Chapter V: OF RIPENING DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEER.--The varieties of beer depend (6)

_a_, is the top cross bar with rectangular grooves _b b_; _c c_, are side posts; _d d_, cross feet to the same, with strengthening brackets; _e e_, a square box, in which the press stands, for holding waste cuttings. _Fig._ 146. is a cross section of the upright posts, _c c_, taken horizontally. There are rectangular grooves in the upright posts, for the projecting ends of the cast iron cross bracket _f_, to slide up and down in. In the middle of the under-side of this piece _f_, there is a boss, within which is a round recess, to receive the top of the screw _g_, which works in the cast iron cross piece _h_, similarly made with the former, but bolted firmly to the posts _c c_. Upon the screw _g_ there is a circular handle or ring _i_, for partially turning the screw, and immediately over it cross holes for tightening the press by means of a lever bar. Upon the cross piece _f_, is bolted the board _j_, and upon each end of this board is made fast the rabbetted pieces _k k_, for another board _l_, to slide in. Across the middle of this board, and parallel to the pieces _k k_, the tongue piece _m_, is made fast, which fits into a groove in the bottom of board _l_. A horizontal representation of this is seen at _fig._ 147. and immediately under this view is also seen an end view of _l_, and _f_, connected together, and a side view of _f_ by itself. In the middle of the board _l_, is a pin for a circular board _n_, to turn upon, and upon this latter board is placed the “material to be cut,” with a saving piece between it, and the circular piece which is to be divided upon its edge into any number of parts required, with a stationary index on the board _l_, to point to each.

It will now be understood that the “material to be cut,” may be turned round upon the centre pin of the board _n_, and also that both it and the board can be shifted backward and forward under the top cross piece _a_, and between the side slide slips _k k_, the surfaces of which should also be divided into inches and tenths.

The plough, _fig._ 148., shown in several positions, is made to receive two knives or cutters as the “material to be cut” may require, and which are situated in the plough as I now describe. The plough is composed of three principal parts, namely, the top, and its two sides. The top _o_, is made the breadth of the cross piece _a_, and with a handle made fast thereon. The sides _p p_, are bolted thereto, with bolts and nuts through corresponding holes in the top and sides. The figures below give inside views, and cross sections of the details of the manner in which the cutters and adjustments are mounted. A groove is cut down each cheek or side, in which are placed screws that are held at top and bottom from moving up and down, but by turning they cause the nuts upon them to do so; they are shown at _q q_. These nuts have each a pin projecting inwards, that go into plain holes made in the top ends of cutters _r r_. The 148th. and following figs. are 1/4 in scale.

The cutters, and the work for causing them to go up and down, are sunk into the cheeks, so as to be quite level with their inner surfaces. _Fig._ 149. shows one of those screws apart, how fixed, and with moveable nut and projecting pin. The top of each screw terminates with a round split down, and above it a pinion wheel and boss thereon, also similarly split. This pinion fits upon the split pin. Above, there is cross section of a hollow coupling cap with steel tongue across, that fits into both the cuts of the screw pin and pinion boss, so that when lowered upon each other, they must all turn together. In the middle and on the top of the upper piece _o_, the larger wheel _s_, runs loose upon its centre, and works into the two pinion-wheels _t t_. The wheel _s_ has a fly-nut with wings mounted upon it.

It will now be seen, when the plough is in its place as at _fig._ 150., that if it be pushed to and fro by the right hand, and the nut occasionally turned by the left, the knives or cutters will be protruded downwards at the same time, and these either will or will not advance as the coupling caps _u u_ are on or off. The ribs _v v_, run in the grooves _b b_, _fig._ 144., and keep the cutters to their duty, working steadily. The top cross bar _a_, is the exact breadth of a bank-note, by which means both knives are made to cut at the same time. The paper is cut uniformly to one length, and accurately square.

By the use of this machine, the air-pump paper-wetting apparatus, and appendant press, the paper of 45,000 notes is fully prepared in one hour and a half by one person, and may then be printed. It is not so much injured by this process as by the ordinary method of clipping by hand, soaking it, &c., which more or less opens and weakens the fabric, especially of bank-note paper.

One of the greatest improvements ever made in the art of bookbinding is, apparently, that for which Mr. William Hancock has very recently obtained a patent. After folding the sheets in double leaves, he places them vertically, with the edges forming the back of the book downwards in a concave mould, of such rounded or semi-cylindrical shape as the back of the book is intended to have. The mould for this purpose consists of two parallel upright boards, set apart upon a cradle frame, each having a portion or portions cut out vertically, somewhat deeper than the breadth of the book, but of a width nearly equal to its thickness before it is pressed. One of these upright boards may be slidden nearer to or farther from its fellow, by means of a guide bar, attached to the sole of the cradle. Thus the distance between the concave bed of the two vertical slots in which the book rests, may be varied according to the length of the leaves. In all cases about one-fourth of the length of the book at each end projects beyond the board, so that one half rests between the two boards. Two or three packthreads are now bound round the leaves thus arranged, from top to bottom of the page in different lines, in order to preserve the form given to the back of the mould in which it lay. The book is next subjected to the action of the press. The back, which is left projecting _very slightly_ in front, is then smeared carefully by the fingers with a solution of caoutchouc, whereby each paper-edge receives a small portion of the cement. In a few hours it is sufficiently dry to take another coat of a somewhat stronger caoutchouc solution. In 48 hours, 4 applications of the caoutchouc may be made and dried. The back and the adjoining part of the sides are next covered with the usual band or fillet of cloth, glued on with caoutchouc; after which the book is ready to have the boards attached, and to be covered with leather or parchment as may be desired.

