1. The invention of the saddle has been attributed to the Selians, a people of ancient Franconia. Under this impression, it has been supposed that the Latins gave it the name of sella. The period at which it was first used, cannot be ascertained. It is certain, however, that the horse had been rendered subservient to man, several centuries before this convenient article was thought of.
2. At first, the rider sat upon the bare back of the animal, and guided him with a switch, but afterwards with a strap put round the nose. In the course of time, the rider came to use, upon the back of the horse, the skins of beasts, in order to render his seat more easy. The Greeks, and many other refined nations of antiquity, sometimes used superb trappings, composed of cloth, leather, and skins dressed with the hair on; and, in addition to the gold, silver, and precious stones, with which these were ornamented, the horses were often otherwise decked with bells, collars, and devices of various kinds.
3. The Romans, in the days of the republic, deemed it more manly to ride on the bare back of the animal than on coverings. At a later period, they used a kind of square pannel, without stirrups; and about the year 340 of the Christian era, they began to ride on saddles. It appears, that those first employed were very heavy, as the Emperor Theodosius, in the same century, forbade the use of any which weighed over sixty pounds. The use of saddles was established in England by Henry the Seventh, who enjoined on his nobility the practice of riding upon them.
4. The frame of a saddle is called a tree. It is not made by the saddlers, but by persons who confine their attention to this branch of business. The trees are constructed of wood, with a small quantity of iron, and covered with canvas.
5. In making a common saddle, the workman first extends two strips of straining web from the pommel to the hinder part of the tree, and fastens them with tacks. The tree is then covered on the upper side with two thicknesses of linen cloth, between which a quantity of wool is afterwards interposed. A covering of thin leather, usually made of hog's-skin, is next tacked on, and the flaps added. Under the whole are placed the pads and saddle-cloth; the former of which is made of thin cotton or linen cloth, and thin leather, stuffed with hair. The addition of four straps, two girths, two stirrup-leathers, and as many stirrups, completes the whole operation.
6. The roughness, or the little indentations in the flaps, are produced by passing the leather between rollers, in contact with a rough surface, or by beating it with a mallet, on the face of which has been fastened a piece of the skin from a species of shark, commonly called the dog-fish.
7. Saddles are often covered with buckskin, curiously stitched into figures, and having the spaces between the seams stuffed with wool; this is particularly the case in side-saddles. The form of saddles, and the quality of the materials, together with the workmanship, are considerably varied, to suit the purposes to which they are to be applied, and to accommodate the fancy of customers.
8. The process of making bridles and harness for horses, is extremely simple. The leather is first cut out with a knife of some description, but usually with one of a crescent-like form, or with a blade set in a gauge, and then stitched together with the kind of thread used by shoemakers. The awl employed in punching the holes is straight; and needles are most commonly used, instead of the bristles which point the shoemaker's threads. The mode of manufacturing saddle-bags, portmanteaus, and valises, is too obvious to need description.
1. The manufacture of trunks is equally simple with that of making harness. In common cases, it consists chiefly in lining the inside of a wooden box with paper, or some kind of cloth, and covering the outside with a skin, or with leather, which is fastened to the wood by means of tacks. Narrow strips of leather are fastened upon hair trunks with brass nails, by way of ornament, as well as to confine the work.
2. Instead of a wooden box, oblong rims of iron, and very thick, solid pasteboard, fastened together by means of strong thread, are used in the best kinds of trunks. The frame or body, thus formed, is covered with some substantial leather, which is first stuck on with paste, and then secured by sewing it to the pasteboard with a waxed thread. Over the whole, are applied strips of iron, fastened with brass or copper nails with large heads. The lines and figures on the leather, added by way of ornament, are produced by a crease, a tool made of wood, ivory, or whalebone. Its form is much like that of the blade of a common paper-folder.
3. How long trunk-making has been a separate trade, cannot be exactly ascertained. The trunk-makers in France were incorporated into a company, in 1596. In the United States, this branch of business is very commonly united with that of the saddler and harness-maker.
1. The business of the soap-boiler consists in manufacturing soap, by the combination of certain oily and alkaline substances.
2. The earliest notice of this useful article occurs in the works of Pliny, in which it is stated, that soap was composed of tallow and ashes; that the mode of combining them was discovered by the Gauls; but that the German soap was the best.
3. For many ages before the invention of soap, saponaceous plants, and several kinds of earth, together with animal matters and the ley from ashes, were employed for the purpose of cleansing the skin, and articles of clothing. The idea of combining some of these substances, with the view of forming soap, probably originated in accident.
4. The vegetable oils and animal fats, capable of saponification, are very numerous; but those most commonly employed in the manufacture of the soaps of commerce, are olive-oil, whale-oil, tallow, lard, palm-oil, and rosin; and the alkalies with which these are most frequently combined, are soda, the ley of ashes, or its residuum, potash.
5. Soda is sometimes called the mineral alkali; because it is found, in some parts of the world, in the earth. It was known to the ancients, at a very early period, under the denomination of natron. It received this appellation from the lakes of Natron, in Egypt, from the waters of which it was produced by evaporation, during the summer season.
