A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, Volume 2 (of 2) by Beckmann

Bills of exchange, ii. 203; account of the oldest, _ib._; ordinance issued at Barcelona respecting them, ii. 204. Black lead, ii. 388; names by which it is known, _ib._; ancient manuscripts ruled with lead, ii. 389; plumbago, by whom first mentioned, ii. 390; black lead pits in Cumberland, ii. 392; in commerce, called _potloth_, ii. 393; first pencils used for drawing, _ib._; black and red chalk, ii. 394. Bologna stone, ii. 429; description of, ii. 429-430; how rendered capable of shining in the dark, ii. 431; discovery of this, by whom made, _ib._; preparation of the stone concealed by the Italian chemists, ii. 432; taught by Poterius, a French chemist, _ib._; luminous stone from India mentioned by De Thou, ii. 433; other kinds of pyrophori, ii. 434. Book-censors, ii. 512; reason of their being established, _ib._; books forbidden and burnt before the invention of printing, ii. 513; books of the Jews and Christians burnt, ii. 514; works of Arius and Nestorius burnt, _ib._; earliest instance of books published by permission of government, _ib._; mandate respecting book-censors, ii. 516; bull of Alexander VI. prohibiting books unless previously examined, ii. 517; book-censors established in France, _ib._ Book-keeping, history of, i. 1. Buckingham, duke of, the first person in England who used six horses to his carriage, i. 76. Buck-wheat, i. 425; not known to the ancients, i. 426; introduced into Europe the beginning of the 16th century, _ib._; said to have been brought from Asia, _ib._; conjectures respecting other names given to it, i. 428; when cultivated in England, _ib._; account of a new species, _ib._; sows itself in Siberia, i. 429; difficult to be cultivated, i. 430. Butter, i. 499; whether known to the Hebrews, i. 500; passage in Proverbs respecting it wrongly translated, _ib._; oldest mention of it in Greek writers, _ib._; known to the Scythians, _ib._; used by the Lusitanians instead of oil, _ib._; elephants drank it, _ib._; anecdote related by Plutarch, i. 503; invention of butter ascribed by Pliny to the Germans, i. 504; uses to which butter was applied by the ancients, i. 506, 507; butter of the ancients was fluid, _ib._; scarce in Norway during the ages of paganism, i. 508. Camp-mills, ii. 55; invention ascribed to the Germans, ii. 56. Canary-birds, i. 32; when known in Europe, _ib._; flew from a ship wrecked on the roast of Italy to Elba, where they multiplied, _ib._; trade with them, i. 33; Canary seed, where first cultivated, i. 34; use of, might be extended, i. 35. Carp, history of, ii. 46; Cassiodorus the oldest author who uses the term _carpa_, ii. 51; origin of the name, ii. 52; carp supposed to have been first found in the southern parts of Europe, _ib._; known in England, ii. 53. Catalogues of books, ii. 522; first printers printed books at their own expense, _ib._; when bookselling became a distinct business, _ib._; catalogues first printed, ii. 523; account of some of the earliest, ii. 524; rapid increase of catalogues, ii. 527; Bohn’s guinea catalogue, _ib._ Cauliflower, brought from the Levant to Italy, ii. 345. Cheese known earlier than butter, i. 502. Chemical names of metals, ii. 23; given first to the heavenly bodies, _ib._; nomination of metals after the heathen deities, ii. 24; astrological nomination known to the Brahmans in India, ii. 26; origin of the characters by which the planets are expressed, ii. 27; those by which the metals are signified, ii. 28; list of metals known at the present day, ii. 31. Chimneys, i. 295; no traces of at Herculaneum, i. 296; principal writers on their antiquity, i. 296, 297; passages in Greek authors supposed to allude to them, i. 297-299; in Roman authors, i. 299-301; houses of the ancients had no chimneys, _ib._; in what manner they warmed their apartments, i. 305; description of the stoves used in Persia, _ib._; derivation of the word chimney, i. 308; houses of the ancients kept warm by pipes, i. 309; Winkelmann’s description of stoves found in a ruined villa, _ib._; no chimneys in the 10th, 12th and 13th centuries, i. 312; oldest account of chimneys in an inscription at Venice, i. 313; first chimney-sweepers in Germany came from Savoy and Piedmont, i. 314; chimney-sweeps at Paris Savoyards, _ib._ Clocks and watches, history of, i. 340; clocks known in the eleventh century, i. 346; first public clock at Padua, i. 351; when in