We thus see that Mr. Hancock dispenses entirely with the operations of stitching, sewing, sawing-in, hammering the back, or the use of paste and glue. Instead of leaves attached by thread stitches at 2 or 3 points, we have them agglutinated securely along their whole length. Books bound in this way open so perfectly flat upon a table without strain or resilience, that they are equally comfortable to the student, the musician, and the merchant. The caoutchouc cement moreover being repulsive to insects, and not affected by humidity, gives this mode of binding a great superiority over the old method with paste or glue, which attracted the ravages of the moth, and in damp situations allowed the book to fall to pieces. For engravings, atlasses, and ledgers, this binding is admirably adapted, because it allows the pages to be displayed most freely, without the risk of dislocating the volume; but for security, 3 or 4 stitches should be made. The leaves of music-books bound with caoutchouc, when turned over, lie flat at their whole extent, as if in loose sheets, and do not torment the musician like the leaves of the ordinary books, which are so ready to spring back again. Manuscripts and collections of letters which happen to have little or no margin left at the back for stitching them by, may be bound by Mr. Hancock’s plan without the least encroachment upon the writing. The thickest ledgers thus bound, open as easily as paper in quire, and may be written on up to the innermost margin of the book without the least inconvenience.

Having inspected various specimens of Mr. Hancock’s workmanship, I willingly bear testimony to the truth of the preceding statement. See CLOTH BINDING.

BOTTLE MANUFACTURE. The following mechanism for moulding bottles, forms the subject of a patent obtained by Henry Rickets of Bristol in 1822. _Fig._ 155. is a section of the apparatus, consisting of a square frame, _a a_, of iron or wood; this is fixed in a pit formed in the floor; _b b_ is the base of the frame, with an aperture for knocking up the bottom of the bottle; _c c_ are four legs secured to the frame-floor _b_, upon which the mould is supported. The platform or stand of the mould _d d_ has an opening in its centre for the introduction of the bottom of the mould, which is raised against the bottom of the bottle by the knocker up; _e e_ are the sides of the mould; and _f f_ is the top of the mould in two pieces, turning over upon the joints at _g g_, so as to form the neck of the bottle; _h h_ are levers or arms for raising and depressing the top pieces; _i i_ is a horizontal shaft or axle, turning in bearings at each end, from which shaft two levers, _k k_, extend; these levers are connected by upright rods, _l l_, to the levers or arms, _h h_, of the top pieces _f f_.

The weight of the arms _h h_, and rods _l l_, will, by their gravity, cause the top pieces to open, as shown by the dotted lines; in this situation of the mould, the melted glass is to be introduced by a tube as usual. The workman then steps with one foot upon the knob _m_, which forces down the rod _n_, and by means of a short lever _o_, extending from the shaft _i_, forces down the top pieces _f_, and closes the mould, as seen in the figure; the glass is then made to extend itself to the shape of the mould, by blowing as usual, so as to form the bottle, and the workman at this time putting his other foot upon the knob _p_, depresses the rod _q_, and hence raises the bottom of the mould by means of the knocker-up, _r_, so as to form the bottom of the bottle.

At the bottom of the mould a ring is introduced of any required thickness, for the purpose of regulating the capacity of the bottle; upon which ring it is proposed to raise letters and figures, as a mould to imprint the maker’s name and the size of the bottle. These moulds can be removed and changed at pleasure. Under the knob _p_, a collar or washer is to be introduced, of any required thickness, to regulate the knocking up of the bottom, by which a perfect symmetry of form is presented. In order to make bottles of different sizes or forms, the mould is intended to be removed, and its place supplied by another mould of different dimensions and figure; the lower parts of all the moulds being made to fit the same frame. Such a mould ought to be prescribed by legislative enactment, with an excise stamp to define the capacity of every bottle, and thereby put an end to the interminable frauds committed in the measure of wine and all other liquors sold by the bottle.

BOUGIE. A smooth, flexible, elastic, slender cylinder, introduced into the urethra, rectum, or œsophagus, for opening or dilating it, in cases of stricture and other diseases. The invention of this instrument is claimed by Aldereto, a Portuguese physician, but its form and uses were first described by his pupil Amatus, in the year 1554. Some are solid, and some hollow; some corrosive, and some mollifying. They generally owe their elasticity to linseed oil, inspissated by long boiling, and rendered drying by litharge. This viscid matter is spread upon a very fine cord or tubular web of cotton, flax, or silk, which is rolled upon a slab when it becomes nearly solid by drying, and is finally polished in the same way.