6. The soda of commerce is now chiefly obtained from the salsola, a genus of plants which grows on the sea-shore. In Spain, the plant from which soda is obtained is denominated barilla; hence, the substance produced from it by incineration has received the same appellation. The ashes of a sea-weed which grows on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, is called kelp. In Europe, barilla and kelp are more extensively employed in the manufacture of soap than any other alkaline substances; but, in this country, where wood is so much used for fuel, common ashes are generally preferred.
7. The process of making the ordinary brown or yellow soap, from wood-ashes, is conducted in the following manner. The alkali is first obtained in a state of solution in water, by leeching the ashes as described in page 26, and then poured, in a weak state, into a copper or iron caldron, having a large wooden tub carefully affixed to the top of it.
8. When the ley has been properly heated, the tallow, either in a tried state or in the suet, is gradually added. More ley, of greater concentration, is poured in; and the ingredients are moderately boiled for several hours; while a person, as represented in the preceding cut, aids their chemical union by agitating them with a wooden spatula.
9. After a quantity of rosin has been added, and properly incorporated with the other materials, the fire is withdrawn until the next morning, when it is again raised; then, with the view of forming the paste into hard soap, a quantity of muriate of soda (common salt) is added. The muriatic acid of this substance, uniting with the potash, forms with it muriate of potash, which dissolves in the water, while the soda combines with the tallow and rosin. Hard soap, therefore, contains no potash; although this alkali is generally employed during the early part of the process of making it.
10. After the addition of the muriate of soda, the boiling and stirring are continued two or three hours, when the fire is withdrawn, and the contents of the caldron are suffered to be at rest. When the soap has completely separated from the watery part and extraneous matters, it is laded into another caldron, again diluted with strong ley, and heated. The paste having been brought to a proper consistence, more common salt is added as before, and for the same purposes.
11. The chemical part of the process having been thus completed, the soap is laded into single wooden boxes, or into one or more composed of several distinct frames, which can be removed separately from the soap, after it has become solid enough to stand without such support. The soap is cut into bars, of nearly a uniform size, by means of a small brass wire.
12. Manufacturers of soap have contrived various methods of adulterating this article, or of adding ingredients which increase its weight, without adding to its value. The most common means employed for this purpose is water, which may be added, in some cases, in considerable quantities, without greatly diminishing the consistence of the soap.
13. This fraud may be detected by letting the soap lie for some time exposed to the atmosphere. The water will thus be evaporated, and its quantity can be known by weighing the soap, after its loss of the superfluous liquid. To prevent evaporation, while the soap remains on hand, it is said, that some dealers keep it in saturated solutions of common salt. Another method of adulteration is found in the use of pulverized lime, gypsum, or pipe-clay. These substances, however, can be easily detected by means of a solution in alcohol, which precipitates them.
14. The process of manufacturing soft soap, differs but little in its details from that described in the preceding paragraphs. The chief difference consists in omitting the use of salt. Soft soap, therefore, is composed of a greater proportion of water, and more alkali than is necessary to saturate the unctuous matters. Soft soap is made by almost every family in the country, from ashes, grease, and oily matters, reserved for the purpose.
15. The celebrated Marseilles white soap, is composed of
| Soda, | 6. |
| Olive-oil, | 60. |
| Water, | 34. |
Castile soap, of
| Soda, | 9. |
| Olive-oil, | 76.5. |
| Water, with a little coloring matter, | 14.5. |
Fine toilet-soaps are made with oil of almonds, nut-oil, palm-oil, suet, or butter, combined with soda or potash, according to their preparation in a solid or pasty state.
16. In the manufacture of white soap, the tallow is more carefully purified, and no rosin is used. In other particulars, the process differs but little from that employed in the production of the common kind. Two tons of tallow should yield three tons of white soap. In making the same quantity of common brown or yellow soap, twelve hundred weight less is required, on account of the substitution of that amount of yellow rosin.
17. The mottled appearance of some soaps is caused by dispersing the ley through it, towards the close of the operation, or by adding a quantity of sulphate of iron, indigo, or the oxide of manganese. Castile soap, now manufactured in the greatest perfection at Marseilles, in France, receives its beautifully marbled appearance from the sulphate of iron.
1. The subject of the candle-maker's labors may be defined to be a wick, covered with tallow, wax, or spermaceti, in a cylindrical form, which serves, when lighted, for the illumination of objects in the absence of the sun. The business of candle-making is divided into two branches; the one is confined to the manufacturing of tallow candles, and the other, to making those composed of wax or spermaceti.
2. The process of making candles from tallow, as conducted by the tallow-chandler, needs only a brief description, since it differs but little from the method pursued by families in the country, with which most persons are familiar. The difference lies chiefly in the employment of a few conveniences, by which the candles are more rapidly multiplied.
