Glove dyeing. Leather gloves, if not greasy, may be dyed with any of the ordinary dyes by brushing the latter over the gloves stretched out smooth. The surface alone should be wetted, and a second or third coat may be given after the former one has become dry. When the last coat has become thoroughly dry, the superfluous colour should be well rubbed out, a smooth surface given them by rubbing them with a polished stick or piece of ivory, and the whole gone over with a sponge dipped in white of egg.
Gloves, Cosmetic. Syn. Gants cosmetiques. These are mock kid or lambskin gloves rubbed over, on the inside, with the following composition:—Spermaceti cerate, 3 oz.; melt, add of balsam of Peru, 1⁄2 dr., stir for 5 minutes, and, after a few minutes’ repose, pour off the clear portion; to this add of oil of nutmeg, 15 drops; oil of cassia and essence of ambergris, of each 6 drops; and stir until cold. Used by ladies to soften the hands and to prevent or cure chilblains and chaps. They are commonly worn all night in bed.
GLUCI′NUM. Gl. Syn. Beryl′lium. The metallic base of glucina. It was first obtained by Wöhler, in 1828, by a similar process to that adopted for aluminum, a metal which it greatly resembles. See Aluminum.
Gluci′num, Oxide of. Syn. Glucina, Beryllia. A pulverent white substance, found as silicate in the beryl, emerald, &c.
Prep. The beryl, in fine powder, 1 part; carbonate of potassium, 3 parts; expose the mixture to a strong red heat for half an hour, dissolve the calcined mass in hydrochloric acid, and evaporate the solution to dryness; redissolve the residuum in very dilute hydrochloric acid, and precipitate with pure ammonia; wash the precipitate well, digest it with a large quantity of carbonate of ammonium, filter, and boil the solution as long as carbonate of glucinum subsides. By exposure to a red heat the carbonic acid may be expelled, and the earth rendered anhydrous.
Prop., &c. Glucina closely resembles alumina, from which, however, it is distinguished by its solubility when freshly precipitated in a cold solution of carbonate of ammonia, from which it is again thrown by boiling. Glucina is classed with the earths. The beryl contains 14% of this substance.
GLU′COSE. See Sugar (Grape).
GLUE. Syn. Gluten, Glutinum, L.; Colle, Colle forte, Fr. Inspissated animal jelly, or gelatin, used as a cement.
Prep. Glue is principally prepared from the parings and waste-pieces of hides and skins, the refuse of tanneries, and the tendons and other offal of slaughter-houses. These substances, when intended for the glue-maker, are steeped for 14 or 15 days in milk of lime, then drained, and dried by exposure to the air. This constitutes what is termed the ‘cleansing’ or ‘preparation,’ and in this state the ‘glue pieces,’ as they are called, may be kept for a long time, and transported to any distance without suffering decomposition. Before conversion into glue, they are usually again steeped in weak milk of lime, and next well washed and exposed to the air for 24 to 30 hours. They are then placed in a copper boiler two thirds filled with water, and furnished with a perforated false bottom, to prevent them from burning, and as much is piled on as will fill the vessel and rest on the top of it. Heat is next applied, and the whole gently boiled or simmered together, until the liquor on cooling forms a firm gelatinous mass. The clear portion is then run off into another vessel, and a very small quantity of alum (dissolved) added; here it is kept hot by a water bath, and allowed to repose for some hours to deposit its impurities, after which it is run into the ‘congealing boxes,’ and placed in a cool situation. The next morning the cold gelatinous masses are turned out upon boards wetted with water, and are cut horizontally into thin cakes with a stretched piece of brass wire, and then into smaller cakes with a moistened flat knife. The latter are placed on nettings to dry. The dry cakes of glue are next dipped one by one into hot water, and slightly rubbed with a brush wetted with boiling water, to give them a gloss; they are, lastly, stove-dried for sale. This furnishes the palest and best glue.
As soon as the liquor of the first boiling has drained off, the undissolved portion of skins, &c., left in the copper is treated with fresh water, and the whole operation is repeated again and again, as long as any gelatinous matter is extracted. In this way a second and other inferior qualities of glue are obtained. The product from dried glue-pieces is about 50%.