Pickel, a French professor of medicine, published the following recipe for the composition of bougies. Take 3 parts of boiled linseed oil, one part of amber, and one of oil of turpentine; melt and mix these ingredients well together, and spread the compound at three successive intervals upon a silk cord or web. Place the pieces so coated in a stove heated to 150° F.; leave them in it for 12 hours, adding 15 or 16 fresh layers in succession, till the instruments have acquired the proper size. Polish them first with pumice-stone, and finally smooth with tripoli and oil. This process is the one still employed in Paris, with some slight modifications; the chief of which is dissolving in the oil one twentieth of its weight of caoutchouc to render the substance more solid. For this purpose the caoutchouc must be cut into slender shreds, and added gradually to the hot oil. The silk tissue must be fine and open, to admit of the composition entering freely among its filaments. Each successive layer ought to be dried first in a stove, and then in the open air, before another is applied. This process takes two months for its completion, in forming the best bougies called _elastic_; which ought to bear twisting round the finger without cracking or scaling, and extension without giving way, but retracting when let go. When the bougies are to be hollow, a mandril of iron wire, properly bent with a ring at one end, is introduced into the axis of the silk tissue. Some bougies are made with a hollow axis of tin foil rolled into a slender tube. Bougies are also made entirely of caoutchouc, by the intervention of a solution of this substance in sulphuric ether, a menstruum sufficiently cheap in France, on account of the low duty upon alcohol. There are medicated bougies, the composition of which belongs to surgical pharmacy. The manufacture of these instruments of various kinds forms a separate and not inconsiderable branch of industry at Paris. MM. Feburger and Lamotte are eminent in this line.

BRACES. (_Bretelles_, Fr. _Hosenträger_, Germ.) Narrow fillets or bands of leather or textile fabric, which pass over the shoulders, and are attached behind and before to the waistbands of pantaloons and trowsers, in the act of wearing them, for supporting their weight, and _bracing_ them up to the body. It is a useful modern invention, superseding the necessity of girding the belly with a tight girdle, as in former times.

BRAIDING MACHINE. (_Machine à lacets_, Fr.; _Bortenwerkerstuhl_, Germ.) This being employed, not only to manufacture stay-laces, braid, and upholsterer’s cord, but to cover the threads of caoutchouc for weaving brace-bands, deserves a description in this work. Three threads at least are required to make such a knitted lace, but 11, 13, or 17, and even 29 threads are often employed, the first three numbers being preferred. They are made by means of a frame of a very ingenious construction, which moves by a continuous rotation. We shall describe a frame with 13 threads, from which the structure of the others may be readily conceived. The basis of the machine consists of four strong wooden uprights, A, _fig._ 156, 157, 158., occupying the four angles of a rectangle, of which one side is 14 inches long, the other 18 inches, and the height of the rectangle about 40 inches. _Fig._ 156. is a section in a horizontal plane, passing through the line _a b_ of _fig._ 157. which is a vertical section in a plane passing through the centre of the machine C, according to the line _c d_, _fig._ 156. The side X is supposed to be the front of the frame; and the opposite side, Y, the back. B, six spindles or skewers, numbered, from 1 to 6, placed in a vertical position upon the circumference of a circle, whose centre coincides with that of the machine at the point C. These six spindles are composed, 1. Of so many iron shafts or axes D, supported in brass collets E, (_fig._ 157.) and extended downwards within 6 inches of the ground, where they rest in brass steps fixed upon a horizontal beam. 2. Wooden heads, made of horn-beam or nut-tree, placed, the first upon the upper end of each spindle, opposite the cut-out beam F, and the second opposite the second beam G. 3. Wooden-toothed wheels, H, reciprocally working together, placed between the beam G, and the collet-beam E. The toothed wheels and the lower heads for each spindle are in one piece.

The heads and shafts of the spindles No. 1. and 6., are one fifth stronger than those of the other spindles; their heads have five semi-circular grooves, and wheels of 60 teeth, while the heads of the others have only four grooves, and wheels of 48 teeth; so that the number of the grooves in the six spindles is 26, one half of which is occupied with the stems of the puppets I, which carry the 13 threads from No. 1. to 13. The toothed wheels, which give all the spindles a simultaneous movement, but in different directions, are so disposed as to bring their grooves opposite to each other in the course of rotation.

K, the middle winglet, triple at bottom and quintuple at top, which serves to guide the puppets in the direction they ought to pursue.

L, three winglets, single at top and bottom, placed exteriorly, which serve a like purpose.

M, two winglets, triple at bottom and single at top, placed likewise exteriorly, and which serve the same purposes as the preceding; _m_, are iron pins inserted in the cut-out beam G, which serve as stops or limits to the oscillations of the exterior winglets.

Now, if by any moving power (a man can drive a pair) rotation be impressed upon the large spindle No. 1., in the direction of the arrow, all the other spindles will necessarily pursue the rotatory movement indicated by the respective arrows. In this case, the 13 puppets working in the grooves of the heads of the spindles will be carried round simultaneously, and will proceed each in its turn, from one extremity of the machine to the opposite point, crossing those which have a retrograde movement. The 13 threads united at the point N, situated above the centre of the machine, will form at that point the braid, which after having passed over the pulley _o_, comes between the two rollers P Q, and is squeezed together, as in a flatting-mill, where the braid is calendered at the same time that it is delivered. It is obvious that the roller P, receives its motion from the toothed wheel of the spindle No. 3., and from the intermediate wheels R, S, T, as well as from the endless screw Z, which drives at proper speed the wheel W, fixed upon the shaft of the roller P.

The braid is denser in proportion as the point N is less elevated above the tops of the puppets; but in this case, the eccentric motion of these puppets is much more sensible in reference to that point, towards which all the threads converge, than when it is elevated. The threads which must be always kept equally stretched by means of a weight, as we shall presently see, are considerably strained by the traction, occasioned by the constantly eccentric movement of the puppets. From this cause, braiding machines must be worked at a moderate velocity. In general, for fine work, 30 turns of the large spindle per minute are the utmost that can safely be made.