3. The first part of the process consists in preparing a wick, to serve as a foundation. The coarse and slightly twisted yarn used for this purpose, is spun in the cotton-factories; and, being wound into balls, is, in that form, sold to the tallow-chandlers, as well as to individuals who make candles for their own consumption.
4. A sufficient number of threads is combined, to form a wick of a proper size; and, as they are wound from the balls, they are measured off, and cut to the proper length, by a simple contrivance, which consists of a narrow board, a wooden pin, and the blade of a razor. The pin and razor are placed perpendicular to the board, at a distance determined by the length of the proposed wick. The wicks are next put upon cylindrical rods, about three feet long; and a great number of these are arranged on a long frame.
5. To obtain the tallow in a proper state for use, it is separated from the membranous part of the suet, by boiling the latter in an iron or copper kettle, and then subjecting the cracklings to the action of a press. The substance that remains, after the tallow has been expressed, is called greaves, which are sometimes applied to fattening ducks for market. This is especially the case in the city of London.
6. The tried tallow is prepared for application to the wicks, by heating it to a proper temperature. It is then poured into a suitable receptacle, where it is kept in order either by a moderate fire underneath, or by the occasional addition of hot tallow.
7. The broaches, as the sticks with their wicks are called, are taken up, several at a time, either between the fingers or by means of a simple instrument denominated a rake, and dipped into the tallow. They are then returned to the frame, and suffered to cool, while successive broaches are treated in the same way. The dipping is repeated, until the candles have been thickened to the proper size.
8. In the preceding plate, is represented a workman in the act of dipping several broaches of candles, suspended on a rake, which he holds in his hands. The mode of making dipped candles just described, is more generally practised than any other, and in this manner five or six hundred pounds can be made by one hand, in a single day. In some establishments, however, a more complicated apparatus is used, by which every part of the process is greatly expedited.
9. Mould candles are made very differently. The moulds consist of a frame of wood, in which are arranged several hollow cylinders, generally made of pewter. At the lower extremity of each cylinder, is a small hole, for the passage of the wick, which is introduced by means of a hook on the end of a wire. The cotton is fastened at the other end, and placed in a perpendicular situation in the centre of the shafts, by means of a wire, which passes through the loops of the wicks. The melted tallow, having been poured on the top of the wooden frame, descends into each mould. After the candles have become sufficiently cold, they are extracted from the cylinders with a bodkin, which is inserted into the loop of the wick. One person can thus mould two or three hundred pounds in a day.
10. Candles are also made of bees-wax and spermaceti; but the mode of their manufacture differs in no particular from that of common mould candles. The wicks for wax-candles are usually made of a peculiar kind of cotton, which grows in Asiatic Turkey.
11. Before the wax is applied to this purpose, the coloring matter is discharged. This is effected by bleaching the wax, in the following manner. It is first divided into flakes, or thin laminæ, by pouring it, in a melted state, through a colander upon a cylindrical wheel, which, at the same time, is kept revolving, while partly immersed in cold water. The wax, having been removed from the water, is placed upon a table or floor covered with some kind of cloth. Here it is occasionally sprinkled with water, until the bleaching has been completed. The process occupies several weeks, or even months, according to the state of the weather, that being best which is most favorable to a rapid evaporation.
12. Spermaceti is a substance separated from sperm oil, which is obtained from a species of whale, called physeter macrocephalus, or spermaceti cachalot. This oil is obtained from both the head and body of the animal, but that procured from the former contains twice the quantity of spermaceti.
13. To separate the spermaceti from the oil yielded by the body, it is first heated, then put into casks, and suffered to stand two or three weeks, in order to granulate. The oily part is now filtrated through strainers; and the remainder, which is called foots, is again heated, and put into casks. After having stood several weeks, these are put into bags, and submitted to the action of a powerful press. The spermaceti thus obtained, is melted and moulded into cakes. The oil thus separated from the spermaceti, is called spring or fall strained; because it is filtered and expressed only during those seasons of the year.
14. The oil from the head of the whale is treated like that from the body, in almost every particular. The difference consists, principally, in omitting the use of the strainer, and in the employment of stronger bags and a more powerful press. The oil obtained from the head-matter, is called pressed, since it is separated by the action of the press only. It is also denominated winter-strained, because the operation is performed in the cold weather.
15. The spermaceti, having been melted and moulded into cakes, is reserved until the succeeding summer, when it is cut into thin shavings, by means of a large shave, similar to the spoke-shave of the wheelwrights, and again pressed as before. The oil of this last pressing is called taut pressed, and is the least valuable kind, since a slight degree of cold causes it to become thick. The spermaceti obtained from the oil of the body, and that from the head-matter, are melted together, and purified by means of potash-ley.
16. The sperm-oil, thus freed from the spermaceti, is extensively used in lamps as a means of illumination; and, for many purposes, it is far more convenient than tallow. In the country, lard is frequently employed instead of oil, especially by the German population. In some European and Asiatic countries, vegetable oils supply the place of animal fats, in this application.