use among private persons, i. 354; first mention of watches, _ib._; history of clocks and watches, by Barrington, i. 355; Queen Mary’s watch, i. 362; Sir Richard Burton’s, _ib._; letter on the watch said to have belonged to Robert Bruce, i. 364; Harrison’s invention, i. 368; Arnold’s chronometer, i. 370. Coaches, i. 68; covered carriages at Rome, _ib._; women only rode in carriages at the beginning of the 16th century, i. 70; use of covered carriages forbidden, _ib._; order of Julius duke of Brunswick, forbidding his vassals to ride in carriages, i. 72; French monarchs rode on horseback in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, i. 74; citizens’ wives at Paris forbidden to use carriages, _ib._; Henry IV. had only one coach, i. 75; whirlicotes, the oldest carriages used by the English ladies, _ib._; coaches first known in England, i. 76; when introduced into Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Russia, _ib._; origin of the word coach, i. 77; berline, invention of, i. 78; first coaches let out for hire at Paris, i. 79; hackney-coaches first established at London, i. 81; number of coaches in some of the principal cities of Europe, _ib._ Cobalt, i. 478; is melted with siliceous earth and potashes to a blue glass called smalt, _ib._; ground smalt, or powder-blue, _ib._; cobalt not known to the ancients, _ib._; reason why Lehmann and others think that the ancients used smalt, i. 481; Gmelin’s experiments on the blue of the ancients, _ib._; origin of the name cobalt, i. 483; first colour-mills in Germany for grinding smalt, i. 484; smalt not mentioned in books till a later period, i. 486; the oldest description found in the works of Biringoccio, _ib._ Cock-fighting, ii. 473; reflections on, _ib._; antiquity of, _ib._; quail-fighting among the Romans, ii. 474; cock-fights and quail-fights mentioned by Solon, ii. 475; Romans employed partridges for fighting, _ib._; cock-fighting instituted by Themistocles, _ib._; ascribed to Miltiades, ii. 476; mentioned by ancient authors, ii. 477-479; oldest information about cock-fighting in England, ii. 481; this pastime forbidden, _ib._ Cork, i. 318; properties of, _ib._; account of the cork-tree, i. 319; known to the Greeks and Romans, _ib._; cork used by the ancient fishermen as floats to their nets, i. 321; anchor-buoys made of it, _ib._; Romans made soles of it, i. 322; cork jackets, antiquity of, _ib._; ancient methods of closing up wine-casks and other vessels, i. 323; cork stoppers, i. 324; various substitutes for corks, i. 325, 326. Corn-mills, i. 147; earliest methods of grinding corn, _ib._; the oldest hand-mills, _ib._; cattle-mills, i. 148; water-mills, i. 151; mills constructed at Rome by Belisarius, i. 154; invention of floating-mills, i. 155; of wind-mills, i. 158; difference between German and Dutch wind-mills, i. 160; bolting-machinery, when invented, i. 161; bolting-cloth, i. 162; invention of barley-mills, i. 168; anecdote of a feudal lord, i. 170. Cryptography, when invented, i. 106. Diamond, when first used for writing on glass, ii. 87. Diving-bell, i. 111; ancient divers, _ib._; principles explained, i. 113; earliest use in Europe, _ib._; described by Lord Bacon, i. 115; cannon fished up by it from the wreck of the Spanish Armada, _ib._; old inventions, i. 117; Dr. Halley’s diving-bell, i. 118; Triewald’s improvement, i. 119; when employed in civil engineering, i. 121; apparatus for walking at the bottom of the sea, i. 122. Embroidery, antiquity of, i. 415. Enamel, i. 132. Etching on glass discovered by Henry Schwanhard, ii. 88; process which he employed, ii. 89. Etruscan vases, colours of, produced by calx of iron, ii. 239. Exclusive privilege for printing books, ii. 518; oldest privilege known, granted in 1490, _ib._; account of some granted in different countries, ii. 519, 520; privileges granted in England, ii. 520; in Spain, ii. 521. Falconry, i. 198; not a modern invention, i. 199; birds of prey used in India and Thrace, i. 201; employed also in Italy, _ib._; forbidden to the clergy in the sixth century, i. 203; ancients bred other rapacious animals besides hawks, _ib._; falconry common in the twelfth century, _ib._; Frederick II. wrote a book upon it, _ib._; ladies formerly fond of falconry, i. 204; oldest writers on this art, _ib._ Fire-engines, ii. 245; idea borrowed from the common pump, _ib._; _sipho_ mentioned by Pliny, a fire-engine, ii. 246; fire-engines at Rome, ii. 247; in the