The puppet or spindle of this machine, being the most important piece, I have represented it in section, upon a scale one fourth of its actual size, _fig._ 158. It is formed of a tube, _a_, of strong sheet iron well brazed; _b_ is a disc, likewise of sheet iron, from which a narrow fillet, _c_, rises vertically as high as the tube, where both are pierced with holes, _d e_, through which the thread _f_ is passed, as it comes from the bobbin, _g_, which turns freely upon the tube _a_. The top of this bobbin is conical and toothed. A small catch or detent, _h_, moveable in a vertical direction round _i_, falls by its own weight into the teeth of the crown of the bobbin, in which case this cannot revolve; but when the detent is raised so far as to disengage the teeth, and at the same time to pull the thread, the bobbin turns, and lets out thread till the detent falls back into these same teeth.

A skewer of iron wire, _k_, is loaded with a small weight, _l_, melted upon it. The top of this skewer has an eye in it, and the bottom is recurved as is shown in _fig._ 158., so that supposing the thread comes to break, this skewer falls into the actual position in the figure, where we see its lower end extending beyond the tube _a_, by about 1/4 of an inch; but as long as the thread is unbroken, the skewer _k_, which serves to keep it always tense, during the eccentric movement of the puppet, does not pass out below the tube.

This disposition has naturally furnished the means of causing the machine to stop, whenever one of the threads breaks. This inferior protrusion of the skewer pushes in its progress a detent, which instantly causes the band to slide from the driving pulley to the loose pulley. Thus the machine cannot operate unless all the threads be entire. It is the business of the operative, who has 3 or 4 under her charge, to mend the threads as they break, and to substitute full bobbins for empty ones, whenever the machine is stopped.

The braiding frame, though it does not move quickly, makes a great deal of noise, and would make still more, were the toothed wheels made of metal instead of wood. For them to act well, they should be made with the greatest precision, by means of appropriate tools for forming the teeth of the wheels, and the other peculiar parts.

BRAN. (_Son_, Fr.; _Kleie_, Germ.) The husky portion of ground wheat, separated by the boulter from the flour. It is advantageously employed by the calico printers, in the clearing process, in which, by boiling in bran-water, the colouring matters adhering to the non-mordanted parts of maddered goods, as well as the dun matters which cloud the mordanted portions, are removed. A valuable series of researches concerning the operation of bran in such cases was made a few years ago by that distinguished chemist and calico printer, M. Daniel Kœchlin-Schouch, and published in the ninth number of the Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhausen. Nine sets of experiments are recorded, which justified the following conclusions.

1. The dose of two bushels of bran for 10 pieces of calico is the best, the ebullition being kept up for an hour. A boil for the same time in pure water had no effect in clearing either the grounds or the figures.

2. Fifteen minutes boiling are sufficient when the principal object is to clear white grounds, but in certain cases thirty minutes are requisite to brighten the dyed parts. If, by increasing the charge of bran, the time of the ebullition could be shortened, it would be in some places, as Alsace, an economy; because for the passage of ten pieces through a copper or vat heated with steam, 1 cwt. of coal is consumed in fuel which costs from 2-1/2 to 3 francs, while two bushels of bran are to be bought for one franc.

3. By increasing the quantity of water from 12 to 24 hectolitres with two bushels of bran, the clearing effect upon the ten pieces was impaired. It is therefore advantageous not to use too much water.

4. Many experiments concur to prove that flour is altogether useless for the clearing boil, and that finer bran is inferior for this purpose to the coarser.

5. The white ground of the calicoes boiled with wheat bran, are distinguishable by their superior brightness from that of those boiled with rye bran, and especially with barley bran; the latter having hardly any effect.

6. There is no advantage in adding soap to the bran boil; though a little potash or soda may be properly introduced when the water is calcareous.

7. The pellicle of the bran is the most powerful part, the flour and the starch are of no use in clearing goods, but the mucilage which forms one third of the weight of the bran has considerable efficacy, and seems to act in the following way. In proportion as the mucilaginous substance dissolves the colouring and tawny matters upon the cloth, the husky surface attracts and fixes upon itself the greater part of them. Accordingly, when used bran is digested in a weak alkaline bath, it gives up the colour which it had absorbed from the cloth.

The following chemical examination of bran is interesting. A pound of it was boiled at successive times with water, the decoctions being filtered, let fall in cooling a greyish deposit, which was separated by decantation. The clear liquor afforded by evaporation to dryness four ounces of a brownish, brittle matter, composed chiefly of mucilage, a little gluten, and starch. The gray deposit of the above filtered liquor amounted to half an ounce. Nine ounces of the cortical portion of the bran were obtained. The loss amounted to 2-1/2 ounces, being in some measure the hygrometric water of the bran itself.

When boiled with distilled water, goods are cleared pretty well without bran. Certain delicate dyes must be boiled only a few minutes in a strong decoction of bran previously made.

BRANDY. The name given in this country to ardent spirits distilled from wine, and possessed of a peculiar taste and flavour, due to a minute portion of a peculiar volatile oil. Each variety of alcohol has an aroma characteristic of the fermented substance from which it is procured; whether it be the grape, cherries, sugar-cane, rice, corn, or potatoes; and it may be distinguished even as procured from different growths of the vine. The brandies of Languedoc, Bordeaux, Armagnac, Cognac, Aunis, Saintonge, Rochelle, Orleans, Barcelona, Naples, &c. being each readily recognisable by an experienced dealer.

