becomes reddish, until having been
exposed for some time to the heat of the sun, (or probably gathered
before perfectly ripe,) it becomes black, as in the condition we have
it. There are two sorts, the black and the white.

What is the White Pepper?

The white pepper is merely the black deprived of its outside skin. For
this purpose the finest red berries are selected, and put in baskets
to steep, either in running water, or in pits dug for the purpose,
near the banks of rivers. Sometimes they are only buried in the
ground. In any of these situations, they swell and burst their skins,
from which, when dry, they are carefully separated by rubbing between
the hands, or fanning.

What is Cayenne Pepper?

The dried fruit of a plant called bird pepper, a native of both
Indies. It is more pungent than the other sorts.

CHAPTER VII.

GLASS, MIRRORS, EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, NEEDLES, PINS, PAPER,
PRINTING, PARCHMENT, AND VELLUM.

What is Glass?

A transparent, solid, brittle, factitious body, produced by fusing
sand with an alkali. The essential ingredients of glass are silex and
potash, or soda; a few other substances are sometimes added. Silex is
found nearly pure in rock crystal, flint, and other varieties of
quartz; for the manufacture of the better kinds of glass in this
country, it is generally obtained from sand, especially the white sand
of New Jersey.

_Factitious_, made by art, not found in a state of nature.

What is Potash?

The saline matter obtained from the ashes of wood, by causing water to
pass through them; the water imbibes the salt, which is then obtained
from it by evaporation. When purified by calcination, it is termed
pearlash. In countries where there are vast forests, as in America and
Russia, it is manufactured on a very large scale.

What can you say of the origin of Glass?

The period of its invention is quite unknown. Pliny relates that some
merchants, driven by a storm to the coast of Phenicia, near the river
Belus, made a large fire on the sand to dress some food, using as
fuel some of the plant Kali, which grew there in great abundance; an
imperfect glass was thus formed by the melting of the sand and ashes
together. This production was picked up by a Syrian merchant, who,
attracted by its great beauty, examined the cause of its origin, and,
after many attempts, succeeded in its manufacture.

Who was Pliny?

A celebrated Roman naturalist and historian.