17. The origin of the art of making candles is not known. It is evident, however, that the business is comparatively modern, since the Greeks and Romans, as well as other nations of antiquity, employed torches of pine and fir, and lamps supplied with oil, in the production of artificial light. The words in the Scriptures translated candle, imply nothing more nor less than a light produced by some kind of oil consumed in a lamp.
18. The lamps in ancient times were suspended by a chain or cord from the ceiling, or supported on stands and moveable tables, which were called by the Romans lampadaria, or candelabra. Many specimens of this utensil are preserved in several museums of Europe, and some have lately been found in the ruins of Herculaneum.
19. The Chinese make their candles from the tallow obtained from the seeds and capsules of the tallow-tree. This tree, which is produced in great abundance in China, is said to grow in various parts of South Carolina and Georgia. In appearance, it resembles the Lombardy poplar.
1. The comb is a well-known instrument, employed in cleansing, dressing, and confining the hair. It is made of various materials, but most commonly of tortoise-shell, the horns and hoofs of cattle, ivory, bone, and several kinds of hard wood.
2. It is impossible to determine the period of the world at which it was introduced, since history and tradition, the sources from which we obtain information of this nature, are silent with regard to its origin. It is evident, however, that the comb is an instrument of primary necessity; and hence it must have been invented in the earliest ages. This opinion is confirmed by the fact, that the comb has been frequently found in use amongst savages, when first visited by civilized men.
3. Combs employed in fixing the hair, are made of tortoise-shell, or of the horns of cattle. The genuine tortoise-shell is taken from the testudo imbricata, or hawk's-bill turtle; but a kind of shell, inferior in quality, is obtained from the testudo caretta, or loggerhead turtle. These turtles inhabit the seas of warm and temperate climates; but they are especially numerous in the West Indian seas, where shell is a valuable article of commerce. That from St. Domingo is especially esteemed for its brilliancy of shade and color.
4. The shell of the hawk's-bill turtle was extensively employed for ornamental purposes by the refined nations of antiquity; although we have no account of its application to the manufacture of combs. The Greeks and Romans decorated with it the doors and pillars of their houses, as well as their beds and other furniture. The Egyptians dealt largely with the Romans in this elegant article.
5. The general length of the hawk's-bill turtle is about three feet from the bill to the end of the shell; but it has been known to measure five feet, and to weigh five or six hundred pounds. In the Indian Ocean, especially, specimens of prodigious magnitude are said to have occurred.
6. The shell employed in the arts, grows upon the back and feet of the animal. That on the back, consists of thirteen laminæ, or plates, which lap over each other, like tiles on the roof of a house. The plates vary in thickness from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch, according to the age and size of the turtle. The quantity of merchantable shell obtained from a single subject of the usual size, is about eight pounds, which, at the usual price, is worth sixty or seventy dollars.
7. The process of making combs from the horns of cattle, is not difficult to be understood. The tips and buts are first cut off with a saw, and the remaining portion is also divided longitudinally on one side with the same instrument. The horns are then soaked for several days, and afterwards boiled in oil, to render them pliable. They are next spread out and pressed between hot iron plates. This operation clarifies the horn, and produces a plate of proper thickness.
8. After the plates thus produced, have been cut in pieces corresponding in size to the proposed combs, and when these have been shaved to a suitable thickness with instruments adapted to the purpose, the teeth are cut either with a twinning saw, as represented in the preceding cut, or with a twinning machine.
9. In the former case, the plate is fastened with a wooden clamp, by the part which is designed to be left for the back of the comb; and when twins, or two combs, are to be formed from one piece, the other end is bent down, so as to render the upper surface considerably convex. To this surface the twinning saw is applied by the hand of the workman, who makes a number of incisions; which are completed both ways with two different kinds of saws, and the end of each tooth is cut from the back of the opposite comb with an instrument called a plugging awl.
10. The twinning machine was invented, about twenty years ago, by a Mr. Thomas, of Philadelphia; but it has been successfully improved by several individuals since that time. It is, altogether, an ingenious and useful contrivance. The cutting part consists of two chisels, which are made to act on the plate alternately, and in a perpendicular direction, each chisel cutting one side of two teeth, and severing one from the opposite back, at every stroke. It is impossible, however, to form a clear conception of the manner in which the machine operates, except by actual inspection. It performs the work with great rapidity; since from one to two hundred dozens of combs can be cut in twelve hours; whereas, not one-fourth of that number can be twinned in the old method, during the same time.
11. After the teeth have been rounded, and in other respects brought to the proper form with suitable instruments, the combs are polished by rubbing them first with the dust of a peculiar kind of brick, then by applying them to a moving cylinder covered with buff leather, charged with rotten-stone, ashes, or brick-dust; and, finally, by rubbing them with the hand, charged with rotten-stone and vinegar.
