceae
Peter Cooper was an American inventor, manufacturer and philanthropist. He was born in 1791 at New York City and died in 1883. He started life with few advantages, being almost self-educated; but by his energy, perseverance, sagacity and integrity, accumulated a large fortune. He carried on the manufacture of glue and isinglass for over fifty years, and was also connected with the iron-manufacture, the railways (he designed and built the first American locomotive), and the telegraphs of the United States. He greatly promoted the progress of industrial improvement in the United States, and in 1854 to 1859 erected the 'Cooper Union for the advancement of Science and Art', where the working classes received free instruction. He was a careful thinker on questions of government and finance. In 1876 he was the Presidential candidate of the National Independent party. Research Peter Cooper
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Chinese Glue