Aubergier showed, by experiments, that the disagreeable taste of the spirits distilled from the _marc_ of the grape is owing to an essential oil contained in the skin of the grape; and found that the oil, when insulated, is so energetic that a few drops are sufficient to taint a pipe of 600 litres of fine-flavoured spirit.

The most celebrated of the French brandies, those of Cognac and Armagnac, are slightly rectified to only from 0·935 to 0·922; they contain more than half their weight of water, and come over therefore highly charged with the fragrant essential oil of the husk of the grape. When, to save expense of carriage, the spirit is rectified to a much higher degree, the dealer, on receiving it at Paris, reduces it to the market proof by the addition of a little highly-flavoured weak brandy and water; but he cannot in this way produce so finely-flavoured a spirit, as the weaker product of distillation of the Cognac wine. If the best Cognac brandy be carefully distilled at a low heat, and the strong spirit be diluted with water, it will be found to have suffered much in its flavour.

Genuine French brandy evinces an acid reaction with litmus paper, owing to a minute portion of vinegar; it contains besides some acetic ether, and, when long kept in oak casks, a little astringent matter. The following formula may be proposed for converting a silent or flavourless corn spirit, into a factitious brandy. Dilute the pure alcohol to the proof pitch, add to every hundred pounds weight of it from half a pound to a pound of argol (crude winestone) dissolved in water, a little acetic ether, and French-wine vinegar, some bruised French plums, and flavour-stuff from Cognac; then distil the mixture with a gentle fire, in an alembic furnished with an agitator.

The spirit which comes over may be coloured with nicely burned sugar (caramel) to the desired tint, and roughened in taste with a few drops of tincture of catechu or oak-bark.

The above recipe will afford a spirit free from the deleterious drugs too often used to disguise and increase the intoxicating power of British brandies; one which may be reckoned as wholesome as alcohol, in any shape, can ever be.

BRASS. (_Laiton_, _cuivre jaune_, Fr.; _Messing_, Germ.) An alloy of copper and zinc. It was formerly manufactured by cementing granulated copper, called _bean-shot_, or copper clippings, with calcined calamine (native carbonate of zinc) and charcoal, in a crucible, and exposing them to bright ignition. Three parts of copper were used for three of calamine and two of charcoal. The zinc reduced to the metallic state by the agency of the charcoal, combined with the copper, into an alloy which formed, on cooling, a lump at the bottom of the crucible. Several of these, being remelted and cast into moulds, constituted ingots of brass for the market. James Emerson obtained a patent, in 1781, for making brass by the direct fusion of its two metallic elements, and it is now usually manufactured in this way.

It appears that the best proportion of the constituents to form fine brass is one prime equivalent of copper = 63-1/2 + one of zinc = 32·3; or very nearly 2 parts of copper to 1 of zinc. The bright gold coloured alloy, called Prince’s, or Prince Rupert’s metal, in this country, consists apparently of two primes of zinc to one of copper, or of nearly equal parts of each. Brass, or hard solder, consists of two parts of brass and one of zinc melted together, to which a little tin is occasionally added; but when the solder must be very strong, as for brass tubes that are to undergo drawing, two thirds of a part of zinc are used for two parts of brass. Mosaic gold, according to the specification of Parker and Hamilton’s patent consists of 100 parts of copper, and from 52 to 55 of zinc; which is no atomic proportion. Bath metal is said to consist of 32 parts of brass and 9 parts of zinc.

The button manufacturers of Birmingham make their _platin_ with 8 parts of brass and 5 of zinc; but their cheap buttons with an alloy of copper, tin, zinc, and lead.

Red brass, the Tombak of some, (not of the Chinese, for this is white copper,) consists of more copper and less zinc than go to the composition of brass; being from 2-1/2 to 8 or 10 of the former to 1 of the latter. At the famous brass works of Hegermühl, to be presently described, 11 parts of copper are alloyed with 2 of zinc into a red brass, from which plates are made that are afterwards rolled into sheets. From such an alloy the Dutch foil, as it is called, is manufactured at Nürnberg; Pinchbeck, Similor, Mannheim gold, are merely different names of alloy similar to Prince’s metal. The last consists of 3 of copper and 1 of zinc, separately melted, and suddenly incorporated by stirring.--_Wiegleb._

In the process of alloying two metals of such different fusibilities as copper and zinc, a considerable waste of the latter metal by the combustion, to which it is so prone, might be expected; but, in reality, their mutual affinities seem to prevent the loss, in a great measure, by the speedy absorption of the zinc into the substance of the copper. Indeed, copper plates and rods are often _brassed_ externally by exposure, at a high temperature, to the fumes of zinc, and afterwards laminated or drawn. The spurious gold wire of Lyons is made from such rods. Copper vessels may be superficially converted into brass by boiling them in dilute muriatic acid, containing some winestone and zinc amalgam.

The first step in making brass is to plunge slips of copper into melted zinc till an alloy of somewhat difficult fusion be formed, to raise the heat, and add the remaining proportion of the copper.