12. The combs are next colored, or stained; and, as the tortoise-shell is by far the best and most expensive material for this kind of comb, the great object of the manufacturer is to produce colors as nearly resembling those of the real shell as practicable. This is done in considerable perfection, in the following manner:
13. The combs are first dipped in aqua-fortis, and then covered with a paste made of lime, pearlash, and red lead. To produce the requisite variety of shades, both taste and judgment are necessary in applying the composition, and in determining the time which it should remain upon the combs. To give the combs a still stronger resemblance to shell, they are also immersed for fifteen or twenty minutes in a dye of Nicaragua.
14. The combs having been covered with oil, they are next heated upon iron plates, and brought to the desired shape by bending them upon wooden blocks with a woollen list. The whole process is finished by rubbing off the oil with a silk handkerchief.
15. The general process of making shell combs differs but little from that which has been just described, varying only in a few particulars, in compliance with the peculiar nature of the material.
16. On account of the great value of shell, the workmen are careful to make the most of every portion of it; accordingly, when a piece falls short of the desired size, it is enlarged by welding to it another of smaller dimensions. The union is effected, by lapping the two pieces upon each other, and then pressing them together between two plates of hot iron. The heat of the iron is prevented from injuring the shell, by the interposition of a wet linen cloth, and by immersing the whole in hot water. In a similar manner, broken combs are often mended; and by the same method, two pieces of horn can also be joined together.
17. Both horn and shell combs are often stamped with figures, and otherwise ornamented with carved work. In the latter case, the ornaments are produced, by removing a part of the material with a saw and graver. The saw employed is not more than the twelfth of an inch in width; and, being fastened to a frame, it is moved up and down, with great rapidity, by means of the foot, while the part of the comb to be cut away is applied to the teeth. The operator is guided in the work by a pattern, which has been struck on paper from an engraved plate.
18. Combs for dressing and cleansing the hair, are made of horn, shell, bone, ivory, and wood; but it is unnecessary to be particular in describing the manner in which every kind of comb is manufactured. We will only add, that the teeth of fine ivory and bone combs are cut with a buzz, or circular saw, which, fastened to a mandrel, is moved in a lathe.
1. There are few manufactured articles in more general use than brushes. This has arisen from their great utility, and the low prices at which they can be purchased. The productions of the brush-maker's labor are denominated variously, according to the purposes to which they are to be applied.
2. The operations connected with this business are very simple, as there is scarcely a tool employed which is not familiar to every other class of mechanics. The brush-maker, however, does not manufacture every part of the brush. He procures his wooden stocks and handles from various sources, but chiefly from the turner, and bone handles, from the tooth-brush handle-maker.
3. The first part of the process which may be considered as belonging particularly to the brush-maker, consists in boring the holes for the reception of the bristles. This is done with a bit of a proper size, which is kept in motion with a lathe, while the wood is brought against it with both hands. To enable the operator to make the holes in the right place and in the proper direction, a pattern is applied to the hither side of the stock.
4. The greater part of the bristles used by the brush-makers in the United States, are imported from Russia and Germany. Large quantities, however are obtained from Pennsylvania, and some parts of the Western States. American bristles are worth from thirty to fifty cents per pound, a price sufficiently high, one would suppose, to induce the farmers to preserve them, when they butcher their swine. Were this generally done, a tolerable supply of the shorter kinds of bristles might be obtained in our own country.
5. When the bristles come into the hands of the brush-maker, the long and short, and frequently those of different colors, are mixed together. These are first assorted, according to color; and those of a whitish hue are afterwards washed with potash-ley and soap, to free them from animal fat, and then whitened by bleaching them with the fumes of brimstone.
6. The bristles are next combed with a row of steel teeth, for the purpose of placing them in a parallel direction, and with a view of depriving them of the short hair which may be intermixed. The workman, immediately after combing a handful, assorts it into separate parcels of different lengths. This is very readily done, by pulling out the longest bristles from the top, until those which remain in the hand have been reduced to a certain length, which is determined by a gauge marked with numbers. At each pulling, the handful is reduced in height near half an inch.
7. The stocks and the bristles having been thus prepared, they are next fastened together. This is effected either with wire or by a composition of tar and rosin. The wire is used in all cases in which the fibre is doubled; but when the bristles are required in their full length, as in sweeping-brushes, the adhesive substance is employed.
8. It is superfluous to enter into detail, to show the manner in which the wire and composition are applied in fixing the bristles, as any person, with an ordinary degree of observation, can readily comprehend the whole, by examining the different kinds of brushes which are met with in every well-regulated household. The bristles, after having been fixed to the stock or handle, are trimmed with the shears or knife, according as they are required to be equal or unequal in length.
9. The brush is next handed over to the finisher, who applies to the back of the stock a thin veneer of wood, which secures the wire against the oxidizing influence of the atmosphere, and gives to the brush a finished appearance. The stock, together with the veneer, is then brought to the desired shape with suitable instruments, polished with sand-paper, and covered with varnish.
10. Those brushes which the manufacturer designs to be ornamented, are sent in great quantities to the ornamenter, who applies to them various figures, in gold or Dutch leaf, japan or bronze, and sometimes prints, which have been struck on paper from engraved plates.
