W A T

845

W A T

clia' ' " vln S away devils, preserving from thunder, dissolvingforn'l 1 ^’ Securin B or curing diseases, &c. Many of tiie re-

fron i ta ^' e dle use °f d ’ e l>oly water to have been borrowed’he lustra] water of the ancient Romans, See Lustra-* I 0 NS.

ld>n. ATER ® RDEAI -> or Trial, among our ancestors, was of twoA by hot, and by cold, water. See Ordeal,a ater-Proof, a term applied to those stuffs, which have un~n 6 0l ' e Certain chemical or mechanical processes, and thus be-st-? 10 ] ' ni Permeable lo moisture. The following simple process ise< l ’° be that employed by the Chinese , for rendering clothater-proof; Let an ounce ot' white wax be dissolved in one quarttii f^ u ‘ l °f turpentine ; the cloth be immersed in the solution, andtilt 1 ' Sl,s l )e <ided iri the air, till it be perfectly dry. By this methoddpt ll , 1< ? s ’ open muslin, as well as the strongest cloths, may be ren-■ :! ed Impenetrable to the heaviest showers ; nor will such compo-o , l , 0n i) d up the interstices of the finest lawn ; or in the least de-fcU ,?. a fleet the most brilliant colours.

^a’ier, Putrid, is that which has acquired an offensive smell‘ nt taste by the putrescence of animal or vegetable substancesobtained in it. It is in the highest degree pernicious to the humanmine, and capable of bringing on mortal diseases even by itsIt is not always from the apparent muddiness of waters‘at we can judge of their disposition to putrefy : some which areccrningiy V g|.y p Ure being more apt to become putrid than othersmich appear much more mixed with heterogeneous matters,nder the article Animalcule, is mentioned a species of insects'’Inch have the property of making water stink to an incredibletle gi'ee, though their bulk in proportion to the fluid which sur-rou “ds them is less than that of one to a million. Other sub-stances no doubt there are which have the same property ; andlr '>ice almost all water which is confined from the air is apt lobecome offensive, even though kept in glass or stone-ware-vessels.Indeed it is a common observation, that water keeps much longer?'veet in glass-vessels, or in those ot earthen or stone-ware, than1,1 those of wood, where it is exceedingly apt to putrefy. Hence,as .ships can only be supplied with water Kept in wooden-casks,Sailors are extremely liable to those diseases which arise fromPutrid water; and the discovery of a method by which waterCould easily he prevented from becoming putrid at sea would.heexceedingly valuable. This may indeed be done by quicklime ;*?r when water is impregnated with it, all putrescent matters arecither totally destroyed, or altered in such a manner as never to"e capable of undergoing the putrefactive fermentation again.%‘t a continued use ol lime-water could not fail of being perni-cious, and it is therefore necessary to throw down the lime ; afterM’hich the water will have all the purity necessary for preserving” free from putrefaction- This can only be done by means of‘‘Xed air ; and mere exposure in broad shallow vessels to the at-mosphere’ would do it without any thing else, only taking care0 1'i’eak the crust which formed upon it. Two methods, how-q, v , ei '> have been thought of for doing this with more expedition.

. be one, invented by Dr. Alston, is, by throwing into the water.Impregnated with lime a quantity of magnesia. The lime attracts', Xc d ai r ,„ ore powerfully than magnesia; in consequence of which, ’c latter parts with if to the lime : and thus becoming insoluble,j ls along with the caustic magnesia to the bottom, and thusl7‘ v °s the°water perfectly pure. Another method is that of Mr.

,, who proposes to throw down the lime by means of an

l c‘vesting mixture of oil oi vitriol and chalk put down to the«°‘on. of the water-cask. Ills apparatus lor thi.- puipose is asSa j,'Pas it can well be made, though it is hardly probable thatjiors will give themselves the trouble of using it ; and Dr. AI-for'n Srllen >e would seem better calculated for them, were it noti p .. )e expence of the magnesia ; which indeed is the only ob-Wi<| ’ to it by Mr. Henry. Putrid water may be restored

\ V | '■ "'ade potable by a process of the same kind. Mr. Lowilz,(jj. p Sc . ex l>criments on charcoal have been published in Crell’siMe, - cal Journal, lias turned his attention to this subject in atiiat?/ 1 ' reafl 10 lll « (Economical Society of Petersburg. He foundUsj, Ule olfect of charcoal was rendered much more speedy bych a ,“ :ll . 0! .’S with it some sulphuric acid. One ounce and a half of(oil 0 l f . Ui . Powder, and -J4 drops of concentrated sulphuric acid

