LIN they might be advantageously em- ployed in dyeing: and, lo ascer- tain their properties, he made va- rious experiments, by rubbing the gabs on linen, to which they im- parted a beautiful red colour that was not discharged, though it had been washed two or th^ee times. — ■ Hence, it is highly probable that lime- galls may be rendered valua- ble in the art of dyeing ; and a considerable expence, which is at present incurred by the importa- tion of cochineal, and similar drugs, mighi thus be saved. I'fais useful tree farther contains a mucilaginous juice, which, by repeated boiling and clarification, produces a substance liiniilar to sugar : we conceive it may be ex- tra6ied from it in the manner al- ready stated, voi. i. p. 260, under the article Birch-tree. The wood of the lime-tree, though affording an inditlerent fuel, may be converted into excel- lent charcoal for drawing, and for the manufacture of gunpowder. From the external bark, Ruger prepared a fine rose-coloured lake. Botii the bark and leaves afford materials for a coarse, but smooth, brown paper, of a reddish cast: and that manutattured of the hjrmer, is peculiarly well calculated for drawings. — The seeds yield, on expression, a siect and agreeable oil, similar to that which is found in ripe cocoa-nuts ; and is of equal service as an ingredient in choco- late. ■ LINE, for angling, a series of threads, or horse-hairs, twisted to- gether, suspended on a rod, and Jurnished at the end with a hook for catching fish. The best material for making lines, is l^orse-hair, m hirh should be uniformly twisted, as its strength will tlius be goniiderably increased, LIN [107 Silk Is also occasionally employed ; but it is by no means equal to hair. The best colours for lines are, sorel for t urbid waters , and white, or grey, for clear streams. — A light green tinge m:;y be imparted to lishing' !in- s, by uumersing the hair in a liquor prepared of a, um, soot, and walnut-leaves boiled together. LINEN, a well known kind of cloth, made chietiy of Hemp and Flax. — Having already described tile different processes which these substances undergo, before they are converted into cloth, we shall at present add only such fads, as may teiid to render our former state- ment more satisfactoiy. — After the tilaments have been properly dress- ed and combed (see vol. ii. p. 302), the dax is spun into the yarn by the hand, in the usual manner': instead, however, of moistening the threads with spittle, or c(;mmon water, we would recommend the mucilage prepared from the C051- MON CoMFKEY (wluch sce) to be preferably employed. By such sim- ple means, the sahva, so useful in the process of digestion, may not only be saved, but the yarn will be totally divested of its brittleness, and, in other respefis, considerably improved. Next, the yarn is con- veyed to tiie loom, where it is vv'oven into clotli (a process similar to that practised witii wool, and described under the article Cloti^, vol. ii.) ; after which it is bleached, in the manner stated under that head, in our tirst volume. Linen is more diliicult to be dyed ot a Hack colour, than either ^■ool or cotton. The black, im- parled to it by meaj)3 of green vi- triol and galls, soon disappears by washing. It IS, therefore, a desi- deratum of considerable import- ance, to procure such a j^repara^ tioii as will strike a beautiful^ deep, a: Hi
