The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-06
MEERSCHA "a AND AMRER.


pearanoe. It's name, too, gives the same inn
preston. 1t is, however, kind of clay, com
posed Of hydrate of magnesia, combined with
slick or Hint. 1t is found in different parts OF
Europe, in Spain, and in the several countries
at the head of the Mediterranean. II also
abOunds in large quantities in Natalia. 1t is
generally found in the forms of veins in ser
pentine and also in tertiary deposits. 1t mas
also been found in Asia Minor in alluvium, ap-
parently the result of the decomposition OF
carbonate of magnesia belonging 70 neighoor,
ing serpentine rocks. 1t is largely collected
there for the manufacture of oigar-tubes and
pipes. the town of Konich furnishing the prin-
eipal supplies. When first taken out of the
earth it is soft, and makes lather like SOAP
and from this latter circumstance it is often
used for washing by those who live in
places where it is obtained. When exported
It is roughly hewA into blocks, and some
times into rude pipe shapes, and freed
as far as practicable from the associated mine
rails which impair its quality by interfering
with the carving and smoothing of its surface.
Pesth and Vienna were at one time famed for
the manufacture of meeTschaum pipes and
tubes, but other places now equal them. Many
of these wares are very handsome, and cost
large sums of money. The fine yellow and
brown oOlOrs which are so much admired in
the pipes, and which can only be produced
after long smoking, are caused from the fact
that the meerschaum is kept for some time in
mixture of wax and fatty matter. A portion
Of these is absorbed, and being subsequently
acted upon by the heat and tobacco fumes,
assumes various shades of color. The lightest
qualities are generally too porous to produce
the best pipes, and the heaviest are generally
rejected from suspicion of their being artificial
products. The artificial pipes are made from
the parlHgs of the genuine material, which,
being reduced to fine powder, in boiled in water
and moulded in blocks, sometimes with the
addition of clay. After drying and contract
ing they are ready for the carver.
This kind is known as "Massak0pfa," or
Massa bowls. The value of pipes and cigar
tubes imported into the United States in 1853
amounted to $4,000 A recent publication
says
"The best and purest meerschaum bears a
blush unge, and its surface Is covered with
very small staT-shaped fecks This kind, how
ever, is seldom seen in this country. Denomi-
mating this as the first quality, there several
Others, yet genuine meerschaum. A pecu-
llariJy of the first quality is its capability OF
receiving high polish, and having perfectly
even and smooth surface. and colorlng evenly
throughout whence IL is termed 'Spiegel
for mirror. The high price Of this grade has for
some time prevented its general use in this
country, but as this firm imports 1t in the
late overcome this objection to a great extent
The reason for boiling meerschaum, so uuin-
plained. Like ali varieties of clay, meer
schaum when exposed to air becomes dry and
hard, in which condition it never would alb
sorb the nicotine. or oil of tobacco, which gives
IL the rich color that smokers so highly prize
When boiled in oil or wax, the particles of clay
are forced apart by the heat, and the oil or wax
introducing Itself between them, retains It's
position upon cooling. Again, when the pipe
Is heated by smoking, the particles of the
meerschaum separate, the oil or wax becoming
melted exudes, and the nicotine takes Its
Dlace This is
the philosophy of what is popularity termed
'coloripg meerschaum'"
1t may here be added that a meerschaum
cannot be polished until it has been boiled.
This firm also give some good rules for color
ing piIe es. Fill the pipe loosely at the start,
and only half full, smoke slowly, the object
being to keep the pipe as cool as possible
under the circumstances. Do not allow 1t to
cool too rapidly after smoking. Never cover
a pipe, because the oil that eXudes from the
meerschaum will be absorbed by the material
of which the cover is composed, and the result
will be blotches on the pipe.
Lightness OF weight or ability 10 hoat IN
water are not tests OF genuine meerschaum.
The difference, however, between the bogus
and the genuine is apparent when the pipe is
heated: the imitation being unable to expand
or contract uniformly, cracks when heated,
and the oil or wax in il not being equally alb
sorbed, slowly burns, and in burning emits
most offensive smell. Probably no mineral
substance presents features of interest so
peculiar as does amber. Obscure in its origin,
found in loose pieces in alluvial deposits or
scattered along the coast after severe storms
had swept the bottom Of the sea, it was re-
gaTded by the ancient Greeks and Romans
with superstition and mystery. They con-
sidered that this substance, clear and trans
parent, was beautiful tear drops, shed by the
sisters of Ph@ton, and petrifed as they fell
into the sea, and the electrical phenomenon
exhibited by this substance added to its mys-
terry. II was even believed by some of the
philosophers to be possessed of a soul. 1t
was believed by others to be the tear drops Of
sea birds, and in couple of lines by an old
poet, the hero is made to say to his lady love,
that, If she accept his suit
''Around her shall glisten the loveliest amber
That ever the sorroWing sea bird has Wept"
The Arabs, noticing the electrical pheno-
mena, gave it the name, in their language, of
"KGrd6e, or catch chaf. And now when its
mystery and Obscurity have departed before
the light of science, it must still be regarded
with peculiar interest for its singular history
and qualities. Amber is now generally under
stood to be fossilized vegetable gum. The
trees from which it eXuded stood in forests of
past epOchs, and are now found forming strata
of bituminous wood beneath beds of sand and
clay. The wood is more or less impregnated
with the amber and this is also met with de-
pending from the trunks in the form of stalac-
tites, and again in rounded pieces, mixed with
pyrites and coarse sand under the layer of
trees. Such bed is worked as a mine for the
amber near the coast of Prussia. The fossil
stratum is from forty to fifty feet thick