Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: fuller's-earth ?

Hello everybody. I've been lurking for some time, and now I've a question
that my dictionary can't answer.
I found the mysterious material in the subject in a Sherlock Holmes'
adventure: a forger states that an hydraulic press he used to counterfeit
coins, is utilized in excavating fuller's-earth.
Do you know what is it?
Thanks in advance.

 Do you know what is it?
Bisogna guardare nell'enciclopedia britannica.
In italiano: terra di Fuller.
 any fine-grained, naturally occurring earthy substance that has a
substantial ability to adsorb
 impurities or colouring bodies from fats, grease, or oils. Its name
originated with the textile
 industry, in which textile workers (or fullers) cleaned raw wool by
kneading it in a mixture of
 water and fine earth that adsorbed oil, dirt, and other contaminants
from the fibres.
 Fuller's earth consists chiefly of hydrated aluminum silicates that
contain metal ions such as
 magnesium, sodium, and calcium within their structure. Montmorillonite
is the principal clay
 mineral in fuller's earth, but other minerals such as kaolinite,
attapulgite, and palygorskite also
 occur and account for its variable chemical composition. Though similar
in appearance to clay,
 fuller's earth differs by being more fine-grained and by having a
higher water content. It also
 crumbles into mud when mixed with water, so it has little natural
plasticity. The substance is
 found in a wide range of natural colours, from brown or green to yellow
and white.
 Fuller's earth is used to refine and decolourize petroleum products,
cottonseed and soy oils,
 tallow, and other fats and oils. Its high adsorptive power also makes
it commercially important
 in the preparation of animal litter trays and assorted degreasing
agents and sweeping
 compounds. Fuller's earth usually occurs as a by-product of the
decomposition of feldspar or
 from the slow transformation of volcanic glass into crystalline solids.
Major deposits of fuller's
 earth have been found in England, in Japan, and in Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, and Texas, U.S.
-- 
____________________________________
Giancarlo Pillan  -  Ivrea  -  Italy
____________________________________

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Straordinario! 
Martin
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<snip long explanation>
The McGraw Hill technical dictionary translates it as "creta".
It isn't actually named after a Mr. Fuller as you might think; it means
"terra da follatore" (as the Britannica says, a fuller was (is?) a kind
of textile worker). I seem to remember that the Roman fullers used urine
for the same purpose.
Mary
-- 
I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal
lobotomy.

 Straordinario!
Dear Martin,
Aach!
Straordinario is your need to quote nigh on 30 lines of text for a post
consisting of one word and a signature.
Pretty please with sugar on top and icing in the middle in the middle, could
you snip -judiciously and ruthlessly - before posting?
One  really would be _so_ grateful.
--
I remain, as always, ecc., ecc.,
Bambi
dtb

 for the same purpose.
Cara Mary,
sembra che la terra da follatore non possa dirsi creta in italiano, se non
in maniera generale. Questo però è forse il caso del passo di Arthur Conan
Doyle citato da Gurdulù (benvenuto, bel nickname). Le traduzioni specifiche
dovrebbero essere eventualmente 'terra da follare', 'terra da purgo' o
'argilla smectica'.
Comunque il 'follatore' era colui che schiacciava i panni con i piedi
durante il procedimento per favorire la sgrassatura, e il termine si applica
pari pari a coloro che pigiano l'uva con i piedi, quindi si può dire che sia
ancora un termine relativamente attuale, quantunque molto raro e ricercato,
tant'è vero che in Italia non esiste un cognome che richiami da vicino
questa professione, a differenza del diffuso 'Fuller' in UK e USA.
Ho trovato questo bello spiegone, che chiarisce il procedimento di follatura
e conferma il tuo ricordo  per quanto riguarda l'uso dell'urina.
Pare che i Romani mettessero in fuga i nemici solo con l'odore... :-)))
Ciao
Giorgio
http://www.nots.it/ecomuseo/lana/Purgatura%20e%20Sodatura.html
Descrizione:
Il tessuto di lana tolto dal telaio, controllato e riparato da eventuali
malefatte, veniva lavato, per eliminare le sostanze untuose usate per la
filatura, e quelle collose usate per la tessitura. La lavatura si effettuava
in acqua bollente e sapone, con l'aggiunta di urina fermentata e lisciva,
poi immerso nell'acqua fredda e strizzato.Seguiva poi la purgatura vera e
propria effettuata con terra da purgo o da follare, chiamata argilla
smectica, un silicato di alluminio idrato più alcali che aveva proprietà
sgrassanti. A questo punto i panni lana erano portati presso le gualchiere
dove una volta sistemati all'interno di cassoni detti Pile, erano colpiti da
grossi martelli in legno detti pestelli sollevati alternativamente da un
albero dotato di alette collegato ad una ruota idraulica.

Pare che i Romani mettessero in fuga i nemici solo con l'odore... :-)))
Anche perche' erano usi magnasse una testa d'aglio crudo ciascuno al
giorno... yuck!
-- 
Isa
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching
http://web.tiscalinet.it/alfabeto_auschwitz/

 dtb
  Sto il tuo servo fedele,
  Martino

 for the same purpose.
You are certainly right.
But "terra di Fuller" is the exact translation I found on the big
McGraw-Hill Zanichelli "Dizionario enciclopedico scientifico e tecnico"
who is the origin of this inappropriate capital letter and consequent
misunderstanding.
This "Mr Fuller" reminds me of mysterious "effetto Pelle" that is called
"skin effect" in English (high frequency current flows mainly on cables
surface). Was Italian engineer Mr Pelle who first noticed this skin
effect? I just checked that the above mentioned big dictionary
translates in "effetto pelle".
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Tante terre dallo stesso dizionario...
terra di Barbados = Barbados earth
terra di Fuller   = fuller's earth
terra di Gondwana = Gondwanaland
terra di Siena    = sienna
terra di Wagner   = Wagner ground
Cosě vediamo che terra č /earth /ground /land
McGraw-Hill Zanichelli "Dizionario enciclopedico scientifico e tecnico"
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 wrote:
Dear Martin,
A whole dittie, just for me. You do me too much honour, kind sir! We are
most
touched.
    > > Aach!
        >   Hai un'infreddatura?
Thank you, it was nothing, and has now past (bolly to the rescue again)
    > >  your need to quote nigh on 30 lines of text for a post
        >   un computer stanco?
Have I mentioned the restorative properties contained in a glass of bolly?
Perhaps your tired PC would benefit from an infusion.
        >   Ma il messagio era tanto al punto, tanto pieno di saggessa che
        > non  potevo contenere le mie ditti.
Bearing little resemblance to any of the army ditties I am familiar with,
but nonetheless, I quite see your point.
    > > consisting of one word and a signature.
        >   Non ho dovuto spedire la parola o la firma?
A signatre is _always_ needed. The word, perhaps, we could have done
without.
    > >     could you snip -judiciously and ruthlessly - before posting?
        >   Preferisco tagliare come Ruth a tagliato.
Lol
Are you not a fan then of sugar and icing? I promise my home-made variety is
really quite delicious.
    > > One  really would be _so_ grateful.
        >   Se tagliando cura la tua infreddatura.
Ever the thoughtful one and we are so appreciative, really.
        >   Sto il tuo servo fedele,
With a sense of humour and as I believe has been established, flattery and a
sense of humour will get you everywhere.
Now serving pavlova and bolly,
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