East, engines employed to produce fires, ii. 249; Greek fire, _ib._; fire-engines introduced into Germany uncertain, ii. 250; first mentioned in the building accounts of Augsburg, _ib._; fire-engines at Nuremberg, ii. 251; fire-engines very imperfect in the seventeenth century, ii. 252; air-chamber, when added, _ib._; improved engines made by Leupold, ii. 253; Dutch improvements, ii. 255-256; pipes for conveying water not unknown to the ancients, ii. 256; fire-engines, when introduced at Constantinople, ii. 257. Floating of wood, i. 454; what gave rise to this invention, i. 455; wood floated by Solomon for the temple at Jerusalem, i. 456; wood transported on water by the Romans, _ib._; earliest account of floating wood in Germany, i. 458; in France, i. 459, 460. Forks, ii. 407; Greeks and Romans had no name for them, ii. 408; Romans often used _ligulæ_ instead, ii. 409; forks not employed by the ancients, _ib._; meat cut by a carver, ii. 410; forks not in use among the Chinese, _ib._; forks supposed to be found among the ruins of a Roman town, ii. 411; when first known in Italy, _ib._; forks and spoons still rarities in some parts of Spain, ii. 413; table knives, when introduced among the Highlanders, _ib._; English, Dutch, and French have adopted the Italian names _forca_ and _forchetta_, _ib._; German word _gabel_ of great antiquity, ii. 414. Foundling hospitals, ii. 434; reflections on child-murder, _ib._; no law against it formerly in Christian states, ii. 436; children exposed by the ancients, ii. 437; permitted in Greece but not at Thebes, ii. 438; when prohibited by the Romans, ii. 439; humane decrees of Constantine the Great, ii. 440; public orphan-houses at Athens and Rome, _ib._; foundlings declared to be free by Justinian, ii. 441; oldest establishments for orphans in Germany, ii. 442; similar establishments in France, ii. 444, 445; one of the same kind at Einbeck, ii. 445; hospital at Nuremberg, ii. 446; institution for foundlings at Venice, _ib._; foundling hospital in England, _ib._; inefficiency of such institutions, ii. 448. Fowls said to thrive near smoke, i. 303. Fur dresses, ii. 296; raw skins first used for clothing, ii. 297; fur clothing little used by the Romans, _ib._; introduced by their northern invaders, ii. 301; seal-skins, ii. 302; rein-deer skins, used by the ancient Germans, _ib._; furs, considered by the Getæ objects of magnificence, ii. 304; forbidden by Honorius, _ib._; Gothic breeches adopted by the Romans, ii. 305; furs employed by the Persians instead of mattresses and bolsters, ii. 308; origin of the fur trade to the southern parts of Europe, ii. 309; riches of the northern nations consisted in furs, ii. 310; skins counted by _decuriæ_ or _decher_, ii. 311; skins of the Pontic mouse, ii. 312; ermine, various names of, ii. 315; the sable, _ib._; marten, ii. 316; _grauwerk_, meaning of, ii. 317; cats’ and rabbits’ skins, _ib._; beaver skins, ii. 318; furs, when they began to be dyed, ii. 319; Charlemagne, anecdote respecting his dress of sheep’s skin, _ib._; fur gloves, ii. 320; use of furs forbidden, ii. 321, 322; not used at the court of Byzantium, ii. 322; fur trade in modern times, ii. 323. Garden-flowers, history of, i. 512; modern taste came from Persia and Constantinople, _ib._; tuberose, when first brought to Europe, _ib._; auricula carried to Brussels, i. 513; ranunculus brought from the Levant, i. 516; fondness of Mahomet IV. for this flower, _ib._; favourite flowers of the present day, i. 517. Gilding, ii. 290; mentioned in the books of the Old Testament, _ib._; art of gold-beating at Rome in the time of Pliny, ii. 291; process of gold-beating in the twelfth century, _ib._; pellicle first used by the German gold-beaters, ii. 292; art of gilding facilitated by the invention of oil-painting, ii. 294; gold-leaf affixed to metals by quicksilver in the time of Pliny, ii. 295; false gilding, _ib._; gilding leather, ii. 296. Glass-cutting, ii. 84; known to the ancients, _ib._; revived by Caspar Lehmann, ii. 85; figures engraved on glass with a diamond, ii. 86; etching on glass, ii. 88; history of sparry fluor, ii. 90; its property of emitting light discovered, _ib._; ornaments of, made in Derbyshire, ii. 92. Guns, gun-locks, ii. 533; first portable fire-arms discharged by a match, _ib._; when flints were used, ii. 534; pistols, when brought into use, ii. 535; derivation of the word, _ib._; muskets, whence they received their name, _ib._; gun-lock, when