Category: Metals
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Gorget, from the French gorge meaning throat
A gorget, from the French gorge meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman’s neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the throat, a set of pieces of plate armour, or a single piece of plate armour hanging from the neck and covering the throat and chest. Later, particularly from…
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1,2,4-Trihydroxyanthraquinone aka purpurin
1,2,4-Trihydroxyanthraquinone, commonly called purpurin, is an anthraquinone. It is a naturally occurring red/yellow dye. It is formally derived from 9,10-anthraquinone by replacement of three hydrogen atoms by hydroxyl (OH) groups. Purpurin is also called verantin, smoke Brown G, hydroxylizaric acid, and C.I. 58205. It is a minor component of the classical lake pigment “madder lake” or Rose Madder. History Madder root has been used for dying cloth at least since…
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Hydrangea macrophylla
Hydrangea macrophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Japan. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2 m (7 ft) tall by 2.5 m (8 ft) broad with large heads of pink or blue flowers in summer and autumn. Common names include bigleaf hydrangea, French hydrangea, lacecap hydrangea, mophead hydrangea, penny mac and hortensia. It is widely cultivated in many parts of the world in many climates. It is not to…
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Petrified Wood
Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek πέτρα meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’; literally ‘wood turned into stone’), is the name given to a special type of fossilized wood, the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. Petrifaction is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having been replaced by stone via a mineralization process that often includes permineralization and replacement. The organic materials making up cell walls have been replicated…
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Lyngurium
Lyngurium or Ligurium is the name of a mythical gemstone believed to be formed of the solidified urine of the lynx (the best ones coming from wild males). It was included in classical and “almost every medieval lapidary” or book of gems until it gradually disappeared from view in the 17th century. Properties and history As well as various medical properties, lyngurium was credited with the…
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Calcination
Calcination is thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), generally for the purpose of removing impurities or volatile substances and/or to incur thermal decomposition. The root of the word calcination refers to its most prominent use, which is to remove…
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Phthalo blue
Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), also called phthalocyanine blue, phthalo blue and many other names, is a bright, crystalline, synthetic blue pigment from the group of phthalocyanine dyes. Its brilliant blue is frequently used in paints and dyes. It is highly valued for its superior properties such as light fastness, tinting strength, covering power and resistance to the effects of alkalis and acids. It has the appearance of a blue powder,…
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Eagle stones
For the mushroom, see Mycena aetites. In the magico-medical tradition of Europe and the Near East, the aetites (singular in Latin) or aetite (anglicized) is a stone used to promote childbirth. It is also called an eagle-stone, aquiline, or aquilaeus. The stone is said to prevent spontaneous abortion and premature delivery, while shortening labor and parturition for a full-term birth. The eagle-stone is defined as “the common name of the aetite” by Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete…
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A coffin, a corpse and a baseball field: The strange history of Indianapolis’ Greenlawn Cemetery (by Dawn Mitchell, IndyStar)
by Dawn Mitchell, IndyStar, April 17, 2019 It’s not uncommon during excavation for new construction in Indianapolis that one might unearth artifacts, such as bottles, blackboards, even safes. The discovery of a coffin in 1986 might have been a shock to some, but for those who were acquainted with the history of the area, it was to be…