The brass of the first fusion is broken to pieces, and melted with a fresh quantity of zinc, to obtain the finished brass. Each melting takes about 8 or 9 hours. The metal is now cast into plates, about 40 inches long by 26 inches broad, and from one third to one half inch thick. The moulds are, in this case also, slabs of granite mounted in an iron frame. Granite appears to be preferred to every thing else as a mould, because it preserves the heat long, and by the asperities of its surface, it keeps hold of the clay lute applied to secure the joinings.

The cast plates are most usually rolled into sheets. For this purpose they are cut into ribands of various breadths, commonly about 6-1/2 inches. The cylinders of the brass rolling-press are generally 46 inches long, and 18 inches in diameter. The ribands are first of all passed cold through the cylinders; but the brass soon becomes too hard to laminate. It is then annealed in a furnace, and, after cooling, is passed afresh through a rolling press. After paring off the chipped edges, the sheets are laminated two at a time: and if they are to be made very thin, even eight plates are passed through together. The brass in these operations must be annealed 7 or 8 times before the sheet arrives at the required thinness. These successive heatings are very expensive; and hence they have led the manufacturers to try various plans of economy. The annealing furnaces are of two forms according to the size of the sheets of brass. The smaller are about 12 feet long, with a fire place at each end, and about 13 inches wide. The arch of the furnace has a cylindrical shape, whose axis is parallel to its small side. The hearth is horizontal, and is made of bricks set on edge. In the front of the furnace there is a large door, which is raised by a lever, or chain, and counterweight, and slides in a frame between two cheeks of cast iron. This furnace has, in general, no chimney, except a vent slightly raised above the door, to prevent the workmen being incommoded by the smoke. Sometimes the arch is perforated with a number of holes. The sheets of brass are placed above each other, but separated by parings, to allow the hot air to circulate among them, the lowest sheet resting upon two bars of cast iron placed lengthwise.

The large furnaces are usually 32 feet long, by 6-1/2 feet wide, in the body, and 3 feet at the hearth. A grate, 13 inches broad, extends along each side of the hearth, through its whole length, and is divided from it by a small wall, 2 or 3 inches high. The vault of the furnace has a small curvature, and is pierced with 6 or 8 openings, which allow the smoke to pass off into a low bell-chimney above. At each end of the furnace there is a cast-iron door, which slides up and down in an iron frame, and is poised by a counterweight. On the hearth there is a kind of railway, composed of two iron bars, on the grooves of which the carriage moves with its loads of sheets of brass.

These sheets, being often 24 feet long, could not be easily moved in and out of the furnace; but as brass laminates well in the cold state, they are all introduced and moved out together. With this view, an iron carriage is framed with four bars, which rest on four wheels. Upon this carriage, of a length nearly equal to that of the furnace, the sheets are laid, with brass parings between them. The carriage is then raised by a crane to a level with the furnace, and entered upon the grooved bars which lie upon the hearth. That no heat may be lost, two carriages are provided, the one being ready to put in as the other is taken out; the furnace is meanwhile uniformly kept hot. This method, however convenient for moving the sheets in and out, wastes a good deal of fuel in heating the iron carriage.

The principal places in which brass is manufactured on the great scale in England, are Bristol, Birmingham, and Holywell, in North Wales.

The French writers affirm, that a brass, containing 2 _per cent._ of lead, works more freely in the turning lathe, but does not hammer so well as the mere alloy of copper and zinc.

At the brass manufactory of Hegermühl, upon the Finon canal near Potsdam, the following are the materials of one charge; 41 pounds of old brass, 55 pounds refined copper (gahrkupfer) granulated; and 24 pounds of zinc. This mixture, weighing 120 pounds, is distributed into four crucibles, and fused in a wind furnace with pitcoal fuel. The waste varies from 2-1/2 to 4 pounds upon the whole.

_Fig._ 159. represents the furnace as it was formerly worked there with charcoal; _a_, the laboratory in which the crucibles were placed. It was walled with fire bricks. The foundations and the filling-in walls were formed of stone rubbish, as being bad conductors of heat; sand and ashes may be also used; _b_, cast-iron circular grating plates pierced with 12 holes (see _fig._ 160.), over them a sole of loam, _c_, is beat down, and perforated with holes corresponding to those in the iron discs; _d_, the ash-pit; _e_, the _bock_, a draught flue which conducts the air requisite to the combustion, from a sunk tunnel, in communication with several melting furnaces. The terrace or crown of the furnace, _f_, lies on a level with the foundry floor, _h h_, and is shut with a tile of fire-clay, _g_, which may be moved in any direction by means of hooks and eyes in its binding iron ring. _Fig._ 161. the tongs for putting in and taking out the charges, as viewed from above and from the side.

_Figs._ 162, 163. represent the furnaces constructed more recently for the use of pitcoal fuel; _fig._ 162. being an upright section, and _fig._ 163. the ground plan. In this furnace the crucibles are not surrounded with the fuel, but they receive the requisite melting heat from the flame proceeding from the grate upon which it is burned. The crucibles stand upon 7 binding arches, _a_, which unite in the middle at the key-stone _b_, _fig._ 163. Between the arches are spaces through which the flame rises from the grate _c_. _d_ is the fire-door; _e_, a sliding tile or damper for regulating or shutting off the air-draught; _f_ an inclined plane, for carrying off the cinders that fall through the grate, along the draught tunnel _g_, so that the air in entering below may not be heated by them.

