Asbestos

Asbe′stine, of the Nature or Quality of asbestinum

Asbe′stinum [Άσβέστινον, of α, privative anc [and?] σβννύω, Gr. to extinguish] a Sort of Linnen or Cloth made of a Stone called Caristces, fit to be spun as Wool or Flax, of which the Ancients made Napkins, which when they were foul, they cast into the Fire, and they became as white as they were before; but received no Injury by the Fire, and little or no Diminution. When the Romans burnt the Bodies of their Dead to preserve their Ashes, they wrapt them in this Sort of Cloth; which transmitted the Fire to the Bodies, and preserved the Ashes by themselves.

Asbe′stos [ἀσβέστος, Gr.] a Stone of which Cloth was made, that would not burn nor waste but very inconsiderably, though hrown into the Fire.

ASBESTOS, a sort of native fossile stone, which may be split into threads and filaments, from one inch to ten inches in length, very fine, britle, yet somewhat tractable, silky, and of a greyish colour, not unlike talc of Venice. It is almost insipid to the taste, indissoluble in water, and endued with the wonderful property of remaining unconsumed in the fire, which only whitens it. But, notwithstanding the common opinion, in two trials befoer the Royal Society, a piece of cloth made of this stone was found to lose a dram of its weight each time. Paper as well as cloth has been made of it; and Pliny says hehad seen napkins of it, which, being taken foul from the table, were thrown into the fire, and better scoured than if they had been washed in water. This stone is found in many places of Asia and Europe; particularly in the island of Anglesey in Wales, and in Aberdeenshire in Scotland.

Asbestos (Gr. ‘inextinguishble’), finely fibrous minerals, varieties of amphibole, usually tremolite or actinolite. It occurs in delicate fibres, usually white, gray, or blue, which can be teased out like wool. Though rather britle, it has been spun and woven into cloth, which was used by the Romans to envelop corpses on the funeral pyre, and served to retain their ashes. From this property its name is derived. It is both un-inflammable and a poor conductor of heat, owing to the large amount of air enclosed between the fibres, and is employed in the manufacture of pipes, lamp-wicks, and cardboard. Chemists use it for filtering fluids which attack ordinary filter-paper, or, in place of platinum wire, for flame tests. But it is more largely used as a heat-retaining medium, as in packing steam pipes, and in the manufacture of fireproof asfes and of gas stoves. Fireproof paints, papers, putty, clothes, gloves, felt, curtains, have all been made from it, and have been found of value in certain cases. The principal sources of supply are Canada, the Alpine countries, Russia, Corsica, and New South Wales. It is found chiefly in the older crystalline rocks, and has been obtained in cornwall, at Portsoy, and in Shetland. See Jones’s Asbestos and Asbestic (1890), and Röll’s Der A. und seine Verwendung (1901).