Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 286

=Varnish, Printer's.= Diluted with twice its volume of oil of turpentine, it forms a good common varnish.

=Varnish, Sealing-wax.= Black, red, or any coloured sealing-wax, broken small, with enough rectified spirit (or methylated spirit) to cover it, digested till dissolved. A most useful varnish for wood-work of electrical or chemical apparatus, for tops of corks, &c.

=Varnish, Spirit.= _Prep._ 1. (BROWN HARD.)--_a._ From gum sandarach, 3 lbs.; pale seed-lac or sh.e.l.l-lac, 2 lbs.; rectified spirit (65 o. p.), 2 galls.; dissolve, and add of turpentine varnish, 1 quart; agitate well, strain (quickly) through gauze, and in a month decant the clear portion from the sediment. Very fine.

_b._ From seed-lac and yellow resin, of each 1-1/2 lb.; rectified spirit, 5 quarts; oil of turpentine, 1-1/4 pint; dissolve. Inferior to the last.

2. (WHITE HARD.)--_a._ From gum sandarach (picked), 5 lbs.; camphor, 2 oz.; washed and dried coa.r.s.ely pounded gla.s.s, 3 lbs.; rectified spirit (65 o. p.), 7 quarts; proceed as in making mastic varnish; when strained, add of pure Canada balsam, 1 quart. Very pale, durable, and brilliant.

_b._ From gum sandarach and gum mastic, of each, picked, 4 oz.; coa.r.s.ely powdered gla.s.s, 8 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; dissolve, and add of pure Strasburg turpentine, 3 oz. Very fine.

3. (SOFT BRILLIANT.) From sandarach, 6 oz.; elemi (genuine), 4 oz.; anime, 1 oz.; camphor, 1/2 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; as before.

4. (SCENTED.) To the preceding add some gum benzoin, balsam of Peru, balsam of Tola, oil of lavender, or the essence of musk or ambergris. The first two can only be employed for dark varnishes.

_Obs._ The above varnishes are chiefly applied to articles of the toilette, as work-boxes, card-cases, &c.; but are also suitable to other articles, whether of paper, wood, linen, or metal, that require a brilliant and quick-drying varnish. They dry almost as soon as applied, and are usually hard enough to polish in 24 hours. They are, however, much less durable, and more liable to crack, than oil varnishes.

=Varnish, Stopping-out.= _Syn._ PEt.i.t VERNIS, Fr. From lampblack, made into a paste with turpentine. Used by engravers. See ETCHING.

=Varnish, Tingry's.= MASTIC VARNISH.

=Varnish, Toy.= Similar to common spirit varnish, but using carefully rectified wood naphtha as the solvent. See VARNISHES, LAC and SPIRIT.

=Varnish, Transfer.= _Syn._ MORDANT VARNISH. _Prep._ From mastic (in tears) and sandarach, of each 4 oz.; rectified spirit, 1-1/2 pint; dissolve, and add of pure Canada balsam, 1/2 pint. Used for transferring and fixing engravings or lithographs on wood, and for gilding, silvering, &c. See VARNISH, CRYSTAL.

=Varnish, Turpentine.= See VARNISHES, MASTIC, and OAK.

=Varnish, Wainscot.= See VARNISH, OAK.

=Varnish, Wax.= _Syn._ MILK OF WAX; EMULSIO CERae SPIRITUOSA, L. _Prep._ 1.

Take of white wax (pure), 1 lb.; melt it with as gentle a heat as possible, add of warm rectified spirit, sp. gr. 830 (60 o. p.), 1 pint; mix perfectly, and pour the liquid out upon a cold porphyry slab; next grind it with a muller to a perfectly smooth paste, adding more spirit as required; put the paste into a marble mortar, make an emulsion with water, 3-1/2 pints, gradually added, and strain it through muslin. Used as a varnish for paintings; when dry, a hot iron is pa.s.sed over it, or heat is otherwise evenly applied, so as to fuse it, and render it transparent, after which, when quite cold, it is polished with a clean linen cloth.

The most protective of all varnishes.

2. Wax (pure), 5 oz.; oil of turpentine, 1 quart; dissolve. Used for furniture. See VARNISH, SEALING-WAX.

=Varnish, White.= See VARNISH, SPIRIT, 2, _a_ and _b_.

=VAR'NISHING.= To give the highest degree of l.u.s.tre to varnish after it is laid on, as well as to remove the marks of the brush, it undergoes the operation of polishing. This is performed by first rubbing it with very finely powdered pumice stone and water, and afterwards with an oiled rag and tripoli, until the required polish is produced. The surface is, last of all, cleaned with soft linen cloths, cleared of all greasiness with powdered starch, and then rubbed bright with the palm of the hand.

