Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-02-03

proper, but the latter is never found
| here.
Emery is another form of crystal.
LIKED aluminium that grinds and pol
lshes every substance but the dia-
rnond. While in the crystalline state
It is hard as adamant /; as chemical
precipitate it is soft and unctuous.
This substance leads all other com.
pounds Ia the force of adhesion This
is different from the force of cohesion
which unites and interpermeates mat
ter. 1t is a force to which new con.
siderations are now lent, and which
binds the links of dissimilar substances
with wonderful tenacity. 1t is the
key to many problem mysterious
and intricate.
This clay is the mordaunt that
binds color matter to fibre of silk or
cotton or wool. The lake and car
mine paints of paint boxes, are mix
lures ofcolor matter of clay. Of hy-
draulic dement's clay is the base, and
the adhesive force it exerts is tre-
mendous. 1t holds water in the
soil, in the face of the MONDAY sun 4;
it absorbs ammonia from the atmos-
phere to yield it again TO the succu-
lent roots of plants.
Clay is the essential of all bricks,
pottery and porcelains. These are
not composed Of clay alone, but of
clay and some other substance; lime,
iron and maSnesia are almost always
associated with it.
In Lower Egypt, India and else.
where, ancient remains of temples
are found in the valleys of rivers.
These have for their foundations a
truncated pyramid of brick. The in
destructibiity of the brick by water
has been demonstrated by the i'm
mense period of times during
which they have withstood the &C.
ton of the water to which they have
been subjected at each annual over
flow of the water At this time they
are so hidden by the encroachment
of the sand, that they are often mis-
taken for sand hills.
Clay does not suffer from corros-
ion. The lines of march of the Roman
armies have been traced in England,
Asia, and Northern Europe by the
engraved tablets of terra Gotta of the
soldiery. On these they inscribe
their names, their cohorts and many
other particulars, and, as they were
buried with those who fell, they have
become their indestructible footprints,
written in the soil, recalling an other
wise unwritten history. River clay,
the limestone silica and clay, found in
the deltas of the Nile and other great
rivers, are just in the right proper.
tions to make brick. A wall COM
posed of sun dried brick on the in
side and kiln dried on the outside
was considered impregnab BILE. City
walls, built as they were thirty or
forty feet wide, were able to with
stand a tremendous blow fUI the
dead, inelastic character of the lining
dissipated the shock. Bricks of diff
ferent colored clays were used by
way of ornamentation. The place of
Nimroud had seven steps, each Of
different color, representing the seven
planets that for the sun being yell
low Kings's houses within were
also ornamented with colored bricks.
The bricks were frequently enamelled
on one side with glass, and the floors
were tesselated with them.
Ecbatans, Susa and Babylon were
each in turn the house of the King of
Babylon, Of the palace at Sasa
many columns were built Of semi cir
cular bricks glazed on the outside.
The pilasters also on the outside were
ornamented with a glazed brick.
Ancient Rome was built of brick, of
which the Pantheon aud many build
ings remain. On bricks and tiles
were inscribed whole volumes Of the
history of these people, aud Mrs.
Hamilton Gray has recently written
a history of Etruria, gathered from
the Inscriptions on tiles, a wonderful
book.
The sarcophagi of old Greece and
Egypt were made of clay. This word
is literally "fesh-eaters," and the idea
of this ancient people was that it eats
up the flesh and sucks away the or
ganic matter, leaving the bones pure,
white and sweet. In those days the
ashes of the heart and viscera were
preserved in an urn, no household be-
ing without its family urn.
OF the same material were con.
structed the hypocausts of the an
cient, from which earthern tubes were
distributed to heat the baths above.