invented, _ib._; how gun-flints are prepared, ii. 538. Honey used by the ancients for preserving natural curiosities, i. 286. Hops, ii. 376; whether known to the ancients, ii. 377; known in the time of the Carolingian dynasty, ii. 380; in Egypt bitter things added to beer, ii. 382; when hops were used in the Netherlands, _ib._; when in England, ii. 384; sweet gale employed for beer in Sweden, ii. 385; Chinese hops, how prepared, ii. 387; cultivation of hops in England, _ib._ Horse, burnt as being possessed by the devil, ii. 118. Horse-shoes, i. 442; writers on their antiquity, i. 443; methods employed by the ancients to preserve the feet of cattle, _ib._; mules shod with silver and gold, i. 444; hoofs of the ancient cavalry soon worn out, i. 446; ancients unacquainted with horse-shoes such as ours, _ib._; horses not shod in Ethiopia, Japan and Tartary, i. 449; horse-shoe said to have been found in the grave of Childeric, i. 451; first mentioned in the ninth century, i. 452; mentioned by Italian, English and French writers of the same century, i. 453; shoeing horses, when introduced into England, i. 454. Hungary water, i. 315; method of preparing it, _ib._; fabulous origin of the name, _ib._; receipt for making it first mentioned in a small book by John Prevot, i. 316; copy of the receipt, _ib._ Hydrometer, ii. 161; earliest mention of it occurs in the fifth century, _ib._; description of the hydrometer by Synesius, ii. 163; Hypatia not the inventress of the hydrometer, ii. 168; revived in the sixteenth century, ii. 169; improvements in, ii. 171. Indigo, ii. 258; brought first from the East Indies, _ib._; medicinal properties of, ii. 261; cultivated in Malta in the seventeenth century, ii. 262; the _Indicum nigrum_ of the ancients was China ink, ii. 264; authors in which this term occurs, ii. 267; indigo, as well as Indian ink, procured from India, and named _indicum_, ii. 270; indigo mentioned by Arabian physicians, _ib._; indigo substituted in dyeing for woad, ii. 273; when introduced into Germany, ii. 274; great importation into Holland, _ib._; American indigo, _ib._; indigo prohibited in Germany, ii. 277; dyers obliged to take an oath not to use it, ii. 278; first mention of it in the English laws, ii. 279. Infirmaries, hospitals, lazarettos, ii. 454; no hospitals for sick at Rome, _ib._; pilgrimages gave rise to their erection, ii. 456; brotherhoods established to provide for sick pilgrims, ii. 457; first hospitals built close to cathedrals, ii. 458; mad-houses, where first established, ii. 461; attention paid by the Romans to their invalids, ii. 462; first establishment for invalids at Constantinople, ii. 465; _Hôtel des Invalides_, at Paris, _ib._; regular surgeons, when appointed to armies, ii. 468-471; establishment of field hospitals in Germany, ii. 471. Ink, sympathetic, history of, i. 106. Ink, in what manner it acquires a superior quality, ii. 266. Insurance, i. 234; not known to the Romans, _ib._; Puffendorf and others endeavour to prove the contrary, _ib._; does not occur in the Hanseatic maritime laws, _ib._; policies drawn up in 1523, still used in Leghorn, i. 237; insurance-laws of the 16th and 17th centuries, i. 238; invention of insurance against fire, i. 240; insurance companies in England, i. 242-244. Jackets, cork, of the ancients, i. 322. Jugglers, ii. 115; who comprehended under that title, _ib._; observations on their employment, ii. 115-119; breathing out flames very ancient, ii. 119; how performed, _ib._; deceptions with naphtha, ii. 120; feats of Richardson with burning coals and melted lead, ii. 121; feat with melted copper, ii. 122; ancient Hirpi could walk through burning coals, ii. 123; ordeal, a juggling trick of the priests, _ib._; secret of it disclosed, ii. 124; exhibition with balls and cups mentioned by the ancients, _ib._; Von Eckeberg suffered large stones to be broken on his breast, ii. 126; ancient rope-dancers, _ib._; feats of horsemanship came from the East, ii. 128; performers at the Byzantine court, _ib._; Romans taught elephants to walk on a rope, ii. 129; Sybarites taught horses to dance, ii. 130; Wildman’s exhibition with bees, _ib._; puppets, ii. 132; antiquity of automata, ii. 133; tripods of Vulcan, ii. 134; moving statues of Dædalus, _ib._; pigeon of Archytas, ii. 135; wooden eagle and iron fly of Regiomontanus, _ib._; automata of Vaucanson and Du Moulin, ii. 136, 137; of De Gennes, ii. 137; speaking machines, ii. 