The crucibles are 16 inches deep, 9-1/2 wide at the mouth, 6-1/2 at the bottom; with a thickness in the sides of 1 inch and 1-1/2 below; they stand from 40 to 50 meltings. The old brass, which fills their whole capacity, is first put in and melted down; the crucibles are now taken out, and are charged with the half of the zinc in pieces of from 1 to 3 cubic inches in size, covered over with coal ashes; then one half of the copper charge is introduced, again coal-dust; and thus the layers of zinc and copper are distributed alternately with coal-ashes betwixt them, till the whole charge gets finally fused. Over all, a thicker layer of carbonaceous matter is laid, to prevent oxidizement of the brass. Eight crucibles filled in this way are put into the furnace between the 11 holes of the grate shelf; and over them two empty crucibles are laid to be heated for the casting operation. In from 3-1/2 to 4 hours the brass is ready to be poured out. Fifteen English bushels of coals are consumed in one operation; of which six are used at the introduction of the crucibles, and four gradually afterwards.

When sheet brass is to be made the following process is pursued:--

An empty crucible, called a _caster_ (_giesser_), is taken out of the furnace through the crown with a pair of tongs, and is kept red hot by placing it in a hollow hearth (_mundal_), surrounded with burning coals; into this crucible the contents of four of the melting pots are poured; the dross being raked out with an iron scraper. As soon as the melting pot is emptied, it is immediately re-charged in the manner above described, and replaced in the furnace. The surface of the melted brass in the _caster_ is swept with the stump of a broom, then stirred about with the iron rake, to bring up any light foreign matter to the surface, which is then skimmed with a little scraper; the crucible is now seized with the casting tongs, and emptied in the following way:--

The mould or _form_ for casting sheet brass consists of two slabs of granite, _a a_, _figs._ 164, 165. They are 5-1/2 feet long; 3 feet broad, 1 foot thick, and, for greater security, girt with iron bands, _b b_, 2 inches broad, 1-1/2 thick, and joined at the four corners with bolts and nuts. The mould rests upon an oaken block, _c_, 3-1/2 feet long, 2-1/6 broad, and 1-1/4 thick, which is suspended at each end upon gudgeons, in bearing blocks, placed under the foundery floor, _d d_, in the casting pit, _e e_. This is lined with bricks; and is 6-3/4 feet long, 5-1/2 broad, and 2 deep; upon the two long side walls of the pit, the bearing blocks are laid, which support the gudgeons. The swing-blocks are 10 inches long, 18 inches broad, 15 inches thick, and are somewhat rounded upon their back edge, so that the casting frame may slope a little to the horizon. To these blocks two cross wooden arms, _f f_, are mortised, upon which the under slab rests, freely, but so as to project about 5 inches backwards over the block, to secure an equipoise in the act of casting. _g g_ are bars, placed at both of the long sides, and one of the ends, between the slabs, to determine the thickness of the brass-plate. Upon the other slab the gate _h_ is fastened, a sheet of iron 6 inches broad, which has nearly the shape of a parallel trapezium (lozenge), and slopes a little towards the horizon. It serves for setting the casting pot upon in the act of pouring out, and renders its emptying more convenient. That gate (_steinmaul_) is coated with a mixture of loam and hair. The upper slab is secured to the under one in its slanting position by an _armour_ or binding. This consists of the tension bars of wood, _i k l m_, of the iron bars _n_, (3 to 3-1/2 inches broad, 1-1/2 inch thick, see the top view, _fig._ 165.) of a rod with holes and pins at its upper end, and of the iron screw spindle _o_. The mode in which these parts act may be understood from inspection of the figure. In order to lift the upper slab from the under one, which is effected by turning it round its edge, a chain is employed, suspending two others, connected with the slab. The former passes over a pulley, and may be pulled up and down by means of a wheel and axle, or with the aid of a counterweight. Upon each of the two long sides of the slab there are two iron rings, to which the ends of the chains may be hooked. The casting faces of the slab must be coated with a layer of finely ground loam; the thinner the better.

When calamine is employed, 1/2 cwt. of copper, 3/4 cwt. of calamine, and 1/3 the volume of both of charcoal mixed, are put into 7 crucibles, and exposed to heat during 11 or 12 hours; the product being from 70 to 72 lbs. of brass.

_Brass-plate rolling._--At Hegermühl there are two re-heating or annealing furnaces, one larger, 18 feet long, and another smaller, 8-1/2; the hot chamber is separated from the fire place by iron beams, in such a way that the brass castings are played upon by the flames on both their sides. After each passage through the laminating press (rolls) they are heated anew, then cooled and laminated afresh, till they have reached the proper length. The plates are besmeared with grease before rolling.

_Fig._ 166. shows the ground plan of the furnace and its railway; _fig._ 167. the cross section; and _fig._ 168. the section lengthwise; _a a_, the iron way bars or rails upon the floor of the foundry, for enabling the wheels of the waggon-frame to move readily backwards and forwards; _b b_, the two grates; _c c_, the ash pits; _d d_, the fire beams; _e e e_, vents in the roof of the hot chamber _f_; _g g_, two plates for shutting the hot chamber; _h_, the flue; _i_, the chimney. After the rolling, the sheets covered with a black oxide of copper, are plunged into a mother water of the alum works for a few minutes, then washed in clean water, and lastly, smeared with oil and scraped with a blunt knife.