In varnishing great care must be taken that the surface is free from grease or smoke; as, unless this be the case, the best oil or turpentine varnish in the world will not dry and harden. Old articles are usually washed with soap and water, by the painters, before being varnished, to prevent any misadventure of the kind alluded to.

=VASELINE.= See COSMOLINE.

=VEAL.= "The grain should be close, firm, and white, and the fat of a pinkish white, not a dead white, and the kidneys well covered with a thick white fat." (Soyer.)

Veal, like pork, requires to be well dressed, to develop its nutritive qualities. It should also be eaten fresh, as a peculiar principle is generated in it when improperly kept, which acts as a malignant poison.

See ROASTING, &c.

=VEG'ETABLE AL'KALI.= Pota.s.sa.

=VEGETABLE JUICES.= See _below_.

=VEGETABLES.= Vegetables are organic beings, which are distinguished from animals by a number of characteristics, but, like them, are composed of certain proximate principles, or compounds, which possess a high degree of scientific interest, and in many cases are invaluable to man. Among the most important of these are--alb.u.men, gluten, gum, lignin, starch, sugar, tannin, wax, the fixed and volatile oils, the resins, and gum-resins, the alkaloids, and innumerable forms of extractive matter. Several of these substances are noticed under their respective names.

The method of propagating plants from their seeds, depending on their simple exposure, at the proper season, to warmth and moisture, under the protection of the soil, is well known; that by propagation from 'slips'

and 'cuttings,' which will doubtless prove interesting to the amateur gardener, are noticed below.

The choice of slips and cuttings should be made from the side shoots of trees and plants, and, when possible, from such as recline towards the grounds, observing, when they are removed by the knife, to leave a little wood of a former year or season's growth attached to them, as such are found to take root more readily than when they are wholly composed of new wood. The time to take slips or cuttings is as soon as the sap gets into full motion. Before setting them the latter should be cut across, just below an eye or joint, with as smooth a section as possible, observing not to injure the bud. The superfluous leaves may be removed, but a sufficient number should be left on for the purposes of vegetation. The common practice of removing all or nearly all the leaves of cuttings is injudicious. In some cases leaves alone will strike root. When cuttings are set in pots, they should be so placed as to reach to the bottom and touch the sides throughout their whole length, when they will seldom fail to become rooted plants. In the case of tubular-stalked plants it is said to be advantageous to insert both ends into the soil, each of which will take root, and may then be divided, when two plants will be produced instead of one. An equable temperature, a moist atmosphere, a shady situation, and a moderate supply of water, are the princ.i.p.al requisites to induce speedy rooting. Excess of any of these is prejudicial. When the size of the cuttings admit, it is better to place them under a hand- or bell-gla.s.s, which will preserve a constant degree of heat, and prevent evaporation from the surface of the leaves, which is the most common cause of their dying, especially in hot, dry weather.

_Qual._ The vegetable kingdom furnishes by far the larger portion of the food of man, and indirectly, perhaps, the whole of it. The great value of culinary vegetables and fruit in a mixed diet need not be insisted on, since it is a fact which is almost universally known and appreciated.

In the choice of culinary vegetables observe, that if they are stiff and break freely and crisply, they are fresh, and fit for food; if, on the contrary, they have a flabby appearance, or are soft or discoloured, they are stale, and should be rejected.

The dose of the generality of vegetable substances that exercise no very marked action on the human frame is about 1/2 to 1 dr. of the powder, night and morning; or 1 oz., or q. s. to impart a moderately strong colour or taste, may be infused or boiled in 1 pint of water, and a wine-gla.s.sful or thereabouts taken 2 or 3 times a day.

_Collection and Pres._ The following general directions are given in the London Pharmacopia for the collection and preservation of vegetable substances--(vegetabilia, Ph. L.):--

"Vegetables are to be collected in dry weather, and when neither wet with rain nor dew; they are to be collected annually, and are not to be kept beyond a year.

"Barks are to be collected at that season in which they can be most easily separated from the wood." Spring is the season here alluded to; as at this time, after the sap begins to ascend, the bark is, in general, very easily separated.

"Flowers are to be collected recently blown." The red rose, however, must be gathered before the buds are expanded.

"Fruits and seeds are to be collected when ripe.

"Herbs and leaves are to be gathered after the flowers have expanded, and before the seeds are mature.

