Read Ebook: Scientific American Supplement No. 443 June 28 1884 by Various

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NOTAS DEL TRANSCRIPTOR

Seg?n la portada de la edici?n de 1894, la obra transcripta es una fiel reimpresi?n de la primera edici?n publicada en lengua castellana, en el a?o 1590, de la "Historia natural y moral de las Indias".

Dado el valor hist?rico de la obra, y suponiendo que el objetivo de la reimpresi?n fue el de preservar ese valor, el criterio con el que se llev? a cabo esta transcripci?n fue el de controlar que el texto coincidiera en lo posible con las im?genes usadas para la transcripci?n.

Por eso se han hecho muy pocas correcciones al texto original; en general esas correciones fueron hechas por cuestiones vinculadas con la versi?n HTML de la transcripci?n. No se han modificado evidentes errores tipogr?ficos ni de puntuaci?n, as? como de ortograf?a. Hay palabras escritas de modo inconsistente a lo largo de toda la obra y hay otras incorrectamente escritas. Simplemente se ha supuesto que esos errores e inconsistencias datan de la edici?n del a?o 1590, y que en la reimpresi?n de 1894 no se corrigieron para preservar el valor hist?rico de la primera edici?n.

La cubierta del libro fue modificada por el transcriptor y se ha incorporado al dominio p?blico.

FRAY JOSEPH DE ACOSTA HISTORIA NATVRAL Y MORAL DE LAS INDIAS PVBLICADA EN SEVILLA, A?O DE 1590

AHORA FIELMENTE REIMPRESA MADRID 1894

HISTORIA NATURAL Y MORAL DE LAS INDIAS

HISTORIA NATURAL Y MORAL DE LAS INDIAS

ESCRITA POR EL P. JOSEPH DE AGOSTA, DE LA COMPA??A DE JES?S

y ahora fielmente reimpresa de la primera edici?n.

TOMO PRIMERO

MADRID 1894

Ram?n Angl?s, impresor.--Reina, 43.--Madrid.

HISTORIA NATURAL Y MORAL DE LAS INDIAS

COMPUESTA POR EL PADRE JOSEPH DE ACOSTA, Religioso de la Compa?ia de Jes?s.

DIRIGIDA ? LA SERENISSIMA INFANTA DO?A ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA DE AUSTRIA

A?O DE M. D. XC.

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?stas son palabras del sabio ALEJANDRO DE HUMBOLDT, cuya opini?n y autoridad hacen innecesarios cuantos elogios pudi?semos tributar al autor del presente libro.

Felipe II le honr? sobre manera, deleit?ndose en oirle contar sus viajes, aventuras, observaciones y trabajos. Escribi? en lat?n varias obras: de ellas hacen menci?n don Nicol?s Antonio, la Biblioteca Jesu?tica de los padres Alegambe, Ribadeneira y Sotuello, Barnabita, el P. Jouvenci y las Memorias del P. Nicer?n.

El P. Acosta no hall? de quien transcribir cosa alguna. A??dese ? favor del historiador espa?ol el tiento en creer y circunspecci?n al escribir, que falt? al romano.>>

Los testimonios citados y un ligero examen del libro bastan para dejar fuera de duda la importancia excepcional de esta obra indispensable ? cuantos hombres estudiosos escriben sobre cosas de Am?rica, ?til ? los eruditos, y agradable para toda persona ilustrada.

El Padre Acosta public? su obra primero en lat?n y luego en castellano. He aqu? la lista completa de las ediciones que de ella se han hecho:

De suerte que esta ?ltima, dada por sus editores como sexta, es en realidad, s?ptima.

Todas estas ediciones se han hecho rar?simas; muchas de ellas faltan aun en las bibliotecas p?blicas, y cuando se encuentra alguna en el comercio cuesta muy cara.

Yo CRIST?VAL DE LEON, escribano de Camara del Rey nuestro Se?or, de los que residen en su Consejo, doy f?, que habiendose visto por los Se?ores del, un libro intitulado Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias, que con su licencia hizo imprimir el Padre Ioseph de Acosta de la Compa?ia de Jesus, tasaron cada pliego de los del dicho libro en papel ? tres maraved?s: y mandaron, que antes que se venda se imprima en la primera hoja de cada uno de ellos este testimonio de tasa: y para que dello conste, de mandamiento de los dichos Se?ores del Consejo, y del pedimento del Padre Diego de Lugo, Procurador general de la dicha Compa?ia de Jesus, di esta f?, que es fecha en la villa de Madrid ? treinta dias del mes de Abril, de mil y quinientos y noventa a?os. CRISTOVAL DE LEON.