1. A house in which travellers are entertained is denominated a tavern, inn, coffee-house, hotel, or house of public entertainment; and an individual who keeps a house of this description, is called an inn-keeper or tavern-keeper. Of these establishments there are various grades, from the log cabin with a single room, to the splendid and commodious edifice with more than a hundred chambers.
2. This business is one of great public utility; since, by this means, travellers obtain necessary refreshments and a temporary home, with very little trouble on their part, and that, in most cases, for a reasonable compensation. This is especially the case in the United States, where the public houses, taking them together, are said to be superior to those of any other country.
3. Travellers, in the early ages of the world, either carried with them the means of sustenance, and protection from the weather, or relied upon the hospitality of strangers; but, as the intercourse between different places for the purposes of trade, increased, houses of public entertainment were established, which at first were chiefly kept by women.
4. The people of antiquity, in every age and nation, whether barbarous or civilized, were, however, remarkable for their hospitality. We find this virtue enjoined in the Mosaic writings, and scriptures generally, in the poems of Homer, as well as in other distinguished writings, which have descended to our times. The heathen nations were rendered more observant of the rites of hospitality by the belief, that their fabulous gods sometimes appeared on earth in human shape; and the Jews and ancient Christians, by the circumstance, that Abraham entertained angels unawares.
5. On account of the occasional acts of violence committed by both the guest, and the master of the house, it became necessary to take some precautions for their mutual safety. When, therefore, a stranger applied for lodgings, it was customary among the Greeks for both to swear by Jupiter, that they would do each other no harm. This ceremony took place, while each party stood with his foot placed on his own side of the threshold; and a violation of this oath by either party, excited against the offender the greatest horror.
6. The Greeks and Romans, in common with the people of many other nations, were in the habit of making arrangements with persons at a distance from their homes, for mutual accommodation, when either party might be in the vicinity of the other. In these agreements, the contracting parties included their posterity, and delivered to each other tokens, which might be afterwards exhibited in proof of ancient ties of hospitality between the families. They swore fidelity to each other by the name of Jupiter, who was surnamed the Hospitable; because he was supposed to be the protector of strangers, and the avenger of their wrongs.
7. This relation was considered a very intimate one, especially by the Romans; and, in their language, it was called hospitium, or jus hospitii; hence, the guest and entertainer were both called hostes, a word from which host is derived, which is employed to designate both the landlord and the guest. The Roman nobility used to build, for the reception of strangers, apartments called hospitalia, on the right and left of the main building of their residence.
8. During the middle ages, also, hospitality was very commonly practised; and the virtue was not considered one of those which might be observed or neglected at pleasure; the practice of it was even enjoined by statute, in many countries, as a positive duty, which could not be neglected with impunity. In some cases, the moveable goods of the inhospitable person were confiscated, and his house burned. If an individual had not the means of entertaining his guest, he was permitted to steal, in order to obtain the requisite supply.
9. The nobles of Europe, during this period, were generally distinguished for their cordial entertainment of strangers, and their immediate adherents. Their extraordinary liberality arose, in part, from the general customs of the age, and partly from a desire to attach to their interests as great a number of retainers as possible, with a view to maintain or increase their political importance. Strangers were also entertained at the monasteries, which were numerous in almost every kingdom of Europe. Several of these institutions were established in solitary places, with the express purpose of relieving travellers in distress.
10. It is evident, that the arrangements for mutual accommodation, and the hospitable character of the ancients, were unfavorable to the business of keeping tavern; but the free intercourse between different nations, which arose from the Crusades, and the revival of commerce, contributed greatly to the habit of regularly entertaining strangers for a compensation, and led to the general establishment of inns.
11. These inns, however, were not, at first, well supported; inasmuch as travellers had been long accustomed to seek for lodgings in private houses. In Scotland, inns were established by law, A.D. 1424; and, to compel travellers to resort to them, they were forbidden, under a penalty of forty shillings, to use private accommodations, where these public houses were to be found.
12. How far legislative enactments have been employed for the establishment of inns in other countries, we have not been able to learn, as the authorities to which we have referred for information on this point are silent with regard to it. We know, however, that laws have been made in almost every part of Europe, as well as in the United States, with the view of compelling the landlord to preserve proper order, and to accommodate his customers at reasonable charges.
13. In the United States, and in all other commercial countries, this business has become one of great importance, not only to the individuals who have engaged in it, but also to the community in general. Within the present century, the amount of travelling has greatly increased, and the excellence of the public houses has advanced in the same ratio. Some of these establishments in the cities and large towns, are among the most extensive and splendid edifices of the country; and, in every place through which there is much travelling, they are usually equal or superior to the private dwellings of the neighborhood.
14. The business of keeping tavern, however, is not always confined to the proper object of entertaining travellers, or persons at some distance from home. A public house is frequently the resort of the people who live in the immediate vicinity, and is often the means of doing much injury, by increasing dissipation.
