An admirable composition, not liquid like our ink, but solid, and made into cakes somewhat like the mineral colors we use in painting. It is made into all sorts of figures, usually long, and about an inch thick; sometimes gilt with the figures of birds, flowers, &c. To use this ink, it must be rubbed with water, on stone or earthenware, till it produces a beautiful, liquid, shining black. It is used in drawing, &c., and is brought from China. It is composed of lamp-black and size, or animal glue, or gum, to which perfumes and other substances are sometimes added. CHAPTER X. ASBESTUS, SALT, COAL, IRON, COPPER, BRASS, ZINC, AND LAPIS CALAMINARIS. What is the name of the remarkable stone of which a cloth has been made, that resists the action of fire? The Asbestus, a mineral substance of a whitish or silver color. There are several species of this mineral, which are distinguished by different names, according to the appearance of each, as fibrous asbestus, hard asbestus, and woody asbestus; it is the fibrous sort which is most noted for its uses in the arts. It is usually found inclosed within very hard stones; sometimes growing on their outside, and sometimes detached from them. _Fibrous_, full of fibres or threads. What are its qualities? It is insipid; will not dissolve in water; and exposed to the fire, it neither consumes nor calcines. The industry of mankind has found a method of working upon this untoward mineral and employing it in making cloth and paper; the process is, however, difficult. _Insipid_, without taste. Was not this curious mineral better known to the ancients than it is at present? The linen made from it was highly esteemed by them; it was not only better known, but more common, than among us, being equally valuable with the richest pearls; but the superiority of all other cloths to this in every respect, except the resistance to fire, has caused incombustible cloth to be regarded in modern times merely as a curiosity, but it is still employed in chemical preparations. _Incombustible_, remaining undestroyed in fire. To what use did they put it? In royal funerals, it formed the shroud to wrap the body in that its ashes might be prevented from mingling with the wood, &c., that composed the pile. Some of the ancients made themselves clothes of it, particularly the Brahmins among the Hindoos; it formed wicks for their perpetual lamps; thread, ropes, nets, and paper were also made of it. Pliny, the Roman naturalist, says he has seen napkins of asbestus taken soiled from the table after a feast, which were thrown into the fire, and by that means better scoured than if they had been washed with water. _Naturalist_, a person who studies nature, especially in what relates to minerals, vegetables, and animals. _Brahmins_, Hindoo priests. Where is the Asbestus found?