"Roots and rhizomes (underground stems), for the most part, are to be dug up after the old leaves and stalks have fallen, and before the new ones appear." ("Roots, which are required to be preserved fresh, should be buried in dry sand."--Ph. L. 1836.)

"Seeds are to be collected when they are ripe, and before they drop from the plant." ("They ought to be preserved in their seed vessels."--Ph. L.

1836.)

"The different parts of vegetables are to be kept dried for use, except where we shall otherwise direct. Expose those you wish to dry, within a short time after they have been gathered, in shallow wicker baskets, to a gentle heat, in a dark place, and where there is a current of air. Then, the moisture being driven off, gradually increase the heat to 150 Fahr., in order that they may be dried. Finally, preserve the more delicate parts, viz. flowers and leaves, in black gla.s.s vessels, well closed, and keep the rest in proper vessels, preventing the access of light and moisture."

Fruits, culinary vegetables, and vegetable juice, of every cla.s.s, may be preserved for any length of time by several of the methods described under PUTREFACTION. On the small scale the following method is often adopted:--The substances to be preserved are put into strong gla.s.s or stoneware bottles, with necks of a proper size, which are then corked with the greatest care, tied or wired, and lined with a mixture of lime and soft cheese, or with a paste formed of linseed meal and water, spread on rags; or tin cases are employed, and are soldered up instead of being corked. The bottles are then placed in an oven, the temperature of which is cautiously raised to fully 212 Fahr.; or they are enclosed, separately, in canvas bags, and put into a copper of water to which some salt has been added, which is then gradually heated until it boils, and thus kept for 15 or 20 minutes; the whole is next left to cool, when the bottles are taken out and carefully examined before being laid by, lest they should have cracked or the lute have given way.

Herbs and flowers are now generally preserved for distillation by means of common salt. The objection which is raised against the use of fresh aromatic plants is thus obviated, whilst the odours of the distilled products are rendered superior to those obtained from either the recent or dried plant, fruit, or flower, without the great loss, inconvenience, or trouble attending the common methods. Besides, many aromatic and odorous substances almost entirely lose their properties by drying; while most of them yield more oil, and that of a finer quality, in the fresh than in the dried state. The odours of roses, elder flowers, and a variety of others are vastly improved by this treatment, and these flowers may thus be preserved with ease and safety from season to season, or even longer, if required. The process simply consists in intimately mixing the flowers or other vegetables, soon after being gathered, with about 1/4 their weight, or less, of good dry salt, and ramming down the mixture as tightly as possible in strong casks. The casks are then placed in a cold cellar, and covered with boards, on which heavy weights are put, to keep the ma.s.s tight and close. See FRUITS, PUTREFACTION, &c.

=Vegetables, Juices of.= 1. (EXPRESSED VEGETABLE JUICE, SIMPLE V. J.; SUCCI EXPRESSI, L.) These are obtained by bruising the fresh leaves, or other vegetable matter, in a marble mortar, or in a mill, and expressing the liquid portion by means of a powerful screw press. After defecation for 12 or 14 hours in a cold situation, the juice is either decanted or filtered from the feculous sediment, and is next heated for some minutes to about 185 Fahr., to coagulate alb.u.minous matter. The clear portion is subsequently separated as before, and the product preserved for use in well-closed and well-filled bottles, in a cool situation. Some plants, as borage, cabbage, &c., require the addition of 1/8 of water before being pressed. The expression of the juice of lemons, oranges, quinces, &c., is facilitated by previously mixing the pulp with clean chopped straw.

Buckthorn berries, mulberries, &c., after being crushed between the hands, are commonly left for 3 or 4 days to undergo a slight fermentation before pressing them.

The expression of the juices of the narcotic plants, and of some other vegetables, has lately a.s.sumed considerable interest, from these juices being now extensively used in pharmacy for the preparation of extracts and the preserved juices, noticed below. It appears that the juice of young plants just coming into flower yield only 2/3 the amount of extract which may be obtained from the same quant.i.ty of juice expressed from the matured plant, or when the flowers are fully blown, and the strength of the product is also inferior; the case appears to be best met by selecting the plants when more than half the flowers are fully blown. The leaves alone should be preferably employed, and should be exclusively of the second year's growth, when the plants are biennials. (Squire.) The h.o.m.opathists commonly employ the whole flowering herb.

The INSp.i.s.sATED VEGETABLE JUICES (SUCCUS Sp.i.s.sATIS) are now included among the extracts.

The princ.i.p.al simple vegetable juices of commerce are--

BUCKTHORN JUICE (SUCCUS RHAMNI--Ph. L.), from the fruit of _Rhamnus catharticus_, or buckthorn berries.