Yo GONZALO DAVILA, Provincial de la Compa?ia de JESUS en la Provincia de Toledo por particular comision que para ello tengo del Padre Claudio Aquaviva, nuestro Preposito General, doy licencia para que se pueda imprimir el libro de la Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias, que el Padre Ioseph de Acosta, Religioso de la misma Compa?ia ha compuesto, y ha sido examinado y aprobado por personas doctas y graves de nuestra Compa?ia. En testimonio de lo cual di esta firmada de mi nombre, y sellada con el Sello de mi oficio. En Alcal? once de Abril, de 1589. G. DAVILA.

EL REY

Por cuanto por parte de vos, Josef de Acosta de la Compa?ia de Jesus nos fu? hecha relacion diciendo, que vos aviades compuesto un libro intitulado Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias en lengua Castellana, en el cual aviades puesto mucho trabajo y cuidado, y nos pedistes y suplicastes, os mandasemos dar licencia, para le poder imprimir en estos nuestros Reinos con privilegio por diez a?os, ? por el tiempo que fuesemos servido, ? como la nuestra merced fuese. Lo cual visto por los del nuestro Consejo, y como por su mandado se hicieron en el dicho libro las diligencias, que la Pragmatica por nos ?ltimamente fecha sobreapan driers and varnishes. These volatile oils take a gaseous form at different temperatures, lie partly dormant until the thermometer hovers at 90? F. in the shade, when they develop into gas, forming blisters in airtight paint, or escape unnoticed in porous paint. This is the reason why coal-tar paint is so liable to blister in hot weather; an elastic, soft coal-tar covering holds part of its volatile oil confined until heated to generate into gas; a few drops only of such oil is sufficient to spoil the best painted work, and worse, when it has been applied in priming, it settles into the pores of the wood, needing often from two to three repetitions of scraping and repainting before the evil is overcome. Now, inasmuch as soft drying paint is unfit to answer the purpose, it is equally as bad when paint too hard or brittle has been used, that does not expand and contract in harmony with the painted article, causing the paint to crack and peel off, which is always the case when either oil or varnish has been too sparingly and turpentine too freely used. Intense cold favors the action, when all paints become very brittle, a fact much to be seen on low-priced vehicles in winter time. Damp in wood will also hasten it, as stated in blistering, the woodsap undermining the paint.

To avoid peeling and blistering, the paint should be mixed with raw linseed oil in such proportions that it neither becomes too brittle nor too soft when dry. Priming paint with nearly all oil and hardly any pigment is the foundation of many evils in painting; it leaves too much free oil in the paint, forming a soft undercoat. For durable painting, paint should be mixed with as much of a base pigment as it can possibly be spread with a brush, giving a thin coat and forming a chemical combination called soap. To avoid an excess of oil, the following coats need turpentine to insure the same proportion of oil and pigment. As proof of this, prime a piece of wood and a piece of iron with the same paint; when the wood takes up part of the oil from the paint and leaves the rest in proportion to harden well, where at the same time the paint on iron remains soft. To be more lucid, it need be explained, linseed oil boiled has lost its oleic acid and glycerine ether, which form with the bases of pigments the insoluble soap, as well as its albumen, which in boiling is thrown out. It coagulates at 160? F. heat; each is needed to better withstand the action of wind and weather, preventing the dust from attaching itself to a painted surface, a channel for ammonia in damp weather to dissolve and wash off the paint. In later years linseed oil has been extracted from linseed meal by the aid of naphtha and percolation, the product of a very clear, quick drying oil, but lacking in its binding quality, no doubt caused by the naphtha dissolving the fatty matter only, leaving the glycerine and albumen in the meal.

All pigments of paint group according to their affinity to raw linseed oil into three classes. First, those that form chemical combinations, called soap. This kind is the most durable, is used for priming purposes, and consists of lead, zinc, and iron bases, of which red lead takes up the most oil; next, white lead, the pure carbonate Dutch process made, following with zinc white and iron carbonates, as iron ore paint, Turkey umber, yellow ocher; also faintly the chromates of lead--chrome-green and chrome-yellow, finishing with the poorest of all, modern white lead, made by the wet or vinegar process. The second class being neutrals have no chemical affinity to linseed oil; they need a large quantity of drier to harden the paint, and include all blacks, vermilion, Prussian, Paris, and Chinese blue, also terra di Sienna, Vandyke brown, Paris green, verdigris, ultramarine, genuine carmine, and madderlake. The last seven are, on account of their transparency, better adapted for varnish mixtures--glazing. The third class of pigments act destructively to linseed oil; they having an acid base , form with the gelatinous matter of the oil a jelly that will neither work well under the brush nor harden sufficiently, and can be used in varnish for glazing only; they are not permanent in color, and among the most troublesome are the lower grades of so-called carmines, madderlakes, rose pinks, etc., which contain more or less acidous dyes, forming a soft paint with linseed oil that once dry on a job can be twisted or peeled off like the skin of a ripe peach. All these combinations of paint have to be closely observed by the painter to insure his success.