" •" ■ " •• ' of

you 0 f . ; Linu rs crops oi tom.cuu«pu

V1 , d l0 ')> Ri’e sufficient to purify three pints and a half tv’oi r c %vatcr > nn 'l do not communicate to it any sensible ac• Iv *— No. 215

dity. This small quantity of acid renders it unnecessary to usemore than a third part of the charcoal-powder which would other-wise be wanted ; and the less of that powder is employed, the lessis the quantity of water lost by the operation, which," in sea-voy-ages, is an object worthy of consideration. In proportion to thequantity of acid made use of, the quantity of charcoal may bediminished or augmented. All acids produce nearly the sameeffects: neutral salts also, particularly nitre, and sea-salt, maybeused, but sulphuric acid is preferable to any of these.

Water, among jewellers, is properly the colour or lustre ofdiamonds and pearls. The term, though less properly, is some-times used for the hue or colour of other stones. SeeDiAMOND,and Pearl.

Watf.r-Bailiff, is an officer in sea-port-towns, appointed forthe searching of ships.

Water-Borne. In the sea-language, a ship is said to be water-borne, when she is, where there is no more water than will bareiybear her from the ground ; or when lying even with the ground',she first begins to float or swim.

Water-Carts, carriages constructed for the purpose of water-ing the roads for several miles round London ; a precaution ab-solutely necessary near the metropolis, where, from such a vastdaily influx of carriages and horses, the dust would otherwise be-come quite insufferable in hot dry weather. Pumps are placed atproper distances to supply these tarts.

Wa'i er-Colours, in painting, are such colours as are only di-luted and mixed up with gum-water, in contradistinction to oil-colours. See Colour-making.

Water, Dead, in the sea-language, is the eddy water that fol-lows the stern of a ship, not passing away so fast as that which slidesby her sides.

Water Gang, a channel cut to drain a place by carrying offa stream of water.

Water-Line of a Ship, a line which distinguishes thatpart of her which is under water from that above, when she is duly1 a den.

Water-Measure. Salts, sea-coal, &c. while aboard vesselsin the pool or river, are measured with the corn-bu hel heapedup ; or else five striked pecks are allowed to the bushel.

Water-Men, are such as row in boats, or ply on the riverThames, in the government of whom the lord mayor of London ,and court of aldermen there, had always great power.

Water-Shot, in the sea-language, a sort of riding at anchorwhen a ship is moored neither cross the tide, nor right up anddown; but quartering betwixt both.

Water-Table, iii architecture, a sort of ledge left in stone, orbrick walls, about eighteen or twenty inches from the ground,from which place the thickness of the wall begins to abate. SeeWall.

Water-Way, in a ship, is a small ledge of limber, lying foreand aft on the deck, close by her sides, to keep the water fromrunning down there.

Waters, Mineral. All waters which are distinguish ed fromcommon water by a peculiar smell, taste, colour, &c. and whichin consequence o’f these properties cannot be applied to the pur-poses ot domestic oeconomy, have been distinguished by the ap-pellation of mineral-waters. These occur more or less frequentlyin different parts ot the earth, constituting wells, springs, or foun-tains; sometimes of the temperature of'the soil "through whichthey pass, sometimes warm, and in some cases even at the boilingtemperature. Many of these mineral-springs attracted the atten-tion of mankind in the earliest ages, and were resorted to by thosewho laboured under diseases, and employed by them either ex-ternally or internally as a medicine. But it was not till towardsthe end of the 17th century that any attempt was made to detectthe ingredients of which these waters were composed, or to disco-ver the substances to which they owed their properties. Thesubstances hitherto found in mineral-waters amount to about 3S,and may be reduced under the four following heads: 1 . Air andits component parts, oxygen and azotic gas. 2. Acids. 3. Al-kalies and earths, -i. Salts. The following table exhibits a sy-noptical view of the component parls-of a considerable number ofmineral-waters as analysed by different chemists. See Dr. Saun-ders’s Treatise on the Chemical History and Medical Powers ofthe most celebrated Mineral-Waters .

W F Gasse 3 .