Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/520

4 SS] HOR wheaten-flour : such precau- tion, however, is unnecessary, when it is intended for immediate use. Frof. Beckmaxn states, that horse-chesnuts yield, by distilla- tion, a spirituous liquor, which, notwithstanding its bitter taste, may frequently serve as a substi- tute for alkohol ; and, though 20 pounds of this fruit produce only three ounces of a pure spirit, yet it is equal to that obtained from wine ~ites, and the remainder still affords food for cattle. Prof. Leoxhardi observes, in his Economical Pocket-book for 1/93 (in German), that the prickly husks of the horse-chesnut may be advantageously employed in tanning leather; and, when burnt to coal, they are said to produce an ex- cellent black water-colour. — Suc- kow has made experiments with the brown glossy shell of this fruit j from which it appears, that, when bruised and boiled in water, with the addition of a little pot-ash, it makes a saturated dark-brown dye, which impart; d to cloth previi usly dipped in a solution of green vi- triol, a yellow brown, and to that prepared in alum-water, a faint red-brown colour. — According to DAMBOUENEY, both the branches and leaves communicate a good brown in dyeing, Ruger (in his German Pocbet- iookjbr Painters) gives the follow- ing recipe for preparing an exc cl- ient brown water-colour : lake the smooth, ripe shells of the horse- chesnut, reduce them to a coarse powder, and boil then) for several hours in water; next filter the li- quor through flannel, and let it stand till the colouring particles subside; then carefully decant the fluid, and dry the sediment, p in this simple manner, the HOR decoction afforded a beautiful brown colour; which, bowevor, was con- siderably improved, on adding, a small portion of gum arabic. The wood of the horse-chesnut is, in every respect, equal to that of the common chesnut ; and, as the former thrives luxuriantly in coppices, it .deserves to be more generally cultivated, with the view of raising timber for building. In- deed, it is highly probable that the fruit of this valuable tree might be so much improved by engrafting and inoculating, that the nuts may, in process of time, be divested of their peculiar bitterness and astrin- gency. — See farther, pp. 512 and foil, of our first volume. In medicine, the bark has been found of eminent service in inter- mittent fevers, and is often substi- tuted in Russia for the Persian bai .. HORSE-FLY, or Hippolosca x L. a genus of insects, qompjrising four species : the principal of these is the equina, or Common Horse- fly, which equally torments horses and cows. The horse-fly is broad, flat, shining, and apparently covered with scales ; its head, breast, and belly, are of a yellowish < olour, streaked with brown. These in- sects are very difficult to be killed, on account of the hard scaly wings with which they are covered; and so firm y do they adhere to the poor animals, that these can neither rub nor bite such pernicious ver- min off their skin, without se 1 rely Wounding themselves. Hence the only preventive W< can devise, is a net lor covering the horse in hot Weather, or in travelling through woods, or such places as are in- fested with these troublesome flics. HOUSE-AiLDICINES, an ap- pellation