Twenty-five years ago a house needed to be painted outside but once in from five to seven years; it looked well all the time, as no dust settled in the paint to make it unsightly. Painters then used the Dutch-process-made white-lead, a base and raw linseed oil, a fat acid, which formed the insoluble soap. They also put turpentine in the following coats, to keep up the proportions of oil and pigment. All held out well against wind and weather. Now they use the wet-process-made white lead, neutralized by vinegar, with oil neutralized by boiling, from the first to the last coat, and--fail in making their work permanent.

The coach, car, and house painter can materially improve his painting where his needs lie by first oiling the wood with raw oil, then smoothing the surface down with lump pumicestone, washing it with a mixture of japan drier or, better yet, gold sizing and turpentine, wiping dry, and following it up with a coat of white lead, oil, and turpentine. The explanation is: the raw oil penetrates the wood and raises the wood fibers on the surface to be rubbed down with pumicestone, insuring the best surface for the following painting: to harden the oil in the wood it receives a coat of japan drier, which follows into the pores and there forms a tough, resinous matter, resisting any air pressure that might arise from within, and at the same time reacts on the first coat of lead as a drier. This mode insures the smoothest and toughest foundation for the following painting, and may be exposed to the hottest July sun without fear of either blistering or peeling.

LOUIS MATERN.

Bloomington, Ill.

OLIVE OIL.

The following particulars with regard to the production of olive oil in Tuscany have been furnished to Mr. Consul Inglis by one of the principal exporters in Leghorn:

The olive oil produced in Tuscany from the first pressing of the fruit is intended for consumption as an article of food. Hence, great attention is paid both to the culture of the olive tree and the process of making oil.

The olive crop is subject to many vicissitudes, and is an uncertain one. It may be taken as a rule that a good crop does not occur more frequently than once in three years. A prolonged drought in summer may cause the greater part of the small fruit to fall off the trees. A warm and wet autumn will subject the fruit to the ravages of a maggot or worm, which eats its way into it. Fruit thus injured falls to the ground prematurely, and the oil made from it is of very bad quality, being nauseous in taste and somewhat thick and viscous. Frost following immediately on a fall of snow or sleet, when the trees are still wet, will irretrievably damage the fruit, causing it to shrivel up and greatly diminishing the yield of oil, while the oil itself has a dark color, and loses its delicate flavor.

Oil made early in the season has a deeper color, and is distinguished by a fruity flavor, with a certain degree of pungency; while as the season advances it becomes lighter in color, thinner in body, and milder and sweeter in taste. Oil made toward the close of the harvest in April or May from extremely ripe fruit is of a very pale straw color, mild and sweet to the taste, though sometimes, if the fruit has remained too long on the trees, it may be slightly rancid. Oil very light in color is much prized in certain countries, notably France, and hence, if it also possesses good quality, commands a higher price in the Tuscan markets.

The fruit of the olive tree varies just as much in quality as does the grape, according to the species of the tree itself, the nature of the soil, exposure, and climate of the locality where it grows. Some varieties of the olive tree largely grown, because thought to be better suited to the special conditions of some districts, yield a fruit which imparts a bitter taste to the oil made from it; such oil, even when otherwise perfect, ranks as a second rate quality.

The highest quality of oil can only be obtained when the fruit is perfectly and uniformly sound, well ripened, gathered as soon as it has dropped from the trees, and crushed immediately with great attention. Should the fruit remain any time on the ground, particularly during wet weather, it deteriorates fast and gets an earthy taste; while if allowed to remain an undue length of time in the garners it heats, begins to decompose, and will yield only bad oil.

The process of making oil is as follows: The fruit is crushed in a stone mill, generally moved by water power; the pulp is then put into bags made of fiber, and a certain number of these bags, piled one upon another, are placed in a press, most frequently worked by hand; when pressure is applied, the oil flows down into a channel by which it is conveyed to a receptacle or tank.

When oil ceases to flow, tepid water is poured upon the bags to carry off oil retained by the bags. The pulp is then removed from the bags, ground again in the mill, then replaced in the bags, and pressed a second time. The water used in the process of making oil must be quite pure; the mill, press, bags, and vessels sweet and clean, as the least taint would ruin the quality of the oil produced.

The oil which has collected in the tank or receptacle just mentioned is removed day by day, and the water also drained off, as oil would suffer in quality if left in contact with water; the water also, which necessarily contains some oil mingled with it, is sent to a deposit outside, and at some distance from the crushing house, which is called the "Inferno," where it is allowed to accumulate, and the oil which comes to the surface is skimmed off from time to time. It is fit only for manufacturing purposes.

The highest quality of olive oil for eating purposes should not only be free from the least taint in taste or smell, but possessed of a delicate, appetizing flavor. When so many favorable conditions are needed as to growth, maturity, and soundness of the fruit, coupled with great attention during the process of oil-making, it is not to be wondered at that by no means all or even the greater part of the oil produced in the most favored districts of Tuscany is of the highest quality. On the contrary, the bulk is inferior and defective.

These defective oils are largely dealt in both for home consumption and export, when price and not quality is the object.

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