138-141; Chinese shadows, ii. 141. Kermes and cochineal, i. 385; belong to the same genus, i. 386; three kinds described, _ib._; places where the ancients collected them, i. 387; still found in the Levant, i. 388; French and Spanish kermes, _ib._; name given to them in the middle ages, i. 390; how preserved at those periods, _ib._; when this dye was known in Germany, i. 391; origin of the name _kermes_, i. 392; discovery of American cochineal, i. 396; disputes whether cochineal was insects or berries, i. 398; real cochineal brought to St. Domingo, i. 399; kermes early employed in the East to dye red, _ib._; derivation of the word _scarlet_, i. 400; Drebbel discovered that a solution of tin produced with cochineal a beautiful scarlet colour, i. 402; Gobelin improved the art of dyeing scarlet in France, i. 403; first dye-house for scarlet in England established by a Fleming, _ib._; three kinds of cochineal in the English market, i. 404. Kitchen vegetables, ii. 336; bulbous roots, favourite dishes among the ancients, ii. 338; some vegetables, formerly cultivated, now little esteemed, _ib._; borage not known to the ancients, ii. 339; spinage, no traces of in the works of the ancients, ii. 340; its native country unknown, _ib._; broccoli, known to the ancients, ii. 342; species of the cabbage according to Linnæan system, ii. 343-348; whether the Greeks and Romans were acquainted with our carrots, ii. 349-351; shallots brought from Ascalon in Palestine, ii. 353; our shallots obtained only by the bulbs, _ib._; potatoes, when introduced into Europe, ii. 354. Kircher, whether the inventor of the speaking-trumpet, i. 97; read the litany through one to a congregation from two to five Italian miles off, i. 99. Knitting, stocking-loom, ii. 355; fishing and hunting-nets mentioned in the Scriptures, ii. 357; nets, in modern times found among very rude nations, ii. 358; mantles of the clergy in the middle ages covered with silk nets, ii. 359; stocking-knitting, when invented, ii. 360; when known in England, ii. 361; breeches and hose, when worn in Scotland, ii. 362; stockings of cloth, in the time of Queen Mary, ii. 364; knitting, when common throughout England, ii. 365; art of knitting stockings in Germany, _ib._; terms which relate to knitting older than the art itself, ii. 366; wire-screens of curious workmanship, ii. 367; stocking-loom, invention of, ii. 368-373; stocking-looms at Venice, ii. 373; invention claimed by the French, _ib._; brought to Germany, ii. 375; present state of the hosiery manufacture, _ib._ Lace, i. 463; method of making it, _ib._; not known to the ancients, i. 464; lace among old church furniture, i. 465; establishment of the lace manufacture in France, _ib._; lace a German invention, _ib._; application of machinery to the manufacture of lace, i. 466. Lapidary’s wheel known to the ancients, ii. 84. Lead, sugar of, when invented, i. 250; whether used for secret poison, i. 60. Leaf-skeletons, ii. 195; first made by Severin, ii. 197; also by Gabriel Clauder, _ib._; insects employed for this purpose by Ruysch, ii. 198; leaf-skeletons by Seligmann, ii. 200; art of raising trees from leaves, ii. 201. Lending-houses, history of, ii. 1; ancient princes lent money to the poor without interest, ii. 2; their example followed in modern Italy, ii. 3; _Tabernæ argentariæ_ of the Romans different from lending-houses, ii. 5; public loans in the fourteenth century, _ib._; lending-houses opposed by the Dominicans, ii. 7; Tomitano preached in favour of them, ii. 9; established in different parts of Italy, ii. 10-12; dispute respecting their legality, ii. 12; confirmed at the council of the Lateran, ii. 13; _Banco de’ poveri_ at Naples, _ib._; origin of the name _Mons pietatis_, ii. 15; account of the oldest public loans, ii. 16; first lending-house in Germany, ii. 17; Lombards in the Netherlands, ii. 18; _Mont de piété_ at Paris, ii. 20; account of pawnbroking in England, ii. 21. Lighting of streets, ii. 172; Rome not lighted, _ib._; contrary opinion of Meursius, _ib._; streets of Antioch lighted, ii. 173; Cæsarea not lighted, _ib._; antiquity of illuminations, ii. 174; Paris lighted, ii. 175; reverberating lamps invented, ii. 177; first account of lighting London, ii. 178; Amsterdam, the Hague, and Copenhagen, ii. 180; streets of Rome have no lights but those before the images of saints, _ib._; lighting at Philadelphia, Hamburg, Berlin, ii. 181; at Vienna and other cities, ii. 181, 182;