In rough brass and brass wares, no less than 16,240 cwts. were manufactured in the Prussian States in the year 1832.

For musical purposes, the brass wire made in Berlin, has acquired great and merited celebrity; but that of Birmingham is now preferred even by foreigners.

BRASS COLOUR, for staining glass, is prepared by exposing for several days thin plates of brass upon tiles in the _leer_ or annealing arch of the glass-house, till it be oxidized into a black powder, aggregated in lumps. This being pulverized and sifted, is to be again well calcined for several days more, till no particles remain in the metallic state; when it will form a fine powder of a russet brown colour. A third calcination must now be given, with a carefully regulated heat; its quality being tested from time to time by fusion with some glass. If it makes the glass swell, and intumesce, it is properly prepared; if not, it must be still farther calcined. Such a powder communicates to glass, greens of various tints, passing into turquoise.

When thin narrow strips of brass are stratified with sulphur in a crucible, and calcined at a red heat, they become friable, and may be reduced to powder. This being sifted and exposed upon tiles in a reverberatory furnace for ten or twelve days, becomes fit for use, and is capable of imparting a calcedony, red or yellow tinge to glass by fusion, according to the mode and proportion of using it.

The glass-makers’ red colour may be prepared by exposing small plates of brass to a moderate heat in a reverberatory furnace, till they are thoroughly calcined, when the substance becomes pulverulent, and assumes a red colour. It is then ready for immediate use.

BRASS COLOUR, as employed by the colourmen to imitate brass, is of two tints, the red or bronze, and the yellow like gilt brass. Copper filings mixed with red ochre or bole, constitute the former; a powdered brass imported from Germany is used for the latter. Both must be worked up with varnish after being dried with heat, and then spread with a flat camel-hair brush evenly upon the surface of the object. The best varnish is composed of 20 ounces of spirits of wine, 2 ounces of shellac, and 2 ounces of sandarach, properly dissolved. See VARNISH. Only so much of the brass powder and varnish should be mixed at a time as is wanted for immediate use.

BRASS FOIL. Dutch leaf, called _Knitter_ or _Rauschgold_ in Germany, is made from a very thin sheet brass, beat out under a hammer worked by water power, which gives 300 or 400 strokes per minute; from 40 to 80 leaves being laid over each other. By this treatment it acquires its characteristic solidity and lustre. See above, the process for converting the copper superficially into brass by the fumes of zinc.

BRAZING. (_Braser_, Fr.; _Messing-lothung_, Germ.) The soldering together of edges of iron, copper, brass, &c., with an alloy consisting of brass and zinc, sometimes with a little tin or silver. The surfaces to be thus united must be filed perfectly bright, and not be soiled with the fingers or in any other way. The granular or nearly pulverulent alloy is usually wetted with a paste of ground borax and water, applied in this state, dried, and then exposed carefully to bright ignition at a clear forge fire. Some workmen enclose the part to be soldered in a clay lute, but others prefer leaving it uncovered, that they may see when the solder has flowed freely, and entered into all the seams.

BRAZIL-WOOD. (_Bois de Fernambouc_, Fr.; _Brasilienholz_, Germ.) This dye-wood derives its name from the part of America whence it was first imported. It has also the names Fernambuca, wood of Saint Martha, and of Sapan, according to the places which produce it. Linnæus distinguishes the tree which furnishes the Brazil wood by the name of _Cæsalpinia crista_. It commonly grows in dry places among rocks. Its trunk is very large, crooked, and full of knots. It is very hard, susceptible of a fine polish, and sinks in water. It is pale when newly cleft, but becomes red on exposure to the air.

It has different shades of red and orange. Its goodness is determined particularly by its density. When chewed, a saccharine taste is perceived. It may be distinguished from red saunders wood, as the latter does not yield its colour to water.

Boiling water extracts the whole colouring matter of Brazil-wood. If the ebullition be long enough continued, it assumes a fine red colour. The residuum appears black. In this case, an alkali may still extract much colouring matter. The solution in alcohol or ammonia is still deeper than the preceding.

The decoction of Brazil-wood, called juice of Brazil, is observed to be less fit for dyeing when recent, than when old or even fermented. By age it takes a yellowish-red colour. For making this decoction, Hellot recommends to use the hardest water; but it should be remarked, that this water deepens the colour in proportion to the earthy salts which it contains. After boiling this wood reduced to chips, or, what is preferable, to powder, for three hours, this first decoction is poured into a cask. Fresh water is poured on the wood, which is then made to boil for three hours, and mixed with the former. When Brazil-wood is employed in a dyeing bath, it is proper to enclose it in a thin linen bag, as well as all the dye woods in general.

Wool immersed in the juice of Brazil takes but a feeble tint, which is speedily destroyed. It must receive some preparations.

The wool is to be boiled in a solution of alum, to which a fourth or even less of tartar is added, for a larger proportion of tartar would make the colour yellowish. The wool is kept impregnated with it for at least eight days, in a cool place. After this, it is dyed in the Brazil juice with a slight boiling. But the first colouring particles that are deposited, afford a less beautiful colour; hence it is proper to pass a coarser stuff previously through the bath. In this manner a lively red is procured, which resists pretty well the action of the air.

Brazil-wood is made use of for dyeing silk what is called false crimson, to distinguish it from the crimson made by means of cochineal, which is much more permanent.