15. In all cases in which ardent spirits are proposed to be sold, a license must be obtained from the public authorities, for which must be paid the sum stipulated by law; but any person is permitted to lodge travellers, and to supply them with every necessary means of cheer and comfort for a compensation, without the formality of a legal permission; yet, a license to sell liquors is called a tavern-license; because most tavern-keepers regard the profits on the sale of ardent spirits as one of their chief objects.
16. A public house in which no strong drink is sold, is called a temperance tavern; and such establishments are becoming common; but they are not, at present, so well supported as those in which the popular appetite is more thoroughly complied with. The time, however, may not be far distant, when the public sentiment will undergo such a salutary change, that the tavern-keepers generally will find it their best policy to relinquish the sale of this poisonous article.
17. As travellers often apply to the bar for "something to drink," merely to remunerate the landlord for the use of his fire, or some little attention, the friends of temperance would essentially promote their cause, by encouraging the practice of paying for a glass of water, or some trifle of this kind. This would increase the number of temperance taverns, and, perhaps, be the means of preventing many generous people from forming those dissipated habits, which are so often attended with ruinous results.
1. Hunting and fishing are usually considered the primary occupations of man; not because they were the first employments in which he engaged, but because they are the chief means of human sustenance among savage nations.
2. The great and rapid increase of the inferior animals, and, probably, the diminished fertility of the soil after the deluge, caused many branches of the family of Noah to forsake the arts of civilized life, especially after the dispersion caused by the confusion of tongues.
3. Many of these families, or tribes, continued in this barbarous state for several ages, or until their increase of numbers, and the diminished quantity of wild game, rendered a supply of food from the objects of the chase extremely precarious. Necessity then compelled them to resort to the domestication of certain animals, and to the cultivation of the soil. But the practice of hunting wild animals is not confined to the savage state; as it is an amusement prompted by a propensity inherent in human nature.
4. The earliest historical notice of this sport is found in the tenth chapter of Genesis, in which Nimrod is styled, "a mighty hunter before the Lord." So great was his prowess in this absorbing pursuit, that he was proverbially celebrated on this account even in the time of Moses. Nimrod is the first king of whom we read in history; and it is by no means improbable, that his skill and intrepidity in subduing the wild beasts of the forest, contributed largely towards elevating him to the regal station.
5. Although the spoils of the chase are of little consequence to men, after they have united in regular communities, in which the arts of civilized life are cultivated; yet the propensity to hunt wild animals continues, and displays itself more or less among all classes of men.
6. The reader of English history will recollect, that William the Conqueror, who began his reign in the year 1066, signalized his passion for this amusement, by laying waste, and converting, into one vast hunting-ground, the entire county of Hampshire, containing, at that time, no less than twenty-two populous parishes. Severe laws were also enacted, prohibiting the destruction of certain kinds of game, except by a few persons having specified qualifications. With some modifications, these laws are still in force in Great Britain.
7. In other countries of Europe, also, large tracts have been appropriated by the kings and nobles to the same object. This tyrannical monopoly is attempted to be justified by the unreasonable pretension, that all wild animals belong, of right, to the monarch of the country, where they roam.
8. The quadrupeds most hunted in Europe, are the stag, the hare, the fox, the wolf, and the wild boar. These beasts are pursued either on account of their intrinsic value, or for sport, or to rid the country of their depredations. In some instances, all three of these objects may be united. The method of capturing or killing the animals is various, according to the character and objects of the persons engaged in it.
9. In Asia, the wolf is sometimes hunted with the eagle; but, in Europe, the strongest greyhounds are employed to run him down. This task, however, is one of extreme difficulty, as he can easily run twenty miles upon a stretch, and is besides very cunning in the means of eluding his pursuers. Chasing the fox on horseback, with a pack of hounds, is considered an animating and manly sport, both in Europe and in North America.
10. The most prominent victim of the hunter, in Africa, is the lion. He is usually sought in small parties on horseback with dogs; but sometimes, when one of these formidable animals has been discovered, the people of the neighborhood assemble, and encircle him in a ring, three or four miles in circumference. The circle is gradually contracted, until the hunters have approached sufficiently near to the beast, when they dispatch him, usually with a musket-ball.
11. In the southern parts of Asia, tiger-hunting is a favorite amusement. Seated upon an elephant, trained especially for the purpose, the hunter is in comparative safety, while he pursues and fires upon the tiger, until his destruction is effected.
12. The white bear and the grisly bear are the most formidable animals in North America; yet they are industriously hunted by both Indians and white men, on account of the value of their flesh and skins. Bisons, or, as they are erroneously called, buffaloes, are found in great numbers in the vast prairies which occur between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. They are commonly met with in droves, which sometimes amount to several thousands.
13. When the Indian hunters propose to destroy these animals, they ride into the midst of a herd, and dispatch them with repeated wounds; or, they get a drove between themselves and a precipice, and, by shouting and yelling, cause the animals to crowd each other off upon the rocks below. In this manner, great numbers are disabled and taken at once. The hunters, at other times, drive the bisons into inclosures, and then shoot them down at their leisure. The hide of this animal is dressed with the hair adhering to it; and skins, in this state, are used by the savages for beds, and by the white people, in wagons, sleighs, and stages.
