Bone manure was formerly one of the most important fertilizers in agriculture. The value of bones as manure arises chiefly from the phosphates and nitrogenous organic matters they contain; and where the soil is already rich in phosphatesbone is of little use as manure. It is of most service therefore where the soil is deficient in this respect, or in the case of crops whose rapid growth or small roots do not enable them to extract a sufficient supply of phosphate from the earth, turnips, for instance, or late-sown oats and barley. There are several methods for increasing the value of bones as manure, by boiling out the fat and gelatine, for instance, the removal of which makes the bones more readily acted on by the weather and hastens the decay and distribution of their parts, or by grinding them to dust or dissolving them in sulphuric acid, by which latter course the phosphates are rendered soluble in water.
Bones have long been used as manure in some parts of England, but only in a rude, unscientific way. It was in 1814 or 1815 that machinery was first used for crushing them in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and bone-dust and dissolved bones were then largely employed as manures, great quantities of bones being imported into Great Britain for this purpose. Before being utilized in agriculture they were often boiled for the oil or fat they contain, which was used in the manufacture of soap and lubricants. Research Bone Manure
Enamel is a vitreous glaze of various colours fused to the surface of gold, silver, copper, and other substances. The art of enamelling, which is of great antiquity, was practised by the Assyrians and by the Egyptians, from whom it may have passed into Greece, and thence into Rome and its provinces, including Great Britain, where various Roman antiquities with enamelled ornamentation have been discovered. The enamelled gold cup given by King John to the corporation of Lynn, in Norfolk, proves that the art was known among the Normans. The Byzantines of the 10th century produced excellent cloisonne enamels on a gold base, the cloisonne process consisting in tracing the design in fillets of gold upon the gold plate and filling up the small moulds thus formed with enamels the design appearing in coloured enamels separated by thin gold partitions or cloisons. In some cases, however, the enamels were filled into hollows beaten out in the gold plate, which formed part of the field.
In the 12th century the town of Limoges acquired the high reputation for inlaid enamels which it held until the 14th century, aud re-acquired in the 16th for its painted enamels. The costliness of the sculptured ground had led the Italians early in the 14th century to substitute the practice of incising the design on the face of the plate, and then covering it with a transparent enamel. The further step, which made the Limousin workshops famous, consisted in the method of superficial enamelling, in which opaque colours or colours laid on a white opaque ground were used. The Limoges school degenerated greatly in the 17th century, but its method with certain modifications in detail is still employed.
The basis of all kinds of enamel is a perfectly transparent and fusibleglass, which is rendered either semitransparent or opaque by the admixture of metallic oxides. White enamels are composed by melting the oxide of tin with glass, and adding a small quantity of manganese or phosphate of calcium to increase the brilliancy of the colour. The addition of the oxide of lead, or antimony, or oxide of silver, produces a yellow enamel. Reds are formed by copper, and by an intermixture of the oxides of gold and iron. Greens, violets, and blues are formed from the oxides of copper, cobalt, and iron.
In the middle of the 18th century enamelling was largely applied to the decoration of snuff-boxes, tea-canisters, candlesticks, and other small articles. Of later years it was extensively applied to the coating of iron vessels for domestic purposes, the protection of the insides of baths, cisterns, and boilers, and the like. Enamelling in colours upon iron was common, iron plates being thus treated by means of various mixtures, and words and designs of various kinds being permanently fixed upon them by stencilling, for advertising, signboards, etc.
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 1219C2 USMC ('Kabar') is an American fighting/utility knife first issued to American troops during the Second World War in 1942. The blade is a 7 inch Bowie with fuller made of carbonsteel with a protective black phosphate finish and a bevel-ground edge with a sharpened clip edge. In practice the Marine Combat has proven a compromise; a little light for chopping and liable to break when used for prying or throwing, but has proven very popular with US servicemen and the public. Research 1219C2
The Camillus Pilot Survival Knife is an American knife carried by USAF aircrew for survival use. The Camillus Pilot Survival Knife is based on the Marine Combat fighting knife (Kabar) but is smaller and lighter for easier carrying. The blade is a 5 1/8 inch long Bowie type with a saw back, made of carbonsteel protected with a black phosphate finish. The blade edge is bevel-ground with a false clip edge. Research Camillus Pilot Survival Knife
The Colt Match Target is an American civilian semi-automatic version of the Armalite AR-15rifle. The Colt Match Target is produced in black phosphate coated steel with a plastic stock and is produced in various calibres including .223 Remington and 9 mm Parabellum. It takes a 5-round magazine and has a 20 inch long barrel with adjustable folding optical sight. Research Colt Match Target
The Harris M-86 is an American bolt-action sniping rifle produced in .308 Winchester and .300 WinchesterMagnum calibres which it takes from a 5 or 10 round magazine. The Harris M-86 is made from matt-black phosphate coated steel with a glass-fibre stock. It has a 24 inch long barrel and takes a telescopic sight. A single-shot sporting version is also produced. Research Harris M-86
The Harris Signature Super Varminter is an American bolt-action target-shooting and huntingrifle made of matt black phosphate covered steel to custom calibres with various magazine capacities depending upon calibre. The Harris Signature Super Varminter has a 25-inch long barrel and doesn't have fitted sights, but rather takes a telescopic sight. Research Harris Signature Super Varminter
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