14. North America, and the northern parts of Asia, have been, and, in some parts, still are, well stocked with fur-clad animals; and these are the principal objects of pursuit, with those who make hunting their regular business. Some of these animals were common in every part of North America, when this portion of the western continent was first visited by Europeans; and a trade in peltries, more or less extensive, has been carried on with the natives, ever since the first settlement of the country.
15. For the purpose of conducting this trade with advantage, a company was formed in England, in 1670, by Prince Rupert and others, to whom a charter was granted, securing to them the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians about Hudson's Bay. Another company was formed in 1783-4, called the North-West Fur Company. Between these companies, there soon arose dissensions and hostilities, and many injuries were mutually inflicted by the adherents of the parties. Both associations, however, were at length united, under the title of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company. The Indian trade, on the great lakes and the Upper Mississippi, has long been in possession of the North American Fur Company. Most of the directors of this company reside in the city of New-York.
16. The companies just mentioned supply the Indians with coarse blue, red, and fine scarlet cloths, coarse cottons, blankets, ribands, beads, kettles, firearms, hatchets, knives, ammunition, and other articles adapted to the wants of the hunters, receiving, in return, the skins of the muskrat, beaver, otter, martin, bear, deer, lynx, fox, &c.
17. The intercourse with the Indians is managed by agents, called clerks, who receive from the company a salary, ranging from three to eight hundred dollars per annum. The merchandise is conveyed to the place of trade, in the autumn, by the aid of Canadian boatmen and half-Indians. The most considerable portion of the goods are sold to the Indians on a credit, with the understanding of their making payment in the following spring; but, as many neglect this duty, a high price is affixed to the articles thus intrusted to savage honesty. The clerk furnishes the debtor with a trap, having his own name stamped upon it, to show that the hunter has pledged every thing which may be caught in it.
18. Each clerk is supplied with four laborers and an interpreter. The latter attends to the store in the absence of the clerk, or watches the debtors in the Indian camp, lest they again sell the produce of their winter's labors. The peltries, when obtained by the clerk, are sent to the general agent of the company.
19. The fur trade is also prosecuted, to some extent, by a class of men in Missouri, who proceed from the city of St. Louis, in bodies comprising from fifty to two hundred individuals. After having ascended the Missouri river, or some of its branches, and, perhaps, after having passed the Rocky Mountains, they separate, and pursue the different animals on their own individual account, either alone or in small parties. The Indians regard these men as intruders on their territories; and, when a favorable opportunity is presented, they frequently surprise and murder the wandering hunters, and retain possession of their property.
20. In consequence of the unremitted warfare which has, for a long time, been carried on against the wild animals of North America, their number has been greatly diminished; and, in many parts, almost every species of the larger quadrupeds, and the fur-clad animals, has been exterminated. Even on the Mississippi, and the great lakes, the latter description of animals has been so much reduced in number, that the trade in peltries, in those parts, has become of little value. Another half century will, probably, nearly terminate the trade in every part of North America.
21. The fur trade was prosecuted with considerable success, during the latter part of the last century, principally by the English, on the north-west coast of America, and the adjacent islands. The peltries obtained by these enterprising traders, were carried directly to China. The trade was interrupted for a while by the Spaniards, who laid claim to those regions, and seized the British traders engaged there, together with the property in their possession. This affair, however, was afterwards amicably adjusted by the Spanish and English governments; and the whole trade, from California north and to China, was opened to the latter.
22. The fur trade, in those parts, is now chiefly in the hands of the Russian Company in America, which has a capital of a million of dollars invested in the business. Most of the persons owning the stock, are merchants, residing at Irkutsk, a town of Siberia, which is the centre of the fur trade of that country. The skins obtained in Russian America are chiefly procured from the sea-otter, and several species of seal, together with those from foxes, of a blue, black, and gray color, which are brought from the interior. Parties of Russian hunters have already passed the Rocky Mountains, and interfered with the trade of the Hudson's Bay Company. The fur trade of Siberia is chiefly carried on with China.
23. The chief objects of the hunters in Siberia, are the black fox, the sable, the ermine, the squirrel, the beaver, and the lynx. In the region near the Frozen Ocean, are also caught blue and white foxes. Siberia is the place of banishment for the Russian empire; and the exiles were formerly required to pay to the government an annual tribute of a certain number of sable-skins. The conquered tribes in Siberia, were also compelled to pay their taxes in the skins of the fox and sable; but now, those of less value, or money, are frequently substituted.
24. Although the skins of beasts were the first means employed to clothe the human body, yet it does not appear that the Greeks and Romans, and the other refined nations of antiquity, ever made use of furs for this purpose. The custom of wearing them, originated in those regions, where the fur-clad animals were numerous, and where the severity of the climate required this species of clothing. The use of furs was introduced into the southern parts of Europe by the Goths, Vandals, Huns, and other barbarous nations, which overran the Roman empire.